			Home About us Contact

Face-to-face Meetings (face-to-face + meeting)

Distribution by Scientific Domains

Medical Sciences	50%

Selected Abstracts

Revised STandards for Reporting Interventions in Clinical Trials of Acupuncture (STRICTA): Extending the CONSORT Statement

JOURNAL OF EVIDENCE BASED MEDICINE, Issue 3 2010
Hugh MacPherson
The STandards for Reporting Interventions in Clinical Trials of Acupuncture (STRICTA) were published in five journals in 2001 and 2002. These guidelines, in the form of a checklist and explanations for use by authors and journal editors, were designed to improve reporting of acupuncture trials, particularly the interventions, thereby facilitating their interpretation and replication. Subsequent reviews of the application and impact of STRICTA have highlighted the value of STRICTA as well as scope for improvements and revision. To manage the revision process a collaboration between the STRICTA Group, the CONSORT Group, and the Chinese Cochrane Centre was developed in 2008. An expert panel with 47 participants was convened that provided electronic feedback on a revised draft of the checklist. At a subsequent face-to-face meeting in Freiburg, a group of 21 participants further revised the STRICTA checklist and planned dissemination. The new STRICTA checklist, which is an official extension of CONSORT, includes six items and 17 sub-items. These set out reporting guidelines for the acupuncture rationale, the details of needling, the treatment regimen, other components of treatment, the practitioner background, and the control or comparator interventions. In addition, and as part of this revision process, the explanations for each item have been elaborated, and examples of good reporting for each item are provided. In addition, the word "controlled" in STRICTA is replaced by "clinical," to indicate that STRICTA is applicable to a broad range of clinical evaluation designs, including uncontrolled outcome studies and case reports. It is intended that the revised STRICTA, in conjunction with both the main CONSORT Statement and extension for nonpharmacologic treatment, will raise the quality of reporting of clinical trials of acupuncture. [source]

IS TRUST A DRIVER FOR TERRITORIALLY EMBEDDED INDUSTRIAL SYSTEMS?

GEOGRAFISKA ANNALER SERIES B: HUMAN GEOGRAPHY, Issue 4 2007
A CASE STUDY OF THE HOME-BUILDING INDUSTRY IN NORWAY
ABSTRACT Trust is said to be necessary for creating and maintaining territorially embedded industrial systems. On the basis of data for the Norwegian home-building sector, this article analyses trust and price competition; how trust is built and dismantled; and trust and place. The main findings are that: trust and price competition interact, but trust is more important in the design and planning phases than in the construction phase; economic factors are important for building trust, together with competence and team work; and trust is related to space, partly through places embodied in trust and partly through trust embedded in places. However, this embeddedness is not like that which has long been claimed to exist in territorially embedded industrial systems, but embeddedness where trust acts as a reinforcement, contingent upon other factors, as a capacity restraint and a socially constructed need for face-to-face meetings. [source]

Using Nursing Interventions Classification as a Framework to Revise the Belgian Nursing Minimum Data Set

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF NURSING TERMINOLOGIES AND CLASSIFICATION, Issue 3 2009
Koen Van den Heede PhD
Nursing Interventions Classification (NIC); Minimale Verpleegkundige Gegevens; ontwikkeling van consensus PURPOSE., To develop the revised Belgian nursing minimum data set (B-NMDS). METHODS., The Nursing Interventions Classification (NIC, 2nd edition) was used as a framework. Six expert nurse panels (cardiology, oncology, intensive care, pediatrics, geriatrics, chronic care) were consulted. Seventy-nine panelists completed standardized e-mail questionnaires and discussed results in face-to-face meetings. FINDINGS., We initially selected 256 of 433 NIC interventions. After panel discussions, plenary meetings, and pretesting, the revised B-NMDS (alpha version) contained 79 items covering 22 NIC classes and 196 NIC interventions. CONCLUSIONS., Consensus building promoted acceptance of the B-NMDS, while the NIC provided a good theoretical basis and guaranteed international comparability. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING PRACTICE., The revised B-NMDS instrument can be used to visualize nursing activities in different applications (e.g., financing, staffing allocation). DOELSTELLING., Ontwikkeling van een nieuwe versie van de Minimale Verpleegkundige Gegevens (MVG). METHODE., De Nursing Interventions Classification (NIC, 2nd editie) werd gebruikt als raamwerk. Zes experten panels (cardiologie, oncologie, intensieve zorgen, pediatrie, geriatrie, chronische zorg) werden geraadpleegd. Zeven-en-negentig panelleden vulden gestandaardiseerde e-mail vragenlijsten in en bediscussieerden de resultaten in werkgroepvergaderingen. RESULTATEN., We selecteerden initieel 256 van de 433 NIC-interventies. Na panel-discussies, plenaire vergaderingen, en pre-tests, bevatte de herziene MVG (alpha versie) 79 items uit 22 NIC klassen en 196 NIC-interventies. CONCLUSIES., Het draagvlak voor de herziene versie van MVG werd gecreëerd door het nastreven van consensus. Het gebruik van NIC vormde hierbij een geode theoretische basis en verhoogt het internationaal karakter van de nieuwe MVG. IMPLICATIES VOOR DE VERPLEEGKUNDIGE PRAKTIJK., De nieuwe MVG kan gebruikt worden om de dagelijkse verpleegkundige praktijk zichtbaar te maken in verschillende beleidsdomeinen (e.g., financiering, toewijzing personeel). [source]

Multi-stream video conferencing over a peer-to-peer network

BELL LABS TECHNICAL JOURNAL, Issue 2 2010
Adriaan J. de Lind van Wijngaarden
Video conferencing is becoming an increasingly desirable alternative to face-to-face meetings. Many companies and organizations have multiple locations, and their employees' communication options are typically limited to audio-only conference calls. These are often ineffective because of the limited level of interaction between the participants. Video conferencing is seen as a promising alternative to increase efficiency and reduce carbon emissions by mitigating the need for travel. However, current video conferencing solutions are either too expensive, require dedicated equipment and infrastructure, or are too cumbersome to implement on an individual location basis for widespread use. Low cost solutions usually provide neither the desired level of interaction nor the consistent quality needed for corporate communications. In this paper, we propose a novel hybrid video conferencing architecture that incorporates peer-to-peer communication functions for media distribution. In addition, new concepts, such as novel video cameras, cordless camera adaptors, a two-sided display, and a device that provides bidirectional remote presence are presented to enhance the experience for the remote participants. The proposed solution aims to significantly improve collaboration across sites, thus enhancing remote workplace effectiveness through low cost video conferencing, reducing the need for travel, and serving as an important enabler for eco-sustainability. © 2010 Alcatel-Lucent. [source]