Blockchain in Bioinformatics Data Security: Systematic Evidence, Research Gaps and Pathways Forward

Agroforestry is considered as one of the best approaches to deal with shifting cultivation and climate change. In Viet Nam, the practice of agroforestry has been documented since the 1960s under two common systems: 'garden-fish pondlivestock' and 'forest-garden-fish pond-livestock'. However, not until 1990 were innovative agroforestry techniques and systems at the field level introduced in line with government interventions to halt shifting cultivation. Through intensive literature review, we outline the history of agroforestry research and development activities in Viet Nam, identify the drivers and agents of change and discuss the issues and challenges facing agroforestry in Viet Nam. The paper also discusses the opportunities and research gaps in agroforestry. Our analysis indicated that it is very important to put more effort into researching agroforestry systems that take into account local ecological knowledge and designing practices that enhance the multifunctionality of landscapes. In addition, demonstrating the role of these systems in improving livelihoods, enhancing resilience and in climate-change mitigation and adaption should be an important part of a more systematic research and development agenda agroforestry in Viet Nam.

Law's Presence, Law's Absence: Reporting Sexual Harassment and Other Exclusions in the Academy

IntroductionCOVID-19 has significantly affected community health workers’ (CHWs) performance as they are expected to perform pandemic-related tasks along with routine essential healthcare services. A plausible way to optimise CHWs’ functioning...

PURPOSEDespite a large volume of research, breast cancer survivors continue to experience high levels of unmet need. To better understand the breadth of evidence, we mapped systematic review-level evidence across cancer survivorship domains and outcomes and conducted network analyses of breast cancer survivorship care interventions.METHODSUmbrella review methodology was used to identify published systematic reviews reporting on survivorship care interventions for breast cancer survivors. Included reviews were mapped against domains and health care outcomes as specified by the Cancer Survivorship Quality Framework, and network analyses were conducted to determine the extent of clustering of reviews, and connectivity across domains and outcomes.RESULTSOf 323 included reviews, most focused on management of physical (71.5%) or psychologic (65.3%) effects, health-related quality of life (55.1%), and physical activity (45.2%). Few focused on financial/employment effects, chronic conditions, health care delivery domains, or health service use or cost outcomes. Network analysis indicated 38.6% of reviews were connected to a single domain, 35.0% to two domains, and 16.5% to three domains, indicating a relatively siloed nature of research, with greater community clustering between health care delivery domains but limited connection between these and the other domains. Reviews published between 2011 and 2021 were more likely to examine financial toxicity and chronic conditions, but these domains remained under-represented compared with physical and psychologic effects.CONCLUSIONDespite vast volume of breast cancer survivorship intervention research, systematic review-level research is unevenly distributed, siloed, and with significant gaps in key domains and outcomes. Assessment of evidence gaps in primary research and strategic planning of future research, in consultation with survivors, is needed.

PurposeThe service‐dominant (S‐D) logic views supply chains as value co‐creation networks. These networks promote knowledge growth amongst network members via resource deployment and coordination. The exchange of knowledge and utilization of operant resources among the network members leads to co‐created service offerings and value proposals for the end‐users, with the ultimate goal of transforming end‐user experiences to perceptions of superior value‐in‐use. The purpose of this paper is to develop an illustration of the value co‐creation concept and use this illustration as guide to examine the research gaps that are yet to be tapped in the area where supply chain networks and S‐D logic intersects.Design/methodology/approachThe literature on S‐D logic is reviewed and research gaps are identified and categorized in three specific groups.FindingsThree categories of research gaps in S‐D logic and supply chain management (SCM) areas include: gaps in utilization of internal operant resources by suppliers, manufacturers, and intermediaries; gaps in knowledge exchange and operant resource utilization between suppliers, manufacturers, and intermediaries; and gaps in knowledge exchange and operant resource utilization between end‐users and value co‐creation network partners.Originality/valueAn illustration of the value co‐creation network from the supply chain perspective is presented in this paper. The illustration of the value co‐creation network provided the guidance to categorize various research gaps in the area of S‐D logic and SCM. This categorization offers a structure from which more systematic research may be produced. It is the authors' hope that the organization and guidance provided in the paper for specific research topics in the S‐D logic area can result in research streams that could potentially offer significant contributions to SCM theory development.

Prevalence and clinical outcomes of transthyretin amyloidosis: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

BackgroundFlexible, integrated models of service delivery are being developed to meet the changing demands of an ageing population. To underpin the spread of innovative models of care across the NHS, summaries of the current research evidence are needed. This report focuses exclusively on care homes and reviews work in four specific areas, identified as key enablers for the NHS England vanguard programme.AimTo conduct a rapid synthesis of evidence relating to enhancing health in care homes across four key areas: technology, communication and engagement, workforce and evaluation.Objectives(1) To map the published literature on the uses, benefits and challenges of technology in care homes; flexible and innovative uses of the nursing and support workforce to benefit resident care; communication and engagement between care homes, communities and health-related organisations; and approaches to the evaluation of new models of care in care homes. (2) To conduct rapid, systematic syntheses of evidence to answer the following questions. Which technologies have a positive impact on resident health and well-being? How should care homes and the NHS communicate to enhance resident, family and staff outcomes and experiences? Which measurement tools have been validated for use in UK care homes? What is the evidence that staffing levels (i.e. ratio of registered nurses and support staff to residents or different levels of support staff) influence resident outcomes?Data sourcesSearches of MEDLINE, CINAHL, Science Citation Index, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, DARE (Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effects) and Index to Theses. Grey literature was sought via Google™ (Mountain View, CA, USA) and websites relevant to each individual search.DesignMapping review and rapid, systematic evidence syntheses.SettingCare homes with and without nursing in high-income countries.Review methodsPublished literature was mapped to a bespoke framework, and four linked rapid critical reviews of the available evidence were undertaken using systematic methods. Data were not suitable for meta-analysis, and are presented in narrative syntheses.ResultsSeven hundred and sixty-one studies were mapped across the four topic areas, and 65 studies were included in systematic rapid reviews. This work identified a paucity of large, high-quality research studies, particularly from the UK. The key findings include the following. (1) Technology: some of the most promising interventions appear to be games that promote physical activity and enhance mental health and well-being. (2) Communication and engagement: structured communication tools have been shown to enhance communication with health services and resident outcomes in US studies. No robust evidence was identified on care home engagement with communities. (3) Evaluation: 6 of the 65 measurement tools identified had been validated for use in UK care homes, two of which provide general assessments of care. The methodological quality of all six tools was assessed as poor. (4) Workforce: joint working within and beyond the care home and initiatives that focus on staff taking on new but specific care tasks appear to be associated with enhanced outcomes. Evidence for staff taking on traditional nursing tasks without qualification is limited, but promising.LimitationsThis review was restricted to English-language publications after the year 2000. The rapid methodology has facilitated a broad review in a short time period, but the possibility of omissions and errors cannot be excluded.ConclusionsThis review provides limited evidential support for some of the innovations in the NHS vanguard programme, and identifies key issues and gaps for future research and evaluation.Future workFuture work should provide high-quality evidence, in particular experimental studies, economic evaluations and research sensitive to the UK context.Study registrationThis study is registered as PROSPERO CRD42016052933, CRD42016052933, CRD42016052937 and CRD42016052938.FundingThe National Institute for Health Research Health Services and Delivery Research programme.

Many adults aged 60years or older have functional limitations and require home and community-based services (HCBS) to support their independence and delay the transition to an institutionalized setting. This systematic review provides an evidence map of the existing literature on HCBS identifying evidence gaps for policy and research. A comprehensive literature search of multiple databases including Medline, Embase, and Scopus was conducted through December 7, 2023. Interviews with various stakeholders were conducted to solicit additional perspectives. Narrative and thematic synthesis was conducted to evaluate HCBS in terms of populations, interventions, outcomes, person-centeredness, and relevant quality measures. We identified 27 primary studies and 29 quality measures. Populations of HCBS studies can be categorized as those with functional disability, cognitive impairment, high-risk/frail conditions, and disease-specific conditions (Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, and post-stroke). HCBS interventions targeted optimization of person-centered planning, nonpharmacological approaches for dementia care, physical rehabilitation, self-directed home care, geriatric resources for practical support at home, and interdisciplinary care coordination for high-risk conditions. Person-centered planning and self-direction of HCBS services were not explicitly described in many studies and very few studies focused on addressing health-related social needs, whereas the majority reported primary clinical outcomes. Numerous quality measures exist for HCBS, some of which were validated, addressed multiple person-centered domains, and may apply across various conditions and populations. Key challenges in the literature on HCBS include limited numberof randomized trials, inadequate descriptions of interventions to determine person-centeredness, limited information on facilitators and barriers, and limited information on workforce challenges in recruiting, retaining, and training personnel delivering HCBS. This evidence map describes the current state of HCBS and identifies evidence gaps for future research and policy decisions.

IntroductionFollowing the historic Canadian legislation on medical assistance in dying (MAiD) in 2016, many implementation challenges and ethical quandaries have formed the focus of further scholarly investigation and policy revisions. Of these, conscientious objections held by some healthcare institutions have involved relatively less scrutiny, despite indicating possible hurdles to the universal availability of MAiD services in Canada.MethodsIn this paper, we contemplate potential accessibility concerns that pertain specifically to service access, with the hope to trigger further systematic research and policy analysis on this frequently overlooked aspect of MAiD implementation. We organize our discussion using two important health access frameworks: Levesque and colleagues’ Conceptual Framework for Access to Health and the Provisional Framework for MAiD System Information Needs (Canadian Institute for Health Information).ResultsOur discussion is organized along five framework dimensions through which institutional non-participation may generate or exacerbate inequities in MAiD utilization. Considerable overlaps are revealed across framework domains, indicating the complexity of the problem and the need for further investigation.ConclusionConscientious dissensions on the part of healthcare institutions form a likely barrier to ethical, equitable, and patient-oriented MAiD service provision. Comprehensive, systematic evidence is urgently needed to understand the nature and scope of resulting impacts. We urge Canadian healthcare professionals, policymakers, ethicists, and legislators to attend to this crucial issue in future research and in policy discussions.

Discussing employment problems in universities enacts an information asymmetry that has recently highlighted sexual harassment as a legal wrong while dampening other potential descriptions of reasons for disparities. Defining sexual harassment as unwanted sexual attention both understates and overstates problems at work, not least because it is not an issue for all women. This focus contrasts with books that popularized other kinds of barriers at work for women just a few years earlier. The stories about sexual harassment contrast with systematic evidence concerning reasons for disadvantage at work, which is less easy to tell as a story with characters, events, and a time line. In this instance, law, along with university leaders’ willingness to publicly act on claims, has proven productive of complaints that women have been reluctant to make since the Office of Civil Rights issued a “Dear Colleague Letter” in 2011 addressing sexual assault in higher education. This article draws on theChronicle of Higher Education’s reports of discrimination. It concludes by arguing for proliferating stories, motivated by lessons from systematic research, even if law is not a remedy.

Delirium is an acute deterioration in attention, conscious state, perception, and cognition of a person. While nurses possess the theoretical understanding of the condition, they lack insight into its early recognition and management. This systematic review aims to understand what factors influence nurses as they care for patients with delirium, and to identify best practices to improve overall clinical care. The Qualitative Evidence Synthesis (QES), as a strategy process to identify gaps in research, formulate new models or strategies for care, underpinned the review. In addition to specific inclusion and exclusion criteria, a methodological assessment, data were analysed using QES, as informed by the Joanna Briggs Institute Review process. Ten studies were identified and synthesised to generate four key themes. The themes included (1) nurse’s knowledge deficit; (2) increased workload and stress; (3) safety concerns among nurse when caring for patients with delirium; and (4) strategies used when caring for patients with delirium. Overall, the review has highlighted the need for increased delirium education and coping strategies among nurses to effectively care for patients with delirium. This may be augmented through regular education sessions to provide nurses with the confidence and competence to care for the acutely confused person.

ABSTRACTBackgroundMany high‐income countries are seeking to adapt services to meet the needs of the growing population of children with medical complexity and their families but concerns have been raised about the quality of this care. To understand family caregivers' experiences of services and identify priorities for improvement we need to synthesise research about families' experiences of services for children with medical complexity.ObjectivesTo systematically identify and synthesise the qualitative evidence of family caregivers' experiences of health, care and education services for children with medical complexity.MethodsSystematic searches were conducted in MEDLINE, CINAHL, EMBASE, PsycINFO and ERIC from January 2011 to March 2024. Studies were assessed for methodological quality and data richness and synthesized using thematic synthesis.ResultsSeventy‐one studies met the eligibility criteria. A purposive sample of 29 studies was taken, selecting good‐quality papers with rich data. These studies described the experience of 524 family caregivers and focused mostly on hospital care and care in the home. No studies were identified that focused specifically on family caregivers' experiences of education or social care services. Most studies were from the United States and Canada. The overarching theme was ‘concern for child's safety’ with three subthemes: ‘interactions with professionals’, ‘caring for the whole family’ and ‘system organisation’.ConclusionsFamily caregivers' priority is maintaining their child's safety across all settings of care. Fragmented systems and difficulties trusting professionals exacerbate parents' stress and concern for their child's safety. To keep the child safe and well, services need to address the needs of the whole family (e.g., parental sleep and mental health, finances, housing). Future research is needed to address the gap in research on social care services and education.Patient and Public ContributionEmerging findings of the review were discussed in a 2‐h workshop with six parents of children with medical complexity. The parents inputted into the development of the analytical themes and helped to shape the findings of the review.

The plastic health map: A systematic evidence map of human health studies on plastic-associated chemicals

Obesity among school children has now reached an alarming level in most developing countries, including Malaysia. Thus, numerous strategies to curb the rising of obesity focusing on school children have been taking place. However, this issue management is complex, and a holistic approach is needed to address it comprehensively. This scoping review aimed to identify the characteristics of obesity interventions conducted among school children in Malaysia as a principal recommendation to develop a comprehensive obesity intervention. Arksey and O'Malley’s framework used to guide the scoping review process. Published articles on intervention studies conducted for school children in Malaysia from 2007 to 2020 retrieved based on keywords using the selected electronic and local databases. The NVivo 12 Plus software used to place findings in the systematic framework matric form and evidence tables. The final results reported in descriptive tables. Eighteen studies only reviewed among 3417 extracted articles. Thirteen aspects of the characteristics of the interventions identified. The influence of environmental intervention (family and school communities) on children's lifestyle identified as a research gap. Combined environmental interventions and educational guides with technology application recognized as one of the potential components for future obesity intervention design amongst school children. DOI : http://dx.doi.org/10.17576/JSKM-2021-1902-11

Violence of all types is a global public health problem. Cash-based incentives can potentially reduce violence outcomes by reducing economic hardership. We aim to deliver a comprehensive systematic review of the relationship between cash-based incentives with a variety of violence outcomes.We searched studies assessing the relationship between cash-based incentives with violence outcomes at PubMed, EMBASE, Global Health and LILACS from the database's creation until July 12th, 2023. We evaluated the relationship of cash-based incentives on five types of violence outcome: intimate partner violence (IPV), child maltreatment, suicide, youth violence, and general violence. Cash-based incentives were grouped into Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT), Unconditional Cash Transfer (CCT), cash in combination with interventions other than cash(cash+), tax credits, cash for work and start-up grants. We classified the strength of evidence according to the study design and quality. An evidence map was developed to indicate gaps in the literature and impact (reduction, null and mixed). This systematic review is registered on PROSPERO, number CRD42020167049. The strength of evidence was mainly classified as moderate, or limited. The evidence map indicated research gaps on the effect of cash+ and cash for work on suicide and general violence, tax credit on general violence and start-up grants on child maltreatment, suicide, and general violence.Despite the important number of mixed evidence, we found strong and very strong evidence that cash-based interventions reduced transactional and age-disparate sex among girls, suicide, IPV victimisation, physical, emotional and sexual IPV, and physical child maltreatment. Future studies should focus on the gaps found in this review.