Broad Topic Areas Research Articles

A Review on Low-Grade Thermal Energy Harvesting: Materials, Methods and Devices.

Combined rejected and naturally available heat constitute an enormous energy resource that remains mostly untapped. Thermal energy harvesting can provide a cost-effective and reliable way to convert available heat into mechanical motion or electricity. This extensive review analyzes the literature covering broad topical areas under solid-state low temperature thermal energy harvesting. These topics include thermoelectricity, pyroelectricity, thermomagneticity, and thermoelasticity. For each topical area, a detailed discussion is provided comprising of basic physics, working principle, performance characteristics, state-of-the-art materials, and current generation devices. Technical advancements reported in the literature are utilized to analyze the performance, identify the challenges, and provide guidance for material and mechanism selection. The review provides a detailed analysis of advantages and disadvantages of each energy harvesting mechanism, which will provide guidance towards designing a hybrid thermal energy harvester that can overcome various limitations of the individual mechanism.

Concern over cost of and access to cancer treatments: A meta-narrative review of nivolumab and pembrolizumab studies.

A better understanding of the modulation of the immune system has resulted in the development of new classes of antitumor agents such as nivolumab and pembrolizumab. Despite the proven effectiveness and tolerability of these new drugs for specific types of cancer, the high cost of treatment has affected their accessibility. The aim of this study is to conduct a meta-narrative review of studies that have addressed the concerns that have been voiced regarding the cost of and access to nivolumab and pembrolizumab in oncology health care. This meta-narrative review attempts to answer the following questions: (1) which papers have considered this broad topic area?; (2) what are the main empirical/theoretical findings?; and (3) what insights can be drawn by combining and comparing findings from different papers? A meta-narrative review has been conducted in 5 research databases (Web of Science, Science Direct, Scopus, Embase and Pubmed) without time limitations up to January of 2017 to address concerns related to the cost of and access to nivolumab and pembrolizumab in oncology health care. From each research base, articles were selected that had a key word related to the theme of pharmacoeconomics and nivolumab or pembrolizumab in any field of scientific work. The research questions were analyzed through the application of a meta-narrative review approach and the use of a convergence-coding matrix to summarize similarities and differences directly related to the research topic between the different papers. The first contribution of this meta-narrative review is that it summarizes economic-based works on the use of nivolumab and pembrolizumab, particularly for three therapeutic indications: melanoma, NSCLC and RCC. In general, despite the clinical benefit of nivolumab and pembrolizumab being well accepted and proven by scientific works, the published studies show that there are contradictory results with regard to the cost-effectiveness of these anti-PD-1s. The regulatory, economic and epidemiological variations mean that healthcare costs for cancer patients vary greatly from country to country and according to the type of tumor. The second contribution has to do with the recommendations for the development of high quality process for pharmacoeconomic analyses, especially in the new field of immuno-oncology. Finally, the third contribution is with regard to recommendations for the sustainable use of immunotherapies. Given the revolution in cancer therapy in recent years, the efficient allocation of existing resources is essential for healthcare systems to meet the evolving needs of populations and remain sustainable in the long term. The application of high quality information that stems from scientific evidence and economic modeling can help considerably to make the healthcare system sustainable over time mainly due to a higher number of therapeutic indications or more countries giving regulatory approval for the use of new and expensive cancer drugs.

Over a Decade of Scholarship on the Politics and Policy of Science and Technology

Over a Decade of Scholarship on the Politics and Policy of Science and Technology

Research into Australian emergency services personnel mental health and wellbeing: An evidence map.

Evidence maps are a method of systematically characterising the range of research activity in broad topic areas and are a tool for guiding research priorities. 'Evidence-mapping' methodology was used to quantify the nature and distribution of recent peer-reviewed research into the mental health and wellbeing of Australian emergency services personnel. A search of the PsycINFO, EMBASE and Cochrane Library databases was performed for primary research articles that were published between January 2011 and July 2016. In all, 43 studies of primary research were identified and mapped. The majority of the research focused on organisational and individual/social factors and how they relate to mental health problems/wellbeing. There were several areas of research where very few studies were detected through the mapping process, including suicide, personality, stigma and pre-employment factors that may contribute to mental health outcomes and the use of e-health. No studies were detected which examined the prevalence of self-harm and/or harm to others, bullying, alcohol/substance use, barriers to care or experience of families of emergency services personnel. In addition, there was no comprehensive national study that had investigated all sectors of emergency services personnel. This evidence map highlights the need for future research to address the current gaps in mental health and wellbeing research among Australian emergency services personnel. Improved understanding of the mental health and wellbeing of emergency services personnel, and the factors that contribute, should guide organisations' wellbeing policies and procedures.

An Interview with William A. Barnett

An Interview with William A. Barnett

Advancing the adverse outcome pathway framework-An international horizon scanning approach.

Our ability to conduct whole-organism toxicity tests to understand chemical safety has been outpaced by the synthesis of new chemicals for a wide variety of commercial applications. As a result, scientists and risk assessors are turning to mechanistically based studies to increase efficiencies in chemical risk assessment and making greater use of in vitro and in silico methods to evaluate potential environmental and human health hazards. In this context, the adverse outcome pathway (AOP) framework has gained traction in regulatory science because it offers an efficient and effective means for capturing available knowledge describing the linkage between mechanistic data and the apical toxicity end points required for regulatory assessments. A number of international activities have focused on AOP development and various applications to regulatory decision-making. These initiatives have prompted dialogue between research scientists and regulatory communities to consider how best to use the AOP framework. Although expert-facilitated discussions and AOP development have been critical in moving the science of AOPs forward, it was recognized that a survey of the broader scientific and regulatory communities would aid in identifying current limitations while guiding future initiatives for the AOP framework. To that end, a global horizon scanning exercise was conducted to solicit questions concerning the challenges or limitations that must be addressed to realize the full potential of the AOP framework in research and regulatory decision-making. The questions received fell into several broad topical areas: AOP networks, quantitative AOPs, collaboration on and communication of AOP knowledge, AOP discovery and development, chemical and cross-species extrapolation, exposure/toxicokinetics considerations, and AOP applications. Expert ranking was then used to prioritize questions for each category, where 4 broad themes emerged that could help inform and guide future AOP research and regulatory initiatives. In addition, frequently asked questions were identified and addressed by experts in the field. Answers to frequently asked questions will aid in addressing common misperceptions and will allow for clarification of AOP topics. The need for this type of clarification was highlighted with surprising frequency by our question submitters, indicating that improvements are needed in communicating the AOP framework among the scientific and regulatory communities. Overall, horizon scanning engaged the global scientific community to help identify key questions surrounding the AOP framework and guide the direction of future initiatives. Environ Toxicol Chem 2017;36:1411-1421. © 2017 SETAC.

Developing and improving residency research training.

Peer-reviewed literature on pharmacy residency research training is reviewed with an emphasis on innovative strategies for research training enhancement. There is a persistent gap between institutional expectations regarding the entry-level research skills of advanced-practice pharmacists and the research training experiences provided to pharmacy residents. This gap is especially problematic because pharmacy residency programs have become a primary source for recruitment of advanced-practice pharmacists. A literature review was conducted to characterize the current state of pharmacy residency research training and identify strategies to better prepare pharmacists for involvement in practice-based research. The 30 articles selected for review addressed four broad topic areas: residency stakeholder perceptions of research training, approaches to effective pharmacy residency research training, scholarly output resulting from resident research, and proposals and professional organization directives for advancement of pharmacy residency research training. Overall, the reviewed literature suggested four broad themes: (1) The extent and quality of research training provided to residents vary according to the limits imposed by the available expertise and resources of individual residency programs, (2) a formalized training approach is essential for research skills development, (3) proper training can improve scholarly output from resident research projects, and (4) guidelines alone are insufficient to ensure adequate development of research skills. A review of the literature identified three strategies that can enhance residency research training: formalizing the process, engaging expertise and collaboration, and formatting the training for use across all pharmacy residency programs.

Factories of the future: challenges and leading innovations in intelligent manufacturing

This paper reviews some of the most recently reported research into challenges and leading innovations in intelligent manufacturing for the Factories of the Future (FoF). Such research can be categorised as addressing five broad topic areas: manufacturing systems frameworks, theories and models; the pervasiveness of Cyber-Physical Systems (CPSs); the critical role of semantic technologies and interoperability; the Virtual Organisation (VO) of manufacturing systems and the servitisation of manufacturing systems. The paper analyses conceptual, theoretical, empirical and technological contributions from several leading authors in domain area. This paper identifies a wide range of research topics from the elaboration of manufacturing systems frameworks to models, from sensors to CPSs, to the application of semantic technologies and interoperability architectures of the data and information generated by manufacturing agents, how VOs are shaping manufacturing environments and the increasing challenge of deploying manufacturing systems to support servitisation. The paper concludes elaborating final considerations on the challenges and leading innovations in intelligent manufacturing for the FoF research area.

Patients’ views on using decision support tools: a systematic review

Background, aims and scope: Decision support tools assist patients in medical decision-making. However, implementing these tools in practice is challenging. We systematically reviewed barriers and facilitators to using decision support tools, as perceived by patients. Methods: A systematic search of scientific articles was performed in MEDLINE, CENTRAL, EMBASE and CINHAL databases. Search strategies combined pre-defined free-text words and MeSH, or database equivalent, derived from the following broad topic areas: decision support tools, barriers and facilitators, use or implementation and user perceptions. Eligible studies qualitatively presented patients’ views on using tools. These views were thematically analyzed, starting from an existing taxonomy of barriers to and facilitators of the implementation of healthcare innovations. Results: Electronic searches yielded a total of 7067 unique references; 365 full-text articles were retrieved, of which 33 publications met the inclusion criteria. Seven additional publications were included after reference searching. Key descriptive themes were classified in three broad categories of tool-, user- and environment-related barriers and facilitators. The most commonly identified themes were perceived usefulness, ease of use, the health professional-patient relationship, quality and quantity of information and need as motivation to use tools.Conclusions: Patients express a need for decision support, but experience obstacles to using tools. The two most common, attitude-related, barriers to tool use were the perceived difficulty of using a tool and its dubious efficacy. The results of this review can support researchers in the design of development and evaluation strategies that specifically address the identified barriers and facilitators and thus further the implementation of decision support tools.

Promoting linguistic complexity, greater message length and ease of engagement in email writing in people with aphasia: initial evidence from a study utilizing assistive writing software.

Improving email writing in people with aphasia could enhance their ability to communicate, promote interaction and reduce isolation. Spelling therapies have been effective in improving single-word writing. However, there has been limited evidence on how to achieve changes to everyday writing tasks such as email writing in people with aphasia. One potential area that has been largely unexplored in the literature is the potential use of assistive writing technologies, despite some initial evidence that assistive writing software use can lead to qualitative and quantitative improvements to spontaneous writing. This within-participants case series design study aimed to investigate the effects of using assistive writing software to improve email writing in participants with dysgraphia related to aphasia. Eight participants worked through a hierarchy of writing tasks of increasing complexity within broad topic areas that incorporate the spheres of writing need of the participants: writing for domestic needs, writing for social needs and writing for business/administrative needs. Through completing these tasks, participants had the opportunity to use the various functions of the software, such as predictive writing, word banks and text to speech. Therapy also included training and practice in basic computer and email skills to encourage increased independence. Outcome measures included email skills, keyboard skills, email writing and written picture description tasks, and a perception of disability assessment. Four of the eight participants showed statistically significant improvements to spelling accuracy within emails when using the software. At a group level there was a significant increase in word length with the software; while four participants showed noteworthy changes to the range of word classes used. Enhanced independence in email use and improvements in participants' perceptions of their writing skills were also noted. This study provided some initial evidence that assistive writing technologies can support people with aphasia in email writing across a range of important performance parameters. However, more research is needed to measure the effects of these technologies on the writing of people with aphasia, and to determine the optimal compensatory mechanisms for specific people given the linguistic-strategic resources they bring to the task of email writing.

Challenges in mathematical cognition: A collaboratively-derived research agenda

This paper reports on a collaborative exercise designed to generate a coherent agenda for research on mathematical cognition. Following an established method, the exercise brought together 16 mathematical cognition researchers from across the fields of mathematics education, psychology and neuroscience. These participants engaged in a process in which they generated an initial list of research questions with the potential to significantly advance understanding of mathematical cognition, winnowed this list to a smaller set of priority questions, and refined the eventual questions to meet criteria related to clarity, specificity and practicability. The resulting list comprises 26 questions divided into six broad topic areas: elucidating the nature of mathematical thinking, mapping predictors and processes of competence development, charting developmental trajectories and their interactions, fostering conceptual understanding and procedural skill, designing effective interventions, and developing valid and reliable measures. In presenting these questions in this paper, we intend to support greater coherence in both investigation and reporting, to build a stronger base of information for consideration by policymakers, and to encourage researchers to take a consilient approach to addressing important challenges in mathematical cognition.

Assessing Musculoskeletal Competency in Osteopathic Medical Students

Musculoskeletal related conditions are the second most common reason patients seek medical attention in the primary care setting and the second most costly cause of morbidity behind cardiovascular disease. Furthermore, due to the changes that occur in the musculoskeletal system during the aging process, the frequency of musculoskeletal related office visits will increase as the number of elderly patients increases in the U.S. Therefore, it is very important that physicians are thoroughly educated, competent, and confident to diagnose and treat musculoskeletal conditions. However, previous research examining a cohort of graduating osteopathic medical students and a cohort of allopathic medical residents has demonstrated that musculoskeletal knowledge retention, based on a standardized competency exam, is less than optimal. Our study evaluated first‐year osteopathic medical students before and after they had taken a Musculoskeletal System course through administration of a 25‐question examination developed by internal medicine and orthopedic residency directors utilized in previous studies. The competency examination covered a broad area of topics that were considered important by surgical and nonsurgical criteria. We administered the examination before and after the course to two separate cohorts of first year medical students, the class of 2014 and the class of 2017. We compared these two cohorts to determine if changes within our Musculoskeletal course enhanced overall performance on the competency examination. The results show that the Musculoskeletal System course significantly improved examination performance by 27.8% for the class of 2014 and 28.4% for the class of 2017. But what was more interesting was that the average post‐course score of the class of 2017 was significantly higher than the average score of students in the class of 2014 showing 23% more students demonstrated competency. Our first‐year osteopathic medical students performed similarly to graduating osteopathic medical students (32% vs. 33%) and outperformed allopathic medical residents (32% vs. 22%) in the portion of students demonstrating competence. In summary, our Musculoskeletal System course improved musculoskeletal knowledge in students, and our first‐year osteopathic medical students did as well or better compared to graduating osteopathic students and allopathic residents, respectively. This study indicates that despite first‐year students comparing favorably with more experienced students in musculoskeletal knowledge there is room for improvement within our Musculoskeletal System course. Future changes to the course may include more case study scenarios and a focus on more high impact, high frequency musculoskeletal related presentations and management.Support or Funding InformationThis work was supported by an internal grant from Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine.

Ranking Accounting Journals by Topical Area and Methodology

At many institutions, only a small subset of journals “count” for accounting faculty evaluations (e.g., the top 3/6 journals); yet, prior research shows that these journals are not necessarily reflective of the broad topical areas of accounting research and do not publish the most-cited papers in all topical areas. Therefore, this paper creates separate rankings of a set of respected accounting journals based on which journals publish the most highly cited articles in accounting information systems (AIS), audit, financial, managerial, tax, and other topical areas. We also create rankings by research methodologies, including analytical, archival, experimental, and other research methodologies. We find that for financial accounting, archival research, and analytical research, the top-3/6 characterization is descriptive of which journals publish the most-cited work. For all other topical areas and research methodologies, at least one additional journal is more highly ranked than the traditional top-3/6 characterization. Using a unique measure of attention by stakeholders outside of the academy, we find similar results; the traditional top journals are not publishing the most articles that receive attention in some topical areas. The results call into question whether institutions should rely solely on the traditional top 3/6 journal lists for evaluating research productivity.

Turning the Corner

This article reports on formative research to develop the Adelante brand, an innovative program for Latino immigrant adolescents and their families. The brand applies social marketing principles used in previous health brands in areas such as tobacco control, substance use, and HIV prevention. Specific objectives were to apply branding principles as an approach to increasing adolescent engagement with, and participation in, a community-based youth development program called Adelante, which is based on positive youth development theory. We collected data in a primarily low-income Latino immigrant community, Langley Park, MD, located near Washington, DC. A total of 39 adolescents, ages 13–19, participated in six focus groups. We designed and tested a brand positioning statement, associations, a logo and graphics, and youth archetypes. We used thematic content analysis to code focus group data into broad topic areas and then analyzed the data using substantive coding to identify themes. The concepts of strength, resilience, and “turning the corner” by overcoming life obstacles and succeeding were the main themes. Latino youth face a challenging environment in which they grow up, finish school, and succeed. Adelante represents a source of support and help to turn the corner. A graphic depicting a city street corner with a darker side (past) and a brighter side (future) was identified as the Adelante logo. Youth characters named Victor and Erika, and an educational entertainment strategy, were conceived as a way to create a brand persona. Adelante is now actively building its brand to increase youth engagement in the program.

Summarizing systematic reviews: methodological development, conduct and reporting of an umbrella review approach.

With the increase in the number of systematic reviews available, a logical next step to provide decision makers in healthcare with the evidence they require has been the conduct of reviews of existing systematic reviews. Syntheses of existing systematic reviews are referred to by many different names, one of which is an umbrella review. An umbrella review allows the findings of reviews relevant to a review question to be compared and contrasted. An umbrella review's most characteristic feature is that this type of evidence synthesis only considers for inclusion the highest level of evidence, namely other systematic reviews and meta-analyses. A methodology working group was formed by the Joanna Briggs Institute to develop methodological guidance for the conduct of an umbrella review, including diverse types of evidence, both quantitative and qualitative. The aim of this study is to describe the development and guidance for the conduct of an umbrella review. Discussion and testing of the elements of methods for the conduct of an umbrella review were held over a 6-month period by members of a methodology working group. The working group comprised six participants who corresponded via teleconference, e-mail and face-to-face meeting during this development period. In October 2013, the methodology was presented in a workshop at the Joanna Briggs Institute Convention. Workshop participants, review authors and methodologists provided further testing, critique and feedback on the proposed methodology. This study describes the methodology and methods developed for the conduct of an umbrella review that includes published systematic reviews and meta-analyses as the analytical unit of the review. Details are provided regarding the essential elements of an umbrella review, including presentation of the review question in a Population, Intervention, Comparator, Outcome format, nuances of the inclusion criteria and search strategy. A critical appraisal tool with 10 questions to help assess risk of bias in systematic reviews and meta-analyses was also developed and tested. Relevant details to extract from included reviews and how to best present the findings of both quantitative and qualitative systematic reviews in a reader friendly format are provided. Umbrella reviews provide a ready means for decision makers in healthcare to gain a clear understanding of a broad topic area. The umbrella review methodology described here is the first to consider reviews that report other than quantitative evidence derived from randomized controlled trials. The methodology includes an easy to use and informative summary of evidence table to readily provide decision makers with the available, highest level of evidence relevant to the question posed.

Developing core competencies for monitoring and evaluation tracks in South Asian MPH programs.

BackgroundMonitoring and evaluation (M&E) provides vital information for decision-making and its structures, systems and processes are expected to be integrated throughout the life-cycle of public health programs. The acquisition of these skills should be developed in a structured manner and needs educational systems to identify core competencies in M&E teaching. This article presents our work on harmonizing M&E competencies for Masters level programs in the South Asian context and undertaking the global review of M&E track/ concentration offered in various Masters of Public Health (MPH) programs.MethodsThrough an online search and snow-balling, we mapped institutions offering M&E tracks/ concentrations in Masters of Public Health (MPH) programs globally. We obtained detailed information about their M&E curriculum from university websites and brochures. The data on curricular contents was extracted and compiled. We analyzed the curricular contents using the framework for core competencies developed by the Association of Schools of Public Health (ASPH); and the Miller’s triangle. This data was then used to inform a consultative exercise aimed at identifying core competencies for an M&E track/ concentration in MPH programs in the South Asian context.ResultsOur curricular review of M&E content within MPH programs globally showed that different domains or broad topic areas relating to M&E are covered differently across the programs. The quantitative sciences (Biostatistics and Epidemiology) and Health Policy and Management are covered in much greater depth than the other two domains (Social & Behavioral Sciences and Environmental Health Sciences). The identification of core competencies for an M&E track/ concentration in the South Asian context was undertaken through a consultative group exercise involving representation from 11 institutions across Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Sri Lanka. During the consultation, the group engaged in a focused discussion to reach consensus on a set of 15 core competencies for an M&E track in South Asian MPH programs.ConclusionThis work presents an opportunity for institutions to identify and re-examine their M&E competencies as a part of their specialized tracks within MPH programs. Our curricular analysis approach has the potential for adaptation and further use in curriculum analysis across different academic specialties.

Low‐Calorie Sweeteners and Health

ObjectiveTo summarize existing evidence on Low‐Calorie Sweeteners (LCSs) and selected health outcomes using evidence mapping, a new method that systematically characterizes the range of research activity into broad topic areas.MethodsA comprehensive search strategy on Ovid Medline (through July 2014) was employed to identify peer‐reviewed, published, interventional and prospective cohort studies of LCSs and the following outcome areas: body weight or composition, hunger or satiety mechanisms, altered energy sensing by the brain, and gut hormone responses. Descriptive analyses were performed.ResultsThe literature search yielded 12,899 citations, which were screened based on pre‐defined study eligibility criteria. Information on Populations, Interventions or Exposures, Comparators, and Outcomes (PIECO) was extracted from a total of 109 eligible studies. Of the included studies, 85% were conducted in adults. The most commonly used LCS interventions were aspartame (40%), saccharin (17%) and sucralose (9%). The most commonly studied health outcome was body weight. The outcome measures for hunger or satiety mechanisms were heterogeneous.ConclusionsSome commonly used LCSs, such as polyols, sucralose, and steviol glycosides, are understudied. By systematically identifying existing interventions and research gaps in the current literature, evidence mapping proved to be a useful method to inform researchers, funders, and policy makers of important topics for future research.Funding source: International Life Science Institute North American Branch

2013 Maastricht-NUS-MIT International Real Estate Finance & Economics Symposium: Editors’ Introduction to the Special Issue

This article provides the Editors’ Introduction to this special issue, which presents articles first presented at the 2013 Maastricht-NUS-MIT (MNM) Symposium on International Real Estate Finance and Economics, held at MIT in October 2013. This Introduction briefly describes each of the eight articles in the special issue, which are grouped into three broad topic areas: REITs, Real estate debt behavior, and Urban economics.

The Health and Retirement Study: A Public Data Resource for Research on Aging

The Health and Retirement Study (HRS) is a nationally representative longitudinal survey of more than 37,000 individuals in 23,000 households over age 50 in the United States. Fielded biennially since 1992, it was established to provide a national resource for data on the changing health and economic circumstances associated with aging. HRS covers four broad topic areas—income and wealth; health, cognition, and use of health care services; work and retirement; and family connections. HRS data are also linked at the individual level to administrative records from Social Security and Medicare, Veteran’s Administration, the National Death Index, and employer-provided pension plan information. In 2006, data collection expanded to include biomarkers and genetics and greater depth in psychosocial well-being and social context. This blend of economic, health, and psychosocial information provides unprecedented potential to study increasingly complex questions about aging and retirement. HRS prioritizes rapid release of data while simultaneously protecting the confidentiality of respondents. Three categories of data—public, sensitive, and restricted—can be accessed through procedures described on the HRS website (hrsonline.isr.umich.edu).

Novel strategies for global manufacturing systems interoperability

This paper reviews some of the most recently reported research into novel strategies for global manufacturing systems interoperability. Such research can be categorised as addressing four broad topic areas: the sensing manufacturing enterprise; semantics and knowledge management in manufacturing; service orientation and the need for negotiation; and business interoperability. Thus we identify a spectrum of research from the management of hardware and virtual sensing devices, through the semantic interpretation of the data and information generated by these, and its utilisation to support the collaborative manufacturing network lifecycle through service oriented software, and ultimately the provision of effective business interoperability. This study includes conceptual, theoretical, empirical and technological contributions, illustrated by real examples and demonstrating the novelty in comparison with previously reported results. The paper concludes elaborating final considerations on novel strategies for global manufacturing systems interoperability.