Ad Hoc Committee Research Articles

Ethics and health research priority setting: a narrative review.

This narrative review aims to describe current practice and ongoing discussions in the academic literature regarding ethics and health research priority setting. It begins with some preliminary distinctions regarding types of research priority setting. It then gives some background on current practice with respect to formal research priority setting exercises, including summaries of The Ad Hoc Committee on Health Research method, the Child Health and Nutrition Research Initiative (CHNRI) method, the Combined Approach Matrix (CAM), the Delphi method, the Essential National Health Research (ENHR) strategy for priority setting, and the James Lind Alliance (JLA) framework. The majority of the paper reports the results of a literature review covering specifically ethical issues under the thematic headings of process criteria, substantive criteria, global justice, the obligations of specific actors, and research topics. It closes with some summary thoughts about apparent gaps and directions for future investigation.

ALTERNATIVE VISIONS FOR THE DNS: CORE, IAHC, AND THE POSSIBILITY FOR EXPANDED GTLDS IN EARLY GOVERNANCE POLICY

In 1994, U.S. President Clinton stated that the commercialization of the internet was a “top priority” for his administration. The domain name system (DNS), which was developed to deal with the growing unwieldiness of the commercial internet, was an early battleground in shaping the values of early internet governance policies. The system would include highly sought after addresses in generic top-level domains (gTLDS) that ended in .com, .gov, .org, .edu, and so on. Below this were second-level domains and country codes which ended web addresses in sequences like .uk, .jp, .ca, etc. This model raised legal and economic questions about trademarks, intellectual property, and the global distribution of addresses on top level domains. Technical experts were wary of the limitations of the proposed system, particularly given the potential to expand the number of gTLDs. While many groups responded to U.S. governance policy, a number of non-profit associations were particular vocal in their critique, most notably the Internet Council of Registrars (CORE), the International Ad Hoc Committee (IAHC), and the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) represented by Jon Postel. As the internet transitioned from a network used primarily by government and educational entities to a mass medium, there was a potential for revolutionary modes of communication, information sharing, education, creative expression, and a revolutionary, de-centralized structure of governance. The DNS debate resulted instead in support of predictable structures of power and a failure to realize that potential.

A cascading model of stakeholder engagement for large-scale regional development using structured dialogical design

We present a large-scale systemic intervention conducted in the wine village communities of Cyprus. The scientific aim of this paper is to contribute to expanding community operational research's purpose, scope, and tools by reflecting on a cascading engagement model of stakeholders toward regional development in Cyprus. An ad-hoc committee comprising three representatives of the Department of Town Planning and Housing, three members of the Cyprus Academy of Public Administration, and a few external consultants came up initially with about a dozen stakeholders’ categories they considered “relevant.” Using a stepwise (cascading) expansion, they eventually engaged over 200 actors representing 26 stakeholder categories. The first 29 stakeholders identified 71 obstacles to developing the wine villages using Structured Democratic Dialogue (SDD). They clustered the obstacles into themes and formed working groups to address them. Each group identified and invited experts and additional stakeholders they considered relevant to form extended theme-specific groups. Each group conducted a SWOT analysis to deepen understanding and produced a thematic vision map using SDD. A holistic vision map was constructed through a final SDD process in which participants were the authors of the most influential factors from each thematic vision map. The approach adheres to the bottom-up, community-led method and falls within community operational research and citizen science. The cascading model offers a formula for multi-methodological intervention. The stepwise bottom-up identification and engagement of stakeholders empowers and engages authentically, especially those marginalised. The expansion in numbers and the effective engagement of stakeholders creates the required momentum for societal change. We discuss the model's broader applicability, frame it within third-phase science, and suggest future directions.

A Pathway for Increased Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in the Surgical Infection Society.

Background: With the rise of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts across medicine, the Surgical Infection Society (SIS) leadership undertook a several-year mission to evaluate DEI issues within the SIS, through the formation of a DEI Ad Hoc Committee to guide the application of best practices. The purpose of this article is to describe the work of the DEI committee since its inception, as well as report on advances made during that time. Methods: Beginning in September 2020, 26 volunteer committee members met monthly to explore the current state of science and best practices around DEI, identify opportunities for the SIS, and translate opportunities into recommendations. As part of this initiative, a survey of the SIS membership was conducted. Survey results, published best practices from business and medicine, and experiences of committee members were utilized collaboratively to outline specific opportunities and recommendations. These findings were presented to the SIS Executive Council and to the membership at the SIS Annual Business Meeting. Results: Committee-identified opportunities and recommendations fell into broad categories of Membership, Leadership and Society Structure, the Annual Meeting, and Research Priorities. Several recommendations were immediately enacted, and a standing DEI committee was established to continue this work. Conclusions: Beyond the main mission of the SIS to advance the science of surgical infections, the SIS can also have a major impact on DEI within society and academic surgery at large.

PERSEPSI MASYARAKAT KOTA SOLOK MELALUI KOMUNIKASI PUBLIK: UPAYA MENINGKATKAN PARTISIPASI PEMILIH PADA PEMILU TAHUN 2024

In carrying out its duties as the AdhoC Committee on duty, deliver information to the people of the city of Solok. The information conveyed is that the public has come to give their right to vote in the 2024 election. Since the public has various perceptions in responding to various issues, proper communication is needed so that the information is right on target. The methods used in this service are lectures, questions and answers, and discussions. Lectures are carried out in conveying public perception material through public communication. This activity was held on Tuesday 24 January 2023 at the Multipurpose Hall of the Rocy Hotel, Bukittinggi City. This activity was attended by 49 members of the Ad HoC Committee for election organizers at the KPU in Solok City, consisting of 10 members of the District Selection Committee and 39 members of the Voting Election Committee. The communication referred to here is the use of appropriate strategies in communicating. The results of this service explain to the Ad HoC Paitian about various strategies that can be used to communicate. These strategies are the 5S (smile, greet, be patient, polite, and simple), love languages, listen 100%, and like or dislike.

Smart textbooks and LMS-integrated digital tools incentivize student engagement and facilitate learning in an undergraduate immunology course.

Abstract During the COVID-19 pandemic, educators were compelled to quickly pivot their face-to-face courses to a hybrid, online, or asynchronous delivery, and to develop learning management (LMS) course websites to seamlessly delivery course content, assignments, assessments, and other instructional tools. Concurrently, textbook publishers are offering LMS-integrated, comprehensive, digital solutions, including “smart” or adaptive learning electronic textbooks. W.W. Norton & Company publisher has recently released digital resources to complement the 5 thedition of Peter Parham’s The Immune System, including chapter reading assignments which incorporate adaptive quizzing and gamification using the InQuizitive feature. Here, based on student responses in early questions, subsequent questions are personally curated by learning objectives and difficulty level. Instructors may customize the difficulty level and determine a minimum score to be achieved to earn the assigned points which incentivizes students to read the textbook prior to classroom meetings or discussions. Additionally, instructor resources include Case Studies in Immunology, slides and graphics, animations, activities, primary literature suggestions, and an LMS-integrated test maker. Overall, student feedback was overwhelmingly positive, grades were substantially higher compared to previous semesters, and because more students came to class prepared, classroom time was used more efficiently such that all foundational topics outlined by the AAI Education Ad Hoc Committee were delivered. Therefore, LMS-integrated, adaptive learning textbooks are an essential component for a successful undergraduate immunology course.

The Patient Safety Adoption Framework: A Practical Framework to Bridge the Know-Do Gap.

Many patient safety initiatives fail to be adopted and implemented, even when proven effective. This creates the well-recognized know-do gap, referring to the discrepancy between what healthcare workers know should be done based on evidence and what takes place in practice. We aimed to develop a framework to improve the adoption and implementation of patient safety initiatives. We conducted a background literature review followed by qualitative interviews with patient safety leaders to identify barriers and facilitators to adoption and implementation. Inductive thematic analysis was used to generate themes that informed the development of the framework. We used a consensus-building approach to co-create the framework and guidance tool with an Ad Hoc Committee made up of subject-matter experts and patient family advisors. The framework was tested for utility, feasibility, and acceptability through qualitative interviews. The Patient Safety Adoption Framework contains 5 domains and 6 subdomains. The domains are leadership (subdomains: prioritization, accountability, governance), culture and context, process (subdomains: co-creation, high reliability, engagement), meaningful measurement, and person-centeredness. A guidance tool was developed to provide practical guidance for improvement teams using the framework. Testing affirmed the framework and guidance tool with a high degree of acceptability, feasibility, and utility among implementers and subject-matter experts. The Patient Safety Adoption Framework provides the essential components necessary to facilitate the adoption and implementation of patient safety initiatives. The framework offers a roadmap for healthcare organizations striving to close the know-do gap.

The Shifting Landscape of Death by Neurologic Criteria in Pediatrics: Current Controversies and Persistent Questions.

Since the concept of death by neurologic criteria (DNC) or "brain death" was articulated by the Harvard Ad Hoc Committee in 1968, efforts to establish and uphold DNC as equivalent to biologic death have been supported through federal and state legislation, professional guidelines, and hospital policies. Despite these endeavors, DNC remains controversial among bioethics scholars and clinicians and is not universally accepted by patient families and the public. In this focused review, we outline the current points of contention surrounding the diagnosis of DNC in pediatric patients. These include physiologic, legal, and philosophical inconsistencies in the definition of DNC, controversy regarding the components of the clinical exam, variability in clinical practice, and ethical concerns regarding justice and role of informed consent. By better understanding these controversies, clinicians may serve families grappling with the diagnosis of DNC more effectively, compassionately, and equitably.

Engaging youth and parents in clinical pediatric research: A case-based example.

Youth and parent engagement is a key component of clinical research. There are many ways to actively and meaningfully engage youth and parents as integral members of research teams, for example, through ad-hoc committees, advisory councils, or as co-leads on projects. When youth and parents are actively and meaningfully engaged in research projects, they share knowledge from their lived experiences to improve the quality and relevance of research. We describe a case-based example of engaging youth and parent research partners when co-designing a questionnaire to assess preferences for pediatric headache treatments, from both a researcher and youth/parent perspective. We also summarize best practices in patient and family engagement from the literature and pertinent guidelines to assist researchers with integrating patient and family engagement into their studies. As researchers, we felt that the integration of a youth and parent engagement plan into our study significantly altered and strengthened questionnaire content validity. We encountered challenges throughout the process and detailed these experiences to help educate others about challenge mitigation and best practices in youth and parent engagement. As youth and parent partners, we felt that engaging in the process of questionnaire development was an exciting and empowering opportunity, and that our feedback was valued and integrated. By sharing our experience, we hope to catalyze thought and discussion around the importance of youth and parent engagement in pediatric research, with the goal of stimulating more appropriate, relevant, and high-quality pediatric research and clinical care in the future.

A framework for nationwide COVID-19 vaccine safety research in the Republic of Korea: the COVID-19 Vaccine Safety Research Committee.

With the introduction of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccines, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) commissioned the National Academy of Medicine of Korea to gather experts to independently assess post-vaccination adverse events. Accordingly, the COVID-19 Vaccine Safety Research Committee (CoVaSC) was launched in November 2021 to perform safety studies and establish evidence for policy guidance. The CoVaSC established 3 committees for epidemiology, clinical research, and communication. The CoVaSC mainly utilizes pseudonymized data linking KDCA's COVID-19 vaccination data and the National Health Insurance Service's claims data. The CoVaSC's 5-step research process involves defining the target diseases and organizing ad-hoc committees, developing research protocols, performing analyses, assessing causal relationships, and announcing research findings and utilizing them to guide compensation policies. As of 2022, the CoVaSC completed this research process for 15 adverse events. The CoVaSC launched the COVID-19 Vaccine Safety Research Center in September 2022 and has been reorganized into 4 divisions to promote research including international collaborative studies, long-/short-term follow-up studies, and education programs. Through these enhancements, the CoVaSC will continue to swiftly provide scientific evidence for COVID-19 vaccine research and compensation and may serve as a model for preparing for future epidemics of new diseases.

Policy Guidelines to Mitigate the Effects of Covid-19 Pandemic towards the Reproductive Healthcare System in Kenya: A Review

The first case of COVID-19 emerged in Wuhan, China in December 2019. The virus was declared a global pandemic by the World Health Organization in March 11, 2020. In East Africa, Kenya was leading with 250,000 cases as at October 30th 2021. The Ministry of Health (MoH) was tasked with responding to the pandemic to contain the spread. This was a qualitative study and the study objectives included; determining how decision-making process occurs, strategies to mitigate the effects of COVID-19 to the reproductive health care system, exploring the role of the ad-hoc committee of experts and the COVID-19 Task Force in the response and finding out the factors that policy actors consider when formulating policies. Taguette Software was used to analyze the data qualitatively. The study findings from key informants and document analysis established that, leadership, coordination and collaboration from the different sectors for the COVID-19 response was key. Societal values influenced policy decisions. The study established that, where major political elites had most power, policy was actioned. The MoH should develop contextualized mitigation plans to sustain service provision; focusing on capacity strengthening of providers on emergency responses, task shifting and tele-health. Policy guidelines should be continuously updated to reflect the current status at the national and sub-national levels. In conclusion, the health policy triangle provided a framework for simplifying the complex and dynamic nature of policy making but little consideration to other aspects that describe how and why policies are modified were considered. This needs to be exhaustive. Keywords: COVID-19, Reproductive Healthcare System, Guidelines, Mitigation, Decision Making, Policy Action, Kenya & Task Force

HASTI Solar Eclipse Ad-Hoc Committee notes: Looking safely forward to April 2024

Your HASTI Solar Eclipse Committee met October 19, 2022 to discuss the role HASTI should play in disseminating information to our membership about the April 2024 Solar Eclipse. Here are the notes from the meeting.

Advancing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Professional Organizations: Lessons From the Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine

Advancing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Professional Organizations: Lessons From the Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine

2022 IEEE Ad Hoc Committee to Coordinate IEEE's Response to Climate Change (CCIRCC)

There is an unprecedented level of awareness of climate change and the role of decarbonization in enabling environmental sustainability moving forward. In particular, there has been a major focus placed on the carbon produced through electricity generation, as it is responsible for roughly 30% of emissions globally, per the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). When renewable energy solutions are advanced very heavily, that raises the level of tension among competing interests. This needs to be navigated very carefully if we are to meet carbon reduction targets, which in turn need to be shared based on historical contributions and current emission levels. A nuanced approach to navigating this tension will see industrialized nation states collaborating with emerging economies to deploy a portfolio of solutions with low-carbon generation, storage and demand side management with advanced technology focusing on energy efficiency. To more efficiently facilitate the global shift towards renewable energy adoption, the below six areas should be our priority.

Eugène Bouchut's (1818-1891) Early Anticipation of the Concept of Brain Death.

The conventional historical account of the concept of brain death credits developments and discoveries of the twentieth century with its inception, emphasizing the role of technological developments and professional conferences, notably the 1968 Ad Hoc Committee of the Harvard Medical School to Examine the Definition of Brain Death. This essay argues that the French physician Eugène Bouchut anticipated the concept of brain death as early as 1846. Correspondence with Bouchut's understanding of brain death and one important contemporary concept of brain death is established then contrasted with current trends of defining death as the death of the brain. The philosophical factors that influenced Bouchut and the later developments of concepts of brain death are considered, with special reference to mechanistic philosophy and vitalism.

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Artificial Neural Networks Analysis of the Risk Factors for Aneurysm in the Population of the Setif Region in Algeria

Background. By definition, when the abdominal aorta undergoes dilation, this is called an aneurysm. However, this definition depends on the threshold diameter of the aorta reached after dilation. According to angiographic studies, aneurysm is considered when the diameter of the aorta exceeds 30 mm. According to the International Society for Cardiovascular Surgery/Society for Vascular Surgery Ad Hoc Committee, we speak of an aneurysm when the diameter of the infrarenal aorta exceeds 1.5 times the normal diameter. It then becomes necessary to define the normal value of this diameter, which varies from 16 to 23 mm depending on the population concerned. Ultrasound is often used in screening for abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAA) for its simplicity and low cost. This study evaluates the prevalence of abdominal aortic aneurysms in the population at risk in the region of Setif in Algeria. Method and materials. The study concerns a population of The study concerns a population of 902 diagnosed cases, 854 cases are over 50 years old who consented to AAA screening who consented to AAA screening. For each patient, different parameters are taken. Physical and ultrasound examinations are performed. The parameters sex, history of diabetes, dyslipidemia, blood pressure, body mass index, smoking and atherosclerosis are listed. In order to establish an average diameter of the aorta in this population at risk, an intelligent analysis relating these factors to the diameter of the abdominal aorta is applied. Conclusion. As the system is very complex to analyze using classical mathematical techniques, the principles of artificial neural networks come in handy. The rule base that maps the input variables to the diameter of the aorta is created from the database of the performed analyzes. This makes it possible to predict the diameter of the abdominal aorta from the risk factors. Therefore, prevention of abdominal aortic aneurysm will be possible in the population of this geographic area.

West African Postgraduate College of Medical Laboratory Science Advisory Position Paper on Covid-19 Testing and Containment in Ecowas Region

Obviously, medical laboratory testing remains one of the tools successfully used in managing the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic globally. Due to the novel nature of the virus responsible for COVID-19, many countries adopted their own approaches to mitigate the impact the pandemic was having on the respective countries. The West Africa Postgraduate College of Medical Laboratory Science in contributing to managing the situation set up an ad-hoc committee to review and advise on acceptable diagnostics approaches that could be used in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic. The committee of experts reviewed the scientific and professional approaches that could be used to test for COVID-19 to identify cases for isolation, treatment, management, and subsequent control of transmission. Again, the committee made recommendations of what method should be used depending on the objective one seeks to achieve not neglecting patient safety.

A Leisure Professional Association Creating an Action Plan for Change: Part 2

Abstract In 2016 North Carolina Recreation and Parks Association (NCRPA), a leisure and recreation professional association, implemented an organizational change with the hopes of becoming more relevant and vital to recreation professionals. James and Weddell documented the initial process leading to organizational change. The NCRPA Board president tasked an Ad Hoc committee to read the book, “Race for Relevance” (2011) and make recommendations to revitalize the organization. For more details on the beginning process, see James and Weddell’s case study “A Leisure Professional Association’s Structural Change, to Remain Relevant to its Members as well as in its Support of the Profession – Part 1”. Organizational change includes more than making recommendations to a board and having a unanimous board vote to implement the recommendations. Once the vote passed, the real work began. This case study continues the investigation by describing the implementation process of the recommendations leading to NCRPA organizational revitalization for 2017. The main players of innovation included the NCRPA Executive Director, its Board President, and the Executive Board as well as several committees appointed by the President. NCRPA continued to use the book “Race for Relevance” (2011) as a primer to change, requiring each committee member to read the book to understand the impact of the changes and future decisions. VIU logo WLCE logo Information Vancouver Island University World Leisure Centre of Excellence © Melissa Weddell and Jana Joy James 2018

Expanding the Social Status of “Corpse” to the Severely Comatose: Henry Beecher and the Harvard Brain Death Committee

This essay examines the development of the seminal report, "A Definition of Irreversible Coma," by the Ad Hoc Committee of the Harvard Medical School to Examine the Definition of Brain Death in 1968. Detailed examination of original documents archived in the Henry K. Beecher Papers at Harvard's Countway Library reveals a variety of concerns and values at play in the development of the report, along with disagreement on a few key points among Committee members. One important goal of the Committee was to render treatment removal from patients in severe coma mandatory-not merely permissible-and without need for permission or consultation with the patient's family. Protecting and supporting organ transplantation also played a significant role in the Committee's writings and deliberations. Multiple concepts of death and justifications for brain death can be found, most of them inconsistent with each other and offered without a clear rationale. The essay emphasizes what is perhaps the most important aspect of this period in history: this is the moment when, without clear physiologic justification, the social and legal status of "corpse" became compulsorily applied to living human bodies.