Search results for "Research Design"

Using Sandelowski and Barroso's Meta-Synthesis Method in Advancing Qualitative Evidence.

2016

The purpose of this article was to iteratively account for and discuss the handling of methodological challenges in two qualitative research syntheses concerning patients’ experiences of hospital transition. We applied Sandelowski and Barroso’s guidelines for synthesizing qualitative research, and to our knowledge, this is the first time researchers discuss their methodological steps. In the process, we identified a need for prolonged discussions to determine mutual understandings of the methodology. We discussed how to identify the appropriate qualitative research literature and how to best conduct exhaustive literature searches on our target phenomena. Another finding concerned our statu…

Analyzing Illumina Gene Expression Microarray Data from Different Tissues: Methodological Aspects of Data Analysis in the MetaXpress Consortium

2012

Microarray profiling of gene expression is widely applied in molecular biology and functional genomics. Experimental and technical variations make meta-analysis of different studies challenging. In a total of 3358 samples, all from German population-based cohorts, we investigated the effect of data preprocessing and the variability due to sample processing in whole blood cell and blood monocyte gene expression data, measured on the Illumina HumanHT-12 v3 BeadChip array. Gene expression signal intensities were similar after applying the log(2) or the variance-stabilizing transformation. In all cohorts, the first principal component (PC) explained more than 95% of the total variation. Technic…

Fecal microbiota transplantation to maintain remission in Crohn’s disease: a pilot randomized controlled study

2020

Abstract Background The role of the gut microbiota in Crohn’s disease (CD) is established and fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) is an attractive therapeutic strategy. No randomized controlled clinical trial results are available. We performed a randomized, single-blind, sham-controlled pilot trial of FMT in adults with colonic or ileo-colonic CD. Method Patients enrolled while in flare received oral corticosteroid. Once in clinical remission, patients were randomized to receive either FMT or sham transplantation during a colonoscopy. Corticosteroids were tapered and a second colonoscopy was performed at week 6. The primary endpoint was the implantation of the donor microbiota at week 6…

Minimum information about a biofilm experiment (MIABiE): standards for reporting experiments and data on sessile microbial communities living at inte…

2014

The minimum information about a biofilm experiment (MIABiE) initiative has arisen from the need to find an adequate and scientifically sound way to control the quality of the documentation accompanying the public deposition of biofilm-related data, particularly those obtained using high-throughput devices and techniques. Thereby, the MIABiE consortium has initiated the identification and organization of a set of modules containing the minimum information that needs to be reported to guarantee the interpretability and independent verification of experimental results and their integration with knowledge coming from other fields. MIABiE does not intend to propose specific standards on how biof…

String kernels and high-quality data set for improved prediction of kinked helices in α-helical membrane proteins.

2011

The reasons for distortions from optimal α-helical geometry are widely unknown, but their influences on structural changes of proteins are significant. Hence, their prediction is a crucial problem in structural bioinformatics. For the particular case of kink prediction, we generated a data set of 132 membrane proteins containing 1014 manually labeled helices and examined the environment of kinks. Our sequence analysis confirms the great relevance of proline and reveals disproportionately high occurrences of glycine and serine at kink positions. The structural analysis shows significantly different solvent accessible surface area mean values for kinked and nonkinked helices. More important, …

Lipid profiling following intake of the Omega 3 fatty acid DHA identifies the peroxidized metabolites F-4-Neuroprostanes as the best predictors of at…

2014

International audience; The anti-atherogenic effects of omega 3 fatty acids, namely eicosapentaenoic (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acids (DHA) are well recognized but the impact of dietary intake on bioactive lipid mediat or profiles remains unclear. Such a profiling effort may offer novel targets for future studies into the mechanism of action of omega 3 fatty acids. The present study aimed to determine the impact of DHA supplementation on the profiles of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) oxygenated metabolites and to investigate their contribution to therosclerosis prevention. A special emphasis was given to the non-enzymatic metabolites knowing the high susceptibility of DHA to free radical…

Biologically based models of cancer risk in radiation research

2020

PURPOSE: In radiation risk analysis the state-of-the-art approach is based on descriptive models which link excess rates of cancer incidence and mortality to radiation exposure by statistical association. To estimate the number of sporadic and radiation-induced cases descriptive models apply parametric dose response function which directly determine the radiation risk. In biologically-based models of cancer risk (BBCR models) dose responses are implemented for key events on the biological level such as early mutations or clonal expansion of initiated cells. Influenced by radiation these events then shape the risk response on the epidemiological level. Although BBCR models facilitate a more …

Quantitative angiogenesis assays: progress and problems.

1997

Nuovo realismo e metodi di ricerca misti

2014

Il nuovo realismo ha evidenziato i limiti del costruttivismo sociale e del cosiddetto «pensiero debole», che rischia di sfociare nel nichilismo. Sono stati recentemente rimossi dei pregiudizi che impedivano di cogliere la realtà dei fatti educativi nella sua concreta evidenza. Tuttavia un’apertura alla prospettiva metafisica offrirebbe al nuovo realismo ulteriori spazi epistemologici. In tale senso il contributo del realismo critico potrebbe aiutare a superare l’artificiosa antinomia tra il ruolo attivo del soggetto conoscente e la rilevazione oggettiva dei fatti educativi. Se si realizzasse questa apertura la conoscenza scientifica e la conoscenza corrente non sarebbero più viste come anti…

2013

Background: Mental disorders are the main reasons for rising proportions of premature pension in most high-income countries. Although inpatient medical rehabilitation has increasingly targeted work-related stress, there is still a lack of studies on the transfer of work-specific interventions into work contexts. Therefore, we plan to evaluate an online aftercare program aiming to improve vocational reintegration after medical rehabilitation. Methods: Vocationally strained patients (n = 800) aged between 18 and 59 years with private internet access are recruited in psychosomatic, orthopedic and cardiovascular rehabilitation clinics in Germany. During inpatient rehabilitation, participants in…