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Motivation: A recurrent criticism is that certain bioinformatics tools do not account for crucial biology and therefore fail answering the targeted biological question. We posit that the single most important reason for such shortcomings is an inaccurate formulation of the computational problem. Results: Our paper describes how to define a bioinformatics problem so that it captures both the underlying biology and the computational constraints for a particular problem. The proposed model delineates comprehensively the biological problem and conducts an item-by-item bioinformatics transformation resulting in a germane computational problem. This methodology not only facilitates interdisciplinary information flow but also accommodates emerging knowledge and technologies.

Loss of trunk functions following stroke ranks among the major causes of balance impairment and falls. This pilot study was aimed at developing and testing a tool to objectively assess trunk balance in post-stroke individuals.. A total of 20 participants comprising 10 stroke patients from the Murtala Mohammed Specialist Hospital Kano and 10 apparently healthy individuals were recruited into the experimental and control group, respectively. A quasi-experimental study design was used to develop a tool for objective assessment of post-stroke balance. The tool developed by the researchers was applied to assess the differences in lateral flexion of the affected and non-affected side in stroke patients (experimental group), as compared to the control group. The data obtained was summarized and analyzed using the descriptive statistics of frequency, percentage, mean and standard deviation. Moreover inferential statistics of t-test were applied for comparisons of lateral flexions between the affected and unaffected side of stroke patients and between the control and experimental group. The mean ages were 45.70±10.97 and 52.60±8.55 for the experimental and control group, respectively. The study results revealed a statistically significant difference in trunk left side flexion between the control group and the affected side in the experimental group. Furthermore, the findings showed a significant difference in trunk right side flexion between the affected and non-affected side in the experimental group???????? (P<0.005). Considering the above,, the tool developed can be used to objectively discriminate between paretic and non-paretic lateral flexions in stroke patients and to determine balance impairment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent developments around the use of additive manufacturing (AM) for making components and end-products is radically changing the way manufacturing activities are organized. Many researchers are now turning their attention to AM technology and its potential benefits for boosting economic, social, and environmental sustainability. However, there is still much uncertainty on the full impact from a life cycle perspective. Previous work has reviewed the implications of AM from a sustainability and life cycle point of view, but it is unclear whether the technology can fully realize the potential benefits identified, and whether it will lead to unintended consequences such as increased material consumption, thereby further straining the planet's carrying capacity and pushing society towards unsustainable, more materialistic values. This research builds on previous work to customize a tool, the Sustainable Value Roadmapping Tool (SVRT), which combines the strategic roadmapping technique with the sustainable value analysis tool. Roadmapping is a well-established approach for businesses to strategically plan activities for the short-, medium- and long-term; combined with the value analysis tools, it can identify opportunities for sustainable value creation for all stakeholders, including society and the planet. While SVRT has been developed and tested in a more generic context (i.e. not technology-specific), it also has good promises to help companies to explore the potential benefits and challenges of AM adoption across products’ life cycle and the associated business model implications. This paper will present the prototype version of SVRT for AM. The findings consolidate and expand the opportunities and challenges already identified in the literature. Further work will conduct case studies to use the SVRT with companies adopting AM technology and better understand the sustainability impacts from a business perspective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gears in the modulus range between m n = 1 mm and m n = 4 mm are widely used in automotive gear boxes. To enable maximum productivity in gear hobbing cutting tools made of cemented tungsten carbide are used. Despite its ability the full potential of the substrate material is not applied in industry because of unknown process limits and wear mechanisms. To examine the mechanisms and to close down the lack of knowledge three different cases of gearings were thoroughly examined. The wear phenomena and tool life behaviour were inspected within the fly-tooth analogy test at different frame conditions, reaching cutting speeds up to 1000 m/min. To determine causal relations the process was also analysed by the means of interpenetration- and FEM-simulations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Three aims were addressed: (a) Evaluate properties of the items comprising the Life Changes in Epilepsy Scale-Pilot (LCES-P), (b) use item analysis to optimize the scale, (c) evaluate construct and criterion-related validity of the optimized LCES. Methods: The LCES-P was administered to 174 adults with epilepsy. Item analysis and exploratory factor analysis were performed. Internal consistency reliability, construct validity, and criterion-related validity were evaluated. Results: 17 items were retained in the optimized LCES. Internal consistency reliability was supported. Path analysis was used to evaluate construct validity. Criterion-related validity was supported by correlations with the Medical Outcomes SF-36 Survey (SF-36) General Health subscale and a criterion variable. Conclusions: The optimized version of the LCES can serve as a valuable outcome measure in clinical and research environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The aim of this study is to develop an assessment tool for in-hand manipulation skills (IHMS) and establish its psychometric properties. Design: Items are pooled based on literature and expert opinion. Content validation was performed by ten rehabilitation professionals. The test was administered to 123 typically developing, and 15 children with hand dysfunction-cerebral palsy (3), developmental coordination disorder (5), and Down syndrome (7). The latter group was given intervention, specific to upper extremity for 15 days, and test was readministered. Rasch analysis for rating scale structure, fit statistics, and dimension analysis was done. Results: Content validation was analyzed qualitatively. Suggestions were incorporated which consisted of instructions for scoring and test administration. The four-level ordinal rating scale was appropriate according to Rasch analysis. Of fifty items, three misfit items from translation subscale were removed based on fit statistics and clinical decision. The final test has 47 items. The tool had excellent inter-tester reliability and test stability and was responsive to change. Conclusion: Assessment of in-hand manipulation is a robust tool for clinical use in assessment IHMS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: A major focus in nursing education is on the judgement of clinical performance, and it is a complex process due to the diverse nature of nursing practice. A holistic approach in assessment of competency is advocated. Difficulties in the development of valid and reliable assessment measures in nursing competency have resulted in the development of assessment instruments with an increase in face and content validity, but few studies have tested these instruments psychometrically. It is essential to develop a holistic assessment tool to meet the needs of the clinical education. The study aims to develop a Holistic Clinical Assessment Tool (HCAT) and test its psychometric properties. Methods: The HCAT was developed based on the systematic literature review and the findings of qualitative studies. An expert panel was invited to evaluate the content validity of the tool. A total of 130 final-year nursing undergraduate students were recruited to evaluate the psychometric properties (i.e. factor structure, internal consistency and test-retest reliability) of the tool. Results: The HCAT has good content validity with content validity index of .979. The exploratory factor analysis reveals a four-factor structure of the tool. The internal consistency and test-retest reliability of the HCAT are satisfactory with Cronbach alpha ranging from .789 to .965 and Intraclass Correlation Coefficient ranging from .881 to .979 for the four subscales and total scale. Conclusions: HCAT has the potential to be used as a valid measure to evaluate clinical competence in nursing students, and provide specific and ongoing feedback to enhance the holistic clinical learning experience. In addition, HCAT functions as a tool for self-reflection, peer-assessment and guides preceptors in clinical teaching and assessment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cutting technologies are the engines behind manufacturing. Without cutting, none of our modern products would ever been put into service. Developing new materials directly needs research for process windows in cutting. Huge engineering efforts brought cutting in the position where it is today and despite all rumors trying to declare, that cutting is outdated or cutting research is finished it is still a vital field of research and prone to rapid innovations. Recent material developments challenge cutting technology. Recent material developments of cutting material as well as understanding of the cutting process enable to cope with the challenges imposed from difficult to cut materials. Research results and recent developments in machine tools show how to combine the multiple requirements from ecology, economy and quality. Machine tool, tool and process are the ingredients of success in cutting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To develop a psychometrically sound tool for measuring the knowledge of nursing and care staff about the experience, assessment and management of pain in older people (including people with dementia) for use in the residential aged care setting.Methods: The Pain in Older Adults Knowledge Survey (POAKS) was developed and tested in two phases. Phase 1 involved developing an initial item pool with good content validity based on a review of the research literature and a modified Delphi technique involving national and international experts. A pool of 24 items was developed for testing. Initial testing of the psychometric properties of the POAKS with 30 university employees led to refinement and final wording of items. Phase 2 involved testing of the psychometric properties of the POAKS with 279 respondents, including first year (n = 176) and third year (n = 70) nursing students and staff in a residential aged care service (n = 33).Results: Results established the content validity and internal consistency of the POAKS and supported its use as an instrument to measure nursing staff knowledge about the experience, assessment and management of pain in older people.Conclusions: The POAKS will enable residential aged care facilities to measure the level of knowledge among nursing and care staff about pain in older people (including people with dementia). The measure provides a basis for the development and implementation of educational interventions to address knowledge gaps that may impact on the quality of care provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Every 40 seconds a person dies of cardiovascular disease. Individuals do not recognize the warning signs--prodromal symptoms--of an imminent myocardial ischemic event. The Prodromal Symptoms-Screening Scale (PS-SS) is a nine-item measure designed to evaluate PS in individuals with coronary artery disease. Aim: This article reports on four studies (systematic review, focus group study, content validity testing and factor analysis) that contributed to the development and psychometric examination of the PS-SS. Results: PS experienced included: unusual fatigue, sleep disturbance, chest pain, anxiety, gastro-intestinal symptoms and shortness of breath. The CVI derived was 0.85. The PS-SS presented a two-factor structure pertaining to Specific Prodromal Symptoms and Non-Specific Prodromal Symptoms. Internal consistency reliability was 0.61. Conclusions: The PS-SS reflects current prodromal literature, clinical practice and ACS patients' experiences of PS. Further item generation, clarity of symptom description and psychometric evaluation needs to occur prior to use in clinical practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Health care systems are increasingly burdened by the large numbers of safety measures currently being reported. Within the Veterans Administration (VA), most safety reporting occurs within organizational silos, with little involvement by the frontline users of these measures. To provide a more integrated picture of patient safety, the study team partnered with multiple VA stakeholders and engaged potential frontline users at 2 hospitals to develop a Guiding Patient Safety (GPS) tool. The GPS is currently in its fourth generation; once approval is obtained from senior leadership, implementation will begin. Stakeholders were enthusiastic about the GPS's user-friendly format, comprehensive content, and potential utility for improving safety. These findings suggest that stakeholder engagement is a critical first step in the development of tools that will more likely be used by frontline users. Policy makers and researchers may consider adopting this innovative partnered-research model in developing future national initiatives to deliver meaningful programs to frontline users. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: To address challenges related to selecting a valid, reliable, and appropriate readiness assessment measure in practice, we developed an online decision support tool to aid frontline implementers in healthcare settings in this process. The focus of this paper is to describe a multi-step, end-user driven approach to developing this tool for use during the planning stages of implementation.Methods: A multi-phase, end-user driven approach was used to develop and test the usability of a readiness decision support tool. First, readiness assessment measures that are valid, reliable, and appropriate for healthcare settings were identified from a systematic review. Second, a mapping exercise was performed to categorize individual items of included measures according to key readiness constructs from an existing framework. Third, a modified Delphi process was used to collect stakeholder ratings of the included measures on domains of feasibility, relevance, and likelihood to recommend. Fourth, two versions of a decision support tool prototype were developed and evaluated for usability.Results: Nine valid and reliable readiness assessment measures were included in the decision support tool. The mapping exercise revealed that of the nine measures, most measures (78 %) focused on assessing readiness for change at the organizational versus the individual level, and that four measures (44 %) represented all constructs of organizational readiness. During the modified Delphi process, stakeholders rated most measures as feasible and relevant for use in practice, and reported that they would be likely to recommend use of most measures. Using data from the mapping exercise and stakeholder panel, an algorithm was developed to link users to a measure based on characteristics of their organizational setting and their readiness for change assessment priorities. Usability testing yielded recommendations that were used to refine the Ready, Set, Change! decision support tool .Conclusions: Ready, Set, Change! decision support tool is an implementation support that is designed to facilitate the routine incorporation of a readiness assessment as an early step in implementation. Use of this tool in practice may offer time and resource-saving implications for implementation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The method of pulsed-jet assisted rock-breaking using cuttings, which combines the advantages of a pulsed jet and an abrasive jet simultaneously, is an emerging drilling technology and can further improve the rate of penetration. Several key techniques of this method are discussed in this paper, including the structure and principle of the modulating tool, the modulation mechanism and the optimization method of the cuttings pulsed jet. An engineering prototype is developed based on the above research works and site conditions. Laboratory tests and field tests of the prototype are successively performed. The application effect is compared with actual drilling data of adjacent wells in the same formation and interval. The results are a good reference for the subsequent drilling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AIM This study evaluated the psychometric properties of the modified Simulation Effectiveness Tool (SET), the SET-M. BACKGROUND The SET, developed in 2005, was updated to be consistent with INACSL Standards of Best Practice, QSEN practices, and American Association of Colleges of Nursing baccalaureate essentials. METHOD Undergraduate nursing students from two nursing programs, one with multiple campuses, completed the SET-M following completion of a simulated clinical experience; 1,288 students took part in the study. results Exploratory factor analysis was completed using unweighted least squares. Four subscales were identified with acceptable internal consistency: Prebriefing (α = .833), Learning (α = .852), Confidence (α = .913), and Debriefing (α = .908). CONCLUSION Revisions made to modify the SET to current standards of simulation practice have resulted in the SET-M, which has been shown to be a valid and reliable method of evaluating students' perceptions of the effectiveness of learning in the simulation environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Describe the methodology used to construct tools for standardized data collection of head and neck cancer patients (HNCP).Methods: We constructed the Oral Health Evaluation Tool (OHET) and Panoramic Radiograph Evaluation Tool (PRET) for systematic collection of long-term oral clinical/radiographical complications, prevalence, and severity. Tools were pilot-tested in 50 chemoradiation-treated HNCP >6 months post-therapy.Results: Tools allowed for collection of extensive clinical and radiographical data. A medium of 1.9 years had elapsed since chemoradiation completion. Patients had a median of 6 missing teeth, 32.7% had no decay and a medium of 30% had filled surfaces; 42.9% had moderate-to-severe decay. Reduced/thickened saliva was noted in 85.4% and dry mucosa in 93.9%. Gingival bleeding was present in 75.5% HNCP and attachment loss in 86%. Four patients had trismus.Conclusions: Tools were user friendly and provided comprehensive, reproducible, and inexpensive means to evaluate post-therapy oral health of HNCP. Validation testing is ongoing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Protein ubiquitination is one of the most important reversible post-translational modifications (PTMs). In many biochemical, pathological and pharmaceutical studies on understanding the function of proteins in biological processes, identification of ubiquitination sites is an important first step. However, experimental approaches for identifying ubiquitination sites are often expensive, labor-intensive and time-consuming, partly due to the dynamics and reversibility of ubiquitination. In silico prediction of ubiquitination sites is potentially a useful strategy for whole proteome annotation. A number of bioinformatics approaches and tools have recently been developed for predicting protein ubiquitination sites. However, these tools have different methodologies, prediction algorithms, functionality and features, which complicate their utility and application. The purpose of this review is to aid users in selecting appropriate tools for specific analyses and circumstances.We first compared five popular webservers and standalone software options, assessing their performance on four up-to-date ubiquitination benchmark datasets from Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Homo sapiens, Mus musculus and Arabidopsis thaliana. We then discussed and summarized these tools to guide users in choosing among the tools efficiently and rapidly. Finally, we assessed the importance of features of existing tools for ubiquitination site prediction, ranking them by performance.We also discussed the features that make noticeable contributions to species-specific ubiquitination site prediction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Medicines can affect a patient's health-related quality of life (HRQoL), but there exists no standardized HRQoL measure for medication management. Objectives To develop the new HRQoL instrument “Patient-reported Outcomes Measure of Pharmaceutical Therapy for Quality of Life” (PROMPT-QoL), and to evaluate its content validity and preliminary psychometrics using a Rasch model. Methods The PROMPT-QoL questionnaire was developed through the concept review, item generation, cognitive interviews, and initial psychometric evaluation. Its first draft was initially tested by Round-1 interviews of 120 adult outpatients taking their medicines at least three months continuously. The final draft with 43 items was then constructed and checked by 10 physicians and 5 pharmacists for the questionnaire importance and content validity. Round-2 interviews in six patient groups with 10 patients of each were conducted to elicit patients' understanding of the questionnaire and assess preliminary psychometrics using the Rasch analysis, including fit statistics, person and item reliabilities. Results The 43-item PROMPT-QoL comprised 10 domains: General Attitude toward Medication Use, Medicine Information, Disease Information, Medicine Effectiveness, Impacts of Medicines and Side-effects, Psychological Impacts of Medication Use, Convenience, Availability and Accessibility, Therapeutic Relationship with Healthcare Providers, and Overall QoL. Based on the patient interviews and expert review, the questionnaire was considered important, useful, and comprehensive. All items and domains yielded content validity indexes above the acceptable values of 0.80 and 0.90, respectively. In Round 2, thirty-nine problems identified in Group 1 were reduced to two issues in Group 6 after amendments. The Rasch analysis revealed eight items were misfit and two domains were reliable for both personal and item aspects ( Medicine Information and Psychological Impacts of Medication Use ). Conclusion The newly developed PROMPT-QoL has favorable content validity and appropriate preliminary results. Further studies in large patient groups are required to test its complete psychometric properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper attempts to make two contributions to discussions related to TEI: (1) an analysis of how tools used for working with TEI documents encourage certain values and make certain assumptions about the work of textual editing and (2) a report on a methodological framework from outside the humanities that suggests a unique way to study such systems. Borrowing models of design research from the fields of design and human-computer interaction, I argue that prototypes can be used to create new conceptual knowledge, to investigate the values and assumptions of sociotechnical systems, and to communicate alternative visions of those systems. I first analyze an existing tool, the Versioning Machine, as a way of focusing the design of a prototype that reimagines several aspects of that original—specifically, I argue that the Versioning Machine creates an environment that to some extent assumes that TEI documents are created by one editor and intended for one instantiation. The prototype presented experiments with an alternative vision of textual editing as bringing encoded texts and interpretations together in multiple and flexible instantiations. Rather than a technical problem with an optimal solution, I approach this design process as an opportunity to ask how prototypes can give designers access to conceptual issues and allow users to enact alternative values and imagine alternative futures. This research was supported by the Modernist Versions Project, which is funded by a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada Partnership Development Grant.

Introduction: Transferring research evidence into midwifery practice is fraught with challenges and obstacles. Implementation tools can streamline the process and are most effective when they are discipline-specific; however, there are currently no midwifery specific implementation tools. The aim of this study was to develop a midwifery specific tool to identify barriers and enablers to evidence-informed practice change within the clinical setting., Methods: Participatory action research methodology was employed to ensure potential end-users contributed to content and format of the tool. Purposeful sampling ensured participants were selected from a range of midwifery practice settings in Western Australia and the United Kingdom. Data were collected through stakeholder advisory groups (SAGs) and online surveys., Results: Ten midwives participated in this project. Consultation occurred through face-to-face SAG meetings and online surveys until consensus was reached among participants about the content, format, and functionality of the end product which we called the 'Midwifery Tool for Change' (MT4C)., Conclusions: To our knowledge, the MT4C is the first readiness for change context assessment tool specific to midwifery practice settings. Evaluation of the MT4C in real-world practice change implementation initiatives will enable further refinement of the tool., Competing Interests: The authors have completed and submitted the ICMJE Form for Disclosure of Potential Conflicts of Interest and none was reported., (© 2023 Davis S. D. et al.)

Background: Addressing barriers in the environment can contribute to health and quality of life for children with disabilities and their families. The Community Health Inclusion Index (CHII) is a measurement tool developed in the United States to identify environmental barriers and facilitators to community health inclusion. The CHII adopts an adult viewpoint and aspects crucial for children may have been omitted., Aims: This study aimed to develop a comprehensive list of items that are relevant for the community inclusion of children with disabilities in the Canadian context., Methods: The relevance and priority of items generated from a review of existing guidelines and best practice recommendations for community inclusion were rated as a dichotomous response and discussed by an expert panel in relevant fields related to children with disabilities., Results: A total of 189 items from 12 instruments and best practice guidelines were identified. Expert consensus contributed to a relevant and comprehensive list of items. Expert suggestions were considered to refine and reduce the item list., Conclusion: This study highlights the importance of a child version of a community inclusion tool, as the needs of children with disabilities differ from those of adults. It can help communities improve inclusion of children with disabilities and inform health promotion initiatives for this population., (© 2022 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.)

EU-OPENSCREEN is an academic research infrastructure initiative in Europe for enabling researchers in all life sciences to take advantage of chemical biology approaches to their projects. In a collaborative effort of national networks in 16 European countries, EU-OPENSCREEN will develop novel chemical compounds with external users to address questions in, among other fields, systems and network biology (directed and selective perturbation of signalling pathways), structural biology (compound-target interactions at atomic resolution), pharmacology (early drug discovery and toxicology) and plant biology (response of wild or crop plants to environmental and agricultural substances). EU-OPENSCREEN supports all stages of a tool development project, including assay adaptation, high-throughput screening and chemical optimisation of the 'hit' compounds. All tool compounds and data will be made available to the scientific community. EU-OPENSCREEN integrates high-capacity screening platforms throughout Europe, which share a rationally selected compound collection comprising up to 300,000 (commercial and proprietary compounds collected from European chemists). By testing systematically this chemical collection in hundreds of assays originating from very different biological themes, the screening process generates enormous amounts of information about the biological activities of the substances and thereby steadily enriches our understanding of how and where they act. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim To develop and psychometrically evaluate the Family and Staff Relationship Attitude Tool ( FASRAT) for use in Australian residential aged care facilities to assess the attitudinal beliefs of residential aged care staff towards staff-family relationships. Methods Development and testing of the psychometric properties of the 26-item FASRAT occurred in three phases which included item development based on a systematic review of the research literature, interviews with aged care staff and families, expert panel review and testing with aged care staff. Results Content validity and internal consistency of the FASRAT support its use as an instrument to measure staff attitudinal beliefs about staff-family relationships in the residential aged care setting. Conclusion The FASRAT will enable residential aged care facilities to measure the attitudinal beliefs of its staff about staff-family relationships and provide a basis for the development and implementation of interventions to address identified gaps which impact on relationship quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Polypharmacy is increasing, seemingly inexorably, and inevitably the associated difficulties for individual patients of coping with multiple medicines rise with it. Using medicines is one aspect of the burden associated with living with a chronic condition. It is becoming increasingly important to measure this burden particularly that relating to multiple long-term medicines. Pharmacists and other health professionals provide a myriad of services designed to optimise medicines use, ostensibly aiming to help and support patients, but in reality many such services focus on the medicines, and seek to improve adherence rather than reducing the burden for the patient. We believe that the patient perspective and experience of medicines use is fundamental to medicines optimisation and have developed an instrument which begins to quantify these experiences. The instrument, the Living with Medicines Questionnaire, was generated using qualitative findings with patients, to reflect their perspective. Further development is ongoing, involving researchers in multiple countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Sexuality is a key component of quality of life and well-being and a need to express one's sexuality continues into old age. Staff and families in residential aged care facilities often find expressions of sexuality by residents particularly those living with dementia, challenging and facilities often struggle to address individuals' needs in this area. This paper describes the development of an assessment tool which enables residential aged care facilities to identify how supportive their organisation is of all residents' expression of their sexuality, and thereby improve where required. Methods Multi-phase design using qualitative methods and a Delphi technique. Tool items were derived from the literature and verified by qualitative interviews with aged care facility staff, residents and families. The final item pool was confirmed via a reactive Delphi process. Results A final item pool of sixty-nine items grouped into seven key areas allows facilities to score their compliance with the areas identified as being supportive of older people's expression of their sexuality in a residential aged care environment. Conclusions The sexuality assessment tool (SexAT) guides practice to support the normalization of sexuality in aged care homes and assists facilities to identify where enhancements to the environment, policies, procedures and practices, information and education/training are required. The tool also enables facilities to monitor initiatives in these areas over time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Surgical adverse events constitute a considerable problem. More than half of in-hospital adverse events are related to a surgical procedure. Medication related events are frequent and partly preventable. Due to the complexity and multidisciplinary nature of the surgical process, patients are at risk for drug related problems. Consistent drug management throughout the process is needed. Objective The aim of this study was to develop an evidence-based bedside tool for drug management decisions during the pre- and postoperative phase of the surgical pathway. Setting Tool development study performed in an academic medical centre in the Netherlands involving an expert panel consisting of a surgeon, a clinical pharmacist and a pharmacologist, all experienced in quality improvement. Method Relevant medication related problems and critical pharmacotherapeutic decision steps in the surgical process were identified and prioritised by a team of experts. The final selection comprised undesirable effects or unintended outcomes related to surgery (e.g. pain, infection) and comorbidity related hazards (e.g. diabetes, cardiovascular diseases). To guide patient management, a list of bedside surgical drug rules was developed using international evidence-based guidelines. Main outcome measure 55 bedside drug rules on 6 drug categories, specifically important for surgical practice, were developed: pain, respiration, infection, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and anticoagulation. Results A total of 29 evidence-based guidelines were used to develop the Bedside Surgical Drug Rules tool. This tool consist of practical tables covering management regarding (1) the most commonly used drug categories during surgery, (2) comorbidities that require dosing adjustments and, (3) contra-indicated drugs in the perioperative period. Conclusion An evidence-based approach provides a practical basis for the development of a bedside tool to alert and assist the care providers in their drug management decisions along the surgical pathway. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The surface integrity of ground workpieces is not only influenced by the chosen parameters, but also by the coolant supply. Coolant supply in grinding is mainly governed by the nozzles used and their parameters. However, the cooling efficiency in grinding can also be enhanced by altering the macro-topography of the grinding wheel itself. In this paper three different grinding wheels using the same nozzle parameters are compared with respect to their cooling efficiency and hence their impact on the surface integrity of the ground workpieces. Besides a standard grinding wheel with continuous layer, a slotted grinding wheel as well as a segmented grinding wheel are presented and their respective cooling efficiency is evaluated. It is shown that by altering the macro-topography of a grinding wheel the resulting surface integrity can be influenced positively as well as negatively. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Introduction: Little is known about the profile of osteopathic care in the United Kingdom (UK). To address this, a standardised data collection (SDC) tool was developed to record patient-based data within private practice. Methods: The development of the SDC tool took place within a national network of research groups (hubs) created by the National Council for Osteopathic Research (NCOR); nominal groups were created from the hub network. A Nominal Group Technique (NGT) was used to promote maximum involvement by clinicians and increase ownership of the process: this approach encouraged generation of ideas around specific topics. Following several rounds of iteration, a draft tool was created, followed by a three stage testing process to identify omissions, unnecessary jargon, ambiguities, and any regional differences. Results: The tool developed for a national use by UK osteopaths consisted of 65 items. These were divided into specific sections for patient or clinician completion. The section for patient completion collected data concerning demographic and symptom data. Clinicians provided data concerning treatment provided, advice to promote self-management and avoidance of symptom recurrence, outcome information, service data concerned with waiting times, the number of treatments delivered, and the necessity for referral. Conclusion: The tool development process produced a data collection tool aimed to collect snapshot data across the osteopathic profession. The national pilot of the tool will identify changes required, and any barriers to its use by busy professionals. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Background Multidisciplinary inputs are of vital importance in the comprehensive care management and rehabilitation of individuals with long-term neurological conditions. Although many ordinal measures of disability correlate with patient dependency and care, few are based on numbers of different health professionals required, or their skill-mix, for assistance associated with levels of dependency. Aim and objectives To develop an instrument to assess dependency in adult patients suffering from severe and complex neurological disability for use by multidisciplinary teams. Objectives were to establish content validity, construct validity, inter-rater reliability and internal consistency, and to demonstrate preliminary clinical utility from the perspective of professional staff. Design and methods A mixed methods design utilised qualitative and quantitative approaches. Stage I involved developmental fieldwork using focus groups (n = 3), questionnaires (n = 70), expert panel (n = 20) and direct observation (n = 12). In stage 2, intensive refinement through direct observation, construct validity and reliability testing (n = 100) of the instrument was completed. The research complied with the research governance and ethical standards set by the Department of Health ( UK). Results In the final format, an instrument was developed which comprised two sections. Section 1: an ordinal scaled basic care section, with 15 categories of dependency and level of descriptors based on numbers, grade and time taken by staff providing assistance. Factor analysis identified one dominant and four subsidiary factors which explained 67% of the total variance. Overall inter-rater agreement was 0.87 (kappa coefficient: range 0.67-1.0), and Cronbach's coefficient alpha was 0.733. Section 2: comprised a nominally measured specialist care section for inputs from nurses and therapists. The mean time taken to complete assessments was 12 minutes. Conclusion The instrument satisfied preliminary selective criteria for validity and reliability. Further research is necessary to satisfy other requirements of psychometric testing and clinical utility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The cancer imaging archive (TICA) receives and manages an ever-increasing quantity of clinical (non-image) data containing valuable information about subjects in imaging collections. To harmonize and integrate these data, we have first cataloged the types of information occurring across public TCIA collections. We then produced mappings for these diverse instance data using ontology-based representation patterns and transformed the data into a knowledge graph in a semantic database. This repository combined the transformed instance data with relevant background knowledge from domain ontologies. The resulting repository of semantically integrated data is a rich source of information about subjects that can be queried across imaging collections. Building on this work we have implemented and deployed a REST API and a user-facing semantic cohort builder tool. This tool allows allow researchers and other users to search and identify groups of subject-level records based on non-image data that were not queryable prior to this work. The search results produced by this interface link to images, allowing users to quickly identify and view images matching the selection criteria, as well as allowing users to export the harmonized clinical data., (Creative Commons Attribution license.)

Background: Lifestyle-related diseases are among the leading causes of death and disability. Their rapid increase worldwide has called for low-cost, scalable solutions to promote health behavior changes. Digital health coaching has proved to be effective in delivering affordable, scalable programs to support lifestyle change. This approach increasingly relies on asynchronous text-based interventions to motivate and support behavior change. Although we know that empathy is a core element for a successful coach-user relationship and positive patient outcomes, we lack research on how this is realized in text-based interactions. Systemic functional linguistics (SFL) is a linguistic theory that may support the identification of empathy opportunities (EOs) in text-based interactions, as well as the reasoning behind patients' linguistic choices in their formulation., Objective: This study aims to determine whether empathy and SFL approaches correspond and complement each other satisfactorily to study text-based communication in a health coaching context. We sought to explore whether combining empathic assessment with SFL categories can provide a means to understand client-coach interactions in asynchronous text-based coaching interactions., Methods: We retrieved 148 text messages sent by 29 women who participated in a randomized trial of telecoaching for the prevention of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) and postnatal weight loss. We conducted a pilot study to identify users' explicit and implicit EOs and further investigated these statements using the SFL approach, focusing on the analysis of transitivity and thematic analysis., Results: We identified 164 EOs present in 42.37% (3478/8209) of the word count in the corpus. These were mainly negative (n=90, 54.88%) and implicit (n=55, 60.00%). We distinguished opening, content and closing messages structures. Most of the wording was found in the content (n=7077, 86.21%) with a declarative structure (n=7084, 86.30%). Processes represented 22.4% (n=1839) of the corpus, with half being material (n=876, 10.67%) and mostly related to food and diet (n=196, 54.92%), physical activity (n=96, 26.89%), and lifestyle goals (n=40, 11.20%)., Conclusions: Our findings show that empathy and SFL approaches are compatible. The results from our transitivity analysis reveal novel insights into the meanings of the users' EOs, such as their seek for help or praise, often missed by health care professionals (HCPs), and on the coach-user relationship. The absence of explicit EOs and direct questions could be attributed to low trust on or information about the coach's abilities. In the future, we will conduct further research to explore additional linguistic features and code coach messages., Trial Registration: Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry (ANZCTR) ACTRN12620001240932; https://www.anzctr.org.au/Trial/Registration/TrialReview.aspx?id=380020., (©Elena Rey Velasco, Hanne Sæderup Pedersen, Timothy Skinner, Impact Diabetes B2B Collaboration Group. Originally published in JMIR Formative Research (https://formative.jmir.org), 20.12.2022.)

Background and Aims: Pain assessment in noncommunicative intensive care unit (ICU) patients is challenging. For these patients, family caregivers (i.e., family members, friends) may be able to assist in pain assessment by identifying individualistic signs of pain due to their intimate patient knowledge. This study adapted the critical care pain observation tool (CPOT) to facilitate pain assessment in adult ICU patients by family caregivers., Methods: This study was conducted through three distinct phases: (1)CPOT adaptation for family caregiver use (to create the CPOT-Fam): A working group met monthly to adapt the CPOT and develop educational material and sample cases for practice scoring until consensus was reached.(2)CPOT-Fam preclinical testing: Family caregiver study participants viewed educational materials and scored four randomly selected sample cases using the CPOT-Fam. Scores were compared to reference scores to assess agreement and identify CPOT-Fam sections requiring revision. Open-ended feedback on the CPOT-Fam was collected.(3)CPOT-Fam revision: the CPOT-Fam was revised by the working group considering score agreement and feedback received from study participants., Results: Of the n  = 30 participants, n  = 14 (47.0%) had experience with an ICU patient. Agreement between CPOT-Fam participant scores and reference scores were highest for the vocalization dimension ( Is the patient making any sounds? ; Intraclass correlation coefficient; ICC = 1.0) and lowest for the body movements dimension ( What are the patient's body movements like? ; ICC = 0.85. Participants indicated they found the CPOT-Fam to be "informative" and "easy-to-use" but "not graphic enough"; participants also indicated that descriptors like "lack of breath" and "struggling to move" are helpful with identifying individualistic behaviors of pain exhibited by their loved ones., Conclusion: The CPOT-Fam shows ease of use and may be of value in involving family caregivers in ICU care. Clinical pilot testing is needed to determine feasibility and acceptability and identify further areas for refinement., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest., (© 2022 The Authors. Health Science Reports published by Wiley Periodicals LLC.)

Knowledge of antibiotics and awareness of microbial resistance are essential for appropriate antibiotic consumption. This study aimed to develop and validate a measure of antibiotic knowledge and consumption (AKCT) and to make it available in the Arabic language and context. The tool was developed and applied on individuals ≥ 18 years, with mastery of Arabic or English. Exploratory factor analysis using principal-component analysis tested the psychometric properties of the items. AKCT scores were compared with the Infectious Numeracy Test (INT) scores to establish convergent validity. Cronbach’s α > 0.7 measured reliability. Three hundred-eighty-six participants completed the questionnaire, achieving a 95.3% response rate. Five components were retained after factor analysis: Side-effects and resistance, Access to antibiotics, Recovery after use, Antibiotics use indications, and Body response. Cronbach’s α = 0.85. The mean ± SD of AKCT = 9.82 ± 3.85 (range = 7−20); lowest scores were related to “Side-effects and resistance” (2.32 ± 2.00, max = 7) and “Antibiotic use indications” (1.61 ± 1.29, max = 5). Scores on the AKCT and INT positively correlated. The AKCT is a valuable, valid, and reliable tool developed for measurement of antibiotic knowledge and consumption behaviors to identify specific areas needing improvements; hence, targeted interventions are devised.