Conceptual frameworks and empirical approaches used to assess the impact of health research: an overview of reviews

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>How to assess the impact of research is of growing interest to funders, policy makers and researchers mainly to understand the value of investments and to increase accountability. Broadly speaking the term "research impact" refers to the contribution of research activities to achieve desired societal outcomes. The aim of this overview is to identify the most common approaches to research impact assessment, categories of impact and their respective indicators.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We systematically searched the relevant literature (PubMed, The Cochrane Library (1990-2009)) and funding agency websites. We included systematic reviews, theoretical and methodological papers, and empirical case-studies on how to evaluate research impact. We qualitatively summarised the included reports, as well the conceptual frameworks.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We identified twenty-two reports belonging to four systematic reviews and 14 primary studies. These publications reported several theoretical frameworks and methodological approaches (bibliometrics, econometrics, ad hoc case studies). The "payback model" emerged as the most frequently used. Five broad categories of impact were identified: a) advancing knowledge, b) capacity building, c) informing decision-making, d) health benefits, e) broad socio-economic benefits. For each proposed category of impact we summarized a set of indicators whose pros and cons are presented and briefly discussed.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>This overview is a comprehensive, yet descriptive, contribution to summarize the conceptual framework and taxonomy of an heterogeneous and evolving area of research. A shared and comprehensive conceptual framework does not seem to be available yet and its single components (epidemiologic, economic, and social) are often valued differently in different models.</p

Surgical Treatment of Spine Deformations after Neonatal Sepsis (The Analysis of Clinical Series)

Background. Neonatal sepsis presents one of the current issues in modern pediatrics. The orthopedic outcomes of such a state and the possibility of treatment, in particular by surgical spinal reconstruction, are rarely analyzed. Objective. To analyze pathology features and treatment outcomes in infants with vertebral complications resulted from neonatal sepsis.Material and Methods. The analysis of observation and treatment of 15 infants, who have undergone neonatal sepsis which led to vertebral lesion with subsequent gross kyphotic deformity formation, is presented.Results. Average age of infants was 2.5 months when spinal pathology was diagnosed. In 7 of the 15 observations, a local angular kyphosis was revealed when the acute phase of disease was already passed („cured“). The thoracic vertebrae were most often affected, mainly Th 7-8 vertebral bodies. Average kyphosis was 53°. All infants were operated on during the period from 2006 to 2017. Each had two-stage spinal reconstruction including the anterior spinal fusion using a titanium mesh cage filled with bone autografts, or an autogenous bone graft only. At the second stage, the instrumental correction and fixation of the spine with a multi-support laminar structure were performed. Average age of patients at the time of surgery was 14 months. Average value of kyphosis correction was 27°. Further correction and anterior spinal fusion were achieved when performing the incorporation of a titanium mesh cage with bone autografts. The histological and bacteriological examination of the surgical material did not reveal any signs of infection or inflammation. Correction of deformity and restoration of the supporting strength of anterior vertebral column as a result of surgery were achieved in all cases. Various complications in the early and late followup period were reported in a total of 7 cases. Repeated interventions were required in two patients: in one case in the early period (dislocation of the structure supporting hook) and in one case in the long-term period (graft resorption and kyphotic deformity relapse).Conclusion. One of the complications of neonatal sepsis is severe multilevel thoracic spondylitis, the outcome of which is the formation of severe kyphosis against the background of subtotal bone vertebral destruction. The principal possibility of radical spine reconstruction in infants with achievement of good anatomical and functional results is shown

The Impact of Extreme Rainstorms on Escarpment Morphology in Arid Areas: Insights From the Central Negev Desert

The impact of climate on topography, which is a theme in landscape evolution studies, has been demonstrated, mostly, at mountain range scales and across climate zones. However, in drylands, spatiotemporal discontinuities of rainfall and the crucial role of extreme rainstorms raise questions and challenges in identifying climate properties that govern surface processes. Here, we combine methods to examine hyperarid escarpment sensitivity to storm-scale forcing. Using a high-resolution DEM and field measurements, we analyzed the topography of a 40-km-long escarpment in the Negev desert (Israel). We also used rainfall intensity data from a convection-permitting numerical weather model for storm-scale statistical analysis. We conducted hydrological simulations of synthetic rainstorms, revealing the frequency of sediment mobilization along the sub-cliff slopes. Results show that cliff gradients along the hyperarid escarpment increase systematically from the wetter (90 mm yr(-1)) southwestern to the drier (45 mm yr(-1)) northeastern sides. Also, sub-cliff slopes at the southwestern study site are longer and associated with milder gradients and coarser sediments. Storm-scale statistical analysis reveals a trend of increasing extreme (>10 years return-period) intensities toward the northeast site, opposite to the trend in mean annual rainfall. Hydrological simulations based on these statistics indicate a higher frequency of sediment mobilization in the northeast, which can explain the pronounced topographic differences between the sites. The variations in landscape and rainstorm properties across a relatively short distance highlight the sensitivity of arid landforms to extreme events

Constraint Satisfaction Through GBP-Guided Deliberate Bit Flipping

In this paper, we consider the problem of transmitting binary messages over data-dependent two-dimensional channels. We propose a deliberate bit flipping coding scheme that removes channel harmful configurations prior to transmission. In this method, user messages are encoded with an error correction code, and therefore the number of bit flips should be kept small not to overburden the decoder. We formulate the problem of minimizing the number of bit flips as a binary constraint satisfaction problem, and devise a generalized belief propagation guided method to find approximate solutions. Applied to a data-dependent binary channel with the set of 2-D isolated bit configurations as its harmful configurations, we evaluated the performance of our proposed method in terms of uncorrectable bit-error rate.NSFNational Science Foundation (NSF) [ECCS-1500170, SaTC-1813401]12 month embargo; published online: 24 May 2019This item from the UA Faculty Publications collection is made available by the University of Arizona with support from the University of Arizona Libraries. If you have questions, please contact us at [email protected]