5th International Conference on Advanced Research Methods and Analytics (CARMA 2023)

Research methods in economics and social sciences are evolving with the increasing availability of Internet and Big Data sources of information. As these sources, methods, and applications become more interdisciplinary, the 5th International Conference on Advanced Research Methods and Analytics (CARMA) is a forum for researchers and practitioners to exchange ideas and advances on how emerging research methods and sources are applied to different fields of social sciences as well as to discuss current and future challenges.Martínez Torres, MDR.; Toral Marín, S. (2023). 5th International Conference on Advanced Research Methods and Analytics (CARMA 2023). Editorial Universitat Politècnica de València. https://doi.org/10.4995/CARMA2023.2023.1700

Front-Line Physicians' Satisfaction with Information Systems in Hospitals

Day-to-day operations management in hospital units is difficult due to continuously varying situations, several actors involved and a vast number of information systems in use. The aim of this study was to describe front-line physicians' satisfaction with existing information systems needed to support the day-to-day operations management in hospitals. A cross-sectional survey was used and data chosen with stratified random sampling were collected in nine hospitals. Data were analyzed with descriptive and inferential statistical methods. The response rate was 65 % (n = 111). The physicians reported that information systems support their decision making to some extent, but they do not improve access to information nor are they tailored for physicians. The respondents also reported that they need to use several information systems to support decision making and that they would prefer one information system to access important information. Improved information access would better support physicians' decision making and has the potential to improve the quality of decisions and speed up the decision making process.Peer reviewe

Data Journeys in the Sciences

This groundbreaking, open access volume analyses and compares data practices across several fields through the analysis of specific cases of data journeys. It brings together leading scholars in the philosophy, history and social studies of science to achieve two goals: tracking the travel of data across different spaces, times and domains of research practice; and documenting how such journeys affect the use of data as evidence and the knowledge being produced. The volume captures the opportunities, challenges and concerns involved in making data move from the sites in which they are originally produced to sites where they can be integrated with other data, analysed and re-used for a variety of purposes. The in-depth study of data journeys provides the necessary ground to examine disciplinary, geographical and historical differences and similarities in data management, processing and interpretation, thus identifying the key conditions of possibility for the widespread data sharing associated with Big and Open Data. The chapters are ordered in sections that broadly correspond to different stages of the journeys of data, from their generation to the legitimisation of their use for specific purposes. Additionally, the preface to the volume provides a variety of alternative “roadmaps” aimed to serve the different interests and entry points of readers; and the introduction provides a substantive overview of what data journeys can teach about the methods and epistemology of research

Geospatial Information Research: State of the Art, Case Studies and Future Perspectives

Geospatial information science (GI science) is concerned with the development and application of geodetic and information science methods for modeling, acquiring, sharing, managing, exploring, analyzing, synthesizing, visualizing, and evaluating data on spatio-temporal phenomena related to the Earth. As an interdisciplinary scientific discipline, it focuses on developing and adapting information technologies to understand processes on the Earth and human-place interactions, to detect and predict trends and patterns in the observed data, and to support decision making. The authors – members of DGK, the Geoinformatics division, as part of the Committee on Geodesy of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities, representing geodetic research and university teaching in Germany – have prepared this paper as a means to point out future research questions and directions in geospatial information science. For the different facets of geospatial information science, the state of art is presented and underlined with mostly own case studies. The paper thus illustrates which contributions the German GI community makes and which research perspectives arise in geospatial information science. The paper further demonstrates that GI science, with its expertise in data acquisition and interpretation, information modeling and management, integration, decision support, visualization, and dissemination, can help solve many of the grand challenges facing society today and in the future

Salt iodization for the elimination of iodine deficiency

French version available in IDRC Digital Library: Iodation du sel pour l'élimination de la carence en iod

RAPID DETECTION OF VIABLE BACTERIA IN AGRICULTURAL WASH WATERS – A DROPLET-BASED APPROACH

Foodborne illness is a significant public health concern worldwide, with a global burden of disease comparable to HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis. The World Health Organization estimated there were approximately 2 billion cases and over 1 million deaths associated with foodborne illness in 2010. In the United States (U.S.) alone, foodborne contamination and associated illness is responsible for an estimated 48 million cases per year, with total health-related costs estimated between $51 and$76.1 billion annually. From 1998 to 2008, nearly half of all foodborne illnesses in U.S. were attributable to produce and over 20% were attributable to leafy greens. The food industry must continually evaluate critical control measures for its most vulnerable crops, improve upon detection methods, and maintain collaborative relationships with surveillance networks to lessen prevalence and severity of foodborne outbreaks. The food industry utilizes hazards analysis and critical control point (HACCP) programs to identify and mitigate vulnerabilities in the farm-to-consumer route. Wash waters are essential for removing debris and sanitizing produce before rapidly shipping to the end consumer. If sanitization efficacy is compromised, wash waters can cross-contaminate large batches of previously uncontaminated produce. For this reason, fresh-cut produce wash waters are a critical control point in industrial produce processing facilities. This dissertation assesses inhibition challenges wash waters present to qPCR and a means to overcome these challenges by using common chlorine quenchers. Droplet-based microfluidics, paired with activated fluorescence, is evaluated as a rapid alternative to detect viable bacterial contamination. The droplet-based method, paired with a FITC-conjugated antibody, achieved excellent sensitivity and specificity for the target bacteria – artificially spiked Salmonella – in a produce wash water acquired from a major Mid-Atlantic produce processing facility. Most importantly, viable bacterial detection was achieved in less than five hours – dramatically reducing time needed for traditional culturing that can take days. In-droplet microfluidics shows great promise for preventing produce-associated foodborne outbreaks by potentially providing food industry HACCP program managers a same-day (or same-shift) detection capability