Current Issues in the Treatment of Deep Sensoneural Hearing Loss and Deafness in Kyrgyzstan

This article presents the main issues of the relevance of the spread of severe hearing loss and deafness in Kyrgyzstan, leading to permanent disability of patients, especially children. Despite significant technological progress and constant improvement of digital sound processing for cochlear implantation and hearing aids, in Kyrgyzstan, for a number of reasons, there are significant difficulties for their widespread implementation due to the lack of necessary government programs and appropriate funding.

AN EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS OF THE BARRIERS OF TRANSITION FROM THE FOURTH INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION TECHNOLOGIES PILOT PHASE TO WIDESPREAD ADOPTION

Nowadays business processes in industrial companies are undergoing significant changes under the influence of the trends of the fourth industrial revolution, and the pace and scale of the spread of digital technologies has significantly accelerated due to the coronavirus pandemic. The technological basis for the digital transformation of industrial companies is the industrial Internet of things, cloud computing and blockchain, the collection of big data and their subsequent analytics, machine learning technologies, digital twins, human-machine interaction, including virtual and augmented reality, robotics and automation.Even though the technologies of the fourth industrial revolution can transform the activities of enterprises and increase their efficiency, today most of the projects do not move from the pilot stage to widespread implementation in the company. The purpose of this study is to identify and assess the main barriers that impede the successful implementation of digital technology implementation projects.At the first stage of the study based on a review of domestic and foreign literature, as well as in-depth interviews with experts, groups of barriers were identified and verified that impede the implementation of digital technologies in industrial companies: economic and financial, managerial, competence, regulatory and technological barriers. Also, questionnaires were developed for the quantitative stage of the study.At the second stage of the study, a quantitative assessment of the strength of the influence of barriers was carried out. The barriers with the greatest influence are lack of funds, the need to attract large amounts of funding, and insufficient support from the organization’s management. According to the analysis, the least significant barriers for companies include the complexity of introducing new technologies and the need to change the company’s business model.At the end of the work, a list of proposals was developed to overcome the barriers to the transition from the stage of pilot implementation of technologies of the fourth industrial revolution to widespread implementation.

Digital transformation in topographic databases

The increasingly widespread implementation of databases with geographical component, as well as the impregnation of geolocation culture, is driving a transformation in the storage, management and exploitation of geospatial information. Real-world elements go from being modeled as mere geometric representations, with just cartographic purposes, to be features with their own entity. Unique identifiers and lifecycle management are assigned to these features, allowing interactions between feature instances from different databases, that is, facilitating digital transformation and, therefore, increasing exponentially the exploitation possibilities.In this regard, the National Geographic Institute of Spain (IGN, by its Spanish acronym) have implemented several processes in its National Topographic Database, such as the connection with the cadastral information, in order to take advantage of its updates and give feedback to improve cadastral data; or the link with the information, in addresses form, provided from different public administration, that is processed to geolocate features in the topographic database. Likewise, work is being done in order to implement new processes that allow linking with other data sets.These processes, in addition to reusing information produced by different public administrations, constitute an advance towards the objective of geospatial information databases continuous updating.

Elevating neuroscience literacy and an approach for physiologists

The field of neuroscience has made notable strides that have contributed to progress and change in a number of academic pursuits. However, the lack of understanding of basic neuroscience concepts among the general public is likely to hinder, and in some instances possibly even prevent, the appropriate application of scientific advancements to issues facing society today. Greater neuroscience literacy among the general public is necessary for the benefits of neuroscientific discovery to be fully realized. By actively enhancing neuroscience literacy, scientists can dispel falsehoods established by early research that harmed underrepresented communities, ensure that public conversations concerning neuroscience (e.g., legalization of psychotropic substances) revolve around facts, and empower individuals to make better health decisions. The widespread implementation of communication technologies and various forms of media indicate there are numerous means to engage classroom learners across disciplines and age cohorts and the public to increase neuroscience knowledge. Thus, it is not only necessary but timely that neuroscientists seek meaningful ways to bridge the widening knowledge gap with the public.

Mission-Based Filters in the Electronic Residency Application Service: Saving Time and Promoting Diversity

ABSTRACT Background Holistic review promotes diversity, but widespread implementation remains limited. Objective We aimed to develop a practical approach to incorporate holistic review principles in screening applicants in the Electronic Residency Application Service (ERAS) and to assess the impact on diversity. Methods Three residency programs (internal medicine [IM], pediatrics, and surgery) at McGovern Medical School developed filters to identify applicants with experiences/attributes aligned with the institutional mission. These filters were retroactively applied to each program's 2019–2020 applicant pool using built-in ERAS capabilities to group applicants by user-defined features. We compared the demographics of applicants reviewed during the cycle with those identified retrospectively through experiences/attributes filters. Results The IM, pediatrics, and surgery programs received 3527, 1341, and 1313 applications, respectively, in 2019–2020. Retrospective use of experiences/attributes filters, without scores, narrowed the IM applicant pool for review to 1301 compared to 1323 applicants reviewed during actual recruitment, while the pediatrics filters identified 514 applicants compared to 384 at baseline. The surgery filters resulted in 582 applicants, but data were missing for baseline comparison. Compared to the baseline screening approach utilizing scores, mission-based filters increased the proportions of underrepresented in medicine applicants selected for review in IM (54.8% [95% CI 52.1–57.5] vs 22.7% [20.4–24.9], P < .0001) and pediatrics (63.2% [95% CI 59.1–67.4] vs 25.3% [20.9–29.6], P < .0001). Conclusions Program directors can leverage existing ERAS features to conduct application screening in alignment with holistic review principles. Widespread implementation could have important repercussions for enhancing physician workforce diversity.

Current and Future Uses of Continuous EEG in the NICU

Continuous EEG (cEEG) is a fundamental neurodiagnostic tool in the care of critically ill neonates and is increasingly recommended. cEEG enhances prognostication via assessment of the background brain activity, plays a role in predicting which neonates are at risk for seizures when combined with clinical factors, and allows for accurate diagnosis and management of neonatal seizures. Continuous EEG is the gold standard method for diagnosis of neonatal seizures and should be used for detection of seizures in high-risk clinical conditions, differential diagnosis of paroxysmal events, and assessment of response to treatment. High costs associated with cEEG are a limiting factor in its widespread implementation. Centralized remote cEEG interpretation, automated seizure detection, and pre-natal EEG are potential future applications of this neurodiagnostic tool.

Fire Resistant Watertight Structural Doors

With the impact of increased fire resistance requirements that NAVSEA is invoking on ship programs, and the lack of structural doors (i.e., watertight) that are also fire resistant, the industry can benefit from having a compliant option for structural doors that maintains the required internal shipboard fire zone boundaries using only one structural door. Currently using either legacy Navy standard watertight single doors or the new standardized family of watertight single doors tested for pressure and shock qualification during the prior NSRP project, would require installation of two doors in close proximity to one another at fire zone boundaries. One that serves as a fire barrier and the other serving to maintain watertight integrity, or some other mitigating design. A fire resistant watertight door design will reduce the area and volume penalty to ship designs compared to alternate methods and will reduce the ship cost due to having fewer doors to purchase and install. Upon incorporation in a revised Navy standard drawing, these drawings are expected to be invoked on current and future shipbuilding contracts, which will provide a strong basis for widespread implementation after the project is completed.

The Barriers and Facilitators to the use of Lifestyle Apps: A Systematic Review of Qualitative Studies (Preprint)

BACKGROUND Mobile Health applications are revolutionising the way healthcare is being delivered. However, current research focusses on apps aimed at monitoring of conditions rather than the prevention of disease. Healthcare apps that prevent disease can be classified as Lifestyle apps (LAs) and encompass mindfulness, exercise and diet apps. In order for widespread implementation of these apps, perspectives of the user must be taken into consideration. Therefore, this systematic literature review identifies the barriers and facilitators to the use of LAs from a user's perspective. OBJECTIVE To both identify the facilitators to the use of LAs from a user perspective as well as identify the barriers to the use of LAs from a user perspective. METHODS A systematic literature review was conducted following PRISMA guidelines. Qualitative articles focussed on a healthy non-diseased population were obtained. Two independent researchers coded the articles and themes were identified. RESULTS Our results found that there were 5 barriers and 5 facilitators to app use. The Facilitators included (1) Motivational Aspects to the User, (2) Effective Marketing and Communication (3) User-Centred Design and Content (4) Humanising Technology (5) Accessibility. The 5 barriers identified were (1) A Non-Conducive, (2) Poor Marketing and Branding (3) Controlling and Invasive, (4) Disengaging Content (5) Inaccessibility CONCLUSIONS By overcoming the barriers of LAs and encouraging the facilitators found, users are more likely to engage with this method of health promotion. Future research must be conducted on the barriers and facilitators to development and distribution of apps in order for LAs to be implemented in widespread healthcare practice. CLINICALTRIAL N/A