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Data Fields (data + field)

Distribution by Scientific Domains

Medical Sciences	75%

Selected Abstracts

Localized spectral analysis on the sphere

GEOPHYSICAL JOURNAL INTERNATIONAL, Issue 3 2005
Mark A. Wieczorek
SUMMARY It is often advantageous to investigate the relationship between two geophysical data sets in the spectral domain by calculating admittance and coherence functions. While there exist powerful Cartesian windowing techniques to estimate spatially localized (cross-)spectral properties, the inherent sphericity of planetary bodies sometimes necessitates an approach based in spherical coordinates. Direct localized spectral estimates on the sphere can be obtained by tapering, or multiplying the data by a suitable windowing function, and expanding the resultant field in spherical harmonics. The localization of a window in space and its spectral bandlimitation jointly determine the quality of the spatiospectral estimation. Two kinds of axisymmetric windows are here constructed that are ideally suited to this purpose: bandlimited functions that maximize their spatial energy within a cap of angular radius ,0, and spacelimited functions that maximize their spectral power within a spherical harmonic bandwidth L. Both concentration criteria yield an eigenvalue problem that is solved by an orthogonal family of data tapers, and the properties of these windows depend almost entirely upon the space,bandwidth product N0= (L+ 1) ,0/,. The first N0, 1 windows are near perfectly concentrated, and the best-concentrated window approaches a lower bound imposed by a spherical uncertainty principle. In order to make robust localized estimates of the admittance and coherence spectra between two fields on the sphere, we propose a method analogous to Cartesian multitaper spectral analysis that uses our optimally concentrated data tapers. We show that the expectation of localized (cross-)power spectra calculated using our data tapers is nearly unbiased for stochastic processes when the input spectrum is white and when averages are made over all possible realizations of the random variables. In physical situations, only one realization of such a process will be available, but in this case, a weighted average of the spectra obtained using multiple data tapers well approximates the expected spectrum. While developed primarily to solve problems in planetary science, our method has applications in all areas of science that investigate spatiospectral relationships between data fields defined on a sphere. [source]

Euroethics,a database network on biomedical ethics

HEALTH INFORMATION & LIBRARIES JOURNAL, Issue 3 2006
Ylva Gavel
Background:,euroethics is a database covering European literature on ethics in medicine. It is produced within Eurethnet, a European information network on ethics in medicine and biotechnology. Objectives:, The aim of Euroethics is to disseminate information on European bioethical literature that may otherwise be difficult to find. Methods:, A collaboration model for pooling data from different centres was developed. The policy was to accomplish data uniformity, while still allowing for local differences in terms of software, indexing practices and resources. Records contributed to the database follow common standards in terms of data fields and indexing terms. The indexing terms derive from two thesauri, Thesaurus Ethics in the Life Sciences (TELS) and Medical Subject Headings (MeSH). Combining elements from search tools developed previously, the developers sought to find a technical solution optimized for this data model. An approach relying on a thesaurus database that is loaded along with the bibliographic database is described. Results and conclusions:, The present case study offers examples of possible approaches to several tasks often encountered in database development, such as: merging data from diverse sources, getting the most out of indexing terms used in a database, and handling more than one thesaurus in the same system. [source]

Music-assisted relaxation to improve sleep quality: meta-analysis

JOURNAL OF ADVANCED NURSING, Issue 7 2009
Gerrit De Niet
Abstract Title.,Music-assisted relaxation to improve sleep quality: meta-analysis. Aim., This paper is a report of a meta-analysis conducted to evaluate the efficacy of music-assisted relaxation for sleep quality in adults and elders with sleep complaints with or without a co-morbid medical condition. Background., Clinical studies have shown that music can influence treatment outcome in a positive and beneficial way. Music holds the promise of counteracting psychological presleep arousal and thus improving the preconditions for sleep. Data sources., We conducted a search in the Embase (1997 , July 2008), Medline (1950 , July 2008), Cochrane (2000 , July 2008), Psychinfo (1987 , July 2008) and Cinahl (1982 , July 2008) databases for randomized controlled trials reported in English, German, French and Dutch. The outcome measure of interest was sleep quality. Methods., Data were extracted from the included studies using predefined data fields. The researchers independently assessed the quality of the trials using the Delphi list. Only studies with a score of 5 points or higher were included. A pooled analysis was performed based on a fixed effect model. Results., Five randomized controlled trials with six treatment conditions and a total of 170 participants in intervention groups and 138 controls met our inclusion criteria. Music-assisted relaxation had a moderate effect on the sleep quality of patients with sleep complaints (standardized mean difference, ,0·74; 95% CI: ,0·96, ,0·46). Subgroup analysis revealed no statistically significant contribution of accompanying measures. Conclusion., Music-assisted relaxation can be used without intensive investment in training and materials and is therefore cheap, easily available and can be used by nurses to promote music-assisted relaxation to improve sleep quality. [source]

Procedural Sedation in the Community Emergency Department: Initial Results of the ProSCED Registry

ACADEMIC EMERGENCY MEDICINE, Issue 1 2007
Alfred Sacchetti MD
Abstract Objectives Procedural sedation and analgesia (PSA) has been well profiled in experimental studies in university emergency departments. Extrapolation of these practices into the community hospital setting is not well established. This report describes community hospital practices and outcomes in a multicenter PSA registry. Methods The Procedural Sedation in the Community Emergency Department (ProSCED) registry is a prospective observational database composed of consecutive emergency physician,directed procedural sedation cases in community hospitals. Registered procedures described by 15 categorical data fields are collected at the time of the patient encounter and entered into a secure Internet-housed database. Results A total of 1,028 procedural sedations were performed on 980 patients at 14 study sites. The most common specified procedures performed included shoulder relocation (392), hip relocation (102), elbow relocation (70), upper extremity fracture care (69), lower extremity fracture care (66), and facial laceration repair (67). Complications of any description occurred in 42 cases (4.1%), with no patient's disposition changed secondary to a complication. Patients' ages ranged from 1 month to 95 years, with a median age of 31 years. Of procedures attempted, 982 (95.5%) were successfully completed, 21 cases (2.0%) were adequately sedated but unable to have their procedure completed, and 21 cases (2.0%) were believed to be inadequately sedated. Medication use included midazolam in 423 cases (41.1%), propofol in 253 (24.6%), fentanyl in 253 (24.6%), etomidate in 241 (23.4%), and ketamine in 145 (14.1%), as well as several others. Cases using either ketamine or propofol exhibited the fewest complications, while those using fentanyl, hydromorphone, or midazolam demonstrated the highest complication rates. Conclusions Community emergency physicians deliver safe and effective PSA over a wide variety of ages and procedures while using a broad selection of agents. [source]