Protocol Framework Research Articles

A conceptual framework for the process protocol of integration quality, safety, health and sustainable construction management systems for infrastructure projects in Indonesia

Construction accidents on infrastructure projects in Indonesia from 2017-2021 have increased by 5.65% from previous years. Construction accidents that result in property damage, death or injury to both workers and the public, pollution and environmental damage cause sustainable development goals not to be achieved. Construction accidents are not only focused on the impacts, but it is necessary to explore how the incident occurred. This is the basis for the need to integrate quality, safety, health and sustainability in construction. The current construction safety management system is not yet integrated with other management systems. This paper aims to develop a conceptual framework in the process of integrating construction quality, safety, health and sustainability management systems. Development of a conceptual framework based on literature review, ISO standards and existing construction safety planning guidelines. The development of this conceptual framework is part of a research proposal that is being formulated to develop a process protocol for integrating process of construction quality, safety, health and sustainability management systems in infrastructure projects. This process protocol can simplify the complexity and overlapping of the processes of each management system so that it is easier to understand and to implement by all project stakeholders.

Carbon Sustainability Reporting based on GHG Protocol Framework: A Malaysian Practice Towards Net-Zero Carbon Emissions

Carbon Sustainability Reporting based on GHG Protocol Framework: A Malaysian Practice Towards Net-Zero Carbon Emissions

Consensus in ERAS protocols for ventral hernia repair: evidence-based recommendations from the ACHQC QI Committee.

Enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS) protocols are widely used in the post-operative care of hernia patients. Despite their prevalence, an absence of published consensus guidelines creates significant heterogeneity in practices. The aim of this study was to evaluate elements in ERAS protocols utilized in ventral hernia repair from institutions across the United States and provide consensus recommendations for each identified element. Institutional members of the Abdominal Core Health Quality Collaborative (ACHQC) Quality Improvement (QI) committee submitted current ERAS protocols. Items within each protocol were classified as "elements", then assigned a topic. Any topic with ≥ 2 elements from separate institutions were labeled as a "theme," then grouped by stage in the patient care cycle. A brief review of current evidence was provided in addition to a ACHQC QI committee consensus statement. A total of 295 elements from 6 tertiary referral centers specializing in hernia care were compiled into 24 themes and grouped by four separate stages: Pre-Admission Optimization, Pre-Operative Care, Intra-operative Care, and Post-Operative Management. This article represents a multi-institutional review of ERAS protocols for ventral hernia repair and identifies common themes that may provide the framework for a unified ERAS protocol in hernia surgery. Future work may serve to develop societal guidelines defined specifically for enhanced recovery in ventral hernia repair.

Evaluating the effectiveness of recovery-oriented interventions for youth who vape nicotine: a systematic review protocol.

The increase in nicotine vaping among youth has emerged as a critical public health concern. Vaping among youth is linked to adverse health outcomes, including nicotine addiction, cardiovascular and pulmonary diseases and mental health challenges. Recently, there has been a growing demand for research to expand on treatments to enhance the recovery process from vaping nicotine in youth. To this date, no comprehensive review identifies all interventions available for vaping recovery and compares their effectiveness in youth. This proposed systematic review seeks to identify all recovery-oriented interventions for youth aged 10-24 that facilitate vaping recovery and evaluate the measured effectiveness. This review will serve to support healthcare practitioners, nurses and policymakers to further understand recovery interventions and aid in improving vaping recovery among youth. This protocol, registered with PROSPERO, adheres to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis Protocol (PRISMA-P) framework, and the final review will adhere to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) guidelines to ensure quality and replicability. The review will comprise studies including youth aged 10-24 engaging in nicotine vaping. A comprehensive search will be conducted across MEDLINE, Embase, PsycINFO, Scopus and CINAHL, with no restrictions on the date range due to the recency of the topic. Two independent reviewers will screen the identified research for eligibility at the title and abstract levels, with any disagreements resolved by a third reviewer. The review will include randomised control trials and quasi-experimental studies. Full-text review and data extraction will be standardised and completed by the primary researcher. Additionally, studies will be assessed for quality and potential biases. Given that this is a review of existing literature, no ethics approval is required. The focus on youth necessitates careful consideration of ethical standards. This review is committed to contributing responsibly to public health knowledge regarding youth vaping recovery. The results from this review will be disseminated through publication in an open-access, peer-reviewed journal and likely through posters and presentations at scientific conferences. CRD42024543994.

Delineation of target volume by radiation therapists during online adaptive radiation therapy: What authorization?

The evolution of radiation therapy techniques goes hand in hand with the evolution of the profession of radiation therapist. In the particular context of online adaptive radiotherapy based on cone beam computed tomography images, delegation of certain tasks from the physician to the radiation therapist is possible within the framework of a cooperation protocol. This delegation requires prior theoretical and practical training. It enriches the practice of radiation therapists by allowing them to acquire new skills and greater autonomy. It foreshadows access for radiation therapists to advanced practice.

Mapping the evaluation of the electronic health system PEC e-SUS APS in Brazil: a scoping review protocol

BackgroundThe Brazilian Ministry of Health has developed and provided the Citizen’s Electronic Health Record (PEC e-SUS APS), a health information system freely available for utilization by all municipalities. Given the substantial financial investment being made to enhance the quality of health services in the country, it is crucial to understand how users evaluate this product. Consequently, this scoping review aims to map studies that have evaluated the PEC e-SUS APS.MethodsThis scoping review is guided by the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses Protocols (PRISMA-P) framework, as well as by the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses Checklist extension for scoping reviews (PRISMA-ScR). The research question was framed based on the “CoCoPop” mnemonic (Condition, Context, Population). The final question posed is, “How has the Citizen’s Electronic Health Record (PEC e-SUS APS) been evaluated?” The search strategy will be executed across various databases (LILACS, PubMed/MEDLINE, Scopus, Web of Science, ACM Digital Library, and IEEE Digital Library), along with gray literature from ProQuest Dissertation and Theses Global and Google Scholar, with assistance from a professional healthcare librarian skilled in supporting systematic reviews. The database search will encompass the period from 2013 to 2024. Articles included will be selected by three independent reviewers in two stages, and the findings will undergo a descriptive analysis and synthesis following a “narrative review” approach. Independent reviewers will chart the data as outlined in the literature.DiscussionThe implementation process for the PEC e-SUS APS can be influenced by the varying characteristics of the over 5500 Brazilian municipalities. These factors and other challenges encountered by health professionals and managers may prove pivotal for a municipality’s adoption of the PEC e-SUS APS system. With the literature mapping to be obtained from this review, vital insights into how users have evaluated the PEC will be obtained.Systematic review registrationThe protocol has been registered prospectively at the Open Science Framework platform under the number 10.17605/OSF.IO/NPKRU.

Different surgical interventions for unstable intertrochanteric fracture of the femur: Network meta-analysis.

Although a large body of evidence has reported on surgical approaches for the treatment of unstable intertrochanteric femoral fractures, studies that comprehensively evaluate treatment outcomes are limited. The purpose of this study was to compare the effectiveness of extramedullary fixation (i.e., dynamic hip screw [DHS]), intramedullary fixation (i.e., the proximal femoral nailing [PFN]), and hemiarthroplasty (HA) for the treatment of unstable intertrochanteric femoral fractures using network meta-analysis. This study meets the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses criteria. The Patient, Intervention, Comparison and Outcome search protocol framework was used to search the Google Scholar, PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane Library databases were searched from inception until June 2023. A total of 15 randomized controlled trials, including 1282 patients were analyzed. The Harris hip score (HHS) after DHS fixation was the lowest compared with that of PFN fixation and HA. DHS fixation had a significantly longer operation time than that of PFN fixation. Compared with HA, a lower incidence of superficial wound infection was observed with PFN and DHS fixations. PFN was significantly more likely to be implant cut out compared with HA. Compared with DHS, PFN and HA showed a lower incidence of fracture healing malunion. HA and PFN have good efficacy in improving the HHS and preventing joint deformities. However, HA showed a higher incidence of superficial infection than that observed with PFN, whereas a higher risk of screw cutout is observed with PFN than with HA.

Predictive crypto-asset automated market maker architecture for decentralized finance using deep reinforcement learning

This study proposes a quote-driven predictive automated market maker (AMM) platform with on-chain custody and settlement functions, alongside off-chain predictive reinforcement learning capabilities, to improve the liquidity provision of real-world AMMs. The proposed architecture augments Uniswap V3, a cryptocurrency AMM protocol, by using a novel market equilibrium pricing to reduce divergence and slippage losses. Furthermore, the proposed architecture involves a predictive AMM capability, for which a deep hybrid long short-term memory (LSTM) and Q-learning reinforcement learning framework is used. It seeks to improve market efficiency through obtaining more accurate forecasts of liquidity concentration ranges, where liquidity starts moving to expected concentration ranges prior to asset price movement; thus, liquidity utilization is improved. The augmented protocol framework is expected to have practical real-world implications through (1) reducing divergence loss for liquidity providers; (2) reducing slippage for crypto-asset traders; and (3) improving capital efficiency for liquidity provision for the AMM protocol. The proposed architecture is empirically benchmarked against the well-established Uniswap V3 AMM architecture. The preliminary findings indicate that the novel AMM framework offers enhanced capital efficiency, reduced divergence loss, and diminished slippage, which could potentially address several of the challenges inherent to AMMs.

Integrated Internet Architecture and Protocol Framework for Peer-to-peer File Sharing in the Internet of Everything (IoE)

Integrated Internet Architecture and Protocol Framework for Peer-to-peer File Sharing in the Internet of Everything (IoE)

Turkish parents’ perspectives on the roles and responsibilities of paraeducators: framing experiences

Objectives Paraeducators provide crucial support for individuals with special needs in inclusive educational settings, but their roles and responsibilities lack clarity. The resulting ambiguity emphasizes the need for clear role definitions. In inclusive education, paraeducators are perceived as the individuals who are most in communication with families. In this process, the perspectives of parents, who are important stakeholders, are crucial. Our purpose in this study was to examine the experiences and perspectives of parents with respect to the assistance given by paraeducators in inclusive educational settings. Methods We used a phenomenological research design to collect data, and we conducted semi-structured interviews with 14 parents of children with special needs. We reached the participants through snowball sampling. We collected the data using a 11-item Parent Interview Form developed based on the literature and expert opinion. We analyzed the data through thematic analysis. Results Data analysis revealed five themes: (a) preservice process; (b) employment process; (c) experiences and views related to roles and responsibilities during school time; (d) experiences and views related to roles and responsibilities outside of school time; and (e) expectations, needs, and recommendations. Conclusions The findings emphasize the importance of legal regulations, clear guidelines, and standardized qualifications for employing paraeducators in schools. We found that families managed the pre-service process on their own without any support. In the service processes, paraeducators were found to take on complex and non-standard roles. Among the issues reported by families as needs were the implementation of paraeducator supports within an official structure and training programs to enhance paraeducator qualifications. Additionally, families reported financial support needs in paraeducator employment. Based on the research findings, we can propose the establishment of vocational training institutions for paraeducator training and the planning of paraeducator employment in schools by official institutions within a specific protocol framework.

Deniable ring signature scheme based on the ISRSAC digital signature algorithm.

This article introduces a deniable ring signature scheme within the framework of a ring signature protocol, which allows a member of the ring to assert or deny their role as the signature's originator without the involvement of a trusted third party. Deniable ring signatures find applications in various scenarios where balancing privacy protection with supervised oversight is crucial. In this work, we present a novel deniable ring signature scheme based on the ISRSAC digital signature, tailored for environments with regulatory requirements, empowering regulators to hold malicious signers accountable. We formally validate the scheme's correctness, unforgeability, anonymity, traceability, and non-frameability through rigorous proofs. Additionally, we conduct a comparative analysis of the communication and computational overheads associated with our proposed scheme, demonstrating its superiority in practical scenarios such as electronic auctions and anonymous reporting mechanisms.

A Framework of High-Speed Network Protocol Fuzzing Based on Shared Memory

A Framework of High-Speed Network Protocol Fuzzing Based on Shared Memory

A Dynamic Adaptive Framework for Practical Byzantine Fault Tolerance Consensus Protocol in the Internet of Things

A Dynamic Adaptive Framework for Practical Byzantine Fault Tolerance Consensus Protocol in the Internet of Things

Mechanisms for Confronting Illegal Immigration within the Framework of Protocol against the Smuggling of Migrants

Mechanisms for Confronting Illegal Immigration within the Framework of Protocol against the Smuggling of Migrants

BFTDiagnosis: An automated security testing framework with malicious behavior injection for BFT protocols

In peer-to-peer computing networks, Byzantine Fault Tolerance (BFT) protocols are a popular solution to ensure the consistency security in the presence of some malicious nodes, thus are widely employed in blockchain systems. However, BFT protocols still face various security threats in practice. Currently, testing the security of BFT protocols often requires manual operations. I.e., it lacks comprehensive automation testing techniques. This makes it difficult to cover various scenarios of malicious node behaviors. Therefore, it is an urgent requirement to design an automated testing framework that can comprehensively and efficiently evaluate the security of BFT protocols.This paper proposes BFTDiagnosis, an automated security testing framework with malicious behavior injection for BFT protocols. The framework can automatically configure and initiate protocol testing tasks, and construct consensus nodes to execute different BFT protocols. During testing, consensus nodes can inject malicious behaviors based on pattern matching strategies and malicious behavior triggering mechanisms to simulate various malicious scenarios. Through an Analyzer, BFTDiagnosis can collect protocol runtime data from consensus nodes and calculate four security quantification indicators to evaluate protocol performance.We conducted a load consumption evaluation of BFTDiagnosis. The results indicate its acceptable performance. Additionally, we tested PBFT, Basic-HotStuff, and Chained-HotStuff protocols using the BFTDiagnosis framework, validating the effectiveness of the framework and the rationality of security quantification indicators. Finally, we compared it with nine related technologies and found that BFTDiagnosis is good at testing scenario comprehensiveness and fault localization capability, and can intuitively evaluate the security of BFT protocols through four quantification indicators. The above results show that BFTDiagnosis is an effective and comprehensive security testing framework for BFT protocols.

Toward diffusion tensor imaging as a biomarker in neurodegenerative diseases: technical considerations to optimize recordings and data processing.

Neuroimaging biomarkers have shown high potential to map the disease processes in the application to neurodegenerative diseases (NDD), e.g., diffusion tensor imaging (DTI). For DTI, the implementation of a standardized scanning and analysis cascade in clinical trials has potential to be further optimized. Over the last few years, various approaches to improve DTI applications to NDD have been developed. The core issue of this review was to address considerations and limitations of DTI in NDD: we discuss suggestions for improvements of DTI applications to NDD. Based on this technical approach, a set of recommendations was proposed for a standardized DTI scan protocol and an analysis cascade of DTI data pre-and postprocessing and statistical analysis. In summary, considering advantages and limitations of the DTI in NDD we suggest improvements for a standardized framework for a DTI-based protocol to be applied to future imaging studies in NDD, towards the goal to proceed to establish DTI as a biomarker in clinical trials in neurodegeneration.

Comparative study of the effectiveness of EMDR G-TEP and CBT group protocols for the treatment of trauma in children exposed to a conflict context

Introduction357 million children live in conflict zones. Children’s mental health is a major but complex issue as needs and interventions depend on the age of the child, caregivers, daily safety and protection, etc. EMDR and CBT are the recommended therapies to treat PTSD according to the WHO, but there is not enough standardized evidence-based protocol for children. Testing and evaluating trauma management systems for children is essential for trauma treatment interventions to be implemented in emergency contexts, such as war and conflict situations.Objectives This research compares two intervention protocols for children aged 6 to 17 years suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder after exposure to conflict traumatic events in the Central African Republic: the protocol “Kôno” developed by Action contre la Faim, based on a CBT and narrative approaches and the EMDR/G-TEP (Group Traumatic Events Protocol). After a psychoeducation session, the children were assigned to the ACF-KONO or EMDR/G-TEP groups for 5 sessions. The Child Psychosocial Distress Screener (CPDS) to measure general well-being and functioning and the Child Revised Impact of Events Scale (CRIES) to assess trauma, were administered before and after treatment.Methods 793 children participated in the research, 391 were included in the ACF-KONO protocol and 402 in the EMDR/G-TEP protocol. Both protocols have been shown to be equally effective in improving well-being and reducing traumatic symptoms. 185 children (90 ACF-KONO and 95 EMDR/G-TEP) were also re-evaluated after 5 months. The CPDS and CRIES-8 measurements reveal that the results are stable over time, with the use of both protocols. Detailed results will be presented.Results This research contributes to the discussion on a framework for group protocols for children in mental health and psychosocial support interventions in humanitarian programs. The two protocols tested showed very good results in reducing symptoms of PTSD in children. How to choose between EMDR/G-TEP and CBT? What contextual and cultural adaptations are to be expected? Are there differences in children’s appreciation? And in that of mental health practitioners? Ideas for reflection will be shared.ConclusionsIt is possible to widen access to therapeutic treatment of PTSD for children in emergency situations such as war and conflict. Further research in other contexts is needed. These studies should explore qualitative elements, such as children’s appreciations, but also the impact of these different protocols on the vicarious trauma of professionals involved in the treatment of children’s trauma.Disclosure of InterestNone Declared

A collaborative network trial to evaluate the effectiveness of implementation strategies to maximize adoption of a school-based healthy lunchbox program: a study protocol.

An important impediment to the large-scale adoption of evidence-based school nutrition interventions is the lack of evidence on effective strategies to implement them. This paper describes the protocol for a "Collaborative Network Trial" to support the simultaneous testing of different strategies undertaken by New South Wales Local Health Districts to facilitate the adoption of an effective school-based healthy lunchbox program ('SWAP IT'). The primary objective of this study is to assess the effectiveness of different implementation strategies to increase school adoption of the SWAP across New South Wales Local Health Districts. Within a Master Protocol framework, a collaborative network trial will be undertaken. Independent randomized controlled trials to test implementation strategies to increase school adoption of SWAP IT within primary schools in 10 different New South Wales Local Health Districts will occur. Schools will be randomly allocated to either the intervention or control condition. Schools allocated to the intervention group will receive a combination of implementation strategies. Across the 10 participating Local Health Districts, six broad strategies were developed and combinations of these strategies will be executed over a 6 month period. In six districts an active comparison group (containing one or more implementation strategies) was selected. The primary outcome of the trial will be adoption of SWAP IT, assessed via electronic registration records captured automatically following online school registration to the program. The primary outcome will be assessed using logistic regression analyses for each trial. Individual participant data component network meta-analysis, under a Bayesian framework, will be used to explore strategy-covariate interactions; to model additive main effects (separate effects for each component of an implementation strategy); two way interactions (synergistic/antagonistic effects of components), and full interactions. The study will provide rigorous evidence of the effects of a variety of implementation strategies, employed in different contexts, on the adoption of a school-based healthy lunchbox program at scale. Importantly, it will also provide evidence as to whether health service-centered, collaborative research models can rapidly generate new knowledge and yield health service improvements. This trial is registered prospectively with the Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry (ACTRN12623000558628).

Animal welfare on Argentinean dairy farms based on the Welfare Quality® protocol framework

Animal welfare is a multidimensional concept that comprises animal health, mental state and natural living conditions and plays an essential role in dairy production. On dairy farms, animal welfare can be assessed with different available protocols. The goal of this study was to describe the animal welfare strengths and hazards of dairy farms in Argentina using the Welfare Quality® protocol as a framework. We conducted a literature search using the Scopus database to find articles related to the measures included in the protocol for Argentinean farms. Furthermore, we included data from national statistics. The data available were grouped according to the four principles of the protocol: good feeding, good housing, good health, and appropriate behavior. The results suggest that cows are well nourished; however, water provision is limited because grazing cows need to walk long distances, between 244 m and 460 m, to access a water point. Heat stress is a notable constraint affecting the welfare of cows, as the temperature-humidity index is greater than 72 for at least 100 days during the year. The prevalence of lameness and downer cows was estimated to be 2.2% and 0.7%, respectively, which are below the thresholds for ensuring good welfare. The annual average somatic cell count was 385,000/ml, close to the cutoff recommended for good health. The mortality rate of the cows was higher than recommended. The main strength of Argentinean dairy farms in relation to animal welfare is access to pasture throughout the year for 90% of the farms.

ADVANCES IN NETWORK SECURITY FOR A RESILIENT DIGITAL CYBERSPACE INFRASTRUCTURE

In network security, safeguarding digital cyberspace infrastructure against malicious intrusions remains a paramount concern. This study addresses this imperative by proposing a novel approach that integrates digital watermarking, Huffman coding, and sophisticated attack classification techniques within the Controller Area Network (CAN) protocol framework. The proliferation of interconnected systems and the increasing sophistication of cyber threats necessitate novel strategies to fortify network defenses and ensure resilience in the face of adversarial activities. The research problem revolves around the need to develop an effective method for detecting and categorizing reconnaissance and violent attacks within cyberspace networks, particularly those utilizing the CAN protocol. Despite advancements in security protocols and intrusion detection systems, existing methodologies often fall short in accurately distinguishing between benign and malicious network activities, leaving critical infrastructure vulnerable to exploitation. This research uses digital watermarking to embed metadata within network packets, Huffman coding for efficient data compression, and advanced attack classification algorithms for real-time threat identification. The experimental results demonstrate the efficacy of the proposed approach in accurately differentiating between reconnaissance probes and violent attacks, thereby enabling timely and targeted responses to mitigate security threats.