Digital Library Databases Research Articles

A Systematic Literature Review of Automation Quality of Service in Computer Networks: Research Trends, Datasets, and Methods

The article is a systematic literature review of the use of automation for quality of service (QoS) in computer networks. It summarizes the research trends, datasets, and methods used in the field and provides an overview of the current state of the art. The focus of the review is on the use of automation for QoS management and improvement in computer networks, including the use of machine learning, artificial intelligence, and other computational techniques. The review highlights the need for further research and development in this area and provides insights into future directions for the field. The review covered a wide range of studies, including research papers and conference proceedings, and involved a comprehensive database search of the Scopus database covering journals and proceedings such as the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Xplore, Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) Digital Library, Springer, and ScienceDirect databases between 2017 and September 2022. From these databases, 1856 metadata were found, which eventually became seventy-three metadata after going through the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) protocol.

Review of Intelligent Algorithms for Breast Cancer Control: a Latin America Perspective

Breast cancer in women is a worldwide health problem that is one of the main causes of death. This situation is accentuated in Latin America and the Caribbean countries, where about 159 women die daily from this disease. The World Health Organization recommends focusing on Prevention and Early Detection of cancer to reduce mortality. However, this requires a great deal of information processing and analysis by experts, who require the support of technology to perform these tasks promptly. In recent years, the use of so-called intelligent algorithms has increased to support the fight against breast cancer. The authors summarized the studies published between January 2016 and June 2021, highlighting the current situation and opportunities for Latin America and the Caribbean. Studies were selected using the following terms: intelligent algorithms, assessment metrics, stages of breast cancer control addressed, data sources, data types, female population with breast cancer under study and the countries of the authors who have written articles on this subject. In this study, after applying the inclusion and exclusion criteria 226 articles were selected from a total of 1,105 articles found in the ACM digital library, IEEE Explore, Nature, PubMed, Scopus (Science Direct) and Springer Link databases. Publication between January 2016 and June 2021, breast cancer as main interest, algorithm and data type information, along with compliance with the general question were the inclusion criteria, while, being a research article, compliance with the three subqueries and availability, were the exclusion criteria. Using a spreadsheet as based tool to collect and analyze the data, the study found that the most used elements were: SVM, RF and DT algorithms; accuracy as assessment metric; public information sources; data on tumors (size and shape, among others); USA information sources; India as the country of the first authors who wrote the most articles of the selected papers; and Diagnosis and treatment as the most addressed stage of cancer control. Results in this review paper provide an overview of the application of intelligent algorithms against breast cancer. In this regard, the gaps that were detected are: the Prevention stage of cancer control has not been addressed with intelligent algorithms, and the Early Detection stage has been very little addressed; private data sources could be beneficial in this type of research, but the difficulty in accessing them is a barrier for researchers. In addition, although Latin America and the Caribbean have a significant death rate from breast cancer, patients in this region have not been the subject of study and the participation of researchers on the subject has been almost nonexistent. Finally, there seems to be a great opportunity to generate proposals based on intelligent algorithms with low cost and time to implement that could directly impact patient survival, improving the health systems of the countries in the region.

Mapové aplikace internetové knihovny Špalíček.net. Příspěvek k výzkumu kramářských tisků

The Špalíček Digital Library has provided digital access to the collections of chapbooks since 2011. Interactive map applications make it possible to explore the geographical information contained in the digital-library database in context. They will provide researchers and the general public with a means to study chapbooks in terms of provenance and content in spatial relationships, and they will also enable their visualisation. An interactive map of printing workshops and places mentioned in chapbooks and a specialised map of pilgrimage sites in chapbooks, the latter of which is dedicated to the mapping of the depictions of pilgrimages in broadside ballads and prayer prints, are complemented by authoritative databases of places, persons and corporations and linked both to these records and to bibliographic descriptions of the printed books. This will allow the visualisation of relationships within variously defined units as well as the search for prints in the geographical context.

A review of multi-factor authentication in the Internet of Healthcare Things.

This review paper aims to evaluate existing solutions in healthcare authentication and provides an insight into the technologies incorporated in Internet of Healthcare Things (IoHT) and multi-factor authentication (MFA) applications for next-generation authentication practices. Our review has two objectives: (a) Review MFA based on the challenges, impact and solutions discussed in the literature; and (b) define the security requirements of the IoHT as an approach to adapting MFA solutions in a healthcare context. To review the existing literature, we indexed articles from the IEEE Xplore, ACM Digital Library, ScienceDirect, and SpringerLink databases. The search was refined to combinations of 'authentication', 'multi-factor authentication', 'Internet of Things authentication', and 'medical authentication' to ensure that the retrieved journal articles and conference papers were relevant to healthcare and Internet of Things-oriented authentication research. The concepts of MFA can be applied to healthcare where security can often be overlooked. The security requirements identified result in stronger methodologies of authentication such as hardware solutions in combination with biometric data to enhance MFA approaches. We identify the key vulnerabilities of weaker approaches to security such as password use against various cyber threats. Cyber threats and MFA solutions are categorised in this paper to facilitate readers' understanding of them in healthcare domains. We contribute to an understanding of up-to-date MFA approaches and how they can be improved for use in the IoHT. This is achieved by discussing the challenges, benefits, and limitations of current methodologies and recommendations to improve access to eHealth resources through additional layers of security.

Affective algorithmic composition of music: A systematic review

<abstract> <p>Affective music composition systems are known to trigger emotions in humans. However, the design of such systems to stimulate users' emotions continues to be a challenge because, studies that aggregate existing literature in the domain to help advance research and knowledge is limited. This study presents a systematic literature review on affective algorithmic composition systems. Eighteen primary studies were selected from IEEE Xplore, ACM Digital Library, SpringerLink, PubMed, ScienceDirect, and Google Scholar databases following a systematic review protocol. The findings revealed that there is a lack of a unique definition that encapsulates the various types of affective algorithmic composition systems. Accordingly, a unique definition is provided. The findings also show that most affective algorithmic composition systems are designed for games to provide background music. The generative composition method was the most used compositional approach. Overall, there was rather a low amount of research in the domain. Possible reasons for these trends are the lack of a common definition for affective music composition systems and also the lack of detailed documentation of the design, implementation and evaluation of the existing systems.</p> </abstract>

Depression among medical students in Saudi Arabia in the last 3 years: a review

Depression is a mental state characterized by persistent low mood and anhedonia for 2 weeks or more. It is estimated that 3.8% of the population is affected. The primary purpose of our study was to review the prevalence and risk factors of depression among medical students in Saudi Arabia. A systematic search was performed through PubMed and Saudi Digital Library databases. The legibility of the articles was assessed by checking the source's reliability. Any article that discusses the association of depression during the COVID-19 pandemic in medical students or any articles that examine another psychiatric illness with depression were excluded. The prevalence of depression among medical students in Saudi Arabia ranged from 14.7% to 55.8%, with a mean prevalence of 35.25%. Various questionnaires were used to evaluate depression, and the extracted data, which revealed that medical students tend to have mild to severe depression, was summarized. The findings of this review suggested that the high depression rate among female medical students might be due to differences in psychological, biological, social, and family factors. Being in clinical years, having a psychiatric history and significant life events, having long travel time from home to university, being a parent, and non-Saudi increase the risk of depression in medical students.

Maternal Mercury Exposure and Hypertensive Disorders of Pregnancy: A Systematic Review.

The present review aimed to synthesize the evidence regarding mercury (Hg) exposure and hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (HDP). The PubMed, BVS/LILACS, SciELO and UFRJ's Pantheon Digital Library databases were systematically searched through June 2021. Observational analytical articles, written in English, Spanish, or Portuguese, without time restriction. We followed the PICOS strategy, and the methodological quality was assessed using the Downs and Black checklist. We retrieved 77 articles, of which 6 met the review criteria. They comprised 4,848 participants, of which 809 (16.7%) had HDP and 4,724 (97.4%) were environmentally exposed to Hg (fish consumption and dental amalgam). Mercury biomarkers evaluated were blood (four studies) and urine (two studies). Two studies found a positive association between Hg and HDP in the group with more exposure, and the other four did not present it. The quality assessment revealed three satisfactory and three good-rated studies (mean: 19.3 ± 1.6 out 28 points). The absence or no proper adjustment for negative confounding factor, such as fish consumption, was observed in five studies. We retrieved only six studies, although Hg is a widespread toxic metal and pregnancy is a period of heightened susceptibility to environmental threats and cardiovascular risk. Overall, our review showed mixed results, with two studies reporting a positive association in the group with more exposure. However, due to the importance of the subject, additional studies are needed to elucidate the effects of Hg on HDP, with particular attention to adjusting negative confounding.

Using technology to assist creative arts activities in dementia care

AbstractBackgroundAlongside a growing use of creative arts within community and residential settings to support the health and wellbeing of older adults living with dementia, is an increasing availability of technology, although development for this context has up till now been limited. To examine how technology might be used to meet the leisure, health, and wellbeing needs of people living with dementia, we conducted a scoping review to assess the current state of development of creative assistive technologies across various art‐forms.MethodOur research questions asked i) what are the arts‐based activities being delivered through technology for older adults living with dementia or mild cognitive impairment, and ii) what are the characteristics of technologies being used to enhance these arts‐based activities? A comprehensive search was conducted using PubMed, PsychINFO, Web of Science, Scopus and ACM Digital Library databases. Two raters independently screened titles and abstracts, rating whether articles fit our inclusion criteria. A total of 3762 records were retrieved, of which 51 articles were included after full‐text screening.ResultMusic (29), visual art (7), storytelling (6) and film‐making (2) were delivered through technology to older adults living with dementia. Other activities included dance (1), interactive light and sound (1), and incorporating arts activities into multi‐sensory objects (3). Two applications specifically allowed a choice between multiple creative arts (2). Single papers focused on Technologies were mainly custom‐made devices rather than applications using everyday devices such as smartphones or computers. Devices were often oriented towards individual use, supported by carers rather than groups of individuals at once, with fewer flexible in use alternate between solo/group. Outcomes measured were predominantly in terms of validating feasibility of the device and/or arts activity reported.ConclusionCurrent research concerning technology‐assisted creative arts activities for people living with dementia mainly demonstrates feasibility of new devices, indicating that the field in general is predominantly in the prototyping stage. Future research should consider device development past prototyping, and consider comparing devices across different art‐forms i.e, applications having a varied range of artforms which allow for individual needs and interests to be accommodated.

Characteristics of Smart Health Ecosystems That Support Self-care Among People With Heart Failure: Scoping Review.

The management of heart failure is complex. Innovative solutions are required to support health care providers and people with heart failure with decision-making and self-care behaviors. In recent years, more sophisticated technologies have enabled new health care models, such as smart health ecosystems. Smart health ecosystems use data collection, intelligent data processing, and communication to support the diagnosis, management, and primary and secondary prevention of chronic conditions. Currently, there is little information on the characteristics of smart health ecosystems for people with heart failure. We aimed to identify and describe the characteristics of smart health ecosystems that support heart failure self-care. We conducted a scoping review using the Joanna Briggs Institute methodology. The MEDLINE, Embase, CINAHL, PsycINFO, IEEE Xplore, and ACM Digital Library databases were searched from January 2008 to September 2021. The search strategy focused on identifying articles describing smart health ecosystems that support heart failure self-care. A total of 2 reviewers screened the articles and extracted relevant data from the included full texts. After removing duplicates, 1543 articles were screened, and 34 articles representing 13 interventions were included in this review. To support self-care, the interventions used sensors and questionnaires to collect data and used tailoring methods to provide personalized support. The interventions used a total of 34 behavior change techniques, which were facilitated by a combination of 8 features for people with heart failure: automated feedback, monitoring (integrated and manual input), presentation of data, education, reminders, communication with a health care provider, and psychological support. Furthermore, features to support health care providers included data presentation, alarms, alerts, communication tools, remote care plan modification, and health record integration. This scoping review identified that there are few reports of smart health ecosystems that support heart failure self-care, and those that have been reported do not provide comprehensive support across all domains of self-care. This review describes the technical and behavioral components of the identified interventions, providing information that can be used as a starting point for designing and testing future smart health ecosystems.

The Effect of Serum β-Human Chorionic Gonadotropin on Pregnancy Complications and Adverse Pregnancy Outcomes: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Background The relationship among elevated serum β-human chorionic gonadotropin (β-hCG), the incidence of pregnancy complications, and adverse pregnancy outcomes has been controversial. Differences in study design, subject bias due to demographic characteristics, and differences in local medical levels could contribute to inconsistent results. Methods Literature searches were performed in PubMed, EMBASE, Medline, Central, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), Wanfang, and China Science Digital Library (CSDL) databases. Inclusion criteria were as follows: (1) research subjects were singleton pregnant women; (2) the study is identified as cohort study; (3) the subjects were assigned to the high β-hCG group and control group according to whether the exposure factors increased β-hCG in the second trimester; (4) the observed outcomes include at least pregnancy-induced hypertension (PIH), diabetes (gestational diabetes mellitus, GMD), preterm delivery (PD), and intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR); and (5) the odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) of exposure factors are calculated based on literature dataset. To determine the risk bias of selected literatures, Newcastle-Ottawa scale was applied. The chi-square test was further used for heterogeneity analysis. If heterogeneity was identified, subgroup analyses were then performed for source investigation. Results A total of 13 literatures were included and analyzed, including 67,355 pregnant women and 5980 pregnant women assigned to the high β-HCG group and 61,375 pregnant women to the control group. The incidence of PIH in the high β-HCG group was higher than that in the control group (OR = 2.11, 95% CI [1.90, 2.35], Z = 13.85, P < 0.00001). There was no heterogeneity among literatures (χ2 = 8.53, P = 0.38, I2 = 6%), and thus there is no identified publication bias (P > 0.05). The incidence of preterm birth in the high β-HCG group was higher than that in the control group (OR = 2.11, 95% CI [1.90, 2.35], Z = 13.85, P < 0.00001). The analysis suggested no heterogeneity among included literatures (χ2 = 11.78, P = 0.11, I2 = 41%) and no publication bias (P > 0.05). Higher incidence of abortion was observed in the high β-HCG group compared with the control group (OR = 2.80, 95% CI [1.92, 4.09], Z = 5.32, P < 0.00001). There was no heterogeneity among literatures (χ2 = 3.43, P = 0.33, I2 = 13%) and no publication bias (P > 0.05). The incidence of gestational diabetes was higher in the high β-HCG group than in the control group (OR = 2.15, 95% CI [1.05, 4.40], Z = 2.09, P = 0.04). Heterogeneity was identified among literatures (χ2 = 47.01, P < 0.00001, I2 = 87%). Sensitivity analysis showed that the results were not robust, and there was no publication bias (P > 0.05). Compared with control, the incidence of IGUR was higher in the high β-HCG group (OR = 2.70, 95% CI [1.75, 4.19], Z = 4.45, P < 0.0001) with no heterogeneity among literatures (χ2 = 3.92, P = 0.14, I2 = 49%) and no publication bias (P > 0.05). Conclusion High levels of β-hCG during pregnancy in singleton women are associated with a high incidence of pregnancy complications and adverse pregnancy outcomes. Pregnant women with high levels of β-hCG should be monitored more closely, followed up, and given timely medical interventions to reduce the incidence of pregnancy complications and adverse outcomes.

Collaboration and Sharing Resources and Services among Institute Libraries of the National Universities in Sri Lanka: with recommendations for improvement

The need for resource sharing among libraries has become even more important today with constraints of finance, space, and manpower. Specific objectives of this study were to develop a database / directory on the resources available in the institute libraries, to find out the strengths and weaknesses of the institute libraries and librarians in the University sector and to help each other to overcome the weaknesses. Study used a multi-strategy approach called ‘triangulation’ to collect data and study instruments was literature review, questionnaires and interviews used to analyzed the documents generated by the organizations. This study delineates the ways of collaboration and web-based library cooperation with the conclusion that the automation of libraries and effective formation of country consortium can only promote the effective library cooperation for access to worldwide information and global resource sharing. Current study also recommends that government or UGC should take up development project to provide appropriate Digital Library databases and provide ICT raining at global standard. Further, the study recommends that the libraries should seek for workable partnership efforts, so that the benefits derivable will help them optimize information services delivery, partnership among libraries and related institutions, should be strengthened by the leaders of the organizations through understanding, partnering parties should struggle and cope with changes through professional development so that they can adapt to their new roles, partnering libraries should examine the partnership mission in the light of individual and institutional values before venturing into it, libraries should develop alternative sources of funding than depending solely on their parent institutions.

The evolution of e-government research over two decades: applying bibliometrics and science mapping analysis

PurposeThis study uses a bibliometric approach to analyze the overall status of e-government research by revealing patterns and trends that would help gain a broad understanding of global developments in the field and future directions.Design/methodology/approachAll documents related to e-government published from 2000 to 2019 were extracted from the Scopus and the Digital Government Reference Library databases. Bibexcel, Biblioshiny, and VOSviewer were used to perform the analyses and visualize the science mapping.FindingsThe results showed that 21,320 documents related to e-government research were published and cited 263,179 times. The annual growth rate of e-government research has reached 21.50%. The regression analysis showed that the growth rate is expected to increase gradually over the coming years. Despite the significant role that conference papers play in the e-government literature, the impact of articles far exceeds conference papers. The University of Albany (SUNY) has played an important role in e-government research in terms of production and impact. Furthermore, the study revealed some countries that are expected to play a prominent role in e-government research, as well as several topics that may attract more attention soon.Originality/valueThe results presented in this study and the comprehensive picture obtained about the e-government field make it an effective supplement to the expert evaluation. Thus, researchers, research managers, policymakers, institutions, funding agencies, and governments can rely on it.

Radiographic Measurement of Normal Optic Nerve and Optic Nerve Sheath Diameters Using Different Modalities

We aimed to review the role of different types of imaging (computed tomography [СТ], ultrasonography [US], magnetic resonance imaging [MRI]) in measuring the optic nerve diameter (OND) and optic nerve sheath diameter (ONSD) in adults and the potential advantages and limitations of each modality. A literature search was carried out using ResearchGate, Saudi Digital Library, Google Scholar, and Mendeley databases between 2010 and 2021 (papers presented in English) with the keywords “computed tomography,” “magnetic resonance imaging,” “ultrasonography,” “optic nerve sheath diameter,” and “optic nerve diameter.” Of the 60 articles analyzed, 42 were included in the review. Compared to ONSD, the evidence for OND appeared to be more limited. After comparing all three imaging modalities (CT, MRI, and US), we concluded that for the most accurate measurements of ONSD we should be using MRI (range: 4.0–6.0 mm). CT (range: 4.4–6.7 mm) would provide the second most exact measurements after MRI. Although CT and MRI provide the most consistent and accurate measurements, ultrasound is more commonly used (ONSD range: 3.4–7.7 mm) due to it’s being non-invasive, easy to use, and easily available anywhere, from big hospitals to small clinics, unlike CT and MRI. All three imaging modalities can provide good measurements, and hopefully, soon ultrasound will be as accurate as MRI in measuring the optic nerve.

System Usability Scale Benchmarking for Digital Health Apps: Meta-analysis.

BackgroundThe System Usability Scale (SUS) is a widely used scale that has been used to quantify the usability of many software and hardware products. However, the SUS was not specifically designed to evaluate mobile apps, or in particular digital health apps (DHAs).ObjectiveThe aim of this study was to examine whether the widely used SUS distribution for benchmarking (mean 68, SD 12.5) can be used to reliably assess the usability of DHAs.MethodsA search of the literature was performed using the ACM Digital Library, IEEE Xplore, CORE, PubMed, and Google Scholar databases to identify SUS scores related to the usability of DHAs for meta-analysis. This study included papers that published the SUS scores of the evaluated DHAs from 2011 to 2021 to get a 10-year representation. In total, 117 SUS scores for 114 DHAs were identified. R Studio and the R programming language were used to model the DHA SUS distribution, with a 1-sample, 2-tailed t test used to compare this distribution with the standard SUS distribution.ResultsThe mean SUS score when all the collected apps were included was 76.64 (SD 15.12); however, this distribution exhibited asymmetrical skewness (–0.52) and was not normally distributed according to Shapiro-Wilk test (P=.002). The mean SUS score for “physical activity” apps was 83.28 (SD 12.39) and drove the skewness. Hence, the mean SUS score for all collected apps excluding “physical activity” apps was 68.05 (SD 14.05). A 1-sample, 2-tailed t test indicated that this health app SUS distribution was not statistically significantly different from the standard SUS distribution (P=.98).ConclusionsThis study concludes that the SUS and the widely accepted benchmark of a mean SUS score of 68 (SD 12.5) are suitable for evaluating the usability of DHAs. We speculate as to why physical activity apps received higher SUS scores than expected. A template for reporting mean SUS scores to facilitate meta-analysis is proposed, together with future work that could be done to further examine the SUS benchmark scores for DHAs.

Towards High Usability in Gamified Systems: A Systematic Review of Key Concepts and Approaches

Gamification is widely used in various domains as it helps increase user motivation and engagement. Therefore, it is important to ensure that the gamified system meets usability requirements and conforms to user experience and human-centred design guidelines, as poor usability may lead to undesired side-effects, such as a loss of user retention. Unfortunately, it is not entirely clear what usability guidelines are related to gamified systems and how they depend on the gamification target audience and on the gamified system application domain. This paper provides a systematic review of usability, user experience and human-centred design guidelines for gamified systems. A systematic search was performed in Web of Science, Scopus, IEEE Xplore, ScienceDirect, and ACM Digital Library databases, following the PRISMA guidelines. The results show that most of the recommendations listed in analysed papers are related to improving learnability of gamified systems. Furthermore, the system application domain is generally viewed as very important when making usability-related decisions. The key distinctive gamification application domains are medicine, education, and business. The findings may be useful to usability and gamification researchers, as well as the developers and owners of gamified systems who want to grasp the state of research into the specifics of gamified systems usability.

Russian-language publication activity of medical researchers in during the COVID-19 pandemic: “post-COVID-19 syndrome”

Aim. To study the dynamics and pattern of publications in Russian on post-COVID-19 syndrome (PCS) in order to assess the completeness of information and identify medical specialties with its most active investigation in Russia.Material and methods. The search for publications was carried out in the database of the largest digital scientific library in Russia Elibrary.ru from February 1, 2021 to February 1, 2022. The study included publicly available medical publications on the consequences of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Russian. Publications were classified according to subject matter, study design, and evidence hierarchy. The data obtained is reflected using integers, percentages and graphs.Results. The study included 478 publications, of which 196 (41%) presented data from original studies, while 269 (56,3%) reflected the results of existing sources. Expert community documents accounted for 2,7%. In terms of study design, most of original studies described case series (37,2%) and individual case reports (22,4%). Casecontrol studies accounted for 20,4%, cross-sectional studies — 8,7%, prospective cohort studies — 3,6%, randomized clinical trials — 1,5%, and systematic reviews — 1%. In addition, 5,1% of publications were devoted to preclinical studies, mathematical models and various methodological aspects. By topic, the largest number of publications noted cardiovascular (12,2%) and neurological manifestations of PCS (12,2%). Furthermore, 23,5% of publications described the course of PCS in specific groups of patients, particular issues of COVID-19 consequences, and healthcare management problems. We also revealed that 11,7% of publications were devoted to general rehabilitation, 71% — to imaging diagnostics, 5,6% — to herd immunity to the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome CoronaVirus 2 (SARSCoV-2), and 5,6% — to PCS features in children. The smallest number of publications considered mental (5,1%), gastroenterological (4,6%), pharmacological (4,6%), rheumatological (4%) and pulmonological aspects of PCS.Conclusion. The dynamics and pattern of publications on COVID-19 in Russian are generally consistent with global trends and reflect the natural consequences of the pandemic. This analysis of publications on PCS showed that the most in-demand specializations in this filed are cardiology, neurology, and rehabilitation.

Efficacy and safety of nasal intermittent positive pressure ventilation and nasal continuous positive airway pressure ventilation in neonatal respiratory distress syndrome: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

BackgroundThe efficacies of nasal continuous positive airway pressure (NCPAP) and nasal intermittent positive pressure ventilation (NIPPV) in neonatal respiratory distress syndrome (RDS) are controversial. The reasons for controversy may be the selection bias of research objects and the small sample size.MethodsLiterature retrieval was performed in PubMed, EMBASE, Medline, Central, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), Wanfang and China Science Digital Library (CSDL) databases. Inclusion criteria: (I) literatures involving subjects who were newborns with RDS; (II) studies that had established both experimental and control groups; (III) the intervention measures of the experimental and control groups were NIPPV and NCPAP, respectively; (IV) the results included the incidence of intubation, bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD), or mortality; and (V) randomized controlled trials (RCTs). The chi-square test was applied for heterogeneity test. Publication bias assessment was conducted by funnel plot and Egger’s test. The revised Cochrane risk of bias tool for individually randomized, parallel group trials (RoB2.0) was used to evaluate the risk of bias of the included RCT research.ResultsA total of 10 literatures were included for analysis, including 1,104 patients, 557 in the NIPPV group and 547 in the NCPAP group. Among the literatures, 2 literatures had low risk of bias, 2 literatures had high risk of bias, and the rest had uncertain risk of bias. Compared to NCPAP, NIPPV reduced the incidence of neonatal intubation in RDS [risk ratio (RR) =0.57, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.46–0.71, Z=5.11, P<0.00001]. There was no statistically significant heterogeneity (P=0.13, I2=36%) or publication bias (P<0.05) among the studies. Compared with NCPAP, NIPPV reduced the incidence of BPD in RDS (RR =0.72, 95% CI: 0.57–0.91, Z=2.70, P=0.007). There was no statistically significant heterogeneity (P=0.10, I2=41%) or publication bias (P>0.05) among the studies. NIPPV reduced the neonatal mortality rate of RDS (RR =0.55, 95% CI: 0.31–0.97, Z=2.08, P=0.04). There was no statistically significant heterogeneity (P=0.20, I2=38%) or publication bias (P>0.05) among the studies.DiscussionCompared with NCPAP, NIPPV can reduce the incidence of intubation, BPD, and mortality. The conclusions need to be confirmed via high-quality RCTs.

Exploring the Equity Impact of Current Digital Health Design Practices: Protocol for a Scoping Review.

BackgroundThe field of digital health has grown rapidly in part due to digital health tools’ potential to reduce health inequities. However, such potential has not always been realized. The design approaches used in digital health are one of the known aspects that have an impact on health equity.ObjectiveThe aim of our scoping review will be to understand how design approaches in digital health have an impact on health equity.MethodsA scoping review of studies that describe how design practices for digital health have an impact on health equity will be carried out. The scoping review will follow the methodologies laid out by Arksey and O’Malley, the Joanna Briggs Institute, and the PRISMA-ScR (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews) checklist. The PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, and ACM Digital Library databases will be searched for peer-reviewed papers. The ProQuest Dissertations and Theses and Global Index Medicus databases will be searched for gray literature. The results will be screened against our inclusion and exclusion criteria. Subsequently, the data extracted from the included studies will be analyzed.ResultsAs of March 2022, a preliminary search of the peer-reviewed databases has yielded over 4900 studies, and more are anticipated when gray literature databases are searched. We expect that after duplicates are removed and screening is completed, a much smaller number of studies will meet all of our inclusion criteria.ConclusionsAlthough there has been much discussion about the importance of design for lowering barriers to digital health participation, the evidence base demonstrating its impacts on health equity is less obvious. We hope that our findings will contribute to a better understanding of the impact that design in digital health has on health equity and that these findings will translate into action that leads to stronger, more equitable health care systems.

Potential influence of COVID-19 on periodontal and peri-implant health - A review of literature

Abstract Introduction: Coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19) is caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) which manifests with severe respiratory symptoms. The plaque biofilm was shown to harbor SARS-CoV-2 virus and that it could be transmitted via droplets. It has been hypothesized that COVID-19 could have an influence on periodontal and peri-implant health. Aim: This review was done to theoretically study the literature for reports that link COVID-19 to periodontal and peri-implant health. Materials and Methods: The review was done on articles published on the Medline and Saudi Digital Library databases, and included case reports, original papers, reviews, and any other reports that link COVID-19 to periodontal and peri-implant health. Results and Discussion: Commonly shared by COVID-19 and periodontal/peri-implant inflammation, is the increase in the pro-inflammatory mediators such as cytokines, which contribute toward exacerbating the immunological response and elevating the severity of the conditions. Furthermore, the reduced immunity due to COVID-19 can allow the periodontal/peri-implant pathogens to flourish and grow, especially when associated with poor oral hygiene owing to fatigue or bed confinement, and the negligence of maintaining routine periodontal visits due to fear of contracting COVID-19. Nevertheless, no direct cause-and-effect relationship between the SARS-CoV-2 virus and periodontal/peri-implant conditions has been ascertained, which warrants the need for further clinical studies on this topic to achieve a better understanding of it. Conclusion: There is no direct cause-and-effect relationship between the SARS-CoV-2 virus and periodontal diseases, but the similarity of the pro-inflammatory expressions in both diseases poses an indirect risk on periodontal health.

A Systematic Review on Clinical Safety and Efficacy of Vancomycin Loading Dose in Critically Ill Patients

Background: The clinical significance of utilizing a vancomycin loading dose in critically ill patients remains unclear. Objective: The main aim of this systematic review is to evaluate the clinical safety and efficacy of the vancomycin loading dose in critically ill patients. Methods: We performed a systematic review using PRISMA guidelines. PubMed, the Web of Science, MEDLINE, Scopus, Google Scholar, the Saudi Digital Library and other databases were searched. Studies that reported clinical outcomes among patients receiving the vancomycin LD were considered eligible. Data for this study were collected using PubMed, the Web of Science, MEDLINE, Scopus, Google Scholar and the Saudi Digital Library using the following terms: “vancomycin”, “safety”, “efficacy” and “loading dose” combined with the Boolean operator “AND” or “OR”. Results: A total of 17 articles, including 2 RCTs, 11 retrospective cohorts and 4 other studies, met the inclusion/exclusion criteria out of a total 1189 studies. Patients had different clinical characteristics representing a heterogenous group, including patients in critical condition, with renal impairment, sepsis, MRSA infection and hospitalized patients for hemodialysis or in the emergency department. Conclusions: The study shows that the target therapeutic level is achieved more easily among patients receiving a weight-based LD as compared to patients received the usual dose without an increased risk of new-onset adverse drug reactions.