Environmental and Sustainability Education Policy Research: A Systematic Review of Methodological and Thematic Trends

Science.gov (United States)

Aikens, Kathleen; McKenzie, Marcia; Vaughter, Philip

2016-01-01

This paper reports on a systematic literature review of policy research in the area of environmental and sustainability education. We analyzed 215 research articles, spanning four decades and representing 71 countries, and which engaged a range of methodologies. Our analysis combines quantification of geographic and methodological trends with…

Trends in Autism Research: A Systematic Journal Analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Graff, Heidi J.; Berkeley, Sheri; Evmenova, Anya S.; Park, Kristy L.

2014-01-01

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a lifelong disability for which prevalence rates continue to increase. Persons with ASD vary widely in both severity of disability and services required. Therefore it is important to identify trends in research and evaluate progress in the field. The current study uses a journal analysis to evaluate research over…

Using Latent Semantic Analysis to Identify Research Trends in OpenStreetMap

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sukhjit Singh Sehra

2017-07-01

Full Text Available OpenStreetMap (OSM, based on collaborative mapping, has become a subject of great interest to the academic community, resulting in a considerable body of literature produced by many researchers. In this paper, we use Latent Semantic Analysis (LSA to help identify the emerging research trends in OSM. An extensive corpus of 485 academic abstracts of papers published during the period 2007–2016 was used. Five core research areas and fifty research trends were identified in this study. In addition, potential future research directions have been provided to aid geospatial information scientists, technologists and researchers in undertaking future OSM research.

Overdiagnosis in publicly organised mammography screening programmes: systematic review of incidence trends

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jørgensen, Karsten Juhl; Gøtzsche, Peter C

2009-01-01

. DATA SOURCES: PubMed (April 2007), reference lists, and authors. Review methods One author extracted data on incidence of breast cancer (including carcinoma in situ), population size, screening uptake, time periods, and age groups, which were checked independently by the other author. Linear regression......OBJECTIVE: To estimate the extent of overdiagnosis (the detection of cancers that will not cause death or symptoms) in publicly organised screening programmes. DESIGN: Systematic review of published trends in incidence of breast cancer before and after the introduction of mammography screening...... was used to estimate trends in incidence before and after the introduction of screening and in older, previously screened women. Meta-analysis was used to estimate the extent of overdiagnosis. RESULTS: Incidence data covering at least seven years before screening and seven years after screening had been...

A systematic review of long-term outcomes in ADHD: global publication trends

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Paul eHodgkins

2012-01-01

Full Text Available There is increased global recognition of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD as a serious medical condition with long-term consequences. Although originally conceived of as a childhood disorder, ADHD is being increasingly recognized in adults. Individual geographic regions may have specific interests and objectives for the study of ADHD. A systematic review of long-term outcomes (LTOs in ADHD was conducted to evaluate research on ADHD LTOs on a global scale. Studies that were at least two years in duration were examined. We identified nine outcomes of interest and classified studies by specific geographical regions, age groups studied and study design by region and over time. Published studies of LTOs in ADHD have increased in all geographical regions over the past three decades, with a peak number of publications in 2008. Although many world regions have published on ADHD LTOs, the majority of studies have emerged from the US and Canada, followed by Europe. While investigators in the US and Canada were predominantly interested in drug addiction as a LTO, European researchers were more interested in antisocial behavior, and Eastern Asian investigators focused on both of these LTOs as well as self-esteem. Proportionally fewer prospective longitudinal studies and proportionally more retrospective and cross-sectional studies have been published in more recent decades. Finally, more studies focusing on ADHD in adolescents and adults have been conducted in recent years, and particularly adolescents in Eastern Asia. This systematic review analysis of publication trends in ADHD LTOs reflects geographically-based interests that change over time.

Assessment of educational games for health professions: a systematic review of trends and outcomes.

Science.gov (United States)

Abdulmajed, Hind; Park, Yoon Soo; Tekian, Ara

2015-04-01

Traditional lecturing used in teaching has the lowest retention rate; the use of games as part of an instruction method may enhance retention and reinforce learning by creating a dynamic educational environment. This study aims to systematically review the literature on educational games for the health professions to identify trends and investigate assessment tools used to measure its learning outcomes. Seven databases were used in the search: ERIC, Education Research Complete, Medline, Medline Complete, Academic Search Complete, The Cochrane Library and PubMed. The search identified 2865 papers; among them, 1259 were excluded and 22 were evaluated. The selection incorporated five full papers which focused directly on the health professionals. Two studies involved the use of board games and two studies involved card games, crossword puzzles and one study involved a team quiz competition. Overall, studies lacked a strong link between the use of games for both instructional and assessment purposes. Gaming makes a positive impact on the teaching/learning process. However, existing assessment methodologies have been not fully captured the learning that may occur in these games. Robust research is needed to address the use of games that have been assessed objectively.

Trends in high-risk sexual behaviors among general population groups in China: a systematic review.

Science.gov (United States)

Cai, Rui; Richardus, Jan Hendrik; Looman, Caspar W N; de Vlas, Sake J

2013-01-01

The objective of this review was to investigate whether Chinese population groups that do not belong to classical high risk groups show an increasing trend of engaging in high-risk sexual behaviors. We systematically searched the English and Chinese literature on sexual risk behaviors published between January 1980 and March 2012 in PubMed and the China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI). We included observational studies that focused on population groups other than commercial sex workers (CSWs) and their clients, and men who have sex with men (MSM) and quantitatively reported one of the following indicators of recent high-risk sexual behavior: premarital sex, commercial sex, multiple sex partners, condom use or sexually transmitted infections (STIs). We used generalized linear mixed model to examine the time trend in engaging in high-risk sexual behaviors. We included 174 observational studies involving 932,931 participants: 55 studies reported on floating populations, 73 on college students and 46 on other groups (i.e. out-of-school youth, rural residents, and subjects from gynecological or obstetric clinics and premarital check-up centers). From the generalized linear mixed model, no significant trends in engaging in high-risk sexual behaviors were identified in the three population groups. Sexual risk behaviors among certain general population groups have not increased substantially. These groups are therefore unlikely to incite a STI/HIV epidemic among the general Chinese population. Because the studied population groups are not necessarily representative of the general population, the outcomes found may not reflect those of the general population.

Trends in Educational Augmented Reality Studies: A Systematic Review

Science.gov (United States)

Sirakaya, Mustafa; Alsancak Sirakaya, Didem

2018-01-01

This study aimed to identify the trends in the studies conducted on Educational Augmented Reality (AR). 105 articles found in ERIC, EBSCOhost and ScienceDirect databases were reviewed with this purpose in mind. Analyses displayed that the number of educational AR studies has increased over the years. Quantitative methods were mostly preferred in…

Cochrane Acute Respiratory Infections Group's Stakeholder Engagement Project identified systematic review priority areas.

Science.gov (United States)

Scott, Anna Mae; Clark, Justin; Dooley, Liz; Jones, Ann; Jones, Mark; Del Mar, Chris

2018-05-22

Cochrane Acute Respiratory Infections (ARI) Group conducts systematic reviews of the evidence for treatment and prevention of ARIs. We report the results of a prioritisation project, aiming to identify highest priority systematic review topics. The project consisted of 2 Phases. Phase 1 analysed the gap between existing RCTs and Cochrane Systematic Reviews (reported previously). Phase 2 (reported here) consisted of a two-round survey. In round 1, respondents prioritised 68 topics and suggested up to 10 additional topics; in Round 2, respondents prioritised top 25 topics from Round 1. Respondents included clinicians, researchers, systematic reviewers, allied health, patients, and carers, from 33 different countries. In Round 1, 154 respondents identified 20 priority topics, most commonly selecting topics in non-specific ARIs, influenza, and common cold. 50 respondents also collectively suggested 134 additional topics. In Round 2, 78 respondents prioritised top 25 topics, most commonly in the areas of non-specific ARIs, pneumonia and influenza. We generated a list of priority systematic review topics, to guide the Cochrane ARI Group's systematic review work for the next 24 months. Stakeholder involvement enhanced the transparency of the process, and will increase the usability and relevance of the Group's work to stakeholders. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

A systematic review of global publication trends regarding long-term outcomes of ADHD.

Science.gov (United States)

Hodgkins, Paul; Arnold, L Eugene; Shaw, Monica; Caci, Hervé; Kahle, Jennifer; Woods, Alisa G; Young, Susan

2011-01-01

There is increased global recognition of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) as a serious medical condition with long-term consequences. Although originally conceived of as a childhood disorder, ADHD is being increasingly recognized in adults. Individual geographic regions may have specific interests and objectives for the study of ADHD. A systematic review of long-term outcomes (LTOs) in ADHD was conducted to evaluate research on ADHD LTOs on a global scale. Studies that were at least 2 years in duration were examined. A total of 351 studies were identified in the final analysis. We identified nine outcomes of interest and classified studies by specific geographical regions, age groups studied and study design by region and over time. Published studies of LTOs in ADHD have increased in all geographical regions over the past three decades, with a peak number of 42 publications in 2008. This rise in publications on ADHD LTOs may reflect a rise in global interest and recognition of consequences and impairment associated with ADHD. Although many world regions have published on ADHD LTOs, the majority of studies have emerged from the US and Canada, followed by Europe. While investigators in the US and Canada were predominantly interested in drug addiction as a LTO, European researchers were more interested in antisocial behavior, and Eastern Asian investigators focused on both of these LTOs as well as self-esteem. Geographical differences in the focus of ADHD LTO studies may reflect regional variations in cultural values. Proportionally fewer prospective longitudinal studies and proportionally more retrospective and cross-sectional studies have been published in more recent decades. Finally, more studies focusing on ADHD in adolescents and adults have been conducted in recent years, and particularly adolescents in Eastern Asia. These changes in basic study design may reflect an increase in the recognition that ADHD is a lifetime chronic disorder. This

A Systematic Review of Global Publication Trends Regarding Long-Term Outcomes of ADHD

Science.gov (United States)

Hodgkins, Paul; Arnold, L. Eugene; Shaw, Monica; Caci, Hervé; Kahle, Jennifer; Woods, Alisa G; Young, Susan

2012-01-01

There is increased global recognition of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) as a serious medical condition with long-term consequences. Although originally conceived of as a childhood disorder, ADHD is being increasingly recognized in adults. Individual geographic regions may have specific interests and objectives for the study of ADHD. A systematic review of long-term outcomes (LTOs) in ADHD was conducted to evaluate research on ADHD LTOs on a global scale. Studies that were at least 2 years in duration were examined. A total of 351 studies were identified in the final analysis. We identified nine outcomes of interest and classified studies by specific geographical regions, age groups studied and study design by region and over time. Published studies of LTOs in ADHD have increased in all geographical regions over the past three decades, with a peak number of 42 publications in 2008. This rise in publications on ADHD LTOs may reflect a rise in global interest and recognition of consequences and impairment associated with ADHD. Although many world regions have published on ADHD LTOs, the majority of studies have emerged from the US and Canada, followed by Europe. While investigators in the US and Canada were predominantly interested in drug addiction as a LTO, European researchers were more interested in antisocial behavior, and Eastern Asian investigators focused on both of these LTOs as well as self-esteem. Geographical differences in the focus of ADHD LTO studies may reflect regional variations in cultural values. Proportionally fewer prospective longitudinal studies and proportionally more retrospective and cross-sectional studies have been published in more recent decades. Finally, more studies focusing on ADHD in adolescents and adults have been conducted in recent years, and particularly adolescents in Eastern Asia. These changes in basic study design may reflect an increase in the recognition that ADHD is a lifetime chronic disorder. This

Dengue in Latin America: Systematic Review of Molecular Epidemiological Trends.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

José Ramos-Castañeda

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Dengue, the predominant arthropod-borne viral disease affecting humans, is caused by one of four distinct serotypes (DENV-1, -2, -3 or -4. A literature analysis and review was undertaken to describe the molecular epidemiological trends in dengue disease and the knowledge generated in specific molecular topics in Latin America, including the Caribbean islands, from 2000 to 2013 in the context of regional trends in order to identify gaps in molecular epidemiological knowledge and future research needs. Searches of literature published between 1 January 2000 and 30 November 2013 were conducted using specific search strategies for each electronic database that was reviewed. A total of 396 relevant citations were identified, 57 of which fulfilled the inclusion criteria. All four dengue virus serotypes were present and co-circulated in many countries over the review period (with the predominance of individual serotypes varying by country and year. The number of countries in which more than one serotype circulated steadily increased during the period under review. Molecular epidemiology data were found for Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, the Caribbean region, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico and Central America, Paraguay, Peru and Venezuela. Distinct lineages with different dynamics were found in each country, with co-existence, extinction and replacement of lineages occurring over the review period. Despite some gaps in the literature limiting the possibility for comparison, our review has described the molecular epidemiological trends of dengue infection. However, several gaps in molecular epidemiological information across Latin America and the Caribbean were identified that provide avenues for future research; in particular, sequence determination of the dengue virus genome is important for more precise phylogenetic classification and correlation with clinical outcome and disease severity.

Development of a framework to identify research gaps from systematic reviews.

Science.gov (United States)

Robinson, Karen A; Saldanha, Ian J; McKoy, Naomi A

2011-12-01

Our objective was to develop a framework to identify research gaps from systematic reviews. We reviewed the practices of (1) evidence-based practice centers (EPCs), and (2) other organizations that conduct evidence syntheses. We developed and pilot tested a framework for identifying research gaps. Four (33%) EPCs and three (8%) other organizations reported using an explicit framework to determine research gaps. Variations of the PICO (population, intervention, comparison, outcomes) framework were most common. We developed a framework incorporating both the characterization of the gap using PICOS elements (also including setting) and the identification of the reason(s) why the gap exists as (1) insufficient or imprecise information, (2) biased information, (3) inconsistency or unknown consistency, and (4) not the right information. We mapped each of these reasons to concepts from three common evidence-grading systems. Our framework determines from systematic reviews where the current evidence falls short and why or how the evidence falls short. This explicit identification of research gaps will allow systematic reviews to maximally inform the types of questions that need to be addressed and the types of studies needed to address the research gaps. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Systematic Review to Identify Skill Needs for Agrifood Nanotechnology Workforce

Science.gov (United States)

Yawson, Robert M.

2017-01-01

As nanotechnology continues to advance in food and agriculture, there is the need for pragmatic decisions as to how to prepare the workforce. A comprehensive systematic evidence review (SER) and analysis of the literature to identify skill needs for the emerging agrifood nanotechnology sector and to determine how agricultural education can…

Differences in handgrip strength protocols to identify sarcopenia and frailty - a systematic review.

Science.gov (United States)

Sousa-Santos, A R; Amaral, T F

2017-10-16

Hand grip strength (HGS) is used for the diagnosis of sarcopenia and frailty. Several factors have been shown to influence HGS values during measurement. Therefore, variations in the protocols used to assess HGS, as part of the diagnosis of sarcopenia and frailty, may lead to the identification of different individuals with low HGS, introducing bias. The aim of this systematic review is to gather all the relevant studies that measured HGS to diagnose sarcopenia and frailty and to identify the differences between the protocols used. A systematic review was carried out following the recommendations of The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) Statement. PubMed and Web of Science were systematically searched, until August 16, 2016. The evidence regarding HGS measurement protocols used to diagnose sarcopenia and frailty was summarised and the most recent protocols regarding the procedure were compared. From the described search 4393 articles were identified. Seventy-two studies were included in this systematic review, in which 37 referred to sarcopenia articles, 33 to frailty and two evaluated both conditions. Most studies presented limited information regarding the protocols used. The majority of the studies included did not describe a complete procedure of HGS measurement. The high heterogeneity between the protocols used, in sarcopenia and frailty studies, create an enormous difficulty in drawing comparative conclusions among them.

Systematic Evaluation of Pleiotropy Identifies 6 Further Loci Associated With Coronary Artery Disease

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Webb, Thomas R.; Erdmann, Jeanette; Stirrups, Kathleen E.; Stitziel, Nathan O.; Masca, Nicholas G. D.; Jansen, Henning; Kanoni, Stavroula; Nelson, Christopher P.; Ferrario, Paola G.; König, Inke R.; Eicher, John D.; Johnson, Andrew D.; Hamby, Stephen E.; Betsholtz, Christer; Ruusalepp, Arno; Franzén, Oscar; Schadt, Eric E.; Björkegren, Johan L. M.; Weeke, Peter E.; Auer, Paul L.; Schick, Ursula M.; Lu, Yingchang; Zhang, He; Dube, Marie-Pierre; Goel, Anuj; Farrall, Martin; Peloso, Gina M.; Won, Hong-Hee; Do, Ron; van Iperen, Erik; Kruppa, Jochen; Mahajan, Anubha; Scott, Robert A.; Willenborg, Christina; Braund, Peter S.; van Capelleveen, Julian C.; Doney, Alex S. F.; Donnelly, Louise A.; Asselta, Rosanna; Merlini, Pier A.; Duga, Stefano; Marziliano, Nicola; Denny, Josh C.; Shaffer, Christian; El-Mokhtari, Nour Eddine; Franke, Andre; Heilmann, Stefanie; Hengstenberg, Christian; Hoffmann, Per; Holmen, Oddgeir L.; Hveem, Kristian; Jansson, Jan-Håkan; Jöckel, Karl-Heinz; Kessler, Thorsten; Kriebel, Jennifer; Laugwitz, Karl L.; Marouli, Eirini; Martinelli, Nicola; McCarthy, Mark I.; van Zuydam, Natalie R.; Meisinger, Christa; Esko, Tõnu; Mihailov, Evelin; Escher, Stefan A.; Alver, Maris; Moebus, Susanne; Morris, Andrew D.; Virtamo, Jarma; Nikpay, Majid; Olivieri, Oliviero; Provost, Sylvie; AlQarawi, Alaa; Robertson, Neil R.; Akinsansya, Karen O.; Reilly, Dermot F.; Vogt, Thomas F.; Yin, Wu; Asselbergs, Folkert W.; Kooperberg, Charles; Jackson, Rebecca D.; Stahl, Eli; Müller-Nurasyid, Martina; Strauch, Konstantin; Varga, Tibor V.; Waldenberger, Melanie; Zeng, Lingyao; Chowdhury, Rajiv; Salomaa, Veikko; Ford, Ian; Jukema, J. Wouter; Amouyel, Philippe; Kontto, Jukka; Nordestgaard, Børge G.; Ferrières, Jean; Saleheen, Danish; Sattar, Naveed; Surendran, Praveen; Wagner, Aline; Young, Robin; Howson, Joanna M. M.; Butterworth, Adam S.; Danesh, John; Ardissino, Diego; Bottinger, Erwin P.; Erbel, Raimund; Franks, Paul W.; Girelli, Domenico; Hall, Alistair S.; Hovingh, G. Kees; Kastrati, Adnan; Lieb, Wolfgang; Meitinger, Thomas; Kraus, William E.; Shah, Svati H.; McPherson, Ruth; Orho-Melander, Marju; Melander, Olle; Metspalu, Andres; Palmer, Colin N. A.; Peters, Annette; Rader, Daniel J.; Reilly, Muredach P.; Loos, Ruth J. F.; Reiner, Alex P.; Roden, Dan M.; Tardif, Jean-Claude; Thompson, John R.; Wareham, Nicholas J.; Watkins, Hugh; Willer, Cristen J.; Samani, Nilesh J.; Schunkert, Heribert; Deloukas, Panos; Kathiresan, Sekar

2017-01-01

Genome-wide association studies have so far identified 56 loci associated with risk of coronary artery disease (CAD). Many CAD loci show pleiotropy; that is, they are also associated with other diseases or traits. This study sought to systematically test if genetic variants identified for non-CAD

Identifying Emerging Trends of Financial Business Method Patents

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Won Sang Lee

2017-09-01

Full Text Available Financial technology has become an important part of the banking industry in recent times. This study attempts to propose a framework to identify emerging areas and trends using financial business method patents. Based on the abstracts of financial business method patents registered at the United States Patent and Trademark Office, this study first applies latent Dirichlet allocation to identify emerging topics. The probability of the annual occurrence of each topic is adjusted through the exponentially weighted moving average to reflect the importance of the recent probability of topics. Each topic is classified as “hot” or “cold” depending on whether the exponentially weighted moving average of the probabilities exceeds the threshold. We applied survival analysis to the time gap of recurrently becoming hot from a cold status with the associated factor of financial business method patents. The findings suggest that the topic with the short granted period and high forward citation is likely to become hot. In addition, the topic that is aged and specific in narrow areas is likely to continuously change into the hot or cold status. The approach proposed in this study contributes toward understanding topic emergence in the financial area and pursuing sustainable development.

The prevalence and trends of waterpipe tobacco smoking: A systematic review.

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Mohammed Jawad

Full Text Available Waterpipe tobacco smoking is harmful to health however its prevalence estimates remain uncertain. We aimed to systematically review the medical literature on waterpipe tobacco prevalence and trends.We searched Medline, Embase and ISI Web of Science for 'waterpipe' and its synonyms, without using language or date restrictions. We included any measure of waterpipe tobacco smoking prevalence in jurisdictionally representative populations. We stratified findings by prevalence measure (past 30 day, ever, regular or occasional, daily, other or unspecified and age (adults or youth.We included 129 studies reporting 355 estimates for 68 countries. In general, prevalence estimates among adults were highest in the Eastern Mediterranean, and among youth were about equal between Eastern Mediterranean and European regions. Past 30 day use was highest among Lebanese youth (37.2% in 2008, ever use was highest among Lebanese youth in 2002 and Lebanese university students in 2005 (both 65.3%, regular or occasional use was highest in among Iranian university students (16.3% in 2005, and daily use was highest among Egyptian youth (10.4% in 2005. Trend data were limited but most studies reported increased use over time, ranging from 0.3-1.0% per year among youth in the US to 2.9% per year among youth in Jordan (both for past 30 day use. Results were similar for ever use trends. Turkey (2.3% in 2008 to 0.8% in 2010 and Iraq (6.3% in 2008 and 4.8% in 2012 both witnessed decreased waterpipe use.Waterpipe tobacco smoking is most prevalent in Eastern Mediterranean and European countries, and appears higher among youth than adults. Continued surveillance will be important to assess and inform policy measures to control waterpipe tobacco use.

Trends in High Nature Value farmland studies: A systematic review

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Benedetti Yanina

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Background. Since the High Nature Value (HNV concept was defined in the early 1990s, several studies on HNV farmland has been increasing over the past 30 years in Europe, highlighting the interest by scientific community of HNV farming systems supporting biodiversity conservation. The aim of this study was to evaluate the trends and main gaps on HNV farmland peer-reviewed publications in order to contribute to the effectiveness of future research in this field. Methods. Searches were conducted using the databases Web of SciencesTM and Scopus in order to identify only peer-reviewed articles on HNV farmland, published prior to July 2017. The inclusion and exclusion criteria were developed a priori. Data as year, country, type of document, subject area, taxa studied and biodiversity metrics assessed were extracted and explored in order to analyse the spatial and temporal distribution of the concept, including the main topics addressed in HNV farmland literature. Results. After screening 308 original articles, 90 were selected for this review. HNV farmland studies involved several disciplines, mainly biodiversity and conservation and environmental sciences and ecology. Most peer-reviewed articles focused on HNV farming were conducted in Spain, Italy, Ireland and Portugal. The main studied taxa were plants and birds. Taxonomic diversity was the biodiversity metric more often used to assess the biodiversity status on HNV farmland areas. A positive correlation was found between HNV farmland area and HNV farmland studies conducted in respective countries. Discussion. The HNV farmland research subject is a relative novel approach, and this systematic review provides a comprehensive overview about the main topics in the HNV farmland peer-reviewed literature contributing to highlight the main gaps and provide some considerations in order to assist the performance of HNV farming systems and conservation policies, addressed to sustain high levels of

A correction method for systematic error in (1)H-NMR time-course data validated through stochastic cell culture simulation.

Science.gov (United States)

Sokolenko, Stanislav; Aucoin, Marc G

2015-09-04

The growing ubiquity of metabolomic techniques has facilitated high frequency time-course data collection for an increasing number of applications. While the concentration trends of individual metabolites can be modeled with common curve fitting techniques, a more accurate representation of the data needs to consider effects that act on more than one metabolite in a given sample. To this end, we present a simple algorithm that uses nonparametric smoothing carried out on all observed metabolites at once to identify and correct systematic error from dilution effects. In addition, we develop a simulation of metabolite concentration time-course trends to supplement available data and explore algorithm performance. Although we focus on nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) analysis in the context of cell culture, a number of possible extensions are discussed. Realistic metabolic data was successfully simulated using a 4-step process. Starting with a set of metabolite concentration time-courses from a metabolomic experiment, each time-course was classified as either increasing, decreasing, concave, or approximately constant. Trend shapes were simulated from generic functions corresponding to each classification. The resulting shapes were then scaled to simulated compound concentrations. Finally, the scaled trends were perturbed using a combination of random and systematic errors. To detect systematic errors, a nonparametric fit was applied to each trend and percent deviations calculated at every timepoint. Systematic errors could be identified at time-points where the median percent deviation exceeded a threshold value, determined by the choice of smoothing model and the number of observed trends. Regardless of model, increasing the number of observations over a time-course resulted in more accurate error estimates, although the improvement was not particularly large between 10 and 20 samples per trend. The presented algorithm was able to identify systematic errors as small

Biomarkers of systemic lupus erythematosus identified using mass spectrometry-based proteomics: a systematic review.

Science.gov (United States)

Nicolaou, Orthodoxia; Kousios, Andreas; Hadjisavvas, Andreas; Lauwerys, Bernard; Sokratous, Kleitos; Kyriacou, Kyriacos

2017-05-01

Advances in mass spectrometry technologies have created new opportunities for discovering novel protein biomarkers in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). We performed a systematic review of published reports on proteomic biomarkers identified in SLE patients using mass spectrometry-based proteomics and highlight their potential disease association and clinical utility. Two electronic databases, MEDLINE and EMBASE, were systematically searched up to July 2015. The methodological quality of studies included in the review was performed according to Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses guidelines. Twenty-five studies were included in the review, identifying 241 SLE candidate proteomic biomarkers related to various aspects of the disease including disease diagnosis and activity or pinpointing specific organ involvement. Furthermore, 13 of the 25 studies validated their results for a selected number of biomarkers in an independent cohort, resulting in the validation of 28 candidate biomarkers. It is noteworthy that 11 candidate biomarkers were identified in more than one study. A significant number of potential proteomic biomarkers that are related to a number of aspects of SLE have been identified using mass spectrometry proteomic approaches. However, further studies are required to assess the utility of these biomarkers in routine clinical practice. © 2016 The Authors. Journal of Cellular and Molecular Medicine published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd and Foundation for Cellular and Molecular Medicine.

Temporal Trends and Correlates of Physical Activity, Sedentary Behaviour, and Physical Fitness among School-Aged Children in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Systematic Review

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Stella K. Muthuri

2014-03-01

Full Text Available Recent physical activity (PA and fitness transitions, identified as behavioural shifts from traditionally active lifestyles to more industralised and sedentary lifestyles, have been observed among school-aged children. There is a wealth of supporting evidence of such behavioural transitions in high income countries; however, a paucity of data on lower income countries exists. These transitions pose a particular threat to the welfare of children by accelerating the onset of chronic diseases. This systematic review investigated the evidence for a PA and fitness transition among Sub-Saharan Africa’s school-aged children. Temporal trends and correlates of PA, SB, and fitness were examined. Studies were identified by searching the Medline, Embase, Africa Index Medicus, Global Health, Geobase, and EPPI-Centre electronic databases, and were included if they measured outcomes of interest in apparently healthy samples of children (5‒17 years. A total of 71 articles met the inclusion criteria (40 informed PA, 17 informed SB, and 37 informed fitness. Vast heterogeneity in study methodology complicated analysis of transitions over time and no temporal trends were immediately discernible. However, higher socioeconomic status, urban living, and female children were found to engage in lower levels of PA, higher SB, and performed worse on aerobic fitness measures compared to lower socioeconomic status, rural living, and male children. Data revealed that urbanization was associated with a trend towards decreased PA, increased SB, and decreased aerobic fitness over time. Representative, temporally sequenced data examining a PA and fitness transition are lacking in this region (PROSPERO Registration Number: CRD42013004399.

Trend Analysis to Measure The Effectiveness of the QA Program

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mell, Martin A.

1989-01-01

This paper represents an approach to the development and use of a system for the evaluation of available information to recognize and deal with quality trends in the design, engineering, procurement and construction process. Selection, collection, analysis and reporting of data and information will be described. The Trend Analysis System is intended to identify, for line and management personnel, areas where improved compliance, revision of practices or procedures, or other appropriate systematic corrective action is warranted, and provides management with a measure of the overall effectiveness of the quality program

Systematic reviews identify important methodological flaws in stroke rehabilitation therapy primary studies: review of reviews.

Science.gov (United States)

Santaguida, Pasqualina; Oremus, Mark; Walker, Kathryn; Wishart, Laurie R; Siegel, Karen Lohmann; Raina, Parminder

2012-04-01

A "review of reviews" was undertaken to assess methodological issues in studies evaluating nondrug rehabilitation interventions in stroke patients. MEDLINE, CINAHL, PsycINFO, and the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews were searched from January 2000 to January 2008 within the stroke rehabilitation setting. Electronic searches were supplemented by reviews of reference lists and citations identified by experts. Eligible studies were systematic reviews; excluded citations were narrative reviews or reviews of reviews. Review characteristics and criteria for assessing methodological quality of primary studies within them were extracted. The search yielded 949 English-language citations. We included a final set of 38 systematic reviews. Cochrane reviews, which have a standardized methodology, were generally of higher methodological quality than non-Cochrane reviews. Most systematic reviews used standardized quality assessment criteria for primary studies, but not all were comprehensive. Reviews showed that primary studies had problems with randomization, allocation concealment, and blinding. Baseline comparability, adverse events, and co-intervention or contamination were not consistently assessed. Blinding of patients and providers was often not feasible and was not evaluated as a source of bias. The eligible systematic reviews identified important methodological flaws in the evaluated primary studies, suggesting the need for improvement of research methods and reporting. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

A bibliometric analysis of systematic reviews on vaccines and immunisation.

Science.gov (United States)

Fernandes, Silke; Jit, Mark; Bozzani, Fiammetta; Griffiths, Ulla K; Scott, J Anthony G; Burchett, Helen E D

2018-04-19

SYSVAC is an online bibliographic database of systematic reviews and systematic review protocols on vaccines and immunisation compiled by the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and hosted by the World Health Organization (WHO) through their National Immunization Technical Advisory Groups (NITAG) resource centre (www.nitag-resource.org). Here the development of the database and a bibliometric review of its content is presented, describing trends in the publication of policy-relevant systematic reviews on vaccines and immunisation from 2008 to 2016. Searches were conducted in seven scientific databases according to a standardized search protocol, initially in 2014 with the most recent update in January 2017. Abstracts and titles were screened according to specific inclusion criteria. All included publications were coded into relevant categories based on a standardized protocol and subsequently analysed to look at trends in time, topic, area of focus, population and geographic location. After screening for inclusion criteria, 1285 systematic reviews were included in the database. While in 2008 there were only 34 systematic reviews on a vaccine-related topic, this increased to 322 in 2016. The most frequent pathogens/diseases studied were influenza, human papillomavirus and pneumococcus. There were several areas of duplication and overlap. As more systematic reviews are published it becomes increasingly time-consuming for decision-makers to identify relevant information among the ever-increasing volume available. The risk of duplication also increases, particularly given the current lack of coordination of systematic reviews on vaccine-related questions, both in terms of their commissioning and their execution. The SYSVAC database offers an accessible catalogue of vaccine-relevant systematic reviews with, where possible access or a link to the full-text. SYSVAC provides a freely searchable platform to identify existing vaccine-policy-relevant systematic

Interfractional trend analysis of dose differences based on 2D transit portal dosimetry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Persoon, L C G G; Nijsten, S M J J G; Wilbrink, F J; Podesta, M; Snaith, J A D; Lustberg, T; Van Elmpt, W J C; Van Gils, F; Verhaegen, F

2012-01-01

Dose delivery of a radiotherapy treatment can be influenced by a number of factors. It has been demonstrated that the electronic portal imaging device (EPID) is valuable for transit portal dosimetry verification. Patient related dose differences can emerge at any time during treatment and can be categorized in two types: (1) systematic—appearing repeatedly, (2) random—appearing sporadically during treatment. The aim of this study is to investigate how systematic and random information appears in 2D transit dose distributions measured in the EPID plane over the entire course of a treatment and how this information can be used to examine interfractional trends, building toward a methodology to support adaptive radiotherapy. To create a trend overview of the interfractional changes in transit dose, the predicted portal dose for the different beams is compared to a measured portal dose using a γ evaluation. For each beam of the delivered fraction, information is extracted from the γ images to differentiate systematic from random dose delivery errors. From the systematic differences of a fraction for a projected anatomical structures, several metrics are extracted like percentage pixels with |γ| > 1. We demonstrate for four example cases the trends and dose difference causes which can be detected with this method. Two sample prostate cases show the occurrence of a random and systematic difference and identify the organ that causes the difference. In a lung cancer case a trend is shown of a rapidly diminishing atelectasis (lung fluid) during the course of treatment, which was detected with this trend analysis method. The final example is a breast cancer case where we show the influence of set-up differences on the 2D transit dose. A method is presented based on 2D portal transit dosimetry to record dose changes throughout the course of treatment, and to allow trend analysis of dose discrepancies. We show in example cases that this method can identify the causes of

Development and pilot test of a process to identify research needs from a systematic review.

Science.gov (United States)

Saldanha, Ian J; Wilson, Lisa M; Bennett, Wendy L; Nicholson, Wanda K; Robinson, Karen A

2013-05-01

To ensure appropriate allocation of research funds, we need methods for identifying high-priority research needs. We developed and pilot tested a process to identify needs for primary clinical research using a systematic review in gestational diabetes mellitus. We conducted eight steps: abstract research gaps from a systematic review using the Population, Intervention, Comparison, Outcomes, and Settings (PICOS) framework; solicit feedback from the review authors; translate gaps into researchable questions using the PICOS framework; solicit feedback from multidisciplinary stakeholders at our institution; establish consensus among multidisciplinary external stakeholders on the importance of the research questions using the Delphi method; prioritize outcomes; develop conceptual models to highlight research needs; and evaluate the process. We identified 19 research questions. During the Delphi method, external stakeholders established consensus for 16 of these 19 questions (15 with "high" and 1 with "medium" clinical benefit/importance). We pilot tested an eight-step process to identify clinically important research needs. Before wider application of this process, it should be tested using systematic reviews of other diseases. Further evaluation should include assessment of the usefulness of the research needs generated using this process for primary researchers and funders. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Methods for identifying surgical wound infection after discharge from hospital: a systematic review

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Moore Peter J

2006-11-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Wound infections are a common complication of surgery that add significantly to the morbidity of patients and costs of treatment. The global trend towards reducing length of hospital stay post-surgery and the increase in day case surgery means that surgical site infections (SSI will increasingly occur after hospital discharge. Surveillance of SSIs is important because rates of SSI are viewed as a measure of hospital performance, however accurate detection of SSIs post-hospital discharge is not straightforward. Methods We conducted a systematic review of methods of post discharge surveillance for surgical wound infection and undertook a national audit of methods of post-discharge surveillance for surgical site infection currently used within United Kingdom NHS Trusts. Results Seven reports of six comparative studies which examined the validity of post-discharge surveillance methods were located; these involved different comparisons and some had methodological limitations, making it difficult to identify an optimal method. Several studies evaluated automated screening of electronic records and found this to be a useful strategy for the identification of SSIs that occurred post discharge. The audit identified a wide range of relevant post-discharge surveillance programmes in England, Scotland and Wales and Northern Ireland; however, these programmes used varying approaches for which there is little supporting evidence of validity and/or reliability. Conclusion In order to establish robust methods of surveillance for those surgical site infections that occur post discharge, there is a need to develop a method of case ascertainment that is valid and reliable post discharge. Existing research has not identified a valid and reliable method. A standardised definition of wound infection (e.g. that of the Centres for Disease Control should be used as a basis for developing a feasible, valid and reliable approach to defining post

A review of the reporting of web searching to identify studies for Cochrane systematic reviews.

Science.gov (United States)

Briscoe, Simon

2018-03-01

The literature searches that are used to identify studies for inclusion in a systematic review should be comprehensively reported. This ensures that the literature searches are transparent and reproducible, which is important for assessing the strengths and weaknesses of a systematic review and re-running the literature searches when conducting an update review. Web searching using search engines and the websites of topically relevant organisations is sometimes used as a supplementary literature search method. Previous research has shown that the reporting of web searching in systematic reviews often lacks important details and is thus not transparent or reproducible. Useful details to report about web searching include the name of the search engine or website, the URL, the date searched, the search strategy, and the number of results. This study reviews the reporting of web searching to identify studies for Cochrane systematic reviews published in the 6-month period August 2016 to January 2017 (n = 423). Of these reviews, 61 reviews reported using web searching using a search engine or website as a literature search method. In the majority of reviews, the reporting of web searching was found to lack essential detail for ensuring transparency and reproducibility, such as the search terms. Recommendations are made on how to improve the reporting of web searching in Cochrane systematic reviews. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Protocol: a systematic review of studies developing and/or evaluating search strategies to identify prognosis studies.

Science.gov (United States)

Corp, Nadia; Jordan, Joanne L; Hayden, Jill A; Irvin, Emma; Parker, Robin; Smith, Andrea; van der Windt, Danielle A

2017-04-20

Prognosis research is on the rise, its importance recognised because chronic health conditions and diseases are increasingly common and costly. Prognosis systematic reviews are needed to collate and synthesise these research findings, especially to help inform effective clinical decision-making and healthcare policy. A detailed, comprehensive search strategy is central to any systematic review. However, within prognosis research, this is challenging due to poor reporting and inconsistent use of available indexing terms in electronic databases. Whilst many published search filters exist for finding clinical trials, this is not the case for prognosis studies. This systematic review aims to identify and compare existing methodological filters developed and evaluated to identify prognosis studies of any of the three main types: overall prognosis, prognostic factors, and prognostic [risk prediction] models. Primary studies reporting the development and/or evaluation of methodological search filters to retrieve any type of prognosis study will be included in this systematic review. Multiple electronic bibliographic databases will be searched, grey literature will be sought from relevant organisations and websites, experts will be contacted, and citation tracking of key papers and reference list checking of all included papers will be undertaken. Titles will be screened by one person, and abstracts and full articles will be reviewed for inclusion independently by two reviewers. Data extraction and quality assessment will also be undertaken independently by two reviewers with disagreements resolved by discussion or by a third reviewer if necessary. Filters' characteristics and performance metrics reported in the included studies will be extracted and tabulated. To enable comparisons, filters will be grouped according to database, platform, type of prognosis study, and type of filter for which it was intended. This systematic review will identify all existing validated

Savannah River experience using a Cause Coding Tree to identify the root cause of an incident

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Paradies, M.W.; Busch, D.A.

1986-01-01

Incidents (or near misses) provide important information about plant performance and ways to improve that performance. Any particular incident may have several ''root causes'' that need to be addressed to prevent recurrence of the incident and thereby improve the safety of the plant. Also, by reviewing a large number of these incidents, one can identify trends in the root causes and generic concerns. A method has been developed at Savannah River Plant to systematically evaluate incidents, identify their root causes, record these root causes, and analyze the trends of these causes. By providing a systematic method to identify correctable root causes, the system helps the incident investigator to ask the right questions during the investigation. It also provides the independent safety analysis group and management with statistics that indicate existing and developing trouble sports. This paper describes the Savannah River Plant (SRP) Cause Coding Tree, and the differences between the SRP Tree and other systems used to analyze incidents. 2 refs., 14 figs

Environmental Scanning in Educational Planning: Establishing a Strategic Trend Information System.

Science.gov (United States)

Morrison, James L.

The systematic evaluation of the macroenvironment is sometimes referred to as a strategic trend information system. Strategic trend intelligence systems are highly developed, systematic intelligence programs that focus on trends and events in the external environment and provide institutions with knowledge to reduce areas of uncertainty and with…

A Systematic Approach to Determining the Identifiability of Multistage Carcinogenesis Models.

Science.gov (United States)

Brouwer, Andrew F; Meza, Rafael; Eisenberg, Marisa C

2017-07-01

Multistage clonal expansion (MSCE) models of carcinogenesis are continuous-time Markov process models often used to relate cancer incidence to biological mechanism. Identifiability analysis determines what model parameter combinations can, theoretically, be estimated from given data. We use a systematic approach, based on differential algebra methods traditionally used for deterministic ordinary differential equation (ODE) models, to determine identifiable combinations for a generalized subclass of MSCE models with any number of preinitation stages and one clonal expansion. Additionally, we determine the identifiable combinations of the generalized MSCE model with up to four clonal expansion stages, and conjecture the results for any number of clonal expansion stages. The results improve upon previous work in a number of ways and provide a framework to find the identifiable combinations for further variations on the MSCE models. Finally, our approach, which takes advantage of the Kolmogorov backward equations for the probability generating functions of the Markov process, demonstrates that identifiability methods used in engineering and mathematics for systems of ODEs can be applied to continuous-time Markov processes. © 2016 Society for Risk Analysis.

Search and selection methodology of systematic reviews in orthodontics (2000-2004).

Science.gov (United States)

Flores-Mir, Carlos; Major, Michael P; Major, Paul W

2006-08-01

More systematic reviews related to orthodontic topics are published each year, although little has been done to evaluate their search and selection methodologies. Systematic reviews related to orthodontics published between January 1, 2000, and December 31, 2004, were searched for their use of multiple electronic databases and secondary searches. The search and selection methods of identified systematic reviews were evaluated against the Cochrane Handbook's guidelines. Sixteen orthodontic systematic reviews were identified in this period. The percentage of reviews documenting and using each criterion of article searching has changed over the last 5 years, with no recognizable directional trend. On average, most systematic reviews documented their electronic search terms (88%) and inclusion-exclusion criteria (100%), and used secondary searching (75%). Many still failed to search more than MEDLINE (56%), failed to document the database names and search dates (37%), failed to document the search strategy (62%), did not use several reviewers for selecting studies (75%), and did not include all languages (81%). The methodology of systematic reviews in orthodontics is still limited, with key methodological components frequently absent or not appropriately described.

Robust, open-source removal of systematics in Kepler data

Science.gov (United States)

Aigrain, S.; Parviainen, H.; Roberts, S.; Reece, S.; Evans, T.

2017-10-01

We present ARC2 (Astrophysically Robust Correction 2), an open-source python-based systematics-correction pipeline, to correct for the Kepler prime mission long-cadence light curves. The ARC2 pipeline identifies and corrects any isolated discontinuities in the light curves and then removes trends common to many light curves. These trends are modelled using the publicly available co-trending basis vectors, within an (approximate) Bayesian framework with 'shrinkage' priors to minimize the risk of overfitting and the injection of any additional noise into the corrected light curves, while keeping any astrophysical signals intact. We show that the ARC2 pipeline's performance matches that of the standard Kepler PDC-MAP data products using standard noise metrics, and demonstrate its ability to preserve astrophysical signals using injection tests with simulated stellar rotation and planetary transit signals. Although it is not identical, the ARC2 pipeline can thus be used as an open-source alternative to PDC-MAP, whenever the ability to model the impact of the systematics removal process on other kinds of signal is important.

Recent epidemiological trends of dengue in the French territories of the Americas (2000-2012: a systematic literature review.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Maïna L'Azou

Full Text Available Dengue is a public health concern across the globe, and an escalating problem in the Americas. As part of a wider programme (covering Latin America and South East Asia to characterize the epidemiology of dengue in dengue endemic areas, we undertook a systematic literature review to assess epidemiological trends (incidence, timing and duration of outbreaks/epidemics, age and sex distribution, serotype distribution, seroprevalence and disease severity for dengue across the French Territories of the Americas (FTA, in French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Saint Martin and Saint Barthélemy between 2000 and 2012 (CRD42012002341: http://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/display_record.asp?ID=CRD42012002341. Of 413 relevant data sources identified, 45 were eligible for inclusion. A large proportion of the available data were from national surveillance reports, and 12 publications were from peer-reviewed journals. During the review period, 3-5 epidemics were identified in each of the island territories and French Guiana, and epidemics were often associated with a shift in the predominant circulating dengue virus serotype. Substantial gaps in epidemiological knowledge were identified. In particular, information regarding dengue virus genotype distribution, seroprevalence and age distribution of dengue were lacking. Additionally, much of the available data were from epidemic years; data from inter-epidemic periods were sparse. Nevertheless, the available epidemiological data showed that dengue is endemic across the FTA and suggest an evolution towards hyperendemicity, highlighting the need to continue the efforts with the existing surveillance programmes to assist in planning an effective vaccination programme once a dengue vaccine is deployed.PROSPERO CRD42012002341.

A systematic literature search to identify performance measure outcomes used in clinical studies of racehorses.

Science.gov (United States)

Wylie, C E; Newton, J R

2018-05-01

Racing performance is often used as a measurable outcome variable in research studies investigating clinical diagnoses or interventions. However, the use of many different performance measures largely precludes conduct of meaningful comparative studies and, to date, those being used have not been collated. To systematically review the veterinary scientific literature for the use of racing performance as a measurable outcome variable in clinical studies of racehorses, collate and identify those most popular, and identify their advantages and disadvantages. Systematic literature search. The search criteria "((racing AND performance) AND (horses OR equidae))" were adapted for both MEDLINE and CAB Abstracts databases. Data were collected in standardised recording forms for binary, categorical and quantitative measures, and the use of performance indices. In total, 217 studies that described racing performance were identified, contributing 117 different performance measures. No one performance measure was used in all studies, despite 90.3% using more than one variable. Data regarding race starts and earnings were used most commonly, with 88.0% and 54.4% of studies including at least one measure of starts and earnings, respectively. Seventeen variables were used 10 times or more, with the top five comprising: 'return to racing', 'number of starts', 'days to first start', 'earnings per period of time' and 'earnings per start'. The search strategies may not have identified all relevant papers, introducing bias to the review. Performance indices have been developed to improve assessment of interventions; however, they are not widely adopted in the scientific literature. Use of the two most commonly identified measures, whether the horse returned to racing and number of starts over a defined period of time, would best facilitate future systematic reviews and meta-analyses in advance of the development of a gold-standard measure of race performance outcome. © 2017 EVJ Ltd.

Systematic Correlation Matrix Evaluation (SCoMaE) - a bottom-up, science-led approach to identifying indicators

Science.gov (United States)

Mengis, Nadine; Keller, David P.; Oschlies, Andreas

2018-01-01

This study introduces the Systematic Correlation Matrix Evaluation (SCoMaE) method, a bottom-up approach which combines expert judgment and statistical information to systematically select transparent, nonredundant indicators for a comprehensive assessment of the state of the Earth system. The methods consists of two basic steps: (1) the calculation of a correlation matrix among variables relevant for a given research question and (2) the systematic evaluation of the matrix, to identify clusters of variables with similar behavior and respective mutually independent indicators. Optional further analysis steps include (3) the interpretation of the identified clusters, enabling a learning effect from the selection of indicators, (4) testing the robustness of identified clusters with respect to changes in forcing or boundary conditions, (5) enabling a comparative assessment of varying scenarios by constructing and evaluating a common correlation matrix, and (6) the inclusion of expert judgment, for example, to prescribe indicators, to allow for considerations other than statistical consistency. The example application of the SCoMaE method to Earth system model output forced by different CO2 emission scenarios reveals the necessity of reevaluating indicators identified in a historical scenario simulation for an accurate assessment of an intermediate-high, as well as a business-as-usual, climate change scenario simulation. This necessity arises from changes in prevailing correlations in the Earth system under varying climate forcing. For a comparative assessment of the three climate change scenarios, we construct and evaluate a common correlation matrix, in which we identify robust correlations between variables across the three considered scenarios.

Systematic In Vivo RNAi Analysis Identifies IAPs as NEDD8-E3 Ligases

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Broemer, Meike; Tenev, Tencho; Rigbolt, Kristoffer T G

2010-01-01

-like proteins (UBLs), and deconjugating enzymes that remove the Ub or UBL adduct. Systematic in vivo RNAi analysis identified three NEDD8-specific isopeptidases that, when knocked down, suppress apoptosis. Consistent with the notion that attachment of NEDD8 prevents cell death, genetic ablation of deneddylase 1...

A Systematic Mapping Study of Tools for Distributed Software Development Teams

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Tell, Paolo; Ali Babar, Muhammad

schemas for providing a framework that can help identify the categories that have attracted significant amount of research and commercial efforts, and the research areas where there are gaps to be filled. Conclusions: The findings show that whilst commercial and open source solutions are predominantly...... gaps. Objective: The objective of this research is to systematically identify and classify a comprehensive list of the technologies that have been developed and/or used for supporting GSD teams. Method: This study has been undertaken as a Systematic Mapping Study (SMS). Our searches identified 1958......Context: A wide variety of technologies have been developed to support Global Software Development (GSD). However, the information about the dozens of available solutions is quite diverse and scattered making it quite difficult to have an overview able to identify common trends and unveil research...

Prevalence, trends and risk factors for the diabetes epidemic in China: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Zuo, Hui; Shi, Zumin; Hussain, Akhtar

2014-04-01

To describe the prevalence and trends of diabetes and to quantitatively assess its risk factors in mainland China. Thirty-one epidemiological studies were identified by a systematic search of four databases. Prevalence estimates were mapped and summarized by meta-analysis in each region of China. The pooled ORs and 95% CIs of risk factors for diabetes were also calculated. There was a large geographical imbalance with regard to the prevalence of diabetes. Region-pooled prevalence was highest in the eastern region (8.0%, 95% CI: 6.1-10.0%) and lowest in the western region (4.6%, 95% CI: 3.3-6.0%), which was consistent with regional levels of economic development. The overall prevalence of diabetes has been increasing since 1980. Traditional risk factors such as age, family history of diabetes, obesity, hypertension and elevated triglycerides were found to be associated with diabetes. In addition, urban residence and being from ethnic minorities were also significantly associated. Based on the meta-analyses, we found that the prevalence of diabetes is different in different parts of China but it has been increasing sharply during the last three decades. Some risk factors were quantitatively derived in the study, which are free from the diversity of a single sample. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Quasi-experimental study designs series-paper 8: identifying quasi-experimental studies to inform systematic reviews.

Science.gov (United States)

Glanville, Julie; Eyers, John; Jones, Andrew M; Shemilt, Ian; Wang, Grace; Johansen, Marit; Fiander, Michelle; Rothstein, Hannah

2017-09-01

This article reviews the available evidence and guidance on methods to identify reports of quasi-experimental (QE) studies to inform systematic reviews of health care, public health, international development, education, crime and justice, and social welfare. Research, guidance, and examples of search strategies were identified by searching a range of databases, key guidance documents, selected reviews, conference proceedings, and personal communication. Current practice and research evidence were summarized. Four thousand nine hundred twenty-four records were retrieved by database searches, and additional documents were obtained by other searches. QE studies are challenging to identify efficiently because they have no standardized nomenclature and may be indexed in various ways. Reliable search filters are not available. There is a lack of specific resources devoted to collecting QE studies and little evidence on where best to search. Searches to identify QE studies should search a range of resources and, until indexing improves, use strategies that focus on the topic rather than the study design. Better definitions, better indexing in databases, prospective registers, and reporting guidance are required to improve the retrieval of QE studies and promote systematic reviews of what works based on the evidence from such studies. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Exploring historical trends using taxonomic name metadata

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Schenk Ryan

2008-05-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Authority and year information have been attached to taxonomic names since Linnaean times. The systematic structure of taxonomic nomenclature facilitates the ability to develop tools that can be used to explore historical trends that may be associated with taxonomy. Results From the over 10.7 million taxonomic names that are part of the uBio system 4, approximately 3 million names were identified to have taxonomic authority information from the years 1750 to 2004. A pipe-delimited file was then generated, organized according to a Linnaean hierarchy and by years from 1750 to 2004, and imported into an Excel workbook. A series of macros were developed to create an Excel-based tool and a complementary Web site to explore the taxonomic data. A cursory and speculative analysis of the data reveals observable trends that may be attributable to significant events that are of both taxonomic (e.g., publishing of key monographs and societal importance (e.g., world wars. The findings also help quantify the number of taxonomic descriptions that may be made available through digitization initiatives. Conclusion Temporal organization of taxonomic data can be used to identify interesting biological epochs relative to historically significant events and ongoing efforts. We have developed an Excel workbook and complementary Web site that enables one to explore taxonomic trends for Linnaean taxonomic groupings, from Kingdoms to Families.

Systematic Evaluation of Pleiotropy Identifies 6 Further Loci Associated With Coronary Artery Disease

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Webb, Thomas R; Erdmann, Jeanette; Stirrups, Kathleen E; Stitziel, Nathan O; Masca, Nicholas G D; Jansen, Henning; Kanoni, Stavroula; Nelson, Christopher P; Ferrario, Paola G; König, Inke R; Eicher, John D; Johnson, Andrew D; Hamby, Stephen E; Betsholtz, Christer; Ruusalepp, Arno; Franzén, Oscar; Schadt, Eric E; Björkegren, Johan L M; Weeke, Peter E; Auer, Paul L; Schick, Ursula M; Lu, Yingchang; Zhang, He; Dube, Marie-Pierre; Goel, Anuj; Farrall, Martin; Peloso, Gina M; Won, Hong-Hee; Do, Ron; van Iperen, Erik; Kruppa, Jochen; Mahajan, Anubha; Scott, Robert A; Willenborg, Christina; Braund, Peter S; van Capelleveen, Julian C; Doney, Alex S F; Donnelly, Louise A; Asselta, Rosanna; Merlini, Pier A; Duga, Stefano; Marziliano, Nicola; Denny, Josh C; Shaffer, Christian; El-Mokhtari, Nour Eddine; Franke, Andre; Heilmann, Stefanie; Hengstenberg, Christian; Hoffmann, Per; Holmen, Oddgeir L; Hveem, Kristian; Jansson, Jan-Håkan; Jöckel, Karl-Heinz; Kessler, Thorsten; Kriebel, Jennifer; Laugwitz, Karl L; Marouli, Eirini; Martinelli, Nicola; McCarthy, Mark I; Van Zuydam, Natalie R; Meisinger, Christa; Esko, Tõnu; Mihailov, Evelin; Escher, Stefan A; Alver, Maris; Moebus, Susanne; Morris, Andrew D; Virtamo, Jarma; Nikpay, Majid; Olivieri, Oliviero; Provost, Sylvie; AlQarawi, Alaa; Robertson, Neil R; Akinsansya, Karen O; Reilly, Dermot F; Vogt, Thomas F; Yin, Wu; Asselbergs, Folkert W; Kooperberg, Charles; Jackson, Rebecca D; Stahl, Eli; Müller-Nurasyid, Martina; Strauch, Konstantin; Varga, Tibor V; Waldenberger, Melanie; Zeng, Lingyao; Chowdhury, Rajiv; Salomaa, Veikko; Ford, Ian; Jukema, J Wouter; Amouyel, Philippe; Kontto, Jukka; Nordestgaard, Børge G; Ferrières, Jean; Saleheen, Danish; Sattar, Naveed; Surendran, Praveen; Wagner, Aline; Young, Robin; Howson, Joanna M M; Butterworth, Adam S; Danesh, John; Ardissino, Diego; Bottinger, Erwin P; Erbel, Raimund; Franks, Paul W; Girelli, Domenico; Hall, Alistair S; Hovingh, G Kees; Kastrati, Adnan; Lieb, Wolfgang; Meitinger, Thomas; Kraus, William E; Shah, Svati H; McPherson, Ruth; Orho-Melander, Marju; Melander, Olle; Metspalu, Andres; Palmer, Colin N A; Peters, Annette; Rader, Daniel J; Reilly, Muredach P; Loos, Ruth J F; Reiner, Alex P; Roden, Dan M; Tardif, Jean-Claude; Thompson, John R; Wareham, Nicholas J; Watkins, Hugh; Willer, Cristen J; Samani, Nilesh J; Schunkert, Heribert; Deloukas, Panos; Kathiresan, Sekar

2017-01-01

BACKGROUND: Genome-wide association studies have so far identified 56 loci associated with risk of coronary artery disease (CAD). Many CAD loci show pleiotropy; that is, they are also associated with other diseases or traits. OBJECTIVES: This study sought to systematically test if genetic variants

Prevalence and trends of metabolic syndrome among adults in the asia-pacific region: a systematic review

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

P. Ranasinghe

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background The Asia-Pacific region is home to nearly half of the world’s population. The region has seen a recent rapid increase in the prevalence of obesity, type-2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. The present systematic review summarizes the recent prevalence and trends of Metabolic Syndrome (MetS among adults in countries of the Asia-Pacific Region. Methods Data on MetS in Asia-Pacific countries were obtained using a stepwise process by searching the online Medline database using MeSH terms ‘Metabolic Syndrome X’ and ‘Epidemiology/EP’. For the purpose of describing prevalence data for the individual countries, studies that were most recent, nationally representative or with the largest sample size were included. When evaluating secular trends in prevalence in a country we only considered studies that evaluated the temporal change in prevalence between similar populations, prospective studies based on the same population or National surveys conducted during different time periods. Results This literature search yielded a total of 757 articles, and five additional article were identified by screening of reference lists. From this total, 18 studies were eligible to be included in the final analysis. Of the 51 Asia-Pacific countries (WHO we only located data for 15. There was wide between country variation in prevalence of MetS. A national survey from Philippines conducted in 2003 revealed the lowest reported prevalence of 11.9% according to NCEP ATP III criteria. In contrast, the highest recorded prevalence in the region (49.0% came from a study conducted in urban Pakistan (Karachchi, 2004. Most studies reported a higher prevalence of MetS in females and urban residents. Data on secular trends were available for China, South Korea and Taiwan. An increase in the prevalence of MetS was observed in all three countries. Conclusion Despite differences in methodology, diagnostic criteria and age of subjects studied, the Asia

Identifying approaches for assessing methodological and reporting quality of systematic reviews

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pussegoda, Kusala; Turner, Lucy; Garritty, Chantelle

2017-01-01

there are potential gaps in research best-practice guidance materials. The aims of this study are to identify reports assessing the methodological quality (MQ) and/or reporting quality (RQ) of a cohort of SRs and to assess their number, general characteristics, and approaches to 'quality' assessment over time......BACKGROUND: The methodological quality and completeness of reporting of the systematic reviews (SRs) is fundamental to optimal implementation of evidence-based health care and the reduction of research waste. Methods exist to appraise SRs yet little is known about how they are used in SRs or where...... or reporting guidelines used as proxy to assess RQ were used in 80% (61/76) of identified reports. These included two reporting guidelines (PRISMA and QUOROM) and five quality assessment tools (AMSTAR, R-AMSTAR, OQAQ, Mulrow, Sacks) and GRADE criteria. The remaining 24% (18/76) of reports developed their own...

Eysenbach, Tuische and Diepgen’s Evaluation of Web Searching for Identifying Unpublished Studies for Systematic Reviews: An Innovative Study Which is Still Relevant Today.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Simon Briscoe

2016-09-01

Full Text Available A Review of: Eysenbach, G., Tuische, J. & Diepgen, T.L. (2001. Evaluation of the usefulness of Internet searches to identify unpublished clinical trials for systematic reviews. Medical Informatics and the Internet in Medicine, 26(3, 203-218. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14639230110075459 Objective – To consider whether web searching is a useful method for identifying unpublished studies for inclusion in systematic reviews. Design – Retrospective web searches using the AltaVista search engine were conducted to identify unpublished studies – specifically, clinical trials – for systematic reviews which did not use a web search engine. Setting – The Department of Clinical Social Medicine, University of Heidelberg, Germany. Subjects – n/a Methods – Pilot testing of 11 web search engines was carried out to determine which could handle complex search queries. Pre-specified search requirements included the ability to handle Boolean and proximity operators, and truncation searching. A total of seven Cochrane systematic reviews were randomly selected from the Cochrane Library Issue 2, 1998, and their bibliographic database search strategies were adapted for the web search engine, AltaVista. Each adaptation combined search terms for the intervention, problem, and study type in the systematic review. Hints to planned, ongoing, or unpublished studies retrieved by the search engine, which were not cited in the systematic reviews, were followed up by visiting websites and contacting authors for further details when required. The authors of the systematic reviews were then contacted and asked to comment on the potential relevance of the identified studies. Main Results – Hints to 14 unpublished and potentially relevant studies, corresponding to 4 of the 7 randomly selected Cochrane systematic reviews, were identified. Out of the 14 studies, 2 were considered irrelevant to the corresponding systematic review by the systematic review authors. The

Evaluation of Health Economics in Radiation Oncology: A Systematic Review

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nguyen, Timothy K.; Goodman, Chris D.; Boldt, R. Gabriel; Warner, Andrew; Palma, David A.; Rodrigues, George B.; Lock, Michael I.; Mishra, Mark V.; Zaric, Gregory S.; Louie, Alexander V.

2016-01-01

Purpose: Despite the rising costs in radiation oncology, the impact of health economics research on radiation therapy practice analysis patterns is unclear. We performed a systematic review of cost-effectiveness analyses (CEAs) and cost-utility analyses (CUAs) to identify trends in reporting quality in the radiation oncology literature over time. Methods and Materials: A systematic review of radiation oncology economic evaluations up to 2014 was performed, using MEDLINE and EMBASE databases. The Consolidated Health Economic Evaluation Reporting Standards guideline informed data abstraction variables including study demographics, economic parameters, and methodological details. Tufts Medical Center CEA registry quality scores provided a basis for qualitative assessment of included studies. Studies were stratified by 3 time periods (1995-2004, 2005-2009, and 2010-2014). The Cochran-Armitage trend test and linear trend test were used to identify trends over time. Results: In total, 102 articles were selected for final review. Most studies were in the context of a model (61%) or clinical trial (28%). Many studies lacked a conflict of interest (COI) statement (67%), a sponsorship statement (48%), a reported study time horizon (35%), and the use of discounting (29%). There was a significant increase over time in the reporting of a COI statement (P<.001), health care payer perspective (P=.019), sensitivity analyses using multivariate (P=.043) or probabilistic methods (P=.011), incremental cost-effectiveness threshold (P<.001), secondary source utility weights (P=.010), and cost effectiveness acceptability curves (P=.049). There was a trend toward improvement in Tuft scores over time (P=.065). Conclusions: Recent reports demonstrate improved reporting rates in economic evaluations; however, there remains significant room for improvement as reporting rates are still suboptimal. As fiscal pressures rise, we will rely on economic assessments to guide our practice decisions

Evaluation of Health Economics in Radiation Oncology: A Systematic Review

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Nguyen, Timothy K.; Goodman, Chris D. [Department of Radiation Oncology, London Regional Cancer Program, London, Ontario (Canada); Boldt, R. Gabriel [London Health Sciences Centre, London, Ontario (Canada); Warner, Andrew; Palma, David A. [Department of Radiation Oncology, London Regional Cancer Program, London, Ontario (Canada); Rodrigues, George B. [Department of Radiation Oncology, London Regional Cancer Program, London, Ontario (Canada); Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Western University, London, Ontario (Canada); Lock, Michael I. [Department of Radiation Oncology, London Regional Cancer Program, London, Ontario (Canada); Mishra, Mark V. [Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Maryland, Baltimore, Maryland (United States); Zaric, Gregory S. [Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Western University, London, Ontario (Canada); Ivey Business School, Western University, London, Ontario (Canada); Louie, Alexander V., E-mail: Dr.alexlouie@gmail.com [Department of Radiation Oncology, London Regional Cancer Program, London, Ontario (Canada); Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Western University, London, Ontario (Canada)

2016-04-01

Purpose: Despite the rising costs in radiation oncology, the impact of health economics research on radiation therapy practice analysis patterns is unclear. We performed a systematic review of cost-effectiveness analyses (CEAs) and cost-utility analyses (CUAs) to identify trends in reporting quality in the radiation oncology literature over time. Methods and Materials: A systematic review of radiation oncology economic evaluations up to 2014 was performed, using MEDLINE and EMBASE databases. The Consolidated Health Economic Evaluation Reporting Standards guideline informed data abstraction variables including study demographics, economic parameters, and methodological details. Tufts Medical Center CEA registry quality scores provided a basis for qualitative assessment of included studies. Studies were stratified by 3 time periods (1995-2004, 2005-2009, and 2010-2014). The Cochran-Armitage trend test and linear trend test were used to identify trends over time. Results: In total, 102 articles were selected for final review. Most studies were in the context of a model (61%) or clinical trial (28%). Many studies lacked a conflict of interest (COI) statement (67%), a sponsorship statement (48%), a reported study time horizon (35%), and the use of discounting (29%). There was a significant increase over time in the reporting of a COI statement (P<.001), health care payer perspective (P=.019), sensitivity analyses using multivariate (P=.043) or probabilistic methods (P=.011), incremental cost-effectiveness threshold (P<.001), secondary source utility weights (P=.010), and cost effectiveness acceptability curves (P=.049). There was a trend toward improvement in Tuft scores over time (P=.065). Conclusions: Recent reports demonstrate improved reporting rates in economic evaluations; however, there remains significant room for improvement as reporting rates are still suboptimal. As fiscal pressures rise, we will rely on economic assessments to guide our practice decisions

Cyber threats to health information systems: A systematic review.

Science.gov (United States)

Luna, Raul; Rhine, Emily; Myhra, Matthew; Sullivan, Ross; Kruse, Clemens Scott

2016-01-01

Recent legislation empowering providers to embrace the electronic exchange of health information leaves the healthcare industry increasingly vulnerable to cybercrime. The objective of this systematic review is to identify the biggest threats to healthcare via cybercrime. The rationale behind this systematic review is to provide a framework for future research by identifying themes and trends of cybercrime in the healthcare industry. The authors conducted a systematic search through the CINAHL, Academic Search Complete, PubMed, and ScienceDirect databases to gather literature relative to cyber threats in healthcare. All authors reviewed the articles collected and excluded literature that did not focus on the objective. Researchers selected and examined 19 articles for common themes. The most prevalent cyber-criminal activity in healthcare is identity theft through data breach. Other concepts identified are internal threats, external threats, cyber-squatting, and cyberterrorism. The industry has now come to rely heavily on digital technologies, which increase risks such as denial of service and data breaches. Current healthcare cyber-security systems do not rival the capabilities of cyber criminals. Security of information is a costly resource and therefore many HCOs may hesitate to invest what is required to protect sensitive information.

Trends of solar ultraviolet irradiance at Barrow, Alaska, and the effect of measurement uncertainties on trend detection

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

G. Bernhard

2011-12-01

Full Text Available Spectral ultraviolet (UV irradiance has been observed near Barrow, Alaska (71° N, 157° W between 1991 and 2011 with an SUV-100 spectroradiometer. The instrument was historically part of the US National Science Foundation's UV Monitoring Network and is now a component of NSF's Arctic Observing Network. From these measurements, trends in monthly average irradiance and their uncertainties were calculated. The analysis focuses on two quantities, the UV Index (which is affected by atmospheric ozone concentrations and irradiance at 345 nm (which is virtually insensitive to ozone. Uncertainties of trend estimates depend on variations in the data due to (1 natural variability, (2 systematic and random errors of the measurements, and (3 uncertainties caused by gaps in the time series. Using radiative transfer model calculations, systematic errors of the measurements were detected and corrected. Different correction schemes were tested to quantify the sensitivity of the trend estimates on the treatment of systematic errors. Depending on the correction method, estimates of decadal trends changed between 1.5% and 2.9%. Uncertainties in the trend estimates caused by error sources (2 and (3 were set into relation with the overall uncertainty of the trend determinations. Results show that these error sources are only relevant for February, March, and April when natural variability is low due to high surface albedo. This method of addressing measurement uncertainties in time series analysis is also applicable to other geophysical parameters. Trend estimates varied between −14% and +5% per decade and were significant (95.45% confidence level only for the month of October. Depending on the correction method, October trends varied between −11.4% and −13.7% for irradiance at 345 nm and between −11.7% and −14.1% for the UV Index. These large trends are consistent with trends in short-wave (0.3–3.0 μm solar irradiance measured with pyranometers at NOAA

Trends and Challenges in Smart Healthcare Research: A Journey from Data to Wisdom

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Solanas, Agusti; Fran, Casino; Batista, Edgar; Rallo Moya, Roberto J.

2017-10-12

Smart Healthcare is a relatively new context-aware healthcare paradigm influenced by several fields of knowledge, namely medical informatics, communications and electronics, bioengineering, ethics and so on. Thus, many challenging problems are related to smart healthcare but in many cases they are explored individually in their respective fields and, as a result, they are not always known by the smart healthcare research community working in more specific domains. The aim of this article is to identify some of the most relevant trends and research lines that are going to affect the smart healthcare field in the years to come. To do so, the article considers a systematic approach that classifies the identified research trends and problems according to their appearance within the data life cycle, this is, from the data gathering in the physical layer (lowest level) until their final use in the application layer (highest level). By identifying and classifying those research trends and challenges, we help to pose questions that the smart healthcare community will need to address. Consequently, we set a common ground to explore important problems in the field, which will have significant impact in the years to come.

Research Trends in Mobile Learning in Higher Education: A Systematic Review of Articles (2011-2015)

Science.gov (United States)

Krull, Greig; Duart, Josep M.

2017-01-01

The potential and use of mobile devices in higher education has been a key issue for educational research and practice since the widespread adoption of these devices. Due to the evolving nature and affordances of mobile technologies, it is an area that requires ongoing investigation. This study aims to identify emerging trends in mobile learning…

Beacon-based tourist information system to identify visiting trends of tourists

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Akihiro Yamaguchi

2017-11-01

Full Text Available In this study, we propose a system that provides tourist information and obtains trends of visiting tourists using beacons and cloud service. As part of our research, we are working on the promotion of local area tourism in cooperation with a local community. A low energy Bluetooth device is used as a beacon to transmit a universally unique identifier. In addition, beacons are placed at sightseeing spots and tourist facilities. Our proposed system comprises two application programs; one is a client-side application program that provides area-specific tourist information corresponding to the detected beacon. The other is a server-side application to record time and location information of the detected beacons. In this paper, we describe the scheme of our system, and present the results of experiments conducted using the prototype system in the local tourist area. In addition, we discuss an open platform for information collection services using beacons.

Identifying risk factors for first-episode neck pain: A systematic review.

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Rebecca; Wiest, Colin; Clark, Kelly; Cook, Chad; Horn, Maggie

2018-02-01

Neck pain affects 15.1% of the United States' general population every 3 months, and ranks fourth in global disability. Because of the tendency for neck pain to become a chronic issue, it is important to identify risk factors that could encourage prevention and early diagnosis. The purpose of this systematic review was to identify risk factors for a first episode of neck pain. Three databases were searched with key words such as "neck pain" and "first incidence." Risk factors from the resulting articles were reported as either a physical or psychosocial risk factor and ranked by the strength of their odds/risk/hazard ratio: empowering leadership, high perceived social climate, leisure physical activity, and cervical extensor endurance. Most risk factors found for neck pain were related to psychosocial characteristics, rather than physical characteristics. A number of these risk factors were mediating factors, suggesting that a prevention-based program may be useful in modifying the existence of the risk factors before the occurrence of neck pain. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Using a Systematic Approach to Identifying Organizational Factors in Root Cause Analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gallogly, Kay Wilde

2011-01-01

This presentation set the scene for the second discussion session. In her presentation, the author observed that: - Investigators do not see the connection between the analysis tools available and the identification of HOF. Most investigators use the tools in a cursory manner and so do not derive the full benefits of the tools. Some tools are used for presentation purposes as opposed to being used for analytical purposes e.g. event and causal factors charts. In some cases, the report will indicate that specific analytical tools were used in the investigation but the analysis is not in the body of the report. - Some investigators are documenting HOF causes but do not recognize them as such. This indicates a lack of understanding of HOF. - Others investigators focus on technical issues because of their own comfort level. - The culture of the Organisation will affect the depth of the investigation and therefore the use of the analytical tools to pursue HOF issues. - The author contends that if analysis tools are applied systematically to gather factually based data, then HOF issues can be identified. The use of factual information (without judgement and subjectivity) is important to maintain the credibility of the investigation especially when HOF issues are identified. - Systematic use of tools assists in better communication of the issues to foster greater understanding and acceptance by senior management. - Barrier Analysis, Change Analysis, and TWIN (Task Demands, Work Environment, Individual Capabilities, and Human Nature) all offer the opportunity to identify HOF issues if the analyst pursues this line of investigation. It was illustrated that many elements of the TWIN Error Precursors are themselves Organisational in nature. - The TWIN model applied to the Anatomy of an Event will help to distinguish those which are Organisational issues (Latent Organisational Weaknesses, Error Precursors and Flawed Defences) and those which are human factors (Active Errors

The systematic functional analysis of plasmodium protein kinases identifies essential regulators of mosquito transmission

KAUST Repository

Tewari, Rita; Straschil, Ursula; Bateman, Alex; Bö hme, Ulrike; Cherevach, Inna; Gong, Peng; Pain, Arnab; Billker, Oliver

2010-01-01

Although eukaryotic protein kinases (ePKs) contribute to many cellular processes, only three Plasmodium falciparum ePKs have thus far been identified as essential for parasite asexual blood stage development. To identify pathways essential for parasite transmission between their mammalian host and mosquito vector, we undertook a systematic functional analysis of ePKs in the genetically tractable rodent parasite Plasmodium berghei. Modeling domain signatures of conventional ePKs identified 66 putative Plasmodium ePKs. Kinomes are highly conserved between Plasmodium species. Using reverse genetics, we show that 23 ePKs are redundant for asexual erythrocytic parasite development in mice. Phenotyping mutants at four life cycle stages in Anopheles stephensi mosquitoes revealed functional clusters of kinases required for sexual development and sporogony. Roles for a putative SR protein kinase (SRPK) in microgamete formation, a conserved regulator of clathrin uncoating (GAK) in ookinete formation, and a likely regulator of energy metabolism (SNF1/KIN) in sporozoite development were identified. 2010 Elsevier Inc.

The systematic functional analysis of plasmodium protein kinases identifies essential regulators of mosquito transmission

KAUST Repository

Tewari, Rita

2010-10-21

Although eukaryotic protein kinases (ePKs) contribute to many cellular processes, only three Plasmodium falciparum ePKs have thus far been identified as essential for parasite asexual blood stage development. To identify pathways essential for parasite transmission between their mammalian host and mosquito vector, we undertook a systematic functional analysis of ePKs in the genetically tractable rodent parasite Plasmodium berghei. Modeling domain signatures of conventional ePKs identified 66 putative Plasmodium ePKs. Kinomes are highly conserved between Plasmodium species. Using reverse genetics, we show that 23 ePKs are redundant for asexual erythrocytic parasite development in mice. Phenotyping mutants at four life cycle stages in Anopheles stephensi mosquitoes revealed functional clusters of kinases required for sexual development and sporogony. Roles for a putative SR protein kinase (SRPK) in microgamete formation, a conserved regulator of clathrin uncoating (GAK) in ookinete formation, and a likely regulator of energy metabolism (SNF1/KIN) in sporozoite development were identified. 2010 Elsevier Inc.

Evolutionary trends in Heteroptera

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Cobben, R.H.

1968-01-01

1. This work, the first volume of a series dealing with evolutionary trends in Heteroptera, is concerned with the egg system of about 400 species. The data are presented systematically in chapters 1 and 2 with a critical review of the literature after each family.

2. Chapter 3 evaluates facts

Sport and ageing: a systematic review of the determinants and trends of participation in sport for older adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Jenkin, Claire R; Eime, Rochelle M; Westerbeek, Hans; O'Sullivan, Grant; van Uffelen, Jannique G Z

2017-12-22

The global population is ageing. As ageing is often associated with a decline in health, there is a need to further develop preventative health measures. Physical activity can positively influence older adults' (aged 50 years and older) health. Previous research on the relationship between physical activity and health for older adults has mainly focused on physical activity in general, and not specific types of exercise. Due to the social nature of sport, it may assist in improving physical, mental and social health for older adults. Sport, as a form of physical activity, has not been widely explored as a physical activity opportunity for older adults. This review concurrently explored two research questions: the determinants and the trends of sport participation for community dwelling older adults. Two parallel systematic searches of nine electronic databases were conducted in December 2015 for the two research questions. English language quantitative and qualitative studies that provided specific results for community dwelling older adults' sport participation were included and a quality ratings assessment was undertaken. There were 10,171 studies initially identified for the first research question and 1992 studies for the second research question. This culminated in 18 and 8 studies respectively that met the inclusion criteria. The most frequently mentioned determinants of participation were health and using sport to negotiate the ageing process. The most frequently mentioned trends of sport participation were the effect of historical sport participation on current participation, and sport participation across the lifespan. The main themes for both research questions had contrasting results, for example, participation in sport could improve health, but poor health was also a limitation of sport participation. This review demonstrates that older adults are a heterogeneous age group, and therefore require different strategies than other age groups to

The controversy of sports technology: a systematic review.

Science.gov (United States)

Dyer, Bryce

2015-01-01

Changes or introductions of technology or equipment can affect how a sport is played or influence its performances. This article conducted a systematic review of peer-reviewed literature to identify any case studies of controversial events surrounding the implementation or use of sports technology. 56 articles were identified that highlighted 31 different case studies found over a three decade time period. Thematic analysis revealed six distinctive themes when reviewing the articles. Whilst the sport of golf had the highest number of case studies, it was found that a significant level of attention had been recorded in the cases of Oscar Pistorius use of prosthetic legs in athletics and the use of full length swimsuits in swimming. The trend surrounding the number of articles was shown to be initially intermittent but saw a peak period from 2008 to 2010. However, the frequency of such articles since this peak has been more consistent. It is proposed that long periods of time without intervention or resolution by a governing body often increases the peer-reviewed attention paid to such cases in examples such as those identified in this systematic review.

Cost-effectiveness research in cancer therapy: a systematic review of literature trends, methods and the influence of funding.

Science.gov (United States)

Al-Badriyeh, Daoud; Alameri, Marwah; Al-Okka, Randa

2017-01-27

To perform a first-time analysis of the cost-effectiveness (CE) literature on chemotherapies, of all types, in cancer, in terms of trends and change over time, including the influence of industry funding. Systematic review. A wide range of cancer-related research settings within healthcare, including health systems, hospitals and medical centres. All literature comparative CE research of drug-based cancer therapies in the period 1986 to 2015. Primary outcomes are the literature trends in relation to journal subject category, authorship, research design, data sources, funds and consultation involvement. An additional outcome measure is the association between industry funding and study outcomes. Descriptive statistics and the χ 2 , Fisher exact or Somer's D tests were used to perform non-parametric statistics, with a p value of research is presented to the practicing community, including in relation to journals, study designs, authorship and consultation, together with increased financial sponsorship by pharmaceutical industries, which may be more influencing study outcomes than other funding sources. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/.

Identifying the women at risk of antenatal anxiety and depression: A systematic review.

Science.gov (United States)

Biaggi, Alessandra; Conroy, Susan; Pawlby, Susan; Pariante, Carmine M

2016-02-01

Pregnancy is a time of increased vulnerability for the development of anxiety and depression. This systematic review aims to identify the main risk factors involved in the onset of antenatal anxiety and depression. A systematic literature analysis was conducted, using PubMed, PsychINFO, and the Cochrane Library. Original papers were included if they were written in English and published between 1st January 2003 and 31st August 2015, while literature reviews and meta-analyses were consulted regardless of publication date. A final number of 97 papers were selected. The most relevant factors associated with antenatal depression or anxiety were: lack of partner or of social support; history of abuse or of domestic violence; personal history of mental illness; unplanned or unwanted pregnancy; adverse events in life and high perceived stress; present/past pregnancy complications; and pregnancy loss. The review does not include a meta-analysis, which may have added additional information about the differential impact of each risk factor. Moreover, it does not specifically examine factors that may influence different types of anxiety disorders, or the recurrence or persistence of depression or anxiety from pregnancy to the postpartum period. The results show the complex aetiology of antenatal depression and anxiety. The administration of a screening tool to identify women at risk of anxiety and depression during pregnancy should be universal practice in order to promote the long-term wellbeing of mothers and babies, and the knowledge of specific risk factors may help creating such screening tool targeting women at higher risk. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Trends of intervention for paediatric stone disease over the last two decades (2000–2015: A systematic review of literature

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Amelia Pietropaolo

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Objective: To ascertain the publication trends of interventions for paediatric kidney stone disease (KSD we conducted a systematic review of literature over the last 16 years. Patients and methods: With a rise of paediatric KSD and related interventions, a systematic review using PubMed was done over the last 16 years for all published papers on ‘Paediatric stone disease intervention – ureteroscopy (URS, shockwave lithotripsy (SWL, percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PCNL, open stone surgery, and laparoscopic stone surgery’. The search was limited to English language articles with a published abstract, whilst case reports, animal and laboratory studies, were excluded. We also analysed the data in two time periods, period-1 (2000–2007 and period-2 (2008–2015. Results: During the last 16-years, 339 papers were published on paediatric stone disease intervention on PubMed. This included papers on URS (95, PCNL (97, SWL (102, open stone surgery (34 and laparoscopic stone surgery (11. During period-1 and period-2 there were 30 and 65 papers on URS, 16 and 81 papers on PCNL, 33 and 60 papers on SWL, nine and 25 papers on open surgery, respectively. When comparing the two periods, there were 92 published papers for all interventions in period-1 and this had risen almost threefold to 247 papers in period-2. Conclusions: Our systematic review shows that intervention for KSD in the paediatric age group has risen over the last 8 years. Whilst URS, SWL, open surgery and laparoscopic surgery have all doubled, PCNL has risen fivefold reflecting an increase in the new minimally invasive PCNL techniques. Keywords: Publication trends, Urolithiasis, Stone, Ureteroscopy, Paediatrics

Trends and determining factors associated with adherence to antiretroviral therapy (ART in Cameroon: a systematic review and analysis of the CAMPS trial

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mbuagbaw Lawrence

2012-12-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background The benefits of antiretroviral therapy (ART cannot be experienced if they are not taken as prescribed. Yet, not all causes of non-adherence are dependent on the patient. Having to pay for medication reduces adherence rates. Non- adherence has severe public health implications which must be addressed locally and globally. This paper seeks to describe the trends in adherence rates reported in Cameroon and to investigate the determinants of adherence to ART in the Cameroon Mobile Phone SMS (CAMPS trial. Methods We conducted a systematic review of electronic databases (PubMed, Google Scholar, Web of Science, CINAHL, EMBASE and PSYCINFO for publications on adherence to ART in Cameroon (from January 1999 to May 2012 and described the trend in reported adherence rates and the factors associated with adherence. Data were extracted in duplicate. We used multivariable analyses on the baseline data for 200 participants in the CAMPS trial to determine the factors associated with adherence in four models using different measures of adherence (more than 90% or 95% on the visual analogue scale, no missed doses and a composite measure: 100% on the visual analogue scale, no missed doses and all pills taken on time. Results We identified nine studies meeting our inclusion criteria. Adherence to ART in Cameroon has risen steadily between 2000 and 2010, corresponding to reductions in the cost of medication. The factors associated with adherence to ART in Cameroon are grouped into patient, medication and disease related factors. We also identified factors related to the health system and the patient-provider relationship. In the CAMPS trial, education, side effects experienced and number of reminder methods were found to improve adherence, but only using multiple reminder methods was associated with better adherence in all the regression models (Adjusted Odds Ratio [AOR] 4.11, 95% Confidence Interval [CI] 1.89, 8.93; p Conclusions Reducing the

Forcing, feedback and internal variability in global temperature trends.

Science.gov (United States)

Marotzke, Jochem; Forster, Piers M

2015-01-29

Most present-generation climate models simulate an increase in global-mean surface temperature (GMST) since 1998, whereas observations suggest a warming hiatus. It is unclear to what extent this mismatch is caused by incorrect model forcing, by incorrect model response to forcing or by random factors. Here we analyse simulations and observations of GMST from 1900 to 2012, and show that the distribution of simulated 15-year trends shows no systematic bias against the observations. Using a multiple regression approach that is physically motivated by surface energy balance, we isolate the impact of radiative forcing, climate feedback and ocean heat uptake on GMST--with the regression residual interpreted as internal variability--and assess all possible 15- and 62-year trends. The differences between simulated and observed trends are dominated by random internal variability over the shorter timescale and by variations in the radiative forcings used to drive models over the longer timescale. For either trend length, spread in simulated climate feedback leaves no traceable imprint on GMST trends or, consequently, on the difference between simulations and observations. The claim that climate models systematically overestimate the response to radiative forcing from increasing greenhouse gas concentrations therefore seems to be unfounded.

Worldwide Prevalence and Trends in Unintentional Drug Overdose: A Systematic Review of the Literature.

Science.gov (United States)

Martins, Silvia S; Sampson, Laura; Cerdá, Magdalena; Galea, Sandro

2015-11-01

Drug overdose is an important, yet an inadequately understood, public health problem. Global attention to unintentional drug overdose has been limited by comparison with the scope of the problem. There has been a substantial increase in drug overdose incidence and prevalence in several countries worldwide over the past decade, contributing to both increased costs and mortality. The aim of this study was to systematically synthesize the peer-reviewed literature to document the global epidemiological profile of unintentional drug overdoses and the prevalence, time trends, mortality rates, and correlates of drug overdoses. We searched different combinations of Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) terms in PubMed for articles published from 1980 until July 2013, and we organized these results in tabular spreadsheets and compared them. We restricted the search to English-language articles that deal with unintentional overdose, focusing on 1 or more of the following key constructs: prevalence, time trends, mortality rates, and correlates. The term "overdose" as a MeSH major topic yielded 1076 publications. In addition, we searched the following combinations of nonmajor MeSH terms: "street drugs" and "overdose" yielded 180, "death" and "overdose" yielded 114, and "poisoning" and "drug users" yielded 17. There was some overlap among the searches. Based on the search and inclusion and exclusion criteria, we selected a total of 169 relevant articles for this article based on a close review of abstracts. We found wide variability in lifetime prevalence of experiencing a nonfatal overdose or witnessing an overdose, and in mortality rates attributable to overdose. Lifetime prevalence of witnessed overdose among drug users (n = 17 samples) ranged from 50% to 96%, with a mean of 73.3%, a median of 70%, and a standard deviation of 14.1%. Lifetime prevalence of drug users personally experiencing a nonfatal overdose (n = 27 samples), ranged from 16.6% to 68.0% with a mean of 45

Perinatal Mortality Trends in Ethiopia | Berhan | Ethiopian Journal of ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

BACKGROUND: Although the magnitude of perinatal mortality in Ethiopia was among the highest in Sub Saharan Africa, there was no systematic review done to assess the trend and causes of perinatal death. The objective of this review was to assess the trend of perinatal mortality rate (PMR) and the causes attributed to ...

Trend Analyses of Nitrate in Danish Groundwater

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hansen, B.; Thorling, L.; Dalgaard, Tommy

2012-01-01

This presentation assesses the long-term development in the oxic groundwater nitrate concentration and nitrogen (N) loss due to intensive farming in Denmark. Firstly, up to 20-year time-series from the national groundwater monitoring network enable a statistically systematic analysis of distribut......This presentation assesses the long-term development in the oxic groundwater nitrate concentration and nitrogen (N) loss due to intensive farming in Denmark. Firstly, up to 20-year time-series from the national groundwater monitoring network enable a statistically systematic analysis...... of distribution, trends and trend reversals in the groundwater nitrate concentration. Secondly, knowledge about the N surplus in Danish agriculture since 1950 is used as an indicator of the potential loss of N. Thirdly, groundwater recharge CFC (Chlorofluorocarbon) age determination allows linking of the first...... two dataset. The development in the nitrate concentration of oxic groundwater clearly mirrors the development in the national agricultural N surplus, and a corresponding trend reversal is found in groundwater. Regulation and technical improvements in the intensive farming in Denmark have succeeded...

Predicting ICU hemodynamic instability using continuous multiparameter trends.

Science.gov (United States)

Cao, Hanqing; Eshelman, Larry; Chbat, Nicolas; Nielsen, Larry; Gross, Brian; Saeed, Mohammed

2008-01-01

Identifying hemodynamically unstable patients in a timely fashion in intensive care units (ICUs) is crucial because it can lead to earlier interventions and thus to potentially better patient outcomes. Current alert algorithms are typically limited to detecting dangerous conditions only after they have occurred and suffer from high false alert rates. Our objective was to predict hemodynamic instability at least two hours before a major clinical intervention (e.g., vasopressor administration), while maintaining a low false alert rate. From the MIMIC II database, containing ICU minute-by-minute heart rate (HR) and invasive arterial blood pressure (BP) monitoring trend data collected between 2001 and 2005, we identified 132 stable and 104 unstable patients that met our stability-instability criteria and had sufficient data points. We first derived additional physiological parameters of shock index, rate pressure product, heart rate variability, and two measures of trending based on HR and BP. Then we developed 220 statistical features and systematically selected a small set to use for classification. We applied multi-variable logistic regression modeling to do classification and implemented validation via bootstrapping. Area under receiver-operating curve (ROC) 0.83+/-0.03, sensitivity 0.75+/-0.06, and specificity 0.80+/-0.07; if the specificity is targeted at 0.90, then the sensitivity is 0.57+/-0.07. Based on our preliminary results, we conclude that the algorithms we developed using HR and BP trend data may provide a promising perspective toward reliable predictive alerts for hemodynamically unstable patients.

Systematic Functional Interrogation of Rare Cancer Variants Identifies Oncogenic Alleles | Office of Cancer Genomics

Science.gov (United States)

Cancer genome characterization efforts now provide an initial view of the somatic alterations in primary tumors. However, most point mutations occur at low frequency, and the function of these alleles remains undefined. We have developed a scalable systematic approach to interrogate the function of cancer-associated gene variants. We subjected 474 mutant alleles curated from 5,338 tumors to pooled in vivo tumor formation assays and gene expression profiling. We identified 12 transforming alleles, including two in genes (PIK3CB, POT1) that have not been shown to be tumorigenic.

Temporal trends in sperm count: a systematic review and meta-regression analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Levine, Hagai; Jørgensen, Niels; Martino-Andrade, Anderson; Mendiola, Jaime; Weksler-Derri, Dan; Mindlis, Irina; Pinotti, Rachel; Swan, Shanna H

2017-11-01

Reported declines in sperm counts remain controversial today and recent trends are unknown. A definitive meta-analysis is critical given the predictive value of sperm count for fertility, morbidity and mortality. To provide a systematic review and meta-regression analysis of recent trends in sperm counts as measured by sperm concentration (SC) and total sperm count (TSC), and their modification by fertility and geographic group. PubMed/MEDLINE and EMBASE were searched for English language studies of human SC published in 1981-2013. Following a predefined protocol 7518 abstracts were screened and 2510 full articles reporting primary data on SC were reviewed. A total of 244 estimates of SC and TSC from 185 studies of 42 935 men who provided semen samples in 1973-2011 were extracted for meta-regression analysis, as well as information on years of sample collection and covariates [fertility group ('Unselected by fertility' versus 'Fertile'), geographic group ('Western', including North America, Europe Australia and New Zealand versus 'Other', including South America, Asia and Africa), age, ejaculation abstinence time, semen collection method, method of measuring SC and semen volume, exclusion criteria and indicators of completeness of covariate data]. The slopes of SC and TSC were estimated as functions of sample collection year using both simple linear regression and weighted meta-regression models and the latter were adjusted for pre-determined covariates and modification by fertility and geographic group. Assumptions were examined using multiple sensitivity analyses and nonlinear models. SC declined significantly between 1973 and 2011 (slope in unadjusted simple regression models -0.70 million/ml/year; 95% CI: -0.72 to -0.69; P regression analysis reports a significant decline in sperm counts (as measured by SC and TSC) between 1973 and 2011, driven by a 50-60% decline among men unselected by fertility from North America, Europe, Australia and New Zealand. Because

Trends in overweight and obese adults in Malaysia (1996-2009): a systematic review.

Science.gov (United States)

Khambalia, A Z; Seen, L S

2010-06-01

Like other nations experiencing rapid industrialization, urbanization and a nutrition transition, there is concern in Malaysia of a possible escalation in the prevalence of overweight and obesity. In 1996, the National Health and Morbidity Survey reported a 16.6% and 4.4% prevalence of overweight and obesity, respectively. In the following decade, there have been several national and community surveys on overweight and obesity in Malaysia. The objective of this systematic review is to describe the trend from 1996 to 2009 in the prevalence of overweight and obesity in adults in Malaysia nationally and by gender, age and race. Results indicate that there has been a small rise in overweight adults in the years 1996, 2003 and 2006 (20.7%, 26.7% and 29.1%) and a much more dramatic increase in obesity in 1996, 2003, 2004 and 2006 (5.5%, 12.2%, 12.3% and 14.0%). Evidence showed a greater risk for overweight and obesity among women compared with men. Based on the highest-quality studies, overweight and obesity levels were highest among adults 40-59 years old. Overweight levels were highest among Indians, followed by Malays, Chinese and Aboriginals, with less consistency across studies on the order of risk or obesity by ethnicity.

Systematic screening of isogenic cancer cells identifies DUSP6 as context-specific synthetic lethal target in melanoma

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Wittig-Blaich, Stephanie; Wittig, Rainer; Schmidt, Steffen

2017-01-01

Next-generation sequencing has dramatically increased genome-wide profiling options and conceptually initiates the possibility for personalized cancer therapy. State-of-the-art sequencing studies yield large candidate gene sets comprising dozens or hundreds of mutated genes. However, few technolo......Next-generation sequencing has dramatically increased genome-wide profiling options and conceptually initiates the possibility for personalized cancer therapy. State-of-the-art sequencing studies yield large candidate gene sets comprising dozens or hundreds of mutated genes. However, few...... technologies are available for the systematic downstream evaluation of these results to identify novel starting points of future cancer therapies. We improved and extended a site-specific recombination-based system for systematic analysis of the individual functions of a large number of candidate genes......, a library of 108 isogenic melanoma cell lines was constructed and 8 genes were identified that significantly reduced viability in a discovery screen and in an independent validation screen. Here, we demonstrate the broad applicability of this recombination-based method and we proved its potential...

The current trend of administering a patient-generated index in the oncological setting: a systematic review.

Science.gov (United States)

Tang, Jessica A; Oh, Taemin; Scheer, Justin K; Parsa, Andrew T

2014-03-17

The patient-generated index (PGI) is a more novel approach to evaluating health-related quality of life (HRQOL) that allows patients to formulate their own responses in an open-ended format in order to measure HRQOL based on each patient's own stated goals and expectations. To date the use of PGI in the setting of patients diagnosed with cancer remains relatively less common compared to other health conditions. This systematic review primarily aims to identify current literature in which PGI has been used as a tool to assess quality of life in cancer patients. A systematic review using the MEDLINE database from January 1990 to July 2013 was performed with the following search terms to identify the implementation of PGI in oncology settings: (PGI OR patient generated index OR patient-generated OR patient-reported OR patient generated OR patient reported) AND (cancer OR oncology OR tumor OR neoplasm OR malignancy). Of the 2167 papers initially identified, 10 papers evaluated quality of life in oncology patients by collecting free-form responses from the patient, 4 of which actually used PGI. An overarching theme observed in these studies highlighted the concerns mentioned by patients that were not targeted or detected by standardized quality of life measures. While implementing the PGI may require slightly more investment of resources in the beginning, the potential implications of allowing patients to characterize their quality of life on their own terms are tremendous.

The current trend of administering a patient-generated index in the oncological setting: a systematic review

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jessica A. Tang

2014-06-01

Full Text Available The patient-generated index (PGI is a more novel approach to evaluating health-related quality of life (HRQOL that allows patients to formulate their own responses in an open-ended format in order to measure HRQOL based on each patient’s own stated goals and expectations. To date the use of PGI in the setting of patients diagnosed with cancer remains relatively less common compared to other health conditions. This systematic review primarily aims to identify current literature in which PGI has been used as a tool to assess quality of life in cancer patients. A systematic review using the MEDLINE database from January 1990 to July 2013 was performed with the following search terms to identify the implementation of PGI in oncology settings: (PGI OR patient generated index OR patient-generated OR patient-reported OR patient generated OR patient reported AND (cancer OR oncology OR tumor OR neoplasm OR malignancy. Of the 2167 papers initially identified, 10 papers evaluated quality of life in oncology patients by collecting free-form responses from the patient, 4 of which actually used PGI. An overarching theme observed in these studies highlighted the concerns mentioned by patients that were not targeted or detected by standardized quality of life measures. While implementing the PGI may require slightly more investment of resources in the beginning, the potential implications of allowing patients to characterize their quality of life on their own terms are tremendous.

Virtual Reality and Its Potential Use in Special Education. Identifying Emerging Issues and Trends in Technology for Special Education.

Science.gov (United States)

Woodward, John

As part of a 3-year study to identify emerging issues and trends in technology for special education, this paper addresses the possible contributions of virtual reality technology to educational services for students with disabilities. An example of the use of virtual reality in medical imaging introduces the paper and leads to a brief review of…

Patterns of Seismicity Associated with USGS Identified Areas of Potentially Induced Seismicity.

Science.gov (United States)

Barnes, Caitlin; Halihan, Todd

2018-03-13

A systematic review across U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) identified potentially induced seismic locations was conducted to discover seismic distance patterns and trends over time away from injection disposal wells. Previous research indicates a 10 km (6 miles) average where the majority of induced seismicity is expected to occur within individual locations, with some areas reporting a larger radius of 35 km (22 miles) to over 70 km (43 miles). This research analyzed earthquake occurrences within nine USGS locations where specified wells were identified as contributors to induced seismicity to determine distance patterns from disposal wells or outward seismic migration over time using established principles of hydrogeology. Results indicate a radius of 31.6 km (20 miles) where 90% of felt earthquakes occur among locations, with the closest proximal felt seismic events, on average, occurring 3 km (1.9 miles) away from injection disposal wells. The results of this research found distance trends across multiple locations of potentially induced seismicity. © 2018, National Ground Water Association.

Systematics in delayed neutron yields

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ohsawa, Takaaki [Kinki Univ., Higashi-Osaka, Osaka (Japan). Atomic Energy Research Inst.

1998-03-01

An attempt was made to reproduce the systematic trend observed in the delayed neutron yields for actinides on the basis of the five-Gaussian representation of the fission yield together with available data sets for delayed neutron emission probability. It was found that systematic decrease in DNY for heavier actinides is mainly due to decrease of fission yields of precursors in the lighter side of the light fragment region. (author)

The history, hotspots, and trends of electrocardiogram.

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Xiang-Lin; Liu, Guo-Zhen; Tong, Yun-Hai; Yan, Hong; Xu, Zhi; Chen, Qi; Liu, Xiang; Zhang, Hong-Hao; Wang, Hong-Bo; Tan, Shao-Hua

2015-07-01

The electrocardiogram (ECG) has broad applications in clinical diagnosis and prognosis of cardiovascular disease. Many researchers have contributed to its progressive development. To commemorate those pioneers, and to better study and promote the use of ECG, we reviewed and present here a systematic introduction about the history, hotspots, and trends of ECG. In the historical part, information including the invention, improvement, and extensive applications of ECG, such as in long QT syndrome (LQTS), angina, and myocardial infarction (MI), are chronologically presented. New technologies and applications from the 1990s are also introduced. In the second part, we use the bibliometric analysis method to analyze the hotspots in the field of ECG-related research. By using total citations and year-specific total citations as our main criteria, four key hotspots in ECG-related research were identified from 11 articles, including atrial fibrillation, LQTS, angina and MI, and heart rate variability. Recent studies in those four areas are also reported. In the final part, we discuss the future trends concerning ECG-related research. The authors believe that improvement of the ECG instrumentation, big data mining for ECG, and the accuracy of diagnosis and application will be areas of continuous concern.

Marketing Trends to Watch

Science.gov (United States)

Circle, Alison

2009-01-01

This article identifies 13 cultural trends that libraries can turn into opportunites to reach patrons. These trends include: Twitter, online reputation management, value added content, mobile marketing, and emotional connection.

Integrating text mining, data mining, and network analysis for identifying genetic breast cancer trends.

Science.gov (United States)

Jurca, Gabriela; Addam, Omar; Aksac, Alper; Gao, Shang; Özyer, Tansel; Demetrick, Douglas; Alhajj, Reda

2016-04-26

Breast cancer is a serious disease which affects many women and may lead to death. It has received considerable attention from the research community. Thus, biomedical researchers aim to find genetic biomarkers indicative of the disease. Novel biomarkers can be elucidated from the existing literature. However, the vast amount of scientific publications on breast cancer make this a daunting task. This paper presents a framework which investigates existing literature data for informative discoveries. It integrates text mining and social network analysis in order to identify new potential biomarkers for breast cancer. We utilized PubMed for the testing. We investigated gene-gene interactions, as well as novel interactions such as gene-year, gene-country, and abstract-country to find out how the discoveries varied over time and how overlapping/diverse are the discoveries and the interest of various research groups in different countries. Interesting trends have been identified and discussed, e.g., different genes are highlighted in relationship to different countries though the various genes were found to share functionality. Some text analysis based results have been validated against results from other tools that predict gene-gene relations and gene functions.

Do adult mental health services identify child abuse and neglect? A systematic review.

Science.gov (United States)

Read, John; Harper, David; Tucker, Ian; Kennedy, Angela

2018-02-01

Child abuse and neglect play a causal role in many mental health problems. Knowing whether users of mental health services were abused or neglected as children could be considered essential for developing comprehensive formulations and effective treatment plans. In the present study we report the findings of a systematic review, using independent searches of three databases designed to discover how often mental health staff find out whether their clients were abused or neglected as children. Twenty-one relevant studies were identified. Most people who use mental health services are never asked about child abuse or neglect. The majority of cases of child abuse or neglect are not identified by mental health services. Only 28% of abuse or neglect cases identified by researchers are found in the clients' files: emotional abuse, 44%; physical abuse, 33%; sexual abuse, 30%; emotional neglect, 17%; and physical neglect, 10%. Between 0% and 22% of mental health service users report being asked about child abuse. Men and people diagnosed with psychotic disorders are asked less than other people. Male staff ask less often than female staff. Some improvement over time was found. Policies compelling routine enquiry, training, and trauma-informed services are required. © 2017 Australian College of Mental Health Nurses Inc.

Identifying seasonal and temporal trends in the pressures experienced by hospitals related to unscheduled care.

Science.gov (United States)

Walker, N J; Van Woerden, H C; Kiparoglou, V; Yang, Y

2016-07-26

As part of an electronic dashboard operated by Public Health Wales, senior managers at hospitals in Wales report daily "escalation" scores which reflect management opinion on the pressure a hospital is experiencing and ability to meet ongoing demand with respect to unscheduled care. An analysis was undertaken of escalation scores returned for 18 hospitals in Wales between the years 2006 and 2014 inclusive, with a view to identifying systematic temporal patterns in pressure experienced by hospitals in relation to unscheduled care. Exploratory data analysis indicated the presence of within-year cyclicity in average daily scores over all hospitals. In order to quantify this cyclicity, a Generalised Linear Mixed Model was fitted which incorporated a trigonometric function (sine and cosine) to capture within-year change in escalation. In addition, a 7-level categorical day of the week effect was fitted as well as a 3-level categorical Christmas holiday variable based on patterns observed in exploration of the raw data. All of the main effects investigated were found to be statistically significant. Firstly, significant differences emerged in terms of overall pressure reported by individual hospitals. Furthermore, escalation scores were found to vary systematically within-year in a wave-like fashion for all hospitals (but not between hospitals) with the period of highest pressure consistently observed to occur in winter and lowest pressure in summer. In addition to this annual variation, pressure reported by hospitals was also found to be influenced by day of the week (low at weekends, high early in the working week) and especially low over the Christmas period but high immediately afterwards. Whilst unpredictable to a degree, quantifiable pressure experienced by hospitals can be anticipated according to models incorporating systematic temporal patterns. In the context of finite resources for healthcare services, these findings could optimise staffing schedules and

A comparison of statistical methods for identifying out-of-date systematic reviews.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Porjai Pattanittum

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Systematic reviews (SRs can provide accurate and reliable evidence, typically about the effectiveness of health interventions. Evidence is dynamic, and if SRs are out-of-date this information may not be useful; it may even be harmful. This study aimed to compare five statistical methods to identify out-of-date SRs. METHODS: A retrospective cohort of SRs registered in the Cochrane Pregnancy and Childbirth Group (CPCG, published between 2008 and 2010, were considered for inclusion. For each eligible CPCG review, data were extracted and "3-years previous" meta-analyses were assessed for the need to update, given the data from the most recent 3 years. Each of the five statistical methods was used, with random effects analyses throughout the study. RESULTS: Eighty reviews were included in this study; most were in the area of induction of labour. The numbers of reviews identified as being out-of-date using the Ottawa, recursive cumulative meta-analysis (CMA, and Barrowman methods were 34, 7, and 7 respectively. No reviews were identified as being out-of-date using the simulation-based power method, or the CMA for sufficiency and stability method. The overall agreement among the three discriminating statistical methods was slight (Kappa = 0.14; 95% CI 0.05 to 0.23. The recursive cumulative meta-analysis, Ottawa, and Barrowman methods were practical according to the study criteria. CONCLUSION: Our study shows that three practical statistical methods could be applied to examine the need to update SRs.

The trend of quality of publications in endodontic surgery: a 10-year systematic survey of the literature.

Science.gov (United States)

Del Fabbro, Massimo; Corbella, Stefano; Tsesis, Igor; Taschieri, Silvio

2015-03-01

The aims of the present systematic literature analysis were to evaluate, over a 10-year period, the trend of the proportion of RCT, SR, MA published on endodontic surgery, and to investigate if the impact factor (IF) of the main endodontic Journals correlates with the proportion of RCT, SR, MA they publish. An electronic search of the RCT, SR and MA published on the topic "endodontic surgery" from 2001 to 2010 was performed on Medline and Cochrane CENTRAL database using specific search terms combined with Boolean operators. Endodontic Journals impact factor was retrieved by the Thomson Scientific database. The proportion of each study type over the total number of articles on endodontic surgery published per year was estimated. The correlation between the number of high-evidence level studies published on the main endodontic Journals and the IF of such Journals per year was estimated. From a total of 900 articles published in 2001-2010 on endodontic surgery, there were 114 studies of high evidence level. A significant increase of the proportion of either RCT, SR and MA over the years was found. A modest to unclear correlation was found between the Journal IF and the number of high-evidence articles published. There is a positive trend over the years among researchers in performing studies of good quality in endodontic surgery. The impact factor of endodontic Journals is not consistently influenced by publication of high-evidence level articles. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

What Performance Analysts Need to Know About Research Trends in Association Football (2012-2016): A Systematic Review.

Science.gov (United States)

Sarmento, Hugo; Clemente, Filipe Manuel; Araújo, Duarte; Davids, Keith; McRobert, Allistair; Figueiredo, António

2018-04-01

Evolving patterns of match analysis research need to be systematically reviewed regularly since this area of work is burgeoning rapidly and studies can offer new insights to performance analysts if theoretically and coherently organized. The purpose of this paper was to conduct a systematic review of published articles on match analysis in adult male football, identify and organize common research topics, and synthesize the emerging patterns of work between 2012 and 2016, according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. The Web of Science database was searched for relevant published studies using the following keywords: 'football' and 'soccer', each one associated with the terms 'match analysis', 'performance analysis', 'notational analysis', 'game analysis', 'tactical analysis' and 'patterns of play'. Of 483 studies initially identified, 77 were fully reviewed and their outcome measures extracted and analyzed. Results showed that research mainly focused on (1) performance at set pieces, i.e. corner kicks, free kicks, penalty kicks; (2) collective system behaviours, captured by established variables such as team centroid (geometrical centre of a set of players) and team dispersion (quantification of how far players are apart), as well as tendencies for team communication (establishing networks based on passing sequences), sequential patterns (predicting future passing sequences), and group outcomes (relationships between match-related statistics and final match scores); and (3) activity profile of players, i.e. playing roles, effects of fatigue, substitutions during matches, and the effects of environmental constraints on performance, such as heat and altitude. From the previous review, novel variables were identified that require new measurement techniques. It is evident that the complexity engendered during performance in competitive soccer requires an integrated approach that considers multiple aspects. A

Rational polypharmacology: systematically identifying and engaging multiple drug targets to promote axon growth

Science.gov (United States)

Al-Ali, Hassan; Lee, Do-Hun; Danzi, Matt C.; Nassif, Houssam; Gautam, Prson; Wennerberg, Krister; Zuercher, Bill; Drewry, David H.; Lee, Jae K.; Lemmon, Vance P.; Bixby, John L.

2016-01-01

Mammalian Central Nervous System (CNS) neurons regrow their axons poorly following injury, resulting in irreversible functional losses. Identifying therapeutics that encourage CNS axon repair has been difficult, in part because multiple etiologies underlie this regenerative failure. This suggests a particular need for drugs that engage multiple molecular targets. Although multi-target drugs are generally more effective than highly selective alternatives, we lack systematic methods for discovering such drugs. Target-based screening is an efficient technique for identifying potent modulators of individual targets. In contrast, phenotypic screening can identify drugs with multiple targets; however, these targets remain unknown. To address this gap, we combined the two drug discovery approaches using machine learning and information theory. We screened compounds in a phenotypic assay with primary CNS neurons and also in a panel of kinase enzyme assays. We used learning algorithms to relate the compounds’ kinase inhibition profiles to their influence on neurite outgrowth. This allowed us to identify kinases that may serve as targets for promoting neurite outgrowth, as well as others whose targeting should be avoided. We found that compounds that inhibit multiple targets (polypharmacology) promote robust neurite outgrowth in vitro. One compound with exemplary polypharmacology, was found to promote axon growth in a rodent spinal cord injury model. A more general applicability of our approach is suggested by its ability to deconvolve known targets for a breast cancer cell line, as well as targets recently shown to mediate drug resistance. PMID:26056718

Flow of mantle fluids through the ductile lower crust: Heliumisotope trends

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kennedy, B. Mack; van Soest, Matthijs C.

2007-10-07

Heat and mass are injected into the shallow crust when mantle fluids are able to flow through the ductile lower crust. Minimum 3He/4He ratios in surface fluids from the northern Basin and Range province, western North America increase systematically from low, crustal values in the east to high, mantle values in the west, a regional trend that correlates with the rates of active crustal deformation. The highest ratios occur where the extension and shear strain rates are greatest. The correspondence of helium isotope ratios and active trans-tensional deformation indicates a deformation enhanced permeability and that mantle fluids can penetrate the ductile lithosphere in regions even where there is no significant magmatism. Superimposed on the regional trend are local, high-{sup 3}He/{sup 4}He anomalies signifying hidden magmatic activity and/or deep fluid production with locally enhanced permeability, identifying zones with high resource potential, particularly for geothermal energy development.

Quality of systematic reviews in pediatric oncology - A systematic review

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Lundh, Andreas; Knijnenburg, Sebastiaan L.; Jørgensen, Anders W.; van Dalen, Elvira C.; Kremer, Leontien C. M.

2009-01-01

Background: To ensure evidence-based decision making in pediatric oncology systematic reviews are necessary. The objective of our study was to evaluate the methodological quality of all currently existing systematic reviews in pediatric oncology. Methods: We identified eligible systematic reviews

Systematically Identified Failure Is the Route to a Successful Health System.

Science.gov (United States)

Zwarenstein, Merrick

2015-01-01

Although we have a systematic approach to innovation and evaluation (and scale-up) for treatments, medical technologies and diagnostic tests in healthcare, we have no equivalent for service delivery innovations. Service delivery innovation is common but frequently goes unevaluated, leading to less systematic decisions about which innovations are scaled up and which ones are not. The absence of a formal evaluation system for service delivery innovation means that there is no objective standard for evaluating an innovation's success or failure, and thus no way to decide whether it should be scaled up, adapted and retested, or not scaled up at all. This results in "bad failure" - the scale-up of innovations that are untested, and the failure to scale-up other innovations that might have been effective but no one measured their effectiveness in a systematic way.

A bibliometric study on SCRUM approach: patterns, trends and gaps

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Antônio Carlos Bonassa

2016-09-01

Full Text Available After Agile Manifesto success in the software development arena, the literature on Agile methods, particularly SCRUM has increased. This study aims to present a systematic literature review of SCRUM literature, identifying the main evolution patterns, trends, and gaps. The research methods combine the bibliometric approach with content analysis. The results show that despite the increase interesting on agile methods, SCRUM utilization is decreasing and/or being replaced by another project management method and it face so strong barriers to expanding in other sectors than software. The main advantages of applying SCRUM pointed out in the review are increase customer satisfaction at the same time that reduced associated costs and development time.

Syphilis Trends among Men Who Have Sex with Men in the United States and Western Europe: A Systematic Review of Trend Studies Published between 2004 and 2015

Science.gov (United States)

Abara, Winston E.; Hess, Kristen L.; Neblett Fanfair, Robyn; Bernstein, Kyle T.; Paz-Bailey, Gabriela

2016-01-01

Globally, men who have sex with men (MSM) are disproportionately burdened with syphilis. This review describes the published literature on trends in syphilis infections among MSM in the US and Western Europe from 1998, the period with the fewest syphilis infections in both geographical areas, onwards. We also describe disparities in syphilis trends among various sub-populations of MSM. We searched electronic databases (Medline, Embase, Global Health, PsychInfo, CAB Abstracts, CINAHL, Sociological Abstracts, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, and LILACS) for peer-reviewed journal articles that were published between January 2004 and June 2015 and reported on syphilis cases among MSM at multiple time points from 1998 onwards. Ten articles (12 syphilis trend studies/reports) from the US and eight articles (12 syphilis trend studies/reports) from Western Europe were identified and included in this review. Taken together, our findings indicate an increase in the numbers and rates (per 100,000) of syphilis infections among MSM in the US and Western Europe since 1998. Disparities in the syphilis trends among MSM were also noted, with greater increases observed among HIV-positive MSM than HIV-negative MSM in both the US and Western Europe. In the US, racial minority MSM and MSM between 20 and 29 years accounted for the greatest increases in syphilis infections over time whereas White MSM accounted for most syphilis infections over time in Western Europe. Multiple strategies, including strengthening and targeting current syphilis screening and testing programs, and the prompt treatment of syphilis cases are warranted to address the increase in syphilis infections among all MSM in the US and Western Europe, but particularly among HIV-infected MSM, racial minority MSM, and young MSM in the US. PMID:27447943

Systematic review and meta-analysis of electrocautery versus scalpel for surgical skin incisions.

Science.gov (United States)

Aird, Lisa N F; Brown, Carl J

2012-08-01

The creation of surgical skin incisions has historically been performed using a cold scalpel. The use of electrocautery for this purpose has been controversial with respect to patient safety and surgical efficacy. A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) was conducted to compare skin incisions made by electrocautery and a scalpel. A systematic electronic literature search was performed using 2 electronic databases (MEDLINE and PubMed), and the methodological quality of included publications was evaluated. Six RCTs were identified comparing electrocautery (n = 606) and a scalpel (n = 628) for skin incisions. No significant difference in wound infection rates or scar cosmesis was identified between the treatment groups. Electrocautery significantly reduced the incision time and postoperative wound pain. A trend toward less incisional blood loss from skin incisions made with electrocautery was noted. Electrocautery is a safe and effective method for performing surgical skin incisions. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Quality of systematic reviews in pediatric oncology--a systematic review

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lundh, Andreas; Knijnenburg, Sebastiaan L; Jørgensen, Anders W

2009-01-01

BACKGROUND: To ensure evidence-based decision making in pediatric oncology systematic reviews are necessary. The objective of our study was to evaluate the methodological quality of all currently existing systematic reviews in pediatric oncology. METHODS: We identified eligible systematic reviews...... through a systematic search of the literature. Data on clinical and methodological characteristics of the included systematic reviews were extracted. The methodological quality of the included systematic reviews was assessed using the overview quality assessment questionnaire, a validated 10-item quality...... assessment tool. We compared the methodological quality of systematic reviews published in regular journals with that of Cochrane systematic reviews. RESULTS: We included 117 systematic reviews, 99 systematic reviews published in regular journals and 18 Cochrane systematic reviews. The average methodological...

Trends in Special Education Eligibility Among Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder, 2002-2010.

Science.gov (United States)

Rubenstein, Eric; Daniels, Julie; Schieve, Laura A; Christensen, Deborah L; Van Naarden Braun, Kim; Rice, Catherine E; Bakian, Amanda V; Durkin, Maureen S; Rosenberg, Steven A; Kirby, Russell S; Lee, Li-Ching

Although data on publicly available special education are informative and offer a glimpse of trends in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and use of educational services, using these data for population-based public health monitoring has drawbacks. Our objective was to evaluate trends in special education eligibility among 8-year-old children with ASD identified in the Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring Network. We used data from 5 Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring Network sites (Arizona, Colorado, Georgia, Maryland, and North Carolina) during 4 surveillance years (2002, 2006, 2008, and 2010) and compared trends in 12 categories of special education eligibility by sex and race/ethnicity. We used multivariable linear risk regressions to evaluate how the proportion of children with a given eligibility changed over time. Of 6010 children with ASD, more than 36% did not receive an autism eligibility in special education in each surveillance year. From surveillance year 2002 to surveillance year 2010, autism eligibility increased by 3.6 percentage points ( P = .09), and intellectual disability eligibility decreased by 4.6 percentage points ( P special education services under other categories, and racial/ethnic disparities persisted. To monitor trends in ASD prevalence, public health officials need access to comprehensive data collected systematically, not just special education eligibility.

Trend analysis of human error events and assessment of their proactive prevention measure at Rokkasho reprocessing plant

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yamazaki, Satoru; Tanaka, Izumi; Wakabayashi, Toshio

2012-01-01

A trend analysis of human error events is important for preventing the recurrence of human error events. We propose a new method for identifying the common characteristics from results of trend analysis, such as the latent weakness of organization, and a management process for strategic error prevention. In this paper, we describe a trend analysis method for human error events that have been accumulated in the organization and the utilization of the results of trend analysis to prevent accidents proactively. Although the systematic analysis of human error events, the monitoring of their overall trend, and the utilization of the analyzed results have been examined for the plant operation, such information has never been utilized completely. Sharing information on human error events and analyzing their causes lead to the clarification of problems in the management and human factors. This new method was applied to the human error events that occurred in the Rokkasho reprocessing plant from 2010 October. Results revealed that the output of this method is effective in judging the error prevention plan and that the number of human error events is reduced to about 50% those observed in 2009 and 2010. (author)

Systematic review automation technologies

Science.gov (United States)

2014-01-01

Systematic reviews, a cornerstone of evidence-based medicine, are not produced quickly enough to support clinical practice. The cost of production, availability of the requisite expertise and timeliness are often quoted as major contributors for the delay. This detailed survey of the state of the art of information systems designed to support or automate individual tasks in the systematic review, and in particular systematic reviews of randomized controlled clinical trials, reveals trends that see the convergence of several parallel research projects. We surveyed literature describing informatics systems that support or automate the processes of systematic review or each of the tasks of the systematic review. Several projects focus on automating, simplifying and/or streamlining specific tasks of the systematic review. Some tasks are already fully automated while others are still largely manual. In this review, we describe each task and the effect that its automation would have on the entire systematic review process, summarize the existing information system support for each task, and highlight where further research is needed for realizing automation for the task. Integration of the systems that automate systematic review tasks may lead to a revised systematic review workflow. We envisage the optimized workflow will lead to system in which each systematic review is described as a computer program that automatically retrieves relevant trials, appraises them, extracts and synthesizes data, evaluates the risk of bias, performs meta-analysis calculations, and produces a report in real time. PMID:25005128

National, regional, and worldwide estimates of stillbirth rates in 2015, with trends from 2000

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Blencowe, Hannah; Cousens, Simon; Jassir, Fiorella Bianchi

2016-01-01

) met the inclusion criteria, a 90% increase from 2009 estimates. The estimated average global SBR in 2015 was 18·4 per 1000 births, down from 24·7 in 2000 (25·5% reduction). In 2015, an estimated 2·6 million (uncertainty range 2·4-3·0 million) babies were stillborn, giving a 19% decline in numbers...... estimate SBRs and numbers for 195 countries, including trends from 2000 to 2015. METHODS: We collated SBR data meeting prespecified inclusion criteria from national routine or registration systems, nationally representative surveys, and other data sources identified through a systematic review, web...

Modeling trends of health and health related indicators in Ethiopia (1995-2008: a time-series study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nigatu Tilahun H

2009-12-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background The Federal Ministry of Health of Ethiopia has been publishing Health and Health related indicators of the country annually since 1987 E.C. These indicators have been of high importance in indicating the status of health in the country in those years. However, the trends/patterns of these indicators and the factors related to the trends have not yet been investigated in a systematic manner. In addition, there were minimal efforts to develop a model for predicting future values of Health and Health related indicators based on the current trend. Objectives The overall aim of this study was to analyze trends of and develop model for prediction of Health and Health related indicators. More specifically, it described the trends of Health and Health related indicators, identified determinants of mortality and morbidity indicators and developed model for predicting future values of MDG indicators. Methods This study was conducted on Health and Health related indicators of Ethiopia from the year 1987 E.C to 2000 E.C. Key indicators of Mortality and Morbidity, Health service coverage, Health systems resources, Demographic and socio-economic, and Risk factor indicators were extracted and analyzed. The trends in these indicators were established using trend analysis techniques. The determinants of the established trends were identified using ARIMA models in STATA. The trend-line equations were then used to predict future values of the indicators. Results Among the mortality indicators considered in this study, it was only Maternal Mortality Ratio that showed statistically significant decrement within the study period. The trends of Total Fertility Rate, physician per 100,000 population, skilled birth attendance and postnatal care coverage were found to have significant association with Maternal Mortality Ratio trend. There was a reversal of malaria parasite prevalence in 1999 E.C from Plasmodium Falciparum to Plasmodium Vivax. Based on

Smoking and olfactory dysfunction: A systematic literature review and meta-analysis.

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Ajmani, Gaurav S; Suh, Helen H; Wroblewski, Kristen E; Pinto, Jayant M

2017-08-01

A systematic review and meta-analysis of the literature was undertaken, examining the association between tobacco smoking and olfactory function in humans, utilizing PubMed and Web of Science (1970-2015) as data sources. Systematic literature review and meta-analysis. This database review of studies of smoking and olfaction, with a focus on identifying high-quality studies (based on modified versions of the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale), used validated olfactory tests among the generally healthy population. We identified 11 studies meeting inclusion criteria. Of 10 cross-sectional studies, two were excluded from meta-analysis because the cohorts they studied were included in another article in the review. In meta-analysis, current smokers had substantially higher odds of olfactory dysfunction compared to never smokers (odds ratio [OR] = 1.59, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.37-1.85). In contrast, former smokers were found to have no difference in risk of impaired olfaction compared to never smokers (OR = 1.05, 95% CI = 0.91-1.21). The single longitudinal study reviewed found a trend toward increased risk of olfactory decline over time in ever smokers; this trend was stronger in current as compared to former smokers. Current smoking, but not former smoking, is associated with significantly increased risk of olfactory dysfunction, suggesting that the effects of smoking on olfaction may be reversible. Future studies that prospectively evaluate the impact of smoking cessation on improvement in olfactory function are warranted. N/A. Laryngoscope, 127:1753-1761, 2017. © 2017 The American Laryngological, Rhinological and Otological Society, Inc.

A Systematic Approach to Identify Sources of Abnormal Interior Noise for a High-Speed Train

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Jie Zhang

2018-01-01

Full Text Available A systematic approach to identify sources of abnormal interior noise occurring in a high-speed train is presented and applied in this paper to resolve a particular noise issue. This approach is developed based on a number of previous dealings with similar noise problems. The particular noise issue occurs in a Chinese high-speed train. It is measured that there is a difference of 7 dB(A in overall Sound Pressure Level (SPL between two nominally identical VIP cabins at 250 km/h. The systematic approach is applied to identify the root cause of the 7 dB(A difference. Well planned measurements are performed in both the VIP cabins. Sound pressure contributions, either in terms of frequency band or in terms of facing area, are analyzed. Order analysis is also carried out. Based on these analyses, it is found that the problematic frequency is the sleeper passing frequency of the train, and an area on the roof contributes the most. In order to determine what causes that area to be the main contributor without disassembling the structure of the roof, measured noise and vibration data for different train speeds are further analyzed. It is then reasoned that roof is the main contributor caused by sound pressure behind the panel. Up to this point, panels of the roof are removed, revealing that a hole of 300 cm2 for running cables is presented behind the red area without proper sound insulation. This study can provide a basis for abnormal interior noise analysis and control of high-speed trains.

Appropriateness of using a symbol to identify dementia and/or delirium: a systematic review.

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Hines, Sonia; Abbey, Jenny; Wilson, Jacinda; Sacre, Sandy

2009-01-01

Alzheimer's Australia contracted the Dementia Collaborative Research Centre - Consumers, Carers and Social Research to conduct a systematic review to explore the appropriateness of a symbol for dementia.The concept of a symbol for people with dementia was an outcome of the Alzheimer's Australia National Consumer Summit on Dementia held in Canberra in October 2005. People living with dementia and their carers identified that a national symbol would be helpful in order to encourage appropriate treatment of people with dementia.Funding was provided as part of the Australian Government's Dementia Initiative to Alzheimer's Australia to work in collaboration with the Queensland University of Technology and Catholic Health Australia to explore, through research, the viability and potential impact of such a symbol in a range of care settings. The main objective of this systematic review was to evaluate any published and unpublished evidence regarding the appropriateness of developing a symbol for dementia and/or delirium, which could be used in a variety of settings to indicate that a person has dementia and/or delirium. A literature search was performed using the following databases: Ageline, APAIS Health, CINAHL, Dissertations and Theses Abstracts, Embase, MEDLINE, PsycEXTRAS, PsycINFO, PsycArticles, Current Contents, LegalTrac, Health and Society, Sociological Abstracts, Family and Society, CINCH, and Hein Online databases. The reference lists of articles retrieved were hand searched, as well as a range of literature from health, legal, ethical and emergency services. Grey literature was searched for using a number of Internet sites, and personal email communication with authors of relevant studies and known researchers in the field was initiated. Papers were retrieved if they provided information about attitudes or perceptions towards the appropriateness of symbols, identifiers or alerts used to inform others that someone has dementia, delirium and/or another medical

Identifying and correcting epigenetics measurements for systematic sources of variation.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Perrier, Flavie; Novoloaca, Alexei; Ambatipudi, Srikant; Baglietto, Laura; Ghantous, Akram; Perduca, Vittorio; Barrdahl, Myrto; Harlid, Sophia; Ong, Ken K; Cardona, Alexia; Polidoro, Silvia; Nøst, Therese Haugdahl; Overvad, Kim; Omichessan, Hanane; Dollé, Martijn; Bamia, Christina; Huerta, José Marìa; Vineis, Paolo; Herceg, Zdenko; Romieu, Isabelle; Ferrari, Pietro

2018-01-01

Methylation measures quantified by microarray techniques can be affected by systematic variation due to the technical processing of samples, which may compromise the accuracy of the measurement process and contribute to bias the estimate of the association under investigation. The quantification of

Toward 2000. Trends Report II: Elementary-Secondary Projections.

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Press, Harold L.

Comprehensive, systematic planning provides the overall direction for education through the development of policies and objectives. An understanding of demographic, social, and economic trends is necessary for educators to make decisions for the future. The 1986 demographic forecasts for the province of Newfoundland are updated in this report,…

Identify temporal trend of air temperature and its impact on forest stream flow in Lower Mississippi River Alluvial Valley using wavelet analysis.

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Ouyang, Ying; Parajuli, Prem B; Li, Yide; Leininger, Theodor D; Feng, Gary

2017-08-01

Characterization of stream flow is essential to water resource management, water supply planning, environmental protection, and ecological restoration; while air temperature variation due to climate change can exacerbate stream flow and add instability to the flow. In this study, the wavelet analysis technique was employed to identify temporal trend of air temperature and its impact upon forest stream flows in Lower Mississippi River Alluvial Valley (LMRAV). Four surface water monitoring stations, which locate near the headwater areas with very few land use disturbances and the long-term data records (60-90 years) in the LMRAV, were selected to obtain stream discharge and air temperature data. The wavelet analysis showed that air temperature had an increasing temporal trend around its mean value during the past several decades in the LMRAV, whereas stream flow had a decreasing temporal trend around its average value at the same time period in the same region. Results of this study demonstrated that the climate in the LMRAV did get warmer as time elapsed and the streams were drier as a result of warmer air temperature. This study further revealed that the best way to estimate the temporal trends of air temperature and stream flow was to perform the wavelet transformation around their mean values. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Automatable algorithms to identify nonmedical opioid use using electronic data: a systematic review.

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Canan, Chelsea; Polinski, Jennifer M; Alexander, G Caleb; Kowal, Mary K; Brennan, Troyen A; Shrank, William H

2017-11-01

Improved methods to identify nonmedical opioid use can help direct health care resources to individuals who need them. Automated algorithms that use large databases of electronic health care claims or records for surveillance are a potential means to achieve this goal. In this systematic review, we reviewed the utility, attempts at validation, and application of such algorithms to detect nonmedical opioid use. We searched PubMed and Embase for articles describing automatable algorithms that used electronic health care claims or records to identify patients or prescribers with likely nonmedical opioid use. We assessed algorithm development, validation, and performance characteristics and the settings where they were applied. Study variability precluded a meta-analysis. Of 15 included algorithms, 10 targeted patients, 2 targeted providers, 2 targeted both, and 1 identified medications with high abuse potential. Most patient-focused algorithms (67%) used prescription drug claims and/or medical claims, with diagnosis codes of substance abuse and/or dependence as the reference standard. Eleven algorithms were developed via regression modeling. Four used natural language processing, data mining, audit analysis, or factor analysis. Automated algorithms can facilitate population-level surveillance. However, there is no true gold standard for determining nonmedical opioid use. Users must recognize the implications of identifying false positives and, conversely, false negatives. Few algorithms have been applied in real-world settings. Automated algorithms may facilitate identification of patients and/or providers most likely to need more intensive screening and/or intervention for nonmedical opioid use. Additional implementation research in real-world settings would clarify their utility. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the American Medical Informatics Association. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com

Identifying the causes of the changes in the prevalence patterns of diabetes in older U.S. adults: A new trend partitioning approach.

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Akushevich, Igor; Yashkin, Arseniy P; Kravchenko, Julia; Fang, Fang; Arbeev, Konstantin; Sloan, Frank; Yashin, Anatoliy I

2018-04-01

To identify how efforts to control the diabetes epidemic and the resulting changes in diabetes mellitus, type II (T2D) incidence and survival have affected the time-trend of T2D prevalence. A newly developed method of trend decomposition was applied to a 5% sample of Medicare administrative claims filed between 1991 and 2012. Age-adjusted prevalence of T2D for adults age 65+ increased at an average annual percentage change of 2.31% between 1992 and 2012. Primary contributors to this trend were (in order of magnitude): improved survival at all ages, increased prevalence of T2D prior to age of Medicare eligibility, decreased incidence of T2D after age of Medicare eligibility. Health services supported by the Medicare system, coupled with improvements in medical technology and T2D awareness efforts provide effective care for individuals age 65 and older. However, policy maker attention should be shifted to the prevention of T2D in younger age groups to control the increase in prevalence observed prior to Medicare eligibility. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Mobile Phone Apps to Improve Medication Adherence: A Systematic Stepwise Process to Identify High-Quality Apps.

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Santo, Karla; Richtering, Sarah S; Chalmers, John; Thiagalingam, Aravinda; Chow, Clara K; Redfern, Julie

2016-12-02

There are a growing number of mobile phone apps available to support people in taking their medications and to improve medication adherence. However, little is known about how these apps differ in terms of features, quality, and effectiveness. We aimed to systematically review the medication reminder apps available in the Australian iTunes store and Google Play to assess their features and their quality in order to identify high-quality apps. This review was conducted in a similar manner to a systematic review by using a stepwise approach that included (1) a search strategy; (2) eligibility assessment; (3) app selection process through an initial screening of all retrieved apps and full app review of the included apps; (4) data extraction using a predefined set of features considered important or desirable in medication reminder apps; (5) analysis by classifying the apps as basic and advanced medication reminder apps and scoring and ranking them; and (6) a quality assessment by using the Mobile App Rating Scale (MARS), a reliable tool to assess mobile health apps. We identified 272 medication reminder apps, of which 152 were found only in Google Play, 87 only in iTunes, and 33 in both app stores. Apps found in Google Play had more customer reviews, higher star ratings, and lower cost compared with apps in iTunes. Only 109 apps were available for free and 124 were recently updated in 2015 or 2016. Overall, the median number of features per app was 3.0 (interquartile range 4.0) and only 18 apps had ≥9 of the 17 desirable features. The most common features were flexible scheduling that was present in 56.3% (153/272) of the included apps, medication tracking history in 54.8% (149/272), snooze option in 34.9% (95/272), and visual aids in 32.4% (88/272). We classified 54.8% (149/272) of the included apps as advanced medication reminder apps and 45.2% (123/272) as basic medication reminder apps. The advanced apps had a higher number of features per app compared with the

Landuse/Cover Change Trend in Soroti District Eastern Uganda ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This study assessed the extent and trend of landuse/cover change in Soroti District, Uganda. A series of systematically corrected Orthorectified Landsat imageries of 1973, 1986 and 2001 were downloaded from the Landsat website. The images were analysed using unsupervised classification approach and the land-use/ ...

Software Development Initiatives to Identify and Mitigate Security Threats - Two Systematic Mapping Studies

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Paulina Silva

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Software Security and development experts have addressed the problem of building secure software systems. There are several processes and initiatives to achieve secure software systems. However, most of these lack empirical evidence of its application and impact in building secure software systems. Two systematic mapping studies (SM have been conducted to cover the existent initiatives for identification and mitigation of security threats. The SMs created were executed in two steps, first in 2015 July, and complemented through a backward snowballing in 2016 July. Integrated results of these two SM studies show a total of 30 relevant sources were identified; 17 different initiatives covering threats identification and 14 covering the mitigation of threats were found. All the initiatives were associated to at least one activity of the Software Development Lifecycle (SDLC; while 6 showed signs of being applied in industrial settings, only 3 initiatives presented experimental evidence of its results through controlled experiments, some of the other selected studies presented case studies or proposals.

Trends in gastric cancer mortality and in the prevalence of Helicobacter pylori infection in Portugal.

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Morais, Samantha; Ferro, Ana; Bastos, Ana; Castro, Clara; Lunet, Nuno; Peleteiro, Bárbara

2016-07-01

Portugal has the highest gastric cancer mortality rates in Western Europe, along with high prevalences of Helicobacter pylori infection. Monitoring their trends is essential to predict the burden of this cancer. We aimed to quantify time trends in gastric cancer mortality in Portugal and in each administrative region, and to compute short-term predictions, as well as to describe the prevalence of H. pylori infection, through a systematic review. Joinpoint analyses were used to identify significant changes in sex-specific trends in gastric cancer age-standardized mortality rates (ASMR) and to estimate annual percent changes (APC). The most recent trends were considered to compute estimates up to 2020 by adjusting Poisson regression models. We searched PubMed and IndexRMP to identify studies carried out in Portugal reporting the prevalence of H. pylori. Gastric cancer mortality has been decreasing in Portugal since 1971 in men (from ASMR=55.3/100 000; APC=-2.4, 95% confidence interval: -2.5 to -2.3) and since 1970 in women (from ASMR=28.0/100 000; APC=-2.8, 95% confidence interval: -2.9 to -2.7), although large regional differences were observed. Predicted ASMR for 2015 and 2020 were 18.8/100 000 and 16.7/100 000 for men and 8.5/100 000 and 7.4/100 000 for women, respectively. The prevalence of H. pylori varied from almost 5% at 0.5-2 years to just over 90% at 70 years or more. No consistent variation was observed since the 1990s. The downward trends in mortality rates are expected to remain in the next decades. The high prevalence of H. pylori infection across age groups and studies from different periods shows a large potential for decrease in the burden of gastric cancer in Portugal.

Epidemiological Trends of Dengue Disease in Colombia (2000-2011): A Systematic Review

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Villar, Luis Angel; Rojas, Diana Patricia; Besada-Lombana, Sandra; Sarti, Elsa

2015-01-01

A systematic literature review was conducted to describe the epidemiology of dengue disease in Colombia. Searches of published literature in epidemiological studies of dengue disease encompassing the terms “dengue”, “epidemiology,” and “Colombia” were conducted. Studies in English or Spanish published between 1 January 2000 and 23 February 2012 were included. The searches identified 225 relevant citations, 30 of which fulfilled the inclusion criteria defined in the review protocol. The epidemiology of dengue disease in Colombia was characterized by a stable “baseline” annual number of dengue fever cases, with major outbreaks in 2001–2003 and 2010. The geographical spread of dengue disease cases showed a steady increase, with most of the country affected by the 2010 outbreak. The majority of dengue disease recorded during the review period was among those dengue disease in Colombia may provide several avenues for future research, namely studies of asymptomatic dengue virus infection, primary versus secondary infections, and under-reporting of the disease. Improved understanding of the factors that determine disease expression and enable improvement in disease control and management is also important. PMID:25790245

A Systematic Approach to Identify Promising New Items for Small to Medium Enterprises: A Case Study

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Sukjae Jeong

2016-11-01

Full Text Available Despite the growing importance of identifying new business items for small and medium enterprises (SMEs, most previous studies focus on conglomerates. The paucity of empirical studies has also led to limited real-life applications. Hence, this study proposes a systematic approach to find new business items (NBIs that help the prospective SMEs develop, evaluate, and select viable business items to survive the competitive environment. The proposed approach comprises two stages: (1 the classification of diversification of SMEs; and (2 the searching and screening of business items. In the first stage, SMEs are allocated to five groups, based on their internal technological competency and external market conditions. In the second stage, based on the types of SMEs identified in the first stage, a set of alternative business items is derived by combining the results of portfolio analysis and benchmarking analysis. After deriving new business items, a market and technology-driven matrix analysis is utilized to screen suitable business items, and the Bruce Merrifield-Ohe (BMO method is used to categorize and identify prospective items based on market attractiveness and internal capability. To illustrate the applicability of the proposed approach, a case study is presented.

A Systematic Scoping Review of Engagement in Physical Activity Among LGBTQ+ Adults.

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Herrick, Shannon S C; Duncan, Lindsay R

2018-03-01

LGBTQ+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, etc) persons are subject to elevated rates of chronic diseases and health concerns that can be addressed through regular participation in physical activity. However, LGBTQ+ adults experience unique challenges to engaging in physical activity. Subsequently, the aim of this study is to describe the dominant narratives related to the complex intersection of sexual orientation, gender identity, and physical activity. A systematic search and scoping review of existing literature was conducted in June 2016. Studies were identified by searching 9 electronic databases. Data were then extracted, summarized, and organized by LGBTQ+ subgroups. Conceptual maps of prominent narratives were created. Separate narratives were identified for sexual minority men and women. The dominant trend for sexual minority men was increased physical activity levels, often motivated by a perceived body ideal of being thin and/or muscular. The dominant trend for sexual minority women was decreased physical activity levels, predicated on a social norm that emphasizes bodily acceptance. Sexual orientation affects engagement in physical activity differentially by gender. Our findings suggest that physical activity interventions should be targeted to unique subgroups of the LGBTQ+ population.

TRENDS IN VARIABILITY OF WATER FLOW OF TELEAJEN RIVER

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N. JIPA

2012-03-01

Full Text Available TRENDS IN VARIABILITY OF WATER FLOW OF TELEAJEN RIVER. In the context of climate change at global and regional scale, this study intends to identify the trends in variability of the annual and monthly flow of Teleajen river. The study is based on processing the series of mean, maximum and minimum flows at Cheia and Moara Domnească hydrometric stations (these data were taken from the National Institute of Meteorology and Hydrology. The period of analysis is 1966-1998, statistical methods beeing mostly used, among which the Mann – Kendall test, that identifies the liniar trend and its statistic significance, comes into focus. The trends in the variability of water annual and monthly flows are highlighted. The results obtained show downward trends for the mean and maximum annual flows, and for the minimum water discharge, a downward trend for Cheia station and an upward trend for Moara Domnească station. Knowing the trends in the variability of the rivers’ flow is important empirically in view of taking adequate administration measures of the water resources and managment measures for the risks lead by extreme hidrologic events (floods, low-water, according to the possible identified changes.

Quality of systematic reviews in pediatric oncology--a systematic review.

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Lundh, Andreas; Knijnenburg, Sebastiaan L; Jørgensen, Anders W; van Dalen, Elvira C; Kremer, Leontien C M

2009-12-01

To ensure evidence-based decision making in pediatric oncology systematic reviews are necessary. The objective of our study was to evaluate the methodological quality of all currently existing systematic reviews in pediatric oncology. We identified eligible systematic reviews through a systematic search of the literature. Data on clinical and methodological characteristics of the included systematic reviews were extracted. The methodological quality of the included systematic reviews was assessed using the overview quality assessment questionnaire, a validated 10-item quality assessment tool. We compared the methodological quality of systematic reviews published in regular journals with that of Cochrane systematic reviews. We included 117 systematic reviews, 99 systematic reviews published in regular journals and 18 Cochrane systematic reviews. The average methodological quality of systematic reviews was low for all ten items, but the quality of Cochrane systematic reviews was significantly higher than systematic reviews published in regular journals. On a 1-7 scale, the median overall quality score for all systematic reviews was 2 (range 1-7), with a score of 1 (range 1-7) for systematic reviews in regular journals compared to 6 (range 3-7) in Cochrane systematic reviews (pmethodological flaws leading to a high risk of bias. While Cochrane systematic reviews were of higher methodological quality than systematic reviews in regular journals, some of them also had methodological problems. Therefore, the methodology of each individual systematic review should be scrutinized before accepting its results.

National, regional, and worldwide estimates of stillbirth rates in 2009 with trends since 1995: a systematic analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Cousens, Simon; Blencowe, Hannah; Stanton, Cynthia; Chou, Doris; Ahmed, Saifuddin; Steinhardt, Laura; Creanga, Andreea A; Tunçalp, Ozge; Balsara, Zohra Patel; Gupta, Shivam; Say, Lale; Lawn, Joy E

2011-04-16

Stillbirths do not count in routine worldwide data-collating systems or for the Millennium Development Goals. Two sets of national stillbirth estimates for 2000 produced similar worldwide totals of 3·2 million and 3·3 million, but rates differed substantially for some countries. We aimed to develop more reliable estimates and a time series from 1995 for 193 countries, by increasing input data, using recent data, and applying improved modelling approaches. For international comparison, stillbirth is defined as fetal death in the third trimester (≥1000 g birthweight or ≥28 completed weeks of gestation). Several sources of stillbirth data were identified and assessed against prespecified inclusion criteria: vital registration data; nationally representative surveys; and published studies identified through systematic literature searches, unpublished studies, and national data identified through a WHO country consultation process. For 2009, reported rates were used for 33 countries and model-based estimates for 160 countries. A regression model of log stillbirth rate was developed and used to predict national stillbirth rates from 1995 to 2009. Uncertainty ranges were obtained with a bootstrap approach. The final model included log(neonatal mortality rate) (cubic spline), log(low birthweight rate) (cubic spline), log(gross national income purchasing power parity) (cubic spline), region, type of data source, and definition of stillbirth. Vital registration data from 79 countries, 69 nationally representative surveys from 39 countries, and 113 studies from 42 countries met inclusion criteria. The estimated number of global stillbirths was 2·64 million (uncertainty range 2·14 million to 3·82 million) in 2009 compared with 3·03 million (uncertainty range 2·37 million to 4·19 million) in 1995. Worldwide stillbirth rate has declined by 14·5%, from 22·1 stillbirths per 1000 births in 1995 to 18·9 stillbirths per 1000 births in 2009. In 2009, 76·2% of

AHRQ series paper 3: identifying, selecting, and refining topics for comparative effectiveness systematic reviews: AHRQ and the effective health-care program.

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Whitlock, Evelyn P; Lopez, Sarah A; Chang, Stephanie; Helfand, Mark; Eder, Michelle; Floyd, Nicole

2010-05-01

This article discusses the identification, selection, and refinement of topics for comparative effectiveness systematic reviews within the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality's Effective Health Care (EHC) program. The EHC program seeks to align its research topic selection with the overall goals of the program, impartially and consistently apply predefined criteria to potential topics, involve stakeholders to identify high-priority topics, be transparent and accountable, and continually evaluate and improve processes. A topic prioritization group representing stakeholder and scientific perspectives evaluates topic nominations that fit within the EHC program (are "appropriate") to determine how "important" topics are as considered against seven criteria. The group then judges whether a new comparative effectiveness systematic review would be a duplication of existing research syntheses, and if not duplicative, if there is adequate type and volume of research to conduct a new systematic review. Finally, the group considers the "potential value and impact" of a comparative effectiveness systematic review. As the EHC program develops, ongoing challenges include ensuring the program addresses truly unmet needs for synthesized research because national and international efforts in this arena are uncoordinated, as well as engaging a range of stakeholders in program decisions while also achieving efficiency and timeliness.

Research gaps identified during systematic reviews of clinical trials: glass-ionomer cements.

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Mickenautsch, Steffen

2012-06-29

To report the results of an audit concerning research gaps in clinical trials that were accepted for appraisal in authored and published systematic reviews regarding the application of glass-ionomer cements (GIC) in dental practice Information concerning research gaps in trial precision was extracted, following a framework that included classification of the research gap reasons: 'imprecision of information (results)', 'biased information', 'inconsistency or unknown consistency' and 'not the right information', as well as research gap characterization using PICOS elements: population (P), intervention (I), comparison (C), outcomes (O) and setting (S). Internal trial validity assessment was based on the understanding that successful control for systematic error cannot be assured on the basis of inclusion of adequate methods alone, but also requires empirical evidence about whether such attempt was successful. A comprehensive and interconnected coverage of GIC-related clinical topics was established. The most common reasons found for gaps in trial precision were lack of sufficient trials and lack of sufficient large sample size. Only a few research gaps were ascribed to 'Lack of information' caused by focus on mainly surrogate trial outcomes. According to the chosen assessment criteria, a lack of adequate randomisation, allocation concealment and blinding/masking in trials covering all reviewed GIC topics was noted (selection- and detection/performance bias risk). Trial results appear to be less affected by loss-to-follow-up (attrition bias risk). This audit represents an adjunct of the systematic review articles it has covered. Its results do not change the systematic review's conclusions but highlight existing research gaps concerning the precision and internal validity of reviewed trials in detail. These gaps should be addressed in future GIC-related clinical research.

Addressing trend-related changes within cumulative effects studies in water resources planning

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Canter, L.W.; Chawla, M.K.; Swor, C.T.

2014-01-01

Summarized herein are 28 case studies wherein trend-related causative physical, social, or institutional changes were connected to consequential changes in runoff, water quality, and riparian and aquatic ecological features. The reviewed cases were systematically evaluated relative to their identified environmental effects; usage of analytical frameworks, and appropriate models, methods, and technologies; and the attention given to mitigation and/or management of the resultant causative and consequential changes. These changes also represent important considerations in project design and operation, and in cumulative effects studies associated therewith. The cases were grouped into five categories: institutional changes associated with legislation and policies (seven cases); physical changes from land use changes in urbanizing watersheds (eight cases); physical changes from land use changes and development projects in watersheds (four cases); physical, institutional, and social changes from land use and related policy changes in river basins (three cases); and multiple changes within a comprehensive study of land use and policy changes in the Willamette River Basin in Oregon (six cases). A tabulation of 110 models, methods and technologies used in the studies is also presented. General observations from this review were that the features were unique for each case; the consequential changes were logically based on the causative changes; the analytical frameworks provided relevant structures for the studies, and the identified methods and technologies were pertinent for addressing both the causative and consequential changes. One key lesson was that the cases provide useful, “real-world” illustrations of the importance of addressing trend-related changes in cumulative effects studies within water resources planning. Accordingly, they could be used as an “initial tool kit” for addressing trend-related changes

Addressing trend-related changes within cumulative effects studies in water resources planning

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Canter, L.W., E-mail: envimptr@aol.com [University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma and President, Canter Associates, Inc., Horseshoe Bay, TX (United States); Chawla, M.K. [ERDC-CERL, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Champaign, IL (United States); Swor, C.T. [Canter Associates, Inc., Frankewing, TN (United States)

2014-01-15

Summarized herein are 28 case studies wherein trend-related causative physical, social, or institutional changes were connected to consequential changes in runoff, water quality, and riparian and aquatic ecological features. The reviewed cases were systematically evaluated relative to their identified environmental effects; usage of analytical frameworks, and appropriate models, methods, and technologies; and the attention given to mitigation and/or management of the resultant causative and consequential changes. These changes also represent important considerations in project design and operation, and in cumulative effects studies associated therewith. The cases were grouped into five categories: institutional changes associated with legislation and policies (seven cases); physical changes from land use changes in urbanizing watersheds (eight cases); physical changes from land use changes and development projects in watersheds (four cases); physical, institutional, and social changes from land use and related policy changes in river basins (three cases); and multiple changes within a comprehensive study of land use and policy changes in the Willamette River Basin in Oregon (six cases). A tabulation of 110 models, methods and technologies used in the studies is also presented. General observations from this review were that the features were unique for each case; the consequential changes were logically based on the causative changes; the analytical frameworks provided relevant structures for the studies, and the identified methods and technologies were pertinent for addressing both the causative and consequential changes. One key lesson was that the cases provide useful, “real-world” illustrations of the importance of addressing trend-related changes in cumulative effects studies within water resources planning. Accordingly, they could be used as an “initial tool kit” for addressing trend-related changes.

Taking the long view: a systematic review reporting long-term perspectives on child unintentional injury.

Science.gov (United States)

Mytton, Julie A; Towner, Elizabeth M L; Powell, Jane; Pilkington, Paul A; Gray, Selena

2012-10-01

The relative significance of child injury as a cause of preventable death has increased as mortality from infectious diseases has declined. Unintentional child injuries are now a major cause of death and disability across the world with the greatest burden falling on those who are most disadvantaged. A review of long-term data on child injury mortality was conducted to explore trends and inequalities and consider how data were used to inform policy, practice and research. The authors systematically collated and quality appraised data from publications and documents reporting unintentional child injury mortality over periods of 20 years or more. A critical narrative synthesis explored trends by country income group, injury type, age, gender, ethnicity and socioeconomic group. 31 studies meeting the inclusion criteria were identified of which 30 were included in the synthesis. Only six were from middle income countries and none were from low income countries. An overall trend in falling child injury mortality masked rising road traffic injury deaths, evidence of increasing vulnerability of adolescents and widening disparities within countries when analysed by ethnic group and socioeconomic status. Child injury mortality trend data from high and middle income countries has illustrated inequalities within generally falling trends. There is scope for greater use of existing trend data to inform policy and practice. Similar evidence from low income countries where the burden of injury is greatest is needed.

A competency framework for librarians involved in systematic reviews.

Science.gov (United States)

Townsend, Whitney A; Anderson, Patricia F; Ginier, Emily C; MacEachern, Mark P; Saylor, Kate M; Shipman, Barbara L; Smith, Judith E

2017-07-01

The project identified a set of core competencies for librarians who are involved in systematic reviews. A team of seven informationists with broad systematic review experience examined existing systematic review standards, conducted a literature search, and used their own expertise to identify core competencies and skills that are necessary to undertake various roles in systematic review projects. The team identified a total of six competencies for librarian involvement in systematic reviews: "Systematic review foundations," "Process management and communication," "Research methodology," "Comprehensive searching," "Data management," and "Reporting." Within each competency are the associated skills and knowledge pieces (indicators). Competence can be measured using an adaptation of Miller's Pyramid for Clinical Assessment, either through self-assessment or identification of formal assessment instruments. The Systematic Review Competencies Framework provides a standards-based, flexible way for librarians and organizations to identify areas of competence and areas in need of development to build capacity for systematic review integration. The framework can be used to identify or develop appropriate assessment tools and to target skill development opportunities.

Greenhouse gas emissions in Europe: a retrospective trend analysis for the period 1990-2008

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Borgan, A.; Gugele, B.; Haider, S. (Umweltbundesamt, Vienna (Austria)) (and others)

2011-10-15

This report presents a retrospective overview of the greenhouse gas (GHG) emission trends in Europe from 1990 to 2008, with a particular focus on the underpinning drivers and the influence of EU policies. The analysis is based on the combination of decomposition analyses to identify the respective influence of each identified driver and an overview of the main EU policies and their likely effects on these drivers. The period covered by the analysis stops in 2008. As a result, the analysis avoids the effects of the recent economic crisis on GHG emissions. This reinforces the conclusion on long-term emission drivers. The report covers the EU-27 and presents results for the other EEA member countries (Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Switzerland and Turkey) and Croatia (EU candidate country together with Turkey) as far as data is available. The results can be summarized as: 1) Overall GHG emission trends. EU GHG emissions were reduced between 1990 and 2008. Most of the reductions took place in the 1990s, but emissions have also been decreasing every year from 2003 until the last year considered in this report, 2008. 2) Predominant drivers. For the most part, the GHG emission trends observed in the EU between 1990 and 2008 resulted from economic factors. However, EU policies, some of which were not directly targeting GHG emissions, as well as national policies by some front runner countries, also played a role in these trends. 3) Impacts of EU policies. Between 2000 and 2008, emission trends were more directly targeted by a range of energy and climate policies, e.g. the implementation of the European Climate Change programme. However, the steady increase in energy demand during this period - particularly electricity - outweighed the considerable EU-wide savings generated by energy efficiency improvements and the development of renewable energy. 4) Co-benefits. Taking example from the positive benefits on GHG emissions that resulted from the implementation of non

Signal trend identification with fuzzy methods

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Reifman, J.; Tsoukalas, L. H.; Wang, X.; Wei, T. Y. C.

1999-01-01

A fuzzy-logic-based methodology for on-line signal trend identification is introduced. Although signal trend identification is complicated by the presence of noise, fuzzy logic can help capture important features of on-line signals and classify incoming power plant signals into increasing, decreasing and steady-state trend categories. In order to verify the methodology, a code named PROTREN is developed and tested using plant data. The results indicate that the code is capable of detecting transients accurately, identifying trends reliably, and not misinterpreting a steady-state signal as a transient one

Research gaps identified during systematic reviews of clinical trials: glass-ionomer cements

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mickenautsch Steffen

2012-06-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background To report the results of an audit concerning research gaps in clinical trials that were accepted for appraisal in authored and published systematic reviews regarding the application of glass-ionomer cements (GIC in dental practice Methods Information concerning research gaps in trial precision was extracted, following a framework that included classification of the research gap reasons: ‘imprecision of information (results’, ‘biased information’, ‘inconsistency or unknown consistency’ and ‘not the right information’, as well as research gap characterization using PICOS elements: population (P, intervention (I, comparison (C, outcomes (O and setting (S. Internal trial validity assessment was based on the understanding that successful control for systematic error cannot be assured on the basis of inclusion of adequate methods alone, but also requires empirical evidence about whether such attempt was successful. Results A comprehensive and interconnected coverage of GIC-related clinical topics was established. The most common reasons found for gaps in trial precision were lack of sufficient trials and lack of sufficient large sample size. Only a few research gaps were ascribed to ‘Lack of information’ caused by focus on mainly surrogate trial outcomes. According to the chosen assessment criteria, a lack of adequate randomisation, allocation concealment and blinding/masking in trials covering all reviewed GIC topics was noted (selection- and detection/performance bias risk. Trial results appear to be less affected by loss-to-follow-up (attrition bias risk. Conclusion This audit represents an adjunct of the systematic review articles it has covered. Its results do not change the systematic review’s conclusions but highlight existing research gaps concerning the precision and internal validity of reviewed trials in detail. These gaps should be addressed in future GIC-related clinical research.

Excavating the mother lode of human-generated text: A systematic review of research that uses the Wikipedia corpus

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mehdi, Mohamad; Okoli, Chitu; Mesgari, Mostafa

2017-01-01

Although primarily an encyclopedia, Wikipedia’s expansive content provides a knowledge base that has been continuously exploited by researchers in a wide variety of domains. This article systematically reviews the scholarly studies that have used Wikipedia as a data source, and investigates...... the means by which Wikipedia has been employed in three main computer science research areas: information retrieval, natural language processing, and ontology building. We report and discuss the research trends of the identified and examined studies. We further identify and classify a list of tools that can...... be used to extract data from Wikipedia, and compile a list of currently available data sets extracted from Wikipedia....

Improving the uptake of systematic reviews: a systematic review of intervention effectiveness and relevance.

LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

Wallace, John

2014-01-01

Little is known about the barriers, facilitators and interventions that impact on systematic review uptake. The objective of this study was to identify how uptake of systematic reviews can be improved.

Long-term trends of surface ozone and its influencing factors at the Mt Waliguan GAW station, China - Part 1: Overall trends and characteristics

Science.gov (United States)

Xu, Wanyun; Lin, Weili; Xu, Xiaobin; Tang, Jie; Huang, Jianqing; Wu, Hao; Zhang, Xiaochun

2016-05-01

Tropospheric ozone is an important atmospheric oxidant, greenhouse gas and atmospheric pollutant at the same time. The oxidation capacity of the atmosphere, climate, human and vegetation health can be impacted by the increase of the ozone level. Therefore, long-term determination of trends of baseline ozone is highly needed information for environmental and climate change assessment. So far, studies on the long-term trends of ozone at representative sites are mainly available for European and North American sites. Similar studies are lacking for China and many other developing countries. Measurements of surface ozone were carried out at a baseline Global Atmospheric Watch (GAW) station in the north-eastern Tibetan Plateau region (Mt Waliguan, 36°17' N, 100°54' E, 3816 m a.s.l.) for the period of 1994 to 2013. To uncover the variation characteristics, long-term trends and influencing factors of surface ozone at this remote site in western China, a two-part study has been carried out, with this part focusing on the overall characteristics of diurnal, seasonal and long-term variations and the trends of surface ozone. To obtain reliable ozone trends, we performed the Mann-Kendall trend test and the Hilbert-Huang transform (HHT) analysis on the ozone data. Our results confirm that the mountain-valley breeze plays an important role in the diurnal cycle of surface ozone at Waliguan, resulting in higher ozone values during the night and lower ones during the day, as was previously reported. Systematic diurnal and seasonal variations were found in mountain-valley breezes at the site, which were used in defining season-dependent daytime and nighttime periods for trend calculations. Significant positive trends in surface ozone were detected for both daytime (0.24 ± 0.16 ppbv year-1) and nighttime (0.28 ± 0.17 ppbv year-1). The largest nighttime increasing rate occurred in autumn (0.29 ± 0.11 ppbv year-1), followed by spring (0.24 ± 0.12 ppbv year-1), summer (0.22 ± 0

Trends in computer hardware and software.

Science.gov (United States)

Frankenfeld, F M

1993-04-01

Previously identified and current trends in the development of computer systems and in the use of computers for health care applications are reviewed. Trends identified in a 1982 article were increasing miniaturization and archival ability, increasing software costs, increasing software independence, user empowerment through new software technologies, shorter computer-system life cycles, and more rapid development and support of pharmaceutical services. Most of these trends continue today. Current trends in hardware and software include the increasing use of reduced instruction-set computing, migration to the UNIX operating system, the development of large software libraries, microprocessor-based smart terminals that allow remote validation of data, speech synthesis and recognition, application generators, fourth-generation languages, computer-aided software engineering, object-oriented technologies, and artificial intelligence. Current trends specific to pharmacy and hospitals are the withdrawal of vendors of hospital information systems from the pharmacy market, improved linkage of information systems within hospitals, and increased regulation by government. The computer industry and its products continue to undergo dynamic change. Software development continues to lag behind hardware, and its high cost is offsetting the savings provided by hardware.

Treatment of Childhood Obesity: A Systematic Review

Science.gov (United States)

Staniford, Leanne J.; Breckon, Jeff D.; Copeland, Robert J.

2012-01-01

Childhood obesity trends have increased dramatically over the past three decade's. The purpose of this quantitative systematic review is to provide an update of the evidence, illustrating the efficacy of childhood obesity treatment, considering whether treatment fidelity has been measured and/or reported and whether this related to the treatment…

Trends Supporting the In-Field Use of Wearable Inertial Sensors for Sport Performance Evaluation: A Systematic Review.

Science.gov (United States)

Camomilla, Valentina; Bergamini, Elena; Fantozzi, Silvia; Vannozzi, Giuseppe

2018-03-15

Recent technological developments have led to the production of inexpensive, non-invasive, miniature magneto-inertial sensors, ideal for obtaining sport performance measures during training or competition. This systematic review evaluates current evidence and the future potential of their use in sport performance evaluation. Articles published in English (April 2017) were searched in Web-of-Science, Scopus, Pubmed, and Sport-Discus databases. A keyword search of titles, abstracts and keywords which included studies using accelerometers, gyroscopes and/or magnetometers to analyse sport motor-tasks performed by athletes (excluding risk of injury, physical activity, and energy expenditure) resulted in 2040 papers. Papers and reference list screening led to the selection of 286 studies and 23 reviews. Information on sport, motor-tasks, participants, device characteristics, sensor position and fixing, experimental setting and performance indicators was extracted. The selected papers dealt with motor capacity assessment (51 papers), technique analysis (163), activity classification (19), and physical demands assessment (61). Focus was placed mainly on elite and sub-elite athletes (59%) performing their sport in-field during training (62%) and competition (7%). Measuring movement outdoors created opportunities in winter sports (8%), water sports (16%), team sports (25%), and other outdoor activities (27%). Indications on the reliability of sensor-based performance indicators are provided, together with critical considerations and future trends.

Offshore Blowouts, Causes and Trends

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Holand, P

1996-02-01

The main objective of this doctoral thesis was to establish an improved design basis for offshore installations with respect to blowout risk analyses. The following sub objectives are defined: (1) Establish an offshore blowout database suitable for risk analyses, (2) Compare the blowout risk related to loss of lives with the total offshore risk and risk in other industries, (3) Analyse blowouts with respect to parameters that are important to describe and quantify blowout risk that has been experienced to be able to answer several questions such as under what operations have blowouts occurred, direct causes, frequency of occurrence etc., (4) Analyse blowouts with respect to trends. The research strategy applied includes elements from both survey strategy and case study strategy. The data are systematized in the form of a new database developed from the MARINTEK database. Most blowouts in the analysed period occurred during drilling operations. Shallow gas blowouts were more frequent than deep blowouts and workover blowouts occurred more often than deep development drilling blowouts. Relatively few blowouts occurred during completion, wireline and normal production activities. No significant trend in blowout occurrences as a function of time could be observed, except for completion blowouts that showed a significantly decreasing trend. But there were trends regarding some important parameters for risk analyses, e.g. the ignition probability has decreased and diverter systems have improved. Only 3.5% of the fatalities occurred because of blowouts. 106 refs., 51 figs., 55 tabs.

Penicillin-Resistant trend of Streptococcus pneumoniae in Asia: A systematic review.

Science.gov (United States)

Mamishi, Setareh; Moradkhani, Sepideh; Mahmoudi, Shima; Hosseinpour-Sadeghi, Reihaneh; Pourakbari, Babak

2014-08-01

The high prevalence of resistance to penicillin by Streptococcus pneumoniaeis considered as a great concern, particularly in Asian countries. The aim of this study was to investigate the changing trend of penicillin-resistant S. pneumoniae (PRSP) in Asia over a 20 years period. A review of the literature was conducted using the PubMed database, Google Scholar, Scopus, two Persian scientific search engines "Scientific Information Database" (www.sid.ir), and "Mag Iran" (www.magiran.com) through 1993 to 2013. Our study provides a unique chance to investigate the changing trend in PSSP in Asia over a 20 years period. Susceptibility rates among different centers in each country varied widely. In Malaysia, the PSSP rate decreased from 97.2% in 1995-1996 to 69% in 2000. In Singapore, PSSP levels decreased from 72.6% in 1997 to 30.5% in 2007-2008. In Iran, PSSP ranged from 0% to 100%. In Taiwan, the rate of PSSP was 60.3% in 1995 and countries such as Vietnam, Singapore, Philippines, Pakistan, Nepal, Kuwait, Korea and Indonesia.

NatHER: protocol for systematic evaluation of trends in survival among patients with HER2-positive advanced breast cancer.

Science.gov (United States)

Korner, Eli J; Morris, Anne; Allen, Isabel Elaine; Hurvitz, Sara; Beattie, Mary S; Kalesan, Bindu

2015-10-01

Human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-positive metastatic breast cancer (MBC) is an aggressive form of breast cancer and is historically associated with poor outcomes compared with HER2-negative MBC. Since 1998, four drugs have been globally approved for the targeted treatment of HER2-positive MBC. Additional advances in patient care-such as improved breast cancer screening, HER2 testing, and supportive care-have also occurred. The objective of this systematic review and meta-analysis is to determine whether there has been a cumulative change in survival over time in patients with HER2-positive advanced breast cancer based on results from interventional clinical trials (ICTs) and observational studies and to compare outcomes across these types of studies. A systematic search of Medline, EMBASE, and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials will be performed. Two investigators will independently assess each abstract for inclusion. English language reports of ICTs and observational studies that include patients with HER2-positive advanced breast cancer from 1987 onwards will be considered. The primary outcome of interest is overall survival; secondary outcomes include progression-free survival and safety. Data on clinical outcomes, as well as on study design, study population, treatment/intervention, methodological quality, and outcomes, will be extracted using a structured codebook developed by the authors for this study. Standard and cumulative random effects meta-analysis will be performed to derive pooled risk estimates, both overall and by study design, controlling for covariates such as aggregate demographic and clinical characteristics of patients, treatment/intervention, and study characteristics. Heterogeneity of studies will be evaluated using the I(2) statistic. Differences in risk estimates by quality characteristics will be performed using meta-regression. This study will evaluate current and evolving trends in survival associated with

A Systematic Review of Validated Methods for Identifying Cerebrovascular Accident or Transient Ischemic Attack Using Administrative Data

Science.gov (United States)

Andrade, Susan E.; Harrold, Leslie R.; Tjia, Jennifer; Cutrona, Sarah L.; Saczynski, Jane S.; Dodd, Katherine S.; Goldberg, Robert J.; Gurwitz, Jerry H.

2012-01-01

Purpose To perform a systematic review of the validity of algorithms for identifying cerebrovascular accidents (CVAs) or transient ischemic attacks (TIAs) using administrative and claims data. Methods PubMed and Iowa Drug Information Service (IDIS) searches of the English language literature were performed to identify studies published between 1990 and 2010 that evaluated the validity of algorithms for identifying CVAs (ischemic and hemorrhagic strokes, intracranial hemorrhage and subarachnoid hemorrhage) and/or TIAs in administrative data. Two study investigators independently reviewed the abstracts and articles to determine relevant studies according to pre-specified criteria. Results A total of 35 articles met the criteria for evaluation. Of these, 26 articles provided data to evaluate the validity of stroke, 7 reported the validity of TIA, 5 reported the validity of intracranial bleeds (intracerebral hemorrhage and subarachnoid hemorrhage), and 10 studies reported the validity of algorithms to identify the composite endpoints of stroke/TIA or cerebrovascular disease. Positive predictive values (PPVs) varied depending on the specific outcomes and algorithms evaluated. Specific algorithms to evaluate the presence of stroke and intracranial bleeds were found to have high PPVs (80% or greater). Algorithms to evaluate TIAs in adult populations were generally found to have PPVs of 70% or greater. Conclusions The algorithms and definitions to identify CVAs and TIAs using administrative and claims data differ greatly in the published literature. The choice of the algorithm employed should be determined by the stroke subtype of interest. PMID:22262598

The quality of systematic reviews about interventions for refractive error can be improved: a review of systematic reviews.

Science.gov (United States)

Mayo-Wilson, Evan; Ng, Sueko Matsumura; Chuck, Roy S; Li, Tianjing

2017-09-05

Systematic reviews should inform American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) Preferred Practice Pattern® (PPP) guidelines. The quality of systematic reviews related to the forthcoming Preferred Practice Pattern® guideline (PPP) Refractive Errors & Refractive Surgery is unknown. We sought to identify reliable systematic reviews to assist the AAO Refractive Errors & Refractive Surgery PPP. Systematic reviews were eligible if they evaluated the effectiveness or safety of interventions included in the 2012 PPP Refractive Errors & Refractive Surgery. To identify potentially eligible systematic reviews, we searched the Cochrane Eyes and Vision United States Satellite database of systematic reviews. Two authors identified eligible reviews and abstracted information about the characteristics and quality of the reviews independently using the Systematic Review Data Repository. We classified systematic reviews as "reliable" when they (1) defined criteria for the selection of studies, (2) conducted comprehensive literature searches for eligible studies, (3) assessed the methodological quality (risk of bias) of the included studies, (4) used appropriate methods for meta-analyses (which we assessed only when meta-analyses were reported), (5) presented conclusions that were supported by the evidence provided in the review. We identified 124 systematic reviews related to refractive error; 39 met our eligibility criteria, of which we classified 11 to be reliable. Systematic reviews classified as unreliable did not define the criteria for selecting studies (5; 13%), did not assess methodological rigor (10; 26%), did not conduct comprehensive searches (17; 44%), or used inappropriate quantitative methods (3; 8%). The 11 reliable reviews were published between 2002 and 2016. They included 0 to 23 studies (median = 9) and analyzed 0 to 4696 participants (median = 666). Seven reliable reviews (64%) assessed surgical interventions. Most systematic reviews of interventions for

Trending analysis of precursor events

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Watanabe, Norio

1998-01-01

The Accident Sequence Precursor (ASP) Program of United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission (U.S.NRC) identifies and categorizes operational events at nuclear power plants in terms of the potential for core damage. The ASP analysis has been performed on yearly basis and the results have been published in the annual reports. This paper describes the trends in initiating events and dominant sequences for 459 precursors identified in the ASP Program during the 1969-94 period and also discusses a comparison with dominant sequences predicted in the past Probabilistic Risk Assessment (PRA) studies. These trends were examined for three time periods, 1969-81, 1984-87 and 1988-94. Although the different models had been used in the ASP analyses for these three periods, the distribution of precursors by dominant sequences show similar trends to each other. For example, the sequences involving loss of both main and auxiliary feedwater were identified in many PWR events and those involving loss of both high and low coolant injection were found in many BWR events. Also, it was found that these dominant sequences were comparable to those determined to be dominant in the predictions by the past PRAs. As well, a list of the 459 precursors identified are provided in Appendix, indicating initiating event types, unavailable systems, dominant sequences, conditional core damage probabilities, and so on. (author)

Statistical trend analysis methods for temporal phenomena

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lehtinen, E.; Pulkkinen, U. [VTT Automation, (Finland); Poern, K. [Poern Consulting, Nykoeping (Sweden)

1997-04-01

We consider point events occurring in a random way in time. In many applications the pattern of occurrence is of intrinsic interest as indicating a trend or some other systematic feature in the rate of occurrence. The purpose of this report is to survey briefly different statistical trend analysis methods and illustrate their applicability to temporal phenomena in particular. The trend testing of point events is usually seen as the testing of the hypotheses concerning the intensity of the occurrence of events. When the intensity function is parametrized, the testing of trend is a typical parametric testing problem. In industrial applications the operational experience generally does not suggest any specified model and method in advance. Therefore, and particularly, if the Poisson process assumption is very questionable, it is desirable to apply tests that are valid for a wide variety of possible processes. The alternative approach for trend testing is to use some non-parametric procedure. In this report we have presented four non-parametric tests: The Cox-Stuart test, the Wilcoxon signed ranks test, the Mann test, and the exponential ordered scores test. In addition to the classical parametric and non-parametric approaches we have also considered the Bayesian trend analysis. First we discuss a Bayesian model, which is based on a power law intensity model. The Bayesian statistical inferences are based on the analysis of the posterior distribution of the trend parameters, and the probability of trend is immediately seen from these distributions. We applied some of the methods discussed in an example case. It should be noted, that this report is a feasibility study rather than a scientific evaluation of statistical methods, and the examples can only be seen as demonstrations of the methods. 14 refs, 10 figs.

Statistical trend analysis methods for temporal phenomena

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lehtinen, E.; Pulkkinen, U.; Poern, K.

1997-04-01

We consider point events occurring in a random way in time. In many applications the pattern of occurrence is of intrinsic interest as indicating a trend or some other systematic feature in the rate of occurrence. The purpose of this report is to survey briefly different statistical trend analysis methods and illustrate their applicability to temporal phenomena in particular. The trend testing of point events is usually seen as the testing of the hypotheses concerning the intensity of the occurrence of events. When the intensity function is parametrized, the testing of trend is a typical parametric testing problem. In industrial applications the operational experience generally does not suggest any specified model and method in advance. Therefore, and particularly, if the Poisson process assumption is very questionable, it is desirable to apply tests that are valid for a wide variety of possible processes. The alternative approach for trend testing is to use some non-parametric procedure. In this report we have presented four non-parametric tests: The Cox-Stuart test, the Wilcoxon signed ranks test, the Mann test, and the exponential ordered scores test. In addition to the classical parametric and non-parametric approaches we have also considered the Bayesian trend analysis. First we discuss a Bayesian model, which is based on a power law intensity model. The Bayesian statistical inferences are based on the analysis of the posterior distribution of the trend parameters, and the probability of trend is immediately seen from these distributions. We applied some of the methods discussed in an example case. It should be noted, that this report is a feasibility study rather than a scientific evaluation of statistical methods, and the examples can only be seen as demonstrations of the methods

Identifying the content of home-based health behaviour change interventions for frail older people: a systematic review protocol.

Science.gov (United States)

Jovicic, Ana; Gardner, Benjamin; Belk, Celia; Kharicha, Kalpa; Iliffe, Steve; Manthorpe, Jill; Goodman, Claire; Drennan, Vari; Walters, Kate

2015-11-04

Meeting the needs of the growing number of older people is a challenge for health and social care services. Home-based interventions aiming to modify health-related behaviours of frail older people have the potential to improve functioning and well-being. Previous reviews have focused on whether such interventions are effective, rather than what might make them effective. Recent advances in behavioural science make possible the identification of potential 'active ingredients' of effective interventions, such as component behaviour change techniques (BCTs), and intended intervention functions (IFs; e.g. to educate, to impart skills). This paper reports a protocol for a systematic review that seeks to (a) identify health behaviour change interventions for older frail people, (b) describe the content of these interventions, and (c) explore links between intervention content and effectiveness. The protocol is reported in accordance with Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses Protocols (PRISMA-P) 2015 guidelines. Studies will be identified through a systematic search of 15 electronic databases, supplemented by citation tracking. Studies will be retained for review where they report randomised controlled trials focusing on home-based health promotion delivered by a health professional for frail older people in community settings, written in English, and either published from 1980 onwards, or, for registered trials only, unpublished but completed with results obtainable from authors. Interventions will be coded for their content (BCTs, IFs) and for evidence of effectiveness (outcome data relating to behavioural and health outcomes). Analyses will describe characteristics of all interventions. Interventions for which effectiveness data are available will be categorised into those showing evidence of effectiveness versus those showing no such evidence. The potential for each intervention characteristic to contribute to change in behaviour or

Searching for qualitative research for inclusion in systematic reviews: a structured methodological review.

Science.gov (United States)

Booth, Andrew

2016-05-04

Qualitative systematic reviews or qualitative evidence syntheses (QES) are increasingly recognised as a way to enhance the value of systematic reviews (SRs) of clinical trials. They can explain the mechanisms by which interventions, evaluated within trials, might achieve their effect. They can investigate differences in effects between different population groups. They can identify which outcomes are most important to patients, carers, health professionals and other stakeholders. QES can explore the impact of acceptance, feasibility, meaningfulness and implementation-related factors within a real world setting and thus contribute to the design and further refinement of future interventions. To produce valid, reliable and meaningful QES requires systematic identification of relevant qualitative evidence. Although the methodologies of QES, including methods for information retrieval, are well-documented, little empirical evidence exists to inform their conduct and reporting. This structured methodological overview examines papers on searching for qualitative research identified from the Cochrane Qualitative and Implementation Methods Group Methodology Register and from citation searches of 15 key papers. A single reviewer reviewed 1299 references. Papers reporting methodological guidance, use of innovative methodologies or empirical studies of retrieval methods were categorised under eight topical headings: overviews and methodological guidance, sampling, sources, structured questions, search procedures, search strategies and filters, supplementary strategies and standards. This structured overview presents a contemporaneous view of information retrieval for qualitative research and identifies a future research agenda. This review concludes that poor empirical evidence underpins current information practice in information retrieval of qualitative research. A trend towards improved transparency of search methods and further evaluation of key search procedures offers

Minimizing the trend effect on detrended cross-correlation analysis with empirical mode decomposition

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhao Xiaojun; Shang Pengjian; Zhao Chuang; Wang Jing; Tao Rui

2012-01-01

Highlights: ► Investigate the effects of linear, exponential and periodic trends on DCCA. ► Apply empirical mode decomposition to extract trend term. ► Strong and monotonic trends are successfully eliminated. ► Get the cross-correlation exponent in a persistent behavior without crossover. - Abstract: Detrended cross-correlation analysis (DCCA) is a scaling method commonly used to estimate long-range power law cross-correlation in non-stationary signals. However, the susceptibility of DCCA to trends makes the scaling results difficult to analyze due to spurious crossovers. We artificially generate long-range cross-correlated signals and systematically investigate the effect of linear, exponential and periodic trends. Specifically to the crossovers raised by trends, we apply empirical mode decomposition method which decomposes underlying signals into several intrinsic mode functions (IMF) and a residual trend. After the removal of residual term, strong and monotonic trends such as linear and exponential trends are successfully eliminated. But periodic trend cannot be separated out according to the criterion of IMF, which can be eliminated by Fourier transform. As a special case of DCCA, detrended fluctuation analysis presents similar results.

Cohort Measures of Internal Migration: Understanding Long-Term Trends.

Science.gov (United States)

Bernard, Aude

2017-12-01

Internal migration intensities fluctuate over time, but both migration levels and trends show great diversity. The dynamics underpinning these trends remain poorly understood because they are analyzed almost exclusively by applying period measures to cross-sectional data. This article proposes 10 cohort measures that can be applied to both prospective and retrospective data to systematically examine long-term trends. To demonstrate their benefits, the proposed measures are applied to retrospective survey data for England that provide residential histories from birth to age 50 for cohorts born between 1918 and 1957. The analysis reveals stable lifetime migration for men but increased lifetime migration for women associated with earlier ages at moving in adulthood and a compression of intervals between consecutive moves. The proposed cohort measures provide a more comprehensive picture of migration behavior and should be used to complement period measures in exploring long-term trends. Increasing availability of retrospective and longitudinal survey data means that researchers can now apply the proposed measures to a wide range of countries.

Usefulness of systematic review search strategies in finding child health systematic reviews in MEDLINE

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Boluyt, Nicole; Tjosvold, Lisa; Lefebvre, Carol; Klassen, Terry P.; Offringa, Martin

2008-01-01

OBJECTIVE: To determine the sensitivity and precision of existing search strategies for retrieving child health systematic reviews in MEDLINE using PubMed. DESIGN: Filter (diagnostic) accuracy study. We identified existing search strategies for systematic reviews, combined them with a filter that

A systematic review of studies identifying predictors of poor return to work outcomes following workplace injury.

Science.gov (United States)

Street, Tamara D; Lacey, Sarah J

2015-06-05

Injuries occurring in the workplace can have serious implications for the health of the individual, the productivity of the employer and the overall economic community. The objective of this paper is to increase the current state of understanding of individual demographic and psychosocial characteristics associated with extended absenteeism from the workforce due to a workplace injury. Studies included in this systematic literature review tracked participants' return to work status over a minimum of three months, identified either demographic, psychosocial or general injury predictors of poor return to work outcomes and included a heterogeneous sample of workplace injuries. Identified predictors of poor return to work outcomes included older age, female gender, divorced marital status, two or more dependent family members, lower education levels, employment variables associated with reduced labour market desirability, severity or sensitive injury locations, negative attitudes and outcome perceptions of the participant. There is a need for clear and consistent definition and measurement of return to work outcomes and a holistic theoretical model integrating injury, psychosocial and demographic predictors of return to work. Through greater understanding of the nature of factors affecting return to work, improved outcomes could be achieved.

Infodemiology of status epilepticus: A systematic validation of the Google Trends-based search queries.

Science.gov (United States)

Bragazzi, Nicola Luigi; Bacigaluppi, Susanna; Robba, Chiara; Nardone, Raffaele; Trinka, Eugen; Brigo, Francesco

2016-02-01

People increasingly use Google looking for health-related information. We previously demonstrated that in English-speaking countries most people use this search engine to obtain information on status epilepticus (SE) definition, types/subtypes, and treatment. Now, we aimed at providing a quantitative analysis of SE-related web queries. This analysis represents an advancement, with respect to what was already previously discussed, in that the Google Trends (GT) algorithm has been further refined and correlational analyses have been carried out to validate the GT-based query volumes. Google Trends-based SE-related query volumes were well correlated with information concerning causes and pharmacological and nonpharmacological treatments. Google Trends can provide both researchers and clinicians with data on realities and contexts that are generally overlooked and underexplored by classic epidemiology. In this way, GT can foster new epidemiological studies in the field and can complement traditional epidemiological tools. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Psychotherapeutic Applications of Mobile Phone-based Technologies: A Systematic Review of Current Research and Trends.

Science.gov (United States)

Menon, Vikas; Rajan, Tess Maria; Sarkar, Siddharth

2017-01-01

There is a growing interest in using mobile phone technology to offer real-time psychological interventions and support. However, questions remain on the clinical effectiveness and feasibility of such approaches in psychiatric populations. Our aim was to systematically review the published literature on mobile phone apps and other mobile phone-based technology for psychotherapy in mental health disorders. To achieve this, electronic searches of PubMed, ScienceDirect, and Google Scholar were carried out in January 2016. Generated abstracts were systematically screened for eligibility to be included in the review. Studies employing psychotherapy in any form, being delivered through mobile-based technology and reporting core mental health outcomes in mental illness were included in the study. We also included trials in progress with published protocols reporting at least some outcome measures of such interventions. From a total of 1563 search results, 24 eligible articles were identified and reviewed. These included trials in anxiety disorders (8), substance use disorders (5), depression (4), bipolar disorders (3), schizophrenia and psychotic disorders (3), and attempted suicide (1). Of these, eight studies involved the use of smartphone apps and others involved personalized text messages, automated programs, or delivered empirically supported treatments. Trial lengths varied from 6 weeks to 1 year. Good overall retention rates indicated that the treatments were feasible and largely acceptable. Benefits were reported on core outcomes in mental health illness indicating efficacy of such approaches though sample sizes were small. To conclude, mobile phone-based psychotherapies are a feasible and acceptable treatment option for patients with mental disorders. However, there remains a paucity of data on their effectiveness in real-world settings, especially from low- and middle-income countries.

Seasonal adjustment methods and real time trend-cycle estimation

CERN Document Server

Bee Dagum, Estela

2016-01-01

This book explores widely used seasonal adjustment methods and recent developments in real time trend-cycle estimation. It discusses in detail the properties and limitations of X12ARIMA, TRAMO-SEATS and STAMP - the main seasonal adjustment methods used by statistical agencies. Several real-world cases illustrate each method and real data examples can be followed throughout the text. The trend-cycle estimation is presented using nonparametric techniques based on moving averages, linear filters and reproducing kernel Hilbert spaces, taking recent advances into account. The book provides a systematical treatment of results that to date have been scattered throughout the literature. Seasonal adjustment and real time trend-cycle prediction play an essential part at all levels of activity in modern economies. They are used by governments to counteract cyclical recessions, by central banks to control inflation, by decision makers for better modeling and planning and by hospitals, manufacturers, builders, transportat...

Generalized trends in the formation energies of perovskite oxides.

Science.gov (United States)

Zeng, ZhenHua; Calle-Vallejo, Federico; Mogensen, Mogens B; Rossmeisl, Jan

2013-05-28

Generalized trends in the formation energies of several families of perovskite oxides (ABO3) and plausible explanations to their existence are provided in this study through a combination of DFT calculations, solid-state physics analyses and simple physical/chemical descriptors. The studied elements at the A site of perovskites comprise rare-earth, alkaline-earth and alkaline metals, whereas 3d and 5d metals were studied at the B site. We also include ReO3-type compounds, which have the same crystal structure of cubic ABO3 perovskites except without A-site elements. From the observations we extract the following four conclusions for the perovskites studied in the present paper: for a given cation at the B site, (I) perovskites with cations of identical oxidation state at the A site possess close formation energies; and (II) perovskites with cations of different oxidation states at the A site usually have quite different but ordered formation energies. On the other hand, for a given A-site cation, (III) the formation energies of perovskites vary linearly with respect to the atomic number of the elements at the B site within the same period of the periodic table, and the slopes depend systematically on the oxidation state of the A-site cation; and (IV) the trends in formation energies of perovskites with elements from different periods at the B site depend on the oxidation state of A-site cations. Since the energetics of perovskites is shown to be the superposition of the individual contributions of their constituent oxides, the trends can be rationalized in terms of A-O and B-O interactions in the ionic crystal. These findings reveal the existence of general systematic trends in the formation energies of perovskites and provide further insight into the role of ion-ion interactions in the properties of ternary compounds.

Fundamental trends in fluid-structure interaction

CERN Document Server

Galdi, Giovanni P

2010-01-01

The interaction of a fluid with a solid body is a widespread phenomenon in nature, occurring at different scales and different applied disciplines. Interestingly enough, even though the mathematical theory of the motion of bodies in a liquid is one of the oldest and most classical problems in fluid mechanics, mathematicians have, only very recently, become interested in a systematic study of the basic problems related to fluid-structure interaction, from both analytical and numerical viewpoints. ""Fundamental Trends in Fluid-Structure Interaction"" is a unique collection of important papers wr

Methodology in conducting a systematic review of systematic reviews of healthcare interventions

LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

Smith, Valerie

2011-02-03

Abstract Background Hundreds of studies of maternity care interventions have been published, too many for most people involved in providing maternity care to identify and consider when making decisions. It became apparent that systematic reviews of individual studies were required to appraise, summarise and bring together existing studies in a single place. However, decision makers are increasingly faced by a plethora of such reviews and these are likely to be of variable quality and scope, with more than one review of important topics. Systematic reviews (or overviews) of reviews are a logical and appropriate next step, allowing the findings of separate reviews to be compared and contrasted, providing clinical decision makers with the evidence they need. Methods The methods used to identify and appraise published and unpublished reviews systematically, drawing on our experiences and good practice in the conduct and reporting of systematic reviews are described. The process of identifying and appraising all published reviews allows researchers to describe the quality of this evidence base, summarise and compare the review\\'s conclusions and discuss the strength of these conclusions. Results Methodological challenges and possible solutions are described within the context of (i) sources, (ii) study selection, (iii) quality assessment (i.e. the extent of searching undertaken for the reviews, description of study selection and inclusion criteria, comparability of included studies, assessment of publication bias and assessment of heterogeneity), (iv) presentation of results, and (v) implications for practice and research. Conclusion Conducting a systematic review of reviews highlights the usefulness of bringing together a summary of reviews in one place, where there is more than one review on an important topic. The methods described here should help clinicians to review and appraise published reviews systematically, and aid evidence-based clinical decision-making.

Trends that FCS Education Should Address: A Delphi Study Reveals Top 16

Science.gov (United States)

Alexander, Karen L.; Davis, Kimberlee

2011-01-01

This study used the Delphi method to identify trends of importance to family and consumer sciences (FCS) education. A panel of 21 FCS education experts identified 16 trends and evaluated them by importance, desirability, feasibility, and confidence in validity of the trend. Nutrition appeared as a top priority, followed by consumer economics. The…

Translating latent trends in food consumer behavior into new products

OpenAIRE

Gellynck, Xavier; Kühne, Bianka; Van Wezemael, Lynn; Verbeke, Wim

2010-01-01

For successful product development it is important to explore the latent changes in consumer behavior prior to the product development process. The identification of a latent trend before the manifestation moment can be achieved by trend analysis. Trend analysis delivers insights that explore the future in order to identify prospective consumers and new product ideas, but also includes a feeling for the currents in market and technology. Hence, the aim is to identify emerging weak signals in ...

Divergent fifteen-year trends in traditional and cardiometabolic risk factors of cardiovascular diseases in the Seychelles

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Darioli Roger

2009-06-01

Full Text Available Abstract Objective Few studies have assessed secular changes in the levels of cardiovascular risk factors (CV-RF in populations of low or middle income countries. The systematic collection of a broad set of both traditional and metabolic CV-RF in 1989 and 2004 in the population of the Seychelles islands provides a unique opportunity to examine trends at a fairly early stage of the "diabesity" era in a country in the African region. Methods Two examination surveys were conducted in independent random samples of the population aged 25–64 years in 1989 and 2004, attended by respectively 1081 and 1255 participants (participation rates >80%. All results are age-standardized to the WHO standard population. Results In 2004 vs. 1989, the levels of the main traditional CV-RF have either decreased, e.g. smoking (17% vs. 30%, p Conclusion The levels of several traditional CVD-RF improved over time, while marked detrimental trends were observed for obesity, diabetes and several cardiometabolic factors. Thus, in this population, the rapid health transition was characterized by substantial changes in the patterns of CVD-RF. More generally, this analysis suggests the importance of surveillance systems to identify risk factor trends and the need for preventive strategies to promote healthy lifestyles and nutrition.

Identifying Relevant Studies in Software Engineering

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Zhang, He; Ali Babar, Muhammad; Tell, Paolo

2011-01-01

Context: Systematic literature review (SLR) has become an important research methodology in software engineering since the introduction of evidence-based software engineering (EBSE) in 2004. One critical step in applying this methodology is to design and execute appropriate and effective search....... Objective: The main objective of the research reported in this paper is to improve the search step of undertaking SLRs in software engineering (SE) by devising and evaluating systematic and practical approaches to identifying relevant studies in SE. Method: We have systematically selected and analytically...

Trends Supporting the In-Field Use of Wearable Inertial Sensors for Sport Performance Evaluation: A Systematic Review

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Valentina Camomilla

2018-03-01

Full Text Available Recent technological developments have led to the production of inexpensive, non-invasive, miniature magneto-inertial sensors, ideal for obtaining sport performance measures during training or competition. This systematic review evaluates current evidence and the future potential of their use in sport performance evaluation. Articles published in English (April 2017 were searched in Web-of-Science, Scopus, Pubmed, and Sport-Discus databases. A keyword search of titles, abstracts and keywords which included studies using accelerometers, gyroscopes and/or magnetometers to analyse sport motor-tasks performed by athletes (excluding risk of injury, physical activity, and energy expenditure resulted in 2040 papers. Papers and reference list screening led to the selection of 286 studies and 23 reviews. Information on sport, motor-tasks, participants, device characteristics, sensor position and fixing, experimental setting and performance indicators was extracted. The selected papers dealt with motor capacity assessment (51 papers, technique analysis (163, activity classification (19, and physical demands assessment (61. Focus was placed mainly on elite and sub-elite athletes (59% performing their sport in-field during training (62% and competition (7%. Measuring movement outdoors created opportunities in winter sports (8%, water sports (16%, team sports (25%, and other outdoor activities (27%. Indications on the reliability of sensor-based performance indicators are provided, together with critical considerations and future trends.

Systematic trends in the design and study of new organic conductors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cowan, D.O.; Bailey, A.B.; Duan, H.; Fortkort, J.A.; Liu, C.Y.; Mays, M.D.; McCullough, R.D.; Bryden, W.A.; Poehler, T.O.; Kistenmacher, T.J.

1989-01-01

The recent synthesis of tetratellurafulvalene (TTeF) makes it possible to examine in a more systematic fashion how structural modification affect the ionization potential, polarizability, on-site Coulomb repulsion, bandwidths (in sack dp-π orbital overlap), dimensionality (between stack dp-π and σ orbital overlap) and how these factors influence the electrical transport and magnetic susceptibility of mixed valence salts derived from sulfur, selenium, and tellurium π-donors

Rigorous determination of stratospheric water vapor trends from MIPAS observations.

Science.gov (United States)

Ceccherini, Simone; Carli, Bruno; Raspollini, Piera; Ridolfi, Marco

2011-05-09

The trend of stratospheric water vapor as a function of latitude is estimated by the MIPAS measurements by means of a new method that uses the measurement space solution. The method uses all the information provided by the observations avoiding the artifacts introduced by the a priori information and by the interpolation to different vertical grids. The analysis provides very precise values of the trends that, however, are limited by a relatively large systematic error induced by the radiometric calibration error of the instrument. The results show in the five years from 2005 to 2009 a dependence on latitude of the stratospheric (from 37 to 53 km) water vapor trend with a positive value of (0.41 ± 0.16)%yr-1 in the northern hemisphere and less than 0.16%yr-1 in the southern hemisphere.

The ICF Core Sets for hearing loss--researcher perspective. Part I: Systematic review of outcome measures identified in audiological research.

Science.gov (United States)

Granberg, Sarah; Dahlström, Jennie; Möller, Claes; Kähäri, Kim; Danermark, Berth

2014-02-01

To review the literature in order to identify outcome measures used in research on adults with hearing loss (HL) as part of the ICF Core Sets development project, and to describe study and population characteristics of the reviewed studies. A systematic review methodology was applied using multiple databases. A comprehensive search was conducted and two search pools were created, pool I and pool II. The study population included adults (≥ 18 years of age) with HL and oral language as the primary mode of communication. 122 studies were included. Outcome measures were distinguished by 'instrument type', and 10 types were identified. In total, 246 (pool I) and 122 (pool II) different measures were identified, and only approximately 20% were extracted twice or more. Most measures were related to speech recognition. Fifty-one different questionnaires were identified. Many studies used small sample sizes, and the sex of participants was not revealed in several studies. The low prevalence of identified measures reflects a lack of consensus regarding the optimal outcome measures to use in audiology. Reflections and discussions are made in relation to small sample sizes and the lack of sex differentiation/descriptions within the included articles.

Use of selected ambulatory dental services in Taiwan before and after global budgeting: a longitudinal study to identify trends in hospital and clinic-based services

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lin Chienhung

2012-09-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background The Taiwan government adopted National Health Insurance (NHI in 1995, providing universal health care to all citizens. It was financed by mandatory premium contributions made by employers, employees, and the government. Since then, the government has faced increasing challenges to control NHI expenditures. The aim of this study was to determine trends in the provision of dental services in Taiwan after the implementation of global budgeting in 1998 and to identify areas of possible concern. Methods This longitudinal before/after study was based on data from the National Health Insurance Research Database from 1996 to 2001. These data were subjected to logistic regression analysis. Linear regression analysis was used to examine changes in delivery of specific services after global budgeting implementation. Utilization of hospital and clinic services was compared. Results Reimbursement for dental services increased significantly while the number of visits per patient remained steady in both hospitals and clinics. In hospitals, visits for root canal procedures, ionomer restoration, tooth extraction and tooth scaling increased significantly. In dental clinics, visits for amalgam restoration decreased significantly while those for ionomer restoration, tooth extraction, and tooth scaling increased significantly. After the adoption of global budgeting, expenditures for dental services increased dramatically while the number of visits per patient did not, indicating a possible shift in patients to hospital facilities that received additional National Health Insurance funding. Conclusions The identified trends indicate increased utilization of dental services and uneven distribution of care and dentists. These trends may be compromising the quality of dental care delivered in Taiwan.

Trends in Employee Ownership in Eastern Europe

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mygind, Niels

2012-01-01

are tested using the new members of the EU in Eastern Europe and the candidate country of Croatia as cases. There is no coherent panel data, but by categorizing specific trends in each country and then combining the different trend variables it is possible to identify the most important factors influencing...

Secular trends in hip fractures worldwide: opposing trends East versus West.

Science.gov (United States)

Ballane, Ghada; Cauley, Jane A; Luckey, Marjorie M; Fuleihan, Ghada El-Hajj

2014-08-01

Despite wide variations in hip rates fractures worldwide, reasons for such differences are not clear. Furthermore, secular trends in the age-specific hip fracture rates are changing the world map of this devastating disease, with the highest rise projected to occur in developing countries. The aim of our investigation is to systematically characterize secular trends in hip fractures worldwide, examine new data for various ethnic groups in the United States, evidence for divergent temporal patterns, and investigate potential contributing factors for the observed change in their epidemiology. All studies retrieved through a complex Medline Ovid search between 1966 and 2013 were examined. For each selected study, we calculated the percent annual change in age-standardized hip fracture rates de-novo. Although occurring at different time points, trend breaks in hip fracture incidence occurred in most Western countries and Oceania. After a steep rise in age-adjusted rates in these regions, a decrease became evident sometimes between the mid-seventies and nineties, depending on the country. Conversely, the data is scarce in Asia and South America, with evidence for a continuous rise in hip fracture rates, with the exception of Hong-Kong and Taiwan that seem to follow Western trends. The etiologies of these secular patterns in both the developed and the developing countries have not been fully elucidated, but the impact of urbanization is at least one plausible explanation. Data presented here show close parallels between rising rates of urbanization and hip fractures across disparate geographic locations and cultures. Once the proportion of the urban population stabilized, hip fracture rates also stabilize or begin to decrease perhaps due to the influence of other factors such as birth cohort effects, changes in bone mineral density and BMI, osteoporosis medication use and/or lifestyle interventions such as smoking cessation, improvement in nutritional status and fall

Optimizing literature search in systematic reviews

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Aagaard, Thomas; Lund, Hans; Juhl, Carsten Bogh

2016-01-01

BACKGROUND: When conducting systematic reviews, it is essential to perform a comprehensive literature search to identify all published studies relevant to the specific research question. The Cochrane Collaborations Methodological Expectations of Cochrane Intervention Reviews (MECIR) guidelines...... of musculoskeletal disorders. METHODS: Data sources were systematic reviews published by the Cochrane Musculoskeletal Review Group, including at least five RCTs, reporting a search history, searching MEDLINE, EMBASE, CENTRAL, and adding reference- and hand-searching. Additional databases were deemed eligible...... if they indexed RCTs, were in English and used in more than three of the systematic reviews. Relative recall was calculated as the number of studies identified by the literature search divided by the number of eligible studies i.e. included studies in the individual systematic reviews. Finally, cumulative median...

Trend Definition or Holding Strategy: What Determines the Profitability of Candlestick Technical Trading Strategies?

OpenAIRE

Tsung-Hsun Lu; Yi-Chi Chen; Yu-Chin Hsu

2014-01-01

We ask what determines the profitability of candlestick patterns. Is it the definition of trend and/or the holding strategy that one uses in candlestick charting analysis? To answer this, we conduct a systematic investigation by considering three definitions of trend and four holding strategies. Based on the DJIA components data, we find that eight three-day reversal patterns with a Caginalp-Laurent holding strategy are profitable after we account for data-snooping bias. We also find that our...

Mind the Gap. A systematic review to identify usability and safety challenges and practices during electronic health record implementation.

Science.gov (United States)

Ratwani, Raj; Fairbanks, Terry; Savage, Erica; Adams, Katie; Wittie, Michael; Boone, Edna; Hayden, Andrew; Barnes, Janey; Hettinger, Zach; Gettinger, Andrew

2016-11-16

Decisions made during electronic health record (EHR) implementations profoundly affect usability and safety. This study aims to identify gaps between the current literature and key stakeholders' perceptions of usability and safety practices and the challenges encountered during the implementation of EHRs. Two approaches were used: a literature review and interviews with key stakeholders. We performed a systematic review of the literature to identify usability and safety challenges and best practices during implementation. A total of 55 articles were reviewed through searches of PubMed, Web of Science and Scopus. We used a qualitative approach to identify key stakeholders' perceptions; semi-structured interviews were conducted with a diverse set of health IT stakeholders to understand their current practices and challenges related to usability during implementation. We used a grounded theory approach: data were coded, sorted, and emerging themes were identified. Conclusions from both sources of data were compared to identify areas of misalignment. We identified six emerging themes from the literature and stakeholder interviews: cost and resources, risk assessment, governance and consensus building, customization, clinical workflow and usability testing, and training. Across these themes, there were misalignments between the literature and stakeholder perspectives, indicating major gaps. Major gaps identified from each of six emerging themes are discussed as critical areas for future research, opportunities for new stakeholder initiatives, and opportunities to better disseminate resources to improve the implementation of EHRs. Our analysis identified practices and challenges across six different emerging themes, illustrated important gaps, and results suggest critical areas for future research and dissemination to improve EHR implementation.

Research Trends in Massive Open Online Course (MOOC Theses and Dissertations: Surfing the Tsunami Wave

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Aras Bozkurt

2016-08-01

Full Text Available Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs have attracted a great deal of attention by higher education and private enterprises. MOOCs have evolved considerably since their emergence in 2008, all the while given rise to academic discussions on MOOC impact, design and reach. In an effort to understand MOOCs more comprehensively, this study analyzes theses and dissertations (N = 51 related to MOOCs and published between 2008 and 2015, identifying research trends from these academic documents. Theses and dissertations within this research scope were gathered through a comprehensive search in multiple academic databases. For the purposes of the study, the research employed a systematic review approach. In order to reveal trends in research themes, emphasize theoretical/conceptual backgrounds, research designs and models, first a document analysis was used to collect data and this was followed by a content analysis. Our research findings indicate that MOOC research is generally derived from education, engineering and computer science, as well as information and communication technology related disciplines. Qualitative methodology linked to a case study research model is most common, and the theoretical/conceptual backgrounds are usually distance education related. Remarkably, nearly half of the studies didn’t benefit from any theoretical or conceptual perspectives. In sum, this study presents an evaluation regarding research trends derived from MOOC theses and dissertations, and provides directions for future MOOC research.

Trends in HFE Methods and Tools and Their Applicability to Safety Reviews

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

O' Hara, J.M.; Plott, C.; Milanski, J.; Ronan, A.; Scheff, S.; Laux, L.; and Bzostek, J.

2009-09-30

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission's (NRC) conducts human factors engineering (HFE) safety reviews of applicant submittals for new plants and for changes to existing plants. The reviews include the evaluation of the methods and tools (M&T) used by applicants as part of their HFE program. The technology used to perform HFE activities has been rapidly evolving, resulting in a whole new generation of HFE M&Ts. The objectives of this research were to identify the current trends in HFE methods and tools, determine their applicability to NRC safety reviews, and identify topics for which the NRC may need additional guidance to support the NRC's safety reviews. We conducted a survey that identified over 100 new HFE M&Ts. The M&Ts were assessed to identify general trends. Seven trends were identified: Computer Applications for Performing Traditional Analyses, Computer-Aided Design, Integration of HFE Methods and Tools, Rapid Development Engineering, Analysis of Cognitive Tasks, Use of Virtual Environments and Visualizations, and Application of Human Performance Models. We assessed each trend to determine its applicability to the NRC's review by considering (1) whether the nuclear industry is making use of M&Ts for each trend, and (2) whether M&Ts reflecting the trend can be reviewed using the current design review guidance. We concluded that M&T trends that are applicable to the commercial nuclear industry and are expected to impact safety reviews may be considered for review guidance development. Three trends fell into this category: Analysis of Cognitive Tasks, Use of Virtual Environments and Visualizations, and Application of Human Performance Models. The other trends do not need to be addressed at this time.

Trends in HFE Methods and Tools and Their Applicability to Safety Reviews

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

O'Hara, J.M.; Plott, C.; Milanski, J.; Ronan, A.; Scheff, S.; Laux, L.; Bzostek, J.

2009-01-01

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission's (NRC) conducts human factors engineering (HFE) safety reviews of applicant submittals for new plants and for changes to existing plants. The reviews include the evaluation of the methods and tools (M and T) used by applicants as part of their HFE program. The technology used to perform HFE activities has been rapidly evolving, resulting in a whole new generation of HFE M and Ts. The objectives of this research were to identify the current trends in HFE methods and tools, determine their applicability to NRC safety reviews, and identify topics for which the NRC may need additional guidance to support the NRC's safety reviews. We conducted a survey that identified over 100 new HFE M and Ts. The M and Ts were assessed to identify general trends. Seven trends were identified: Computer Applications for Performing Traditional Analyses, Computer-Aided Design, Integration of HFE Methods and Tools, Rapid Development Engineering, Analysis of Cognitive Tasks, Use of Virtual Environments and Visualizations, and Application of Human Performance Models. We assessed each trend to determine its applicability to the NRC's review by considering (1) whether the nuclear industry is making use of M and Ts for each trend, and (2) whether M and Ts reflecting the trend can be reviewed using the current design review guidance. We concluded that M and T trends that are applicable to the commercial nuclear industry and are expected to impact safety reviews may be considered for review guidance development. Three trends fell into this category: Analysis of Cognitive Tasks, Use of Virtual Environments and Visualizations, and Application of Human Performance Models. The other trends do not need to be addressed at this time.

Updated prevalences of asthma, allergy, and airway symptoms, and a systematic review of trends over time for childhood asthma in Shanghai, China.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chen Huang

Full Text Available The prevalence of asthma among Shanghai children has increased over time. This increase might be associated with changes in environmental exposures. Investigation of the time-trend of asthma and current prevalences is essential to understanding the causes.To estimate the current prevalences of asthma, allergies and other respiratory symptoms among Shanghai preschool children, and to investigate the time-trend of childhood asthma prevalence of from 1990 to 2011.From April 2011 to April 2012, the CCHH (China, Children, Homes, Health cross-sectional study was conducted in Shanghai. Questionnaires were distributed to 17,898 parents or guardians of preschool children from 72 kindergartens in 5 districts. Previous similar studies were also summarized by a systematic literature review.From a total of 14,884 questionnaires for 3-7 year old children, prevalences of the following diseases and symptoms were calculated: asthma 10.2%, wheeze (ever 28.1%, pneumonia (ever 33.5%, otitis media 11.0%, rhinitis (ever 54.1%, hay fever 12.2%, eczema (ever 22.7%, and food allergy 15.7%. Urban children had higher prevalences of most symptoms than suburban children. The prevalence of asthma has increased significantly, almost five-fold, from 2.1% in 1990 to 10.2% in the present study. The prevalence of asthma in boys was higher than in girls in the present study and in all reviewed studies.Asthma, allergy and airway symptoms are common among preschool children in Shanghai. The prevalence of childhood asthma in Shanghai has increased rapidly from 1990 to 2011.

A systematic review of methods for studying consumer health YouTube videos, with implications for systematic reviews

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Margaret Sampson

2013-09-01

Full Text Available Background. YouTube is an increasingly important medium for consumer health information – with content provided by healthcare professionals, government and non-government organizations, industry, and consumers themselves. It is a rapidly developing area of study for healthcare researchers. We examine the methods used in reviews of YouTube consumer health videos to identify trends and best practices.Methods and Materials. Published reviews of consumer-oriented health-related YouTube videos were identified through PubMed. Data extracted from these studies included type of journal, topic, characteristics of the search, methods of review including number of reviewers and method to achieve consensus between reviewers, inclusion and exclusion criteria, characteristics of the videos reported, ethical oversight, and follow-up.Results. Thirty-three studies were identified. Most were recent and published in specialty journals. Typically, these included more than 100 videos, and were examined by multiple reviewers. Most studies described characteristics of the videos, number of views, and sometime characteristics of the viewers. Accuracy of portrayal of the health issue under consideration was a common focus.Conclusion. Optimal transparency and reproducibility of studies of YouTube health-related videos can be achieved by following guidance designed for systematic review reporting, with attention to several elements specific to the video medium. Particularly when seeking to replicate consumer viewing behavior, investigators should consider the method used to select search terms, and use a snowballing rather than a sequential screening approach. Discontinuation protocols for online screening of relevance ranked search results is an area identified for further development.

A systematic review of methods for studying consumer health YouTube videos, with implications for systematic reviews

Science.gov (United States)

Cumber, Jordi; Li, Claudia; Pound, Catherine M.; Fuller, Ann; Harrison, Denise

2013-01-01

Background. YouTube is an increasingly important medium for consumer health information – with content provided by healthcare professionals, government and non-government organizations, industry, and consumers themselves. It is a rapidly developing area of study for healthcare researchers. We examine the methods used in reviews of YouTube consumer health videos to identify trends and best practices. Methods and Materials. Published reviews of consumer-oriented health-related YouTube videos were identified through PubMed. Data extracted from these studies included type of journal, topic, characteristics of the search, methods of review including number of reviewers and method to achieve consensus between reviewers, inclusion and exclusion criteria, characteristics of the videos reported, ethical oversight, and follow-up. Results. Thirty-three studies were identified. Most were recent and published in specialty journals. Typically, these included more than 100 videos, and were examined by multiple reviewers. Most studies described characteristics of the videos, number of views, and sometime characteristics of the viewers. Accuracy of portrayal of the health issue under consideration was a common focus. Conclusion. Optimal transparency and reproducibility of studies of YouTube health-related videos can be achieved by following guidance designed for systematic review reporting, with attention to several elements specific to the video medium. Particularly when seeking to replicate consumer viewing behavior, investigators should consider the method used to select search terms, and use a snowballing rather than a sequential screening approach. Discontinuation protocols for online screening of relevance ranked search results is an area identified for further development. PMID:24058879

A systematic review of methods for studying consumer health YouTube videos, with implications for systematic reviews.

Science.gov (United States)

Sampson, Margaret; Cumber, Jordi; Li, Claudia; Pound, Catherine M; Fuller, Ann; Harrison, Denise

2013-01-01

Background. YouTube is an increasingly important medium for consumer health information - with content provided by healthcare professionals, government and non-government organizations, industry, and consumers themselves. It is a rapidly developing area of study for healthcare researchers. We examine the methods used in reviews of YouTube consumer health videos to identify trends and best practices. Methods and Materials. Published reviews of consumer-oriented health-related YouTube videos were identified through PubMed. Data extracted from these studies included type of journal, topic, characteristics of the search, methods of review including number of reviewers and method to achieve consensus between reviewers, inclusion and exclusion criteria, characteristics of the videos reported, ethical oversight, and follow-up. Results. Thirty-three studies were identified. Most were recent and published in specialty journals. Typically, these included more than 100 videos, and were examined by multiple reviewers. Most studies described characteristics of the videos, number of views, and sometime characteristics of the viewers. Accuracy of portrayal of the health issue under consideration was a common focus. Conclusion. Optimal transparency and reproducibility of studies of YouTube health-related videos can be achieved by following guidance designed for systematic review reporting, with attention to several elements specific to the video medium. Particularly when seeking to replicate consumer viewing behavior, investigators should consider the method used to select search terms, and use a snowballing rather than a sequential screening approach. Discontinuation protocols for online screening of relevance ranked search results is an area identified for further development.

The value of patient reporting to the pharmacovigilance system: a systematic review.

Science.gov (United States)

Inácio, Pedro; Cavaco, Afonso; Airaksinen, Marja

2017-02-01

Current trends in pharmacovigilance systems are veering towards patient involvement in spontaneous reporting of adverse drug reactions (ADRs). The aim of the current systematic review was to identify what is known and what remains unknown with respect to patient reporting to pharmacovigilance systems. A systematic literature search was conducted in PubMed, CINAHL, Journals@Ovid and the Cochrane Library. Studies were included if they contained: (i) reviews about patient reporting; (ii) evaluation of patient reports to national or supranational pharmacovigilance authorities; (iii) a comparison between patient and healthcare professional (HCP) reports submitted to pharmacovigilance authorities; and (iv) surveys of patient experiences, opinions and awareness about reporting ADRs. The methodological quality of the studies was assessed according to principles of Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluations (GRADE). A total of thirty four studies were included. Five of the studies were reviews (two of which systematic reviews), fourteen retrospective observational studies, nine surveys and six applied mixed research methods. Patient reporting has the advantages of bringing novel information about ADRs. It provides a more detailed description of ADRs, and reports about different drugs and system organ classes when compared with HCP reporting. In addition, patients describe the severity and impact of ADRs on daily life, complementing information derived from HCPs. Patient reporting is relatively rare in most countries. Patient reporting adds new information, and perspective about ADRs in a way otherwise unavailable. This can contribute to better decision-making processes in regulatory activities. The present review identified gaps in knowledge that should be addressed to improve our understanding of the full potential and drawbacks of patient reporting. © 2016 The British Pharmacological Society.

Comprehensive taxonomy and worldwide trends in pharmaceutical policies in relation to country income status.

Science.gov (United States)

Maniadakis, N; Kourlaba, G; Shen, J; Holtorf, A

2017-05-25

Rapidly evolving socioeconomic and technological trends make it challenging to improve access, effectiveness and efficiency in the use of pharmaceuticals. This paper identifies and systematically classifies the prevailing pharmaceutical policies worldwide in relation to a country's income status. A literature search was undertaken to identify and taxonomize prevailing policies worldwide. Countries that apply those policies and those that do not were then grouped by income status. Pharmaceutical policies are linked to a country's socioeconomics. Developed countries have universal coverage and control pharmaceuticals with external and internal price referencing systems, and indirect price-cost controls; they carry out health technology assessments and demand utilization controls. Price-volume and risk-sharing agreements are also evolving. Developing countries are underperforming in terms of coverage and they rely mostly on restrictive state controls to regulate prices and expenditure. There are significant disparities worldwide in the access to pharmaceuticals, their use, and the reimbursement of costs. The challenge in high-income countries is to maintain access to care whilst dealing with trends in technology and aging. Essential drugs should be available to all; however, many low- and middle-income countries still provide most of their population with only poor access to medicines. As economies grow, there should be greater investment in pharmaceutical care, looking to the policies of high-income countries to increase efficiency. Pharmaceutical companies could also develop special access schemes with low prices to facilitate coverage in low-income countries.

Novel keyword co-occurrence network-based methods to foster systematic reviews of scientific literature.

Science.gov (United States)

Radhakrishnan, Srinivasan; Erbis, Serkan; Isaacs, Jacqueline A; Kamarthi, Sagar

2017-01-01

Systematic reviews of scientific literature are important for mapping the existing state of research and highlighting further growth channels in a field of study, but systematic reviews are inherently tedious, time consuming, and manual in nature. In recent years, keyword co-occurrence networks (KCNs) are exploited for knowledge mapping. In a KCN, each keyword is represented as a node and each co-occurrence of a pair of words is represented as a link. The number of times that a pair of words co-occurs in multiple articles constitutes the weight of the link connecting the pair. The network constructed in this manner represents cumulative knowledge of a domain and helps to uncover meaningful knowledge components and insights based on the patterns and strength of links between keywords that appear in the literature. In this work, we propose a KCN-based approach that can be implemented prior to undertaking a systematic review to guide and accelerate the review process. The novelty of this method lies in the new metrics used for statistical analysis of a KCN that differ from those typically used for KCN analysis. The approach is demonstrated through its application to nano-related Environmental, Health, and Safety (EHS) risk literature. The KCN approach identified the knowledge components, knowledge structure, and research trends that match with those discovered through a traditional systematic review of the nanoEHS field. Because KCN-based analyses can be conducted more quickly to explore a vast amount of literature, this method can provide a knowledge map and insights prior to undertaking a rigorous traditional systematic review. This two-step approach can significantly reduce the effort and time required for a traditional systematic literature review. The proposed KCN-based pre-systematic review method is universal. It can be applied to any scientific field of study to prepare a knowledge map.

Citation patterns and trends of systematic reviews about mindfulness.

Science.gov (United States)

Chiesa, Alberto; Fazia, Teresa; Bernardinelli, Luisa; Morandi, Gabriella

2017-08-01

We performed a citation analysis of the literature about mindfulness aimed at describing the most significant topics and the impact of more relevant papers. We classified 128 systematic reviews about mindfulness-based intervention retrieved in Scopus according to their object, the population included and the type of mindfulness proposed. The citation counting was reported. The cumulative citation numbers per chronological years and article life were analyzed thorough a linear regression model. 1) We observed a general increase in the number of reviews published from 2003 to 2016; 2) two reviews collected the 33% of the overall citations; 3) citation counting for clinical and mixed population collected the 90% of total citations; 4) clinical reviews had higher cumulative citation per publication/year growth. As mindfulness research advances, higher attention should be given to the mechanisms by which mindfulness interventions work so as to provide fruitful insights for future research. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Systematic overview finds variation in approaches to investigating and reporting on sources of heterogeneity in systematic reviews of diagnostic studies

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Naaktgeboren, Christiana A.; van Enst, Wynanda A.; Ochodo, Eleanor A.; de Groot, Joris A. H.; Hooft, Lotty; Leeflang, Mariska M.; Bossuyt, Patrick M.; Moons, Karel G. M.; Reitsma, Johannes B.

2014-01-01

To examine how authors explore and report on sources of heterogeneity in systematic reviews of diagnostic accuracy studies. A cohort of systematic reviews of diagnostic tests was systematically identified. Data were extracted on whether an exploration of the sources of heterogeneity was undertaken,

Limits to detectability of land degradation by trend analysis of vegetation index data

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Wessels, Konrad J

2012-10-01

Full Text Available of reductions in seasonally-summed NDVI are systematically varied on sample data to simulate land degradation, after which the trend analysis was applied and its sensitivity evaluated. The study was based on a widely-used, 1 km2 AVHRR data set for a test area...

A climate trend analysis of Kenya-August 2010

Science.gov (United States)

Funk, Christopher C.

2010-01-01

Introduction This brief report draws from a multi-year effort by the United States Agency for International Development's Famine Early Warning System Network (FEWS NET) to monitor and map rainfall and temperature trends over the last 50 years (1960-2009) in Kenya. Observations from seventy rainfall gauges and seventeen air temperature stations were analyzed for the long rains period, corresponding to March through June (MAMJ). The data were quality controlled, converted into 1960-2009 trend estimates, and interpolated using a rigorous geo-statistical technique (kriging). Kriging produces standard error estimates, and these can be used to assess the relative spatial accuracy of the identified trends. Dividing the trends by the associated errors allows us to identify the relative certainty of our estimates (Funk and others, 2005; Verdin and others, 2005; Brown and Funk, 2008; Funk and Verdin, 2009). Assuming that the same observed trends persist, regardless of whether or not these changes are due to anthropogenic or natural cyclical causes, these results can be extended to 2025, providing critical, and heretofore missing information about the types and locations of adaptation efforts that may be required to improve food security.

A Systematic Review of Tools to Measure Respiratory Rate in Order to Identify Childhood Pneumonia.

Science.gov (United States)

Ginsburg, Amy Sarah; Lenahan, Jennifer L; Izadnegahdar, Rasa; Ansermino, J Mark

2018-05-01

Pneumonia is the leading infectious cause of death in children worldwide, with most deaths occurring in developing countries. Measuring respiratory rate is critical to the World Health Organization's guidelines for diagnosing childhood pneumonia in low-resource settings, yet it is difficult to accurately measure. We conducted a systematic review to landscape existing respiratory rate measurement technologies. We searched PubMed, Embase, and Compendex for studies published through September 2017 assessing the accuracy of respiratory rate measurement technologies in children. We identified 16 studies: 2 describing manual devices and 14 describing automated devices. Although both studies describing manual devices took place in low-resource settings, all studies describing automated devices were conducted in well-resourced settings. Direct comparison between studies was complicated by small sample size, absence of a consistent reference standard, and variations in comparison methodology. There is an urgent need for affordable and appropriate innovations that can reliably measure a child's respiratory rate in low-resource settings. Accelerating development or scale-up of these technologies could have the potential to advance childhood pneumonia diagnosis worldwide.

Declines in Crime and Teen Childbearing: Identifying Potential Explanations for Contemporaneous Trends

Science.gov (United States)

Colen, Cynthia G.; Ramey, David M.; Browning, Christopher R.

2016-01-01

Objectives The previous 25 years have witnessed remarkable upheavals in the social landscape of the United States. Two of the most notable trends have been dramatic declines in levels of crime as well as teen childbearing. Much remains unknown about the underlying conditions that might be driving these changes. More importantly, we do not know if the same distal factors that are responsible for the drop in the crime rate are similarly implicated in falling rates of teen births. We examine four overarching potential explanations: fluctuations in economic opportunity, shifting population demographics, differences in state-level policies, and changes in expectations regarding health and mortality. Methods We combine state-specific data from existing secondary sources and model trajectories of violent crime, homicides, robberies, and teen fertility over a 20-year period from 1990 to 2010 using simultaneous fixed-effects regression models. Results We find that 4 of the 21 predictors examined - growth in the service sector of the labor market, increasing racial diversity especially among Hispanics, escalating levels of migration, and the expansion of family planning services to low-income women – offer the most convincing explanations for why rates of violent crime and teen births have been steadily decreasing over time. Moreover, we are able to account for almost a quarter of the joint declines in violent crime and teen births. Conclusions Our conclusions underscore the far reaching effects that aggregate level demographic conditions and policies are likely to have on important social trends that might, at first glance, seem unrelated. Furthermore, the effects of policy efforts designed to target outcomes in one area are likely to spill over into other domains. PMID:27695160

Using text mining for study identification in systematic reviews: a systematic review of current approaches

OpenAIRE

O?Mara-Eves, Alison; Thomas, James; McNaught, John; Miwa, Makoto; Ananiadou, Sophia

2015-01-01

Background The large and growing number of published studies, and their increasing rate of publication, makes the task of identifying relevant studies in an unbiased way for inclusion in systematic reviews both complex and time consuming. Text mining has been offered as a potential solution: through automating some of the screening process, reviewer time can be saved. The evidence base around the use of text mining for screening has not yet been pulled together systematically; this systematic...

Comparison of search strategies in systematic reviews of adverse effects to other systematic reviews.

Science.gov (United States)

Golder, Su; Loke, Yoon K; Zorzela, Liliane

2014-06-01

Research indicates that the methods used to identify data for systematic reviews of adverse effects may need to differ from other systematic reviews. To compare search methods in systematic reviews of adverse effects with other reviews. The search methodologies in 849 systematic reviews of adverse effects were compared with other reviews. Poor reporting of search strategies is apparent in both systematic reviews of adverse effects and other types of systematic reviews. Systematic reviews of adverse effects are less likely to restrict their searches to MEDLINE or include only randomised controlled trials (RCTs). The use of other databases is largely dependent on the topic area and the year the review was conducted, with more databases searched in more recent reviews. Adverse effects search terms are used by 72% of reviews and despite recommendations only two reviews report using floating subheadings. The poor reporting of search strategies in systematic reviews is universal, as is the dominance of searching MEDLINE. However, reviews of adverse effects are more likely to include a range of study designs (not just RCTs) and search beyond MEDLINE. © 2014 Crown Copyright.

Trends in the Information Industry.

Science.gov (United States)

Hogan, Thomas H.

1987-01-01

The current president of the American Society for Information Science shares his observations about the information industry, identifying positive and negative trends, and discusses the role ASIS can play in the continuing growth of the industry. (Author/CLB)

The application of the heuristic-systematic processing model to treatment decision making about prostate cancer.

Science.gov (United States)

Steginga, Suzanne K; Occhipinti, Stefano

2004-01-01

The study investigated the utility of the Heuristic-Systematic Processing Model as a framework for the investigation of patient decision making. A total of 111 men recently diagnosed with localized prostate cancer were assessed using Verbal Protocol Analysis and self-report measures. Study variables included men's use of nonsystematic and systematic information processing, desire for involvement in decision making, and the individual differences of health locus of control, tolerance of ambiguity, and decision-related uncertainty. Most men (68%) preferred that decision making be shared equally between them and their doctor. Men's use of the expert opinion heuristic was related to men's verbal reports of decisional uncertainty and having a positive orientation to their doctor and medical care; a desire for greater involvement in decision making was predicted by a high internal locus of health control. Trends were observed for systematic information processing to increase when the heuristic strategy used was negatively affect laden and when men were uncertain about the probabilities for cure and side effects. There was a trend for decreased systematic processing when the expert opinion heuristic was used. Findings were consistent with the Heuristic-Systematic Processing Model and suggest that this model has utility for future research in applied decision making about health.

Trends in Prevalence of Hypertension in Brazil: A Systematic Review with Meta-Analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Picon, Rafael V.; Fuchs, Flávio D.; Moreira, Leila B.; Riegel, Glaube; Fuchs, Sandra C.

2012-01-01

Background The prevalence of hypertension in emerging nations was scarcely described to date. In Brazil, many population-based surveys evaluated the prevalence in cities throughout the country. However, there is no population-based nationwide study of prevalence of hypertension. In this study, we estimated the prevalence of hypertension for the country and analyzed the trends for the last three decades. Methods Cross-sectional and cohort studies conducted from 1980 to 2010 were independently identified by two reviewers, without language restriction, in the PubMed, Embase, LILACS, and Scielo electronic databases. Unpublished studies were identified in the Brazilian electronic database of theses and in annals of Cardiology congresses and meetings. In total, 40 studies were selected, comprising 122,018 individuals. Results Summary estimates of prevalence by the former WHO criteria (BP≥160/95 mmHg) in the 1980’s and 1990’s were 23.6% (95% CI 17.3–31.4%) and 19.6% (16.4–23.3%) respectively. The prevalence of hypertension by the JNC criteria (BP≥140/90 mmHg) in the 1980’s, 1990’s and 2000’s were 36.1% (95% CI 28.7–44.2%), 32.9% (29.9–36.0%), and 28.7% (26.2–31.4%), respectively (P<0.001). In the 2000’s, the pooled prevalence estimates of self-reported hypertension on telephone inquiries was 20.6% (19.0–22.4%), and of self-reported hypertension in home surveys was 25.2% (23.3–27.2%). Conclusions The prevalence of hypertension in Brazil seems to have diminished 6% in the last three decades, but it still is approximately 30%. Nationwide surveys by self-reporting by telephone interviews underestimate the real prevalence. Rates of blood pressure control decreased in the same period, corresponding currently to only one quarter of individuals with hypertension. PMID:23118964

Analysis of trends of low flow in river stations in eastern Slovakia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Martina Zeleňáková

2012-01-01

Full Text Available The availability of using hypothesis test techniques to identify the long-term trends of hydrological time series is investigated in this study. The aim is to analyse trends of low flows at streams in eastern Slovakia, namely Poprad, Hornád, Bodva, Bodrog river basins. The article presents a methodology for prediction of hydrological drought based on statistical testing of low stream flows by non-parametric statistical test. The main objective is to identify low flow trends in the selected 63 river stations in eastern Slovakia. The stations with human impacts are also evaluated. The Mann-Kendall non-parametric test has been used to detect trends in hydrological time series. Statistically significant trends have been determined from the trend lines for the whole territory of eastern Slovakia. The results indicate that the observed changes in Slovakian river basins do not have a clearly defined trend.

Identifying psychosocial predictors of medication non-adherence following acute coronary syndrome: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Crawshaw, Jacob; Auyeung, Vivian; Norton, Sam; Weinman, John

2016-11-01

Medication non-adherence following acute coronary syndrome (ACS) is associated with poor clinical outcomes. A systematic review and meta-analysis were undertaken to identify psychosocial factors associated with medication adherence in patients with ACS. A search of electronic databases (Cochrane Library, Medline, EMBASE, PsycINFO, Web of Science, International Pharmaceutical Abstracts, CINAHL, ASSIA, OpenGrey, EthOS and WorldCat) was undertaken to identify relevant articles published in English between 2000 and 2014. Articles were screened against our inclusion criteria and data on study design, sample characteristics, predictors, outcomes, analyses, key findings and study limitations were abstracted. Our search identified 3609 records, of which 17 articles met our inclusion criteria (15 independent studies). Eight out of ten studies found an association between depression and non-adherence. A meta-analysis revealed that depressed patients were twice as likely to be non-adherent compared to patients without depression (OR=2.00, 95% CI 1.57-3.33, p=0.015). Type D personality was found to predict non-adherence in both studies in which it was measured. Three out of three studies reported that treatment beliefs based on the Necessity-Concerns Framework predicted medication non-adherence and there was some evidence that social support was associated with better adherence. There was insufficient data to meta-analyse all other psychosocial factors identified. There was some evidence that psychosocial factors, particularly depression, were associated with medication adherence following ACS. Targeting depressive symptoms, screening for Type D personality, challenging maladaptive treatment beliefs, and providing better social support for patients may be useful strategies to improve medication adherence. Crown Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Trends in the prevalence of hypertension in island and coastal areas of china: a systematic review with meta-analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Xin; Wei, Wei; Zou, Safeng; Wu, Xiaomei; Zhou, Bo; Fu, Lingyu; Wang, Hailong; Shi, Jingpu

2014-12-01

With the economic development in recent years, there has been a dramatic increase in the prevalence of hypertension in some coastal cities of China; however, the number of reports regarding the prevalence of hypertension based on a nationwide study of island and coastal areas of China is limited. We estimated the prevalence and described the trends of hypertension during the last 3 decades in these specific areas. Authoritative databases were searched for cross-sectional studies reporting the prevalence of hypertension in island and coastal areas of China published in the past 3 decades, and 37 studies that involved 760,428 individuals representing 22 different locations were identified and included in our analysis. The estimated prevalence of hypertension was 9.8% (95% confidence interval (CI) = 6.3%-14.9%) in the 1980s, 18.5% (95% CI = 13.6%-24.8%) in the 1990s, and 30.0% (95% CI = 26.7%-33.6%) in the 2000s (χ(2) for trend: P = 0.00). In the 2000s, adjusted prevalence estimate of hypertension was 21.6% according to the national standard population composition in 1990, and the pooled prevalence estimate for the northern region in coastal areas of China was significantly higher than the southern region (36.2% vs. 26.2%; P = 0.002). Thus, the prevalence of hypertension in the island and coastal areas of China appears to have increased 21.5% in the last 3 decades; the increasing trend was observed in men and women. Our findings highlight the urgent need for public health strategies with more emphasis on improvement of primary health care in the island and coastal areas of China. © American Journal of Hypertension, Ltd 2014. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Current trends in nursing theories.

Science.gov (United States)

Im, Eun-Ok; Chang, Sun Ju

2012-06-01

To explore current trends in nursing theories through an integrated literature review. The literature related to nursing theories during the past 10 years was searched through multiple databases and reviewed to determine themes reflecting current trends in nursing theories. The trends can be categorized into six themes: (a) foci on specifics; (b) coexistence of various types of theories; (c) close links to research; (d) international collaborative works; (e) integration to practice; and (f) selective evolution. We need to make our continuous efforts to link research and practice to theories, to identify specifics of our theories, to develop diverse types of theories, and to conduct international collaborative works. Our paper gives implications for future theoretical development in diverse clinical areas of nursing research and practice. © 2012 Sigma Theta Tau International.

A protocol for a systematic review to identify allergenic tree nuts and the molecules responsible for their allergenic properties.

Science.gov (United States)

Javed, Bushra; Padfield, Philip; Sperrin, Matthew; Simpson, Angela; Mills, E N Clare

2017-08-01

Food regulations require that tree nuts and derived ingredients are included on food labels in order to help individuals with IgE-mediated allergies to avoid them. However, there is no consensus regarding which tree nut species should be included in this definition and specified on food labels. Allergen detection methods used for monitoring foods target allergen molecules, but it not clear which are the most relevant molecules to choose. A modified population-exposure-comparators-outcome (PECO) approach has been developed to systematically review the evidence regarding (1) which allergenic tree nuts should be included in food allergen labelling lists and (2) which are the clinically relevant allergens which should be used as analytical targets. A search strategy and criteria against which the evidence will be evaluated have been developed. The resulting evidence will be used to rank tree nuts with regards their ability to cause IgE-mediated allergies, and allergen molecules regarding their capacity to elicit an allergic reaction. The results of the systematic review will enable risk assessors and managers to identify tree nut species that should be included in food allergen labelling lists and ensure analytical methods for determination of allergens in foods are targeting appropriate molecules. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Identifying complications of interventional procedures from UK routine healthcare databases: a systematic search for methods using clinical codes.

Science.gov (United States)

Keltie, Kim; Cole, Helen; Arber, Mick; Patrick, Hannah; Powell, John; Campbell, Bruce; Sims, Andrew

2014-11-28

Several authors have developed and applied methods to routine data sets to identify the nature and rate of complications following interventional procedures. But, to date, there has been no systematic search for such methods. The objective of this article was to find, classify and appraise published methods, based on analysis of clinical codes, which used routine healthcare databases in a United Kingdom setting to identify complications resulting from interventional procedures. A literature search strategy was developed to identify published studies that referred, in the title or abstract, to the name or acronym of a known routine healthcare database and to complications from procedures or devices. The following data sources were searched in February and March 2013: Cochrane Methods Register, Conference Proceedings Citation Index - Science, Econlit, EMBASE, Health Management Information Consortium, Health Technology Assessment database, MathSciNet, MEDLINE, MEDLINE in-process, OAIster, OpenGrey, Science Citation Index Expanded and ScienceDirect. Of the eligible papers, those which reported methods using clinical coding were classified and summarised in tabular form using the following headings: routine healthcare database; medical speciality; method for identifying complications; length of follow-up; method of recording comorbidity. The benefits and limitations of each approach were assessed. From 3688 papers identified from the literature search, 44 reported the use of clinical codes to identify complications, from which four distinct methods were identified: 1) searching the index admission for specified clinical codes, 2) searching a sequence of admissions for specified clinical codes, 3) searching for specified clinical codes for complications from procedures and devices within the International Classification of Diseases 10th revision (ICD-10) coding scheme which is the methodology recommended by NHS Classification Service, and 4) conducting manual clinical

Methodological quality of systematic reviews addressing femoroacetabular impingement.

Science.gov (United States)

Kowalczuk, Marcin; Adamich, John; Simunovic, Nicole; Farrokhyar, Forough; Ayeni, Olufemi R

2015-09-01

As the body of literature on femoroacetabular impingement (FAI) continues to grow, clinicians turn to systematic reviews to remain current with the best available evidence. The quality of systematic reviews in the FAI literature is currently unknown. The goal of this study was to assess the quality of the reporting of systematic reviews addressing FAI over the last 11 years (2003-2014) and to identify the specific methodological shortcomings and strengths. A search of the electronic databases, MEDLINE, EMBASE and PubMed, was performed to identify relevant systematic reviews. Methodological quality was assessed by two reviewers using the revised assessment of multiple systematic reviews (R-AMSTAR) scoring tool. An intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) with 95 % confidence intervals (CI) was used to determine agreement between reviewers on R-AMSTAR quality scores. A total of 22 systematic reviews were assessed for methodological quality. The mean consensus R-AMSTAR score across all studies was 26.7 out of 40.0, indicating fair methodological quality. An ICC of 0.931, 95 % CI 0.843-0.971 indicated excellent agreement between reviewers during the scoring process. The systematic reviews addressing FAI are generally of fair methodological quality. Use of tools such as the R-AMSTAR score or PRISMA guidelines while designing future systematic reviews can assist in eliminating methodological shortcomings identified in this review. These shortcomings need to be kept in mind by clinicians when applying the current literature to their patient populations and making treatment decisions. Systematic reviews of highest methodological quality should be used by clinicians when possible to answer clinical questions.

Global ocean carbon uptake: magnitude, variability and trends

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

R. Wanninkhof

2013-03-01

Full Text Available The globally integrated sea–air anthropogenic carbon dioxide (CO2 flux from 1990 to 2009 is determined from models and data-based approaches as part of the Regional Carbon Cycle Assessment and Processes (RECCAP project. Numerical methods include ocean inverse models, atmospheric inverse models, and ocean general circulation models with parameterized biogeochemistry (OBGCMs. The median value of different approaches shows good agreement in average uptake. The best estimate of anthropogenic CO2 uptake for the time period based on a compilation of approaches is −2.0 Pg C yr−1. The interannual variability in the sea–air flux is largely driven by large-scale climate re-organizations and is estimated at 0.2 Pg C yr−1 for the two decades with some systematic differences between approaches. The largest differences between approaches are seen in the decadal trends. The trends range from −0.13 (Pg C yr−1 decade−1 to −0.50 (Pg C yr−1 decade−1 for the two decades under investigation. The OBGCMs and the data-based sea–air CO2 flux estimates show appreciably smaller decadal trends than estimates based on changes in carbon inventory suggesting that methods capable of resolving shorter timescales are showing a slowing of the rate of ocean CO2 uptake. RECCAP model outputs for five decades show similar differences in trends between approaches.

Systematic Product Development of Control and Diagnosis Functionalities

Science.gov (United States)

Stetter, R.; Simundsson, A.

2017-01-01

In the scientific field of systematic product development a wide range of helpful methods, guidelines and tools were generated and published in recent years. Until now little special attention was given to design guidelines aiming at supporting product development engineers to design products that allow and support control or diagnosis functions. The general trend to ubiquitous computing and the first development steps towards cognitive systems as well as a general trend toward higher product safety, reliability and reduced total cost of ownership (TCO) in many engineering fields lead to a higher importance of control and diagnosis. In this paper a first attempt is made to formulate general valid guidelines how products can be developed in order to allow and to achieve effective and efficient control and diagnosis. The guidelines are elucidated on the example of an automated guided vehicle. One main concern of this paper is the integration of control and diagnosis functionalities into the development of complete systems which include mechanical, electrical and electronic subsystems. For the development of such systems the strategies, methods and tools of systematic product development have attracted significant attention during the last decades. Today, the functionality and safety of most products is to a large degree dependent on control and diagnosis functionalities. Still, there is comparatively little research concentrating on the integration of the development of these functionalities into the overall product development processes. The paper starts with a background describing Systematic Product Development. The second section deals with the product development of the sample product. The third part clarifies the notions monitoring, control and diagnosis. The following parts summarize some insights and formulate first hypotheses concerning control and diagnosis in Systematic Product Development.

Factors contributing to chronic ankle instability: a protocol for a systematic review of systematic reviews.

Science.gov (United States)

Thompson, Cassandra; Schabrun, Siobhan; Romero, Rick; Bialocerkowski, Andrea; Marshall, Paul

2016-06-07

Ankle sprains are a significant clinical problem. Researchers have identified a multitude of factors contributing to the presence of recurrent ankle sprains including deficits in balance, postural control, kinematics, muscle activity, strength, range of motion, ligament laxity and bone/joint characteristics. Unfortunately, the literature examining the presence of these factors in chronic ankle instability (CAI) is conflicting. As a result, researchers have attempted to integrate this evidence using systematic reviews to reach conclusions; however, readers are now faced with an increasing number of systematic review findings that are also conflicting. The overall aim of this review is to critically appraise the methodological quality of previous systematic reviews and pool this evidence to identify contributing factors to CAI. A systematic review will be conducted on systematic reviews that investigate the presence of various deficits identified in CAI. Databases will be searched using pre-determined search terms. Reviews will then be assessed for inclusion based on the set eligibility criteria. Two independent reviewers will assess the articles for inclusion before evaluating the methodological quality and presence of bias of the included studies; any disagreements will be resolved by discussion between reviewers to reach consensus or by a third reviewer. Data concerning the specific research question, search strategy, inclusion/exclusion criteria, population, method and outcomes will be extracted. Findings will be analysed with respect to the methodological quality of the included reviews. It is expected that this review will clarify the cause of contradicting findings in the literature and facilitate future research directions. PROSPERO CRD42016032592 .

Identifying national freshwater ecosystem priority areas

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Nel, JL

2012-10-01

Full Text Available This presentation highlights the use of systematic conservation planning to identify priority areas for managing the health of freshwater ecosystems and their associated biodiversity and ecosystem services....

Contemporary migration patterns in the prevalence of Helicobacter pylori infection: A systematic review.

Science.gov (United States)

Morais, Samantha; Costa, Ana Rute; Ferro, Ana; Lunet, Nuno; Peleteiro, Bárbara

2017-06-01

A rapid growth in the number of international migrants over the past years has occurred with most traveling to more affluent settings. As Helicobacter pylori infects over half of the adult population and its prevalence is higher in developing countries, understanding the prevalence of infection in migrants can provide insight into future trends in the burden and management of infection. We aimed to describe the prevalence of H. pylori among migrants through a systematic literature review. We searched PubMed ® from inception to September 2015 to identify studies reporting the prevalence of H. pylori in international migrants according to country of birth for first-generation, and country of birth and parents' nationality for successive generations. Comparable data from origin and destination populations were obtained from the same studies or, when not present, from a previous systematic review on H. pylori worldwide. A total of 28 eligible studies were identified with data for 29 origin and 12 destination countries. Two studies that evaluated refugees presented prevalences of infection higher than both the origin and destination countries. Otherwise, the prevalences among migrants were generally similar or below that of the origin and higher than the destination. Second- or more generation had lower prevalences compared to first-generation migrants. Our study findings are consistent with what would be expected based on the prevalence of H. pylori worldwide. The results of this review show that migrants are particularly at risk of infection and help to identify gaps in the knowledge of migrants' prevalence of infection globally. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Trends in magnetism of free Rh clusters via relativistic ab-initio calculations.

Science.gov (United States)

Šipr, O; Ebert, H; Minár, J

2015-02-11

A fully relativistic ab-initio study on free Rh clusters of 13-135 atoms is performed to identify general trends concerning their magnetism and to check whether concepts which proved to be useful in interpreting magnetism of 3d metals are applicable to magnetism of 4d systems. We found that there is no systematic relation between local magnetic moments and coordination numbers. On the other hand, the Stoner model appears well-suited both as a criterion for the onset of magnetism and as a guide for the dependence of local magnetic moments on the site-resolved density of states at the Fermi level. Large orbital magnetic moments antiparallel to spin magnetic moments were found for some sites. The intra-atomic magnetic dipole Tz term can be quite large at certain sites but as a whole it is unlikely to affect the interpretation of x-ray magnetic circular dichroism experiments based on the sum rules.

Trends in Job Quality during the Great Recession

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Erhel, Christine; Guergoat-Larivière, Mathilde; Leschke, Janine

and country-level characteristics (institutions and business-cycle indicators) to a possible deterioration in job quality. It shows that some socio-economic groups are more affected by decreasing trends in job quality (other things being equal), especially youth, older workers and low-educated workers. Women......This paper focuses on the consequences of the crisis on job quality in Europe. Its aim is twofold: first, to identify trends in job quality in the EU during the 2007-2009 crisis; secondly, to explore the link between these trends and cyclical as well as institutional factors. It relies on European...... seem less affected by these negative trends than men but are more likely than men to become unemployed or inactive over the period. Cross-country heterogeneity in job quality trends can be related to economic trends (unemployment variation) and, to a minor extent, to the employment distribution...

TRENDS: The aeronautical post-test database management system

Science.gov (United States)

Bjorkman, W. S.; Bondi, M. J.

1990-01-01

TRENDS, an engineering-test database operating system developed by NASA to support rotorcraft flight tests, is described. Capabilities and characteristics of the system are presented, with examples of its use in recalling and analyzing rotorcraft flight-test data from a TRENDS database. The importance of system user-friendliness in gaining users' acceptance is stressed, as is the importance of integrating supporting narrative data with numerical data in engineering-test databases. Considerations relevant to the creation and maintenance of flight-test database are discussed and TRENDS' solutions to database management problems are described. Requirements, constraints, and other considerations which led to the system's configuration are discussed and some of the lessons learned during TRENDS' development are presented. Potential applications of TRENDS to a wide range of aeronautical and other engineering tests are identified.

Publishing trends for the Cycadales, the most threatened plant group

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

April N. Cascasan

2016-03-01

Full Text Available Trends in published cycad research within various fields of study were determined using proceedings from international conferences on cycad biology and Google Scholar to access the primary literature.  Both search methods indicated that phylogeny, systematics and ecology are strongly represented in recent cycad literature, while there is a need for more research in horticulture and pathology, reviews and clarification of correspondence between current and discontinued species designations.  

Branding trends in Asian markets

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bakker, Diederich; Segers, Rien

This chapter examines current branding trends in significant Asian markets, namely Japan, South Korea, and India, with a special focus on one emerging branding nation, China. No generalizations towards the whole of Asia can be drawn from this research. However, research identified some aspects in

CURRENT TRENDS OF ROMANIAN RURAL FAMILY

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Adina IORGA

2013-01-01

Full Text Available The profound changes experienced by the Romanian society had a profound social impact on the structure and functions of the rural family. The paper aims to highlight the main trends recorded using a number of indicators: ruralization rate, birth rate, infant mortality rate, percentage of children born outside marriage, fertility rate, percentage of population aged 65 and over. Statistics from censuses and statistical yearbooks were processed to identify the trends of the Romanian rural family: changes in reproductive behavior, increased aging, declining birth rates.

A primer on systematic reviews in toxicology.

Science.gov (United States)

Hoffmann, Sebastian; de Vries, Rob B M; Stephens, Martin L; Beck, Nancy B; Dirven, Hubert A A M; Fowle, John R; Goodman, Julie E; Hartung, Thomas; Kimber, Ian; Lalu, Manoj M; Thayer, Kristina; Whaley, Paul; Wikoff, Daniele; Tsaioun, Katya

2017-07-01

Systematic reviews, pioneered in the clinical field, provide a transparent, methodologically rigorous and reproducible means of summarizing the available evidence on a precisely framed research question. Having matured to a well-established approach in many research fields, systematic reviews are receiving increasing attention as a potential tool for answering toxicological questions. In the larger framework of evidence-based toxicology, the advantages and obstacles of, as well as the approaches for, adapting and adopting systematic reviews to toxicology are still being explored. To provide the toxicology community with a starting point for conducting or understanding systematic reviews, we herein summarized available guidance documents from various fields of application. We have elaborated on the systematic review process by breaking it down into ten steps, starting with planning the project, framing the question, and writing and publishing the protocol, and concluding with interpretation and reporting. In addition, we have identified the specific methodological challenges of toxicological questions and have summarized how these can be addressed. Ultimately, this primer is intended to stimulate scientific discussions of the identified issues to fuel the development of toxicology-specific methodology and to encourage the application of systematic review methodology to toxicological issues.

Global, regional and national levels and trends of preterm birth rates for 1990 to 2014: protocol for development of World Health Organization estimates.

Science.gov (United States)

Vogel, Joshua P; Chawanpaiboon, Saifon; Watananirun, Kanokwaroon; Lumbiganon, Pisake; Petzold, Max; Moller, Ann-Beth; Thinkhamrop, Jadsada; Laopaiboon, Malinee; Seuc, Armando H; Hogan, Daniel; Tunçalp, Ozge; Allanson, Emma; Betrán, Ana Pilar; Bonet, Mercedes; Oladapo, Olufemi T; Gülmezoglu, A Metin

2016-06-17

The official WHO estimates of preterm birth are an essential global resource for assessing the burden of preterm birth and developing public health programmes and policies. This protocol describes the methods that will be used to identify, critically appraise and analyse all eligible preterm birth data, in order to develop global, regional and national level estimates of levels and trends in preterm birth rates for the period 1990 - 2014. We will conduct a systematic review of civil registration and vital statistics (CRVS) data on preterm birth for all WHO Member States, via national Ministries of Health and Statistics Offices. For Member States with absent, limited or lower-quality CRVS data, a systematic review of surveys and/or research studies will be conducted. Modelling will be used to develop country, regional and global rates for 2014, with time trends for Member States where sufficient data are available. Member States will be invited to review the methodology and provide additional eligible data via a country consultation before final estimates are developed and disseminated. This research will be used to generate estimates on the burden of preterm birth globally for 1990 to 2014. We invite feedback on the methodology described, and call on the public health community to submit pertinent data for consideration. Registered at PROSPERO CRD42015027439 CONTACT: pretermbirth@who.int.

Innovation in nursing education: which trends should you adopt?

Science.gov (United States)

Murray, Teri A

2007-01-01

The author identifies trends that challenge the status quo in academic nursing education. She further provides a theoretical framework that can be used by nursing program administrators to determine the potential adoptability of the trend in nursing education programs. Leader behaviors that are crucial in leading and managing change are highlighted.

Systematics of the (n, t) reaction cross sections at 14 MeV

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yao Lishan

1992-01-01

The systematic behaviour of the (n, t) reaction cross sections have been studied for medium and heavy mass nuclei at 14 MeV. An analysis of the gross trend, the isotope and odd-even effects are given. Possible reaction mechanisms are also discussed. A set of the systematics parameters have been extracted on the basis of the analyzing and fitting of the available data. The (n, t) reaction cross sections of some nuclei have been predicted and a good agreement with the measured data has been obtained

A Systematic Evaluation of Mobile Applications for Instant Messaging on iOS Devices

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sergio Caro-Alvaro

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Nowadays, instant messaging applications (apps are one of the most popular applications for mobile devices with millions of active users. However, mobile devices present hardware and software characteristics and limitations compared with personal computers. Hence, to address the usability issues of mobile apps, a specific methodology must be conducted. This paper shows the findings from a systematic analysis of these applications on iOS mobile platform that was conducted to identify some usability issues in mobile applications for instant messaging. The overall process includes a Keystroke-Level Modeling and a Mobile Heuristic Evaluation. In the same trend, we propose a set of guidelines for improving the usability of these apps. Based on our findings, this analysis will help in the future to create more effective mobile applications for instant messaging.

Global variations and time trends in the prevalence of childhood myopia, a systematic review and quantitative meta-analysis:implications for aetiology and early prevention

OpenAIRE

Rudnicka, Alicja R.; Kapetanakis, Venediktos V.; Wathern, Andrea K.; Logan, Nicola S.; Gilmartin, Bernard; Whincup, Peter H.; Cook, Derek G.; Owen, Christopher G.

2016-01-01

The aim of this review was to quantify the global variation in childhood myopia prevalence over time taking account of demographic and study design factors. A systematic review identified population-based surveys with estimates of childhood myopia prevalence published by February 2015. Multilevel binomial logistic regression of log odds of myopia was used to examine the association with age, gender, urban versus rural setting and survey year, among populations of different ethnic origins, adj...

Development trends of the venture capital financing institution: spaciotemporal profile

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

T. I. Volkova

2010-09-01

Full Text Available The article describes the results of the research of development and performance features of the venture capital financing institution in leading countries as well as in Russia and in its regions. A number of main trends in venture financing in accordance with the level of innovation process` development abroad and in our country are emphasized, first of all by stages of support of scientific and technological developments and projects. Positive trends and contradictions in development of venture capital financing institution in Russia and its regions are revealed. Main directions of activation of venture financing process are systematized in accordance with the requirements of the Concept of long-term social-economic development of the Russian Federation till 2020 and the Strategy of social-economic development of the Sverdlovsk region until 2020.

A competency framework for librarians involved in systematic reviews

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Whitney A. Townsend

2017-07-01

Conclusions: The Systematic Review Competencies Framework provides a standards-based, flexible way for librarians and organizations to identify areas of competence and areas in need of development to build capacity for systematic review integration. The framework can be used to identify or develop appropriate assessment tools and to target skill development opportunities.

Inappropriate pharmacological treatment in older adults affected by cardiovascular disease and other chronic comorbidities: a systematic literature review to identify potentially inappropriate prescription indicators

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lucenteforte E

2017-10-01

Full Text Available Ersilia Lucenteforte,1 Niccolò Lombardi,1,* Davide Liborio Vetrano,2,* Domenico La Carpia,2,* Zuzana Mitrova,3 Ursula Kirchmayer,3 Giovanni Corrao,4 Francesco Lapi,5 Alessandro Mugelli,1 Alfredo Vannacci1 On behalf of the Italian Group for Appropriate Drug prescription in the Elderly (I-GrADE 1Department of Neurosciences, Psychology, Drug Research and Child Health (NEUROFARBA, University of Florence, Florence, Italy; 2Department of Geriatrics Catholic University, Rome, Italy; 3Department of Epidemiology, ASL 1 Rome, Italy; 4Department of Statistics and Quantitative Methods, University of Milano-Bicocca, Milan, Italy; 5Epidemiology Unit, ARS Toscana, Florence, Italy *These authors contributed equally to this work Abstract: Avoiding medications in which the risks outweigh the benefits in the elderly patient is a challenge for physicians, and different criteria to identify inappropriate prescription (IP exist to aid prescribers. Definition of IP indicators in the Italian geriatric population affected by cardiovascular disease and chronic comorbidities could be extremely useful for prescribers and could offer advantages from a public health perspective. The purpose of the present study was to identify IP indicators by means of a systematic literature review coupled with consensus criteria. A systematic search of PubMed, EMBASE, and CENTRAL databases was conducted, with the search structured around four themes and combining each with the Boolean operator “and”. The first regarded “prescriptions”, the second “adverse events”, the third “cardiovascular conditions”, and the last was planned to identify studies on “older people”. Two investigators independently reviewed titles, abstracts, full texts, and selected articles addressing IP in the elderly affected by cardiovascular condition using the following inclusion criteria: studies on people aged ≥65 years; studies on patients with no restriction on age but with data on subjects

Global variations and time trends in the prevalence of childhood myopia, a systematic review and quantitative meta-analysis: implications for aetiology and early prevention.

Science.gov (United States)

Rudnicka, Alicja R; Kapetanakis, Venediktos V; Wathern, Andrea K; Logan, Nicola S; Gilmartin, Bernard; Whincup, Peter H; Cook, Derek G; Owen, Christopher G

2016-07-01

The aim of this review was to quantify the global variation in childhood myopia prevalence over time taking account of demographic and study design factors. A systematic review identified population-based surveys with estimates of childhood myopia prevalence published by February 2015. Multilevel binomial logistic regression of log odds of myopia was used to examine the association with age, gender, urban versus rural setting and survey year, among populations of different ethnic origins, adjusting for study design factors. 143 published articles (42 countries, 374 349 subjects aged 1-18 years, 74 847 myopia cases) were included. Increase in myopia prevalence with age varied by ethnicity. East Asians showed the highest prevalence, reaching 69% (95% credible intervals (CrI) 61% to 77%) at 15 years of age (86% among Singaporean-Chinese). Blacks in Africa had the lowest prevalence; 5.5% at 15 years (95% CrI 3% to 9%). Time trends in myopia prevalence over the last decade were small in whites, increased by 23% in East Asians, with a weaker increase among South Asians. Children from urban environments have 2.6 times the odds of myopia compared with those from rural environments. In whites and East Asians sex differences emerge at about 9 years of age; by late adolescence girls are twice as likely as boys to be myopic. Marked ethnic differences in age-specific prevalence of myopia exist. Rapid increases in myopia prevalence over time, particularly in East Asians, combined with a universally higher risk of myopia in urban settings, suggest that environmental factors play an important role in myopia development, which may offer scope for prevention. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/.

The increasing incidence of anal cancer: can it be explained by trends in risk groups?

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van der Zee, R. P.; Richel, O.; de Vries, H. J. C.; Prins, J. M.

2013-01-01

Anal cancer incidence is gradually increasing. The cause of this increase is not exactly known. This systematic literature review aimed to investigate the trend in time of anal cancer incidence and to find an explanation for the supposed increase. The TRIP database and PubMed were searched for

Current economic trends in equine practice.

Science.gov (United States)

Clark, Andrew R

2009-12-01

Current economic trends in equine practice are trends of weakness. Most practices, after a decade of double-digit growth, have migrated to survival mode within a few months. Understanding that all regions and disciplines are affected differently, using the Porter five forces model, we can identify changes that must be made in our business models first to survive and then to position ourselves to prosper when the recession ends. If we are to avoid long-term damage to our practices, we must use cost control and work efficiency in addition to price concessions.

The Use of Mobile Learning in Science: A Systematic Review

Science.gov (United States)

Crompton, Helen; Burke, Diane; Gregory, Kristen H.; Gräbe, Catharina

2016-01-01

The use of mobile learning in education is growing at an exponential rate. To best understand how mobile learning is being used, it is crucial to gain a collective understanding of the research that has taken place. This systematic review reveals the trends in mobile learning in science with a comprehensive analysis and synthesis of studies from…

A scientometric review of emerging trends and new developments in agricultural ecological compensation.

Science.gov (United States)

He, Ke; Zhang, Junbiao; Wang, Xueting; Zeng, Yangmei; Zhang, Lu

2018-05-08

Agricultural ecological compensation has drawn an increasingly broad range of interest since early 1990s. In recent years, the volume of the literature grows rapidly. As a result, a systematic review of the diverse research field and its current trends becomes essential. This paper surveys the literature of agricultural ecological compensation between 1990 and 2016. Specifically, by employing CiteSpace information visualization software, we firstly identified the research hotspots and evolution path and then illustrated the frontier and developing trend of the domain in core and broader perspectives. It is found that the focus of the academic community has always been researches on the theoretical policy and application of the payment for agro-ecosystem services, agricultural ecological compensation based on contingent valuation method, and ecological compensation of farmland landscape and organic food production as well as willingness to accept/pay for land use and ecological protection. Meanwhile, we also found that, in recent years, qualitative research has received more and more attention in the field of agricultural ecological compensation, since global warming, agricultural carbon emissions, and other emerging environmental issues have aroused widespread concern of the people around the world. Moreover, we believed that more and more scholars will employ case study methodology to analyze agricultural ecological compensation in specific systems, regions, or circumstances in the future.

Laryngeal Adenoid Cystic Carcinoma: A Systematic Review.

Science.gov (United States)

Marchiano, Emily; Chin, Oliver Y; Fang, Christina H; Park, Richard Chan; Baredes, Soly; Eloy, Jean Anderson

2016-03-01

Adenoid cystic carcinoma is a malignant minor salivary gland tumor that represents laryngeal tumors. The submucosal location of laryngeal adenoid cystic carcinoma (LACC) results in delayed presentation. Here, we present the first systematic review of reported cases of LACC to determine trends in presentation, diagnostic and treatment modalities, and patient outcome. PubMed, Web of Science, MEDLINE, and EMBASE databases. A search of the above databases was done to identify articles reporting cases of LACC. The variables included in the analysis were patient demographics, presenting symptoms, tumor location, imaging, treatment, follow-up time, recurrence, and outcome. A total of 50 articles and 120 cases were included in the review. The most common presenting symptom was dyspnea (48.8%), followed by hoarseness (43.9%). LACC arose most frequently from the subglottis (56.7%). At presentation, 14.6% (13 of 89) of patients had regional disease. The average follow-up time was 54.0 months. At follow-up, distant metastasis was reported in 30 cases (33.3%). Surgery alone (43.3%) and surgery with radiotherapy (43.3%) were used most frequently and resulted in 57.1% and 55.3% of patients alive with no evidence disease at follow-up, respectively. LACC was most often located in the subglottis. Patients commonly presented with dyspnea and hoarseness. In this systematic review, surgery with radiotherapy and surgery alone were the most commonly employed treatment modalities, and both resulted in slightly more than 50% of patients alive with no evidence of disease at follow-up. © American Academy of Otolaryngology—Head and Neck Surgery Foundation 2015.

Can Communicating Personalised Disease Risk Promote Healthy Behaviour Change? A Systematic Review of Systematic Reviews.

Science.gov (United States)

French, David P; Cameron, Elaine; Benton, Jack S; Deaton, Christi; Harvie, Michelle

2017-10-01

The assessment and communication of disease risk that is personalised to the individual is widespread in healthcare contexts. Despite several systematic reviews of RCTs, it is unclear under what circumstances that personalised risk estimates promotes change in four key health-related behaviours: smoking, physical activity, diet and alcohol consumption. The present research aims to systematically identify, evaluate and synthesise the findings of existing systematic reviews. This systematic review of systematic reviews followed published guidance. A search of four databases and two-stage screening procedure with good reliability identified nine eligible systematic reviews. The nine reviews each included between three and 15 primary studies, containing 36 unique studies. Methods of personalising risk feedback included imaging/visual feedback, genetic testing, and numerical estimation from risk algorithms. The reviews were generally high quality. For a broad range of methods of estimating and communicating risk, the reviews found no evidence that risk information had strong or consistent effects on health-related behaviours. The most promising effects came from interventions using visual or imaging techniques and with smoking cessation and dietary behaviour as outcomes, but with inconsistent results. Few interventions explicitly used theory, few targeted self-efficacy or response efficacy, and a limited range of Behaviour Change Techniques were used. Presenting risk information on its own, even when highly personalised, does not produce strong effects on health-related behaviours or changes which are sustained. Future research in this area should build on the existing knowledge base about increasing the effects of risk communication on behaviour.

Trends of development of social responsible investment in Ukraine: accounting principles

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rudeychuk S.V.

2017-08-01

Full Text Available The research is devoted to the study of the features and trends of the development of socially responsible investment in Ukraine. The main objective of the study of social responsibility issues is to systematize and study the prospects for the development and evaluation of corporate social responsibility in Ukraine, as well as to study the peculiarities of its accounting reflection in the accounting system. In the course of the study, the current state of social projects in Ukraine was studied, as well as the main obstacles and perspectives of the development of socially responsible investment in Ukraine. The research defines the features of socially responsible investment in order to identify the main areas of improvement of the information provision of formation of social reporting indicators. The article proposes the bookkeeping for directions of enterprise’s social activity in clearly defined accounts of accounting, regardless of the level of its regulation, followed by the development of analytical sections of accounting in the relevant areas of social policy.

Trend and pattern analyses of operational data from nuclear power plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Amesz, J.

1990-01-01

One step towards maximizing the benefits gained from plant operating experience is the establishment of a rigorous scheme of classification and storage of operational data related to equipment failures and/or human errors. The analysis of data thus collected can fall into one of the following two categories: in-depth analysis of individual incidents which are considered to be of major significance from the safety point of view; and trend and pattern analyses of the stored data with the aim of identifying situations that warrant further studies or that require particular attention. In order to perform the second type of analyses, various approaches/systems are being used by organizations with interests in the nuclear power domain. Similar methodologies may be used in general industrial safety as well. For the purpose of facilitating a comparison between the different methods, the OECD/NEA Committee on the Safety of Nuclear Installations (CSNI) decided to organize a specialist meeting jointly with the Commission of the European Communities (CEC) for a systematic and comprehensive review of the matter

Analysis of trend in temperature and rainfall time series of an Indian arid region: comparative evaluation of salient techniques

Science.gov (United States)

Machiwal, Deepesh; Gupta, Ankit; Jha, Madan Kumar; Kamble, Trupti

2018-04-01

This study investigated trends in 35 years (1979-2013) temperature (maximum, Tmax and minimum, Tmin) and rainfall at annual and seasonal (pre-monsoon, monsoon, post-monsoon, and winter) scales for 31 grid points in a coastal arid region of India. Box-whisker plots of annual temperature and rainfall time series depict systematic spatial gradients. Trends were examined by applying eight tests, such as Kendall rank correlation (KRC), Spearman rank order correlation (SROC), Mann-Kendall (MK), four modified MK tests, and innovative trend analysis (ITA). Trend magnitudes were quantified by Sen's slope estimator, and a new method was adopted to assess the significance of linear trends in MK-test statistics. It was found that the significant serial correlation is prominent in the annual and post-monsoon Tmax and Tmin, and pre-monsoon Tmin. The KRC and MK tests yielded similar results in close resemblance with the SROC test. The performance of two modified MK tests considering variance-correction approaches was found superior to the KRC, MK, modified MK with pre-whitening, and ITA tests. The performance of original MK test is poor due to the presence of serial correlation, whereas the ITA method is over-sensitive in identifying trends. Significantly increasing trends are more prominent in Tmin than Tmax. Further, both the annual and monsoon rainfall time series have a significantly increasing trend of 9 mm year-1. The sequential significance of linear trend in MK test-statistics is very strong (R 2 ≥ 0.90) in the annual and pre-monsoon Tmin (90% grid points), and strong (R 2 ≥ 0.75) in monsoon Tmax (68% grid points), monsoon, post-monsoon, and winter Tmin (respectively 65, 55, and 48% grid points), as well as in the annual and monsoon rainfalls (respectively 68 and 61% grid points). Finally, this study recommends use of variance-corrected MK test for the precise identification of trends. It is emphasized that the rising Tmax may hamper crop growth due to enhanced

Systematic review on traditional medicinal plants used for the treatment of malaria in Ethiopia: trends and perspectives.

Science.gov (United States)

Alebie, Getachew; Urga, Befikadu; Worku, Amha

2017-08-01

Ethiopia is endowed with abundant medicinal plant resources and traditional medicinal practices. However, available research evidence on indigenous anti-malarial plants is highly fragmented in the country. The present systematic review attempted to explore, synthesize and compile ethno-medicinal research evidence on anti-malarial medicinal plants in Ethiopia. A systematic web search analysis and review was conducted on research literature pertaining to medicinal plants used for traditional malaria treatment in Ethiopia. Data were collected from a total of 82 Ethiopian studies meeting specific inclusion criteria including published research articles and unpublished thesis reports. SPSS Version 16 was used to summarize relevant ethno-botanical/medicinal information using descriptive statistics, frequency, percentage, tables, and bar graphs. A total of 200 different plant species (from 71 families) used for traditional malaria treatment were identified in different parts of Ethiopia. Distribution and usage pattern of anti-malarial plants showed substantial variability across different geographic settings. A higher diversity of anti-malarial plants was reported from western and southwestern parts of the country. Analysis of ethno-medicinal recipes indicated that mainly fresh leaves were used for preparation of remedies. Decoction, concoction and eating/chewing were found to be the most frequently employed herbal remedy preparation methods. Notably, anti-malarial herbal remedies were administered by oral route. Information on potential side effects of anti-malarial herbal preparations was patchy. However, some anti-malarial plants were reported to have potentially serious side effects using different local antidotes and some specific contra-indications. The study highlighted a rich diversity of indigenous anti-malarial medicinal plants with equally divergent herbal remedy preparation and use pattern in Ethiopia. Baseline information gaps were observed in key geographic

Corrective action program at the Krsko NPP. Trending and analysis of minor events

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bach, B.; Kavsek, D.

2007-01-01

Industry and On-site Operating Experience has shown that the significant events, minor events and near misses all share something in common: latent weaknesses that result in failed barriers and the same or similar (root) causes for that failure. All these types of events differ only in their resulting consequences: minor events and near misses have no immediate or significant impact to plant safety or reliability. However, the significant events are usually preceded by a number of those kinds of events and could be prevented from occurring if the root cause(s) of these precursor events could be identified and eliminated. It would be therefore poor management to leave minor events and near misses unreported and unanalysed. Reporting and analysing of minor events allows detection of latent weaknesses that may indicate the need for improvement. The benefit of low level event analysis is that deficiencies can be found in barriers that normally go unchallenged and may not be known that they are ineffective in stopping a significant event. In addition, large numbers of minor events and near misses may increase the probability of occurrence of a significant event, which in itself is a sufficient reason for addressing these types of events. However, as it is not often practical neither feasible to perform a detailed root cause determination for every minor events, trending and trend analysis are used to identify and correct the causes prior to their resulting in a significant event. Trending is monitoring a change in frequency of similar minor events occurrence. Adverse trend is an increase in the frequency of minor events which are sorted by commonality such as common equipment failure, human factors, common or similar causal factors, activity etc. or worsening performance of processes that has been trending. The primary goal of any trending programme should be to identify an adverse trend early enough that the operating organization can initiate an investigation to help

Identifying efficiency trends for Queensland broad-acre beef enterprises

OpenAIRE

Gregg, Daniel; Rolfe, John

2010-01-01

Productivity and efficiency improvements in agriculture have recently been targeted as Federal Government priorities in Australia. This research examined a dataset of 116 broad-acre beef enterprises from Queensland who participated in a program, Profit Probe, developed to improve management and profitability of enterprises. The aim of this research was to identify the sources, if any, of productivity growth for this sample of enterprises. Two potential sources of productivity growth were iden...

Economics of Early Warning Scores for identifying clinical deterioration-a systematic review.

Science.gov (United States)

Murphy, A; Cronin, J; Whelan, R; Drummond, F J; Savage, E; Hegarty, J

2018-02-01

In 2013, a National Early Warning System (EWS) was implemented in Ireland. Whilst evidence exists to support the clinical effectiveness of EWS in the acute health care setting, there is a paucity of information on their cost and cost effectiveness. The objective of this systematic literature review was to critically evaluate the economic literature on the use of EWS in adult patients in acute health care settings for the timely detection of physiological deterioration. A systematic literature review was conducted to accumulate the economic evidence on the use of EWS in adult patients in acute health care settings. The search yielded one health technology assessment, two budget impact analyses and two cost descriptions. Three of the studies were Irish, and considered the national EWS system. A Dutch study reported financial consequences of a single parameter EWS, as part of a rapid response system, in a surgical ward. The fifth study examined an advanced triage system in a medical emergency admission unit in Wales. The economic evidence on the use of EWS amongst adult patients in acute health care settings for the timely detection of physiological deterioration is limited. Further research is required to investigate the cost effectiveness of EWS, and the appropriateness of using standard methods to do so. The recent implementation of a national EWS in Ireland offers a unique opportunity to bridge this gap in the literature to examine the costs and cost effectiveness of a nationally implemented EWS system.

Depression in the workplace: a systematic review of evidence-based prevention strategies.

Science.gov (United States)

Dietrich, Sandra; Deckert, Stefanie; Ceynowa, Martin; Hegerl, Ulrich; Stengler, Katarina

2012-01-01

Depression is one of the most common mental disorders, causing enormous personal and economic burden. In its early stages, however, it is the most manageable of mental disorders. The workplace, where a large proportion of the adult population can be reached, might be a good setting for prevention interventions that target depression directly. Identify evidence-based indicated/secondary prevention strategies for depression in the workplace. Systematic review of articles published until February 2010 using PubMed, EbscoHost and the Cochrane Library. Studies were selected based on different inclusion criteria, such as diagnosis of depression with validated screening instruments and presence of a control group. A total of 9,173 articles were found. One evaluated intervention study in the workplace met all inclusion criteria (French APRAND programme). The intervention, which combined the provision of diagnosis and psychoeducation, had a positive effect on people with depression, with a significant trend towards chances of recovery or remission after 1 year. The remaining studies did not meet the predefined inclusion criteria of this systematic review. The findings are quite sobering given the high prevalence of depression and the individual and societal burden caused by it. More tailor-made interventions in the workplace targeting depression directly are needed.

Trends and characteristics affecting disability among older Canadians living in private households

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Samuel Vézina

2013-10-01

Full Text Available As the first of the Boomers reach age 65 in 2011, it is of great interest to identify trends in disability to better predict future needs and resources within community care. This paper uses data from four national datasets to investigate trends in disability rates and examine socio-demographic characteristics associated with disability. Results show a decrease in the overall disability prevalence rate. However, no significant trend in levels of disability was identified for the period 1994/95–2000/01 when controlling for socio-demographic variables, suggesting stability in the probability of being disabled over time.

Satellite retrieval of actual evapotranspiration in the Tibetan Plateau: Components partitioning, multidecadal trends and dominated factors identifying

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Weiguang; Li, Jinxing; Yu, Zhongbo; Ding, Yimin; Xing, Wanqiu; Lu, Wenjun

2018-04-01

As the only connecting term between water balance and energy budget in the earth-atmospheric system, evapotranspiration (ET) is considered the most excellent indicator for the activity for the water and energy cycle. Under the background of global change, regional ET estimates, components partitioning as well as their spatial and temporal patterns recognition are of great importance in understanding the hydrological processes and improving water management practices. This is particularly true for the Tibetan Plateau (TP), one of most sensitive and vulnerable region in response to the environment change in the earth. In this study, with flux site observation data and monthly ET data from the monthly water balance method incorporating the terrestrial water storage changes from the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment satellite (GRACE) production as the multiple validations, the long-term daily ET in the TP was retrieved by a modified Penman-Monteith-Leuning (PML) model with considering evapotranspiration over snow covered area during 1982-2012. The spatial and temporal changes of partitioned three components of ET, i.e., soil evaporation (Es), transpiration through the stomata of plant (Ec) and canopy interception (Ei), were investigated in the TP. Meanwhile, how the ET components contribute to ET changes and respond to the change in environmental factors in the TP was revealed and discussed. The results indicate that Es dominates ET in most areas of the TP with the mean annual ratio of 65.7%, except southeastern regions where the vegetation coverage is high. Although regional average ET and three main components all present obvious increase trends during the past decades, high spatial heterogeneity for their trends are identified in the TP. Moreover, a mixed changing pattern can be apparently found for Es in southeastern area, Ec and Ei in northwestern and southeastern area. Spatially, the ET variation are mainly attributed to change in Es, followed by Ec and Ei

International trends in health science librarianship: Part 7. Taking stock.

Science.gov (United States)

Murphy, Jeannette

2013-09-01

This article reviews the six papers published so far in this series on global trends in health science librarianship. Starting with a retrospective review of trends in the twentieth-century, the series has covered 6 different regions, with contributions from 21 countries. As this is the half-way point in the survey, it seems a useful point at which to reflect on what has emerged so far. The method of content analysis is used to identify key trends. The top five trends are explored. © 2013 The author. Health Information and Libraries Journal © 2013 Health Libraries Group.

A systematic review of the quality of conduct and reporting of systematic reviews and meta-analyses in paediatric surgery.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Paul Stephen Cullis

Full Text Available Our objective was to evaluate quality of conduct and reporting of published systematic reviews and meta-analyses in paediatric surgery. We also aimed to identify characteristics predictive of review quality.Systematic reviews summarise evidence by combining sources, but are potentially prone to bias. To counter this, the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA was published to aid in reporting. Similarly, the Assessing the Methodological Quality of Systematic Reviews (AMSTAR measurement tool was designed to appraise methodology. The paediatric surgical literature has seen an increasing number of reviews over the past decade, but quality has not been evaluated.Adhering to PRISMA guidelines, we performed a systematic review with a priori design to identify systematic reviews and meta-analyses of interventions in paediatric surgery. From 01/2010 to 06/2016, we searched: MEDLINE, EMBASE, Cochrane, Centre for Reviews and Dissemination, Web of Science, Google Scholar, reference lists and journals. Two reviewers independently selected studies and extracted data. We assessed conduct and reporting using AMSTAR and PRISMA. Scores were calculated as the sum of reported items. We also extracted author, journal and article characteristics, and used them in exploratory analysis to determine which variables predict quality.112 articles fulfilled eligibility criteria (53 systematic reviews; 59 meta-analyses. Overall, 68% AMSTAR and 56.8% PRISMA items were reported adequately. Poorest scores were identified with regards a priori design, inclusion of structured summaries, including the grey literature, citing excluded articles and evaluating bias. 13 reviews were pre-registered and 6 in PRISMA-endorsing journals. The following predicted quality in univariate analysis:, word count, Cochrane review, journal h-index, impact factor, journal endorses PRISMA, PRISMA adherence suggested in author guidance, article mentions PRISMA

Mineral exploration and fracture trends in Utah and Nevada, by ERTS-1 imagery

Science.gov (United States)

Jensen, M. L. (Principal Investigator); Smith, M. R.

1973-01-01

The author has identified the following significant results. Major structural trends have been compiled on five separate maps, at a scale of 1:1,000,000, of Utah and Nevada from ERTS-1 imagery. An arbitrary length of ten kilometers has been chosen as a minimum length of the trends. The selection is based upon: (1) obvious displacement of structures; (2) continuity or persistence of trends across structures; (3) line-up of outcrop patterns, drainage, erosional features or vegetation; and (4) near-linear trends. Several recognizable trend directions have noted, viz., N 10-15 deg W, N 35 deg W, N 80 deg W, N 30 deg E, and E-W. More than 1500 structural trends have been identified, some of which are mineralized and extend into pediment or shallow alluvial cover. Those fracture trends that exhibit mineralization in exposed bedrock will be assayed for mercury content with a soil-gas analyzer and similar collection will be done over alluvial posture blankets by the same technique with the hope of discovering blind mineralized zones that are not exposed on the surface.

Substandard and Counterfeit Antimicrobials: Recent Trends and ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

... trends in the availability of substandard and counterfeit antimicrobials in the global market ... Literature search using PubMed and Medline databases and Google search engine was conducted to identify related publications on the subject.

Characterizing the Energetics of the Youngest Protostars: FIFI-LS Spectroscopy of Herschel-Identified Extreme Class 0 objects in Orion

Science.gov (United States)

Megeath, S.

2014-10-01

We propose FIFI-LS spectroscopy observations toward 3 of the youngest known Herschel- detected Class 0 protostars in the Orion molecular clouds. Characterization of the far-IR spectrum toward these PACS Bright Red Sources (PBRS) is imperative: this is the only observational means to characterize the complete energetics of the outflow in the earliest stages of the star formation process. We have already obtained Herschel-PACS spectroscopy for 8/14 PBRS; for these, the CO rotation temperatures are systematically lower than the larger samples of 'more typical' protostars observed. Furthermore, all of the Herschel-detected PBRS also have CARMA CO (J=1-0) outflow maps, enabling us to identify tentative trends between the detection and morphology (compact or extended) of the CO outflow and the presence or lack of far-infrared emission lines. Moreover, we only convincingly detect [OI] emission toward the source with the brightest outflow emission; thus, [OI] may not be universally present in protostellar outflows. However, due to the small-numbers with PACS spectroscopy, it is unclear if these trends are real and the three proposed PBRS have outflow maps of varying morphologies, but no far-infrared spectra. The results from this program will provide a firm observational footing for the presence or lack of such trends and will strengthen the connection of the far-IR emission lines to the outflow.

Aerosol optical depth trend over the Middle East

KAUST Repository

Klingmüller, Klaus

2016-04-22

We use the combined Dark Target/Deep Blue aerosol optical depth (AOD) satellite product of the moderate-resolution imaging spectroradiometer (MODIS) collection 6 to study trends over the Middle East between 2000 and 2015. Our analysis corroborates a previously identified positive AOD trend over large parts of the Middle East during the period 2001 to 2012. We relate the annual AOD to precipitation, soil moisture and surface winds to identify regions where these attributes are directly related to the AOD over Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Iran. Regarding precipitation and soil moisture, a relatively small area in and surrounding Iraq turns out to be of prime importance for the AOD over these countries. Regarding surface wind speed, the African Red Sea coastal area is relevant for the Saudi Arabian AOD. Using multiple linear regression we show that AOD trends and interannual variability can be attributed to soil moisture, precipitation and surface winds, being the main factors controlling the dust cycle. Our results confirm the dust driven AOD trends and variability, supported by a decreasing MODIS-derived Ångström exponent and a decreasing AERONET-derived fine mode fraction that accompany the AOD increase over Saudi Arabia. The positive AOD trend relates to a negative soil moisture trend. As a lower soil moisture translates into enhanced dust emissions, it is not needed to assume growing anthropogenic aerosol and aerosol precursor emissions to explain the observations. Instead, our results suggest that increasing temperature and decreasing relative humidity in the last decade have promoted soil drying, leading to increased dust emissions and AOD; consequently an AOD increase is expected due to climate change.

Trends in genetic patent applications: The commercialization of academic intellectual property

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kers, J.G.; van Burg, J.C.; Stoop, T.; Cornel, M.C.

2014-01-01

We studied trends in genetic patent applications in order to identify the trends in the commercialization of research findings in genetics. To define genetic patent applications, the European version (ECLA) of the International Patent Classification (IPC) codes was used. Genetic patent applications

The epidemiology of food allergy in Europe : a systematic review and meta-analysis

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Nwaru, B. I.; Hickstein, L.; Panesar, S. S.; Muraro, A.; Werfel, T.; Cardona, V.; Dubois, A. E. J.; Halken, S.; Hoffmann-Sommergruber, K.; Poulsen, L. K.; Roberts, G.; Van Ree, R.; Vlieg-Boerstra, B. J.; Sheikh, A.

Food allergy (FA) is an important atopic disease although its precise burden is unclear. This systematic review aimed to provide recent, up-to-date data on the incidence, prevalence, time trends, and risk and prognostic factors for FA in Europe. We searched four electronic databases, covering

Survey of operating experience from LERs to identify aging trends

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Murphy, G.A.

1985-01-01

The results of a study using the Oak Ridge National Laboratory's Nuclear Operations Analysis Center computer files of operating experience reports [licensee event reports (LERs), abnormal occurrences, etc.] are summarized in this study, specific time-related degradation mechanisms are identified as possible causes of a reportable occurrence. Data collected on domestic commercial nuclear power plants covering 1969 to 1982 yielded over 5800 events attributable to possible age related failures. Of these events, 2795 were attributable to instrument drift and are addressed separately in the report. The remaining events (3098) were reviewed, and data were collected for each event, which identified the specific system, component, and subpart: the information included the age-related mechanism, severity of the failure, and method of detection of the failure. About two-thirds of the failures were judged to be degraded, with one-third listed as catastrophic

Orthopedic Surgery among Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis: A Population-based study to Identify Risk factors, Sex differences, and Time trends.

Science.gov (United States)

Richter, Michael; Crowson, Cynthia S; Matteson, Eric L; Makol, Ashima

2017-12-20

To identify risk factors for large joint (LJS) versus small joint surgery (SJS) in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and evaluate trends in surgery rates over time. A retrospective medical record review was performed of all orthopedic surgeries following first fulfillment of 1987 ACR criteria for adult-onset RA among residents of Olmsted County, Minnesota, USA in 1980-2013. Risk factors were examined using Cox models adjusted for age, sex and calendar year of RA incidence. Trends in incidence of joint surgeries were examined using Poisson regression models. A total of 1077 patients with RA (mean age 56 years, 69% female, 66% seropositive) were followed for a median of 10.7 years during which 112 (90 women) underwent at least one SJS and 204 (141 women) underwent at least one LJS. Risk factors included advanced age, rheumatoid factor and anti-CCP antibody positivity for both SJS and LJS, and BMI≥30 kg/m 2 for LJS. Risk factors for SJS and LJS at any time during follow-up included the presence of radiographic erosions, large joint swelling, and methotrexate use. SJS rates decreased by calendar year of incidence (hazard ratio 0.53; p=0.001), with significant decline in SJS after 1995. The cumulative incidence of SJS was higher in women than men (p=0.008). In recent years, there has been a significant decline in rates of SJS but not LJS in patients with RA. The incidence of SJS is higher among women. Traditional RA risk factors are strong predictors for SJS and LJS. Increasing age and obesity are predictive of LJS. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Identifying and prioritising systematic review topics with public health stakeholders: A protocol for a modified Delphi study in Switzerland to inform future research agendas.

Science.gov (United States)

Hoekstra, Dyon; Mütsch, Margot; Kien, Christina; Gerhardus, Ansgar; Lhachimi, Stefan K

2017-08-04

The Cochrane Collaboration aims to produce relevant and top priority evidence that responds to existing evidence gaps. Hence, research priority setting (RPS) is important to identify which potential research gaps are deemed most important. Moreover, RPS supports future health research to conform both health and health evidence needs. However, studies that are prioritising systematic review topics in public health are surprisingly rare. Therefore, to inform the research agenda of Cochrane Public Health Europe (CPHE), we introduce the protocol of a priority setting study on systematic review topics in several European countries, which is conceptualised as pilot. We will conduct a two-round modified Delphi study in Switzerland, incorporating an anonymous web-based questionnaire, to assess which topics should be prioritised for systematic reviews in public health. In the first Delphi round public health stakeholders will suggest relevant assessment criteria and potential priority topics. In the second Delphi round the participants indicate their (dis)agreement to the aggregated results of the first round and rate the potential review topics with the predetermined criteria on a four-point Likert scale. As we invite a wide variety of stakeholders we will compare the results between the different stakeholder groups. We have received ethical approval from the ethical board of the University of Bremen, Germany (principal investigation is conducted at the University of Bremen) and a certificate of non-objection from the Canton of Zurich, Switzerland (fieldwork will be conducted in Switzerland). The results of this study will be further disseminated through peer reviewed publication and will support systematic review author groups (i.a. CPHE) to improve the relevance of the groups´ future review work. Finally, the proposed priority setting study can be used as a framework by other systematic review groups when conducting a priority setting study in a different context. �

The Quality of Systematic Reviews in Head and Neck Microsurgery: A Perspective from Plastic Surgery and Otolaryngology.

Science.gov (United States)

Sun, Beatrice J; Tijerina, Jonathan; Nazerali, Rahim S; Lee, Gordon K

2018-05-01

In recent years, there has been a push to publish higher level of evidence studies in medicine, particularly in plastic surgery. Well-conducted systematic reviews are considered the strongest level of evidence in medicine, recently becoming the key process indicators for quality delivery. A varying quality of systematic reviews, however, has led to concerns of their validity in clinical decision-making. We perform a quality analysis of systematic reviews published in head and neck microsurgery by the surgical specialties of plastic surgery and otolaryngology. An evaluation of systematic reviews published on microsurgery in 13 high-impact surgical journals was conducted by searching PubMed and Scopus. Two authors independently performed searches, screened for eligibility, and extracted data from included articles. Discrepancies were resolved by discussion and consensus. Assessment of Multiple Systematic Reviews (AMSTAR) criteria were used to assess methodological quality. The initial database search retrieved 166 articles. After removing duplicates, screening titles and abstracts, 26 articles remained for full text review. Seven did not focus on head and neck microsurgery and were further excluded, leaving 19 systematic reviews for final analysis. Of those, 10 systematic reviews were published by otolaryngology, and 9 were published by plastic surgery. Median AMSTAR score was 8 for otolaryngology, 7 for plastic surgery, and 8 overall, reflecting "fair to good" quality. The number of systematic reviews on head and neck microsurgery markedly increased over time. Of note, both the AMSTAR score and the number of systematic reviews published by plastic surgery have steadily increased from 2014 to 2016, whereas those published by otolaryngology have remained relatively stable since 2010. Our review shows a trend toward publishing more systematic reviews. The increasing quantity and quality of systematic reviews published by plastic surgeons indicates recognition in the

Identifying systematic DFT errors in catalytic reactions

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Christensen, Rune; Hansen, Heine Anton; Vegge, Tejs

2015-01-01

Using CO2 reduction reactions as examples, we present a widely applicable method for identifying the main source of errors in density functional theory (DFT) calculations. The method has broad applications for error correction in DFT calculations in general, as it relies on the dependence...... of the applied exchange–correlation functional on the reaction energies rather than on errors versus the experimental data. As a result, improved energy corrections can now be determined for both gas phase and adsorbed reaction species, particularly interesting within heterogeneous catalysis. We show...... that for the CO2 reduction reactions, the main source of error is associated with the C[double bond, length as m-dash]O bonds and not the typically energy corrected OCO backbone....

Using Multiple Types of Studies in Systematic Reviews of Health Care Interventions – A Systematic Review

Science.gov (United States)

Peinemann, Frank; Tushabe, Doreen Allen; Kleijnen, Jos

2013-01-01

Background A systematic review may evaluate different aspects of a health care intervention. To accommodate the evaluation of various research questions, the inclusion of more than one study design may be necessary. One aim of this study is to find and describe articles on methodological issues concerning the incorporation of multiple types of study designs in systematic reviews on health care interventions. Another aim is to evaluate methods studies that have assessed whether reported effects differ by study types. Methods and Findings We searched PubMed, the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, and the Cochrane Methodology Register on 31 March 2012 and identified 42 articles that reported on the integration of single or multiple study designs in systematic reviews. We summarized the contents of the articles qualitatively and assessed theoretical and empirical evidence. We found that many examples of reviews incorporating multiple types of studies exist and that every study design can serve a specific purpose. The clinical questions of a systematic review determine the types of design that are necessary or sufficient to provide the best possible answers. In a second independent search, we identified 49 studies, 31 systematic reviews and 18 trials that compared the effect sizes between randomized and nonrandomized controlled trials, which were statistically different in 35%, and not different in 53%. Twelve percent of studies reported both, different and non-different effect sizes. Conclusions Different study designs addressing the same question yielded varying results, with differences in about half of all examples. The risk of presenting uncertain results without knowing for sure the direction and magnitude of the effect holds true for both nonrandomized and randomized controlled trials. The integration of multiple study designs in systematic reviews is required if patients should be informed on the many facets of patient relevant issues of health care

Statistical trend analysis methodology for rare failures in changing technical systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ott, K.O.; Hoffmann, H.J.

1983-07-01

A methodology for a statistical trend analysis (STA) in failure rates is presented. It applies primarily to relatively rare events in changing technologies or components. The formulation is more general and the assumptions are less restrictive than in a previously published version. Relations of the statistical analysis and probabilistic assessment (PRA) are discussed in terms of categorization of decisions for action following particular failure events. The significance of tentatively identified trends is explored. In addition to statistical tests for trend significance, a combination of STA and PRA results quantifying the trend complement is proposed. The STA approach is compared with other concepts for trend characterization. (orig.)

Can We Identify the Active Ingredients of Behaviour Change Interventions for Coronary Heart Disease Patients? A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Goodwin, Laura; Ostuzzi, Giovanni; Khan, Nadia; Hotopf, Matthew H; Moss-Morris, Rona

2016-01-01

The main behaviour change intervention available for coronary heart disease (CHD) patients is cardiac rehabilitation. There is little recognition of what the active ingredients of behavioural interventions for CHD might be. Using a behaviour change technique (BCT) framework to code existing interventions may help to identify this. The objectives of this systematic review are to determine the effectiveness of CHD behaviour change interventions and how this may be explained by BCT content and structure. A systematic search of Medline, EMBASE and PsycInfo electronic databases was conducted over a twelve year period (2003-2015) to identify studies which reported on behaviour change interventions for CHD patients. The content of the behaviour change interventions was coded using the Coventry Aberdeen and London-Refined (CALO-RE) taxonomy. Meta-regression analyses examined the BCT content as a predictor of mortality. Twenty two papers met the criteria for this review, reporting data on 16,766 participants. The most commonly included BCTs were providing information, and goal setting. There was a small but significant effect of the interventions on smoking (risk ratio (RR) = 0.89, 95% CI 0.81-0.97). The interventions did not reduce the risk of CHD events (RR = 0.86, 95% CI 0.68, 1.09), but significantly reduced the risk of mortality (RR = 0.82, 95% CI 0.69, 0.97). Sensitivity analyses did not find that any of the BCT variables predicted mortality and the number of BCTs included in an intervention was not associated with mortality (β = -0.02, 95% CI -0.06-0.03). Behaviour change interventions for CHD patients appear to have a positive impact on a number of outcomes. Using an existing BCT taxonomy to code the interventions helped us to understand which were the most commonly used techniques, providing information and goal setting, but not the active components of these complex interventions.

An inventory of evaluation studies of information technology in health care: trends in evaluation research 1982-2002

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Ammenwerth, Elske; de Keizer, Nicolette

2004-01-01

During the last years the significance of evaluation studies as well as the interest in adequate methods and approaches for evaluation has grown in medical informatics. In order to put this discussion into the historical context of evaluation research, we conducted a systematic overview on trends in

The trend in inquiry-based learning (IBL) research from many perspectives: A systematic review

Science.gov (United States)

Anuar, Nor Syuhada Binti Saiful; Sani, Siti Shamsiah Binti; Ahmad, Che Nidzam Binti Che; Damanhuri, Muhd Ibrahim Bin Muhammad; Borhan, Mohamad Termizi Bin

2017-05-01

Inquiry-based learning (IBL) is one of the teaching approaches that has been suggested by the Kementerian Pelajaran Malaysia (KPM). Although IBL has been in existence for many years, the effect of this approach in terms of teacher's verbal interaction during teaching has not been considered to any great extent. For this reason, a systematic review was conducted to observe the pattern of the existing IBL research. This systematic review of quantitative and qualitative studies published between 2006 and 2016 was undertaken by using the following databases: Taylor & Francis Online (2012-2015), Wiley Online Library (2012-2015), ScienceDirect, SpringerLink, SAGE Journals, and EBSCOHOST. Research articles from trustworthy websites were also used. The main keywords used were teacher verbal interaction, inquiry-based learning (IBL), secondary school science and classroom interaction. Eleven studies were included in this review but only two out of the eleven selected papers discussed teacher verbal interaction. Hence, more research needs to be conducted in order to observe the effect of IBL towards teacher's verbal interaction during learning sessions.

Trends and characteristics affecting disability among older Canadians living in private households

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Guillaume Lefrançois

2013-10-01

Full Text Available As the first of the Boomers reach age 65 in 2011, it is of great interest to identify trends in disability to better predict future needs and resources within community care. This paper uses data from four national datasets to investigate trends in disability rates and examine socio-demographic characteristics associated with disability. Results show a decrease in the overall disability prevalence rate. However, no significant trend in levels of disability was identified for the period 1994/95–2000/01 when controlling for socio-demographic variables, suggesting stability in the probability of being disabled over time.

Safety system function trends

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Johnson, C.

1989-01-01

This paper describes research to develop risk-based indicators of plant safety performance. One measure of the safety-performance of operating nuclear power plants is the unavailability of important safety systems. Brookhaven National Laboratory and Science Applications International Corporation are evaluating ways to aggregate train-level or component-level data to provide such an indicator. This type of indicator would respond to changes in plant safety margins faster than the currently used indicator of safety system unavailability (i.e., safety system failures reported in licensee event reports). Trends in the proposed indicator would be one indication of trends in plant safety performance and maintenance effectiveness. This paper summarizes the basis for such an indicator, identifies technical issues to be resolved, and illustrates the potential usefullness of such indicators by means of computer simulations and case studies

Benchmarking 2010: Trends in Education Philanthropy

Science.gov (United States)

Bearman, Jessica

2010-01-01

"Benchmarking 2010" offers insights into the current priorities, practices and concerns of education grantmakers. The report is divided into five sections: (1) Mapping the Education Grantmaking Landscape; (2) 2010 Funding Priorities; (3) Strategies for Leveraging Greater Impact; (4) Identifying Significant Trends in Education Funding; and (5)…

Recent trends in cross-border banking

NARCIS (Netherlands)

De Haas, Ralph; van Horen, Neeltje; Beck, Thorsten; Casu, Barbara

2017-01-01

This chapter identifies a number of recent trends in European cross-border banking. The authors first distinguish between two main modes of international banking: cross-border versus multinational banking. Cross-border banking occurs when a bank in country A lends directly to a borrower in country

Antibiotic prophylaxis for infective endocarditis: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Cahill, Thomas J; Harrison, James L; Jewell, Paul; Onakpoya, Igho; Chambers, John B; Dayer, Mark; Lockhart, Peter; Roberts, Nia; Shanson, David; Thornhill, Martin; Heneghan, Carl J; Prendergast, Bernard D

2017-06-01

The use of antibiotic prophylaxis (AP) for prevention of infective endocarditis (IE) is controversial. In recent years, guidelines to cardiologists and dentists have advised restriction of AP to high-risk groups (in Europe and the USA) or against its use at all (in the UK). The objective of this systematic review was to appraise the evidence for use of AP for prevention of bacteraemia or IE in patients undergoing dental procedures. We conducted electronic searches in Medline, Embase, Cochrane Library and ISI Web of Science. We assessed the methodological characteristics of included studies using the Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology criteria for observational studies and the Cochrane Risk of Bias Tool for trials. Two reviewers independently determined the eligibility of studies, assessed the methodology of included studies and extracted the data. We identified 178 eligible studies, of which 36 were included in the review. This included 10 time-trend studies, 5 observational studies and 21 trials. All trials identified used bacteraemia as an endpoint rather than IE. One time-trend study suggests that total AP restriction may be associated with a rising incidence of IE, while data on the consequences of relative AP restriction are conflicting. Meta-analysis of trials indicates that AP is effective in reducing the incidence of bacteraemia (risk ratio 0.53, 95% CI 0.49 to 0.57, pdental procedures in causing IE and the efficacy of AP in its prevention. © Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2017. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted.

Radioactive waste management status and trends. An overview of international status and trends in radioactive waste management. No. 1

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2001-09-01

The IAEA attaches a high importance to the dissemination of information that can assist Member States with the development, implementation, maintenance and continuous improvement of systems, programmes and activities that support the nuclear fuel cycle and nuclear applications. This status and trends report has been issued in support of the Agency's strategy. It also represents the start of a process to improve the reporting of status and trends in radioactive waste management. The objectives of the report were: to identify subject areas deemed to be of interest to Member States and the Agency; to report the status of and trends in radioactive waste management according to these subject areas; and to base this reporting, to the greatest extent practicable, on quantitative data. This issue of the status and trends report is intended for persons directly involved in radioactive waste management and regulation as well as members of the general public who are relatively familiar with the nuclear industry

Systematic review of research investigating psychotherapy and information and communication technologies.

Science.gov (United States)

Hallberg, Sílvia Cristina Marceliano; Lisboa, Carolina Saraiva de Macedo; de Souza, Déborah Brandão; Mester, Ariela; Braga, Andréia Zambon; Strey, Artur Marques; da Silva, Camila Sartori

2015-01-01

Information and communication technologies (ICTs) are devices, services and knowledge that reproduce, process and distribute information. Psychotherapy has been influenced by these technologies, and there is a tendency for their role to expand. To describe the current panorama of the scientific literature on psychotherapy and ICTs. This is a systematic and descriptive review. Searches were run on the electronic databases Biblioteca Virtual em Saude (BVS), PsycINFO, Scopus, PePSIC, ScienceDirect and Index Psi, using the Boolean operator AND and the descriptors psychotherapy, computers, Internet, cell phones and social networks. A considerable volume of empirical research was found, published recently in many different parts of the world, especially in the United States. There is very little Brazilian research on the subject. The majority of the studies identified assess the efficacy or describe the development of techniques and psychotherapies, via ICTs, for prevention, diagnosis or treatment of mental and behavioral disorders. The psychopathology most investigated in this area is depression and it was not possible to draw conclusions on a possible trend for research into the subject to increase. The technology most investigated was the Internet and cognitive-behavioral therapy was the most common theoretical approach in these studies. Systematic reviews of published studies can detect gaps in the research agenda within a specific field of knowledge.

Systematic review of research investigating psychotherapy and information and communication technologies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sílvia Cristina Marceliano Hallberg

2015-09-01

Full Text Available Introduction:Information and communication technologies (ICTs are devices, services and knowledge that reproduce, process and distribute information. Psychotherapy has been influenced by these technologies, and there is a tendency for their role to expand.Objective: To describe the current panorama of the scientific literature on psychotherapy and ICTs.Method: This is a systematic and descriptive review. Searches were run on the electronic databases Biblioteca Virtual em Saude (BVS, PsycINFO, Scopus, PePSIC, ScienceDirect and Index Psi, using the Boolean operator AND and the descriptors psychotherapy, computers, Internet, cell phones and social networks.Results: A considerable volume of empirical research was found, published recently in many different parts of the world, especially in the United States. There is very little Brazilian research on the subject. The majority of the studies identified assess the efficacy or describe the development of techniques and psychotherapies, via ICTs, for prevention, diagnosis or treatment of mental and behavioral disorders. The psychopathology most investigated in this area is depression and it was not possible to draw conclusions on a possible trend for research into the subject to increase. The technology most investigated was the Internet and cognitive-behavioral therapy was the most common theoretical approach in these studies.Conclusions:Systematic reviews of published studies can detect gaps in the research agenda within a specific field of knowledge.

Temporal trends in sperm count

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Levine, Hagai; Jørgensen, Niels; Martino-Andrade, Anderson

2017-01-01

a predefined protocol 7518 abstracts were screened and 2510 full articles reporting primary data on SC were reviewed. A total of 244 estimates of SC and TSC from 185 studies of 42 935 men who provided semen samples in 1973-2011 were extracted for meta-regression analysis, as well as information on years.......006, respectively). WIDER IMPLICATIONS: This comprehensive meta-regression analysis reports a significant decline in sperm counts (as measured by SC and TSC) between 1973 and 2011, driven by a 50-60% decline among men unselected by fertility from North America, Europe, Australia and New Zealand. Because......BACKGROUND: Reported declines in sperm counts remain controversial today and recent trends are unknown. A definitive meta-analysis is critical given the predictive value of sperm count for fertility, morbidity and mortality. OBJECTIVE AND RATIONALE: To provide a systematic review and meta-regression...

Identifying Opportunities for Vertical Integration of Biochemistry and Clinical Medicine.

Science.gov (United States)

Wendelberger, Karen J.; Burke, Rebecca; Haas, Arthur L.; Harenwattananon, Marisa; Simpson, Deborah

1998-01-01

Objectives: Retention of basic science knowledge, as judged by National Board of Medical Examiners' (NBME) data, suffers due to lack of apparent relevance and isolation of instruction from clinical application, especially in biochemistry. However, the literature reveals no systematic process for identifying key biochemical concepts and associated clinical conditions. This study systematically identified difficult biochemical concepts and their common clinical conditions as a critical step towards enhancing relevance and retention of biochemistry.Methods: A multi-step/ multiple stakeholder process was used to: (1) identify important biochemistry concepts; (2) determine students' perceptions of concept difficulty; (3) assess biochemistry faculty, student, and clinical teaching scholars' perceived relevance of identified concepts; and (4) identify associated common clinical conditions for relevant and difficult concepts. Surveys and a modified Delphi process were used to gather data, subsequently analyzed using SPSS for Windows.Results: Sixteen key biochemical concepts were identified. Second year medical students rated 14/16 concepts as extremely difficult while fourth year students rated nine concepts as moderately to extremely difficult. On average, each teaching scholar generated common clinical conditions for 6.2 of the 16 concepts, yielding a set of seven critical concepts and associated clinical conditions.Conclusions: Key stakeholders in the instructional process struggle to identify biochemistry concepts that are critical, difficult to learn and associated with common clinical conditions. However, through a systematic process beginning with identification of concepts and associated clinical conditions, relevance of basic science instruction can be enhanced.

Trends and prospects of tax reforms in China

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yoo Ho Lim

2015-04-01

Full Text Available This study aims to identify the reform trends in Chinese tax systems with emphasis on the structural tax reduction policy that has been enforced in China’s socialist market economy system for the past 10 years. This study also intends to draw the implications of such tax reforms by identifying the relationship between China’s socialist and capitalist market economy systems along with other related tax systems and describing the tax policy trends for the last 10 years. A comparison and analysis of the differences in viewpoints on taxation between these market economy systems is also conducted. The core and specific contents of this study on structural tax reduction policy that has been enforced in China over the past decade are arranged.

Conceptualising Terrorism Trend Patterns in Pakistan an Empirical Perspective

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Muhammad  Feyyaz

2013-03-01

Full Text Available Terrorism continues to be viewed conventionally in Pakistan. However, the phenomenon has assumed a structured formation driven by rational choice perspectives. This article attempts to identify distinct trends and patterns of terrorism within prevailing environments of Pakistan. In doing so, it also examines the validity of seasonality dimensions of routine activity theory (use of summer months and earlier days of week for terrorist acts. Eight trends are identified tentatively. Using empirical data and analytical discourse, the findings confirm the assumed trends in terms of their typology, structure, operational system and rallying themes. In addition, the article finds support for the hypothesis of terrorism being a strategic approach rather than an ordinary form of violence. It is further found that changed patterns of violence warrant a revisiting of earlier assumptions regarding the applicability of routine activity theory within the Pakistani context. By implication, the study also suggests a variation of terrorism under different regime types, i.e. military or democratic. 

Methodology of a systematic review.

Science.gov (United States)

Linares-Espinós, E; Hernández, V; Domínguez-Escrig, J L; Fernández-Pello, S; Hevia, V; Mayor, J; Padilla-Fernández, B; Ribal, M J

2018-05-03

The objective of evidence-based medicine is to employ the best scientific information available to apply to clinical practice. Understanding and interpreting the scientific evidence involves understanding the available levels of evidence, where systematic reviews and meta-analyses of clinical trials are at the top of the levels-of-evidence pyramid. The review process should be well developed and planned to reduce biases and eliminate irrelevant and low-quality studies. The steps for implementing a systematic review include (i) correctly formulating the clinical question to answer (PICO), (ii) developing a protocol (inclusion and exclusion criteria), (iii) performing a detailed and broad literature search and (iv) screening the abstracts of the studies identified in the search and subsequently of the selected complete texts (PRISMA). Once the studies have been selected, we need to (v) extract the necessary data into a form designed in the protocol to summarise the included studies, (vi) assess the biases of each study, identifying the quality of the available evidence, and (vii) develop tables and text that synthesise the evidence. A systematic review involves a critical and reproducible summary of the results of the available publications on a particular topic or clinical question. To improve scientific writing, the methodology is shown in a structured manner to implement a systematic review. Copyright © 2018 AEU. Publicado por Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

Relevance of variations in the opposing dentition for the functionality of fixed and removable partial dentures: a systematic review.

Science.gov (United States)

Pommer, Bernhard; Krainhöfner, Martin; Watzek, Georg; Tepper, Gabor; Dintsios, Charalabos-Markos

2012-01-01

The aim of this systematic review was to evaluate the functionality of fixed and removable partial dentures as test interventions in relation to variations in the opposing dentition and their prosthetic restoration. The abstracts identified in the respective databases were screened independently by two investigators. RCTs and uncontrolled studies were considered, provided the patients were included consecutively and the confounding variables were adequately monitored. Seventeen papers were included. The study and publication quality was assessed using a "biometric quality" tool showing an overall poor quality. The reported outcomes, such as survival rates, were in each case obtained from a single study. Two possible trends could be deduced for the endpoint longevity: (a) the first trend in favor of removable partial dentures, compared to fixed partial dentures, with a fully edentulous opposing arch fitted with a removable prosthesis; (b) the second trend in favor of implant-supported partial dentures, compared to conventionally fixed partial dentures, with natural opposing dentition or with a removable partial denture in the opposing arch. No evidence could be generated as to whether, and if so how, variations in the opposing dentition have a bearing on the decision to fit a partially edentulous arch with a fixed or removable partial denture.

Relevance of Variations in the Opposing Dentition for the Functionality of Fixed and Removable Partial Dentures: A Systematic Review

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bernhard Pommer

2012-01-01

Full Text Available The aim of this systematic review was to evaluate the functionality of fixed and removable partial dentures as test interventions in relation to variations in the opposing dentition and their prosthetic restoration. The abstracts identified in the respective databases were screened independently by two investigators. RCTs and uncontrolled studies were considered, provided the patients were included consecutively and the confounding variables were adequately monitored. Seventeen papers were included. The study and publication quality was assessed using a “biometric quality” tool showing an overall poor quality. The reported outcomes, such as survival rates, were in each case obtained from a single study. Two possible trends could be deduced for the endpoint longevity: (a the first trend in favor of removable partial dentures, compared to fixed partial dentures, with a fully edentulous opposing arch fitted with a removable prosthesis; (b the second trend in favor of implant-supported partial dentures, compared to conventionally fixed partial dentures, with natural opposing dentition or with a removable partial denture in the opposing arch. No evidence could be generated as to whether, and if so how, variations in the opposing dentition have a bearing on the decision to fit a partially edentulous arch with a fixed or removable partial denture.

Separating out the influence of climatic trend, fluctuations, and extreme events on crop yield: a case study in Hunan Province, China

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Zhu; Shi, Peijun; Zhang, Zhao; Meng, Yongchang; Luan, Yibo; Wang, Jiwei

2017-09-01

Separating out the influence of climatic trend, fluctuations and extreme events on crop yield is of paramount importance to climate change adaptation, resilience, and mitigation. Previous studies lack systematic and explicit assessment of these three fundamental aspects of climate change on crop yield. This research attempts to separate out the impacts on rice yields of climatic trend (linear trend change related to mean value), fluctuations (variability surpassing the "fluctuation threshold" which defined as one standard deviation (1 SD) of the residual between the original data series and the linear trend value for each climatic variable), and extreme events (identified by absolute criterion for each kind of extreme events related to crop yield). The main idea of the research method was to construct climate scenarios combined with crop system simulation model. Comparable climate scenarios were designed to express the impact of each climate change component and, were input to the crop system model (CERES-Rice), which calculated the related simulated yield gap to quantify the percentage impacts of climatic trend, fluctuations, and extreme events. Six Agro-Meteorological Stations (AMS) in Hunan province were selected to study the quantitatively impact of climatic trend, fluctuations and extreme events involving climatic variables (air temperature, precipitation, and sunshine duration) on early rice yield during 1981-2012. The results showed that extreme events were found to have the greatest impact on early rice yield (-2.59 to -15.89%). Followed by climatic fluctuations with a range of -2.60 to -4.46%, and then the climatic trend (4.91-2.12%). Furthermore, the influence of climatic trend on early rice yield presented "trade-offs" among various climate variables and AMS. Climatic trend and extreme events associated with air temperature showed larger effects on early rice yield than other climatic variables, particularly for high-temperature events (-2.11 to -12

Trends in Dementia Incidence in a Birth Cohort Analysis of the Einstein Aging Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Derby, Carol A; Katz, Mindy J; Lipton, Richard B; Hall, Charles B

2017-11-01

Trends in dementia incidence rates have important implications for planning and prevention. To better understand incidence trends over time requires separation of age and cohort effects, and few prior studies have used this approach. To examine trends in dementia incidence and concomitant trends in cardiovascular comorbidities among individuals aged 70 years or older who were enrolled in the Einstein Aging Study between 1993 and 2015. In this birth cohort analysis of all-cause dementia incidence in persons enrolled in the Einstein Aging Study from October 20, 1993, through November 17, 2015, a systematically recruited, population-based sample of 1348 participants from Bronx County, New York, who were 70 years or older without dementia at enrollment and at least one annual follow-up was studied. Poisson regression was used to model dementia incidence as a function of age, sex, educational level, race, and birth cohort, with profile likelihood used to identify the timing of significant increases or decreases in incidence. Birth year and age. Incident dementia defined by consensus case conference based on annual, standardized neuropsychological and neurologic examination findings, using criteria from the DSM-IV. Among 1348 individuals (mean [SD] baseline age, 78.5 [5.4] years; 830 [61.6%] female; 915 [67.9%] non-Hispanic white), 150 incident dementia cases developed during 5932 person-years (mean [SD] follow-up, 4.4 [3.4] years). Dementia incidence decreased in successive birth cohorts. Incidence per 100 person-years was 5.09 in birth cohorts before 1920, 3.11 in the 1920 through 1924 birth cohorts, 1.73 in the 1925 through 1929 birth cohorts, and 0.23 in cohorts born after 1929. Change point analyses identified a significant decrease in dementia incidence among those born after July 1929 (95% CI, June 1929 to January 1930). The relative rate for birth cohorts before July 1929 vs after was 0.13 (95% CI, 0.04-0.41). Prevalence of stroke and myocardial infarction

Cancer Trends: Influencing Care and Research Priorities

Science.gov (United States)

Many of the trends being seen in cancer are changing how we view cancer and how we address it, from prompting research to identify the underlying causes of cancers increasing in incidence to informing research on treatment and prevention.

Maximizing the Impact of Systematic Reviews in Health Care Decision Making: A Systematic Scoping Review of Knowledge-Translation Resources

Science.gov (United States)

Chambers, Duncan; Wilson, Paul M; Thompson, Carl A; Hanbury, Andria; Farley, Katherine; Light, Kate

2011-01-01

Context: Barriers to the use of systematic reviews by policymakers may be overcome by resources that adapt and present the findings in formats more directly tailored to their needs. We performed a systematic scoping review to identify such knowledge-translation resources and evaluations of them. Methods: Resources were eligible for inclusion in this study if they were based exclusively or primarily on systematic reviews and were aimed at health care policymakers at the national or local level. Resources were identified by screening the websites of health technology assessment agencies and systematic review producers, supplemented by an email survey. Electronic databases and proceedings of the Cochrane Colloquium and HTA International were searched as well for published and unpublished evaluations of knowledge-translation resources. Resources were classified as summaries, overviews, or policy briefs using a previously published classification. Findings: Twenty knowledge-translation resources were identified, of which eleven were classified as summaries, six as overviews, and three as policy briefs. Resources added value to systematic reviews by, for example, evaluating their methodological quality or assessing the reliability of their conclusions or their generalizability to particular settings. The literature search found four published evaluation studies of knowledge-translation resources, and the screening of abstracts and contact with authors found three more unpublished studies. The majority of studies reported on the perceived usefulness of the service, although there were some examples of review-based resources being used to assist actual decision making. Conclusions: Systematic review producers provide a variety of resources to help policymakers, of which focused summaries are the most common. More evaluations of these resources are required to ensure users’ needs are being met, to demonstrate their impact, and to justify their funding. PMID:21418315

Do evidence summaries increase policy-makers' use of evidence from systematic reviews: A systematic review protocol.

Science.gov (United States)

Petkovic, Jennifer; Welch, Vivian; Tugwell, Peter

2015-09-28

Systematic reviews are important for decision-makers. They offer many potential benefits but are often written in technical language, are too long, and do not contain contextual details which makes them hard to use for decision-making. There are many organizations that develop and disseminate derivative products, such as evidence summaries, from systematic reviews for different populations or subsets of decision-makers. This systematic review will assess the effectiveness of systematic review summaries on increasing policymakers' use of systematic review evidence and to identify the components or features of these summaries that are most effective. We will include studies of policy-makers at all levels as well as health-system managers. We will include studies examining any type of "evidence summary," "policy brief," or other products derived from systematic reviews that present evidence in a summarized form. The primary outcomes are the following: (1) use of systematic review summaries decision-making (e.g., self-reported use of the evidence in policy-making, decision-making) and (2) policy-maker understanding, knowledge, and/or beliefs (e.g., changes in knowledge scores about the topic included in the summary). We will conduct a systematic review of randomized controlled trials (RCTs), non-randomized controlled trials (NRCTs), controlled before-after studies (CBA), and interrupted time series (ITS) studies. The results of this review will inform the development of future systematic review summaries to ensure that systematic review evidence is accessible to and used by policy-makers making health-related decisions.

Simulation-based assessments in health professional education: a systematic review.

Science.gov (United States)

Ryall, Tayne; Judd, Belinda K; Gordon, Christopher J

2016-01-01

The use of simulation in health professional education has increased rapidly over the past 2 decades. While simulation has predominantly been used to train health professionals and students for a variety of clinically related situations, there is an increasing trend to use simulation as an assessment tool, especially for the development of technical-based skills required during clinical practice. However, there is a lack of evidence about the effectiveness of using simulation for the assessment of competency. Therefore, the aim of this systematic review was to examine simulation as an assessment tool of technical skills across health professional education. A systematic review of Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), Education Resources Information Center (ERIC), Medical Literature Analysis and Retrieval System Online (Medline), and Web of Science databases was used to identify research studies published in English between 2000 and 2015 reporting on measures of validity, reliability, or feasibility of simulation as an assessment tool. The McMasters Critical Review for quantitative studies was used to determine methodological value on all full-text reviewed articles. Simulation techniques using human patient simulators, standardized patients, task trainers, and virtual reality were included. A total of 1,064 articles were identified using search criteria, and 67 full-text articles were screened for eligibility. Twenty-one articles were included in the final review. The findings indicated that simulation was more robust when used as an assessment in combination with other assessment tools and when more than one simulation scenario was used. Limitations of the research papers included small participant numbers, poor methodological quality, and predominance of studies from medicine, which preclude any definite conclusions. Simulation has now been embedded across a range of health professional education and it appears that simulation

A Systematic Identification of Scientists on Twitter

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ke, Q.; Ahn, Y.Y.; Sugimoto, C.R.

2016-07-01

There is an increasing use of Twitter and other social media to estimate the broader social impacts of scholarship. However, without systematic understanding of the entities that participate in conversations about science, efforts to translate altmetrics into impact indicators may produce highly misleading results. Here we present a systematic approach to identifying scientists on Twitter. (Author)

A proposed approach to systematically identify and monitor the corporate political activity of the food industry with respect to public health using publicly available information.

Science.gov (United States)

Mialon, M; Swinburn, B; Sacks, G

2015-07-01

Unhealthy diets represent one of the major risk factors for non-communicable diseases. There is currently a risk that the political influence of the food industry results in public health policies that do not adequately balance public and commercial interests. This paper aims to develop a framework for categorizing the corporate political activity of the food industry with respect to public health and proposes an approach to systematically identify and monitor it. The proposed framework includes six strategies used by the food industry to influence public health policies and outcomes: information and messaging; financial incentive; constituency building; legal; policy substitution; opposition fragmentation and destabilization. The corporate political activity of the food industry could be identified and monitored through publicly available data sourced from the industry itself, governments, the media and other sources. Steps for country-level monitoring include identification of key food industry actors and related sources of information, followed by systematic data collection and analysis of relevant documents, using the proposed framework as a basis for classification of results. The proposed monitoring approach should be pilot tested in different countries as part of efforts to increase the transparency and accountability of the food industry. This approach has the potential to help redress any imbalance of interests and thereby contribute to the prevention and control of non-communicable diseases. © 2015 World Obesity.

A Guide to the Systematic Literature Review Methodology in Supply Chain Management

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Durach, Christian F.; Wieland, Andreas; Kembro, Joakim

methodological developments in the application systematic literature reviews in supply chain management. It analyzes what approaches researchers in supply chain management have taken to follow the requirements of a systematic review, identifies issues in the approaches and provides authors, reviewers and editors...... with suggestions to better craft, disseminate, evaluate and select systematic literature reviews in supply chain management. This paper applies a systematic literature review approach to identify and analyze 31 articles published in core supply chain journals. It is the first research to map these developments......, since three seminal methodology papers on systematic reviews in management research have been published between 2003-2009. This research shows that there is still a need for more transparency in the approaches taken. Systematic literature reviews have a high potential to advance the field...

The outcomes of recent patient safety education interventions for trainee physicians and medical students: a systematic review.

Science.gov (United States)

Kirkman, Matthew A; Sevdalis, Nick; Arora, Sonal; Baker, Paul; Vincent, Charles; Ahmed, Maria

2015-05-20

To systematically review the latest evidence for patient safety education for physicians in training and medical students, updating, extending and improving on a previous systematic review on this topic. A systematic review. Embase, Ovid Medline and PsycINFO databases. Studies including an evaluation of patient safety training interventions delivered to trainees/residents and medical students published between January 2009 and May 2014. The review was performed using a structured data capture tool. Thematic analysis also identified factors influencing successful implementation of interventions. We identified 26 studies reporting patient safety interventions: 11 involving students and 15 involving trainees/residents. Common educational content included a general overview of patient safety, root cause/systems-based analysis, communication and teamwork skills, and quality improvement principles and methodologies. The majority of courses were well received by learners, and improved patient safety knowledge, skills and attitudes. Moreover, some interventions were shown to result in positive behaviours, notably subsequent engagement in quality improvement projects. No studies demonstrated patient benefit. Availability of expert faculty, competing curricular/service demands and institutional culture were important factors affecting implementation. There is an increasing trend for developing educational interventions in patient safety delivered to trainees/residents and medical students. However, significant methodological shortcomings remain and additional evidence of impact on patient outcomes is needed. While there is some evidence of enhanced efforts to promote sustainability of such interventions, further work is needed to encourage their wider adoption and spread. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions.

Trichloroethylene and Cancer: Systematic and Quantitative Review of Epidemiologic Evidence for Identifying Hazards

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cheryl Siegel Scott

2011-11-01

Full Text Available We conducted a meta-analysis focusing on studies with high potential for trichloroethylene (TCE exposure to provide quantitative evaluations of the evidence for associations between TCE exposure and kidney, liver, and non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL cancers. A systematic review documenting essential design features, exposure assessment approaches, statistical analyses, and potential sources of confounding and bias identified twenty-four cohort and case-control studies on TCE and the three cancers of interest with high potential for exposure, including five recently published case-control studies of kidney cancer or NHL. Fixed- and random-effects models were fitted to the data on overall exposure and on the highest exposure group. Sensitivity analyses examined the influence of individual studies and of alternative risk estimate selections. For overall TCE exposure and kidney cancer, the summary relative risk (RRm estimate from the random effects model was 1.27 (95% CI: 1.13, 1.43, with a higher RRm for the highest exposure groups (1.58, 95% CI: 1.28, 1.96. The RRm estimates were not overly sensitive to alternative risk estimate selections or to removal of an individual study. There was no apparent heterogeneity or publication bias. For NHL, RRm estimates for overall exposure and for the highest exposure group, respectively, were 1.23 (95% CI: 1.07, 1.42 and 1.43 (95% CI: 1.13, 1.82 and, for liver cancer, 1.29 (95% CI: 1.07, 1.56 and 1.28 (95% CI: 0.93, 1.77. Our findings provide strong support for a causal association between TCE exposure and kidney cancer. The support is strong but less robust for NHL, where issues of study heterogeneity, potential publication bias, and weaker exposure-response results contribute uncertainty, and more limited for liver cancer, where only cohort studies with small numbers of cases were available.

Trichloroethylene and Cancer: Systematic and Quantitative Review of Epidemiologic Evidence for Identifying Hazards

Science.gov (United States)

Scott, Cheryl Siegel; Jinot, Jennifer

2011-01-01

We conducted a meta-analysis focusing on studies with high potential for trichloroethylene (TCE) exposure to provide quantitative evaluations of the evidence for associations between TCE exposure and kidney, liver, and non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) cancers. A systematic review documenting essential design features, exposure assessment approaches, statistical analyses, and potential sources of confounding and bias identified twenty-four cohort and case-control studies on TCE and the three cancers of interest with high potential for exposure, including five recently published case-control studies of kidney cancer or NHL. Fixed- and random-effects models were fitted to the data on overall exposure and on the highest exposure group. Sensitivity analyses examined the influence of individual studies and of alternative risk estimate selections. For overall TCE exposure and kidney cancer, the summary relative risk (RRm) estimate from the random effects model was 1.27 (95% CI: 1.13, 1.43), with a higher RRm for the highest exposure groups (1.58, 95% CI: 1.28, 1.96). The RRm estimates were not overly sensitive to alternative risk estimate selections or to removal of an individual study. There was no apparent heterogeneity or publication bias. For NHL, RRm estimates for overall exposure and for the highest exposure group, respectively, were 1.23 (95% CI: 1.07, 1.42) and 1.43 (95% CI: 1.13, 1.82) and, for liver cancer, 1.29 (95% CI: 1.07, 1.56) and 1.28 (95% CI: 0.93, 1.77). Our findings provide strong support for a causal association between TCE exposure and kidney cancer. The support is strong but less robust for NHL, where issues of study heterogeneity, potential publication bias, and weaker exposure-response results contribute uncertainty, and more limited for liver cancer, where only cohort studies with small numbers of cases were available. PMID:22163205

Patterns of breast cancer mortality trends in Europe.

Science.gov (United States)

Amaro, Joana; Severo, Milton; Vilela, Sofia; Fonseca, Sérgio; Fontes, Filipa; La Vecchia, Carlo; Lunet, Nuno

2013-06-01

To identify patterns of variation in breast cancer mortality in Europe (1980-2010), using a model-based approach. Mortality data were obtained from the World Health Organization database and mixed models were used to describe the time trends in the age-standardized mortality rates (ASMR). Model-based clustering was used to identify clusters of countries with homogeneous variation in ASMR. Three patterns were identified. Patterns 1 and 2 are characterized by stable or slightly increasing trends in ASMR in the first half of the period analysed, and a clear decline is observed thereafter; in pattern 1 the median of the ASMR is higher, and the highest rates were achieved sooner. Pattern 3 is characterised by a rapid increase in mortality until 1999, declining slowly thereafter. This study provides a general model for the description and interpretation of the variation in breast cancer mortality in Europe, based in three main patterns. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Trends of light particle spectra observed in nucleus-nucleus collisions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Awes, T.C.; Poggi, G.; Saini, S.; Gelbke, C.K.; Legrain, R.; Westfall, G.D.

1981-01-01

The emission of energetic light particles (p,d,t) has been studied for 16 O induced reactions on Al, Zr and Au targets at the incident energies of 140, 215 and 310 MeV. The light-particle energy spectra have been analyzed in terms of a moving thermal source. The apparent temperatures exhibit a systematic variation as a function of the incident energy per nucleon above the Coulomb barrier. The observed trend can be extrapolated in a smooth fashion to temperatures obtained in relativistic heavy-ion collisions. (orig.)

Software project management tools in global software development: a systematic mapping study.

Science.gov (United States)

Chadli, Saad Yasser; Idri, Ali; Ros, Joaquín Nicolás; Fernández-Alemán, José Luis; de Gea, Juan M Carrillo; Toval, Ambrosio

2016-01-01

Global software development (GSD) which is a growing trend in the software industry is characterized by a highly distributed environment. Performing software project management (SPM) in such conditions implies the need to overcome new limitations resulting from cultural, temporal and geographic separation. The aim of this research is to discover and classify the various tools mentioned in literature that provide GSD project managers with support and to identify in what way they support group interaction. A systematic mapping study has been performed by means of automatic searches in five sources. We have then synthesized the data extracted and presented the results of this study. A total of 102 tools were identified as being used in SPM activities in GSD. We have classified these tools, according to the software life cycle process on which they focus and how they support the 3C collaboration model (communication, coordination and cooperation). The majority of the tools found are standalone tools (77%). A small number of platforms (8%) also offer a set of interacting tools that cover the software development lifecycle. Results also indicate that SPM areas in GSD are not adequately supported by corresponding tools and deserve more attention from tool builders.

Quantification of burnout in emergency nurses: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Hong; Cheng, Bin; Zhu, Xiao Ping

2018-01-17

Previous studies showed increased levels of absenteeism, drug abuse, depression, and symptoms allied with burnout in emergency nurses. This meta-analysis aimed to quantify the three dimensions of burnout in emergency nurses and estimate the proportion of nurses who experience higher than tolerable levels of burnout. A systematic search was conducted on PubMed, Scielo, Xueshu Baidu and Informa databases with a cut-off time between 1997 and 2017 to retrieve published papers in any language that had estimated the burnout levels in emergency nurses by using MBI scale. We identified a total of 11 eligible studies. The total mean estimate was moderate for emotional exhaustion (25.552), but clearly trending towards higher level, whereas depersonalization (10.383) and lack of personal accomplishment (30.652) showed higher burnouts levels. The proportion of emergency nurses suffering from high emotional exhaustion, high depersonalization, and low personal accomplishment was 40.5%, 44.3%, and 42.7%, respectively. Burnout is detrimental to achieving high-quality healthcare services and causes a loss of productivity. It is high time for nursing leader and management personnel to identify appropriate measures to counteract burnout. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Biological monitoring and selected trends in environmental quality

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Suffern, J.S.; West, D.C.; Kemp, H.T.; Burgess, R.L.

1976-10-01

Under a contract with the President's Council on Environmental Quality, the National Inventory of Selected Biological Monitoring Programs at ORNL was used to identify documented environmental trends. Fish population trends were described for the Great Lakes and the Colorado River system. Trends in amphibian populations in the northeast were examined and correlated with acid precipitation. Increases in breeding success among large birds of prey were correlated with reductions in ambient levels of DDT and its residues. Geographic variation in PCB contamination was examined along with differences between aquatic and terrestrial contamination levels. Changes in air quality were documented, and their effects on plant viability were outlined. Trends in the biological effects of environmental deposition of lead were documented. Long-term changes in forest structure in the southeast were presented, and a general reduction in wildlife habitat, associated with land use practices, was documented for several areas in the US

[Birth rates evolution in Spain. Birth trends in Spain from 1941 to 2010].

Science.gov (United States)

Andrés de Llano, J M; Alberola López, S; Garmendia Leiza, J R; Quiñones Rubio, C; Cancho Candela, R; Ramalle-Gómara, E

2015-01-01

The aim of this study was to analyse trends of births in Spain and its Autonomous Communities (CCAA) over a 70 year period (1941-2010). The crude birth rates per 1,000 inhabitants/year were calculated by CCAA using Joinpoint regression models. Change points in trend and annual percentage of change (APC) were identified. The distribution of 38,160,305 births between 1941 and 2010 shows important changes in trends both nationally and among the CCAA. There is a general pattern for the whole country, with 5 turning points being identified with changes in trend and annual percentage change (APC). Differences are also found among regions. The analysis of trends in birth rates and the annual rates of change should enable public health authorities to properly plan pediatric care resources in our country. Copyright © 2014 Asociación Española de Pediatría. Published by Elsevier Espana. All rights reserved.

Trends in swimming training for individual medley events

OpenAIRE

Brtník, Tomáš

2013-01-01

Title: Trends in swimming training for individual medley events Objectives: The aim of our study was to analyze performance and training for 200 and 400 m individual medley events and describe new trends in training for these swimming events Methods: Our research design was a case study. We were interested in training of three swimmers of elite performance in the 200 and 400 m individual medley events. To identify cases, we used the analysis of documents and literature, to a limited extent, t...

Systematic text condensation: a strategy for qualitative analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Malterud, Kirsti

2012-12-01

To present background, principles, and procedures for a strategy for qualitative analysis called systematic text condensation and discuss this approach compared with related strategies. Giorgi's psychological phenomenological analysis is the point of departure and inspiration for systematic text condensation. The basic elements of Giorgi's method and the elaboration of these in systematic text condensation are presented, followed by a detailed description of procedures for analysis according to systematic text condensation. Finally, similarities and differences compared with other frequently applied methods for qualitative analysis are identified, as the foundation of a discussion of strengths and limitations of systematic text condensation. Systematic text condensation is a descriptive and explorative method for thematic cross-case analysis of different types of qualitative data, such as interview studies, observational studies, and analysis of written texts. The method represents a pragmatic approach, although inspired by phenomenological ideas, and various theoretical frameworks can be applied. The procedure consists of the following steps: 1) total impression - from chaos to themes; 2) identifying and sorting meaning units - from themes to codes; 3) condensation - from code to meaning; 4) synthesizing - from condensation to descriptions and concepts. Similarities and differences comparing systematic text condensation with other frequently applied qualitative methods regarding thematic analysis, theoretical methodological framework, analysis procedures, and taxonomy are discussed. Systematic text condensation is a strategy for analysis developed from traditions shared by most of the methods for analysis of qualitative data. The method offers the novice researcher a process of intersubjectivity, reflexivity, and feasibility, while maintaining a responsible level of methodological rigour.

Trend analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Smith, M.; Jones, D.R.

1991-01-01

The goal of exploration is to find reserves that will earn an adequate rate of return on the capital invested. Neither exploration nor economics is an exact science. The authors must therefore explore in those trends (plays) that have the highest probability of achieving this goal. Trend analysis is a technique for organizing the available data to make these strategic exploration decisions objectively and is in conformance with their goals and risk attitudes. Trend analysis differs from resource estimation in its purpose. It seeks to determine the probability of economic success for an exploration program, not the ultimate results of the total industry effort. Thus the recent past is assumed to be the best estimate of the exploration probabilities for the near future. This information is combined with economic forecasts. The computer software tools necessary for trend analysis are (1) Information data base - requirements and sources. (2) Data conditioning program - assignment to trends, correction of errors, and conversion into usable form. (3) Statistical processing program - calculation of probability of success and discovery size probability distribution. (4) Analytical processing - Monte Carlo simulation to develop the probability distribution of the economic return/investment ratio for a trend. Limited capital (short-run) effects are analyzed using the Gambler's Ruin concept in the Monte Carlo simulation and by a short-cut method. Multiple trend analysis is concerned with comparing and ranking trends, allocating funds among acceptable trends, and characterizing program risk by using risk profiles. In summary, trend analysis is a reality check for long-range exploration planning

Trends in oral drug bioavailability following bariatric surgery: examining the variable extent of impact on exposure of different drug classes.

Science.gov (United States)

Darwich, Adam S; Henderson, Kathryn; Burgin, Angela; Ward, Nicola; Whittam, Janet; Ammori, Basil J; Ashcroft, Darren M; Rostami-Hodjegan, Amin

2012-11-01

Changes to oral drug bioavailability have been observed post bariatric surgery. However, the magnitude and the direction of changes have not been assessed systematically to provide insights into the parameters governing the observed trends. Understanding these can help with dose adjustments. Analysis of drug characteristics based on a biopharmaceutical classification system is not adequate to explain observed trends in altered oral drug bioavailability following bariatric surgery, although the findings suggest solubility to play an important role. To identify the most commonly prescribed drugs in a bariatric surgery population and to assess existing evidence regarding trends in oral drug bioavailability post bariatric surgery. A retrospective audit was undertaken to document commonly prescribed drugs amongst patients undergoing bariatric surgery in an NHS hospital in the UK and to assess practice for drug administration following bariatric surgery. The available literature was examined for trends relating to drug permeability and solubility with regards to the Biopharmaceutics Classification System (BCS) and main route of elimination. No significant difference in the 'post/pre surgery oral drug exposure ratio' (ppR) was apparent between BCS class I to IV drugs, with regards to dose number (Do) or main route of elimination. Drugs classified as 'solubility limited' displayed an overall reduction as compared with 'freely soluble' compounds, as well as an unaltered and increased ppR. Clinical studies establishing guidelines for commonly prescribed drugs, and the monitoring of drugs exhibiting a narrow therapeutic window or without a readily assessed clinical endpoint, are warranted. Using mechanistically based pharmacokinetic modelling for simulating the multivariate nature of changes in drug exposure may serve as a useful tool in the further understanding of postoperative trends in oral drug exposure and in developing practical clinical guidance. © 2012 The Authors

Trends and causes of maternal mortality in Ethiopia during 1990-2013 : Findings from the Global Burden of Diseases study 2013

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Tessema, Gizachew Assefa; Laurence, Caroline O.; Melaku, Yohannes Adama; Misganaw, Awoke; Woldie, Sintayehu A; Hiruye, Abiye; Amare, Azmeraw T.; Lakew, Yihunie; Zeleke, Berihun M.; Deribew, Amare

2017-01-01

Background: Maternal mortality is noticeably high in sub-Saharan African countries including Ethiopia. Continuous nationwide systematic evaluation and assessment of the problem helps to design appropriate policy and strategy in Ethiopia. This study aimed to investigate the trends and causes of

Systematization of Angra-1 operation attendance - Maintenance and periodic testings

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Furieri, E.B.; Carvalho Bruno, N. de; Salaverry, N.A.

1988-01-01

A maintenance analysis, their types and their functions for the safety of nuclear power plants is done. Programs and present trends in the reactor maintenance, as well as the maintenance program and periodic tests of Angra I, are analysed. The necessities of safety analysis and a systematization for maintenance attendance are discussed and the periodic testing as well as the attendance of international experience. (M.C.K.) [pt

Measuring outcomes in adult spinal deformity surgery: a systematic review to identify current strengths, weaknesses and gaps in patient-reported outcome measures.

Science.gov (United States)

Faraj, Sayf S A; van Hooff, Miranda L; Holewijn, Roderick M; Polly, David W; Haanstra, Tsjitske M; de Kleuver, Marinus

2017-08-01

Adult spinal deformity (ASD) causes severe disability, reduces overall quality of life, and results in a substantial societal burden of disease. As healthcare is becoming more value based, and to facilitate global benchmarking, it is critical to identify and standardize patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs). This study aims to identify the current strengths, weaknesses, and gaps in PROMs used for ASD. Studies were included following a systematic search in multiple bibliographic databases between 2000 and 2015. PROMs were extracted and linked to the outcome domains of WHO's International Classification of Functioning and Health (ICF) framework. Subsequently, the clinimetric quality of identified PROMs was evaluated. The literature search identified 144 papers that met the inclusion criteria, and nine frequently used PROMs were identified. These covered 29 ICF outcome domains, which could be grouped into three of the four main ICF chapters: body function (n = 7), activity and participation (n = 19), environmental factors (n = 3), and body structure (n = 0). A low quantity (n = 3) of papers was identified that studied the clinimetric quality of PROMs. The Scoliosis Research Society (SRS)-22 has the highest level of clinimetric quality for ASD. Outcome domains related to mobility and pain were well represented. We identified a gap in current outcome measures regarding neurological and pulmonary function. In addition, no outcome domains were measured in the ICF chapter body structure. These results will serve as a foundation for the process of seeking international consensus on a standard set of outcome domains, accompanied PROMs and contributing factors to be used in future clinical trials and spine registries.

Systematic review

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bager, Palle; Chauhan, Usha; Greveson, Kay

2017-01-01

of evidence is needed and the aim of this article was to systematically review the evidence of IBD advice lines. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A broad systematic literature search was performed to identify relevant studies addressing the effect of advice lines. The process of selection of the retrieved studies...... was undertaken in two phases. In phase one, all abstracts were review by two independent reviewers. In phase two, the full text of all included studies were independently reviewed by two reviewers. The included studies underwent quality assessment and data synthesis. RESULTS: Ten published studies and 10...... congress abstracts were included in the review. The studies were heterogeneous both in scientific quality and in the focus of the study. No rigorous evidence was found to support that advice lines improve disease activity in IBD and correspondingly no studies reported worsening in disease activity. Advice...

Systematic Reviews Published in Emergency Medicine Journals Do Not Routinely Search Clinical Trials Registries: A Cross-Sectional Analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Keil, Lukas G; Platts-Mills, Timothy F; Jones, Christopher W

2015-10-01

Publication bias compromises the validity of systematic reviews. This problem can be addressed in part through searching clinical trials registries to identify unpublished studies. This study aims to determine how often systematic reviews published in emergency medicine journals include clinical trials registry searches. We identified all systematic reviews published in the 6 highest-impact emergency medicine journals between January 1 and December 31, 2013. Systematic reviews that assessed the effects of an intervention were further examined to determine whether the authors described searching a clinical trials registry and whether this search identified relevant unpublished studies. Of 191 articles identified through PubMed search, 80 were confirmed to be systematic reviews. Our sample consisted of 41 systematic reviews that assessed a specific intervention. Eight of these 41 (20%) searched a clinical trials registry. For 4 of these 8 reviews, the registry search identified at least 1 relevant unpublished study. Systematic reviews published in emergency medicine journals do not routinely include searches of clinical trials registries. By helping authors identify unpublished trial data, the addition of registry searches may improve the validity of systematic reviews. Copyright © 2014 American College of Emergency Physicians. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Hydropower development trends from a technological paradigm perspective

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Xu, Jiuping; Ni, Ting; Zheng, Bobo

2015-01-01

Highlights: • We propose a novel concept of hydropower development technological paradigm. • We create a data analysis system to visualize the keyword foci. • Future trajectories include hybrid power systems and resources from seawater. • The HDTP consists of a three-stage evolution and a policy framework. • The HDTP provides a how-to-do solution for the soft path. - Abstract: Hydropower has long been considered the backbone of the power generation sector in low-carbon and sustainable energy systems. Yet, as reliance on hydropower has been generally declining, the world is awakening to the need to fundamentally rethink the way hydropower is developed and managed. The paper proposes a systematic methodology to research the development trends and find a more sustainable hydropower path. Literature mining using the data analysis system and the technological paradigm theory were adopted to conduct the research. The keyword visualization results were found to meet the laws for the three phases of the technological paradigm. Specific key areas, such as small hydropower plants, hybrid power systems, and hydropower from seawater were identified as past, present and near future trajectories. To further accelerate hydropower development, specific subsidies and incentives need to be provided in areas such as capital costs and technological support. The study paves the way for a soft path solution which complements the hard path in hydropower field

Two Decades of Planning in Latin American Universities: Trends and Perspectives.

Science.gov (United States)

Escala, Miguel J.

The paper provides a framework for identifying trends in planning in Latin American universities for the last 20 years. Identification of the planning trends is based on two main dimensions: the purpose of the relationship between universities and the external environment (organization-centered versus society-centered), and the degree by which the…

Fashion and death: Trends Cycles

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Flavia Jakemiu Araújo Bortolon

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Fashion is composed of cycles subpostos trends that seek to eliminate the past for a new one, which makes it ephemeral and eternal at the same time. This study investigates how is the relationship between these cycles of trends over time, through a brief history of fashion, considering the theoretical rules of Simmel, Crane and Caldas. They will still be used concepts proposed by Agamben, such as: device, in order to classify the system of the fashion; contemporaneidade, to understand the action of that factor in relation to the time and profanation, to identify the capacity to maintain in the society. It is ended that the fashion, as well as the death, renews the society, it destroys and it creates the new, as a system naturalized artificially

Systematic reviews in bioethics: types, challenges, and value.

Science.gov (United States)

McDougall, Rosalind

2014-02-01

There has recently been interest in applying the techniques of systematic review to bioethics literature. In this paper, I identify the three models of systematic review proposed to date in bioethics: systematic reviews of empirical bioethics research, systematic reviews of normative bioethics literature, and systematic reviews of reasons. I argue that all three types yield information useful to scholarship in bioethics, yet they also face significant challenges particularly in relation to terminology and time. Drawing on my recent experience conducting a systematic review, I suggest that complete comprehensiveness may not always be an appropriate goal of a literature review in bioethics, depending on the research question. In some cases, all the relevant ideas may be captured without capturing all the relevant literature. I conclude that systematic reviews in bioethics have an important role to play alongside the traditional broadbrush approach to reviewing literature in bioethics.

Consumer trends and prefences in the demand for food

OpenAIRE

Lappo, Alena; Bjørndal, Trond; Fernandez-Polanco, Jose; Lem, Audun

2013-01-01

The objective of this report is to analyse the major tastes and preferences of consumers in food consumption, as well as expected changes in these over time. We identify five important consumer trends and purchase drivers: food safety and health benefits; corporate social responsibility; production systems and innovations; sustainability; and food origin. For each of these trends we will consider relevant actions that are being implemented by governments, non-governmental organisations (NGOs)...

Temporal distribution of suicide mortality: A systematic review.

Science.gov (United States)

Galvão, Pauliana Valéria Machado; Silva, Hugo Rafael Souza E; Silva, Cosme Marcelo Furtado Passos da

2018-03-01

suicide is a problem with world impact and the leading cause of premature deaths. The study of its distribution over time can bring a changed understanding of parameters attributed to, and the prevention of, suicide. to identify the temporal pattern of suicide by systematic review. Pubmed (Medline), LILACS, Virtual Health Library (VHL), Science Direct and Scopus (Elsevier), Web of Science (Thomson Reuters) and PsyNET (APA) were searched, using suicide-related descriptors and terms, for observational epidemiological studies of the temporal distribution of suicide. The review protocol was registered in PROSPERO (CRD42016038470). The lack of uniformity in reporting or standardisation of methodology in the studies selected, hindered comparison of populations with similar socioeconomic and cultural profiles, considerably limiting the scope of the results of this review. forty-five studies from 26 different countries were included in this review. Clear seasonal patterns were observed by day of the week, month, season and age-period-cohort effects. Few studies studied by trend, time of day or day of the month. the review findings provide further evidence of substantial temporal patterns influenced by geographic, climatic and social conditions. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Trends in port-site metastasis after laparoscopic resection of incidental gallbladder cancer: A systematic review.

Science.gov (United States)

Berger-Richardson, David; Chesney, Tyler R; Englesakis, Marina; Govindarajan, Anand; Cleary, Sean P; Swallow, Carol J

2017-03-01

The risk of port-site metastasis after laparoscopic removal of incidental gallbladder cancer was previously estimated to be 14-30%. The present study was designed to determine the incidence of port-site metastasis in incidental gallbladder cancer in the modern era (2000-2014) versus the historic era (1991-1999). We also investigated the site of port-site metastasis. Using PRISMA, a systematic review was conducted to identify papers that addressed the development of port-site metastasis after laparoscopic resection of incidental gallbladder cancer. Studies that described cancer-specific outcomes in ≥5 patients were included. A validated quality appraisal tool was used, and a weighted estimate of the incidence of port-site metastasis was calculated. Based on data extracted from 27 papers that met inclusion criteria, the incidence of port-site metastasis in incidental gallbladder cancer has decreased from 18.6% prior to 2000 (95% confidence interval 15.3-21.9%, n = 7) to 10.3% since then (95% confidence interval 7.9-12.7%, n = 20) (P extraction site is at significantly higher risk than nonextraction sites. The incidence of port-site metastasis in incidental gallbladder cancer has decreased but remains high relative to other primary tumors. Any preoperative finding that raises the suspicion of gallbladder cancer should prompt further investigation and referral to a hepato-pancreato-biliary specialist. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

[Recent population trends in the Swiss Alps].

Science.gov (United States)

Billet, J; Rougier, H

1984-01-01

Recent demographic trends in the Alpine areas of Switzerland are examined. Areas of population loss and gain are identified, and the importance of tourism for areas experiencing population growth is established. Efforts to support the demographic and economic viability of mountain areas are described.

[Characteristics of systematic reviews about the impact of pharmacists].

Science.gov (United States)

Tanguay, C; Guérin, A; Bussières, J-F

2014-11-01

The pharmacists' role is varied and numerous articles evaluate the outcomes of pharmaceutical interventions. The main objectives of this study were to establish the characteristics of systematic reviews about pharmacists' interventions that were published in the last five years. A literature search was performed on Pubmed for French and English articles published between 01-01-2008 and 31-05-2013. Systematic reviews that presented the role, the interventions and the impact of pharmacists were selected by two research assistants. A total of 46 systematic reviews was identified, amongst which one third (n=15/46, 33 %) were meta-analyses. A quarter of systematic reviews did not evaluate the quality of included articles (n=13/46, 28 %). Twelve themes were identified. A median [min-max] of 16 [2-298] articles was included per systematic review. The most frequent pharmaceutical activities were patient counseling (n=41 systematic reviews), patient chart review (n=29), pharmacotherapy evaluation (n=27) and recommendations (n=26). The least frequent activities were teaching others than patients (n=12) and medical rounds participation (n=7). Many elements can influence the completion of pharmacy practice research projects; however, there exists no link between the presence of systematic reviews and the importance of pharmacists in a given healthcare program. This study presents the characteristics of 46 systematic reviews about pharmacists interventions published since 2008. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

A Critical Review of Search Strategies Used in Recent Systematic Reviews Published in Selected Prosthodontic and Implant-Related Journals: Are Systematic Reviews Actually Systematic?

Science.gov (United States)

Layton, Danielle

The aim of this study was to outline how search strategies can be systematic, to examine how the searches in recent systematic reviews in prosthodontic and implant-related journals were structured, and to determine whether the search strategies used in those articles were systematic. A total of 103 articles published as systematic reviews and indexed in Medline between January 2013 and May 2016 were identified from eight prosthodontic and implant journals and reviewed. The search strategies were considered systematic when they met the following criteria: (1) more than one electronic database was searched, (2) more than one searcher was clearly involved, (3) both text words and indexing terms were clearly included in the search strategy, (4) a hand search of selected journals or reference lists was undertaken, (5) gray research was specifically sought, and (6) the articles were published in English and at least one other language. The data were tallied and qualitatively assessed. The majority of articles reported on implants (54%), followed by tooth-supported fixed prosthodontics (13%). A total of 23 different electronic resources were consulted, including Medline (by 100% of articles), the Cochrane Library (52%), and Embase (37%). The majority consulted more than one electronic resource (71%), clearly included more than one searcher (73%), and employed a hand search of either selected journals or reference lists (86%). Less than half used both text words and indexing terms to identify articles (42%), while 15% actively sought gray research. Articles published in languages other than English were considered in 63 reviews, but only 14 had no language restrictions. Of the 103 articles, 5 completed search strategies that met all 6 criteria, and a further 12 met 5 criteria. Two articles did not fulfill any of the criteria. More than 95% of recent prosthodontic and implant review articles published in the selected journals failed to use search strategies that were

Effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of ehealth interventions in somatic diseases: a systematic review of systematic reviews and meta-analyses.

Science.gov (United States)

Elbert, Niels J; van Os-Medendorp, Harmieke; van Renselaar, Wilco; Ekeland, Anne G; Hakkaart-van Roijen, Leona; Raat, Hein; Nijsten, Tamar E C; Pasmans, Suzanne G M A

2014-04-16

eHealth potentially enhances quality of care and may reduce health care costs. However, a review of systematic reviews published in 2010 concluded that high-quality evidence on the benefits of eHealth interventions was still lacking. We conducted a systematic review of systematic reviews and meta-analyses on the effectiveness/cost-effectiveness of eHealth interventions in patients with somatic diseases to analyze whether, and to what possible extent, the outcome of recent research supports or differs from previous conclusions. Literature searches were performed in PubMed, EMBASE, The Cochrane Library, and Scopus for systematic reviews and meta-analyses on eHealth interventions published between August 2009 and December 2012. Articles were screened for relevance based on preset inclusion and exclusion criteria. Citations of residual articles were screened for additional literature. Included papers were critically appraised using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) Statement before data were extracted. Based on conclusions drawn by the authors of the included articles, reviews and meta-analyses were divided into 1 of 3 groups: suitable, promising, or limited evidence on effectiveness/cost-effectiveness. Cases of uncertainty were resolved by consensus discussion. Effect sizes were extracted from papers that included a meta-analysis. To compare our results with previous findings, a trend analysis was performed. Our literature searches yielded 31 eligible reviews, of which 20 (65%) reported on costs. Seven papers (23%) concluded that eHealth is effective/cost-effective, 13 (42%) underlined that evidence is promising, and others found limited or inconsistent proof. Methodological quality of the included reviews and meta-analyses was generally considered high. Trend analysis showed a considerable accumulation of literature on eHealth. However, a similar percentage of papers concluded that eHealth is effective/cost-effective or

'Violence-by-proxy': A recent trend of soccer violence in South Africa ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The most recent trend of soccer violence in the South African context is explored though a synthesis of theoretical perspectives and the 'sociogenesis' of soccer hooliganism. Against the background of profiling South African soccer spectators and an analysis of soccer violence since 1977, three trends were identified.

Emerging medical informatics research trends detection based on MeSH terms.

Science.gov (United States)

Lyu, Peng-Hui; Yao, Qiang; Mao, Jin; Zhang, Shi-Jing

2015-01-01

The aim of this study is to analyze the research trends of medical informatics over the last 12 years. A new method based on MeSH terms was proposed to identify emerging topics and trends of medical informatics research. Informetric methods and visualization technologies were applied to investigate research trends of medical informatics. The metric of perspective factor (PF) embedding MeSH terms was appropriately employed to assess the perspective quality for journals. The emerging MeSH terms have changed dramatically over the last 12 years, identifying two stages of medical informatics: the "medical imaging stage" and the "medical informatics stage". The focus of medical informatics has shifted from acquisition and storage of healthcare data by integrating computational, informational, cognitive and organizational sciences to semantic analysis for problem solving and clinical decision-making. About 30 core journals were determined by Bradford's Law in the last 3 years in this area. These journals, with high PF values, have relative high perspective quality and lead the trend of medical informatics.

The Role of Postoperative Antibiotics in Mandible Fractures: A Systematic Review of the Literature.

Science.gov (United States)

Shridharani, Sachin M; Berli, Jens; Manson, Paul N; Tufaro, Anthony P; Rodriguez, Eduardo D

2015-09-01

Little debate exists regarding the use of preoperative and perioperative antibiotic prophylaxis in the setting of mandibular fracture management; however, employing postoperative prophylactic antibiotics remains an inexact science based on experience rather than evidence. In this systematic review, the authors evaluate scientific literature and report results of an international survey that provide information regarding current practices of the plastic surgery community. Systematic literature review was performed using Medline, Embase, PubMed, and Cochrane databases to identify studies evaluating use of antibiotics in patients suffering from mandible fractures. Level 1, 2, and large retrospective studies were included. Case reports were excluded. Additionally, an E-survey was distributed to all ASPS members and data were collected over a 5-month period through SurveyMonkey. Four hundred twenty-seven articles published before December 2012 were identified. Seventy-one articles met inclusion criteria. Five articles remained when exclusion criteria were applied.ASPS member survey demonstrated 13% response rate (687 responses/5299 questionnaires). Of respondents, 75% placed patients (ORIF group) with open mandible fractures on prophylactic antibiotics for up to 3 days (44.1%), 1 week (54.8%), and more than 1 week (1.1%). Of respondents, 51% placed patients (ORIF group) with closed mandible fracture on prophylactic antibiotics for up to 3 days (50.5%), 1 week (48.6%), and more than 1 week (1%). Critical literature review demonstrates a trend towards no postoperative antibiotic coverage (>24 hours) in patients undergoing mandibular ORIF. There is further need for prospective, randomized control trials with a standardized regimen. Our survey elucidates the variability of plastic surgeons' clinical practices.

Systematic Reviews in Sports Medicine.

Science.gov (United States)

DiSilvestro, Kevin J; Tjoumakaris, Fotios P; Maltenfort, Mitchell G; Spindler, Kurt P; Freedman, Kevin B

2016-02-01

The number of systematic reviews published in the orthopaedic literature has increased, and these reviews can help guide clinical decision making. However, the quality of these reviews can affect the reader's ability to use the data to arrive at accurate conclusions and make clinical decisions. To evaluate the methodological and reporting quality of systematic reviews and meta-analyses in the sports medicine literature to determine whether such reviews should be used to guide treatment decisions. The hypothesis was that many systematic reviews in the orthopaedic sports medicine literature may not follow the appropriate reporting guidelines or methodological criteria recommended for systematic reviews. Systematic review. All clinical sports medicine systematic reviews and meta-analyses from 2009 to 2013 published in The American Journal of Sports Medicine (AJSM), The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery (JBJS), Arthroscopy, Sports Health, and Knee Surgery, Sports Traumatology, Arthroscopy (KSSTA) were reviewed and evaluated for level of evidence according to the guidelines from the Oxford Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine, for reporting quality according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) statement, and for methodological quality according to the Assessment of Multiple Systematic Reviews (AMSTAR) tool. Analysis was performed by year and journal of publication, and the levels of evidence included in the systematic reviews were also analyzed. A total of 200 systematic reviews and meta-analyses were identified over the study period. Of these, 53% included evidence levels 4 and 5 in their analyses, with just 32% including evidence levels 1 and 2 only. There were significant differences in the proportion of articles with high levels of evidence (P Systematic reviews and meta-analyses in orthopaedics sports medicine literature relied on evidence levels 4 and 5 in 53% of studies over the 5-year study period. Overall, PRISMA and

Trends in family tourism

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Heike A. Schänzel

2015-03-01

Full Text Available Purpose – Families represent a large and growing market for the tourism industry. Family tourism is driven by the increasing importance placed on promoting family togetherness, keeping family bonds alive and creating family memories. Predictions for the future of family travel are shaped by changes in demography and social structures. With global mobility families are increasingly geographically dispersed and new family markets are emerging. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the trends that shape the understanding of families and family tourism. Design/methodology/approach – This paper examines ten trends that the authors as experts in the field identify of importance and significance for the future of family tourism. Findings – What emerges is that the future of family tourism lies in capturing the increasing heterogeneity, fluidity and mobility of the family market. Originality/value – The paper contributes to the understanding about the changes taking place in family tourism and what it means to the tourism industry in the future.

Online Marketing Trends

OpenAIRE

Horecká, Ivana

2015-01-01

This thesis deals with online marketing trends. Its main goal is to define the latest online marketing trends, create a website with the free online marketing trends, and analyse their effectiveness. The theoretical part brings a thorough description of the latest online marketing trends. Moreover, it provides an insight into the latest trends in the website development. The chosen online marketing trends defined in the theoretical part are subsequently applied on a newly created website. All...

An Innovative Fuzzy-Logic-Based Methodology for Trend Identification

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang Xin; Tsoukalas, Lefteri H.; Wei, Thomas Y.C.; Reifman, Jaques

2001-01-01

A new fuzzy-logic-based methodology for on-line signal trend identification is introduced. The methodology may be used for detecting the onset of nuclear power plant (NPP) transients at the earliest possible time and could be of great benefit to diagnostic, maintenance, and performance-monitoring programs. Although signal trend identification is complicated by the presence of noise, fuzzy methods can help capture important features of on-line signals, integrate the information included in these features, and classify incoming NPP signals into increasing, decreasing, and steady-state trend categories. A computer program named PROTREN is developed and tested for the purpose of verifying this methodology using NPP and simulation data. The results indicate that the new fuzzy-logic-based methodology is capable of detecting transients accurately, it identifies trends reliably and does not misinterpret a steady-state signal as a transient one

The Impact of Future Demographic Trends in Europe, 2005-2050

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marek Kupiszewski

2008-01-01

Full Text Available The objective of the paper is to examine the future of populations within the Council of Europe member states, identify the main trends and discuss their policy implications. The analysis focuses on the impact that future demographic trends will have on the following social domains: education, the labour market, health care and care of the elderly and social protection. The study aims to be policy-oriented and to provide an overview of future demographic trends for 2005-2050 in the Council of Europe member states, as well as presenting an analysis related to selected policies and an interpretation of these trends. The analysis of population dynamics in the coming 45 years is based on the United Nations population projection of 2005.

[Use of the Mini-Mental State Examination in research on the elderly in Brazil: a systematic review].

Science.gov (United States)

de Melo, Denise Mendonça; Barbosa, Altemir José Gonçalves

2015-12-01

The Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) is the most widely used cognitive screening test around the world. In Brazil, different MMSE versions and many cut-off points have been used. A systematic review of papers indexed in Scielo was conducted in order to analyze use of the MMSE in Brazilian empirical studies with elderly people. To search for these texts, the complete name of the instrument and its abbreviation were used. A growth trend in the scientific production during the 1998 to 2013 period was observed. Eleven versions of the MMSE were identified and the Bertolucci et al. version was the most cited. Over half of the studies used schooling as the criteria to establish cut-off points. The studies were predominantly conducted using samples recruited from large cities in the Southeastern region and in the community. Despite the growing trend of research with the elderly using the MMSE, the psychometric properties of this scale of measurement have been the subject of little investigation. Despite the widespread use of the MMSE in Brazil, there is a lack of standardization and evidence of validity for this this scale of measurement.

Consumer participation and organizational development in health care: a systematic review.

Science.gov (United States)

Tempfer, Clemens B; Nowak, Peter

2011-07-01

To provide an overview of published data on user participation in Health Care. Active and passive involvement of consumers into agendas associated with Health Care is still an exception. Data on the success of user participation projects in various areas of Health Care are lacking. Systematic literature review using public databases. We identified 467 studies including five systematic reviews describing various participation projects, among them workshops, citizens' panels, focus groups, citizens' juries, and consultation meetings. A general trend favoring a specific method was not observed. The categorization of evaluable studies according to Health Care area (n = 331) yielded the following results: general medicine/preventive medicine (n = 5), internal medicine/oncology (n = 132), obstetrics and gynecology (n = 2), surgery (n = 1), neurology/psychiatry (n = 2), social medicine (n = 16), health worker training (n = 38), and research agenda setting (n = 135). Predefined qualitative parameters were extracted from 69/467 (15%) studies. Sixty one of 69 studies (88%) were retrospective analyses without control groups and without outcome assessment. Six studies had outcome assessment, three judged the outcome as successful, two as negative, and one multi-project study reported 'very successful' project assessments in 24% of the projects. In 18 studies, the level of consumer participation was described as 'informed' in 2/18, 'advisory' in 14/18, and 'decision-making' in 2/18. The following factors associated with project success were identified: adequate financing, partnerships with well institutionalized consumer organizations, advanced project logistics, small-scale projects, and adequate internal and external communication. Most consumer participation projects were performed in research agenda setting, internal medicine/oncology, and health worker training. Various methods have been used in the projects, the level of consumer participation was low, and the success

International trends in health science librarianship: part 3--the Nordic countries.

Science.gov (United States)

Haglund, Lotta; Buset, Karen J; Kristiansen, Hanne M; Ovaska, Tuulevi; Murphy, Jeannette

2012-09-01

This is the third in a series of articles exploring international trends in health science librarianship in the first decade of the 21st century. The invited authors carried out a survey of librarians in Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Finland to identify common developments in their countries. A focus on pedagogy was seen as the most important trend. Future issues will track trends in Southern Europe and Latin America. JM. © 2012 The authors. Health Information and Libraries Journal © 2012 Health Libraries Group.

Trends in Distance Education Research: A Content Analysis of Journals 2009-2013

Science.gov (United States)

Bozkurt, Aras; Akgun-Ozbek, Ela; Yilmazel, Sibel; Erdogdu, Erdem; Ucar, Hasan; Guler, Emel; Sezgin, Sezan; Karadeniz, Abdulkadir; Sen-Ersoy, Nazife; Goksel-Canbek, Nil; Dincer, Gokhan Deniz; Ari, Suleyman; Aydin, Cengiz Hakan

2015-01-01

This study intends to explore the current trends in the field of distance education research during the period of 2009-2013. The trends were identified by an extensive review of seven peer reviewed scholarly journals: "The American Journal of Distance Education" (AJDE), "Distance Education" (DE), "The European Journal of…

A systematic review of interventions for promoting active transportation to school.

Science.gov (United States)

Chillón, Palma; Evenson, Kelly R; Vaughn, Amber; Ward, Dianne S

2011-02-14

Active transportation to school is an important contributor to the total physical activity of children and adolescents. However, active school travel has declined over time, and interventions are needed to reverse this trend. The purpose of this paper is to review intervention studies related to active school transportation to guide future intervention research. A systematic review was conducted to identify intervention studies of active transportation to school published in the scientific literature through January 2010. Five electronic databases and a manual search were conducted. Detailed information was extracted, including a quantitative assessment comparing the effect sizes, and a qualitative assessment using an established evaluation tool. We identified 14 interventions that focused on active transportation to school. These interventions mainly focused on primary school children in the United States, Australia, and the United Kingdom. Almost all the interventions used quasi-experimental designs (10/14), and most of the interventions reported a small effect size on active transportation (6/14). More research with higher quality study designs and measures should be conducted to further evaluate interventions and to determine the most successful strategies for increasing active transportation to school. © 2011 Chillón P et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.

Trends in Mobile Marketing

OpenAIRE

Chocholová, Petra

2010-01-01

The principal aim of this thesis is to assess the state of the mobile marketing as of the first quarter of 2011 and to discuss various scenarios of the future development. This thesis defines the terms "mobile marketing" and "mobile advertising" and identifies the main players in the industry. It explores the main categories of mobile advertising such as mobile messaging, in-content and mobile internet advertising. Later, it analyzes the latest trends in the industry and describes in detail t...

Investigating Systematic Errors of the Interstellar Flow Longitude Derived from the Pickup Ion Cutoff

Science.gov (United States)

Taut, A.; Berger, L.; Drews, C.; Bower, J.; Keilbach, D.; Lee, M. A.; Moebius, E.; Wimmer-Schweingruber, R. F.

2017-12-01

Complementary to the direct neutral particle measurements performed by e.g. IBEX, the measurement of PickUp Ions (PUIs) constitutes a diagnostic tool to investigate the local interstellar medium. PUIs are former neutral particles that have been ionized in the inner heliosphere. Subsequently, they are picked up by the solar wind and its frozen-in magnetic field. Due to this process, a characteristic Velocity Distribution Function (VDF) with a sharp cutoff evolves, which carries information about the PUI's injection speed and thus the former neutral particle velocity. The symmetry of the injection speed about the interstellar flow vector is used to derive the interstellar flow longitude from PUI measurements. Using He PUI data obtained by the PLASTIC sensor on STEREO A, we investigate how this concept may be affected by systematic errors. The PUI VDF strongly depends on the orientation of the local interplanetary magnetic field. Recently injected PUIs with speeds just below the cutoff speed typically form a highly anisotropic torus distribution in velocity space, which leads to a longitudinal transport for certain magnetic field orientation. Therefore, we investigate how the selection of magnetic field configurations in the data affects the result for the interstellar flow longitude that we derive from the PUI cutoff. Indeed, we find that the results follow a systematic trend with the filtered magnetic field angles that can lead to a shift of the result up to 5°. In turn, this means that every value for the interstellar flow longitude derived from the PUI cutoff is affected by a systematic error depending on the utilized magnetic field orientations. Here, we present our observations, discuss possible reasons for the systematic trend we discovered, and indicate selections that may minimize the systematic errors.

Digital pathology: A systematic evaluation of the patent landscape.

Science.gov (United States)

Cucoranu, Ioan C; Parwani, Anil V; Vepa, Suryanarayana; Weinstein, Ronald S; Pantanowitz, Liron

2014-01-01

Digital pathology is a relatively new field. Inventors of technology in this field typically file for patents to protect their intellectual property. An understanding of the patent landscape is crucial for companies wishing to secure patent protection and market dominance for their products. To our knowledge, there has been no prior systematic review of patents related to digital pathology. Therefore, the aim of this study was to systematically identify and evaluate United States patents and patent applications related to digital pathology. Issued patents and patent applications related to digital pathology published in the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) database (www.uspto.gov) (through January 2014) were searched using the Google Patents search engine (Google Inc., Mountain View, California, USA). Keywords and phrases related to digital pathology, whole-slide imaging (WSI), image analysis, and telepathology were used to query the USPTO database. Data were downloaded and analyzed using the Papers application (Mekentosj BV, Aalsmeer, Netherlands). A total of 588 United States patents that pertain to digital pathology were identified. In addition, 228 patent applications were identified, including 155 that were pending, 65 abandoned, and eight rejected. Of the 588 patents granted, 348 (59.18%) were specific to pathology, while 240 (40.82%) included more general patents also usable outside of pathology. There were 70 (21.12%) patents specific to pathology and 57 (23.75%) more general patents that had expired. Over 120 unique entities (individual inventors, academic institutions, and private companies) applied for pathology specific patents. Patents dealt largely with telepathology and image analysis. WSI related patents addressed image acquisition (scanning and focus), quality (z-stacks), management (storage, retrieval, and transmission of WSI files), and viewing (graphical user interface (GUI), workflow, slide navigation and remote control). An

Digital pathology: A systematic evaluation of the patent landscape

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ioan C. Cucoranu

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Introduction: Digital pathology is a relatively new field. Inventors of technology in this field typically file for patents to protect their intellectual property. An understanding of the patent landscape is crucial for companies wishing to secure patent protection and market dominance for their products. To our knowledge, there has been no prior systematic review of patents related to digital pathology. Therefore, the aim of this study was to systematically identify and evaluate United States patents and patent applications related to digital pathology. Materials and Methods: Issued patents and patent applications related to digital pathology published in the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO database (www.uspto.gov (through January 2014 were searched using the Google Patents search engine (Google Inc., Mountain View, California, USA. Keywords and phrases related to digital pathology, whole-slide imaging (WSI, image analysis, and telepathology were used to query the USPTO database. Data were downloaded and analyzed using the Papers application (Mekentosj BV, Aalsmeer, Netherlands. Results: A total of 588 United States patents that pertain to digital pathology were identified. In addition, 228 patent applications were identified, including 155 that were pending, 65 abandoned, and eight rejected. Of the 588 patents granted, 348 (59.18% were specific to pathology, while 240 (40.82% included more general patents also usable outside of pathology. There were 70 (21.12% patents specific to pathology and 57 (23.75% more general patents that had expired. Over 120 unique entities (individual inventors, academic institutions, and private companies applied for pathology specific patents. Patents dealt largely with telepathology and image analysis. WSI related patents addressed image acquisition (scanning and focus, quality (z-stacks, management (storage, retrieval, and transmission of WSI files, and viewing (graphical user interface (GUI

Integration of existing systematic reviews into new reviews: identification of guidance needs

Science.gov (United States)

2014-01-01

Background An exponential increase in the number of systematic reviews published, and constrained resources for new reviews, means that there is an urgent need for guidance on explicitly and transparently integrating existing reviews into new systematic reviews. The objectives of this paper are: 1) to identify areas where existing guidance may be adopted or adapted, and 2) to suggest areas for future guidance development. Methods We searched documents and websites from healthcare focused systematic review organizations to identify and, where available, to summarize relevant guidance on the use of existing systematic reviews. We conducted informational interviews with members of Evidence-based Practice Centers (EPCs) to gather experiences in integrating existing systematic reviews, including common issues and challenges, as well as potential solutions. Results There was consensus among systematic review organizations and the EPCs about some aspects of incorporating existing systematic reviews into new reviews. Current guidance may be used in assessing the relevance of prior reviews and in scanning references of prior reviews to identify studies for a new review. However, areas of challenge remain. Areas in need of guidance include how to synthesize, grade the strength of, and present bodies of evidence composed of primary studies and existing systematic reviews. For instance, empiric evidence is needed regarding how to quality check data abstraction and when and how to use study-level risk of bias assessments from prior reviews. Conclusions There remain areas of uncertainty for how to integrate existing systematic reviews into new reviews. Methods research and consensus processes among systematic review organizations are needed to develop guidance to address these challenges. PMID:24956937

Current trends and challenges in the postoperative medical management of Crohn's disease: A systematic review.

Science.gov (United States)

Schlussel, Andrew T; Cherng, Nicole B; Alavi, Karim

2017-11-01

Crohn's disease is an aggressive chronic inflammatory disorder, and despite medical advances no cure exists. There is a great risk of requiring an operative intervention, with evidence of recurrence developing in up to 80-90% of cases. Therefore, we sought to systematically review the current status in the postoperative medical management of Crohn's disease. A systematic literature review of medications administered following respective therapy for Crohn's disease was performed from 1979 through 2016. Twenty-six prospective articles provided directed guidelines for recommendations and these were graded based on the level of evidence. The postoperative management of Crohn's disease faces multiple challenges. Current indicated medications in this setting include: antibiotics, aminosalicylates, immunomodulators, and biologics. Each drug has inherent risks and benefits, and the optimal regimen is still unknown. Initiating therapy in a prophylactic fashion compared to endoscopic findings, or escalating therapy versus treating with the most potent drug first is debated. Although a definitive consensus on postoperative treatment is necessary, aggressive and early endoluminal surveillance is paramount in the treatment of these complicated patients. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Methodology in conducting a systematic review of systematic reviews of healthcare interventions.

LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

Smith, Valerie

2011-02-01

Hundreds of studies of maternity care interventions have been published, too many for most people involved in providing maternity care to identify and consider when making decisions. It became apparent that systematic reviews of individual studies were required to appraise, summarise and bring together existing studies in a single place. However, decision makers are increasingly faced by a plethora of such reviews and these are likely to be of variable quality and scope, with more than one review of important topics. Systematic reviews (or overviews) of reviews are a logical and appropriate next step, allowing the findings of separate reviews to be compared and contrasted, providing clinical decision makers with the evidence they need.

Moving toward the automation of the systematic review process: a summary of discussions at the second meeting of International Collaboration for the Automation of Systematic Reviews (ICASR).

Science.gov (United States)

O'Connor, Annette M; Tsafnat, Guy; Gilbert, Stephen B; Thayer, Kristina A; Wolfe, Mary S

2018-01-09

The second meeting of the International Collaboration for Automation of Systematic Reviews (ICASR) was held 3-4 October 2016 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. ICASR is an interdisciplinary group whose aim is to maximize the use of technology for conducting rapid, accurate, and efficient systematic reviews of scientific evidence. Having automated tools for systematic review should enable more transparent and timely review, maximizing the potential for identifying and translating research findings to practical application. The meeting brought together multiple stakeholder groups including users of summarized research, methodologists who explore production processes and systematic review quality, and technologists such as software developers, statisticians, and vendors. This diversity of participants was intended to ensure effective communication with numerous stakeholders about progress toward automation of systematic reviews and stimulate discussion about potential solutions to identified challenges. The meeting highlighted challenges, both simple and complex, and raised awareness among participants about ongoing efforts by various stakeholders. An outcome of this forum was to identify several short-term projects that participants felt would advance the automation of tasks in the systematic review workflow including (1) fostering better understanding about available tools, (2) developing validated datasets for testing new tools, (3) determining a standard method to facilitate interoperability of tools such as through an application programming interface or API, and (4) establishing criteria to evaluate the quality of tools' output. ICASR 2016 provided a beneficial forum to foster focused discussion about tool development and resources and reconfirm ICASR members' commitment toward systematic reviews' automation.

Increased Materialistic Trends among Youth

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Afsheen Masood

2016-12-01

Full Text Available The goal of this qualitative research is to investigate the increased sense of materialism among youth. The main research question is to identify the factors which are causing materialism among youth. The sample of this research included 25 people, age group 18-25 years obtained from students that are enrolled in universities. The interpretive phenomenological approach was taken which was based on semi-structured interviews. The findings revealed that materialistic trends are increasing among youth nowadays. Because thought patterns of youth and societal demands have changed totally. Factors that are increasing materialism include social media, brand consciousness; self-centeredness; fake personality development and desire to be socially accepted. The implications indicate that materialistic trend should stop by controlling the social media possession among youth which is the primary source of enhancing materialism among youth.

Seven Steps in Identifying Local Climate Change Responses for Agriculture in Vietnam

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bosma, R.H.; Ngo, An T.; Huynh, Chuong V.; Le, Huong T.; Dang, Nhan K.; Van, Tri P.D.; Halsema, van G.E.

2016-01-01

This study presents a seven-step approach to identify and support local climate change (CC) responses in agriculture. The following seven steps comprise this approach: 1. Analyse past trends on the climatic factors and model the future trends. 2. Simulate the possible impacts of CC on the selected

Trends of diabetic nephropathy prevalence in Isfahan, Iran, during 1992-2010

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tohid Jafari-Koshki

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Background: Diabetes mellitus is a metabolic disorder and its subsequent complications such as retinopathy, nephropathy, ulcers, disability, and amputation increase the burden of the disease. Patient knowledge-improving programs are employed to prevent disease progression and to improve the quality of life of the patients. In this way, we need to characterize the groups of patients in urgent need for more and rich-in-content programs. In the present study, we used piecewise regression to evaluate the trends of diabetic nephropathy prevalence in patients registered in the Sedigheh-Tahereh Research Center and to identify patients who were in need of more attention. Materials and Methods: Piecewise regression, used in this study, is a statistical method to identify change points, if any, in the trends of mortality rates, prevalence of a disease, or any other trends. Available information for 1,935 patients were retrieved from the database. Joinpoint program 3.5.3 and Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS 20 was used to fit piecewise regression and obtain descriptive statistics, respectively. Results: We assessed the trend of diabetic nephropathy in different groups of diabetic patients with respect to sex, blood pressure status, education, family history of diabetes, and age. The results showed an increasing trend in females, patients without family history of diabetes, and eover th recent years. The prevalence of diabetic nephropathy in patients with academic education was high. Conclusion: The groups with high prevalence or increasing trends need more preventive intervention and detailed assessment of the present trends. Exploring high-risk groups is beneficial for better policy-making in the future. However, discovering the reasons for the increased trend of the disease is really helpful in controlling diabetes complications.

Fulfilling the promise of personalized medicine? Systematic review and field synopsis of pharmacogenetic studies.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Michael V Holmes

2009-12-01

Full Text Available Studies of the genetic basis of drug response could help clarify mechanisms of drug action/metabolism, and facilitate development of genotype-based predictive tests of efficacy or toxicity (pharmacogenetics.We conducted a systematic review and field synopsis of pharmacogenetic studies to quantify the scope and quality of available evidence in this field in order to inform future research.Original research articles were identified in Medline, reference lists from 24 meta-analyses/systematic reviews/review articles and U.S. Food and Drug Administration website of approved pharmacogenetic tests. STUDY ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA, PARTICIPANTS, AND INTERVENTION CRITERIA: We included any study in which either intended or adverse response to drug therapy was examined in relation to genetic variation in the germline or cancer cells in humans.Study characteristics and data reported in abstracts were recorded. We further analysed full text from a random 10% subset of articles spanning the different subclasses of study.From 102,264 Medline hits and 1,641 articles from other sources, we identified 1,668 primary research articles (1987 to 2007, inclusive. A high proportion of remaining articles were reviews/commentaries (ratio of reviews to primary research approximately 25 ratio 1. The majority of studies (81.8% were set in Europe and North America focussing on cancer, cardiovascular disease and neurology/psychiatry. There was predominantly a candidate gene approach using common alleles, which despite small sample sizes (median 93 [IQR 40-222] with no trend to an increase over time, generated a high proportion (74.5% of nominally significant (por=4 studies, only 31 meta-analyses were identified. The majority (69.4% of end-points were continuous and likely surrogate rather than hard (binary clinical end-points.The high expectation but limited translation of pharmacogenetic research thus far may be explained by the preponderance of reviews over primary research

Nutrition situation in Latin America and the Caribbean: current scenario, past trends, and data gaps

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Luis Galicia

Full Text Available ABSTRACT Objective To determine the current nutritional status in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC and identify data gaps and trends in nutrition surveillance. Methods A systematic Internet search was conducted to identify official sources that allowed for monitoring of LAC countries’ nutritional status, including progress toward World Health Organization Global Nutrition Targets 2025. Reports from national nutrition surveillance systems and reports on nationally representative surveys were collected and collated to 1 analyze nutritional status, based on life-course anthropometric indicators and biomarkers, and 2 identify gaps in data availability and trends in nutritional deficiencies. Information on iron, vitamin A, iodine, folate, and vitamin B12 deficiency was also collected and collated. Results Twenty-two of the 46 LAC countries/territories (48% had information on undernutrition (stunting, underweight, and wasting in children under 5 years old and women of reproductive age (WRA. Seventeen countries (38% had information on anemia in children under 5 years old and WRA, and 12 (27% had information on anemia in pregnant women. Although overall nutritional status has improved in the past few decades in all countries in the region, some LAC countries still had a high prevalence of stunting and anemia in children and WRA. Overweight affected at least 50% of WRA in nine countries with available data, and was increasing in children. Data for school-age children, adolescents, adult males, and older adults were scarce in the region. Conclusions Overall nutritional status has improved in the LAC countries with available information, but more efforts are needed to scale up nutrition-sensitive and nutrition-specific interventions to tackle malnutrition in all its forms, as stunting, anemia, and vitamin A deficiency are still a public health problem in many countries, and overweight is an epidemic. Nutrition information systems are weak in the

Systematic review of trends in prophylaxis of corticosteroid-induced osteoporosis : the need for standard audit guidelines

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Duyvendak, M.; Naunton, M.; van Roon, E. N.; Bruyn, G. A. W.; Brouwers, J. R. B. J.

2008-01-01

Corticosteroid-induced osteoporosis (CIOP) is currently undertreated. Systematic review of the literature revealed that the percentage of patients treated adequately is dependent on study quality. Therefore, it remains unknown whether adherence to the guidelines is really so poor. Five major quality

Changing trends in diabetes mellitus in pregnancy.

LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

Khalifeh, A

2014-02-01

The purpose of this study was to identify any changing trends in the incidence and caesarean section (CS) rate of pre-gestational diabetes mellitus (DM) and gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) over a 10- year period, between 1999 and 2008. Although the incidence of pre-gestational DM has not significantly changed over the course of the last 10 years, there is an obvious rising trend in the incidence of GDM. Despite an increase in the overall CS rate during this time period, a parallel increase in the CS rate has not been observed among women whose pregnancies are complicated either by gestational or by pre-gestational diabetes (PGD).

Trends in a aerospace technology advanced materials

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ogren, J.R.

1993-01-01

The purpose of this presentation is to discuss recent trends in aerospace technology and to discuss as they relate to recent trends in the materials technologies. We shall do this within the framework of a large new activity that is, in fact, underway at the present, namely, MISSION TO THE PLANET EARTH. Mission requirements will be described in a hierarchical order. It will be shown that materials technology, in one form or another, is an identified critical technology for every single aspect of the mission. Other critical aspects exist, primarily in the areas of data processing and data management. International cooperation in aerospace-materials activities will be described. (author)

Systematic evaluation of drug-disease relationships to identify leads for novel drug uses.

Science.gov (United States)

Chiang, A P; Butte, A J

2009-11-01

Drug repositioning refers to the discovery of alternative uses for drugs--uses that are different from that for which the drugs were originally intended. One challenge in this effort lies in choosing the indication for which a drug of interest could be prospectively tested. We systematically evaluated a drug treatment-based view of diseases in order to address this challenge. Suggestions for novel drug uses were generated using a "guilt by association" approach. When compared with a control group of drug uses, the suggested novel drug uses generated by this approach were significantly enriched with respect to previous and ongoing clinical trials.

Worldwide Impact of Warmer Seasons on the Incidence of Renal Colic and Kidney Stone Disease: Evidence from a Systematic Review of Literature.

Science.gov (United States)

Geraghty, Robert M; Proietti, Silvia; Traxer, Olivier; Archer, Matthew; Somani, Bhaskar K

2017-08-01

Several studies have examined the link between temperature or monthly seasonal variations and urolithiasis. The majority of these studies have demonstrated a link between higher ambient monthly temperatures and the incidence of renal colic and kidney stone disease (KSD). However, a worldwide trend on this association has not been explored and we perform a systematic review to examine the effect of seasonal variations on renal colic and KSD. A systematic review of the literature for a 26-year period (1990-2017) was conducted on all studies reporting on the effect of seasonal variations and its link to KSD. Two reviewers independently extracted the data from each study, which were analyzed using SPSS version 24. A total of 59 studies were identified, and after screening, 13 were included in this review. The studies ranged in duration from 1 to 9 years (mean: 5.5 years) and included seasonal/monthly variations for proven stones or lithotripsy treatments or emergency department presentations with renal colic. Except for one study, there was a statistically significant association between higher monthly mean temperatures and the incidence of KSD-related events reported from the United Kingdom, South Korea, the United States, Saudi Arabia, Italy, Spain, Taiwan, Japan, and New Zealand. Worldwide trends on the incidence of renal colic and KSD seem be affected by seasonal variation favoring warmer months, with data suggesting that higher ambient temperature has an association with KSD.

Trends of significant operating events in assessing programmatic issues

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lanning, W.D.

1990-01-01

This paper describes one part of the U. S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission's (NRC's) program for evaluating significant events and the process for identifying trends that may be indicative of programmatic weaknesses at operating nuclear power plants. A database management system was developed to permit analyses of significant operating events, events of potential safety significance, and certain reactor scrams. The analyses were based on events and problems reported by telephone to the NRC by licensees within hours of the events and, therefore, provided current operational data trend information. The regulatory requirements for reporting significant events, the screening criteria, and the process for identifying outliers for formal evaluation are described herein. This process contributed to an understanding of the underlying causes for events and problems. Examples are included of operating experience assessments that identified plants with a poor operating experience history that was attributable to procedural inadequacies, operator training deficiencies, inadequate root cause analysis, and inadequate control and planning of activities

Characterization of the State-of-the-art and Identification of Main Trends for Ecodesign Tools and Methods: Classifying Three Decades of Research and Implementation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pigosso, Daniela Cristina Antelmi; McAloone, T. C.; Rozenfeld, H.

2015-01-01

Ecodesign is a proactive management approach that integrates environmental considerations in product development and related processes (such as purchasing, marketing and research & development). Ecodesign aims to improve environmental performance of products throughout their life cycle, from raw...... material extraction and manufacturing to use and end-of-life. Over the last three decades, an intense development of new ecodesign methods and tools could be observed, but uptake by the industry remains a challenge. The purpose of this research is to perform a review of existing ecodesign tools and methods...... through a systematic literature review linked to bibliometric analyses, in order to explore the state of the art of ecodesign methods and tools and identify trends and opportunities in the field for the next decade....

HYPE: a WFD tool for the identification of significant and sustained upward trends in groundwater time series

Science.gov (United States)

Lopez, Benjamin; Croiset, Nolwenn; Laurence, Gourcy

2014-05-01

The Water Framework Directive 2006/11/CE (WFD) on the protection of groundwater against pollution and deterioration asks Member States to identify significant and sustained upward trends in all bodies or groups of bodies of groundwater that are characterised as being at risk in accordance with Annex II to Directive 2000/60/EC. The Directive indicates that the procedure for the identification of significant and sustained upward trends must be based on a statistical method. Moreover, for significant increases of concentrations of pollutants, trend reversals are identified as being necessary. This means to be able to identify significant trend reversals. A specific tool, named HYPE, has been developed in order to help stakeholders working on groundwater trend assessment. The R encoded tool HYPE provides statistical analysis of groundwater time series. It follows several studies on the relevancy of the use of statistical tests on groundwater data series (Lopez et al., 2011) and other case studies on the thematic (Bourgine et al., 2012). It integrates the most powerful and robust statistical tests for hydrogeological applications. HYPE is linked to the French national database on groundwater data (ADES). So monitoring data gathered by the Water Agencies can be directly processed. HYPE has two main modules: - a characterisation module, which allows to visualize time series. HYPE calculates the main statistical characteristics and provides graphical representations; - a trend module, which identifies significant breaks, trends and trend reversals in time series, providing result table and graphical representation (cf figure). Additional modules are also implemented to identify regional and seasonal trends and to sample time series in a relevant way. HYPE has been used successfully in 2012 by the French Water Agencies to satisfy requirements of the WFD, concerning characterization of groundwater bodies' qualitative status and evaluation of the risk of non-achievement of

Growing Trend of China's Contribution to Global Diabetes Research: A Systematic Literature Review.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhao, Xiyan; Guo, Liangqing; Yuan, Mingze; He, Xinhui; Lin, Yiqun; Gu, Chengjuan; Li, Qingwei; Zhao, Linhua; Tong, Xiaolin

2016-05-01

China, as a rapidly developing country with the largest population in the world, is playing an increasingly important role in diabetes research. There are >10,000 diabetes doctors who care for a large population of diabetic patients. The quantity and quality of research on diabetes from 3 major regions of China, including Mainland China (ML), Taiwan (TW), and Hong Kong (HK), is unknown. We aimed to analyze the contributions of each of these 3 regions to diabetes research.Articles on diabetes originating from ML, TW, and HK that were published from 2005 to 2014 were retrieved from the Web of Science. The quantity of articles, citations, article types, and articles published in high-impact journals were analyzed.A total of 9302 articles were retrieved from the 3 regions of China. There were 6775 from ML, 1993 from TW, and 534 from HK, with an increasing trend in publications from 2005 to 2014. After 2006, the number of publications from ML exceeded TW and HK. The largest total number of citations (48,296) was from ML. The highest mean citations, however, were from HK (15.90). PLoS One was the most popular journal in all 3 regions. The greatest number of RCTs, clinical trials, meta-analyses, and articles published in high-impact journals were from ML.There has been a significant increase in the number of articles published on diabetes research from China during the past 10 years. Most of the articles were published by authors in ML, and an increasing trend began in 2006. HK had the highest quality research output in terms of mean citations per article.

PNG Education System: Equity Trends and Comparisons.

Science.gov (United States)

Sheret, Michael

This paper identifies and discusses inequities in the educational system of Papua New Guinea (PNG). It begins by explaining the use of the Gini coefficient as an equity index, and then discusses inequities and equity trends in four concern areas: geographic distribution of formal education between provinces; educational achievement; distribution…

Trends in Career and Technical Education Research

Science.gov (United States)

Rojewski, Jay W.; Asunda, Paul; Kim, Soo Jung

2008-01-01

The purpose of this literature review was to identify current trends and issues in research focusing on career and technical education (CTE). The primary sources of literature for this review included all research articles published in three refereed scholarly journals--"Career and Technical Education Research," "Journal of Career and Technical…

A Systematic Mapping Study of Software Architectures for Cloud Based Systems

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Chauhan, Muhammad Aufeef; Babar, Muhammad Ali

2014-01-01

Context: Cloud computing has gained significant attention of researchers and practitioners. This emerging paradigm is being used to provide solutions in multiple domains without huge upfront investment because of its on demand recourse-provisioning model. However, the information about how software...... of this study is to systematically identify and analyze the currently published research on the topics related to software architectures for cloud-based systems in order to identify architecture solutions for achieving quality requirements. Method: We decided to carry out a systematic mapping study to find...... as much peer-reviewed literature on the topics related to software architectures for cloud-based systems as possible. This study has been carried out by following the guidelines for conducting systematic literature reviews and systematic mapping studies as reported in the literature. Based on our paper...

The Association of Cardiovascular Disorders and Falls : A Systematic Review

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Jansen, Sofie; Bhangu, Jaspreet; de Rooij, Sophia; Daams, Joost; Kenny, Rose Anne; van der Velde, Nathalie

2016-01-01

Objective: Cardiovascular disorders are recognized as risk factors for falls in older adults. The aim of this systematic review was to identify cardiovascular disorders that are associated with falls, thus providing angles for optimization of fall-preventive care. Design: Systematic review. Data

Water-quality trends in the nation’s rivers and streams, 1972–2012—Data preparation, statistical methods, and trend results

Science.gov (United States)

Oelsner, Gretchen P.; Sprague, Lori A.; Murphy, Jennifer C.; Zuellig, Robert E.; Johnson, Henry M.; Ryberg, Karen R.; Falcone, James A.; Stets, Edward G.; Vecchia, Aldo V.; Riskin, Melissa L.; De Cicco, Laura A.; Mills, Taylor J.; Farmer, William H.

2017-04-04

Since passage of the Clean Water Act in 1972, Federal, State, and local governments have invested billions of dollars to reduce pollution entering rivers and streams. To understand the return on these investments and to effectively manage and protect the Nation’s water resources in the future, we need to know how and why water quality has been changing over time. As part of the National Water-Quality Assessment Project, of the U.S. Geological Survey’s National Water-Quality Program, data from the U.S. Geological Survey, along with multiple other Federal, State, Tribal, regional, and local agencies, have been used to support the most comprehensive assessment conducted to date of surface-water-quality trends in the United States. This report documents the methods used to determine trends in water quality and ecology because these methods are vital to ensuring the quality of the results. Specific objectives are to document (1) the data compilation and processing steps used to identify river and stream sites throughout the Nation suitable for water-quality, pesticide, and ecology trend analysis, (2) the statistical methods used to determine trends in target parameters, (3) considerations for water-quality, pesticide, and ecology data and streamflow data when modeling trends, (4) sensitivity analyses for selecting data and interpreting trend results with the Weighted Regressions on Time, Discharge, and Season method, and (5) the final trend results at each site. The scope of this study includes trends in water-quality concentrations and loads (nutrient, sediment, major ion, salinity, and carbon), pesticide concentrations and loads, and metrics for aquatic ecology (fish, invertebrates, and algae) for four time periods: (1) 1972–2012, (2) 1982–2012, (3) 1992–2012, and (4) 2002–12. In total, nearly 12,000 trends in concentration, load, and ecology metrics were evaluated in this study; there were 11,893 combinations of sites, parameters, and trend periods. The

A systematic hub loads model of a horizontal wind turbine

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kazacoks, Romans; Jamieson, Peter

2014-01-01

The wind turbine industry has focused offshore on increasing the capacity of a single unit through up-scaling their machines. There is however a lack of systematic studies on how loads vary due to properties of a wind turbine and scaling of wind turbines. The purpose of this paper is to study how applied blade modifications, with similarities such as mass, stiffness and dimensions, influence blade root moments and lifetime damage equivalent loads (DELs) of the rotor blades. In order to produce fatigue load blade root moment trends based on the applied modifications. It was found that a linear trend of lifetime DELs based on the applied modifications of blades, which have effect on the natural frequency of blade of the original or reference model. As the control system was tuned for the specific frequency of the reference model. The linear trend of lifetime DELs was generated as long as the natural frequency of the reference model was preserved. For larger modifications of the wind turbine the controller would need retuning

“The Sum of All Human Knowledge”: A Systematic Review of Scholarly Research on the Content of Wikipedia

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mesgari, Mostafa; Okoli, Chitu; Mehdi, Mohamad

2015-01-01

Wikipedia may be the best-developed attempt thus far to gather all human knowledge in one place. Its accomplishments in this regard have made it a point of inquiry for researchers from different fields of knowledge. A decade of research has thrown light on many aspects of the Wikipedia community......, its processes, and its content. However, due to the variety of fields inquiring about Wikipedia and the limited synthesis of the extensive research, there is little consensus on many aspects of Wikipedia's content as an encyclopedic collection of human knowledge. This study addresses the issue...... by systematically reviewing 110 peer-reviewed publications on Wikipedia content, summarizing the current findings, and highlighting the major research trends. Two major streams of research are identified: the quality of Wikipedia content (including comprehensiveness, currency, readability, and reliability...

Increased Materialistic Trends Among Youth

OpenAIRE

Shama Mazahir, Afsheen Masood, Rubab Musarrat

2016-01-01

The goal of this qualitative research is to investigate the increased sense of materialism among youth. The main research question is to identify the factors which are causing materialism among youth. The sample of this research included 25 people, age group 18-25 years obtained from students that are enrolled in universities. The interpretive phenomenological approach was taken which was based on semi-structured interviews. The findings revealed that materialistic trends are increasing among...

Increased Materialistic Trends among Youth

OpenAIRE

Afsheen Masood; Rubab Musarrat; Shama Mazahir

2016-01-01

The goal of this qualitative research is to investigate the increased sense of materialism among youth. The main research question is to identify the factors which are causing materialism among youth. The sample of this research included 25 people, age group 18-25 years obtained from students that are enrolled in universities. The interpretive phenomenological approach was taken which was based on semi-structured interviews. The findings revealed that materialistic trends are increasing among...

Overweight and obesity among children and adolescents in Bangladesh: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Biswas, T; Islam, A; Islam, Md S; Pervin, S; Rawal, L B

2017-01-01

The increasing prevalence of overweight and obesity among children (0-12 years) and adolescents (13-19 years) has emerged as a major public health threat in Bangladesh. Unfortunately, there is a serious paucity of credible data on these issues that can be used for policy and programmatic development. This article presents a systematic review of studies on overweight and obesity to present a more accurate estimate by pooling results. Systematic review. The study systematically reviewed relevant literature published between 1998 and 2015 using predefined inclusion/exclusion criteria. The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses checklist was used to identify relevant studies. Measures of heterogeneity and variability were calculated, and a random effect model was used to report pooled prevalence rates of overweight and obesity. The findings show that prevalence rates of overweight and obesity among children and adolescents varied widely from 1.0% to 20.6% and 0.3% to 25.6%, respectively. The pooled prevalence rates of overweight and obesity were 7.0% (95% confidence interval [CI] 5.0-10.0) and 6.0% (95% CI 4.0-8.0), respectively. The pooled prevalence rate of overweight increased substantially over the years, from 3.6% during 1998-2003 (95% CI 0.3-29.2) to 5.7% during 2004-2009 (95% CI 0.8-30.2) and 7.9% by 2010-2015 (95% CI 5.1-12.1). However, the pooled prevalence rate of obesity registered a sharp decline between 1998-2003 and 2004-2009 - from 9.7% (95% CI 5.7-16.2) to 2.0% (95% CI 0.3-11.1) - and subsequently increased significantly to 9.0% by 2010-2015 (95% CI 5.3-14.6). This review identified increasing trends in the prevalence of overweight and obesity among children and adolescents in Bangladesh. This study underscores the urgent need to promote healthy lifestyles among children and adolescents with a view to effectively address the increasing problem of overweight and obesity. This would also help to prevent the development of

Systematic assessment of environmental risk factors for bipolar disorder

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bortolato, Beatrice; Köhler, Cristiano A.; Evangelou, Evangelos

2017-01-01

factors supported by high epidemiological credibility. Methods: We searched the Pubmed/MEDLINE, EMBASE and PsycInfo databases up to 7 October 2016 to identify systematic reviews and meta-analyses of observational studies that assessed associations between putative environmental risk factors and BD......Objectives: The pathophysiology of bipolar disorder is likely to involve both genetic and environmental risk factors. In our study, we aimed to perform a systematic search of environmental risk factors for BD. In addition, we assessed possible hints of bias in this literature, and identified risk...... met the inclusion criteria (seven meta-analyses and nine qualitative systematic reviews). Fifty-one unique environmental risk factors for BD were evaluated. Six meta-analyses investigated associations with a risk factor for BD. Only irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) emerged as a risk factor for BD...

Challenges, issues and trends in fall detection systems

Science.gov (United States)

2013-01-01

Since falls are a major public health problem among older people, the number of systems aimed at detecting them has increased dramatically over recent years. This work presents an extensive literature review of fall detection systems, including comparisons among various kinds of studies. It aims to serve as a reference for both clinicians and biomedical engineers planning or conducting field investigations. Challenges, issues and trends in fall detection have been identified after the reviewing work. The number of studies using context-aware techniques is still increasing but there is a new trend towards the integration of fall detection into smartphones as well as the use of machine learning methods in the detection algorithm. We have also identified challenges regarding performance under real-life conditions, usability, and user acceptance as well as issues related to power consumption, real-time operations, sensing limitations, privacy and record of real-life falls. PMID:23829390

Application of systematic review methodology to the field of nutrition.

Science.gov (United States)

Lichtenstein, Alice H; Yetley, Elizabeth A; Lau, Joseph

2008-12-01

Systematic reviews represent a rigorous and transparent approach to synthesizing scientific evidence that minimizes bias. They evolved within the medical community to support development of clinical and public health practice guidelines, set research agendas, and formulate scientific consensus statements. The use of systematic reviews for nutrition-related topics is more recent. Systematic reviews provide independently conducted comprehensive and objective assessments of available information addressing precise questions. This approach to summarizing available data is a useful tool for identifying the state of science including knowledge gaps and associated research needs, supporting development of science-based recommendations and guidelines, and serving as the foundation for updates as new data emerge. Our objective is to describe the steps for performing systematic reviews and highlight areas unique to the discipline of nutrition that are important to consider in data assessment. The steps involved in generating systematic reviews include identifying staffing and planning for outside expert input, forming a research team, developing an analytic framework, developing and refining research questions, defining eligibility criteria, identifying search terms, screening abstracts according to eligibility criteria, retrieving articles for evaluation, constructing evidence and summary tables, assessing methodological quality and applicability, and synthesizing results including performing meta-analysis, if appropriate. Unique and at times challenging, nutrition-related considerations include baseline nutrient exposure, nutrient status, bioequivalence of bioactive compounds, bioavailability, multiple and interrelated biological functions, undefined nature of some interventions, and uncertainties in intake assessment. Systematic reviews are a valuable and independent component of decision-making processes by groups responsible for developing science-based recommendations

Trends in the Global Small Satellite Ecosystem: Implications for Science Missions

Science.gov (United States)

Behrens, J.; Lal, B.

2017-12-01

Activity in the small satellite industry has increased in the recent years. New actors and nations have joined the evolving market globally in both the private and public sector. Progress in the smallsat sector has been driven, in part, by growing capabilities and falling costs of smallsats. Advancements include the miniaturization of technology for the small satellite platform, increased data processing capabilities, the ubiquitous presence of GPS enabling location and attitude determination, improvements in ground system costs and signal processing capabilities, and the deployment of inexpensive COTS parts. The emerging trends in the state of the art for smallsat technology, paired with planned smallsat constellation missions by both private and public actors, open the opportunity for new earth and remote sensing scientific endeavors. This presentation will characterize the drivers influencing the development of smallsat technology and the industry more generally. An overview will be provided for trends in the state of the art of smallsat technology, and secondary trends that influence the smallsat sector including infrastructure, demand, the satellite launch market, and the policy environment. These trends are mapped onto current and projected Earth observation needs, as identified by academic and governmental communities, to identify those that could be fulfilled by smallsats in the near and long term. A set of notional science missions that could be enabled, based on the various drivers identified, will be presented for both the near (3 years) and farther term (10 years).

A systematic review of women's satisfaction and regret following risk-reducing mastectomy.

Science.gov (United States)

Braude, Lucy; Kirsten, Laura; Gilchrist, Jemma; Juraskova, Ilona

2017-12-01

A systematic review of quantitative and qualitative studies, to describe patient satisfaction and regret associated with risk-reducing mastectomies (RRM), and the patient-reported factors associated with these among women at high risk of developing breast cancer. Studies were identified using Medline, CINAHL, Embase and PsycInfo databases (1995-2016). Data were extracted and crosschecked for accuracy. Article quality was assessed using standardised criteria. Of the 1657 unique articles identified, 30 studies met the inclusion criteria (n=23 quantitative studies, n=3 qualitative studies, n=4 mixed-method studies). Studies included were cross-sectional (n=23) or retrospective (n=7). General satisfaction with RRM, decision satisfaction and aesthetic satisfaction were generally high, although some women expressed regret around their decision and dissatisfaction with their appearance. Factors associated with both patient satisfaction and regret included: post-operative complications, body image changes, psychological distress and perceived inadequacy of information. While satisfaction with RRM was generally high, some women had regrets and expressed dissatisfaction. Future research is needed to further explore RRM, and to investigate current satisfaction trends given the ongoing improvements to surgical and clinical practice. Offering pre-operative preparation, decisional support and continuous psychological input may help to facilitate satisfaction with this complex procedure. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Trends in Educational Inequality in Different Eras (1940-2010)--A Re-Examination of Opportunity Inequalities in Urban-Rural Education

Science.gov (United States)

Chunling, Li

2015-01-01

Based on national sampling survey data from 2006, 2008, and 2011, the author uses the Mare educational transition model to systematically examine changing trends in inequalities in urban-rural educational opportunities at all educational stages from 1940 to 2010. Through a comparative analysis of five birth year groups, inequalities in urban-rural…

Endodontic Treatment in Single and Multiple Visits: An Overview of Systematic Reviews.

Science.gov (United States)

Moreira, Maria Stella; Anuar, Anuar Sadat Neres-Santiago; Tedesco, Tamara Kerber; Dos Santos, Marcelo; Morimoto, Susana

2017-06-01

The effectiveness of endodontic treatment regarding the number of sessions to complete the therapy is still controversial. The aim of this study was to conduct an overview of published systematic reviews (SRs) comparing endodontic treatment in single and multiple visits. A systematic search was performed in the electronic databases MEDLINE/PubMed and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials until August 18, 2016, without language restriction. The eligibility criteria were as follows: (1) SRs and (2) a focus on endodontic techniques in single or multiple visits. The phases of eligibility and analysis of risk of bias were conducted by 2 or 3 independent and calibrated examiners, and a fourth examiner was consulted to resolve inconsistencies. Assessment of Multiple Systematic Reviews was used to evaluate the risk of bias of the included SRs, which were assessed according to the risk to develop knowledge and the existing knowledge gap. The main characteristics including healing rates, success, and clinical complications during and after endodontic treatment were extracted from the SRs. From the 20 SRs initially identified, 8 were included in the analysis. Of these, 6 SRs showed low to moderate risk of bias and were suitable as strong clinical evidence on the topic. Overall analysis indicated that single and multiple visits showed similar repair or success rates regardless of the precondition of the pulp and periapex. The apical periodontitis subgroup showed a slight positive trend toward a decreased incidence of postoperative complications and a higher effectiveness and efficiency for a single session. Based on the risk of bias, the current level of evidence for this clinical approach is high. Copyright © 2017 American Association of Endodontists. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Prenatal maternal stress and atopic diseases in the child: a systematic review of observational human studies.

Science.gov (United States)

Andersson, N W; Hansen, M V; Larsen, A D; Hougaard, K S; Kolstad, H A; Schlünssen, V

2016-01-01

A growing number of studies suggest that maternal stress during pregnancy promotes atopic disorders in the offspring. This is the first systematic review to address prenatal maternal stress (PNMS) and the subsequent risk of atopy-related outcomes in the child. The review was performed in accordance to the PRISMA criteria. We searched and selected studies in PubMed, Scopus, Embase and PsychINFO until November 2014. Sixteen (with 25 analyses) of 426 identified articles met the review criteria. Five main PNMS exposures (negative life events, anxiety/depression, bereavement, distress and job strain) and five main atopic outcomes (asthma, wheeze, atopic dermatitis, allergic rhinitis and IgE) were assessed across the studies. Overall, 21 of the 25 analyses suggested a positive association between PNMS and atopic outcomes. Of the 11 exposure-response analyses reported, six found statistically significant trends. This systematic review suggests a relationship between maternal stress during pregnancy and atopic disorders in the child. However, the existing studies are of diverse quality. The wide definitions of often self-reported stress exposures imply a substantial risk for information bias and false-positive results. Research comparing objective and subjective measures of PNMS exposure as well as objective measures for atopic outcome is needed. © 2015 The Authors. Allergy Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Current trends in the management of Ebola virus disease-an updated systematic review

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Palanisamy Sivanandy

2016-08-01

Full Text Available The Ebola virus created a ripple of fear when its number of cases rose rapidly and drastically in recent years. Ebola infection is transmitted in humans when contact closely with blood, organs or other body fluids of infected animals or secretions. It is often mortal as it affects vascular system of the body, results in organ failure and serious internal bleeding. Hence, this review was aimed to summarize various essential aspects of Ebola virus disease and its management. A systematic review was carried out by collecting various literatures, published research articles, notes and other published date related to Ebola virus disease. Standard supporting care in a hospital setting such as replenishment of fluid and electrolytes, ventilation support, pain control and nutritional support is initiated to the patients to manage the symptoms and prevent any complications of Ebola disease since there are no Food and Drug Administrationapproved medications available. In terms of pharmacological drug therapy, favipiravir has been shown to be efficacious and safe in treating the Ebola virus disease. Nevertheless, there are some preventive measures as well to decrease the risk of getting the disease. Further, the review suggests the efficient control and prevention of Ebola epidemic require adequate political support from the government as well as the establishment of a robust public health infrastructure and medical reserve. Strengthening of contact tracing and quarantine policies are also important for the prevention of Ebola virus disease. There should be a well-designed disease surveillance system when a suspected case is reported. Given the elevated case-fatality rate and the absence of effective treatment, it is sensible to evade research ethics and develop the promising future of experimental vaccines. The collection of clinical and epidemiological information of Ebola should be vigorous and systematic in the endemic affected areas.

Trends of cervical cancer in Greenland

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sander, Bente B; Rebolj, Matejka; Lynge, Elsebeth

2014-01-01

BACKGROUND: Due to its extraordinarily fast economic and social transition, virtually closed borders before 1940 and, moreover, that 85% of the population has the distinctive genetics of the Inuit, Greenland is a very interesting country to study cervical cancer from a historical perspective....... Nevertheless, little has been reported about long-term cancer trends in Greenland. Our aim was to describe and interpret the incidence of cervical cancer from 1950 to 2009. MATERIAL AND METHODS: We systematically searched PubMed for articles reporting the incidence of cervical cancer in Greenland. We...... supplemented this with data for 1980-2009 obtained from the Chief Medical Officer of Greenland. RESULTS: Incidence of cervical cancer was around 10 per 100 000 women (age-standardised, world population, ASW) in the 1950s, 30 per 100 000 in the 1960s, and in the 1980s around 60 per 100 000. From 1985 onwards...

Depiction of global trends in publications on mobile health

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shahla Foozonkhah

2017-07-01

Full Text Available Background: Variety of mobile health initiatives in different levels have been undertaken across many countries. Trends of these initiatives can be reflected in the research published in m-health domain. Aim: This paper aims to depict global trends in the published works on m-health topic. Materials and Methods: The Web of Science database was used to identify all relevant published papers on mobile health domain worldwide. The search was conducted on documents published from January 1898 to December 2014. The criteria for searching were set to be “mHealth” or “Mobile health” or “m health” or “m_health” or “m-health” in topics. Results: Findings revealed an increasing trend of citations and publications on m-health research since 2012. English was the first most predominant language of the publication. The US had the highest number of publication with 649 papers; however, the Netherlands ranked first after considering publication number in terms of countries population. “Studies in Health Technology and Informatics” was the source title with highest number of publications on mobile health topics. Conclusion: Trend of research observed in this study indicates the continuing growth is happening in mobile health domain. This may imply that the new model of health-care delivery is emerging. Further research is needed to specify directions of mobile health research. It is necessary to identify and prioritize the research gaps in this domain.

Electronic problem lists: a thematic analysis of a systematic literature review to identify aspects critical to success.

Science.gov (United States)

Hodge, Chad M; Narus, Scott P

2018-05-01

Problem list data is a driving force for many beneficial clinical tools, yet these data remain underutilized. We performed a systematic literature review, pulling insights from previous research, aggregating insights into themes, and distilling themes into actionable advice. We sought to learn what changes we could make to existing applications, to the clinical workflow, and to clinicians' perceptions that would improve problem list utilization and increase the prevalence of problems data in the electronic medical record. We followed Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines to systematically curate a corpus of pertinent articles. We performed a thematic analysis, looking for interesting excerpts and ideas. By aggregating excerpts from many authors, we gained broader, more inclusive insights into what makes a good problem list and what factors are conducive to its success. Analysis led to a list of 7 benefits of using the problem list, 15 aspects critical to problem list success, and knowledge to help inform policy development, such as consensus on what belongs on the problem list, who should maintain the problem list, and when. A list of suggestions is made on ways in which the problem list can be improved to increase utilization by clinicians. There is also a need for standard measurements of the problem list, so that lists can be measured, compared, and discussed with rigor and a common vocabulary.

The Space-Time Variation of Global Crop Yields, Detecting Simultaneous Outliers and Identifying the Teleconnections with Climatic Patterns

Science.gov (United States)

Najafi, E.; Devineni, N.; Pal, I.; Khanbilvardi, R.

2017-12-01

An understanding of the climate factors that influence the space-time variability of crop yields is important for food security purposes and can help us predict global food availability. In this study, we address how the crop yield trends of countries globally were related to each other during the last several decades and the main climatic variables that triggered high/low crop yields simultaneously across the world. Robust Principal Component Analysis (rPCA) is used to identify the primary modes of variation in wheat, maize, sorghum, rice, soybeans, and barley yields. Relations between these modes of variability and important climatic variables, especially anomalous sea surface temperature (SSTa), are examined from 1964 to 2010. rPCA is also used to identify simultaneous outliers in each year, i.e. systematic high/low crop yields across the globe. The results demonstrated spatiotemporal patterns of these crop yields and the climate-related events that caused them as well as the connection of outliers with weather extremes. We find that among climatic variables, SST has had the most impact on creating simultaneous crop yields variability and yield outliers in many countries. An understanding of this phenomenon can benefit global crop trade networks.

An early-stage epidemic: a systematic review of correlates of smoking among Chinese women.

Science.gov (United States)

Ding, Ding; Gebel, Klaus; Oldenburg, Brian F; Wan, Xia; Zhong, Xuefeng; Novotny, Thomas E

2014-08-01

Despite the historically low smoking prevalence among Chinese women, there is a trend of future increase. We systematically reviewed the correlates of smoking among Chinese girls and women. We conducted a systematic review of literature on correlates of smoking among Chinese women using Medline and China Academic Journals databases. Following the PRISMA statement, two investigators independently searched for literature, identified and reviewed papers, assessed the quality of the papers, and extracted information. The characteristics of studies and correlates of smoking were synthesized separately for youth and adults. A total of 15 articles (11 on adults, 4 on youth) met the inclusion criteria. Based on these studies, peer smoking was the most consistent correlate of smoking among Chinese girls. Among Chinese women, partner smoking, job-related stress, and exposure to cigarettes made for women were consistent correlates of smoking. Knowledge of harms and negative attitudes towards smoking were found to be negatively associated with smoking. Overall, the evidence base for smoking among Chinese women is limited. Although smoking among Chinese women is still at an early stage, it is becoming more prevalent among specific population subgroups, such as rural-to-urban migrant workers. Although further research is needed, findings from the current study provide a roadmap for research and policy on prevention of smoking among Chinese girls and women.

Water-oxidation catalysis by synthetic manganese oxides--systematic variations of the calcium birnessite theme.

Science.gov (United States)

Frey, Carolin E; Wiechen, Mathias; Kurz, Philipp

2014-03-21

Layered manganese oxides from the birnessite mineral family have been identified as promising heterogeneous compounds for water-oxidation catalysis (WOC), a key reaction for the conversion of renewable energy into storable fuels. High catalytic rates were especially observed for birnessites which contain calcium as part of their structures. With the aim to systematically improve the catalytic performance of such oxide materials, we used a flexible synthetic route to prepare three series of calcium birnessites, where we varied the calcium concentrations, the ripening times of the original precipitates and the temperature of the heat treatment following the initial synthetic steps (tempering) during the preparation process. The products were carefully analysed by a number of analytical techniques and then probed for WOC activity using the Ce(4+)-system. We find that our set of twenty closely related manganese oxides shows large, but somewhat systematic alterations in catalytic rates, indicating the importance of synthesis parameters for maximum catalytic performance. The catalyst of the series for which the highest water-oxidation rate was found is a birnessite of medium calcium content (Ca : Mn ratio 0.2 : 1) that had been subjected to a tempering temperature of 400 °C. On the basis of the detailed analysis of the results, a WOC reaction scheme for birnessites is proposed to explain the observed trends in reactivity.

Fluoropyrimidine and platinum toxicity pharmacogenetics: an umbrella review of systematic reviews and meta-analyses.

Science.gov (United States)

Campbell, Jared M; Bateman, Emma; Peters, Micah Dj; Bowen, Joanne M; Keefe, Dorothy M; Stephenson, Matthew D

2016-03-01

Fluoropyrimidine (FU) and platinum-based chemotherapies are greatly complicated by their associated toxicities. This umbrella systematic review synthesized all systematic reviews that investigated associations between germline variations and toxicity, with the aim of informing personalized medicine. Systematic reviews are important in pharmacogenetics where false positives are common. Four systematic reviews were identified for FU-induced toxicity and three for platinum. Polymorphisms of DPYD and TYMS, but not MTHFR, were statistically significantly associated with FU-induced toxicity (although only DPYD had clinical significance). For platinum, GSTP1 was found to not be associated with toxicity. This umbrella systematic review has synthesized the best available evidence on the pharmacogenetics of FU and platinum toxicity. It provides a useful reference for clinicians and identifies important research gaps.

The Use of Online Posts to Identify Barriers to and Facilitators of HIV Pre-exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) Among Men Who Have Sex with Men: A Comparison to a Systematic Review of the Peer-Reviewed Literature.

Science.gov (United States)

Hannaford, Alisse; Lipshie-Williams, Madeleine; Starrels, Joanna L; Arnsten, Julia H; Rizzuto, Jessica; Cohen, Phillip; Jacobs, Damon; Patel, Viraj V

2018-04-01

Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) remains an under-utilized HIV prevention tool among men who have sex with men (MSM). To more comprehensively elucidate barriers and facilitators to PrEP use among US MSM, we conducted a systematic review of peer-reviewed published articles and content analysis of online posts about PrEP. We searched peer-reviewed databases (Medline, Web of Science, Google Scholar) using MESH headings and keywords about PrEP and/or HIV prevention from 2005 to 2015. We included original studies among MSM in the US that reported on barriers, facilitators, or other factors related to PrEP use. We also searched online posts and associated comments (news articles, opinion pieces, blogs and other social media posts) in diverse venues (Facebook, Slate Outward, Huffington Post Gay Voices, Queerty, and My PrEP Experience blog) to identify posts about PrEP. We used content analysis to identify themes and compare potential differences between the peer-reviewed literature and online posts. We identified 25 peer-reviewed articles and 28 online posts meeting inclusion criteria. We identified 48 unique barriers and 46 facilitators to using PrEP. These 94 themes fit into six overarching categories: (1) access (n = 14), (2) attitudes/beliefs (n = 24), (3) attributes of PrEP (n = 13), (4) behaviors (n = 11), (5) sociodemographic characteristics (n = 8), and (6) social network (n = 6). In all categories, analysis of online posts resulted in identification of a greater number of unique themes. Thirty-eight themes were identified in the online posts that were not identified in the peer-reviewed literature. We identified barriers and facilitators to PrEP in online posts that were not identified in a systematic review of the peer-reviewed literature. By incorporating data both from a systematic review of peer-reviewed articles and from online posts, we have identified salient and novel information about barriers to and facilitators of PrEP use. Traditional

Intervention quality is not routinely assessed in Cochrane systematic reviews of radiation therapy interventions.

Science.gov (United States)

Abdul Rahim, Mohamad R; James, Melissa L; Hickey, Brigid E

2017-10-01

The aim of this study was to maximise the benefits from clinical trials involving technological interventions such as radiation therapy. High compliance to the quality assurance protocols is crucial. We assessed whether the quality of radiation therapy intervention was evaluated in Cochrane systematic reviews. We searched 416 published Cochrane systematic reviews and identified 67 Cochrane systematic reviews that investigated radiation therapy or radiotherapy as an intervention. For each systematic review, either quality assurance or quality control for the intervention was identified by a description of such processes in the published systematic reviews. Of the 67 Cochrane systematic reviews studied, only two mentioned quality assurance or quality control. Our findings revealed that 65 of 67 (97%) Cochrane systematic reviews of radiation therapy interventions failed to consider the quality of the intervention. We suggest that advice about the evaluation of intervention quality be added to author support materials. © 2017 The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Radiologists.

Model-Based Attribution of High-Resolution Streamflow Trends in Two Alpine Basins of Western Austria

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Christoph Kormann

2016-02-01

Full Text Available Several trend studies have shown that hydrological conditions are changing considerably in the Alpine region. However, the reasons for these changes are only partially understood and trend analyses alone are not able to shed much light. Hydrological modelling is one possible way to identify the trend drivers, i.e., to attribute the detected streamflow trends, given that the model captures all important processes causing the trends. We modelled the hydrological conditions for two alpine catchments in western Austria (a large, mostly lower-altitude catchment with wide valley plains and a nested high-altitude, glaciated headwater catchment with the distributed, physically-oriented WaSiM-ETH model, which includes a dynamical glacier module. The model was calibrated in a transient mode, i.e., not only on several standard goodness measures and glacier extents, but also in such a way that the simulated streamflow trends fit with the observed ones during the investigation period 1980 to 2007. With this approach, it was possible to separate streamflow components, identify the trends of flow components, and study their relation to trends in atmospheric variables. In addition to trends in annual averages, highly resolved trends for each Julian day were derived, since they proved powerful in an earlier, data-based attribution study. We were able to show that annual and highly resolved trends can be modelled sufficiently well. The results provide a holistic, year-round picture of the drivers of alpine streamflow changes: Higher-altitude catchments are strongly affected by earlier firn melt and snowmelt in spring and increased ice melt throughout the ablation season. Changes in lower-altitude areas are mostly caused by earlier and lower snowmelt volumes. All highly resolved trends in streamflow and its components show an explicit similarity to the local temperature trends. Finally, results indicate that evapotranspiration has been increasing in the lower

Billionaire Entrepreneurs: A Systematic Analysis

OpenAIRE

Henrekson, Magnus; Sanandaji, Tino

2013-01-01

The overwhelming majority of self-employed individuals are not entrepreneurial in the Schumpeterian sense. In order to unmistakably identify Schumpeterian entrepreneurs we focus on self-made billionaires (in USD) on Forbes Magazine’s list who became wealthy by founding new firms. In this way we identify 996 billionaire entrepreneurs in over fifty countries in the 1996–2010 period. To our knowledge this is the first systematic cross-country study of billionaire entrepreneurs, an economically i...

Standardized Assessment of Biodiversity Trends in Tropical Forest Protected Areas: The End Is Not in Sight.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lydia Beaudrot

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Extinction rates in the Anthropocene are three orders of magnitude higher than background and disproportionately occur in the tropics, home of half the world's species. Despite global efforts to combat tropical species extinctions, lack of high-quality, objective information on tropical biodiversity has hampered quantitative evaluation of conservation strategies. In particular, the scarcity of population-level monitoring in tropical forests has stymied assessment of biodiversity outcomes, such as the status and trends of animal populations in protected areas. Here, we evaluate occupancy trends for 511 populations of terrestrial mammals and birds, representing 244 species from 15 tropical forest protected areas on three continents. For the first time to our knowledge, we use annual surveys from tropical forests worldwide that employ a standardized camera trapping protocol, and we compute data analytics that correct for imperfect detection. We found that occupancy declined in 22%, increased in 17%, and exhibited no change in 22% of populations during the last 3-8 years, while 39% of populations were detected too infrequently to assess occupancy changes. Despite extensive variability in occupancy trends, these 15 tropical protected areas have not exhibited systematic declines in biodiversity (i.e., occupancy, richness, or evenness at the community level. Our results differ from reports of widespread biodiversity declines based on aggregated secondary data and expert opinion and suggest less extreme deterioration in tropical forest protected areas. We simultaneously fill an important conservation data gap and demonstrate the value of large-scale monitoring infrastructure and powerful analytics, which can be scaled to incorporate additional sites, ecosystems, and monitoring methods. In an era of catastrophic biodiversity loss, robust indicators produced from standardized monitoring infrastructure are critical to accurately assess population outcomes

Divergent fifteen-year trends in traditional and cardiometabolic risk factors of cardiovascular diseases in the Seychelles.

Science.gov (United States)

Bovet, Pascal; Romain, Sarah; Shamlaye, Conrad; Mendis, Shanti; Darioli, Roger; Riesen, Walter; Tappy, Luc; Paccaud, Fred

2009-06-26

Few studies have assessed secular changes in the levels of cardiovascular risk factors (CV-RF) in populations of low or middle income countries. The systematic collection of a broad set of both traditional and metabolic CV-RF in 1989 and 2004 in the population of the Seychelles islands provides a unique opportunity to examine trends at a fairly early stage of the "diabesity" era in a country in the African region. Two examination surveys were conducted in independent random samples of the population aged 25-64 years in 1989 and 2004, attended by respectively 1081 and 1255 participants (participation rates >80%). All results are age-standardized to the WHO standard population. In 2004 vs. 1989, the levels of the main traditional CV-RF have either decreased, e.g. smoking (17% vs. 30%, p or =10; 11% vs. 13%, ns), whereas the prevalence of the metabolic syndrome (which integrates several cardiometabolic CVD-RF) nearly doubled (36% vs. 20%, p < 0.001). Data on physical activity and on intake of alcohol, fruit and vegetables are also provided. Awareness and treatment rates improved substantially for hypertension and diabetes, but control rates improved for the former only. Median levels of the cardiometabolic CVD-RF increased between 1989 and 2004 within all BMI strata, suggesting that the worsening levels of cardiometabolic CVD-RF in the population were not only related to increasing BMI levels in the interval. The levels of several traditional CVD-RF improved over time, while marked detrimental trends were observed for obesity, diabetes and several cardiometabolic factors. Thus, in this population, the rapid health transition was characterized by substantial changes in the patterns of CVD-RF. More generally, this analysis suggests the importance of surveillance systems to identify risk factor trends and the need for preventive strategies to promote healthy lifestyles and nutrition.

Standardized Assessment of Biodiversity Trends in Tropical Forest Protected Areas: The End Is Not in Sight.

Science.gov (United States)

Beaudrot, Lydia; Ahumada, Jorge A; O'Brien, Timothy; Alvarez-Loayza, Patricia; Boekee, Kelly; Campos-Arceiz, Ahimsa; Eichberg, David; Espinosa, Santiago; Fegraus, Eric; Fletcher, Christine; Gajapersad, Krisna; Hallam, Chris; Hurtado, Johanna; Jansen, Patrick A; Kumar, Amit; Larney, Eileen; Lima, Marcela Guimarães Moreira; Mahony, Colin; Martin, Emanuel H; McWilliam, Alex; Mugerwa, Badru; Ndoundou-Hockemba, Mireille; Razafimahaimodison, Jean Claude; Romero-Saltos, Hugo; Rovero, Francesco; Salvador, Julia; Santos, Fernanda; Sheil, Douglas; Spironello, Wilson R; Willig, Michael R; Winarni, Nurul L; Zvoleff, Alex; Andelman, Sandy J

2016-01-01

Extinction rates in the Anthropocene are three orders of magnitude higher than background and disproportionately occur in the tropics, home of half the world's species. Despite global efforts to combat tropical species extinctions, lack of high-quality, objective information on tropical biodiversity has hampered quantitative evaluation of conservation strategies. In particular, the scarcity of population-level monitoring in tropical forests has stymied assessment of biodiversity outcomes, such as the status and trends of animal populations in protected areas. Here, we evaluate occupancy trends for 511 populations of terrestrial mammals and birds, representing 244 species from 15 tropical forest protected areas on three continents. For the first time to our knowledge, we use annual surveys from tropical forests worldwide that employ a standardized camera trapping protocol, and we compute data analytics that correct for imperfect detection. We found that occupancy declined in 22%, increased in 17%, and exhibited no change in 22% of populations during the last 3-8 years, while 39% of populations were detected too infrequently to assess occupancy changes. Despite extensive variability in occupancy trends, these 15 tropical protected areas have not exhibited systematic declines in biodiversity (i.e., occupancy, richness, or evenness) at the community level. Our results differ from reports of widespread biodiversity declines based on aggregated secondary data and expert opinion and suggest less extreme deterioration in tropical forest protected areas. We simultaneously fill an important conservation data gap and demonstrate the value of large-scale monitoring infrastructure and powerful analytics, which can be scaled to incorporate additional sites, ecosystems, and monitoring methods. In an era of catastrophic biodiversity loss, robust indicators produced from standardized monitoring infrastructure are critical to accurately assess population outcomes and identify

Standardized Assessment of Biodiversity Trends in Tropical Forest Protected Areas: The End Is Not in Sight

Science.gov (United States)

O'Brien, Timothy; Alvarez-Loayza, Patricia; Boekee, Kelly; Campos-Arceiz, Ahimsa; Eichberg, David; Espinosa, Santiago; Fegraus, Eric; Fletcher, Christine; Gajapersad, Krisna; Hallam, Chris; Hurtado, Johanna; Jansen, Patrick A.; Kumar, Amit; Larney, Eileen; Lima, Marcela Guimarães Moreira; Mahony, Colin; Martin, Emanuel H.; McWilliam, Alex; Mugerwa, Badru; Ndoundou-Hockemba, Mireille; Razafimahaimodison, Jean Claude; Romero-Saltos, Hugo; Rovero, Francesco; Salvador, Julia; Santos, Fernanda; Sheil, Douglas; Spironello, Wilson R.; Willig, Michael R.; Winarni, Nurul L.; Zvoleff, Alex; Andelman, Sandy J.

2016-01-01

Extinction rates in the Anthropocene are three orders of magnitude higher than background and disproportionately occur in the tropics, home of half the world’s species. Despite global efforts to combat tropical species extinctions, lack of high-quality, objective information on tropical biodiversity has hampered quantitative evaluation of conservation strategies. In particular, the scarcity of population-level monitoring in tropical forests has stymied assessment of biodiversity outcomes, such as the status and trends of animal populations in protected areas. Here, we evaluate occupancy trends for 511 populations of terrestrial mammals and birds, representing 244 species from 15 tropical forest protected areas on three continents. For the first time to our knowledge, we use annual surveys from tropical forests worldwide that employ a standardized camera trapping protocol, and we compute data analytics that correct for imperfect detection. We found that occupancy declined in 22%, increased in 17%, and exhibited no change in 22% of populations during the last 3–8 years, while 39% of populations were detected too infrequently to assess occupancy changes. Despite extensive variability in occupancy trends, these 15 tropical protected areas have not exhibited systematic declines in biodiversity (i.e., occupancy, richness, or evenness) at the community level. Our results differ from reports of widespread biodiversity declines based on aggregated secondary data and expert opinion and suggest less extreme deterioration in tropical forest protected areas. We simultaneously fill an important conservation data gap and demonstrate the value of large-scale monitoring infrastructure and powerful analytics, which can be scaled to incorporate additional sites, ecosystems, and monitoring methods. In an era of catastrophic biodiversity loss, robust indicators produced from standardized monitoring infrastructure are critical to accurately assess population outcomes and identify

State-Level Trends in the Prevalence of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) from 2000 to 2012: A Reanalysis of Findings from the Autism and Developmental Disabilities Network.

Science.gov (United States)

Sheldrick, R Christopher; Carter, Alice S

2018-04-13

Since 2000, the Autism and Developmental Disabilities Network (ADDM) has published detailed prevalence estimates for autism spectrum disorder (ASD) among 8 year-olds, which are widely interpreted as the U.S. national prevalence of ASD. Although differences in state-level ASD prevalence has been reported, state-level heterogeneity has not been explored systematically. We analyzed state-level estimates and trends in ASD prevalence from 2000 to 2012 using secondary data from bi-annual ADDM reports. Heterogeneity among state-level ASD prevalence estimates were apparent in 2000 and grew between 2000 and 2012. Findings highlight the need for greater understanding of how children with ASD are identified by the medical and educational systems, which has significant implications for the state-level resources required to effectively manage ASD.

Aetiology of auditory dysfunction in amusia: a systematic review.

Science.gov (United States)

Casey, Daniel Aj

2013-04-24

Amusia, a music-specific agnosia, is a disorder of pitch interval analysis and pitch direction change recognition which results in a deficit in musical ability. The full range of aetiological factors which cause this condition is unknown, as is each cause's frequency. The objective of this study was to identify all causes of amusia, and to measure each of their frequencies. systematic review was conducted by search of multiple databases for articles related to the aetiology of amusic auditory dysfunction. The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines for reporting of systematic reviews were followed, utilizing the PRISMA checklist and PRISMA flowchart methodology. Retrospective medical database review. evidence yielded from the systematic review process. The initial search protocol identified 5723 articles. Application of a classification review filter and exclusion of irrelevant or duplicates led to the initial identification of 56 relevant studies which detailed 301 patients. However, these studies were of poor quality. Because of this, synthesis and statistical analysis were not appropriate. Although initially a large number of relevant studies were identified, and might point in future to potential diagnostic categories, it was not appropriate to synthesise and analyse them due to poor quality, considerable heterogeneity and small numbers. This suggests that large, high quality studies focussed directly on understanding the aetiology of amusia are required.

What we know, do not know, and need to know about climate change vulnerability in the western Canadian Arctic: a systematic literature review

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ford, James D; Pearce, Tristan

2010-01-01

This letter systematically reviews and synthesizes scientific and gray literature publications (n = 420) to identify and characterize the nature of climate change vulnerability in the Inuvialuit Settlement Region of the western Canadian Arctic and identify gaps in understanding. The literature documents widespread evidence of climate change, with implications for human and biophysical systems. Adaptations are being employed to manage changing conditions and are indicative of a high adaptive capacity. However, barriers to adaptation are evident and are expected to constrain adaptive capacity to future climate change. Continued climate change is predicted for the region, with differential exposure sensitivity for communities, groups and sectors: a function of social-economic-biophysical characteristics and projected future climatic conditions. Existing climate risks are expected to increase in magnitude and frequency, although the interaction between projected changes and socio-economic-demographic trends has not been assessed. The capacity for adapting to future climate change has also not been studied. The review identifies the importance of targeted vulnerability research that works closely with community members and other stakeholders to address research needs. Importantly, the fully categorized list of reviewed references accompanying this letter will be a valuable resource for those working or planning to work in the region, capturing climate change research published since 1990. At a broader level, the systematic review methodology offers a promising tool for climate/environmental change studies in general where there is a large and emerging body of research but limited understanding of research gaps and needs.

Importance of ensembles in projecting regional climate trends

Science.gov (United States)

Arritt, Raymond; Daniel, Ariele; Groisman, Pavel

2016-04-01

We have performed an ensemble of simulations using RegCM4 to examine the ability to reproduce observed trends in precipitation intensity and to project future changes through the 21st century for the central United States. We created a matrix of simulations over the CORDEX North America domain for 1950-2099 by driving the regional model with two different global models (HadGEM2-ES and GFDL-ESM2M, both for RCP8.5), by performing simulations at both 50 km and 25 km grid spacing, and by using three different convective parameterizations. The result is a set of 12 simulations (two GCMs by two resolutions by three convective parameterizations) that can be used to systematically evaluate the influence of simulation design on predicted precipitation. The two global models were selected to bracket the range of climate sensitivity in the CMIP5 models: HadGEM2-ES has the highest ECS of the CMIP5 models, while GFDL-ESM2M has one of the lowestt. Our evaluation metrics differ from many other RCM studies in that we focus on the skill of the models in reproducing past trends rather than the mean climate state. Trends in frequency of extreme precipitation (defined as amounts exceeding 76.2 mm/day) for most simulations are similar to the observed trend but with notable variations depending on RegCM4 configuration and on the driving GCM. There are complex interactions among resolution, choice of convective parameterization, and the driving GCM that carry over into the future climate projections. We also note that biases in the current climate do not correspond to biases in trends. As an example of these points the Emanuel scheme is consistently "wet" (positive bias in precipitation) yet it produced the smallest precipitation increase of the three convective parameterizations when used in simulations driven by HadGEM2-ES. However, it produced the largest increase when driven by GFDL-ESM2M. These findings reiterate that ensembles using multiple RCM configurations and driving GCMs are

Holocene Faunal Trends in West Siberia and Their Causes

Science.gov (United States)

Gashev, S. N.; Aleshina, A. O.; Zuban, I. A.; Lupinos, M. Y.; Mardonova, L. B.; Mitropolskiy, M. G.; Selyukov, A. G.; Sorokina, N. V.; Stolbov, V. A.; Shapovalov, S. I.

2017-12-01

Based on an analysis of the transformation of vertebrate and invertebrate fauna of West Siberia in the Holocene, the classification and periodization of the main faunal trends are presented. Against the background of changing environmental conditions, the key regularities of the faunal dynamics, and the ways some species penetrate into the territory of the region and others disappear from the beginning of the Holocene to the present time have been indicated. Three global and four fluctuating trends are identified. The anthropogenic trend is ascertained separately. A conclusion is made about the prevailing causes of these changes, associated primarily with periodic climatic processes of different levels, determined by planetary geological and cosmic cycles. It is emphasized that, in the historical period, anthropogenic factors play a significant role in the regional faunal dynamics.

A Systematic Approach to Identify Candidate Transcription Factors that Control Cell Identity

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ana C. D’Alessio

2015-11-01

Full Text Available Hundreds of transcription factors (TFs are expressed in each cell type, but cell identity can be induced through the activity of just a small number of core TFs. Systematic identification of these core TFs for a wide variety of cell types is currently lacking and would establish a foundation for understanding the transcriptional control of cell identity in development, disease, and cell-based therapy. Here, we describe a computational approach that generates an atlas of candidate core TFs for a broad spectrum of human cells. The potential impact of the atlas was demonstrated via cellular reprogramming efforts where candidate core TFs proved capable of converting human fibroblasts to retinal pigment epithelial-like cells. These results suggest that candidate core TFs from the atlas will prove a useful starting point for studying transcriptional control of cell identity and reprogramming in many human cell types.

A systematic review of models to predict recruitment to multicentre clinical trials

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cook Andrew

2010-07-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Less than one third of publicly funded trials managed to recruit according to their original plan often resulting in request for additional funding and/or time extensions. The aim was to identify models which might be useful to a major public funder of randomised controlled trials when estimating likely time requirements for recruiting trial participants. The requirements of a useful model were identified as usability, based on experience, able to reflect time trends, accounting for centre recruitment and contribution to a commissioning decision. Methods A systematic review of English language articles using MEDLINE and EMBASE. Search terms included: randomised controlled trial, patient, accrual, predict, enrol, models, statistical; Bayes Theorem; Decision Theory; Monte Carlo Method and Poisson. Only studies discussing prediction of recruitment to trials using a modelling approach were included. Information was extracted from articles by one author, and checked by a second, using a pre-defined form. Results Out of 326 identified abstracts, only 8 met all the inclusion criteria. Of these 8 studies examined, there are five major classes of model discussed: the unconditional model, the conditional model, the Poisson model, Bayesian models and Monte Carlo simulation of Markov models. None of these meet all the pre-identified needs of the funder. Conclusions To meet the needs of a number of research programmes, a new model is required as a matter of importance. Any model chosen should be validated against both retrospective and prospective data, to ensure the predictions it gives are superior to those currently used.

Citation searching: a systematic review case study of multiple risk behaviour interventions.

Science.gov (United States)

Wright, Kath; Golder, Su; Rodriguez-Lopez, Rocio

2014-06-03

The value of citation searches as part of the systematic review process is currently unknown. While the major guides to conducting systematic reviews state that citation searching should be carried out in addition to searching bibliographic databases there are still few studies in the literature that support this view. Rather than using a predefined search strategy to retrieve studies, citation searching uses known relevant papers to identify further papers. We describe a case study about the effectiveness of using the citation sources Google Scholar, Scopus, Web of Science and OVIDSP MEDLINE to identify records for inclusion in a systematic review.We used the 40 included studies identified by traditional database searches from one systematic review of interventions for multiple risk behaviours. We searched for each of the included studies in the four citation sources to retrieve the details of all papers that have cited these studies.We carried out two analyses; the first was to examine the overlap between the four citation sources to identify which citation tool was the most useful; the second was to investigate whether the citation searches identified any relevant records in addition to those retrieved by the original database searches. The highest number of citations was retrieved from Google Scholar (1680), followed by Scopus (1173), then Web of Science (1095) and lastly OVIDSP (213). To retrieve all the records identified by the citation tracking searching all four resources was required. Google Scholar identified the highest number of unique citations.The citation tracking identified 9 studies that met the review's inclusion criteria. Eight of these had already been identified by the traditional databases searches and identified in the screening process while the ninth was not available in any of the databases when the original searches were carried out. It would, however, have been identified by two of the database search strategies if searches had been

Identifying factors affecting destination choice of medical tourists: a ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

medical tourism”, has emerged as a new source of competitive advantage all over the world. The present study seeks to identify the factors that affect destination choice of medical tourists. Methods: We systematically searched relevant databases ...

Penguin Bank: A Loa-Trend Hawaiian Volcano

Science.gov (United States)

Xu, G.; Blichert-Toft, J.; Clague, D. A.; Cousens, B.; Frey, F. A.; Moore, J. G.

2007-12-01

Hawaiian volcanoes along the Hawaiian Ridge from Molokai Island in the northwest to the Big Island in the southeast, define two parallel trends of volcanoes known as the Loa and Kea spatial trends. In general, lavas erupted along these two trends have distinctive geochemical characteristics that have been used to define the spatial distribution of geochemical heterogeneities in the Hawaiian plume (e.g., Abouchami et al., 2005). These geochemical differences are well established for the volcanoes forming the Big Island. The longevity of the Loa- Kea geochemical differences can be assessed by studying East and West Molokai volcanoes and Penguin Bank which form a volcanic ridge perpendicular to the Loa and Kea spatial trends. Previously we showed that East Molokai volcano (~1.5 Ma) is exclusively Kea-like and that West Molokai volcano (~1.8 Ma) includes lavas that are both Loa- and Kea-like (Xu et al., 2005 and 2007).The submarine Penguin Bank (~2.2 Ma), probably an independent volcano constructed west of West Molokai volcano, should be dominantly Loa-like if the systematic Loa and Kea geochemical differences were present at ~2.2 Ma. We have studied 20 samples from Penguin Bank including both submarine and subaerially-erupted lavas recovered by dive and dredging. All lavas are tholeiitic basalt representing shield-stage lavas. Trace element ratios, such as Sr/Nb and Zr/Nb, and isotopic ratios of Sr and Nd clearly are Loa-like. On an ɛNd-ɛHf plot, Penguin Bank lavas fall within the field defined by Mauna Loa lavas. Pb isotopic data lie near the Loa-Kea boundary line defined by Abouchami et al. (2005). In conclusion, we find that from NE to SW, i.e., perpendicular to the Loa and Kea spatial trend, there is a shift from Kea-like East Molokai lavas to Loa-like Penguin Bank lavas with the intermediate West Molokai volcano having lavas with both Loa- and Kea-like geochemical features. Therefore, the Loa and Kea geochemical dichotomy exhibited by Big Island volcanoes

Global funding trends for malaria research in sub-Saharan Africa: a systematic analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Head, Michael G; Goss, Sian; Gelister, Yann; Alegana, Victor; Brown, Rebecca J; Clarke, Stuart C; Fitchett, Joseph R A; Atun, Rifat; Scott, J Anthony G; Newell, Marie-Louise; Padmadas, Sabu S; Tatem, Andrew J

2017-08-01

Total domestic and international funding for malaria is inadequate to achieve WHO global targets in burden reduction by 2030. We describe the trends of investments in malaria-related research in sub-Saharan Africa and compare investment with national disease burden to identify areas of funding strength and potentially neglected populations. We also considered funding for malaria control. Research funding data related to malaria for 1997-2013 were sourced from existing datasets, from 13 major public and philanthropic global health funders, and from funding databases. Investments (reported in US$) were considered by geographical area and compared with data on parasite prevalence and populations at risk in sub-Saharan Africa. 45 sub-Saharan African countries were ranked by amount of research funding received. We found 333 research awards totalling US$814·4 million. Public health research covered $308·1 million (37·8%) and clinical trials covered $275·2 million (33·8%). Tanzania ($107·8 million [13·2%]), Uganda ($97·9 million [12·0%]), and Kenya ($92·9 million [11·4%]) received the highest sum of research investment and the most research awards. Malawi, Tanzania, and Uganda remained highly ranked after adjusting for national gross domestic product. Countries with a reasonably high malaria burden that received little research investment or funding for malaria control included Central African Republic (ranked 40th) and Sierra Leone (ranked 35th). Congo (Brazzaville) and Guinea had reasonably high malaria mortality, yet Congo (Brazzaville) ranked 38th and Guinea ranked 25th, thus receiving little investment. Some countries receive reasonably large investments in malaria-related research (Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda), whereas others receive little or no investments (Sierra Leone, Central African Republic). Research investments are typically highest in countries where funding for malaria control is also high. Investment strategies should consider more equitable

Systematic reviews and meta-analyses in coloproctology: interpretation and potential pitfalls

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Renehan, A.G.; Wille-Jørgensen, Peer

2008-01-01

A systematic review (SR) is the unbiased appraisal of systematically identified relevant studies. Implicit in its definition is a robust and scientifically valid process, and when performed as such, SR is an important clinical research tool and influence in health policy decision-making...

De-Trending K2 Exoplanet Targets for High Spacecraft Motion

Science.gov (United States)

Saunders, Nicholas; Luger, Rodrigo; Barnes, Rory

2018-01-01

After the failure of two reaction wheels, the Kepler space telescope lost its fine pointing ability and entered a new phase of observation, K2. Targets observed by K2 have high motion relative to the detector and K2 light curves have higher noise than Kepler observations. Despite the increased noise, systematics removal pipelines such as K2SFF and EVEREST have enabled continued high-precision transiting planet science with the telescope, resulting in the detection of hundreds of new exoplanets. However, as the spacecraft begins to run out of fuel, sputtering will drive large and random variations in pointing that can prevent detection of exoplanets during the remaining 5 campaigns. In general, higher motion will spread the stellar point spread function (PSF) across more pixels during a campaign, which increases the number of degrees of freedom in the noise component and significantly reduces the de-trending power of traditional systematics removal methods. We use a model of the Kepler CCD combined with pixel-level information of a large number of stars across the detector to improve the performance of the EVEREST pipeline at high motion. We also consider the problem of increased crowding for static apertures in the high-motion regime and develop pixel response function (PRF)-fitting techniques to mitigate contamination and maximize the de-trending power. We assess the performance of our code by simulating sputtering events and assessing exoplanet detection efficiency with transit injection/recovery tests. We find that targets with roll amplitudes of up to 8 pixels, approximately 15 times K2 roll, can be de-trended within 2 to 3 factors of current K2 photometric precision for stars up to 14th magnitude. Achieved recovery precision allows detection of small planets around 11th and 12th magnitude stars. These methods can be applied to the light curves of K2 targets for existing and future campaigns to ensure that precision exoplanet science can still be performed

Situation report on US systematic biology

Science.gov (United States)

Systematics is the science that identifies and groups organisms by understanding their origins, relationships, and distributions. It is fundamental to understanding life on earth, our crops, wildlife, and diseases, and provides the scientific foundation to recognize and manage invasive species. Pr...

Research Trends of Inland Terminals: A Literature Review

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tomislav Rožić

2016-10-01

and revised. The review will summarize the literature related to development, classification, technological processes and location of inland terminals. In the end, the paper identifies a new proposition for further research based on the current trends and developments in inland terminals as an important factor of intermodal transport.

The digital transformation of business models in the creative industries: A holistic framework and emerging trends

OpenAIRE

Li, F.

2018-01-01

This paper examines how digital technologies facilitate business model innovations in the creative industries. Through a systematic literature review, a holistic business model framework is developed, which is then used to analyse the empirical evidence from the creative industries. The research found that digital technologies have facilitated pervasive changes in business models, and some significant trends have emerged. However, the reconfigured business models are often not ‘new’ in the un...

Reporting Quality of Search Methods in Systematic Reviews of HIV Behavioral Interventions (2000–2010): Are the Searches Clearly Explained, Systematic and Reproducible?

Science.gov (United States)

Mullins, Mary M.; DeLuca, Julia B.; Crepaz, Nicole; Lyles, Cynthia M.

2018-01-01

Systematic reviews are an essential tool for researchers, prevention providers and policy makers who want to remain current with the evidence in the field. Systematic review must adhere to strict standards, as the results can provide a more objective appraisal of evidence for making scientific decisions than traditional narrative reviews. An integral component of a systematic review is the development and execution of a comprehensive systematic search to collect available and relevant information. A number of reporting guidelines have been developed to ensure quality publications of systematic reviews. These guidelines provide the essential elements to include in the review process and report in the final publication for complete transparency. We identified the common elements of reporting guidelines and examined the reporting quality of search methods in HIV behavioral intervention literature. Consistent with the findings from previous evaluations of reporting search methods of systematic reviews in other fields, our review shows a lack of full and transparent reporting within systematic reviews even though a plethora of guidelines exist. This review underscores the need for promoting the completeness of and adherence to transparent systematic search reporting within systematic reviews. PMID:26052651

Health care units and human resources management trends.

Science.gov (United States)

André, Adriana Maria; Ciampone, Maria Helena Trench; Santelle, Odete

2013-02-01

To identify factors producing new trends in basic health care unit management and changes in management models. This was a prospective study with ten health care unit managers and ten specialists in the field of Health in São Paulo, Southeastern Brazil, in 2010. The Delphi methodology was adopted. There were four stages of data collection, three quantitative and the fourth qualitative. The first three rounds dealt with changing trends in management models, manager profiles and required competencies, and the Mann-Whitney test was used in the analysis. The fourth round took the form of a panel of those involved, using thematic analysis. The main factors which are driving change in basic health care units were identified, as were changes in management models. There was consensus that this process is influenced by the difficulties in managing teams and by politics. The managers were found to be up-to-date with trends in the wider context, with the arrival of social health organizations, but they are not yet anticipating these within the institutions. Not only the content, but the professional development aspect of training courses in this area should be reviewed. Selection and recruitment, training and assessment of these professionals should be guided by these competencies aligned to the health service mission, vision, values and management models.

Commercial gaming devices for stroke upper limb rehabilitation: a systematic review.

Science.gov (United States)

Thomson, Katie; Pollock, Alex; Bugge, Carol; Brady, Marian

2014-06-01

Rehabilitation using commercial gaming devices is a new concept for stroke care. Commercial gaming devices such as Nintendo Wii or Sony PlayStation encourage high repetition of arm movements and are being introduced into some clinical settings. The evidence base for gaming use in rehabilitation is growing rapidly and there is a need to systematically synthesise research. Our review aims to integrate evidence on how gaming is being used, explore patient/therapist experience and synthesise evidence of effectiveness. An integrative systematic review was undertaken searching Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (2013), Medline (2013), Embase (2013) and twelve additional databases. Two review authors independently selected studies based on pre-defined inclusion criteria, extracted data and assessed risk of bias. Nineteen studies including 215 patients met inclusion criteria. Studies were typically small scale feasibility studies using a range of research designs, limiting the ability to reach generalised conclusions. Results have been tabulated (activities of daily living, upper limb function/ movement) and qualitative themes identified. Findings suggest that most patients enjoy using commercial gaming and can tolerate 180 mins per week without significant adverse effects. A trend towards improvement was noted for upper limb function/ movement. Few studies recorded outcomes related to activities of daily living or focused on understanding patients' experiences of this intervention. Commercial gaming can provide high intensity upper limb practice however there is insufficient high quality evidence to reach generalisable conclusions about risks or benefits on activities of daily living or upper limb function/movement. © 2014 The Authors. International Journal of Stroke © 2014 World Stroke Organization.

Low validity of Google Trends for behavioral forecasting of national suicide rates.

Science.gov (United States)

Tran, Ulrich S; Andel, Rita; Niederkrotenthaler, Thomas; Till, Benedikt; Ajdacic-Gross, Vladeta; Voracek, Martin

2017-01-01

Recent research suggests that search volumes of the most popular search engine worldwide, Google, provided via Google Trends, could be associated with national suicide rates in the USA, UK, and some Asian countries. However, search volumes have mostly been studied in an ad hoc fashion, without controls for spurious associations. This study evaluated the validity and utility of Google Trends search volumes for behavioral forecasting of suicide rates in the USA, Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. Suicide-related search terms were systematically collected and respective Google Trends search volumes evaluated for availability. Time spans covered 2004 to 2010 (USA, Switzerland) and 2004 to 2012 (Germany, Austria). Temporal associations of search volumes and suicide rates were investigated with time-series analyses that rigorously controlled for spurious associations. The number and reliability of analyzable search volume data increased with country size. Search volumes showed various temporal associations with suicide rates. However, associations differed both across and within countries and mostly followed no discernable patterns. The total number of significant associations roughly matched the number of expected Type I errors. These results suggest that the validity of Google Trends search volumes for behavioral forecasting of national suicide rates is low. The utility and validity of search volumes for the forecasting of suicide rates depend on two key assumptions ("the population that conducts searches consists mostly of individuals with suicidal ideation", "suicide-related search behavior is strongly linked with suicidal behavior"). We discuss strands of evidence that these two assumptions are likely not met. Implications for future research with Google Trends in the context of suicide research are also discussed.

Systematic review of reviews of risk factors for intracranial aneurysms

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Clarke, Mike

2008-01-01

Systematic reviews of systematic reviews identify good quality reviews of earlier studies of medical conditions. This article describes a systematic review of systematic reviews performed to investigate factors that might influence the risk of rupture of an intracranial aneurysm. It exemplifies the technique of this type of research and reports the finding of a specific study. The annual incidence of subarachnoid haemorrhage resulting from the rupture of intracranial aneurysms is estimated to be nine per 100,000. A large proportion of people who have this bleed, will die or remain dependent on the care of others for some time. Reliable knowledge about the risks of subarachnoid haemorrhage in different populations will help in planning, screening and prevention strategies and in predicting the prognosis of individual patients. If the necessary data were available in the identified reviews, an estimate for the numerical relationship between a particular characteristic and the risk of subarachnoid haemorrhage was included in this report. The identification of eligible systematic reviews relied mainly on the two major bibliographic databases of the biomedical literature: PubMed and EMBASE. These were searched in 2006, using specially designed search strategies. Approximately 2,000 records were retrieved and each of these was checked carefully against the eligibility criteria for this systematic review. These criteria required that the report be a systematic review of studies assessing the risk of subarachnoid haemorrhage in patients known to have an unruptured intracranial aneurysm or of studies that had investigated the characteristics of people who experienced a subarachnoid haemorrhage without previously being known to have an unruptured aneurysm. Reports which included more than one systematic review were eligible and each of these reviews was potentially eligible. The quality of each systematic review was assessed. In this review, 16 separate reports were

Children's First Experience of Taking Anabolic-Androgenic Steroids can Occur before Their 10th Birthday: A Systematic Review Identifying 9 Factors That Predicted Doping among Young People

Science.gov (United States)

Nicholls, Adam R.; Cope, Ed; Bailey, Richard; Koenen, Katrin; Dumon, Detlef; Theodorou, Nikolaos C.; Chanal, Benoit; Saint Laurent, Delphine; Müller, David; Andrés, Mar P.; Kristensen, Annemarie H.; Thompson, Mark A.; Baumann, Wolfgang; Laurent, Jean-Francois

2017-01-01

Taking performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) can cause serious and irreversible health consequences, which can ultimately lead to premature death. Some young people may take PEDs without fully understanding the ramifications of their actions or based on the advice from others. The purpose of this systematic review was to identify the main factors that predicted doping among young people. The literature was systematically reviewed using search engines, manually searching specialist journals, and pearl growing. Fifty-two studies, which included 187,288 young people aged between 10 and 21 years of age, 883 parents of adolescent athletes, and 11 adult coaches, who were interviewed regarding young athletes, were included in this review. Nine factors predicted doping among young people: gender; age; sports participation; sport type; psychological variables; entourage; ethnicity; nutritional supplements; and health harming behaviors. In regards to psychological variables, 22 different constructs were associated with doping among young people. Some psychological constructs were negatively associated with doping (e.g., self-esteem, resisting social pressure, and perfectionist strivings), whereas other were positively associated with doping (e.g., suicide risk, anticipated regret, and aggression). Policy makers and National Anti-Doping Organizations could use these findings to help identify athletes who are more at risk of doping and then expose these individuals to anti-doping education. Based on the current findings, it also appears that education programs should commence at the onset of adolescence or even late childhood, due to the young age in which some individuals start doping. PMID:28676778

Children's First Experience of Taking Anabolic-Androgenic Steroids can Occur before Their 10th Birthday: A Systematic Review Identifying 9 Factors That Predicted Doping among Young People.

Science.gov (United States)

Nicholls, Adam R; Cope, Ed; Bailey, Richard; Koenen, Katrin; Dumon, Detlef; Theodorou, Nikolaos C; Chanal, Benoit; Saint Laurent, Delphine; Müller, David; Andrés, Mar P; Kristensen, Annemarie H; Thompson, Mark A; Baumann, Wolfgang; Laurent, Jean-Francois

2017-01-01

Taking performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) can cause serious and irreversible health consequences, which can ultimately lead to premature death. Some young people may take PEDs without fully understanding the ramifications of their actions or based on the advice from others. The purpose of this systematic review was to identify the main factors that predicted doping among young people. The literature was systematically reviewed using search engines, manually searching specialist journals, and pearl growing. Fifty-two studies, which included 187,288 young people aged between 10 and 21 years of age, 883 parents of adolescent athletes, and 11 adult coaches, who were interviewed regarding young athletes, were included in this review. Nine factors predicted doping among young people: gender; age; sports participation; sport type; psychological variables; entourage; ethnicity; nutritional supplements; and health harming behaviors. In regards to psychological variables, 22 different constructs were associated with doping among young people. Some psychological constructs were negatively associated with doping (e.g., self-esteem, resisting social pressure, and perfectionist strivings), whereas other were positively associated with doping (e.g., suicide risk, anticipated regret, and aggression). Policy makers and National Anti-Doping Organizations could use these findings to help identify athletes who are more at risk of doping and then expose these individuals to anti-doping education. Based on the current findings, it also appears that education programs should commence at the onset of adolescence or even late childhood, due to the young age in which some individuals start doping.

Tracking Equilibrium and Nonequilibrium Shifts in Data with TREND.

Science.gov (United States)

Xu, Jia; Van Doren, Steven R

2017-01-24

Principal component analysis (PCA) discovers patterns in multivariate data that include spectra, microscopy, and other biophysical measurements. Direct application of PCA to crowded spectra, images, and movies (without selecting peaks or features) was shown recently to identify their equilibrium or temporal changes. To enable the community to utilize these capabilities with a wide range of measurements, we have developed multiplatform software named TREND to Track Equilibrium and Nonequilibrium population shifts among two-dimensional Data frames. TREND can also carry this out by independent component analysis. We highlight a few examples of finding concurrent processes. TREND extracts dual phases of binding to two sites directly from the NMR spectra of the titrations. In a cardiac movie from magnetic resonance imaging, TREND resolves principal components (PCs) representing breathing and the cardiac cycle. TREND can also reconstruct the series of measurements from selected PCs, as illustrated for a biphasic, NMR-detected titration and the cardiac MRI movie. Fidelity of reconstruction of series of NMR spectra or images requires more PCs than needed to plot the largest population shifts. TREND reads spectra from many spectroscopies in the most common formats (JCAMP-DX and NMR) and multiple movie formats. The TREND package thus provides convenient tools to resolve the processes recorded by diverse biophysical methods. Copyright © 2017 Biophysical Society. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Epidemiology of bruxism in adults: a systematic review of the literature

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Manfredini, D.; Winocur, E.; Guarda-Nardini, L.; Paesani, D.; Lobbezoo, F.

2013-01-01

AIMS: To perform a systematic review of the literature dealing with the prevalence of bruxism in adult populations. METHODS: A systematic search of the medical literature was performed to identify all peer-reviewed English-language papers dealing with the prevalence assessment of either awake or

Risk factor screening to identify women requiring oral glucose tolerance testing to diagnose gestational diabetes: A systematic review and meta-analysis and analysis of two pregnancy cohorts.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Diane Farrar

Full Text Available Easily identifiable risk factors including: obesity and ethnicity at high risk of diabetes are commonly used to indicate which women should be offered the oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT to diagnose gestational diabetes (GDM. Evidence regarding these risk factors is limited however. We conducted a systematic review (SR and meta-analysis and individual participant data (IPD analysis to evaluate the performance of risk factors in identifying women with GDM.We searched MEDLINE, Medline in Process, Embase, Maternity and Infant Care and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL up to August 2016 and conducted additional reference checking. We included observational, cohort, case-control and cross-sectional studies reporting the performance characteristics of risk factors used to identify women at high risk of GDM. We had access to IPD from the Born in Bradford and Atlantic Diabetes in Pregnancy cohorts, all pregnant women in the two cohorts with data on risk factors and OGTT results were included.Twenty nine published studies with 211,698 women for the SR and a further 14,103 women from two birth cohorts (Born in Bradford and the Atlantic Diabetes in Pregnancy study for the IPD analysis were included. Six studies assessed the screening performance of guidelines; six examined combinations of risk factors; eight evaluated the number of risk factors and nine examined prediction models or scores. Meta-analysis using data from published studies suggests that irrespective of the method used, risk factors do not identify women with GDM well. Using IPD and combining risk factors to produce the highest sensitivities, results in low specificities (and so higher false positives. Strategies that use the risk factors of age (>25 or >30 and BMI (>25 or 30 perform as well as other strategies with additional risk factors included.Risk factor screening methods are poor predictors of which pregnant women will be diagnosed with GDM. A simple

Crystal and defect chemistry influences on band gap trends in alkaline earth perovskites

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, Soonil; Woodford, William H.; Randall, Clive A.

2008-01-01

A number of perovskites with A-site alkaline earth chemistries being Ca, Sr, and Ba, and tetravalent cations including Ce, Zr, and Ti are measured for optical band gap and found to vary systematically with tolerance factor and lattice volume within limits defined by the chemistry of the octahedral site. This paper also focuses on the BaTiO 3 system, considering equilibrated nonstoichiometries, and determines the changes in band gap with respect to Ba/Ti ratios. It was found that the optical band gap changes in the solid solution regime and is invariant in the second phase regions, as would be expected. In the cases of Ba/Ti 1.0 stoichiometries, there is a distinct Urbach tail and the trend with lattice volume no longer holds. It is inferred that the V Ti q prime-2V O partial Schottky complex controls the band gap trend with Ba-rich nonstoichiometries

Identifying gaps in research prioritization: The global burden of neglected tropical diseases as reflected in the Cochrane database of systematic reviews

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Soumyadeep Bhaumik

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Background: Neglected tropical diseases (NTDs impact disadvantaged populations in resource-scarce settings. Availability of synthesized evidence is paramount to end this disparity. The aim of the study was to determine whether NTD systematic reviews or protocols in the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (CDSR reflect disease burden. Methods: Two authors independently searched the CDSR for reviews/protocols regarding the NTDs diseases. Each review or protocol was classified to a single NTD category. Any discrepancy was solved by consensus with third author. NTD systematic review or protocol from CDSR were matched with disability-adjusted life year (DALY metrics from the Global Burden of Disease 2010 Study. Spearman′s rank correlation coefficient and associated P values were used to assess for correlation between the number of systematic reviews and protocols and the %2010 DALY associated with each NTD. Results: Overall, there was poor correlation between CDSR representation and DALYs. Yellow fever, echinococcus, onchocerciasis, and schistosomiasis representation was well-aligned with DALY. Leprosy, trachoma, dengue, leishmaniasis, and Chagas disease representation was greater, while cysticercosis, human African trypanosomiasis, ascariasis, lymphatic filariasis, and hookworm representation was lower than DALY. Three of the 18 NTDs had reviews/protocols of diagnostic test accuracy. Conclusions: Our results indicate the need for increased prioritization of systematic reviews on NTDs, particularly diagnostic test accuracy reviews.

Floods and human health: a systematic review.

Science.gov (United States)

Alderman, Katarzyna; Turner, Lyle R; Tong, Shilu

2012-10-15

Floods are the most common type of disaster globally, responsible for almost 53,000 deaths in the last decade alone (23:1 low- versus high-income countries). This review assessed recent epidemiological evidence on the impacts of floods on human health. Published articles (2004-2011) on the quantitative relationship between floods and health were systematically reviewed. 35 relevant epidemiological studies were identified. Health outcomes were categorized into short- and long-term and were found to depend on the flood characteristics and people's vulnerability. It was found that long-term health effects are currently not well understood. Mortality rates were found to increase by up to 50% in the first year post-flood. After floods, it was found there is an increased risk of disease outbreaks such as hepatitis E, gastrointestinal disease and leptospirosis, particularly in areas with poor hygiene and displaced populations. Psychological distress in survivors (prevalence 8.6% to 53% two years post-flood) can also exacerbate their physical illness. There is a need for effective policies to reduce and prevent flood-related morbidity and mortality. Such steps are contingent upon the improved understanding of potential health impacts of floods. Global trends in urbanization, burden of disease, malnutrition and maternal and child health must be better reflected in flood preparedness and mitigation programs. Crown Copyright © 2012. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The New Trends in Adaptive Educational Hypermedia Systems

Science.gov (United States)

Somyürek, Sibel

2015-01-01

This paper aims to give a general review of existing literature on adaptive educational hypermedia systems and to reveal technological trends and approaches within these studies. Fifty-six studies conducted between 2002 and 2012 were examined, to identify prominent themes and approaches. According to the content analysis, the new technological…

Trends in the Crowdfunding of Educational Technology Startups

Science.gov (United States)

Antonenko, Pavlo D.; Lee, Brenda R.; Kleinheksel, A. J.

2014-01-01

This article presents an analysis of active crowdfunding campaigns posted on ten crowdfunding platforms in May 2013 to provide a glimpse of the recent trends in the crowdfunding of educational technology startups. We describe the characteristics of the most successful crowdfunding campaigns in educational technology and identify the most popular…

Determining New Trends with Regard to the Studies in Curricula and Instruction Field

Science.gov (United States)

Hursen, Cigdem; Koruroglu, Ayten; Bahali, Sultan; Mercan, Naziyet

2016-01-01

The aim of this study is to determine the new trends concerning curricula and instruction. The articles that are published in journals of SSCI and ERIC databases are taken into the scope of this study. The new trends regarding relevant literature are tried to be identified by analysing 3079 articles in total through the content analysis method.…

Health Information System Role-Based Access Control Current Security Trends and Challenges.

Science.gov (United States)

de Carvalho Junior, Marcelo Antonio; Bandiera-Paiva, Paulo

2018-01-01

This article objective is to highlight implementation characteristics, concerns, or limitations over role-based access control (RBAC) use on health information system (HIS) using industry-focused literature review of current publishing for that purpose. Based on the findings, assessment for indication of RBAC is obsolete considering HIS authorization control needs. We have selected articles related to our investigation theme "RBAC trends and limitations" in 4 different sources related to health informatics or to the engineering technical field. To do so, we have applied the following search query string: "Role-Based Access Control" OR "RBAC" AND "Health information System" OR "EHR" AND "Trends" OR "Challenges" OR "Security" OR "Authorization" OR "Attacks" OR "Permission Assignment" OR "Permission Relation" OR "Permission Mapping" OR "Constraint". We followed PRISMA applicable flow and general methodology used on software engineering for systematic review. 20 articles were selected after applying inclusion and exclusion criteria resulting contributions from 10 different countries. 17 articles advocate RBAC adaptations. The main security trends and limitations mapped were related to emergency access, grant delegation, and interdomain access control. Several publishing proposed RBAC adaptations and enhancements in order to cope current HIS use characteristics. Most of the existent RBAC studies are not related to health informatics industry though. There is no clear indication of RBAC obsolescence for HIS use.

Surfacing a Hidden Literature: A Systematic Review of Research on Educational Leadership and Management in Africa

Science.gov (United States)

Hallinger, Philip

2018-01-01

Scholars throughout the world are working to diversify the knowledge base in educational leadership and management (EDLM). In concert with this effort, this article reports the results of a systematic review of research on EDLM in Africa. The goals of the review were to describe trends with respect to the volume of journal publications, national…

Trend of Medical Tourism Publications: An Attempt to Explore the Involved Academic Disciplines and Interests.

Science.gov (United States)

Rokni, Ladan; Park, Sam-Hun

2018-02-01

Medical tourism suffers from the lack of a consensus regarding the involved categories. This study aimed to address this gap from the academic disciplines and publications perspective. Totally 1954 citations were identified through a formula of keyword search of SCOPUS. In order to classify the various subject areas, we followed the international standard classification of education (ISCED) developed by UNESCO. Moreover, the trends of publications were identified based on their popularity between 2000 and 2017. The category with the most interests on publication about medical tourism was 'health and welfare', followed by 'social science'. Even though various disciplines were involved in the medical tourism, it seems that a downward trend has been experienced since 2015. The identified key trends of medical tourism publications will benefit researchers exploring the categories of medical tourism or health travel. The results contribute to advance the state of knowledge from the academic perspective.

The IFLA Trend Report1 and Library Horizons

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M.Sc. Lynne Marie Rudasill

2014-12-01

Full Text Available The IFLA Trend Report was published in August of 2013 to provide library and information professionals with a view of the possible futures for the information society. Experts from around the world were called together to explore societal and technological issues that might be driving society in the future. Chosen not from the library world, but from a range of different disciplines and organizations, these individuals provided IFLA with a broader view of the global information environment. The trends identified included new technologies, online education, privacy and data protection, hyper-connected societies and the transformation of the global information environment. Here the results of these deliberations are explored and discussed to develop a better understanding of what might lie ahead for the information society. The Trend Report, along with other documents from the area of higher education futures can provide all libraries with the information they require to move smoothly and swiftly into the next version of the information society.

FURTHER CONSIDERATIONS ON SPREADSHEET-BASED AUTOMATIC TREND LINES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

DANIEL HOMOCIANU

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Most of the nowadays business applications working with data sets allow exports to the spreadsheet format. This fact is related to the experience of common business users with such products and to the possibility to couple what they have with something containing many models, functions and possibilities to process and represent data, by that getting something in dynamics and much more than a simple static less useful report. The purpose of Business Intelligence is to identify clusters, profiles, association rules, decision trees and many other patterns or even behaviours, but also to generate alerts for exceptions, determine trends and make predictions about the future based on historical data. In this context, the paper shows some practical results obtained after testing both the automatic creation of scatter charts and trend lines corresponding to the user’s preferences and the automatic suggesting of the most appropriate trend for the tested data mostly based on the statistical measure of how close they are to the regression function.

Methodology Series Module 6: Systematic Reviews and Meta-analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Setia, Maninder Singh

2016-01-01

Systematic reviews and meta-analysis have become an important of biomedical literature, and they provide the "highest level of evidence" for various clinical questions. There are a lot of studies - sometimes with contradictory conclusions - on a particular topic in literature. Hence, as a clinician, which results will you believe? What will you tell your patient? Which drug is better? A systematic review or a meta-analysis may help us answer these questions. In addition, it may also help us understand the quality of the articles in literature or the type of studies that have been conducted and published (example, randomized trials or observational studies). The first step it to identify a research question for systematic review or meta-analysis. The next step is to identify the articles that will be included in the study. This will be done by searching various databases; it is important that the researcher should search for articles in more than one database. It will also be useful to form a group of researchers and statisticians that have expertise in conducting systematic reviews and meta-analysis before initiating them. We strongly encourage the readers to register their proposed review/meta-analysis with PROSPERO. Finally, these studies should be reported according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analysis checklist.

Interventions for Age-Related Macular Degeneration: Are Practice Guidelines Based on Systematic Reviews?

Science.gov (United States)

Lindsley, Kristina; Li, Tianjing; Ssemanda, Elizabeth; Virgili, Gianni; Dickersin, Kay

2016-04-01

Are existing systematic reviews of interventions for age-related macular degeneration incorporated into clinical practice guidelines? High-quality systematic reviews should be used to underpin evidence-based clinical practice guidelines and clinical care. We examined the reliability of systematic reviews of interventions for age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and described the main findings of reliable reviews in relation to clinical practice guidelines. Eligible publications were systematic reviews of the effectiveness of treatment interventions for AMD. We searched a database of systematic reviews in eyes and vision without language or date restrictions; the database was up to date as of May 6, 2014. Two authors independently screened records for eligibility and abstracted and assessed the characteristics and methods of each review. We classified reviews as reliable when they reported eligibility criteria, comprehensive searches, methodologic quality of included studies, appropriate statistical methods for meta-analysis, and conclusions based on results. We mapped treatment recommendations from the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) Preferred Practice Patterns (PPPs) for AMD to systematic reviews and citations of reliable systematic reviews to support each treatment recommendation. Of 1570 systematic reviews in our database, 47 met inclusion criteria; most targeted neovascular AMD and investigated anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) interventions, dietary supplements, or photodynamic therapy. We classified 33 (70%) reviews as reliable. The quality of reporting varied, with criteria for reliable reporting met more often by Cochrane reviews and reviews whose authors disclosed conflicts of interest. Anti-VEGF agents and photodynamic therapy were the only interventions identified as effective by reliable reviews. Of 35 treatment recommendations extracted from the PPPs, 15 could have been supported with reliable systematic reviews; however, only 1

Clinical exercise interventions in alcohol use disorders: a systematic review.

Science.gov (United States)

Giesen, Esther S; Deimel, Hubertus; Bloch, Wilhelm

2015-05-01

The therapeutic impact of exercise interventions in psychiatric diseases such as depression, anxiety and schizophrenia has already been proven through several reviews whereas substance use disorders such as alcohol use disorders (AUD) have so far less frequently been a matter of investigation. Although several publications have summarized studies focusing on physical activities in substance use disorders, no systematic review exists summarizing the evidence of exercise interventions in AUD. A total of 14 studies using the Medline Database, CCMed, Cochrane Library and PsychINFO were identified and met the inclusion criteria. In order to evaluate the evidence, we used the evaluation system of the Oxford Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine (2011). Due to methodological flaws the overall evidence of the studies is rated level "3" but primarily findings confirm that exercise interventions as a complementary treatment component in AUD are feasible and safe. No adverse events were reported. This systematic review indicates that exercise may have beneficial effects on certain domains of physical functioning including VO2max, basal heart rate, physical activity level and strength. Inconsistent effects with a slight trend towards a positive effect on anxiety, mood management, craving, and drinking behavior have been shown and need to be verified. Results must be interpreted cautiously due to the numerous methodological flaws and the heterogeneity of the interventions and measures. However, according to preclinical studies several mechanisms of action are conceivable, especially as to alcohol-related outcomes and additionally seem to be promising. RCTs with high methodological quality are urgently needed in future research to establish evidence-based exercise recommendations for the treatment of AUD. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Breakpoints in annual rainfall trends in Córdoba, Argentina

Science.gov (United States)

de la Casa, Antonio; Nasello, Olga

2010-03-01

Long-term rainfall variability in the Province of Córdoba, Argentina is studied. The methodology used was developed by Tomé and Miranda (2004), and the most notable breakpoints in the time series were determined in order to identify sudden transitions from one period to another with a different linear trend sign. All the rain gauges operated by the "Servicio Meteorológico Nacional" (SMN) of Argentina in Córdoba Province, in the period 1930-2006, were analyzed. One of the stations studied, Córdoba Observatorio, has reliable rainfall data since 1873. In this case, the 1925-2006 period and the 1873-2006 period were studied to analyze the influence of series length in terms of the piecewise linear trends produced. Analyzing only one breakpoint in all the series, a trend change is observed from negative to positive in the 1950s in the north area of the region, while in the other areas the opposite change occurs in the 1970s. The residual sum of squares obtained with the partial trend method is compared to that produced by the traditional method. This comparison shows how the multiple trend method enables regional changes to be determined for a given climatological variable.

Seeking homeostasis: Temporal trends in respiration, oxidation, and calcium in SOD1 G93A Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis mice

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cameron W Irvin

2015-07-01

Full Text Available Impairments in mitochondria, oxidative regulation, and calcium homeostasis have been well documented in numerous amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS experimental models, especially in the superoxide dismutase 1 glycine 93 to alanine (SOD1 G93A transgenic mouse. However, the timing of these deficiencies has been debatable. In a systematic review of 45 articles, we examine experimental measurements of cellular respiration, mitochondrial mechanisms, oxidative markers, and calcium regulation. We evaluate the quantitative magnitude and statistical temporal trend of these aggregated assessments in high transgene copy SOD1 G93A mice compared to wild type mice. Analysis of overall trends reveals cellular respiration, intracellular ATP, and corresponding mitochondrial elements (Cox, cytochrome c, complex I, enzyme activity are depressed for the entire lifespan of the SOD1 G93A mouse. Oxidant markers (H2O2, 8OH2’dG, MDA are initially similar to wild type but are double that of wild type by the time of symptom onset despite early post-natal elevation of protective heat shock proteins. All aspects of calcium regulation show early disturbances, although a notable and likely compensatory convergence to near wild type levels appears to occur between 40-80 days (pre-onset, followed by a post-onset elevation in intracellular calcium. The identified temporal trends and compensatory fluctuations provide evidence that the cause of ALS may lay within failed homeostatic regulation, itself, rather than any one particular perturbing event or cellular mechanism. We discuss the vulnerabilities of motoneurons to regulatory instability and possible hypotheses regarding failed regulation and its potential treatment in ALS.

Serbia : Systematic Country Diagnostic

OpenAIRE

World Bank Group

2015-01-01

This Systematic Country Diagnostic (SCD) aims to identify the major constraints on and opportunities for sustaining poverty reduction and shared prosperity in Serbia. The SCD serves as the analytic foundation on which the World Bank Group and the Government of Serbia will define a new Country Partnership Framework for FY2016 to FY2020. It is based on the best possible analysis, drawing on ...

Characteristics and quality of systematic reviews of acupuncture, herbal medicines, and homeopathy

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Linde, K.; ter Riet, G.; Hondras, M.; Melchart, D.; Willich, S. N.

2003-01-01

Background: We aimed to describe the approaches and characteristics of systematic reviews on three major complementary therapies and to assess their methodological quality. Methods: Systematic reviews of clinical trials of acupuncture, herbal medicines, and homeopathy were identified from a database

Identifying non-pharmacological risk factors for falling in older adults with type 2 diabetes mellitus: a systematic review.

Science.gov (United States)

Gravesande, Janelle; Richardson, Julie

2017-07-01

To identify the non-pharmacological risk factors for falling in older adults with type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM2). A systematic review of randomized controlled trials, prospective cohort studies, cross-sectional studies and before/after studies was conducted. Eligible studies identified non-pharmacological risk factors for falling in older adults with DM2. Medline, Embase, Pubmed and CINAHL were searched for relevant studies published through December 2015. Reference lists were also searched for relevant studies. Search terms were DM2, risk factors, falls and falling, older adults, aging, non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus, accidental falls and trip. Publication language was restricted to English. Thirteen studies met the inclusion criteria: four cross-sectional, six prospective cohorts, two randomized controlled trials and one before/after study. These studies included a total of 13,104 participants, ≥50 years. The most common risk factors for falling were impaired balance, reduced walking velocity, peripheral neuropathy and comorbid conditions. However, lower extremity pain, being overweight and comorbid conditions had the greatest impact on fall risk. Interventions to reduce falling in older adults with type 2 diabetes mellitus should focus on reducing lower extremity pain, reducing body weight and managing comorbid conditions. Implications for Rehabilitation    Diabetes mellitus:   • Older adults with type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM2) have a higher risk for falling than older adults without.   • Older adults with DM2 are more likely to suffer serious injuries when they fall.   • Comprehensive risk factor identification is necessary for rehabilitation professionals to accurately determine whether their clients are at risk for falling.   • Rehabilitation professionals also need to tailor interventions based on the client's risk factors in order to effectively reduce falls and fall-related injuries.

Using systematic aging assessments to improve effectiveness of plant maintenance programs

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Watson, P.; Yang, J.X.; Dam, R.F.; Nickerson, J.H.

2003-01-01

Nuclear plant equipment aging assessment studies provided by AECL include life assessments, condition assessments or systematic assessments of maintenance. AECL has developed several tools to apply the results of aging assessment studies to improve the effectiveness of actual plant maintenance programs. The Systematic Assessment of Maintenance and the SYSTMS tool generate maintenance tasks for a system. The System Maintenance Datastore tool assesses the maintenance resources on a system basis, and can thus quantify the savings realized by optimizing the maintenance program. Long term trends in condition-based maintenance due to component aging can be predicted, and resource savings due to optimum timing of component replacement or general plant refurbishment can be quantified. The System based Adaptive Maintenance Process ensures the maintenance program is continually updated to reflect the latest plant equipment condition and maintenance strategy information. (author)

Spatial and temporal trends in runoff at long-term streamgages within and near the Chesapeake Bay Watershed

Science.gov (United States)

Rice, Karen C.; Hirsch, Robert M.

2012-01-01

Long-term streamflow data within the Chesapeake Bay watershed and surrounding area were analyzed in an attempt to identify trends in streamflow. Data from 30 streamgages near and within the Chesapeake Bay watershed were selected from 1930 through 2010 for analysis. Streamflow data were converted to runoff and trend slopes in percent change per decade were calculated. Trend slopes for three runoff statistics (the 7-day minimum, the mean, and the 1-day maximum) were analyzed annually and seasonally. The slopes also were analyzed both spatially and temporally. The spatial results indicated that trend slopes in the northern half of the watershed were generally greater than those in the southern half. The temporal analysis was done by splitting the 80-year flow record into two subsets; records for 28 streamgages were analyzed for 1930 through 1969 and records for 30 streamgages were analyzed for 1970 through 2010. The mean of the data for all sites for each year were plotted so that the following datasets were analyzed: the 7-day minimum runoff for the north, the 7-day minimum runoff for the south, the mean runoff for the north, the mean runoff for the south, the 1-day maximum runoff for the north, and the 1-day maximum runoff for the south. Results indicated that the period 1930 through 1969 was statistically different from the period 1970 through 2010. For the 7-day minimum runoff and the mean runoff, the latter period had significantly higher streamflow than did the earlier period, although within those two periods no significant linear trends were identified. For the 1-day maximum runoff, no step trend or linear trend could be shown to be statistically significant for the north, although the south showed a mixture of an upward step trend accompanied by linear downtrends within the periods. In no case was a change identified that indicated an increasing rate of change over time, and no general pattern was identified of hydrologic conditions becoming "more extreme

Trends in Prevalence, Awareness, Treatment, and Control of Diabetes Mellitus in Mainland China from 1979 to 2012

OpenAIRE

Li, Min-zhi; Su, Li; Liang, Bao-yun; Tan, Jin-jing; Chen, Qing; Long, Jian-xiong; Xie, Juan-juan; Wu, Guang-liang; Yan, Yan; Guo, Xiao-jing; Gu, Lian

2013-01-01

Diabetes mellitus (DM) is one of the primary causes of premature death and disability worldwide. We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis of the published literature regarding the trends in prevalence, awareness, treatment, and control of diabetes mellitus in mainland China. PUBMED, EMBASE, Chinese Biomedical Database, China National Infrastructure database, Chinese Wan Fang database, and Chongqing VIP database were searched. Fifty-six eligible studies were included. Increasing tren...

Energy Trends 2012; Energie Trends 2012

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Van Dril, T. (ed.); Gerdes, J. (ed.) [ECN Beleidsstudies, Petten (Netherlands); Marbus, S. (ed.) [Energie-Nederland, Den Haag (Netherlands); Boelhouwer, M. (ed.) [Netbeheer Nederland, Arnhem (Netherlands)

2012-11-15

In Energy Trends 2012, all figures and developments in the field of energy in the Netherlands are presented in conjunction. The book provides information on energy use by consumers and businesses, provides insight into the international energy trade, energy production and development of energy networks [Dutch] In Energie Trends 2012 staan alle cijfers en ontwikkelingen op het gebied van energie in Nederland in samenhang gepresenteerd. Het boek biedt informatie over energiegebruik door consumenten en bedrijven, geeft inzage in de internationale energiehandel en energieproductie en biedt inzicht in de ontwikkeling van de energienetten.

Wellness, hard to define, reduces trend up to 4 percent.

Science.gov (United States)

Nayer, Cyndy; Berger, Jan; Mahoney, Jack

2010-04-01

The purpose of this qualitative study was to identify a common language for "wellness" and a correlating health cost trend reduction through incentive-driven prevention and wellness. Mapping the results of the survey with the trend lines reported by innovative employers could uncover increased financial value in health investments. A 10-question survey was designed for telephone interviews with 26 businesses (Innovators) from the Board of the Center for Health Value Innovation; a paper-based survey with the same questions was completed by attendees at a seminar. Then, an online trend survey was conducted with members of the Board (Innovators) to track the total health cost trends in their companies over the past 3-4 years. Responses were compared and analysis of alignment and differences were recorded by graphing. The trend survey results were mapped and tracked with weighted averages. Innovators' responses to the phone survey showed broader definitions of "wellness" than other companies, with little difference in the Innovators' responses when subdivided by size of company. The online trend survey showed that companies that provided incentives for wellness averaged a trend of 4% over the past 3-4 years-approximately 50% of the national trends of 8%-10% over the same time frame. Innovators have defined wellness in ways that would accelerate adoption in the broader business community and drive implementation of wellness programs. The bigger win could be the community-level shift to a culture of health as employees carry these health competencies to the next business in the community.

Developmental Trends in the Process of Identification Among Yoruba Children

Science.gov (United States)

Olasenhinde, Michael Olaseboye

1974-01-01

Investigates trends in the development of the ideal self concept among 1000 Yoruba children in Nigeria, 6 to 15 years old, using interviews and essay writing to determine the persons with whom the children most closely identified. (ED)

The use of advanced medical technologies at home: a systematic review of the literature.

Science.gov (United States)

Ten Haken, Ingrid; Ben Allouch, Somaya; van Harten, Wim H

2018-02-26

The number of medical technologies used in home settings has increased substantially over the last 10-15 years. In order to manage their use and to guarantee quality and safety, data on usage trends and practical experiences are important. This paper presents a literature review on types, trends and experiences with the use of advanced medical technologies at home. The study focused on advanced medical technologies that are part of the technical nursing process and 'hands on' processes by nurses, excluding information technology such as domotica. The systematic review of literature was performed by searching the databases MEDLINE, Scopus and Cinahl. We included papers from 2000 to 2015 and selected articles containing empirical material. The review identified 87 relevant articles, 62% was published in the period 2011-2015. Of the included studies, 45% considered devices for respiratory support, 39% devices for dialysis and 29% devices for oxygen therapy. Most research has been conducted on the topic 'user experiences' (36%), mainly regarding patients or informal caregivers. Results show that nurses have a key role in supporting patients and family caregivers in the process of homecare with advanced medical technologies and in providing information for, and as a member of multi-disciplinary teams. However, relatively low numbers of articles were found studying nurses perspective. Research on medical technologies used at home has increased considerably until 2015. Much is already known on topics, such as user experiences; safety, risks, incidents and complications; and design and technological development. We also identified a lack of research exploring the views of nurses with regard to medical technologies for homecare, such as user experiences of nurses with different technologies, training, instruction and education of nurses and human factors by nurses in risk management and patient safety.

Emerging Trends and New Directions in Telecollaborative Learning

Science.gov (United States)

O'Dowd, Robert

2016-01-01

This article provides an overview of the most significant emerging trends and tendencies in telecollaborative practice. In order to achieve this, I review the recent literature in the area and I identify recurring themes from the Telecollaboration in Higher Education conference which took place in Trinity College Dublin, Ireland from 21 to 23…

Stakeholder involvement in systematic reviews: a protocol for a systematic review of methods, outcomes and effects.

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Pollock, Alex; Campbell, Pauline; Struthers, Caroline; Synnot, Anneliese; Nunn, Jack; Hill, Sophie; Goodare, Heather; Watts, Chris; Morley, Richard

2017-01-01

Researchers are expected to actively involve stakeholders (including patients, the public, health professionals, and others) in their research. Although researchers increasingly recognise that this is good practice, there is limited practical guidance about how to involve stakeholders. Systematic reviews are a research method in which international literature is brought together, using carefully designed and rigorous methods to answer a specified question about healthcare. We want to investigate how researchers have involved stakeholders in systematic reviews, and how involvement has potentially affected the quality and impact of reviews. We plan to bring this information together by searching and reviewing the literature for reports of stakeholder involvement in systematic reviews. This paper describes in detail the methods that we plan to use to do this. After carrying out comprehensive searches for literature, we will: 1. Provide an overview of identified reports, describing key information such as types of stakeholders involved, and how. 2. Pick out reports of involvement which include detailed descriptions of how researchers involved people in a systematic review and summarise the methods they used. We will consider who was involved, how people were recruited, and how the involvement was organised and managed. 3. Bring together any reports which have explored the effect, or impact, of involving stakeholders in a systematic review. We will assess the quality of these reports, and summarise their findings. Once completed, our review will be used to produce training resources aimed at helping researchers to improve ways of involving stakeholders in systematic reviews. Background There is an expectation for stakeholders (including patients, the public, health professionals, and others) to be involved in research. Researchers are increasingly recognising that it is good practice to involve stakeholders in systematic reviews. There is currently a lack of evidence

Public perceptions of agrifood applications of Genetic modification – A systematic review

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Frewer, L.J.; Lans, van der I.A.; Fischer, A.R.H.; Reinders, M.J.; Menozzi, D.; Zhang, X.Y.; Berg, van den I.; Zimmermann, K.L.

2012-01-01

An extensive literature relating to public perceptions of genetically modified foods applied to agri-food production has been identified through the process of systematic review. Application of systematic review criteria indicated that 335 papers were of appropriate quality or relevance to be

Teaching individuals with autism spectrum disorder to ask questions: A systematic review

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Raulston, T.; Carnett, A.; Lang, R.B.; Tostanoski, A.; Lee, A.; Machalicek, W.A.; Sigafoos, J.; O'Reilly, M.F.; Didden, H.C.M.; Lancioni, G.E.

2013-01-01

This review involved a systematic search and analysis of studies aimed at teaching individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) to ask questions (i.e., teaching mands for information). A systematic search of databases, reference lists, and journals identified 21 studies that met predetermined

Optimal patient education for cancer pain: a systematic review and theory-based meta-analysis.

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Marie, N; Luckett, T; Davidson, P M; Lovell, M; Lal, S

2013-12-01

Previous systematic reviews have found patient education to be moderately efficacious in decreasing the intensity of cancer pain, but variation in results warrants analysis aimed at identifying which strategies are optimal. A systematic review and meta-analysis was undertaken using a theory-based approach to classifying and comparing educational interventions for cancer pain. The reference lists of previous reviews and MEDLINE, PsycINFO, and CENTRAL were searched in May 2012. Studies had to be published in a peer-reviewed English language journal and compare the effect on cancer pain intensity of education with usual care. Meta-analyses used standardized effect sizes (ES) and a random effects model. Subgroup analyses compared intervention components categorized using the Michie et al. (Implement Sci 6:42, 2011) capability, opportunity, and motivation behavior (COM-B) model. Fifteen randomized controlled trials met the criteria. As expected, meta-analysis identified a small-moderate ES favoring education versus usual care (ES, 0.27 [-0.47, -0.07]; P = 0.007) with substantial heterogeneity (I² = 71 %). Subgroup analyses based on the taxonomy found that interventions using "enablement" were efficacious (ES, 0.35 [-0.63, -0.08]; P = 0.01), whereas those lacking this component were not (ES, 0.18 [-0.46, 0.10]; P = 0.20). However, the subgroup effect was nonsignificant (P = 0.39), and heterogeneity was not reduced. Factoring in the variable of individualized versus non-individualized influenced neither efficacy nor heterogeneity. The current meta-analysis follows a trend in using theory to understand the mechanisms of complex interventions. We suggest that future efforts focus on interventions that target patient self-efficacy. Authors are encouraged to report comprehensive details of interventions and methods to inform synthesis, replication, and refinement.

Systematic Serendipity: A Method to Discover the Anomalous

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Giles, Daniel; Walkowicz, Lucianne

2018-01-01

One of the challenges in the era of big data astronomical surveys is identifying anomalous data, data that exhibits as-of-yet unobserved behavior. These data may result from systematic errors, extreme (or rare) forms of known phenomena, or, most interestingly, truly novel phenomena that has historically required a trained eye and often fortuitous circumstance to identify. We describe a method that uses machine clustering techniques to discover anomalous data in Kepler lightcurves, as a step towards systematizing the detection of novel phenomena in the era of LSST. As a proof of concept, we apply our anomaly detection method to Kepler data including Boyajian's Star (KIC 8462852). We examine quarters 4, 8, 11, and 16 of the Kepler data which contain Boyajian’s Star acting normally (quarters 4 and 11) and anomalously (quarters 8 and 16). We demonstrate that our method is capable of identifying Boyajian’s Star’s anomalous behavior in quarters of interest, and we further identify other anomalous light curves that exhibit a range of interesting variability.

Everyday, everywhere: alcohol marketing and social media--current trends.

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Nicholls, James

2012-01-01

To provide a snapshot content analysis of social media marketing among leading alcohol brands in the UK, and to outline the implications for both regulatory policies and further research. Using screengrab technology, the complete Facebook walls and Twitter timelines for 12 leading UK alcohol brands in November 2011 were captured and archived. A total of 701 brand-authored posts were identified and categorized using a thematic coding frame. Key strategic trends were identified and analysed in the light of contextual research into recent developments in marketing practice within the alcohol industry. A number of dominating trends were identified. These included the use of real-world tie-ins, interactive games, competitions and time-specific suggestions to drink. These methods reflect a strategy of branded conversation-stimulus which is favoured by social media marketing agencies. A number of distinct marketing methods are deployed by alcohol brands when using social media. These may undermine policies which seek to change social norms around drinking, especially the normalization of daily consumption. Social media marketing also raises questions regarding the efficacy of reactive regulatory frameworks. Further research into both the nature and impact of alcohol marketing on social media is needed.

Popular education, alternative pedagogies, and systematization of exp eriences. history and horizons

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marcela Gómez Sollano

2015-07-01

Full Text Available In order to think the field of popular education, this article aims to recover some of the historical and conceptual references developed in the program “Pedagogical alternatives and planning education in Latin America” (Known by its Spanish acronym, APPEAL. Likewise, it is analyzed the potential that allows the systematization of in-process and no-documented experiences, as well as the study of the experiences already collected, since they reflect somehow the problem, its dimensions and alternative trends in a particular region, and point out possible challenges and limitations in pedagogical action and transformation. This work is organized in three main sections to develop the following topics: an approaching to the term popular education, the importance of the pedagogical experiences’ systematization and debates on this subject, and new horizons to keep thinking the field of popular education up. In each section different levels of analysis are discussed to place the historical formation of the popular education concept, the production of alternative pedagogical experiences, its systematization and the implications for thinking its current reconfiguration and emergency in Latin America, particularly.

A systematic review of Bayesian articles in psychology: The last 25 years.

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van de Schoot, Rens; Winter, Sonja D; Ryan, Oisín; Zondervan-Zwijnenburg, Mariëlle; Depaoli, Sarah

2017-06-01

Although the statistical tools most often used by researchers in the field of psychology over the last 25 years are based on frequentist statistics, it is often claimed that the alternative Bayesian approach to statistics is gaining in popularity. In the current article, we investigated this claim by performing the very first systematic review of Bayesian psychological articles published between 1990 and 2015 (n = 1,579). We aim to provide a thorough presentation of the role Bayesian statistics plays in psychology. This historical assessment allows us to identify trends and see how Bayesian methods have been integrated into psychological research in the context of different statistical frameworks (e.g., hypothesis testing, cognitive models, IRT, SEM, etc.). We also describe take-home messages and provide "big-picture" recommendations to the field as Bayesian statistics becomes more popular. Our review indicated that Bayesian statistics is used in a variety of contexts across subfields of psychology and related disciplines. There are many different reasons why one might choose to use Bayes (e.g., the use of priors, estimating otherwise intractable models, modeling uncertainty, etc.). We found in this review that the use of Bayes has increased and broadened in the sense that this methodology can be used in a flexible manner to tackle many different forms of questions. We hope this presentation opens the door for a larger discussion regarding the current state of Bayesian statistics, as well as future trends. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

Health literacy in type 2 diabetes patients: a systematic review of systematic reviews.

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Caruso, Rosario; Magon, Arianna; Baroni, Irene; Dellafiore, Federica; Arrigoni, Cristina; Pittella, Francesco; Ausili, Davide

2018-01-01

Aim To summarize, critically review, and interpret the evidence related to the systematic reviews on health literacy (HL) amongst type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Methods The methodology for this study consisted of a systematic review of systematic reviews, using the PRISMA statement and flowchart to select studies, and searching on PubMed, CINAHL, Scopus, and Cochrane. The search covered the period between January 2006 and June 2016. Results From the 115 identified record by the queries, only six systematic reviews were included, following a quality evaluation using AMSTAR. The included systematic reviews content was analyzed by the independent work of two authors, using a narrative synthesis approach. The findings of this study (i.e., main themes) are areas of consensus and gaps in knowledge. Areas of consensus are HL definition, HL measurement tools, and the relationship between T2DM patient knowledge (or literacy) and his/her HL. The gaps in knowledge were the assessment of the relations between HL and health outcomes and self-efficacy, the gender differences, the effectiveness of interventions to improve HL, the cost-effectiveness study of interventions to improve HL, and the understanding of the influence of organizational environment on HL. Conclusion This review provides a current state of knowledge to address clinical practice and research proposals. HL could be useful to personalize patients' follow-up and it should be routinely assessed in its three dimensions (i.e. functional, interactive and critical) to enhance patients' ability to cope with clinical recommendations. Future research should be mainly aimed to test the effectiveness of evidence-based interventions to improve HL amongst T2DM patients.

Policy-Relevant Systematic Reviews to Strengthen Health Systems: Models and Mechanisms to Support Their Production

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Oliver, Sandra; Dickson, Kelly

2016-01-01

Support for producing systematic reviews about health systems is less well developed than for those about clinical practice. From interviewing policy makers and systematic reviewers we identified institutional mechanisms which bring systematic reviews and policy priorities closer by harnessing organisational and individual motivations, emphasising…