1,720,961 research outputs found
Developing a smart-sensing sock to prevent diabetic foot ulcers: a qualitative study
No full textBackground: diabetic foot ulcers are common and costly. Most cases are preventable, though few interventions exist to reliably support patients to perform self-care. Emerging technologies are showing promise in this domain, though patient and provider perspectives are rarely incorporated into digital intervention designs.Objective: this study explores patient and provider feedback on a smart-sensing sock to detect shear strain and alert the wearer to change their behaviour (i.e. pause activity and check their feet); and considers how patient experience and attitudes to self-care are likely to impact uptake and long-term effective engagement with the device in order to curate guiding principles for successful future intervention development. Methods: this qualitative study combined semi-structured interviews and a focus group alongside a participant advisory group that was consulted throughout the study. Twenty people with diabetic neuropathy (16 with history of diabetic foot ulcer) and two carers were recruited directly from podiatry clinics, as well as via a recruitment network and national health mobile application, for one-to-one interview either in-person, or by landline or video call. Six podiatrists were recruited via professional networks for one virtual focus group. Participants were asked about their experience of diabetic foot health, and for feedback on the proposed device, including how it might work for them in daily life or clinical practice. The data were analysed thematically.Results: three main themes were generated each raising a barrier to use of the sock, complemented by potential solutions. 1. Patient buy-in: challenged by lack of awareness of risk, potentially addressed though using the device to collect and record evidence to enhance clinical messaging. 2. Effective engagement: challenged by difficulties accepting and actioning information, requiring simple, specific and supportive instructions in line with podiatrist advice. 3. Sustained use: challenged by difficulties coping, with the possibility to gain control with an early warning system. Conclusions: while both patients and podiatrists were interested in the concept, it would need to be packaged as part of a wider health intervention to overcome barriers to uptake and longer-term effective engagement. The study recommends specific considerations to the framing of feedback messages and instructions; as well as provision of support for healthcare providers to integrate the use of such smart devices into practice. Guiding principles generated by this study can guide future research and development of smart sensing devices for diabetic foot care, to help optimise patient engagement and improved health outcomes. <br/
Development of a Body-Worn Textile-Based Strain Sensor: Application to Diabetic Foot Assessment
Full text linkDiabetic Foot Ulcers (DFUs) are a significant health and economic burden, potentially leading to limb amputation, with a severe impact on a person’s quality of life. During active movements like gait, the monitoring of shear has been suggested as an important factor for effective prevention of DFUs. It is proposed that, in textiles, strain can be measured as a proxy for shear stress at the skin. This paper presents the conceptualisation and development of a novel strain-sensing approach that can be unobtrusively integrated within sock textiles and worn within the shoe. Working with close clinical and patient engagement, a sensor specification was identified, and 12 load-sensing approaches for the prevention of DFU were evaluated. A lead concept using a conductive adhesive was selected for further development. The method was developed using a Lycra sample, before being translated onto a knitted ‘sock’ substrate. The resultant strain sensor can be integrated within mass-produced textiles fabricated using industrial knitting machines. A case-study was used to demonstrate a proof-of-concept version of the strain sensor, which changes resistance with applied mechanical strain. A range of static and dynamic laboratory testing was used to assess the sensor’s performance, which demonstrated a resolution of 0.013 Ω
across a range of 0–430 Ω
and a range of interest of 0–20 Ω
. In cyclic testing, the sensor exhibited a cyclic strain threshold of 6% and a sensitivity gradient of 0.3 ± 0.02, with a low dynamic drift of 0.039 to 0.045% of the total range. Overall, this work demonstrates a viable textile-based strain sensor capable of integration within worn knitted structures. It provides a promising first step towards developing a sock-based strain sensor for the prevention of DFU formation
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
Developing a Smart Sensing Sock to Prevent Diabetic Foot Ulcers: Qualitative Focus Group and Interview Study
Full text linkBackground:
Diabetic foot ulcers are common and costly. Most cases are preventable, although few interventions exist to reliably support patients in performing self-care. Emerging technologies are showing promise in this domain, although patient and health care provider perspectives are rarely incorporated into digital intervention designs.
Objective:
This study explored patient and health care provider feedback on a smart sensing sock to detect shear strain and alert the wearer to change their behavior (ie, pause activity and check their feet) and considered how patient experience and attitudes toward self-care are likely to impact uptake and long-term effective engagement with the device to curate guiding principles for successful future intervention development.
Methods:
This qualitative study combined semistructured interviews and a focus group alongside a participant advisory group that was consulted throughout the study. In total, 20 people with diabetic neuropathy (n=16, 80% with history of diabetic foot ulcers) and 2 carers were recruited directly from podiatry clinics as well as via a recruitment network and national health mobile app for one-to-one interviews either in person or via landline or video call. A total of 6 podiatrists were recruited via professional networks for 1 virtual focus group. Participants were asked about their experience of diabetic foot health and for feedback on the proposed device, including how it might work for them in daily life or clinical practice. The data were analyzed thematically.
Results:
Three main themes were generated, each raising a barrier to the use of the sock complemented by potential solutions: (1) patient buy-in—challenged by lack of awareness of risk and potentially addressed through using the device to collect and record evidence to enhance clinical messaging; (2) effective engagement—challenged by difficulties accepting and actioning information and requiring simple, specific, and supportive instructions in line with podiatrist advice; and (3) sustained use—challenged by difficulties coping, with the possibility to gain control through an early warning system.
Conclusions:
While both patients and podiatrists were interested in the concept, it would need to be packaged as part of a wider health intervention to overcome barriers to uptake and longer-term effective engagement. This study recommends specific considerations for the framing of feedback messages and instructions as well as provision of support for health care providers to integrate the use of such smart devices into practice. The guiding principles generated by this study can orient future research and development of smart sensing devices for diabetic foot care to help optimize patient engagement and improve health outcomes
koamabayili/VECTRON-author-checklist: VECTRON author checklist
No full textWe have done our best to complete the author checklist relating to the use of animals in the hut study. Note that the objective for the hut study was to evaluate the IRS treatment applications for residual efficacy against Anopheles mosquitoes, including the local An. coluzzii mosquito population. Cows were only used to attract mosquitoes into the huts and no tests were carried out directly on the cows. The author checklist is intended for use with studies where experiments are carried out on animals, which is why we have had such difficulty in completing this for the hut study, as many of the questions do not relate to how the cows were used
- …
