Search results for "Research design"
showing 10 items of 487 documents
Social Network Analysis and Qualitative Interviews for Assessing Geographic Characteristics of Tourism Business Networks.
2015
This study integrates quantitative social network analysis (SNA) and qualitative interviews for understanding tourism business links in isolated communities through analysing spatial characteristics. Two case studies are used, the Surselva-Gotthard region in the Swiss Alps and Longyearbyen in the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard, to test the spatial characteristics of physical proximity, isolation, and smallness for understanding tourism business links. In the larger Surselva-Gotthard region, we found a strong relationship between geographic separation of the three communities on compartmentalization of the collaboration network. A small set of businesses played a central role in steering col…
Methodological considerations for interrupted time series analysis in radiation epidemiology: an overview
2021
Interrupted time series analysis (ITSA) is a method that can be applied to evaluate health outcomes in populations exposed to ionizing radiation following major radiological events. Using aggregated time series data, ITSA evaluates whether the time trend of a health indicator shows a change associated with the radiological event. That is, ITSA checks whether there is a statistically significant discrepancy between the projection of a pre-event trend and the data empirically observed after the event. Conducting ITSA requires one to consider specific methodological issues due to unique threats to internal validity that make ITSA prone to bias. We here discuss the strengths and limitations of …
Least-squares community extraction in feature-rich networks using similarity data
2021
We explore a doubly-greedy approach to the issue of community detection in feature-rich networks. According to this approach, both the network and feature data are straightforwardly recovered from the underlying unknown non-overlapping communities, supplied with a center in the feature space and intensity weight(s) over the network each. Our least-squares additive criterion allows us to search for communities one-by-one and to find each community by adding entities one by one. A focus of this paper is that the feature-space data part is converted into a similarity matrix format. The similarity/link values can be used in either of two modes: (a) as measured in the same scale so that one may …
Rationale, design and methods of CTCA-PRORECAD (Computed Tomography Coronary Angiography Prognostic Registry for Coronary Artery Disease): a multicen…
2013
PURPOSE: This study was done to assess the prognostic value of computed tomography coronary angiography (CTCA) in a large multicentre population of patients with suspected coronary artery disease (CAD) and, in particular, its incremental value compared with traditional methods for risk stratification. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This is a retrospective observational study that began in January 2003 conducted on patients with suspected CAD assessed with CTCA on the basis of symptoms (chest pain, dyspnoea) and/or abnormal or equivocal stress test and/or a high cardiovascular risk profile. The participating centres will provide data obtained with CTCA performed with 16-slice or higher equipment. Ex…
Reproducible research practices, openness and transparency in health economic evaluations: study protocol for a cross-sectional comparative analysis
2020
INTRODUCTION: There has been a growing awareness of the need for rigorously and transparent reported health research, to ensure the reproducibility of studies by future researchers. Health economic evaluations, the comparative analysis of alternative interventions in terms of their costs and consequences, have been promoted as an important tool to inform decision-making. The objective of this study will be to investigate the extent to which articles of economic evaluations of healthcare interventions indexed in MEDLINE incorporate research practices that promote transparency, openness and reproducibility. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: This is the study protocol for a cross-sectional comparative ana…
A tailored counseling and home-based rehabilitation program to increase physical activity and improve mobility among community-dwelling older people …
2017
Physical activity (PA) decreases during hospitalization. In particular, the amount of PA engaged in by older people who are hospitalized following musculoskeletal injury is likely to be limited for months after discharge home. Given the importance of an active lifestyle for their recovery and the prevention of future adverse outcomes, there is clearly a need for interventions to increase PA. This article describes the protocol of a randomized controlled trial set up to investigate the effects of a physical activity oriented home rehabilitation program (ProPA) on PA and the restoration of mobility in community-dwelling older people. Men and women aged 60 years or older hospitalized due to a …
Customer-oriented counseling for physical activity in older people: study protocol and selected baseline results of a randomized-controlled trial (IS…
2007
The objective of this study is to describe the rationale, design and selected baseline results of a 2-year randomized-controlled trial (RCT) on the effects of physical activity counseling in community-living older people. After a four-phase screening and data-collection process targeting all independently living people in the city center of Jyvaskyla, Finland, six hundred and thirty-two 75–81-year-old cognitively intact, sedentary persons who were able to move independently outdoors at least minimally and willing to take part in the RCT were randomized into intervention and control groups. At baseline, over half of the subjects exercised less than two to three times a month and two-thirds w…
A family based tailored counselling to increase non-exercise physical activity in adults with a sedentary job and physical activity in their young ch…
2011
Abstract Background Epidemiological evidence suggests that decrease in sedentary behaviour is beneficial for health. This family based randomized controlled trial examines whether face-to-face delivered counselling is effective in reducing sedentary time and improving health in adults and increasing moderate-to-vigorous activities in children. Methods The families are randomized after balancing socioeconomic and environmental factors in the Jyväskylä region, Finland. Inclusion criteria are: healthy men and women with children 3-8 years old, and having an occupation where they self-reportedly sit more than 50% of their work time and children in all-day day-care in kindergarten or in the firs…
A Xenogeneic-Free Protocol for Isolation and Expansion of Human Adipose Stem Cells for Clinical Uses
2013
Human adipose stem cells (hASCs) play a crucial role in the fields of regenerative medicine and tissue engineering for different reasons: the abundance of adipose tissue, their easy harvesting, the ability to multipotent differentiation and the fact that they do not trigger allogeneic blood response or secrete cytokines that act as immunosuppressants. The vast majority of protocols use animal origin reagents, with the underlying risk of transmitting infections by non-human pathogens. We have designed a protocol to isolate and maintain the properties of hASCs avoiding xenogeneic reagents. These changes not only preserve hASCs morphology, but also increase cell proliferation and maintain thei…
Biases in study design, implementation, and data analysis that distort the appraisal of clinical benefit and ESMO-Magnitude of Clinical Benefit Scale…
2021
BACKGROUND: The European Society for Medical Oncology-Magnitude of Clinical Benefit Scale (ESMO-MCBS) is a validated, widely used tool developed to score the clinical benefit from cancer medicines reported in clinical trials. ESMO-MCBS scores assume valid research methodologies and quality trial implementation. Studies incorporating flawed design, implementation, or data analysis may generate outcomes that exaggerate true benefit and are not generalisable. Failure to either indicate or penalise studies with bias undermines the intention and diminishes the integrity of ESMO-MCBS scores. This review aimed to evaluate the adequacy of the ESMO-MCBS to address bias generated by flawed design, im…