bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Towards IMIA 2015 - the IMIA Strategic Plan
Authors: Lorenzi Nancy M. ,   (IMIA President 2004-2007)
Published: March 2018

To report about the IMIA Strategic Plan ‘Towards IMIA 2015’.

Starting in 2004 with a survey of member needs, expectations and wishes, an IMIA task force elaborated this plan. It has been updated by IMIA General Assembly members in 2005 and 2006.

A Conceptual Framework for IMIA’s strategic plan has been elaborated. The IMIA Strategic Planning Framework stresses the following: (1) IMIA aims to improve biomedical research, clinical practice and public health (VISION); (2) IMIA aims to support investigation and development of advanced information systems and technologies (RESEARCH); (3) IMIA aims that its efforts are carried out in accordance with strict ethical and legal rules (BEHAVIORAL RESPONSIBILITY); (4) IMIA aims to promote education for and about biomedical informatics (EDUCATION); (5) IMIA aims to bridge relevant internal and external groups and organizations (RELATIONSHIP); (6) IMIA aims to incorporate multiple individuals, groups and organizations to constitute the IMIA Association. (REACH).

IMIA plays a major global role in the application of information science and technology in the fields of healthcare and research in medical, health and bio informatics. This framework provides IMIA with an excellent opportunity to focus its plans to ensure the highest probability of success is possible.
Electronic Patient Records: Some Answers to the Data Representation and Reuse Challenges
Authors: Meystre S. ,   Managing Editor for the IMIA Yearbook Section on Patient Records
Published: March 2018

To summarize current excellent research in the field of patient records.

Synopsis of the papers selected for the IMIA Yearbook 2007.

The Electronic Patient Record encompasses a broad field of research and development. Some current research topics were selected for this IMIA Yearbook: EHR representation and communication standards, and secondary uses of clinical data for research and decision support. Four excellent papers representing the research in those fields were selected for the Patient Records section.

The best papers selected for this section focus on the analysis and comparison of two important clinical documents representation standards, on direct structured data entry, on the use of Natural Language Processing to detect adverse events, and on the development and evaluation of a clinical text corpus annotated for part-of-speech information.
Advances in Education and Consumer Health Informatics
Authors: Marschollek M. ,   Managing Editor for the IMIA Yearbook Section on Education and Consumer Informatics
Published: March 2018

To summarize current excellent research in the field of education and consumer health informatics.

Synopsis of the articles on education and consumer health informatics selected for the IMIA Yearbook of Medical Informatics 2007.

The consumer health informatics papers selected reflect the growing importance of communication and information retrieval systems in health care both for patients and professionals. Sound exemplary studies point out both the benefit for patients as well as the economic advantages of such systems. On the education sector, an intelligent tutoring system for medical students based on natural language dialogue serves as an example for the advancement and refinement of methods.

The selected articles demonstrate the potential of advanced communication and information systems in health care. The physician-patient relationship though must not be affected by the introduction of these systems in order to ensure acceptance by both patients and physicians. Therefore these tools should be used in addition to current processes, and not as a replacement.
Section 2: Patient Records: Integrating Bioinformatics into Clinical Practice: Progress and Evaluation
Authors: Lang E. ,   Managing Editor for the IMIA Yearbook Section on Bioinformatics
Published: March 2018

To summarize current excellent research in the field of bioinformatics.

Synopsis of the articles selected for the IMIA Yearbook 2007.

Current research in the field of bioinformatics is characterized by careful evaluation of methods and by improved integration of methods into clinical workflows. Ongoing research on genetic causes of diseases is performed on more and better sources of reference data (genome sets and respective annotations), but is still hampered by insufficient, lacking or biased patient data. The application area of bioinformatics has been broadened, leading to amendment or even replacement of traditional methods in fields like characterization of microorganisms. Researchers carry out thorough statistical analyses in order to ensure quality and methodological correctness of new methods based on bioinformatic approaches which are more and more competitive compared to well-established techniques.

The best paper selection of articles on bioinformatics shows examples of excellent research on methods concerning original development as well as quality assurance of previously reported studies. The crucial role of reliable and comprehensive data sources is affirmed, while technical development draws attention to the increasing problem of comparability of data derived some years ago with weaker equipment and those that are of up-to-date quality.
Care Provider Order Entry (CPOE): A Perspective on Factors Leading to Success or to Failure
Authors: Miller R. A. , Ozdas A.
Published: March 2018

Authors provide a perspective on factors leading to successful care provider order entry (CPOE) implementations.

Viewpoint of authors supported by background literature review.

Authors review both benefits and challenges related to CPOE implementation using three guiding principles: (1) a clinical approach to clinical systems, which claims that CPOE implementation is analogous to a “good” clinician delivering care to a patient; (2) a commitment to quality, which advocates that no compromises should be made in implementing system functionality and clinical system content – the highest objective for CPOE implementation is to provide better quality of care and increased safety for patients; (3) a commitment to fairness, as evidenced by respect for individuals and support of local autonomy, which advocates for minimizing disruptions to clinician-users’ workflows, and adequate local control over CPOE system design and evolution, including clinical content management.

Past experiences with CPOE implementation can inform future installation attempts. Sociocultural factors dominate in determining the success of implementation, and should govern technical factors.
The Centre for Health Informatics at the University of New South Wales - a Clinical Informatics Research Centre
Authors: Magrabi F. , Sintchenko V. , Zrimec T. , McDonnell G. , Chung G. , Tsafnat G. , Coiera E.
Published: March 2018

Building a sustainable health system in the 21st Century will require the reinvention of much of the present day system, and the intelligent use of information and communication technologies (ICT) to deliver high quality, safe, efficient and affordable health care. The Centre for Health Informatics (CHI) is Australia’s largest academic research group in this emerging discipline.

Our research is underpinned by a planning process, based on different future scenarios for the health system, which helps us identify longer-term problems needing a sustained research effort. A research competency matrix is used to ensure that the Centre has the requisite core capabilities in the research methods and tools needed to pursue our research program.

The Centre’s work is internationally recognized for its contributions in the development of intelligent search systems to support evidence-based healthcare, developing evaluation methodologies for ICT, and in understanding how communication shapes the safety and quality of health care delivery. Centre researchers also are working on safety models and standards for ICT in healthcare, mining complex gene micro array, medical literature and medical record data, building health system simulation methods to model the impact of health policy changes, and developing novel computational methods to automate the diagnosis of 3-D medical images.

Any individual research group like CHI must necessarily focus on a few areas to allow it to develop sufficient research capacity to make novel and internationally significant contributions. As CHI approaches the end of its first decade, it is becoming clear that developing capacity becomes increasingly challenging as the research territory changes under our feet, and that the Centre will continue to evolve and shift its focus in the years to come.
IMIA – A 40 Year Organizational Overview*
Authors: Huesing S.A.
Published: March 2018

To chronicle the history of IMIA, the International Medical Informatics Association, from 1967 to 2007.

Describing the key events and accomplishments through the terms of office of its presidents.

The IMIA of today has been shaped by the individuals within it. Those influencing and guiding IMIA from its origins to today include its national representatives, Board and Presidents, working group members, regional liaisons, and MedInfo attendees.
Medical Decision Support Systems in Africa
Authors: Bagayoko C. O. , Geissbuhler A. , Bediang G.
Published: March 2018

Objective:
To present an overview of the current state of computerbased medical decision support systems in Africa in the areas of public health, patient care, and consumer support.

Methods:
Scientific and gray literature reviews complemented by expert interviews.

Results:
Various domains of decision support are developed and deployed in Sub-Saharan Africa: public health information systems, clinical decision-support systems, and patient-centred decisionsupport systems.

Conclusions:
Until recently, most of these systems have been deployed by international organizations without a real ownership policy entrusted to the African stakeholders. Many of these endeavours have remained or ceased at the experimentation stage. The multiplicity of organizations has led to the deployment of fragmented systems causing serious interoperability problems. In addition to basic infrastructures, these studies also highlight the importance of good organization, training and support, as key to the success and sustainability of these decision support systems.
An Overview of Education and Training of Medical Informatics in India
Authors: Sarbadhikari S. N. , Gogia S. B.
Published: March 2018

Background:
Medical Informatics in India is still in its infancy. Although the Indian Association for Medical Informatics (IAMI) was foundedin1993, proposed bymajorhealthcaredelivery institutions, the absence of independent career options in medical informatics in India hasresulted eitherinthe exodusofthe needed facultymembersfor supporting education in the field. However, this situation may have been changing in the past few years, but a large gap exists which needs to be filled up quickly. The purpose of this report is to provide an assessment of the present situation of research and training in medical informatics in India, and its implications for future development of the field.

Objectives:
To assess the current situation regarding

the opportunities for research and education in Medical Informatics in India and related issues like availability of career options.

Methods:
Asurveyquestionnairewassentbypostalmailtowell-known Indian institutions engaged in medical informatics training and research. In addition, key stakeholders working towards impartingeducation and awareness on the principles and practice of medical informatics were contacted to provide information about training and researchinmedicalinformaticsinIndia.This was a purposivesamplingbased onpriorknowledge. Theresponseswerethematicallyanalyzed.

Results:
A total of six courses were identified in the survey. These were administered through face to face (F2F), e-learningand other modes of distance learning. In general, most of the students are graduates in medicine (allopathic, homeopathic, ayurvedic), allied sciences (nursing, physiotherapy) and medical administrators or graduates in engineering or library and information sciences. Most of them are also working, thus, the majority of the courses are for part-timers and act as on-job value addition. Most of the courses however do not directly train for jobs. Therefore, as most of the participants are already working somewhere, the question of placement due to the course may not be measurabledirectly. Since most of the students from India are already employed, by attending this course they gain further insights into health informaticsthat they want to pursue as a career.
State of the Art in Clinical Informatics: Evidence and Examples
Authors: McCoy A. B. , Wright A. , Eysenbach G. , Malin B. A. , Patterson E. S. , Xu H. , Sittig D. F.
Published: March 2018

Objective: The field of clinical informatics has expanded substantially in the six decades since its inception. Early research focused on simple demonstrations that health information technology (HIT) such as electronic health records (EHRs), computerized provider order entry (CPOE), and clinical decision support (CDS) systems were feasible and potentially beneficial in clinical practice.

Methods: In this review, we present recent evidence on clinical informatics in the United States covering three themes: 1) clinical informatics systems and interventions for providers, including EHRs, CPOE, CDS, and health information exchange; 2) consumer health informatics systems, including personal health records and web-based and mobile HIT; and 3) methods and governance for clinical informatics, including EHR usability; data mining, text mining, natural language processing, privacy, and security.

Results: Substantial progress has been made in demonstrating that various clinical informatics methodologies and applications improve the structure, process, and outcomes of various facets of the healthcare system.

Conclusion: Over the coming years, much more will be expected from the field. As we move past the “early adopters” in Rogers' diffusion of innovations' curve through the “early majority” and into the “late majority,” there will be a crucial need for new research methodologies and clinical applications that have been rigorously demonstrated to work (i.e., to improve health outcomes) in multiple settings with different types of patients and clinicians.
Usability Methods for Ensuring Health Information Technology Safety: Evidence-Based Approaches Contribution of the IMIA Working Group Health Informatics for Patient Safety
Authors: Kushniruk A. , Nohr C. , Takeda H. , Kuwata S. , Carvalho C. , Bainbridge M. , Kannry J. , Borycki E.
Published: March 2018

Objectives: Issues related to lack of system usability and potential safety hazards continue to be reported in the health information technology (HIT) literature. Usability engineering methods are increasingly used to ensure improved system usability and they are also beginning to be applied more widely for ensuring the safety of HIT applications. These methods are being used in the design and implementation of many HIT systems. In this paper we describe evidence- based approaches to applying usability engineering methods.

Methods: A multi-phased approach to ensuring system usability and safety in healthcare is described. Usability inspection methods are first described including the development of evidence-based safety heuristics for HIT. Laboratory-based usability testing is then conducted under artificial conditions to test if a system has any base level usability problems that need to be corrected. Usability problems that are detected are corrected and then a new phase is initiated where the system is tested under more realistic conditions using clinical simulations. This phase may involve testing the system with simulated patients. Finally, an additional phase may be conducted, involving a naturalistic study of system use under real-world clinical conditions.

Results: The methods described have been employed in the analysis of the usability and safety of a wide range of HIT applications, including electronic health record systems, decision support systems and consumer health applications. It has been found that at least usability inspection and usability testing should be applied prior to the widespread release of HIT. However, wherever possible, additional layers of testing involving clinical simulations and a naturalistic evaluation will likely detect usability and safety issues that may not otherwise be detected prior to widespread system release.

Conclusion: The framework presented in the paper can be applied in order to develop more usable and safer HIT, based on multiple layers of evidence.
Health Informatics in Developing Countries: Systematic Review of Reviews Contribution of the IMIA Working Group Health Informatics for Development
Authors: Otero C. , Marcelo A. , Luna D.
Published: March 2018

Objectives: An evidence-base is important for medicine and health informatics. Despite numerous publications showing the benefits of health informatics, the emergence of health information systems in developing countries has been slower than expected. The aim of this paper is to identify systematic reviews on the domain of health informatics in developing countries, and classify the different types of applications covered.

Methods: A systematic review of reviews was conducted. The literature search spanned the time period between 2000 and 2012 and included PubMed, EMBASE, CINAHL, Scopus, Cochrane Systematic Reviews, LILACS, and Google Scholar. The search term was ‘systematic reviews of health informatics in developing countries’, and transparent and systematic procedures were applied to limit bias at all stages.

Results: Of the 982 identified articles, only 10 met the inclusion criteria and one more article was added in a second manual search, resulting in a total of 11 systematic reviews for the analysis.

Conclusions: Although it was difficult to find high quality resources on the selected domain, the best evidence available allowed us to generate this report and create an incipient review of the state of the art in health informatics in the developing countries. More studies will be needed to optimize the results.
From Usability Testing to Clinical Simulations: Bringing Context into the Design and Evaluation of Usable and Safe Health Information Technologies
Authors: Nohr C. , Jensen S. , Borycki E. M. , Kushniruk A.
Published: March 2018

Objectives: The objective of this paper is to explore human factors approaches to understanding the use of health information technology (HIT) by extending usability engineering approaches to include analysis of the impact of clinical context through use of clinical simulations.

Methods: Methods discussed are considered on a continuum from traditional laboratory-based usability testing to clinical simulations. Clinical simulations can be conducted in a simulation laboratory and they can also be conducted in real-world settings. The clinical simulation approach attempts to bring the dimension of clinical context into stronger focus. This involves testing of systems with representative users doing representative tasks, in representative settings/environments.

Results: Application of methods where realistic clinical scenarios are used to drive the study of users interacting with systems under realistic conditions and settings can lead to identification of problems and issues with systems that may not be detected using traditional usability engineering methods. In conducting such studies, careful consideration is needed in creating ecologically valid test scenarios. The evidence obtained from such evaluation can be used to improve both the usability and safety of HIT. In addition, recent work has shown that clinical simulations, in particular those conducted in-situ, can lead to considerable benefits when compared to the costs of running such studies.

Conclusion: In order to bring context of use into the testing of HIT, clinical simulation, involving observing representative users carrying out tasks in representative settings, holds considerable promise.
Formal Ontologies in Biomedical Knowledge Representation
Authors: Jansen L. , Schulz S.
Published: March 2018

Objectives: Medical decision support and other intelligent applications in the life sciences depend on increasing amounts of digital information. Knowledge bases as well as formal ontologies are being used to organize biomedical knowledge and data. However, these two kinds of artefacts are not always clearly distinguished. Whereas the popular RDF(S) standard provides an intuitive triple-based representation, it is semantically weak. Description logics based ontology languages like OWL-DL carry a clear-cut semantics, but they are computationally expensive, and they are often misinterpreted to encode all kinds of statements, including those which are not ontological.

Method: We distinguish four kinds of statements needed to comprehensively represent domain knowledge: universal statements, terminological statements, statements about particulars and contingent statements. We argue that the task of formal ontologies is solely to represent universal statements, while the non-ontological kinds of statements can nevertheless be connected with ontological representations. To illustrate these four types of representations, we use a running example from parasitology.

Results: We finally formulate recommendations for semantically adequate ontologies that can efficiently be used as a stable framework for more context-dependent biomedical knowledge representation and reasoning applications like clinical decision support systems.
Leitlinie: Medizinischer Thromboseprophylaxestrumpf
Authors: Wienert V. , Waldermann F. , Zabel M. , Rabe E. , Jünger M. , Kahle B. , Földi E.
Published: March 2018

Leitlinien sind systematisch erarbeitete Empfehlungen, um Kliniker und Praktiker bei Entscheidungen über die angemessene Patientenversorgung im Rahmen spezifischer klinischer Umstände zu unterstützen. Leitlinien gelten für so genannte Standard-situationen. Sie berücksichtigen aktuelle, zu den entsprechenden Fragestellungen verfüg-bare wissenschaftliche Erkenntnisse.

Leitlinien bedürfen einer ständigen Überprüfung und eventuell der Änderung auf Basis des wissenschaftlichen Erkenntnisstandes und der Praktikabilität in der täglichen Praxis. Durch die Leitlinien soll die ärztliche Methodenfreiheit nicht eingeschränkt werden. Ihre Beachtung garantiert nicht in jedem Fall den diagnostischen und therapeutischen Erfolg. Leitlinien erheben keinen Anspruch auf Vollständigkeit. Die Entschei-dung über die Angemessenheit der zu ergreifenden Maßnahmen trifft der Arzt oder die Ärztin unter Berücksichtigung der individuellen Problematik.
Stationäre und ambulante Thromboembolieprophylaxe in der Chirurgie und der perioperativen Medizin
Authors: Encke A. , Haas S. , Krauspe R. , Riess H. , Stürmer K. M. , Kopp I. , Lorenz W. , Beckmann M. W. , Breddin H. K. , Gams E. , Gerhardus A. , Gogarten W. , Joppich I. , Kujath P. , Kussmann J. , Mittelkötter U. , Mittelkötter U. , Partsch H. , Pauschert R. , Rabe E. , Rohde U. , Schellong S. , Steudel I. , Swoboda L. , Ulsenheimer K. , Vogt P. M. , Walz P. , Weber H. ,   Mitglieder der Konsensuskonferenz*
Published: March 2018

Präambel: Alle aufgeführten medizinischen Fachgesellschaften haben sich zusammengefunden, um die früheren verschiedenen Empfehlungen zur Thromboembolieprophylaxe zu aktualisieren und in einer gemeinsamen »Leitlinie zur stationären und ambulanten Thromboembolieprophylaxe in der perioperativen Medizin« zusammenzufassen. Dazu wurden in einem ersten Schritt durch eine Konsensuskonferenz mit nominalem Gruppenprozess die früheren Empfehlungen (Fassung vom Juni 2000) überarbeitet (S2-Leitlinie). Dies erschien notwendig, um neue Therapieprinzipien und neu zugelassene Medikamente zu berücksichtigen. Als nächster Schritt erfolgt die Weiterentwicklung der vorliegenden Leitlinie nach der Vorgaben der 3. Stufe der Leitlinienentwicklung der AWMF (S3-Leitlinie).
The Effect of Preoperative Biliary and Pancreatic Drainage on Postoperative Pancreatic Fistula: A Retrospective Cohort Study
Authors: Manipadam John , S. Mahesh , Kadamapuzha Jacob , H. Ramesh
Published: March 2018

Background Surgeons and endoscopists welcome routine preoperative biliary drainage prior to pancreaticoduodenectomy despite evidence that it increases complications. Its effect on postoperative pancreatic fistula is variably reported in literature. Simultaneous biliary and pancreatic drainage is rarely performed for very selected indications and its effects on postoperative pancreatic fistula are largely unknown. Our aim was to analyze the same while eliminating confounding factors.

Methods Retrospective single center cohort study of patients who underwent pancreaticoduodenectomy over the past 10 years for carcinoma obstructing the lower common bile duct. Patients who underwent biliary stenting alone, biliary and pancreatic stenting, and no stenting prior to pancreaticoduodenectomy were the three study cohort groups and their records were scrutinized for the incidence of postoperative pancreatic fistula.

Results Sixty-two patients underwent biliary stenting alone, 5 patients underwent both biliary and pancreatic stenting, and 237 patients were not stented in the adenocarcinoma group without chronic pancreatitis. The pancreatic fistula rate was similar in the patients who underwent biliary stenting alone when compared with the group which was not stented. (24/62 versus 67/237, odds ratio [OR] =0.619, confidence interval (CI) =0.345–1.112, p = 0.121). However, the patients who underwent both biliary and pancreatic stenting had a significant increase in postoperative pancreatic fistula compared with the not stented (p = 0.003). By univariate and multivariate analysis using Firth logistic regression, pancreatic texture (OR = 1.205, CI = 0.103–2.476, p = 0.032) and the presence of a biliary and pancreatic stent (OR = 2.695, CI = 0.273–7.617, p = 0.027) were the significant factors affecting pancreatic fistula.

Conclusion Preoperative biliary drainage alone has no significant influence on postoperative pancreatic fistula except when combined with pancreatic stenting. We need more such studies from other centers to confirm that the rare event of preoperative biliary and pancreatic stenting has indeed this harmful effect on healing of postoperative pancreatic anastomosis.
Personal Health Informatics. Editorial
Authors: Kulikowski C. A. , Geissbuhler A.
Published: March 2018

To provide an editorial introduction to the 2012 IMIA Yearbook of Medical Informatics with an overview of its contents and contributors.

A brief overview of the main theme, and an outline of the purposes, contents, format, and acknowledgment of contributions for the 2012 IMIA Yearbook.

This 2012 issue of the IMIA Yearbook highlights important developments in personal health informatics, impacting the activities in research, education and practice in this interdisciplinary field.

There has been steady progress towards introducing individualization or personalization into informatics systems by taking advantage of the increasing amounts of personal information that is relevant to medical decisions and application in clinical practice. At the same time, there are serious issues about the limits of existing systems being able to effectively personalize information within both practical and ethical constraints so critical to the practice of medicine. Recent literature bearing on these questions includes the selected papers published during the past 12 months, and articles reported by IMIA Working Groups on these topics.

Surveys of the main research sub-fields in biomedical informatics in the Yearbook provide an overview of progress and current challenges across the spectrum of the discipline, focusing on the challenges and opportunities involved in personal health informatics.
Personal Health and Consumer Informatics
Authors: Guardia A. , Boyer B. C. ,   Section Editors for the IMIA Yearbook Sections on Personal Health Informatics and on Consumer Informatics
Published: March 2018

To summarize current outstanding research in the field of Personal Health and Consumers Informatics.

A selection of excellent research articles published in 2011 in the field of Personal Health Informatics and Consumer Informatics.

This selection of articles shows that Personal Health Informatics is changing. Indeed, the different solutions tended to the doctors and their interaction, but also tended to the patient in order for him to be more active in his own medical healthcare. The consumer section highlights the development of the social network and the possible limitations.
Business Process Modelling is an Essential Part of a Requirements Analysis
Authors: de Lusignan S. , Krause P. , Michalakidis G. , Vicente M. , Thompson S. , McGilchrist M. , Sullivan F. , van Royen P. , Agreus L. , Desombre T. , Taweel A. , Delaney B.
Published: March 2018

To perform a requirements analysis of the barriers to conducting research linking of primary care, genetic and cancer data.

We extended our initial data-centric approach to include socio-culturalandbusinessrequirements.Wecreatedreferencemodels of core data requirements common to most studies using unified modelling language (UML), dataflow diagrams (DFD) and business process modelling notation (BPMN). We conducted a stakeholder analysis and constructed DFD and UML diagrams for use cases based on simulated research studies. We used research output as a sensitivity analysis.

Differences between the reference model and use cases identified study specific data requirements. The stakeholder analysis identified: tensions, changes in specification, some indifference from data providers and enthusiastic informaticians urging inclusion of socio-cultural context. We identified requirements to collect information at three levels: microdata items, which need to be semantically interoperable, meso-the medical record and data extraction, and macro-the health system and socio-cultural issues. BPMN clarified complex business requirements among data providers and vendors; and additional geographical requirements for patients to be represented in both linked datasets. High quality research output was the norm for most repositories.

Reference models provide high-level schemata of the core data requirements. However, business requirements’ modelling identifies stakeholder issues and identifies what needs to be addressed to enable participation.
Smartphone as a Personal, Pervasive Health Informatics Services Platform: Literature Review
Authors: Wac K.
Published: March 2018

The article provides an overview of current trends in personal sensor, signal and imaging informatics, that are based on emerging mobile computing and communications technologies enclosed in a smartphone and enabling the provision of personal, pervasive health informatics services.

The article reviews examples of these trends from the PubMed and Google scholar literature search engines, which, by no means claim to be complete, as the field is evolving and some recent advances may not be documented yet.

There exist critical technological advances in the surveyed smartphone technologies, employed in provision and improvement of diagnosis, acute and chronic treatment and rehabilitation health services, as well as in education and training of healthcare practitioners. However, the most emerging trend relates to a routine application of these technologies in a prevention/wellness sector, helping its users in self-care to stay healthy.

Smartphone-based personal health informatics services exist, but still have a long way to go to become an everyday, personalized healthcare-provisioning tool in the medical field and in a clinical practice. Key main challenge for their widespread adoption involve lack of user acceptance striving from variable credibility and reliability of applications and solutions as they a) lack evidence-based approach; b) have low levels of medical professional involvement in their design and content; c) are provided in an unreliable way, influencing negatively its usability; and, in some cases, d) being industry-driven, hence exposing bias in information provided, for example towards particular types of treatment or intervention procedures.
IMIA Accreditation of Health Informatics Programs
Authors: Hasman A.
Published: March 2018

To develop a procedure for accrediting health informatics programs.

Development of a procedure for accreditation. Test of the accreditation procedure via a trial including four or five health informatics programs. A site visit committee consisting of three members evaluates the program based on a self-assessment report written by the program and the experiences and observations of the site visit committee during the site visit.

A procedure for accreditation has been developed. The instructions for health informatics programs have been written and a checklist for the site visit committee members is available. In total six subjects are considered, each one consisting of one or more facets. Each facet is judged using its corresponding criterion. Five health informatics programs volunteered. One health informatics program in Finland has already been visited and a report has been produced by the site visit committee. The next site visits are in June and July 2012. The site visit in Finland showed that English summaries of master theses are not enough to get a first impression of the methods used in the thesis. A table of contents is also needed. This information then can be used to select theses written in a language other than English for discussion.

The accreditation procedure document with instructions about writing the self-assessment report was very well structured and the instructions were clear according to the Finnish program. The site visit team could work well with the checklist. Self-assessment report model was very well structured and the instructions were clear.
Stellenwert von Milch und Milchprodukten in der Kinderernährung
Authors: Müller Claudia
Published: March 2018

Milch und Milchprodukte tragen auf Grund ihrer hohen Nährstoffdichte wesentlich zu einer gesunden und vielseitigen Ernährung bei und sollten Bestandteil des täglichen Speiseplans von Kindern und Jugendlichen sein. Diese Lebensmittelgruppe ist u. a. reich an Kalzium, das im Kindes- und Jugendalter für den Aufbau einer maximalen Knochenmasse benötigt wird. Verschiedene Studien zeigen, dass sich der Knochenmineralgehalt durch Supplementation mit Kalzium bzw. vermehrten Milchkonsum bei Kindern und Jugendlichen erhöhte. Vermutlich üben auch andere Inhaltsstoffe der Milch einen positiven Effekt auf den Knochenmineralgehalt aus. Gleichzeitig wurde in Untersuchungen beobachtet, dass eine erhöhte Kalziumaufnahme mit einer geringeren Körpermasse einhergeht. Der Verzehr von Milchprodukten scheint sich des Weiteren positiv auf die Blutfettwerte auszuwirken. Trotz der gesundheitsfördernden Eigenschaften gibt es nach wie vor einige Vorbehalte gegenüber diesen Lebensmitteln, die sich jedoch durch eine wissenschaftlich begründete Argumentation entkräften lassen.
Sicher auch nach vorheriger Thoraxbestrahlung?
Authors: Arnheim Katharina
Published: March 2018

Patienten mit fortgeschrittenem nichtkleinzelligem Lungenkarzinom (NSCLC) können auch nach vorausgegangener Thoraxbestrahlung sicher mit Immun-Checkpointblockern behandelt werden: Das Risiko für die Entwicklung einer Pneumonitis wird durch eine vorherige Radiatio nicht erhöht.
Auf der Suche nach einer effektiven Zweitlinientherapie
Authors: Arnheim Katharina
Published: March 2018

Auch bei Patienten mit malignem Pleuramesotheliom (MPM) könnte die Immuntherapie künftig für eine verbesserte Prognose sorgen: Erste Daten der noch laufenden Phase-2-Studie MAPS-2 mit Nivolumab und Ipilimumab machen Hoffnung.
Deeskalation der Brustkrebs - therapie – ist weniger mehr?
Authors: Heim Thomas M.
Published: March 2018

Das Stichwort Deeskalation war bei der diesjährigen St. Gallen International Breast Cancer Conference in aller Munde. Brusterhaltende Operationen und niedriger dosierte Strahlenbehandlungen sind bereits Standard. Sie zeigen, dass Deeskalation gelingen kann, ohne die Wirksamkeit der Therapie aufs Spiel zu setzen und mit erheblichem Gewinn für das Wohlbefinden der Patientin. Um zu rationalen Deeskalationsstrategien in der systemischen Therapie zu gelangen, wäre eine stärkere Vernetzung der Forschungsaktivitäten notwendig.
Boost auch bei DICS?
Authors: Krome Susanne
Published: March 2018

Das duktale Carcinoma in situ (DICS) besitzt insgesamt eine sehr gute Prognose. Allerdings besteht die Evidenz vor allem aus der Extra polation von Studien zur Therapie invasiver Mammakarzinome. Gleichzeitig wird die optimale Therapie dieser hetero - genen Erkrankung bis heute diskutiert. Eine große retrospektive Analyse (n = 4131) von zehn Zentren der Jahre 1980 bis 2010 ergab jetzt, dass die Radiatio der gesamten Brust (WBRT) nach der Tumor exzision das ipsilaterale Rezidivrisiko um 50 % reduzierte. Frauen mit invasiven Karzinomen profitierten von einer Dosiserhöhung im Tumorbett zusätzlich. Die Analyse wies nun auch einen Vorteil für Patientinnen mit DICS und einer Lebenserwartung von 10-15 Jahren nach: Der Boost verbesserte altersunabhängig die lokale Kontrolle.
Weniger Rezidive nach drei Jahren Imatinib
Authors: Krome Susanne
Published: March 2018

Die Inhibition der KIT-Kinase mit Imatinib hat die Behandlung der Chemotherapieresistenten gastrointestinalen Stromatumoren (GIST) revolutioniert. Schnell stellte sich heraus, dass nicht alle Subgruppen gleichermaßen profitieren. Der Vergleich von ein und drei Jahren adjuvantem Imatinib belegte bei Hochrisiko-Patienten Vorteile der längeren Behandlungsdauer in Abhängigkeit von der genetischen Variante.
Findings from the Section on Bioinformatics and Translational Informatics
Authors: Lecroq T. , Dauchel H. ,   Section Editors for the IMIA Yearbook Section on Bioinformatics and Translational Informatics
Published: March 2018

Objectives
: To summarize excellent current research and propose a selection of best papers published in 2015 in the field of Bioinformatics and Translational Informatics with application in the health domain and clinical care.

Method
: We provide a synopsis of the articles selected for the IMIA Yearbook 2016, from which we attempt to derive a synthetic overview of current and future activities in the field.

As last year, a first step of selection was performed by querying MEDLINE with a list of MeSH descriptors completed by a list of terms adapted to the section. Each section editor has evaluated separately the set of 1,566 articles and the evaluation results were merged for retaining 14 articles for peer-review.

Results
: The selection and evaluation process of this Yearbook's section on Bioinformatics and Translational Informatics yielded four excellent articles focusing this year on data management of large-scale datasets and genomic medicine that are mainly new method-based papers. Three articles explore the high potential of the re-analysis of previously collected data, here from The Cancer Genome Atlas project (TCGA) and one article presents an original analysis of genomic data from sub-Saharan Africa populations.

Conclusions
: The current research activities in Bioinformatics and Translational Informatics with application in the health domain continues to explore new algorithms and statistical models to manage and interpret large-scale genomic datasets. From population wide genome sequencing for cataloging genomic variants to the comprehension of functional impact on pathways and molecular interactions regarding a given pathology, making sense of large genomic data requires a necessary effort to address the issue of clinical translation for precise diagnostic and personalized medicine.
Update Breast Cancer 2018 (Part 2) – Advanced Breast Cancer, Quality of Life and Prevention
Authors: Schneeweiss Andreas , Lux Michael , Janni Wolfgang , Hartkopf Andreas , Nabieva Naiba , Taran Florin-Andrei , Overkamp Friedrich , Kolberg Hans-Christian , Hadji Peyman , Tesch Hans , Wöckel Achim , Ettl Johannes , Lüftner Diana , Wallwiener Markus , Müller Volkmar , Beckmann Matthias , Belleville Erik , Wallwiener Diethelm , Brucker Sara , Schütz Florian , Fasching Peter , Fehm Tanja
Published: March 2018

The treatment of metastatic breast cancer has become more complicated due to increasing numbers of new therapies which need to be tested. Therapies are now being developed to treat special clinical or molecular subgroups. Even though intrinsic molecular subtypes play a major role, more and more new therapies for subgroups and histological subtypes are being developed, such as the use of PARP inhibitors to treat patients with BRCA mutations (breast and ovarian cancer). Supportive therapies are also evolving, allowing problems such as alopecia or nausea and vomiting to be treated more effectively. Treatment-related side effects have a direct impact on the prognosis of patients with metastatic breast cancer, and supportive therapy can improve compliance. Digital tools could be useful to establish better patient management systems. This overview provides an insight into recent trials and how the findings could affect routine treatment. Current aspects of breast cancer prevention are also presented.
A comparative study of the Belt and Road Initiative and the Marshall plan
Authors: Shen Simon , Chan Wilson
Published: March 2018

Since the introduction of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in 2013, both the mainstream media and professional analysts began to name the Initiative “China’s Marshall Plan”. While the rhetoric may simply be an eye-catching term constructed in journalist and consultancy circles, this paper examines the background and purposes behind these two grand projects in order to shed light on the similarities and the differences of their effects on the world order. By comparing the projects under five different aspects—boosting exports, exporting currency, countering a rival, fostering strategic divisions, and siphoning away diplomatic support—this paper argues that while the two projects may have similarities and aim to respond to the malfunctioning world order through macro political-economic investments and developmental aid, their outcomes (given the relative differences of the global position of rivalries—USSR in Marshall Plan; US in BRI) and the changing economic structures, could be very different. As a result, this paper concludes that it may be too early to suggest that the BRI could bring similar outcomes as the Marshall Plan, especially in competing for the global leadership in the 21st century.
Theoretical foundations of quantum hydrodynamics for plasmas
Authors: Moldabekov Zh. A. , Bonitz M. , Ramazanov T. S.
Published: March 2018

Quantum hydrodynamics (QHD) theory for finite temperature plasmas is consistently derived in the framework of the local density approximation of the free energy with first order density gradient correction. Previously known results are revised and improved with a clear description of the underlying approximations. A fully non-local Bohm potential, which goes beyond all previous results and is linked to the electron polarization function in the random phase approximation, for the QHD model is presented. The dynamic QHD exchange correlation potential is introduced in the framework of local field corrections and considered for the case of the relaxation time approximation. Finally, the range of applicability of the QHD is discussed.
The development of shock wave overpressure driven by channel expansion of high current impulse discharge arc
Authors: Xiong Jia-ming , Li Lee , Dai Hong-yu , Wu Hai-bo , Peng Ming-yang , Lin Fu-chang
Published: March 2018

During the formation of a high current impulse discharge arc, objects near the discharge arc will be strongly impacted. In this paper, a high power, high current gas switch is used as the site of the impulse discharge arc. The explosion wave theory and the arc channel energy balance equation are introduced to analyze the development of the shock wave overpressure driven by the high current impulse discharge arc, and the demarcation point of the arc channel is given, from which the energy of the arc channel is no longer converted into shock waves. Through the analysis and calculation, it is found that the magnitude of the shock wave overpressure caused by impulse discharge arc expansion is closely related to the arc current rising rate. The arc shock wave overpressure will undergo a slow decay process and then decay rapidly. The study of this paper will perform the function of deepening the understanding of the physical nature of the impulse arc discharge, which can be used to explain the damage effect of the high current impulse discharge arc.
High order discretization techniques for real-space ab initio simulations
Authors: Anderson Christopher R.
Published: March 2018

In this paper, we present discretization techniques to address numerical problems that arise when constructing ab initio approximations that use real-space computational grids. We present techniques to accommodate the singular nature of idealized nuclear and idealized electronic potentials, and we demonstrate the utility of using high order accurate grid based approximations to Poisson’s equation in unbounded domains. To demonstrate the accuracy of these techniques, we present results for a Full Configuration Interaction computation of the dissociation of H2 using a computed, configuration dependent, orbital basis set.
Stability of Modified Korteweg?de Vries Waves
Authors: Murawski K
Published: March 2018

A nonlinear wave theory is developed on the basis of the Infeld-Rowlands method to study the stability of modified Korteweg-de Vries waves. A general stability criterion is derived in order to show that unstable waves exist.
An Electron Microscope Study of Defect-free YBa2Cu3O7?x (x » 0.15) with Superconductivity at 93 K
Authors: Bursill LA , Goodman P , Patterson JD , Tonner S
Published: March 2018

High resolution electron microscopy has been used to characterise sintered preparations of the mixed oxide YBa2Cu307_x (x::::; 0�15). By carefully controlled processing techniques a single phase defect-free orthorhombic structure having excellent characteristics for use as a high temperature superconductor was obtained. Surface structures and an image of a dislocation are included in this study.
CASA in the medical laboratory: CASA in diagnostic andrology and assisted conception
Authors: Tomlinson Mathew J. , Naeem Asad
Published: March 2018

CASA has been used in reproductive medicine and pathology laboratories for over 25 years, yet the ‘fertility industry’ generally remains sceptical and has avoided automation, despite clear weaknesses in manual semen analysis. Early implementers had difficulty in validating CASA-Mot instruments against recommended manual methods (haemocytometer) due to the interference of seminal debris and non-sperm cells, which also affects the accuracy of grading motility. Both the inability to provide accurate sperm counts and a lack of consensus as to the value of sperm kinematic parameters appear to have continued to have a negative effect on CASA-Mot’s reputation. One positive interpretation from earlier work is that at least one or more measures of sperm velocity adds clinical value to the semen analysis, and these are clearly more objective than any manual motility analysis. Moreover, recent CASA-Mot systems offer simple solutions to earlier problems in eliminating artefacts and have been successfully validated for sperm concentration; as a result, they should be viewed with more confidence in relation to motility grading. Sperm morphology and DNA testing both require an evidence-based consensus and a well-validated (reliable, reproducible) assay to be developed before automation of either can be of real clinical benefit.