Sample records for additional relevant articles
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Measuring the Interestingness of Articles in a Limited User Environment
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Pon, Raymond K.
Search engines, such as Google, assign scores to news articles based on their relevancy to a query. However, not all relevant articles for the query may be interesting to a user. For example, if the article is old or yields little new information, the article would be uninteresting. Relevancy scores do not take into account what makes an article interesting, which varies from user to user. Although methods such as collaborative filtering have been shown to be effective in recommendation systems, in a limited user environment, there are not enough users that would make collaborative filtering effective. A general framework,more » called iScore, is presented for defining and measuring the 'interestingness' of articles, incorporating user-feedback. iScore addresses various aspects of what makes an article interesting, such as topic relevancy, uniqueness, freshness, source reputation, and writing style. It employs various methods to measure these features and uses a classifier operating on these features to recommend articles. The basic iScore configuration is shown to improve recommendation results by as much as 20%. In addition to the basic iScore features, additional features are presented to address the deficiencies of existing feature extractors, such as one that tracks multiple topics, called MTT, and a version of the Rocchio algorithm that learns its parameters online as it processes documents, called eRocchio. The inclusion of both MTT and eRocchio into iScore is shown to improve iScore recommendation results by as much as 3.1% and 5.6%, respectively. Additionally, in TREC11 Adaptive Filter Task, eRocchio is shown to be 10% better than the best filter in the last run of the task. In addition to these two major topic relevancy measures, other features are also introduced that employ language models, phrases, clustering, and changes in topics to improve recommendation results. These additional features are shown to improve recommendation results by iScore by up to 14%. Due to varying reasons that users hold regarding why an article is interesting, an online feature selection method in naive Bayes is also introduced. Online feature selection can improve recommendation results in iScore by up to 18.9%. In summary, iScore in its best configuration can outperform traditional IR techniques by as much as 50.7%. iScore and its components are evaluated in the news recommendation task using three datasets from Yahoo! News, actual users, and Digg. iScore and its components are also evaluated in the TREC Adaptive Filter task using the Reuters RCV1 corpus.« less
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O'Sullivan, D; Wilk, S; Michalowski, W; Slowinski, R; Thomas, R; Kadzinski, M; Farion, K
2014-01-01
Online medical knowledge repositories such as MEDLINE and The Cochrane Library are increasingly used by physicians to retrieve articles to aid with clinical decision making. The prevailing approach for organizing retrieved articles is in the form of a rank-ordered list, with the assumption that the higher an article is presented on a list, the more relevant it is. Despite this common list-based organization, it is seldom studied how physicians perceive the association between the relevance of articles and the order in which articles are presented. In this paper we describe a case study that captured physician preferences for 3-element lists of medical articles in order to learn how to organize medical knowledge for decision-making. Comprehensive relevance evaluations were developed to represent 3-element lists of hypothetical articles that may be retrieved from an online medical knowledge source such as MEDLINE or The Cochrane Library. Comprehensive relevance evaluations asses not only an article's relevance for a query, but also whether it has been placed on the correct list position. In other words an article may be relevant and correctly placed on a result list (e.g. the most relevant article appears first in the result list), an article may be relevant for a query but placed on an incorrect list position (e.g. the most relevant article appears second in a result list), or an article may be irrelevant for a query yet still appear in the result list. The relevance evaluations were presented to six senior physicians who were asked to express their preferences for an article's relevance and its position on a list by pairwise comparisons representing different combinations of 3-element lists. The elicited preferences were assessed using a novel GRIP (Generalized Regression with Intensities of Preference) method and represented as an additive value function. Value functions were derived for individual physicians as well as the group of physicians. The results show that physicians assign significant value to the 1st position on a list and they expect that the most relevant article is presented first. Whilst physicians still prefer obtaining a correctly placed article on position 2, they are also quite satisfied with misplaced relevant article. Low consideration of the 3rd position was uniformly confirmed. Our findings confirm the importance of placing the most relevant article on the 1st position on a list and the importance paid to position on a list significantly diminishes after the 2nd position. The derived value functions may be used by developers of clinical decision support applications to decide how best to organize medical knowledge for decision making and to create personalized evaluation measures that can augment typical measures used to evaluate information retrieval systems.
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Is there room in the DSM for consideration of deaf people?
Lala, F J
1998-10-01
Recent changes to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, or DSM (4th ed., American Psychiatric Association, 1994), show recognition that cultural factors are relevant to assessment; thus, including specific information relevant to Deaf culture should help DSM users understand their deaf clients. For the present article, literature was surveyed on the psychological needs of the Deaf, and specifically how the Deaf views those needs. The review focused on four articles (Carver, 1995, 1997; Chapman, 1994; Dolnick, 1993). These articles suggest consensus on the thesis that the Deaf, as a minority culture, should provide information on Deaf culture to members of the helping professions. In addition to enhancing care providers' understanding, this would help society do a better job of including the Deaf in planning relevant to their needs. In particular, culturally deaf people should urge inclusion of relevant information about the Deaf in the next DSM revision.
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Publishing Qualitative Research in Counseling Journals
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Hunt, Brandon
2011-01-01
This article focuses on the essential elements to be included when developing a qualitative study and preparing the findings for publication. Using the sections typically found in a qualitative article, the author describes content relevant to each section, with additional suggestions for publishing qualitative research.
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McKibbon, Kathleen Ann; Wilczynski, Nancy L; Haynes, Robert Brian
2004-01-01
Background We conducted this analysis to determine i) which journals publish high-quality, clinically relevant studies in internal medicine, general/family practice, general practice nursing, and mental health; and ii) the proportion of clinically relevant articles in each journal. Methods We performed an analytic survey of a hand search of 170 general medicine, general healthcare, and specialty journals for 2000. Research staff assessed individual articles by using explicit criteria for scientific merit for healthcare application. Practitioners assessed the clinical importance of these articles. Outcome measures were the number of high-quality, clinically relevant studies published in the 170 journal titles and how many of these were published in each of four discipline-specific, secondary "evidence-based" journals (ACP Journal Club for internal medicine and its subspecialties; Evidence-Based Medicine for general/family practice; Evidence-Based Nursing for general practice nursing; and Evidence-Based Mental Health for all aspects of mental health). Original studies and review articles were classified for purpose: therapy and prevention, screening and diagnosis, prognosis, etiology and harm, economics and cost, clinical prediction guides, and qualitative studies. Results We evaluated 60,352 articles from 170 journal titles. The pass criteria of high-quality methods and clinically relevant material were met by 3059 original articles and 1073 review articles. For ACP Journal Club (internal medicine), four titles supplied 56.5% of the articles and 27 titles supplied the other 43.5%. For Evidence-Based Medicine (general/family practice), five titles supplied 50.7% of the articles and 40 titles supplied the remaining 49.3%. For Evidence-Based Nursing (general practice nursing), seven titles supplied 51.0% of the articles and 34 additional titles supplied 49.0%. For Evidence-Based Mental Health (mental health), nine titles supplied 53.2% of the articles and 34 additional titles supplied 46.8%. For the disciplines of internal medicine, general/family practice, and mental health (but not general practice nursing), the number of clinically important articles was correlated withScience Citation Index (SCI) Impact Factors. Conclusions Although many clinical journals publish high-quality, clinically relevant and important original studies and systematic reviews, the articles for each discipline studied were concentrated in a small subset of journals. This subset varied according to healthcare discipline; however, many of the important articles for all disciplines in this study were published in broad-based healthcare journals rather than subspecialty or discipline-specific journals. PMID:15350200
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Teaching Residents Practice-Management Knowledge and Skills: An "in Vivo" Experience
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Williams, Laurel Lyn
2009-01-01
Objective: This article explores the relevant data regarding teaching psychiatric residents practice management knowledge and skills. This article also introduces a unique program for teaching practice management to residents. Methods: A literature search was conducted through PubMed and "Academic Psychiatry". Additionally residents…
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Additive Manufacturing Techniques in Prosthodontics: Where Do We Currently Stand? A Critical Review.
Alharbi, Nawal; Wismeijer, Daniel; Osman, Reham B
The aim of this article was to critically review the current application of additive manufacturing (AM)/3D-printing techniques in prosthodontics and to highlight the influence of various technical factors involved in different AM technologies. A standard approach of searching MEDLINE, EMBASE, and Google Scholar databases was followed. The following search terms were used: (Prosth* OR Restoration) AND (Prototype OR Additive Manufacture* OR Compute* OR 3D-print* OR CAD/CAM) AND (Dentistry OR Dental). Hand searching the reference lists of the included articles and personal connections revealed additional relevant articles. Selection criteria were any article written in English and reporting on the application of AM in prosthodontics from 1990 to February 2016. From a total of 4,290 articles identified, 33 were seen as relevant. Of these, 3 were narrative reviews, 18 were in vitro studies, and 12 were clinical in vivo studies. Different AM technologies are applied in prosthodontics, directly and indirectly for the fabrication of fixed metal copings, metal frameworks for removable partial dentures, and plastic mock-ups and resin patterns for further conventional metal castings. Technical factors involved in different AM techniques influence the overall quality, the mechanical properties of the printed parts, and the total cost and manufacturing time. AM is promising and offers new possibilities in the field of prosthodontics, though its application is still limited. An understanding of these limitations and of developments in material science is crucial prior to considering AM as an acceptable method for the fabrication of dental prostheses.
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2015-01-01
Background In recent years, with advances in techniques for protein structure analysis, the knowledge about protein structure and function has been published in a vast number of articles. A method to search for specific publications from such a large pool of articles is needed. In this paper, we propose a method to search for related articles on protein structure analysis by using an article itself as a query. Results Each article is represented as a set of concepts in the proposed method. Then, by using similarities among concepts formulated from databases such as Gene Ontology, similarities between articles are evaluated. In this framework, the desired search results vary depending on the user's search intention because a variety of information is included in a single article. Therefore, the proposed method provides not only one input article (primary article) but also additional articles related to it as an input query to determine the search intention of the user, based on the relationship between two query articles. In other words, based on the concepts contained in the input article and additional articles, we actualize a relevant literature search that considers user intention by varying the degree of attention given to each concept and modifying the concept hierarchy graph. Conclusions We performed an experiment to retrieve relevant papers from articles on protein structure analysis registered in the Protein Data Bank by using three query datasets. The experimental results yielded search results with better accuracy than when user intention was not considered, confirming the effectiveness of the proposed method. PMID:25952498
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Velez-Montoya, Raul; Oliver, Scott C N; Olson, Jeffrey L; Fine, Stuart L; Quiroz-Mercado, Hugo; Mandava, Naresh
2014-03-01
To address the most dynamic and current issues concerning human genetics, risk factors, pharmacoeconomics, and prevention regarding age-related macular degeneration. An online review of the database Pubmed and Ovid was performed, searching for the key words: age-related macular degeneration, AMD, pharmacoeconomics, risk factors, VEGF, prevention, genetics and their compound phrases. The search was limited to articles published since 1985 to date. All returned articles were carefully screened and their references were manually reviewed for additional relevant data. The webpage www.clinicaltrials.gov was also accessed in search of relevant research trials. A total of 366 articles were reviewed, including 64 additional articles extracted from the references and 25 webpages and online databases from different institutions. At the end, only 244 references were included in this review. Age-related macular degeneration is a complex multifactorial disease that has an uneven manifestation around the world but with one common denominator, it is increasing and spreading. The economic burden that this disease poses in developed nations will increase in the coming years. Effective preventive therapies need to be developed in the near future.
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Nursing journal clubs and the clinical nurse specialist.
Westlake, Cheryl; Albert, Nancy M; Rice, Karen L; Bautista, Cynthia; Close, Jackie; Foster, Jan; Timmerman, Gayle M
2015-01-01
The purpose of this article was to describe the clinical nurse specialist's role in developing and implementing a journal club. Tools for critiquing clinical and research articles with an application of each are provided. The journal club provides a forum through which nurses maintain their knowledge base about clinically relevant topics and developments in their specific clinical discipline, analyze and synthesize the relevant scientific literature as evidence, and engage in informal discussions about evidence-based and best practices. The value of journal clubs includes nursing staff education, review of and support for evidence-based practice, promotion of nursing research, and fostering of organization-wide nursing practice changes. The process for establishing a journal club and suggested appraisal tools are discussed. In addition, strategies for overcoming barriers to the implementation of a journal club are outlined. Suggested article review questions and a reporting format for clinical and research articles are provided with examples from 2 articles. Finally, a glossary of terms commonly used by research scientists and manuscript writers are listed and additional resources provided. The clinical nurse specialist's role in developing and implementing a journal club will be facilitated through the use of this article. Enhanced nursing staff education, evidence-based practice, organization-wide nursing practice changes, and nursing research may be conducted following the implementation of a nursing journal club.
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Zannas, Anthony S; Arloth, Janine; Carrillo-Roa, Tania; Iurato, Stella; Röh, Simone; Ressler, Kerry J; Nemeroff, Charles B; Smith, Alicia K; Bradley, Bekh; Heim, Christine; Menke, Andreas; Lange, Jennifer F; Brückl, Tanja; Ising, Marcus; Wray, Naomi R; Erhardt, Angelika; Binder, Elisabeth B; Mehta, Divya
2018-05-23
Upon publication of the original article [1] it was highlighted by the authors that a transposition error affected Additional file 1, causing the misplacement of several columns and rendering the table difficult to read. This transposition does not influence any of the results nor analyses presented in the paper and has since been formally noted in this correction article; the corrected file is available here as an Additional File. The publisher apologizes for this error.
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Kwan, Yu Heng; Fong, Warren; Tan, Victoria Ie Ching; Lui, Nai Lee; Malhotra, Rahul; Østbye, Truls; Thumboo, Julian
2017-10-01
To summarize, from the literature, quality-of-life (QoL) domains and items relevant to patients with spondyloarthritis (SpA), and to determine if commonly used SpA patient-reported outcome (PRO) instruments include the identified domains. We used PRISMA statement for systematic review and searched Medline ® , Embase ® , and PsycInfo ® using relevant keywords. In addition, hand searches of references of the included articles were conducted. All articles were reviewed for inclusion by 2 independent reviewers. QoL domains and items relevant to patients with axial or peripheral SpA were extracted and presented using the adapted World Health Organization Quality-of-Life (WHOQOL) domain framework. SpA PROs were assessed to determine if they included the domains identified. We retrieved 14,343 articles, of which 34 articles fulfilled inclusion criteria for review. Twenty-five articles were conducted in the European population. Domains such as negative feelings and activities of daily living were found to be present in 28 and 27 articles, respectively. SpA impacted QoL in all domains of the adapted WHOQOL framework. Domains that differed between types of SpA were financial resources, general levels of independence and medication side effects. Embarrassment, self-image, and premature ageing were items that differed by geographical setting. PROs to capture domains for peripheral SpA were similar for axial SpA. We found that a wide range of domains and items of QoL were relevant to patients with SpA with minimal differences between patients with axial and peripheral SpA. Clinicians may consider using peripheral SpA PROs to measure QoL of patients with axial SpA. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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Current knowledge and trends in age-related macular degeneration: today's and future treatments.
Velez-Montoya, Raul; Oliver, Scott C N; Olson, Jeffrey L; Fine, Stuart L; Mandava, Naresh; Quiroz-Mercado, Hugo
2013-09-01
To address the most dynamic and current issues concerning today's treatment options and promising research efforts regarding treatment for age-related macular degeneration. This review is aimed to serve as a practical reference for more in-depth reviews on the subject. An online review of the database PubMed and Ovid were performed, searching for the key words age-related macular degeneration, AMD, VEGF, treatment, PDT, steroids, bevacizumab, ranibizumab, VEGF-trap, radiation, combined therapy, as well as their compound phrases. The search was limited to articles published since 1985. All returned articles were carefully screened, and their references were manually reviewed for additional relevant data. The web page www.clinicaltrials.gov was also accessed in search of relevant research trials. A total of 363 articles were reviewed, including 64 additional articles extracted from the references. At the end, only 160 references were included in this review. Treatment for age-related macular degeneration is a very dynamic research field. While current treatments are mainly aimed at blocking vascular endothelial growth factor, future treatments seek to prevent vision loss because of scarring. Promising efforts have been made to address the dry form of the disease, which has lacked effective treatment.
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Measuring the Interestingness of Articles in a Limited User Environment Prospectus
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Pon, Raymond K.
2007-04-18
Search engines, such as Google, assign scores to news articles based on their relevancy to a query. However, not all relevant articles for the query may be interesting to a user. For example, if the article is old or yields little new information, the article would be uninteresting. Relevancy scores do not take into account what makes an article interesting, which would vary from user to user. Although methods such as collaborative filtering have been shown to be effective in recommendation systems, in a limited user environment there are not enough users that would make collaborative filtering effective. I presentmore » a general framework for defining and measuring the ''interestingness'' of articles, called iScore, incorporating user-feedback including tracking multiple topics of interest as well as finding interesting entities or phrases in a complex relationship network. I propose and have shown the validity of the following: 1. Filtering based on only topic relevancy is insufficient for identifying interesting articles. 2. No single feature can characterize the interestingness of an article for a user. It is the combination of multiple features that yields higher quality results. For each user, these features have different degrees of usefulness for predicting interestingness. 3. Through user-feedback, a classifier can combine features to predict interestingness for the user. 4. Current evaluation corpora, such as TREC, do not capture all aspects of personalized news filtering systems necessary for system evaluation. 5. Focusing on only specific evolving user interests instead of all topics allows for more efficient resource utilization while yielding high quality recommendation results. 6. Multiple profile vectors yield significantly better results than traditional methods, such as the Rocchio algorithm, for identifying interesting articles. Additionally, the addition of tracking multiple topics as a new feature in iScore, can improve iScore's classification performance. 7. Multiple topic tracking yields better results than the best results from the last TREC adaptive filtering run. As future work, I will address the following hypothesis: Entities and the relationship among these entities using current information extraction technology can be utilized to identify entities of interest and relationships of interest, using a scheme such as PageRank. And I will address one of the following two hypotheses: 1. By addressing the multiple reading roles that a single user may have, classification results can be improved. 2. By tailoring the operating parameters of MTT, better classification results can be achieved.« less
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Disassembling archeology, reassembling the modern world.
Carruthers, William; Van Damme, Stéphane
2017-09-01
This article provides a substantive discussion of the relevance of the history of archeology to the history of science. At the same time, the article introduces the papers contained in this special issue as exemplars of this relevance. To make its case, the article moves through various themes in the history of archeology that overlap with key issues in the history of science. The article discusses the role and tension of regimes of science in antiquarian and archeological practices, and also considers issues of scale and place, particularly in relation to the field. Additionally, the piece attends to issues of professionalization and the constitution of an archeological public, at the same time as discussing issues of empire, colonialism, and the circulation of knowledge. Meanwhile, enriching discussions within and beyond the history of science, the article discusses the history of archeology and its relationship with museums, collecting, and material culture and materiality. Finally, the piece discusses the relationship of the history of archeology with wider discussions about scientific ethics. In conclusion, the article questions whether we should speak of 'the history of archeology' at all.
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Wilbur, W. John
2012-01-01
The Comparative Toxicogenomics Database (CTD) contains manually curated literature that describes chemical–gene interactions, chemical–disease relationships and gene–disease relationships. Finding articles containing this information is the first and an important step to assist manual curation efficiency. However, the complex nature of named entities and their relationships make it challenging to choose relevant articles. In this article, we introduce a machine learning framework for prioritizing CTD-relevant articles based on our prior system for the protein–protein interaction article classification task in BioCreative III. To address new challenges in the CTD task, we explore a new entity identification method for genes, chemicals and diseases. In addition, latent topics are analyzed and used as a feature type to overcome the small size of the training set. Applied to the BioCreative 2012 Triage dataset, our method achieved 0.8030 mean average precision (MAP) in the official runs, resulting in the top MAP system among participants. Integrated with PubTator, a Web interface for annotating biomedical literature, the proposed system also received a positive review from the CTD curation team. PMID:23160415
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Kim, Sun; Kim, Won; Wei, Chih-Hsuan; Lu, Zhiyong; Wilbur, W John
2012-01-01
The Comparative Toxicogenomics Database (CTD) contains manually curated literature that describes chemical-gene interactions, chemical-disease relationships and gene-disease relationships. Finding articles containing this information is the first and an important step to assist manual curation efficiency. However, the complex nature of named entities and their relationships make it challenging to choose relevant articles. In this article, we introduce a machine learning framework for prioritizing CTD-relevant articles based on our prior system for the protein-protein interaction article classification task in BioCreative III. To address new challenges in the CTD task, we explore a new entity identification method for genes, chemicals and diseases. In addition, latent topics are analyzed and used as a feature type to overcome the small size of the training set. Applied to the BioCreative 2012 Triage dataset, our method achieved 0.8030 mean average precision (MAP) in the official runs, resulting in the top MAP system among participants. Integrated with PubTator, a Web interface for annotating biomedical literature, the proposed system also received a positive review from the CTD curation team.
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Krieger, Mary M; Richter, Randy R; Austin, Tricia M
2008-10-01
The research sought to determine (1) how use of the PubMed free full-text (FFT) limit affects citation retrieval and (2) how use of the FFT limit impacts the types of articles and levels of evidence retrieved. Four clinical questions based on a research agenda for physical therapy were searched in PubMed both with and without the use of the FFT limit. Retrieved citations were examined for relevancy to each question. Abstracts of relevant citations were reviewed to determine the types of articles and levels of evidence. Descriptive analysis was used to compare the total number of citations, number of relevant citations, types of articles, and levels of evidence both with and without the use of the FFT limit. Across all 4 questions, the FFT limit reduced the number of citations to 11.1% of the total number of citations retrieved without the FFT limit. Additionally, high-quality evidence such as systematic reviews and randomized controlled trials were missed when the FFT limit was used. Health sciences librarians play a key role in educating users about the potential impact the FFT limit has on the number of citations, types of articles, and levels of evidence retrieved.
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Approach to Reptile Emergency Medicine.
Long, Simon Y
2016-05-01
This article summarizes the physiology and anatomy of reptiles, highlighting points relevant for emergency room veterinarians. Other systems, such as the endocrine and immune systems, have not been covered. The many other aspects of reptile species variation are too numerous to be covered. This article provides an overview but encourages clinicians to seek additional species-specific information to better medically diagnose and treat their reptile patients. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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Teaching ethics and professionalism in plastic surgery: a systematic review.
de Blacam, Catherine; Vercler, Christian J
2014-04-01
Maintenance of the highest ethical and professional standards in plastic surgery is in the best interests of our profession and the public whom we serve. Both the American Board of Medical Specialties and the Accreditation Council on Graduate Medical Education mandate training in ethics and professionalism for all residents. Presently there is no gold standard in ethics and professionalism education. A systematic review on teaching ethics and professionalism in plastic surgery was performed for all articles from inception to May 23, 2013 in MEDLINE, Scopus, EMBASE, CENTRAL, and ERIC. References of relevant publications were searched for additional papers. Key journals were hand searched and relevant conference proceedings were also reviewed. Duplicate and non-English articles were excluded. Inclusion and exclusion criteria were applied to find articles that described a curriculum in ethics and/or professionalism in plastic surgery. Two hundred twenty-seven relevant articles were identified. One hundred seventy-four did not meet inclusion criteria based on screening of the title, and 39 of those did not meet inclusion criteria based on screening of the abstract or introductory paragraph. Of the 14 identified for full text review, only 2 articles described a set curriculum in ethics and/or professionalism in plastic surgery training and reported outcomes. A paucity of data exists regarding the structure, content, or relevant measures that can be applied to assess outcomes of a curriculum to teach ethics and professionalism to plastic surgery trainees. Endeavors to teach ethics and professionalism to plastic surgery trainees must rigorously document the process and outcomes to facilitate the maintenance of our profession.
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Substance abuse prevention intervention research with Hispanic populations.
Castro, Felipe González; Barrera, Manuel; Pantin, Hilda; Martinez, Charles; Felix-Ortiz, Maria; Rios, Rebeca; Lopez, Vera A; Lopez, Cristy
2006-09-01
Selected studies with specific relevance to substance abuse prevention interventions with Hispanic youth and families were examined to identify prior findings and emerging issues that may guide the design of future substance abuse prevention intervention research and its implementation with Hispanic populations. The origins of prevention research and role of risk and protective factors are examined, including culturally-specific risk and protective factors for Hispanic populations. Correlational studies, non-experimental interventions, and randomized controlled trials were examined for the period of 1974-2003. The literature search yielded 15 articles selected for this review that exhibited adequate methodological rigor. An added search for more recent studies identified three additional articles, for a total of 18 prevention intervention articles that were reviewed. Theoretical and methodological issues and recommendations are presented for future research aimed at improving the efficacy and effectiveness of future prevention intervention studies and their cultural relevance for Hispanic populations.
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Effect of Therapeutic Touch in Patients with Cancer: a Literature Review.
Tabatabaee, Amir; Tafreshi, Mansoureh Zagheri; Rassouli, Maryam; Aledavood, Seyed Amir; AlaviMajd, Hamid; Farahmand, Seyed Kazem
2016-04-01
The use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) techniques has been growing. The National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine places therapeutic touch (TT) into the category of bio field energy. This literature review is aimed at critically evaluating the data from clinical trials examining the clinical efficacy of therapeutic touch as a supportive care modality in adult patients with cancer. Electronic databases (PubMed, Scopus, Scholar Google, and Science Direct) were searched from the year 1990 to 2015 to locate potentially relevant peer-reviewed articles using the key words therapeutic touch, touch therapy, neoplasm, cancer, and CAM. Additionally, relevant journals and references of all the located articles were manually searched for other potentially relevant studies. The number of 334 articles was found on the basis of the key words, of which 17 articles related to the clinical trial were examined in accordance with the objectives of the study. A total of 6 articles were in the final dataset in which several examples of the positive effects of healing touch on pain, nausea, anxiety and fatigue, and life quality and also on biochemical parameters were observed. Based on the results of this study, an affirmation can be made regarding the use of TT, as a non-invasive intervention for improving the health status in patients with cancer. Moreover, therapeutic touch was proved to be a useful strategy for adult patients with cancer.
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Wilderness Medicine Newsletter, Volume 5.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Wilderness Medicine Newsletter, 1994
1994-01-01
This volume of newsletters addresses issues related to the treatment and prevention of medical emergencies in the wilderness. Each issue includes feature articles, book reviews, product reviews, letters to the editor, notices of upcoming wilderness conferences and training courses, additional resources, and general information relevant to medical…
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Krieger, Mary M.; Richter, Randy R.; Austin, Tricia M.
2008-01-01
Objective: The research sought to determine (1) how use of the PubMed free full-text (FFT) limit affects citation retrieval and (2) how use of the FFT limit impacts the types of articles and levels of evidence retrieved. Methods: Four clinical questions based on a research agenda for physical therapy were searched in PubMed both with and without the use of the FFT limit. Retrieved citations were examined for relevancy to each question. Abstracts of relevant citations were reviewed to determine the types of articles and levels of evidence. Descriptive analysis was used to compare the total number of citations, number of relevant citations, types of articles, and levels of evidence both with and without the use of the FFT limit. Results: Across all 4 questions, the FFT limit reduced the number of citations to 11.1% of the total number of citations retrieved without the FFT limit. Additionally, high-quality evidence such as systematic reviews and randomized controlled trials were missed when the FFT limit was used. Conclusions: Health sciences librarians play a key role in educating users about the potential impact the FFT limit has on the number of citations, types of articles, and levels of evidence retrieved. PMID:18974812
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G-Bean: an ontology-graph based web tool for biomedical literature retrieval
2014-01-01
Background Currently, most people use NCBI's PubMed to search the MEDLINE database, an important bibliographical information source for life science and biomedical information. However, PubMed has some drawbacks that make it difficult to find relevant publications pertaining to users' individual intentions, especially for non-expert users. To ameliorate the disadvantages of PubMed, we developed G-Bean, a graph based biomedical search engine, to search biomedical articles in MEDLINE database more efficiently. Methods G-Bean addresses PubMed's limitations with three innovations: (1) Parallel document index creation: a multithreaded index creation strategy is employed to generate the document index for G-Bean in parallel; (2) Ontology-graph based query expansion: an ontology graph is constructed by merging four major UMLS (Version 2013AA) vocabularies, MeSH, SNOMEDCT, CSP and AOD, to cover all concepts in National Library of Medicine (NLM) database; a Personalized PageRank algorithm is used to compute concept relevance in this ontology graph and the Term Frequency - Inverse Document Frequency (TF-IDF) weighting scheme is used to re-rank the concepts. The top 500 ranked concepts are selected for expanding the initial query to retrieve more accurate and relevant information; (3) Retrieval and re-ranking of documents based on user's search intention: after the user selects any article from the existing search results, G-Bean analyzes user's selections to determine his/her true search intention and then uses more relevant and more specific terms to retrieve additional related articles. The new articles are presented to the user in the order of their relevance to the already selected articles. Results Performance evaluation with 106 OHSUMED benchmark queries shows that G-Bean returns more relevant results than PubMed does when using these queries to search the MEDLINE database. PubMed could not even return any search result for some OHSUMED queries because it failed to form the appropriate Boolean query statement automatically from the natural language query strings. G-Bean is available at http://bioinformatics.clemson.edu/G-Bean/index.php. Conclusions G-Bean addresses PubMed's limitations with ontology-graph based query expansion, automatic document indexing, and user search intention discovery. It shows significant advantages in finding relevant articles from the MEDLINE database to meet the information need of the user. PMID:25474588
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G-Bean: an ontology-graph based web tool for biomedical literature retrieval.
Wang, James Z; Zhang, Yuanyuan; Dong, Liang; Li, Lin; Srimani, Pradip K; Yu, Philip S
2014-01-01
Currently, most people use NCBI's PubMed to search the MEDLINE database, an important bibliographical information source for life science and biomedical information. However, PubMed has some drawbacks that make it difficult to find relevant publications pertaining to users' individual intentions, especially for non-expert users. To ameliorate the disadvantages of PubMed, we developed G-Bean, a graph based biomedical search engine, to search biomedical articles in MEDLINE database more efficiently. G-Bean addresses PubMed's limitations with three innovations: (1) Parallel document index creation: a multithreaded index creation strategy is employed to generate the document index for G-Bean in parallel; (2) Ontology-graph based query expansion: an ontology graph is constructed by merging four major UMLS (Version 2013AA) vocabularies, MeSH, SNOMEDCT, CSP and AOD, to cover all concepts in National Library of Medicine (NLM) database; a Personalized PageRank algorithm is used to compute concept relevance in this ontology graph and the Term Frequency - Inverse Document Frequency (TF-IDF) weighting scheme is used to re-rank the concepts. The top 500 ranked concepts are selected for expanding the initial query to retrieve more accurate and relevant information; (3) Retrieval and re-ranking of documents based on user's search intention: after the user selects any article from the existing search results, G-Bean analyzes user's selections to determine his/her true search intention and then uses more relevant and more specific terms to retrieve additional related articles. The new articles are presented to the user in the order of their relevance to the already selected articles. Performance evaluation with 106 OHSUMED benchmark queries shows that G-Bean returns more relevant results than PubMed does when using these queries to search the MEDLINE database. PubMed could not even return any search result for some OHSUMED queries because it failed to form the appropriate Boolean query statement automatically from the natural language query strings. G-Bean is available at http://bioinformatics.clemson.edu/G-Bean/index.php. G-Bean addresses PubMed's limitations with ontology-graph based query expansion, automatic document indexing, and user search intention discovery. It shows significant advantages in finding relevant articles from the MEDLINE database to meet the information need of the user.
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Proton Pump Inhibitors: Risk for Myopathy?
Colmenares, Evan W; Pappas, Ashley L
2017-01-01
The purpose of this article is to describe the relationship between proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) and symptoms of myopathy based on case reports. A literature search was conducted in PubMed (1946 to June 2016) using MeSH terms proton pump inhibitors, omeprazole, esomeprazole, lansoprazole, dexlansoprazole, rabeprazole, pantoprazole, and muscular diseases. Additionally, a search was conducted in ToxNet and EMBASE using similar search criteria. The resulting articles were scanned to assess relevance to the review. Bibliographies of all relevant articles were evaluated for additional sources; 26 articles resulted from the search of PubMed, ToxNet, and EMBASE; articles that involved medications typically considered to have myalgia-like side effects (eg, statins), or included patients who presented with a confounding disease state (eg, Guillain-Barré) were excluded. In total, 11 case reports as well as a review of an adverse event reporting database that included 292 cases were evaluated. Association of PPI use and myopathy symptoms does not have a clear etiology. Overall, the available published data do not show a high risk of myopathy with PPI use but should be considered if a patient presents with myopathy symptoms and concurrent PPI use. A limited body of published data suggests that PPI use has been associated with myopathy-like symptoms without long-term effects following discontinuation. Although myopathy is a rare adverse effect observed with PPIs, it can be a serious side effect to be considered when starting a patient on acid suppression therapy.
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Publications in anesthesia journals: quality and clinical relevance.
Lauritsen, Jakob; Moller, Ann M
2004-11-01
Clinicians performing evidence-based anesthesia rely on anesthesia journals for clinically relevant information. The objective of this study was to analyze the proportion of clinically relevant articles in five high impact anesthesia journals. We evaluated all articles published in Anesthesiology, Anesthesia & Analgesia, British Journal of Anesthesia, Anesthesia, and Acta Anaesthesiologica Scandinavica from January to June, 2000. Articles were assessed and classified according to type, outcome, and design; 1379 articles consisting of 5468 pages were evaluated and categorized. The most common types of article were animal and laboratory research (31.2%) and randomized clinical trial (20.4%). A clinically relevant article was defined as an article that used a statistically valid method and had a clinically relevant end-point. Altogether 18.6% of the pages had as their subject matter clinically relevant trials. We compared the Journal Impact Factor (a measure of the number of citations per article in a journal) and the proportion of clinically relevant pages and found that they were inversely proportional to each other.
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Giraldo, N A; Amariles, P; Monsalve, M; Faus, M J
Highly active antiretroviral therapy has extended the expected lifespan of patients with HIV/AIDS. However, the therapeutic benefits of some drugs used simultaneously with highly active antiretroviral therapy may be adversely affected by drug interactions. The goal was to design and develop a free software to facilitate analysis, assessment, and clinical decision making according to the clinical relevance of drug interactions in patients with HIV/AIDS. A comprehensive Medline/PubMed database search of drug interactions was performed. Articles that recognized any drug interactions in HIV disease were selected. The publications accessed were limited to human studies in English or Spanish, with full texts retrieved. Drug interactions were analyzed, assessed, and grouped into four levels of clinical relevance according to gravity and probability. Software to systematize the information regarding drug interactions and their clinical relevance was designed and developed. Overall, 952 different references were retrieved and 446 selected; in addition, 67 articles were selected from the citation lists of identified articles. A total of 2119 pairs of drug interactions were identified; of this group, 2006 (94.7%) were drug-drug interactions, 1982 (93.5%) had an identified pharmacokinetic mechanism, and 1409 (66.5%) were mediated by enzyme inhibition. In terms of clinical relevance, 1285 (60.6%) drug interactions were clinically significant in patients with HIV (levels 1 and 2). With this information, a software program that facilitates identification and assessment of the clinical relevance of antiretroviral drug interactions (SIMARV ® ) was developed. A free software package with information on 2119 pairs of antiretroviral drug interactions was designed and developed that could facilitate analysis, assessment, and clinical decision making according to the clinical relevance of drug interactions in patients with HIV/AIDS. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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WOC practice in cyberspace: legal and ethical issues.
Hoyman, K
2001-07-01
WOC nurses have the opportunity to extend their practice geographically by using electronic media, also called telehealth or "practicing in cyberspace." Currently, laws and regulations affecting this aspect of practice are in rapid flux. In addition, practicing electronically makes the ethical issues of choice, privacy, and confidentiality more acute. This article describes the current status of relevant legislation, discusses relevant ethical issues, and provides guidelines for WOC nurses who are considering the use of e-mail and video conferencing within their practice.
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Global Emergency Medicine: A review of the literature from 2017.
Becker, Torben K; Trehan, Indi; Hayward, Alison Schroth; Hexom, Braden J; Kivlehan, Sean M; Lunney, Kevin M; Modi, Payal; Osei-Ampofo, Maxwell; Pousson, Amelia; Cho, Daniel K; Levine, Adam C
2018-05-23
The Global Emergency Medicine Literature Review (GEMLR) conducts an annual search of peer-reviewed and gray literature relevant to global emergency medicine (EM) to identify, review, and disseminate the most important new research in this field to a global audience of academics and clinical practitioners. This year, 17,722 articles written in three languages were identified by our electronic search. These articles were distributed among 20 reviewers for initial screening based on their relevance to the field of global EM. Another two reviewers searched the gray literature, yielding an additional 11 articles. All articles that were deemed appropriate by at least one reviewer and approved by their editor underwent formal scoring of overall quality and importance. Two independent reviewers scored all articles. A total of 848 articles met our inclusion criteria and underwent full review. 63% were categorized as emergency care in resource-limited settings, 23% as disaster and humanitarian response, and 14% as emergency medicine development. 21 articles received scores of 18.5 or higher out of a maximum score 20 and were selected for formal summary and critique. Inter-rater reliability testing between reviewers revealed a Cohen's Kappa of 0.344. In 2017, the total number of articles identified by our search continued to increase. Studies and reviews with a focus on infectious diseases, pediatrics, and trauma represented the majority of top-scoring articles. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Turner, Marianne
2017-01-01
Translanguaging pedagogy offers a way to differentiate between students' varying linguistic repertoires when embedding an additional language across the curriculum. In this article I draw on positioning theory to show the relevance of teacher positioning to translanguaging pedagogy and differentiation. Differentiation is discussed in relation to…
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U.S. Heritage-Seeking Students Discover Minority Communities in Western Europe
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Comp, David
2008-01-01
This research article examines quantitative data relevant to an increasingly multiethnic Western Europe and investigates European opportunities for U.S. minority heritage-seeking students. In addition to analyzing the demographic data of Western Europe, a review of U.S. higher education enrollment demographics derived from current national…
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[Radiological dose and metadata management].
Walz, M; Kolodziej, M; Madsack, B
2016-12-01
This article describes the features of management systems currently available in Germany for extraction, registration and evaluation of metadata from radiological examinations, particularly in the digital imaging and communications in medicine (DICOM) environment. In addition, the probable relevant developments in this area concerning radiation protection legislation, terminology, standardization and information technology are presented.
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Effect of Therapeutic Touch in Patients with Cancer: a Literature Review
Tabatabaee, Amir; Tafreshi, Mansoureh Zagheri; Rassouli, Maryam; Aledavood, Seyed Amir; AlaviMajd, Hamid; Farahmand, Seyed Kazem
2016-01-01
Background: The use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) techniques has been growing. The National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine places therapeutic touch (TT) into the category of bio field energy. This literature review is aimed at critically evaluating the data from clinical trials examining the clinical efficacy of therapeutic touch as a supportive care modality in adult patients with cancer. Methods: Electronic databases (PubMed, Scopus, Scholar Google, and Science Direct) were searched from the year 1990 to 2015 to locate potentially relevant peer-reviewed articles using the key words therapeutic touch, touch therapy, neoplasm, cancer, and CAM. Additionally, relevant journals and references of all the located articles were manually searched for other potentially relevant studies. Results: The number of 334 articles was found on the basis of the key words, of which 17 articles related to the clinical trial were examined in accordance with the objectives of the study. A total of 6 articles were in the final dataset in which several examples of the positive effects of healing touch on pain, nausea, anxiety and fatigue, and life quality and also on biochemical parameters were observed. Conclusion: Based on the results of this study, an affirmation can be made regarding the use of TT, as a non-invasive intervention for improving the health status in patients with cancer. Moreover, therapeutic touch was proved to be a useful strategy for adult patients with cancer. PMID:27194823
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Flannery, Ann Marie; Duhaime, Ann-Christine; Tamber, Mandeep S; Kemp, Joanna
2014-11-01
This systematic review was undertaken to answer the following question: Do technical adjuvants such as ventricular endoscopic placement, computer-assisted electromagnetic guidance, or ultrasound guidance improve ventricular shunt function and survival? The US National Library of Medicine PubMed/MEDLINE database and the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews were queried using MeSH headings and key words specifically chosen to identify published articles detailing the use of cerebrospinal fluid shunts for the treatment of pediatric hydrocephalus. Articles meeting specific criteria that had been delineated a priori were then examined, and data were abstracted and compiled in evidentiary tables. These data were then analyzed by the Pediatric Hydrocephalus Systematic Review and Evidence-Based Guidelines Task Force to consider evidence-based treatment recommendations. The search yielded 163 abstracts, which were screened for potential relevance to the application of technical adjuvants in shunt placement. Fourteen articles were selected for full-text review. One additional article was selected during a review of literature citations. Eight of these articles were included in the final recommendations concerning the use of endoscopy, ultrasonography, and electromagnetic image guidance during shunt placement, whereas the remaining articles were excluded due to poor evidence or lack of relevance. The evidence included 1 Class I, 1 Class II, and 6 Class III papers. An evidentiary table of relevant articles was created. CONCLUSIONS/RECOMMENDATION: There is insufficient evidence to recommend the use of endoscopic guidance for routine ventricular catheter placement. Level I, high degree of clinical certainty. The routine use of ultrasound-assisted catheter placement is an option. Level III, unclear clinical certainty. The routine use of computer-assisted electromagnetic (EM) navigation is an option. Level III, unclear clinical certainty.
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Cleary, Robert K; Pomerantz, Richard A; Lampman, Richard M
2006-08-01
This study was designed to develop treatment algorithms for colon, rectal, and anal injuries based on the review of relevant literature. Information was obtained through a MEDLINE ( www.nobi.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi ) search, and additional references were obtained through cross-referencing key articles cited in these papers. A total of 203 articles were considered relevant. The management of penetrating and blunt colon, rectal, and anal injuries has evolved during the past 150 years. Since the World War II mandate to divert penetrating colon injuries, primary repair or resection and anastomosis have found an increasing role in patients with nondestructive injuries. A critical review of recent literature better defines the role of primary repair and fecal diversion for these injuries and allows for better algorithms for the management of these injuries.
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Impact of PubMed search filters on the retrieval of evidence by physicians.
Shariff, Salimah Z; Sontrop, Jessica M; Haynes, R Brian; Iansavichus, Arthur V; McKibbon, K Ann; Wilczynski, Nancy L; Weir, Matthew A; Speechley, Mark R; Thind, Amardeep; Garg, Amit X
2012-02-21
Physicians face challenges when searching PubMed for research evidence, and they may miss relevant articles while retrieving too many nonrelevant articles. We investigated whether the use of search filters in PubMed improves searching by physicians. We asked a random sample of Canadian nephrologists to answer unique clinical questions derived from 100 systematic reviews of renal therapy. Physicians provided the search terms that they would type into PubMed to locate articles to answer these questions. We entered the physician-provided search terms into PubMed and applied two types of search filters alone or in combination: a methods-based filter designed to identify high-quality studies about treatment (clinical queries "therapy") and a topic-based filter designed to identify studies with renal content. We evaluated the comprehensiveness (proportion of relevant articles found) and efficiency (ratio of relevant to nonrelevant articles) of the filtered and nonfiltered searches. Primary studies included in the systematic reviews served as the reference standard for relevant articles. The average physician-provided search terms retrieved 46% of the relevant articles, while 6% of the retrieved articles were relevant (corrected) (the ratio of relevant to nonrelevant articles was 1:16). The use of both filters together produced a marked improvement in efficiency, resulting in a ratio of relevant to nonrelevant articles of 1:5 (16 percentage point improvement; 99% confidence interval 9% to 22%; p < 0.003) with no substantive change in comprehensiveness (44% of relevant articles found; p = 0.55). The use of PubMed search filters improves the efficiency of physician searches. Improved search performance may enhance the transfer of research into practice and improve patient care.
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Is ginger beneficial for nausea and vomiting? An update of the literature.
Marx, Wolfgang; Kiss, Nicole; Isenring, Liz
2015-06-01
Nausea and vomiting can pose a significant burden to patients in a variety of clinical settings. Previous evidence suggests that ginger may be an effective treatment for these symptoms; however, current evidence has been mixed. This article discusses recent clinical trials that have investigated ginger as a treatment for multiple types of nausea and vomiting. In addition, the potential mechanisms of action of ginger will be discussed. This article identified nine studies and seven reviews that investigated ginger for morning sickness, postoperative nausea and vomiting, chemotherapy-induced, and antiretroviral-induced nausea and vomiting. All studies reported that ginger provided a significant reduction in nausea and vomiting; however, the clinical relevance of some studies is less certain. Common limitations within the literature include the lack of standardized extracts, poorly controlled or blinded studies, and limited sample size. In addition, recent evidence has provided further support for 5-HT3 receptor antagonism as a mechanism by which ginger may exert its potentially beneficial effect on nausea and vomiting. The results of studies in this article suggest that ginger is a promising treatment for nausea and vomiting in a variety of clinical settings and possesses a clinically relevant mechanism. However, further studies are required to address the limitations in the current clinical literature before firm recommendations for its use can be made.
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Nullification: The Jury's Controversial Power. Teaching with the News.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Landman, James
2001-01-01
Focuses on the topic of jury nullification. Explores its origins and presents arguments for and against its use in the courtroom. Includes additional resources, such as: books, articles, a video, relevant recent cases, and other resources. Suggests that teachers can alert their students to current cases that may utilize jury nullification. (CMK)
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On-Line Literature Search and Full Articles in the NASA ADS
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Eichhorn, G.; Accomazzi, A.; Grant, C. S.; Kurtz, M. J.; Murray, S. S.
2001-01-01
The ADS provides free world-wide on-line access to over 2.2 million abstracts and over 1 million scanned pages of the astronomical and planetary literature plus over 4 million links to other relevant on-line information at http://ads.harvard.edu. Additional information is contained in the original extended abstract.
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Cognitive Load Theory: How Many Types of Load Does It Really Need?
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Kalyuga, Slava
2011-01-01
Cognitive load theory has been traditionally described as involving three separate and additive types of load. Germane load is considered as a learning-relevant load complementing extraneous and intrinsic load. This article argues that, in its traditional treatment, germane load is essentially indistinguishable from intrinsic load, and therefore…
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Kamrava, Brandon; Roehm, Pamela C
2017-08-01
Objective To systematically review the anatomy of the ossicular chain. Data Sources Google Scholar, PubMed, and otologic textbooks. Review Methods A systematic literature search was performed on January 26, 2015. Search terms used to discover articles consisted of combinations of 2 keywords. One keyword from both groups was used: [ ossicular, ossicle, malleus, incus, stapes] and [ morphology, morphometric, anatomy, variation, physiology], yielding more than 50,000 hits. Articles were then screened by title and abstract if they did not contain information relevant to human ossicular chain anatomy. In addition to this search, references of selected articles were studied as well as suggested relevant articles from publication databases. Standard otologic textbooks were screened using the search criteria. Results Thirty-three sources were selected for use in this review. From these studies, data on the composition, physiology, morphology, and morphometrics were acquired. In addition, any correlations or lack of correlations between features of the ossicular chain and other features of the ossicular chain or patient were noted, with bilateral symmetry between ossicles being the only important correlation reported. Conclusion There was significant variation in all dimensions of each ossicle between individuals, given that degree of variation, custom fitting, or custom manufacturing of prostheses for each patient could optimize prosthesis fit. From published data, an accurate 3-dimensional model of the malleus, incus, and stapes can be created, which can then be further modified for each patient's individual anatomy.
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Hammoud, Maya M; Morgan, Helen K; Edwards, Mary E; Lyon, Jennifer A; White, Casey
2012-01-01
Purpose To determine if video review of student performance during patient encounters is an effective tool for medical student learning. Methods Multiple bibliographic databases that include medical, general health care, education, psychology, and behavioral science literature were searched for the following terms: medical students, medical education, undergraduate medical education, education, self-assessment, self-evaluation, self-appraisal, feedback, videotape, video recording, televised, and DVD. The authors examined all abstracts resulting from this search and reviewed the full text of the relevant articles as well as additional articles identified in the reference lists of the relevant articles. Studies were classified by year of student (preclinical or clinical) and study design (controlled or non-controlled). Results A total of 67 articles met the final search criteria and were fully reviewed. Most studies were non-controlled and performed in the clinical years. Although the studies were quite variable in quality, design, and outcomes, in general video recording of performance and subsequent review by students with expert feedback had positive outcomes in improving feedback and ultimate performance. Video review with self-assessment alone was not found to be generally effective, but when linked with expert feedback it was superior to traditional feedback alone. Conclusion There are many methods for integrating effective use of video-captured performance into a program of learning. We recommend combining student self-assessment with feedback from faculty or other trained individuals for maximum effectiveness. We also recommend additional research in this area. PMID:23761999
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[The G-DRG System 2009--relevant changes for rheumatology].
Fiori, W; Liedtke-Dyong, A; Lakomek, H-J; Buscham, K; Lehmann, H; Liman, W; Fuchs, A-K; Bessler, F; Roeder, N
2010-05-01
The following article presents the major general and specific changes in the G-DRG system, in the classification systems for diagnoses and procedures as well as for the billing process for 2010. Since the G-DRG system is primarily a tool for the redistribution of resources, every hospital needs to analyze the economic effects of the changes by applying the G-DRG transition-grouper to its own cases. Depending on their clinical focus, rheumatological departments may experience positive or negative consequences from the adjustments. In addition, relevant current case law is considered.
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Using PubMed search strings for efficient retrieval of manual therapy research literature.
Pillastrini, Paolo; Vanti, Carla; Curti, Stefania; Mattioli, Stefano; Ferrari, Silvano; Violante, Francesco Saverio; Guccione, Andrew
2015-02-01
The aim of this study was to construct PubMed search strings that could efficiently retrieve studies on manual therapy (MT), especially for time-constrained clinicians. Our experts chose 11 Medical Subject Heading terms describing MT along with 84 additional potential terms. For each term that was able to retrieve more than 100 abstracts, we systematically extracted a sample of abstracts from which we estimated the proportion of studies potentially relevant to MT. We then constructed 2 search strings: 1 narrow (threshold of pertinent articles ≥40%) and 1 expanded (including all terms for which a proportion had been calculated). We tested these search strings against articles on 2 conditions relevant to MT (thoracic and temporomandibular pain). We calculated the number of abstracts needed to read (NNR) to identify 1 potentially pertinent article in the context of these conditions. Finally, we evaluated the efficiency of the proposed PubMed search strings to identify relevant articles included in a systematic review on spinal manipulative therapy for chronic low back pain. Fifty-five search terms were able to extract more than 100 citations. The NNR to find 1 potentially pertinent article using the narrow string was 1.2 for thoracic pain and 1.3 for temporomandibular pain, and the NNR for the expanded string was 1.9 and 1.6, respectively. The narrow search strategy retrieved all the randomized controlled trials included in the systematic review selected for comparison. The proposed PubMed search strings may help health care professionals locate potentially pertinent articles and review a large number of MT studies efficiently to better implement evidence-based practice. Copyright © 2015 National University of Health Sciences. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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Fields, Errol L; Trent, Maria E
2016-05-01
Polycystic ovary syndrome is characterized by an excess in androgen levels, ovarian dysfunction, and polycystic ovarian morphology but is also associated with metabolic dysfunction and risk factors for cardiovascular disease. To our knowledge, there are few therapeutic recommendations for these cardiometabolic risk factors and little evidence of their long-term clinical relevance to cardiovascular health. To determine metabolic and/or cardiovascular outcomes in polycystic ovary syndrome treatment literature since the publication of the most recent Endocrine Society clinical practice guidelines in 2013. We searched PubMed using a string of variations of polycystic ovary syndrome, therapy/treatment, and adolescence, and we included English-language original research articles published while the 2013 clinical practice guidelines were disseminated (ie, articles published from January 1, 2011, to June 1, 2015). Articles that appeared relevant based on a review of titles and abstracts were read in full to determine relevancy. References from relevant articles were reviewed for additional studies. Four topic areas emerged: (1) lifestyle modification, (2) metformin vs placebo or estrogen-progestin oral contraceptives, (3) insulin-sensitizing agents, and (4) estrogen-progestin formulations. Most studies assessed the role of metformin as a monotherapy or dual therapy supplement and found significant benefit when including metformin in polycystic ovary syndrome treatment regimens. Studies showed improvements in cardiometabolic risk factors and, in several, androgen excess and cutaneous and menstrual symptoms. Studies were limited by sample size (range, 22-171), few adolescent participants, and short-term outcomes. Findings show potential for metformin and estrogen-progestin dual therapy but warrant longitudinal studies examining outcomes from adolescence through middle age to determine the effect on long-term cardiovascular health.
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Investigation of Financial Conflict of Interest among Published Ventral Hernia Research.
Cherla, Deepa V; Olavarria, Oscar A; Bernardi, Karla; Viso, Cristina P; Moses, Maya L; Holihan, Julie L; Ko, Tien C; Kao, Lillian S; Liang, Mike K
2018-03-01
Discordance exists between author self-disclosure and the Open Payments Database in various surgical fields, but the effects of this discordance on study design and presentation are unknown. We hypothesized that, among ventral hernia publications, discordance exists between industry and physician self-reported conflicts of interest (COIs); authors disclose relevant COIs; and disclosure and relevant COIs affect study favorability. We conducted a double-blinded, prospective, observational study of published articles. PubMed was searched in reverse chronological order for clinical articles pertaining to ventral hernias. Authors' self-disclosed conflicts were compared with those on the Open Payments Database. Two reviewers blinded to article disclosure status determined jointly whether the COIs were relevant to the article. Three blinded referees independently voted whether each article was favorable to discussed subject matter. The primary end point was study favorability. Secondary outcomes included disclosure status and relevance. One hundred articles were included. Compared with authors with no COIs, authors with a COI, self-disclosed or not, were twice as likely to write results favorable to industry. Of those with a COI, most of the articles had a relevant COI (37 of 45 [82.2%]), and 25% of relevant COIs were not disclosed by authors. Among authors with a relevant COI, study favorability remained unchanged at 68.5% (control: no COI 33.3%; p < 0.001). Within the ventral hernia literature, 70% of articles have a COI. Self-reporting of COI is discordant in 63% of articles. Twenty-five percent of relevant COI are not disclosed. Having a COI increases the chances that an article will cast a favorable impression on the company paying the authors by 200%. Copyright © 2017 American College of Surgeons. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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Goolsby, Tiffany A; Jakeman, Bernadette; Gaynes, Robert P
2018-03-01
The objective of this paper was to review and evaluate the literature on metronidazole-associated peripheral neuropathy and determine the relevance in clinical practice. MEDLINE/PubMed, EBSCO, and Google Scholar were searched through February 2017 using the search terms metronidazole and peripheral neuropathy, or polyneuropathy, or paresthesia, or neurotoxicity. Relevant case reports, retrospective studies, surveys, and review articles were included. Bibliographies of all relevant articles were reviewed for additional sources. Overall, metronidazole is generally well tolerated, but serious neurotoxicity, including peripheral neuropathy, has been reported. The overall incidence of peripheral neuropathy associated with metronidazole is unknown. Our review found 36 case reports (40 unique patients) of metronidazole-associated peripheral neuropathy, with most cases (31/40) receiving a >42 g total (>4 weeks) of therapy. In addition, we reviewed 13 clinical studies and found varying rates of peripheral neuropathy from 0 to 50%. Within these clinical studies, we found a higher incidence of peripheral neuropathy in patients receiving >42 g total (>4 weeks) of metronidazole compared with those patients receiving ≤42 g total (17.9% vs. 1.7%). Nearly all patients had complete resolution of symptoms. In conclusion, peripheral neuropathy is rare in patients who receive ≤42 g total of metronidazole. Patients who receive higher total doses may be at higher risk of peripheral neuropathy, but symptoms resolve after discontinuation of therapy in most patients. Antimicrobial stewardship programs may consider use of antibiotic combinations that include metronidazole over broad-spectrum alternatives when treating with ≤42 g total of the drug (≤4 weeks). Published by Elsevier B.V.
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Clinical relevance in anesthesia journals.
Lauritsen, Jakob; Møller, Ann M
2006-04-01
The purpose of this review is to present the latest knowledge and research on the definition and distribution of clinically relevant articles in anesthesia journals. It will also discuss the importance of the chosen methodology and outcome of articles. In the last few years, more attention has been paid to evidence-based medicine in anesthesia. Several articles on the subject have focused on the need to base clinical decisions on sound research employing both methodological rigor and clinically relevant outcomes. The number of systematic reviews in anesthesia literature is increasing as well as the focus on diminishing the number of surrogate outcomes. It has been shown that the impact factor is not a valid measure of establishing the level of clinical relevance to a journal. This review presents definitions of clinically relevant anesthesia articles. A clinically relevant article employs both methodological rigor and a clinically relevant outcome. The terms methodological rigor and clinical outcomes are fully discussed in the review as well as problems with journal impact factors.
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Master apical file size - smaller or larger: a systematic review of microbial reduction.
Aminoshariae, A; Kulild, J
2015-11-01
The purpose of this systematic review was to determine, in patients undergoing root canal treatment, whether apical enlargement of canals affected microbial reduction. A PICO (population, intervention, comparison and outcome) strategy was developed to identify previously published studies dealing with apical size of canal and microbial reduction. The MEDLINE, Embase, Cochrane and PubMed databases were searched. Additionally, the bibliographies of all relevant articles and textbooks were manually searched. Based on inclusion and exclusion criteria, two reviewers independently selected the relevant articles. Due to the variety of methodologies and different techniques used to measure outcome for master apical file enlargement, it was not possible to standardize the research data and to apply a meta-analysis. Seven articles were identified that met the inclusion criteria. Five of the seven articles generally concluded that canal enlargement reduced bioburden in the root canal system. Two articles reported no difference in canals enlarged to size 25 or 40. The results of the systematic review confirmed that more evidence-based research in this area is needed. With the limited information currently available, the best current available clinical evidence suggests that contemporary chemomechanical debridement techniques with canal enlargement techniques do not eliminate bacteria during root canal treatment at any size. © 2014 International Endodontic Journal. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Bichurina, Seimbika U.; Gabitova, Elvira M.
2016-01-01
The relevance of the problem declared in article is caused by the fact that modern development of production demands from specialists of the enterprises not only the high level of formation of the professional competences, but also the additional, the transprofessional competences, conforming to the requirements problems of the production cluster.…
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Dlamini, S. Nombuso; Martinovic, Dragana
2007-01-01
This article is about an ongoing initiative that addresses the challenges confronted by teacher candidates to whom English is an additional language and whose cultures are considered different from those of the Canadian mainstream. The initiative is a seminar, Language and Cultural Engagement, in which teacher candidates are prepared for practice…
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Global Emergency Medicine: A Review of the Literature From 2015.
Becker, Torben K; Hansoti, Bhakti; Bartels, Susan; Bisanzo, Mark; Jacquet, Gabrielle A; Lunney, Kevin; Marsh, Regan; Osei-Ampofo, Maxwell; Trehan, Indi; Lam, Christopher; Levine, Adam C
2016-10-01
The Global Emergency Medicine Literature Review (GEMLR) conducts an annual search of peer-reviewed and gray literature relevant to global emergency medicine (EM) to identify, review, and disseminate the most important new research in this field to a global audience of academics and clinical practitioners. This year 12,435 articles written in six languages were identified by our search. These articles were distributed among 20 reviewers for initial screening based on their relevance to the field of global EM. An additional two reviewers searched the gray literature. A total of 723 articles were deemed appropriate by at least one reviewer and approved by their editor for formal scoring of overall quality and importance. Two independent reviewers scored all articles. A total of 723 articles met our predetermined inclusion criteria and underwent full review. Sixty percent were categorized as emergency care in resource-limited settings (ECRLS), 17% as EM development (EMD), and 23% as disaster and humanitarian response (DHR). Twenty-four articles received scores of 18.5 or higher out of a maximum score 20 and were selected for formal summary and critique. Inter-rater reliability between reviewers gave an intraclass correlation coefficient of 0.71 (95% confidence interval = 0.66 to 0.75). Studies and reviews with a focus on infectious diseases, trauma, and the diagnosis and treatment of diseases common in resource-limited settings represented the majority of articles selected for final review. In 2015, there were almost twice as many articles found by our search compared to the 2014 review. The number of EMD articles increased, while the number ECRLS articles decreased. The number of DHR articles remained stable. As in prior years, the majority of articles focused on infectious diseases. © 2016 by the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine.
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Global Emergency Medicine: A Review of the Literature From 2016.
Becker, Torben K; Hansoti, Bhakti; Bartels, Susan; Hayward, Alison Schroth; Hexom, Braden J; Lunney, Kevin M; Marsh, Regan H; Osei-Ampofo, Maxwell; Trehan, Indi; Chang, Julia; Levine, Adam C
2017-09-01
The Global Emergency Medicine Literature Review (GEMLR) conducts an annual search of peer-reviewed and gray literature relevant to global emergency medicine (EM) to identify, review, and disseminate the most important new research in this field to a global audience of academics and clinical practitioners. This year 13,890 articles written in four languages were identified by our search. These articles were distributed among 20 reviewers for initial screening based on their relevance to the field of global EM. An additional two reviewers searched the gray literature. All articles that were deemed appropriate by at least one reviewer and approved by their editor underwent formal scoring of overall quality and importance. Two independent reviewers scored all articles. A total of 716 articles met our inclusion criteria and underwent full review. Fifty-nine percent were categorized as emergency care in resource-limited settings, 17% as EM development, and 24% as disaster and humanitarian response. Nineteen articles received scores of 18.5 or higher out of a maximum score of 20 and were selected for formal summary and critique. Inter-rater reliability testing between reviewers revealed Cohen's kappa of 0.441. In 2016, the total number of articles identified by our search continued to increase. The proportion of articles in each of the three categories remained stable. Studies and reviews with a focus on infectious diseases, pediatrics, and the use of ultrasound in resource-limited settings represented the majority of articles selected for final review. © 2017 The Authors. Academic Emergency Medicine published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine (SAEM).
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Quantitative magnetic resonance micro-imaging methods for pharmaceutical research.
Mantle, M D
2011-09-30
The use of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) as a tool in pharmaceutical research is now well established and the current literature covers a multitude of different pharmaceutically relevant research areas. This review focuses on the use of quantitative magnetic resonance micro-imaging techniques and how they have been exploited to extract information that is of direct relevance to the pharmaceutical industry. The article is divided into two main areas. The first half outlines the theoretical aspects of magnetic resonance and deals with basic magnetic resonance theory, the effects of nuclear spin-lattice (T(1)), spin-spin (T(2)) relaxation and molecular diffusion upon image quantitation, and discusses the applications of rapid magnetic resonance imaging techniques. In addition to the theory, the review aims to provide some practical guidelines for the pharmaceutical researcher with an interest in MRI as to which MRI pulse sequences/protocols should be used and when. The second half of the article reviews the recent advances and developments that have appeared in the literature concerning the use of quantitative micro-imaging methods to pharmaceutically relevant research. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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Global emergency medicine: a review of the literature from 2014.
Becker, Torben K; Bartels, Susan; Hansoti, Bhakti; Jacquet, Gabrielle A; Lunney, Kevin; Marsh, Regan; Osei-Ampofo, Maxwell; Lam, Christopher; Levine, Adam C
2015-08-01
The Global Emergency Medicine Literature Review (GEMLR) conducts an annual search of peer-reviewed and gray literature relevant to global emergency medicine (EM) to identify, review, and disseminate the most important new research in this field to a worldwide audience of academics and clinical practitioners. This year 6,376 articles written in six languages were identified by our search. These articles were distributed among 20 reviewers for initial screening based on their relevance to the field of global EM. An additional two reviewers searched the gray literature. A total of 477 articles were deemed appropriate by at least one reviewer and approved by the editor for formal scoring of overall quality and importance. Of the 477 articles that met our predetermined inclusion criteria, 63% were categorized as emergency care in resource-limited settings, 13% as EM development, and 23% as disaster and humanitarian response. Twenty-five articles received scores of 17.5 or higher and were selected for formal summary and critique. Inter-rater reliability for two reviewers using our scoring system was good, with an intraclass correlation coefficient of 0.657 (95% confidence interval = 0.589 to 0.713). Studies and reviews focusing on infectious diseases, trauma, and the diagnosis and treatment of diseases common in resource-limited settings represented the majority of articles selected for final review. In 2014, there were fewer total articles, but a slightly higher absolute number of articles screening in for formal scoring, when compared to the 2013 review. The number of EM development articles decreased, while the number of disaster and humanitarian response articles increased. As in prior years, the majority of articles focused on infectious diseases and trauma. © 2015 by the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine.
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2013-01-01
Introduction: Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) Articles 20, 21, and 22 call for strong monitoring and reporting of tobacco use and factors influencing use and disease (Articles 20 and 21) and for collaboration among the Parties and relevant organizations to share resources, knowledge, and expertise on all relevant tobacco control strategies (Article 22). Methods: This paper provides background information and discusses research strategies that would strengthen these efforts and better inform the Parties. By necessity, Articles 20 and 21 are discussed separately from Article 22, although 1 example that relates to both 20/21 and 22 is discussed at the end. Results: Twelve important research opportunities on surveillance and evaluation are recognized, along with 4 on collaboration. The authors believe that the 6 most important areas for research would study (a) possible underreporting of tobacco use among certain demographic groups in some countries, (b) measures of industry activities, (c) optimal sampling strategies, (d) sentinel surveillance, (e) networks of tobacco companies and their partners as they promote tobacco use and interfere with implementation of the FCTC, and (f) network/relationship factors that impact diffusion of knowledge and decision making on the implementation of the FCTC. In addition, we call for a review process of existing surveillance and evaluation strategies to coordinate activities to make optimal use of existing resources. This activity would involve networking as prescribed in Article 22. Conclusions: Studies and activities such as these would facilitate control of the tobacco epidemic. PMID:23335488
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Giovino, Gary A; Kulak, Jessica A; Kalsbeek, William D; Leischow, Scott J
2013-04-01
Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) Articles 20, 21, and 22 call for strong monitoring and reporting of tobacco use and factors influencing use and disease (Articles 20 and 21) and for collaboration among the Parties and relevant organizations to share resources, knowledge, and expertise on all relevant tobacco control strategies (Article 22). This paper provides background information and discusses research strategies that would strengthen these efforts and better inform the parties. By necessity, Articles 20 and 21 are discussed separately from Article 22, although 1 example that relates to both 20/21 and 22 is discussed at the end. Twelve important research opportunities on surveillance and evaluation are recognized, along with 4 on collaboration. The authors believe that the 6 most important areas for research would study (a) possible underreporting of tobacco use among certain demographic groups in some countries, (b) measures of industry activities, (c) optimal sampling strategies, (d) sentinel surveillance, (e) networks of tobacco companies and their partners as they promote tobacco use and interfere with implementation of the FCTC, and (f) network/relationship factors that impact diffusion of knowledge and decision making on the implementation of the FCTC. In addition, we call for a review process of existing surveillance and evaluation strategies to coordinate activities to make optimal use of existing resources. This activity would involve networking as prescribed in Article 22. Studies and activities such as these would facilitate control of the tobacco epidemic.
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Wang, Ming-Dong; Gomes, James; Cashman, Neil R; Little, Julian; Krewski, Daniel
2014-12-01
The association between occupational exposure to lead and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) was examined through systematic review and meta-analyses of relevant epidemiological studies and reported according to PRISMA guidelines. Relevant studies were searched in multiple bibliographic databases through September 2013; additional articles were tracked through PubMed until submission. All records were screened in DistillerSR, and the data extracted from included articles were synthesized with meta-analysis. The risk of developing ALS among individuals with a history of exposure to lead was almost doubled (odds ratio, 1.81; 95% confidence interval, 1.39 to 2.36) on the basis of nine included case-control studies with specific lead exposure information, with no apparent heterogeneity across included studies (I = 14%). The attributable risk of ALS because of exposure to lead was estimated to be 5%. Previous exposure to lead may be a risk factor for ALS.
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Chiu, Hui-Ju; Cheng, Su-Fen; Lee, Ya-Ling
2015-02-01
The Gender Equality in Employment Act was enacted to protect gender equality in the workplace. Increasingly tight controls over operating costs by employers and the increasingly heavy workloads of nurses pose major challenges to the labor rights of female nurses. This article introduces the labor rights of female nurses as stated in relevant laws and regulations such as the Gender Equality in Employment Act, the Labor Standards Act, the Labor Insurance Act, Regulations on Leave-Taking for Workers, Regulations on Implementing Unpaid Parental Leave for Raising Children Pension Act, and the Employment Insurance Act. In addition, this paper introduces three judicial decisions that highlight domestic judicial practice with regard to labor rights in nursing. It is hoped that nurses may gain a better understanding of their rights and challenges from these judicial decisions. Finally, this article makes recommendations to help nurses overcome the difficulties in implementing labor rights. It is hoped that this article helps increase the general awareness among nurses of their labor rights and encourages nurses to pursue and secure their rightful labor rights from their employer.
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Reflections on relevance: Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics in 2004.
Balon, Richard
2005-01-01
Relevance of an article is a highly desirable yet hardly predictable quality at the time of its publication. Article relevance is frequently measured by the impact factor of the journal where the article is published. Furthermore, impact factor, citation index and citation analysis are used as a measure of research progress and scientific wealth of a nation. The wisdom and significance of this approach to relevance is debatable and thus discussed here. In 2004, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics published a variety of articles which, in the author's view, are clinically relevant. Several selected clinically relevant issues reviewed in this article include: the conceptualization of fibromyalgia as a stress disorder; the psychosocial impact and psychosocial interventions in cancer; the impact of alexithymia on patient care; the possible relationship between depression and nutrition (namely intake of folate and pyridoxal phosphate); the significance of hypercoagulability in panic-like anxiety; the questionable value of single isomer drugs, and the relevance and adequacy of clinimetrics versus psychometrics in clinical research. The reviewed issues seem to be relevant to clinical practice, research or both, but also to our critical thinking, and the critical review of the developments in psychiatry and psychology. Copyright 2005 S. Karger AG, Basel.
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Reese, Christina; Mittag, Oskar
2013-01-01
The purpose of the article is to summarize evidence and recommendations for psychological interventions in the rehabilitation of patients with chronic low back pain. We carried out a systematic literature search in several databases and on the websites of professional associations to identify relevant reviews and guidelines. In addition to the…
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Lempert, David H
2013-01-01
This article takes the educational vision of people's history an additional step, combining it with experiential approaches to democratic education that have developed over the past century and presenting the tools for students and adults to take control of their own historical study, control their heritage, and personalize the study of…
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Imagining a Future, Living in the Present and Remembering the Past
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Spencer, Stephanie
2017-01-01
The remit for this short piece was to identify themes emerging from the articles in this edition by Julie McLeod, Duncan Waite and Eugenie Samier, to consider how these themes reflect on the current field, and to identify their ongoing relevance. Additionally, I was asked to consider the current challenges that the field is facing and what this…
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The criminalisation of HIV transmission
Chalmers, J
2002-01-01
This paper, in addition to providing some background to the Kelly case, briefly explores the current possibilities for prosecution under English law. It then proceeds to outline and comment on the issues relevant to criminalisation, responding in part to points made by Bennett, Draper, and Frith and also by Bird and Leigh Brown in a recent article in the British Medical Journal. PMID:12042400
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Kahle, Jason T; Highsmith, M Jason; Kenney, John; Ruth, Tim; Lunseth, Paul A; Ertl, Janos
2017-06-01
This literature review was undertaken to determine if commonly held views about the benefits of a bone bridge technique are supported by the literature. Four databases were searched for articles pertaining to surgical strategies specific to a bone bridge technique of the transtibial amputee. A total of 35 articles were identified as potential articles. Authors included methodology that was applied to separate topics. Following identification, articles were excluded if they were determined to be low quality evidence or not pertinent. Nine articles were identified to be pertinent to one of the topics: Perioperative Care, Acute Care, Subjective Analysis and Function. Two articles sorted into multiple topics. Two articles were sorted into the Perioperative Care topic, 4 articles sorted into the Acute Care topic, 2 articles into the Subjective Analysis topic and 5 articles into the Function topic. There are no high quality (level one or two) clinical trials reporting comparisons of the bone bridge technique to traditional methods. There is limited evidence supporting the clinical outcomes of the bone bridge technique. There is no agreement supporting or discouraging the perioperative and acute care aspects of the bone bridge technique. There is no evidence defining an interventional comparison of the bone bridge technique. Current level III evidence supports a bone bridge technique as an equivalent option to the non-bone bridge transtibial amputation technique. Formal level I and II clinical trials will need to be considered in the future to guide clinical practice. Clinical relevance Clinical Practice Guidelines are evidence based. This systematic literature review identifies the highest quality evidence to date which reports a consensus of outcomes agreeing bone bridge is as safe and effective as alternatives. The clinical relevance is understanding bone bridge could additionally provide a mechanistic advantage for the transtibial amputee.
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Nease, Donald E
2016-01-01
Practice-based research supported by practice-based research network (PBRN) infrastructure has historically provided an important method for challenging guidelines and evidence arising from secondary and tertiary care settings. This sample of current practice-based research in this issue of the JABFM provides an opportunity to ask whether practice-based research continues to address questions relevant to primary care practices and clinicians and whether a PBRN infrastructure is instrumental to maintaining the relevance and feasibility of practice-based research. Based on this issue's articles, the current state of practice-based research seems to be good, at face value addressing relevant issues for primary care practices. Less clear is the degree to which PBRN infrastructures and relationships informed the questions asked and facilitated the implementation of the studies presented. Practice-based research-related articles that routinely report about how study questions arose-from practices and their clinicians, staff and communities, or elsewhere-could help directly answer questions of relevance. In addition, reporting how practices are recruited to practice-based research studies could inform the degree to which ongoing relationships central to PBRNs facilitate the recruitment and conduct of practice-based research. © Copyright 2016 by the American Board of Family Medicine.
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Vocabulary Knowledge of Children With Cochlear Implants: A Meta-Analysis
2016-01-01
This article employs meta-analysis procedures to evaluate whether children with cochlear implants demonstrate lower spoken-language vocabulary knowledge than peers with normal hearing. Of the 754 articles screened and 52 articles coded, 12 articles met predetermined inclusion criteria (with an additional 5 included for one analysis). Effect sizes were calculated for relevant studies and forest plots were used to compare differences between groups of children with normal hearing and children with cochlear implants. Weighted effect size averages for expressive vocabulary measures (g = −11.99; p < .001) and for receptive vocabulary measures (g = −20.33; p < .001) indicated that children with cochlear implants demonstrate lower vocabulary knowledge than children with normal hearing. Additional analyses confirmed the value of comparing vocabulary knowledge of children with hearing loss to a tightly matched (e.g., socioeconomic status-matched) sample. Age of implantation, duration of implantation, and chronological age at testing were not significantly related to magnitude of weighted effect size. Findings from this analysis represent a first step toward resolving discrepancies in the vocabulary knowledge literature. PMID:26712811
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Relevance and reliability of experimental data in human health risk assessment of pesticides.
Kaltenhäuser, Johanna; Kneuer, Carsten; Marx-Stoelting, Philip; Niemann, Lars; Schubert, Jens; Stein, Bernd; Solecki, Roland
2017-08-01
Evaluation of data relevance, reliability and contribution to uncertainty is crucial in regulatory health risk assessment if robust conclusions are to be drawn. Whether a specific study is used as key study, as additional information or not accepted depends in part on the criteria according to which its relevance and reliability are judged. In addition to GLP-compliant regulatory studies following OECD Test Guidelines, data from peer-reviewed scientific literature have to be evaluated in regulatory risk assessment of pesticide active substances. Publications should be taken into account if they are of acceptable relevance and reliability. Their contribution to the overall weight of evidence is influenced by factors including test organism, study design and statistical methods, as well as test item identification, documentation and reporting of results. Various reports make recommendations for improving the quality of risk assessments and different criteria catalogues have been published to support evaluation of data relevance and reliability. Their intention was to guide transparent decision making on the integration of the respective information into the regulatory process. This article describes an approach to assess the relevance and reliability of experimental data from guideline-compliant studies as well as from non-guideline studies published in the scientific literature in the specific context of uncertainty and risk assessment of pesticides. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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Agarwal, Shashank; Liu, Feifan; Yu, Hong
2011-10-03
Protein-protein interaction (PPI) is an important biomedical phenomenon. Automatically detecting PPI-relevant articles and identifying methods that are used to study PPI are important text mining tasks. In this study, we have explored domain independent features to develop two open source machine learning frameworks. One performs binary classification to determine whether the given article is PPI relevant or not, named "Simple Classifier", and the other one maps the PPI relevant articles with corresponding interaction method nodes in a standardized PSI-MI (Proteomics Standards Initiative-Molecular Interactions) ontology, named "OntoNorm". We evaluated our system in the context of BioCreative challenge competition using the standardized data set. Our systems are amongst the top systems reported by the organizers, attaining 60.8% F1-score for identifying relevant documents, and 52.3% F1-score for mapping articles to interaction method ontology. Our results show that domain-independent machine learning frameworks can perform competitively well at the tasks of detecting PPI relevant articles and identifying the methods that were used to study the interaction in such articles. Simple Classifier is available at http://sourceforge.net/p/simpleclassify/home/ and OntoNorm at http://sourceforge.net/p/ontonorm/home/.
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Searching the scientific literature: implications for quantitative and qualitative reviews.
Wu, Yelena P; Aylward, Brandon S; Roberts, Michael C; Evans, Spencer C
2012-08-01
Literature reviews are an essential step in the research process and are included in all empirical and review articles. Electronic databases are commonly used to gather this literature. However, several factors can affect the extent to which relevant articles are retrieved, influencing future research and conclusions drawn. The current project examined articles obtained by comparable search strategies in two electronic archives using an exemplar search to illustrate factors that authors should consider when designing their own search strategies. Specifically, literature searches were conducted in PsycINFO and PubMed targeting review articles on two exemplar disorders (bipolar disorder and attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder) and issues of classification and/or differential diagnosis. Articles were coded for relevance and characteristics of article content. The two search engines yielded significantly different proportions of relevant articles overall and by disorder. Keywords differed across search engines for the relevant articles identified. Based on these results, it is recommended that when gathering literature for review papers, multiple search engines should be used, and search syntax and strategies be tailored to the unique capabilities of particular engines. For meta-analyses and systematic reviews, authors may consider reporting the extent to which different archives or sources yielded relevant articles for their particular review. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Kropp, Roy K.
2013-01-01
A literature search was conducted by using the Web of Science® databases component of the ISI Web of KnowledgeSM to identify recent articles that would be useful to help assess the potential environmental effects of renewable energy development in the ocean, with emphasis on seabirds and fish. Several relatively recent general review articles that included possible effects on seabirds and fish were examined to begin the search process. From these articles, several general topics of potential environmental effects on seabirds and fish were derived. These topics were used as the primary search factors. Additional sources were identified by cross-checking themore » Web of Science databases for articles that cited the review articles. It also became clear that the potential effects frequently w« less
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Bächle, Maria; Kohal, Ralf J
2004-12-01
Titanium is the standard material for dental and orthopaedical implants. The good biocompatibility has been proven in many experimental and clinical investigations. Different titanium topographies were tested in vitro using different cell culture models. The aim of this systematic review was to evaluate and summarize the medical/dental literature to assess on which kind of titanium surface structure the osteoblast-like osteosarcoma cells MG63 show the best proliferation and differentiation rate, and the best protein synthesis. A systematic search was carried out using different on-line databases (PubMed, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, International Poster Journal), supplemented by handsearch in selected journals and by examination of the bibliographies of the identified articles. Inclusion and exclusion criterias were applied when considering relevant articles. Studies which met the inclusion criteria were included and data extraction was undertaken by one reviewer. The search yielded 348 references. Nine articles referring to nine different studies were relevant to our question. Additionally 8 less relevant articles were identified. It was found that regularly textured surfaces of pure titanium with R(a) values (average roughness) of around 4 mum are well-accepted by MG63 cells. The surfaces and culture conditions vary widely. Therefore it is still difficult to recommend one particular surface. It seems that there are no differences in cell proliferation and differentiation on surfaces treated by blasting and etching. Standardization in fabrication and size of the different test surfaces as well as homogeneity in culture times and plating densities should be aspects for future research.
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Major publications in the critical care pharmacotherapy literature: January-December 2014.
Day, Sarah A; Cucci, Michaelia; Droege, Molly E; Holzhausen, Jenna M; Kram, Bridgette; Kram, Shawn; Pajoumand, Mehrnaz; Parker, Christine R; Patel, Mona K; Peitz, Gregory J; Poore, Alia; Turck, Charles J; Van Berkel, Megan A; Wong, Adrian; Zomp, Amanda; Rech, Megan A
2015-11-15
Nine recently published articles and one guideline with important implications for critical care pharmacy practice are summarized. The Critical Care Pharmacotherapy Literature Update (CCPLU) group includes more than 40 experienced critical care pharmacists across the United States. Group members monitor 29 peer-reviewed journals on an ongoing basis to identify literature relevant to pharmacy practice in the critical care setting. After evaluation by CCPLU group members, selected articles are chosen for summarization and distribution to group members nationwide based on applicability to practice, relevance, and study design and strength. Hundreds of relevant articles were evaluated by the group in 2014, of which 114 were summarized and disseminated to CCPLU group members. From among those 114 publications, 10 deemed to be of particularly high utility to the critical care practitioner were selected for inclusion in this review for their potential to change practice or reinforce current evidence-based practice. One of the selected articles presents updated recommendations on the management of patients with atrial fibrillation (AF); the other 9 address topics such as albumin replacement in patients with severe sepsis, use of enteral statins for acute respiratory distress syndrome, fibrinolysis for patients with intermediate-risk pulmonary embolism, the use of unfractionated heparin versus bivalirudin for primary percutaneous coronary intervention, and early protocol-based care for septic shock. There were many important additions to the critical care pharmacotherapy literature in 2014, including a joint guideline for the management of AF and reports of clinical trials. Copyright © 2015 by the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists, Inc. All rights reserved.
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Major publications in the critical care pharmacotherapy literature: January-December 2013.
Rech, Megan A; Day, Sarah A; Kast, Jenna M; Donahey, Elisabeth E; Pajoumand, Mehrnaz; Kram, Shawn J; Erdman, Michael J; Peitz, Gregory J; Allen, John M; Palmer, Allison; Kram, Bridgette; Harris, Serena A; Turck, Charles J
2015-02-01
Ten recently published articles with important implications for critical care pharmacotherapy are summarized. The Critical Care Pharmacotherapy Literature Update (CCPLU) group is a national assembly of experienced intensive care unit (ICU) pharmacists across the United States. Group members monitor 25 peer-reviewed journals on an ongoing basis to identify literature relevant to pharmacy practice in the critical care setting. After evaluation by CCPLU group members, selected articles are chosen for summarization and distribution to group members nationwide based on (1) applicability to critical care practice, (2) relevance to pharmacy practitioners, and (3) quality of evidence or research methodology. Hundreds of relevant articles were evaluated by the group during the period January-December 2013, of which 98 were summarized and disseminated nationally to CCPLU group members. Among those 98 publications, 10 deemed to be of particularly high utility to critical care practitioners were included in this review. The 10 articles address topics such as rapid lowering of blood pressure in patients with intracranial hemorrhage, adjunctive therapy to prevent renal injury due to acute heart failure, triple-drug therapy to improve neurologic outcomes after cardiac arrest, and continuous versus intermittent infusion of β-lactam antibiotics in severe sepsis. There were many important additions to the critical care pharmacotherapy literature in 2013, including an updated guideline on the management of myocardial infarction and reports on advances in research focused on improving outcomes in patients with stroke or cardiac arrest and preventing the spread of drug-resistant pathogens in the ICU. Copyright © 2015 by the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists, Inc. All rights reserved.
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Safari, Mohammad Reza; Meier, Margrit Regula
2015-01-01
This review is an attempt to untangle the complexity of transtibial prosthetic socket fit and perhaps find some indication of whether a particular prosthetic socket type might be best for a given situation. In addition, we identified knowledge gaps, thus providing direction for possible future research. We followed the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) guidelines, using medical subject headings and standard key words to search for articles in relevant databases. No restrictions were made on study design and type of outcome measure used. From the obtained search results (n = 1,863), 35 articles were included. The relevant data were entered into a predefined data form that included the Downs and Black risk of bias assessment checklist. This article presents the results from the systematic review of the quantitative outcomes (n = 27 articles). Trends indicate that vacuum-assisted suction sockets improve gait symmetry, volume control, and residual limb health more than other socket designs. Hydrostatic sockets seem to create less inconsistent socket fittings, reducing a problem that greatly influences outcome measures. Knowledge gaps exist in the understanding of clinically meaningful changes in socket fit and its effect on biomechanical outcomes. Further, safe and comfortable pressure thresholds under various conditions should be determined through a systematic approach.
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Development of an arthroscopically compatible polymer additive layer manufacture technique.
Partridge, Simon W; Benning, Matthew J; German, Matthew J; Dalgarno, Kenneth W
2017-06-01
This article describes a proof of concept study designed to evaluate the potential of an in vivo three-dimensional printing route to support minimally invasive repair of the musculoskeletal system. The study uses a photocurable material to additively manufacture in situ a model implant and demonstrates that this can be achieved effectively within a clinically relevant timescale. The approach has the potential to be applied with a wide range of light-curable materials and with development could be applied to create functionally gradient structures in vivo.
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Tatarewicz, Suzanna M; Mytych, Daniel T; Manning, Marta Starcevic; Swanson, Steven J; Moxness, Michael S; Chirmule, Narendra
2014-06-01
All therapeutic proteins have the potential to induce anti-drug antibodies (ADA). Clinically relevant ADA can impact efficacy and/or safety of a biological therapeutic. Immunogenicity assessment strategy evaluates binding and neutralizing ADA, and the need for additional characterization (e.g., epitope, titer and so on) is determined using a risk-based approach. The choice of characterization assays depends on the type, application and immunogenicity of the therapeutic. ADA characterization can impact the interpretation of the risk profile of a given therapeutic, and offers insight into opportunities for risk mitigation and management. This article describes common ADA characterization methods. Strategic assessment and characterization of clinically relevant ADA are discussed, in order to support clinical options for safe and effective patient care and disease management.
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The Case for Lung Cancer Screening: What Nurses Need to Know.
Sorrie, Kerrin; Cates, Lisa; Hill, Alethea
2016-06-01
Lung cancer screening with low-dose helical computed tomography (LDCT) can improve high-risk individuals' chances of being diagnosed at an earlier stage and increase survival. The aims of this article are to present the risk factors associated with the development of lung cancer, identify patients at high risk for lung cancer qualifying for LDCT screening, and understand the importance of early lung cancer detection through the use of LDCT screening. PubMed and CINAHL® databases were searched with key words lung cancer screening to identify full-text academic articles from 2004-2014. This resulted in 529 articles from PubMed and 195 from CINAHL. PubMed offered suggestions for additional relevant journal articles. The National Comprehensive Cancer Network guidelines also provided substantial evidence-based information. Nurses need to provide support, education, and resources for patients undergoing lung cancer screening.
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Relevance of microbial coculture fermentations in biotechnology.
Bader, J; Mast-Gerlach, E; Popović, M K; Bajpai, R; Stahl, U
2010-08-01
The purpose of this article is to review coculture fermentations in industrial biotechnology. Examples for the advantageous utilization of cocultures instead of single cultivations include the production of bulk chemicals, enzymes, food additives, antimicrobial substances and microbial fuel cells. Coculture fermentations may result in increased yield, improved control of product qualities and the possibility of utilizing cheaper substrates. Cocultivation of different micro-organisms may also help to identify and develop new biotechnological substances. The relevance of coculture fermentations and the potential of improving existing processes as well as the production of new chemical compounds in industrial biotechnology are pointed out here by means of more than 35 examples.
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Bioethics: secular philosophy, Jewish law and modern medicine.
Steinberg, A
1989-07-01
The recent unprecedented expansion of scientific knowledge and the greater awareness and involvement of the public in medical matters, as well as additional causes described here, have impelled the development of a new form of bioethics over the past three decades. Jewish law and philosophy have always dealt with medical issues. In recent years, however, a voluminous body of literature devoted to Jewish medical ethics has developed. It covers all relevant issues and offers Jewish solutions to many complex problems arising from the recent scientific breakthroughs. This article analyzes the differences between Jewish and secular philosophies regarding fundamental moral theories relevant to modern medical ethics.
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[Deceased donation in renal transplantation].
Thuret, R; Kleinclauss, F; Terrier, N; Timsit, M O
2016-11-01
To review epidemiologic data's and medical results of deceased donation in renal transplantation. Relevant publications were identified through Medline (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov) and Embase (http://www.embase.com) database using the following keywords, alone or in association, "brain death; cardiac arrest; deceased donation; organ procurement; transplantation". Articles were selected according to methods, language of publication and relevance. The reference lists were used to identify additional historical studies of interest. Both prospective and retrospective series, in French and English, as well as review articles and recommendations were selected. In addition, French national transplant and health agencies (http://www.agence-biomedecine.fr and http://www.has-sante.fr) databases were screened using identical keywords. A total of 2498 articles, 8 official reports and 17 newspaper articles were identified; after careful selection 157 publications were eligible for our review. Deceased donation may involve either brain death or non-heartbeating donors (NHBD). Organ shortage led to the procurement of organs from expanded-criteria donors, with an increased age at donation and extended vascular disease, leading to inferior results after transplantation and underlining the need for careful donor management during brain death or cardiac arrest. Evolution of French legislation covering bioethics allowed procurement from Maastricht categories II and recently III non-heartbeating donors. The increase of organ shortage emphasizes the need for a rigorous surgical technique during procurement to avoid loss of transplants. A history or current neoplasm in deceased-donors, requires attention to increase the pool of organs without putting the recipients at risk for cancer transmission. French NHBD program, especially from Maastricht category III, may stand for a potential source of valuable organs. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.
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Vinod, Shalini K; Min, Myo; Jameson, Michael G; Holloway, Lois C
2016-06-01
Inter-observer variability (IOV) in target volume and organ-at-risk (OAR) delineation is a source of potential error in radiation therapy treatment. The aims of this study were to identify interventions shown to reduce IOV in volume delineation. Medline and Pubmed databases were queried for relevant articles using various keywords to identify articles which evaluated IOV in target or OAR delineation for multiple (>2) observers. The search was limited to English language articles and to those published from 1 January 2000 to 31 December 2014. Reference lists of identified articles were scrutinised to identify relevant studies. Studies were included if they reported IOV in contouring before and after an intervention including the use of additional or alternative imaging. Fifty-six studies were identified. These were grouped into evaluation of guidelines (n = 9), teaching (n = 9), provision of an autocontour (n = 7) and the impact of imaging (n = 31) on IOV. Guidelines significantly reduced IOV in 7/9 studies. Teaching interventions reduced IOV in 8/9 studies, statistically significant in 4. The provision of an autocontour improved consistency of contouring in 6/7 studies, statistically significant in 5. The effect of additional imaging on IOV was variable. Pre-operative CT was useful in reducing IOV in contouring breast and liver cancers, PET scans in lung cancer, rectal cancer and lymphoma and MRI scans in OARs in head and neck cancers. Inter-observer variability in volume delineation can be reduced with the use of guidelines, provision of autocontours and teaching. The use of multimodality imaging is useful in certain tumour sites. © 2016 The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Radiologists.
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USSR Space Life Sciences Digest, issue 3
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Hooke, L. R. (Editor); Radtke, M. (Editor); Garshnek, V. (Editor); Rowe, J. E. (Editor); Teeter, R. (Editor)
1985-01-01
This is the third issue of NASA's USSR Space Life Sciences Digest. Abstracts are included for 46 Soviet periodical articles in 20 areas of aerospace medicine and space biology and published in Russian during the second third of 1985. Selected articles are illustrated with figures and tables from the original. In addition, translated introductions and tables of contents for seven Russian books on six topics related to NASA's life science concerns are presented. Areas covered are adaptation, biospherics, body fluids, botany, cardiovascular and respiratory systems, endocrinology, exobiology, gravitational biology, habitability and environmental effects, health and medical treatment, immunology, life support systems, metabolism, microbiology, musculoskeletal system; neurophysiology, nutrition, perception, personnel selection, psychology, radiobiology, and space physiology. Two book reviews translated from the Russian are included and lists of additional relevant titles available in English with pertinent ordering information are given.
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USSR Space Life Sciences Digest, issue 4
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Hooke, L. R. (Editor); Radtke, M. (Editor); Garshnek, V. (Editor); Teeter, R. (Editor); Rowe, J. E. (Editor)
1986-01-01
The fourth issue of NASA's USSR Space Life Science Digest includes abstracts for 42 Soviet periodical articles in 20 areas of aerospace medicine and space biology and published in Russian during the last third of 1985. Selected articles are illustrated with figures and tables from the original. In addition, translated introductions and tables of contents for 17 Russian books on 12 topics related to NASA's life science concerns are presented. Areas covered are: adaptation, biological rhythms, biospherics, body fluids, botany, cardiovascular and respiratory systems, cytology, developmental biology, endocrinology, exobiology, habitability and environmental effects, health and medical treatment, hematology, histology, human performance, immunology, mathematical modeling, metabolism, microbiology, musculoskeletal system, neurophysiology, nutrition, perception, personnel selection, psychology, and radiobiology. Two book reviews translated from the Russian are included and lists of additional relevant titles available in English with pertinent ordering information are given.
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Microblogging as an extension of science reporting.
Büchi, Moritz
2017-11-01
Mass media have long provided general publics with science news. New media such as Twitter have entered this system and provide an additional platform for the dissemination of science information. Based on automated collection and analysis of >900 news articles and 70,000 tweets, this study explores the online communication of current science news. Topic modeling (latent Dirichlet allocation) was used to extract five broad themes of science reporting: space missions, the US government shutdown, cancer research, Nobel Prizes, and climate change. Using content and network analysis, Twitter was found to extend public science communication by providing additional voices and contextualizations of science issues. It serves a recommender role by linking to web resources, connecting users, and directing users' attention. This article suggests that microblogging adds a new and relevant layer to the public communication of science.
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Review of the Gene-Environment Interaction Literature in Cancer: What Do We Know?
Simonds, Naoko I; Ghazarian, Armen A; Pimentel, Camilla B; Schully, Sheri D; Ellison, Gary L; Gillanders, Elizabeth M; Mechanic, Leah E
2016-07-01
Risk of cancer is determined by a complex interplay of genetic and environmental factors. Although the study of gene-environment interactions (G×E) has been an active area of research, little is reported about the known findings in the literature. To examine the state of the science in G×E research in cancer, we performed a systematic review of published literature using gene-environment or pharmacogenomic flags from two curated databases of genetic association studies, the Human Genome Epidemiology (HuGE) literature finder and Cancer Genome-Wide Association and Meta Analyses Database (CancerGAMAdb), from January 1, 2001, to January 31, 2011. A supplemental search using HuGE was conducted for articles published from February 1, 2011, to April 11, 2013. A 25% sample of the supplemental publications was reviewed. A total of 3,019 articles were identified in the original search. From these articles, 243 articles were determined to be relevant based on inclusion criteria (more than 3,500 interactions). From the supplemental search (1,400 articles identified), 29 additional relevant articles (1,370 interactions) were included. The majority of publications in both searches examined G×E in colon, rectal, or colorectal; breast; or lung cancer. Specific interactions examined most frequently included environmental factors categorized as energy balance (e.g., body mass index, diet), exogenous (e.g., oral contraceptives) and endogenous hormones (e.g., menopausal status), chemical environment (e.g., grilled meats), and lifestyle (e.g., smoking, alcohol intake). In both searches, the majority of interactions examined were using loci from candidate genes studies and none of the studies were genome-wide interaction studies (GEWIS). The most commonly reported measure was the interaction P-value, of which a sizable number of P-values were considered statistically significant (i.e., <0.05). In addition, the magnitude of interactions reported was modest. Observations of published literature suggest that opportunity exists for increased sample size in G×E research, including GWAS-identified loci in G×E studies, exploring more GWAS approaches in G×E such as GEWIS, and improving the reporting of G×E findings. Published 2016. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA.
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Villa, Juan; Cano, Alejandra; Franco, David; Monsalve, Mauricio; Hincapié, Jaime; Amariles, Pedro
2014-11-01
To establish the clinical relevance of drug interactions between nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and antihypertensives, based on the interaction severity and probability of occurrence. Systematic review. A PubMed/Medline search was made using the MeSH terms: NSAIDs, Antihypertensive drugs, and Drug interactions. Articles between 2002 and 2012, human studies, in Spanish and English and full text access were included. Found articles were included and some of the references used in this works. Studies with in vitro methods, effects on ocular hypertension and those who do not consider the interaction NSAIDs, antihypertensives were excluded. For the selection of the papers included three independent reviewers were involved. We used a tool for data extraction and for assess of the interaction clinical relevance. Nineteen of 50 papers found were included. There were identified 21 interactions with pharmacodynamic mechanism, classified by their clinical relevance in level-2 high risk (76.2%) and level-3 medium risk (23.8%). In addition, evidence of 16 combinations of no interaction were found. Some NSAIDs may attenuate the effectiveness of antihypertensive drugs when used concurrently, especially with angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors, diuretics, beta blockers and angiotensin receptorsii blockers. There was no evidence of effect modification of calcium channel antagonists, especially dihydropyridine, by concurrent use of NSAIDs. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.
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Medical literature searches: a comparison of PubMed and Google Scholar.
Nourbakhsh, Eva; Nugent, Rebecca; Wang, Helen; Cevik, Cihan; Nugent, Kenneth
2012-09-01
Medical literature searches provide critical information for clinicians. However, the best strategy for identifying relevant high-quality literature is unknown. We compared search results using PubMed and Google Scholar on four clinical questions and analysed these results with respect to article relevance and quality. Abstracts from the first 20 citations for each search were classified into three relevance categories. We used the weighted kappa statistic to analyse reviewer agreement and nonparametric rank tests to compare the number of citations for each article and the corresponding journals' impact factors. Reviewers ranked 67.6% of PubMed articles and 80% of Google Scholar articles as at least possibly relevant (P = 0.116) with high agreement (all kappa P-values < 0.01). Google Scholar articles had a higher median number of citations (34 vs. 1.5, P < 0.0001) and came from higher impact factor journals (5.17 vs. 3.55, P = 0.036). PubMed searches and Google Scholar searches often identify different articles. In this study, Google Scholar articles were more likely to be classified as relevant, had higher numbers of citations and were published in higher impact factor journals. The identification of frequently cited articles using Google Scholar for searches probably has value for initial literature searches. © 2012 The authors. Health Information and Libraries Journal © 2012 Health Libraries Group.
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Evidence-based medicine: liposuction.
Matarasso, Alan; Levine, Steven M
2013-12-01
After reading this article, the participant should be able to: 1. Perform preoperative assessment and patient selection for liposuction surgeries. 2. Explain the differences among the various types of anesthesia and wetting solutions used in liposuction. 3. Identify the available literature about skin-tightening procedures. 4. Convey to patients the complication profile for various modalities of liposuction. 5. Recall important ASPS consensus guidelines when discussing liposuction. The article was prepared to feature recent evidence-based publications pertaining to liposuction. The authors placed special emphasis on the most clinically relevant data. In addition, they highlighted current data regarding liposuction-related fields, including autologous fat transfer and minimally invasive skin tightening.
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Kelm-Nelson, Cynthia A; Stevenson, Sharon A; Ciucci, Michelle R
2016-09-01
Datasets provided in this article represent the Rattus norvegicus primer design and verification used in Pink1 -/- and wildtype Long Evans brain tissue. Accessible tables include relevant information, accession numbers, sequences, temperatures and product length, describing primer design specific to the transcript amplification use. Additionally, results of Sanger sequencing of qPCR reaction products (FASTA aligned sequences) are presented for genes of interest. Results and further interpretation and discussion can be found in the original research article "Atp13a2 expression in the periaqueductal gray is decreased in the Pink1 -/- rat model of Parkinson disease" [1].
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Packer, Mark
2016-01-01
The purpose of this review is to summarize relevant data from publications appearing in the peer-reviewed scientific literature over the past decade since US Food and Drug Administration approval of the implantable collamer lens (ICL), and, in particular, to review studies relating to sizing methodology, safety, and effectiveness, as well as more recent studies reporting clinical outcomes of the V4c Visian ICL with KS Aquaport, VICMO. A literature search was conducted using two databases, PubMed.gov and Science.gov, to identify all articles published after 2005 related to the Visian ICL (STAAR Surgical, Inc.). Articles were examined for their relevance to sizing methodology, clinical safety, and effectiveness, and the references cited in each article were also searched for additional relevant publications. The literature review revealed that all currently reported methods of determining the best-fit size of the ICL achieve similarly satisfactory results in terms of vault, the safe distance between the crystalline lens and the ICL. Specifically, meta-analysis demonstrated that sulcus-to-sulcus and white-to-white measurement-based sizing methods do not result in clinically meaningful nor statistically significant differences in vault (two-sample two-sided t-test using pooled mean and standard deviations; t (2,594)=1.33; P=0.18). The reported rates of complications related to vault are very low, except in two case series where additional risk factors such as higher levels of myopia and older age impacted the incidence of cataract. On the basis of preclinical studies and initial clinical reports, with up to 5 years of follow-up, the new VICMO central port design holds promise for further reduction of complications. Given its safety record and the significant improvement in vision and quality of life that the ICL makes possible, the benefits of ICL implantation outweigh the risks. PMID:27354760
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Packer, Mark
2016-01-01
The purpose of this review is to summarize relevant data from publications appearing in the peer-reviewed scientific literature over the past decade since US Food and Drug Administration approval of the implantable collamer lens (ICL), and, in particular, to review studies relating to sizing methodology, safety, and effectiveness, as well as more recent studies reporting clinical outcomes of the V4c Visian ICL with KS Aquaport, VICMO. A literature search was conducted using two databases, PubMed.gov and Science.gov, to identify all articles published after 2005 related to the Visian ICL (STAAR Surgical, Inc.). Articles were examined for their relevance to sizing methodology, clinical safety, and effectiveness, and the references cited in each article were also searched for additional relevant publications. The literature review revealed that all currently reported methods of determining the best-fit size of the ICL achieve similarly satisfactory results in terms of vault, the safe distance between the crystalline lens and the ICL. Specifically, meta-analysis demonstrated that sulcus-to-sulcus and white-to-white measurement-based sizing methods do not result in clinically meaningful nor statistically significant differences in vault (two-sample two-sided t-test using pooled mean and standard deviations; t (2,594)=1.33; P=0.18). The reported rates of complications related to vault are very low, except in two case series where additional risk factors such as higher levels of myopia and older age impacted the incidence of cataract. On the basis of preclinical studies and initial clinical reports, with up to 5 years of follow-up, the new VICMO central port design holds promise for further reduction of complications. Given its safety record and the significant improvement in vision and quality of life that the ICL makes possible, the benefits of ICL implantation outweigh the risks.
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Speech watermarking: an approach for the forensic analysis of digital telephonic recordings.
Faundez-Zanuy, Marcos; Lucena-Molina, Jose J; Hagmüller, Martin
2010-07-01
In this article, the authors discuss the problem of forensic authentication of digital audio recordings. Although forensic audio has been addressed in several articles, the existing approaches are focused on analog magnetic recordings, which are less prevalent because of the large amount of digital recorders available on the market (optical, solid state, hard disks, etc.). An approach based on digital signal processing that consists of spread spectrum techniques for speech watermarking is presented. This approach presents the advantage that the authentication is based on the signal itself rather than the recording format. Thus, it is valid for usual recording devices in police-controlled telephone intercepts. In addition, our proposal allows for the introduction of relevant information such as the recording date and time and all the relevant data (this is not always possible with classical systems). Our experimental results reveal that the speech watermarking procedure does not interfere in a significant way with the posterior forensic speaker identification.
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Benito, Itziar; Casañas, Juan José; Montesinos, María Luz
2018-06-19
Several proteomic analyses have been performed on synaptic fractions isolated from cortex or even total brain, resulting in preparations with a high synaptic heterogeneity and complexity. Synaptoneurosomes (SNs) are subcellular membranous elements that contain sealed pre- and post-synaptic components. They are obtained by subcellular fractionation of brain homogenates and serve as a suitable model to study many aspects of the synapse physiology. Here we report the proteomic content of SNs isolated from hippocampus of adult mice, a brain region involved in memory that presents lower synaptic heterogeneity than cortex. Interestingly, in addition to pre- and post-synaptic proteins, we found that proteins involved in RNA binding and translation were overrepresented in our preparation. These results validate the protocol we previously reported for SNs isolation, and, as reported by other authors, highlight the relevance of local synaptic translation for hippocampal physiology. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
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Drafting and acting on feedback supports student learning when writing essay assignments.
Freestone, Nicholas
2009-06-01
A diverse student population is a relatively recent feature of the higher education system in the United Kingdom. Consequently, it may be thought that more "traditional" types of assessment based around essay writing skills for science undergraduates may be of decreasing value and relevance to contemporary students. This article describes a study in which the process of feedback on, and associated redrafting of, an essay was closely supervised to improve essay writing skills and subsequent exam performance. The results of this study show that students can significantly improve their learning and academic performance, as assessed by final examination mark, by a process that more closely mimics a "real-world" situation of review and redrafting. Additionally, the data show that students benefit from feedback only when this is used appropriately by the student. The article also discusses the continuing importance and relevance of essay writing skills so that writing, and acting upon feedback to do with that writing, remains an integral part of the process of learning.
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Gomes, James; Cashman, Neil R.; Little, Julian; Krewski, Daniel
2014-01-01
Objective: The association between occupational exposure to lead and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) was examined through systematic review and meta-analyses of relevant epidemiological studies and reported according to PRISMA guidelines. Methods: Relevant studies were searched in multiple bibliographic databases through September 2013; additional articles were tracked through PubMed until submission. All records were screened in DistillerSR, and the data extracted from included articles were synthesized with meta-analysis. Results: The risk of developing ALS among individuals with a history of exposure to lead was almost doubled (odds ratio, 1.81; 95% confidence interval, 1.39 to 2.36) on the basis of nine included case-control studies with specific lead exposure information, with no apparent heterogeneity across included studies (I2 = 14%). The attributable risk of ALS because of exposure to lead was estimated to be 5%. Conclusions: Previous exposure to lead may be a risk factor for ALS. PMID:25479292
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Applying an information literacy rubric to first-year health sciences student research posters.
Goodman, Xan; Watts, John; Arenas, Rogelio; Weigel, Rachelle; Terrell, Tony
2018-01-01
This article describes the collection and analysis of annotated bibliographies created by first-year health sciences students to support their final poster projects. The authors examined the students' abilities to select relevant and authoritative sources, summarize the content of those sources, and correctly cite those sources. We collected images of 1,253 posters, of which 120 were sampled for analysis, and scored the posters using a 4-point rubric to evaluate the students' information literacy skills. We found that 52% of students were proficient at selecting relevant sources that directly contributed to the themes, topics, or debates presented in their final poster projects, and 64% of students did well with selecting authoritative peer-reviewed scholarly sources related to their topics. However, 45% of students showed difficulty in correctly applying American Psychological Association (APA) citation style. Our findings demonstrate a need for instructors and librarians to provide strategies for reading and comprehending scholarly articles in addition to properly using APA citation style.
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Applying an information literacy rubric to first-year health sciences student research posters*
Goodman, Xan; Watts, John; Arenas, Rogelio; Weigel, Rachelle; Terrell, Tony
2018-01-01
Objective This article describes the collection and analysis of annotated bibliographies created by first-year health sciences students to support their final poster projects. The authors examined the students’ abilities to select relevant and authoritative sources, summarize the content of those sources, and correctly cite those sources. Methods We collected images of 1,253 posters, of which 120 were sampled for analysis, and scored the posters using a 4-point rubric to evaluate the students’ information literacy skills. Results We found that 52% of students were proficient at selecting relevant sources that directly contributed to the themes, topics, or debates presented in their final poster projects, and 64% of students did well with selecting authoritative peer-reviewed scholarly sources related to their topics. However, 45% of students showed difficulty in correctly applying American Psychological Association (APA) citation style. Conclusion Our findings demonstrate a need for instructors and librarians to provide strategies for reading and comprehending scholarly articles in addition to properly using APA citation style. PMID:29339940
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Retrieving clinical evidence: a comparison of PubMed and Google Scholar for quick clinical searches.
Shariff, Salimah Z; Bejaimal, Shayna Ad; Sontrop, Jessica M; Iansavichus, Arthur V; Haynes, R Brian; Weir, Matthew A; Garg, Amit X
2013-08-15
Physicians frequently search PubMed for information to guide patient care. More recently, Google Scholar has gained popularity as another freely accessible bibliographic database. To compare the performance of searches in PubMed and Google Scholar. We surveyed nephrologists (kidney specialists) and provided each with a unique clinical question derived from 100 renal therapy systematic reviews. Each physician provided the search terms they would type into a bibliographic database to locate evidence to answer the clinical question. We executed each of these searches in PubMed and Google Scholar and compared results for the first 40 records retrieved (equivalent to 2 default search pages in PubMed). We evaluated the recall (proportion of relevant articles found) and precision (ratio of relevant to nonrelevant articles) of the searches performed in PubMed and Google Scholar. Primary studies included in the systematic reviews served as the reference standard for relevant articles. We further documented whether relevant articles were available as free full-texts. Compared with PubMed, the average search in Google Scholar retrieved twice as many relevant articles (PubMed: 11%; Google Scholar: 22%; P<.001). Precision was similar in both databases (PubMed: 6%; Google Scholar: 8%; P=.07). Google Scholar provided significantly greater access to free full-text publications (PubMed: 5%; Google Scholar: 14%; P<.001). For quick clinical searches, Google Scholar returns twice as many relevant articles as PubMed and provides greater access to free full-text articles.
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Dental cements for definitive luting: a review and practical clinical considerations.
Hill, Edward E
2007-07-01
Dental cement used to attach an indirect restoration to a prepared tooth is called a luting agent. A clinically relevant discussion of conventional and contemporary definitive luting agents is presented in this article. Physical properties are listed in table form to assist in comparison and decision-making. Additional subtopics include luting agent requirements, classifications, retention and bonding, cement considerations for implant-supported teeth, and fatigue failure.
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Cooper, Chris; Levay, Paul; Lorenc, Theo; Craig, Gillian M
2014-05-01
This article discusses how hard-to-reach population groups were conceptualized into a search filter. The objectives of this article were to (1) discuss how the authors designed a multistranded population search filter and (2) retrospectively test the effectiveness of the search filter in capturing all relevant populations (eg, homeless people, immigrants, substance misusers) in a public health systematic review. Systematic and retrospective analysis via a case study. Retrospective analysis of the search filter was conducted by comparing the MEDLINE search results retrieved without using the search filter against those retrieved with the search filter. A total of 5,465 additional results from the unfiltered search were screened to the same criteria as the filtered search. No additional populations were identified in the unfiltered sample. The search filter reduced the volume of MEDLINE hits to screen by 64%, with no impact on inclusion of populations. The results demonstrate the effectiveness of the filter in capturing all relevant UK populations for the review. This suggests that well-planned search filters can be written for reviews that analyze imprecisely defined population groups. This filter could be used in topic areas of associated comorbidities, for rapid clinical searches, or for investigating hard-to-reach populations. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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Hand-arm vibration syndrome: What family physicians should know.
Shen, Shixin Cindy; House, Ronald A
2017-03-01
To provide family physicians with an understanding of the epidemiology, pathogenesis, symptoms, diagnosis, and management of hand-arm vibration syndrome (HAVS), an important and common occupational disease in Canada. A MEDLINE search was conducted for research and review articles on HAVS. A Google search was conducted to obtain gray literature relevant to the Canadian context. Additional references were obtained from the articles identified. Hand-arm vibration syndrome is a prevalent occupational disease affecting workers in multiple industries in which vibrating tools are used. However, it is underdiagnosed in Canada. It has 3 components-vascular, in the form of secondary Raynaud phenomenon; sensorineural; and musculoskeletal. Hand-arm vibration syndrome in its more advanced stages contributes to substantial disability and poor quality of life. Its diagnosis requires careful history taking, in particular occupational history, physical examination, laboratory tests to rule out alternative diagnoses, and referral to an occupational medicine specialist for additional investigations. Management involves reduction of vibration exposure, avoidance of cold conditions, smoking cessation, and medication. To ensure timely diagnosis of HAVS and improve prognosis and quality of life, family physicians should be aware of this common occupational disease and be able to elicit the relevant occupational history, refer patients to occupational medicine clinics, and appropriately initiate compensation claims. Copyright© the College of Family Physicians of Canada.
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PathText: a text mining integrator for biological pathway visualizations
Kemper, Brian; Matsuzaki, Takuya; Matsuoka, Yukiko; Tsuruoka, Yoshimasa; Kitano, Hiroaki; Ananiadou, Sophia; Tsujii, Jun'ichi
2010-01-01
Motivation: Metabolic and signaling pathways are an increasingly important part of organizing knowledge in systems biology. They serve to integrate collective interpretations of facts scattered throughout literature. Biologists construct a pathway by reading a large number of articles and interpreting them as a consistent network, but most of the models constructed currently lack direct links to those articles. Biologists who want to check the original articles have to spend substantial amounts of time to collect relevant articles and identify the sections relevant to the pathway. Furthermore, with the scientific literature expanding by several thousand papers per week, keeping a model relevant requires a continuous curation effort. In this article, we present a system designed to integrate a pathway visualizer, text mining systems and annotation tools into a seamless environment. This will enable biologists to freely move between parts of a pathway and relevant sections of articles, as well as identify relevant papers from large text bases. The system, PathText, is developed by Systems Biology Institute, Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology, National Centre for Text Mining (University of Manchester) and the University of Tokyo, and is being used by groups of biologists from these locations. Contact: brian@monrovian.com. PMID:20529930
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The orthopaedist's role in healthcare system governance.
Probe, Robert A
2013-06-01
Historically, physicians as participants in healthcare governance were shunned because of perceived potential for conflict of interest. This maxim is being revisited as health systems begin to appreciate the value presented by physician leaders. This overview of the orthopaedist's role in healthcare governance will be addressed in three sections: first to identify the need for change in American healthcare, second to examine the role that physicians should play in governing over this inevitable change, and third to outline strategies for effective participation for those physicians wishing to play a role in healthcare governance. The PubMed data set was queried applying the search commands "governance AND (healthcare OR hospital) AND (doctor OR physician OR surgeon)" for the time period 1969 to 2012. In addition, the bibliographies of relevant articles were reviewed. This search strategy returned 404 titles. Abstract and article review identified 19 relevant to the topic. Bibliographic review identified five more articles of relevance forming the foundation for this review. The delivery of American health care will require change to face current economic realities. Organizations that embrace this change guided by the insight of physician governors are well positioned to recognize the simultaneous improvement in value and quality. Although few physicians are formally trained for these roles, multiple paths to becoming effective governors are available. In this environment of rapid change in healthcare delivery, the medical insight of physician leadership will prove invaluable. Governing bodies should reach out to talented physicians and administratively talented physicians should rise to this challenge.
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Nursing role in well-child care: Systematic review of the literature.
Turley, Jolanda; Vanek, Jaclyn; Johnston, Sharon; Archibald, Doug
2018-04-01
To describe and compare well-child care (WCC) in Australia, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom (UK), focusing on the role of nurses and their interactions with other primary care providers in order to derive relevant lessons for Canada's interprofessional primary care teams. Ovid MEDLINE, EMBASE, and CINAHL were searched broadly using the search terms well child care, nursing role, and delivery of care and other synonymous terms. In addition, Google Scholar was used to search for gray literature, and reference mining revealed a few other relevant articles. The original search identified 929 articles. The inclusion criteria were the following: relevant to WCC delivery; focuses on Canada, the Netherlands, the UK, Australia, or an international comparison; describes care of healthy term infants; describes care provided in the community; and describes the role of the nurse in WCC delivery. An abstract review followed by full-text review condensed the search to 25 selected articles. Selected articles varied in method and scope; thus, a narrative synthesis was generated using thematic analysis. In Australia, the Netherlands, and the UK, many WCC tasks are performed by trained public health nurses in a separate but parallel system to family medicine, with interaction between nurses and FPs varying greatly among countries. In general, nurses' roles in WCC remained in the preventive care and screening domains, including monitoring development, providing health education, and supporting parents. The 3 overarching themes that were identified were around professional development and education, integration of care and interprofessional collaboration, and the nurses' role in an evolving health system. International examples, given Canada's primary care reforms, suggest it is time to examine greater role sharing in WCC between nurses and FPs in interdisciplinary primary care teams. Copyright© the College of Family Physicians of Canada.
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PHARMACOLOGY PART 2: INTRODUCTION TO PHARMACOKINETICS.
Currie, Geoffrey M
2018-05-03
Pharmacology principles provide key understanding that underpins the clinical and research roles of nuclear medicine practitioners. This article is the second in a series of articles that aims to enhance the understanding of pharmacological principles relevant to nuclear medicine. This article will build on the introductory concepts, terminology and principles of pharmacodynamics explored in the first article in the series. Specifically, this article will focus on the basic principles associated with pharmacokinetics. Article 3 will outline pharmacology relevant to pharmaceutical interventions and adjunctive medications employed in general nuclear medicine, the fourth pharmacology relevant to pharmaceutical interventions and adjunctive medications employed in nuclear cardiology, the fifth the pharmacology related to contrast media associated with computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and the final article will address drugs in the emergency trolley. Copyright © 2018 by the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging, Inc.
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Hossain, Belal; Islam, Mohammad Shahidul; Rahman, Atiqur; Marzan, Mahfuza; Rafiqullah, Iftekhar; Connor, Nicholas E; Hasanuzzaman, Mohammad; Islam, Maksuda; Hamer, Davidson H; Hibberd, Patricia L; Saha, Samir K
2016-05-01
Interpretation of blood culture isolates is challenging due to a lack of standard methodologies for identifying contaminants. This problem becomes more complex when the specimens are from sick young infants, as a wide range of bacteria can cause illness among this group. We used 43 key words to find articles published between 1970 and 2011 on blood culture isolates and possible contaminants in the PubMed database. Experts were also consulted to obtain other relevant articles. Selection of articles followed systematic methods considering opinions from more than 1 reviewer. After reviewing the titles of 3869 articles extracted from the database, we found 307 relevant to our objective. Based on the abstracts, 42 articles were selected for the literature review. In addition, we included 7 more articles based on cross-references and expert advice. The most common methods for differentiating blood culture isolates were multiple blood cultures from the same subject, antibiograms and molecular testing. Streptococcus pneumoniae, Hemophilus influenzae, Neisseria meningitidis and group A and B streptococcus were always considered as pathogens, whereas Bacillus sp., Diphtheroids, Propionibacterium and Micrococcus were commonly regarded as contaminants. Coagulase-negative staphylococci were the most frequent isolates and usually reported as contaminants unless the patient had a specific condition, such as long-term hospitalization or use of invasive devices (catheters). Inaccurate interpretation of blood culture may falsely guide treatment and also has long-term policy implications. The combination of clinical and microbiological knowledge, patient's clinical history and laboratory findings are essential for appropriate interpretation of blood culture.
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de Lugt-Lustig, Kersti H M E; Vanobbergen, Jacques N O; van der Putten, Gert-Jan; De Visschere, Luc M J; Schols, Jos M G A; de Baat, Cees
2014-02-01
To systematically review the literature on the effect of providing oral healthcare education to care home nurses on their oral healthcare knowledge and attitude and their oral hygiene care skills. A literature search was obtained for relevant articles on oral healthcare education of nurses in care homes, using five electronic retrieval systems and databases. The search was limited to human studies, articles published in English and articles published during the period January 1990 to December 2011. The methodological quality of an article was assessed on the basis of criteria published by the Cochrane Collaboration. For articles not meeting all methodological quality criteria, relevance criteria were used to determine how much scientific evidence could be assigned to the study findings. In accordance with the methodological quality criteria, two randomized controlled trials were included. Additionally, four studies were included after determining the scientific evidence of the study findings. The studies included revealed some scientific evidence and indications that an oral healthcare education programme for care home nurses may improve the nurses' oral healthcare knowledge and attitude. Any effect of oral healthcare education to care home nurses' oral hygiene care skills could not be determined. Oral healthcare education may have a positive effect on care home nurses' oral healthcare knowledge and attitude and on care home residents' oral hygiene, whereas any effect on care home nurses' oral hygiene care skills could not be found. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
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Bao, Wei; Hu, Frank B.; Rong, Shuang; Rong, Ying; Bowers, Katherine; Schisterman, Enrique F.; Liu, Liegang; Zhang, Cuilin
2013-01-01
This study aimed to evaluate the predictive performance of genetic risk models based on risk loci identified and/or confirmed in genome-wide association studies for type 2 diabetes mellitus. A systematic literature search was conducted in the PubMed/MEDLINE and EMBASE databases through April 13, 2012, and published data relevant to the prediction of type 2 diabetes based on genome-wide association marker–based risk models (GRMs) were included. Of the 1,234 potentially relevant articles, 21 articles representing 23 studies were eligible for inclusion. The median area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) among eligible studies was 0.60 (range, 0.55–0.68), which did not differ appreciably by study design, sample size, participants’ race/ethnicity, or the number of genetic markers included in the GRMs. In addition, the AUCs for type 2 diabetes did not improve appreciably with the addition of genetic markers into conventional risk factor–based models (median AUC, 0.79 (range, 0.63–0.91) vs. median AUC, 0.78 (range, 0.63–0.90), respectively). A limited number of included studies used reclassification measures and yielded inconsistent results. In conclusion, GRMs showed a low predictive performance for risk of type 2 diabetes, irrespective of study design, participants’ race/ethnicity, and the number of genetic markers included. Moreover, the addition of genome-wide association markers into conventional risk models produced little improvement in predictive performance. PMID:24008910
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Determining the relative importance of figures in journal articles to find representative images
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Müller, Henning; Foncubierta-Rodríguez, Antonio; Lin, Chang; Eggel, Ivan
2013-03-01
When physicians are searching for articles in the medical literature, images of the articles can help determining relevance of the article content for a specific information need. The visual image representation can be an advantage in effectiveness (quality of found articles) and also in efficiency (speed of determining relevance or irrelevance) as many articles can likely be excluded much quicker by looking at a few representative images. In domains such as medical information retrieval, allowing to determine relevance quickly and accurately is an important criterion. This becomes even more important when small interfaces are used as it is frequently the case on mobile phones and tablets to access scientific data whenever information needs arise. In scientific articles many figures are used and particularly in the biomedical literature only a subset may be relevant for determining the relevance of a specific article to an information need. In many cases clinical images can be seen as more important for visual appearance than graphs or histograms that require looking at the context for interpretation. To get a clearer idea of image relevance in articles, a user test with a physician was performed who classified images of biomedical research articles into categories of importance that can subsequently be used to evaluate algorithms that automatically select images as representative examples. The manual sorting of images of 50 journal articles of BioMedCentral with each containing more than 8 figures by importance also allows to derive several rules that determine how to choose images and how to develop algorithms for choosing the most representative images of specific texts. This article describes the user tests and can be a first important step to evaluate automatic tools to select representative images for representing articles and potentially also images in other contexts, for example when representing patient records or other medical concepts when selecting images to represent RadLex terms in tutorials or interactive interfaces for example. This can help to make the image retrieval process more efficient and effective for physicians.
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Heltoft, Lars; Geist, Uwe
The three papers in this publication analyze a newspaper article on "economic politics," or more specifically, the devaluing of the Danish kroner. The papers all examine some linguistic or structural feature of the language used in writing the article. Specific focus is on relevance theory and relevance in the article, the use of text…
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A primer in macromolecular linguistics.
Searls, David B
2013-03-01
Polymeric macromolecules, when viewed abstractly as strings of symbols, can be treated in terms of formal language theory, providing a mathematical foundation for characterizing such strings both as collections and in terms of their individual structures. In addition this approach offers a framework for analysis of macromolecules by tools and conventions widely used in computational linguistics. This article introduces the ways that linguistics can be and has been applied to molecular biology, covering the relevant formal language theory at a relatively nontechnical level. Analogies between macromolecules and human natural language are used to provide intuitive insights into the relevance of grammars, parsing, and analysis of language complexity to biology. Copyright © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
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Vindigni, Stephen M; Riley, Patricia L; Jhung, Michael
2011-04-01
To describe global approaches to handwashing research in low- and middle-income communities, schools and health care settings using behavioural outcome measurement and temporal study design. Peer-reviewed and grey literature was screened for handwashing studies that evaluated behaviour change. Relevant articles were assessed by their research approach, including the investigator's selected outcome measure and time frame of various study components (e.g., formative research, intervention and evaluation). The initial search yielded 527 relevant articles. After application of exclusion criteria, we identified 27 unique studies (30 total articles). Of the 27 articles, most were focused in the community setting. Fifteen (56%) documented observed handwashing behaviour, while 18 (67%) used proxy measures (e.g., soap presence, diarrhoea) and 14 (52%) used self-reported behaviour. Several studies used multiple outcome measures. While all studies had an evaluation of behaviour change, there was a dearth of studies that evaluated long-term maintenance of behaviour change after the intervention's conclusion. While the literature is replete with a variety of handwashing studies in community, school and health care settings, none have been able to definitively document long-term behaviour change, thereby challenging the sustainability of various interventions. Additionally, there is a need to better understand which research approach is most effective in promoting long-term behaviour compliance in global low- and middle-income settings. © 2011 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
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Middle East respiratory syndrome: knowledge to date.
Alsolamy, Sami
2015-06-01
To provide a conceptual and clinical review of Middle East respiratory syndrome. Peer-reviewed articles were identified through searches of PubMed using the terms "Middle East respiratory syndrome," "coronavirus respiratory illness in Saudi Arabia," and "novel (beta) coronavirus and human coronavirus Erasmus Medical Center". In addition, articles were searched on the websites of the World Health Organization and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention using the terms "Middle East respiratory syndrome" and "novel coronavirus in Middle East." The reference lists of these articles and relevant review articles were also reviewed. Final references were selected for inclusion in the review on the basis of their relevance. The emerging Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus causes severe pulmonary disease with multiorgan involvement and a high fatality rate. Within months after its emergence, Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus was reported in several countries worldwide in people who had traveled from the Middle East. Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus is considered a zoonotic virus that has crossed the species barrier to humans, but the pathogenesis and the routes of transmission are not completely understood. There is currently no recommended treatment for Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus, although supportive treatment has played an important role. This syndrome has raised global public health concerns about the dissemination of an emerging infectious disease and highlights the need for a coordinated global response to contain such a disease threat.
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Dooley, Diane; Moultrie, Nicolette M; Sites, Elsbeth; Crawford, Patricia B
2017-06-01
Childhood obesity remains a significant threat to America's children. Health care leaders have increasingly called upon oral health professionals to integrate healthy weight promotion and enhanced sugar-sweetened beverage counseling into their professional practices. The aim of this scoping review is to examine recent evidence regarding the effectiveness of primary care childhood obesity interventions that have potential for adoption by oral health professionals. Medine, and PubMed were searched from 2010 to 2016 for review articles and studies reporting patient outcomes or policy outcomes relevant to primary care childhood obesity interventions for children ages 2-11 years. Additional articles were accessed through relevant websites, journals, and references. Our screening criteria included interventions that could be adopted by oral health professionals. Forty-two articles met inclusion criteria. Effective interventions fell into four domains: family-based programs, motivational interviewing, office-based practice tools, and policy interventions. Despite strong evidence linking the consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages to childhood obesity, our review did not find evidence of primary care programs effectively targeting and reducing childhood sugary drinks. Effective primary care interventions for addressing childhood obesity have been identified, although only short-term effectiveness has been demonstrated. Dissemination of these practices as well as further research and advocacy are needed. Childhood obesity and poor oral health share many common risk factors. Additional research should focus on the benefits and feasibility of widespread interdisciplinary medical-oral health collaboration in addressing the two most prevalent diseases of childhood. © 2017 American Association of Public Health Dentistry.
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How people think about the chemicals in cigarette smoke: a systematic review.
Morgan, Jennifer C; Byron, M Justin; Baig, Sabeeh A; Stepanov, Irina; Brewer, Noel T
2017-08-01
Laws and treaties compel countries to inform the public about harmful chemicals (constituents) in cigarette smoke. To encourage relevant research by behavioral scientists, we provide a primer on cigarette smoke toxicology and summarize research on how the public thinks about cigarette smoke chemicals. We systematically searched PubMed in July 2016 and reviewed citations from included articles. Four central findings emerged across 46 articles that met inclusion criteria. First, people were familiar with very few chemicals in cigarette smoke. Second, people knew little about cigarette additives, assumed harmful chemicals are added during manufacturing, and perceived cigarettes without additives to be less harmful. Third, people wanted more information about constituents. Finally, well-presented chemical information increased knowledge and awareness and may change behavior. This research area is in urgent need of behavioral science. Future research should investigate whether educating the public about these chemicals increases risk perceptions and quitting.
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Potential mechanisms for chemotherapy-induced impairments in cognitive function.
Jansen, Catherine; Miaskowski, Christine; Dodd, Marilyn; Dowling, Glenna; Kramer, Joel
2005-11-03
To review the domains of cognitive function and their corresponding neuroanatomic structures as well as present current evidence for neurotoxicity associated with specific chemotherapeutic agents and potential mechanisms for chemotherapy-induced cognitive impairments. Published research articles, review articles, and textbooks. Chemotherapy does not appear to cross the blood-brain barrier when given in standard doses; however, many chemotherapy drugs have the potential to cause cognitive impairments through more than one mechanism. In addition, patient factors may be protective or place individuals at higher risk for cognitive impairments. Although evidence of chemotherapy-induced impairments in cognitive function exists, no clinical studies have attempted to elucidate the mechanisms for chemotherapy-induced impairments in cognitive function. In addition, further studies are needed to determine predictive factors, potential biomarkers, and relevant assessment parameters. The ability to identify high-risk patients has important implications for practice in regard to informed consent, patient education about the effects of treatment, and preventive strategies.
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Review of the Gene-Environment Interaction Literature in Cancer: What do we know?
Simonds, Naoko I.; Ghazarian, Armen A.; Pimentel, Camilla B.; Schully, Sheri D.; Ellison, Gary L.; Gillanders, Elizabeth M.; Mechanic, Leah E.
2016-01-01
Background Risk of cancer is determined by a complex interplay of genetic and environmental factors. Although the study of gene-environment (GxE) interactions has been an active area of research, little is reported about the known findings in the literature. Methods To examine the state of the science in GxE research in cancer, we performed a systematic review of published literature using gene-environment or pharmacogenomic flags from two curated databases of genetic association studies, the Human Genome Epidemiology (HuGE) literature finder and Cancer Genome-Wide Association and Meta Analyses Database (CancerGAMAdb), from January 1, 2001, to January 31, 2011. A supplemental search using HuGE was conducted for articles published February 1, 2011, to April 11, 2013. A 25% sample of the supplemental publications was reviewed. Results A total of 3,019 articles were identified in the original search. From these articles, 243 articles were determined to be relevant based on inclusion criteria (more than 3,500 interactions). From the supplemental search (1,400 articles identified), 29 additional relevant articles (1,370 interactions) were included. The majority of publications in both searches examined GxE in colon, rectal, or colorectal cancer types; breast; or lung cancer. Specific interactions examined most frequently included environmental factors categorized as energy balance (e.g., body mass index (BMI), diet), exogenous (e.g., oral contraceptives) and endogenous hormones (e.g., menopausal status), chemical environment (e.g., grilled meats), and lifestyle (e.g., smoking, alcohol intake). In both searches, the majority of interactions examined were using loci from candidate genes studies and none of the studies were genome-wide interaction studies (GEWIS). The most commonly reported measure was the interaction p-value, of which a sizable number of p-values were considered statistically significant (i.e., < 0.05). In addition, the magnitudes of interactions reported were modest. Conclusion Observations of published literature suggest that opportunity exists for increased sample size in GxE research, including GWAS identified loci in GxE studies, exploring more GWAS approaches in GxE such as GEWIS, and improving the reporting of GxE findings. PMID:27061572
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Clinicopathological effects of pepper (oleoresin capsicum) spray.
Yeung, M F; Tang, William Y M
2015-12-01
Pepper (oleoresin capsicum) spray is one of the most common riot-control measures used today. Although not lethal, exposure of pepper spray can cause injury to different organ systems. This review aimed to summarise the major clinicopathological effects of pepper spray in humans. MEDLINE, EMBASE database, and Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews were used to search for terms associated with the clinicopathological effects of pepper spray in humans and those describing the pathophysiology of capsaicin. A phone interview with two individuals recently exposed to pepper spray was also conducted to establish clinical symptoms. Major key words used for the MEDLINE search were "pepper spray", "OC spray", "oleoresin capsicum"; and other key words as "riot control agents", "capsaicin", and "capsaicinoid". We then combined the key words "capsaicin" and "capsaicinoid" with the major key words to narrow down the number of articles. A search with other databases including EMBASE and Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews was also conducted with the above phrases to identify any additional related articles. All article searches were confined to human study. The bibliography of articles was screened for additional relevant studies including non-indexed reports, and information from these was also recorded. Non-English articles were included in the search. Fifteen articles were considered relevant. Oleoresin capsicum causes almost instantaneous irritative symptoms to the skin, eyes, and respiratory system. Dermatological effects include a burning sensation, erythema, and hyperalgesia. Ophthalmic effects involve blepharospasm, conjunctivitis, peri-orbital oedema, and corneal pathology. Following inhalation, a stinging or burning sensation can be felt in the nose with sore throat, chest tightness, or dyspnoea. The major pathophysiology is neurogenic inflammation caused by capsaicinoid in the pepper spray. There is no antidote for oleoresin capsicum. Treatment consists of thorough decontamination, symptom-directed supportive measures, and early detection and treatment of systemic toxicity. Decontamination should be carefully carried out to avoid contamination of the surrounding skin and clothing. Pepper (oleoresin capsicum) spray is an effective riot-control agent and does not cause life-threatening clinical effects in the majority of exposed individuals. Early decontamination minimises the irritant effects.
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Retrieving Clinical Evidence: A Comparison of PubMed and Google Scholar for Quick Clinical Searches
Bejaimal, Shayna AD; Sontrop, Jessica M; Iansavichus, Arthur V; Haynes, R Brian; Weir, Matthew A; Garg, Amit X
2013-01-01
Background Physicians frequently search PubMed for information to guide patient care. More recently, Google Scholar has gained popularity as another freely accessible bibliographic database. Objective To compare the performance of searches in PubMed and Google Scholar. Methods We surveyed nephrologists (kidney specialists) and provided each with a unique clinical question derived from 100 renal therapy systematic reviews. Each physician provided the search terms they would type into a bibliographic database to locate evidence to answer the clinical question. We executed each of these searches in PubMed and Google Scholar and compared results for the first 40 records retrieved (equivalent to 2 default search pages in PubMed). We evaluated the recall (proportion of relevant articles found) and precision (ratio of relevant to nonrelevant articles) of the searches performed in PubMed and Google Scholar. Primary studies included in the systematic reviews served as the reference standard for relevant articles. We further documented whether relevant articles were available as free full-texts. Results Compared with PubMed, the average search in Google Scholar retrieved twice as many relevant articles (PubMed: 11%; Google Scholar: 22%; P<.001). Precision was similar in both databases (PubMed: 6%; Google Scholar: 8%; P=.07). Google Scholar provided significantly greater access to free full-text publications (PubMed: 5%; Google Scholar: 14%; P<.001). Conclusions For quick clinical searches, Google Scholar returns twice as many relevant articles as PubMed and provides greater access to free full-text articles. PMID:23948488
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Lokker, Cynthia; Haynes, R Brian; Wilczynski, Nancy L; McKibbon, K Ann; Walter, Stephen D
2011-01-01
Clinical Queries filters were developed to improve the retrieval of high-quality studies in searches on clinical matters. The study objective was to determine the yield of relevant citations and physician satisfaction while searching for diagnostic and treatment studies using the Clinical Queries page of PubMed compared with searching PubMed without these filters. Forty practicing physicians, presented with standardized treatment and diagnosis questions and one question of their choosing, entered search terms which were processed in a random, blinded fashion through PubMed alone and PubMed Clinical Queries. Participants rated search retrievals for applicability to the question at hand and satisfaction. For treatment, the primary outcome of retrieval of relevant articles was not significantly different between the groups, but a higher proportion of articles from the Clinical Queries searches met methodologic criteria (p=0.049), and more articles were published in core internal medicine journals (p=0.056). For diagnosis, the filtered results returned more relevant articles (p=0.031) and fewer irrelevant articles (overall retrieval less, p=0.023); participants needed to screen fewer articles before arriving at the first relevant citation (p<0.05). Relevance was also influenced by content terms used by participants in searching. Participants varied greatly in their search performance. Clinical Queries filtered searches returned more high-quality studies, though the retrieval of relevant articles was only statistically different between the groups for diagnosis questions. Retrieving clinically important research studies from Medline is a challenging task for physicians. Methodological search filters can improve search retrieval.
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Association between Systemic Diseases and Endodontic Outcome: A Systematic Review.
Aminoshariae, Anita; Kulild, James C; Mickel, Andre; Fouad, Ashraf F
2017-04-01
To date, the relationships between systemic diseases and endodontic treatment outcomes remain poorly studied. Thus, the purpose of this systematic review was to evaluate the relationship between host-modifying factors and their association with endodontic outcomes. Two reviewers independently conducted a comprehensive literature search. The MEDLINE, Embase, Cochrane, and PubMed databases were searched. In addition, the bibliographies and gray literature of all relevant articles and textbooks were manually searched. There was no disagreement between the 2 reviewers. Sixteen articles met the inclusion criteria with moderate to high risk of bias. There was no article with low risk of bias. Available scientific evidence remains inconclusive as to whether diabetes and/or cardiovascular disease(s) may be associated with endodontic outcomes. Human immunodeficiency virus and oral bisphosphonate did not appear to be associated with endodontic outcomes. Although additional well-designed longitudinal clinical studies are needed, the results of this systematic review suggest that some systemic diseases may be correlated with endodontic outcomes. Copyright © 2016 American Association of Endodontists. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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Treating the drug-abusing offender.
Leukefeld, C; Matthews, T; Clayton, R
1992-01-01
The association between drug abuse treatment and criminal justice control is examined in this article. A framework is presented for mental health administrators and policy-makers to examine and appreciate the use of authority derived from the criminal justice system for drug abusers involved in community treatment. In addition, an overview of relevant literature is provided to encapsulate the literature related to the drug-abusing criminal offender which is most useful for mental health administrators and policy-makers.
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For the General Internist: A Summary of Key Innovations in Medical Education.
Roy, Brita; Chheda, Shobhina G; Bates, Carol; Dunn, Kathel; Karani, Reena; Willett, Lisa L
2016-08-01
We conducted a review of published medical education articles to identify high-quality research and innovation relevant to educators in general medicine. Our review team consisted of six general internists with expertise in medical education and a professional medical librarian. We manually searched 15 journals in pairs (a total of 3062 citations) for original research articles in medical education published in 2014. Each pair of reviewers independently rated the relevance, importance, and generalizability of articles on medical education in their assigned journals using a 27-point scale (maximum of 9 points for each characteristic). From this list, each team member independently reviewed the 22 articles that received a score of 20 or higher from both initial reviewers, and for each selected article rated the quality and global relevance for the generalist educator. We included the seven top-rated articles for presentation in this review, and categorized the studies into four general themes: continuity clinic scheduling, remediation, interprofessional education, and quality improvement and patient safety. We summarized key findings and identified significant limitations of each study. Further studies assessing patient outcomes are needed to strengthen the literature in medical education. This summary of relevant medical education articles can inform future research, teaching, and practice.
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Strategies for prevention of soccer related injuries: a systematic review
Olsen, L; Scanlan, A; MacKay, M; Babul, S; Reid, D; Clark, M; Raina, P
2004-01-01
Methods: Standard systematic review methodology was modified and adopted for this review. Research questions and relevance criteria were developed a priori. Potentially relevant studies were located through electronic and hand searches. Articles were assessed for relevance and quality by two independent assessors, and the results of relevant articles were abstracted and synthesised. Results: A total of 44 potentially relevant articles from electronic (n = 37) and hand (n = 7) searches yielded four that met inclusion criteria. These four studies addressed a range of intervention strategies and varied with respect to results and quality of evidence. Conclusions: Some of the strategies look promising but lack adequate evaluation or require further research among younger players. Practice, policy, and research recommendations are provided as a result of the synthesis. PMID:14751956
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Prasad, Rajendra; Singhal, Sanjay; Garg, Rajiv
2009-04-01
This article discusses the role of bidi smoking as a risk factor for lung cancer. A review of the documented evidence is presented. The literature from Pubmed has been searched using the key words 'beedi smoking', 'bidi smoking' and 'lung cancer'. The bibliographies of all papers found were further searched for additional relevant articles. After this thorough search, eight studies were found. The evidence suggests that bidi smoking poses a higher risk for lung cancer than cigarette smoking and risk further increases with both the length of time and amount of bidi smoking. The focus of tobacco control programs should be expanded to all types of tobacco use, including bidis, to reduce the increasing problem of lung cancer.
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Kandaswamy, Deivanayagam; Venkateshbabu, Nagendrababu
2010-01-01
Successful root canal therapy relies on the combination of proper instrumentation, irrigation, and obturation of the root canal. Of these three essential steps of root canal therapy, irrigation of the root canal is the most important determinant in the healing of the periapical tissues. The primary endodontic treatment goal must thus be to optimize root canal disinfection and to prevent reinfection. In this review of the literature, various irrigants and the interactions between irrigants are discussed. We performed a Medline search for English-language papers published untill July 2010. The keywords used were ‘root canal irrigants’ and ‘endodontic irrigants.’ The reference lists of each article were manually checked for additional articles of relevance. PMID:21217955
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How employee engagement matters for hospital performance.
Lowe, Graham
2012-01-01
Managers increasingly understand that employee engagement is a prerequisite for high performance. This article examines how job, work environment, management and organizational factors influence levels of engagement among healthcare employees. Original data come from the Ontario Hospital Association-NRC Picker Employee Experience Survey, involving over 10,000 employees in 16 Ontario hospitals. The article provides a clear definition and measure of engagement relevant to healthcare. In addition to identifying the main drivers of engagement, findings shows that a high level of employee engagement is related to retention, patient-centred care, patient safety culture and employees' positive assessments of the quality of care or services provided by their team. Implications of these findings for healthcare leaders are briefly considered.
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The structuring of GMO release and evaluation in EU law.
von Kries, Caroline; Winter, Gerd
2012-04-01
Genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and their behavior in the environment are complex and can only be assessed if the different components are distinguished. This article examines, how by EU law the real causation processes from the GMO release to various endpoints are dissected, individually analysed and then again viewed in their entirety. In addition, the articles includes, how the intellectual process of assessment is divided into the steps of tiered generation, shared submission and structured evaluation of relevant knowledge. The framework proposed for such an examination allows to identify strengths and weaknesses of GMO risk assessment in the EU. Copyright © 2012 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.
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Measuring the Interestingness of Articles in a Limited User Environment
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Pon, R; Cardenas, A; Buttler, David
Search engines, such as Google, assign scores to news articles based on their relevance to a query. However, not all relevant articles for the query may be interesting to a user. For example, if the article is old or yields little new information, the article would be uninteresting. Relevance scores do not take into account what makes an article interesting, which would vary from user to user. Although methods such as collaborative filtering have been shown to be effective in recommendation systems, in a limited user environment, there are not enough users that would make collaborative filtering effective. A generalmore » framework, called iScore, is presented for defining and measuring the ‘‘interestingness of articles, incorporating user-feedback. iScore addresses the various aspects of what makes an article interesting, such as topic relevance, uniqueness, freshness, source reputation, and writing style. It employs various methods, such as multiple topic tracking, online parameter selection, language models, clustering, sentiment analysis, and phrase extraction to measure these features. Due to varying reasons that users hold about why an article is interesting, an online feature selection method in naι¨ve Bayes is also used to improve recommendation results. iScore can outperform traditional IR techniques by as much as 50.7%. iScore and its components are evaluated in the news recommendation task using three datasets from Yahoo! News, actual users, and Digg.« less
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SKIMMR: facilitating knowledge discovery in life sciences by machine-aided skim reading
Burns, Gully A.P.C.
2014-01-01
Background. Unlike full reading, ‘skim-reading’ involves the process of looking quickly over information in an attempt to cover more material whilst still being able to retain a superficial view of the underlying content. Within this work, we specifically emulate this natural human activity by providing a dynamic graph-based view of entities automatically extracted from text. For the extraction, we use shallow parsing, co-occurrence analysis and semantic similarity computation techniques. Our main motivation is to assist biomedical researchers and clinicians in coping with increasingly large amounts of potentially relevant articles that are being published ongoingly in life sciences. Methods. To construct the high-level network overview of articles, we extract weighted binary statements from the text. We consider two types of these statements, co-occurrence and similarity, both organised in the same distributional representation (i.e., in a vector-space model). For the co-occurrence weights, we use point-wise mutual information that indicates the degree of non-random association between two co-occurring entities. For computing the similarity statement weights, we use cosine distance based on the relevant co-occurrence vectors. These statements are used to build fuzzy indices of terms, statements and provenance article identifiers, which support fuzzy querying and subsequent result ranking. These indexing and querying processes are then used to construct a graph-based interface for searching and browsing entity networks extracted from articles, as well as articles relevant to the networks being browsed. Last but not least, we describe a methodology for automated experimental evaluation of the presented approach. The method uses formal comparison of the graphs generated by our tool to relevant gold standards based on manually curated PubMed, TREC challenge and MeSH data. Results. We provide a web-based prototype (called ‘SKIMMR’) that generates a network of inter-related entities from a set of documents which a user may explore through our interface. When a particular area of the entity network looks interesting to a user, the tool displays the documents that are the most relevant to those entities of interest currently shown in the network. We present this as a methodology for browsing a collection of research articles. To illustrate the practical applicability of SKIMMR, we present examples of its use in the domains of Spinal Muscular Atrophy and Parkinson’s Disease. Finally, we report on the results of experimental evaluation using the two domains and one additional dataset based on the TREC challenge. The results show how the presented method for machine-aided skim reading outperforms tools like PubMed regarding focused browsing and informativeness of the browsing context. PMID:25097821
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At the Leading Front of Neuroscience: A Bibliometric Study of the 100 Most-Cited Articles
Yeung, Andy W. K.; Goto, Tazuko K.; Leung, W. Keung
2017-01-01
Background: It might be difficult for clinicians and scientists to identify comprehensively the major research topics given the large number of publications. A bibliometric report that identifies the most-cited articles within the body of the relevant literature may provide insight and guidance for readers toward scientific topics that are considered important for researchers and all relevant workers of academia. To our knowledge, there is a lack of an overall evaluation of the most-cited articles and hence of a comprehensive review of major research topics in neuroscience. The present study was therefore proposed to analyze and characterize the 100 most-cited articles in neuroscience. Methods: Based on data provided from Web of Science, the 100 most-cited articles relevant to neuroscience were identified and characterized. Information was extracted for each included article to assess for the publication year, journal published, impact factor, adjusted impact factor, citation count (total, normalized, and adjusted), reference list, authorship and article type. Results: The total citation count for the 100 most-cited articles ranged from 7,326 to 2,138 (mean 3087.0) and the normalized citation count ranged from 0.163 to 0.007 (mean 0.054). The majority of the 100 articles were research articles (67%) and published from 1996 to 2000 (30%). The author and journal with the largest share of these 100 articles were Stephen M. Smith (n = 6) and Science (n = 13) respectively. Among the 100 most-cited articles, 37 were interlinked via citations of one another, and they could be classified into five major topics, four of which were scientific topics, namely neurological disorders, prefrontal cortex/emotion/reward, brain network, and brain mapping. The remaining topic was methodology. Interestingly 41 out of 63 of the rest, non-interlinked articles could also be categorized under the above five topics. Adjusted journal impact factor among these 100 articles did not appear to be associated with the corresponding adjusted citation count. Conclusion: The current study compiles a comprehensive list and analysis of the 100 most-cited articles relevant to neuroscience that enables the comprehensive identification and recognition of the most important and relevant research topics concerned. PMID:28785211
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At the Leading Front of Neuroscience: A Bibliometric Study of the 100 Most-Cited Articles.
Yeung, Andy W K; Goto, Tazuko K; Leung, W Keung
2017-01-01
Background: It might be difficult for clinicians and scientists to identify comprehensively the major research topics given the large number of publications. A bibliometric report that identifies the most-cited articles within the body of the relevant literature may provide insight and guidance for readers toward scientific topics that are considered important for researchers and all relevant workers of academia. To our knowledge, there is a lack of an overall evaluation of the most-cited articles and hence of a comprehensive review of major research topics in neuroscience. The present study was therefore proposed to analyze and characterize the 100 most-cited articles in neuroscience. Methods: Based on data provided from Web of Science, the 100 most-cited articles relevant to neuroscience were identified and characterized. Information was extracted for each included article to assess for the publication year, journal published, impact factor, adjusted impact factor, citation count (total, normalized, and adjusted), reference list, authorship and article type. Results: The total citation count for the 100 most-cited articles ranged from 7,326 to 2,138 (mean 3087.0) and the normalized citation count ranged from 0.163 to 0.007 (mean 0.054). The majority of the 100 articles were research articles (67%) and published from 1996 to 2000 (30%). The author and journal with the largest share of these 100 articles were Stephen M. Smith ( n = 6) and Science ( n = 13) respectively. Among the 100 most-cited articles, 37 were interlinked via citations of one another, and they could be classified into five major topics, four of which were scientific topics, namely neurological disorders, prefrontal cortex/emotion/reward, brain network, and brain mapping. The remaining topic was methodology. Interestingly 41 out of 63 of the rest, non-interlinked articles could also be categorized under the above five topics. Adjusted journal impact factor among these 100 articles did not appear to be associated with the corresponding adjusted citation count. Conclusion: The current study compiles a comprehensive list and analysis of the 100 most-cited articles relevant to neuroscience that enables the comprehensive identification and recognition of the most important and relevant research topics concerned.
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Advancing alternate tools: why science education needs CRP and CRT
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Dodo Seriki, Vanessa
2018-03-01
Ridgeway and Yerrick's paper, Whose banner are we waving?: exploring STEM partnerships for marginalized urban youth, unearthed the tensions that existed between a local community "expert" and a group of students and their facilitator in an afterschool program. Those of us who work with youth who are traditionally marginalized, understand the importance of teaching in culturally relevant ways, but far too often—as Ridgeway and Yerrick shared—community partners have beliefs, motives, and ideologies that are incompatible to the program's mission and goals. Nevertheless, we often enter partnerships assuming that the other party understands the needs of the students or community; understands how in U.S. society White is normative while all others are deficient; and understands how to engage with students in culturally relevant ways. This forum addresses the underlying assumption, described in the Ridgeway and Yerrick article, that educators—despite their background and experiences—are able to teach in culturally relevant ways. Additionally, I assert based on the finding in the article that just as Ladson-Billings and Tate (Teach Coll Rec 97(1):47-68, 1995) asserted, race in the U.S. society, as a scholarly pursuit, was under theorized. The same is true of science education; race in science education is under theorized and the use of culturally relevant pedagogy and critical race theory as a pedagogical model and analytical tool, respectively, in science education is minimal. The increased use of both would impact our understanding of who does science, and how to broaden participation among people of color.
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Qualitative systematic reviews: their importance for our understanding of research relevant to pain.
Seers, Kate
2015-02-01
This article outlines what a qualitative systematic review is and explores what it can contribute to our understanding of pain. Many of us use evidence of effectiveness for various interventions when working with people in pain. A good systematic review can be invaluable in bringing together research evidence to help inform our practice and help us understand what works. In addition to evidence of effectiveness, understanding how people with pain experience both their pain and their care can help us when we are working with them to provide care that meets their needs. A rigorous qualitative systematic review can also uncover new understandings, often helping illuminate 'why' and can help build theory. Such a review can answer the question 'What is it like to have chronic pain?' This article presents the different stages of meta-ethnography, which is the most common methodology used for qualitative systematic reviews. It presents evidence from four meta-ethnographies relevant to pain to illustrate the types of findings that can emerge from this approach. It shows how new understandings may emerge and gives an example of chronic musculoskeletal pain being experienced as 'an adversarial struggle' across many aspects of the person's life. This article concludes that evidence from qualitative systematic reviews has its place alongside or integrated with evidence from more quantitative approaches.
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Griffin, James P., Jr.; Miller, Erica
2007-01-01
This article is a response to a number of articles that use a culturally relevant prevention (CRP) approach for ethnic and racial minorities. The reaction is from a research practitioner's viewpoint. The authors argue in favor of determining an operational definition of cultural relevance by implementing prevention services with fidelity in the…
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Peila, Chiara; Emmerik, Nikki E; Giribaldi, Marzia; Stahl, Bernd; Ruitenberg, Joost E; van Elburg, Ruurd M; Moro, Guido E; Bertino, Enrico; Coscia, Alessandra; Cavallarin, Laura
2017-03-01
Pasteurization, performed at 62.5°C for 30 minutes (holder pasteurization), is currently recommended in all international human milk banks guidelines, but it affects some human milk bioactive and nutritive components. The present systematic review is aimed at critically reviewing evidence on the suitability of human milk processing techniques other than holder pasteurization, both thermal and nonthermal, to ensure microbiological safety, and on the effects of these techniques on biologically active donor milk components. A systematic review of English and non-English articles using Medline, PubMed, Embase, SCOPUS, and CAB Abstracts, with no restriction in publication date was performed. Search terms included: human, breast, donor, or banked milk, breastmilk, breast fed, breastfed, breastfeed; HTST, Flash, High Pressure, UV, ultrasonic or nonthermal; process, pasteuris, pasteuriz. Only primary research articles published in peer-reviewed journals were included, providing or not a comparison with holder pasteurized human milk, provided that the pasteurization technique was clearly described, and not intended for domestic use. Additional studies were identified by searching bibliographies of relevant articles. Twenty-six studies were identified as being relevant. Two examined both High Pressure Processing and High-Temperature-Short-Time pasteurization; 10 only examined High Pressure Processing; 10 only examined High-Temperature-Short-Time; 2 articles examined ultraviolet irradiation; 2 articles examined (thermo-)ultrasonic processing. The results indicate that data about safety for microbiological control are still scarce for most of the novel technologies, and that consensus on processing conditions is necessary for nonthermal technologies, before any conclusions on the qualitative and nutritional advantages of these techniques can be drawn.
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Specific Etiologies Associated With the Multiple Organ Dysfunction Syndrome in Children: Part 2.
Upperman, Jeffrey S; Bucuvalas, John C; Williams, Felicia N; Cairns, Bruce A; Cox, Charles S; Doctor, Allan; Tamburro, Robert F
2017-03-01
To describe a number of conditions and therapies associated with multiple organ dysfunction syndrome presented as part of the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Multiple Organ Dysfunction Workshop (March 26-27, 2015). In addition, the relationship between burn injuries and multiple organ dysfunction syndrome is also included although it was not discussed at the workshop. Literature review, research data, and expert opinion. Not applicable. Moderated by an expert from the field, issues relevant to the association of multiple organ dysfunction syndrome with a variety of conditions and therapies were presented, discussed, and debated with a focus on identifying knowledge gaps and the research priorities. Summary of presentations and discussion supported and supplemented by relevant literature. Sepsis and trauma are the two conditions most commonly associated with multiple organ dysfunction syndrome both in children and adults. However, many other pathophysiologic processes may result in multiple organ dysfunction syndrome. In this article, we discuss conditions such as liver failure and pancreatitis, pathophysiologic processes such as ischemia and hypoxia, and injuries such as trauma and burns. Additionally, therapeutic interventions such as medications, blood transfusions, transplantation may also precipitate and contribute to multiple organ dysfunction syndrome. The purpose of this article is to describe the association of multiple organ dysfunction syndrome with a variety of conditions and therapies in an attempt to identify similarities, differences, and opportunities for therapeutic intervention.
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A Topical Overview of Cumulative Risk Assessment Concepts ...
Cumulative risk assessments (CRAs) address combined risks from exposures to multiple chemical and nonchemical stressors and may focus on vulnerable communities or populations. Significant contributions have been made to the development of concepts, methods, and applications for CRA over the past decade. Work in both human health and ecological cumulative risk has advanced in two different contexts. First, in assessing the effects of chemical mixtures that share common modes of action, or that cause common adverse outcomes. In this context two primary models are used for predicting mixture effects, dose addition or response addition. The second context is evaluating the combined effects of chemical and nonchemical (e.g., radiation, biological, nutritional, economic, psychological, habitat alteration, land-use change, global climate change, and natural disasters) stressors. CRA can be adapted to address risk in many contexts, and this adaptability is reflected in the range in disciplinary perspectives in the published literature. This article presents the results of a literature search by presenting a range of selected work with the intention to give a broad overview of relevant topics and provide a starting point for researchers interested in CRA applications. This is a select literature review of topics in CRA. As a published article it will allow the citation of an analysis conducted on a rich and diverse set of CRA publications relevant to assessment methods
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Critical review of public health regulations of titanium dioxide, a human food additive.
Jovanović, Boris
2015-01-01
From 1916 to 2011, an estimated total of 165050000 metric tons of titanium dioxide (TiO2 ) pigment were produced worldwide. Current safety regulations on the usage of the TiO2 pigment as an inactive ingredient additive in human food are based on legislation from 1969 and are arguably outdated. This article compiles new research results to provide fresh data for potential risk reassessment. However, even after 45 years, few scientific research reports have provided truly reliable data. For example, administration of very high doses of TiO2 is not relevant to daily human uptake. Nevertheless, because dose makes the poison, the literature provides a valuable source for understanding potential TiO2 toxicity after oral ingestion. Numerous scientific articles have observed that TiO2 can pass and be absorbed by the mammalian gastrointestinal tract; can bioconcentrate, bioaccumulate, and biomagnify in the tissues of mammals and other vertebrates; has a very limited elimination rate; and can cause histopathological and physiological changes in various organs of animals. Such action is contrary to the 1969 decision to approve the use of TiO2 as an inactive ingredient in human food without an established acceptable daily intake, stating that neither significant absorption nor tissue storage following ingestion of TiO2 was possible. Thus, relevant governmental agencies should reassess the safety of TiO2 as an additive in human food and consider establishing an acceptable maximum daily intake as a precautionary measure. © 2014 The Author. Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of SETAC.
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Enabling multi-level relevance feedback on PubMed by integrating rank learning into DBMS.
Yu, Hwanjo; Kim, Taehoon; Oh, Jinoh; Ko, Ilhwan; Kim, Sungchul; Han, Wook-Shin
2010-04-16
Finding relevant articles from PubMed is challenging because it is hard to express the user's specific intention in the given query interface, and a keyword query typically retrieves a large number of results. Researchers have applied machine learning techniques to find relevant articles by ranking the articles according to the learned relevance function. However, the process of learning and ranking is usually done offline without integrated with the keyword queries, and the users have to provide a large amount of training documents to get a reasonable learning accuracy. This paper proposes a novel multi-level relevance feedback system for PubMed, called RefMed, which supports both ad-hoc keyword queries and a multi-level relevance feedback in real time on PubMed. RefMed supports a multi-level relevance feedback by using the RankSVM as the learning method, and thus it achieves higher accuracy with less feedback. RefMed "tightly" integrates the RankSVM into RDBMS to support both keyword queries and the multi-level relevance feedback in real time; the tight coupling of the RankSVM and DBMS substantially improves the processing time. An efficient parameter selection method for the RankSVM is also proposed, which tunes the RankSVM parameter without performing validation. Thereby, RefMed achieves a high learning accuracy in real time without performing a validation process. RefMed is accessible at http://dm.postech.ac.kr/refmed. RefMed is the first multi-level relevance feedback system for PubMed, which achieves a high accuracy with less feedback. It effectively learns an accurate relevance function from the user's feedback and efficiently processes the function to return relevant articles in real time.
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Enabling multi-level relevance feedback on PubMed by integrating rank learning into DBMS
2010-01-01
Background Finding relevant articles from PubMed is challenging because it is hard to express the user's specific intention in the given query interface, and a keyword query typically retrieves a large number of results. Researchers have applied machine learning techniques to find relevant articles by ranking the articles according to the learned relevance function. However, the process of learning and ranking is usually done offline without integrated with the keyword queries, and the users have to provide a large amount of training documents to get a reasonable learning accuracy. This paper proposes a novel multi-level relevance feedback system for PubMed, called RefMed, which supports both ad-hoc keyword queries and a multi-level relevance feedback in real time on PubMed. Results RefMed supports a multi-level relevance feedback by using the RankSVM as the learning method, and thus it achieves higher accuracy with less feedback. RefMed "tightly" integrates the RankSVM into RDBMS to support both keyword queries and the multi-level relevance feedback in real time; the tight coupling of the RankSVM and DBMS substantially improves the processing time. An efficient parameter selection method for the RankSVM is also proposed, which tunes the RankSVM parameter without performing validation. Thereby, RefMed achieves a high learning accuracy in real time without performing a validation process. RefMed is accessible at http://dm.postech.ac.kr/refmed. Conclusions RefMed is the first multi-level relevance feedback system for PubMed, which achieves a high accuracy with less feedback. It effectively learns an accurate relevance function from the user’s feedback and efficiently processes the function to return relevant articles in real time. PMID:20406504
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Gooding, Kate
2017-05-04
There has been growing interest in the contribution of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to international health research. One strength that NGOs may bring to research involves the potential value of service delivery experience for indicating relevant research questions, namely through their involvement in service delivery, NGO staff may be aware of frontline knowledge gaps, allowing these staff to identify questions that lead to research with immediate relevance. However, there is little empirical evidence on research agendas within NGOs to assess whether their service delivery experience does lead to relevant research or conditions that affect this. This article examines the identification and selection of research questions within NGOs to explore the role of their service delivery experience in generating relevant research agendas. The article reports comparative case study research on four NGOs in Malawi, including two international and two Malawian organisations. Each NGO conducts research and undertakes service delivery and advocacy. Data collection included interviews, focus groups, observation and document review. Analysis involved thematic coding and use of diagrams. The case NGOs' experiences suggest that using service delivery to identify research questions does not always match NGOs' aims or capacities, and does not guarantee relevance. First, NGOs do not want to rely only on service delivery when developing research agendas; they consider other criteria and additional sources of ideas when selecting questions they see as relevant. Second, service delivery staff are not always well-placed to identify research topics; indeed, involvement in hectic, target-driven service delivery can hinder input to research agendas. Third, NGOs' ability to pursue questions inspired by service delivery depends on control over their research agendas; relationships with external actors and financial autonomy affect NGOs' capacity to undertake the research they see as relevant. Finally, the perceived relevance of research findings varies between audiences and depends on more than the research question. The findings suggest limits to the value and feasibility of a research agenda based on service delivery experience. Based on the analysis, the conclusion outlines strategies to support an effective role for NGOs' service delivery experience in development of research agendas.
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García-Campayo, Javier; Fayed, Nicolas; Serrano-Blanco, Antoni; Roca, Miquel
2009-03-01
Neuroimaging research in psychiatry has been increasing exponentially in recent years, yet many psychiatrists are relatively unfamiliar with this field. This article summarizes the findings of the most relevant research articles on the neuroimaging of somatoform, conversive, and dissociative disorders published from January 2007 through June 2008. Neuroimaging findings summarized here include alterations of stress regulation and coping in somatoform pain disorders, the importance of catastrophizing in somatization disorder, and the relevance of a history of physical/sexual abuse in irritable bowel syndrome. Regarding fibromyalgia, three of the most significant advances have been the impossibility of differentiating primary and concomitant fibromyalgia in the presence of quiescent underlying disease, the role of hippocampal dysfunction, and the possibility that fibromyalgia may be characterized as an aging process. In dissociative disorders, the high levels of elaborative memory encoding and the reduced size of the parietal lobe are highlighted. The most promising clinical consequence of these studies, in addition to improving knowledge about the etiology of these illnesses, is the possibility of using neuroimaging findings to identify subgroups of patients, which could allow treatments to be tailored.
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Bozzato, A
2015-06-01
The second part of this continuing medical education article focuses on sonographic assessment of the salivary glands, cervical paraganglioma, angioma, esophagus, extra cranial blood vessels and the temporomandibular joint. The currently available minimally invasive therapeutic options (e. g. sialendoscopy, lithotripsy, therapeutic duct lavage and extracapsular dissection) for salivary gland disease presuppose a precise imaging modality. Modern ultrasound is able to meet this challenge, making additional imaging a rare necessity. Regions of the neck with a difficult topography (esophagus and hypopharynx) can often be successfully portrayed sonographically. Furthermore, ultrasound enables functional evaluation of swallowing in the cervical parts of the esophagus in dysphagia patients. In addition to the branchial cleft anomalies and lymph nodes discussed in part 1, paraganglioma, angiomatosis and neurogenic tumors are important differential diagnoses of solid lesions of the neck. Finally, venous and arterial alterations of the extracranial vessels of the neck relevant to clinical routine are depicted, as are pathological conditions of the temporomandibular joint relevant to the otorhinolaryngologist.
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Early infant male circumcision: Systematic review, risk-benefit analysis, and progress in policy.
Morris, Brian J; Kennedy, Sean E; Wodak, Alex D; Mindel, Adrian; Golovsky, David; Schrieber, Leslie; Lumbers, Eugenie R; Handelsman, David J; Ziegler, John B
2017-02-08
To determine whether recent evidence-based United States policies on male circumcision (MC) apply to comparable Anglophone countries, Australia and New Zealand. Articles in 2005 through 2015 were retrieved from PubMed using the keyword "circumcision" together with 36 relevant subtopics. A further PubMed search was performed for articles published in 2016. Searches of the EMBASE and Cochrane databases did not yield additional citable articles. Articles were assessed for quality and those rated 2+ and above according to the Scottish Intercollegiate Grading System were studied further. The most relevant and representative of the topic were included. Bibliographies were examined to retrieve further key references. Randomized controlled trials, recent high quality systematic reviews or meta-analyses (level 1++ or 1+ evidence) were prioritized for inclusion. A risk-benefit analysis of articles rated for quality was performed. For efficiency and reliability, recent randomized controlled trials, meta-analyses, high quality systematic reviews and large well-designed studies were used if available. Internet searches were conducted for other relevant information, including policies and Australian data on claims under Medicare for MC. Evidence-based policy statements by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) support infant and later age male circumcision (MC) as a desirable public health measure. Our systematic review of relevant literature over the past decade yielded 140 journal articles that met our inclusion criteria. Together, these showed that early infant MC confers immediate and lifelong benefits by protecting against urinary tract infections having potential adverse long-term renal effects, phimosis that causes difficult and painful erections and "ballooning" during urination, inflammatory skin conditions, inferior penile hygiene, candidiasis, various sexually transmissible infections in both sexes, genital ulcers, and penile, prostate and cervical cancer. Our risk-benefit analysis showed that benefits exceeded procedural risks, which are predominantly minor, by up to 200 to 1. We estimated that more than 1 in 2 uncircumcised males will experience an adverse foreskin-related medical condition over their lifetime. Wide-ranging evidence from surveys, physiological measurements, and the anatomical location of penile sensory receptors responsible for sexual sensation strongly and consistently suggested that MC has no detrimental effect on sexual function, sensitivity or pleasure. United States studies showed that early infant MC is cost saving. The evidence supporting early infant MC has further strengthened since the positive AAP and CDC reviews. Affirmative MC policies are needed in Australia and New Zealand. Routine provision of accurate, unbiased education, and access in public hospitals, will maximize health and financial benefits.
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Markou, Athina; Salamone, John D; Bussey, Timothy J; Mar, Adam C; Brunner, Daniela; Gilmour, Gary; Balsam, Peter
2013-11-01
The present review article summarizes and expands upon the discussions that were initiated during a meeting of the Cognitive Neuroscience Treatment Research to Improve Cognition in Schizophrenia (CNTRICS; http://cntrics.ucdavis.edu) meeting. A major goal of the CNTRICS meeting was to identify experimental procedures and measures that can be used in laboratory animals to assess psychological constructs that are related to the psychopathology of schizophrenia. The issues discussed in this review reflect the deliberations of the Motivation Working Group of the CNTRICS meeting, which included most of the authors of this article as well as additional participants. After receiving task nominations from the general research community, this working group was asked to identify experimental procedures in laboratory animals that can assess aspects of reinforcement learning and motivation that may be relevant for research on the negative symptoms of schizophrenia, as well as other disorders characterized by deficits in reinforcement learning and motivation. The tasks described here that assess reinforcement learning are the Autoshaping Task, Probabilistic Reward Learning Tasks, and the Response Bias Probabilistic Reward Task. The tasks described here that assess motivation are Outcome Devaluation and Contingency Degradation Tasks and Effort-Based Tasks. In addition to describing such methods and procedures, the present article provides a working vocabulary for research and theory in this field, as well as an industry perspective about how such tasks may be used in drug discovery. It is hoped that this review can aid investigators who are conducting research in this complex area, promote translational studies by highlighting shared research goals and fostering a common vocabulary across basic and clinical fields, and facilitate the development of medications for the treatment of symptoms mediated by reinforcement learning and motivational deficits. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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Bots-VantSpijker, Pieternella C; Vanobbergen, Jacques N O; Schols, Jos M G A; Schaub, Rob M H; Bots, Casper P; de Baat, Cees
2014-04-01
To identify barriers of delivering oral health care to older people experienced by dentists. A comprehensive literature search was carried out for studies published in the period January 1990-December 2011, using free text and MESH term search strategies for PubMed (Medline), EMBASE and CINAHL. The initial search identified 236 potentially relevant publications: PubMed (Medline; n = 127), EMBASE (n = 108) and CINAHL (n = 1). After screening of titles and abstracts, 14 publications were revealed as relevant for further review. Seven articles, focusing on dentists delivering oral health care to older people in care homes, were suitable for this review, and seven articles did not meet the previously determined quality criteria. One of these articles also focused on barriers experienced by dentists working in their own practice and delivering oral health care to community-dwelling older people. The most common barriers of delivering oral health care to older people were identified respectively as: the lack of adequate equipment in a care home and no area for treatment available (n = 4) and the lack of adequate reimbursement for working in a care home (n = 5). In addition, the inadequate training and experience in delivering oral health care to older care home residents (n = 2) were mentioned. Four publications indicated the loss of time from private practice as a barrier to deliver oral health care in a care home. We suggest that additional research should be initiated to investigate more in detail the barriers dentists experience in delivering oral health care to older people in their own dental practices. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
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Markou, Athina; Salamone, John D.; Bussey, Timothy; Mar, Adam; Brunner, Daniela; Gilmour, Gary; Balsam, Peter
2013-01-01
The present review article summarizes and expands upon the discussions that were initiated during a meeting of the Cognitive Neuroscience Treatment Research to Improve Cognition in Schizophrenia (CNTRICS; http://cntrics.ucdavis.edu). A major goal of the CNTRICS meeting was to identify experimental procedures and measures that can be used in laboratory animals to assess psychological constructs that are related to the psychopathology of schizophrenia. The issues discussed in this review reflect the deliberations of the Motivation Working Group of the CNTRICS meeting, which included most of the authors of this article as well as additional participants. After receiving task nominations from the general research community, this working group was asked to identify experimental procedures in laboratory animals that can assess aspects of reinforcement learning and motivation that may be relevant for research on the negative symptoms of schizophrenia, as well as other disorders characterized by deficits in reinforcement learning and motivation. The tasks described here that assess reinforcement learning are the Autoshaping Task, Probabilistic Reward Learning Tasks, and the Response Bias Probabilistic Reward Task. The tasks described here that assess motivation are Outcome Devaluation and Contingency Degradation Tasks and Effort-Based Tasks. In addition to describing such methods and procedures, the present article provides a working vocabulary for research and theory in this field, as well as an industry perspective about how such tasks may be used in drug discovery. It is hoped that this review can aid investigators who are conducting research in this complex area, promote translational studies by highlighting shared research goals and fostering a common vocabulary across basic and clinical fields, and facilitate the development of medications for the treatment of symptoms mediated by reinforcement learning and motivational deficits. PMID:23994273
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Non-syndromic craniosynostosis in children: Scoping review.
Garrocho-Rangel, A; Manríquez-Olmos, L; Flores-Velázquez, J; Rosales-Berber, M-A; Martínez-Rider, R; Pozos-Guillén, A
2018-06-20
Craniosynostosis (CS) is a complex condition consisting of the early fusion of one or more cranial sutures in the intrauterine stage. The affected infant exhibits abnormal head shape at time of birth or shortly thereafter. It can be observed in normal individuals (non-syndromic CS or NSCS) or as a part of a multisystem syndrome. The purposes of the present article were to carry out a scoping review on Non-Syndromic CS and to discuss the most important findings retrieved. The steps of this scoping review were as follows: first, to pose a research question; second, to identify relevant studies to answer the research question; third, to select and retrieve the studies; fourth, to chart the critical data, and finally, to collate, summarize, and report the results from the most important articles. Relevant articles published over a 20-year period were identified and retrieved from five Internet databases: PubMed; EMBASE; Cochrane Library; Google Scholar, and EBSCO. Fourteen articles were finally included in the present scoping review. The following four most important clinical issues are discussed: (i) normal cranial development, clinical manifestations, and pathogenesis of NCSC; (ii) clinical evaluation of NCSC; (iii) treatment and post-surgical follow-up; and (iv) additional considerations. NSCS may be present with associated head shapes. Multiple early surgical reconstructive options are currently available for the disorder. Pediatric Dentistry practitioners must be familiarized with this condition and form part of a multi-approach health team as those responsible for the opportune oral health care of the affected child.
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Torii, Manabu; Yin, Lanlan; Nguyen, Thang; Mazumdar, Chand T.; Liu, Hongfang; Hartley, David M.; Nelson, Noele P.
2014-01-01
Purpose Early detection of infectious disease outbreaks is crucial to protecting the public health of a society. Online news articles provide timely information on disease outbreaks worldwide. In this study, we investigated automated detection of articles relevant to disease outbreaks using machine learning classifiers. In a real-life setting, it is expensive to prepare a training data set for classifiers, which usually consists of manually labeled relevant and irrelevant articles. To mitigate this challenge, we examined the use of randomly sampled unlabeled articles as well as labeled relevant articles. Methods Naïve Bayes and Support Vector Machine (SVM) classifiers were trained on 149 relevant and 149 or more randomly sampled unlabeled articles. Diverse classifiers were trained by varying the number of sampled unlabeled articles and also the number of word features. The trained classifiers were applied to 15 thousand articles published over 15 days. Top-ranked articles from each classifier were pooled and the resulting set of 1337 articles was reviewed by an expert analyst to evaluate the classifiers. Results Daily averages of areas under ROC curves (AUCs) over the 15-day evaluation period were 0.841 and 0.836, respectively, for the naïve Bayes and SVM classifier. We referenced a database of disease outbreak reports to confirm that this evaluation data set resulted from the pooling method indeed covered incidents recorded in the database during the evaluation period. Conclusions The proposed text classification framework utilizing randomly sampled unlabeled articles can facilitate a cost-effective approach to training machine learning classifiers in a real-life Internet-based biosurveillance project. We plan to examine this framework further using larger data sets and using articles in non-English languages. PMID:21134784
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Hornbuckle, Lyndsey M; Amutah-Onukagha, Ndidiamaka; Bryan, Alicia; Skidmore Edwards, Elizabeth; Madzima, Takudzwa; Massey, Kelly; May, Linda; Robinson, Leah E
2017-01-01
AIMS AND SCOPE Clinical Medicine Insights: Women’s Health is an international, open-access, peer-reviewed journal which considers manuscripts on all aspects of the diagnosis, management, and prevention of disorders specific to women, in addition to related genetic, pathophysiological, and epidemiological topics. Clinical Medicine Insights: Women’s Health aims to provide researchers working in this complex, quickly developing field with online, open access to highly relevant scholarly articles by leading international researchers. In a field where the literature is ever-expanding, researchers increasingly need access to up-to-date, high-quality scholarly articles on areas of specific contemporary interest. This supplement is on Health Disparities in Women. This supplement aims to address this by presenting high-quality articles that allow readers to distinguish the signal from the noise. The editor in chief hopes that through this effort, practitioners and researchers will be aided in finding answers to some of the most complex and pressing issues of our time. PMID:28579867
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Multiple Enactments of Educational Research
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Landri, Paolo
2012-01-01
The article addresses the widespread claim to make educational research more relevant for practitioners, policy makers, potential users and stakeholders, and proposes a problematisation of the notion of "useful knowledge". The article illustrates the conceptual, instrumental and legitimative relevance of knowledge and highlights empirically the…
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CONTACT: An Air Force technical report on military satellite control technology
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Weakley, Christopher K.
1993-07-01
This technical report focuses on Military Satellite Control Technologies and their application to the Air Force Satellite Control Network (AFSCN). This report is a compilation of articles that provide an overview of the AFSCN and the Advanced Technology Program, and discusses relevant technical issues and developments applicable to the AFSCN. Among the topics covered are articles on Future Technology Projections; Future AFSCN Topologies; Modeling of the AFSCN; Wide Area Communications Technology Evolution; Automating AFSCN Resource Scheduling; Health & Status Monitoring at Remote Tracking Stations; Software Metrics and Tools for Measuring AFSCN Software Performance; Human-Computer Interface Working Group; Trusted Systems Workshop; and the University Technical Interaction Program. In addition, Key Technology Area points of contact are listed in the report.
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Rice, Emma S; Haynes, Emma; Royce, Paul; Thompson, Sandra C
2016-05-25
The use of social media and digital technologies has grown rapidly in Australia and around the world, including among Indigenous young people who face social disadvantage. Given the potential to use social media for communication, providing information and as part of creating and responding to social change, this paper explores published literature to understand how Indigenous Australian youth use digital technologies and social media, and its positive and negative impacts. Online literature searches were conducted in three databases: PubMed, Google Scholar and Informit in August 2014; with further searches of additional relevant databases (Engineering Village; Communication & mass media complete; Computers & applied sciences complete; Web of Science) undertaken in May 2015. In addition, relevant literature was gathered using citation snowballing so that additional peer-reviewed and grey literature was included. Articles were deemed relevant if they discussed social media and/or digital technologies and Indigenous Australians. After reading and reviewing all relevant articles, a thematic analysis was used to identify overall themes and identify specific examples. A total of 22 papers were included in the review. Several major themes were identified about how and why Indigenous young people use social media: identity, power and control, cultural compatibility and community and family connections. Examples of marketing for health and health promotion approaches that utilize social media and digital technologies were identified. Negative uses of social media such as cyber bullying, cyber racism and the exchange of sexually explicit content between minors are common with limited approaches to dealing with this at the community level. Strong cultural identity and community and family connections, which can be enhanced through social media, are linked to improved educational and health outcomes. The confidence that Indigenous young people demonstrate when approaching the use of social media invites its further use, including in arenas where this group may not usually participate, such as in research. Future research could examine ways to minimise the misuse of social media while maximising its positive potential in the lives of Indigenous young people. Future research should also focus on the positive application of social media and showing evidence in health promotion interventions in order to reduce health inequities between Indigenous and non-Indigenous young people.
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Ji, Xiaonan; Machiraju, Raghu; Ritter, Alan; Yen, Po-Yin
2017-01-01
Systematic Reviews (SRs) of biomedical literature summarize evidence from high-quality studies to inform clinical decisions, but are time and labor intensive due to the large number of article collections. Article similarities established from textual features have been shown to assist in the identification of relevant articles, thus facilitating the article screening process efficiently. In this study, we visualized article similarities to extend its utilization in practical settings for SR researchers, aiming to promote human comprehension of article distributions and hidden patterns. To prompt an effective visualization in an interpretable, intuitive, and scalable way, we implemented a graph-based network visualization with three network sparsification approaches and a distance-based map projection via dimensionality reduction. We evaluated and compared three network sparsification approaches and the visualization types (article network vs. article map). We demonstrated the effectiveness in revealing article distribution and exhibiting clustering patterns of relevant articles with practical meanings for SRs.
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Readability of Orthopedic Trauma Patient Education Materials on the Internet.
Mohan, Rohith; Yi, Paul H; Morshed, Saam
In this study, we used the Flesch-Kincaid Readability Scale to determine the readability levels of orthopedic trauma patient education materials on the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) website and to examine how subspecialty coauthorship affects readability level. Included articles from the AAOS online patient education library and the AAOS OrthoPortal website were categorized as trauma or broken bones and injuries on the AAOS online library or were screened by study authors for relevance to orthopedic trauma. Subsequently, the Flesch-Kincaid scale was used to determine each article's readability level, which was reported as a grade level. Subspecialty coauthorship was noted for each article. A total of 115 articles from the AAOS website were included in the study and reviewed. Mean reading level was grade 9.1 for all articles reviewed. Nineteen articles (16.5%) were found to be at or below the eighth-grade level, and only 1 article was at or below the sixth-grade level. In addition, there was no statistically significant difference between articles coauthored by the various orthopedic subspecialties and those authored exclusively by AAOS. Orthopedic trauma readability materials on the AAOS website appear to be written at a reading comprehension level too high for the average patient to understand.
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Career Choice in Academic Medicine: Systematic Review
Straus, Sharon E; Straus, Christine; Tzanetos, Katina
2006-01-01
OBJECTIVES To review systematically the evidence about what factors influence the decision to choose or not choose a career in academic medicine. DESIGN A systematic review of relevant literature from 1990 to May 2005. DATA SOURCES Searches of The Cochrane Library, Medline (using Ovid and PubMed) from 1990 to May 2005, and EMBASE from 1990 to May 2005 were completed to identify relevant studies that explored the influential factors. Additional articles were identified from searching the bibliographies of retrieved articles. SELECTION OF STUDIES We attempted to identify studies that included residents, fellows, or staff physicians. No restrictions were placed on the study methodologies identified and all articles presenting empirical evidence were retrieved. For cohort, case-control, and cross-sectional studies, minimum inclusion criteria were the presence of defined groups, and the ability to extract relevant data. For surveys that involved case series, minimum inclusion criteria were a description of the population, and the availability of extractable data. Minimum inclusion criteria for qualitative studies were descriptions of the sampling strategy and methods. RESULTS The search identified 251 abstracts; 25 articles were included in this review. Completion of an MD with a graduate degree or fellowship program is associated with a career in academic medicine. Of the articles identified in this review, this finding is supported by the highest quality of evidence. Similarly, the completion of research and publication of this research in medical school and residency are associated with a career in academic medicine. The desire to teach, conduct research, and the intellectual stimulation and challenge provided in academia may also persuade people to choose this career path. The influence of a role model or a mentor was reported by physicians to impact their decision making. Trainees' interest in academic medicine wanes as they progress through their residency. CONCLUSIONS In order to revitalize academic medicine, we must engage trainees and retain their interest throughout their training. Research opportunities for medical students, and fellowships or graduate training can meet this challenge and influence career choice. Initiatives to stimulate and maintain interest in academic medicine should be evaluated in prospective studies across multiple sites. PMID:17105520
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Information sources for obesity prevention policy research: a review of systematic reviews.
Hanneke, Rosie; Young, Sabrina K
2017-08-08
Systematic identification of evidence in health policy can be time-consuming and challenging. This study examines three questions pertaining to systematic reviews on obesity prevention policy, in order to identify the most efficient search methods: (1) What percentage of the primary studies selected for inclusion in the reviews originated in scholarly as opposed to gray literature? (2) How much of the primary scholarly literature in this topic area is indexed in PubMed/MEDLINE? (3) Which databases index the greatest number of primary studies not indexed in PubMed, and are these databases searched consistently across systematic reviews? We identified systematic reviews on obesity prevention policy and explored their search methods and citations. We determined the percentage of scholarly vs. gray literature cited, the most frequently cited journals, and whether each primary study was indexed in PubMed. We searched 21 databases for all primary study articles not indexed in PubMed to determine which database(s) indexed the highest number of these relevant articles. In total, 21 systematic reviews were identified. Ten of the 21 systematic reviews reported searching gray literature, and 12 reviews ultimately included gray literature in their analyses. Scholarly articles accounted for 577 of the 649 total primary study papers. Of these, 495 (76%) were indexed in PubMed. Google Scholar retrieved the highest number of the remaining 82 non-PubMed scholarly articles, followed by Scopus and EconLit. The Journal of the American Dietetic Association was the most-cited journal. Researchers can maximize search efficiency by searching a small yet targeted selection of both scholarly and gray literature resources. A highly sensitive search of PubMed and those databases that index the greatest number of relevant articles not indexed in PubMed, namely multidisciplinary and economics databases, could save considerable time and effort. When combined with a gray literature search and additional search methods, including cited reference searching and consulting with experts, this approach could help maintain broad retrieval of relevant studies while improving search efficiency. Findings also have implications for designing specialized databases for public health research.
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Career choice in academic medicine: systematic review.
Straus, Sharon E; Straus, Christine; Tzanetos, Katina
2006-12-01
To review systematically the evidence about what factors influence the decision to choose or not choose a career in academic medicine. A systematic review of relevant literature from 1990 to May 2005. Searches of The Cochrane Library, Medline (using Ovid and PubMed) from 1990 to May 2005, and EMBASE from 1990 to May 2005 were completed to identify relevant studies that explored the influential factors. Additional articles were identified from searching the bibliographies of retrieved articles. We attempted to identify studies that included residents, fellows, or staff physicians. No restrictions were placed on the study methodologies identified and all articles presenting empirical evidence were retrieved. For cohort, case-control, and cross-sectional studies, minimum inclusion criteria were the presence of defined groups, and the ability to extract relevant data. For surveys that involved case series, minimum inclusion criteria were a description of the population, and the availability of extractable data. Minimum inclusion criteria for qualitative studies were descriptions of the sampling strategy and methods. The search identified 251 abstracts; 25 articles were included in this review. Completion of an MD with a graduate degree or fellowship program is associated with a career in academic medicine. Of the articles identified in this review, this finding is supported by the highest quality of evidence. Similarly, the completion of research and publication of this research in medical school and residency are associated with a career in academic medicine. The desire to teach, conduct research, and the intellectual stimulation and challenge provided in academia may also persuade people to choose this career path. The influence of a role model or a mentor was reported by physicians to impact their decision making. Trainees' interest in academic medicine wanes as they progress through their residency. In order to revitalize academic medicine, we must engage trainees and retain their interest throughout their training. Research opportunities for medical students, and fellowships or graduate training can meet this challenge and influence career choice. Initiatives to stimulate and maintain interest in academic medicine should be evaluated in prospective studies across multiple sites.
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Lifestyle causes of male infertility.
Durairajanayagam, Damayanthi
2018-03-01
To examine the potential effects of lifestyle factors on male reproductive health. Evidence of a global decline in human sperm quality over recent decades has been accumulating. Environmental, occupational, and modifiable lifestyle factors may contribute to this decline. This review focuses on key lifestyle factors that are associated with male infertility such as smoking cigarettes, alcohol intake, use of illicit drugs, obesity, psychological stress, advanced paternal age, dietary practices, and coffee consumption. Other factors such as testicular heat stress, intense cycling training, lack of sleep and exposure to electromagnetic radiation from mobile phone use are briefly discussed. A comprehensive literature search was performed to identify and synthesise all relevant information, mainly from within the last decade, on the major lifestyle factors associated with male infertility and semen quality. Database searches were limited to reports published in English only. A manual search of bibliographies of the reports retrieved was conducted to identify additional relevant articles. In all, 1012 articles were identified from the database search and after reviewing the titles and abstract of the reports, 104 articles met the inclusion criteria. Of these, 30 reports were excluded as the full-text could not be retrieved and the abstract did not have relevant data. The remaining 74 reports were reviewed for data on association between a particular lifestyle factor and male infertility and were included in the present review. The major lifestyle factors discussed in the present review are amongst the multiple potential risk factors that could impair male fertility. However, their negative impact may well be mostly overcome by behaviour modification and better lifestyle choices. Greater awareness and recognition of the possible impact of these lifestyle factors are important amongst couples seeking conception.
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NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Peshnina, I.; Sinitsina, O.
2017-11-01
The study relevance is determined by the increasing interest in reconstruction of city historical centers and located in the area of industrial buildings the functional profile of which needs to be changed. The problem of obtaining extra usable spaces in the historical centers of cities is solved by raising the number of storeys in the buildings which can be achieved by the construction of additional built-in inter-floor overlaps. The article is dedicated to the analysis of the recent years’ experience in reconstruction design involving this method in our country and abroad, in the Netherlands, in particular. The article presents the results of the analysis of the experience in reconstruction of the objects by constructing additional inter-floor overlaps and aims to define the optimum construction solution for built-in inter-floor overlapping and to develop non-existing solutions for wide application of this method in the reconstruction of a building with non-unified and unmodulated parameters. It was determined as expedient to apply a monolith reinforced concrete slab with the use of steel profiled flooring as a formwork and reinforcement and steel beams designed as “Built-in Beams” for the construction of built-in inter-floor overlaps in reconstruction. The article will be useful for specialists doing research in the sphere of reconstruction of the buildings and for the practical activity of design engineers.
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NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Aydın, Sevgi; Demirdöğen, Betül; Muslu, Nilay; Hanuscin, Deborah L.
2013-10-01
A number of science education policy documents recommend that students develop an understanding of the enterprise of science and the nature of science (NOS). Despite this emphasis, there is still a gap between policy and practice. Teacher professional literature provides one potential venue for bridging this gap, by providing “activities that work” (Appleton in elementary science teacher education: International perspectives on contemporary issues and practice. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Mahwah, NJ, 2006) that can scaffold teachers’ developing pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) for teaching NOS. We analyzed articles published in the NSTA journal The Science Teacher (1995-2010) in terms of the degree to which they provide appropriate model activities and specific information that can support the development of teachers’ PCK for teaching NOS. Our analysis revealed a diversity of NOS aspects addressed by the authors and a wide range of variation in the percent of articles focused on each aspect. Additionally, we found that few articles provided robust information related to all the component knowledge bases of PCK for NOS. In particular, within the extant practitioner literature, there are few models for teaching the aspects of NOS, such as the function and nature of scientific theory. Furthermore, though articles provided information relevant to informing teachers’ knowledge of instructional strategies for NOS, relevant information to inform teachers’ knowledge of assessment in this regard was lacking. We provide recommendations for ways in which the practitioner literature may support teachers’ teaching of NOS through more robust attention to the types of knowledge research indicates are needed in order to teaching NOS effectively.
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A Systematic Review and Quantitative Meta-Analysis of Oxytocin's Effects on Feeding.
Leslie, Monica; Silva, Paulo; Paloyelis, Yannis; Blevins, James; Treasure, Janet
2018-02-26
Oxytocin's anorexigenic effects have been widely documented and accepted; however, no paper has yet used the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) guidelines to compile previous findings in a single systematic review and quantitative meta-analysis. The current paper aimed to identify published and unpublished studies examining the effects of oxytocin on energy intake in animals and humans, and the factors that moderate this effect. Web of Science, Pub Med, and Ovid were searched for published and unpublished studies reporting the effects of oxytocin on energy intake in wild-type animals and in humans, when administered in the absence of other active drugs or surgery. 2049 articles were identified through the original systematic literature search, from which 54 articles were identified as relevant for inclusion in this review. An additional 3 relevant articles were identified in a later update of the literature search. Overall, a single-dose of oxytocin was found to reduce feeding in animals. Despite several individual studies which found that this effect persists to the end of the third week of chronic administration in rodent models, overall, this anorexigenic effect did not hold in the meta-analyses testing the effects of chronic administration. There was no overall effect of oxytocin on energy intake in humans, although a trend was identified for oxytocin to reduce consumption of solid foods. Oxytocin reduces energy intake when administered as a single dose. Oxytocin can inhibit feeding over two- to three-week periods in rodent models. These effects typically do not persist beyond the third week of treatment. The anorexigenic effect of oxytocin is moderated by pregnant status, dose, method of administration, and diet composition. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
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Economic Evaluations of Opioid Use Disorder Interventions: A Systematic Review
Murphy, Sean M.; Polsky, Daniel
2017-01-01
Background The economic costs associated with opioid misuse are immense. Effective interventions for opioid use disorders are available; however, given the scarce resources faced by substance-use treatment providers and payers of all kinds, evidence of effectiveness is not always sufficient to encourage the adoption of a given therapy, nor should it be. Economic evaluations can provide evidence that will help stakeholders efficiently allocate their resources. Objective The purpose of this study was to review the literature on economic evaluations of opioid use disorder interventions. Methods We performed a systematic review of the major electronic databases from inception until present (August 2015). A sensitive approach was used to ensure a comprehensive list of relevant articles. Given the quality of existing reviews, we narrowed our search to studies published since 2007. The Drummond checklist was used to evaluate and categorize economic-evaluation studies according to their quality. Results A total of 98 articles were identified as potentially relevant to the current study. Of these 98 articles, half (n=49) were included in this study. Six of the included articles were review in nature. The remaining 43 articles performed an economic evaluation of an intervention for opioid use disorders. In general, the evidence on methadone-maintenance therapy (MMT) supports previous findings that MMT is an economically advantageous opioid-use-disorder therapy. The economic literature comparing MMT to other opioid-use-disorder pharmacotherapies is limited, as is the literature on other forms of therapy. Conclusions With the possible exception of MMT, additional high-quality economic evaluations are needed in order to assess the relative value of existing opioid-use-disorder interventions. PMID:27002518
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Information extraction from full text scientific articles: where are the keywords?
Shah, Parantu K; Perez-Iratxeta, Carolina; Bork, Peer; Andrade, Miguel A
2003-05-29
To date, many of the methods for information extraction of biological information from scientific articles are restricted to the abstract of the article. However, full text articles in electronic version, which offer larger sources of data, are currently available. Several questions arise as to whether the effort of scanning full text articles is worthy, or whether the information that can be extracted from the different sections of an article can be relevant. In this work we addressed those questions showing that the keyword content of the different sections of a standard scientific article (abstract, introduction, methods, results, and discussion) is very heterogeneous. Although the abstract contains the best ratio of keywords per total of words, other sections of the article may be a better source of biologically relevant data.
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Microbicide safety/efficacy studies in animals: macaques and small animal models.
Veazey, Ronald S
2008-09-01
A number of microbicide candidates have failed to prevent HIV transmission in human clinical trials, and there is uncertainty as to how many additional trials can be supported by the field. Regardless, there are far too many microbicide candidates in development, and a logical and consistent method for screening and selecting candidates for human clinical trials is desperately needed. The unique host and cell specificity of HIV, however, provides challenges for microbicide safety and efficacy screening, that can only be addressed by rigorous testing in relevant laboratory animal models. A number of laboratory animal model systems ranging from rodents to nonhuman primates, and single versus multiple dose challenges have recently been developed to test microbicide candidates. These models have shed light on both the safety and efficacy of candidate microbicides as well as the early mechanisms involved in transmission. This article summarizes the major advantages and disadvantages of the relevant animal models for microbicide safety and efficacy testing. Currently, nonhuman primates are the only relevant and effective laboratory model for screening microbicide candidates. Given the consistent failures of prior strategies, it is now clear that rigorous safety and efficacy testing in nonhuman primates should be a prerequisite for advancing additional microbicide candidates to human clinical trials.
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Microbicide Safety/Efficacy studies in animals -macaques and small animal models
Veazey, Ronald S.
2009-01-01
Purpose of review A number of microbicide candidates have failed to prevent HIV transmission in human clinical trials, and there is uncertainty as to how many additional trials can be supported by the field. Regardless, there are far too many microbicide candidates in development, and a logical and consistent method for screening and selecting candidates for human clinical trials is desperately needed. However, the unique host and cell specificity of HIV provides challenges for microbicide safety and efficacy screening, that can only be addressed by rigorous testing in relevant laboratory animal models. Recent findings A number of laboratory animal model systems ranging from rodents to nonhuman primates, and single versus multiple dose challenges have recently been developed to test microbicide candidates. These models have shed light on both the safety and efficacy of candidate microbicides as well as the early mechanisms involved in transmission. This article summarizes the major advantages and disadvantages of the relevant animal models for microbicide safety and efficacy testing. Summary Currently, nonhuman primates are the only relevant and effective laboratory model for screening microbicide candidates. Given the consistent failures of prior strategies, it is now clear that rigorous safety and efficacy testing in nonhuman primates should be a pre-requisite for advancing additional microbicide candidates to human clinical trials. PMID:19373023
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Duncan, Timothy V
2011-11-01
In this article, several applications of nanomaterials in food packaging and food safety are reviewed, including: polymer/clay nanocomposites as high barrier packaging materials, silver nanoparticles as potent antimicrobial agents, and nanosensors and nanomaterial-based assays for the detection of food-relevant analytes (gasses, small organic molecules and food-borne pathogens). In addition to covering the technical aspects of these topics, the current commercial status and understanding of health implications of these technologies are also discussed. These applications were chosen because they do not involve direct addition of nanoparticles to consumed foods, and thus are more likely to be marketed to the public in the short term. Published by Elsevier Inc.
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Optimizing tooth form with direct posterior composite restorations.
Raghu, Ramya; Srinivasan, Raghu
2011-10-01
Advances in material sciences and technology have provided today's clinicians the strategies to transform the mechanistic approach of operative dentistry into a biologic philosophy. In the last three decades, composite resins have gone from being just an esthetically pleasing way of restoring Class III and Class IV cavities to become the universal material for both anterior and posterior situations as they closely mimic the natural esthetics while restoring the form of the human dentition. In order to enhance their success, clinicians have to rethink their protocol instead of applying the same restorative concepts and principles practiced with metallic restorations. Paralleling the evolution of posterior composite resin materials, cavity designs, restorative techniques and armamentarium have also developed rapidly to successfully employ composite resins in Class II situations. Most of the earlier problems with posterior composites such as poor wear resistance, polymerization shrinkage, postoperative sensitivity, predictable bonding to dentin, etc., have been overcome to a major extent. However, the clinically relevant aspect of achieving tight contacts in Class II situations has challenged clinicians the most. This paper reviews the evolution of techniques and recent developments in achieving predictable contacts with posterior composites. A Medline search was performed for articles on "direct posterior composite contacts." The keywords used were "contacts and contours of posterior composites." The reference list of each article was manually checked for additional articles of relevance.
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Critical Review of Public Health Regulations of Titanium Dioxide, a Human Food Additive
Jovanović, Boris
2015-01-01
From 1916 to 2011, an estimated total of 165 050 000 metric tons of titanium dioxide (TiO2) pigment were produced worldwide. Current safety regulations on the usage of the TiO2 pigment as an inactive ingredient additive in human food are based on legislation from 1969 and are arguably outdated. This article compiles new research results to provide fresh data for potential risk reassessment. However, even after 45 years, few scientific research reports have provided truly reliable data. For example, administration of very high doses of TiO2 is not relevant to daily human uptake. Nevertheless, because dose makes the poison, the literature provides a valuable source for understanding potential TiO2 toxicity after oral ingestion. Numerous scientific articles have observed that TiO2 can pass and be absorbed by the mammalian gastrointestinal tract; can bioconcentrate, bioaccumulate, and biomagnify in the tissues of mammals and other vertebrates; has a very limited elimination rate; and can cause histopathological and physiological changes in various organs of animals. Such action is contrary to the 1969 decision to approve the use of TiO2 as an inactive ingredient in human food without an established acceptable daily intake, stating that neither significant absorption nor tissue storage following ingestion of TiO2 was possible. Thus, relevant governmental agencies should reassess the safety of TiO2 as an additive in human food and consider establishing an acceptable maximum daily intake as a precautionary measure. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2015;11:10–20. © 2014 The Author. Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of SETAC. PMID:25091211
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Sheldon, Michael R
2016-01-01
Policy studies are a recent addition to the American Physical Therapy Association's Research Agenda and are critical to our understanding of various federal, state, local, and organizational policies on the provision of physical therapist services across the continuum of care. Policy analyses that help to advance the profession's various policy agendas will require relevant theoretical frameworks to be credible. The purpose of this perspective article is to: (1) demonstrate the use of a policy-making theory as an analytical framework in a policy analysis and (2) discuss how sound policy analysis can assist physical therapists in becoming more effective change agents, policy advocates, and partners with other relevant stakeholder groups. An exploratory study of state agency policy responses to address work-related musculoskeletal disorders is provided as a contemporary example to illustrate key points and to demonstrate the importance of selecting a relevant analytical framework based on the context of the policy issue under investigation. © 2016 American Physical Therapy Association.
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Lawrence, D W
2008-12-01
To assess what is lost if only one literature database is searched for articles relevant to injury prevention and safety promotion (IPSP) topics. Serial textword (keyword, free-text) searches using multiple synonym terms for five key IPSP topics (bicycle-related brain injuries, ethanol-impaired driving, house fires, road rage, and suicidal behaviors among adolescents) were conducted in four of the bibliographic databases that are most used by IPSP professionals: EMBASE, MEDLINE, PsycINFO, and Web of Science. Through a systematic procedure, an inventory of articles on each topic in each database was conducted to identify the total unduplicated count of all articles on each topic, the number of articles unique to each database, and the articles available if only one database is searched. No single database included all of the relevant articles on any topic, and the database with the broadest coverage differed by topic. A search of only one literature database will return 16.7-81.5% (median 43.4%) of the available articles on any of five key IPSP topics. Each database contributed unique articles to the total bibliography for each topic. A literature search performed in only one database will, on average, lead to a loss of more than half of the available literature on a topic.
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For the general internist: a review of relevant 2013 innovations in medical education.
Roy, Brita; Willett, Lisa L; Bates, Carol; Duffy, Briar; Dunn, Kathel; Karani, Reena; Chheda, Shobhina G
2015-04-01
We conducted a review of articles published in 2013 to identify high-quality research in medical education that was relevant to general medicine education practice. Our review team consisted of six general internists with expertise in medical education of varying ranks, as well as a professional medical librarian. We manually searched 15 journals in pairs, and performed an online search using the PubMed search engine for all original research articles in medical education published in 2013. From the total 4,181 citations identified, we selected 65 articles considered most relevant to general medicine educational practice. Each team member then independently reviewed and rated the quality of each selected article using the modified Medical Education Research Study Quality Instrument. We then reviewed the quality and relevance of each selected study and grouped them into categories of propensity for inclusion. Nineteen studies were felt to be of adequate quality and were of moderate to high propensity for inclusion. Team members then independently voted for studies they felt to be of the highest relevance and quality within the 19 selected studies. The ten articles with the greatest number of votes were included in the review. We categorized the studies into five general themes: Improving Clinical Skills in UME, Inpatient Clinical Teaching Methods, Advancements in Continuity Clinic, Handoffs/Transitions in Care, and Trainee Assessment. Most studies in our review of the 2013 literature in general medical education were limited to single institutions and non-randomized study designs; we identified significant limitations of each study. Selected articles may inform future research and practice of medical educators.
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3D printing in orthognathic surgery - A literature review.
Lin, Hsiu-Hsia; Lonic, Daniel; Lo, Lun-Jou
2018-07-01
With the recent advances in three-dimensional (3D) imaging, computer-assisted surgical planning and simulation are now regularly used for analysis of craniofacial structures and improved prediction of surgical outcomes in orthognathic surgery. A variety of patient-specific surgical guides and devices have been designed and manufactured using 3D printing technology, which rapidly gained widespread popularity to improve the outcomes. The article presents an overview of 3D printing technology for state-of-the-art application in orthognathic surgery and discusses the impacts on treatment feasibility and patient outcome. The current available literature regarding the use of 3D printing methods in orthognathic surgery including 3D computer-aided design/computer-aided manufacturing, rapid prototyping, additive manufacturing, 3D printing, 3D printed models, surgical occlusal splints, custom-made guides, templates and fixation plates is reviewed. A Medline, PubMed, ProQuest and ScienceDirect search was performed to find relevant articles over the past 10 years. A total of 318 articles were found, out of which 69 were publications addressing the topic of this study. An additional 9 hand-searched articles were added. From the review, we can conclude that the use of 3D printing methods in orthognathic surgery provide the benefit of optimal functional and aesthetic results, patient satisfaction, and precise translation of the treatment plan. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier B.V.
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Advancing the role of the pharmacy technician: A systematic review.
Mattingly, Ashlee N; Mattingly, T Joseph
To summarize the findings of a literature search on advancing the role of pharmacy technicians, including the types of training identified and the potential costs and benefits to both the technician and the pharmacy. A literature search of Scopus, Embase, and Medline was conducted on January 11, 2017. Original research, research reports, case studies, or association reports were included for review. Articles were considered to be relevant based on identification of an advanced pharmacy technician role or addressing additional training/education for technician functions. A standard data extraction form was used to collect study authors, article title, year published, journal title, study design, brief description of methods, primary outcome measures, advanced technician roles identified, additional education or training addressed, and additional costs and benefits identified in each article. A total of 33 articles were included for full review and data extraction. Study design varied, with 17 (52%) quantitative, 1 (3%) qualitative, 5 (15%) mixed-method, and 10 (30%) case study designs. Seventeen (52%) of the studies included were published after 2006. The mechanism of training was primarily through supervised on-the-job training, allowing technicians to assume administrative-based positions that facilitated a pharmacist-led clinical service, with either the pharmacist or the pharmacy receiving the greatest benefits. Although the literature supports technicians performing advanced roles in the pharmacy, resulting in either improved patient outcomes or opportunities for pharmacists to engage in additional clinical services, the benefits to the technician were primarily indirect, such as an increase in job satisfaction or a more desirable work schedule. If a technician is to take on additional roles that require completion of a formalized training or educational program, benefits that are more tangible may help to inspire technicians to pursue these roles. Copyright © 2018 American Pharmacists Association®. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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Sharfi, Kineret; Rosenblum, Sara
2014-01-01
Background ‘Learning disabilities’ (LD) refer to a wide group of neurological disorders caused by deficits in the central nervous system which influence the individual's ability to maintain-, process or convey information to others in an efficient way. A worldwide discussion about the definitions of LD continues while a conceptual framework for studying the diverse life outcomes of adults with LD is still missing. Objective The aim was to review the literature on the activity and participation of adults with LD based on the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) concepts. Methods “PsychInfo”, “Eric” and “PubMed” were searched for relevant literature according to the guidelines of Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA). After a three-stage process, 62 articles relevant for domains of activity and participation of adults with LD were included in the review. Results Thirty-two articles focused on the domain of major life areas of education, work and employment and twelve articles focused on the domain of learning and applying knowledge. Limitations in activity and participation of the population with LD in these domains are recognized and discussed. Eighteen additional articles demonstrated that adults with LD confront difficulties in various life domains (e.g., communication, interpersonal interactions, mobility, and domestic life), however literature concerning these domains is scarce. Conclusions The ICF can be useful for further exploration of activity and participation characteristics of adults with LD in various life domains. Such exploration is required in order to gain a wider perspective of their functional characteristics and daily needs. PMID:25184315
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The legal character and operational relevance of the Paris Agreement's temperature goal
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Rajamani, Lavanya; Werksman, Jacob
2018-05-01
This article assesses the legal character and operational relevance of the Paris Agreement's 1.5°C temperature goal. This article begins with a textual analysis of the 1.5°C goal. It considers whether the goal creates individual or collective obligations for Parties, and whether it is sufficiently specific to enable the tracking of individual or collective performance. Next, it assesses the operational relevance of the 1.5°C temperature goal, by considering the role it will play in the Paris Agreement's institutions and procedures. To the extent that the goal plays a role, and implies global limits on greenhouse gas emissions, this article observes that it could have implications for the sharing of the effort between Parties. Thus, this article considers the relevance of equity and the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities, in the light of different national circumstances, to understanding how the 1.5°C goal could be reached. In this context, this article explores whether the 1.5°C goal could play a role in the Paris Agreement's `ambition cycle'. Finally, this article asks whether there are any legal or political implications, individually or collectively under the Paris Agreement, should the Parties fail to achieve the 1.5°C goal. This article is part of the theme issue `The Paris Agreement: understanding the physical and social challenges for a warming world of 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels'.
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The legal character and operational relevance of the Paris Agreement's temperature goal.
Rajamani, Lavanya; Werksman, Jacob
2018-05-13
This article assesses the legal character and operational relevance of the Paris Agreement's 1.5°C temperature goal. This article begins with a textual analysis of the 1.5°C goal. It considers whether the goal creates individual or collective obligations for Parties, and whether it is sufficiently specific to enable the tracking of individual or collective performance. Next, it assesses the operational relevance of the 1.5°C temperature goal, by considering the role it will play in the Paris Agreement's institutions and procedures. To the extent that the goal plays a role, and implies global limits on greenhouse gas emissions, this article observes that it could have implications for the sharing of the effort between Parties. Thus, this article considers the relevance of equity and the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities, in the light of different national circumstances, to understanding how the 1.5°C goal could be reached. In this context, this article explores whether the 1.5°C goal could play a role in the Paris Agreement's 'ambition cycle'. Finally, this article asks whether there are any legal or political implications, individually or collectively under the Paris Agreement, should the Parties fail to achieve the 1.5°C goal.This article is part of the theme issue 'The Paris Agreement: understanding the physical and social challenges for a warming world of 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels'. © 2018 The Author(s).
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Johnson, Robin J.; Lay, Jean M.; Lennon-Hopkins, Kelley; Saraceni-Richards, Cynthia; Sciaky, Daniela; Murphy, Cynthia Grondin; Mattingly, Carolyn J.
2013-01-01
The Comparative Toxicogenomics Database (CTD; http://ctdbase.org/) is a public resource that curates interactions between environmental chemicals and gene products, and their relationships to diseases, as a means of understanding the effects of environmental chemicals on human health. CTD provides a triad of core information in the form of chemical-gene, chemical-disease, and gene-disease interactions that are manually curated from scientific articles. To increase the efficiency, productivity, and data coverage of manual curation, we have leveraged text mining to help rank and prioritize the triaged literature. Here, we describe our text-mining process that computes and assigns each article a document relevancy score (DRS), wherein a high DRS suggests that an article is more likely to be relevant for curation at CTD. We evaluated our process by first text mining a corpus of 14,904 articles triaged for seven heavy metals (cadmium, cobalt, copper, lead, manganese, mercury, and nickel). Based upon initial analysis, a representative subset corpus of 3,583 articles was then selected from the 14,094 articles and sent to five CTD biocurators for review. The resulting curation of these 3,583 articles was analyzed for a variety of parameters, including article relevancy, novel data content, interaction yield rate, mean average precision, and biological and toxicological interpretability. We show that for all measured parameters, the DRS is an effective indicator for scoring and improving the ranking of literature for the curation of chemical-gene-disease information at CTD. Here, we demonstrate how fully incorporating text mining-based DRS scoring into our curation pipeline enhances manual curation by prioritizing more relevant articles, thereby increasing data content, productivity, and efficiency. PMID:23613709
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Updates in venous thromboembolism management: evidence published in 2017.
Bartlett, Matthew A; Bierle, Dennis M; Saadiq, Rayya A; Mauck, Karen F; Daniels, Paul R
2018-06-20
Venous thromboembolism (VTE) management is rapidly evolving and staying up-to-date is challenging. We identified the most practice-informing articles published in 2017 relevant to the nonspecialist provider managing VTE. We performed a systematic search of the literature (Appendix A), limiting the search to a publication date of 2017. Two reviewers screened the 2735 resulting abstracts to identify high-quality, clinically relevant publications related to VTE management. One-hundred and six full-text articles were considered for inclusion. The five authors used a modified Delphi method to reach consensus on inclusion of seven articles for in-depth appraisal, following predetermined criteria of clinical relevance to nonspecialist providers, potential for practice change, and strength of the evidence.
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Treatment of female pattern hair loss.
Hassani, Masoumeh; Gorouhi, Farzam; Babakoohi, Shahab; Moghadam-Kia, Siamak; Firooz, Alireza
2012-01-01
Female pattern hair loss (FPHL) as a distinctive entity was first described about 30 years ago. The objective of this study was to perform a systematic review of all randomized controlled trials for treatment of FPHL. A preliminary search was carried out in several databases up to August 2008 to identify all randomized controlled trials on nonsurgical interventions for treatment of FPHL. Studies reporting fewer than 10 patients and non-English articles were excluded. Additionally, references of relevant articles and reviews were checked manually in search for additional sources. Among 238 citations found in the preliminary search, 12 fulfilled all criteria to be included in the systematic review. Topical minoxidil 1% to 5% for 24 to 48 weeks was shown to be effective in FPHL and its effect was not related to age or androgen level of patients. In addition, it may be effective in women with FPHL, both with and without hyperandrogenism, and in young and old premenopausal or postmenopausal. In patients with increased serum androgens, oral flutamide but not finasteride or cyproterone acetate was more effective than no treatment. Topical minoxidil is effective in patients with FPHL, with or without hyperandrogenism, but there is limited evidence for the efficacy of antiandrogens.
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Ultra-wide-field imaging in diabetic retinopathy; an overview.
Ghasemi Falavarjani, Khalil; Wang, Kang; Khadamy, Joobin; Sadda, Srinivas R
2016-06-01
To present an overview on ultra-wide-field imaging in diabetic retinopathy. A comprehensive search of the pubmed database was performed using the search terms of "ultra-wide-field imaging", "ultra-wide-field fluorescein angiography" and "diabetic retinopathy". The relevant original articles were reviewed. New advances in ultra-wide-field imaging allow for precise measurements of the peripheral retinal lesions. A consistent finding amongst these articles was that ultra-wide-field imaging improved detection of peripheral lesion. There was discordance among the studies, however, on the correlation between peripheral diabetic lesions and diabetic macular edema. Visualization of the peripheral retina using ultra-wide-field imaging improves diagnosis and classification of diabetic retinopathy. Additional studies are needed to better define the association of peripheral diabetic lesions with diabetic macular edema.
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[What's new in clinical dermatology?
Petit, A
2017-12-01
In addition to continuous medical education, medical journals offer to dermatologists a huge variety of news that differ by their content, validity, originality and clinical relevance. I collected here various articles relative to clinical dermatology that have been published between September, 2016 and September, 2017. These papers have been chosen in the aim of reflecting such diversity. I just excluded, as far as possible, articles dealing with other issues that the reader will find further in this booklet (such as research, pediatric, instrumental, oncologic or therapeutic dermatology, or dermatology and internal medicine). Space restriction required to skip some commentaries while keeping the references to the selected papers, which the reader will be able to read carefully in its original form. © 2017 Elsevier Masson SAS. Tous droits réservés.
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Advocacy for Equity: Extending Culturally Relevant Pedagogy in Predominantly White Suburban Schools
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Warren-Grice, April
2017-01-01
Background/Context: This article describes Black educators in predominantly White suburban schools who have used advocacy through the lens of culturally relevant pedagogy and serve as Educational Cultural Negotiators to help the students of color in these spaces academically and socially. This article highlights the advocacy needed to address the…
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Re-Thinking the Relevance of Philosophy of Education for Educational Policy Making
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Griffiths, Morwenna
2014-01-01
The overall question addressed in this article is,"What kind of philosophy of education is relevant to educational policy makers?" The article focuses on the following four themes: The meanings attached to the term philosophy (of education) by philosophers themselves; the meanings attached to the term philosophy (of education) by policy…
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Aminoshariae, Anita; Kulild, James C
2016-03-01
The purpose of this investigation was to identify evidence-based scientific methodologies to aid dental clinicians in establishing the indications for prescribing antibiotics for endodontic infection or pain. The authors prepared and registered a protocol on PROSPERO. They conducted electronic searches in MEDLINE, Scopus, Cochrane Library, and ClinicalTrials.gov. In addition, the authors hand searched the bibliographies of all relevant articles, the gray literature, and textbooks for randomized controlled clinical studies. The authors independently selected the relevant articles. The overall quality of the studies was fair with a low risk of bias, but 2 studies had a moderate risk of bias. The best available clinical evidence signals no indications for prescribing antibiotics preoperatively or postoperatively to prevent endodontic infection or pain unless the spread of infection is systemic, the patient is febrile, or both. Generally, an accurate diagnosis coupled with effective endodontic treatment will decrease microbial flora enough for healing to occur. To help decrease the number of drug-resistant microbes, oral health care providers should not prescribe antibiotics when they are not indicated. Copyright © 2016 American Dental Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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Consumer antibacterial soaps: effective or just risky?
Aiello, Allison E; Larson, Elaine L; Levy, Stuart B
2007-09-01
Much has been written recently about the potential hazards versus benefits of antibacterial (biocide)-containing soaps. The purpose of this systematic literature review was to assess the studies that have examined the efficacy of products containing triclosan, compared with that of plain soap, in the community setting, as well as to evaluate findings that address potential hazards of this use--namely, the emergence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. The PubMed database was searched for English-language articles, using relevant keyword combinations for articles published between 1980 and 2006. Twenty-seven studies were eventually identified as being relevant to the review. Soaps containing triclosan within the range of concentrations commonly used in the community setting (0.1%-0.45% wt/vol) were no more effective than plain soap at preventing infectious illness symptoms and reducing bacterial levels on the hands. Several laboratory studies demonstrated evidence of triclosan-adapted cross-resistance to antibiotics among different species of bacteria. The lack of an additional health benefit associated with the use of triclosan-containing consumer soaps over regular soap, coupled with laboratory data demonstrating a potential risk of selecting for drug resistance, warrants further evaluation by governmental regulators regarding antibacterial product claims and advertising. Further studies of this issue are encouraged.
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Dopamine dysregulation syndrome: implications for a dopamine hypothesis of bipolar disorder.
Berk, M; Dodd, S; Kauer-Sant'anna, M; Malhi, G S; Bourin, M; Kapczinski, F; Norman, T
2007-01-01
Rational therapeutic development in bipolar is hampered by a lack of pathophysiological model. However, there is a wealth of converging data on the role of dopamine in bipolar disorder. This paper therefore examines the possibility of a dopamine hypothesis for bipolar disorder. A literature search was conducted using standard search engines Embase, PyschLIT, PubMed and MEDLINE. In addition, papers and book chapters known to the authors were retrieved and examined for further relevant articles. Collectively, in excess of 100 articles were reviewed from which approximately 75% were relevant to the focus of this paper. Pharmacological models suggest a role of increased dopaminergic drive in mania and the converse in depression. In Parkinson's disease, administration of high-dose dopamine precursors can produce a 'maniform' picture, which switches into a depressive analogue on withdrawal. It is possible that in bipolar disorder there is a cyclical process, where increased dopaminergic transmission in mania leads to a secondary down regulation of dopaminergic receptor sensitivity over time. This may lead to a period of decreased dopaminergic transmission, corresponding with the depressive phase, and the repetition of the cycle. This model, if verified, may have implications for rational drug development.
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Cherla, Deepa V; Viso, Cristina P; Olavarria, Oscar A; Bernardi, Karla; Holihan, Julie L; Mueck, Krislynn M; Flores-Gonzalez, Juan; Liang, Mike K; Adams, Sasha D
2018-02-09
Substantial discrepancies exist between industry-reported and self-reported conflicts of interest (COI). Although authors with relevant, self-reported financial COI are more likely to write studies favorable to industry sponsors, it is unknown whether undisclosed COI have the same effect. We hypothesized that surgeons who fail to disclose COI are more likely to publish findings that are favorable to industry than surgeons with no COI. PubMed was searched for articles in multiple surgical specialties. Financial COI reported by surgeons and industry were compared. COI were considered to be relevant if they were associated with the product(s) mentioned by an article. Primary outcome was favorability, which was defined as an impression favorable to the product(s) discussed by an article and was determined by 3 independent, blinded clinicians for each article. Primary analysis compared incomplete self-disclosure to no COI. Ordered logistic multivariable regression modeling was used to assess factors associated with favorability. Overall, 337 articles were reviewed. There was a high rate of discordance in the reporting of COI (70.3%). When surgeons failed to disclose COI, their conclusions were significantly more likely to favor industry than surgeons without COI (RR 1.2, 95% CI 1.1-1.4, p < 0.001). On multivariable analysis, any COI (regardless of relevance, disclosure, or monetary amount) were significantly associated with favorability. Any financial COI (disclosed or undisclosed, relevant or not relevant) significantly influence whether studies report findings favorable to industry. More attention must be paid to improving research design, maximizing transparency in medical research, and insisting that surgeons disclose all COI, regardless of perceived relevance.
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Morra, Mostafa Ebraheem; Altibi, Ahmed M A; Iqtadar, Somia; Minh, Le Huu Nhat; Elawady, Sameh Samir; Hallab, Asma; Elshafay, Abdelrahman; Omer, Omer Abedlbagi; Iraqi, Ahmed; Adhikari, Purushottam; Labib, Jonair Hussein; Elhusseiny, Khaled Mosaad; Elgebaly, Ahmed; Yacoub, Sophie; Huong, Le Thi Minh; Hirayama, Kenji; Huy, Nguyen Tien
2018-04-24
Since warning signs and signs of severe dengue are defined differently between studies, we conducted a systematic review on how researchers defined these signs. We conducted an electronic search in Scopus to identify relevant articles, using key words including dengue, "warning signs," "severe dengue," and "classification." A total of 491 articles were identified through this search strategy and were subsequently screened by 2 independent reviewers for definitions of any of the warning or severe signs in the 2009 WHO dengue classification. We included all original articles published in English after 2009, classifying dengue by the 2009 WHO classification or providing the additional definition or criterion of warning signs and severity (besides the information of 2009 WHO). Analysis of the extracted data from 44 articles showed wide variations among definitions and cutoff values used by physicians to classify patients diagnosed with dengue infection. The establishment of clear definitions for warning signs and severity is essential to prevent unnecessary hospitalization and harmonizing the interpretation and comparability of epidemiological studies dedicated to dengue infection. Copyright © 2018 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
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Dixon, Brian E; Gamache, Roland E; Grannis, Shaun J
2013-05-01
To summarize the literature describing computer-based interventions aimed at improving bidirectional communication between clinical and public health. A systematic review of English articles using MEDLINE and Google Scholar. Search terms included public health, epidemiology, electronic health records, decision support, expert systems, and decision-making. Only articles that described the communication of information regarding emerging health threats from public health agencies to clinicians or provider organizations were included. Each article was independently reviewed by two authors. Ten peer-reviewed articles highlight a nascent but promising area of research and practice related to alerting clinicians about emerging threats. Current literature suggests that additional research and development in bidirectional communication infrastructure should focus on defining a coherent architecture, improving interoperability, establishing clear governance, and creating usable systems that will effectively deliver targeted, specific information to clinicians in support of patient and population decision-making. Increasingly available clinical information systems make it possible to deliver timely, relevant knowledge to frontline clinicians in support of population health. Future work should focus on developing a flexible, interoperable infrastructure for bidirectional communications capable of integrating public health knowledge into clinical systems and workflows.
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Management of extrapulmonary sarcoidosis: challenges and solutions
Al-Kofahi, Khalid; Korsten, Peter; Ascoli, Christian; Virupannavar, Shanti; Mirsaeidi, Mehdi; Chang, Ian; Qaqish, Naim; Saketkoo, Lesley A; Baughman, Robert P; Sweiss, Nadera J
2016-01-01
Background Sarcoidosis is a chronic multisystem disease of unknown etiology characterized by noncaseating granulomas that most often involves the lungs, but frequently has extrapulmonary manifestations, which might be difficult to treat in individual patients. Objective To review different disease manifestations, focusing on extrapulmonary organ systems, and to provide treatment options for refractory cases. Materials and methods We performed a literature search using Medline and Google Scholar for individual or combined keywords of “sarcoidosis, extrapulmonary, treatment, kidney, neurosarcoidosis, cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, transplantation, musculoskeletal, rheumatology, arthritis, and skin”. Peer-reviewed articles, including review articles, clinical trials, observational trials, and case reports that were published in English were included. References from retrieved articles were also manually searched for relevant articles. Results and conclusion Isolated involvement of a single organ or organ system is rare in sarcoidosis, and thus all patients must be thoroughly evaluated for additional disease manifestations. Cardiac sarcoidosis and neurosarcoidosis may be life-threatening. Clinicians need to assess patients comprehensively using clinical, laboratory, imaging, and histopathological data to recommend competently the best and least toxic treatment option for the individual patient. PMID:27853374
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The Association of Physical Activity and Academic Behavior: A Systematic Review.
Sullivan, Rachel A; Kuzel, AnnMarie H; Vaandering, Michael E; Chen, Weiyun
2017-05-01
In this systematic review, we assessed the existing research describing the effects of physical activity (PA) on academic behavior, with a special focus on the effectiveness of the treatments applied, study designs, outcome measures, and results. We obtained data from various journal search engines and 218 journal articles were downloaded that were relevant to PA and academic performance topics. The abstracts of all the articles were independently peer reviewed to assess whether they met the inclusion criteria for further analysis. The literature search was ongoing. Of the reviewed articles, 9 were chosen on the topic of PA effects on academic behavior. Each article was analyzed and summarized using a standard summary template. Overall, PA interventions commonly found positive effects on academic behavior, with few exceptions. There were additional unique findings regarding differences in outcome measures and PA treatments. The findings from these studies are significant and support the implementation or continuation of PA in schools to improve academic behavior and associated performance. More research needs to be conducted using the effective aspects of the treatments from this review with consistent outcome measures. © 2017, American School Health Association.
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Establishment and maintenance of asepsis in endodontics - a review of the literature.
Malmberg, Leona; Björkner, Annika Elisabeth; Bergenholtz, Gunnar
2016-08-01
Successful endodontic treatment depends on effective measures to eliminate and prevent infection of root canals. Initially treatment should start with isolation and disinfection of the operating field. This review makes an inventory of the available knowledge regarding its establishment and maintenance. A literature search was conducted in the PubMed database in order to identify clinical trials examining disinfection or unintentional contamination of the endodontic operative field. A list of 115 articles was obtained and screened. Five relevant articles were identified. These articles were read in full text. The reference lists from these articles were checked manually for additional studies and three studies were obtained. A total of eight articles met the inclusion criteria. There was a great variety in terms of aim, method, and material of the included studies. None could prove a totally reliable aseptic operative field and not one chemical, or combination of chemicals, were found in more than one study. No study documented complete asepsis following initial disinfection, and no study could document predictable maintenance of an established bacteria-free surface. Critical appraisal and standardization of the disinfection and aseptic procedures in endodontics are needed.
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Glycopolymeric Materials for Advanced Applications
Muñoz-Bonilla, Alexandra; Fernández-García, Marta
2015-01-01
In recent years, glycopolymers have particularly revolutionized the world of macromolecular chemistry and materials in general. Nevertheless, it has been in this century when scientists realize that these materials present great versatility in biosensing, biorecognition, and biomedicine among other areas. This article highlights most relevant glycopolymeric materials, considering that they are only a small example of the research done in this emerging field. The examples described here are selected on the base of novelty, innovation and implementation of glycopolymeric materials. In addition, the future perspectives of this topic will be commented on.
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An automated procedure to identify biomedical articles that contain cancer-associated gene variants.
McDonald, Ryan; Scott Winters, R; Ankuda, Claire K; Murphy, Joan A; Rogers, Amy E; Pereira, Fernando; Greenblatt, Marc S; White, Peter S
2006-09-01
The proliferation of biomedical literature makes it increasingly difficult for researchers to find and manage relevant information. However, identifying research articles containing mutation data, a requisite first step in integrating large and complex mutation data sets, is currently tedious, time-consuming and imprecise. More effective mechanisms for identifying articles containing mutation information would be beneficial both for the curation of mutation databases and for individual researchers. We developed an automated method that uses information extraction, classifier, and relevance ranking techniques to determine the likelihood of MEDLINE abstracts containing information regarding genomic variation data suitable for inclusion in mutation databases. We targeted the CDKN2A (p16) gene and the procedure for document identification currently used by CDKN2A Database curators as a measure of feasibility. A set of abstracts was manually identified from a MEDLINE search as potentially containing specific CDKN2A mutation events. A subset of these abstracts was used as a training set for a maximum entropy classifier to identify text features distinguishing "relevant" from "not relevant" abstracts. Each document was represented as a set of indicative word, word pair, and entity tagger-derived genomic variation features. When applied to a test set of 200 candidate abstracts, the classifier predicted 88 articles as being relevant; of these, 29 of 32 manuscripts in which manual curation found CDKN2A sequence variants were positively predicted. Thus, the set of potentially useful articles that a manual curator would have to review was reduced by 56%, maintaining 91% recall (sensitivity) and more than doubling precision (positive predictive value). Subsequent expansion of the training set to 494 articles yielded similar precision and recall rates, and comparison of the original and expanded trials demonstrated that the average precision improved with the larger data set. Our results show that automated systems can effectively identify article subsets relevant to a given task and may prove to be powerful tools for the broader research community. This procedure can be readily adapted to any or all genes, organisms, or sets of documents. Published 2006 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
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Parental Socialization of Emotion.
Eisenberg, Nancy; Cumberland, Amanda; Spinrad, Tracy L
1998-01-01
Recently, there has been a resurgence of research on emotion, including the socialization of emotion. In this article, a heuristic model of factors contributing to the socialization of emotion is presented. Then literature relevant to the socialization of children's emotion and emotion-related behavior by parents is reviewed, including (a) parental reactions to children's emotions, (b) socializers' discussion of emotion, and (c) socializers' expression of emotion. The relevant literature is not conclusive and most of the research is correlational. However, the existing body of data provides initial support for the view that parental socialization practices have effects on children's emotional and social competence and that the socialization process is bidirectional. In particular, parental negative emotionality and negative reactions to children's expression of emotion are associated with children's negative emotionality and low social competence. In addition, possible moderators of effects such as level of emotional arousal are discussed.
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Taylor, Ulrike; Rehbock, Christoph; Streich, Carmen; Rath, Detlef; Barcikowski, Stephan
2014-09-01
Many studies have evaluated the toxicity of gold nanoparticles, although reliable predictions based on these results are rare. In order to overcome this problem, this article highlights strategies to improve comparability and standardization of nanotoxicological studies. To this end, it is proposed that we should adapt the nanomaterial to the addressed exposure scenario, using ligand-free nanoparticle references in order to differentiate ligand effects from size effects. Furthermore, surface-weighted particle dosing referenced to the biologically relevant parameter (e.g., cell number or organ mass) is proposed as the gold standard. In addition, it is recommended that we should shift the focus of toxicological experiments from 'live-dead' assays to the assessment of cell function, as this strategy allows observation of bioresponses at lower doses that are more relevant for in vivo scenarios.
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Formation of the Professional and Didactic Culture of the Future Teacher
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Mirzagitova, Alsu L.; Akhmetov, Linar G.
2016-01-01
Relevance: The relevance of the problem under investigation is caused by the fact that the problem of the formation of the professional and didactic culture of future teachers has not been sufficiently elaborated. The purpose of the article: The article aims to the solution of the problem of improving the content of future teachers' training with…
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An International Review of the Development and Implementation of Shared Print Storage
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Genoni, Paul
2013-01-01
This article undertakes a review of the literature related to shared print storage and national repositories from 1980-2013. There is a separate overview of the relevant Australian literature. The coverage includes both relevant journal literature and major reports. In the process the article traces the developments in the theory and practice of…
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2011-01-01
Background Virtually all the articles in literature addressed only a specific type of dislocation. The aim of this review was to project a comprehensive understanding of the pathologic processes and management of all types of dislodgement of the head of the mandibular condyle from its normal position in the glenoid fossa. In addition, a new classification of temporomandibular joint dislocation was also proposed. Method and materials A thorough computer literature search was done using the Medline, Cochrane library and Embase database. Key words like temporo-mandibular joint dislocation were used for the search. Additional manual search was done by going through published home-based and foreign articles. Case reports/series, and original articles that documented the type of dislocation, number of cases treated in the series and original articles. Treatment done and outcome of treatment were included in the study. Result A total of 128 articles were reviewed out which 79 were found relevant. Of these, 26 were case reports, 17 were case series and 36 were original articles. 79 cases were acute dislocations, 35 cases were chronic protracted TMJ dislocations and 311 cases were chronic recurrent TMJ dislocations. Etiology was predominantly trauma in 60% of cases and other causes contributed about 40%. Of all the cases reviewed, only 4 were unilateral dislocation. Various treatment modalities are outlined in this report as indicated for each type of dislocation. Conclusion The more complex and invasive method of treatment may not necessarily offer the best option and outcome of treatment, therefore conservative approaches should be exhausted and utilized appropriately before adopting the more invasive surgical techniques. PMID:21676208
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Akinbami, Babatunde O
2011-06-15
Virtually all the articles in literature addressed only a specific type of dislocation. The aim of this review was to project a comprehensive understanding of the pathologic processes and management of all types of dislodgement of the head of the mandibular condyle from its normal position in the glenoid fossa. In addition, a new classification of temporomandibular joint dislocation was also proposed. A thorough computer literature search was done using the Medline, Cochrane library and Embase database. Key words like temporo-mandibular joint dislocation were used for the search. Additional manual search was done by going through published home-based and foreign articles. Case reports/series, and original articles that documented the type of dislocation, number of cases treated in the series and original articles. Treatment done and outcome of treatment were included in the study. A total of 128 articles were reviewed out which 79 were found relevant. Of these, 26 were case reports, 17 were case series and 36 were original articles. 79 cases were acute dislocations, 35 cases were chronic protracted TMJ dislocations and 311 cases were chronic recurrent TMJ dislocations. Etiology was predominantly trauma in 60% of cases and other causes contributed about 40%. Of all the cases reviewed, only 4 were unilateral dislocation. Various treatment modalities are outlined in this report as indicated for each type of dislocation. The more complex and invasive method of treatment may not necessarily offer the best option and outcome of treatment, therefore conservative approaches should be exhausted and utilized appropriately before adopting the more invasive surgical techniques.
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Performance Indicators in Spine Surgery.
St-Pierre, Godefroy Hardy; Yang, Michael H; Bourget-Murray, Jonathan; Thomas, Ken C; Hurlbert, Robin John; Matthes, Nikolas
2018-02-15
Systematic review. To elucidate how performance indicators are currently used in spine surgery. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act has given significant traction to the idea that healthcare must provide value to the patient through the introduction of hospital value-based purchasing. The key to implementing this new paradigm is to measure this value notably through performance indicators. MEDLINE, CINAHL Plus, EMBASE, and Google Scholar were searched for studies reporting the use of performance indicators specific to spine surgery. We followed the Prisma-P methodology for a systematic review for entries from January 1980 to July 2016. All full text articles were then reviewed to identify any measure of performance published within the article. This measure was then examined as per the three criteria of established standard, exclusion/risk adjustment, and benchmarking to determine if it constituted a performance indicator. The initial search yielded 85 results among which two relevant studies were identified. The extended search gave a total of 865 citations across databases among which 15 new articles were identified. The grey literature search provided five additional reports which in turn led to six additional articles. A total of 27 full text articles and reports were retrieved and reviewed. We were unable to identify performance indicators. The articles presenting a measure of performance were organized based on how many criteria they lacked. We further examined the next steps to be taken to craft the first performance indicator in spine surgery. The science of performance measurement applied to spine surgery is still in its infancy. Current outcome metrics used in clinical settings require refinement to become performance indicators. Current registry work is providing the necessary foundation, but requires benchmarking to truly measure performance. 1.
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Dietary magnesium intake and risk of metabolic syndrome: a meta-analysis
Dibaba, D. T.; Xun, P.; Fly, A. D.; Yokota, K.; He, K.
2014-01-01
Aims To estimate quantitatively the association between dietary magnesium intake and risk of metabolic syndrome by combining the relevant published articles using meta-analysis. Methods We reviewed the relevant literature in PubMed and EMBASE published up until August 2013 and obtained additional information through Google or a hand search of the references in relevant articles. A random-effects or fixed-effects model, as appropriate, was used to pool the effect sizes on metabolic syndrome comparing individuals with the highest dietary magnesium intake with those having the lowest intake. The dose–response relationship was assessed for every 100-mg/day increment in magnesium intake and risk of metabolic syndrome. Result Six cross-sectional studies, including a total of 24 473 individuals and 6311 cases of metabolic syndrome, were identified as eligible for the meta-analysis. A weighted inverse association was found between dietary magnesium intake and the risk of metabolic syndrome (odds ratio 0.69, 95% CI 0.59, 0.81) comparing the highest with the lowest group. For every 100-mg/day increment in magnesium intake, the overall risk of having metabolic syndrome was lowered by 17% (odds ratio 0.83, 95% CI 0. 77, 0.89). Conclusion Findings from the present meta-analysis suggest that dietary magnesium intake is inversely associated with the prevalence of metabolic syndrome. Further studies, in particular well-designed longitudinal cohort studies and randomized placebo-controlled clinical trials, are warranted to provide solid evidence and to establish causal inference. PMID:24975384
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The NEWMEDS rodent touchscreen test battery for cognition relevant to schizophrenia.
Hvoslef-Eide, M; Mar, A C; Nilsson, S R O; Alsiö, J; Heath, C J; Saksida, L M; Robbins, T W; Bussey, T J
2015-11-01
The NEWMEDS initiative (Novel Methods leading to New Medications in Depression and Schizophrenia, http://www.newmeds-europe.com ) is a large industrial-academic collaborative project aimed at developing new methods for drug discovery for schizophrenia. As part of this project, Work package 2 (WP02) has developed and validated a comprehensive battery of novel touchscreen tasks for rats and mice for assessing cognitive domains relevant to schizophrenia. This article provides a review of the touchscreen battery of tasks for rats and mice for assessing cognitive domains relevant to schizophrenia and highlights validation data presented in several primary articles in this issue and elsewhere. The battery consists of the five-choice serial reaction time task and a novel rodent continuous performance task for measuring attention, a three-stimulus visual reversal and the serial visual reversal task for measuring cognitive flexibility, novel non-matching to sample-based tasks for measuring spatial working memory and paired-associates learning for measuring long-term memory. The rodent (i.e. both rats and mice) touchscreen operant chamber and battery has high translational value across species due to its emphasis on construct as well as face validity. In addition, it offers cognitive profiling of models of diseases with cognitive symptoms (not limited to schizophrenia) through a battery approach, whereby multiple cognitive constructs can be measured using the same apparatus, enabling comparisons of performance across tasks. This battery of tests constitutes an extensive tool package for both model characterisation and pre-clinical drug discovery.
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An Inventory of Methods for the Assessment of Additive Increased Addictiveness of Tobacco Products
van de Nobelen, Suzanne; Kienhuis, Anne S.
2016-01-01
Background: Cigarettes and other forms of tobacco contain the addictive drug nicotine. Other components, either naturally occurring in tobacco or additives that are intentionally added during the manufacturing process, may add to the addictiveness of tobacco products. As such, these components can make cigarette smokers more easily and heavily dependent. Efforts to regulate tobacco product dependence are emerging globally. Additives that increase tobacco dependence will be prohibited under the new European Tobacco Product Directive. Objective: This article provides guidelines and recommendations for developing a regulatory strategy for assessment of increase in tobacco dependence due to additives. Relevant scientific literature is summarized and criteria and experimental studies that can define increased dependence of tobacco products are described. Conclusions: Natural tobacco smoke is a very complex matrix of components, therefore analysis of the contribution of an additive or a combination of additives to the level of dependence on this product is challenging. We propose to combine different type of studies analyzing overall tobacco product dependence potential and the functioning of additives in relation to nicotine. By using a combination of techniques, changes associated with nicotine dependence such as behavioral, physiological, and neurochemical alterations can be examined to provide sufficient information. Research needs and knowledge gaps will be discussed and recommendations will be made to translate current knowledge into legislation. As such, this article aids in implementation of the Tobacco Product Directive, as well as help enable regulators and researchers worldwide to develop standards to reduce dependence on tobacco products. Implications: This article provides an overall view on how to assess tobacco product constituents for their potential contribution to use and dependence. It provides guidelines that help enable regulators worldwide to develop standards to reduce dependence on tobacco products and guide researches to set research priorities on this topic. PMID:26817491
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von Bremen, Julia; Ruf, Sabine
2012-08-01
To conduct a systematic literature review on the impact of juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) on craniofacial morphology. Several electronic databases (PubMed, Medpilot, Web of Science, DIMDI) were systematically searched for studies that were published up to and including May 2011. In addition, a manual search of the orthodontic and rheumatologic literature was conducted, and reference lists of the selected articles were checked for relevant publications. The identified articles were independently assessed by two investigators and selected according to a three-step process (title/abstract/full text). After completion of the selection procedure, 19 articles were identified possessing great heterogeneity. In most of them, no differentiated analysis of the various JIA subtypes was performed, and type-specific analyses according to mandibular joint effects were seldom. Additional factors such as patient age, disease duration, medication, previous orthodontic treatment as well as the inclusion of a control group were also highly inhomogeneous, which made a meta-analysis of the data impossible. Nevertheless, it appears as if JIA patients tend to develop a hyperdivergent vertical jaw base relationship and a skeletal Class II pattern. Due to the heterogeneous patient samples, it is currently not possible to draw a differentiated conclusion on the influence of various types of JIA on craniofacial morphology.
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A decade bibliometric analysis of global research on leishmaniasis in Web of Science database.
Soosaraei, Masoud; Khasseh, Ali Akbar; Fakhar, Mahdi; Hezarjaribi, Hajar Ziaei
2018-02-01
Leishmaniasis is an extremely relevant tropical disease, with global distribution. It still remains a main public health concern in low-income countries, and it is necessary to support more research on this common disease. Thus, a bibliometric analysis of the global scientific production on leishmaniasis was carried out. All the articles registered in Web of Science with the subject of leishmaniasis between 2006 and 2015 were analysed, using Pajek and VOS viewer as tools. 13,658 records in the field of leishmaniasis were indexed in the Web of Science database for this ten-year study period (2006-2015). This shows that studies on leishmaniasis have been growing, from 1071 in 2006 to 1537 in 2015. "Sundar S" is the most active researcher in the field of leishmaniasis, compiling and participating in 232 Articles. Brazil ranks first in scientific production, by performing 3315 studies on leishmaniasis. The United States, United Kingdom and Australia had the most collaboration in performing the studies of leishmaniasis with each other. In addition, PLOS NEGLECTED TROPICAL DISEASES published the most articles, with 483. Our data shows an increase in the number of publications in the field of leishmaniasis. In addition, Brazil, USA, and India lead scientific production on leishmaniasis research.
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Hildebrand, Ainslie M; Iansavichus, Arthur V; Haynes, R Brian; Wilczynski, Nancy L; Mehta, Ravindra L; Parikh, Chirag R; Garg, Amit X
2014-04-01
We frequently fail to identify articles relevant to the subject of acute kidney injury (AKI) when searching the large bibliographic databases such as PubMed, Ovid Medline or Embase. To address this issue, we used computer automation to create information search filters to better identify articles relevant to AKI in these databases. We first manually reviewed a sample of 22 992 full-text articles and used prespecified criteria to determine whether each article contained AKI content or not. In the development phase (two-thirds of the sample), we developed and tested the performance of >1.3-million unique filters. Filters with high sensitivity and high specificity for the identification of AKI articles were then retested in the validation phase (remaining third of the sample). We succeeded in developing and validating high-performance AKI search filters for each bibliographic database with sensitivities and specificities in excess of 90%. Filters optimized for sensitivity reached at least 97.2% sensitivity, and filters optimized for specificity reached at least 99.5% specificity. The filters were complex; for example one PubMed filter included >140 terms used in combination, including 'acute kidney injury', 'tubular necrosis', 'azotemia' and 'ischemic injury'. In proof-of-concept searches, physicians found more articles relevant to topics in AKI with the use of the filters. PubMed, Ovid Medline and Embase can be filtered for articles relevant to AKI in a reliable manner. These high-performance information filters are now available online and can be used to better identify AKI content in large bibliographic databases.
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Oral oncoprevention by phytochemicals - a systematic review disclosing the therapeutic dilemma.
Bhavana, Sujana Mulk; Lakshmi, Chintamaneni Raja
2014-10-01
The aim of this article is to emphasize and focus on the preclinical and clinical update on phytochemicals and their role in prevention of oral carcinogenesis. Accordingly, the literature search was made following database: Embase, Medline, Science Citation index, NIH public access, pubmed and Cochrane Database of systematic reviews. Several internet websites were also searched to access publications from major phytochemical research sites and relevant information was obtained with regards to each plant chemical. The authors also spotted different list servers through wignet.com, Stanford cancer research etc: The data base search was made from the inception to 1988 and updated till 2013. A systematic method was obtained for literature search and data collection was critiqued. 60 articles were searched, among which there were only 6 systematic reviews on phytochemicals regarding oral carcinogenesis. Additional articles were obtained on phytochemicals and their mechanism of action in other cancers, which were regarded as background material. The studies done by various authors on each phytochemical has been briefly emphasized.
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Facilitation of learning: part 2.
Warburton, Tyler; Houghton, Trish; Barry, Debbie
2016-04-27
The previous article in this series of 11, Facilitation of learning: part 1, reviewed learning theories and how they relate to clinical practice. Developing an understanding of these theories is essential for mentors and practice teachers to enable them to deliver evidence-based learning support. This is important given that effective learning support is dependent on an educator who possesses knowledge of their specialist area as well as the relevent tools and methods to support learning. The second domain of the Nursing and Midwifery Council's Standards to Support Learning and Assessment in Practice relates to the facilitation of learning. To fulfil this domain, mentors and practice teachers are required to demonstrate their ability to recognise the needs of learners and provide appropriate support to meet those needs. This article expands on some of the discussions from part 1 of this article and considers these from a practical perspective, in addition to introducing some of the tools that can be used to support learning.
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Twenty-five years of sport performance research in the Journal of Sports Sciences.
Nevill, Alan; Atkinson, Greg; Hughes, Mike
2008-02-15
In this historical review covering the past 25 years, we reflect on the content of manuscripts relevant to the Sport Performance section of the Journal of Sports Sciences. Due to the wide diversity of sport performance research, the remit of the Sport Performance section has been broad and includes mathematical and statistical evaluation of competitive sports performances, match- and notation-analysis, talent identification, training and selection or team organization. In addition, due to the academic interests of its section editors, they adopted a quality-assurance role for the Sport Performance section, invariably communicated through key editorials that subsequently shaped the editorial policy of the Journal. Key high-impact manuscripts are discussed, providing readers with some insight into what might lead an article to become a citation "classic". Finally, landmark articles in the areas of "science and football" and "notation analysis" are highlighted, providing further insight into how such articles have contributed to the development of sport performance research in general and the Journal of Sports Sciences in particular.
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Cooper, J J; Brayford, M J; Laycock, P A
2014-08-01
A new method is described which can be used to determine the setting times of small amounts of high value bone cements. The test was developed to measure how the setting times of a commercially available synthetic calcium sulfate cement (Stimulan, Biocomposites, UK) in two forms (standard and Rapid Cure) varies with the addition of clinically relevant antibiotics. The importance of being able to accurately quantify these setting times is discussed. The results demonstrate that this new method, which is shown to correlate to the Vicat needle, gives reliable and repeatable data with additional benefits expressed in the article. The majority of antibiotics mixed were found to retard the setting reaction of the calcium sulfate cement.
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[Chronic kidney disease and kidney transplantation].
Thuret, R; Timsit, M O; Kleinclauss, F
2016-11-01
To report epidemiology and characteristics of end-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients and renal transplant candidates, and to evaluate access to waiting list and results of renal transplantation. An exhaustive systematic review of the scientific literature was performed in the Medline database (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov) and Embase (http://www.embase.com) using different associations of the following keywords: "chronic kidney disease, epidemiology, kidney transplantation, cost, survival, graft, brain death, cardiac arrest, access, allocation". French legal documents have been reviewed using the government portal (http://www.legifrance.gouv.fr). Articles were selected according to methods, language of publication and relevance. The reference lists were used to identify additional historical studies of interest. Both prospective and retrospective series, in French and English, as well as review articles and recommendations were selected. In addition, French national transplant and health agencies (http://www.agence-biomedecine.fr and http://www.has-sante.fr) databases were screened using identical keywords. A total of 3234 articles, 6 official reports and 3 newspaper articles were identified; after careful selection 99 publications were eligible for our review. The increasing prevalence of chronic kidney disease (CKD) leads to worsen organ shortage. Renal transplantation remains the best treatment option for ESRD, providing recipients with an increased survival and quality of life, at lower costs than other renal replacement therapies. The never-ending lengthening of the waiting list raises issues regarding treatment strategies and candidates' selection, and underlines the limits of organ sharing without additional source of kidneys available for transplantation. Allocation policies aim to reduce medical or geographical disparities regarding enrollment on a waiting list or access to an allotransplant. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.
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Consultation-liaison psychiatry and psychosomatic medicine: the company they keep.
Lipsitt, D R
2001-01-01
The objectives of this review are 1) to briefly describe the parallel historical developments of consultation-liaison (C-L) psychiatry and psychosomatic medicine [corrected]; 2) to analyze the extent to which the literature of C-L psychiatry and psychosomatic medicine relate to each other, given that both fields have evolved simultaneously in the history of psychiatry; and 3) to propose possible explanations for observed publication patterns in selected C-L resources and the journal Psychosomatic Medicine. The quasi-citation analysis includes two segments: 1) a review of selected key C-L psychiatry references to determine the extent to which classic articles from Psychosomatic Medicine are cited; and 2) an analysis of 60 years of Psychosomatic Medicine, sampling issues from the first 5 years of each decade and all issues of the year 2000 for articles of potential relevance to C-L psychiatry. References to Psychosomatic Medicine articles in C-L resources are tallied as percentages of total references in each source. Articles in Psychosomatic Medicine are assigned to one of three categories (A, B, or C) according to their perceived relevance to C-L psychiatry, from most (A) to least (C) relevant. The review of C-L sources ("basic" reading lists and reference lists of seminal articles and textbooks) revealed a wide range of Psychosomatic Medicine citations, from 0% to 27.4% (average, 7.5%). The survey of Psychosomatic Medicine sorted 1705 articles for their relevance to C-L psychiatry into category A (9.5-40.6%, average 21.3%), category B (70.4-86.3%, average 72.3%), and category C (0.7-12.1%, average 6.4%) for each half-decade for the past 60 years. The lowest number of category A articles appeared in the years 1970 to 1975, and the highest number appeared in 1950 to 1955; reciprocal results were found for category B articles. The lowest number of category C articles appeared in 1980 to 1985, and the highest number appeared in 1940 to 1945. For the six issues of 2000, the distributions of articles in categories A, B, and C are similar, continuing an upward trend beginning in 1975 of core (category A) articles. Explanations for publication patterns are speculatively related to various factors, such as a paucity of C-L research and researchers, the broad definition of C-L psychiatry, editorial policies, and the impact of World War II. Although C-L psychiatry and psychosomatic medicine have common roots, the reliance of the C-L literature on classic Psychosomatic Medicine articles has varied markedly, from none to about one-quarter of its references. Nevertheless, Psychosomatic Medicine has consistently published articles of theoretical and clinical interest to C-L psychiatrists, with more than 90% of published articles considered to be of high or moderate relevance to C-L psychiatry. A far higher percentage of articles in Psychosomatic Medicine would seem to be relevant to the field of C-L psychiatry than are cited in significant C-L literature. Psychosomatic Medicine's essential focus on empirical research may dissuade the more clinically oriented C-L psychiatrists.
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Required Reading: The Most Impactful Articles in Endoscopic Endonasal Skull Base Surgery.
Zhang, Michael; Singh, Harminder; Almodovar-Mercado, Gustavo J; Anand, Vijay K; Schwartz, Theodore H
2016-08-01
Endoscopic endonasal skull base surgery has become widely accepted in neurosurgery and otolaryngology over the last 15 years. However, there has yet to be a formal curation of the most impactful articles for an introductory curriculum to its technical evolution. The Science Citation Index Expanded was used to generate a citation rank list (October 2015) on articles relevant to endoscopic skull base surgery. The top 35 cited articles overall, as well as the top 15 since 2009, were identified. Journal, year, author, study population, article format, and level of evidence were compiled. Additional surgeon experts were polled and made recommendations for significant contributions to the literature. The top 35 publications ranged from 98 to 467 citations and were published in 10 different journals. Four articles had more than 250 citations. A period of frequent contribution occurred between 2005 and 2009, when 21/35 reports were published. 18/35 articles were case series, and 13/35 were technical reports. There were 11/35 articles focused primarily on pituitary surgery and 10/35 on extrasellar lesions. The top 15 articles since 2009 had 8/15 articles focused on extrasellar lesions. Polled surgeons consistently identified the most prominently cited articles, and their recommendations drew attention to cerebrospinal fluid leak as well as extrasellar management. Identification of the most cited works within endoscopic endonasal skull base surgery shows greater anatomic access and safety over the last 2 decades. These articles can serve as an educational tool for novices or midlevel practitioners wishing to obtain a greater understanding of the field. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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Ranking the whole MEDLINE database according to a large training set using text indexing.
Suomela, Brian P; Andrade, Miguel A
2005-03-24
The MEDLINE database contains over 12 million references to scientific literature, with about 3/4 of recent articles including an abstract of the publication. Retrieval of entries using queries with keywords is useful for human users that need to obtain small selections. However, particular analyses of the literature or database developments may need the complete ranking of all the references in the MEDLINE database as to their relevance to a topic of interest. This report describes a method that does this ranking using the differences in word content between MEDLINE entries related to a topic and the whole of MEDLINE, in a computational time appropriate for an article search query engine. We tested the capabilities of our system to retrieve MEDLINE references which are relevant to the subject of stem cells. We took advantage of the existing annotation of references with terms from the MeSH hierarchical vocabulary (Medical Subject Headings, developed at the National Library of Medicine). A training set of 81,416 references was constructed by selecting entries annotated with the MeSH term stem cells or some child in its sub tree. Frequencies of all nouns, verbs, and adjectives in the training set were computed and the ratios of word frequencies in the training set to those in the entire MEDLINE were used to score references. Self-consistency of the algorithm, benchmarked with a test set containing the training set and an equal number of references randomly selected from MEDLINE was better using nouns (79%) than adjectives (73%) or verbs (70%). The evaluation of the system with 6,923 references not used for training, containing 204 articles relevant to stem cells according to a human expert, indicated a recall of 65% for a precision of 65%. This strategy appears to be useful for predicting the relevance of MEDLINE references to a given concept. The method is simple and can be used with any user-defined training set. Choice of the part of speech of the words used for classification has important effects on performance. Lists of words, scripts, and additional information are available from the web address http://www.ogic.ca/projects/ks2004/.
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Anatomy and surgical treatment of the depressor septi nasi muscle: a systematic review.
Sinno, Sammy; Chang, Jessica B; Saadeh, Pierre B; Lee, Michael R
2015-05-01
Although the majority of nasal alterations in rhinoplasty result from either augmentation or reduction of bone and cartilaginous substructure, modifications of influential soft-tissue provide significant contribution to the final result. The depressor septi nasi muscle is a soft-tissue structure well known to influence the final result in rhinoplasty. The objective of this study was to perform a standardized, comprehensive review of relevant data published with regard to the depressor septi nasi muscle. A comprehensive search of the terms "depressor septi muscle" and "depressor septi nasi muscle" was performed using the PubMed, MEDLINE, and Cochrane databases. Articles were reviewed for relevancy and included if criteria were met. A secondary review was performed of all articles cited, to maximize diligence. Forty-three articles were identified in the initial search. Thirteen of the 43 were found to meet inclusion criteria. Secondary search revealed additional studies meeting inclusion criteria. Altogether, there were 175 cadaver specimens and 821 surgically treated patients for which data were available. Anatomical reports and nomenclature were found to vary. Surgical approach and muscle treatment diverged, with objective data showing no superior method. Although variation exists in anatomical reports regarding the depressor septi nasi muscle, the prevailing thought is that it originates from the maxilla and/or orbicularis oris muscle. More importantly, the muscle inserts on the medial crura and adjacent soft tissue. Disruption of this relationship provides the basis for surgical treatment of tip descent on animation.
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Epidemiology and risk factors for drug allergy
Thong, Bernard Y-H; Tan, Teck-Choon
2011-01-01
The aim of this review was to describe the current evidence-based knowledge of the epidemiology, prevalence, incidence, risk factors and genetic associations of drug allergy. Articles published between 1966 and 2010 were identified in MEDLINE using the key words adult, adverse drug reaction reporting systems, age factors, anaphylactoid, anaphylaxis, anaesthetics, antibiotics, child, drug allergy, drug eruptions, ethnic groups, hypersensitivity, neuromuscular depolarizing agents, neuromuscular nondepolarizing agents, sex factors, Stevens Johnson syndrome and toxic epidermal necrolysis. Additional studies were identified from article reference lists. Relevant, peer-reviewed original research articles, case series and reviews were considered for review. Current epidemiological studies on adverse drug reactions (ADRs) have used different definitions for ADR-related terminology, often do not differentiate immunologically and non-immunologically mediated drug hypersensitivity, study different study populations (different ethnicities, inpatients or outpatients, adults or children), utilize different methodologies (spontaneous vs. non-spontaneous reporting, cohort vs. case-control studies), different methods of assessing drug imputability and different methods of data analyses. Potentially life-threatening severe cutaneous adverse reactions (SCAR) are associated with a high risk of morbidity and mortality. HLA associations for SCAR associated with allopurinol, carbamazepine and abacavir have been reported with the potential for clinical use in screening prior to prescription. Identification of risk factors for drug allergy and appropriate genetic screening of at-risk ethnic groups may improve the outcomes of drug-specific SCAR. Research and collaboration are necessary for the generation of clinically-relevant, translational pharmacoepidemiological and pharmacogenomic knowledge, and success of health outcomes research and policies on drug allergies. PMID:21480948
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Ureteroscopic treatment of larger renal calculi (>2 cm).
Bagley, Demetrius H; Healy, Kelly A; Kleinmann, Nir
2012-09-01
To evaluate the current status of ureteroscopic lithotripsy (UL) for treating renal calculi of >2 cm, as advances in flexible ureteroscope design, accessory instrumentation and lithotrites have revolutionised the treatment of urinary calculi. While previously reserved for ureteric and small renal calculi, UL has gained an increasing role in the selective management of larger renal stone burdens. We searched the available databases, including PubMed, Google Scholar, and Scopus, for relevant reports in English, and the article bibliographies to identify additional relevant articles. Keywords included ureteroscopy, lithotripsy, renal calculi, and calculi >2 cm. Retrieved articles were reviewed to consider the number of patients, mean stone size, success rates, indications and complications. In all, nine studies (417 patients) were eligible for inclusion. After one, two or three procedures the mean (range) success rates were 68.2 (23-84)%, 87.1 (79-91)% and 94.4 (90.1-96.7)%, respectively. Overall, the success rate was >90% with a mean of 1.2-2.3 procedures per patient. The overall complication rate was 10.3%, including six (1.4%) intraoperative and 37 (8.9%) postoperative complications, most of which were minor. The most common indications for UL were a failed previous treatment (46%), comorbidities (18.2%), and technical and anatomical factors (12.3%). UL is safe and effective for treating large renal calculi. While several procedures might be required for total stone clearance, UL should be considered a standard approach in the urologist's options treating renal calculi of >2 cm.
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Occupational dental erosion from exposure to acids: a review.
Wiegand, Annette; Attin, Thomas
2007-05-01
Dental erosion is characterized as a disorder with a multifactorial aetiology including environmental acid exposure. The purpose of this article was to summarize and discuss the available information concerning occupational dental erosion. Information from original scientific papers, case reports and reviews with additional case reports listed in PubMed, Medline or EMBASE [search term: (dental OR enamel OR dentin) AND (erosion OR tooth wear) AND (occupational OR worker)] were included in the review. References from the identified publications were manually searched to identify additional relevant articles. The systematic search resulted in 59 papers, of which 42 were suitable for the present review. Seventeen papers demonstrated evidence that battery, galvanizing and associated workers exposed to sulphuric or hydrochloric acid were at higher risk of dental erosion. For other industrial workers, wine tasters and competitive swimmers, only a few clinical studies exist and these do not allow the drawing of definitive conclusions. Occupational acid exposure might increase the risk of dental erosion. Evidence for occupational dental erosion is limited to battery and galvanizing workers, while data for other occupational groups need to be confirmed by further studies.
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Comparison of quantitative NMR and IRMS spectrometry for the authentication of "Polish Vodka".
Ciepielowski, Grzegorz; Pacholczyk-Sienicka, Barbara; Frączek, Tomasz; Klajman, Kamila; Paneth, Piotr; Albrecht, Łukasz
2018-05-31
The production of "Polish Vodka" is restricted by law to the ethyl alcohol of agricultural origins obtained from rye, wheat, barley, oat, triticale and potatoes grown on the territory of the Republic of Poland. The current labeling system should guarantee that the spirit is authentic and of good quality but not all producers are honest. Unfortunately, the authentic "Polish Vodka" is the most often counterfeited by the addition of cheaper and more accessible maize spirits. These illegal practices significantly reduce costs of the spirit production. Therefore, the determination of the botanical origin of alcohol in Poland is highly relevant. The quantitative 2 H NMR and isotope ratio mass spectrometry (IRMS) were used to investigate the authenticity of 30 samples of Polish spirits. Several isotopic parameters were used to determine the botanical origin of 10 unknown samples. Both approaches lead to the same conclusions regarding the percentage of maize-derived ethanol addition. Applied techniques are a valuable tool in the fight against counterfeiting of products. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
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Effects of Ambient Air Pollution Exposure on Olfaction: A Review.
Ajmani, Gaurav S; Suh, Helen H; Pinto, Jayant M
2016-11-01
Olfactory dysfunction affects millions of people worldwide. This sensory impairment is associated with neurodegenerative disease and significantly decreased quality of life. Exposure to airborne pollutants has been implicated in olfactory decline, likely due to the anatomic susceptibility of the olfactory nerve to the environment. Historically, studies have focused on occupational exposures, but more recent studies have considered effects from exposure to ambient air pollutants. To examine all relevant human data evaluating a link between ambient pollution exposure and olfaction and to review supporting animal data in order to examine potential mechanisms for pollution-associated olfactory loss. We identified and reviewed relevant articles from 1950 to 2015 using PubMed and Web of Science and focusing on human epidemiologic and pathophysiologic studies. Animal studies were included only to support pertinent data on humans. We reviewed findings from these studies evaluating a relationship between environmental pollutant exposure and olfactory function. We identified and reviewed 17 articles, with 1 additional article added from a bibliography search, for a total of 18 human studies. There is evidence in human epidemiologic and pathologic studies that increased exposure to ambient air pollutants is associated with olfactory dysfunction. However, most studies have used proxies for pollution exposure in small samples of convenience. Human pathologic studies, with supporting animal work, have also shown that air pollution can contact the olfactory epithelium, translocate to the olfactory bulb, and migrate to the olfactory cortex. Pollutants can deposit at each location, causing direct damage and disruption of tissue morphology or inducing local inflammation and cellular stress responses. Ambient air pollution may impact human olfactory function. Additional studies are needed to examine air pollution-related olfactory impacts on the general population using measured pollution exposures and to link pollution exposure with olfactory dysfunction and related pathology. Citation: Ajmani GS, Suh HH, Pinto JM. 2016. Effects of ambient air pollution exposure on olfaction: a review. Environ Health Perspect 124:1683-1693; http://dx.doi.org/10.1289/EHP136.
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An expert review of the scientific literature on independent wheelchair transfers.
Koontz, Alicia; Toro, Maria; Kankipati, Padmaja; Naber, Megan; Cooper, Rory
2012-01-01
The purpose of this study was to perform a literature review and seek expert opinion on the relevance and strength of the evidence concerning setup and transfer performance. Scientific literature databases were searched until June 2009 using 43 keywords resulting in 339 articles. These were internally reviewed and narrowed to 41 articles which were formally assessed by 13 external experts. Articles that 80% or more of the reviewers scored as moderately or highly relevant were included in the final results. Nineteen articles met the relevancy criteria. The aspects of setup that experts felt were addressed to some degree included vertical transfer distance, transferring across a gap and position of the mobility device relative to target destination. None of the 19 articles were scored as having strong to very strong resulting evidence. There is a consensus among studies that transferring to a higher surface implies greater exertion of the upper limb. However, there is no evidence concerning how high or low, how close, and how much space is needed next to the target surface so it can be accessible by a majority of wheelchair users.
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Kabuto, Bobbie
2016-01-01
Through the presentation of two bilingual reader profiles, this article will illustrate how miscue analysis can act as a culturally relevant assessment tool as it allows for the study of reading across different spoken and written languages. The research presented in this article integrates a socio-psycholinguistic perspective to reading and a…
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Skeie, Geir
2014-01-01
The article discusses the "European dimension" in a Norwegian context with focus on the relevance for young people in particular. Against a backdrop of literature discussing Norwegian majority self-understanding in relation to Europe, the article discusses some examples that are relevant for addressing the overall theme, namely recent…
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[Macroeconomic costs of eye diseases].
Hirneiß, C; Kampik, A; Neubauer, A S
2014-05-01
Eye diseases that are relevant regarding their macroeconomic costs and their impact on society include cataract, diabetic retinopathy, age-related maculopathy, glaucoma and refractive errors. The aim of this article is to provide a comprehensive overview of direct and indirect costs for major eye disease categories for Germany, based on existing literature and data sources. A semi-structured literature search was performed in the databases Medline and Embase and in the search machine Google for relevant original papers and reviews on costs of eye diseases with relevance for or transferability to Germany (last research date October 2013). In addition, manual searching was performed in important national databases and information sources, such as the Federal Office of Statistics and scientific societies. The direct costs for these diseases add up to approximately 2.6 billion Euros yearly for the Federal Republic of Germany, including out of the pocket payments from patients but excluding optical aids (e.g. glasses). In addition to those direct costs there are also indirect costs which are caused e.g. by loss of employment or productivity or by a reduction in health-related quality of life. These indirect costs can only be roughly estimated. Including the indirect costs for the eye diseases investigated, a total yearly macroeconomic cost ranging between 4 and 12 billion Euros is estimated for Germany. The costs for the eye diseases cataract, diabetic retinopathy, age-related maculopathy, glaucoma and refractive errors have a macroeconomic relevant dimension. Based on the predicted demographic changes with an ageing society an increase of the prevalence and thus also an increase of costs for eye diseases is expected in the future.
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"Big data" and the electronic health record.
Ross, M K; Wei, W; Ohno-Machado, L
2014-08-15
Implementation of Electronic Health Record (EHR) systems continues to expand. The massive number of patient encounters results in high amounts of stored data. Transforming clinical data into knowledge to improve patient care has been the goal of biomedical informatics professionals for many decades, and this work is now increasingly recognized outside our field. In reviewing the literature for the past three years, we focus on "big data" in the context of EHR systems and we report on some examples of how secondary use of data has been put into practice. We searched PubMed database for articles from January 1, 2011 to November 1, 2013. We initiated the search with keywords related to "big data" and EHR. We identified relevant articles and additional keywords from the retrieved articles were added. Based on the new keywords, more articles were retrieved and we manually narrowed down the set utilizing predefined inclusion and exclusion criteria. Our final review includes articles categorized into the themes of data mining (pharmacovigilance, phenotyping, natural language processing), data application and integration (clinical decision support, personal monitoring, social media), and privacy and security. The increasing adoption of EHR systems worldwide makes it possible to capture large amounts of clinical data. There is an increasing number of articles addressing the theme of "big data", and the concepts associated with these articles vary. The next step is to transform healthcare big data into actionable knowledge.
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Casey, Mary; O'Connor, Laserina; Cashin, Andrew; Smith, Rita; O'Brien, Denise; Nicholson, Emma; O'Leary, Denise; Fealy, Gerard; McNamara, Martin; Glasgow, Mary Ellen; Stokes, Diarmuid; Egan, Claire
2017-09-01
This paper presents the results of a systematic rapid review and narrative synthesis of the literature of the outcomes and impact of specialist and advanced nursing and midwifery practice regarding quality of care, cost and access to services. A rapid review was undertaken of the relevant national and international literature, regulatory and policy documents relating to the establishment and definition of nurses' and midwives' specialist and advanced practice roles. A search of the Cumulative Index to the Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), PubMed (MEDLINE) was undertaken from 2012 to 2015. The study also included primary data collection on the perceived impact of specialist and advanced practice nursing and midwifery roles and enablers and barriers to these roles using semi-structured interviews. These are not included in this paper. To facilitate a systematic approach to searching the literature, the PICO framework, was adapted. The database search yielded 437 articles relevant to the analysis of specialist and advanced practice in relation to quality care, cost and access to services with additional articles added in a manual review of reference lists. In the final review a total of 86 articles were included as they fulfilled the eligibility criteria. The evidence presented in the 86 articles indicates that nursing and midwifery practitioners continue to be under-utilised despite the evidence that greater reliance on advanced nurse practitioners could improve accessibility of primary care services while also saving on cost. Results point to continued difficulties associated with accurate measurement of the impact of these roles on patient outcomes. This review demonstrates that there is a need for robust measurement of the impact of these roles on patient outcomes. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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The overlap between offending trajectories, criminal violence, and intimate partner violence.
Piquero, Alex R; Theobald, Delphine; Farrington, David P
2014-03-01
This article investigates the overlap between offending trajectories, criminal violence, and intimate partner violence (IPV) and the factors associated with these behaviors. Knowledge on these questions is relevant to theory and policy. For the former, this article considers the extent to which specific theories are needed for understanding crime, criminal violence, and/or IPV, whereas for the latter, it may suggest specific offense- and offender-based policies. We use data from the Cambridge Study in Delinquent Development that traces the offending, criminal violence, and IPV of males to age 50. Findings show that there is significant overlap between criminal violence and IPV, high-rate offending trajectories have increased odds of criminal violence and IPV, and early childhood risk factors have no additional effect on criminal violence and IPV in adulthood over and above the offending trajectories.
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USSR Space Life Sciences Digest, issue 2
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Hooke, L. R. (Editor); Radtke, M. (Editor); Garshnek, V. (Editor); Rowe, J. E. (Editor); Teeter, R. (Editor)
1985-01-01
The second issue of the bimonthly digest of USSR Space Life Sciences is presented. Abstracts are included for 39 Soviet periodical articles in 16 areas of aerospace medicine and space biology and published in Russian during the first half of 1985. Selected articles are illustrated with figures from the original. Translated introductions and tables of contents for 14 Russian books on 11 topics related to NASA's life science concerns are presented. Areas covered are: adaptation, biospheric, body fluids, botany, cardiovascular and respiratory systems, cybernetics and biomedical data processing, gastrointestinal system, group dynamics, habitability and environmental effects, health and medical treatment, hematology, immunology, life support systems, metabolism, musculoskeletal system, neurophysiology, psychology, radiobiology, and space biology. Two book reviews translated from Russian are included and lists of additional relevant titles available either in English or in Russian only are appended.
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Held, Kathryn D.; Blakely, Eleanor A.; Story, Michael D.; Lowenstein, Derek I.
2016-01-01
Although clinical studies with carbon ions have been conducted successfully in Japan and Europe, the limited radiobiological information about charged particles that are heavier than protons remains a significant impediment to exploiting the full potential of particle therapy. There is growing interest in the U.S. to build a cancer treatment facility that utilizes charged particles heavier than protons. Therefore, it is essential that additional radiobiological knowledge be obtained using state-of-the-art technologies and biological models and end points relevant to clinical outcome. Currently, most such ion radiotherapy-related research is being conducted outside the U.S. This article addresses the substantial contributions to that research that are possible at the NASA Space Radiation Laboratory (NSRL) at Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), which is the only facility in the U.S. at this time where heavy-ion radiobiology research with the ion species and energies of interest for therapy can be done. Here, we briefly discuss the relevant facilities at NSRL and how selected charged particle biology research gaps could be addressed using those facilities. PMID:27195609
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Held, Kathryn D; Blakely, Eleanor A; Story, Michael D; Lowenstein, Derek I
2016-06-01
Although clinical studies with carbon ions have been conducted successfully in Japan and Europe, the limited radiobiological information about charged particles that are heavier than protons remains a significant impediment to exploiting the full potential of particle therapy. There is growing interest in the U.S. to build a cancer treatment facility that utilizes charged particles heavier than protons. Therefore, it is essential that additional radiobiological knowledge be obtained using state-of-the-art technologies and biological models and end points relevant to clinical outcome. Currently, most such ion radiotherapy-related research is being conducted outside the U.S. This article addresses the substantial contributions to that research that are possible at the NASA Space Radiation Laboratory (NSRL) at Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), which is the only facility in the U.S. at this time where heavy-ion radiobiology research with the ion species and energies of interest for therapy can be done. Here, we briefly discuss the relevant facilities at NSRL and how selected charged particle biology research gaps could be addressed using those facilities.
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Black Holes: A Selected Bibliography.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Fraknoi, Andrew
1991-01-01
Offers a selected bibliography pertaining to black holes with the following categories: introductory books; introductory articles; somewhat more advanced articles; readings about Einstein's general theory of relativity; books on the death of stars; articles on the death of stars; specific articles about Supernova 1987A; relevant science fiction…
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Mayombe, Celestin
2017-01-01
The purpose of this article is to assess the course content relevance in contributing to wage- or self-employment of adult non-formal education and training (NFET) in the context of South Africa. The concern that informed this article is that adults who face long-term unemployment due to a lack of marketable skills remain unemployed after…
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The architectural relevance of cybernetics
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Frazer, J.H.
1993-12-31
This title is taken from an article by Gordon Pask in Architectural Design September 1969. It raises a number of questions which this article attempts to answer. How did Gordon come to be writing for an architectural publication? What was his contribution to architecture? How does he now come to be on the faculty of a school of architecture? And what indeed is the architectural relevance of cybernetics? 12 refs.
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Van Aalsvoort, Joke
2004-01-01
In a previous article, the problem of chemistry's lack of relevance in secondary chemical education was analysed using logical positivism as a tool. This article starts with the hypothesis that the problem can be addressed by means of activity theory, one of the important theories within the sociocultural school. The reason for this expectation is…
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The psychological contract: enhancing productivity and its implications for long-term care.
Flannery, Raymond B
2002-01-01
When hired, a new employee is usually given a job description and an explanation of benefits. In addition, the employee will also have a psychological contract with the organization. This contract, often unstated, reflects the main source of the employee's motivation to work hard. This is true of all groups of employees, including long-term care staff. Common examples of psychological contracts for long-term care administrative staff include autonomy, social acceptance, and being in the forefront of cutting-edge research. An awareness of these psychological contracts can result in better "fits" between employee aspirations and relevant long-term care organization tasks so that productivity is enhanced. This article outlines the steps necessary to create these good fits in ways that benefit both the organization and its employees. These recommendations are of particular relevance to administrators and supervisors in long-term carefacilities.
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Stern, Hal S; Blower, Daniel; Cohen, Michael L; Czeisler, Charles A; Dinges, David F; Greenhouse, Joel B; Guo, Feng; Hanowski, Richard J; Hartenbaum, Natalie P; Krueger, Gerald P; Mallis, Melissa M; Pain, Richard F; Rizzo, Matthew; Sinha, Esha; Small, Dylan S; Stuart, Elizabeth A; Wegman, David H
2018-03-09
This article summarizes the recommendations on data and methodology issues for studying commercial motor vehicle driver fatigue of a National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine study. A framework is provided that identifies the various factors affecting driver fatigue and relating driver fatigue to crash risk and long-term driver health. The relevant factors include characteristics of the driver, vehicle, carrier and environment. Limitations of existing data are considered and potential sources of additional data described. Statistical methods that can be used to improve understanding of the relevant relationships from observational data are also described. The recommendations for enhanced data collection and the use of modern statistical methods for causal inference have the potential to enhance our understanding of the relationship of fatigue to highway safety and to long-term driver health. Copyright © 2018 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.
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Brunstein Klomek, Anat; Sourander, Andre; Gould, Madelyn
2010-05-01
To review the research addressing the association of suicide and bullying, from childhood to young adulthood, including cross-sectional and longitudinal research findings. Relevant publications were identified via electronic searches of PsycNet and MEDLINE without date specification, in addition to perusing the reference lists of relevant articles. Cross-sectional findings indicate that there is an increased risk of suicidal ideation and (or) suicide attempts associated with bullying behaviour and cyberbullying. The few longitudinal findings available indicate that bullying and peer victimization lead to suicidality but that this association varies by sex. Discrepancies between the studies available may be due to differences in the studies' participants and methods. Bullying and peer victimization constitute more than correlates of suicidality. Future research with long-term follow-up should continue to identify specific causal paths between bullying and suicide.
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Best Practices for Core Facilities: Handling External Customers
Hockberger, Philip; Meyn, Susan; Nicklin, Connie; Tabarini, Diane; Turpen, Paula; Auger, Julie
2013-01-01
This article addresses the growing interest among U.S. scientific organizations and federal funding agencies in strengthening research partnerships between American universities and the private sector. It outlines how core facilities at universities can contribute to this partnership by offering services and access to high-end instrumentation to both nonprofit organizations and commercial organizations. We describe institutional policies (best practices) and procedures (terms and conditions) that are essential for facilitating and enabling such partnerships. In addition, we provide an overview of the relevant federal regulations that apply to external use of academic core facilities and offer a set of guidelines for handling them. We conclude by encouraging directors and managers of core facilities to work with the relevant organizational offices to promote and nurture such partnerships. If handled appropriately, we believe such partnerships can be a win-win situation for both organizations that will support research and bolster the American economy. PMID:23814500
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Parental Socialization of Emotion
Cumberland, Amanda; Spinrad, Tracy L.
2006-01-01
Recently, there has been a resurgence of research on emotion, including the socialization of emotion. In this article, a heuristic model of factors contributing to the socialization of emotion is presented. Then literature relevant to the socialization of children’s emotion and emotion-related behavior by parents is reviewed, including (a) parental reactions to children’s emotions, (b) socializers’ discussion of emotion, and (c) socializers’ expression of emotion. The relevant literature is not conclusive and most of the research is correlational. However, the existing body of data provides initial support for the view that parental socialization practices have effects on children’s emotional and social competence and that the socialization process is bidirectional. In particular, parental negative emotionality and negative reactions to children’s expression of emotion are associated with children’s negative emotionality and low social competence. In addition, possible moderators of effects such as level of emotional arousal are discussed. PMID:16865170
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Citation parameters of contact lens-related articles published in the ophthalmic literature.
Cardona, Genís; Sanz, Joan P
2014-09-01
This study aimed at exploring the citation parameters of contact lenses articles published in the Ophthalmology thematic category of the Journal Citation Reports (JCR). The Thompson Reuters Web of Science database was accessed to record bibliometric information and citation parameters of all journals listed under the Ophthalmology area of the 2011 JCR edition, including the journals with main publication interests in the contact lens field. In addition, the same database was used to unveil all contact lens-related articles published in 2011 in the same thematic area, whereupon differences in citation parameters between those articles published in contact lens and non-contact lens-related journals were explored. Significant differences in some bibliometric indicators such as half-life and overall citation count were found between contact lens-related journals (shorter half-life and fewer citations) and the median values for the Ophthalmology thematic area of the JCR. Visual examination of all Ophthalmology journals uncovered a total of 156 contact lens-related articles, published in 28 different journals, with 27 articles each for Contact Lens & Anterior Eye, Eye & Contact Lens, and Optometry and Vision Science. Significant differences in citation parameters were encountered between those articles published in contact lens and non-contact lens source journals. These findings, which disclosed contact lenses to be a fertile area of research, may be of interest to researchers and institutions. Differences in bibliometric indicators are of relevance to avoid unwanted bias when conducting between- and within-discipline comparisons of articles, journals, and researchers.
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Heart failure among Indigenous Australians: a systematic review
2012-01-01
Background Cardiovascular diseases contribute substantially to the poor health and reduced life expectancy of Indigenous Australians. Heart failure is a common, disabling, progressive and costly complication of these disorders. The epidemiology of heart failure and the adequacy of relevant health service provision in Indigenous Australians are not well delineated. Methods A systematic search of the electronic databases PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, Cinahl Plus, Informit and Google Scholar was undertaken in April 2012 for peer-reviewed journal articles relevant to the topic of heart failure in Indigenous Australians. Additionally, a website search was done to identify other pertinent publications, particularly government reports. Results There was a paucity of relevant peer-reviewed research, and government reports dominated the results. Ten journal articles, 1 published conference abstract and 10 reports were eligible for inclusion. Indigenous Australians reportedly have higher morbidity and mortality from heart failure than their non-Indigenous counterparts (age-standardised prevalence ratio 1.7; age-standardised hospital separation ratio ≥3; crude per capita hospital expenditure ratio 1.58; age-adjusted mortality ratio >2). Despite the evident disproportionate burden of heart failure in Indigenous Australians, the accuracy of estimation from administrative data is limited by poor indigenous identification, inadequate case ascertainment and exclusion of younger subjects from mortality statistics. A recent journal article specifically documented a high prevalence of heart failure in Central Australian Aboriginal adults (5.3%), noting frequent undiagnosed disease. One study examined barriers to health service provision for Indigenous Australians in the context of heart failure. Conclusions Despite the shortcomings of available published data, it is clear that Indigenous Australians have an excess burden of heart failure. Emerging data suggest that undiagnosed cases may be common in this population. In order to optimise management and to inform policy, high quality research on heart failure in Indigenous Australians is required to delineate accurate epidemiological indicators and to appraise health service provision. PMID:23116367
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Authoring Newspaper Science Articles: A Rewarding Experience
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Gonzalez-Espada, Wilson J.
2009-01-01
In this article, the author summarizes the rationale for using science articles in K-16 education and addresses some of its limitations. The author also encourages scientists and college science faculty to contribute contextually relevant articles that might include selected literary techniques to their local or state newspapers.
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Sexuality and spirituality: the relevance of eastern traditions.
Francoeur, R T
1992-01-01
This article outlines some of the major Eastern sexual and spiritual traditions (primarily Hinduism, Taoism and Tantrism), and discusses their relevance for the contemporary Western world. The article begins by examining the sources of Eastern sexual traditions, before and after the "Axial" period, the turning point at which male consciousness and power gained ascendancy over the female principle. Although a phallocentric view of the world came to dominate the East, Eastern cultures -- unlike the West -- maintained a respect for nature. According to this view, health and spirituality are gained only when humanity respects its place in the cosmos and lives in harmony with nature. The article then examines the sexual traditions of Hinduism, in which sexual asceticism not only coexisted but also complimented the celebration of sexual desire and pleasure. The article then discusses the Taoist traditions, which, among other things, stressed the importance of female sexual satisfaction. Taoism argued that men cannot experience true sexual ecstasy unless they develop the ability to control their ejaculation. The Tantric sexual tradition, the article explains, maintained that ultimate sexual pleasure would enable one to experience the true nature of reality. The article then goes on to review variations of these traditions: the Hindu Tantric Doctrine (Shaktism), the Buddhist Tantric Doctrine, and Tantra and Yoga. Finally, the article considers the relevance of these Eastern philosophies to the Western sexual tradition, which has tended to view sexuality as antagonistic to spiritual liberation.
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A performance and failure analysis of SAPHIRE with a MEDLINE test collection.
Hersh, W R; Hickam, D H; Haynes, R B; McKibbon, K A
1994-01-01
OBJECTIVE: Assess the performance of the SAPHIRE automated information retrieval system. DESIGN: Comparative study of automated and human searching of a MEDLINE test collection. MEASUREMENTS: Recall and precision of SAPHIRE were compared with those attributes of novice physicians, expert physicians, and librarians for a test collection of 75 queries and 2,334 citations. Failure analysis assessed the efficacy of the Metathesaurus as a concept vocabulary; the reasons for retrieval of nonrelevant articles and nonretrieval of relevant articles; and the effect of changing the weighting formula for relevance ranking of retrieved articles. RESULTS: Recall and precision of SAPHIRE were comparable to those of both physician groups, but less than those of librarians. CONCLUSION: The current version of the Metathesaurus, as utilized by SAPHIRE, was unable to represent the conceptual content of one-fourth of physician-generated MEDLINE queries. The most likely cause for retrieval of nonrelevant articles was the presence of some or all of the search terms in the article, with frequencies high enough to lead to retrieval. The most likely cause for nonretrieval of relevant articles was the absence of the actual terms from the query, with synonyms or hierarchically related terms present instead. There were significant variations in performance when SAPHIRE's concept-weighing formulas were modified. PMID:7719787
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PHARMACOLOGY PART 1: INTRODUCTION TO PHARMAOCLOGY AND PHARMACODYNAMICS.
Currie, Geoffrey M
2018-03-29
There is an emerging need for greater understanding of pharmacology principles amongst technical staff. Indeed, the responsibility of dose preparation and administration, under any level of supervision, demands foundation understanding of pharmacology. This is true for radiopharmaceuticals, contrast media and pharmaceutical interventions / adjunctive medications. Regulation around the same might suggest a need to embed pharmacology theory in undergraduate education programs and there is a need to disseminate that same foundation understanding to practicing clinicians. Moreover, pharmacology foundations can provide key understanding of the principles that underpin quantitative techniques (e.g. pharmacokinetics). This article is the first in a series of articles that aims to enhance the understanding of pharmacological principles relevant to nuclear medicine. This article will deal with the introductory concepts, terminology and principles that underpin the concepts to be discussed in the remainder of the series. The second article will build on the pharmacodynamic principles examined in this article with a treatment of pharmacokinetics. Article 3 will outline pharmacology relevant to pharmaceutical interventions and adjunctive medications employed in general nuclear medicine, the fourth pharmacology relevant to pharmaceutical interventions and adjunctive medications employed in nuclear cardiology, and the fifth the pharmacology related to contrast media associated with computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Copyright © 2018 by the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging, Inc.
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Higher education for deaf students: research priorities in the new millennium.
Lang, Harry G
2002-01-01
A review of research on deaf students in higher education reveals a significant body of knowledge about the barriers these students face in gaining access to information in the classroom. Much less is known about the potential solutions to these problems. In addition, there is a dearth of research on the effectiveness of such support services as interpreting, note taking, real-time captioning, and tutoring, particularly with regard to their impact on academic achievement. This article summarizes relevant research and suggests directions for educational researchers interested in enhancing academic success and the retention of deaf students in higher education programs.
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Informatics for RNA Sequencing: A Web Resource for Analysis on the Cloud
Griffith, Malachi; Walker, Jason R.; Spies, Nicholas C.; Ainscough, Benjamin J.; Griffith, Obi L.
2015-01-01
Massively parallel RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) has rapidly become the assay of choice for interrogating RNA transcript abundance and diversity. This article provides a detailed introduction to fundamental RNA-seq molecular biology and informatics concepts. We make available open-access RNA-seq tutorials that cover cloud computing, tool installation, relevant file formats, reference genomes, transcriptome annotations, quality-control strategies, expression, differential expression, and alternative splicing analysis methods. These tutorials and additional training resources are accompanied by complete analysis pipelines and test datasets made available without encumbrance at www.rnaseq.wiki. PMID:26248053
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Miller, Ryan J
2010-11-01
For facial plastic surgeons who are already realizing increased patient consultation requests from their online marketing efforts, the primary concern often becomes implementing additional tactics and strategies that can keep their online marketing fresh, relevant, and effective. This article creates a framework for evaluating advanced online marketing opportunities by analyzing each opportunity according to the variables of possible return, average cost to implement, probability of success, and implementation time. Within this framework, 11 distinct tactics are discussed, with special emphasis on the most common marketing needs and challenges of facial plastic surgery practices. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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Copper-Mediated Radiofluorination of Arylstannanes with [ 18F]KF
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Makaravage, Katarina J.; Brooks, Allen F.; Mossine, Andrew V.
In this article, a copper-mediated nucleophilic radiofluorination of aryl- and vinylstannanes with [ 18F]KF is described. This method is fast, uses commercially available reagents, and is compatible with both electron-rich and electron-deficient arene substrates. This method has been applied to the manual synthesis of a variety of clinically relevant radiotracers including protected [ 18F]F-phenylalanine and [ 18F]F-DOPA. In addition, an automated synthesis of [ 18F]MPPF is demonstrated that delivers a clinically validated dose of 200 ± 20 mCi with a high specific activity of 2400 ± 900 Ci/mmol.
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Copper-Mediated Radiofluorination of Arylstannanes with [ 18F]KF
Makaravage, Katarina J.; Brooks, Allen F.; Mossine, Andrew V.; ...
2016-10-10
In this article, a copper-mediated nucleophilic radiofluorination of aryl- and vinylstannanes with [ 18F]KF is described. This method is fast, uses commercially available reagents, and is compatible with both electron-rich and electron-deficient arene substrates. This method has been applied to the manual synthesis of a variety of clinically relevant radiotracers including protected [ 18F]F-phenylalanine and [ 18F]F-DOPA. In addition, an automated synthesis of [ 18F]MPPF is demonstrated that delivers a clinically validated dose of 200 ± 20 mCi with a high specific activity of 2400 ± 900 Ci/mmol.
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Ethical aspects of limiting residents' work hours.
Wiesing, Urban
2007-09-01
The regulation of residents' work hours involves several ethical conflicts which need to be systematically analysed and evaluated. ARGUMENTS AND CONCLUSION: The most important ethical principle when regulating work hours is to avoid the harm resulting from the over-work of physicians and from an excessive division of labour. Additionally, other ethical principles have to be taken into account, in particular the principles of nonmaleficence and beneficence for future patients and for physicians. The article presents arguments for balancing the relevant ethical principles and analyses the structural difficulties that occur unavoidably in any regulation of the complex activities of physicians.
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Treatment of Diabetic Autonomic Neuropathy in Older Adults with Diabetes Mellitus.
Scheinberg, Nataliya; Salbu, Rebecca L; Goswami, Gayotri; Cohen, Kenneth
2016-11-01
To review the epidemiology, pathophysiology, screening and diagnosis, and optimal treatment of diabetic autonomic neuropathy (DAN) and its implications in older adults. A search of PubMed using the Mesh terms "diabetes," "type 1," "insulin-dependent," "T1DM," and "diabetic autonomic neuropathy" was performed to find relevant primary literature. Additional search terms "epidemiology," "geriatric," and "risk" were employed. All English-language articles from 2005 to 2015 appearing in these searches were reviewed for relevance. Related articles suggested in the PubMed search and clinical guidelines from the American Diabetes Association and the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists were reviewed. These uncovered further resources for risk stratification, pathophysiology, diagnosis, and treatment of DAN. DAN is highly prevalent in the diabetes population and increases the risk of morbidity and mortality in older adults, yet, often goes undiagnosed and untreated. Treatment of DAN is complex in the older adult because of poor tolerability of many pharmacologic treatment options; therefore, great care must be taken when selecting therapy as to avoid unwanted adverse effects. With increasing life-expectancy of patients with diabetes mellitus, awareness of DAN and its implications to older adults is needed in primary care. Consistent screening and appropriate treatment of DAN in older adults with diabetes mellitus is essential in helping to maintain functional status and avoid adverse events.
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Evidence-Based Management Guidelines on Peyronie's Disease.
Chung, Eric; Ralph, David; Kagioglu, Ates; Garaffa, Guilio; Shamsodini, Ahmed; Bivalacqua, Trinity; Glina, Sidney; Hakim, Lawrence; Sadeghi-Nejad, Hossein; Broderick, Gregory
2016-06-01
Despite recent advances in our knowledge and treatment strategies in Peyronie's Disease (PD), much remained unknown about this disease. To provide a clinical framework and key guideline statements to assist clinicians in an evidence-based management of PD. A systematic literature search was conducted to identify published literature relevant to PD. The search included all relevant articles published up to June 2015, including preclinical studies and published guidelines. References used in the text were assessed according to their level of evidence, and guideline recommendations were graded based on the Oxford Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine Levels of Evidence. Owing to the paucity of larger series and randomized placebo-controlled trials with regard to surgical intervention, guideline statements are provided as clinical principle or expert opinion. This literature was discussed at a panel meeting, and selected articles with the highest evidence available were used to create consensus guideline statements for the Fourth International Consultation on Sexual Medicine guidelines on PD. In addition to existing Third International Consultation on Sexual Medicine guidelines on PD, seven new summary recommendations were created. A greater understanding of the scientific basis of PD is greatly needed to address our understanding of the pathophysiology, clinical epidemiology, psychosocial, and diagnostic assessment as well as treatment strategies. Copyright © 2016 International Society for Sexual Medicine. All rights reserved.
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Progress in Magnetospheric Physics: 1983-86 (Paper 7R0217)
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Schulz, Michael
1987-04-01
It has been a distinct pleasure, as well as an educational experience, to have served as associate editor for magnetospheric physics on this quadrennial report to IUGG. Fourteen authors and eighteen referees have done their utmost, despite the pressure of firm deadlines and the constraint of severe page limits, to make the magnetospheric report (consisting of the ten papers that follow) a valuable resource for the international space-research community. Users of this report are encouraged to cite not only the original references found pertinent to their research but also the IUGG review article(s) in which those original references were compiled. Authors of the ten review articles that follow were asked to compile fairly complete lists of relevant papers based on work performed at institutions in the United States and published between late 1982 and late 1986. Additional papers could be cited in the interest of providing context or perspective. Review authors were not required to mention in text every article included in their reference lists. The reader should attach no stigma, however, to the omission of any paper from either the text or the reference list of an IUGG review article. Any omission may have been an oversight, or it may have been necessary for the flow or balance of a particular review.
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Haugen, Hans Morten
2010-08-01
The article analyses the three terms autonomy, dignity and vulnerability. The relevance and practical application of the terms is tested in two spheres. First, as guiding principles in the area of ethics of medicines and science. Second, as human rights principles, serving to guide the conduct of public policies for an effective realization of human rights. The article argues that all human beings have the same dignity, but that the autonomy--and therefore vulnerability--differs considerably. Simply said, with reduced autonomy comes increased vulnerability, implying extra attention to the protective dimensions. The article finds that the three terms approach the protection of human beings in different ways and that all are relevant and applicable in both spheres, but that an isolated notion of autonomy and a 'group-based' notion of vulnerability are not adequate.
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Goodrich, Scott G
2006-10-01
Current policies governing the Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs physical examination programs are out of step with current evidence-based medical practice. Replacing periodic and other routine physical examination types with annual preventive health assessments would afford our service members additional health benefit at reduced cost. Additionally, the Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs repeat the physical examination process at separation and have been unable to reconcile their respective disability evaluation systems to reduce duplication and waste. A clear, coherent, and coordinated strategy to improve the relevance and utility of our physical examination programs is long overdue. This article discusses existing physical examination programs and proposes a model for a new integrative physical examination program based on need, science, and common sense.
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Dixon, Brian E; Gamache, Roland E; Grannis, Shaun J
2013-01-01
Objective To summarize the literature describing computer-based interventions aimed at improving bidirectional communication between clinical and public health. Materials and Methods A systematic review of English articles using MEDLINE and Google Scholar. Search terms included public health, epidemiology, electronic health records, decision support, expert systems, and decision-making. Only articles that described the communication of information regarding emerging health threats from public health agencies to clinicians or provider organizations were included. Each article was independently reviewed by two authors. Results Ten peer-reviewed articles highlight a nascent but promising area of research and practice related to alerting clinicians about emerging threats. Current literature suggests that additional research and development in bidirectional communication infrastructure should focus on defining a coherent architecture, improving interoperability, establishing clear governance, and creating usable systems that will effectively deliver targeted, specific information to clinicians in support of patient and population decision-making. Conclusions Increasingly available clinical information systems make it possible to deliver timely, relevant knowledge to frontline clinicians in support of population health. Future work should focus on developing a flexible, interoperable infrastructure for bidirectional communications capable of integrating public health knowledge into clinical systems and workflows. PMID:23467470
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Daily, Elaine; Padjen, Patricia; Birnbaum, Marvin
2010-01-01
In order to prepare the healthcare system and healthcare personnel to meet the health needs of populations affected by disasters, educational programs have been developed by numerous academic institutions, hospitals, professional organizations, governments, and non-government organizations. Lacking standards for best practices as a foundation, many organizations and institutions have developed "core competencies" that they consider essential knowledge and skills for disaster healthcare personnel. The Nursing Section of the World Association for Disaster and Emergency Medicine (WADEM) considered the possibility of endorsing an existing set of competencies that could be used to prepare nurses universally to participate in disaster health activities. This study was undertaken for the purpose of reviewing published disaster health competencies to determine commonalities and universal applicability for disaster preparedness. In 2007, a review of the electronic literature databases was conducted using the major keywords: disaster response competencies; disaster preparedness competencies; emergency response competencies; disaster planning competencies; emergency planning competencies; public health emergency preparedness competencies; disaster nursing competencies; and disaster nursing education competencies. A manual search of references and selected literature from public and private sources also was conducted. Inclusion criteria included: English language; competencies listed or specifically referred to; competencies relevant to disaster, mass-casualty incident (MCI), or public health emergency; and competencies relevant to healthcare. Eighty-six articles were identified; 20 articles failed to meet the initial inclusion criteria; 27 articles did not meet the additional criteria, leaving 39 articles for analysis. Twenty-eight articles described competencies targeted to a specific profession/discipline, while 10 articles described competencies targeted to a defined role or function during a disaster. Four of the articles described specific competencies according to skill level, rather than to a specific role or function. One article defined competencies according to specific roles as well as proficiency levels. Two articles categorized disaster nursing competencies according to the phases of the disaster management continuum. Fourteen articles described specified competencies as "core" competencies for various target groups, while one article described "cross-cutting" competencies applicable to all healthcare workers. Hundreds of competencies for disaster healthcare personnel have been developed and endorsed by governmental and professional organizations and societies. Imprecise and inconsistent terminology and structure are evident throughout the reviewed competency sets. Universal acceptance and application of these competencies are lacking and none have been validated. Further efforts must be directed to developing a framework and standardized terminology for the articulation of competency sets for disaster health professionals that can by accepted and adapted universally.
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Wylie, Kate; Crilly, Julia; Toloo, Ghasem Sam; FitzGerald, Gerry; Burke, John; Williams, Ged; Bell, Anthony
2015-04-01
To identify current ED models of care and their impact on care quality, care effectiveness, and cost. A systematic search of key health databases (Medline, CINAHL, Cochrane, EMbase) was conducted to identify literature on ED models of care. Additionally, a focused review of the contents of 11 international and national emergency medicine, nursing and health economic journals (published between 2010 and 2013) was undertaken with snowball identification of references of the most recent and relevant papers. Articles published between 1998 and 2013 in the English language were included for initial review by three of the authors. Studies in underdeveloped countries and not addressing the objectives of the present study were excluded. Relevant details were extracted from the retrieved literature, and analysed for relevance and impact. The literature was synthesised around the study's main themes. Models described within the literature mainly focused on addressing issues at the input, throughput or output stages of ED care delivery. Models often varied to account for site specific characteristics (e.g. onsite inpatient units) or to suit staffing profiles (e.g. extended scope physiotherapist), ED geographical location (e.g. metropolitan or rural site), and patient demographic profile (e.g. paediatrics, older persons, ethnicity). Only a few studies conducted cost-effectiveness analysis of service models. Although various models of delivering emergency healthcare exist, further research is required in order to make accurate and reliable assessments of their safety, clinical effectiveness and cost-effectiveness. © 2015 Australasian College for Emergency Medicine and Australasian Society for Emergency Medicine.
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Leischow, Scott J; Ayo-Yusuf, Olalekan; Backinger, Cathy L
2013-04-01
Much of the research used to support the ratification of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) was conducted in high-income countries or in highly controlled environments. Therefore, for the global tobacco control community to make informed decisions that will continue to effectively inform policy implementation, it is critical that the tobacco control community, policy makers, and funders have updated information on the state of the science as it pertains to provisions of the FCTC. Following the National Cancer Institute's process model used in identifying the research needs of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's relatively new tobacco law, a core team of scientists from the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco identified and commissioned internationally recognized scientific experts on the topics covered within the FCTC. These experts analyzed the relevant sections of the FCTC and identified critical gaps in research that is needed to inform policy and practice requirements of the FCTC. This paper summarizes the process and the common themes from the experts' recommendations about the research and related infrastructural needs. Research priorities in common across Articles include improving surveillance, fostering research communication/collaboration across organizations and across countries, and tracking tobacco industry activities. In addition, expanding research relevant to low- and middle-income countries (LMIC), was also identified as a priority, including identification of what existing research findings are transferable, what new country-specific data are needed, and the infrastructure needed to implement and disseminate research so as to inform policy in LMIC.
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Reading, readability, and legibility research: implications for notification letters.
Zimmerman, D E
1993-01-01
This article defines communication science and then briefly describes three research areas relevant to worker notifications: (1) receiving of notification messages, (2) reading and understanding of notification messages, and (3) influences or effects of notification messages on workers. Next, the article focuses on the reading and legibility research relevant to worker notifications and then provides 16 guidelines for drafting worker notifications. Finally, the article suggests evaluating draft notifications by using one or more of the following: skilled editorial reviews, readability scoring, Cloze techniques, signal stopping techniques, in-depth personal interviews, focus groups, and usability testing.
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Tsaparlis, Georgios; Hartzavalos, Sotiris; Nakiboglu, Canan
2013-01-01
Nuclear science has uses and applications that are relevant and crucial for world peace and sustainable development, so knowledge of its basic concepts and topics should constitute an integral part of civic scientific literacy. We have used two newspaper articles that deal with uses of nuclear science that are directly relevant to life, society,…
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Taylor, Laura; Soni, Anita
2017-01-01
This article surveys relevant literature on experiences of the Prevent Strategy in the UK in order to explore the role of schools in preventing radicalisation. The first section explores the concept of radicalisation and how this is positioned within UK policy and legislation followed by a review and critical appraisal of seven relevant articles.…
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Liss, D B; Paden, M S; Schwarz, E S; Mullins, M E
2013-11-01
Paracetamol (acetaminophen) ingestion is the most frequent pharmaceutical overdose in the developed world. Metabolic acidosis sometimes occurs, but the acidosis is infrequently persistent or severe. A growing number of case reports and case series describe high anion gap metabolic acidosis (HAGMA) following paracetamol exposure with subsequent detection or measurement of 5-oxoproline (also called pyroglutamic acid) in blood, urine, or both. Typically 5-oxoprolinuria or 5-oxoprolinemia occurs in the setting of inborn genetic errors in glutathione metabolism. It is unknown whether 5-oxoprolinemia in the setting of paracetamol exposure reflects an acquired or transient derangement of glutathione metabolism or previously unrecognized genetic defects. We reviewed the published cases of 5-oxoprolinemia or 5-oxoprolinuria among patients with HAGMA in the setting of paracetamol exposure. Our goal was to identify any consistent features that might increase our understanding of the pathophysiology, diagnosis, and treatment of similar cases. We searched the medical literature using PUBMED and EMBASE from inception to 28 August 2013 applying search terms ("oxoproline" OR "pyroglutamic acid" AND "paracetamol" OR "acetaminophen"). The intersection of these two searches returned 77 articles, of which 64 involved human subjects and were in English. Two articles, one each in Spanish and Dutch, were reviewed. An additional Google Scholar search was done with the same terms. We manually searched the reference lists of retrieved articles to identify additional four relevant articles. We focused on articles including measured 5-oxoproline concentrations in urine or blood. Twenty-two articles included quantified 5-oxoproline concentrations. Several additional articles mentioned only qualitative detection of 5-oxoproline in urine or blood without concentrations being reported. Our manual reference search yielded four additional articles for a total of 24 articles describing 43 patients with quantified 5-oxoproline concentrations. The cases varied widely in paracetamol dose, duration and circumstances of paracetamol exposure, presence, and degree of elevation in transaminase activities, and when reported observed blood, serum, or urine 5-oxoproline concentrations. Concomitant use of flucloxacillin, another medication associated with oxoprolinemia or oxoprolinuria, confounded several of the cases. No clear dose-response relationship existed between the quantity of paracetamol ingested and the observed concentrations of 5-oxoproline. Clinical outcomes, including mortality, varied with no clear relationship to 5-oxoproline concentrations. In rare cases, HAGMA in the setting of paracetamol exposure is attributable to 5-oxoprolinemia. Clinicians should first exclude commoner and treatable causes of HAGMA, such as lactic acidosis, co-ingested drug administration, and ketoacidosis. It is likely that the propensity for HAGMA following paracetamol exposure may be genetically determined. The effects of acetylcysteine on 5-oxoproline concentrations or clinical outcome are unknown. When HAGMA is diagnosed, the 5-oxoproline concentration and the glutathione synthetase activity should be measured.
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[The relevance of sexuality in the treatment of borderline personality disorder].
Neeleman, A J F
2007-01-01
Although many articles about borderline personality disorder have been published over the last 25 years, sexuality has not received much attention. Sexual functioning may however be relevant for the treatment of this disorder. To find out from research reports, the literature and clinical practice whether they contain evidence of varying degrees of problematical sexuality in borderline patients, and if so, to make an inventory of the evidence. A literature search was conducted via PubMed and Psycinfo using the search terms 'borderline personality disorder', 'sexuality' and 'research'. In addition, the literature was searched manually. Only six empirical studies about the sexual functioning of patients with borderline personality disorder were found. The research findings provided information about patients' problems with regard to intimate and sexual relations. These problems related to heightened sexual impulsivity, reduced satisfaction, increased sexual boredom, greater preoccupation with sex, avoidance of sex and a range of other sexual complaints. In addition, there is evidence that homosexuality and vulnerability regarding gender identity occur more frequently in these patients. Helping to integrate love and sexuality with a suitable partner seems to be an important developmental assignment for persons assisting borderline patients.
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Mirkin, Noemi G; Krimm, Samuel
2016-02-02
As we have previously shown, the predominance of the polyproline II conformation in the circular dichroism spectra of aqueous polypeptides is related to its lower energy than that of the beta conformation. In order to test whether this is still the case in the presence of additional components in the medium, we have calculated the energy difference between these two conformations in an alanine-dipeptide/twelve-water system without and with the addition of an HCl molecule. We find in the latter case that the beta conformer is of lower energy than the polyproline II. Energy profiles near the minima in both cases also permit conclusions about the relative entropies of these structures. These results emphasize the importance of considering the peptide-plus-medium state as the relevant entity in determining the structural properties of such systems. Such an inversion could be relevant to the formation of amyloid and could thus lead to new strategies for studying its role in the development of neurodegenerative diseases. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
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Burow, Elke; Käsbohrer, Annemarie
2017-03-01
The aim of this literature review was to identify risk factors in addition to antimicrobial treatment for antimicrobial resistance (AMR) occurrence in commensal Escherichia coli in pigs. A variety of studies were searched in 2014 and 2015. Studies identified as potentially relevant were assessed against eligibility criteria such as observation or experiment (no review), presentation of risk factors in addition to (single dosage) antimicrobial use, risk factors for but not resulting from AMR, and the same antimicrobial used and tested. Thirteen articles (nine on observational, four on experimental studies) were finally selected as relevant. It was reported that space allowance, production size/stage, cleanliness, entry of animals and humans into herds, dosage/frequency/route of administration, time span between treatment and sampling date, herd size, distance to another farm, coldness, and season had an impact on AMR occurrence. Associations were shown by one to four studies per factor and differed in magnitude, direction, and level of significance. The risk of bias was unclear in nearly half of the information of observational studies and in most of the information from experimental studies. Further research on the effects of specific management practices is needed to develop well-founded management advice.
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LitVar: a semantic search engine for linking genomic variant data in PubMed and PMC.
Allot, Alexis; Peng, Yifan; Wei, Chih-Hsuan; Lee, Kyubum; Phan, Lon; Lu, Zhiyong
2018-05-14
The identification and interpretation of genomic variants play a key role in the diagnosis of genetic diseases and related research. These tasks increasingly rely on accessing relevant manually curated information from domain databases (e.g. SwissProt or ClinVar). However, due to the sheer volume of medical literature and high cost of expert curation, curated variant information in existing databases are often incomplete and out-of-date. In addition, the same genetic variant can be mentioned in publications with various names (e.g. 'A146T' versus 'c.436G>A' versus 'rs121913527'). A search in PubMed using only one name usually cannot retrieve all relevant articles for the variant of interest. Hence, to help scientists, healthcare professionals, and database curators find the most up-to-date published variant research, we have developed LitVar for the search and retrieval of standardized variant information. In addition, LitVar uses advanced text mining techniques to compute and extract relationships between variants and other associated entities such as diseases and chemicals/drugs. LitVar is publicly available at https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/CBBresearch/Lu/Demo/LitVar.
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On the Relevance of Bernstein for German-Speaking Switzerland
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Bolander, Brook
2009-01-01
This article assesses the relevance of Basil Bernstein for German-speaking Switzerland. It argues that Bernstein is potentially relevant for German-speaking Switzerland in light of contemporary studies which highlight a connection between social background and differential school achievement. After contextualising Bernstein's theoretical outlook…
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Atmospheric Science Data Center
2017-01-31
... Relevant Documents: DISCOVER-AQ - Airborne Science Data for Atmospheric Composition DISCOVER-AQ - NASA Earth ... DISCOVER-AQ - Mission Highlight Featured Articles : Articles featuring DISCOVER-AQ data products SCAR-B ...
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Bibliometric analysis of top 100 cited articles in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease research.
Zhang, Tong-Shuo; Qin, Hua-Lei; Wang, Tong; Li, Hai-Tao; Li, Hai; Xia, Shi-Hai; Xiang, Xiao-Hui
2016-11-28
To identify and assess the research situation of top 100 cited articles in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). The global scientific research articles in the Science Citation Index-Expanded relevant to NAFLD were retrieved and listed according to their citation times from the most to the least. The 100 most frequently cited original articles were selected to systematically evaluate their bibliometric parameters including times cited, publication year, journals, subject categories, and the highly related concepts of NAFLD, which reflected the history and current situation, publication distribution of leading countries and institutes as well as the research hotspots of NAFLD. Top 100 cited articles in NAFLD were published from 1965 to 2015 with a citation ranging of 227 to 2151 times since publication, in which the United States was the most predominant country and Mayo Clin was the most productive institution. The majority of the top 100 cited articles were concentrated in SCI subject category of Gastroenterology and Hepatology. Hepatology and Gastroenterology is the top journal that published over half 100 top-cited articles. The significant peak of top cited articles present in the first half of the 2000s while the highest mean number of citation presents in first half of the 1980s. In addition, concepts related to pathology characteristics, epidemiology and medicalization, metabolic syndrome and its combination of symptoms including insulin resistance, biomarkers of lipid metabolism and obesity are listed as the highly related concepts. The 100 top-cited articles marked with the leading countries, institutions, journals, hotspots and development trend in NAFLD field that could provide the foundation for further investigations.
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The visibility of scientific misconduct: A review of the literature on retracted journal articles.
Hesselmann, Felicitas; Graf, Verena; Schmidt, Marion; Reinhart, Martin
2017-10-01
Retractions of scientific articles are becoming the most relevant institution for making sense of scientific misconduct. An increasing number of retracted articles, mainly attributed to misconduct, is currently providing a new empirical basis for research about scientific misconduct. This article reviews the relevant research literature from an interdisciplinary context. Furthermore, the results from these studies are contextualized sociologically by asking how scientific misconduct is made visible through retractions. This study treats retractions as an emerging institution that renders scientific misconduct visible, thus, following up on the sociology of deviance and its focus on visibility. The article shows that retractions, by highlighting individual cases of misconduct and general policies for preventing misconduct while obscuring the actors and processes through which retractions are effected, produce highly fragmented patterns of visibility. These patterns resemble the bifurcation in current justice systems.
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Novel Method For Low-Rate Ddos Attack Detection
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Chistokhodova, A. A.; Sidorov, I. D.
2018-05-01
The relevance of the work is associated with an increasing number of advanced types of DDoS attacks, in particular, low-rate HTTP-flood. Last year, the power and complexity of such attacks increased significantly. The article is devoted to the analysis of DDoS attacks detecting methods and their modifications with the purpose of increasing the accuracy of DDoS attack detection. The article details low-rate attacks features in comparison with conventional DDoS attacks. During the analysis, significant shortcomings of the available method for detecting low-rate DDoS attacks were found. Thus, the result of the study is an informal description of a new method for detecting low-rate denial-of-service attacks. The architecture of the stand for approbation of the method is developed. At the current stage of the study, it is possible to improve the efficiency of an already existing method by using a classifier with memory, as well as additional information.
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Enamel color changes following orthodontic treatment.
Pandian, Akshaya; Ranganathan, Sukanya; Padmanabhan, Sridevi
2017-01-01
To evaluate and compare the effect of various orthodontic bonding systems and clean up procedures on quantitative enamel colour change. A literature search was done to identify the studies that assessed the quantitative enamel colour change associated with the various bonding systems and cleanup procedures. Electronic database (Pub Med, Cochrane and Google Scholar) were searched. First stage screening was performed and the abstracts were selected according to the initial selection criteria. Full text articles were retrieved and analyzed during second stage screening. The bibliographies were reviewed to identify additional relevant studies. Sixteen full text articles were retrieved. Six were rejected because the methodology was different. There was significant enamel colour change following orthodontic bonding, debonding and clean up procedures. Self-etching primers produce less enamel colour change compared to conventional etching. Resin Modified GIC produces least colour change compared to other light cure and chemical cure systems. Polishing following the clean-up procedure reduces the colour change of the enamel.
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Examining the use of comparative and cost-effectiveness analyses in radiology.
Goehler, Alexander; Gazelle, G Scott
2014-11-01
This article explores key principles of comparative effectiveness analysis--in particular, how radiologic comparative and cost-effectiveness studies differ from other clinical trials. Exemplary studies are reviewed to show how comparative effectiveness has been implemented in radiology and how future studies might be conducted. Finally, the article closes with a discussion of several additional key themes relevant to quality and value in clinical radiology going forward. Comparative effectiveness is likely to require a paradigm shift in thinking within the discipline. For new radiologic applications to be accepted, we will need to show at least a significant change in treatment planning and at best a meaningful change in patient outcomes. This shift will require a forward-thinking approach to robust evidence generation for new imaging modalities or indications and the inclusion of other modes of value demonstration such as clinical decision support and intelligent data mining.
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Counselling users of hearing technology: a comprehensive literature review.
Meibos, Alex; Muñoz, Karen; Schultz, Jared; Price, Tanner; Whicker, John J; Caballero, Ana; Graham, Laurel
2017-12-01
The purpose of this review is to determine the scope of peer-reviewed empirical research related to counselling in audiology with patients using hearing technology and to identify limitations and gaps to guide recommendations for future research. A rapid evidence assessment was used to identify relevant articles for the review. Eighteen articles met the inclusion criteria. Three themes were identified: (1) audiologist counselling perspectives, (2) counselling communication trends in practice and (3) audiologist experiences with professional training and reported patient outcomes. Findings revealed audiologists are more confident providing information than counselling that addresses adjustment aspects, and other communication gaps have been observed. There is limited research related to counselling in audiology. Audiologists continue to report a need for more training in counselling in their graduate programmes. Additional research is needed to determine effective ways to implement counselling in practice and to improve graduate student supervision for the development of counselling competencies and confidence in using skills in practice.
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Collaborative learning in radiologic science education.
Yates, Jennifer L
2006-01-01
Radiologic science is a complex health profession, requiring the competent use of technology as well as the ability to function as part of a team, think critically, exercise independent judgment, solve problems creatively and communicate effectively. This article presents a review of literature in support of the relevance of collaborative learning to radiologic science education. In addition, strategies for effective design, facilitation and authentic assessment of activities are provided for educators wishing to incorporate collaborative techniques into their program curriculum. The connection between the benefits of collaborative learning and necessary workplace skills, particularly in the areas of critical thinking, creative problem solving and communication skills, suggests that collaborative learning techniques may be particularly useful in the education of future radiologic technologists. This article summarizes research identifying the benefits of collaborative learning for adult education and identifying the link between these benefits and the necessary characteristics of medical imaging technologists.
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Teaching residents practice-management knowledge and skills: an in vivo experience.
Williams, Laurel Lyn
2009-01-01
This article explores the relevant data regarding teaching psychiatric residents practice management knowledge and skills. This article also introduces a unique program for teaching practice management to residents. A literature search was conducted through PubMed and Academic Psychiatry. Additionally residents involved in the training program for practice management were given an anonymous survey to complete. There were no randomized, controlled trials in the academic psychiatric field concerning the topic of practice management. The responses to the resident survey (n=10) indicated a modest improvement in residents' perception of receiving adequate training and exposure to practice management knowledge and skills. The available research suggests that many residents and faculty believe that practice management knowledge and skills are still not adequately addressed. The Baylor Clinic practice management program may be one possible solution for integrating the teaching of practice management knowledge and skills. More research on this topic is needed.
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Bipolar Disorder and Cognitive Dysfunction: A Complex Link.
Cipriani, Gabriele; Danti, Sabrina; Carlesi, Cecilia; Cammisuli, Davide Maria; Di Fiorino, Mario
2017-10-01
The aim of this article was to describe the current evidence regarding phenomenon of cognitive functioning and dementia in bipolar disorder (BD). Cochrane Library and PubMed searches were conducted for relevant articles, chapters, and books published before 2016. Search terms used included "bipolar disorder," "cognitive dysfunction," and "dementia." At the end of the selection process, 159 studies were included in our qualitative synthesis. As result, cognitive impairments in BD have been previously considered as infrequent and limited to the affective episodes. Nowadays, there is evidence of stable and lasting cognitive dysfunctions in all phases of BD, including remission phase, particularly in the following domains: attention, memory, and executive functions. The cause of cognitive impairment in BD raises the question if it subtends a neurodevelopmental or a neurodegenerative process. Impaired cognitive functioning associated with BD may contribute significantly to functional disability, in addition to the distorted affective component usually emphasized.
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Rehabilitation of language in expressive aphasias: a literature review.
da Fontoura, Denise Ren; Rodrigues, Jaqueline de Carvalho; Carneiro, Luciana Behs de Sá; Monção, Ana Maria; de Salles, Jerusa Fumagalli
2012-01-01
This paper reviews the methodological characteristics of studies on rehabilitation of expressive aphasia, describing the techniques of rehabilitation used. The databases Medline, Science Direct and PubMed were searched for relevant articles (January 1999 to December 2011) using the keywords Expressive / Broca / Nonfluent Aphasia, combined with Language or Speech Rehabilitation / Therapy / Intervention. A total of 56 articles were retrieved describing rehabilitation techniques, including 22 with a focus on lexical processing, 18 on syntax stimulation, seven with the aim of developing speech and nine with multiple foci. A variety of techniques and theoretical approaches are available, highlighting the heterogeneity of research in this area. This diversity can be justified by the uniqueness of patients' language deficits, making it difficult to generalize. In addition, there is a need to combine the formal measures of tests with measures of pragmatic and social skills of communication to determine the effect of rehabilitation on the patient's daily life.
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Wu, Hsu-Pai
2011-01-01
Culturally relevant pedagogy uses cultural references to develop students' knowledge and identities thereby empowering them academically, socially and politically. This article examined how four Chinese heritage languages teachers constructed culturally relevant pedagogy in their language instructions. Qualitative cross-case analysis indicated…
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Communication about environmental health risks: a systematic review.
Fitzpatrick-Lewis, Donna; Yost, Jennifer; Ciliska, Donna; Krishnaratne, Shari
2010-11-01
Using the most effective methods and techniques for communicating risk to the public is critical. Understanding the impact that different types of risk communication have played in real and perceived public health risks can provide information about how messages, policies and programs can and should be communicated in order to be most effective. The purpose of this systematic review is to identify the effectiveness of communication strategies and factors that impact communication uptake related to environmental health risks. A systematic review of English articles using multiple databases with appropriate search terms. Data sources also included grey literature. Key organization websites and key journals were hand searched for relevant articles. Consultation with experts took place to locate any additional references.Articles had to meet relevance criteria for study design [randomized controlled trials, clinical controlled trials, cohort analytic, cohort, any pre-post, interrupted time series, mixed methods or any qualitative studies), participants (those in community-living, non-clinical populations), interventions (including, but not limited to, any community-based methods or tools such as Internet, telephone, media-based interventions or any combination thereof), and outcomes (reported measurable outcomes such as awareness, knowledge or attitudinal or behavioural change). Articles were assessed for quality and data was extracted using standardized tools by two independent reviewers. Articles were given an overall assessment of strong, moderate or weak quality. There were no strong or moderate studies. Meta-analysis was not appropriate to the data. Data for 24 articles were analyzed and reported in a narrative format. The findings suggest that a multi-media approach is more effective than any single media approach. Similarly, printed material that offers a combination of information types (i.e., text and diagrams) is a more effective than just a single type, such as all text. Findings also suggest that factors influencing response to risk communications are impacted by personal risk perception, previous personal experience with risk, sources of information and trust in those sources. No single method of message delivery is best. Risk communication strategies that incorporate the needs of the target audience(s) with a multi-faceted delivery method are most effective at reaching the audience.
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Ishaq, Ramy Abdul Rahman; AlHammadi, Maged Sultan; Fayed, Mona M S; El-Ezz, Amr Abou; Mostafa, Yehya
2016-05-01
Our aim was to assess the skeletal mandibular changes (anteroposterior and vertical) in circumpubertal patients with fixed functional appliances installed on multibracket appliances compared with untreated patients. An open-ended electronic search of 4 databases (PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, and Web of Science) up to April 2014 was performed. Additional searches of relevant journals, reference lists of the retrieved articles, systematic reviews, and gray literature were performed. Specific inclusion and exclusion criteria were applied to identify relevant articles. Quality was evaluated using the Cochrane Collaboration risk of bias tool and the Newcastle-Ottawa scale for prospective controlled clinical trials. Meta-analyses were conducted with fixed and random effects models as appropriate. Statistical heterogeneity was also examined. Seven articles were included in the qualitative synthesis and 5 in the meta-analysis. The included randomized controlled trials were at high risk of bias, and the methodologic quality of the prospective controlled clinical trials was high. Based on assessment of the fixed functional appliance phase in isolation, no difference in mandibular anteroposterior positional changes (SNB angle) (standard mean difference, 0.11°; 95% CI, -0.28, 0.50) was found between the treated and control groups. The vertical dimension was not influenced by the fixed functional appliance treatment. There is little high-quality evidence concerning the relative influence of fixed functional appliances on skeletal and dentoalveolar changes. However, based on the limited evidence, it appears that they have little effect on the skeletal mandibular parameters. Copyright © 2016 American Association of Orthodontists. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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Hall, Jill J; Bolina, Monika; Chatterley, Trish; Jamali, Fakhreddin
2017-02-01
To review the potential drug interactions between low-dose methotrexate (LD-MTX) and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), penicillins, and proton-pump inhibitors (PPIs) given the disparity between interactions reported for high-dose and low-dose MTX to help guide clinicians. A literature search was performed in MEDLINE (1946 to September 2016), EMBASE (1974 to September 2016), and International Pharmaceutical Abstracts (1970 to January 2015) to identify reports describing potential drug interactions between LD-MTX and NSAIDS, penicillins, or PPIs. Reference lists of included articles were reviewed to find additional eligible articles. All English-language observational, randomized, and pharmacokinetic (PK) studies assessing LD-MTX interactions in humans were analyzed to determine clinical relevance in making recommendations to clinicians. Clinical case reports were assigned a Drug Interaction Probability Scale score. A total of 32 articles were included (28 with NSAIDs, 3 with penicillins, and 2 with PPIs [1 including both PPI and NSAID]). Although there are some PK data to describe increased LD-MTX concentrations when NSAIDs are used concomitantly, the clinical relevance remains unclear. Based on the limited data on LD-MTX with penicillins and PPIs, no clinically meaningful interaction was identified. Given the available evidence, the clinical importance of the interaction between LD-MTX and NSAIDs, penicillins, and PPIs cannot be substantiated. Health care providers should assess the benefit and risk of LD-MTX regardless of concomitant drug use, including factors known to predispose patients to MTX toxicity, and continue to monitor clinical and laboratory parameters per guideline recommendations.
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Epidemiology and risk factors for drug allergy.
Thong, Bernard Y-H; Tan, Teck-Choon
2011-05-01
The aim of this review was to describe the current evidence-based knowledge of the epidemiology, prevalence, incidence, risk factors and genetic associations of drug allergy. Articles published between 1966 and 2010 were identified in MEDLINE using the key words adult, adverse drug reaction reporting systems, age factors, anaphylactoid, anaphylaxis, anaesthetics, antibiotics, child, drug allergy, drug eruptions, ethnic groups, hypersensitivity, neuromuscular depolarizing agents, neuromuscular nondepolarizing agents, sex factors, Stevens Johnson syndrome and toxic epidermal necrolysis. Additional studies were identified from article reference lists. Relevant, peer-reviewed original research articles, case series and reviews were considered for review. Current epidemiological studies on adverse drug reactions (ADRs) have used different definitions for ADR-related terminology, often do not differentiate immunologically and non-immunologically mediated drug hypersensitivity, study different study populations (different ethnicities, inpatients or outpatients, adults or children), utilize different methodologies (spontaneous vs. non-spontaneous reporting, cohort vs. case-control studies), different methods of assessing drug imputability and different methods of data analyses. Potentially life-threatening severe cutaneous adverse reactions (SCAR) are associated with a high risk of morbidity and mortality. HLA associations for SCAR associated with allopurinol, carbamazepine and abacavir have been reported with the potential for clinical use in screening prior to prescription. Identification of risk factors for drug allergy and appropriate genetic screening of at-risk ethnic groups may improve the outcomes of drug-specific SCAR. Research and collaboration are necessary for the generation of clinically-relevant, translational pharmacoepidemiological and pharmacogenomic knowledge, and success of health outcomes research and policies on drug allergies. © 2011 The Authors. British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology © 2011 The British Pharmacological Society.
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Ureteroscopic treatment of larger renal calculi (>2 cm)
Bagley, Demetrius H.; Healy, Kelly A.; Kleinmann, Nir
2012-01-01
Objectives To evaluate the current status of ureteroscopic lithotripsy (UL) for treating renal calculi of >2 cm, as advances in flexible ureteroscope design, accessory instrumentation and lithotrites have revolutionised the treatment of urinary calculi. While previously reserved for ureteric and small renal calculi, UL has gained an increasing role in the selective management of larger renal stone burdens. Methods We searched the available databases, including PubMed, Google Scholar, and Scopus, for relevant reports in English, and the article bibliographies to identify additional relevant articles. Keywords included ureteroscopy, lithotripsy, renal calculi, and calculi >2 cm. Retrieved articles were reviewed to consider the number of patients, mean stone size, success rates, indications and complications. Results In all, nine studies (417 patients) were eligible for inclusion. After one, two or three procedures the mean (range) success rates were 68.2 (23–84)%, 87.1 (79–91)% and 94.4 (90.1–96.7)%, respectively. Overall, the success rate was >90% with a mean of 1.2–2.3 procedures per patient. The overall complication rate was 10.3%, including six (1.4%) intraoperative and 37 (8.9%) postoperative complications, most of which were minor. The most common indications for UL were a failed previous treatment (46%), comorbidities (18.2%), and technical and anatomical factors (12.3%). Conclusions UL is safe and effective for treating large renal calculi. While several procedures might be required for total stone clearance, UL should be considered a standard approach in the urologist’s options treating renal calculi of >2 cm. PMID:26558040
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Monajati, Alireza; Larumbe-Zabala, Eneko; Goss-Sampson, Mark; Naclerio, Fernando
2016-01-01
Hamstring strain and anterior cruciate ligament injuries are, respectively, the most prevalent and serious non-contact occurring injuries in team sports. Specific biomechanical and neuromuscular variables have been used to estimate the risk of incurring a non-contact injury in athletes. The aim of this study was to systematically review the evidences for the effectiveness of injury prevention protocols to modify biomechanical and neuromuscular anterior cruciate and/or hamstring injuries associated risk factors in uninjured team sport athletes. PubMed, Science Direct, Web of Science, Cochrane Libraries, U.S. National Institutes of Health clinicaltrials.gov, Sport Discuss and Google Scholar databases were searched for relevant journal articles published until March 2015. A manual review of relevant articles, authors, and journals, including bibliographies was performed from identified articles. Nineteen studies were included in this review. Four assessment categories: i) landing, ii) side cutting, iii) stop-jump, and iv) muscle strength outcomes, were used to analyze the effectiveness of the preventive protocols. Eight studies using multifaceted interventions supported by video and/or technical feedback showed improvement in landing and/or stop-jump biomechanics, while no effects were observed on side-cutting maneuver. Additionally, multifaceted programs including hamstring eccentric exercises increased hamstring strength, hamstring to quadriceps functional ratio and/or promoted a shift of optimal knee flexion peak torque toward a more open angle position. Multifaceted programs, supported by proper video and/or technical feedback, including eccentric hamstring exercises would positively modify the biomechanical and or neuromuscular anterior cruciate and/or hamstring injury risk factors.
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Single-Stage Primary Cleft Lip and Palate Repair: A Review of the Literature.
Kantar, Rami S; Rifkin, William J; Cammarata, Michael J; Maliha, Samantha G; Diaz-Siso, J Rodrigo; Farber, Scott J; Flores, Roberto L
2018-06-26
Single-stage cleft lip and palate repair is a debated surgical approach. While some studies have described favorable outcomes, concerns include the effect on craniomaxillofacial growth and increased risk of complications. To this date, there has not been a comprehensive appraisal of available data following combined cleft lip and palate repair. An extensive literature review was performed to identify all relevant articles. The level of evidence of these articles was graded according to the Oxford Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine Levels of Evidence Scale. A total of 22 relevant articles were identified, all of which were retrospective in nature. Patient age at the time of surgery ranged from 1 month to 10 years, the longest duration of follow-up was 18 years, and the largest study included 106 patients. Review of the literature shows that overall surgical outcomes following combined cleft lip and palate repair are encouraging. An increased rate of postoperative fistulas with associated speech abnormalities in some studies is noteworthy. Importantly, there is no evidence to suggest an impact on craniomaxillofacial growth, and psychosocial outcomes and parental satisfaction seem to be improved with single-stage surgery as compared with the staged approach. Our review shows overall favorable outcomes associated with combined cleft lip and palate repair. The limited follow-up time or nature of evaluated outcomes in some studies may underrepresent the true rate of adverse events, and highlights the need for additional long-term studies with standardized follow-up. To our knowledge, our review is the first to evaluate existing data regarding outcomes following combined cleft lip and palate repair.
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Biologics in pediatric psoriasis - efficacy and safety.
Dogra, Sunil; Mahajan, Rahul
2018-01-01
Childhood psoriasis is a special situation that is a management challenge for the treating dermatologist. As is the situation with traditional systemic agents, which are commonly used in managing severe psoriasis in children, the biologics are being increasingly used in the recalcitrant disease despite limited data on long term safety. Areas covered: We performed an extensive literature search to collect evidence-based data on the use of biologics in pediatric psoriasis. The relevant literature published from 2000 to September 2017 was obtained from PubMed, using the MeSH words 'biologics', 'biologic response modifiers' and 'treatment of pediatric/childhood psoriasis'. All clinical trials, randomized double-blind or single-blind controlled trials, open-label studies, retrospective studies, reviews, case reports and letters concerning the use of biologics in pediatric psoriasis were screened. Articles covering the use of biologics in pediatric psoriasis were screened and reference lists in the selected articles were scrutinized to identify other relevant articles that had not been found in the initial search. Articles without relevant information about biologics in general (e.g. its mechanism of action, pharmacokinetics and adverse effects) and its use in psoriasis in particular were excluded. We screened 427 articles and finally selected 41 relevant articles. Expert opinion: The available literature on the use of biologics such as anti-tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α agents, and anti-IL-12/23 agents like ustekinumab suggests that these are effective and safe in managing severe pediatric psoriasis although there is an urgent need to generate more safety data. Dermatologists must be careful about the potential adverse effects of the biologics before administering them to children with psoriasis. It is likely that with rapidly evolving scenario of biologics in psoriasis, these will prove to be very useful molecules particularly in managing severe and recalcitrant psoriasis in pediatric age group.
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Handbook of Adhesion, 2nd Edition
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Packham, D. E.
2005-06-01
This second edition of the successful Handbook of Adhesion provides concise and authoritative articles covering many aspects of the science and technology associated with adhesion and adhesives. It is intended to fill a gap between the necessarily simplified treatment of the student textbook and the full and thorough treatment of the research monograph and review article. The articles are structured in such a way, with internal cross-referencing and external literature references, that the reader can build up a broader and deeper understanding, as their needs require. This second edition includes many new articles covering developments which have risen in prominence in the intervening years, such as scanning probe techniques, the surface forces apparatus and the relation between adhesion and fractal surfaces. Advances in understanding polymer - polymer interdiffusion are reflected in articles drawing out the implications for adhesive bonding. In addition, articles derived from the earlier edition have been revised and updated where needed. Throughout the book there is a renewed emphasis on environmental implications of the use of adhesives and sealants. The scope of the Handbook, which features nearly 250 articles from over 60 authors, includes the background science - physics, chemistry and material science - and engineering, and also aspects of adhesion relevant to the use of adhesives, including topics such as: Sealants and mastics Paints and coatings Printing and composite materials Welding and autohesion Engineering design The Handbook of Adhesion is intended for scientists and engineers in both academia and industry, requiring an understanding of the various facets of adhesion.
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“Big Data” and the Electronic Health Record
Ross, M. K.; Wei, Wei
2014-01-01
Summary Objectives Implementation of Electronic Health Record (EHR) systems continues to expand. The massive number of patient encounters results in high amounts of stored data. Transforming clinical data into knowledge to improve patient care has been the goal of biomedical informatics professionals for many decades, and this work is now increasingly recognized outside our field. In reviewing the literature for the past three years, we focus on “big data” in the context of EHR systems and we report on some examples of how secondary use of data has been put into practice. Methods We searched PubMed database for articles from January 1, 2011 to November 1, 2013. We initiated the search with keywords related to “big data” and EHR. We identified relevant articles and additional keywords from the retrieved articles were added. Based on the new keywords, more articles were retrieved and we manually narrowed down the set utilizing predefined inclusion and exclusion criteria. Results Our final review includes articles categorized into the themes of data mining (pharmacovigilance, phenotyping, natural language processing), data application and integration (clinical decision support, personal monitoring, social media), and privacy and security. Conclusion The increasing adoption of EHR systems worldwide makes it possible to capture large amounts of clinical data. There is an increasing number of articles addressing the theme of “big data”, and the concepts associated with these articles vary. The next step is to transform healthcare big data into actionable knowledge. PMID:25123728
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Educational standards for training paramedics in ultrasound: a scoping review.
Meadley, Ben; Olaussen, Alexander; Delorenzo, Ashleigh; Roder, Nick; Martin, Caroline; St Clair, Toby; Burns, Andrew; Stam, Emma; Williams, Brett
2017-06-17
Paramedic-performed out-of-hospital ultrasound is a novel skill that has gained popularity in some services in recent years. In this setting point-of care ultrasound (POCUS) can provide additional information that can assist with management and guide transport to the most appropriate facility. We sought to explore the different educational approaches used for training paramedics in ultrasound in the out-of-hospital setting. Ovid MEDLINE, EMBASE, EBM Reviews, The Cochrane Library, CINAHL plus, The Monash University Research Repository and the British Thesis Library were searched from the 1 st of January 1990 to the 6 th of April 2016. Google Scholar was searched and reference lists of relevant papers were examined to identify additional studies. Articles were included if they reported on out-of-hospital and POCUS educational approaches for paramedics. A total of 2002 unique articles were identified of which 18 articles met the inclusion criteria. Most articles reported combined cohorts of emergency providers with varying years of experience though most operators were POCUS naïve. The most common clinical assessment for which paramedic POCUS curricula was described was the focused assessment sonography for trauma (FAST) examination. Education programs varied from two-minutes to two-days with all studies including both didactic and practical training. Education programs for POCUS for paramedics vary considerably, and do not appear to align with qualification level or clinical experience. Further research investigating education and subsequent clinical application of POCUS by paramedics is required, as well as prospective, outcome based studies in order to measure the clinical utility of out-of-hospital POCUS.
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Bayoumi, Ahmed B; Efe, Ibrahim E; Berk, Selim; Kasper, Ekkehard M; Toktas, Zafer Orkun; Konya, Deniz
2018-03-01
The cervicothoracic junction is a challenging anatomic transition in spine surgery. It is commonly affected by different types of diseases that may significantly impair stability in this region. The seventh cervical vertebra (C7) is an atypical cervical vertebra with unique anatomic features compared to subaxial cervical spine (C3 to C6). C7 has relatively broader laminae, larger pedicles, smaller lateral masses, and a long nonbifid spinous process. These features allow a variety of surgical methods for performing posterior rigid instrumentation in the form of different types of screws, such as lateral mass screws, pedicle screws, transfacet screws, and intralaminar screws. Many biomechanical studies on cadavers have evaluated and compared different types of implants at C7. We reviewed PubMed/Medline by using specific combinations of keywords to summarize previously published articles that examined C7 posterior rigid instrumentation thoroughly in an experimental fashion on patients or cadavers with additional descriptive radiologic parameters for evaluation of the optimum surgical technique for each type. A total of 44 articles were reported, including 22 articles that discussed anatomic considerations (entry points, sagittal and axial trajectories, and features of screws) and another 22 articles that discussed the relevant biomechanical testing at this transitional region if C7 was directly involved in terms of receiving posterior rigid implants. C7 can accommodate different types of screws, which can provide additional benefits and risks based on availability of bony purchase, awareness of surgical technique, biomechanics, and anatomic considerations. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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Evidence-Based Dentistry in Everyday Practice.
Gudray, Kiran; Walmsley, Anthony Damien
2016-12-01
This article informs readers of a method of implementing evidence-based dentistry in practice. Following these steps, practitioners should be able to use this skill in an efficient manner. The importance of evidence-based dentistry and its relevance to situations encountered in everyday practice is also highlighted. Clinical relevance: This article highlights a series of steps to be followed by practitioners to ensure that treatment provided is supported by the most recent, good quality evidence.
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Reverse triage: more than just another method.
Pollaris, Gwen; Sabbe, Marc
2016-08-01
Reverse triage is a way to rapidly create inpatient surge capacity by identifying hospitalized patients who do not require major medical assistance for at least 96 h and who only have a small risk for serious complications resulting from early discharge. Electronic searches were conducted in the MEDLINE, TRIP, Cochrane Library, CINAHL, EMBASE, Web of Science, and SCOPUS databases to identify relevant publications published from 2004 to 2014. The reference lists of all relevant articles were screened for additional relevant studies that might have been missed in the primary searches. There will always be small individual differences in the reverse triage decision process, influencing the potential effect on surge capacity, but at most, 10-20% of hospital total bed capacity can be made available within a few hours. Reverse triage could be a response to Emergency Department (ED) crowding, as it gives priority to ED patients with urgent needs over inpatients who can be discharged with little to no health risks. The early discharge of inpatients entails negative consequences. They often return to the ED for further assessment, treatment, and even readmission. When time to a medical referral or bed is less than 4-6 h, 100 additional lives per annum are predicted to be potentially saved. The results of our systematic review identified only a small number of publications addressing reverse triage, indicating that reverse triage and surge capacity are relatively new subjects of research within the medical field. Not all research questions could be fully answered.
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Perceived utility and relevance of intern wellbeing sessions.
Ward, Susannah; Outram, Sue; Heslop, Ben
2018-02-21
We conducted a pilot project assessing the perceived utility and relevance of wellbeing sessions provided to interns at a large regional teaching hospital in Australia with the aim of promoting intern wellbeing and fostering a nurturing and supportive learning and work hospital culture. Our intervention involved two separate 60 minute lectures covering wellbeing topics and skills, to approximately 50 interns within protected teaching time, along with emailed wellbeing resources. Participants were emailed an on-line survey asking questions about value and novelty of the sessions, and work satisfaction and stress, as well as open comments. A request for an additional interview to explore responses in more depth was included. Fifty interns attended at least one of the sessions and 35 participated in the survey, six to an additional interview. Survey and interview data showed that the majority of interns perceived the sessions as valuable, relevant and useful and felt that ongoing sessions would benefit junior medical officers (JMOs) in future years. Feedback highlighted the importance of providing future sessions in-person, incorporating an interactive approach and emphasized that work site factors and medical culture play a large causative role in their stress. We conclude that wellbeing sessions are acceptable and useful to interns and should be incorporated into hospital teaching curricula, and evaluated. However these programs are unlikely to change the high stress experienced unless external and systemic stressors are addressed by all stakeholders. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
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Characteristics of binge eating disorder in relation to diagnostic criteria
Wilfley, Denise E; Citrome, Leslie; Herman, Barry K
2016-01-01
The objective of this review was to examine the evidentiary basis for binge eating disorder (BED) with reference to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders – Fifth Edition (DSM-5) diagnostic criteria for BED. A PubMed search restricted to titles and abstracts of English-language reviews, meta-analyses, clinical trials, randomized controlled trials, journal articles, and letters using human participants was conducted on August 7, 2015, using keywords that included “binge eating disorder,” DSM-5, DSM-IV, guilt, shame, embarrassment, quantity, psychological, behavior, and “shape and weight concerns.” Of the 257 retrieved publications, 60 publications were considered relevant to discussions related to DSM-5 diagnostic criteria and were included in the current review, and 20 additional references were also included on the basis of the authors’ knowledge and/or on a review of the reference lists from relevant articles obtained through the literature search. Evidence supports the duration/frequency criterion for BED and the primary importance of loss of control and marked distress in identifying individuals with BED. Although overvaluation of shape/weight is not a diagnostic criterion, its relationship to the severity of BED psychopathology may identify a unique subset of individuals with BED. Additionally, individuals with BED often exhibit a clinical profile consisting of psychiatric (eg, mood, obsessive–compulsive, and impulsive disorders) and medical (eg, gastrointestinal symptoms, metabolic syndrome, and type 2 diabetes) comorbidities and behavioral profiles (eg, overconsumption of calories outside of a binge eating episode and emotional eating). Future revisions of the BED diagnostic criteria should consider the inclusion of BED subtypes, perhaps based on the overvaluation of shape/weight, and an evidence-based reassessment of severity criteria. PMID:27621631
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Artificial Neural Networks as Decision Support Tools in Cytopathology: Past, Present, and Future.
Pouliakis, Abraham; Karakitsou, Efrossyni; Margari, Niki; Bountris, Panagiotis; Haritou, Maria; Panayiotides, John; Koutsouris, Dimitrios; Karakitsos, Petros
2016-01-01
This study aims to analyze the role of artificial neural networks (ANNs) in cytopathology. More specifically, it aims to highlight the importance of employing ANNs in existing and future applications and in identifying unexplored or poorly explored research topics. A systematic search was conducted in scientific databases for articles related to cytopathology and ANNs with respect to anatomical places of the human body where cytopathology is performed. For each anatomic system/organ, the major outcomes described in the scientific literature are presented and the most important aspects are highlighted. The vast majority of ANN applications are related to cervical cytopathology, specifically for the ANN-based, semiautomated commercial diagnostic system PAPNET. For cervical cytopathology, there is a plethora of studies relevant to the diagnostic accuracy; in addition, there are also efforts evaluating cost-effectiveness and applications on primary, secondary, or hybrid screening. For the rest of the anatomical sites, such as the gastrointestinal system, thyroid gland, urinary tract, and breast, there are significantly less efforts relevant to the application of ANNs. Additionally, there are still anatomical systems for which ANNs have never been applied on their cytological material. Cytopathology is an ideal discipline to apply ANNs. In general, diagnosis is performed by experts via the light microscope. However, this approach introduces subjectivity, because this is not a universal and objective measurement process. This has resulted in the existence of a gray zone between normal and pathological cases. From the analysis of related articles, it is obvious that there is a need to perform more thorough analyses, using extensive number of cases and particularly for the nonexplored organs. Efforts to apply such systems within the laboratory test environment are required for their future uptake.
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Artificial Neural Networks as Decision Support Tools in Cytopathology: Past, Present, and Future
Pouliakis, Abraham; Karakitsou, Efrossyni; Margari, Niki; Bountris, Panagiotis; Haritou, Maria; Panayiotides, John; Koutsouris, Dimitrios; Karakitsos, Petros
2016-01-01
OBJECTIVE This study aims to analyze the role of artificial neural networks (ANNs) in cytopathology. More specifically, it aims to highlight the importance of employing ANNs in existing and future applications and in identifying unexplored or poorly explored research topics. STUDY DESIGN A systematic search was conducted in scientific databases for articles related to cytopathology and ANNs with respect to anatomical places of the human body where cytopathology is performed. For each anatomic system/organ, the major outcomes described in the scientific literature are presented and the most important aspects are highlighted. RESULTS The vast majority of ANN applications are related to cervical cytopathology, specifically for the ANN-based, semiautomated commercial diagnostic system PAPNET. For cervical cytopathology, there is a plethora of studies relevant to the diagnostic accuracy; in addition, there are also efforts evaluating cost-effectiveness and applications on primary, secondary, or hybrid screening. For the rest of the anatomical sites, such as the gastrointestinal system, thyroid gland, urinary tract, and breast, there are significantly less efforts relevant to the application of ANNs. Additionally, there are still anatomical systems for which ANNs have never been applied on their cytological material. CONCLUSIONS Cytopathology is an ideal discipline to apply ANNs. In general, diagnosis is performed by experts via the light microscope. However, this approach introduces subjectivity, because this is not a universal and objective measurement process. This has resulted in the existence of a gray zone between normal and pathological cases. From the analysis of related articles, it is obvious that there is a need to perform more thorough analyses, using extensive number of cases and particularly for the nonexplored organs. Efforts to apply such systems within the laboratory test environment are required for their future uptake. PMID:26917984
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Li, Yan; Bressington, Daniel; Chien, Wai Tong
2017-12-01
The bio-psychosocial model of spinal cord injury (SCI) highlights that psychosocial care is of equal importance as physical rehabilitation, and should be offered in the earlier stages of inpatient rehabilitation. This systematic review aimed to identify interventional research regarding psychosocial care for people with SCI during inpatient rehabilitation and synthesize the evidence of the effects and characteristics of these studies. A systematic search of relevant literature published between 1985 to July 2016 was conducted with six databases (Scopus, MEDLINE, CINAHL, Science Citation Index Expanded, PsycINFO, and the China Academic Journal Full-text Database). Reference lists of the identified articles were reviewed to find additional relevant articles. A total of four randomized controlled trials and seven non-randomized controlled trials were included in this review. The interventions focused on specialized types of SCI population with relatively high levels of psychological distress, pain or pressure ulcers. Studies reported some varied or inconsistent improvements in participants' cognitive appraisal, psychosocial adaptation or mental health but there were no significant effects on their coping ability. Due to the heterogeneity of the studies, findings were synthesized narratively without conducting meta-analysis. This review found promising evidence that approaches to psychosocial care for people with SCI can improve their cognitive appraisal and psychosocial adaptation. Significant methodological limitations weakened study findings. Additionally, because studies were conducted in only a few developed countries with subgroups of patients having specific illness characteristics or severity, their generalizability to the wider SCI population is uncertain. Therefore, future research should adopt more robust study designs to test psychosocial interventions for SCI patients with different socio-cultural backgrounds and psychological adjustment conditions in the early stages of rehabilitation. © 2017 Sigma Theta Tau International.
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School-based service delivery for homeless students: relevant laws and overcoming access barriers.
Sulkowski, Michael L; Joyce-Beaulieu, Diana K
2014-11-01
Schools in the United States are facing a record number of homeless students. These students are highly at-risk for experiencing negative life outcomes, and they face considerable academic and social-emotional functional impairments. To help address the complex needs of homeless students, this article reviews the intersection of laws and practices that impact homeless students, as well as contemporary school-based service delivery efforts to support the academic and social-emotional needs of these students. In addition, this article also reviews several barriers to school-based service delivery for homeless students and ways to overcome these barriers. These barriers include confusion regarding consent and record-sharing procedures, ineffectively utilizing homeless liaisons, and misapplying tenants of Multitiered Systems of Support (MTSS), which is a school-based service-delivery framework that has been adopted by and implemented in many U.S. schools. Ultimately, this article aims to provide members of school communities with practical information that they can use to support the homeless youth they encounter and serve. (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved.
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Assigning categorical information to Japanese medical terms using MeSH and MEDLINE.
Onogi, Yuzo
2007-01-01
This paper reports on the assigning of MeSH (Medical Subject Headings) categories to Japanese terms in an English-Japanese dictionary using the titles and abstracts of articles indexed in MEDLINE. In a previous study, 30,000 of 80,000 terms in the dictionary were mapped to MeSH terms by normalized comparison. It was reasoned that if the remaining dictionary terms appeared in MEDLINE-indexed articles that are indexed using MeSH terms, then relevancies between the dictionary terms and MeSH terms could be calculated, and thus MeSH categories assigned. This study compares two approaches for calculating the weight matrix. One is the TF*IDF method and the other uses the inner product of two weight matrices. About 20,000 additional dictionary terms were identified in MEDLINE-indexed articles published between 2000 and 2004. The precision and recall of these algorithms were evaluated separately for MeSH terms and non-MeSH terms. Unfortunately, the precision and recall of the algorithms was not good, but this method will help with manual assignment of MeSH categories to dictionary terms.
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Temporal evolution of acute respiratory distress syndrome definitions.
Fioretto, José R; Carvalho, Werther B
2013-01-01
to review the evolution of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) definitions and present the current definition for the syndrome. a literature review and selection of the most relevant articles on ARDS definitions was performed using the MEDLINE®/PubMed® Resource Guide database (last ten years), in addition to including the most important articles (classic articles) that described the disease evolution. the review included the following subjects: introduction; importance of definition; description of the first diagnostic criterion and subsequently used definitions, such as acute lung injury score; definition by the American-European Consensus Conference, and its limitations; description of the definition by Delphi, and its problems; accuracy of the aforementioned definitions; description of most recent definition (the Berlin definition), and its limitations; and practical importance of the new definition. ARDS is a serious disease that remains an ongoing diagnostic and therapeutic challenge. The evolution of definitions used to describe the disease shows that studies are needed to validate the current definition, especially in pediatrics, where the data are very scarce. Copyright © 2013 Sociedade Brasileira de Pediatria. Published by Elsevier Editora Ltda. All rights reserved.
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Marmitt, Diorge Jônatas; Bitencourt, Shanna; Silva, Amanda do Couto E; Rempel, Claudete; Goettert, Márcia Inês
2018-06-01
The aim of this study was to conduct a systematic review of the healing potential of medicinal plants belonging to the Brazilian National List of Medicinal Plants of Interest to the Unified Health System (RENISUS). PubMed and ScienceDirect databases were searched for relevant articles, regardless of the language, from 2010 to June 2016. Two reviewers independently assessed study eligibility. Articles were included if they presented evidence of healing potential of medicinal plants. Only those available as full and open access texts were considered. A total of 1381 articles met the inclusion criteria. Of these, 156 studies were considered eligible and were reviewed as full text. Following full analysis, 64 studies were included in this review. The studies covered 27 of the 71 plants belonging to RENISUS, nine of which are native to Brazil. In addition, two species are currently available in the Brazilian public health system as herbal medicine. This review may encourage and contribute to the appropriate use of medicinal plants in the public health system in Brazil.
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Dual Language Teachers' Stated Barriers to Implementation of Culturally Relevant Pedagogy
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Freire, Juan A.; Valdez, Verónica E.
2017-01-01
Culturally relevant pedagogy receives limited attention in many U.S. dual language classrooms. This article focuses on understanding the barriers eight elementary Spanish-English dual language teachers saw as preventing the implementation of culturally relevant pedagogy in their urban classrooms. Employing critical sociocultural theory and drawing…
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The 50 Most Cited Articles in Invasive Neuromodulation.
Ward, Max; Doran, Joseph; Paskhover, Boris; Mammis, Antonios
2018-06-01
Bibliometric analysis is a commonly used analytic tool for objective determination of the most influential and peer-recognized articles within a given field. This study is the first bibliometric analysis of the literature in the field of invasive neuromodulation, excluding deep brain stimulation. The objectives of this study are to identify the 50 most cited articles in invasive neuromodulation, provide an overview of the literature to assist in clinical education, and evaluate the effect of impact factor on manuscript recognition. Bibliometric analysis was performed using the Science Citation Index from the Institute for Scientific Information, accessed through the Web of Science. Search terms relevant to the field of invasive neuromodulation were used to identify the 50 most cited journal articles between 1900 and 2016. The median number of citations was 236 (range, 173-578). The most common topics among the articles were vagus nerve stimulation (n = 24), spinal cord stimulation (n = 9), and motor cortex stimulation (n = 6). Median journal impact factor was 5.57. Most of these articles (n = 19) contained level I, II, or III evidence. This analysis provides a brief look into the most cited articles within the field, many of which evaluated innovated procedures and therapies that helped to drive surgical neuromodulation forward. These landmark articles contain vital clinical and educational information that remains relevant to clinicians and students within the field and provide insight into areas of expanding research. Journal impact factor may play a significant role in determining the literary relevance and general awareness of invasive neuromodulation studies. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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Vishwanatham, R
1998-01-01
Medical informatics is an interdisciplinary field. Medical informatics articles will be found in the literature of various disciplines including library and information science publications. The purpose of this study was to provide an objectively ranked list of journals that publish medical informatics articles relevant to library and information science. Library Literature, Library and Information Science Abstracts, and Social Science Citation Index were used to identify articles published on the topic of medical informatics and to identify a ranked list of journals. This study also used citation analysis to identify the most frequently cited journals relevant to library and information science. PMID:9803294
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The Media Response to the ACGME's 2017 Relaxed Resident Duty-Hour Restrictions.
Zhang, Zi; Krauthamer, Alan V; Rosenkrantz, Andrew B
2018-03-01
In March 2017, the ACGME relaxed resident duty-hour restrictions to allow first-year residents to work 24-hour shifts, affecting the internship experience of incoming radiology residents. The aim of this study was to assess the media response to this duty-hour change, comparing news articles with favorable and unfavorable views. Google News was used to identify 36 relevant unique news articles published over a 4-week period after the announcement. Articles' stance was categorized as favorable, unfavorable, or neutral. Additional article characteristics were explored. Article sources were 58% national, 22% local, and 20% medical news. Article stance was most commonly unfavorable for national news sources (48%), compared with neutral for local (62%) and medical (72%) news sources. Most common reasons for unfavorable stance were sleep deprivation (n = 11), medical errors (n = 11), residents' health (n = 9), risk for car accidents (n = 9), a patriarchal hazing system (n = 6), and work-life balance (n = 5). Most common reasons for favorable stance were impact on resident education (n = 7) and continuity of care (n = 7). Supporting data were cited by 38% of unfavorable and 100% of favorable articles. Unfavorable articles most commonly quoted physicians affiliated with resident advocacy groups; favorable articles most commonly quoted physicians affiliated with the ACGME. The relaxed duty-hour restrictions received an overall unfavorable media response, particularly in nonmedical news sources, driven by concerns regarding sleep-deprived doctors. Favorable articles ubiquitously cited data supporting the safety of relaxed duty hour restrictions. Further research is warranted to better understand the impact of relaxed resident duty-hour limits on sleep deprivation, residents' health and education, and the quality of patient care. Copyright © 2017 American College of Radiology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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Cluster 1: commercializing additive manufacturing—hurdles in materials characterization and testing
Roach, R. A.; Gardner, S. H.
2017-10-20
A major challenge in the commercialization of additive manufactured (AM) materials and processes is the ability to achieve acceptance of processes and products. There has been some progress towards acceptance has been made by adapting legacy qualification paradigms to match with the very limited process control and monitoring offered by AM machines. The opportunity for in-situ measurement can provide process monitoring and control perhaps changing the way we qualify parts however it is limited by lack of adequate process measurement methods. New measurement techniques, sensors and correlations to relevant phenomena are needed that enable process control and monitoring for consistentlymore » producing high quality articles. Beyond process data we need to characterize uncertainties of performance in all aspects of material, process and final part. These are prerequisites to achieving articles that are indeed worthy of materials characterization efforts that establish a microstructural reference of desirable performance through process-structure-property relations. Only then can industry apply physics based understanding of the material, part and process to probabilistically predict performance of an AM part. Our paper provides a brief overview, discussion of hurdles and key areas where R&D investment is needed.« less
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Cluster 1: commercializing additive manufacturing—hurdles in materials characterization and testing
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Roach, R. A.; Gardner, S. H.
A major challenge in the commercialization of additive manufactured (AM) materials and processes is the ability to achieve acceptance of processes and products. There has been some progress towards acceptance has been made by adapting legacy qualification paradigms to match with the very limited process control and monitoring offered by AM machines. The opportunity for in-situ measurement can provide process monitoring and control perhaps changing the way we qualify parts however it is limited by lack of adequate process measurement methods. New measurement techniques, sensors and correlations to relevant phenomena are needed that enable process control and monitoring for consistentlymore » producing high quality articles. Beyond process data we need to characterize uncertainties of performance in all aspects of material, process and final part. These are prerequisites to achieving articles that are indeed worthy of materials characterization efforts that establish a microstructural reference of desirable performance through process-structure-property relations. Only then can industry apply physics based understanding of the material, part and process to probabilistically predict performance of an AM part. Our paper provides a brief overview, discussion of hurdles and key areas where R&D investment is needed.« less
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Hoogendam, Arjen; Stalenhoef, Anton FH; Robbé, Pieter F de Vries; Overbeke, A John PM
2008-01-01
Background The use of PubMed to answer daily medical care questions is limited because it is challenging to retrieve a small set of relevant articles and time is restricted. Knowing what aspects of queries are likely to retrieve relevant articles can increase the effectiveness of PubMed searches. The objectives of our study were to identify queries that are likely to retrieve relevant articles by relating PubMed search techniques and tools to the number of articles retrieved and the selection of articles for further reading. Methods This was a prospective observational study of queries regarding patient-related problems sent to PubMed by residents and internists in internal medicine working in an Academic Medical Centre. We analyzed queries, search results, query tools (Mesh, Limits, wildcards, operators), selection of abstract and full-text for further reading, using a portal that mimics PubMed. Results PubMed was used to solve 1121 patient-related problems, resulting in 3205 distinct queries. Abstracts were viewed in 999 (31%) of these queries, and in 126 (39%) of 321 queries using query tools. The average term count per query was 2.5. Abstracts were selected in more than 40% of queries using four or five terms, increasing to 63% if the use of four or five terms yielded 2–161 articles. Conclusion Queries sent to PubMed by physicians at our hospital during daily medical care contain fewer than three terms. Queries using four to five terms, retrieving less than 161 article titles, are most likely to result in abstract viewing. PubMed search tools are used infrequently by our population and are less effective than the use of four or five terms. Methods to facilitate the formulation of precise queries, using more relevant terms, should be the focus of education and research. PMID:18816391
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The visibility of scientific misconduct: A review of the literature on retracted journal articles
Hesselmann, Felicitas; Graf, Verena; Schmidt, Marion; Reinhart, Martin
2016-01-01
Retractions of scientific articles are becoming the most relevant institution for making sense of scientific misconduct. An increasing number of retracted articles, mainly attributed to misconduct, is currently providing a new empirical basis for research about scientific misconduct. This article reviews the relevant research literature from an interdisciplinary context. Furthermore, the results from these studies are contextualized sociologically by asking how scientific misconduct is made visible through retractions. This study treats retractions as an emerging institution that renders scientific misconduct visible, thus, following up on the sociology of deviance and its focus on visibility. The article shows that retractions, by highlighting individual cases of misconduct and general policies for preventing misconduct while obscuring the actors and processes through which retractions are effected, produce highly fragmented patterns of visibility. These patterns resemble the bifurcation in current justice systems. PMID:28943647
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Evaluation of the Steris Sensitive Equipment Decontamination (SED) Apparatus on a 463L Pallet
2007-09-01
to decontaminate representative articles of sensitive equipment and operationally relevant materials for biological-warfare agent surrogate... Articles of Sensitive Equipment .................................................................. 25 2.9 Sensitive Equipment Inspection...45 3.6.2 Test Article Initial Inspection .............................................................. 47 3.6.3 Test
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Larval aquatic insect responses to cadmium and zinc in experimental streams.
Mebane, Christopher A; Schmidt, Travis S; Balistrieri, Laurie S
2017-03-01
To evaluate the risks of metal mixture effects to natural stream communities under ecologically relevant conditions, the authors conducted 30-d tests with benthic macroinvertebrates exposed to cadmium (Cd) and zinc (Zn) in experimental streams. The simultaneous exposures were with Cd and Zn singly and with Cd+Zn mixtures at environmentally relevant ratios. The tests produced concentration-response patterns that for individual taxa were interpreted in the same manner as classic single-species toxicity tests and for community metrics such as taxa richness and mayfly (Ephemeroptera) abundance were interpreted in the same manner as with stream survey data. Effect concentrations from the experimental stream exposures were usually 2 to 3 orders of magnitude lower than those from classic single-species tests. Relative to a response addition model, which assumes that the joint toxicity of the mixtures can be predicted from the product of their responses to individual toxicants, the Cd+Zn mixtures generally showed slightly less than additive toxicity. The authors applied a modeling approach called Tox to explore the mixture toxicity results and to relate the experimental stream results to field data. The approach predicts the accumulation of toxicants (hydrogen, Cd, and Zn) on organisms using a 2-pK a bidentate model that defines interactions between dissolved cations and biological receptors (biotic ligands) and relates that accumulation through a logistic equation to biological response. The Tox modeling was able to predict Cd+Zn mixture responses from the single-metal exposures as well as responses from field data. The similarity of response patterns between the 30-d experimental stream tests and field data supports the environmental relevance of testing aquatic insects in experimental streams. Environ Toxicol Chem 2017;36:749-762. Published 2016 Wiley Periodicals Inc. on behalf of SETAC. This article is a US government work and, as such, is in the public domain in the United States of America. Published 2016 Wiley Periodicals Inc. on behalf of SETAC. This article is a US government work and, as such, is in the public domain in the United States of America.
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Fitzpatrick-Lewis, Donna; Ganann, Rebecca; Krishnaratne, Shari; Ciliska, Donna; Kouyoumdjian, Fiona; Hwang, Stephen W
2011-08-10
Research on interventions to positively impact health and housing status of people who are homeless has received substantially increased attention over the past 5 years. This rapid review examines recent evidence regarding interventions that have been shown to improve the health of homeless people, with particular focus on the effect of these interventions on housing status. A total of 1,546 articles were identified by a structured search of five electronic databases, a hand search of grey literature and relevant journals, and contact with experts. Two reviewers independently screened the first 10% of titles and abstracts for relevance. Inter-rater reliability was high and as a result only one reviewer screened the remaining titles and abstracts. Articles were included if they were published between January 2004 and December 2009 and examined the effectiveness of an intervention to improve the health or healthcare utilization of people who were homeless, marginally housed, or at risk of homelessness. Two reviewers independently scored all relevant articles for quality. Eighty-four relevant studies were identified; none were of strong quality while ten were rated of moderate quality. For homeless people with mental illness, provision of housing upon hospital discharge was effective in improving sustained housing. For homeless people with substance abuse issues or concurrent disorders, provision of housing was associated with decreased substance use, relapses from periods of substance abstinence, and health services utilization, and increased housing tenure. Abstinent dependent housing was more effective in supporting housing status, substance abstinence, and improved psychiatric outcomes than non-abstinence dependent housing or no housing. Provision of housing also improved health outcomes among homeless populations with HIV. Health promotion programs can decrease risk behaviours among homeless populations. These studies provide important new evidence regarding interventions to improve health, housing status, and access to healthcare for homeless populations. The additional studies included in this current review provide further support for earlier evidence which found that coordinated treatment programs for homeless persons with concurrent mental illness and substance misuse issues usually result in better health and access to healthcare than usual care. This review also provides a synthesis of existing evidence regarding interventions that specifically support homeless populations with HIV.
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2011-01-01
Background Research on interventions to positively impact health and housing status of people who are homeless has received substantially increased attention over the past 5 years. This rapid review examines recent evidence regarding interventions that have been shown to improve the health of homeless people, with particular focus on the effect of these interventions on housing status. Methods A total of 1,546 articles were identified by a structured search of five electronic databases, a hand search of grey literature and relevant journals, and contact with experts. Two reviewers independently screened the first 10% of titles and abstracts for relevance. Inter-rater reliability was high and as a result only one reviewer screened the remaining titles and abstracts. Articles were included if they were published between January 2004 and December 2009 and examined the effectiveness of an intervention to improve the health or healthcare utilization of people who were homeless, marginally housed, or at risk of homelessness. Two reviewers independently scored all relevant articles for quality. Results Eighty-four relevant studies were identified; none were of strong quality while ten were rated of moderate quality. For homeless people with mental illness, provision of housing upon hospital discharge was effective in improving sustained housing. For homeless people with substance abuse issues or concurrent disorders, provision of housing was associated with decreased substance use, relapses from periods of substance abstinence, and health services utilization, and increased housing tenure. Abstinent dependent housing was more effective in supporting housing status, substance abstinence, and improved psychiatric outcomes than non-abstinence dependent housing or no housing. Provision of housing also improved health outcomes among homeless populations with HIV. Health promotion programs can decrease risk behaviours among homeless populations. Conclusions These studies provide important new evidence regarding interventions to improve health, housing status, and access to healthcare for homeless populations. The additional studies included in this current review provide further support for earlier evidence which found that coordinated treatment programs for homeless persons with concurrent mental illness and substance misuse issues usually result in better health and access to healthcare than usual care. This review also provides a synthesis of existing evidence regarding interventions that specifically support homeless populations with HIV. PMID:21831318
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Goldner, Elliot M; Jenkins, Emily K; Fischer, Benedikt
2014-03-01
Attention to knowledge translation (KT) has increased in the health care field in an effort to improve uptake and implementation of potentially beneficial knowledge. We provide an overview of the current state of KT literature and discuss the relevance of KT for health care professionals working in mental health. A systematic search was conducted using MEDLINE, PsycINFO, and CINAHL databases to identify review articles published in journals from 2007 to 2012. We selected articles on the basis of eligibility criteria and then added further articles deemed pertinent to the focus of ourpaper. After removing duplicates, we scanned 214 review articles for relevance and, subsequently, we added 46 articles identified through hand searches of reference lists or from other sources. A total of 61 papers were retained for full review. Qualitative synthesis identified 5 main themes: defining KT and development of KT science; effective KT strategies; factors influencing the effectiveness of KT; KT frameworks and guides; and relevance of KT to health care providers. Despite limitations in existing evidence, the concept and practice of KT holds potential value for mental health care providers. Understanding of, and familiarity with, effective approaches to KT holds the potential to enhance providers' treatment approaches and to promote the use of new knowledge in practice to enhance outcomes.
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ELT Research in Turkey: A Content Analysis of Selected Features of Published Articles
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Yagiz, Oktay; Aydin, Burcu; Akdemir, Ahmet Selçuk
2016-01-01
This study reviews a selected sample of 274 research articles on ELT, published between 2005 and 2015 in Turkish contexts. In the study, 15 journals in ULAKBIM database and articles from national and international journals accessed according to convenience sampling method were surveyed and relevant articles were obtained. A content analysis was…
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Research in child and adolescent psychiatry in India
Shastri, Priyavadan Chandrakant; Shastri, Jay P.; Shastri, Dimple
2010-01-01
The primary source for this annotation on child and adolescent psychiatry is Indian Journal of Psychiatry. Articles covering various dimensions of child and adolescent mental health were searched from its electronic data base to discuss relevant articles. Literature was mainly in the form of original research articles, review articles, case reports, editorials, orations and presidential address. PMID:21836681
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Studies of thin water films and relevance to the heterogeneous nucleation of ice
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Ochshorn, Eli
The research that I will present in this dissertation concerns qualitative factors relevant to thin water films and ice nucleation. The immediate goal is not to develop a precise quantitative theory of ice nucleation. Instead, the focus is on characterizing some molecular properties (e.g., bond strengths, bond orientations, range of surface effects, etc.) of freezing catalysts and interfacial water over a range of temperatures relevant to the ice nucleation process (i.e., 20 to -20 °C). From this, we can evaluate the plausibility of different mechanistic freezing hypotheses through comparison with experiment. In all studies, I use Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy to study the intermolecular details of water and a surface species of interest. The dissertation is arranged with an introductory chapter, which primarily serves to place the research within the context of the field, then three chapters containing original research, each of which is a self-contained study that has either already been published or is currently under consideration for publication in a peer-reviewed journal. Finally, an appendix at the end provides some additional details that have not been included in the articles.
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Exploring end-of-life care for South Asian kidney patients: interviewer reflections.
Wilkinson, Emma; Waqar, Muhammad; Gill, Balbir; Hoque, Pina; Jetha, Champa; Bola, Kulwinder Kaur; Mahmood, Riffat; Mahmood, Sultan; Saujani, Rita; Randhawa, Gurch
2017-03-16
The reduction of inequalities in access to quality care has been a central tenet of UK health policy. Ethnic minorities may experience additional inequalities because of language and other cultural barriers. This article reports interviewer reflections of conducting interviews with South Asian kidney patients about their experiences of end-of-life care. It explores themes which emerged from the analysis of a focus group held with eight bilingual research interviewers. The relevance of these themes to understanding inequalities and access to end-of-life care is discussed; together with the potential for the research process to contribute to service improvement.
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Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality in Plastic Surgery: A Review.
Kim, Youngjun; Kim, Hannah; Kim, Yong Oock
2017-05-01
Recently, virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) have received increasing attention, with the development of VR/AR devices such as head-mounted displays, haptic devices, and AR glasses. Medicine is considered to be one of the most effective applications of VR/AR. In this article, we describe a systematic literature review conducted to investigate the state-of-the-art VR/AR technology relevant to plastic surgery. The 35 studies that were ultimately selected were categorized into 3 representative topics: VR/AR-based preoperative planning, navigation, and training. In addition, future trends of VR/AR technology associated with plastic surgery and related fields are discussed.
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NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Kapul, A. A.; Zubova, E. I.; Torgaev, S. N.; Drobchik, V. V.
2017-08-01
The research focuses on a pure-tone audiometer designing. The relevance of the study is proved by high incidence of an auditory analyser in older people and children. At first, the article provides information about subjective and objective audiometry methods. Secondly, we offer block-diagram and basic-circuit arrangement of device. We decided to base on STM32F407VG microcontroller and use digital pot in the function of attenuator. Third, we implemented microcontroller and PC connection. C programming language is used for microcontroller’s program and PC’s interface. Fourthly, we created the pure-tone audiometer prototype. In the future, we will implement the objective method ASSR in addition to pure-tone audiometry.
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Guyll, Max; Spoth, Richard; Cornish, Marilyn A
2012-01-01
Economic analyses of substance misuse prevention assess the intervention cost necessary to achieve a particular outcome, and thereby provide an additional dimension for evaluating prevention programming. This article reviews several types of economic analysis, considers how they can be applied to substance misuse prevention, and discusses challenges to enhancing their international relevance, particularly their usefulness for informing policy decisions. Important first steps taken to address these challenges are presented, including the disease burden concept and the development of generalized cost-effectiveness, advances that facilitate international policy discussions by providing a common framework for evaluating health care needs and program effects.
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LEONARDO DA VINCI AND THE ORIGIN OF SEMEN.
Noble, Denis; DiFrancesco, Dario; Zancani, Diego
2014-12-20
It is well known that Leonardo da Vinci made several drawings of the human male anatomy. The early drawings (before 1500) were incorrect in identifying the origin of semen, where he followed accepted teaching of his time. It is widely thought that he did not correct this mistake, a view that is reflected in several biographies. In fact, he made a later drawing (after 1500) in which the description of the anatomy is remarkably accurate and must have been based on careful dissection. In addition to highlighting this fact, acknowledged previously in only one other source, this article reviews the background to Leonardo's knowledge of the relevant anatomy.
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Neuromuscular ultrasound of cranial nerves.
Tawfik, Eman A; Walker, Francis O; Cartwright, Michael S
2015-04-01
Ultrasound of cranial nerves is a novel subdomain of neuromuscular ultrasound (NMUS) which may provide additional value in the assessment of cranial nerves in different neuromuscular disorders. Whilst NMUS of peripheral nerves has been studied, NMUS of cranial nerves is considered in its initial stage of research, thus, there is a need to summarize the research results achieved to date. Detailed scanning protocols, which assist in mastery of the techniques, are briefly mentioned in the few reference textbooks available in the field. This review article focuses on ultrasound scanning techniques of the 4 accessible cranial nerves: optic, facial, vagus and spinal accessory nerves. The relevant literatures and potential future applications are discussed.
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Data on the interaction between thermal comfort and building control research.
Park, June Young; Nagy, Zoltan
2018-04-01
This dataset contains bibliography information regarding thermal comfort and building control research. In addition, the instruction of a data-driven literature survey method guides readers to reproduce their own literature survey on related bibliography datasets. Based on specific search terms, all relevant bibliographic datasets are downloaded. We explain the keyword co-occurrences of historical developments and recent trends, and the citation network which represents the interaction between thermal comfort and building control research. Results and discussions are described in the research article entitled "Comprehensive analysis of the relationship between thermal comfort and building control research - A data-driven literature review" (Park and Nagy, 2018).
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Reflections on relevance: the fields of psychosomatics and psychotherapy in 2006.
Balon, Richard
2007-01-01
This article reviews several areas of new and interesting development in the fields of psychosomatics and psychotherapy published in the literature during 2006. These areas are: (1) cardiovascular illness and its interplay with depression; (2) risks and predisposing factors in the areas of mental illness and physical illness; (3) new developments in chronic fatigue syndrome, and (4) new or newly explored/modified (psycho)therapies, especially cognitive-behavioral therapy. In addition, an important area of conflict of interest in psychiatry in particular and in biomedical science in general is discussed, as this issue has reached prominence in the biomedical literature. Copyright 2007 S. Karger AG, Basel.
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Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality in Plastic Surgery: A Review
Kim, Youngjun; Kim, Hannah
2017-01-01
Recently, virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) have received increasing attention, with the development of VR/AR devices such as head-mounted displays, haptic devices, and AR glasses. Medicine is considered to be one of the most effective applications of VR/AR. In this article, we describe a systematic literature review conducted to investigate the state-of-the-art VR/AR technology relevant to plastic surgery. The 35 studies that were ultimately selected were categorized into 3 representative topics: VR/AR-based preoperative planning, navigation, and training. In addition, future trends of VR/AR technology associated with plastic surgery and related fields are discussed. PMID:28573091
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Augmentation cystoplasty in neurogenic bladder
Kocjancic, Ervin; Demirdağ, Çetin
2016-01-01
The aim of this review is to update the indications, contraindications, technique, complications, and the tissue engineering approaches of augmentation cystoplasty (AC) in patients with neurogenic bladder. PubMed/MEDLINE was searched for the keywords "augmentation cystoplasty," "neurogenic bladder," and "bladder augmentation." Additional relevant literature was determined by examining the reference lists of articles identified through the search. The update review of of the indications, contraindications, technique, outcome, complications, and tissue engineering approaches of AC in patients with neurogenic bladder is presented. Although some important progress has been made in tissue engineering AC, conventional AC still has an important role in the surgical treatment of refractory neurogenic lower urinary tract dysfunction. PMID:27617312
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Young adults and parental divorce: exploring important issues.
Cooney, T M
1988-01-01
This article discusses the potential impact of parental divorce on the lives of young adult offspring. Parental divorce may upset both social and psychological aspects of the transition to adulthood process. The family roles young adults are expected to assume could be altered by the break-up, as could opportunities for particular young adult pursuits, such as advanced education. Heightened adjustment problems also are likely to result, as divorce produces additional life changes during the highly transitional period of early adulthood. Qualitative data from an exploratory study of 39 college students, ages 18-23, illustrate many of the relevant issues. Suggestions for future research are provided.
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NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Zanotto, Simone; Tredicucci, Alessandro
2016-04-01
In this article we discuss a model describing key features concerning the lineshapes and the coherent absorption conditions in Fano-resonant dissipative coupled oscillators. The model treats on the same footing the weak and strong coupling regimes, and includes the critical coupling concept, which is of great relevance in numerous applications; in addition, the role of asymmetry is thoroughly analyzed. Due to the wide generality of the model, which can be adapted to various frameworks like nanophotonics, plasmonics, and optomechanics, we envisage that the analytical formulas presented here will be crucial to effectively design devices and to interpret experimental results.
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Leonardo da Vinci and the origin of semen
Noble, Denis; DiFrancesco, Dario; Zancani, Diego
2014-01-01
It is well known that Leonardo da Vinci made several drawings of the human male anatomy. The early drawings (before 1500) were incorrect in identifying the origin of semen, where he followed accepted teaching of his time. It is widely thought that he did not correct this mistake, a view that is reflected in several biographies. In fact, he made a later drawing (after 1500) in which the description of the anatomy is remarkably accurate and must have been based on careful dissection. In addition to highlighting this fact, acknowledged previously in only one other source, this article reviews the background to Leonardo's knowledge of the relevant anatomy. PMID:27494016
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Through indigenous eyes: Native Americans and the HIV epidemic.
Weaver, H N
1999-02-01
This article examines the phenomenon of HIV within the context of a Native American culture. Native Americans have some risk factors for HIV transmission that differ from those found in other populations. In addition, prevention and intervention activities with this population must consider cultural variables to maximize their effectiveness. Brief anecdotes are used to illustrate various concepts related to HIV and Native Americans and to include a human face along with facts and statistics. The author's unique perspective, coupled with a broad discussion of relevant issues enables non-Native American readers to understand better the phenomenon of HIV as it exists within a Native American context.
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PubMedReco: A Real-Time Recommender System for PubMed Citations.
Samuel, Hamman W; Zaïane, Osmar R
2017-01-01
We present a recommender system, PubMedReco, for real-time suggestions of medical articles from PubMed, a database of over 23 million medical citations. PubMedReco can recommend medical article citations while users are conversing in a synchronous communication environment such as a chat room. Normally, users would have to leave their chat interface to open a new web browser window, and formulate an appropriate search query to retrieve relevant results. PubMedReco automatically generates the search query and shows relevant citations within the same integrated user interface. PubMedReco analyzes relevant keywords associated with the conversation and uses them to search for relevant citations using the PubMed E-utilities programming interface. Our contributions include improvements to the user experience for searching PubMed from within health forums and chat rooms, and a machine learning model for identifying relevant keywords. We demonstrate the feasibility of PubMedReco using BMJ's Doc2Doc forum discussions.
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Maths anxiety and medication dosage calculation errors: A scoping review.
Williams, Brett; Davis, Samantha
2016-09-01
A student's accuracy on drug calculation tests may be influenced by maths anxiety, which can impede one's ability to understand and complete mathematic problems. It is important for healthcare students to overcome this barrier when calculating drug dosages in order to avoid administering the incorrect dose to a patient when in the clinical setting. The aim of this study was to examine the effects of maths anxiety on healthcare students' ability to accurately calculate drug dosages by performing a scoping review of the existing literature. This review utilised a six-stage methodology using the following databases; CINAHL, Embase, Medline, Scopus, PsycINFO, Google Scholar, Trip database (http://www.tripdatabase.com/) and Grey Literature report (http://www.greylit.org/). After an initial title/abstract review of relevant papers, and then full text review of the remaining papers, six articles were selected for inclusion in this study. Of the six articles included, there were three experimental studies, two quantitative studies and one mixed method study. All studies addressed nursing students and the presence of maths anxiety. No relevant studies from other disciplines were identified in the existing literature. Three studies took place in the U.S, the remainder in Canada, Australia and United Kingdom. Upon analysis of these studies, four factors including maths anxiety were identified as having an influence on a student's drug dosage calculation abilities. Ultimately, the results from this review suggest more research is required in nursing and other relevant healthcare disciplines regarding the effects of maths anxiety on drug dosage calculations. This additional knowledge will be important to further inform development of strategies to decrease the potentially serious effects of errors in drug dosage calculation to patient safety. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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Kolchinsky, A; Lourenço, A; Li, L; Rocha, L M
2013-01-01
Drug-drug interaction (DDI) is a major cause of morbidity and mortality. DDI research includes the study of different aspects of drug interactions, from in vitro pharmacology, which deals with drug interaction mechanisms, to pharmaco-epidemiology, which investigates the effects of DDI on drug efficacy and adverse drug reactions. Biomedical literature mining can aid both kinds of approaches by extracting relevant DDI signals from either the published literature or large clinical databases. However, though drug interaction is an ideal area for translational research, the inclusion of literature mining methodologies in DDI workflows is still very preliminary. One area that can benefit from literature mining is the automatic identification of a large number of potential DDIs, whose pharmacological mechanisms and clinical significance can then be studied via in vitro pharmacology and in populo pharmaco-epidemiology. We implemented a set of classifiers for identifying published articles relevant to experimental pharmacokinetic DDI evidence. These documents are important for identifying causal mechanisms behind putative drug-drug interactions, an important step in the extraction of large numbers of potential DDIs. We evaluate performance of several linear classifiers on PubMed abstracts, under different feature transformation and dimensionality reduction methods. In addition, we investigate the performance benefits of including various publicly-available named entity recognition features, as well as a set of internally-developed pharmacokinetic dictionaries. We found that several classifiers performed well in distinguishing relevant and irrelevant abstracts. We found that the combination of unigram and bigram textual features gave better performance than unigram features alone, and also that normalization transforms that adjusted for feature frequency and document length improved classification. For some classifiers, such as linear discriminant analysis (LDA), proper dimensionality reduction had a large impact on performance. Finally, the inclusion of NER features and dictionaries was found not to help classification.
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Baird, Harriet M; Webb, Thomas L; Martin, Jilly; Sirois, Fuschia M
2017-07-05
Both theoretical and empirical evidence suggests that time perspective is likely to influence self-regulatory processes and outcomes. Despite the theoretical and practical significance of such relations, the relationship between time perspective and self-regulatory processes and outcomes across different measures, samples and life domains, including health, has yet to be explored. The proposed review will develop a taxonomy for classifying measures according to the self-regulatory process, ability or outcome that they are likely to reflect. Electronic scientific databases will be searched, along with relevant conference abstract booklets and citation lists. Additionally, a call for unpublished data will be submitted to relevant bodies. To be eligible for inclusion, studies must include a measure of time perspective and a measure of at least one self-regulatory process, ability and/ or outcome. Eligibility will not be restricted by publication date, language, type of sample or setting. The bivariate correlations will be extracted (or calculated) and submitted to a random-effects meta-analysis. The sample-weighted average effect size, heterogeneity, risk of bias and publication bias will be calculated, and the effects of categorical and continuous moderator variables on the effect sizes will be determined. The proposed meta-analysis will synthesise previously conducted research; thus, ethical approval is not required. The findings will be submitted for publication in an international peer-reviewed journal and reported as part of the first author’s PhD thesis. The findings will also be disseminated to the research community and, where appropriate, to other interested parties through presentations at relevant academic and non-academic conferences. © 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.
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Bibliometric analysis of top 100 cited articles in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease research
Zhang, Tong-Shuo; Qin, Hua-Lei; Wang, Tong; Li, Hai-Tao; Li, Hai; Xia, Shi-Hai; Xiang, Xiao-Hui
2016-01-01
AIM To identify and assess the research situation of top 100 cited articles in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). METHODS The global scientific research articles in the Science Citation Index-Expanded relevant to NAFLD were retrieved and listed according to their citation times from the most to the least. The 100 most frequently cited original articles were selected to systematically evaluate their bibliometric parameters including times cited, publication year, journals, subject categories, and the highly related concepts of NAFLD, which reflected the history and current situation, publication distribution of leading countries and institutes as well as the research hotspots of NAFLD. RESULTS Top 100 cited articles in NAFLD were published from 1965 to 2015 with a citation ranging of 227 to 2151 times since publication, in which the United States was the most predominant country and Mayo Clin was the most productive institution. The majority of the top 100 cited articles were concentrated in SCI subject category of Gastroenterology and Hepatology. Hepatology and Gastroenterology is the top journal that published over half 100 top-cited articles. The significant peak of top cited articles present in the first half of the 2000s while the highest mean number of citation presents in first half of the 1980s. In addition, concepts related to pathology characteristics, epidemiology and medicalization, metabolic syndrome and its combination of symptoms including insulin resistance, biomarkers of lipid metabolism and obesity are listed as the highly related concepts. CONCLUSION The 100 top-cited articles marked with the leading countries, institutions, journals, hotspots and development trend in NAFLD field that could provide the foundation for further investigations. PMID:27957247
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Extracellular vesicles: roles in gamete maturation, fertilization and embryo implantation
Machtinger, Ronit; Laurent, Louise C.; Baccarelli, Andrea A.
2016-01-01
BACKGROUND Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are membrane-bound vesicles, found in biofluids, that carry and transfer regulatory molecules, such as microRNAs (miRNAs) and proteins, and may mediate intercellular communication between cells and tissues. EVs have been isolated from a wide variety of biofluids, including plasma, urine, and, relevant to this review, seminal, follicular and uterine luminal fluid. We conducted a systematic search of the literature to review and present the currently available evidence on the possible roles of EVs in follicular growth, resumption of oocyte development and maturation (meiosis), sperm maturation, fertilization and embryo implantation. METHODS MEDLINE, Embase and Web of Science databases were searched using keywords pertaining to EVs, including ‘extracellular vesicles’, ‘microvesicles’, ‘microparticles’ and ‘exosomes’, combined with a range of terms associated with the period of development between fertilization and implantation, including ‘oocyte’, 'sperm’, 'semen’, 'fertilization’, ‘implantation’, ‘embryo’, ‘follicular fluid’, ‘epididymal fluid’ and ‘seminal fluid’. Relevant research articles published in English (both animal and human studies) were reviewed with no restrictions on publication date (i.e. from earliest database dates to July 2015). References from these articles were used to obtain additional articles. RESULTS A total of 1556 records were retrieved from the three databases. After removing duplicates and irrelevant titles, we reviewed the abstracts of 201 articles, which included 92 relevant articles. Both animal and human studies unequivocally identified various types of EVs in seminal, follicular and ULFs. Several studies provided evidence for the roles of EVs in these biofluids. In men, EVs in seminal fluid were linked with post-testicular sperm maturation, including sperm motility acquisition and reduction of oxidative stress. In women, EVs in follicular fluid were shown to contain miRNAs with potential roles in follicular growth, resumption of oocyte meiosis, steroidogenesis and prevention of polyspermy after fertilization. EVs were also detected in the media of cultured embryos, suggesting that EVs released from embryos and the uterus may mediate embryo-endometrium cross-talk during implantation. It is important to note that many of the biologically plausible functions of EVs in reproduction discussed in the current literature have not yet been substantiated by conclusive experimental evidence. CONCLUSIONS A detailed understanding of the contributions of EVs in the series of events from gametogenesis to fertilization and then on to implantation, in both normal and pathological cases, may enable the development of valuable tools to advance reproductive health. Because of the early stage of the field, it is unsurprising that the current literature includes not only growing experimental evidence, but also as-yet unproven hypotheses pertaining to the roles of EVs in key reproductive processes. In this review, we present a comprehensive survey of the rapidly expanding literature on this subject, highlighting both relevant findings and gaps in knowledge. PMID:26663221
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Effects of Ambient Air Pollution Exposure on Olfaction: A Review
Ajmani, Gaurav S.; Suh, Helen H.; Pinto, Jayant M.
2016-01-01
Background: Olfactory dysfunction affects millions of people worldwide. This sensory impairment is associated with neurodegenerative disease and significantly decreased quality of life. Exposure to airborne pollutants has been implicated in olfactory decline, likely due to the anatomic susceptibility of the olfactory nerve to the environment. Historically, studies have focused on occupational exposures, but more recent studies have considered effects from exposure to ambient air pollutants. Objectives: To examine all relevant human data evaluating a link between ambient pollution exposure and olfaction and to review supporting animal data in order to examine potential mechanisms for pollution-associated olfactory loss. Methods: We identified and reviewed relevant articles from 1950 to 2015 using PubMed and Web of Science and focusing on human epidemiologic and pathophysiologic studies. Animal studies were included only to support pertinent data on humans. We reviewed findings from these studies evaluating a relationship between environmental pollutant exposure and olfactory function. Results: We identified and reviewed 17 articles, with 1 additional article added from a bibliography search, for a total of 18 human studies. There is evidence in human epidemiologic and pathologic studies that increased exposure to ambient air pollutants is associated with olfactory dysfunction. However, most studies have used proxies for pollution exposure in small samples of convenience. Human pathologic studies, with supporting animal work, have also shown that air pollution can contact the olfactory epithelium, translocate to the olfactory bulb, and migrate to the olfactory cortex. Pollutants can deposit at each location, causing direct damage and disruption of tissue morphology or inducing local inflammation and cellular stress responses. Conclusions: Ambient air pollution may impact human olfactory function. Additional studies are needed to examine air pollution–related olfactory impacts on the general population using measured pollution exposures and to link pollution exposure with olfactory dysfunction and related pathology. Citation: Ajmani GS, Suh HH, Pinto JM. 2016. Effects of ambient air pollution exposure on olfaction: a review. Environ Health Perspect 124:1683–1693; http://dx.doi.org/10.1289/EHP136 PMID:27285588
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Thuret, R; Hurel, S; Kleinclauss, F; Timsit, M O
2016-11-01
To describe lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) and their management in renal transplant candidates and recipients. Relevant publications were identified through Medline (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov) and Embase (http://www.embase.com) database using the following keywords, alone or in association: "transplantation", "prostate hyperplasia", "transurethral resection of prostate", "urinary incontinence", "LUTS", "pelvic floor dysfunction". Articles were selected according to methods, language of publication and relevance. The reference lists were used to identify additional historical studies of interest. Both prospective and retrospective series, in French and English, as well as review articles and case reports were selected. In addition, French national transplant and health agencies (http://www.agence-biomedecine.fr and http://www.has-sante.fr) databases were screened using identical keywords. A total of 991 articles were analyzed and after careful selection, 47 publications were eligible for our review. Reduction of bladder capacity, due to dialysis and anuria, is correlated with dialysis duration. This reduction is reversible after renal transplantation and does not seem to put renal transplant recipients at risk for medical complications. Transplant procedure generally allows restoration of bladder maximal output, normal bladder capacity and compliance. Medical treatment of LUTS related to prostate hyperplasia (BPH) includes alpha-blockers and finasteride. Silodosin and dutasteride have not been evaluated in that setting. Antimuscarinics may be used with caution, and favor the use of solifenacin at 5mg per day. Surgical treatment of BPH requires a preserved urine output, otherwise must be delayed after transplantation; it may thus be performed safely in the early postoperative course. Botulinum toxin injections and surgical treatment of stress incontinence and prolapse are barely reported in this population. Precise assessment and optimal management of LUTS in renal transplant candidates and recipients are critical to improve quality of life and to preserve allotransplant function. Literature data lack evidence to propose robust recommendations. However, knowledge of reported specificities in this peculiar setting is mandatory for urologists to provide patients with finest options and optimal treatment timing. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.
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Mittaine-Marzac, Benedicte; De Stampa, Matthieu; Bagaragaza, Emmanuel; Ankri, Joël; Aegerter, Philippe
2018-05-09
Despite the demonstrated feasibility and policies to enable more to receive chemotherapy at home, in a few countries, parenteral chemotherapy administration at home remains currently marginal. Of note, findings of different studies on health outcomes and resources utilisation vary, leading to conflicting results. This protocol outlines a systematic review that seeks to synthesise and critically appraise the current state of evidence on the comparison between home setting and hospital setting for parenteral chemotherapy administration within the same high standards of clinical care. This protocol has been prepared following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses Protocols approach. Electronic searches will be conducted on bibliographic databases selected from the earliest available data through 15 November 2017 published in French and English languages. Additional potential papers in the selected studies and grey literature will be also included in the review. The review will include all types of studies exploring patients receiving anticancer drugs for injection at home compared with patients receiving the drugs in a hospital setting, and will assess at least one of the following criteria: patients' health outcomes, patients' or caregivers' satisfaction, resource utilisation with cost savings, and incentives and/or barriers of each admission setting according to patients' and relatives' points of view. Two reviewers will independently screen studies and extract relevant data from the included studies. Methodological quality of studies will be assessed using the 'Quality Assessment Tool for Quantitative Studies' developed by the Effective Public Health Practice Project tool, in addition to the Consolidated Health Economic Evaluation Reporting Standards statement for economic studies. As the review is focused on the analysis of secondary data, it does not require ethics approval. The results of the study will be disseminated through articles in peer-reviewed journals and trade publications, as well as presentations at relevant conferences. CRD42017068164. © Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2018. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted.
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Puype, Franky; Samsonek, Jiří; Knoop, Jan; Egelkraut-Holtus, Marion; Ortlieb, Markus
2015-01-01
In order to confirm the possibility that recycled fractions from the waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) stream were illegally entering the European market in black polymeric food-contact articles (FCAs), bromine quantification, brominated flame retardant (BFR) identification combined with WEEE-relevant elemental analysis and polymer impurity analysis were performed. From the 10 selected FCAs, seven samples contained a bromine level ranging from 57 to 5975 mg kg− 1, which is lower than expected to achieve flame retardancy. The BFRs that were present were tetrabromobisphenol A (TBBPA), decabromodiphenylether (decaBDE), decabromodiphenylethane (DBDPE) and 1,2-bis(2,4,6-tribromophenoxy)ethane (BTBPE). Typical elements used in electronic equipment and present in WEEE were detected either at trace level or at elevated concentrations. In all cases when bromine was detected at higher concentrations, concurrently antimony was also detected, which confirms the synergetic use of antimony in combination with BFRs. This study describes also the measurement of rare earth elements where combinations of cerium, dysprosium, lanthanum, neodymium, praseodymium and yttrium were detected in four of the seven BFR-positive samples. Additionally, polymer purity was investigated where in all cases foreign polymer fractions were detected. Despite the fact that this study was carried out on a very small amount of samples, there is a significant likelihood that WEEE has been used for the production of FCAs. PMID:25599136
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Short dental implants: an emerging concept in implant treatment.
Al-Hashedi, Ashwaq Ali; Taiyeb Ali, Tara Bai; Yunus, Norsiah
2014-06-01
Short implants have been advocated as a treatment option in many clinical situations where the use of conventional implants is limited. This review outlines the effectiveness and clinical outcomes of using short implants as a valid treatment option in the rehabilitation of edentulous atrophic alveolar ridges. Initially, an electronic search was performed on the following databases: Medline, PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, and DARE using key words from January 1990 until May 2012. An additional hand search was included for the relevant articles in the following journals: International Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Implants, Clinical Oral Implants Research, Journal of Clinical Periodontology, International Journal of Periodontics, Journal of Periodontology, and Clinical Implant Dentistry and Related Research. Any relevant papers from the journals' references were hand searched. Articles were included if they provided detailed data on implant length, reported survival rates, mentioned measures for implant failure, were in the English language, involved human subjects, and researched implants inserted in healed atrophic ridges with a follow-up period of at least 1 year after implant-prosthesis loading. Short implants demonstrated a high rate of success in the replacement of missing teeth in especially atrophic alveolar ridges. The advanced technology and improvement of the implant surfaces have encouraged the success of short implants to a comparable level to that of standard implants. However, further randomized controlled clinical trials and prospective studies with longer follow-up periods are needed.
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Li, Shuqing; Sun, Ying; Soergel, Dagobert
2017-12-23
We present a novel approach to recommending articles from the medical literature that support clinical diagnostic decision-making, giving detailed descriptions of the associated ideas and principles. The specific goal is to retrieve biomedical articles that help answer questions of a specified type about a particular case. Based on the filtered keywords, MeSH(Medical Subject Headings) lexicon and the automatically extracted acronyms, the relationship between keywords and articles was built. The paper gives a detailed description of the process of by which keywords were measured and relevant articles identified based on link analysis in a weighted keywords network. Some important challenges identified in this study include the extraction of diagnosis-related keywords and a collection of valid sentences based on the keyword co-occurrence analysis and existing descriptions of symptoms. All data were taken from medical articles provided in the TREC (Text Retrieval Conference) clinical decision support track 2015. Ten standard topics and one demonstration topic were tested. In each case, a maximum of five articles with the highest relevance were returned. The total user satisfaction of 3.98 was 33% higher than average. The results also suggested that the smaller the number of results, the higher the average satisfaction. However, a few shortcomings were also revealed since medical literature recommendation for clinical diagnostic decision support is so complex a topic that it cannot be fully addressed through the semantic information carried solely by keywords in existing descriptions of symptoms. Nevertheless, the fact that these articles are actually relevant will no doubt inspire future research.
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Wagner, June G.
2001-01-01
This business education journal contains two articles and three class activities related to teaching business skills relevant to today's economy. The first article, "Skills for a Changing Economy," provides an overview of the skills needed in today's business environment. According to the article, as many as half of recent high school graduates…
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Do endocrine disruptors cause hypospadias?
Botta, Sisir; Cunha, Gerald R.
2014-01-01
Introduction Endocrine disruptors or environmental agents, disrupt the endocrine system, leading to various adverse effects in humans and animals. Although the phenomenon has been noted historically in the cases of diethylstilbestrol (DES) and dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT), the term “endocrine disruptor” is relatively new. Endocrine disruptors can have a variety of hormonal activities such as estrogenicity or anti-androgenicity. The focus of this review concerns on the induction of hypospadias by exogenous estrogenic endocrine disruptors. This has been a particular clinical concern secondary to reported increased incidence of hypospadias. Herein, the recent literature is reviewed as to whether endocrine disruptors cause hypospadias. Methods A literature search was performed for studies involving both humans and animals. Studies within the past 5 years were reviewed and categorized into basic science, clinical science, epidemiologic, or review studies. Results Forty-three scientific articles were identified. Relevant sentinel articles were also reviewed. Additional pertinent studies were extracted from the reference of the articles that obtained from initial search results. Each article was reviewed and results presented. Overall, there were no studies which definitely stated that endocrine disruptors caused hypospadias. However, there were multiple studies which implicated endocrine disruptors as one component of a multifactorial model for hypospadias. Conclusions Endocrine disruption may be one of the many critical steps in aberrant development that manifests as hypospadias. PMID:26816789
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Moragas, Joan San Miguel; Vercruysse, Herman Junior; Mommaerts, Maurice Y
2014-09-01
Ideal lip augmentation techniques have good longevity, low complication rates, and optimal functional and aesthetic results. No systematic review is currently available regarding the efficacy of lip augmentation techniques. This review will focus only on non-filling procedures for lip augmentation (NFPLAs). Current databases Elsevier Science Direct, PubMed, HighWire Press, Springer Standard Collection, SAGE, DOAJ, Sweetswise, Free E-Journals, Ovid Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, Willey Online Library Journals and Cochrane Plus were scrutinized and relevant article reference sections were studied for additional publications. The search heading sequence used was ("Lip" or "Mouth" or "Perioral" or "Nasolabial") and ("Augmentation" or "Enhancement" or "Surgery" or "Lift" or "V-Y" or "Corner"). Exclusion criteria applied to 6436 initial keyword-search retrievals yielded 12 articles. Eight more articles were retrieved from reference sections, for a total of 18 papers assessed. Only one article made a direct comparison of efficacy between two surgical techniques for lip augmentation, and none directly compared complications associated with different NFPLAs. Although this systematic review revealed a lack of quality data in comparing the efficacy and complications among different NFPLAs, it is important to review and pool the existing studies to better suggest proper treatment to patients. Copyright © 2014 European Association for Cranio-Maxillo-Facial Surgery. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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Zonneveld, Rens; Molema, Grietje; Plötz, Frans B
2016-01-01
Alterations in neutrophil morphology (size, shape, and composition), mechanics (deformability), and motility (chemotaxis and migration) have been observed during sepsis. We combine summarizing features of neutrophil morphology, mechanics, and motility that change during sepsis with an investigation into their clinical utility as markers for sepsis through measurement with novel technologies. We performed an initial literature search in MEDLINE using search terms "neutrophil," "morphology," "mechanics," "dynamics," "motility," "mobility," "spreading," "polarization," "migration," and "chemotaxis." We then combined the results with "sepsis" and "septic shock." We scanned bibliographies of included articles to identify additional articles. Final selection was done after the authors reviewed recovered articles. We included articles based on their relevance for our review topic. When compared with resting conditions, sepsis causes an increase in circulating numbers of larger, more rigid neutrophils that show diminished granularity, migration, and chemotaxis. Combined measurement of these variables could provide a more complete view on neutrophil phenotype manifestation. For that purpose, sophisticated automated hematology analyzers, microscopy, and bedside microfluidic devices provide clinically feasible, high-throughput, and cost-limiting means. We propose that integration of features of neutrophil morphology, mechanics, and motility with these new analytical methods can be useful as markers for diagnosis, prognosis, and monitoring of sepsis and may even contribute to basic understanding of its pathophysiology.
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Tuberculosis control in prisons: current situation and research gaps.
Dara, Masoud; Acosta, Colleen D; Melchers, Natalie V S Vinkeles; Al-Darraji, Haider A A; Chorgoliani, Dato; Reyes, Hernan; Centis, Rosella; Sotgiu, Giovanni; D'Ambrosio, Lia; Chadha, Sarabjit S; Migliori, Giovanni Battista
2015-03-01
Tuberculosis (TB) in penitentiary services (prisons) is a major challenge to TB control. This review article describes the challenges that prison systems encounter in TB control and provides solutions for the more efficient use of limited resources based on the three pillars of the post-2015 End TB Strategy. This paper also proposes research priorities for TB control in prisons based on current challenges. Articles (published up to 2011) included in a recent systematic review on TB control in prisons were further reviewed. In addition, relevant articles in English (published 1990 to May 2014) were identified by searching keywords in PubMed and Google Scholar. Article bibliographies and conference abstracts were also hand-searched. Despite being a serious cause of morbidity and mortality among incarcerated populations, many prison systems encounter a variety of challenges that hinder TB control. These include, but are not limited to, insufficient laboratory capacity and diagnostic tools, interrupted supply of medicines, weak integration between civilian and prison TB services, inadequate infection control measures, and low policy priority for prison healthcare. Governmental commitment, partnerships, and sustained financing are needed in order to facilitate improvements in TB control in prisons, which will translate to the wider community. Copyright © 2015 World Health Organization. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.
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Nasal Septal Deviations: A Systematic Review of Classification Systems.
Teixeira, Jeffrey; Certal, Victor; Chang, Edward T; Camacho, Macario
2016-01-01
Objective. To systematically review the international literature for internal nasal septal deviation classification systems and summarize them for clinical and research purposes. Data Sources. Four databases (including PubMed/MEDLINE) were systematically searched through December 16, 2015. Methods. Systematic review, adhering to PRISMA. Results. After removal of duplicates, this study screened 952 articles for relevance. A final comprehensive review of 50 articles identified that 15 of these articles met the eligibility criteria. The classification systems defined in these articles included C-shaped, S-shaped, reverse C-shaped, and reverse S-shaped descriptions of the septal deviation in both the cephalocaudal and anteroposterior dimensions. Additional studies reported use of computed tomography and categorized deviation based on predefined locations. Three studies graded the severity of septal deviations based on the amount of deflection. The systems defined in the literature also included an evaluation of nasal septal spurs and perforations. Conclusion. This systematic review ascertained that the majority of the currently published classification systems for internal nasal septal deviations can be summarized by C-shaped or reverse C-shaped, as well as S-shaped or reverse S-shaped deviations in the anteroposterior and cephalocaudal dimensions. For imaging studies, predefined points have been defined along the septum. Common terminology can facilitate future research.
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Ji, Yanqing; Ying, Hao; Tran, John; Dews, Peter; Massanari, R Michael
2016-07-19
Finding highly relevant articles from biomedical databases is challenging not only because it is often difficult to accurately express a user's underlying intention through keywords but also because a keyword-based query normally returns a long list of hits with many citations being unwanted by the user. This paper proposes a novel biomedical literature search system, called BiomedSearch, which supports complex queries and relevance feedback. The system employed association mining techniques to build a k-profile representing a user's relevance feedback. More specifically, we developed a weighted interest measure and an association mining algorithm to find the strength of association between a query and each concept in the article(s) selected by the user as feedback. The top concepts were utilized to form a k-profile used for the next-round search. BiomedSearch relies on Unified Medical Language System (UMLS) knowledge sources to map text files to standard biomedical concepts. It was designed to support queries with any levels of complexity. A prototype of BiomedSearch software was made and it was preliminarily evaluated using the Genomics data from TREC (Text Retrieval Conference) 2006 Genomics Track. Initial experiment results indicated that BiomedSearch increased the mean average precision (MAP) for a set of queries. With UMLS and association mining techniques, BiomedSearch can effectively utilize users' relevance feedback to improve the performance of biomedical literature search.
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Merglen, Arnaud; Courvoisier, Delphine S; Combescure, Christophe; Garin, Nicolas; Perrier, Arnaud; Perneger, Thomas V
2012-01-01
Background Clinicians perform searches in PubMed daily, but retrieving relevant studies is challenging due to the rapid expansion of medical knowledge. Little is known about the performance of search strategies when they are applied to answer specific clinical questions. Objective To compare the performance of 15 PubMed search strategies in retrieving relevant clinical trials on therapeutic interventions. Methods We used Cochrane systematic reviews to identify relevant trials for 30 clinical questions. Search terms were extracted from the abstract using a predefined procedure based on the population, interventions, comparison, outcomes (PICO) framework and combined into queries. We tested 15 search strategies that varied in their query (PIC or PICO), use of PubMed’s Clinical Queries therapeutic filters (broad or narrow), search limits, and PubMed links to related articles. We assessed sensitivity (recall) and positive predictive value (precision) of each strategy on the first 2 PubMed pages (40 articles) and on the complete search output. Results The performance of the search strategies varied widely according to the clinical question. Unfiltered searches and those using the broad filter of Clinical Queries produced large outputs and retrieved few relevant articles within the first 2 pages, resulting in a median sensitivity of only 10%–25%. In contrast, all searches using the narrow filter performed significantly better, with a median sensitivity of about 50% (all P < .001 compared with unfiltered queries) and positive predictive values of 20%–30% (P < .001 compared with unfiltered queries). This benefit was consistent for most clinical questions. Searches based on related articles retrieved about a third of the relevant studies. Conclusions The Clinical Queries narrow filter, along with well-formulated queries based on the PICO framework, provided the greatest aid in retrieving relevant clinical trials within the 2 first PubMed pages. These results can help clinicians apply effective strategies to answer their questions at the point of care. PMID:22693047
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Agoritsas, Thomas; Merglen, Arnaud; Courvoisier, Delphine S; Combescure, Christophe; Garin, Nicolas; Perrier, Arnaud; Perneger, Thomas V
2012-06-12
Clinicians perform searches in PubMed daily, but retrieving relevant studies is challenging due to the rapid expansion of medical knowledge. Little is known about the performance of search strategies when they are applied to answer specific clinical questions. To compare the performance of 15 PubMed search strategies in retrieving relevant clinical trials on therapeutic interventions. We used Cochrane systematic reviews to identify relevant trials for 30 clinical questions. Search terms were extracted from the abstract using a predefined procedure based on the population, interventions, comparison, outcomes (PICO) framework and combined into queries. We tested 15 search strategies that varied in their query (PIC or PICO), use of PubMed's Clinical Queries therapeutic filters (broad or narrow), search limits, and PubMed links to related articles. We assessed sensitivity (recall) and positive predictive value (precision) of each strategy on the first 2 PubMed pages (40 articles) and on the complete search output. The performance of the search strategies varied widely according to the clinical question. Unfiltered searches and those using the broad filter of Clinical Queries produced large outputs and retrieved few relevant articles within the first 2 pages, resulting in a median sensitivity of only 10%-25%. In contrast, all searches using the narrow filter performed significantly better, with a median sensitivity of about 50% (all P < .001 compared with unfiltered queries) and positive predictive values of 20%-30% (P < .001 compared with unfiltered queries). This benefit was consistent for most clinical questions. Searches based on related articles retrieved about a third of the relevant studies. The Clinical Queries narrow filter, along with well-formulated queries based on the PICO framework, provided the greatest aid in retrieving relevant clinical trials within the 2 first PubMed pages. These results can help clinicians apply effective strategies to answer their questions at the point of care.
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Schoenberger, Scott D; Kim, Stephen J; Thorne, Jennifer E; Mruthyunjaya, Prithvi; Yeh, Steven; Bakri, Sophie J; Ehlers, Justis P
2017-03-01
To evaluate the available evidence in peer-reviewed publications about the diagnosis and treatment of acute retinal necrosis (ARN). Literature searches of the PubMed and Cochrane Library databases were last conducted on July 27, 2016. The searches identified 216 unique citations, and 49 articles of possible clinical relevance were reviewed in full text. Of these 49 articles, 27 were deemed sufficiently relevant or of interest, and they were rated according to strength of evidence. An additional 6 articles were identified from the reference lists of these articles and included. All 33 studies were retrospective. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing of aqueous or vitreous humor was positive for herpes simplex virus (HSV) or varicella zoster virus (VZV) in 79% to 100% of cases of suspected ARN. Aqueous and vitreous specimens are both sensitive and specific. There is level II and III evidence supporting the use of intravenous and oral antiviral therapy for the treatment of ARN. Data suggest that equivalent plasma drug levels of acyclovir can be achieved after administration of oral valacyclovir or intravenous acyclovir. There is level II and III evidence suggesting that the combination of intravitreal foscarnet and systemic antiviral therapy may have greater therapeutic efficacy than systemic therapy alone. The effectiveness of prophylactic laser or early pars plana vitrectomy (PPV) in preventing retinal detachment (RD) remains unclear. Polymerase chain reaction testing of ocular fluid is useful in supporting a clinical diagnosis of ARN, but treatment should not be delayed while awaiting PCR results. Initial oral or intravenous antiviral therapy is effective in treating ARN. The adjunctive use of intravitreal foscarnet may be more effective than systemic therapy alone. The role of prophylactic laser retinopexy or early PPV is unknown at this time. Copyright © 2017 American Academy of Ophthalmology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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Goiato, Marcelo Coelho; Pellizzer, Eduardo Piza; da Silva, Emily Vivianne Freitas; Bonatto, Liliane da Rocha; dos Santos, Daniela Micheline
2015-09-01
This systematic review aimed to evaluate if the internal connection is more efficient than the external connection and its associated influencing factors. A specific question was formulated according to the Population, Intervention, Control, and Outcome (PICO): Is internal connection more efficient than external connection in mechanical, biological, and esthetical point of views? An electronic search of the MEDLINE and the Web of Knowledge databases was performed for relevant studies published in English up to November 2013 by two independent reviewers. The keywords used in the search included a combination of "dental implant" and "internal connection" or "Morse connection" or "external connection." Selected studies were randomized clinical trials, prospective or retrospective studies, and in vitro studies with a clear aim of investigating the internal and/or external implant connection use. From an initial screening yield of 674 articles, 64 potentially relevant articles were selected after an evaluation of their titles and abstracts. Full texts of these articles were obtained with 29 articles fulfilling the inclusion criteria. Morse taper connection has the best sealing ability. Concerning crestal bone loss, internal connections presented better results than external connections. The limitation of the present study was the absence of randomized clinical trials that investigated if the internal connection was more efficient than the external connection. The external and internal connections have different mechanical, biological, and esthetical characteristics. Besides all systems that show proper success rates and effectiveness, crestal bone level maintenance is more important around internal connections than external connections. The Morse taper connection seems to be more efficient concerning biological aspects, allowing lower bacterial leakage and bone loss in single implants, including aesthetic regions. Additionally, this connection type can be successfully indicated for fixed partial prostheses and overdenture planning, since it exhibits high mechanical stability.
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Bratzke, Lisa C.; Muehrer, Rebecca J.; Kehl, Karen A.; Lee, Kyoung Suk; Ward, Earlise C.; Kwekkeboom, Kristine L.
2014-01-01
Objectives The purpose of this narrative review was to synthesize current research findings related to self-management, in order to better understand the processes of priority setting and decision-making in among adults with multimorbidity. Design A narrative literature review was undertaken, synthesizing findings from published, peer-reviewed empirical studies that addressed priority setting and/or decision-making in self-management of multimorbidity. Data sources A search of PubMed, PsychINFO, CINAHL and SocIndex databases was conducted from database inception through December 2013. References lists from selected empirical studies and systematic reviews were evaluated to identify any additional relevant articles. Review methods Full text of potentially eligible articles were reviewed and selected for inclusion if they described empirical studies that addressed priority setting or decision-making in self-management of multimorbidity among adults. Two independent reviewers read each selected article and extracted relevant data to an evidence table. Processes and factors and processes of multimorbidity self-management were identified and sorted into categories of priority setting, decision-making, and facilitators/barriers. Results Thirteen articles were selected for inclusion; most were qualitative studies describing processes, facilitators, and barriers of multimorbidity self-management. The findings revealed that patients prioritize a dominant chronic illness and re-prioritize over time as conditions and treatments change; that multiple facilitators (e.g. support programs) and barriers (e.g. lack of financial resources) impact individuals’ self-management priority setting and decision-making ability; as do individual beliefs, preferences, and attitudes (e.g., perceived personal control, preferences regarding treatment). Conclusions Health care providers need to be cognizant that individuals with multimorbidity engage in day-to-day priority setting and decision-making among their multiple chronic illnesses and respective treatments. Researchers need to develop and test interventions that support day-to-day priority setting and decision-making and improve health outcomes for individuals with multimorbidity. PMID:25468131
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Atayero, Aderemi A; Popoola, Segun I; Egeonu, Jesse; Oludayo, Olumuyiwa
2018-08-01
Citation is one of the important metrics that are used in measuring the relevance and the impact of research publications. The potentials of citation analytics may be exploited to understand the gains of publishing scholarly peer-reviewed research outputs in either Open Access (OA) sources or Subscription-Based (SB) sources in the bid to increase citation impact. However, relevant data required for such comparative analysis must be freely accessible for evidence-based findings and conclusions. In this data article, citation scores ( CiteScores ) of 2542 OA sources and 15,040 SB sources indexed in Scopus from 2014 to 2016 were presented and analyzed based on a set of five inclusion criteria. A robust dataset, which contains the CiteScores of OA and SB publication sources included, is attached as supplementary material to this data article to facilitate further reuse. Descriptive statistics and frequency distributions of OA CiteScores and SB CiteScores are presented in tables. Boxplot representations and scatter plots are provided to show the statistical distributions of OA CiteScores and SB CiteScores across the three sub-categories (Book Series, Journal, and Trade Journal). Correlation coefficient and p-value matrices are made available within the data article. In addition, Probability Density Functions (PDFs) and Cumulative Distribution Functions (CDFs) of OA CiteScores and SB CiteScores are computed and the results are presented using tables and graphs. Furthermore, Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and multiple comparison post-hoc tests are conducted to understand the statistical difference (and its significance, if any) in the citation impact of OA publication sources and SB publication source based on CiteScore . In the long run, the data provided in this article will help policy makers and researchers in Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) to identify the appropriate publication source type and category for dissemination of scholarly research findings with maximum citation impact.
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Systematic review of spica casting for the treatment of paediatric diaphyseal femur fractures
Tisherman, R. T.; Hoellwarth, J. S.; Mendelson, S. A.
2018-01-01
Purpose Paediatric femur fractures are commonly encountered and often successfully managed with spica casting. Despite spica casting’s long history there is little formal guidance for optimal outcomes and no consolidation of existing literature. The purpose of this study is to review the available literature regarding the use of spica casting for the management of paediatric diaphyseal femur fractures. Methods The PubMed database was queried for all research articles including the phrase “spica”. A total of 788 abstracts were reviewed for relevance to the current study. Data was extracted from all available research studies which specified tolerance for fracture angulation or shortening in the cast. Additionally, all articles describing alternative materials, methods for spica application, and complications of spica casting were reviewed. Results In all, 106 articles were found relevant to the management of diaphyseal femur fractures in the paediatric population. The aggregated, accepted fracture shortening decreased from 16 mm to 18 mm before age ten years to 12 mm to 14 mm after puberty. Aggregated, accepted angulation decreased from 14° to 16° varus/valgus and 18° to 22° pro/recurvatum before age two years, to 6° to 8° and 10° to 12° by puberty, respectively. The overall reported complication rate was 19.6%, with the most common complication being skin compromise in 8.2% of patients, followed by unacceptable angulation at the fracture site in 4.2% of patients and excessive limb shortening in 1.9% of patients. Conclusion This article reviews the available spica casting literature and compiles the available data. Spica casting offers a safe, effective means for definitive management of paediatric diaphyseal femur fractures. Future research identifying the rate and pattern of remodelling as it relates to angulation and shortening at various patient ages, particularly beyond the aforementioned norms, would be valuable to identify true biological tolerances versus accepted expert opinion. Level of evidence Level II Review of level II evidence PMID:29707052
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Systematic review of spica casting for the treatment of paediatric diaphyseal femur fractures.
Tisherman, R T; Hoellwarth, J S; Mendelson, S A
2018-04-01
Paediatric femur fractures are commonly encountered and often successfully managed with spica casting. Despite spica casting's long history there is little formal guidance for optimal outcomes and no consolidation of existing literature. The purpose of this study is to review the available literature regarding the use of spica casting for the management of paediatric diaphyseal femur fractures. The PubMed database was queried for all research articles including the phrase "spica". A total of 788 abstracts were reviewed for relevance to the current study. Data was extracted from all available research studies which specified tolerance for fracture angulation or shortening in the cast. Additionally, all articles describing alternative materials, methods for spica application, and complications of spica casting were reviewed. In all, 106 articles were found relevant to the management of diaphyseal femur fractures in the paediatric population. The aggregated, accepted fracture shortening decreased from 16 mm to 18 mm before age ten years to 12 mm to 14 mm after puberty. Aggregated, accepted angulation decreased from 14° to 16° varus/valgus and 18° to 22° pro/recurvatum before age two years, to 6° to 8° and 10° to 12° by puberty, respectively. The overall reported complication rate was 19.6%, with the most common complication being skin compromise in 8.2% of patients, followed by unacceptable angulation at the fracture site in 4.2% of patients and excessive limb shortening in 1.9% of patients. This article reviews the available spica casting literature and compiles the available data. Spica casting offers a safe, effective means for definitive management of paediatric diaphyseal femur fractures. Future research identifying the rate and pattern of remodelling as it relates to angulation and shortening at various patient ages, particularly beyond the aforementioned norms, would be valuable to identify true biological tolerances versus accepted expert opinion. Review of level II evidence.
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Bratzke, Lisa C; Muehrer, Rebecca J; Kehl, Karen A; Lee, Kyoung Suk; Ward, Earlise C; Kwekkeboom, Kristine L
2015-03-01
The purpose of this narrative review was to synthesize current research findings related to self-management, in order to better understand the processes of priority setting and decision-making among adults with multimorbidity. A narrative literature review was undertaken, synthesizing findings from published, peer-reviewed empirical studies that addressed priority setting and/or decision-making in self-management of multimorbidity. A search of PubMed, PsychINFO, CINAHL and SocIndex databases was conducted from database inception through December 2013. References lists from selected empirical studies and systematic reviews were evaluated to identify any additional relevant articles. Full text of potentially eligible articles were reviewed and selected for inclusion if they described empirical studies that addressed priority setting or decision-making in self-management of multimorbidity among adults. Two independent reviewers read each selected article and extracted relevant data to an evidence table. Processes and factors of multimorbidity self-management were identified and sorted into categories of priority setting, decision-making, and facilitators/barriers. Thirteen articles were selected for inclusion; most were qualitative studies describing processes, facilitators, and barriers of multimorbidity self-management. The findings revealed that patients prioritize a dominant chronic illness and re-prioritize over time as conditions and treatments change; that multiple facilitators (e.g. support programs) and barriers (e.g. lack of financial resources) impact individuals' self-management priority setting and decision-making ability; as do individual beliefs, preferences, and attitudes (e.g., perceived personal control, preferences regarding treatment). Health care providers need to be cognizant that individuals with multimorbidity engage in day-to-day priority setting and decision-making among their multiple chronic illnesses and respective treatments. Researchers need to develop and test interventions that support day-to-day priority setting and decision-making and improve health outcomes for individuals with multimorbidity. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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MeSH Now: automatic MeSH indexing at PubMed scale via learning to rank.
Mao, Yuqing; Lu, Zhiyong
2017-04-17
MeSH indexing is the task of assigning relevant MeSH terms based on a manual reading of scholarly publications by human indexers. The task is highly important for improving literature retrieval and many other scientific investigations in biomedical research. Unfortunately, given its manual nature, the process of MeSH indexing is both time-consuming (new articles are not immediately indexed until 2 or 3 months later) and costly (approximately ten dollars per article). In response, automatic indexing by computers has been previously proposed and attempted but remains challenging. In order to advance the state of the art in automatic MeSH indexing, a community-wide shared task called BioASQ was recently organized. We propose MeSH Now, an integrated approach that first uses multiple strategies to generate a combined list of candidate MeSH terms for a target article. Through a novel learning-to-rank framework, MeSH Now then ranks the list of candidate terms based on their relevance to the target article. Finally, MeSH Now selects the highest-ranked MeSH terms via a post-processing module. We assessed MeSH Now on two separate benchmarking datasets using traditional precision, recall and F 1 -score metrics. In both evaluations, MeSH Now consistently achieved over 0.60 in F-score, ranging from 0.610 to 0.612. Furthermore, additional experiments show that MeSH Now can be optimized by parallel computing in order to process MEDLINE documents on a large scale. We conclude that MeSH Now is a robust approach with state-of-the-art performance for automatic MeSH indexing and that MeSH Now is capable of processing PubMed scale documents within a reasonable time frame. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/CBBresearch/Lu/Demo/MeSHNow/ .
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The visualization and availability of experimental research data at Elsevier
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Keall, Bethan
2014-05-01
In the digital age, the visualization and availability of experimental research data is an increasingly prominent aspect of the research process and of the scientific output that researchers generate. We expect that the importance of data will continue to grow, driven by technological advancements, requirements from funding bodies to make research data available, and a developing research data infrastructure that is supported by data repositories, science publishers, and other stakeholders. Elsevier is actively contributing to these efforts, for example by setting up bidirectional links between online articles on ScienceDirect and relevant data sets on trusted data repositories. A key aspect of Elsevier's "Article of the Future" program, these links enrich the online article and make it easier for researchers to find relevant data and articles and help place data in the right context for re-use. Recently, we have set up such links with some of the leading data repositories in Earth Sciences, including the British Geological Survey, Integrated Earth Data Applications, the UK Natural Environment Research Council, and the Oak Ridge National Laboratory DAAC. Building on these links, Elsevier has also developed a number of data integration and visualization tools, such as an interactive map viewer that displays the locations of relevant data from PANGAEA next to articles on ScienceDirect. In this presentation we will give an overview of these and other capabilities of the Article of the Future, focusing on how they help advance communication of research in the digital age.
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Update on Medical Practices that should be questioned in 2015
Morgan, Daniel J.; Dhruva, Sanket S.; Wright, Scott M.; Korenstein, Deborah
2016-01-01
Importance Overuse of medical care, consisting primarily of overdiagnosis and overtreatment, is a common clinical problem. Objective To identify and highlight articles published in 2014 that are most likely to impact overuse, organized into the categories of overdiagnosis, overtreatment, and methods to avoid overuse. These manuscripts were reviewed and interpreted for their importance to clinical medicine. Evidence Review A structured review of English-language articles on PubMed published in 2014 and review of tables of contents of relevant journals to identify potential articles that related to medical overuse in adults. Findings We reviewed 910 articles, of which 440 addressed overuse. Of these, 104 were deemed most relevant based on the presentation of original data, quality of methodology, magnitude of clinical impact, and the number of patients potentially affected. The 10 most influential articles were selected by author consensus using the same criteria. Findings included lack of benefit for screening pelvic examinations (positive predictive value <5%), carotid artery and thyroid ultrasounds. Harms of cancer screening included unnecessary surgery and complications. Head CT scans were an overused diagnostic test (4% with clinically significant findings) and overtreatment included acetaminophen for low back pain, prolonged opioid use after surgery (3% of patients on >90 days), perioperative aspirin, medications to increase HDL, and stenting for renal artery stenosis. Conclusions and Relevance Many common medical practices should be reconsidered. It is hoped that our review promotes reflection on these 10 articles and lead to questioning other non-evidence based practices. PMID:26551354
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Clinical teaching with emotional intelligence: A teaching toolbox
Omid, Athar; Haghani, Fariba; Adibi, Peyman
2016-01-01
Background: Emotional intelligence (EI) helps humans to perceive their own and others’ emotions. It helps to make better interpersonal communication that consequently leads to an increase in everyday performance and professional career. Teaching, particularly teaching in the clinical environment, is among the professions that need a high level of EI due to its relevance to human interactions. Materials and Methods: We adopted EI competencies with characteristics of a good clinical teacher. As a result, we extracted 12 strategies and then reviewed the literatures relevant to these strategies. Results: In the present article, 12 strategies that a clinical teacher should follow to use EI in her/his teaching were described. Conclusion: To apply EI in clinical settings, a teacher should consider all the factors that can bring about a more positive emotional environment and social interactions. These factors will increase students’ learning, improve patients’ care, and maintain her/his well-being. In addition, he/she will be able to evaluate her/his teaching to improve its effectiveness. PMID:27904573
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Webster, Linda; Joubert, David
2011-01-01
Child maltreatment has been associated with a host of negative outcomes including impaired social relationships (Rogosch, Cicchetti, & Aber, 1995), depression (Toth, Manly, & Cicchetti, 1992), poor self-concept and motivation (Vondra, Barnett, & Cicchetti, 1990), and delinquency and conduct problems (Cook et al., 2005; Grotevant et al., 2006; McCabe, Lucchini, Hough, Yeh, & Hazen, 2005; Ryan & Testa, 2005). An assessment of the mental representation of attachment relationships could offer additional relevant and useful information to the evaluation of youth in foster care, and could inform treatment and placement considerations. The Adult Attachment Projective Picture System (AAP) is a relatively new measure of internal representations of attachment based on the analysis of a set of stimuli designed to systematically activate the attachment system (George, West, & Pettem, 1997). This article considers the use of the AAP with a maltreated adolescent in a clinical setting and uses a case study to illustrate the components of the AAP that are particularly relevant to case conceptualization and interventions.
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Gallego, Alejandro; O'Hara Murray, Rory; Berx, Barbara; Turrell, William R; Beegle-Krause, C J; Inall, Mark; Sherwin, Toby; Siddorn, John; Wakelin, Sarah; Vlasenko, Vasyl; Hole, Lars R; Dagestad, Knut Frode; Rees, John; Short, Lucy; Rønningen, Petter; Main, Charlotte E; Legrand, Sebastien; Gutierrez, Tony; Witte, Ursula; Mulanaphy, Nicole
2018-02-01
As oil reserves in established basins become depleted, exploration and production moves towards relatively unexploited areas, such as deep waters off the continental shelf. The Faroe-Shetland Channel (FSC, NE Atlantic) and adjacent areas have been subject to increased focus by the oil industry. In addition to extreme depths, metocean conditions in this region characterise an environment with high waves and strong winds, strong currents, complex circulation patterns, sharp density gradients, and large small- and mesoscale variability. These conditions pose operational challenges to oil spill response and question the suitability of current oil spill modelling frameworks (oil spill models and their forcing data) to adequately simulate the behaviour of a potential oil spill in the area. This article reviews the state of knowledge relevant to deepwater oil spill modelling for the FSC area and identifies knowledge gaps and research priorities. Our analysis should be relevant to other areas of complex oceanography. Crown Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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Research and innovation in the development of everolimus for oncology.
Lebwohl, David; Thomas, George; Lane, Heidi A; O'Reilly, Terence; Escudier, Bernard; Yao, James C; Pavel, Marianne; Franz, David; Berg, William; Baladi, Jean-Francois; Stewart, Jubilee; Motzer, Robert J
2011-03-01
The critical role of increased activity of mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) in the pathophysiology of multiple diseases is well established. Inhibition of the mTOR pathway may block disease progression and improve patient outcomes. Everolimus, an mTOR inhibitor, began in clinical development as part of a regimen (Certican, Zortress) for prevention of organ transplant rejection and is now an approved oncology agent. The objective of this review is to discuss the history of key findings and innovative cancer research undertaken to successfully develop everolimus as an oncology therapy (Afinitor) now approved for patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma (RCC) and for subependymal giant cell astrocytomas (SEGAs) associated with tuberous sclerosis. In addition, data for the use of everolimus in the treatment of other cancers and rare diseases are also discussed. A PubMed search of English articles without time restrictions was conducted using the search terms 'everolimus or rapamycin' and 'cancer'. Bibliographies of retrieved articles were manually searched for additional relevant articles. Major cancer congresses were also searched. The clinical efficacy of everolimus alone and in combination with other agents has been observed in recently completed Phase II-III studies in a wide spectrum of tumors, including RCC, neuroendocrine tumors, tuberous sclerosis complex, SEGAs and angiomyolipomas, lymphoma and gastric, breast and hepatocellular cancers. These findings emphasize the importance of mTOR in diverse cancers and rare diseases and underscore the potential role for everolimus as an effective agent in multiple indications.
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Urine drug screens: Considerations for the psychiatric pharmacist
Hale, Genevieve M.; Ross, Clint
2016-01-01
Introduction: Proper psychiatric evaluation of patients necessitates that the clinician be vigilant in ruling out secondary causes of symptoms, such as substance-induced symptoms. Immunoassay-type urine drug screens (UDSs) offer clinicians rapid drug screen results, ease of use, and inexpensive cost. Unfortunately, these screens are not without their limitations. This review aims to outline the nuances and limitations of immunoassay UDSs and to provide the clinician with information that facilitates more accurate interpretation of UDS results. Specifically, false positive results associated with psychiatric medications and the availability and methods for acquisition of commercialized UDS masking agents will be reviewed. Methods: A literature review was conducted to identify false positive UDSs associated with psychiatric medications. References for each article identified were also reviewed. Additionally, a Google® search was conducted to identify commercially available preparations used to mask UDS results and the methods of acquisition of these products. Results: A total of 14 articles were identified using PubMed. No articles for mood stabilizing agents were identified. Entering the phrase how to pass a drug test into Google® search yielded about 12.6 million results, and select references were reviewed based on relevance and user reviews. Discussion: Several psychiatric medications are documented as potential sources of false positive UDSs. Additionally, several agents are available for consumer purchase that may result in false negative UDSs. The clinician must be vigilant in interpreting immunoassay UDS results and should utilize more advanced forms of testing as clinically appropriate.
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The Cross-National Relevance of U.S. Formulated Theories of College Student Departure
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Braxton, John M.
2013-01-01
This article focuses on the cross-national relevance of theories of college student departure formulated by U.S. scholars. Some aspects of U.S. developed theories of college student departure hold some semblance of cross-national relevance. Economic and sociological perspectives provide such aspects. The weighing of costs and benefits inherent in…
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GO2PUB: Querying PubMed with semantic expansion of gene ontology terms
2012-01-01
Background With the development of high throughput methods of gene analyses, there is a growing need for mining tools to retrieve relevant articles in PubMed. As PubMed grows, literature searches become more complex and time-consuming. Automated search tools with good precision and recall are necessary. We developed GO2PUB to automatically enrich PubMed queries with gene names, symbols and synonyms annotated by a GO term of interest or one of its descendants. Results GO2PUB enriches PubMed queries based on selected GO terms and keywords. It processes the result and displays the PMID, title, authors, abstract and bibliographic references of the articles. Gene names, symbols and synonyms that have been generated as extra keywords from the GO terms are also highlighted. GO2PUB is based on a semantic expansion of PubMed queries using the semantic inheritance between terms through the GO graph. Two experts manually assessed the relevance of GO2PUB, GoPubMed and PubMed on three queries about lipid metabolism. Experts’ agreement was high (kappa = 0.88). GO2PUB returned 69% of the relevant articles, GoPubMed: 40% and PubMed: 29%. GO2PUB and GoPubMed have 17% of their results in common, corresponding to 24% of the total number of relevant results. 70% of the articles returned by more than one tool were relevant. 36% of the relevant articles were returned only by GO2PUB, 17% only by GoPubMed and 14% only by PubMed. For determining whether these results can be generalized, we generated twenty queries based on random GO terms with a granularity similar to those of the first three queries and compared the proportions of GO2PUB and GoPubMed results. These were respectively of 77% and 40% for the first queries, and of 70% and 38% for the random queries. The two experts also assessed the relevance of seven of the twenty queries (the three related to lipid metabolism and four related to other domains). Expert agreement was high (0.93 and 0.8). GO2PUB and GoPubMed performances were similar to those of the first queries. Conclusions We demonstrated that the use of genes annotated by either GO terms of interest or a descendant of these GO terms yields some relevant articles ignored by other tools. The comparison of GO2PUB, based on semantic expansion, with GoPubMed, based on text mining techniques, showed that both tools are complementary. The analysis of the randomly-generated queries suggests that the results obtained about lipid metabolism can be generalized to other biological processes. GO2PUB is available at http://go2pub.genouest.org. PMID:22958570
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Macedo, Paula G; Kapa, Suraj; Mears, Jennifer A; Fratianni, Amy; Asirvatham, Samuel J
2010-07-01
Ablation procedures for atrial fibrillation have become an established and increasingly used option for managing patients with symptomatic arrhythmia. The anatomic structures relevant to the pathogenesis of atrial fibrillation and ablation procedures are varied and include the pulmonary veins, other thoracic veins, the left atrial myocardium, and autonomic ganglia. Exact regional anatomic knowledge of these structures is essential to allow correlation with fluoroscopy and electrograms and, importantly, to avoid complications from damage of adjacent structures within the chest. We present this information as a series of 2 articles. In a prior issue, we have discussed the thoracic vein anatomy relevant to paroxysmal atrial fibrillation. In the present article, we focus on the atria themselves, the autonomic ganglia, and anatomic issues relevant for minimizing complications during atrial fibrillation ablation.
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Review of common conditions associated with periodontal ligament widening
Mortazavi, Hamed
2016-01-01
Purpose The aim of this article is to review a group of lesions associated with periodontal ligament (PDL) widening. Materials and Methods An electronic search was performed using specialized databases such as Google Scholar, PubMed, PubMed Central, Science Direct, and Scopus to find relevant studies by using keywords such as “periodontium”, “periodontal ligament”, “periodontal ligament space”, “widened periodontal ligament”, and “periodontal ligament widening”. Results Out of nearly 200 articles, about 60 were broadly relevant to the topic. Ultimately, 47 articles closely related to the topic of interest were reviewed. When the relevant data were compiled, the following 10 entities were identified: occlusal/orthodontic trauma, periodontal disease/periodontitis, pulpo-periapical lesions, osteosarcoma, chondrosarcoma, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, progressive systemic sclerosis, radiation-induced bone defect, bisphosphonate-related osteonecrosis, and osteomyelitis. Conclusion Although PDL widening may be encountered by many dentists during their routine daily procedures, the clinician should consider some serious related conditions as well. PMID:28035300
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VMAT2 Inhibitors: New Drugs for the Treatment of Tardive Dyskinesia.
Kim, Anne P; Baker, Danial E; Levien, Terri L
2018-04-01
To provide a review of tardive dyskinesia (TD) symptoms, etiology, pathophysiology, and treatments. PubMed, Web of Science, ClinicalTrials. gov, and Google Scholar were searched for relevant literature using a combination of the following terms: tardive dyskinesia, treatment, management, guidelines, tetrabenazine, deutetrabenazine, and valbenazine. Sources were limited to human data. Articles were reviewed for relevance to TD therapy. Reference lists were manually searched for other relevant articles. Selected literature was published between 1968 and 2017. This article reviews treatment options available for patients with TD. Many agents have been tried off-label to manage symptoms, with limited evidence of benefit. The Food and Drug Administration approved the first drug to treat TD valbenazine on April 11, 2017. TD is largely iatrogenic. Valbenazine's approval by the Food and Drug Administration was followed by the approval of deutetrabenazine, a drug with similar mechanism of action. Further data from postmarketing studies will be needed to verify that valbenazine's adverse effect profile is different from the profiles of tetrabenazine and deutetrabenazine.
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Monajati, Alireza; Larumbe-Zabala, Eneko; Goss-Sampson, Mark; Naclerio, Fernando
2016-01-01
Background Hamstring strain and anterior cruciate ligament injuries are, respectively, the most prevalent and serious non-contact occurring injuries in team sports. Specific biomechanical and neuromuscular variables have been used to estimate the risk of incurring a non-contact injury in athletes. Objective The aim of this study was to systematically review the evidences for the effectiveness of injury prevention protocols to modify biomechanical and neuromuscular anterior cruciate and/or hamstring injuries associated risk factors in uninjured team sport athletes. Data Sources PubMed, Science Direct, Web of Science, Cochrane Libraries, U.S. National Institutes of Health clinicaltrials.gov, Sport Discuss and Google Scholar databases were searched for relevant journal articles published until March 2015. A manual review of relevant articles, authors, and journals, including bibliographies was performed from identified articles. Main Results Nineteen studies were included in this review. Four assessment categories: i) landing, ii) side cutting, iii) stop-jump, and iv) muscle strength outcomes, were used to analyze the effectiveness of the preventive protocols. Eight studies using multifaceted interventions supported by video and/or technical feedback showed improvement in landing and/or stop-jump biomechanics, while no effects were observed on side-cutting maneuver. Additionally, multifaceted programs including hamstring eccentric exercises increased hamstring strength, hamstring to quadriceps functional ratio and/or promoted a shift of optimal knee flexion peak torque toward a more open angle position. Conclusions Multifaceted programs, supported by proper video and/or technical feedback, including eccentric hamstring exercises would positively modify the biomechanical and or neuromuscular anterior cruciate and/or hamstring injury risk factors. PMID:27171282
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Physical Activity, Biomarkers, and Disease Outcomes in Cancer Survivors: A Systematic Review
Friedenreich, Christine M.; Courneya, Kerry S.; Siddiqi, Sameer M.; McTiernan, Anne; Alfano, Catherine M.
2012-01-01
Background Cancer survivors often seek information about how lifestyle factors, such as physical activity, may influence their prognosis. We systematically reviewed studies that examined relationships between physical activity and mortality (cancer-specific and all-cause) and/or cancer biomarkers. Methods We identified 45 articles published from January 1950 to August 2011 through MEDLINE database searches that were related to physical activity, cancer survival, and biomarkers potentially relevant to cancer survival. We used the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses Statement to guide this review. Study characteristics, mortality outcomes, and biomarker-relevant and subgroup results were abstracted for each article that met the inclusion criteria (ie, research articles that included participants with a cancer diagnosis, mortality outcomes, and an assessment of physical activity). Results There was consistent evidence from 27 observational studies that physical activity is associated with reduced all-cause, breast cancer–specific, and colon cancer–specific mortality. There is currently insufficient evidence regarding the association between physical activity and mortality for survivors of other cancers. Randomized controlled trials of exercise that included biomarker endpoints suggest that exercise may result in beneficial changes in the circulating level of insulin, insulin-related pathways, inflammation, and, possibly, immunity; however, the evidence is still preliminary. Conclusions Future research directions identified include the need for more observational studies on additional types of cancer with larger sample sizes; the need to examine whether the association between physical activity and mortality varies by tumor, clinical, or risk factor characteristics; and the need for research on the biological mechanisms involved in the association between physical activity and survival after a cancer diagnosis. Future randomized controlled trials of exercise with biomarker and cancer-specific disease endpoints, such as recurrence, new primary cancers, and cancer-specific mortality in cancer survivors, are warranted. PMID:22570317
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Fatigue following Acute Q-Fever: A Systematic Literature Review
Delsing, Corine E.; Bleijenberg, Gijs; Langendam, Miranda; Timen, Aura; Bleeker-Rovers, Chantal P.
2016-01-01
Background Long-term fatigue with detrimental effects on daily functioning often occurs following acute Q-fever. Following the 2007–2010 Q-fever outbreak in the Netherlands with over 4000 notified cases, the emphasis on long-term consequences of Q-fever increased. The aim of this study was to provide an overview of all relevant available literature, and to identify knowledge gaps regarding the definition, diagnosis, background, description, aetiology, prevention, therapy, and prognosis, of fatigue following acute Q-fever. Design A systematic review was conducted through searching Pubmed, Embase, and PsycInfo for relevant literature up to 26th May 2015. References of included articles were hand searched for additional documents, and included articles were quality assessed. Results Fifty-seven articles were included and four documents classified as grey literature. The quality of most studies was low. The studies suggest that although most patients recover from fatigue within 6–12 months after acute Q-fever, approximately 20% remain chronically fatigued. Several names are used indicating fatigue following acute Q-fever, of which Q-fever fatigue syndrome (QFS) is most customary. Although QFS is described to occur frequently in many countries, a uniform definition is lacking. The studies report major health and work-related consequences, and is frequently accompanied by nonspecific complaints. There is no consensus with regard to aetiology, prevention, treatment, and prognosis. Conclusions Long-term fatigue following acute Q-fever, generally referred to as QFS, has major health-related consequences. However, information on aetiology, prevention, treatment, and prognosis of QFS is underrepresented in the international literature. In order to facilitate comparison of findings, and as platform for future studies, a uniform definition and diagnostic work-up and uniform measurement tools for QFS are proposed. PMID:27223465
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Fatigue following Acute Q-Fever: A Systematic Literature Review.
Morroy, Gabriella; Keijmel, Stephan P; Delsing, Corine E; Bleijenberg, Gijs; Langendam, Miranda; Timen, Aura; Bleeker-Rovers, Chantal P
2016-01-01
Long-term fatigue with detrimental effects on daily functioning often occurs following acute Q-fever. Following the 2007-2010 Q-fever outbreak in the Netherlands with over 4000 notified cases, the emphasis on long-term consequences of Q-fever increased. The aim of this study was to provide an overview of all relevant available literature, and to identify knowledge gaps regarding the definition, diagnosis, background, description, aetiology, prevention, therapy, and prognosis, of fatigue following acute Q-fever. A systematic review was conducted through searching Pubmed, Embase, and PsycInfo for relevant literature up to 26th May 2015. References of included articles were hand searched for additional documents, and included articles were quality assessed. Fifty-seven articles were included and four documents classified as grey literature. The quality of most studies was low. The studies suggest that although most patients recover from fatigue within 6-12 months after acute Q-fever, approximately 20% remain chronically fatigued. Several names are used indicating fatigue following acute Q-fever, of which Q-fever fatigue syndrome (QFS) is most customary. Although QFS is described to occur frequently in many countries, a uniform definition is lacking. The studies report major health and work-related consequences, and is frequently accompanied by nonspecific complaints. There is no consensus with regard to aetiology, prevention, treatment, and prognosis. Long-term fatigue following acute Q-fever, generally referred to as QFS, has major health-related consequences. However, information on aetiology, prevention, treatment, and prognosis of QFS is underrepresented in the international literature. In order to facilitate comparison of findings, and as platform for future studies, a uniform definition and diagnostic work-up and uniform measurement tools for QFS are proposed.
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Research on Hartmann test for progressive addition lenses
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Qin, Lin-ling; Yu, Jing-chi
2009-05-01
Recently, in the world some growing-up measurements for Progressive addition lenses and relevant equipments have been developed. They are single point measurement, moiré deflectometry, Ronchi test techniques. Hartmann test for Progressive addition lenses is proposed in the article. The measurement principle of Hartmann test for ophthalmic lenses and the power compensation of off-axis rays are introduced. The experimental setup used to test lenses is put forward. For experimental test, a spatial filter is used for selecting a clean Gaussian beam; a collimating lens with focal distance f =300 mm is used to produce collimated beam. The Hartmann plate with a square array of holes separated at 2 mm is selected. The selection of laser and CCD camera is critical to the accuracy of experiment and the image processing algorithm. The spot patterns from CCD are obtained from the experimental tests. The power distribution map for lenses can be obtained by image processing in theory. The results indicate that Hartmann test for Progressive addition lenses is convenient and feasible; also its structure is simple.
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How to locate and appraise qualitative research in complementary and alternative medicine
2013-01-01
Background The aim of this publication is to present a case study of how to locate and appraise qualitative studies for the conduct of a meta-ethnography in the field of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM). CAM is commonly associated with individualized medicine. However, one established scientific approach to the individual, qualitative research, thus far has been explicitly used very rarely. This article demonstrates a case example of how qualitative research in the field of CAM studies was identified and critically appraised. Methods Several search terms and techniques were tested for the identification and appraisal of qualitative CAM research in the conduct of a meta-ethnography. Sixty-seven electronic databases were searched for the identification of qualitative CAM trials, including CAM databases, nursing, nutrition, psychological, social, medical databases, the Cochrane Library and DIMDI. Results 9578 citations were screened, 223 articles met the pre-specified inclusion criteria, 63 full text publications were reviewed, 38 articles were appraised qualitatively and 30 articles were included. The search began with PubMed, yielding 87% of the included publications of all databases with few additional relevant findings in the specific databases. CINHAL and DIMDI also revealed a high number of precise hits. Although CAMbase and CAM-QUEST® focus on CAM research only, almost no hits of qualitative trials were found there. Searching with broad text terms was the most effective search strategy in all databases. Conclusions This publication presents a case study on how to locate and appraise qualitative studies in the field of CAM. The example shows that the literature search for qualitative studies in the field of CAM is most effective when the search is begun in PubMed followed by CINHAL or DIMDI using broad text terms. Exclusive CAM databases delivered no additional findings to locate qualitative CAM studies. PMID:23731997
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How to locate and appraise qualitative research in complementary and alternative medicine.
Franzel, Brigitte; Schwiegershausen, Martina; Heusser, Peter; Berger, Bettina
2013-06-03
The aim of this publication is to present a case study of how to locate and appraise qualitative studies for the conduct of a meta-ethnography in the field of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM). CAM is commonly associated with individualized medicine. However, one established scientific approach to the individual, qualitative research, thus far has been explicitly used very rarely. This article demonstrates a case example of how qualitative research in the field of CAM studies was identified and critically appraised. Several search terms and techniques were tested for the identification and appraisal of qualitative CAM research in the conduct of a meta-ethnography. Sixty-seven electronic databases were searched for the identification of qualitative CAM trials, including CAM databases, nursing, nutrition, psychological, social, medical databases, the Cochrane Library and DIMDI. 9578 citations were screened, 223 articles met the pre-specified inclusion criteria, 63 full text publications were reviewed, 38 articles were appraised qualitatively and 30 articles were included. The search began with PubMed, yielding 87% of the included publications of all databases with few additional relevant findings in the specific databases. CINHAL and DIMDI also revealed a high number of precise hits. Although CAMbase and CAM-QUEST® focus on CAM research only, almost no hits of qualitative trials were found there. Searching with broad text terms was the most effective search strategy in all databases. This publication presents a case study on how to locate and appraise qualitative studies in the field of CAM. The example shows that the literature search for qualitative studies in the field of CAM is most effective when the search is begun in PubMed followed by CINHAL or DIMDI using broad text terms. Exclusive CAM databases delivered no additional findings to locate qualitative CAM studies.
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Hyaluronic acid: Perspectives in dentistry. A systematic review.
Casale, Manuele; Moffa, Antonio; Vella, Paola; Sabatino, Lorenzo; Capuano, Francesco; Salvinelli, Beatrice; Lopez, Michele Antonio; Carinci, Francesco; Salvinelli, Fabrizio
2016-12-01
To date, topical therapies guarantee a better delivery of high concentrations of pharmacologic agents to the soft periodontal tissue, gingiva, and periodontal ligament as well as to the hard tissue such as alveolar bone and cementum. Topical hyaluronic acid (HA) has recently been recognized as an adjuvant treatment for chronic inflammatory disease in addition to its use to improve healing after dental procedures. The aim of our work was to systematically review the published literature about potential effects of HA as an adjuvant treatment for chronic inflammatory disease, in addition to its use to improve healing after common dental procedures. Relevant published studies were found in PubMed, Google Scholar, and Ovid using a combined keyword search or medical subject headings. At the end of our study selection process, 25 relevant publications were included, three of them regarding gingivitis, 13 of them relating to chronic periodontitis, seven of them relating to dental surgery, including implant and sinus lift procedures, and the remaining three articles describing oral ulcers. Not only does topical administration of HA play a pivotal key role in the postoperative care of patients undergoing dental procedures, but positive results were also generally observed in all patients with chronic inflammatory gingival and periodontal disease and in patients with oral ulcers. © The Author(s) 2016.
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Vehof, H; Sanders, J; van Dooren, A; Heerdink, E; Das, E
2018-05-04
Researchers have discussed that journalistic reporting of medical developments is often characterised by exaggeration or lack of context, but additional quantitative evidence to support this claim is needed. This study introduces a quantitative approach to assessing coverage of medical innovations, by aiming at provided references to observed clinical effects. Although observed clinical effects reflect increased chances for future medical applications, it is unknown to which extent newspaper articles refer to it when spreading health information. We aimed to assess, over a 6-year period, newspaper publication characteristics of diabetes innovations, arising from all scientific areas of interest, regarding the total count and the proportion of articles that provide references to demonstrated clinical efficacy. Quantitative content analysis of newspaper articles covering innovative treatments for diabetes. We performed a systematic review of newspaper articles between 2011 and 2016 printed in the largest six Dutch newspapers. By assessing in-article references, it was possible to quickly distinguish between (1) articles that referred to actual clinical efficacy demonstrated in a scientific setting and (2) articles that presented either predictions, fundamental research, preclinical research or personal experiences and recommendations. Proportion differences between scientific areas of interest were analysed using the chi-squared test. A total of 613 articles were categorised. Total newspaper publication frequency increased with 9.9 articles per year (P = .031). In total, 17% of the articles contained a reference to any proven clinical efficacy. Articles about human nutrition science (7%; P = .001) and (neuro)psychology (4.3%; P = .014) less frequently provided a reference to actual clinical efficacy. Our findings show that less than one in five newspaper articles about diabetes research contains a reference to relevant clinical effects, while the publication count is increasing. These statistics may contribute to feelings of false hope and confusion in patients. Copyright © 2018 The Royal Society for Public Health. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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Hutchinson, Deborah R.; Childs, Jonathan R.; Hammar-Klose, Erika; Dadisman, Shawn; Edgar, N. Terrence; Barth, Ginger A.
2004-01-01
Under the provisions of Articles 76 and 77 of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), coastal States have sovereign rights over the continental shelf territory beyond 200-nautical mile (nm) from the baseline from which the territorial sea is measured if certain conditions are met regarding the geologic and physiographic character of the legal continental shelf as defined in those articles. These claims to an extended continental shelf must be supported by relevant bathymetric, geophysical and geological data according to guidelines established by the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS, 1999). In anticipation of the United States becoming party to UNCLOS, Congress in 2001 directed the Joint Hydrographic Center/Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping at the University of New Hampshire to conduct a study to evaluate data relevant to establishing the outer limit of the juridical continental shelf beyond 200 nm and to recommend what additional data might be needed to substantiate such an outer limit (Mayer and others, 2002). The resulting report produced an impressive and sophisticated GIS database of data sources. Because of the short time allowed to complete the report, all seismic reflection data were classified together; the authors therefore recommended that USGS perform additional analysis on seismic and related data holdings. The results of this additional analysis are the substance of this report, including the status of geologic framework, sediment isopach research, and resource potential in the eight regions1 identified by Mayer and others (2002) where analysis of seismic data might be crucial for establishing an outer limit . Seismic reflection and refraction data are essential in determining sediment thickness, one of the criteria used in establishing the outer limits of the juridical continental shelf. Accordingly, the initial task has been to inventory public-domain seismic data sources, primarily those regionally extensive data held within the Department of the Interior (DOI). The numerous seismic reflection and refraction surveys collected prior to 1970 by academic and governmental institutions are generally not included in this compilation, except where they provide unique data in a region. These data sources were omitted from this report because they were deemed to be of insufficient quality (poorly navigated or low resolution) to meet the CLCS standards for a submission, or they were redundant with higher-quality, more modern data. Hence, this report attempts to identify those data sets of highest utility for establishing the outer limits of the juridical continental shelf. If there was any ambiguity or uncertainty about the relevance of a data set to a continental shelf submission, either by its quality, location, or other parameter, it was included in this compilation. This report does not summarize other geophysical data (such as marine magnetics or gravity) that might be relevant to understanding crustal provenance and geological continuity. Detailed metadata tables and maps are included to facilitate the location and utilization of these sources when a comprehensive assessment (?desktop study?) is undertaken.
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Holeman, Isaac; Cookson, Tara Patricia; Pagliari, Claudia
2016-12-01
Poor governance impedes the provision of equitable and cost-effective health care in many low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Although systemic problems such as corruption and inefficiency have been characterized as intractable, "good governance" interventions that promote transparency, accountability and public participation have yielded encouraging results. Mobile phones and other Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) are beginning to play a role in these interventions, but little is known about their use and effects in the context of LMIC health care. Multi-stage scoping review: Research questions and scope were refined through a landscape scan of relevant implementation activities and by analyzing related concepts in the literature. Relevant studies were identified through iterative Internet searches (Google, Google Scholar), a systematic search of academic databases (PubMed, Web of Science), social media crowdsourcing (targeted LinkedIn and Twitter appeals) and reading reference lists and websites of relevant organizations. Parallel expert interviews helped to verify concepts and emerging findings and identified additional studies for inclusion. Results were charted, analyzed thematically and summarized. We identified 34 articles from a wide range of disciplines and sectors, including 17 published research articles and 17 grey literature reports. Analysis of these articles revealed 15 distinct ways of using ICTs for good governance activities in LMIC health care. These use cases clustered into four conceptual categories: 1) gathering and verifying information on services to improve transparency and auditability 2) aggregating and visualizing data to aid communication and decision making 3) mobilizing citizens in reporting poor practices to improve accountability and quality and 4) automating and auditing processes to prevent fraud. Despite a considerable amount of implementation activity, we identified little formal evaluative research. Innovative digital approaches are increasingly being used to facilitate good governance in the health sectors of LMICs but evidence of their effectiveness is still limited. More empirical studies are needed to measure concrete impacts, document mechanisms of action, and elucidate the political and sociotechnical dynamics that make designing and implementing ICTs for good governance so complex. Many digital good governance interventions are driven by an assumption that transparency alone will effect change; however responsive feedback mechanisms are also likely to be necessary.
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Systematic review of the health and social determinants and outcomes of home cooking: protocol.
Mills, Susanna; White, Martin; Robalino, Shannon; Wrieden, Wendy; Brown, Heather; Adams, Jean
2015-03-28
The United Kingdom (UK) and wider world are experiencing an obesity epidemic, with lower socio-economic groups disproportionately affected. Dietary quality is also socio-economically patterned, with an estimated quarter of observed inequalities in UK mortality due to inequalities in diet. Food preparation and eating patterns clearly have an impact on dietary intake and hence health. A growing body of evidence indicates that out of home food consumption and eating ready meals may be associated with negative outcomes. However, to date no systematic reviews have assessed the health and social determinants and outcomes of home cooking. Here, home cooking refers to the combination of actions required for preparing hot or cold foods at home, including combining, mixing and often heating ingredients. A systematic review of peer-reviewed literature on home cooking will be undertaken. Studies will be considered for inclusion if they present qualitative or quantitative data on participants from high/very high human development index countries, including all relevant study designs. No language or date of publication restrictions will be applied. Determinants will be considered as factors that influence behaviour and outcomes as potential advantages and disadvantages of engaging in home cooking. Electronic databases of peer-reviewed journal articles covering health, psychology, social sciences and consumer practices will be searched. Published postgraduate theses will also be considered for inclusion. Additional strategies to identify relevant studies will be used, such as citation searches of included articles, evaluation of references from relevant reviews and included articles and the 'related/similar to' function found in certain databases. Two independent researchers will be involved in literature screening (10% at first screen and 100% at second screen), data extraction and quality appraisal. Studies included in the review will be analysed by thematic synthesis and narrative synthesis, as appropriate for the nature of the data retrieved. This review will provide key empirical evidence to inform the development of recommendations for public health policy makers and practitioners to encourage healthier home food preparation, thereby impacting on dietary-related health. This protocol has been registered with the PROSPERO international prospective register of systematic reviews, reference CRD42014013984 .
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Wafeu, Guy S; Tankeu, Aurel T; Endomba, Francky Teddy A; Nansseu, Jobert Richie; Kaze, Arnaud D; Bigna, Jean Joel; Noubiap, Jean Jacques
2017-10-10
Tobacco use significantly increases cardiovascular complications in people living with hypertension and/or diabetes. We aim to summarise data on the prevalence and factors associated with active smoking in these conditions in Africa. We will search PubMed, Embase, Google Scholar and African Journals Online for relevant abstracts of studies on active smoking in individuals living with diabetes and/or hypertension published from 1 January 2000 to 31 December 2016, with no language restriction. Additionally, relevant unpublished papers and conference proceedings will be checked, as well as references of included articles. Two investigators will independently screen, select studies, extract data and assess the risk of bias in each study. Data will be analysed using Stata software (Stata V.14, Texas, USA). The study-specific estimates will be pooled through a random-effects meta-analysis model to obtain an overall summary estimate of the prevalence of smoking across studies. Also, we will assess factors associated to smoking. Heterogeneity of studies will be evaluated by the χ2 test on Cochrane's Q statistic. Funnel plots analysis and Egger's test will be done to detect publication bias. Results will be presented by geographic region (central, eastern, northern, southern and western Africa). A p value less than 0.05 will be considered significant for factors associated to smoking. This study is based on published data, and therefore ethical approval is not a requirement. This systematic review and meta-analysis is expected to serve as a basis for designing cost-effective interventions to reduce and prevent smoking in patients with diabetes and/or hypertension, and as a guide for future research based on the remaining gaps. The final report of this study in the form of a scientific paper will be published in peer-reviewed journals. Findings will further be presented at conferences and submitted to relevant health authorities. © 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.
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Measuring the Interestingness of News Articles
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Pon, R K; Cardenas, A F; Buttler, D J
An explosive growth of online news has taken place. Users are inundated with thousands of news articles, only some of which are interesting. A system to filter out uninteresting articles would aid users that need to read and analyze many articles daily, such as financial analysts and government officials. The most obvious approach for reducing the amount of information overload is to learn keywords of interest for a user (Carreira et al., 2004). Although filtering articles based on keywords removes many irrelevant articles, there are still many uninteresting articles that are highly relevant to keyword searches. A relevant article maymore » not be interesting for various reasons, such as the article's age or if it discusses an event that the user has already read about in other articles. Although it has been shown that collaborative filtering can aid in personalized recommendation systems (Wang et al., 2006), a large number of users is needed. In a limited user environment, such as a small group of analysts monitoring news events, collaborative filtering would be ineffective. The definition of what makes an article interesting--or its 'interestingness'--varies from user to user and is continually evolving, calling for adaptable user personalization. Furthermore, due to the nature of news, most articles are uninteresting since many are similar or report events outside the scope of an individual's concerns. There has been much work in news recommendation systems, but none have yet addressed the question of what makes an article interesting.« less
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The Effect of Orthodontic Therapy on Periodontal Health: A Review of the Literature
Alfuriji, Samah; Alhazmi, Nora; Alhamlan, Nasir; Al-Ehaideb, Ali; Alruwaithi, Moatazbellah; Alkatheeri, Nasser; Geevarghese, Amrita
2014-01-01
Objectives. This review aims to evaluate the effect of orthodontic therapy on periodontal health. Data. Original articles that reported on the effect of orthodontic therapy on periodontal health were included. The reference lists of potentially relevant review articles were also sought. Sources. A literature search was conducted using the databases, Medline, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, Google Scholar, and Scopus databases for relevant studies. The search was carried out by using a combined text and the MeSH search strategies: using the key words in different combinations: “periodontal disease,” “orthodontics” and “root resorption.” This was supplemented by hand-searching in peer-reviewed journals and cross-referenced with the articles accessed. Articles published only in English language were included. Letters to the Editor, historical reviews and unpublished articles were not sought. Conclusions. Within the limitations of the present literature review, it was observed that there is a very close inter-relationship between the periodontal health and the outcome of orthodontic therapy. PMID:24991214
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Monitoring Optimism in South Africa
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Harris, Mari
2007-01-01
An article with exactly this same title was published in Social Indicators Research (41:279-304, 1997). The purpose of the current article is to update the findings discussed in that first article. Therefore the abstract published previously is still relevant: The last few decades have been the most crucial and eventful ones in South Africa's…
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Update in Outpatient General Internal Medicine: Practice-Changing Evidence Published in 2015.
Szostek, Jason H; Wieland, Mark L; Post, Jason A; Sundsted, Karna K; Mauck, Karen F
2016-08-01
Identifying new practice-changing articles is challenging. To determine the 2015 practice-changing articles most relevant to outpatient general internal medicine, 3 internists independently reviewed the titles and abstracts of original articles, synopses of single studies and syntheses, and databases of syntheses. For original articles, internal medicine journals with the 7 highest impact factors were reviewed: New England Journal of Medicine, Lancet, Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), British Medical Journal, Public Library of Science Medicine, Annals of Internal Medicine, and JAMA Internal Medicine. For synopses of single studies and syntheses, collections in American College of Physicians Journal Club, Journal Watch, and Evidence-Based Medicine were reviewed. For databases of synthesis, Evidence Updates and the Cochrane Library were reviewed. More than 100 articles were identified. Criteria for inclusion were as follows: clinical relevance, potential for practice change, and strength of evidence. Clusters of important articles around one topic were considered as a single-candidate series. The 5 authors used a modified Delphi method to reach consensus on inclusion of 7 topics for in-depth appraisal. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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Dobbins, Maureen; De Corby, Kara; Robeson, Paula; Husson, Heather; Tirilis, Daiva
2009-01-21
The World Health Organization estimates that 1.9 million deaths worldwide are attributable to physical inactivity. Chronic diseases associated with physical inactivity include cancer, diabetes and coronary heart disease. The purpose of this systematic review is to summarize the evidence of the effectiveness of school-based interventions in promoting physical activity and fitness in children and adolescents. The search strategy included searching several databases. In addition, reference lists of included articles and background papers were reviewed for potentially relevant studies, as well as references from relevant Cochrane reviews. Primary authors of included studies were contacted as needed for additional information. To be included, the intervention had to be relevant to public health practice, implemented, facilitated, or promoted by staff in local public health units, implemented in a school setting and aimed at increasing physical activity, report on outcomes for children and adolescents (aged 6 to 18 years), and use a prospective design with a control group. Standardized tools were used by two independent reviewers to rate each study's methodological quality and for data extraction. Where discrepancies existed discussion occurred until consensus was reached. The results were summarized narratively due to wide variations in the populations, interventions evaluated and outcomes measured. 13,841 titles were identified and screened and 482 articles were retrieved. Multiple publications on the same project were combined and counted as one project, resulting in 395 distinct project accounts (studies). Of the 395 studies 104 were deemed relevant and of those, four were assessed as having strong methodological quality, 22 were of moderate quality and 78 were considered weak. In total 26 studies were included in the review. There is good evidence that school-based physical activity interventions have a positive impact on four of the nine outcome measures. Specifically positive effects were observed for duration of physical activity, television viewing, VO2 max, and blood cholesterol. Generally school-based interventions had no effect on leisure time physical activity rates, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, body mass index, and pulse rate. At a minimum, a combination of printed educational materials and changes to the school curriculum that promote physical activity result in positive effects. Given that there are no harmful effects and that there is some evidence of positive effects on lifestyle behaviours and physical health status measures, ongoing physical activity promotion in schools is recommended at this time.
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Downes, Michelle R
2015-05-01
Penile carcinoma is a rare genitourinary malignancy in North America and Europe with highest rates recorded in South America, Africa and Asia. Recent classifications have refined the terminology used in classifying intraepithelial/in situ lesions and additionally newer entities have been recognised in the invasive category. While increasing recognition of a bimodal pathway of penile carcinogenesis has facilitated understanding and classification of these tumours, handling and subtyping of penile malignancies presents a challenge to the reporting pathologist, in part due to their rarity. This article reviews the terminology and classification of in situ and invasive carcinomas and their relationship to human papilloma virus status. In addition, associated non-neoplastic dermatological conditions of relevance and appropriate ancillary investigations will be addressed. 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.
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[What changes for rheumatologists in the G-DRG system 2006?].
Liedtke-Dyong, A; Fiori, W; Lakomek, H-J; Hülsemann, J L; Köneke, N; Liman, W; Roeder, N
2006-07-01
Once more, the revision of the German DRG catalogue 2006 provides for more accurate reimbursement, particularly for specialised medical services. The newly established DRG I97Z (Rheumatologische Komplexbehandlung bei Krankheiten und Störungen an Muskel-Skelett-System und Bindegewebe) for the complex and multimodal treatment of rheumatic diseases allows an accurate picture of clinical practice in specialized rheumatologic departments and hospitals. Using this specific DRG-description, it will be possible to reduce the financial pressure which results from the redistribution of budgets in the second year of the period of convergence. A precondition for the affected hospitals is to deal with budget planning and calculation of G-DRGs without calculated cost weights for 2006. In addition, this article discusses the relevance of other modifications to the G-DRG system, additional payments, the conditions for payment, the coding standards, and the classification systems for diagnosis and procedures.
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Larkin, Gregory Luke; Iserson, Kenneth; Kassutto, Zach; Freas, Glenn; Delaney, Kathy; Krimm, John; Schmidt, Terri; Simon, Jeremy; Calkins, Anne; Adams, James
2009-01-01
At a time in which the integrity of the medical profession is perceptibly challenged, emergency physicians (EPs) have an opportunity to reaffirm their commitment to both their patients and their practice through acceptance of a virtue-based ethic. The virtue-based ethic transcends legalistic rule following and the blind application of principles. Instead, virtue honors the humanity of patients and the high standards of the profession. Recognizing historical roots that are relevant to the modern context, this article describes 10 core virtues important for EPs. In addition to the long-recognized virtues of prudence, courage, temperance, and justice, 6 additional virtues are offered unconditional positive regard, charity, compassion, trustworthiness, vigilance, and agility. These virtues might serve as ideals to which all EPs can strive. Through these, the honor of the profession will be maintained, the trust of patients will be preserved, and the integrity of the specialty will be promoted.
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Sailing the "Seven C's" of Leadership.
Weismuller, Penny C; Willgerodt, Mayumi A; McClanahan, Rachel; Helm-Remund, Terri
2016-01-01
Nurses are increasingly being called upon to lead changes within health care. How do nurses and, in particular, school nurses become leaders? School nurses lead daily in their work but often do not recognize themselves as leaders. The "Five C's of Leadership"-character, commitment, connectedness, compassion, and confidence-identified by Kowalski and Yoder-Wise are foundational to the development of leadership and are particularly relevant to school nurses and their role. Two additional attributes found in the literature-courage and capacity-also undergird school nursing practice. In this article, we describe how school nurses already embody these leadership qualities. Each leadership attribute is reviewed in light of the literature, followed by specific examples to demonstrate how school nurses provide leadership. Through these illustrations, school nurses can recognize and embrace their present leadership abilities. In addition, by using the "Seven C's" of leadership, school nurses can enhance their inherent leadership abilities. © 2015 The Author(s).
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A guideline to medical photography: a perspective on digital photography in an orthopaedic setting.
de Meijer, P P G; Karlsson, J; LaPrade, R F; Verhaar, J A N; Wijdicks, C A
2012-12-01
Quality photographs are essential for clinical documentation, research, and publication in scientific journals and teaching. Oftentimes, non-ideal lighting and a sterile environment restrict the medical photographer, resulting in lower-quality photographs. This article aims to provide a clear and comprehensible guideline for medical photography in an orthopaedic setting. This article is based on extensive photographic involvement in operating and laboratory settings, in close collaboration with medical professionals from the Steadman Clinic (Vail, Colorado, USA), Gothenburg University (Göteborg, Sweden) and Erasmus MC (Rotterdam, the Netherlands). Background literature was searched through Google Scholar and PubMed. Three relevant journal articles, and one book on medical photography, were used to write this paper. Seventeen Internet articles were used for background information. A relevant, up-to-date and comprehensive guideline to medical photography for medical professionals, with or without photographic experience, is provided. Expert opinion, Level V.
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Using Watershed Boundaries to Map Adverse Health Outcomes: Examples From Nebraska, USA
Corley, Brittany; Bartelt-Hunt, Shannon; Rogan, Eleanor; Coulter, Donald; Sparks, John; Baccaglini, Lorena; Howell, Madeline; Liaquat, Sidra; Commack, Rex; Kolok, Alan S
2018-01-01
In 2009, a paper was published suggesting that watersheds provide a geospatial platform for establishing linkages between aquatic contaminants, the health of the environment, and human health. This article is a follow-up to that original article. From an environmental perspective, watersheds segregate landscapes into geospatial units that may be relevant to human health outcomes. From an epidemiologic perspective, the watershed concept places anthropogenic health data into a geospatial framework that has environmental relevance. Research discussed in this article includes information gathered from the literature, as well as recent data collected and analyzed by this research group. It is our contention that the use of watersheds to stratify geospatial information may be both environmentally and epidemiologically valuable. PMID:29398918
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Implementation of Data Citations and Persistent Identifiers at the ORNL DAAC
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Cook, R. B.; Santhana Vannan, S.; Devarakonda, Ranjeet; McMurry, B. F.; Kidder, J. H.; Shanafield, H. A.; Palanisamy, G.
2013-12-01
As research in Earth Science becomes more data intensive, a critical requirement of data archives is that data needs to be easily discovered, accessed, and used. One approach to improving data discovery and access is through data citations coupled with Digital Object Identifiers (DOI). Beginning in 1998, the Oak Ridge National Laboratory Distributed Active Archive Center (ORNL DAAC) has issued data product citations that have been accepted and used in AGU and other peer-reviewed journals. Citation elements established by the ORNL DAAC are similar to those used for journal articles (authors, titles, information to locate, and version), and beginning in 2007 included a DOI that is persistent, actionable, specific, and complete. The citation approach used at the DAAC also allows for referring to specific subsets of the data, by including within the citation the temporal and spatial portions of the data actually used. Citations allow others to find data and reproduce the results of the research article, and also use those data to test new hypotheses, design new sample collections, or construct or evaluate models. In addition to enhancing discovery and access of the data used in a research article, the citation gives credit to data generators, data centers and their funders, and, through citation indices, determine the scientific impact of a data set. The ORNL DAAC has developed a database that links research articles and their use of ORNL DAAC data products. The database allows determination of who, in which journal, and how the data have been used, in a manner analogous to author citation indices. The ORNL DAAC has been an initial contributor to the Thomson Reuters Data Citation Index. In addition, research data products deposited at the ORNL DAAC are linked using DOIs to relevant articles in Elsevier journals available on ScienceDirect. The ultimate goal of this implementation is that citations to data products become a routine part of the scientific process.
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A typology of primary care workforce innovations in the United States since 2000.
Friedman, Asia; Hahn, Karissa A; Etz, Rebecca; Rehwinkel-Morfe, Anna M; Miller, William L; Nutting, Paul A; Jaén, Carlos R; Shaw, Eric K; Crabtree, Benjamin F
2014-02-01
Innovative workforce models are being developed and implemented to meet the changing demands of primary care. A literature review was conducted to construct a typology of workforce models used by primary care practices. Ovid Medline, CINAHL, and PsycInfo were used to identify published descriptions of the primary care workforce that deviated from what would be expected in the typical practice in the year 2000. Expert consultants identified additional articles that would not show up in a regular computerized search. Full texts of relevant articles were read and matrices for sorting articles were developed. Each article was reviewed and assigned to one of 18 cells in the matrices. Articles within each cell were then read again to identify patterns and develop an understanding of the full spectrum of workforce innovation within each category. This synthesis led to the development of a typology of workforce innovations represented in the literature. Many workforce innovations added personnel to existing practices, whereas others sought to retrain existing personnel or even develop roles outside the traditional practice. Most of these sought to minimize the impact on the existing practice roles and functions, particularly that of physicians. The synthesis also identified recent innovations which attempted to fundamentally transform the existing practice, with transformation being defined as a change in practice members' governing variables or values in regard to their workforce role. Most conceptualizations of the primary care workforce described in the literature do not reflect the level of innovation needed to meet the needs of the burgeoning numbers of patients with complex health issues, the necessity for roles and identities of physicians to change, and the call for fundamentally redesigned practices. However, we identified 5 key workforce innovation concepts that emerged from the literature: team care, population focus, additional resource support, creating workforce connections, and role change.
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World War II and other historical influences on the formation of the Ergonomics Research Society.
Waterson, Patrick
2011-12-01
Little has been written about wartime ergonomics and the role this played in prompting the need for a society dedicated to ergonomics within the UK, namely the formation of the Ergonomics Research Society (ERS) in early 1950. This article aims to fill this gap in our understanding of the history of ergonomics in the UK and provide further details of the types of research undertaken by wartime research groups and committees such as the Institute of Aviation Medicine, Medical Research Council Applied Psychology Unit and the Flying Personnel Research Committee. In addition, the role of societal developments such as wartime links with the USA, the post-war drive to increase productivity and collaboration with industry and the recommendations of government committees in stimulating the work of the ERS are described in detail. This article also offers some reflection on present-day ergonomics in the UK and how this contrasts with the past. STATEMENT OF RELEVANCE: This article will provide practitioners with a historical perspective on the development of ergonomics from its roots in the Second World War. These developments shed light on current trends and challenges within the discipline as a whole.
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Skin problems in stoma patients.
Nybaek, H; Jemec, G B E
2010-03-01
Ostomy patients are dependent on the integrity of their peristomal skin to maintain a normal lifestyle. Peristomal skin problems are thought to be common and may interfere with the use of ostomy pouching systems. This is a specialist area not commonly seen by dermatologists. This article seeks to provide an overview of the topic for the general dermatologist. A systematic literature search was conducted. The articles found were reviewed and relevant articles were selected by two investigators. Loss of skin integrity may be related to chemical injury, mechanical destruction, infectious conditions, immunological reactions, disease-related conditions. Peristomal irritant dermatitis caused by skin contact with ostomy effluent is by far the most ordinary condition seen. Mechanical trauma, infection and aggravation of pre-existing skin diseases are also seen. Allergic contact dermatitis, which is often cited as the cause of peristomal skin problems, appears to be a rare condition with an estimated prevalence of only 0.6%. In spite of the importance of the integrity of peristomal skin, the topic is poorly described in the literature. The existing publications suggest that although peristomal skin disease can be diagnosed and treated, additional information on both patients and physicians is necessary to optimize patient care.
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Radiologic Assessment of Patellofemoral Pain in the Athlete
Endo, Yoshimi; Stein, Beth E. Shubin; Potter, Hollis G.
2011-01-01
Context: Although disorders of the patellofemoral joint are common in the athlete, their management can be challenging and require a thorough physical examination and radiologic evaluation, including advanced magnetic resonance imaging techniques. Evidence Acquisition: Relevant articles were searched under OVID and MEDLINE (1968 to 2010) using the keywords patellofemoral joint, patellofemoral pain or patella and radiography, imaging, or magnetic resonance imaging, and the referenced sources were reviewed for additional articles. The quality and validity of the studies were assessed on the basis of careful analysis of the materials and methods before their inclusion in this article. Results: Physical examination and imaging evaluation including standard radiographs are crucial in identifying evidence of malalignment or instability. Magnetic resonance imaging provides valuable information about concomitant soft tissue injuries to the medial stabilizers as well as injuries to the articular cartilage, including chondral shears and osteochondral fractures. Quantitative magnetic resonance imaging assessing the ultrastructure of cartilage has shown high correlation with histology and may be useful for timing surgery. Conclusions: Evaluation of patellofemoral disorders is complex and requires a comprehensive assessment. Recent advancements in imaging have made possible a more precise evaluation of the individual anatomy of the patient, addressing issues of malalignment, instability, and underlying cartilage damage. PMID:23016009
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Mustafa, Reem A; Wiercioch, Wojtek; Cheung, Adrienne; Prediger, Barbara; Brozek, Jan; Bossuyt, Patrick; Garg, Amit X; Lelgemann, Monika; Büehler, Diedrich; Schünemann, Holger J
2017-12-01
In this first of a series of five articles, we provide an overview of how and why healthcare-related tests and diagnostic strategies are currently applied. We also describe how our findings can be integrated with existing frameworks for making decisions that guide the use of healthcare-related tests and diagnostic strategies. We searched MEDLINE, references of identified articles, chapters in relevant textbooks, and identified articles citing classic literature on this topic. We provide updated frameworks for the potential roles and applications of tests with suggested definitions and practical examples. We also discuss study designs that are commonly used to assess tests' performance and the effects of tests on people's health. These designs include diagnostic randomized controlled trials and retrospective validation. We describe the utility of these and other currently suggested designs, which questions they can answer and which ones they cannot. In addition, we summarize the challenges unique to decision-making resulting from the use of tests. This overview highlights current challenges in the application of tests in decision-making in healthcare, provides clarifications, and informs the proposed solutions. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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Genetic factors affecting dental caries risk.
Opal, S; Garg, S; Jain, J; Walia, I
2015-03-01
This article reviews the literature on genetic aspects of dental caries and provides a framework for the rapidly changing disease model of caries. The scope is genetic aspects of various dental factors affecting dental caries. The PubMed database was searched for articles with keywords 'caries', 'genetics', 'taste', 'diet' and 'twins'. This was followed by extensive handsearching using reference lists from relevant articles. The post-genomic era will present many opportunities for improvement in oral health care but will also present a multitude of challenges. We can conclude from the literature that genes have a role to play in dental caries; however, both environmental and genetic factors have been implicated in the aetiology of caries. Additional studies will have to be conducted to replicate the findings in a different population. Identification of genetic risk factors will help screen and identify susceptible patients to better understand the contribution of genes in caries aetiopathogenesis. Information derived from these diverse studies will provide new tools to target individuals and/or populations for a more efficient and effective implementation of newer preventive measures and diagnostic and novel therapeutic approaches in the management of this disease. © 2015 Australian Dental Association.
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Can a decision-making model be justified in the management of hepatocellular adenoma?
van Aalten, Susanna M; Witjes, Caroline D M; de Man, Robert A; Ijzermans, Jan N M; Terkivatan, Türkan
2012-01-01
During recent years, there was a great development in the area of hepatocellular adenomas (HCA), especially regarding the pathological subtype classification, radiological imaging and management during pregnancy. This review discusses the current knowledge about diagnosis and treatment modalities of HCA and proposes a decision-making model for HCA. A Medline search of studies relevant to epidemiology, histopathology, complications, imaging and management of HCA lesions was undertaken. References from identified articles were hand-searched for further relevant articles. © 2011 John Wiley & Sons A/S.
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Learners as Historians: Making History Come Alive through Historical Inquiry
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Pappas, Marjorie L.
2007-01-01
Historians explore historical accounts, memoirs, diaries, letters, newspaper articles, speeches, historical documents, relevant legislation, maps, ship manifests, genealogical records, official certificates, photographs, and paintings. In short, historians examine any official or unofficial document that might provide relevant information about…
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
CATESOL Journal, 1992
1992-01-01
This English-as-a-Second Language (ESL) journal periodical devotes entire issues to specific issues. The theme of this issue is "Content-Base Instruction." Articles include: "Syllabus Design in Content-Based Instruction" (David E. Eskey); "How Relevant Is Relevance?: An Examination of Student Needs, Interests, and…
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Zin, Thant; Mudin, Kamarudin D; Myint, Than; Naing, Daw K S; Sein, Tracy; Shamsul, B S
2013-01-01
Water and sanitation are major public health issues exacerbated by rapid population growth, limited resources, disasters and environmental depletion. This study was undertaken to study the influencing factors for household water quality improvement for reducing diarrhoea in resource-limited areas. Data were collected from articles and reviews from relevant randomized controlled trials, new articles, systematic reviews and meta-analyses from PubMed, World Health Organization (WHO), United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and WELL Resource Centre For Water, Sanitation And Environmental Health. Water quality on diarrhoea prevention could be affected by contamination during storage, collection and even at point-of-use. Point-of-use water treatment (household-based) is the most cost-effective method for prevention of diarrhoea. Chemical disinfection, filtration, thermal disinfection, solar disinfection and flocculation and disinfection are five most promising household water treatment methodologies for resource-limited areas. Promoting household water treatment is most essential for preventing diarrhoeal disease. In addition, the water should be of acceptable taste, appropriate for emergency and non-emergency use.
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Bullinaria, John A; Levy, Joseph P
2012-09-01
In a previous article, we presented a systematic computational study of the extraction of semantic representations from the word-word co-occurrence statistics of large text corpora. The conclusion was that semantic vectors of pointwise mutual information values from very small co-occurrence windows, together with a cosine distance measure, consistently resulted in the best representations across a range of psychologically relevant semantic tasks. This article extends that study by investigating the use of three further factors--namely, the application of stop-lists, word stemming, and dimensionality reduction using singular value decomposition (SVD)--that have been used to provide improved performance elsewhere. It also introduces an additional semantic task and explores the advantages of using a much larger corpus. This leads to the discovery and analysis of improved SVD-based methods for generating semantic representations (that provide new state-of-the-art performance on a standard TOEFL task) and the identification and discussion of problems and misleading results that can arise without a full systematic study.
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Zhang, Shixuan; Kriza, Christine; Kolominsky-Rabas, Peter L
2014-09-01
The objective of this paper is to provide a systematic overview of the Chinese medical device registration processes, identify challenges and suggest how these can be addressed. In addition, the paper will outline the impact of new policies and regulations since the restructuring of the China FDA. A systematic review was performed for journal articles between the year of 2009 and 2013 in the following databases: PubMed, ScienceDirect and Zhongguozhiwang. The review has identified 184 papers which were potentially relevant. Seventeen articles were included in the review, which highlights the challenges and opportunities related to the medical device registration process. In order to understand the actual impact of the regulation environment and its policies including the lack of regulatory guidance regular assessment updates are crucial. The results of this paper are aimed at informing regulatory bodies, health policy decision makers, national and international Health Technology Assessment networks as well as medical devices manufacturers.
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Rehabilitation of language in expressive aphasias: a literature review
da Fontoura, Denise Ren; Rodrigues, Jaqueline de Carvalho; Carneiro, Luciana Behs de Sá; Monção, Ana Maria; de Salles, Jerusa Fumagalli
2012-01-01
Objective This paper reviews the methodological characteristics of studies on rehabilitation of expressive aphasia, describing the techniques of rehabilitation used. Methods The databases Medline, Science Direct and PubMed were searched for relevant articles (January 1999 to December 2011) using the keywords Expressive / Broca / Nonfluent Aphasia, combined with Language or Speech Rehabilitation / Therapy / Intervention. Results A total of 56 articles were retrieved describing rehabilitation techniques, including 22 with a focus on lexical processing, 18 on syntax stimulation, seven with the aim of developing speech and nine with multiple foci. Conclusion A variety of techniques and theoretical approaches are available, highlighting the heterogeneity of research in this area. This diversity can be justified by the uniqueness of patients' language deficits, making it difficult to generalize. In addition, there is a need to combine the formal measures of tests with measures of pragmatic and social skills of communication to determine the effect of rehabilitation on the patient's daily life. PMID:29213802
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Clark, Andrew L; Pellicori, Pierpaolo
2014-12-01
This article provides an overview of trials relevant to the pathophysiology, prevention, and treatment of heart failure, presented at the European Society of Cardiology meeting held in Barcelona in autumn 2014. Trials reported here include PARADIGM-HF (LCZ696 versus enalapril in heart failure), CONFIRM-HF (treatment of iron deficiency in heart failure), and SIGNIFY (ivabradine in patients with stable coronary artery disease). In addition, we discuss recent developments in the treatment of atrial fibrillation and the lack of benefit with the use of beta-blockers in these patients. Finally, the article describes recent advances in the use of vagal stimulation in patients with heart failure. © 2014 The Authors. ESC Heart Failure published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of the European Society of Cardiology. © 2014 The Authors. ESC Heart Failure published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of the European Society of Cardiology.
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Impact of Cancer on Romantic Relationships Among Young Adults: A Systematic Review.
Rabin, Carolyn
2018-04-24
The aim of this review was to determine the impact of a cancer diagnosis and history on young adults' ability to initiate and maintain romantic relationships. MedLine and PsycInfo databases were used to identify articles that address dating, romantic relationships, or marriage among 18- to 45-year-old cancer survivors. Twenty-one relevant articles were identified. Findings indicate that young adult cancer survivors struggle with when/how to disclose their cancer history to potential partners, are delayed in initiating their first romantic relationships, have fewer romantic relationships than peers, and are less likely than peers to marry. Young survivors report that their cancer experience impacts their long-term relationships in both positive and negative ways. In summary, young survivors face significant barriers to establishing and maintaining romantic relationships. Those who have difficulty establishing romantic relationships may benefit from receiving additional support from other sources, including family members, friends, and (in some cases) mental health professionals.
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Mitchell, Ann M; Puskar, Kathryn; Hagle, Holly; Gotham, Heather J; Talcott, Kimberly S; Terhorst, Lauren; Fioravanti, Marie; Kane, Irene; Hulsey, Eric; Luongo, Peter; Burns, Helen K
2013-10-01
Preparing nursing students to apply an evidence-based screening and brief intervention approach with patients has the potential to reduce patients' risky alcohol and drug use. Responding to Mollica, Hyman, and Mann's article published in 2011, the current article describes implementation results of an Addiction Training for Nurses program of Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment (SBIRT) embedded within an undergraduate nursing curriculum. Results reveal that students in other schools of nursing would benefit from similar, significant training on substance use disorders and SBIRT. Training satisfaction surveys (N = 488) indicate students were satisfied with the quality of the training experience. More than 90% of students strongly agreed or agreed that the training was relevant to their nursing careers and would help their patients. Additional clinical practice and skill development may increase students' reported effectiveness in working with the topic area of substance use and SBIRT. Copyright 2013, SLACK Incorporated.
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Financing the response to AIDS: some fiscal and macroeconomic considerations.
Haacker, Markus
2008-07-01
This article examines the international response to AIDS from a fiscal perspective: first the financing of the international response to AIDS, especially the role of external financing, and second, a more comprehensive perspective on the costs of the national response to AIDS relevant for fiscal policy. The second half of the article focuses on the effectiveness of the response to AIDS. We find that there is little basis for concerns about macroeconomic constraints to scaling up, in light of the moderate scale of AIDS-related aid flows relative to overall aid. Regarding sectoral constraints, the picture is more differentiated. Many countries with high prevalence rates have also achieved high rates of access to treatment, but most of these are middle-income countries. Our econometric analysis credits external aid as a key factor that has enabled higher-prevalence countries to cope with the additional demands for health services. At the same time, gross domestic product per capita and health sector capacities are important determinants of access to treatment.
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Gharaibeh, Numan; El-Khoury, Joseph
2009-01-01
Relevant literature was searched using MEDLINE, PsycINFO and Google in addition to Arabic search engines for information. Due to the shortage of scholarly articles on the subject, we broadened our search to publications from human rights organisation and articles in the mainstream press. We estimated the total carceral population in the member countries of the Arab league at 338,500 prisoners, over 46,000 of whom could be suffering from severe mental illness. We relied on indirect indicators of mental health services such as the quality of medical care in general, accounts of prison conditions by prisoners and their families, and the abundant literature on human rights abuses. Despite a grim overall picture, we highlight signs of improvement in recent years. Psychiatrists working in Arabic prisons face a number of challenges.We comment on directions for the future in the field of correctional psychiatry in the Arab countries including from the perspective of research.
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Issue-Relevant Values and Opinions About Gay Rights: Beyond Equality and Morality.
Rhodebeck, Laurie
2018-01-01
Although many studies have examined the role of values in shaping public opinion, the number of values that inform this research is limited. This article employs the concept of issue-relevant values as a means to explore the broader range of values associated with policy issues. After discussing the concept in general terms, the article explores issue-relevant values pertinent to public opinion about gay rights. Using the policy examples of employment nondiscrimination and same-sex couple adoption, the present study identifies, measures, and assesses several values that add to the very short list previously used to explain public opinion about gay rights issues. Content from interest-group Web sites and news media coverage of the two issues aided in identifying the values. Data from an original Internet survey yield valid measures of the values. Multivariate analyses indicate that the values behave in predictable ways: they are strongly influenced by partisanship, and they strongly affect opinions about the two issues. The performance of the values is consistent with findings from previous research on the partisan basis of values and the value-based nature of opinions. The article concludes with suggestions for further empirical and theoretical work that could apply and extend the concept of issue-relevant values.
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Disclosure of Financial Conflicts of Interest in Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery.
Luce, Edward A; Jackman, Carye A
2017-09-01
Recent articles in the scientific literature have expressed concerns about financial conflicts of interest in the profession of medicine in general and the specialty of plastic surgery in particular. Disclosure of financial ties to industry has been regarded as an address of a possible bias. The policies of medical journals places responsibility on authors for self-reporting of financial conflicts of interest, yet underreporting of conflicts of interest has occurred. The investigative hypothesis was that authors in the plastic surgery literature, in particular, Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, underreported financial conflicts of interest. A review of articles published in Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery from July of 2015 through April of 2016 for author disclosures was accomplished. The disclosure statements were compared to the information available in the Open Payments database for 2015. The lack of disclosure on the part of an author, when present, was individually examined for relevance of the corporate conflicts of interest to the subject matter of the involved article. A total of 302 articles authored by 1262 individuals were reviewed. One hundred thirty-nine (45.5 percent) had neither a disclosed nor an actual conflict of interest. In 61 articles (20.2 percent), one or more authors disclosed; 105 articles (34.8 percent) did not provide disclosure of a financial conflict of interest. In assessment of relevance, 10 undisclosed conflicts of interest (9.5 percent) were determined relevant, and one-third of that total were non-plastic surgeons. Nondisclosure of financial conflicts of interest is common, but only a small minority pose a potential for harm from bias.
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Research on the influence that communication in psychiatric encounters has on treatment.
Cruz, Mario; Pincus, Harold Alan
2002-10-01
The purpose of this article is to inform mental health professionals about the empirical literature on medical and psychiatric encounters and the influence of communicative behaviors on specific encounter outputs and treatment outcomes. A comprehensive review of the health communications literature from 1950 to 2001, using MEDLINE and PsycINFO, was conducted to identify relevant articles on the communication skills of psychiatrists and other physicians. These searches were augmented by personal correspondence with experts on changes in practice patterns in psychiatry and on medical and psychiatric communications research. A review of references within each article and information from the experts identified other relevant articles. Selection was then narrowed to include reports of studies that used structured written instruments that captured relevant physician and patient perceptions of the physician-patient relationship, content analysis of audio- or videotapes of communication in medical or psychiatric encounters, or interaction analysis systems used to categorize audio- or videotaped communicative behaviors in medical or psychiatric encounters. Twenty-five articles in medicine and 34 articles in psychiatry were selected. Medical communication researchers have observed associations between physicians' communicative skills and patients' satisfaction, patients' adherence to treatment recommendations, treatment outputs, and patients' willingness to file malpractice claims. The research has also shown that primary care physicians can be more responsive to patients' concerns without lengthening visits. In psychiatry, the literature can be organized into four discrete categories of research: negotiated treatment and the customer approach, therapeutic alliance, Gottschalk-Gleser content analysis of patients' speech, and content analysis of psychiatric interviews.
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Doctors as managers of healthcare resources in Nigeria: Evolving roles and current challenges
Ojo, Temitope Olumuyiwa; Akinwumi, Adebowale Femi
2015-01-01
Over the years, medical practice in Nigeria has evolved in scope and practice, in terms of changing disease patterns, patients' needs, and social expectations. In addition, there is a growing sentiment especially among the general public and some health workers that most doctors are bad managers. Besides drawing examples from some doctors in top management positions that have performed less creditably, critics also harp on the fact that more needs to be done to improve the training of doctors in health management. This article describes the role of doctors in this changing scene of practice and highlights the core areas where doctors' managerial competencies are required to improve the quality of healthcare delivery. Areas such as health care financing, essential drugs and supplies management, and human resource management are emphasized. Resources to be managed and various skills needed to function effectively at the different levels of management are also discussed. To ensure that doctors are well-skilled in managerial competencies, the article concludes by suggesting a curriculum review at undergraduate and postgraduate levels of medical training to include newer but relevant courses on health management in addition to the existing ones, whereas also advocating that doctors be incentivized to go for professional training in health management and not only in the core clinical specialties. PMID:26903692
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Female Pattern Hair Loss: a clinical and pathophysiological review*
Ramos, Paulo Müller; Miot, Hélio Amante
2015-01-01
Female Pattern Hair Loss or female androgenetic alopecia is the main cause of hair loss in adult women and has a major impact on patients' quality of life. It evolves from the progressive miniaturization of follicles that lead to a subsequent decrease of the hair density, leading to a non-scarring diffuse alopecia, with characteristic clinical, dermoscopic and histological patterns. In spite of the high frequency of the disease and the relevance of its psychological impact, its pathogenesis is not yet fully understood, being influenced by genetic, hormonal and environmental factors. In addition, response to treatment is variable. In this article, authors discuss the main clinical, epidemiological and pathophysiological aspects of female pattern hair loss. PMID:26375223
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Biophysical Technologies for Management of Wound Bioburden
Korzendorfer, Holly; Hettrick, Heather
2014-01-01
Significance: Chronic wounds commonly have high levels of bioburden and antibiotic-resistant pathogens. This review article focuses on findings from current literature related to four biophysical technologies (ultrasound, electrical stimulation, phototherapy, and negative pressure wound therapy) believed to be beneficial for managing wound bioburden and support healing. Recent Advances and Critical Issues: Recent advances for each modality are provided as a basic synopsis of the technology followed by brief overviews of the most recent literature addressing its effectiveness for managing wound bioburden, and critical issues for each modality are provided as conclusions. Future Directions: This review highlights the need for further clinically relevant studies examining bacterial levels in addition to healing progression for each technology. PMID:25493207
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Twelve tips on teaching and learning humanism in medical education.
Cohen, Libby Gordon; Sherif, Youmna Ashraf
2014-08-01
The teaching of humanistic values is recognized as an essential component of medical education and continuing professional development of physicians. The application of humanistic values in medical care can benefit medical students, clinicians and patients. This article presents 12 tips on fostering humanistic values in medical education. The authors reviewed the literature and present 12 practical tips that are relevant to contemporary practices. The tips can be used in teaching and sustaining humanistic values in medical education. Humanistic values can be incorporated in formal preclinical environments, the transition into clinical settings, medical curricula and clinical clerkships. Additionally, steps can be taken so that medical educators and institutions promote and sustain humanistic values.
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An Update on Statistical Boosting in Biomedicine.
Mayr, Andreas; Hofner, Benjamin; Waldmann, Elisabeth; Hepp, Tobias; Meyer, Sebastian; Gefeller, Olaf
2017-01-01
Statistical boosting algorithms have triggered a lot of research during the last decade. They combine a powerful machine learning approach with classical statistical modelling, offering various practical advantages like automated variable selection and implicit regularization of effect estimates. They are extremely flexible, as the underlying base-learners (regression functions defining the type of effect for the explanatory variables) can be combined with any kind of loss function (target function to be optimized, defining the type of regression setting). In this review article, we highlight the most recent methodological developments on statistical boosting regarding variable selection, functional regression, and advanced time-to-event modelling. Additionally, we provide a short overview on relevant applications of statistical boosting in biomedicine.
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Capillary Electrophoresis of Mono- and Oligosaccharides.
Toppazzini, Mila; Coslovi, Anna; Rossi, Marco; Flamigni, Anna; Baiutti, Edi; Campa, Cristiana
2016-01-01
This chapter reports an overview of the recent advances in the analysis of mono- and oligosaccharides by capillary electrophoresis (CE); furthermore, relevant reviews and research articles recently published in the field are tabulated. Additionally, pretreatments and procedures applied to uncharged and acidic carbohydrates (i.e., monosaccharides and lower oligosaccharides carrying carboxylate, sulfate, or phosphate groups) are described.Representative examples of such procedures are reported in detail, upon describing robust methodologies for the study of (1) neutral oligosaccharides derivatized by reductive amination and by formation of glycosylamines; (2) sialic acid derivatized with 2-aminoacridone, released from human serum immunoglobulin G; (3) anomeric couples of neutral glycosides separated using borate-based buffers; (4) unsaturated, underivatized oligosaccharides from lyase-treated alginate.
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A multidisciplinary database for global distribution
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Wolfe, P.J.
The issue of selenium toxicity in the environment has been documented in the scientific literature for over 50 years. Recent studies reveal a complex connection between selenium and human and animal populations. This article introduces a bibliographic citation database on selenium in the environment developed for global distribution via the Internet by the University of Wyoming Libraries. The database incorporates material from commercial sources, print abstracts, indexes, and U.S. government literature, resulting in a multidisciplinary resource. Relevant disciplines include, biology, medicine, veterinary science, botany, chemistry, geology, pollution, aquatic sciences, ecology, and others. It covers the years 1985-1996 for most subjectmore » material, with additional years being added as resources permit.« less
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Research on Trying to Improve the Quality of Information Elicited from Vulnerable Witnesses
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Bull, Ray
2013-01-01
This article notes that very little research has previously been published on how best to assist vulnerable witnesses to provide information relevant to crime investigations. It then provides commentary on four of the articles in this Special Issue. These four articles constitute a major contribution to knowledge on this difficult to research…
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Telemental Health Care, an Effective Alternative to Conventional Mental Care: a Systematic Review.
Langarizadeh, Mostafa; Tabatabaei, Mohsen S; Tavakol, Kamran; Naghipour, Majid; Rostami, Alireza; Moghbeli, Fatemeh
2017-12-01
Due to the high costs of conventional mental health care, there has been a rise in the application of web-based technologies in recent years, i.e., telemental health care. We conducted this systematic review in 2017, using high quality research articles on the applications, technologies, advantages and challenges associated with telemental health care published since year 2000. We used a combination of relevant key words to search four major databases, such as "Web of Sciences, Embase, PubMed and Science Direct". From among 156 articles, which had been published since 2000, twenty five articles met all of the inclusion criteria and were selected for the final review. The information extracted from these articles were used to construct Tables 1 and 2. Also, the materials derived from 55 credible articles were used as further support and complementary facts to substantiate the information presented in the Discussion section. The findings revealed that telemental health care is an extended domain supportive of conventional mental health services. Currently, telemental health care has multiple capabilities and technologies for providing effective interventions to patients with various mental illnesses. It provides clinicians with a wide variety of innovative choices and strategies for mental interventions, in addition to significant future potentials. Telemental health care can provide effective and adaptable solutions to the care of mental illnesses universally. While being comparable to in-person services, telemental health care is particularly advantageous and inexpensive through the use of current technologies and adaptable designs, especially in isolated communities.
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Cheung, Amy; van Velden, Floris H P; Lagerburg, Vera; Minderman, Niels
2015-03-01
The introduction of an information system integrated to bedside equipment requires significant financial and resource investment; therefore understanding the potential impact is beneficial for decision-makers. However, no systematic literature reviews (SLRs) focus on this topic. This SLR aims to gather evidence on the impact of the aforementioned system, also known as a patient data management system (PDMS) on both organizational and clinical outcomes. A literature search was performed using the databases Medline/PubMed and CINHAL for English articles published between January 2000 and December 2012. A quality assessment was performed on articles deemed relevant for the SLR. Eighteen articles were included in the SLR. Sixteen articles investigated the impact of a PDMS on the organizational outcomes, comprising descriptive, quantitative and qualitative studies. A PDMS was found to reduce the charting time, increase the time spent on direct patient care and reduce the occurrence of errors. Only two articles investigated the clinical impact of a PDMS. Both reported an improvement in clinical outcomes when a PDMS was integrated with a clinical decision support system (CDSS). A PDMS has shown to offer many advantages in both the efficiency and the quality of care delivered to the patient. In addition, a PDMS integrated to a CDSS may improve clinical outcomes, although further studies are required for validation. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.
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[The fate of scientific articles when errors and scientific misconduct are detected].
Vinther, Siri; Rosenberg, Jacob
2014-01-20
When a minor error is noted in a scientific article, the publishing journal should issue a correction. Issuing an expression of concern is relevant when scientific misconduct is suspected. If the suspicion proves to be well founded, the journal should retract the article. The number of retractions is increasing, and this emphasizes the need for unequivocal concepts and guidelines. The reason a given article is corrected or retracted should be unambiguous and articles as well as notices should be indexed properly.
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Strudwick, Kirsten; Nelson, Mark; Martin-Khan, Melinda; Bourke, Michael; Bell, Anthony; Russell, Trevor
2015-02-01
There is increasing importance placed on quality of health care for musculoskeletal injuries in emergency departments (EDs). This systematic review aimed to identify existing musculoskeletal quality indicators (QIs) developed for ED use and to critically evaluate their methodological quality. MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, and the gray literature, including relevant organizational websites, were searched in 2013. English-language articles were included that described the development of at least one QI related to the ED care of musculoskeletal injuries. Data extraction of each included article was conducted. A quality assessment was then performed by rating each relevant QI against the Appraisal of Indicators through Research and Evaluation (AIRE) Instrument. QIs with similar definitions were grouped together and categorized according to the health care quality frameworks of Donabedian and the Institute of Medicine. The search revealed 1,805 potentially relevant articles, of which 15 were finally included in the review. The number of relevant QIs per article ranged from one to 11, resulting in a total of 71 QIs overall. Pain (n = 17) and fracture management (n = 13) QIs were predominant. Ten QIs scored at least 50% across all AIRE Instrument domains, and these related to pain management and appropriate imaging of the spine. Methodological quality of the development of most QIs is poor. Recommendations for a core set of QIs that address the complete spectrum of musculoskeletal injury management in emergency medicine is not possible, and more work is needed. Currently, QIs with highest methodological quality are in the areas of pain management and medical imaging. © 2015 by the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine.
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A Narrative Review of Lumbar Fusion Surgery With Relevance to Chiropractic Practice.
Daniels, Clinton J; Wakefield, Pamela J; Bub, Glenn A; Toombs, James D
2016-12-01
The purpose of this narrative review was to describe the most common spinal fusion surgical procedures, address the clinical indications for lumbar fusion in degeneration cases, identify potential complications, and discuss their relevance to chiropractic management of patients after surgical fusion. The PubMed database was searched from the beginning of the record through March 31, 2015, for English language articles related to lumbar fusion or arthrodesis or both and their incidence, procedures, complications, and postoperative chiropractic cases. Articles were retrieved and evaluated for relevance. The bibliographies of selected articles were also reviewed. The most typical lumbar fusion procedures are posterior lumbar interbody fusion, anterior lumbar interbody fusion, transforaminal interbody fusion, and lateral lumbar interbody fusion. Fair level evidence supports lumbar fusion procedures for degenerative spondylolisthesis with instability and for intractable low back pain that has failed conservative care. Complications and development of chronic pain after surgery is common, and these patients frequently present to chiropractic physicians. Several reports describe the potential benefit of chiropractic management with spinal manipulation, flexion-distraction manipulation, and manipulation under anesthesia for postfusion low back pain. There are no published experimental studies related specifically to chiropractic care of postfusion low back pain. This article describes the indications for fusion, common surgical practice, potential complications, and relevant published chiropractic literature. This review includes 10 cases that showed positive benefits from chiropractic manipulation, flexion-distraction, and/or manipulation under anesthesia for postfusion lumbar pain. Chiropractic care may have a role in helping patients in pain who have undergone lumbar fusion surgery.
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[Clinical, morphological and molecular biological characteristics of the aging eye].
Böhm, M R R; Thomasen, H; Parnitzke, F; Steuhl, K-P
2017-02-01
The physiological aging of the eye is associated with loss of visual function. Age-related changes of the eye can result in ophthalmological diseases. The aim of this article is to display morphological, histological and molecular biological alterations of the aging eye. A web-based search and review of the literature for aging of the visual system including cornea, lens, vitreous humor, retina, retinal pigment epithelium (RPE), choroidea and optic nerve were carried out. The most important results related to morphological, histological and molecular biological changes are summarized. Age-related, morphological alterations can be found in preretinal structures, e. g. cornea, lens and vitreous humor, as well as neuronal structures, such as the retina. In addition to negligible clinical signs of the aging eye, there are clinically relevant changes which can develop into pathological ophthalmological diseases. These transitions from age-related alterations to relevant ophthalmological diseases, e. g. age-related macular degeneration and glaucoma are continuous. An understanding of aging could provide predictive factors to detect the conversion of physiological aging into pathological conditions. The derivation of physiological markers or new approaches to detection and treatment of disease-related entities associated with the risk factor aging are desirable. Translational approaches in clinical and basic science are necessary to provide new therapeutic options for relevant ophthalmological diseases in the future.
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Arnold, L. Eugene; Anthony, Bruno J.
2008-01-01
Abstract Objective This article reviews rational approaches to treating attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in preschool children, including pharmacological and nonpharmacological treatments. Implications for clinical practice are discussed. Data Sources We searched MEDLINE, PsychINFO, Cumulative Index to Nursing & Allied Health, Educational Resources Information Center, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews and Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effects for relevant literature published in English from 1967 to 2007 on preschool ADHD. We also reviewed the references cited in identified reports. Study Selection Studies were reviewed if the sample included at least some children younger than 6 years of age or attending kindergarten, the study participants had a diagnosis of ADHD or equivalent symptoms, received intervention aimed at ADHD symptoms, and included a relevant outcome measure. Data Extraction Studies were reviewed for type of intervention and outcome relevant to ADHD and were rated for the level of evidence for adequacy of the data to inform clinical practice. Conclusions The current level of evidence for adequacy of empirical data to inform clinical practice for short-term treatment of ADHD in preschool children is Level A for methylphenidate and Level B for parent behavior training, child training, and additive-free elimination diet. PMID:18844482
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Communication Partner Training in Aphasia: An Updated Systematic Review.
Simmons-Mackie, Nina; Raymer, Anastasia; Cherney, Leora R
2016-12-01
To update a previous systematic review describing the effect of communication partner training on individuals with aphasia and their communication partners, with clinical questions addressing effects of partner training on language, communication activity/participation, psychosocial adjustment, and quality of life. Twelve electronic databases were searched using 23 search terms. References from relevant articles were hand searched. Three reviewers independently reviewed abstracts, excluding those that failed to meet inclusion criteria. Thirty-two full text articles were reviewed by 2 independent reviewers. Articles not meeting inclusion criteria were eliminated, resulting in a corpus of 25 articles for full review. For the 25 articles, 1 reviewer extracted descriptive data regarding participants, intervention, outcome measures, and results. A second reviewer verified the accuracy of the extracted data. The 3-member review team classified studies using the American Academy of Neurology levels of evidence. Two independent reviewers evaluated each article using design-specific tools to assess research quality. All 25 of the current review articles reported positive changes from partner training. Therefore, to date, 56 studies across 2 systematic reviews have reported positive outcomes from communication partner training in aphasia. The results of the current review are consistent with the previous review and necessitate no change to the earlier recommendations, suggesting that communication partner training should be conducted to improve partner skill in facilitating the communication of people with chronic aphasia. Additional high-quality research is needed to strengthen the original 2010 recommendations and expand recommendations to individuals with acute aphasia. High-quality clinical trials are also needed to demonstrate implementation of communication partner training in complex environments (eg, health care). Copyright © 2016 American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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Clinical tooth preparations and associated measuring methods: a systematic review.
Tiu, Janine; Al-Amleh, Basil; Waddell, J Neil; Duncan, Warwick J
2015-03-01
The geometries of tooth preparations are important features that aid in the retention and resistance of cemented complete crowns. The clinically relevant values and the methods used to measure these are not clear. The purpose of this systematic review was to retrieve, organize, and critically appraise studies measuring clinical tooth preparation parameters, specifically the methodology used to measure the preparation geometry. A database search was performed in Scopus, PubMed, and ScienceDirect with an additional hand search on December 5, 2013. The articles were screened for inclusion and exclusion criteria and information regarding the total occlusal convergence (TOC) angle, margin design, and associated measuring methods were extracted. The values and associated measuring methods were tabulated. A total of 1006 publications were initially retrieved. After removing duplicates and filtering by using exclusion and inclusion criteria, 983 articles were excluded. Twenty-three articles reported clinical tooth preparation values. Twenty articles reported the TOC, 4 articles reported margin designs, 4 articles reported margin angles, and 3 articles reported the abutment height of preparations. A variety of methods were used to measure these parameters. TOC values seem to be the most important preparation parameter. Recommended TOC values have increased over the past 4 decades from an unachievable 2- to 5-degree taper to a more realistic 10 to 22 degrees. Recommended values are more likely to be achieved under experimental conditions if crown preparations are performed outside of the mouth. We recommend that a standardized measurement method based on the cross sections of crown preparations and standardized reporting be developed for future studies analyzing preparation geometry. Copyright © 2015 Editorial Council for the Journal of Prosthetic Dentistry. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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New Features in the ADS Abstract Service
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Eichhorn, G.; Accomazzi, A.; Grant, C. S.; Kurtz, M. J.; ReyBacaicoa, V.; Murray, S. S.
2001-11-01
The ADS Abstract Service contains over 2.3 million references in four databases: Astronomy/Astrophysics/Planetary Sciences, Instrumentation, Physics/Geophysics, and Preprints. We provide abstracts and articles free to the astronomical community for all major and many smaller astronomy journals, PhD theses, conference proceedings, and technical reports. These four databases can be queried either separately of jointly. The ADS also has scanned 1.3 million pages in 180,000 articles in the ADS Article Service. This literature archive contains all major Astronomy journals and many smaller journals, as well as conference proceedings, including the abstract books from all the LPSCs back to volume 2. A new feature gives our users the ability to see list of articles that were also read by the readers of a given article. This is a powerful tool to find out what current articles are relevant in a particular field of study. We have recently expanded the citation and reference query capabilities. It allows our users to select papers for which they want to see references or citations and then retrieve these citations/references. Another new capability is the ability to sort a list of articles by their citation count. As usual, users should be reminded that the citations in ADS are incomplete because we do not obtain reference lists from all publishers. In addition, we cannot match all references (e.g. in press, private communications, author errors, some conference papers, etc.). Anyone using the citations for analysis of publishing records should keep this in mind. More work on expanding the citation and reference features is planned over the next year. ADS Home Page http://ads.harvard.edu/
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Guo, Yufan; Silins, Ilona; Stenius, Ulla; Korhonen, Anna
2013-06-01
Techniques that are capable of automatically analyzing the information structure of scientific articles could be highly useful for improving information access to biomedical literature. However, most existing approaches rely on supervised machine learning (ML) and substantial labeled data that are expensive to develop and apply to different sub-fields of biomedicine. Recent research shows that minimal supervision is sufficient for fairly accurate information structure analysis of biomedical abstracts. However, is it realistic for full articles given their high linguistic and informational complexity? We introduce and release a novel corpus of 50 biomedical articles annotated according to the Argumentative Zoning (AZ) scheme, and investigate active learning with one of the most widely used ML models-Support Vector Machines (SVM)-on this corpus. Additionally, we introduce two novel applications that use AZ to support real-life literature review in biomedicine via question answering and summarization. We show that active learning with SVM trained on 500 labeled sentences (6% of the corpus) performs surprisingly well with the accuracy of 82%, just 2% lower than fully supervised learning. In our question answering task, biomedical researchers find relevant information significantly faster from AZ-annotated than unannotated articles. In the summarization task, sentences extracted from particular zones are significantly more similar to gold standard summaries than those extracted from particular sections of full articles. These results demonstrate that active learning of full articles' information structure is indeed realistic and the accuracy is high enough to support real-life literature review in biomedicine. The annotated corpus, our AZ classifier and the two novel applications are available at http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/yg244/12bioinfo.html
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Amiri, Marjan; Michel, Martin C
2018-06-21
The impact factor is a frequently applied tool in research output analytics. Based on five consecutive publication years each of five pharmacology journals, we have analyzed to which extent review articles yield more impact factor-relevant citations than original articles. Our analysis shows that review articles are quoted about twice as often as original articles published in the same year in the same journal. We conclude that inclusion of review articles does not substantially affect the impact factor of a journal unless they account for considerably more than 10% of all published articles.
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The Community College Foundation Manual & Guide.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Anderson, James M., Comp.; Snyder, Tom, Comp.
This collection of resources and information about community college foundations includes brief articles, selected data, materials from foundations, sample mission statements and articles of incorporation, sample forms and correspondence, relevant educational legislation, and other related materials from specific active foundations at two-year…
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Brown, Jo. B., Comp.
2012-01-01
This classified, comprehensive bibliography for Appalachian studies includes books, journal articles, government documents, and selected newspaper articles published in 2010, plus relevant titles indexed in ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Database. Also, a number of earlier citations not included in the previous bibliography are listed here.…
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Muirhead, Brent
2011-01-01
The article discusses creative teaching for public school teachers. It provides historical background on creativity research and highlights the barriers to creative teaching. The article emphasizes the relevant ways that teachers can encourage creativity in student work while supporting course objectives and standardized test preparation. The…
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Brock, Stephen E., Ed.
2011-01-01
This paper presents summaries of four articles relevant to school crisis response. The first article, "Peritraumatic Dissociation Predicts Posttraumatic Stress in Youth Following Accidents" summarized by Jim Matthews, suggests that peritraumatic dissociation is a powerful predictor of PTSD symptoms among youth who have been in a car…
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The Relevance of Academic Research in OSCM Practice
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Raffield, Wiliam D.; Vang, David O.; Lundsten, Lorman L.
2016-01-01
The authors examine the relevance of academic research for operations and supply chain management (OSCM) professionals. Members of a major metropolitan APICS chapter were surveyed. Consistent with prior research, findings indicate that OSCM practitioners prefer trade journal articles to academic research. Nonetheless, respondents indicate interest…
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Roy, A; Roy, M; Deb, S; Unwin, G; Roy, A
2015-01-01
Self-injury in people with intellectual disability (ID) may be due to variety of factors both environmental and biological. As the drive in UK is to manage people with ID and problem behaviours in the community, it is important to critically examine all treatment options available. As abnormalities in the endogenous opioid system may be a factor in some people with ID, we undertook a systematic review to evaluate the evidence for the effectiveness of opioid antagonists. Four electronic databases were searched for relevant journal articles. In addition, cross-referencing of pertinent reviews and a hand search for articles in major international ID journals between the years 2010 and 2012 was carried out to ensure that all relevant articles were identified. We also searched databases for unpublished clinical trials to overcome publication bias. Each database was searched up to present (February 2013) with no restrictions on the date of publication. The search terms consisted of broad expressions used to describe ID and autistic spectrum disorder as well as terms relating to opioid antagonists and specific drugs. All studies identified by the electronic database search and hand search were examined on the basis of title alone for relevance and duplication. The abstracts of the remaining papers were then scrutinised against the inclusion criteria. Where abstracts failed to provide adequate information, the full texts for these papers were obtained. All the full texts were then evaluated against the inclusion proforma. Two reviewers carried out all the stages of the process independently. The reviewers met to discuss their selections and where disagreements arose, these were settled by discussion with a member of the study group. Data from each study meeting the inclusion criteria was extracted on a pre-piloted data extraction form. The quality of each study was further assessed using the Jadad scale, a tool developed to assess the quality of randomised controlled trials. Out of 10 randomised control trials eight reported a reduction in the frequency of self-injurious behaviour. This meant that 62 participants out of 124 (50%) showed an improvement of which 61 were statistically significant. Forty-nine participants had autism. Eleven (9%) had minor side-effects. The improvement was more marked in people with severe and profound ID and was not affected by the coexistence of autism. This review suggests that some people respond to opioid antagonists with a reduction in self-injury but the trials do not predict who they may be. Future research may identify this sub-group when opioid antagonists may prove to be a useful addition in the pharmacotherapy of self-injury. © 2014 MENCAP and International Association of the Scientific Study of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
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Iodine-131 Therapy and Nasolacrimal Duct Obstructions: What We Know and What We Need to Know.
Ali, Mohammad Javed
2016-01-01
The aims of the current review are to summarize the etiopathogenesis, symptomatology, management, complications, and outcomes of iodine-131-induced nasolacrimal duct obstructions, to propose a screening protocol and elucidate the potential avenues of future research. The authors performed an electronic database (PubMed, MEDLINE, EMBASE, and Cochrane Library) search of all articles published in English on nasolacrimal duct obstructions following radioiodine therapy. These articles were reviewed along with their relevant cross references. Data reviewed included demographics, presentations, investigations, management, complications, and outcomes. In addition, based on relevant unanswered questions and current lacunae in literature, potential avenues for further research have been elucidated. The frequency of nasolacrimal duct obstruction is reported to range from 2.2% to 18% following I-131 therapy. They are mostly bilateral and noted in patients who receive more than 150 mCi radioiodine. Exact etiopathogenesis is unknown but radiotoxicity to lacrimal sac and nasolacrimal duct is believed to be mediated through a sodium-iodine symporter protein. Although uncommon, it is important to increase awareness among treating physicians and patients receiving radioiodine therapy about the potential side effect of nasolacrimal duct obstruction. Imaging modalities are useful adjuncts in the diagnosis. Dacryocystorhinostomy is the most common modality of management with good outcomes. Nasolacrimal duct obstruction following radioiodine treatment is a distinct clinical entity. Increased awareness would facilitate timely diagnosis, management, and an enhanced quality of life for the patients.
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The writer's guide to education scholarship in emergency medicine: Education innovations (part 3).
Hall, Andrew K; Hagel, Carly; Chan, Teresa M; Thoma, Brent; Murnaghan, Aleisha; Bhanji, Farhan
2018-05-01
The scholarly dissemination of innovative medical education practices helps broaden the reach of this type of work, allowing scholarship to have an impact beyond a single institution. There is little guidance in the literature for those seeking to publish program evaluation studies and innovation papers. This study aims to derive a set of evidence-based features of high-quality reports on innovations in emergency medicine (EM) education. We conducted a scoping review and thematic analysis to determine quality markers for medical education innovation reports, with a focus on EM. A search of MEDLINE, EMBASE, ERIC, and Google Scholar was augmented by a hand search of relevant publication guidelines, guidelines for authors, and website submission portals from medical education and EM journals. Study investigators reviewed the selected articles, and a thematic analysis was conducted. Our search strategy identified 14 relevant articles from which 34 quality markers were extracted. These markers were grouped into seven important themes: goals and need for innovation, preparation, innovation development, innovation implementation, evaluation of innovation, evidence of reflective practice, and reporting and dissemination. In addition, multiple outlets for the publication of EM education innovations were identified and compiled. The publication and dissemination of innovations are critical for the EM education community and the training of health professionals. We anticipate that our list of innovation report quality markers will be used by EM education innovators to support the dissemination of novel educational practices.
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Aminoshariae, Anita; Kulild, James C; Donaldson, Mark; Hersh, Elliot V
2016-10-01
The purpose of this investigation was to identify evidence-based clinical trials to aid dental clinicians in establishing the efficacy for recommending or prescribing analgesics for pain of endodontic origin. The authors prepared and registered a protocol on PROSPERO and conducted electronic searches in MEDLINE, Scopus, the Cochrane Library, and ClinicalTrials.gov. In addition, the authors manually searched the bibliographies of all relevant articles, the gray literature, and textbooks for randomized controlled trials. Two authors selected the relevant articles independently. There were no disagreements between the authors. The authors analyzed 27 randomized, placebo-controlled trials. The authors divided the studies into 2 groups: preoperative and postoperative analgesic treatments. There was moderate evidence to support the use of steroids for patients with symptomatic irreversible pulpitis. Also, there was moderate evidence to support nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) preoperatively or postoperatively to control pain of endodontic origin. When NSAIDs were not effective, a combination of NSAIDs with acetaminophen, tramadol, or an opioid appeared beneficial. NSAIDs should be considered as the drugs of choice to alleviate or minimize pain of endodontic origin if there are no contraindications for the patient to ingest an NSAID. In situations in which NSAIDs alone are not effective, the combination of an NSAID with acetaminophen or a centrally acting drug is recommended. Steroids appear effective in irreversible pulpitis. Copyright © 2016 American Dental Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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Basic, Josipa
2015-01-01
This article reviews the experience of implementing a community approach to drug use and youth delinquency prevention based on the 'Communities that Care' (CTC) system implemented in one Croatian county consisting of 12 communities, 2002 to 2013 (Hawkins, 1999; Hawkins & Catalano, 2004). This overview explores selected critical issues which are often not considered in substance use(r) community intervention planning, implementation as well as in associated process and outcome assessments. These issues include, among others, the mobilization process of adequate representation of people; the involvement of relevant key individual and organizational stakeholders and being aware of the stakeholders' willingness to participate in the prevention process. In addition, it is important to be aware of the stakeholders' knowledge and perceptions about the 'problems' of drug use and youth delinquency in their communities as well as the characteristics of the targeted population(s). Sometimes there are community members and stakeholders who block needed change and therefore prevention process enablers and 'bridges' should be involved in moving prevention programming forward. Another barrier that is often overlooked in prevention planning is community readiness to change and a realistic assessment of available and accessible resources for initiating the planned change(s) and sustaining them. All of these issues have been found to be potentially related to intervention success. At the end of this article, I summarize perspectives from prevention scientists and practitioners and lessons learned from communities' readiness research and practice in Croatian that has international relevance.
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Chen, Connie E; Chen, Christopher T; Hu, Jia; Mehrotra, Ateev
2017-02-17
Walk-in clinics are growing in popularity around the world as a substitute for traditional medical care delivered in physician offices and emergency rooms, but their clinical efficacy is unclear. To assess the quality of care and patient satisfaction of walk-in clinics compared to that of traditional physician offices and emergency rooms for people who present with basic medical complaints for either acute or chronic issues. We searched CENTRAL, MEDLINE, Embase, six other databases, and two trials registers on 22 March 2016 together with reference checking, citation searching, and contact with study authors to identify additional studies. We applied no restrictions on language, publication type, or publication year. Study design: randomized trials, non-randomized trials, and controlled before-after studies. standalone physical clinics not requiring advance appointments or registration, that provided basic medical care without expectation of follow-up. Comparisons: traditional primary care practices or emergency rooms. We used standard methodological procedures expected by Cochrane and the Cochrane Effective Practice and Organisation of Care (EPOC) Group. The literature search identified 6587 citations, of which we considered 65 to be potentially relevant. We reviewed the abstracts of all 65 potentially relevant studies and retrieved the full texts of 12 articles thought to fit our study criteria. However, following independent author assessment of the full texts, we excluded all 12 articles. Controlled trial evidence about the mortality, morbidity, quality of care, and patient satisfaction of walk-in clinics is currently not available.
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Nadeem, Ali Bin; Chandna, Ysa
The majority of the Pakistani public has known little of the unmanned aerial vehicles, also known for their onomatopoeically inspired name "drones," except the fact that it regularly rains Hellfire missiles in Pakistan, claiming the lives of many innocent Pakistanis settled in the western provinces. In actuality, in addition to their destructive capacities, these remotely piloted vehicles have been used since the turn of the century in a variety of live-saving and risk-reducing roles. This research article primarily addresses the third stage of Emergency management-response, with Pakistan being the primary region of research. This research article will first begin by diagnosing and accurately delineating the types of humanitarian crisis that grip Pakistan, devastating its land, exhausting its limited resources in its weak, and now almost archaic, disaster response strategy that results in the prolongation of its citizens' plight. Subsequently, this article will describe the history of the usage of unmanned vehicles, its multi-functional capacities, and its relevance in aiding humanitarian response efforts in disaster-stricken areas. Finally, this article will propose the introduction of Remotely Piloted Life-Saving Effort (RELIEF) vehicles in performing analysis and surveillance roles in Pakistan's disaster-prone and disaster-struck areas and its capacity to dramatically improve and expedite the existing relief supply delivery systems in place.
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Combination therapy for erectile dysfunction: an update review.
Dhir, Rohit R; Lin, Hao-Cheng; Canfield, Steven E; Wang, Run
2011-05-01
The introduction of oral phosphodiesterase-5 inhibitors (PDE5Is) in the late 1990s and early 2000s revolutionized the field of sexual medicine and PDE5Is are currently first-line monotherapy for erectile dysfunction (ED). However, a significant proportion of patients with complex ED will be therapeutic non-responders to PDE5I monotherapy. Combination therapy has recently been adopted for more refractory cases of ED, but a critical evaluation of current combination therapies is lacking. A thorough PubMed and Cochrane Library search was conducted focusing on the effectiveness of combination therapies for ED in therapeutic non-responders to PDE5I therapy. Journal articles spanning the time period between January 1990 and December 2010 were reviewed. Criteria included all pertinent review articles, randomized controlled trials, cohort studies and retrospective analyses. References from retrieved articles were also manually scanned for additional relevant publications. Published combination therapies include PDE5I plus vacuum erectile device (VED), intraurethral medication, intracavernosal injection (ICI), androgen supplement, α-blocker or miscellaneous combinations. Based on this review, some of these combination treatments appeared to be quite effective in preliminary testing. Caution must be advised, however, as the majority of combination therapy articles in the last decade have numerous limitations including study biases and small subject size. Regardless of limitations, present combination therapy research provides a solid foundation for future studies in complex ED management.
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Current Events via Electronic Media: An Instructional Tool in a General Education Geology Course
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Flood, T. P.
2008-12-01
St. Norbert College (SNC) is a liberal arts college in the Green Bay Metropolitan area with an enrollment of approximately 2100 students. All students are required to take one science course with a laboratory component as part of the general education program. Approximately 40% of all SNC students take introductory geology. Class size for this course is approximately 35 students. Each faculty member teaches one section per semester in a smart classroom A synthesis of current events via electronic media is an excellent pedagogical tool for the introductory geology course. An on-going informal survey of my introductory geology class indicates that between 75- 85% of all students in the class, mostly freshman and sophomores, do not follow the news on a regular basis in any format, i.e. print, internet, or television. Consequently, most are unaware of current scientific topics, events, trends, and relevancy. To address this issue, and develop a positive habit of the mind, a technique called In-the-News-Making-News (INMN) is employed. Each class period begins with a scientifically-related (mostly geology) online news article displayed on an overhead screen. The articles are drawn from a variety of sources that include international sites such as the BBC and CBC; national sites such as PBS, New York Times, and CNN; and local sites such as the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and the Green Bay Press Gazette. After perusing the article, additional information is often acquired by "Google" to help supplement and clarify the original article. An interactive discussion follows. Topics that are typically covered include: global climate change, basic scientific and technological discoveries, paleontology/evolution, natural disasters, mineral/ energy/ water resources, funding for science, space exploration, and other. Ancillary areas that are often touched on in the conversation include ethics, politics, economics, philosophy, education, geography, culture, or other. INMN addresses several key goals of our general education program. Significantly, it develops critical thinking and analysis of content. For example, aspects of an article commonly addressed include: What is the main point of the article? What is the data that supports the main point? How good is the data and how was it derived (i.e. not all data is created equal)? What assumptions are involved? What is the quality of the assumptions? What part of the article is data and what part is interpretation? INMN also highlights the relevancy and excitement inherent in science, and is valuable for continually reinforcing the methodology of science. Formal feedback, from end of the semester SNC evaluations, is strongly positive.
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Biomarkers and Surrogate Endpoints: Lessons Learned From Glaucoma
Medeiros, Felipe A.
2017-01-01
With the recent progress in imaging technologies for assessment of structural damage in glaucoma, a debate has emerged on whether these measurements can be used as valid surrogate endpoints in clinical trials evaluating new therapies for the disease. A discussion of surrogates should be grounded on knowledge acquired from their use in other areas of medicine as well as regulatory requirements. This article reviews the conditions for valid surrogacy in the context of glaucoma clinical trials and critically evaluates the role of biomarkers such as IOP and imaging measurements as potential surrogates for clinically relevant outcomes. Valid surrogate endpoints must be able to predict a clinically relevant endpoint, such as loss of vision or decrease in quality of life. In addition, the effect of a proposed treatment on the surrogate must capture the effect of the treatment on the clinically relevant endpoint. Despite its widespread use in clinical trials, no proper validation of IOP as a surrogate endpoint has yet been conducted for any class of IOP-lowering treatments. Although strong evidence has accumulated about imaging measurements as predictors of relevant functional outcomes in glaucoma, there is still insufficient evidence to support their use as valid surrogate endpoints. However, imaging biomarkers could potentially be used as part of composite endpoints in glaucoma trials, overcoming weaknesses of the use of structural or functional endpoints in isolation. Efforts should be taken to properly design and conduct studies that can provide proper validation of potential biomarkers in glaucoma clinical trials. PMID:28475699
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Biomarkers and Surrogate Endpoints: Lessons Learned From Glaucoma.
Medeiros, Felipe A
2017-05-01
With the recent progress in imaging technologies for assessment of structural damage in glaucoma, a debate has emerged on whether these measurements can be used as valid surrogate endpoints in clinical trials evaluating new therapies for the disease. A discussion of surrogates should be grounded on knowledge acquired from their use in other areas of medicine as well as regulatory requirements. This article reviews the conditions for valid surrogacy in the context of glaucoma clinical trials and critically evaluates the role of biomarkers such as IOP and imaging measurements as potential surrogates for clinically relevant outcomes. Valid surrogate endpoints must be able to predict a clinically relevant endpoint, such as loss of vision or decrease in quality of life. In addition, the effect of a proposed treatment on the surrogate must capture the effect of the treatment on the clinically relevant endpoint. Despite its widespread use in clinical trials, no proper validation of IOP as a surrogate endpoint has yet been conducted for any class of IOP-lowering treatments. Although strong evidence has accumulated about imaging measurements as predictors of relevant functional outcomes in glaucoma, there is still insufficient evidence to support their use as valid surrogate endpoints. However, imaging biomarkers could potentially be used as part of composite endpoints in glaucoma trials, overcoming weaknesses of the use of structural or functional endpoints in isolation. Efforts should be taken to properly design and conduct studies that can provide proper validation of potential biomarkers in glaucoma clinical trials.
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Velez-Montoya, Raul; Jacobo-Oceguera, Paola; Flores-Preciado, Javier; Dalma-Weiszhausz, Jose; Guerrero-Naranjo, Jose; Salcedo-Villanueva, Guillermo; Garcia-Aguirre, Gerardo; Fromow-Guerra, Jans; Morales-Canton, Virgilio
2016-01-01
We reviewed all the available data regarding the current management of non-complex rhegmatogenous retinal detachment and aimed to propose a new decision-making algorithm aimed to improve the single surgery success rate for mid-severity rhegmatogenous retinal detachment. An online review of the Pubmed database was performed. We searched for all available manuscripts about the anatomical and functional outcomes after the surgical management, by either scleral buckle or primary pars plana vitrectomy, of retinal detachment. The search was limited to articles published from January 1995 to December 2015. All articles obtained from the search were carefully screened and their references were manually reviewed for additional relevant data. Our search specifically focused on preoperative clinical data that were associated with the surgical outcomes. After categorizing the available data according to their level of evidence, with randomized-controlled clinical trials as the highest possible level of evidence, followed by retrospective studies, and retrospective case series as the lowest level of evidence, we proceeded to design a logical decision-making algorithm, enhanced by our experiences as retinal surgeons. A total of 7 randomized-controlled clinical trials, 19 retrospective studies, and 9 case series were considered. Additional articles were also included in order to support the observations further. Rhegmatogenous retinal detachment is a potentially blinding disorder. Its surgical management seems to depend more on a surgeon´s preference than solid scientific data or is based on a good clinical history and examination. The algorithms proposed herein strive to offer a more rational approach to improve both anatomical and functional outcomes after the first surgery.
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Antibiotic-Induced Rash in Patients With Infectious Mononucleosis.
Thompson, Dennis F; Ramos, Carroll L
2017-02-01
To provide an extensive review of case reports, epidemiological data, and the underlying mechanism of antibiotic-induced skin rash in patients with concurrent infectious mononucleosis (IM). A MEDLINE literature search inclusive of the dates 1946 to June 2016 was performed using the search terms anti-bacterial agents and infectious mononucleosis. EMBASE (1980 to June 2016) was searched using the terms mononucleosis and antibiotic agent and drug eruption. References of all relevant articles were reviewed for additional citations and information. We selected English-language, primary literature, review articles, and mechanistic articles that addressed antibiotic-induced skin rash in patients with concurrent IM. We assessed all case reports available for causality utilizing a modified Naranjo nomogram specifically designed for this subject. We assembled the available epidemiological data into tables to identify trends in incidence rates over the years. We identified 17 case reports of antibiotic-associated rash in patients with IM. The median Naranjo score was 6 (range = 1 to 8). The top 3 reported drugs were ampicillin, azithromycin, and amoxicillin. Incidence of this adverse effect was higher in the 1960s (55.6%, 45%, and 33%) than in 2013 (33% and 15%). The mechanism most commonly proposed is a transient virus-mediated immune alteration that sets the stage for loss of antigenic tolerance and the development of a reversible, delayed-type hypersensitivity reaction to the antibiotic. A reassessment of the long-held belief of the high incidence (80%-100%) of antibiotic-induced skin rash in patients with IM seems prudent. Additional studies will be necessary to clarify this issue.
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Hu, Xiangdong; Liu, Yujiang; Qian, Linxue
2017-10-01
Real-time elastography (RTE) and shear wave elastography (SWE) are noninvasive and easily available imaging techniques that measure the tissue strain, and it has been reported that the sensitivity and the specificity of elastography were better in differentiating between benign and malignant thyroid nodules than conventional technologies. Relevant articles were searched in multiple databases; the comparison of elasticity index (EI) was conducted with the Review Manager 5.0. Forest plots of the sensitivity and specificity and SROC curve of RTE and SWE were performed with STATA 10.0 software. In addition, sensitivity analysis and bias analysis of the studies were conducted to examine the quality of articles; and to estimate possible publication bias, funnel plot was used and the Egger test was conducted. Finally 22 articles which eventually satisfied the inclusion criteria were included in this study. After eliminating the inefficient, benign and malignant nodules were 2106 and 613, respectively. The meta-analysis suggested that the difference of EI between benign and malignant nodules was statistically significant (SMD = 2.11, 95% CI [1.67, 2.55], P < .00001). The overall sensitivities of RTE and SWE were roughly comparable, whereas the difference of specificities between these 2 methods was statistically significant. In addition, statistically significant difference of AUC between RTE and SWE was observed between RTE and SWE (P < .01). The specificity of RTE was statistically higher than that of SWE; which suggests that compared with SWE, RTE may be more accurate on differentiating benign and malignant thyroid nodules.
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Hu, Xiangdong; Liu, Yujiang; Qian, Linxue
2017-01-01
Abstract Background: Real-time elastography (RTE) and shear wave elastography (SWE) are noninvasive and easily available imaging techniques that measure the tissue strain, and it has been reported that the sensitivity and the specificity of elastography were better in differentiating between benign and malignant thyroid nodules than conventional technologies. Methods: Relevant articles were searched in multiple databases; the comparison of elasticity index (EI) was conducted with the Review Manager 5.0. Forest plots of the sensitivity and specificity and SROC curve of RTE and SWE were performed with STATA 10.0 software. In addition, sensitivity analysis and bias analysis of the studies were conducted to examine the quality of articles; and to estimate possible publication bias, funnel plot was used and the Egger test was conducted. Results: Finally 22 articles which eventually satisfied the inclusion criteria were included in this study. After eliminating the inefficient, benign and malignant nodules were 2106 and 613, respectively. The meta-analysis suggested that the difference of EI between benign and malignant nodules was statistically significant (SMD = 2.11, 95% CI [1.67, 2.55], P < .00001). The overall sensitivities of RTE and SWE were roughly comparable, whereas the difference of specificities between these 2 methods was statistically significant. In addition, statistically significant difference of AUC between RTE and SWE was observed between RTE and SWE (P < .01). Conclusion: The specificity of RTE was statistically higher than that of SWE; which suggests that compared with SWE, RTE may be more accurate on differentiating benign and malignant thyroid nodules. PMID:29068996
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VELEZ-MONTOYA, Raul; JACOBO-OCEGUERA, Paola; FLORES-PRECIADO, Javier; DALMA-WEISZHAUSZ, Jose; GUERRERO-NARANJO, Jose; SALCEDO-VILLANUEVA, Guillermo; GARCIA-AGUIRRE, Gerardo; FROMOW-GUERRA, Jans; MORALES-CANTON, Virgilio
2016-01-01
We reviewed all the available data regarding the current management of non-complex rhegmatogenous retinal detachment and aimed to propose a new decision-making algorithm aimed to improve the single surgery success rate for mid-severity rhegmatogenous retinal detachment. An online review of the Pubmed database was performed. We searched for all available manuscripts about the anatomical and functional outcomes after the surgical management, by either scleral buckle or primary pars plana vitrectomy, of retinal detachment. The search was limited to articles published from January 1995 to December 2015. All articles obtained from the search were carefully screened and their references were manually reviewed for additional relevant data. Our search specifically focused on preoperative clinical data that were associated with the surgical outcomes. After categorizing the available data according to their level of evidence, with randomized-controlled clinical trials as the highest possible level of evidence, followed by retrospective studies, and retrospective case series as the lowest level of evidence, we proceeded to design a logical decision-making algorithm, enhanced by our experiences as retinal surgeons. A total of 7 randomized-controlled clinical trials, 19 retrospective studies, and 9 case series were considered. Additional articles were also included in order to support the observations further. Rhegmatogenous retinal detachment is a potentially blinding disorder. Its surgical management seems to depend more on a surgeon´s preference than solid scientific data or is based on a good clinical history and examination. The algorithms proposed herein strive to offer a more rational approach to improve both anatomical and functional outcomes after the first surgery. PMID:28289689
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Food advertising to children and its effects on diet: review of recent prevalence and impact data.
Boyland, Emma Jane; Whalen, Rosa
2015-08-01
In the context of a global obesity epidemic that has led to an unprecedented burden of non-communicable disease, the role of food and beverage marketing to children has been scrutinised in numerous studies. This article discusses the broader concept of an obesity-promoting food environment, before reviewing key, recent (last 5 yr) international research findings with regard to both the prevalence and effects of food and beverage advertising on children's intake. Evidence relating to the two main avenues of food marketing exposure, television, and the Internet, is explored and consideration is given to the differences in consumer experience of these types of promotion. Despite methodological differences and the varying population samples studied, the outcomes are broadly consistent - food advertising is prevalent, it promotes largely energy dense, nutrient poor foods, and even short-term exposure results in children increasing their food consumption. Policymakers are implored to drive forward meaningful changes in the food environment to support healthier choices and reduce the incidence of obesity and related diseases. This article aims at providing an overview of recent developments in this field. After limiting the search to the last five full years 2009-2014, we searched the following databases: Web of Knowledge and PubMed (keyword search terms used: television, Internet, new media, food advertising, food marketing, children, food intake, energy intake, consumption, and combinations of these terms). In addition we used the references from the articles obtained by this method to check for additional relevant material. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
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Posterior lamellar reconstruction: a comprehensive review of the literature.
Fin, Alessandra; De Biasio, Fabrizio; Lanzetta, Paolo; Mura, Sebastiano; Tarantini, Anna; Parodi, Pier Camillo
2018-05-21
The aim of the review is to describe the different techniques and materials available to reconstruct the tarsoconjunctival layer of the eyelid; to analyze their indications, advantages, and disadvantages. We searched the Cochrane, PubMed, and Ovid MEDLINE databases for English articles published between January 1990 and January 2017 using variations of the following key words: "posterior lamella," "eyelid reconstruction," "tarsoconjunctival," "flap," and "graft." Two reviewers checked the abstracts of the articles found to eliminate redundant or not relevant articles. The references of the identified articles were screened manually to include relevant works not found through the initial search. The search identified 174 articles. Only a few articles with a therapeutic level of evidence were found. Techniques for the posterior lamellar reconstruction can be categorized as local, regional, and distant flaps; tarsoconjunctival, heterotopic, homologous, and heterologous grafts. Several techniques and variations on the techniques exist to reconstruct the posterior lamella, and, for similar indications, there's no evidence of the primacy of one over the other. Defect size and location as well as patient features must guide the oculoplastic surgeon's choice. The use of biomaterials can avoid possible complications of the donor site.
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Diffusion models for innovation: s-curves, networks, power laws, catastrophes, and entropy.
Jacobsen, Joseph J; Guastello, Stephen J
2011-04-01
This article considers models for the diffusion of innovation would be most relevant to the dynamics of early 21st century technologies. The article presents an overview of diffusion models and examines the adoption S-curve, network theories, difference models, influence models, geographical models, a cusp catastrophe model, and self-organizing dynamics that emanate from principles of network configuration and principles of heat diffusion. The diffusion dynamics that are relevant to information technologies and energy-efficient technologies are compared. Finally, principles of nonlinear dynamics for innovation diffusion that could be used to rehabilitate the global economic situation are discussed.
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Methodology for the Development of Antithrombotic Therapy and Prevention of Thrombosis Guidelines
Norris, Susan L.; Schulman, Sam; Hirsh, Jack; Eckman, Mark H.; Akl, Elie A.; Crowther, Mark; Vandvik, Per Olav; Eikelboom, John W.; McDonagh, Marian S.; Lewis, Sandra Zelman; Gutterman, David D.; Cook, Deborah J.; Schünemann, Holger J.
2012-01-01
Background: To develop the Antithrombotic Therapy and Prevention of Thrombosis, 9th ed: ACCP Evidence-Based Clinical Practice Guidelines (AT9), the American College of Chest Physicians (ACCP) assembled a panel of clinical experts, information scientists, decision scientists, and systematic review and guideline methodologists. Methods: Clinical areas were designated as articles, and a methodologist without important intellectual or financial conflicts of interest led a panel for each article. Only panel members without significant conflicts of interest participated in making recommendations. Panelists specified the population, intervention and alternative, and outcomes for each clinical question and defined criteria for eligible studies. Panelists and an independent evidence-based practice center executed systematic searches for relevant studies and evaluated the evidence, and where resources and evidence permitted, they created standardized tables that present the quality of the evidence and key results in a transparent fashion. Results: One or more recommendations relate to each specific clinical question, and each recommendation is clearly linked to the underlying body of evidence. Judgments regarding the quality of evidence and strength of recommendations were based on approaches developed by the Grades of Recommendations, Assessment, Development, and Evaluation Working Group. Panel members constructed scenarios describing relevant health states and rated the disutility associated with these states based on an additional systematic review of evidence regarding patient values and preferences for antithrombotic therapy. These ratings guided value and preference decisions underlying the recommendations. Each topic panel identified questions in which resource allocation issues were particularly important and, for these issues, experts in economic analysis provided additional searches and guidance. Conclusions: AT9 methodology reflects the current science of evidence-based clinical practice guideline development, with reliance on high-quality systematic reviews, a standardized process for quality assessment of individual studies and the body of evidence, an explicit process for translating the evidence into recommendations, disclosure of financial as well as intellectual conflicts of interest followed by management of disclosed conflicts, and extensive peer review. PMID:22315256
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Brock, Stephen E., Ed.
2011-01-01
This article presents summaries of three articles relevant to school crisis response: (1) "Factors Contributing to Posttraumatic Growth," summarized by Steve DeBlois; (2) "Psychological Debriefing in Cross-Cultural Contexts" (Stacey Rice); and (3) "Brain Abnormalities in PTSD" (Sunny Windingstad). The first summary reports the findings of a…
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Physician Impairment: Is It Relevant to Academic Psychiatry?
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Myers, Michael F.
2008-01-01
Objective: This article examines the relevance of physician impairment to the discipline of academic psychiatry. Method: The author reviews the scientific literature, the proceedings of previous International Conferences on Physician Health, and held discussions with experts in the physician health movement, department chairs, program directors,…
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Science Education and Worldview
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Keane, Moyra
2008-01-01
Is there a place for Indigenous Knowledge in the science curriculum for a Zulu community in rural Kwa-Zulu Natal, South Africa? This article argues "yes," based on a participative research and development project that discovered relevant science learning in a Zulu community. Among community concerns for relevant factual and performative…
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Stress and Coping Activity: Reframing Negative Thoughts
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Hughes, Jamie S.; Gourley, Mary K.; Madson, Laura; Le Blanc, Katya
2011-01-01
Stress management and coping techniques are not only relevant in many psychology courses but also personally relevant for undergraduate students. In this article, the authors describe an activity designed to provide students with practice evaluating and challenging negative self-talk. Students responded to scenarios individually, were paired with…
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Indigenous Knowledge in Canadian Science Curricula: Cases from Western Canada
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Kim, Mijung
2017-01-01
To enhance Aboriginal students' educational opportunities in sciences, culturally relevant science curriculum has been examined and practiced in Western Canadian science classrooms. This article shares some examples of inclusion of indigenous knowledge in science curricula and discusses the improvement and challenges of culturally relevant science…
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Review of utility values for economic modeling in type 2 diabetes.
Beaudet, Amélie; Clegg, John; Thuresson, Per-Olof; Lloyd, Adam; McEwan, Phil
2014-06-01
Economic analysis in type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) requires an assessment of the effect of a wide range of complications. The objective of this article was to identify a set of utility values consistent with the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) reference case and to critically discuss and illustrate challenges in creating such a utility set. A systematic literature review was conducted to identify studies reporting utility values for relevant complications. The methodology of each study was assessed for consistency with the NICE reference case. A suggested set of utility values applicable to modeling was derived, giving preference to studies reporting multiple complications and correcting for comorbidity. The review considered 21 relevant diabetes complications. A total of 16,574 articles were identified; after screening, 61 articles were assessed for methodological quality. Nineteen articles met NICE criteria, reporting utility values for 20 of 21 relevant complications. For renal transplant, because no articles meeting NICE criteria were identified, two articles using other methodologies were included. Index value estimates for T2DM without complication ranged from 0.711 to 0.940. Utility decrement associated with complications ranged from 0.014 (minor hypoglycemia) to 0.28 (amputation). Limitations associated with the selection of a utility value for use in economic modeling included variability in patient recruitment, heterogeneity in statistical analysis, large variability around some point estimates, and lack of recent data. A reference set of utility values for T2DM and its complications in line with NICE requirements was identified. This research illustrates the challenges associated with systematically selecting utility data for economic evaluations. Copyright © 2014 International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research (ISPOR). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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Primary health care approach. Its relevance to oral health in Nigeria.
Ndiokwelu, E
2002-09-01
This article discusses the concept of Primary Health Care--an idea which started with the World Health Assembly agreement in 1977 to work resolutely towards the goal of Health for All. This decision was followed by the historic international conference on Primary Health Care at Alma Ata in 1978. Many countries including Nigeria, adopted the primary health care strategy to achieve health for all by the year 2000 (now 2000 and beyond). Since health needs to be seen and dealt with in a holistic manner, oral health is an integral part of health. Strategies for achieving health for all implicitly and must of necessity involve oral health. This article has tried to show the relevance of the strategy of primary health care to oral health. It concludes that primary health care approach is very relevant to oral health in Nigeria.
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Text-based Analytics for Biosurveillance
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Charles, Lauren E.; Smith, William P.; Rounds, Jeremiah
The ability to prevent, mitigate, or control a biological threat depends on how quickly the threat is identified and characterized. Ensuring the timely delivery of data and analytics is an essential aspect of providing adequate situational awareness in the face of a disease outbreak. This chapter outlines an analytic pipeline for supporting an advanced early warning system that can integrate multiple data sources and provide situational awareness of potential and occurring disease situations. The pipeline, includes real-time automated data analysis founded on natural language processing (NLP), semantic concept matching, and machine learning techniques, to enrich content with metadata related tomore » biosurveillance. Online news articles are presented as an example use case for the pipeline, but the processes can be generalized to any textual data. In this chapter, the mechanics of a streaming pipeline are briefly discussed as well as the major steps required to provide targeted situational awareness. The text-based analytic pipeline includes various processing steps as well as identifying article relevance to biosurveillance (e.g., relevance algorithm) and article feature extraction (who, what, where, why, how, and when). The ability to prevent, mitigate, or control a biological threat depends on how quickly the threat is identified and characterized. Ensuring the timely delivery of data and analytics is an essential aspect of providing adequate situational awareness in the face of a disease outbreak. This chapter outlines an analytic pipeline for supporting an advanced early warning system that can integrate multiple data sources and provide situational awareness of potential and occurring disease situations. The pipeline, includes real-time automated data analysis founded on natural language processing (NLP), semantic concept matching, and machine learning techniques, to enrich content with metadata related to biosurveillance. Online news articles are presented as an example use case for the pipeline, but the processes can be generalized to any textual data. In this chapter, the mechanics of a streaming pipeline are briefly discussed as well as the major steps required to provide targeted situational awareness. The text-based analytic pipeline includes various processing steps as well as identifying article relevance to biosurveillance (e.g., relevance algorithm) and article feature extraction (who, what, where, why, how, and when).« less
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Castration-resistant prostate cancer: AUA guideline amendment.
Cookson, Michael S; Lowrance, William T; Murad, Mohammad H; Kibel, Adam S
2015-02-01
The purpose of this amendment is to incorporate relevant newly-published literature to better provide a rational basis for the management of patients with castration-resistant prostate cancer. The original systematic review and meta-analysis of the published literature yielded 303 articles published from 1996 through 2013. This review formed a majority of the guideline statements. Clinical Principles and Expert Opinions were used for guideline statements lacking sufficient evidence-based data. In April 2014, the CRPC guideline underwent amendment based on a second comprehensive literature search, which retrieved additional studies published between February 2013 and February 2014. Thirty-seven studies from this search provided data relevant to the specific treatment modalities for CRPC. Guideline statements based on six index patients developed to represent the most common scenarios encountered in clinical practice were amended appropriately. The additional literature provided the basis for an update of current supporting text as well as the incorporation of new guideline statements. Specifically, the addition of Radium-223 was placed in the guidelines related to the treatment of CRPC. Given the rapidly evolving nature of this field, this guideline should be used in conjunction with recent systematic literature reviews and an understanding of the individual patient's treatment goals. Patients' preferences and personal goals should be considered when choosing management strategies. The newly incorporated evidence-based statements supplement the original guideline published in 2013, which provided guidance for the treatment of men with CRPC. This guideline will be continually updated as new literature emerges in the field. Copyright © 2015 American Urological Association Education and Research, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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Maynard, M Travis; Marshall, David; Dean, Matthew D
2012-01-01
In an attempt to enhance patient safety, health care facilities are increasingly turning to crew resource management (CRM) and other teamwork training interventions. However, there is still quite a bit about such training interventions that remain unclear. Accordingly, our primary intent herein is to provide some clarity by providing a review of the literature, in hopes of highlighting the current state of the literature as well as identifying the areas that should be addressed by researchers in this field going forward. We searched various electronic databases and utilized numerous relevant search terms to maximize the likelihood of identifying all empirical research related to the use of CRM training within health care. Additionally, we conducted a manual search of the most relevant journals and also conducted a legacy search to identify even more articles. Furthermore, given that as a research team we have experience with CRM initiatives, we also integrate the lessons learned through this experience. Based on our review of the literature, CRM and teamwork training programs generally appear beneficial to individual employees, the groups and teams within such settings, and overall health care organizations. In addition to reviewing the literature that addressed CRM and teamwork training, we also highlight some of the more critical aspects of CRM training programs in order for such initiatives to be as successful as possible. Additionally, we detail various factors that appear essential to sustaining any benefits of CRM over the long haul.
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Liput, Shea A; Kane-Gill, Sandra L; Seybert, Amy L; Smithburger, Pamela L
2016-06-01
The objective of this article is to provide a summary of the perceptions of healthcare providers and family members toward their role in active patient care in the ICU and compare the views of healthcare providers with those of relatives of critically ill patients. The search was conducted using PubMed as the primary search engine and EMBASE as a secondary search engine. Studies were included if they were conducted in the ICU, had an adult patient population, and contained a discussion of active patient care, including perspective or actions of family members or healthcare providers about the active participation. Titles and abstracts of articles identified through PubMed and EMBASE were assessed for relevancy of family involvement. The full article was reviewed of titles and abstracts involving family involvement of care in the ICU to assess if the topic was active care and if the article involved perceptions of healthcare providers or family members. The references of all selected articles were then evaluated for the inclusion of additional studies. Articles including perceptions of healthcare providers were grouped separately from articles including attitudes of family members. Articles that contained the perceptions of both healthcare providers and family members were considered in both groups but were evaluated with each perspective separately. Examples of specific patient care tasks that were mentioned in each article were identified. A positive attitude exists among both family members and providers toward the involvement of family members in active care tasks. Providers and family members share the attitude that a partnership is necessary and that encouragement for family members to participate is essential. The findings in this review support the need for more objective research regarding how families are caring for their loved ones and how family involvement in care is affecting patient and family outcomes.
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Crisis Management: Research Summaries
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Brock, Stephen E., Ed.; Dorman, Sally; Anderson, Luke; McNair, Daniel
2013-01-01
This article presents summaries of three studies relevant to school crisis response. The first report, "A Framework for International Crisis Intervention" (Sally Dorman), is a review of how existing crisis intervention models (including the NASP PREPaRE model) have been adapted for international use. The second article, "Responding…
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The Relevancy of Large-Scale, Quantitative Methodologies in Middle Grades Education Research
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Mertens, Steven B.
2006-01-01
This article examines the relevancy of large-scale, quantitative methodologies in middle grades education research. Based on recommendations from national advocacy organizations, the need for more large-scale, quantitative research, combined with the application of more rigorous methodologies, is presented. Subsequent sections describe and discuss…
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The Role of Reader Characteristics in Processing and Learning from Informational Text
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Fox, Emily
2009-01-01
This article considers the role of reader characteristics in processing and learning from informational text, as revealed in think-aloud research. A theoretical framework for relevant aspects of readers' processing and products was developed. These relevant aspects included three attentional foci for processing (comprehension, monitoring, and…
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
MacGregor, Kelly; Sobsey, Dick
The bibliography contains 392 citations relevant to education and related services for children with autism and their families published between 1983 and 1988. Most of the citations are journal articles but a number of relevant books are also included. Citations are alphabetized by title. An author index (by first author) and a subject index are…
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Metonymic Inferencing and Second Language Acquisition
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Barcelona, Antonio
2010-01-01
The article is a reflection on the various areas of cognitive linguistic research on metonymy that are of potential relevance for SLA. Three of them are particularly relevant: (1) research on metonymy-guided inferencing; (2) research on metonymy-based lexical polysemy, and (3) research on metonymy-based grammatical constructions. Of the three main…
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Indigenous knowledge in Canadian science curricula: cases from Western Canada
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Kim, Mijung
2017-09-01
To enhance Aboriginal students' educational opportunities in sciences, culturally relevant science curriculum has been examined and practiced in Western Canadian science classrooms. This article shares some examples of inclusion of indigenous knowledge in science curricula and discusses the improvement and challenges of culturally relevant science curricula in Canadian contexts.
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Relevance Theory, Action Theory and Second Language Communication Strategies
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Foster-Cohen, Susan H.
2004-01-01
The discussion in this article offers a comparison between Relevance Theory as an account of human communication and Herbert Clark's (1996) sociocognitive Action Theory approach. It is argued that the differences are fundamental and impact analysis of all kinds of naturally occurring communicative data, including that produced by non-native…
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A Critical Urban Environmental Pedagogy: Relevant Urban Environmental Education for and by Youth
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Bellino, Marissa E.; Adams, Jennifer D.
2017-01-01
This article reimagines environmental education (EE), moving away from traditional models of EE rooted in nature studies and pro-environmental behaviors. Using the pedagogical praxis and intent of critical pedagogy and participatory methodologies, this critical urban environmental pedagogy (CUEP) investigates relevant socioenvironmental issues…
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Families with burn injury: application in the clinically relevant continuum model.
Lehna, Carlee
2011-06-01
This article incorporates the findings from a predominantly qualitative, mixed-method study examining sibling survivors' experiences of a major childhood burn injury into the clinically relevant continuum model as a means of promoting culturally competent and family-centered care. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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International Service Learning: Analytical Review of Published Research Literature
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Dixon, Brett
2015-01-01
International service learning (ISL) is an emerging area of international education. This paper summarizes academic journal articles on ISL programs and organizes the relevant publications by academic disciplines, service learning project areas, and other topics. The basis for this review is relevant literature from full-text scholarly peer…
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What Is Postmodernism and How Is It Relevant to Engaged Pedagogy?
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Cosgrove, Lisa
2004-01-01
This article identifies some of the advantages of using a postmodern approach in the psychology classroom. A postmodern pedagogical stance has special relevance for faculty who teach abnormal psychology insofar as postmodernism encourages reflexivity and increases students' awareness of social justice issues. The author provides specific ideas for…
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Community Mapping as a Tool for Developing Culturally Relevant Pedagogy
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Jackson, Tambra O.; Bryson, Brandy S.
2018-01-01
Despite more than two decades of research supporting the use of culturally relevant pedagogy (CRP) to increase academic outcomes for culturally and linguistically diverse students, teacher education programs continue to struggle with helping preservice teachers to develop this pedagogical stance. This article explores the process and outcomes of a…
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Seeking Relevance: American Political Science and America
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Maranto, Robert; Woessner, Matthew C.
2012-01-01
In this article, the authors talk about the relevance of American political science and America. Political science has enormous strengths in its highly talented practitioners and sophisticated methods. However, its disconnection from its host society, while not so severe as for fields like English and sociology, nonetheless poses an existential…
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Conditional automaticity in subliminal morphosyntactic priming.
Ansorge, Ulrich; Reynvoet, Bert; Hendler, Jessica; Oettl, Lennart; Evert, Stefan
2013-07-01
We used a gender-classification task to test the principles of subliminal morphosyntactic priming. In Experiment 1, masked, subliminal feminine or masculine articles were used as primes. They preceded a visible target noun. Subliminal articles either had a morphosyntactically congruent or incongruent gender with the targets. In a gender-classification task of the target nouns, subliminal articles primed the responses: responses were faster in congruent than incongruent conditions (Experiment 1). In Experiment 2, we tested whether this congruence effect depended on gender relevance. In line with a relevance-dependence, the congruence effect only occurred in a gender-classification task but was absent in another categorical discrimination of the target nouns (Experiment 2). The congruence effect also depended on correct word order. It was diminished when nouns preceded articles (Experiment 3). Finally, the congruence effect was replicated with a larger set of targets but only for masculine targets (Experiment 4). Results are discussed in light of theories of subliminal priming in general and of subliminal syntactic priming in particular.
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EEG-Neurofeedback as a Tool to Modulate Cognition and Behavior: A Review Tutorial
Enriquez-Geppert, Stefanie; Huster, René J.; Herrmann, Christoph S.
2017-01-01
Neurofeedback is attracting renewed interest as a method to self-regulate one’s own brain activity to directly alter the underlying neural mechanisms of cognition and behavior. It not only promises new avenues as a method for cognitive enhancement in healthy subjects, but also as a therapeutic tool. In the current article, we present a review tutorial discussing key aspects relevant to the development of electroencephalography (EEG) neurofeedback studies. In addition, the putative mechanisms underlying neurofeedback learning are considered. We highlight both aspects relevant for the practical application of neurofeedback as well as rather theoretical considerations related to the development of new generation protocols. Important characteristics regarding the set-up of a neurofeedback protocol are outlined in a step-by-step way. All these practical and theoretical considerations are illustrated based on a protocol and results of a frontal-midline theta up-regulation training for the improvement of executive functions. Not least, assessment criteria for the validation of neurofeedback studies as well as general guidelines for the evaluation of training efficacy are discussed. PMID:28275344
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Safety first: Instrumentality for reaching safety determines attention allocation under threat.
Vogt, Julia; Koster, Ernst H W; De Houwer, Jan
2017-04-01
Theories of attention to emotional information suggest that attentional processes prioritize threatening information. In this article, we suggest that attention will prioritize the events that are most instrumental to a goal in any given context, which in threatening situations is typically reaching safety. To test our hypotheses, we used an attentional cueing paradigm that contained cues signaling imminent threat (i.e., aversive noises) as well as cues that allowed participants to avoid threat (instrumental safety signals). Correct reactions to instrumental safety signals seemingly allowed participants to lower the presentation rate of the threat. Experiment 1 demonstrates that attention prioritizes instrumental safety signals over threat signals. Experiment 2 replicates this finding and additionally compares instrumental safety signals to other action-relevant signals controlling for action relevance as cause of the effects. Experiment 3 demonstrates that when actions toward threat signals permit to avoid threat, attention prioritizes threat signals. Taken together, these results support the view that instrumentality for reaching safety determines the allocation of attention under threat. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).
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Foster, Kenneth R; Glaser, Roland
2007-06-01
This article reviews thermal mechanisms of interaction between radiofrequency (RF) fields and biological systems, focusing on theoretical frameworks that are of potential use in setting guidelines for human exposure to RF energy. Several classes of thermal mechanisms are reviewed that depend on the temperature increase or rate of temperature increase and the relevant dosimetric considerations associated with these mechanisms. In addition, attention is drawn to possible molecular and physiological reactions that could be induced by temperature elevations below 0.1 degrees, which are normal physiological responses to heat, and to the so-called microwave auditory effect, which is a physiologically trivial effect resulting from thermally-induced acoustic stimuli. It is suggested that some reported "nonthermal" effects of RF energy may be thermal in nature; also that subtle thermal effects from RF energy exist but have no consequence to health or safety. It is proposed that future revisions of exposure guidelines make more explicit use of thermal models and empirical data on thermal effects in quantifying potential hazards of RF fields.