The Technology Information Environment with Industry{trademark} system description

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Detry, R.; Machin, G.

The Technology Information Environment with Industry (TIE-In{trademark}) provides users with controlled access to distributed laboratory resources that are packaged in intelligent user interfaces. These interfaces help users access resources without requiring the user to have technical or computer expertise. TIE-In utilizes existing, proven technologies such as the Kerberos authentication system, X-Windows, and UNIX sockets. A Front End System (FES) authenticates users and allows them to register for resources and subsequently access them. The FES also stores status and accounting information, and provides an automated method for the resource owners to recover costs from users. The resources available through TIE-In aremore » typically laboratory-developed applications that are used to help design, analyze, and test components in the nation`s nuclear stockpile. Many of these applications can also be used by US companies for non-weapons-related work. TIE-In allows these industry partners to obtain laboratory-developed technical solutions without requiring them to duplicate the technical resources (people, hardware, and software) at Sandia.« less

Developing a realistic-prototyping road user cost evaluation tool for FDOT.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2008-12-31

The objective of this project is to develop a realistic-prototyping RUC (Road User Cost) calculation tool that is userfriendly : and utilizing limited number of data inputs that are easy to use. The tool can help engineers to estimate RUC on : specif...

Development and preliminary testing of a web-based, self-help application for disaster-affected families.

PubMed

Yuen, Erica K; Gros, Kirstin; Welsh, Kyleen E; McCauley, Jenna; Resnick, Heidi S; Danielson, Carla K; Price, Matthew; Ruggiero, Kenneth J

2016-09-01

Technology-based self-help interventions have the potential to increase access to evidence-based mental healthcare, especially for families affected by natural disasters. However, development of these interventions is a complex process and poses unique challenges. Usability testing, which assesses the ability of individuals to use an application successfully, can have a significant impact on the quality of a self-help intervention. This article describes (a) the development of a novel web-based multi-module self-help intervention for disaster-affected adolescents and their parents and (b) a mixed-methods formal usability study to evaluate user response. A total of 24 adolescents were observed, videotaped, and interviewed as they used the depressed mood component of the self-help intervention. Quantitative results indicated an above-average user experience, and qualitative analysis identified 120 unique usability issues. We discuss the challenges of developing self-help applications, including design considerations and the value of usability testing in technology-based interventions, as well as our plan for widespread dissemination. © The Author(s) 2015.

Designing Better Camels: Developing Effective Documentation for Computer Software.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zacher, Candace M.

This guide to the development of effective documentation for users of computer software begins by identifying five types of documentation, i.e., training manuals, user guides, tutorials, on-screen help comments, and troubleshooting manuals. Six steps in the development process are then outlined and briefly described: (1) planning and preparation;…

GEOSTATISTICS FOR WASTE MANAGEMENT: A USER'S MANUAL FOR THE GEOPACK (VERSION 1.0) GEOSTATISTICAL SOFTWARE SYSTEM

EPA Science Inventory

GEOPACK, a comprehensive user-friendly geostatistical software system, was developed to help in the analysis of spatially correlated data. The software system was developed to be used by scientists, engineers, regulators, etc., with little experience in geostatistical techniques...

Worksheets for computing recommended notebook computer and workstation adjustments.

PubMed

Nanthavanij, Suebsak; Udomratana, Chatkate; Hansawad, Saowalak; Thepkanjana, Jayaporn; Tantasuwan, Wanchalerm

2013-01-01

This paper discusses the design and development of worksheets for helping notebook computer (NBC) users to compute NBC and workstation adjustments so as to assume an appropriate seated posture. The worksheets (one for male users, the other for female ones) require the following information: body height, NBC screen size, work surface height, and seat height. The worksheets contain tables for estimating recommended NBC base angle, NBC screen angle, body-NBC distance, work surface height, and seat height. Additionally, they include flow charts to help NBC users to determine necessary adjustment accessories and their settings.

Developing written information on osteoarthritis for patients: facilitating user involvement by exposure to qualitative research

PubMed Central

Grime, Janet; Dudley, Brian

2011-01-01

Abstract Introduction  In developing a guidebook on osteoarthritis (OA), we collaborated with people who have chronic joint pain (users). But to advise, users need to be aware of and sensitive about their own state of knowledge and educationalists argue that adults sometimes lack such awareness. This paper will report on our experience of providing users with findings from qualitative research to increase awareness of their level of knowledge. Method  A summary of the results from qualitative research into people’s experiences of living with chronic pain was sent to individual members of two groups of users. It was then used to structure group meetings held to help identify information needed for the guidebook. Findings  Some users found the summary difficult to read and suggested how to simplify it. Nevertheless, it helped most users to become aware of the experiences and views of others who have OA and thus become more sensitive to their own level of knowledge. It also helped them recall experiences that stimulated practical suggestions for managing joint pain in everyday life and provided a way of gently challenging the views of users when they appeared to assume that their views were widely held. The discussions brought to light gaps in the research literature. Conclusion  We believe this way of involving users by exposing them to qualitative research findings about lay experiences of living with OA effectively facilitated the users’ contributions to the needs of those who have to live with OA, and we believe it has wider applications. PMID:22070445

Influence of Learning Styles on Graphical User Interface Preferences for e-Learners

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dedic, Velimir; Markovic, Suzana

2012-01-01

Implementing Web-based educational environment requires not only developing appropriate architectures, but also incorporating human factors considerations. User interface becomes the major channel to convey information in e-learning context: a well-designed and friendly enough interface is thus the key element in helping users to get the best…

Orientation to Infant and Toddler Assessment: A User's Guide for the Child Development Assessment Form.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Caballero, Jane; Whordley, Derek

This manual presents guidelines for users of the Child Development Assessment Form (CDAF) -- a 90 item checklist of behaviors characteristic of children from birth to 3 years of age. The CDAF is designed to help parents and teachers identify skills and behaviors that the child has developed and plan learning experiences that facilitate growth. The…

Haptic device for colonoscopy training simulator.

PubMed

Kwon, Jun Yong; Woo, Hyun Soo; Lee, Doo Yong

2005-01-01

A new 2-DOF haptic device for colonoscopy training simulator employing flexible endoscopes, is developed. The user operates the device in translational and roll directions. The developed folding guides of the device keep the endoscope tube straight. This helps transmit large decoupled forces of the colonoscopy simulation to the user. The device also includes a mechanism to detect jiggling motion of the scopes to allow users to practice this important skill of the colonoscopy. The device includes PD controller to compensate the inertia and friction effects. This provides the users with better transparent sensation of the simulation.

Helping Users Help Themselves.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

O'Malley, Claire E.

This discussion of the design of user-initiated help systems in computers focuses on the information that users actively seek to help them with their tasks, with emphasis on how to help users ask the questions that will bridge the gap between the initial internal (mental) form of the query and their information need as expressed by the system.…

Service User Involvement in UK Social Service Agencies and Social Work Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Goossen, Carolyn; Austin, Michael J.

2017-01-01

Forming partnerships with service users became a requirement for social work education programs in the United Kingdom as of 2003, leading to the development of innovative approaches to social work education that involve service users as experts who are helping to teach the future generation of social workers. This article examines the perceptions…

Designing Interaction as a Learning Process: Supporting Users' Domain Knowledge Development in Interaction

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Choi, Jung-Min

2010-01-01

The primary concern in current interaction design is focused on how to help users solve problems and achieve goals more easily and efficiently. While users' sufficient knowledge acquisition of operating a product or system is considered important, their acquisition of problem-solving knowledge in the task domain has largely been disregarded. As a…

Improving Patient Experience and Primary Care Quality for Patients With Complex Chronic Disease Using the Electronic Patient-Reported Outcomes Tool: Adopting Qualitative Methods Into a User-Centered Design Approach.

PubMed

Steele Gray, Carolyn; Khan, Anum Irfan; Kuluski, Kerry; McKillop, Ian; Sharpe, Sarah; Bierman, Arlene S; Lyons, Renee F; Cott, Cheryl

2016-02-18

Many mHealth technologies do not meet the needs of patients with complex chronic disease and disabilities (CCDDs) who are among the highest users of health systems worldwide. Furthermore, many of the development methodologies used in the creation of mHealth and eHealth technologies lack the ability to embrace users with CCDD in the specification process. This paper describes how we adopted and modified development techniques to create the electronic Patient-Reported Outcomes (ePRO) tool, a patient-centered mHealth solution to help improve primary health care for patients experiencing CCDD. This paper describes the design and development approach, specifically the process of incorporating qualitative research methods into user-centered design approaches to create the ePRO tool. Key lessons learned are offered as a guide for other eHealth and mHealth research and technology developers working with complex patient populations and their primary health care providers. Guided by user-centered design principles, interpretive descriptive qualitative research methods were adopted to capture user experiences through interviews and working groups. Consistent with interpretive descriptive methods, an iterative analysis technique was used to generate findings, which were then organized in relation to the tool design and function to help systematically inform modifications to the tool. User feedback captured and analyzed through this method was used to challenge the design and inform the iterative development of the tool. Interviews with primary health care providers (n=7) and content experts (n=6), and four focus groups with patients and carers (n=14) along with a PICK analysis-Possible, Implementable, (to be) Challenged, (to be) Killed-guided development of the first prototype. The initial prototype was presented in three design working groups with patients/carers (n=5), providers (n=6), and experts (n=5). Working group findings were broken down into categories of what works and what does not work to inform modifications to the prototype. This latter phase led to a major shift in the purpose and design of the prototype, validating the importance of using iterative codesign processes. Interpretive descriptive methods allow for an understanding of user experiences of patients with CCDD, their carers, and primary care providers. Qualitative methods help to capture and interpret user needs, and identify contextual barriers and enablers to tool adoption, informing a redesign to better suit the needs of this diverse user group. This study illustrates the value of adopting interpretive descriptive methods into user-centered mHealth tool design and can also serve to inform the design of other eHealth technologies. Our approach is particularly useful in requirements determination when developing for a complex user group and their health care providers.

Software Project Management and Measurement on the World-Wide-Web (WWW)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Callahan, John; Ramakrishnan, Sudhaka

1996-01-01

We briefly describe a system for forms-based, work-flow management that helps members of a software development team overcome geographical barriers to collaboration. Our system, called the Web Integrated Software Environment (WISE), is implemented as a World-Wide-Web service that allows for management and measurement of software development projects based on dynamic analysis of change activity in the workflow. WISE tracks issues in a software development process, provides informal communication between the users with different roles, supports to-do lists, and helps in software process improvement. WISE minimizes the time devoted to metrics collection and analysis by providing implicit delivery of messages between users based on the content of project documents. The use of a database in WISE is hidden from the users who view WISE as maintaining a personal 'to-do list' of tasks related to the many projects on which they may play different roles.

Web usage data mining agent

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Madiraju, Praveen; Zhang, Yanqing

2002-03-01

When a user logs in to a website, behind the scenes the user leaves his/her impressions, usage patterns and also access patterns in the web servers log file. A web usage mining agent can analyze these web logs to help web developers to improve the organization and presentation of their websites. They can help system administrators in improving the system performance. Web logs provide invaluable help in creating adaptive web sites and also in analyzing the network traffic analysis. This paper presents the design and implementation of a Web usage mining agent for digging in to the web log files.

Developing a Software for Fuzzy Group Decision Support System: A Case Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Baba, A. Fevzi; Kuscu, Dincer; Han, Kerem

2009-01-01

The complex nature and uncertain information in social problems required the emergence of fuzzy decision support systems in social areas. In this paper, we developed user-friendly Fuzzy Group Decision Support Systems (FGDSS) software. The software can be used for multi-purpose decision making processes. It helps the users determine the main and…

Users Guide to VSMOKE-GIS for Workstations

Treesearch

Mary F. Harms; Leonidas G. Lavdas

1997-01-01

VSMOKE-GIS was developed to help prescribed burners in the national forests of the Southeastern United States visualize smoke dispersion and to plan prescribed burns. Developed for use on workstations, this decision-support system consists of a graphical user interface, written in Arc/Info Arc Macro Language, and is linked to a FORTRAN computer program. VSMOKE-GIS...

National Stormwater Calculator: A desktop tool that helps users control runoff to promote the natural movement of water

EPA Science Inventory

The primary focus of the National Stormwater Calculator (SWC) is to inform site developers on how well they can meet a desired stormwater retention target, but it can also be used by landscapers and homeowners. The SWC shows users how land use decisions and low impact development...

Sustainable Land Imaging User Requirements

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wu, Z.; Snyder, G.; Vadnais, C. M.

2017-12-01

The US Geological Survey (USGS) Land Remote Sensing Program (LRSP) has collected user requirements from a range of applications to help formulate the Landsat 9 follow-on mission (Landsat 10) through the Requirements, Capabilities and Analysis (RCA) activity. The USGS is working with NASA to develop Landsat 10, which is scheduled to launch in the 2027 timeframe as part of the Sustainable Land Imaging program. User requirements collected through RCA will help inform future Landsat 10 sensor designs and mission characteristics. Current Federal civil community users have provided hundreds of requirements through systematic, in-depth interviews. Academic, State, local, industry, and international Landsat user community input was also incorporated in the process. Emphasis was placed on spatial resolution, temporal revisit, and spectral characteristics, as well as other aspects such as accuracy, continuity, sampling condition, data access and format. We will provide an overview of the Landsat 10 user requirements collection process and summary results of user needs from the broad land imagining community.

SMARTE TUTORIAL CD

EPA Science Inventory

SMARTe is a web-based decision support tool intended to help revitalization practitioners find information, perform data analysis, communicate, and evaluate future reuse options for a site or area. A tutorial was developed to help users navigate SMARTe. This tutorial is approxima...

BUY CLEAN MANUAL INTERACTIVE CD-ROM

EPA Science Inventory

This interactive CD-ROM contains exercises and opportunities to help users develop a Buy Clean Program for janitorial cleaning products. CD users can learn about Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS), complete an inventory list, and compare cleaning products to see which have the le...

"CAN Stop"--implementation and evaluation of a secondary group prevention for adolescent and young adult cannabis users in various contexts--study protocol.

PubMed

Baldus, Christiane; Miranda, Alejandra; Weymann, Nina; Reis, Olaf; Moré, Kerstin; Thomasius, Rainer

2011-04-18

Current research shows that overall numbers for cannabis use among adolescents and young adults dropped in recent years. However, this trend is much less pronounced in continuous cannabis use. With regard to the heightened risk for detrimental health- and development-related outcomes, adolescents and young adults with continuous cannabis use need special attention. The health services structure for adolescents and young adults with substance related problems in Germany, is multifaceted, because different communal, medical and judicial agencies are involved. This results in a rather decentralized organizational structure of the help system. This and further system-inherent characteristics make the threshold for young cannabis users rather high. Because of this, there is a need to establish evidence-based low-threshold help options for young cannabis users, which can be easily disseminated. Therefore, a training programme for young cannabis users (age 14-21) was developed in the "CAN Stop" project. Within the project, we seek to implement and evaluate the training programme within different institutions of the help system. The evaluation is sensitive to the different help systems and their specific prerequisites. Moreover, within this study, we also test the practicability of a training provision through laypersons. The CAN Stop study is a four-armed randomized wait-list controlled trial. The four arms are needed for the different help system settings, in which the CAN Stop training programme is evaluated: (a) the drug addiction aid and youth welfare system, (b) the out-patient medical system, (c) the in-patient medical system and (d) prisons for juvenile offenders. Data are collected at three points, before and after the training or a treatment as usual, and six months after the end of either intervention. The CAN Stop study is expected to provide an evidence-based programme for young cannabis users seeking to reduce or quit their cannabis use. Moreover, we seek to gain knowledge about the programme's utility within different settings of the German help system for young cannabis users and information about the settings' specific clientele. The study protocol is discussed with regard to potential difficulties within the different settings. ISRCTN: ISRCTN57036983.

Addressing Earth Science Data Access Challenges through User Experience Research

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hemmings, S. N.; Banks, B.; Kendall, J.; Lee, C. M.; Irwin, D.; Toll, D. L.; Searby, N. D.

2013-12-01

The NASA Capacity Building Program (Earth Science Division, Applied Sciences Program) works to enhance end-user capabilities to employ Earth observation and Earth science (EO/ES) data in decision-making. Open data access and user-tailored data delivery strategies are critical elements towards this end. User Experience (UX) and User Interface (UI) research methods can offer important contributions towards addressing data access challenges, particularly at the interface of science application/product development and product transition to end-users. This presentation focuses on developing nation contexts and describes methods, results, and lessons learned from two recent UX/UI efforts conducted in collaboration with NASA: the SERVIRglobal.net redesign project and the U.S. Water Partnership (USWP) Portal development effort. SERVIR, a collaborative venture among NASA, USAID, and global partners, seeks to improve environmental management and climate change response by helping governments and other stakeholders integrate EO and geospatial technologies into decision-making. The USWP, a collaboration among U.S. public and private sectors, harnesses U.S.-based resources and expertise to address water challenges in developing nations. SERVIR's study, conducted from 2010-2012, assessed and tested user needs, preferences, and online experiences to generate a more user-friendly online data portal at SERVIRglobal.net. The portal provides a central access interface to data and products from SERVIR's network of hubs in East Africa, the Hindu Kush Himalayas, and Mesoamerica. The second study, conducted by the USWP Secretariat and funded by the U.S. Department of State, seeks to match U.S.-based water information resources with developing nation stakeholder needs. The USWP study utilizes a multi-pronged approach to identify key design requirements and to understand the existing water data portal landscape. Adopting UX methods allows data distributors to design customized UIs that help users find, interpret, and obtain appropriate content quickly. The data access challenge for both SERVIR and USWP consisted of organizing a wide range of content for their respective user bases, which are diverse, international, and in some cases loosely characterized. The UX/UI design approach generated profiles of prototypical users and corresponding task flows and organizational schemes for their preferred types of content. Wireframe acceptance testing by SERVIR helped elicit and optimize how users interact with the information online. These approaches produced customized UIs and knowledge management strategies to address the data access challenges faced by each user type. Both studies revealed critical considerations for user experiences in developing nations (e.g., low-bandwidth internet connections, rolling power outages at data storage or network centers). For SERVIR, these findings influenced not only the portal infrastructure; they also informed the transition of the platform to a Cloud-based model, as well as the development of custom data delivery tools such as SMS and other mobile solutions. While SERVIR's data access solutions are customized for the network's community of users, they are also standardized and interoperable according to GEO and ISO standards, providing a model for other initiatives such as the ongoing USWP Portal development effort.

Learning and Navigation Assistance in a Hypermedia

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Khentout, Chabane; Harous, Saad; Douidi, Lamri; Djoudi, Mahieddine

2006-01-01

Navigating through hypermedia the user faces problems of locating oneself with respect to space and time. That is why there is a need to develop tools that can help the user locate himself to see where he has been browsing through the net during a particular navigation session through hypermedia. It is needed to offer the user a map of the visited…

E-book recommender system design and implementation based on data mining

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Zongjiang

2011-12-01

In the knowledge explosion, rapid development of information age, how quickly the user or users interested in useful information for feedback to the user problem to be solved in this article. This paper based on data mining, association rules to the model and classification model a combination of electronic books on the recommendation of the user's neighboring users interested in e-books to target users. Introduced the e-book recommendation and the key technologies, system implementation algorithms, and implementation process, was proved through experiments that this system can help users quickly find the required e-books.

Harm reduction theory: Users culture, micro-social indigenous harm reduction, and the self-organization and outside-organizing of users’ groups

PubMed Central

Friedman, Samuel R.; de Jong, Wouter; Rossi, Diana; Touzé, Graciela; Rockwell, Russell; Jarlais, Don C Des; Elovich, Richard

2007-01-01

This paper discusses the user side of harm reduction, focusing to some extent on the early responses to the HIV/AIDS epidemic in each of four sets of localities—New York City, Rotterdam, Buenos Aires, and sites in Central Asia. Using available qualitative and quantitative information, we present a series of vignettes about user activities in four different localities in behalf of reducing drug-related harm. Some of these activities have been micro-social (small group) activities; others have been conducted by formal organizations of users that the users organised at their own initiative. In spite of the limitations of the methodology, the data suggest that users’ activities have helped limit HIV spread. These activities are shaped by broader social contexts, such as the extent to which drug scenes are integrated with broader social networks and the way the political and economic systems impinge on drug users’ lives. Drug users are active agents in their own individual and collective behalf, and in helping to protect wider communities. Harm reduction activities and research should take note of and draw upon both the micro-social and formal organizations of users. Finally, both researchers and policy makers should help develop ways to enable and support both micro-social and formally organized action by users PMID:17689353

Development of My Footprint Calculator

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mummidisetti, Karthik

The Environmental footprint is a very powerful tool that helps an individual to understand how their everyday activities are impacting environmental surroundings. Data shows that global climate change, which is a growing concern for nations all over the world, is already affecting humankind, plants and animals through raising ocean levels, droughts & desertification and changing weather patterns. In addition to a wide range of policy measures implemented by national and state governments, it is necessary for individuals to understand the impact that their lifestyle may have on their personal environmental footprint, and thus over the global climate change. "My Footprint Calculator" (myfootprintcalculator.com) has been designed to be one the simplest, yet comprehensive, web tools to help individuals calculate and understand their personal environmental impact. "My Footprint Calculator" is a website that queries users about their everyday habits and activities and calculates their personal impact on the environment. This website was re-designed to help users determine their environmental impact in various aspects of their lives ranging from transportation and recycling habits to water and energy usage with the addition of new features that will allow users to share their experiences and their best practices with other users interested in reducing their personal Environmental footprint. The collected data is stored in the database and a future goal of this work plans to analyze the collected data from all users (anonymously) for developing relevant trends and statistics.

Help Is on the WAIS.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lukanuski, Mary

1992-01-01

Describes the development of the WAIS (Wide Area Information Servers) protocol, a system that allows users access to personal, corporate, and commercial electronic information from one interface. The availability of WAIS on the Internet and the reactions of users are addressed. Several problems are considered, including funding, hardware…

Development of a Web-based financial application System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hasan, M. R.; Ibrahimy, M. I.; Motakabber, S. M. A.; Ferdaus, M. M.; Khan, M. N. H.; Mostafa, M. G.

2013-12-01

The paper describes a technique to develop a web based financial system, following latest technology and business needs. In the development of web based application, the user friendliness and technology both are very important. It is used ASP .NET MVC 4 platform and SQL 2008 server for development of web based financial system. It shows the technique for the entry system and report monitoring of the application is user friendly. This paper also highlights the critical situations of development, which will help to develop the quality product.

Using archetypes to design services for high users of healthcare.

PubMed

Vaillancourt, Samuel; Shahin, Ilan; Aggarwal, Payal; Pomedli, Steve; Hayden, Leigh; Pus, Laura; Bhattacharyya, Onil

2014-01-01

A subset of people with complex health and social needs account for the majority of healthcare costs in Ontario. There is broad agreement that better solutions for these patients could lead to better health outcomes and lower costs, but we have few tools to design services around their diverse needs. Predictive modelling may help determine numbers of high users, but design methods such as user archetypes may offer important ways of understanding how to meet their needs. We studied a range of patient profiles and interviews with frequent emergency department users to develop four archetypes of patients with complex needs to orient the service design process. These can be refined and adapted for use within initiatives like Health Links to help provide more appropriate cost-effective care.

Unguided Mental Health Self-help Apps: Reflections on Challenges through a Clinician's Lens.

PubMed

Mehrotra, Seema; Kumar, Satish; Sudhir, Paulomi; Rao, Girish N; Thirthalli, Jagadisha; Gandotra, Aditi

2017-01-01

The past one decade has witnessed a boom in the availability of Internet-based self-help apps in the field of mental health. Several apps have emerged that aim to provide information and strategies to empower individuals with self-help approaches to deal with issues and concerns related to mental health. A large number of these apps in developing countries are likely to be those which depend entirely on the users to go over the self-help program on their own (unguided internet-based self-help). Only a few apps add a component of periodic professional contact/technical support through phone/email or other means to supplement the self-help strategies suggested in the app that the user is expected to utilize. This scenario poses several challenges in use of unguided self-help apps for mental health. This paper enumerates some of these challenges for potential users of the apps from the perspective of clinicians. These range from difficulties in choosing the right app, limited scope for contextualization, and motivation management to awareness about when to step up to a higher intensity intervention. Despite these challenges, unguided self-help apps can serve important purposes, and hence we propose a few recommendations to address such challenges.

Unguided Mental Health Self-help Apps: Reflections on Challenges through a Clinician's Lens

PubMed Central

Mehrotra, Seema; Kumar, Satish; Sudhir, Paulomi; Rao, Girish N.; Thirthalli, Jagadisha; Gandotra, Aditi

2017-01-01

The past one decade has witnessed a boom in the availability of Internet-based self-help apps in the field of mental health. Several apps have emerged that aim to provide information and strategies to empower individuals with self-help approaches to deal with issues and concerns related to mental health. A large number of these apps in developing countries are likely to be those which depend entirely on the users to go over the self-help program on their own (unguided internet-based self-help). Only a few apps add a component of periodic professional contact/technical support through phone/email or other means to supplement the self-help strategies suggested in the app that the user is expected to utilize. This scenario poses several challenges in use of unguided self-help apps for mental health. This paper enumerates some of these challenges for potential users of the apps from the perspective of clinicians. These range from difficulties in choosing the right app, limited scope for contextualization, and motivation management to awareness about when to step up to a higher intensity intervention. Despite these challenges, unguided self-help apps can serve important purposes, and hence we propose a few recommendations to address such challenges. PMID:29200577

From users involvement to users' needs understanding: a case study.

PubMed

Niès, Julie; Pelayo, Sylvia

2010-04-01

Companies developing and commercializing Healthcare IT applications may decide to involve the users in the software development lifecycle in order to better understand the users' needs and to optimize their products. Unfortunately direct developers-users dialogues are not sufficient to ensure a proper understanding of the users' needs. It is also necessary to involve human factors specialists to analyze the users' expression of their needs and to properly formalize the requirements for design purposes. The objective of this paper is to present a case study reporting the collaborative work between HF experts and a company developing and commercializing a CPOE. This study shows how this collaboration helps resolve the limits of direct users involvement and usual problems pertaining to users' needs description and understanding. The company participating in the study has implemented a procedure to convene regular meetings allowing direct exchanges between the development team and users' representatives. Those meetings aim at getting users' feedbacks on the existing products and at validating further developments. In parallel with usual HF methods supporting the analysis of the work system (onsite observations followed by debriefing interviews) and the usability evaluation of the application (usability inspection and usability tests), HF experts took the opportunity of the meetings organized by the company to collect, re-interpret and re-formulate the needs expressed by the users. The developers perceive the physicians' requirements concerning the display of the patient's list of medication as contradictory. In a previous meeting round the users had required a detailed view of the medication list against the synthesized existing one. Once this requirement satisfied, the users participating in the current meeting round require a synthesized view against the existing detailed one. The development team is unable to understand what they perceive as a reverse claim. Relying on a cognitive analysis of the physicians' decision making concerning the patient's treatment, the HF experts help re-formulate the physicians' cognitive needs in terms of synthesized/detailed display of the medication list depending on the stage of the decision making process. This led to an astute re-engineering of the application allowing the physicians to easily navigate back and forth between the synthesized and detailed views depending on the progress of their decision making. This study demonstrates that the integration of users' representatives in the software lifecycle is a good point for the end users. But it remains insufficient to resolve the complex usability problems of the system. Such solutions require the integration of HF expertise. Moreover, such an involvement of HF experts may generate benefits in terms of reduction of (i) the number of iterative developments and (ii) the users' training costs. (c) 2009 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Playbook Data Analysis Tool: Collecting Interaction Data from Extremely Remote Users

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kanefsky, Bob; Zheng, Jimin; Deliz, Ivonne; Marquez, Jessica J.; Hillenius, Steven

2017-01-01

Typically, user tests for software tools are conducted in person. At NASA, the users may be located at the bottom of the ocean in a pressurized habitat, above the atmosphere in the International Space Station, or in an isolated capsule on a simulated asteroid mission. The Playbook Data Analysis Tool (P-DAT) is a human-computer interaction (HCI) evaluation tool that the NASA Ames HCI Group has developed to record user interactions with Playbook, the group's existing planning-and-execution software application. Once the remotely collected user interaction data makes its way back to Earth, researchers can use P-DAT for in-depth analysis. Since a critical component of the Playbook project is to understand how to develop more intuitive software tools for astronauts to plan in space, P-DAT helps guide us in the development of additional easy-to-use features for Playbook, informing the design of future crew autonomy tools.P-DAT has demonstrated the capability of discreetly capturing usability data in amanner that is transparent to Playbook’s end-users. In our experience, P-DAT data hasalready shown its utility, revealing potential usability patterns, helping diagnose softwarebugs, and identifying metrics and events that are pertinent to Playbook usage aswell as spaceflight operations. As we continue to develop this analysis tool, P-DATmay yet provide a method for long-duration, unobtrusive human performance collectionand evaluation for mission controllers back on Earth and researchers investigatingthe effects and mitigations related to future human spaceflight performance.

Stated choice models for predicting the impact of user fees at public recreation sites

Treesearch

Herbert W. Schroeder; Jordan Louviere

1999-01-01

A crucial question in the implementation of fee programs is how the users of recreation sites will respond to various levels and types of fees. Stated choice models can help managers anticipate the impact of user fees on people's choices among the alternative recreation sites available to them. Models developed for both day and overnight trips to several areas and...

Development of a multi-behavioral mHealth app for women smokers

PubMed Central

Armin, Julie; Johnson, Thienne; Hingle, Melanie; Giacobbi, Peter; Gordon, Judith S.

2017-01-01

Objective This paper describes the development of the See Me Smoke-Free™ (SMSF) mobile health application, which uses guided imagery to support women in smoking cessation, eating a healthy diet, and increasing physical activity. Materials and Methods Focus group discussions, with member checks, were conducted to refine the intervention content and app user interface. Data related to the context of app deployment were collected via user testing sessions and internal quality control testing, which identified and addressed functionality issues, content problems, and bugs. Results Interactive app features include playback of guided imagery audio files, notification pop-ups, award-sharing on social media, a tracking calendar, content resources, and direct call to the local tobacco quitline. Focus groups helped design the user interface, and identified several themes for incorporation into app content, including positivity, the rewards of smoking cessation, and the integrated benefits maintaining a healthy lifestyle. User testing improved app functionality and usability on many Android phone models. Discussion Changes to the app content and function were made iteratively by the development team as a result of focus group and user testing. Despite extensive internal and user testing, unanticipated data collection and reporting issues emerged during deployment due to the variety of Android software and hardware, but also due to individual phone settings and use. Conclusion Focus group interviews helped thematically frame the intervention and maximize user engagement. Testing caught many bugs and usability concerns, but missed some of the data transmission problems encountered during deployment. PMID:28121240

Improving Patient Experience and Primary Care Quality for Patients With Complex Chronic Disease Using the Electronic Patient-Reported Outcomes Tool: Adopting Qualitative Methods Into a User-Centered Design Approach

PubMed Central

Khan, Anum Irfan; Kuluski, Kerry; McKillop, Ian; Sharpe, Sarah; Bierman, Arlene S; Lyons, Renee F; Cott, Cheryl

2016-01-01

Background Many mHealth technologies do not meet the needs of patients with complex chronic disease and disabilities (CCDDs) who are among the highest users of health systems worldwide. Furthermore, many of the development methodologies used in the creation of mHealth and eHealth technologies lack the ability to embrace users with CCDD in the specification process. This paper describes how we adopted and modified development techniques to create the electronic Patient-Reported Outcomes (ePRO) tool, a patient-centered mHealth solution to help improve primary health care for patients experiencing CCDD. Objective This paper describes the design and development approach, specifically the process of incorporating qualitative research methods into user-centered design approaches to create the ePRO tool. Key lessons learned are offered as a guide for other eHealth and mHealth research and technology developers working with complex patient populations and their primary health care providers. Methods Guided by user-centered design principles, interpretive descriptive qualitative research methods were adopted to capture user experiences through interviews and working groups. Consistent with interpretive descriptive methods, an iterative analysis technique was used to generate findings, which were then organized in relation to the tool design and function to help systematically inform modifications to the tool. User feedback captured and analyzed through this method was used to challenge the design and inform the iterative development of the tool. Results Interviews with primary health care providers (n=7) and content experts (n=6), and four focus groups with patients and carers (n=14) along with a PICK analysis—Possible, Implementable, (to be) Challenged, (to be) Killed—guided development of the first prototype. The initial prototype was presented in three design working groups with patients/carers (n=5), providers (n=6), and experts (n=5). Working group findings were broken down into categories of what works and what does not work to inform modifications to the prototype. This latter phase led to a major shift in the purpose and design of the prototype, validating the importance of using iterative codesign processes. Conclusions Interpretive descriptive methods allow for an understanding of user experiences of patients with CCDD, their carers, and primary care providers. Qualitative methods help to capture and interpret user needs, and identify contextual barriers and enablers to tool adoption, informing a redesign to better suit the needs of this diverse user group. This study illustrates the value of adopting interpretive descriptive methods into user-centered mHealth tool design and can also serve to inform the design of other eHealth technologies. Our approach is particularly useful in requirements determination when developing for a complex user group and their health care providers. PMID:26892952

Targeting Parents for Childhood Weight Management: Development of a Theory-Driven and User-Centered Healthy Eating App

PubMed Central

Lahiri, Sudakshina; Brown, Katherine Elizabeth

2015-01-01

Background The proliferation of health promotion apps along with mobile phones' array of features supporting health behavior change offers a new and innovative approach to childhood weight management. However, despite the critical role parents play in children’s weight related behaviors, few industry-led apps aimed at childhood weight management target parents. Furthermore, industry-led apps have been shown to lack a basis in behavior change theory and evidence. Equally important remains the issue of how to maximize users’ engagement with mobile health (mHealth) interventions where there is growing consensus that inputs from the commercial app industry and the target population should be an integral part of the development process. Objective The aim of this study is to systematically design and develop a theory and evidence-driven, user-centered healthy eating app targeting parents for childhood weight management, and clearly document this for the research and app development community. Methods The Behavior Change Wheel (BCW) framework, a theoretically-based approach for intervention development, along with a user-centered design (UCD) philosophy and collaboration with the commercial app industry, guided the development process. Current evidence, along with a series of 9 focus groups (total of 46 participants) comprised of family weight management case workers, parents with overweight and healthy weight children aged 5-11 years, and consultation with experts, provided data to inform the app development. Thematic analysis of focus groups helped to extract information related to relevant theoretical, user-centered, and technological components to underpin the design and development of the app. Results Inputs from parents and experts working in the area of childhood weight management helped to identify the main target behavior: to help parents provide appropriate food portion sizes for their children. To achieve this target behavior, the behavioral diagnosis revealed the need for eliciting change in parents’ capability, motivation, and opportunity in 10-associated Theoretical Domains Framework (TDF) domains. Of the 9 possible intervention functions, 6 were selected to bring about this change which guided the selection of 21 behavior change techniques. Parents’ preferences for healthy eating app features revolved around four main themes (app features, time saving and convenience, aesthetics, and gamification) whereupon a criterion was applied to guide the selection on which preferences should be integrated into the design of the app. Collaboration with the app company helped to build on users’ preferences for elements of gamification such as points, quizzes, and levels to optimize user engagement. Feedback from parents on interactive mock-ups helped to inform the final development of the prototype app. Conclusions Here, we fully explicate a systematic approach applied in the development of a family-oriented, healthy eating health promotion app grounded in theory and evidence, and balanced with users’ preferences to help maximize its engagement with the target population. PMID:26088692

Mobile-Based Collaborative Learning in the Fitness Center: A Case Study on the Development of English Listening Comprehension with a Context-Aware Application

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Liu, Gi-Zen; Chen, Jing-Yao; Hwang, Gwo-Jen

2018-01-01

Mobile applications on the go have been adopted in many fields and areas. However, there has been little research regarding the development and use of a context-aware application for users to improve their English listening comprehension through collaboration. This research aimed at helping users improve their listening comprehension with a…

Arrowland v1.0

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

BIRKEL, GARRETT; GARCIA MARTIN, HECTOR; MORRELL, WILLIAM

"Arrowland" is a web-based software application primarily for mapping, integrating and visualizing a variety of metabolism data of living organisms, including but not limited to metabolomics, proteomics, transcriptomics and fluxomics. This software application makes multi-omics data analysis intuitive and interactive. It improves data sharing and communication by enabling users to visualize their omics data using a web browser (on a PC or mobile device). It increases user's productivity by simplifying multi-omics data analysis using well developed maps as a guide. Users using this tool can gain insights into their data sets that would be difficult or even impossible to teasemore » out by looking at raw number, or using their currently existing toolchains to generate static single-use maps. Arrowland helps users save time by visualizing relative changes in different conditions or over time, and helps users to produce more significant insights faster. Preexisting maps decrease the learning curve for beginners in the omics field. Sets of multi-omics data are presented in the browser, as a two-dimensional flowchart resembling a map, with varying levels of detail information, based on the scaling of the map. Users can pan and zoom to explore different maps, compare maps, upload their own research data sets onto desired maps, alter map appearance in ways that facilitate interpretation, visualization and analysis of the given data, and export data, reports and actionable items to help the user initiative.« less

DMPTool: New Guidance, Resources, and Outreach for Quality Data Management Plans

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cruse, P.; Sallans, A.

2013-12-01

A growing number of US federal funding agencies require data management plans (DMP) as part of new research grant proposals. To help researchers with this requirement, several organizations (the California Digital Library, University of Illinois, University of Virginia, Smithsonian Institution, the DataONE consortium and the (UK) Digital Curation Centre) came together to develop the DMPTool in 2011. The goal of the DMPTool is to provide researchers with guidance, links to resources and help with writing data management plans. Thanks to a grant from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, these organizations have been able to develop DMPTool2, adding new features and functionality, while aiming to grow the number of users and funding requirements and build a community around DMP best practices. Researchers create plans in the tool by selecting their desired funding agency. The tool provides specific requirements from the selected agency as well as detailed help with each area of the plan. Users have access to complete DMP life cycle management, tracking changes through creation, editing, submission, evaluation, and publication. They may also perform enhanced keyword searches and view publicly available plans. With role-based user authorization, users may hold various roles within the interface: creators, collaborators, institutional administrators, and tool administrators. Furthermore, partner institutions can add significant value to the process with several special tool features. Along with institutional branding in the interface, they can provide links to resources they provide to users, such as to preservation repositories, consultation services, or news and event items. In addition, partner institutions can provide help with specific plan questions, and even suggest responses. Institutional administrators can also mine data on plans in order to better support researchers. Institutions may be represented in different roles: as a funder, a researcher's affiliate, or as an institution with its own DMP requirements.

ASSESSING UST CORRECTIVE ACTION TECHNOLOGIES: EARLY SCREENING OF CLEANUP TECHNOLOGIES FOR THE SATURATED ZONE

EPA Science Inventory

This manual assists the user in making a preliminary evaluation of the likely effectiveness of various remediation technologies in the event of a release of petroleum products into the saturated zone. he manual: 1) helps the user develop a conceptual understanding of site conditi...

Indian Institutional Repositories: A Study of User's Perspective

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sawant, Sarika

2012-01-01

Purpose: The present study aims to investigate the experience, contribution and opinions of users of respective institutional repositories (IRs) developed in India. Design/methodology/approach: The survey method was used. The data collection tool was a web questionnaire, which was created with the help of software provided by surveymonkey.com…

Chemical Literature Exercises and Resources (CLEAR).

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hostettler, John D.; And Others

These materials were developed to make the structure and use of the chemical literature clear to chemistry students and to help them become independent and intelligent users of the library. The design of Chemical Literature Exercises and Resources (CLEAR) includes a users' note and five main parts: introduction to chemical literature, chemical…

SMARTE 2007 TUTORIAL - JANUARY 2007 REVISION

EPA Science Inventory

SMARTe 2007 is a web-based decision support tool intended to help revitalization practitioners find information, perform data analysis, communicate, and evaluate future reuse options for a site or area. This tutorial CD was developed to help users navigate SMARTe 2007. It is appr...

Moving Language Around: Helping Students Become Aware of Language Structure.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hutson, Barbara A.

1980-01-01

Presents a perspective on the system of language levels and logical operations that effective language users employ. Offers a rational for teaching this language system. Suggests activities for "moving language around" to help students develop concepts about language structures. (RL)

Physician-directed software design: the role of utilization statistics and user input in enhancing HELP results review capabilities.

PubMed

Michael, P A

1993-01-01

The M.D. Rounds Report program was developed and implemented in June of 1992 as an adjunct to the HELP System at Rex Hospital. The program facilitates rapid access to information on allergies and current medications, laboratory results, radiology reports and therapist notes for a list of patients without physicians having to make additional menu or submenu selections. In planning for an upgrade of the program, utilization statistics and user feedback provided valuable information in terms of frequency of access, features used and unused, and the value of the program as a reporting tool in comparison to other online results reporting applications. A brief description of the functionality of the M.D. Rounds Report, evaluation of the program audit trail and user feedback, planned enhancements to the program, and a discussion of the prototyping and monitoring experience and the impact on future physician subsystem development will be presented.

Towards Context-Aware and User-Centered Analysis in Assistive Environments: A Methodology and a Software Tool.

PubMed

Fontecha, Jesús; Hervás, Ramón; Mondéjar, Tania; González, Iván; Bravo, José

2015-10-01

One of the main challenges on Ambient Assisted Living (AAL) is to reach an appropriate acceptance level of the assistive systems, as well as to analyze and monitor end user tasks in a feasible and efficient way. The development and evaluation of AAL solutions based on user-centered perspective help to achive these goals. In this work, we have designed a methodology to integrate and develop analytics user-centered tools into assistive systems. An analysis software tool gathers information of end users from adapted psychological questionnaires and naturalistic observation of their own context. The aim is to enable an in-deep analysis focused on improving the life quality of elderly people and their caregivers.

Framework for End-User Programming of Cross-Smart Space Applications

PubMed Central

Palviainen, Marko; Kuusijärvi, Jarkko; Ovaska, Eila

2012-01-01

Cross-smart space applications are specific types of software services that enable users to share information, monitor the physical and logical surroundings and control it in a way that is meaningful for the user's situation. For developing cross-smart space applications, this paper makes two main contributions: it introduces (i) a component design and scripting method for end-user programming of cross-smart space applications and (ii) a backend framework of components that interwork to support the brunt of the RDFScript translation, and the use and execution of ontology models. Before end-user programming activities, the software professionals must develop easy-to-apply Driver components for the APIs of existing software systems. Thereafter, end-users are able to create applications from the commands of the Driver components with the help of the provided toolset. The paper also introduces the reference implementation of the framework, tools for the Driver component development and end-user programming of cross-smart space applications and the first evaluation results on their application. PMID:23202169

"CAN Stop" - Implementation and evaluation of a secondary group prevention for adolescent and young adult cannabis users in various contexts - study protocol

PubMed Central

2011-01-01

Background Current research shows that overall numbers for cannabis use among adolescents and young adults dropped in recent years. However, this trend is much less pronounced in continuous cannabis use. With regard to the heightened risk for detrimental health- and development-related outcomes, adolescents and young adults with continuous cannabis use need special attention. The health services structure for adolescents and young adults with substance related problems in Germany, is multifaceted, because different communal, medical and judicial agencies are involved. This results in a rather decentralized organizational structure of the help system. This and further system-inherent characteristics make the threshold for young cannabis users rather high. Because of this, there is a need to establish evidence-based low-threshold help options for young cannabis users, which can be easily disseminated. Therefore, a training programme for young cannabis users (age 14-21) was developed in the "CAN Stop" project. Within the project, we seek to implement and evaluate the training programme within different institutions of the help system. The evaluation is sensitive to the different help systems and their specific prerequisites. Moreover, within this study, we also test the practicability of a training provision through laypersons. Methods/Design The CAN Stop study is a four-armed randomized wait-list controlled trial. The four arms are needed for the different help system settings, in which the CAN Stop training programme is evaluated: (a) the drug addiction aid and youth welfare system, (b) the out-patient medical system, (c) the in-patient medical system and (d) prisons for juvenile offenders. Data are collected at three points, before and after the training or a treatment as usual, and six months after the end of either intervention. Discussion The CAN Stop study is expected to provide an evidence-based programme for young cannabis users seeking to reduce or quit their cannabis use. Moreover, we seek to gain knowledge about the programme's utility within different settings of the German help system for young cannabis users and information about the settings' specific clientele. The study protocol is discussed with regard to potential difficulties within the different settings. Trial registration ISRCTN: ISRCTN57036983 PMID:21501479

Combining Design Patterns and Elements of Social Computing for the Design of User Centered Online Help Systems

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Heckner, Markus; Schworm, Silke; Wolff, Christian

2010-01-01

Many current (online) help systems fail because users refuse to use them or, even if they do so, they do not perceive them as helpful. There is an obvious gap between the intentions of the help content authors and the achievement of objectives concerning the perceived usefulness by help users. Problems may be divided into psychological and…

Designing 3 Dimensional Virtual Reality Using Panoramic Image

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wan Abd Arif, Wan Norazlinawati; Wan Ahmad, Wan Fatimah; Nordin, Shahrina Md.; Abdullah, Azrai; Sivapalan, Subarna

The high demand to improve the quality of the presentation in the knowledge sharing field is to compete with rapidly growing technology. The needs for development of technology based learning and training lead to an idea to develop an Oil and Gas Plant Virtual Environment (OGPVE) for the benefit of our future. Panoramic Virtual Reality learning based environment is essential in order to help educators overcome the limitations in traditional technical writing lesson. Virtual reality will help users to understand better by providing the simulations of real-world and hard to reach environment with high degree of realistic experience and interactivity. Thus, in order to create a courseware which will achieve the objective, accurate images of intended scenarios must be acquired. The panorama shows the OGPVE and helps to generate ideas to users on what they have learnt. This paper discusses part of the development in panoramic virtual reality. The important phases for developing successful panoramic image are image acquisition and image stitching or mosaicing. In this paper, the combination of wide field-of-view (FOV) and close up image used in this panoramic development are also discussed.

Development and formative evaluation of a visual e-tool to help decision makers navigate the evidence around health financing.

PubMed

Skordis-Worrall, Jolene; Pulkki-Brännström, Anni-Maria; Utley, Martin; Kembhavi, Gayatri; Bricki, Nouria; Dutoit, Xavier; Rosato, Mikey; Pagel, Christina

2012-12-21

There are calls for low and middle income countries to develop robust health financing policies to increase service coverage. However, existing evidence around financing options is complex and often difficult for policy makers to access. To summarize the evidence on the impact of financing health systems and develop an e-tool to help decision makers navigate the findings. After reviewing the literature, we used thematic analysis to summarize the impact of 7 common health financing mechanisms on 5 common health system goals. Information on the relevance of each study to a user's context was provided by 11 country indicators. A Web-based e-tool was then developed to assist users in navigating the literature review. This tool was evaluated using feedback from early users, collected using an online survey and in-depth interviews with key informants. The e-tool provides graphical summaries that allow a user to assess the following parameters with a single snapshot: the number of relevant studies available in the literature, the heterogeneity of evidence, where key evidence is lacking, and how closely the evidence matches their own context. Users particularly liked the visual display and found navigating the tool intuitive. However there was concern that a lack of evidence on positive impact might be construed as evidence against a financing option and that the tool might over-simplify the available financing options. Complex evidence can be made more easily accessible and potentially more understandable using basic Web-based technology and innovative graphical representations that match findings to the users' goals and context.

User-centric design of a personal assistance robot (FRASIER) for active aging.

PubMed

Padir, Taşkin; Skorinko, Jeanine; Dimitrov, Velin

2015-01-01

We present our preliminary results from the design process for developing the Worcester Polytechnic Institute's personal assistance robot, FRASIER, as an intelligent service robot for enabling active aging. The robot capabilities include vision-based object detection, tracking the user and help with carrying heavy items such as grocery bags or cafeteria trays. This work-in-progress report outlines our motivation and approach to developing the next generation of service robots for the elderly. Our main contribution in this paper is the development of a set of specifications based on the adopted user-centered design process, and realization of the prototype system designed to meet these specifications.

The Sociotechnical Mediation of Lower-Income Pregnancy: A User-Centered Approach to Improving a HCI Design Space

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Peyton, Tamara Shirlene

2016-01-01

Developing and delivering contextually-sensitive user experiences in sociotechnical systems which are geared at helping lower-income women manage their pregnancies requires understanding the human, technological, and the sociotechnical perspectives that are embedded in the mediation of the experience. Yet most digital systems and tools for…

Guidelines for Making Web Content Accessible to All Users

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Thompson, Terrill; Primlani, Saroj; Fiedor, Lisa

2009-01-01

The main goal of accessibility standards and guidelines is to design websites everyone can use. The "IT Accessibility Constituent Group" developed this set of draft guidelines to help EQ authors, reviewers, and staff and the larger EDUCAUSE community ensure that web content is accessible to all users, including those with disabilities. This…

NED-2 User's Guide

Treesearch

Mark J. Twery; Peter D. Knopp; Scott A. Thomasma; Donald E. Nute

2011-01-01

This is the user's guide for NED-2, which is the latest version of NED, a forest ecosystem management decision support system. This software is part of a family of software products intended to help resource managers develop goals, assess current and future conditions, and produce sustainable management plans for forest properties. Designed for stand-alone Windows...

User-Centered Evaluation of Visual Analytics

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Scholtz, Jean C.

Visual analytics systems are becoming very popular. More domains now use interactive visualizations to analyze the ever-increasing amount and heterogeneity of data. More novel visualizations are being developed for more tasks and users. We need to ensure that these systems can be evaluated to determine that they are both useful and usable. A user-centered evaluation for visual analytics needs to be developed for these systems. While many of the typical human-computer interaction (HCI) evaluation methodologies can be applied as is, others will need modification. Additionally, new functionality in visual analytics systems needs new evaluation methodologies. There is a difference betweenmore » usability evaluations and user-centered evaluations. Usability looks at the efficiency, effectiveness, and user satisfaction of users carrying out tasks with software applications. User-centered evaluation looks more specifically at the utility provided to the users by the software. This is reflected in the evaluations done and in the metrics used. In the visual analytics domain this is very challenging as users are most likely experts in a particular domain, the tasks they do are often not well defined, the software they use needs to support large amounts of different kinds of data, and often the tasks last for months. These difficulties are discussed more in the section on User-centered Evaluation. Our goal is to provide a discussion of user-centered evaluation practices for visual analytics, including existing practices that can be carried out and new methodologies and metrics that need to be developed and agreed upon by the visual analytics community. The material provided here should be of use for both researchers and practitioners in the field of visual analytics. Researchers and practitioners in HCI and interested in visual analytics will find this information useful as well as a discussion on changes that need to be made to current HCI practices to make them more suitable to visual analytics. A history of analysis and analysis techniques and problems is provided as well as an introduction to user-centered evaluation and various evaluation techniques for readers from different disciplines. The understanding of these techniques is imperative if we wish to support analysis in the visual analytics software we develop. Currently the evaluations that are conducted and published for visual analytics software are very informal and consist mainly of comments from users or potential users. Our goal is to help researchers in visual analytics to conduct more formal user-centered evaluations. While these are time-consuming and expensive to carryout, the outcomes of these studies will have a defining impact on the field of visual analytics and help point the direction for future features and visualizations to incorporate. While many researchers view work in user-centered evaluation as a less-than-exciting area to work, the opposite is true. First of all, the goal is user-centered evaluation is to help visual analytics software developers, researchers, and designers improve their solutions and discover creative ways to better accommodate their users. Working with the users is extremely rewarding as well. While we use the term “users” in almost all situations there are a wide variety of users that all need to be accommodated. Moreover, the domains that use visual analytics are varied and expanding. Just understanding the complexities of a number of these domains is exciting. Researchers are trying out different visualizations and interactions as well. And of course, the size and variety of data are expanding rapidly. User-centered evaluation in this context is rapidly changing. There are no standard processes and metrics and thus those of us working on user-centered evaluation must be creative in our work with both the users and with the researchers and developers.« less

User-generated quality standards for youth mental health in primary care: a participatory research design using mixed methods

PubMed Central

Graham, Tanya; Rose, Diana; Murray, Joanna; Ashworth, Mark; Tylee, André

2014-01-01

Objectives To develop user-generated quality standards for young people with mental health problems in primary care using a participatory research model. Methods 50 young people aged 16–25 from community settings and primary care participated in focus groups and interviews about their views and experiences of seeking help for mental health problems in primary care, cofacilitated by young service users and repeated to ensure respondent validation. A second group of young people also aged 16–25 who had sought help for any mental health problem from primary care or secondary care within the last 5 years were trained as focus groups cofacilitators (n=12) developed the quality standards from the qualitative data and participated in four nominal groups (n=28). Results 46 quality standards were developed and ranked by young service users. Agreement was defined as 100% of scores within a two-point region. Group consensus existed for 16 quality standards representing the following aspects of primary care: better advertising and information (three); improved competence through mental health training and skill mix within the practice (two); alternatives to medication (three); improved referral protocol (three); and specific questions and reassurances (five). Alternatives to medication and specific questions and reassurances are aspects of quality which have not been previously reported. Conclusions We have demonstrated the feasibility of using participatory research methods in order to develop user-generated quality standards. The development of patient-generated quality standards may offer a more formal method of incorporating the views of service users into quality improvement initiatives. This method can be adapted for generating quality standards applicable to other patient groups. PMID:24920648

Mobile Food Ordering Application using Android OS Platform

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yosep Ricky, Michael

2014-03-01

The purpose of this research is making an ordering food application based on Android with New Order, Order History, Restaurant Profile, Order Status, Tracking Order, and Setting Profile features. The research method used in this research is water model of System Development Life Cycle (SDLC) method with following phases: requirement definition, analyzing and determining the features needed in developing application and making the detail definition of each features, system and software design, designing the flow of developing application by using storyboard design, user experience design, Unified Modeling Language (UML) design, and database structure design, implementation an unit testing, making database and translating the result of designs to programming language code then doing unit testing, integration and System testing, integrating unit program to one unit system then doing system testing, operation and maintenance, operating the result of system testing and if any changes and reparations needed then the previous phases could be back. The result of this research is an ordering food application based on Android for customer and courier user, and a website for restaurant and admin user. The conclusion of this research is to help customer in making order easily, to give detail information needed by customer, to help restaurant in receiving order, and to help courier while doing delivery.

BIND: the Biomolecular Interaction Network Database

PubMed Central

Bader, Gary D.; Betel, Doron; Hogue, Christopher W. V.

2003-01-01

The Biomolecular Interaction Network Database (BIND: http://bind.ca) archives biomolecular interaction, complex and pathway information. A web-based system is available to query, view and submit records. BIND continues to grow with the addition of individual submissions as well as interaction data from the PDB and a number of large-scale interaction and complex mapping experiments using yeast two hybrid, mass spectrometry, genetic interactions and phage display. We have developed a new graphical analysis tool that provides users with a view of the domain composition of proteins in interaction and complex records to help relate functional domains to protein interactions. An interaction network clustering tool has also been developed to help focus on regions of interest. Continued input from users has helped further mature the BIND data specification, which now includes the ability to store detailed information about genetic interactions. The BIND data specification is available as ASN.1 and XML DTD. PMID:12519993

Empathic design: Research strategies.

PubMed

Thomas, Joyce; McDonagh, Deana

2013-01-01

This paper explores the role of empathy within new product development from the perspective of human-centred design. The authors have developed a range of empathic design tools and strategies that help to identify authentic human needs.For products and services to be effective, they need to satisfy both functional and emotional needs of individuals. In addition, the individual user needs to feel that the product and/or service has been designed 'just for them', otherwise they may misuse, underuse or abandon the product/service. This becomes critical with a product such as a Zimmer frame (walker), when it fails to resonate with the patient due to any stigma the patient may perceive, and thus remains unused.When training young designers to consider the wider community (people unlike themselves) during the design process, it has proven extremely valuable to take them outside their comfort zones, by seeking to develop empathy with the end user for whom they are designing. Empathic modelling offers designers the opportunity to develop greater insight and understanding, in order to support more effective design outcomes. Sensitising designers to the different ways that individuals complete daily tasks has helped to diminish the gap between themselves and others (e.g. people with disabilities).The authors intend for this paper to resonate with health care providers. Human-centred design can help to refocus the designer, by placing the individual end user's needs at the heart of their decision-making.

Developing a Graphical User Interface for the ALSS Crop Planning Tool

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Koehlert, Erik

1997-01-01

The goal of my project was to create a graphical user interface for a prototype crop scheduler. The crop scheduler was developed by Dr. Jorge Leon and Laura Whitaker for the ALSS (Advanced Life Support System) program. The addition of a system-independent graphical user interface to the crop planning tool will make the application more accessible to a wider range of users and enhance its value as an analysis, design, and planning tool. My presentation will demonstrate the form and functionality of this interface. This graphical user interface allows users to edit system parameters stored in the file system. Data on the interaction of the crew, crops, and waste processing system with the available system resources is organized and labeled. Program output, which is stored in the file system, is also presented to the user in performance-time plots and organized charts. The menu system is designed to guide the user through analysis and decision making tasks, providing some help if necessary. The Java programming language was used to develop this interface in hopes of providing portability and remote operation.

The Gene Set Builder: collation, curation, and distribution of sets of genes

PubMed Central

Yusuf, Dimas; Lim, Jonathan S; Wasserman, Wyeth W

2005-01-01

Background In bioinformatics and genomics, there are many applications designed to investigate the common properties for a set of genes. Often, these multi-gene analysis tools attempt to reveal sequential, functional, and expressional ties. However, while tremendous effort has been invested in developing tools that can analyze a set of genes, minimal effort has been invested in developing tools that can help researchers compile, store, and annotate gene sets in the first place. As a result, the process of making or accessing a set often involves tedious and time consuming steps such as finding identifiers for each individual gene. These steps are often repeated extensively to shift from one identifier type to another; or to recreate a published set. In this paper, we present a simple online tool which – with the help of the gene catalogs Ensembl and GeneLynx – can help researchers build and annotate sets of genes quickly and easily. Description The Gene Set Builder is a database-driven, web-based tool designed to help researchers compile, store, export, and share sets of genes. This application supports the 17 eukaryotic genomes found in version 32 of the Ensembl database, which includes species from yeast to human. User-created information such as sets and customized annotations are stored to facilitate easy access. Gene sets stored in the system can be "exported" in a variety of output formats – as lists of identifiers, in tables, or as sequences. In addition, gene sets can be "shared" with specific users to facilitate collaborations or fully released to provide access to published results. The application also features a Perl API (Application Programming Interface) for direct connectivity to custom analysis tools. A downloadable Quick Reference guide and an online tutorial are available to help new users learn its functionalities. Conclusion The Gene Set Builder is an Ensembl-facilitated online tool designed to help researchers compile and manage sets of genes in a user-friendly environment. The application can be accessed via . PMID:16371163

Pragmatic User Model Implementation in an Intelligent Help System.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fernandez-Manjon, Baltasar; Fernandez-Valmayor, Alfredo; Fernandez-Chamizo, Carmen

1998-01-01

Describes Aran, a knowledge-based system designed to help users deal with problems related to Unix operation. Highlights include adaptation to the individual user; user modeling knowledge; stereotypes; content of the individual user model; instantiation, acquisition, and maintenance of the individual model; dynamic acquisition of objective and…

Reliability, Durability, and Safety | Transportation Research | NREL

Science.gov Websites

fill results obtained in different scenarios. The animation serves as a useful tool to help fleet limitations from a performance and reliability perspective. Evaluation results for three different BIMs analysis assists in development and helps end users select and deploy appropriate sensors for different

Rapid Response to Decision Making for Complex Issues - How Technologies of Cooperation Can Help

DTIC Science & Technology

2005-11-01

creating bottom–up taxonomies—called folksonomies —using metadata tools like del.icio.us (in which users create their own tags for bookmarking Web...tools such as RSS, tagging (and the consequent development of folksonomies ), wikis, and group visualization tools all help multiply the individual

Learn by Yourself: The Self-Learning Tools for Qualitative Analysis Software Packages

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Freitas, Fábio; Ribeiro, Jaime; Brandão, Catarina; Reis, Luís Paulo; de Souza, Francislê Neri; Costa, António Pedro

2017-01-01

Computer Assisted Qualitative Data Analysis Software (CAQDAS) are tools that help researchers to develop qualitative research projects. These software packages help the users with tasks such as transcription analysis, coding and text interpretation, writing and annotation, content search and analysis, recursive abstraction, grounded theory…

Integrating clinical decision support systems for pharmacogenomic testing into clinical routine - a scoping review of designs of user-system interactions in recent system development.

PubMed

Hinderer, Marc; Boeker, Martin; Wagner, Sebastian A; Lablans, Martin; Newe, Stephanie; Hülsemann, Jan L; Neumaier, Michael; Binder, Harald; Renz, Harald; Acker, Till; Prokosch, Hans-Ulrich; Sedlmayr, Martin

2017-06-06

Pharmacogenomic clinical decision support systems (CDSS) have the potential to help overcome some of the barriers for translating pharmacogenomic knowledge into clinical routine. Before developing a prototype it is crucial for developers to know which pharmacogenomic CDSS features and user-system interactions have yet been developed, implemented and tested in previous pharmacogenomic CDSS efforts and if they have been successfully applied. We address this issue by providing an overview of the designs of user-system interactions of recently developed pharmacogenomic CDSS. We searched PubMed for pharmacogenomic CDSS published between January 1, 2012 and November 15, 2016. Thirty-two out of 118 identified articles were summarized and included in the final analysis. We then compared the designs of user-system interactions of the 20 pharmacogenomic CDSS we had identified. Alerts are the most widespread tools for physician-system interactions, but need to be implemented carefully to prevent alert fatigue and avoid liabilities. Pharmacogenomic test results and override reasons stored in the local EHR might help communicate pharmacogenomic information to other internal care providers. Integrating patients into user-system interactions through patient letters and online portals might be crucial for transferring pharmacogenomic data to external health care providers. Inbox messages inform physicians about new pharmacogenomic test results and enable them to request pharmacogenomic consultations. Search engines enable physicians to compare medical treatment options based on a patient's genotype. Within the last 5 years, several pharmacogenomic CDSS have been developed. However, most of the included articles are solely describing prototypes of pharmacogenomic CDSS rather than evaluating them. To support the development of prototypes further evaluation efforts will be necessary. In the future, pharmacogenomic CDSS will likely include prediction models to identify patients who are suitable for preemptive genotyping.

Tools to Develop or Convert MOVES Inputs

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

The following tools are designed to help users develop inputs to MOVES and post-process the output. With the release of MOVES2014, EPA strongly encourages state and local agencies to develop local inputs based on MOVES fleet and activity categories.

Choosing blindly but wisely: differentially private solicitation of DNA datasets for disease marker discovery.

PubMed

Zhao, Yongan; Wang, Xiaofeng; Jiang, Xiaoqian; Ohno-Machado, Lucila; Tang, Haixu

2015-01-01

To propose a new approach to privacy preserving data selection, which helps the data users access human genomic datasets efficiently without undermining patients' privacy. Our idea is to let each data owner publish a set of differentially-private pilot data, on which a data user can test-run arbitrary association-test algorithms, including those not known to the data owner a priori. We developed a suite of new techniques, including a pilot-data generation approach that leverages the linkage disequilibrium in the human genome to preserve both the utility of the data and the privacy of the patients, and a utility evaluation method that helps the user assess the value of the real data from its pilot version with high confidence. We evaluated our approach on real human genomic data using four popular association tests. Our study shows that the proposed approach can help data users make the right choices in most cases. Even though the pilot data cannot be directly used for scientific discovery, it provides a useful indication of which datasets are more likely to be useful to data users, who can therefore approach the appropriate data owners to gain access to the data. © The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the American Medical Informatics Association.

NREL: U.S. Life Cycle Inventory Database - User Poll

Science.gov Websites

User Poll In preparation for the 2009 U.S. Life Cycle Inventory (LCI) Data Stakeholder meeting, the interested in life cycle analysis. The results from that poll and information gathered from the stakeholders polling data and feedback from life cycle analysis supporters helped develop the U.S. Life Cycle Inventory

A Survey of the Use of Electronic Resources at Seven Universities in Wuhan, China

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zhang, Liyi; Ye, Pinghao; Liu, Qihua

2011-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to report on users' information behaviour in China, a topic which has not been researched extensively. The aim is to help producers and providers collect and develop more electronic resources. Design/methodology/approach: The study investigates users' information behaviour at seven "211 Project"…

Interactive Multimedia in University Teaching and Learning: Some Pointers to Help Promote Discussion of Design Criteria.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Trevitt, Chris

This paper addresses criteria in the design and development of computer-based courseware. The term "interactive multimedia" describes both the technology and the demands placed on the user. It implies that the user becomes actively engaged with the subject, thereby improving the likelihood that net learning takes place. However, nothing…

Managing Cognitive Load in Educational Multi-User Virtual Environments: Reflection on Design Practice

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nelson, Brian C.; Erlandson, Benjamin E.

2008-01-01

In this paper, we explore how the application of multimedia design principles may inform the development of educational multi-user virtual environments (MUVEs). We look at design principles that have been shown to help learners manage cognitive load within multimedia environments and conduct a conjectural analysis of the extent to which such…

Strategic Help in User Interfaces for Information Retrieval.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brajnik, Giorgio; Mizzaro, Stefano; Tasso, Carlo; Venuti, Fabio

2002-01-01

Discussion of search strategy in information retrieval by end users focuses on the role played by strategic reasoning and design principles for user interfaces. Highlights include strategic help based on collaborative coaching; a conceptual model for strategic help; and a prototype knowledge-based system named FIRE. (Author/LRW)

Applying user-generated quality criteria to develop an Internet intervention for patients with heart disease.

PubMed

Kerr, Cicely; Murray, Elizabeth; Burns, Jo; Turner, Indra; Westwood, Mark A; Macadam, Catherine; Nazareth, Irwin; Patterson, David

2008-01-01

Internet interventions can help people to self-manage chronic disease. However, they are only likely to be used if they meet patients' perceived needs. We have developed an Internet intervention in two stages to meet the needs of patients with coronary heart disease (CHD). First, user-generated criteria were applied to an existing US-based intervention called 'CHESS Living with Heart Disease' which provides information, emotional and social support, self-assessment and monitoring tools, and behavioural change support. This identified the development work required. Then we conducted a user evaluation with a panel of five patients with CHD. Overall, users generally made positive comments about the information content. However they were critical of presentation, ease of navigation through the content, understanding what was offered in the different services and finding the information they were after. Applying user-generated quality criteria proved useful in developing an intervention to meet the needs of UK patients with CHD.

Participatory design of a collaborative clinical trial protocol writing system.

PubMed

Weng, Chunhua; McDonald, David W; Sparks, Dana; McCoy, Jason; Gennari, John H

2007-06-01

To explore concrete approaches to socio-technical design of collaborative healthcare information systems and to design a groupware technology for collaborative clinical trial protocol writing. We conducted "quick and dirty ethnography" through semi-structured interviews, observational studies, and work artifacts analysis to understand the group work for protocol development. We used participatory design through evolutionary prototyping to explore the feature space of a collaborative writing system. Our design strategies include role-based user advocacy, formative evaluation, and change management. Quick and dirty ethnography helped us efficiently understand relevant work practice, and participatory design helped us engage users into design and bring out their tacit work knowledge. Our approach that intertwined both techniques helped achieve a "work-informed and user-oriented" design. This research leads to a collaborative writing system that supports in situ communication, group awareness, and effective work progress tracking. The usability evaluation results have been satisfactory. The system design is being transferred to an organizational tool for daily use.

End effector monitoring system: An illustrated case of operational prototyping

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Malin, Jane T.; Land, Sherry A.; Thronesbery, Carroll

1994-01-01

Operational prototyping is introduced to help developers apply software innovations to real-world problems, to help users articulate requirements, and to help develop more usable software. Operational prototyping has been applied to an expert system development project. The expert system supports fault detection and management during grappling operations of the Space Shuttle payload bay arm. The dynamic exchanges among operational prototyping team members are illustrated in a specific prototyping session. We discuss the requirements for operational prototyping technology, types of projects for which operational prototyping is best suited and when it should be applied to those projects.

What communication strategies do AAC users want their communication partners to use? A preliminary study.

PubMed

Midtlin, Hanne Sofie; Næss, Kari-Anne B; Taxt, Tone; Karlsen, Asgjerd Vea

2015-01-01

This study aims to investigate which communication strategies the people, who use augmentative and alternative communication (AAC), want their communication partners to use. We interviewed eight children using Talking Mats to examine the AAC users' own opinion. The results showed that they wanted their communication partners to take the initiative, to repair the breaks when communication breakdowns occurred, and to invest time in understanding what AAC users wanted to express. These results underlined the significant responsibility of communication partners and revealed the need for AAC user interventions to help them be active communicators. More research needs to emphasise AAC users' opinions about communication partner strategies to improve the communication processes for AAC-users and thereby promote social inclusion in natural environment. Implications for Rehabilitation Communication partner strategies can affect communication as well as personal development and life quality for augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) users. In AAC-users opinion, their communication partners should take the communicative initiative, repair the breaks when communication breakdowns occurred, and invest time in understanding what AAC-users want to express. There is a need to inform and educate communication partners, especially those unfamiliar to AAC users. Practical training sessions, clinician modelling and written materials may be helpful. A communication partner guide can be adapted to each individual AAC user who explains his or her communication preferences. Additionally, there is a need that the clinicians promote active rather than passive communication from AAC users, which requires that they have access to the necessary symbols.

USAID-NREL Partnership | NREL

Science.gov Websites

Development Impacts (I-JEDI) Developing a transparent, market-based energy sector improves competitiveness development objectives. The International Jobs and Economic Development Impacts (I-JEDI) tool is an economic model that helps users analyze gross economic impacts of renewable energy projects (such as wind, solar

Physician-directed software design: the role of utilization statistics and user input in enhancing HELP results review capabilities.

PubMed Central

Michael, P. A.

1993-01-01

The M.D. Rounds Report program was developed and implemented in June of 1992 as an adjunct to the HELP System at Rex Hospital. The program facilitates rapid access to information on allergies and current medications, laboratory results, radiology reports and therapist notes for a list of patients without physicians having to make additional menu or submenu selections. In planning for an upgrade of the program, utilization statistics and user feedback provided valuable information in terms of frequency of access, features used and unused, and the value of the program as a reporting tool in comparison to other online results reporting applications. A brief description of the functionality of the M.D. Rounds Report, evaluation of the program audit trail and user feedback, planned enhancements to the program, and a discussion of the prototyping and monitoring experience and the impact on future physician subsystem development will be presented. PMID:8130443

Necessity to Develop a Tool to Evaluate Activity of Daily Living for Electric Powered Indoor/Outdoor Chair Users

PubMed Central

Lee, Jiwon; Lim, Jae Kuk; Lee, Min Jun; Jo, Yoon-Sik; Park, Jae Sung; Kim, Jong Moon

2015-01-01

Objective To evaluate changes in activity of daily living before and after provision of electric-powered indoor/outdoor chair (EPIOC), discuss problems of current activities of daily living (ADL) evaluating tools for EPIOC users, and provide preliminary data to develop ADL evaluation tool for EPIOC user. Methods A total of 70 users who were prescribed EPIOC and had been using for more than 1 year were recruited in this study. Before and after provision of EPIOC, MBI and FIM scores were measured and a questionnaire consisting of six categories (general socioeconomic states, currently using state, whether EPIOC was helpful for social participation and occupational chances, psychiatric influences, self-reported degrees of independency, and barriers of using EPIOC) was used. Results No difference in MBI scores before and after provision of EPIOC was observed. However, the wheelchair ambulation category showed a significant difference. While motor FIM was not significantly different from MBI, FIM score were significantly (p<0.05) higher than MBI. For questions regarding social participation frequency, helpfulness of EPIOC on confidence, refreshing patients' emotions and self-reported degrees of independence, all of them showed positive responses. Especially, EPIOC users' self-reported degree of independency showed favorable results. There was discrepancy in MBI or FIM measured by physicians. Conclusion Our study showed that there was a gap between the existing ADL evaluation tool and the ADL level that EPIOC users were actually feeling. Thus, it is necessary to develop an evaluation tool specifically for EPIOC. PMID:25932425

Online Help to End-Users in a Networked Environment.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Meyer, Paul

1991-01-01

Discusses the need for online help for end-users based on experiences with an online public access catalog (OPAC) at the University of Cape Town libraries. The concept of end users is examined, the role of search intermediaries in information systems is explained, and online help and systems design is discussed. (LRW)

User input in iterative design for prevention product development: leveraging interdisciplinary methods to optimize effectiveness.

PubMed

Guthrie, Kate M; Rosen, Rochelle K; Vargas, Sara E; Guillen, Melissa; Steger, Arielle L; Getz, Melissa L; Smith, Kelley A; Ramirez, Jaime J; Kojic, Erna M

2017-10-01

The development of HIV-preventive topical vaginal microbicides has been challenged by a lack of sufficient adherence in later stage clinical trials to confidently evaluate effectiveness. This dilemma has highlighted the need to integrate translational research earlier in the drug development process, essentially applying behavioral science to facilitate the advances of basic science with respect to the uptake and use of biomedical prevention technologies. In the last several years, there has been an increasing recognition that the user experience, specifically the sensory experience, as well as the role of meaning-making elicited by those sensations, may play a more substantive role than previously thought. Importantly, the role of the user-their sensory perceptions, their judgements of those experiences, and their willingness to use a product-is critical in product uptake and consistent use post-marketing, ultimately realizing gains in global public health. Specifically, a successful prevention product requires an efficacious drug, an efficient drug delivery system, and an effective user. We present an integrated iterative drug development and user experience evaluation method to illustrate how user-centered formulation design can be iterated from the early stages of preclinical development to leverage the user experience. Integrating the user and their product experiences into the formulation design process may help optimize both the efficiency of drug delivery and the effectiveness of the user.

A comprehensive cost model for NASA data archiving

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Green, J. L.; Klenk, K. F.; Treinish, L. A.

1990-01-01

A simple archive cost model has been developed to help predict NASA's archiving costs. The model covers data management activities from the beginning of the mission through launch, acquisition, and support of retrospective users by the long-term archive; it is capable of determining the life cycle costs for archived data depending on how the data need to be managed to meet user requirements. The model, which currently contains 48 equations with a menu-driven user interface, is available for use on an IBM PC or AT.

Artificial Intelligence for VHSIC Systems Design (AIVD) User Reference Manual

DTIC Science & Technology

1988-12-01

The goal of this program was to develop prototype tools which would use artificial intelligence techniques to extend the Architecture Design and Assessment (ADAS) software capabilities. These techniques were applied in a number of ways to increase the productivity of ADAS users. AIM will reduce the amount of time spent on tedious, negative, and error-prone steps. It will also provide f documentation that will assist users in varifying that the models they build are correct Finally, AIVD will help make ADAS models more reusable.

'If they're helping me then how can I be independent?' The perceptions and experience of users of home-care re-ablement services.

PubMed

Wilde, Alison; Glendinning, Caroline

2012-11-01

Home-care re-ablement is a short-term, intensive service that helps people to (re-) establish their capacity and confidence in performing basic personal care and domestic tasks at home, thereby reducing needs for longer term help. Home-care re-ablement is an increasingly common feature of English adult social care services; there are similar service developments in Australia and New Zealand. This paper presents evidence from semi-structured interviews conducted in early 2010 with 34 service users and 10 carers from five established re-ablement services in England. The interviews formed part of a larger, mixed-methods study into the immediate and longer term impacts and cost-effectiveness of home-care re-ablement services. There was clear evidence that interviewees felt that they had benefitted from re-ablement services; most service users and their families valued the intervention. However, the interviews also identified potential barriers to optimal independence for some service users, particularly those with progressive conditions, sensory impairments, specific cultural needs, or who lived alone. The beneficial impacts of re-ablement could also be reduced if users failed to understand the aims of the service, or if the service failed to provide support with activities or outcomes that were particularly important to the service user or carer. Putting the lived experiences of people receiving re-ablement at the centre of analysis, this paper concludes that re-ablement services have the potential for enhanced effectiveness, particularly if there is more understanding of users' own priorities and concepts of independence. © 2012 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

SCI-U: E-learning for patient education in spinal cord injury rehabilitation

PubMed Central

Shepherd, John D.; Badger-Brown, Karla M.; Legassic, Matthew S.; Walia, Saagar; Wolfe, Dalton L.

2012-01-01

Background/objectives To develop an online patient education resource for use in spinal cord injury rehabilitation. Participants The development process involved more than 100 subject-matter experts (SMEs) (rehabilitation professionals and consumers) from across Canada. Preliminary evaluation was conducted with 25 end-users. Methods An iterative development process was coordinated by a project team; SMEs (including patients) developed the content in working groups using wiki-based tools. Multiple rounds of feedback based on early prototypes helped improve the courses during development. Results Five courses were created, each featuring more than 45 minutes of video content and hundreds of media assets. Preliminary evaluation results indicate that users were satisfied by the courses and perceived them to be effective. Conclusions This is an effective process for developing multimedia patient education resources; the involvement of patients in all parts of the process was particularly helpful. Future work will focus on implementation, integration into clinical practice and other delivery formats (smart phones, tablets). PMID:23031169

Podium: Ranking Data Using Mixed-Initiative Visual Analytics.

PubMed

Wall, Emily; Das, Subhajit; Chawla, Ravish; Kalidindi, Bharath; Brown, Eli T; Endert, Alex

2018-01-01

People often rank and order data points as a vital part of making decisions. Multi-attribute ranking systems are a common tool used to make these data-driven decisions. Such systems often take the form of a table-based visualization in which users assign weights to the attributes representing the quantifiable importance of each attribute to a decision, which the system then uses to compute a ranking of the data. However, these systems assume that users are able to quantify their conceptual understanding of how important particular attributes are to a decision. This is not always easy or even possible for users to do. Rather, people often have a more holistic understanding of the data. They form opinions that data point A is better than data point B but do not necessarily know which attributes are important. To address these challenges, we present a visual analytic application to help people rank multi-variate data points. We developed a prototype system, Podium, that allows users to drag rows in the table to rank order data points based on their perception of the relative value of the data. Podium then infers a weighting model using Ranking SVM that satisfies the user's data preferences as closely as possible. Whereas past systems help users understand the relationships between data points based on changes to attribute weights, our approach helps users to understand the attributes that might inform their understanding of the data. We present two usage scenarios to describe some of the potential uses of our proposed technique: (1) understanding which attributes contribute to a user's subjective preferences for data, and (2) deconstructing attributes of importance for existing rankings. Our proposed approach makes powerful machine learning techniques more usable to those who may not have expertise in these areas.

Experiences of multidisciplinary development team members during user-centered design of telecare products and services: a qualitative study.

PubMed

Vermeulen, Joan; Verwey, Renée; Hochstenbach, Laura M J; van der Weegen, Sanne; Man, Yan Ping; de Witte, Luc P

2014-05-19

User-centered design (UCD) methodologies can help take the needs and requirements of potential end-users into account during the development of innovative telecare products and services. Understanding how members of multidisciplinary development teams experience the UCD process might help to gain insight into factors that members with different backgrounds consider critical during the development of telecare products and services. The primary objective of this study was to explore how members of multidisciplinary development teams experienced the UCD process of telecare products and services. The secondary objective was to identify differences and similarities in the barriers and facilitators they experienced. Twenty-five members of multidisciplinary development teams of four Research and Development (R&D) projects participated in this study. The R&D projects aimed to develop telecare products and services that can support self-management in elderly people or patients with chronic conditions. Seven participants were representatives of end-users (elderly persons or patients with chronic conditions), three were professional end-users (geriatrician and nurses), five were engineers, four were managers (of R&D companies or engineering teams), and six were researchers. All participants were interviewed by a researcher who was not part of their own development team. The following topics were discussed during the interviews: (1) aim of the project, (2) role of the participant, (3) experiences during the development process, (4) points of improvement, and (5) what the project meant to the participant. Experiences of participants related to the following themes: (1) creating a development team, (2) expectations regarding responsibilities and roles, (3) translating user requirements into technical requirements, (4) technical challenges, (5) evaluation of developed products and services, and (6) valorization. Multidisciplinary team members from different backgrounds often reported similar experienced barriers (eg, different members of the development team speak a "different language") and facilitators (eg, team members should voice expectations at the start of the project to prevent miscommunication at a later stage). However, some experienced barriers and facilitators were reported only by certain groups of participants. For example, only managers reported the experience that having different ideas about what a good business case is within one development team was a barrier, whereas only end-users emphasized the facilitating role of project management in end-user participation and the importance of continuous feedback from researchers on input of end-users. Many similarities seem to exist between the experienced barriers and facilitators of members of multidisciplinary development teams during UCD of telecare products and services. However, differences in experiences between team members from various backgrounds exist as well. Insights into these similarities and differences can improve understanding between team members from different backgrounds, which can optimize collaboration during the development of telecare products and services.

With God's Help I Can Do It: Crack Users' Formal and Informal Recovery Experiences in El Salvador

PubMed Central

Dickson-Gomez, Julia; Bodnar, Gloria; Guevara, Carmen Eugenia; Rodriguez, Karla; De Mendoza, Lorena Rivas; Corbett, A. Michelle

2013-01-01

Crack use has increased dramatically in El Salvador in the last few decades. As with other developing countries with sudden onsets of drug problems, El Salvador has few medical staff trained in addictions treatment. Little research has examined drug users' attempts to reduce or abstain from drug use in countries where government-regulated formal medical treatment for drug addiction is scarce. This paper uses qualitative and quantitative data gathered from active crack users to explore their formal and informal strategies to reduce or abstain from drugs, and compares these with components of informal and formal treatment in developed countries. PMID:20735191

Crowdsourcing quality control for Dark Energy Survey images

DOE PAGES

Melchior, P.

2016-07-01

We have developed a crowdsourcing web application for image quality control employed by the Dark Energy Survey. Dubbed the "DES exposure checker", it renders science-grade images directly to a web browser and allows users to mark problematic features from a set of predefined classes. Users can also generate custom labels and thus help identify previously unknown problem classes. User reports are fed back to hardware and software experts to help mitigate and eliminate recognized issues. We report on the implementation of the application and our experience with its over 100 users, the majority of which are professional or prospective astronomersmore » but not data management experts. We discuss aspects of user training and engagement, and demonstrate how problem reports have been pivotal to rapidly correct artifacts which would likely have been too subtle or infrequent to be recognized otherwise. We conclude with a number of important lessons learned, suggest possible improvements, and recommend this collective exploratory approach for future astronomical surveys or other extensive data sets with a sufficiently large user base. We also release open-source code of the web application and host an online demo versionat http://des-exp-checker.pmelchior.net« less

Crowdsourcing quality control for Dark Energy Survey images

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Melchior, P.; Sheldon, E.; Drlica-Wagner, A.; Rykoff, E. S.; Abbott, T. M. C.; Abdalla, F. B.; Allam, S.; Benoit-Lévy, A.; Brooks, D.; Buckley-Geer, E.; Carnero Rosell, A.; Carrasco Kind, M.; Carretero, J.; Crocce, M.; D'Andrea, C. B.; da Costa, L. N.; Desai, S.; Doel, P.; Evrard, A. E.; Finley, D. A.; Flaugher, B.; Frieman, J.; Gaztanaga, E.; Gerdes, D. W.; Gruen, D.; Gruendl, R. A.; Honscheid, K.; James, D. J.; Jarvis, M.; Kuehn, K.; Li, T. S.; Maia, M. A. G.; March, M.; Marshall, J. L.; Nord, B.; Ogando, R.; Plazas, A. A.; Romer, A. K.; Sanchez, E.; Scarpine, V.; Sevilla-Noarbe, I.; Smith, R. C.; Soares-Santos, M.; Suchyta, E.; Swanson, M. E. C.; Tarle, G.; Vikram, V.; Walker, A. R.; Wester, W.; Zhang, Y.

2016-07-01

We have developed a crowdsourcing web application for image quality control employed by the Dark Energy Survey. Dubbed the "DES exposure checker", it renders science-grade images directly to a web browser and allows users to mark problematic features from a set of predefined classes. Users can also generate custom labels and thus help identify previously unknown problem classes. User reports are fed back to hardware and software experts to help mitigate and eliminate recognized issues. We report on the implementation of the application and our experience with its over 100 users, the majority of which are professional or prospective astronomers but not data management experts. We discuss aspects of user training and engagement, and demonstrate how problem reports have been pivotal to rapidly correct artifacts which would likely have been too subtle or infrequent to be recognized otherwise. We conclude with a number of important lessons learned, suggest possible improvements, and recommend this collective exploratory approach for future astronomical surveys or other extensive data sets with a sufficiently large user base. We also release open-source code of the web application and host an online demo version at http://des-exp-checker.pmelchior.net.

Crowdsourcing quality control for Dark Energy Survey images

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Melchior, P.

We have developed a crowdsourcing web application for image quality control employed by the Dark Energy Survey. Dubbed the "DES exposure checker", it renders science-grade images directly to a web browser and allows users to mark problematic features from a set of predefined classes. Users can also generate custom labels and thus help identify previously unknown problem classes. User reports are fed back to hardware and software experts to help mitigate and eliminate recognized issues. We report on the implementation of the application and our experience with its over 100 users, the majority of which are professional or prospective astronomersmore » but not data management experts. We discuss aspects of user training and engagement, and demonstrate how problem reports have been pivotal to rapidly correct artifacts which would likely have been too subtle or infrequent to be recognized otherwise. We conclude with a number of important lessons learned, suggest possible improvements, and recommend this collective exploratory approach for future astronomical surveys or other extensive data sets with a sufficiently large user base. We also release open-source code of the web application and host an online demo versionat http://des-exp-checker.pmelchior.net« less

Greening America's Capitals - Richmond, VA

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Report from the Greening America's Capitals project in Richmond, VA, to help the city develop design options to protect pedestrians, bicyclists, transit users, and drivers; improve stormwater management; and spur revitalization.

Halon 1301 management planning guidance

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

1995-05-01

This ETL provides guidance to help the Base Civil Engineer (BCE) and other users manage inventories of Halon 1301, an ozone depleting substance used in many facility fire protection systems. This guidance will allow Halon 1301 users to develop the transition plans necessary to implement the DOD and Air Force policies on ozone depleting substances. Attachment 3 to this ETL contains detailed instructions on how to develop a Base Halon 1 301 Management Plan and comply with Air Force policies and regulations designed to minimize dependency on Halon 1301.

Report on Development of CFEA (Collective Front-End Analysis) Procedures: Specification of CFEA Model & Results of the HAWK CFEA

DTIC Science & Technology

1985-03-01

0423 9. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION NAME AND ADDRESS 10. PROGRAM ELEMENT, PROJECT, TASK AREA & WORK UNIT NUMBERSApplied Science Associates, Inc. AREAOU U...the workload on the user and help organize the massive amounts of data involved, job aids have been developed for CFEA users. A trial CFEA was conducted...coupled with the complex and massive nature of a CFEA of a battalion-sized [ organization could make the prospect of conducting a CFEA seem a bit over

Developing Markets for Recycled Products: Demand Lags behind Supply.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lewis, Eleanor J.; Weltman, Eric

1992-01-01

Colleges and universities are saving their recyclables for collection, but paying less attention to developing markets for recycled materials. Institutions can help by purchasing recycled paper. Costs can be reduced through contract and consortium buying and user conservation measures. (MSE)

Toward a Behavioral Approach to Privacy for Online Social Networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Banks, Lerone D.; Wu, S. Felix

We examine the correlation between user interactions and self reported information revelation preferences for users of the popular Online Social Network (OSN), Facebook. Our primary goal is to explore the use of indicators of tie strength to inform localized, per-user privacy preferences for users and their ties within OSNs. We examine the limitations of such an approach and discuss future plans to incorporate this approach into the development of an automated system for helping users define privacy policy. As part of future work, we discuss how to define/expand policy to the entire social network. We also present additional collected data similar to other studies such as perceived tie strength and information revelation preferences for OSN users.

Development of Mathematical Skills Developing Game Software.

PubMed

Hajdics, Gyula; Guzsvinecz, Tibor; Szucs, Veronika; Sik Lanyi, Cecilia

2017-01-01

Using basic mathematical operations is not easy for everyone. The AndMaths game for Android devices was developed to help elementary school students to learn these basic mathematical skills in the number ranges of twenties, fifties, hundreds and thousands. The user can freely select the number ranges.

GIS based application tool -- history of East India Company

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Phophaliya, Sudhir

The emphasis of the thesis is to build an intuitive and robust GIS (Geographic Information systems) Tool which gives an in depth information on history of East India Company. The GIS tool also incorporates various achievements of East India Company which helped to establish their business all over world especially India. The user has the option to select these movements and acts by clicking on any of the marked states on the World map. The World Map also incorporates key features for East India Company like landing of East India Company in India, Darjeeling Tea Establishment, East India Company Stock Redemption Act etc. The user can know more about these features simply by clicking on each of them. The primary focus of the tool is to give the user a unique insight about East India Company; for this the tool has several HTML (Hypertext markup language) pages which the user can select. These HTML pages give information on various topics like the first Voyage, Trade with China, 1857 Revolt etc. The tool has been developed in JAVA. For the Indian map MOJO (Map Objects Java Objects) is used. MOJO is developed by ESRI. The major features shown on the World map was designed using MOJO. MOJO made it easy to incorporate the statistical data with these features. The user interface was intentionally kept simple and easy to use. To keep the user engaged, key aspects are explained using HTML pages. The idea is that pictures will help the user garner interest in the history of East India Company.

Methods Used in Game Development to Foster FLOW

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Jeppsen, Isaac Ben

2010-01-01

Games designed for entertainment have a rich history of providing compelling experiences. From consoles to PCs, games have managed to present intuitive and effective interfaces for a wide range of game styles to successfully allow users to "walk-up-and-play". Once a user is hooked, successful games artfully present challenging experiences just within reach of a user's ability, weaving each task and achievement into a compelling and engaging experience. In this paper, engagement is discussed in terms of the psychological theory of Flow. I argue that engagement should be one of the primary goals when developing a serious game and I discuss the best practices and techniques that have emerged from traditional video game development which help foster the creation of engaging, high Flow experiences.

The design principles of edutainment system for autistic children with communication difficulties

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hussain, Azham; Abdullah, Adil; Husni, Husniza

2016-08-01

Approximately 50% of all individuals with Autism have difficulties in developing functional language owing to communication deterioration. Mobile devices with installed educational games help these individuals feel more comfortable and relaxed doing such activities. Although numerous mobile applications are available for individuals with Autism, they are difficult to use; particularly in terms of user-interface design. From the analysis of existing apps for autistic children, an app design principles are proposed based on interaction design (IxD), that would fulfil the users' requirements in a better manner. Five applications were involved in this analysis. The analysis identified fifteen suggestions for the design principles. These recommendations are offered by this paper towards designing and developing a prototype app for autistic children. This paper introduces an edutainment-system design principle formulated to help develop the communication skills of children with Autism-spectrum disorders.

Bodybuilding supplementation and tooth decay.

PubMed

Ali, M S; Batley, H; Ahmed, F

2015-07-10

Supplementation is a key component in bodybuilding and is increasingly being used by amateur weight lifters and enthusiasts to build their ideal bodies. Bodybuilding supplements are advertised to provide nutrients needed to help optimise muscle building but they can contain high amounts of sugar. Supplement users are consuming these products, while not being aware of their high sugar content, putting them at a higher risk of developing dental caries. It is important for dental professionals to recognise the increased risk for supplement users and to raise awareness, provide appropriate preventative advice and be knowledgeable of alternative products to help bodybuilders reach their goals, without increasing the risk of dental caries.

The Clinical Ethnographic Interview: A user-friendly guide to the cultural formulation of distress and help seeking

PubMed Central

Arnault, Denise Saint; Shimabukuro, Shizuka

2013-01-01

Transcultural nursing, psychiatry, and medical anthropology have theorized that practitioners and researchers need more flexible instruments to gather culturally relevant illness experience, meaning, and help seeking. The state of the science is sufficiently developed to allow standardized yet ethnographically sound protocols for assessment. However, vigorous calls for culturally adapted assessment models have yielded little real change in routine practice. This paper describes the conversion of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual IV, Appendix I Outline for Cultural Formulation into a user-friendly Clinical Ethnographic Interview (CEI), and provides clinical examples of its use in a sample of highly distressed Japanese women. PMID:22194348

Development and user validation of driving tasks for a power wheelchair simulator.

PubMed

Archambault, Philippe S; Blackburn, Émilie; Reid, Denise; Routhier, François; Miller, William C

2017-07-01

Mobility is important for participation in daily activities and a power wheelchair (PW) can improve quality of life of individuals with mobility impairments. A virtual reality simulator may be helpful in complementing PW skills training, which is generally seen as insufficient by both clinicians and PW users. To this end, specific, ecologically valid activities, such as entering an elevator and navigating through a shopping mall crowd, have been added to the McGill wheelchair (miWe) simulator through a user-centred approach. The objective of this study was to validate the choice of simulated activities in a group of newly trained PW users. We recruited 17 new PW users, who practiced with the miWe simulator at home for two weeks. They then related their experience through the Short Feedback Questionnaire, the perceived Ease of Use Questionnaire, and semi-structured interviews. Participants in general greatly appreciated their experience with the simulator. During the interviews, this group made similar comments about the activities as our previous group of expert PW users had done. They also insisted on the importance of realism in the miWe activities, for their use in training. A PW simulator may be helpful if it supports the practice of activities in specific contexts (such as a bathroom or supermarket), to complement the basic skills training received in the clinic (such as driving forward, backward, turning, and avoiding obstacles). Implications for Rehabilitation New power wheelchair users appreciate practicing on a virtual reality simulator and find the experience useful when the simulated diving activities are realistic and ecologically valid. User-centred development can lead to simulated power wheelchair activities that adequately capture everyday driving challenges experienced in various environmental contexts.

Characteristics of communication guidelines that facilitate or impede guideline use: a focus group study

PubMed Central

Veldhuijzen, Wemke; Ram, Paul M; van der Weijden, Trudy; Niemantsverdriet, Susan; van der Vleuten, Cees PM

2007-01-01

Background The quality of doctor-patient communication has a major impact on the quality of medical care. Communication guidelines define best practices for doctor patient communication and are therefore an important tool for improving communication. However, adherence to communication guidelines remains low, despite doctors participating in intensive communication skill training. Implementation research shows that adherence is higher for guidelines in general that are user centred and feasible, which implies that they are consistent with users' opinions, tap into users' existing skills and fit into existing routines. Developers of communication guidelines seem to have been somewhat negligent with regard to user preferences and guideline feasibility. In order to promote the development of user centred and practicable communication guidelines, we elicited user preferences and identified which guideline characteristics facilitate or impede guideline use. Methods Seven focus group interviews were conducted with experienced GPs, communication trainers (GPs and behavioural scientists) and communication learners (GP trainees and medical students) and three focus group interviews with groups of GP trainees only. All interviews were transcribed and analysed qualitatively. Results The participants identified more impeding guideline characteristics than facilitating ones. The most important impeding characteristic was that guidelines do not easily fit into GPs' day-to-day practice. This is due to rigidity and inefficiency of communication guidelines and erroneous assumptions underpinning guideline development. The most important facilitating characteristic was guideline structure. Guidelines that were structured in distinct phases helped users to remain in control of consultations, which was especially useful in complicated consultations. Conclusion Although communication guidelines are generally considered useful, especially for structuring consultations, their usefulness is impaired by lack of flexibility and applicability to practice routines. User centred and feasible guidelines should combine the advantages of helping doctors to structure consultations with flexibility to tailor communication strategies to specific contexts and situations. PMID:17506878

Participatory interaction design in user requirements specification in healthcare.

PubMed

Martikainen, Susanna; Ikävalko, Pauliina; Korpela, Mikko

2010-01-01

Healthcare information systems are accused of poor usability even in the popular media in Finland. Doctors especially have been very critical and actively expressed their opinions in public. User involvement and user-centered design methods are seen as the key solution to usability problems. In this paper we describe a research case where participatory methods were experimented within healthcare information systems development in medicinal care in a hospital. The study was part of a larger research project on Activity-driven Information Systems Development in healthcare. The study started by finding out about and modeling the present state of medicinal care in the hospital. After that it was important to define and model the goal state. The goal state, facilitated by the would-be software package, was modeled with the help of user interface drawings as one way of prototyping. Traditional usability methods were extended during the study. According to the health professionals' feedback, the use of participatory and user-centered interaction design methods, particularly user interface drawings enabled them to describe their requirements and create common understanding with the system developers.

A Generalizable Methodology for Quantifying User Satisfaction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huang, Te-Yuan; Chen, Kuan-Ta; Huang, Polly; Lei, Chin-Laung

Quantifying user satisfaction is essential, because the results can help service providers deliver better services. In this work, we propose a generalizable methodology, based on survival analysis, to quantify user satisfaction in terms of session times, i. e., the length of time users stay with an application. Unlike subjective human surveys, our methodology is based solely on passive measurement, which is more cost-efficient and better able to capture subconscious reactions. Furthermore, by using session times, rather than a specific performance indicator, such as the level of distortion of voice signals, the effects of other factors like loudness and sidetone, can also be captured by the developed models. Like survival analysis, our methodology is characterized by low complexity and a simple model-developing process. The feasibility of our methodology is demonstrated through case studies of ShenZhou Online, a commercial MMORPG in Taiwan, and the most prevalent VoIP application in the world, namely Skype. Through the model development process, we can also identify the most significant performance factors and their impacts on user satisfaction and discuss how they can be exploited to improve user experience and optimize resource allocation.

Implementation and evaluation of LMS mobile application: scele mobile based on user-centered design

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Banimahendra, R. D.; Santoso, H. B.

2018-03-01

The development of mobile technology is now increasing rapidly, demanding all activities including learning should be done on mobile devices. It shows that the implementation of mobile application as a learning medium needs to be done. This study describes the process of developing and evaluating the Moodle-based mobile Learning Management System (LMS) application called Student Centered e-Learning Environment (SCeLE). This study discusses the process of defining features, implementing features into the application, and evaluating the application. We define the features using user research and literature study, then we implement the application with user-centered design basis, at the last phase we evaluated the application using usability testing and system usability score (SUS). The purpose of this study is to determine the extent to which this application can help the users doing their tasks and provide recommendation for the next research and development.

Controlling QoS in a collaborative multimedia environment

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Alfano, M.; Sigle, R.

1996-12-31

A collaborative multimedia environment allows users to work remotely on common projects by sharing applications (e.g., CAD tools, text editors, white boards) and simultaneously communicate audiovisually. Several dedicated applications (e.g., MBone tools) exist for transmitting video, audio and data between users. Due to the fact that they have been developed for the Internet which does not provide any Quality of Service (QoS) guarantee, these applications do not or only partially support specification of QoS requirements by the user. In addition, they all come with different user interfaces. In this paper we first discuss the problems that we experienced both atmore » the host and network levels when executing a multimedia application and varying its resource requirements. We then present the architectural details of a collaborative multimedia environment (CME) that we have been developing in order to help a user to set up and control a collaborative multimedia session.« less

Scheduling language and algorithm development study. Volume 2: Use of the basic language and module library

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Chamberlain, R. A.; Cornick, D. E.; Flater, J. F.; Odoherty, R. J.; Peterson, F. M.; Ramsey, H. R.; Willoughby, J. K.

1974-01-01

The capabilities of the specified scheduling language and the program module library are outlined. The summary is written with the potential user in mind and, therefore, provides maximum insight on how the capabilities will be helpful in writing scheduling programs. Simple examples and illustrations are provided to assist the potential user in applying the capabilities of his problem.

Keeping it wild in the National Park Service: A user guide to integrating wilderness character into park planning, management, and monitoring

Treesearch

Peter Landres; Suzy Stutzman; Wade Vagias; Carol Cook; Christina Mills; Tim Devine; Sandee Dingman; Adrienne Lindholm; Miki Stuebe; Melissa Memory; Ruth Scott; Michael Bilecki; Ray O' Neil; Chris Holbeck; Frank Turina; Michael Haynie; Sarah Craighead; Chip Jenkins; Jeremy Curtis; Karen Trevino

2014-01-01

This User Guide was developed to help National Park Service (NPS) staff effectively and efficiently fulfill the mandate from the 1964 Wilderness Act and NPS policy to "preserve wilderness character" now and into the future. This mandate applies to all congressionally designated wilderness and other park lands that are, by policy, managed as wilderness,...

Installed Base as a Facilitator for User-Driven Innovation: How Can User Innovation Challenge Existing Institutional Barriers?

PubMed Central

Andersen, Synnøve Thomassen; Jansen, Arild

2012-01-01

The paper addresses an ICT-based, user-driven innovation process in the health sector in rural areas in Norway. The empirical base is the introduction of a new model for psychiatric health provision. This model is supported by a technical solution based on mobile phones that is aimed to help the communication between professional health personnel and patients. This innovation was made possible through the use of standard mobile technology rather than more sophisticated systems. The users were heavily involved in the development work. Our analysis shows that by thinking simple and small-scale solutions, including to take the user's needs and premises as a point of departure rather than focusing on advanced technology, the implementation process was made possible. We show that by combining theory on information infrastructures, user-oriented system development, and innovation in a three-layered analytical framework, we can explain the interrelationship between technical, organizational, and health professional factors that made this innovation a success. PMID:23304134

SoftLab: A Soft-Computing Software for Experimental Research with Commercialization Aspects

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Akbarzadeh-T, M.-R.; Shaikh, T. S.; Ren, J.; Hubbell, Rob; Kumbla, K. K.; Jamshidi, M

1998-01-01

SoftLab is a software environment for research and development in intelligent modeling/control using soft-computing paradigms such as fuzzy logic, neural networks, genetic algorithms, and genetic programs. SoftLab addresses the inadequacies of the existing soft-computing software by supporting comprehensive multidisciplinary functionalities from management tools to engineering systems. Furthermore, the built-in features help the user process/analyze information more efficiently by a friendly yet powerful interface, and will allow the user to specify user-specific processing modules, hence adding to the standard configuration of the software environment.

Rooftop Unit Comparison Calculator User Manual

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Miller, James D.

This document serves as a user manual for the Packaged rooftop air conditioners and heat pump units comparison calculator (RTUCC) and is an aggregation of the calculator’s website documentation. Content ranges from new-user guide material like the “Quick Start” to the more technical/algorithmic descriptions of the “Methods Pages.” There is also a section listing all the context-help topics that support the features on the “Controls” page. The appendix has a discussion of the EnergyPlus runs that supported the development of the building-response models.

Online self-help forums on cannabis: A content assessment.

PubMed

Greiner, Christian; Chatton, Anne; Khazaal, Yasser

2017-10-01

To investigate online self-help forums related to cannabis users who were searching for help on the Internet. We analyzed the content of 717 postings by 328 users in three online forums in terms of fields of interest and self-help mechanisms. Only English-language forums that were free of charge and without registration were investigated. The main self-help mechanisms were disclosure and symptoms, with relatively few posts concerning legal issues and social perceptions. The forums differed significantly in all fields of interest and self-help mechanisms except for social network and financial and vocational issues. Highly involved users more commonly posted on topics related to diagnosis, etiology/research, and provision of information and less commonly on those related to gratitude. Correlation analysis showed a moderate negative correlation between emotional support and illness-related aspects and between emotional support and exchange of information. Cannabis forums share similarities with other mental health forums. Posts differ according to user involvement and the specific orientation of the forum. The Internet offers a viable source of self-help and social support for cannabis users, which has potential clinical implications in terms of referring clients to specific forums. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Development and Alpha Testing of QuitIT: An Interactive Video Game to Enhance Skills for Coping With Smoking Urges.

PubMed

Krebs, Paul; Burkhalter, Jack E; Snow, Bert; Fiske, Jeff; Ostroff, Jamie S

2013-09-11

Despite many efforts at developing relapse prevention interventions, most smokers relapse to tobacco use within a few months after quitting. Interactive games offer a novel strategy for helping people develop the skills required for successful tobacco cessation. The objective of our study was to develop a video game that enables smokers to practice strategies for coping with smoking urges and maintaining smoking abstinence. Our team of game designers and clinical psychologists are creating a video game that integrates the principles of smoking behavior change and relapse prevention. We have reported the results of expert and end-user feedback on an alpha version of the game. The alpha version of the game consisted of a smoking cue scenario often encountered by smokers. We recruited 5 experts in tobacco cessation research and 20 current and former smokers, who each played through the scenario. Mixed methods were used to gather feedback on the relevance of cessation content and usability of the game modality. End-users rated the interface from 3.0 to 4.6/5 in terms of ease of use and from 2.9 to 4.1/5 in terms of helpfulness of cessation content. Qualitative themes showed several user suggestions for improving the user interface, pacing, and diversity of the game characters. In addition, the users confirmed a high degree of game immersion, identification with the characters and situations, and appreciation for the multiple opportunities to practice coping strategies. This study highlights the procedures for translating behavioral principles into a game dynamic and shows that our prototype has a strong potential for engaging smokers. A video game modality exemplifies problem-based learning strategies for tobacco cessation and is an innovative step in behavioral management of tobacco use.

What is Your Risk of Contracting Alzheimer's Disease? A Telematics Tool Helps you to Predict it.

PubMed

Méndez-Sanz, Rodrigo; de la Torre-Díez, Isabel; López-Coronado, Miguel

2016-01-01

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common dementia in developed countries. Between the identified risk factors, one of the most important is the age. Its prevalence reaches 24 % in men and 33 % in women over 85 years. Increase in life expectancy, making it a serious public health problem. Prevention of Alzheimer's disease represents a major challenge to health. Given that Alzheimer's disease is largely dependent on the genetics of each person and uninterrupted progress of the age, which is try to make people aware that there are other factors that can alter your chance of developing the Alzheimer disease and although currently not reduce, help is not increased in the near or distant future.The aim of this paper is to develop and evaluate a Web-Mobile application (Alzhe Alert) used to calculate the risk of Alzheimer's from a short questionnaire using a computer or mobile device, so that any user, without requiring computer skills, can access the website to estimate their risk of developing the disease in the coming years depending on their habits and daily basis activities. The users who have realized the questionnaire can to observe in a graph the result, and they will know which is at risk for Alzheimer's at present and over the next 50 years if they continue with the same habits and lifestyle. The objective is that the users can be aware of the risk they have different habits of life about their health. Currently, 243 users (84 women and 159 men) of white race have completed the questionnaire. 76 % of the users have got a risk below the average.

Ill Literates or Illiterates? Investigating the eHealth Literacy of Users of Online Health Communities

PubMed Central

Atanasova, Sara; Kamin, Tanja

2017-01-01

Background Electronic health (eHealth) literacy is an important skill that allows patients to navigate intelligibly through the vast, often misleading Web-based world. Although eHealth literacy has been investigated in general and specific demographic populations, it has not yet been analyzed on users of online health communities (OHCs). Evidence shows that OHCs are important Web 2.0 applications for patients for managing their health, but at the same time, warnings have been expressed regarding the quality and relevance of shared information. No studies exist that investigate levels of eHealth literacy among users of OHCs and differences in eHealth literacy between different types of users. Objective The study aimed to investigate eHealth literacy across different types of users of OHCs based on a revised and extended eHealth literacy scale (eHEALS). Methods The study was based on a cross-sectional Web survey on a simple random sample of 15,000 registered users of the most popular general OHC in Slovenia. The final sample comprised 644 users of the studied OHC. An extended eHEALS (eHEALS-E) was tested with factor analytical procedures, whereas user types were identified with a hierarchical clustering algorithm. The research question was analyzed with analysis of variance (ANOVA) procedure and pairwise comparison tests. Results Factor analysis of the revised and extended eHEALS revealed six dimensions: awareness of sources, recognizing quality and meaning, understanding information, perceived efficiency, validating information, and being smart on the Net. The factor solution demonstrates a good fit to the data (root mean square error of approximation [RMSEA]=.059). The most developed dimension of eHEALS-E is awareness of different Internet sources (mean=3.98, standard deviation [SD]=0.61), whereas the least developed is understanding information (mean=3.11, SD=0.75). Clustering resulted in four user types: active help-seekers (48.3%, 311/644), lurkers (31.8%, 205/644), core relational users (16.9%, 109/644), and low-engaged users (3%, 19/644). Analysis of the research question showed statistically significant differences among user types across all six dimensions of eHEALS-E. Most notably, core relational users performed worse than lurkers on the validating information dimension (P=.01) and worse than active help-seekers on the being smart on the Net dimension (P=.05). Active help-seekers have the highest scores in all dimensions of the eHEALS-E, whereas low-engaged users have statistically significantly lower scores on all dimensions of the eHEALS-E in comparison with the other groups. Conclusions Those who are looking for advice and support in OHCs by making queries are well equipped with eHealth literacy skills to filter potential misinformation and detect bad advice. However, core relational users (who produce the most content in OHCs) have less-developed skills for cross-validating the information obtained and navigating successfully through the perils of the online world. Site managers should monitor their activity to avoid the spread of misinformation that might lead to unhealthy practices. PMID:28978496

Ill Literates or Illiterates? Investigating the eHealth Literacy of Users of Online Health Communities.

PubMed

Petrič, Gregor; Atanasova, Sara; Kamin, Tanja

2017-10-04

Electronic health (eHealth) literacy is an important skill that allows patients to navigate intelligibly through the vast, often misleading Web-based world. Although eHealth literacy has been investigated in general and specific demographic populations, it has not yet been analyzed on users of online health communities (OHCs). Evidence shows that OHCs are important Web 2.0 applications for patients for managing their health, but at the same time, warnings have been expressed regarding the quality and relevance of shared information. No studies exist that investigate levels of eHealth literacy among users of OHCs and differences in eHealth literacy between different types of users. The study aimed to investigate eHealth literacy across different types of users of OHCs based on a revised and extended eHealth literacy scale (eHEALS). The study was based on a cross-sectional Web survey on a simple random sample of 15,000 registered users of the most popular general OHC in Slovenia. The final sample comprised 644 users of the studied OHC. An extended eHEALS (eHEALS-E) was tested with factor analytical procedures, whereas user types were identified with a hierarchical clustering algorithm. The research question was analyzed with analysis of variance (ANOVA) procedure and pairwise comparison tests. Factor analysis of the revised and extended eHEALS revealed six dimensions: awareness of sources, recognizing quality and meaning, understanding information, perceived efficiency, validating information, and being smart on the Net. The factor solution demonstrates a good fit to the data (root mean square error of approximation [RMSEA]=.059). The most developed dimension of eHEALS-E is awareness of different Internet sources (mean=3.98, standard deviation [SD]=0.61), whereas the least developed is understanding information (mean=3.11, SD=0.75). Clustering resulted in four user types: active help-seekers (48.3%, 311/644), lurkers (31.8%, 205/644), core relational users (16.9%, 109/644), and low-engaged users (3%, 19/644). Analysis of the research question showed statistically significant differences among user types across all six dimensions of eHEALS-E. Most notably, core relational users performed worse than lurkers on the validating information dimension (P=.01) and worse than active help-seekers on the being smart on the Net dimension (P=.05). Active help-seekers have the highest scores in all dimensions of the eHEALS-E, whereas low-engaged users have statistically significantly lower scores on all dimensions of the eHEALS-E in comparison with the other groups. Those who are looking for advice and support in OHCs by making queries are well equipped with eHealth literacy skills to filter potential misinformation and detect bad advice. However, core relational users (who produce the most content in OHCs) have less-developed skills for cross-validating the information obtained and navigating successfully through the perils of the online world. Site managers should monitor their activity to avoid the spread of misinformation that might lead to unhealthy practices. ©Gregor Petrič, Sara Atanasova, Tanja Kamin. Originally published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research (http://www.jmir.org), 04.10.2017.

Keylogger Application to Monitoring Users Activity with Exact String Matching Algorithm

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rahim, Robbi; Nurdiyanto, Heri; Saleh A, Ansari; Abdullah, Dahlan; Hartama, Dedy; Napitupulu, Darmawan

2018-01-01

The development of technology is very fast, especially in the field of Internet technology that at any time experiencing significant changes, The development also supported by the ability of human resources, Keylogger is a tool that most developed because this application is very rarely recognized a malicious program by antivirus, keylogger will record all activities related to keystrokes, the recording process is accomplished by using string matching method. The application of string matching method in the process of recording the keyboard is to help the admin in knowing what the user accessed on the computer.

CADDIS Volume 5. Causal Databases: Interactive Conceptual Diagrams (ICDs) User Guide

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

The Causal Analysis/Diagnosis Decision Information System, or CADDIS, is a website developed to help scientists and engineers in the Regions, States, and Tribes conduct causal assessments in aquatic systems.

User-Centered Design for Developing Interventions to Improve Clinician Recommendation of Human Papillomavirus Vaccination

PubMed Central

Henninger, Michelle L; McMullen, Carmit K; Firemark, Alison J; Naleway, Allison L; Henrikson, Nora B; Turcotte, Joseph A

2017-01-01

Introduction Human papillomavirus (HPV) is the most common sexually transmitted infection in the US and is associated with multiple types of cancer. Although effective HPV vaccines have been available since 2006, coverage rates in the US remain much lower than with other adolescent vaccinations. Prior research has shown that a strong recommendation from a clinician is a critical determinant in HPV vaccine uptake and coverage. However, few published studies to date have specifically addressed the issue of helping clinicians communicate more effectively with their patients about the HPV vaccine. Objective To develop one or more novel interventions for helping clinicians make strong and effective recommendations for HPV vaccination. Methods Using principles of user-centered design, we conducted qualitative interviews, interviews with persons from analogous industries, and a data synthesis workshop with multiple stakeholders. Results Five potential intervention strategies targeted at health care clinicians, youth, and their parents were developed. The two most popular choices to pursue were a values-based communication strategy and a puberty education workbook. Conclusion User-centered design is a useful strategy for developing potential interventions to improve the rate and success of clinicians recommending the HPV vaccine. Further research is needed to test the effectiveness and acceptability of these interventions in clinical settings. PMID:28898195

User-Centered Design for Developing Interventions to Improve Clinician Recommendation of Human Papillomavirus Vaccination.

PubMed

Henninger, Michelle L; Mcmullen, Carmit K; Firemark, Alison J; Naleway, Allison L; Henrikson, Nora B; Turcotte, Joseph A

2017-01-01

Human papillomavirus (HPV) is the most common sexually transmitted infection in the US and is associated with multiple types of cancer. Although effective HPV vaccines have been available since 2006, coverage rates in the US remain much lower than with other adolescent vaccinations. Prior research has shown that a strong recommendation from a clinician is a critical determinant in HPV vaccine uptake and coverage. However, few published studies to date have specifically addressed the issue of helping clinicians communicate more effectively with their patients about the HPV vaccine. To develop one or more novel interventions for helping clinicians make strong and effective recommendations for HPV vaccination. Using principles of user-centered design, we conducted qualitative interviews, interviews with persons from analogous industries, and a data synthesis workshop with multiple stakeholders. Five potential intervention strategies targeted at health care clinicians, youth, and their parents were developed. The two most popular choices to pursue were a values-based communication strategy and a puberty education workbook. User-centered design is a useful strategy for developing potential interventions to improve the rate and success of clinicians recommending the HPV vaccine. Further research is needed to test the effectiveness and acceptability of these interventions in clinical settings.

Design, Analysis and User Acceptance of Architectural Design Education in Learning System Based on Knowledge Management Theory

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wu, Yun-Wu; Lin, Yu-An; Wen, Ming-Hui; Perng, Yeng-Hong; Hsu, I-Ting

2016-01-01

The major purpose of this study is to develop an architectural design knowledge management learning system with corresponding learning activities to help the students have meaningful learning and improve their design capability in their learning process. Firstly, the system can help the students to obtain and share useful knowledge. Secondly,…

Experiences of Multidisciplinary Development Team Members During User-Centered Design of Telecare Products and Services: A Qualitative Study

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

Background User-centered design (UCD) methodologies can help take the needs and requirements of potential end-users into account during the development of innovative telecare products and services. Understanding how members of multidisciplinary development teams experience the UCD process might help to gain insight into factors that members with different backgrounds consider critical during the development of telecare products and services. Objective The primary objective of this study was to explore how members of multidisciplinary development teams experienced the UCD process of telecare products and services. The secondary objective was to identify differences and similarities in the barriers and facilitators they experienced. Methods Twenty-five members of multidisciplinary development teams of four Research and Development (R&D) projects participated in this study. The R&D projects aimed to develop telecare products and services that can support self-management in elderly people or patients with chronic conditions. Seven participants were representatives of end-users (elderly persons or patients with chronic conditions), three were professional end-users (geriatrician and nurses), five were engineers, four were managers (of R&D companies or engineering teams), and six were researchers. All participants were interviewed by a researcher who was not part of their own development team. The following topics were discussed during the interviews: (1) aim of the project, (2) role of the participant, (3) experiences during the development process, (4) points of improvement, and (5) what the project meant to the participant. Results Experiences of participants related to the following themes: (1) creating a development team, (2) expectations regarding responsibilities and roles, (3) translating user requirements into technical requirements, (4) technical challenges, (5) evaluation of developed products and services, and (6) valorization. Multidisciplinary team members from different backgrounds often reported similar experienced barriers (eg, different members of the development team speak a “different language”) and facilitators (eg, team members should voice expectations at the start of the project to prevent miscommunication at a later stage). However, some experienced barriers and facilitators were reported only by certain groups of participants. For example, only managers reported the experience that having different ideas about what a good business case is within one development team was a barrier, whereas only end-users emphasized the facilitating role of project management in end-user participation and the importance of continuous feedback from researchers on input of end-users. Conclusions Many similarities seem to exist between the experienced barriers and facilitators of members of multidisciplinary development teams during UCD of telecare products and services. However, differences in experiences between team members from various backgrounds exist as well. Insights into these similarities and differences can improve understanding between team members from different backgrounds, which can optimize collaboration during the development of telecare products and services. PMID:24840245

Guide to Using Sierra

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Shaw, Ryan Phillip; Agelastos, Anthony Michael; Miller, Joel D.

2015-03-01

Sierra is an engineering mechanics simulation code suite supporting the Nation's Nuclear Weapons mission as well as other customers. It has explicit ties to Sandia National Labs' workfow, including geometry and meshing, design and optimization, and visualization. Dis- tinguishing strengths include "application aware" development, scalability, SQA and V&V, multiple scales, and multi-physics coupling. This document is intended to help new and existing users of Sierra as a user manual and troubleshooting guide.

Guide to Using Sierra

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Shaw, Ryan Phillip; Agelastos, Anthony Michael; Miller, Joel D.

2017-04-01

Sierra is an engineering mechanics simulation code suite supporting the Nation's Nuclear Weapons mission as well as other customers. It has explicit ties to Sandia National Labs' workfow, including geometry and meshing, design and optimization, and visualization. Dis- tinguishing strengths include "application aware" development, scalability, SQA and V&V, multiple scales, and multi-physics coupling. This document is intended to help new and existing users of Sierra as a user manual and troubleshooting guide.

Multi-agent integrated password management (MIPM) application secured with encryption

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Awang, Norkhushaini; Zukri, Nurul Hidayah Ahmad; Rashid, Nor Aimuni Md; Zulkifli, Zuhri Arafah; Nazri, Nor Afifah Mohd

2017-10-01

Users use weak passwords and reuse them on different websites and applications. Password managers are a solution to store login information for websites and help users log in automatically. This project developed a system that acts as an agent managing passwords. Multi-Agent Integrated Password Management (MIPM) is an application using encryption that provides users with secure storage of their login account information such as their username, emails and passwords. This project was developed on an Android platform with an encryption agent using Java Agent Development Environment (JADE). The purpose of the embedded agents is to act as a third-party software to ease the encryption process, and in the future, the developed encryption agents can form part of the security system. This application can be used by the computer and mobile users. Currently, users log into many applications causing them to use unique passwords to prevent password leaking. The crypto agent handles the encryption process using an Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) 128-bit encryption algorithm. As a whole, MIPM is developed on the Android application to provide a secure platform to store passwords and has high potential to be commercialised for public use.

ANNIE - INTERACTIVE PROCESSING OF DATA BASES FOR HYDROLOGIC MODELS.

USGS Publications Warehouse

Lumb, Alan M.; Kittle, John L.

1985-01-01

ANNIE is a data storage and retrieval system that was developed to reduce the time and effort required to calibrate, verify, and apply watershed models that continuously simulate water quantity and quality. Watershed models have three categories of input: parameters to describe segments of a drainage area, linkage of the segments, and time-series data. Additional goals for ANNIE include the development of software that is easily implemented on minicomputers and some microcomputers and software that has no special requirements for interactive display terminals. Another goal is for the user interaction to be based on the experience of the user so that ANNIE is helpful to the inexperienced user and yet efficient and brief for the experienced user. Finally, the code should be designed so that additional hydrologic models can easily be added to ANNIE.

Pruning a decision tree for selecting computer-related assistive devices for people with disabilities.

PubMed

Chi, Chia-Fen; Tseng, Li-Kai; Jang, Yuh

2012-07-01

Many disabled individuals lack extensive knowledge about assistive technology, which could help them use computers. In 1997, Denis Anson developed a decision tree of 49 evaluative questions designed to evaluate the functional capabilities of the disabled user and choose an appropriate combination of assistive devices, from a selection of 26, that enable the individual to use a computer. In general, occupational therapists guide the disabled users through this process. They often have to go over repetitive questions in order to find an appropriate device. A disabled user may require an alphanumeric entry device, a pointing device, an output device, a performance enhancement device, or some combination of these. Therefore, the current research eliminates redundant questions and divides Anson's decision tree into multiple independent subtrees to meet the actual demand of computer users with disabilities. The modified decision tree was tested by six disabled users to prove it can determine a complete set of assistive devices with a smaller number of evaluative questions. The means to insert new categories of computer-related assistive devices was included to ensure the decision tree can be expanded and updated. The current decision tree can help the disabled users and assistive technology practitioners to find appropriate computer-related assistive devices that meet with clients' individual needs in an efficient manner.

Research on phone contacts online status based on mobile cloud computing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Wen-jinga; Ge, Weib

2013-03-01

Because the limited ability of storage space, CPU processing on mobile phone, it is difficult to realize complex applications on mobile phones, but along with the development of cloud computing, we can place the computing and storage in the clouds, provide users with rich cloud services, helping users complete various function through the browser has become the trend for future mobile communication. This article is taking the mobile phone contacts online status as an example to analysis the development and application of mobile cloud computing.

Development of Land Analysis System display modules

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gordon, Douglas; Hollaren, Douglas; Huewe, Laurie

1986-01-01

The Land Analysis System (LAS) display modules were developed to allow a user to interactively display, manipulate, and store image and image related data. To help accomplish this task, these modules utilize the Transportable Applications Executive and the Display Management System software to interact with the user and the display device. The basic characteristics of a display are outlined and some of the major modifications and additions made to the display management software are discussed. Finally, all available LAS display modules are listed along with a short description of each.

Supporting workers with mental health problems to retain employment: users' experiences of a UK job retention project.

PubMed

Cameron, Josh; Walker, Carl; Hart, Angie; Sadlo, Gaynor; Haslam, Imogen; Retain Support Group

2012-01-01

To understand experiences and perspectives of job retention project users in relation to challenges faced and support received; to develop explanatory insight into effective interventions. 14 employed users of a United Kingdom job retention project, with a range of mental health problems. Semi-structured individual interviews which were collaboratively designed with service users. Data analysis involved deductive & inductive thematic analysis, constant comparative analysis, and service user collaboration. Participants' feelings of guilt and self blame were a major obstacle to job retention. The project helped them address these by supporting a reappraisal of their situation. This assisted identification of job accommodations and adjustments and confidence in self advocacy. Thus an important basis for improved dialogue with their employer was established. A peer support group provided an important adjunct to individual project worker interventions. 10 participants retained employment; three of those who did not were helped to retain work aspirations. The project effectively used a multi-faceted approach involving a person - environment-occupation focus on the worker, their work, and workplace. Such complex interventions may offer more promise than those interventions (such as cognitive behavioural therapy) which have a primary focus on the individual worker.

Suicide prevention through online gatekeeping using search advertising techniques: a feasibility study.

PubMed

Sueki, Hajime; Ito, Jiro

2015-01-01

Nurturing gatekeepers is an effective suicide prevention strategy. Internet-based methods to screen those at high risk of suicide have been developed in recent years but have not been used for online gatekeeping. A preliminary study was conducted to examine the feasibility and effects of online gatekeeping. Advertisements to promote e-mail psychological consultation service use among Internet users were placed on web pages identified by searches using suicide-related keywords. We replied to all emails received between July and December 2013 and analyzed their contents. A total of 139 consultation service users were analyzed. The mean age was 23.8 years (SD = 9.7), and female users accounted for 80% of the sample. Suicidal ideation was present in 74.1%, and 12.2% had a history of suicide attempts. After consultation, positive changes in mood were observed in 10.8%, 16.5% showed intentions to seek help from new supporters, and 10.1% of all 139 users actually took help-seeking actions. Online gatekeeping to prevent suicide by placing advertisements on web search pages to promote consultation service use among Internet users with suicidal ideation may be feasible.

Reassurance as a key outcome valued by emergency ambulance service users: a qualitative interview study.

PubMed

Togher, Fiona J; O'Cathain, Alicia; Phung, Viet-Hai; Turner, Janette; Siriwardena, Aloysius Niroshan

2015-12-01

There is an increasing need to assess the performance of emergency ambulance services using measures other than the time taken for an ambulance to arrive on scene. In line with government policy, patients and carers can help to shape new measures of ambulance service performance. To investigate the aspects of emergency ambulance service care valued by users. Qualitative interview study. One of 11 ambulance services in England. Twenty-two users and eight of their spouses (n = 30). Users of the emergency ambulance service, experiencing different types of ambulance service response, valued similar aspects of their pre-hospital care. Users were often extremely anxious about their health, and the outcome they valued was reassurance provided by ambulance service staff that they were receiving appropriate advice, treatment and care. This sense of being reassured was enhanced by the professional behaviour of staff, which instilled confidence in their care; communication; a short wait for help; and continuity during transfers. A timely response was valued in terms of allaying anxiety quickly. The ability of the emergency ambulance service to allay the high levels of fear and anxiety felt by users is crucial to the delivery of a high quality service. Measures developed to assess and monitor the performance of emergency ambulance services should include the proportion of users reporting feeling reassured by the response they obtained. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Search Pathways: Modeling GeoData Search Behavior to Support Usable Application Development

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yarmey, L.; Rosati, A.; Tressel, S.

2014-12-01

Recent technical advances have enabled development of new scientific data discovery systems. Metadata brokering, linked data, and other mechanisms allow users to discover scientific data of interes across growing volumes of heterogeneous content. Matching this complex content with existing discovery technologies, people looking for scientific data are presented with an ever-growing array of features to sort, filter, subset, and scan through search returns to help them find what they are looking for. This paper examines the applicability of available technologies in connecting searchers with the data of interest. What metrics can be used to track success given shifting baselines of content and technology? How well do existing technologies map to steps in user search patterns? Taking a user-driven development approach, the team behind the Arctic Data Explorer interdisciplinary data discovery application invested heavily in usability testing and user search behavior analysis. Building on earlier library community search behavior work, models were developed to better define the diverse set of thought processes and steps users took to find data of interest, here called 'search pathways'. This research builds a deeper understanding of the user community that seeks to reuse scientific data. This approach ensures that development decisions are driven by clearly articulated user needs instead of ad hoc technology trends. Initial results from this research will be presented along with lessons learned for other discovery platform development and future directions for informatics research into search pathways.

Regional Disparities in Online Map User Access Volume and Determining Factors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, R.; Yang, N.; Li, R.; Huang, W.; Wu, H.

2017-09-01

The regional disparities of online map user access volume (use `user access volume' in this paper to indicate briefly) is a topic of growing interest with the increment of popularity in public users, which helps to target the construction of geographic information services for different areas. At first place we statistically analysed the online map user access logs and quantified these regional access disparities on different scales. The results show that the volume of user access is decreasing from east to the west in China as a whole, while East China produces the most access volume; these cities are also the crucial economic and transport centres. Then Principal Component Regression (PCR) is applied to explore the regional disparities of user access volume. A determining model for Online Map access volume is proposed afterwards, which indicates that area scale is the primary determining factor for regional disparities, followed by public transport development level and public service development level. Other factors like user quality index and financial index have very limited influence on the user access volume. According to the study of regional disparities in user access volume, map providers can reasonably dispatch and allocate the data resources and service resources in each area and improve the operational efficiency of the Online Map server cluster.

Drowning in Data: Going Beyond Traditional Data Archival to Educate Data Users

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Weigel, A. M.; Smith, T.; Smith, D. K.; Bugbee, K.; Sinclair, L.

2017-12-01

Increasing quantities of Earth science data and information prove overwhelming to new and unfamiliar users. Data discovery and use challenges faced by these users are compounded with atmospheric science field campaign data collected by a variety of instruments and stored, visualized, processed and analyzed in different ways. To address data and user needs assessed through annual surveys and user questions, the NASA Global Hydrology Resource Center Distributed Active Archive Center (GHRC DAAC), in collaboration with a graphic designer, has developed a series of resources to help users learn about GHRC science focus areas, field campaigns, instruments, data, and data processing techniques. In this talk, GHRC data recipes, micro articles, interactive data visualization techniques, and artistic science outreach and education efforts, such as ESRI story maps and research as art, will be overviewed. The objective of this talk is to stress the importance artistic information visualization has in communicating with and educating Earth science data users.

Are Microsoft's Animated Interface Agents Helpful?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Head, Allison J.

1998-01-01

Discusses interface agents and online help systems, focusing on Microsoft's animated office assistants. Highlights include intermediaries such as librarians in off-line reference problems; user complaints about online help systems; navigation problems; evaluation of the online office assistants; and categories of user queries to online help…

Cross-National User Priorities for Housing Provision and Accessibility — Findings from the European innovAge Project

PubMed Central

Haak, Maria; Slaug, Björn; Oswald, Frank; Schmidt, Steven M.; Rimland, Joseph M.; Tomsone, Signe; Ladö, Thomas; Svensson, Torbjörn; Iwarsson, Susanne

2015-01-01

To develop an innovative information and communication technology (ICT) tool intended to help older people in their search for optimal housing solutions, a first step in the development process is to gain knowledge from the intended users. Thus the aim of this study was to deepen the knowledge about needs and expectations about housing options as expressed and prioritized by older people, people ageing with disabilities and professionals. A participatory design focus was adopted; 26 people with a range of functional limitations representing the user perspective and 15 professionals with a variety of backgrounds, participated in research circles that were conducted in four European countries. An additional 20 experts were invited as guests to the different research circle meetings. Three themes illustrating cross-national user priorities for housing provision and accessibility were identified: “Information barrier: accessible housing”, “Information barrier: housing adaptation benefits”, and “Cost barrier: housing adaptations”. In conclusion, early user involvement and identification of cross-national differences in priorities and housing options will strengthen the development of a user-friendly ICT tool that can empower older people and people with disabilities to be more active consumers regarding housing provision. PMID:25739003

Homeopathy Use by US Adults: Results of a National Survey

PubMed Central

Davis, Roger B.; Kaptchuk, Ted J.; Yeh, Gloria Y.

2016-01-01

We used the 2012 National Health Interview Survey to compare homeopathy users with supplement users and those using other forms of complementary and integrative medicine. Among US adults, 2.1% used homeopathy within the past 12 months. Respiratory and otorhinolaryngology complaints were most commonly treated (18.5%). Homeopathy users were more likely to use multiple complementary and integrative medicine therapies and to perceive the therapy as helpful than were supplement users. US homeopathy use remains uncommon; however, users perceive it as helpful. PMID:26890179

Homeopathy Use by US Adults: Results of a National Survey.

PubMed

Dossett, Michelle L; Davis, Roger B; Kaptchuk, Ted J; Yeh, Gloria Y

2016-04-01

We used the 2012 National Health Interview Survey to compare homeopathy users with supplement users and those using other forms of complementary and integrative medicine. Among US adults, 2.1% used homeopathy within the past 12 months. Respiratory and otorhinolaryngology complaints were most commonly treated (18.5%). Homeopathy users were more likely to use multiple complementary and integrative medicine therapies and to perceive the therapy as helpful than were supplement users. US homeopathy use remains uncommon; however, users perceive it as helpful.

CELT: a computerised evaluative learning tool for continuing professional development.

PubMed

Kelly, Diane R; MacKay, Linda

2003-04-01

To evaluate a computerised, evaluative learning tool (CELT) designed to encourage self-directed learning and help users make changes in practice following learning. The study aimed to evaluate how CELT was used and to ascertain user perceptions of the program. Qualitative analysis of interviews and quantitative analysis of entries made using the software. West of Scotland region, comprising six Health Board areas with a total of 2176 general practitioners (GPs), 39 of whom took part in the study. Of the 39 GPs who started on the project, 34 used CELT. Of these 34, 28 GPs sent in files and six did not. Of the 28 GPs who sent in files, 25 entered data and 76% (22/29) considered the program easy to use. The program was used 7 days a week during the day and night. It raised participants' awareness of the educational value of everyday experiences and led to increased thought about learning. In 41% (45/111) of entries there was evidence that some action had been initiated by users as a result of learning. CELT was designed to encourage self-directed learning and help users make changes in practice following learning. The study has shown that it can be used to deliver individual continuing professional development. It encourages a disciplined approach to learning, promotes thought about learning needs and increases the ability of GPs to learn from everyday experiences. In some instances, users were able to apply what had been learned.

DEVELOPING A CAPE-OPEN COMPLIANT METAL FINISHING FACILITY POLLUTION PREVENTION TOOL (CO-MFFP2T)

EPA Science Inventory

The USEPA is developing a Computer Aided Process Engineering (CAPE) software tool for the metal finishing industry that helps users design efficient metal finishing processes that are less polluting to the environment. Metal finishing process lines can be simulated and evaluated...

Help-Seeking on Facebook Versus More Traditional Sources of Help: Cross-Sectional Survey of Military Veterans

PubMed Central

Marsh, Heather E; Liebow, Samuel B L; Chen, Jason I; Forsberg, Christopher W; Nicolaidis, Christina; Saha, Somnath; Dobscha, Steven K

2018-01-01

Background The media has devoted significant attention to anecdotes of individuals who post messages on Facebook prior to suicide. However, it is unclear to what extent social media is perceived as a source of help or how it compares to other sources of potential support for mental health problems. Objective This study aimed to evaluate the degree to which military veterans with depression use social media for help-seeking in comparison to other more traditional sources of help. Methods Cross-sectional self-report survey of 270 adult military veterans with probable major depression. Help-seeking intentions were measured with a modified General Help-Seeking Questionnaire. Facebook users and nonusers were compared via t tests, Chi-square, and mixed effects regression models. Associations between types of help-seeking were examined using mixed effects models. Results The majority of participants were users of social media, primarily Facebook (n=162). Mean overall help-seeking intentions were similar between Facebook users and nonusers, even after adjustment for potential confounders. Facebook users were very unlikely to turn to Facebook as a venue for support when experiencing either emotional problems or suicidal thoughts. Compared to help-seeking intentions for Facebook, help-seeking intentions for formal (eg, psychologists), informal (eg, friends), or phone helpline sources of support were significantly higher. Results did not substantially change when examining users of other social media, women, or younger adults. Conclusions In its current form, the social media platform Facebook is not seen as a venue to seek help for emotional problems or suicidality among veterans with major depression in the United States. PMID:29483064

Developing iCare v.1.0: an academic electronic health record.

PubMed

Wyatt, Tami H; Li, Xueping; Indranoi, Chayawat; Bell, Matthew

2012-06-01

An electronic health record application, iCare v.1.0, was developed and tested that allows data input and retrieval while tracking student performance over time. The development and usability testing of iCare v.1.0 followed a rapid prototyping software development and testing model. Once the functionality was tested by engineers, the usability and feasibility testing began with a convenience sample of focus group members including undergraduate and graduate students and faculty. Three focus groups were created, and four subjects participated in each focus group (n = 12). Nielsen's usability heuristics and methods of evaluation were used to evaluate data captured from each focus group. Overall, users wanted a full-featured electronic health record with features that coached or guided users. The earliest versions of iCare v.1.0 did not provide help features and prompts to guide students but were later added. Future versions will incorporate a full-featured help section. The interface and design of iCare v.1.0 are similar to professional electronic health record applications. As a result of this usability study, future versions of iCare will include more robust help features along with advanced reporting and elements specific to specialty populations such as pediatrics and mental health services.

Can reduce--the effects of chat-counseling and web-based self-help, web-based self-help alone and a waiting list control program on cannabis use in problematic cannabis users: a randomized controlled trial.

PubMed

Schaub, Michael P; Haug, Severin; Wenger, Andreas; Berg, Oliver; Sullivan, Robin; Beck, Thilo; Stark, Lars

2013-11-14

In European countries, including Switzerland, as well as in many states worldwide, cannabis is the most widely used psychoactive substance after alcohol and tobacco. Although approximately one in ten users develop serious problems of dependency, only a minority attends outpatient addiction counseling centers. The offer of a combined web-based self-help and chat counseling treatment could potentially also reach those users who hesitate to approach such treatment centers and help them to reduce their cannabis use. This paper presents the protocol for a three-armed randomized controlled trial that will test the effectiveness of a web-based self-help intervention in combination with, or independent of, tailored chat counseling compared to a waiting list in reducing or enabling the abstention from cannabis use in problematic users. The primary outcome will be the weekly quantity of cannabis used. Secondary outcome measures will include the number of days per week on which cannabis is used, the severity of cannabis use disorder, the severity of cannabis dependence, cannabis withdrawal symptoms, cannabis craving, the use of alcohol, tobacco, and other non-cannabis illicit drugs, changes in mental health symptoms, and treatment retention. The self-help intervention will consist of 8 modules designed to reduce cannabis use based on the principles of motivational interviewing, self-control practices, and methods of cognitive behavioral therapy. The two additional individual chat-counseling sessions in the additional chat condition will be based on the same therapy approaches and tailored to participants' self-help information data and personal problems. The predictive validity of participants' baseline characteristics on treatment retention and outcomes will be explored. To the best of our knowledge, this will be the first randomized controlled trial to test the effectiveness of online self-help therapy in combination or without chat counseling in reducing or enabling the abstention from cannabis use. It will also investigate predictors of outcome and retention for these interventions. This trial is registered at Current Controlled Trials and is traceable as ISRCTN59948178.

Can reduce - the effects of chat-counseling and web-based self-help, web-based self-help alone and a waiting list control program on cannabis use in problematic cannabis users: a randomized controlled trial

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background In European countries, including Switzerland, as well as in many states worldwide, cannabis is the most widely used psychoactive substance after alcohol and tobacco. Although approximately one in ten users develop serious problems of dependency, only a minority attends outpatient addiction counseling centers. The offer of a combined web-based self-help and chat counseling treatment could potentially also reach those users who hesitate to approach such treatment centers and help them to reduce their cannabis use. Methods/design This paper presents the protocol for a three-armed randomized controlled trial that will test the effectiveness of a web-based self-help intervention in combination with, or independent of, tailored chat counseling compared to a waiting list in reducing or enabling the abstention from cannabis use in problematic users. The primary outcome will be the weekly quantity of cannabis used. Secondary outcome measures will include the number of days per week on which cannabis is used, the severity of cannabis use disorder, the severity of cannabis dependence, cannabis withdrawal symptoms, cannabis craving, the use of alcohol, tobacco, and other non-cannabis illicit drugs, changes in mental health symptoms, and treatment retention. The self-help intervention will consist of 8 modules designed to reduce cannabis use based on the principles of motivational interviewing, self-control practices, and methods of cognitive behavioral therapy. The two additional individual chat-counseling sessions in the additional chat condition will be based on the same therapy approaches and tailored to participants’ self-help information data and personal problems. The predictive validity of participants’ baseline characteristics on treatment retention and outcomes will be explored. Discussion To the best of our knowledge, this will be the first randomized controlled trial to test the effectiveness of online self-help therapy in combination or without chat counseling in reducing or enabling the abstention from cannabis use. It will also investigate predictors of outcome and retention for these interventions. This trial is registered at Current Controlled Trials and is traceable as ISRCTN59948178. PMID:24228630

Development, Technical, and User Evaluation of a Web Mobile Application for Self-Control of Diabetes.

PubMed

Garcia-Zapirain, Begoña; de la Torre Díez, Isabel; Sainz de Abajo, Beatriz; López-Coronado, Miguel

2016-09-01

The main objective of this research was to develop and evaluate a Web-based mobile application (app) known as "Diario Diabetes" on both a technical and user level, by means of which individuals with diabetes may monitor their illness easily at any time and in any place using any device that has Internet access. The technologies used to develop the app were HTML, CSS, JavaScript, PHP, and MySQL, all of which are an open source. Once the app was developed, it was evaluated on a technical level (by measuring loading times) and on a user level, through a survey. Different loading times for the application were measured, with it being noted that under no circumstances does this exceed 2 s. Usability was evaluated by 150 users who initially used the application. A majority (71%) of users used a PC to access the app, 83% considered the app's design to be attractive, 67% considered the tasks to be very useful, and 67% found it very easy to use. Although applications exist for controlling diabetes both at mobile virtual shops or on a research level, our app may help to improve the administration of these types of patients and they are the ones who will ultimately opt for one or the other. According to the results obtained, we can state that all users would recommend the app's use to other users.

Concept Test of a Smoking Cessation Smart Case.

PubMed

Comello, Maria Leonora G; Porter, Jeannette H

2018-04-05

Wearable/portable devices that unobtrusively detect smoking and contextual data offer the potential to provide Just-In-Time Adaptive Intervention (JITAI) support for mobile cessation programs. Little has been reported on the development of these technologies. To address this gap, we offer a case report of users' experiences with a prototype "smart" cigarette case that automatically tracks time and location of smoking. Small-scale user-experience studies are typical of iterative product design and are especially helpful when proposing novel ideas. The purpose of the study was to assess concept acceptability and potential for further development. We tested the prototype case with a small sample of potential users (n = 7). Participants used the hardware/software for 2 weeks and reconvened for a 90-min focus group to discuss experiences and provide feedback. Participants liked the smart case in principle but found the prototype too bulky for easy portability. The potential for the case to convey positive messages about self also emerged as a finding. Participants indicated willingness to pay for improved technology (USD $15-$60 on a one-time basis). The smart case is a viable concept, but design detail is critical to user acceptance. Future research should examine designs that maximize convenience and that explore the device's ability to cue intentions and other cognitions that would support cessation. This study is the first to our knowledge to report formative research on the smart case concept. This initial exploration provides insights that may be helpful to other developers of JITAI-support technology.

TOOKUIL: A case study in user interface development for safety code application

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Gray, D.L.; Harkins, C.K.; Hoole, J.G.

1997-07-01

Traditionally, there has been a very high learning curve associated with using nuclear power plant (NPP) analysis codes. Even for seasoned plant analysts and engineers, the process of building or modifying an input model for present day NPP analysis codes is tedious, error prone, and time consuming. Current cost constraints and performance demands place an additional burden on today`s safety analysis community. Advances in graphical user interface (GUI) technology have been applied to obtain significant productivity and quality assurance improvements for the Transient Reactor Analysis Code (TRAC) input model development. KAPL Inc. has developed an X Windows-based graphical user interfacemore » named TOOKUIL which supports the design and analysis process, acting as a preprocessor, runtime editor, help system, and post processor for TRAC. This paper summarizes the objectives of the project, the GUI development process and experiences, and the resulting end product, TOOKUIL.« less

Predicting radiative heat transfer in thermochemical nonequilibrium flow fields. Theory and user's manual for the LORAN code

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Chambers, Lin Hartung

1994-01-01

The theory for radiation emission, absorption, and transfer in a thermochemical nonequilibrium flow is presented. The expressions developed reduce correctly to the limit at equilibrium. To implement the theory in a practical computer code, some approximations are used, particularly the smearing of molecular radiation. Details of these approximations are presented and helpful information is included concerning the use of the computer code. This user's manual should benefit both occasional users of the Langley Optimized Radiative Nonequilibrium (LORAN) code and those who wish to use it to experiment with improved models or properties.

Program Helps Simulate Neural Networks

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Villarreal, James; Mcintire, Gary

1993-01-01

Neural Network Environment on Transputer System (NNETS) computer program provides users high degree of flexibility in creating and manipulating wide variety of neural-network topologies at processing speeds not found in conventional computing environments. Supports back-propagation and back-propagation-related algorithms. Back-propagation algorithm used is implementation of Rumelhart's generalized delta rule. NNETS developed on INMOS Transputer(R). Predefines back-propagation network, Jordan network, and reinforcement network to assist users in learning and defining own networks. Also enables users to configure other neural-network paradigms from NNETS basic architecture. Small portion of software written in OCCAM(R) language.

ARM Climate Research Facility: Outreach Tools and Strategies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Roeder, L.; Jundt, R.

2009-12-01

Sponsored by the Department of Energy, the ARM Climate Research Facility is a global scientific user facility for the study of climate change. To publicize progress and achievements and to reach new users, the ACRF uses a variety of Web 2.0 tools and strategies that build off of the program’s comprehensive and well established News Center (www.arm.gov/news). These strategies include: an RSS subscription service for specific news categories; an email “newsletter” distribution to the user community that compiles the latest News Center updates into a short summary with links; and a Facebook page that pulls information from the News Center and links to relevant information in other online venues, including those of our collaborators. The ACRF also interacts with users through field campaign blogs, like Discovery Channel’s EarthLive, to share research experiences from the field. Increasingly, field campaign Wikis are established to help ACRF researchers collaborate during the planning and implementation phases of their field studies and include easy to use logs and image libraries to help record the campaigns. This vital reference information is used in developing outreach material that is shared in highlights, news, and Facebook. Other Web 2.0 tools that ACRF uses include Google Maps to help users visualize facility locations and aircraft flight patterns. Easy-to-use comment boxes are also available on many of the data-related web pages on www.arm.gov to encourage feedback. To provide additional opportunities for increased interaction with the public and user community, future Web 2.0 plans under consideration for ACRF include: evaluating field campaigns for Twitter and microblogging opportunities, adding public discussion forums to research highlight web pages, moving existing photos into albums on FlickR or Facebook, and building online video archives through YouTube.

Using an integrative mock-up simulation approach for evidence-based evaluation of operating room design prototypes.

PubMed

Bayramzadeh, Sara; Joseph, Anjali; Allison, David; Shultz, Jonas; Abernathy, James

2018-07-01

This paper describes the process and tools developed as part of a multidisciplinary collaborative simulation-based approach for iterative design and evaluation of operating room (OR) prototypes. Full-scale physical mock-ups of healthcare spaces offer an opportunity to actively communicate with and to engage multidisciplinary stakeholders in the design process. While mock-ups are increasingly being used in healthcare facility design projects, they are rarely evaluated in a manner to support active user feedback and engagement. Researchers and architecture students worked closely with clinicians and architects to develop OR design prototypes and engaged clinical end-users in simulated scenarios. An evaluation toolkit was developed to compare design prototypes. The mock-up evaluation helped the team make key decisions about room size, location of OR table, intra-room zoning, and doors location. Structured simulation based mock-up evaluations conducted in the design process can help stakeholders visualize their future workspace and provide active feedback. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Time-scheduled delivery of computer health animations: "Installing" healthy habits of computer use.

PubMed

Wang, Sy-Chyi; Chern, Jin-Yuan

2013-06-01

The development of modern technology brings convenience to our lives but removes physical activity from our daily routines, thereby putting our lives at risk. Extended computer use may contribute to symptoms such as visual impairment and musculoskeletal disorders. To help reduce the risk of physical inactivity and promote healthier computer use, this study developed a time-scheduled delivery of health-related animations for users sitting in front of computers for prolonged periods. In addition, we examined the effects that the program had on the computer-related health behavior intentions and actions of participants. Two waves of questionnaires were implemented for data collection before and after intervention. The results showed that the animation program indeed had a positive effect on participants' healthy computer use actions in terms of breathtaking, body massages, and body stretches. It also helped to bridge the intention-action gap of the health behaviors. The development and evaluation were documented, and users' experiences/suggestions were discussed at the end.

Development of critical dimension measurement scanning electron microscope for ULSI (S-8000 series)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ezumi, Makoto; Otaka, Tadashi; Mori, Hiroyoshi; Todokoro, Hideo; Ose, Yoichi

1996-05-01

The semiconductor industry is moving from half-micron to quarter-micron design rules. To support this evolution, Hitachi has developed a new critical dimension measurement scanning electron microscope (CD-SEM), the model S-8800 series, for quality control of quarter- micron process lines. The new CD-SEM provides detailed examination of process conditions with 5 nm resolution and 5 nm repeatability (3 sigma) at accelerating voltage 800 V using secondary electron imaging. In addition, a newly developed load-lock system has a capability of achieving a high sample throughput of 20 wafers/hour (5 point measurements per wafer) under continuous operation. To support user friendliness, the system incorporates a graphical user interface (GUI), an automated pattern recognition system which helps locating measurement points, both manual and semi-automated operation, and user-programmable operating parameters.

Is Domain Highlighting Actually Helpful in Identifying Phishing Web Pages?

PubMed

Xiong, Aiping; Proctor, Robert W; Yang, Weining; Li, Ninghui

2017-06-01

To evaluate the effectiveness of domain highlighting in helping users identify whether Web pages are legitimate or spurious. As a component of the URL, a domain name can be overlooked. Consequently, browsers highlight the domain name to help users identify which Web site they are visiting. Nevertheless, few studies have assessed the effectiveness of domain highlighting, and the only formal study confounded highlighting with instructions to look at the address bar. We conducted two phishing detection experiments. Experiment 1 was run online: Participants judged the legitimacy of Web pages in two phases. In Phase 1, participants were to judge the legitimacy based on any information on the Web page, whereas in Phase 2, they were to focus on the address bar. Whether the domain was highlighted was also varied. Experiment 2 was conducted similarly but with participants in a laboratory setting, which allowed tracking of fixations. Participants differentiated the legitimate and fraudulent Web pages better than chance. There was some benefit of attending to the address bar, but domain highlighting did not provide effective protection against phishing attacks. Analysis of eye-gaze fixation measures was in agreement with the task performance, but heat-map results revealed that participants' visual attention was attracted by the highlighted domains. Failure to detect many fraudulent Web pages even when the domain was highlighted implies that users lacked knowledge of Web page security cues or how to use those cues. Potential applications include development of phishing prevention training incorporating domain highlighting with other methods to help users identify phishing Web pages.

User's guide for the thermal analyst's help desk expert system

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ormsby, Rachel A.

1994-01-01

A guide for users of the Thermal Analyst's Help Desk is provided. Help Desk is an expert system that runs on a DOS based personal computer and operates within the EXSYS expert system shell. Help Desk is an analysis tool designed to provide users having various degrees of experience with the capability to determine first approximations of thermal capacity for spacecraft and instruments. The five analyses supported in Help Desk are: surface area required for a radiating surface, equilibrium temperature of a surface, enclosure temperature and heat loads for a defined position in orbit, enclosure temperature and heat loads over a complete orbit, and selection of appropriate surface properties. The two geometries supported by Help Desk are a single flat plate and a rectangular box enclosure.

Using Digital Libraries Non-Visually: Understanding the Help-Seeking Situations of Blind Users

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Xie, Iris; Babu, Rakesh; Joo, Soohyung; Fuller, Paige

2015-01-01

Introduction: This study explores blind users' unique help-seeking situations in interacting with digital libraries. In particular, help-seeking situations were investigated at both the physical and cognitive levels. Method: Fifteen blind participants performed three search tasks, including known- item search, specific information search, and…

Young men’s attitudes and behaviour in relation to mental health and technology: implications for the development of online mental health services

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background This mixed-methods study was designed to explore young Australian men’s attitudes and behaviour in relation to mental health and technology use to inform the development of online mental health services for young men. Methods National online survey of 486 males (aged 16 to 24) and 17 focus groups involving 118 males (aged 16 to 24). Results Young men are heavy users of technology, particularly when it comes to entertainment and connecting with friends, but they are also using technology for finding information and support. The focus group data suggested that young men would be less likely to seek professional help for themselves, citing a preference for self-help and action-oriented strategies instead. Most survey participants reported that they have sought help for a problem online and were satisfied with the help they received. Focus group participants identified potential strategies for how technology could be used to overcome the barriers to help-seeking for young men. Conclusions The key challenge for online mental health services is to design interventions specifically for young men that are action-based, focus on shifting behaviour and stigma, and are not simply about increasing mental health knowledge. Furthermore, such interventions should be user-driven, informed by young men’s views and everyday technology practices, and leverage the influence of peers. PMID:23601273

Young men's attitudes and behaviour in relation to mental health and technology: implications for the development of online mental health services.

PubMed

Ellis, Louise A; Collin, Philippa; Hurley, Patrick J; Davenport, Tracey A; Burns, Jane M; Hickie, Ian B

2013-04-20

This mixed-methods study was designed to explore young Australian men's attitudes and behaviour in relation to mental health and technology use to inform the development of online mental health services for young men. National online survey of 486 males (aged 16 to 24) and 17 focus groups involving 118 males (aged 16 to 24). Young men are heavy users of technology, particularly when it comes to entertainment and connecting with friends, but they are also using technology for finding information and support. The focus group data suggested that young men would be less likely to seek professional help for themselves, citing a preference for self-help and action-oriented strategies instead. Most survey participants reported that they have sought help for a problem online and were satisfied with the help they received. Focus group participants identified potential strategies for how technology could be used to overcome the barriers to help-seeking for young men. The key challenge for online mental health services is to design interventions specifically for young men that are action-based, focus on shifting behaviour and stigma, and are not simply about increasing mental health knowledge. Furthermore, such interventions should be user-driven, informed by young men's views and everyday technology practices, and leverage the influence of peers.

Exploring views about mindfulness groups for voice-hearing from the perspective of service users and staff: A Q-methodology study.

PubMed

Morera, Tirma; Bucci, Sandra; Randal, Chloe; Barrett, Moya; Pratt, Daniel

2017-03-01

Despite prevailing beliefs about the potential benefits and harmfulness of mindfulness for people who hear voices, there is a paucity of research into staff and service user views. Q-methodology was used to explore views about mindfulness groups for voice-hearers. Opportunistic sampling of mental healthcare staff (N = 14) and service users with psychosis (N = 17). Both samples were analysed using principle components factor analysis to identify the range of attitudes held by staff and service users. Staff participants were particularly knowledgeable and interested in mindfulness. A single staff consensus factor was found suggesting mindfulness is helpful, and not harmful for mental health, but uncertainty surrounded its usefulness for voice-hearers. Service users held four distinct attitudes: (i) mindfulness helps to calm a racing mind; (ii) mindfulness helps to manage stress; (iii) mindfulness improves well-being, and does not alter the brain, reality beliefs, or cause madness; and (iv) mindfulness helps with managing thoughts, fostering acceptance, and is acceptable when delivered in a group format. Staff viewed mindfulness groups for psychosis as helpful, not harmful, but were uncertain about their utility. Consistent with previous research, service users viewed mindfulness groups as useful to promote well-being and reduce distress for individuals experiencing psychosis.

Design and pilot evaluation of an Internet spit tobacco cessation program.

PubMed

Gala, S; Pesek, F; Murray, J; Kavanagh, C; Graham, S; Walsh, M

2008-01-01

To develop an interactive Web site to help smokeless tobacco (ST) users to reduce or stop their ST use and pilot test it for feasibility, acceptability, and short-term outcomes. An interactive, multiple-contact Internet ST cessation program was developed, refined based on feedback from 17 ST users, and pilot-tested for feasibility, acceptability, and short-term effects on the ST-related behavior and attitudes among baseball athletes attending 3 colleges in California. Consenting ST users completed a baseline questionnaire and enrolled on the Web site for help with stopping ST use. One month later, outcomes were assessed. Although 18 ST-using baseball athletes enrolled on the Web site, follow-up data were obtained from 12 individuals. Loss to follow-up occurred when we were unable to contact participants by telephone or mailed surveys. At 1-month follow-up, over 80% (N=11) reported that the Web site was: "helpful in stopping or reducing my tobacco use"; easy to navigate; and "appealing." Moreover, 8% (n=1) self-reported abstinence from ST use. Among nonquitters, there was a 26% mean reduction in ST use per day compared to baseline values. In addition, among all enrollees, there was a 4-fold increase in motivation to quit (7% versus 31%) and a 21% increase in their confidence in being able to quit (67% versus. 85%) from baseline to follow-up. The interactive ST cessation Web site was feasible to implement, acceptable to ST users, and appeared to reduce ST use, enhance motivation to quit, and increase confidence about one's ability to quit. Further study with a larger sample size and a control group is needed to determine efficacy to promote cessation of ST use.

Effectiveness Testing of Embedded User Support for U.S. Army Installation-Level Software

DTIC Science & Technology

1991-06-01

under what conditions Dynamic Help could influence performance and satisfaction. The ACIFS program was modified to provide automatic collection of all...under what conditions Dynamic Help can influence user performance and satisfaction. This chapter reports the design, implementation, and analysis of...ambiguous or is hidden in the body of the message. The ACIFS program has many user interface deficiencies, but it does allow the user to use trial and

Using a terminology server and consumer search phrases to help patients find physicians with particular expertise.

PubMed

Cole, Curtis L; Kanter, Andrew S; Cummens, Michael; Vostinar, Sean; Naeymi-Rad, Frank

2004-01-01

To design and implement a real world application using a terminology server to assist patients and physicians who use common language search terms to find specialist physicians with a particular clinical expertise. Terminology servers have been developed to help users encoding of information using complicated structured vocabulary during data entry tasks, such as recording clinical information. We describe a methodology using Personal Health Terminology trade mark and a SNOMED CT-based hierarchical concept server. Construction of a pilot mediated-search engine to assist users who use vernacular speech in querying data which is more technical than vernacular. This approach, which combines theoretical and practical requirements, provides a useful example of concept-based searching for physician referrals.

PC based temporary shielding administrative procedure (TSAP)

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Olsen, D.E.; Pederson, G.E.; Hamby, P.N.

1995-03-01

A completely new Administrative Procedure for temporary shielding was developed for use at Commonwealth Edison`s six nuclear stations. This procedure promotes the use of shielding, and addresses industry requirements for the use and control of temporary shielding. The importance of an effective procedure has increased since more temporary shielding is being used as ALARA goals become more ambitious. To help implement the administrative procedure, a personal computer software program was written to incorporate the procedural requirements. This software incorporates the useability of a Windows graphical user interface with extensive help and database features. This combination of a comprehensive administrative proceduremore » and user friendly software promotes the effective use and management of temporary shielding while ensuring that industry requirements are met.« less

Microbial properties database editor tutorial

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

A Microbial Properties Database Editor (MPDBE) has been developed to help consolidate microbialrelevant data to populate a microbial database and support a database editor by which an authorized user can modify physico-microbial properties related to microbial indicators and pathogens. Physical prop...

Better concrete mixes for rapid repair in Wisconsin.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2017-04-01

With the increasing demands on the highway system and increasing costs of user delay, the use and development of rapid-repairtechniques are expected to grow rapidly. High early strength (HES) portland cement concrete can help reduce the duration oftr...

Microbial Properties Database Editor Tutorial

EPA Science Inventory

A Microbial Properties Database Editor (MPDBE) has been developed to help consolidate microbial-relevant data to populate a microbial database and support a database editor by which an authorized user can modify physico-microbial properties related to microbial indicators and pat...

Uncovering the information core in recommender systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zeng, Wei; Zeng, An; Liu, Hao; Shang, Ming-Sheng; Zhou, Tao

2014-08-01

With the rapid growth of the Internet and overwhelming amount of information that people are confronted with, recommender systems have been developed to effectively support users' decision-making process in online systems. So far, much attention has been paid to designing new recommendation algorithms and improving existent ones. However, few works considered the different contributions from different users to the performance of a recommender system. Such studies can help us improve the recommendation efficiency by excluding irrelevant users. In this paper, we argue that in each online system there exists a group of core users who carry most of the information for recommendation. With them, the recommender systems can already generate satisfactory recommendation. Our core user extraction method enables the recommender systems to achieve 90% of the accuracy of the top-L recommendation by taking only 20% of the users into account. A detailed investigation reveals that these core users are not necessarily the large-degree users. Moreover, they tend to select high quality objects and their selections are well diversified.

Canary: An NLP Platform for Clinicians and Researchers.

PubMed

Malmasi, Shervin; Sandor, Nicolae L; Hosomura, Naoshi; Goldberg, Matt; Skentzos, Stephen; Turchin, Alexander

2017-05-03

Information Extraction methods can help discover critical knowledge buried in the vast repositories of unstructured clinical data. However, these methods are underutilized in clinical research, potentially due to the absence of free software geared towards clinicians with little technical expertise. The skills required for developing/using such software constitute a major barrier for medical researchers wishing to employ these methods. To address this, we have developed Canary, a free and open-source solution designed for users without natural language processing (NLP) or software engineering experience. It was designed to be fast and work out of the box via a user-friendly graphical interface.

Effect of descriptive information and experience on automation reliance.

PubMed

Yuviler-Gavish, Nirit; Gopher, Daniel

2011-06-01

The present research addresses the issue of reliance on decision support systems for the long-term (DSSLT), which help users develop decision-making strategies and long-term planning. It is argued that providing information about a system's future performance in an experiential manner, as compared with a descriptive manner, encourages users to increase their reliance level. Establishing appropriate reliance on DSSLT is contingent on the system developer's ability to provide users with information about the system's future performance. A sequence of three studies contrasts the effect on automation reliance of providing descriptive information versus experience for DSSLT with two different positive expected values of recommendations. Study I demonstrated that when automation reliance was determined solely on the basis of description, it was relatively low, but it increased significantly when a decision was made after experience with 50 training simulations. Participants were able to learn to increase their automation reliance levels when they encountered the same type of recommendation again. Study 2 showed that the absence of preliminary descriptive information did not affect the automation reliance levels obtained after experience. Study 3 demonstrated that participants were able to generalize their learning about increasing reliance levels to new recommendations. Using experience rather than description to give users information about future performance in DSSLT can help increase automation reliance levels. Implications for designing DSSLT and decision support systems in general are discussed.

Would you tell everyone this? Facebook conversations as health promotion interventions.

PubMed

Syred, Jonathan; Naidoo, Carla; Woodhall, Sarah C; Baraitser, Paula

2014-04-11

Health promotion interventions on social networking sites can communicate individually tailored content to a large audience. User-generated content helps to maximize engagement, but health promotion websites have had variable success in supporting user engagement. The aim of our study was to examine which elements of moderator and participant behavior stimulated and maintained interaction with a sexual health promotion site on Facebook. We examined the pattern and content of posts on a Facebook page. Google analytics was used to describe the number of people using the page and viewing patterns. A qualitative, thematic approach was used to analyze content. During the study period (January 18, 2010, to June 27, 2010), 576 users interacted 888 times with the site through 508 posts and 380 comments with 93% of content generated by users. The user-generated conversation continued while new participants were driven to the site by advertising, but interaction with the site ceased rapidly after the advertising stopped. Conversations covered key issues on chlamydia and chlamydia testing. Users endorsed testing, celebrated their negative results, and modified and questioned key messages. There was variation in user approach to the site from sharing of personal experience and requesting help to joking about sexually transmitted infection. The moderator voice was reactive, unengaged, tolerant, simplistic, and was professional in tone. There was no change in the moderator approach throughout the period studied. Our findings suggest this health promotion site provided a space for single user posts but not a self-sustaining conversation. Possible explanations for this include little new content from the moderator, a definition of content too narrow to hold the interest of participants, and limited responsiveness to user needs. Implications for health promotion practice include the need to consider a life cycle approach to online community development for health promotion and the need for a developing moderator strategy to reflect this. This strategy should reflect two facets of moderation for online health promotion interventions: (1) unengaged and professional oversight to provide a safe space for discussion and to maintain information quality, and (2) a more engaged and interactive presence designed to maintain interest that generates new material for discussion and is responsive to user requests.

GhostWriter-2.0: Product Reviews with Case-Based Support

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bridge, Derek; Healy, Paul

A lot of user-generated content on the Web takes the form of records of personal experiences. Case-Based Reasoning offers a way of helping one user to reuse another's experiences from the Web. In this paper, we present GhostWriter-2.0, a Case-Based Reasoning system that supports a user who is writing a product review. GhostWriter-2.0 makes suggestions to the user, in the form of short phrases that are mined from other reviews. The purpose of the suggestions is to prompt the user to write a more comprehensive and helpful review than she might otherwise have done. We explain how GhostWriter-2.0's case base is populated with relevant and helpful reviews from Amazon. We show how it extracts and scores phrases in these reviews to decide which to suggest to the user.We report a trial with real users, in which users made greater use of GhostWriter-2.0's suggested phrases than they did of phrases suggested by a system that used a more random form of selection.

User's Guide: Innovation Configurations for NSDC's Standards for Staff Development

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Roy, Patricia

2007-01-01

This 75-page guidebook is a companion to "Moving NSDC's Staff Development Standards into Practice: Innovation Configurations" Volumes I (ED522734) and II (ED522581). Innovation Configurations are a tool that helps educators better understand what the standards look like in practice. Roy, who co-authored the original volumes, introduces a process…

Towards New Interfaces for Pedagogy

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stein, Murphy Martin

2014-01-01

Developing technology to help people teach and learn is an important topic in Human Computer Interaction (HCI). In this thesis we present three studies on this topic. In the first study, we demonstrate new games for learning mathematics and discuss the evidence for key design decisions from user studies. In the second study, we develop a real-time…

A Virtual World Workshop Environment for Learning Agile Software Development Techniques

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Parsons, David; Stockdale, Rosemary

2012-01-01

Multi-User Virtual Environments (MUVEs) are the subject of increasing interest for educators and trainers. This article reports on a longitudinal project that seeks to establish a virtual agile software development workshop hosted in the Open Wonderland MUVE, designed to help learners to understand the basic principles of some core agile software…

Using research evidence in mental health: user-rating and focus group study of clinicians' preferences for a new clinical question-answering service.

PubMed

Barley, Elizabeth A; Murray, Joanna; Churchill, Rachel

2009-12-01

Clinicians report difficulties using research in their practices. The aim of the study was to describe needs and preferences for a mental health clinical question-answering service designed to assist this process. Multi-disciplinary clinicians participated in a focus group; users of the service supplied feedback. Fifty-four clinicians received answers to 84 questions about mental health treatments. User ratings showed that the answers had multiple uses: informing health care (43), education (22), staff development (28) and research (12), and were considered useful, clear, relevant and helpful. Focus group participants appreciated critically appraised summaries of evidence and stressed the time-saving benefit of the service. Clinicians without a medical training were least confident in applying evidence. Attitudes to research were positive, but concern was expressed about its potential misuse for political purposes. This appeared to arise from an ambiguity around the term 'insufficient evidence', which participants felt is widely misinterpreted as 'evidence of no effect'. A highly valued, responsive service has been developed. A range of clinicians find critically appraised summaries of research useful. Education about the use of research may help clinicians to be more evidence based.

Using the critical incident technique to define a minimal data set for requirements elicitation in public health.

PubMed

Olvingson, Christina; Hallberg, Niklas; Timpka, Toomas; Greenes, Robert A

2002-12-18

The introduction of computer-based information systems (ISs) in public health provides enhanced possibilities for service improvements and hence also for improvement of the population's health. Not least, new communication systems can help in the socialization and integration process needed between the different professions and geographical regions. Therefore, development of ISs that truly support public health practices require that technical, cognitive, and social issues be taken into consideration. A notable problem is to capture 'voices' of all potential users, i.e., the viewpoints of different public health practitioners. Failing to capture these voices will result in inefficient or even useless systems. The aim of this study is to develop a minimal data set for capturing users' voices on problems experienced by public health professionals in their daily work and opinions about how these problems can be solved. The issues of concern thus captured can be used both as the basis for formulating the requirements of ISs for public health professionals and to create an understanding of the use context. Further, the data can help in directing the design to the features most important for the users.

CHISSL: A Human-Machine Collaboration Space for Unsupervised Learning

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Arendt, Dustin L.; Komurlu, Caner; Blaha, Leslie M.

We developed CHISSL, a human-machine interface that utilizes supervised machine learning in an unsupervised context to help the user group unlabeled instances by her own mental model. The user primarily interacts via correction (moving a misplaced instance into its correct group) or confirmation (accepting that an instance is placed in its correct group). Concurrent with the user's interactions, CHISSL trains a classification model guided by the user's grouping of the data. It then predicts the group of unlabeled instances and arranges some of these alongside the instances manually organized by the user. We hypothesize that this mode of human andmore » machine collaboration is more effective than Active Learning, wherein the machine decides for itself which instances should be labeled by the user. We found supporting evidence for this hypothesis in a pilot study where we applied CHISSL to organize a collection of handwritten digits.« less

Employing the arts for knowledge production and translation: Visualizing new possibilities for women speaking up about safety concerns in maternity.

PubMed

Mackintosh, Nicola; Sandall, Jane; Collison, Claire; Carter, Wendy; Harris, James

2018-06-01

This project used animated film to translate research findings into accessible health information aimed at enabling women to speak up and secure professional help for serious safety concerns during pregnancy and after birth. We tested as proof of concept our use of the arts both as product (knowledge production) and process (enabling involvement). Emergencies during pregnancy and birth, while unusual, can develop rapidly and unexpectedly, with catastrophic consequences. Women's tacit knowledge of changes in their condition is an important resource to aid early detection, but women can worry about the legitimacy of their concerns and struggle to get these taken seriously by staff. Arts-based knowledge translation. A user group of women who had experienced complications in the perinatal period (n = 34) helped us develop and pilot test the animation. Obstetricians and midwives (15), clinical leads (3) and user group representatives (8) helped with the design and testing. The consultation process, script and storyboard enabled active interaction with the evidence, meaningful engagement with stakeholders and new understandings about securing help for perinatal complications. The method enabled us to address gender stereotypes and social norms about speaking up and embed a social script for women within the animation, to help structure their help seeking. While for some women, there was an emotional burden, the majority were glad to have been part of the animation's development and felt it had enabled their voices to be heard. This project has demonstrated the benefits of arts-science collaborations for meaningful co-production and effective translation of research evidence. © 2017 The Authors. Health Expectations published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Applying Human-Centered Design Methods to Scientific Communication Products

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Burkett, E. R.; Jayanty, N. K.; DeGroot, R. M.

2016-12-01

Knowing your users is a critical part of developing anything to be used or experienced by a human being. User interviews, journey maps, and personas are all techniques commonly employed in human-centered design practices because they have proven effective for informing the design of products and services that meet the needs of users. Many non-designers are unaware of the usefulness of personas and journey maps. Scientists who are interested in developing more effective products and communication can adopt and employ user-centered design approaches to better reach intended audiences. Journey mapping is a qualitative data-collection method that captures the story of a user's experience over time as related to the situation or product that requires development or improvement. Journey maps help define user expectations, where they are coming from, what they want to achieve, what questions they have, their challenges, and the gaps and opportunities that can be addressed by designing for them. A persona is a tool used to describe the goals and behavioral patterns of a subset of potential users or customers. The persona is a qualitative data model that takes the form of a character profile, built upon data about the behaviors and needs of multiple users. Gathering data directly from users avoids the risk of basing models on assumptions, which are often limited by misconceptions or gaps in understanding. Journey maps and user interviews together provide the data necessary to build the composite character that is the persona. Because a persona models the behaviors and needs of the target audience, it can then be used to make informed product design decisions. We share the methods and advantages of developing and using personas and journey maps to create more effective science communication products.

Torque and power outputs on different subjects during manual wheelchair propulsion under different conditions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hwang, Seonhong; Kim, Seunghyeon; Son, Jongsang; Kim, Youngho

2012-02-01

Manual wheelchair users are at a high risk of pain and injuries to the upper extremities due to mechanical inefficiency of wheelchair propulsion motion. The kinetic analysis of the upper extremities during manual wheelchair propulsion in various conditions needed to be investigated. We developed and calibrated a wheelchair dynamometer for measuring kinetic parameters during propulsion. We utilized the dynamometer to investigate and compare the propulsion torque and power values of experienced and novice users under four different conditions. Experienced wheelchair users generated lower torques with more power than novice users and reacted alertly and sensitively to changing conditions. We expect that these basic methods and results may help to quantitatively evaluate the mechanical efficiency of manual wheelchair propulsion.

Rural Enterprise Development, Pathfinder. A Guidebook: Making Mid-Career Decisions for the Career Planning Course.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Piekarski, Thomas J., Comp.

This guidebook provides materials for a Rural Enterprise Development course for farmers, agricultural workers, spouses, and farm families in Rock and Green Counties, Wisconsin. Course goals are to help the user discover career and life options and develop job seeking skills. The guidebook is intended for use as a notebook or journal to record…

Versioning System for Distributed Ontology Development

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-03-15

provides guidelines for evaluating the impact of the version changes. This page intentionally left blank. v...conformance to a clear set of development and versioning guidelines to assure that changes and extensions can be integrated back into the “main development... guidelines for evolution of an ontology would have considerably helped the users of the ontology in these situations. The currently accessible

Alternative approaches to forestry research evaluation: an assessment.

Treesearch

Pamela J. Jakes; Earl C. Leatherberry

1986-01-01

Reviews research evaluation techniques in a variety of fields an assesses the usefulness of various approaches or combinations of approaches for forestry research evaluation. Presents an evaluation framework that will help users develop an approach suitable for their specific problem.

CompTox Chemistry Dashboard webinar

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

The CompTox Chemistry Dashboard is part of a suite of dashboards developed by EPA to help evaluate the safety of chemicals. The dashboard provides access to a variety of information on over 700,000 chemicals currently in use. Within the application, users

A middle man approach to knowledge acquisition in expert systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Jordan, Janice A.; Lin, Min-Jin; Mayer, Richard J.; Sterle, Mark E.

1990-01-01

The Weed Control Advisor (WCA) is a robust expert system that has been successfully implemented on an IBM AT class microcomputer in CLIPS. The goal of the WCA was to demonstrate the feasibility of providing an economical, efficient, user friendly system through which Texas rice producers could obtain expert level knowledge regarding herbicide application for weed control. During the development phase of the WCA, an improved knowledge acquisition method which we call the Middle Man Approach (MMA) was applied to facilitate the communication process between the domain experts and the knowledge engineer. The MMA served to circumvent the problems associated with the more traditional forms of knowledge acquisition by placing the Middle Man, a semi-expert in the problem domain with some computer expertise, at the site of system development. The middle man was able to contribute to system development in two major ways. First, the Middle Man had experience working in rice production and could assume many of the responsibilities normally performed by the domain experts such as explaining the background of the problem domain and determining the important relations. Second, the Middle Man was familiar with computers and worked closely with the system developers to update the rules after the domain experts reviewed the prototype, contribute to the help menus and explanation portions of the expert system, conduct the testing that is required to insure that the expert system gives the expected results answer questions in a timely way, help the knowledge engineer structure the domain knowledge into a useable form, and provide insight into the end user's profile which helped in the development of the simple user friendly interface. The final results were not only that both time expended and costs were greatly reduced by using the MMA, but the quality of the system was improved. This papa will introduce the WCA system and then discuss traditional knowledge acquisition along with some of the problems often associated with it, the MMA methodology, and its application to the WCA development.

Distributed usability evaluation of the Pennsylvania Cancer Atlas

PubMed Central

Bhowmick, Tanuka; Robinson, Anthony C; Gruver, Adrienne; MacEachren, Alan M; Lengerich, Eugene J

2008-01-01

Background The Pennsylvania Cancer Atlas (PA-CA) is an interactive online atlas to help policy-makers, program managers, and epidemiologists with tasks related to cancer prevention and control. The PA-CA includes maps, graphs, tables, that are dynamically linked to support data exploration and decision-making with spatio-temporal cancer data. Our Atlas development process follows a user-centered design approach. To assess the usability of the initial versions of the PA-CA, we developed and applied a novel strategy for soliciting user feedback through multiple distributed focus groups and surveys. Our process of acquiring user feedback leverages an online web application (e-Delphi). In this paper we describe the PA-CA, detail how we have adapted e-Delphi web application to support usability and utility evaluation of the PA-CA, and present the results of our evaluation. Results We report results from four sets of users. Each group provided structured individual and group assessments of the PA-CA as well as input on the kinds of users and applications for which it is best suited. Overall reactions to the PA-CA are quite positive. Participants did, however, provide a range of useful suggestions. Key suggestions focused on improving interaction functions, enhancing methods of temporal analysis, addressing data issues, and providing additional data displays and help functions. These suggestions were incorporated in each design and implementation iteration for the PA-CA and used to inform a set of web-atlas design principles. Conclusion For the Atlas, we find that a design that utilizes linked map, graph, and table views is understandable to and perceived to be useful by the target audience of cancer prevention and control professionals. However, it is clear that considerable variation in experience using maps and graphics exists and for those with less experience, integrated tutorials and help features are needed. In relation to our usability assessment strategy, we find that our distributed, web-based method for soliciting user input is generally effective. Advantages include the ability to gather information from users distributed in time and space and the relative anonymity of the participants while disadvantages include less control over when and how often participants provide input and challenges for obtaining rich input. PMID:18620565

Candidate Mission from Planet Earth control and data delivery system architecture

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Shapiro, Phillip; Weinstein, Frank C.; Hei, Donald J., Jr.; Todd, Jacqueline

1992-01-01

Using a structured, experienced-based approach, Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) has assessed the generic functional requirements for a lunar mission control and data delivery (CDD) system. This analysis was based on lunar mission requirements outlined in GSFC-developed user traffic models. The CDD system will facilitate data transportation among user elements, element operations, and user teams by providing functions such as data management, fault isolation, fault correction, and link acquisition. The CDD system for the lunar missions must not only satisfy lunar requirements but also facilitate and provide early development of data system technologies for Mars. Reuse and evolution of existing data systems can help to maximize system reliability and minimize cost. This paper presents a set of existing and currently planned NASA data systems that provide the basic functionality. Reuse of such systems can have an impact on mission design and significantly reduce CDD and other system development costs.

An Innovative Speech-Based User Interface for Smarthomes and IoT Solutions to Help People with Speech and Motor Disabilities.

PubMed

Malavasi, Massimiliano; Turri, Enrico; Atria, Jose Joaquin; Christensen, Heidi; Marxer, Ricard; Desideri, Lorenzo; Coy, Andre; Tamburini, Fabio; Green, Phil

2017-01-01

A better use of the increasing functional capabilities of home automation systems and Internet of Things (IoT) devices to support the needs of users with disability, is the subject of a research project currently conducted by Area Ausili (Assistive Technology Area), a department of Polo Tecnologico Regionale Corte Roncati of the Local Health Trust of Bologna (Italy), in collaboration with AIAS Ausilioteca Assistive Technology (AT) Team. The main aim of the project is to develop experimental low cost systems for environmental control through simplified and accessible user interfaces. Many of the activities are focused on automatic speech recognition and are developed in the framework of the CloudCAST project. In this paper we report on the first technical achievements of the project and discuss future possible developments and applications within and outside CloudCAST.

User Requirements Based Development of a Web Portal for Chronic Patients.

PubMed

Kopanitsa, Georgy

2017-01-01

In the current study, we tried to identify practices that help overcoming data entering and operational barriers, and involve patients and doctors in the development process to improve the acceptance of Web portals for chronic patients. This paper presents a follow up project implementing a Web portal for chronic patients considering previously studied barriers and opportunities. The following methods were applied to facilitate the acceptance of the portal: 1) a joint use case definition and discussion session before starting the development; 2) involvement of the users in prototyping the portal; 3) training of doctors and patients together before the implementation. During the first week of the portal's operation we have measured the number of data transactions and the number of active users to compare it with previous experience. The first weeks of operating the portal, we could observe an active contribution of doctors and patients, who submitted vital signs data and recommendations to the portal.

Mental health first aid guidelines: an evaluation of impact following download from the World Wide Web.

PubMed

Hart, Laura M; Jorm, Anthony F; Paxton, Susan J; Cvetkovski, Stefan

2012-11-01

Mental health first aid guidelines provide the public with consensus-based information about how to assist someone who is developing a mental illness or experiencing a mental health crisis. The aim of the current study was to evaluate the usefulness and impact of the guidelines on web users who download them. Web users who downloaded the documents were invited to respond to an initial demographic questionnaire, then a follow up about how the documents had been used, their perceived usefulness, whether first-aid situations had been encountered and if these were influenced by the documents. Over 9.8 months, 706 web users responded to the initial questionnaire and 154 responded to the second. A majority reported downloading the document because their job involved contact with people with mental illness. Sixty-three web users reported providing first aid, 44 of whom reported that the person they were assisting had sought professional care as a result of their suggestion. Twenty-three web users reported seeking care themselves. A majority of those who provided first aid reported feeling that they had been successful in helping the person, that they had been able to assist in a way that was more knowledgeable, skilful and supportive, and that the guidelines had contributed to these outcomes. Information made freely available on the Internet, about how to provide mental health first aid to someone who is developing a mental health problem or experiencing a mental health crisis, is associated with more positive, empathic and successful helping behaviours. © 2012 Wiley Publishing Asia Pty Ltd.

Experiences and preferences of users with major mental disorders regarding helpful care in situations of mental crisis.

PubMed

Gudde, Camilla Buch; Olsø, Turid Møller; Antonsen, Dag Øivind; Rø, Marit; Eriksen, Lasse; Vatne, Solfrid

2013-03-01

To examine the experiences of and preferences for helpful care in situations of mental crisis from the perspective of people with major mental disorders. Qualitative individual interviews with 19 users with major mental disorder, 13 men and six women, aged 22-60 years. Analysis was conducted with systematic text condensation. The main tendencies among a majority of the users are a clear understanding of their own problems and ways of handling these, and the desire for early help from providers whom they know well and who are open to dialogue and reflection. A clear majority perceived a high threshold for contacting the mental health system due to negative experiences and lack of user involvement in treatment planning and implementation. The findings challenge traditional views of professionalism and describe important implications for mental health services from the user's perspective. Our study provides a clear indication of the importance of becoming an active participant in one's own life, and the need for deeper understanding among the professionals in relation to user experiences and preferences for helpful care in periods of mental health crisis in order to optimize the care.

Visual programming for next-generation sequencing data analytics.

PubMed

Milicchio, Franco; Rose, Rebecca; Bian, Jiang; Min, Jae; Prosperi, Mattia

2016-01-01

High-throughput or next-generation sequencing (NGS) technologies have become an established and affordable experimental framework in biological and medical sciences for all basic and translational research. Processing and analyzing NGS data is challenging. NGS data are big, heterogeneous, sparse, and error prone. Although a plethora of tools for NGS data analysis has emerged in the past decade, (i) software development is still lagging behind data generation capabilities, and (ii) there is a 'cultural' gap between the end user and the developer. Generic software template libraries specifically developed for NGS can help in dealing with the former problem, whilst coupling template libraries with visual programming may help with the latter. Here we scrutinize the state-of-the-art low-level software libraries implemented specifically for NGS and graphical tools for NGS analytics. An ideal developing environment for NGS should be modular (with a native library interface), scalable in computational methods (i.e. serial, multithread, distributed), transparent (platform-independent), interoperable (with external software interface), and usable (via an intuitive graphical user interface). These characteristics should facilitate both the run of standardized NGS pipelines and the development of new workflows based on technological advancements or users' needs. We discuss in detail the potential of a computational framework blending generic template programming and visual programming that addresses all of the current limitations. In the long term, a proper, well-developed (although not necessarily unique) software framework will bridge the current gap between data generation and hypothesis testing. This will eventually facilitate the development of novel diagnostic tools embedded in routine healthcare.

Development of a Multi-Behavioral mHealth App for Women Smokers.

PubMed

Armin, Julie; Johnson, Thienne; Hingle, Melanie; Giacobbi, Peter; Gordon, Judith S

2017-02-01

This article describes the development of the See Me Smoke-Free™ (SMSF) mobile health application, which uses guided imagery to support women in smoking cessation, eating a healthy diet, and increasing physical activity. Focus group discussions, with member checks, were conducted to refine the intervention content and app user interface. Data related to the context of app deployment were collected via user testing sessions and internal quality control testing, which identified and addressed functionality issues, content problems, and bugs. Interactive app features include playback of guided imagery audio files, notification pop-ups, award-sharing on social media, a tracking calendar, content resources, and direct call to the local tobacco quitline. Focus groups helped design the user interface and identified several themes for incorporation into app content, including positivity, the rewards of smoking cessation, and the integrated benefits of maintaining a healthy lifestyle. User testing improved app functionality and usability on many Android phone models. Changes to the app content and function were made iteratively by the development team as a result of focus group and user testing. Despite extensive internal and user testing, unanticipated data collection and reporting issues emerged during deployment due not only to the variety of Android software and hardware but also to individual phone settings and use.

Development and Alpha Testing of QuitIT: An Interactive Video Game to Enhance Skills for Coping With Smoking Urges

PubMed Central

Fiske, Jeff

2013-01-01

Background Despite many efforts at developing relapse prevention interventions, most smokers relapse to tobacco use within a few months after quitting. Interactive games offer a novel strategy for helping people develop the skills required for successful tobacco cessation. Objective The objective of our study was to develop a video game that enables smokers to practice strategies for coping with smoking urges and maintaining smoking abstinence. Our team of game designers and clinical psychologists are creating a video game that integrates the principles of smoking behavior change and relapse prevention. We have reported the results of expert and end-user feedback on an alpha version of the game. Methods The alpha version of the game consisted of a smoking cue scenario often encountered by smokers. We recruited 5 experts in tobacco cessation research and 20 current and former smokers, who each played through the scenario. Mixed methods were used to gather feedback on the relevance of cessation content and usability of the game modality. Results End-users rated the interface from 3.0 to 4.6/5 in terms of ease of use and from 2.9 to 4.1/5 in terms of helpfulness of cessation content. Qualitative themes showed several user suggestions for improving the user interface, pacing, and diversity of the game characters. In addition, the users confirmed a high degree of game immersion, identification with the characters and situations, and appreciation for the multiple opportunities to practice coping strategies. Conclusions This study highlights the procedures for translating behavioral principles into a game dynamic and shows that our prototype has a strong potential for engaging smokers. A video game modality exemplifies problem-based learning strategies for tobacco cessation and is an innovative step in behavioral management of tobacco use. PMID:24025236

Help-Seeking on Facebook Versus More Traditional Sources of Help: Cross-Sectional Survey of Military Veterans.

PubMed

Teo, Alan R; Marsh, Heather E; Liebow, Samuel B L; Chen, Jason I; Forsberg, Christopher W; Nicolaidis, Christina; Saha, Somnath; Dobscha, Steven K

2018-02-26

The media has devoted significant attention to anecdotes of individuals who post messages on Facebook prior to suicide. However, it is unclear to what extent social media is perceived as a source of help or how it compares to other sources of potential support for mental health problems. This study aimed to evaluate the degree to which military veterans with depression use social media for help-seeking in comparison to other more traditional sources of help. Cross-sectional self-report survey of 270 adult military veterans with probable major depression. Help-seeking intentions were measured with a modified General Help-Seeking Questionnaire. Facebook users and nonusers were compared via t tests, Chi-square, and mixed effects regression models. Associations between types of help-seeking were examined using mixed effects models. The majority of participants were users of social media, primarily Facebook (n=162). Mean overall help-seeking intentions were similar between Facebook users and nonusers, even after adjustment for potential confounders. Facebook users were very unlikely to turn to Facebook as a venue for support when experiencing either emotional problems or suicidal thoughts. Compared to help-seeking intentions for Facebook, help-seeking intentions for formal (eg, psychologists), informal (eg, friends), or phone helpline sources of support were significantly higher. Results did not substantially change when examining users of other social media, women, or younger adults. In its current form, the social media platform Facebook is not seen as a venue to seek help for emotional problems or suicidality among veterans with major depression in the United States. ©Alan R Teo, Heather E Marsh, Samuel B L Liebow, Jason I Chen, Christopher W Forsberg, Christina Nicolaidis, Somnath Saha, Steven K Dobscha. Originally published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research (http://www.jmir.org), 26.02.2018.

The Impacts of Attitudes and Engagement on Electronic Word of Mouth (eWOM) of Mobile Sensor Computing Applications.

PubMed

Zhao, Yu; Liu, Yide; Lai, Ivan K W; Zhang, Hongfeng; Zhang, Yi

2016-03-18

As one of the latest revolutions in networking technology, social networks allow users to keep connected and exchange information. Driven by the rapid wireless technology development and diffusion of mobile devices, social networks experienced a tremendous change based on mobile sensor computing. More and more mobile sensor network applications have appeared with the emergence of a huge amount of users. Therefore, an in-depth discussion on the human-computer interaction (HCI) issues of mobile sensor computing is required. The target of this study is to extend the discussions on HCI by examining the relationships of users' compound attitudes (i.e., affective attitudes, cognitive attitude), engagement and electronic word of mouth (eWOM) behaviors in the context of mobile sensor computing. A conceptual model is developed, based on which, 313 valid questionnaires are collected. The research discusses the level of impact on the eWOM of mobile sensor computing by considering user-technology issues, including the compound attitude and engagement, which can bring valuable discussions on the HCI of mobile sensor computing in further study. Besides, we find that user engagement plays a mediating role between the user's compound attitudes and eWOM. The research result can also help the mobile sensor computing industry to develop effective strategies and build strong consumer user-product (brand) relationships.

Determination of Appropriate Service Delivery Level for Quantitative Attributes of Household Toilets in Rural Settlements of India from Users' Perspective

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rashid, Mohammad; Pandit, Debapratim

2018-04-01

Improvement of quality of sanitation services in rural settlements is an important development goal in developing countries including India and accordingly several strategies are adopted which promote the demand and use of household toilets through creating awareness and providing subsidies to poor people for construction of household toilets with service-level standards specified from experts' perspective. In many cases, users are unsatisfied with the quality of toilets constructed using subsidies and the same remain unused. Users' satisfaction depends on their perceptions of service quality of individual attributes and overall service quality of the household toilets, which is an important determinant of sustainability and sustained use of toilets. This study aims to assess and benchmark the appropriate service delivery level for quantitative attributes of rural household toilets based on user perception. The service quality is determined with the help of level of service (LOS) scales developed using successive interval scaling technique, the zone of tolerance (ZOT), and users satisfaction level (USL) which relates service delivery levels with user satisfaction directly. The study finds that the service quality of most of the attributes of household toilets constructed using subsidies is perceived as poor. The results also suggest that most of the users expect to have a toilet with the service level of attributes ranging between LOS A and LOS B.

Determination of Appropriate Service Delivery Level for Quantitative Attributes of Household Toilets in Rural Settlements of India from Users' Perspective.

PubMed

Rashid, Mohammad; Pandit, Debapratim

2018-04-01

Improvement of quality of sanitation services in rural settlements is an important development goal in developing countries including India and accordingly several strategies are adopted which promote the demand and use of household toilets through creating awareness and providing subsidies to poor people for construction of household toilets with service-level standards specified from experts' perspective. In many cases, users are unsatisfied with the quality of toilets constructed using subsidies and the same remain unused. Users' satisfaction depends on their perceptions of service quality of individual attributes and overall service quality of the household toilets, which is an important determinant of sustainability and sustained use of toilets. This study aims to assess and benchmark the appropriate service delivery level for quantitative attributes of rural household toilets based on user perception. The service quality is determined with the help of level of service (LOS) scales developed using successive interval scaling technique, the zone of tolerance (ZOT), and users satisfaction level (USL) which relates service delivery levels with user satisfaction directly. The study finds that the service quality of most of the attributes of household toilets constructed using subsidies is perceived as poor. The results also suggest that most of the users expect to have a toilet with the service level of attributes ranging between LOS A and LOS B.

Development and initial evaluation of a mobile application to help with mindfulness training and practice.

PubMed

Plaza García, Inmaculada; Sánchez, Carlos Medrano; Espílez, Ángel Sánchez; García-Magariño, Iván; Guillén, Guillermo Azuara; García-Campayo, Javier

2017-09-01

Different review articles support the usefulness and effectiveness of mindfulness techniques in health and wellbeing. In this paper we present a first prototype of a mobile application to help with the training and practice of mindfulness, taking into account the lacks detected in a previous literature review. Our aim was to measure acceptance and perceived quality, as well as gather data about app usage. Their dependence on demographic variables and the change in mindful level was also measured. Two versions of a new application were developed, "Mindfulness" and "Mindfulness Sci". The application has been tested in two pilot studies: in traditional face-to-face mindfulness groups and in individual and independent use. 3977 users were involved in this study: 26 in the first trial during an 8-week usage period and 3951 in the second trial during 17 months. In the first study, participants assessed the app with high scores. They considered it as a helping tool for mindfulness practice, user-friendly and with high quality of use. The positive perception was maintained after 8-weeks meditation workshops, and participants considered that its use could contribute to obtain benefits for mental and physical health. In the second study, we found rather weak associations between usage time and age, nationality and educational level. The mindful level showed a weak positive correlation with the session accomplished but slightly above the boundary of statistical significance (p-value=0.051). Videos and information stood out as the most accessed resources. Up to our knowledge, this is the first app developed with the help of health professionals in Spanish that could be used with a general aim, in health and wellbeing. The results are promising with a positive evaluation in face-to-face and independent use situations. Therefore, the number of potential users is enormous in a global worldwide context. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Development of a Simple Image Processing Application that Makes Abdominopelvic Tumor Visible on Positron Emission Tomography/Computed Tomography Image.

PubMed

Pandey, Anil Kumar; Saroha, Kartik; Sharma, Param Dev; Patel, Chetan; Bal, Chandrashekhar; Kumar, Rakesh

2017-01-01

In this study, we have developed a simple image processing application in MATLAB that uses suprathreshold stochastic resonance (SSR) and helps the user to visualize abdominopelvic tumor on the exported prediuretic positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) images. A brainstorming session was conducted for requirement analysis for the program. It was decided that program should load the screen captured PET/CT images and then produces output images in a window with a slider control that should enable the user to view the best image that visualizes the tumor, if present. The program was implemented on personal computer using Microsoft Windows and MATLAB R2013b. The program has option for the user to select the input image. For the selected image, it displays output images generated using SSR in a separate window having a slider control. The slider control enables the user to view images and select one which seems to provide the best visualization of the area(s) of interest. The developed application enables the user to select, process, and view output images in the process of utilizing SSR to detect the presence of abdominopelvic tumor on prediuretic PET/CT image.

A four-year experience with a Web-based self-help intervention for depressive symptoms in Mexico.

PubMed

Lara, María Asunción; Tiburcio, Marcela; Aguilar Abrego, Araceli; Sánchez-Solís, Alejandro

2014-01-01

To describe a four-year descriptive, naturalistic study monitoring the use of HDep (Help for Depression or Ayuda para depression (ADep)in Spanish), an open-access/free Web-based, psycho-education, cognitive-behavioral intervention program produced in Mexico consisting of seven self-help modules that include feedback-generating assessments of depressive symptoms, vignettes, recorded messages, a relaxation exercise, a personal workbook, blogs, and user discussion forums. Data were collected on all individuals who entered the HDep site since the program's launching in 2009. Those who entered the site two or more times and also registered as "users" or "participants." The user data consisted of 1) user profiles; 2) scores for the CES-D (Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale), for users who completed the feedback-generating assessments of depressive symptoms; 3) user evaluations of the usefulness of HDep; and 4) transcripts of HDep discussion forum posts. The raw user data were obtained through Moodle (Modular Object-Oriented Dynamic Learning Environment, a free software e-learning platform) and analyzed quantitatively (using SPSS) and qualitatively (using ATLAS.ti). A total of 28 078 individuals accessed HDep and 17 318 of those (61.6%) qualified as users. Of all users, 84.4% were women, 64.6% used the workbook, and 60.9% entered the discussion forums (of whom 16.3% added a post). Depressive symptoms (CES-D score ≥ 16) were observed in 97.1% of the users who completed the feedback-generating assessment (n = 16 564). User retention dropped across the seven modules (from 12 366 users for Module 1 to 626 for Module 7). However, all seven modules were rated very high for "helpfulness/usefulness," with mean scores all above 4 on a 1 - 5 scale. The HDep discussion forums showed a rich social interaction. Predictors of entering at least one module (based on stepwise logistic regression analysis) included being a woman, being ≥ 30 years old, reporting disability, and having attempted suicide. Of the 72 participants who completed the final user evaluation of HDep, 97.5% said it had an enormous influence on helping them to identify and transform negative thoughts. Despite the high attrition among users, and the need for further structure adaptation, HDep can be considered a potentially useful mental health tool in Mexico for 1) detecting depression (via the CES-D assessments) and 2) providing a means of social support to those with depression. The high levels of depressive symptoms detected among users suggest that the role of free-access, self-help, Web-based interventions in public mental health programs should be further investigated. The effectiveness of HDep in reducing depressive symptoms and providing a support system has yet to be assessed and should be examined in future research.

A Study to Develop a Timeline for Sequencing the Major Transitional Tasks in the Fort Sill Hospital Transition Plan

DTIC Science & Technology

1988-07-01

efforts. 7. Ensure that transition planning materials and manuals are prepared. 8. Ensure proper orientation of staff. 9. Ensure all involved parties...software package which will integrate with the project methodology: User’s manual that is "user friendly". Tutorial with sample data for learning the...program. Menus for direction and assistance. On-line help to avoid constant referral to the manual . Technical support available via telephone. Demo

Getting ready for user involvement in a systematic review

PubMed Central

Smith, Elizabeth; Donovan, Sheila; Beresford, Peter; Manthorpe, Jill; Brearley, Sally; Sitzia, John; Ross, Fiona

2009-01-01

Abstract Objective  This paper aims to support the critical development of user involvement in systematic reviews by explaining some of the theoretical, ethical and practical issues entailed in ‘getting ready’ for user involvement. Background  Relatively few health or social care systematic reviews have actively involved service users. Evidence from other research contexts shows that user involvement can have benefits in terms of improved quality and outcomes, hence there is a need to test out different approaches in order to realize the benefits of user involvement and gain a greater understanding of any negative outcomes. Design  Setting up a service‐user reference group for a review of user involvement in nursing, midwifery and health visiting research involved conceptualizing user involvement, developing a representation framework, identifying and targeting service users and creating a sense of mutuality and reciprocity. Setting and participants  Recruitment was undertaken across England by two researchers. Members from 24 national consumer organizations were selected to participate in the review. Main variables studied  Learning was gained about finding ways of navigating consumer networks and organizations, how best to communicate our goals and intentions and how to manage selection and ‘rejection’ in circumstances where we had stimulated enthusiasm. Results and conclusions  Involving service users helped us to access information, locate the findings in issues that are important to service users and to disseminate findings. User involvement is about relationships in social contexts: decisions made at the early conceptual level of research design affect service users and researchers in complex and personal ways. PMID:19236632

User interface user's guide for HYPGEN

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Chiu, Ing-Tsau

1992-01-01

The user interface (UI) of HYPGEN is developed using Panel Library to shorten the learning curve for new users and provide easier ways to run HYPGEN for casual users as well as for advanced users. Menus, buttons, sliders, and type-in fields are used extensively in UI to allow users to point and click with a mouse to choose various available options or to change values of parameters. On-line help is provided to give users information on using UI without consulting the manual. Default values are set for most parameters and boundary conditions are determined by UI to further reduce the effort needed to run HYPGEN; however, users are free to make any changes and save it in a file for later use. A hook to PLOT3D is built in to allow graphics manipulation. The viewpoint and min/max box for PLOT3D windows are computed by UI and saved in a PLOT3D journal file. For large grids which take a long time to generate on workstations, the grid generator (HYPGEN) can be run on faster computers such as Crays, while UI stays at the workstation.

Deep learning application: rubbish classification with aid of an android device

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Sijiang; Jiang, Bo; Zhan, Jie

2017-06-01

Deep learning is a very hot topic currently in pattern recognition and artificial intelligence researches. Aiming at the practical problem that people usually don't know correct classifications some rubbish should belong to, based on the powerful image classification ability of the deep learning method, we have designed a prototype system to help users to classify kinds of rubbish. Firstly the CaffeNet Model was adopted for our classification network training on the ImageNet dataset, and the trained network was deployed on a web server. Secondly an android app was developed for users to capture images of unclassified rubbish, upload images to the web server for analyzing backstage and retrieve the feedback, so that users can obtain the classification guide by an android device conveniently. Tests on our prototype system of rubbish classification show that: an image of one single type of rubbish with origin shape can be better used to judge its classification, while an image containing kinds of rubbish or rubbish with changed shape may fail to help users to decide rubbish's classification. However, the system still shows promising auxiliary function for rubbish classification if the network training strategy can be optimized further.

TARGET - TASK ANALYSIS REPORT GENERATION TOOL, VERSION 1.0

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ortiz, C. J.

1994-01-01

The Task Analysis Report Generation Tool, TARGET, is a graphical interface tool used to capture procedural knowledge and translate that knowledge into a hierarchical report. TARGET is based on VISTA, a knowledge acquisition tool developed by the Naval Systems Training Center. TARGET assists a programmer and/or task expert organize and understand the steps involved in accomplishing a task. The user can label individual steps in the task through a dialogue-box and get immediate graphical feedback for analysis. TARGET users can decompose tasks into basic action kernels or minimal steps to provide a clear picture of all basic actions needed to accomplish a job. This method allows the user to go back and critically examine the overall flow and makeup of the process. The user can switch between graphics (box flow diagrams) and text (task hierarchy) versions to more easily study the process being documented. As the practice of decomposition continues, tasks and their subtasks can be continually modified to more accurately reflect the user's procedures and rationale. This program is designed to help a programmer document an expert's task thus allowing the programmer to build an expert system which can help others perform the task. Flexibility is a key element of the system design and of the knowledge acquisition session. If the expert is not able to find time to work on the knowledge acquisition process with the program developer, the developer and subject matter expert may work in iterative sessions. TARGET is easy to use and is tailored to accommodate users ranging from the novice to the experienced expert systems builder. TARGET is written in C-language for IBM PC series and compatible computers running MS-DOS and Microsoft Windows version 3.0 or 3.1. No source code is supplied. The executable also requires 2Mb of RAM, a Microsoft compatible mouse, a VGA display and an 80286, 386 or 486 processor machine. The standard distribution medium for TARGET is one 5.25 inch 360K MS-DOS format diskette. TARGET was developed in 1991.

USER'S GUIDE: EMISSION CONTROL TECHNOLOGIES AND EMISSION FACTORS FOR UNPAVED ROAD FUGITIVE EMISSIONS

EPA Science Inventory

This document assists control agency personnel in evaluating unpaved road fugitive emissions control plans and helps industry personnel develop effective control strategies for unpaved roads. he brochure describes control techniques for reducing unpaved road emissions and methods...

PARIS II: DESIGNING GREENER SOLVENTS

EPA Science Inventory

PARIS II (the program for assisting the replacement of industrial solvents, version II), developed at the USEPA, is a unique software tool that can be used for customizing the design of replacement solvents and for the formulation of new solvents. This program helps users avoid ...

Promoting Teacher Adoption of GIS Using Teacher-Centered and Teacher-Friendly Design

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hong, Jung Eun

2014-01-01

This article reports the results of a case study that employed user-centered design to develop training tutorials for helping middle school social studies teachers use Web-based GIS in their classrooms. This study placed teachers in the center of the design process in planning, designing, and developing the tutorials. This article describes how…

Making the Most of Obesity Research: Developing Research and Policy Objectives through Evidence Triangulation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Oliver, Kathryn; Aicken, Catherine; Arai, Lisa

2013-01-01

Drawing lessons from research can help policy makers make better decisions. If a large and methodologically varied body of research exists, as with childhood obesity, this is challenging. We present new research and policy objectives for child obesity developed by triangulating user involvement data with a mapping study of interventions aimed at…

Commercialization and the Commercial Internet Exchange: How the CIX Can Help Further the Commercialization of the Internet.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Estrada, Susan

1992-01-01

To promote successful commercialization of the Internet, the Commercial Internet Exchange Association (CIX) acts on behalf of its members to increase cooperation and an open exchange of ideas regarding networking issues. Of concern are federal regulation, development of standards and pricing agreements, and the development of user friendly…

Using health communication best practices to develop a web-based provider-patient communication aid: the CONNECT study.

PubMed

Fleisher, Linda; Buzaglo, Joanne; Collins, Michael; Millard, Jennifer; Miller, Suzanne M; Egleston, Brian L; Solarino, Nicholas; Trinastic, Jonathan; Cegala, Donald J; Benson, Al B; Schulman, Kevin A; Weinfurt, Kevin P; Sulmasy, Daniel; Diefenbach, Michael A; Meropol, Neal J

2008-06-01

Although there is broad consensus that careful content vetting and user testing is important in the development of technology-based educational interventions, often these steps are overlooked. This paper highlights the development of a theory-guided, web-based communication aid (CONNECT), designed to facilitate treatment decision-making among patients with advanced cancer. The communication aid included an on-line survey, patient skills training module and an automated physician report. Development steps included: (1) evidence-based content development; (2) usability testing; (3) pilot testing; and (4) patient utilization and satisfaction. Usability testing identified some confusing directions and navigation for the on-line survey and validated the relevance of the "patient testimonials" in the skills module. Preliminary satisfaction from the implementation of the communication aid showed that 66% found the survey length reasonable and 70% found it helpful in talking with the physician. Seventy percent reported the skills module helpful and about half found it affected the consultation. Designing patient education interventions for translation into practice requires the integration of health communication best practice including user feedback along the developmental process. This developmental process can be translated to a broad array of community-based patient and provider educational interventions.

What makes a good clinical app? Introducing the RCP Health Informatics Unit checklist.

PubMed

Wyatt, Jeremy C; Thimbleby, Harold; Rastall, Paul; Hoogewerf, Jan; Wooldridge, Darren; Williams, John

2015-12-01

Doctors increasingly rely on medical apps running on smart phones or tablet computers to support their work. However, these apps vary hugely in the quality of their data input screens, internal data processing, the methods used to handle sensitive patient data and how they communicate their output to the user. Inspired by Donabedian's approach to assessing quality and the principles of good user interface design, the Royal College of Physicians' Health Informatics Unit has developed and piloted an 18-item checklist to help clinicians assess the structure, functions and impact of medical apps. Use of this checklist should help clinicians to feel more confident about using medical apps themselves, about recommending them to their staff or prescribing them for patients. © Royal College of Physicians 2015. All rights reserved.

Is knee pain information on YouTube videos perceived to be helpful? An analysis of user comments and implications for dissemination on social media.

PubMed

Meldrum, Sarah; Savarimuthu, Bastin Tr; Licorish, Sherlock; Tahir, Amjed; Bosu, Michael; Jayakaran, Prasath

2017-01-01

There is little research that characterises knee pain related information disseminated via social media. However, variances in the content and quality of such sources could compromise optimal patient care. This study explored the nature of the comments on YouTube videos related to non-specific knee pain, to determine their helpfulness to the users. A systematic search identified 900 videos related to knee pain on the YouTube database. A total of 3537 comments from 58 videos were included in the study. A categorisation scheme was developed and 1000 randomly selected comments were analysed according to this scheme. The most common category was the users providing personal information or describing a personal situation (19%), followed by appreciation or acknowledgement of others' inputs (17%) and asking questions (15%). Of the questions, 33% were related to seeking help in relation to a specific situation. Over 10% of the comments contained negativity or disagreement; while 4.4% of comments reported they intended to pursue an action, based on the information presented in the video and/or from user comments. It was observed that individuals commenting on YouTube videos on knee pain were most often soliciting advice and information specific to their condition. The analysis of comments from the most commented videos using a keyword-based search approach suggests that the YouTube videos can be used for disseminating general advice on knee pain.

Is knee pain information on YouTube videos perceived to be helpful? An analysis of user comments and implications for dissemination on social media

PubMed Central

Meldrum, Sarah; Savarimuthu, Bastin TR; Licorish, Sherlock; Tahir, Amjed; Bosu, Michael; Jayakaran, Prasath

2017-01-01

Objective There is little research that characterises knee pain related information disseminated via social media. However, variances in the content and quality of such sources could compromise optimal patient care. This study explored the nature of the comments on YouTube videos related to non-specific knee pain, to determine their helpfulness to the users. Methods A systematic search identified 900 videos related to knee pain on the YouTube database. A total of 3537 comments from 58 videos were included in the study. A categorisation scheme was developed and 1000 randomly selected comments were analysed according to this scheme. Results The most common category was the users providing personal information or describing a personal situation (19%), followed by appreciation or acknowledgement of others’ inputs (17%) and asking questions (15%). Of the questions, 33% were related to seeking help in relation to a specific situation. Over 10% of the comments contained negativity or disagreement; while 4.4% of comments reported they intended to pursue an action, based on the information presented in the video and/or from user comments. Conclusion It was observed that individuals commenting on YouTube videos on knee pain were most often soliciting advice and information specific to their condition. The analysis of comments from the most commented videos using a keyword-based search approach suggests that the YouTube videos can be used for disseminating general advice on knee pain. PMID:29942583

Ontology-Driven Search and Triage: Design of a Web-Based Visual Interface for MEDLINE.

PubMed

Demelo, Jonathan; Parsons, Paul; Sedig, Kamran

2017-02-02

Diverse users need to search health and medical literature to satisfy open-ended goals such as making evidence-based decisions and updating their knowledge. However, doing so is challenging due to at least two major difficulties: (1) articulating information needs using accurate vocabulary and (2) dealing with large document sets returned from searches. Common search interfaces such as PubMed do not provide adequate support for exploratory search tasks. Our objective was to improve support for exploratory search tasks by combining two strategies in the design of an interactive visual interface by (1) using a formal ontology to help users build domain-specific knowledge and vocabulary and (2) providing multi-stage triaging support to help mitigate the information overload problem. We developed a Web-based tool, Ontology-Driven Visual Search and Triage Interface for MEDLINE (OVERT-MED), to test our design ideas. We implemented a custom searchable index of MEDLINE, which comprises approximately 25 million document citations. We chose a popular biomedical ontology, the Human Phenotype Ontology (HPO), to test our solution to the vocabulary problem. We implemented multistage triaging support in OVERT-MED, with the aid of interactive visualization techniques, to help users deal with large document sets returned from searches. Formative evaluation suggests that the design features in OVERT-MED are helpful in addressing the two major difficulties described above. Using a formal ontology seems to help users articulate their information needs with more accurate vocabulary. In addition, multistage triaging combined with interactive visualizations shows promise in mitigating the information overload problem. Our strategies appear to be valuable in addressing the two major problems in exploratory search. Although we tested OVERT-MED with a particular ontology and document collection, we anticipate that our strategies can be transferred successfully to other contexts. ©Jonathan Demelo, Paul Parsons, Kamran Sedig. Originally published in JMIR Medical Informatics (http://medinform.jmir.org), 02.02.2017.

Ontology-Driven Search and Triage: Design of a Web-Based Visual Interface for MEDLINE

PubMed Central

2017-01-01

Background Diverse users need to search health and medical literature to satisfy open-ended goals such as making evidence-based decisions and updating their knowledge. However, doing so is challenging due to at least two major difficulties: (1) articulating information needs using accurate vocabulary and (2) dealing with large document sets returned from searches. Common search interfaces such as PubMed do not provide adequate support for exploratory search tasks. Objective Our objective was to improve support for exploratory search tasks by combining two strategies in the design of an interactive visual interface by (1) using a formal ontology to help users build domain-specific knowledge and vocabulary and (2) providing multi-stage triaging support to help mitigate the information overload problem. Methods We developed a Web-based tool, Ontology-Driven Visual Search and Triage Interface for MEDLINE (OVERT-MED), to test our design ideas. We implemented a custom searchable index of MEDLINE, which comprises approximately 25 million document citations. We chose a popular biomedical ontology, the Human Phenotype Ontology (HPO), to test our solution to the vocabulary problem. We implemented multistage triaging support in OVERT-MED, with the aid of interactive visualization techniques, to help users deal with large document sets returned from searches. Results Formative evaluation suggests that the design features in OVERT-MED are helpful in addressing the two major difficulties described above. Using a formal ontology seems to help users articulate their information needs with more accurate vocabulary. In addition, multistage triaging combined with interactive visualizations shows promise in mitigating the information overload problem. Conclusions Our strategies appear to be valuable in addressing the two major problems in exploratory search. Although we tested OVERT-MED with a particular ontology and document collection, we anticipate that our strategies can be transferred successfully to other contexts. PMID:28153818

Treating first episode psychosis--the service users' perspective: a focus group evaluation.

PubMed

O'Toole, M S; Ohlsen, R I; Taylor, T M; Purvis, R; Walters, J; Pilowsky, L S

2004-06-01

UK national guidance has prioritized developing specialist services for first episode psychosis. Such services are in the early stages of development and a definitive treatment model has yet to be established. The aim of this study was to explore service users' experiences of a first episode intervention designed along evidence-based 'best practice' guidelines and to establish specific elements seen as effective to help inform future service planning and provision. Twelve users of a specialist first episode service participated in focus groups. These were then analyzed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis, a specialized form of content analysis. Key elements identified by the service users included the 'human' approach as a key to the recovery process, being involved in treatment decisions, flexibility of appointments, high nurse to patient ratio, reduction in psychotic symptoms, increased confidence and independence and the provision of daily structure. To our knowledge, this is the first systematic qualitative evaluation of users' experience of a specialist first episode treatment intervention. Our findings indicate that adherence to best practice guidelines was appreciated. Regular focus groups provide a continuous audit cycle incorporating service improvements in line with government recommendations, centrally informed by the service users' and caregivers' perspective.

A New Controller for a Smart Walker Based on Human-Robot Formation

PubMed Central

Valadão, Carlos; Caldeira, Eliete; Bastos-Filho, Teodiano; Frizera-Neto, Anselmo; Carelli, Ricardo

2016-01-01

This paper presents the development of a smart walker that uses a formation controller in its displacements. Encoders, a laser range finder and ultrasound are the sensors used in the walker. The control actions are based on the user (human) location, who is the actual formation leader. There is neither a sensor attached to the user’s body nor force sensors attached to the arm supports of the walker, and thus, the control algorithm projects the measurements taken from the laser sensor into the user reference and, then, calculates the linear and angular walker’s velocity to keep the formation (distance and angle) in relation to the user. An algorithm was developed to detect the user’s legs, whose distances from the laser sensor provide the information necessary to the controller. The controller was theoretically analyzed regarding its stability, simulated and validated with real users, showing accurate performance in all experiments. In addition, safety rules are used to check both the user and the device conditions, in order to guarantee that the user will not have any risks when using the smart walker. The applicability of this device is for helping people with lower limb mobility impairments. PMID:27447634

Enabling OpenID Authentication for VO-integrated Portals

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Plante, R.; Yekkirala, V.; Baker, W.

2012-09-01

To support interoperating services that share proprietary data and other user-specific information, the VAO Project provides login services for browser-based portals built on the open standard, OpenID. To help portal developers take advantage of this service, we have developed a downloadable toolkit for integrating OpenID single sign-on support into any portal. This toolkit provides APIs in a few languages commonly used on the server-side as well as a command-line version for use in any language. In addition to describing how to use this toolkit, we also discuss the general VAO framework for single sign-on. While a portal may, if it wishes, support any OpenID provider, the VAO service provides a few extra features to support VO interoperability. This includes a portal's ability to retrieve (with the user's permission) an X.509 certificate representing the authenticated user so that the portal can access other restricted services on the user's behalf. Other standard features of OpenID allow portals to request other information about the user; this feature will be used in the future for sharing information about a user's group membership to enable sharing within a group of collaborating scientists.

A Graphical User-Interface for Propulsion System Analysis

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Curlett, Brian P.; Ryall, Kathleen

1992-01-01

NASA LeRC uses a series of computer codes to calculate installed propulsion system performance and weight. The need to evaluate more advanced engine concepts with a greater degree of accuracy has resulted in an increase in complexity of this analysis system. Therefore, a graphical user interface was developed to allow the analyst to more quickly and easily apply these codes. The development of this interface and the rationale for the approach taken are described. The interface consists of a method of pictorially representing and editing the propulsion system configuration, forms for entering numerical data, on-line help and documentation, post processing of data, and a menu system to control execution.

A graphical user-interface for propulsion system analysis

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Curlett, Brian P.; Ryall, Kathleen

1993-01-01

NASA LeRC uses a series of computer codes to calculate installed propulsion system performance and weight. The need to evaluate more advanced engine concepts with a greater degree of accuracy has resulted in an increase in complexity of this analysis system. Therefore, a graphical user interface was developed to allow the analyst to more quickly and easily apply these codes. The development of this interface and the rationale for the approach taken are described. The interface consists of a method of pictorially representing and editing the propulsion system configuration, forms for entering numerical data, on-line help and documentation, post processing of data, and a menu system to control execution.

NASA's Carbon Monitoring System (CMS) Applications and Application Readiness Levels (ARLs)-An assessment of how all CMS ARLs provide societal benefit.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Escobar, V. M.; Sepulveda Carlo, E.; Delgado Arias, S.

2016-12-01

During the past six years, the NASA Carbon Monitoring System (CMS) Applications effort has been engaging with stakeholders in an effort to make the 52 CMS project user friendly and policy relevant. Congressionally directed, the CMS initiative is a NASA endeavor providing carbon data products that help characterize and understand carbon sources and sinks at local and international scales. All data are freely available, and scaled for local, state, regional, national and international-level resource management. To facilitate user feedback during development, as well as understanding for the type of use and application the CMS data products can provide, the Applications project utilizes the NASA Applied Sciences Program nine step Application Readiness Level (ARL) indices. These are used to track and manage the progression and distribution of funded projects. ARLs are an adaptation of NASA's technology readiness levels (TRLs) used for managing technology and risk and reflects the three main tiers of a project: research, development and deployment. The ARLs are scaled from 1 to 9, research and development (ARL1) to operational and/or decision making ready products (ARL9). The ARLS can be broken up into three phases: Phase 1, discovery and feasibility (ARL 1-3); Phase 2, development testing and validation (ARL 4-6); and Phase 3, integration into Partner's systems (ARL 7-9). The ARLs are designed to inform both scientist and end user of the product maturity and application capability. The CMS initiative has products that range across all ARLs, providing societal benefit at multiple scales. Lower ARLs contribute to formal documents such as the IPCC while others at higher levels provide decision support quantifying the value of carbon data for greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction planning. Most CMS products have an ARL 5, (validation of a product in a relevant environment), meaning the CMS carbon science is actively in a state of science-user engagement. For the user community, ARLs are a litmus test for knowing the type of user feedback and advocacy that can be implemented into the product design. For the scientist, ARLS help communicate (1) the maturity of their science to users who would like to use it for decision making and (2) the intended use of the product.

Supportive Mental Health Self-Monitoring among Smartphone Users with Psychological Distress: Protocol for a Fully Mobile Randomized Controlled Trial.

PubMed

Beiwinkel, Till; Hey, Stefan; Bock, Olaf; Rössler, Wulf

2017-01-01

Mobile health (mHealth) could be widely used in the population to improve access to psychological treatment. In this paper, we describe the development of a mHealth intervention on the basis of supportive self-monitoring and describe the protocol for a randomized controlled trial to evaluate its effectiveness among smartphone users with psychological distress. Based on power analysis, a representative quota sample of N  = 186 smartphone users will be recruited, with an over-sampling of persons with moderate to high distress. Over a 4-week period, the intervention will be compared to a self-monitoring without intervention group and a passive control group. Telephone interviews will be conducted at baseline, post-intervention (4 weeks), and 12-week follow-up to assess study outcomes. The primary outcome will be improvement of mental health. Secondary outcomes will include well-being, intentions toward help-seeking and help-seeking behavior, user activation, attitudes toward mental-health services, perceived stigmatization, smartphone app quality, user satisfaction, engagement, and adherence with the intervention. Additionally, data from the user's daily life as collected during self-monitoring will be used to investigate risk and protective factors of mental health in real-world settings. Therefore, this study will allow us to demonstrate the effectiveness of a smartphone application as a widely accessible and low-cost intervention to improve mental health on a population level. It also allows to identify new assessment approaches in the field of psychiatric epidemiology.

Status Report on the Development of Research Campaigns

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Baer, Donald R.; Baker, Scott E.; Washton, Nancy M.

2013-06-30

Research campaigns were conceived as a means to focus EMSL research on specific scientific questions. Campaign will help fulfill the Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory (EMSL) strategic vision to develop and integrate, for use by the scientific community, world leading capabilities that transform understanding in the environmental molecular sciences and accelerate discoveries relevant to the Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) missions. Campaigns are multi-institutional multi-disciplinary projects with scope beyond those of normal EMSL user projects. The goal of research campaigns is to have EMSL scientists and users team on the projects in the effort to accelerate progress and increase impact in specificmore » scientific areas by focusing user research, EMSL resources, and expertise in those areas. This report will give a history and update on the progress of those campaigns.« less

Reference manual for the Thermal Analyst's Help Desk Expert System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ormsby, Rachel A.

1994-01-01

This document provides technical information and programming guidance for the maintenance and future development of the Thermal Analyst's Help Desk. Help Desk is an expert system that operates within the EXSYSTM expert system shell, and is used to determine first approximations of thermal capacity for spacecraft and instruments. The five analyses supported in Help Desk are: (1) surface area required for a radiating surface, (2) equilibrium temperature of a surface, (3) enclosure temperature and heat loads for a defined position in orbit, (4) enclosure temperature and heat loads over a complete orbit and, (5) selection of appropriate surface properties. The two geometries supported by Help Desk are a single flat plate and a rectangular box enclosure. The technical information includes the mathematical approach and analytical derivations used in the analyses such as: radiation heat balance, view factor calculation, and orbit determination with coordinate transformation. The programming guide for developers describes techniques for enhancement of Help Desk. Examples are provided showing the addition of new features, user interface development and enhancement, and external program interfaces.

Free-Standing Canes.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ehresman, Paul

1995-01-01

A precane device, called the "free-standing cane," was developed to help children with blindness along with other disabilities. The cane detects obstacles; guides the user's hands into a relaxed, static position in front of the hips; facilitates postural security and control; and offers tactile and kinesthetic feedback. (JDD)

Bibliographic Instruction and the Development of Online Catalogs.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McDonald, David R.; Searing, Susan E.

1983-01-01

Discusses the definition of an online library catalog; five factors to be considered by the online catalog designer; user-computer communication (error messages, help screens, prompts, unnatural language); online tutorials and offline instruction offered by bibliographic instruction librarians; and the current situation. Nine references are…

Kinematics with the assistance of smartphones: Measuring data via GPS - Visualizing data with Google Earth

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gabriel, Patrik; Backhaus, Udo

2013-04-01

Nearly every smartphone is now GPS capable. The widespread use of GPS navigation has developed alongside less expensive hardware and user-friendly software interfaces, which may help to bring scientific research and teaching closer to real life.

An independent shopping experience for wheelchair users through augmented reality and RFID.

PubMed

Rashid, Zulqarnain; Pous, Rafael; Norrie, Christopher S

2017-06-23

People with physical and mobility impairments continue to struggle to attain independence in the performance of routine activities and tasks. For example, browsing in a store and interacting with products located beyond an arm's length may be impossible without the enabling intervention of a human assistant. This research article describes a study undertaken to design, develop, and evaluate potential interaction methods for motor-impaired individuals, specifically those who use wheelchairs. Our study includes a user-centered approach, and a categorization of wheelchair users based upon the severity of their disability and their individual needs. We designed and developed access solutions that utilize radio frequency identification (RFID), augmented reality (AR), and touchscreen technologies in order to help people who use wheelchairs to carry out certain tasks autonomously. In this way, they have been empowered to go shopping independently, free from reliance upon the assistance of others. A total of 18 wheelchair users participated in the completed study.

User-centered development of a smart phone mobile application delivering personalized real-time advice on sun protection.

PubMed

Buller, David B; Berwick, Marianne; Shane, James; Kane, Ilima; Lantz, Kathleen; Buller, Mary Klein

2013-09-01

Smart phones are changing health communication for Americans. User-centered production of a mobile application for sun protection is reported. Focus groups (n = 16 adults) provided input on the mobile application concept. Four rounds of usability testing were conducted with 22 adults to develop the interface. An iterative programming procedure moved from a specification document to the final mobile application, named Solar Cell. Adults desired a variety of sun protection advice, identified few barriers to use and were willing to input personal data. The Solar Cell prototype was improved from round 1 (seven of 12 tasks completed) to round 2 (11 of 12 task completed) of usability testing and was interoperable across handsets and networks. The fully produced version was revised during testing. Adults rated Solar Cell as highly user friendly (mean = 5.06). The user-centered process produced a mobile application that should help many adults manage sun safety.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Bourgeois, Tom

From October 1, 2009 through September 30, 2013 (“contract period”), the Northeast Clean Energy Application Center (“NE-CEAC”) worked in New York and New England (Connecticut, Rhode Island, Vermont, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Maine) to create a more robust market for the deployment of clean energy technologies (CETs) including combined heat and power (CHP), district energy systems (DES), and waste heat recovery (WHR) systems through the provision of technical assistance, education and outreach, and strategic market analysis and support for decision-makers. CHP, DES, and WHR can help reduce greenhouse gas emissions, reduce electrical and thermal energy costs, and provide more reliablemore » energy for users throughout the United States. The NE-CEAC’s efforts in the provision of technical assistance, education and outreach, and strategic market analysis and support for decision-makers helped advance the market for CETs in the Northeast thereby helping the region move towards the following outcomes: Reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and criteria pollutants; Improvements in energy efficiency resulting in lower costs of doing business; Productivity gains in industry and efficiency gains in buildings; Lower regional energy costs; Strengthened energy security; Enhanced consumer choice; Reduced price risks for end-users; and Economic development effects keeping more jobs and more income in our regional economy Over the contract period, NE-CEAC provided technical assistance to approximately 56 different potential end-users that were interested in CHP and other CETs for their facility or facilities. Of these 56 potential end-users, five new CHP projects totaling over 60 MW of install capacity became operational during the contract period. The NE-CEAC helped host numerous target market workshops, trainings, and webinars; and NE-CEAC staff delivered presentations at many other workshops and conferences. In total, over 60 different workshops, conferences, webinars, and presentation were hosted or delivered during the contract period. The NE-CEAC also produced publically available educational materials such as CHP project profiles. Finally, the NE-CEAC worked closely with the relevant state agencies involved with CHP development. In New York, the NE-CEAC played an important role in securing and maintaining funding for CHP incentive programs administered by the New York State Energy Research Development Authority. NE-CEAC was also involved in the NYC Mayor's Office DG Collaborative. The NECEAC was also named a strategic resource for the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection’s innovative Microgrid Pilot Program.« less

The Development and Validation of the Game User Experience Satisfaction Scale (GUESS).

PubMed

Phan, Mikki H; Keebler, Joseph R; Chaparro, Barbara S

2016-12-01

The aim of this study was to develop and psychometrically validate a new instrument that comprehensively measures video game satisfaction based on key factors. Playtesting is often conducted in the video game industry to help game developers build better games by providing insight into the players' attitudes and preferences. However, quality feedback is difficult to obtain from playtesting sessions without a quality gaming assessment tool. There is a need for a psychometrically validated and comprehensive gaming scale that is appropriate for playtesting and game evaluation purposes. The process of developing and validating this new scale followed current best practices of scale development and validation. As a result, a mixed-method design that consisted of item pool generation, expert review, questionnaire pilot study, exploratory factor analysis (N = 629), and confirmatory factor analysis (N = 729) was implemented. A new instrument measuring video game satisfaction, called the Game User Experience Satisfaction Scale (GUESS), with nine subscales emerged. The GUESS was demonstrated to have content validity, internal consistency, and convergent and discriminant validity. The GUESS was developed and validated based on the assessments of over 450 unique video game titles across many popular genres. Thus, it can be applied across many types of video games in the industry both as a way to assess what aspects of a game contribute to user satisfaction and as a tool to aid in debriefing users on their gaming experience. The GUESS can be administered to evaluate user satisfaction of different types of video games by a variety of users. © 2016, Human Factors and Ergonomics Society.

Service user involvement in nurse education: a report on using online discussions with a service user to augment his digital story.

PubMed

Terry, Louise M

2012-02-01

Service user involvement is a key element within current pre- and post-registration nurse education in the U.K. but achieving this is challenging. Most service user involvement is through classroom visits. Digital stories, film and audio are alternatives but lack the interactivity and development of reflection that can be achieved through face-to-face contact. This report reviews the background to service user involvement in healthcare professional education then provides a reflective account of a novel initiative whereby a spinal-injured patient was involved in creating a digital story around some of his in-hospital experiences and then engaged in online discussions with post-registration nursing (degree) and practice educator (masters) students. These discussions provided a richer experience for the students enabling them to reflect more deeply on how nursing care is delivered and perceived by service users. The report concludes that digital stories can be used with repeated groups to inspire discussion and reflection. Augmenting such digital stories with online discussions with the service user whose story is told helps practitioners develop greater empathy, insight and understanding which are beneficial for improving service delivery and nursing care. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

TrustRank: a Cold-Start tolerant recommender system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zou, Haitao; Gong, Zhiguo; Zhang, Nan; Zhao, Wei; Guo, Jingzhi

2015-02-01

The explosive growth of the World Wide Web leads to the fast advancing development of e-commerce techniques. Recommender systems, which use personalised information filtering techniques to generate a set of items suitable to a given user, have received considerable attention. User- and item-based algorithms are two popular techniques for the design of recommender systems. These two algorithms are known to have Cold-Start problems, i.e., they are unable to effectively handle Cold-Start users who have an extremely limited number of purchase records. In this paper, we develop TrustRank, a novel recommender system which handles the Cold-Start problem by leveraging the user-trust networks which are commonly available for e-commerce applications. A user-trust network is formed by friendships or trust relationships that users specify among them. While it is straightforward to conjecture that a user-trust network is helpful for improving the accuracy of recommendations, a key challenge for using user-trust network to facilitate Cold-Start users is that these users also tend to have a very limited number of trust relationships. To address this challenge, we propose a pre-processing propagation of the Cold-Start users' trust network. In particular, by applying the personalised PageRank algorithm, we expand the friends of a given user to include others with similar purchase records to his/her original friends. To make this propagation algorithm scalable to a large amount of users, as required by real-world recommender systems, we devise an iterative computation algorithm of the original personalised TrustRank which can incrementally compute trust vectors for Cold-Start users. We conduct extensive experiments to demonstrate the consistently improvement provided by our proposed algorithm over the existing recommender algorithms on the accuracy of recommendations for Cold-Start users.

Action tagging in a multi-user indoor environment for behavioural analysis purposes.

PubMed

Guerra, Claudio; Bianchi, Valentina; De Munari, Ilaria; Ciampolini, Paolo

2015-01-01

EU population is getting older, so that ICT-based solutions are expected to provide support in the challenges implied by the demographic change. At the University of Parma an AAL (Ambient Assisted Living) system, named CARDEA, has been developed. In this paper a new feature of the system is introduced, in which environmental and personal (i.e., wearable) sensors coexist, providing an accurate picture of the user's activity and needs. Environmental devices may greatly help in performing activity recognition and behavioral analysis tasks. However, in a multi-user environment, this implies the need of attributing environmental sensors outcome to a specific user, i.e., identifying the user when he performs a task detected by an environmental device. We implemented such an "action tagging" feature, based on information fusion, within the CARDEA environment, as an inexpensive, alternative solution to the problematic issue of indoor locationing.

Decision support system development at the Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center

USGS Publications Warehouse

Fox, Timothy J.; Nelson, J. C.; Rohweder, Jason J.

2014-01-01

A Decision Support System (DSS) can be defined in many ways. The working definition used by the U.S. Geological Survey Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center (UMESC) is, “A spatially based computer application or data that assists a researcher or manager in making decisions.” This is quite a broad definition—and it needs to be, because the possibilities for types of DSSs are limited only by the user group and the developer’s imagination. There is no one DSS; the types of DSSs are as diverse as the problems they help solve. This diversity requires that DSSs be built in a variety of ways, using the most appropriate methods and tools for the individual application. The skills of potential DSS users vary widely as well, further necessitating multiple approaches to DSS development. Some small, highly trained user groups may want a powerful modeling tool with extensive functionality at the expense of ease of use. Other user groups less familiar with geographic information system (GIS) and spatial data may want an easy-to-use application for a nontechnical audience. UMESC has been developing DSSs for almost 20 years. Our DSS developers offer our partners a wide variety of technical skills and development options, ranging from the most simple Web page or small application to complex modeling application development.

The use of online word of mouth opinion in online learning: a questionnaire survey.

PubMed

Sandars, John; Walsh, Kieran

2009-04-01

There is increasing use of online word of mouth opinion (user feedback) systems for general services but its use in online learning has not been previously investigated. To understand why users of BMJ Learning provide and read word of mouth feedback, and whether this feedback influences uptake of modules by prospective users. Online questionnaire of users of BMJ Learning who had completed online user feedback. 109 questionnaires were completed (response rate 25%). The main motivation to contribute was to influence the authors of the module (66%), and 43% stated that they wanted to help other users to make an informed choice. 16% stated that they wanted to develop an online community of learners. The main motivation to read the user feedback was to see if they agreed with the comments (56%). Online word of mouth opinion (user feedback) appears to be useful for online learners. There are also system design considerations since the attempt to create an online community of learners that is desired by some users will not be appreciated by others. Further research with a larger number of users is recommended to confirm the findings.

Intermittent catheter users' symptom identification, description and management of urinary tract infection: a qualitative study.

PubMed

Okamoto, Ikumi; Prieto, Jacqui; Avery, Miriam; Moore, Katherine; Fader, Mandy; Sartain, Samantha; Clancy, Bridget

2017-09-03

To elucidate the views of intermittent catheter (IC) users regarding urinary tract infection (UTI) symptom presentation, terminology for describing signs and symptoms, the cause of UTI and management strategies. Qualitative study with semi-structured interviews. The transcribed text was analysed thematically. 12 general practitioner (GP) surgeries in Hampshire and Dorset, UK. A convenience sample of 30 IC users, aged over 18, using IC for at least 3 months who had at least one self-reported UTI since starting IC. Participants reported a variety of signs and symptoms, such as urine cloudiness and smell, as indicators of UTI. The terms used often differed from those in the modified National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR) symptom set. IC users had difficulty distinguishing possible UTI symptoms from those of their comorbidities. They expressed uncertainty about the cause of UTI, often attributing it to poor hygiene and lifestyle behaviours. Whereas some viewed UTI as an expected consequence of IC use that could be self-managed, others felt more concerned and were more reliant on their GP for support. A range of management strategies was described, including drinking more fluids, increased attention to personal hygiene and self-medicating with antibiotics. There is uncertainty among IC users about UTI signs and symptoms and when to seek help. Individual accounts of UTI fitted generally within the modified NIDRR descriptors but adopted less technical and more 'lay' language. IC users' descriptions of UTI signs and symptoms can lack precision, owing partly to the presence of underlying health conditions. This, together with differing levels of concern about the need to seek help and self-medication with antibiotics, presents challenges for the GP. This study provides the basis for developing a self-help tool which may aid identification of UTI and enhance communication with healthcare professionals. © Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2017. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted.

Development and Usability of REACH: A Tailored Theory-Based Text Messaging Intervention for Disadvantaged Adults With Type 2 Diabetes.

PubMed

Nelson, Lyndsay A; Mayberry, Lindsay S; Wallston, Kenneth; Kripalani, Sunil; Bergner, Erin M; Osborn, Chandra Y

2016-09-08

Among adults with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), adherence to recommended self-care activities is suboptimal, especially among racial and ethnic minorities with low income. Self-care nonadherence is associated with having worse glycemic control and diabetes complications. Text messaging interventions are improving the self-care of adults with T2DM, but few have been tested with disadvantaged populations. To develop Rapid Education/Encouragement And Communications for Health (REACH), a tailored, text messaging intervention to support the self-care adherence of disadvantaged patients with T2DM, based on the Information-Motivation-Behavioral skills model. We then tested REACH's usability to make improvements before evaluating its effects. We developed REACH's content and functionality using an empirical and theory-based approach, findings from a previously pilot-tested intervention, and the expertise of our interdisciplinary research team. We recruited 36 adults with T2DM from Federally Qualified Health Centers to participate in 1 of 3 rounds of usability testing. For 2 weeks, participants received daily text messages assessing and promoting self-care, including tailored messages addressing users' unique barriers to adherence, and weekly text messages with adherence feedback. We analyzed quantitative and qualitative user feedback and system-collected data to improve REACH. Participants were, on average, 52.4 (SD 9.5) years old, 56% (20/36) female, 63% (22/35) were a racial or ethnic minority, and 67% (22/33) had an income less than US $35,000. About half were taking insulin, and average hemoglobin A1c level was 8.2% (SD 2.2%). We identified issues (eg, user concerns with message phrasing, technical restrictions with responding to assessment messages) and made improvements between testing rounds. Overall, participants favorably rated the ease of understanding (mean 9.6, SD 0.7) and helpfulness (mean 9.3, SD 1.4) of self-care promoting text messages on a scale of 1-10, responded to 96% of assessment text messages, and rated the helpfulness of feedback text messages 8.5 (SD 2.7) on a scale of 1-10. User feedback led to refining our study enrollment process so that users understood the flexibility in message timing and that computers, not people, send the messages. Furthermore, research assistants' feedback on the enrollment process helped improve participants' engagement with study procedures. Testing technology-delivered interventions with disadvantaged adults revealed preferences and concerns unique to this population. Through iterative testing and multiple data sources, we identified and responded to users' intervention preferences, technical issues, and shortcomings in our research procedures.

The expertise of participation: mass housing and urban planning in post-war France.

PubMed

Cupers, Kenny

2011-01-01

This article analyses the advent of participation in French planning as the historical touchstone of a larger shift in urban thinking. It investigates how the interactions between inhabitants, developers, state officials and social scientific experts in the production of large-scale modern housing areas and new towns helped bring about user participation as a category of action and discourse. The article argues that the transformation of inhabitants into active participants entails the development of legitimate 'user knowledge' and therefore - perhaps paradoxically - the continuing involvement of experts. The first part of the article examines how the turn towards mass housing production during the 1950s prompted the question of the user and established the ground for debates about participation. The second part of the article explores the relationship between inhabitant contestation and changing urban planning and policy-making during the 1960s. The focus here is on Sarcelles, which served both as a national urban model, a key object of sociological study, and the main target of national public outcry, and helps to reveal relations between local contestation, national policy and shifts in urban thinking. The last part of the article looks at the concrete influence of ideas of participation on subsequent urban policies during the 1970s.

OmicsNet: a web-based tool for creation and visual analysis of biological networks in 3D space.

PubMed

Zhou, Guangyan; Xia, Jianguo

2018-06-07

Biological networks play increasingly important roles in omics data integration and systems biology. Over the past decade, many excellent tools have been developed to support creation, analysis and visualization of biological networks. However, important limitations remain: most tools are standalone programs, the majority of them focus on protein-protein interaction (PPI) or metabolic networks, and visualizations often suffer from 'hairball' effects when networks become large. To help address these limitations, we developed OmicsNet - a novel web-based tool that allows users to easily create different types of molecular interaction networks and visually explore them in a three-dimensional (3D) space. Users can upload one or multiple lists of molecules of interest (genes/proteins, microRNAs, transcription factors or metabolites) to create and merge different types of biological networks. The 3D network visualization system was implemented using the powerful Web Graphics Library (WebGL) technology that works natively in most major browsers. OmicsNet supports force-directed layout, multi-layered perspective layout, as well as spherical layout to help visualize and navigate complex networks. A rich set of functions have been implemented to allow users to perform coloring, shading, topology analysis, and enrichment analysis. OmicsNet is freely available at http://www.omicsnet.ca.

Capacity Building for the Access and Application of NASA Earth Science Data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Blevins, B.; Prados, A. I.; Hook, E.

2016-12-01

Since 2008, NASA's Applied Remote Sensing Training (ARSET) program has built capacity in applied remote sensing by building awareness, and enabling access and use of NASA Earth science data. To reach decision and policy makers from all sectors, ARSET hosts hands-on workshops and online webinars. With over 70 trainings, reaching more than 6,000 people from 130 countries and 1,600 organizations, ARSET has ample experience with assessing and meeting end-user needs. To meet the spectrum of needs and levels of attendee expertise, ARSET holds trainings for both the novice and experienced end-user. Trainings employ exercises, assignments, and live demonstrations of data access tools to reinforce remote sensing concepts and to facilitate data use and analysis techniques. This program is in a unique position to collect important feedback from thousands of participants each year through formal surveys and informal methods on NASA tools, portals, data formats, and the applications of Earth science data for end-user decision making activities. This information is shared with NASA data centers and program managers to help inform data portal development and to help prioritize the production of new satellite derived data products. This presentation will discuss the challenges that arise in capacity building trainings, the integration of community feedback into the training development cycle, and lessons learned throughout the process.

Navigation interface for recommending home medical products.

PubMed

Luo, Gang

2012-04-01

Based on users' health issues, an intelligent personal health record (iPHR) system can automatically recommend home medical products (HMPs) and display them in a sequential order. However, the sequential output interface does not categorize search results and is not easy for users to quickly navigate to their desired HMPs. To address this problem, we developed a navigation interface for retrieved HMPs. Our idea is to use medical knowledge and nursing knowledge to construct a navigation hierarchy based on product categories. This hierarchy is added to the left side of each search result Web page to help users move through retrieved HMPs. We demonstrate the effectiveness of our techniques using USMLE medical exam cases.

An Expert Assistant for Computer Aided Parallelization

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Jost, Gabriele; Chun, Robert; Jin, Haoqiang; Labarta, Jesus; Gimenez, Judit

2004-01-01

The prototype implementation of an expert system was developed to assist the user in the computer aided parallelization process. The system interfaces to tools for automatic parallelization and performance analysis. By fusing static program structure information and dynamic performance analysis data the expert system can help the user to filter, correlate, and interpret the data gathered by the existing tools. Sections of the code that show poor performance and require further attention are rapidly identified and suggestions for improvements are presented to the user. In this paper we describe the components of the expert system and discuss its interface to the existing tools. We present a case study to demonstrate the successful use in full scale scientific applications.

A simple and reliable health monitoring system for shoulder health: proposal.

PubMed

Liu, Shuo-Fang; Lee, Yann-Long

2014-02-26

The current health care system is complex and inefficient. A simple and reliable health monitoring system that can help patients perform medical self-diagnosis is seldom readily available. Because the medical system is vast and complex, it has hampered or delayed patients in seeking medical advice or treatment in a timely manner, which may potentially affect the patient's chances of recovery, especially those with severe sicknesses such as cancer, and heart disease. The purpose of this paper is to propose a methodology in designing a simple, low cost, Internet-based health-screening platform. This health-screening platform will enable patients to perform medical self-diagnosis over the Internet. Historical data has shown the importance of early detection to ensure patients receive proper treatment and speedy recovery. The platform is designed with special emphasis on the user interface. Standard Web-based user-interface design is adopted so the user feels ease to operate in a familiar Web environment. In addition, graphics such as charts and graphs are used generously to help users visualize and understand the result of the diagnostic. The system is developed using hypertext preprocessor (PHP) programming language. One important feature of this system platform is that it is built to be a stand-alone platform, which tends to have better user privacy security. The prototype system platform was developed by the National Cheng Kung University Ergonomic and Design Laboratory. The completed prototype of this system platform was submitted to the Taiwan Medical Institute for evaluation. The evaluation of 120 participants showed that this platform system is a highly effective tool in health-screening applications, and has great potential for improving the medical care quality for the general public.

Teachers and Game-Based Learning: Improving Understanding of How to Increase Efficacy of Adoption

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ketelhut, Diane Jass; Schifter, Catherine C.

2011-01-01

Interest in game-based learning for K-12 is growing. Thus, helping teachers understand how to use these new pedagogies is important. This paper presents a cross-case study of the development of teacher professional development for the River City project, a games-based multi-user virtual environment science curriculum project for middle school…

Financial modeling/case-mix analysis.

PubMed

Heck, S; Esmond, T

1983-06-01

The authors describe a case mix system developed by users which goes beyond DRG requirements to respond to management's clinical/financial data needs for marketing, planning, budgeting and financial analysis as well as reimbursement. Lessons learned in development of the system and the clinical/financial base will be helpful to those currently contemplating the implementation of such a system or evaluating available software.

The Weatherization Assistant User's Manual (Version 8.9)

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Gettings, Michael B.; Malhotra, Mini; Ternes, Mark P.

The Weatherization Assistant is a Windows-based energy audit software tool that was developed by Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) to help states and their local weatherization agencies implement the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Weatherization Assistance Program. The Weatherization Assistant is an umbrella program for two individual energy audits or measure selection programs: the National Energy Audit Tool (NEAT) for site-built single-family homes and the Manufactured Home Energy Audit (MHEA) for mobile homes. The Weatherization Assistant User's Manual documents the operation of the user interface for Version 8.9 of the software. This includes how to install and setup the software,more » navigate through the program, and initiate an energy audit. All of the user interface forms associated with the software and the data fields on these forms are described in detail. The manual is intended to be a training manual for new users of the Weatherization Assistant and as a reference manual for experienced users.« less

E-Books: Are We on the Same Page?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bozarth, Sandra; Zhong, Ying

2016-01-01

Libraries are making great efforts acquiring, maintaining, and promoting electronic book (e-book) collections; therefore, understanding what preference users have regarding e-books will help with current and future collection-development decisions. For librarians to provide e-book resources and services effectively, a thorough understanding of…

A smart use for mobiles.

PubMed

Amani, Sarah; Trueland, Jennifer

A library of NHS-approved mobile phone apps has been launched in response to concerns about the variable quality of health apps. This article describes the latest apps to be included in the library and reveals how nurse Sarah Amani helped to develop an app for mental health service users.

Hypermedia Design as Learner Scaffolding

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shapiro, Amy M.

2008-01-01

A number of available resources offer guidance about hypermedia design strategies, many of which rely on principles of user-centered design. Many recent efforts, however, have focused more on developing "learner-centered" hypermedia. Learner-centered hypermedia is designed to help learners achieve their educational goals, rather than offer mere…

The Development of the Administrative Sciences Personal Computer Network Tutorial.

DTIC Science & Technology

1987-09-01

much attention being paid recently to the field of user interface design. No longer is it important to just design systems that meet the market demand...4 8 9. The Netw ork Status ................... ............. . 55 10. A pplications and O nline Help .. .......................... 62 11. Leavin

Transforming Librarians.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Park, Chung I.

1985-01-01

New information technologies have begun to help librarians transfer their routine procedures and tasks to nonprofessional staff and library users, which allows them to begin to be relieved from the boredom of glorified clerical work. Developments in information technology also allow librarians to see their work from new and different perspectives.…

The Gemini Science User Support Department: A community-centered approach to user support

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chené, André-Nicolas; Thomas-Osip, Joanna

2016-01-01

The Gemini Science User Support Department (SUSD) was formed a little more than a year ago to create a collaborative community of users and staff and to consolidate existing post-observing support throughout the observatory for more efficient use of resources as well as better visibility amongst our user community. This poster is an opportunity to exchange ideas about how Gemini can improve your experience while working with the Observatory and present details about new avenues of post-observing support coming soon. We encourage your feedback at any time.Shortly after its creation, the SUSD conducted a complete revision of the communication cycle between Gemini and its community of researchers. The cycle was then revisited from the perspective of an astronomer interested in using Gemini for their research. This exercise led to a series of proposed changes that are currently under development, and the implementation of a sub-selection is expected in 2016, including the following. (1) Email notifications: Gemini users will receive new forms of email communications that are more instructive and tailored to their program. The objective is to direct the users more efficiently toward the useful links and documentation all along the lifecycle of the program, from phaseII to after the data are completely reduced. (2) HelpDesk system: The HelpDesk will become more user-friendly and transparent. (3) Webpages: The organization of the Gemini webpages will be redesigned to optimize navigation; especially for anything regarding more critical periods likes phaseIs and phaseIIs. (4) Data Reduction User Forum: Following recommendations from Gemini users, new capabilities were added to the forum, like email notifications, and a voting system, in order to make it more practical. This forum's objective is to bring the Gemini community together to exchange their ideas, thoughts, questions and solutions about data reduction, a sort of Reddit, StackOverflow or Slashdot for Gemini data.

A Participatory Design Approach to Develop a Web-Based Self-Care Program Supporting Early Rehabilitation among Patients after Total Laryngectomy.

PubMed

Cnossen, Ingrid C; van Uden-Kraan, Cornelia F; Eerenstein, Simone E J; Rinkel, Rico N P M; Aalders, Ijke J; van den Berg, Klaske; de Goede, Cees J T; van Stijgeren, Ans J; Cruijff-Bijl, Yvonne; de Bree, Remco; Leemans, C René; Verdonck-de Leeuw, Irma M

2015-01-01

To develop a Web-based self-care program for patients after total laryngectomy according to a participatory design approach. We conducted a needs assessment with laryngectomees (n = 9) and their partners (n = 3) by means of a focus group interview. In 4 focus group sessions, a requirement plan was formulated by a team of health care professionals (n = 10) and translated into a prototype. An e-health application was built including illustrated information on functional changes after total laryngectomy as well as video demonstrations of skills and exercises. Usability of the prototype was tested by end users (n = 4) and expert users (n = 10). Interviews were held to elicit the intention to use and the desired implementation strategy. Six main self-care topics were identified: (1) nutrition, (2) tracheostomy care, (3) voice prosthesis care, (4) speech rehabilitation, (5) smell rehabilitation, and (6) mobility of head, neck, and shoulder muscles. Expert users expressed concerns regarding tailored exercises, indicated a positive intent to implement the intervention in routine care, and expressed a need for guidance when implementing the intervention. End users and expert users appreciated the content completeness and multimedia-based information built into the application. The participatory design is a valuable approach to develop a self-care program to help meet users' needs. © 2016 S. Karger AG, Basel.

A Crowdsensing Based Analytical Framework for Perceptional Degradation of OTT Web Browsing.

PubMed

Li, Ke; Wang, Hai; Xu, Xiaolong; Du, Yu; Liu, Yuansheng; Ahmad, M Omair

2018-05-15

Service perception analysis is crucial for understanding both user experiences and network quality as well as for maintaining and optimizing of mobile networks. Given the rapid development of mobile Internet and over-the-top (OTT) services, the conventional network-centric mode of network operation and maintenance is no longer effective. Therefore, developing an approach to evaluate and optimizing users' service perceptions has become increasingly important. Meanwhile, the development of a new sensing paradigm, mobile crowdsensing (MCS), makes it possible to evaluate and analyze the user's OTT service perception from end-user's point of view other than from the network side. In this paper, the key factors that impact users' end-to-end OTT web browsing service perception are analyzed by monitoring crowdsourced user perceptions. The intrinsic relationships among the key factors and the interactions between key quality indicators (KQI) are evaluated from several perspectives. Moreover, an analytical framework of perceptional degradation and a detailed algorithm are proposed whose goal is to identify the major factors that impact the perceptional degradation of web browsing service as well as their significance of contribution. Finally, a case study is presented to show the effectiveness of the proposed method using a dataset crowdsensed from a large number of smartphone users in a real mobile network. The proposed analytical framework forms a valuable solution for mobile network maintenance and optimization and can help improve web browsing service perception and network quality.

Would You Tell Everyone This? Facebook Conversations as Health Promotion Interventions

PubMed Central

Syred, Jonathan; Naidoo, Carla; Woodhall, Sarah C

2014-01-01

Background Health promotion interventions on social networking sites can communicate individually tailored content to a large audience. User-generated content helps to maximize engagement, but health promotion websites have had variable success in supporting user engagement. Objective The aim of our study was to examine which elements of moderator and participant behavior stimulated and maintained interaction with a sexual health promotion site on Facebook. Methods We examined the pattern and content of posts on a Facebook page. Google analytics was used to describe the number of people using the page and viewing patterns. A qualitative, thematic approach was used to analyze content. Results During the study period (January 18, 2010, to June 27, 2010), 576 users interacted 888 times with the site through 508 posts and 380 comments with 93% of content generated by users. The user-generated conversation continued while new participants were driven to the site by advertising, but interaction with the site ceased rapidly after the advertising stopped. Conversations covered key issues on chlamydia and chlamydia testing. Users endorsed testing, celebrated their negative results, and modified and questioned key messages. There was variation in user approach to the site from sharing of personal experience and requesting help to joking about sexually transmitted infection. The moderator voice was reactive, unengaged, tolerant, simplistic, and was professional in tone. There was no change in the moderator approach throughout the period studied. Conclusions Our findings suggest this health promotion site provided a space for single user posts but not a self-sustaining conversation. Possible explanations for this include little new content from the moderator, a definition of content too narrow to hold the interest of participants, and limited responsiveness to user needs. Implications for health promotion practice include the need to consider a life cycle approach to online community development for health promotion and the need for a developing moderator strategy to reflect this. This strategy should reflect two facets of moderation for online health promotion interventions: (1) unengaged and professional oversight to provide a safe space for discussion and to maintain information quality, and (2) a more engaged and interactive presence designed to maintain interest that generates new material for discussion and is responsive to user requests. PMID:24727742

Visual cues for data mining

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rogowitz, Bernice E.; Rabenhorst, David A.; Gerth, John A.; Kalin, Edward B.

1996-04-01

This paper describes a set of visual techniques, based on principles of human perception and cognition, which can help users analyze and develop intuitions about tabular data. Collections of tabular data are widely available, including, for example, multivariate time series data, customer satisfaction data, stock market performance data, multivariate profiles of companies and individuals, and scientific measurements. In our approach, we show how visual cues can help users perform a number of data mining tasks, including identifying correlations and interaction effects, finding clusters and understanding the semantics of cluster membership, identifying anomalies and outliers, and discovering multivariate relationships among variables. These cues are derived from psychological studies on perceptual organization, visual search, perceptual scaling, and color perception. These visual techniques are presented as a complement to the statistical and algorithmic methods more commonly associated with these tasks, and provide an interactive interface for the human analyst.

In Brief: Air pollution app

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Showstack, Randy

2010-10-01

A new smartphone application takes advantage of various technological capabilities and sensors to help users monitor air quality. Tapping into smartphone cameras, Global Positioning System (GPS) sensors, compasses, and accelerometers, computer scientists with the University of Southern California's (USC) Viterbi School of Engineering have developed a new application, provisionally entitled “Visibility.” Currently available for the Android telephone operating system, the application is available for free download at http://robotics.usc.edu/˜mobilesensing/Projects/AirVisibilityMonitoring. An iPhone application may be introduced soon. Smartphone users can take a picture of the sky and then compare it with models of sky luminance to estimate visibility. While conventional air pollution monitors are costly and thinly deployed in some areas, the smartphone application potentially could help fill in some blanks in existing air pollution maps, according to USC computer science professor Gaurav Sukhatme.

Exploring powered wheelchair users and their caregivers' perspectives on potential intelligent power wheelchair use: a qualitative study.

PubMed

Kairy, Dahlia; Rushton, Paula W; Archambault, Philippe; Pituch, Evelina; Torkia, Caryne; El Fathi, Anas; Stone, Paula; Routhier, François; Forget, Robert; Demers, Louise; Pineau, Joelle; Gourdeau, Richard

2014-02-21

Power wheelchairs (PWCs) can have a positive impact on user well-being, self-esteem, pain, activity and participation. Newly developed intelligent power wheelchairs (IPWs), allowing autonomous or collaboratively-controlled navigation, could enhance mobility of individuals not able to use, or having difficulty using, standard PWCs. The objective of this study was to explore the perspectives of PWC users (PWUs) and their caregivers regarding if and how IPWs could impact on current challenges faced by PWUs, as well as inform current development of IPWs. A qualitative exploratory study using individual interviews was conducted with PWUs (n = 12) and caregivers (n = 4). A semi-structured interview guide and video were used to facilitate informed discussion regarding IPWs. Thematic analysis revealed three main themes: (1) "challenging situations that may be overcome by an IPW" described how the IPW features of obstacle avoidance, path following, and target following could alleviate PWUs' identified mobility difficulties; (2) "cautious optimism concerning IPW use revealed participants" addresses concerns regarding using an IPW as well as technological suggestions; (3) "defining the potential IPW user" revealed characteristics of PWUs that would benefit from IPW use. Findings indicate how IPW use may help overcome PWC difficulties and confirm the importance of user input in the ongoing development of IPWs.

Developing a User-Centred Planning Tool for Young Adults with Development Disorders: A Research-Based Teaching Project.

PubMed

Ribu, Kirsten; Patel, Tulpesh

2016-01-01

People with development disorders, for instance autism, need structured plans to help create predictability in their daily lives. Digital plans can facilitate enhanced independency, learning, and quality of life, but existing apps are largely general purpose and lack the flexibility required by this specific but heterogeneous user group. Universal design is both a goal and a process and should be based on a holistic approach and user-centered design, interacting with the users in all stages of the development process. At Oslo and Akershus University College (HiOA) we conducted a research-based teaching project in co-operation with the Department of Neuro-habilitation at Oslo University Hospital (OUS) with two employees acting as project managers and students as developers. Three groups of Computer Science bachelor students developed digital prototypes for a planning tool for young adults with pervasive development disorders, who live either with their families or in supervised residences, and do not receive extensive public services. The students conducted the initial planning phase of the software development process, focusing on prototyping the system requirements, whilst a professional software company programmed the end solution. The goal of the project was to develop flexible and adaptive user-oriented and user-specific app solutions for tablets that can aid this diverse user group in structuring daily life, whereby, for example, photos of objects and places known to the individual user replace general pictures or drawings, and checklists can be elaborate or sparse as necessary. The three student groups worked independently of each other and created interactive working prototypes based on tests, observations and short interviews with end users (both administrators and residents) and regular user feedback from the project managers. Three very different solutions were developed that were of high enough quality that an external software company were able to continue the work and create a beta version of the app. The first phase in software development process is always challenging and time consuming. Using a research-based teaching approach allowed us to not only save time and expense in the development phase, but, importantly, allowed us to thoroughly investigate a variety of aspects of the problem to create an accessible solution, whilst leveraging our students' knowledge, competencies and creativity. The next stage will be to evaluate the beta version of the app and study its impact on the user's quality of life. Although the end solution is designed for a specific user group, the built-in flexibility of its structure and function means there is the inherent potential to open it up to all users. The universal benefit lies in the flexibility of the solution.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Anderson, L.M.

This paper describes the role of the Monsanto Chemical Company in the cleanup of a Superfund site in Galveston, Texas. Although other companies had sent waste to the site over an extended period of time, Monsanto was charged with the entire cost. Monsanto responded by identifying other site users and determining the extent of their liability through chemical analysis of the wastes. They took the lead in organizing the other users and developing an effective cleanup process at a cost much less than the EPA's estimates. They also helped to improve industry's relations with the community.

Coloc-stats: a unified web interface to perform colocalization analysis of genomic features.

PubMed

Simovski, Boris; Kanduri, Chakravarthi; Gundersen, Sveinung; Titov, Dmytro; Domanska, Diana; Bock, Christoph; Bossini-Castillo, Lara; Chikina, Maria; Favorov, Alexander; Layer, Ryan M; Mironov, Andrey A; Quinlan, Aaron R; Sheffield, Nathan C; Trynka, Gosia; Sandve, Geir K

2018-06-05

Functional genomics assays produce sets of genomic regions as one of their main outputs. To biologically interpret such region-sets, researchers often use colocalization analysis, where the statistical significance of colocalization (overlap, spatial proximity) between two or more region-sets is tested. Existing colocalization analysis tools vary in the statistical methodology and analysis approaches, thus potentially providing different conclusions for the same research question. As the findings of colocalization analysis are often the basis for follow-up experiments, it is helpful to use several tools in parallel and to compare the results. We developed the Coloc-stats web service to facilitate such analyses. Coloc-stats provides a unified interface to perform colocalization analysis across various analytical methods and method-specific options (e.g. colocalization measures, resolution, null models). Coloc-stats helps the user to find a method that supports their experimental requirements and allows for a straightforward comparison across methods. Coloc-stats is implemented as a web server with a graphical user interface that assists users with configuring their colocalization analyses. Coloc-stats is freely available at https://hyperbrowser.uio.no/coloc-stats/.

Simultsonic: A Simulation Tool for Ultrasonic Inspection

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Krishnamurthy, Adarsh; Karthikeyan, Soumya; Krishnamurthy, C. V.; Balasubramaniam, Krishnan

2006-03-01

A simulation program SIMULTSONIC is under development at CNDE to help determine and/or help optimize ultrasonic probe locations for inspection of complex components. SIMULTSONIC provides a ray-trace based assessment initially followed by a displacement or pressure field-based assessment for user-specified probe positions and user-selected component. Immersion and contact modes of inspection are available in SIMULTSONIC. The code written in Visual C++ operating in Microsoft Windows environment provides an interactive user interface. In this paper, the application of SIMULTSONIC to the inspection of very thin-walled pipes (with 450 um wall thickness) is described. Ray trace based assessment was done using SIMULTSONIC to determine the standoff distance and the angle of oblique incidence for an immersion mode focused transducer. A 3-cycle Hanning window pulse was chosen for simulations. Experiments were carried out to validate the simulations. The A-scans and the associated B-Scan images obtained through simulations show good correlation with experimental results, both with the arrival time of the signal as well as with the signal amplitudes. The scope of SIMULTSONIC to deal with parametrically represented surfaces will also be discussed.

Starting Over: Current Issues in Online Catalog User Interface Design.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Crawford, Walt

1992-01-01

Discussion of online catalogs focuses on issues in interface design. Issues addressed include understanding the user base; common user access (CUA) with personal computers; common command language (CCL); hyperlinks; screen design issues; differences from card catalogs; indexes; graphic user interfaces (GUIs); color; online help; and remote users.…

Reasoning about Users' Actions in a Graphical User Interface.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Virvou, Maria; Kabassi, Katerina

2002-01-01

Describes a graphical user interface called IFM (Intelligent File Manipulator) that provides intelligent help to users. Explains two underlying reasoning mechanisms, one an adaptation of human plausible reasoning and one that performs goal recognition based on the effects of users' commands; and presents results of an empirical study that…

Perceptions of the feasibility and acceptability of a smartphone application for the treatment of binge eating disorders: Qualitative feedback from a user population and clinicians.

PubMed

Juarascio, Adrienne S; Goldstein, Stephanie P; Manasse, Stephanie M; Forman, Evan M; Butryn, Meghan L

2015-10-01

Binge eating, a major public health problem, is characterized by recurrent episodes of out-of-control eating in which an individual consumes an unusually large amount of food in a discrete time period. Limitations of existing treatments for binge eating (both in-person psychotherapy and guided self-help) indicate that smartphone applications (apps) may be an ideal alternative or enhancement. An app for binge eating could aid treatment dissemination, engagement, and/or compliance. However, no research to date has examined user perceptions of a therapeutic app for binge eating, which is critical for development. The purposes of the current study were to conceptualize a potential app for binge eating and obtain feedback regarding feasibility and acceptability from target users (i.e., individuals with binge eating) and clinicians specializing in the treatment of binge eating. Our team conceptualized a smartphone app that contained self-help material, functions to monitor behavior, and provisions of in-the-moment interventions. We presented this app (e.g., feature explanations, mock screen shots) through phone interviews with clinicians who specialize in the treatment of binge eating (n=10), and focus groups with individuals experiencing binge eating (n=11). Participants were asked to discuss customization, user burden, terminology, attrition, data visualization, comprehensiveness, reminders, feasibility, acceptability, and perceived effectiveness of the proposed app. Thematic analyses were conducted from qualitative data (e.g., audio recordings and interview notes) obtained via the focus groups and interviews. Results indicated that our proposed app would be highly feasible and acceptable to users and clinicians, though concerns about the degree of personalization and customizability were noted. The current study details highly specific feedback and ideas regarding essential app features from target users and clinicians. This information is critical for the development of future apps to treat binge eating. Ways in which data obtained from the current study may be generalized to the development of therapeutic apps for other psychological disorders is discussed. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Perceptions of the feasibility and acceptability of a smartphone application for the treatment of binge eating disorders: Qualitative feedback from a user population and clinicians

PubMed Central

Goldstein, Stephanie P.; Manasse, Stephanie M.; Forman, Evan M.; Butryn, Meghan L.

2016-01-01

Background Binge eating, a major public health problem, is characterized by recurrent episodes of out-of-control eating in which an individual consumes an unusually large amount of food in a discrete time period. Limitations of existing treatments for binge eating (both in-person psychotherapy and guided self-help) indicate that smartphone applications (apps) may be an ideal alternative or enhancement. An app for binge eating could aid treatment dissemination, engagement, and/or compliance. However, no research to date has examined user perceptions of a therapeutic app for binge eating, which is critical for development. Objectives The purposes of the current study were to conceptualize a potential app for binge eating and obtain feedback regarding feasibility and acceptability from target users (i.e., individuals with binge eating) and clinicians specializing in the treatment of binge eating. Methods Our team conceptualized a smartphone app that contained self-help material, functions to monitor behavior, and provisions of in-the-moment interventions. We presented this app (e.g., feature explanations, mock screen shots) through phone interviews with clinicians who specialize in the treatment of binge eating (n=10), and focus groups with individuals experiencing binge eating (n=11). Participants were asked to discuss customization, user burden, terminology, attrition, data visualization, comprehensiveness, reminders, feasibility, acceptability, and perceived effectiveness of the proposed app. Thematic analyses were conducted from qualitative data (e.g., audio recordings and interview notes) obtained via the focus groups and interviews. Results Results indicated that our proposed app would be highly feasible and acceptable to users and clinicians, though concerns about the degree of personalization and customizability were noted. Conclusions The current study details highly specific feedback and ideas regarding essential app features from target users and clinicians. This information is critical for the development of future apps to treat binge eating. Ways in which data obtained from the current study may be generalized to the development of therapeutic apps for other psychological disorders is discussed. PMID:26113461

User's Guide for the Nihongo Tutorial System.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Leung, Kei Wai; Maciejewski, Anthony A.

The Nihongo tutorial system is an intelligent tutorial system designed to use a computer to assist scientists and engineers in developing reading competence in technical Japanese. It consists of three applications: the Nihongo Tutor, which provides useful information about an article (translation, syntax, pronunciation) to help understand the text…

Doing Developmental Research: A Practical Guide

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Striano, Tricia

2016-01-01

Addressing practical issues rarely covered in methods texts, this user-friendly, jargon-free book helps students and beginning researchers plan infant and child development studies and get them done. The author provides step-by-step guidance for getting involved in a developmental laboratory and crafting effective research questions and proposals.…

Guidelines for Writing (or Rewriting) Manuals for Instructional Software.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Litchfield, Brenda C.

1990-01-01

Discusses the need for adequate student user manuals for computer software and presents guidelines to help teachers develop these manuals. The sections that a student manual should contain are outlined, including objectives, pretests and posttests for self-evaluation, and worksheets; and examples are given for further clarification. (LRW)

Taxonomies, Folksonomies, and Semantics: Establishing Functional Meaning in Navigational Structures

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bacha, Jeffrey A.

2012-01-01

This article argues for the establishment of a usability process that incorporates the study of "words" and "word phrases." It demonstrates how semantically mapping a navigational taxonomy can help the developers of digital environments establish a more focused sense of functional meaning for the users of their digital designs.

Conservation--Selected Bibliography.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Australian Conservation Foundation, Parkville, Victoria.

Developed by the Australian Conservation Foundation to meet the need for a general conservation bibliography, this booklet offers resources for a wide spectrum of possible users. Material selected is that which is relevant and helpful for conservationists in their various fields of activity and what is likely to be in print and obtainable without…

Dietary Supplement Label Database (DSLD)

Science.gov Websites

Intakes (DRIs) Definitions Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) Information Sources Release Notes Help Search full label derived information from dietary supplement products marketed in the U.S. with a Web-based user interface that provides ready access to label information. It was developed to serve the research

OASIS: PARAMETER ESTIMATION SYSTEM FOR AQUIFER RESTORATION MODELS, USER'S MANUAL VERSION 2.0

EPA Science Inventory

OASIS, a decision support system for ground water contaminant modeling, has been developed for the CPA by Rice University, through the National Center for Ground Water Research. As a decision support system, OASIS was designed to provide a set of tools which will help scientists ...

IMPLEMENTATION OF A CAPE-OPEN COMPLIANT PROCESS SIMULATOR USING MICROSOFT'S VISUAL STUDIO.NET AND THE .NET FRAMEWORK

EPA Science Inventory

The United States Environmental Protection Agency is developing a Computer
Aided Process Engineering (CAPE) software tool for the metal finishing
industry that helps users design efficient metal finishing processes that
are less polluting to the environment. Metal finish...

Quest: The Interactive Test Analysis System.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Adams, Raymond J.; Khoo, Siek-Toon

The Quest program offers a comprehensive test and questionnaire analysis environment by providing a data analyst (a computer program) with access to the most recent developments in Rasch measurement theory, as well as a range of traditional analysis procedures. This manual helps the user use Quest to construct and validate variables based on…

Embedding Cognitive Systems into Systems Engineering Practice

DTIC Science & Technology

2008-12-01

application. Brahms, developed out of NASA Ames, is free for research and to the An Analysis of Alternatives consists of eight steps 1. Determine...said to look like a Star Trek ™ control panel. Fields dynamically resize when user click on them. This is helpful for those with vision degradation

Choosing Training?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stephen, Jennifer

This guide is designed to help the user enter into the job market by making the most of their existing skills and finding additional training. Section 1, Vocations, Occupations, Careers, looks at the assessment tools used by employers and trainers to prepare people for today's job market. It describes how to develop a personal inventory of skills…

Mechanical Model of Traditional Thai Massage for Integrated Healthcare.

PubMed

Rattanaphan, Salinee; Srichandr, Panya

2015-01-01

In this study, a mechanical model was developed, aiming to provide standardized and programmable traditional Thai massage (TTM) therapy to patients. The TTM was modeled and integrated into a mechanical hand (MH) system, and a prototype massage chair was built and tested for user satisfaction. Three fundamental principles of Thai massage were integrated: pull, press, and pin. Based on these principles, the mechanics of Thai massage was studied and a mathematical model was developed to describe the dynamics and conditions for the design and prototyping of an MH. On average, it was found that users were satisfied with the treatment and felt that the treatment was similar to that performed by human hands. According to the interview results, users indicated that they were likely to utilize the MH as an alternative to traditional massage. Therefore, integrated TTM with an MH may help healthcare providers deliver standardized, programmable massage therapy to patients as opposed to variable, inconsistent human massage.

Multiple-body simulation with emphasis on integrated Space Shuttle vehicle

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Chiu, Ing-Tsau

1993-01-01

The program to obtain intergrid communications - Pegasus - was enhanced to make better use of computing resources. Periodic block tridiagonal and penta-diagonal diagonal routines in OVERFLOW were modified to use a better algorithm to speed up the calculation for grids with periodic boundary conditions. Several programs were added to collar grid tools and a user friendly shell script was developed to help users generate collar grids. User interface for HYPGEN was modified to cope with the changes in HYPGEN. ET/SRB attach hardware grids were added to the computational model for the space shuttle and is currently incorporated into the refined shuttle model jointly developed at Johnson Space Center and Ames Research Center. Flow simulation for the integrated space shuttle vehicle at flight Reynolds number was carried out and compared with flight data as well as the earlier simulation for wind tunnel Reynolds number.

Operating system for a real-time multiprocessor propulsion system simulator. User's manual

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Cole, G. L.

1985-01-01

The NASA Lewis Research Center is developing and evaluating experimental hardware and software systems to help meet future needs for real-time, high-fidelity simulations of air-breathing propulsion systems. Specifically, the real-time multiprocessor simulator project focuses on the use of multiple microprocessors to achieve the required computing speed and accuracy at relatively low cost. Operating systems for such hardware configurations are generally not available. A real time multiprocessor operating system (RTMPOS) that supports a variety of multiprocessor configurations was developed at Lewis. With some modification, RTMPOS can also support various microprocessors. RTMPOS, by means of menus and prompts, provides the user with a versatile, user-friendly environment for interactively loading, running, and obtaining results from a multiprocessor-based simulator. The menu functions are described and an example simulation session is included to demonstrate the steps required to go from the simulation loading phase to the execution phase.

Cybersecurity, massive data processing, community interaction, and other developments at WWW-based computational X-ray Server

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stepanov, Sergey

2013-03-01

X-Ray Server (x-server.gmca.aps.anl.gov) is a WWW-based computational server for modeling of X-ray diffraction, reflection and scattering data. The modeling software operates directly on the server and can be accessed remotely either from web browsers or from user software. In the later case the server can be deployed as a software library or a data fitting engine. As the server recently surpassed the milestones of 15 years online and 1.5 million calculations, it accumulated a number of technical solutions that are discussed in this paper. The developed approaches to detecting physical model limits and user calculations failures, solutions to spam and firewall problems, ways to involve the community in replenishing databases and methods to teach users automated access to the server programs may be helpful for X-ray researchers interested in using the server or sharing their own software online.

An easy-to-use diagnostic system development shell

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Tsai, L. C.; Ross, J. B.; Han, C. Y.; Wee, W. G.

1987-01-01

The Diagnostic System Development Shell (DSDS), an expert system development shell for diagnostic systems, is described. The major objective of building the DSDS is to create a very easy to use and friendly environment for knowledge engineers and end-users. The DSDS is written in OPS5 and CommonLisp. It runs on a VAX/VMS system. A set of domain independent, generalized rules is built in the DSDS, so the users need not be concerned about building the rules. The facts are explicitly represented in a unified format. A powerful check facility which helps the user to check the errors in the created knowledge bases is provided. A judgement facility and other useful facilities are also available. A diagnostic system based on the DSDS system is question driven and can call or be called by other knowledge based systems written in OPS5 and CommonLisp. A prototype diagnostic system for diagnosing a Philips constant potential X-ray system has been built using the DSDS.

Design element alternatives for stress-management intervention websites.

PubMed

Williams, Reg A; Gatien, Gary; Hagerty, Bonnie

2011-01-01

Typical public and military-sponsored websites on stress and depression tend to be prescriptive. Some require users to complete lengthy questionnaires. Others reproduce printed flyers, papers, or educational materials not adapted for online use. Some websites require users to follow a prescribed path through the material. Stress Gym was developed as a first-level, evidence-based, website intervention to help U.S. military members learn how to manage mild to moderate stress and depressive symptoms using a self-help intervention with progress tracking and 24/7 availablility. It was designed using web-based, health-management intervention design elements that have been proven effective and users reported they prefer. These included interactivity, self-pacing, and pleasing aesthetics. Users learned how to manage stress by accessing modules they choose, and by practicing proven stress management strategies interactively immediately after login. Test results of Stress Gym with Navy members demonstrated that it was effective, with significant decreases in reported perceived stress levels from baseline to follow-up assessment. Stress Gym used design elements that may serve as a model for future websites to emulate and improve upon, and as a template against which to compare and contrast the design and functionality of future online, health-intervention websites. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Participatory design methods for the development of a clinical telehealth service for neonatal homecare.

PubMed

Garne Holm, Kristina; Brødsgaard, Anne; Zachariassen, Gitte; Smith, Anthony C; Clemensen, Jane

2017-01-01

Neonatal homecare delivered during home visits by neonatal nurses is a common method for supporting families of preterm infants following discharge. Telehealth has been introduced for the provision of neonatal homecare, resulting in positive feedback from parents of preterm infants. While the benefits are beginning to be realised, widespread uptake of telehealth has been limited due to a range of logistical challenges. Understanding user requirements is important when planning and developing a clinical telehealth service. We therefore used participatory design to develop a clinical telehealth service for neonatal homecare. The study adopted a participatory design approach to engage users in the development and design of a new telehealth service. Participatory design embraces qualitative research methods. Creative and technical workshops were conducted as part of the study. Tests of the telehealth service were conducted in the neonatal unit. Participants in this study were former and current parents of preterm infants eligible for neonatal homecare, and clinical staff (medical and nursing) from the neonatal unit. Preterm infants accompanied their parents. Based on the results obtained during the workshops and subsequent testing, we developed an application (app), which was integrated into the medical record at the neonatal unit. The app was used to initiate videoconferences and chat messages between the family at home and the neonatal unit, and to share information regarding infant growth and well-being. Results obtained from the workshops and testing demonstrated the importance of involving users when developing new telehealth applications. The workshops helped identify the challenges associated with delivery of the service, and helped instruct the design of a new telehealth service for neonatal homecare based on the needs of parents and clinical staff.

Do You Know Your Music Users' Needs? A Library User Survey that Helps Enhance a User-Centered Music Collection

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lai, Katie; Chan, Kylie

2010-01-01

While many surveys aim primarily at measuring general user satisfaction, this survey is dedicated to understanding music users' needs, usage patterns, and preferences towards various collections. Findings showed dissimilar use behavior and perceived importance of materials between academic- and performance-oriented music users. Needs for different…

SAO/NASA ADS at SAO: User Feedback

Science.gov Websites

Sign on [SAO/NASA ADS] User Feedback ADS Home | HELP | Sitemap ADS Services Search Browse myADS Mirrors Feedback FAQ What's new Site Map Help Other NASA Centers CXC HEASARC IRSA MAST NED NSSDC PDS [NASA] NASA ads at cfa.harvard.edu

Structural analysis of a rehabilitative training system based on a ceiling rail for safety of hemiplegia patients.

PubMed

Kim, Kyong; Song, Won Kyung; Chong, Woo Suk; Yu, Chang Ho

2018-04-17

The body-weight support (BWS) function, which helps to decrease load stresses on a user, is an effective tool for gait and balance rehabilitation training for elderly people with weakened lower-extremity muscular strength, hemiplegic patients, etc. This study conducts structural analysis to secure user safety in order to develop a rail-type gait and balance rehabilitation training system (RRTS). The RRTS comprises a rail, trolley, and brain-machine interface. The rail (platform) is connected to the ceiling structure, bearing the loads of the RRTS and of the user and allowing locomobility. The trolley consists of a smart drive unit (SDU) that assists the user with forward and backward mobility and a body-weight support (BWS) unit that helps the user to control his/her body-weight load, depending on the severity of his/her hemiplegia. The brain-machine interface estimates and measures on a real-time basis the body-weight (load) of the user and the intended direction of his/her movement. Considering the weight of the system and the user, the mechanical safety performance of the system frame under an applied 250-kg static load is verified through structural analysis using ABAQUS (6.14-3) software. The maximum stresses applied on the rail and trolley under the given gravity load of 250 kg, respectively, are 18.52 MPa and 48.44 MPa. The respective safety factors are computed to be 7.83 and 5.26, confirming the RRTS's mechanical safety. An RRTS with verified structural safety could be utilized for gait movement and balance rehabilitation and training for patients with hemiplegia.

Smartphone applications for melanoma detection by community, patient and generalist clinician users: a review.

PubMed

Kassianos, A P; Emery, J D; Murchie, P; Walter, F M

2015-06-01

Smartphone health applications ('apps') are widely available but experts remain cautious about their utility and safety. We reviewed currently available apps for the detection of melanoma (July 2014), aimed at general community, patient and generalist clinician users. A proforma was used to extract and assess each app that met the inclusion criteria, and we undertook content analysis to evaluate their content and the evidence applied in their development. Thirty-nine apps were identified with the majority available only for Apple users. Over half (n = 22) provided information or education about melanoma, ultraviolet radiation exposure prevention advice, and skin self-examination strategies, mainly using the ABCDE (A, Asymmetry; B, Border; C, Colour; D, Diameter; E, Evolving) method. Half (n = 19) helped users take and store images of their skin lesions either for review by a dermatologist or for self-monitoring to identify change, an important predictor of melanoma; a similar number (n = 18) used reminders to help users monitor their skin lesions. A few (n = 9) offered expert review of images. Four apps provided a risk assessment to patients about the probability that a lesion was malignant or benign, and one app calculated users' future risk of melanoma. None of the apps appeared to have been validated for diagnostic accuracy or utility using established research methods. Smartphone apps for detecting melanoma by nonspecialist users have a range of functions including information, education, classification, risk assessment and monitoring change. Despite their potential usefulness, and while clinicians may choose to use apps that provide information to educate their patients, apps for melanoma detection require further validation of their utility and safety. © 2015 The Authors. British Journal of Dermatology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of British Association of Dermatologists.

The use of Graphic User Interface for development of a user-friendly CRS-Stack software

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sule, Rachmat; Prayudhatama, Dythia; Perkasa, Muhammad D.; Hendriyana, Andri; Fatkhan; Sardjito; Adriansyah

2017-04-01

The development of a user-friendly Common Reflection Surface (CRS) Stack software that has been built by implementing Graphical User Interface (GUI) is described in this paper. The original CRS-Stack software developed by WIT Consortium is compiled in the unix/linux environment, which is not a user-friendly software, so that a user must write the commands and parameters manually in a script file. Due to this limitation, the CRS-Stack become a non popular method, although applying this method is actually a promising way in order to obtain better seismic sections, which have better reflector continuity and S/N ratio. After obtaining successful results that have been tested by using several seismic data belong to oil companies in Indonesia, it comes to an idea to develop a user-friendly software in our own laboratory. Graphical User Interface (GUI) is a type of user interface that allows people to interact with computer programs in a better way. Rather than typing commands and module parameters, GUI allows the users to use computer programs in much simple and easy. Thus, GUI can transform the text-based interface into graphical icons and visual indicators. The use of complicated seismic unix shell script can be avoided. The Java Swing GUI library is used to develop this CRS-Stack GUI. Every shell script that represents each seismic process is invoked from Java environment. Besides developing interactive GUI to perform CRS-Stack processing, this CRS-Stack GUI is design to help geophysicists to manage a project with complex seismic processing procedures. The CRS-Stack GUI software is composed by input directory, operators, and output directory, which are defined as a seismic data processing workflow. The CRS-Stack processing workflow involves four steps; i.e. automatic CMP stack, initial CRS-Stack, optimized CRS-Stack, and CRS-Stack Supergather. Those operations are visualized in an informative flowchart with self explanatory system to guide the user inputting the parameter values for each operation. The knowledge of CRS-Stack processing procedure is still preserved in the software, which is easy and efficient to be learned. The software will still be developed in the future. Any new innovative seismic processing workflow will also be added into this GUI software.

Oyster Fisheries App

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Perez Guerrero, Geraldo A.; Armstrong, Duane; Underwood, Lauren

2015-01-01

This project is creating a cloud-enabled, HTML 5 web application to help oyster fishermen and state agencies apply Earth science to improve the management of this important natural and economic resource. The Oyster Fisheries app gathers and analyzes environmental and water quality information, and alerts fishermen and resources managers about problems in oyster fishing waters. An intuitive interface based on Google Maps displays the geospatial information and provides familiar interactive controls to the users. Alerts can be tailored to notify users when conditions in specific leases or public fishing areas require attention. The app is hosted on the Amazon Web Services cloud. It is being developed and tested using some of the latest web development tools such as web components and Polymer.

The telerobot workstation testbed for the shuttle aft flight deck: A project plan for integrating human factors into system design

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sauerwein, Timothy

1989-01-01

The human factors design process in developing a shuttle orbiter aft flight deck workstation testbed is described. In developing an operator workstation to control various laboratory telerobots, strong elements of human factors engineering and ergonomics are integrated into the design process. The integration of human factors is performed by incorporating user feedback at key stages in the project life-cycle. An operator centered design approach helps insure the system users are working with the system designer in the design and operation of the system. The design methodology is presented along with the results of the design and the solutions regarding human factors design principles.

Using Health Communication Best Practices to Develop a Web-Based Provider-Patient Communication Aid: The CONNECT™ Study

PubMed Central

Fleisher, Linda; Buzaglo, Joanne; Collins, Michael; Millard, Jennifer; Miller, Suzanne M.; Egleston, Brian L.; Solarino, Nicholas; Trinastic, Jonathan; Cegala, Donald J.; Benson, Al B.; Schulman, Kevin A.; Weinfurt, Kevin P.; Sulmasy, Daniel; Diefenbach, Michael A.; Meropol, Neal J.

2008-01-01

Objective Although there is broad consensus that careful content vetting and user testing is important in the development of technology-based educational interventions, often these steps are overlooked. This paper highlights the development of a theory-guided, web-based communication aid (CONNECT™), designed to facilitate treatment decision making among patients with advanced cancer. Methods The communication aid included an online survey, patient skills training module and an automated physician report. Development steps included: 1) evidence-based content development, 2) usability testing, 3) pilot testing, and 4) patient utilization and satisfaction. Results Usability testing identified some confusing directions and navigation for the on-line survey and validated the relevance of the “patient testimonials” in the skills module. Preliminary satisfaction from the implementation of the communication aid showed that 66% found the survey length reasonable and 70% found it helpful in talking with the physician. Seventy percent reported the skills module helpful and about half found it affected the consultation. Conclusion Designing patient education interventions for translation into practice requires the integration of health communication best practice including user feedback along the developmental process. Practice Implications This developmental process can be translated to a broad array of community based patient and provider educational interventions. PMID:18417312

Functional assessment and performance evaluation for assistive robotic manipulators: Literature review.

PubMed

Chung, Cheng-Shiu; Wang, Hongwu; Cooper, Rory A

2013-07-01

The user interface development of assistive robotic manipulators can be traced back to the 1960s. Studies include kinematic designs, cost-efficiency, user experience involvements, and performance evaluation. This paper is to review studies conducted with clinical trials using activities of daily living (ADLs) tasks to evaluate performance categorized using the International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health (ICF) frameworks, in order to give the scope of current research and provide suggestions for future studies. We conducted a literature search of assistive robotic manipulators from 1970 to 2012 in PubMed, Google Scholar, and University of Pittsburgh Library System - PITTCat. Twenty relevant studies were identified. Studies were separated into two broad categories: user task preferences and user-interface performance measurements of commercialized and developing assistive robotic manipulators. The outcome measures and ICF codes associated with the performance evaluations are reported. Suggestions for the future studies include (1) standardized ADL tasks for the quantitative and qualitative evaluation of task efficiency and performance to build comparable measures between research groups, (2) studies relevant to the tasks from user priority lists and ICF codes, and (3) appropriate clinical functional assessment tests with consideration of constraints in assistive robotic manipulator user interfaces. In addition, these outcome measures will help physicians and therapists build standardized tools while prescribing and assessing assistive robotic manipulators.

Usability Guidelines for Product Recommenders Based on Example Critiquing Research

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pu, Pearl; Faltings, Boi; Chen, Li; Zhang, Jiyong; Viappiani, Paolo

Over the past decade, our group has developed a suite of decision tools based on example critiquing to help users find their preferred products in e-commerce environments. In this chapter, we survey important usability research work relative to example critiquing and summarize the major results by deriving a set of usability guidelines. Our survey is focused on three key interaction activities between the user and the system: the initial preference elicitation process, the preference revision process, and the presentation of the systems recommendation results. To provide a basis for the derivation of the guidelines, we developed a multi-objective framework of three interacting criteria: accuracy, confidence, and effort (ACE). We use this framework to analyze our past work and provide a specific context for each guideline: when the system should maximize its ability to increase users' decision accuracy, when to increase user confidence, and when to minimize the interaction effort for the users. Due to the general nature of this multi-criteria model, the set of guidelines that we propose can be used to ease the usability engineering process of other recommender systems, especially those used in e-commerce environments. The ACE framework presented here is also the first in the field to evaluate the performance of preference-based recommenders from a user-centric point of view.

Decreased risk of dementia in migraine patients with traditional Chinese medicine use: a population-based cohort study.

PubMed

Liu, Chun-Ting; Wu, Bei-Yu; Hung, Yu-Chiang; Wang, Lin-Yi; Lee, Yan-Yuh; Lin, Tsu-Kung; Lin, Pao-Yen; Chen, Wu-Fu; Chiang, Jen-Huai; Hsu, Sheng-Feng; Hu, Wen-Long

2017-10-03

Patients with migraine are reportedly at increased risk of developing dementia. We aimed to investigate the association between traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) use and dementia risk in migraine patients. This longitudinal cohort study used the Taiwanese National Health Insurance Research Database to identify 32,386 diagnosed migraine patients aged 20 years and above who received treatment from 1997 to 2010. To balance comparability between TCM users and non-TCM users, we randomly selected equal numbers from each group, and compared subgroups compiled based on combinations of age, sex, index year, and year of migraine diagnosis. All enrollees received follow-up until the end of 2013 to measure dementia incidence. We identified 1,402 TCM users and non-TCM users after frequency matching. A total of 134 subjects were newly diagnosed with dementia during the follow-up period. TCM users were significantly less likely to develop dementia than non-TCM users. The most frequently prescribed formulae and single Chinese herbal products were Jia-Wei-Xiao-Yao-San and Yan-Hu-Suo, respectively. This population-based study revealed a decreased dementia risk in migraine patients with TCM use. These findings may provide a reference for dementia prevention strategies, and help integrate TCM into clinical intervention programs that provide a favorable prognosis for migraine patients.

Posting behaviour patterns in an online smoking cessation social network: implications for intervention design and development.

PubMed

Healey, Benjamin; Hoek, Janet; Edwards, Richard

2014-01-01

Online Cessation Support Networks (OCSNs) are associated with increased quit success rates, but few studies have examined their use over time. We identified usage patterns in New Zealand's largest OCSN over two years and explored implications for OCSN intervention design and evaluation. We analysed metadata relating to 133,096 OCSN interactions during 2011 and 2012. Metrics covered aggregate network activity, user posting activity and longevity, and between-user commenting. Binary logistic regression models were estimated to investigate the feasibility of predicting low user engagement using early interaction data. Repeating periodic peaks and troughs in aggregate activity related not only to seasonality (e.g., New Year), but also to day of the week. Out of 2,062 unique users, 69 Highly Engaged Users (180+ interactions each) contributed 69% of all OCSN interactions in 2012 compared to 1.3% contributed by 864 Minimally Engaged Users (< = 2 items each). The proportion of Highly Engaged Users increased with network growth between 2011 and 2012 (with marginal significance), but the proportion of Minimally Engaged Users did not decline substantively. First week interaction data enabled identification of Minimally Engaged Users with high specificity and sensitivity (AUROC= 0.94). Results suggest future research should develop and test interventions that promote activity, and hence cessation support, amongst specific user groups or at key time points. For example, early usage information could help identify Minimally Engaged Users for tests of targeted messaging designed to improve their integration into, or re-engagement with, the OCSN. Furthermore, although we observed strong growth over time on varied metrics including posts and comments, this change did not coincide with large gains in first-time user persistence. Researchers assessing intervention effects should therefore examine multiple measures when evaluating changes in network dynamics over time.

Recommended system of application and development

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Wei

2018-04-01

A recommender system is a project that helps users identify their wishes and needs. The recommender system has been successfully applied to many e-commerce environments, such as news, film, music, books and other areas of recommendation. This paper mainly discusses the application of recommendation technology in software engineering, data and knowledge engineering, configurable projects and persuasion technology, and summarizes the development trend of recommendation technology in the future.

DockingApp: a user friendly interface for facilitated docking simulations with AutoDock Vina.

PubMed

Di Muzio, Elena; Toti, Daniele; Polticelli, Fabio

2017-02-01

Molecular docking is a powerful technique that helps uncover the structural and energetic bases of the interaction between macromolecules and substrates, endogenous and exogenous ligands, and inhibitors. Moreover, this technique plays a pivotal role in accelerating the screening of large libraries of compounds for drug development purposes. The need to promote community-driven drug development efforts, especially as far as neglected diseases are concerned, calls for user-friendly tools to allow non-expert users to exploit the full potential of molecular docking. Along this path, here is described the implementation of DockingApp, a freely available, extremely user-friendly, platform-independent application for performing docking simulations and virtual screening tasks using AutoDock Vina. DockingApp sports an intuitive graphical user interface which greatly facilitates both the input phase and the analysis of the results, which can be visualized in graphical form using the embedded JMol applet. The application comes with the DrugBank set of more than 1400 ready-to-dock, FDA-approved drugs, to facilitate virtual screening and drug repurposing initiatives. Furthermore, other databases of compounds such as ZINC, available also in AutoDock format, can be readily and easily plugged in.

DockingApp: a user friendly interface for facilitated docking simulations with AutoDock Vina

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Di Muzio, Elena; Toti, Daniele; Polticelli, Fabio

2017-02-01

Molecular docking is a powerful technique that helps uncover the structural and energetic bases of the interaction between macromolecules and substrates, endogenous and exogenous ligands, and inhibitors. Moreover, this technique plays a pivotal role in accelerating the screening of large libraries of compounds for drug development purposes. The need to promote community-driven drug development efforts, especially as far as neglected diseases are concerned, calls for user-friendly tools to allow non-expert users to exploit the full potential of molecular docking. Along this path, here is described the implementation of DockingApp, a freely available, extremely user-friendly, platform-independent application for performing docking simulations and virtual screening tasks using AutoDock Vina. DockingApp sports an intuitive graphical user interface which greatly facilitates both the input phase and the analysis of the results, which can be visualized in graphical form using the embedded JMol applet. The application comes with the DrugBank set of more than 1400 ready-to-dock, FDA-approved drugs, to facilitate virtual screening and drug repurposing initiatives. Furthermore, other databases of compounds such as ZINC, available also in AutoDock format, can be readily and easily plugged in.

Quality in End User Documentation.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Morrison, Ronald

1994-01-01

Discusses quality in end-user documentation for computer applications and explains four approaches to improving quality in end-user documents. Highlights include online help, usability testing, technical writing elements, statistical approaches, and concepts relating to software quality that are also applicable to user manuals. (LRW)

Applying Human Factors Principles to Mitigate Usability Issues Related to Embedded Assumptions in Health Information Technology Design

PubMed Central

Lowry, Svetlana Z; Patterson, Emily S

2014-01-01

Background There is growing recognition that design flaws in health information technology (HIT) lead to increased cognitive work, impact workflows, and produce other undesirable user experiences that contribute to usability issues and, in some cases, patient harm. These usability issues may in turn contribute to HIT utilization disparities and patient safety concerns, particularly among “non-typical” HIT users and their health care providers. Health care disparities are associated with poor health outcomes, premature death, and increased health care costs. HIT has the potential to reduce these disparate outcomes. In the computer science field, it has long been recognized that embedded cultural assumptions can reduce the usability, usefulness, and safety of HIT systems for populations whose characteristics differ from “stereotypical” users. Among these non-typical users, inappropriate embedded design assumptions may contribute to health care disparities. It is unclear how to address potentially inappropriate embedded HIT design assumptions once detected. Objective The objective of this paper is to explain HIT universal design principles derived from the human factors engineering literature that can help to overcome potential usability and/or patient safety issues that are associated with unrecognized, embedded assumptions about cultural groups when designing HIT systems. Methods Existing best practices, guidance, and standards in software usability and accessibility were subjected to a 5-step expert review process to identify and summarize those best practices, guidance, and standards that could help identify and/or address embedded design assumptions in HIT that could negatively impact patient safety, particularly for non-majority HIT user populations. An iterative consensus-based process was then used to derive evidence-based design principles from the data to address potentially inappropriate embedded cultural assumptions. Results Design principles that may help identify and address embedded HIT design assumptions are available in the existing literature. Conclusions Evidence-based HIT design principles derived from existing human factors and informatics literature can help HIT developers identify and address embedded cultural assumptions that may underlie HIT-associated usability and patient safety concerns as well as health care disparities. PMID:27025349

Applying Human Factors Principles to Mitigate Usability Issues Related to Embedded Assumptions in Health Information Technology Design.

PubMed

Gibbons, Michael C; Lowry, Svetlana Z; Patterson, Emily S

2014-12-18

There is growing recognition that design flaws in health information technology (HIT) lead to increased cognitive work, impact workflows, and produce other undesirable user experiences that contribute to usability issues and, in some cases, patient harm. These usability issues may in turn contribute to HIT utilization disparities and patient safety concerns, particularly among "non-typical" HIT users and their health care providers. Health care disparities are associated with poor health outcomes, premature death, and increased health care costs. HIT has the potential to reduce these disparate outcomes. In the computer science field, it has long been recognized that embedded cultural assumptions can reduce the usability, usefulness, and safety of HIT systems for populations whose characteristics differ from "stereotypical" users. Among these non-typical users, inappropriate embedded design assumptions may contribute to health care disparities. It is unclear how to address potentially inappropriate embedded HIT design assumptions once detected. The objective of this paper is to explain HIT universal design principles derived from the human factors engineering literature that can help to overcome potential usability and/or patient safety issues that are associated with unrecognized, embedded assumptions about cultural groups when designing HIT systems. Existing best practices, guidance, and standards in software usability and accessibility were subjected to a 5-step expert review process to identify and summarize those best practices, guidance, and standards that could help identify and/or address embedded design assumptions in HIT that could negatively impact patient safety, particularly for non-majority HIT user populations. An iterative consensus-based process was then used to derive evidence-based design principles from the data to address potentially inappropriate embedded cultural assumptions. Design principles that may help identify and address embedded HIT design assumptions are available in the existing literature. Evidence-based HIT design principles derived from existing human factors and informatics literature can help HIT developers identify and address embedded cultural assumptions that may underlie HIT-associated usability and patient safety concerns as well as health care disparities.

Cry-Bt identifier: a biological database for PCR detection of Cry genes present in transgenic plants.

PubMed

Singh, Vinay Kumar; Ambwani, Sonu; Marla, Soma; Kumar, Anil

2009-10-23

We describe the development of a user friendly tool that would assist in the retrieval of information relating to Cry genes in transgenic crops. The tool also helps in detection of transformed Cry genes from Bacillus thuringiensis present in transgenic plants by providing suitable designed primers for PCR identification of these genes. The tool designed based on relational database model enables easy retrieval of information from the database with simple user queries. The tool also enables users to access related information about Cry genes present in various databases by interacting with different sources (nucleotide sequences, protein sequence, sequence comparison tools, published literature, conserved domains, evolutionary and structural data). http://insilicogenomics.in/Cry-btIdentifier/welcome.html.

The EOSDIS Products Usability for Disaster Response

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kafle, Durga N.; Wanchoo, Lalit; Won, Young-In; Michael, Karen

2016-01-01

The focus of the study is to categorize both NRT and standard data products based on applicability to the SDR-defined disaster types. This will identify which datasets from current NASA satellite missions instruments are best suited for disaster response. The distribution metrics of the products that have been used for studying various selected disasters that have occurred over last 5 years will be analyzed that include volume, number of files, number of users, user domains, user country, etc. This data usage analysis will provide information to the data centers staff that can help them develop the functionality and allocate the resources needed for enhanced access and timely availability of the data products that are critical for the time-sensitive analyses.

Service user and family member perspectives on services for mental health, substance use/addiction, and violence: a qualitative study of their goals, experiences and recommendations.

PubMed

Haskell, Rebecca; Graham, Kathryn; Bernards, Sharon; Flynn, Andrea; Wells, Samantha

2016-01-01

Mental health and substance use disorders (MSD) are significant public health concerns that often co-occur with violence. To improve services that address MSD and violence [MSD(V)], it is critical to understand the perspectives of those most affected, people who have sought help for MSD(V) (i.e., "service users"), especially those with co-occurring issues, as well as their family members. We conducted structured interviews with 73 service users and 41 family members of service users in two Ontario communities (one urban, one rural) regarding their goals related to help-seeking, positive and negative experiences, and recommendations for improving systems of care. Overall, participants expressed a need for services that: (1) are respectful, nonjudgmental, and supportive, help service users to feel more 'normal' and include education to reduce stigma; (2) are accessible, varied and publicly funded, thereby meeting individual needs and addressing equity concerns at a systems level; and (3) are coordinated, holistic and inclusive of family members who often support service users. The findings provide a rich understanding of how service users and their families perceive services for MSD(V) issues and identify key ways to better meet their needs.

The Rourke Baby Record Infant/Child Maintenance Guide: do doctors use it, do they find it useful, and does using it improve their well-baby visit records?

PubMed Central

Rourke, Leslie; Godwin, Marshall; Rourke, James; Pearce, Sarah; Bean, Joyce

2009-01-01

Background The Rourke Baby Record (RBR) – – is a freely available evidence-based structured form for child health surveillance from zero to five years. Family physicians/general practitioners (FP/GPs) doing office based well-baby care in three Ontario Canada cities (London, Ottawa, and Toronto) were randomly sampled to study the prevalence and utility of the RBR and documentation of well-baby visits. Methods Database with telephone confirmation was conducted to assess the prevalence of use of the RBR. Study Part 1: Questionnaire mailed to a random sample of 100 RBR users. Outcome measures were utility of, helpfulness of, and suggestions for the RBR. Descriptive analysis was employed. Study Part 2: Retrospective chart review of well-baby visits by 38 FP/GPs using student t-tests and factor analysis. Outcome measures were well-baby visit documentation of growth, nutrition, safety issues, developmental milestones, physical examination, and overall comprehensiveness. Results The RBR was used by 78.5% (402/512) of successfully contacted FP/GPs who did well-baby care in these 3 cities. Study Part 1: Questionnaire respondents (N = 41/100) used the RBR in several ways, and found it most helpful for assessing healthy child development, charting/recording the visits, managing time effectively, addressing parent concerns, identifying health problems, and identifying high risk situations. The RBR was seen to be least helpful as a tool for managing or for referring identified health problems. Study Part 2: Charts from a total of 1,378 well-baby visits on 176 children were audited. Well-baby care provided by the 20 FP/GPs who used the RBR compared to that by the 18 non-users was statistically more likely to include documentation of type of feeding (p = 0.023), discussion of safety issues (p < 0.001), assessment of development (p = 0.001), and overall comprehensiveness (p < 0.001). Well-baby care provided by the RBR users compared to that by the non-users was not more likely to include documentation of measurement of growth (p = 0.097), or physical examination (p = 0.828). Conclusion The RBR was widely used by FP/GPs in these settings. RBR users found it helpful for many purposes, and had a consistently high rate of documentation of many aspects of well-baby care. The Rourke Baby Record has become a de facto gold standard clinical practice tool in knowledge translation for pediatric preventive medicine and health surveillance for primary care pediatric providers. PMID:19402912

The Rourke Baby Record Infant/Child Maintenance Guide: do doctors use it, do they find it useful, and does using it improve their well-baby visit records?

PubMed

Rourke, Leslie; Godwin, Marshall; Rourke, James; Pearce, Sarah; Bean, Joyce

2009-04-30

The Rourke Baby Record (RBR) - http://www.rourkebabyrecord.ca - is a freely available evidence-based structured form for child health surveillance from zero to five years. Family physicians/general practitioners (FP/GPs) doing office based well-baby care in three Ontario Canada cities (London, Ottawa, and Toronto) were randomly sampled to study the prevalence and utility of the RBR and documentation of well-baby visits. Database with telephone confirmation was conducted to assess the prevalence of use of the RBR. Study Part 1: Questionnaire mailed to a random sample of 100 RBR users. Outcome measures were utility of, helpfulness of, and suggestions for the RBR. Descriptive analysis was employed. Study Part 2: Retrospective chart review of well-baby visits by 38 FP/GPs using student t-tests and factor analysis. Outcome measures were well-baby visit documentation of growth, nutrition, safety issues, developmental milestones, physical examination, and overall comprehensiveness. The RBR was used by 78.5% (402/512) of successfully contacted FP/GPs who did well-baby care in these 3 cities. Study Part 1: Questionnaire respondents (N = 41/100) used the RBR in several ways, and found it most helpful for assessing healthy child development, charting/recording the visits, managing time effectively, addressing parent concerns, identifying health problems, and identifying high risk situations. The RBR was seen to be least helpful as a tool for managing or for referring identified health problems. Study Part 2: Charts from a total of 1,378 well-baby visits on 176 children were audited. Well-baby care provided by the 20 FP/GPs who used the RBR compared to that by the 18 non-users was statistically more likely to include documentation of type of feeding (p = 0.023), discussion of safety issues (p < 0.001), assessment of development (p = 0.001), and overall comprehensiveness (p < 0.001). Well-baby care provided by the RBR users compared to that by the non-users was not more likely to include documentation of measurement of growth (p = 0.097), or physical examination (p = 0.828). The RBR was widely used by FP/GPs in these settings. RBR users found it helpful for many purposes, and had a consistently high rate of documentation of many aspects of well-baby care. The Rourke Baby Record has become a de facto gold standard clinical practice tool in knowledge translation for pediatric preventive medicine and health surveillance for primary care pediatric providers.

How do drug users define their progress in harm reduction programs? Qualitative research to develop user-generated outcomes

PubMed Central

Ruefli, Terry; Rogers, Susan J

2004-01-01

Background Harm reduction is a relatively new and controversial model for treating drug users, with little formal research on its operation and effectiveness. In order to advance the study of harm reduction programs and our understanding of how drug users define their progress, qualitative research was conducted to develop outcomes of harm reduction programming that are culturally relevant, incremental, (i.e., capable of measuring change), and hierarchical (i.e., capable of showing how clients improve over time). Methods The study used nominal group technique (NGT) to develop the outcomes (phase 1) and focus group interviews to help validate the findings (phase 2). Study participants were recruited from a large harm-reduction program in New York City and involved approximately 120 clients in 10 groups in phase 1 and 120 clients in 10 focus groups in phase 2. Results Outcomes of 10 life areas important to drug users were developed that included between 10 to 15 incremental measures per outcome. The outcomes included ways of 1) making money; 2) getting something good to eat; 3) being housed/homeless; 4) relating to families; 5) getting needed programs/benefits/services; 6) handling health problems; 7) handling negative emotions; 8) handling legal problems; 9) improving oneself; and 10) handling drug-use problems. Findings also provided insights into drug users' lives and values, as well as a window into understanding how this population envisions a better quality of life. Results challenged traditional ways of measuring drug users based solely on quantity used and frequency of use. They suggest that more appropriate measures are based on the extent to which drug users organize their lives around drug use and how much drug use is integrated into their lives and negatively impacts other aspects of their lives. Conclusions Harm reduction and other programs serving active drug users and other marginalized people should not rely on institutionalized, provider-defined solutions to problems in living faced by their clients. PMID:15333130

Interactive Marine Spatial Planning: Siting Tidal Energy Arrays around the Mull of Kintyre

PubMed Central

Alexander, Karen A.; Janssen, Ron; Arciniegas, Gustavo; O'Higgins, Timothy G.; Eikelboom, Tessa; Wilding, Thomas A.

2012-01-01

The rapid development of the offshore renewable energy sector has led to an increased requirement for Marine Spatial Planning (MSP) and, increasingly, this is carried out in the context of the ‘ecosystem approach’ (EA) to management. We demonstrate a novel method to facilitate implementation of the EA. Using a real-time interactive mapping device (touch-table) and stakeholder workshops we gathered data and facilitated negotiation of spatial trade-offs at a potential site for tidal renewable energy off the Mull of Kintyre (Scotland). Conflicts between the interests of tidal energy developers and commercial and recreational users of the area were identified, and use preferences and concerns of stakeholders were highlighted. Social, cultural and spatial issues associated with conversion of common pool to private resource were also revealed. The method identified important gaps in existing spatial data and helped to fill these through interactive user inputs. The workshops developed a degree of consensus between conflicting users on the best areas for potential development suggesting that this approach should be adopted during MSP. PMID:22253865

The response to challenging behaviour by care staff: emotional responses, attributions of cause and observations of practice.

PubMed

Bailey, B A; Hare, D J; Hatton, C; Limb, K

2006-03-01

Previous studies have attempted to apply Weiner's attributional model of helping behaviour to care staff who work with service users with intellectual disabilities and challenging behaviours by using studies based on vignettes. The aims of the current study were to investigate the application of Weiner's model to 'real' service users with intellectual disabilities and challenging behaviours and to observe the care staff's actual responses to challenging behaviours displayed by service users. Also, to compare care staff attributions, emotions, optimism, willingness to help and observed helping behaviours for self-injurious behaviours in comparison to other forms of challenging behaviours. A total of 27 care staff completed two sets of measures, one set regarding a self-injurious behaviour and the other regarding other forms of challenging behaviour. An additional 16 staff completed one set of measures. The measures focused on care staff attributions, emotions, optimism and willingness to help. Also, 16 of the care staff were observed interacting with the service users to collect data regarding their responses to challenging behaviours. For both self-injurious behaviours and other forms of challenging behaviour, associations were found between the care staff internal, stable and uncontrollable attribution scores and care staff negative emotion scores. However, no associations were found between the care staff levels of emotion, optimism and willingness to help. Some associations were found between the care staff levels of willingness to help and observed helping behaviours. There were significant differences between the care staff attribution scores with higher scores being obtained for uncontrollable and stable attributions for other forms of challenging behaviours. No significant differences were found between the care staff emotions, optimism, willingness to help and observed helping behaviours. The results did not provide support for Weiner's attributional model of helping behaviour. However, a preliminary model of negative care staff behaviour was derived from the exploratory analyses completed. This model proposes that there are associations between internal, stable and uncontrollable attributions and negative emotions in care staff and also between negative emotions and negative behaviours displayed by care staff in response to the actions of service users.

Research on digital city geographic information common services platform

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Dequan; Wu, Qunyong; Wang, Qinmin

2008-10-01

Traditional GIS (Geographic Information System) software development mode exposes many defects that will largely slow down the city informational progress. It is urgent need to build a common application infrastructure for informational project to speed up the development pace of digital city. The advent of service-oriented architecture (SOA) has motivated the adoption of GIS functionality portals that can be executed in distributed computing environment. According to the SOA principle, we bring forward and design a digital city geographic information common services platform which provides application development service interfaces for field users that can be further extended relevant business application. In the end, a public-oriented Web GIS is developed based on the platform for helping public users to query geographic information in their daily life. It indicates that our platform have the capacity that can be integrated by other applications conveniently.

Targeted Help for Spoken Dialogue Systems: Intelligent Feedback Improves Naive Users' Performance

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hockey, Beth Ann; Lemon, Oliver; Campana, Ellen; Hiatt, Laura; Aist, Gregory; Hieronymous, Jim; Gruenstein, Alexander; Dowding, John

2003-01-01

We present experimental evidence that providing naive users of a spoken dialogue system with immediate help messages related to their out-of-coverage utterances improves their success in using the system. A grammar-based recognizer and a Statistical Language Model (SLM) recognizer are run simultaneously. If the grammar-based recognizer suceeds, the less accurate SLM recognizer hypothesis is not used. When the grammar-based recognizer fails and the SLM recognizer produces a recognition hypothesis, this result is used by the Targeted Help agent to give the user feed-back on what was recognized, a diagnosis of what was problematic about the utterance, and a related in-coverage example. The in-coverage example is intended to encourage alignment between user inputs and the language model of the system. We report on controlled experiments on a spoken dialogue system for command and control of a simulated robotic helicopter.

mHealth and Mobile Medical Apps: A Framework to Assess Risk and Promote Safer Use

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

The use of mobile medical apps by clinicians and others has grown considerably since the introduction of mobile phones. Medical apps offer clinicians the ability to access medical knowledge and patient data at the point of care, but several studies have highlighted apps that could compromise patient safety and are potentially dangerous. This article identifies a range of different kinds of risks that medical apps can contribute to and important contextual variables that can modify these risks. We have also developed a simple generic risk framework that app users, developers, and other stakeholders can use to assess the likely risks posed by a specific app in a specific context. This should help app commissioners, developers, and users to manage risks and improve patient safety. PMID:25223398

mHealth and mobile medical Apps: a framework to assess risk and promote safer use.

PubMed

Lewis, Thomas Lorchan; Wyatt, Jeremy C

2014-09-15

The use of mobile medical apps by clinicians and others has grown considerably since the introduction of mobile phones. Medical apps offer clinicians the ability to access medical knowledge and patient data at the point of care, but several studies have highlighted apps that could compromise patient safety and are potentially dangerous. This article identifies a range of different kinds of risks that medical apps can contribute to and important contextual variables that can modify these risks. We have also developed a simple generic risk framework that app users, developers, and other stakeholders can use to assess the likely risks posed by a specific app in a specific context. This should help app commissioners, developers, and users to manage risks and improve patient safety.

Online support for transgender people: an analysis of forums and social networks.

PubMed

Cipolletta, Sabrina; Votadoro, Riccardo; Faccio, Elena

2017-09-01

Transgender people face a range of personal and social conflicts that strongly influence their well-being. In many cases, the Internet can become the main resource in terms of finding support. The aim of this study was to understand how transgender people give and receive help online. Between 2013 and 2015, 122 online community conversations were collected on Italian forums and Facebook groups involving transgender people, and online interviews were conducted with 16 users of these communities. A qualitative content analysis was conducted by using the software package, NVivo10. The main categories that emerged were: motivations to join an online community, online help, differences between online and offline interactions, status, conflicts and professional help. Results indicate that participation in online communities often derives from the users' need for help. This help can be given by peers who have had similar experiences, and by professionals who participate in the discussions as moderator. The need to test one's own identity, to compare oneself with others and to share one's personal experiences made online communities at risk of exposing users to invalidation and transphobic messages. Administrators and moderators try to ensure the safety of users, and suggest that they ask for professional help offline and/or online when over-specific medical advice was sought. This study confirms that transgender people might find benefit from an online platform of help and support and might minimise distance problems, increase financial convenience and foster disinhibition. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Supportive Mental Health Self-Monitoring among Smartphone Users with Psychological Distress: Protocol for a Fully Mobile Randomized Controlled Trial

PubMed Central

Beiwinkel, Till; Hey, Stefan; Bock, Olaf; Rössler, Wulf

2017-01-01

Mobile health (mHealth) could be widely used in the population to improve access to psychological treatment. In this paper, we describe the development of a mHealth intervention on the basis of supportive self-monitoring and describe the protocol for a randomized controlled trial to evaluate its effectiveness among smartphone users with psychological distress. Based on power analysis, a representative quota sample of N = 186 smartphone users will be recruited, with an over-sampling of persons with moderate to high distress. Over a 4-week period, the intervention will be compared to a self-monitoring without intervention group and a passive control group. Telephone interviews will be conducted at baseline, post-intervention (4 weeks), and 12-week follow-up to assess study outcomes. The primary outcome will be improvement of mental health. Secondary outcomes will include well-being, intentions toward help-seeking and help-seeking behavior, user activation, attitudes toward mental-health services, perceived stigmatization, smartphone app quality, user satisfaction, engagement, and adherence with the intervention. Additionally, data from the user’s daily life as collected during self-monitoring will be used to investigate risk and protective factors of mental health in real-world settings. Therefore, this study will allow us to demonstrate the effectiveness of a smartphone application as a widely accessible and low-cost intervention to improve mental health on a population level. It also allows to identify new assessment approaches in the field of psychiatric epidemiology. PMID:28983477

Neuromuscular interfacing: establishing an EMG-driven model for the human elbow joint.

PubMed

Pau, James W L; Xie, Shane S Q; Pullan, Andrew J

2012-09-01

Assistive devices aim to mitigate the effects of physical disability by aiding users to move their limbs or by rehabilitating through therapy. These devices are commonly embodied by robotic or exoskeletal systems that are still in development and use the electromyographic (EMG) signal to determine user intent. Not much focus has been placed on developing a neuromuscular interface (NI) that solely relies on the EMG signal, and does not require modifications to the end user's state to enhance the signal (such as adding weights). This paper presents the development of a flexible, physiological model for the elbow joint that is leading toward the implementation of an NI, which predicts joint motion from EMG signals for both able-bodied and less-abled users. The approach uses musculotendon models to determine muscle contraction forces, a proposed musculoskeletal model to determine total joint torque, and a kinematic model to determine joint rotational kinematics. After a sensitivity analysis and tuning using genetic algorithms, subject trials yielded an average root-mean-square error of 6.53° and 22.4° for a single cycle and random cycles of movement of the elbow joint, respectively. This helps us to validate the elbow model and paves the way toward the development of an NI.

The Searching Effectiveness of Social Tagging in Museum Websites

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cho, Chung-Wen; Yeh, Ting-Kuang; Cheng, Shu-Wen; Chang, Chun-Yen

2012-01-01

This paper explores the search effectiveness of social tagging which allows the public to freely tag resources, denoted as keywords, with any words as well as to share personal opinions on those resources. Social tagging potentially helps users to organize, manage, and retrieve resources. Efficient retrieval can help users put more of their focus…

Pedagogical Plans as Communication Oriented Objects

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Olimpo, G.; Bottino, R. M.; Earp, J.; Ott, M.; Pozzi, F.; Tavella, M.

2010-01-01

This paper focuses on pedagogical plans intended as objects to support human communication. Its purpose is to describe a structural model for pedagogical plans which can assist both authors and users. The model helps authors to engage in the design of a plan as a communication project and helps users in the process of understanding, customizing,…

Help Desk Is Spelled: R-O-I

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Villano, Matt

2009-01-01

Protecting one's institution's technology assets and resources is all about maximizing return on those investments--and that means driving users to take full advantage of new technology rollouts, and not sapping or overburdening help desk resources because users are not fully versed in and encouraged to use new tools. That means one will need to…

Thought-based row-column scanning communication board for individuals with cerebral palsy.

PubMed

Scherer, Reinhold; Billinger, Martin; Wagner, Johanna; Schwarz, Andreas; Hettich, Dirk Tassilo; Bolinger, Elaina; Lloria Garcia, Mariano; Navarro, Juan; Müller-Putz, Gernot

2015-02-01

Impairment of an individual's ability to communicate is a major hurdle for active participation in education and social life. A lot of individuals with cerebral palsy (CP) have normal intelligence, however, due to their inability to communicate, they fall behind. Non-invasive electroencephalogram (EEG) based brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) have been proposed as potential assistive devices for individuals with CP. BCIs translate brain signals directly into action. Motor activity is no longer required. However, translation of EEG signals may be unreliable and requires months of training. Moreover, individuals with CP may exhibit high levels of spontaneous and uncontrolled movement, which has a large impact on EEG signal quality and results in incorrect translations. We introduce a novel thought-based row-column scanning communication board that was developed following user-centered design principles. Key features include an automatic online artifact reduction method and an evidence accumulation procedure for decision making. The latter allows robust decision making with unreliable BCI input. Fourteen users with CP participated in a supporting online study and helped to evaluate the performance of the developed system. Users were asked to select target items with the row-column scanning communication board. The results suggest that seven among eleven remaining users performed better than chance and were consequently able to communicate by using the developed system. Three users were excluded because of insufficient EEG signal quality. These results are very encouraging and represent a good foundation for the development of real-world BCI-based communication devices for users with CP. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

Creating breakthroughs at 3M.

PubMed

von Hippel, E; Thomke, S; Sonnack, M

1999-01-01

Most senior managers want their product development teams to create break-throughs--new products that will allow their companies to grow rapidly and maintain high margins. But more often they get incremental improvements to existing products. That's partly because companies must compete in the short term. Searching for breakthroughs is expensive and time consuming; line extensions can help the bottom line immediately. In addition, developers simply don't know how to achieve breakthroughs, and there is usually no system in place to guide them. By the mid-1990s, the lack of such a system was a problem even for an innovative company like 3M. Then a project team in 3M's Medical-Surgical Markets Division became acquainted with a method for developing breakthrough products: the lead user process. The process is based on the fact that many commercially important products are initially thought of and even prototyped by "lead users"--companies, organizations, or individuals that are well ahead of market trends. Their needs are so far beyond those of the average user that lead users create innovations on their own that may later contribute to commercially attractive breakthroughs. The lead user process transforms the job of inventing breakthroughs into a systematic task of identifying lead users and learning from them. The authors explain the process and how the 3M project team successfully navigated through it. In the end, the team proposed three major new product lines and a change in the division's strategy that has led to the development of breakthrough products. And now several more divisions are using the process to break away from incrementalism.

Lead users' ideas on core features to support physical activity in rheumatoid arthritis: a first step in the development of an internet service using participatory design.

PubMed

Revenäs, Åsa; Opava, Christina H; Åsenlöf, Pernilla

2014-03-22

Despite the growing evidence of the benefits of physical activity (PA) in individuals with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), the majority is not physically active enough. An innovative strategy is to engage lead users in the development of PA interventions provided over the internet. The aim was to explore lead users' ideas and prioritization of core features in a future internet service targeting adoption and maintenance of healthy PA in people with RA. Six focus group interviews were performed with a purposively selected sample of 26 individuals with RA. Data were analyzed with qualitative content analysis and quantification of participants' prioritization of most important content. Six categories were identified as core features for a future internet service: up-to-date and evidence-based information and instructions, self-regulation tools, social interaction, personalized set-up, attractive design and content, and access to the internet service. The categories represented four themes, or core aspects, important to consider in the design of the future service: (1) content, (2) customized options, (3) user interface and (4) access and implementation. This is, to the best of our knowledge, the first study involving people with RA in the development of an internet service to support the adoption and maintenance of PA.Participants helped identifying core features and aspects important to consider and further explore during the next phase of development. We hypothesize that involvement of lead users will make transfer from theory to service more adequate and user-friendly and therefore will be an effective mean to facilitate PA behavior change.

User Authentication in Smartphones for Telehealth

PubMed Central

SMITH, KATHERINE A.; ZHOU, LEMING; WATZLAF, VALERIE J. M.

2017-01-01

Many functions previously conducted on desktop computers are now performed on smartphones. Smartphones provide convenience, portability, and connectivity. When smartphones are used in the conduct of telehealth, sensitive data is invariably accessed, rendering the devices in need of user authentication to ensure data protection. User authentication of smartphones can help mitigate potential Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) breaches and keep sensitive patient information protected, while also facilitating the convenience of smartphones within everyday life and healthcare. This paper presents and examines several types of authentication methods available to smartphone users to help ensure security of sensitive data from attackers. The applications of these authentication methods in telehealth are discussed. PMID:29238444

User Authentication in Smartphones for Telehealth.

PubMed

Smith, Katherine A; Zhou, Leming; Watzlaf, Valerie J M

2017-01-01

Many functions previously conducted on desktop computers are now performed on smartphones. Smartphones provide convenience, portability, and connectivity. When smartphones are used in the conduct of telehealth, sensitive data is invariably accessed, rendering the devices in need of user authentication to ensure data protection. User authentication of smartphones can help mitigate potential Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) breaches and keep sensitive patient information protected, while also facilitating the convenience of smartphones within everyday life and healthcare. This paper presents and examines several types of authentication methods available to smartphone users to help ensure security of sensitive data from attackers. The applications of these authentication methods in telehealth are discussed.

Spaceport Processing System Development Lab

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dorsey, Michael

2013-01-01

The Spaceport Processing System Development Lab (SPSDL), developed and maintained by the Systems Hardware and Engineering Branch (NE-C4), is a development lab with its own private/restricted networks. A private/restricted network is a network with restricted or no communication with other networks. This allows users from different groups to work on their own projects in their own configured environment without interfering with others utilizing their resources in the lab. The different networks being used in the lab have no way to talk with each other due to the way they are configured, so how a user configures his software, operating system, or the equipment doesn't interfere or carry over on any of the other networks in the lab. The SPSDL is available for any project in KSC that is in need of a lab environment. My job in the SPSDL was to assist in maintaining the lab to make sure it's accessible for users. This includes, but is not limited to, making sure the computers in the lab are properly running and patched with updated hardware/software. In addition to this, I also was to assist users who had issues in utilizing the resources in the lab, which may include helping to configure a restricted network for their own environment. All of this was to ensure workers were able to use the SPSDL to work on their projects without difficulty which would in turn, benefit the work done throughout KSC. When I wasn't working in the SPSDL, I would instead help other coworkers with smaller tasks which included, but wasn't limited to, the proper disposal, moving of, or search for essential equipment. I also, during the free time I had, used NASA's resources to increase my knowledge and skills in a variety of subjects related to my major as a computer engineer, particularly in UNIX, Networking, and Embedded Systems.

Development and Pilot Testing of an Internet-Based Self-Help Intervention for Depression for Indian Users.

PubMed

Mehrotra, Seema; Sudhir, Paulomi; Rao, Girish; Thirthalli, Jagadisha; Srikanth, T K

2018-03-22

There is a dearth of published research on uptake and utility of mental health apps in India, despite a rising global trend in the application of technology in the field of mental health. We describe the development and pilot testing of a self-help intervention for depression, PUSH-D (Practice and Use Self-Help for Depression) for urban Indians. This guided self-help app, with essential and optional zone sections, was developed to provide a comprehensive coverage of therapeutic strategies drawn from cognitive behavior therapy, interpersonal therapy, supportive psychotherapy, and positive psychology. Pilot testing was carried out using a single group pre-, post- and follow-up design in 78 eligible participants. Participants were typically young adults with major depression or dysthymia and significant impairment in functioning. Almost two-thirds of the participants had never sought professional mental health help. Significant reductions in depression and improvement in the functioning and well-being were notedon standardized measures in participants completing all 10 essential zone sections. These gains were maintained at follow-up. The results were similar for partial completers, who completed fiveout of the 10 essential sections. PUSH-D is one of the first indigenously developed self-help apps for depression and it shows promise in reducing the treatment gap for depression in India.

Development of interactive graphic user interfaces for modeling reaction-based biogeochemical processes in batch systems with BIOGEOCHEM

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chang, C.; Li, M.; Yeh, G.

2010-12-01

The BIOGEOCHEM numerical model (Yeh and Fang, 2002; Fang et al., 2003) was developed with FORTRAN for simulating reaction-based geochemical and biochemical processes with mixed equilibrium and kinetic reactions in batch systems. A complete suite of reactions including aqueous complexation, adsorption/desorption, ion-exchange, redox, precipitation/dissolution, acid-base reactions, and microbial mediated reactions were embodied in this unique modeling tool. Any reaction can be treated as fast/equilibrium or slow/kinetic reaction. An equilibrium reaction is modeled with an implicit finite rate governed by a mass action equilibrium equation or by a user-specified algebraic equation. A kinetic reaction is modeled with an explicit finite rate with an elementary rate, microbial mediated enzymatic kinetics, or a user-specified rate equation. None of the existing models has encompassed this wide array of scopes. To ease the input/output learning curve using the unique feature of BIOGEOCHEM, an interactive graphic user interface was developed with the Microsoft Visual Studio and .Net tools. Several user-friendly features, such as pop-up help windows, typo warning messages, and on-screen input hints, were implemented, which are robust. All input data can be real-time viewed and automated to conform with the input file format of BIOGEOCHEM. A post-processor for graphic visualizations of simulated results was also embedded for immediate demonstrations. By following data input windows step by step, errorless BIOGEOCHEM input files can be created even if users have little prior experiences in FORTRAN. With this user-friendly interface, the time effort to conduct simulations with BIOGEOCHEM can be greatly reduced.

Individual psychological therapy in an acute inpatient setting: Service user and psychologist perspectives.

PubMed

Small, Catherine; Pistrang, Nancy; Huddy, Vyv; Williams, Claire

2018-01-18

The acute inpatient setting poses potential challenges to delivering one-to-one psychological therapy; however, there is little research on the experiences of both receiving and delivering therapies in this environment. This qualitative study aimed to explore service users' and psychologists' experiences of undertaking individual therapy in acute inpatient units. It focused on the relationship between service users and psychologists, what service users found helpful or unhelpful, and how psychologists attempted to overcome any challenges in delivering therapy. The study used a qualitative, interview-based design. Eight service users and the six psychologists they worked with were recruited from four acute inpatient wards. They participated in individual semi-structured interviews eliciting their perspectives on the therapy. Service users' and psychologists' transcripts were analysed together using Braun and Clarke's (2006, Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3, 77) method of thematic analysis. The accounts highlighted the importance of forming a 'human' relationship - particularly within the context of the inpatient environment - as a basis for therapeutic work. Psychological therapy provided valued opportunities for meaning-making. To overcome the challenges of acute mental health crisis and environmental constraints, psychologists needed to work flexibly and creatively; the therapeutic work also extended to the wider context of the inpatient unit, in efforts to promote a shared understanding of service users' difficulties. Therapeutic relationships between service users and clinicians need to be promoted more broadly within acute inpatient care. Psychological formulation can help both service users and ward staff in understanding crisis and working collaboratively. Practice-based evidence is needed to demonstrate the effectiveness of adapted psychological therapy models. Developing 'human' relationships at all levels of acute inpatient care continues to be an important challenge for clinical practice. Due to the distress of individuals and the constraints of the acute inpatient environment, psychologists need to be flexible and adaptable in delivering individual therapy. Making meaning and psychological formulation can give service users a sense of hope and empowerment, and can contribute to a shared understanding within the ward team of service users' difficulties. © 2018 The British Psychological Society.

Water flow algorithm decision support tool for travelling salesman problem

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kamarudin, Anis Aklima; Othman, Zulaiha Ali; Sarim, Hafiz Mohd

2016-08-01

This paper discuss about the role of Decision Support Tool in Travelling Salesman Problem (TSP) for helping the researchers who doing research in same area will get the better result from the proposed algorithm. A study has been conducted and Rapid Application Development (RAD) model has been use as a methodology which includes requirement planning, user design, construction and cutover. Water Flow Algorithm (WFA) with initialization technique improvement is used as the proposed algorithm in this study for evaluating effectiveness against TSP cases. For DST evaluation will go through usability testing conducted on system use, quality of information, quality of interface and overall satisfaction. Evaluation is needed for determine whether this tool can assists user in making a decision to solve TSP problems with the proposed algorithm or not. Some statistical result shown the ability of this tool in term of helping researchers to conduct the experiments on the WFA with improvements TSP initialization.

The "hands together" method of nonsterile scalpel blade mounting and removal.

PubMed

Cornwall, Jon

2014-01-01

Scalpels are utilized by many different user groups for such purposes as medical procedures and dissection. Injuries caused by scalpels are a potential risk for scalpel users, and include injuries that may occur while mounting and removing the scalpel blade. Between 10% and 20% of all scalpel injuries in education and healthcare settings are reported to occur while scalpel blades are being mounted or removed. At present there are few published or "best practice" demonstrations of safe technique for scalpel blade mounting and removal. This brief article outlines a variation of the procedure for scalpel blade mounting and removal. It includes strategies developed to minimize risk or injury for the scalpel user, including providing a stable base for the hands and arms so as to prevent unnecessary large amplitude movements that may lead to injury of the scalpel user or a third party. Such a technique may promote scalpel safety, contribute to the development of "best practice" scalpel use, and help decrease injuries that may be caused while mounting or removing scalpel blades. © 2013 American Association of Anatomists.

Streamlining Building Efficiency Evaluation with DOE's Asset Score Preview

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Goel, Supriya; Wang, Nora; Gonzalez, Juan

2016-08-26

Building Energy Asset Score (Asset Score), developed by the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), is a tool to help building owners and managers assess the efficiency of a building's energy-related systems and encourage investment in cost-effective improvements. The Asset Score uses an EnergyPlus model to provide a quick assessment of building energy performance with minimum user inputs of building characteristics and identifies upgrade opportunities. Even with a reduced set of user inputs, data collection remains a challenge for wide-spread adoption, especially when evaluating a large number of buildings. To address this, Asset Scoremore » Preview was developed to allow users to enter as few as seven building characteristics to quickly assess their buildings before a more in-depth analysis. A streamlined assessment from Preview to full Asset Score provides an easy entry point and also enables users who manage a large number of buildings to screen and prioritize buildings that can benefit most from a more detailed evaluation and possible energy efficiency upgrades without intensive data collection.« less

User input verification and test driven development in the NJOY21 nuclear data processing code

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Trainer, Amelia Jo; Conlin, Jeremy Lloyd; McCartney, Austin Paul

Before physically-meaningful data can be used in nuclear simulation codes, the data must be interpreted and manipulated by a nuclear data processing code so as to extract the relevant quantities (e.g. cross sections and angular distributions). Perhaps the most popular and widely-trusted of these processing codes is NJOY, which has been developed and improved over the course of 10 major releases since its creation at Los Alamos National Laboratory in the mid-1970’s. The current phase of NJOY development is the creation of NJOY21, which will be a vast improvement from its predecessor, NJOY2016. Designed to be fast, intuitive, accessible, andmore » capable of handling both established and modern formats of nuclear data, NJOY21 will address many issues that many NJOY users face, while remaining functional for those who prefer the existing format. Although early in its development, NJOY21 is quickly providing input validation to check user input. By providing rapid and helpful responses to users while writing input files, NJOY21 will prove to be more intuitive and easy to use than any of its predecessors. Furthermore, during its development, NJOY21 is subject to regular testing, such that its test coverage must strictly increase with the addition of any production code. This thorough testing will allow developers and NJOY users to establish confidence in NJOY21 as it gains functionality. This document serves as a discussion regarding the current state input checking and testing practices of NJOY21.« less

An integrated approach to Smart House technology for people with disabilities.

PubMed

Allen, B

1996-04-01

It is now commonly accepted that 'Smart House' technology can play a significant part in helping both elderly and disabled people enjoy a greater degree of independence in the near future. In order to realize this aspiration, it is necessary to examine a number of factors: the development of the appropriate Home Bus technologies and supported devices; the development of the appropriate user interfaces that will allow people with a range of special needs use the system; the incorporation of the requirements of the 'Smart House' controller with the other technological needs of the user; and the development of mainstream technologies that will affect the cost and availability of devices to the user. This paper will examine the above points and suggest appropriate actions and trends. It will draw upon the work of a four-member consortium currently finalizing a technical development project under the EC TIDE program, the experience of research and commercial organizations engaged in development work in associated areas and the experiences of the Dublin-based, Central Remedial Clinic and in particular, its Client Technical Services Unit. The CTSU have been actively engaged in the development of systems for clients and direct clinical assessments for the last 12 years.

Internet Forums for Suicide Bereavement.

PubMed

Bailey, Eleanor; Krysinska, Karolina; O'Dea, Bridianne; Robinson, Jo

2017-11-01

Bereavement by suicide is associated with a number of consequences including poor mental health outcomes and increased suicide risk. Despite this, the bereaved by suicide may be reluctant to seek help from friends, family, and professionals. Internet forums and social networking sites are a popular avenue of support for the bereaved, but to date there is a lack of research into their use and efficacy. To survey users of suicide bereavement Internet forums and Facebook groups regarding their help-seeking behaviors, use of forums, and perceived benefits and limitations of such use. This study employed a cross-sectional design in which users of suicide bereavement Internet forums and Facebook groups completed an anonymous online survey. Participants were 222 users of suicide bereavement Internet forums. Most participants (93.2%) had sought face-to-face help from sources other than Internet forums, but were more likely to seek help in the near future from informal rather than formal sources. Forums were perceived as highly beneficial and there were few limitations. The generalizability of these results to other internet forums may be limited. Additionally, we were not able to examine differences between forums in terms of quality or user-reported efficacy. Finally, the data reflects the subjective views of forum users, which may differ from the views of moderators or experts. Internet forums, including Facebook groups, appear to be a useful adjunct to face-to-face help-seeking for supporting those who have been bereaved by suicide.

CAI System with Multi-Media Text Through Web Browser for NC Lathe Programming

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mizugaki, Yoshio; Kikkawa, Koichi; Mizui, Masahiko; Kamijo, Keisuke

A new Computer Aided Instruction (CAI) system for NC lathe programming has been developed with use of multi-media texts including movies, animations, pictures, sound and texts through Web browser. Although many CAI systems developed previously for NC programming consist of text-based instructions, it is difficult for beginners to learn NC programming with use of them. In the developed CAI system, multi-media texts are adopted for the help of users' understanding, and it is available through Web browser anytime and anywhere. Also the error log is automatically recorded for the future references. According to the NC programming coded by a user, the movement of the NC lathe is animated and shown in the monitor screen in front of the user. If its movement causes the collision between a cutting tool and the lathe, some sound and the caution remark are generated. If the user makes mistakes some times at a certain stage in learning NC, the corresponding suggestion is shown in the form of movies, animations, and so forth. By using the multimedia texts, users' attention is kept concentrated during a training course. In this paper, the configuration of the CAI system is explained and the actual procedures for users to learn the NC programming are also explained too. Some beginners tested this CAI system and their results are illustrated and discussed from the viewpoint of the efficiency and usefulness of this CAI system. A brief conclusion is also mentioned.

Cost Effective Use of Free-to-Use Apps in Neurosurgery (FAN) in Developing Countries: From Clinical Decision Making to Educational Courses, Strengthening Health Care Delivery.

PubMed

Thapa, Amit; Kc, Bidur; Shakya, Bikram

2016-11-01

Financial limitations and the scarcity of technological knowledge are a major hurdle to good communication platforms, data storage, and dissemination of medical knowledge in developing countries. Out of necessity we used free-to-use apps in our practice. We studied the applicability and cost effective aspect of a systematic use of these apps in neurosurgery. We designed the Free-to-use apps in neurosurgery (FAN) module in 4 phases at Kathmandu Medical College Teaching Hospital over the last 3 years. We used free apps like Viber, Dropbox, Skype, and VLC media player on 3G and Wi-Fi network. Users were trained in ethics and measures to ensure confidentiality and privacy of patient-related data. Endpoints studied were feasibility, reliability, cost effectiveness, and overall satisfaction of the users. In the FAN module, the Viber app was used to send pictures of digital images via smartphones within 30 minutes, enabling quick decisions by the consultants. Dropbox not only helped store images but also helped quick verification of discharge summaries as early as 15 minutes increasing overall efficiency. With Skype, consultants could be contacted even when they were abroad, and with the use of FAN they remain updated of their patients. By the use of Skype and VLC media player, 2 operative live workshops from abroad were transmitted live with good visual and audio reception, allowing question-and-answer sessions with the faculties. User satisfaction was more than 90%. The FAN module helped in quick reliable decision making, allowing for instantaneous communication and storing data and exchange of knowledge across countries. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The Role of Participatory Design in Mobile Application Development

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hamzah, Almed

2018-03-01

Mobile devices are used by people worldwide. It becomes a common equipment to complete a day-to-day activity. Inside the devices, there are numerous mobile applications that have been built for various needs. Some of these are quite successful while the other are not. The development of successful mobile application faces several challenges. In this research, we want to explore the use of participatory design method in mobile application development. Particularly, the aim of the study is to answer the question whether participatory design method has a place in the realm of mobile application development. We established two sessions of workshop to accommodate the participant to take part in the development process of mobile application. The result shows that participatory design method can determine how the user will deal with the limitations of mobile devices. It helps user to create a particular form of interaction that meets mobile devices characteristics.

Design and Implementation of an Experimental Cataloging Advisor--Mapper.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ercegovac, Zorana; Borko, Harold

1992-01-01

Describes the design of an experimental computer-aided cataloging advisor, Mapper, that was developed to help novice users with the descriptive cataloging of single-sheet maps from U.S. publishers. The human-computer interface is considered, the use of HyperCard is discussed, the knowledge base is explained, and assistance screens are described.…

Ten Keys to the Portal

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schaffhauser, Dian

2011-01-01

Successful web portals help users stay informed, in touch, and up to speed. They are also a telling window into the efficiency of one's institution. To develop a cutting-edge portal takes planning, communication, and research. In this article, the author presents and discusses 10 keys to portal success: (1) make critical info visible; (2) make the…

AEL Continuous School Improvement Questionnaire. User Manual and Technical Report.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Meehan, Merrill L.; Cowley, Kimberly S.; Craig, James R.; Balow, Nancy; Childers, Robert D.

The Continuous School Improvement Questionnaire (CSIQ) developed by the AEL helps a school staff gauge its performance on six dimensions related to continuous school improvement. Each member of the staff responds to the CSIQ individually. Although results might be used at the district or regional level, the most widely intended unit for applying…

Education Demographic and Geographic Estimates Program (EDGE): Locale Boundaries User's Manual. NCES 2016-012

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Geverdt, Douglas E.

2015-01-01

The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) Education Demographic and Geographic Estimates (EDGE) program develops geographic data to help policymakers, program administrators, and the public understand relationships between educational institutions and the communities they serve. One of the commonly used geographic data items is the NCES…

Taming the Beast: Choice & Control in the Electronic Jungle.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ohler, Jason

This book discusses and develops similar strategies for a variety of new media, primarily focusing on those that are emerging by way of the Internet. It also evaluates whether these new technologies are helpful in satisfying user need. Chapter One explores the tension created by an emotional versus rational relationship with technology. It…

User Oriented Techniques to Support Interaction and Decision Making with Large Educational Databases

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hartley, Roger; Almuhaidib, Saud M. Y.

2007-01-01

Information Technology is developing rapidly and providing policy/decision makers with large amounts of information that require processing and analysis. Decision support systems (DSS) aim to provide tools that not only help such analyses, but enable the decision maker to experiment and simulate the effects of different policies and selection…

Time-Decayed User Profile for Second Language Vocabulary Learning System

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Li, Li; Wei, Xiao

2014-01-01

Vocabulary learning is the foundation of second language learning. Many E-learning systems have been developed to help learners to learn vocabulary efficiently. Most of these systems employ Ebbinghaus Forgetting Curve to make the review schedule for learners. However, learners are different in learning ability and the review schedule based on…

The Berlin Wall of Language: The Problem and Solution.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Burroughs, Evelyn

1969-01-01

Several obstacles to social and intellectual growth confront the disadvantaged student whose nonstandard dialect is unacceptable to many users of standard English. To help him develop a bidialectalism that minimizes these obstacles, the English teacher needs to guide the student to explore the ways in which language conveys meaning; to experience…

TheBrain Technologies Corporation: Collapsing the Time to Knowledge.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Misek, Marla

2003-01-01

TheBrain was created to take advantage of the most powerful information processor in existence - the human mind. Explains products of TheBrain Technologies Corporation,, which has developed computer interfaces to help individual users and corporations organize information in ways that make sense to them in the proper context. Describes a…

Perceptual Confusions of the Manual Alphabet by Naive, Trained, and Familiar Users.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hawes, M. Dixie; Danhauer, Jeffrey L.

1980-01-01

An investigation of the confusion resulting from reliance on visual perceptual teachers in the identification of dactylemes (handshapes) in the American Manual Alphabet (MA) is reported. A hierarchy of errors varying with subjects' degree of expertness in the MA is established. This can help manual communication teachers develop techniques for…

Resource Guide for Crisis Management in Schools.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

LaPointe, Richard T.; And Others

A crisis can occur at any time, whether or not a school's staff plans for it. This resource guide is a compilation of user-friendly examples of policies, procedures, guidelines, checklists, and forms to help Virginia schools develop and implement a systematic crisis-management plan. Chapter 1 provides an introductory overview of the essential…

Social Network Sites: A Starting Point for Career Development Practitioners

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Strehlke, Christina

2010-01-01

This action research study explores the career influence of social network sites (SNSs) by examining 14 web-based articles that consider the risks and opportunities of SNSs from a job search perspective. Three themes are discussed: user visibility, self-presentation, and network connections. Practical strategies are identified to help career…

Examining Operational Software Influence on User Satisfaction within Small Manufacturing Businesses

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Frey, W. Bruce

2010-01-01

Managing a business requires vigilance and diligence. Small business owners are often ignored by IT vendors and inundated by the choices of software applications and therefore, need help finding a viable operating software solution for small business decisions and development. The extent, if any, of a significant influence of operational software…

Budgeting: The Basics and Beyond. Learn at Home.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Prochaska-Cue, Kathy; Sugden, Marilyn

Designed as an at-home course to help users develop a realistic budget plan and set up a workable record-keeping system, these course materials provide practical tips, ideas, and suggestions for budgeting. The course begins with a nine-step budgeting process which emphasizes communicating among family members, considering personal or family…

Mobile money, smallholder farmers, and household welfare in Kenya.

PubMed

Kikulwe, Enoch M; Fischer, Elisabeth; Qaim, Matin

2014-01-01

The use of mobile phones has increased rapidly in many developing countries, including in rural areas. Besides reducing the costs of communication and improving access to information, mobile phones are an enabling technology for other innovations. One important example are mobile phone based money transfers, which could be very relevant for the rural poor, who are often underserved by the formal banking system. We analyze impacts of mobile money technology on the welfare of smallholder farm households in Kenya. Using panel survey data and regression models we show that mobile money use has a positive impact on household income. One important pathway is through remittances received from relatives and friends. Such remittances contribute to income directly, but they also help to reduce risk and liquidity constraints, thus promoting agricultural commercialization. Mobile money users apply more purchased farm inputs, market a larger proportion of their output, and have higher profits than non-users of this technology. These results suggest that mobile money can help to overcome some of the important smallholder market access constraints that obstruct rural development and poverty reduction.

Mobile Money, Smallholder Farmers, and Household Welfare in Kenya

PubMed Central

Kikulwe, Enoch M.; Fischer, Elisabeth; Qaim, Matin

2014-01-01

The use of mobile phones has increased rapidly in many developing countries, including in rural areas. Besides reducing the costs of communication and improving access to information, mobile phones are an enabling technology for other innovations. One important example are mobile phone based money transfers, which could be very relevant for the rural poor, who are often underserved by the formal banking system. We analyze impacts of mobile money technology on the welfare of smallholder farm households in Kenya. Using panel survey data and regression models we show that mobile money use has a positive impact on household income. One important pathway is through remittances received from relatives and friends. Such remittances contribute to income directly, but they also help to reduce risk and liquidity constraints, thus promoting agricultural commercialization. Mobile money users apply more purchased farm inputs, market a larger proportion of their output, and have higher profits than non-users of this technology. These results suggest that mobile money can help to overcome some of the important smallholder market access constraints that obstruct rural development and poverty reduction. PMID:25286032

Advances in shrub-willow crops for bioenergy, renewable products, and environmental benefits

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Volk, Timothy A.; Heavey, Justin P.; Eisenbies, Mark H.

Short-rotation coppice systems like shrub willow are projected to be an important source of biomass in the United States for the production of bioenergy, biofuels, and renewable bio-based products, with the potential for auxiliary environmental benefits and multifunctional systems. Almost three decades of research has focused on the development of shrub willow crops for biomass and ecosystem services. The current expansion of willow in New York State (about 500 ha) for the production of renewable power and heat has been possible because of incentive programs offered by the federal government, commitments by end users, the development of reliable harvesting systems,more » and extension services offered to growers. Improvements in the economics of the system are expected as willow production expands further, which should help lower establishment costs, enhance crop management options and increase efficiencies in harvesting and logistics. As a result, deploying willow in multifunctional value-added systems provides opportunities for both potential producers and end users to learn about the system and the quality of the biomass feedstock, which in turn will help overcome barriers to expansion.« less

Advances in shrub-willow crops for bioenergy, renewable products, and environmental benefits

DOE PAGES

Volk, Timothy A.; Heavey, Justin P.; Eisenbies, Mark H.

2016-05-02

Short-rotation coppice systems like shrub willow are projected to be an important source of biomass in the United States for the production of bioenergy, biofuels, and renewable bio-based products, with the potential for auxiliary environmental benefits and multifunctional systems. Almost three decades of research has focused on the development of shrub willow crops for biomass and ecosystem services. The current expansion of willow in New York State (about 500 ha) for the production of renewable power and heat has been possible because of incentive programs offered by the federal government, commitments by end users, the development of reliable harvesting systems,more » and extension services offered to growers. Improvements in the economics of the system are expected as willow production expands further, which should help lower establishment costs, enhance crop management options and increase efficiencies in harvesting and logistics. As a result, deploying willow in multifunctional value-added systems provides opportunities for both potential producers and end users to learn about the system and the quality of the biomass feedstock, which in turn will help overcome barriers to expansion.« less

Free blood donation mobile applications.

PubMed

Ouhbi, Sofia; Fernández-Alemán, José Luis; Toval, Ambrosio; Idri, Ali; Pozo, José Rivera

2015-05-01

Blood donation (BD) is a noble act and mobile applications (apps) can help increase awareness about it. This paper analyzes and assesses the characteristics of free apps for BD as regards features and functionality. A search in Google Play, Apple Apps store, Blackberry App World and Windows Mobile App store was carried out to select 169 free BD apps from the 188 apps identified. The results presented in this paper show that the majority of the apps selected have been developed for the Android operating system. Moreover, most of the apps selected are available to help users search for donors. Few of the apps could not be installed and/or accessed. Of those that could be installed: half of them do not require any kind of authentication; a few of them are available in more than one language; half of them have a geographical restriction; around 60 % of them do not notify the user of BD events and requests; one, which is available for Android and iOS, can connect with a laboratory; around 45 % of them allow users to share information via social networks, and the majority of them do not provide BD recommendations. These results are used as a basis to provide app developers with certain recommendations. There is a need for better BD apps with more features in order to increase the number of volunteer donors.

Providing oceanographic data and information for Pacific Island communities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Potemra, James; Maurer, John; Burns, Echelle

2016-04-01

The Pacific Islands Ocean Observing System (PacIOOS; http://pacioos.org) is a data-serving group that relies on and promotes data interoperability. The PacIOOS "enterprise" is part of a large, US National effort aimed at providing information about the ocean environment to a wide range of users. These users range from casual beach-goers interested in the latest weather forecast or wave conditions to federal agencies responsible for public safety. In an effort to bridge the gap between the scientific community, who are responsible for making measurements and running forecast models, and the wide-ranging end-users, the data management group in PacIOOS has developed the infrastructure to host and distribute ocean-related data. The efficiency of this system has also allowed the group to build web-based tools to further help users. In this presentation we describe these efforts in more detail.

User modeling techniques as support in the clinical decision-making process.

PubMed

Ferri, F

1995-01-01

This paper describes research work on the design and creation of a medical folder management system capable of establishing co-operative dialogue with users who have access to the information contained therein. The research work has addressed the problem of integrating into the system knowledge about the medical domain and that about users, both necessary to activate co-operative dialogue. The CADMIO [2] prototype has been developed since the study was made. The last version of the CADMIO system stores information about users for the use in recognizing and interpreting their behavior, providing help, and in acquiring and returning further information. Depending on this information the system retrieves and shows the data of the medical folder in an intelligent way by highlighting links between data. It simplifies and increases the speed of the interaction by focusing on the data useful to the decisional activity of the physician.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Foslien, Wendy K.; Curtner, Keith L.

Because of growing energy demands and shortages, residential home owners are turning to energy conservation measures and smart home energy management devices to help them reduce energy costs and live more sustainably. In this context, the Honeywell team researched, developed, and tested the Context Aware Smart Home Energy Manager (CASHEM) as a trusted advisor for home energy management. The project focused on connecting multiple devices in a home through a uniform user interface. The design of the user interface was an important feature of the project because it provided a single place for the homeowner to control all devices andmore » was also where they received coaching. CASHEM then used data collected from homes to identify the contexts that affect operation of home appliances. CASHEM's goal was to reduce energy consumption while keeping the user's key needs satisfied. Thus, CASHEM was intended to find the opportunities to minimize energy consumption in a way that fit the user's lifestyle.« less

User Data Spectrum Theory: Collecting, Interpreting, and Implementing User Data in Organizations

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Peer, Andrea Jo

2017-01-01

Organizations interested in increasing their user experience (UX) capacity lack the tools they need to know how to do so. This dissertation addresses this challenge via three major research efforts: 1) the creation of User Data Spectrum theory and a User Data Spectrum survey for helping organizations better invest resources to grow their UX…

HOMER® Micropower Optimization Model

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Lilienthal, P.

2005-01-01

NREL has developed the HOMER micropower optimization model. The model can analyze all of the available small power technologies individually and in hybrid configurations to identify least-cost solutions to energy requirements. This capability is valuable to a diverse set of energy professionals and applications. NREL has actively supported its growing user base and developed training programs around the model. These activities are helping to grow the global market for solar technologies.

Designing intuitive dialog boxes in Windows environments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Souetova, Natalia

2000-01-01

There were analyzed some approaches to user interface design. Most existing interfaces seem to be difficult for understanding and studying for newcomers. There were defined some ways for designing interfaces based on psychology of computer image perception and experience got while working with artists and designers without special technique education. Some applications with standard Windows interfaces, based on these results, were developed. Windows environment was chosen because they are very popular now. This increased quality and speed of users' job and reduced quantity of troubles and mistakes. Now high-qualified employers do not spend their working time for explanation and help.

The case for comparability in financial reporting.

PubMed

Harmer, W G

1992-03-01

Government-owned organizations are accountable to citizens and their elected representatives. These organizations must provide financial information that will help in determining whether they are effectively pursuing their primary goal, which is to promote the general welfare. Regardless of the kind of service provided by a government-owned organization, the information needs of citizens and their elected representatives must be considered when developing accounting rules. If these needs are ignored or compromised in favor of the needs of other users, such as investors or creditors (the primary users of business financial reports), then financial reporting by government-owned organizations will not meet its objectives.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Holcomb, Chris

GeoCF has greatly enhanced the utility-scale solar siting platform, Smart Power Maps, through the help of the DOE Solar Energy Technologies Office. It is now available for the entire country and includes an improved user interface and additional layers such as topology, soils, comprehensive floodplains, parcels, imagery, wells, pipelines, and more. As well, users can now draw and save maps and perform drastically improved and more relevant hydrological, transmission, and financial analyzes. Smart Power Maps has played a pivotal role in supporting the development of otherwise unknown or hard to locate ideal locations for large solar farms in the Unitedmore » States.« less

WordlePlus: Expanding Wordle's Use through Natural Interaction and Animation.

PubMed

Jo, Jaemin; Lee, Bongshin; Seo, Jinwook

2015-01-01

Wordle has been commonly used to summarize texts, with each word size-coded by its frequency of occurrences--the more often a word occurs in texts, the bigger it is. The interactive authoring tool WordlePlus leverages natural interaction and animation to give users more control over wordle development. WordlePlus supports direct manipulation of words with pen and touch interaction. It introduces two-word multitouch manipulation, such as concatenating and grouping two words, and provides pen interaction for adding and deleting words. In addition, WordlePlus employs animation to help users create more dynamic and engaging wordles.

Ontology Performance Profiling and Model Examination: First Steps

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Taowei David; Parsia, Bijan

"[Reasoner] performance can be scary, so much so, that we cannot deploy the technology in our products." - Michael Shepard. What are typical OWL users to do when their favorite reasoner never seems to return? In this paper, we present our first steps considering this problem. We describe the challenges and our approach, and present a prototype tool to help users identify reasoner performance bottlenecks with respect to their ontologies. We then describe 4 case studies on synthetic and real-world ontologies. While the anecdotal evidence suggests that the service can be useful for both ontology developers and reasoner implementors, much more is desired.

Support Services for Remote Users of Online Public Access Catalogs.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kalin, Sally W.

1991-01-01

Discusses the needs of remote users of online public access catalogs (OPACs). User expectations are discussed; problems encountered by remote-access users are examined, including technical problems and searching problems; support services are described, including instruction, print guides, and online help; and differences from the needs of…

mHealth App for iOS to Help in Diagnostic Decision in Ophthalmology to Primary Care Physicians.

PubMed

López, Marta Manovel; López, Miguel Maldonado; de la Torre Díez, Isabel; Jimeno, José Carlos Pastor; López-Coronado, Miguel

2017-05-01

Decision support systems (DSS) are increasingly demanded due that diagnosis is one of the main activities that physicians accomplish every day. This fact seems critical when primary care physicians deal with uncommon problems belonging to specialized areas. The main objective of this paper is the development and user evaluation of a mobile DSS for iOS named OphthalDSS. This app has as purpose helping in anterior segment ocular diseases' diagnosis, besides offering educative content about ophthalmic diseases to users. For the deployment of this work, firstly it has been used the Apple IDE, Xcode, to develop the OphthalDSS mobile application using Objective-C as programming language. The core of the decision support system implemented by OphthalDSS is a decision tree developed by expert ophthalmologists. In order to evaluate the Quality of Experience (QoE) of primary care physicians after having tried the OphthalDSS app, a written inquiry based on the Likert scale was used. A total of 50 physicians answered to it, after trying the app during 1 month in their medical consultation. OphthalDSS is capable of helping to make diagnoses of diseases related to the anterior segment of the eye. Other features of OphthalDSS are a guide of each disease and an educational section. A 70% of the physicians answered in the survey that OphthalDSS performs in the way that they expected, and a 95% assures their trust in the reliability of the clinical information. Moreover, a 75% of them think that the decision system has a proper performance. Most of the primary care physicians agree with that OphthalDSS does the function that they expected, it is a user-friendly and the contents and structure are adequate. We can conclude that OphthalDSS is a practical tool but physicians require extra content that makes it a really useful one.

A Distributed Multi-Agent System for Collaborative Information Management and Learning

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Chen, James R.; Wolfe, Shawn R.; Wragg, Stephen D.; Koga, Dennis (Technical Monitor)

2000-01-01

In this paper, we present DIAMS, a system of distributed, collaborative agents to help users access, manage, share and exchange information. A DIAMS personal agent helps its owner find information most relevant to current needs. It provides tools and utilities for users to manage their information repositories with dynamic organization and virtual views. Flexible hierarchical display is integrated with indexed query search-to support effective information access. Automatic indexing methods are employed to support user queries and communication between agents. Contents of a repository are kept in object-oriented storage to facilitate information sharing. Collaboration between users is aided by easy sharing utilities as well as automated information exchange. Matchmaker agents are designed to establish connections between users with similar interests and expertise. DIAMS agents provide needed services for users to share and learn information from one another on the World Wide Web.

Efficient monitoring of CRAB jobs at CMS

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Silva, J. M. D.; Balcas, J.; Belforte, S.; Ciangottini, D.; Mascheroni, M.; Rupeika, E. A.; Ivanov, T. T.; Hernandez, J. M.; Vaandering, E.

2017-10-01

CRAB is a tool used for distributed analysis of CMS data. Users can submit sets of jobs with similar requirements (tasks) with a single request. CRAB uses a client-server architecture, where a lightweight client, a server, and ancillary services work together and are maintained by CMS operators at CERN. As with most complex software, good monitoring tools are crucial for efficient use and longterm maintainability. This work gives an overview of the monitoring tools developed to ensure the CRAB server and infrastructure are functional, help operators debug user problems, and minimize overhead and operating cost. This work also illustrates the design choices and gives a report on our experience with the tools we developed and the external ones we used.

Human Factors in Virtual Reality Development

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kaiser, Mary K.; Proffitt, Dennis R.; Null, Cynthia H. (Technical Monitor)

1995-01-01

This half-day tutorial will provide an overview of basic perceptual functioning as it relates to the design of virtual environment systems. The tutorial consists of three parts. First, basic issues in visual perception will be presented, including discussions of the visual sensations of brightness and color, and the visual perception of depth relationships in three-dimensional space (with a special emphasis on motion -specified depth). The second section will discuss the importance of conducting human-factors user studies and evaluations. Examples and suggestions on how best to get help with user studies will be provided. Finally, we will discuss how, by drawing on their complementary competencies, perceptual psychologists and computer engineers can work as a team to develop optimal VR systems, technologies, and techniques.

Efficient Monitoring of CRAB Jobs at CMS

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Silva, J. M.D.; Balcas, J.; Belforte, S.

CRAB is a tool used for distributed analysis of CMS data. Users can submit sets of jobs with similar requirements (tasks) with a single request. CRAB uses a client-server architecture, where a lightweight client, a server, and ancillary services work together and are maintained by CMS operators at CERN. As with most complex software, good monitoring tools are crucial for efficient use and longterm maintainability. This work gives an overview of the monitoring tools developed to ensure the CRAB server and infrastructure are functional, help operators debug user problems, and minimize overhead and operating cost. This work also illustrates themore » design choices and gives a report on our experience with the tools we developed and the external ones we used.« less

Price comparisons on the internet based on computational intelligence.

PubMed

Kim, Jun Woo; Ha, Sung Ho

2014-01-01

Information-intensive Web services such as price comparison sites have recently been gaining popularity. However, most users including novice shoppers have difficulty in browsing such sites because of the massive amount of information gathered and the uncertainty surrounding Web environments. Even conventional price comparison sites face various problems, which suggests the necessity of a new approach to address these problems. Therefore, for this study, an intelligent product search system was developed that enables price comparisons for online shoppers in a more effective manner. In particular, the developed system adopts linguistic price ratings based on fuzzy logic to accommodate user-defined price ranges, and personalizes product recommendations based on linguistic product clusters, which help online shoppers find desired items in a convenient manner.

Price Comparisons on the Internet Based on Computational Intelligence

PubMed Central

Kim, Jun Woo; Ha, Sung Ho

2014-01-01

Information-intensive Web services such as price comparison sites have recently been gaining popularity. However, most users including novice shoppers have difficulty in browsing such sites because of the massive amount of information gathered and the uncertainty surrounding Web environments. Even conventional price comparison sites face various problems, which suggests the necessity of a new approach to address these problems. Therefore, for this study, an intelligent product search system was developed that enables price comparisons for online shoppers in a more effective manner. In particular, the developed system adopts linguistic price ratings based on fuzzy logic to accommodate user-defined price ranges, and personalizes product recommendations based on linguistic product clusters, which help online shoppers find desired items in a convenient manner. PMID:25268901

Consumer input into research: the Australian Cancer Trials website

PubMed Central

2011-01-01

Background The Australian Cancer Trials website (ACTO) was publicly launched in 2010 to help people search for cancer clinical trials recruiting in Australia, provide information about clinical trials and assist with doctor-patient communication about trials. We describe consumer involvement in the design and development of ACTO and report our preliminary patient evaluation of the website. Methods Consumers, led by Cancer Voices NSW, provided the impetus to develop the website. Consumer representative groups were consulted by the research team during the design and development of ACTO which combines a search engine, trial details, general information about trial participation and question prompt lists. Website use was analysed. A patient evaluation questionnaire was completed at one hospital, one week after exposure to the website. Results ACTO's main features and content reflect consumer input. In February 2011, it covered 1, 042 cancer trials. Since ACTO's public launch in November 2010, until the end of February 2011, the website has had 2, 549 new visits and generated 17, 833 page views. In a sub-study of 47 patient users, 89% found the website helpful for learning about clinical trials and all respondents thought patients should have access to ACTO. Conclusions The development of ACTO is an example of consumers working with doctors, researchers and policy makers to improve the information available to people whose lives are affected by cancer and to help them participate in their treatment decisions, including consideration of clinical trial enrolment. Consumer input has ensured that the website is informative, targets consumer priorities and is user-friendly. ACTO serves as a model for other health conditions. PMID:21703017

Consumer input into research: the Australian Cancer Trials website.

PubMed

Dear, Rachel F; Barratt, Alexandra L; Crossing, Sally; Butow, Phyllis N; Hanson, Susan; Tattersall, Martin Hn

2011-06-26

The Australian Cancer Trials website (ACTO) was publicly launched in 2010 to help people search for cancer clinical trials recruiting in Australia, provide information about clinical trials and assist with doctor-patient communication about trials. We describe consumer involvement in the design and development of ACTO and report our preliminary patient evaluation of the website. Consumers, led by Cancer Voices NSW, provided the impetus to develop the website. Consumer representative groups were consulted by the research team during the design and development of ACTO which combines a search engine, trial details, general information about trial participation and question prompt lists. Website use was analysed. A patient evaluation questionnaire was completed at one hospital, one week after exposure to the website. ACTO's main features and content reflect consumer input. In February 2011, it covered 1, 042 cancer trials. Since ACTO's public launch in November 2010, until the end of February 2011, the website has had 2, 549 new visits and generated 17, 833 page views. In a sub-study of 47 patient users, 89% found the website helpful for learning about clinical trials and all respondents thought patients should have access to ACTO. The development of ACTO is an example of consumers working with doctors, researchers and policy makers to improve the information available to people whose lives are affected by cancer and to help them participate in their treatment decisions, including consideration of clinical trial enrolment. Consumer input has ensured that the website is informative, targets consumer priorities and is user-friendly. ACTO serves as a model for other health conditions.

Two Types of Well Followed Users in the Followership Networks of Twitter

PubMed Central

Saito, Kodai; Masuda, Naoki

2014-01-01

In the Twitter blogosphere, the number of followers is probably the most basic and succinct quantity for measuring popularity of users. However, the number of followers can be manipulated in various ways; we can even buy follows. Therefore, alternative popularity measures for Twitter users on the basis of, for example, users' tweets and retweets, have been developed. In the present work, we take a purely network approach to this fundamental question. First, we find that two relatively distinct types of users possessing a large number of followers exist, in particular for Japanese, Russian, and Korean users among the seven language groups that we examined. A first type of user follows a small number of other users. A second type of user follows approximately the same number of other users as the number of follows that the user receives. Then, we compare local (i.e., egocentric) followership networks around the two types of users with many followers. We show that the second type, which is presumably uninfluential users despite its large number of followers, is characterized by high link reciprocity, a large number of friends (i.e., those whom a user follows) for the followers, followers' high link reciprocity, large clustering coefficient, large fraction of the second type of users among the followers, and a small PageRank. Our network-based results support that the number of followers used alone is a misleading measure of user's popularity. We propose that the number of friends, which is simple to measure, also helps us to assess the popularity of Twitter users. PMID:24416209

Prototype development of user specific climate services

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jacob, Daniela

2017-04-01

Systematic consultations in the last years with representatives from sectors particularly affected by climate change have helped the Climate Service Center Germany (GERICS) to identify the most pressing needs of stakeholders from public and private sectors. Besides the development of innovative climate service products and methods, areas are also identified, for which intensive research activities have to be initiated. An example is the demand of decision makers for high-resolution climate change information needed at regional to local levels for their activities towards climate change adaptation. For questions concerning adaptation to climate change, no standard solutions can be provided. Different from mitigation measures, adaptation measures must be framed in accordance with the specific circumstances prevailing in the local situation. Here, individual solutions, which satisfy the individual requirements and needs, are necessary. They have to be developed in close co-operation with the customers and users. For example, the implications of climate change on strategic and operative decisions, e.g. in enterprises and urban planning, are becoming increasingly important. Therefore, high-quality consultancy for businesses and public administration is needed, in order to support decision makers in identifying associated risks and opportunities. For the development of prototype products, GERICS has framed a general methodological approach, including the idea generation, the iterative development, and the prototype testing in co-development with the user. High process transparency and high product quality are prerequisite for the success of a product. The co-development process ensures the best possible communication of user tailored climate change information for different target groups.

User-oriented evaluation of a medical image retrieval system for radiologists.

PubMed

Markonis, Dimitrios; Holzer, Markus; Baroz, Frederic; De Castaneda, Rafael Luis Ruiz; Boyer, Célia; Langs, Georg; Müller, Henning

2015-10-01

This article reports the user-oriented evaluation of a text- and content-based medical image retrieval system. User tests with radiologists using a search system for images in the medical literature are presented. The goal of the tests is to assess the usability of the system, identify system and interface aspects that need improvement and useful additions. Another objective is to investigate the system's added value to radiology information retrieval. The study provides an insight into required specifications and potential shortcomings of medical image retrieval systems through a concrete methodology for conducting user tests. User tests with a working image retrieval system of images from the biomedical literature were performed in an iterative manner, where each iteration had the participants perform radiology information seeking tasks and then refining the system as well as the user study design itself. During these tasks the interaction of the users with the system was monitored, usability aspects were measured, retrieval success rates recorded and feedback was collected through survey forms. In total, 16 radiologists participated in the user tests. The success rates in finding relevant information were on average 87% and 78% for image and case retrieval tasks, respectively. The average time for a successful search was below 3 min in both cases. Users felt quickly comfortable with the novel techniques and tools (after 5 to 15 min), such as content-based image retrieval and relevance feedback. User satisfaction measures show a very positive attitude toward the system's functionalities while the user feedback helped identifying the system's weak points. The participants proposed several potentially useful new functionalities, such as filtering by imaging modality and search for articles using image examples. The iterative character of the evaluation helped to obtain diverse and detailed feedback on all system aspects. Radiologists are quickly familiar with the functionalities but have several comments on desired functionalities. The analysis of the results can potentially assist system refinement for future medical information retrieval systems. Moreover, the methodology presented as well as the discussion on the limitations and challenges of such studies can be useful for user-oriented medical image retrieval evaluation, as user-oriented evaluation of interactive system is still only rarely performed. Such interactive evaluations can be limited in effort if done iteratively and can give many insights for developing better systems. Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd.

SEDAC data and applications development plan V(1)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Chen, Robert S. (Compiler)

1995-01-01

This Data and Applications Development Plan describes how the Socioeconomic Data and Applications Center (SEDAC) at the Consortium for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN) is responding to SEDAC's mission to develop new applications and information products that synthesize earth science and socioeconomic data in ways that support decision making. The SEDAC data and applications development effort is a primary means by which the Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS) program can help to ensure that the scientific investment embodied in NASA's Mission to Planet Earth (MTPE) program leads to tangible benefits to the American people. The Plan describes the major issues concerned with global climate change, identifies important decision makers and other users who would benefit from improved data and information, and assesses key opportunities for responding to the needs of these users and the scientists who work with them. It then details specific plans for developing selected integrated data products and services and for making them available to the target users on an operational basis. This report provides a summary of the activities performed in connection with NASA/GSFC Letter Contract NAS5-3263 for the period shown.

TCGA4U: A Web-Based Genomic Analysis Platform To Explore And Mine TCGA Genomic Data For Translational Research.

PubMed

Huang, Zhenzhen; Duan, Huilong; Li, Haomin

2015-01-01

Large-scale human cancer genomics projects, such as TCGA, generated large genomics data for further study. Exploring and mining these data to obtain meaningful analysis results can help researchers find potential genomics alterations that intervene the development and metastasis of tumors. We developed a web-based gene analysis platform, named TCGA4U, which used statistics methods and models to help translational investigators explore, mine and visualize human cancer genomic characteristic information from the TCGA datasets. Furthermore, through Gene Ontology (GO) annotation and clinical data integration, the genomic data were transformed into biological process, molecular function, cellular component and survival curves to help researchers identify potential driver genes. Clinical researchers without expertise in data analysis will benefit from such a user-friendly genomic analysis platform.

Social Communication Coaching Smartglasses: Well Tolerated in a Diverse Sample of Children and Adults With Autism

PubMed Central

Keshav, Neha U; Salisbury, Joseph P; Vahabzadeh, Arshya

2017-01-01

Background Augmented reality (AR) smartglasses are an emerging technology that is under investigation as a social communication aid for children and adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and as a research tool to aid with digital phenotyping. Tolerability of this wearable technology in people with ASD is an important area for research, especially as these individuals may experience sensory, cognitive, and attentional challenges. Objective The aim of this study was to assess the tolerability and usability of a novel smartglasses system that has been designed as a social communication aid for children and adults with autism (the Brain Power Autism System [BPAS]). BPAS runs on Google Glass Explorer Edition and other smartglasses, uses both AR and affective artificial intelligence, and helps users learn key social and emotional skills. Methods A total of 21 children and adults with ASD across a spectrum of severity used BPAS for a coaching session. The user’s tolerability to the smartglasses, user being able to wear the smartglasses for 1 minute (initial tolerability threshold), and user being able to wear the smartglasses for the entire duration of the coaching session (whole session tolerability threshold) were determined through caregiver report. Results Of 21 users, 19 (91%) demonstrated tolerability on all 3 measures. Caregivers reported 21 out of 21 users (100%) as tolerating the experience, while study staff found only 19 out of 21 users managed to demonstrate initial tolerability (91%). Of the 19 users who demonstrated initial tolerability, all 19 (100%) were able to use the smartglasses for the entire session (whole session tolerability threshold). Caregivers reported that 19 out of 21 users (91%) successfully used BPAS, and users surpassed caregiver expectations in 15 of 21 cases (71%). Users who could communicate reported BPAS as being comfortable (94%). Conclusions This preliminary report suggests that BPAS is well tolerated and usable to a diverse age- and severity-range of people with ASD. This is encouraging as these devices are being developed as assistive technologies for people with ASD. Further research should focus on improving smartglasses design and exploring their efficacy in helping with social communication in children and adults with ASD. PMID:28935618

Detailed Design and Implementation of a Multiprogramming Operating System for Sixteen-Bit Microprocessors.

DTIC Science & Technology

1983-12-01

4 Multiuser Support ...... .......... 11-5 User Interface . .. .. ................ .. 11- 7 Inter -user Communications ................ 11- 7 Memory...user will greatly help facilitate the learning process. Inter -User Communication The inter -user communications of the operating system can be done using... inter -user communications would be met by using one or both of them. AMemory and File Management Memory and file management is concerned with four basic

Advancing User Supports with a Structured How-To Knowledge Base for Earth Science Data

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Shen, Suhung; Acker, James G.; Lynnes, Christopher S.; Beaty, Tammy; Lighty, Luther; Kempler, Steven J.

2016-01-01

It is a challenge to access and process fast growing Earth science data from satellites and numerical models, which may be archived in very different data format and structures. NASA data centers, managed by the Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS), have developed a rich and diverse set of data services and tools with features intended to simplify finding, downloading, and working with these data. Although most data services and tools have user guides, many users still experience difficulties with accessing or reading data due to varying levels of familiarity with data services, tools, and/or formats. A type of structured online document, data recipe, were created in beginning 2013 by Goddard Earth Science Data and Information Services Center (GES DISC). A data recipe is the How-To document created by using the fixed template, containing step-by-step instructions with screenshots and examples of accessing and working with real data. The recipes has been found to be very helpful, especially to first-time-users of particular data services, tools, or data products. Online traffic to the data recipe pages is significant to some recipes. In 2014, the NASA Earth Science Data System Working Group (ESDSWG) for data recipes was established, aimed to initiate an EOSDIS-wide campaign for leveraging the distributed knowledge within EOSDIS and its user communities regarding their respective services and tools. The ESDSWG data recipe group started with inventory and analysis of existing EOSDIS-wide online help documents, and provided recommendations and guidelines and for writing and grouping data recipes. This presentation will overview activities of creating How-To documents at GES DISC and ESDSWG. We encourage feedback and contribution from users for improving the data How-To knowledge base.

Advancing User Supports with Structured How-To Knowledge Base for Earth Science Data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shen, S.; Acker, J. G.; Lynnes, C.; Lighty, L.; Beaty, T.; Kempler, S.

2016-12-01

It is a challenge to access and process fast growing Earth science data from satellites and numerical models, which may be archived in very different data format and structures. NASA data centers, managed by the Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS), have developed a rich and diverse set of data services and tools with features intended to simplify finding, downloading, and working with these data. Although most data services and tools have user guides, many users still experience difficulties with accessing or reading data due to varying levels of familiarity with data services, tools, and/or formats. A type of structured online document, "data recipe", were created in beginning 2013 by Goddard Earth Science Data and Information Services Center (GES DISC). A data recipe is the "How-To" document created by using the fixed template, containing step-by-step instructions with screenshots and examples of accessing and working with real data. The recipes has been found to be very helpful, especially to first-time-users of particular data services, tools, or data products. Online traffic to the data recipe pages is significant to some recipes. In 2014, the NASA Earth Science Data System Working Group (ESDSWG) for data recipes was established, aimed to initiate an EOSDIS-wide campaign for leveraging the distributed knowledge within EOSDIS and its user communities regarding their respective services and tools. The ESDSWG data recipe group started with inventory and analysis of existing EOSDIS-wide online help documents, and provided recommendations and guidelines and for writing and grouping data recipes. This presentation will overview activities of creating How-To documents at GES DISC and ESDSWG. We encourage feedback and contribution from users for improving the data How-To knowledge base.

Trade Space Specification Tool (TSST) for Rapid Mission Architecture (Version 1.2)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wang, Yeou-Fang; Schrock, Mitchell; Borden, Chester S.; Moeller, Robert C.

2013-01-01

Trade Space Specification Tool (TSST) is designed to capture quickly ideas in the early spacecraft and mission architecture design and categorize them into trade space dimensions and options for later analysis. It is implemented as an Eclipse RCP Application, which can be run as a standalone program. Users rapidly create concept items with single clicks on a graphical canvas, and can organize and create linkages between the ideas using drag-and-drop actions within the same graphical view. Various views such as a trade view, rules view, and architecture view are provided to help users to visualize the trade space. This software can identify, explore, and assess aspects of the mission trade space, as well as capture and organize linkages/dependencies between trade space components. The tool supports a user-in-the-loop preliminary logical examination and filtering of trade space options to help identify which paths in the trade space are feasible (and preferred) and what analyses need to be done later with executable models. This tool provides multiple user views of the trade space to guide the analyst/team to facilitate interpretation and communication of the trade space components and linkages, identify gaps in combining and selecting trade space options, and guide user decision-making for which combinations of architectural options should be pursued for further evaluation. This software provides an environment to capture mission trade space elements rapidly and assist users for their architecture analysis. This is primarily focused on mission and spacecraft architecture design, rather than general-purpose design application. In addition, it provides more flexibility to create concepts and organize the ideas. The software is developed as an Eclipse plug-in and potentially can be integrated with other Eclipse-based tools.

Microlearning mApp raises health competence: hybrid service design.

PubMed

Simons, Luuk P A; Foerster, Florian; Bruck, Peter A; Motiwalla, Luvai; Jonker, Catholijn M

Work place health support interventions can help support our aging work force, with mApps offering cost-effectiveness opportunities. Previous research shows that health support apps should offer users enough newness and relevance each time they are used. Otherwise the 'eHealth law of attrition' applies: 90 % of users are lost prematurely. Our research study builds on this prior research with further investigation on whether a mobile health quiz provides added value for users within a hybrid service mix and whether it promotes long term health? We developed a hybrid health support intervention solution that uses a mix of electronic and physical support services for improving health behaviours, including a mobile micro-learning health quiz. This solution was evaluated in a multiple-case study at three work sites with 86 users. We find that both our mobile health quiz and the overall hybrid solution contributed to improvements in health readiness, -behaviour and -competence. Users indicated that the micro-learning health quiz courses provided new and relevant information. Relatively high utilization rates of the health quiz were observed. Participants indicated that health insights were given that directly influenced every day health perceptions, -choices, coping and goal achievement strategies, plus motivation and self-norms. This points to increased user health self-management competence. Moreover, even after 10 months they indicated to still have improved health awareness, -motivation and -behaviours (food, physical activity, mental recuperation). A design analysis was conducted regarding service mix efficacy; the mobile micro-learning health quiz helped fulfil a set of key requirements that exist for designing ICT-enabled lifestyle interventions, largely in the way it was anticipated.

Example of the application of the PERSONA methodology in the definition of needs and requirements for the WeTakeCare system.

PubMed

Barbera-Guillem, Ricard; Poveda-Puente, Rakel; Neumann, Silke; Becker, Heidrun; Ramírez, Miguel; Wienholtz, Arno; Schaedler, Inge

2015-01-01

In user-centred design and marketing, personas are fictional characters created to represent the different user types that might use a site, brand, or product in a similar way [1]. As in other projects, the main application and use value of the persona approach in WeTakeCare project has been to depict and thus make "vivid" the characters and the milieus created and selected. It has helped to better understand and communicate the differences among the potential users. It has also helped to understand the heterogeneity and diversity of the users' lives and to focus on how to meet their actual needs [2].

An effective framework for finding similar cases of dengue from audio and text data using domain thesaurus and case base reasoning

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sandhu, Rajinder; Kaur, Jaspreet; Thapar, Vivek

2018-02-01

Dengue, also known as break-bone fever, is a tropical disease transmitted by mosquitoes. If the similarity between dengue infected users can be identified, it can help government's health agencies to manage the outbreak more effectively. To find similarity between cases affected by Dengue, user's personal and health information are the two fundamental requirements. Identification of similar symptoms, causes, effects, predictions and treatment procedures, is important. In this paper, an effective framework is proposed which finds similar patients suffering from dengue using keyword aware domain thesaurus and case base reasoning method. This paper focuses on the use of ontology dependent domain thesaurus technique to extract relevant keywords and then build cases with the help of case base reasoning method. Similar cases can be shared with users, nearby hospitals and health organizations to manage the problem more adequately. Two million case bases were generated to test the proposed similarity method. Experimental evaluations of proposed framework resulted in high accuracy and low error rate for finding similar cases of dengue as compared to UPCC and IPCC algorithms. The framework developed in this paper is for dengue but can easily be extended to other domains also.

Comprehensive Software Eases Air Traffic Management

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2007-01-01

To help air traffic control centers improve the safety and the efficiency of the National Airspace System, Ames Research Center developed the Future Air Traffic Management Concepts Evaluation Tool (FACET) software, which won NASA's 2006 "Software of the Year" competition. In 2005, Ames licensed FACET to Flight Explorer Inc., for integration into its Flight Explorer (version 6.0) software. The primary FACET features incorporated in the Flight Explorer software system alert airspace users to forecasted demand and capacity imbalances. Advance access to this information helps dispatchers anticipate congested sectors (airspace) and delays at airports, and decide if they need to reroute flights. FACET is now a fully integrated feature in the Flight Explorer Professional Edition (version 7.0). Flight Explorer Professional offers end-users other benefits, including ease of operation; automatic alerts to inform users of important events such as weather conditions and potential airport delays; and international, real-time flight coverage over Canada, the United Kingdom, New Zealand, and sections of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Flight Explorer Inc. recently broadened coverage by partnering with Honeywell International Inc.'s Global Data Center, Blue Sky Network, Sky Connect LLC, SITA, ARINC Incorporated, Latitude Technologies Corporation, and Wingspeed Corporation, to track their aircraft anywhere in the world.

Developing a Cloud-Based Online Geospatial Information Sharing and Geoprocessing Platform to Facilitate Collaborative Education and Research

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yang, Z. L.; Cao, J.; Hu, K.; Gui, Z. P.; Wu, H. Y.; You, L.

2016-06-01

Efficient online discovering and applying geospatial information resources (GIRs) is critical in Earth Science domain as while for cross-disciplinary applications. However, to achieve it is challenging due to the heterogeneity, complexity and privacy of online GIRs. In this article, GeoSquare, a collaborative online geospatial information sharing and geoprocessing platform, was developed to tackle this problem. Specifically, (1) GIRs registration and multi-view query functions allow users to publish and discover GIRs more effectively. (2) Online geoprocessing and real-time execution status checking help users process data and conduct analysis without pre-installation of cumbersome professional tools on their own machines. (3) A service chain orchestration function enables domain experts to contribute and share their domain knowledge with community members through workflow modeling. (4) User inventory management allows registered users to collect and manage their own GIRs, monitor their execution status, and track their own geoprocessing histories. Besides, to enhance the flexibility and capacity of GeoSquare, distributed storage and cloud computing technologies are employed. To support interactive teaching and training, GeoSquare adopts the rich internet application (RIA) technology to create user-friendly graphical user interface (GUI). Results show that GeoSquare can integrate and foster collaboration between dispersed GIRs, computing resources and people. Subsequently, educators and researchers can share and exchange resources in an efficient and harmonious way.

Functional assessment and performance evaluation for assistive robotic manipulators: Literature review

PubMed Central

Chung, Cheng-Shiu; Wang, Hongwu; Cooper, Rory A.

2013-01-01

Context The user interface development of assistive robotic manipulators can be traced back to the 1960s. Studies include kinematic designs, cost-efficiency, user experience involvements, and performance evaluation. This paper is to review studies conducted with clinical trials using activities of daily living (ADLs) tasks to evaluate performance categorized using the International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health (ICF) frameworks, in order to give the scope of current research and provide suggestions for future studies. Methods We conducted a literature search of assistive robotic manipulators from 1970 to 2012 in PubMed, Google Scholar, and University of Pittsburgh Library System – PITTCat. Results Twenty relevant studies were identified. Conclusion Studies were separated into two broad categories: user task preferences and user-interface performance measurements of commercialized and developing assistive robotic manipulators. The outcome measures and ICF codes associated with the performance evaluations are reported. Suggestions for the future studies include (1) standardized ADL tasks for the quantitative and qualitative evaluation of task efficiency and performance to build comparable measures between research groups, (2) studies relevant to the tasks from user priority lists and ICF codes, and (3) appropriate clinical functional assessment tests with consideration of constraints in assistive robotic manipulator user interfaces. In addition, these outcome measures will help physicians and therapists build standardized tools while prescribing and assessing assistive robotic manipulators. PMID:23820143

EEGLAB: an open source toolbox for analysis of single-trial EEG dynamics including independent component analysis.

PubMed

Delorme, Arnaud; Makeig, Scott

2004-03-15

We have developed a toolbox and graphic user interface, EEGLAB, running under the crossplatform MATLAB environment (The Mathworks, Inc.) for processing collections of single-trial and/or averaged EEG data of any number of channels. Available functions include EEG data, channel and event information importing, data visualization (scrolling, scalp map and dipole model plotting, plus multi-trial ERP-image plots), preprocessing (including artifact rejection, filtering, epoch selection, and averaging), independent component analysis (ICA) and time/frequency decompositions including channel and component cross-coherence supported by bootstrap statistical methods based on data resampling. EEGLAB functions are organized into three layers. Top-layer functions allow users to interact with the data through the graphic interface without needing to use MATLAB syntax. Menu options allow users to tune the behavior of EEGLAB to available memory. Middle-layer functions allow users to customize data processing using command history and interactive 'pop' functions. Experienced MATLAB users can use EEGLAB data structures and stand-alone signal processing functions to write custom and/or batch analysis scripts. Extensive function help and tutorial information are included. A 'plug-in' facility allows easy incorporation of new EEG modules into the main menu. EEGLAB is freely available (http://www.sccn.ucsd.edu/eeglab/) under the GNU public license for noncommercial use and open source development, together with sample data, user tutorial and extensive documentation.

Privacy authentication using key attribute-based encryption in mobile cloud computing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mohan Kumar, M.; Vijayan, R.

2017-11-01

Mobile Cloud Computing is becoming more popular in nowadays were users of smartphones are getting increased. So, the security level of cloud computing as to be increased. Privacy Authentication using key-attribute based encryption helps the users for business development were the data sharing with the organization using the cloud in a secured manner. In Privacy Authentication the sender of data will have permission to add their receivers to whom the data access provided for others the access denied. In sender application, the user can choose the file which is to be sent to receivers and then that data will be encrypted using Key-attribute based encryption using AES algorithm. In which cipher created, and that stored in Amazon Cloud along with key value and the receiver list.

[Intelligent videosurveillance and falls detection: Perceptions of professionals and managers].

PubMed

Lapierre, Nolwenn; Carpentier, Isabelle; St-Arnaud, Alain; Ducharme, Francine; Meunier, Jean; Jobidon, Mireille; Rousseau, Jacqueline

2016-02-01

Gerontechnologies can be used to detect accidental falls. However, existing systems do not entirely meet users' expectations. Our team developed an intelligent video-monitoring systems to fill these gaps. Authors advocate consulting potential users at the early stages of the design of gerontechnologies and integrating their suggestions. This study aims to explore health care workers' opinion regarding the intelligent video monitoring to detect falls by older adults living at home. This qualitative study explored the opinions of 31 participants using focus groups. Transcripts were analyzed using predetermined codes based on the competence model. Participants reported several advantages for using the intelligent video monitoring and provided suggestions for improving its use. The participants' suggestions and comments will help to improve the system and match it to users' needs. © CAOT 2015.

Emerging technologies for biotherapeutic bioanalysis from a high-throughput and multiplexing perspective: insights from an AAPS emerging technology action program committee.

PubMed

Purushothama, Shobha; Dysinger, Mark; Chen, Yao; Österlund, Karolina; Mora, Johanna; Chunyk, Allison Given; Peloquin, Russ

2018-02-01

This manuscript aims to provide insights and updates on emerging technologies from a throughput and multiplexing perspective and to update readers on changes in previously reported technologies. The technologies discussed range from nascent (ultrasensitive Cira, Intellicyt ® , Dynaxi and Captsure™) to the more established (Ella and SQIDlite™). For the nascent technologies, there was an emphasis on user interviews and reviews, where available, to help provide an unbiased view to our readers. For the Ella, a review of published user data as well as author and other user experiences are summarized. Due to their emergent nature, all the technologies described are applicable in the early drug development stage, may require an upfront investment of capital and may not perform as expected.

Multi-EMR Structured Data Entry Form: User-Acceptance Testing of a Prototype.

PubMed

Zavar, Abbas; Keshavjee, Karim

2017-01-01

Capturing standardized data from multiple EMRs at the point of care is highly desirable for a variety of uses, including quality improvement programs, multi-centered clinical trials and clinical decision support. In this paper, we describe the design, development and user acceptance testing of a prototype web-based form (the Form) that can integrate with multiple EMRs. We used the validated UTAUT questionnaire to assess the likelihood of uptake of the Form into clinical practice. The Form was found to be easy to use, elicits low anxiety, supports productivity and is perceived to have good support. Users would benefit from training and from better social signaling about the importance of using the Form in their practice. Making the Form more fun and interesting could help increase uptake.

Resource allocation planning with international components

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Burke, Gene; Durham, Ralph; Leppla, Frank; Porter, David

1993-01-01

Dumas, Briggs, Reid and Smith (1989) describe the need for identifying mutually acceptable methodologies for developing standard agreements for the exchange of tracking time or facility use among international components. One possible starting point is the current process used at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in planning the use of tracking resources. While there is a significant promise of better resource utilization by international cooperative agreements, there is a serious challenge to provide convenient user participation given the separate project and network locations. Coordination among users and facility providers will require a more decentralized communication process and a wider variety of automated planning tools to help users find potential exchanges. This paper provides a framework in which international cooperation in the utilization of ground based space communication systems can be facilitated.

Perceptual grouping effects on cursor movement expectations.

PubMed

Dorneich, Michael C; Hamblin, Christopher J; Lancaster, Jeff A; Olofinboba, Olu

2014-05-01

Two studies were conducted to develop an understanding of factors that drive user expectations when navigating between discrete elements on a display via a limited degree-of-freedom cursor control device. For the Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle spacecraft, a free-floating cursor with a graphical user interface (GUI) would require an unachievable level of accuracy due to expected acceleration and vibration conditions during dynamic phases of flight. Therefore, Orion program proposed using a "caged" cursor to "jump" from one controllable element (node) on the GUI to another. However, nodes are not likely to be arranged on a rectilinear grid, and so movements between nodes are not obvious. Proximity between nodes, direction of nodes relative to each other, and context features may all contribute to user cursor movement expectations. In an initial study, we examined user expectations based on the nodes themselves. In a second study, we examined the effect of context features on user expectations. The studies established that perceptual grouping effects influence expectations to varying degrees. Based on these results, a simple rule set was developed to support users in building a straightforward mental model that closely matches their natural expectations for cursor movement. The results will help designers of display formats take advantage of the natural context-driven cursor movement expectations of users to reduce navigation errors, increase usability, and decrease access time. The rules set and guidelines tie theory to practice and can be applied in environments where vibration or acceleration are significant, including spacecraft, aircraft, and automobiles.

Usability Issues in the User Interfaces of Privacy-Enhancing Technologies

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

LaTouche, Lerone W.

2013-01-01

Privacy on the Internet has become one of the leading concerns for Internet users. These users are not wrong in their concerns if personally identifiable information is not protected and under their control. To minimize the collection of Internet users' personal information and help solve the problem of online privacy, a number of…

The development of a multi-criteria decision analysis aid to help with contraceptive choices: My Contraception Tool.

PubMed

French, Rebecca S; Cowan, Frances M; Wellings, Kaye; Dowie, Jack

2014-04-01

My Contraception Tool (MCT) applies the principles of multi-criteria decision analysis to the choice of contraceptive method. Its purpose is to make the decision-making process transparent to the user and to suggest a method to them based on their own preferences. The contraceptive option that emerges as optimal from the analysis takes account of the probability of a range of outcomes and the relative weight ascribed to them by the user. The development of MCT was a collaborative project between London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, Brook, FPA and Maldaba Ltd. MCT is available online via the Brook and FPA websites. In this article we describe MCT's development and how it works. Further work is needed to assess the impact it has on decision quality and contraceptive behaviour.

Building Efficiency Evaluation and Uncertainty Analysis with DOE's Asset Score Preview

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

None

2016-08-12

Building Energy Asset Score Tool, developed by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), is a program to encourage energy efficiency improvement by helping building owners and managers assess a building's energy-related systems independent of operations and maintenance. Asset Score Tool uses a simplified EnergyPlus model to provide an assessment of building systems, through minimum user inputs of basic building characteristics. Asset Score Preview is a newly developed option that allows users to assess their building's systems and the potential value of a more in-depth analysis via an even more simplified approach. This methodology provides a preliminary approach to estimating amore » building's energy efficiency and potential for improvement. This paper provides an overview of the methodology used for the development of Asset Score Preview and the scoring methodology.« less

User Experience Evaluation Methods in Product Development (UXEM'09)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Roto, Virpi; Väänänen-Vainio-Mattila, Kaisa; Law, Effie; Vermeeren, Arnold

High quality user experience (UX) has become a central competitive factor of product development in mature consumer markets [1]. Although the term UX originated from industry and is a widely used term also in academia, the tools for managing UX in product development are still inadequate. A prerequisite for designing delightful UX in an industrial setting is to understand both the requirements tied to the pragmatic level of functionality and interaction and the requirements pertaining to the hedonic level of personal human needs, which motivate product use [2]. Understanding these requirements helps managers set UX targets for product development. The next phase in a good user-centered design process is to iteratively design and evaluate prototypes [3]. Evaluation is critical for systematically improving UX. In many approaches to UX, evaluation basically needs to be postponed until the product is fully or at least almost fully functional. However, in an industrial setting, it is very expensive to find the UX failures only at this phase of product development. Thus, product development managers and developers have a strong need to conduct UX evaluation as early as possible, well before all the parts affecting the holistic experience are available. Different types of products require evaluation on different granularity and maturity levels of a prototype. For example, due to its multi-user characteristic, a community service or an enterprise resource planning system requires a broader scope of UX evaluation than a microwave oven or a word processor that is meant for a single user at a time. Before systematic UX evaluation can be taken into practice, practical, lightweight UX evaluation methods suitable for different types of products and different phases of product readiness are needed. A considerable amount of UX research is still about the conceptual frameworks and models for user experience [4]. Besides, applying existing usability evaluation methods (UEMs) without adaptation to evaluate UX may lead to some scoping issues. Consequently, there is a strong need to put UX evaluation from research into practice.

User Manuals for a Primary Care Electronic Medical Record System: A Mixed Methods Study of User- and Vendor-Generated Documents.

PubMed

Shachak, Aviv; Dow, Rustam; Barnsley, Jan; Tu, Karen; Domb, Sharon; Jadad, Alejandro R; Lemieux-Charles, Louise

2013-06-04

Tutorials and user manuals are important forms of impersonal support for using software applications including electronic medical records (EMRs). Differences between user- and vendor documentation may indicate support needs, which are not sufficiently addressed by the official documentation, and reveal new elements that may inform the design of tutorials and user manuals. What are the differences between user-generated tutorials and manuals for an EMR and the official user manual from the software vendor? Effective design of tutorials and user manuals requires careful packaging of information, balance between declarative and procedural texts, an action and task-oriented approach, support for error recognition and recovery, and effective use of visual elements. No previous research compared these elements between formal and informal documents. We conducted an mixed methods study. Seven tutorials and two manuals for an EMR were collected from three family health teams and compared with the official user manual from the software vendor. Documents were qualitatively analyzed using a framework analysis approach in relation to the principles of technical documentation described above. Subsets of the data were quantitatively analyzed using cross-tabulation to compare the types of error information and visual cues in screen captures between user- and vendor-generated manuals. The user-developed tutorials and manuals differed from the vendor-developed manual in that they contained mostly procedural and not declarative information; were customized to the specific workflow, user roles, and patient characteristics; contained more error information related to work processes than to software usage; and used explicit visual cues on screen captures to help users identify window elements. These findings imply that to support EMR implementation, tutorials and manuals need to be customized and adapted to specific organizational contexts and workflows. The main limitation of the study is its generalizability. Future research should address this limitation and may explore alternative approaches to software documentation, such as modular manuals or participatory design.

A Balancing Act-How Mental Health Professionals Experience Being Personal in Their Relationships with Service Users.

PubMed

Ljungberg, Amanda; Denhov, Anne; Topor, Alain

2017-07-01

Although being personal in relationships with service users is commonly described as an important aspect of the way that professionals help people with severe mental problems, this has also been described to bring with it a need to keep a distance and set boundaries. This study aims to explore how professionals working in psychiatric care view being personal in their relationships with users. Qualitative interviews with 21 professionals working in three outpatient psychiatric units, analyzed through thematic analysis. Being personal in their relationships with users was described as something that participants regarded to be helpful, but that also entails risks. Participants described how they balanced being personal by keeping a distance and maintaining boundaries in their relationships based on their "experience-based knowledge" to counter these risks. While these boundaries seemed to play an important part in the way that they act and behave, they were not seen as fixed, but rather as flexible and dynamic. Boundaries could sometimes be transgressed to the benefit of users. Being personal was viewed as something that may be helpful to users, but that also entails risks. Although boundaries may be a useful concept for use in balancing these risks, they should be understood as something complex and flexible.

Biomimicry as an approach for sustainable architecture case of arid regions with hot and dry climate

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bouabdallah, Nabila; M'sellem, Houda; Alkama, Djamel

2016-07-01

This paper aims to study the problem of thermal comfort inside buildings located in hot and arid climates. The principal idea behind this research is using concepts based on the potential of nature as an instrument that helps creating appropriate facades with the environment "building skin". The biomimetic architecture imitates nature through the study of form, function, behaviour and ecosystems of biological organisms. This research aims to clarify the possibilities that can be offered by biomimicry architecture to develop architectural bio-inspired building's design that can help to enhance indoor thermal ambiance in buildings located in hot and dry climate which helps to achieve thermal comfort for users.

Validation of the Visitor and Resident Framework in an E-Book Setting

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Engelsmann, Hazel C.; Greifeneder, Elke; Lauridsen, Nikoline D.; Nielsen, Anja G.

2014-01-01

Introduction: By applying the visitor and resident framework on e-book usage, the article explores whether the concepts of a resident and a visitor can help to explain e-book use, and can help to gain a better insight into users' motivations for e-book use. Method: A questionnaire and semi-structured interviews were conducted with users of the…

Autonomous power expert system advanced development

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Quinn, Todd M.; Walters, Jerry L.

1991-01-01

The autonomous power expert (APEX) system is being developed at Lewis Research Center to function as a fault diagnosis advisor for a space power distribution test bed. APEX is a rule-based system capable of detecting faults and isolating the probable causes. APEX also has a justification facility to provide natural language explanations about conclusions reached during fault isolation. To help maintain the health of the power distribution system, additional capabilities were added to APEX. These capabilities allow detection and isolation of incipient faults and enable the expert system to recommend actions/procedure to correct the suspected fault conditions. New capabilities for incipient fault detection consist of storage and analysis of historical data and new user interface displays. After the cause of a fault is determined, appropriate recommended actions are selected by rule-based inferencing which provides corrective/extended test procedures. Color graphics displays and improved mouse-selectable menus were also added to provide a friendlier user interface. A discussion of APEX in general and a more detailed description of the incipient detection, recommended actions, and user interface developments during the last year are presented.

Multimedia software to help caregivers cope.

PubMed

Chambers, Mary G; Connor, Samantha L; McGonigle, Mary; Diver, Mike G

2003-01-01

This report describes the design and evaluation of a software application to help carers cope when faced with caring problems and emergencies. The design process involved users at each stage to ensure the content of the software application was appropriate, and the research team carefully considered the requirements of disabled and elderly users. Focus group discussions and individual interviews were conducted in five European countries to ascertain the needs of caregivers in this area. The findings were used to design a three-part multimedia software application to help family caregivers prepare to cope with sudden, unexpected, and difficult situations that may arise during their time as a caregiver. This prototype then was evaluated via user trials and usability questionnaires to consider the usability and acceptance of the application and any changes that may be required. User acceptance of the software application was high, and the key features of usability such as content, appearance, and navigation were highly rated. In general, comments were positive and enthusiastic regarding the content of the software application and relevance to the caring situation. The software application has the potential to offer information and support to those who are caring for the elderly and disabled at home and to help them prepare for a crisis.

An Exercise for Teaching the Employment Law Implications of Employee Blogging

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lee, Konrad S.; Thue, Matthew I.; Oldham, Jared; Stephenson, Tara N.

2009-01-01

This article provides a tool to help instructors introduce students to the intersection of blogging and employment law. Section II provides source materials on the subject. Specifically, it presents a summary overview of: (1) the development of blogging and other forms of online user generated content; (2) the legality of terminating an at-will…

Visual Culture and Literacy Online: Image Galleries as Sites of Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Carpenter, B. Stephen, II; Cifuentes, Lauren

2011-01-01

As new media emerge in the common culture, the authors recommend that art educators adopt those media to facilitate deep understanding of visual culture and literacy. They report here on applications of an online image gallery that helps users develop ways to interpret what they see and compose. Over the past few years the authors have…

Values Tech: The Polytechnic School of Values, Leading You to a Higher Degree of Self Awareness.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Koberg, Don; Bagnall, Jim

This workbook presents lessons, workshop sessions, and laboratory exercises designed to help youth and adults clarify personal values and develop decision-making skills. The workbook (or "portable school") provides guidance in procedure and method of values clarification. The learning experiences involve users of the text in establishing criteria,…

Adaptive Animation of Human Motion for E-Learning Applications

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Li, Frederick W. B.; Lau, Rynson W. H.; Komura, Taku; Wang, Meng; Siu, Becky

2007-01-01

Human motion animation has been one of the major research topics in the field of computer graphics for decades. Techniques developed in this area help present human motions in various applications. This is crucial for enhancing the realism as well as promoting the user interest in the applications. To carry this merit to e-learning applications,…

Managing a Test Item Bank on a Microcomputer: Can It Help You and Your Students?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Peterson, Julian A.; Meister, Lynn L.

1983-01-01

Describes a test item bank developed by the Association for Medical School Departments of Biochemistry (Texas). Programs (written in Pascal) allow self-evaluation by interactive student access to questions randomly selected from a chosen category. Potential users of the system (having student, manager, and instructor modes) are invited to contact…

Manual herbicide application methods for managing vegetation in Appalachian hardwood forests

Treesearch

Jeffrey D. Kochenderfer; James N. Kochenderfer; Gary W. Miller

2012-01-01

Four manual herbicide application methods are described for use in Appalachian hardwood forests. Stem injection, basal spray, cut-stump, and foliar spray techniques can be used to control interfering vegetation and promote the development of desirable reproduction and valuable crop trees in hardwood forests. Guidelines are presented to help the user select the...

Management of a river recreation resource: the Lower Kananaskis River--a case study

Treesearch

Kimberley Rae; Paul F.J. Eagles

2008-01-01

This study examined recreational use of the Lower Kananaskis River in Southwestern Alberta, Canada. Surveys and participant observations helped develop a better understanding of current use levels and interviews with key policy leaders explored management issues and concerns. Users suggested the need for improvements to river infrastructure both on and off the river....

Sediment transport primer: estimating bed-material transport in gravel-bed rivers

Treesearch

Peter Wilcock; John Pitlick; Yantao Cui

2009-01-01

This primer accompanies the release of BAGS, software developed to calculate sediment transport rate in gravel-bed rivers. BAGS and other programs facilitate calculation and can reduce some errors, but cannot ensure that calculations are accurate or relevant. This primer was written to help the software user define relevant and tractable problems, select appropriate...

Fleet DNA Brings Fleet Data to Life, Informs R&D | News | NREL

Science.gov Websites

over 11.5 million miles of real-world data from more than 1,700 medium- and heavy-duty vehicles -cycle summaries and visualizations similar to real-world genetics, helping users understand the broad real-world data is a national resource that enables insight critical to the successful development of

An Assessment Instrument for Families: Evaluating Community-Based Residential Programs for Individuals with Deaf-Blindness.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Helen Keller National Center - Technical Assistance Center, Sands Point, NY.

This community living assessment tool for parents of children with deaf-blindness was developed to help parents identify the strengths and weaknesses of their child's residential program using a user-friendly instrument. Three areas of assessment are covered: physical attributes of the home, available resources for promoting capabilities, and…

Optimizing the Information Presentation on Mining Potential by using Web Services Technology with Restful Protocol

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Abdillah, T.; Dai, R.; Setiawan, E.

2018-02-01

This study aims to develop the application of Web Services technology with RestFul Protocol to optimize the information presentation on mining potential. This study used User Interface Design approach for the information accuracy and relevance as well as the Web Service for the reliability in presenting the information. The results show that: the information accuracy and relevance regarding mining potential can be seen from the achievement of User Interface implementation in the application that is based on the following rules: The consideration of the appropriate colours and objects, the easiness of using the navigation, and users’ interaction with the applications that employs symbols and languages understood by the users; the information accuracy and relevance related to mining potential can be observed by the information presented by using charts and Tool Tip Text to help the users understand the provided chart/figure; the reliability of the information presentation is evident by the results of Web Services testing in Figure 4.5.6. This study finds out that User Interface Design and Web Services approaches (for the access of different Platform apps) are able to optimize the presentation. The results of this study can be used as a reference for software developers and Provincial Government of Gorontalo.

Teaching with Real-time Earthquake Data in jAmaSeis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bravo, T. K.; Coleman, B.; Taber, J.

2011-12-01

Earthquakes can capture the attention of students and inspire them to explore the Earth. The Incorporated Research Institutions in Seismology (IRIS) and Moravian College are collaborating to develop cross-platform software (jAmaSeis) that enables students to access real-time earthquake waveform data. Users can record their own data from several different types of educational seismometers, and they can obtain data in real-time from other jAmaseis users nationwide. Additionally, the ability to stream data from the IRIS Data Management Center (DMC) is under development. Once real-time data is obtained, users of jAmaseis can study seismological concepts in the classroom. The user interface of the software is carefully designed to lead students through the steps to interrogate seismic data following a large earthquake. Users can process data to determine characteristics of seismograms such as time of occurrence, distance from the epicenter to the station, magnitude, and location (via triangulation). Along the way, the software provides graphical clues to assist student interpretations. In addition to the inherent pedagogical features of the software, IRIS provides pre-packaged data and instructional activities to help students learn the analysis steps. After using these activities, students can apply their skills to interpret seismic waves from their own real-time data.

Improving self-help e-therapy for depression and anxiety among sexual minorities: an analysis of focus groups with lesbians and gay men.

PubMed

Rozbroj, Tomas; Lyons, Anthony; Pitts, Marian; Mitchell, Anne; Christensen, Helen

2015-03-11

E-therapies for depression and anxiety rarely account for lesbian and gay users. This is despite lesbians and gay men being at heightened risk of mood disorders and likely to benefit from having access to tailored self-help resources. We sought to determine how e-therapies for depression and anxiety could be improved to address the therapeutic needs of lesbians and gay men. We conducted eight focus groups with lesbians and gay men aged 18 years and older. Focus groups were presented with key modules from the popular e-therapy "MoodGYM". They were asked to evaluate the inclusiveness and relevance of these modules for lesbians and gay men and to think about ways that e-therapies in general could be modified. The focus groups were analyzed qualitatively using a thematic analysis approach to identify major themes. The focus groups indicated that some but not all aspects of MoodGYM were suitable, and suggested ways of improving e-therapies for lesbian and gay users. Suggestions included avoiding language or examples that assumed or implied users were heterosexual, improving inclusiveness by representing non-heterosexual relationships, providing referrals to specialized support services and addressing stigma-related stress, such as "coming out" and experiences of discrimination and harassment. Focus group participants suggested that dedicated e-therapies for lesbians and gay men should be developed or general e-therapies be made more inclusive by using adaptive logic to deliver content appropriate for a user's sexual identity. Findings from this study offer in-depth guidance for developing e-therapies that more effectively address mental health problems among lesbians and gay men.

Engineering and Technology in Wheelchair Sport.

PubMed

Cooper, Rory A; Tuakli-Wosornu, Yetsa A; Henderson, Geoffrey V; Quinby, Eleanor; Dicianno, Brad E; Tsang, Kalai; Ding, Dan; Cooper, Rosemarie; Crytzer, Theresa M; Koontz, Alicia M; Rice, Ian; Bleakney, Adam W

2018-05-01

Technologies capable of projecting injury and performance metrics to athletes and coaches are being developed. Wheelchair athletes must be cognizant of their upper limb health; therefore, systems must be designed to promote efficient transfer of energy to the handrims and evaluated for simultaneous effects on the upper limbs. This article is brief review of resources that help wheelchair users increase physiologic response to exercise, develop ideas for adaptive workout routines, locate accessible facilities and outdoor areas, and develop wheelchair sports-specific skills. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Solar photovoltaics for development applications

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Shepperd, L.W.; Richards, E.H.

1993-08-01

This document introduces photovoltaic technology to individuals and groups specializing in development activities. Examples of actual installations illustrate the many services supplied by photovoltaic systems in development applications, including water pumping, lighting, health care, refrigeration, communications, and a variety of productive uses. The various aspects of the technology are explored to help potential users evaluate whether photovoltaics can assist them in achieving their organizational goals. Basic system design, financing techniques, and the importance of infrastructure are included, along with additional sources of information and major US photovoltaic system suppliers.

Cooperation stimulation strategies for peer-to-peer wireless live video-sharing social networks.

PubMed

Lin, W Sabrina; Zhao, H Vicky; Liu, K J Ray

2010-07-01

Human behavior analysis in video sharing social networks is an emerging research area, which analyzes the behavior of users who share multimedia content and investigates the impact of human dynamics on video sharing systems. Users watching live streaming in the same wireless network share the same limited bandwidth of backbone connection to the Internet, thus, they might want to cooperate with each other to obtain better video quality. These users form a wireless live-streaming social network. Every user wishes to watch video with high quality while paying as little as possible cost to help others. This paper focuses on providing incentives for user cooperation. We propose a game-theoretic framework to model user behavior and to analyze the optimal strategies for user cooperation simulation in wireless live streaming. We first analyze the Pareto optimality and the time-sensitive bargaining equilibrium of the two-person game. We then extend the solution to the multiuser scenario. We also consider potential selfish users' cheating behavior and malicious users' attacking behavior and analyze the performance of the proposed strategies with the existence of cheating users and malicious attackers. Both our analytical and simulation results show that the proposed strategies can effectively stimulate user cooperation, achieve cheat free and attack resistance, and help provide reliable services for wireless live streaming applications.

The Development of a Graphical Notation for the Formal Specification of Software

DTIC Science & Technology

1990-12-01

the language. A detailed user survey should be performed after the language implementation is complete to determine the effectiveness of the graphical...productivity. ’Ihere is no better way to improve programmer productivity than to help the programmer to avoid performing the work in the first place. This is...optional prototyping phase is performed ) to develop a computer program (2:40). In 1985, Robert Balzer proposed the program transformation lifecycle

DBMS UTILIZATION: A Corporate Information System (CIS) development approach

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rozett, P.

1983-01-01

The Corporate Information System (CIS), an integrated information system intended to tie the corporation together as a functioning entity, is described. In addition to being a major upgraded automated data processing system, the CIS is a management philosophy which recognizes data as a valuable corporate resource and which distinguishes between data and selected data, or information. It further recognizes that different users need different kinds of information. Plans for CIS development are discussed. It will offer its users not just after-the-fact data, but timely information in a format that is meaningful and useful to the particular user, so that the information can be applied in planning, controlling, and decision making by all levels of management. In effect, CIS will help the corporation itself to function as a total, integrated system by typing together administrative activities through information exchange. The CIS supports the operational, tactical control, and strategic planning functions of the corporation. Operational functions are the day-to-day processing necessary to support the corporation's work, such as purchasing and payroll.

Evidence-based Medicine Search: a customizable federated search engine.

PubMed

Bracke, Paul J; Howse, David K; Keim, Samuel M

2008-04-01

This paper reports on the development of a tool by the Arizona Health Sciences Library (AHSL) for searching clinical evidence that can be customized for different user groups. The AHSL provides services to the University of Arizona's (UA's) health sciences programs and to the University Medical Center. Librarians at AHSL collaborated with UA College of Medicine faculty to create an innovative search engine, Evidence-based Medicine (EBM) Search, that provides users with a simple search interface to EBM resources and presents results organized according to an evidence pyramid. EBM Search was developed with a web-based configuration component that allows the tool to be customized for different specialties. Informal and anecdotal feedback from physicians indicates that EBM Search is a useful tool with potential in teaching evidence-based decision making. While formal evaluation is still being planned, a tool such as EBM Search, which can be configured for specific user populations, may help lower barriers to information resources in an academic health sciences center.

Evidence-based Medicine Search: a customizable federated search engine

PubMed Central

Bracke, Paul J.; Howse, David K.; Keim, Samuel M.

2008-01-01

Purpose: This paper reports on the development of a tool by the Arizona Health Sciences Library (AHSL) for searching clinical evidence that can be customized for different user groups. Brief Description: The AHSL provides services to the University of Arizona's (UA's) health sciences programs and to the University Medical Center. Librarians at AHSL collaborated with UA College of Medicine faculty to create an innovative search engine, Evidence-based Medicine (EBM) Search, that provides users with a simple search interface to EBM resources and presents results organized according to an evidence pyramid. EBM Search was developed with a web-based configuration component that allows the tool to be customized for different specialties. Outcomes/Conclusion: Informal and anecdotal feedback from physicians indicates that EBM Search is a useful tool with potential in teaching evidence-based decision making. While formal evaluation is still being planned, a tool such as EBM Search, which can be configured for specific user populations, may help lower barriers to information resources in an academic health sciences center. PMID:18379665

Connecting AAC devices to the world of information technology.

PubMed

Caves, Kevin; Shane, Howard C; DeRuyter, Frank

2002-01-01

Modern day information technology (IT) is converging around wireless networks. It is now possible to check E-mail and view information from the World Wide Web from commercially available mobile phones. For individuals with disabilities, the ability to access multiple and different types of information not only promises convenience, but also can help to promote independence and facilitate access to public and private information systems. There are many barriers to access for people with disabilities, including technological hurdles, security, privacy, and access to these emerging wireless technologies. However, legislation, advocacy, standards, and research and development can ensure that users of augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) and assistive technology have access to these technologies. This article provides a historical context for the field of AAC and IT development, a review of the current state of these technologies, a glimpse of the potential of wireless information access for the lives of AAC users, and a description of some of the barriers and enablers to making access available to users of AAC and assistive technologies.

The Steward Observatory asteroid relational database

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sykes, Mark V.; Alvarezdelcastillo, Elizabeth M.

1992-01-01

The Steward Observatory Asteroid Relational Database (SOARD) was created as a flexible tool for undertaking studies of asteroid populations and sub-populations, to probe the biases intrinsic to asteroid databases, to ascertain the completeness of data pertaining to specific problems, to aid in the development of observational programs, and to develop pedagogical materials. To date SOARD has compiled an extensive list of data available on asteroids and made it accessible through a single menu-driven database program. Users may obtain tailored lists of asteroid properties for any subset of asteroids or output files which are suitable for plotting spectral data on individual asteroids. A browse capability allows the user to explore the contents of any data file. SOARD offers, also, an asteroid bibliography containing about 13,000 references. The program has online help as well as user and programmer documentation manuals. SOARD continues to provide data to fulfill requests by members of the astronomical community and will continue to grow as data is added to the database and new features are added to the program.

Exploring Powered Wheelchair Users and Their Caregivers’ Perspectives on Potential Intelligent Power Wheelchair Use: A Qualitative Study

PubMed Central

Kairy, Dahlia; Rushton, Paula W.; Archambault, Philippe; Pituch, Evelina; Torkia, Caryne; El Fathi, Anas; Stone, Paula; Routhier, François; Forget, Robert; Demers, Louise; Pineau, Joelle; Gourdeau, Richard

2014-01-01

Power wheelchairs (PWCs) can have a positive impact on user well-being, self-esteem, pain, activity and participation. Newly developed intelligent power wheelchairs (IPWs), allowing autonomous or collaboratively-controlled navigation, could enhance mobility of individuals not able to use, or having difficulty using, standard PWCs. The objective of this study was to explore the perspectives of PWC users (PWUs) and their caregivers regarding if and how IPWs could impact on current challenges faced by PWUs, as well as inform current development of IPWs. A qualitative exploratory study using individual interviews was conducted with PWUs (n = 12) and caregivers (n = 4). A semi-structured interview guide and video were used to facilitate informed discussion regarding IPWs. Thematic analysis revealed three main themes: (1) “challenging situations that may be overcome by an IPW” described how the IPW features of obstacle avoidance, path following, and target following could alleviate PWUs’ identified mobility difficulties; (2) “cautious optimism concerning IPW use revealed participants” addresses concerns regarding using an IPW as well as technological suggestions; (3) “defining the potential IPW user” revealed characteristics of PWUs that would benefit from IPW use. Findings indicate how IPW use may help overcome PWC difficulties and confirm the importance of user input in the ongoing development of IPWs. PMID:24566051

Developing a long-term condition's information service in collaboration with third sector organisations.

PubMed

McShane, Lesley; Greenwell, Kate; Corbett, Sally; Walker, Richard

2014-06-01

People with long-term conditions need to be signposted to high quality information and advice to understand and manage their condition. Information seeking tools combined with third sector information could help address their information needs. To describe the development and implementation of an information service for people living with long-term conditions at one NHS acute trust in the Northeast of England. An information service was trialled using bespoke information models for three long-term conditions in collaboration with third sector organisations. These guided people to relevant, timely and reliable information. Both clinician and service user questionnaires were used to evaluate satisfaction with the service. Appropriately designed information models can be used interchangeably across all services. Between 75% and 91% of users agreed that they were satisfied with various aspects of the service. Generally, users received relevant, understandable and high quality information at the right time. Nearly all health professionals (94-100%) felt the service was accessible, provided high quality information and did not significantly impact on their consultation time. The developed information service was well received by service users and health professionals. Specifically, the use of information prescriptions and menus facilitated access to information for people with long-term conditions. © 2014 The authors. Health Information and Libraries Journal © 2014 Health Libraries Group.

Wireless device connection problems and design solutions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Song, Ji-Won; Norman, Donald; Nam, Tek-Jin; Qin, Shengfeng

2016-09-01

Users, especially the non-expert users, commonly experience problems when connecting multiple devices with interoperability. While studies on multiple device connections are mostly concentrated on spontaneous device association techniques with a focus on security aspects, the research on user interaction for device connection is still limited. More research into understanding people is needed for designers to devise usable techniques. This research applies the Research-through-Design method and studies the non-expert users' interactions in establishing wireless connections between devices. The "Learning from Examples" concept is adopted to develop a study focus line by learning from the expert users' interaction with devices. This focus line is then used for guiding researchers to explore the non-expert users' difficulties at each stage of the focus line. Finally, the Research-through-Design approach is used to understand the users' difficulties, gain insights to design problems and suggest usable solutions. When connecting a device, the user is required to manage not only the device's functionality but also the interaction between devices. Based on learning from failures, an important insight is found that the existing design approach to improve single-device interaction issues, such as improvements to graphical user interfaces or computer guidance, cannot help users to handle problems between multiple devices. This study finally proposes a desirable user-device interaction in which images of two devices function together with a system image to provide the user with feedback on the status of the connection, which allows them to infer any required actions.

Randomized Trial of Nicotine Lozenges and Phone Counseling for Smokeless Tobacco Cessation

PubMed Central

Danaher, Brian G.; Ebbert, Jon O.; van Meter, Nora; Lichtenstein, Edward; Widdop, Chris; Crowley, Ryann; Akers, Laura; Seeley, John R.

2015-01-01

Introduction: Relatively few treatment programs have been developed specifically for smokeless tobacco (ST) users who want to quit. Their results suggest that self-help materials, telephone counseling, and nicotine lozenges are efficacious. This study provides the first direct examination of the separate and combined effects of telephone counseling and lozenges. Methods: We recruited ST users online (N = 1067) and randomly assigned them to 1 of 3 conditions: (a) a lozenge group (n = 356), who were mailed 4-mg nicotine lozenges; (b) a coach calls group (n = 354), who were offered 3 coaching phone calls; or (c) a lozenge + coach calls group (N = 357), who received both lozenges and coaching calls. Additionally, all participants were mailed self-help materials. Self-reported tobacco abstinence was assessed at 3 and 6 months after randomization. Results: Complete-case and intention-to-treat (ITT) analyses for all tobacco abstinence were performed at 3 months, 6 months, and both 3 and 6 months (repeated point prevalence). ITT analyses revealed a highly similar result: the lozenge + coach calls condition was significantly more successful in encouraging tobacco abstinence than either the lozenge group or the coach calls group, which did not differ. Conclusions: Combining nicotine lozenges and phone counseling significantly increased tobacco abstinence rates compared with either intervention alone, whereas coach calls and lozenges were equivalent. The study confirms the high tobacco abstinence rates for self-help ST cessation interventions and offers guidance to providing tobacco treatment to ST users. PMID:25168034

Twinlist: novel user interface designs for medication reconciliation.

PubMed

Plaisant, Catherine; Chao, Tiffany; Wu, Johnny; Hettinger, A Zach; Herskovic, Jorge R; Johnson, Todd R; Bernstam, Elmer V; Markowitz, Eliz; Powsner, Seth; Shneiderman, Ben

2013-01-01

Medication reconciliation is an important and complex task for which careful user interface design has the potential to help reduce errors and improve quality of care. In this paper we focus on the hospital discharge scenario and first describe a novel interface called Twinlist. Twinlist illustrates the novel use of spatial layout combined with multi-step animation, to help medical providers see what is different and what is similar between the lists (e.g., intake list and hospital list), and rapidly choose the drugs they want to include in the reconciled list. We then describe a series of variant designs and discuss their comparative advantages and disadvantages. Finally we report on a pilot study that suggests that animation might help users learn new spatial layouts such as the one used in Twinlist.

Bringing a Realistic Global Climate Modeling Experience to a Broader Audience

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sohl, L. E.; Chandler, M. A.; Zhou, J.

2010-12-01

EdGCM, the Educational Global Climate Model, was developed with the goal of helping students learn about climate change and climate modeling by giving them the ability to run a genuine NASA global climate model (GCM) on a desktop computer. Since EdGCM was first publicly released in January 2005, tens of thousands of users on seven continents have downloaded the software. EdGCM has been utilized by climate science educators from middle school through graduate school levels, and on occasion even by researchers who otherwise do not have ready access to climate model at national labs in the U.S. and elsewhere. The EdGCM software is designed to walk users through the same process a climate scientist would use in designing and running simulations, and analyzing and visualizing GCM output. Although the current interface design gives users a clear view of some of the complexities involved in using a climate model, it can be daunting for users whose main focus is on climate science rather than modeling per se. As part of the work funded by NASA’s Global Climate Change Education (GCCE) program, we will begin modifications to the user interface that will improve the accessibility of EdGCM to a wider array of users, especially at the middle school and high school levels, by: 1) Developing an automated approach (a “wizard”) to simplify the user experience in setting up new climate simulations; 2) Produce a catalog of “rediscovery experiments” that allow users to reproduce published climate model results, and in some cases compare model projections to real world data; and 3) Enhance distance learning and online learning opportunities through the development of a web-based interface. The prototypes for these modifications will then be presented to educators belonging to an EdGCM Users Group for feedback, so that we can further refine the EdGCM software, and thus deliver the tools and materials educators want and need across a wider range of learning environments.

Software for Sharing and Management of Information

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Chen, James R.; Wolfe, Shawn R.; Wragg, Stephen D.

2003-01-01

DIAMS is a set of computer programs that implements a system of collaborative agents that serve multiple, geographically distributed users communicating via the Internet. DIAMS provides a user interface as a Java applet that runs on each user s computer and that works within the context of the user s Internet-browser software. DIAMS helps all its users to manage, gain access to, share, and exchange information in databases that they maintain on their computers. One of the DIAMS agents is a personal agent that helps its owner find information most relevant to current needs. It provides software tools and utilities for users to manage their information repositories with dynamic organization and virtual views. Capabilities for generating flexible hierarchical displays are integrated with capabilities for indexed- query searching to support effective access to information. Automatic indexing methods are employed to support users queries and communication between agents. The catalog of a repository is kept in object-oriented storage to facilitate sharing of information. Collaboration between users is aided by matchmaker agents and by automated exchange of information. The matchmaker agents are designed to establish connections between users who have similar interests and expertise.

Processing tracking in jMRUI software for magnetic resonance spectra quantitation reproducibility assurance.

PubMed

Jabłoński, Michał; Starčuková, Jana; Starčuk, Zenon

2017-01-23

Proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy is a non-invasive measurement technique which provides information about concentrations of up to 20 metabolites participating in intracellular biochemical processes. In order to obtain any metabolic information from measured spectra a processing should be done in specialized software, like jMRUI. The processing is interactive and complex and often requires many trials before obtaining a correct result. This paper proposes a jMRUI enhancement for efficient and unambiguous history tracking and file identification. A database storing all processing steps, parameters and files used in processing was developed for jMRUI. The solution was developed in Java, authors used a SQL database for robust storage of parameters and SHA-256 hash code for unambiguous file identification. The developed system was integrated directly in jMRUI and it will be publically available. A graphical user interface was implemented in order to make the user experience more comfortable. The database operation is invisible from the point of view of the common user, all tracking operations are performed in the background. The implemented jMRUI database is a tool that can significantly help the user to track the processing history performed on data in jMRUI. The created tool is oriented to be user-friendly, robust and easy to use. The database GUI allows the user to browse the whole processing history of a selected file and learn e.g. what processing lead to the results, where the original data are stored, to obtain the list of all processing actions performed on spectra.

Investigation of user behavior on social networking sites

PubMed Central

2017-01-01

Social networking sites (SNS) are used for social and professional interaction with people. SNS popularity has encouraged researchers to analyze the relationship of activities performed on SNS with user behavior. In doing so, the term “user behavior” is rather used ambiguously with different interpretations, which makes it difficult to identify studies on user behavior in relation to SNS. This phenomenon has encouraged this thorough research on the characteristics of user behavior being discussed in the literature. Therefore, in this study, we aim to identify, analyze, and classify the characteristics associated with user behavior to answer the research questions designed to conduct this research. A mapping study (also called scoping study), which is a type of systematic literature review, is employed to identify potential studies from digital databases through a developed protocol. Thematic analysis is carried out for the classification of user behavior. We identified 116 primary studies for full analysis. This study found seven characteristics associated with behavior that have direct influence on SNS use and nine factors that have an indirect effect. All studies were conducted largely under seven areas that set the context of these studies. Findings show that the research on SNS is still in its early stage. The range of topics covered in the analyzed studies is quite expansive, although the depth in terms of number of studies under each topic is quite limited. This study reports that activities performed on SNS are either associated with user behavior or reflect personality characteristics. The findings of this study could be used by practitioners to evaluate their SNS platforms and develop more user-centered applications. These studies can also help organizations to understand better the needs of their employees. PMID:28151963

Investigation of user behavior on social networking sites.

PubMed

Waheed, Hajra; Anjum, Maria; Rehman, Mariam; Khawaja, Amina

2017-01-01

Social networking sites (SNS) are used for social and professional interaction with people. SNS popularity has encouraged researchers to analyze the relationship of activities performed on SNS with user behavior. In doing so, the term "user behavior" is rather used ambiguously with different interpretations, which makes it difficult to identify studies on user behavior in relation to SNS. This phenomenon has encouraged this thorough research on the characteristics of user behavior being discussed in the literature. Therefore, in this study, we aim to identify, analyze, and classify the characteristics associated with user behavior to answer the research questions designed to conduct this research. A mapping study (also called scoping study), which is a type of systematic literature review, is employed to identify potential studies from digital databases through a developed protocol. Thematic analysis is carried out for the classification of user behavior. We identified 116 primary studies for full analysis. This study found seven characteristics associated with behavior that have direct influence on SNS use and nine factors that have an indirect effect. All studies were conducted largely under seven areas that set the context of these studies. Findings show that the research on SNS is still in its early stage. The range of topics covered in the analyzed studies is quite expansive, although the depth in terms of number of studies under each topic is quite limited. This study reports that activities performed on SNS are either associated with user behavior or reflect personality characteristics. The findings of this study could be used by practitioners to evaluate their SNS platforms and develop more user-centered applications. These studies can also help organizations to understand better the needs of their employees.

OMARC: An online multimedia application for training health care providers in the assessment of respiratory conditions.

PubMed

Meruvia-Pastor, Oscar; Patra, Pranjal; Andres, Karen; Twomey, Creina; Peña-Castillo, Lourdes

2016-05-01

OMARC, a multimedia application designed to support the training of health care providers for the identification of common lung sounds heard in a patient's thorax as part of a health assessment, is described and its positive contribution to user learning is assessed. The main goal of OMARC is to effectively help health-care students become familiar with lung sounds as part of the assessment of respiratory conditions. In addition, the application must be easy to use and accessible to students and practitioners over the internet. OMARC was developed using an online platform to facilitate access to users in remote locations. OMARC's unique contribution as an educational software tool is that it presents a narrative about normal and abnormal lung sounds using interactive multimedia and sample case studies designed by professional health-care providers and educators. Its interface consists of two distinct components: a sounds glossary and a rich multimedia interface which presents clinical case studies and provides access to lung sounds placed on a model of a human torso. OMARC's contents can be extended through the addition of sounds and case studies designed by health-care educators and professionals. To validate OMARC and determine its efficacy in improving learning and capture user perceptions about it, we performed a pilot study with ten nursing students. Participants' performance was measured through an evaluation of their ability to identify several normal and adventitious/abnormal sounds prior and after exposure to OMARC. Results indicate that participants are able to better identify different lung sounds, going from an average of 63% (S.D. 18.3%) in the pre-test evaluation to an average of 90% (S.D. of 11.5%) after practising with OMARC. Furthermore, participants indicated in a user satisfaction questionnaire that they found the application helpful, easy to use and that they would recommend it to other persons in their field. OMARC is an online multimedia application for training health care students in the assessment of respiratory conditions. The software integrates multimedia technology and health-care education concepts to facilitate learning, while being useful and easy to use. Results from a pilot study indicate that OMARC significantly helps to improve the capacity of the users to correctly identify lung sounds for different respiratory conditions. In addition, participants' opinions about OMARC were quite positive: users were likely to recommend the application to other persons in their field and found the application easy to use and helpful to better identify lung sounds. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Accessibility information in New Delhi for "EasenAccess" Android-based app for persons with disability: an observational study.

PubMed

Agarwal, Yashovardhan

2018-06-14

The World Health Organization and the World Bank's "World Report on Disability" reported that over 1 billion people have various kinds of disability worldwide while Indian Census 2011 reported about 26 million in India. The United Nations Convention states, "The Rights of Persons with Disabilities (PwD) include accessibility to Information, Transportation, Environment, Communication Technology and Services". This article takes forward the reason of making the "EasenAccess" (EnA) Android-based app to empower PwD with wheelchair-accessibility information, communication sentences and sending SOS signals with location. A survey of 25 most frequented places in New Delhi by common people and tourist with chosen 12 parameters in comparison the Government of India's survey of 100 most important buildings nationally. A statistical analysis and recommendations about areas for improvement, for the Government of India. EasenAccess helps millions of PwD to enable them with freedom of movement for employment and socio-economic activities to lead an independent lifestyle. EasenAccess increases government's access to information about lacunae, gives them an easy way to tabulate the places where more accessibility needs updating, and helps the government in facilitating information flow to the PwD. Implication for Rehabilitation The Rights of Persons with Disability Act in 2016 covers both the concepts of Universal Design of products, environments and programs; and accessibility. We are exploring with them the ways technology can help bridge the gap between rehabilitation and accessibility. In the higher income countries such as the UK or USA, it is normal for a person to receive training when being given a wheelchair to prevent future injuries. Frequently, even with this, training people develop upper limb injuries, due in part to the high, repetitive loads needed to push a wheelchair. This training is given as part of a package of rehabilitation, which also normally includes adaptations to people's living environments, which will enable them to use their wheelchair indoors. In Accessible Routes from Crowd-based Cloud Services (ARCCS) many NGOs have been able to develop sensors, which are themselves part of the Internet of Things, which when attached to a mobility device extend the ability of that device. Users can interact with the sensor data on their mobile phone via an app. They can also add geo-tagged photo or voice notes to annotate their journey. These can then be shared with other users of the ARCCS system. The system has been developed with a range of wheelchair users and other stakeholders. For example, one such initiative by the Government of India is called "Street Rehab". The aim of Street Rehab is to co-develop a new system for delivering a service for wheelchair users, which puts everyday activities at the heart of the rehabilitation process. To do this, a clear understanding of user needs, available technology and the accessibility of the city are all required. The first step is to understand the current accessibility of Delhi, the next to map this with the rehabilitation and livelihoods requirements of the wheelchair and tricycle users. This approach has led to the development of novel sensors and a data processing chain, which can automatically identify features of the sidewalk or surface, for example, drop curb, camber, and rough terrain. These classifications are then used to help with increasing localization of the person. In addition, the sensors can be used to identify how the pushing techniques of people, who self-propel their wheelchair. They have developed these sensors, as mobile phones alone, while useful if secured in a fixed position, are not adequate when loosely placed in bags or pockets. The aim is to find practical solutions for those who use mobility aids in India to access the services and places they wish to without risk of injury. Injuries can occur due to toppling out of a mobility device, being hit by a vehicle or developing an injury over time due to the demand of pushing/cycling the mobility device. EasenAccess can be a synergistic platform for all such future community based rehabilitation approaches. It can also help compile and collate data for accessibility gaps and rehabilitation issues encountered. EasenAccess app can thus help create an emerging framework, which puts the experience of the wheelchair user at the center but with a clear connection to people who can implement policy change on a broad scale.One that includes local people who will be advocates for creation of accessible maps, and local NGOs to provide hubs of training. These can be linked to a series of YouTube videos and supported via a messaging service, for example, local WhatsApp groups or social media groups, for example, a Facebook Page. With infinite possibilities, as illustrated above, EasenAccess app can create a new technological paradigm for convergence of Accessibility and Rehabilitation.

Posting Behaviour Patterns in an Online Smoking Cessation Social Network: Implications for Intervention Design and Development

PubMed Central

Healey, Benjamin; Hoek, Janet; Edwards, Richard

2014-01-01

Objectives Online Cessation Support Networks (OCSNs) are associated with increased quit success rates, but few studies have examined their use over time. We identified usage patterns in New Zealand's largest OCSN over two years and explored implications for OCSN intervention design and evaluation. Methods We analysed metadata relating to 133,096 OCSN interactions during 2011 and 2012. Metrics covered aggregate network activity, user posting activity and longevity, and between-user commenting. Binary logistic regression models were estimated to investigate the feasibility of predicting low user engagement using early interaction data. Results Repeating periodic peaks and troughs in aggregate activity related not only to seasonality (e.g., New Year), but also to day of the week. Out of 2,062 unique users, 69 Highly Engaged Users (180+ interactions each) contributed 69% of all OCSN interactions in 2012 compared to 1.3% contributed by 864 Minimally Engaged Users (< = 2 items each). The proportion of Highly Engaged Users increased with network growth between 2011 and 2012 (with marginal significance), but the proportion of Minimally Engaged Users did not decline substantively. First week interaction data enabled identification of Minimally Engaged Users with high specificity and sensitivity (AUROC  = 0.94). Implications Results suggest future research should develop and test interventions that promote activity, and hence cessation support, amongst specific user groups or at key time points. For example, early usage information could help identify Minimally Engaged Users for tests of targeted messaging designed to improve their integration into, or re-engagement with, the OCSN. Furthermore, although we observed strong growth over time on varied metrics including posts and comments, this change did not coincide with large gains in first-time user persistence. Researchers assessing intervention effects should therefore examine multiple measures when evaluating changes in network dynamics over time. PMID:25192174

Developing sustainable global health technologies: insight from an initiative to address neonatal hypothermia.

PubMed

Gupta, Rajesh; Patel, Rajan; Murty, Naganand; Panicker, Rahul; Chen, Jane

2015-02-01

Relative to drugs, diagnostics, and vaccines, efforts to develop other global health technologies, such as medical devices, are limited and often focus on the short-term goal of prototype development instead of the long-term goal of a sustainable business model. To develop a medical device to address neonatal hypothermia for use in resource-limited settings, we turned to principles of design theory: (1) define the problem with consideration of appropriate integration into relevant health policies, (2) identify the users of the technology and the scenarios in which the technology would be used, and (3) use a highly iterative product design and development process that incorporates the perspective of the user of the technology at the outset and addresses scalability. In contrast to our initial idea, to create a single device, the process guided us to create two separate devices, both strikingly different from current solutions. We offer insights from our initial experience that may be helpful to others engaging in global health technology development.

[Transfer and sharing of public health knowledge: reflections on the components of a national information system in France].

PubMed

Cambon, Linda; Alla, François

2013-01-01

It is becoming increasingly necessary, in France, to develop a more efficient public health policy and define research in terms of the perspective of its use for public decisions and clinical practice. One possible solution consists of knowledge transfer and sharing based on a continuous exchange and interaction process between scientists and potential users of research data - field workers and health policy decision-makers. Such a process would involve collaboration with users to help them apply the evidence produced by research as well as the mobilization of research scientists to develop research more adapted to needs. This article defines the goals of development of knowledge transfer in the French setting. The conceptual bases are defined and four strategic axes and their operational modalities are developed. This proposal also integrates all of the public authorities concerned: promote knowledge transfer; reinforce observation and diffusion of evidence and its usability; promote the development of more adapted public health research by facilitating research scientist /research data user relationships; assist the various parties in the exchange and sharing of knowledge. Apart from improving the efficiency of health policies, the development of knowledge transfer and sharing would also strengthen the credibility of certain intervention strategies, especially in the field of prevention, by designing evidence-based strategies.

Level Indicator On A Tubular Inside Micrometer

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Malinzak, R. Michael; Booth, Gary N.

1995-01-01

Leveling helps to ensure accurate measurements. Attachment helpful because in some situations that involve measurement of large, tight-tolerance inside dimensions, inside micrometers not held level between contact point give inaccurate readings. User adjusts position and orientation of micrometer and verifies level by observing bubble in level indicator. Upon feeling correct drag between micrometer tips and workpiece, user confident that tool used correctly and accurate measurement obtained.

Privacy as Part of the App Decision-Making Process

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-02-06

concerns they may not actively consider privacy while downloading apps from smartphone application marketplaces. Currently Android users have only the... Android permissions display which appears after they have selected an app to download to help them understand how applications access their information...marketplaces. Currently, Android users have only the Android permissions display, which appears after they have selected an app to download, to help

Research and development support for the Center for Seismic Studies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Romney, C. F.; Huszar, L.; Frazier, G. A.

1984-07-01

Work during the second and third quarters of FY1984 continued to be focused on the development of the Center for Seismic Studies, and on planning and developments to prepare for a test of Seismic data exchange and event determination, as proposed by the group of Scientific Experts, UN Committee on Disarmament. A help system was designed and partially completed, and other aids for new users of the Center's data and facilities were developed. An introduction to Ingres was prepared, and new experimental data bases were installed.

The implementation of the Care Programme Approach for service users with a learning disability. Building Bridges to the same Old Horizons?

PubMed

Kelly, M

2017-08-01

WHAT IS KNOWN ON THE SUBJECT?: People with mental health problems and learning disabilities often do not receive the care they require. The Care Programme Approach (CPA) is meant to help with this. However, there have been many problems in the past with the introduction of the CPA into mental health services. There is no literature which explores what factors help or hinder the introduction of the CPA for service users with a mental health and learning disability, especially from the perspective of those responsible for overseeing this process. WHAT DOES THIS ARTICLE ADD TO EXISTING KNOWLEDGE?: The implementation of the CPA for this service user group is fragmented, and services are not working together in partnership. The CPA is being effectively implemented for people who are deemed to present with a risk to themselves or others. If a service user does not present with a high risk, they are not provided care through the CPA. Service users were not involved in the development or introduction of the policy in practice. WHAT ARE THE IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE?: Services need to work better at engaging service users when they are developing and introducing new policies. Rather than applying the CPA for all service users, across all services, it should only be considered for those deemed to present with a high risk. It is effectively implemented for these people. For those not deemed to present with a high risk, services should consider using alternative service user led care planning frameworks. Introduction The Care Programme Approach was introduced in England to ensure services met the needs of people with mental health problems and a concurrent learning disability (dual diagnosis). The CPA implementation was patchy and services failed to work in partnership. Aim This study aimed to explore the factors shaping the recent implementation of the CPA for service users with a dual diagnosis. Method A single case study approach was undertaken. Data were collected through interview (n = 26), documentary analysis (n = 64), steering group observation (n = 3) and the Partnership Assessment Tool (n = 26). Data were analysed using the Framework Approach. Results The CPA was only effectively implemented for people who were deemed to present with a high level of risk. Discussion The problems associated with implementation in the 1990s continue more recently for those with a dual diagnosis. The CPA has become more aligned with risk management protocols than supporting individual service user's recovery. Implications for practice Service users should be involved in the implementation of policies which have an impact on their recovery. The CPA should only be applied for those who present with high-risk issues, whilst alternative user-led initiatives should be considered for other service users. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

A methodology for evaluating the usability of audiovisual consumer electronic products.

PubMed

Kwahk, Jiyoung; Han, Sung H

2002-09-01

Usability evaluation is now considered an essential procedure in consumer product development. Many studies have been conducted to develop various techniques and methods of usability evaluation hoping to help the evaluators choose appropriate methods. However, planning and conducting usability evaluation requires considerations of a number of factors surrounding the evaluation process including the product, user, activity, and environmental characteristics. In this perspective, this study suggested a new methodology of usability evaluation through a simple, structured framework. The framework was outlined by three major components: the interface features of a product as design variables, the evaluation context consisting of user, product, activity, and environment as context variables, and the usability measures as dependent variables. Based on this framework, this study established methods to specify the product interface features, to define evaluation context, and to measure usability. The effectiveness of this methodology was demonstrated through case studies in which the usability of audiovisual products was evaluated by using the methods developed in this study. This study is expected to help the usability practitioners in consumer electronics industry in various ways. Most directly, it supports the evaluators' plan and conduct usability evaluation sessions in a systematic and structured manner. In addition, it can be applied to other categories of consumer products (such as appliances, automobiles, communication devices, etc.) with minor modifications as necessary.

Requirements Engineering in Building Climate Science Software

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Batcheller, Archer L.

Software has an important role in supporting scientific work. This dissertation studies teams that build scientific software, focusing on the way that they determine what the software should do. These requirements engineering processes are investigated through three case studies of climate science software projects. The Earth System Modeling Framework assists modeling applications, the Earth System Grid distributes data via a web portal, and the NCAR (National Center for Atmospheric Research) Command Language is used to convert, analyze and visualize data. Document analysis, observation, and interviews were used to investigate the requirements-related work. The first research question is about how and why stakeholders engage in a project, and what they do for the project. Two key findings arise. First, user counts are a vital measure of project success, which makes adoption important and makes counting tricky and political. Second, despite the importance of quantities of users, a few particular "power users" develop a relationship with the software developers and play a special role in providing feedback to the software team and integrating the system into user practice. The second research question focuses on how project objectives are articulated and how they are put into practice. The team seeks to both build a software system according to product requirements but also to conduct their work according to process requirements such as user support. Support provides essential communication between users and developers that assists with refining and identifying requirements for the software. It also helps users to learn and apply the software to their real needs. User support is a vital activity for scientific software teams aspiring to create infrastructure. The third research question is about how change in scientific practice and knowledge leads to changes in the software, and vice versa. The "thickness" of a layer of software infrastructure impacts whether the software team or users have control and responsibility for making changes in response to new scientific ideas. Thick infrastructure provides more functionality for users, but gives them less control of it. The stability of infrastructure trades off against the responsiveness that the infrastructure can have to user needs.

Designing a Web-Based Learning Portal for Geographic Visualization and Analysis in Public Health

PubMed Central

Robinson, Anthony C.; Roth, Robert E.; MacEachren, Alan M.

2011-01-01

Interactive mapping and spatial analysis tools are underutilized by health researchers and decision-makers due to scarce training materials, few examples demonstrating the successful use of geographic visualization, and poor mechanisms for sharing results generated by geovisualization. We report here on the development of the Geovisual EXplication (G-EX) Portal, a web-based application designed to connect researchers in geovisualization and related mapping sciences to users who are working in public health and epidemiology. This paper focuses on the design and development of the G-EX Portal Learn module, a set of tools intended to disseminate learning artifacts. Initial design and development of the G-EX Portal has been guided by our past research on use and usability of geovisualization in public health. As part of the iterative design and development process, we conducted a needs assessment survey with targeted end-users that we report on here. The survey focused on users’ current learning habits, their preferred kind of learning artifacts, and issues they may have with contributing learning artifacts to web portals. Survey results showed that users desire a diverse set of learning artifacts in terms of both formats and topics covered. Results also revealed a willingness of users to contribute both learning artifacts and personal information that would help other users to evaluate the credibility of the learning artifact source. We include a detailed description of the G-EX Portal Learn module and focus on modifications to the design of the Learn module as a result from feedback we received from our survey. PMID:21937462

EPA User Personas

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Learn how EPA's three web user personas (Information Consumer, Information Intermediary, and Information Interpreter) can help you identify appropriate top audiences and top tasks for a topic or web area.

NCBI GEO: archive for functional genomics data sets--update.

PubMed

Barrett, Tanya; Wilhite, Stephen E; Ledoux, Pierre; Evangelista, Carlos; Kim, Irene F; Tomashevsky, Maxim; Marshall, Kimberly A; Phillippy, Katherine H; Sherman, Patti M; Holko, Michelle; Yefanov, Andrey; Lee, Hyeseung; Zhang, Naigong; Robertson, Cynthia L; Serova, Nadezhda; Davis, Sean; Soboleva, Alexandra

2013-01-01

The Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO, http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/geo/) is an international public repository for high-throughput microarray and next-generation sequence functional genomic data sets submitted by the research community. The resource supports archiving of raw data, processed data and metadata which are indexed, cross-linked and searchable. All data are freely available for download in a variety of formats. GEO also provides several web-based tools and strategies to assist users to query, analyse and visualize data. This article reports current status and recent database developments, including the release of GEO2R, an R-based web application that helps users analyse GEO data.

Rocket Science 101 Interactive Educational Program

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Armstrong, Dennis; Funkhouse, Deborah; DiMarzio, Donald

2007-01-01

To better educate the public on the basic design of NASA s current mission rockets, Rocket Science 101 software has been developed as an interactive program designed to retain a user s attention and to teach about basic rocket parts. This program also has helped to expand NASA's presence on the Web regarding educating the public about the Agency s goals and accomplishments. The software was designed using Macromedia s Flash 8. It allows the user to select which type of rocket they want to learn about, interact with the basic parts, assemble the parts to create the whole rocket, and then review the basic flight profile of the rocket they have built.

Ancient techniques for new materials

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2000-01-01

NASA is looking to biological techniques that are millions of years old to help it develop new materials and technologies for the 21st century. Sponsored by NASA, Viola Vogel, director of Washington University's Center for Nanotechnology and a principal investigator for the microgravity biotechnology program, is researching a monorail on a nanoscale to learn how to control translational motion of motor proteins in nonbiological environments in order to transport cargo between user-specified locations. Shear-deposition of Teflon on glass (top) is used in Viola Vogel's lab to create a nanogrooved surface. The topography controls the path that microtubules take as they shuttle nano-sized cargo between user-defined destinations.

Microgravity

NASA Image and Video Library

2000-12-15

NASA is looking to biological techniques that are millions of years old to help it develop new materials and technologies for the 21st century. Sponsored by NASA, Viola Vogel, director of Washington University's Center for Nanotechnology and a principal investigator for the microgravity biotechnology program, is researching a monorail on a nanoscale to learn how to control translational motion of motor proteins in nonbiological environments in order to transport cargo between user-specified locations. Shear-deposition of Teflon on glass (top) is used in Viola Vogel's lab to create a nanogrooved surface. The topography controls the path that microtubules take as they shuttle nano-sized cargo between user-defined destinations.

User's Satisfaction of Multiple Accounting Record System.

PubMed

Chen, M C; Yu, H C

2016-01-01

The study hospital had developed a multiple account recording system that generates the accounting information of the consumed materials based on daily nursing records. A questionnaire survey was delivered to further investigate the impact of the system. Four concepts of the system were investigated. (1) Supportive and time saving; (2) impact on workflows and job satisfactions; (3) ease of use; and (4) overall satisfactions. The system scored 4.03 out of 5 as the highest for helpfulness for daily practices, 3.98 for decrease the time for recording material consumptions, 3.98 for actually changed the way they work. Users mostly expressed positive attitude towards the system.

Web data mining

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wibonele, Kasanda J.; Zhang, Yanqing

2002-03-01

A web data mining system using granular computing and ASP programming is proposed. This is a web based application, which allows web users to submit survey data for many different companies. This survey is a collection of questions that will help these companies develop and improve their business and customer service with their clients by analyzing survey data. This web application allows users to submit data anywhere. All the survey data is collected into a database for further analysis. An administrator of this web application can login to the system and view all the data submitted. This web application resides on a web server, and the database resides on the MS SQL server.

Modelling Cognitive Style in a Peer Help Network.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bull, Susan; McCalla, Gord

2002-01-01

Explains I-Help, a computer-based peer help network where students can ask and answer questions about assignments and courses based on the metaphor of a help desk. Highlights include cognitive style; user modeling in I-Help; matching helpers to helpees; and types of questions. (Contains 64 references.) (LRW)

Interfaces for End-User Information Seeking.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Marchionini, Gary

1992-01-01

Discusses essential features of interfaces to support end-user information seeking. Highlights include cognitive engineering; task models and task analysis; the problem-solving nature of information seeking; examples of systems for end-users, including online public access catalogs (OPACs), hypertext, and help systems; and suggested research…

BackUp: Development and evaluation of a smart-phone application for coping with suicidal crises

PubMed Central

Aerts, Saskia; Muijzers, Ekke; De Jaegere, Eva; van Heeringen, Kees; Portzky, Gwendolyn

2017-01-01

Background Suicide is a major public health issue and has large impact on the lives of many people. Innovative technologies such as smartphones could create new possibilities for suicide prevention, such as helping to overcome the barriers and stigma on help seeking in case of suicidal ideation. Due to their omnipresence, smartphone apps can offer suicide prevention tools very fast, they are easily-accessible, low-threshold and can help overcome some of the help-seeking barriers suicidal people experience. This article describes the development, testing and implementation of a mobile application for coping with suicidal crisis: BackUp. Methods Based on the analysis of literature and existing suicide prevention apps several tools were identified as relevant to include in a suicide prevention app. The selected tools (a safety planning tool, a hope box, a coping cards module, and a module to reach out) are evidence based in a face to face context, and could be easily transferred into a mobile app. The testing of existing apps and the literature also revealed important guidelines for the technical development of the application. Results BackUp was developed and tested by an expert panel (n = 9) and a panel of end users (n = 21). Both groups rated BackUp as valuable for suicide prevention. Suicidal ideation of the end user group was measured using the Beck Scale for Suicidal Ideation before and after testing BackUp, and showed a small but non-significant decrease. The majority of the testers used BackUp several times. All tools were evaluated as rather or very useable in times of suicidal crisis. Conclusion BackUp was positively evaluated and indicates that self-help tools can have a positive impact on suicidal ideation. Apps in particular create opportunities in approaching people that are not reached by traditional interventions; on the other hand they can contribute to suicide prevention in addition to regular care. However, more research is needed on the impact and effect of suicide prevention apps. PMID:28636617

A systematic review and appraisal of the quality of practice guidelines for the management of Neisseria gonorrhoeae infections.

PubMed

Dickson, Catherine; Arnason, Trevor; Friedman, Dara Spatz; Metz, Gila; Grimshaw, Jeremy M

2017-11-01

Clinical guidelines help ensure consistent care informed by current evidence. As shifts in antimicrobial resistance continue to influence first-line treatment, up-to-date guidelines are important for preventing treatment failure. A guideline's development process will influence its recommendations and users' trust. To assess the quality of current gonorrhoea guidelines' development processes. Multiple databases. Original and current English-language guidelines targeting health professionals and containing treatment recommendations for uncomplicated gonorrhoea in the general adult population. Two appraisers assessed the guidelines independently using the Appraisal of Guidelines for Research and Evaluation II (AGREE II) tool. Scores were combined as per the AGREE II users' manual. We identified 10 guidelines meeting the inclusion criteria. The quality of the gonorrhoea treatment guidelines varied. Most scored poorly on Rigour of Development ; information on the evidence review process and methods for formulating recommendations was often missing. The WHO Guidelines for the Treatment of Neisseria gonorrhoeae and UK National Guideline for the Management of Gonorrhoea in Adults scored the highest on Rigour of Development . Methods to address conflicts of interest were often not described in the materials reviewed. Implementation of recommendations was often not addressed. By limiting our study to English-language guidelines, a small number of guidelines we identified were excluded. Our analysis was limited to either published or online materials that were readily available to users. We could not differentiate between items addressed in the development process but not documented from items that were not addressed. Gonorrhoea treatment guidelines may slow antimicrobial resistance. Many current guidelines are not in line with the current guideline development best practices; this might undermine the perceived trustworthiness of guidelines. By identifying current limitations, this study can help improve the quality of future guidelines. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/.

Social Communication Coaching Smartglasses: Well Tolerated in a Diverse Sample of Children and Adults With Autism.

PubMed

Keshav, Neha U; Salisbury, Joseph P; Vahabzadeh, Arshya; Sahin, Ned T

2017-09-21

Augmented reality (AR) smartglasses are an emerging technology that is under investigation as a social communication aid for children and adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and as a research tool to aid with digital phenotyping. Tolerability of this wearable technology in people with ASD is an important area for research, especially as these individuals may experience sensory, cognitive, and attentional challenges. The aim of this study was to assess the tolerability and usability of a novel smartglasses system that has been designed as a social communication aid for children and adults with autism (the Brain Power Autism System [BPAS]). BPAS runs on Google Glass Explorer Edition and other smartglasses, uses both AR and affective artificial intelligence, and helps users learn key social and emotional skills. A total of 21 children and adults with ASD across a spectrum of severity used BPAS for a coaching session. The user's tolerability to the smartglasses, user being able to wear the smartglasses for 1 minute (initial tolerability threshold), and user being able to wear the smartglasses for the entire duration of the coaching session (whole session tolerability threshold) were determined through caregiver report. Of 21 users, 19 (91%) demonstrated tolerability on all 3 measures. Caregivers reported 21 out of 21 users (100%) as tolerating the experience, while study staff found only 19 out of 21 users managed to demonstrate initial tolerability (91%). Of the 19 users who demonstrated initial tolerability, all 19 (100%) were able to use the smartglasses for the entire session (whole session tolerability threshold). Caregivers reported that 19 out of 21 users (91%) successfully used BPAS, and users surpassed caregiver expectations in 15 of 21 cases (71%). Users who could communicate reported BPAS as being comfortable (94%). This preliminary report suggests that BPAS is well tolerated and usable to a diverse age- and severity-range of people with ASD. This is encouraging as these devices are being developed as assistive technologies for people with ASD. Further research should focus on improving smartglasses design and exploring their efficacy in helping with social communication in children and adults with ASD. ©Neha U. Keshav, Joseph P. Salisbury, Arshya Vahabzadeh, Ned T. Sahin. Originally published in JMIR Mhealth and Uhealth (http://mhealth.jmir.org), 21.09.2017.

RGG: A general GUI Framework for R scripts

PubMed Central

Visne, Ilhami; Dilaveroglu, Erkan; Vierlinger, Klemens; Lauss, Martin; Yildiz, Ahmet; Weinhaeusel, Andreas; Noehammer, Christa; Leisch, Friedrich; Kriegner, Albert

2009-01-01

Background R is the leading open source statistics software with a vast number of biostatistical and bioinformatical analysis packages. To exploit the advantages of R, extensive scripting/programming skills are required. Results We have developed a software tool called R GUI Generator (RGG) which enables the easy generation of Graphical User Interfaces (GUIs) for the programming language R by adding a few Extensible Markup Language (XML) – tags. RGG consists of an XML-based GUI definition language and a Java-based GUI engine. GUIs are generated in runtime from defined GUI tags that are embedded into the R script. User-GUI input is returned to the R code and replaces the XML-tags. RGG files can be developed using any text editor. The current version of RGG is available as a stand-alone software (RGGRunner) and as a plug-in for JGR. Conclusion RGG is a general GUI framework for R that has the potential to introduce R statistics (R packages, built-in functions and scripts) to users with limited programming skills and helps to bridge the gap between R developers and GUI-dependent users. RGG aims to abstract the GUI development from individual GUI toolkits by using an XML-based GUI definition language. Thus RGG can be easily integrated in any software. The RGG project further includes the development of a web-based repository for RGG-GUIs. RGG is an open source project licensed under the Lesser General Public License (LGPL) and can be downloaded freely at PMID:19254356

Support of surgical process modeling by using adaptable software user interfaces

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Neumuth, T.; Kaschek, B.; Czygan, M.; Goldstein, D.; Strauß, G.; Meixensberger, J.; Burgert, O.

2010-03-01

Surgical Process Modeling (SPM) is a powerful method for acquiring data about the evolution of surgical procedures. Surgical Process Models are used in a variety of use cases including evaluation studies, requirements analysis and procedure optimization, surgical education, and workflow management scheme design. This work proposes the use of adaptive, situation-aware user interfaces for observation support software for SPM. We developed a method to support the modeling of the observer by using an ontological knowledge base. This is used to drive the graphical user interface for the observer to restrict the search space of terminology depending on the current situation. In the evaluation study it is shown, that the workload of the observer was decreased significantly by using adaptive user interfaces. 54 SPM observation protocols were analyzed by using the NASA Task Load Index and it was shown that the use of the adaptive user interface disburdens the observer significantly in workload criteria effort, mental demand and temporal demand, helping him to concentrate on his essential task of modeling the Surgical Process.

A hypertext system that learns from user feedback

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mathe, Nathalie

1994-01-01

Retrieving specific information from large amounts of documentation is not an easy task. It could be facilitated if information relevant in the current problem solving context could be automatically supplied to the user. As a first step towards this goal, we have developed an intelligent hypertext system called CID (Computer Integrated Documentation). Besides providing an hypertext interface for browsing large documents, the CID system automatically acquires and reuses the context in which previous searches were appropriate. This mechanism utilizes on-line user information requirements and relevance feedback either to reinforce current indexing in case of success or to generate new knowledge in case of failure. Thus, the user continually augments and refines the intelligence of the retrieval system. This allows the CID system to provide helpful responses, based on previous usage of the documentation, and to improve its performance over time. We successfully tested the CID system with users of the Space Station Freedom requirements documents. We are currently extending CID to other application domains (Space Shuttle operations documents, airplane maintenance manuals, and on-line training). We are also exploring the potential commercialization of this technique.