19,302 research outputs found
HealthCare Partners: Building on a Foundation of Global Risk Management to Achieve Accountable Care
Describes the progress of a medical group and independent practice association in forming an accountable care organization by working with insurers as part of the Brookings-Dartmouth ACO Pilot Program. Lists lessons learned and elements of success
Machine Learning and Integrative Analysis of Biomedical Big Data.
Recent developments in high-throughput technologies have accelerated the accumulation of massive amounts of omics data from multiple sources: genome, epigenome, transcriptome, proteome, metabolome, etc. Traditionally, data from each source (e.g., genome) is analyzed in isolation using statistical and machine learning (ML) methods. Integrative analysis of multi-omics and clinical data is key to new biomedical discoveries and advancements in precision medicine. However, data integration poses new computational challenges as well as exacerbates the ones associated with single-omics studies. Specialized computational approaches are required to effectively and efficiently perform integrative analysis of biomedical data acquired from diverse modalities. In this review, we discuss state-of-the-art ML-based approaches for tackling five specific computational challenges associated with integrative analysis: curse of dimensionality, data heterogeneity, missing data, class imbalance and scalability issues
Chromosomal radiosensitivity of human immunodeficiency virus positive/negative cervical cancer patients in South Africa
Cervical cancer is the second most common cancer amongst South African women and is the leading cause of cancer-associated mortality in this region. Several international studies on radiation-induced DNA damage in lymphocytes of cervical cancer patients have remained inconclusive. Despite the high incidence of cervical cancer in South Africa, and the extensive use of radiotherapy to treat it, the chromosomal radiosensitivity of South African cervical cancer patients has not been studied to date. Since a high number of these patients are human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-positive, the effect of HIV infection on chromosomal radiosensitivity was also investigated. Blood samples from 35 cervical cancer patients (20 HIV-negative and 15 HIV-positive) and 20 healthy controls were exposed to X-rays at doses of 6 MV of 2 and 4 Gy in vitro. Chromosomal radiosensitivity was assessed using the micronucleus (MN) assay. MN scores were obtained using the Metafer 4 platform, an automated microscopic system. Three scoring methods of the MNScore module of Metafer were applied and compared. Cervical cancer patients had higher MN values than healthy controls, with HIV-positive patients having the highest MN values. Differences between groups were significant when using a scoring method that corrects for false positive and false negative MN. The present study suggested increased chromosomal radiosensitivity in HIV-positive South African cervical cancer patients
Healthy ageing in Europe: prioritizing interventions to improve health literacy
Background: Health literacy (HL) is low for 40-50% of the population in developed nations, and is strongly linked to many undesirable health outcomes. Older adults are particularly at risk. The Intervention Research on Health Literacy in Ageing populations project systematically created a large inventory of HL interventions targeting adults age 50+, to support practical production of policy and practice guidelines for promoting health literacy in European populations. Methods: We comprehensively surveyed international scientific literature, grey literature and other sources (published 2003+) for implemented HL interventions that involved older adults. Studies were screened for eligibility criteria and further selected for aspects important in European public health policy, including priority diseases, risk factors and vulnerable target groups. Interventions were prioritised using a multiple criteria tool to select final interventions that also featured strong evidence of efficacy and a broad range of strategies. Results: From nearly 7000 written summaries, 1097 met inclusion criteria, of which 233 were chosen for scoring and ranking. Of these, 7 had the highest multi-criteria scores. Eight more articles were selected based on rounded criteria including a high multi-criteria score as well as elements of innovation. Final selections were 18 articles describing 15 programmes, which feature strong evidence of efficacy among important diseases or risk factors and vulnerable groups, or that had success with elements of innovation were identified. Most programmes tried to increase skills in communication, self-management and understanding healthcare or lifestyle choices. Conclusions: These programmes have multiple positive attributes which could be used as guidance for developing innovative intervention programmes to trial on European older adults. They provide evidence of efficacy in addressing high priority diseases and risk factors
AutoDiscern: Rating the Quality of Online Health Information with Hierarchical Encoder Attention-based Neural Networks
Patients increasingly turn to search engines and online content before, or in
place of, talking with a health professional. Low quality health information,
which is common on the internet, presents risks to the patient in the form of
misinformation and a possibly poorer relationship with their physician. To
address this, the DISCERN criteria (developed at University of Oxford) are used
to evaluate the quality of online health information. However, patients are
unlikely to take the time to apply these criteria to the health websites they
visit. We built an automated implementation of the DISCERN instrument (Brief
version) using machine learning models. We compared the performance of a
traditional model (Random Forest) with that of a hierarchical encoder
attention-based neural network (HEA) model using two language embeddings, BERT
and BioBERT. The HEA BERT and BioBERT models achieved average F1-macro scores
across all criteria of 0.75 and 0.74, respectively, outperforming the Random
Forest model (average F1-macro = 0.69). Overall, the neural network based
models achieved 81% and 86% average accuracy at 100% and 80% coverage,
respectively, compared to 94% manual rating accuracy. The attention mechanism
implemented in the HEA architectures not only provided 'model explainability'
by identifying reasonable supporting sentences for the documents fulfilling the
Brief DISCERN criteria, but also boosted F1 performance by 0.05 compared to the
same architecture without an attention mechanism. Our research suggests that it
is feasible to automate online health information quality assessment, which is
an important step towards empowering patients to become informed partners in
the healthcare process
East Midlands Research into Ageing Network (EMRAN) Discussion Paper Series
Academic geriatric medicine in Leicester
.
There has never been a better time to consider joining us. We have recently appointed a
Professor in Geriatric Medicine, alongside Tom Robinson in stroke and Victoria Haunton,
who has just joined as a Senior Lecturer in Geriatric Medicine. We have fantastic
opportunities to support students in their academic pursuits through a well-established
intercalated BSc programme, and routes on through such as ACF posts, and a successful
track-record in delivering higher degrees leading to ACL post. We collaborate strongly
with Health Sciences, including academic primary care. See below for more detail on our
existing academic set-up.
Leicester Academy for the Study of Ageing
We are also collaborating on a grander scale, through a joint academic venture focusing
on ageing, the ‘Leicester Academy for the Study of Ageing’ (LASA), which involves the
local health service providers (acute and community), De Montfort University; University
of Leicester; Leicester City Council; Leicestershire County Council and Leicester Age UK.
Professors Jayne Brown and Simon Conroy jointly Chair LASA and have recently been
joined by two further Chairs, Professors Kay de Vries and Bertha Ochieng. Karen
Harrison Dening has also recently been appointed an Honorary Chair.
LASA aims to improve outcomes for older people and those that care for them that takes
a person-centred, whole system perspective. Our research will take a global perspective,
but will seek to maximise benefits for the people of Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland,
including building capacity. We are undertaking applied, translational, interdisciplinary
research, focused on older people, which will deliver research outcomes that address
domains from: physical/medical; functional ability, cognitive/psychological; social or
environmental factors. LASA also seeks to support commissioners and providers alike for
advice on how to improve care for older people, whether by research, education or
service delivery. Examples of recent research projects include: ‘Local History Café’
project specifically undertaking an evaluation on loneliness and social isolation; ‘Better
Visits’ project focused on improving visiting for family members of people with dementia
resident in care homes; and a study on health issues for older LGBT people in Leicester.
Clinical Geriatric Medicine in Leicester
We have developed a service which recognises the complexity of managing frail older
people at the interface (acute care, emergency care and links with community services).
There are presently 17 consultant geriatricians supported by existing multidisciplinary
teams, including the largest complement of Advance Nurse Practitioners in the country.
Together we deliver Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment to frail older people with
urgent care needs in acute and community settings.
The acute and emergency frailty units – Leicester Royal Infirmary
This development aims at delivering Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment to frail older
people in the acute setting. Patients are screened for frailty in the Emergency
Department and then undergo a multidisciplinary assessment including a consultant
geriatrician, before being triaged to the most appropriate setting. This might include
admission to in-patient care in the acute or community setting, intermediate care
(residential or home based), or occasionally other specialist care (e.g. cardiorespiratory).
Our new emergency department is the county’s first frail friendly build and includes
fantastic facilities aimed at promoting early recovering and reducing the risk of hospital
associated harms.
There is also a daily liaison service jointly run with the psychogeriatricians (FOPAL); we
have been examining geriatric outreach to oncology and surgery as part of an NIHR
funded study.
We are home to the Acute Frailty Network, and those interested in service developments
at the national scale would be welcome to get involved.
Orthogeriatrics
There are now dedicated hip fracture wards and joint care with anaesthetists,
orthopaedic surgeons and geriatricians. There are also consultants in metabolic bone
disease that run clinics.
Community work
Community work will consist of reviewing patients in clinic who have been triaged to
return to the community setting following an acute assessment described above.
Additionally, primary care colleagues refer to outpatients for sub-acute reviews. You will
work closely with local GPs with support from consultants to deliver post-acute, subacute,
intermediate and rehabilitation care services.
Stroke Medicine
24/7 thrombolysis and TIA services. The latter is considered one of the best in the UK
and along with the high standard of vascular surgery locally means one of the best
performances regarding carotid intervention
Development of a Web Platform for Surgical Oncologists in Portugal
In an age of enormous access to clinical data and rapid technological development,
ensuring that physicians have computational tools to navigate a sea of information and
improve health outcomes is vital. A major advance in medical practice is the incorporation
of Clinical Decision Support Systems (CDSSs) to assist and support the healthcare team
in clinical decision making, thus improving the quality of decisions and overall patient
care, while minimizing costs.
Postsurgical complications of cancer surgery are hard to predict, although there are
several traditional risk scores available. However, there is an urgent need to improve perioperative
risk assessment to reduce the growing postoperative burden in the Portuguese
population. Understanding the individual risks of performing surgical procedures is
essential to customizing preparatory, intervention, and aftercare protocols to minimize
post-surgical complications. This knowledge is essential in oncology, given the nature of
the interventions, the fragile profile of patients with comorbidities and drug exposure,
and the possible recurrence of cancer.
This thesis aims to develop an user-friendly web platform to support the collaboration
and manage clinical data among oncologists at the Portuguese Institute of Oncology, Porto.
The work integrates both a database to register/store the clinical data of cancer patients in
a structured format, visualization tools and computational methods to calculate a specific
risk score of postoperative outcomes for the Portuguese population. The platform named
IPOscore will not only to manage the clinic data but also offer a predictive healthcare
system, as an valuable instrument for the oncologists.Numa época de grande acesso a dados e rápido desenvolvimento tecnológico, garantir que
os médicos tenham as ferramentas de apoio à decisão clínica para se deslocar em um mar
de informação para encontrar o que é mais relevante para as necessidades dos pacientes
é vital para otimizar os resultados de saúde. Um grande avanço na prática médica é a
incorporação de Sistemas de Apoio à Decisão Clínica (CDSSs) para auxiliar e apoiar a
equipe de saúde na tomada de decisão clínica, melhorando assim a qualidade das decisões
e o atendimento geral ao paciente, minimizando custos.
As complicações pós-operatórias da cirurgia do cancro ainda são difíceis de prever,
embora existam muitos scores de risco destinados a fazer tais previsões. Compreender
os riscos individuais de realizar procedimentos cirúrgicos é essencial para personalizar
os protocolos preparatórios, de intervenção e pós-atendimento para minimizar as complicações
pós-cirúrgicas. Esse conhecimento é fundamental em oncologia, dada a natureza
das intervenções, o perfil frágil dos pacientes com comorbidades e exposição a drogas e a
possível recorrência do cancro.
Este trabalho propõe a construção duma plataformaweb de fácil utilização para apoiar
a colaboração e dispor uma gestão de dados clínicos entre oncologistas. O trabalho integra
uma base de dados para registrar / armazenar os dados clínicos, fisiológicos e biopatológicos
de pacientes com cancro num formato estruturado e métodos computacionais para
calcular um grau de risco específico de complicações pós-operatórias para a população
portuguesa. A plataforma denominada IPOscore servirá para a gestão de dados clinicos,
mas também oferecerá um sistema preditivo e preventivo, como uma ferramenta de apoio
à decisão médica no contexto clínico diário
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