Assessment of the quality and content of website health information about herbal remedies for menopausal symptoms.

PubMed

Sowter, Julie; Astin, Felicity; Dye, Louise; Marshall, Paul; Knapp, Peter

2016-06-01

To assess the quality, readability and coverage of website information about herbal remedies for menopausal symptoms. A purposive sample of commercial and non-commercial websites was assessed for quality (DISCERN), readability (SMOG) and information coverage. Non-parametric and parametric tests were used to explain the variability of these factors across types of websites and to assess associations between website quality and information coverage. 39 sites were assessed. Median quality and information coverage scores were 44/80 and 11/30 respectively. The median readability score was 18.7, similar to UK broadsheets. Commercial websites scored significantly lower on quality (p=0.014), but there were no statistical differences for information coverage or readability. There was a significant positive correlation between information quality and coverage scores irrespective of website provider (r=0.69, p<0.001, n=39). Overall website quality and information coverage are poor and the required reading level high. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Quality Management, Certification and Rating of Health Information on the Net with MedCERTAIN: Using a medPICS/RDF/XML metadata structure for implementing eHealth ethics and creating trust globally

PubMed Central

Eysenbach, Gunther; Yihune, Gabriel; Lampe, Kristian; Cross, Phil; Brickley, Dan

2000-01-01

MedCERTAIN (MedPICS Certification and Rating of Trustworthy Health Information on the Net, http://www.medcertain.org/) is a recently launched international project funded under the European Union's (EU) "Action Plan for safer use of the Internet". It provides a technical infrastructure and a conceptual basis for an international system of "quality seals", ratings and self-labelling of Internet health information, with the final aim to establish a global "trustmark" for networked health information. Digital "quality seals" are evaluative metadata (using standards such as PICS=Platform for Internet Content Selection, now being replaced by RDF/XML) assigned by trusted third-party raters. The project also enables and encourages self-labelling with descriptive metainformation by web authors. Together these measures will help consumers as well as professionals to identify high-quality information on the Internet. MedCERTAIN establishes a fully functional demonstrator for a self- and third-party rating system enabling consumers and professionals to filter harmful health information and to positively identify and select high quality information. We aim to provide a trustmark system which allows citizens to place greater confidence in networked information, to encourage health information providers to follow best practices guidelines such as the Washington eHealth Code of Ethics, to provide effective feedback and law enforcement channels to handle user complaints, and to stimulate medical societies to develop standard for patient information. The project further proposes and identifies standards for interoperability of rating and description services (such as libraries or national health portals) and fosters a worldwide collaboration to guide consumers to high-quality information on the web.

Information retrieval based on single-pixel optical imaging with quick-response code

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xiao, Yin; Chen, Wen

2018-04-01

Quick-response (QR) code technique is combined with ghost imaging (GI) to recover original information with high quality. An image is first transformed into a QR code. Then the QR code is treated as an input image in the input plane of a ghost imaging setup. After measurements, traditional correlation algorithm of ghost imaging is utilized to reconstruct an image (QR code form) with low quality. With this low-quality image as an initial guess, a Gerchberg-Saxton-like algorithm is used to improve its contrast, which is actually a post processing. Taking advantage of high error correction capability of QR code, original information can be recovered with high quality. Compared to the previous method, our method can obtain a high-quality image with comparatively fewer measurements, which means that the time-consuming postprocessing procedure can be avoided to some extent. In addition, for conventional ghost imaging, the larger the image size is, the more measurements are needed. However, for our method, images with different sizes can be converted into QR code with the same small size by using a QR generator. Hence, for the larger-size images, the time required to recover original information with high quality will be dramatically reduced. Our method makes it easy to recover a color image in a ghost imaging setup, because it is not necessary to divide the color image into three channels and respectively recover them.

A Markovian model market—Akerlof's lemons and the asymmetry of information

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tilles, Paulo F. C.; Ferreira, Fernando F.; Francisco, Gerson; Pereira, Carlos de B.; Sarti, Flavia M.

2011-07-01

In this work we study an agent based model to investigate the role of asymmetric information degrees for market evolution. This model is quite simple and may be treated analytically since the consumers evaluate the quality of a certain good taking into account only the quality of the last good purchased plus her perceptive capacity β. As a consequence, the system evolves according to a stationary Markov chain. The value of a good offered by the firms increases along with quality according to an exponent α, which is a measure of the technology. It incorporates all the technological capacity of the production systems such as education, scientific development and techniques that change the productivity rates. The technological level plays an important role to explain how the asymmetry of information may affect the market evolution in this model. We observe that, for high technological levels, the market can detect adverse selection. The model allows us to compute the maximum asymmetric information degree before the market collapses. Below this critical point the market evolves during a limited period of time and then dies out completely. When β is closer to 1 (symmetric information), the market becomes more profitable for high quality goods, although high and low quality markets coexist. The maximum asymmetric information level is a consequence of an ergodicity breakdown in the process of quality evaluation.

Health Advice in a Digital World: Quality and Content of Online Information about the Prevention of Alzheimer's Disease.

PubMed

Robillard, Julie M; Feng, Tanya L

2017-01-01

As the number of older adults turning to the Internet for health information increases, so does the potential for online information to have a substantial impact on the patient-physician relationship and on their health. Inaccurate information may weaken patient-physician relationships or result in increased physician visits and health anxiety, while high quality information may allow Internet users to make better decisions about their health. To assess the quality and content of available online resources about the prevention of Alzheimer's disease (AD). A sample of 308 articles related to the prevention of AD was collected from the first three pages of location-independent keyword searches on Google.com between September 17-30, 2014. Content analysis was applied to articles that met criteria (n = 298) and a quality evaluation tool was developed to generate a quality score for each of the articles (n = 290). We found that articles on the high end of the quality spectrum focused on modifiable risk factors and tended to present balanced information, while articles of low quality emphasized nutrition as a method of prevention and were more likely to be in conflict of interest. This study provides the first insight into the content and quality of prevention information for AD currently available online and highlights the importance of future research to better understand the impact of this information on the patient-physician relationship and health decision-making of older adults.

Evaluating the quality of perinatal anxiety information available online.

PubMed

Kirby, Paige L; Reynolds, Kristin A; Walker, John R; Furer, Patricia; Pryor, Teaghan A M

2018-06-22

The Internet is an easily accessible source of information for women experiencing anxiety in pregnancy and/or postpartum to use when seeking health information. However, the Internet has several drawbacks, including inaccurate content that may be perceived as being accurate, non-biased, and evidence-based. Prior research indicates that anxiety and postpartum mental health websites have poor quality in terms of describing treatment options. There is a lack of research and knowledge in the area of perinatal anxiety, and an absence of research evaluating perinatal anxiety websites. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the quality of information regarding perinatal anxiety available on the Internet. Websites concerning perinatal anxiety were selected using the Google search engine. Each website was evaluated based on quality of health information, website usability, and readability. The 20 websites included in this study had low to moderate quality scores based on the DISCERN tool. There were no associations found between website order and website quality, or between website readability and website quality. Many websites had high PEMAT scores for the understandability section, which included content, style, and layout of information; however, most did not use visual aids to enhance comprehension. Most websites had low actionability scores, suggesting that information may not be useful in describing what actions may be taken to manage perinatal anxiety. This study highlights the need for high-quality websites concerning perinatal anxiety that are easy to navigate and provide the public with evidence-based information.

Effective Elementary Social Studies.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hoge, John Douglas

This book advocates providing high-quality K-6 social studies instruction. The text provides practical information on how teachers can conduct high-quality social studies programs in their classrooms. The volume is divided into three parts. Part 1 offers an overview of the formal and informal social studies curriculum, its history, current status,…

The variation in quality and content of patient-focused health information on the Internet for otitis media.

PubMed

Joury, A; Joraid, A; Alqahtani, F; Alghamdi, A; Batwa, A; Pines, J M

2018-03-01

When symptoms of otitis media appear, parents and patients often access the Internet for health information. We study the content and quality of health information in parent-patient-focused websites for otitis media. We searched the 3 search engines (Google, Yahoo, and Bing) using "otitis media" and "middle ear infection" then reviewed the top 30 hits for each search. We included sites that were focused on providing patient-patient information about otitis media. A variety of instruments were used to assess website content and quality. In 35 included websites, there was considerable variation in content, with the average site having 11 out of 15 informational items potentially useful to parents and patients on otitis media (range 4-15). Across included websites, the mean DISCERN score was 47 out of 80 (low to medium quality), 16 (46%) were HONcode certified, and 8 (23%) fulfilled all the JAMA benchmark criteria. The average website was written at a 9th/10th-grade reading level. The content and quality of health information for otitis media in parent-and-patient-focused websites is highly variable. Although easy-to-read, high-quality websites with complete content are available, the average website sites is difficult to read without a high school education and is difficult to use. Consideration should be given to adopting a standard approach for presenting disease-specific information to parents and patients. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Quality analysis of patient information on surgical treatment of haemorrhoids on the internet.

PubMed

Yeung, T M; D'Souza, N D

2013-07-01

Haemorrhoids are the most common benign condition seen by colorectal surgeons. At clinic appointments, advice given about lifestyle modification or surgical interventions may not be understood fully by patients. Patients may use the internet for further research into their condition. However, the quality of such information has not been investigated before. This study assessed the quality of patient information on surgical treatment of haemorrhoids on the internet. Four searches were carried out using the search terms 'surgery for haemorrhoids' and 'surgery for piles' on two search engines (Google and Yahoo). The first 50 results for each search were assessed. Sites were evaluated using the DISCERN instrument. In total, 200 websites were assessed, of which 144 fulfilled the inclusion criteria. Of these, 63 (44%) were sponsored by herbal remedies for haemorrhoids. Eighty-nine (62%) mentioned conservative treatment options but eleven (8%) did not include surgery in their treatment options. Only 38 sites (27%) mentioned recurrence of haemorrhoids following surgery and 28 sites (20%) did not list any complications. Overall, 19 websites (14%) were judged as being of high quality, 66 (45%) as moderate quality and 58 (40%) as low quality. The quality of information on the internet is highly variable and a significant proportion of websites assessed are poor. The majority of websites are sponsored by private companies selling alternative treatments for haemorrhoids. Clinicians should be prepared to advise their patients which websites can provide high-quality information on the surgical treatment of haemorrhoids.

A quantitative method to analyze the quality of EIA information in wind energy development and avian/bat assessments

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

Chang, Tony, E-mail: tc282@nau.edu; Nielsen, Erik, E-mail: erik.nielsen@nau.edu; Auberle, William, E-mail: william.auberle@nau.edu

2013-01-15

The environmental impact assessment (EIA) has been a tool for decision makers since the enactment of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). Since that time, few analyses have been performed to verify the quality of information and content within EIAs. High quality information within assessments is vital in order for decision makers, stake holders, and the public to understand the potential impact of proposed actions on the ecosystem and wildlife species. Low quality information has been a major cause for litigation and economic loss. Since 1999, wind energy development has seen an exponential growth with unknown levels of impact onmore » wildlife species, in particular bird and bat species. The purpose of this article is to: (1) develop, validate, and apply a quantitative index to review avian/bat assessment quality for wind energy EIAs; and (2) assess the trends and status of avian/bat assessment quality in a sample of wind energy EIAs. This research presents the development and testing of the Avian and Bat Assessment Quality Index (ABAQI), a new approach to quantify information quality of ecological assessments within wind energy development EIAs in relation to avian and bat species based on review areas and factors derived from 23 state wind/wildlife siting guidance documents. The ABAQI was tested through a review of 49 publicly available EIA documents and validated by identifying high variation in avian and bat assessments quality for wind energy developments. Of all the reviewed EIAs, 66% failed to provide high levels of preconstruction avian and bat survey information, compared to recommended factors from state guidelines. This suggests the need for greater consistency from recommended guidelines by state, and mandatory compliance by EIA preparers to avoid possible habitat and species loss, wind energy development shut down, and future lawsuits. - Highlights: Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer We developed, validated, and applied a quantitative index to review avian/bat assessment quality for wind energy EIAs. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer We assessed the trends and status of avian/bat assessment quality in a sample of wind energy EIAs. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Applied index to 49 EIA documents and identified high variation in assessment quality for wind energy developments. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer For the reviewed EIAs, 66% provided inadequate preconstruction avian and bat survey information.« less

HON label and DISCERN as content quality indicators of health-related websites.

PubMed

Khazaal, Yasser; Chatton, Anne; Zullino, Daniele; Khan, Riaz

2012-03-01

Content quality indicators are warranted in order to help patients and consumers to judge the content quality of health-related on-line information. The aim of the present study is to evaluate web-based information on health topics and to assess particular content quality indicators like HON (Health on the Net) and DISCERN. The present study is based on the analysis of data issued from six previous studies which assessed with a standardized tool the general and content quality (evidence-based health information) of health-related websites. Keywords related to Social phobia, bipolar disorders, pathological gambling as well as cannabis, alcohol and cocaine addiction were entered into popular World Wide Web search engines. Websites were assessed with a standardized proforma designed to rate sites on the basis of accountability, presentation, interactivity, readability and content quality (evidence-based information). "Health on the Net" (HON) quality label, and DISCERN scale scores were used to verify their efficiency as quality indicators. Of 874 websites identified, 388 were included. Despite an observed association with higher content quality scores, the HON label fails to predict good content quality websites when used in a multiple regression. Sensibility and specificity of a DISCERN score >40 in the detection of good content quality websites were, respectively, 0.45 and 0.96. The DISCERN is a potential quality indicator with a relatively high specificity. Further developments in this domain are warranted in order to facilitate the identification of high-quality information on the web by patients.

Cochlear implantation: An assessment of quality and readability of web-based information aimed at patients.

PubMed

Seymour, Nicky; Lakhani, Raj; Hartley, Benjamin; Cochrane, Lesley; Jephson, Christopher

2015-01-01

Patients should have access to high-quality health information websites on which to base their decision-making. There are concerns regarding the accuracy and quality of some health websites. We aimed to objectively measure website quality related to cochlear implantation. Selected patient-information websites were scored, depending on how highly they ranked on search engines and if they were ranked on more than one of the search engines used. The top 40 websites from three major search engines were analysed. The quality of each website was scored using the DISCERN tool and the readability was scored using the Flesch-Kincaid reading ease and the Gunning-Fog index. The average Flesch-Kincaid score was 49.7, giving an average reading age of a 15-17 years old, and the average Gunning-fog score was 13.1, which equals that of an 18 years old. Internet-based information regarding cochlear implantation is of varied quality and is written above the expected reading level of an average person.

Evaluating the content and quality of information about premature ejaculation on the Internet: what are men being exposed to ?

PubMed

Gul, M; Kaynar, M

2017-03-01

Premature ejaculation is one of the most common male sexual dysfunctions; however, only a few patients with premature ejaculation are seeking professional help or advice. Internet has become an important source of knowledge, and thus, more patients are looking online for health information. According to our best knowledge, no study has evaluated the content and quality of websites on premature ejaculation. We, therefore, aimed to evaluate the content and quality of currently available Internet-based information on premature ejaculation. A sample was obtained comprising the 50 top sites retrieved from Google, Bing and Yahoo search engines using the terms 'premature ejaculation'. Each site then was reviewed based on some predefined evaluation criteria to determine the general quality, condition-specific content quality, popularity index and ownership. The websites reviewed were differed highly in terms of quality and ownership. Only a few sites provided comprehensive medical and complete information on premature ejaculation. The online information available is often of uncertain calibre; therefore, men are being exposed to information about premature ejaculation with a highly variable degree quality. This fact should be considered both by health professionals and website owners, and better online resources should be provided for these patients. © 2016 Blackwell Verlag GmbH.

YouTube provides irrelevant information for the diagnosis and treatment of hip arthritis.

PubMed

Koller, Ulrich; Waldstein, Wenzel; Schatz, Klaus-Dieter; Windhager, Reinhard

2016-10-01

YouTube is increasingly becoming a key source for people to satisfy the need for additional information concerning their medical condition. This study analyses the completeness of accurate information found on YouTube pertaining to hip arthritis. The present study analyzed 133 YouTube videos using the search terms: hip arthritis, hip arthritis symptoms, hip arthritis diagnosis, hip arthritis treatment and hip replacement. Two quality assessment checklists with a scale of 0 to 12 points were developed to evaluate available video content for the diagnosis and the treatment of hip arthritis. Videos were grouped into poor quality (grade 0-3), moderate quality (grade 4-7) and excellent quality (grade 8-12), respectively. Three independent observers assessed all videos using the new grading system and independently scored all videos. Discrepancies regarding the categories were clarified by consensus discussion. For intra-observer reliabilities, grading was performed at two occasions separated by four weeks. Eighty-four percent (n = 112) had a poor diagnostic information quality, 14% (n = 19) a moderate quality and only 2% (n = 2) an excellent quality, respectively. In 86% (n = 114), videos provided poor treatment information quality. Eleven percent (n = 15) of videos had a moderate quality and only 3% (n = 4) an excellent quality, respectively. The present study demonstrates that YouTube is a poor source for accurate information pertaining to the diagnosis and treatment of hip arthritis. These finding are of high relevance for clinicians as videos are going to become the primary source of information for patients. Therefore, high quality educational videos are needed to further guide patients on the way from the diagnosis of hip arthritis to its proper treatment.

Using IT to improve quality at NewYork-Presybterian Hospital: a requirements-driven strategic planning process.

PubMed

Kuperman, Gilad J; Boyer, Aurelia; Cole, Curt; Forman, Bruce; Stetson, Peter D; Cooper, Mary

2006-01-01

At NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, we are committed to the delivery of high quality care. We have implemented a strategic planning process to determine the information technology initiatives that will best help us improve quality. The process began with the creation of a Clinical Quality and IT Committee. The Committee identified 2 high priority goals that would enable demonstrably high quality care: 1) excellence at data warehousing, and 2) optimal use of automated clinical documentation to capture encounter-related quality and safety data. For each high priority goal, a working group was created to develop specific recommendations. The Data Warehousing subgroup has recommended the implementation of an architecture management process and an improved ability for users to get access to aggregate data. The Structured Documentation subgroup is establishing recommendations for a documentation template creation process. The strategic planning process at times is slow, but assures that the organization is focusing on the information technology activities most likely to lead to improved quality.

Using IT to Improve Quality at NewYork-Presybterian Hospital: A Requirements-Driven Strategic Planning Process

PubMed Central

Kuperman, Gilad J.; Boyer, Aurelia; Cole, Curt; Forman, Bruce; Stetson, Peter D.; Cooper, Mary

2006-01-01

At NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, we are committed to the delivery of high quality care. We have implemented a strategic planning process to determine the information technology initiatives that will best help us improve quality. The process began with the creation of a Clinical Quality and IT Committee. The Committee identified 2 high priority goals that would enable demonstrably high quality care: 1) excellence at data warehousing, and 2) optimal use of automated clinical documentation to capture encounter-related quality and safety data. For each high priority goal, a working group was created to develop specific recommendations. The Data Warehousing subgroup has recommended the implementation of an architecture management process and an improved ability for users to get access to aggregate data. The Structured Documentation subgroup is establishing recommendations for a documentation template creation process. The strategic planning process at times is slow, but assures that the organization is focusing on the information technology activities most likely to lead to improved quality. PMID:17238381

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.

External Quality Control Review of the Defense Information Systems Agency Audit Organization

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-08-07

We are providing this report for your information and use. We have reviewed the system of quality control for the audit organization of the Defense...audit organization encompasses the audit organization’s leadership, emphasis on performing high quality work, and policies and procedures established

Water Quality: A Field-Based Quality Testing Program for Middle Schools and High Schools.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Massachusetts State Water Resources Authority, Boston.

This manual contains background information, lesson ideas, procedures, data collection and reporting forms, suggestions for interpreting results, and extension activities to complement a water quality field testing program. Information on testing water temperature, water pH, dissolved oxygen content, biochemical oxygen demand, nitrates, total…

Quality analysis of patient information on surgical treatment of haemorrhoids on the internet

PubMed Central

D’Souza, ND

2013-01-01

Introduction Haemorrhoids are the most common benign condition seen by colorectal surgeons. At clinic appointments, advice given about lifestyle modification or surgical interventions may not be understood fully by patients. Patients may use the internet for further research into their condition. However, the quality of such information has not been investigated before. This study assessed the quality of patient information on surgical treatment of haemorrhoids on the internet. Methods Four searches were carried out using the search terms ‘surgery for haemorrhoids’ and ‘surgery for piles’ on two search engines (Google and Yahoo). The first 50 results for each search were assessed. Sites were evaluated using the DISCERN instrument. Results In total, 200 websites were assessed, of which 144 fulfilled the inclusion criteria. Of these, 63 (44%) were sponsored by herbal remedies for haemorrhoids. Eighty-nine (62%) mentioned conservative treatment options but eleven (8%) did not include surgery in their treatment options. Only 38 sites (27%) mentioned recurrence of haemorrhoids following surgery and 28 sites (20%) did not list any complications. Overall, 19 websites (14%) were judged as being of high quality, 66 (45%) as moderate quality and 58 (40%) as low quality. Conclusions The quality of information on the internet is highly variable and a significant proportion of websites assessed are poor. The majority of websites are sponsored by private companies selling alternative treatments for haemorrhoids. Clinicians should be prepared to advise their patients which websites can provide high-quality information on the surgical treatment of haemorrhoids. PMID:23838496

75 FR 70487 - Proposed Rules for Implementing the Whistleblower Provisions of Section 21F of the Securities...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-11-17

.... With this possible tension in mind, we have included provisions in the proposed rules intended not to... submission of high- quality tips and to enhance the utility of the information reported to the Commission. More frequent reporting of high-quality information promotes greater deterrence by enhancing the...

Access to High Quality Teachers for All Students. Information Brief

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mid-Atlantic Equity Center, 2009

2009-01-01

One of the most important factors in a high quality education is the knowledge, experience, and capability of the classroom teacher. There is strong evidence that having a high-quality teacher affects learning and is an important factor in explaining student test score gains (Clotfelter, Ladd, & Vigdor, 2007; Darling-Hammond, 2000;…

75 FR 70206 - Certain Coated Paper Suitable for High-Quality Print Graphics Using Sheet-Fed Presses From...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-11-17

... Suitable for High-Quality Print Graphics Using Sheet-Fed Presses From Indonesia: Countervailing Duty Order... Indonesia. DATES: Effective Date: November 17, 2010. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Gene Calvert or... from Indonesia. See Certain Coated Paper Suitable for High-Quality Print Graphics Using Sheet-Fed...

High quality data: An evaluation of AIM data quality and data quality procedures

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

The goal of every monitoring program is to collect high-quality data which can then be used to provide information to decision makers. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Assessment, Inventory, and Monitoring (AIM) program is one such data set which provides rangeland status, condition, and trend in...

Quality Information--Informed Choices: Advancing the Workforce Information System. Secretary of Labor's Workforce Information System Plan for Federal Fiscal Years 2001-2005.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Workforce Information Council (DOL), Washington, DC.

The Workforce Investment Act of 1998 emphasizes the importance of high quality, accessible, and relevant information about the labor market for making sound decisions. In order to help both workers and employers, as well as the government agencies that serve them, the Workforce Information System was created and is being improved. The action plan…

Variations and relationship of quality and NIR spectral characteristics of cotton fibers collected from multi-location field performance trials

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

High volume instrumentation (HVITM) and advanced fiber information system (AFIS) measurements are increasingly being utilized as primary and routine means of acquiring fiber quality data by cotton breeders and fiber processors. There is amount of information regarding fiber and yarn qualities, but l...

Assessing the content and quality of information on the treatment of postmenopausal osteoporosis on the World Wide Web.

PubMed

Pérez-López, Faustino R; Pérez Roncero, Gonzalo R

2006-12-01

To evaluate the content and quality of currently available Internet-based information on the treatment of postmenopausal osteoporosis. A sample was obtained comprising the 75 top sites retrieved with the Google search engine using 'treatment of postmenopausal osteoporosis' and then evaluated according to predefined general and specific criteria, content type, language and quality. Using a systematic scoring tool, each site was assessed for factual information provided and site quality. The sites studied were heterogeneous in content and quality. The most frequent type of website corresponded to non-profit organizations (n = 40), followed by commercial sites (n = 19), professional sites (n = 8) and government sites (n = 8). There were no significant differences in the popularity index, medical content score or quality score among the four groups of sites. Twelve websites were papers published in peer-reviewed medical journals. Few sites provided comprehensive medical and complete information on the treatment of postmenopausal osteoporosis oriented towards consumers. The consumer-oriented webpage with the most balanced and complete information was that of the National Osteoporosis Foundation which, at the same time, had the highest popularity index of all the resources studied. The content and quality of websites concerning the treatment of postmenopausal osteoporosis are highly varied and sometimes biased. The most frequent high-quality information corresponds to peer-reviewed medical journals. It is necessary to increase the number of resources, with rigorous language that is understandable for consumers, in relation to the treatment of postmenopausal osteoporosis.

Surfing for back pain patients: the nature and quality of back pain information on the Internet.

PubMed

Li, L; Irvin, E; Guzmán, J; Bombardier , C

2001-03-01

A prospective, systematic review of web sites related to back pain. To assess the nature and quality of back pain-related information on the World Wide Web during a 2-year period. The Internet has become a rich source of medical information. Limited knowledge is available, however, about the quality of online resources. Although previous systematic reviews on medical-related web sites found problems in varying degrees with the credibility of information, no such review was conducted to assess the back pain-related sites. A search of web sites was conducted in November 1996 using five search engines (AltaVista, Infoseek, Lycos, Yahoo, and Magellan) and two key terms ("back pain" and "back problems"). A sample of sites was evaluated by two independent reviewers. Each site was described by the type and nature of the sponsor, target audience, and content. Overall quality was assessed in terms of evidence-based information available. Seventy-four web sites were reviewed in 1996, and nine of them (12.2%) were identified as high-quality sites. Advertising was the focus of 80.8% of the sites. Eleven sites (14.9%) were found to be discontinued 1 year later, and 20 (27.0%) were not accessible by the reviewers at the 2-year follow-up evaluation. Of the remaining 54 sites, 44.4% were produced by for-profit companies, and most sites targeted people with back pain (63.0%). Only seven out of the nine high-quality sites held their ratings at the 2-year follow-up evaluation. Most back pain-related web sites can be classified as advertising. The quality varied considerably, resulting in difficulties for patients to find useful information in this field. The increasing number of people seeking medical information on the Web creates a need for more high quality sites. Further, systematic review of web sites should be encouraged to monitor the accuracy of Internet publication.

The quality and readability of online consumer information about gynecologic cancer.

PubMed

Sobota, Aleksandra; Ozakinci, Gozde

2015-03-01

The Internet has become an important source of health-related information for consumers, among whom younger women constitute a notable group. The aims of this study were (1) to evaluate the quality and readability of online information about gynecologic cancer using validated instruments and (2) to relate the quality of information to its readability. Using the Alexa Rank, we obtained a list of 35 Web pages providing information about 7 gynecologic malignancies. These were assessed using the Health on the Net (HON) seal of approval, the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) benchmarks, and the DISCERN instrument. Flesch readability score was calculated for sections related to symptoms and signs and treatment. Less than 30% of the Web pages displayed the HON seal or achieved all JAMA benchmarks. The majority of the treatment sections were of moderate to high quality according to the DISCERN. There was no significant relationship between the presence of the HON seal and readability. Web pages achieving all JAMA benchmarks were significantly more difficult to read and understand than Web pages that missed any of the JAMA benchmarks. Treatment-related content of moderate to high quality as assessed by the DISCERN had a significantly better readability score than the low-quality content. The online information about gynecologic cancer provided by the most frequently visited Web pages is of variable quality and in general difficult to read and understand. The relationship between the quality and readability remains unclear. Health care providers should direct their patients to reliable material online because patients consider the Internet as an important source of information.

Searching the Internet for information on prostate cancer screening: an assessment of quality.

PubMed

Ilic, Dragan; Risbridger, Gail; Green, Sally

2004-07-01

To identify how on-line information relating to prostate cancer screening (PCS) is best sourced, whether through general, medical, or meta-search engines, and to assess the quality of that information. Websites providing information about PCS were searched across 15 search engines representing three distinct types: general, medical, and meta-search engines. The quality of on-line information was assessed using the DISCERN quality assessment tool. Quality performance characteristics were analyzed by performing Mann-Whitney U tests. Search engine efficiency was measured by each search query as a percentage of the relevant websites included for analysis from the total returned and analyzed by performing Kruskal-Wallis analysis of variance. Of 6690 websites reviewed, 84 unique websites were identified as providing information relevant to PCS. General and meta-search engines were significantly more efficient at retrieving relevant information on PCS compared with medical search engines. The quality of information was variable, with most of a poor standard. Websites that provided referral links to other resources and a citation of evidence provided a significantly better quality of information. In contrast, websites offering a direct service were more likely to provide a significantly poorer quality of information. The current lack of a clear consensus on guidelines and recommendation in published data is also reflected by the variable quality of information found on-line. Specialized medical search engines were no more likely to retrieve relevant, high-quality information than general or meta-search engines.

Evaluating the Quality and Readability of Internet Information on Meningiomas.

PubMed

Saeed, Fozia; Anderson, Ian

2017-01-01

The Internet is a highly powerful resource for patients and provides an extensive amount of information on medical conditions. It is therefore important that the information accessible is accurate, up to date, and at an appropriate comprehensive level for the general public. This article aims to evaluate the quality of patient information on meningiomas. The term meningioma was searched using the following search engines: Google, Bing, Yahoo, Ask, and AOL. The top 100 meningioma Web sites were analyzed for readability using the Flesch Reading Ease score and the Flesch-Kincaid grade level. The quality of each Web page was assessed with the DISCERN instrument and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Clear Communication Index (CCI). The quality of information on the Internet on meningiomas is highly variable. The overall mean Flesch Reading Ease score was 43.1 (standard deviation = 13.3) and the mean Flesch-Kincaid grade of all the Web sites was 11.2 (standard deviation = 2.3). This finding suggests that the information is on average difficult to read. Only one Web site was at the recommended seventh-grade level and the remainder were above this grade. Only one third of the Web pages had Health On the Net Code of Conduct or The Information Standard certification and were found to be significantly of higher quality: DISCERN (P = 0.022) and CDC CCI (P = 0.027). More than 50% of the Web sites had significantly poor or average DISCERN scores and only 2 Web sites fulfilled the CDC CCI criteria. It is recommended that clinicians personally research material for their patients to be able to guide them to reliable and accurate Web sites. It is also encouraged to become Health On the Net Code of Conduct/The Information Standard certified because this may indicate information of high quality. In addition, it is also recommended that authors of existing information assess the quality of their online health information against the CDC CCI criteria. Crown Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Quality of information available on the World Wide Web for patients undergoing thyroidectomy: review.

PubMed

Muthukumarasamy, S; Osmani, Z; Sharpe, A; England, R J A

2012-02-01

This study aimed to assess the quality of information available on the World Wide Web for patients undergoing thyroidectomy. The first 50 web-links generated by internet searches using the five most popular search engines and the key word 'thyroidectomy' were evaluated using the Lida website validation instrument (assessing accessibility, usability and reliability) and the Flesch Reading Ease Score. We evaluated 103 of a possible 250 websites. Mean scores (ranges) were: Lida accessibility, 48/63 (27-59); Lida usability, 36/54 (21-50); Lida reliability, 21/51 (4-38); and Flesch Reading Ease, 43.9 (2.6-77.6). The quality of internet health information regarding thyroidectomy is variable. High ranking and popularity are not good indicators of website quality. Overall, none of the websites assessed achieved high Lida scores. In order to prevent the dissemination of inaccurate or commercially motivated information, we recommend independent labelling of medical information available on the World Wide Web.

Feasibility of Extracting Key Elements from ClinicalTrials.gov to Support Clinicians' Patient Care Decisions.

PubMed

Kim, Heejun; Bian, Jiantao; Mostafa, Javed; Jonnalagadda, Siddhartha; Del Fiol, Guilherme

2016-01-01

Motivation: Clinicians need up-to-date evidence from high quality clinical trials to support clinical decisions. However, applying evidence from the primary literature requires significant effort. Objective: To examine the feasibility of automatically extracting key clinical trial information from ClinicalTrials.gov. Methods: We assessed the coverage of ClinicalTrials.gov for high quality clinical studies that are indexed in PubMed. Using 140 random ClinicalTrials.gov records, we developed and tested rules for the automatic extraction of key information. Results: The rate of high quality clinical trial registration in ClinicalTrials.gov increased from 0.2% in 2005 to 17% in 2015. Trials reporting results increased from 3% in 2005 to 19% in 2015. The accuracy of the automatic extraction algorithm for 10 trial attributes was 90% on average. Future research is needed to improve the algorithm accuracy and to design information displays to optimally present trial information to clinicians.

[Incorporation of Information and Communication Technologies and quality of primary healthcare in Brazil].

PubMed

Santos, Alaneir de Fátima Dos; Fonseca, Délcio; Araujo, Lucas Lobato; Procópio, Cristiane da Silva Diniz; Lopes, Érica Araújo Silva; Lima, Angela Maria de Lourdes Dayrell de; Reis, Clarice Magalhães Rodrigues Dos; Abreu, Daisy Maria Xavier de; Jorge, Alzira Oliveira; Matta-Machado, Antonio Thomaz

2017-06-05

Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) are means to handle information, streamline communication, and contribute to patient care. This article describes the incorporation of Information and Communication Technologies in primary care and its association with quality, based on the Brazilian National Program for the Improvement of Access and Quality in Primary Care (PMAQ in portuguese). This was a cross-sectional study with 17,053 teams. An Index of Incorporation of ICTs was created, which included: information infrastructure, systems, and utilization. Regression analysis was used to assess associations. Only 13.5% of the teams had a high degree of ICTs. The strongest association was seen in the utilization of information. ICTs can contribute to improving quality of primary care.

Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) Technology as a Global Learning Tool: Information Systems Success and Control Belief Perspectives

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chen, Charlie C.; Vannoy, Sandra

2013-01-01

Voice over Internet Protocol- (VoIP) enabled online learning service providers struggling with high attrition rates and low customer loyalty issues despite VoIP's high degree of system fit for online global learning applications. Effective solutions to this prevalent problem rely on the understanding of system quality, information quality, and…

Most Americans Do Not Believe That There Is An Association Between Health Care Prices And Quality Of Care.

PubMed

Phillips, Kathryn A; Schleifer, David; Hagelskamp, Carolin

2016-04-01

Many organizations are developing health care price information tools for consumers. However, consumers may avoid low-price care if they perceive price to be associated with quality. We conducted a nationally representative survey to examine whether consumers perceive that price and quality are associated and whether the way in which questions are framed affects consumers' responses. Most Americans (58-71 percent, depending on question framing) did not think that price and quality are associated, but a substantial minority did perceive an association (21-24 percent) or were unsure whether there was one (8-16 percent). Responses to questions framed in terms of high price and high quality differed from responses to questions framed in terms of low price and low quality. People who had compared prices were more likely than those who had not compared prices to perceive that price and quality were associated. We explore implications of these findings, including how behavioral economics can inform approaches to helping consumers use price and quality information. Project HOPE—The People-to-People Health Foundation, Inc.

Most Americans Do Not Believe That There Is An Association Between Health Care Prices And Quality Of Care

PubMed Central

Phillips, Kathryn A; Schleifer, David; Hagelskamp, Carolin

2016-01-01

Many organizations are developing health care price information tools for consumers. However, consumers may avoid low-price care if they perceive price to be associated with quality. We conducted a nationally representative survey to examine whether consumers perceive that price and quality are associated and whether the way in which questions are framed affects consumers’ responses. Most Americans (58–71 percent, depending on question framing) did not think that price and quality are associated, but a substantial minority did perceive an association (21–24 percent) or were unsure if there was one (8–16 percent). Responses to questions framed in terms of high price and high quality differed from responses to questions framed in terms of low price and low quality. People who had compared prices were more likely than those who have not compared prices to perceive that price and quality were associated. We explore implications of these findings, including how behavioral economics can inform approaches to helping consumers use price and quality information. PMID:27044965

Reputation and Competition in a Hidden Action Model

PubMed Central

Fedele, Alessandro; Tedeschi, Piero

2014-01-01

The economics models of reputation and quality in markets can be classified in three categories. (i) Pure hidden action, where only one type of seller is present who can provide goods of different quality. (ii) Pure hidden information, where sellers of different types have no control over product quality. (iii) Mixed frameworks, which include both hidden action and hidden information. In this paper we develop a pure hidden action model of reputation and Bertrand competition, where consumers and firms interact repeatedly in a market with free entry. The price of the good produced by the firms is contractible, whilst the quality is noncontractible, hence it is promised by the firms when a contract is signed. Consumers infer future quality from all available information, i.e., both from what they know about past quality and from current prices. According to early contributions, competition should make reputation unable to induce the production of high-quality goods. We provide a simple solution to this problem by showing that high quality levels are sustained as an outcome of a stationary symmetric equilibrium. PMID:25329387

Reputation and competition in a hidden action model.

PubMed

Fedele, Alessandro; Tedeschi, Piero

2014-01-01

The economics models of reputation and quality in markets can be classified in three categories. (i) Pure hidden action, where only one type of seller is present who can provide goods of different quality. (ii) Pure hidden information, where sellers of different types have no control over product quality. (iii) Mixed frameworks, which include both hidden action and hidden information. In this paper we develop a pure hidden action model of reputation and Bertrand competition, where consumers and firms interact repeatedly in a market with free entry. The price of the good produced by the firms is contractible, whilst the quality is noncontractible, hence it is promised by the firms when a contract is signed. Consumers infer future quality from all available information, i.e., both from what they know about past quality and from current prices. According to early contributions, competition should make reputation unable to induce the production of high-quality goods. We provide a simple solution to this problem by showing that high quality levels are sustained as an outcome of a stationary symmetric equilibrium.

Medical information on the internet: a tool for measuring consumer perception of quality aspects.

PubMed

Dubowicz, Arthur; Schulz, Peter J

2015-03-30

Most of adult Internet users have searched for health information on the Internet. The Internet has become one of the most important sources for health information and treatment advice. In most cases, the information found is not verified with a medical doctor, but judged by the "online-diagnosers" independently. Facing this situation, public health authorities raise concern over the quality of medical information laypersons can find on the Internet. The objective of the study was aimed at developing a measure to evaluate the credibility of websites that offer medical advice and information. The measure was tested in a quasi-experimental study on two sleeping-disorder websites of different quality. There were 45 survey items for rating the credibility of websites that were tested in a quasi-experimental study with a random assignment of 454 participants to either a high- or a low-quality website exposure. Using principal component analysis, the original items were reduced to 13 and sorted into the factors: trustworthiness, textual deficits of the content, interferences (external links on the Web site), and advertisements. The first two factors focus more on the provided content itself, while the other two describe the embedding of the content into the website. The 45 survey items had been designed previously using exploratory observations and literature research. The final scale showed adequate power and reliability for all factors. The loadings of the principal component analysis ranged satisfactorily (.644 to .854). Significant differences at P<.001 were found between the low- and high-quality groups. Advertisements on the website were rated as disturbing in both experimental conditions, meaning that they do not differentiate between good and bad information. The scale reliably distinguished high- and low-quality of medical advice given on websites.

Information bias in contingent valuation: effects of personal relevance, quality of information, and motivational orientation

Treesearch

Icek Ajzen; Thomas C. Brown; Lori H. Rosenthal

1996-01-01

A laboratory experiment examined the potential for information bias in contingent valuation (CV). Consistent with the view that information about a public or private good can function as a persuasive communication, willingness to pay (WTP) was found to increase with the quality of arguments used to describe the good, especially under conditions of high personal...

Evaluation of Quality and Readability of Health Information Websites Identified through India's Major Search Engines.

PubMed

Raj, S; Sharma, V L; Singh, A J; Goel, S

2016-01-01

Background. The available health information on websites should be reliable and accurate in order to make informed decisions by community. This study was done to assess the quality and readability of health information websites on World Wide Web in India. Methods. This cross-sectional study was carried out in June 2014. The key words "Health" and "Information" were used on search engines "Google" and "Yahoo." Out of 50 websites (25 from each search engines), after exclusion, 32 websites were evaluated. LIDA tool was used to assess the quality whereas the readability was assessed using Flesch Reading Ease Score (FRES), Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level (FKGL), and SMOG. Results. Forty percent of websites (n = 13) were sponsored by government. Health On the Net Code of Conduct (HONcode) certification was present on 50% (n = 16) of websites. The mean LIDA score (74.31) was average. Only 3 websites scored high on LIDA score. Only five had readability scores at recommended sixth-grade level. Conclusion. Most health information websites had average quality especially in terms of usability and reliability and were written at high readability levels. Efforts are needed to develop the health information websites which can help general population in informed decision making.

Evaluation of the quality and health literacy demand of online renal diet information.

PubMed

Lambert, K; Mullan, J; Mansfield, K; Koukomous, A; Mesiti, L

2017-10-01

Dietary modification is critical in the self-management of chronic kidney disease. The present study describes the accuracy, quality and health literacy demand of renal diet information for adults with kidney disease obtained from the Internet and YouTube (www.youtube.com). A comprehensive content analysis was undertaken in April and July 2015 of 254 eligible websites and 161 YouTube videos. The accuracy of the renal diet information was evaluated by comparing the key messages with relevant evidence-based guidelines for the dietary management of people with kidney disease. The DISCERN tool (www.discern.org.uk) was used to evaluate the quality of the material. Health literacy demand was evaluated using the Patient Education Material Assessment Tool (www.ahrq.gov/professionals/prevention-chronic-care/improve/self-mgmt/pemat/index.html) and seven validated readability calculators. The most frequent renal diet topic found online was generic dietary information for people with chronic kidney disease. The proportion of renal diet information obtained from websites that was accurate was 73%. However, this information was mostly of poor quality with extensive shortcomings, difficult to action and written with a high health literacy demand. By contrast, renal diet information available from YouTube was highly understandable and actionable, although only 18% of the videos were accurate, and a large proportion were of poor quality with extensive shortcomings. The most frequent authors of accurate, good quality, understandable, material were government bodies, dietitians, academic institutions and medical organisations. Renal diet information found online that is written by government bodies, dietitians, academic institutions and medical organisations is recommended. Further work is required to improve the quality and, most importantly, the actionability of renal diet information found online. © 2017 The British Dietetic Association Ltd.

Marketing Schools: Consumer Goods and Competitive Incentives for Consumer Information

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lubienski, Christopher

2007-01-01

Effective school-choice plans depend on the quality of information available to families. Examining the promotional materials provided by different schools in a highly competitive and diverse urban area tells us not only about the quality of that information but also how schools respond to competitive incentives. This analysis outlines an economic…

Improving Hospital Quality and Patient Safety an Examination of Organizational Culture and Information Systems

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gardner, John Wallace

2012-01-01

This dissertation examines the effects of safety culture, including operational climate and practices, as well as the adoption and use of information systems for delivering high quality healthcare and improved patient experience. Chapter 2 studies the influence of both general and outcome-specific hospital climate and quality practices on process…

Preface to QoIS 2009

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Comyn-Wattiau, Isabelle; Thalheim, Bernhard

Quality assurance is a growing research domain within the Information Systems (IS) and Conceptual Modeling (CM) disciplines. Ongoing research on quality in IS and CM is highly diverse and encompasses theoretical aspects including quality definition and quality models, and practical/empirical aspects such as the development of methods, approaches and tools for quality measurement and improvement. Current research on quality also includes quality characteristics definitions, validation instruments, methodological and development approaches to quality assurance during software and information systems development, quality monitors, quality assurance during information systems development processes and practices, quality assurance both for data and (meta)schemata, quality support for information systems data import and export, quality of query answering, and cost/benefit analysis of quality assurance processes. Quality assurance is also depending on the application area and the specific requirements in applications such as health sector, logistics, public sector, financial sector, manufacturing, services, e-commerce, software, etc. Furthermore, quality assurance must also be supported for data aggregation, ETL processes, web content management and other multi-layered applications. Quality assurance is typically requiring resources and has therefore beside its benefits a computational and economical trade-off. It is therefore also based on compromising between the value of quality data and the cost for quality assurance.

Microtia and Social Media: Patient Versus Physician Perspective of Quality of Information.

PubMed

Sepehripour, Sarvnaz; McDermott, Ann Louise; Lloyd, Mark Sheldon

2017-05-01

Previous research demonstrates that patients seek high-quality information on the World Wide Web, especially in rare conditions such as microtia. Social media has overtaken other sources of patient information but quality remains untested. This study quantifies the quality of information for patients with Microtia on social media compared with nonsocial media websites and compares physician and patient scoring on quality using the DISCERN tool. In phase 1, quality of the top 100 websites featuring information "Microtia" was ranked according to quality score and position on Google showing the position of social media websites among other nonsocial media websites. Phase 2 involved independent scoring of websites on microtia compared with a patient group with microtia to test whether physicians score differently to patients with t test comparison. Social media websites account for 2% of the scored websites with health providers linking to social media. Social media websites were among the highest ranked on Google. No correlation was found between the quality of information and Google rank. Social media scored higher than nonsocial media websites regarding quality of information on microtia. No significant difference existed between physician and patient quality of information scores on social media and nonsocial media websites (p 1.033). Physicians and patients objectively score microtia websites alike. Social media websites have higher use despite being few in number compared with nonsocial media websites. Physicians providing links to social media on information websites on rare conditions such as microtia are engaging in current information-seeking trends.

77 FR 27781 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection: Comment Request

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-05-11

... progress towards a high-quality home visiting program or embedding their home visiting program into a comprehensive, high-quality early childhood system. Thirteen States were awarded Development Grants, and nine...

Relationships of cotton fiber properties to ring-spun yarn quality on selected High Plains cottons

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

The objective of this research was to evaluate the adequacy of High Volume Instruement (HVI) and Advanced Fiber Information System (AFIS) fiber quality parameters for predicting quality parameters of ring-spun yarns considering differences in harvest method. Fiber properties measured using the HVI (...

Superintendents and Principals Need Quality Public Information That Informs Decisions, Empowers Action. Don't Make Decisions in the Dark

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Data Quality Campaign, 2014

2014-01-01

District superintendents or school principals need to be able to access and use high-quality data to make good decisions. Often this data is collected and stored locally, but information that is publicly reported by the state can provide additional value. Although public reporting in a few states is designed to serve information needs, states'…

Adopting Quality Criteria for Websites Providing Medical Information About Rare Diseases

PubMed Central

Göbel, Jens; Storf, Holger; Litzkendorf, Svenja; Babac, Ana; Frank, Martin; Lührs, Verena; Schauer, Franziska; Schmidtke, Jörg; Biehl, Lisa; Wagner, Thomas OF; Ückert, Frank; Graf von der Schulenburg, Johann-Matthias; Hartz, Tobias

2016-01-01

Background The European Union considers diseases to be rare when they affect less than 5 in 10,000 people. It is estimated that there are between 5000 and 8000 different rare diseases. Consistent with this diversity, the quality of information available on the Web varies considerably. Thus, quality criteria for websites about rare diseases are needed. Objective The objective of this study was to generate a catalog of quality criteria suitable for rare diseases. Methods First, relevant certificates and quality recommendations for health information websites were identified through a comprehensive Web search. Second, all considered quality criteria of each certification program and catalog were examined, extracted into an overview table, and analyzed by thematic content. Finally, an interdisciplinary expert group verified the relevant quality criteria. Results We identified 9 quality certificates and criteria catalogs for health information websites with 304 single criteria items. Through this, we aggregated 163 various quality criteria, each assigned to one of the following categories: thematic, technical, service, content, and legal. Finally, a consensus about 13 quality criteria for websites offering medical information on rare diseases was determined. Of these categories, 4 (data protection concept, imprint, creation and updating date, and possibility to contact the website provider) were identified as being the most important for publishing medical information about rare diseases. Conclusions The large number of different quality criteria appearing within a relatively small number of criteria catalogs shows that the opinion of what is important in the quality of health information differs. In addition, to define useful quality criteria for websites about rare diseases, which are an essential source of information for many patients, a trade-off is necessary between the high standard of quality criteria for health information websites in general and the limited provision of information about some rare diseases. Finally, transparently presented quality assessments can help people to find reliable information and to assess its quality. PMID:27562540

Adopting Quality Criteria for Websites Providing Medical Information About Rare Diseases.

PubMed

Pauer, Frédéric; Göbel, Jens; Storf, Holger; Litzkendorf, Svenja; Babac, Ana; Frank, Martin; Lührs, Verena; Schauer, Franziska; Schmidtke, Jörg; Biehl, Lisa; Wagner, Thomas Of; Ückert, Frank; Graf von der Schulenburg, Johann-Matthias; Hartz, Tobias

2016-08-25

The European Union considers diseases to be rare when they affect less than 5 in 10,000 people. It is estimated that there are between 5000 and 8000 different rare diseases. Consistent with this diversity, the quality of information available on the Web varies considerably. Thus, quality criteria for websites about rare diseases are needed. The objective of this study was to generate a catalog of quality criteria suitable for rare diseases. First, relevant certificates and quality recommendations for health information websites were identified through a comprehensive Web search. Second, all considered quality criteria of each certification program and catalog were examined, extracted into an overview table, and analyzed by thematic content. Finally, an interdisciplinary expert group verified the relevant quality criteria. We identified 9 quality certificates and criteria catalogs for health information websites with 304 single criteria items. Through this, we aggregated 163 various quality criteria, each assigned to one of the following categories: thematic, technical, service, content, and legal. Finally, a consensus about 13 quality criteria for websites offering medical information on rare diseases was determined. Of these categories, 4 (data protection concept, imprint, creation and updating date, and possibility to contact the website provider) were identified as being the most important for publishing medical information about rare diseases. The large number of different quality criteria appearing within a relatively small number of criteria catalogs shows that the opinion of what is important in the quality of health information differs. In addition, to define useful quality criteria for websites about rare diseases, which are an essential source of information for many patients, a trade-off is necessary between the high standard of quality criteria for health information websites in general and the limited provision of information about some rare diseases. Finally, transparently presented quality assessments can help people to find reliable information and to assess its quality.

Accessibility, nature and quality of health information on the Internet: a survey on osteoarthritis.

PubMed

Maloney, S; Ilic, D; Green, S

2005-03-01

This study aims to determine the quality and validity of information available on the Internet about osteoarthritis and to investigate the best way of sourcing this information. Keywords relevant to osteoarthritis were searched across 15 search engines representing medical, general and meta-search engines. Search engine efficiency was defined as the percentage of unique and relevant websites from all websites returned by each search engine. The quality of relevant information was appraised using the DISCERN tool and the concordance of the information offered by the website with the available evidence about osteoarthritis determined. A total of 3443 websites were retrieved, of which 344 were identified as unique and providing information relevant to osteoarthritis. The overall quality of website information was poor. There was no significant difference between types of search engine in sourcing relevant information; however, the information retrieved from medical search engines was of a higher quality. Fewer than a third of the websites identified as offering relevant information cited evidence to support their recommendations. Although the overall quality of website information about osteoarthritis was poor, medical search engines may provide consumers with the opportunity to source high-quality health information on the Internet. In the era of evidence-based medicine, one of the main obstacles to the Internet reaching its potential as a medical resource is the failure of websites to incorporate and attribute evidence-based information.

77 FR 33225 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-06-05

... progress towards a high-quality home visiting program or towards embedding their home visiting program into a comprehensive, high-quality early childhood system. Of State applicants to the competitive grant...

Health Consumers eHealth Literacy to Decrease Disparities in Accessing eHealth Information.

PubMed

Park, Hyejin; Cormier, Eileen; Glenna, Gordon

2016-01-01

The purpose of this study was to assess the perceived eHealth literacy of a general health consumer population so that health care professionals can effectively address skills gaps in health consumers' ability to access and use high quality online health information. Participants were recruited from three public library branches in a Northeast Florida community. The eHealth literacy scale (eHEALS) was used. The majority of participants (n = 108) reported they knew how and where to find health information and how to use it to make health decisions; knowledge of what health resources were available and confidence in the ability to distinguish high from low quality information was considerably less. The findings suggest the need for eHealth education and support to health consumers from health care professionals, in particular, how to access and evaluate the quality of health information.

Online Health Information Regarding Male Infertility: An Evaluation of Readability, Suitability, and Quality.

PubMed

Robins, Stephanie; Barr, Helena J; Idelson, Rachel; Lambert, Sylvie; Zelkowitz, Phyllis

2016-10-21

Many men lack knowledge about male infertility, and this may have consequences for their reproductive and general health. Men may prefer to seek health information online, but these sources of information vary in quality. The objective of this study is to determine if online sources of information regarding male infertility are readable, suitable, and of appropriate quality for Internet users in the general population. This study used a cross-sectional design to evaluate online sources resulting from search engine queries. The following categories of websites were considered: (1) Canadian fertility clinics, (2) North American organizations related to fertility, and (3) the first 20 results of Google searches using the terms "male infertility" and "male fertility preservation" set to the search locations worldwide, English Canada, and French Canada. Websites that met inclusion criteria (N=85) were assessed using readability indices, the Suitability Assessment of Materials (SAM), and the DISCERN tool. The associations between website affiliation (government, university/medical, non-profit organization, commercial/corporate, private practice) and Google placement to readability, suitability, and quality were also examined. None of the sampled websites met recommended levels of readability. Across all websites, the mean SAM score for suitability was 45.37% (SD 11.21), or "adequate", while the DISCERN mean score for quality was 43.19 (SD 10.46) or "fair". Websites that placed higher in Google obtained a higher overall score for quality with an r (58) value of -.328 and a P value of .012, but this position was not related to readability or suitability. In addition, 20% of fertility clinic websites did not include fertility information for men. There is a lack of high quality online sources of information on male fertility. Many websites target their information to women, or fail to meet established readability criteria for the general population. Since men may prefer to seek health information online, it is important that health care professionals develop high quality sources of information on male fertility for the general population.

Can high quality overcome consumer resistance to restricted provider access? Evidence from a health plan choice experiment.

PubMed

Harris, Katherine M

2002-06-01

To investigate the impact of quality information on the willingness of consumers to enroll in health plans that restrict provider access. A survey administered to respondents between the ages of 25 and 64 in the West Los Angeles area with private health insurance. An experimental approach is used to measure the effect of variation in provider network features and information about the quality of network physicians on hypothetical plan choices. Conditional logit models are used to analyze the experimental choice data. Next, choice model parameter estimates are used to simulate the impact of changes in plan features on the market shares of competing health plans and to calculate the quality level required to make consumers indifferent to changes in provider access. The presence of quality information reduced the importance of provider network features in plan choices as hypothesized. However, there were not statistically meaningful differences by type of quality measure (i.e., consumer assessed versus expert assessed). The results imply that large quality differences are required to make consumers indifferent to changes in provider access. The impact of quality on plan choices depended more on the particular measure and less on the type of measure. Quality ratings based on the proportion of survey respondents "extremely satisfied with results of care" had the greatest impact on plan choice while the proportion of network doctors "affiliated with university medical centers" had the least. Other consumer and expert assessed measures had more comparable effects. Overall the results provide empirical evidence that consumers are willing to trade high quality for restrictions on provider access. This willingness to trade implies that relatively small plans that place restrictions on provider access can successfully compete against less restrictive plans when they can demonstrate high quality. However, the results of this study suggest that in many cases, the level of quality required for consumers to accept access restrictions may be so high as to be unattainable. The results provide empirical support for the current focus of decision support efforts on consumer assessed quality measures. At the same time, however, the results suggest that consumers would also value quality measures based on expert assessments. This finding is relevant given the lack of comparative quality information based on expert judgment and research suggesting that consumers have apprehensions about their ability to meaningfully interpret performance-based quality measures.

Orthopaedic Patient Information on the World Wide Web: An Essential Review.

PubMed

Cassidy, John Tristan; Baker, Joseph F

2016-02-17

Patients increasingly use the Internet to research health-related issues. Internet content, unlike other forms of media, is not regulated. Although information accessed online can impact patients' opinions and expectations, there is limited information about the quality or readability of online orthopaedic information. PubMed, MEDLINE, and Google Scholar were searched using anatomic descriptors and three title keywords ("Internet," "web," and "online"). Articles examining online orthopaedic information from January 1, 2000, until April 1, 2015, were recorded. Articles were assessed for the number of reviewers evaluating the online material, whether the article examined for a link between authorship and quality, and the use of recognized quality and readability assessment tools. To facilitate a contemporary discussion, only publications since January 1, 2010, were considered for analysis. A total of thirty-eight peer-reviewed articles published since 2010 examining the quality and/or readability of online orthopaedic information were reviewed. For information quality, there was marked variation in the quality assessment methods utilized, the number of reviewers, and the manner of reporting. To date, the majority of examined information is of poor quality. Studies examining readability have focused on pages produced by professional orthopaedic societies. The quality and readability of online orthopaedic information are generally poor. For modern practices to adapt to the Internet and to prevent misinformation, the orthopaedic community should develop high-quality, readable online patient information. Copyright © 2016 by The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery, Incorporated.

Use of quality information in decision-making about health and social care services--a systematic review.

PubMed

Turnpenny, Agnes; Beadle-Brown, Julie

2015-07-01

User choice and personalisation have been at the centre of health and social care policies in many countries. Exercising choice can be especially challenging for people with long-term conditions (LTC) or disabilities. Information about the quality, cost and availability of services is central to user choice. This study used systematic review methods to synthesise evidence in three main areas: (i) how people with LTC or disabilities and their family carers find and access information about the quality of services; (ii) how quality information is used in decision-making; and (iii) what type of quality information is most useful. Quality information was defined broadly and could include formal quality reports (e.g. inspection reports, report cards, etc.), information about the characteristics of a service or provider (e.g. number and qualifications of staff, facilities, etc.) and informal reports about quality (e.g. personal experience, etc.). Literature searches were carried out using electronic databases in January 2012. Thirteen papers reporting findings from empirical studies published between 2001 and 2012 were included in the review. The majority of papers (n = 9) had a qualitative design. The analysis highlighted the use of multiple sources of information in decision-making about services and in particular the importance of informal sources and extended social networks in accessing information. There is limited awareness and use of 'official' and online information sources. Service users or family carers place greater emphasis on general information and structural indicators. Clinical or quality-of-life outcomes are often difficult to interpret and apply. Trust emerged a key issue in relation to quality information. Experiential and subjective information is highly valued and trusted. Various barriers to the effective use of quality information in making choices about services are identified. Implications for policy and future research are discussed. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Comparing the information conveyed by envelope modulation for speech intelligibility, speech quality, and music quality.

PubMed

Kates, James M; Arehart, Kathryn H

2015-10-01

This paper uses mutual information to quantify the relationship between envelope modulation fidelity and perceptual responses. Data from several previous experiments that measured speech intelligibility, speech quality, and music quality are evaluated for normal-hearing and hearing-impaired listeners. A model of the auditory periphery is used to generate envelope signals, and envelope modulation fidelity is calculated using the normalized cross-covariance of the degraded signal envelope with that of a reference signal. Two procedures are used to describe the envelope modulation: (1) modulation within each auditory frequency band and (2) spectro-temporal processing that analyzes the modulation of spectral ripple components fit to successive short-time spectra. The results indicate that low modulation rates provide the highest information for intelligibility, while high modulation rates provide the highest information for speech and music quality. The low-to-mid auditory frequencies are most important for intelligibility, while mid frequencies are most important for speech quality and high frequencies are most important for music quality. Differences between the spectral ripple components used for the spectro-temporal analysis were not significant in five of the six experimental conditions evaluated. The results indicate that different modulation-rate and auditory-frequency weights may be appropriate for indices designed to predict different types of perceptual relationships.

Comparing the information conveyed by envelope modulation for speech intelligibility, speech quality, and music quality

PubMed Central

Kates, James M.; Arehart, Kathryn H.

2015-01-01

This paper uses mutual information to quantify the relationship between envelope modulation fidelity and perceptual responses. Data from several previous experiments that measured speech intelligibility, speech quality, and music quality are evaluated for normal-hearing and hearing-impaired listeners. A model of the auditory periphery is used to generate envelope signals, and envelope modulation fidelity is calculated using the normalized cross-covariance of the degraded signal envelope with that of a reference signal. Two procedures are used to describe the envelope modulation: (1) modulation within each auditory frequency band and (2) spectro-temporal processing that analyzes the modulation of spectral ripple components fit to successive short-time spectra. The results indicate that low modulation rates provide the highest information for intelligibility, while high modulation rates provide the highest information for speech and music quality. The low-to-mid auditory frequencies are most important for intelligibility, while mid frequencies are most important for speech quality and high frequencies are most important for music quality. Differences between the spectral ripple components used for the spectro-temporal analysis were not significant in five of the six experimental conditions evaluated. The results indicate that different modulation-rate and auditory-frequency weights may be appropriate for indices designed to predict different types of perceptual relationships. PMID:26520329

Quality of information sources about mental disorders: a comparison of Wikipedia with centrally controlled web and printed sources.

PubMed

Reavley, N J; Mackinnon, A J; Morgan, A J; Alvarez-Jimenez, M; Hetrick, S E; Killackey, E; Nelson, B; Purcell, R; Yap, M B H; Jorm, A F

2012-08-01

Although mental health information on the internet is often of poor quality, relatively little is known about the quality of websites, such as Wikipedia, that involve participatory information sharing. The aim of this paper was to explore the quality of user-contributed mental health-related information on Wikipedia and compare this with centrally controlled information sources. Content on 10 mental health-related topics was extracted from 14 frequently accessed websites (including Wikipedia) providing information about depression and schizophrenia, Encyclopaedia Britannica, and a psychiatry textbook. The content was rated by experts according to the following criteria: accuracy, up-to-dateness, breadth of coverage, referencing and readability. Ratings varied significantly between resources according to topic. Across all topics, Wikipedia was the most highly rated in all domains except readability. The quality of information on depression and schizophrenia on Wikipedia is generally as good as, or better than, that provided by centrally controlled websites, Encyclopaedia Britannica and a psychiatry textbook.

77 FR 47850 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-08-10

... function; (2) the accuracy of the estimated burden; (3) ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity... care provided by managed care organizations under contract to CMS is of high quality. One way of ensuring high quality care in Medicare Managed Care Organizations (MCOs), or more commonly referred to as...

Human Capital: Attracting and Retaining a High-Quality Information Technology Workforce. Testimony before the Subcommittee on Technology and Procurement Policy, Committee on Government Reform, U.S. House of Representatives.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McClure, David L.

The General Accounting Office examined the problem of attracting and retaining a high-quality information technology (IT) workforce in federal government agencies. The problem was traced to a longstanding lack of effective leadership and management and lack of a strategic approach to marshaling, managing, and maintaining the human capital needed…

Managing Vocabulary Mapping Services

PubMed Central

Che, Chengjian; Monson, Kent; Poon, Kasey B.; Shakib, Shaun C.; Lau, Lee Min

2005-01-01

The efficient management and maintenance of large-scale and high-quality vocabulary mapping is an operational challenge. The 3M Health Information Systems (HIS) Healthcare Data Dictionary (HDD) group developed an information management system to provide controlled mapping services, resulting in improved efficiency and quality maintenance. PMID:16779203

Quality of Web-based information on obsessive compulsive disorder.

PubMed

Klila, Hedi; Chatton, Anne; Zermatten, Ariane; Khan, Riaz; Preisig, Martin; Khazaal, Yasser

2013-01-01

The Internet is increasingly used as a source of information for mental health issues. The burden of obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) may lead persons with diagnosed or undiagnosed OCD, and their relatives, to search for good quality information on the Web. This study aimed to evaluate the quality of Web-based information on English-language sites dealing with OCD and to compare the quality of websites found through a general and a medically specialized search engine. Keywords related to OCD were entered into Google and OmniMedicalSearch. Websites were assessed on the basis of accountability, interactivity, readability, and content quality. The "Health on the Net" (HON) quality label and the Brief DISCERN scale score were used as possible content quality indicators. Of the 235 links identified, 53 websites were analyzed. The content quality of the OCD websites examined was relatively good. The use of a specialized search engine did not offer an advantage in finding websites with better content quality. A score ≥16 on the Brief DISCERN scale is associated with better content quality. This study shows the acceptability of the content quality of OCD websites. There is no advantage in searching for information with a specialized search engine rather than a general one. The Internet offers a number of high quality OCD websites. It remains critical, however, to have a provider-patient talk about the information found on the Web.

Local School Board Members Need Quality Public Information That Informs Decisions, Empowers Action. Don't Make Decisions in the Dark

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Data Quality Campaign, 2014

2014-01-01

Local school board members need to be able to access and use high-quality data to make good decisions. Often this data is collected and stored locally, but information that is publicly reported by the state can provide additional value. Most state public reporting is designed to serve information needs, and are geared toward compliance with state…

An importance-performance analysis of hospital information system attributes: A nurses' perspective.

PubMed

Cohen, Jason F; Coleman, Emma; Kangethe, Matheri J

2016-02-01

Health workers have numerous concerns about hospital IS (HIS) usage. Addressing these concerns requires understanding the system attributes most important to their satisfaction and productivity. Following a recent HIS implementation, our objective was to identify priorities for managerial intervention based on user evaluations of the performance of the HIS attributes as well as the relative importance of these attributes to user satisfaction and productivity outcomes. We collected data along a set of attributes representing system quality, data quality, information quality, and service quality from 154 nurse users. Their quantitative responses were analysed using the partial least squares approach followed by an importance-performance analysis. Qualitative responses were analysed using thematic analysis to triangulate and supplement the quantitative findings. Two system quality attributes (responsiveness and ease of learning), one information quality attribute (detail), one service quality attribute (sufficient support), and three data quality attributes (records complete, accurate and never missing) were identified as high priorities for intervention. Our application of importance-performance analysis is unique in HIS evaluation and we have illustrated its utility for identifying those system attributes for which underperformance is not acceptable to users and therefore should be high priorities for intervention. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Health information technology and physicians' perceptions of healthcare quality.

PubMed

Fang, Hai; Peifer, Karen L; Chen, Jie; Rizzo, John A

2011-03-01

To investigate the relationship between the use of health information technology (HIT) and physician perceptions of providing high-quality care and to determine whether this relationship has changed over time. We used 2 waves of longitudinal data from the Community Tracking Study Physician Surveys, 2000-2001 and 2004-2005. Three measures of HIT were examined: a binary variable measuring the use of at least 1 type of HIT, a continuous variable measuring the total number of HIT types, and a binary variable measuring use of all 5 HIT types related to "meaningful use" of HIT as defined by Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Three multivariate models were estimated to study the effect of each HIT measure on physicians' perception of providing high-quality care. Individual fixed-effects estimation also was used to control for individual time-invariant factors. Using at least 1 type of HIT significantly enhanced physicians' perception of providing high-quality care in 2000-2001, but not in 2004-2005. The marginal effect of adding 1 extra HIT type was positive and statistically significant in both periods. The association between using all 5 HIT types related to meaningful use and perceived quality was statistically significant in 2000-2001, but not in 2004-2005. Health information technology has become a multifunctional system and appears to have enhanced physicians' perception of providing high-quality care. Physicians' perceptions of medical care quality improved as the number of HIT types used increased. This study supports more extensive use of HIT in physician practices.

Defining Information Quality Into Health Websites: A Conceptual Framework of Health Website Information Quality for Educated Young Adults

PubMed Central

LeRouge, Cynthia; Smith, K Jody; De Leo, Gianluca

2017-01-01

Background Today’s health care environment encourages health care consumers to take an active role in managing their health. As digital natives, young educated adults do much of their health information management through the Internet and consider it a valid source of health advice. However, the quality of information on health websites is highly variable and dynamic. Little is known about the understandings and perceptions that young educated adults have garnered on the quality of information on health websites used for health care–related purposes. Objective To fill this gap, the aim of this study was to develop a conceptual framework of health website information quality with quality dimensions (ie, criteria) and associated quality drivers (ie, attributes) specified in the context of young educated adults’ use of health websites for health care–related purposes. This aim was achieved by (1) identifying information quality dimensions of health websites from the perspective of young educated adults; (2) identifying the importance ratings of these quality dimensions; and (3) constructing a framework of health website information quality with quality dimensions and associated drivers specified in the context of young educated adults’ use of health websites for health care–related purposes. Methods The study employed both qualitative and quantitative methods. Methods included semistructured group interviews and an individual quality assessment exercise grounded in visiting various websites and responding to Likert scale questions regarding the importance ratings of information quality dimensions and open-ended questions with specifying website quality drivers. Study participants included junior and senior undergraduate and graduate students in business, allied health, and public health majors. Qualitative, open-coding procedures were used to develop the conceptual framework reflecting the participants’ means of assessing information quality on health websites. Results Five dimensions of information quality for health websites were identified: Completeness of information, Understandability of information, Relevance of information, Depth of information, and Accuracy of information. Completeness of information and Understandability of information were rated as the two most important quality dimensions by the study participants. Results indicated that these five information quality dimensions for health websites were supported by the following main driver themes: Content, Design, Links, Consumer resources, Search functionality, Supporting references, User focus, Content FAQ, Open access, Policy statements, and Site performance. Conclusions This study contributes to the literature by developing a health website information quality conceptual framework with quality dimensions and associated drivers specified for a young educated adult population. The detailed quality drivers supporting the corresponding quality dimensions provide a rich picture of young educated adults’ perceptions on health website information quality. This framework can be used to guide the development of health websites, as well as the foundation for a means to evaluate health information from existing health websites with young educated adults as the target audience. PMID:28986336

Defining Information Quality Into Health Websites: A Conceptual Framework of Health Website Information Quality for Educated Young Adults.

PubMed

Tao, Donghua; LeRouge, Cynthia; Smith, K Jody; De Leo, Gianluca

2017-10-06

Today's health care environment encourages health care consumers to take an active role in managing their health. As digital natives, young educated adults do much of their health information management through the Internet and consider it a valid source of health advice. However, the quality of information on health websites is highly variable and dynamic. Little is known about the understandings and perceptions that young educated adults have garnered on the quality of information on health websites used for health care-related purposes. To fill this gap, the aim of this study was to develop a conceptual framework of health website information quality with quality dimensions (ie, criteria) and associated quality drivers (ie, attributes) specified in the context of young educated adults' use of health websites for health care-related purposes. This aim was achieved by (1) identifying information quality dimensions of health websites from the perspective of young educated adults; (2) identifying the importance ratings of these quality dimensions; and (3) constructing a framework of health website information quality with quality dimensions and associated drivers specified in the context of young educated adults' use of health websites for health care-related purposes. The study employed both qualitative and quantitative methods. Methods included semistructured group interviews and an individual quality assessment exercise grounded in visiting various websites and responding to Likert scale questions regarding the importance ratings of information quality dimensions and open-ended questions with specifying website quality drivers. Study participants included junior and senior undergraduate and graduate students in business, allied health, and public health majors. Qualitative, open-coding procedures were used to develop the conceptual framework reflecting the participants' means of assessing information quality on health websites. Five dimensions of information quality for health websites were identified: Completeness of information, Understandability of information, Relevance of information, Depth of information, and Accuracy of information. Completeness of information and Understandability of information were rated as the two most important quality dimensions by the study participants. Results indicated that these five information quality dimensions for health websites were supported by the following main driver themes: Content, Design, Links, Consumer resources, Search functionality, Supporting references, User focus, Content FAQ, Open access, Policy statements, and Site performance. This study contributes to the literature by developing a health website information quality conceptual framework with quality dimensions and associated drivers specified for a young educated adult population. The detailed quality drivers supporting the corresponding quality dimensions provide a rich picture of young educated adults' perceptions on health website information quality. This framework can be used to guide the development of health websites, as well as the foundation for a means to evaluate health information from existing health websites with young educated adults as the target audience. ©Donghua Tao, Cynthia LeRouge, K Jody Smith, Gianluca De Leo. Originally published in JMIR Human Factors (http://humanfactors.jmir.org), 06.10.2017.

Feasibility of Extracting Key Elements from ClinicalTrials.gov to Support Clinicians’ Patient Care Decisions

PubMed Central

Kim, Heejun; Bian, Jiantao; Mostafa, Javed; Jonnalagadda, Siddhartha; Del Fiol, Guilherme

2016-01-01

Motivation: Clinicians need up-to-date evidence from high quality clinical trials to support clinical decisions. However, applying evidence from the primary literature requires significant effort. Objective: To examine the feasibility of automatically extracting key clinical trial information from ClinicalTrials.gov. Methods: We assessed the coverage of ClinicalTrials.gov for high quality clinical studies that are indexed in PubMed. Using 140 random ClinicalTrials.gov records, we developed and tested rules for the automatic extraction of key information. Results: The rate of high quality clinical trial registration in ClinicalTrials.gov increased from 0.2% in 2005 to 17% in 2015. Trials reporting results increased from 3% in 2005 to 19% in 2015. The accuracy of the automatic extraction algorithm for 10 trial attributes was 90% on average. Future research is needed to improve the algorithm accuracy and to design information displays to optimally present trial information to clinicians. PMID:28269867

Effects of combined pressure and temperature on enzymes related to quality of fruits and vegetables: from kinetic information to process engineering aspects.

PubMed

Ludikhuyze, L; Van Loey, A; Indrawati; Smout, C; Hendrickx, M

2003-01-01

Throughout the last decade, high pressure technology has been shown to offer great potential to the food processing and preservation industry in delivering safe and high quality products. Implementation of this new technology will be largely facilitated when a scientific basis to assess quantitatively the impact of high pressure processes on food safety and quality becomes available. Besides, quantitative data on the effects of pressure and temperature on safety and quality aspects of foods are indispensable for design and evaluation of optimal high pressure processes, i.e., processes resulting in maximal quality retention within the constraints of the required reduction of microbial load and enzyme activity. Indeed it has to be stressed that new technologies should deliver, apart from the promised quality improvement, an equivalent or preferably enhanced level of safety. The present paper will give an overview from a quantitative point of view of the combined effects of pressure and temperature on enzymes related to quality of fruits and vegetables. Complete kinetic characterization of the inactivation of the individual enzymes will be discussed, as well as the use of integrated kinetic information in process engineering.

Exploring network operations for data and information networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yao, Bing; Su, Jing; Ma, Fei; Wang, Xiaomin; Zhao, Xiyang; Yao, Ming

2017-01-01

Barabási and Albert, in 1999, formulated scale-free models based on some real networks: World-Wide Web, Internet, metabolic and protein networks, language or sexual networks. Scale-free networks not only appear around us, but also have high qualities in the world. As known, high quality information networks can transfer feasibly and efficiently data, clearly, their topological structures are very important for data safety. We build up network operations for constructing large scale of dynamic networks from smaller scale of network models having good property and high quality. We focus on the simplest operators to formulate complex operations, and are interesting on the closeness of operations to desired network properties.

A Personalized Health Information Retrieval System

PubMed Central

Wang, Yunli; Liu, Zhenkai

2005-01-01

Consumers face barriers when seeking health information on the Internet. A Personalized Health Information Retrieval System (PHIRS) is proposed to recommend health information for consumers. The system consists of four modules: (1) User modeling module captures user’s preference and health interests; (2) Automatic quality filtering module identifies high quality health information; (3) Automatic text difficulty rating module classifies health information into professional or patient educational materials; and (4) User profile matching module tailors health information for individuals. The initial results show that PHIRS could assist consumers with simple search strategies. PMID:16779435

High Plains regional ground-water study

USGS Publications Warehouse

Dennehy, Kevin F.

2000-01-01

Over the last 25 years, industry and government have made large financial investments aimed at improving water quality across the Nation. Significant progress has been made; however, many water-quality concerns remain. In 1991, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) began implementing a full-scale National Water-Quality Assessment Program to provide consistent and scientifically sound information for managing the Nation's water resources. The goals of the NAWQA Program are to (1) describe current water-quality conditions for a large part of the Nation's freshwater streams and aquifers, (2) describe how water quality is changing over time, and (3) improve our understanding of the primary natural and human factors affecting water quality. Assessing the quality of water in every location in the Nation would not be practical; therefore, NAWQA Program studies are conducted within a set of areas called study units (fig. 1). These study units are composed of more than 50 important river and aquifer systems that represent the diverse geography, water resources, and land and water uses of the Nation. The High Plains Regional Ground-Water Study is one such study area, designed to address issues relevant to the High Plains Aquifer system while supplementing water-quality information collected in other study units across the Nation. Implementation of the NAWQA Program for the High Plains Regional Ground-Water Study area began in 1998.

What information is used in treatment decision aids? A systematic review of the types of evidence populating health decision aids.

PubMed

Clifford, Amanda M; Ryan, Jean; Walsh, Cathal; McCurtin, Arlene

2017-02-23

Patient decision aids (DAs) are support tools designed to provide patients with relevant information to help them make informed decisions about their healthcare. While DAs can be effective in improving patient knowledge and decision quality, it is unknown what types of information and evidence are used to populate such decision tools. Systematic methods were used to identify and appraise the relevant literature and patient DAs published between 2006 and 2015. Six databases (Academic Search Complete, AMED, CINAHL, Biomedical Reference Collection, General Sciences and MEDLINE) and reference list searching were used. Articles evaluating the effectiveness of the DAs were appraised using the Cochrane Risk of Bias tool. The content, quality and sources of evidence in the decision aids were evaluated using the IPDASi-SF and a novel classification system. Findings were synthesised and a narrative analysis was performed on the results. Thirteen studies representing ten DAs met the inclusion criteria. The IPDASI-SF score ranged from 9 to 16 indicating many of the studies met the majority of quality criteria. Sources of evidence were described but reports were sometimes generic or missing important information. The majority of DAs incorporated high quality research evidence including systematic reviews and meta-analyses. Patient and practice evidence was less commonly employed, with only a third of included DAs using these to populate decision aid content. The quality of practice and patient evidence ranged from high to low. Contextual factors were addressed across all DAs to varying degrees and covered a range of factors. This is an initial study examining the information and evidence used to populate DAs. While research evidence and contextual factors are well represented in included DAs, consideration should be given to incorporating high quality information representing all four pillars of evidence based practice when developing DAs. Further, patient and expert practice evidence should be acquired rigorously and DAs should report the means by which such evidence is obtained with citations clearly provided.

Evaluation of Quality and Readability of Health Information Websites Identified through India's Major Search Engines

PubMed Central

Raj, S.; Sharma, V. L.; Singh, A. J.; Goel, S.

2016-01-01

Background. The available health information on websites should be reliable and accurate in order to make informed decisions by community. This study was done to assess the quality and readability of health information websites on World Wide Web in India. Methods. This cross-sectional study was carried out in June 2014. The key words “Health” and “Information” were used on search engines “Google” and “Yahoo.” Out of 50 websites (25 from each search engines), after exclusion, 32 websites were evaluated. LIDA tool was used to assess the quality whereas the readability was assessed using Flesch Reading Ease Score (FRES), Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level (FKGL), and SMOG. Results. Forty percent of websites (n = 13) were sponsored by government. Health On the Net Code of Conduct (HONcode) certification was present on 50% (n = 16) of websites. The mean LIDA score (74.31) was average. Only 3 websites scored high on LIDA score. Only five had readability scores at recommended sixth-grade level. Conclusion. Most health information websites had average quality especially in terms of usability and reliability and were written at high readability levels. Efforts are needed to develop the health information websites which can help general population in informed decision making. PMID:27119025

Assessment of the quality of patient-orientated internet information on surgery for ulcerative colitis.

PubMed

Sacchi, M; Yeung, T M; Spinelli, A; Mortensen, N J

2015-06-01

This study examines the quality of websites providing information on ulcerative colitis, including treatment options and surgery. Two search engines (Google and Yahoo) and the search term 'surgery for ulcerative colitis' were used. The first 50 sites obtained with each search engine were assessed. Sites were evaluated for content and scored using the DISCERN instrument, which evaluates the quality of health information on treatment choices. One hundred sites were examined, of which 14 were duplicates. Of the remainder, 58 provided patient-orientated information for adults and one site provided information for surgery in children. The other 27 sites included six scientific articles, three blogs, three links, six resources for clinicians, five fora, two video links and two dead links. Of the 58 websites that provided patient information for adults, only 26 (44.8%) had been updated within the last 2 years. Only 13/58 (22.4%) were affiliated to hospitals and clinics. Most sites (38/58, 65.5%) were associated with private companies with commercial interests. Although most websites contained information on symptoms and treatment options for ulcerative colitis, 37 (63.8%) did not describe any of the risks of surgery. Overall, only seven (12.1%) websites were identified as being 'good' or 'excellent' using the DISCERN criteria. The quality of patient information on surgery for ulcerative colitis is highly variable. There is potential for internet provision of valuable information and clinicians should guide patients with to access high-quality websites. Colorectal Disease © 2014 The Association of Coloproctology of Great Britain and Ireland.

Randomization Based Privacy Preserving Categorical Data Analysis

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Guo, Ling

2010-01-01

The success of data mining relies on the availability of high quality data. To ensure quality data mining, effective information sharing between organizations becomes a vital requirement in today's society. Since data mining often involves sensitive information of individuals, the public has expressed a deep concern about their privacy.…

Rare Diseases on the Internet: An Assessment of the Quality of Online Information.

PubMed

Pauer, Frédéric; Litzkendorf, Svenja; Göbel, Jens; Storf, Holger; Zeidler, Jan; Graf von der Schulenburg, Johann-Matthias

2017-01-18

The importance of the Internet as a medium for publishing and sharing health and medical information has increased considerably during the last decade. Nonetheless, comprehensive knowledge and information are scarce and difficult to find, especially for rare diseases. Additionally, the quality of health or medical information about rare diseases is frequently difficult to assess for the patients and their family members. The aim of this study is to assess the quality of information on the Internet about rare diseases. Additionally, the study aims to evaluate if the quality of information on rare diseases varies between different information supplier categories. A total of 13 quality criteria for websites providing medical information about rare diseases were transferred to a self-disclosure questionnaire. Identified providers of information on the Internet about rare diseases were invited to fill out the questionnaire. The questionnaire contained questions about the information provider in general (eg, supplier category, information category, language, use of quality certificates, and target group) and about quality aspects that reflect the 13 quality criteria. Differences in subgroup analyses were performed using t tests. We identified 693 websites containing information about rare diseases. A total of 123 questionnaires (17.7%) were completely filled out by the information suppliers. For the remaining identified suppliers (570/693, 82.3%), the questionnaires were filled out by the authors based on the information available on their website. In many cases, the quality of websites was proportionally low. Furthermore, subgroup analysis showed no statistically significant differences between the quality of information provided by support group/patient organization compared to medical institution (P=.19). The quality of information by individuals (patient/relative) was significantly lower compared to information provided by support group/patient organization (P=.001), medical institution (P=.009), and other associations and sponsoring bodies (P=.001) as well. Overall, the quality of information on the Internet about rare diseases is low. Quality certificates are rarely used and important quality criteria are often not fulfilled completely. Additionally, some information categories are underrepresented (eg, information about psychosocial counseling, social-legal advice, and family planning). Nevertheless, due to the high amount of information provided by support groups, this study shows that these are extremely valuable sources of information for patients suffering from a rare disease and their relatives. ©Frédéric Pauer, Svenja Litzkendorf, Jens Göbel, Holger Storf, Jan Zeidler, Johann-Matthias Graf von der Schulenburg. Originally published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research (http://www.jmir.org), 18.01.2017.

Evaluation of the visual performance of image processing pipes: information value of subjective image attributes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nyman, G.; Häkkinen, J.; Koivisto, E.-M.; Leisti, T.; Lindroos, P.; Orenius, O.; Virtanen, T.; Vuori, T.

2010-01-01

Subjective image quality data for 9 image processing pipes and 8 image contents (taken with mobile phone camera, 72 natural scene test images altogether) from 14 test subjects were collected. A triplet comparison setup and a hybrid qualitative/quantitative methodology were applied. MOS data and spontaneous, subjective image quality attributes to each test image were recorded. The use of positive and negative image quality attributes by the experimental subjects suggested a significant difference between the subjective spaces of low and high image quality. The robustness of the attribute data was shown by correlating DMOS data of the test images against their corresponding, average subjective attribute vector length data. The findings demonstrate the information value of spontaneous, subjective image quality attributes in evaluating image quality at variable quality levels. We discuss the implications of these findings for the development of sensitive performance measures and methods in profiling image processing systems and their components, especially at high image quality levels.

Identifying Health Consumers' eHealth Literacy to Decrease Disparities in Accessing eHealth Information.

PubMed

Park, Hyejin; Cormier, Eileen; Gordon, Glenna; Baeg, Jung Hoon

2016-02-01

The increasing amount of health information available on the Internet highlights the importance of eHealth literacy skills for health consumers. Low eHealth literacy results in disparities in health consumers' ability to access and use eHealth information. The purpose of this study was to assess the perceived eHealth literacy of a general health consumer population so that healthcare professionals can effectively address skills gaps in health consumers' ability to access and use high-quality online health information. Participants were recruited from three public library branches in a Northeast Florida community. The eHealth Literacy Scale was used. The majority of participants (n = 108) reported they knew how and where to find health information and how to use it to make health decisions; knowledge of what health resources were available and confidence in the ability to distinguish high- from low-quality information were considerably less. The findings suggest the need for eHealth education and support to health consumers from healthcare professionals, in particular, how to access and evaluate the quality of health information.

Conceptualization and Implementation of the Central Information Portal on Rare Diseases: Protocol for a Qualitative Study

PubMed Central

Hartz, Tobias; Göbel, Jens; Storf, Holger; Pauer, Frédéric; Babac, Ana; Lührs, Verena; Bruckner-Tuderman, Leena; Schauer, Franziska; Schmidtke, Jörg; Biehl, Lisa; Wagner, TOF; Graf von der Schulenburg, J-Matthias; Frank, Martin

2018-01-01

Background Recently, public and political interest has focused on people living with rare diseases and their health concerns. Due to the large number of different types of rare diseases and the sizable number of patients, taking action to improve the life of those affected is gaining importance. In 2013, the federal government of Germany adopted a national action plan for rare diseases, including the call to establish a central information portal on rare diseases (Zentrales Informationsportal über seltene Erkrankungen, ZIPSE). Objective The objective of this study, therefore, was to conduct scientific research on how such a portal must be designed to meet the needs of patients, their families, and medical professionals, and to provide high-quality information for information seekers. Methods We chose a 3-step procedure to develop a needs-based prototype of a central information portal. In the first step, we determined the information needs of patients with rare diseases, their relatives, and health care professionals by means of qualitative interviews and their content-analytical evaluation. On the basis of this, we developed the basic structure of the portal. In the second step, we identified quality criteria for websites on rare diseases to ensure that the information linked with ZIPSE meets the quality demands. Therefore, we gathered existing criteria catalogs and discussed them in an expert workshop. In the third step, we implemented and tested the developed prototypical information portal. Results A portal page was configured and made accessible on the Web. The structure of ZIPSE was based on the findings from 108 qualitative interviews with patients, their relatives, and health care professionals, through which numerous information needs were identified. We placed particularly important areas of information, such as symptoms, therapy, research, and advisory services, on the start page. Moreover, we defined 13 quality criteria, referring to factors such as author information, creation date, and privacy, enabling links with high-quality information. Moreover, 19 users tested all the developed routines based on usability and comprehensibility. Subsequently, we improved the visual presentation of search results and other important search functions. Conclusions The implemented information portal, ZIPSE, provides high-quality information on rare diseases from a central point of access. By integrating the targeted groups as well as different experts on medical information during the construction, the website can assure an improved search for information for users. ZIPSE can also serve as a model for other Web-based information systems in the field of rare diseases. Registered Report Identifier RR1-10.2196/7425 PMID:29752252

Army Vocational Guidance in Two-Year Colleges

DTIC Science & Technology

1987-11-01

worklife . Second, counselors were quite receptive to the idea of having high quality Army information available that could aid student career planning...the CVG/JOIN information presentations to be informative and rather objective (i.e., balanced pros and cons about Army life/options). Nonetheless...presentation; variety, color is excellant. - Very honest and balanced presentations. "* 130 0 - - - - - - - - - - 15) quality of "Army Jobs" info

Moving up the Ladder: How Do States Deliver Quality Improvement Supports within Their Quality Rating and Improvement Systems? Brief

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Holod, Aleksandra; Faria, Ann-Marie; Weinberg, Emily; Howard, Eboni

2015-01-01

As national attention has increasingly focused on the potential for high-quality early childhood education (ECE) to improve children's school readiness, states have developed quality rating and improvement systems (QRISs) to document the quality of ECE programs, support systematic quality improvement, and provide clear information to families…

The poor quality and reliability of information on periacetabular osteotomy on the internet in Japan.

PubMed

Takegami, Yasuhiko; Seki, Taisuke; Amano, Takafumi; Higuchi, Yoshitoshi; Komatsu, Daigo; Nishida, Yoshihiro; Ishiguro, Naoki

2017-08-01

Although many patients use the internet to access health-related information, the quality and the reliability of the information is highly inconsistent. Periacetabular osteotomy (PAO) is one of the surgical procedures for hip dysplasia. However, medical information on PAO is limited on the internet. This study aims to evaluate the quality and reliability of information available on PAO on the internet in Japan. A web search was conducted on two search engines for the following terms: "hip osteotomy," "pelvic osteotomy," and "osteotomy for hip preservation" in Japanese. In total, we found 120 websites. To determine the quality and reliability of information on each website, we used the Health on the Net Foundation (HON) score, the Brief DISCERN score, and an osteotomy-specific content (OSC) score. After eliminating duplicate websites, we reviewed 49 unique websites. Only three websites (6.1%) had good reliability, as indicated by their HON scores. Twelve websites (24.4%) had good-quality information, as measured by their Brief DISCERN scores. As evaluated by their OSC scores, physician websites were found to be biased toward etiology and surgical indication and did not provide information on the complications of procedures. Non-physician websites were generally insufficient. The information about PAO on the internet is, therefore, unreliable and of poor-quality for Japanese patients.

Quality of web-based information on social phobia: a cross-sectional study.

PubMed

Khazaal, Yasser; Fernandez, Sebastien; Cochand, Sophie; Reboh, Isabel; Zullino, Daniele

2008-01-01

The objective of the study is to evaluate the quality of web-based information on social phobia and to investigate particular quality indicators. Two keywords, "Social phobia" and "Social Anxiety Disorder", were entered into five popular World Wide Web search engines. Websites were assessed with a standardized proforma designed to rate sites on the basis of accountability, presentation, interactivity, readability, and content quality. "Health On the Net" (HON) quality label and DISCERN scale scores aiding people without content expertise to assess quality of written health publication were used to verify their efficiency as quality indicators. This study evaluates the quality of web-based information on social phobia. On the 200 identified links, 58 were included. On the basis of outcome measures, the overall quality of the sites turned out to be poor. DISCERN and HON label were indicators of good quality indicators. Accountability criteria were poor indicators of site quality. Although social phobia education Websites for patients are common, educational material highly varies in quality and content. There is a need for better evidence-based information about social phobia on the Web and a need to reconsider the role of accountability criteria as indicators of site quality. Clinicians should advise patients of the HON label and DISCERN as useful indicators of site quality. (c) 2007 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Quality comparison of websites related to developmental disabilities.

PubMed

Reichow, Brian; Shefcyk, Allison; Bruder, Mary Beth

2013-10-01

The Internet is commonly used to seek health-related information, but little is known about the quality of websites on developmental disabilities. Therefore, we sought to evaluate the characteristics and quality of websites located by searching ten common terms related to developmental disabilities and explore relations between website characteristics and website quality in order to make recommendations on ways to ensure locating good online information. We located 208 unique websites in our November 2012 US searches of Google and Bing. Two independent coders evaluated 10 characteristics of the websites and two different coders assessed the quality of the websites. From the 208 websites, 104 (50%) provided relevant information about the disability being searched. Of these 104 websites, those found to be of highest quality were least likely to be a sponsored result, contain advertisements, be from a for-profit company, and did contain references to peer-reviewed publications or had a top-level domain of .gov or .org. Individuals with developmental disabilities and their family members who choose to obtain disability-related information online should remain vigilant to ensure that they locate high-quality and accurate information and should not replace information obtained from health-care professionals and educational specialists with information found online. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

10 CFR 63.144 - Quality assurance program change.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... 10 Energy 2 2011-01-01 2011-01-01 false Quality assurance program change. 63.144 Section 63.144 Energy NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION (CONTINUED) DISPOSAL OF HIGH-LEVEL RADIOACTIVE WASTES IN A GEOLOGIC... assurance program information that duplicates language in quality assurance regulatory guides and quality...

Quality Analysis of Open Street Map Data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, M.; Li, Q.; Hu, Q.; Zhou, M.

2013-05-01

Crowd sourcing geographic data is an opensource geographic data which is contributed by lots of non-professionals and provided to the public. The typical crowd sourcing geographic data contains GPS track data like OpenStreetMap, collaborative map data like Wikimapia, social websites like Twitter and Facebook, POI signed by Jiepang user and so on. These data will provide canonical geographic information for pubic after treatment. As compared with conventional geographic data collection and update method, the crowd sourcing geographic data from the non-professional has characteristics or advantages of large data volume, high currency, abundance information and low cost and becomes a research hotspot of international geographic information science in the recent years. Large volume crowd sourcing geographic data with high currency provides a new solution for geospatial database updating while it need to solve the quality problem of crowd sourcing geographic data obtained from the non-professionals. In this paper, a quality analysis model for OpenStreetMap crowd sourcing geographic data is proposed. Firstly, a quality analysis framework is designed based on data characteristic analysis of OSM data. Secondly, a quality assessment model for OSM data by three different quality elements: completeness, thematic accuracy and positional accuracy is presented. Finally, take the OSM data of Wuhan for instance, the paper analyses and assesses the quality of OSM data with 2011 version of navigation map for reference. The result shows that the high-level roads and urban traffic network of OSM data has a high positional accuracy and completeness so that these OSM data can be used for updating of urban road network database.

Can High Quality Overcome Consumer Resistance to Restricted Provider Access? Evidence from a Health Plan Choice Experiment

PubMed Central

Harris, Katherine M

2002-01-01

Objective To investigate the impact of quality information on the willingness of consumers to enroll in health plans that restrict provider access. Data Sources and Setting A survey administered to respondents between the ages of 25 and 64 in the West Los Angeles area with private health insurance. Study Design An experimental approach is used to measure the effect of variation in provider network features and information about the quality of network physicians on hypothetical plan choices. Conditional logit models are used to analyze the experimental choice data. Next, choice model parameter estimates are used to simulate the impact of changes in plan features on the market shares of competing health plans and to calculate the quality level required to make consumers indifferent to changes in provider access. Principal Findings The presence of quality information reduced the importance of provider network features in plan choices as hypothesized. However, there were not statistically meaningful differences by type of quality measure (i.e., consumer assessed versus expert assessed). The results imply that large quality differences are required to make consumers indifferent to changes in provider access. The impact of quality on plan choices depended more on the particular measure and less on the type of measure. Quality ratings based on the proportion of survey respondents “extremely satisfied with results of care” had the greatest impact on plan choice while the proportion of network doctors “affiliated with university medical centers” had the least. Other consumer and expert assessed measures had more comparable effects. Conclusions Overall the results provide empirical evidence that consumers are willing to trade high quality for restrictions on provider access. This willingness to trade implies that relatively small plans that place restrictions on provider access can successfully compete against less restrictive plans when they can demonstrate high quality. However, the results of this study suggest that in many cases, the level of quality required for consumers to accept access restrictions may be so high as to be unattainable. The results provide empirical support for the current focus of decision support efforts on consumer assessed quality measures. At the same time, however, the results suggest that consumers would also value quality measures based on expert assessments. This finding is relevant given the lack of comparative quality information based on expert judgment and research suggesting that consumers have apprehensions about their ability to meaningfully interpret performance-based quality measures. PMID:12132595

High School Student Information Access and Engineering Design Performance

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mentzer, Nathan

2014-01-01

Developing solutions to engineering design problems requires access to information. Research has shown that appropriately accessing and using information in the design process improves solution quality. This quasi-experimental study provides two groups of high school students with a design problem in a three hour design experience. One group has…

New Mexico Look for the STARS--AIM HIGH: QRS Profile. The Child Care Quality Rating System (QRS) Assessment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Child Trends, 2010

2010-01-01

This paper presents a profile of New Mexico's Look for the STARS--AIM HIGH prepared as part of the Child Care Quality Rating System (QRS) Assessment Study. The profile consists of several sections and their corresponding descriptions including: (1) Program Information; (2) Rating Details; (3) Quality Indicators for Center-Based Programs; (4)…

An analysis of cluster headache information provided on internet websites.

PubMed

Peterlin, B Lee; Gambini-Suarez, Eduardo; Lidicker, Jeffrey; Levin, Morris

2008-03-01

To evaluate the quality of websites providing cluster headache information for patients and healthcare providers. The Internet has become an increasingly important source of healthcare information. However, limited data exist regarding the quality of websites providing headache information. This was a cross-sectional study conducted in February 2007. Websites providing cluster headache information were determined on the search engine MetaCrawler and classified as either patient oriented or healthcare provider oriented. The overall quality of each site was evaluated using a score system. Readability was evaluated using the Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level Readability Score (FKRS). Website quality was analyzed based on ownership, purpose, authorship, author qualifications, attribution, interactivity, and currency. The technical quality of the cluster headache information was analyzed based on content specific to cluster headache. The final ranking, based on the sum of the ranks of all 3 categories, was determined and then contrasted between the patient-oriented and healthcare professional-oriented websites using 2-sample t-tests. Of the first 40 websites found on MetaCrawler, 72.5% were advertisements, unrelated to headache, or repeated websites. Although the standard US writing averages are at a seventh to eighth grade level, the mean FKRS of all sites was at a 12th grade level of difficulty, with no significant difference between the patient-oriented or healthcare provider-oriented websites (P = .54). Of a total possible 14 points, the overall mean quality component score was 9.9 for all sites; and of a total possible 23 points, the overall mean technical component score was 13.9. There was no significant difference for either the quality or technical component scores between patient-oriented or healthcare provider-oriented websites (P = .45 and P = .80, respectively). There are numerous cluster headache websites that can be found on the Internet. The quality of most of the websites dedicated to cluster headache is mediocre, and although there are some excellent cluster headache websites, these sites may be challenging for many users to locate. There was no significant difference in the overall quality of websites oriented for patients or healthcare providers providing cluster headache information evaluated in this study. In addition, websites providing high-quality cluster headache information are written at an educational level too high for a significant portion of the general population to fully utilize. Physicians should strongly consider providing lists of quality websites on cluster headache for their patients.

75 FR 70205 - Certain Coated Paper Suitable for High-Quality Print Graphics Using Sheet-Fed Presses From...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-11-17

... Suitable for High-Quality Print Graphics Using Sheet-Fed Presses From Indonesia: Antidumping Duty Order... Indonesia. DATES: Effective Date: November 17, 2010. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Gemal Brangman or... duty investigation of certain coated paper from Indonesia. See Certain Coated Paper Suitable for High...

[Maintainance of a research tissue bank. (Infra)structural and quality aspects].

PubMed

Schmitt, S; Kynast, K; Schirmacher, P; Herpel, E

2015-11-01

The availability of high quality human tissue samples and access to associated histopathological and clinical data are essential for biomedical research. Therefore, it is necessary to establish quality assured tissue biobanks that provide high quality tissue samples for research purposes. This entails quality concerns referring not only to the biomaterial specimen itself but encompassing all procedures related to biobanking, including the implementation of structural components, e.g. ethical and legal guidelines, quality management documentation as well as data and project management and information technology (IT) administration. Moreover, an integral aspect of tissue biobanks is the quality assured evaluation of every tissue specimen that is stored in a tissue biobank and used for projects to guarantee high quality assured biomaterial.

Online Health Information Regarding Male Infertility: An Evaluation of Readability, Suitability, and Quality

PubMed Central

Robins, Stephanie; Barr, Helena J; Idelson, Rachel; Lambert, Sylvie

2016-01-01

Background Many men lack knowledge about male infertility, and this may have consequences for their reproductive and general health. Men may prefer to seek health information online, but these sources of information vary in quality. Objective The objective of this study is to determine if online sources of information regarding male infertility are readable, suitable, and of appropriate quality for Internet users in the general population. Methods This study used a cross-sectional design to evaluate online sources resulting from search engine queries. The following categories of websites were considered: (1) Canadian fertility clinics, (2) North American organizations related to fertility, and (3) the first 20 results of Google searches using the terms “male infertility” and “male fertility preservation” set to the search locations worldwide, English Canada, and French Canada. Websites that met inclusion criteria (N=85) were assessed using readability indices, the Suitability Assessment of Materials (SAM), and the DISCERN tool. The associations between website affiliation (government, university/medical, non-profit organization, commercial/corporate, private practice) and Google placement to readability, suitability, and quality were also examined. Results None of the sampled websites met recommended levels of readability. Across all websites, the mean SAM score for suitability was 45.37% (SD 11.21), or “adequate”, while the DISCERN mean score for quality was 43.19 (SD 10.46) or “fair”. Websites that placed higher in Google obtained a higher overall score for quality with an r (58) value of -.328 and a P value of .012, but this position was not related to readability or suitability. In addition, 20% of fertility clinic websites did not include fertility information for men. Conclusions There is a lack of high quality online sources of information on male fertility. Many websites target their information to women, or fail to meet established readability criteria for the general population. Since men may prefer to seek health information online, it is important that health care professionals develop high quality sources of information on male fertility for the general population. PMID:27769954

Bereaved family member perceptions of quality of end-of-life care in U.S. regions with high and low usage of intensive care unit care.

PubMed

Teno, Joan M; Mor, Vincent; Ward, Nicholas; Roy, Jason; Clarridge, Brian; Wennberg, John E; Fisher, Elliott S

2005-11-01

To compare the quality of end-of-life care of persons dying in regions of differing practice intensity. Mortality follow-back survey. Geographic regions in the highest and lowest deciles of intensive care unit (ICU) use. Bereaved family member or other knowledgeable informants. Unmet needs, concerns, and rating of quality of end-of-life care in five domains (physical comfort and emotional support of the decedent, shared decision-making, treatment of the dying person with respect, providing information and emotional support to family members). Decedents in high- (n=365) and low-intensity (n=413) hospital service areas (HSAs) did not differ in age, sex, education, marital status, leading causes of death, or the degree to which death was expected, but those in the high-intensity ICU HSAs were more likely to be black and to live in nonrural areas. Respondents in high-intensity HSAs were more likely to report that care was of lower quality in each domain, and these differences were statistically significant in three of five domains. Respondents from high-intensity HSAs were more likely to report inadequate emotional support for the decedent (relative risk (RR)=1.2, 95% confidence interval (CI)=1.0-1.4), concerns with shared decision-making (RR=1.8, 95% CI=1.0-2.9), inadequate information about what to expect (RR=1.5, 95% CI=1.3-1.8), and failure to treat the decedent with respect (RR=1.4, 95% CI=1.0-1.9). Overall ratings of the quality of end-of-life care were also significantly lower in high-intensity HSAs. Dying in regions with a higher use of ICU care is not associated with improved perceptions of quality of end-of-life care.

Lexical quality and eye movements: individual differences in the perceptual span of skilled adult readers.

PubMed

Veldre, Aaron; Andrews, Sally

2014-01-01

Two experiments used the gaze-contingent moving-window paradigm to investigate whether reading comprehension and spelling ability modulate the perceptual span of skilled adult readers during sentence reading. Highly proficient reading and spelling were both associated with increased use information to the right of fixation, but did not systematically modulate the extraction of information to the left of fixation. Individuals who were high in both reading and spelling ability showed the greatest benefit from window sizes larger than 11 characters, primarily because of increases in forward saccade length. They were also significantly more disrupted by being denied close parafoveal information than those poor in reading and/or spelling. These results suggest that, in addition to supporting rapid lexical retrieval of fixated words, the high quality lexical representations indexed by the combination of high reading and spelling ability support efficient processing of parafoveal information and effective saccadic targeting.

Expanded Quality Management Using Information Power (EQUIP): protocol for a quasi-experimental study to improve maternal and newborn health in Tanzania and Uganda

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

Background Maternal and newborn mortality remain unacceptably high in sub-Saharan Africa. Tanzania and Uganda are committed to reduce maternal and newborn mortality, but progress has been limited and many essential interventions are unavailable in primary and referral facilities. Quality management has the potential to overcome low implementation levels by assisting teams of health workers and others finding local solutions to problems in delivering quality care and the underutilization of health services by the community. Existing evidence of the effect of quality management on health worker performance in these contexts has important limitations, and the feasibility of expanding quality management to the community level is unknown. We aim to assess quality management at the district, facility, and community levels, supported by information from high-quality, continuous surveys, and report effects of the quality management intervention on the utilization and quality of services in Tanzania and Uganda. Methods In Uganda and Tanzania, the Expanded Quality Management Using Information Power (EQUIP) intervention is implemented in one intervention district and evaluated using a plausibility design with one non-randomly selected comparison district. The quality management approach is based on the collaborative model for improvement, in which groups of quality improvement teams test new implementation strategies (change ideas) and periodically meet to share results and identify the best strategies. The teams use locally-generated community and health facility data to monitor improvements. In addition, data from continuous health facility and household surveys are used to guide prioritization and decision making by quality improvement teams as well as for evaluation of the intervention. These data include input, process, output, coverage, implementation practice, and client satisfaction indicators in both intervention and comparison districts. Thus, intervention districts receive quality management and continuous surveys, and comparison districts-only continuous surveys. Discussion EQUIP is a district-scale, proof-of-concept study that evaluates a quality management approach for maternal and newborn health including communities, health facilities, and district health managers, supported by high-quality data from independent continuous household and health facility surveys. The study will generate robust evidence about the effectiveness of quality management and will inform future nationwide implementation approaches for health system strengthening in low-resource settings. Trial registration PACTR201311000681314 PMID:24690284

Expanded Quality Management Using Information Power (EQUIP): protocol for a quasi-experimental study to improve maternal and newborn health in Tanzania and Uganda.

PubMed

Hanson, Claudia; Waiswa, Peter; Marchant, Tanya; Marx, Michael; Manzi, Fatuma; Mbaruku, Godfrey; Rowe, Alex; Tomson, Göran; Schellenberg, Joanna; Peterson, Stefan

2014-04-02

Maternal and newborn mortality remain unacceptably high in sub-Saharan Africa. Tanzania and Uganda are committed to reduce maternal and newborn mortality, but progress has been limited and many essential interventions are unavailable in primary and referral facilities. Quality management has the potential to overcome low implementation levels by assisting teams of health workers and others finding local solutions to problems in delivering quality care and the underutilization of health services by the community. Existing evidence of the effect of quality management on health worker performance in these contexts has important limitations, and the feasibility of expanding quality management to the community level is unknown. We aim to assess quality management at the district, facility, and community levels, supported by information from high-quality, continuous surveys, and report effects of the quality management intervention on the utilization and quality of services in Tanzania and Uganda. In Uganda and Tanzania, the Expanded Quality Management Using Information Power (EQUIP) intervention is implemented in one intervention district and evaluated using a plausibility design with one non-randomly selected comparison district. The quality management approach is based on the collaborative model for improvement, in which groups of quality improvement teams test new implementation strategies (change ideas) and periodically meet to share results and identify the best strategies. The teams use locally-generated community and health facility data to monitor improvements. In addition, data from continuous health facility and household surveys are used to guide prioritization and decision making by quality improvement teams as well as for evaluation of the intervention. These data include input, process, output, coverage, implementation practice, and client satisfaction indicators in both intervention and comparison districts. Thus, intervention districts receive quality management and continuous surveys, and comparison districts-only continuous surveys. EQUIP is a district-scale, proof-of-concept study that evaluates a quality management approach for maternal and newborn health including communities, health facilities, and district health managers, supported by high-quality data from independent continuous household and health facility surveys. The study will generate robust evidence about the effectiveness of quality management and will inform future nationwide implementation approaches for health system strengthening in low-resource settings. PACTR201311000681314.

Systems and processes that ensure high quality care.

PubMed

Bassett, Sally; Westmore, Kathryn

2012-10-01

This is the second in a series of articles examining the components of good corporate governance. It considers how the structures and processes for quality governance can affect an organisation's ability to be assured about the quality of care. Complex information systems and procedures can lead to poor quality care, but sound structures and processes alone are insufficient to ensure good governance, and behavioural factors play a significant part in making sure that staff are enabled to provide good quality care. The next article in this series looks at how the information reporting of an organisation can affect its governance.

Information efficiency in visual communication

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Alter-Gartenberg, Rachel; Rahman, Zia-ur

1993-08-01

This paper evaluates the quantization process in the context of the end-to-end performance of the visual-communication channel. Results show that the trade-off between data transmission and visual quality revolves around the information in the acquired signal, not around its energy. Improved information efficiency is gained by frequency dependent quantization that maintains the information capacity of the channel and reduces the entropy of the encoded signal. Restorations with energy bit-allocation lose both in sharpness and clarity relative to restorations with information bit-allocation. Thus, quantization with information bit-allocation is preferred for high information efficiency and visual quality in optimized visual communication.

Information efficiency in visual communication

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Alter-Gartenberg, Rachel; Rahman, Zia-Ur

1993-01-01

This paper evaluates the quantization process in the context of the end-to-end performance of the visual-communication channel. Results show that the trade-off between data transmission and visual quality revolves around the information in the acquired signal, not around its energy. Improved information efficiency is gained by frequency dependent quantization that maintains the information capacity of the channel and reduces the entropy of the encoded signal. Restorations with energy bit-allocation lose both in sharpness and clarity relative to restorations with information bit-allocation. Thus, quantization with information bit-allocation is preferred for high information efficiency and visual quality in optimized visual communication.

76 FR 21369 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection; Comment Request

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-04-15

... program. The goals of the CCTP are to improve transitions of beneficiaries from the inpatient hospital setting to other care settings, to improve quality of care, to reduce readmissions for high risk...) ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; and (4) the use...

Information-Seeking in Family Day Care: Access, Quality and Personal Cost

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Corr, L.; Davis, E.; Cook, K.; Mackinnon, A.; Sims, M.; Herrman, H.

2014-01-01

Family day-care (FDC) educators work autonomously to provide care and education for children of mixed ages, backgrounds and abilities. To meet the demands and opportunities of their work and regulatory requirements, educators need access to context-relevant and high quality information. No previous research has examined how and where these workers…

Is Bigger Better? Customer Base Expansion through Word-of-Mouth Reputation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rob, Rafael; Fishman, Arthur

2005-01-01

A model of gradual reputation formation through a process of continuous investment in product quality is developed. We assume that the ability to produce high-quality products requires continuous investment and that as a consequence of informational frictions, such as search costs, information about firms' past performance diffuses only gradually…

16 CFR 1115.27 - Recall notice content requirements.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... and quality, and in a format readily transferable with high quality to a Web site or other appropriate... include the information set forth below: (a) Terms. A recall notice must include the word “recall” in the... information that will enable consumers and other persons to readily and accurately identify the specific...

16 CFR 1115.27 - Recall notice content requirements.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

... and quality, and in a format readily transferable with high quality to a Web site or other appropriate... include the information set forth below: (a) Terms. A recall notice must include the word “recall” in the... information that will enable consumers and other persons to readily and accurately identify the specific...

16 CFR 1115.27 - Recall notice content requirements.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

... and quality, and in a format readily transferable with high quality to a Web site or other appropriate... include the information set forth below: (a) Terms. A recall notice must include the word “recall” in the... information that will enable consumers and other persons to readily and accurately identify the specific...

Opening the Box: Information Technology, Work Practices, and Wages.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hunter, Larry W.; Lakfas, John J.

2003-01-01

Analysis of 1994-95 data on customer service representatives in 303 banks revealed a positive relationship between high-involvement work practices (quality circles) and extensive use of information technology (IT) to support sales. Use of IT to automate routine processes and no quality circles were associated with lower wages. (Contains 55…

Better data, better planning: the College of Emergency Medicine sentinel sites project.

PubMed

Moulton, Chris; Mann, Clifford; Tempest, Michelle

2014-11-01

This article describes the College of Emergency Medicine's initial attempt to gather high quality data from its own 'sentinel sites' rather than relying on more comprehensive national data of dubious quality. Such information is essential to inform and guide the planning of urgent and emergency care services in the future.

A multilingual assessment of melanoma information quality on the Internet.

PubMed

Bari, Lilla; Kemeny, Lajos; Bari, Ferenc

2014-06-01

This study aims to assess and compare melanoma information quality in Hungarian, Czech, and German languages on the Internet. We used country-specific Google search engines to retrieve the first 25 uniform resource locators (URLs) by searching the word "melanoma" in the given language. Using the automated toolbar of Health On the Net Foundation (HON), we assessed each Web site for HON certification based on the Health On the Net Foundation Code of Conduct (HONcode). Information quality was determined using a 35-point checklist created by Bichakjian et al. (J Clin Oncol 20:134-141, 2002), with the NCCN melanoma guideline as control. After excluding duplicate and link-only pages, a total of 24 Hungarian, 18 Czech, and 21 German melanoma Web sites were evaluated and rated. The amount of HON certified Web sites was the highest among the German Web pages (19%). One of the retrieved Hungarian and none of the Czech Web sites were HON certified. We found the highest number of Web sites containing comprehensive, correct melanoma information in German language, followed by Czech and Hungarian pages. Although the majority of the Web sites lacked data about incidence, risk factors, prevention, treatment, work-up, and follow-up, at least one comprehensive, high-quality Web site was found in each language. Several Web sites contained incorrect information in each language. While a small amount of comprehensive, quality melanoma-related Web sites was found, most of the retrieved Web content lacked basic disease information, such as risk factors, prevention, and treatment. A significant number of Web sites contained malinformation. In case of melanoma, primary and secondary preventions are of especially high importance; therefore, the improvement of disease information quality available on the Internet is necessary.

The Effect of Publicized Quality Information on Home Health Agency Choice

PubMed Central

Jung, Jeah Kyoungrae; Wu, Bingxiao; Kim, Hyunjee; Polsky, Daniel

2016-01-01

We examine consumers’ use of publicized quality information in Medicare home health care markets, where consumer cost sharing and travel costs are absent. We report two findings. First, agencies with high quality scores are more likely to be preferred by consumers after the introduction of a public reporting program than before. Second, consumers’ use of publicized quality information differs by patient group. Community-based patients have slightly larger responses to public reporting than hospital-discharged patients. Patients with functional limitations at the start of their care, at least among hospital-discharged patients, have a larger response to the reported functional outcome measure than those without functional limitations. In all cases of significant marginal effects, magnitudes are small. We conclude that the current public reporting approach is unlikely to have critical impacts on home health agency choice. Identifying and releasing quality information that is meaningful to consumers may help increase consumers’ use of public reports. PMID:26719047

Quality and Health Literacy Demand of Online Heart Failure Information.

PubMed

Cajita, Maan Isabella; Rodney, Tamar; Xu, Jingzhi; Hladek, Melissa; Han, Hae-Ra

The ubiquity of the Internet is changing the way people obtain their health information. Although there is an abundance of heart failure information online, the quality and health literacy demand of these information are still unknown. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the quality and health literacy demand (readability, understandability, and actionability) of the heart failure information found online. Google, Yahoo, Bing, Ask.com, and DuckDuckGo were searched for relevant heart failure Web sites. Two independent raters then assessed the quality and health literacy demand of the included Web sites. The quality of the heart failure information was assessed using the DISCERN instrument. Readability was assessed using 7 established readability tests. Finally, understandability and actionability were assessed using the Patient Education Materials Assessment Tool for Print Materials. A total of 46 Web sites were included in this analysis. The overall mean quality rating was 46.0 ± 8.9 and the mean readability score was 12.6 grade reading level. The overall mean understandability score was 56.3% ± 16.2%. Finally, the overall mean actionability score was 34.7% ± 28.7%. The heart failure information found online was of fair quality but required a relatively high health literacy level. Web content authors need to consider not just the quality but also the health literacy demand of the information found in their Web sites. This is especially important considering that low health literacy is likely prevalent among the usual audience.

Readability, credibility and quality of patient information for hypogonadism and testosterone replacement therapy on the Internet.

PubMed

McBride, J A; Carson, C C; Coward, R M

2017-05-01

The incidence of hypogonadism and use of testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) are rising, while data evaluating the complexity and quality of health-care information available to patients on the Internet for hypogonadism or TRT are lacking. This study focuses on characterizing the readability, credibility and quality of patient-centered information for hypogonadism on the Internet. A Google search was performed to identify top-ranked websites offering patient-centered information on hypogonadism and TRT. Readability was quantified by reading grade level using several validated instruments. Credibility and quality were determined by several additional criteria, including authorship, references, health-care information quality certification and breadth of topic discussion. Twenty of 75 total sites identified (27%) met the inclusion and exclusion criteria and were evaluated. The mean reading grade level was 13.1 (interquartile range 11.7-15.1), with all websites demonstrating reading levels significantly above recommended levels. Less than half (45%) of the sites were neither authored nor reviewed by a physician, 60% contained at least one reference and 40% were certified for displaying quality health-care information. Over half (55%) did not comprehensively discuss management of hypogonadism or mention treatment-associated risks. In conclusion, the majority of patient-centered information available on the Internet regarding hypogonadism or TRT is of poor quality and too complex for the average patient to comprehend. These results highlight a critical shortage in easily accessible, high-quality, comprehensible online patient health-care information on hypogonadism and TRT.

Influence of health literacy and trust in online information on food allergy quality of life and self-efficacy.

PubMed

Ditzler, Nicholas; Greenhawt, Matthew

2016-09-01

Health literacy among caregivers of food allergic individuals (FAIs) is poorly described, as are the information sources sought regarding food allergy. To assess the association among health literacy, trust in online sources of information, and food allergy quality of life (QoL) and self-efficacy. An online survey was administered to caregivers of FAIs assessing health literacy (Newest Vital Sign [NVS] and the eHeals Internet health literacy index), trust in online information (Hargittai Internet credibility index and Annenberg National Health Communication Survey [ANHCS]), QoL (Food Allergy Quality of Life Parental Burden), and self-efficacy (Food Allergy Self-Efficacy Questionnaire [FASEQ]). Among 1562 respondents, 94.6% (NVS) and 61.1% (eHeals) had good health literacy, and 58% had high levels of trust in online information (both indexes). The NVS correlated poorly with the eHeals and Hargittai indexes. Hargittai and eHeals scores were moderately correlated (r = 0.37, P < .001). A high NVS score was significantly associated with reported anaphylaxis and high eHeals and Hargittai scores with advocacy group membership. In unadjusted analyses, FAQL-PB scores were worse with high Hargiatti scores (P = .05) and ANHCS scores (P < .001). The FASEQ scores were better with high ANHCS scores (P = .02) and eHeals scores (P < .001). In an adjusted regression, high trust in online information (both indexes), worsening FASEQ score, blog readership, advocacy group membership, caring for multiple FAIs, and having milk or egg allergy were associated with worse FAQL-PB scores. In this sample, health literacy and trust in online information sources were high, with high trust in online information sources negatively associated with QoL. Advocacy group membership had an independent negative association with QoL. Copyright © 2016 American College of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Calculating the quality of public high-throughput sequencing data to obtain a suitable subset for reanalysis from the Sequence Read Archive

PubMed Central

Nakazato, Takeru; Bono, Hidemasa

2017-01-01

Abstract It is important for public data repositories to promote the reuse of archived data. In the growing field of omics science, however, the increasing number of submissions of high-throughput sequencing (HTSeq) data to public repositories prevents users from choosing a suitable data set from among the large number of search results. Repository users need to be able to set a threshold to reduce the number of results to obtain a suitable subset of high-quality data for reanalysis. We calculated the quality of sequencing data archived in a public data repository, the Sequence Read Archive (SRA), by using the quality control software FastQC. We obtained quality values for 1 171 313 experiments, which can be used to evaluate the suitability of data for reuse. We also visualized the data distribution in SRA by integrating the quality information and metadata of experiments and samples. We provide quality information of all of the archived sequencing data, which enable users to obtain sufficient quality sequencing data for reanalyses. The calculated quality data are available to the public in various formats. Our data also provide an example of enhancing the reuse of public data by adding metadata to published research data by a third party. PMID:28449062

Spatial Data Quality Control Procedure applied to the Okavango Basin Information System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Butchart-Kuhlmann, Daniel

2014-05-01

Spatial data is a powerful form of information, capable of providing information of great interest and tremendous use to a variety of users. However, much like other data representing the 'real world', precision and accuracy must be high for the results of data analysis to be deemed reliable and thus applicable to real world projects and undertakings. The spatial data quality control (QC) procedure presented here was developed as the topic of a Master's thesis, in the sphere of and using data from the Okavango Basin Information System (OBIS), itself a part of The Future Okavango (TFO) project. The aim of the QC procedure was to form the basis of a method through which to determine the quality of spatial data relevant for application to hydrological, solute, and erosion transport modelling using the Jena Adaptable Modelling System (JAMS). As such, the quality of all data present in OBIS classified under the topics of elevation, geoscientific information, or inland waters, was evaluated. Since the initial data quality has been evaluated, efforts are underway to correct the errors found, thus improving the quality of the dataset.

Monitoring and modeling of microbial and biological water quality

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Microbial and biological water quality informs on the health of water systems and their suitability for uses in irrigation, recreation, aquaculture, and other activities. Indicators of microbial and biological water quality demonstrate high spatial and temporal variability. Therefore, monitoring str...

Pathways to increase consumer trust in meat as a safe and wholesome food.

PubMed

Gellynck, Xavier; Verbeke, Wim; Vermeire, Bert

2006-09-01

This paper focuses on the effect of information about meat safety and wholesomeness on consumer trust based on several studies with data collected in Belgium. The research is grounded in the observation that despite the abundant rise of information through labelling, traceability systems and quality assurance schemes, the effect on consumer trust in meat as a safe and wholesome product is only limited. The overload and complexity of information on food products results in misunderstanding and misinterpretation. Functional traceability attributes such as organisational efficiency and chain monitoring are considered to be highly important but not as a basis for market segmentation. However, process traceability attributes such as origin and production method are of interest for particular market segments as a response to meat quality concerns. Quality assurance schemes and associated labels have a poor impact on consumers' perception. It is argued that the high interest of retailers in such schemes is driven by procurement management efficiency rather than safety or overall quality. Future research could concentrate on the distribution of costs and benefits associated with meat quality initiatives among the chain participants.

Evaluation and comparison of epidural analgesia in labour related information on French and English-speaking websites.

PubMed

Espitalier, Fabien; De Lamer, Sabine; Barbaz, Mathilde; Laffon, Marc; Remérand, Francis

2018-01-31

The medical information on the Internet is better in English than in other languages. The information about Epidural Analgesia In Labour (EAIL) available on French-speaking websites is of poor quality. The quality of the information about EAIL should be better in English, but there is no comparison available. This study has assessed and compared the quality of the information about EAIL available on French and English-speaking websites. Keywords "epidural", "épidurale" and/or "péridurale" were used in the French, Canadian and American Google ® and Yahoo ® search engines. Two independent assessors assessed the 20 first websites for each engine search. They used an evaluation form created from French, Canadian and American recommendations. This form assessed the structure quality (Structure Score/25) and the medical information quality (Medical Information Score/30) of the websites. The addition of both scores gives the Global Score (/55). Seventy-one websites were assessed, 39 French-speaking and 32 English-speaking websites. Structure, Medical Information and Global Scores (expressed as mean (SD)) were respectively 11 (4), 13 (5), 24 (8) for the French-speaking websites and 11 (4), 12 (4), 23 (7) for the English-speaking websites. There was no statistical significant difference between both languages. Information about EAIL available on French and English-speaking websites is of poor quality and there is no difference in the information quality, whatever the language. A consideration on Internet medical information improvement is needed. A high quality dedicated website should be created and broadcasted. Copyright © 2018 Société française d'anesthésie et de réanimation (Sfar). Published by Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

Data-Driven Decision Making in Out-of-School Time Programs. Part 6 in a Series on Implementing Evidence-Based Practices in Out-of-School Time Programs: The Role of Organization-Level Activities. Research-to-Results Brief. Publication #2009-34

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bandy, Tawana; Burkhauser, Mary; Metz, Allison J. R.

2009-01-01

Although many program managers look to data to inform decision-making and manage their programs, high-quality program data may not always be available. Yet such data are necessary for effective program implementation. The use of high-quality data facilitates program management, reduces reliance on anecdotal information, and ensures that data are…

Quality of Breast Cancer Information on the Internet by African Organizations: An Appraisal

PubMed Central

2017-01-01

Objective. The aim of this study was to appraise the quality of information on BC available at websites run by organizations in Africa. Methods. Three searches were conducted using Google search engine to generate a list of websites. The identified websites were assessed using European Commission (EC) quality criteria for health-related websites, which comprises different assessment areas including, completeness, transparency and honesty, authority, privacy and data protection, updating of information, accountability, and accessibility. Results. Thirteen (13) websites were included in the evaluation. Majority of the websites evaluated had low scores on the completeness and transparency of their websites. Scores on accessibility were however moderate and high for most of the websites. Breast cancer-specific organizations provided the highest quality information, particularly in terms of completeness. The overall lowest and highest quality scores were 9 and 43 out of 63, respectively, and 77% of the included websites scored less than 50% of the total quality score. Conclusion. This review has provided evidence of inadequate and inaccurate BC information provided by some cancer organizations in Africa. Considerable effort is required to make BC information on the Internet a valuable and up-to-date source for both professionals and patients. PMID:28168059

LANDSAT-4 MSS and Thematic Mapper data quality and information content analysis

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Anuta, P.; Bartolucci, L.; Dean, E.; Lozano, F.; Malaret, E.; Mcgillem, C. D.; Valdes, J.; Valenzuela, C.

1984-01-01

LANDSAT-4 thematic mapper (TM) and multispectral scanner (MSS) data were analyzed to obtain information on data quality and information content. Geometric evaluations were performed to test band-to-band registration accuracy. Thematic mapper overall system resolution was evaluated using scene objects which demonstrated sharp high contrast edge responses. Radiometric evaluation included detector relative calibration, effects of resampling, and coherent noise effects. Information content evaluation was carried out using clustering, principal components, transformed divergence separability measure, and supervised classifiers on test data. A detailed spectral class analysis (multispectral classification) was carried out to compare the information content of the MSS and TM for a large number of scene classes. A temperature-mapping experiment was carried out for a cooling pond to test the quality of thermal-band calibration. Overall TM data quality is very good. The MSS data are noisier than previous LANDSAT results.

Hot Topic: Empowering Parents with Data

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Data for Action, 2011

2011-01-01

Nearly every high-priority item in national, federal, state, and local discussions about education--and policy proposals across the political spectrum--requires high-quality longitudinal data to inform its design, implementation, and evaluation. This factsheet shares Data Quality Campaign's (DQC's) analysis of what "Data for Action 2011: DQC's…

Evaluation of modern cotton harvest systems on irrigated cotton: Fiber quality

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Picker and stripper harvest systems were evaluated on production-scale irrigated cotton on the High Plains of Texas over three harvest seasons. Observations on fiber quality using High Volume Instrument (HVI) and Advanced Fiber Information Systems (AFIS) were made on multiple cultivars harvested fro...

The poor quality and reliability of information on periacetabular osteotomy on the internet in Japan

PubMed Central

Takegami, Yasuhiko; Seki, Taisuke; Amano, Takafumi; Higuchi, Yoshitoshi; Komatsu, Daigo; Nishida, Yoshihiro; Ishiguro, Naoki

2017-01-01

ABSTRACT Although many patients use the internet to access health-related information, the quality and the reliability of the information is highly inconsistent. Periacetabular osteotomy (PAO) is one of the surgical procedures for hip dysplasia. However, medical information on PAO is limited on the internet. This study aims to evaluate the quality and reliability of information available on PAO on the internet in Japan. A web search was conducted on two search engines for the following terms: “hip osteotomy,” “pelvic osteotomy,” and “osteotomy for hip preservation” in Japanese. In total, we found 120 websites. To determine the quality and reliability of information on each website, we used the Health on the Net Foundation (HON) score, the Brief DISCERN score, and an osteotomy-specific content (OSC) score. After eliminating duplicate websites, we reviewed 49 unique websites. Only three websites (6.1%) had good reliability, as indicated by their HON scores. Twelve websites (24.4%) had good-quality information, as measured by their Brief DISCERN scores. As evaluated by their OSC scores, physician websites were found to be biased toward etiology and surgical indication and did not provide information on the complications of procedures. Non-physician websites were generally insufficient. The information about PAO on the internet is, therefore, unreliable and of poor-quality for Japanese patients. PMID:28878442

Assessing Readability and Reliability of Online Patient Information Regarding Vestibular Schwannoma.

PubMed

Spiers, Harry; Amin, Nikul; Lakhani, Raj; Martin, Andrew J; Patel, Parag M

2017-12-01

The aim of this study is to objectively assess the quality and readability of websites related to vestibular schwannomas. Patients are increasingly seeking information on confirmed or suspected diagnoses through the Internet. Clinicians are often concerned regarding the accuracy, quality, and readability of web-based sites. Online information relating to vestibular schwannoma was searched using the three most popular search engines. The terms "acoustic neuroma" and "vestibular schwannoma" were used. The top 50 results from each site were assessed for readability using the Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level, Flesch Reading Ease Score, and the Gunning-Fog Index. Quality of website information was scored using the DISCERN tool. Of 300 search results analyzed, 58 separate appropriate websites were identified. The mean readability score using Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level was 10.27 (95% confidence interval [CI] 9.84-10.70). The mean Flesch Reading Ease Score was 48.75 (95% CI 46.57-50.92). The Gunning-Fog Index was 13.40 (95% CI 12.92-13.89). These scores equate to someone finishing secondary school/first year university student. DISCERN scores were highly variable but consistently demonstrated great variability in quality of information. Online patient information on vestibular schwannoma is highly variable in quality. Although there are a wide range of different websites easily available to patients on their condition and its treatment options, the information is written at a difficult level which may exceed the understanding level of many patients as it is written at a higher than average level of expected reading ability.

Quality Requirements for Electronic Health Record Systems*. A Japanese-German Information Management Perspective.

PubMed

Winter, Alfred; Takabayashi, Katsuhiko; Jahn, Franziska; Kimura, Eizen; Engelbrecht, Rolf; Haux, Reinhold; Honda, Masayuki; Hübner, Ursula H; Inoue, Sozo; Kohl, Christian D; Matsumoto, Takehiro; Matsumura, Yasushi; Miyo, Kengo; Nakashima, Naoki; Prokosch, Hans-Ulrich; Staemmler, Martin

2017-08-07

For more than 30 years, there has been close cooperation between Japanese and German scientists with regard to information systems in health care. Collaboration has been formalized by an agreement between the respective scientific associations. Following this agreement, two joint workshops took place to explore the similarities and differences of electronic health record systems (EHRS) against the background of the two national healthcare systems that share many commonalities. To establish a framework and requirements for the quality of EHRS that may also serve as a basis for comparing different EHRS. Donabedian's three dimensions of quality of medical care were adapted to the outcome, process, and structural quality of EHRS and their management. These quality dimensions were proposed before the first workshop of EHRS experts and enriched during the discussions. The Quality Requirements Framework of EHRS (QRF-EHRS) was defined and complemented by requirements for high quality EHRS. The framework integrates three quality dimensions (outcome, process, and structural quality), three layers of information systems (processes and data, applications, and physical tools) and three dimensions of information management (strategic, tactical, and operational information management). Describing and comparing the quality of EHRS is in fact a multidimensional problem as given by the QRF-EHRS framework. This framework will be utilized to compare Japanese and German EHRS, notably those that were presented at the second workshop.

Statistical process control based chart for information systems security

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Khan, Mansoor S.; Cui, Lirong

2015-07-01

Intrusion detection systems have a highly significant role in securing computer networks and information systems. To assure the reliability and quality of computer networks and information systems, it is highly desirable to develop techniques that detect intrusions into information systems. We put forward the concept of statistical process control (SPC) in computer networks and information systems intrusions. In this article we propose exponentially weighted moving average (EWMA) type quality monitoring scheme. Our proposed scheme has only one parameter which differentiates it from the past versions. We construct the control limits for the proposed scheme and investigate their effectiveness. We provide an industrial example for the sake of clarity for practitioner. We give comparison of the proposed scheme with EWMA schemes and p chart; finally we provide some recommendations for the future work.

A COMPARISON OF PATIENT AND HEALTHCARE PROFESSIONAL VIEWS WHEN ASSESSING QUALITY OF INFORMATION ON PITUITARY ADENOMA AVAILABLE ON THE INTERNET.

PubMed

Druce, Irena; Williams, Chantal; Baggoo, Carolyn; Keely, Erin; Malcolm, Janine

2017-10-01

Patients are increasingly turning to the internet to seek reliable sources of health information and desire guidance in assessing the quality of information as healthcare becomes progressively more complex. Pituitary adenomas are a rare, diverse group of tumors associated with increased mortality and morbidity whose management requires a multidisciplinary approach. As such, patients with this disorder are often searching for additional sources of healthcare information. We undertook a study to assess the quality of information available on the internet for patients with pituitary adenoma. After exclusion, 42 websites were identified based on a search engine query with various search terms. Each website was assessed in triplicate: once by a health professional, once by a simulated patient, and once by a patient who had a pituitary adenoma and underwent medical and surgical treatment. The assessment tools included a content-specific questionnaire, the DISCERN tool, and the Ensuring Quality Information for Patients tool. The readability of the information was assessed with the Flesch-Kincaid grade level. We found that the overall quality of information on pituitary adenoma on the internet was variable and written at a high grade level. Correlation between the different assessors was poor, indicating that there may be differences in how healthcare professionals and patients view healthcare information. Our findings highlight the importance of assessment of the health information by groups of the intended user to ensure the needs of that population are met. Abbreviation: EQIP = Ensuring Quality Information for Patients.

Quality of online information on type 2 diabetes: a cross-sectional study.

PubMed

Weymann, Nina; Härter, Martin; Dirmaier, Jörg

2015-12-01

Evidence-based health information is a prerequisite for patients with type 2 diabetes to engage in self-management and to make informed medical decisions. The Internet is an important source of health information. In the present study, we systematically assessed formal quality, quality of decision support and usability of German and English language websites on type 2 diabetes. The search term 'type 2 diabetes' was entered in the two most popular search engines. Descriptive data on website quality are presented. Additionally, associations between website quality and affiliation (commercial vs. non-commercial), presence of the HON code quality seal and website traffic were explored. Forty-six websites were included. Most websites provided basic information necessary for decision-making, while only one website also provided decision support. Websites with a HON code had significantly better formal quality than websites without HON code. We found a highly significant correlation between usability and website traffic and a significant correlation between formal quality and website traffic. Most websites do not provide sufficient information to support patients in medical decision-making. Our finding that usability and website traffic are tightly associated is consistent with previous research indicating that design is the most important cue for users assessing website credibility. © The Author (2014). Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Health Advice from Internet Discussion Forums: How Bad Is Dangerous?

PubMed

Cole, Jennifer; Watkins, Chris; Kleine, Dorothea

2016-01-06

Concerns over online health information-seeking behavior point to the potential harm incorrect, incomplete, or biased information may cause. However, systematic reviews of health information have found few examples of documented harm that can be directly attributed to poor quality information found online. The aim of this study was to improve our understanding of the quality and quality characteristics of information found in online discussion forum websites so that their likely value as a peer-to-peer health information-sharing platform could be assessed. A total of 25 health discussion threads were selected across 3 websites (Reddit, Mumsnet, and Patient) covering 3 health conditions (human immunodeficiency virus [HIV], diabetes, and chickenpox). Assessors were asked to rate information found in the discussion threads according to 5 criteria: accuracy, completeness, how sensible the replies were, how they thought the questioner would act, and how useful they thought the questioner would find the replies. In all, 78 fully completed assessments were returned by 17 individuals (8 were qualified medical doctors, 9 were not). When the ratings awarded in the assessments were analyzed, 25 of the assessments placed the discussion threads in the highest possible score band rating them between 5 and 10 overall, 38 rated them between 11 and 15, 12 rated them between 16 and 20, and 3 placed the discussion thread they assessed in the lowest rating band (21-25). This suggests that health threads on Internet discussion forum websites are more likely than not (by a factor of 4:1) to contain information of high or reasonably high quality. Extremely poor information is rare; the lowest available assessment rating was awarded only 11 times out of a possible 353, whereas the highest was awarded 54 times. Only 3 of 78 fully completed assessments rated a discussion thread in the lowest possible overall band of 21 to 25, whereas 25 of 78 rated it in the highest of 5 to 10. Quality assessments differed depending on the health condition (chickenpox appeared 17 times in the 20 lowest-rated threads, HIV twice, and diabetes once). Although assessors tended to agree on which discussion threads contained good quality information, what constituted poor quality information appeared to be more subjective. Most of the information assessed in this study was considered by qualified medical doctors and nonmedically qualified respondents to be of reasonably good quality. Although a small amount of information was assessed as poor, not all respondents agreed that the original questioner would have been led to act inappropriately based on the information presented. This suggests that discussion forum websites may be a useful platform through which people can ask health-related questions and receive answers of acceptable quality.

Quality and Readability of English-Language Internet Information for Voice Disorders.

PubMed

Dueppen, Abigail J; Bellon-Harn, Monica L; Radhakrishnan, Nandhakumar; Manchaiah, Vinaya

2017-12-15

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the readability and quality of English-language Internet information related to vocal hygiene, vocal health, and prevention of voice disorders. This study extends recent work because it evaluates readability, content quality, and website origin across broader search criteria than previous studies evaluating online voice material. Eighty-five websites were aggregated using five different country-specific search engines. Websites were then analyzed using quality and readability assessments. The entire web page was evaluated; however, no information or links beyond the first page was reviewed. Statistical calculations were employed to examine website ratings, differences between website origin and quality and readability scores, and correlations between readability instruments. Websites exhibited acceptable quality as measured by the DISCERN. However, only one website obtained the Health On the Net certification. Significant differences in quality were found among website origin, with government websites receiving higher quality ratings. Approximate educational levels required to comprehend information on the websites ranged from 8 to 9 years of education. Significant differences were found between website origin and readability measures with higher levels of education required to understand information on websites of nonprofit organizations. Current vocal hygiene, vocal health, and prevention of voice disorders websites were found to exhibit acceptable levels of quality and readability. However, highly rated Internet information related to voice care should be made more accessible to voice clients through Health On the Net certification. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Identity and perceived peer relationship quality in emerging adulthood: the mediating role of attachment-related emotions.

PubMed

Doumen, Sarah; Smits, Ilse; Luyckx, Koen; Duriez, Bart; Vanhalst, Janne; Verschueren, Karine; Goossens, Luc

2012-12-01

Identity formation and the perceived quality of one's peer relationships are theorized to be intimately linked in emerging adulthood. The present study examined the associations between identity styles (i.e., information-oriented, normative, and diffuse-avoidant styles) and the quality of relationships with peers (as indexed by friendship quality and loneliness) in a sample of 343 college students from Belgium. High scores for the information-oriented style were positively related to friendship quality, whereas high scores for the diffuse-avoidant identity style were positively related to loneliness. These direct associations were mediated, at least in part, by attachment-related emotions (i.e., avoidance and anxiety). These associations, both direct and indirect, provide the first evidence linking identity styles and the quality of peer relationships. Suggestions for future research are provided, both at the methodological and the conceptual level. Copyright © 2012 The Foundation for Professionals in Services for Adolescents. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Quantifying the quality of precipitation data from different sources

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Leijnse, Hidde; Wauben, Wiel; Overeem, Aart; de Haij, Marijn

2015-04-01

There is an increasing demand for high-resolution rainfall data. The current manual and automatic networks of climate and meteorological stations provide high quality rainfall data, but they cannot provide the high spatial and temporal resolution required for many applications. This can only partly be solved by using remotely sensed data. It is therefore necessary to consider third-party data, such as rain gauges operated by amateurs and rainfall intensities from commercial cellular communication links. The quality of such third-party data is highly variable and generally lower than that of dedicated networks. Often, such data quality information is missing for third party data. In order to be able to use data from various sources it is vital that quantitative knowledge of the data quality is available. This holds for all data sources, including the rain gauges in the reference networks of climate and meteorological stations. Data quality information is generally either not available or very limited for third-party data sources. For most dedicated climate meteorological networks, this information is only available for the sensor in laboratory conditions. In many cases, however, a significant part of the measurement errors and uncertainties is determined by the siting and maintenance of the sensor, for which generally only qualitative information is available. Furthermore sensors may have limitations under specific conditions. We aim to quantify data quality for different data sources by performing analyses on collocated data sets. Here we present an intercomparison of two years of precipitation data from six different sources (manual rain gauge, automatic rain gauge, present weather sensor, weather radar, commercial cellular communication links, and Meteosat) at three different locations in the Netherlands. We use auxiliary meteorological data to determine if the quality is influenced by other variables (e.g. the temperature influencing the evaporation from the rain gauge). We use three techniques to compare the data sets: 1) direct comparison; 2) triple collocation (see Stoffelen, 1998); and 3) comparison of statistics. Stoffelen, A. (1998). Toward the true near-surface wind speed: Error modeling and calibration using triple collocation. Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans (1978-2012), 103(C4), 7755-7766.

One size fits all? Challenges faced by physicians during shift handovers in a hospital with high sender/recipient ratio

PubMed Central

Yang, Xi Jessie; Park, Taezoon; Siah, Tien Ho Kewin; Ang, Bee Leng Sophia; Donchin, Yoel

2015-01-01

INTRODUCTION The aim of the present study was to investigate the challenges faced by physicians during shift handovers in a university hospital that has a high handover sender/recipient ratio. METHODS We adopted a multifaceted approach, comprising recording and analysis of handover information, rating of handover quality, and shadowing of handover recipients. Data was collected at the general medical ward of a university hospital in Singapore for a period of three months. Handover information transfer (i.e. senders’ and recipients’ verbal communication, and recipients’ handwritten notes) and handover environmental factors were analysed. The relationship between ‘to-do’ tasks and information transfer, handover quality and handover duration was examined using analysis of variance. RESULTS Verbal handovers for 152 patients were observed. Handwritten notes on 102 (67.1%) patients and handover quality ratings for 98 (64.5%) patients were collected. Although there was good task prioritisation (information transfer: p < 0.005, handover duration: p < 0.01), incomplete information transfer and poor implementation of non-modifiable identifiers were observed. The high sender/recipient ratio of the hospital made face-to-face and/or bedside handover difficult to implement. Although the current handover method (i.e. use of telephone communication) allowed for interactive communication, it resulted in systemic information loss due to the lack of written information. The handover environment was chaotic in the high sender/recipient ratio setting, and the physicians had no designated handover time or location. CONCLUSION Handovers in high sender/recipient ratio settings are challenging. Efforts should be made to improve the handover processes in such situations, so that patient care is not compromised. PMID:25532519

High-performing trauma teams: frequency of behavioral markers of a shared mental model displayed by team leaders and quality of medical performance.

PubMed

Johnsen, Bjørn Helge; Westli, Heidi Kristina; Espevik, Roar; Wisborg, Torben; Brattebø, Guttorm

2017-11-10

High quality team leadership is important for the outcome of medical emergencies. However, the behavioral marker of leadership are not well defined. The present study investigated frequency of behavioral markers of shared mental models (SMM) on quality of medical management. Training video recordings of 27 trauma teams simulating emergencies were analyzed according to team -leader's frequency of shared mental model behavioral markers. The results showed a positive correlation of quality of medical management with leaders sharing information without an explicit demand for the information ("push" of information) and with leaders communicating their situational awareness (SA) and demonstrating implicit supporting behavior. When separating the sample into higher versus lower performing teams, the higher performing teams had leaders who displayed a greater frequency of "push" of information and communication of SA and supportive behavior. No difference was found for the behavioral marker of team initiative, measured as bringing up suggestions to other teammembers. The results of this study emphasize the team leader's role in initiating and updating a team's shared mental model. Team leaders should also set expectations for acceptable interaction patterns (e.g., promoting information exchange) and create a team climate that encourages behaviors, such as mutual performance monitoring, backup behavior, and adaptability to enhance SMM.

Quantifying the Information Habits of High School Students Engaged in Engineering Design

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mentzer, Nathan; Fosmire, Michael J.

2015-01-01

This study measured the information gathering behaviors of high school students who had taken engineering design courses as they solved a design problem. The authors investigated what types of information students accessed, its quality, when it was accessed during the students' process, and if it impacted their thinking during the activity.…

Health Information Retrieval Tool (HIRT)

PubMed Central

Nyun, Mra Thinzar; Ogunyemi, Omolola; Zeng, Qing

2002-01-01

The World Wide Web (WWW) is a powerful way to deliver on-line health information, but one major problem limits its value to consumers: content is highly distributed, while relevant and high quality information is often difficult to find. To address this issue, we experimented with an approach that utilizes three-dimensional anatomic models in conjunction with free-text search.

Online resources for shoulder instability: what are patients reading?

PubMed

Garcia, Grant H; Taylor, Samuel A; Dy, Christopher J; Christ, Alexander; Patel, Ronak M; Dines, Joshua S

2014-10-15

Evaluations of the medical literature suggest that many online sites provide poor-quality information. The purpose of our study was to investigate the value of online resources for patient education about shoulder instability. Three search terms ("shoulder instability," "loose shoulder," and "shoulder dislocation") were entered into three Internet search engines. Three orthopaedic residents independently gauged the quality and accuracy of the information with use of a set of predetermined scoring criteria, in addition to noting whether or not four potential surgery options were mentioned. The readability of the web sites was evaluated with use of the Flesch-Kincaid score. Eighty-two unique web sites were evaluated. Quality and accuracy were significantly higher with use of the term "shoulder instability" compared with the term "loose shoulder" (quality, p < 0.001; accuracy, p = 0.001). However, the reading level was significantly more advanced for the "shoulder instability" web sites (p < 0.001). Quality was significantly higher on web sites with reading levels above the eighth grade level (p = 0.001) (88% of web sites). Only twenty-three sites (28%) mentioned surgical options for shoulder instability, and of these, only eight mentioned thermal capsulorrhaphy as a primary treatment. Online information regarding shoulder instability is often inaccurate and/or at an inappropriately high reading level. The quality of information is highly dependent on the specific search term used. Clinicians need to be aware of the information that is available online and should help direct patients to proper sites and guide Internet search terms. Copyright © 2014 by The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery, Incorporated.

Clefts of the lip and palate: is the Internet a trustworthy source of information for patients?

PubMed

Karamitros, G A; Kitsos, N A

2018-04-02

Great numbers of patients use the Internet to obtain information and familiarize themselves with medical conditions. However, the quality of Internet-based information on clefts of the lip and palate has not yet been examined. The goal of this study was to assess the quality of Internet-based patient information on orofacial clefts. Websites were evaluated based on the modified Ensuring Quality Information for Patients (EQIP) instrument (36 items). Three hundred websites were identified using the most popular search engines. Of these, 146 were assessed after the exclusion of duplicates, irrelevant sites, and web pages in languages other than English. Thirty-four (23.2%) web pages, designed mostly by academic centres and hospitals, covered more than 22 items and were classified as high-score websites. The EQIP score achieved by websites ranged between 4 and 30, out of a total possible 36 points; the median score was 19 points. The top five high-scoring web pages are highlighted. The overall quality of Internet-based patient information on orofacial clefts is low. Also, the majority of web pages created by medical practitioners have a marketing perspective and in order to attract more patients/customers avoid mentioning the risks of the reconstructive procedures needed. Copyright © 2018 International Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Calculating the quality of public high-throughput sequencing data to obtain a suitable subset for reanalysis from the Sequence Read Archive.

PubMed

Ohta, Tazro; Nakazato, Takeru; Bono, Hidemasa

2017-06-01

It is important for public data repositories to promote the reuse of archived data. In the growing field of omics science, however, the increasing number of submissions of high-throughput sequencing (HTSeq) data to public repositories prevents users from choosing a suitable data set from among the large number of search results. Repository users need to be able to set a threshold to reduce the number of results to obtain a suitable subset of high-quality data for reanalysis. We calculated the quality of sequencing data archived in a public data repository, the Sequence Read Archive (SRA), by using the quality control software FastQC. We obtained quality values for 1 171 313 experiments, which can be used to evaluate the suitability of data for reuse. We also visualized the data distribution in SRA by integrating the quality information and metadata of experiments and samples. We provide quality information of all of the archived sequencing data, which enable users to obtain sufficient quality sequencing data for reanalyses. The calculated quality data are available to the public in various formats. Our data also provide an example of enhancing the reuse of public data by adding metadata to published research data by a third party. © The Authors 2017. Published by Oxford University Press.

Water Quality in the High Plains Aquifer, Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, and Wyoming, 1999-2004

USGS Publications Warehouse

Gurdak, Jason J.; McMahon, Peter B.; Dennehy, Kevin; Qi, Sharon L.

2009-01-01

This report contains the major findings of a 1999-2004 assessment of water quality in the High Plains aquifer. It is one of a series of reports by the National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Program that present major findings for principal and other aquifers and major river basins across the Nation. In these reports, water quality is discussed in terms of local, regional, State, and national issues. Conditions in the aquifer system are compared to conditions found elsewhere and to selected national benchmarks, such as those for drinking-water quality. This report is intended for individuals working with water-resource issues in Federal, State, or local agencies, universities, public interest groups, or the private sector. The information will be useful in addressing a number of current issues, such as drinking-water quality, the effects of agricultural practices on water quality, source-water protection, and monitoring and sampling strategies. This report is also for individuals who wish to know more about the quality of ground water in areas near where they live and how that water quality compares to the quality of water in other areas across the region and the Nation. The water-quality conditions in the High Plains aquifer summarized in this report are discussed in greater detail in other reports that can be accessed in Appendix 1 of http://pubs.usgs.gov/pp/1749/. Detailed technical information, data and analyses, collection and analytical methodology, models, graphs, and maps that support the findings presented in this report in addition to reports in this series from other basins can be accessed from the national NAWQA Web site (http://water.usgs.gov/nawqa). This report accompanies the detailed and technical report of water-quality conditions in the High Plains aquifer 'Water-quality assessment of the High Plains aquifer, 1999-2004' (http://pubs.usgs.gov/pp/1749/)

Developing an effective IM/IT strategy.

PubMed

Kramer, Sarah; Walker, Joanne; Falk, Will

2009-01-01

Healthcare organizations and systems around the world lag far behind banking, manufacturing, travel and other industries in their use of information management/information technology (IM/IT) to deliver high-quality products and services. Across Canada, healthcare organizations, as well as governments, understand that information and information technology are needed to deliver quality care and to sustain our publicly funded health system. However, insufficient funding, few experienced resources, lack of strong leadership and absence of clear business/clinical rationale have restricted innovation and advancement in the use of IM/IT to improve healthcare delivery and patient outcomes.

YouTube Videos on Botulinum Toxin A for Wrinkles: A Useful Resource for Patient Education.

PubMed

Wong, Katharine; Doong, Judy; Trang, Trinh; Joo, Sarah; Chien, Anna L

2017-12-01

Patients interested in botulinum toxin type A (BTX-A) for wrinkles search for videos on YouTube, but little is known about the quality and reliability of the content. The authors examined the quality, reliability, content, and target audience of YouTube videos on BTX for wrinkles. In this cross-sectional study, the term "Botox" was searched on YouTube. Sixty relevant videos in English were independently categorized by 2 reviewers as useful informational, misleading informational, useful patient view, or misleading patient view. Disagreements were settled by a third reviewer. Videos were rated on the Global Quality Scale (GQS) (1 = poor, 5 = excellent). Sixty-three percent of the BTX YouTube videos were useful informational (GQS = 4.4 ± 0.7), 33% as useful patient view (GQS = 3.21 ± 1.2), 2% as misleading informational (GQS = 1), and 2% as misleading patient view (GQS = 2.5). The large number of useful videos, high reliability, and the wide range of content covered suggests that those who search for antiwrinkle BTX videos on YouTube are likely to view high-quality content. This suggests that YouTube may be a good source of videos to recommend for patients interested in BTX.

Impact of High Resolution Land-Use Data in Meteorology and Air Quality Modeling Systems

EPA Science Inventory

Accurate land use information is important in meteorology for land surface exchanges, in emission modeling for emission spatial allocation, and in air quality modeling for chemical surface fluxes. Currently, meteorology, emission, and air quality models often use outdated USGS Gl...

An Attention-Information-Based Spatial Adaptation Framework for Browsing Videos via Mobile Devices

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Houqiang; Wang, Yi; Chen, Chang Wen

2007-12-01

With the growing popularity of personal digital assistant devices and smart phones, more and more consumers are becoming quite enthusiastic to appreciate videos via mobile devices. However, limited display size of the mobile devices has been imposing significant barriers for users to enjoy browsing high-resolution videos. In this paper, we present an attention-information-based spatial adaptation framework to address this problem. The whole framework includes two major parts: video content generation and video adaptation system. During video compression, the attention information in video sequences will be detected using an attention model and embedded into bitstreams with proposed supplement-enhanced information (SEI) structure. Furthermore, we also develop an innovative scheme to adaptively adjust quantization parameters in order to simultaneously improve the quality of overall encoding and the quality of transcoding the attention areas. When the high-resolution bitstream is transmitted to mobile users, a fast transcoding algorithm we developed earlier will be applied to generate a new bitstream for attention areas in frames. The new low-resolution bitstream containing mostly attention information, instead of the high-resolution one, will be sent to users for display on the mobile devices. Experimental results show that the proposed spatial adaptation scheme is able to improve both subjective and objective video qualities.

Modeling the ecological trap hypothesis: a habitat and demographic analysis for migrant songbirds

Treesearch

Therese M. Donovan; Frank R, III Thompson

2001-01-01

Most species occupy both high- and low-quality habitats throughout their ranges. As habitats become modified through anthropogenic change, low-quality habitat may become a more dominant component of the landscape for some species. To conserve species, information on how to assess habitat quality and guidelines for maintaining or eliminating low-quality habitats are...

Stability and Patterns of Classroom Quality in German Early Childhood Education and Care

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kuger, Susanne; Kluczniok, Katharina; Kaplan, David; Rossbach, Hans-Guenther

2016-01-01

Many education systems worldwide have dedicated a significant amount of resources to improve quality levels in early childhood education and care. Research can contribute to this goal by providing information about conditions of high-quality education and care and reasons for changes in the quality provided to children. This study therefore…

The effect of search term on the quality and accuracy of online information regarding distal radius fractures.

PubMed

Dy, Christopher J; Taylor, Samuel A; Patel, Ronak M; Kitay, Alison; Roberts, Timothy R; Daluiski, Aaron

2012-09-01

Recent emphasis on shared decision making and patient-centered research has increased the importance of patient education and health literacy. The internet is rapidly growing as a source of self-education for patients. However, concern exists over the quality, accuracy, and readability of the information. Our objective was to determine whether the quality, accuracy, and readability of information online about distal radius fractures vary with the search term. This was a prospective evaluation of 3 search engines using 3 different search terms of varying sophistication ("distal radius fracture," "wrist fracture," and "broken wrist"). We evaluated 70 unique Web sites for quality, accuracy, and readability. We used comparative statistics to determine whether the search term affected the quality, accuracy, and readability of the Web sites found. Three orthopedic surgeons independently gauged quality and accuracy of information using a set of predetermined scoring criteria. We evaluated the readability of the Web site using the Fleisch-Kincaid score for reading grade level. There were significant differences in the quality, accuracy, and readability of information found, depending on the search term. We found higher quality and accuracy resulted from the search term "distal radius fracture," particularly compared with Web sites resulting from the term "broken wrist." The reading level was higher than recommended in 65 of the 70 Web sites and was significantly higher when searching with "distal radius fracture" than "wrist fracture" or "broken wrist." There was no correlation between Web site reading level and quality or accuracy. The readability of information about distal radius fractures in most Web sites was higher than the recommended reading level for the general public. The quality and accuracy of the information found significantly varied with the sophistication of the search term used. Physicians, professional societies, and search engines should consider efforts to improve internet access to high-quality information at an understandable level. Copyright © 2012 American Society for Surgery of the Hand. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Process quality of decision-making in multidisciplinary cancer team meetings: a structured observational study.

PubMed

Hahlweg, Pola; Didi, Sarah; Kriston, Levente; Härter, Martin; Nestoriuc, Yvonne; Scholl, Isabelle

2017-11-17

The quality of decision-making in multidisciplinary team meetings (MDTMs) depends on the quality of information presented and the quality of team processes. Few studies have examined these factors using a standardized approach. The aim of this study was to objectively document the processes involved in decision-making in MDTMs, document the outcomes in terms of whether a treatment recommendation was given (none vs. singular vs. multiple), and to identify factors related to type of treatment recommendation. An adaptation of the observer rating scale Multidisciplinary Tumor Board Metric for the Observation of Decision-Making (MDT-MODe) was used to assess the quality of the presented information and team processes in MDTMs. Data was analyzed using descriptive statistics and mixed logistic regression analysis. N = 249 cases were observed in N = 29 MDTMs. While cancer-specific medical information was judged to be of high quality, psychosocial information and information regarding patient views were considered to be of low quality. In 25% of the cases no, in 64% one, and in 10% more than one treatment recommendations were given (1% missing data). Giving no treatment recommendation was associated with duration of case discussion, duration of the MDTM session, quality of case history, quality of radiological information, and specialization of the MDTM. Higher levels of medical and treatment uncertainty during discussions were found to be associated with a higher probability for more than one treatment recommendation. The quality of different aspects of information was observed to differ greatly. In general, we did not find MDTMs to be in line with the principles of patient-centered care. Recommendation outcome varied substantially between different specializations of MDTMs. The quality of certain information was associated with the recommendation outcome. Uncertainty during discussions was related to more than one recommendation being considered. Time constraints were found to play an important role. Some of those aspects seem modifiable, which offers possibilities for the reorganization of MDTMs.

Orienting health care information systems toward quality: how Group Health Cooperative of Puget Sound did it.

PubMed

Goverman, I L

1994-11-01

Group Health Cooperative of Puget Sound (GHC), a large staff-model health maintenance organization based in Seattle, is redesigning its information systems to provide the systems and information needed to support its quality agenda. Long-range planning for GHC's information resources was done in three phases. In assessment, interviews, surveys, and a benchmarking effort identified strengths and weaknesses of the existing information systems. We concluded that we needed to improve clinical care and patient management systems and enhance health plan applications. In direction setting, we developed six objectives (for example, approach information systems in a way that is consistent with quality improvement principles). Detailed planning was used to define projects, timing, and resource allocations. Some of the most important efforts in the resulting five-year plan include the development of (1) a computerized patient record; (2) a provider-based clinical workstation for access to patient information, order entry, results reporting, guidelines, and reminders; (3) a comprehensive set of patient management and service quality systems; (4) reengineered structures, policies, and processes within the health plan, supported by a complete set of integrated information systems; (5) a standardized, high-capacity communications network to provide linkages both within GHC and among its business partners; and (6) a revised oversight structure for information services, which forms partnerships with users. A quality focus ensured that each project not only produced its own benefits but also supported the larger organizational goals associated with "total" quality.

The Effect of Publicized Quality Information on Home Health Agency Choice.

PubMed

Jung, Jeah Kyoungrae; Wu, Bingxiao; Kim, Hyunjee; Polsky, Daniel

2016-12-01

We examine consumers' use of publicized quality information in Medicare home health care markets, where consumer cost sharing and travel costs are absent. We report two findings. First, agencies with high quality scores are more likely to be preferred by consumers after the introduction of a public reporting program than before. Second, consumers' use of publicized quality information differs by patient group. Community-based patients have slightly larger responses to public reporting than hospital-discharged patients. Patients with functional limitations at the start of their care, at least among hospital-discharged patients, have a larger response to the reported functional outcome measure than those without functional limitations. In all cases of significant marginal effects, magnitudes are small. We conclude that the current public reporting approach is unlikely to have critical impacts on home health agency choice. Identifying and releasing quality information that is meaningful to consumers may help increase consumers' use of public reports. © The Author(s) 2015.

Quality and readability of information materials for people with brain tumours and their families.

PubMed

Langbecker, Danette; Janda, Monika

2012-12-01

Written information is commonly used to inform patients about their disease and treatment but must be evidence-based and understandable to be useful. This study assessed the quality of the content and the readability of information brochures for people affected by brain tumours. We randomly selected 18 publicly available brochures. Brochures were assessed by criteria to assess the quality of content using the DISCERN instrument. Readability was tested using three commonly used formulas, which yield the reading grade level required to comprehend the brochure (sixth grade level recommended). The mean overall DISCERN score was 3.17 out of a maximum of 5 (moderate quality); only one achieved a rating greater than 4 (high quality). Only one brochure met the sixth grade readability criteria. Although brochures may have accurate content, few satisfied all of the recommended criteria to evaluate their content. Existing brochures need to be critically reviewed and simplified and consumer-focused brochures, produced.

The Grassmannian Atlas: A General Framework for Exploring Linear Projections of High-Dimensional Data

DOE PAGES

Liu, S.; Bremer, P. -T; Jayaraman, J. J.; ...

2016-06-04

Linear projections are one of the most common approaches to visualize high-dimensional data. Since the space of possible projections is large, existing systems usually select a small set of interesting projections by ranking a large set of candidate projections based on a chosen quality measure. However, while highly ranked projections can be informative, some lower ranked ones could offer important complementary information. Therefore, selection based on ranking may miss projections that are important to provide a global picture of the data. Here, the proposed work fills this gap by presenting the Grassmannian Atlas, a framework that captures the global structuresmore » of quality measures in the space of all projections, which enables a systematic exploration of many complementary projections and provides new insights into the properties of existing quality measures.« less

FACILITATING ADVANCED URBAN METEOROLOGY AND AIR QUALITY MODELING CAPABILITIES WITH HIGH RESOLUTION URBAN DATABASE AND ACCESS PORTAL TOOLS

EPA Science Inventory

Information of urban morphological features at high resolution is needed to properly model and characterize the meteorological and air quality fields in urban areas. We describe a new project called National Urban Database with Access Portal Tool, (NUDAPT) that addresses this nee...

75 FR 28789 - Office of Innovation and Improvement; Overview Information; Charter Schools Program (CSP) Grants...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-05-24

... Schools Program (CSP) Grants for Replication and Expansion of High-Quality Charter Schools; Notice... purpose of the CSP is to increase national understanding of the charter school model and to expand the number of high-quality charter schools available to students across the Nation by providing financial...

75 FR 7447 - Certain Coated Paper Suitable for High-Quality Print Graphics Using Sheet-Fed Presses From...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-02-19

... Paper Suitable for High-Quality Print Graphics Using Sheet-Fed Presses From Indonesia and the People's...: February 19, 2010. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Gemal Brangman (Indonesia) or Demitrios Kalogeropoulos... using sheet-fed presses from Indonesia and the People's Republic of China. See Certain Coated Paper...

Assessment of the Quality of Patient-Orientated Information on Surgery for Crohn's Disease on the Internet.

PubMed

Yeung, Trevor M; Sacchi, Matteo; Mortensen, Neil J; Spinelli, Antonino

2015-09-01

The Internet is a vast resource for patients to search for health information on the treatment of Crohn's disease. This study examines the quality of Web sites that provide information to adults regarding Crohn's disease, including treatment options and surgery. Two search engines (Google and Yahoo) and the search terms "surgery for Crohn's disease" were used. The first 50 sites of each search were assessed. Sites that fulfilled the inclusion criteria were evaluated for content and scored by using the DISCERN instrument, which evaluates the quality of health information on treatment choices. One hundred sites were examined, of which 13 were duplicates. Sixty-two sites provided patient-orientated information. The other sites included 7 scientific articles, 3 blogs, 2 links, 6 forums, 3 video links, and 4 dead links. Of the 62 Web sites that provided patient information for adults, only 15 (24.2%) had been updated within the past 2 years. Only 9 (14.5%) were affiliated with hospitals and clinics. The majority of sites (33, 53.2%) were associated with private companies with commercial interests. Only half of the Web sites provided details on treatment options, and most Web sites did not provide any information on symptoms and procedure details. Just 5 Web sites (8.1%) described the risks of surgery, and only 7 (11.3%) provided any information on the timescale for recovery. Overall, only 1 Web site (1.6%) was identified as being "good" or "excellent" with the use of the DISCERN criteria. Although the internet is constantly evolving, this study captures data at a specific time point. Search results may vary depending on geographical location. This study only assessed English language websites. The quality of patient information on surgery for Crohn's disease is highly variable and generally poor. There is potential for the Internet to provide valuable information, and clinicians should identify high-quality Web sites to guide their patients.

Googling endometriosis: a systematic review of information available on the Internet.

PubMed

Hirsch, Martin; Aggarwal, Shivani; Barker, Claire; Davis, Colin J; Duffy, James M N

2017-05-01

The demand for health information online is increasing rapidly without clear governance. We aim to evaluate the credibility, quality, readability, and accuracy of online patient information concerning endometriosis. We searched 5 popular Internet search engines: aol.com, ask.com, bing.com, google.com, and yahoo.com. We developed a search strategy in consultation with patients with endometriosis, to identify relevant World Wide Web pages. Pages containing information related to endometriosis for women with endometriosis or the public were eligible. Two independent authors screened the search results. World Wide Web pages were evaluated using validated instruments across 3 of the 4 following domains: (1) credibility (White Paper instrument; range 0-10); (2) quality (DISCERN instrument; range 0-85); and (3) readability (Flesch-Kincaid instrument; range 0-100); and (4) accuracy (assessed by a prioritized criteria developed in consultation with health care professionals, researchers, and women with endometriosis based on the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology guidelines [range 0-30]). We summarized these data in diagrams, tables, and narratively. We identified 750 World Wide Web pages, of which 54 were included. Over a third of Web pages did not attribute authorship and almost half the included pages did not report the sources of information or academic references. No World Wide Web page provided information assessed as being written in plain English. A minority of web pages were assessed as high quality. A single World Wide Web page provided accurate information: evidentlycochrane.net. Available information was, in general, skewed toward the diagnosis of endometriosis. There were 16 credible World Wide Web pages, however the content limitations were infrequently discussed. No World Wide Web page scored highly across all 4 domains. In the unlikely event that a World Wide Web page reports high-quality, accurate, and credible health information it is typically challenging for a lay audience to comprehend. Health care professionals, and the wider community, should inform women with endometriosis of the risk of outdated, inaccurate, or even dangerous information online. The implementation of an information standard will incentivize providers of online information to establish and adhere to codes of conduct. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Health Advice from Internet Discussion Forums: How Bad Is Dangerous?

PubMed Central

Watkins, Chris; Kleine, Dorothea

2016-01-01

Background Concerns over online health information–seeking behavior point to the potential harm incorrect, incomplete, or biased information may cause. However, systematic reviews of health information have found few examples of documented harm that can be directly attributed to poor quality information found online. Objective The aim of this study was to improve our understanding of the quality and quality characteristics of information found in online discussion forum websites so that their likely value as a peer-to-peer health information–sharing platform could be assessed. Methods A total of 25 health discussion threads were selected across 3 websites (Reddit, Mumsnet, and Patient) covering 3 health conditions (human immunodeficiency virus [HIV], diabetes, and chickenpox). Assessors were asked to rate information found in the discussion threads according to 5 criteria: accuracy, completeness, how sensible the replies were, how they thought the questioner would act, and how useful they thought the questioner would find the replies. Results In all, 78 fully completed assessments were returned by 17 individuals (8 were qualified medical doctors, 9 were not). When the ratings awarded in the assessments were analyzed, 25 of the assessments placed the discussion threads in the highest possible score band rating them between 5 and 10 overall, 38 rated them between 11 and 15, 12 rated them between 16 and 20, and 3 placed the discussion thread they assessed in the lowest rating band (21-25). This suggests that health threads on Internet discussion forum websites are more likely than not (by a factor of 4:1) to contain information of high or reasonably high quality. Extremely poor information is rare; the lowest available assessment rating was awarded only 11 times out of a possible 353, whereas the highest was awarded 54 times. Only 3 of 78 fully completed assessments rated a discussion thread in the lowest possible overall band of 21 to 25, whereas 25 of 78 rated it in the highest of 5 to 10. Quality assessments differed depending on the health condition (chickenpox appeared 17 times in the 20 lowest-rated threads, HIV twice, and diabetes once). Although assessors tended to agree on which discussion threads contained good quality information, what constituted poor quality information appeared to be more subjective. Conclusions Most of the information assessed in this study was considered by qualified medical doctors and nonmedically qualified respondents to be of reasonably good quality. Although a small amount of information was assessed as poor, not all respondents agreed that the original questioner would have been led to act inappropriately based on the information presented. This suggests that discussion forum websites may be a useful platform through which people can ask health-related questions and receive answers of acceptable quality. PMID:26740148

Design and Testing of a Tool for Evaluating the Quality of Diabetes Consumer-Information Web Sites

PubMed Central

Steinwachs, Donald; Rubin, Haya R

2003-01-01

Background Most existing tools for measuring the quality of Internet health information focus almost exclusively on structural criteria or other proxies for quality information rather than evaluating actual accuracy and comprehensiveness. Objective This research sought to develop a new performance-measurement tool for evaluating the quality of Internet health information, test the validity and reliability of the tool, and assess the variability in diabetes Web site quality. Methods An objective, systematic tool was developed to evaluate Internet diabetes information based on a quality-of-care measurement framework. The principal investigator developed an abstraction tool and trained an external reviewer on its use. The tool included 7 structural measures and 34 performance measures created by using evidence-based practice guidelines and experts' judgments of accuracy and comprehensiveness. Results Substantial variation existed in all categories, with overall scores following a normal distribution and ranging from 15% to 95% (mean was 50% and median was 51%). Lin's concordance correlation coefficient to assess agreement between raters produced a rho of 0.761 (Pearson's r of 0.769), suggesting moderate to high agreement. The average agreement between raters for the performance measures was 0.80. Conclusions Diabetes Web site quality varies widely. Alpha testing of this new tool suggests that it could become a reliable and valid method for evaluating the quality of Internet health sites. Such an instrument could help lay people distinguish between beneficial and misleading information. PMID:14713658

Management information systems: their role in the marketing activities of HMOs.

PubMed

Aronow, D B

1988-01-01

HMOs are particularly dependent on their information resources in providing cost-effective, high quality, accessible care. Understanding the role of MIS in HMO marketing activities may guide administrators in evaluating information systems applications within their organizations.

Quality of pharmaceutical care at the pharmacy counter: patients' experiences versus video observation.

PubMed

Koster, Ellen S; Blom, Lyda; Overbeeke, Marloes R; Philbert, Daphne; Vervloet, Marcia; Koopman, Laura; van Dijk, Liset

2016-01-01

Consumer Quality Index questionnaires are used to assess quality of care from patients' experiences. To provide insight into the agreement about quality of pharmaceutical care, measured both by a patient questionnaire and video observations. Pharmaceutical encounters in four pharmacies were video-recorded. Patients completed a questionnaire based upon the Consumer Quality Index Pharmaceutical Care after the encounter containing questions about patients' experiences regarding information provision, medication counseling, and pharmacy staff's communication style. An observation protocol was used to code the recorded encounters. Agreement between video observation and patients' experiences was calculated. In total, 109 encounters were included for analysis. For the domains "medication counseling" and "communication style", agreement between patients' experiences and observations was very high (>90%). Less agreement (45%) was found for "information provision", which was rated more positive by patients compared to the observations, especially for the topic, encouragement of patients' questioning behavior. A questionnaire is useful to assess the quality of medication counseling and pharmacy staff's communication style, but might be less suitable to evaluate information provision and pharmacy staff's encouragement of patients' questioning behavior. Although patients may believe that they have received all necessary information to use their new medicine, some information on specific instructions was not addressed during the encounter. When using questionnaires to get insight into information provision, observations of encounters are very informative to validate the patient questionnaires and make necessary adjustments.

Integrating multiple data sources in species distribution modeling: A framework for data fusion

USGS Publications Warehouse

Pacifici, Krishna; Reich, Brian J.; Miller, David A.W.; Gardner, Beth; Stauffer, Glenn E.; Singh, Susheela; McKerrow, Alexa; Collazo, Jaime A.

2017-01-01

The last decade has seen a dramatic increase in the use of species distribution models (SDMs) to characterize patterns of species’ occurrence and abundance. Efforts to parameterize SDMs often create a tension between the quality and quantity of data available to fit models. Estimation methods that integrate both standardized and non-standardized data types offer a potential solution to the tradeoff between data quality and quantity. Recently several authors have developed approaches for jointly modeling two sources of data (one of high quality and one of lesser quality). We extend their work by allowing for explicit spatial autocorrelation in occurrence and detection error using a Multivariate Conditional Autoregressive (MVCAR) model and develop three models that share information in a less direct manner resulting in more robust performance when the auxiliary data is of lesser quality. We describe these three new approaches (“Shared,” “Correlation,” “Covariates”) for combining data sources and show their use in a case study of the Brown-headed Nuthatch in the Southeastern U.S. and through simulations. All three of the approaches which used the second data source improved out-of-sample predictions relative to a single data source (“Single”). When information in the second data source is of high quality, the Shared model performs the best, but the Correlation and Covariates model also perform well. When the information quality in the second data source is of lesser quality, the Correlation and Covariates model performed better suggesting they are robust alternatives when little is known about auxiliary data collected opportunistically or through citizen scientists. Methods that allow for both data types to be used will maximize the useful information available for estimating species distributions.

Using Web sites on quality health care for teaching consumers in public libraries.

PubMed

Oermann, Marilyn H; Lesley, Marsha L; VanderWal, Jillon S

2005-01-01

More and more consumers are searching the Internet for health information. Health Web sites vary in quality, though, and not all consumers are aware of the need to evaluate the information they find on the Web. Nurses and other health providers involved in patient education can evaluate Web sites and suggest quality sites for patients to use. This article describes a project we implemented in 2 public libraries to educate consumers about quality health care and patient safety using Web sites that we had evaluated earlier. Participants (n = 103) completed resources on health care quality, questions patients should ask about their diagnoses and treatment options, changes in Medicare and Medicare options or ways to make their health benefits work for them, and tips to help prevent medical errors. Most consumers were highly satisfied with the Web sites and the information they learned on quality care from these resources. Many participants did not have Internet access at home or work and instead used the library to search the Web. Information about the Web sites used in this project and other sites on quality care can be made available in libraries and community settings and as part of patient education resources in hospitals. The Web provides easy access for consumers to information about patient safety initiatives and health care quality in general.

Evaluation of the content quality of websites for recurrent aphthous ulcers and oral lichen planus.

PubMed

Hu, Xiaosheng; Pan, Hui; He, Wenxiu; Hua, Hong; Yan, Zhimin

2017-12-29

The Internet is one of the most popular resources for people to obtain medical information; however, only a limited number of studies have reported the quality of the available health information related to oral mucosal diseases. The present study aimed to evaluate the quality of information on websites for recurrent aphthous ulcers (RAU) and oral lichen planus (OLP), in both Chinese and English. Common search engines, BaiDu, Google, and Yahoo in Chinese; and Bing, Google, and Yahoo in English were used to identify websites providing content related to the oral mucosal diseases. The first 100 links for keywords "recurrent aphthous ulcers" and "oral lichen planus" were visited and content was downloaded within 24 h. Two separate trained researchers use the validated DISCERN rating instrument and JAMA benchmarks to evaluate the content. The rating scores were analyzed and the quality was assessed according to the scores and content of websites. A total of 145 websites for RAU and 128 of OLP were analyzed. Based on the DISCERN instrument, the quality of the content in websites for both diseases, whether in English or Chinese, was not high, generally scoring 2 to 3 (max. 5). Only 13 of the RAU websites and 21 of the OLP websites fulfilled the four criteria of the JAMA benchmarks. Generally, the scores of the English websites were higher than those of the Chinese websites. During the twelve searches, only four (Yahoo of RAU in Chinese, Bing and Yahoo of RAU in English, and Google of OLP in Chinese) showed moderate correlation between the website's ranking and their rating scores. People cannot obtain high quality medical information if they only look at the top ranked sites on the viewing lists. Websites belonging to universities or medical centers had relatively higher scores compared with the others. The quality of the content on websites relating to RAU and OLP in Chinese and English was moderate. More good quality websites and information are needed in the future.

Country Immunization Information System Assessments - Kenya, 2015 and Ghana, 2016.

PubMed

Scott, Colleen; Clarke, Kristie E N; Grevendonk, Jan; Dolan, Samantha B; Ahmed, Hussein Osman; Kamau, Peter; Ademba, Peter Aswani; Osadebe, Lynda; Bonsu, George; Opare, Joseph; Diamenu, Stanley; Amenuvegbe, Gregory; Quaye, Pamela; Osei-Sarpong, Fred; Abotsi, Francis; Ankrah, Joseph Dwomor; MacNeil, Adam

2017-11-10

The collection, analysis, and use of data to measure and improve immunization program performance are priorities for the World Health Organization (WHO), global partners, and national immunization programs (NIPs). High quality data are essential for evidence-based decision-making to support successful NIPs. Consistent recording and reporting practices, optimal access to and use of health information systems, and rigorous interpretation and use of data for decision-making are characteristics of high-quality immunization information systems. In 2015 and 2016, immunization information system assessments (IISAs) were conducted in Kenya and Ghana using a new WHO and CDC assessment methodology designed to identify root causes of immunization data quality problems and facilitate development of plans for improvement. Data quality challenges common to both countries included low confidence in facility-level target population data (Kenya = 50%, Ghana = 53%) and poor data concordance between child registers and facility tally sheets (Kenya = 0%, Ghana = 3%). In Kenya, systemic challenges included limited supportive supervision and lack of resources to access electronic reporting systems; in Ghana, challenges included a poorly defined subdistrict administrative level. Data quality improvement plans (DQIPs) based on assessment findings are being implemented in both countries. IISAs can help countries identify and address root causes of poor immunization data to provide a stronger evidence base for future investments in immunization programs.

Conceptualization and Implementation of the Central Information Portal on Rare Diseases: Protocol for a Qualitative Study.

PubMed

Litzkendorf, Svenja; Hartz, Tobias; Göbel, Jens; Storf, Holger; Pauer, Frédéric; Babac, Ana; Lührs, Verena; Bruckner-Tuderman, Leena; Schauer, Franziska; Schmidtke, Jörg; Biehl, Lisa; Wagner, Tof; Graf von der Schulenburg, J-Matthias; Frank, Martin

2018-05-11

Recently, public and political interest has focused on people living with rare diseases and their health concerns. Due to the large number of different types of rare diseases and the sizable number of patients, taking action to improve the life of those affected is gaining importance. In 2013, the federal government of Germany adopted a national action plan for rare diseases, including the call to establish a central information portal on rare diseases (Zentrales Informationsportal über seltene Erkrankungen, ZIPSE). The objective of this study, therefore, was to conduct scientific research on how such a portal must be designed to meet the needs of patients, their families, and medical professionals, and to provide high-quality information for information seekers. We chose a 3-step procedure to develop a needs-based prototype of a central information portal. In the first step, we determined the information needs of patients with rare diseases, their relatives, and health care professionals by means of qualitative interviews and their content-analytical evaluation. On the basis of this, we developed the basic structure of the portal. In the second step, we identified quality criteria for websites on rare diseases to ensure that the information linked with ZIPSE meets the quality demands. Therefore, we gathered existing criteria catalogs and discussed them in an expert workshop. In the third step, we implemented and tested the developed prototypical information portal. A portal page was configured and made accessible on the Web. The structure of ZIPSE was based on the findings from 108 qualitative interviews with patients, their relatives, and health care professionals, through which numerous information needs were identified. We placed particularly important areas of information, such as symptoms, therapy, research, and advisory services, on the start page. Moreover, we defined 13 quality criteria, referring to factors such as author information, creation date, and privacy, enabling links with high-quality information. Moreover, 19 users tested all the developed routines based on usability and comprehensibility. Subsequently, we improved the visual presentation of search results and other important search functions. The implemented information portal, ZIPSE, provides high-quality information on rare diseases from a central point of access. By integrating the targeted groups as well as different experts on medical information during the construction, the website can assure an improved search for information for users. ZIPSE can also serve as a model for other Web-based information systems in the field of rare diseases. RR1-10.2196/7425. ©Svenja Litzkendorf, Tobias Hartz, Jens Göbel, Holger Storf, Frédéric Pauer, Ana Babac, Verena Lührs, Leena Bruckner-Tuderman, Franziska Schauer, Jörg Schmidtke, Lisa Biehl, TOF Wagner, J-Matthias Graf von der Schulenburg, Martin Frank. Originally published in JMIR Research Protocols (http://www.researchprotocols.org), 11.05.2018.

High-resolution geological mapping at 3D Environments: A case study from the fold-and-thrust belt in northern Taiwan

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chan, Y. C.; Shih, N. C.; Hsieh, Y. C.

2016-12-01

Geologic maps have provided fundamental information for many scientific and engineering applications in human societies. Geologic maps directly influence the reliability of research results or the robustness of engineering projects. In the past, geologic maps were mainly produced by field geologists through direct field investigations and 2D topographic maps. However, the quality of traditional geologic maps was significantly compromised by field conditions, particularly, when the map area is covered by heavy forest canopies. Recent developments in airborne LiDAR technology may virtually remove trees or buildings, thus, providing a useful data set for improving geological mapping. Because high-quality topographic information still needs to be interpreted in terms of geology, there are many fundamental questions regarding how to best apply the data set for high-resolution geological mapping. In this study, we aim to test the quality and reliability of high-resolution geologic maps produced by recent technological methods through an example from the fold-and-thrust belt in northern Taiwan. We performed the geological mapping by applying the LiDAR-derived DEM, self-developed program tools and many layers of relevant information at interactive 3D environments. Our mapping results indicate that the proposed methods will considerably improve the quality and consistency of the geologic maps. The study also shows that in order to gain consistent mapping results, future high-resolution geologic maps should be produced at interactive 3D environments on the basis of existing geologic maps.

Colorado Employability Skills Survey. Report of Results.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hulsart, Richard; Bauman, Paul

Interviews were conducted with employers and military personnel to obtain information regarding basic skills needed in entry-level jobs available to young people with a high school education. Information was also obtained from young entry-level employees and military recruits on the quality of their high school preparation in basic employment…

A service for the application of data quality information to NASA earth science satellite records

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Armstrong, E. M.; Xing, Z.; Fry, C.; Khalsa, S. J. S.; Huang, T.; Chen, G.; Chin, T. M.; Alarcon, C.

2016-12-01

A recurring demand in working with satellite-based earth science data records is the need to apply data quality information. Such quality information is often contained within the data files as an array of "flags", but can also be represented by more complex quality descriptions such as combinations of bit flags, or even other ancillary variables that can be applied as thresholds to the geophysical variable of interest. For example, with Level 2 granules from the Group for High Resolution Sea Surface Temperature (GHRSST) project up to 6 independent variables could be used to screen the sea surface temperature measurements on a pixel-by-pixel basis. Quality screening of Level 3 data from the Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) instrument can be become even more complex, involving 161 unique bit states or conditions a user can screen for. The application of quality information is often a laborious process for the user until they understand the implications of all the flags and bit conditions, and requires iterative approaches using custom software. The Virtual Quality Screening Service, a NASA ACCESS project, is addressing these issues and concerns. The project has developed an infrastructure to expose, apply, and extract quality screening information building off known and proven NASA components for data extraction and subset-by-value, data discovery, and exposure to the user of granule-based quality information. Further sharing of results through well-defined URLs and web service specifications has also been implemented. The presentation will focus on overall description of the technologies and informatics principals employed by the project. Examples of implementations of the end-to-end web service for quality screening with GHRSST and SMAP granules will be demonstrated.

Is there a relationship between high-quality performance in major teaching hospitals and residents' knowledge of quality and patient safety?

PubMed

Pingleton, Susan K; Horak, Bernard J; Davis, David A; Goldmann, Donald A; Keroack, Mark A; Dickler, Robert M

2009-11-01

The relationship of the quality of teaching hospitals' clinical performance to resident education in quality and patient safety is unclear. The authors studied residents' knowledge of these areas in major teaching hospitals with higher- and lower-quality performance rankings. They assessed the presence of formal and informal quality curricula to determine whether programmatic differences exist. The authors used qualitative research methodology with purposeful sampling. They gathered data from individual structured interviews with residents and key educational and quality leaders in six medical schools and teaching hospitals, which represented a range of quality performance rankings, geographic regions, and public or private status. No relationship emerged between a hospital's quality status, residents' curriculum, and the residents' understanding of quality. Residents' definitions of quality and safety and their knowledge of the practice-based learning and systems-based practice competencies were indistinguishable between hospitals. Residents in all programs had extensive patient safety knowledge acquired through an informal curriculum in the hospital setting. A formal curriculum existed in only two programs, both of them ambulatory settings. Residents' learning about quality and patient safety is extensive, largely through a positive informal curriculum in the teaching hospital and, less frequently, via a formal curriculum. No relationship was found between the quality performance of the teaching hospital and the residents' curriculum or understanding of quality or safety. Residents seem to learn through an informal curriculum provided by hospital initiatives and resources, and thus these data suggest the importance of major teaching hospitals in quality education.

English-language videos on YouTube as a source of information on self-administer subcutaneous anti-tumour necrosis factor agent injections.

PubMed

Tolu, Sena; Yurdakul, Ozan Volkan; Basaran, Betul; Rezvani, Aylin

2018-05-14

The aim of this study was to evaluate the reliability, content, and quality of videos for patients available on YouTube for learning how to self-administer subcutaneous anti-tumour necrosis factor (TNF) injections. We searched for the terms Humira injection, Enbrel injection, Simponi injection, and Cimzia injection. Videos were categorised as useful information, misleading information, useful patient opinion, and misleading patient opinion by two physicians. Videos were rated for quality on a 5-point global quality scale (GQS; 1 = poor quality, 5 = excellent quality) and reliability and content using the 5-point DISCERN scale (higher scores represent greater reliability and more comprehensive videos). Of the 142 English videos, 24 (16.9%) videos were classified as useful information, 6 (4.2%) as misleading information, 47 (33.1%) as useful patient opinion, and 65 (45.8%) as misleading patient opinion. Useful videos were the most comprehensive and had the highest reliability and quality scores. The useful information and useful patient opinion videos had the highest numbers of views per day (median 8.32, IQR: 3.40-14.28 and 5.46, IQR: 3.06-14.44), as compared with 2.32, IQR: 1.63-6.26 for misleading information videos and 2.15, IQR: 1.17-7.43 for misleading patient opinion videos (p = 0.001). Almost all (91.5%) misleading videos were uploaded by individual users. There are a substantial number of English-language YouTube videos, with high quality, and rich content and reliability that can be sources of information on proper technique of anti-TNF self-injections. Physicians should direct patients to the reliable resources of information and educate them in online resource assessment, thereby improving treatment outcomes.

Information recovery through image sequence fusion under wavelet transformation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

He, Qiang

2010-04-01

Remote sensing is widely applied to provide information of areas with limited ground access with applications such as to assess the destruction from natural disasters and to plan relief and recovery operations. However, the data collection of aerial digital images is constrained by bad weather, atmospheric conditions, and unstable camera or camcorder. Therefore, how to recover the information from the low-quality remote sensing images and how to enhance the image quality becomes very important for many visual understanding tasks, such like feature detection, object segmentation, and object recognition. The quality of remote sensing imagery can be improved through meaningful combination of the employed images captured from different sensors or from different conditions through information fusion. Here we particularly address information fusion to remote sensing images under multi-resolution analysis in the employed image sequences. The image fusion is to recover complete information by integrating multiple images captured from the same scene. Through image fusion, a new image with high-resolution or more perceptive for human and machine is created from a time series of low-quality images based on image registration between different video frames.

Producing high-quality negatives from ERTS black-and-white transparancies

Treesearch

Richard J. Myhre

1973-01-01

A method has been devised for producing high-quality black-and-white negatives quickly and efficiently from dense transparencies orgininating from Earth Resources Technology Satellite imagery. Transparencies are evaluated on a standard light source to determine exposure and processing information needed for making negatives. A “System ASA Rating” was developed by...

Importance-performance analysis as a guide for hospitals in improving their provision of services.

PubMed

Whynes, D K; Reed, G

1995-11-01

As a result of the 1990 National Health Services Act, hospitals now compete with one another to win service contracts. A high level of service quality represents an important ingredient of a successful competitive strategy, yet, in general, hospitals have little external information on which to base quality decisions. Specifically, in their efforts to win contracts from fundholding general practitioners, hospitals require information on that which these purchasers deem important with respect to quality, and on how these purchasers assess the quality of their current service performance. The problem is complicated by the fact that hospital service quality, in itself, is multi-dimensional. In other areas of economic activity, the information problem has been resolved by importance-performance analysis and this paper reports the findings of such an analysis conducted for hosptials in the Trent region. The importance and performance service quality ratings of fundholders were obtained from a questionnaire survey and used in a particular variant of importance-performance analysis, which possesses certain advantages over more conventional approaches. In addition to providing empirical data on the determinants of service quality, as perceived by the purchasers of hospital services, this paper demonstrates how such information can be successfully employed in a quality enhancement strategy.

Three Essays on the Economics of Information Systems

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jian, Lian

2010-01-01

My dissertation contains three studies centering on the question: how to motivate people to share high quality information on online information aggregation systems, also known as social computing systems? I take a social scientific approach to "identify" the strategic behavior of individuals in information systems, and "analyze" how non-monetary…

Light Weight MP3 Watermarking Method for Mobile Terminals

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Takagi, Koichi; Sakazawa, Shigeyuki; Takishima, Yasuhiro

This paper proposes a novel MP3 watermarking method which is applicable to a mobile terminal with limited computational resources. Considering that in most cases the embedded information is copyright information or metadata, which should be extracted before playing back audio contents, the watermark detection process should be executed at high speed. However, when conventional methods are used with a mobile terminal, it takes a considerable amount of time to detect a digital watermark. This paper focuses on scalefactor manipulation to enable high speed watermark embedding/detection for MP3 audio and also proposes the manipulation method which minimizes audio quality degradation adaptively. Evaluation tests showed that the proposed method is capable of embedding 3 bits/frame information without degrading audio quality and detecting it at very high speed. Finally, this paper describes application examples for authentication with a digital signature.

Information presentation features and comprehensibility of hospital report cards: design analysis and online survey among users.

PubMed

Sander, Uwe; Emmert, Martin; Dickel, Jochen; Meszmer, Nina; Kolb, Benjamin

2015-03-16

Improving the transparency of information about the quality of health care providers is one way to improve health care quality. It is assumed that Internet information steers patients toward better-performing health care providers and will motivate providers to improve quality. However, the effect of public reporting on hospital quality is still small. One of the reasons is that users find it difficult to understand the formats in which information is presented. We analyzed the presentation of risk-adjusted mortality rate (RAMR) for coronary angiography in the 10 most commonly used German public report cards to analyze the impact of information presentation features on their comprehensibility. We wanted to determine which information presentation features were utilized, were preferred by users, led to better comprehension, and had similar effects to those reported in evidence-based recommendations described in the literature. The study consisted of 5 steps: (1) identification of best-practice evidence about the presentation of information on hospital report cards; (2) selection of a single risk-adjusted quality indicator; (3) selection of a sample of designs adopted by German public report cards; (4) identification of the information presentation elements used in public reporting initiatives in Germany; and (5) an online panel completed an online questionnaire that was conducted to determine if respondents were able to identify the hospital with the lowest RAMR and if respondents' hospital choices were associated with particular information design elements. Evidence-based recommendations were made relating to the following information presentation features relevant to report cards: evaluative table with symbols, tables without symbols, bar charts, bar charts without symbols, bar charts with symbols, symbols, evaluative word labels, highlighting, order of providers, high values to indicate good performance, explicit statements of whether high or low values indicate good performance, and incomplete data ("N/A" as a value). When investigating the RAMR in a sample of 10 hospitals' report cards, 7 of these information presentation features were identified. Of these, 5 information presentation features improved comprehensibility in a manner reported previously in literature. To our knowledge, this is the first study to systematically analyze the most commonly used public reporting card designs used in Germany. Best-practice evidence identified in international literature was in agreement with 5 findings about German report card designs: (1) avoid tables without symbols, (2) include bar charts with symbols, (3) state explicitly whether high or low values indicate good performance or provide a "good quality" range, (4) avoid incomplete data (N/A given as a value), and (5) rank hospitals by performance. However, these findings are preliminary and should be subject of further evaluation. The implementation of 4 of these recommendations should not present insurmountable obstacles. However, ranking hospitals by performance may present substantial difficulties.

Characteristics and Quality of Autism Websites

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Reichow, Brian; Halpern, Jason I.; Steinhoff, Timothy B.; Letsinger, Nicole; Naples, Adam; Volkmar, Fred R.

2012-01-01

The World Wide Web is a common method for obtaining information on autism spectrum disorders, however, there are no guidelines for finding websites with high quality. We conducted two studies examining the characteristics and/or quality of autism websites in 2009 and 2010. We found websites with a .gov top-level domain had a statistically…

Quality of medication information available on retail pharmacy Web sites.

PubMed

Ghoshal, Malini; Walji, Muhammad F

2006-12-01

The Internet is becoming an important source for medication information. Although the quality of consumer medication information (CMI) in brick and mortar pharmacies has been reported to be suboptimal, little is known about the quality of CMI offered by pharmacy Web sites. To evaluate the quality, readability, and provision of Web functionality of 4 popular medications (atenolol, nitroglycerin, atorvastatin, and glyburide) available on the websites of 3 of the largest retail pharmacies: Walgreens, CVS Pharmacy, and Rite Aid. The quality of online medication information was evaluated by 2 reviewers using a preexisting evaluation instrument created by a national panel of experts. Readability level was assessed using the Gunning Fog Test. We also assessed the presence of 4 Web-specific functional criteria: (1) capability for font enlargement, (2) availability of a glossary of terms, (3) presence of an "Ask a pharmacist" feature, and (4) access to detailed medication information or full prescribing information. Overall, medication information was 77% adherent to the criteria evaluated. When broken down by drug, CMI was most adherent for atorvastatin (83%), followed by glyburide (77%), atenolol (76%), and nitroglycerin (75%). The average readability level was found to be 10th grade. No pharmacy Web site provided the ability for font enlargement, a glossary of terms, or access to detailed medication information; however, all pharmacy Web sites provided an "Ask a pharmacist" service. Although pharmacy Web sites were found to have an overall good content quality, the high readability level of text, areas of incomplete information, and limited use of desirable Web functionality suggest room for improvement.

Review and Evaluation of Mindfulness-Based iPhone Apps

PubMed Central

Kavanagh, David J; Hides, Leanne; Stoyanov, Stoyan R

2015-01-01

Background There is growing evidence for the positive impact of mindfulness on wellbeing. Mindfulness-based mobile apps may have potential as an alternative delivery medium for training. While there are hundreds of such apps, there is little information on their quality. Objective This study aimed to conduct a systematic review of mindfulness-based iPhone mobile apps and to evaluate their quality using a recently-developed expert rating scale, the Mobile Application Rating Scale (MARS). It also aimed to describe features of selected high-quality mindfulness apps. Methods A search for “mindfulness” was conducted in iTunes and Google Apps Marketplace. Apps that provided mindfulness training and education were included. Those containing only reminders, timers or guided meditation tracks were excluded. An expert rater reviewed and rated app quality using the MARS engagement, functionality, visual aesthetics, information quality and subjective quality subscales. A second rater provided MARS ratings on 30% of the apps for inter-rater reliability purposes. Results The “mindfulness” search identified 700 apps. However, 94 were duplicates, 6 were not accessible and 40 were not in English. Of the remaining 560, 23 apps met inclusion criteria and were reviewed. The median MARS score was 3.2 (out of 5.0), which exceeded the minimum acceptable score (3.0). The Headspace app had the highest average score (4.0), followed by Smiling Mind (3.7), iMindfulness (3.5) and Mindfulness Daily (3.5). There was a high level of inter-rater reliability between the two MARS raters. Conclusions Though many apps claim to be mindfulness-related, most were guided meditation apps, timers, or reminders. Very few had high ratings on the MARS subscales of visual aesthetics, engagement, functionality or information quality. Little evidence is available on the efficacy of the apps in developing mindfulness. PMID:26290327

Review and Evaluation of Mindfulness-Based iPhone Apps.

PubMed

Mani, Madhavan; Kavanagh, David J; Hides, Leanne; Stoyanov, Stoyan R

2015-08-19

There is growing evidence for the positive impact of mindfulness on wellbeing. Mindfulness-based mobile apps may have potential as an alternative delivery medium for training. While there are hundreds of such apps, there is little information on their quality. This study aimed to conduct a systematic review of mindfulness-based iPhone mobile apps and to evaluate their quality using a recently-developed expert rating scale, the Mobile Application Rating Scale (MARS). It also aimed to describe features of selected high-quality mindfulness apps. A search for "mindfulness" was conducted in iTunes and Google Apps Marketplace. Apps that provided mindfulness training and education were included. Those containing only reminders, timers or guided meditation tracks were excluded. An expert rater reviewed and rated app quality using the MARS engagement, functionality, visual aesthetics, information quality and subjective quality subscales. A second rater provided MARS ratings on 30% of the apps for inter-rater reliability purposes. The "mindfulness" search identified 700 apps. However, 94 were duplicates, 6 were not accessible and 40 were not in English. Of the remaining 560, 23 apps met inclusion criteria and were reviewed. The median MARS score was 3.2 (out of 5.0), which exceeded the minimum acceptable score (3.0). The Headspace app had the highest average score (4.0), followed by Smiling Mind (3.7), iMindfulness (3.5) and Mindfulness Daily (3.5). There was a high level of inter-rater reliability between the two MARS raters. Though many apps claim to be mindfulness-related, most were guided meditation apps, timers, or reminders. Very few had high ratings on the MARS subscales of visual aesthetics, engagement, functionality or information quality. Little evidence is available on the efficacy of the apps in developing mindfulness.

Hydropower Optimization Using Artificial Neural Network Surrogate Models of a High-Fidelity Hydrodynamics and Water Quality Model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shaw, Amelia R.; Smith Sawyer, Heather; LeBoeuf, Eugene J.; McDonald, Mark P.; Hadjerioua, Boualem

2017-11-01

Hydropower operations optimization subject to environmental constraints is limited by challenges associated with dimensionality and spatial and temporal resolution. The need for high-fidelity hydrodynamic and water quality models within optimization schemes is driven by improved computational capabilities, increased requirements to meet specific points of compliance with greater resolution, and the need to optimize operations of not just single reservoirs but systems of reservoirs. This study describes an important advancement for computing hourly power generation schemes for a hydropower reservoir using high-fidelity models, surrogate modeling techniques, and optimization methods. The predictive power of the high-fidelity hydrodynamic and water quality model CE-QUAL-W2 is successfully emulated by an artificial neural network, then integrated into a genetic algorithm optimization approach to maximize hydropower generation subject to constraints on dam operations and water quality. This methodology is applied to a multipurpose reservoir near Nashville, Tennessee, USA. The model successfully reproduced high-fidelity reservoir information while enabling 6.8% and 6.6% increases in hydropower production value relative to actual operations for dissolved oxygen (DO) limits of 5 and 6 mg/L, respectively, while witnessing an expected decrease in power generation at more restrictive DO constraints. Exploration of simultaneous temperature and DO constraints revealed capability to address multiple water quality constraints at specified locations. The reduced computational requirements of the new modeling approach demonstrated an ability to provide decision support for reservoir operations scheduling while maintaining high-fidelity hydrodynamic and water quality information as part of the optimization decision support routines.

Hydropower Optimization Using Artificial Neural Network Surrogate Models of a High-Fidelity Hydrodynamics and Water Quality Model

DOE PAGES

Shaw, Amelia R.; Sawyer, Heather Smith; LeBoeuf, Eugene J.; ...

2017-10-24

Hydropower operations optimization subject to environmental constraints is limited by challenges associated with dimensionality and spatial and temporal resolution. The need for high-fidelity hydrodynamic and water quality models within optimization schemes is driven by improved computational capabilities, increased requirements to meet specific points of compliance with greater resolution, and the need to optimize operations of not just single reservoirs but systems of reservoirs. This study describes an important advancement for computing hourly power generation schemes for a hydropower reservoir using high-fidelity models, surrogate modeling techniques, and optimization methods. The predictive power of the high-fidelity hydrodynamic and water quality model CE-QUAL-W2more » is successfully emulated by an artificial neural network, then integrated into a genetic algorithm optimization approach to maximize hydropower generation subject to constraints on dam operations and water quality. This methodology is applied to a multipurpose reservoir near Nashville, Tennessee, USA. The model successfully reproduced high-fidelity reservoir information while enabling 6.8% and 6.6% increases in hydropower production value relative to actual operations for dissolved oxygen (DO) limits of 5 and 6 mg/L, respectively, while witnessing an expected decrease in power generation at more restrictive DO constraints. Exploration of simultaneous temperature and DO constraints revealed capability to address multiple water quality constraints at specified locations. Here, the reduced computational requirements of the new modeling approach demonstrated an ability to provide decision support for reservoir operations scheduling while maintaining high-fidelity hydrodynamic and water quality information as part of the optimization decision support routines.« less

Hydropower Optimization Using Artificial Neural Network Surrogate Models of a High-Fidelity Hydrodynamics and Water Quality Model

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

Shaw, Amelia R.; Sawyer, Heather Smith; LeBoeuf, Eugene J.

Hydropower operations optimization subject to environmental constraints is limited by challenges associated with dimensionality and spatial and temporal resolution. The need for high-fidelity hydrodynamic and water quality models within optimization schemes is driven by improved computational capabilities, increased requirements to meet specific points of compliance with greater resolution, and the need to optimize operations of not just single reservoirs but systems of reservoirs. This study describes an important advancement for computing hourly power generation schemes for a hydropower reservoir using high-fidelity models, surrogate modeling techniques, and optimization methods. The predictive power of the high-fidelity hydrodynamic and water quality model CE-QUAL-W2more » is successfully emulated by an artificial neural network, then integrated into a genetic algorithm optimization approach to maximize hydropower generation subject to constraints on dam operations and water quality. This methodology is applied to a multipurpose reservoir near Nashville, Tennessee, USA. The model successfully reproduced high-fidelity reservoir information while enabling 6.8% and 6.6% increases in hydropower production value relative to actual operations for dissolved oxygen (DO) limits of 5 and 6 mg/L, respectively, while witnessing an expected decrease in power generation at more restrictive DO constraints. Exploration of simultaneous temperature and DO constraints revealed capability to address multiple water quality constraints at specified locations. Here, the reduced computational requirements of the new modeling approach demonstrated an ability to provide decision support for reservoir operations scheduling while maintaining high-fidelity hydrodynamic and water quality information as part of the optimization decision support routines.« less

Quality of online pediatric orthopaedic education materials.

PubMed

Feghhi, Daniel P; Komlos, Daniel; Agarwal, Nitin; Sabharwal, Sanjeev

2014-12-03

Increased availability of medical information on the Internet empowers patients to look up answers to questions about their medical conditions. However, the quality of medical information available on the Internet is highly variable. Various tools for the assessment of online medical information have been developed and used to assess the quality and accuracy of medical web sites. In this study we used the LIDA tool (Minervation) to assess the quality of pediatric patient information on the AAOS (American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons) and POSNA (Pediatric Orthopaedic Society of North America) web sites. The accessibility, usability, and reliability of online medical information in the "Children" section of the AAOS web site and on the POSNA web site were assessed with use of the LIDA tool. Flesch-Kincaid (FK) and Flesch Reading Ease (FRE) values were also calculated to assess the readability of the pediatric education material. Patient education materials on each web site scored in the moderate range in assessments of accessibility, usability, and reliability. FK and FRE values indicated that the readability of each web site remained at a somewhat higher (more difficult) level than the recommended benchmark. The quality and readability of online information for children on the AAOS and POSNA web sites are acceptable but can be improved further. The quality of online pediatric orthopaedic patient education materials may affect communication with patients and their caregivers, and further investigation and modification of quality are needed. Copyright © 2014 by The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery, Incorporated.

Do English healthcare settings use 'Choice Architecture' principles in promoting healthy lifestyles for people with psoriasis? An observational study.

PubMed

Keyworth, Chris; Nelson, Pauline A; Griffiths, Christopher E M; Cordingley, Lis; Bundy, Chris

2015-06-02

The influence of environmental factors in shaping behaviour is becoming increasingly prominent in public health policy, but whether health promotion strategies use this knowledge is unknown. Health promotion is important in the management of psoriasis, a long-term inflammatory skin condition, and health centre waiting areas are ideal places to promote health information to such patients. We systematically examined patient information materials containing either general, or specific, health messages for patients with psoriasis. An observation schedule was used to record the frequency and quality of leaflets and posters addressing lifestyle behaviour change in health centre waiting areas. Content analysis was used to analyse: frequency, characteristics and standard of the materials. Across 24 health centres 262 sources of lifestyle information were recorded (median per site = 10; range = 0-40). These were mainly: generic posters/displays of lifestyle support (n = 113); and generic materials in waiting areas (n = 98). Information quality was poor and poorly displayed, with no high quality psoriasis-specific patient materials evident. There is little attempt to promote healthy lifestyle as an important aspect of psoriasis management in the clinic environment. Evidence about using environmental cues/techniques to prompt behaviour change in people with psoriasis does not currently inform the design and display of such information in standard health centre settings, which are prime locations for communicating messages about healthy lifestyle. Future research should test the efficacy and impact of theory-informed, high quality health promotion messages on health outcomes for patients with psoriasis.

[Practice report: the process-based indicator dashboard. Visualising quality assurance results in standardised processes].

PubMed

Petzold, Thomas; Hertzschuch, Diana; Elchlep, Frank; Eberlein-Gonska, Maria

2014-01-01

Process management (PM) is a valuable method for the systematic analysis and structural optimisation of the quality and safety of clinical treatment. PM requires a high motivation and willingness to implement changes of both employees and management. Definition of quality indicators is required to systematically measure the quality of the specified processes. One way to represent comparable quality results is the use of quality indicators of the external quality assurance in accordance with Sect. 137 SGB V—a method which the Federal Joint Committee (GBA) and the institutions commissioned by the GBA have employed and consistently enhanced for more than ten years. Information on the quality of inpatient treatment is available for 30 defined subjects throughout Germany. The combination of specified processes with quality indicators is beneficial for the information of employees. A process-based indicator dashboard provides essential information about the treatment process. These can be used for process analysis. In a continuous consideration of these indicator results values can be determined and errors will be remedied quickly. If due consideration is given to these indicators, they can be used for benchmarking to identify potential process improvements. Copyright © 2014. Published by Elsevier GmbH.

Polycystic ovary syndrome: double click and right check. What do patients learn from the Internet about PCOS?

PubMed

Mousiolis, Athanasios; Michala, Lina; Antsaklis, Aris

2012-07-01

To identify the websites most visited by patients regarding polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), and to evaluate the quality of information provided by these websites. We sought data regarding the popularity of sites providing information about PCOS regardless of the way the visitors reached the site. We then scrutinized the top sites for predefined quality check points to evaluate the quality of information provided, including Health on Net Foundation (HON) accreditation. Finally, we searched for the expansion of these sites in social networks (Facebook and Twitter). Of the top 15 sites, 8 were HONcode certified. The mean performance of content presence for all sites was 7.33 (min=4, max=10, SD=1.633). There was a moderate correlation of higher performance score with HON accreditation (R: 0.535, p<0.05). Several sites have expanded in social media. None of the high-score sites has a page dedicated to PCOS. There exists a lack of HON accreditation in many sites and a wide variability in the quality of the information provided. In some cases, key elements of content, necessary for complete appreciation of PCOS, are missing. Official and high authority healthcare organisms should introduce themselves in the social media world. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Evaluation of the quality of information on the Internet available to patients undergoing cervical spine surgery.

PubMed

Weil, Alexander G; Bojanowski, Michel W; Jamart, Jacques; Gustin, Thierry; Lévêque, Marc

2014-01-01

To evaluate the quality of information available on the Internet to patients with a cervical pathology undergoing elective cervical spine surgery. Six key words ("cervical discectomy," "cervical foraminotomy," "cervical fusion," "cervical disc replacement," "cervical arthroplasty," "cervical artificial disc") were entered into two different search engines (Google, Yahoo!). For each key word, the first 50 websites were evaluated for accessibility, comprehensibility, and website quality using the DISCERN tool, transparency and honesty criteria, and an accuracy and exhaustivity scale. Of 5,098,500 evaluable websites, 600 were visited; 97 (16%) of these websites were evaluated for quality and comprehensiveness. Overall, 3% of sites obtained an excellent global quality score, 7% obtained a good score, 25% obtained an above average score, 15% obtained an average score, 37% obtained a poor score, and 13% obtained a very poor score. High-quality websites were affiliated with a professional society (P = 0.021), had bibliographical references (P = 0.030), and had a recent update within 6 months (r = 0.277, P < 0.001). No correlation between global quality score and other variables was observed. This study shows that the search for medical information on the Internet is time-consuming and often disappointing. The Internet is a potentially misleading source of information. Surgeons and professional societies must use the Internet as an ally in providing optimal information to patients. Copyright © 2014. Published by Elsevier Inc.

A systematic review of patient inflammatory bowel disease information resources on the World Wide Web.

PubMed

Bernard, André; Langille, Morgan; Hughes, Stephanie; Rose, Caren; Leddin, Desmond; Veldhuyzen van Zanten, Sander

2007-09-01

The Internet is a widely used information resource for patients with inflammatory bowel disease, but there is variation in the quality of Web sites that have patient information regarding Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis. The purpose of the current study is to systematically evaluate the quality of these Web sites. The top 50 Web sites appearing in Google using the terms "Crohn's disease" or "ulcerative colitis" were included in the study. Web sites were evaluated using a (a) Quality Evaluation Instrument (QEI) that awarded Web sites points (0-107) for specific information on various aspects of inflammatory bowel disease, (b) a five-point Global Quality Score (GQS), (c) two reading grade level scores, and (d) a six-point integrity score. Thirty-four Web sites met the inclusion criteria, 16 Web sites were excluded because they were portals or non-IBD oriented. The median QEI score was 57 with five Web sites scoring higher than 75 points. The median Global Quality Score was 2.0 with five Web sites achieving scores of 4 or 5. The average reading grade level score was 11.2. The median integrity score was 3.0. There is marked variation in the quality of the Web sites containing information on Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis. Many Web sites suffered from poor quality but there were five high-scoring Web sites.

Relationship of sleep quality with coping and life styles in female Moroccan immigrants in Germany.

PubMed

Voss, Ursula; Tuin, Inka

2008-01-01

Epidemiologic studies conducted in Western societies show poorer sleep quality in women compared with men. Socioeconomic and stress-related psychological variables have been shown to influence sleep, but not much is known about sociological and psychological influences on the sleep of women in general and non-Western women in particular. The present study reports on sociodemographic and coping variables in relation to sleep quality in female Moroccan immigrants living in Germany. Participants took part in a structured personal interview on Pittsburg Sleep Quality Inventory (PSQI) sleep quality, coping style preferences, and information related to the degree of identification with Western life style. Sleep quality was poor (PSQI > 6) in 39% of women. Surprisingly, women who had identified with a more Western lifestyle had poorer sleep quality than women who had retained their traditional Moroccan life style. An unusually large proportion of women preferred monitoring (i.e., information-seeking coping style) and adaptive coping (48% and 19%, respectively), regardless of sleep quality. Monitoring was more frequent in women who were less integrated into German culture. Results on sleep quality suggest that for Moroccan immigrant women in Germany, adopting a Western life style may be more stressful than retaining their native life style. The high preference for an information seeking approach in coping may reflect the desire for information rather than actual coping behavior.

Medical information on the Internet: Quality assessment of lumbar puncture and neuroaxial block techniques on YouTube.

PubMed

Rössler, Bernhard; Lahner, Daniel; Schebesta, Karl; Chiari, Astrid; Plöchl, Walter

2012-07-01

The Internet has become the largest, most up-to-date source for medical information. Besides enhancing patients' knowledge, the freely accessible audio-visual files have an impact on medical education. However little is known about their characteristics. In this manuscript the quality of lumbar puncture (LP) and spinal anaesthesia (SA) videos available on YouTube is assessed. This retrospective analysis was based on a search for LP and SA on YouTube. Videos were evaluated using essential key points (5 in SA, 4 in LP) and 3 safety indicators. Furthermore, violation of sterile working techniques and a rating whether the video must be regarded as dangerously misleading was performed. From 2321 hits matching the keywords, 38 videos were eligible for evaluation. In LP videos, 14% contained information on all, 4.5% on 3 and 4.5% on 2 key points, 59% on 1 and 18% on no key point. Regarding SA, no video contained information on all 5 key points, 56% on 2-4 and 25% on 1 key point, 19% did not contain any essential information. A sterility violation occurred in 11%, and 13% were classified as dangerously misleading. Even though high quality videos are available, the quality of video clips is generally low. The fraction of videos that were not performed in an aseptic manner is low, but these pose a substantial risk to patients. Consequently, more high-quality, institutional medical learning videos must be made available in the light of the increased utilization on the Internet. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

An audit of the quality of online immunisation information available to Australian parents.

PubMed

Wiley, K E; Steffens, M; Berry, N; Leask, J

2017-01-13

The Internet is increasingly a source of health information for parents, who use the Internet alongside health care providers for immunisation information. Concerns have been raised about the reliability of online immunisation information, however to date there has been no audit of the quality or quantity of what is available to Australian parents. The objective of this study was to address this gap by simulating a general online search for immunisation information, and assessing the quality and quantity of the web sites returned by the search. We used Google trends to identify the most common immunisation search terms used in Australia. The ten most common terms were entered into five search engines and the first ten non-commercial results from each search collated. A quality assessment tool was developed using the World Health Organization Global Advisory Committee on Vaccine Safety (GACVS) criteria for assessing the quality of vaccine safety web sites, and used to assess and score the quality of the sites. Seven hundred web pages were identified, of which 514 were duplicates, leaving 186 pages from 115 web sites which were audited. Forty sites did not include human immunisation information, or presented personal opinion about individuals, and were not scored. Of the 75 sites quality scored, 65 (87%) were supportive of immunisation, while 10 (13%) were not supportive. The overall mean quality score was 57/100 (range 14/100 to 92/100). When stratified by pro and anti-vaccination stance, the average quality score for pro-vaccine sites was 61/100, while the average score for anti-vaccine sites was 30/100. Pro-vaccine information could be divided into three content groups: generalist overview with little detail; well-articulated and understandable detail; and lengthy and highly technical explanations. The main area found to be lacking in pro-vaccine sites was lack of transparent authorship. Our findings suggest a need for information which is easily found, transparently authored, well-referenced, and written in a way that is easily understood.

The relationship between the content and the form of metaphorical statements.

PubMed

Xu, Xu

2010-04-01

Recent research suggests that the quality of a metaphorical topic-vehicle pairing should be the determinant to the choice of a proper grammatical form, nominal metaphor versus simile. Two studies examined the relationship between the quality of the content of a metaphorical statement and its grammatical form. Study 1 showed that the two grammatical forms did not differ in aptness when the quality of topic-vehicle pairs and the conventionality of vehicles, a factor associated with the quality of metaphorical expressions, were controlled. With an online comprehension measure, Study 2 found that high quality metaphorical pairings were easier to process than low quality metaphorical pairings in both the metaphor form and the simile form. For high quality metaphorical pairings, information related to both the topics and the vehicles was highly activated at an early stage of processing. The relations among factors involved in the interpretive process of metaphorical language are discussed.

Quality of pharmaceutical care at the pharmacy counter: patients’ experiences versus video observation

PubMed Central

Koster, Ellen S; Blom, Lyda; Overbeeke, Marloes R; Philbert, Daphne; Vervloet, Marcia; Koopman, Laura; van Dijk, Liset

2016-01-01

Introduction Consumer Quality Index questionnaires are used to assess quality of care from patients’ experiences. Objective To provide insight into the agreement about quality of pharmaceutical care, measured both by a patient questionnaire and video observations. Methods Pharmaceutical encounters in four pharmacies were video-recorded. Patients completed a questionnaire based upon the Consumer Quality Index Pharmaceutical Care after the encounter containing questions about patients’ experiences regarding information provision, medication counseling, and pharmacy staff’s communication style. An observation protocol was used to code the recorded encounters. Agreement between video observation and patients’ experiences was calculated. Results In total, 109 encounters were included for analysis. For the domains “medication counseling” and “communication style”, agreement between patients’ experiences and observations was very high (>90%). Less agreement (45%) was found for “information provision”, which was rated more positive by patients compared to the observations, especially for the topic, encouragement of patients’ questioning behavior. Conclusion A questionnaire is useful to assess the quality of medication counseling and pharmacy staff’s communication style, but might be less suitable to evaluate information provision and pharmacy staff’s encouragement of patients’ questioning behavior. Although patients may believe that they have received all necessary information to use their new medicine, some information on specific instructions was not addressed during the encounter. When using questionnaires to get insight into information provision, observations of encounters are very informative to validate the patient questionnaires and make necessary adjustments. PMID:27042025

[Fast Detection of Camellia Sinensis Growth Process and Tea Quality Informations with Spectral Technology: A Review].

PubMed

Peng, Ji-yu; Song, Xing-lin; Liu, Fei; Bao, Yi-dan; He, Yong

2016-03-01

The research achievements and trends of spectral technology in fast detection of Camellia sinensis growth process information and tea quality information were being reviewed. Spectral technology is a kind of fast, nondestructive, efficient detection technology, which mainly contains infrared spectroscopy, fluorescence spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy and mass spectroscopy. The rapid detection of Camellia sinensis growth process information and tea quality is helpful to realize the informatization and automation of tea production and ensure the tea quality and safety. This paper provides a review on its applications containing the detection of tea (Camellia sinensis) growing status(nitrogen, chlorophyll, diseases and insect pest), the discrimination of tea varieties, the grade discrimination of tea, the detection of tea internal quality (catechins, total polyphenols, caffeine, amino acid, pesticide residual and so on), the quality evaluation of tea beverage and tea by-product, the machinery of tea quality determination and discrimination. This paper briefly introduces the trends of the technology of the determination of tea growth process information, sensor and industrial application. In conclusion, spectral technology showed high potential to detect Camellia sinensis growth process information, to predict tea internal quality and to classify tea varieties and grades. Suitable chemometrics and preprocessing methods is helpful to improve the performance of the model and get rid of redundancy, which provides the possibility to develop the portable machinery. Future work is to develop the portable machinery and on-line detection system is recommended to improve the further application. The application and research achievement of spectral technology concerning about tea were outlined in this paper for the first time, which contained Camellia sinensis growth, tea production, the quality and safety of tea and by-produce and so on, as well as some problems to be solved and its future applicability in modern tea industrial.

YouTube as a source of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patient education: a social media content analysis.

PubMed

Stellefson, Michael; Chaney, Beth; Ochipa, Kathleen; Chaney, Don; Haider, Zeerak; Hanik, Bruce; Chavarria, Enmanuel; Bernhardt, Jay M

2014-05-01

The aim of the present study is to conduct a social media content analysis of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patient education videos on YouTube. A systematic search protocol was used to locate 223 videos. Two independent coders evaluated each video to determine topics covered, media source(s) of posted videos, information quality as measured by HONcode guidelines for posting trustworthy health information on the Internet, and viewer exposure/engagement metrics. Over half the videos (n = 113, 50.7%) included information on medication management, with far fewer videos on smoking cessation (n = 40, 17.9%). Most videos were posted by a health agency or organization (n = 128, 57.4%), and the majority of videos were rated as high quality (n = 154, 69.1%). HONcode adherence differed by media source (Fisher's exact test = 20.52, p = 0.01), however with user-generated content receiving the lowest quality scores. Overall level of user engagement as measured by number of "likes," "favorites," "dislikes," and user comments was low (median range = 0-3, interquartile range = 0-16) across all sources of media. Study findings suggest that COPD education via YouTube has the potential to reach and inform patients; however, existing video content and quality varies significantly. Future interventions should help direct individuals with COPD to engage with high-quality patient education videos on YouTube that are posted by reputable health organizations and qualified medical professionals. Patients should be educated to avoid and/or critically view low-quality videos posted by individual YouTube users who are not health professionals.

YouTube as a source of COPD patient education: A social media content analysis

PubMed Central

Stellefson, Michael; Chaney, Beth; Ochipa, Kathleen; Chaney, Don; Haider, Zeerak; Hanik, Bruce; Chavarria, Enmanuel; Bernhardt, Jay M.

2014-01-01

Objective Conduct a social media content analysis of COPD patient education videos on YouTube. Methods A systematic search protocol was used to locate 223 videos. Two independent coders evaluated each video to determine topics covered, media source(s) of posted videos, information quality as measured by HONcode guidelines for posting trustworthy health information on the Internet, and viewer exposure/engagement metrics. Results Over half the videos (n=113, 50.7%) included information on medication management, with far fewer videos on smoking cessation (n=40, 17.9%). Most videos were posted by a health agency or organization (n=128, 57.4%), and the majority of videos were rated as high quality (n=154, 69.1%). HONcode adherence differed by media source (Fisher’s Exact Test=20.52, p=.01), with user-generated content (UGC) receiving the lowest quality scores. Overall level of user engagement as measured by number of “likes,” “favorites,” “dislikes,” and user comments was low (mdn range = 0–3, interquartile (IQR) range = 0–16) across all sources of media. Conclusion Study findings suggest that COPD education via YouTube has the potential to reach and inform patients, however, existing video content and quality varies significantly. Future interventions should help direct individuals with COPD to increase their engagement with high-quality patient education videos on YouTube that are posted by reputable health organizations and qualified medical professionals. Patients should be educated to avoid and/or critically view low-quality videos posted by individual YouTube users who are not health professionals. PMID:24659212

Assessment of the quality of web-based information on bunions.

PubMed

Chong, Yew Ming; Fraval, Andrew; Chandrananth, Janan; Plunkett, Virginia; Tran, Phong

2013-08-01

The Internet provides a large source of health-related information for patients. However, information on the Internet is mostly unregulated, ranging from factually correct to misleading or contradictory information. The objective of this study was to determine the quality of information available on World Wide Web on the topic of bunions. Websites were identified using 3 search engines (Google, Yahoo, and MSN) and the search term bunions. The first 30 websites in each search were analyzed. Websites were assessed using the validated DISCERN rating instrument to determine the quality of health content and treatment information. The DISCERN tool possesses moderate to very good strength of interobserver agreement, ranging from .41 to .82. A total of 90 websites were assessed and studied. Forty-eight sites were duplicated, leaving 42 unique sites. Of these, 60% (25/42) provided patient-related information, 21% (9/42) were advertisements, 7% (3/42) promoted medical centers, 5% (2/42) were dead links, 5% (2/42) were news articles, and 2% (1/42) was doctor's information. In determining the quality of unique sites, of a maximum score of 5, the average overall DISCERN score was 2.9 (range, 1.8 to 4.6). Only 24% (10/42) of websites were classified as "good" or "excellent." Although most websites contained information on symptoms, causes, risk factors, investigations, and treatment options on bunions, 60% (25/42) did not provide adequate information on the benefits for each treatment, 45% (19/42) did not contain any risks of treatment, and 76% (32/42) did not describe how treatment choices affect overall quality of life. The sources of information were clear in 33% (14/42), and the date when this information was reviewed was given in only 50% (21/42). Only 29% (12/42) of websites had been updated within the past 2 years. Overall, the quality of patient information on bunions varies widely. We believe clinicians should guide patients in identifying the best possible and genuine information on the World Wide Web. Patients are commonly using the internet as an information resource, in spite of the highly variable quality of this information. They should be encouraged to exercise caution and to utilize only well-known sites.

Public library computer training for older adults to access high-quality Internet health information

PubMed Central

Xie, Bo; Bugg, Julie M.

2010-01-01

An innovative experiment to develop and evaluate a public library computer training program to teach older adults to access and use high-quality Internet health information involved a productive collaboration among public libraries, the National Institute on Aging and the National Library of Medicine of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and a Library and Information Science (LIS) academic program at a state university. One hundred and thirty-one older adults aged 54–89 participated in the study between September 2007 and July 2008. Key findings include: a) participants had overwhelmingly positive perceptions of the training program; b) after learning about two NIH websites (http://nihseniorhealth.gov and http://medlineplus.gov) from the training, many participants started using these online resources to find high quality health and medical information and, further, to guide their decision-making regarding a health- or medically-related matter; and c) computer anxiety significantly decreased (p < .001) while computer interest and efficacy significantly increased (p = .001 and p < .001, respectively) from pre- to post-training, suggesting statistically significant improvements in computer attitudes between pre- and post-training. The findings have implications for public libraries, LIS academic programs, and other organizations interested in providing similar programs in their communities. PMID:20161649

QUOTEchemo: a patient-centred instrument to measure quality of communication preceding chemotherapy treatment through the patient's eyes.

PubMed

van Weert, Julia C M; Jansen, Jesse; de Bruijn, Gert-Jan; Noordman, Janneke; van Dulmen, Sandra; Bensing, Jozien M

2009-11-01

Knowing patients' needs is a prerequisite to ensure high quality cancer care. This study describes the development and psychometric properties of a patient-centred instrument to measure needs and actual experiences with communication preceding chemotherapy treatment: QUOTE(chemo). QUOTE-questionnaires (Quality Of care Through the patients' Eyes) are widely used to gain insight into unmet needs, but no validated, standardised questionnaire combining patients' needs and experiences surrounding chemotherapy treatment is available yet. To evaluate the psychometric properties of the QUOTE(chemo), content validity, internal structure and convergent validity were investigated amongst 345 cancer patients, new to chemotherapy, from 10 different hospitals. Literature study, focus group discussions and a categorisation procedure of 67 relevant topics revealed seven main themes: Treatment-related information, Prognosis information, Rehabilitation information, Coping information, Interpersonal communication, Tailored communication and Affective communication. Confirmatory factor analysis using structural equation modelling indicated that the measurement model provided good fit to the data with factor loadings ranging from .43 to .77. The seven QUOTE(chemo) dimensions captured relevant issues of concern with good internal consistency (alpha .72-.92), satisfactory item-total correlations (.35-.79) and satisfactory convergent validity. Affective communication, Treatment-related information and Rehabilitation information were perceived most important by patients. The instrument also appeared to be able to determine which aspects need improvement to ensure high quality care. The highest need for improvement was found for communicating Prognosis information and Rehabilitation information and for Interpersonal communication. These findings provide preliminary evidence of the reliability and validity of the QUOTE(chemo) for use in cancer care surrounding chemotherapy treatment. Researchers and health care providers can use the instrument to measure patients' needs and experiences with communication to identify aspects that need improvement.

High Quality Differentiated Instruction--A Checklist for Teacher Professional Development on Handling Differences in the General Education Classroom

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Smets, Wouter

2017-01-01

This paper presents a checklist that scaffolds teachers' professional decision-making with regard to differentiated instruction. It discusses the way the concept of differentiated instruction may be applied in an evidence-informed way by presenting a checklist for high-quality differentiated instruction (DI). We tried to tackle the question of how…

75 FR 24892 - Certain Coated Paper Suitable for High-Quality Print Graphics Using Sheet-Fed Presses From the...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-05-06

... Industry Support Calculation Coated Paper Suitable For High-Quality Print Graphics Using Sheet-Fed Presses... employs an industry-wide test to determine whether, under section 773(c)(1)(B), available information in... sections 771(33)(E) and (F) of the Act. In addition, we find that Shandong Sun Paper Industry Joint Stock...

Creating an Information Literate School: Information Literacy in Action.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Batz, Linda; Rosenberg, Harlene

1999-01-01

Describes an award-winning instructional media center (IMC) at a New Jersey high school. The IMC (library) is the school's hub from 7:15 a.m. to 6 p.m., and has dial-in access. This information-literacy program emphasizes total-quality-management principles, ongoing professional development, teacher support, and information skills instruction.…

Quality of life and urolithiasis: the patient - reported outcomes measurement information system (PROMIS).

PubMed

Patel, Nishant; Brown, Robert D; Sarkissian, Carl; De, Shubha; Monga, Manoj

2017-01-01

With a high rate of recurrence, urolithiasis is a chronic disease that impacts quality of life. The Patient Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System is an NIH validated questionnaire to assess patient quality of life. We evaluated the impact of urolithiasis on quality of life using the NIH-sponsored PROMIS-43 questionnaire. Patients reporting to the kidney stone clinic were interviewed to collect information on stone history and demographic information and were asked to complete the PROMIS-43 questionnaire. Quality of life scores were analyzed using gender and age matched groups for the general US population. Statistical comparisons were made based on demographic information and patient stone history. Statistical significance was P<0.05. 103 patients completed the survey. 36% of respondents were male, the average age of the group was 52 years old, with 58% primary income earners, and 35% primary caregivers. 7% had never passed a stone or had a procedure while 17% passed 10 or more stones in their lifetime. Overall, pain and physical function were worse in patients with urolithiasis. Primary income earners had better quality of life while primary caregivers and those with other chronic medical conditions were worse. Patients on dietary and medical therapy had better quality of life scores. Urolithiasis patients subjectively have worse pain and physical function than the general population. The impact of pain on quality of life was greatest in those patients who had more stone episodes, underscoring the importance of preventive measures. Stone prevention measures improve quality of life. Copyright® by the International Brazilian Journal of Urology.

Private Schools and the Willingness to Pay for Public Schooling

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brasington, David M.

2007-01-01

Households pay a premium to live in houses assigned to high quality public schools, and the housing market yields information about the demand for public school quality. The current study estimates a two-stage house price hedonic emphasizing the role that private schools play in the willingness to pay for public school quality. The elasticity of…

Solar Resource & Meteorological Assessment Project (SOLRMAP): Observed Atmospheric and Solar Information System (OASIS); Tucson, Arizona (Data)

DOE Data Explorer

Wilcox, S.; Andreas, A.

2010-11-03

The U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory collaborates with the solar industry to establish high quality solar and meteorological measurements. This Solar Resource and Meteorological Assessment Project (SOLRMAP) provides high quality measurements to support deployment of power projects in the United States. The no-funds-exchanged collaboration brings NREL solar resource assessment expertise together with industry needs for measurements. The end result is high quality data sets to support the financing, design, and monitoring of large scale solar power projects for industry in addition to research-quality data for NREL model development. NREL provides consultation for instrumentation and station deployment, along with instrument calibrations, data acquisition, quality assessment, data distribution, and summary reports. Industry participants provide equipment, infrastructure, and station maintenance.

[Quality by design approaches for pharmaceutical development and manufacturing of Chinese medicine].

PubMed

Xu, Bing; Shi, Xin-Yuan; Wu, Zhi-Sheng; Zhang, Yan-Ling; Wang, Yun; Qiao, Yan-Jiang

2017-03-01

The pharmaceutical quality was built by design, formed in the manufacturing process and improved during the product's lifecycle. Based on the comprehensive literature review of pharmaceutical quality by design (QbD), the essential ideas and implementation strategies of pharmaceutical QbD were interpreted. Considering the complex nature of Chinese medicine, the "4H" model was innovated and proposed for implementing QbD in pharmaceutical development and industrial manufacture of Chinese medicine product. "4H" corresponds to the acronym of holistic design, holistic information analysis, holistic quality control, and holistic process optimization, which is consistent with the holistic concept of Chinese medicine theory. The holistic design aims at constructing both the quality problem space from the patient requirement and the quality solution space from multidisciplinary knowledge. Holistic information analysis emphasizes understanding the quality pattern of Chinese medicine by integrating and mining multisource data and information at a relatively high level. The batch-to-batch quality consistence and manufacturing system reliability can be realized by comprehensive application of inspective quality control, statistical quality control, predictive quality control and intelligent quality control strategies. Holistic process optimization is to improve the product quality and process capability during the product lifecycle management. The implementation of QbD is useful to eliminate the ecosystem contradictions lying in the pharmaceutical development and manufacturing process of Chinese medicine product, and helps guarantee the cost effectiveness. Copyright© by the Chinese Pharmaceutical Association.

Determinants of judgment and decision making quality: the interplay between information processing style and situational factors

PubMed Central

Ayal, Shahar; Rusou, Zohar; Zakay, Dan; Hochman, Guy

2015-01-01

A framework is presented to better characterize the role of individual differences in information processing style and their interplay with contextual factors in determining decision making quality. In Experiment 1, we show that individual differences in information processing style are flexible and can be modified by situational factors. Specifically, a situational manipulation that induced an analytical mode of thought improved decision quality. In Experiment 2, we show that this improvement in decision quality is highly contingent on the compatibility between the dominant thinking mode and the nature of the task. That is, encouraging an intuitive mode of thought led to better performance on an intuitive task but hampered performance on an analytical task. The reverse pattern was obtained when an analytical mode of thought was encouraged. We discuss the implications of these results for the assessment of decision making competence, and suggest practical directions to help individuals better adjust their information processing style to the situation at hand and make optimal decisions. PMID:26284011

Determinants of judgment and decision making quality: the interplay between information processing style and situational factors.

PubMed

Ayal, Shahar; Rusou, Zohar; Zakay, Dan; Hochman, Guy

2015-01-01

A framework is presented to better characterize the role of individual differences in information processing style and their interplay with contextual factors in determining decision making quality. In Experiment 1, we show that individual differences in information processing style are flexible and can be modified by situational factors. Specifically, a situational manipulation that induced an analytical mode of thought improved decision quality. In Experiment 2, we show that this improvement in decision quality is highly contingent on the compatibility between the dominant thinking mode and the nature of the task. That is, encouraging an intuitive mode of thought led to better performance on an intuitive task but hampered performance on an analytical task. The reverse pattern was obtained when an analytical mode of thought was encouraged. We discuss the implications of these results for the assessment of decision making competence, and suggest practical directions to help individuals better adjust their information processing style to the situation at hand and make optimal decisions.

Study on the key technology of optical encryption based on compressive ghost imaging with double random-phase encoding

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Leihong; Pan, Zilan; Liang, Dong; Ma, Xiuhua; Zhang, Dawei

2015-12-01

An optical encryption method based on compressive ghost imaging (CGI) with double random-phase encoding (DRPE), named DRPE-CGI, is proposed. The information is first encrypted by the sender with DRPE, the DRPE-coded image is encrypted by the system of computational ghost imaging with a secret key. The key of N random-phase vectors is generated by the sender and will be shared with the receiver who is the authorized user. The receiver decrypts the DRPE-coded image with the key, with the aid of CGI and a compressive sensing technique, and then reconstructs the original information by the technique of DRPE-decoding. The experiments suggest that cryptanalysts cannot get any useful information about the original image even if they eavesdrop 60% of the key at a given time, so the security of DRPE-CGI is higher than that of the security of conventional ghost imaging. Furthermore, this method can reduce 40% of the information quantity compared with ghost imaging while the qualities of reconstructing the information are the same. It can also improve the quality of the reconstructed plaintext information compared with DRPE-GI with the same sampling times. This technique can be immediately applied to encryption and data storage with the advantages of high security, fast transmission, and high quality of reconstructed information.

Internet embeddedness: links with online health information seeking, expectancy value/quality of health information websites, and Internet usage patterns.

PubMed

Leung, Louis

2008-10-01

To see how the Internet is actually embedded in our lives, this exploratory study examines how Internet users search the Web for important information, especially health or medical information, to make critical decisions, and the perception of how intimately our lives are embedded in the Internet intersects with patterns of health information seeking online and the expected quality of health information websites. Data from a probability sample of 569 Internet users found four types of commonly sought health information clusters online which included information on (a) health improvement, (b) medical treatment, (c) family health, and (d) health issues that are difficult to talk about. Results also show that behavior or behavioral intentions in health information seeking are in fact either a function of value expectancy or the evaluation of health information websites. More importantly, people who often go to the Internet for health information and have high expectations of the value and quality of health information websites (especially in terms of reliability, relevance/context, and interaction) tend to be those who are more likely to perceive the Internet as playing an important role in life decisions or rate the Internet as more embedded in their lives.

[Extraction of management information from the national quality assurance program].

PubMed

Stausberg, Jürgen; Bartels, Claus; Bobrowski, Christoph

2007-07-15

Starting with clinically motivated projects, the national quality assurance program has established a legislative obligatory framework. Annual feedback of results is an important means of quality control. The annual reports cover quality-related information with high granularity. A synopsis for corporate management is missing, however. Therefore, the results of the University Clinics in Greifswald, Germany, have been analyzed and aggregated to support hospital management. Strengths were identified by the ranking of results within the state for each quality indicator, weaknesses by the comparison with national reference values. The assessment was aggregated per clinical discipline and per category (indication, process, and outcome). A composition of quality indicators was claimed multiple times. A coherent concept is still missing. The method presented establishes a plausible summary of strengths and weaknesses of a hospital from the point of view of the national quality assurance program. Nevertheless, further adaptation of the program is needed to better assist corporate management.

Quality assessment of decision-making in colorectal cancer multidisciplinary meetings.

PubMed

Seretis, Charalampos; Mankotia, Rajnish; Goonetilleke, Kolitha; Rawstorne, Edward

2014-01-01

The quality of decision-making in the colorectal multidisciplinary team (MDT) meetings can significantly affect the quality of care delivered to patients with colorectal cancer. We performed a prospective study to assess the quality of the MDT meetings in a specialized colorectal unit using an externally observational validated tool. An externally validated observational tool, the Colorectal Multidisciplinary Team Metric for Observation of Decision-Making (cMDT-MODe), was used to assess the quality of clinical decision-making in 64 cases. Although case history information presented by the responsible surgeon was rated high (4.4/5), the quality of radiological and histopathological information regarding each patient's case which was available at the time was less adequate, scoring 3.9/5 and 3.8/5, respectively. Moreover, the precise knowledge of patients' personal views and circumstances was a field requiring further improvement. In a general overview however, the quality and extent of the available information enabled the MDT to provide a clear recommendation regarding the patients' treatment plans in 87.5% of the cases. The cMDT-MODe tool can be used to prospectively audit the quality of clinical decision-making in the colorectal MDT meetings and highlight the fields of potential improvement.

Creating a State-Wide Virtual Health Library: The Michigan Experience.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brenneise, Harvey

The AccessMichigan Electronic Community Health Information Initiative (AMECHII) is a response to a recommendation of the Michigan Information Technology Commission Report recommending improved access to high-quality health care information for all Michigan stakeholders. This project is multi-type, including public, general academic, academic…

Quality and Safety in Health Care, Part XXVI: The Adult Cardiac Surgery Database.

PubMed

Harolds, Jay A

2017-09-01

The Adult Cardiac Surgery Database of the Society of Thoracic Surgeons has provided highly useful information in quality and safety in general thoracic surgery, including ratings of the surgeons and institutions participating in this type of surgery. The Adult Cardiac Surgery Database information is very helpful for writing guidelines and determining optimal protocols and for many research projects. This article discusses the history and current status of this database.

Separation of pigment formulations by high-performance thin-layer chromatography with automated multiple development.

PubMed

Stiefel, Constanze; Dietzel, Sylvia; Endress, Marc; Morlock, Gertrud E

2016-09-02

Food packaging is designed to provide sufficient protection for the respective filling, legally binding information for the consumers like nutritional facts or filling information, and an attractive appearance to promote the sale. For quality and safety of the package, a regular quality control of the used printing materials is necessary to get consistently good print results, to avoid migration of undesired ink components into the food and to identify potentially faulty ink batches. Analytical approaches, however, have hardly been considered for quality assurance so far due to the lack of robust, suitable methods for the analysis of rarely soluble pigment formulations. Thus, a simple and generic high-performance thin-layer chromatography (HPTLC) method for the separation of different colored pigment formulations was developed on HPTLC plates silica gel 60 by automated multiple development. The gradient system provided a sharp resolution for differently soluble pigment constituents like additives and coating materials. The results of multi-detection allowed a first assignment of the differently detectable bands to particular chemical substance classes (e.g., lipophilic components), enabled the comparison of different commercially available pigment batches and revealed substantial variations in the composition of the batches. Hyphenation of HPTLC with high resolution mass spectrometry and infrared spectroscopy allowed the characterization of single unknown pigment constituents, which may partly be responsible for known quality problems during printing. The newly developed, precise and selective HPTLC method can be used as part of routine quality control for both, incoming pigment batches and monitoring of internal pigment production processes, to secure a consistent pigment composition resulting in consistent ink quality, a faultless print image and safe products. Hyphenation of HPTLC with the A. fischeri bioassay gave first information on the bioactivity or rather on the toxicological potential of different compounds of the pigment formulations. The results of the bioassay might be helpful to choose pigment compositions that provide both, a high printing quality but at the same time guarantee a high consumer safety, especially in regard to smaller pigment components, which tend to migrate through the packaging. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

A Survey of the Current Situation of Clinical Biobanks in China.

PubMed

Li, Haiyan; Ni, Mingyu; Wang, Peng; Wang, Xiaomin

2017-06-01

The development of biomedical research urgently needs the support of a large number of high-quality clinical biospecimens. Therefore, human biobanks at different levels have been established successively in China and other countries at a significantly increasing pace in recent years. To better understand the general current state of clinical biobanks in China, we surveyed 42 clinical biobanks based in hospitals and collected information involving their management systems, sharing mechanisms, quality control systems, and informational management systems using closed questionnaire methods. Based on our current information, there has not been such a large-scale survey in China. An understanding of the status and challenges current clinical biobanks face will provide valuable insights for the construction and sustainable development of higher quality clinical biobanks.

Patient-reported outcomes in randomised controlled trials of colorectal cancer: an analysis determining the availability of robust data to inform clinical decision-making

PubMed Central

Whale, Katie; Fish, Daniel; Fayers, Peter; Cafaro, Valentina; Pusic, Andrea; Blazeby, Jane M.; Efficace, Fabio

2016-01-01

Purpose Randomised controlled trials (RCTs) are the most robust study design measuring outcomes of colorectal cancer (CRC) treatments, but to influence clinical practice trial design and reporting of patient-reported outcomes (PROs) must be of high quality. Objectives of this study were as follows: to examine the quality of PRO reporting in RCTs of CRC treatment; to assess the availability of robust data to inform clinical decision-making; and to investigate whether quality of reporting improved over time. Methods A systematic review from January 2004–February 2012 identified RCTs of CRC treatment describing PROs. Relevant abstracts were screened and manuscripts obtained. Methodological quality was assessed using International Society for Quality of Life Research—patient-reported outcome reporting standards. Changes in reporting quality over time were established by comparison with previous data, and risk of bias was assessed with the Cochrane risk of bias tool. Results Sixty-six RCTs were identified, seven studies (10 %) reported survival benefit favouring the experimental treatment, 35 trials (53 %) identified differences in PROs between treatment groups, and the clinical significance of these differences was discussed in 19 studies (29 %). The most commonly reported treatment type was chemotherapy (n = 45; 68 %). Improvements over time in key methodological issues including the documentation of missing data and the discussion of the clinical significance of PROs were found. Thirteen trials (20 %) had high-quality reporting. Conclusions Whilst improvements in PRO quality reporting over time were found, several recent studies still fail to robustly inform clinical practice. Quality of PRO reporting must continue to improve to maximise the clinical impact of PRO findings. PMID:25910987

[Peculiarities of pilot's perception of flight information presented on on-board liquid crystal displays].

PubMed

Lemeshchenko, N A; Ivanov, A I; Lapa, V V; Davydov, V V; Zhelonkin, V I; Riabinin, V A; Golosov, S Iu

2014-01-01

The article deals with results of experimental studies conducted on flight testing desk and covering peculiarities of pilot's perception of flight information presented on on-board liquid crystal display in dependence on changes speed and update rate of the screen. The authors determine frequency characteristics of information update rate, that achieve acceptable quality of the flight parameters perception in accordance with the changes speed. Vigorous maneuvering with high angular velocities of changed parameters of roll and pitch causes visual distortions that are connected with poor frequency of information update rate, deteriorate piloting quality and can cause flight unsafety.

Beneficial effects of semen purification with magnetic nanoparticles

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Current techniques for sperm quality evaluation are mostly informative. They become useful when ejaculates of high index males not meeting quality standard are still discarded. Here we developed a molecular-based magnetic conjugates allowing selective elimination of damaged spermatozoa from semen ej...

Public reporting on quality, waiting times and patient experience in 11 high-income countries.

PubMed

Rechel, Bernd; McKee, Martin; Haas, Marion; Marchildon, Gregory P; Bousquet, Frederic; Blümel, Miriam; Geissler, Alexander; van Ginneken, Ewout; Ashton, Toni; Saunes, Ingrid Sperre; Anell, Anders; Quentin, Wilm; Saltman, Richard; Culler, Steven; Barnes, Andrew; Palm, Willy; Nolte, Ellen

2016-04-01

This article maps current approaches to public reporting on waiting times, patient experience and aggregate measures of quality and safety in 11 high-income countries (Australia, Canada, England, France, Germany, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and the United States). Using a questionnaire-based survey of key national informants, we found that the data most commonly made available to the public are on waiting times for hospital treatment, being reported for major hospitals in seven countries. Information on patient experience at hospital level is also made available in many countries, but it is not generally available in respect of primary care services. Only one of the 11 countries (England) publishes composite measures of overall quality and safety of care that allow the ranking of providers of hospital care. Similarly, the publication of information on outcomes of individual physicians remains rare. We conclude that public reporting of aggregate measures of quality and safety, as well as of outcomes of individual physicians, remain relatively uncommon. This is likely to be due to both unresolved methodological and ethical problems and concerns that public reporting may lead to unintended consequences. Copyright © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Efficacy of an outdoor air pollution education program in a community at risk for asthma morbidity.

PubMed

Dorevitch, Samuel; Karandikar, Abhijay; Washington, Gregory F; Walton, Geraldine Penny; Anderson, Renate; Nickels, Leslie

2008-11-01

Asthma management guidelines recommend avoiding exposure to indoor and outdoor air pollutants. A limitation of such recommendations is that they do not provide information about how the public should obtain and act on air quality information. Although the Air Quality Index (AQI) provides simplified outdoor air quality forecasts, communities with high rates of asthma morbidity tend to have low rates of internet access due to factors such as low socioeconomic status. Assessments of knowledge about air quality among low-income minority communities are lacking, as are community-based programs to educate the public about using the AQI. An air quality education program and system for disseminating air quality information were developed to promote pollutant avoidance during the reconstruction of a major highway in a low-income minority community on Chicago's South Side. The program, which centered on workshops run by community asthma educators, was evaluated using a pre-test, post-test, and 1-year follow-up questionnaire. A total of 120 community workshop participants completed at least a portion of the evaluation process. At baseline, knowledge about air quality was limited. Following the workshops, substantial increases were noted in rates of correct answers to questions about health effects of air pollution, the availability of air quality information, and the color code for an AQI category. Approximately 1 year after the workshops were held, few participants could recall elements of the training. Few participants have internet access, and alternative means of distributing air quality information were suggested by study participants. Baseline knowledge of air quality information was limited in the community studied. Air quality education workshops conducted by community educators can increase knowledge about outdoor air quality and its impact on health over the short term. Refresher workshops or other efforts to sustain the knowledge increase may be useful. Given the known short-term and long-term effects of air quality on morbidity and mortality, air quality education efforts should be further developed, evaluated, and promoted for the general public, for people with underlying cardiopulmonary disease, and given the documented health disparities within the general population, for low-income and minority communities.

Breast reconstruction post mastectomy- Let's Google it. Accessibility, readability and quality of online information.

PubMed

Lynch, Noel P; Lang, Bronagh; Angelov, Sophia; McGarrigle, Sarah A; Boyle, Terence J; Al-Azawi, Dhafir; Connolly, Elizabeth M

2017-04-01

This study evaluated the readability, accessibility and quality of information pertaining to breast reconstruction post mastectomy on the Internet in the English language. Using the Google © search engine the keywords "Breast reconstruction post mastectomy" were searched for. We analyzed the top 75 sites. The Flesch Reading Ease Score and Gunning Fog Index were calculated to assess readability. Web site quality was assessed objectively using the University of Michigan Consumer Health Web site Evaluation Checklist. Accessibility was determined using an automated accessibility tool. In addition, the country of origin, type of organisation producing the site and presence of Health on the Net (HoN) Certification status was recorded. The Web sites were difficult to read and comprehend. The mean Flesch Reading Ease scores were 55.5. The mean Gunning Fog Index scores was 8.6. The mean Michigan score was 34.8 indicating weak quality of websites. Websites with HoN certification ranked higher in the search results (p = 0.007). Website quality was influenced by organisation type (p < 0.0001) with academic/healthcare, not for profit and government sites having higher Michigan scores. 20% of sites met the minimum accessibility criteria. Internet information on breast reconstruction post mastectomy and procedures is poorly written and we suggest that Webpages providing information must be made more readable and accessible. We suggest that health professionals should recommend Web sites that are easy to read and contain high-quality surgical information. Medical information on the Internet should be readable, accessible, reliable and of a consistent quality. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Metal-on-Metal Total Hip Arthroplasty: Quality of Online Patient Information.

PubMed

Crozier-Shaw, Geoff; Queally, Joseph M; Quinlan, John F

2017-03-01

Metal-on-metal total hip arthroplasty (THA) has generated much attention in the media because of early failure of certain implant systems. This study assessed the quality, accuracy, and readability of online information on metal-on-metal THA. The search terms "metal-on-metal hip replacement" and "metal hip replacement" were entered into the 3 most popular search engines. Information quality was assessed with the DISCERN score and a specific metal-on-metal THA content score. Accuracy of information was assessed with a customized score. Readability of the websites was assessed with the Flesch-Kincaid grade level score. A total of 61 unique websites were assessed. For 56% of websites, the target audience was patients. Media or medicolegal sources accounted for 44% of websites. As assessed by DISCERN (range, 16-80) and metal-on-metal THA (range, 0-25) scores, quality of the websites was moderate at best (47.1 and 9.6, respectively). Accuracy (range, 0-8) of the information presented also was moderate, with a mean score of 6.6. Media and medicolegal websites had the lowest scores for both quality and accuracy, despite making up the greatest proportion of sites assessed. Only 1 website (2%) had a Flesch-Kincaid grade level at or less than the recommended level of 8th grade. This study found that online information on metal-on-metal THA was of poor quality, often was inaccurate, and was presented at an inappropriately high reading level, particularly for media and medicolegal websites. Health care providers should counsel patients on the quality of information available and recommend appropriate online resources. [Orthopedics. 2017; 40(2):e262-e268.]. Copyright 2016, SLACK Incorporated.

Importance of relationship quality in the success of data warehouse systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Almabhouh, Alaaeddin; Saleh, Abdul; Ahmad, Azizah

2011-10-01

Increased organizational dependence on data warehouse (DW) systems drives management attention towards improving DW systems success. However, the successful implementation rate of DW systems is low and many firms did not achieve intended goals. A recent studies show that improves and evaluates DW success is one of the top concerns facing IT/DW executives. Existing information system (IS) research has studied DW success more from information quality and system quality. Researchers argue in this study that we should also take the relationship quality, which has significant research and practical implications in that it connects to IS success directly. As our first attempt, this study, referring to both IS and marketing literature, examines how communication, coordination, cooperation, commitment, and trust can be achieved to some degrees by high quality relationships between DW parties.

Educating Faculty Members on the Importance of Requiring High-Quality Information Resources at a Community College

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Auten, Beth; Glauner, Dana; Lefoe, Grant; Henry, Jo

2016-01-01

This article explains how the South Piedmont Community College librarians educated faculty members about how they guide student use of the library and how it is advantageous for them to require high-quality resources for student papers. As documented by observations at SPCC and in the library literature, students use the tools they know to find…

Teaching Urban Youth about Controversial Issues: Pathways to Becoming Active and Informed Citizens

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lin, Alex Romeo; Lawrence, Joshua Fahey; Snow, Catherine Elizabeth

2015-01-01

Although American schools are required to meet civic education goals of preparing students to become active and informed citizens, high-quality civic opportunities (e.g. service learning and volunteering) are consistently less available to youth of color who are typically enrolled in schools located in high-poverty communities. The purpose of this…

Reliable cues and signals of fruit quality are contingent on the habitat in black elder (Sambucus nigra).

PubMed

Schaefer, H Martin; Braun, Julius

2009-06-01

Communication mediates interactions between organisms and can be based on signals or cues. Signals are selected for their signaling function, whereas cues evolve for reasons other than signaling. To be evolutionarily stable, communication needs to be reliable on average, but the mechanisms that enforce reliability are hotly debated in light of strong environmental influence on signals and cues. While fruit quality in black elder (Sambucus nigra) is unrelated to fruit color, it is indicated by alternative pedicel phenotypes. Information on fruit quality has thus been transferred from the fruit to the developmentally associated pedicels, which are environmentally determined cues. Within each phenotype, color variation indicates fruit quality. Communication by black elder is thus reliable, but the proximate mechanisms enforcing reliability are habitat specific. High irradiance increases both the contrasts of the visual cue and fruit quality in the anthocyanin-based red pedicel phenotype, while shaded plants of the chlorophyll-based green phenotype apparently use signals by forgoing photosynthesis. This is because lower chlorophyll content in green pedicels creates contrasting pedicels, and higher contrasts indicate higher sugar content in the fruits of green pedicels. Because anthocyanins are light-induced, plants use cues when exposed to high irradiance, whereas they apparently use costly signals in the shade by reducing chlorophyll content in the pedicels. In behavioral field and laboratory experiments we document that avian seed dispersers select among pedicel phenotypes that indicate different fruit quality. Plants can thus increase their reproductive success by sending highly informative cues. Our results indicate how reliable information transfer can be maintained both in cues and signals in spite of substantial environmental influence on visual traits.

Treatments for Neurodevelopmental Disorders: Evidence, Advocacy, and the Internet

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Di Pietro, Nina C.; Whiteley, Louise; Mizgalewicz, Ania; Illes, Judy

2013-01-01

The Internet is a major source of health-related information for parents of sick children despite concerns surrounding quality. For neurodevelopmental disorders, the websites of advocacy groups are a largely unexamined source of information. We evaluated treatment information posted on nine highly-trafficked advocacy websites for autism, cerebral…

Telework and the Information Age.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stanworth, Celia

1998-01-01

Review of Information Age literature found not enough evidence that information industries will reenergize economies or provide high-quality jobs. Virtual organizations are hard to identify. Women do the bulk of low-skill, low-paying telework jobs, reinforcing sex roles and class divisions. Remote workers are often vulnerable and cut off from…

Video streaming with SHVC to HEVC transcoding

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gudumasu, Srinivas; He, Yuwen; Ye, Yan; Xiu, Xiaoyu

2015-09-01

This paper proposes an efficient Scalable High efficiency Video Coding (SHVC) to High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) transcoder, which can reduce the transcoding complexity significantly, and provide a desired trade-off between the transcoding complexity and the transcoded video quality. To reduce the transcoding complexity, some of coding information, such as coding unit (CU) depth, prediction mode, merge mode, motion vector information, intra direction information and transform unit (TU) depth information, in the SHVC bitstream are mapped and transcoded to single layer HEVC bitstream. One major difficulty in transcoding arises when trying to reuse the motion information from SHVC bitstream since motion vectors referring to inter-layer reference (ILR) pictures cannot be reused directly in transcoding. Reusing motion information obtained from ILR pictures for those prediction units (PUs) will reduce the complexity of the SHVC transcoder greatly but a significant reduction in the quality of the picture is observed. Pictures corresponding to the intra refresh pictures in the base layer (BL) will be coded as P pictures in enhancement layer (EL) in the SHVC bitstream; and directly reusing the intra information from the BL for transcoding will not get a good coding efficiency. To solve these problems, various transcoding technologies are proposed. The proposed technologies offer different trade-offs between transcoding speed and transcoding quality. They are implemented on the basis of reference software SHM-6.0 and HM-14.0 for the two layer spatial scalability configuration. Simulations show that the proposed SHVC software transcoder reduces the transcoding complexity by up to 98-99% using low complexity transcoding mode when compared with cascaded re-encoding method. The transcoder performance at various bitrates with different transcoding modes are compared in terms of transcoding speed and transcoded video quality.

Evidence-based ethics – What it should be and what it shouldn't

PubMed Central

Strech, Daniel

2008-01-01

Background The concept of evidence-based medicine has strongly influenced the appraisal and application of empirical information in health care decision-making. One principal characteristic of this concept is the distinction between "evidence" in the sense of high-quality empirical information on the one hand and rather low-quality empirical information on the other hand. In the last 5 to 10 years an increasing number of articles published in international journals have made use of the term "evidence-based ethics", making a systematic analysis and explication of the term and its applicability in ethics important. Discussion In this article four descriptive and two normative characteristics of the general concept "evidence-based" are presented and explained systematically. These characteristics are to then serve as a framework for assessing the methodological and practical challenges of evidence-based ethics as a developing methodology. The superiority of evidence in contrast to other empirical information has several normative implications such as the legitimization of decisions in medicine and ethics. This implicit normativity poses ethical concerns if there is no formal consent on which sort of empirical information deserves the label "evidence" and which does not. In empirical ethics, which relies primarily on interview research and other methods from the social sciences, we still lack gold standards for assessing the quality of study designs and appraising their findings. Conclusion The use of the term "evidence-based ethics" should be discouraged, unless there is enough consensus on how to differentiate between high- and low-quality information produced by empirical ethics. In the meantime, whenever empirical information plays a role, the process of ethical decision-making should make use of systematic reviews of empirical studies that involve a critical appraisal and comparative discussion of data. PMID:18937838

Evaluation of English Websites on Dental Caries by Using Consumer Evaluation Tools.

PubMed

Blizniuk, Anastasiya; Furukawa, Sayaka; Ueno, Masayuki; Kawaguchi, Yoko

2016-01-01

To evaluate the quality of patient-oriented online information about dental caries using existing consumer evaluation tools and to judge the efficacy of these tools in quality assessment. The websites for the evaluation were pooled by using two general search engines (Google and Yahoo!). The search terms were: 'dental caries', 'tooth decay' and 'tooth cavity'. Three assessment tools (LIDA, DISCERN and FRES) were used to evaluate the quality of the information in the areas of accessibility, usability, reliability and readability. In total, 77 websites were analysed. The median scores of LIDA accessibility and usability were 45.0 and 8.0, respectively, which corresponded to a medium level of quality. The median reliability scores for LIDA (12.0) and DISCERN (20.0) both corresponded to low level of quality. The readability was high with the median FRES score 59.7. The websites on caries had good accessibility, usability and readability, while reliability of the information was poor. The LIDA instrument was found to be more convenient than DISCERN and can be recommended to lay people for quick quality assessment.

Normative standards for wildlife viewing in parks and protected areas

Treesearch

Laura Anderson; Robert Manning; William Valliere; Jeffrey Hallo

2010-01-01

With increasing public interest in wildlife watching, there is a need to develop methods to inform the management of high-quality viewing opportunities. In this study, normative methods using indicators and standards of quality were applied at a national park in Alaska and a wildlife refuge in New Hampshire. Four potential indicators of quality are identified that can...

Quality of anaesthesia-related information accessed via Internet searches.

PubMed

Caron, S; Berton, J; Beydon, L

2007-08-01

We conducted a study to examine the quality and stability of information available from the Internet on four anaesthesia-related topics. In January 2006, we searched using four key words (porphyria, scleroderma, transfusion risk, and epidural analgesia risk) with five search engines (Google, HotBot, AltaVista, Excite, and Yahoo). We used a published scoring system (NetScoring) to evaluate the first 15 sites identified by each of these 20 searches. We also used a simple four-point scale to assess the first 100 sites in the Google search on one of our four topics ('epidural analgesia risk'). In November 2006, we conducted a second evaluation, using three search engines (Google, AltaVista, and Yahoo) with 14 synonyms for 'epidural analgesia risk'. The five search engines performed similarly. NetScoring scores were lower for transfusion risk (P < 0.001). One or more high-quality sites was identified consistently among the first 15 sites in each search. Quality scored using the simple scale correlated closely with medical content and design by NetScoring and with the number of references (P < 0.05). Synonyms of 'epidural analgesia risk' yielded similar results. The quality of accessed information improved somewhat over the 11 month period with Yahoo and AltaVista, but declined with Google. The Internet is a valuable tool for obtaining medical information, but the quality of websites varies between different topics. A simple rating scale may facilitate the quality scoring on individual websites. Differences in precise search terms used for a given topic did not appear to affect the quality of the information obtained.

Non-Destructive High-Resolution Organic Matter Record on Lake Sediment using Steady-State Solid Phase Fluorescence: Organic Matter Quality and Quantity Assessment.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Quiers, M.; Perrette, Y.; Etienne, D.; Develle, A. L.; Jacq, K.

2017-12-01

The use of organic proxies increases in paleoenvironmental reconstructions from natural archives. Major advances have been achieved by the development of new highly informative molecular proxies usually linked to specific compounds. While studies focused on targeted compounds, offering a high information degree, advances on bulk organic matter are limited. However, this bulk is the main contributor to carbon cycle and has been shown to be a driver of many mineral or organic compounds transfer and record. Development of target proxies need complementary information on bulk organic matter to understand biases link to controlling factors or analytical methods, and provide a robust interpretation. Fluorescence methods have often been employed to characterize and quantify organic matter. However, these technics are mainly developed for liquid samples, inducing material and resolution loss when working on natural archives (either stalagmite or sediments). High-resolution solid phase fluorescence (SPF) was developed on speleothems. This method allows now to analyse organic matter quality and quantity if procedure to constrain the optical density are adopted. In fact, a calibration method using liquid phase fluorescence (LPF) was developed for speleothem, allowing to quantify organic carbon at high-resolution. We report here an application of such a procedure SPF/LPF measurements on lake sediments. In order to avoid sediment matrix effects on the fluorescence signal, a calibration using LPF measurements was realised. First results using this method provided organic matter quality record of different organic matter compounds (humic-like, protein-like and chlorophylle-like compounds) at high resolution for the sediment core. High resolution organic matter fluxes are obtained in a second time, applying pragmatic chemometrics model (non linear models, partial least square models) on high resolution fluorescence data. SPF method can be considered as a promising tool for high resolution record on organic matter quality and quantity. Potential application of this method will be evocated (lake ecosystem dynamic, changes in trophic levels)

Physical activity and individuals with spinal cord injury: accuracy and quality of information on the Internet.

PubMed

Jetha, Arif; Faulkner, Guy; Gorczynski, Paul; Arbour-Nicitopoulos, Kelly; Martin Ginis, Kathleen A

2011-04-01

A number of websites on the Internet promote health-enhancing behaviors among people with spinal cord injury (SCI). However, the information available is of unknown accuracy and quality. To examine the accuracy, quality, and targeting strategies used in online physical activity (PA) information aimed at people with SCI. A purposive sample of 30 frequently accessed websites for individuals with SCI that included PA information was examined. Websites were evaluated based on their descriptive characteristics, level of accuracy in relation to newly defined PA recommendations for people with SCI, technical and theoretical quality (i.e., use of behavioral theories) characteristics, and targeting strategies to promote PA among people with SCI. Descriptive statistics were utilized to illustrate the results of the evaluation. PA information was easily accessible, as rated by the number of clicks required to access information. Only 6 websites (20%) provided specific PA recommendations and these websites exhibited low accuracy. Technically, websites were of high quality with a mean score of 4.1 of a possible 6 points. In contrast, websites had a low level of theoretical quality, with 23 of the 30 websites (77%) scoring below 9 of a possible 14 points (i.e., 64% of a perfect score) for theoretical content. A majority of websites evaluated did not use cognitive (e.g., self-efficacy, self-talk, and perceived social norms) and behavioral (e.g., self-monitoring, motivational readiness, and realistic goal-setting) strategies in their messages. A majority (80%) of the evaluated websites customized information for persons with different injury levels and completeness. Less than half of the websites evaluated tailored PA information toward people at different stages of their injury rehabilitation (37%) or for their caregivers (30%). Accuracy and theoretical quality of PA information presented to people with SCI on the Internet may not be optimal. Websites should be improved to incorporate accepted PA recommendations and behavioral theory to better deliver health messages about PA. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The effect of source credibility on consumers' perceptions of the quality of health information on the Internet.

PubMed

Bates, Benjamin R; Romina, Sharon; Ahmed, Rukhsana; Hopson, Danielle

2006-03-01

Recent use of the Internet as a source of health information has raised concerns about consumers' ability to tell 'good' information from 'bad' information. Although consumers report that they use source credibility to judge information quality, several observational studies suggest that consumers make little use of source credibility. This study examines consumer evaluations of web pages attributed to a credible source as compared to generic web pages on measures of message quality. In spring 2005, a community-wide convenience survey was distributed in a regional hub city in Ohio, USA. 519 participants were randomly assigned one of six messages discussing lung cancer prevention: three messages each attributed to a highly credible national organization and three identical messages each attributed to a generic web page. Independent sample t-tests were conducted to compare each attributed message to its counterpart attributed to a generic web page on measures of trustworthiness, truthfulness, readability, and completeness. The results demonstrated that differences in attribution to a source did not have a significant effect on consumers' evaluations of the quality of the information.Conclusions. The authors offer suggestions for national organizations to promote credibility to consumers as a heuristic for choosing better online health information through the use of media co-channels to emphasize credibility.

Accuracy and reliability of Chile's National Air Quality Information System for measuring particulate matter: Beta attenuation monitoring issue.

PubMed

Toro A, Richard; Campos, Claudia; Molina, Carolina; Morales S, Raul G E; Leiva-Guzmán, Manuel A

2015-09-01

A critical analysis of Chile's National Air Quality Information System (NAQIS) is presented, focusing on particulate matter (PM) measurement. This paper examines the complexity, availability and reliability of monitoring station information, the implementation of control systems, the quality assurance protocols of the monitoring station data and the reliability of the measurement systems in areas highly polluted by particulate matter. From information available on the NAQIS website, it is possible to confirm that the PM2.5 (PM10) data available on the site correspond to 30.8% (69.2%) of the total information available from the monitoring stations. There is a lack of information regarding the measurement systems used to quantify air pollutants, most of the available data registers contain gaps, almost all of the information is categorized as "preliminary information" and neither standard operating procedures (operational and validation) nor assurance audits or quality control of the measurements are reported. In contrast, events that cause saturation of the monitoring detectors located in northern and southern Chile have been observed using beta attenuation monitoring. In these cases, it can only be concluded that the PM content is equal to or greater than the saturation concentration registered by the monitors and that the air quality indexes obtained from these measurements are underestimated. This occurrence has been observed in 12 (20) public and private stations where PM2.5 (PM10) is measured. The shortcomings of the NAQIS data have important repercussions for the conclusions obtained from the data and for how the data are used. However, these issues represent opportunities for improving the system to widen its use, incorporate comparison protocols between equipment, install new stations and standardize the control system and quality assurance. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Evaluation of educational content of YouTube videos relating to neurogenic bladder and intermittent catheterization.

PubMed

Ho, Matthew; Stothers, Lynn; Lazare, Darren; Tsang, Brian; Macnab, Andrew

2015-01-01

Many patients conduct internet searches to manage their own health problems, to decide if they need professional help, and to corroborate information given in a clinical encounter. Good information can improve patients' understanding of their condition and their self-efficacy. Patients with spinal cord injury (SCI) featuring neurogenic bladder (NB) require knowledge and skills related to their condition and need for intermittent catheterization (IC). Information quality was evaluated in videos accessed via YouTube relating to NB and IC using search terms "neurogenic bladder intermittent catheter" and "spinal cord injury intermittent catheter." Video content was independently rated by 3 investigators using criteria based on European Urological Association (EAU) guidelines and established clinical practice. In total, 71 videos met the inclusion criteria. Of these, 12 (17%) addressed IC and 50 (70%) contained information on NB. The remaining videos met inclusion criteria, but did not contain information relevant to either IC or NB. Analysis indicated poor overall quality of information, with some videos with information contradictory to EAU guidelines for IC. High-quality videos were randomly distributed by YouTube. IC videos featuring a healthcare narrator scored significantly higher than patient-narrated videos, but not higher than videos with a merchant narrator. About half of the videos contained commercial content. Some good-quality educational videos about NB and IC are available on YouTube, but most are poor. The videos deemed good quality were not prominently ranked by the YouTube search algorithm, consequently user access is less likely. Study limitations include the limit of 50 videos per category and the use of a de novo rating tool. Information quality in videos with healthcare narrators was not higher than in those featuring merchant narrators. Better material is required to improve patients' understanding of their condition.

Objective burden, resources, and other stressors among informal cancer caregivers: a hidden quality issue?†

PubMed Central

van Ryn, Michelle; Sanders, Sara; Kahn, Katherine; van Houtven, Courtney; Griffin, Joan M.; Martin, Michelle; Atienza, Audie A.; Phelan, Sean; Finstad, Deborah; Rowland, Julia

2015-01-01

A great deal of clinical cancer care is delivered in the home by informal caregivers (e.g. family, friends), who are often untrained. Caregivers' context varies widely, with many providing care despite low levels of resources and high levels of additional demands. Background Changes in health care have shifted much cancer care to the home, with limited data to inform this transition. We studied the characteristics, care tasks, and needs of informal caregivers of cancer patients. Methods Caregivers of seven geographically and institutionally defined cohorts of newly diagnosed colorectal and lung cancer patients completed self-administered questionnaires (n = 677). We combined this information with patient survey and chart abstraction data and focused on caregivers who reported providing, unpaid, at least 50% of the patient's informal cancer care. Results Over half of caregivers (55%) cared for a patient with metastatic disease, severe comorbidity, or undergoing current treatment. Besides assisting with activities of daily living, caregivers provided cancer-specific care such as watching for treatment side effects (68%), helping manage pain, nausea or fatigue (47%), administering medicine (34%), deciding whether to call a doctor (30%), deciding whether medicine was needed (29%), and changing bandages (19%). However, half of caregivers reported not getting training perceived as necessary. In addition, 49% of caregivers worked for pay, 21% reported poor or fair health, and 21% provided unpaid care for other individuals. One in four reported low confidence in the quality of the care they provided. Conclusions Much assistance for cancer patients is delivered in the home by informal caregivers, often without desired training, with a significant minority having limited resources and high additional demands. Future research should explore the potentially high yield of addressing caregiver needs in improving quality of cancer care and both survivors' and caregivers' outcomes. PMID:20201115

Quality and Cultural Sensitivity of Linguistically Appropriate Cardiovascular Disease Information for Chinese Immigrants: A Review of Online Resources From Heart Foundations.

PubMed

Li, Jialin; Lowres, Nicole; Jin, Kai; Zhang, Ling; Neubeck, Lis; Gallagher, Robyn

Chinese immigrants are at an increased risk for cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) compared with Chinese nationals partly because of lifestyle changes and knowledge deficits. Translated patient resources are available on the Internet and are often provided by health professionals; however, the quality and cultural sensitivity of these resources have not been reported. The aim of this study was to assess the availability, quality, and cultural sensitivity of Chinese-language information available from national "Heart Foundations" (cardiac research bodies, nongovernmental organisations) of the 5 most popular destinations of Chinese immigration. This study is a descriptive research in which national "Heart Foundation" websites were systematically searched for Chinese-language CVD patient education resources. Quality (content, identification, structure) was assessed using the Ensuring Quality Information for Patients instrument. Cultural sensitivity was evaluated using the Cultural Sensitivity Assessment Tool. From 107 identified resources, 33 were CVD specific: coronary heart disease (n = 20), arrhythmias (n = 7), and heart failure (n = 6). Quality of resources was adequate (mean Ensuring Quality Information for Patients score, 69%), but scores varied significantly (min, 60%; max, 85%). Although all resources were classified as culturally sensitive (Cultural Sensitivity Assessment Tool score ≥ 2.5), 2 resources scored low (≤2.5) for visual impact, and across all resources, written and visual domains were assessed as least culturally sensitive. Most resources lacked culturally specific references. Chinese-language CVD resources were inconsistent in the supply of key information. Quality and level of cultural sensitivity were adequate, but most resources lacked culturally specific references. Comprehensive, high-quality CVD resources powered by Editorial Manager and ProduXion Manager from Aries Systems Corporation tailored for Chinese immigrants are urgently needed for healthcare providers to support CVD education and care of patients belonging to this population.

Utility of registries for post-marketing evaluation of medicines. A survey of Swedish health care quality registries from a regulatory perspective.

PubMed

Feltelius, Nils; Gedeborg, Rolf; Holm, Lennart; Zethelius, Björn

2017-06-01

The aim of this study was to describe content and procedures in some selected Swedish health care quality registries (QRs) of relevance to regulatory decision-making. A workshop was organized with participation of seven Swedish QRs which subsequently answered a questionnaire regarding registry content on drug treatments and outcomes. Patient populations, coverage, data handling and quality control, as well as legal and ethical aspects are presented. Scientific publications from the QRs are used as a complementary measure of quality and scientific relevance. The registries under study collect clinical data of high relevance to regulatory and health technology agencies. Five out of seven registries provide information on the drug of interest. When applying external quality criteria, we found a high degree of fulfillment, although information on medication was not sufficient to answer all questions of regulatory interest. A notable strength is the option for linkage to the Prescribed Drug Registry and to information on education and socioeconomic status. Data on drugs used during hospitalization were also collected to some extent. Outcome measures collected resemble those used in relevant clinical trials. All registries collected patient-reported outcome measures. The number of publications from the registries was substantial, with studies of appropriate design, including randomized registry trials. Quality registries may provide a valuable source of post-marketing data on drug effectiveness, safety, and cost-effectiveness. Closer collaboration between registries and regulators to improve quality and usefulness of registry data could benefit both regulatory utility and value for health care providers.

Utility of registries for post-marketing evaluation of medicines. A survey of Swedish health care quality registries from a regulatory perspective

PubMed Central

Feltelius, Nils; Gedeborg, Rolf; Holm, Lennart; Zethelius, Björn

2017-01-01

Aim The aim of this study was to describe content and procedures in some selected Swedish health care quality registries (QRs) of relevance to regulatory decision-making. Methods A workshop was organized with participation of seven Swedish QRs which subsequently answered a questionnaire regarding registry content on drug treatments and outcomes. Patient populations, coverage, data handling and quality control, as well as legal and ethical aspects are presented. Scientific publications from the QRs are used as a complementary measure of quality and scientific relevance. Results The registries under study collect clinical data of high relevance to regulatory and health technology agencies. Five out of seven registries provide information on the drug of interest. When applying external quality criteria, we found a high degree of fulfillment, although information on medication was not sufficient to answer all questions of regulatory interest. A notable strength is the option for linkage to the Prescribed Drug Registry and to information on education and socioeconomic status. Data on drugs used during hospitalization were also collected to some extent. Outcome measures collected resemble those used in relevant clinical trials. All registries collected patient-reported outcome measures. The number of publications from the registries was substantial, with studies of appropriate design, including randomized registry trials. Conclusions Quality registries may provide a valuable source of post-marketing data on drug effectiveness, safety, and cost-effectiveness. Closer collaboration between registries and regulators to improve quality and usefulness of registry data could benefit both regulatory utility and value for health care providers. PMID:28276780

Assimilation of IASI and AIRS Data: Information Content and Quality Control

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Joiner, J.; Einaudi, Franco (Technical Monitor)

2000-01-01

The Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer (IASI) and Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) instruments have two orders of magnitude more channels that the current operational infrared sounder (High Resolution Infra-Red Sounder (HIRS)). This data volume presents a technological challenge for using the data in a data assimilation system. Data reduction will be a necessary for assimilation. It is important to understand the information content of the radiance measurements for data reduction purposes. In this talk, I will discuss issues relating to information content and quality control for assimilation of the AIRS and IASI data.

Health Information System in Primary Health Care: The Challenges and Barriers from Local Providers’ Perspective of an Area in Iran

PubMed Central

Yazdi-Feyzabadi, Vahid; Emami, Mozhgan; Mehrolhassani, Mohammad Hossein

2015-01-01

Background: Health information system (HIS) has been utilized for collecting, processing, storing, and transferring the required information for planning and decision-making at different levels of health sector to provide quality services. In this study, in order to provide high-quality HIS, primary health care (PHC) providers’ perspective on current challenges and barriers were investigated. Methods: This study was carried out with a qualitative approach using semi-structured audiotaped focus group discussions (FGDs). One FGD was conducted with 13 Behvarz and health technicians as front-line workers and the other with 16 personnel including physicians, statisticians, and health professionals working in health centers of the PHC network in KUMS. The discussions were transcribed and then analyzed using the framework analysis method. Results: The identified organizational challenges were categorized into two groups: HIS structure and the current model of PHC in urban areas. Furthermore, the structural challenges were classified into HIS management structure (information systems resources, including human, supplies, and organizational rules) and information process. Conclusions: The HIS works effectively and efficiently when there are a consistency and integrity between the human, supplies, and process aspects. Hence, multifaceted interventions including strengthening the organizational culture to use the information in decisions, eliminating infrastructural obstacles, appointing qualified staff and more investment for service delivery at urban areas are the most fundamental requirements of high-quality HIS in PHC. PMID:26236444

Legal issues concerning electronic health information: privacy, quality, and liability.

PubMed

Hodge, J G; Gostin, L O; Jacobson, P D

1999-10-20

Personally identifiable health information about individuals and general medical information is increasingly available in electronic form in health databases and through online networks. The proliferation of electronic data within the modern health information infrastructure presents significant benefits for medical providers and patients, including enhanced patient autonomy, improved clinical treatment, advances in health research and public health surveillance, and modern security techniques. However, it also presents new legal challenges in 3 interconnected areas: privacy of identifiable health information, reliability and quality of health data, and tortbased liability. Protecting health information privacy (by giving individuals control over health data without severely restricting warranted communal uses) directly improves the quality and reliability of health data (by encouraging individual uses of health services and communal uses of data), which diminishes tort-based liabilities (by reducing instances of medical malpractice or privacy invasions through improvements in the delivery of health care services resulting in part from better quality and reliability of clinical and research data). Following an analysis of the interconnectivity of these 3 areas and discussing existing and proposed health information privacy laws, recommendations for legal reform concerning health information privacy are presented. These include (1) recognizing identifiable health information as highly sensitive, (2) providing privacy safeguards based on fair information practices, (3) empowering patients with information and rights to consent to disclosure (4) limiting disclosures of health data absent consent, (5) incorporating industry-wide security protections, (6) establishing a national data protection authority, and (7) providing a national minimal level of privacy protections.

Characterization of non-conductive materials using field emission scanning electron microscopy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cao, Cong; Gao, Ran; Shang, Huayan; Peng, Tingting

2016-01-01

With the development of science and technology, field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM) plays an important role in nano-material measurements because of its advantages of high magnification, high resolution and easy operation. A high-quality secondary electron image is a significant prerequisite for accurate and precise length measurements. In order to obtain high-quality secondary electron images, the conventional treatment method for non-conductive materials is coating conductive films with gold, carbon or platinum to reduce charging effects, but this method will cover real micro structures of materials, change the sample composition properties and meanwhile introduce a relatively big error to nano-scale microstructure measurements. This paper discusses how to reduce or eliminate the impact of charging effects on image quality to the greatest extent by changing working conditions, such as voltage, stage bias, scanning mode and so on without treatment of coating, to obtain real and high-quality microstructure information of materials.

High-quality cardiopulmonary resuscitation: current and future directions.

PubMed

Abella, Benjamin S

2016-06-01

Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) represents the cornerstone of cardiac arrest resuscitation care. Prompt delivery of high-quality CPR can dramatically improve survival outcomes; however, the definitions of optimal CPR have evolved over several decades. The present review will discuss the metrics of CPR delivery, and the evidence supporting the importance of CPR quality to improve clinical outcomes. The introduction of new technologies to quantify metrics of CPR delivery has yielded important insights into CPR quality. Investigations using CPR recording devices have allowed the assessment of specific CPR performance parameters and their relative importance regarding return of spontaneous circulation and survival to hospital discharge. Additional work has suggested new opportunities to measure physiologic markers during CPR and potentially tailor CPR delivery to patient requirements. Through recent laboratory and clinical investigations, a more evidence-based definition of high-quality CPR continues to emerge. Exciting opportunities now exist to study quantitative metrics of CPR and potentially guide resuscitation care in a goal-directed fashion. Concepts of high-quality CPR have also informed new approaches to training and quality improvement efforts for cardiac arrest care.

Landsat-4 MSS and Thematic Mapper data quality and information content analysis

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Anuta, P. E.; Bartolucci, L. A.; Dean, M. E.; Lozano, D. F.; Malaret, E.; Mcgillem, C. D.; Valdes, J. A.; Valenzuela, C. R.

1984-01-01

Landsat-4 Thematic Mapper and Multispectral Scanner data were analyzed to obtain information on data quality and information content. Geometric evaluations were performed to test band-to-band registration accuracy. Thematic Mapper overall system resolution was evaluated using scene objects which demonstrated sharp high contrast edge responses. Radiometric evaluation included detector relative calibration, effects of resampling, and coherent noise effects. Information content evaluation was carried out using clustering, principal components, transformed divergence separability measure, and numerous supervised classifiers on data from Iowa and Illinois. A detailed spectral class analysis (multispectral classification) was carried out on data from the Des Moines, IA area to compare the information content of the MSS and TM for a large number of scene classes.

Nursing Home Price and Quality Responses to Publicly Reported Quality Information

PubMed Central

Clement, Jan P; Bazzoli, Gloria J; Zhao, Mei

2012-01-01

Objective To assess whether the release of Nursing Home Compare (NHC) data affected self-pay per diem prices and quality of care. Data Sources Primary data sources are the Annual Survey of Wisconsin Nursing Homes for 2001–2003, Online Survey and Certification Reporting System, NHC, and Area Resource File. Study Design We estimated fixed effects models with robust standard errors of per diem self-pay charge and quality before and after NHC. Principal Findings After NHC, low-quality nursing homes raised their prices by a small but significant amount and decreased their use of restraints but did not reduce pressure sores. Mid-level and high-quality nursing homes did not significantly increase self-pay prices after NHC nor consistently change quality. Conclusions Our findings suggest that the release of quality information affected nursing home behavior, especially pricing and quality decisions among low-quality facilities. Policy makers should continue to monitor quality and prices for self-pay residents and scrutinize low-quality homes over time to see whether they are on a pathway to improve quality. In addition, policy makers should not expect public reporting to result in quick fixes to nursing home quality problems. PMID:22092366

Assessing stability and performance of a digitally enabled supply chain: Retrospective of a pilot in Uttar Pradesh, India.

PubMed

Gilbert, Sarah Skye; Thakare, Neeraj; Ramanujapuram, Arun; Akkihal, Anup

2017-04-19

Immunization supply chains in low resource settings do not always reach children with necessary vaccines. Digital information systems can enable real time visibility of inventory and improve vaccine availability. In 2014, a digital, mobile/web-based information system was implemented in two districts of Uttar Pradesh, India. This retrospective investigates improvements and stabilization of supply chain performance following introduction of the digital information system. All data were collected via the digital information system between March 2014 and September 2015. Data included metadata and transaction logs providing information about users, facilities, and vaccines. Metrics evaluated include adoption (system access, timeliness and completeness), data quality (error rates), and performance (stock availability on immunization session days, replenishment response duration, rate of zero stock events). Stability was defined as the phase in which quality and performance metrics achieved equilibrium rates with minimal volatility. The analysis compared performance across different facilities and vaccines. Adoption appeared sufficiently high from the onset to commence stability measures of data quality and supply chain performance. Data quality stabilized from month 3 onwards, and supply chain performance stabilized from month 13 onwards. For data quality, error rates reduced by two thirds post stabilization. Although vaccine availability remained high throughout the pilot, the three lowest-performing facilities improved from 91.05% pre-stability to 98.70% post-stability (p<0.01; t-test). Average replenishment duration (as a corrective response to stock-out events) decreased 52.3% from 4.93days to 2.35days (p<0.01; t-test). Diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis vaccine was significantly less likely to be stocked out than any other material. The results suggest that given sufficient adoption, stability is sequentially achieved, beginning with data quality, and then performance. Identifying when a pilot stabilizes can enable more predictable, reliable cost estimates, and outcome forecasts in the scale-up phase. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

[Drug information for patients (Package Leaflets), and user testing in EU].

PubMed

Yamamoto, Michiko; Doi, Hirohisa; Furukawa, Aya

2015-01-01

Patients and consumers have desired high quality drug information in their pharmacotherapy, and are entitled to receive it. It is desirable that the information should be aimed at shared decision-making between patients and healthcare professionals about medications. The quality of drug information available to patients should also be assured. With an aim to improve the quality of "Drug Guide for Patients", we investigated Patient Information Leaflets (PILs) which are approved by the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) in the United Kingdom (UK) with regard to the criteria of development and user testing for assuring the quality of the PILs. In the European Union (EU), these are called Package Leaflets (PLs). PILs have been a legal requirement in the UK since 1999 for all medications. The user testing of PILs has been implemented as evidence since 2005 so that people can rely on the information provided in the leaflet. Execution of PILs which follow the guidance of the user testing, according to the guidance of this user testing, would reflect the views of patients. Here, we introduce the development process and implementation of user testing of PILs. In terms of readability, accessibility and understandability of drug information for patients, we need to discuss involving the public in decisions on how its quality should be assured and how it can be made easily be comprehensible for patients, in order to make effective use of "Drug Guide for Patients" in the future in Japan.

Fair relationships and policies to support family day care educators' mental health: a qualitative study.

PubMed

Corr, Lara; Davis, Elise; Cook, Kay; Waters, Elizabeth; LaMontagne, Anthony D

2014-11-25

High quality child care is a population health investment that relies on the capacity of providers. The mental health and wellbeing of child care educators is fundamental to care quality and turnover, yet sector views on the relationship between working conditions and mental health and wellbeing are scarce. This paper examines child care educators' and sector key informants' perspectives on how working in family day care influences educator's mental health and wellbeing. Semi-structured telephone interviews were conducted with Australian family day care educators (n = 16) and key informants (n = 18) comprised of representatives from family day care schemes, government and other relevant organisations regarding the relationship between working conditions and educator mental health. Thematic analysis referenced the assumptions and concepts of critical inquiry and used social exchange theory. Educators and key informants reported that educators' mental health was affected by the quality of their relationships with government, family day care schemes, and the parents and children using their services. These social relationships created and contributed to working conditions that were believed to promote or diminish educators' mental health. High quality relationships featured fair exchanges of educator work for key resources of social support and respect; adequate income; professional services; and information. Crucially, how exchanges influenced educator wellbeing was largely contingent on government policies that reflect the values and inequities present in society. Making policies and relationships between educators, government and family day care schemes fairer would contribute strongly to the protection and promotion of educator mental health and wellbeing, and in turn contribute to workforce stability and care quality.

Cauda equina syndrome: assessing the readability and quality of patient information on the Internet.

PubMed

O'Neill, Shane Ciaran; Baker, Joseph Frederick; Fitzgerald, Conall; Fleming, Christina; Rowan, Fiachra; Byrne, Damien; Synnott, Keith

2014-05-01

A readability and quality control Internet-based study using recognized quality scoring systems. To assess the readability and quality of Internet information relating to cauda equina syndrome accessed through common search engines. Access to health-related Internet information has increased dramatically during the past decade. A significant proportion of this information has been demonstrated to be set at too high a level for general comprehension. Despite this, searching for health-related information is now the third most popular online activity. A total of 125 cauda equina syndrome Web sites were analyzed from the 5 most popular Internet search engines: Google, Bing, Yahoo, Ask, and AOL. Web site authorship was classified: academic, physician, medico-legal, commercial, or discussion/social media. Readability of each Web site was assessed using the Flesch Reading Ease score, the Flesch-Kincaid grade level, and the Gunning Fog Index. Quality was calculated using the DISCERN instrument and The Journal of the American Medical Association benchmark criteria. The presence of HON-code certification was also assessed. Fifty-two individual Web sites were identified and assessed. The majority of Web sites were academic or physician compiled (53.8%; 28/52); however, a significant minority of Web sites were medico-legal related (19.2%; 10/52). Just 13.5% (7/52) of Web sites were at or below the recommended sixth-grade readability level. HON-code certified Web sites achieved significantly greater DISCERN (P = 0.0006) and The Journal of the American Medical Association (P = 0.0002) scores. Internet information relating to cauda equina syndrome is of variable quality and largely set at an inappropriate readability level. Given this variability in quality, health care providers should direct patients to known sources of reliable, readable online information. Identification of reliable sources may be aided by known markers of quality such as HON-code certification.

The Land of Confusion? High School Students and Their Use of the World Wide Web for Research.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lorenzen, Michael

2002-01-01

Examines high school students' use of the World Wide Web to complete assignments. Findings showed the students used a good variety of resources, including libraries and the World Wide Web, to find information for assignments. However, students were weak at determining the quality of the information found on web sites. Students did poorly at…

Understanding Consumer Perceptions and Awareness of Hospital-Based Maternity Care Quality Measures.

PubMed

Maurer, Maureen; Firminger, Kirsten; Dardess, Pam; Ikeler, Kourtney; Sofaer, Shoshanna; Carman, Kristin L

2016-06-01

To explore factors that may influence use of comparative public reports for hospital maternity care. Four focus groups conducted in 2013 with 41 women and preintervention survey data collected in 2014 to 2015 from 245 pregnant women in North Carolina. As part of a larger randomized controlled trial, we conducted qualitative formative research to develop an intervention that will be evaluated through pre- and postintervention surveys. Analysis of focus group transcripts examined participants' perceptions of high-quality maternity care and the importance of different quality measures. Quantitative analysis included descriptive results of the preintervention survey and subgroup analyses to examine the impact of race, education, and being a first-time mom on outcomes. When describing high-quality maternity care, participants focused on interactions with providers, including respect for preferences and communication. The importance of quality measures was influenced by the extent to which they focused on babies' health, were perceived as the hospital's responsibility, and were perceived as representing "standard care." At baseline, 28 percent of survey respondents had used quality information to choose a hospital. Survey respondents were more aware of some quality measures (e.g., breastfeeding support) than others (e.g., episiotomy rates). Public reporting efforts could help increase relevance of maternity care quality measures by creating measures that reflect women's concerns, clearly explaining the hospital's role in supporting quality care, and showing how available quality measures can inform decisions about childbirth. © Health Research and Educational Trust.

The Effects of Website Information Utility on the Outcomes of User-Website Interactions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hasley, Joseph Paul

2010-01-01

This study investigates the relationships between website information content utility and various outcomes of user interactions with e-tail websites. Although previous research has consistently identified high quality information content as a critical factor of successful e-commerce websites, those studies have not reported how to identify the…

Teacher Working Conditions: What Matters and Why. The Informed Educator Series

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jones, Sherika; Protheroe, Nancy

2011-01-01

This "Informed Educator" looks at recent research on teacher opinions about their working conditions to address the question "what matters to teachers?" District and school leaders can use this information to strengthen their efforts to recruit and retain high-quality teachers and, in addition, better support teacher efforts to educate students.…

Turning Data into Information: The Vital Role of Research in Improving Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Data Quality Campaign, 2016

2016-01-01

When students, parents, educators, and partners have the right information to make decisions, students excel. One of the most powerful sources of information for families, educators, and policymakers about education is the high-quality analysis and research conducted by trained and engaged experts across the country. Their work gives us answers…

[eHealth in Peru: implementation of policies to strengthen health information systems].

PubMed

Curioso, Walter H

2014-01-01

Health information systems play a key role in enabling high quality, complete health information to be available in a timely fashion for operational and strategic decision-making that makes it possible to save lives and improve the health and quality of life of the population. In many countries, health information systems are weak, incomplete, and fragmented. However, there is broad consensus in the literature of the need to strengthen health information systems in countries around the world. The objective of this paper is to present the essential components of the conceptual framework to strengthen health information systems in Peru. It describes the principal actions and strategies of the Ministry of Health of Peru during the process of strengthening health information systems. These systems make it possible to orient policies for appropriate decision-making in public health.

Information Integration for Concurrent Engineering (IICE) IDEF3 Process Description Capture Method Report

DTIC Science & Technology

1995-09-01

vital processes of a business. process, IDEF, method, methodology, modeling, knowledge acquisition, requirements definition, information systems... knowledge resources. Like manpower, materials, and machines, information and knowledge assets are recognized as vital resources that can be leveraged to...integrated enterprise. These technologies are designed to leverage information and knowledge resources as the key enablers for high quality systems

Information Integration for Concurrent Engineering (IICE) Compendium of Methods Report

DTIC Science & Technology

1995-06-01

technological, economic, and strategic benefits can be attained through the effective capture, control, and management of information and knowledge ...resources. Like manpower, materials, and machines, information and knowledge assets are recognized as vital resources that can be leveraged to achieve...integrated enterprise. These technologies are designed to leverage information and knowledge resources as the key enablers for high quality systems that

A quality assurance phantom for the performance evaluation of volumetric micro-CT systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Du, Louise Y.; Umoh, Joseph; Nikolov, Hristo N.; Pollmann, Steven I.; Lee, Ting-Yim; Holdsworth, David W.

2007-12-01

Small-animal imaging has recently become an area of increased interest because more human diseases can be modeled in transgenic and knockout rodents. As a result, micro-computed tomography (micro-CT) systems are becoming more common in research laboratories, due to their ability to achieve spatial resolution as high as 10 µm, giving highly detailed anatomical information. Most recently, a volumetric cone-beam micro-CT system using a flat-panel detector (eXplore Ultra, GE Healthcare, London, ON) has been developed that combines the high resolution of micro-CT and the fast scanning speed of clinical CT, so that dynamic perfusion imaging can be performed in mice and rats, providing functional physiological information in addition to anatomical information. This and other commercially available micro-CT systems all promise to deliver precise and accurate high-resolution measurements in small animals. However, no comprehensive quality assurance phantom has been developed to evaluate the performance of these micro-CT systems on a routine basis. We have designed and fabricated a single comprehensive device for the purpose of performance evaluation of micro-CT systems. This quality assurance phantom was applied to assess multiple image-quality parameters of a current flat-panel cone-beam micro-CT system accurately and quantitatively, in terms of spatial resolution, geometric accuracy, CT number accuracy, linearity, noise and image uniformity. Our investigations show that 3D images can be obtained with a limiting spatial resolution of 2.5 mm-1 and noise of ±35 HU, using an acquisition interval of 8 s at an entrance dose of 6.4 cGy.

Assessing air quality index awareness and use in Mexico City.

PubMed

Borbet, Timothy C; Gladson, Laura A; Cromar, Kevin R

2018-04-23

The Mexico City Metropolitan Area has an expansive urban population and a long history of air quality management challenges. Poor air quality has been associated with adverse pulmonary and cardiac health effects, particularly among susceptible populations with underlying disease. In addition to reducing pollution concentrations, risk communication efforts that inform behavior modification have the potential to reduce public health burdens associated with air pollution. This study investigates the utilization of Mexico's IMECA risk communication index to inform air pollution avoidance behavior among the general population living in the Mexico City Metropolitan Area. Individuals were selected via probability sampling and surveyed by phone about their air quality index knowledge, pollution concerns, and individual behaviors. The results indicated reasonably high awareness of the air quality index (53% of respondents), with greater awareness in urban areas, among older and more educated individuals, and for those who received air quality information from a healthcare provider. Additionally, behavior modification was less influenced by index reports as it was by personal perceptions of air quality, and there was no difference in behavior modification among susceptible and non-susceptible groups. Taken together, these results suggest there are opportunities to improve the public health impact of risk communication through an increased focus on susceptible populations and greater encouragement of public action in response to local air quality indices.

Analysis of readability and quality of web pages addressing both common and uncommon topics in pediatric surgery.

PubMed

Adorisio, Ottavio; Silveri, Massimiliano; Rivosecchi, Massimo; Tozzi, Alberto Eugenio; Scottoni, Federico; Buonuomo, Paola Sabrina

2012-06-01

The quality medical information on Internet is highly variable. The aim of this study is to determine if Web pages addressing four common pediatric surgical topics (CT) and four uncommon pediatric surgical topics (UT) differ significantly in terms of quality and/or characteristics. We performed an Internet search regarding four CT, addressing more frequent clinical conditions with an incidence≤1:1.500 children (inguinal hernia, varicocele, umbilical hernia, and phimosis) and four UT addressing less frequent clinical conditions with an incidence≥1:1.500 children (anorectal malformation, intestinal atresia, gastroschisis, and omphalocele), using a popular search engine (Google). We evaluated readability with the Flesch reading ease (FRE) and the Flesch-Kincaid grade (FKG) and quality of content using the site checker of the HON Code of Conduct (HON code) for each website. In this study, 30/40 websites addressing CT versus 33/50 addressing UT responded to our criteria. No differences statistically significant in advertisements between the two groups were found (15 vs. 16%) (p>0.05). No differences were found in terms of time from last update, owner/author type, financial disclosure, accreditation, or advertising. CT had higher quality level according to the HON code (6.54±1.38 vs. 5.05±1.82) (p<0.05). Mean FRE was 47.38±14.27 versus 46.24±14.56, respectively, for CT and UT (p>0.05). The mean FKG was 8.1±1.9 for CT versus 8±1.9 for UT (p>0.05). Websites devoted to pediatric surgical topics have higher readability and quality information for disease diagnosis and natural history. Otherwise, the quality of pediatric surgical information on the Internet is high for CT and UT. A high reading level is required to use these resources. Copyright © 2012 by Thieme Medical Publishers 333 Seventh Avenue, New York, NY 10001, USA.

Promoting Quality in NAVFAC (Naval Facilities Engineering Command) Construction.

DTIC Science & Technology

1986-01-01

experience. Inspector Checklists To assist their field construction engineers, Owens - Corning Fiberglas Corporation, in conjunction with Texas A&M...that developed by Owens - Corning Fiberglas A I Corporation to assist government inspectors to maintain high - quality standards in their construction...105, No. C03 (September 1979), 187-199. Information in a letter to the author from D.R. Eberts, Quality Assurance Engineer, Owens - Corning Fiberglas

fRMSDPred: Predicting Local RMSD Between Structural Fragments Using Sequence Information

DTIC Science & Technology

2007-04-04

machine learning approaches for estimating the RMSD value of a pair of protein fragments. These estimated fragment-level RMSD values can be used to construct the alignment, assess the quality of an alignment, and identify high-quality alignment segments. We present algorithms to solve this fragment-level RMSD prediction problem using a supervised learning framework based on support vector regression and classification that incorporates protein profiles, predicted secondary structure, effective information encoding schemes, and novel second-order pairwise exponential kernel

Geoinformatics 2007: data to knowledge

USGS Publications Warehouse

Brady, Shailaja R.; Sinha, A. Krishna; Gundersen, Linda C.

2007-01-01

Geoinformatics is the term used to describe a variety of efforts to promote collaboration between the computer sciences and the geosciences to solve complex scientific questions. It refers to the distributed, integrated digital information system and working environment that provides innovative means for the study of the Earth systems, as well as other planets, through use of advanced information technologies. Geoinformatics activities range from major research and development efforts creating new technologies to provide high-quality, sustained production-level services for data discovery, integration and analysis, to small, discipline-specific efforts that develop earth science data collections and data analysis tools serving the needs of individual communities. The ultimate vision of Geoinformatics is a highly interconnected data system populated with high quality, freely available data, as well as, a robust set of software for analysis, visualization, and modeling.

Quality Submissions and Editorial Commentaries Require Heavy Lifting: Journal Growth Risks Information Overload.

PubMed

Lubowitz, James H; Brand, Jefferson C; Rossi, Michael J

2018-05-01

Our journal has grown in pages including more articles plus commentary. On the one hand, we see this as a subscriber benefit, but we also recognize that more is not always better. We risk information overload resulting in fatigue and the inability to read every word of every article. The challenge of information overload has expanded since the explosion of the internet and electronic communications. We could increase our already high rejection rates, but at the risk of rejecting high-quality research, which we do not prefer. In the end, guided by our Journal Board of Trustees and the Arthroscopy Association of North America Board of Directors, our Editors and Associate Editors will continue to grapple with the positive challenge of robust growth. Copyright © 2018 Arthroscopy Association of North America. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

"Know Your Well" A Groundwater Quality Project to Inform Students and Well-Owners

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Olson, C.; Snow, D.; Samal, A.; Ray, C.; Kreifels, M.

2017-12-01

Over 15 million U.S. households rely on private, household wells for drinking water, and these sources are not protected under the Safe Drinking Water Act. Data on private well water quality is slowly being collected and evaluated from a number of different agencies, sources and projects. A new project is designed both for training high school students and to help assess the quality of water from rural domestic wells in Nebraska. This "crowd sourced" program engaging high school agricultural education programs, FFA chapters, and science classes with students sampling and testing water sampling from rural domestic wells from 12 districts across the state. Students and teachers from selected school were trained through multiple school visits, both in the classroom and in the field. Classroom visits were used to introduce topics such as water quality and groundwater, and testing methods for specific analytes. During the field visit, students were exposed to field techniques, the importance of accuracy in data collection, and what factors might influence the water in sampled wells. High school students learn to sample and test water independently. Leadership and initiative is developed through the program, and many experience the enlightenment that comes with citizen science. A customized mobile app was developed for ease of data entry and visualization, and data uploaded to a secure website where information was stored and compared to laboratory tests of the same measurements. General water quality parameters, including pH, electrical conductivity, major anions are tested in the field and laboratory, as well as environmental contaminants such as arsenic, uranium, pesticides, bacteria. Test kits provided to each class were used by the students to measure selected parameters, and then duplicate water samples were analyzed at a university laboratory. Five high schools are involved in the project during its first year. Nitrate, bacteria and pesticides represent major concerns for private well owners across the U.S. and preliminary results indicate that nitrate concentrations can range up to 70 mg/L, while detections of bacteria and traces of pesticide residues are consistent with other studies. This project will help both high school students and private well owner become better-informed about water quality in Nebraska.

Information Expensiveness Perceived by Vietnamese Patients with Respect to Healthcare Provider's Choice.

PubMed

Quan-Hoang, Vuong

2016-10-01

Patients have to acquire information to support their decision on choosing a suitable healthcare provider. But in developing countries like Vietnam, accessibility issues remain an obstacle, thus adversely affect both quality and costliness of healthcare information. Vietnamese use both sources from health professionals and friends/relatives, especially when quality of the Internet-based cheaper sources appear to be still questionable. The search of information from both professionals and friends/relatives incurs some cost, which can be viewed as low or high depending low or high accessibility to the sources. These views potentially affect their choices. To investigate the effects that medical/health services information on perceived expensiveness of patients' labor costs. Two related objectives are a) establishing empirical relations between accessibility to sources and expensiveness; and, b) probabilistic trends of probabilities for perceived expensiveness. There is evidence for established relations among the variables "Convexp" and "Convrel" (all p's < 0.01), indicating that both information sources (experts and friends/relatives) have influence on patients perception of information expensiveness. The use of experts source tends to increase the probability of perceived expensiveness. a) Probabilistic trends show Vietnamese patients have propensity to value healthcare information highly and do not see it as "expensive"; b) The majority of Vietnamese households still take non-professional advices at their own risks; c) There is more for the public healthcare information system to do to reduce costliness and risk of information. The Internet-based health service users communities cannot replace this system.

Feasibility of Providing Web-Based Information to Breast Cancer Patients Prior to a Surgical Consult.

PubMed

Bruce, Jordan G; Tucholka, Jennifer L; Steffens, Nicole M; Mahoney, Jane E; Neuman, Heather B

2017-03-30

Patients facing decisions for breast cancer surgery commonly search the internet. Directing patients to high-quality websites prior to the surgeon consultation may be one way of supporting patients' informational needs. The objective was to test an approach for delivering web-based information to breast cancer patients. The implementation strategy was developed using the Replicating Effective Programs framework. Pilot testing measured the proportion that accepted the web-based information. A pre-consultation survey assessed whether the information was reviewed and the acceptability to stakeholders. Reasons for declining guided refinement to the implementation package. Eighty-two percent (309/377) accepted the web-based information. Of the 309 that accepted, 244 completed the pre-consultation survey. Participants were a median 59 years, white (98%), and highly educated (>50% with a college degree). Most patients who completed the questionnaire reported reviewing the website (85%), and nearly all found it helpful. Surgeons thought implementation increased visit efficiency (5/6) and would result in patients making more informed decisions (6/6). The most common reasons patients declined information were limited internet comfort or access (n = 36), emotional distress (n = 14), and preference to receive information directly from the surgeon (n = 7). Routine delivery of web-based information to breast cancer patients prior to the surgeon consultation is feasible. High stakeholder acceptability combined with the low implementation burden means that these findings have immediate relevance for improving care quality.

Author-paper affiliation network architecture influences the methodological quality of systematic reviews and meta-analyses of psoriasis.

PubMed

Sanz-Cabanillas, Juan Luis; Ruano, Juan; Gomez-Garcia, Francisco; Alcalde-Mellado, Patricia; Gay-Mimbrera, Jesus; Aguilar-Luque, Macarena; Maestre-Lopez, Beatriz; Gonzalez-Padilla, Marcelino; Carmona-Fernandez, Pedro J; Velez Garcia-Nieto, Antonio; Isla-Tejera, Beatriz

2017-01-01

Moderate-to-severe psoriasis is associated with significant comorbidity, an impaired quality of life, and increased medical costs, including those associated with treatments. Systematic reviews (SRs) and meta-analyses (MAs) of randomized clinical trials are considered two of the best approaches to the summarization of high-quality evidence. However, methodological bias can reduce the validity of conclusions from these types of studies and subsequently impair the quality of decision making. As co-authorship is among the most well-documented forms of research collaboration, the present study aimed to explore whether authors' collaboration methods might influence the methodological quality of SRs and MAs of psoriasis. Methodological quality was assessed by two raters who extracted information from full articles. After calculating total and per-item Assessment of Multiple Systematic Reviews (AMSTAR) scores, reviews were classified as low (0-4), medium (5-8), or high (9-11) quality. Article metadata and journal-related bibliometric indices were also obtained. A total of 741 authors from 520 different institutions and 32 countries published 220 reviews that were classified as high (17.2%), moderate (55%), or low (27.7%) methodological quality. The high methodological quality subnetwork was larger but had a lower connection density than the low and moderate methodological quality subnetworks; specifically, the former contained relatively fewer nodes (authors and reviews), reviews by authors, and collaborators per author. Furthermore, the high methodological quality subnetwork was highly compartmentalized, with several modules representing few poorly interconnected communities. In conclusion, structural differences in author-paper affiliation network may influence the methodological quality of SRs and MAs on psoriasis. As the author-paper affiliation network structure affects study quality in this research field, authors who maintain an appropriate balance between scientific quality and productivity are more likely to develop higher quality reviews.

Improving the quality of cancer care in America through health information technology.

PubMed

Feeley, Thomas W; Sledge, George W; Levit, Laura; Ganz, Patricia A

2014-01-01

A recent report from the Institute of Medicine titled Delivering High-Quality Cancer Care: Charting a New Course for a System in Crisis, identifies improvement in information technology (IT) as essential to improving the quality of cancer care in America. The report calls for implementation of a learning healthcare IT system: a system that supports patient-clinician interactions by providing patients and clinicians with the information and tools necessary to make well informed medical decisions and to support quality measurement and improvement. While some elements needed for a learning healthcare system are already in place for cancer, they are incompletely implemented, have functional deficiencies, and are not integrated in a way that creates a true learning healthcare system. To achieve the goal of a learning cancer care delivery system, clinicians, professional organizations, government, and the IT industry will have to partner, develop, and incentivize participation. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions.

Pruning Allegheny hardwoods

Treesearch

W. D. Zeedyk; A. F. Hough

1958-01-01

The continuing heavy demand for high-quality Allegheny hardwoods, particularly black cherry and sugar maple, impresses on us the need for more information responses of hardwoods to pruning. Pruning may have beneficial effects: it may increase quality without sacrificing growth. Or it may have detrimental effects: it may cause dieback of cambium, decay, staining and...

Predicting Observer Training Satisfaction and Certification

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bell, Courtney A.; Jones, Nathan D.; Lewis, Jennifer M.; Liu, Shuangshuang

2013-01-01

The last decade produced numerous studies that show that students learn more from high-quality teachers than they do from lower quality teachers. If instruction is to improve through the use of more rigorous teacher evaluation systems, the implementation of these systems must provide consistent and interpretable information about which aspects of…

Best Practices: Power Quality and Integrated Testing at JSC

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Davis, Lydia

2018-01-01

This presentation discusses Best Practices for Power Quality and Integrated Testing at JSC in regards to electrical systems. These high-level charts include mostly generic information; however, a specific issue is discussed involving flight hardware that could have been discovered prior to flight with an integrated test.

Depth image super-resolution via semi self-taught learning framework

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhao, Furong; Cao, Zhiguo; Xiao, Yang; Zhang, Xiaodi; Xian, Ke; Li, Ruibo

2017-06-01

Depth images have recently attracted much attention in computer vision and high-quality 3D content for 3DTV and 3D movies. In this paper, we present a new semi self-taught learning application framework for enhancing resolution of depth maps without making use of ancillary color images data at the target resolution, or multiple aligned depth maps. Our framework consists of cascade random forests reaching from coarse to fine results. We learn the surface information and structure transformations both from a small high-quality depth exemplars and the input depth map itself across different scales. Considering that edge plays an important role in depth map quality, we optimize an effective regularized objective that calculates on output image space and input edge space in random forests. Experiments show the effectiveness and superiority of our method against other techniques with or without applying aligned RGB information

Comprehensive Chemical Fingerprinting of High-Quality Cocoa at Early Stages of Processing: Effectiveness of Combined Untargeted and Targeted Approaches for Classification and Discrimination.

PubMed

Magagna, Federico; Guglielmetti, Alessandro; Liberto, Erica; Reichenbach, Stephen E; Allegrucci, Elena; Gobino, Guido; Bicchi, Carlo; Cordero, Chiara

2017-08-02

This study investigates chemical information of volatile fractions of high-quality cocoa (Theobroma cacao L. Malvaceae) from different origins (Mexico, Ecuador, Venezuela, Columbia, Java, Trinidad, and Sao Tomè) produced for fine chocolate. This study explores the evolution of the entire pattern of volatiles in relation to cocoa processing (raw, roasted, steamed, and ground beans). Advanced chemical fingerprinting (e.g., combined untargeted and targeted fingerprinting) with comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry allows advanced pattern recognition for classification, discrimination, and sensory-quality characterization. The entire data set is analyzed for 595 reliable two-dimensional peak regions, including 130 known analytes and 13 potent odorants. Multivariate analysis with unsupervised exploration (principal component analysis) and simple supervised discrimination methods (Fisher ratios and linear regression trees) reveal informative patterns of similarities and differences and identify characteristic compounds related to sample origin and manufacturing step.

Exploring Local Public Health Workflow in the Context of Automated Translation Technologies

PubMed Central

Mandel, Hannah; Turner, Anne M.

2013-01-01

Despite the growing limited English proficiency (LEP) population in the US, and federal regulations requiring multilingual health information be available for LEP individuals, there is a lack of available high quality multilingual health promotion materials. The costs and personnel time associated with creating high quality translations serve as barriers to their creation, especially in resource limited public health settings. To explore the potential adoption of novel machine translation and document dissemination technologies for improving the creation and sharing of translated public health materials, we interviewed key health department personnel in Washington State. We analyzed translation workflow, elucidated key themes regarding public health translation work, and assessed attitudes towards electronic document exchange and machine translation. Public health personnel expressed the need for human quality assurance and oversight, but appreciated the potential of novel information technologies to assist in the production and dissemination of translated materials for public health practice. PMID:24551385

New Quality Metrics for Web Search Results

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Metaxas, Panagiotis Takis; Ivanova, Lilia; Mustafaraj, Eni

Web search results enjoy an increasing importance in our daily lives. But what can be said about their quality, especially when querying a controversial issue? The traditional information retrieval metrics of precision and recall do not provide much insight in the case of web information retrieval. In this paper we examine new ways of evaluating quality in search results: coverage and independence. We give examples on how these new metrics can be calculated and what their values reveal regarding the two major search engines, Google and Yahoo. We have found evidence of low coverage for commercial and medical controversial queries, and high coverage for a political query that is highly contested. Given the fact that search engines are unwilling to tune their search results manually, except in a few cases that have become the source of bad publicity, low coverage and independence reveal the efforts of dedicated groups to manipulate the search results.

Quality-assurance and data-management plan for water-quality activities in the Kansas Water Science Center, 2014

USGS Publications Warehouse

Rasmussen, Teresa J.; Bennett, Trudy J.; Foster, Guy M.; Graham, Jennifer L.; Putnam, James E.

2014-01-01

As the Nation’s largest water, earth, and biological science and civilian mapping information agency, the U.S. Geological Survey is relied on to collect high-quality data, and produce factual and impartial interpretive reports. This quality-assurance and data-management plan provides guidance for water-quality activities conducted by the Kansas Water Science Center. Policies and procedures are documented for activities related to planning, collecting, storing, documenting, tracking, verifying, approving, archiving, and disseminating water-quality data. The policies and procedures described in this plan complement quality-assurance plans for continuous water-quality monitoring, surface-water, and groundwater activities in Kansas.

Fast high resolution reconstruction in multi-slice and multi-view cMRI

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Velasco Toledo, Nelson; Romero Castro, Eduardo

2015-01-01

Cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (cMRI) is an useful tool in diagnosis, prognosis and research since it functionally tracks the heart structure. Although useful, this imaging technique is limited in spatial resolution because heart is a constant moving organ, also there are other non controled conditions such as patient movements and volumetric changes during apnea periods when data is acquired, those conditions limit the time to capture high quality information. This paper presents a very fast and simple strategy to reconstruct high resolution 3D images from a set of low resolution series of 2D images. The strategy is based on an information reallocation algorithm which uses the DICOM header to relocate voxel intensities in a regular grid. An interpolation method is applied to fill empty places with estimated data, the interpolation resamples the low resolution information to estimate the missing information. As a final step a gaussian filter that denoises the final result. A reconstructed image evaluation is performed using as a reference a super-resolution reconstructed image. The evaluation reveals that the method maintains the general heart structure with a small loss in detailed information (edge sharpening and blurring), some artifacts related with input information quality are detected. The proposed method requires low time and computational resources.

Key concepts relevant to quality of complex and shared decision-making in health care: a literature review.

PubMed

Dy, Sydney M; Purnell, Tanjala S

2012-02-01

High-quality provider-patient decision-making is key to quality care for complex conditions. We performed an analysis of key elements relevant to quality and complex, shared medical decision-making. Based on a search of electronic databases, including Medline and the Cochrane Library, as well as relevant articles' reference lists, reviews of tools, and annotated bibliographies, we developed a list of key concepts and applied them to a decision-making example. Key concepts identified included provider competence, trustworthiness, and cultural competence; communication with patients and families; information quality; patient/surrogate competence; and roles and involvement. We applied this concept list to a case example, shared decision-making for live donor kidney transplantation, and identified the likely most important concepts as provider and cultural competence, information quality, and communication with patients and families. This concept list may be useful for conceptualizing the quality of complex shared decision-making and in guiding research in this area. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Surfing for juvenile idiopathic arthritis: perspectives on quality and content of information on the Internet.

PubMed

Stinson, Jennifer N; Tucker, Lori; Huber, Adam; Harris, Heather; Lin, Carmen; Cohen, Lindsay; Gill, Navreet; Lukas-Bretzler, Jacqueline; Proulx, Laurie; Prowten, David

2009-08-01

To determine the quality and content of English language Internet information about juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) from the perspectives of consumers and healthcare professionals. Key words relevant to JIA were searched across 10 search engines. Quality of information was appraised independently by 2 health professionals, 1 young adult with JIA, and a parent using the DISCERN tool. Concordance of the website content (i.e., accuracy and completeness) with available evidence about the management of JIA was determined. Readability was determined using Flesch-Kincaid grade level and Reading Ease Score. Out of the 3000 Web pages accessed, only 58 unique sites met the inclusion criteria. Of these sites only 16 had DISCERN scores above 50% (indicating fair quality). These sites were then rated by consumers. Most sites targeted parents and none were specifically developed for youth with JIA. The overall quality of website information was fair, with a mean DISCERN quality rating score of 48.92 out of 75 (+/- 6.56, range 34.0-59.5). Overall completeness of sites was 9.07 out of 16 (+/- 2.28, range 5.25-13.25) and accuracy was 3.09 out of 4 (+/- 0.86, range 2-4), indicating a moderate level of accuracy. Average Flesch-Kincaid grade level and Reading Ease Score were 11.48 (+/- 0.74, range 10.1-12.0) and 36.36 (+/- 10.86, range 6.30-48.1), respectively, indicating that the material was difficult to read. Our study highlights the paucity of high quality Internet health information at an appropriate reading level for youth with JIA and their parents.

Are informal carers and community care workers effective in managing malnutrition in the older adult community? A systematic review of current evidence.

PubMed

Marshall, S; Bauer, J; Capra, S; Isenring, E

2013-01-01

Enhancing the effectiveness of the community and aged care workforce to prevent malnutrition and functional decline is important in reducing hospital and aged care facility demand. To investigate the impact of nutrition-related interventions delivered to or by informal carers and non-clinical community care workers on malnutrition-related health outcomes of community-dwelling older adults (≥65 years). Intervention studies were searched for using six electronic databases for English-language publications from January 1980 to 30 May 2012. Nine studies were eligible for inclusion. The strength and quality of the evidence was moderate (six studies with level II intervention evidence, five with positive quality). Types of interventions used were highly varied. The majority of interventions were delivered to informal carers (6 studies), with three of these studies also involving older adult care recipients. Five interventions were targeted at identifying, preventing and/or treating malnutrition specifically (two positive quality, three neutral quality, n=2368). As a result of these interventions, nutritional status improved or stabilized (two positive quality, two neutral quality, n=2333). No study reported an improvement in functional status but two successfully prevented further decline in their participants (two neutral quality, n=1097). Interventions targeted at identifying, preventing and/or treating malnutrition were able to improve or prevent decline in nutritional and functional status, without increasing informal carer burden. The findings of this review support the involvement of non-clinical community care workers and informal carers as part of the nutritional care team for community-dwelling older adults.

Multi-intelligence critical rating assessment of fusion techniques (MiCRAFT)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Blasch, Erik

2015-06-01

Assessment of multi-intelligence fusion techniques includes credibility of algorithm performance, quality of results against mission needs, and usability in a work-domain context. Situation awareness (SAW) brings together low-level information fusion (tracking and identification), high-level information fusion (threat and scenario-based assessment), and information fusion level 5 user refinement (physical, cognitive, and information tasks). To measure SAW, we discuss the SAGAT (Situational Awareness Global Assessment Technique) technique for a multi-intelligence fusion (MIF) system assessment that focuses on the advantages of MIF against single intelligence sources. Building on the NASA TLX (Task Load Index), SAGAT probes, SART (Situational Awareness Rating Technique) questionnaires, and CDM (Critical Decision Method) decision points; we highlight these tools for use in a Multi-Intelligence Critical Rating Assessment of Fusion Techniques (MiCRAFT). The focus is to measure user refinement of a situation over the information fusion quality of service (QoS) metrics: timeliness, accuracy, confidence, workload (cost), and attention (throughput). A key component of any user analysis includes correlation, association, and summarization of data; so we also seek measures of product quality and QuEST of information. Building a notion of product quality from multi-intelligence tools is typically subjective which needs to be aligned with objective machine metrics.

A systematic review of the quality of homeopathic pathogenetic trials published from 1945 to 1995.

PubMed

Dantas, F; Fisher, P; Walach, H; Wieland, F; Rastogi, D P; Teixeira, H; Koster, D; Jansen, J P; Eizayaga, J; Alvarez, M E P; Marim, M; Belon, P; Weckx, L L M

2007-01-01

The quality of information gathered from homeopathic pathogenetic trials (HPTs), also known as 'provings', is fundamental to homeopathy. We systematically reviewed HPTs published in six languages (English, German, Spanish, French, Portuguese and Dutch) from 1945 to 1995, to assess their quality in terms of the validity of the information they provide. The literature was comprehensively searched, only published reports of HPTs were included. Information was extracted by two reviewers per trial using a form with 87 items. Information on: medicines, volunteers, ethical aspects, blinding, randomization, use of placebo, adverse effects, assessments, presentation of data and number of claimed findings were recorded. Methodological quality was assessed by an index including indicators of internal and external validity, personal judgement and comments of reviewers for each study. 156 HPTs on 143 medicines, involving 2815 volunteers, produced 20,538 pathogenetic effects (median 6.5 per volunteer). There was wide variation in methods and results. Sample size (median 15, range 1-103) and trial duration (mean 34 days) were very variable. Most studies had design flaws, particularly absence of proper randomization, blinding, placebo control and criteria for analysis of outcomes. Mean methodological score was 5.6 (range 4-16). More symptoms were reported from HPTs of poor quality than from better ones. In 56% of trials volunteers took placebo. Pathogenetic effects were claimed in 98% of publications. On average about 84% of volunteers receiving active treatment developed symptoms. The quality of reports was in general poor, and much important information was not available. The HPTs were generally of low methodological quality. There is a high incidence of pathogenetic effects in publications and volunteers but this could be attributable to design flaws. Homeopathic medicines, tested in HPTs, appear safe. The central question of whether homeopathic medicines in high dilutions can provoke effects in healthy volunteers has not yet been definitively answered, because of methodological weaknesses of the reports. Improvement of the method and reporting of results of HPTs are required. References to all included RCTs are available on-line at.

The Content and Quality of Health Information on the Internet for Patients and Families on Adult Kidney Cancer.

PubMed

Alsaiari, Ahmed; Joury, Abdulaziz; Aljuaid, Mossab; Wazzan, Mohammed; Pines, Jesse M

2017-12-01

The Internet is one of the major sources for health information for patients and their families, particularly when patients face serious life-threatening conditions such as kidney cancer in adults. In this study, we evaluate the content and quality of health information on adult kidney cancer using several validated instruments. We accessed the three most popular search engines (Google, Yahoo, Bing), using two terms: "kidney cancer" and "renal cell carcinoma," and reviewed the top 30 hits. After exclusion of duplicated websites, websites targeting health care professionals, and unrelated websites, 35 websites were included. Content was assessed using a 22-item checklist adapted from the American Cancer Society. We assessed website quality using the DISCERN questionnaire, HONcode and JAMA benchmark criteria, readability using three readability scores, and ALEXA for global traffic ranking systems. The average website had 16 of 22 content items while 6 websites fulfilled all 22 items. Among all websites, the average DISCERN quality score was 42 out of 80, 15 (42.8 %) of websites had HONcode certification, and only 3 (8.5 %) fulfilled all JAMA benchmark criteria. The average website readability was at the ninth grade reading level. The content and quality of health-related information on the Internet for adult kidney cancer are variable in comprehensiveness and quality. Many websites are difficult to read without a high school education. A standardized approach to presenting cancer information on the Internet for patients and families may be warranted.

High Throughput Experimental Materials Database

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

Zakutayev, Andriy; Perkins, John; Schwarting, Marcus

The mission of the High Throughput Experimental Materials Database (HTEM DB) is to enable discovery of new materials with useful properties by releasing large amounts of high-quality experimental data to public. The HTEM DB contains information about materials obtained from high-throughput experiments at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL).

Decision-making in honeybee swarms based on quality and distance information of candidate nest sites.

PubMed

Laomettachit, Teeraphan; Termsaithong, Teerasit; Sae-Tang, Anuwat; Duangphakdee, Orawan

2015-01-07

In the nest-site selection process of honeybee swarms, an individual bee performs a waggle dance to communicate information about direction, quality, and distance of a discovered site to other bees at the swarm. Initially, different groups of bees dance to represent different potential sites, but eventually the swarm usually reaches an agreement for only one site. Here, we model the nest-site selection process in honeybee swarms of Apis mellifera and show how the swarms make adaptive decisions based on a trade-off between the quality and distance to candidate nest sites. We use bifurcation analysis and stochastic simulations to reveal that the swarm's site distance preference is moderate>near>far when the swarms choose between low quality sites. However, the distance preference becomes near>moderate>far when the swarms choose between high quality sites. Our simulations also indicate that swarms with large population size prefer nearer sites and, in addition, are more adaptive at making decisions based on available information compared to swarms with smaller population size. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Discovery of SNPs for individual identification by reduced representation sequencing of moose (Alces alces).

PubMed

Blåhed, Ida-Maria; Königsson, Helena; Ericsson, Göran; Spong, Göran

2018-01-01

Monitoring of wild animal populations is challenging, yet reliable information about population processes is important for both management and conservation efforts. Access to molecular markers, such as SNPs, enables population monitoring through genotyping of various DNA sources. We have developed 96 high quality SNP markers for individual identification of moose (Alces alces), an economically and ecologically important top-herbivore in boreal regions. Reduced representation libraries constructed from 34 moose were high-throughput de novo sequenced, generating nearly 50 million read pairs. About 50 000 stacks of aligned reads containing one or more SNPs were discovered with the Stacks pipeline. Several quality criteria were applied on the candidate SNPs to find markers informative on the individual level and well representative for the population. An empirical validation by genotyping of sequenced individuals and additional moose, resulted in the selection of a final panel of 86 high quality autosomal SNPs. Additionally, five sex-specific SNPs and five SNPs for sympatric species diagnostics are included in the panel. The genotyping error rate was 0.002 for the total panel and probability of identities were low enough to separate individuals with high confidence. Moreover, the autosomal SNPs were highly informative also for population level analyses. The potential applications of this SNP panel are thus many including investigations of population size, sex ratios, relatedness, reproductive success and population structure. Ideally, SNP-based studies could improve today's population monitoring and increase our knowledge about moose population dynamics.

Monitoring Lake Victoria Water Quality from Space: Opportunities for Strengthening Trans-boundary Information Sharing for Effective Resource Management

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mugo, R. M.; Korme, T.; Farah, H.; Nyaga, J. W.; Irwin, D.; Flores, A.; Limaye, A. S.; Artis, G.

2014-12-01

Lake Victoria (LV) is an important freshwater resource in East Africa, covering 68,800 km2, and a catchment that spans 193,000km2. It is an important source of food, energy, drinking and irrigation water, transport and a repository for agricultural, human and industrial wastes generated from its catchment. For such a lake, and a catchment transcending 5 international boundaries, collecting data to guide informed decision making is a hard task. Remote sensing is currently the only tool capable of providing information on environmental changes at high spatio-temporal scales. To address the problem of information availability for LV, we tackled two objectives; (1) we analyzed water quality parameters retrieved from MODIS data, and (2) assessed land cover changes in the catchment area using Landsat data. We used L1A MODIS-Aqua data to retrieve lake surface temperature (LST), total suspended matter (TSM), chlorophyll-a (CHLa) and diffuse attenuation coefficient (KD490) in four temporal periods i.e. daily, weekly, monthly and seasonal scales. An Empirical Orthogonal Function (EOF) analysis was done on monthly data. An analysis of land cover change was done using Landsat data for 3 epochs in order to assess if land degradation contributes to water quality changes. Our results indicate that MODIS-Aqua data provides synoptic views of water quality changes in LV at different temporal scales. The Winam Gulf in Kenya, the shores of Jinja town in Uganda, as well as the Mwanza region in Tanzania represent water quality hotspots due to their relatively high TSM and CHLa concentrations. High levels of KD490 in these areas would also indicate high turbidity and thus low light penetration due to the presence of suspended matter, algal blooms, and/or submerged vegetation. The EOF analysis underscores the areas where LST and water color variability are more significant. The changes can be associated with corresponding land use changes in the catchment, where for instance wetlands are converted to croplands. On-going dissemination of our findings together with capacity building efforts with the three main fishery and research institutions working in the lake, will enable informed decision making for the water management of LV. Enhanced capacity in trans-boundary water resources research is critical for successful decision making.

Improving cancer patient care: development of a generic cancer consumer quality index questionnaire for cancer patients.

PubMed

Booij, Judith C; Zegers, Marieke; Evers, Pauline M P J; Hendriks, Michelle; Delnoij, Diana M J; Rademakers, Jany J D J M

2013-04-23

To develop a Consumer Quality Index (CQI) Cancer Care questionnaire for measuring experiences with hospital care of patients with different types of cancer. We derived quality aspects from focus group discussions, existing questionnaires and literature. We developed an experience questionnaire and sent it to 1,498 Dutch cancer patients. Another questionnaire measuring the importance of the quality aspects was sent to 600 cancer patients. Data were psychometrically analysed. The response to the experience questionnaire was 50 percent. Psychometric analysis revealed 12 reliable scales. Patients rated rapid and adequate referral, rapid start of the treatment after diagnosis, enough information and confidence in the healthcare professionals as most important themes. Hospitals received high scores for skills and cooperation of healthcare professionals and a patient-centered approach by doctors; and low scores for psychosocial guidance and information at completion of the treatment. The CQI Cancer Care questionnaire is a valuable tool for the evaluation of the quality of cancer care from the patient's perspective. Large scale implementation is necessary to determine the discriminatory powers of the questionnaire and may enable healthcare providers to improve the quality of cancer care. Preliminary results indicate that hospitals could improve their psychosocial guidance and information provision.

A combined geostatistical-optimization model for the optimal design of a groundwater quality monitoring network

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kolosionis, Konstantinos; Papadopoulou, Maria P.

2017-04-01

Monitoring networks provide essential information for water resources management especially in areas with significant groundwater exploitation due to extensive agricultural activities. In this work, a simulation-optimization framework is developed based on heuristic optimization methodologies and geostatistical modeling approaches to obtain an optimal design for a groundwater quality monitoring network. Groundwater quantity and quality data obtained from 43 existing observation locations at 3 different hydrological periods in Mires basin in Crete, Greece will be used in the proposed framework in terms of Regression Kriging to develop the spatial distribution of nitrates concentration in the aquifer of interest. Based on the existing groundwater quality mapping, the proposed optimization tool will determine a cost-effective observation wells network that contributes significant information to water managers and authorities. The elimination of observation wells that add little or no beneficial information to groundwater level and quality mapping of the area can be obtain using estimations uncertainty and statistical error metrics without effecting the assessment of the groundwater quality. Given the high maintenance cost of groundwater monitoring networks, the proposed tool could used by water regulators in the decision-making process to obtain a efficient network design that is essential.

Benefits of Enterprise Ontology for the Development of ICT-Based Value Networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Albani, Antonia; Dietz, Jan L. G.

The competitiveness of value networks is highly dependent on the cooperation between business partners and the interoperability of their information systems. Innovations in information and communication technology (ICT), primarily the emergence of the Internet, offer possibilities to increase the interoperability of information systems and therefore enable inter-enterprise cooperation. For the design of inter-enterprise information systems, the concept of business component appears to be very promising. However, the identification of business components is strongly dependent on the appropriateness and the quality of the underlying business domain model. The ontological model of an enterprise - or an enterprise network - as presented in this article, is a high-quality and very adequate business domain model. It provides all essential information that is necessary for the design of the supporting information systems, and at a level of abstraction that makes it also understandable for business people. The application of enterprise ontology for the identification of business components is clarified. To exemplify our approach, a practical case is taken from the domain of strategic supply network development. By doing this, a widespread problem of the practical application of inter-enterprise information systems is being addressed.

Simulation reduction using the Taguchi method

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mistree, Farrokh; Lautenschlager, Ume; Erikstad, Stein Owe; Allen, Janet K.

1993-01-01

A large amount of engineering effort is consumed in conducting experiments to obtain information needed for making design decisions. Efficiency in generating such information is the key to meeting market windows, keeping development and manufacturing costs low, and having high-quality products. The principal focus of this project is to develop and implement applications of Taguchi's quality engineering techniques. In particular, we show how these techniques are applied to reduce the number of experiments for trajectory simulation of the LifeSat space vehicle. Orthogonal arrays are used to study many parameters simultaneously with a minimum of time and resources. Taguchi's signal to noise ratio is being employed to measure quality. A compromise Decision Support Problem and Robust Design are applied to demonstrate how quality is designed into a product in the early stages of designing.

[To what extent do reviewers of multiple-choice questions need to be trained? A comparison between handing out information sheets and brief workshop sessions].

PubMed

Öchsner, Wolfgang; Böckers, Anja

2016-01-01

A competent review process is crucial to ensure the quality of multiple-choice (MC) questions. However, the acquisition of reviewing skills should not cause any unnecessary additional burden for a medical staff that is already facing heavy workloads. 100 MC questions, for which an expert review existed, were presented to 12 novices. In advance, six participants received a specific information sheet covering critical information for high-calibre review; the other six participants attended a 2.5-hour workshop covering the same information. The review results of both groups were analysed with a licensed version of the IBM software SPSS 19.0 (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL). The results of the workshop group were distinctly closer to the experts' results (gold standard) than those of the information sheet group. For the quantitatively important category of medium quality MC questions, the results of the workshop group did not significantly differ from the experts' results. In the information sheet group the results were significantly poorer than the experts', regardless of the quality of the questions. Distributing specific information sheets to MC question reviewers is not sufficient for ensuring the quality of the review so that - regardless of the increased effort involved - a recommendation to conduct specific workshops must be made. Copyright © 2014. Published by Elsevier GmbH.

Launch vehicle systems design analysis

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ryan, Robert; Verderaime, V.

1993-01-01

Current launch vehicle design emphasis is on low life-cycle cost. This paper applies total quality management (TQM) principles to a conventional systems design analysis process to provide low-cost, high-reliability designs. Suggested TQM techniques include Steward's systems information flow matrix method, quality leverage principle, quality through robustness and function deployment, Pareto's principle, Pugh's selection and enhancement criteria, and other design process procedures. TQM quality performance at least-cost can be realized through competent concurrent engineering teams and brilliance of their technical leadership.

Chinese Cardiovascular Disease Mobile Apps’ Information Types, Information Quality, and Interactive Functions for Self-Management: Systematic Review

PubMed Central

Xie, Bo; Su, Zhaohui; Zhang, Wenhui

2017-01-01

Background China has a large population with cardiovascular disease (CVD) that requires extensive self-management. Mobile health (mHealth) apps may be a useful tool for CVD self-management. Little is currently known about the types and quality of health information provided in Chinese CVD mobile apps and whether app functions are conducive to promoting CVD self-management. Objective We undertook a systematic review to evaluate the types and quality of health information provided in Chinese CVD mobile apps and interactive app functions for promoting CVD self-management. Methods Mobile apps targeting end users in China with CVD conditions were selected in February 2017 through a multi-stage process. Three frameworks were used to evaluate the selected apps: (1) types of health information offered were assessed using our Health Information Wants framework, which encompasses 7 types of information; (2) quality of information provided in the apps was assessed using the 11 guidelines recommended by the National Library of Medicine of the National Institutes of Health; and (3) types of interactive app functions for CVD self-management were assessed using a 15-item framework adapted from the literature, including our own prior work. Results Of 578 apps identified, 82 were eligible for final review. Among these, information about self-care (67/82, 82%) and information specifically regarding CVD (63/82, 77%) were the most common types of information provided, while information about health care providers (22/82, 27%) and laboratory tests (5/82, 6%) were least common. The most common indicators of information quality were the revealing of apps’ providers (82/82, 100%) and purpose (82/82, 100%), while the least common quality indicators were the revealing of how apps’ information was selected (1/82, 1%) and app sponsorship (0/82, 0%). The most common interactive functions for CVD self-management were those that enabled user interaction with the app provider (57/82, 70%) and with health care providers (36/82, 44%), while the least common interactive functions were those that enabled lifestyle management (13/82, 16%) and psychological health management (6/82, 7%). None of the apps covered all 7 types of health information, all 11 indicators of information quality, or all 15 interactive functions for CVD self-management. Conclusions Chinese CVD apps are insufficient in providing comprehensive health information, high-quality information, and interactive functions to facilitate CVD self-management. End users should exercise caution when using existing apps. Health care professionals and app developers should collaborate to better understand end users’ preferences and follow evidence-based guidelines to develop mHealth apps conducive to CVD self-management. PMID:29242176

Chinese Cardiovascular Disease Mobile Apps' Information Types, Information Quality, and Interactive Functions for Self-Management: Systematic Review.

PubMed

Xie, Bo; Su, Zhaohui; Zhang, Wenhui; Cai, Run

2017-12-14

China has a large population with cardiovascular disease (CVD) that requires extensive self-management. Mobile health (mHealth) apps may be a useful tool for CVD self-management. Little is currently known about the types and quality of health information provided in Chinese CVD mobile apps and whether app functions are conducive to promoting CVD self-management. We undertook a systematic review to evaluate the types and quality of health information provided in Chinese CVD mobile apps and interactive app functions for promoting CVD self-management. Mobile apps targeting end users in China with CVD conditions were selected in February 2017 through a multi-stage process. Three frameworks were used to evaluate the selected apps: (1) types of health information offered were assessed using our Health Information Wants framework, which encompasses 7 types of information; (2) quality of information provided in the apps was assessed using the 11 guidelines recommended by the National Library of Medicine of the National Institutes of Health; and (3) types of interactive app functions for CVD self-management were assessed using a 15-item framework adapted from the literature, including our own prior work. Of 578 apps identified, 82 were eligible for final review. Among these, information about self-care (67/82, 82%) and information specifically regarding CVD (63/82, 77%) were the most common types of information provided, while information about health care providers (22/82, 27%) and laboratory tests (5/82, 6%) were least common. The most common indicators of information quality were the revealing of apps' providers (82/82, 100%) and purpose (82/82, 100%), while the least common quality indicators were the revealing of how apps' information was selected (1/82, 1%) and app sponsorship (0/82, 0%). The most common interactive functions for CVD self-management were those that enabled user interaction with the app provider (57/82, 70%) and with health care providers (36/82, 44%), while the least common interactive functions were those that enabled lifestyle management (13/82, 16%) and psychological health management (6/82, 7%). None of the apps covered all 7 types of health information, all 11 indicators of information quality, or all 15 interactive functions for CVD self-management. Chinese CVD apps are insufficient in providing comprehensive health information, high-quality information, and interactive functions to facilitate CVD self-management. End users should exercise caution when using existing apps. Health care professionals and app developers should collaborate to better understand end users' preferences and follow evidence-based guidelines to develop mHealth apps conducive to CVD self-management. ©Bo Xie, Zhaohui Su, Wenhui Zhang, Run Cai. Originally published in JMIR Mhealth and Uhealth (http://mhealth.jmir.org), 14.12.2017.

Image Information Mining Utilizing Hierarchical Segmentation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Tilton, James C.; Marchisio, Giovanni; Koperski, Krzysztof; Datcu, Mihai

2002-01-01

The Hierarchical Segmentation (HSEG) algorithm is an approach for producing high quality, hierarchically related image segmentations. The VisiMine image information mining system utilizes clustering and segmentation algorithms for reducing visual information in multispectral images to a manageable size. The project discussed herein seeks to enhance the VisiMine system through incorporating hierarchical segmentations from HSEG into the VisiMine system.

A Survey of Information Source Preferences of Parents of Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gibson, Amelia N.; Kaplan, Samantha; Vardell, Emily

2017-01-01

For parents of children with an Autism spectrum disorder (ASD), high quality, easily accessible information and a strong peer network can be the key to raising a happy, healthy child, and maintaining family well-being and emotional resilience. This article reports the findings of an anonymous survey examining the information source preferences for…

Engineering Design Thinking and Information Gathering. Final Report. Research in Engineering and Technology Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mentzer, Nathan

2011-01-01

The objective of this research was to explore the relationship between information access and design solution quality of high school students presented with an engineering design problem. This objective is encompassed in the research question driving this inquiry: How does information access impact the design process? This question has emerged in…

Quality Care for School-Age Children: A Self-Instructional Guide To Help Staff Plan and Implement a Quality Program for School-Age Children.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Childcare Resources, Birmingham, AL.

The purpose of this manual is to provide school-age child care center staff in Alabama with information about school-age children that facilitates program planning and provides a basis for implementing and evaluating a high quality school-age child care (SACC) program. Sections of the manual discuss: (1) teacher competencies addressed by the…

76 FR 36135 - Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed Collection; Comment Request

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-06-21

... serves multiple practical purposes: (1) To collect and analyze descriptive, outcome, and service... on access to high-quality, trauma-informed care; (3) to evaluate NCTSN centers' training and... below. Descriptive and Clinical Outcomes In order to describe the children served, their trauma...

Displaying Geographically-Based Domestic Statistics

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Quann, J.; Dalton, J.; Banks, M.; Helfer, D.; Szczur, M.; Winkert, G.; Billingsley, J.; Borgstede, R.; Chen, J.; Chen, L.;

West Asian Special Libraries and Information Centers.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Harvey, John F.

Special libraries are defined in this paper as those libraries serving such institutions as government offices, private corporations, associations, and university departments. Information centers are similar to special libraries but provide personalized, high quality reference service, usually in science and technology, and often using mechanical…

Looking beyond the Internet: examining socioeconomic inequalities in cancer information seeking among cancer patients.

PubMed

Lee, Chul-Joo; Ramírez, A Susana; Lewis, Nehama; Gray, Stacy W; Hornik, Robert C

2012-01-01

The gap in cancer information seeking between high-socioeconomic-status (high-SES) cancer patients and low-SES cancer patients deserves serious attention, considering the importance of information and knowledge in cancer control. We thus explored the association of SES, as measured by education, with cancer patients' overall cancer information seeking, and with seeking from each source (i.e., the Internet, mass media, medical sources, and nonmedical interpersonal sources) and across two topic categories (i.e., treatment, quality of life). We then asked whether the effect of education on treatment information seeking is reduced among those who are particularly motivated to control treatment choices. We conducted a survey with breast, prostate, and colon cancer patients diagnosed in 2005 (n = 2,013), who were randomly drawn from the Pennsylvania Cancer Registry in the fall of 2006. We found that education was more strongly associated with Internet use than with the use of other sources regardless of topics. Also, when information was sought from mass media, education had a greater association with treatment information seeking than with quality-of-life information seeking. Preference for active participation in treatment decision making, however, did not moderate the effect of education on treatment information seeking. The implications of these findings for public health research and cancer patient education were discussed.

Sociotechnical factors influencing unsafe use of hospital information systems: A qualitative study in Malaysian government hospitals.

PubMed

Salahuddin, Lizawati; Ismail, Zuraini; Hashim, Ummi Rabaah; Raja Ikram, Raja Rina; Ismail, Nor Haslinda; Naim Mohayat, Mohd Hariz

2018-03-01

The objective of this study is to identify factors influencing unsafe use of hospital information systems in Malaysian government hospitals. Semi-structured interviews with 31 medical doctors in three Malaysian government hospitals implementing total hospital information systems were conducted between March and May 2015. A thematic qualitative analysis was performed on the resultant data to deduce the relevant themes. A total of five themes emerged as the factors influencing unsafe use of a hospital information system: (1) knowledge, (2) system quality, (3) task stressor, (4) organization resources, and (5) teamwork. These qualitative findings highlight that factors influencing unsafe use of a hospital information system originate from multidimensional sociotechnical aspects. Unsafe use of a hospital information system could possibly lead to the incidence of errors and thus raises safety risks to the patients. Hence, multiple interventions (e.g. technology systems and teamwork) are required in shaping high-quality hospital information system use.

Quality evaluation on an e-learning system in continuing professional education of nurses.

PubMed

Lin, I-Chun; Chien, Yu-Mei; Chang, I-Chiu

2006-01-01

Maintaining high quality in Web-based learning is a powerful means of increasing the overall efficiency and effectiveness of distance learning. Many studies have evaluated Web-based learning but seldom evaluate from the information systems (IS) perspective. This study applied the famous IS Success model in measuring the quality of a Web-based learning system using a Web-based questionnaire for data collection. One hundred and fifty four nurses participated in the survey. Based on confirmatory factor analysis, the variables of the research model fit for measuring the quality of a Web-based learning system. As Web-based education continues to grow worldwide, the results of this study may assist the system adopter (hospital executives), the learner (nurses), and the system designers in making reasonable and informed judgments with regard to the quality of Web-based learning system in continuing professional education.

Usability Evaluation and Implementation of a Health Information Technology Dashboard of Evidence-Based Quality Indicators.

PubMed

Schall, Mark Christopher; Cullen, Laura; Pennathur, Priyadarshini; Chen, Howard; Burrell, Keith; Matthews, Grace

2017-06-01

Health information technology dashboards that integrate evidence-based quality indicators can efficiently and accurately display patient risk information to promote early intervention and improve overall quality of patient care. We describe the process of developing, evaluating, and implementing a dashboard designed to promote quality care through display of evidence-based quality indicators within an electronic health record. Clinician feedback was sought throughout the process. Usability evaluations were provided by three nurse pairs and one physician from medical-surgical areas. Task completion times, error rates, and ratings of system usability were collected to compare the use of quality indicators displayed on the dashboard to the indicators displayed in a conventional electronic health record across eight experimental scenarios. Participants rated the dashboard as "highly usable" following System Usability Scale (mean, 87.5 [SD, 9.6]) and Poststudy System Usability Questionnaire (mean, 1.7 [SD, 0.5]) criteria. Use of the dashboard led to reduced task completion times and error rates in comparison to the conventional electronic health record for quality indicator-related tasks. Clinician responses to the dashboard display capabilities were positive, and a multifaceted implementation plan has been used. Results suggest application of the dashboard in the care environment may lead to improved patient care.

Normalization and standardization of electronic health records for high-throughput phenotyping: the SHARPn consortium

PubMed Central

Pathak, Jyotishman; Bailey, Kent R; Beebe, Calvin E; Bethard, Steven; Carrell, David S; Chen, Pei J; Dligach, Dmitriy; Endle, Cory M; Hart, Lacey A; Haug, Peter J; Huff, Stanley M; Kaggal, Vinod C; Li, Dingcheng; Liu, Hongfang; Marchant, Kyle; Masanz, James; Miller, Timothy; Oniki, Thomas A; Palmer, Martha; Peterson, Kevin J; Rea, Susan; Savova, Guergana K; Stancl, Craig R; Sohn, Sunghwan; Solbrig, Harold R; Suesse, Dale B; Tao, Cui; Taylor, David P; Westberg, Les; Wu, Stephen; Zhuo, Ning; Chute, Christopher G

2013-01-01

Research objective To develop scalable informatics infrastructure for normalization of both structured and unstructured electronic health record (EHR) data into a unified, concept-based model for high-throughput phenotype extraction. Materials and methods Software tools and applications were developed to extract information from EHRs. Representative and convenience samples of both structured and unstructured data from two EHR systems—Mayo Clinic and Intermountain Healthcare—were used for development and validation. Extracted information was standardized and normalized to meaningful use (MU) conformant terminology and value set standards using Clinical Element Models (CEMs). These resources were used to demonstrate semi-automatic execution of MU clinical-quality measures modeled using the Quality Data Model (QDM) and an open-source rules engine. Results Using CEMs and open-source natural language processing and terminology services engines—namely, Apache clinical Text Analysis and Knowledge Extraction System (cTAKES) and Common Terminology Services (CTS2)—we developed a data-normalization platform that ensures data security, end-to-end connectivity, and reliable data flow within and across institutions. We demonstrated the applicability of this platform by executing a QDM-based MU quality measure that determines the percentage of patients between 18 and 75 years with diabetes whose most recent low-density lipoprotein cholesterol test result during the measurement year was <100 mg/dL on a randomly selected cohort of 273 Mayo Clinic patients. The platform identified 21 and 18 patients for the denominator and numerator of the quality measure, respectively. Validation results indicate that all identified patients meet the QDM-based criteria. Conclusions End-to-end automated systems for extracting clinical information from diverse EHR systems require extensive use of standardized vocabularies and terminologies, as well as robust information models for storing, discovering, and processing that information. This study demonstrates the application of modular and open-source resources for enabling secondary use of EHR data through normalization into standards-based, comparable, and consistent format for high-throughput phenotyping to identify patient cohorts. PMID:24190931

Impact of Information Technology, Clinical Resource Constraints, and Patient-Centered Practice Characteristics on Quality of Care.

PubMed

Baek, JongDeuk; Seidman, Robert L

2015-01-01

Factors in the practice environment, such as health information technology (IT) infrastructure, availability of other clinical resources, and financial incentives, may influence whether practices are able to successfully implement the patient-centered medical home (PCMH) model and realize its benefits. This study investigates the impacts of those PCMH-related elements on primary care physicians' perception of quality of care. A multiple logistic regression model was estimated using the 2004 to 2005 CTS Physician Survey, a national sample of salaried primary care physicians (n = 1733). The patient-centered practice environment and availability of clinical resources increased physicians' perceived quality of care. Although IT use for clinical information access did enhance physicians' ability to provide high quality of care, a similar positive impact of IT use was not found for e-prescribing or the exchange of clinical patient information. Lack of resources was negatively associated with physician perception of quality of care. Since health IT is an important foundation of PCMH, patient-centered practices are more likely to have health IT in place to support care delivery. However, despite its potential to enhance delivery of primary care, simply making health IT available does not necessarily translate into physicians' perceptions that it enhances the quality of care they provide. It is critical for health-care managers and policy makers to ensure that primary care physicians fully recognize and embrace the use of new technology to improve both the quality of care provided and the patient outcomes.

Patient Information Websites About Medically Induced Second-Trimester Abortions: A Descriptive Study of Quality, Suitability, and Issues

PubMed Central

Axelsson, Ove

2017-01-01

Background Patients undergoing medically induced second-trimester abortions feel insufficiently informed and use the Web for supplemental information. However, it is still unclear how people who have experience with pregnancy termination appraise the quality of patient information websites about medically induced second-trimester abortions, whether they consider the websites suitable for patients, and what issues they experience with the websites. Objective Our objective was to investigate the quality of, suitability of, and issues with patient information websites about medically induced second-trimester abortions and potential differences between websites affiliated with the health care system and private organizations. Methods We set out to answer the objective by using 4 laypeople who had experience with pregnancy termination as quality assessors. The first 50 hits of 26 systematic searches were screened (N=1300 hits) using search terms reported by the assessors. Of these hits, 48% (628/1300) were irrelevant and 51% (667/1300) led to websites about medically induced second-trimester abortions. After correcting for duplicate hits, 42 patient information websites were included, 18 of which were affiliated with the health care system and 24 with private organizations. The 4 assessors systematically assessed the websites with the DISCERN instrument (total score range 16-80), the Ensuring Quality Information for Patients (EQIP) tool (total score range 0-100), as well as questions concerning website suitability and perceived issues. Results The interrater reliability was 0.8 for DISCERN and EQIP, indicating substantial agreement between the assessors. The total mean score was 36 for DISCERN and 40 for EQIP, indicating poor overall quality. Websites from the health care system had greater total EQIP (45 vs 37, P>.05) and reliability scores (22 vs 20, P>.05). Only 1 website was recommended by all assessors and 57% (24/42) were rated as very unsuitable by at least one assessor. The most reported issues with the websites involved lack of information (76%, 32/42), and poor design (36%, 15/42). Conclusions The high number of irrelevant hits and poor quality of patient information websites are considerable issues that must be addressed and considered when consulting patients awaiting medically induced second-trimester abortions. In clinical encounters, health professionals should initiate discussions concerning websites about medically induced second-trimester abortions and inform patients about the issues and quality deficits associated with these websites. PMID:28073735

Characteristics of national registries for occupational diseases: international development and validation of an audit tool (ODIT).

PubMed

Spreeuwers, Dick; de Boer, Angela G E M; Verbeek, Jos H A M; van Dijk, Frank J H

2009-10-23

The aim of the study was to develop quality indicators that can be used for quality assessment of registries of occupational diseases in relation to preventive policy on a national level. The research questions were: 1. Which indicators determine the quality of national registries of occupational diseases with respect to their ability to provide appropriate information for preventive policy? 2. What are the criteria that can distinguish low quality from high quality? First, we performed a literature search to assess which output of registries can be considered appropriate for preventive policy and to develop a set of preliminary indicators and criteria. Second, final indicators and criteria were assessed and their content validity was tested in a Delphi study, for which experts from the 25 EU Member States were invited. The literature search revealed two different types of information output to be appropriate for preventive policy: monitor and alert information. For the evaluation of the quality of the monitor and alert function we developed ten indicators and criteria. Sixteen of the twenty-five experts responded in the first round of the Delphi study, and eleven in the second round. Based on their comments, we assessed the final nine indicators: the completeness of the notification form, coverage of registration, guidelines or criteria for notification, education and training of reporting physicians, completeness of registration, statistical methods used, investigation of special cases, presentation of monitor information, and presentation of alert information. Except for the indicator "coverage of registration" for the alert function, all the indicators met the preset requirements of content validity. We have developed quality indicators and criteria to evaluate registries for occupational diseases on the ability to provide appropriate information for preventive policy on a national level. Together, these indicators form a tool which can be used for quality improvement of registries of occupational diseases.

CUQI: cardiac ultrasound video quality index

PubMed Central

Razaak, Manzoor; Martini, Maria G.

2016-01-01

Abstract. Medical images and videos are now increasingly part of modern telecommunication applications, including telemedicinal applications, favored by advancements in video compression and communication technologies. Medical video quality evaluation is essential for modern applications since compression and transmission processes often compromise the video quality. Several state-of-the-art video quality metrics used for quality evaluation assess the perceptual quality of the video. For a medical video, assessing quality in terms of “diagnostic” value rather than “perceptual” quality is more important. We present a diagnostic-quality–oriented video quality metric for quality evaluation of cardiac ultrasound videos. Cardiac ultrasound videos are characterized by rapid repetitive cardiac motions and distinct structural information characteristics that are explored by the proposed metric. Cardiac ultrasound video quality index, the proposed metric, is a full reference metric and uses the motion and edge information of the cardiac ultrasound video to evaluate the video quality. The metric was evaluated for its performance in approximating the quality of cardiac ultrasound videos by testing its correlation with the subjective scores of medical experts. The results of our tests showed that the metric has high correlation with medical expert opinions and in several cases outperforms the state-of-the-art video quality metrics considered in our tests. PMID:27014715

Competition for resources can explain patterns of social and individual learning in nature.

PubMed

Smolla, Marco; Gilman, R Tucker; Galla, Tobias; Shultz, Susanne

2015-09-22

In nature, animals often ignore socially available information despite the multiple theoretical benefits of social learning over individual trial-and-error learning. Using information filtered by others is quicker, more efficient and less risky than randomly sampling the environment. To explain the mix of social and individual learning used by animals in nature, most models penalize the quality of socially derived information as either out of date, of poor fidelity or costly to acquire. Competition for limited resources, a fundamental evolutionary force, provides a compelling, yet hitherto overlooked, explanation for the evolution of mixed-learning strategies. We present a novel model of social learning that incorporates competition and demonstrates that (i) social learning is favoured when competition is weak, but (ii) if competition is strong social learning is favoured only when resource quality is highly variable and there is low environmental turnover. The frequency of social learning in our model always evolves until it reduces the mean foraging success of the population. The results of our model are consistent with empirical studies showing that individuals rely less on social information where resources vary little in quality and where there is high within-patch competition. Our model provides a framework for understanding the evolution of social learning, a prerequisite for human cumulative culture. © 2015 The Author(s).

The role of fine-grained annotations in supervised recognition of risk factors for heart disease from EHRs.

PubMed

Roberts, Kirk; Shooshan, Sonya E; Rodriguez, Laritza; Abhyankar, Swapna; Kilicoglu, Halil; Demner-Fushman, Dina

2015-12-01

This paper describes a supervised machine learning approach for identifying heart disease risk factors in clinical text, and assessing the impact of annotation granularity and quality on the system's ability to recognize these risk factors. We utilize a series of support vector machine models in conjunction with manually built lexicons to classify triggers specific to each risk factor. The features used for classification were quite simple, utilizing only lexical information and ignoring higher-level linguistic information such as syntax and semantics. Instead, we incorporated high-quality data to train the models by annotating additional information on top of a standard corpus. Despite the relative simplicity of the system, it achieves the highest scores (micro- and macro-F1, and micro- and macro-recall) out of the 20 participants in the 2014 i2b2/UTHealth Shared Task. This system obtains a micro- (macro-) precision of 0.8951 (0.8965), recall of 0.9625 (0.9611), and F1-measure of 0.9276 (0.9277). Additionally, we perform a series of experiments to assess the value of the annotated data we created. These experiments show how manually-labeled negative annotations can improve information extraction performance, demonstrating the importance of high-quality, fine-grained natural language annotations. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Competition for resources can explain patterns of social and individual learning in nature

PubMed Central

Smolla, Marco; Gilman, R. Tucker; Galla, Tobias; Shultz, Susanne

2015-01-01

In nature, animals often ignore socially available information despite the multiple theoretical benefits of social learning over individual trial-and-error learning. Using information filtered by others is quicker, more efficient and less risky than randomly sampling the environment. To explain the mix of social and individual learning used by animals in nature, most models penalize the quality of socially derived information as either out of date, of poor fidelity or costly to acquire. Competition for limited resources, a fundamental evolutionary force, provides a compelling, yet hitherto overlooked, explanation for the evolution of mixed-learning strategies. We present a novel model of social learning that incorporates competition and demonstrates that (i) social learning is favoured when competition is weak, but (ii) if competition is strong social learning is favoured only when resource quality is highly variable and there is low environmental turnover. The frequency of social learning in our model always evolves until it reduces the mean foraging success of the population. The results of our model are consistent with empirical studies showing that individuals rely less on social information where resources vary little in quality and where there is high within-patch competition. Our model provides a framework for understanding the evolution of social learning, a prerequisite for human cumulative culture. PMID:26354936

Managed Care and the Quality of Children's Health Services.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bergman, David A.; Homer, Charles J.

1998-01-01

Information available so far indicates that children in managed care arrangements are less likely to be seen by pediatric specialists and that families and providers are less satisfied under managed care. In spite of these drawbacks, the managed care approach, modified appropriately, offers new opportunities to provide high-quality medical care…

What Do We Learn from Recall Consumption Data?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Battistin, Erich; Miniaci, Raffaele; Weber, Guglielmo

2003-01-01

In this paper, we use two complementary Italian data sources (the 1995 ISTAT and Bank of Italy household surveys) to generate household-specific nondurable expenditure in the Bank of Italy sample that contains relatively high-quality income data. We show that food expenditure data are of comparable quality and informational content across the two…

Implications of "Dimensions of Quality" in a Market Environment. HEA Research Series

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gibbs, Graham

2012-01-01

Do prospective students get the information they need to assess what can be gained from attending a particular higher education institution? Professor Gibbs' highly influential 2010 report, "Dimensions of Quality", found that student outcomes can be affected by the way that institutions choose to use available resources; class size, the…

Positioning Open Access Journals in a LIS Journal Ranking

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Xia, Jingfeng

2012-01-01

This research uses the h-index to rank the quality of library and information science journals between 2004 and 2008. Selected open access (OA) journals are included in the ranking to assess current OA development in support of scholarly communication. It is found that OA journals have gained momentum supporting high-quality research and…

ANMCO/AIIC/SIT Consensus Information Document: definition, precision, and suitability of electrocardiographic signals of electrocardiographs, ergometry, Holter electrocardiogram, telemetry, and bedside monitoring systems.

PubMed

Gulizia, Michele Massimo; Casolo, Giancarlo; Zuin, Guerrino; Morichelli, Loredana; Calcagnini, Giovanni; Ventimiglia, Vincenzo; Censi, Federica; Caldarola, Pasquale; Russo, Giancarmine; Leogrande, Lorenzo; Franco Gensini, Gian

2017-05-01

The electrocardiogram (ECG) signal can be derived from different sources. These include systems for surface ECG, Holter monitoring, ergometric stress tests, and telemetry systems and bedside monitoring of vital parameters, which are useful for rhythm and ST-segment analysis and ECG screening of electrical sudden cardiac death predictors. A precise ECG diagnosis is based upon correct recording, elaboration, and presentation of the signal. Several sources of artefacts and potential external causes may influence the quality of the original ECG waveforms. Other factors that may affect the quality of the information presented depend upon the technical solutions employed to improve the signal. The choice of the instrumentations and solutions used to offer a high-quality ECG signal are, therefore, of paramount importance. Some requirements are reported in detail in scientific statements and recommendations. The aim of this consensus document is to give scientific reference for the choice of systems able to offer high quality ECG signal acquisition, processing, and presentation suitable for clinical use.

ANMCO/AIIC/SIT Consensus Information Document: definition, precision, and suitability of electrocardiographic signals of electrocardiographs, ergometry, Holter electrocardiogram, telemetry, and bedside monitoring systems

PubMed Central

Casolo, Giancarlo; Zuin, Guerrino; Morichelli, Loredana; Calcagnini, Giovanni; Ventimiglia, Vincenzo; Censi, Federica; Caldarola, Pasquale; Russo, Giancarmine; Leogrande, Lorenzo; Franco Gensini, Gian

2017-01-01

Abstract The electrocardiogram (ECG) signal can be derived from different sources. These include systems for surface ECG, Holter monitoring, ergometric stress tests, and telemetry systems and bedside monitoring of vital parameters, which are useful for rhythm and ST-segment analysis and ECG screening of electrical sudden cardiac death predictors. A precise ECG diagnosis is based upon correct recording, elaboration, and presentation of the signal. Several sources of artefacts and potential external causes may influence the quality of the original ECG waveforms. Other factors that may affect the quality of the information presented depend upon the technical solutions employed to improve the signal. The choice of the instrumentations and solutions used to offer a high-quality ECG signal are, therefore, of paramount importance. Some requirements are reported in detail in scientific statements and recommendations. The aim of this consensus document is to give scientific reference for the choice of systems able to offer high quality ECG signal acquisition, processing, and presentation suitable for clinical use. PMID:28751842

Probing hydrogen positions in hydrous compounds: information from parametric neutron powder diffraction studies.

PubMed

Ting, Valeska P; Henry, Paul F; Schmidtmann, Marc; Wilson, Chick C; Weller, Mark T

2012-05-21

We demonstrate the extent to which modern detector technology, coupled with a high flux constant wavelength neutron source, can be used to obtain high quality diffraction data from short data collections, allowing the refinement of the full structures (including hydrogen positions) of hydrous compounds from in situ neutron powder diffraction measurements. The in situ thermodiffractometry and controlled humidity studies reported here reveal that important information on the reorientations of structural water molecules with changing conditions can be easily extracted, providing insight into the effects of hydrogen bonding on bulk physical properties. Using crystalline BaCl2·2H2O as an example system, we analyse the structural changes in the compound and its dehydration intermediates with changing temperature and humidity levels to demonstrate the quality of the dynamic structural information on the hydrogen atoms and associated hydrogen bonding that can be obtained without resorting to sample deuteration.

Third Molars on the Internet: A Guide for Assessing Information Quality and Readability.

PubMed

Hanna, Kamal; Brennan, David; Sambrook, Paul; Armfield, Jason

2015-10-06

Directing patients suffering from third molars (TMs) problems to high-quality online information is not only medically important, but also could enable better engagement in shared decision making. This study aimed to develop a scale that measures the scientific information quality (SIQ) for online information concerning wisdom tooth problems and to conduct a quality evaluation for online TMs resources. In addition, the study evaluated whether a specific piece of readability software (Readability Studio Professional 2012) might be reliable in measuring information comprehension, and explored predictors for the SIQ Scale. A cross-sectional sample of websites was retrieved using certain keywords and phrases such as "impacted wisdom tooth problems" using 3 popular search engines. The retrieved websites (n=150) were filtered. The retained 50 websites were evaluated to assess their characteristics, usability, accessibility, trust, readability, SIQ, and their credibility using DISCERN and Health on the Net Code (HoNCode). Websites' mean scale scores varied significantly across website affiliation groups such as governmental, commercial, and treatment provider bodies. The SIQ Scale had a good internal consistency (alpha=.85) and was significantly correlated with DISCERN (r=.82, P<.01) and HoNCode (r=.38, P<.01). Less than 25% of websites had SIQ scores above 75%. The mean readability grade (10.3, SD 1.9) was above the recommended level, and was significantly correlated with the Scientific Information Comprehension Scale (r=.45. P<.01), which provides evidence for convergent validity. Website affiliation and DISCERN were significantly associated with SIQ (P<.01) and explained 76% of the SIQ variance. The developed SIQ Scale was found to demonstrate reliability and initial validity. Website affiliation, DISCERN, and HoNCode were significant predictors for the quality of scientific information. The Readability Studio software estimates were associated with scientific information comprehensiveness measures.

How should the completeness and quality of curated nanomaterial data be evaluated?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Marchese Robinson, Richard L.; Lynch, Iseult; Peijnenburg, Willie; Rumble, John; Klaessig, Fred; Marquardt, Clarissa; Rauscher, Hubert; Puzyn, Tomasz; Purian, Ronit; Åberg, Christoffer; Karcher, Sandra; Vriens, Hanne; Hoet, Peter; Hoover, Mark D.; Hendren, Christine Ogilvie; Harper, Stacey L.

2016-05-01

Nanotechnology is of increasing significance. Curation of nanomaterial data into electronic databases offers opportunities to better understand and predict nanomaterials' behaviour. This supports innovation in, and regulation of, nanotechnology. It is commonly understood that curated data need to be sufficiently complete and of sufficient quality to serve their intended purpose. However, assessing data completeness and quality is non-trivial in general and is arguably especially difficult in the nanoscience area, given its highly multidisciplinary nature. The current article, part of the Nanomaterial Data Curation Initiative series, addresses how to assess the completeness and quality of (curated) nanomaterial data. In order to address this key challenge, a variety of related issues are discussed: the meaning and importance of data completeness and quality, existing approaches to their assessment and the key challenges associated with evaluating the completeness and quality of curated nanomaterial data. Considerations which are specific to the nanoscience area and lessons which can be learned from other relevant scientific disciplines are considered. Hence, the scope of this discussion ranges from physicochemical characterisation requirements for nanomaterials and interference of nanomaterials with nanotoxicology assays to broader issues such as minimum information checklists, toxicology data quality schemes and computational approaches that facilitate evaluation of the completeness and quality of (curated) data. This discussion is informed by a literature review and a survey of key nanomaterial data curation stakeholders. Finally, drawing upon this discussion, recommendations are presented concerning the central question: how should the completeness and quality of curated nanomaterial data be evaluated?Nanotechnology is of increasing significance. Curation of nanomaterial data into electronic databases offers opportunities to better understand and predict nanomaterials' behaviour. This supports innovation in, and regulation of, nanotechnology. It is commonly understood that curated data need to be sufficiently complete and of sufficient quality to serve their intended purpose. However, assessing data completeness and quality is non-trivial in general and is arguably especially difficult in the nanoscience area, given its highly multidisciplinary nature. The current article, part of the Nanomaterial Data Curation Initiative series, addresses how to assess the completeness and quality of (curated) nanomaterial data. In order to address this key challenge, a variety of related issues are discussed: the meaning and importance of data completeness and quality, existing approaches to their assessment and the key challenges associated with evaluating the completeness and quality of curated nanomaterial data. Considerations which are specific to the nanoscience area and lessons which can be learned from other relevant scientific disciplines are considered. Hence, the scope of this discussion ranges from physicochemical characterisation requirements for nanomaterials and interference of nanomaterials with nanotoxicology assays to broader issues such as minimum information checklists, toxicology data quality schemes and computational approaches that facilitate evaluation of the completeness and quality of (curated) data. This discussion is informed by a literature review and a survey of key nanomaterial data curation stakeholders. Finally, drawing upon this discussion, recommendations are presented concerning the central question: how should the completeness and quality of curated nanomaterial data be evaluated? Electronic supplementary information (ESI) available: (1) Detailed information regarding issues raised in the main text; (2) original survey responses. See DOI: 10.1039/c5nr08944a

How Do Infant Feeding Apps in China Measure Up? A Content Quality Assessment

PubMed Central

Freeman, Becky; Li, Mu

2017-01-01

Background Globally, with the popularization of mobile phones, the number of health-related mobile phone apps has skyrocketed to 259,000 in 2016. In the digital era, people are accessing health information through their fingertips. In China, there are several apps that claim to provide infant feeding and nutrition guidance. However, the quality of information in those apps has not been extensively assessed. Objective We aimed to assess the quality of Chinese infant feeding apps using comprehensive quality assessment criteria and to explore Chinese mothers’ perceptions on apps’ quality and usability. Methods We searched for free-to-download Chinese infant feeding apps in the iTunes and Android App Stores. We conducted a comprehensive assessment of the accountability, scientific basis, accuracy of information relevant to infant feeding, advertising policy, and functionality and carried out a preliminary screening of infant formula advertisements in the apps. In addition, we also conducted exploratory qualitative research through semistructured interviews with Chinese mothers in Shanghai to elicit their views about the quality of apps. Results A total of 4925 apps were screened, and 26 apps that met the selection criteria were evaluated. All 26 apps were developed by commercial entities, and the majority of them were rated poorly. The highest total score was 62.2 (out of approximately 100) and the lowest was 16.7. In the four quality domains assessed, none of them fulfilled all the accountability criteria. Three out of 26 apps provided information covering the three practices from the World Health Organization’s infant feeding recommendations. Only one app described its advertising policy in its terms of usage. The most common app functionality was a built-in social forum (19/26). Provision of a website link was the least common functionality (2/26). A total of 20 out of 26 apps promoted infant formula banner advertisements on their homepages. In addition, 12 apps included both e-commerce stores and featured infant formula advertisements. In total, 21 mothers were interviewed face-to-face. Mothers highly valued immediate access to parenting information and multifunctionality provided by apps. However, concerns regarding incredible information and commercial activities in apps, as well as the desire for information and support offered by health care professionals were expressed. Conclusions The findings provide valuable information on Chinese infant feeding apps. The results are concerning, particularly with the relative absence of scientific basis and credibility and the large number of commercial advertisements that are displayed. Apps do seem to be able to provide an opportunity for mothers to access health information and support; it is time for tighter controls on content and advertisements. Ongoing app research and development should focus on implementation of a standard framework, which would drive the development of high-quality apps to support healthy infant feeding through cooperation among academics, health professionals, app users, app developers, and government bodies. PMID:29212627

How Do Infant Feeding Apps in China Measure Up? A Content Quality Assessment.

PubMed

Zhao, Jing; Freeman, Becky; Li, Mu

2017-12-06

Globally, with the popularization of mobile phones, the number of health-related mobile phone apps has skyrocketed to 259,000 in 2016. In the digital era, people are accessing health information through their fingertips. In China, there are several apps that claim to provide infant feeding and nutrition guidance. However, the quality of information in those apps has not been extensively assessed. We aimed to assess the quality of Chinese infant feeding apps using comprehensive quality assessment criteria and to explore Chinese mothers' perceptions on apps' quality and usability. We searched for free-to-download Chinese infant feeding apps in the iTunes and Android App Stores. We conducted a comprehensive assessment of the accountability, scientific basis, accuracy of information relevant to infant feeding, advertising policy, and functionality and carried out a preliminary screening of infant formula advertisements in the apps. In addition, we also conducted exploratory qualitative research through semistructured interviews with Chinese mothers in Shanghai to elicit their views about the quality of apps. A total of 4925 apps were screened, and 26 apps that met the selection criteria were evaluated. All 26 apps were developed by commercial entities, and the majority of them were rated poorly. The highest total score was 62.2 (out of approximately 100) and the lowest was 16.7. In the four quality domains assessed, none of them fulfilled all the accountability criteria. Three out of 26 apps provided information covering the three practices from the World Health Organization's infant feeding recommendations. Only one app described its advertising policy in its terms of usage. The most common app functionality was a built-in social forum (19/26). Provision of a website link was the least common functionality (2/26). A total of 20 out of 26 apps promoted infant formula banner advertisements on their homepages. In addition, 12 apps included both e-commerce stores and featured infant formula advertisements. In total, 21 mothers were interviewed face-to-face. Mothers highly valued immediate access to parenting information and multifunctionality provided by apps. However, concerns regarding incredible information and commercial activities in apps, as well as the desire for information and support offered by health care professionals were expressed. The findings provide valuable information on Chinese infant feeding apps. The results are concerning, particularly with the relative absence of scientific basis and credibility and the large number of commercial advertisements that are displayed. Apps do seem to be able to provide an opportunity for mothers to access health information and support; it is time for tighter controls on content and advertisements. Ongoing app research and development should focus on implementation of a standard framework, which would drive the development of high-quality apps to support healthy infant feeding through cooperation among academics, health professionals, app users, app developers, and government bodies. ©Jing Zhao, Becky Freeman, Mu Li. Originally published in JMIR Mhealth and Uhealth (http://mhealth.jmir.org), 06.12.2017.

Performance comparison of SNP detection tools with illumina exome sequencing data—an assessment using both family pedigree information and sample-matched SNP array data

PubMed Central

Yi, Ming; Zhao, Yongmei; Jia, Li; He, Mei; Kebebew, Electron; Stephens, Robert M.

2014-01-01

To apply exome-seq-derived variants in the clinical setting, there is an urgent need to identify the best variant caller(s) from a large collection of available options. We have used an Illumina exome-seq dataset as a benchmark, with two validation scenarios—family pedigree information and SNP array data for the same samples, permitting global high-throughput cross-validation, to evaluate the quality of SNP calls derived from several popular variant discovery tools from both the open-source and commercial communities using a set of designated quality metrics. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first large-scale performance comparison of exome-seq variant discovery tools using high-throughput validation with both Mendelian inheritance checking and SNP array data, which allows us to gain insights into the accuracy of SNP calling through such high-throughput validation in an unprecedented way, whereas the previously reported comparison studies have only assessed concordance of these tools without directly assessing the quality of the derived SNPs. More importantly, the main purpose of our study was to establish a reusable procedure that applies high-throughput validation to compare the quality of SNP discovery tools with a focus on exome-seq, which can be used to compare any forthcoming tool(s) of interest. PMID:24831545

Not Your Family Farm

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tenopir, Carol; Baker, Gayle; Grogg, Jill E.

2007-01-01

The information industry continues to consolidate, just as agribusiness has consolidated and now dominates farming. Both the family farm and the small information company still exist but are becoming rarer in an age of mergers, acquisitions, and increased economies of scale. Small companies distinguish themselves by high quality, special themes,…

Low intake of vegetables, high intake of confectionary, and unhealthy eating habits are associated with poor sleep quality among middle-aged female Japanese workers.

PubMed

Katagiri, Ryoko; Asakura, Keiko; Kobayashi, Satomi; Suga, Hitomi; Sasaki, Satoshi

2014-01-01

Although workers with poor sleep quality are reported to have problems with work performance, few studies have assessed the association between dietary factors and sleep quality using validated indexes. Here, we examined this association using information acquired from validated questionnaires. A total of 3,129 female workers aged 34 to 65 years were analyzed. Dietary intake was assessed using a self-administered diet history questionnaire (DHQ), and subjective sleep quality was assessed using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI). The relationship between the intake of several food groups and nutrients and sleep quality was examined using multivariable logistic regression models. The effect of eating habits on sleep quality was also examined. Poor sleep quality was associated with low intake of vegetables (p for trend 0.002) and fish (p for trend 0.04) and high intake of confectionary (p for trend 0.004) and noodles (p for trend 0.03) after adjustment for potential confounding factors (age, body mass index, physical activity, depression score, employment status, alcohol intake and smoking status). Poor sleep quality was also significantly and positively associated with consumption of energy drinks and sugar-sweetened beverages, skipping breakfast, and eating irregularly. In addition, poor sleep quality was significantly associated with high carbohydrate intake (p for trend 0.03). A low intake of vegetables and fish, high intake of confectionary and noodles and unhealthy eating habits were independently associated with poor sleep quality. Poor sleep quality was also associated with high carbohydrate intake in free-living Japanese middle-aged female workers.

The quality of information about sickle cell disease on the Internet for youth.

PubMed

Breakey, Vicky R; Harris, Lauren; Davis, Omar; Agarwal, Arnav; Ouellette, Carley; Akinnawo, Elizabeth; Stinson, Jennifer

2017-04-01

Adolescence is a vulnerable time for teens with sickle cell disease (SCD). Although there is evidence to support the use of web-based education to promote self-management skills in patients with chronic illnesses, the quality of SCD-related information on the Internet has not been assessed. A website review was conducted to appraise the quality, content, accuracy, readability, and desirability of online information for the adolescents with SCD. Relevant keywords were searched on the most popular search engines. Websites meeting predetermined criteria were reviewed. The quality of information was appraised using the validated DISCERN tool. Two physicians independently rated website completeness and accuracy. Readability of the sites was documented using the simple measure of gobbledygook (SMOG) scores and the Flesch Reading Ease (FRE). The website features considered desirable by youth were tracked. Search results yielded >600 websites with 25 unique hits meeting criteria. The overall quality of the information was "fair" and the average DISCERN rating score was 50.1 (±9.3, range 31.0-67.5). Only 12 of 25 (48%) websites had scores >50. The average completeness score was 20 of 29 (±5, range 12-27). No errors were identified. The mean SMOG score was 13.04 (±2.80, range 10.21-22.85) and the mean FRE score was 46.05 (±11.47; range 17.50-66.10), suggesting that the material was written well beyond the acceptable reading level for patient education. The websites were text-heavy and lacked the features that appeal to youth (chat, games, videos, etc.). Given the paucity of high-quality health information available for the teens with SCD, it is essential that additional online resources be developed. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Information Expensiveness Perceived by Vietnamese Patients with Respect to Healthcare Provider’s Choice

PubMed Central

Quan-Hoang, Vuong

2016-01-01

Background: Patients have to acquire information to support their decision on choosing a suitable healthcare provider. But in developing countries like Vietnam, accessibility issues remain an obstacle, thus adversely affect both quality and costliness of healthcare information. Vietnamese use both sources from health professionals and friends/relatives, especially when quality of the Internet-based cheaper sources appear to be still questionable. The search of information from both professionals and friends/relatives incurs some cost, which can be viewed as low or high depending low or high accessibility to the sources. These views potentially affect their choices. Aim and Objectives: To investigate the effects that medical/health services information on perceived expensiveness of patients’ labor costs. Two related objectives are a) establishing empirical relations between accessibility to sources and expensiveness; and, b) probabilistic trends of probabilities for perceived expensiveness. Results: There is evidence for established relations among the variables “Convexp” and “Convrel” (all p’s < 0.01), indicating that both information sources (experts and friends/relatives) have influence on patients perception of information expensiveness. The use of experts source tends to increase the probability of perceived expensiveness. Conclusion: a) Probabilistic trends show Vietnamese patients have propensity to value healthcare information highly and do not see it as “expensive”; b) The majority of Vietnamese households still take non-professional advices at their own risks; c) There is more for the public healthcare information system to do to reduce costliness and risk of information. The Internet-based health service users communities cannot replace this system. PMID:28077894

Creating a Statewide Educational Data System for Accountability and Improvement: A Comprehensive Information and Assessment System for Making Evidence-Based Change at School, District, and Policy Levels

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Felner, Robert D.; Bolton, Natalie; Seitsinger, Anne M.; Brand, Stephen; Burns, Amy

2008-01-01

This article reports on one ongoing statewide effort to create a high-quality data reporting and utilization system (i.e., High-Performance Learning Community [HiPlaces] Assessment) to inform educational accountability and improvement efforts system. This effort has undergoing refinement for more than a decade. The article describes the features…

Evaluation of educational content of YouTube videos relating to neurogenic bladder and intermittent catheterization

PubMed Central

Ho, Matthew; Stothers, Lynn; Lazare, Darren; Tsang, Brian; Macnab, Andrew

2015-01-01

Introduction: Many patients conduct internet searches to manage their own health problems, to decide if they need professional help, and to corroborate information given in a clinical encounter. Good information can improve patients’ understanding of their condition and their self-efficacy. Patients with spinal cord injury (SCI) featuring neurogenic bladder (NB) require knowledge and skills related to their condition and need for intermittent catheterization (IC). Methods: Information quality was evaluated in videos accessed via YouTube relating to NB and IC using search terms “neurogenic bladder intermittent catheter” and “spinal cord injury intermittent catheter.” Video content was independently rated by 3 investigators using criteria based on European Urological Association (EAU) guidelines and established clinical practice. Results: In total, 71 videos met the inclusion criteria. Of these, 12 (17%) addressed IC and 50 (70%) contained information on NB. The remaining videos met inclusion criteria, but did not contain information relevant to either IC or NB. Analysis indicated poor overall quality of information, with some videos with information contradictory to EAU guidelines for IC. High-quality videos were randomly distributed by YouTube. IC videos featuring a healthcare narrator scored significantly higher than patient-narrated videos, but not higher than videos with a merchant narrator. About half of the videos contained commercial content. Conclusions: Some good-quality educational videos about NB and IC are available on YouTube, but most are poor. The videos deemed good quality were not prominently ranked by the YouTube search algorithm, consequently user access is less likely. Study limitations include the limit of 50 videos per category and the use of a de novo rating tool. Information quality in videos with healthcare narrators was not higher than in those featuring merchant narrators. Better material is required to improve patients’ understanding of their condition. PMID:26644803

High-resolution remote sensing of water quality in the San Francisco Bay-Delta Estuary

USGS Publications Warehouse

Fichot, Cédric G.; Downing, Bryan D.; Bergamaschi, Brian; Windham-Myers, Lisamarie; Marvin-DiPasquale, Mark C.; Thompson, David R.; Gierach, Michelle M.

2015-01-01

The San Francisco Bay–Delta Estuary watershed is a major source of freshwater for California and a profoundly human-impacted environment. The water quality monitoring that is critical to the management of this important water resource and ecosystem relies primarily on a system of fixed water-quality monitoring stations, but the limited spatial coverage often hinders understanding. Here, we show how the latest technology in visible/near-infrared imaging spectroscopy can facilitate water quality monitoring in this highly dynamic and heterogeneous system by enabling simultaneous depictions of several water quality indicators at very high spatial resolution. The airborne portable remote imaging spectrometer (PRISM) was used to derive high-spatial-resolution (2.6 × 2.6 m) distributions of turbidity, and dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and chlorophyll-a concentrations in a wetland-influenced region of this estuary. A filter-passing methylmercury vs DOC relationship was also developed using in situ samples and enabled the high-spatial-resolution depiction of surface methylmercury concentrations in this area. The results illustrate how high-resolution imaging spectroscopy can inform management and policy development in important inland and estuarine water bodies by facilitating the detection of point- and nonpoint-source pollution, and by providing data to help assess the complex impacts of wetland restoration and climate change on water quality and ecosystem productivity.

Health information on internet: quality, importance, and popularity of persian health websites.

PubMed

Samadbeik, Mahnaz; Ahmadi, Maryam; Mohammadi, Ali; Mohseni Saravi, Beniamin

2014-04-01

The Internet has provided great opportunities for disseminating both accurate and inaccurate health information. Therefore, the quality of information is considered as a widespread concern affecting the human life. Despite the increasingly substantial growth in the number of users, Persian health websites and the proportion of internet-using patients, little is known about the quality of Persian medical and health websites. The current study aimed to first assess the quality, popularity and importance of websites providing Persian health-related information, and second to evaluate the correlation of the popularity and importance ranking with quality score on the Internet. The sample websites were identified by entering the health-related keywords into four most popular search engines of Iranian users based on the Alexa ranking at the time of study. Each selected website was assessed using three qualified tools including the Bomba and Land Index, Google PageRank and the Alexa ranking. The evaluated sites characteristics (ownership structure, database, scope and objective) really did not have an effect on the Alexa traffic global rank, Alexa traffic rank in Iran, Google PageRank and Bomba total score. Most websites (78.9 percent, n = 56) were in the moderate category (8 ≤ x ≤ 11.99) based on their quality levels. There was no statistically significant association between Google PageRank with Bomba index variables and Alexa traffic global rank (P > 0.05). The Persian health websites had better Bomba quality scores in availability and usability guidelines as compared to other guidelines. The Google PageRank did not properly reflect the real quality of evaluated websites and Internet users seeking online health information should not merely rely on it for any kind of prejudgment regarding Persian health websites. However, they can use Iran Alexa rank as a primary filtering tool of these websites. Therefore, designing search engines dedicated to explore accredited Persian health-related Web sites can be an effective method to access high-quality Persian health websites.

Asan medical information system for healthcare quality improvement.

PubMed

Ryu, Hyeon Jeong; Kim, Woo Sung; Lee, Jae Ho; Min, Sung Woo; Kim, Sun Ja; Lee, Yong Su; Lee, Young Ha; Nam, Sang Woo; Eo, Gi Seung; Seo, Sook Gyoung; Nam, Mi Hyun

2010-09-01

This purpose of this paper is to introduce the status of the Asan Medical Center (AMC) medical information system with respect to healthcare quality improvement. Asan Medical Information System (AMIS) is projected to become a completely electronic and digital information hospital. AMIS has played a role in improving the health care quality based on the following measures: safety, effectiveness, patient-centeredness, timeliness, efficiency, privacy, and security. AMIS CONSISTED OF SEVERAL DISTINCTIVE SYSTEMS: order communication system, electronic medical record, picture archiving communication system, clinical research information system, data warehouse, enterprise resource planning, IT service management system, and disaster recovery system. The most distinctive features of AMIS were the high alert-medication recognition & management system, the integrated and severity stratified alert system, the integrated patient monitoring system, the perioperative diabetic care monitoring and support system, and the clinical indicator management system. AMIS provides IT services for AMC, 7 affiliated hospitals and over 5,000 partners clinics, and was developed to improve healthcare services. The current challenge of AMIS is standard and interoperability. A global health IT strategy is needed to get through the current challenges and to provide new services as needed.

Congestion Prediction Modeling for Quality of Service Improvement in Wireless Sensor Networks

PubMed Central

Lee, Ga-Won; Lee, Sung-Young; Huh, Eui-Nam

2014-01-01

Information technology (IT) is pushing ahead with drastic reforms of modern life for improvement of human welfare. Objects constitute “Information Networks” through smart, self-regulated information gathering that also recognizes and controls current information states in Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs). Information observed from sensor networks in real-time is used to increase quality of life (QoL) in various industries and daily life. One of the key challenges of the WSNs is how to achieve lossless data transmission. Although nowadays sensor nodes have enhanced capacities, it is hard to assure lossless and reliable end-to-end data transmission in WSNs due to the unstable wireless links and low hard ware resources to satisfy high quality of service (QoS) requirements. We propose a node and path traffic prediction model to predict and minimize the congestion. This solution includes prediction of packet generation due to network congestion from both periodic and event data generation. Simulation using NS-2 and Matlab is used to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed solution. PMID:24784035

Routinely collected English birth data sets: comparisons and recommendations for reproductive epidemiology.

PubMed

Ghosh, Rebecca E; Ashworth, Danielle C; Hansell, Anna L; Garwood, Kevin; Elliott, Paul; Toledano, Mireille B

2016-09-01

In England there are four national routinely collected data sets on births: Office for National Statistics (ONS) births based on birth registrations; Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) deliveries (mothers' information); HES births (babies' information); and NHS Numbers for Babies (NN4B) based on ONS births plus gestational age and ethnicity information. This study describes and compares these data, with the aim of recommending the most appropriate data set(s) for use in epidemiological research and surveillance. We assessed the completeness and quality of the data sets in relation to use in epidemiological research and surveillance and produced detailed descriptive statistics on common reproductive outcomes for each data set including temporal and spatial trends. ONS births is a high quality complete data set but lacks interpretive and clinical information. HES deliveries showed good agreement with ONS births but HES births showed larger amounts of missing or unavailable data. Both HES data sets had improved quality from 2003 onwards, but showed some local spatial variability. NN4B showed excellent agreement with ONS and HES deliveries for the years available (2006-2010). Annual number of births increased by 17.6% comparing 2002 with 2010 (ONS births). Approximately 6% of births were of low birth weight (2.6% term low birth weight) and 0.5% were stillbirths. Routinely collected data on births provide a valuable resource for researchers. ONS and NN4B offer the most complete and accurate record of births. Where more detailed clinical information is required, HES deliveries offers a high quality data set that captures the majority of English births. 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/

Integration of remote sensing and geographic information systems for Great Lakes water quality monitoring

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

Lathrop, R.G. Jr.

1988-01-01

The utility of three operational satellite remote sensing systems, namely, the Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM), the SPOT High Resolution Visible (HRV) sensors and the NOAA Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR), were evaluated as a means of estimating water quality and surface temperature. Empirical calibration through linear regression techniques was used to relate near-simultaneously acquired satellite radiance/reflectance data and water quality observations obtained in Green Bay and the nearshore waters of Lake Michigan. Four dates of TM and one date each of SPOT and AVHRR imagery/surface reference data were acquired and analyzed. Highly significant relationships were identified between the TMmore » and SPOT data and secchi disk depth, nephelometric turbidity, chlorophyll a, total suspended solids (TSS), absorbance, and surface temperature (TM only). The AVHRR data were not analyzed independently but were used for comparison with the TM data. Calibrated water quality image maps were input to a PC-based raster GIS package, EPPL7. Pattern interpretation and spatial analysis techniques were used to document the circulation dynamics and model mixing processes in Green Bay. A GIS facilitates the retrieval, query and spatial analysis of mapped information and provides the framework for an integrated operational monitoring system for the Great Lakes.« less

Spatio-temporal water quality mapping from satellite images using geographically and temporally weighted regression

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chu, Hone-Jay; Kong, Shish-Jeng; Chang, Chih-Hua

2018-03-01

The turbidity (TB) of a water body varies with time and space. Water quality is traditionally estimated via linear regression based on satellite images. However, estimating and mapping water quality require a spatio-temporal nonstationary model, while TB mapping necessitates the use of geographically and temporally weighted regression (GTWR) and geographically weighted regression (GWR) models, both of which are more precise than linear regression. Given the temporal nonstationary models for mapping water quality, GTWR offers the best option for estimating regional water quality. Compared with GWR, GTWR provides highly reliable information for water quality mapping, boasts a relatively high goodness of fit, improves the explanation of variance from 44% to 87%, and shows a sufficient space-time explanatory power. The seasonal patterns of TB and the main spatial patterns of TB variability can be identified using the estimated TB maps from GTWR and by conducting an empirical orthogonal function (EOF) analysis.

Evaluating A Priori Ozone Profile Information Used in TEMPO Tropospheric Ozone Retrievals

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Johnson, Matthew S.; Sullivan, John T.; Liu, Xiong; Newchurch, Mike; Kuang, Shi; McGee, Thomas J.; Langford, Andrew O'Neil; Senff, Christoph J.; Leblanc, Thierry; Berkoff, Timothy;

Evaluating a Priori Ozone Profile Information Used in TEMPO Tropospheric Ozone Retrievals

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Johnson, Matthew S.; Sullivan, John; Liu, Xiong; Newchurch, Mike; Kuang, Shi; McGee, Thomas; Langford, Andrew; Senff, Chris; Leblanc, Thierry; Berkoff, Timothy;

Evaluating A Priori Ozone Profile Information Used in TEMPO Tropospheric Ozone Retrievals

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Johnson, M. S.; Sullivan, J. T.; Liu, X.; Newchurch, M.; Kuang, S.; McGee, T. J.; Langford, A. O.; Senff, C. J.; Leblanc, T.; Berkoff, T.; Gronoff, G.; Chen, G.; Strawbridge, K. B.

2016-12-01

Ozone (O3) is a greenhouse gas and toxic pollutant which plays a major role in air quality. Typically, monitoring of surface air quality and O3 mixing ratios is primarily conducted using in situ measurement networks. This is partially due to high-quality information related to air quality being limited from space-borne platforms due to coarse spatial resolution, limited temporal frequency, and minimal sensitivity to lower tropospheric and surface-level O3. The Tropospheric Emissions: Monitoring of Pollution (TEMPO) satellite is designed to address these limitations of current space-based platforms and to improve our ability to monitor North American air quality. TEMPO will provide hourly data of total column and vertical profiles of O3 with high spatial resolution to be used as a near-real-time air quality product. TEMPO O3 retrievals will apply the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory profile algorithm developed based on work from GOME, GOME-2, and OMI. This algorithm uses a priori O3 profile information from a climatological data-base developed from long-term ozone-sonde measurements (tropopause-based (TB) O3 climatology). It has been shown that satellite O3 retrievals are sensitive to a priori O3 profiles and covariance matrices. During this work we investigate the climatological data to be used in TEMPO algorithms (TB O3) and simulated data from the NASA GMAO Goddard Earth Observing System (GEOS-5) Forward Processing (FP) near-real-time (NRT) model products. These two data products will be evaluated with ground-based lidar data from the Tropospheric Ozone Lidar Network (TOLNet) at various locations of the US. This study evaluates the TB climatology, GEOS-5 climatology, and 3-hourly GEOS-5 data compared to lower tropospheric observations to demonstrate the accuracy of a priori information to potentially be used in TEMPO O3 algorithms. Here we present our initial analysis and the theoretical impact on TEMPO retrievals in the lower troposphere.

Accuracy of Information about the Intrauterine Device on the Internet

PubMed Central

Madden, Tessa; Cortez, Sarah; Kuzemchak, Marie; Kaphingst, Kimberly A.; Politi, Mary C.

2015-01-01

Background Intrauterine devices (IUDs) are highly effective methods of contraception, but use continues to lag behind less effective methods such as oral contraceptive pills and condoms. Women who are aware of the actual effectiveness of various contraceptive methods are more likely to choose the IUD. Conversely, women who are misinformed about the safety of IUDs may be less like to use this method. Individuals increasingly use the Internet for health information. Information about IUDs obtained through the Internet may influence attitudes about IUD use among patients. Objective Our objective was to evaluate the quality of information about intrauterine devices (IUDs) among websites providing contraceptive information to the public. Study Design We developed a 56-item structured questionnaire to evaluate the quality of information about IUDs available through the Internet. We then conducted an online search to identify websites containing information about contraception and IUDs using common search engines. The search was performed in August 2013 and websites were reviewed in October 2015 to ensure no substantial changes. Results Our search identified over 2000 websites, of which 108 were eligible for review; 105 (97.2%) of these sites contained information about IUDs. Eighty-six percent of sites provided at least one mechanism of the IUD. Most websites accurately reported advantages of the IUD including that it is long-acting (91%), highly effective (82%), and reversible (68%). However, only 30% of sites explicitly indicated that IUDs are safe. Fifty percent of sites (n=53) contained inaccurate information about the IUD such as an increased risk of pelvic inflammatory disease beyond the insertion month (27%) or that women in non-monogamous relationships (30%) and nulliparous women (20%) are not appropriate candidates. Forty-four percent of websites stated that a mechanism of IUDs is prevention of implantation of a fertilized egg. Only 3% of websites incorrectly stated that IUDs are an abortifacient. More than a quarter of sites listed an inaccurate contraindication to the IUD such as nulliparity, history of pelvic inflammatory disease, or history of an ectopic pregnancy. Conclusions The quality of information about IUDs available on the Internet is variable. Accurate information was mixed with inaccurate or outdated information that could perpetuate myths about IUDs. Clinicians need knowledge about accurate,, evidence-based Internet resources to provide to women given the inconsistent quality of information available through online sources. PMID:26546848

An online expert network for high quality information on occupational safety and health: cross-sectional study of user satisfaction and impact

PubMed Central

2011-01-01

Background Many people have difficulties finding information on health questions, including occupational safety and health (OSH) issues. One solution to alleviate these difficulties could be to offer questioners free-of-charge, online access to a network of OSH experts who provide tailored, high-quality information. The aim of this study was to assess whether network quality, respectively information quality, as perceived by the questioners, is associated with questioners' overall satisfaction and to explore the impact of the information received on questioners' knowledge, work and work functioning. Methods We evaluated the experiences of OSH questioners with the online network ArboAntwoord.com over a two-year period. In this network, approximately 80 qualified experts are available to answer OSH questions. By means of a questionnaire, we assessed questioners' overall satisfaction with the network, whether the network was user-friendly, easily accessible and easy to handle and whether the information provided was complete, applicable and received in a timely manner. The impact of the information on questioners' knowledge, work or work functioning was explored with seven questions. In the study period, 460 unique OSH questioners asked 851 OSH questions. In total, 205 of the 460 questioners completed the questionnaire (response rate 45%). Results Of the responders, 71% were satisfied with the ArboAntwoord network. Multiple logistic regression analysis showed that the applicability of the information had a positive influence on the questioners' overall satisfaction (OR = 16.0, 95% CI: 7.0-36.4). Also, user friendliness of the network (OR = 3.3, 95% CI: 1.3-8.6) and completeness of the information provided (OR = 3.0, 95% CI: 1.3-6.8) were positively related to the questioners' satisfaction. For 74% of the questioners, the information helped to increase their knowledge and understanding. Overall, 25% of the questioners indicated that the received information improved their work, work functioning or health. Conclusions A free-of-charge, online expert network in the field of OSH can be a useful strategy to provide OSH questioners with applicable, complete and timely information that may help improve safety and health at work. This study provides more insight in how to satisfy network questioners and about the potential impact of provided information on OSH. PMID:22111587

An online expert network for high quality information on occupational safety and health: cross-sectional study of user satisfaction and impact.

PubMed

Rhebergen, Martijn D F; Lenderink, Annet F; van Dijk, Frank J H; Hulshof, Carel T J

2011-11-23

Many people have difficulties finding information on health questions, including occupational safety and health (OSH) issues. One solution to alleviate these difficulties could be to offer questioners free-of-charge, online access to a network of OSH experts who provide tailored, high-quality information. The aim of this study was to assess whether network quality, respectively information quality, as perceived by the questioners, is associated with questioners' overall satisfaction and to explore the impact of the information received on questioners' knowledge, work and work functioning. We evaluated the experiences of OSH questioners with the online network ArboAntwoord.com over a two-year period. In this network, approximately 80 qualified experts are available to answer OSH questions. By means of a questionnaire, we assessed questioners' overall satisfaction with the network, whether the network was user-friendly, easily accessible and easy to handle and whether the information provided was complete, applicable and received in a timely manner. The impact of the information on questioners' knowledge, work or work functioning was explored with seven questions. In the study period, 460 unique OSH questioners asked 851 OSH questions. In total, 205 of the 460 questioners completed the questionnaire (response rate 45%). Of the responders, 71% were satisfied with the ArboAntwoord network. Multiple logistic regression analysis showed that the applicability of the information had a positive influence on the questioners' overall satisfaction (OR = 16.0, 95% CI: 7.0-36.4). Also, user friendliness of the network (OR = 3.3, 95% CI: 1.3-8.6) and completeness of the information provided (OR = 3.0, 95% CI: 1.3-6.8) were positively related to the questioners' satisfaction. For 74% of the questioners, the information helped to increase their knowledge and understanding. Overall, 25% of the questioners indicated that the received information improved their work, work functioning or health. A free-of-charge, online expert network in the field of OSH can be a useful strategy to provide OSH questioners with applicable, complete and timely information that may help improve safety and health at work. This study provides more insight in how to satisfy network questioners and about the potential impact of provided information on OSH.

Accuracy of information about the intrauterine device on the Internet.

PubMed

Madden, Tessa; Cortez, Sarah; Kuzemchak, Marie; Kaphingst, Kimberly A; Politi, Mary C

2016-04-01

Intrauterine devices (IUDs) are highly effective methods of contraception, but use continues to lag behind less effective methods such as oral contraceptive pills and condoms. Women who are aware of the actual effectiveness of various contraceptive methods are more likely to choose the IUD. Conversely, women who are misinformed about the safety of IUDs may be less likely to use this method. Individuals increasingly use the Internet for health information. Information about IUDs obtained through the Internet may influence attitudes about IUD use among patients. Our objective was to evaluate the quality of information about IUDs among World Wide Web sites providing contraceptive information to the public. We developed a 56-item structured questionnaire to evaluate the quality of information about IUDs available through the Internet. We then conducted an online search to identify web sites containing information about contraception and IUDs using common search engines. The search was performed in August 2013 and web sites were reviewed again in October 2015 to ensure there were no substantial changes. Our search identified >2000 web sites, of which 108 were eligible for review; 105 (97.2%) of these sites contained information about IUDs. Of sites, 86% provided at least 1 mechanism of the IUD. Most web sites accurately reported advantages of the IUD including that it is long acting (91%), highly effective (82%), and reversible (68%). However, only 30% of sites explicitly indicated that IUDs are safe. Fifty percent (n = 53) of sites contained inaccurate information about the IUD such as an increased risk of pelvic inflammatory disease beyond the insertion month (27%) or that women in nonmonogamous relationships (30%) and nulliparous women (20%) are not appropriate candidates. Among sites, 44% stated that a mechanism of IUDs is prevention of implantation of a fertilized egg. Only 3% of web sites incorrectly stated that IUDs are an abortifacient. More than a quarter of sites listed an inaccurate contraindication to the IUD such as nulliparity, history of pelvic inflammatory disease, or history of an ectopic pregnancy. The quality of information about IUDs available on the Internet is variable. Accurate information was mixed with inaccurate or outdated information that could perpetuate myths about IUDs. Clinicians need knowledge about accurate, evidence-based Internet resources to provide to women given the inconsistent quality of information available through online sources. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

A review of data quality assessment methods for public health information systems.

PubMed

Chen, Hong; Hailey, David; Wang, Ning; Yu, Ping

2014-05-14

High quality data and effective data quality assessment are required for accurately evaluating the impact of public health interventions and measuring public health outcomes. Data, data use, and data collection process, as the three dimensions of data quality, all need to be assessed for overall data quality assessment. We reviewed current data quality assessment methods. The relevant study was identified in major databases and well-known institutional websites. We found the dimension of data was most frequently assessed. Completeness, accuracy, and timeliness were the three most-used attributes among a total of 49 attributes of data quality. The major quantitative assessment methods were descriptive surveys and data audits, whereas the common qualitative assessment methods were interview and documentation review. The limitations of the reviewed studies included inattentiveness to data use and data collection process, inconsistency in the definition of attributes of data quality, failure to address data users' concerns and a lack of systematic procedures in data quality assessment. This review study is limited by the coverage of the databases and the breadth of public health information systems. Further research could develop consistent data quality definitions and attributes. More research efforts should be given to assess the quality of data use and the quality of data collection process.

A Review of Data Quality Assessment Methods for Public Health Information Systems

PubMed Central

Chen, Hong; Hailey, David; Wang, Ning; Yu, Ping

2014-01-01

High quality data and effective data quality assessment are required for accurately evaluating the impact of public health interventions and measuring public health outcomes. Data, data use, and data collection process, as the three dimensions of data quality, all need to be assessed for overall data quality assessment. We reviewed current data quality assessment methods. The relevant study was identified in major databases and well-known institutional websites. We found the dimension of data was most frequently assessed. Completeness, accuracy, and timeliness were the three most-used attributes among a total of 49 attributes of data quality. The major quantitative assessment methods were descriptive surveys and data audits, whereas the common qualitative assessment methods were interview and documentation review. The limitations of the reviewed studies included inattentiveness to data use and data collection process, inconsistency in the definition of attributes of data quality, failure to address data users’ concerns and a lack of systematic procedures in data quality assessment. This review study is limited by the coverage of the databases and the breadth of public health information systems. Further research could develop consistent data quality definitions and attributes. More research efforts should be given to assess the quality of data use and the quality of data collection process. PMID:24830450

Ensuring and Improving Information Quality for Earth Science Data and Products Role of the ESIP Information Quality Cluster

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ramapriyan, H. K. (Rama); Peng, Ge; Moroni, David; Shie, Chung-Lin

2016-01-01

Quality of products is always of concern to users regardless of the type of products. The focus of this paper is on the quality of Earth science data products. There are four different aspects of quality scientific, product, stewardship and service. All these aspects taken together constitute Information Quality. With increasing requirement on ensuring and improving information quality, there has been considerable work related to information quality during the last several years. Given this rich background of prior work, the Information Quality Cluster (IQC), established within the Federation of Earth Science Information Partners (ESIP) has been active with membership from multiple organizations. Its objectives and activities, aimed at ensuring and improving information quality for Earth science data and products, are discussed briefly.

Ensuring and Improving Information Quality for Earth Science Data and Products: Role of the ESIP Information Quality Cluster

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ramapriyan, Hampapuram; Peng, Ge; Moroni, David; Shie, Chung-Lin

2016-01-01

Quality of products is always of concern to users regardless of the type of products. The focus of this paper is on the quality of Earth science data products. There are four different aspects of quality - scientific, product, stewardship and service. All these aspects taken together constitute Information Quality. With increasing requirement on ensuring and improving information quality, there has been considerable work related to information quality during the last several years. Given this rich background of prior work, the Information Quality Cluster (IQC), established within the Federation of Earth Science Information Partners (ESIP) has been active with membership from multiple organizations. Its objectives and activities, aimed at ensuring and improving information quality for Earth science data and products, are discussed briefly.

Defining High-Quality Palliative Care in Oncology Practice: An American Society of Clinical Oncology/American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine Guidance Statement.

PubMed

Bickel, Kathleen E; McNiff, Kristen; Buss, Mary K; Kamal, Arif; Lupu, Dale; Abernethy, Amy P; Broder, Michael S; Shapiro, Charles L; Acheson, Anupama Kurup; Malin, Jennifer; Evans, Tracey; Krzyzanowska, Monika K

2016-09-01

Integrated into routine oncology care, palliative care can improve symptom burden, quality of life, and patient and caregiver satisfaction. However, not all oncology practices have access to specialist palliative medicine. This project endeavored to define what constitutes high-quality primary palliative care as delivered by medical oncology practices. An expert steering committee outlined 966 palliative care service items, in nine domains, each describing a candidate element of primary palliative care delivery for patients with advanced cancer or high symptom burden. Using modified Delphi methodology, 31 multidisciplinary panelists rated each service item on three constructs: importance, feasibility, and scope within medical oncology practice. Panelists endorsed the highest proportion of palliative care service items in the domains of End-of-Life Care (81%); Communication and Shared Decision Making (79%); and Advance Care Planning (78%). The lowest proportions were in Spiritual and Cultural Assessment and Management (35%) and Psychosocial Assessment and Management (39%). In the largest domain, Symptom Assessment and Management, there was consensus that all symptoms should be assessed and managed at a basic level, with more comprehensive management for common symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, dyspnea, and pain. Within the Appropriate Palliative Care and Hospice Referral domain, there was consensus that oncology practices should be able to describe the difference between palliative care and hospice to patients and refer patients appropriately. This statement describes the elements comprising high-quality primary palliative care for patients with advanced cancer or high symptom burden, as delivered by oncology practices. Oncology providers wishing to enhance palliative care delivery may find this information useful to inform operational changes and quality improvement efforts. Copyright © 2016 by American Society of Clinical Oncology.

The process of managerial control in quality improvement initiatives.

PubMed

Slovensky, D J; Fottler, M D

1994-11-01

The fundamental intent of strategic management is to position an organization with in its market to exploit organizational competencies and strengths to gain competitive advantage. Competitive advantage may be achieved through such strategies as low cost, high quality, or unique services or products. For health care organizations accredited by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations, continually improving both processes and outcomes of organizational performance--quality improvement--in all operational areas of the organization is a mandated strategy. Defining and measuring quality and controlling the quality improvement strategy remain problematic. The article discusses the nature and processes of managerial control, some potential measures of quality, and related information needs.

77 FR 28395 - Proposed Collection; Comment Request; Hazardous Waste Worker Training

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-05-14

... the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval. Proposed Collection: Title... delivering high-quality, peer-reviewed safety and health curricula to target populations of hazardous waste... information in hard copy as well as enter information into the WETP Grantee Data Management System. The...

34 CFR 429.31 - What selection criteria does the Secretary use?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... information that shows— (i) High quality in the design of the project; (ii) An effective plan of management... looks for information that shows methods of evaluation that are appropriate for the project and, to the... VOCATIONAL AND ADULT EDUCATION, DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION BILINGUAL VOCATIONAL MATERIALS, METHODS, AND...

Managing Faculty Data at the University of Tennessee: The SEDONA Project

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Woodroof, Jon B.; Searcy, DeWayne L.

2004-01-01

Information technology plays an increasingly prominent role in the strategic initiatives of higher education institutions. Technology projects are becoming the largest projects on campus, approaching funding levels of bricks and mortar investments. Information systems are viewed as critical in attracting high-quality faculty, staff, and students,…

Information Literacy for First-Year Students: An Embedded Curriculum Approach

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Andrews, T.; Patil, R.

2007-01-01

The ability to access, evaluate and synthesise high-quality research material is the backbone of critical thinking in academic and professional contexts for Engineers and Industrial Designers. This is the premise upon which teaching and library staff developed Information Literacy (IL) components in Engineering & Industrial Design Practice--a…

Piaac: A New Strategy for Assessing Adult Competencies

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schleicher, Andreas

2008-01-01

At a time when governments face the challenges of maintaining competitiveness in a global economy, it is necessary to have high-quality comparative information regarding the fundamental skills of the adult population. Such information can help governments to evaluate policies and design more effective interventions. This article describes a…

76 FR 53138 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-08-25

... serves multiple practical purposes: (1) To collect and analyze descriptive, outcome, and service... impact on access to high-quality, trauma-informed care; (3) to evaluate NCTSI centers' training and... below. Descriptive and Clinical Outcomes In order to describe the children served, their trauma...

Design and Development of Web-Based Information Literacy Tutorials

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Su, Shiao-Feng; Kuo, Jane

2010-01-01

The current study conducts a thorough content analysis of recently built or up-to-date high-quality web-based information literacy tutorials contributed by academic libraries in a peer-reviewed database, PRIMO. This research analyzes the topics/skills PRIMO tutorials consider essential and the teaching strategies they consider effective. The…

GRIN-Global: An International Project to Develop a Global Plant Genebank and Information Management System

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Many of the world's national genebanks, responsible for the safeguarding and availability of their country's Plant Genetic Resource (PGR) collections, have lacked access to high quality IT needed to document and manage their collections electronically. The Germplasm Resource Information System (GRI...

The contribution of hospital library information services to clinical care: a study in eight hospitals.

PubMed Central

King, D N

1987-01-01

Hospital health sciences libraries represent, for the vast majority of health professionals, the most accessible source for library information and services. Most health professionals do not have available the specialized services of a clinical medical librarian, and rely instead upon general information services for their case-related information needs. The ability of the hospital library to meet these needs and the impact of the information on quality patient care have not been previously examined. A study was conducted in eight hospitals in the Chicago area as a quality assurance project. A total of 176 physicians, nurses, and other health professionals requested information from their hospital libraries related to a current case or clinical situation. They then assessed the quality of information received, its cognitive value, its contribution to patient care, and its impact on case management. Nearly two-thirds of the respondents asserted that they would definitely or probably handle their cases differently as a result of the information provided by the library. Almost all rated the libraries' performance and response highly. An overview of the context and purpose of the study, its methods, selected results, limitations, and conclusions are presented here, as is a review of selected earlier research. PMID:3450340

Localized analysis of paint-coat drying using dynamic speckle interferometry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sierra-Sosa, Daniel; Tebaldi, Myrian; Grumel, Eduardo; Rabal, Hector; Elmaghraby, Adel

2018-07-01

The paint-coating is part of several industrial processes, including the automotive industry, architectural coatings, machinery and appliances. These paint-coatings must comply with high quality standards, for this reason evaluation techniques from paint-coatings are in constant development. One important factor from the paint-coating process is the drying, as it has influence on the quality of final results. In this work we present an assessment technique based on the optical dynamic speckle interferometry, this technique allows for the temporal activity evaluation of the paint-coating drying process, providing localized information from drying. This localized information is relevant in order to address the drying homogeneity, optimal drying, and quality control. The technique relies in the definition of a new temporal history of the speckle patterns to obtain the local activity; this information is then clustered to provide a convenient indicative of different drying process stages. The experimental results presented were validated using the gravimetric drying curves

Monitoring urban air quality using a high-density network of low-cost sensor nodes in Oslo, Norway.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Castell, Nuria; Schneider, Philipp; Vogt, Matthias; Dauge, Franck R.; Lahoz, William; Bartonova, Alena

2017-04-01

Urban air quality represents a major public health burden and is a long-standing concern to citizens. Air pollution is associated with a range of diseases, symptoms and conditions that impair health and quality of life. In Oslo, traffic, especially exhaust from heavy-duty and private diesel vehicles and dust resuspension from studded tyres, together with wood burning in winter, are the main sources of pollution. Norway, as part of the European Economic Area, is obliged to comply with the European air quality regulations and ensure clean air. Despite this, Oslo has exceeded both the NO2 and PM10 thresholds for health protection defined in the Directive 2008/50/EC. The air quality in the Oslo area is continuously monitored in 12 compliance monitoring stations. These stations provide reliable and accurate data but their density is too low to provide a detailed spatial distribution of air quality. The emergence of low-cost nodes enables observations at high spatial resolution, providing the opportunity to enhance existing monitoring systems. However, the data generated by these nodes is significantly less accurate and precise than the data provided by reference equipment. We have conducted an evaluation of low-cost nodes to monitor NO2 and PM10, comparing the data collected with low-cost nodes against CEN (European Standardization Organization) reference analysers. During January and March 2016, a network of 24 nodes was deployed in Oslo. During January, high NO2 levels were observed for several days in a row coinciding with the formation of a thermal inversion. During March, we observed an episode with high PM10 levels due to road dust resuspension. Our results show that there is a major technical challenge associated with current commercial low-cost sensors, regarding the sensor robustness and measurement repeatability. Despite this, low-cost sensor nodes are able to reproduce the NO2 and PM10 variability. The data from the sensors was employed to generate detailed NO2 and PM10 air quality maps using a data fusion technique. This way we were able to offer localized air quality information for the city of Oslo. The outlook for commercial low-cost sensors is promising, and our results show that currently some sensors are already capable of providing coarse information about air quality, indicating if the air quality is good, moderate or if the air is heavily polluted. This type of information could be suitable for applications that aim to raise awareness, or engage the community by monitoring local air quality, as such applications do not require the same accuracy as scientific or regulatory monitoring.

High-quality permanent draft genome sequence of Bradyrhizobium sp. Th.b2, a microsymbiont of Amphicarpaea bracteata collected in Johnson City, New York

DOE PAGES

Tian, Rui; Parker, Matthew; Seshadri, Rekha; ...

2015-05-16

Bradyrhizobium sp. Th.b2 is an aerobic, motile, Gram-negative, non-spore-forming rod that was isolated from an effective nitrogen-fixing root nodule of Amphicarpaea bracteata collected in Johnson City, New York. Here we describe the features of Bradyrhizobium sp. Th.b2, together with high-quality permanent draft genome sequence information and annotation. The 10,118,060 high-quality draft genome is arranged in 266 scaffolds of 274 contigs, contains 9,809 protein-coding genes and 108 RNA-only encoding genes. In conclusion, this rhizobial genome was sequenced as part of the DOE Joint Genome Institute 2010 Genomic Encyclopedia for Bacteria and Archaea-Root Nodule Bacteria (GEBA-RNB) project.

Epitaxial growth of single-orientation high-quality MoS2 monolayers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bana, Harsh; Travaglia, Elisabetta; Bignardi, Luca; Lacovig, Paolo; Sanders, Charlotte E.; Dendzik, Maciej; Michiardi, Matteo; Bianchi, Marco; Lizzit, Daniel; Presel, Francesco; De Angelis, Dario; Apostol, Nicoleta; Das, Pranab Kumar; Fujii, Jun; Vobornik, Ivana; Larciprete, Rosanna; Baraldi, Alessandro; Hofmann, Philip; Lizzit, Silvano

2018-07-01

We present a study on the growth and characterization of high-quality single-layer MoS2 with a single orientation, i.e. without the presence of mirror domains. This single orientation of the MoS2 layer is established by means of x-ray photoelectron diffraction. The high quality is evidenced by combining scanning tunneling microscopy with x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy measurements. Spin- and angle-resolved photoemission experiments performed on the sample revealed complete spin-polarization of the valence band states near the K and -K points of the Brillouin zone. These findings open up the possibility to exploit the spin and valley degrees of freedom for encoding and processing information in devices that are based on epitaxially grown materials.

High-quality permanent draft genome sequence of Bradyrhizobium sp. Th.b2, a microsymbiont of Amphicarpaea bracteata collected in Johnson City, New York

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

Tian, Rui; Parker, Matthew; Seshadri, Rekha

Bradyrhizobium sp. Th.b2 is an aerobic, motile, Gram-negative, non-spore-forming rod that was isolated from an effective nitrogen-fixing root nodule of Amphicarpaea bracteata collected in Johnson City, New York. Here we describe the features of Bradyrhizobium sp. Th.b2, together with high-quality permanent draft genome sequence information and annotation. The 10,118,060 high-quality draft genome is arranged in 266 scaffolds of 274 contigs, contains 9,809 protein-coding genes and 108 RNA-only encoding genes. In conclusion, this rhizobial genome was sequenced as part of the DOE Joint Genome Institute 2010 Genomic Encyclopedia for Bacteria and Archaea-Root Nodule Bacteria (GEBA-RNB) project.

Cowpea fresh pods - a new legume for the market: assessment of their quality and dietary characteristics of 37 cowpea accessions grown in southern Europe.

PubMed

Karapanos, Ioannis; Papandreou, Anastasia; Skouloudi, Marianna; Makrogianni, Despoina; Fernández, Juan A; Rosa, Eduardo; Ntatsi, Georgia; Bebeli, Penelope J; Savvas, Dimitrios

2017-10-01

Cowpea is traditionally cultivated in some regions of southern Europe for its dried seeds; however, there is a scarcity of information on the quality and dietary characteristics of fresh pods, which are occasionally used in folk diets. This paper aims at covering this gap in knowledge, thereby contributing to the dissemination of fresh cowpea pods as a novel product for the market. The quality and dietary characteristics of pods from 37 accessions (Vigna unguiculata ssp. unguiculata and ssp. sesquipedalis) grown in southern Europe were assessed in an attempt to provide information on pod quality and nutritional properties and to identify relationships between quality traits and accession origin. Pods from the sesquipedalis accessions were heavier and larger, and reached commercial maturity 2 days later, than those from the unguiculata accessions. There were also large differences in the quality and dietary characteristics of the accessions. The pods of most accessions were rich in proteins, chlorophylls, carotenoids and phenolics, and showed high antioxidant activity and low concentrations of nitrates and raffinose-family oligosaccharides. Cluster analysis based on quality, dietary or antinutritional traits did not reveal any apparent grouping among the accessions. All the quality characteristics were independent of accession origin and subspecies. Most of the accessions produced fresh pods of good quality and high dietary value, suitable for introduction in the market and/or for use as valuable genetic material for the development of new improved varieties. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry.

An online network tool for quality information to answer questions about occupational safety and health: usability and applicability.

PubMed

Rhebergen, Martijn D F; Hulshof, Carel T J; Lenderink, Annet F; van Dijk, Frank J H

2010-10-22

Common information facilities do not always provide the quality information needed to answer questions on health or health-related issues, such as Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) matters. Barriers may be the accessibility, quantity and readability of information. Online Question & Answer (Q&A) network tools, which link questioners directly to experts can overcome some of these barriers. When designing and testing online tools, assessing the usability and applicability is essential. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to assess the usability and applicability of a new online Q&A network tool for answers on OSH questions. We applied a cross-sectional usability test design. Eight occupational health experts and twelve potential questioners from the working population (workers) were purposively selected to include a variety of computer- and internet-experiences. During the test, participants were first observed while executing eight tasks that entailed important features of the tool. In addition, they were interviewed. Through task observations and interviews we assessed applicability, usability (effectiveness, efficiency and satisfaction) and facilitators and barriers in use. Most features were usable, though several could be improved. Most tasks were executed effectively. Some tasks, for example searching stored questions in categories, were not executed efficiently and participants were less satisfied with the corresponding features. Participants' recommendations led to improvements. The tool was found mostly applicable for additional information, to observe new OSH trends and to improve contact between OSH experts and workers. Hosting and support by a trustworthy professional organization, effective implementation campaigns, timely answering and anonymity were seen as important use requirements. This network tool is a promising new strategy for offering company workers high quality information to answer OSH questions. Q&A network tools can be an addition to existing information facilities in the field of OSH, but also to other healthcare fields struggling with how to answer questions from people in practice with high quality information. In the near future, we will focus on the use of the tool and its effects on information and knowledge dissemination.

The CRAC cohort model: A computerized low cost registry of interventional cardiology with daily update and long-term follow-up.

PubMed

Rangé, G; Chassaing, S; Marcollet, P; Saint-Étienne, C; Dequenne, P; Goralski, M; Bardiére, P; Beverilli, F; Godillon, L; Sabine, B; Laure, C; Gautier, S; Hakim, R; Albert, F; Angoulvant, D; Grammatico-Guillon, L

2018-05-01

To assess the reliability and low cost of a computerized interventional cardiology (IC) registry to prospectively and systematically collect high-quality data for all consecutive coronary patients referred for coronary angiogram or/and coronary angioplasty. Rigorous clinical practice assessment is a key factor to improve prognosis in IC. A prospective and permanent registry could achieve this goal but, presumably, at high cost and low level of data quality. One multicentric IC registry (CRAC registry), fully integrated to usual coronary activity report software, started in the centre Val-de-Loire (CVL) French region in 2014. Quality assessment of CRAC registry was conducted on five IC CathLab of the CVL region, from January 1st to December 31st 2014. Quality of collected data was evaluated by measuring procedure exhaustivity (comparing with data from hospital information system), data completeness (quality controls) and data consistency (by checking complete medical charts as gold standard). Cost per procedure (global registry operating cost/number of collected procedures) was also estimated. CRAC model provided a high-quality level with 98.2% procedure completeness, 99.6% data completeness and 89% data consistency. The operating cost per procedure was €14.70 ($16.51) for data collection and quality control, including ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) preadmission information and one-year follow-up after angioplasty. This integrated computerized IC registry led to the construction of an exhaustive, reliable and costless database, including all coronary patients entering in participating IC centers in the CVL region. This solution will be developed in other French regions, setting up a national IC database for coronary patients in 2020: France PCI. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

Data Quality Control of the French Permanent Broadband Network in the RESIF Framework.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Grunberg, M.; Lambotte, S.; Engels, F.

2014-12-01

In the framework of the RESIF (Réseau Sismologique et géodésique Français) project, a new information system is setting up, allowing the improvement of the management and the distribution of high quality data from the different elements of RESIF. Within this information system, EOST (in Strasbourg) is in charge of collecting real-time permanent broadband seismic waveform, and performing Quality Control on these data. The real-time and validated data set are pushed to the French National Distribution Center (Isterre/Grenoble) to make them publicly available. Furthermore EOST hosts the BCSF-ReNaSS, in charge of the French metropolitan seismic bulletin. This allows to benefit from some high-end quality control based on the national and world-wide seismicity. Here we present the real-time seismic data flow from the stations of the French National Broad Band Network to EOST, and then, the data Quality Control procedures that were recently installed, including some new developments.The data Quality Control consists in applying a variety of processes to check the consistency of the whole system from the stations to the data center. This allows us to verify that instruments and data transmission are operating correctly. Moreover, time quality is critical for most of the scientific data applications. To face this challenge and check the consistency of polarities and amplitudes, we deployed several high-end processes including a noise correlation procedure to check for timing accuracy (intrumental time errors result in a time-shift of the whole cross-correlation, clearly distinct from those due to change in medium physical properties), and a systematic comparison of synthetic and real data for teleseismic earthquakes of magnitude larger than 6.5 to detect timing errors as well as polarity and amplitude problems.

Evaluating the feasibility of using online software to collect patient information in a chiropractic practice-based research network.

PubMed

Kania-Richmond, Ania; Weeks, Laura; Scholten, Jeffrey; Reney, Mikaël

2016-03-01

Practice based research networks (PBRNs) are increasingly used as a tool for evidence based practice. We developed and tested the feasibility of using software to enable online collection of patient data within a chiropractic PBRN to support clinical decision making and research in participating clinics. To assess the feasibility of using online software to collect quality patient information. The study consisted of two phases: 1) Assessment of the quality of information provided, using a standardized form; and 2) Exploration of patients' perspectives and experiences regarding online information provision through semi-structured interviews. Data analysis was descriptive. Forty-five new patients were recruited. Thirty-six completed online forms, which were submitted by an appropriate person 100% of the time, with an error rate of less than 1%, and submitted in a timely manner 83% of the time. Twenty-one participants were interviewed. Overall, online forms were preferred given perceived security, ease of use, and enabling provision of more accurate information. Use of online software is feasible, provides high quality information, and is preferred by most participants. A pen-and-paper format should be available for patients with this preference and in case of technical difficulties.

Intercropping of oat and field pea in Alaska: an alternative approach to quality forage production and weed control

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Intercropping of legumes with non-legumes is an ancient crop production method used to improve quality and dry matter (DM) yields of forage and grain, and to control weeds. However, there is little information regarding intercropping at high latitudes. The objectives of this field study were to eval...

The Motivation Impact of Open Educational Resources Utilization on Physics Learning Using Quipper School App

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sulisworo, Dwi; Sulistyo, Eko Nur; Akhsan, Rifai Nur

2017-01-01

The distribution of the education quality in Indonesia is relatively uneven. This affects the quality of secondary school graduates. On the other hand, the national growth of Information Communication Technology usage in Indonesia is very high, including the use of mobile technology. This is an opportunity for the application of OER (Open…

The Role of Boards in College Access Programs: Creating and Maintaining Quality

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Center for Higher Education Policy Analysis, University of Southern California, 2006

2006-01-01

Access programs are facing increased scrutiny. Not all programs are equally effective. In an environment in which resources are short, funders increasingly require criteria that enable them to make informed decisions about program quality. As elaborated in this report , one role of a high performance board is to help develop benchmarks of…

[Formal quality assessment of informed consent documents in 9 hospitals].

PubMed

Calle-Urra, J E; Parra-Hidalgo, P; Saturno-Hernández, P J; Martínez-Martínez, M J; Navarro-Moya, F J

2013-01-01

Informed consent forms are very important in the process of medical information. The aim of this study is to design reliable formal quality criteria of these documents and their application in the evaluation of those used in the hospitals of a regional health service. Criteria have been designed from the analysis of existing regulations, previous studies and consultation with key experts. The interobserver concordance was assessed using the kappa index. Criteria evaluation was performed on 1425 documents of 9 hospitals. A total of 19 criteria used in the evaluation of the quality of informed consent forms have been obtained. Kappa values were higher than 0,60 in 17 of them and higher than 0,52 in the other 2. The average number of defects per document was 7.6, with a high-low ratio among hospitals of 1.84. More than 90% of the documents had defects in the information on consequences and contraindications, and in about 90% it did not mention the copy to the patient. More than 60% did not comply with stating the purpose of the procedure, a statement of having understood and clarified doubts, and the treatment options. A tool has been obtained to reliably assess the formal quality of the informed consent forms. The documents assessed have a wide margin for improvement related to giving a copy to the patient, and some aspects of the specific information that patients should receive. Copyright © 2012 SECA. Published by Elsevier Espana. All rights reserved.

Image gathering and coding for digital restoration: Information efficiency and visual quality

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Huck, Friedrich O.; John, Sarah; Mccormick, Judith A.; Narayanswamy, Ramkumar

1989-01-01

Image gathering and coding are commonly treated as tasks separate from each other and from the digital processing used to restore and enhance the images. The goal is to develop a method that allows us to assess quantitatively the combined performance of image gathering and coding for the digital restoration of images with high visual quality. Digital restoration is often interactive because visual quality depends on perceptual rather than mathematical considerations, and these considerations vary with the target, the application, and the observer. The approach is based on the theoretical treatment of image gathering as a communication channel (J. Opt. Soc. Am. A2, 1644(1985);5,285(1988). Initial results suggest that the practical upper limit of the information contained in the acquired image data range typically from approximately 2 to 4 binary information units (bifs) per sample, depending on the design of the image-gathering system. The associated information efficiency of the transmitted data (i.e., the ratio of information over data) ranges typically from approximately 0.3 to 0.5 bif per bit without coding to approximately 0.5 to 0.9 bif per bit with lossless predictive compression and Huffman coding. The visual quality that can be attained with interactive image restoration improves perceptibly as the available information increases to approximately 3 bifs per sample. However, the perceptual improvements that can be attained with further increases in information are very subtle and depend on the target and the desired enhancement.

Access to health information on the internet: a public health issue?

PubMed

Moretti, Felipe Azevedo; Oliveira, Vanessa Elias de; Silva, Edina Mariko Koga da

2012-01-01

To progress in the understanding of the user profile and of search trends for health information on the internet. Analyses were performed based on 1,828 individuals who completed an electronic questionnaire available on a very popular health website. At the same time, through the "elite survey" method, 20 specialists were interviewed, aiming at assessing quality control strategies regarding health information disseminated online. A predominance of female users who research information for themselves (= 90%), who consider the internet one of their main sources of health information (86%), and who spend from 5 to 35 hours online every week (62%) was verified. High reliability is assigned to information from specialists (76%), and low reliability to television, radio, or blogs (14%). It can be concluded that the internet is proving to be a major source of health information for the population, and that website certification is a strategy to be contemplated to improve the quality of information and to promote public health.

The provision of information and informed decision-making on prenatal screening for Down syndrome: a questionnaire- and register-based survey in a non-selected population.

PubMed

Schoonen, Marleen; Wildschut, Hajo; Essink-Bot, Marie-Louise; Peters, Ingrid; Steegers, Eric; de Koning, Harry

2012-06-01

Evaluating the information provision procedure about prenatal screening for Down syndrome, using informed decision-making as a quality-indicator. Questionnaire- and register-based surveys. Midwives associated with 59 midwifery practices completed process data for 6435 pregnancies. Pregnant women (n=510) completed questionnaires on informed decision-making. Midwives offered information to 98.5% of women; 62.6% of them wished to receive information, of these, 81.9% actually received information. Decision-relevant knowledge was adequate in 89.0% of responding women. Knowledge about Down syndrome was less adequate than knowledge about the screening program. Participants in the screening program had higher knowledge scores on Down syndrome and on the screening program than non-participants. Of the women who intended to participate (35.8%), 3.1% had inadequate knowledge. A total of 75.5% of women made an informed decision; 94.3% of women participating in the screening program, and 64.9% of women not participating. This quality assurance study showed high levels of informed decision-making and a relatively low participation rate in the national screening program for Down syndrome in the Netherlands. Knowledge of the Down syndrome condition needs to be improved. This evaluation may serve as a pilot study for quality monitoring studies at a national level. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Author-paper affiliation network architecture influences the methodological quality of systematic reviews and meta-analyses of psoriasis

PubMed Central

Gomez-Garcia, Francisco; Alcalde-Mellado, Patricia; Gay-Mimbrera, Jesus; Aguilar-Luque, Macarena; Maestre-Lopez, Beatriz; Gonzalez-Padilla, Marcelino; Carmona-Fernandez, Pedro J.; Velez Garcia-Nieto, Antonio; Isla-Tejera, Beatriz

2017-01-01

Moderate-to-severe psoriasis is associated with significant comorbidity, an impaired quality of life, and increased medical costs, including those associated with treatments. Systematic reviews (SRs) and meta-analyses (MAs) of randomized clinical trials are considered two of the best approaches to the summarization of high-quality evidence. However, methodological bias can reduce the validity of conclusions from these types of studies and subsequently impair the quality of decision making. As co-authorship is among the most well-documented forms of research collaboration, the present study aimed to explore whether authors’ collaboration methods might influence the methodological quality of SRs and MAs of psoriasis. Methodological quality was assessed by two raters who extracted information from full articles. After calculating total and per-item Assessment of Multiple Systematic Reviews (AMSTAR) scores, reviews were classified as low (0-4), medium (5-8), or high (9-11) quality. Article metadata and journal-related bibliometric indices were also obtained. A total of 741 authors from 520 different institutions and 32 countries published 220 reviews that were classified as high (17.2%), moderate (55%), or low (27.7%) methodological quality. The high methodological quality subnetwork was larger but had a lower connection density than the low and moderate methodological quality subnetworks; specifically, the former contained relatively fewer nodes (authors and reviews), reviews by authors, and collaborators per author. Furthermore, the high methodological quality subnetwork was highly compartmentalized, with several modules representing few poorly interconnected communities. In conclusion, structural differences in author-paper affiliation network may influence the methodological quality of SRs and MAs on psoriasis. As the author-paper affiliation network structure affects study quality in this research field, authors who maintain an appropriate balance between scientific quality and productivity are more likely to develop higher quality reviews. PMID:28403245

Generation of High-Quality SWATH® Acquisition Data for Label-free Quantitative Proteomics Studies Using TripleTOF® Mass Spectrometers

PubMed Central

Schilling, Birgit; Gibson, Bradford W.; Hunter, Christie L.

2017-01-01

Data-independent acquisition is a powerful mass spectrometry technique that enables comprehensive MS and MS/MS analysis of all detectable species, providing an information rich data file that can be mined deeply. Here, we describe how to acquire high-quality SWATH® Acquisition data to be used for large quantitative proteomic studies. We specifically focus on using variable sized Q1 windows for acquisition of MS/MS data for generating higher specificity quantitative data. PMID:28188533

The quantitative control and matching of an optical false color composite imaging system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhou, Chengxian; Dai, Zixin; Pan, Xizhe; Li, Yinxi

1993-10-01

Design of an imaging system for optical false color composite (OFCC) capable of high-precision density-exposure time control and color balance is presented. The system provides high quality FCC image data that can be analyzed using a quantitative calculation method. The quality requirement to each part of the image generation system is defined, and the distribution of satellite remote sensing image information is analyzed. The proposed technology makes it possible to present the remote sensing image data more effectively and accurately.

Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy Online: What Patients Find when Searching the World Wide Web.

PubMed

Modi, Minal; Laskar, Nabila; Modi, Bhavik N

2016-06-01

To objectively assess the quality of information available on the World Wide Web on cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT). Patients frequently search the internet regarding their healthcare issues. It has been shown that patients seeking information can help or hinder their healthcare outcomes depending on the quality of information consulted. On the internet, this information can be produced and published by anyone, resulting in the risk of patients accessing inaccurate and misleading information. The search term "Cardiac Resynchronisation Therapy" was entered into the three most popular search engines and the first 50 pages on each were pooled and analyzed, after excluding websites inappropriate for objective review. The "LIDA" instrument (a validated tool for assessing quality of healthcare information websites) was to generate scores on Accessibility, Reliability, and Usability. Readability was assessed using the Flesch Reading Ease Score (FRES). Of the 150 web-links, 41 sites met the eligibility criteria. The sites were assessed using the LIDA instrument and the FRES. A mean total LIDA score for all the websites assessed was 123.5 of a possible 165 (74.8%). The average Accessibility of the sites assessed was 50.1 of 60 (84.3%), on Usability 41.4 of 54 (76.6%), on Reliability 31.5 of 51 (61.7%), and 41.8 on FRES. There was a significant variability among sites and interestingly, there was no correlation between the sites' search engine ranking and their scores. This study has illustrated the variable quality of online material on the topic of CRT. Furthermore, there was also no apparent correlation between highly ranked, popular websites and their quality. Healthcare professionals should be encouraged to guide their patients toward the online material that contains reliable information. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Historical water-quality data for the High Plains Regional Ground-Water Study Area in Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, and Wyoming, 1930-98

USGS Publications Warehouse

Litke, David W.

2001-01-01

The High Plains aquifer underlies 174,000 square miles in parts of eight States and includes eight primary hydrogeologic units, including the well-known Ogallala Formation. The High Plains aquifer is an important resource, providing water for 27 percent of the Nation?s irrigated agricultural lands in an otherwise dry landscape. Since the 1980?s there has been concern over the sustainability of the aquifer due to water-level declines caused by substantial pumping. Water quality of the aquifer is a more recent concern. As part of the U.S. Geological Survey?s National Water-Quality Assessment Program, historical water-quality data have been gathered for the High Plains Regional Ground-Water Study Area into a retrospective data base, which can be used to evaluate the occurrence and distribution of water-quality constituents of concern.Data from the retrospective data base verify that nitrate, pesticides, and dissolved solids (salinity) are important water-quality concerns in the High Plains study area. Sixteen percent of all measured nitrate concentrations were larger than the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency drinking-water standard of 10 milligrams per liter. In about 70 percent of the counties within the High Plains study area, nitrate concentrations for 1980-98 were significantly larger than for 1930-69. While nitrate concentrations are largest where depth to water is shallow, concentrations also have increased in the Ogallala Formation where depth to water is large. Pesticide data primarily are available only in the northern half of the study area. About 50 pesticides were detected in the High Plains study area, but only four pesticides (atrazine, alachlor, cyanazine, and simazine) had concentrations exceeding a drinking-water standard. The occasional detection of pesticides in deeper parts of the Ogallala Formation indicates that contamination pathways exist. Dissolved solids, which are a direct measure of salinity, had 29 percent of measured concentrations in excess of the secondary drinking-water standard of 500 milligrams per liter. Comparison of dissolved-solids concentrations prior to 1980 to concentrations after 1980 indicates dissolved-solids concentrations have increased in the alluvial valleys of the Platte, the Republican, and the Arkansas Rivers, as well as in the Ogallala Formation?South hydrogeologic unit.Water-quality results indicate that human activities are affecting the water of the High Plains aquifer. Because there is a potential for water quality to become impaired relative to the historical uses of the aquifer, water quality needs to be considered when evaluating the sustainability of the High Plains aquifer. Data collected as part of the High Plains Regional Ground-Water Study will help to fill in gaps in water-quality information and provide additional information for understanding the factors that govern ambient water quality.

A Quality-Control-Oriented Database for a Mesoscale Meteorological Observation Network

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lussana, C.; Ranci, M.; Uboldi, F.

2012-04-01

In the operational context of a local weather service, data accessibility and quality related issues must be managed by taking into account a wide set of user needs. This work describes the structure and the operational choices made for the operational implementation of a database system storing data from highly automated observing stations, metadata and information on data quality. Lombardy's environmental protection agency, ARPA Lombardia, manages a highly automated mesoscale meteorological network. A Quality Assurance System (QAS) ensures that reliable observational information is collected and disseminated to the users. The weather unit in ARPA Lombardia, at the same time an important QAS component and an intensive data user, has developed a database specifically aimed to: 1) providing quick access to data for operational activities and 2) ensuring data quality for real-time applications, by means of an Automatic Data Quality Control (ADQC) procedure. Quantities stored in the archive include hourly aggregated observations of: precipitation amount, temperature, wind, relative humidity, pressure, global and net solar radiation. The ADQC performs several independent tests on raw data and compares their results in a decision-making procedure. An important ADQC component is the Spatial Consistency Test based on Optimal Interpolation. Interpolated and Cross-Validation analysis values are also stored in the database, providing further information to human operators and useful estimates in case of missing data. The technical solution adopted is based on a LAMP (Linux, Apache, MySQL and Php) system, constituting an open source environment suitable for both development and operational practice. The ADQC procedure itself is performed by R scripts directly interacting with the MySQL database. Users and network managers can access the database by using a set of web-based Php applications.

Improving cancer patient care: development of a generic cancer consumer quality index questionnaire for cancer patients

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background To develop a Consumer Quality Index (CQI) Cancer Care questionnaire for measuring experiences with hospital care of patients with different types of cancer. Methods We derived quality aspects from focus group discussions, existing questionnaires and literature. We developed an experience questionnaire and sent it to 1,498 Dutch cancer patients. Another questionnaire measuring the importance of the quality aspects was sent to 600 cancer patients. Data were psychometrically analysed. Results The response to the experience questionnaire was 50 percent. Psychometric analysis revealed 12 reliable scales. Patients rated rapid and adequate referral, rapid start of the treatment after diagnosis, enough information and confidence in the healthcare professionals as most important themes. Hospitals received high scores for skills and cooperation of healthcare professionals and a patient-centered approach by doctors; and low scores for psychosocial guidance and information at completion of the treatment. Conclusions The CQI Cancer Care questionnaire is a valuable tool for the evaluation of the quality of cancer care from the patient’s perspective. Large scale implementation is necessary to determine the discriminatory powers of the questionnaire and may enable healthcare providers to improve the quality of cancer care. Preliminary results indicate that hospitals could improve their psychosocial guidance and information provision. PMID:23617741

Data Quality for Situational Awareness during Mass-Casualty Events

PubMed Central

Demchak, Barry; Griswold, William G.; Lenert, Leslie A.

2007-01-01

Incident Command systems often achieve situational awareness through manual paper-tracking systems. Such systems often produce high latencies and incomplete data, resulting in inefficient and ineffective resource deployment. WIISARD (Wireless Internet Information System for Medical Response in Disasters) collects much more data than a paper-based system, dramatically reducing latency while increasing the kinds and quality of information available to incident commanders. Yet, the introduction of IT into a disaster setting is not problem-free. Notably, system component failures can delay the delivery of data. The type and extent of a failure can have varying effects on the usefulness of information displays. We describe a small, coherent set of customizble information overlays to address this problem, and we discuss reactions to these displays by medical commanders. PMID:18693821

Modelling of beef sensory quality for a better prediction of palatability.

PubMed

Hocquette, Jean-François; Van Wezemael, Lynn; Chriki, Sghaier; Legrand, Isabelle; Verbeke, Wim; Farmer, Linda; Scollan, Nigel D; Polkinghorne, Rod; Rødbotten, Rune; Allen, Paul; Pethick, David W

2014-07-01

Despite efforts by the industry to control the eating quality of beef, there remains a high level of variability in palatability, which is one reason for consumer dissatisfaction. In Europe, there is still no reliable on-line tool to predict beef quality and deliver consistent quality beef to consumers. Beef quality traits depend in part on the physical and chemical properties of the muscles. The determination of these properties (known as muscle profiling) will allow for more informed decisions to be made in the selection of individual muscles for the production of value-added products. Therefore, scientists and professional partners of the ProSafeBeef project have brought together all the data they have accumulated over 20 years. The resulting BIF-Beef (Integrated and Functional Biology of Beef) data warehouse contains available data of animal growth, carcass composition, muscle tissue characteristics and beef quality traits. This database is useful to determine the most important muscle characteristics associated with a high tenderness, a high flavour or generally a high quality. Another more consumer driven modelling tool was developed in Australia: the Meat Standards Australia (MSA) grading scheme that predicts beef quality for each individual muscle×specific cooking method combination using various information on the corresponding animals and post-slaughter processing factors. This system has also the potential to detect variability in quality within muscles. The MSA system proved to be effective in predicting beef palatability not only in Australia but also in many other countries. The results of the work conducted in Europe within the ProSafeBeef project indicate that it would be possible to manage a grading system in Europe similar to the MSA system. The combination of the different modelling approaches (namely muscle biochemistry and a MSA-like meat grading system adapted to the European market) is a promising area of research to improve the prediction of beef quality. In both approaches, the volume of data available not only provides statistically sound correlations between various factors and beef quality traits but also a better understanding of the variability of beef quality according to various criteria (breed, age, sex, pH, marbling etc.). © 2013 The American Meat Science Association. All rights reserved.

A Narrative Review of High-Quality Literature on the Effects of Resident Duty Hours Reforms.

PubMed

Lin, Henry; Lin, Emery; Auditore, Stephanie; Fanning, Jon

2016-01-01

To summarize current high-quality studies evaluating the effect and efficacy of resident duty hours reforms (DHRs) on patient safety and resident education and well-being. The authors searched PubMed and Medline in August 2012 and again in May 2013 for literature (1987-2013) about the effects of DHRs. They assessed the quality of articles using the Medical Education Research Study Quality Instrument (MERSQI) scoring system. They considered randomized controlled trials (RCTs), partial RCTs, and all studies with a MERSQI score ≥ 14 to be "high-quality" methodology studies. A total of 72 high-quality studies met inclusion criteria. Most studies showed no change or slight improvement in mortality and complication rates after DHRs. Resident well-being was generally improved, but there was a perceived negative impact on education (knowledge acquisition, skills, and cognitive performance) following DHRs. Eleven high-quality studies assessed the impact of DHR interventions; all reported a neutral to positive impact. Seven high-quality studies assessed costs associated with DHRs and demonstrated an increase in hospital costs. The results of most studies that allow enough time for DHR interventions to take effect suggest a benefit to patient safety and resident well-being, but the effect on the quality of training remains unknown. Additional methodologically sound studies on the impact of DHRs are necessary. Priorities for future research include approaches to optimizing education and clinical proficiency and studies on the effect of intervention strategies on both education and patient safety. Such studies will provide additional information to help improve duty hours policies.

What parents are reading about laryngomalacia: Quality and readability of internet resources on laryngomalacia.

PubMed

Corredera, Erica; Davis, Kara S; Simons, Jeffrey P; Jabbour, Noel

2018-05-01

The goal of this study is to measure the quality and readability of websites related to laryngomalacia, and to compare the quality and readability scores for the sites accessed through the most popular search engines. Laryngomalacia is a common diagnosis in children but is often difficult for parents to comprehend. As information available on the internet is unregulated, the quality and readability of this information may vary. An advanced search on Google, Yahoo, and Bing was conducted using the terms "laryngomalacia" OR "soft larynx" OR "floppy voice box." The first ten websites meeting inclusion and exclusion criteria were evaluated, for each search engine. Quality and readability were assessed using the DISCERN criteria and the Flesch reading ease scoring (FRES) and Flesch-Kincaid grade level (FKGL) tests, respectively. The top 10 hits on each search engine yielded 15 unique web pages. The median DISCERN score (out of a possible high-score of 80) was 48.5 (SD 12.6). The median USA grade-level estimated by the FKGL was 11.3 (SD 1.4). Only one website (6.7%), had a readability score in the optimal range of 6th to 8th grade reading level. DISCERN scores did not correlate with FKGL scores (r = 0.10). Online information discussing laryngomalacia often varies in quality and may not be easily comprehensible to the public. It is important for healthcare professionals to understand the quality of health information accessible to patients as it may influence medical decision-making by patient families. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Understanding the HighScope Approach: Early Years Education in Practice. Understanding the... Approach

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wiltshire, Monica

2011-01-01

"Understanding the HighScope Approach" is a much needed source of information for those wishing to extend and consolidate their understanding of the HighScope Approach. It will enable the reader to analyse the essential elements of the HighScope Approach to early childhood and its relationship to quality early years practice. Exploring…

Methodological Quality of National Guidelines for Pediatric Inpatient Conditions

PubMed Central

Hester, Gabrielle; Nelson, Katherine; Mahant, Sanjay; Eresuma, Emily; Keren, Ron; Srivastava, Rajendu

2014-01-01

Background Guidelines help inform standardization of care for quality improvement (QI). The Pediatric Research in Inpatient Settings (PRIS) network published a prioritization list of inpatient conditions with high prevalence, cost, and variation in resource utilization across children’s hospitals. The methodological quality of guidelines for priority conditions is unknown. Objective To rate the methodological quality of national guidelines for 20 priority pediatric inpatient conditions. Design We searched sources including PubMed for national guidelines published 2002–2012. Guidelines specific to one organism, test or treatment, or institution were excluded. Guidelines were rated by two raters using a validated tool (AGREE II) with an overall rating on a 7-point scale (7–highest). Inter-rater reliability was measured with a weighted kappa coefficient. Results 17 guidelines met inclusion criteria for 13 conditions, 7 conditions yielded no relevant national guidelines. The highest methodological quality guidelines were for asthma, tonsillectomy, and bronchiolitis (mean overall rating 7, 6.5 and 6.5 respectively); the lowest were for sickle cell disease (2 guidelines) and dental caries (mean overall rating 4, 3.5, and 3 respectively). The overall weighted kappa was 0.83 (95% confidence interval 0.78–0.87). Conclusions We identified a group of moderate to high methodological quality national guidelines for priority pediatric inpatient conditions. Hospitals should consider these guidelines to inform QI initiatives. PMID:24677729

Clinical Decision Support System to Enhance Quality Control of Spirometry Using Information and Communication Technologies

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

Background We recently demonstrated that quality of spirometry in primary care could markedly improve with remote offline support from specialized professionals. It is hypothesized that implementation of automatic online assessment of quality of spirometry using information and communication technologies may significantly enhance the potential for extensive deployment of a high quality spirometry program in integrated care settings. Objective The objective of the study was to elaborate and validate a Clinical Decision Support System (CDSS) for automatic online quality assessment of spirometry. Methods The CDSS was done through a three step process including: (1) identification of optimal sampling frequency; (2) iterations to build-up an initial version using the 24 standard spirometry curves recommended by the American Thoracic Society; and (3) iterations to refine the CDSS using 270 curves from 90 patients. In each of these steps the results were checked against one expert. Finally, 778 spirometry curves from 291 patients were analyzed for validation purposes. Results The CDSS generated appropriate online classification and certification in 685/778 (88.1%) of spirometry testing, with 96% sensitivity and 95% specificity. Conclusions Consequently, only 93/778 (11.9%) of spirometry testing required offline remote classification by an expert, indicating a potential positive role of the CDSS in the deployment of a high quality spirometry program in an integrated care setting. PMID:25600957

Data Quality Control of the French Permanent Broadband Network in the RESIF Framework

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Grunberg, Marc; Lambotte, Sophie; Engels, Fabien; Dretzen, Remi; Hernandez, Alain

2014-05-01

In the framework of the RESIF (Réseau Sismologique et géodésique Français) project, a new information system is being setting up, allowing the improvement of the management and the distribution of high quality data from the different elements of RESIF and the associated networks. Within this information system, EOST (in Strasbourg) is in charge of collecting real-time permanent broadband seismic waveform, and performing Quality Control on these data. The real-time and validated data set are pushed to the French National Distribution Center (Isterre/Grenoble) in order to make them publicly available. Furthermore EOST hosts the BCSF-ReNaSS, in charge of the French metropolitan seismic bulletin. This allows to benefit from some high-end quality control based on the national and world-wide seismicity. Here we present first the real-time seismic data flow from the stations of the French National Broad Band Network to EOST, and then, the data Quality Control procedures that were recently installed, including some new developments. The data Quality Control consists in applying a variety of subprocesses to check the consistency of the whole system and process from the stations to the data center. This allows us to verify that instruments and data transmission are operating correctly. Moreover analysis of the ambient noise helps to characterize intrinsic seismic quality of the stations and to identify other kind of disturbances. The deployed Quality Control consist in a pipeline that starts with low-level procedures : check the real-time miniseed data file (file naming convention, data integrity), check for inconsistencies between waveform and meta-data (channel name, sample rate, etc.), compute waveform statistics (data availability, gap/overlap, mean, rms, time quality, spike). It is followed by some high-level procedures such as : power spectral density computation (PSD), STA/LTA computation to be correlated to the seismicity, phases picking and stations magnitudes discrepancies. The results of quality control is visualized through a web interface. This latter gathers data from different information systems to provide a global view on last events that could impact the data (like intervention on site or seismic events, etc.). This work is still an ongoing project. We intend to add more sophisticated procedures to enhanced our data Quality Control. Among them, we will deploy a seismic moment tensor inversion tool for amplitude, time and polarity control and a noise correlation procedure for time drift detections.

Patient-targeted websites on overactive bladder: What are our patients reading?

PubMed

Clancy, Aisling A; Hickling, Duane; Didomizio, Laura; Sanaee, May; Shehata, Fady; Zee, Rebekah; Khalil, Hisham

2018-02-01

Patients often turn to the Internet for information on medical conditions. We sought to evaluate the quality and readability of highly visible websites on overactive bladder (OAB). A survey of 42 consecutive patients attending outpatient urogynecology clinics was performed to identify the most commonly used Internet search engines and search terms for information on OAB. The three most commonly used search engines (Google, Bing, and Yahoo!) were then queried using the three most commonly used search terms. The first 20 relevant websites from each search were reviewed. After excluding duplicates, 35 websites were analyzed. Website quality of information on OAB was evaluated using the DISCERN score, JAMA benchmark criteria, and Health on the Net code (HONcode) accreditation status. Readability was assessed using the Simplified Measure of Gobbledygook (SMOG) and Dale-Chall indices. Websites were classified as advertisement/commercial (31%), health portal (29%), professional (26%), patient group (6%), and other (9%). The overall mean DISCERN score was 44 ± 18 (maximum possible score of 80). Three websites (9%) met all four JAMA benchmark criteria. Seventeen percent of websites provided adequate information on content authorship and contributions. Median SMOG and Dale-Chall indices were 9.9 (IQR 9.3-11.2) and 9.0 (IQR 8.1-9.4), respectively. Nine websites (26%) were HONcode certified. Popular websites on OAB are of low quality, written for a high school to college-level readership, and often lack adequate information to assess the potential for commercial bias. Patients should be cautioned that incomplete and potentially biased information on OAB is prevalent online. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Librarian co-authors correlated with higher quality reported search strategies in general internal medicine systematic reviews.

PubMed

Rethlefsen, Melissa L; Farrell, Ann M; Osterhaus Trzasko, Leah C; Brigham, Tara J

2015-06-01

To determine whether librarian and information specialist authorship was associated with better reported systematic review (SR) search quality. SRs from high-impact general internal medicine journals were reviewed for search quality characteristics and reporting quality by independent reviewers using three instruments, including a checklist of Institute of Medicine Recommended Standards for the Search Process and a scored modification of the Peer Review of Electronic Search Strategies instrument. The level of librarian and information specialist participation was significantly associated with search reproducibility from reported search strategies (Χ(2) = 23.5; P < 0.0001). Librarian co-authored SRs had significantly higher odds of meeting 8 of 13 analyzed search standards than those with no librarian participation and six more than those with mentioned librarian participation. One-way ANOVA showed that differences in total search quality scores between all three groups were statistically significant (F2,267 = 10.1233; P < 0.0001). Problems remain with SR search quality and reporting. SRs with librarian or information specialist co-authors are correlated with significantly higher quality reported search strategies. To minimize bias in SRs, authors and editors could encourage librarian engagement in SRs including authorship as a potential way to help improve documentation of the search strategy. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Team communication during patient handover from the operating room: more than facts and figures.

PubMed

Manser, Tanja; Foster, Simon; Flin, Rhona; Patey, Rona

2013-02-01

This study was aimed at examining team communication during postoperative handover and its relationship to clinicians' self-ratings of handover quality. Adverse events can often be traced back to inadequate communication during patient handover. Research and improvement efforts have mostly focused on the information transfer function of patient handover. However, the specific mechanisms between handover communication processes among teams of transferring and receiving clinicians and handover quality are poorly understood. We conducted a prospective, cross-sectional observation study using a taxonomy for handover behaviors developed on the basis of established approaches for analyzing teamwork in health care. Immediately after the observation, transferring and receiving clinicians rated the quality of the handover using a structured tool for handover quality assessment. Handover communication during 117 handovers in three postoperative settings and its relationship to clinicians' self-ratings of handover quality were analyzed with the use of correlation analyses and analyses of variance. We identified significantly different patterns of handover communication between clinical settings and across handover roles. Assessments provided during handover were related to higher ratings of handover quality overall and to all four dimensions of handover quality identified in this study. If assessment was lacking, we observed compensatory information seeking by the receiving team. Handover quality is more than the correct, complete transmission of patient information. Assessments, including predictions or anticipated problems, are critical to the quality of postoperative handover. The identification of communication behaviors related to high-quality handovers is necessary to effectively support the design and evaluation of handover improvement efforts.

"Power quality system," a new system of quality management for globalization: towards innovation and competitive advantages.

PubMed

Abdul-Rahman, H; Berawi, M A

Knowledge Management (KM) addresses the critical issues of organizational adoption, survival and competence in the face of an increasingly changing environment. KM embodies organizational processes that seek a synergistic combination of the data and information processing capabilities of information and communication technologies (ICT), and the creative and innovative capacity of human beings to improve ICT In that role, knowledge management will improve quality management and avoid or minimize losses and weakness that usually come from poor performance as well as increase the competitive level of the company and its ability to survive in the global marketplace. To achieve quality, all parties including the clients, company consultants, contractors, entrepreneurs, suppliers, and the governing bodies (i.e., all involved stake-holders) need to collaborate and commit to achieving quality. The design based organizations in major business and construction companies have to be quality driven to support healthy growth in today's competitive market. In the march towards vision 2020 and globalization (i.e., the one world community) of many companies, their design based organizations need to have superior quality management and knowledge management to anticipate changes. The implementation of a quality system such as the ISO 9000 Standards, Total Quality Management, or Quality Function Deployment (QFD) focuses the company's resources towards achieving faster and better results in the global market with less cost. To anticipate the needs of the marketplace and clients as the world and technology change, a new system, which we call Power Quality System (PQS), has been designed. PQS is a combination of information and communication technologies (ICT) and the creative and innovative capacity of human beings to meet the challenges of the new world business and to develop high quality products.

Examining the accessibility of high-quality physical activity behaviour change support freely available online for men with prostate cancer.

PubMed

Short, Camille E; Gelder, Charlotte; Binnewerg, Lena; McIntosh, Megan; Turnbull, Deborah

2018-02-01

While the internet is considered a promising avenue for providing physical activity support to prostate cancer survivors, little is known about the accessibility of quality websites in the real world. This work aimed to explore what websites prostate cancer survivors are likely to find when seeking physical activity support online and to evaluate their quality using evidenced-based criteria. A search strategy was developed in consultation with prostate cancer survivors (n = 44) to reflect the most common ways they are likely to search the internet. The search was then conducted by a single reviewer, and identified websites were assessed for quality by two reviewers using an evidence-based quality assessment tool developed for this study. Discrepancies were resolved by a third reviewer. Of the 45 identified websites, 13 (29%) received a high quality rating, 22 (49%) received a moderate rating and 10 (22%) received a low quality rating. Higher-quality websites tended to have a .org or .gov domain and tended to be located using searches specific to prostate cancer or prostate cancer and exercise. Very few websites contained complete information regarding the physical activity guidelines for cancer survivors, and no websites provided comprehensive behaviour change support. There are some good-quality physical activity websites accessible to men with prostate cancer. However, they may be difficult to find and/or require updating to include complete recommendations and more behaviour change support. Efforts to improve physical activity information online and strategies to direct prostate cancer survivors to higher-quality websites and support services are needed to ensure safety and efficacy.

Social and financial resources and high-risk alcohol consumption among older adults.

PubMed

Moos, Rudolf H; Brennan, Penny L; Schutte, Kathleen K; Moos, Bernice S

2010-04-01

This study examined long-term mutual predictive associations between social and financial resources and high-risk alcohol consumption in later life. A sample of 55- to 65-year-old older adults (n = 719) was surveyed at baseline and 10 years and 20 years later. At each contact point, participants completed an inventory that assessed social and financial resources and alcohol consumption. Over the 20-year interval, there was evidence of both social causation and social selection processes in relation to high-risk alcohol consumption. In support of a social causation perspective, higher levels of some social resources, such as participation in social activities, friends' approval of drinking, quality of relationship with spouse, and financial resources, were associated with a subsequent increased likelihood of high-risk alcohol consumption. Conversely, indicating the presence of social selection, high-risk alcohol consumption was associated with subsequent higher levels of friends' approval of drinking and quality of the spousal relationship, but lower quality of relationships with extended family members. These findings reflect mutual influence processes in which older adults' social resources and high-risk alcohol consumption can alter each other. Older adults may benefit from information about how social factors can affect their drinking habits; accordingly, information about social causation effects could be used to guide effective prevention and intervention efforts aimed at reducing the risk that late-life social factors may amplify their excessive alcohol consumption.

Where to find information about drugs

PubMed Central

Day, Richard O; Snowden, Leone

2016-01-01

SUMMARY Good medicines information is critical to medical practice. Choose high-quality, pre-appraised sources first and make sure they are current. Select the information that is most relevant to the needs of your particular patient. Take the time to become familiar with the features of the resources you use. Australian Medicines Handbook, Therapeutic Guidelines, Australian Prescriber and NPS MedicineWise cover most routine clinical practice needs. PMID:27346917

Real People Don't Do Boolean: How To Teach End Users To Find High-Quality Information on the Internet.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Vine, Rita

2001-01-01

Explains how to train users in effective Web searching. Discusses challenges of teaching Web information retrieval; a framework for information searching; choosing the right search tools for users; the seven-step lesson planning process; tips for delivering group Internet training; and things that help people work faster and smarter on the Web.…

Testicular Cancer on the Web-an Appropriate Source of Patient Information in Concordance with the European Association of Urology Guidelines?

PubMed

Paffenholz, Pia; Salem, Johannes; Borgmann, Hendrik; Nestler, Tim; Pfister, David; Ruf, Christian; Tsaur, Igor; Haferkamp, Axel; Heidenreich, Axel

2017-08-04

Despite the continuous growth of the internet, little is known about the quality of online information on testicular cancer, the most common solid malignancy in young men. In our study, we analysed the quality, readability and popularity of the most popular websites on testicular cancer. Therefore, we performed a web search for the term "testicular cancer" using www.google.com . Fifty-one websites were evaluated for HONcode quality certification, Alexa Popularity Rank and readability levels. Furthermore, the websites' content on eight major topics of the current European Association of Urology Guidelines on testicular cancer was assessed. Fourteen (28%) had a HONcode quality certificate and the mean Alexa Popularity Rank of all 51 websites was 54,040 (interquartile range 6648-282,797). Websites were difficult to read requiring 9 years of US school education to properly understand the information. The websites mentioned 80% of the guideline topics on average, revealing "prognosis" (59%) and "follow-up" (57%) as underrepresented subtopics. Furthermore, 12% of all topics were displayed incorrectly, particularly due to wrong information concerning "aetiology" (42%). Sixty percent of the topics were mentioned in an incomplete fashion, with less than half of the websites displaying complete information on "staging" (47%), "diagnostic evaluation" (49%) or "disease management" (45%). In general, online health information concerning testicular cancer is mentioned correctly on most websites. However, improvement regarding readability and completeness of the given information is needed. Nevertheless, highly selected websites on testicular cancer can serve as an appropriate source of patient information.

Caregiver social support quality when interacting with cancer survivors: advancing the dual-process model of supportive communication.

PubMed

Harvey-Knowles, Jacquelyn; Faw, Meara H

2018-04-01

Cancer caregivers often experience significant challenges in their motivation and ability to comfort cancer survivors, particularly in a spousal or romantic context. Spousal cancer caregivers have been known to report even greater levels of burden and distress than cancer sufferers, yet still take on the role of acting as an informal caregiver so they can attend to their partner's needs. The current study tested whether a theoretical model of supportive outcomes-the dual-process model of supportive communication-explained variations in cancer caregivers' motivation and ability to create high-quality support messages. The study also tested whether participant engagement with reflective journaling on supportive acts was associated with increased motivation or ability to generate high-quality support messages. Based upon the dual-process model, we posited that, following supportive journaling tasks, caregivers of spouses currently managing a cancer experience would report greater motivation but also greater difficulty in generating high-quality support messages, while individuals caring for a patient in remission would report lower motivation but greater ability to create high-quality support messages. Findings provided support for these assertions and suggested that reflective journaling tasks might be a useful tool for improving remission caregivers' ability to provide high-quality social support to survivors. Corresponding theoretical and applied implications are discussed.

Development and Validation of a High-Quality Composite Real-World Mortality Endpoint.

PubMed

Curtis, Melissa D; Griffith, Sandra D; Tucker, Melisa; Taylor, Michael D; Capra, William B; Carrigan, Gillis; Holzman, Ben; Torres, Aracelis Z; You, Paul; Arnieri, Brandon; Abernethy, Amy P

2018-05-14

To create a high-quality electronic health record (EHR)-derived mortality dataset for retrospective and prospective real-world evidence generation. Oncology EHR data, supplemented with external commercial and US Social Security Death Index data, benchmarked to the National Death Index (NDI). We developed a recent, linkable, high-quality mortality variable amalgamated from multiple data sources to supplement EHR data, benchmarked against the highest completeness U.S. mortality data, the NDI. Data quality of the mortality variable version 2.0 is reported here. For advanced non-small-cell lung cancer, sensitivity of mortality information improved from 66 percent in EHR structured data to 91 percent in the composite dataset, with high date agreement compared to the NDI. For advanced melanoma, metastatic colorectal cancer, and metastatic breast cancer, sensitivity of the final variable was 85 to 88 percent. Kaplan-Meier survival analyses showed that improving mortality data completeness minimized overestimation of survival relative to NDI-based estimates. For EHR-derived data to yield reliable real-world evidence, it needs to be of known and sufficiently high quality. Considering the impact of mortality data completeness on survival endpoints, we highlight the importance of data quality assessment and advocate benchmarking to the NDI. © 2018 The Authors. Health Services Research published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of Health Research and Educational Trust.

In-situ and real-time growth observation of high-quality protein crystals under quasi-microgravity on earth.

PubMed

Nakamura, Akira; Ohtsuka, Jun; Kashiwagi, Tatsuki; Numoto, Nobutaka; Hirota, Noriyuki; Ode, Takahiro; Okada, Hidehiko; Nagata, Koji; Kiyohara, Motosuke; Suzuki, Ei-Ichiro; Kita, Akiko; Wada, Hitoshi; Tanokura, Masaru

2016-02-26

Precise protein structure determination provides significant information on life science research, although high-quality crystals are not easily obtained. We developed a system for producing high-quality protein crystals with high throughput. Using this system, gravity-controlled crystallization are made possible by a magnetic microgravity environment. In addition, in-situ and real-time observation and time-lapse imaging of crystal growth are feasible for over 200 solution samples independently. In this paper, we also report results of crystallization experiments for two protein samples. Crystals grown in the system exhibited magnetic orientation and showed higher and more homogeneous quality compared with the control crystals. The structural analysis reveals that making use of the magnetic microgravity during the crystallization process helps us to build a well-refined protein structure model, which has no significant structural differences with a control structure. Therefore, the system contributes to improvement in efficiency of structural analysis for "difficult" proteins, such as membrane proteins and supermolecular complexes.

Impact of urban sprawl on water quality in eastern Massachusetts, USA.

PubMed

Tu, Jun; Xia, Zong-Guo; Clarke, Keith C; Frei, Allan

2007-08-01

A study of water quality, land use, and population variations over the past three decades was conducted in eastern Massachusetts to examine the impact of urban sprawl on water quality using geographic information system and statistical analyses. Since 1970, eastern Massachusetts has experienced pronounced urban sprawl, which has a substantial impact on water quality. High spatial correlations are found between water quality indicators (especially specific conductance, dissolved ions, including Ca, Mg, Na, and Cl, and dissolved solid) and urban sprawl indicators. Urbanized watersheds with high population density, high percentage of developed land use, and low per capita developed land use tended to have high concentrations of water pollutants. The impact of urban sprawl also shows clear spatial difference between suburban areas and central cities: The central cities experienced lower increases over time in specific conductance concentration, compared to suburban and rural areas. The impact of urban sprawl on water quality is attributed to the combined effects of population and land-use change. Per capita developed land use is a very important indicator for studying the impact of urban sprawl and improving land use and watershed management, because inclusion of this indicator can better explain the temporal and spatial variations of more water quality parameters than using individual land use or/and population density.

YouTube as an information source for pediatric adenotonsillectomy and ear tube surgery.

PubMed

Sorensen, Jeffrey A; Pusz, Max D; Brietzke, Scott E

2014-01-01

Assess the overall quality of information on adenotonsillectomy and ear tube surgery presented on YouTube (www.youtube.com) from the perspective of a parent or patient searching for information on surgery. The YouTube website was systematically searched on select dates with a formal search strategy to identify videos pertaining to pediatric adenotonsillectomy and ear tube surgery. Only videos with at least 5 (ear tube surgery) or 10 (adenotonsillectomy) views per day were included. Each video was viewed and scored by two independent scorers. Videos were categorized by goal and scored for video/audio quality, accuracy, comprehensiveness, and procedure-specific content. Cross-sectional study. Public domain website. Fifty-five videos were scored for adenotonsillectomy and forty-seven for ear tube surgery. The most common category was educational (65.3%) followed by testimonial (28.4%), and news program (9.8%). Testimonials were more common for adenotonsillectomy than ear tube surgery (41.8% vs. 12.8%, p=0.001). Testimonials had a significantly lower mean accuracy (2.23 vs. 2.62, p=0.02), comprehensiveness (1.71 vs. 2.22, p=0.007), and TA specific content (0.64 vs. 1.69, p=0.001) score than educational type videos. Only six videos (5.9%) received high scores in both video/audio quality and accuracy/comprehensiveness of content. There was no significant association between the accuracy and comprehensive score and views, posted "likes", posted "dislikes", and likes/dislikes ratio. There was an association between "likes" and mean video quality (Spearman's rho=0.262, p=0.008). Parents/patients searching YouTube for information on pediatric adenotonsillectomy and ear tube surgery will generally encounter low quality information with testimonials being common but of significantly lower quality. Viewer perceived quality ("likes") did not correlate to formally scored content quality. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd.

Progress in Brewing Science and Beer Production.

PubMed

Bamforth, C W

2017-06-07

The brewing of beer is an ancient biotechnology, the unit processes of which have not changed in hundreds of years. Equally, scientific study within the brewing industry not only has ensured that modern beer making is highly controlled, leading to highly consistent, high-quality, healthful beverages, but also has informed many other fermentation-based industries.

Resource quality or competition: why increase resource acceptance in the presence of conspecifics?

PubMed Central

Nufio, César R.; Papaj, Daniel R.

2011-01-01

Some animal species increase resource acceptance rates in the presence of conspecifics. Such responses may be adaptive if the presence of conspecifics is a reliable indicator of resource quality. Similarly, these responses could represent an adaptive reduction in choosiness under high levels of scramble competition. Although high resource quality and high levels of scramble competition should both favor increased resource acceptance, the contexts in which the increase occurs should differ. In this paper, we tested the effect of social environment on egg-laying and aggressive behavior in the walnut fly, Rhagoletis juglandis, in multiple contexts to determine whether increased resource acceptance in the presence of conspecifics was better viewed as a response to increased host quality or increased competition. We found that grouped females oviposit more readily than isolated females when provided small (low-quality) artificial hosts but not when provided large (high-quality) artificial hosts, indicating that conspecific presence reduces choosiness. Increased resource acceptance was observed even when exposure to conspecifics was temporally or spatially separate from exposure to the resource. Finally, we found that individuals showed reduced aggression after being housed in groups, as expected under high levels of scramble competition. These results indicate that the pattern of resource acceptance in the presence of conspecifics may be better viewed as a response to increased scramble competition rather than as a response to public information about resource quality. PMID:22479135

Resource quality or competition: why increase resource acceptance in the presence of conspecifics?

PubMed

Davis, Jeremy M; Nufio, César R; Papaj, Daniel R

2011-07-01

Some animal species increase resource acceptance rates in the presence of conspecifics. Such responses may be adaptive if the presence of conspecifics is a reliable indicator of resource quality. Similarly, these responses could represent an adaptive reduction in choosiness under high levels of scramble competition. Although high resource quality and high levels of scramble competition should both favor increased resource acceptance, the contexts in which the increase occurs should differ. In this paper, we tested the effect of social environment on egg-laying and aggressive behavior in the walnut fly, Rhagoletis juglandis, in multiple contexts to determine whether increased resource acceptance in the presence of conspecifics was better viewed as a response to increased host quality or increased competition. We found that grouped females oviposit more readily than isolated females when provided small (low-quality) artificial hosts but not when provided large (high-quality) artificial hosts, indicating that conspecific presence reduces choosiness. Increased resource acceptance was observed even when exposure to conspecifics was temporally or spatially separate from exposure to the resource. Finally, we found that individuals showed reduced aggression after being housed in groups, as expected under high levels of scramble competition. These results indicate that the pattern of resource acceptance in the presence of conspecifics may be better viewed as a response to increased scramble competition rather than as a response to public information about resource quality.

Patient Information Websites About Medically Induced Second-Trimester Abortions: A Descriptive Study of Quality, Suitability, and Issues.

PubMed

Carlsson, Tommy; Axelsson, Ove

2017-01-10

Patients undergoing medically induced second-trimester abortions feel insufficiently informed and use the Web for supplemental information. However, it is still unclear how people who have experience with pregnancy termination appraise the quality of patient information websites about medically induced second-trimester abortions, whether they consider the websites suitable for patients, and what issues they experience with the websites. Our objective was to investigate the quality of, suitability of, and issues with patient information websites about medically induced second-trimester abortions and potential differences between websites affiliated with the health care system and private organizations. We set out to answer the objective by using 4 laypeople who had experience with pregnancy termination as quality assessors. The first 50 hits of 26 systematic searches were screened (N=1300 hits) using search terms reported by the assessors. Of these hits, 48% (628/1300) were irrelevant and 51% (667/1300) led to websites about medically induced second-trimester abortions. After correcting for duplicate hits, 42 patient information websites were included, 18 of which were affiliated with the health care system and 24 with private organizations. The 4 assessors systematically assessed the websites with the DISCERN instrument (total score range 16-80), the Ensuring Quality Information for Patients (EQIP) tool (total score range 0-100), as well as questions concerning website suitability and perceived issues. The interrater reliability was 0.8 for DISCERN and EQIP, indicating substantial agreement between the assessors. The total mean score was 36 for DISCERN and 40 for EQIP, indicating poor overall quality. Websites from the health care system had greater total EQIP (45 vs 37, P>.05) and reliability scores (22 vs 20, P>.05). Only 1 website was recommended by all assessors and 57% (24/42) were rated as very unsuitable by at least one assessor. The most reported issues with the websites involved lack of information (76%, 32/42), and poor design (36%, 15/42). The high number of irrelevant hits and poor quality of patient information websites are considerable issues that must be addressed and considered when consulting patients awaiting medically induced second-trimester abortions. In clinical encounters, health professionals should initiate discussions concerning websites about medically induced second-trimester abortions and inform patients about the issues and quality deficits associated with these websites. ©Tommy Carlsson, Ove Axelsson. Originally published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research (http://www.jmir.org), 10.01.2017.

ANALYSIS OF INFORMATION CONTENT AND GENERAL QUALITY OF OBESITY AND EATING DISORDERS WEBSITES.

PubMed

Hernández-Morante, Juan José; Jiménez-Rodríguez, Diana; Cañavate, Rubén; Conesa-Fuentes, María del Carmen

2015-08-01

nowadays, the Internet is increasingly used by providers as a source of information for eating disorder health issues. However, health information on the Internet remains unregulated and varies in quality, accuracy and readability. the objective of this study was to determine both general and information quality of eating disorder websites, including obesity websites. three key terms (obesity, anorexia and bulimia) were entered into the Google search engine. Websites were assessed using two tests (HonCode certification and Bermudez-Tamayo et al. test) to analyze overall quality, and a third test (DISCERN test) to analyze specifically information quality. there were no significant differences regarding overall quality among the different pathologies studied (p = 0.197), although anorexia websites tended to obtain lower quality scores. Furthermore, all evaluated websites showed significant deficiencies regarding information quality (p = 0.032). Nevertheless, obesity websites showed a significant higher information quality than anorexia websites. the overall quality of eating disorders websites is moderate, but the information quality that they contain is fairly poor. Remarkably, anorexia nervosa websites showed both the lower information and general quality, while bulimia websites showed a higher general quality and obesity websites presented the most reliable information. Copyright AULA MEDICA EDICIONES 2014. Published by AULA MEDICA. All rights reserved.

Do economic evaluation studies inform effective healthcare resource allocation in Iran? A critical review of the literature.

PubMed

Haghparast-Bidgoli, Hassan; Kiadaliri, Aliasghar Ahmad; Skordis-Worrall, Jolene

2014-01-01

To aid informed health sector decision-making, data from sufficient high quality economic evaluations must be available to policy makers. To date, no known study has analysed the quantity and quality of available Iranian economic evaluation studies. This study aimed to assess the quantity, quality and targeting of economic evaluation studies conducted in the Iranian context. The study systematically reviewed full economic evaluation studies (n = 30) published between 1999 and 2012 in international and local journals. The findings of the review indicate that although the literature on economic evaluation in Iran is growing, these evaluations were of poor quality and suffer from several major methodological flaws. Furthermore, the review reveals that economic evaluation studies have not addressed the major health problems in Iran. While the availability of evidence is no guarantee that it will be used to aid decision-making, the absence of evidence will certainly preclude its use. Considering the deficiencies in the data identified by this review, current economic evaluations cannot be a useful source of information for decision makers in Iran. To improve the quality and overall usefulness of economic evaluations we would recommend; 1) developing clear national guidelines for the conduct of economic evaluations, 2) highlighting priority areas where information from such studies would be most useful and 3) training researchers and policy makers in the calculation and use of economic evaluation data.

Exploring the impact of austerity-driven policy reforms on the quality of the long-term care provision for older people in Belgium and the Netherlands.

PubMed

Janssen, David; Jongen, Wesley; Schröder-Bäck, Peter

2016-08-01

In this case study, European quality benchmarks were used to explore the contemporary quality of the long-term care provision for older people in the Belgian region of Flanders and the Netherlands following recent policy reforms. Semi-structured qualitative interviews were conducted with various experts on the long-term care provision. The results show that in the wake of the economic crisis and the reforms that followed, certain vulnerable groups of older people in Belgium and the Netherlands are at risk of being deprived of long-term care that is available, affordable and person-centred. Various suggestions were provided on how to improve the quality of the long-term care provision. The main conclusion drawn in this study is that while national and regional governments set the stage through regulatory frameworks and financing mechanisms, it is subsequently up to long-term care organisations, local social networks and informal caregivers to give substance to a high quality long-term care provision. An increased reliance on social networks and informal caregivers is seen as vital to ensure the sustainability of the long-term care systems in Belgium and in the Netherlands, although this simultaneously introduces new predicaments and difficulties. Structural governmental measures have to be introduced to support and protect informal caregivers and informal care networks. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Do economic evaluation studies inform effective healthcare resource allocation in Iran? A critical review of the literature

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

To aid informed health sector decision-making, data from sufficient high quality economic evaluations must be available to policy makers. To date, no known study has analysed the quantity and quality of available Iranian economic evaluation studies. This study aimed to assess the quantity, quality and targeting of economic evaluation studies conducted in the Iranian context. The study systematically reviewed full economic evaluation studies (n = 30) published between 1999 and 2012 in international and local journals. The findings of the review indicate that although the literature on economic evaluation in Iran is growing, these evaluations were of poor quality and suffer from several major methodological flaws. Furthermore, the review reveals that economic evaluation studies have not addressed the major health problems in Iran. While the availability of evidence is no guarantee that it will be used to aid decision-making, the absence of evidence will certainly preclude its use. Considering the deficiencies in the data identified by this review, current economic evaluations cannot be a useful source of information for decision makers in Iran. To improve the quality and overall usefulness of economic evaluations we would recommend; 1) developing clear national guidelines for the conduct of economic evaluations, 2) highlighting priority areas where information from such studies would be most useful and 3) training researchers and policy makers in the calculation and use of economic evaluation data. PMID:25050084

Measurement of Quality of Life VI. Quality-Adjusted Life Years (QALY) is an Unfortunate Use of the Quality-of-Life Concept

PubMed Central

Ventegodt, Soren; Merrick, Joav; Andersen, Niels Jorgen

2003-01-01

The QALY (quality-adjusted life years) attempts to incorporate the dimension of quality of life into the evaluation by adjusting life years by a quality factor. In practice, this is based on discussing with people the progression of a number of hypothetical illnesses and their ensuing side effects. From this information, the person assesses how each state of health described compares with a theoretical maximum state of health. For example, 1 day with a certain condition might the equivalent of living only 0.5 days in good health.We believe that QALY value only represents a superficial impression of a person's quality of life. In short, the QALY does not express what it means for a person to live a life at reduced quality. We believe that if the patients were optimally informed and allowed to decide for themselves, they would more often reject high-tech expensive biomedical treatments that only serve to prolong life and do not increase its quality. The problem of priorities may then turn out to be far more simple and also more ethical: the focus will be on the quality of life, not on QALY, and the question of the meaning of life and death will achieve greater openness and respect. PMID:14570991

Informal Mentoring for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mulcahy, Molly; Dalton, Sarah; Kolbert, Jered; Crothers, Laura

2016-01-01

The authors identified the process that 10 lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) high school students used to establish an informal adult-mentor relationship with a school personnel member. Five major themes emerged: (a) how LGBT students determined whether this person would be a safe mentor, (b) a listing of the important qualities of…

Effective Web Videoconferencing for Proctoring Online Oral Exams: A Case Study at Scale in Brazil

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Okada, Alexandra; Scott, Peter; Mendonça, Murilo

2015-01-01

The challenging of assessing formal and informal online learning at scale includes various issues. Many universities who are now promoting "Massive Online Open Courses" (MOOC), for instance, focus on relatively informal assessment of participant competence, which is not highly "quality assured". This paper reports best…

34 CFR 642.21 - What selection criteria does the Secretary use?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... looks for information that shows methods of evaluation that are appropriate for the project and, to the... operation for the project. (2) The Secretary looks for information that shows— (i) High quality in the design of the project; (ii) An effective plan of managment that insures proper and efficient...

The Annotated Bibliography and Citation Behavior: Enhancing Student Scholarship in an Undergraduate Biology Course

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Flaspohler, Molly R.; Rux, Erika M.; Flaspohler, John A.

2007-01-01

Contemporary undergraduates in the biological sciences have unprecedented access to scientific information. Although many of these students may be savvy technologists, studies from the field of library and information science consistently show that undergraduates often struggle to locate, evaluate, and use high-quality, reputable sources of…

World Wide Web Server Standards and Guidelines.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stubbs, Keith M.

This document defines the specific standards and general guidelines which the U.S. Department of Education (ED) will use to make information available on the World Wide Web (WWW). The purpose of providing such guidance is to ensure high quality and consistent content, organization, and presentation of information on ED WWW servers, in order to…

78 FR 12750 - Information Collection(s) Being Reviewed by the Federal Communications Commission, Comments...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-02-25

... retain benefits. Statutory authority for this information collection is contained in 47 U.S.C. sections... Plan for Our Future; Establish Just and Reasonable Rates for Local Exchange Carriers; High-Cost... to file a five-year service quality improvement plan by July 1, 2013, and to file annually thereafter...

Enhancing Teachers' Motivation to Apply Humanist Information Technology Innovations

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Assor, Avi

2009-01-01

This article focuses on the following issue: How can we build a training and support system that would enhance the motivation and capacity of teachers for high-quality implementation of information technology innovations guided by humanist ideas? That is, a system that would not only increase teachers' motivation to apply Humanist Information…

The ARL Scholars Portal Initiative.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jackson, Mary E.

2002-01-01

Describes an initiative of the Association of Research Libraries (ARL), the Scholars Portal Initiative, a three-year collaborative effort which seeks to provide tools for an academic community to have a single point of access on the Web to find high-quality information resources and to deliver the information and related services directly to the…

User Experiences of the McMaster Optimal Aging Portal’s Evidence Summaries and Blog Posts: Usability Study

PubMed Central

M Barbara, Angela; Dobbins, Maureen; Haynes, R Brian; Iorio, Alfonso; Lavis, John N

2016-01-01

Background Evidence summaries and blogs can support evidence-informed healthy aging, by presenting high-quality health research evidence in plain language for a nonprofessional (citizen) audience. Objective Our objective was to explore citizens’ perceptions about the usability of evidence summaries and blog posts on the Web-based McMaster Optimal Aging Portal. Methods Twenty-two citizens (aged 50 years and older) and informal caregivers participated in a qualitative study using a think-aloud method and semistructured interviews. Eleven interviews were conducted in person, 7 over the telephone, and 4 by Skype. Results We identified themes that fell under 4 user-experience categories: (1) desirability: personal relevance, (2) understandability: language comprehension, grasping the message, dealing with uncertainty, (3) usability: volume of information, use of numbers, and (4) usefulness: intention to use, facility for sharing. Conclusions Participants recognized that high-quality evidence on aging was valuable. Their intended use of the information was influenced by how much it applied to their own health circumstances or those of a loved one. Some specific formatting features that were preferred included consistent layout, content organized by subheadings, catchy titles, numerical information summarized in a table, and inclusion of a glossary. PMID:27542995

Performance and cost evaluation of health information systems using micro-costing and discrete-event simulation.

PubMed

Rejeb, Olfa; Pilet, Claire; Hamana, Sabri; Xie, Xiaolan; Durand, Thierry; Aloui, Saber; Doly, Anne; Biron, Pierre; Perrier, Lionel; Augusto, Vincent

2018-06-01

Innovation and health-care funding reforms have contributed to the deployment of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) to improve patient care. Many health-care organizations considered the application of ICT as a crucial key to enhance health-care management. The purpose of this paper is to provide a methodology to assess the organizational impact of high-level Health Information System (HIS) on patient pathway. We propose an integrated performance evaluation of HIS approach through the combination of formal modeling using the Architecture of Integrated Information Systems (ARIS) models, a micro-costing approach for cost evaluation, and a Discrete-Event Simulation (DES) approach. The methodology is applied to the consultation for cancer treatment process. Simulation scenarios are established to conclude about the impact of HIS on patient pathway. We demonstrated that although high level HIS lengthen the consultation, occupation rate of oncologists are lower and quality of service is higher (through the number of available information accessed during the consultation to formulate the diagnostic). The provided method allows also to determine the most cost-effective ICT elements to improve the care process quality while minimizing costs. The methodology is flexible enough to be applied to other health-care systems.

Bridging the Gap Between Surveyors and the Geo-Spatial Society

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Müller, H.

2016-06-01

For many years FIG, the International Association of Surveyors, has been trying to bridge the gap between surveyors and the geospatial society as a whole, with the geospatial industries in particular. Traditionally the surveying profession contributed to the good of society by creating and maintaining highly precise and accurate geospatial data bases, based on an in-depth knowledge of spatial reference frameworks. Furthermore in many countries surveyors may be entitled to make decisions about land divisions and boundaries. By managing information spatially surveyors today develop into the role of geo-data managers, the longer the more. Job assignments in this context include data entry management, data and process quality management, design of formal and informal systems, information management, consultancy, land management, all that in close cooperation with many different stakeholders. Future tasks will include the integration of geospatial information into e-government and e-commerce systems. The list of professional tasks underpins the capabilities of surveyors to contribute to a high quality geospatial data and information management. In that way modern surveyors support the needs of a geo-spatial society. The paper discusses several approaches to define the role of the surveyor within the modern geospatial society.

Quality metrics in high-dimensional data visualization: an overview and systematization.

PubMed

Bertini, Enrico; Tatu, Andrada; Keim, Daniel

2011-12-01

In this paper, we present a systematization of techniques that use quality metrics to help in the visual exploration of meaningful patterns in high-dimensional data. In a number of recent papers, different quality metrics are proposed to automate the demanding search through large spaces of alternative visualizations (e.g., alternative projections or ordering), allowing the user to concentrate on the most promising visualizations suggested by the quality metrics. Over the last decade, this approach has witnessed a remarkable development but few reflections exist on how these methods are related to each other and how the approach can be developed further. For this purpose, we provide an overview of approaches that use quality metrics in high-dimensional data visualization and propose a systematization based on a thorough literature review. We carefully analyze the papers and derive a set of factors for discriminating the quality metrics, visualization techniques, and the process itself. The process is described through a reworked version of the well-known information visualization pipeline. We demonstrate the usefulness of our model by applying it to several existing approaches that use quality metrics, and we provide reflections on implications of our model for future research. © 2010 IEEE

Effects of Military activity and habitat quality on DNA damage and oxidative stress in the largest population of the Federally threatened gopher tortoise.

PubMed

Theodorakis, Christopher W; Adams, S Marshall; Smith, Chandra; Rotter, Jamie; Hay, Ashley; Eslick, Joy

2017-12-01

Department of Defense lands are essential for providing important habitat for threatened, endangered, and at-risk species (TER-S). However, there is little information on the effects of military-related contaminants on TER-S on these lands in field situations. Thus, this study examined genotoxicity and oxidative stress in gopher tortoises (Gopherus polyphemus) on Camp Shelby, MS-the largest known population of this species, which is listed as an "endangered species" in Mississippi and a "threatened species" by the U.S. government. Blood was collected from tortoises at 19 different sites on the base with different levels of habitat quality (high-quality and low-quality habitat) and military activity (high, low, and no military activity). Oxidative stress was quantified as lipid peroxidation and GSSG/GSH ratios, while DNA damage was determined using flow cytometry. Our results suggest that: (1) for tortoises residing in low-quality habitats, oxidative stress and DNA damage increased with increasing military activity, while in high-quality habitats, oxidative stress and DNA damage decreased with increasing military activity; (2) in the absence of military activity, tortoises in high-quality habitat had higher levels of oxidative stress and DNA damage than those in low-quality habitat, and (3) there were interactions between military activity, habitat quality, and landuse in terms of the amount of observable DNA damage and oxidative stress. In particular, on high-quality habitat, tortoises from areas with high levels of military activity had lower levels of oxidative stress and DNA damage biomarkers than on reference sites. This may represent a compensatory or hormetic response. Conversely, on low-quality habitats, the level of oxidative stress and DNA damage was lower on the reference sites. Thus, tortoises on higher-quality habitats may have a greater capacity for compensatory responses. In terms of management implications, it is suggested that low quality habitats should be a higher priority for remediation, and lower priority for conducting military activities.

Musical Sound Quality in Cochlear Implant Users: A Comparison in Bass Frequency Perception Between Fine Structure Processing and High-Definition Continuous Interleaved Sampling Strategies.

PubMed

Roy, Alexis T; Carver, Courtney; Jiradejvong, Patpong; Limb, Charles J

2015-01-01

Med-El cochlear implant (CI) patients are typically programmed with either the fine structure processing (FSP) or high-definition continuous interleaved sampling (HDCIS) strategy. FSP is the newer-generation strategy and aims to provide more direct encoding of fine structure information compared with HDCIS. Since fine structure information is extremely important in music listening, FSP may offer improvements in musical sound quality for CI users. Despite widespread clinical use of both strategies, few studies have assessed the possible benefits in music perception for the FSP strategy. The objective of this study is to measure the differences in musical sound quality discrimination between the FSP and HDCIS strategies. Musical sound quality discrimination was measured using a previously designed evaluation, called Cochlear Implant-MUltiple Stimulus with Hidden Reference and Anchor (CI-MUSHRA). In this evaluation, participants were required to detect sound quality differences between an unaltered real-world musical stimulus and versions of the stimulus in which various amount of bass (low) frequency information was removed via a high-pass filer. Eight CI users, currently using the FSP strategy, were enrolled in this study. In the first session, participants completed the CI-MUSHRA evaluation with their FSP strategy. Patients were then programmed with the clinical-default HDCIS strategy, which they used for 2 months to allow for acclimatization. After acclimatization, each participant returned for the second session, during which they were retested with HDCIS, and then switched back to their original FSP strategy and tested acutely. Sixteen normal-hearing (NH) controls completed a CI-MUSHRA evaluation for comparison, in which NH controls listened to music samples under normal acoustic conditions, without CI stimulation. Sensitivity to high-pass filtering more closely resembled that of NH controls when CI users were programmed with the clinical-default FSP strategy compared with performance when programmed with HDCIS (mixed-design analysis of variance, p < 0.05). The clinical-default FSP strategy offers improvements in musical sound quality discrimination for CI users with respect to bass frequency perception. This improved bass frequency discrimination may in turn support enhanced musical sound quality. This is the first study that has demonstrated objective improvements in musical sound quality discrimination with the newer-generation FSP strategy. These positive results may help guide the selection of processing strategies for Med-El CI patients. In addition, CI-MUSHRA may also provide a novel method for assessing the benefits of newer processing strategies in the future.

Assessment of family history of substance abuse for preventive interventions with patients experiencing chronic pain: A quality improvement project.

PubMed

Pestka, Elizabeth; Nash, Virginia; Evans, Michele; Cronin, Joan; Bee, Susan; King, Susan; Osborn, Kristine; Gehin, Jessica; Weis, Karen; Loukianova, Larissa

2016-04-01

This quality improvement project demonstrates that RN Care Managers, in a chronic pain programme, can assess for a family history of substance abuse in 5-10 min. Information informs treatment based on specific high risk criteria. Benefits include heightened awareness of the genetic and environmental risks associated with a family history of substance abuse, an opportunity to participate in motivational interventions to prevent or minimize consequences of substance use disorders, and likely substantial overall health-care cost savings. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd.

Quality-based purchasing in health care.

PubMed

Waters, Hugh R; Morlock, Laura L; Hatt, Laurel

2004-01-01

Quality-based purchasing is a growing trend that seeks to improve healthcare quality through the purchaser-provider relationship. This article provides a unifying conceptual framework, presents examples of the purchaser-provider relationship in countries at different income levels, and identifies important supporting mechanisms for quality-based purchasing. As countries become wealthier, a higher proportion of healthcare spending is channeled through pooled arrangements, allowing for greater involvement of purchasers in promoting the quality of service provision. Global and line item budgets are the most common type of provider payment system in low and middle-income countries. In these countries, improving public hospital performance through contracting and incentives is a key issue. In middle and high-income countries, there are several documented examples of governments contracting to private or non-governmental health care providers, resulting in higher perceived quality of care and lower delivery costs. Encouraging quality through employer purchasing arrangements has been promoted in several countries, particularly the United States. Community-based financing schemes are an increasingly common form of health financing in parts of sub-Saharan Africa and Asia, but these schemes still cover less than 10% of national populations in countries in which they are active. To date, there is little evidence of their impact on healthcare quality. The availability of information--concerning healthcare service provision and outcomes--determines the options for establishing and monitoring contract provisions and promoting quality. Regardless of the context, quality-based purchasing depends critically on informa-tion--reporting, monitoring, and providing useful information to healthcare consumers. In many low and middle-income countries, the lack of availability of information is the principal constraint on measuring performance, a critical component of quality-based purchasing.

Comparison of good- and bad-quality cork: application of high-throughput sequencing of phellogenic tissue.

PubMed

Teixeira, Rita Teresa; Fortes, Ana Margarida; Pinheiro, Carla; Pereira, Helena

2014-09-01

Cork is one of the most valuable non-wood forest products and plays an important role in Mediterranean economies. The production of high-quality cork is dependent on both genome and environment, posing constraints on the industry because an ever-growing amount of bad-quality cork (BQC) development has been observed. In order to identify genes responsible for production of cork of superior quality we performed a comparative analysis using the 454 pyrosequencing approach on phellogenic tissue of good- and bad-quality samples. The transcriptional profiling showed a high number of genes differentially expressed (8.48%) from which 78.8% displayed annotation. Genes more highly represented in BQC are involved in DNA synthesis, RNA processing, proteolysis, and transcription factors related to the abiotic stress response. Putative stomatal/lenticular-associated genes which may be responsible for the disadvantageous higher number of lenticular channels in BQC are also more highly represented. BQC also showed an elevated content of free phenolics. On the other hand, good-quality cork (GQC) can be distinguished by highly expressed genes encoding heat-shock proteins. Together the results provide valuable new information about the molecular events leading to cork formation and provide putative biomarkers associated with cork quality that can be useful in breeding programmes. © The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Experimental Biology. All rights reserved. For permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Improving the geomagnetic field modeling with a selection of high-quality archaeointensity data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pavon-Carrasco, Francisco Javier; Gomez-Paccard, Miriam; Herve, Gwenael; Osete, Maria Luisa; Chauvin, Annick

2014-05-01

Geomagnetic field reconstructions for the last millennia are based on archeomagnetic data. However, the scatter of the archaeointensity data is very puzzling and clearly suggests that some of the intensity data might not be reliable. In this work we apply different selection criteria to the European and Western Asian archaeointensity data covering the last three millennia in order to investigate if the data selection affects geomagnetic field models results. Thanks to the recently developed archeomagnetic databases, new valuable information related to the methodology used to determine the archeointensity data is now available. We therefore used this information to rank the archaeointensity data in four quality categories depending on the methodology used during the laboratory treatment of the samples and on the number of specimens retained to calculate the mean intensities. Results show how the intensity geomagnetic field component given by the regional models hardly depends on the selected quality data used. When all the available data are used a different behavior of the geomagnetic field is observed in Western and Eastern Europe. However, when the regional model is obtained from a selection of high-quality intensity data the same features are observed at the European scale.

Fusion and quality analysis for remote sensing images using contourlet transform

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Choi, Yoonsuk; Sharifahmadian, Ershad; Latifi, Shahram

2013-05-01

Recent developments in remote sensing technologies have provided various images with high spatial and spectral resolutions. However, multispectral images have low spatial resolution and panchromatic images have low spectral resolution. Therefore, image fusion techniques are necessary to improve the spatial resolution of spectral images by injecting spatial details of high-resolution panchromatic images. The objective of image fusion is to provide useful information by improving the spatial resolution and the spectral information of the original images. The fusion results can be utilized in various applications, such as military, medical imaging, and remote sensing. This paper addresses two issues in image fusion: i) image fusion method and ii) quality analysis of fusion results. First, a new contourlet-based image fusion method is presented, which is an improvement over the wavelet-based fusion. This fusion method is then applied to a case study to demonstrate its fusion performance. Fusion framework and scheme used in the study are discussed in detail. Second, quality analysis for the fusion results is discussed. We employed various quality metrics in order to analyze the fusion results both spatially and spectrally. Our results indicate that the proposed contourlet-based fusion method performs better than the conventional wavelet-based fusion methods.

High-quality permanent draft genome sequence of Bradyrhizobium sp. Tv2a.2, a microsymbiont of Tachigali versicolor discovered in Barro Colorado Island of Panama

DOE PAGES

Tian, Rui; Parker, Matthew; Seshadri, Rekha; ...

2015-05-17

Bradyrhizobiumsp. Tv2a.2 is an aerobic, motile, Gram-negative, non-spore-forming rod that was isolated from an effective nitrogen-fixing root nodule of Tachigali versicolor collected in Barro Colorado Island of Panama. Here we describe the features of Bradyrhizobiumsp. Tv2a.2, together with high-quality permanent draft genome sequence information and annotation. The 8,496,279 bp high-quality draft genome is arranged in 87 scaffolds of 87 contigs, contains 8,109 protein-coding genes and 72 RNA-only encoding genes. In conclusion, this rhizobial genome was sequenced as part of the DOE Joint Genome Institute 2010 Genomic Encyclopedia for Bacteria and Archaea-Root Nodule Bacteria (GEBA-RNB) project.

The maladies of water and war: addressing poor water quality in Iraq.

PubMed

Zolnikov, Tara Rava

2013-06-01

Water is essential in providing nutrients, but contaminated water contributes to poor population health. Water quality and availability can change in unstructured situations, such as war. To develop a practical strategy to address poor water quality resulting from intermittent wars in Iraq, I reviewed information from academic sources regarding waterborne diseases, conflict and war, water quality treatment, and malnutrition. The prevalence of disease was high in impoverished, malnourished populations exposed to contaminated water sources. The data aided in developing a strategy to improve water quality in Iraq, which encompasses remineralized water from desalination plants, health care reform, monitoring and evaluation systems, and educational public health interventions.

Quality of patient health information on the Internet: reviewing a complex and evolving landscape.

PubMed

Fahy, Eamonn; Hardikar, Rohan; Fox, Adrian; Mackay, Sean

2014-01-01

The popularity of the Internet has enabled unprecedented access to health information. As a largely unregulated source, there is potential for inconsistency in the quality of information that reaches the patient. To review the literature relating to the quality indicators of health information for patients on the Internet. A search of English language literature was conducted using PubMed, Google Scholar and EMBASE databases. Many articles have been published which assess the quality of information relating to specific medical conditions. Indicators of quality have been defined in an attempt to predict higher quality health information on the Internet. Quality evaluation tools are scoring systems based on indicators of quality. Established tools such as the HONcode may help patients navigate to more reliable information. Google and Wikipedia are important emerging sources of patient health information. The Internet is crucial for modern dissemination of health information, but it is clear that quality varies significantly between sources. Quality indicators for web-information have been developed but there is no agreed standard yet. We envisage that reliable rating tools, effective search engine ranking and progress in crowd-edited websites will enhance patient access to health information on the Internet.

Information for mental health systems: an instrument for policy-making and system service quality.

PubMed

Lora, A; Lesage, A; Pathare, S; Levav, I

2017-08-01

Information is crucial in mental healthcare, yet it remains undervalued by stakeholders. Its absence undermines rationality in planning, makes it difficult to monitor service quality improvement, impedes accountability and human rights monitoring. For international organizations (e.g., WHO, OECD), information is indispensable for achieving better outcomes in mental health policies, services and programs. This article reviews the importance of developing system level information with reference to inputs, processes and outputs, analyzes available tools for collecting and summarizing information, highlights the various goals of information gathering, discusses implementation issues and charts the way forward. Relevant publications and research were consulted, including WHO studies that purport to promote the use of information systems to upgrade mental health care in high- and low-middle income countries. Studies have shown that once information has been collected by relevant systems and analyzed through indicator schemes, it can be put to many uses. Monitoring mental health services, represents a first step in using information. In addition, studies have noted that information is a prime resource in many other areas such as evaluation of quality of care against evidence based standards of care. Services data may support health services research where it is possible to link mental health data with other health and non-health databases. Information systems are required to carefully monitor involuntary admissions, restrain and seclusion, to reduce human rights violations in care facilities. Information has been also found useful for policy makers, to monitor the implementation of policies, to evaluate their impact, to rationally allocate funding and to create new financing models. Despite its manifold applications, Information systems currently face many problems such as incomplete recording, poor data quality, lack of timely reporting and feedback, and limited application of information. Corrective action is needed to upgrade data collection in outpatient facilities, to improve data quality, to establish clear rules and norms, to access adequate information technology equipment and to train health care personnel in data collection. Moreover, it is necessary to shift from mere administrative data collection to analysis, dissemination and use by relevant stakeholders and to develop a "culture of information" to dismantle the culture of intuition and mere tradition. Clinical directors, mental health managers, patient and family representatives, as well as politicians should be educated to operate with information and not just intuition.

Flux-tunable heat sink for quantum electric circuits.

PubMed

Partanen, M; Tan, K Y; Masuda, S; Govenius, J; Lake, R E; Jenei, M; Grönberg, L; Hassel, J; Simbierowicz, S; Vesterinen, V; Tuorila, J; Ala-Nissila, T; Möttönen, M

2018-04-20

Superconducting microwave circuits show great potential for practical quantum technological applications such as quantum information processing. However, fast and on-demand initialization of the quantum degrees of freedom in these devices remains a challenge. Here, we experimentally implement a tunable heat sink that is potentially suitable for the initialization of superconducting qubits. Our device consists of two coupled resonators. The first resonator has a high quality factor and a fixed frequency whereas the second resonator is designed to have a low quality factor and a tunable resonance frequency. We engineer the low quality factor using an on-chip resistor and the frequency tunability using a superconducting quantum interference device. When the two resonators are in resonance, the photons in the high-quality resonator can be efficiently dissipated. We show that the corresponding loaded quality factor can be tuned from above 10 5 down to a few thousand at 10 GHz in good quantitative agreement with our theoretical model.

RAQ–A Random Forest Approach for Predicting Air Quality in Urban Sensing Systems

PubMed Central

Yu, Ruiyun; Yang, Yu; Yang, Leyou; Han, Guangjie; Move, Oguti Ann

2016-01-01

Air quality information such as the concentration of PM2.5 is of great significance for human health and city management. It affects the way of traveling, urban planning, government policies and so on. However, in major cities there is typically only a limited number of air quality monitoring stations. In the meantime, air quality varies in the urban areas and there can be large differences, even between closely neighboring regions. In this paper, a random forest approach for predicting air quality (RAQ) is proposed for urban sensing systems. The data generated by urban sensing includes meteorology data, road information, real-time traffic status and point of interest (POI) distribution. The random forest algorithm is exploited for data training and prediction. The performance of RAQ is evaluated with real city data. Compared with three other algorithms, this approach achieves better prediction precision. Exciting results are observed from the experiments that the air quality can be inferred with amazingly high accuracy from the data which are obtained from urban sensing. PMID:26761008

'How to stop a nosebleed': an assessment of the quality of epistaxis treatment advice on YouTube.

PubMed

Haymes, A T; Harries, V

2016-08-01

Video hosting websites are increasingly being used to disseminate health education messages. This study aimed to assess the quality of advice contained within YouTube videos on the conservative management of epistaxis. YouTube.com was searched using the phrase 'how to stop a nosebleed'. The first 50 videos were screened. Objective advice scores and subjective production quality scores were attributed by independent raters. Forty-five videos were analysed. The mean advice score was 2.0 out of 8 and the mean production quality score was 1.6 out of 3. There were no correlations between a video's advice score and its search results rank (ρ = -0.28, p = 0.068), its view count (ρ = 0.20, p = 0.19) or its number of 'likes' (ρ = 0.21, p = 0.18). The quality of information on conservative epistaxis management within YouTube videos is extremely variable. A high search rank is no indication of video quality. Many videos proffer inappropriate and dangerous 'alternative' advice. We do not recommend YouTube as a source for patient information.

Quality of web-based family-building information for LGBTQ individuals.

PubMed

Kreines, Fabiana M; Farr, Alex; Chervenak, Frank A; Grünebaum, Amos

2018-02-01

The number of patients who seek health information on the internet is increasing. Rates are particularly high among lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) individuals, due to health care barriers. The aim of this study was to evaluate the quality and inclusivity of web-based information pertaining to LGBTQ family building. The first 100 US-based websites pertaining to LGBTQ family building were identified through a terminology-based internet search. After eliminating 45 websites, 55 websites were found to be eligible. The 2016 Website Information Reliability Evaluation Instrument (of the Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, US Department of Health and Human Services) was used to analyse the quality of information on each website. Websites were analysed for inclusivity of important topics surrounding LGBTQ family building. A total of 46 websites (83.6%) belonged or were related to reproductive services and served as advertisements for their respective owners; nine websites (16.4%) belonged to third parties. No website met more than four of the six major reliability criteria, and 42 websites (76.4%) met only one or two of the six major reliability criteria. When inclusivity was considered, 29 websites (52.7%) mentioned options for transgender individuals and nine websites (16.4%) mentioned adoption. There is a lack of reliable web-based information for LGBTQ family building and a need for improvement in quality and scope. Improvements could lead to a shift in reproductive health care towards better inclusion of and catering to LGBTQ individuals.

Assessing the Quality of Death and Dying in an Integrated Health Care System in Rural Pennsylvania.

PubMed

Darer, Jonathan D; Clarke, Deseraé N; Sees, Amanda C; Berger, Andrea L; Kirchner, H Lester; Stametz, Rebecca A; Davis, Daniel

2015-09-01

With growing emphasis on improving the value of health care, there is increased scrutiny of quality outcomes and high health expenditures during the final months of life. The purpose of this project is to answer 1) how do next of kin (NOK) perceive the quality of their loved ones' dying and death; 2) are there patient and NOK characteristics that predict lower quality; and 3) are there structural aspects of care associated with lower quality? A mailed survey was administered to a stratified random sample of NOK of Geisinger Health System patients who had died in the past year. The Quality of Death and Dying, the General Anxiety Disorder seven-item scale, the Patient Health Questionnaire eight-item depression scale, and selected questions from the Toolkit of Instruments to Measure End of Life Care were used. There were 672 respondents. Significant predictors of Quality of Death and Dying score were number of doctors involved in care (P = 0.0415), location of death (P < 0.0001), frequency of receiving confusing or contradictory information (P < 0.0001), illness progression (P = 0.0343), Patient Health Questionnaire-2 score (P = 0.0148), and General Anxiety Disorder seven-item scale score (P < 0.0070). Several findings suggest that factors such as NOK depression and anxiety, prolonged illness, dying in the hospital, receipt of conflicting information, and confusion around the doctor in charge are associated with lower quality of the dying and death experience for NOK. Further investigation is warranted to facilitate high-quality measurement and the use of measurement results to improve care. Copyright © 2015 American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Evidence into practice: evaluating a child-centred intervention for diabetes medicine management The EPIC Project

PubMed Central

2010-01-01

Background There is a lack of high quality, child-centred and effective health information to support development of self-care practices and expertise in children with acute and long-term conditions. In type 1 diabetes, clinical guidelines indicate that high-quality, child-centred information underpins achievement of optimal glycaemic control with the aim of minimising acute readmissions and reducing the risk of complications in later life. This paper describes the development of a range of child-centred diabetes information resources and outlines the study design and protocol for a randomized controlled trial to evaluate the information resources in routine practice. The aim of the diabetes information intervention is to improve children and young people's quality of life by increasing self-efficacy in managing their type 1 diabetes. Methods/Design We used published evidence, undertook qualitative research and consulted with children, young people and key stakeholders to design and produce a range of child-centred, age-appropriate children's diabetes diaries, carbohydrate recording sheets, and assembled child-centred, age-appropriate diabetes information packs containing published information in a folder that can be personalized by children and young people with pens and stickers. Resources have been designed for children/young people 6-10; 11-15; and 16-18 years. To evaluate the information resources, we designed a pragmatic randomized controlled trial to assess the effectiveness, cost effectiveness, and implementation in routine practice of individually tailored, age-appropriate diabetes diaries and information packs for children and young people age 6-18years, compared with currently available standard practice. Children and young people will be stratified by gender, length of time since diagnosis (< 2years and > 2years) and age (6-10; 11-15; and 16-18 years). The following data will be collected at baseline, 3 and 6 months: PedsQL (generic, diabetes and parent versions), and EQ-5 D (parent and child); NHS resource use and process data (questionnaire and interview). Baseline and subsequent HbA1c measurements, blood glucose meter use, readings and insulin dose will be taken from routine test results and hand-held records when attending routine 3-4 monthly clinic visits. The primary outcome measure is diabetes self-efficacy and quality-of-life (Diabetes PedsQL). Secondary outcomes include: HbA1c, generic quality of life, routinely collected NHS/child-held data, costs, service use, acceptability and utility. Trial Registration ISRCTN17551624. PMID:20875112

Quality of care in the intensive care unit from the perspective of patient's relatives: development and psychometric evaluation of the consumer quality index 'R-ICU'.

PubMed

Rensen, Ans; van Mol, Margo M; Menheere, Ilse; Nijkamp, Marjan D; Verhoogt, Ellen; Maris, Bea; Manders, Willeke; Vloet, Lilian; Verharen, Lisbeth

2017-01-24

The quality standards of the Dutch Society of Intensive Care require monitoring of the satisfaction of patient's relatives with respect to care. Currently, no suitable instrument is available in the Netherlands to measure this. This study describes the development and psychometric evaluation of the questionnaire-based Consumer Quality Index 'Relatives in Intensive Care Unit' (CQI 'R-ICU'). The CQI 'R-ICU' measures the perceived quality of care from the perspective of patients' relatives, and identifies aspects of care that need improvement. The CQI 'R-ICU' was developed using a mixed method design. Items were based on quality of care aspects from earlier studies and from focus group interviews with patients' relatives. The time period for the data collection of the psychometric evaluation was from October 2011 until July 2012. Relatives of adult intensive care patients in one university hospital and five general hospitals in the Netherlands were approached to participate. Psychometric evaluation included item analysis, inter-item analysis, and factor analysis. Twelve aspects were noted as being indicators of quality of care, and were subsequently selected for the questionnaire's vocabulary. The response rate of patients' relatives was 81% (n = 455). Quality of care was represented by two clusters, each showing a high reliability: 'Communication' (α = .80) and 'Participation' (α = .84). Relatives ranked the following aspects for quality of care as most important: no conflicting information, information from doctors and nurses is comprehensive, and health professionals take patients' relatives seriously. The least important care aspects were: need for contact with peers, nuisance, and contact with a spiritual counsellor. Aspects that needed the most urgent improvement (highest quality improvement scores) were: information about how relatives can contribute to the care of the patient, information about the use of meal-facilities in the hospital, and involvement in decision-making on the medical treatment of the patient. The CQI 'R-ICU' evaluates quality of care from the perspective of relatives of intensive care patients and provides practical information for quality assurance and improvement programs. The development and psychometric evaluation of the CQI 'R-ICU' led to a draft questionnaire, sufficient to justify further research into the reliability, validity, and the discriminative power of the questionnaire.

A low-cost inertial smoothing system for landing approach guidance

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Niessen, F. R.

1973-01-01

Accurate position and velocity information with low noise content for instrument approaches and landings is required for both control and display applications. In a current VTOL automatic instrument approach and landing research program, radar-derived landing guidance position reference signals, which are noisy, have been mixed with acceleration information derived from low-cost onboard sensors to provide high-quality position and velocity information. An in-flight comparison of signal quality and accuracy has shown good agreement between the low-cost inertial smoothing system and an aided inertial navigation system. Furthermore, the low-cost inertial smoothing system has been proven to be satisfactory in control and display system applications for both automatic and pilot-in-the-loop instrument approaches and landings.

Using a Birth Center Model of Care to Improve Reproductive Outcomes in Informal Settlements-a Case Study.

PubMed

Wallace, Jacqueline

2018-06-04

The world is becoming increasingly urban. For the first time in history, more than 50% of human beings live in cities (United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division, ed. (2015)). Rapid urbanization is often chaotic and unstructured, leading to the formation of informal settlements or slums. Informal settlements are frequently located in environmentally hazardous areas and typically lack adequate sanitation and clean water, leading to poor health outcomes for residents. In these difficult circumstances women and children fair the worst, and reproductive outcomes for women living in informal settlements are grim. Insufficient uptake of antenatal care, lack of skilled birth attendants and poor-quality care contribute to maternal mortality rates in informal settlements that far outpace wealthier urban neighborhoods (Chant and McIlwaine (2016)). In response, a birth center model of maternity care is proposed for informal settlements. Birth centers have been shown to provide high quality, respectful, culturally appropriate care in high resource settings (Stapleton et al. J Midwifery Women's Health 58(1):3-14, 2013; Hodnett et al. Cochrane Database Syst Rev CD000012, 2012; Brocklehurst et al. BMJ 343:d7400, 2011). In this paper, three case studies are described that support the use of this model in low resource, urban settings.

Web Page Content and Quality Assessed for Shoulder Replacement.

PubMed

Matthews, John R; Harrison, Caitlyn M; Hughes, Travis M; Dezfuli, Bobby; Sheppard, Joseph

2016-01-01

The Internet has become a major source for obtaining health-related information. This study assesses and compares the quality of information available online for shoulder replacement using medical (total shoulder arthroplasty [TSA]) and nontechnical (shoulder replacement [SR]) terminology. Three evaluators reviewed 90 websites for each search term across 3 search engines (Google, Yahoo, and Bing). Websites were grouped into categories, identified as commercial or noncommercial, and evaluated with the DISCERN questionnaire. Total shoulder arthroplasty provided 53 unique sites compared to 38 websites for SR. Of the 53 TSA websites, 30% were health professional-oriented websites versus 18% of SR websites. Shoulder replacement websites provided more patient-oriented information at 48%, versus 45% of TSA websites. In total, SR websites provided 47% (42/90) noncommercial websites, with the highest number seen in Yahoo, compared with TSA at 37% (33/90), with Google providing 13 of the 33 websites (39%). Using the nonmedical terminology with Yahoo's search engine returned the most noncommercial and patient-oriented websites. However, the quality of information found online was highly variable, with most websites being unreliable and incomplete, regardless of search term.

Building a Rapid Learning Health Care System for Oncology: Why CancerLinQ Collects Identifiable Health Information to Achieve Its Vision.

PubMed

Shah, Alaap; Stewart, Andrew K; Kolacevski, Andrej; Michels, Dina; Miller, Robert

2016-03-01

The ever-increasing volume of scientific discoveries, clinical knowledge, novel diagnostic tools, and treatment options juxtaposed with rising costs in health care challenge physicians to identify, prioritize, and use new information rapidly to deliver efficient and high-quality care to a growing and aging patient population. CancerLinQ, a rapid learning health care system in oncology, is an initiative of the American Society of Clinical Oncology and its Institute for Quality that addresses these challenges by collecting information from the electronic health records of large numbers of patients with cancer. CancerLinQ is first and foremost a quality measurement and reporting system through which oncologists can harness the depth and power of their patients' clinical records and other data to assess, monitor, and improve the care they deliver. However, in light of privacy and security concerns with regard to collection, use, and disclosure of patient information, this article addresses the need to collect protected health information as defined under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 to drive rapid learning through CancerLinQ. © 2016 by American Society of Clinical Oncology.

Interactive effects of carbon footprint information and its accessibility on value and subjective qualities of food products.

PubMed

Kimura, Atsushi; Wada, Yuji; Kamada, Akiko; Masuda, Tomohiro; Okamoto, Masako; Goto, Sho-ichi; Tsuzuki, Daisuke; Cai, Dongsheng; Oka, Takashi; Dan, Ippeita

2010-10-01

We aimed to explore the interactive effects of the accessibility of information and the degree of carbon footprint score on consumers' value judgments of food products. Participants (n=151, undergraduate students in Japan) rated their maximum willingness to pay (WTP) for four food products varying in information accessibility (active-search or read-only conditions) and in carbon footprint values (low, middle, high, or non-display) provided. We also assessed further effects of information accessibly and carbon footprint value on other product attributes utilizing the subjective estimation of taste, quality, healthiness, and environmental friendliness. Results of the experiment demonstrated an interactive effect of information accessibility and the degree of carbon emission on consumer valuation of carbon footprint-labeled food. The carbon footprint value had a stronger impact on participants' WTP in the active-search condition than in the read-only condition. Similar to WTP, the results of the subjective ratings for product qualities also exhibited an interactive effect of the two factors on the rating of environmental friendliness for products. These results imply that the perceived environmental friendliness inferable from a carbon footprint label contributes to creating value for a food product.

Improved navigation by combining VOR/DME information with air or inertial data

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bobick, J. C.; Bryson, A. E., Jr.

1972-01-01

The improvement was determined in navigational accuracy obtainable by combining VOR/DME information (from one or two stations) with air data (airspeed and heading) or with data from an inertial navigation system (INS) by means of a maximum-likelihood filter. It was found that the addition of air data to the information from one VOR/DME station reduces the RMS position error by a factor of about 2, whereas the addition of inertial data from a low-quality INS reduces the RMS position error by a factor of about 3. The use of information from two VOR/DME stations with air or inertial data yields large factors of improvement in RMS position accuracy over the use of a single VOR/DME station, roughly 15 to 20 for the air-data case and 25 to 35 for the inertial-data case. As far as position accuracy is concerned, at most one VOR station need be used. When continuously updating an INS with VOR/DME information, the use of a high-quality INS (0.01 deg/hr gyro drift) instead of a low-quality INS (1.0 deg/hr gyro drift) does not substantially improve position accuracy.

Prostate Cancer on the Web-Expedient Tool for Patients' Decision-Making?

PubMed

Borgmann, Hendrik; Wölm, Jan-Henning; Vallo, Stefan; Mager, Rene; Huber, Johannes; Breyer, Johannes; Salem, Johannes; Loeb, Stacy; Haferkamp, Axel; Tsaur, Igor

2017-03-01

Many patients diagnosed with cancer search for health information on the Web. We aimed to assess the quality and reliability of online health information on prostate cancer. Google, Yahoo, and Bing were searched for the term "prostate cancer." After selecting the most frequented websites, quality was measured by DISCERN score, JAMA benchmark criteria, and presence of HONcode certification. Popularity was assessed by Alexa tool, while accessibility, usability, and reliability were investigated by LIDA tool. Readability was analyzed by Flesch-Kincaid Reading Grade Level and Automated Readability Index. All 13 selected websites were rated as being of high quality according to the DISCERN instrument (76.5 ± 2.6 out of 80 points). JAMA benchmark criteria were fulfilled by 87 % of websites, whereas only 37 % were certified by the HONcode. Median Alexa Traffic Rank was 2718 ranging from 7 to 679,038. Websites received 2.3 ± 0.5 daily pageviews per visitor and users spent an average of 2 min 58 s ± 39 sec on the website. Accessibility (92 ± 5 %) and usability (92 ± 3 %) scores were high and reliability (88 ± 8 %) moderate according to the LIDA tool. Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level was 7.9 ± 2.2, and Automated Readability Index was 7.5 ± 2.4, rating the websites as fairly difficult to read. In conclusion, quality, accessibility, and usability of websites on prostate cancer provided a high rating in the current analysis. These findings are encouraging in view of the growing frequency of patients' access of health information online.

Increasing reliability of APACHE II scores in a medical-surgical intensive care unit: a quality improvement study.

PubMed

Donahoe, Laura; McDonald, Ellen; Kho, Michelle E; Maclennan, Margaret; Stratford, Paul W; Cook, Deborah J

2009-01-01

Given their clinical, research, and administrative purposes, scores on the Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation (APACHE) II should be reliable, whether calculated by health care personnel or a clinical information system. To determine reliability of APACHE II scores calculated by a clinical information system and by health care personnel before and after a multifaceted quality improvement intervention. APACHE II scores of 37 consecutive patients admitted to a closed, 15-bed, university-affiliated intensive care unit were collected by a research coordinator, a database clerk, and a clinical information system. After a quality improvement intervention focused on health care personnel and the clinical information system, the same methods were used to collect data on 32 consecutive patients. The research coordinator and the clerk did not know each other's scores or the information system's score. The data analyst did not know the source of the scores until analysis was complete. APACHE II scores obtained by the clerk and the research coordinator were highly reliable (intraclass correlation coefficient, 0.88 before vs 0.80 after intervention; P = .25). No significant changes were detected after the intervention; however, compared with scores of the research coordinator, the overall reliability of APACHE II scores calculated by the clinical information system improved (intraclass correlation coefficient, 0.24 before intervention vs 0.91 after intervention, P < .001). After completion of a quality improvement intervention, health care personnel and a computerized clinical information system calculated sufficiently reliable APACHE II scores for clinical, research, and administrative purposes.

Design and Establishment of Quality Model of Fundamental Geographic Information Database

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ma, W.; Zhang, J.; Zhao, Y.; Zhang, P.; Dang, Y.; Zhao, T.

2018-04-01

In order to make the quality evaluation for the Fundamental Geographic Information Databases(FGIDB) more comprehensive, objective and accurate, this paper studies and establishes a quality model of FGIDB, which formed by the standardization of database construction and quality control, the conformity of data set quality and the functionality of database management system, and also designs the overall principles, contents and methods of the quality evaluation for FGIDB, providing the basis and reference for carry out quality control and quality evaluation for FGIDB. This paper designs the quality elements, evaluation items and properties of the Fundamental Geographic Information Database gradually based on the quality model framework. Connected organically, these quality elements and evaluation items constitute the quality model of the Fundamental Geographic Information Database. This model is the foundation for the quality demand stipulation and quality evaluation of the Fundamental Geographic Information Database, and is of great significance on the quality assurance in the design and development stage, the demand formulation in the testing evaluation stage, and the standard system construction for quality evaluation technology of the Fundamental Geographic Information Database.

Multidrug Resistance among New Tuberculosis Cases: Detecting Local Variation through Lot Quality-Assurance Sampling

PubMed Central

Lynn Hedt, Bethany; van Leth, Frank; Zignol, Matteo; Cobelens, Frank; van Gemert, Wayne; Viet Nhung, Nguyen; Lyepshina, Svitlana; Egwaga, Saidi; Cohen, Ted

2012-01-01

Background Current methodology for multidrug-resistant TB (MDR TB) surveys endorsed by the World Health Organization provides estimates of MDR TB prevalence among new cases at the national level. On the aggregate, local variation in the burden of MDR TB may be masked. This paper investigates the utility of applying lot quality-assurance sampling to identify geographic heterogeneity in the proportion of new cases with multidrug resistance. Methods We simulated the performance of lot quality-assurance sampling by applying these classification-based approaches to data collected in the most recent TB drug-resistance surveys in Ukraine, Vietnam, and Tanzania. We explored three classification systems—two-way static, three-way static, and three-way truncated sequential sampling—at two sets of thresholds: low MDR TB = 2%, high MDR TB = 10%, and low MDR TB = 5%, high MDR TB = 20%. Results The lot quality-assurance sampling systems identified local variability in the prevalence of multidrug resistance in both high-resistance (Ukraine) and low-resistance settings (Vietnam). In Tanzania, prevalence was uniformly low, and the lot quality-assurance sampling approach did not reveal variability. The three-way classification systems provide additional information, but sample sizes may not be obtainable in some settings. New rapid drug-sensitivity testing methods may allow truncated sequential sampling designs and early stopping within static designs, producing even greater efficiency gains. Conclusions Lot quality-assurance sampling study designs may offer an efficient approach for collecting critical information on local variability in the burden of multidrug-resistant TB. Before this methodology is adopted, programs must determine appropriate classification thresholds, the most useful classification system, and appropriate weighting if unbiased national estimates are also desired. PMID:22249242

Multidrug resistance among new tuberculosis cases: detecting local variation through lot quality-assurance sampling.

PubMed

Hedt, Bethany Lynn; van Leth, Frank; Zignol, Matteo; Cobelens, Frank; van Gemert, Wayne; Nhung, Nguyen Viet; Lyepshina, Svitlana; Egwaga, Saidi; Cohen, Ted

2012-03-01

Current methodology for multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR TB) surveys endorsed by the World Health Organization provides estimates of MDR TB prevalence among new cases at the national level. On the aggregate, local variation in the burden of MDR TB may be masked. This paper investigates the utility of applying lot quality-assurance sampling to identify geographic heterogeneity in the proportion of new cases with multidrug resistance. We simulated the performance of lot quality-assurance sampling by applying these classification-based approaches to data collected in the most recent TB drug-resistance surveys in Ukraine, Vietnam, and Tanzania. We explored 3 classification systems- two-way static, three-way static, and three-way truncated sequential sampling-at 2 sets of thresholds: low MDR TB = 2%, high MDR TB = 10%, and low MDR TB = 5%, high MDR TB = 20%. The lot quality-assurance sampling systems identified local variability in the prevalence of multidrug resistance in both high-resistance (Ukraine) and low-resistance settings (Vietnam). In Tanzania, prevalence was uniformly low, and the lot quality-assurance sampling approach did not reveal variability. The three-way classification systems provide additional information, but sample sizes may not be obtainable in some settings. New rapid drug-sensitivity testing methods may allow truncated sequential sampling designs and early stopping within static designs, producing even greater efficiency gains. Lot quality-assurance sampling study designs may offer an efficient approach for collecting critical information on local variability in the burden of multidrug-resistant TB. Before this methodology is adopted, programs must determine appropriate classification thresholds, the most useful classification system, and appropriate weighting if unbiased national estimates are also desired.

Third Molars on the Internet: A Guide for Assessing Information Quality and Readability

PubMed Central

Brennan, David; Sambrook, Paul; Armfield, Jason

2015-01-01

Background Directing patients suffering from third molars (TMs) problems to high-quality online information is not only medically important, but also could enable better engagement in shared decision making. Objectives This study aimed to develop a scale that measures the scientific information quality (SIQ) for online information concerning wisdom tooth problems and to conduct a quality evaluation for online TMs resources. In addition, the study evaluated whether a specific piece of readability software (Readability Studio Professional 2012) might be reliable in measuring information comprehension, and explored predictors for the SIQ Scale. Methods A cross-sectional sample of websites was retrieved using certain keywords and phrases such as “impacted wisdom tooth problems” using 3 popular search engines. The retrieved websites (n=150) were filtered. The retained 50 websites were evaluated to assess their characteristics, usability, accessibility, trust, readability, SIQ, and their credibility using DISCERN and Health on the Net Code (HoNCode). Results Websites’ mean scale scores varied significantly across website affiliation groups such as governmental, commercial, and treatment provider bodies. The SIQ Scale had a good internal consistency (alpha=.85) and was significantly correlated with DISCERN (r=.82, P<.01) and HoNCode (r=.38, P<.01). Less than 25% of websites had SIQ scores above 75%. The mean readability grade (10.3, SD 1.9) was above the recommended level, and was significantly correlated with the Scientific Information Comprehension Scale (r=.45. P<.01), which provides evidence for convergent validity. Website affiliation and DISCERN were significantly associated with SIQ (P<.01) and explained 76% of the SIQ variance. Conclusion The developed SIQ Scale was found to demonstrate reliability and initial validity. Website affiliation, DISCERN, and HoNCode were significant predictors for the quality of scientific information. The Readability Studio software estimates were associated with scientific information comprehensiveness measures. PMID:26443470

[Reliable health information for patients with rare diseases : Quality demands defined by the National Action Plan and how they are put into practice].

PubMed

Schaefer, Corinna; Brunsmann, Frank; Siegert, Svenja

2017-05-01

Information for patients with rare diseases has to adhere to strict quality criteria in order to support individual treatment decisions or coping strategies. However, developers are facing specific challenges: For example, the evidence is often insufficient or of very low quality. In the context of the National Action League for People with Rare Diseases (NAMSE), criteria have been developed that assure high-quality information on rare diseases. Core criteria comprise the involvement of patients or their advocates in all stages of the development process, the systematic search and assessment of the evidence, systematic collection of patient experience, transparency in terms of people involved and funding, and nondirective and neutral formulation of content and documentation of the process. In a joint project between the Alliance for Chronic Rare Diseases (ACHSE e. V.) and the German Agency for Quality in Medicine (ÄZQ), ten short information leaflets on different rare diseases have been developed in the past three years, conceived to show the applicability of these criteria. First experiences with this format show that the criteria are adaptive to a broad range of diverse rare diseases and settings. Involving patients and their advocates throughout the whole development process - from prioritization to development of methods and provision of patient experience and coping strategies - is crucial. Insufficient evidence remains a challenge. The examples show that in the absence of proven findings, information that matters to patients and reflects this uncertainty is feasible.

Comparison of quality of internet pages on human papillomavirus immunization in Italian and in English.

PubMed

Tozzi, Alberto Eugenio; Buonuomo, Paola Sabrina; Ciofi degli Atti, Marta Luisa; Carloni, Emanuela; Meloni, Marco; Gamba, Fiorenza

2010-01-01

Information available on the Internet about immunizations may influence parents' perception about human papillomavirus (HPV) immunization and their attitude toward vaccinating their daughters. We hypothesized that the quality of information on HPV available on the Internet may vary with language and with the level of knowledge of parents. To this end we compared the quality of a sample of Web pages in Italian with a sample of Web pages in English. Five reviewers assessed the quality of Web pages retrieved with popular search engines using criteria adapted from the Good Information Practice Essential Criteria for Vaccine Safety Web Sites recommended by the World Health Organization. Quality of Web pages was assessed in the domains of accessibility, credibility, content, and design. Scores in these domains were compared through nonparametric statistical tests. We retrieved and reviewed 74 Web sites in Italian and 117 in English. Most retrieved Web pages (33.5%) were from private agencies. Median scores were higher in Web pages in English compared with those in Italian in the domain of accessibility (p < .01), credibility (p < .01), and content (p < .01). The highest credibility and content scores were those of Web pages from governmental agencies or universities. Accessibility scores were positively associated with content scores (p < .01) and with credibility scores (p < .01). A total of 16.2% of Web pages in Italian opposed HPV immunization compared with 6.0% of those in English (p < .05). Quality of information and number of Web pages opposing HPV immunization may vary with the Web site language. High-quality Web pages on HPV, especially from public health agencies and universities, should be easily accessible and retrievable with common Web search engines. Copyright 2010 Society for Adolescent Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Honoring Progress: An Update on the NGA Center Honor States. Volume 1, Issue 5

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hartney, Michael, Ed.

2007-01-01

This bimonthly newsletter provides information about the progress of the Honor States Grant Program, a governor-led effort to improve college--and work-ready graduation rates. This issue spotlights the "supply-side" of high school redesign, exploring how state policymakers are working to expand the supply of high-quality high schools.…

A rapid review of the impact of commissioning on service use, quality, outcomes and value for money: implications for Australian policy.

PubMed

Gardner, Karen; Davies, G Powell; Edwards, Karen; McDonald, Julie; Findlay, Terry; Kearns, Rachael; Joshi, Chandni; Harris, Mark

2016-01-01

The aim of this systematic review was to assess evidence of the impact of commissioning on health service use, quality, outcomes and value for money and to consider findings in the Australian context. Systematic searches of the literature identified 444 papers and, after exclusions, 36 were subject to full review. The commissioning cycle (planning, contracting, monitoring) formed a framework for analysis and impacts were assessed at individual, subpopulation and population levels. Little evidence of the effectiveness of commissioning at any level was available and observed impacts were highly context-dependent. There was insufficient evidence to identify a preferred model. Lack of skills and capacity were cited as major barriers to the implementation of commissioning. Successful commissioning requires a clear policy framework of national and regional priorities that define agreed targets for commissioning agencies. Engagement of consumers and providers, especially physicians, was considered to be critically important but is time consuming and has proven difficult to sustain. Adequate information on the cost, volume and quality of healthcare services is critically important for setting priorities, and for contracting and monitoring performance. Lack of information resulted in serious problems. High-quality nationally standardised performance measures and data requirements need to be built into contracts and ongoing monitoring and evaluation. In Australia, there is significant work to be done in areas of policy and governance, funding systems and incentives, patient enrolment or registration, information systems, individual and organisational capacity, community engagement and experience in commissioning.

Health Information on Internet: Quality, Importance, and Popularity of Persian Health Websites

PubMed Central

Samadbeik, Mahnaz; Ahmadi, Maryam; Mohammadi, Ali; Mohseni Saravi, Beniamin

2014-01-01

Background: The Internet has provided great opportunities for disseminating both accurate and inaccurate health information. Therefore, the quality of information is considered as a widespread concern affecting the human life. Despite the increasingly substantial growth in the number of users, Persian health websites and the proportion of internet-using patients, little is known about the quality of Persian medical and health websites. Objectives: The current study aimed to first assess the quality, popularity and importance of websites providing Persian health-related information, and second to evaluate the correlation of the popularity and importance ranking with quality score on the Internet. Materials and Methods: The sample websites were identified by entering the health-related keywords into four most popular search engines of Iranian users based on the Alexa ranking at the time of study. Each selected website was assessed using three qualified tools including the Bomba and Land Index, Google PageRank and the Alexa ranking. Results: The evaluated sites characteristics (ownership structure, database, scope and objective) really did not have an effect on the Alexa traffic global rank, Alexa traffic rank in Iran, Google PageRank and Bomba total score. Most websites (78.9 percent, n = 56) were in the moderate category (8 ≤ x ≤ 11.99) based on their quality levels. There was no statistically significant association between Google PageRank with Bomba index variables and Alexa traffic global rank (P > 0.05). Conclusions: The Persian health websites had better Bomba quality scores in availability and usability guidelines as compared to other guidelines. The Google PageRank did not properly reflect the real quality of evaluated websites and Internet users seeking online health information should not merely rely on it for any kind of prejudgment regarding Persian health websites. However, they can use Iran Alexa rank as a primary filtering tool of these websites. Therefore, designing search engines dedicated to explore accredited Persian health-related Web sites can be an effective method to access high-quality Persian health websites. PMID:24910795

Designing a Method with Physician Participation to Assess and Improve Quality of Healthcare in Otolaryngology.

PubMed

Arce, José M; Martín Cleary, Catalina; Cenjor, Carlos; Ramos, Ángel; Ortiz, Alberto

2017-04-01

Patient choice of healthcare centers to be treated for specific diseases is compromised by the low accessibility of understandable information. Physicians are rarely involved in healthcare quality assessment, despite their potentially valuable input. The purpose of this study was to develop a methodology for evaluating the quality of care that specifically incorporates advice from medical specialists and provides accessible information for patients in search of high-quality healthcare. A pilot Delphi study was conducted among 28 Spanish otolaryngology experts, seeking their opinion on the quality-of-care indicators and on their ability to recommend the most suitable department for the treatment of specific otolaryngologic diseases. The average acceptance rate was 91.9% for quality-of-care indicator and 96.5% for the resources needed for improving the quality of care. Furthermore, 93% experts reported that patients frequently ask for physician advice on which center provides better care for a specific disease, 92.6% experts believe they could recommend the best centers for specific otolaryngologic diseases, and 80% experts agreed that expert opinion on the quality of care offered by different centers would be a valuable addition to quality-of-care assessment. The incorporation of physician advice into healthcare quality assessment may improve the usefulness of healthcare quality indicators for patients. Assessment tools incorporating physician advice should be developed and validated.

THE ECOTOX DATABASE

EPA Science Inventory

The database provides chemical-specific toxicity information for aquatic life, terrestrial plants, and terrestrial wildlife. ECOTOX is a comprehensive ecotoxicology database and is therefore essential for providing and suppoirting high quality models needed to estimate population...

Evaluating the feasibility of using online software to collect patient information in a chiropractic practice-based research network

PubMed Central

Kania-Richmond, Ania; Weeks, Laura; Scholten, Jeffrey; Reney, Mikaël

2016-01-01

Background: Practice based research networks (PBRNs) are increasingly used as a tool for evidence based practice. We developed and tested the feasibility of using software to enable online collection of patient data within a chiropractic PBRN to support clinical decision making and research in participating clinics. Purpose: To assess the feasibility of using online software to collect quality patient information. Methods: The study consisted of two phases: 1) Assessment of the quality of information provided, using a standardized form; and 2) Exploration of patients’ perspectives and experiences regarding online information provision through semi-structured interviews. Data analysis was descriptive. Results: Forty-five new patients were recruited. Thirty-six completed online forms, which were submitted by an appropriate person 100% of the time, with an error rate of less than 1%, and submitted in a timely manner 83% of the time. Twenty-one participants were interviewed. Overall, online forms were preferred given perceived security, ease of use, and enabling provision of more accurate information. Conclusions: Use of online software is feasible, provides high quality information, and is preferred by most participants. A pen-and-paper format should be available for patients with this preference and in case of technical difficulties. PMID:27069272