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Ensuring data integrity of healthcare information in the era of digital health
by
Agrawal, Alka
,
Kumar, Rajeev
,
Zarour, Mohammad
in
Data integrity
,
Health care industry
,
Literature reviews
2021
Data integrity continues to be a persistent problem in the current healthcare sector. It ensures that the data is correct and has not even in any manner been improperly changed. Incorrect data might become significant health threats for patients and a big responsibility for clinicians, resulting in problems such as scam, misconduct, inadequate treatment and data theft. This sort of endangering scenario causes tremendous difficulty in handling healthcare data. This research intends to describe the threat plot of data integrity in healthcare through numerous attack statistics from around the world and Saudi Arabia and identify the criticality in Saudi Arabia in particular. A literature review by descriptive analysis, unit analysis and rating analysis to achieve the planned systematic literature review goal is outlined. The outcome of ranking analysis using a fuzzy analytical hierarchy process methodology offers a route for Saudi Arabian researchers to promote medical records or data security in Arabic healthcare. It is suggested that blockchain is the most prioritized method for regular use and adaptation across Saudi Arabia in all data integrity management techniques. To address the challenges of data integrity and future path, the authors critically examine the challenges posed by data integrity in the healthcare sector.
Journal Article
An empirically based conceptual framework for fostering meaningful patient engagement in research
2018
Background Patient engagement in research (PEIR) is promoted to improve the relevance and quality of health research, but has little conceptualization derived from empirical data. Objective To address this issue, we sought to develop an empirically based conceptual framework for meaningful PEIR founded on a patient perspective. Methods We conducted a qualitative secondary analysis of in‐depth interviews with 18 patient research partners from a research centre‐affiliated patient advisory board. Data analysis involved three phases: identifying the themes, developing a framework and confirming the framework. We coded and organized the data, and ed, illustrated, described and explored the emergent themes using thematic analysis. Directed content analysis was conducted to derive concepts from 18 publications related to PEIR to supplement, confirm or refute, and extend the emergent conceptual framework. The framework was reviewed by four patient research partners on our research team. Results Participants’ experiences of working with researchers were generally positive. Eight themes emerged: procedural requirements, convenience, contributions, support, team interaction, research environment, feel valued and benefits. These themes were interconnected and formed a conceptual framework to explain the phenomenon of meaningful PEIR from a patient perspective. This framework, the PEIR Framework, was endorsed by the patient research partners on our team. Conclusions The PEIR Framework provides guidance on aspects of PEIR to address for meaningful PEIR. It could be particularly useful when patient‐researcher partnerships are led by researchers with little experience of engaging patients in research.
Journal Article
Exploring species and site contributions to beta diversity in stream insect assemblages
2017
It was recently suggested that beta diversity can be partitioned into contributions of single sites to overall beta diversity (LCBD) or into contributions of individual species to overall beta diversity (SCBD). We explored the relationships of LCBD and SCBD to site and species characteristics, respectively, in stream insect assemblages. We found that LCBD was mostly explained by variation in species richness, with a negative relationship being detected. SCBD was strongly related to various species characteristics, such as occupancy, abundance, niche position and niche breadth, but was only weakly related to biological traits of species. In particular, occupancy and its quadratic terms showed a very strong unimodal relationship with SCBD, suggesting that intermediate species in terms of site occupancy contribute most to beta diversity. Our findings of unravelling the contributions of sites or species to overall beta diversity are of high importance to community ecology, conservation and bioassessment using stream insect assemblages, and may bear some overall generalities to be found in other organism groups.
Journal Article
Public attitudes towards COVID‐19 contact tracing apps: A UK‐based focus group study
2021
Background During the 2020 COVID‐19 pandemic, one of the key components of many countries’ strategies to reduce the spread of the virus is contact tracing. Objective To explore public attitudes to a COVID‐19 contact tracing app in the United Kingdom. Setting Online video‐conferencing. Participants 27 participants, UK residents aged 18 years and older. Methods Qualitative study consisting of six focus groups carried out between 1st‐12th May, 2020 (39‐50 days into the UK ‘lockdown’). Results Participants were divided as to whether or not they felt they would use the app. Analysis revealed five themes: (1) lack of information and misconceptions surrounding COVID‐19 contact tracing apps; (2) concerns over privacy; (3) concerns over stigma; (4)concerns over uptake; and (5) contact tracing as the ‘greater good’. Concerns over privacy, uptake and stigma were particularly significant amongst those stated they will not be using the app, and the view that the app is for the ‘greater good’ was particularly significant amongst those who stated they will be using the app. One of the most common misconceptions about the app was that it could allow users to specifically identify and map COVID‐19 cases amongst their contacts and in their vicinity. Conclusions Our participants were torn over whether digital contact tracing is a good idea or not, and views were heavily influenced by moral reasoning. Patient or Public Contribution No patients were involved in this study. The public were not involved in the development of the research questions, research design or outcome measures. A pilot focus group with participants not included in the present paper was used to help test and refine the focus group questions. Summary results were disseminated via email to participants prior to publication for feedback and comment.
Journal Article
Patient and public engagement in research and health system decision making: A systematic review of evaluation tools
by
Macaulay, Ann C.
,
Boivin, Antoine
,
Gauvin, François‐Pierre
in
Appraisal
,
Citizen participation
,
Clinical decision making
2018
Background Patient and public engagement is growing, but evaluative efforts remain limited. Reviews looking at evaluation tools for patient engagement in individual decision making do exist, but no similar articles in research and health systems have been published. Objective Systematically review and appraise evaluation tools for patient and public engagement in research and health system decision making. Methods We searched literature published between January 1980 and February 2016. Electronic databases (Ovid MEDLINE, Embase, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, CINAHL and PsycINFO) were consulted, as well as grey literature obtained through Google, subject‐matter experts, social media and engagement organization websites. Two independent reviewers appraised the evaluation tools based on 4 assessment criteria: scientific rigour, patient and public perspective, comprehensiveness and usability. Results In total, 10 663 unique references were identified, 27 were included. Most of these tools were developed in the last decade and were designed to support improvement of engagement activities. Only 11% of tools were explicitly based on a literature review, and just 7% were tested for reliability. Patients and members of the public were involved in designing 56% of the tools, mainly in the piloting stage, and 18.5% of tools were designed to report evaluation results to patients and the public. Conclusion A growing number of evaluation tools are available to support patient and public engagement in research and health system decision making. However, the scientific rigour with which such evaluation tools are developed could be improved, as well as the level of patient and public engagement in their design and reporting.
Journal Article
Beetle diversity is higher in sunny forests due to higher microclimatic heterogeneity in deadwood
2022
Microclimate is a crucial driver of saproxylic beetle assemblages, with more species often found in sunny forests than in shady ones. Whether this pattern is caused by a higher detectability due to increased beetle activity under sunny conditions or a greater diversity of beetles emerging from sun-exposed deadwood remains unclear. This study examined whether sun exposure leads to higher microclimatic heterogeneity in deadwood and whether this drives beetle diversity in deadwood logs and at forest stand scale. Saproxylic beetles were sampled at the stand scale using flight-interception traps and at object scale using stem-emergence traps on deadwood logs at the same site. The variability in wood surface temperature was measured on single logs and between logs as a proxy for microclimatic heterogeneity in deadwood. Abundance in sunny forests was higher at the stand scale, and in shady forests at the object scale. The estimated number of species was higher in sunny forests at both scales and correlated positively with temperature variability on single logs and between logs at the stand scale and, albeit weakly, with temperature variability on single logs at the object scale. Gamma-diversity, and thus beta-diversity, across logs at the object scale was higher in sunny forests. These findings indicate that sun exposure promotes saproxylic beetle diversity due to higher microclimatic heterogeneity within and between deadwood logs. Our study therefore corroborates previous research demonstrating the importance of canopy cover and microclimate for forest biodiversity.
Journal Article
Changes in tree resistance, recovery and resilience across three successive extreme droughts in the northeast Iberian Peninsula
by
Martínez-Vilalta, J.
,
Serra-Maluquer, X.
,
Mencuccini, M.
in
Analysis
,
Area
,
Biomedical and Life Sciences
2018
Understanding which variables affect forest resilience to extreme drought is key to predict future dynamics under ongoing climate change. In this study, we analyzed how tree resistance, recovery and resilience to drought have changed along three consecutive droughts and how they were affected by species, tree size, plot basal area (as a proxy for competition) and climate. We focused on the three most abundant pine species in the northeast Iberian Peninsula: Pinus halepensis, P. nigra and P. sylvestris during the three most extreme droughts recorded in the period 1951–2010 (occurred in 1986, 1994, and 2005–2006). We cored trees from permanent sample plots and used dendrochronological techniques to estimate resistance (ability to maintain growth level during drought), recovery (growth increase after drought) and resilience (capacity to recover pre-drought growth levels) in terms of tree stem basal area increment. Mixed-effects models were used to determine which tree- and plot-level variables were the main determinants of resistance, recovery and resilience, and to test for differences among the studied droughts. Larger trees were significantly less resistant and resilient. Plot basal area effects were only observed for resilience, with a negative impact only during the last drought. Resistance, recovery and resilience differed across the studied drought events, so that the studied populations became less resistant, less resilient and recovered worse during the last two droughts. This pattern suggests an increased vulnerability to drought after successive drought episodes.
Journal Article
Public preference for COVID‐19 vaccines in China: A discrete choice experiment
2020
Background As the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) pandemic is sweeping across the globe, there is an urgent need to develop effective vaccines as the most powerful strategy to end the pandemic. This study aimed to examine how factors related to vaccine characteristics, their social normative influence and convenience of vaccination can affect the public's preference for the uptake of the COVID‐19 vaccine in China. Methods An online discrete choice experiment (DCE) survey was administered to a sample of China's general population. Participants were asked to make a series of hypothetical choices and estimate their preference for different attributes of the vaccine. A mixed logit regression model was used to analyse the DCE data. Willingness to pay for each attribute was also calculated. Results Data of 1236 participants who provided valid responses were included in the analysis. There was strong public preference for high effectiveness of the vaccine, followed by long protective duration, very few adverse events and being manufactured overseas. Price was the least important attribute affecting the public preference in selecting the COVID‐19 vaccine. Conclusions The strong public preferences detected in this study should be considered when developing COVID‐19 vaccination programme in China. The results provide useful information for policymakers to identify the individual and social values for a good vaccination strategy. Patient or Public Contribution The design of the experimental choices was fully based on interviews and focus group discussions participated by 26 Chinese people with diverse socio‐economic backgrounds. Without their participation, the study would not be possible.
Journal Article
Whole-exome sequencing in undiagnosed genetic diseases: interpreting 119 trios
by
Tzadok, Michal
,
Petrovski, Slavé
,
Zhu, Xiaolin
in
631/1647/48
,
631/1647/514
,
692/420/2489/144
2015
Purpose:
Despite the recognized clinical value of exome-based diagnostics, methods for comprehensive genomic interpretation remain immature. Diagnoses are based on known or presumed pathogenic variants in genes already associated with a similar phenotype. Here, we extend this paradigm by evaluating novel bioinformatics approaches to aid identification of new gene–disease associations.
Methods:
We analyzed 119 trios to identify both diagnostic genotypes in known genes and candidate genotypes in novel genes. We considered qualifying genotypes based on their population frequency and in silico predicted effects we also characterized the patterns of genotypes enriched among this collection of patients.
Results:
We obtained a genetic diagnosis for 29 (24%) of our patients. We showed that patients carried an excess of damaging de novo mutations in intolerant genes, particularly those shown to be essential in mice (
P
= 3.4 × 10
−8
). This enrichment is only partially explained by mutations found in known disease-causing genes.
Conclusion:
This work indicates that the application of appropriate bioinformatics analyses to clinical sequence data can also help implicate novel disease genes and suggest expanded phenotypes for known disease genes. These analyses further suggest that some cases resolved by whole-exome sequencing will have direct therapeutic implications.
Genet Med
17
10, 774–781.
Journal Article
Patient‐centred care is a way of doing things: How healthcare employees conceptualize patient‐centred care
by
Hill, Jennifer N.
,
Fix, Gemmae M.
,
VanDeusen Lukas, Carol
in
Analysis
,
Biopsychosocial aspects
,
Concept formation
2018
Background Patient‐centred care is now ubiquitous in health services research, and healthcare systems are moving ahead with patient‐centred care implementation. Yet, little is known about how healthcare employees, charged with implementing patient‐centred care, conceptualize what they are implementing. Objective To examine how hospital employees conceptualize patient‐centred care. Research Design We conducted qualitative interviews about patient‐centred care during site four visits, from January to April 2013. Subjects We interviewed 107 employees, including leadership, middle managers, front line providers and staff at four US Veteran Health Administration (VHA) medical centres leading VHA's patient‐centred care transformation. Measures Data were analysed using grounded thematic analysis. Findings were then mapped to established patient‐centred care constructs identified in the literature: taking a biopsychosocial perspective; viewing the patient‐as‐person; sharing power and responsibility; establishing a therapeutic alliance; and viewing the doctor‐as‐person. Results We identified three distinct conceptualizations: (i) those that were well aligned with established patient‐centred care constructs surrounding the clinical encounter; (ii) others that extended conceptualizations of patient‐centred care into the organizational culture, encompassing the entire patient‐experience; and (iii) still others that were poorly aligned with patient‐centred care constructs, reflecting more traditional patient care practices. Conclusions Patient‐centred care ideals have permeated into healthcare systems. Additionally, patient‐centred care has been expanded to encompass a cultural shift in care delivery, beginning with patients' experiences entering a facility. However, some healthcare employees, namely leadership, see patient‐centred care so broadly, it encompasses on‐going hospital initiatives, while others consider patient‐centred care as inherent to specific positions. These latter conceptualizations risk undermining patient‐centred care implementation by limiting transformational initiatives to specific providers or simply repackaging existing programmes.
Journal Article