1,720,959 research outputs found
Distributed Solutions for a Reliable Data-Driven Transformation of Healthcare Management and Research
Full text linkModern healthcare management and clinical practice strongly rely on data and scientific evidence. Digital technologies, tools, and services are core components of Healthcare Management and scientific Research (HMR). Data interoperability, security, privacy, and ease of sharing represent fundamental conditions for guaranteeing quality HMR. Current data management solutions in HMR are mainly built on two technological infrastructures: cloud-based (CB) or distributed ledger systems (DLTs). DLTs offer alternative and reliable alternatives for the management and sharing of data in HMR. Their use can help increase confidence and trust in the integrity of data and the resulting evidence.
The aim of this paper is to shed light on CB and DLT solutions, emphasizing the potential role of innovative digital solutions based on DLTs in creating a data-driven transformation of HMR, and to describe relevant examples and practical uses of DLT-based solutions for patients, healthcare management, and research activities.
DLTs in particular can be increasingly useful for patients to truly have control over their health, for healthcare policymakers to increase the quality of organizational processes, and for research funders, editors and publishers to increase the return on investment, and the reuse and reproducibility of research.
In conclusion, harnessing the potential of digital technologies is essential to transform healthcare management and research, by enhancing data quality, reliability, and trust
Use of a fluorescent marker for assessing hospital cleanliness
No full textBackground
Scientific evidence indicates that contamination of hospital
surfaces plays a role in the spread of healthcare-associated
infections (HAIs). Hospital cleaning practices and methods for
their assessment are important for HAIs prevention. Aims of
the study were: i)to assess the daily cleaning procedures of
different surfaces in hospital bathrooms with a fluorescent
marker, ii)to study correlations between results obtained by
this method and microbial contamination.
Methods
We enrolled 44 bathrooms of six hospital wards (A, B and C
medical; D, E and F surgical) in which we analysed 218 surfaces
(basin, toilet seat, flush button, inside door handle, light switch
and floor). We applied a UV-fluorescent marker to these
surfaces and the following day we assigned a score according
how completely the marker had been removed. On the floor of
each bathroom we also placed Petri dishes to assess bacterial
colony forming units (CFU). The Wilcoxon test was used for
comparisons between wards, Fisher’s exact test for removal
scores comparisons between different objects, Spearman’s
coefficient for correlations between CFU score and marker
removal score.
Results
Ward F proved to be less clean than wards A (p = 0.04), B
(p = 0.003) and E (p = 0.002). Medical units as a whole were
cleaner than surgical units (p = 0.0016). Basins were cleaner
than the other surfaces (P < 0.05), floors were dirtier than toilet
seats (p = 0.048) and the latter were dirtier than door handles
(p = 0.013). CFU score and mark removal score did not seem
to be correlated.
Conclusions
Differences in cleanliness between wards and surfaces may
indicate discrepancies in cleaning procedures. The UV marker
proved to be a practical and effective method for checking the
removal of dirt and dust. An early identification of inadequate
cleaning practices allows the repetition of them until good
hygiene standard are reached. UV marker could replace visual
inspection, in a multistep process later including quantitative
methods
Use of a fluorescent marker for assessing hospital bathroom cleanliness
No full textA fluorescent marker was used to assess the efficacy of daily cleaning in hospital en suite bathrooms. We applied the marker on 218 surfaces and we assigned a score according how completely the mark had been removed. We found significant statistical differences among different surfaces and wards (P < .05). Microbiologic contamination and marker removal score did not seem to be correlated. Differences in cleanliness may indicate discrepancies in cleaning procedures. Fluorescent marker proved to be a practical and effective method and it could be adopted as a first-level control system to assess hospital cleanliness
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Full text linkWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
Full text linkWe conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued
use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation
counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more
sophisticated methods
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