scholarly journals Validity of ultrasonography derived predictions for estimating skeletal muscle volume- A systematic literature review

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rasmus Liegnell ◽  
Fredrik Wessman ◽  
Adel Shalabi ◽  
Marita Harringe

Abstract Background: The amount of muscle mass or muscle volume (MV) varies between individuals and is important for health, wellbeing, and performance. Imaging is a useful tool to monitor MV, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is considered gold standard. MRI are not always easily accessible, and the measurements are expensive, therefore ultrasonography (US) has become a more accessible method for estimating MV. Methods: A systematic literature review was conducted in the electronic databases PubMed, CINHAL and Web of Science with the purpose of collecting the current published equations to estimate MV with US and answering the following question: How well does US derived equations based on muscle thickness (MT) predict MV based on MRI? Results: The literature search resulted in 363 citations. Twelve articles met the eligibility criteria and were included. Ten articles scored eight out of eleven on the QUADAS score and two scored nine out of eleven. 36 different prediction equations were identified. Correlations were good, r values ranged between 0.53-0.961 and the standard error of estimates (SEE) ranged between 6-25.6%. Eight studies did further analysis with a Bland-Altman plot and found no systematic errors. The overall strength and quality of the evidence was rated as “low quality” as defined by the GRADE system. Conclusions: We conclude that the validity of US derived equations based on MT is specific to the populations from where it is developed. The agreement with MV based on MRI is moderate with SEE ranging between 6-12% in healthy populations. Suggestions for future research are to investigate if testing positions or increasing the number of measuring points could improve the validity for prediction equations.

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Rasmus Liegnell ◽  
Fredrik Wessman ◽  
Adel Shalabi ◽  
Marita Harringe

Abstract Background The amount of muscle volume (MV) varies between individuals and is important for health, well-being and performance. Therefore, the monitoring of MV using different imaging modalities is important. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is considered the gold standard, but is not always easily accessible, and the examinations are expensive. Ultrasonography (US) is a much less expensive imaging method widely used to measure changes in muscle thickness (MT). Whether MT may translate into MV needs further investigation. Purpose The aim of this review is to clarify whether US-derived equations based on MT predict MV based on MRI. Methods A systematic literature review was conducted according to the PRISMA statement, searching the electronic databases PubMed, CINAHL and Web of Science, for currently published equations to estimate MV with US. Results The literature search resulted in 363 citations. Twelve articles met the eligibility criteria. Ten articles scored eight out of eleven on QUADAS and two scored nine. Thirty-six prediction equations were identified. R values ranged between 0.53 and 0.961 and the standard error of the estimate (SEE) ranged between 6 and 12% for healthy adult populations, and up to 25.6% for children with cerebral palsy. Eight studies evaluated the results with a Bland–Altman plot and found no systematic errors. The overall strength and quality of the evidence was rated “low quality” as defined by the GRADE system. Conclusions The validity of US-derived equations based on MT is specific to the populations from which it is developed. The agreement with MV based on MRI is moderate with the SEE ranging between 6 and 12% in healthy adult populations. Suggestions for future research include investigations as to whether testing positions or increasing the number of measuring sites could improve the validity for prediction equations.


2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 ◽  
pp. 1-14
Author(s):  
Muhammet Gul ◽  
Ali Fuat Guneri

The increased focus of people on the quality of health care in recent years has led hospital owners to develop strategies and policies to improve medical services through the establishment of new hospitals. For hospitals to be competitive, the hospitalʼs location and proximity to potential patients are considered crucial factors in establishing new hospitals. In this context, evaluating and selecting the most suitable hospital location to establish a new hospital from the multicriteria decision-making (MCDM) perspective is a priority for the entrepreneurs or government to gain a competitive advantage. Therefore, this study aims to present a systematic literature review of the hospital location selection problem considering the applied methods and application areas. The preferred reporting items for systematic review and meta-analysis statement (PRISMA) are used as a reference framework. Initially, known electronic databases (Web of science, IEEEXplore, Scopus, Science direct, and Google Scholar) were searched up to the early 2021. A number of 47 articles are selected and analyzed under this systematic framework based on inclusion-exclusion points. State-of-the-art developments in adopting MCDM methods and their fuzzy extensions are summarized. All the articles have been examined in a systematic taxonomy to find answers to six research questions (trend, country of origin, outlet journal, MCDM methods used, MCDM environment and criteria type, and decision criteria used). Results show that (1) AHP and GIS-based MCDM models are the most contributing approaches to the solution of this problem, (2) location selection criteria are mostly cost, demand, environment, population, government, competition in the market, and distance to some important places, (3) the fuzzy structure is also preferred in addition to the MCDM structure depending on the crisp data type, and (4) the location selection criteria are mostly considered subjective. We pay attention to promising directions that can dominate future research in this field from a methodological or applicability perspective. This study shows the current views and opportunities for researchers and practitioners and acts as a guide to encourage more creative studies in this field.


Signals ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
pp. 771-802
Author(s):  
Sandeep Pirbhulal ◽  
Vasileios Gkioulos ◽  
Sokratis Katsikas

In recent times, security and safety are, at least, conducted in safety-sensitive or critical sectors. Nevertheless, both processes do not commonly analyze the impact of security risks on safety. Several scholars are focused on integrating safety and security risk assessments, using different methodologies and tools in critical infrastructures (CIs). Bayesian networks (BN) and graph theory (GT) have received much attention from academia and industries to incorporate security and safety features for different CI applications. Hence, this study aims to conduct a systematic literature review (SLR) for co-engineering safety and security using BN or GT. In this SLR, the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses recommendations (PRISMA) are followed. Initially, 2295 records (acquired between 2011 and 2020) were identified for screening purposes. Later on, 240 articles were processed to check eligibility criteria. Overall, this study includes 64 papers, after examining the pre-defined criteria and guidelines. Further, the included studies were compared, regarding the number of required nodes for system development, applied data sources, research outcomes, threat actors, performance verification mechanisms, implementation scenarios, applicability and functionality, application sectors, advantages, and disadvantages for combining safety, and security measures, based on GT and BN. The findings of this SLR suggest that BN and GT are used widely for risk and failure management in several domains. The highly focused sectors include studies of the maritime industry (14%), vehicle transportation (13%), railway (13%), nuclear (6%), chemical industry (6%), gas and pipelines (5%), smart grid (5%), network security (5%), air transportation (3%), public sector (3%), and cyber-physical systems (3%). It is also observed that 80% of the included studies use BN models to incorporate safety and security concerns, whereas 15% and 5% for GT approaches and joint GT and BN methodologies, respectively. Additionally, 31% of identified studies verified that the developed approaches used real-time implementation, whereas simulation or preliminary analysis were presented for the remaining methods. Finally, the main research limitations, concluding remarks and future research directions, are presented


2019 ◽  
pp. 096973301988171
Author(s):  
Ina Luichies ◽  
Anne Goossensen ◽  
Hanneke van der Meide

Background: More and more adults in their fifties and sixties are confronted with the need to support their ageing parents. Although many aspects of filial caregiving have been researched, a well-documented and comprehensive overview of the caregiving experience is lacking. Aim: This study aims for a better understanding of the caregiving experience of adult children by generating an overview of main themes in international research. Method: A literature review of qualitative studies, focusing on the experiences of adult children caring for their ageing parents, was performed. The electronic EBSCO databases Academic Search Premier, CINAHL and PsycINFO, and Google Scholar were searched to identify relevant qualitative studies published between 2000 and 2017. The ‘SPIDER’ eligibility criteria directed the approach. The quality of studies included was screened with the assessment sheet designed by Hawker and colleagues. The experiences reported were analysed and themes were synthesized. Ethical consideration: Ethical requirements were respected in every phase of the research process. Findings: Nineteen qualitative studies met the inclusion criteria. The quality of the relationship with the parent appears to be an important determinant of the children’s caregiving experience. Within this context, three themes were found: caregiving as an emotional rollercoaster, a normatively demanding experience and an opportunity for personal development. Discussion: Children caring for their ageing parents have to deal with a wide range of contradicting and conflicting norms and values. Implications for healthcare professionals and future research have been discussed. Conclusion: Caring for ageing parents is a continuous quest for giving the best possible care and living up to one’s personal values, within the context of the parent’s declining health. Professionals who support filial caregivers should address not only practical responsibilities but also the normative questions and moral considerations caregivers are dealing with.


2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 318-337
Author(s):  
KHURRAM SHAHZAD KHAN ◽  
ABDUL ZAHID KHAN ◽  
MOHAMMAD BASHIR KHAN

The major dilemma of marketing professionals is to justify the investment or expenditure on activities related to consumer engagement. Antecedents of consumer engagement are deeply rooted in the unique and specific differences that countries and/or regions present in terms of their social, legal, economic, political, and technological dimensions. Antecedents must be different for consumers from country a, region 1 than country b, region 2. There cannot be a commonality of antecedents for the 196 countries in the world. This research is among the first steps to make it possible. First, this research performed rigorous systematic literature review to consolidate all antecedents of consumer engagement acknowledged in previous quality research papers. Second, a systematic endeavour to generalize the antecedents of consumer engagement that fits all situation and context. The third contribution is the future research agenda of consumer engagement that is yet to be explored. For this purpose, strict inclusion and exclusion criteria implemented. Among hundreds of articles, a total 42 articles were selected, which fulfilled the criteria. Strict criteria were necessary to improve the quality of work. The study compiled all the antecedents in a table and concluded some highly ranked and high-frequency antecedents. A total of 22 antecedents were concluded among which, the study has discussed the topmost highly relevant yet most essential antecedents of consumer engagement. This study generalized the antecedents under broader terms. These top antecedents which are most essential are social, value, identity, interaction, involvement, experience, satisfaction, information, attachment, and participation. In the analysis part, all top antecedents discussed along with future research directions. Keywords: Consumer Engagement, Customer Engagement, Systematic Literature Review, SLR.


Author(s):  
Sofía Orazi ◽  
Lisana Belén Martinez ◽  
Hernán Pedro Vigier

Microfinance is a set of services specially designed to meet the demands of the population with less economic resources. The most important aim is focused on improving the quality of life of people and increasing their income and investment in education and health. As area of study, a remarkable increase can be identified from the beginning of the twenty-fist century, gaining importance over the years given that microfinance has achieved the recognition of international organizations in the fight against poverty. The present work carried out a Systematic Literature Review on microfinance, analyzing the volume of publication and the main countries and journals that address the subject of study, in Scopus and SciELO databases. At the same time, we detected the books available for consultation in different national libraries that refer to microfinance in Argentina. Finally, we summarized those works that focus on the economic situation of Argentine microfinance market and which are published in these databases. The aim was to identify the main characteristics of this market, its state of development and to obtain an overview of the possible obstacles it faces to expand in a sustainable manner. In addition, we sought to explore the key gaps in the literature and provide some suggestions for future research.


2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 515-535
Author(s):  
Sunil Nandankar ◽  
Amit Sachan

Purpose Despite the substantial research in the domain of electronic procurement adoption, usage and performance (EP AUP), there is no structured review of these studies and most of the literature is in fragmented form. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to investigate and synthesize EP AUP research in the past two decades and map key research approaches, prevailing theories and antecedents used by researchers to study EP AUP at the individual user and organizational level. Design/methodology/approach To evaluate and comprehend past and current patterns/themes in the EP AUP research area, a systematic literature review is undertaken. Significant peer-reviewed studies covering three categories – adoption, usage and performance and seven classification criteria are critically reviewed. Findings The findings reveal that most investigators mainly used “technology acceptance model,” “technology–organization–environment” framework and their extensions, demonstrating that “perceived ease of use,” “perceived usefulness,” “trust,” “organizational size,” “organizational readiness” and “behavioral intentions” are the most critical drivers of EP AUP. Research limitations/implications For researchers and practitioners, the review highlights a taxonomy of contextual factors to be considered for successful EP AUP. It further makes suggestions for future research meeting challenges of Industry-4.0. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first systematic literature review undertaken in the field of EP that studies it from three different perspectives. It further builds on the determinants of EP AUP and classifies them in four distinct categories: organizational, individual, information system level and environmental.


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (18) ◽  
pp. 7705
Author(s):  
George Lăzăroiu ◽  
Luminița Ionescu ◽  
Mihai Andronie ◽  
Irina Dijmărescu

In this article, we cumulate previous research findings indicating that organizations advance to superior phases of environmental management development in order to attain corporate sustainability by the use of participative decision-making. We contribute to the literature on corporate sustainability management and performance by showing that the correlation between sustainable development governance, organizational knowledge, sustainable organizational development, and corporate sustainability, which shapes corporate environmental and sustainability management. Throughout June 2020, we conducted a quantitative literature review of ProQuest, Scopus, and the Web of Science databases, with search terms including “corporate sustainability”, “corporate sustainability management”, “corporate sustainability performance”, “sustainability reporting”, “sustainable supply chain management”, “sustainable corporate development”, and “environmental management systems”. As we inspected research published exclusively in the past two years, only 338 articles met the eligibility criteria. By eliminating the findings that were questionable, unsubstantiated by replication, or too general, and due to space limitations, we selected 93, mainly empirical, sources. Future research should investigate whether corporate governance systems, through organizational sustainability practices and performance reporting, can shape operational environmental sustainability and sustainable organizational culture.


2020 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 385-405 ◽  
Author(s):  
Priyabrata Chowdhury ◽  
Sanjoy Kumar Paul

PurposeCorporate sustainability (CS) is becoming a popular research topic. In recent years, researchers have conducted a significant number of studies in this area. Although a number of those studies have used a variety of multicriteria decision-making (MCDM) methods, to date there is no systematic literature review of this area of research. This paper fulfills this research gap.Design/methodology/approachThe authors use a systematic literature review and bibliometric analysis approach to analyze the applications of MCDM methods in research on CS.FindingsThe authors have observed that both single and integrated MCDM methods have been used in this domain; however, single MCDM methods are dominant. Further, this review shows that most of the integrated methods use only two MCDM methods and that there has been no comparison of results obtained from different MCDM methods. After reviewing these developments and summarizing the findings, the authors propose directions for future research, including investigating and formulating strategies for specific CS initiatives, integrating three or more MCDM methods, integrating MCDM methods with optimization techniques, analyzing results from a small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) perspective, reconsidering the tenets of existing theories via MCDM methods, and comparing the results of studies of CS in different kinds of economies, as well as the results of using different MCDM methods.Originality/valueTo the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first study that has conducted a systematic literature review to analyze applications of MCDM methods to different aspects of corporate sustainability, including enablers of and barriers to CS, the evaluation and design of CS initiatives, system or strategy formulation, and performance evaluation, among others.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document