The perceived value of using BIM for energy simulation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lewis, Anderson M.

Building Information Modeling (BIM) is becoming an increasingly important tool in the Architectural, Engineering & Construction (AEC) industries. Some of the benefits associated with BIM include but are not limited to cost and time savings through greater trade and design coordination, and more accurate estimating take-offs. BIM is a virtual 3D, parametric design software that allows users to store information of a model within and can be used as a communication platform between project stakeholders. Likewise, energy simulation is an integral tool for predicting and optimizing a building's performance during design. Creating energy models and running energy simulations can be a time consuming activity due to the large number of parameters and assumptions that must be addressed to achieve reasonably accurate results. However, leveraging information imbedded within Building Information Models (BIMs) has the potential to increase accuracy and reduce the amount of time required to run energy simulations and can facilitate continuous energy simulations throughout the design process, thus optimizing building performance. Although some literature exists on how design stakeholders perceive the benefits associated with leveraging BIM for energy simulation, little is known about how perceptions associated with leveraging BIM for energy simulation differ between various green design stakeholder user groups. Through an e-survey instrument, this study seeks to determine how perceptions of using BIMs to inform energy simulation differ among distinct design stakeholder groups, which include BIM-only users, energy simulation-only users and BIM and energy simulation users. Additionally, this study seeks to determine what design stakeholders perceive as the main barriers and benefits of implementing BIM-based energy simulation. Results from this study suggest that little to no correlation exists between green design stakeholders' perceptions of the value associated with using information from BIMs to inform energy simulation and their engagement level with BIM and/or energy simulation. However, green design stakeholder perceptions of the value associated with using information from BIMs to inform energy simulation and their engagement with BIM and/or energy simulation may differ between different user groups (i.e. BIM users only, energy simulation users only, and BIM and energy simulation users). For example, the BIM-only user groups appeared to have a strong positive correlation between the perceptions of the value associated with using information from BIMs to inform energy simulation and their engagement with BIM. Additionally, this study suggests that the top perceived benefits of using BIMs to inform energy simulations among green design stakeholders are: facilitation of communication, reducing of process related costs, and giving users the ability examine more design options. The main perceived barrier of using BIMs to inform energy simulations among green design stakeholders was a lack of BIM standards for model integration with multidisciplinary teams. Results from this study will help readers understand how to better implement BIM-based energy simulation while mitigating barriers and optimizing benefits. Additionally, examining discrepancies between user groups can lead the identification and improvement of shortfalls in current BIM-based energy simulation processes. Understanding how perceptions and engagement levels differ among different software user groups will help in developing a strategies for implementing BIM-based energy simulation that are tailored to each specific user group.

Shilling attack detection for recommender systems based on credibility of group users and rating time series.

PubMed

Zhou, Wei; Wen, Junhao; Qu, Qiang; Zeng, Jun; Cheng, Tian

2018-01-01

Recommender systems are vulnerable to shilling attacks. Forged user-generated content data, such as user ratings and reviews, are used by attackers to manipulate recommendation rankings. Shilling attack detection in recommender systems is of great significance to maintain the fairness and sustainability of recommender systems. The current studies have problems in terms of the poor universality of algorithms, difficulty in selection of user profile attributes, and lack of an optimization mechanism. In this paper, a shilling behaviour detection structure based on abnormal group user findings and rating time series analysis is proposed. This paper adds to the current understanding in the field by studying the credibility evaluation model in-depth based on the rating prediction model to derive proximity-based predictions. A method for detecting suspicious ratings based on suspicious time windows and target item analysis is proposed. Suspicious rating time segments are determined by constructing a time series, and data streams of the rating items are examined and suspicious rating segments are checked. To analyse features of shilling attacks by a group user's credibility, an abnormal group user discovery method based on time series and time window is proposed. Standard testing datasets are used to verify the effect of the proposed method.

[Patients and quality of primary health care services. Survey of practitioners at the Bahía de Cádiz and La Janda health centers].

PubMed

Hernán García, M; Gutiérrez Cuadra, J L; Lineros González, C; Ruiz Barbosa, C; Rabadán Asensio, A

2002-10-31

To report the opinions of practitioners at health centers on dimensions of quality that affect user satisfaction. Cross-sectional study of focus groups (FG). Bahía de Cádiz and La Janda health centers in southwestern Spain. We studied 4 FG whose participants were staff members of the two health centers: FG1, physicians; FG2, user satisfaction service staff; FG3, social workers; FG4, nurses. The groups were based on the different functions of staff at the two centers. The analysis was based on variables in the SERCAL model (an adaptation of the SERVQUAL model for the Spanish health care system) of opinions regarding service quality: access, comfort (tangibles), personalized service (courtesy), competence, and loyalty. The data were analyzed with version N-Vivo of the NUDIST program. All dimensions of the theoretical model were identified by practitioners as constructs of users' perceptions of service quality. Users' and practitioners' views contrasted with and complemented each other to generate a model that could be validated. Access, personalized service and problem-solving (responsiveness) were key variables. Practitioners' opinions provided information of use in improving the quality model. Differences in opinion between users and practitioners merit further study based on an understanding of these groups' values and interests, and on the care provision context. Practitioners identified access, personalized service and problem-solving as features that influenced users' opinions of the quality of the health center.

Designers' models of the human-computer interface

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gillan, Douglas J.; Breedin, Sarah D.

1993-01-01

Understanding design models of the human-computer interface (HCI) may produce two types of benefits. First, interface development often requires input from two different types of experts: human factors specialists and software developers. Given the differences in their backgrounds and roles, human factors specialists and software developers may have different cognitive models of the HCI. Yet, they have to communicate about the interface as part of the design process. If they have different models, their interactions are likely to involve a certain amount of miscommunication. Second, the design process in general is likely to be guided by designers' cognitive models of the HCI, as well as by their knowledge of the user, tasks, and system. Designers do not start with a blank slate; rather they begin with a general model of the object they are designing. The author's approach to a design model of the HCI was to have three groups make judgments of categorical similarity about the components of an interface: human factors specialists with HCI design experience, software developers with HCI design experience, and a baseline group of computer users with no experience in HCI design. The components of the user interface included both display components such as windows, text, and graphics, and user interaction concepts, such as command language, editing, and help. The judgments of the three groups were analyzed using hierarchical cluster analysis and Pathfinder. These methods indicated, respectively, how the groups categorized the concepts, and network representations of the concepts for each group. The Pathfinder analysis provides greater information about local, pairwise relations among concepts, whereas the cluster analysis shows global, categorical relations to a greater extent.

Context-based user grouping for multi-casting in heterogeneous radio networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mannweiler, C.; Klein, A.; Schneider, J.; Schotten, H. D.

2011-08-01

Along with the rise of sophisticated smartphones and smart spaces, the availability of both static and dynamic context information has steadily been increasing in recent years. Due to the popularity of social networks, these data are complemented by profile information about individual users. Making use of this information by classifying users in wireless networks enables targeted content and advertisement delivery as well as optimizing network resources, in particular bandwidth utilization, by facilitating group-based multi-casting. In this paper, we present the design and implementation of a web service for advanced user classification based on user, network, and environmental context information. The service employs simple and advanced clustering algorithms for forming classes of users. Available service functionalities include group formation, context-aware adaptation, and deletion as well as the exposure of group characteristics. Moreover, the results of a performance evaluation, where the service has been integrated in a simulator modeling user behavior in heterogeneous wireless systems, are presented.

Measuring pedestrian volumes and conflicts. Volume IV, Pedestrian/vehicle accident prediction model : a users manual

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1988-03-01

Users of this manual are expected to be researchers who are attempting to develop models that can be used to predict occurrence of pedestrian accidents in a particular city. The manual presents guidelines in the development of such models. A group-...

User Modeling for Contextual Suggestion

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-11-01

information retrieval literature ( Salton et al., 1975). To apply this metric, we converted the user interest model into a vector representation with all...Discovering Virtual Interest Groups across Chat Rooms, International Conference on Knowledge Management and Information Sharing (KMIS 2012). [7] Salton , G., A

Shilling attack detection for recommender systems based on credibility of group users and rating time series

PubMed Central

Wen, Junhao; Qu, Qiang; Zeng, Jun; Cheng, Tian

2018-01-01

Recommender systems are vulnerable to shilling attacks. Forged user-generated content data, such as user ratings and reviews, are used by attackers to manipulate recommendation rankings. Shilling attack detection in recommender systems is of great significance to maintain the fairness and sustainability of recommender systems. The current studies have problems in terms of the poor universality of algorithms, difficulty in selection of user profile attributes, and lack of an optimization mechanism. In this paper, a shilling behaviour detection structure based on abnormal group user findings and rating time series analysis is proposed. This paper adds to the current understanding in the field by studying the credibility evaluation model in-depth based on the rating prediction model to derive proximity-based predictions. A method for detecting suspicious ratings based on suspicious time windows and target item analysis is proposed. Suspicious rating time segments are determined by constructing a time series, and data streams of the rating items are examined and suspicious rating segments are checked. To analyse features of shilling attacks by a group user’s credibility, an abnormal group user discovery method based on time series and time window is proposed. Standard testing datasets are used to verify the effect of the proposed method. PMID:29742134

What's all the talk about? Topic modelling in a mental health Internet support group.

PubMed

Carron-Arthur, Bradley; Reynolds, Julia; Bennett, Kylie; Bennett, Anthony; Griffiths, Kathleen M

2016-10-28

The majority of content in an Internet Support Group (ISG) is contributed by 1 % of the users ('super users'). Computational methods, such as topic modelling, can provide a large-scale quantitative objective description of this content. Such methods may provide a new perspective on the nature of engagement on ISGs including the role of super users and their possible effect on other users. A topic model was computed for all posts (N = 131,004) in the ISG BlueBoard using Latent Dirichlet Allocation. A model containing 25 topics was selected on the basis of intelligibility as determined by diagnostic metrics and qualitative investigation. This model yielded 21 substantive topics for further analysis. Two chi-square tests were conducted separately for each topic to ascertain: (i) if the odds of super users' and other users' posting differed for each topic; and (ii) if for super users the odds of posting differed depending on whether the response was to a super user or to another user. The 21 substantive topics covered a range of issues related to mental health and peer-support. There were significantly higher odds that super users wrote content on 13 topics, with the greatest effects being for Parenting Role (OR [95%CI] = 7.97 [7.85-8.10]), Co-created Fiction (4.22 [4.17-4.27]), Mental Illness (3.13 [3.11-3.16]) and Positive Change (2.82 [2.79-2.84]). There were significantly lower odds for super users on 7 topics, with the greatest effects being for the topics Depression (OR = 0.27 [0.27-0.28]), Medication (0.36 [0.36-0.37]), Therapy (0.55 [0.54-0.55]) and Anxiety (0.55 [0.55-0.55]). However, super users were significantly more likely to write content on 5 out of these 7 topics when responding to other users than when responding to fellow super users. The findings suggest that super users serve the role of emotionally supportive companions with a focus on topics broadly resembling the consumer/carer model of recovery. Other users engage in topics with a greater focus on experiential knowledge, disclosure and informational support, a pattern resembling the clinical symptom-focussed approach to recovery. However, super users modify their content in response to other users in a manner consistent with being 'active help providers'.

A User’s Guide for the Software Technology Economic Impact Model

DTIC Science & Technology

1991-10-01

Copy 16 oft22 oples U AD-A248 023 \\\\1\\\\\\i\\~\\1\\1\\\\1\\1\\11\\\\\\l~ IDA DOCUMENT D-971 E Tt USER’S GUIDE FOR THE SOFTWARE TECHNOLOGY ECONOMIC IMPACT MODEL I... studied , and they are released by the President of IDA. Group Reports Group Reports record the findings and results of IDA established working groups and...the senior individuals responsible for the project and others as selected by IDA to ensure their high quality and relevance to the problems studied

Exploring beliefs about dietary supplement use: focus group discussions with Dutch adults.

PubMed

Pajor, Emília Margit; Oenema, Anke; Eggers, Sander Matthijs; de Vries, Hein

2017-10-01

Although dietary supplement use is increasing in Europe and the USA, little research involving adults' beliefs regarding dietary supplements has been conducted. Therefore, the present study aimed to explore and compare users' and non-users' beliefs towards dietary supplements. Thirteen focus group discussions were conducted of which seven groups were dietary supplement users and six groups were non-users. Based on the socio-cognitive factors of the Integrated Change Model, a semi-structured topic guide was set up. The discussions were audio-recorded and subjected to qualitative content analysis, applying the framework approach. Data were collected in Maastricht, the Netherlands, in 2014 and 2015. In total fifty-six individuals participated in the study, of whom twenty-eight were dietary supplement users and twenty-eight non-users. The average age of participants was 42·9 years. Dietary supplement users' attitude beliefs were mainly related to mental and physical health enhancement, illness prevention and curative health benefits. Users were critical of the nutritional knowledge of health professionals and of the quality of food products. Non-users were convinced that the human body does not need any support and that regular food is enough to cover one's nutritional needs. Users and non-users held comparable beliefs regarding the definition and risks of dietary supplements, and perceived social influences. In their decision about dietary supplement use, both groups were guided by their own convictions to a great extent. Both groups would benefit from improved understanding of the health effects of dietary supplements to improve informed decision making.

Predicting individual fusional range from optometric data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Endrikhovski, Serguei; Jin, Elaine; Miller, Michael E.; Ford, Robert W.

2005-03-01

A model was developed to predict the range of disparities that can be fused by an individual user from optometric measurements. This model uses parameters, such as dissociated phoria and fusional reserves, to calculate an individual user"s fusional range (i.e., the disparities that can be fused on stereoscopic displays) when the user views a stereoscopic stimulus from various distances. This model is validated by comparing its output with data from a study in which the individual fusional range of a group of users was quantified while they viewed a stereoscopic display from distances of 0.5, 1.0, and 2.0 meters. Overall, the model provides good data predictions for the majority of the subjects and can be generalized for other viewing conditions. The model may, therefore, be used within a customized stereoscopic system, which would render stereoscopic information in a way that accounts for the individual differences in fusional range. Because the comfort of an individual user also depends on the user"s ability to fuse stereo images, such a system may, consequently, improve the comfort level and viewing experience for people with different stereoscopic fusional capabilities.

Users Manual for FAA Cost Allocation Model.

DTIC Science & Technology

1986-12-01

29 2.10 Ramsey Files................29 2.11 Allocation Tables.............33 2.12 MINSYS....................34 2.13 TAXRAM1...Budget V p. ARTRFUT1~TOWRFUTI " ’T RA RF UT 1 FSSRFUT1 Ramsey Pricing Allocations to User Groups i OPSRFUTI OPS RFUIA V 08RFUTI MINSYS GA Minimum...Splits Aviation Standards--O&M Budget V ARTRFUT 2 TOWRFUT2 TRARFUT2 FSSRFUT2 Ramsey Pricing Allocations to User Groups OPSRFU2 OPSVRFU 2A OPSVFUT2

Issues and challenges of involving users in medical device development.

PubMed

Bridgelal Ram, Mala; Grocott, Patricia R; Weir, Heather C M

2008-03-01

User engagement has become a central tenet of health-care policy. This paper reports on a case study in progress that highlights user engagement in the research process in relation to medical device development. To work with a specific group of medical device users to uncover unmet needs, translating these into design concepts, novel technologies and products. To validate a knowledge transfer model that may be replicated for a range of medical device applications and user groups. In depth qualitative case study to elicit and analyse user needs. The focus is on identifying design concepts for medical device applications from unmet needs, and validating these in an iterative feedback loop to the users. The case study has highlighted three interrelated challenges: ensuring unmet needs drive new design concepts and technology development; managing user expectations and managing the research process. Despite the challenges, active participation of users is crucial to developing usable and clinically effective devices.

Predicting age groups of Twitter users based on language and metadata features

PubMed Central

Morgan-Lopez, Antonio A.; Chew, Robert F.; Ruddle, Paul

2017-01-01

Health organizations are increasingly using social media, such as Twitter, to disseminate health messages to target audiences. Determining the extent to which the target audience (e.g., age groups) was reached is critical to evaluating the impact of social media education campaigns. The main objective of this study was to examine the separate and joint predictive validity of linguistic and metadata features in predicting the age of Twitter users. We created a labeled dataset of Twitter users across different age groups (youth, young adults, adults) by collecting publicly available birthday announcement tweets using the Twitter Search application programming interface. We manually reviewed results and, for each age-labeled handle, collected the 200 most recent publicly available tweets and user handles’ metadata. The labeled data were split into training and test datasets. We created separate models to examine the predictive validity of language features only, metadata features only, language and metadata features, and words/phrases from another age-validated dataset. We estimated accuracy, precision, recall, and F1 metrics for each model. An L1-regularized logistic regression model was conducted for each age group, and predicted probabilities between the training and test sets were compared for each age group. Cohen’s d effect sizes were calculated to examine the relative importance of significant features. Models containing both Tweet language features and metadata features performed the best (74% precision, 74% recall, 74% F1) while the model containing only Twitter metadata features were least accurate (58% precision, 60% recall, and 57% F1 score). Top predictive features included use of terms such as “school” for youth and “college” for young adults. Overall, it was more challenging to predict older adults accurately. These results suggest that examining linguistic and Twitter metadata features to predict youth and young adult Twitter users may be helpful for informing public health surveillance and evaluation research. PMID:28850620

Predicting age groups of Twitter users based on language and metadata features.

PubMed

Morgan-Lopez, Antonio A; Kim, Annice E; Chew, Robert F; Ruddle, Paul

2017-01-01

Health organizations are increasingly using social media, such as Twitter, to disseminate health messages to target audiences. Determining the extent to which the target audience (e.g., age groups) was reached is critical to evaluating the impact of social media education campaigns. The main objective of this study was to examine the separate and joint predictive validity of linguistic and metadata features in predicting the age of Twitter users. We created a labeled dataset of Twitter users across different age groups (youth, young adults, adults) by collecting publicly available birthday announcement tweets using the Twitter Search application programming interface. We manually reviewed results and, for each age-labeled handle, collected the 200 most recent publicly available tweets and user handles' metadata. The labeled data were split into training and test datasets. We created separate models to examine the predictive validity of language features only, metadata features only, language and metadata features, and words/phrases from another age-validated dataset. We estimated accuracy, precision, recall, and F1 metrics for each model. An L1-regularized logistic regression model was conducted for each age group, and predicted probabilities between the training and test sets were compared for each age group. Cohen's d effect sizes were calculated to examine the relative importance of significant features. Models containing both Tweet language features and metadata features performed the best (74% precision, 74% recall, 74% F1) while the model containing only Twitter metadata features were least accurate (58% precision, 60% recall, and 57% F1 score). Top predictive features included use of terms such as "school" for youth and "college" for young adults. Overall, it was more challenging to predict older adults accurately. These results suggest that examining linguistic and Twitter metadata features to predict youth and young adult Twitter users may be helpful for informing public health surveillance and evaluation research.

Proceedings of the ATB Model Users Group Conference Held in Phoenix, Arizona on 8-9 February 1996.

DTIC Science & Technology

1996-02-09

8217 0.3 Cards Harness Belt Geomietry iEVRNMNTIHamess F.8 Cards Airbag Geometry EVRNMNT/ Airbags D.4 Cards Spring/Dampers EVIRNIVNTISpring-Dampers 0.8 Cards...Conference Units of Measurement o Specify Length, Force, & Time Units o English - Inches, Pounds, Seconds - Most commonly used - Field width problems ...Proceedings of the 1996 ATB Model Users’ Group Conference 22 Airbags Reaction Panels "Contacting Body DeploymentPrmy Point Reaction Panel Spring-Dampers

The Influences of Landscape Features on Visitation of Hospital Green Spaces-A Choice Experiment Approach.

PubMed

Chang, Kaowen Grace; Chien, Hungju

2017-07-05

Studies have suggested that visiting and viewing landscaping at hospitals accelerates patient's recovery from surgery and help staff's recovery from mental fatigue. To plan and construct such landscapes, we need to unravel landscape features desirable to different groups so that the space can benefit a wide range of hospital users. Using discrete choice modeling, we developed experimental choice sets to investigate how landscape features influence the visitations of different users in a large regional hospital in Taiwan. The empirical survey provides quantitative estimates of the influence of each landscape feature on four user groups, including patients, caregivers, staff, and neighborhood residents. Our findings suggest that different types of features promote visits from specific user groups. Landscape features facilitating physical activities effectively encourage visits across user groups especially for caregivers and staff. Patients in this study specify a strong need for contact with nature. The nearby community favors the features designed for children's play and family activities. People across user groups value the features that provide a mitigated microclimate of comfort, such as a shelter. Study implications and limitations are also discussed. Our study provides information essential for creating a better healing environment in a hospital setting.

Involving older people in a multi-centre randomised trial of a complex intervention in pre-hospital emergency care: implementation of a collaborative model.

PubMed

Koniotou, Marina; Evans, Bridie Angela; Chatters, Robin; Fothergill, Rachael; Garnsworthy, Christopher; Gaze, Sarah; Halter, Mary; Mason, Suzanne; Peconi, Julie; Porter, Alison; Siriwardena, A Niroshan; Toghill, Alun; Snooks, Helen

2015-07-10

Health services research is expected to involve service users as active partners in the research process, but few examples report how this has been achieved in practice in trials. We implemented a model to involve service users in a multi-centre randomised controlled trial in pre-hospital emergency care. We used the generic Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) from our Clinical Trials Unit (CTU) as the basis for creating a model to fit the context and population of the SAFER 2 trial. In our model, we planned to involve service users at all stages in the trial through decision-making forums at 3 levels: 1) strategic; 2) site (e.g. Wales; London; East Midlands); 3) local. We linked with charities and community groups to recruit people with experience of our study population. We collected notes of meetings alongside other documentary evidence such as attendance records and study documentation to track how we implemented our model. We involved service users at strategic, site and local level. We also added additional strategic level forums (Task and Finish Groups and Writing Days) where we included service users. Service user involvement varied in frequency and type across meetings, research stages and locations but stabilised and increased as the trial progressed. Involving service users in the SAFER 2 trial showed how it is feasible and achievable for patients, carers and potential patients sharing the demographic characteristics of our study population to collaborate in a multi-centre trial at the level which suited their health, location, skills and expertise. A standard model of involvement can be tailored by adopting a flexible approach to take account of the context and complexities of a multi-site trial. Current Controlled Trials ISRCTN60481756. Registered: 13 March 2009.

How Social Communications Influence Advertising Perception and Response in Online Communities?

PubMed

Zeng, Fue; Tao, Ran; Yang, Yanwu; Xie, Tingting

2017-01-01

This research aims to explore how social communications of online communities affect users' perception and responses toward social media advertising. We developed a conceptual model based on the SBT, encapsulating 9 constructs and 10 hypothesis extracted from the extant social media advertising literature. Our research outcome proves that social communications can effectively boost users' behaviors to be in accordance with an online social community, thus facilitate their acceptance and responses toward social media advertising, with users' group intention as an intervening factor. From an operational standpoint, it's an effective way to build and maintain social bonds between users and the community by boosting social communications, supporting fluent interpersonal communications. In addition, managers of an online community should elaborate on users' group intentions to increase users' advertising acceptance and response.

Smart Meter Driven Segmentation: What Your Consumption Says About You

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

Albert, A; Rajagopal, R

With the rollout of smart metering infrastructure at scale, demand-response (DR) programs may now be tailored based on users' consumption patterns as mined from sensed data. For issuing DR events it is key to understand the inter-temporal consumption dynamics as to appropriately segment the user population. We propose to infer occupancy states from consumption time series data using a hidden Markov model framework. Occupancy is characterized in this model by 1) magnitude, 2) duration, and 3) variability. We show that users may be grouped according to their consumption patterns into groups that exhibit qualitatively different dynamics that may be exploitedmore » for program enrollment purposes. We investigate empirically the information that residential energy consumers' temporal energy demand patterns characterized by these three dimensions may convey about their demographic, household, and appliance stock characteristics. Our analysis shows that temporal patterns in the user's consumption data can predict with good accuracy certain user characteristics. We use this framework to argue that there is a large degree of individual predictability in user consumption at a population level.« less

Home Exercise in a Social Context: Real-Time Experience Sharing Using Avatars

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Aghajan, Yasmin; Lacroix, Joyca; Cui, Jingyu; van Halteren, Aart; Aghajan, Hamid

This paper reports on the design of a vision-based exercise monitoring system. The system aims to promote well-being by making exercise sessions enjoyable experiences, either through real-time interaction and instructions proposed to the user, or via experience sharing or group gaming with peers in a virtual community. The use of avatars is explored as means of representation of the user’s exercise movements or appearance, and the system employs user-centric approaches in visual processing, behavior modeling via history data accumulation, and user feedback to learn the preferences. A preliminary survey study has been conducted to explore the avatar preferences in two user groups.

Development and Application of an Analyst Process Model for a Search Task Scenario

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-12-01

varied experience levels of the users we will be looking at not only testing the new tool, but also understanding the impact on user groups that the...each group using the toolsets to complete search tasks. 2.4 Hypotheses This research effort seeks to test the following hypotheses: H0... quantitative measures: report quality, errors, and cognitive workload. Due to the crossover design of the experiment, these were analyzed by group and within

A virtual therapeutic environment with user projective agents.

PubMed

Ookita, S Y; Tokuda, H

2001-02-01

Today, we see the Internet as more than just an information infrastructure, but a socializing place and a safe outlet of inner feelings. Many personalities develop aside from real world life due to its anonymous environment. Virtual world interactions are bringing about new psychological illnesses ranging from netaddiction to technostress, as well as online personality disorders and conflicts in multiple identities that exist in the virtual world. Presently, there are no standard therapy models for the virtual environment. There are very few therapeutic environments, or tools especially made for virtual therapeutic environments. The goal of our research is to provide the therapy model and middleware tools for psychologists to use in virtual therapeutic environments. We propose the Cyber Therapy Model, and Projective Agents, a tool used in the therapeutic environment. To evaluate the effectiveness of the tool, we created a prototype system, called the Virtual Group Counseling System, which is a therapeutic environment that allows the user to participate in group counseling through the eyes of their Projective Agent. Projective Agents inherit the user's personality traits. During the virtual group counseling, the user's Projective Agent interacts and collaborates to recover and increase their psychological growth. The prototype system provides a simulation environment where psychologists can adjust the parameters and customize their own simulation environment. The model and tool is a first attempt toward simulating online personalities that may exist only online, and provide data for observation.

Geometrical model for DBMS: an experimental DBMS using IBM solid modeling

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

Ali, D.E.D.L.

1985-01-01

This research presents a new model for data base management systems (DBMS). The new model, Geometrical DBMS, is based on using solid modelling technology in designing and implementing DBMS. The Geometrical DBMS is implemented using the IBM solid modelling Geometric Design Processor (GDP). Built basically on computer-graphics concepts, Geometrical DBMS is indeed a unique model. Traditionally, researchers start with one of the existent DBMS models and then put a graphical front end on it. In Geometrical DBMS, the graphical aspect of the model is not an alien concept tailored to the model but is, as a matter of fact, themore » atom around which the model is designed. The main idea in Geometrical DBMS is to allow the user and the system to refer to and manipulate data items as a solid object in 3D space, and representing a record as a group of logically related solid objects. In Geometical DBMS, hierarchical structure is used to present the data relations and the user sees the data as a group of arrays; yet, for the user and the system together, the data structure is a multidimensional tree.« less

Mental health service user participation in Chinese culture: a model of independence or interdependence?

PubMed

Tang, Jessica Pui-Shan; Tse, Samson Shu-Ki; Davidson, Larry; Cheng, Patrick

2017-12-22

Current models of user participation in mental health services were developed within Western culture and thus may not be applicable to Chinese communities. To present a new model of user participation, which emerged from research within a Chinese community, for understanding the processes of and factors influencing user participation in a non-Western culture. Multiple qualitative methods, including focus groups, individual in-depth interviews, and photovoice, were applied within the framework of constructivist grounded theory and collaborative research. Diverging from conceptualizations of user participation with emphasis on civil rights and the individual as a central agent, participants in the study highlighted the interpersonal dynamics between service users and different players affecting the participation intensity and outcomes. They valued a reciprocal relationship with their caregivers in making treatment decisions, cooperated with staff to observe power hierarchies and social harmony, identified the importance of peer support in enabling service engagement and delivery, and emphasized professional facilitation in advancing involvement at the policy level. User participation in Chinese culture embeds dynamic interdependence. The proposed model adds this new dimension to the existing frameworks and calls for attention to the complex local ecology and cultural consistency in realizing user participation.

The Influences of Landscape Features on Visitation of Hospital Green Spaces—A Choice Experiment Approach

PubMed Central

Chang, Kaowen Grace; Chien, Hungju

2017-01-01

Studies have suggested that visiting and viewing landscaping at hospitals accelerates patient’s recovery from surgery and help staff’s recovery from mental fatigue. To plan and construct such landscapes, we need to unravel landscape features desirable to different groups so that the space can benefit a wide range of hospital users. Using discrete choice modeling, we developed experimental choice sets to investigate how landscape features influence the visitations of different users in a large regional hospital in Taiwan. The empirical survey provides quantitative estimates of the influence of each landscape feature on four user groups, including patients, caregivers, staff, and neighborhood residents. Our findings suggest that different types of features promote visits from specific user groups. Landscape features facilitating physical activities effectively encourage visits across user groups especially for caregivers and staff. Patients in this study specify a strong need for contact with nature. The nearby community favors the features designed for children’s play and family activities. People across user groups value the features that provide a mitigated microclimate of comfort, such as a shelter. Study implications and limitations are also discussed. Our study provides information essential for creating a better healing environment in a hospital setting. PMID:28678168

Incorporation of Electrical Systems Models Into an Existing Thermodynamic Cycle Code

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Freeh, Josh

2003-01-01

Integration of entire system includes: Fuel cells, motors, propulsors, thermal/power management, compressors, etc. Use of existing, pre-developed NPSS capabilities includes: 1) Optimization tools; 2) Gas turbine models for hybrid systems; 3) Increased interplay between subsystems; 4) Off-design modeling capabilities; 5) Altitude effects; and 6) Existing transient modeling architecture. Other factors inclde: 1) Easier transfer between users and groups of users; 2) General aerospace industry acceptance and familiarity; and 3) Flexible analysis tool that can also be used for ground power applications.

Oxidative stress controlling agents are effective for small intestinal injuries induced by non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs.

PubMed

Kono, Yoshiyasu; Kawano, Seiji; Takaki, Akinobu; Shimomura, Yasuyuki; Onji, Masahiro; Ishikawa, Hisashi; Takahashi, Sakuma; Horii, Joichiro; Kobayashi, Sayo; Kawai, Daisuke; Yamamoto, Kazuhide; Okada, Hiroyuki

2017-01-01

Video-capsule endoscopy (VCE) has shown that intestinal ulcers are common in non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) users, although the mechanisms and management have not been clearly defined. To explore the contribution of oxidative stress and potential of anti-oxidants for NSAIDs-induced intestinal ulcers, we assessed human serum oxidative stress balance and the effect of anti-oxidants using a mouse model. A total of 30 NSAIDs users (17 aspirin and 13 non-aspirin users) received VCE. Serum reactive oxygen metabolite (d-ROM) and antioxidative OXY-adsorbent test (OXY) were measured. The indomethacin (IND)-induced mouse intestinal ulcer model was used to assess the effect of anti-oxidants. Eight-week-old mice were divided into four groups; control diet and diet including IND (N group), IND and L-carnitine (NC group), and IND and vitamin E (NE group). Serum OXY levels among non-aspirin users were lower in the mucosal injuries positive group than the negative group (P < 0.05). In the mouse models, the degree of mucosal injuries was lower in NC and NE than N (P < 0.01). Serum d-ROM levels were lower in NC and NE than N (P < 0.01), and OXY levels were higher in NC than N and NE (P < 0.01). The degeneration of intestinal mitochondria was mild in NC and NE. The serum KC/CXCL-1 level and hepatic expression of the anti-oxidant molecule Gpx4 were lower in NC than N. Non-aspirin NSAID-induced intestinal ulcers are related to decreased anti-oxidative stress function. Anti-oxidants, especially L-carnitine, are good candidates for intestinal ulcers. © 2016 Journal of Gastroenterology and Hepatology Foundation and John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd.

Usability Operations on Touch Mobile Devices for Users with Autism.

PubMed

Quezada, Angeles; Juárez-Ramírez, Reyes; Jiménez, Samantha; Noriega, Alan Ramírez; Inzunza, Sergio; Garza, Arnulfo Alanis

2017-10-14

The Autistic Spectrum Disorder is a cognitive disorder that affects the cognitive and motor skills; due that, users cannot perform digital and fine motor tasks. It is necessary to create software applications that adapt to the abilities of these users. In recent years has been an increase in the research of the use of technology to support autistic users to develop their communication skills and to improve learning. However, the applications' usability for disable users is not assessed objectively as the existing models do not consider interaction operators for disable users. This article focuses on identifying the operations that can easily be performed by autistic users following the metrics of KML-GOMS, TLM and FLM. In addition, users of typical development were included in order to do a comparison between both types of users. The experiment was carried out using four applications designed for autistic users. Participants were subjects divided in two groups: level 1 and level 2 autistic users, and a group of users of typical development. During the experimentation, users performed a use case for each application; the time needed to perform each task was measured. Results show that the easiest operations for autistic users are K (Keystroke), D (Drag), Initial Act (I) and Tapping (T).

Online Video-Based Training in the Use of Hydrologic Models: A Case Example Using SWAT

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Frankenberger, J.

2009-12-01

Hydrologic models are increasingly important tools in public decision-making. For example, watershed models are used to develop Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) plans, quantify pollutant loads, and estimate the effects of watershed restoration efforts funded by the public. One widely-used tool is the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT), which has been applied by state and federal agencies, consultants, and university researchers to assess sources of nonpoint source pollution and the effects of potential solutions, and used in testimony in at least one lawsuit. The SWAT model has the capability to evaluate the relative effects of different management scenarios on water quality, sediment, and agricultural chemical yield at the watershed scale. As with all models, the model user and the decisions that s/he makes in the modeling process are important determinants of model performance. The SWAT model has an open structure, leaving most decisions up to the model user, which was especially appropriate when the model was primarily used in research by highly-experienced modelers. However, as the model has become more widely applied in planning and assessment, by people who may have limited hydrology background and modeling knowledge, the possibility that users may be using the model inconsistently or even incorrectly becomes a concern. Consistent training can lead to a minimum standard of knowledge that model users are expected to have, and therefore to higher use of best practices in modeling efforts. In addition, widespread availability of training can lead to better decisions about when and where using the model is appropriate, and what level of data needs to be available for confidence in predictions. Currently, most training in model use takes place in occasional face-to-face workshops, courses offered at a few universities, and a short tutorial available in the manual. Many new users simply acquire the model and learn from the manual, other users, trial and error, and posing questions to the web-based group. Although excellent model documentation is available (http://www.brc.tamus.edu/swat/), the extent to which users conduct careful study to ensure that their understanding goes beyond the superficial level is unknown. Online video-on-demand technology provides a way for users to learn consistent content while saving travel resources, and allows for training to fit into people’s schedule. Online videos were created to teach the basics of setting up the model, acquiring input data, parameterizing, calibrating and evaluating model results, and analyzing outputs, as well as model science, uncertainty, and appropriate use. Feedback was sought from the SWAT modeling community to determine typical backgrounds of model users and how the video training fits into the available means of learning SWAT. Evaluation is being undertaken to assess results. The processes used in developing and evaluating the online SWAT training could be applied to other computer models for which use among broader groups of people is increasing or has the potential to grow.

Validation of the Inverted Pendulum Model in standing for transtibial prosthesis users.

PubMed

Rusaw, David F; Ramstrand, Simon

2016-01-01

Often in balance assessment variables associated with the center of pressure are used to draw conclusions about an individual's balance. Validity of these conclusions rests upon assumptions that movement of the center of pressure is inter-dependent on movement of the center of mass. This dependency is mechanical and is referred to as the Inverted Pendulum Model. The following study aimed to validate this model both kinematically and kinetically, in transtibial prosthesis users and a control group. Prosthesis users (n=6) and matched control participants (n=6) stood quietly while force and motion data were collected under three conditions (eyes-open, eyes-closed, and weight-bearing feedback). Correlation coefficients were used to investigate the relationships between height and excursion of markers and center of masses in mediolateral/anteroposterior-directions, difference between center of pressure and center of mass and the center of mass acceleration in mediolateral/anteroposterior directions, magnitude of mediolateral/anteroposterior-component forces and center of mass acceleration, angular position of ankle and excursion in mediolateral/anteroposterior-directions, and integrated force signals. Results indicate kinematic validity of similar magnitudes (mean (SD) marker-displacement) between prosthesis users and control group for mediolateral- (r=0.77 (0.17); 0.74 (0.19)) and anteroposterior-directions (r=0.88 (0.18); 0.88 (0.19)). Correlation between difference of center of pressure and center of mass and the center of mass acceleration was negligible on the prosthetic side (r = 0.08 (0.06)) vs. control group (r=-0.51(0.13)). Results indicate kinematic validity of the Inverted Pendulum Model in transtibial prosthesis users but kinetic validity is questionable, particularly on the side with a prosthesis. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Providing oceanographic data and information for Pacific Island communities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Potemra, James; Maurer, John; Burns, Echelle

2016-04-01

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

A socially inclusive approach to user participation in higher education.

PubMed

Simons, Lucy; Tee, Steve; Lathlean, Judith; Burgess, Abigail; Herbert, Lesley; Gibson, Colin

2007-05-01

This paper is a report of a study to evaluate the development of an innovative Service User Academic post in mental health nursing in relation to student learning and good employment practice in terms of social inclusion. Institutions providing professional mental health education are usually expected to demonstrate user involvement in the design, delivery and evaluation of their educational programmes to ensure that user voices are central to the development of clinical practice. Involvement can take many forms but not everyone values user knowledge as equal to other sources of knowledge. This can lead to users feeling exploited, rather than fully integrated in healthcare professional education processes. Development of the post discussed in this paper was stimulated and informed by an innovative example from Australia. An observational case study of the development and practice of a Service User Academic post was undertaken in 2005. Participants were purposively sampled and included the User Academic, six members of a user and carer reference group, 10 educators and 35 students. Data were collected by group discussions and interviews. Data analysis was based on the framework approach. The evaluation revealed tangible benefits for the students and the wider academic community. Most important was the powerful role model the Service User Academic provided for students. The post proved an effective method to promote service user participation and began to integrate service user perspectives within the educational process. However, the attempts to achieve socially inclusive practices were inhibited by organizational factors. The expectations of the role and unintended discriminatory behaviours had an impact on achieving full integration of the role. Furthermore, shortcomings in the support arrangements were revealed. The search for an optimum model of involvement may prove elusive, but the need to research and debate different strategies, to avoid tokenism and exploitation, remains.

Finding My Needle in the Haystack: Effective Personalized Re-ranking of Search Results in Prospector

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

König, Florian; van Velsen, Lex; Paramythis, Alexandros

This paper provides an overview of Prospector, a personalized Internet meta-search engine, which utilizes a combination of ontological information, ratings-based models of user interests, and complementary theme-oriented group models to recommend (through re-ranking) search results obtained from an underlying search engine. Re-ranking brings “closer to the top” those items that are of particular interest to a user or have high relevance to a given theme. A user-based, real-world evaluation has shown that the system is effective in promoting results of interest, but lags behind Google in user acceptance, possibly due to the absence of features popularized by said search engine. Overall, users would consider employing a personalized search engine to perform searches with terms that require disambiguation and / or contextualization.

Predicting use of case management support services for adolescents and adults living in community following brain injury: A longitudinal Canadian database study with implications for life care planning.

PubMed

Baptiste, B; Dawson, D R; Streiner, D

2015-01-01

To determine factors associated with case management (CM) service use in people with traumatic brain injury (TBI), using a published model for service use. A retrospective cohort, with nested case-control design. Correlational and logistic regression analyses of questionnaires from a longitudinal community data base. Questionnaires of 203 users of CM services and 273 non-users, complete for all outcome and predictor variables. Individuals with TBI, 15 years of age and older. Out of a dataset of 1,960 questionnaires, 476 met the inclusion criteria. Eight predictor variables and one outcome variable (use or non-use of the service). Predictor variables considered the framework of the Behaviour Model of Health Service Use (BMHSU); specifically, pre-disposing, need and enabling factor groups as these relate to health service use and access. Analyses revealed significant differences between users and non-users of CM services. In particular, users were significantly younger than non-users as the older the person the less likely to use the service. Also, users had less education and more severe activity limitations and lower community integration. Persons living alone are less likely to use case management. Funding groups also significantly impact users. This study advances an empirical understanding of equity of access to health services usage in the practice of CM for persons living with TBI as a fairly new area of research, and considers direct relevance to Life Care Planning (LCP). Many life care planers are CM and the genesis of LCP is CM. The findings relate to health service use and access, rather than health outcomes. These findings may assist with development of a modified model for prediction of use to advance future cost of care predictions.

Crack-cocaine users have less family cohesion than alcohol users.

PubMed

Marchi, Nino C; Scherer, Juliana N; Pachado, Mayra P; Guimarães, Luciano S; Siegmund, Gerson; de Castro, Melina N; Halpern, Silvia; Benzano, Daniela; Formigoni, Maria L; Cruz, Marcelo; Pechansky, Flavio; Kessler, Felix H

2017-01-01

Many studies correlate characteristics of family functioning and the development of drug addiction. This study sought to evaluate and compare the family environment styles of two groups of psychoactive substance users: 1) alcohol-only users and 2) crack-cocaine users. Three hundred and sixty-four users of alcohol, crack-cocaine, and other drugs, recruited from research centers in four Brazilian capitals participated in this study. Subjects were evaluated through the Family Environment Scale and the Addiction Severity Index, 6th version (ASI-6). ASI-6 t-scores were compared by analysis of variance (ANOVA) and post-hoc tests. A final model was obtained using a logistic regression analysis. All analyses were adjusted for partner, age, and psychiatric t-score. We found a significant difference between groups in the cohesion subscale (p = 0.044). The post-hoc test revealed a difference of 1.06 points (95%CI 0.11-2.01) between groups 1 (6.45±0.28) and 2 (5.38±0.20). No significant between-group differences were observed in the other subscales. However, categorical analyses of variables regarding family dynamic showed that crack users more often reported that sometimes people in their family hit each other (30.4% vs. 13.2%, p = 0.007) and that people in their family frequently compared each other regarding work and/or school achievement (57.2% vs. 42.6%, p = 0.041). These results suggest that families of crack-cocaine users are less cohesive than families of alcohol users. This type of family environment may affect treatment outcome, and should thus be adequately approached.

Assessing the Moderating Effect of the End User in Consumer Behavior: The Acceptance of Technological Implants to Increase Innate Human Capacities.

PubMed

Pelegrín-Borondo, Jorge; Reinares-Lara, Eva; Olarte-Pascual, Cristina; Garcia-Sierra, Marta

2016-01-01

Today, technological implants are being developed to increase innate human capacities, such as memory or calculation speed, and to endow us with new ones, such as the remote control of machines. This study's aim was two-fold: first, to introduce a Cognitive-Affective-Normative (CAN) model of technology acceptance to explain the intention to use this technology in the field of consumer behavior; and second, to analyze the differences in the intention to use it based on whether the intended implant recipient is oneself or one's child (i.e., the moderating effect of the end user). A multi-group analysis was performed to compare the results between the two groups: implant "for me" (Group 1) and implant "for my child" (Group 2). The model largely explains the intention to use the insideable technology for the specified groups [variance explained (R (2)) of over 0.70 in both cases]. The most important variables were found to be "positive emotions" and (positive) "subjective norm." This underscores the need to broaden the range of factors considered to be decisive in technology acceptance to include variables related to consumers' emotions. Moreover, statistically significant differences were found between the "for me" and "for my child" models for "perceived ease of use (PEU)" and "subjective norm." These findings confirm the moderating effect of the end user on new insideable technology acceptance.

Big data privacy protection model based on multi-level trusted system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Nan; Liu, Zehua; Han, Hongfeng

2018-05-01

This paper introduces and inherit the multi-level trusted system model that solves the Trojan virus by encrypting the privacy of user data, and achieve the principle: "not to read the high priority hierarchy, not to write the hierarchy with low priority". Thus ensuring that the low-priority data privacy leak does not affect the disclosure of high-priority data privacy. This paper inherits the multi-level trustworthy system model of Trojan horse and divides seven different risk levels. The priority level 1˜7 represent the low to high value of user data privacy, and realize seven kinds of encryption with different execution efficiency Algorithm, the higher the priority, the greater the value of user data privacy, at the expense of efficiency under the premise of choosing a more encrypted encryption algorithm to ensure data security. For enterprises, the price point is determined by the unit equipment users to decide the length of time. The higher the risk sub-group algorithm, the longer the encryption time. The model assumes that users prefer the lower priority encryption algorithm to ensure efficiency. This paper proposes a privacy cost model for each of the seven risk subgroups. Among them, the higher the privacy cost, the higher the priority of the risk sub-group, the higher the price the user needs to pay to ensure the privacy of the data. Furthermore, by introducing the existing pricing model of economics and the human traffic model proposed by this paper and fluctuating with the market demand, this paper improves the price of unit products when the market demand is low. On the other hand, when the market demand increases, the profit of the enterprise will be guaranteed under the guidance of the government by reducing the price per unit of product. Then, this paper introduces the dynamic factors of consumers' mood and age to optimize. At the same time, seven algorithms are selected from symmetric and asymmetric encryption algorithms to define the enterprise costs at different levels. Therefore, the proposed model solves the continuous influence caused by cascading events and ensures that the disclosure of low-level data privacy of users does not affect the high-level data privacy, thus greatly improving the safety of the private information of user.

Traffic model for the satellite component of UMTS

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hu, Y. F.; Sheriff, R. E.

1995-01-01

An algorithm for traffic volume estimation for satellite mobile communications systems has been developed. This algorithm makes use of worldwide databases for demographic and economic data. In order to provide for such an estimation, the effects of competing services have been considered so that likely market demand can be forecasted. Different user groups of the predicted market have been identified according to expectations in the quality of services and mobility requirement. The number of users for different user groups are calculated taking into account the gross potential market, the penetration rate of the identified services and the profitability to provide such services via satellite.

Rating knowledge sharing in cross-domain collaborative filtering.

PubMed

Li, Bin; Zhu, Xingquan; Li, Ruijiang; Zhang, Chengqi

2015-05-01

Cross-domain collaborative filtering (CF) aims to share common rating knowledge across multiple related CF domains to boost the CF performance. In this paper, we view CF domains as a 2-D site-time coordinate system, on which multiple related domains, such as similar recommender sites or successive time-slices, can share group-level rating patterns. We propose a unified framework for cross-domain CF over the site-time coordinate system by sharing group-level rating patterns and imposing user/item dependence across domains. A generative model, say ratings over site-time (ROST), which can generate and predict ratings for multiple related CF domains, is developed as the basic model for the framework. We further introduce cross-domain user/item dependence into ROST and extend it to two real-world cross-domain CF scenarios: 1) ROST (sites) for alleviating rating sparsity in the target domain, where multiple similar sites are viewed as related CF domains and some items in the target domain depend on their correspondences in the related ones; and 2) ROST (time) for modeling user-interest drift over time, where a series of time-slices are viewed as related CF domains and a user at current time-slice depends on herself in the previous time-slice. All these ROST models are instances of the proposed unified framework. The experimental results show that ROST (sites) can effectively alleviate the sparsity problem to improve rating prediction performance and ROST (time) can clearly track and visualize user-interest drift over time.

Public Auditing with Privacy Protection in a Multi-User Model of Cloud-Assisted Body Sensor Networks.

PubMed

Li, Song; Cui, Jie; Zhong, Hong; Liu, Lu

2017-05-05

Wireless Body Sensor Networks (WBSNs) are gaining importance in the era of the Internet of Things (IoT). The modern medical system is a particular area where the WBSN techniques are being increasingly adopted for various fundamental operations. Despite such increasing deployments of WBSNs, issues such as the infancy in the size, capabilities and limited data processing capacities of the sensor devices restrain their adoption in resource-demanding applications. Though providing computing and storage supplements from cloud servers can potentially enrich the capabilities of the WBSNs devices, data security is one of the prevailing issues that affects the reliability of cloud-assisted services. Sensitive applications such as modern medical systems demand assurance of the privacy of the users' medical records stored in distant cloud servers. Since it is economically impossible to set up private cloud servers for every client, auditing data security managed in the remote servers has necessarily become an integral requirement of WBSNs' applications relying on public cloud servers. To this end, this paper proposes a novel certificateless public auditing scheme with integrated privacy protection. The multi-user model in our scheme supports groups of users to store and share data, thus exhibiting the potential for WBSNs' deployments within community environments. Furthermore, our scheme enriches user experiences by offering public verifiability, forward security mechanisms and revocation of illegal group members. Experimental evaluations demonstrate the security effectiveness of our proposed scheme under the Random Oracle Model (ROM) by outperforming existing cloud-assisted WBSN models.

Mechanism Design for Incentivizing Social Media Contributions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Singh, Vivek K.; Jain, Ramesh; Kankanhalli, Mohan

Despite recent advancements in user-driven social media platforms, tools for studying user behavior patterns and motivations remain primitive. We highlight the voluntary nature of user contributions and that users can choose when (and when not) to contribute to the common media pool. A Game theoretic framework is proposed to study the dynamics of social media networks where contribution costs are individual but gains are common. We model users as rational selfish agents, and consider domain attributes like voluntary participation, virtual reward structure, network effect, and public-sharing to model the dynamics of this interaction. The created model describes the most appropriate contribution strategy from each user's perspective and also highlights issues like 'free-rider' problem and individual rationality leading to irrational (i.e. sub-optimal) group behavior. We also consider the perspective of the system designer who is interested in finding the best incentive mechanisms to influence the selfish end-users so that the overall system utility is maximized. We propose and compare multiple mechanisms (based on optimal bonus payment, social incentive leveraging, and second price auction) to study how a system designer can exploit the selfishness of its users, to design incentive mechanisms which improve the overall task-completion probability and system performance, while possibly still benefiting the individual users.

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

PubMed

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

2004-06-01

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

Sharing Research Models: Using Software Engineering Practices for Facilitation

PubMed Central

Bryant, Stephanie P.; Solano, Eric; Cantor, Susanna; Cooley, Philip C.; Wagener, Diane K.

2011-01-01

Increasingly, researchers are turning to computational models to understand the interplay of important variables on systems’ behaviors. Although researchers may develop models that meet the needs of their investigation, application limitations—such as nonintuitive user interface features and data input specifications—may limit the sharing of these tools with other research groups. By removing these barriers, other research groups that perform related work can leverage these work products to expedite their own investigations. The use of software engineering practices can enable managed application production and shared research artifacts among multiple research groups by promoting consistent models, reducing redundant effort, encouraging rigorous peer review, and facilitating research collaborations that are supported by a common toolset. This report discusses three established software engineering practices— the iterative software development process, object-oriented methodology, and Unified Modeling Language—and the applicability of these practices to computational model development. Our efforts to modify the MIDAS TranStat application to make it more user-friendly are presented as an example of how computational models that are based on research and developed using software engineering practices can benefit a broader audience of researchers. PMID:21687780

Feasibility of the "Bring Your Own Device" Model in Clinical Research: Results from a Randomized Controlled Pilot Study of a Mobile Patient Engagement Tool.

PubMed

Pugliese, Laura; Woodriff, Molly; Crowley, Olga; Lam, Vivian; Sohn, Jeremy; Bradley, Scott

2016-03-16

Rising rates of smartphone ownership highlight opportunities for improved mobile application usage in clinical trials. While current methods call for device provisioning, the "bring your own device" (BYOD) model permits participants to use personal phones allowing for improved patient engagement and lowered operational costs. However, more evidence is needed to demonstrate the BYOD model's feasibility in research settings. To assess if CentrosHealth, a mobile application designed to support trial compliance, produces different outcomes in medication adherence and application engagement when distributed through study-provisioned devices compared to the BYOD model. 87 participants were randomly selected to use the mobile application or no intervention for a 28-day pilot study at a 2:1 randomization ratio (2 intervention: 1 control) and asked to consume a twice-daily probiotic supplement. The application users were further randomized into two groups: receiving the application on a personal "BYOD" or study-provided smartphone. In-depth interviews were performed in a randomly-selected subset of the intervention group (five BYOD and five study-provided smartphone users). The BYOD subgroup showed significantly greater engagement than study-provided phone users, as shown by higher application use frequency and duration over the study period. The BYOD subgroup also demonstrated a significant effect of engagement on medication adherence for number of application sessions (unstandardized regression coefficient beta=0.0006, p=0.02) and time spent therein (beta=0.00001, p=0.03). Study-provided phone users showed higher initial adherence rates, but greater decline (5.7%) than BYOD users (0.9%) over the study period. In-depth interviews revealed that participants preferred the BYOD model over using study-provided devices. Results indicate that the BYOD model is feasible in health research settings and improves participant experience, calling for further BYOD model validity assessment. Although group differences in medication adherence decline were insignificant, the greater trend of decline in provisioned device users warrants further investigation to determine if trends reach significance over time. Significantly higher application engagement rates and effect of engagement on medication adherence in the BYOD subgroup similarly imply that greater application engagement may correlate to better medication adherence over time.

Ethics and the 7 `P`s` of computer use policies

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

Scott, T.J.; Voss, R.B.

1994-12-31

A Computer Use Policy (CUP) defines who can use the computer facilities for what. The CUP is the institution`s official position on the ethical use of computer facilities. The authors believe that writing a CUP provides an ideal platform to develop a group ethic for computer users. In prior research, the authors have developed a seven phase model for writing CUPs, entitled the 7 P`s of Computer Use Policies. The purpose of this paper is to present the model and discuss how the 7 P`s can be used to identify and communicate a group ethic for the institution`s computer users.

Classification of Twitter Users Who Tweet About E-Cigarettes

PubMed Central

Miano, Thomas; Chew, Robert; Eggers, Matthew; Nonnemaker, James

2017-01-01

Background Despite concerns about their health risks, e‑cigarettes have gained popularity in recent years. Concurrent with the recent increase in e‑cigarette use, social media sites such as Twitter have become a common platform for sharing information about e-cigarettes and to promote marketing of e‑cigarettes. Monitoring the trends in e‑cigarette–related social media activity requires timely assessment of the content of posts and the types of users generating the content. However, little is known about the diversity of the types of users responsible for generating e‑cigarette–related content on Twitter. Objective The aim of this study was to demonstrate a novel methodology for automatically classifying Twitter users who tweet about e‑cigarette–related topics into distinct categories. Methods We collected approximately 11.5 million e‑cigarette–related tweets posted between November 2014 and October 2016 and obtained a random sample of Twitter users who tweeted about e‑cigarettes. Trained human coders examined the handles’ profiles and manually categorized each as one of the following user types: individual (n=2168), vaper enthusiast (n=334), informed agency (n=622), marketer (n=752), and spammer (n=1021). Next, the Twitter metadata as well as a sample of tweets for each labeled user were gathered, and features that reflect users’ metadata and tweeting behavior were analyzed. Finally, multiple machine learning algorithms were tested to identify a model with the best performance in classifying user types. Results Using a classification model that included metadata and features associated with tweeting behavior, we were able to predict with relatively high accuracy five different types of Twitter users that tweet about e‑cigarettes (average F1 score=83.3%). Accuracy varied by user type, with F1 scores of individuals, informed agencies, marketers, spammers, and vaper enthusiasts being 91.1%, 84.4%, 81.2%, 79.5%, and 47.1%, respectively. Vaper enthusiasts were the most challenging user type to predict accurately and were commonly misclassified as marketers. The inclusion of additional tweet-derived features that capture tweeting behavior was found to significantly improve the model performance—an overall F1 score gain of 10.6%—beyond metadata features alone. Conclusions This study provides a method for classifying five different types of users who tweet about e‑cigarettes. Our model achieved high levels of classification performance for most groups, and examining the tweeting behavior was critical in improving the model performance. Results can help identify groups engaged in conversations about e‑cigarettes online to help inform public health surveillance, education, and regulatory efforts. PMID:28951381

An Interactive Tool For Semi-automated Statistical Prediction Using Earth Observations and Models

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zaitchik, B. F.; Berhane, F.; Tadesse, T.

2015-12-01

We developed a semi-automated statistical prediction tool applicable to concurrent analysis or seasonal prediction of any time series variable in any geographic location. The tool was developed using Shiny, JavaScript, HTML and CSS. A user can extract a predictand by drawing a polygon over a region of interest on the provided user interface (global map). The user can select the Climatic Research Unit (CRU) precipitation or Climate Hazards Group InfraRed Precipitation with Station data (CHIRPS) as predictand. They can also upload their own predictand time series. Predictors can be extracted from sea surface temperature, sea level pressure, winds at different pressure levels, air temperature at various pressure levels, and geopotential height at different pressure levels. By default, reanalysis fields are applied as predictors, but the user can also upload their own predictors, including a wide range of compatible satellite-derived datasets. The package generates correlations of the variables selected with the predictand. The user also has the option to generate composites of the variables based on the predictand. Next, the user can extract predictors by drawing polygons over the regions that show strong correlations (composites). Then, the user can select some or all of the statistical prediction models provided. Provided models include Linear Regression models (GLM, SGLM), Tree-based models (bagging, random forest, boosting), Artificial Neural Network, and other non-linear models such as Generalized Additive Model (GAM) and Multivariate Adaptive Regression Splines (MARS). Finally, the user can download the analysis steps they used, such as the region they selected, the time period they specified, the predictand and predictors they chose and preprocessing options they used, and the model results in PDF or HTML format. Key words: Semi-automated prediction, Shiny, R, GLM, ANN, RF, GAM, MARS

Development of a multi-behavioral mHealth app for women smokers

PubMed Central

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

2017-01-01

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

Assigning unique identification numbers to new user accounts and groups in a computing environment with multiple registries

DOEpatents

DeRobertis, Christopher V.; Lu, Yantian T.

2010-02-23

A method, system, and program storage device for creating a new user account or user group with a unique identification number in a computing environment having multiple user registries is provided. In response to receiving a command to create a new user account or user group, an operating system of a clustered computing environment automatically checks multiple registries configured for the operating system to determine whether a candidate identification number for the new user account or user group has been assigned already to one or more existing user accounts or groups, respectively. The operating system automatically assigns the candidate identification number to the new user account or user group created in a target user registry if the checking indicates that the candidate identification number has not been assigned already to any of the existing user accounts or user groups, respectively.

Association between infant formula feeding and dental fluorosis and caries in Australian children.

PubMed

Do, Loc G; Levy, Steven M; Spencer, A John

2012-01-01

The objective of this study was to evaluate associations between patterns of infant formula feeding and dental fluorosis and caries in a representative sample of Australian children. A population-based study gathered information on fluoride exposure in early childhood. Information on infant formula feeding and fluoridation status was used to group children: three groups in nonfluoridated areas (formula nonuser, user for ≤6 months, and user for 6+ months) and four groups in fluoridated areas (nonuser, user with nonfluoridated water, user with fluoridated water for ≤6 months, and user with fluoridated water for 6+ months). Children aged 8-13 years were examined for fluorosis using the Thylstrup and Fejerskov (TF) Index. Primary tooth caries experience recorded at age 8-9 years was extracted from clinical records. Fluorosis cases were defined as having TF 1+ on maxillary incisors. Fluorosis prevalence and primary caries experience were compared across formula user groups in multivariable regression models adjusting for other factors. Total sample was 588 children. Children in fluoridated areas had higher prevalence of very mild to mild fluorosis, but lower caries experience than those in nonfluoridated areas. Among children in nonfluoridated areas, formula users for 6+ months had significantly higher prevalence of fluorosis compared with nonusers. There was no significant difference in fluorosis prevalence among the formula users in fluoridated areas. Among children in fluoridated areas, formula users with nontap water had higher caries experience. Infant formula use was associated with higher prevalence of fluorosis in nonfluoridated areas but not in fluoridated areas. Type of water used for reconstituting infant formula in fluoridated areas was associated with caries experience. © 2011 American Association of Public Health Dentistry.

Weakly Informative Prior for Point Estimation of Covariance Matrices in Hierarchical Models

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chung, Yeojin; Gelman, Andrew; Rabe-Hesketh, Sophia; Liu, Jingchen; Dorie, Vincent

2015-01-01

When fitting hierarchical regression models, maximum likelihood (ML) estimation has computational (and, for some users, philosophical) advantages compared to full Bayesian inference, but when the number of groups is small, estimates of the covariance matrix (S) of group-level varying coefficients are often degenerate. One can do better, even from…

Understanding Nomophobia: Structural Equation Modeling and Semantic Network Analysis of Smartphone Separation Anxiety.

PubMed

Han, Seunghee; Kim, Ki Joon; Kim, Jang Hyun

2017-07-01

This study explicates nomophobia by developing a research model that identifies several determinants of smartphone separation anxiety and by conducting semantic network analyses on smartphone users' verbal descriptions of the meaning of their smartphones. Structural equation modeling of the proposed model indicates that personal memories evoked by smartphones encourage users to extend their identity onto their devices. When users perceive smartphones as their extended selves, they are more likely to get attached to the devices, which, in turn, leads to nomophobia by heightening the phone proximity-seeking tendency. This finding is also supplemented by the results of the semantic network analyses revealing that the words related to memory, self, and proximity-seeking are indeed more frequently used in the high, compared with low, nomophobia group.

Translating research into practice through user-centered design: An application for osteoarthritis healthcare planning.

PubMed

Carr, Eloise Cj; Babione, Julie N; Marshall, Deborah

2017-08-01

To identify the needs and requirements of the end users, to inform the development of a user-interface to translate an existing evidence-based decision support tool into a practical and usable interface for health service planning for osteoarthritis (OA) care. We used a user-centered design (UCD) approach that emphasized the role of the end-users and is well-suited to knowledge translation (KT). The first phase used a needs assessment focus group (n=8) and interviews (n=5) with target users (health care planners) within a provincial health care organization. The second phase used a participatory design approach, with two small group sessions (n=6) to explore workflow, thought processes, and needs of intended users. The needs assessment identified five design recommendations: ensuring the user-interface supports the target user group, allowing for user-directed data explorations, input parameter flexibility, clear presentation, and provision of relevant definitions. The second phase identified workflow insights from a proposed scenario. Graphs, the need for a visual overview of the data, and interactivity were key considerations to aid in meaningful use of the model and knowledge translation. A UCD approach is well suited to identify health care planners' requirements when using a decision support tool to improve health service planning and management of OA. We believe this is one of the first applications to be used in planning for health service delivery. We identified specific design recommendations that will increase user acceptability and uptake of the user-interface and underlying decision support tool in practice. Our approach demonstrated how UCD can be used to enable knowledge translation. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Which Users Should Be the Focus of Mobile Personal Health Records? Analysis of User Characteristics Influencing Usage of a Tethered Mobile Personal Health Record.

PubMed

Lee, Guna; Park, Joong Yeol; Shin, Soo-Yong; Hwang, Jong Su; Ryu, Hyeon Jeong; Lee, Jae Ho; Bates, David W

2016-05-01

This study was conducted to analyze the usage pattern of a hospital-tethered mobile personal health records (m-PHRs) application named My Chart in My Hand (MCMH) and to identify user characteristics that influence m-PHR usage. Access logs to MCMH and its menus were collected for a total of 18 months, from August 2011 to January 2013. Usage patterns between users without a patient identification number (ID) and users with a patient ID were compared. Users with a patient ID were divided into light and heavy user groups by the median number of monthly access. Multiple linear regression models were used to assess MCMH usage pattern by characteristics of MCMH user with a patient ID. The total number of MCMH logins was 105,603, and the median number of accesses was 15 times. Users (n = 7,096) mostly accessed the "My Chart" menu, but "OPD [outpatient department] Service Support" and "Health Management" menus were also frequently used. Patients with chronic diseases, experience of hospital visits including emergency room and OPD, and age group of 0-19 years were more frequently found among users with a patient ID (n = 2,186) (p < 0.001). A similar trend was found in the heavy user group (n = 1,123). Submenus of laboratory result, online appointment, and medication lists that were accessed mostly by users with a patient ID were associated with OPD visit and chronic diseases. This study showed that focuses on patients with chronic disease and more hospital visits and empowerment functions in a tethered m-PHR would be helpful to pursue the extensive use.

Bringing a Realistic Global Climate Modeling Experience to a Broader Audience

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sohl, L. E.; Chandler, M. A.; Zhou, J.

2010-12-01

EdGCM, the Educational Global Climate Model, was developed with the goal of helping students learn about climate change and climate modeling by giving them the ability to run a genuine NASA global climate model (GCM) on a desktop computer. Since EdGCM was first publicly released in January 2005, tens of thousands of users on seven continents have downloaded the software. EdGCM has been utilized by climate science educators from middle school through graduate school levels, and on occasion even by researchers who otherwise do not have ready access to climate model at national labs in the U.S. and elsewhere. The EdGCM software is designed to walk users through the same process a climate scientist would use in designing and running simulations, and analyzing and visualizing GCM output. Although the current interface design gives users a clear view of some of the complexities involved in using a climate model, it can be daunting for users whose main focus is on climate science rather than modeling per se. As part of the work funded by NASA’s Global Climate Change Education (GCCE) program, we will begin modifications to the user interface that will improve the accessibility of EdGCM to a wider array of users, especially at the middle school and high school levels, by: 1) Developing an automated approach (a “wizard”) to simplify the user experience in setting up new climate simulations; 2) Produce a catalog of “rediscovery experiments” that allow users to reproduce published climate model results, and in some cases compare model projections to real world data; and 3) Enhance distance learning and online learning opportunities through the development of a web-based interface. The prototypes for these modifications will then be presented to educators belonging to an EdGCM Users Group for feedback, so that we can further refine the EdGCM software, and thus deliver the tools and materials educators want and need across a wider range of learning environments.

Decision support system development at the Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center

USGS Publications Warehouse

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

2014-01-01

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

Information Seeking Behavior in Digital Image Collections: A Cognitive Approach

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Matusiak, Krystyna K.

2006-01-01

Presents the results of a qualitative study that focuses on search patterns of college students and community users interacting with a digital image collection. The study finds a distinct difference between the two groups of users and examines the role of mental models in information seeking behavior in digital libraries.

Polytobacco Use of Cigarettes, Cigars, Chewing Tobacco, and Snuff Among US Adults

PubMed Central

Wang, Yingning; Yao, Tingting; Lightwood, James; Max, Wendy

2016-01-01

Abstract Introduction: Tobacco use prevalence has been commonly estimated on a product by product basis and the extent of polytobacco use among current users of each tobacco product is not well understood. This study aimed to examine the prevalence, trends, and correlates of polytobacco use among current users of cigarettes, cigars, chewing tobacco, and snuff in US adults aged ≥18. Methods: We used pooled data from the 1998, 2000, 2005, and 2010 Cancer Control Supplements of the National Health Interview Survey ( N = 123 399 adults). Multivariate logistic regression models were estimated to determine significant factors associated with polytobacco use. Results: In 2010, the prevalence of polytobacco use was 8.6% among current cigarette smokers, 50.3% among current cigar users, 54.8% among current chewing tobacco users, and 42.5% among current snuff users. After controlling for other covariates, gender and race/ethnicity did not show consistent associations with poly-use across these four groups of current tobacco users; however, a positive association of young adulthood, less than high school education, and binge drinking with poly-use was consistently found among all these groups. Conclusions: Polytobacco use is extremely popular among current users of non-cigarette tobacco products. Polytobacco use patterns differ across sociodemographic subpopulations, and the gender and racial/ethnic profiles in poly-users vary across different groups of current tobacco users. Tobacco control strategies need to consider the interrelationships in the use of different tobacco products and the diverse profiles of poly-users in order to develop tailored tobacco prevention and intervention policies to further reduce the burden of tobacco use. PMID:26136525

New Zealand Health Survey 2012/13: characteristics of medicinal cannabis users.

PubMed

Pledger, Megan; Martin, Greg; Cumming, Jacqueline

2016-04-22

To explore the characteristics of medicinal and non-medicinal cannabis users, and the conditions that were treated with cannabis. The data comes from the New Zealand Health Survey 2012/2013, which sampled 13,009 people, aged 15+ years, living in private or non-private dwellings in New Zealand. Participants self-reported cannabis use and were put into groups: 1) non-users; 2) ex-users; 3) last year users-non-medicinal; 4) last-year users-medicinal. Prevalence was reported for the major demographic subgroups; sex, age and ethnicity. Regression models were then used to find associations between demographic characteristics and cannabis use for groups 3 and 4. About five percent (4.6%, 95% CI 4.1-5.1) of those aged 15+ report using cannabis medicinally. This use was associated with being male, younger, less well-educated and relatively poor. While Māori have the highest prevalence of medicinal use, European NZ/Others make up 67.9% (95% CI 62.7-72.6) of medicinal users. Reported medicinal use was associated with reported conditions that were typically hard to manage: pain, anxiety/nerves and depression. Medicinal users were more likely to report chronic pain and pain interfering, moderately or more, with housework and other work.

Assessing the Moderating Effect of the End User in Consumer Behavior: The Acceptance of Technological Implants to Increase Innate Human Capacities

PubMed Central

Pelegrín-Borondo, Jorge; Reinares-Lara, Eva; Olarte-Pascual, Cristina; Garcia-Sierra, Marta

2016-01-01

Today, technological implants are being developed to increase innate human capacities, such as memory or calculation speed, and to endow us with new ones, such as the remote control of machines. This study's aim was two-fold: first, to introduce a Cognitive-Affective-Normative (CAN) model of technology acceptance to explain the intention to use this technology in the field of consumer behavior; and second, to analyze the differences in the intention to use it based on whether the intended implant recipient is oneself or one's child (i.e., the moderating effect of the end user). A multi-group analysis was performed to compare the results between the two groups: implant “for me” (Group 1) and implant “for my child” (Group 2). The model largely explains the intention to use the insideable technology for the specified groups [variance explained (R2) of over 0.70 in both cases]. The most important variables were found to be “positive emotions” and (positive) “subjective norm.” This underscores the need to broaden the range of factors considered to be decisive in technology acceptance to include variables related to consumers' emotions. Moreover, statistically significant differences were found between the “for me” and “for my child” models for “perceived ease of use (PEU)” and “subjective norm.” These findings confirm the moderating effect of the end user on new insideable technology acceptance. PMID:26941662

Memory is preserved in older adults taking AT1 receptor blockers.

PubMed

Ho, Jean K; Nation, Daniel A

2017-04-26

Prior work suggests that some but not all antihypertensive treatments may benefit cognition and risk for Alzheimer's disease, independent of stroke. Angiotensin II receptor blockers (ARBs) have been highlighted as one antihypertensive drug class that may confer greatest benefit. The participants comprised 1626 nondemented adults, aged 55-91 years, recruited from Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative sites. Three groups were compared: ARB users (HTN-ARBs), other antihypertensive drug users (HTN-Other), and normotensives. In post hoc analyses, we also examined (1) users of ARBs and angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEIs), (2) users of blood-brain barrier (BBB)-crossing ARBs and users of non-BBB-crossing ARBs, and (3) users of BBB-crossing ARBs and ACEIs (BBB crossers) and users of non-BBB-crossing ARBs and ACEIs (BBB noncrossers). Groups were compared regarding cognition and magnetic resonance imaging measures of brain volume and white matter hyperintensities (WMH), using analysis of covariance and multilevel models. At baseline, the HTN-Other group performed worse than normotensives on Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test (RAVLT) Immediate Recall (p = 0.002), Delayed Recall (p < 0.001), Recognition Memory (p = 0.001), and Trails A (p < 0.001) and B (p = 0.01). ARB users performed better than the HTN-Other group on Recognition Memory (p = 0.04) and worse than normotensives on Trails A (p = 0.04). The HTN-Other group performed worse than normotensives on Logical Memory Immediate (p = 0.02) and Delayed Recall over the 3-year follow-up (p = 0.007). Over the follow-up period, those taking BBB-crossing ARBs performed better than the HTN-Other group on AVLT Delayed Recall (p = 0.04), Logical Memory Immediate (p = 0.02), and Delayed Recall (p = 0.05). They also had fewer WMH than the HTN-Other group (p = 0.008) and those taking non-BBB-crossing ARBs (p = 0.05). There were no group differences in brain volume. Users of BBB-crossing medications (ARBs or ACEIs) showed better performance on AVLT Delayed Recall over time than all other groups, including normotensives (all p < 0.01), and had less WMH volume over time than the BBB noncrossers group (p = 0.03), although they had more WMH volume than normotensives (p = 0.01). The BBB noncrossers group performed worse than normotensives on Logical Memory Delayed Recall over time (p = 0.01), but the BBB crossers group was not significantly different (p = 0.13). Hypertensive participants demonstrated worse baseline memory and executive function, as well as greater memory decline, over the 3-year follow-up than normotensives, unless they were ARB users, who showed preserved memory compared with those taking other antihypertensive drugs. Users of BBB-crossing ARBs showed superior memory performance over time compared with other antihypertensive drug users and had less WMH volume. Users of BBB-crossing medications (ARBs or ACEIs) showed better list-learning memory performance over time than all other groups, including normotensives, and had less WMH volume over time than users of non-BBB-crossing medications. These findings demonstrate that ARBs, especially those of the BBB-crossing variety, are associated with greater memory preservation and less WMH volume than other antihypertensive medications.

Classification of Twitter Users Who Tweet About E-Cigarettes.

PubMed

Kim, Annice; Miano, Thomas; Chew, Robert; Eggers, Matthew; Nonnemaker, James

2017-09-26

Despite concerns about their health risks, e‑cigarettes have gained popularity in recent years. Concurrent with the recent increase in e‑cigarette use, social media sites such as Twitter have become a common platform for sharing information about e-cigarettes and to promote marketing of e‑cigarettes. Monitoring the trends in e‑cigarette-related social media activity requires timely assessment of the content of posts and the types of users generating the content. However, little is known about the diversity of the types of users responsible for generating e‑cigarette-related content on Twitter. The aim of this study was to demonstrate a novel methodology for automatically classifying Twitter users who tweet about e‑cigarette-related topics into distinct categories. We collected approximately 11.5 million e‑cigarette-related tweets posted between November 2014 and October 2016 and obtained a random sample of Twitter users who tweeted about e‑cigarettes. Trained human coders examined the handles' profiles and manually categorized each as one of the following user types: individual (n=2168), vaper enthusiast (n=334), informed agency (n=622), marketer (n=752), and spammer (n=1021). Next, the Twitter metadata as well as a sample of tweets for each labeled user were gathered, and features that reflect users' metadata and tweeting behavior were analyzed. Finally, multiple machine learning algorithms were tested to identify a model with the best performance in classifying user types. Using a classification model that included metadata and features associated with tweeting behavior, we were able to predict with relatively high accuracy five different types of Twitter users that tweet about e‑cigarettes (average F 1 score=83.3%). Accuracy varied by user type, with F 1 scores of individuals, informed agencies, marketers, spammers, and vaper enthusiasts being 91.1%, 84.4%, 81.2%, 79.5%, and 47.1%, respectively. Vaper enthusiasts were the most challenging user type to predict accurately and were commonly misclassified as marketers. The inclusion of additional tweet-derived features that capture tweeting behavior was found to significantly improve the model performance-an overall F 1 score gain of 10.6%-beyond metadata features alone. This study provides a method for classifying five different types of users who tweet about e‑cigarettes. Our model achieved high levels of classification performance for most groups, and examining the tweeting behavior was critical in improving the model performance. Results can help identify groups engaged in conversations about e‑cigarettes online to help inform public health surveillance, education, and regulatory efforts. ©Annice Kim, Thomas Miano, Robert Chew, Matthew Eggers, James Nonnemaker. Originally published in JMIR Public Health and Surveillance (http://publichealth.jmir.org), 26.09.2017.

Control of standing balance while using constructions stilts: comparison of expert and novice users.

PubMed

Noble, Jeremy W; Singer, Jonathan C; Prentice, Stephen D

2016-01-01

This study examined the control of standing balance while wearing construction stilts. Motion capture data were collected from nine expert stilt users and nine novices. Three standing conditions were analysed: ground, 60 cm stilts and an elevated platform. Each task was also performed with the head extended as a vestibular perturbation. Both expert and novice groups exhibited lower displacement of the whole body centre of mass and centre of pressure on construction stilts. Differences between the groups were only noted in the elevated condition with no stilts, where the expert group had lower levels of medial-lateral displacement of the centre of pressure. The postural manipulation revealed that the expert group had superior balance to the novice group. Conditions where stilts were worn showed lower levels of correspondence to the inverted pendulum model. Under normal conditions, both expert and novice groups were able to control their balance while wearing construction stilts. This work investigated the effects of experience on the control of balance while using construction stilts. Under normal conditions, expert and novice stilt users were able to control their balance while wearing construction stilts. Differences between the expert and novice users were revealed when the balance task was made more difficult, with the experts showing superior balance in these situations.

Does active substance use at housing entry impair outcomes in supported housing for chronically homeless persons?

PubMed

Edens, Ellen Lockard; Mares, Alvin S; Tsai, Jack; Rosenheck, Robert A

2011-02-01

Recent clinical and policy trends have favored low-demand housing (provision of housing not contingent on alcohol and drug abstinence) in assisting chronically homeless people. This study compared housing, clinical, and service use outcomes of participants with high levels of substance use at time of housing entry and those who reported no substance use. Participants in the outcome evaluation of the 11-site Collaborative Initiative on Chronic Homelessness (N=756), who were housed within 12 months of program entry and received an assessment at time of housing and at least one follow-up (N=694, 92%), were classified as either high-frequency substance users (>15 days of using alcohol or >15 days of using marijuana or any other illicit drugs in the past 30 days; N=120, 16%) or abstainers (no days of use; N=290, 38%) on entry into supported community housing. An intermediate group reporting from one to 15 days of use (N=284, 38%) was excluded from the analysis. Mixed-model multivariate regression adjusted outcome findings for baseline group differences. During a 24-month follow-up, the number of days housed increased dramatically for both groups, with no significant differences. High-frequency substance users maintained higher, though declining, rates of substance use throughout follow-up compared with abstainers. High-frequency users continued to have more frequent or more severe psychiatric symptoms than the abstainers. Total health costs declined for both groups over time. Active-use substance users were successfully housed on the basis of a low-demand model. Compared with abstainers, users maintained the higher rates of substance use and poorer mental health outcomes that were observed at housing entry but without relative worsening.

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

PubMed

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

2017-02-01

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

A Novel Recommendation System to Match College Events and Groups to Students

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Qazanfari, K.; Youssef, A.; Keane, K.; Nelson, J.

2017-10-01

With the recent increase in data online, discovering meaningful opportunities can be time-consuming and complicated for many individuals. To overcome this data overload challenge, we present a novel text-content-based recommender system as a valuable tool to predict user interests. To that end, we develop a specific procedure to create user models and item feature-vectors, where items are described in free text. The user model is generated by soliciting from a user a few keywords and expanding those keywords into a list of weighted near-synonyms. The item feature-vectors are generated from the textual descriptions of the items, using modified tf-idf values of the users’ keywords and their near-synonyms. Once the users are modeled and the items are abstracted into feature vectors, the system returns the maximum-similarity items as recommendations to that user. Our experimental evaluation shows that our method of creating the user models and item feature-vectors resulted in higher precision and accuracy in comparison to well-known feature-vector-generating methods like Glove and Word2Vec. It also shows that stemming and the use of a modified version of tf-idf increase the accuracy and precision by 2% and 3%, respectively, compared to non-stemming and the standard tf-idf definition. Moreover, the evaluation results show that updating the user model from usage histories improves the precision and accuracy of the system. This recommender system has been developed as part of the Agnes application, which runs on iOS and Android platforms and is accessible through the Agnes website.

Brand equity and willingness to pay for condoms in Zimbabwe.

PubMed

Evans, W Douglas; Taruberekera, Noah; Longfield, Kim; Snider, Jeremy

2011-10-26

Zimbabwe suffers from one of the greatest burdens of HIV/AIDS in the world that has been compounded by social and economic instability in the past decade. However, from 2001 to 2009 HIV prevalence among 15-49 year olds declined from 26% to approximately 14%. Behavior change and condom use may in part explain this decline.PSI-Zimbabwe socially markets the Protector Plus (P+) branded line of condoms. When Zimbabwe converted to a dollar-based economy in 2009, the price of condoms was greatly increased and new marketing efforts were undertaken. This paper evaluates the role of condom marketing, a multi-dimensional scale of brand peceptions (brand equity), and price in condom use behavior. We randomly sampled sexually active men age 15-49 from 3 groups - current P+ users, former users, and free condom users. We compared their brand equity and willingness to pay based on survey results. We estimated multivariable logistic regression models to compare the 3 groups. We found that the brand equity scale was positive correlated with willingness to pay and with condom use. Former users also indicated a high willingness to pay for condoms. We found differences in brand equity between the 3 groups, with current P+ users having the highest P+ brand equity. As observed in previous studies, higher brand equity was associated with more of the targeted health behavior, in this case and more consistent condom use. Zimbabwe men have highly positive brand perceptions of P+. There is an opportunity to grow the total condom market in Zimbabwe by increasing brand equity across user groups. Some former users may resume using condoms through more effective marketing. Some free users may be willing to pay for condoms. Achieving these objectives will expand the total condom market and reduce HIV risk behaviors.

Identifying Frequent Users of an Urban Emergency Medical Service Using Descriptive Statistics and Regression Analyses.

PubMed

Norman, Chenelle; Mello, Michael; Choi, Bryan

2016-01-01

This retrospective cohort study provides a descriptive analysis of a population that frequently uses an urban emergency medical service (EMS) and identifies factors that contribute to use among all frequent users. For purposes of this study we divided frequent users into the following groups: low- frequent users (4 EMS transports in 2012), medium-frequent users (5 to 6 EMS transports in 2012), high-frequent users (7 to 10 EMS transports in 2012) and super-frequent users (11 or more EMS transports in 2012). Overall, we identified 539 individuals as frequent users. For all groups of EMS frequent users (i.e. low, medium, high and super) one or more hospital admissions, receiving a referral for follow-up care upon discharge, and having no insurance were found to be statistically significant with frequent EMS use (P<0.05). Within the diagnostic categories, 41.61% of super-frequent users had a diagnosis of "primarily substance abuse/misuse" and among low-frequent users a majority, 53.33%, were identified as having a "reoccurring (medical) diagnosis." Lastly, relative risk ratios for the highest group of users, super-frequent users, were 3.34 (95% CI [1.90-5.87]) for obtaining at least one referral for follow-up care, 13.67 (95% CI [5.60-33.34]) for having four or more hospital admissions and 5.95 (95% CI [1.80-19.63]) for having a diagnoses of primarily substance abuse/misuse. Findings from this study demonstrate that among low- and medium-frequent users a majority of patients are using EMS for reoccurring medical conditions. This could potentially be avoided with better care management. In addition, this study adds to the current literature that illustrates a strong correlation between substance abuse/misuse and high/super-frequent EMS use. For the subgroup analysis among individuals 65 years of age and older, we did not find any of the independent variables included in our model to be statistically significant with frequent EMS use.

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

PubMed Central

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

2014-01-01

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

Modeling web-based information seeking by users who are blind.

PubMed

Brunsman-Johnson, Carissa; Narayanan, Sundaram; Shebilske, Wayne; Alakke, Ganesh; Narakesari, Shruti

2011-01-01

This article describes website information seeking strategies used by users who are blind and compares those with sighted users. It outlines how assistive technologies and website design can aid users who are blind while information seeking. People who are blind and sighted are tested using an assessment tool and performing several tasks on websites. The times and keystrokes are recorded for all tasks as well as commands used and spatial questioning. Participants who are blind used keyword-based search strategies as their primary tool to seek information. Sighted users also used keyword search techniques if they were unable to find the information using a visual scan of the home page of a website. A proposed model based on the present study for information seeking is described. Keywords are important in the strategies used by both groups of participants and providing these common and consistent keywords in locations that are accessible to the users may be useful for efficient information searching. The observations suggest that there may be a difference in how users search a website that is familiar compared to one that is unfamiliar. © 2011 Informa UK, Ltd.

Predicting use of case management support services for adolescents and adults living in community following brain injury: A longitudinal Canadian database study with implications for life care planning

PubMed Central

Baptiste, B.; Dawson, D.R.; Streiner, D.

2015-01-01

Abstract OBJECTIVE: To determine factors associated with case management (CM) service use in people with traumatic brain injury (TBI), using a published model for service use. DESIGN: A retrospective cohort, with nested case-control design. Correlational and logistic regression analyses of questionnaires from a longitudinal community data base. STUDY SAMPLE: Questionnaires of 203 users of CM services and 273 non-users, complete for all outcome and predictor variables. Individuals with TBI, 15 years of age and older. Out of a dataset of 1,960 questionnaires, 476 met the inclusion criteria. METHODOLOGY: Eight predictor variables and one outcome variable (use or non-use of the service). Predictor variables considered the framework of the Behaviour Model of Health Service Use (BMHSU); specifically, pre-disposing, need and enabling factor groups as these relate to health service use and access. RESULTS: Analyses revealed significant differences between users and non-users of CM services. In particular, users were significantly younger than non-users as the older the person the less likely to use the service. Also, users had less education and more severe activity limitations and lower community integration. Persons living alone are less likely to use case management. Funding groups also significantly impact users. CONCLUSIONS: This study advances an empirical understanding of equity of access to health services usage in the practice of CM for persons living with TBI as a fairly new area of research, and considers direct relevance to Life Care Planning (LCP). Many life care planers are CM and the genesis of LCP is CM. The findings relate to health service use and access, rather than health outcomes. These findings may assist with development of a modified model for prediction of use to advance future cost of care predictions. PMID:26409333

Communicating climate information to end-users: an experience driven by the understanding and anticipation of user needs.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chaumont, Diane; Huard, David; Logan, Travis; Sottile, Marie-France; Brown, Ross; Gauvin St-Denis, Blaise; Grenier, Patrick; Braun, Marco

2013-04-01

Planning and adapting to a changing climate requires credible information about the magnitude and rate of projected changes. Ouranos, a consortium on regional climatology and adaptation to climate change was launched in the Province of Québec, Canada, ten years ago, with the objective of developing and providing climate information and expertise in support to adaption. Ouranos differs from most other climate service centers by integrating climate modeling activities, impacts and adaptation expertise and climate analysis services under one roof. The Climate Scenarios Group operates at the interface between climate modellers and users and is responsible for developing, producing and communicating climate scenarios to end-users in a consistent manner. This process requires close collaboration with users to define, understand and eventually anticipate their needs. The varied scientific expertise of climate scenarios specialists --who also act as communicators-- has proven to be a key element for successful communication. A large amount of effort is spent on the characterization and communication of the uncertainties involved in scenario construction. Two main activities have been put in place by the experts in climate modeling to address this: (1) a training course on climate models and (2) a fact-sheet summarizing the uncertainty and robustness of the climate change scenario provided for each I&A application. The latter tool ensures the transparency, traceability, and accountability of our products, and at the same time, encourages a sense of shared responsibility for the final choice of climate scenarios. In addition to uncertainty, two other main issues have been identified as essential in communication with users: 1) observed natural variability at relevant scales and 2) reconciliation of the projected trend with the recent observed trend. Our group has devoted substantial resources for the advancement of communication with end-users in these particular areas. This presentation will provide an overview of progress in communicating climate information at the Ouranos Consortium. We will discuss success and failures and future plans, in particular the extent to which Ouranos needs to work with users in decision-making activities.

Proceedings of the Symposium on Psychology in the Department of Defense (12th) Held in Colorado Springs, Colorado on 18-20 April 1990

DTIC Science & Technology

1990-04-01

structure or level of performance. To the extant this increased motivation result in greater...application users and not power users, they will quickly abandon the use of these models in favor of those that require less of a data entry burden, even if... behavior in Individuals is best measured by convergence over time of the value structures of the individual and those of a model group (e.g., tu•ity

Health effects of the London bicycle sharing system: health impact modelling study.

PubMed

Woodcock, James; Tainio, Marko; Cheshire, James; O'Brien, Oliver; Goodman, Anna

2014-02-13

To model the impacts of the bicycle sharing system in London on the health of its users. Health impact modelling and evaluation, using a stochastic simulation model. Central and inner London, England. Total population operational registration and usage data for the London cycle hire scheme (collected April 2011-March 2012), surveys of cycle hire users (collected 2011), and London data on travel, physical activity, road traffic collisions, and particulate air pollution (PM2.5, (collected 2005-12). 578,607 users of the London cycle hire scheme, aged 14 years and over, with an estimated 78% of travel time accounted for by users younger than 45 years. Change in lifelong disability adjusted life years (DALYs) based on one year impacts on incidence of disease and injury, modelled through medium term changes in physical activity, road traffic injuries, and exposure to air pollution. Over the year examined the users made 7.4 million cycle hire trips (estimated 71% of cycling time by men). These trips would mostly otherwise have been made on foot (31%) or by public transport (47%). To date there has been a trend towards fewer fatalities and injuries than expected on cycle hire bicycles. Using these observed injury rates, the population benefits from the cycle hire scheme substantially outweighed harms (net change -72 DALYs (95% credible interval -110 to -43) among men using cycle hire per accounting year; -15 (-42 to -6) among women; note that negative DALYs represent a health benefit). When we modelled cycle hire injury rates as being equal to background rates for all cycling in central London, these benefits were smaller and there was no evidence of a benefit among women (change -49 DALYs (-88 to -17) among men; -1 DALY (-27 to 12) among women). This sex difference largely reflected higher road collision fatality rates for female cyclists. At older ages the modelled benefits of cycling were much larger than the harms. Using background injury rates in the youngest age group (15 to 29 years), the medium term benefits and harms were both comparatively small and potentially negative. London's bicycle sharing system has positive health impacts overall, but these benefits are clearer for men than for women and for older users than for younger users. The potential benefits of cycling may not currently apply to all groups in all settings.

Regional Atmospheric Transport Code for Hanford Emission Tracking (RATCHET). Hanford Environmental Dose Reconstruction Project

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

Ramsdell, J.V. Jr.; Simonen, C.A.; Burk, K.W.

1994-02-01

The purpose of the Hanford Environmental Dose Reconstruction (HEDR) Project is to estimate radiation doses that individuals may have received from operations at the Hanford Site since 1944. This report deals specifically with the atmospheric transport model, Regional Atmospheric Transport Code for Hanford Emission Tracking (RATCHET). RATCHET is a major rework of the MESOILT2 model used in the first phase of the HEDR Project; only the bookkeeping framework escaped major changes. Changes to the code include (1) significant changes in the representation of atmospheric processes and (2) incorporation of Monte Carlo methods for representing uncertainty in input data, model parameters,more » and coefficients. To a large extent, the revisions to the model are based on recommendations of a peer working group that met in March 1991. Technical bases for other portions of the atmospheric transport model are addressed in two other documents. This report has three major sections: a description of the model, a user`s guide, and a programmer`s guide. These sections discuss RATCHET from three different perspectives. The first provides a technical description of the code with emphasis on details such as the representation of the model domain, the data required by the model, and the equations used to make the model calculations. The technical description is followed by a user`s guide to the model with emphasis on running the code. The user`s guide contains information about the model input and output. The third section is a programmer`s guide to the code. It discusses the hardware and software required to run the code. The programmer`s guide also discusses program structure and each of the program elements.« less

The role of the salience network in processing lexical and nonlexical stimuli in cochlear implant users: an ALE meta-analysis of PET studies.

PubMed

Song, Jae-Jin; Vanneste, Sven; Lazard, Diane S; Van de Heyning, Paul; Park, Joo Hyun; Oh, Seung Ha; De Ridder, Dirk

2015-05-01

Previous positron emission tomography (PET) studies have shown that various cortical areas are activated to process speech signal in cochlear implant (CI) users. Nonetheless, differences in task dimension among studies and low statistical power preclude from understanding sound processing mechanism in CI users. Hence, we performed activation likelihood estimation meta-analysis of PET studies in CI users and normal hearing (NH) controls to compare the two groups. Eight studies (58 CI subjects/92 peak coordinates; 45 NH subjects/40 peak coordinates) were included and analyzed, retrieving areas significantly activated by lexical and nonlexical stimuli. For lexical and nonlexical stimuli, both groups showed activations in the components of the dual-stream model such as bilateral superior temporal gyrus/sulcus, middle temporal gyrus, left posterior inferior frontal gyrus, and left insula. However, CI users displayed additional unique activation patterns by lexical and nonlexical stimuli. That is, for the lexical stimuli, significant activations were observed in areas comprising salience network (SN), also known as the intrinsic alertness network, such as the left dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC), left insula, and right supplementary motor area in the CI user group. Also, for the nonlexical stimuli, CI users activated areas comprising SN such as the right insula and left dACC. Previous episodic observations on lexical stimuli processing using the dual auditory stream in CI users were reconfirmed in this study. However, this study also suggests that dual-stream auditory processing in CI users may need supports from the SN. In other words, CI users need to pay extra attention to cope with degraded auditory signal provided by the implant. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Prediction of user preference over shared-control paradigms for a robotic wheelchair.

PubMed

Erdogan, Ahmetcan; Argall, Brenna D

2017-07-01

The design of intelligent powered wheelchairs has traditionally focused heavily on providing effective and efficient navigation assistance. Significantly less attention has been given to the end-user's preference between different assistance paradigms. It is possible to include these subjective evaluations in the design process, for example by soliciting feedback in post-experiment questionnaires. However, constantly querying the user for feedback during real-world operation is not practical. In this paper, we present a model that correlates objective performance metrics and subjective evaluations of autonomous wheelchair control paradigms. Using off-the-shelf machine learning techniques, we show that it is possible to build a model that can predict the most preferred shared-control method from task execution metrics such as effort, safety, performance and utilization. We further characterize the relative contributions of each of these metrics to the individual choice of most preferred assistance paradigm. Our evaluation includes Spinal Cord Injured (SCI) and uninjured subject groups. The results show that our proposed correlation model enables the continuous tracking of user preference and offers the possibility of autonomy that is customized to each user.

Virtual socialization in adults with spina bifida.

PubMed

Chan, Wendy M; Dicianno, Brad E

2011-03-01

To use spina bifida (SB) as a model of chronic physical disability to study the associations of virtual socialization, friendships, and quality of life (QOL) in adults. Cross-sectional survey. Subjects were recruited from residential living facilities, outpatient clinics, and the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) research registry. Inclusion criteria were age between 18 and 80 years and clinical diagnoses of SB cystica (myelomeningocele) and hydrocephalus. The exclusion criterion was the diagnosis of SB occulta. Sixty-three eligible adults were enrolled, and all completed the study. The survey via questionnaire was performed in person or over the telephone. Data collected included the World Health Organization's Medical Outcomes Study 26-item Short Form, Economic Self-Sufficiency from the Craig Handicap Assessment and Reporting Technique Short Form, virtual socializing habits, and number of friends. Three linear regression models were performed, each with a unique dependent variable: number of friends, psychological QOL, or social QOL. The following independent variables were included in all models: age, gender, ethnicity, economic self-sufficiency, marital status, education level, lesion level, health status, user group, collection method, and time spent virtually socializing. In addition, each regression model included the dependent variables from the other 2 models in its independent variables. Increased degree of virtual socialization (VS) was associated with a greater number of friends (P = .003, r = .684). Mean (standard deviation) numbers of friends by VS groups were the following: users, n = 4.9 ± 2.7; semi-users, n = 3.8 ± 2.7; and nonusers, n = 2.1 ± 2.3, which represent a 2.3 times greater number of friends between the users and nonusers. The effect of virtual socialization on QOL was also positive, however, not statistically significant. People with chronic physical disabilities, such as SB, are at high risk for peer rejection and long-term social avoidance. Users of the most immersive forms of virtual socialization, have more real world friends than both semi-users and nonusers. Any form of VS, whether immersive or real time, may improve the opportunity for meaningful social encounters. Prospective intervention studies are needed to elucidate whether a causal positive relationship between virtual socialization and friendships exists. Further research is needed to clarify virtual socialization's impact on QOL; however, the upward trend in all 4 domains of QOL across user groups suggests similar potential benefits. Copyright © 2011 American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Round Robin Study: Molecular Simulation of Thermodynamic Properties from Models with Internal Degrees of Freedom.

PubMed

Schappals, Michael; Mecklenfeld, Andreas; Kröger, Leif; Botan, Vitalie; Köster, Andreas; Stephan, Simon; García, Edder J; Rutkai, Gabor; Raabe, Gabriele; Klein, Peter; Leonhard, Kai; Glass, Colin W; Lenhard, Johannes; Vrabec, Jadran; Hasse, Hans

2017-09-12

Thermodynamic properties are often modeled by classical force fields which describe the interactions on the atomistic scale. Molecular simulations are used for retrieving thermodynamic data from such models, and many simulation techniques and computer codes are available for that purpose. In the present round robin study, the following fundamental question is addressed: Will different user groups working with different simulation codes obtain coinciding results within the statistical uncertainty of their data? A set of 24 simple simulation tasks is defined and solved by five user groups working with eight molecular simulation codes: DL_POLY, GROMACS, IMC, LAMMPS, ms2, NAMD, Tinker, and TOWHEE. Each task consists of the definition of (1) a pure fluid that is described by a force field and (2) the conditions under which that property is to be determined. The fluids are four simple alkanes: ethane, propane, n-butane, and iso-butane. All force fields consider internal degrees of freedom: OPLS, TraPPE, and a modified OPLS version with bond stretching vibrations. Density and potential energy are determined as a function of temperature and pressure on a grid which is specified such that all states are liquid. The user groups worked independently and reported their results to a central instance. The full set of results was disclosed to all user groups only at the end of the study. During the study, the central instance gave only qualitative feedback. The results reveal the challenges of carrying out molecular simulations. Several iterations were needed to eliminate gross errors. For most simulation tasks, the remaining deviations between the results of the different groups are acceptable from a practical standpoint, but they are often outside of the statistical errors of the individual simulation data. However, there are also cases where the deviations are unacceptable. This study highlights similarities between computer experiments and laboratory experiments, which are both subject not only to statistical error but also to systematic error.

A Markov Chain Model for Changes in Users' Assessment of Search Results.

PubMed

Zhitomirsky-Geffet, Maayan; Bar-Ilan, Judit; Levene, Mark

2016-01-01

Previous research shows that users tend to change their assessment of search results over time. This is a first study that investigates the factors and reasons for these changes, and describes a stochastic model of user behaviour that may explain these changes. In particular, we hypothesise that most of the changes are local, i.e. between results with similar or close relevance to the query, and thus belong to the same"coarse" relevance category. According to the theory of coarse beliefs and categorical thinking, humans tend to divide the range of values under consideration into coarse categories, and are thus able to distinguish only between cross-category values but not within them. To test this hypothesis we conducted five experiments with about 120 subjects divided into 3 groups. Each student in every group was asked to rank and assign relevance scores to the same set of search results over two or three rounds, with a period of three to nine weeks between each round. The subjects of the last three-round experiment were then exposed to the differences in their judgements and were asked to explain them. We make use of a Markov chain model to measure change in users' judgments between the different rounds. The Markov chain demonstrates that the changes converge, and that a majority of the changes are local to a neighbouring relevance category. We found that most of the subjects were satisfied with their changes, and did not perceive them as mistakes but rather as a legitimate phenomenon, since they believe that time has influenced their relevance assessment. Both our quantitative analysis and user comments support the hypothesis of the existence of coarse relevance categories resulting from categorical thinking in the context of user evaluation of search results.

Results of a transparent expert consultation on patient and public involvement in palliative care research.

PubMed

Daveson, Barbara A; de Wolf-Linder, Susanne; Witt, Jana; Newson, Kirstie; Morris, Carolyn; Higginson, Irene J; Evans, Catherine J

2015-12-01

Support and evidence for patient, unpaid caregiver and public involvement in research (user involvement) are growing. Consensus on how best to involve users in palliative care research is lacking. To determine an optimal user-involvement model for palliative care research. We hosted a consultation workshop using expert presentations, discussion and nominal group technique to generate recommendations and consensus on agreement of importance. A total of 35 users and 32 researchers were approached to attend the workshop, which included break-out groups and a ranking exercise. Descriptive statistical analysis to establish consensus and highlight divergence was applied. Qualitative analysis of discussions was completed to aid interpretation of findings. Participants involved in palliative care research were invited to a global research institute, UK. A total of 12 users and 5 researchers participated. Users wanted their involvement to be more visible, including during dissemination, with a greater emphasis on the difference their involvement makes. Researchers wanted to improve productivity, relevance and quality through involvement. Users and researchers agreed that an optimal model should consist of (a) early involvement to ensure meaningful involvement and impact and (b) diverse virtual and face-to-face involvement methods to ensure flexibility. For involvement in palliative care research to succeed, early and flexible involvement is required. Researchers should advertise opportunities for involvement and promote impact of involvement via dissemination plans. Users should prioritise adding value to research through enhancing productivity, quality and relevance. More research is needed not only to inform implementation and ensure effectiveness but also to investigate the cost-effectiveness of involvement in palliative care research. © The Author(s) 2015.

Results of a transparent expert consultation on patient and public involvement in palliative care research

PubMed Central

Daveson, Barbara A; de Wolf-Linder, Susanne; Witt, Jana; Newson, Kirstie; Morris, Carolyn; Higginson, Irene J; Evans, Catherine J

2015-01-01

Background: Support and evidence for patient, unpaid caregiver and public involvement in research (user involvement) are growing. Consensus on how best to involve users in palliative care research is lacking. Aim: To determine an optimal user-involvement model for palliative care research. Design: We hosted a consultation workshop using expert presentations, discussion and nominal group technique to generate recommendations and consensus on agreement of importance. A total of 35 users and 32 researchers were approached to attend the workshop, which included break-out groups and a ranking exercise. Descriptive statistical analysis to establish consensus and highlight divergence was applied. Qualitative analysis of discussions was completed to aid interpretation of findings. Setting/participants: Participants involved in palliative care research were invited to a global research institute, UK. Results: A total of 12 users and 5 researchers participated. Users wanted their involvement to be more visible, including during dissemination, with a greater emphasis on the difference their involvement makes. Researchers wanted to improve productivity, relevance and quality through involvement. Users and researchers agreed that an optimal model should consist of (a) early involvement to ensure meaningful involvement and impact and (b) diverse virtual and face-to-face involvement methods to ensure flexibility. Conclusion: For involvement in palliative care research to succeed, early and flexible involvement is required. Researchers should advertise opportunities for involvement and promote impact of involvement via dissemination plans. Users should prioritise adding value to research through enhancing productivity, quality and relevance. More research is needed not only to inform implementation and ensure effectiveness but also to investigate the cost-effectiveness of involvement in palliative care research. PMID:25931336

Migration Background Influences Consumption Patterns Based on Dietary Recommendations of Food Bank Users in Germany.

PubMed

Stroebele-Benschop, Nanette; Depa, Julia; Gyngell, Fiona; Müller, Annalena; Eleraky, Laila; Hilzendegen, Carolin

2018-03-29

People with low income tend to eat less balanced than people with higher income. This seems to be particularly the case for people with migration background. This cross-sectional study examined the relation of consumption patterns of 597 food bank users with different migration background in Germany. Questionnaires were distributed assessing sociodemographic information and consumption patterns. Analyses were conducted using binary logistic regressions. Models were controlled for age, gender, type of household and education. The group of German food bank users consumed fewer fruits and vegetables and less fish compared to all other groups with migration background (former USSR, Balkan region, Middle East). A significant predictor for fruit and vegetable consumption was migration status. Participants from the former USSR consumed less often SSBs compared to the other groups. Dietary recommendations for low income populations should take into consideration other aspects besides income such as migration status.

A modified operational sequence methodology for zoo exhibit design and renovation: conceptualizing animals, staff, and visitors as interdependent coworkers.

PubMed

Kelling, Nicholas J; Gaalema, Diann E; Kelling, Angela S

2014-01-01

Human factors analyses have been used to improve efficiency and safety in various work environments. Although generally limited to humans, the universality of these analyses allows for their formal application to a much broader domain. This paper outlines a model for the use of human factors to enhance zoo exhibits and optimize spaces for all user groups; zoo animals, zoo visitors, and zoo staff members. Zoo exhibits are multi-faceted and each user group has a distinct set of requirements that can clash or complement each other. Careful analysis and a reframing of the three groups as interdependent coworkers can enhance safety, efficiency, and experience for all user groups. This paper details a general creation and specific examples of the use of the modified human factors tools of function allocation, operational sequence diagram and needs assessment. These tools allow for adaptability and ease of understanding in the design or renovation of exhibits. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Tri-city study of Ecstasy use problems: a latent class analysis.

PubMed

Scheier, Lawrence M; Ben Abdallah, Arbi; Inciardi, James A; Copeland, Jan; Cottler, Linda B

2008-12-01

This study used latent class analysis to examine distinctive subtypes of Ecstasy users based on 24 abuse and dependence symptoms underlying standard DSM-IV criteria. Data came from a three site, population-based, epidemiological study to examine diagnostic nosology for Ecstasy use. Subject inclusion criteria included lifetime Ecstasy use exceeding five times and once in the past year, with participants ranging in age between 16 and 47 years of age from St. Louis, Miami, U.S. and Sydney, Australia. A satisfactory model typified four latent classes representing clearly differentiated diagnostic clusters including: (1) a group of sub-threshold users endorsing few abuse and dependence symptoms (negatives), (2) a group of 'diagnostic orphans' who had characteristic features of dependence for a select group of symptoms (mild dependent), (3) a 'transitional group' mimicking the orphans with regard to their profile of dependence also but reporting some abuse symptoms (moderate dependent), and (4) a 'severe dependent' group with a distinct profile of abuse and dependence symptoms. A multinomial logistic regression model indicated that certain latent classes showed unique associations with external non-diagnostic markers. Controlling for demographic characteristics and lifetime quantity of Ecstasy pill use, criminal behavior and motivational cues for Ecstasy use were the most efficient predictors of cluster membership. This study reinforces the heuristic utility of DSM-IV criteria applied to Ecstasy but with a different collage of symptoms that produced four distinct classes of Ecstasy users.

Effective user management with high strength crypto -key in dynamic group environment in cloud

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kumar, P. J.; Suganya, P.; Karthik, G.

2017-11-01

Cloud Clusters consists of various collections of files which are being accessed by multiple users of Cloud. The users are managed as a group and the association of the user to a particular group is dynamic in nature. Every group has a manager who handles the membership of a user to a particular group by issuing keys for encryption and decryption. Due to the dynamic nature of a user he/she may leave the group very frequently. But an attempt can be made by the user who has recently left the group to access a file maintained by that group. Key distribution becomes a critical issue while the behavior of the user is dynamic. Existing techniques to manage the users of group in terms of security and key distribution has been investigated so that to arrive at an objective to identify the scopes to increase security and key management scheme in cloud. The usage of various key combinations to measure the strength of security and efficiency of user management in dynamic cloud environment has been investigated.

Evaluating user reputation in online rating systems via an iterative group-based ranking method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gao, Jian; Zhou, Tao

2017-05-01

Reputation is a valuable asset in online social lives and it has drawn increased attention. Due to the existence of noisy ratings and spamming attacks, how to evaluate user reputation in online rating systems is especially significant. However, most of the previous ranking-based methods either follow a debatable assumption or have unsatisfied robustness. In this paper, we propose an iterative group-based ranking method by introducing an iterative reputation-allocation process into the original group-based ranking method. More specifically, the reputation of users is calculated based on the weighted sizes of the user rating groups after grouping all users by their rating similarities, and the high reputation users' ratings have larger weights in dominating the corresponding user rating groups. The reputation of users and the user rating group sizes are iteratively updated until they become stable. Results on two real data sets with artificial spammers suggest that the proposed method has better performance than the state-of-the-art methods and its robustness is considerably improved comparing with the original group-based ranking method. Our work highlights the positive role of considering users' grouping behaviors towards a better online user reputation evaluation.

“Teens are from Mars, Adults are from Venus”: Analyzing and Predicting Age Groups with Behavioral Characteristics in Instagram

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

Han, Kyungsik; Lee, Sanghack; Jang, Jin

We present behavioral characteristics of teens and adults in Instagram and prediction of them from their behaviors. Based on two independently created datasets from user profiles and tags, we identify teens and adults, and carry out comparative analyses on their online behaviors. Our study reveals: (1) significant behavioral differences between two age groups; (2) the empirical evidence of classifying teens and adults with up to 82% accuracy, using traditional predictive models, while two baseline methods achieve 68% at best; and (3) the robustness of our models by achieving 76%—81% when tested against an independent dataset obtained without using user profilesmore » or tags.« less

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

PubMed Central

Ruefli, Terry; Rogers, Susan J

2004-01-01

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

Public Auditing with Privacy Protection in a Multi-User Model of Cloud-Assisted Body Sensor Networks

PubMed Central

Li, Song; Cui, Jie; Zhong, Hong; Liu, Lu

2017-01-01

Wireless Body Sensor Networks (WBSNs) are gaining importance in the era of the Internet of Things (IoT). The modern medical system is a particular area where the WBSN techniques are being increasingly adopted for various fundamental operations. Despite such increasing deployments of WBSNs, issues such as the infancy in the size, capabilities and limited data processing capacities of the sensor devices restrain their adoption in resource-demanding applications. Though providing computing and storage supplements from cloud servers can potentially enrich the capabilities of the WBSNs devices, data security is one of the prevailing issues that affects the reliability of cloud-assisted services. Sensitive applications such as modern medical systems demand assurance of the privacy of the users’ medical records stored in distant cloud servers. Since it is economically impossible to set up private cloud servers for every client, auditing data security managed in the remote servers has necessarily become an integral requirement of WBSNs’ applications relying on public cloud servers. To this end, this paper proposes a novel certificateless public auditing scheme with integrated privacy protection. The multi-user model in our scheme supports groups of users to store and share data, thus exhibiting the potential for WBSNs’ deployments within community environments. Furthermore, our scheme enriches user experiences by offering public verifiability, forward security mechanisms and revocation of illegal group members. Experimental evaluations demonstrate the security effectiveness of our proposed scheme under the Random Oracle Model (ROM) by outperforming existing cloud-assisted WBSN models. PMID:28475110

SWATShare- A Platform for Collaborative Hydrology Research and Education with Cyber-enabled Sharing, Running and Visualization of SWAT Models

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rajib, M. A.; Merwade, V.; Song, C.; Zhao, L.; Kim, I. L.; Zhe, S.

2014-12-01

Setting up of any hydrologic model requires a large amount of efforts including compilation of all the data, creation of input files, calibration and validation. Given the amount of efforts involved, it is possible that models for a watershed get created multiple times by multiple groups or organizations to accomplish different research, educational or policy goals. To reduce the duplication of efforts and enable collaboration among different groups or organizations around an already existing hydrology model, a platform is needed where anyone can search for existing models, perform simple scenario analysis and visualize model results. The creator and users of a model on such a platform can then collaborate to accomplish new research or educational objectives. From this perspective, a prototype cyber-infrastructure (CI), called SWATShare, is developed for sharing, running and visualizing Soil Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) models in an interactive GIS-enabled web environment. Users can utilize SWATShare to publish or upload their own models, search and download existing SWAT models developed by others, run simulations including calibration using high performance resources provided by XSEDE and Cloud. Besides running and sharing, SWATShare hosts a novel spatio-temporal visualization system for SWAT model outputs. In temporal scale, the system creates time-series plots for all the hydrology and water quality variables available along the reach as well as in watershed-level. In spatial scale, the system can dynamically generate sub-basin level thematic maps for any variable at any user-defined date or date range; and thereby, allowing users to run animations or download the data for subsequent analyses. In addition to research, SWATShare can also be used within a classroom setting as an educational tool for modeling and comparing the hydrologic processes under different geographic and climatic settings. SWATShare is publicly available at https://www.water-hub.org/swatshare.

Past Year Quit Attempts and Use of Cessation Resources Among Cigarette-Only Smokers and Cigarette Smokers Who Use Other Tobacco Products.

PubMed

Schauer, Gillian L; Pederson, Linda L; Malarcher, Ann M

2016-01-01

It is unclear how use of other tobacco products impacts cigarette-smoking cessation. We assessed differences in past year cigarette smoking quit attempts and use of counseling and medication among current cigarette-only users, cigarette and cigar users, and cigarette and smokeless tobacco (SLT) users. Data came from 24 448 current cigarette-only, 1064 cigarette and cigar only, and 508 cigarette and SLT only users who responded to the 2010-2011 Tobacco Use Supplement to the Current Population Survey. Demographic, smoking, and cessation characteristics were computed by group. Bivariate and multivariable logistic regression models assessed the relationship of tobacco use group to making a past year quit attempt, and use of counseling or medication during the last quit attempt. Dual users of cigarettes and cigars or SLT had similar interest in quitting and prevalence of reported past year quit attempts compared to cigarette-only users. In unadjusted analyses, cigarette and SLT users had higher odds of trying to quit in the past year compared to cigarette-only users (odds ratio [OR] = 1.31, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.05, 1.64); no differences were found for cigarette and cigar users. However, adjusting for demographic and cigarette smoking variables, both groups of dual users had similar odds as cigarette-only users for having made a past year cigarette smoking quit attempt, and to have used counseling or medication during the last quit attempt. Dual tobacco use was not associated with decreased attempts to quit smoking cigarettes; however, use of evidence-based treatment was sub-optimal among cigarette-only and dual users, and should be increased. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

A Data Management System for International Space Station Simulation Tools

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Betts, Bradley J.; DelMundo, Rommel; Elcott, Sharif; McIntosh, Dawn; Niehaus, Brian; Papasin, Richard; Mah, Robert W.; Clancy, Daniel (Technical Monitor)

2002-01-01

Groups associated with the design, operational, and training aspects of the International Space Station make extensive use of modeling and simulation tools. Users of these tools often need to access and manipulate large quantities of data associated with the station, ranging from design documents to wiring diagrams. Retrieving and manipulating this data directly within the simulation and modeling environment can provide substantial benefit to users. An approach for providing these kinds of data management services, including a database schema and class structure, is presented. Implementation details are also provided as a data management system is integrated into the Intelligent Virtual Station, a modeling and simulation tool developed by the NASA Ames Smart Systems Research Laboratory. One use of the Intelligent Virtual Station is generating station-related training procedures in a virtual environment, The data management component allows users to quickly and easily retrieve information related to objects on the station, enhancing their ability to generate accurate procedures. Users can associate new information with objects and have that information stored in a database.

APPLICATION OF A BIP CONSTRAINED OPTIMIZATION MODEL COMBINED WITH NASA's ATLAS MODEL TO OPTIMIZE THE SOCIETAL BENEFITS OF THE USA's INTERNATIONAL SPACE EXPLORATION AND UTILIZATION INITIATIVE OF 1/14/04

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Morgenthaler, George W.; Glover, Fred W.; Woodcock, Gordon R.; Laguna, Manuel

2005-01-01

The 1/14/04 USA Space Exploratiofltilization Initiative invites all Space-faring Nations, all Space User Groups in Science, Space Entrepreneuring, Advocates of Robotic and Human Space Exploration, Space Tourism and Colonization Promoters, etc., to join an International Space Partnership. With more Space-faring Nations and Space User Groups each year, such a Partnership would require Multi-year (35 yr.-45 yr.) Space Mission Planning. With each Nation and Space User Group demanding priority for its missions, one needs a methodology for obiectively selecting the best mission sequences to be added annually to this 45 yr. Moving Space Mission Plan. How can this be done? Planners have suggested building a Reusable, Sustainable, Space Transportation Infrastructure (RSSn) to increase Mission synergism, reduce cost, and increase scientific and societal returns from this Space Initiative. Morgenthaler and Woodcock presented a Paper at the 55th IAC, Vancouver B.C., Canada, entitled Constrained Optimization Models For Optimizing Multi - Year Space Programs. This Paper showed that a Binary Integer Programming (BIP) Constrained Optimization Model combined with the NASA ATLAS Cost and Space System Operational Parameter Estimating Model has the theoretical capability to solve such problems. IAA Commission III, Space Technology and Space System Development, in its ACADEMY DAY meeting at Vancouver, requested that the Authors and NASA experts find several Space Exploration Architectures (SEAS), apply the combined BIP/ATLAS Models, and report the results at the 56th Fukuoka IAC. While the mathematical Model is in Ref.[2] this Paper presents the Application saga of that effort.

ReMatch: a web-based tool to construct, store and share stoichiometric metabolic models with carbon maps for metabolic flux analysis.

PubMed

Pitkänen, Esa; Akerlund, Arto; Rantanen, Ari; Jouhten, Paula; Ukkonen, Esko

2008-08-25

ReMatch is a web-based, user-friendly tool that constructs stoichiometric network models for metabolic flux analysis, integrating user-developed models into a database collected from several comprehensive metabolic data resources, including KEGG, MetaCyc and CheBI. Particularly, ReMatch augments the metabolic reactions of the model with carbon mappings to facilitate (13)C metabolic flux analysis. The construction of a network model consisting of biochemical reactions is the first step in most metabolic modelling tasks. This model construction can be a tedious task as the required information is usually scattered to many separate databases whose interoperability is suboptimal, due to the heterogeneous naming conventions of metabolites in different databases. Another, particularly severe data integration problem is faced in (13)C metabolic flux analysis, where the mappings of carbon atoms from substrates into products in the model are required. ReMatch has been developed to solve the above data integration problems. First, ReMatch matches the imported user-developed model against the internal ReMatch database while considering a comprehensive metabolite name thesaurus. This, together with wild card support, allows the user to specify the model quickly without having to look the names up manually. Second, ReMatch is able to augment reactions of the model with carbon mappings, obtained either from the internal database or given by the user with an easy-touse tool. The constructed models can be exported into 13C-FLUX and SBML file formats. Further, a stoichiometric matrix and visualizations of the network model can be generated. The constructed models of metabolic networks can be optionally made available to the other users of ReMatch. Thus, ReMatch provides a common repository for metabolic network models with carbon mappings for the needs of metabolic flux analysis community. ReMatch is freely available for academic use at http://www.cs.helsinki.fi/group/sysfys/software/rematch/.

Barriers and facilitators to implementing electronic prescription: a systematic review of user groups' perceptions.

PubMed

Gagnon, Marie-Pierre; Nsangou, Édith-Romy; Payne-Gagnon, Julie; Grenier, Sonya; Sicotte, Claude

2014-01-01

We conducted a systematic review identifying users groups' perceptions of barriers and facilitators to implementing electronic prescription (e-prescribing) in primary care. We included studies following these criteria: presence of an empirical design, focus on the users' experience of e-prescribing implementation, conducted in primary care, and providing data on barriers and facilitators to e-prescribing implementation. We used the Donabedian logical model of healthcare quality (adapted by Barber et al) to analyze our findings. We found 34 publications (related to 28 individual studies) eligible to be included in this review. These studies identified a total of 594 elements as barriers or facilitators to e-prescribing implementation. Most user groups perceived that e-prescribing was facilitated by design and technical concerns, interoperability, content appropriate for the users, attitude towards e-prescribing, productivity, and available resources. This review highlights the importance of technical and organizational support for the successful implementation of e-prescribing systems. It also shows that the same factor can be seen as a barrier or a facilitator depending on the project's own circumstances. Moreover, a factor can change in nature, from a barrier to a facilitator and vice versa, in the process of e-prescribing implementation. This review summarizes current knowledge on factors related to e-prescribing implementation in primary care that could support decision makers in their design of effective implementation strategies. Finally, future studies should emphasize on the perceptions of other user groups, such as pharmacists, managers, vendors, and patients, who remain neglected in the literature.

Use of complementary and alternative medicine among patients: classification criteria determine level of use.

PubMed

Kristoffersen, Agnete Egilsdatter; Fønnebø, Vinjar; Norheim, Arne Johan

2008-10-01

Self-reported use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) among patients varies widely between studies, possibly because the definition of a CAM user is not comparable. This makes it difficult to compare studies. The aim of this study is to present a six-level model for classifying patients' reported exposure to CAM. Prayer, physical exercise, special diets, over-the-counter products/CAM techniques, and personal visits to a CAM practitioner are successively removed from the model in a reductive fashion. By applying the model to responses given by Norwegian patients with cancer, we found that 72% use CAM if the user was defined to include all types of CAM. This proportion was reduced successively to only 11% in the same patient group when a CAM user was defined as a user visiting a CAM practitioner four or more times. When considering a sample of 10 recently published studies of CAM use among patients with breast cancer, we found 98% use when the CAM user was defined to include all sorts of CAM. This proportion was reduced successively to only 20% when a CAM user was defined as a user of a CAM practitioner. We recommend future surveys of CAM use to report at more than one level and to clarify which intensity level of CAM use the report is based on.

Serious Games for Health: The Potential of Metadata.

PubMed

Göbel, Stefan; Maddison, Ralph

2017-02-01

Numerous serious games and health games exist, either as commercial products (typically with a focus on entertaining a broad user group) or smaller games and game prototypes, often resulting from research projects (typically tailored to a smaller user group with a specific health characteristic). A major drawback of existing health games is that they are not very well described and attributed with (machine-readable, quantitative, and qualitative) metadata such as the characterizing goal of the game, the target user group, or expected health effects well proven in scientific studies. This makes it difficult or even impossible for end users to find and select the most appropriate game for a specific situation (e.g., health needs). Therefore, the aim of this article was to motivate the need and potential/benefit of metadata for the description and retrieval of health games and to describe a descriptive model for the qualitative description of games for health. It was not the aim of the article to describe a stable, running system (portal) for health games. This will be addressed in future work. Building on previous work toward a metadata format for serious games, a descriptive model for the formal description of games for health is introduced. For the conceptualization of this model, classification schemata of different existing health game repositories are considered. The classification schema consists of three levels: a core set of mandatory descriptive fields relevant for all games for health application areas, a detailed level with more comprehensive, optional information about the games, and so-called extension as level three with specific descriptive elements relevant for dedicated health games application areas, for example, cardio training. A metadata format provides a technical framework to describe, find, and select appropriate health games matching the needs of the end user. Future steps to improve, apply, and promote the metadata format in the health games market are discussed.

CulSim: A simulator of emergence and resilience of cultural diversity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ulloa, Roberto

CulSim is an agent-based computer simulation software that allows further exploration of influential and recent models of emergence of cultural groups grounded in sociological theories. CulSim provides a collection of tools to analyze resilience of cultural diversity when events affect agents, institutions or global parameters of the simulations; upon combination, events can be used to approximate historical circumstances. The software provides a graphical and text-based user interface, and so makes this agent-based modeling methodology accessible to a variety of users from different research fields.

End users transforming experiences into formal information and process models for personalised health interventions.

PubMed

Lindgren, Helena; Lundin-Olsson, Lillemor; Pohl, Petra; Sandlund, Marlene

2014-01-01

Five physiotherapists organised a user-centric design process of a knowledge-based support system for promoting exercise and preventing falls. The process integrated focus group studies with 17 older adults and prototyping. The transformation of informal medical and rehabilitation expertise and older adults' experiences into formal information and process models during the development was studied. As tool they used ACKTUS, a development platform for knowledge-based applications. The process became agile and incremental, partly due to the diversity of expectations and preferences among both older adults and physiotherapists, and the participatory approach to design and development. In addition, there was a need to develop the knowledge content alongside with the formal models and their presentations, which allowed the participants to test hands-on and evaluate the ideas, content and design. The resulting application is modular, extendable, flexible and adaptable to the individual end user. Moreover, the physiotherapists are able to modify the information and process models, and in this way further develop the application. The main constraint was found to be the lack of support for the initial phase of concept modelling, which lead to a redesigned user interface and functionality of ACKTUS.

Higher Order Thinking in Collaborative Video Annotations: Investigating Discourse Modeling and the Staggering of Learner Participation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Howard, Craig Dennis

2012-01-01

"Collaborative video annotation" (CVA) allows multiple users to annotate video and create a discussion asynchronously. This dissertation investigates 14 small-group CVA discussions held on YouTube in a pre-service teacher education course. Fourteen groups of 6-12 pre-service teachers (141 total) participated. Five of these groups (48…

Low-Complexity User Selection for Rate Maximization in MIMO Broadcast Channels with Downlink Beamforming

PubMed Central

Silva, Adão; Gameiro, Atílio

2014-01-01

We present in this work a low-complexity algorithm to solve the sum rate maximization problem in multiuser MIMO broadcast channels with downlink beamforming. Our approach decouples the user selection problem from the resource allocation problem and its main goal is to create a set of quasiorthogonal users. The proposed algorithm exploits physical metrics of the wireless channels that can be easily computed in such a way that a null space projection power can be approximated efficiently. Based on the derived metrics we present a mathematical model that describes the dynamics of the user selection process which renders the user selection problem into an integer linear program. Numerical results show that our approach is highly efficient to form groups of quasiorthogonal users when compared to previously proposed algorithms in the literature. Our user selection algorithm achieves a large portion of the optimum user selection sum rate (90%) for a moderate number of active users. PMID:24574928

Research and Development for an Operational Information Ecology: The User-System Interface Agent Project

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Srivastava, Sadanand; deLamadrid, James

1998-01-01

The User System Interface Agent (USIA) is a special type of software agent which acts as the "middle man" between a human user and an information processing environment. USIA consists of a group of cooperating agents which are responsible for assisting users in obtaining information processing services intuitively and efficiently. Some of the main features of USIA include: (1) multiple interaction modes and (2) user-specific and stereotype modeling and adaptation. This prototype system provides us with a development platform towards the realization of an operational information ecology. In the first phase of this project we focus on the design and implementation of prototype system of the User-System Interface Agent (USIA). The second face of USIA allows user interaction via a restricted query language as well as through a taxonomy of windows. In third phase the USIA system architecture was revised.

A Collaborative Location Based Travel Recommendation System through Enhanced Rating Prediction for the Group of Users.

PubMed

Ravi, Logesh; Vairavasundaram, Subramaniyaswamy

2016-01-01

Rapid growth of web and its applications has created a colossal importance for recommender systems. Being applied in various domains, recommender systems were designed to generate suggestions such as items or services based on user interests. Basically, recommender systems experience many issues which reflects dwindled effectiveness. Integrating powerful data management techniques to recommender systems can address such issues and the recommendations quality can be increased significantly. Recent research on recommender systems reveals an idea of utilizing social network data to enhance traditional recommender system with better prediction and improved accuracy. This paper expresses views on social network data based recommender systems by considering usage of various recommendation algorithms, functionalities of systems, different types of interfaces, filtering techniques, and artificial intelligence techniques. After examining the depths of objectives, methodologies, and data sources of the existing models, the paper helps anyone interested in the development of travel recommendation systems and facilitates future research direction. We have also proposed a location recommendation system based on social pertinent trust walker (SPTW) and compared the results with the existing baseline random walk models. Later, we have enhanced the SPTW model for group of users recommendations. The results obtained from the experiments have been presented.

Brand equity and willingness to pay for condoms in zimbabwe

PubMed Central

2011-01-01

Background Zimbabwe suffers from one of the greatest burdens of HIV/AIDS in the world that has been compounded by social and economic instability in the past decade. However, from 2001 to 2009 HIV prevalence among 15-49 year olds declined from 26% to approximately 14%. Behavior change and condom use may in part explain this decline. PSI-Zimbabwe socially markets the Protector Plus (P+) branded line of condoms. When Zimbabwe converted to a dollar-based economy in 2009, the price of condoms was greatly increased and new marketing efforts were undertaken. This paper evaluates the role of condom marketing, a multi-dimensional scale of brand peceptions (brand equity), and price in condom use behavior. Methods We randomly sampled sexually active men age 15-49 from 3 groups - current P+ users, former users, and free condom users. We compared their brand equity and willingness to pay based on survey results. We estimated multivariable logistic regression models to compare the 3 groups. Results We found that the brand equity scale was positive correlated with willingness to pay and with condom use. Former users also indicated a high willingness to pay for condoms. We found differences in brand equity between the 3 groups, with current P+ users having the highest P+ brand equity. As observed in previous studies, higher brand equity was associated with more of the targeted health behavior, in this case and more consistent condom use. Conclusions Zimbabwe men have highly positive brand perceptions of P+. There is an opportunity to grow the total condom market in Zimbabwe by increasing brand equity across user groups. Some former users may resume using condoms through more effective marketing. Some free users may be willing to pay for condoms. Achieving these objectives will expand the total condom market and reduce HIV risk behaviors. PMID:22029874

Falls-Related Drug Use and Risk of Falls Among Older Adults: A Study in a US Medicare Population.

PubMed

Musich, Shirley; Wang, Shaohung S; Ruiz, Joann; Hawkins, Kevin; Wicker, Ellen

2017-07-01

Approximately one-third of community-dwelling older adults fall each year, and approximately 10% have falls requiring medical services. Among other factors, research studies have linked certain medications with an increased risk of falls. The aim of this study was to examine the risk of falls relative to use patterns among new and continuing falls-related drug (FRD) users. A 10% random sample, insured in AARP ® Medicare Supplement and AARP Medicare Part D Rx plans, was utilized to define new and continuing FRD users. New users had a 12-month pre-period without FRD use, whereas continuing users had at least one FRD in the pre-period. Both groups had 12-month follow-up after initiating or continuing FRD use. Characteristics associated with the risk of falls for new and continuing users were determined using multivariate logistic regression models. Among insureds, 44% used at least one of the FRD classes. Of these, 29% were new users (N = 35,340) and 71% were continuing users (N = 121,488). Fall rates for the two subgroups were similar at 7 and 8%, respectively. Characteristics associated with the risk of falls were previous injurious fall, use of two or more classes of FRDs, older age, poorer health, and being female. New users were at higher risk than continuing users. New users of FRDs were at highest risk of falls, and continuing users were at increased risk, especially with higher numbers of FRD classes. Both groups could benefit from falls awareness and prevention programs.

Health effects of the London bicycle sharing system: health impact modelling study

PubMed Central

Tainio, Marko; Cheshire, James; O’Brien, Oliver; Goodman, Anna

2014-01-01

Objective To model the impacts of the bicycle sharing system in London on the health of its users. Design Health impact modelling and evaluation, using a stochastic simulation model. Setting Central and inner London, England. Data sources Total population operational registration and usage data for the London cycle hire scheme (collected April 2011-March 2012), surveys of cycle hire users (collected 2011), and London data on travel, physical activity, road traffic collisions, and particulate air pollution (PM2.5, (collected 2005-12). Participants 578 607 users of the London cycle hire scheme, aged 14 years and over, with an estimated 78% of travel time accounted for by users younger than 45 years. Main outcome measures Change in lifelong disability adjusted life years (DALYs) based on one year impacts on incidence of disease and injury, modelled through medium term changes in physical activity, road traffic injuries, and exposure to air pollution. Results Over the year examined the users made 7.4 million cycle hire trips (estimated 71% of cycling time by men). These trips would mostly otherwise have been made on foot (31%) or by public transport (47%). To date there has been a trend towards fewer fatalities and injuries than expected on cycle hire bicycles. Using these observed injury rates, the population benefits from the cycle hire scheme substantially outweighed harms (net change −72 DALYs (95% credible interval −110 to −43) among men using cycle hire per accounting year; −15 (−42 to −6) among women; note that negative DALYs represent a health benefit). When we modelled cycle hire injury rates as being equal to background rates for all cycling in central London, these benefits were smaller and there was no evidence of a benefit among women (change −49 DALYs (−88 to −17) among men; −1 DALY (−27 to 12) among women). This sex difference largely reflected higher road collision fatality rates for female cyclists. At older ages the modelled benefits of cycling were much larger than the harms. Using background injury rates in the youngest age group (15 to 29 years), the medium term benefits and harms were both comparatively small and potentially negative. Conclusion London’s bicycle sharing system has positive health impacts overall, but these benefits are clearer for men than for women and for older users than for younger users. The potential benefits of cycling may not currently apply to all groups in all settings. PMID:24524928

Specializing network analysis to detect anomalous insider actions

PubMed Central

Chen, You; Nyemba, Steve; Zhang, Wen; Malin, Bradley

2012-01-01

Collaborative information systems (CIS) enable users to coordinate efficiently over shared tasks in complex distributed environments. For flexibility, they provide users with broad access privileges, which, as a side-effect, leave such systems vulnerable to various attacks. Some of the more damaging malicious activities stem from internal misuse, where users are authorized to access system resources. A promising class of insider threat detection models for CIS focuses on mining access patterns from audit logs, however, current models are limited in that they assume organizations have significant resources to generate label cases for training classifiers or assume the user has committed a large number of actions that deviate from “normal” behavior. In lieu of the previous assumptions, we introduce an approach that detects when specific actions of an insider deviate from expectation in the context of collaborative behavior. Specifically, in this paper, we introduce a specialized network anomaly detection model, or SNAD, to detect such events. This approach assesses the extent to which a user influences the similarity of the group of users that access a particular record in the CIS. From a theoretical perspective, we show that the proposed model is appropriate for detecting insider actions in dynamic collaborative systems. From an empirical perspective, we perform an extensive evaluation of SNAD with the access logs of two distinct environments: the patient record access logs a large electronic health record system (6,015 users, 130,457 patients and 1,327,500 accesses) and the editing logs of Wikipedia (2,394,385 revisors, 55,200 articles and 6,482,780 revisions). We compare our model with several competing methods and demonstrate SNAD is significantly more effective: on average it achieves 20–30% greater area under an ROC curve. PMID:23399988

Excel Spreadsheets for Algebra: Improving Mental Modeling for Problem Solving

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Engerman, Jason; Rusek, Matthew; Clariana, Roy

2014-01-01

This experiment investigates the effectiveness of Excel spreadsheets in a high school algebra class. Students in the experiment group convincingly outperformed the control group on a post lesson assessment. The student responses, teacher observations involving Excel spreadsheet revealed that it operated as a mindtool, which formed the users'…

Prediction of User Preference over Shared Control Paradigms for a Robotic Wheelchair

DTIC Science & Technology

2017-07-20

the experimentally -observed changes between subject groups and sessions, while providing unique insight into the relative contribution of task metrics...WHEELCHAIR, including the four tested shared- control paradigms. The correlation model and experimental results are provided in Sections IV and V. Section VI...paradigm-specific models. Moreover, we also observe differences between sub- ject groups —meaning that subjects’ evaluations of a control paradigm are

Cultural competence in mental health care: a review of model evaluations

PubMed Central

Bhui, Kamaldeep; Warfa, Nasir; Edonya, Patricia; McKenzie, Kwame; Bhugra, Dinesh

2007-01-01

Background Cultural competency is now a core requirement for mental health professionals working with culturally diverse patient groups. Cultural competency training may improve the quality of mental health care for ethnic groups. Methods A systematic review that included evaluated models of professional education or service delivery. Results Of 109 potential papers, only 9 included an evaluation of the model to improve the cultural competency practice and service delivery. All 9 studies were located in North America. Cultural competency included modification of clinical practice and organizational performance. Few studies published their teaching and learning methods. Only three studies used quantitative outcomes. One of these showed a change in attitudes and skills of staff following training. The cultural consultation model showed evidence of significant satisfaction by clinicians using the service. No studies investigated service user experiences and outcomes. Conclusion There is limited evidence on the effectiveness of cultural competency training and service delivery. Further work is required to evaluate improvement in service users' experiences and outcomes. PMID:17266765

Mobile phones and social structures: an exploration of a closed user group in rural Ghana

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background In the Millennium Villages Project site of Bonsaaso, Ghana, the Health Team is using a mobile phone closed user group to place calls amongst one another at no cost. Methods In order to determine the utilization and acceptability of the closed user group amongst users, social network analysis and qualitative methods were used. Key informants were identified and interviewed. The key informants also kept prospective call journals. Billing statements and de-identified call data from the closed user group were used to generate data for analyzing the social structure revealed by the network traffic. Results The majority of communication within the closed user group was personal and not for professional purposes. The members of the CUG felt that the group improved their efficiency at work. Conclusions The methods used present an interesting way to investigate the social structure surrounding communication via mobile phones. In addition, the benefits identified from the exploration of this closed user group make a case for supporting mobile phone closed user groups amongst professional groups. PMID:24007331

Intelligence Reach for Expertise (IREx)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hadley, Christina; Schoening, James R.; Schreiber, Yonatan

2015-05-01

IREx is a search engine for next-generation analysts to find collaborators. U.S. Army Field Manual 2.0 (Intelligence) calls for collaboration within and outside the area of operations, but finding the best collaborator for a given task can be challenging. IREx will be demonstrated as part of Actionable Intelligence Technology Enabled Capability Demonstration (AI-TECD) at the E15 field exercises at Ft. Dix in July 2015. It includes a Task Model for describing a task and its prerequisite competencies, plus a User Model (i.e., a user profile) for individuals to assert their capabilities and other relevant data. These models use a canonical suite of ontologies as a foundation for these models, which enables robust queries and also keeps the models logically consistent. IREx also supports learning validation, where a learner who has completed a course module can search and find a suitable task to practice and demonstrate that their new knowledge can be used in the real world for its intended purpose. The IREx models are in the initial phase of a process to develop them as an IEEE standard. This initiative is currently an approved IEEE Study Group, after which follows a standards working group, then a balloting group, and if all goes well, an IEEE standard.

Comparing the characteristics of users of an online service for STI self-sampling with clinic service users: a cross-sectional analysis.

PubMed

Barnard, Sharmani; Free, Caroline; Bakolis, Ioannis; Turner, Katy M E; Looker, Katharine J; Baraitser, Paula

2018-02-07

Online services for self-sampling at home could improve access to STI testing; however, little is known about those using this new modality of care. This study describes the characteristics of users of online services and compares them with users of clinic services. We conducted a cross-sectional analysis of routinely collected data on STI testing activity from online and clinic sexual health services in Lambeth and Southwark between 1January 2016 and 31March 2016. Activity was included for chlamydia, gonorrhoea, HIV and syphilis testing for residents of the boroughs aged 16 years and older. Logistic regression models were used to explore potential associations between type of service use with age group, gender, ethnic group, sexual orientation, positivity and Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) quintiles. We used the same methods to explore potential associations between return of complete samples for testing with age group, gender, ethnic group, sexual orientation and IMD quintiles among online users. 6456 STI tests were carried out by residents in the boroughs. Of these, 3582 (55.5%) were performed using clinic services and 2874 (44.5%) using the online service. In multivariate analysis, online users were more likely than clinic users to be aged between 20 and 30 years, female, white British, homosexual or bisexual, test negative for chlamydia or gonorrhoea and live in less deprived areas. Of the individuals that ordered a kit from the online service, 72.5% returned sufficient samples. In multivariate analysis, returners were more likely than non-returners to be aged >20 years and white British. Nearly half (44.5%) of all basic STI testing was done online, although the characteristics of users of clinic and online services differed and positivity rates for those using the online service for testing were lower. Clinics remain an important point of access for some groups. © Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2018. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted.

Barriers and facilitators to using NHS Direct: a qualitative study of 'users' and 'non-users'.

PubMed

Cook, Erica J; Randhawa, Gurch; Large, Shirley; Guppy, Andy; Chater, Angel M; Ali, Nasreen

2014-10-25

NHS Direct, introduced in 1998, has provided 24/7 telephone-based healthcare advice and information to the public in England and Wales. National studies have suggested variation in the uptake of this service amongst the UK's diverse population. This study provides the first exploration of the barriers and facilitators that impact upon the uptake of this service from the perspectives of both 'users' and 'non- users'. Focus groups were held with NHS Direct 'users' (N = 2) from Bedfordshire alongside 'non-users' from Manchester (N = 3) and Mendip, Somerset (N = 4). Each focus group had between five to eight participants. A total of eighty one people aged between 21 and 94 years old (M: 58.90, SD: 22.70) took part in this research. Each focus group discussion lasted approximately 90 minutes and was audiotape-recorded with participants' permission. The recordings were transcribed verbatim. A framework approach was used to analyse the transcripts. The findings from this research uncovered a range of barriers and facilitators that impact upon the uptake of NHS Direct. 'Non-users' were unaware of the range of services that NHS Direct provided. Furthermore, 'non-users' highlighted a preference for face-to face communication, identifying a lack of confidence in discussing healthcare over the telephone. This was particularly evident among older people with cognitive difficulties. The cost to telephone a '0845' number from a mobile was also viewed to be a barrier to access NHS Direct, expressed more often by 'non-users' from deprived communities. NHS Direct 'users' identified that awareness, ease of use and convenience were facilitators which influenced their decision to use the service. An understanding of the barriers and facilitators which impact on the access and uptake of telephone-based healthcare is essential to move patients towards the self-care model. This research has highlighted the need for telephone-based healthcare services to increase public awareness; through the delivery of more targeted advertising to promote the service provision available.

Product Recommendation System Based on Personal Preference Model Using CAM

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Murakami, Tomoko; Yoshioka, Nobukazu; Orihara, Ryohei; Furukawa, Koichi

Product recommendation system is realized by applying business rules acquired by data maining techniques. Business rules such as demographical patterns of purchase, are able to cover the groups of users that have a tendency to purchase products, but it is difficult to recommend products adaptive to various personal preferences only by utilizing them. In addition to that, it is very costly to gather the large volume of high quality survey data, which is necessary for good recommendation based on personal preference model. A method collecting kansei information automatically without questionnaire survey is required. The constructing personal preference model from less favor data is also necessary, since it is costly for the user to input favor data. In this paper, we propose product recommendation system based on kansei information extracted by text mining and user's preference model constructed by Category-guided Adaptive Modeling, CAM for short. CAM is a feature construction method that can generate new features constructing the space where same labeled examples are close and different labeled examples are far away from some labeled examples. It is possible to construct personal preference model by CAM despite less information of likes and dislikes categories. In the system, retrieval agent gathers the products' specification and user agent manages preference model, user's likes and dislikes. Kansei information of the products is gained by applying text mining technique to the reputation documents about the products on the web site. We carry out some experimental studies to make sure that prefrence model obtained by our method performs effectively.

User-driven health care: answering multidimensional information needs in individual patients utilizing post-EBM approaches: an operational model.

PubMed

Biswas, Rakesh; Maniam, Jayanthy; Lee, Edwin Wen Huo; Gopal, Premalatha; Umakanth, Shashikiran; Dahiya, Sumit; Ahmed, Sayeed

2008-10-01

The hypothesis in the conceptual model was that a user-driven innovation in presently available information and communication technology infrastructure would be able to meet patient and health professional users information needs and help them attain better health outcomes. An operational model was created to plan a trial on a sample diabetic population utilizing a randomized control trial design, assigning one randomly selected group of diabetics to receive electronic information intervention and analyse if it would improve their health outcomes in comparison with a matched diabetic population who would only receive regular medical intervention. Diabetes was chosen for this particular trial, as it is a major chronic illness in Malaysia as elsewhere in the world. It is in essence a position paper for how the study concept should be organized to stimulate wider discussion prior to beginning the study.

CPE--A New Perspective: The Impact of the Technology Revolution. Proceedings of the Computer Performance Evaluation Users Group Meeting (19th, San Francisco, California, October 25-28, 1983). Final Report. Reports on Computer Science and Technology.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mobray, Deborah, Ed.

Papers on local area networks (LANs), modelling techniques, software improvement, capacity planning, software engineering, microcomputers and end user computing, cost accounting and chargeback, configuration and performance management, and benchmarking presented at this conference include: (1) "Theoretical Performance Analysis of Virtual…

Drugs and personality: comparison of drug users, nonusers, and other clinical groups on the 16PF.

PubMed

Spotts, J V; Shontz, F C

1991-10-01

This article reviews published 16PF research on drug users. It also compares the 16PF scores of a new sample of nonusers with scores of matched groups of heavy, chronic users of cocaine, amphetamine, opiates, and barbiturates/sedative hypnotics, as well as combined groups of stimulant users, depressant users, and a combined group of users of all substances. No significant differences were found among drug user groups, but the profile of the nonuser group was distinctive. K-Means Cluster Analyses, as well as Cattell's Similarity and Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficients, were used to compare profiles of these new samples with the 19 groups described in an earlier meta-analysis of published 16PF studies. Data from the new samples did not cluster with data from other published research, although certain specific similarities appeared in more detailed correlational analyses. Methodological problems are discussed, and it is recommended that in future studies drug user groups be more carefully selected and defined, sample descriptions be more thorough and complete, complete profile information be routinely provided, and efforts be made to explore the utility of the Cattell CAQ in studies of drug users/misusers.

Motivational and mindfulness intervention for young adult female marijuana users

PubMed Central

de Dios, Marcel A.; Herman, Debra S.; Britton, Willoughby B.; Hagerty, Claire E.; Anderson, Bradley J.; Stein, Michael D.

2011-01-01

This pilot study tested the efficacy of a brief intervention using motivational interviewing (MI) plus mindfulness meditation (MM) to reduce marijuana use among young adult female. Thirty-four female marijuana users between the ages of 18–29 were randomized to either the intervention group (n = 22), consisting of 2 sessions of MI-MM or an assessment-only control group (n = 12). Participants’ marijuana use was assessed at baseline, 1, 2, and 3 months post-treatment. Fixed-effects regression modeling was used to analyze treatment effects. Participants randomized to the intervention group were found to use marijuana on 6.15 (z = −2.42, p=.015), 7.81 (z = −2.78, p=.005), and 6.83 (z = −2.23, p=.026) fewer days at months 1, 2, and 3, respectively, than controls. Findings from this pilot study provide preliminary evidence for the feasibility and effectiveness of a brief MI-MM for young adult female marijuana users. PMID:21940136

A Taxonomy-Based Approach to Shed Light on the Babel of Mathematical Models for Rice Simulation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Confalonieri, Roberto; Bregaglio, Simone; Adam, Myriam; Ruget, Francoise; Li, Tao; Hasegawa, Toshihiro; Yin, Xinyou; Zhu, Yan; Boote, Kenneth; Buis, Samuel;

Identifying online user reputation in terms of user preference

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dai, Lu; Guo, Qiang; Liu, Xiao-Lu; Liu, Jian-Guo; Zhang, Yi-Cheng

2018-03-01

Identifying online user reputation is significant for online social systems. In this paper, taking into account the preference physics of online user collective behaviors, we present an improved group-based rating method for ranking online user reputation based on the user preference (PGR). All the ratings given by each specific user are mapped to the same rating criteria. By grouping users according to their mapped ratings, the online user reputation is calculated based on the corresponding group sizes. Results for MovieLens and Netflix data sets show that the AUC values of the PGR method can reach 0.9842 (0.9493) and 0.9995 (0.9987) for malicious (random) spammers, respectively, outperforming the results generated by the traditional group-based method, which indicates that the online preference plays an important role for measuring user reputation.

Interprofessional learning in primary care: an exploration of the service user experience leads to a new model for co-learning.

PubMed

Worswick, Louise; Little, Christine; Ryan, Kath; Carr, Eloise

2015-01-01

Research about service user involvement in research and education focuses on the purpose, the methods, the barriers and the impact of their involvement. Few studies report on the experience of the service users who get involved. This paper reports an exploration of the experience of service users who participated in an interprofessional educational initiative in primary care - the Learning to Improve the Management of Back Pain in the Community (LIMBIC) project. Service users attended workshops with practice teams and assisted them in developing small scale quality improvement projects to improve their provision of care for people with back pain. To explore the experience of service users involved in the LIMBIC project. Using the philosophical and methodological approaches of pragmatism this study analysed data from the wider LIMBIC project and collected primary data through semi structured interviews with service users. Secondary data were reanalysed and integrated with primary data to address the research question. The study was undertaken in the primary health care setting. Patients participated as service users in workshops and quality improvement projects with members from their practice teams. Interviews with service users were transcribed and analysed thematically. Document and thematic analyses of secondary data from the LIMBIC project included focus group transcripts, patient stories, film, emails, meeting notes, a wiki and educational material such as presentations. Themes identified through the analyses illustrated the importance, to the service users, of the sense of community, of clear communication, and of influencing change through involvement. A model for co-learning with service users resulted from the analyses. The experience of service users can be optimised by planning, preparation and support so that their wealth of expertise can be recognised and utilised. A model for co-learning was developed and is presented in this paper. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Do adolescent Ecstasy users have different attitudes towards drugs when compared to Marijuana users?

PubMed Central

Martins, Silvia S.; Storr, Carla L.; Alexandre, Pierre K.; Chilcoat, Howard D.

2008-01-01

Background Perceived risk and attitudes about the consequences of drug use, perceptions of others expectations and self-efficacy influence the intent to try drugs and continue drug use once use has started. We examine associations between adolescents’ attitudes and beliefs towards ecstasy use; because most ecstasy users have a history of marijuana use, we estimate the association for three groups of adolescents: non-marijuana/ecstasy users, marijuana users (used marijuana at least once but never used ecstasy) and ecstasy users (used ecstasy at least once). Methods Data from 5,049 adolescents aged 12–18 years old who had complete weighted data information in Round 2 of the Restricted Use Files (RUF) of the National Survey of Parents and Youth (NSPY). Data were analyzed using jackknife weighted multinomial logistic regression models. Results Adolescent marijuana and ecstasy users were more likely to approve of marijuana and ecstasy use as compared to non-drug using youth. Adolescent marijuana and ecstasy users were more likely to have close friends who approved of ecstasy as compared to non-drug using youth. The magnitudes of these two associations were stronger for ecstasy use than for marijuana use in the final adjusted model. Our final adjusted model shows that approval of marijuana and ecstasy use was more strongly associated with marijuana and ecstasy use in adolescence than perceived risk in using both drugs. Conclusion Information about the risks and consequences of ecstasy use need to be presented to adolescents in order to attempt to reduce adolescents’ approval of ecstasy use as well as ecstasy experimentation. PMID:18068314

Listening to parents to improve health visiting practice.

PubMed

Morton, Alison; Hargreaves, Sharon; Taylor, Liz

2015-05-01

Listening to the "voice" of the service user is now widely accepted as central to the delivery of high quality healthcare. This paper presents an overview of the importance of service user engagement and personalised care in health visiting with a brief review of recent policy and research. A personalised approach to health visiting practice is recommended to improve service user experience and uptake of the health visiting service offer and this is considered most significant when engaging "hard to reach" groups. A project report on a service user experience strategy within the 0-19 service of a NHS Trust in England is presented which describes initiatives to develop a health visiting and school nursing service that listens to service users. A cyclical service user engagement model which incorporates continuous reviews and service reconfiguration is described with examples of service changes in response to expressed local needs.

Water Energy Simulation Toolset

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

Nguyen, Thuy; Jeffers, Robert

The Water-Energy Simulation Toolset (WEST) is an interactive simulation model that helps visualize impacts of different stakeholders on water quantity and quality of a watershed. The case study is applied for the Snake River Basin with the fictional name Cutthroat River Basin. There are four groups of stakeholders of interest: hydropower, agriculture, flood control, and environmental protection. Currently, the quality component depicts nitrogen-nitrate contaminant. Users can easily interact with the model by changing certain inputs (climate change, fertilizer inputs, etc.) to observe the change over the entire system. Users can also change certain parameters to test their management policy.

The TENCompetence Infrastructure: A Learning Network Implementation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vogten, Hubert; Martens, Harrie; Lemmers, Ruud

The TENCompetence project developed a first release of a Learning Network infrastructure to support individuals, groups and organisations in professional competence development. This infrastructure Learning Network infrastructure was released as open source to the community thereby allowing users and organisations to use and contribute to this development as they see fit. The infrastructure consists of client applications providing the user experience and server components that provide the services to these clients. These services implement the domain model (Koper 2006) by provisioning the entities of the domain model (see also Sect. 18.4) and henceforth will be referenced as domain entity services.

Recreational user attitudes towards management strategies of Allegany State Park

Treesearch

Michael Nisengard; Miklos Gratzer

1998-01-01

This project examines attitudes towards management strategies of four Allegany State Park recreational user groups: cabin users, recreational vehicle users, tent users, and day users. It investigates recreational user group attitude differences, and attitude change over a ten year time period, in regard to the following park management strategy categories: park...

Short-Term Effect of Two Semi-Occluded Vocal Tract Training Programs on the Vocal Quality of Future Occupational Voice Users: "Resonant Voice Training Using Nasal Consonants" Versus "Straw Phonation".

PubMed

Meerschman, Iris; Van Lierde, Kristiane; Peeters, Karen; Meersman, Eline; Claeys, Sofie; D'haeseleer, Evelien

2017-09-18

The purpose of this study was to determine the short-term effect of 2 semi-occluded vocal tract training programs, "resonant voice training using nasal consonants" versus "straw phonation," on the vocal quality of vocally healthy future occupational voice users. A multigroup pretest-posttest randomized control group design was used. Thirty healthy speech-language pathology students with a mean age of 19 years (range: 17-22 years) were randomly assigned into a resonant voice training group (practicing resonant exercises across 6 weeks, n = 10), a straw phonation group (practicing straw phonation across 6 weeks, n = 10), or a control group (receiving no voice training, n = 10). A voice assessment protocol consisting of both subjective (questionnaire, participant's self-report, auditory-perceptual evaluation) and objective (maximum performance task, aerodynamic assessment, voice range profile, acoustic analysis, acoustic voice quality index, dysphonia severity index) measurements and determinations was used to evaluate the participants' voice pre- and posttraining. Groups were compared over time using linear mixed models and generalized linear mixed models. Within-group effects of time were determined using post hoc pairwise comparisons. No significant time × group interactions were found for any of the outcome measures, indicating no differences in evolution over time among the 3 groups. Within-group effects of time showed a significant improvement in dysphonia severity index in the resonant voice training group, and a significant improvement in the intensity range in the straw phonation group. Results suggest that the semi-occluded vocal tract training programs using resonant voice training and straw phonation may have a positive impact on the vocal quality and vocal capacities of future occupational voice users. The resonant voice training caused an improved dysphonia severity index, and the straw phonation training caused an expansion of the intensity range in this population.

Interactive Inverse Groundwater Modeling - Addressing User Fatigue

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Singh, A.; Minsker, B. S.

2006-12-01

This paper builds on ongoing research on developing an interactive and multi-objective framework to solve the groundwater inverse problem. In this work we solve the classic groundwater inverse problem of estimating a spatially continuous conductivity field, given field measurements of hydraulic heads. The proposed framework is based on an interactive multi-objective genetic algorithm (IMOGA) that not only considers quantitative measures such as calibration error and degree of regularization, but also takes into account expert knowledge about the structure of the underlying conductivity field expressed as subjective rankings of potential conductivity fields by the expert. The IMOGA converges to the optimal Pareto front representing the best trade- off among the qualitative as well as quantitative objectives. However, since the IMOGA is a population-based iterative search it requires the user to evaluate hundreds of solutions. This leads to the problem of 'user fatigue'. We propose a two step methodology to combat user fatigue in such interactive systems. The first step is choosing only a few highly representative solutions to be shown to the expert for ranking. Spatial clustering is used to group the search space based on the similarity of the conductivity fields. Sampling is then carried out from different clusters to improve the diversity of solutions shown to the user. Once the expert has ranked representative solutions from each cluster a machine learning model is used to 'learn user preference' and extrapolate these for the solutions not ranked by the expert. We investigate different machine learning models such as Decision Trees, Bayesian learning model, and instance based weighting to model user preference. In addition, we also investigate ways to improve the performance of these models by providing information about the spatial structure of the conductivity fields (which is what the expert bases his or her rank on). Results are shown for each of these machine learning models and the advantages and disadvantages for each approach are discussed. These results indicate that using the proposed two-step methodology leads to significant reduction in user-fatigue without deteriorating the solution quality of the IMOGA.

The Effects of Cognitive Style on Edmodo Users' Behaviour: A Structural Equation Modeling-Based Multi-Group Analysis

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ursavas, Omer Faruk; Reisoglu, Ilknur

2017-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore the validity of extended technology acceptance model (TAM) in explaining pre-service teachers' Edmodo acceptance and the variation of variables related to TAM among pre-service teachers having different cognitive styles. Design/methodology/approach: Structural equation modeling approach was used to…

Predicting User Acceptance of Collaborative Technologies: An Extension of the Technology Acceptance Model for E-Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cheung, Ronnie; Vogel, Doug

2013-01-01

Collaborative technologies support group work in project-based environments. In this study, we enhance the technology acceptance model to explain the factors that influence the acceptance of Google Applications for collaborative learning. The enhanced model was empirically evaluated using survey data collected from 136 students enrolled in a…

User profiles and personas in the design and development of consumer health technologies.

PubMed

LeRouge, Cynthia; Ma, Jiao; Sneha, Sweta; Tolle, Kristin

2013-11-01

"The graying of the globe" has resulted in exponential rise in health care expenses, over-worked health care professionals and a growing patient base suffering from multiple chronic diseases, one of which is diabetes. Consumer health technologies (CHT) are considered important catalysts for empowering health care consumers to take a proactive role in managing their health and related costs. Adoption rate and usability of such devices among the aging is far from being satisfactory. Past studies noted the motivation for adoption by the aging is dependent on the suitability/relevance, perceived usability and anticipated benefits associated with usage of technological innovation. Traditional information technology (IT) development adopts a systematic approach without necessarily using a specific user model that personalizes the system to the aging user groups. The aging patient population has unique needs arising from progressive deterioration in both physiological and psychological abilities. These needs are often ignored in the design, development, trial and adoption of consumer health products resulting in low adoption and usage. The main objective of this research is to investigate the user-centered design (UCD), specifically user profiles and personas, as methodological tools to inform the design and development of CHT devices for an aging population. The adoption of user profile and persona has not received much attention in health care informatics research and, in particular, research involving CHT. Our work begins to fill this void in three ways. We (1) illuminate the process of developing CHT user profiles and personas for a Chinese elder population with a demanding health care needs, i.e., self-management of chronic diabetes, with the hope that the resulting profiles and personas may be used as foundational material for informing the design, development and evaluation of CHT in other similar contexts; (2) call attention to how to further enhance and complement traditional user profile and persona techniques for CHT design by integrating cognitive structures and present behavior that drive health care thinking, future behavior and demand; (3) show how the profiles and personas can be used to inform requirements, design and implementation decisions for a technology aimed at facilitating CHT adoption and diffusion for the elderly. To exemplify process and application, we use an action-research methodology, where user profiles and personas of an aging patient population were developed. The resultant profiles and personas were leveraged to improve the design, development and implementation plans of a smart phone application to assist chronically ill aging Chinese diabetic population capable of disease self-management. The results from the study show that user profile and persona can be a valuable methodological approach in capturing the conceptual model of the aging and informing the design and development decisions of CHT. The demonstration of techniques used in this study can serve as a guideline to CHT developers in bringing conceptual user modeling into the design of software interfaces targeted for users with specific health care needs. Specifically, the study provides guidance on the creation and use of profiles and personas to tap into the conceptual models of the targeted elderly population reflecting their preferences, capabilities and attitudes towards using technology in self-management care in general and the smart phone diabetes management application in particular. Insight into the mental model of the aging group has been shown to inform later stages of UCD development (e.g., the creation of prototypes and usability testing) as well as implementation and adoption strategies. The World Health Organization (WHO) predicts that by 2025, 80% of all new cases of diabetes are expected to appear in the developing countries. In fact, the number of diabetic patients in China is estimated to rise to 42.3 million in 2030 from 20.8 million in 2000. Thus, we investigate the Chinese aging population in order to demonstrate the process of developing and using user profile and persona. We hope that the resultant conceptual model of the Chinese aging diabetic population can be used in future research to guide CHT designers interested in designing health care devices for this vulnerable user group. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Do Haptic Representations Help Complex Molecular Learning?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bivall, Petter; Ainsworth, Shaaron; Tibell, Lena A. E.

2011-01-01

This study explored whether adding a haptic interface (that provides users with somatosensory information about virtual objects by force and tactile feedback) to a three-dimensional (3D) chemical model enhanced students' understanding of complex molecular interactions. Two modes of the model were compared in a between-groups pre- and posttest…

NASA's Internal Space Weather Working Group

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

St. Cyr, O. C.; Guhathakurta, M.; Bell, H.; Niemeyer, L.; Allen, J.

2011-01-01

Measurements from many of NASA's scientific spacecraft are used routinely by space weather forecasters, both in the U.S. and internationally. ACE, SOHO (an ESA/NASA collaboration), STEREO, and SDO provide images and in situ measurements that are assimilated into models and cited in alerts and warnings. A number of years ago, the Space Weather laboratory was established at NASA-Goddard, along with the Community Coordinated Modeling Center. Within that organization, a space weather service center has begun issuing alerts for NASA's operational users. NASA's operational user community includes flight operations for human and robotic explorers; atmospheric drag concerns for low-Earth orbit; interplanetary navigation and communication; and the fleet of unmanned aerial vehicles, high altitude aircraft, and launch vehicles. Over the past three years we have identified internal stakeholders within NASA and formed a Working Group to better coordinate their expertise and their needs. In this presentation we will describe this activity and some of the challenges in forming a diverse working group.

The impact of user fees on health services utilization and infectious disease diagnoses in Neno District, Malawi: a longitudinal, quasi-experimental study.

PubMed

Watson, S I; Wroe, E B; Dunbar, E L; Mukherjee, J; Squire, S B; Nazimera, L; Dullie, L; Lilford, R J

2016-10-20

User fees have generally fallen out of favor across Africa, and they have been associated with reductions in access to healthcare. We examined the effects of the introduction and removal of user fees on outpatient attendances and new diagnoses of HIV, malaria, and tuberculosis in Neno District, Malawi where user fees were re-instated at three of 13 health centres in 2013 and subsequently removed at one of these in 2015. We conducted two analyses. Firstly, an unadjusted comparison of outpatient visits and new diagnoses over three periods between July 2012 and October 2015: during the period with no user fees, at the re-introduction of user fees at four centres, and after the removal of user fees at one centre. Secondly, we estimated a linear model of the effect of user fees on the outcome of interest that controlled for unobserved health centre effects, monthly effects, and a linear time trend. The introduction of user fees was associated with a change in total attendances of -68 % [95 % CI: -89 %, -12 %], similar reductions were observed for new malaria and HIV diagnoses. The removal of user fees was associated with an increase in total attendances of 352 % [213 %, 554 %] with similar increases for malaria diagnoses. The results were not sensitive to control group or model specification. User fees for outpatient healthcare services present a barrier to patients accessing healthcare and reduce detection of serious infectious diseases.

Internet use, eHealth literacy and attitudes toward computer/internet among people with schizophrenia spectrum disorders: a cross-sectional study in two distant European regions.

PubMed

Athanasopoulou, Christina; Välimäki, Maritta; Koutra, Katerina; Löttyniemi, Eliisa; Bertsias, Antonios; Basta, Maria; Vgontzas, Alexandros N; Lionis, Christos

2017-09-20

Individuals with schizophrenia spectrum disorders use the Internet for general and health-related purposes. Their ability to find, understand, and apply the health information they acquire online in order to make appropriate health decisions - known as eHealth literacy - has never been investigated. The European agenda strives to limit health inequalities and enhance mental health literacy. Nevertheless, each European member state varies in levels of Internet use and online health information-seeking. This study aimed to examine computer/Internet use for general and health-related purposes, eHealth literacy, and attitudes toward computer/Internet among adults with schizophrenia spectrum disorders from two distant European regions. Data were collected from mental health services of psychiatric clinics in Finland (FI) and Greece (GR). A total of 229 patients (FI = 128, GR = 101) participated in the questionnaire survey. The data analysis included evaluation of frequencies and group comparisons with multiple linear and logistic regression models. The majority of Finnish participants were current Internet users (FI = 111, 87%, vs. GR = 33, 33%, P < .0001), while the majority of Greek participants had never used computers/Internet, mostly due to their perception that they do not need it. In both countries, more than half of Internet users used the Internet for health-related purposes (FI = 61, 55%, vs. GR = 20, 61%). The eHealth literacy of Internet users (previous and current Internet users) was found significantly higher in the Finnish group (FI: Mean = 27.05, SD 5.36; GR: Mean = 23.15, SD = 7.23, P < .0001) upon comparison with their Greek counterparts. For current Internet users, Internet use patterns were significantly different between country groups. When adjusting for gender, age, education and disease duration, country was a significant predictor of frequency of Internet use, eHealth literacy and Interest. The Finnish group of Internet users scored higher in eHealth literacy, while the Greek group of never Internet users had a higher Interest in computer/Internet. eHealth literacy is either moderate (Finnish group) or low (Greek group). Thus, exposure to ICT and eHealth skills training are needed for this population. Recommendations to improve the eHealth literacy and access to health information among these individuals are provided.

Antiproteinuric effects of renin-angiotensin inhibitors in lung cancer patients receiving bevacizumab.

PubMed

Nihei, Satoru; Sato, Junya; Harada, Toshiyuki; Kuyama, Shoichi; Suzuki, Toshiro; Waga, Nobutsugu; Saito, Yoshitaka; Kisara, Shigeki; Yokota, Atsuko; Okada, Kouji; Tsuchiya, Masami; Terui, Kazufumi; Tadokoro, Yumiko; Chiba, Takeshi; Kudo, Kenzo; Oizumi, Satoshi; Inoue, Akira; Morikawa, Naoto

2018-06-01

The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of renin-angiotensin system inhibitors (RASIs) on bevacizumab (BV)-induced proteinuria in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients. We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of NSCLC patients receiving BV between 2008 and 2014 at 11 hospitals. The patients were categorized into three groups according to their antihypertensive drug use: RASI user, non-RASI user, and non-user groups. The primary outcome was a proteinuria event of any grade during the first 6 cycles of BV treatment. A total of 211 patients were included, 89 of whom received antihypertensive drugs. Of these 89 patients, 49 were in the RASI user group, and 40 were in the non-RASI user group. The non-user group comprised 122 patients. The occurrence of proteinuria in the RASI user group was significantly lower than that in the non-RASI user group (P = 0.037) but was not significantly lower than that in the non-user group (P = 0.287). Patients using RASIs had a lower rate of proteinuria than those who did not use RASIs according to multivariate analysis (odds ratio 0.32; 95% confidence interval 0.12-0.86; P = 0.024). Our study suggests that RASI administration reduces the risk of proteinuria in patients receiving BV.

Comparison of the middle-aged and older users' adoption of mobile health services in China.

PubMed

Deng, Zhaohua; Mo, Xiuting; Liu, Shan

2014-03-01

Given the increasing number of older people, China has become an aging society. A mobile health service is a type of health informatics that provides personalized healthcare advice to those who require it, especially the older people and the middle-aged. However, few studies consider the adoption of mobile health services with regard to older and middle-aged users. This paper explored a research model based on the value attitude behavior model, theory of planned behavior, and four aging characteristic constructs to investigate how older and middle-aged citizens adopted mobile health services. The hypothesized model was empirically tested using data collected from a survey of 424 residents older than 40 years in China. Structural equation modeling was used to estimate the significance of the path coefficients. The findings revealed that (1) perceived value, attitude, perceived behavior control, and resistance to change can be used to predict intention to use mobile health services for the middle-aged group; (2) perceived value, attitude, perceived behavior control, technology anxiety, and self-actualization need positively affected the behavior intention of older users; and (3) subjective norm and perceived physical condition showed no significant effects on the behavior intention to use mobile health services for the two groups. The theoretical and practical implications and contributions of this study are then discussed. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

The differential effects of ecstasy/polydrug use on executive components: shifting, inhibition, updating and access to semantic memory.

PubMed

Montgomery, Catharine; Fisk, John E; Newcombe, Russell; Murphy, Phillip N

2005-10-01

Recent theoretical models suggest that the central executive may not be a unified structure. The present study explored the nature of central executive deficits in ecstasy users. In study 1, 27 ecstasy users and 34 non-users were assessed using tasks to tap memory updating (computation span; letter updating) and access to long-term memory (a semantic fluency test and the Chicago Word Fluency Test). In study 2, 51 ecstasy users and 42 non-users completed tasks that assess mental set switching (number/letter and plus/minus) and inhibition (random letter generation). MANOVA revealed that ecstasy users performed worse on both tasks used to assess memory updating and on tasks to assess access to long-term memory (C- and S-letter fluency). However, notwithstanding the significant ecstasy group-related effects, indices of cocaine and cannabis use were also significantly correlated with most of the executive measures. Unexpectedly, in study 2, ecstasy users performed significantly better on the inhibition task, producing more letters than non-users. No group differences were observed on the switching tasks. Correlations between indices of ecstasy use and number of letters produced were significant. The present study provides further support for ecstasy/polydrug-related deficits in memory updating and in access to long-term memory. The surplus evident on the inhibition task should be treated with some caution, as this was limited to a single measure and has not been supported by our previous work.

A model of user engagement in medical device development.

PubMed

Grocott, Patricia; Weir, Heather; Ram, Mala Bridgelal

2007-01-01

The purpose of this paper is to address three topical themes: user involvement in health services research; determining the value of new medical technologies in patient care pathways, furthering knowledge related to quality in health and social care; and knowledge exchange between manufacturers, health service supply chain networks and device users. The model is being validated in a case study in progress. The latter is a "proving ground" study for a translational research company. Medical devices play a pivotal role in the management of chronic diseases, across all care settings. Failure to engage users in device development inevitably affects the quality of clinical outcomes. A model of user engagement is presented, turning unmet needs for medical devices into viable commercial propositions. A case study investigating the perceptions of individuals with Epidermolysis Bullosa (EB), their lay and professional carers into unmet needs. EB is an inherited condition affecting the skin and mucosal linings that leads to blistering and wounds. Qualitative data are being collected to generate understanding of unmet needs and wound care products. These needs are being translated into new design concepts and prototypes. Prototypes will be evaluated in an n = 1 experimental design, generating quantitative outcomes data. There are generalisations from the case study, and the model outlined. New products for managing EB wounds can logically benefit other groups. The model is transferable to other clinical problems, which can benefit from research and technological advances that are integral to clinical needs and care.

Health-care users, key community informants and primary health care workers' views on health, health promotion, health assets and deficits: qualitative study in seven Spanish regions.

PubMed

Pons-Vigués, Mariona; Berenguera, Anna; Coma-Auli, Núria; Pombo-Ramos, Haizea; March, Sebastià; Asensio-Martínez, Angela; Moreno-Peral, Patricia; Mora-Simón, Sara; Martínez-Andrés, Maria; Pujol-Ribera, Enriqueta

2017-06-13

Although some articles have analysed the definitions of health and health promotion from the perspective of health-care users and health care professionals, no published studies include the simultaneous participation of health-care users, primary health care professionals and key community informants. Understanding the perception of health and health promotion amongst these different stakeholders is crucial for the design and implementation of successful, equitable and sustainable measures that improve the health and wellbeing of populations. Furthermore, the identification of different health assets and deficits by the different informants will generate new evidence to promote healthy behaviours, improve community health and wellbeing and reduce preventable inequalities. The objective of this study is to explore the concept of health and health promotion and to compare health assets and deficits as identified by health-care users, key community informants and primary health care workers with the ultimate purpose to collect the necessary data for the design and implementation of a successful health promotion intervention. A descriptive-interpretive qualitative research was conducted with 276 participants from 14 primary care centres of 7 Spanish regions. Theoretical sampling was used for selection. We organized 11 discussion groups and 2 triangular groups with health-care users; 30 semi-structured interviews with key community informants; and 14 discussion groups with primary health care workers. A thematic content analysis was carried out. Health-care users and key community informants agree that health is a complex, broad, multifactorial concept that encompasses several interrelated dimensions (physical, psychological-emotional, social, occupational, intellectual, spiritual and environmental). The three participants' profiles consider health promotion indispensable despite defining it as complex and vague. In fact, most health-care users admit to having implemented some change to promote their health. The most powerful motivators to change lifestyles are having a disease, fear of becoming ill and taking care of oneself to maintain health. Health-care users believe that the main difficulties are associated with the physical, social, working and family environment, as well as lack of determination and motivation. They also highlight the need for more information. In relation to the assets and deficits of the neighbourhood, each group identifies those closer to their role. Generally, participants showed a holistic and positive concept of health and a more traditional, individual approach to health promotion. We consider therefore crucial to depart from the model of health services that focuses on the individual and the disease toward a socio-ecological health model that substantially increases the participation of health-care users and emphasizes health promotion, wellbeing and community participation.

Service user involvement in mental health system strengthening in a rural African setting: qualitative study.

PubMed

Abayneh, Sisay; Lempp, Heidi; Alem, Atalay; Alemayehu, Daniel; Eshetu, Tigist; Lund, Crick; Semrau, Maya; Thornicroft, Graham; Hanlon, Charlotte

2017-05-18

It is essential to involve service users in efforts to expand access to mental health care in integrated primary care settings in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). However, there is little evidence from LMICs to guide this process. The aim of this study was to explore barriers to, and facilitators of, service user/caregiver involvement in rural Ethiopia to inform the development of a scalable approach. Thirty nine semi-structured interviews were carried out with purposively selected mental health service users (n = 13), caregivers (n = 10), heads of primary care facilities (n = 8) and policy makers/planners/service developers (n = 8). The interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed in Amharic, and translated into English. Thematic analysis was applied. All groups of participants supported service user and caregiver involvement in mental health system strengthening. Potential benefits were identified as (i) improved appropriateness and quality of services, and (ii) greater protection against mistreatment and promotion of respect for service users. However, hardly any respondents had prior experience of service user involvement. Stigma was considered to be a pervasive barrier, operating within the health system, the local community and individuals. Competing priorities of service users included the need to obtain adequate individual care and to work for survival. Low recognition of the potential contribution of service users seemed linked to limited empowerment and mobilization of service users. Potential health system facilitators included a culture of community oversight of primary care services. All groups of respondents identified a need for awareness-raising and training to equip service users, caregivers, service providers and local community for involvement. Empowerment at the level of individual service users (information about mental health conditions, care and rights) and the group level (for advocacy and representation) were considered essential, alongside improved, accessible mental health care and livelihood interventions. As Ethiopia increases access to mental health care, a fundamental barrier to service user involvement is beginning to be addressed. Our study identified further barriers that need to be tackled, including a supportive political climate, and receptiveness amongst stakeholders. The findings will inform the development of a model of service user involvement, which will be piloted and evaluated.

Usability of clinical decision support system as a facilitator for learning the assistive technology adaptation process.

PubMed

Danial-Saad, Alexandra; Kuflik, Tsvi; Weiss, Patrice L Tamar; Schreuer, Naomi

2016-01-01

The aim of this study was to evaluate the usability of Ontology Supported Computerized Assistive Technology Recommender (OSCAR), a Clinical Decision Support System (CDSS) for the assistive technology adaptation process, its impact on learning the matching process, and to determine the relationship between its usability and learnability. Two groups of expert and novice clinicians (total, n = 26) took part in this study. Each group filled out system usability scale (SUS) to evaluate OSCAR's usability. The novice group completed a learning questionnaire to assess OSCAR's effect on their ability to learn the matching process. Both groups rated OSCAR's usability as "very good", (M [SUS] = 80.7, SD = 11.6, median = 83.7) by the novices, and (M [SUS] = 81.2, SD = 6.8, median = 81.2) by the experts. The Mann-Whitney results indicated that no significant differences were found between the expert and novice groups in terms of OSCAR's usability. A significant positive correlation existed between the usability of OSCAR and the ability to learn the adaptation process (rs = 0.46, p = 0.04). Usability is an important factor in the acceptance of a system. The successful application of user-centered design principles during the development of OSCAR may serve as a case study that models the significant elements to be considered, theoretically and practically in developing other systems. Implications for Rehabilitation Creating a CDSS with a focus on its usability is an important factor for its acceptance by its users. Successful usability outcomes can impact the learning process of the subject matter in general, and the AT prescription process in particular. The successful application of User-Centered Design principles during the development of OSCAR may serve as a case study that models the significant elements to be considered, theoretically and practically. The study emphasizes the importance of close collaboration between the developers and the end users.

A Collaborative Location Based Travel Recommendation System through Enhanced Rating Prediction for the Group of Users

PubMed Central

Ravi, Logesh; Vairavasundaram, Subramaniyaswamy

2016-01-01

Rapid growth of web and its applications has created a colossal importance for recommender systems. Being applied in various domains, recommender systems were designed to generate suggestions such as items or services based on user interests. Basically, recommender systems experience many issues which reflects dwindled effectiveness. Integrating powerful data management techniques to recommender systems can address such issues and the recommendations quality can be increased significantly. Recent research on recommender systems reveals an idea of utilizing social network data to enhance traditional recommender system with better prediction and improved accuracy. This paper expresses views on social network data based recommender systems by considering usage of various recommendation algorithms, functionalities of systems, different types of interfaces, filtering techniques, and artificial intelligence techniques. After examining the depths of objectives, methodologies, and data sources of the existing models, the paper helps anyone interested in the development of travel recommendation systems and facilitates future research direction. We have also proposed a location recommendation system based on social pertinent trust walker (SPTW) and compared the results with the existing baseline random walk models. Later, we have enhanced the SPTW model for group of users recommendations. The results obtained from the experiments have been presented. PMID:27069468

Cigarette Smoking Trajectories From Sixth to Twelfth Grade: Associated Substance Use and High School Dropout.

PubMed

Orpinas, Pamela; Lacy, Beth; Nahapetyan, Lusine; Dube, Shanta R; Song, Xiao

2016-02-01

The purpose of this longitudinal study was to identify distinct trajectories of cigarette smoking from sixth to twelfth grade and to characterize these trajectories by use of other drugs and high school dropout. The diverse sample for this analysis consisted of a cohort of 611 students from Northeast Georgia who participated in the Healthy Teens Longitudinal Study (2003-2009). Students completed seven yearly assessments from sixth through twelfth grade. We used semi-parametric, group-based modeling to identify groups of students whose smoking behavior followed a similar progression over time. Current smoking (past 30 day) increased from 6.9% among sixth graders to 28.8% among twelfth graders. Four developmental trajectories of cigarette smoking were identified: Abstainers/Sporadic Users (71.5% of the sample), Late Starters (11.3%), Experimenters (9.0%), and Continuous Users (8.2%). The Abstainer/Sporadic User trajectory was composed of two distinct groups: those who never reported any tobacco use (True Abstainers) and those who reported sporadic, low-level use (Sporadic Users). The True Abstainers reported significantly less use of alcohol and other drugs and lower dropout rates than students in all other trajectories, and Sporadic Users had worse outcomes than True Abstainers. Experimenters and Continuous Users reported the highest drug use. Over one-third of Late Starters (35.8%) and almost half of Continuous Users (44.4%) dropped out of high school. Cigarette smoking was associated with behavioral and academic problems. Results support early and continuous interventions to reduce use of tobacco and other drugs and prevent high school dropout. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

E-cigarette Dual Users, Exclusive Users and Perceptions of Tobacco Products.

PubMed

Cooper, Maria; Case, Kathleen R; Loukas, Alexandra; Creamer, Melisa R; Perry, Cheryl L

2016-01-01

We examined differences in the characteristics of youth non-users, cigarette-only, e-cigarette-only, and dual e-cigarette and cigarette users. Using weighted, representative data, logistic regression analyses were conducted to examine differences in demographic characteristics and tobacco use behaviors across tobacco usage groups. Multiple linear regression analyses were conducted to examine differences in harm perceptions of various tobacco products and perceived peer use of e-cigarettes by tobacco usage group. Compared to non-users, dual users were more likely to be white, male, and high school students. Dual users had significantly higher prevalence of current use of all products (except hookah) than e-cigarette-only users, and higher prevalence of current use of snus and hookah than the cigarette-only group. Dual users had significantly lower harm perceptions for all tobacco products except for e-cigarettes and hookah as compared to e-cigarette-only users. Dual users reported higher peer use of cigarettes as compared to both exclusive user groups. Findings highlight dual users' higher prevalence of use of most other tobacco products, their lower harm perceptions of most tobacco products compared to e-cigarette-only users, and their higher perceived peer use of cigarettes compared to exclusive users.

Structural diversity effect on hashtag adoption in Twitter

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Aihua; Zheng, Mingxing; Pang, Bowen

2018-03-01

With online social network developing rapidly these years, user' behavior in online social network has attracted a lot of attentions to it. In this paper, we study Twitter user's behavior of hashtag adoption from the perspective of social contagion and focus on "structure diversity" effect on individual's behavior in Twitter. We achieve data through Twitter's API by crawling and build a users' network to carry on empirical research. The Girvan-Newman (G-N) algorithm is used to analyze the structural diversity of user's ego network, and Logistic regression model is adopted to examine the hypothesis. The findings of our empirical study indicate that user' behavior in online social network is indeed influenced by his friends and his decision is significantly affected by the number of groups that these friends belong to, which we call structural diversity.

The Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) Ecohydrological Model Circa 2015: Global Application Trends, Insights and Issues

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gassman, P. W.; Arnold, J. G.; Srinivasan, R.

2015-12-01

The Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) is one of the most widely used watershed-scale water quality models in the world. Over 2,000 peer-reviewed SWAT-related journal articles have been published and hundreds of other studies have been published in conference proceedings and other formats. The use of SWAT was initially concentrated in North America and Europe but has also expanded dramatically in other countries and regions during the past decade including Brazil, China, India, Iran, South Korea, Southeast Asia and eastern Africa. The SWAT model has proven to be a very flexible tool for investigating a broad range of hydrologic and water quality problems at different watershed scales and environmental conditions, and has proven very adaptable for applications requiring improved hydrologic and other enhanced simulation needs. We investigate here the various technological, networking, and other factors that have supported the expanded use of SWAT, and also highlight current worldwide simulation trends and possible impediments to future increased usage of the model. Examples of technological advances include easy access to web-based documentation, user-support groups, and SWAT literature, a variety of Geographic Information System (GIS) interface tools, pre- and post-processing calibration software and other software, and an open source code which has served as a model development catalyst for multiple user groups. Extensive networking regarding the use of SWAT has further occurred via internet-based user support groups, model training workshops, regional working groups, regional and international conferences, and targeted development workshops. We further highlight several important model development trends that have emerged during the past decade including improved hydrologic, cropping system, best management practice (BMP) and pollutant transport simulation methods. In addition, several current SWAT weaknesses will be addressed and key development needs will be described including the ability to represent landscapes and practices with more spatial definition, the incorporation of a module specifically designed to simulate rice paddy systems and algorithms that can capture plant competition dynamics such as occur in complex tree/crop systems and interactions between crops and weeds.

Model My Watershed: A high-performance cloud application for public engagement, watershed modeling and conservation decision support

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Aufdenkampe, A. K.; Tarboton, D. G.; Horsburgh, J. S.; Mayorga, E.; McFarland, M.; Robbins, A.; Haag, S.; Shokoufandeh, A.; Evans, B. M.; Arscott, D. B.

2017-12-01

The Model My Watershed Web app (https://app.wikiwatershed.org/) and the BiG-CZ Data Portal (http://portal.bigcz.org/) and are web applications that share a common codebase and a common goal to deliver high-performance discovery, visualization and analysis of geospatial data in an intuitive user interface in web browser. Model My Watershed (MMW) was designed as a decision support system for watershed conservation implementation. BiG CZ Data Portal was designed to provide context and background data for research sites. Users begin by creating an Area of Interest, via an automated watershed delineation tool, a free draw tool, selection of a predefined area such as a county or USGS Hydrological Unit (HUC), or uploading a custom polygon. Both Web apps visualize and provide summary statistics of land use, soil groups, streams, climate and other geospatial information. MMW then allows users to run a watershed model to simulate different scenarios of human impacts on stormwater runoff and water-quality. BiG CZ Data Portal allows users to search for scientific and monitoring data within the Area of Interest, which also serves as a prototype for the upcoming Monitor My Watershed web app. Both systems integrate with CUAHSI cyberinfrastructure, including visualizing observational data from CUAHSI Water Data Center and storing user data via CUAHSI HydroShare. Both systems also integrate with the new EnviroDIY Water Quality Data Portal (http://data.envirodiy.org/), a system for crowd-sourcing environmental monitoring data using open-source sensor stations (http://envirodiy.org/mayfly/) and based on the Observations Data Model v2.

Gender differences in self-reported anxiety, depression, and somatization among ecstasy/MDMA polydrug users, alcohol/tobacco users, and nondrug users.

PubMed

Milani, Raffaella M; Parrott, Andy C; Turner, John J D; Fox, Helen C

2004-07-01

Previous research has found gender differences in both psychological and physiological responses to drugs. The present investigation explores gender variability in patterns of drug use in relation to self-reported depression, anxiety, and somatization. The current study confirms that heavy illegal drug users are represented by a preponderance of males than females. However, within each drug group category, females generally reported higher psychopathology scores than males. This was significant for all three subscales in the alcohol/tobacco group, for depression scores in the alcohol/tobacco, cannabis/alcohol, and light Ecstasy users group, and for depression scores for the alcohol group. Interestingly, in the male sample, drug users reported higher symptom ratings than nondrug users, whereas women's scores remained constant across drug groups. Copyright 2004 Elsevier Ltd.

Marathon Group Counseling with Illicit Drug Users: Analysis of Content.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Page, Richard C.; Wills, Judy

1983-01-01

Summarized a 16-hour marathon group for illicit drug users (N=12) in residential treatment. Content analysis showed the group spent more time on interpersonal relationships and relatively little time on group process. Drug users were able to successfully participate in therapeutic group discussions involving self-investment. (JAC)

Simulations in Cyber-Security: A Review of Cognitive Modeling of Network Attackers, Defenders, and Users.

PubMed

Veksler, Vladislav D; Buchler, Norbou; Hoffman, Blaine E; Cassenti, Daniel N; Sample, Char; Sugrim, Shridat

2018-01-01

Computational models of cognitive processes may be employed in cyber-security tools, experiments, and simulations to address human agency and effective decision-making in keeping computational networks secure. Cognitive modeling can addresses multi-disciplinary cyber-security challenges requiring cross-cutting approaches over the human and computational sciences such as the following: (a) adversarial reasoning and behavioral game theory to predict attacker subjective utilities and decision likelihood distributions, (b) human factors of cyber tools to address human system integration challenges, estimation of defender cognitive states, and opportunities for automation, (c) dynamic simulations involving attacker, defender, and user models to enhance studies of cyber epidemiology and cyber hygiene, and (d) training effectiveness research and training scenarios to address human cyber-security performance, maturation of cyber-security skill sets, and effective decision-making. Models may be initially constructed at the group-level based on mean tendencies of each subject's subgroup, based on known statistics such as specific skill proficiencies, demographic characteristics, and cultural factors. For more precise and accurate predictions, cognitive models may be fine-tuned to each individual attacker, defender, or user profile, and updated over time (based on recorded behavior) via techniques such as model tracing and dynamic parameter fitting.

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

Judd, Kathleen S.; Judd, Chaeli; Engel-Cox, Jill A.

This report presents the results of the Gulf of Mexico Regional Collaborative (GoMRC), a year-long project funded by NASA. The GoMRC project was organized around end user outreach activities, a science applications team, and a team for information technology (IT) development. Key outcomes are summarized below for each of these areas. End User Outreach; Successfully engaged federal and state end users in project planning and feedback; With end user input, defined needs and system functional requirements; Conducted demonstration to End User Advisory Committee on July 9, 2007 and presented at Gulf of Mexico Alliance (GOMA) meeting of Habitat Identification committee;more » Conducted significant engagement of other end user groups, such as the National Estuary Programs (NEP), in the Fall of 2007; Established partnership with SERVIR and Harmful Algal Blooms Observing System (HABSOS) programs and initiated plan to extend HABs monitoring and prediction capabilities to the southern Gulf; Established a science and technology working group with Mexican institutions centered in the State of Veracruz. Key team members include the Federal Commission for the Protection Against Sanitary Risks (COFEPRIS), the Ecological Institute (INECOL) a unit of the National Council for science and technology (CONACYT), the Veracruz Aquarium (NOAA’s first international Coastal Ecology Learning Center) and the State of Veracruz. The Mexican Navy (critical to coastal studies in the Southern Gulf) and other national and regional entities have also been engaged; and Training on use of SERVIR portal planned for Fall 2007 in Veracruz, Mexico Science Applications; Worked with regional scientists to produce conceptual models of submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV) ecosystems; Built a logical framework and tool for ontological modeling of SAV and HABs; Created online guidance for SAV restoration planning; Created model runs which link potential future land use trends, runoff and SAV viability; Analyzed SAV cover change at five other bays in the Gulf of Mexico to demonstrate extensibility of the analytical tools; and Initiated development of a conceptual model for understanding the causes and effects of HABs in the Gulf of Mexico IT Tool Development; Established a website with the GoMRC web-based tools at www.gomrc.org; Completed development of an ArcGIS-based decision support tool for SAV restoration prioritization decisions, and demonstrated its use in Mobile Bay; Developed a web-based application, called Conceptual Model Explorer (CME), that enables non-GIS users to employ the prioritization model for SAV restoration; Created CME tool enabling scientists to view existing, and create new, ecosystem conceptual models which can be used to document cause-effect relationships within coastal ecosystems, and offer guidance on management solutions; Adapted the science-driven advanced web search engine, Noesis, to focus on an initial set of coastal and marine resource issues, including SAV and HABs; Incorporated map visualization tools with initial data layers related to coastal wetlands and SAVs; and Supported development of a SERVIR portal for data management and visualization in the southern Gulf of Mexico, as well as training of end users in Mexican Gulf States.« less

Crisis resolution and home treatment: stakeholders' views on critical ingredients and implementation in England.

PubMed

Morant, Nicola; Lloyd-Evans, Brynmor; Lamb, Danielle; Fullarton, Kate; Brown, Eleanor; Paterson, Beth; Istead, Hannah; Kelly, Kathleen; Hindle, David; Fahmy, Sarah; Henderson, Claire; Mason, Oliver; Johnson, Sonia

2017-07-17

Crisis resolution teams (CRTs) can provide effective home-based treatment for acute mental health crises, although critical ingredients of the model have not been clearly identified, and implementation has been inconsistent. In order to inform development of a more highly specified CRT model that meets service users' needs, this study used qualitative methods to investigate stakeholders' experiences and views of CRTs, and what is important in good quality home-based crisis care. Semi-structured interviews and focus groups were conducted with service users (n = 41), carers (n = 20) and practitioners (CRT staff, managers and referrers; n = 147, 26 focus groups, 9 interviews) in 10 mental health catchment areas in England, and with international CRT developers (n = 11). Data were analysed using thematic analysis. Three domains salient to views about optimal care were identified. 1. The organisation of CRT care: Providing a rapid initial responses, and frequent home visits from the same staff were seen as central to good care, particularly by service users and carers. Being accessible, reliable, and having some flexibility were also valued. Negative experiences of some referral pathways, and particularly lack of staff continuity were identified as problematic. 2. The content of CRT work: Emotional support was at the centre of service users' experiences. All stakeholder groups thought CRTs should involve the whole family, and offer a range of interventions. However, carers often feel excluded, and medication is often prioritised over other forms of support. 3. The role of CRTs within the care system: Gate-keeping admissions is seen as a key role for CRTs within the acute care system. Service users and carers report that recovery is quicker compared to in-patient care. Lack of knowledge and misunderstandings about CRTs among referrers are common. Overall, levels of stakeholder agreement about the critical ingredients of good crisis care were high, although aspects of this were not always seen as achievable. Stakeholders' views about optimal CRT care suggest that staff continuity, carer involvement, and emotional and practical support should be prioritised in service improvements and more clearly specified CRT models.

Catalog of Simulation Models and Wargames Used for Unit and Leader Training. Second Edition.

DTIC Science & Technology

1987-01-01

College; two or three brigade level games per year at brigade groups. In past - have played corps level games at Canadian Forces Command and Staff College...dedicated PERQ microcomputer Data Output Analysis: 5 minutes (generation of killer/victim scoreboard) Frequency of use: 4 times per year Users: HEL...classification: UNCLASSIFIED Frequency of use: 3 plays per year . Users: Training Gps, TF HQ and Infantry Centre. (The p. settings are changed to suit each

Culture, Interface Design, and Design Methods for Mobile Devices

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lee, Kun-Pyo

Aesthetic differences and similarities among cultures are obviously one of the very important issues in cultural design. However, ever since products became knowledge-supporting tools, the visible elements of products have become more universal so that the invisible parts of products such as interface and interaction are getting more important. Therefore, the cultural design should be extended to the invisible elements of culture like people's conceptual models beyond material and phenomenal culture. This chapter aims to explain how we address the invisible cultural elements in interface design and design methods by exploring the users' cognitive styles and communication patterns in different cultures. Regarding cultural interface design, we examined users' conceptual models while interacting with mobile phone and website interfaces, and observed cultural difference in performing tasks and viewing patterns, which appeared to agree with cultural cognitive styles known as Holistic thoughts vs. Analytic thoughts. Regarding design methods for culture, we explored how to localize design methods such as focus group interview and generative session for specific cultural groups, and the results of comparative experiments revealed cultural difference on participants' behaviors and performance in each design method and led us to suggest how to conduct them in East Asian culture. Mobile Observation Analyzer and Wi-Pro, user research tools we invented to capture user behaviors and needs especially in their mobile context, were also introduced.

Identifying Differences Between Off-Highway Vehicle (OHV) and Non-OHV User Groups for Recreation Resource Planning

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kil, Namyun; Holland, Stephen M.; Stein, Taylor V.

2012-09-01

Off-highway vehicle (OHV) riding is among the fastest growing recreational activities in the United States. However, little research exists about the central components of outcomes-focused management (OFM) as it relates to motorized recreation. Utilizing a two-activity dichotomy, OHV and non-OHV centric user groups were compared on several key concepts associated with OFM, including desired experiences, perceived and desired recreation opportunity spectrum-type settings, and intentional behaviors (i.e., place-protective behavior, spending-time intentions) toward potential changes in settings. Results indicated that the two groups were different in terms of intensity and relative rankings of their perceived experiences and settings. Although both groups preferred social bonding, stress relief, nostalgia and learning experiences, the OHV user group ranked using equipment and achieving physical fitness experiences as more important than the non-OHV group. The non-OHV user group preferred enjoying nature and solitude/tranquility experiences more strongly than the OHV user group. Further analysis found that both groups perceived settings that they recreated in to be pristine and preferred such conditions, and both groups preferred moderate levels of rules and regulations. Finally, the OHV user group was more reactive to rules and regulations, while the non-OHV user group expressed stronger intentions to protect the environmental quality of recreation areas. The results suggest that planners and managers who understand OHV user's perceptions and behaviors could provide enhanced recreation opportunities potentially providing additional beneficial outcomes for motorized and non-motorized groups in spatially different zones. Additional implications for planners and managers and future studies are discussed.

Actors, observers, and causal attributions of homelessness: Differences in attribution for the causes of homelessness among domiciled and homeless people in Madrid (Spain).

PubMed

Vázquez, José Juan; Panadero, Sonia; Zúñiga, Claudia

2017-01-01

The study analyzes the differences in causal attributions of homelessness and attributions of responsibility among the members of 3 groups: homeless group, consisting of a representative sample of homeless people in Madrid, Spain (n = 188); domiciled service-users group, consisting of people at risk of homelessness (n = 164); and domiciled nonservice-users group, consisting of people at no imminent risk of homelessness (n = 180). The domiciled service-users group and domiciled nonservice-users group were matched to the homeless group or sex, age, and nationality. The article also analyzes homeless people's causal attributions as regards their own situation. The results show that compared with the domiciled nonservice-users group, a higher percentage of members of the homeless group and domiciled service-users group attributed homelessness to individualistic causes and they blamed homeless people for their situation to a greater extent. The results also show that there was no "actor-observer bias" in causal attributions for homelessness in Madrid. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

Small city synthesis of transportation planning and economic development : user's guide

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1999-10-01

Using Alice, Texas, as a model, a template has been developed to increase the cooperation and communication between transportation planning and economic development groups. The template establishes a foundation for coordinating traffic forecasts with...

Librarianship, Professionalism, and Social Change.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Birdsall, William F.

1982-01-01

Argues that librarians should be committed to ensure access to knowledge, adhere to encouraging users to be knowledge self-sufficient, avoid outmoded models of professionalism, and not feel threatened by other information dissemination groups. Included are 26 references. (RAA)

Integrating Health Behavior Theory and Design Elements in Serious Games.

PubMed

Cheek, Colleen; Fleming, Theresa; Lucassen, Mathijs Fg; Bridgman, Heather; Stasiak, Karolina; Shepherd, Matthew; Orpin, Peter

2015-01-01

Internet interventions for improving health and well-being have the potential to reach many people and fill gaps in service provision. Serious gaming interfaces provide opportunities to optimize user adherence and impact. Health interventions based in theory and evidence and tailored to psychological constructs have been found to be more effective to promote behavior change. Defining the design elements which engage users and help them to meet their goals can contribute to better informed serious games. To elucidate design elements important in SPARX, a serious game for adolescents with depression, from a user-centered perspective. We proposed a model based on an established theory of health behavior change and practical features of serious game design to organize ideas and rationale. We analyzed data from 5 studies comprising a total of 22 focus groups and 66 semistructured interviews conducted with youth and families in New Zealand and Australia who had viewed or used SPARX. User perceptions of the game were applied to this framework. A coherent framework was established using the three constructs of self-determination theory (SDT), autonomy, competence, and relatedness, to organize user perceptions and design elements within four areas important in design: computer game, accessibility, working alliance, and learning in immersion. User perceptions mapped well to the framework, which may assist developers in understanding the context of user needs. By mapping these elements against the constructs of SDT, we were able to propose a sound theoretical base for the model. This study's method allowed for the articulation of design elements in a serious game from a user-centered perspective within a coherent overarching framework. The framework can be used to deliberately incorporate serious game design elements that support a user's sense of autonomy, competence, and relatedness, key constructs which have been found to mediate motivation at all stages of the change process. The resulting model introduces promising avenues for future exploration. Involving users in program design remains an imperative if serious games are to be fit for purpose.

SMOG 2: A Versatile Software Package for Generating Structure-Based Models.

PubMed

Noel, Jeffrey K; Levi, Mariana; Raghunathan, Mohit; Lammert, Heiko; Hayes, Ryan L; Onuchic, José N; Whitford, Paul C

2016-03-01

Molecular dynamics simulations with coarse-grained or simplified Hamiltonians have proven to be an effective means of capturing the functionally important long-time and large-length scale motions of proteins and RNAs. Originally developed in the context of protein folding, structure-based models (SBMs) have since been extended to probe a diverse range of biomolecular processes, spanning from protein and RNA folding to functional transitions in molecular machines. The hallmark feature of a structure-based model is that part, or all, of the potential energy function is defined by a known structure. Within this general class of models, there exist many possible variations in resolution and energetic composition. SMOG 2 is a downloadable software package that reads user-designated structural information and user-defined energy definitions, in order to produce the files necessary to use SBMs with high performance molecular dynamics packages: GROMACS and NAMD. SMOG 2 is bundled with XML-formatted template files that define commonly used SBMs, and it can process template files that are altered according to the needs of each user. This computational infrastructure also allows for experimental or bioinformatics-derived restraints or novel structural features to be included, e.g. novel ligands, prosthetic groups and post-translational/transcriptional modifications. The code and user guide can be downloaded at http://smog-server.org/smog2.

Tower Illuminance Model

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

Ho, Clifford K.; Sims, Cianan

TIM is a real-time interactive concentrating solar field simulation. TIM models a concentrating tower (receiver), heliostat field, and potential reflected glare based on user-specified parameters such as field capacity, tower height and location. TIM provides a navigable 3D interface, allowing the user to “fly” around the field to determine the potential glare hazard from off-target heliostats. Various heliostat aiming strategies are available for specifying how heliostats behave when in standby mode. Strategies include annulus, point-per-group, up-aiming and single-point-focus. Additionally, TIM includes an avian path feature for approximating the irradiance and feather temperature of a bird flying through the field airspace.

Service user experiences of specialist mental health supported accommodation: A systematic review of qualitative studies and narrative synthesis.

PubMed

Krotofil, Joanna; McPherson, Peter; Killaspy, Helen

2018-04-02

Specialist supported accommodation services have become a key component of most community-based mental healthcare systems. While mental health policies highlight the importance of service user involvement in service development and care planning, there are no comprehensive literature reviews synthesising services users' perspectives on, or experiences of, supported accommodation services. This systematic review was undertaken to fill this gap. We searched electronic databases (January 2015, updated June 2017), conducted hand searches and used forward-backward snowballing to identify 13,678 papers. We inspected the full-text of 110 papers and included 50 of these in the final review. Data extraction and quality assessments were conducted. We used narrative synthesis to develop a conceptual model of service users' experiences that included structural, process, relational and contextual factors, such as the characteristics of the service, relationships with staff and other service users, the intensity and nature of support, the physical environment, and social and community integration. The review highlights the complex interplay of individual, service-level and community factors in shaping the lived experience of service users and their impact on personal identity and recovery. Our approach addressed some of the widely reported limitations of the quantitative research in this field, providing a conceptual model relevant to service user experiences across supported accommodation service types, population groups and countries. © 2018 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Development of a Methodology for Customizing Insider Threat Auditing on a Linux Operating System

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-03-01

information /etc/group, passwd ,gshadow,shadow,/security/opasswd 16 User A attempts to access User B directory 17 User A attempts to access User B file w/o...configuration Handled by audit rules for root actions Audit user write attempts to system files -w /etc/group –p wxa -w /etc/ passwd –p wxa -w /etc/gshadow –p...information (/etc/group, /etc/ passwd , /etc/gshadow, /etc/shadow, /etc/sudoers, /etc/security/opasswd) Procedure: 1. User2 logs into the system

EnviroNET: An on-line environment data base for LDEF data

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lauriente, Michael

1992-01-01

EnviroNET is an on-line, free form data base intended to provide a centralized depository for a wide range of technical information on environmentally induced interactions of use to Space Shuttle customers and spacecraft designers. It provides a user friendly, menu driven format on networks that are connected globally and is available twenty-four hours a day, every day. The information updated regularly, includes expository text, tabular numerical data, charts and graphs, and models. The system pools space data collected over the years by NASA, USAF, other government facilities, industry, universities, and ESA. The models accept parameter input from the user and calculate and display the derived values corresponding to that input. In addition to the archive, interactive graphics programs are also available on space debris, the neutral atmosphere, radiation, magnetic field, and ionosphere. A user friendly informative interface is standard for all the models with a pop-up window, help window with information on inputs, outputs, and caveats. The system will eventually simplify mission analysis with analytical tools and deliver solution for computational intense graphical applications to do 'What if' scenarios. A proposed plan for developing a repository of LDEF information for a user group concludes the presentation.

The application of NASTRAN at Sperry Univac Holland. [analysis of engineering, modelling, and use of program system

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Koopmans, G.

1973-01-01

Very divergent problems arising with different calculations indicate that NASTRAN is not always accessible for common use. Problems with engineering, modelling, and use of the program system are analysed and a way of solution is outlined. Related to this, some supplementary modifications are made at Sperry Univac Holland to facilitate the program for the less skilled user. The implementation of a new element also gives an insight into the use of NASTRAN at Sperry Univac Holland. As the users of Univac computers are from very different kinds of industries like shipbuilders, petrochemical industries, and building industries, the variety of problems coming from these users is very large. This variety results in experience not with one special kind of calculation nor one special kind of construction, but with a wide area of problems arising in the use of NASTRAN. These problems can roughly be divided into three different groups: (1) recognition of what is to be calculated and how, (2) construction of a model, and (3) handling the NASTRAN program. These are the basic problems for every less skilled user of NASTRAN and the Application/Research Department of Sperry Univac has to give reasonable answers to these questions.

Six-Month Outcomes of a Randomized, Motivational Tele-intervention for Change in the Codependent Behavior of Family Members of Drug Users.

PubMed

Bortolon, Cassandra Borges; Moreira, Taís de Campos; Signor, Luciana; Guahyba, Bárbara Léa; Figueiró, Luciana Rizzieri; Ferigolo, Maristela; Barros, Helena Maria Tannhauser

2017-01-28

Families of substance abusers may develop maladaptive strategies, such as codependency, to address drug-related problems. It is important for families to receive specialist treatment in order to contribute to the recovery process. The Tele-intervention Model and Monitoring of Families of Drug Users (TMMFDU), based on motivational interviewing and stages of change, aims to encourage the family to change the codependents' behaviors. A randomized clinical trial was carried out to verify the change in codependent behavior after intervention with 6 months of follow-up. Three hundred and twenty-five families with high or low codependency scores were randomized into the intervention group (n = 163) or the usual treatment (UT) (n = 162). After 6 months of follow-up, the family members of the TMMFDU group were twice as likely to modify their codependency behavior when compared to the UT group (OR 2.08 CI 95% 1.18-3.65). TMMFDU proved to be effective in changing codependent behaviors among compliant family members of drug users.

E-cigarette Dual Users, Exclusive Users and Perceptions of Tobacco Products

PubMed Central

Cooper, Maria; Case, Kathleen R.; Loukas, Alexandra; Creamer, MeLisa R.; Perry, Cheryl L.

2016-01-01

Objectives We examined differences in the characteristics of youth non-users, cigarette-only, e-cigarette-only, and dual e-cigarette and cigarette users. Methods Using weighted, representative data, logistic regression analyses were conducted to examine differences in demographic characteristics and tobacco use behaviors across tobacco usage groups. Multiple linear regression analyses were conducted to examine differences in harm perceptions of various tobacco products and perceived peer use of e-cigarettes by tobacco usage group. Results Compared to non-users, dual users were more likely to be white, male, and high school students. Dual users had significantly higher prevalence of current use of all products (except hookah) than e-cigarette-only users, and higher prevalence of current use of snus and hookah than the cigarette-only group. Dual users had significantly lower harm perceptions for all tobacco products except for e-cigarettes and hookah as compared to e-cigarette-only users. Dual users reported higher peer use of cigarettes as compared to both exclusive user groups. Conclusion Findings highlight dual users’ higher prevalence of use of most other tobacco products, their lower harm perceptions of most tobacco products compared to e-cigarette-only users, and their higher perceived peer use of cigarettes compared to exclusive users. PMID:26685819

Experiences about HIV-AIDS preventive-control activities. Discourses from non-governmental organizations professionals and users.

PubMed

Berenguera, Anna; Pujol-Ribera, Enriqueta; Violan, Concepció; Romaguera, Amparo; Mansilla, Rosa; Giménez, Albert; Almeda, Jesús

2011-01-01

The main aim of this study was to identify the experiences of professionals in nongovernmental organizations (NGO) in Catalonia (Spain) working in HIV/AIDS prevention and control activities and potential areas of improvement of these activities and their evaluation. A further aim was to characterize the experiences, knowledge and practices of users of these organizations with regard to HIV infection and its prevention. A phenomenological qualitative study was conducted with the participation of both professionals and users of Catalan nongovernmental organizations (NGO) working in HIV/AIDS. Theoretical sampling (professional) and opportunistic sampling (users) were performed. To collect information, the following techniques were used: four focus groups and one triangular group (professionals), 22 semi-structured interviews, and two observations (users). A thematic interpretive content analysis was conducted by three analysts. The professionals of nongovernmental organizations working in HIV/AIDS adopted a holistic approach in their activities, maintained confidentiality, had cultural and professional competence and followed the principles of equality and empathy. The users of these organizations had knowledge of HIV/AIDS and understood the risk of infection. However, a gap was found between knowledge, attitudes and behavior. NGO offer distinct activities adapted to users' needs. Professionals emphasize the need for support and improvement of planning and implementation of current assessment. The preventive activities of these HIV/AIDS organizations are based on a participatory health education model adjusted to people's needs and focused on empowerment. Copyright © 2010 SESPAS. Published by Elsevier Espana. All rights reserved.

A Comparison of Opioid and Nonopioid Substance Users in Residential Treatment for Co-Occurring Substance Use and Mental Disorders.

PubMed

Bride, Brian E; Macmaster, Samuel A; Morse, Siobhan A; Watson, Cayce M; Choi, Sam; Seiters, John

2016-01-01

The past decade has seen a marked increase in the illicit use of opioids, as well as a doubling of the percentage of individuals seeking treatment for opioid use disorders. However, little is known about the differences between opioid users and nonopioid users in residential treatment. Further, no studies have been published that compare opioid users and nonopioid users in treatment for co-occurring substance use and mental disorders. To address this gap, this study examined differences between opioid and nonopioid substance users in residential treatment for co-occurring disorders. Data was drawn from 1,972 individuals treated between 2009 and 2011 at one of three private residential treatment centers that provide integrated treatment for co-occurring substance use and mental disorders. Data was collected at program intake, and 1- and 6-month postdischarge using the Addiction Severity Index and the University of Rhode Island Change Assessment. To examine within-group changes in substance use, addiction severity, and mental health across time, linear mixed-model analyses were conducted with facility, year, age, gender, and race included as covariates. The authors found more similarities than differences between the two groups on baseline characteristics, treatment motivation, length of stay, and outcomes on measures of substance use, addiction severity, and mental health. The results demonstrate that though opioid users entered treatment with higher levels of substance use-related impairment, they were just as successful in treatment outcomes as their non-opioid-using peers.

Impact of music on the quality of life of cochlear implant users: a focus group study.

PubMed

Dritsakis, Giorgos; van Besouw, Rachel M; O' Meara, Aoife

2017-07-01

To study the aspects of the quality of life (QoL) on which music has an impact in adult cochlear implant (CI) users. Thirty adult CI users aged between 18 and 81 years old with a wide range of patient characteristics and musical backgrounds participated in the study. Six focus group discussions about music in everyday life were conducted and data were analysed using template analysis based on the QoL model of the World Health Organisation Quality of Life BREF questionnaire. A theoretical framework of the impact of music on the QoL was developed. Music was reported to contribute to many aspects of physical, psychological, and social well-being in adult CI users. These positive effects of music on QoL were similar to what has been reported in the literature for normal-hearing adults. However, difficulties in music perception and enjoyment were found to have a negative impact on CI users' QoL, especially by causing unpleasant feelings and limited participation in music-related or routine daily activities. These findings suggest that an improvement in music experiences of CI users may lead to improvements in QoL and therefore support the need for music rehabilitation. However, the relative importance of music overall and of specific aspects of music for each individual should be measured for an accurate assessment of the impact of music on the QoL of CI users.

Perceptual grouping effects on cursor movement expectations.

PubMed

Dorneich, Michael C; Hamblin, Christopher J; Lancaster, Jeff A; Olofinboba, Olu

2014-05-01

Two studies were conducted to develop an understanding of factors that drive user expectations when navigating between discrete elements on a display via a limited degree-of-freedom cursor control device. For the Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle spacecraft, a free-floating cursor with a graphical user interface (GUI) would require an unachievable level of accuracy due to expected acceleration and vibration conditions during dynamic phases of flight. Therefore, Orion program proposed using a "caged" cursor to "jump" from one controllable element (node) on the GUI to another. However, nodes are not likely to be arranged on a rectilinear grid, and so movements between nodes are not obvious. Proximity between nodes, direction of nodes relative to each other, and context features may all contribute to user cursor movement expectations. In an initial study, we examined user expectations based on the nodes themselves. In a second study, we examined the effect of context features on user expectations. The studies established that perceptual grouping effects influence expectations to varying degrees. Based on these results, a simple rule set was developed to support users in building a straightforward mental model that closely matches their natural expectations for cursor movement. The results will help designers of display formats take advantage of the natural context-driven cursor movement expectations of users to reduce navigation errors, increase usability, and decrease access time. The rules set and guidelines tie theory to practice and can be applied in environments where vibration or acceleration are significant, including spacecraft, aircraft, and automobiles.

The effect of on-site and outreach-based needle and syringe programs in people who inject drugs in Kermanshah, Iran.

PubMed

Nazari, Seyed Saeed Hashemi; Noroozi, Mehdi; Soori, Hamid; Noroozi, Alireza; Mehrabi, Yadollah; Hajebi, Ahmad; Sharifi, Hamid; Higgs, Peter; Mirzazadeh, Ali

2016-01-01

Needle and syringe programs (NSPs) are widely used to reduce harms associated with drug injecting. This study assessed the effect of facility-based (on-site services at drop-in centre) and outreach models of NSP on injection risk behaviours. Self-reported data from 455 people who injected drugs (PWID) during 2014 in Kermanshah, Iran, were examined to measure demographic characteristics and risk behaviors. Self-reported and program data were also assessed to identify their main source of injection equipment. Participants were divided into three sub-groups: facility-based NSP users, outreach NSP users and non-users (comparison group). Coarsened exact matching was used to make the three groups statistically equivalent based on age, place of residence, education and income, and groups were compared regarding the proportion of borrowing or lending of syringes/cookers, reusing syringes and recent HIV testing. Overall, 76% of participants reported any NSP service use during the two months prior to interview. Only 23% (95%CI: 17-27) reported outreach NSP as their main source of syringes. Using facility-based NSP significantly decreased recent syringe borrowing (OR: 0.27, 95%CI: 0.10-0.70), recent syringe reuse (OR: 0.38, 95%CI: 0.23-0.68) and increased recent HIV testing (OR: 2.60, 95%CI: 1.48-4.56). Similar effects were observed among outreach NSP users; in addition, the outreach NSP model significantly reduced the chance of lending syringes (OR: 0.31, 95%CI: 0.15-0.60), compared to facility-based NSP (OR: 1.25, 95%CI: 0.74-2.17). These findings suggest that the outreach NSP model is as effective as facility-based NSP in reducing injection risk behaviours and increasing the rate of HIV testing. Outreach NSP was even more effective than facility-based in reducing the lending of syringes to others. Scaling up outreach NSP is an effective intervention to further reduce transmission of HIV via needle sharing. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Using ontologies to model human navigation behavior in information networks: A study based on Wikipedia.

PubMed

Lamprecht, Daniel; Strohmaier, Markus; Helic, Denis; Nyulas, Csongor; Tudorache, Tania; Noy, Natalya F; Musen, Mark A

The need to examine the behavior of different user groups is a fundamental requirement when building information systems. In this paper, we present Ontology-based Decentralized Search (OBDS), a novel method to model the navigation behavior of users equipped with different types of background knowledge. Ontology-based Decentralized Search combines decentralized search, an established method for navigation in social networks, and ontologies to model navigation behavior in information networks. The method uses ontologies as an explicit representation of background knowledge to inform the navigation process and guide it towards navigation targets. By using different ontologies, users equipped with different types of background knowledge can be represented. We demonstrate our method using four biomedical ontologies and their associated Wikipedia articles. We compare our simulation results with base line approaches and with results obtained from a user study. We find that our method produces click paths that have properties similar to those originating from human navigators. The results suggest that our method can be used to model human navigation behavior in systems that are based on information networks, such as Wikipedia. This paper makes the following contributions: (i) To the best of our knowledge, this is the first work to demonstrate the utility of ontologies in modeling human navigation and (ii) it yields new insights and understanding about the mechanisms of human navigation in information networks.

Using ontologies to model human navigation behavior in information networks: A study based on Wikipedia

PubMed Central

Lamprecht, Daniel; Strohmaier, Markus; Helic, Denis; Nyulas, Csongor; Tudorache, Tania; Noy, Natalya F.; Musen, Mark A.

2015-01-01

The need to examine the behavior of different user groups is a fundamental requirement when building information systems. In this paper, we present Ontology-based Decentralized Search (OBDS), a novel method to model the navigation behavior of users equipped with different types of background knowledge. Ontology-based Decentralized Search combines decentralized search, an established method for navigation in social networks, and ontologies to model navigation behavior in information networks. The method uses ontologies as an explicit representation of background knowledge to inform the navigation process and guide it towards navigation targets. By using different ontologies, users equipped with different types of background knowledge can be represented. We demonstrate our method using four biomedical ontologies and their associated Wikipedia articles. We compare our simulation results with base line approaches and with results obtained from a user study. We find that our method produces click paths that have properties similar to those originating from human navigators. The results suggest that our method can be used to model human navigation behavior in systems that are based on information networks, such as Wikipedia. This paper makes the following contributions: (i) To the best of our knowledge, this is the first work to demonstrate the utility of ontologies in modeling human navigation and (ii) it yields new insights and understanding about the mechanisms of human navigation in information networks. PMID:26568745

Suicide Communication on Social Media and Its Psychological Mechanisms: An Examination of Chinese Microblog Users

PubMed Central

Cheng, Qijin; Kwok, Chi Leung; Zhu, Tingshao; Guan, Li; Yip, Paul S. F.

2015-01-01

Background: This study aims to examine the characteristics of people who talk about suicide on Chinese microblogs (referred to as Weibo suicide communication (WSC)), and the psychological antecedents of such behaviors. Methods: An online survey was conducted on Weibo users. Differences in psychological and social demographic characteristics between those who exhibited WSC and those who did not were examined. Three theoretical models were proposed to explain the psychological mechanisms of WSC and their fitness was examined by Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). Results: 12.03% of our respondents exhibited WSC in the past 12 months. The WSC group was significantly younger and less educated, preferred using blogs and online forums for expressing themselves, and reported significantly greater suicide ideation, negative affectivity, and vulnerable personality compared to non-WSC users. SEM examinations found that Weibo users with higher negative affectivity or/and suicidal ideation, who were also using blogs and forums more, exhibited a significantly higher possibility of WSC. Conclusion: Weibo users who are at greater suicide risk are more likely to talk about suicide on Weibo. WSC is a sign of negative affectivity or suicide ideation, and should be responded to with emotional support and suicide prevention services. PMID:26378566

Suicide Communication on Social Media and Its Psychological Mechanisms: An Examination of Chinese Microblog Users.

PubMed

Cheng, Qijin; Kwok, Chi Leung; Zhu, Tingshao; Guan, Li; Yip, Paul S F

2015-09-11

This study aims to examine the characteristics of people who talk about suicide on Chinese microblogs (referred to as Weibo suicide communication (WSC)), and the psychological antecedents of such behaviors. An online survey was conducted on Weibo users. Differences in psychological and social demographic characteristics between those who exhibited WSC and those who did not were examined. Three theoretical models were proposed to explain the psychological mechanisms of WSC and their fitness was examined by Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). 12.03% of our respondents exhibited WSC in the past 12 months. The WSC group was significantly younger and less educated, preferred using blogs and online forums for expressing themselves, and reported significantly greater suicide ideation, negative affectivity, and vulnerable personality compared to non-WSC users. SEM examinations found that Weibo users with higher negative affectivity or/and suicidal ideation, who were also using blogs and forums more, exhibited a significantly higher possibility of WSC. Weibo users who are at greater suicide risk are more likely to talk about suicide on Weibo. WSC is a sign of negative affectivity or suicide ideation, and should be responded to with emotional support and suicide prevention services.

[Substance use and risk behaviors of out-of-treatment cocaine base paste and cocaine hydrochloride users].

PubMed

Santis B, Rodrigo; Hidalgo C, Carmen Gloria; Hayden C, Viviana; Anselmo M, Enzo; Rodríguez T, Jorge; Cartajena de la M, Fernando; Dreyse D, Jorge; Torres B, Rafael

2007-01-01

In Chile, cocaine base paste (CBP) is the illegal substance that produces the highest rate of addiction. Nonetheless, a marginal number of users receive treatment each year. To compare the consumption patterns and risk behavior of CBP and cocaine hydrochloride (CH) users who do not attend rehabilitation services. In a prospective research design, through a study methodology called Privileged Access Interview of hidden populations, 28 surveyors recruited 231 CBP users (group 1) and 236 CH users (group 2). The Risk Behavior Questionnaire was applied in four communities of Metropolitan Santiago, that have the highest prevalence of PBC and CH use. CBP users showed higher schools drop-out and unemployment rates. Subjects of both groups were predominantly polysubstance and polyaddicted users. The severity of addiction to CBP of group 1 was significantly higher than the severity of addiction to CH of group 2 (5.5 versus 5.1: p<0.001). CBP users showed significantly higher rates of sexual risk behaviors, antisocial behavior, self infliction of injuries, suicide attempt and child neglect. A higher vulnerability was shown for users of CBP than those of CH. Attention is drawn to the need for developing community interventions in order to alter substance abuse and the risk behavior of these vulnerable groups.

An SSH key management system: easing the pain of managing key/user/account associations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Arkhipkin, D.; Betts, W.; Lauret, J.; Shiryaev, A.

2008-07-01

Cyber security requirements for secure access to computing facilities often call for access controls via gatekeepers and the use of two-factor authentication. Using SSH keys to satisfy the two factor authentication requirement has introduced a potentially challenging task of managing the keys and their associations with individual users and user accounts. Approaches for a facility with the simple model of one remote user corresponding to one local user would not work at facilities that require a many-to-many mapping between users and accounts on multiple systems. We will present an SSH key management system we developed, tested and deployed to address the many-to-many dilemma in the environment of the STAR experiment. We will explain its use in an online computing context and explain how it makes possible the management and tracing of group account access spread over many sub-system components (data acquisition, slow controls, trigger, detector instrumentation, etc.) without the use of shared passwords for remote logins.

Feasibility Study for an Air Force Environmental Model and Data Exchange. Volume 2. Appendices B - E. Air Force Needs and Capabilities Survey.

DTIC Science & Technology

1983-08-01

o Environmental System Applications o Enviromental System Support and User Staff TABLE C-14l. KEY USER-SELECTED USAF ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES. Importance...general analysis procedure. Please note that in this section the word "environment" includes both the natural and the cultural environment. Socio -economic...YOUR GROUP *(INCLUDES CULTURAL AND SOCIO -ECONOMIC SCIENCE) ~~.| ,. -* . ’ . *" . . . . " . " ".t " . -’ . . , " • - ". " . . ". - 3.7 ENVIRONMENTAL

Producing Decisions in Service-User Groups for People with an Intellectual Disability: Two Contrasting Facilitator Styles

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Antaki, Charles; Finlay, W. M. L.; Sheridan, Emma; Jingree, Treena; Walton, Chris

2006-01-01

Service-user groups whose goals include the promotion of self-advocacy for people with an intellectual disability aim, among other things, to encourage service users to identify problems and find solutions. However, service users' contributions to group sessions may not always be full and spontaneous. This presents a dilemma to the facilitator. In…

An overview of Airborne Data for Assessing Models (ADAM): a web development effort to effectively disseminate airborne data products

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mangosing, D. C.; Chen, G.; Kusterer, J.; Rinsland, P.; Perez, J.; Sorlie, S.; Parker, L.

2011-12-01

One of the objectives of the NASA Langley Research Center's MEaSURES project, "Creating a Unified Airborne Database for Model Assessment", is the development of airborne Earth System Data Records (ESDR) for the regional and global model assessment and validation activities performed by the tropospheric chemistry and climate modeling communities. The ongoing development of ADAM, a web site designed to access a unified, standardized and relational ESDR database, meets this objective. The ESDR database is derived from publically available data sets, from NASA airborne field studies to airborne and in-situ studies sponsored by NOAA, NSF, and numerous international partners. The ADAM web development activities provide an opportunity to highlight a growing synergy between the Airborne Science Data for Atmospheric Composition (ASD-AC) group at NASA Langley and the NASA Langley's Atmospheric Sciences Data Center (ASDC). These teams will collaborate on the ADAM web application by leveraging the state-of-the-art service and message-oriented data distribution architecture developed and implemented by ASDC and using a web-based tool provided by the ASD-AC group whose user interface accommodates the nuanced perspective of science users in the atmospheric chemistry and composition and climate modeling communities.

The international river interface cooperative: Public domain flow and morphodynamics software for education and applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nelson, Jonathan M.; Shimizu, Yasuyuki; Abe, Takaaki; Asahi, Kazutake; Gamou, Mineyuki; Inoue, Takuya; Iwasaki, Toshiki; Kakinuma, Takaharu; Kawamura, Satomi; Kimura, Ichiro; Kyuka, Tomoko; McDonald, Richard R.; Nabi, Mohamed; Nakatsugawa, Makoto; Simões, Francisco R.; Takebayashi, Hiroshi; Watanabe, Yasunori

2016-07-01

This paper describes a new, public-domain interface for modeling flow, sediment transport and morphodynamics in rivers and other geophysical flows. The interface is named after the International River Interface Cooperative (iRIC), the group that constructed the interface and many of the current solvers included in iRIC. The interface is entirely free to any user and currently houses thirteen models ranging from simple one-dimensional models through three-dimensional large-eddy simulation models. Solvers are only loosely coupled to the interface so it is straightforward to modify existing solvers or to introduce other solvers into the system. Six of the most widely-used solvers are described in detail including example calculations to serve as an aid for users choosing what approach might be most appropriate for their own applications. The example calculations range from practical computations of bed evolution in natural rivers to highly detailed predictions of the development of small-scale bedforms on an initially flat bed. The remaining solvers are also briefly described. Although the focus of most solvers is coupled flow and morphodynamics, several of the solvers are also specifically aimed at providing flood inundation predictions over large spatial domains. Potential users can download the application, solvers, manuals, and educational materials including detailed tutorials at www.-i-ric.org. The iRIC development group encourages scientists and engineers to use the tool and to consider adding their own methods to the iRIC suite of tools.

The international river interface cooperative: Public domain flow and morphodynamics software for education and applications

USGS Publications Warehouse

Nelson, Jonathan M.; Shimizu, Yasuyuki; Abe, Takaaki; Asahi, Kazutake; Gamou, Mineyuki; Inoue, Takuya; Iwasaki, Toshiki; Kakinuma, Takaharu; Kawamura, Satomi; Kimura, Ichiro; Kyuka, Tomoko; McDonald, Richard R.; Nabi, Mohamed; Nakatsugawa, Makoto; Simoes, Francisco J.; Takebayashi, Hiroshi; Watanabe, Yasunori

2016-01-01

This paper describes a new, public-domain interface for modeling flow, sediment transport and morphodynamics in rivers and other geophysical flows. The interface is named after the International River Interface Cooperative (iRIC), the group that constructed the interface and many of the current solvers included in iRIC. The interface is entirely free to any user and currently houses thirteen models ranging from simple one-dimensional models through three-dimensional large-eddy simulation models. Solvers are only loosely coupled to the interface so it is straightforward to modify existing solvers or to introduce other solvers into the system. Six of the most widely-used solvers are described in detail including example calculations to serve as an aid for users choosing what approach might be most appropriate for their own applications. The example calculations range from practical computations of bed evolution in natural rivers to highly detailed predictions of the development of small-scale bedforms on an initially flat bed. The remaining solvers are also briefly described. Although the focus of most solvers is coupled flow and morphodynamics, several of the solvers are also specifically aimed at providing flood inundation predictions over large spatial domains. Potential users can download the application, solvers, manuals, and educational materials including detailed tutorials at www.-i-ric.org. The iRIC development group encourages scientists and engineers to use the tool and to consider adding their own methods to the iRIC suite of tools.

Group-Based Active Learning of Classification Models.

PubMed

Luo, Zhipeng; Hauskrecht, Milos

2017-05-01

Learning of classification models from real-world data often requires additional human expert effort to annotate the data. However, this process can be rather costly and finding ways of reducing the human annotation effort is critical for this task. The objective of this paper is to develop and study new ways of providing human feedback for efficient learning of classification models by labeling groups of examples. Briefly, unlike traditional active learning methods that seek feedback on individual examples, we develop a new group-based active learning framework that solicits label information on groups of multiple examples. In order to describe groups in a user-friendly way, conjunctive patterns are used to compactly represent groups. Our empirical study on 12 UCI data sets demonstrates the advantages and superiority of our approach over both classic instance-based active learning work, as well as existing group-based active-learning methods.

Recreation conflict potential and management in the northern/central Black Forest Nature Park

Treesearch

C. Mann; J. D. Absher

2008-01-01

This study explores conflict in recreational use of the Black Forest Nature Park (BFNP) by six different nature sports groups as a function of infrastructure, forest management and other users. A multi-step, methodological triangulation conflict model from US recreation management was applied and tested in the Park. Results from two groups, hikers and mountain bikers,...

Supervision on Social Media: Use and Perception of Facebook as a Research Education Tool in Disadvantaged Areas

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pimmer, Christoph; Chipps, Jennifer; Brysiewicz, Petra; Walters, Fiona; Linxen, Sebastian; Gröhbiel, Urs

2016-01-01

This exploratory study investigates how a typically disadvantaged user group of older, female learners from rural, low-tech settings used and perceived a Facebook group as a research supervision and distance learning tool over time. The within-stage mixed-model research was carried out in a module of a part-time, advanced midwifery education…

An Analysis of Internet Addiction Levels of Individuals according to Various Variables

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sahin, Cengiz

2011-01-01

The concept of internet addiction refers to the excessive use of internet which in turn causes various problems in individual, social and professional aspects. The aim of this study was to determine internet addiction levels of internet users from all age groups. The study used survey model. Study group of the study consisted of a total of 596…

Focus groups of Alaska Native adolescent tobacco users: preferences for tobacco cessation interventions and barriers to participation.

PubMed

Patten, Christi A; Enoch, Carrie; Renner, Caroline C; Offord, Kenneth P; Nevak, Caroline; Kelley, Stacy F; Thomas, Janet; Decker, Paul A; Hurt, Richard D; Lanier, Anne; Kaur, Judith S

2009-08-01

Tobacco cessation interventions developed for Alaska Native adolescents do not exist. This study employed focus group methodology to explore preferences for tobacco cessation interventions and barriers to participation among 49 Alaska Natives (61% female) with a mean age of 14.6 (SD = 1.6) who resided in western Alaska. Using content analysis, themes from the 12 focus groups were found to be consistent across village, gender, and age groups. Program location or site (e.g., away from the village, hunting, fishing), a group-based format, and inclusion of medication and personal stories were reported to be important attributes of cessation programs. Motivators to quit tobacco were the perceived adverse health effects of tobacco, improved self-image and appearance, and the potential to be a future role model as a non-tobacco user for family and friends. Parents were perceived as potentially supportive to the adolescent in quitting tobacco. The findings will be used to develop tobacco cessation programs for Alaska Native youth.

How Do Racial/Ethnic Groups Differ in Their Use of Neighborhood Parks? Findings from the National Study of Neighborhood Parks.

PubMed

Vaughan, Christine A; Cohen, Deborah A; Han, Bing

2018-06-18

The current study examined racial/ethnic differences in use of parks and park facilities and features and self-reported park use and perceptions. We conducted observations in a nationally representative sample of 193 neighborhood parks in 27 US cities over a 1-week period between April and August of 2016 using the System of Observing Play and Recreation in Communities (SOPARC). To determine the propensity of different racial/ethnic groups to use parks relative to expectation based on their representation in the surrounding neighborhood, we calculated the percentages of park users of each race/ethnicity and compared these to the percentages of racial/ethnic groups residing in the neighborhood within a 1-mile radius of the park based on 2010 U.S. Census data. In the same parks, we administered an intercept survey to assess park users' self-reported use and perceptions of the park (N = 1872). We examined racial/ethnic differences in self-reported use and perceptions of parks using GEE models that adjusted for several individual- and park-level covariates. Hispanics comprised a disproportionate percentage of observed park users. Racial/ethnic groups generally did not differ in their self-reported park use and perceptions, except for the social context of park visits. In adjusted models, Hispanics had significantly higher odds of visiting with a child family member (OR = 1.44) and lower odds of visiting alone than non-Hispanic whites (OR = .55). Findings highlight Hispanics' greater propensity to use parks and indicate that parks may serve a communal purpose for Hispanics that they do not serve for other racial/ethnic groups.

Active opioid use does not attenuate the humoral responses to inactivated influenza vaccine

PubMed Central

Moroz, Ekaterina; Albrecht, Randy A.; Aden, Brandon; Beeder, Ann Bordwine; Yuan, Jianda; García-Sastre, Adolfo; Edlin, Brian R.; Salvatore, Mirella

2016-01-01

Background Influenza vaccination is recommended for vulnerable individuals, including active drug users, to prevent influenza complications and decrease influenza spread. Recent studies suggest that opioids negatively regulate immune responses in experimental models, but the extent to which opioid use will affect the humoral responses to influenza vaccine in humans is unknown. This information is critical in maximizing vaccination efforts. Objective To determine whether there is a difference in antibody response after influenza vaccination in heroin or methadone users compared to control subjects. Methods We studied active heroin users, subjects on methadone maintenance treatment (MMT) and subjects that did not use any drugs before and 1 and 4 weeks after vaccination with trivalent influenza vaccine (TIV). We measured hemagglutination inhibition and microneutralization titers, and we compared geometric mean titers (GMT), and rates of seroprotection and seroconversion for each of the vaccine strains among the 3 groups of subjects. Results Heroin users, subjects on MMT and non-user controls mount a similarly robust serologic response to TIV. GMT and rates of seroprotection and seroconversion were not significantly different among groups. Conclusion Our results suggest that opioid use do not significantly alter antibody responses to influenza vaccine supporting the vaccination effort in these populations. PMID:26859239

Typology of club drug use among young adults recruited using time-space sampling

PubMed Central

Ramo, Danielle E.; Grov, Christian; Delucchi, Kevin; Kelly, Brian C.; Parsons, Jeffrey T.

2009-01-01

The present study examined patterns of recent club drug use among 400 young adults (18–29) recruited using time-space sampling in NYC. Subjects had used at least one of six club drugs (MDMA, Ketamine, GHB, Cocaine, Methamphetamine, and LSD) within the prior 3 months. We used latent class analysis (LCA) to estimate latent groups based on patterns of recent club drug use and examined differences in demographic and psychological variables by class. A 3-class model fit the data best. Patterns were: Primary cocaine users (42% of sample), Mainstream users (44% of sample), and Wide-range users (14% of sample). Those most likely to be Primary cocaine users were significantly less likely to be heterosexual males and had higher educational attainment than the other two classes. Those most likely to be Wide-range users were less likely to be heterosexual females, more likely to be gay/bisexual males, dependent on club drugs, had significantly greater drug and sexual sensation-seeking, and were more likely to use when experiencing physical discomfort or pleasant times with others compared to the other two groups. Findings highlight the utility of using person-centered approaches to understand patterns of substance use, as well as highlight several patterns of club drug use among young adults. PMID:19939585

Comparing Medical and Recreational Cannabis Users on Socio-Demographic, Substance and Medication Use, and Health and Disability Characteristics.

PubMed

Goulet-Stock, Sybil; Rueda, Sergio; Vafaei, Afshin; Ialomiteanu, Anca; Manthey, Jakob; Rehm, Jürgen; Fischer, Benedikt

2017-01-01

While recreational cannabis use is common, medical cannabis programs have proliferated across North America, including a federal program in Canada. Few comparisons of medical and recreational cannabis users (RCUs) exist; this study compared these groups on key characteristics. Data came from a community-recruited sample of formally approved medical cannabis users (MCUs; n = 53), and a sub-sample of recreational cannabis users (RCUs; n = 169) from a representative adult survey in Ontario (Canada). Samples were telephone-surveyed on identical measures, including select socio-demographic, substance and medication use, and health and disability measures. Based on initial bivariate comparisons, multivariate logistical regression with a progressive adjustment approach was performed to assess independent predictors of group status. In bivariate analyses, older age, lower household income, lower alcohol use, higher cocaine, prescription opioid, depression and anxiety medication use, and lower health and disability status were significantly associated with medical cannabis use. In the multivariate analysis, final model, household income, alcohol use, and disability levels were associated with medical cannabis use. Conclusions/Scientific Significance: Compared to RCUs, medical users appear to be mainly characterized by factors negatively influencing their overall health status. Future studies should investigate the actual impact and net benefits of medical cannabis use on these health problems. © 2017 S. Karger AG, Basel.

Examining Engineering & Technology Students' Acceptance of Network Virtualization Technology Using the Technology Acceptance Model

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yousif, Wael K.

2010-01-01

This causal and correlational study was designed to extend the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and to test its applicability to Valencia Community College (VCC) Engineering and Technology students as the target user group when investigating the factors influencing their decision to adopt and to utilize VMware as the target technology. In…

Advancing User Supports with a Structured How-To Knowledge Base for Earth Science Data

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Shen, Suhung; Acker, James G.; Lynnes, Christopher S.; Beaty, Tammy; Lighty, Luther; Kempler, Steven J.

2016-01-01

It is a challenge to access and process fast growing Earth science data from satellites and numerical models, which may be archived in very different data format and structures. NASA data centers, managed by the Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS), have developed a rich and diverse set of data services and tools with features intended to simplify finding, downloading, and working with these data. Although most data services and tools have user guides, many users still experience difficulties with accessing or reading data due to varying levels of familiarity with data services, tools, and/or formats. A type of structured online document, data recipe, were created in beginning 2013 by Goddard Earth Science Data and Information Services Center (GES DISC). A data recipe is the How-To document created by using the fixed template, containing step-by-step instructions with screenshots and examples of accessing and working with real data. The recipes has been found to be very helpful, especially to first-time-users of particular data services, tools, or data products. Online traffic to the data recipe pages is significant to some recipes. In 2014, the NASA Earth Science Data System Working Group (ESDSWG) for data recipes was established, aimed to initiate an EOSDIS-wide campaign for leveraging the distributed knowledge within EOSDIS and its user communities regarding their respective services and tools. The ESDSWG data recipe group started with inventory and analysis of existing EOSDIS-wide online help documents, and provided recommendations and guidelines and for writing and grouping data recipes. This presentation will overview activities of creating How-To documents at GES DISC and ESDSWG. We encourage feedback and contribution from users for improving the data How-To knowledge base.

Advancing User Supports with Structured How-To Knowledge Base for Earth Science Data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shen, S.; Acker, J. G.; Lynnes, C.; Lighty, L.; Beaty, T.; Kempler, S.

2016-12-01

It is a challenge to access and process fast growing Earth science data from satellites and numerical models, which may be archived in very different data format and structures. NASA data centers, managed by the Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS), have developed a rich and diverse set of data services and tools with features intended to simplify finding, downloading, and working with these data. Although most data services and tools have user guides, many users still experience difficulties with accessing or reading data due to varying levels of familiarity with data services, tools, and/or formats. A type of structured online document, "data recipe", were created in beginning 2013 by Goddard Earth Science Data and Information Services Center (GES DISC). A data recipe is the "How-To" document created by using the fixed template, containing step-by-step instructions with screenshots and examples of accessing and working with real data. The recipes has been found to be very helpful, especially to first-time-users of particular data services, tools, or data products. Online traffic to the data recipe pages is significant to some recipes. In 2014, the NASA Earth Science Data System Working Group (ESDSWG) for data recipes was established, aimed to initiate an EOSDIS-wide campaign for leveraging the distributed knowledge within EOSDIS and its user communities regarding their respective services and tools. The ESDSWG data recipe group started with inventory and analysis of existing EOSDIS-wide online help documents, and provided recommendations and guidelines and for writing and grouping data recipes. This presentation will overview activities of creating How-To documents at GES DISC and ESDSWG. We encourage feedback and contribution from users for improving the data How-To knowledge base.

Has the incidence of brain cancer risen in Australia since the introduction of mobile phones 29 years ago?

PubMed

Chapman, Simon; Azizi, Lamiae; Luo, Qingwei; Sitas, Freddy

2016-06-01

Mobile phone use in Australia has increased rapidly since its introduction in 1987 with whole population usage being 94% by 2014. We explored the popularly hypothesised association between brain cancer incidence and mobile phone use. Using national cancer registration data, we examined age and gender specific incidence rates of 19,858 male and 14,222 females diagnosed with brain cancer in Australia between 1982 and 2012, and mobile phone usage data from 1987 to 2012. We modelled expected age specific rates (20-39, 40-59, 60-69, 70-84 years), based on published reports of relative risks (RR) of 1.5 in ever-users of mobile phones, and RR of 2.5 in a proportion of 'heavy users' (19% of all users), assuming a 10-year lag period between use and incidence. Age adjusted brain cancer incidence rates (20-84 years, per 100,000) have risen slightly in males (p<0.05) but were stable over 30 years in females (p>0.05) and are higher in males 8.7 (CI=8.1-9.3) than in females, 5.8 (CI=5.3-6.3). Assuming a causal RR of 1.5 and 10-year lag period, the expected incidence rate in males in 2012 would be 11.7 (11-12.4) and in females 7.7 (CI=7.2-8.3), both p<0.01; 1434 cases observed in 2012, vs. 1867 expected. Significant increases in brain cancer incidence were observed (in keeping with modelled rates) only in those aged ≥70 years (both sexes), but the increase in incidence in this age group began from 1982, before the introduction of mobile phones. Modelled expected incidence rates were higher in all age groups in comparison to what was observed. Assuming a causal RR of 2.5 among 'heavy users' gave 2038 expected cases in all age groups. This is an ecological trends analysis, with no data on individual mobile phone use and outcome. The observed stability of brain cancer incidence in Australia between 1982 and 2012 in all age groups except in those over 70 years compared to increasing modelled expected estimates, suggests that the observed increases in brain cancer incidence in the older age group are unlikely to be related to mobile phone use. Rather, we hypothesize that the observed increases in brain cancer incidence in Australia are related to the advent of improved diagnostic procedures when computed tomography and related imaging technologies were introduced in the early 1980s. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Alloy Design Workbench-Surface Modeling Package Developed

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Abel, Phillip B.; Noebe, Ronald D.; Bozzolo, Guillermo H.; Good, Brian S.; Daugherty, Elaine S.

2003-01-01

NASA Glenn Research Center's Computational Materials Group has integrated a graphical user interface with in-house-developed surface modeling capabilities, with the goal of using computationally efficient atomistic simulations to aid the development of advanced aerospace materials, through the modeling of alloy surfaces, surface alloys, and segregation. The software is also ideal for modeling nanomaterials, since surface and interfacial effects can dominate material behavior and properties at this level. Through the combination of an accurate atomistic surface modeling methodology and an efficient computational engine, it is now possible to directly model these types of surface phenomenon and metallic nanostructures without a supercomputer. Fulfilling a High Operating Temperature Propulsion Components (HOTPC) project level-I milestone, a graphical user interface was created for a suite of quantum approximate atomistic materials modeling Fortran programs developed at Glenn. The resulting "Alloy Design Workbench-Surface Modeling Package" (ADW-SMP) is the combination of proven quantum approximate Bozzolo-Ferrante-Smith (BFS) algorithms (refs. 1 and 2) with a productivity-enhancing graphical front end. Written in the portable, platform independent Java programming language, the graphical user interface calls on extensively tested Fortran programs running in the background for the detailed computational tasks. Designed to run on desktop computers, the package has been deployed on PC, Mac, and SGI computer systems. The graphical user interface integrates two modes of computational materials exploration. One mode uses Monte Carlo simulations to determine lowest energy equilibrium configurations. The second approach is an interactive "what if" comparison of atomic configuration energies, designed to provide real-time insight into the underlying drivers of alloying processes.

National Space Council Users' Advisory Group

NASA Image and Video Library

2018-06-19

Users' Advisory Group member Faith Ozmen, CEO of the Sierra Nevada Corporation is seen durring the first meeting of the National Space Council Users' Advisory Group, Tuesday, June 19, 2018 at NASA Headquarters in Washington. The Users' Advisory Group will advise and inform the National Space Council on a broad range of aerospace topics, including the impacts of U.S. and international laws and regulations, national security space priorities, scientific and human space exploration priorities, and ways to bolster support. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)

An analysis of respondent-driven sampling with injecting drug users in a high HIV prevalent state of India.

PubMed

Phukan, Sanjib Kumar; Medhi, Gajendra Kumar; Mahanta, Jagadish; Adhikary, Rajatashuvra; Thongamba, Gay; Paranjape, Ramesh S; Akoijam, Brogen S

2017-07-03

Personal networks are significant social spaces to spread of HIV or other blood-borne infections among hard-to-reach population, viz., injecting drug users, female sex workers, etc. Sharing of infected needles or syringes among drug users is one of the major routes of HIV transmission in Manipur, a high HIV prevalence state in India. This study was carried out to describe the network characteristics and recruitment patterns of injecting drug users and to assess the association of personal network with injecting risky behaviors in Manipur. A total of 821 injecting drug users were recruited into the study using respondent-driven sampling (RDS) from Bishnupur and Churachandpur districts of Manipur; data on demographic characteristics, HIV risk behaviors, and network size were collected from them. Transition probability matrices and homophily indices were used to describe the network characteristics, and recruitment patterns of injecting drug users. Univariate and multivariate binary logistic regression models were performed to analyze the association between the personal networks and sharing of needles or syringes. The average network size was similar in both the districts. Recruitment analysis indicates injecting drug users were mostly engaged in mixed age group setting for injecting practice. Ever married and new injectors showed lack of in-group ties. Younger injecting drug users had mainly recruited older injecting drug users from their personal network. In logistic regression analysis, higher personal network was found to be significantly associated with increased likelihood of injecting risky behaviors. Because of mixed personal network of new injectors and higher network density associated with HIV exposure, older injecting drug users may act as a link for HIV transmission or other blood-borne infections to new injectors and also to their sexual partners. The information from this study may be useful to understanding the network pattern of injecting drug users for enriching the HIV prevention in this region.

FRAMES-2.0 Software System: Providing Password Protection and Limited Access to Models and Simulations

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

Whelan, Gene; Pelton, Mitch A.

2007-08-09

One of the most important concerns for regulatory agencies is the concept of reproducibility (i.e., reproducibility means credibility) of an assessment. One aspect of reproducibility deals with tampering of the assessment. In other words, when multiple groups are engaged in an assessment, it is important to lock down the problem that is to be solved and/or to restrict the models that are to be used to solve the problem. The objective of this effort is to provide the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) with a means to limit user access to models and to provide a mechanism to constrain themore » conceptual site models (CSMs) when appropriate. The purpose is to provide the user (i.e., NRC) with the ability to “lock down” the CSM (i.e., picture containing linked icons), restrict access to certain models, or both.« less

A Flexible Electronic Commerce Recommendation System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gong, Songjie

Recommendation systems have become very popular in E-commerce websites. Many of the largest commerce websites are already using recommender technologies to help their customers find products to purchase. An electronic commerce recommendation system learns from a customer and recommends products that the customer will find most valuable from among the available products. But most recommendation methods are hard-wired into the system and they support only fixed recommendations. This paper presented a framework of flexible electronic commerce recommendation system. The framework is composed by user model interface, recommendation engine, recommendation strategy model, recommendation technology group, user interest model and database interface. In the recommender strategy model, the method can be collaborative filtering, content-based filtering, mining associate rules method, knowledge-based filtering method or the mixed method. The system mapped the implementation and demand through strategy model, and the whole system would be design as standard parts to adapt to the change of the recommendation strategy.

Simulations in Cyber-Security: A Review of Cognitive Modeling of Network Attackers, Defenders, and Users

PubMed Central

Veksler, Vladislav D.; Buchler, Norbou; Hoffman, Blaine E.; Cassenti, Daniel N.; Sample, Char; Sugrim, Shridat

2018-01-01

Computational models of cognitive processes may be employed in cyber-security tools, experiments, and simulations to address human agency and effective decision-making in keeping computational networks secure. Cognitive modeling can addresses multi-disciplinary cyber-security challenges requiring cross-cutting approaches over the human and computational sciences such as the following: (a) adversarial reasoning and behavioral game theory to predict attacker subjective utilities and decision likelihood distributions, (b) human factors of cyber tools to address human system integration challenges, estimation of defender cognitive states, and opportunities for automation, (c) dynamic simulations involving attacker, defender, and user models to enhance studies of cyber epidemiology and cyber hygiene, and (d) training effectiveness research and training scenarios to address human cyber-security performance, maturation of cyber-security skill sets, and effective decision-making. Models may be initially constructed at the group-level based on mean tendencies of each subject's subgroup, based on known statistics such as specific skill proficiencies, demographic characteristics, and cultural factors. For more precise and accurate predictions, cognitive models may be fine-tuned to each individual attacker, defender, or user profile, and updated over time (based on recorded behavior) via techniques such as model tracing and dynamic parameter fitting. PMID:29867661

Different time trends of caloric and fat intake between statin users and nonusers among US adults: gluttony in the time of statins?

PubMed

Sugiyama, Takehiro; Tsugawa, Yusuke; Tseng, Chi-Hong; Kobayashi, Yasuki; Shapiro, Martin F

2014-07-01

Both dietary modification and use of statins can lower blood cholesterol. The increase in caloric intake among the general population is reported to have plateaued in the last decade, but no study has examined the relationship between the time trends of caloric intake and statin use. To examine the difference in the temporal trends of caloric and fat intake between statin users and nonusers among US adults. A repeated cross-sectional study in a nationally representative sample of 27,886 US adults, 20 years or older, from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 1999 through 2010. Statin use. Caloric and fat intake measured through 24-hour dietary recall. Generalized linear models with interaction term between survey cycle and statin use were constructed to investigate the time trends of dietary intake for statin users and nonusers after adjustment for possible confounders. We calculated model-adjusted caloric and fat intake using these models and examined if the time trends differed by statin use. Body mass index (BMI) changes were also compared between statin users and nonusers. In the 1999-2000 period, the caloric intake was significantly less for statin users compared with nonusers (2000 vs 2179 kcal/d; P = .007). The difference between the groups became smaller as time went by, and there was no statistical difference after the 2005-2006 period. Among statin users, caloric intake in the 2009-2010 period was 9.6% higher (95% CI, 1.8-18.1; P = .02) than that in the 1999-2000 period. In contrast, no significant change was observed among nonusers during the same study period. Statin users also consumed significantly less fat in the 1999-2000 period (71.7 vs 81.2 g/d; P = .003). Fat intake increased 14.4% among statin users (95% CI, 3.8-26.1; P = .007) while not changing significantly among nonusers. Also, BMI increased more among statin users (+1.3) than among nonusers (+0.4) in the adjusted model (P = .02). Caloric and fat intake have increased among statin users over time, which was not true for nonusers. The increase in BMI was faster for statin users than for nonusers. Efforts aimed at dietary control among statin users may be becoming less intensive. The importance of dietary composition may need to be reemphasized for statin users.

Predicting diagnostic error in Radiology via eye-tracking and image analytics: Application in mammography

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

Voisin, Sophie; Pinto, Frank M; Morin-Ducote, Garnetta

2013-01-01

Purpose: The primary aim of the present study was to test the feasibility of predicting diagnostic errors in mammography by merging radiologists gaze behavior and image characteristics. A secondary aim was to investigate group-based and personalized predictive models for radiologists of variable experience levels. Methods: The study was performed for the clinical task of assessing the likelihood of malignancy of mammographic masses. Eye-tracking data and diagnostic decisions for 40 cases were acquired from 4 Radiology residents and 2 breast imaging experts as part of an IRB-approved pilot study. Gaze behavior features were extracted from the eye-tracking data. Computer-generated and BIRADsmore » images features were extracted from the images. Finally, machine learning algorithms were used to merge gaze and image features for predicting human error. Feature selection was thoroughly explored to determine the relative contribution of the various features. Group-based and personalized user modeling was also investigated. Results: Diagnostic error can be predicted reliably by merging gaze behavior characteristics from the radiologist and textural characteristics from the image under review. Leveraging data collected from multiple readers produced a reasonable group model (AUC=0.79). Personalized user modeling was far more accurate for the more experienced readers (average AUC of 0.837 0.029) than for the less experienced ones (average AUC of 0.667 0.099). The best performing group-based and personalized predictive models involved combinations of both gaze and image features. Conclusions: Diagnostic errors in mammography can be predicted reliably by leveraging the radiologists gaze behavior and image content.« less

Evolving the NCSA CyberCollaboratory for Distributed Environmental Observatory Networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Myers, J.; Liu, Y.; Minsker, B.; Futrelle, J.; Downey, S.; Kim, I.; Rantanen, E.

2007-12-01

Since 2004, NCSA's Cybercollaboratory, which is built on top of the open source Liferay portal framework, has been evolving as part of NCSA's efforts to build national cyberinfrastructure to support collaborative research in environmental engineering and hydrological sciences and allow users to efficiently share contents (sensors, data, model, documents, etc.) in a context-sensitive way (e.g., providing different tools/data based on group affiliation and geospatial contexts). During this period, we provided the CyberCollaboratory to users in CLEANER (Collaborative Large-scale Engineering Analysis Network for Environmental Research, now WATer and Environmental Research Systems (WATERS) network) Project Office and several CLEANER /WATERS testbed projects. Preliminary statistics shows that one in four users (among over 400 registered users) provided contents with many other reading/accessing those contents (such as messages, documents, wikis). During the course of this use, and in evaluation by others including representatives from the CUAHSI (Consortium of Universities for the Advancement of Hydrologic Science) community, we have received significant feedback on issues of usability and suitability to various communities involved in environmental observatories. Much of this feedback applies to collaborative portals in general and some reflect a comparison of portals with newer Web 2.0 style social -networking sites. For example, users working in multiple groups found it difficult to get an overview of all of their activities and found differences in group layouts to be confusing. Users also found the standard account creation and group management processes cumbersome compared to inviting people to be friends on social sites and wanted a better sense of presence and social networks within the portal. The fragmentation of group documents between local stores, the portal document repository and email, and issues of "lost updates" was another significant concern. This poster reviews the usability feedback, identifies key issues that hinder traditional portal-based collaboration environments, and presents design changes made to the Cybercollaboratory to address them. Feedback on the effectiveness of the new design from hydrologists and environmental researchers and preliminary results from a formal usability study will also be presented.

A Markov Chain Model for Changes in Users’ Assessment of Search Results

PubMed Central

Zhitomirsky-Geffet, Maayan; Bar-Ilan, Judit; Levene, Mark

2016-01-01

Previous research shows that users tend to change their assessment of search results over time. This is a first study that investigates the factors and reasons for these changes, and describes a stochastic model of user behaviour that may explain these changes. In particular, we hypothesise that most of the changes are local, i.e. between results with similar or close relevance to the query, and thus belong to the same”coarse” relevance category. According to the theory of coarse beliefs and categorical thinking, humans tend to divide the range of values under consideration into coarse categories, and are thus able to distinguish only between cross-category values but not within them. To test this hypothesis we conducted five experiments with about 120 subjects divided into 3 groups. Each student in every group was asked to rank and assign relevance scores to the same set of search results over two or three rounds, with a period of three to nine weeks between each round. The subjects of the last three-round experiment were then exposed to the differences in their judgements and were asked to explain them. We make use of a Markov chain model to measure change in users’ judgments between the different rounds. The Markov chain demonstrates that the changes converge, and that a majority of the changes are local to a neighbouring relevance category. We found that most of the subjects were satisfied with their changes, and did not perceive them as mistakes but rather as a legitimate phenomenon, since they believe that time has influenced their relevance assessment. Both our quantitative analysis and user comments support the hypothesis of the existence of coarse relevance categories resulting from categorical thinking in the context of user evaluation of search results. PMID:27171426

Fertility after intrauterine device removal: a pilot study.

PubMed

Stoddard, Amy M; Xu, Hanna; Madden, Tessa; Allsworth, Jenifer E; Peipert, Jeffrey F

2015-06-01

Despite high efficacy, only 7.7% of women in the United States currently using contraception use an IUD. There is little published contemporary data about fertility rates after IUD use, especially in nulliparous women and women using the hormonal IUD. We recruited sexually active women 18 to 35 years of age enrolled in the Contraceptive CHOICE Project who had discontinued a contraceptive method and desired pregnancy. In this pilot project, we enrolled 69 former IUD users (19 copper and 50 levonorgestrel) and 42 former non-IUD users. Pregnancy rates at 12 months were similar between the two groups; 81% of IUD users became pregnant compared to 70% of non-IUD users (p = 0.18). In the Cox model, there was no difference in the time to pregnancy in IUD users compared to non-IUD users (HRadj 1.19, 95% CI 0.74-1.92). African American race was the only variable associated with reduced fertility (HRadj 0.40, 95% CI 0.24-0.67). We found no difference in 12-month pregnancy rates or time to pregnancy between former IUD users and users of other contraceptive methods. However, there was a clinically and statistically significant reduction in fertility in African American women.

How can we make progress with decision support systems in landscape and river basin management? Lessons learned from a comparative analysis of four different decision support systems.

PubMed

Volk, Martin; Lautenbach, Sven; van Delden, Hedwig; Newham, Lachlan T H; Seppelt, Ralf

2010-12-01

This article analyses the benefits and shortcomings of the recently developed decision support systems (DSS) FLUMAGIS, Elbe-DSS, CatchMODS, and MedAction. The analysis elaborates on the following aspects: (i) application area/decision problem, (ii) stakeholder interaction/users involved, (iii) structure of DSS/model structure, (iv) usage of the DSS, and finally (v) most important shortcomings. On the basis of this analysis, we formulate four criteria that we consider essential for the successful use of DSS in landscape and river basin management. The criteria relate to (i) system quality, (ii) user support and user training, (iii) perceived usefulness and (iv) user satisfaction. We can show that the availability of tools and technologies for DSS in landscape and river basin management is good to excellent. However, our investigations indicate that several problems have to be tackled. First of all, data availability and homogenisation, uncertainty analysis and uncertainty propagation and problems with model integration require further attention. Furthermore, the appropriate and methodological stakeholder interaction and the definition of 'what end-users really need and want' have been documented as general shortcomings of all four examples of DSS. Thus, we propose an iterative development process that enables social learning of the different groups involved in the development process, because it is easier to design a DSS for a group of stakeholders who actively participate in an iterative process. We also identify two important lines of further development in DSS: the use of interactive visualization tools and the methodology of optimization to inform scenario elaboration and evaluate trade-offs among environmental measures and management alternatives.

How Can We Make Progress with Decision Support Systems in Landscape and River Basin Management? Lessons Learned from a Comparative Analysis of Four Different Decision Support Systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Volk, Martin; Lautenbach, Sven; van Delden, Hedwig; Newham, Lachlan T. H.; Seppelt, Ralf

2010-12-01

This article analyses the benefits and shortcomings of the recently developed decision support systems (DSS) FLUMAGIS, Elbe-DSS, CatchMODS, and MedAction. The analysis elaborates on the following aspects: (i) application area/decision problem, (ii) stakeholder interaction/users involved, (iii) structure of DSS/model structure, (iv) usage of the DSS, and finally (v) most important shortcomings. On the basis of this analysis, we formulate four criteria that we consider essential for the successful use of DSS in landscape and river basin management. The criteria relate to (i) system quality, (ii) user support and user training, (iii) perceived usefulness and (iv) user satisfaction. We can show that the availability of tools and technologies for DSS in landscape and river basin management is good to excellent. However, our investigations indicate that several problems have to be tackled. First of all, data availability and homogenisation, uncertainty analysis and uncertainty propagation and problems with model integration require further attention. Furthermore, the appropriate and methodological stakeholder interaction and the definition of `what end-users really need and want' have been documented as general shortcomings of all four examples of DSS. Thus, we propose an iterative development process that enables social learning of the different groups involved in the development process, because it is easier to design a DSS for a group of stakeholders who actively participate in an iterative process. We also identify two important lines of further development in DSS: the use of interactive visualization tools and the methodology of optimization to inform scenario elaboration and evaluate trade-offs among environmental measures and management alternatives.

Comulang: towards a collaborative e-learning system that supports student group modeling.

PubMed

Troussas, Christos; Virvou, Maria; Alepis, Efthimios

2013-01-01

This paper describes an e-learning system that is expected to further enhance the educational process in computer-based tutoring systems by incorporating collaboration between students and work in groups. The resulting system is called "Comulang" while as a test bed for its effectiveness a multiple language learning system is used. Collaboration is supported by a user modeling module that is responsible for the initial creation of student clusters, where, as a next step, working groups of students are created. A machine learning clustering algorithm works towards group formatting, so that co-operations between students from different clusters are attained. One of the resulting system's basic aims is to provide efficient student groups whose limitations and capabilities are well balanced.

Social networking sites: a novel portal for communication.

PubMed

Farmer, A D; Bruckner Holt, C E M; Cook, M J; Hearing, S D

2009-09-01

The internet has transformed many spheres of society. Most notably the advent of social networking websites, such as MySpace, Bebo and Facebook, have attracted many millions of users worldwide. There are over 350 such sites in operation across the internet. There is a paucity of data in the adult literature examining the medical usage of this interesting facet of modern life. To ascertain whether Facebook has user groups that are connected with common medical conditions, and to classify the user groups that were identified as well as enumerating the number of individual users contained therein. We conducted a search of the entire Facebook website between December 2007 and January 2009. We used medical and lay nomenclature for the most prevalent non-communicable diseases as identified from the World Health Organisation Burden of Disease publication to identify whether they were represented among individual Facebook users and user groups. We identified 290,962 individual users who were part of 757 groups. Patient groups accounted for 47.4%, patient/carer support groups 28.1%, fund raising groups 18.6%, and others 5.8%. Notably, there were other groups containing representations from the scientific research community in addition to educational resources. The groups with the most individual members pertained to malignant neoplasms and cardiovascular disease (141,458 users) consistent with their worldwide prevalence. Facebook is providing a readily accessible portal for patients, carers and healthcare professionals to share their experiences of investigation, diagnosis and management of disease. Furthermore, this technology is being used for research, education and fundraising. Further research is warranted to explore the further potential of this new technology.

Computer-Aided Modeling and Analysis of Power Processing Systems (CAMAPPS). Phase 1: Users handbook

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kim, S.; Lee, J.; Cho, B. H.; Lee, F. C.

1986-01-01

The EASY5 macro component models developed for the spacecraft power system simulation are described. A brief explanation about how to use the macro components with the EASY5 Standard Components to build a specific system is given through an example. The macro components are ordered according to the following functional group: converter power stage models, compensator models, current-feedback models, constant frequency control models, load models, solar array models, and shunt regulator models. Major equations, a circuit model, and a program listing are provided for each macro component.

Interface design and human factors considerations for model-based tight glycemic control in critical care.

PubMed

Ward, Logan; Steel, James; Le Compte, Aaron; Evans, Alicia; Tan, Chia-Siong; Penning, Sophie; Shaw, Geoffrey M; Desaive, Thomas; Chase, J Geoffrey

2012-01-01

Tight glycemic control (TGC) has shown benefits but has been difficult to implement. Model-based methods and computerized protocols offer the opportunity to improve TGC quality and compliance. This research presents an interface design to maximize compliance, minimize real and perceived clinical effort, and minimize error based on simple human factors and end user input. The graphical user interface (GUI) design is presented by construction based on a series of simple, short design criteria based on fundamental human factors engineering and includes the use of user feedback and focus groups comprising nursing staff at Christchurch Hospital. The overall design maximizes ease of use and minimizes (unnecessary) interaction and use. It is coupled to a protocol that allows nurse staff to select measurement intervals and thus self-manage workload. The overall GUI design is presented and requires only one data entry point per intervention cycle. The design and main interface are heavily focused on the nurse end users who are the predominant users, while additional detailed and longitudinal data, which are of interest to doctors guiding overall patient care, are available via tabs. This dichotomy of needs and interests based on the end user's immediate focus and goals shows how interfaces must adapt to offer different information to multiple types of users. The interface is designed to minimize real and perceived clinical effort, and ongoing pilot trials have reported high levels of acceptance. The overall design principles, approach, and testing methods are based on fundamental human factors principles designed to reduce user effort and error and are readily generalizable. © 2012 Diabetes Technology Society.

Interface Design and Human Factors Considerations for Model-Based Tight Glycemic Control in Critical Care

PubMed Central

Ward, Logan; Steel, James; Le Compte, Aaron; Evans, Alicia; Tan, Chia-Siong; Penning, Sophie; Shaw, Geoffrey M; Desaive, Thomas; Chase, J Geoffrey

2012-01-01

Introduction Tight glycemic control (TGC) has shown benefits but has been difficult to implement. Model-based methods and computerized protocols offer the opportunity to improve TGC quality and compliance. This research presents an interface design to maximize compliance, minimize real and perceived clinical effort, and minimize error based on simple human factors and end user input. Method The graphical user interface (GUI) design is presented by construction based on a series of simple, short design criteria based on fundamental human factors engineering and includes the use of user feedback and focus groups comprising nursing staff at Christchurch Hospital. The overall design maximizes ease of use and minimizes (unnecessary) interaction and use. It is coupled to a protocol that allows nurse staff to select measurement intervals and thus self-manage workload. Results The overall GUI design is presented and requires only one data entry point per intervention cycle. The design and main interface are heavily focused on the nurse end users who are the predominant users, while additional detailed and longitudinal data, which are of interest to doctors guiding overall patient care, are available via tabs. This dichotomy of needs and interests based on the end user's immediate focus and goals shows how interfaces must adapt to offer different information to multiple types of users. Conclusions The interface is designed to minimize real and perceived clinical effort, and ongoing pilot trials have reported high levels of acceptance. The overall design principles, approach, and testing methods are based on fundamental human factors principles designed to reduce user effort and error and are readily generalizable. PMID:22401330

Optimizing the resource usage in Cloud based environments: the Synergy approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zangrando, L.; Llorens, V.; Sgaravatto, M.; Verlato, M.

2017-10-01

Managing resource allocation in a cloud based data centre serving multiple virtual organizations is a challenging issue. In fact, while batch systems are able to allocate resources to different user groups according to specific shares imposed by the data centre administrator, without a static partitioning of such resources, this is not so straightforward in the most common cloud frameworks, e.g. OpenStack. In the current OpenStack implementation, it is only possible to grant fixed quotas to the different user groups and these resources cannot be exceeded by one group even if there are unused resources allocated to other groups. Moreover in the existing OpenStack implementation, when there aren’t resources available, new requests are simply rejected: it is then up to the client to later re-issue the request. The recently started EU-funded INDIGO-DataCloud project is addressing this issue through “Synergy”, a new advanced scheduling service targeted for OpenStack. Synergy adopts a fair-share model for resource provisioning which guarantees that resources are distributed among users following the fair-share policies defined by the administrator, taken also into account the past usage of such resources. We present the architecture of Synergy, the status of its implementation, some preliminary results and the foreseen evolution of the service.

Anxiety symptoms in crack cocaine and inhalant users admitted to a psychiatric hospital in southern Brazil.

PubMed

Zubaran, Carlos; Foresti, Katia; Thorell, Mariana Rossi; Franceschini, Paulo Roberto

2013-01-01

The occurrence of psychiatric comorbidity among individuals with crack or inhalant dependence is frequently observed. The objective of this study was to investigate anxiety symptoms among crack cocaine and inhalant users in southern Brazil. The study investigated two groups of volunteers of equal size (n=50): one group consisted of crack cocaine users, and the other group consisted of inhalant users. Research volunteers completed the Portuguese versions of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale (HAM-A), and Self-Report Questionnaire (SRQ). Both crack and inhalant users experience significant symptoms of anxiety. Inhalant users presented significantly more anxiety symptoms than crack users according to the HAM-A questionnaire only. In contrast to the results of the HAM-A, the STAI failed to demonstrate a significant difference between the two groups of substance users. SRQ scores revealed that crack and inhalants users had significant degrees of morbidity. A significant difference regarding anxiety symptomatology, especially state anxiety, was observed among inhalant and crack users. Anxiety and overall mental psychopathology were significantly correlated in this sample. The results indicate that screening initiatives to detect anxiety and additional psychiatric comorbidities among crack and inhalant users are feasible and relevant. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Editora Ltda. All rights reserved.

Does a history of psychoactive substances abuse play a role in the level of pain of the patient with severe trauma?

PubMed

López-López, C; Arranz-Esteban, A; Martinez-Ureta, M V; Sánchez-Rascón, M C; Morales-Sánchez, C; Chico-Fernández, M

To analyse the influence of psychotropic substance use on the level of pain in patients with severe trauma. Longitudinal analytical study. Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of Trauma and Emergencies. severe trauma, non-communicative and mechanical ventilation >48hours. Two groups of patients were created: users and non-users of psychotropic substances according to medical records. Measurement of pain level at baseline and during mobilization, using the Pain Indicator Behaviour Scale. demographic characteristics, pain score, sedation level and type and dose of analgesia and sedation. Sample of 84 patients, 42 in each group. The pain level in both groups, during mobilisation, showed significant differences p=0.011, with a mean of 3.11(2.40) for the user group and 1.83(2.14) for the non-user group. A relative risk of 2.5 CI (1,014-6,163) was found to have moderate / severe pain in the user group compared to the non-user group. The mean dose of analgesia and continuous sedation was significantly higher in the user group: P=.032 and P=.004 respectively. There was no difference in bolus dose of analgesia and sedation with P=.624 and P=.690 respectively. Patients with a history of consumption of psychoactive substances show higher levels of pain and experience a higher risk of this being moderate/severe compared to non-users despite receiving higher doses of analgesia and sedation infusion. Key words: pain, multiple trauma, drug users. Copyright © 2017 Sociedad Española de Enfermería Intensiva y Unidades Coronarias (SEEIUC). Publicado por Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

Technology User Groups and Early Childhood Education: A Preliminary Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Parette, Howard P.; Hourcade, Jack J.; Blum, Craig; Watts, Emily H.; Stoner, Julia B.; Wojcik, Brian W.; Chrismore, Shannon B.

2013-01-01

This article presents a preliminary examination of the potential of Technology User Groups as a professional development venue for early childhood education professionals in developing operational and functional competence in using hardware and software components of a Technology toolkit. Technology user groups are composed of varying numbers of…

Evaluation of the US Food and Drug Administration sentinel analysis tools in confirming previously observed drug-outcome associations: The case of clindamycin and Clostridium difficile infection.

PubMed

Carnahan, Ryan M; Kuntz, Jennifer L; Wang, Shirley V; Fuller, Candace; Gagne, Joshua J; Leonard, Charles E; Hennessy, Sean; Meyer, Tamra; Archdeacon, Patrick; Chen, Chih-Ying; Panozzo, Catherine A; Toh, Sengwee; Katcoff, Hannah; Woodworth, Tiffany; Iyer, Aarthi; Axtman, Sophia; Chrischilles, Elizabeth A

2018-03-13

The Food and Drug Administration's Sentinel System developed parameterized, reusable analytic programs for evaluation of medical product safety. Research on outpatient antibiotic exposures, and Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) with non-user reference groups led us to expect a higher rate of CDI among outpatient clindamycin users vs penicillin users. We evaluated the ability of the Cohort Identification and Descriptive Analysis and Propensity Score Matching tools to identify a higher rate of CDI among clindamycin users. We matched new users of outpatient dispensings of oral clindamycin or penicillin from 13 Data Partners 1:1 on propensity score and followed them for up to 60 days for development of CDI. We used Cox proportional hazards regression stratified by Data Partner and matched pair to compare CDI incidence. Propensity score models at 3 Data Partners had convergence warnings and a limited range of predicted values. We excluded these Data Partners despite adequate covariate balance after matching. From the 10 Data Partners where these models converged without warnings, we identified 807 919 new clindamycin users and 8 815 441 new penicillin users eligible for the analysis. The stratified analysis of 807 769 matched pairs included 840 events among clindamycin users and 290 among penicillin users (hazard ratio 2.90, 95% confidence interval 2.53, 3.31). This evaluation produced an expected result and identified several potential enhancements to the Propensity Score Matching tool. This study has important limitations. CDI risk may have been related to factors other than the inherent properties of the drugs, such as duration of use or subsequent exposures. Copyright © 2018 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Learning to listen: improving students' communication with disabled people.

PubMed

Anderson, Elizabeth Susan; Ford, Jenny; Thorpe, Lucy

2011-01-01

This report outlines the action research used to develop a workshop for interprofessional student groups to enhance listening skills. The project aimed to enable students to reflect interprofessionally on the human factors central to effective communication using the power of storytelling by disabled people and their carers. Qualitative data from students and participating service users were collected using focus groups and one-to-one interviews over three pilot cycles. The results from each pilot informed the cyclical development of the project so that each stage of data collection informed the next stage. During the pilots, 20 interviews with service users were completed and a total of 109 students participated. Transcribed data were analysed using principles from grounded theory. Quantitative scored questions on students' learning were analysed using statistical package for the social sciences. Both students (health and social care) and users benefitted from the education process which delivered highly relevant explicit learning opportunities, with analysis of how to improve communication for safe practice. Students benefitted from meaningful interactions with service users who shared their experiences and gave feedback on students' communication skills. The final workshop design resulted in a learning model which reflects the human side of healthcare delivery.

An Initial Model for Generative Design Research: Bringing Together Generative Focus Group (GFG) and Experience Reflection Modelling (ERM)

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bakirlioglu, Yekta; Ogur, Dilruba; Dogan, Cagla; Turhan, Senem

2016-01-01

Understanding people's experiences and the context of use of a product at the earliest stages of the design process has in the last decade become an important aspect of both the design profession and design education. Generative design research helps designers understand user experiences, while also throwing light on their current needs,…

Shared ownership: what's the future?

PubMed

Roth, Karen L

2013-01-01

The status of library consortia has evolved over time in terms of their composition and alternative negotiating models. New purchasing models may allow improved library involvement in the acquisitions process and improved methods for meeting users' future needs. Ever-increasing costs of library resources and the need to reduce expenses make it necessary to continue the exploration of library consortia for group purchases.

AdaBoost-based on-line signature verifier

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hongo, Yasunori; Muramatsu, Daigo; Matsumoto, Takashi

2005-03-01

Authentication of individuals is rapidly becoming an important issue. The authors previously proposed a Pen-input online signature verification algorithm. The algorithm considers a writer"s signature as a trajectory of pen position, pen pressure, pen azimuth, and pen altitude that evolve over time, so that it is dynamic and biometric. Many algorithms have been proposed and reported to achieve accuracy for on-line signature verification, but setting the threshold value for these algorithms is a problem. In this paper, we introduce a user-generic model generated by AdaBoost, which resolves this problem. When user- specific models (one model for each user) are used for signature verification problems, we need to generate the models using only genuine signatures. Forged signatures are not available because imposters do not give forged signatures for training in advance. However, we can make use of another's forged signature in addition to the genuine signatures for learning by introducing a user generic model. And Adaboost is a well-known classification algorithm, making final decisions depending on the sign of the output value. Therefore, it is not necessary to set the threshold value. A preliminary experiment is performed on a database consisting of data from 50 individuals. This set consists of western-alphabet-based signatures provide by a European research group. In this experiment, our algorithm gives an FRR of 1.88% and an FAR of 1.60%. Since no fine-tuning was done, this preliminary result looks very promising.

EnviroNET: On-line information for LDEF

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lauriente, Michael

1993-01-01

EnviroNET is an on-line, free-form database intended to provide a centralized repository for a wide range of technical information on environmentally induced interactions of use to Space Shuttle customers and spacecraft designers. It provides a user-friendly, menu-driven format on networks that are connected globally and is available twenty-four hours a day - every day. The information, updated regularly, includes expository text, tabular numerical data, charts and graphs, and models. The system pools space data collected over the years by NASA, USAF, other government research facilities, industry, universities, and the European Space Agency. The models accept parameter input from the user, then calculate and display the derived values corresponding to that input. In addition to the archive, interactive graphics programs are also available on space debris, the neutral atmosphere, radiation, magnetic fields, and the ionosphere. A user-friendly, informative interface is standard for all the models and includes a pop-up help window with information on inputs, outputs, and caveats. The system will eventually simplify mission analysis with analytical tools and deliver solutions for computationally intense graphical applications to do 'What if...' scenarios. A proposed plan for developing a repository of information from the Long Duration Exposure Facility (LDEF) for a user group is presented.

Symptomatological features of patients with and without Ecstasy use during their first psychotic episode.

PubMed

Rugani, Fabio; Bacciardi, Silvia; Rovai, Luca; Pacini, Matteo; Maremmani, Angelo Giovanni Icro; Deltito, Joseph; Dell'osso, Liliana; Maremmani, Icro

2012-07-01

Ecstasy use is generally chosen by adolescents and young adults for its entactogenic properties (the production of feelings of empathy, love, and emotional closeness to others.) Despite this desired and frequently realized outcome, Ecstasy use has often resulted in the genesis of psychotic symptoms and aggressive behaviors, particularly after chronic and/or intensive use. To explore the negative consequences of Ecstasy use and to examine the aggressive nature oftentimes seen in many Ecstasy users we employed a case-control study model. We compared, by means of validated psychometric tests, the psychopathological symptoms (BPRS), the aggressiveness (OAS) and the social adjustment (DSM-GAF) of psychotic patients with (n = 23) and without (n = 46) recent user of Ecstasy, during their first psychotic episode and hospitalization. All 23 Ecstasy users were Ecstasy users only. Almost all of the psychotic symptoms were of similar severity in both groups. Blunted affect was milder in users than in non-users, whereas hostility and aggressive behavior was significantly more severe in users than in non-users. psychosis with a high level of aggressiveness and violence constitutes an important 'side-effect' that surely runs counter to the expected entactogenic action of Ecstasy. At a patient psycho-educational level, this study suggests that the use of Ecstasy may be counterproductive with respect to user expectations.

Conjunctival impression cytology in computer users.

PubMed

Kumar, S; Bansal, R; Khare, A; Malik, K P S; Malik, V K; Jain, K; Jain, C

2013-01-01

It is known that the computer users develop the features of dry eye. To study the cytological changes in the conjunctiva using conjunctival impression cytology in computer users and a control group. Fifteen eyes of computer users who had used computers for more than one year and ten eyes of an age-and-sex matched control group (those who had not used computers) were studied by conjunctival impression cytology. Conjunctival impression cytology (CIC) results in the control group were of stage 0 and stage I while the computer user group showed CIC results between stages II to stage IV. Among the computer users, the majority ( > 90 %) showed stage III and stage IV changes. We found that those who used computers daily for long hours developed more CIC changes than those who worked at the computer for a shorter daily duration. © NEPjOPH.

A review method for UML requirements analysis model employing system-side prototyping.

PubMed

Ogata, Shinpei; Matsuura, Saeko

2013-12-01

User interface prototyping is an effective method for users to validate the requirements defined by analysts at an early stage of a software development. However, a user interface prototype system offers weak support for the analysts to verify the consistency of the specifications about internal aspects of a system such as business logic. As the result, the inconsistency causes a lot of rework costs because the inconsistency often makes the developers impossible to actualize the system based on the specifications. For verifying such consistency, functional prototyping is an effective method for the analysts, but it needs a lot of costs and more detailed specifications. In this paper, we propose a review method so that analysts can verify the consistency among several different kinds of diagrams in UML efficiently by employing system-side prototyping without the detailed model. The system-side prototype system does not have any functions to achieve business logic, but visualizes the results of the integration among the diagrams in UML as Web pages. The usefulness of our proposal was evaluated by applying our proposal into a development of Library Management System (LMS) for a laboratory. This development was conducted by a group. As the result, our proposal was useful for discovering the serious inconsistency caused by the misunderstanding among the members of the group.

Psychological and drug abuse symptoms associated with nonmedical use of opioid analgesics among adolescents.

PubMed

Boyd, Carol J; Young, Amy; McCabe, Sean E

2014-01-01

Approximately 18% of US adolescents engaged in prescription opioid abuse in 2013. However, this estimate may be misleading because it includes both medical misusers and nonmedical users, and there is evidence that these are 2 groups that differ relative to substance abuse and criminal risk. Thus, this study does not combine medical and nonmedical users; rather, it seeks to better understand the characteristics of nonmedical users. This was a school-based, cross-sectional study that was conducted during 2009-2010 in southeastern Michigan with a sample of 2627 adolescents using a Web-based survey. Three mutually exclusive groups were created based on responses regarding medical and nonmedical use of opioid analgesics. Group 1 had never used an opioid analgesic, Group 2 used an opioid analgesic only as prescribed, and Group 3 nonmedically used an opioid analgesic. In addition, Group 3 was divided into 2 mutually exclusive subgroups (self-treaters and sensation-seekers) based on reasons for nonmedical use. A series of multinomial logistic regressions were conducted to determine if the groups differed on the presence of pain, psychological symptoms (e.g., affective disorder, conduct disorder, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder [ADHD]), and drug abuse. Sixty-five percent (65.0%) of the sample was white/Caucasian and 29.5% was African American. The average age was 14.8 years (SD = 1.9). Seventy percent (70.4%; n = 1850) reported no lifetime opioid use, 24.5% (n = 644) were medical users, 3.5% (n = 92) were nonmedical users who used for pain relief only, and 1.6% (n = 41) were classified as nonmedical users for reasons other than for pain relief (e.g., to get high). Both medical users and nonmedical users reported more pain and substance abuse symptoms compared with never users. Those nonmedical users who used opioids for sensation-seeking motivations had greater odds of having psychological symptoms. These data support the need to further consider subgroups of nonmedical users of opioid analgesics.

Measurement of multiple nicotine dependence domains among cigarette, non-cigarette and poly-tobacco users: Insights from item response theory.

PubMed

Strong, David R; Messer, Karen; Hartman, Sheri J; Conway, Kevin P; Hoffman, Allison C; Pharris-Ciurej, Nikolas; White, Martha; Green, Victoria R; Compton, Wilson M; Pierce, John

2015-07-01

Nicotine dependence (ND) is a key construct that organizes physiological and behavioral symptoms associated with persistent nicotine intake. Measurement of ND has focused primarily on cigarette smokers. Thus, validation of brief instruments that apply to a broad spectrum of tobacco product users is needed. We examined multiple domains of ND in a longitudinal national study of the United States population, the United States National Epidemiological Survey of Alcohol and Related Conditions (NESARC). We used methods based in item response theory to identify and validate increasingly brief measures of ND that included symptoms to assess ND similarly among cigarette, cigar, smokeless, and poly tobacco users. Confirmatory factor analytic models supported a single, primary dimension underlying symptoms of ND across tobacco use groups. Differential Item Functioning (DIF) analysis generated little support for systematic differences in response to symptoms of ND across tobacco use groups. We established significant concurrent and predictive validity of brief 3- and 5-symptom indices for measuring ND. Measuring ND across tobacco use groups with a common set of symptoms facilitates evaluation of tobacco use in an evolving marketplace of tobacco and nicotine products. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Descriptive modelling to predict deoxynivalenol in winter wheat in the Netherlands.

PubMed

Van Der Fels-Klerx, H J; Burgers, S L G E; Booij, C J H

2010-05-01

Predictions of deoxynivalenol (DON) content in wheat at harvest can be useful for decision-making by stakeholders of the wheat feed and food supply chain. The objective of the current research was to develop quantitative predictive models for DON in mature winter wheat in the Netherlands for two specific groups of end-users. One model was developed for use by farmers in underpinning Fusarium spp. disease management, specifically the application of fungicides around wheat flowering (model A). The second model was developed for industry and food safety authorities, and considered the entire wheat cultivation period (model B). Model development was based on observational data collected from 425 fields throughout the Netherlands between 2001 and 2008. For each field, agronomical information, climatic data and DON levels in mature wheat were collected. Using multiple regression analyses, the set of biological relevant variables that provided the highest statistical performance was selected. The two final models include the following variables: region, wheat resistance level, spraying, flowering date, several climatic variables in the different stages of wheat growing, and length of the period between flowering and harvesting (model B only). The percentages of variance accounted for were 64.4% and 65.6% for models A and B, respectively. Model validation showed high correlation between the predicted and observed DON levels. The two models may be applied by various groups of end-users to reduce DON contamination in wheat-derived feed and food products and, ultimately, reduce animal and consumer health risks.

Evaluating a Web-Based Health Risk Assessment With Tailored Feedback: What Does an Expert Focus Group Yield Compared to a Web-Based End-User Survey?

PubMed Central

Vosbergen, Sandra; Mahieu, Guy R; Laan, Eva K; Kraaijenhagen, Roderik A; Jaspers, Monique WM

2014-01-01

Background Increasingly, Web-based health applications are developed for the prevention and management of chronic diseases. However, their reach and utilization is often disappointing. Qualitative evaluations post-implementation can be used to inform the optimization process and ultimately enhance their adoption. In current practice, such evaluations are mainly performed with end-user surveys. However, a review approach by experts in a focus group may be easier to administer and might provide similar results. Objective The aim of this study was to assess whether industrial design engineers in a focus group would address the same issues as end users in a Web-based survey when evaluating a commercial Web-based health risk assessment (HRA) with tailored feedback. Methods Seven Dutch companies used the HRA as part of their corporate health management strategy. Employees using the HRA (N=2289) and 10 independent industrial designers were invited to participate in the study. The HRA consisted of four components: (1) an electronic health questionnaire, (2) biometric measurements, (3) laboratory evaluation, and (4) individually tailored feedback generated by decision support software. After participating in the HRA as end users, both end users and designers evaluated the program. End users completed an evaluation questionnaire that included a free-text field. Designers participated in a focus group discussion. Constructs from user satisfaction and technology acceptance theories were used to categorize and compare the remarks from both evaluations. Results We assessed and qualitatively analyzed 294 remarks of 189 end users and 337 remarks of 6 industrial designers, pertaining to 295 issues in total. Of those, 137 issues were addressed in the end-user survey and 148 issues in the designer focus group. Only 7.3% (10/137) of the issues addressed in the survey were also addressed in the focus group. End users made more remarks about the usefulness of the HRA and prior expectations that were not met. Designers made more remarks about how the information was presented to end users, quality of the feedback provided by the HRA, recommendations on the marketing and on how to create more unity in the design of the HRA, and on how to improve the HRA based on these issues. Conclusions End-user surveys should not be substituted for expert focus groups. Issues identified by end users in the survey and designers in the focus group differed considerably, and the focus group produced a lot of new issues. The issues addressed in the focus group often focused on different aspects of user satisfaction and technology acceptance than those addressed by the survey participants; when they did focus on the same aspects, then the nature of issues differed considerably in content. PMID:24384408

Evaluating a web-based health risk assessment with tailored feedback: what does an expert focus group yield compared to a web-based end-user survey?

PubMed

Vosbergen, Sandra; Mahieu, Guy R; Laan, Eva K; Kraaijenhagen, Roderik A; Jaspers, Monique Wm; Peek, Niels

2014-01-02

Increasingly, Web-based health applications are developed for the prevention and management of chronic diseases. However, their reach and utilization is often disappointing. Qualitative evaluations post-implementation can be used to inform the optimization process and ultimately enhance their adoption. In current practice, such evaluations are mainly performed with end-user surveys. However, a review approach by experts in a focus group may be easier to administer and might provide similar results. The aim of this study was to assess whether industrial design engineers in a focus group would address the same issues as end users in a Web-based survey when evaluating a commercial Web-based health risk assessment (HRA) with tailored feedback. Seven Dutch companies used the HRA as part of their corporate health management strategy. Employees using the HRA (N=2289) and 10 independent industrial designers were invited to participate in the study. The HRA consisted of four components: (1) an electronic health questionnaire, (2) biometric measurements, (3) laboratory evaluation, and (4) individually tailored feedback generated by decision support software. After participating in the HRA as end users, both end users and designers evaluated the program. End users completed an evaluation questionnaire that included a free-text field. Designers participated in a focus group discussion. Constructs from user satisfaction and technology acceptance theories were used to categorize and compare the remarks from both evaluations. We assessed and qualitatively analyzed 294 remarks of 189 end users and 337 remarks of 6 industrial designers, pertaining to 295 issues in total. Of those, 137 issues were addressed in the end-user survey and 148 issues in the designer focus group. Only 7.3% (10/137) of the issues addressed in the survey were also addressed in the focus group. End users made more remarks about the usefulness of the HRA and prior expectations that were not met. Designers made more remarks about how the information was presented to end users, quality of the feedback provided by the HRA, recommendations on the marketing and on how to create more unity in the design of the HRA, and on how to improve the HRA based on these issues. End-user surveys should not be substituted for expert focus groups. Issues identified by end users in the survey and designers in the focus group differed considerably, and the focus group produced a lot of new issues. The issues addressed in the focus group often focused on different aspects of user satisfaction and technology acceptance than those addressed by the survey participants; when they did focus on the same aspects, then the nature of issues differed considerably in content.

Customization of user interfaces to reduce errors and enhance user acceptance.

PubMed

Burkolter, Dina; Weyers, Benjamin; Kluge, Annette; Luther, Wolfram

2014-03-01

Customization is assumed to reduce error and increase user acceptance in the human-machine relation. Reconfiguration gives the operator the option to customize a user interface according to his or her own preferences. An experimental study with 72 computer science students using a simulated process control task was conducted. The reconfiguration group (RG) interactively reconfigured their user interfaces and used the reconfigured user interface in the subsequent test whereas the control group (CG) used a default user interface. Results showed significantly lower error rates and higher acceptance of the RG compared to the CG while there were no significant differences between the groups regarding situation awareness and mental workload. Reconfiguration seems to be promising and therefore warrants further exploration. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd and The Ergonomics Society. All rights reserved.

[Work process in Family Health Program: the potential of subjectivity of care for reconfiguration of the care model].

PubMed

Santos, Debora de Souza; Mishima, Silvana Martins; Merhy, Emerson Elias

2018-03-01

This is a study with a qualitative approach that aims to analyze the subjective dimension of the Family Health teams' practices conducted in order to reconfigure the care model, using the work process in health as the fundamental analytical category from the Marxist standpoint. The data gathering tool used was the focus group, applied in 13 Family Health teams in Maceió, Alagoas. Thematic analysis combined with principles of hermeneutics and dialectics was used for treatment and interpretation of the data. The results indicate that the user´s needs identified by the teams are multiple and permeated by a lack of sympathetic care, and that the user repeatedly wishes to be "heard." The teams show that they are open to the use of soft technologies of compassionate care, although they do not legitimate them as instruments of their work. Clinical knowledge and techniques are prioritized in the work process, which limits the potential of its subjective dimension in order to (re)configure a care model which attends the user´s needs and is sustained by integrated care.

Based on user interest level of modeling scenarios and browse content

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhao, Yang

2017-08-01

User interest modeling is the core of personalized service, taking into account the impact of situational information on user preferences, the user behavior days of financial information. This paper proposes a method of user interest modeling based on scenario information, which is obtained by calculating the similarity of the situation. The user's current scene of the approximate scenario set; on the "user - interest items - scenarios" three-dimensional model using the situation pre-filtering method of dimension reduction processing. View the content of the user interested in the theme, the analysis of the page content to get each topic of interest keywords, based on the level of vector space model user interest. The experimental results show that the user interest model based on the scenario information is within 9% of the user's interest prediction, which is effective.

Experimental Studies of Wheelchair and Walker Users Passing Through Doors with Different Opening Force.

PubMed

Nersveen, Jonny

2016-01-01

Users of walkers and users of different categories of wheelchairs tested doors with different opening force, aiming to reveal the limit that these groups of people could manage on an everyday basis. 94.7% of the wheelchair users reported that a door opening force of 30 N was acceptable, while as 92.1% of this group described 40 N as acceptable. Similarly, 100% of the walker users reported that a door opening force of 30 N was acceptable, while as 87,5% of this group described 40 N as acceptable.

Comparison between users of a new methodology for heart sound auscultation.

PubMed

Castro, Ana; Gomes, Pedro; Mattos, Sandra S; Coimbra, Miguel T

2016-08-01

Auscultation is a routine exam and the first line of screening in heart pathologies. The objective of this study was to assess if using a new data collection system, the DigiScope Collector, with a guided and automatic annotation of heart auscultation, different levels of expertise/experience users could collect similar digital auscultations. Data were collected within the Heart Caravan Initiative (Paraíba, Brasil). Patients were divided into two study groups: Group 1 evaluated by a third year medical student (User 1), and an experienced nurse (User 2); Group 2 evaluated by User 2 and an Information Technology professional (User 3). Patients were auscultated sequentially by the two users, according to the randomization. Features extracted from each data set included the length (HR) of the audio files, the number of repetitions per auscultation area, heart rate, first (S1) and second (S2) heart sound amplitudes, S2/S1, and aortic (A2) and pulmonary (P2) components of the second heart sound and relative amplitudes (P2/A2). Features extracted were compared between users using paired-sample test Wilcoxon test, and Spearman correlations (P<;0.05 considered significant). Twenty-seven patients were included in the study (13 Group 1, and 14 Group 2). No statistical significant differences were found between groups, except in the time of auscultation (User 2 consistently presented longer auscultation time). Correlation analysis showed significant correlations between extracted features from both groups: S2/S1 in Group 1, and S1, S2, A2, P2, P2/A2 amplitudes, and HR in Group 2. Using the DigiScope Collector, we were able to collect similar digital auscultations, according to the features evaluated. This may indicate that in sites with limited access to specialized clinical care, auscultation files may be acquired and used in telemedicine for an expert evaluation.

Using qualitative studies to improve the usability of an EMR.

PubMed

Rose, Alan F; Schnipper, Jeffrey L; Park, Elyse R; Poon, Eric G; Li, Qi; Middleton, Blackford

2005-02-01

The adoption of electronic medical records (EMRs) and user satisfaction are closely associated with the system's usability. To improve the usability of a results management module of a widely deployed web-based EMR, we conducted two qualitative studies that included multiple focus group and field study sessions. Qualitative research can help focus attention on user tasks and goals and identify patterns of care that can be visualized through task modeling exercises. Findings from both studies raised issues with the amount and organization of information in the display, interference with workflow patterns of primary care physicians, and the availability of visual cues and feedback. We used the findings of these studies to recommend design changes to the user interface of the results management module.

Semantic Visualization of Wireless Sensor Networks for Elderly Monitoring

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stocklöw, Carsten; Kamieth, Felix

In the area of Ambient Intelligence, Wireless Sensor Networks are commonly used for user monitoring purposes like health monitoring and user localization. Existing work on visualization of wireless sensor networks focuses mainly on displaying individual nodes and logical, graph-based topologies. This way, the relation to the real-world deployment is lost. This paper presents a novel approach for visualization of wireless sensor networks and interaction with complex services on the nodes. The environment is realized as a 3D model, and multiple nodes, that are worn by a single individual, are grouped together to allow an intuitive interface for end users. We describe application examples and show that our approach allows easier access to network information and functionality by comparing it with existing solutions.

Development of an open source package for the processing of sun-sky photometric data in the European Skyrad Users network (ESR)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Estelles, V.; Smyth, T.; Campanelli, M.; Utrillas, M. P.

2009-04-01

The European SkyRad users network (ESR) is a joint initiative from the Institute of Atmospheric and Climate Sciences (ISAC) at the National Research Council (CNR) in Italy, the Group of Solar Radiation (GRSV) at the University of Valencia (UV) in Spain, and the Plymouth Marine Laboratory (PML) in the United Kingdom. It was started as a Protocol of Agreement between the three institutions, in 2003. The main objective was to collaborate on the improvement of some technical aspects of the Skyrad.pack algorithm. Currently the network is addressed at European research groups that are users of sun - sky photometers and mainly focus their research on the study of atmospheric aerosols and their application to remote sensing or climatological studies. There exist well known international networks such as AERONET (Aerosol Robotic Network) or SKYNET (SKYrad NETwork, in Asia) but they have some characteristics that actually prevent many European research groups to get involved with them. These limitations mean that a number of European groups are working independently, with no coordination. The resultant databases are not made public or the employed methodology is not homogeneous. In turn, it means that a great amount of data is being lost for critical regional studies in Europe. One of these limitations is related to the supported instrumentation. International networks usually adopt a given model of sun photometer as a standard. The ESR is a multi instrumental network using both Prede POM and Cimel CE318 sun - sky photometers. Another limitation is related to the calibration. In the case of AERONET, a centralized and stringent calibration protocol is adopted. This protocol is designed in order to offer a well tracked and quality assured calibration and data elaboration; it is in fact the key stone for the homogeneity of the network results. But centralization raises other problems. The instruments must be periodically sent every 6 - 12 months to United States or France; therefore, 1) the instrument absence generates considerable data gaps, 2) it is also a chance for equipment damage during the transport, and 3) the proprietary group must cope with the economical cost of these international insured deliveries. Moreover, the protocol constrains the network capability to handle a large amount of instruments. In fact, AERONET is very reluctant at the moment to accept new sites in Europe. ESR has developed an improved version of the Langley plot technique (SKYIL) that allows the users to perform a continuous in situ calibration. Previous results show that the obtained uncertainties in the calibration factors (1.0 - 2.5%) are very similar to the uncertainty values for field instruments in AERONET (1.0 - 2.0%). A third difference that could make ESR more appealing to some European research groups is related to the algorithms itself. The core inversion code (Skyrad.pack), the calibration codes and all the automatization scripts are free open source codes that can be further customized by the users. Therefore, an advanced user could easily access and modify the algorithms for new improvements. As a conclusion, the ESR users network has been conceived as a flexible network and collaborative platform for European groups whose main research is focused on atmospheric aerosols characterization and model development. The package we have developed for the network is an open source product that is available for public use, both for Cimel CE318 and Prede POM instruments.

The development and implementation of stroke risk prediction model in National Health Insurance Service's personal health record.

PubMed

Lee, Jae-Woo; Lim, Hyun-Sun; Kim, Dong-Wook; Shin, Soon-Ae; Kim, Jinkwon; Yoo, Bora; Cho, Kyung-Hee

2018-01-01

The purpose of this study was to build a 10-year stroke prediction model and categorize a probability of stroke using the Korean national health examination data. Then it intended to develop the algorithm to provide a personalized warning on the basis of each user's level of stroke risk and a lifestyle correction message about the stroke risk factors. Subject to national health examinees in 2002-2003, the stroke prediction model identified when stroke was first diagnosed by following-up the cohort until 2013 and estimated a 10-year probability of stroke. It sorted the user's individual probability of stroke into five categories - normal, slightly high, high, risky, very risky, according to the five ranges of average probability of stroke in comparison to total population - less than 50 percentile, 50-70, 70-90, 90-99.9, more than 99.9 percentile, and constructed the personalized warning and lifestyle correction messages by each category. Risk factors in stroke risk model include the age, BMI, cholesterol, hypertension, diabetes, smoking status and intensity, physical activity, alcohol drinking, past history (hypertension, coronary heart disease) and family history (stroke, coronary heart disease). The AUC values of stroke risk prediction model from the external validation data set were 0.83 in men and 0.82 in women, which showed a high predictive power. The probability of stroke within 10 years for men in normal group (less than 50 percentile) was less than 3.92% and those in very risky group (top 0.01 percentile) was 66.2% and over. The women's probability of stroke within 10 years was less than 3.77% in normal group (less than 50 percentile) and 55.24% and over in very risky group. This study developed the stroke risk prediction model and the personalized warning and the lifestyle correction message based on the national health examination data and uploaded them to the personal health record service called My Health Bank in the health information website - Health iN. By doing so, it urged medical users to strengthen the motivation of health management and induced changes in their health behaviors. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Electrophysiological evidence of atypical processing underlying mental set shifting in ecstasy polydrug and polydrug users.

PubMed

Roberts, Carl A; Fairclough, Stephen H; McGlone, Francis P; Fisk, John E; Montgomery, Catharine

2013-12-01

Executive functioning deficits are reported in ecstasy users. However research into mental set switching has been equivocal, with behavioral studies suggesting the function is preserved. The current study sought to address the issue of switching deficits in ecstasy users by combining behavioral performance with electrophysiological correlates (electroencephalography; EEG). Twenty ecstasy polydrug users, 20 nonecstasy polydrug users, and 20 drug naive controls were recruited. Participants completed questionnaires about their drug use, sleep quality, fluid intelligence, and current mood state. Each participant completed a mental set switching task (the number-letter task) while EEG measures were recorded. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) revealed no between-group differences on performance of the task; however a regression suggested that ecstasy use was a significant predictor for performance, after controlling for cannabis use. Mixed ANOVA revealed a significant effect of group on the P3, with significant differences between both drug groups and naives. There was also an interaction between electrode and group on the P2 component, with ecstasy users differing from both other groups. On the P3 component the results suggest a reduction in positivity at parieto-occipital electrodes for drug users compared to controls. Furthermore a significant increase in negativity in ecstasy users compared to control groups could be observed in several occipito-parietal electrodes at an N2 component as well as observable atypicalities in early processing (P2) displayed by ecstasy users and polydrug controls. The present study provides evidence of atypical processing of attentional shifting in ecstasy and polydrug users. Deficits in this executive function could reflect cognitive inflexibility and paucity of rapid behavioral adjustment, which may be problematic in real world situations.

GPSS and Modeling of Computer Communication Networks.

DTIC Science & Technology

1982-04-01

chains are used to alter the normal "flows" of transactions in a user defined manner. Transaction "flow" may be controlled on the basis of group ...authors refer to loops and rings interchangeably, including those who have designed loop networks with distributed control mechanisms [8,9,10,11,121...that detailed simulation of character by character transmission does not take place; rather, [ control message--data message-- control message! groupings

Modelling Psychological Needs for User-dependent Contextual Suggestion

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-11-01

neighborhood, night club, park, place of worship, restaurant, RV park, shopping mall, stadium, synagogue, university and zoo . The search ra- dius is set...them do not differ much from each other. For example, the desired description texts for zoos and aquariums may not differ signif- icantly, and similarly...district, place of worship, library as another group, and park, zoo , aquarium, natural reserve as yet another group. We have manually dis- tributed

Preliminary Measures of Instructor Learning in Teaching Junctional Tourniquet Users.

PubMed

Kragh, John F; Aden, James K; Shackelford, Stacy; Dubick, Michael A

2016-01-01

The objective of the present study was to assess the effect of instructor learning on student performance in use of junctional tourniquets. From a convenience sample of data available after another study, we used a manikin for assessment of control of bleeding from a right groin gunshot wound. Blood loss was measured by the instructor while training users. The data set represented a group of 30 persons taught one at a time. The first measure was a plot of mean blood loss volumes for the sequential users. The second measure was a plot of the cumulative sum (CUSUM) of mean blood loss (BL) volumes for users. Mean blood loss trended down as the instructor gained experience with each newly instructed user. User performance continually improved as the instructor gained more experience with teaching. No plateau effect was observed within the 30 users. The CUSUM plot illustrated a turning point or cusp at the seventh user. The prior portion of the plot (users 1-7) had the greatest improvement; performance did not improve as much thereafter. The improvement after the seventh user was the only change detected in the instructor's trend of performance. The instructor's teaching experience appeared to directly affect user performance; in a model of junctional hemorrhage, the volume of blood loss from the manikin during junctional tourniquet placement was a useful metric of instructor learning. The CUSUM technique detected a small but meaningful change in trend where the instructor learning curve was greatest while working with the first seven users. 2016.

Association of Proton Pump Inhibitor (PPI) Use with Energy Intake, Physical Activity, and Weight Gain

PubMed Central

Czwornog, Jennifer L.; Austin, Gregory L.

2015-01-01

Studies suggest proton pump inhibitor (PPI) use impacts body weight regulation, though the effect of PPIs on energy intake, energy extraction, and energy expenditure is unknown. We used data on 3073 eligible adults from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). Medication use, energy intake, diet composition, and physical activity were extracted from NHANES. Multivariate regression models included confounding variables. Daily energy intake was similar between PPI users and non-users (p = 0.41). Diet composition was similar between the two groups, except that PPI users consumed a slightly greater proportion of calories from fat (34.5% vs. 33.2%; p = 0.02). PPI users rated themselves as being as physically active as their age/gender-matched peers and reported similar frequencies of walking or biking. However, PPI users were less likely to have participated in muscle-strengthening activities (OR: 0.53; 95% CI: 0.30–0.95). PPI users reported similar sedentary behaviors to non-users. Male PPI users had an increase in weight (of 1.52 ± 0.59 kg; p = 0.021) over the previous year compared to non-users, while female PPI users had a non-significant increase in weight. The potential mechanisms for PPI-associated weight gain are unclear as we did not find evidence for significant differences in energy intake or markers of energy expenditure. PMID:26492268

Technologies for physical activity self-monitoring: a study of differences between users and non-users

PubMed Central

Åkerberg, Anna; Söderlund, Anne; Lindén, Maria

2017-01-01

Background Different kinds of physical activity (PA) self-monitoring technologies are used today to monitor and motivate PA behavior change. The user focus is essential in the development process of this technology, including potential future users such as representatives from the group of non-users. There is also a need to study whether there are differences between the groups of users and non-users. The aims of this study were to investigate possible differences between users and non-users regarding their opinions about PA self-monitoring technologies and to investigate differences in demographic variables between the groups. Materials and methods Participants were randomly selected from seven municipalities in central Sweden. In total, 107 adults responded to the Physical Activity Products Questionnaire, which consisted of 22 questions. Results Significant differences between the users and non-users were shown for six of the 20 measurement-related items: measures accurately (p=0.007), measures with high precision (p=0.024), measures distance (p=0.020), measures speed (p=0.003), shows minutes of activity (p=0.004), and shows geographical position (p=0.000). Significant differences between the users and non-users were also found for two of the 29 encouragement items: measures accurately (p=0.001) and has long-term memory (p=0.019). Significant differences between the groups were also shown for level of education (p=0.030) and level of physical exercise (p=0.037). Conclusion With a few exceptions, the users and the non-users in this study had similar opinions about PA self-monitoring technologies. Because this study showed significant differences regarding level of education and level of physical exercise, these demographic variables seemed more relevant to investigate than differences in opinions about the PA self-monitoring technologies. PMID:28280399

EvOligo: A Novel Software to Design and Group Libraries of Oligonucleotides Applicable for Nucleic Acid-Based Experiments.

PubMed

Milewski, Marek C; Kamel, Karol; Kurzynska-Kokorniak, Anna; Chmielewski, Marcin K; Figlerowicz, Marek

2017-10-01

Experimental methods based on DNA and RNA hybridization, such as multiplex polymerase chain reaction, multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification, or microarray analysis, require the use of mixtures of multiple oligonucleotides (primers or probes) in a single test tube. To provide an optimal reaction environment, minimal self- and cross-hybridization must be achieved among these oligonucleotides. To address this problem, we developed EvOligo, which is a software package that provides the means to design and group DNA and RNA molecules with defined lengths. EvOligo combines two modules. The first module performs oligonucleotide design, and the second module performs oligonucleotide grouping. The software applies a nearest-neighbor model of nucleic acid interactions coupled with a parallel evolutionary algorithm to construct individual oligonucleotides, and to group the molecules that are characterized by the weakest possible cross-interactions. To provide optimal solutions, the evolutionary algorithm sorts oligonucleotides into sets, preserves preselected parts of the oligonucleotides, and shapes their remaining parts. In addition, the oligonucleotide sets can be designed and grouped based on their melting temperatures. For the user's convenience, EvOligo is provided with a user-friendly graphical interface. EvOligo was used to design individual oligonucleotides, oligonucleotide pairs, and groups of oligonucleotide pairs that are characterized by the following parameters: (1) weaker cross-interactions between the non-complementary oligonucleotides and (2) more uniform ranges of the oligonucleotide pair melting temperatures than other available software products. In addition, in contrast to other grouping algorithms, EvOligo offers time-efficient sorting of paired and unpaired oligonucleotides based on various parameters defined by the user.

Towards a Ubiquitous User Model for Profile Sharing and Reuse

PubMed Central

de Lourdes Martinez-Villaseñor, Maria; Gonzalez-Mendoza, Miguel; Hernandez-Gress, Neil

2012-01-01

People interact with systems and applications through several devices and are willing to share information about preferences, interests and characteristics. Social networking profiles, data from advanced sensors attached to personal gadgets, and semantic web technologies such as FOAF and microformats are valuable sources of personal information that could provide a fair understanding of the user, but profile information is scattered over different user models. Some researchers in the ubiquitous user modeling community envision the need to share user model's information from heterogeneous sources. In this paper, we address the syntactic and semantic heterogeneity of user models in order to enable user modeling interoperability. We present a dynamic user profile structure based in Simple Knowledge Organization for the Web (SKOS) to provide knowledge representation for ubiquitous user model. We propose a two-tier matching strategy for concept schemas alignment to enable user modeling interoperability. Our proposal is proved in the application scenario of sharing and reusing data in order to deal with overweight and obesity. PMID:23201995

User modeling for distributed virtual environment intelligent agents

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Banks, Sheila B.; Stytz, Martin R.

1999-07-01

This paper emphasizes the requirement for user modeling by presenting the necessary information to motivate the need for and use of user modeling for intelligent agent development. The paper will present information on our current intelligent agent development program, the Symbiotic Information Reasoning and Decision Support (SIRDS) project. We then discuss the areas of intelligent agents and user modeling, which form the foundation of the SIRDS project. Included in the discussion of user modeling are its major components, which are cognitive modeling and behavioral modeling. We next motivate the need for and user of a methodology to develop user models to encompass work within cognitive task analysis. We close the paper by drawing conclusions from our current intelligent agent research project and discuss avenues of future research in the utilization of user modeling for the development of intelligent agents for virtual environments.

Predicting diagnostic error in radiology via eye-tracking and image analytics: Preliminary investigation in mammography

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

Voisin, Sophie; Tourassi, Georgia D.; Pinto, Frank

2013-10-15

Purpose: The primary aim of the present study was to test the feasibility of predicting diagnostic errors in mammography by merging radiologists’ gaze behavior and image characteristics. A secondary aim was to investigate group-based and personalized predictive models for radiologists of variable experience levels.Methods: The study was performed for the clinical task of assessing the likelihood of malignancy of mammographic masses. Eye-tracking data and diagnostic decisions for 40 cases were acquired from four Radiology residents and two breast imaging experts as part of an IRB-approved pilot study. Gaze behavior features were extracted from the eye-tracking data. Computer-generated and BIRADS imagesmore » features were extracted from the images. Finally, machine learning algorithms were used to merge gaze and image features for predicting human error. Feature selection was thoroughly explored to determine the relative contribution of the various features. Group-based and personalized user modeling was also investigated.Results: Machine learning can be used to predict diagnostic error by merging gaze behavior characteristics from the radiologist and textural characteristics from the image under review. Leveraging data collected from multiple readers produced a reasonable group model [area under the ROC curve (AUC) = 0.792 ± 0.030]. Personalized user modeling was far more accurate for the more experienced readers (AUC = 0.837 ± 0.029) than for the less experienced ones (AUC = 0.667 ± 0.099). The best performing group-based and personalized predictive models involved combinations of both gaze and image features.Conclusions: Diagnostic errors in mammography can be predicted to a good extent by leveraging the radiologists’ gaze behavior and image content.« less

Substance Use and Depression Symptomatology: Measurement Invariance of the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-II) among Non-Users and Frequent-Users of Alcohol, Nicotine and Cannabis.

PubMed

Moore, Ashlee A; Neale, Michael C; Silberg, Judy L; Verhulst, Brad

2016-01-01

Depression is a highly heterogeneous condition, and identifying how symptoms present in various groups may greatly increase our understanding of its etiology. Importantly, Major Depressive Disorder is strongly linked with Substance Use Disorders, which may ameliorate or exacerbate specific depression symptoms. It is therefore quite plausible that depression may present with different symptom profiles depending on an individual's substance use status. Given these observations, it is important to examine the underlying construct of depression in groups of substance users compared to non-users. In this study we use a non-clinical sample to examine the measurement structure of the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-II) in non-users and frequent-users of various substances. Specifically, measurement invariance was examined across those who do vs. do not use alcohol, nicotine, and cannabis. Results indicate strict factorial invariance across non-users and frequent-users of alcohol and cannabis, and metric invariance across non-users and frequent-users of nicotine. This implies that the factor structure of the BDI-II is similar across all substance use groups.

A mathematical model for HIV and hepatitis C co-infection and its assessment from a statistical perspective.

PubMed

Castro Sanchez, Amparo Yovanna; Aerts, Marc; Shkedy, Ziv; Vickerman, Peter; Faggiano, Fabrizio; Salamina, Guiseppe; Hens, Niel

2013-03-01

The hepatitis C virus (HCV) and the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) are a clear threat for public health, with high prevalences especially in high risk groups such as injecting drug users. People with HIV infection who are also infected by HCV suffer from a more rapid progression to HCV-related liver disease and have an increased risk for cirrhosis and liver cancer. Quantifying the impact of HIV and HCV co-infection is therefore of great importance. We propose a new joint mathematical model accounting for co-infection with the two viruses in the context of injecting drug users (IDUs). Statistical concepts and methods are used to assess the model from a statistical perspective, in order to get further insights in: (i) the comparison and selection of optional model components, (ii) the unknown values of the numerous model parameters, (iii) the parameters to which the model is most 'sensitive' and (iv) the combinations or patterns of values in the high-dimensional parameter space which are most supported by the data. Data from a longitudinal study of heroin users in Italy are used to illustrate the application of the proposed joint model and its statistical assessment. The parameters associated with contact rates (sharing syringes) and the transmission rates per syringe-sharing event are shown to play a major role. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Variations in the persistence of health expenditures and the implications for the design of capitation payments in Taiwan.

PubMed

Ku, Li-Jung Elizabeth; Chiou, Meng-Jiun; Liu, Li-Fan

2015-07-01

The National Health Insurance (NHI) system in Taiwan launched a trial capitation provider payment programme in 2011, with the capitation formula based on patients' average NHI expenditure in the previous year. This study seeks to examine the concentration and persistence of health care expenditure among the elderly, and to assess the performance of the current capitation formula in predicting future high-cost users. This study analysed NHI expenditures for a nationally representative sample of people aged 65 years and over who took part in Taiwan's National Health Interview Survey, 2005. Expenditure concentration was assessed by the proportion of NHI expenditures attributable to four groups by expenditure percentile. Four transition probability matrixes examined changes in a person's position in the expenditure percentiles and generalized estimation equation models were estimated to identify significant predictors of a patient being in the top 10% of users. Between 2005 and 2009, the top 10% of users on average accounted for 55% of total NHI expenditures. Of the top 10% in 2005, 39% retained this position in 2006. However, expenditure persistence was the highest (77%) among the bottom 50% of users. NHI expenditure percentiles in both the baseline year and the prior year, and chronic conditions all significantly predicted future high expenditures. The model including chronic conditions performed better in predicting the top 10% of users (c-statistics increased from 0.772 to 0.904) than the model without. Given the increase in predictive ability, adding chronic conditions and baseline health care use data to Taiwan's capitation payment formula would correctly identify more high users. © The Author(s) 2015.

Evaluation of the effects of a diabetes educational program: a randomized clinical trial.

PubMed

Torres, Heloísa de Carvalho; Pace, Ana Emília; Chaves, Fernanda Figueredo; Velasquez-Melendez, Gustavo; Reis, Ilka Afonso

2018-02-05

Evaluate the effectiveness of a diabetes mellitus educational program in primary health care. This cluster randomized trial was conducted in a sample of 470 people with type 2 diabetes mellitus from eight health units, randomly assigned to two groups: intervention (n = 231) and control (n = 239). The intervention group participated in the educational program composed of three strategies: group education, home visit, and telephone intervention. Simultaneously, the control group was monitored individually. Group monitoring took place over nine months in the year 2012. Clinical evaluations were performed at the initial time (T0), three (T3), six (T6) and nine (T9) months after the beginning of the intervention. After nine months of follow-up, 341 users remained in the study, 171 in the control group and 170 in the intervention group. The average age of users was 60.6 years. In both groups, statistically significant differences were observed in mean HbA1c levels over the follow-up time (p < 0.05). However, the mean HbA1c level at T3, T6 and T9 times were significantly lower among the people in the intervention group (p < 0.05). The educational program model developed was effective to improve the glycemic control of the intervention group participants.

Customizing for clients: developing a library liaison program from need to plan.

PubMed

Tennant, M R; Butson, L C; Rezeau, M E; Tucker, P J; Boyle, M E; Clayton, G

2001-01-01

Building on the experiences of librarian representatives to curriculum committees in the colleges of dentistry, medicine, and nursing, the Health Science Center Libraries (HSCL) Strategic Plan recommended the formation of a Library Liaison Work Group to create a formal Library Liaison Program to serve the six Health Science Center (HSC) colleges and several affiliated centers and institutes. The work group's charge was to define the purpose and scope of the program, identify models of best practice, and recommend activities for liaisons. The work group gathered background information, performed an environmental scan, and developed a philosophy statement, a program of liaison activities focusing on seven primary areas, and a forum for liaison communication. Hallmarks of the plan included intensive subject specialization (beyond collection development), extensive communication with users, and personal information services. Specialization was expected to promote competence, communication, confidence, comfort, and customization. Development of the program required close coordination with other strategic plan implementation teams, including teams for collection development, education, and marketing. This paper discusses the HSCL's planning process and the resulting Library Liaison Program. Although focusing on an academic health center, the planning process and liaison model may be applied to any library serving diverse, subject-specific user populations.

Customizing for clients: developing a library liaison program from need to plan*

PubMed Central

Tennant, Michele R.; Butson, Linda C.; Rezeau, Michelle E.; Tucker, Prudence J.; Boyle, Marian E.; Clayton, Greg

2001-01-01

Building on the experiences of librarian representatives to curriculum committees in the colleges of dentistry, medicine, and nursing, the Health Science Center Libraries (HSCL) Strategic Plan recommended the formation of a Library Liaison Work Group to create a formal Library Liaison Program to serve the six Health Science Center (HSC) colleges and several affiliated centers and institutes. The work group's charge was to define the purpose and scope of the program, identify models of best practice, and recommend activities for liaisons. The work group gathered background information, performed an environmental scan, and developed a philosophy statement, a program of liaison activities focusing on seven |primary areas, and a forum for liaison communication. Hallmarks of the plan included intensive subject specialization (beyond collection development), extensive communication with users, and personal information services. Specialization was expected to promote competence, communication, confidence, comfort, and customization. Development of the program required close coordination with other strategic plan implementation teams, including teams for collection development, education, and marketing. This paper discusses the HSCL's planning process and the resulting Library Liaison Program. Although focusing on an academic health center, the planning process and liaison model may be applied to any library serving diverse, subject-specific user populations. PMID:11209807

Qualitative research building real-life interventions: user-involving development of a mindfulness-based lifestyle change support program for overweight citizens.

PubMed

Hansen, N V; Brændgaard, P; Hjørnholm, C; la Cour, S

2014-10-01

This study is an experiment of putting social sciences to work in developing a support intervention for healthy lifestyle changes that would be attractive and manageable in real-life settings. Starting with a hypothesis that a class of intervention methods based on an unconventional 'low-tension' strategy may offer an effective support of stable, long-term changes well integrated in everyday life, difficult to maintain with conventional dieting and self-control approaches, this study focuses on designing and optimizing an intervention model combining several low-tension methods: mindfulness, small steps and group support. In three consecutive 'action research' cycles, the intervention was run in practice with groups of 20 overweight or obese citizens. Qualitative data, mainly in the form of recorded group sessions and individual interviews with group participants and group leaders, were systematically collected and analyzed, using a framework of social psychological theory to focus on difficulties, resources and meanings connected with habits and everyday life. This information was recycled into the design process for the next version of the intervention. We describe the user-involving development processes toward a more attractive and manageable intervention model. The model now exists as a well-articulated package whose effectiveness is being tested in a randomized controlled trial study. Social science can be put to work in systematically integrating real-life experience in a development process. It answers a very different kind of question than clinical trials-filling another place in an overall research program to create useful knowledge of what helps-in complex, everyday, real life.

Perceived risk for severe outcomes and drinking status among drug users with HIV and Hepatitis C Virus (HCV).

PubMed

Elliott, Jennifer C; Hasin, Deborah S; Des Jarlais, Don C

2016-12-01

Among drug users with HIV and Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) infections, heavy drinking can pose significant risks to health. Yet many drug users with HIV and HCV drink heavily. Clarifying the relationship of drug-using patients' understanding of their illnesses to their drinking behavior could facilitate more effective intervention with these high-risk groups. Among samples of drug users infected with HIV (n=476; 70% male) and HCV (n=1145; 81% male) recruited from drug treatment clinics, we investigated whether patients' perceptions of the risk for severe outcomes related to HIV and HCV were associated with their personal drinking behavior, using generalized logit models. Interactions with co-infection status were also explored. HIV-infected drug users who believed that HIV held highest risk for serious outcomes were the most likely to be risky drinkers, when compared with those with less severe perceptions, X(2)(6)=14.19, p<0.05. In contrast, HCV-infected drug users who believed that HCV held moderate risk for serious outcomes were the most likely to be risky drinkers, X(2)(6)=12.98, p<0.05. In this sample of drug users, risky drinking was most common among those with HIV who believed that severe outcomes were inevitable, suggesting that conveying the message that HIV always leads to severe outcomes may be counterproductive in decreasing risky drinking in this group. However, risky drinking was most common among those with HCV who believed that severe outcomes were somewhat likely. Further research is needed to understand the mechanisms of these associations. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Pragmatic User Model Implementation in an Intelligent Help System.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

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

1998-01-01

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

A prospective examination of online social network dynamics and smoking cessation

PubMed Central

Zhao, Kang; Papandonatos, George D.; Erar, Bahar; Wang, Xi; Amato, Michael S.; Cha, Sarah; Cohn, Amy M.; Pearson, Jennifer L.

2017-01-01

Introduction Use of online social networks for smoking cessation has been associated with abstinence. Little is known about the mechanisms through which the formation of social ties in an online network may influence smoking behavior. Using dynamic social network analysis, we investigated how temporal changes of an individual’s number of social network ties are prospectively related to abstinence in an online social network for cessation. In a network where quitting is normative and is the focus of communications among members, we predicted that an increasing number of ties would be positively associated with abstinence. Method Participants were N = 2,657 adult smokers recruited to a randomized cessation treatment trial following enrollment on BecomeAnEX.org, a longstanding Internet cessation program with a large and mature online social network. At 3-months post-randomization, 30-day point prevalence abstinence was assessed and website engagement metrics were extracted. The social network was constructed with clickstream data to capture the flow of information among members. Two network centrality metrics were calculated at weekly intervals over 3 months: 1) in-degree, defined as the number of members whose posts a participant read; and 2) out-degree-aware, defined as the number of members who read a participant’s post and commented, which was subsequently viewed by the participant. Three groups of users were identified based on social network engagement patterns: non-users (N = 1,362), passive users (N = 812), and active users (N = 483). Logistic regression modeled 3-month abstinence by group as a function of baseline variables, website utilization, and network centrality metrics. Results Abstinence rates varied by group (non-users = 7.7%, passive users = 10.7%, active users = 20.7%). Significant baseline predictors of abstinence were age, nicotine dependence, confidence to quit, and smoking temptations in social situations among passive users (ps < .05); age and confidence to quit among active users. Among centrality metrics, positive associations with abstinence were observed for in-degree increases from Week 2 to Week 12 among passive and active users, and for out-degree-aware increases from Week 2 to Week 12 among active users (ps < .05). Conclusions This study is the first to demonstrate that increased tie formation among members of an online social network for smoking cessation is prospectively associated with abstinence. It also highlights the value of using individuals’ activities in online social networks to predict their offline health behaviors. PMID:28832621

Focus Group in Community Mental Health Research: Need for Adaption.

PubMed

Zupančič, Vesna; Pahor, Majda; Kogovšek, Tina

2018-04-27

The article presents an analysis of the use of focus groups in researching community mental health users, starting with the reasons for using them, their implementation in mental health service users' research, and the adaptations of focus group use when researching the experiences of users. Based on personal research experience and a review of scientific publications in the Google Scholar, Web of Science, ProQuest, EBSCOhost, and Scopus databases, 20 articles published between 2010 and 2016 were selected for targeted content analysis. A checklist for reporting on the use of focus groups with community mental health service users, aiming to improve the comparability, verifiability and validity was developed. Adaptations of the implementation of focus groups in relation to participants' characteristics were suggested. Focus groups are not only useful as a scientific research technique, but also for ensuring service users' participation in decision-making in community mental health and evaluating the quality of the mental health system and services .

Impaired cognitive performance in drug free users of recreational ecstasy (MDMA)

PubMed Central

Gouzoulis-Mayfran..., E.; Daumann, J.; Tuchtenhagen, F.; Pelz, S.; Becker, S.; Kunert, H.; Fimm, B.; Sass, H.

2000-01-01

OBJECTIVES—Ecstasy (3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) and related congerers: MDA, MDEA) is the name given to a group of popular recreational drugs. Animal data raise concern about neurotoxic effects of high doses of ecstasy on central serotonergic systems. The threshold dose for neurotoxicity in humans is not clear and serotonin is involved in several functions including cognition. The purpose of this study was to investigate cognitive performance in a group of typical recreational ecstasy users.
METHODS—A comprehensive cognitive test battery was administered to 28 abstinent ecstasy users with concomitant use of cannabis only and to two equally sized matched groups of cannabis users and non-users. The sample consisted of ecstasy users with a typical recreational use pattern and did not include very heavy users.
RESULTS—Ecstasy users were unimpaired in simple tests of attention (alertness). However, they performed worse than one or both control groups in the more complex tests of attention, in memory and learning tasks, and in tasks reflecting aspects of general intelligence. Heavier ecstasy and heavier cannabis use were associated with poorer performance in the group of ecstasy users. By contrast, the cannabis users did not differ significantly in their performance from the non-users.
CONCLUSIONS—The present data raise concern that use of ecstasy possibly in conjunction with cannabis may lead to cognitive decline in otherwise healthy young people. Although the nature of the emerging cognitive disturbance is not yet clear, an impairment of working memory might be the common denominator underlying or contributing to declines of performance in various tasks. The cognitive disturbance is likely to be related to the well recognised neurotoxic potential of ecstasy. The data suggest that even typical recreational doses of ecstasy are sufficient to cause neurotoxicity in humans.

 PMID:10811694

Open Software Tools Applied to Jordan's National Multi-Agent Water Management Model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Knox, Stephen; Meier, Philipp; Harou, Julien; Yoon, Jim; Selby, Philip; Lachaut, Thibaut; Klassert, Christian; Avisse, Nicolas; Khadem, Majed; Tilmant, Amaury; Gorelick, Steven

2016-04-01

Jordan is the fourth most water scarce country in the world, where demand exceeds supply in a politically and demographically unstable context. The Jordan Water Project (JWP) aims to perform policy evaluation by modelling the hydrology, economics, and governance of Jordan's water resource system. The multidisciplinary nature of the project requires a modelling software system capable of integrating submodels from multiple disciplines into a single decision making process and communicating results to stakeholders. This requires a tool for building an integrated model and a system where diverse data sets can be managed and visualised. The integrated Jordan model is built using Pynsim, an open-source multi-agent simulation framework implemented in Python. Pynsim operates on network structures of nodes and links and supports institutional hierarchies, where an institution represents a grouping of nodes, links or other institutions. At each time step, code within each node, link and institution can executed independently, allowing for their fully autonomous behaviour. Additionally, engines (sub-models) perform actions over the entire network or on a subset of the network, such as taking a decision on a set of nodes. Pynsim is modular in design, allowing distinct modules to be modified easily without affecting others. Data management and visualisation is performed using Hydra (www.hydraplatform.org), an open software platform allowing users to manage network structure and data. The Hydra data manager connects to Pynsim, providing necessary input parameters for the integrated model. By providing a high-level portal to the model, Hydra removes a barrier between the users of the model (researchers, stakeholders, planners etc) and the model itself, allowing them to manage data, run the model and visualise results all through a single user interface. Pynsim's ability to represent institutional hierarchies, inter-network communication and the separation of node, link and institutional logic from higher level processes (engine) suit JWP's requirements. The use of Hydra Platform and Pynsim helps make complex customised models such as the JWP model easier to run and manage with international groups of researchers.

Versatile clinical information system design for emergency departments.

PubMed

Amouh, Teh; Gemo, Monica; Macq, Benoît; Vanderdonckt, Jean; El Gariani, Abdul Wahed; Reynaert, Marc S; Stamatakis, Lambert; Thys, Frédéric

2005-06-01

Compared to other hospital units, the emergency department presents some distinguishing characteristics of its own. Emergency health-care delivery is a collaborative process involving the contribution of several individuals who accomplish their tasks while working autonomously under pressure and sometimes with limited resources. Effective computerization of the emergency department information system presents a real challenge due to the complexity of the scenario. Current computerized support suffers from several problems, including inadequate data models, clumsy user interfaces, and poor integration with other clinical information systems. To tackle such complexity, we propose an approach combining three points of view, namely the transactions (in and out of the department), the (mono and multi) user interfaces and data management. Unlike current systems, we pay particular attention to the user-friendliness and versatility of our system. This means that intuitive user interfaces have been conceived and specific software modeling methodologies have been applied to provide our system with the flexibility and adaptability necessary for the individual and group coordinated tasks. Our approach has been implemented by prototyping a web-based, multiplatform, multiuser, and versatile clinical information system built upon multitier software architecture, using the Java programming language.

Image processing and applications based on visualizing navigation service

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hwang, Chyi-Wen

2015-07-01

When facing the "overabundant" of semantic web information, in this paper, the researcher proposes the hierarchical classification and visualizing RIA (Rich Internet Application) navigation system: Concept Map (CM) + Semantic Structure (SS) + the Knowledge on Demand (KOD) service. The aim of the Multimedia processing and empirical applications testing, was to investigating the utility and usability of this visualizing navigation strategy in web communication design, into whether it enables the user to retrieve and construct their personal knowledge or not. Furthermore, based on the segment markets theory in the Marketing model, to propose a User Interface (UI) classification strategy and formulate a set of hypermedia design principles for further UI strategy and e-learning resources in semantic web communication. These research findings: (1) Irrespective of whether the simple declarative knowledge or the complex declarative knowledge model is used, the "CM + SS + KOD navigation system" has a better cognition effect than the "Non CM + SS + KOD navigation system". However, for the" No web design experience user", the navigation system does not have an obvious cognition effect. (2) The essential of classification in semantic web communication design: Different groups of user have a diversity of preference needs and different cognitive styles in the CM + SS + KOD navigation system.

Correlates of consistent condom use among men who have sex with men recruited through the Internet in Huzhou city: a cross-sectional survey.

PubMed

Jin, Meihua; Yang, Zhongrong; Dong, Zhengquan; Han, Jiankang

2013-12-01

There is growing evidence that men who have sex with men (MSM) are currently a group at high risk of HIV infection in China. Our study aims to know the factors affecting consistent condom use among MSM recruited through the internet in Huzhou city. An anonymous cross-sectional study was conducted by recruiting 410 MSM living in Huzhou city via the Internet. The socio-demographic profiles (age, education level, employment status, etc.) and sexual risk behaviors of the respondents were investigated. Bivariate logistic regression analyses were performed to compare the differences between consistent condom users and inconsistent condom users. Variables with significant bivariate between groups' differences were used as candidate variables in a stepwise multivariate logistic regression model. All statistical analyses were performed using SPSS for Windows 17.0, and a p value < 0.05 was considered to be statistically significant. According to their condom use, sixty-eight respondents were classified into two groups. One is consistent condom users, and the other is inconsistent condom users. Multivariate logistic regression showed that respondents who had a comprehensive knowledge of HIV (OR = 4.08, 95% CI: 1.85-8.99), who had sex with male sex workers (OR = 15.30, 95% CI: 5.89-39.75) and who had not drunk alcohol before sex (OR = 3.10, 95% CI: 1.38-6.95) were more likely to be consistent condom users. Consistent condom use among MSM was associated with comprehensive knowledge of HIV and a lack of alcohol use before sexual contact. As a result, reducing alcohol consumption and enhancing education regarding the risks of HIV among sexually active MSM would be effective in preventing of HIV transmission.

Development and usability testing of a web-based cancer symptom and quality-of-life support intervention.

PubMed

Wolpin, S E; Halpenny, B; Whitman, G; McReynolds, J; Stewart, M; Lober, W B; Berry, D L

2015-03-01

The feasibility and acceptability of computerized screening and patient-reported outcome measures have been demonstrated in the literature. However, patient-centered management of health information entails two challenges: gathering and presenting data using "patient-tailored" methods and supporting "patient-control" of health information. The design and development of many symptom and quality-of-life information systems have not included opportunities for systematically collecting and analyzing user input. As part of a larger clinical trial, the Electronic Self-Report Assessment for Cancer-II project, participatory design approaches were used to build and test new features and interfaces for patient/caregiver users. The research questions centered on patient/caregiver preferences with regard to the following: (a) content, (b) user interface needs, (c) patient-oriented summary, and (d) patient-controlled sharing of information with family, caregivers, and clinicians. Mixed methods were used with an emphasis on qualitative approaches; focus groups and individual usability tests were the primary research methods. Focus group data were content analyzed, while individual usability sessions were assessed with both qualitative and quantitative methods. We identified 12 key patient/caregiver preferences through focus groups with 6 participants. We implemented seven of these preferences during the iterative design process. We deferred development for some of the preferences due to resource constraints. During individual usability testing (n = 8), we were able to identify 65 usability issues ranging from minor user confusion to critical errors that blocked task completion. The participatory development model that we used led to features and design revisions that were patient centered. We are currently evaluating new approaches for the application interface and for future research pathways. We encourage other researchers to adopt user-centered design approaches when building patient-centered technologies. © The Author(s) 2014.

Tinnitus and Sleep Difficulties After Cochlear Implantation.

PubMed

Pierzycki, Robert H; Edmondson-Jones, Mark; Dawes, Piers; Munro, Kevin J; Moore, David R; Kitterick, Pádraig T

To estimate and compare the prevalence of and associations between tinnitus and sleep difficulties in a sample of UK adult cochlear implant users and those identified as potential candidates for cochlear implantation. The study was conducted using the UK Biobank resource, a population-based cohort of 40- to 69-year olds. Self-report data on hearing, tinnitus, sleep difficulties, and demographic variables were collected from cochlear implant users (n = 194) and individuals identified as potential candidates for cochlear implantation (n = 211). These "candidates" were selected based on (i) impaired hearing sensitivity, inferred from self-reported hearing aid use and (ii) impaired hearing function, inferred from an inability to report words accurately at negative signal to noise ratios on an unaided closed-set test of speech perception. Data on tinnitus (presence, persistence, and related distress) and on sleep difficulties were analyzed using logistic regression models controlling for gender, age, deprivation, and neuroticism. The prevalence of tinnitus was similar among implant users (50%) and candidates (52%; p = 0.39). However, implant users were less likely to report that their tinnitus was distressing at its worst (41%) compared with candidates (63%; p = 0.02). The logistic regression model suggested that this difference between the two groups could be explained by the fact that tinnitus was less persistent in implant users (46%) compared with candidates (72%; p < 0.001). Self-reported difficulties with sleep were similar among implant users (75%) and candidates (82%; p = 0.28), but participants with tinnitus were more likely to report sleep difficulties than those without (p < 0.001). The prevalence of sleep difficulties was not related to tinnitus persistence (p = 0.28) or the extent to which tinnitus was distressing (p = 0.55). The lack of association between tinnitus persistence and sleep difficulties is compatible with the notion that tinnitus is suppressed in implant users primarily during active electrical stimulation and may return when the implant is switched off at night time. This explanation is supported by the similar prevalence of sleep problems among implant users and potential candidates for cochlear implantation, despite differences between the groups in tinnitus persistence and related emotional distress. Cochlear implantation may therefore not be an appropriate intervention where the primary aim is to alleviate sleep difficulties.

Mood, cognition and serotonin transporter availability in current and former ecstasy (MDMA) users: the longitudinal perspective.

PubMed

Thomasius, R; Zapletalova, P; Petersen, K; Buchert, R; Andresen, B; Wartberg, L; Nebeling, B; Schmoldt, A

2006-03-01

Although 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA, ecstasy) is a known serotonergic neurotoxin in different animal species, there is to date no conclusive evidence of its neurotoxicity in humans. MDMA use was associated with impairments of psychological well-being, verbal memory and altered serotonergic functioning in a number of cross-sectional studies. Due to inherent methodological limitations, such as the notorious polydrug use of ecstasy users and lack of control of possible pre-existing differences between ecstasy users and control participants, researchers have called for well-controlled, prospective longitudinal studies to shed more light on the issue of MDMA neurotoxicity to the human brain. This longitudinal study investigated whether mood, cognition and central serotonin transporters (SERT) would deteriorate with continued MDMA use and whether or not they would recover over increasing periods of MDMA abstinence. In a repeated-measures design, 11 current and ten ex-ecstasy users, and 11 polydrug (but not MDMA) and 15 drug-naive controls participated three times within approximately two years. Both ecstasy user groups reported a polydrug use pattern besides heavy ecstasy use. Subjective reports of ecstasy use or abstinence were verified by toxicological analyses. On each trial, the participants underwent a cognitive test battery and filled in the Symptom Check List. The availability of central SERT was assessed with positron emission tomography using the McN5652 ligand for all groups at t1, and only for the ecstasy user groups on follow-ups. The factor Group yielded significant results in the SCL-90 scales Global Severity Index, Anxiety, Obsessive/compulsive and Interpersonal sensitivity, with the ex-ecstasy users reporting the highest symptom scores. There were significant Group effects in all measures of verbal memory, with the lowest performance in the group of ex-ecstasy users. The repeated-measures analyses yielded no significant Group x Time interactions in any SCL-90 scales or measures of memory performance, with the exception of AVLT 1 immediate recall. Thus the ex-ecstasy users' psychopathological symptoms and memory performance failed to improve, and the current ecstasy users' failed to deteriorate, over time relative to the other groups. While there was a significant effect of Group in all brain regions examined (except the control region white matter), the current users' SERT availability seems to have recovered in the mesencephalon, as indicated by a significant Group x Time interaction. Reduced SERT availability might be a transient effect of heavy ecstasy use, since it partially recovered as the current users reduced their MDMA use. However, this measure may not necessarily be a valid indicator of the number or integrity of serotonergic neurons. Ex-ecstasy users' verbal memory showed no sign of improvement even after over 2.5 years of abstinence and thus may represent persistent functional consequences of MDMA neurotoxicity. However, alternative causes such as pre-existing group differences cannot be completely ruled out in spite of the longitudinal design.

Integrating Health Behavior Theory and Design Elements in Serious Games

PubMed Central

Fleming, Theresa; Lucassen, Mathijs FG; Bridgman, Heather; Stasiak, Karolina; Shepherd, Matthew; Orpin, Peter

2015-01-01

Background Internet interventions for improving health and well-being have the potential to reach many people and fill gaps in service provision. Serious gaming interfaces provide opportunities to optimize user adherence and impact. Health interventions based in theory and evidence and tailored to psychological constructs have been found to be more effective to promote behavior change. Defining the design elements which engage users and help them to meet their goals can contribute to better informed serious games. Objective To elucidate design elements important in SPARX, a serious game for adolescents with depression, from a user-centered perspective. Methods We proposed a model based on an established theory of health behavior change and practical features of serious game design to organize ideas and rationale. We analyzed data from 5 studies comprising a total of 22 focus groups and 66 semistructured interviews conducted with youth and families in New Zealand and Australia who had viewed or used SPARX. User perceptions of the game were applied to this framework. Results A coherent framework was established using the three constructs of self-determination theory (SDT), autonomy, competence, and relatedness, to organize user perceptions and design elements within four areas important in design: computer game, accessibility, working alliance, and learning in immersion. User perceptions mapped well to the framework, which may assist developers in understanding the context of user needs. By mapping these elements against the constructs of SDT, we were able to propose a sound theoretical base for the model. Conclusions This study’s method allowed for the articulation of design elements in a serious game from a user-centered perspective within a coherent overarching framework. The framework can be used to deliberately incorporate serious game design elements that support a user’s sense of autonomy, competence, and relatedness, key constructs which have been found to mediate motivation at all stages of the change process. The resulting model introduces promising avenues for future exploration. Involving users in program design remains an imperative if serious games are to be fit for purpose. PMID:26543916

Security Analysis of Accountable Anonymous Group Communication in Dissent

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-01-31

instance, group discussion forums or instant messaging. Misbehaving users may abuse this anonymity to disrupt communication, however, and existing...Abstract Users often wish to communicate anonymously on the Internet using, for instance, group discussion forums or instant messaging. Misbehaving users may...personal reprisal (Stein 2003). Yet anonymity makes it difficult to trace or exclude misbehaving participants (Davenport 2002). Online proto- cols

Understanding music with cochlear implants

PubMed Central

Bruns, Lisa; Mürbe, Dirk; Hahne, Anja

2016-01-01

Direct stimulation of the auditory nerve via a Cochlear Implant (CI) enables profoundly hearing-impaired people to perceive sounds. Many CI users find language comprehension satisfactory, but music perception is generally considered difficult. However, music contains different dimensions which might be accessible in different ways. We aimed to highlight three main dimensions of music processing in CI users which rely on different processing mechanisms: (1) musical discrimination abilities, (2) access to meaning in music, and (3) subjective music appreciation. All three dimensions were investigated in two CI user groups (post- and prelingually deafened CI users, all implanted as adults) and a matched normal hearing control group. The meaning of music was studied by using event-related potentials (with the N400 component as marker) during a music-word priming task while music appreciation was gathered by a questionnaire. The results reveal a double dissociation between the three dimensions of music processing. Despite impaired discrimination abilities of both CI user groups compared to the control group, appreciation was reduced only in postlingual CI users. While musical meaning processing was restorable in postlingual CI users, as shown by a N400 effect, data of prelingual CI users lack the N400 effect and indicate previous dysfunctional concept building. PMID:27558546

Post-polypectomy bleeding and thromboembolism risks associated with warfarin vs direct oral anticoagulants.

PubMed

Yanagisawa, Naohiro; Nagata, Naoyoshi; Watanabe, Kazuhiro; Iida, Tatsuhiro; Hamada, Mariko; Kobayashi, Sakurako; Shimbo, Takuro; Akiyama, Junichi; Uemura, Naomi

2018-04-14

To verify the validity of the endoscopy guidelines for patients taking warfarin or direct oral anticoagulants (DOAC). We collected data from 218 patients receiving oral anticoagulants (73 DOAC users, 145 warfarin users) and 218 patients not receiving any antithrombotics (age- and sex-matched controls) who underwent polypectomy. (1) We evaluated post-polypectomy bleeding (PPB) risk in patients receiving warfarin or DOAC compared with controls; (2) we assessed the risks of PPB and thromboembolism between three AC management methods: Discontinuing AC with heparin bridge (HPB) (endoscopy guideline recommendation), continuing AC, and discontinuing AC without HPB. PPB rate was significantly higher in warfarin users and DOAC users compared with controls (13.7% and 13.7% vs 0.9%, P < 0.001), but was not significantly different between rivaroxaban (13.2%), dabigatran (11.1%), and apixaban (13.3%) users. Two thromboembolic events occurred in warfarin users, but none in DOAC users. Compared with the continuing anticoagulant group, the discontinuing anticoagulant with HPB group (guideline recommendation) had a higher PPB rate (10.8% vs 19.6%, P = 0.087). These findings were significantly evident in warfarin but not DOAC users. One thrombotic event occurred in the discontinuing anticoagulant with HPB group and the discontinuing anticoagulant without HPB group; none occurred in the continuing anticoagulant group. PPB risk was similar between patients taking warfarin and DOAC. Thromboembolism was observed in warfarin users only. The guideline recommendations for HPB should be re-considered.

Characterizing User Groups in Online Social Networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gyarmati, László; Trinh, Tuan Anh

The users’ role is crucial in the development, deployment and the success of online social networks (OSNs). Despite this fact, little is known and even less has been published about user activities in the operating OSNs. In this paper, we present a large scale measurement analysis of user behaviour, in terms of time spent online, in some popular OSNs, namely Bebo, Flixster, MySpace, and Skyrock, and characterise user groups in OSNs. We used more than 200 PlanetLab [1] nodes for our measurement, monitored more than 3000 users for three weeks by downloading repeatedly their profile pages; more than 100 million pages were processed in total. The main findings of the paper are the following. Firstly, we create a measurement framework in order to observe user activity. Secondly, we present cumulative usage statistics of the different OSNs. Thirdly, we classify the monitored users into different groups and characterise the common properties of the members. Finally, we illustrate the wide applicability of our datasets by predicting the sign out method of the OSN users.

Symptomatological Features of Patients with and without Ecstasy Use during Their First Psychotic Episode

PubMed Central

Rugani, Fabio; Bacciardi, Silvia; Rovai, Luca; Pacini, Matteo; Maremmani, Angelo Giovanni Icro; Deltito, Joseph; Dell’Osso, Liliana; Maremmani, Icro

2012-01-01

Background: Ecstasy use is generally chosen by adolescents and young adults for its entactogenic properties (the production of feelings of empathy, love, and emotional closeness to others.) Despite this desired and frequently realized outcome, Ecstasy use has often resulted in the genesis of psychotic symptoms and aggressive behaviors, particularly after chronic and/or intensive use. Methods: To explore the negative consequences of Ecstasy use and to examine the aggressive nature oftentimes seen in many Ecstasy users we employed a case-control study model. We compared, by means of validated psychometric tests, the psychopathological symptoms (BPRS), the aggressiveness (OAS) and the social adjustment (DSM-GAF) of psychotic patients with (n = 23) and without (n = 46) recent user of Ecstasy, during their first psychotic episode and hospitalization. All 23 Ecstasy users were Ecstasy users only. Results: Almost all of the psychotic symptoms were of similar severity in both groups. Blunted affect was milder in users than in non-users, whereas hostility and aggressive behavior was significantly more severe in users than in non-users. Conclusions: psychosis with a high level of aggressiveness and violence constitutes an important ‘side-effect’ that surely runs counter to the expected entactogenic action of Ecstasy. At a patient psycho-educational level, this study suggests that the use of Ecstasy may be counterproductive with respect to user expectations. PMID:22851941

Early Sign Language Experience Goes Along with an Increased Cross-modal Gain for Affective Prosodic Recognition in Congenitally Deaf CI Users.

PubMed

Fengler, Ineke; Delfau, Pia-Céline; Röder, Brigitte

2018-04-01

It is yet unclear whether congenitally deaf cochlear implant (CD CI) users' visual and multisensory emotion perception is influenced by their history in sign language acquisition. We hypothesized that early-signing CD CI users, relative to late-signing CD CI users and hearing, non-signing controls, show better facial expression recognition and rely more on the facial cues of audio-visual emotional stimuli. Two groups of young adult CD CI users-early signers (ES CI users; n = 11) and late signers (LS CI users; n = 10)-and a group of hearing, non-signing, age-matched controls (n = 12) performed an emotion recognition task with auditory, visual, and cross-modal emotionally congruent and incongruent speech stimuli. On different trials, participants categorized either the facial or the vocal expressions. The ES CI users more accurately recognized affective prosody than the LS CI users in the presence of congruent facial information. Furthermore, the ES CI users, but not the LS CI users, gained more than the controls from congruent visual stimuli when recognizing affective prosody. Both CI groups performed overall worse than the controls in recognizing affective prosody. These results suggest that early sign language experience affects multisensory emotion perception in CD CI users.

PIMMS tools for capturing metadata about simulations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pascoe, Charlotte; Devine, Gerard; Tourte, Gregory; Pascoe, Stephen; Lawrence, Bryan; Barjat, Hannah

2013-04-01

PIMMS (Portable Infrastructure for the Metafor Metadata System) provides a method for consistent and comprehensive documentation of modelling activities that enables the sharing of simulation data and model configuration information. The aim of PIMMS is to package the metadata infrastructure developed by Metafor for CMIP5 so that it can be used by climate modelling groups in UK Universities. PIMMS tools capture information about simulations from the design of experiments to the implementation of experiments via simulations that run models. PIMMS uses the Metafor methodology which consists of a Common Information Model (CIM), Controlled Vocabularies (CV) and software tools. PIMMS software tools provide for the creation and consumption of CIM content via a web services infrastructure and portal developed by the ES-DOC community. PIMMS metadata integrates with the ESGF data infrastructure via the mapping of vocabularies onto ESGF facets. There are three paradigms of PIMMS metadata collection: Model Intercomparision Projects (MIPs) where a standard set of questions is asked of all models which perform standard sets of experiments. Disciplinary level metadata collection where a standard set of questions is asked of all models but experiments are specified by users. Bespoke metadata creation where the users define questions about both models and experiments. Examples will be shown of how PIMMS has been configured to suit each of these three paradigms. In each case PIMMS allows users to provide additional metadata beyond that which is asked for in an initial deployment. The primary target for PIMMS is the UK climate modelling community where it is common practice to reuse model configurations from other researchers. This culture of collaboration exists in part because climate models are very complex with many variables that can be modified. Therefore it has become common practice to begin a series of experiments by using another climate model configuration as a starting point. Usually this other configuration is provided by a researcher in the same research group or by a previous collaborator with whom there is an existing scientific relationship. Some efforts have been made at the university department level to create documentation but there is a wide diversity in the scope and purpose of this information. The consistent and comprehensive documentation enabled by PIMMS will enable the wider sharing of climate model data and configuration information. The PIMMS methodology assumes an initial effort to document standard model configurations. Once these descriptions have been created users need only describe the specific way in which their model configuration is different from the standard. Thus the documentation burden on the user is specific to the experiment they are performing and fits easily into the workflow of doing their science. PIMMS metadata is independent of data and as such is ideally suited for documenting model development. PIMMS provides a framework for sharing information about failed model configurations for which data are not kept, the negative results that don't appear in scientific literature. PIMMS is a UK project funded by JISC, The University of Reading, The University of Bristol and STFC.

Implementing an Intrusion Detection System in the Mysea Architecture

DTIC Science & Technology

2008-06-01

password for each user passwd <username> then follow the prompts 2. PostgreSQL 7.4.18 Installation Perform the following steps as root: 1. Copy...password changed Repeat for user snort. exit After making the groups and users the group and passwd file needs to be updated. Set security and...untrusted/bin/xtsmkgroup > /etc/group chmod 644 /etc/group /xts/untrusted/bin/xtsmkpasswd > /etc/ passwd chmod 644 /etc/ passwd 3. PostgreSQL 7.4.18

Does harm reduction programming make a difference in the lives of highly marginalized, at-risk drug users?

PubMed Central

Rogers, Susan J; Ruefli, Terry

2004-01-01

Harm reduction is a controversial model for treating drug users, with little formal research available on its operation and effectiveness. In order to advance the field, we first conducted participatory research of harm reduction with 120 clients using nominal-group technique to develop culturally relevant outcomes to measure progress. Second, we conducted focus group interviews with a different group of clients to help validate the outcomes. Third, we used the outcomes in an evaluation of the largest harm reduction program in New York City, which involved a representative sample of 261 and entailed baseline, post, and six follow-up assessments. The participatory research resulted in outcomes of 10 life areas important to drug users. Evaluation results showed that program participants made positive improvements across most outcomes, with the most substantial progress made in how clients dealt with drug-use problems. Along with their participation in the program, progress in some outcomes was also associated with clients' type of drug use (i.e., stable vs. chaotic), where more stable drug use was associated with better ways of making an income and types of housing. Surprisingly, progress was not associated with the kinds or numbers of services received or the length of time in the program. This was attributed to the service delivery model of harm reduction, in which clients are less inclined to associate their success with a single staff person or with a single service or intervention received than with the program as a whole. PMID:15171790

Characterizing Sleep Issues Using Twitter.

PubMed

McIver, David J; Hawkins, Jared B; Chunara, Rumi; Chatterjee, Arnaub K; Bhandari, Aman; Fitzgerald, Timothy P; Jain, Sachin H; Brownstein, John S

2015-06-08

Sleep issues such as insomnia affect over 50 million Americans and can lead to serious health problems, including depression and obesity, and can increase risk of injury. Social media platforms such as Twitter offer exciting potential for their use in studying and identifying both diseases and social phenomenon. Our aim was to determine whether social media can be used as a method to conduct research focusing on sleep issues. Twitter posts were collected and curated to determine whether a user exhibited signs of sleep issues based on the presence of several keywords in tweets such as insomnia, "can't sleep", Ambien, and others. Users whose tweets contain any of the keywords were designated as having self-identified sleep issues (sleep group). Users who did not have self-identified sleep issues (non-sleep group) were selected from tweets that did not contain pre-defined words or phrases used as a proxy for sleep issues. User data such as number of tweets, friends, followers, and location were collected, as well as the time and date of tweets. Additionally, the sentiment of each tweet and average sentiment of each user were determined to investigate differences between non-sleep and sleep groups. It was found that sleep group users were significantly less active on Twitter (P=.04), had fewer friends (P<.001), and fewer followers (P<.001) compared to others, after adjusting for the length of time each user's account has been active. Sleep group users were more active during typical sleeping hours than others, which may suggest they were having difficulty sleeping. Sleep group users also had significantly lower sentiment in their tweets (P<.001), indicating a possible relationship between sleep and pyschosocial issues. We have demonstrated a novel method for studying sleep issues that allows for fast, cost-effective, and customizable data to be gathered.

The CORE study protocol: a stepped wedge cluster randomised controlled trial to test a co-design technique to optimise psychosocial recovery outcomes for people affected by mental illness in the community mental health setting.

PubMed

Palmer, Victoria J; Chondros, Patty; Piper, Donella; Callander, Rosemary; Weavell, Wayne; Godbee, Kali; Potiriadis, Maria; Richard, Lauralie; Densely, Konstancja; Herrman, Helen; Furler, John; Pierce, David; Schuster, Tibor; Iedema, Rick; Gunn, Jane

2015-03-24

User engagement in mental health service design is heralded as integral to health systems quality and performance, but does engagement improve health outcomes? This article describes the CORE study protocol, a novel stepped wedge cluster randomised controlled trial (SWCRCT) to improve psychosocial recovery outcomes for people with severe mental illness. An SWCRCT with a nested process evaluation will be conducted over nearly 4 years in Victoria, Australia. 11 teams from four mental health service providers will be randomly allocated to one of three dates 9 months apart to start the intervention. The intervention, a modified version of Mental Health Experience Co-Design (MH ECO), will be delivered to 30 service users, 30 carers and 10 staff in each cluster. Outcome data will be collected at baseline (6 months) and at completion of each intervention wave. The primary outcome is improvement in recovery score using the 24-item Revised Recovery Assessment Scale for service users. Secondary outcomes are improvements to user and carer mental health and well-being using the shortened 8-item version of the WHOQOL Quality of Life scale (EUROHIS), changes to staff attitudes using the 19-item Staff Attitudes to Recovery Scale and recovery orientation of services using the 36-item Recovery Self Assessment Scale (provider version). Intervention and usual care periods will be compared using a linear mixed effects model for continuous outcomes and a generalised linear mixed effects model for binary outcomes. Participants will be analysed in the group that the cluster was assigned to at each time point. The University of Melbourne, Human Research Ethics Committee (1340299.3) and the Federal and State Departments of Health Committees (Project 20/2014) granted ethics approval. Baseline data results will be reported in 2015 and outcomes data in 2017. Australian and New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry ACTRN12614000457640. 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.

Motivation, expectations, and usability of a driven gait orthosis in stroke patients and their therapists.

PubMed

Swinnen, Eva; Lefeber, Nina; Willaert, Ward; De Neef, Fallon; Bruyndonckx, Lyn; Spooren, Annemie; Michielsen, Marc; Ramon, Tine; Kerckhofs, Eric

2017-05-01

In the development of efficacious driven gait orthoses (DGO), it is an added value to consider patients' and therapists' perspectives concerning robot-assisted gait training (RAGT). A better understanding of these issues may improve the process of care and outcome. This study aimed to examine stroke patients' motivation and expectations of RAGT, and therapists' expectations and perspectives on the usability of RAGT. Additionally, the differences in expectations between stroke patients and their therapists were analyzed. A cross sectional, multi-center, three-group trial was conducted. Included were (1) stroke patients who have experience with RAGT (i.e. the stroke user group), (2) stroke patients who have no experience with RAGT (i.e. the stroke non-user group), and (3) therapists who have experience with RAGT (i.e. the therapist user group). The Intrinsic Motivation Inventory (IMI), Credibility/Expectancy Questionnaire (CEQ), and Usefulness, Satisfaction and Ease of Use Questionnaire (USE) were used. Descriptive statistics and non-parametric Kruskal-Wallis tests were conducted. In total, 46 subjects were assessed (stroke user group: n = 23, stroke non-user group: n = 14, therapist user group: n = 9). IMI subscale scores ranged from 42 to 88%. Mean credibility and expectancy ranged from 80 to 85% and 57 to 72%, respectively, with no significant differences between groups. USE subscale scores ranged from 61 to 72%. Stroke user group patients seem quite motivated to train with the DGO and both patients and therapists reasonably believe that this training could improve gait functioning. Therapists are moderately satisfied with the usability of the DGO, but there is room for improvement with respect to usefulness and ease of use.

Antidepressant Use is Associated with Increased Energy Intake and Similar Levels of Physical Activity.

PubMed

Jensen-Otsu, Elsbeth; Austin, Gregory L

2015-11-20

Antidepressants have been associated with weight gain, but the causes are unclear. The aims of this study were to assess the association of antidepressant use with energy intake, macronutrient diet composition, and physical activity. We used data on medication use, energy intake, diet composition, and physical activity for 3073 eligible adults from the 2005-2006 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). Potential confounding variables, including depression symptoms, were included in the models assessing energy intake, physical activity, and sedentary behavior. Antidepressant users reported consuming an additional (mean ± S.E.) 215 ± 73 kcal/day compared to non-users (p = 0.01). There were no differences in percent calories from sugar, fat, or alcohol between the two groups. Antidepressant users had similar frequencies of walking or biking, engaging in muscle-strengthening activities, and engaging in moderate or vigorous physical activity. Antidepressant users were more likely to use a computer for ≥2 h/day (OR 1.77; 95% CI: 1.09-2.90), but TV watching was similar between the two groups. These results suggest increased energy intake and sedentary behavior may contribute to weight gain associated with antidepressant use. Focusing on limiting food intake and sedentary behaviors may be important in mitigating the weight gain associated with antidepressant use.

Antidepressant Use is Associated with Increased Energy Intake and Similar Levels of Physical Activity

PubMed Central

Jensen-Otsu, Elsbeth; Austin, Gregory L.

2015-01-01

Antidepressants have been associated with weight gain, but the causes are unclear. The aims of this study were to assess the association of antidepressant use with energy intake, macronutrient diet composition, and physical activity. We used data on medication use, energy intake, diet composition, and physical activity for 3073 eligible adults from the 2005–2006 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). Potential confounding variables, including depression symptoms, were included in the models assessing energy intake, physical activity, and sedentary behavior. Antidepressant users reported consuming an additional (mean ± S.E.) 215 ± 73 kcal/day compared to non-users (p = 0.01). There were no differences in percent calories from sugar, fat, or alcohol between the two groups. Antidepressant users had similar frequencies of walking or biking, engaging in muscle-strengthening activities, and engaging in moderate or vigorous physical activity. Antidepressant users were more likely to use a computer for ≥2 h/day (OR 1.77; 95% CI: 1.09–2.90), but TV watching was similar between the two groups. These results suggest increased energy intake and sedentary behavior may contribute to weight gain associated with antidepressant use. Focusing on limiting food intake and sedentary behaviors may be important in mitigating the weight gain associated with antidepressant use. PMID:26610562

Marathon Group Therapy with Former Drug Users.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Page, Richard C.; Mannion, John

1980-01-01

Discusses the effects of marathon group therapy on attitudes of former drug users in a residential drug treatment center. Experimental group members responded higher on the group counseling evaluative subscale and lower on the guilt evaluative subscale than control members. (Author)

Slycat™ User Manual

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

Crossno, Patricia J.; Gittinger, Jaxon; Hunt, Warren L.

Slycat™ is a web-based system for performing data analysis and visualization of potentially large quantities of remote, high-dimensional data. Slycat™ specializes in working with ensemble data. An ensemble is a group of related data sets, which typically consists of a set of simulation runs exploring the same problem space. An ensemble can be thought of as a set of samples within a multi-variate domain, where each sample is a vector whose value defines a point in high-dimensional space. To understand and describe the underlying problem being modeled in the simulations, ensemble analysis looks for shared behaviors and common features acrossmore » the group of runs. Additionally, ensemble analysis tries to quantify differences found in any members that deviate from the rest of the group. The Slycat™ system integrates data management, scalable analysis, and visualization. Results are viewed remotely on a user’s desktop via commodity web clients using a multi-tiered hierarchy of computation and data storage, as shown in Figure 1. Our goal is to operate on data as close to the source as possible, thereby reducing time and storage costs associated with data movement. Consequently, we are working to develop parallel analysis capabilities that operate on High Performance Computing (HPC) platforms, to explore approaches for reducing data size, and to implement strategies for staging computation across the Slycat™ hierarchy. Within Slycat™, data and visual analysis are organized around projects, which are shared by a project team. Project members are explicitly added, each with a designated set of permissions. Although users sign-in to access Slycat™, individual accounts are not maintained. Instead, authentication is used to determine project access. Within projects, Slycat™ models capture analysis results and enable data exploration through various visual representations. Although for scientists each simulation run is a model of real-world phenomena given certain conditions, we use the term model to refer to our modeling of the ensemble data, not the physics. Different model types often provide complementary perspectives on data features when analyzing the same data set. Each model visualizes data at several levels of abstraction, allowing the user to range from viewing the ensemble holistically to accessing numeric parameter values for a single run. Bookmarks provide a mechanism for sharing results, enabling interesting model states to be labeled and saved.« less

Open semantic annotation of scientific publications using DOMEO.

PubMed

Ciccarese, Paolo; Ocana, Marco; Clark, Tim

2012-04-24

Our group has developed a useful shared software framework for performing, versioning, sharing and viewing Web annotations of a number of kinds, using an open representation model. The Domeo Annotation Tool was developed in tandem with this open model, the Annotation Ontology (AO). Development of both the Annotation Framework and the open model was driven by requirements of several different types of alpha users, including bench scientists and biomedical curators from university research labs, online scientific communities, publishing and pharmaceutical companies.Several use cases were incrementally implemented by the toolkit. These use cases in biomedical communications include personal note-taking, group document annotation, semantic tagging, claim-evidence-context extraction, reagent tagging, and curation of textmining results from entity extraction algorithms. We report on the Domeo user interface here. Domeo has been deployed in beta release as part of the NIH Neuroscience Information Framework (NIF, http://www.neuinfo.org) and is scheduled for production deployment in the NIF's next full release.Future papers will describe other aspects of this work in detail, including Annotation Framework Services and components for integrating with external textmining services, such as the NCBO Annotator web service, and with other textmining applications using the Apache UIMA framework.

Open semantic annotation of scientific publications using DOMEO

PubMed Central

2012-01-01

Background Our group has developed a useful shared software framework for performing, versioning, sharing and viewing Web annotations of a number of kinds, using an open representation model. Methods The Domeo Annotation Tool was developed in tandem with this open model, the Annotation Ontology (AO). Development of both the Annotation Framework and the open model was driven by requirements of several different types of alpha users, including bench scientists and biomedical curators from university research labs, online scientific communities, publishing and pharmaceutical companies. Several use cases were incrementally implemented by the toolkit. These use cases in biomedical communications include personal note-taking, group document annotation, semantic tagging, claim-evidence-context extraction, reagent tagging, and curation of textmining results from entity extraction algorithms. Results We report on the Domeo user interface here. Domeo has been deployed in beta release as part of the NIH Neuroscience Information Framework (NIF, http://www.neuinfo.org) and is scheduled for production deployment in the NIF’s next full release. Future papers will describe other aspects of this work in detail, including Annotation Framework Services and components for integrating with external textmining services, such as the NCBO Annotator web service, and with other textmining applications using the Apache UIMA framework. PMID:22541592

Workshop on Models for Plasma Spectroscopy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

1993-09-01

A meeting was held at St. Johns College, Oxford from Monday 27th to Thursday 30th of September 1993 to bring together a group of physicists working on computational modelling of plasma spectroscopy. The group came from the UK, France, Israel and the USA. The meeting was organized by myself, Dr. Steven Rose of RAL and Dr. R.W. Lee of LLNL. It was funded by the U.S. European Office of Aerospace Research and Development and by LLNL. The meeting grew out of a wish by a group of core participants to make available to practicing plasma physicists (particularly those engaged in the design and analysis of experiments) sophisticated numerical models of plasma physics. Additional plasma physicists attended the meeting in Oxford by invitation. These were experimentalists and users of plasma physics simulation codes whose input to the meeting was to advise the core group as to what was really needed.

Comparison of subjective wellbeing in substance users and the parents or partners of substance users.

PubMed

Tait, Robert J

2018-04-01

There is growing interest in the impact of substance use on both the individual consumer's subjective wellbeing (SWB) and the reduced SWB of those closely connected to him or her. The study aimed to compare SWB among substance users ('consumers') and the parents or partners affected by another's substance use, and to evaluate the effect of counselling on changed SWB to 6 months. The study used longitudinal data from a not-for-profit treatment service based in Perth, Australia. Subjective wellbeing was assessed with the Personal Wellbeing Index (PWI) at baseline and 6 months. Data were compared to national norms (mean 75.97) with one sample t tests. Change in PWI scores was assessed with generalised linear mixed models, controlling for age, gender, group (consumers versus parents or partners), psychological distress (Kessler-10) and social connectedness (Lubben). Of 220 participants, 136 (62%) were consumers and 84 (38%) were parents or partners. At 6 months 123 (56%) were re-interviewed. At baseline, both consumers (mean 53.7) and parents or partners (mean 66.1) had significantly lower PWI scores than national norms. At 6 months, only the substance users' PWI scores remained significantly lower (mean 67.8). Subjective wellbeing significantly increased with time (β = 5.52; 95% confidence interval 3.15, 7.90), with no significant time by group interaction. Both groups showed significant decrements in SWB compared with the general population but with improvements over the study period. However, the lack of a control group prevents definitive assertions on causality for improved SWB. © 2017 Australasian Professional Society on Alcohol and other Drugs.

Trusted Autonomy: Concept Development in Technology Foresight

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-09-01

executing the response . UNCLASSIFIED 19 UNCLASSIFIED DST-Group-TR-3153 UNCLASSIFIED 20 Previous models explored autonomy through the lenses of...w /users to leam to tackle complex problems Robots are able to intanalise and use world models Controllers have multiple modules based on leru.ning...technology across society. It aims to describe usage or uptake, and evolving trends, in technological development over time. Through doing so, it seeks to

Healthcare costs and utilization associated with high-risk prescription opioid use: a retrospective cohort study.

PubMed

Chang, Hsien-Yen; Kharrazi, Hadi; Bodycombe, Dave; Weiner, Jonathan P; Alexander, G Caleb

2018-05-16

Previous studies on high-risk opioid use have only focused on patients diagnosed with an opioid disorder. This study evaluates the impact of various high-risk prescription opioid use groups on healthcare costs and utilization. This is a retrospective cohort study using QuintilesIMS health plan claims with independent variables from 2012 and outcomes from 2013. We included a population-based sample of 191,405 non-elderly adults with known sex, one or more opioid prescriptions, and continuous enrollment in 2012 and 2013. Three high-risk opioid use groups were identified in 2012 as (1) persons with 100+ morphine milligram equivalents per day for 90+ consecutive days (chronic users); (2) persons with 30+ days of concomitant opioid and benzodiazepine use (concomitant users); and (3) individuals diagnosed with an opioid use disorder. The length of time that a person had been characterized as a high-risk user was measured. Three healthcare costs (total, medical, and pharmacy costs) and four binary utilization indicators (the top 5% total cost users, the top 5% pharmacy cost users, any hospitalization, and any emergency department visit) derived from 2013 were outcomes. We applied a generalized linear model (GLM) with a log-link function and gamma distribution for costs while logistic regression was employed for utilization indicators. We also adopted propensity score weighting to control for the baseline differences between high-risk and non-high-risk opioid users. Of individuals with one or more opioid prescription, 1.45% were chronic users, 4.81% were concomitant users, and 0.94% were diagnosed as having an opioid use disorder. After adjustment and propensity score weighting, chronic users had statistically significant higher prospective total (40%), medical (3%), and pharmacy (172%) costs. The increases in total, medical, and pharmacy costs associated with concomitant users were 13%, 7%, and 41%, and 28%, 21% and 63% for users with a diagnosed opioid use disorder. Both total and pharmacy costs increased with the length of time characterized as high-risk users, with the increase being statistically significant. Only concomitant users were associated with a higher odds of hospitalization or emergency department use. Individuals with high-risk prescription opioid use have significantly higher healthcare costs and utilization than their counterparts, especially those with chronic high-dose opioid use.

Conical-Domain Model for Estimating GPS Ionospheric Delays

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sparks, Lawrence; Komjathy, Attila; Mannucci, Anthony

2009-01-01

The conical-domain model is a computational model, now undergoing development, for estimating ionospheric delays of Global Positioning System (GPS) signals. Relative to the standard ionospheric delay model described below, the conical-domain model offers improved accuracy. In the absence of selective availability, the ionosphere is the largest source of error for single-frequency users of GPS. Because ionospheric signal delays contribute to errors in GPS position and time measurements, satellite-based augmentation systems (SBASs) have been designed to estimate these delays and broadcast corrections. Several national and international SBASs are currently in various stages of development to enhance the integrity and accuracy of GPS measurements for airline navigation. In the Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS) of the United States, slant ionospheric delay errors and confidence bounds are derived from estimates of vertical ionospheric delay modeled on a grid at regularly spaced intervals of latitude and longitude. The estimate of vertical delay at each ionospheric grid point (IGP) is calculated from a planar fit of neighboring slant delay measurements, projected to vertical using a standard, thin-shell model of the ionosphere. Interpolation on the WAAS grid enables estimation of the vertical delay at the ionospheric pierce point (IPP) corresponding to any arbitrary measurement of a user. (The IPP of a given user s measurement is the point where the GPS signal ray path intersects a reference ionospheric height.) The product of the interpolated value and the user s thin-shell obliquity factor provides an estimate of the user s ionospheric slant delay. Two types of error that restrict the accuracy of the thin-shell model are absent in the conical domain model: (1) error due to the implicit assumption that the electron density is independent of the azimuthal angle at the IPP and (2) error arising from the slant-to-vertical conversion. At low latitudes or at mid-latitudes under disturbed conditions, the accuracy of SBAS systems based upon the thin-shell model suffers due to the presence of complex ionospheric structure, high delay values, and large electron density gradients. Interpolation on the vertical delay grid serves as an additional source of delay error. The conical-domain model permits direct computation of the user s slant delay estimate without the intervening use of a vertical delay grid. The key is to restrict each fit of GPS measurements to a spatial domain encompassing signals from only one satellite. The conical domain model is so named because each fit involves a group of GPS receivers that all receive signals from the same GPS satellite (see figure); the receiver and satellite positions define a cone, the satellite position being the vertex. A user within a given cone evaluates the delay to the satellite directly, using (1) the IPP coordinates of the line of sight to the satellite and (2) broadcast fit parameters associated with the cone. The conical-domain model partly resembles the thin-shell model in that both models reduce an inherently four-dimensional problem to two dimensions. However, unlike the thin-shell model, the conical domain model does not involve any potentially erroneous simplifying assumptions about the structure of the ionosphere. In the conical domain model, the initially four-dimensional problem becomes truly two-dimensional in the sense that once a satellite location has been specified, any signal path emanating from a satellite can be identified by only two coordinates; for example, the IPP coordinates. As a consequence, a user s slant-delay estimate converges to the correct value in the limit that the receivers converge to the user s location (or, equivalently, in the limit that the measurement IPPs converge to the user s IPP).

Open Burn/Open Detonation Dispersion Model (OBODM) User’s Guide. Volume I. User’s Instructions

DTIC Science & Technology

1998-02-01

Fuel/Expl6sives Data Base File OBODFUEL.OBD ...... 51 4.9 SIGMAPLOT File Format and Contents ...... .............. .. 106 4.10 Grid Coordinates and...135.2 0.9391 0 2.95E-07 trans-2-Butene 125.0 1.1830 0 1.97E-07 Propellant, PBXN -110 1000 0 44 1,2,4-Trimethylbenzene 120.2 0.8758 0 4.25E-07 1,2,4...Calculation height, if applicable 106 The solution data follow and depend on the output options selected. The following record group is written only if N

Synthesis of User Needs for Arctic Sea Ice Predictions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wiggins, H. V.; Turner-Bogren, E. J.; Sheffield Guy, L.

2017-12-01

Forecasting Arctic sea ice on sub-seasonal to seasonal scales in a changing Arctic is of interest to a diverse range of stakeholders. However, sea ice forecasting is still challenging due to high variability in weather and ocean conditions and limits to prediction capabilities; the science needs for observations and modeling are extensive. At a time of challenged science funding, one way to prioritize sea ice prediction efforts is to examine the information needs of various stakeholder groups. This poster will present a summary and synthesis of existing surveys, reports, and other literature that examines user needs for sea ice predictions. The synthesis will include lessons learned from the Sea Ice Prediction Network (a collaborative, multi-agency-funded project focused on seasonal Arctic sea ice predictions), the Sea Ice for Walrus Outlook (a resource for Alaska Native subsistence hunters and coastal communities, that provides reports on weather and sea ice conditions), and other efforts. The poster will specifically compare the scales and variables of sea ice forecasts currently available, as compared to what information is requested by various user groups.

[Intelligent videosurveillance and falls detection: Perceptions of professionals and managers].

PubMed

Lapierre, Nolwenn; Carpentier, Isabelle; St-Arnaud, Alain; Ducharme, Francine; Meunier, Jean; Jobidon, Mireille; Rousseau, Jacqueline

2016-02-01

Gerontechnologies can be used to detect accidental falls. However, existing systems do not entirely meet users' expectations. Our team developed an intelligent video-monitoring systems to fill these gaps. Authors advocate consulting potential users at the early stages of the design of gerontechnologies and integrating their suggestions. This study aims to explore health care workers' opinion regarding the intelligent video monitoring to detect falls by older adults living at home. This qualitative study explored the opinions of 31 participants using focus groups. Transcripts were analyzed using predetermined codes based on the competence model. Participants reported several advantages for using the intelligent video monitoring and provided suggestions for improving its use. The participants' suggestions and comments will help to improve the system and match it to users' needs. © CAOT 2015.

Online Tools for Astronomy and Cosmochemistry

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Meyer, B. S.

2005-01-01

Over the past year, the Webnucleo Group at Clemson University has been developing a web site with a number of interactive online tools for astronomy and cosmochemistry applications. The site uses SHP (Simplified Hypertext Preprocessor), which, because of its flexibility, allows us to embed almost any computer language into our web pages. For a description of SHP, please see http://www.joeldenny.com/ At our web site, an internet user may mine large and complex data sets, such as our stellar evolution models, and make graphs or tables of the results. The user may also run some of our detailed nuclear physics and astrophysics codes, such as our nuclear statistical equilibrium code, which is written in fortran and C. Again, the user may make graphs and tables and download the results.

A Case-Control Study of Oral Epithelial Proliferative Markers among Sudanese Toombak Dippers Using Micronuclei Assay, Argyrophilic Nucleolar Organizer Region, Papanicolaou and Crystal Violet Methods

PubMed Central

Anass, M. Abbas; G. Ahmed, Hussain

2013-01-01

The use of Toombak has been reported to play a major role in the etiology of oral cancer in Sudan. The cellular proliferative activity on the oral epithelium of 210 Toombak dippers was assessed by applying the micronuclei frequency, mean argyrophilic nucleolar organizer region (AgNOR) counts, Papanicolaou method, and 1% crystal violet stain. Participants were divided into 3 groups: 200 were apparently healthy individuals, 100 were Toombak users (cases), 100 were non-tobacco users (control) and 10 were patients with oral squamous cell carcinomas. Cytological atypia was identified among 4 (4%). Toombak users and was not found among the control group (P<0.04). The micronuclei frequencies were higher in Toombak users (1.026) than in the control group (0.356) (P<0.0001). The mean AgNOR counts in Toombak users (2.423) were higher than control group (1.303) (P<0.0001). Neither Toombak users nor control group showed mitotic figures in 1% crystal violet method. The results of this research showed that Toombak dipping is a high risk factor for increase in the cellular proliferation in the oral mucosa. The cytological proliferative marker methods used are useful for screening Toombak users. PMID:24179643

Comparison of seating, powered characteristics and functions and costs of electrically powered wheelchairs in a general population of users.

PubMed

Dolan, Michael John; Bolton, Megan Jennifer; Henderson, Graham Iain

2017-10-26

To profile and compare the seating and powered characteristics and functions of electrically powered wheelchairs (EPWs) in a general user population including equipment costs. Case notes of adult EPW users of a regional NHS service were reviewed retrospectively. Seating equipment complexity and type were categorized using the Edinburgh classification. Powered characteristics and functions, including control device type, were recorded. 482 cases were included; 53.9% female; mean duration EPW use 8.1 years (SD 7.4); rear wheel drive 88.0%; hand joystick 94.8%. Seating complexity: low 73.2%, medium 18.0%, high 8.7%. Most prevalent diagnoses: multiple sclerosis (MS) 25.3%, cerebral palsy (CP) 18.7%, muscular dystrophy (8.5%). Compared to CP users, MS users were significantly older at first use, less experienced, more likely to have mid-wheel drive and less complex seating. Additional costs for muscular dystrophy and spinal cord injury users were 3-4 times stroke users. This is the first large study of a general EPW user population using a seating classification. Significant differences were found between diagnostic groups; nevertheless, there was also high diversity within each group. The differences in provision and the equipment costs across diagnostic groups can be used to improve service planning. Implications for Rehabilitation At a service planning level, knowledge of a population's diagnostic group and age distribution can be used to inform decisions about the number of required EPWs and equipment costs. At a user level, purchasing decisions about powered characteristics and functions of EPWs and specialised seating equipment need to be taken on a case by case basis because of the diversity of users' needs within diagnostic groups. The additional equipment costs for SCI and MD users are several times those of stroke users and add between 60 and 70% of the cost of basic provision.

Results of a quantitative survey to explore both perceptions of the purposes of follow-up and preferences for methods of follow-up delivery among service users, primary care practitioners and specialist clinicians after cancer treatment.

PubMed

Frew, G; Smith, A; Zutshi, B; Young, N; Aggarwal, A; Jones, P; Kockelbergh, R; Richards, M; Maher, E J

2010-12-01

To ascertain perceptions of reasons for follow-up after cancer treatment among service users (patients and carers), primary care practitioners and specialist clinicians (doctors and specialist nurses) and to identify levels of preference for different models of follow-up and the effect of an individual's experience on preferred models. A national survey designed to meet the needs of each key respondent group was carried out after a structured literature review, an extensive consultation process and a pilot scheme. Respondents were asked to assess their degree of preference for 10 pre-selected indications for follow-up. Eight models of follow-up were also identified and respondents were asked to state their experience and preference for each type. The questionnaire was distributed nationally via the 34 cancer networks in England and was available both online and in hard copy (postal). The uptake for the electronic format was in the main by primary care practitioners and specialist clinicians. Service users preferred the paper (postal) format. The survey was also publicised through the primary care and patient partnership forums at a Cancer Network Development event. In total, 2928 responses were received, comprising service users (21% of the sample), primary care practitioners (32%) and specialist clinicians (47%). Eighty-six per cent of responses were received from the 10 strategic health authorities in England, with the remaining 14% from Scotland, Wales and The Isle of Man. The responses from Scotland, Wales and the Isle of Man generally occurred where they interfaced with English cancer networks or had been engaged through word of mouth by colleagues. Among all respondents the main aims of cancer follow-up were considered to be: (1) to monitor for early complications after treatment; (2) to detect recurrences early; (3) to detect late effects of treatment. The most commonly experienced method of follow-up among all respondent groups was outpatient review with a doctor. This was considered to be the most preferred follow-up option among service users (86%). The least preferred option among service users was postal follow-up (32%). Primary care practitioners and specialist clinicians were more likely than service users to have experienced alternative methods of follow-up, such as telephone follow-up, self-triggered referral and non-specialist follow-up. These models were highly rated by those who had experience of them. There was a reasonable level of consensus between service users, primary care practitioners and specialist clinicians as to the reasons for follow-up. Service users seemed to have higher expectations of follow-up, particularly in relation to detecting recurrences early. As respondents were more likely to prefer a method of follow-up delivery that they had experienced than one they had not; there could be resistance to change from established methods to new methods without adequate explanation. This suggests that the communication of new methods could be critical to their successful introduction. Copyright © 2010 The Royal College of Radiologists. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Perinatal Outcomes in Pregnant Women Users of Illegal Drugs.

PubMed

Oliveira, Tenilson Amaral; Bersusa, Ana Aparecida Sanches; Santos, Tatiana Fiorelli Dos; Aquino, Márcia Maria Auxiliadora de; Mariani Neto, Corintio

2016-04-01

Objective The purpose of this study was to evaluate the perinatal outcomes in pregnant women who use illicit drugs. Methods A retrospective observational study of patients who, at the time of delivery, were sent to or who spontaneously sought a public maternity hospital in the eastern area of São Paulo city. We compared the perinatal outcomes of two distinct groups of pregnant women - illicit drugs users and non-users - that gave birth in the same period and analyzed the obstetric and neonatal variables. We used Student's t-test to calculate the averages among the groups, and the Chi-square test or Fisher's exact test to compare categorical data from each group. Results We analyzed 166 women (83 users and 83 non-users) in both groups with a mean of age of 26 years. Ninety-five percent of the drug users would use crack or pure cocaine alone or associated with other psychoactive substances during pregnancy. Approximately half of the users group made no prenatal visit, compared with 2.4% in the non-users group (p < 0.001). Low birth weight (2,620 g versus 3,333 g on average, p < 0.001) and maternal syphilis (15.7% versus 0%, p < 0.001) were associated with the use of these illicit drugs. Conclusions The use of illicit drugs, mainly crack cocaine, represents an important perinatal risk. Any medical intervention in this population should combine adherence to prenatal care with strategies for reducing maternal exposure to illicit drugs. Thieme Publicações Ltda Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Evaluation of a co-delivered training package for community mental health professionals on service user- and carer-involved care planning.

PubMed

Grundy, A C; Walker, L; Meade, O; Fraser, C; Cree, L; Bee, P; Lovell, K; Callaghan, P

2017-08-01

WHAT IS KNOWN ON THE SUBJECT?: There is consistent evidence that service users and carers feel marginalized in the process of mental health care planning. Mental health professionals have identified ongoing training needs in relation to involving service users and carers in care planning. There is limited research on the acceptability of training packages for mental health professionals which involve service users and carers as co-facilitators. WHAT DOES THIS PAPER ADD TO EXISTING KNOWLEDGE?: A co-produced and co-delivered training package on service user- and carer-involved care planning was acceptable to mental health professionals. Aspects of the training that were particularly valued were the co-production model, small group discussion and the opportunity for reflective practice. The organizational context of care planning may need more consideration in future training models. WHAT ARE THE IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE?: Mental health nurses using co-production models of delivering training to other mental health professionals can be confident that such initiatives will be warmly welcomed, acceptable and engaging. On the basis of the results reported here, we encourage mental health nurses to use co-production approaches more often. Further research will show how clinically effective this training is in improving outcomes for service users and carers. Background There is limited evidence for the acceptability of training for mental health professionals on service user- and carer-involved care planning. Aim To investigate the acceptability of a co-delivered, two-day training intervention on service user- and carer-involved care planning. Methods Community mental health professionals were invited to complete the Training Acceptability Rating Scale post-training. Responses to the quantitative items were summarized using descriptive statistics (Miles, ), and qualitative responses were coded using content analysis (Weber, ). Results Of 350 trainees, 310 completed the questionnaire. The trainees rated the training favourably (median overall TARS scores = 56/63; median 'acceptability' score = 34/36; median 'perceived impact' score = 22/27). There were six qualitative themes: the value of the co-production model; time to reflect on practice; delivery preferences; comprehensiveness of content; need to consider organizational context; and emotional response. Discussion The training was found to be acceptable and comprehensive with participants valuing the co-production model. Individual differences were apparent in terms of delivery preferences and emotional reactions. There may be a need to further address the organizational context of care planning in future training. Implications for practice Mental health nurses should use co-production models of continuing professional development training that involve service users and carers as co-facilitators. © 2017 The Authors. Journal of Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Cognitive Functioning of Adolescent and Young Adult Cannabis Users in the Philadelphia Neurodevelopmental Cohort

PubMed Central

Scott, J. Cobb; Wolf, Daniel H.; Calkins, Monica E.; Bach, Emily C.; Weidner, Jennifer; Ruparel, Kosha; Moore, Tyler M.; Jones, Jason D.; Jackson, Chad T.; Gur, Raquel E.; Gur, Ruben C.

2017-01-01

Cannabis use in youth is rising and has been linked to deficits in cognitive functioning. However, cognitive findings have primarily been based on small samples of users seeking treatment, and few studies have evaluated cognition in occasional cannabis users. Here, we examined 4,568 adolescents and young adults (ages 14–21) drawn from the Philadelphia Neurodevelopmental Cohort, a prospective, population-based study. Participants were classified as cannabis Non-Users (n=3,401), Occasional Users (twice per week or less; n=940), or Frequent Users (>3 times per week; n=227). Mixed-model analyses examined main effects of cannabis use and interactions between age and cannabis use on cognitive functioning. There was a significant interaction between cannabis group and age, such that adolescent (but not young adult) Frequent Users performed worse than Non-Users on measures of executive control (p=0.002). Earlier age of cannabis use was associated with worse performance in executive control in Occasional Users (p=0.04). Unexpectedly, Occasional Users exhibited better executive control, memory, and social cognition than Non-Users (ps<.05). Although mild executive control deficits in adolescent frequent users and a relation between early cannabis initiation and cognitive performance are partially consistent with prior research, cognitive deficits were not found in other hypothesized domains in this community-based sample. Moreover, occasional cannabis users displayed equivalent or even slightly better executive control, social cognitive, and memory abilities compared to non-users, suggesting complex relationships between cannabis use and cognition in youth. Longitudinal studies with community samples are needed to identify variables affecting risk and resilience to cognitive deficits associated with cannabis. PMID:28414475

EEG and MEG data analysis in SPM8.

PubMed

Litvak, Vladimir; Mattout, Jérémie; Kiebel, Stefan; Phillips, Christophe; Henson, Richard; Kilner, James; Barnes, Gareth; Oostenveld, Robert; Daunizeau, Jean; Flandin, Guillaume; Penny, Will; Friston, Karl

2011-01-01

SPM is a free and open source software written in MATLAB (The MathWorks, Inc.). In addition to standard M/EEG preprocessing, we presently offer three main analysis tools: (i) statistical analysis of scalp-maps, time-frequency images, and volumetric 3D source reconstruction images based on the general linear model, with correction for multiple comparisons using random field theory; (ii) Bayesian M/EEG source reconstruction, including support for group studies, simultaneous EEG and MEG, and fMRI priors; (iii) dynamic causal modelling (DCM), an approach combining neural modelling with data analysis for which there are several variants dealing with evoked responses, steady state responses (power spectra and cross-spectra), induced responses, and phase coupling. SPM8 is integrated with the FieldTrip toolbox , making it possible for users to combine a variety of standard analysis methods with new schemes implemented in SPM and build custom analysis tools using powerful graphical user interface (GUI) and batching tools.

SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGICAL DYNAMICS OF ENHANCED HIV RISK REDUCTION AMONG PEER INTERVENTIONISTS

PubMed Central

Dickson-Gomez, Julia; Weeks, Margaret R.; Convey, Mark; Li, Jianghong

2014-01-01

The authors present a model of interactive social psychological and relational feedback processes leading to human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) risk reduction behavior change among active drug users trained as Peer Health Advocates (PHAs). The model is supported by data from qualitative interviews with PHAs and members of their drug-using networks in the Risk Avoidance Partnership (RAP) project. Results suggest three mutually reinforcing social psychological processes that motivate PHAs to provide HIV prevention intervention to their peers and to reduce their own risk behaviors: development of a prosocial identity, positive social reinforcement from drug users and community members, and cognitive dissonance associated with continued risk behavior while engaging in health advocacy. These processes directly influence peer interventionists’ motivation and efficacy to continue giving intervention to their peers, and to reduce their HIV risk behaviors. The authors discuss implications of the model for continued research on effective HIV prevention in high-risk groups. PMID:25414528

EEG and MEG Data Analysis in SPM8

PubMed Central

Litvak, Vladimir; Mattout, Jérémie; Kiebel, Stefan; Phillips, Christophe; Henson, Richard; Kilner, James; Barnes, Gareth; Oostenveld, Robert; Daunizeau, Jean; Flandin, Guillaume; Penny, Will; Friston, Karl

2011-01-01

SPM is a free and open source software written in MATLAB (The MathWorks, Inc.). In addition to standard M/EEG preprocessing, we presently offer three main analysis tools: (i) statistical analysis of scalp-maps, time-frequency images, and volumetric 3D source reconstruction images based on the general linear model, with correction for multiple comparisons using random field theory; (ii) Bayesian M/EEG source reconstruction, including support for group studies, simultaneous EEG and MEG, and fMRI priors; (iii) dynamic causal modelling (DCM), an approach combining neural modelling with data analysis for which there are several variants dealing with evoked responses, steady state responses (power spectra and cross-spectra), induced responses, and phase coupling. SPM8 is integrated with the FieldTrip toolbox , making it possible for users to combine a variety of standard analysis methods with new schemes implemented in SPM and build custom analysis tools using powerful graphical user interface (GUI) and batching tools. PMID:21437221

Larger Gray Matter Volume in the Basal Ganglia of Heavy Cannabis Users Detected by Voxel-Based Morphometry and Subcortical Volumetric Analysis.

PubMed

Moreno-Alcázar, Ana; Gonzalvo, Begoña; Canales-Rodríguez, Erick J; Blanco, Laura; Bachiller, Diana; Romaguera, Anna; Monté-Rubio, Gemma C; Roncero, Carlos; McKenna, Peter J; Pomarol-Clotet, Edith

2018-01-01

Background: Structural imaging studies of cannabis users have found evidence of both cortical and subcortical volume reductions, especially in cannabinoid receptor-rich regions such as the hippocampus and amygdala. However, the findings have not been consistent. In the present study, we examined a sample of adult heavy cannabis users without other substance abuse to determine whether long-term use is associated with brain structural changes, especially in the subcortical regions. Method: We compared the gray matter volume of 14 long-term, heavy cannabis users with non-using controls. To provide robust findings, we conducted two separate studies using two different MRI techniques. Each study used the same sample of cannabis users and a different control group, respectively. Both control groups were independent of each other. First, whole-brain voxel-based morphometry (VBM) was used to compare the cannabis users against 28 matched controls (HC1 group). Second, a volumetric analysis of subcortical regions was performed to assess differences between the cannabis users and a sample of 100 matched controls (HC2 group) obtained from a local database of healthy volunteers. Results: The VBM study revealed that, compared to the control group HC1, the cannabis users did not show cortical differences nor smaller volume in any subcortical structure but showed a cluster ( p < 0.001) of larger GM volume in the basal ganglia, involving the caudate, putamen, pallidum, and nucleus accumbens, bilaterally. The subcortical volumetric analysis revealed that, compared to the control group HC2, the cannabis users showed significantly larger volumes in the putamen ( p = 0.001) and pallidum ( p = 0.0015). Subtle trends, only significant at the uncorrected level, were also found in the caudate ( p = 0.05) and nucleus accumbens ( p = 0.047). Conclusions: This study does not support previous findings of hippocampal and/or amygdala structural changes in long-term, heavy cannabis users. It does, however, provide evidence of basal ganglia volume increases.

Modeling confirmation bias and polarization

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Del Vicario, Michela; Scala, Antonio; Caldarelli, Guido; Stanley, H. Eugene; Quattrociocchi, Walter

2017-01-01

Online users tend to select claims that adhere to their system of beliefs and to ignore dissenting information. Confirmation bias, indeed, plays a pivotal role in viral phenomena. Furthermore, the wide availability of content on the web fosters the aggregation of likeminded people where debates tend to enforce group polarization. Such a configuration might alter the public debate and thus the formation of the public opinion. In this paper we provide a mathematical model to study online social debates and the related polarization dynamics. We assume the basic updating rule of the Bounded Confidence Model (BCM) and we develop two variations a) the Rewire with Bounded Confidence Model (RBCM), in which discordant links are broken until convergence is reached; and b) the Unbounded Confidence Model, under which the interaction among discordant pairs of users is allowed even with a negative feedback, either with the rewiring step (RUCM) or without it (UCM). From numerical simulations we find that the new models (UCM and RUCM), unlike the BCM, are able to explain the coexistence of two stable final opinions, often observed in reality. Lastly, we present a mean field approximation of the newly introduced models.

Graph State-Based Quantum Group Authentication Scheme

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liao, Longxia; Peng, Xiaoqi; Shi, Jinjing; Guo, Ying

2017-02-01

Motivated by the elegant structure of the graph state, we design an ingenious quantum group authentication scheme, which is implemented by operating appropriate operations on the graph state and can solve the problem of multi-user authentication. Three entities, the group authentication server (GAS) as a verifier, multiple users as provers and the trusted third party Trent are included. GAS and Trent assist the multiple users in completing the authentication process, i.e., GAS is responsible for registering all the users while Trent prepares graph states. All the users, who request for authentication, encode their authentication keys on to the graph state by performing Pauli operators. It demonstrates that a novel authentication scheme can be achieved with the flexible use of graph state, which can synchronously authenticate a large number of users, meanwhile the provable security can be guaranteed definitely.

Feasibility and effectiveness of a combined individual and psychoeducational group intervention in psychiatric residential facilities: A controlled, non-randomized study.

PubMed

Magliano, Lorenza; Puviani, Marta; Rega, Sonia; Marchesini, Nadia; Rossetti, Marisa; Starace, Fabrizio

2016-01-30

This controlled, non-randomized study explored the feasibility of introducing a Combined Individual and Group Intervention (CIGI) for users with mental disorders in residential facilities, and tested whether users who received the CIGI had better functioning than users who received the Treatment-As-Usual (TAU), at two-year follow up. In the CIGI, a structured cognitivebehavioral approach called VADO (in English, Skills Assessment and Definition of Goals) was used to set specific goals with each user, while Falloon's psychoeducational treatment was applied with the users as a group. Thirty-one professionals attended a training course in CIGI, open to users' voluntary participation, and applied it for two years with all users living in 8 residential facilities of the Mental Health Department of Modena, Italy. In the same department, 5 other residential facilities providing TAU were used as controls. ANOVA for repeated measures showed a significant interaction effect between users' functioning at baseline and follow up assessments, and the intervention. In particular, change in global functioning was higher in the 55 CIGI users than in the 44 TAU users. These results suggest that CIGI can be successfully introduced in residential facilities and may be useful to improve functioning in users with severe mental disorders. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd.

Formation of an environmental restoration user group for radiological controls

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

Morris, R.L.

1993-12-31

An Environmental Restoration User Group for Radiological Controls will be proposed. Article 116 of the Radiological Control Manual encourages contractors to establish informal working associations that promote dialogue among similar facilities. Chem-Nuclear Geotech, Inc., is willing to initially organize and lead a users group to work on common problems, define standard methods, publish a Radiological Work Practices Handbook, and recommend regulatory changes to make environmental restoration programs more cost effective without compromising radiological control. A charter for the users group will be proposed. A questionnaire will be distributed to interested persons to assist in development of focus groups and agendamore » items for the first meeting. The first meeting is planned for May 25-26, 1993, in Grand Junction Colorado. All interested persons are welcome to attend.« less

User Modeling in Adaptive Hypermedia Educational Systems

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Martins, Antonio Constantino; Faria, Luiz; Vaz de Carvalho, Carlos; Carrapatoso, Eurico

2008-01-01

This document is a survey in the research area of User Modeling (UM) for the specific field of Adaptive Learning. The aims of this document are: To define what it is a User Model; To present existing and well known User Models; To analyze the existent standards related with UM; To compare existing systems. In the scientific area of User Modeling…

Impaired arterial smooth muscle cell vasodilatory function in methamphetamine users.

PubMed

Nabaei, Ghaemeh; Oveisgharan, Shahram; Ghorbani, Askar; Fatehi, Farzad

2016-11-15

Methamphetamine use is a strong risk factor for stroke. This study was designed to evaluate arterial function and structure in methamphetamine users ultrasonographically. In a cross-sectional study, 20 methamphetamine users and 21 controls, aged between 20 and 40years, were enrolled. Common carotid artery intima-media thickness (CCA-IMT) marker of early atherogenesis, flow-mediated dilatation (FMD) determinants of endothelium-dependent vasodilation, and nitroglycerine-mediated dilatation (NMD) independent marker of vasodilation were measured in two groups. There were no significant differences between the two groups regarding demographic and metabolic characteristics. The mean (±SD) CCA-IMT in methamphetamine users was 0.58±0.09mm, versus 0.59±0.07mm in the controls (p=0.84). Likewise, FMD% was not significantly different between the two groups [7.6±6.1% in methamphetamine users vs. 8.2±5.1% in the controls; p=0.72], nor were peak flow and shear rate after hyperemia. However, NMD% was considerably decreased in the methamphetamine users [8.5±7.8% in methamphetamine users vs. 13.4±6.2% in controls; p=0.03]. According to our results, NMD is reduced among otherwise healthy methamphetamine users, which represents smooth muscle dysfunction in this group. This may contribute to the high risk of stroke among methamphetamine users. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Applications of the U.S. Geological Survey's global land cover product

USGS Publications Warehouse

Reed, B.

1997-01-01

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in partnership with several international agencies and universities, has produced a global land cover characteristics database. The land cover data were created using multitemporal analysis of advanced very high resolution radiometer satellite images in conjunction with other existing geographic data. A translation table permits the conversion of the land cover classes into several conventional land cover schemes that are used by ecosystem modelers, climate modelers, land management agencies, and other user groups. The alternative classification schemes include Global Ecosystems, the Biosphere Atmosphere Transfer Scheme, the Simple Biosphere, the USGS Anderson Level 2, and the International Geosphere Biosphere Programme. The distribution system for these data is through the World Wide Web (the web site address is: http://edcwww.cr.usgs.gov/landdaac/glcc/glcc.html) or by magnetic media upon special request The availability of the data over the World Wide Web, in conjunction with the flexible database structure, allows easy data access to a wide range of users. The web site contains a user registration form that allows analysis of the diverse applications of large-area land cover data. Currently, applications are divided among mapping (20 percent), conservation (30 percent), and modeling (35 percent).

Validation Methods Research for Fault-Tolerant Avionics and Control Systems Sub-Working Group Meeting. CARE 3 peer review

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Trivedi, K. S. (Editor); Clary, J. B. (Editor)

1980-01-01

A computer aided reliability estimation procedure (CARE 3), developed to model the behavior of ultrareliable systems required by flight-critical avionics and control systems, is evaluated. The mathematical models, numerical method, and fault-tolerant architecture modeling requirements are examined, and the testing and characterization procedures are discussed. Recommendations aimed at enhancing CARE 3 are presented; in particular, the need for a better exposition of the method and the user interface is emphasized.

An Empirical Examination of the Factors Affecting Collective Action, Social Capital, and Group Development in Third Sector Organizations: A Longitudinal Case Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lee, Roderick L.

2008-01-01

User-centered design methodologies have gained increasing attention as a way to support the goals of small groups in a variety of use contexts. A central tenet of user-centered design is the direct participation of actual or potential users in the design process. As user participation becomes more prevalent, it becomes increasingly important to…

Modeling the performance and cost of lithium-ion batteries for electric-drive vehicles.

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

Nelson, P. A.

2011-10-20

This report details the Battery Performance and Cost model (BatPaC) developed at Argonne National Laboratory for lithium-ion battery packs used in automotive transportation. The model designs the battery for a specified power, energy, and type of vehicle battery. The cost of the designed battery is then calculated by accounting for every step in the lithium-ion battery manufacturing process. The assumed annual production level directly affects each process step. The total cost to the original equipment manufacturer calculated by the model includes the materials, manufacturing, and warranty costs for a battery produced in the year 2020 (in 2010 US$). At themore » time this report is written, this calculation is the only publically available model that performs a bottom-up lithium-ion battery design and cost calculation. Both the model and the report have been publically peer-reviewed by battery experts assembled by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. This report and accompanying model include changes made in response to the comments received during the peer-review. The purpose of the report is to document the equations and assumptions from which the model has been created. A user of the model will be able to recreate the calculations and perhaps more importantly, understand the driving forces for the results. Instructions for use and an illustration of model results are also presented. Almost every variable in the calculation may be changed by the user to represent a system different from the default values pre-entered into the program. The distinct advantage of using a bottom-up cost and design model is that the entire power-to-energy space may be traversed to examine the correlation between performance and cost. The BatPaC model accounts for the physical limitations of the electrochemical processes within the battery. Thus, unrealistic designs are penalized in energy density and cost, unlike cost models based on linear extrapolations. Additionally, the consequences on cost and energy density from changes in cell capacity, parallel cell groups, and manufacturing capabilities are easily assessed with the model. New proposed materials may also be examined to translate bench-scale values to the design of full-scale battery packs providing realistic energy densities and prices to the original equipment manufacturer. The model will be openly distributed to the public in the year 2011. Currently, the calculations are based in a Microsoft{reg_sign} Office Excel spreadsheet. Instructions are provided for use; however, the format is admittedly not user-friendly. A parallel development effort has created an alternate version based on a graphical user-interface that will be more intuitive to some users. The version that is more user-friendly should allow for wider adoption of the model.« less

Foundation and Development of Local Trimble User Groups: Perspectives from the Beginning

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Duncan, Brean W.

1996-01-01

Trimble Navigation was one of the original contractors building military grade GPS receivers and has been a dominant manufacturer in the civilian market. Two Trimble user groups have been formed. By participating in GPS user groups, members become more aware of GPS capabilities and opportunities, meet people with similar interests and needs, expand business opportunities, and provide Trimble with valuable information needed to engineer better GPS equipment.

The International River Interface Cooperative: Public Domain Software for River Flow and Morphodynamics (Invited)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nelson, J. M.; Shimizu, Y.; McDonald, R.; Takebayashi, H.

2009-12-01

The International River Interface Cooperative is an informal organization made up of academic faculty and government scientists with the goal of developing, distributing and providing education for a public-domain software interface for modeling river flow and morphodynamics. Formed in late 2007, the group released the first version of this interface (iRIC) in late 2009. iRIC includes models for two and three-dimensional flow, sediment transport, bed evolution, groundwater-surface water interaction, topographic data processing, and habitat assessment, as well as comprehensive data and model output visualization, mapping, and editing tools. All the tools in iRIC are specifically designed for use in river reaches and utilize common river data sets. The models are couched within a single graphical user interface so that a broad spectrum of models are available to users without learning new pre- and post-processing tools. The first version of iRIC was developed by combining the USGS public-domain Multi-Dimensional Surface Water Modeling System (MD_SWMS), developed at the USGS Geomorphology and Sediment Transport Laboratory in Golden, Colorado, with the public-domain river modeling code NAYS developed by the Universities of Hokkaido and Kyoto, Mizuho Corporation, and the Foundation of the River Disaster Prevention Research Institute in Sapporo, Japan. Since this initial effort, other Universities and Agencies have joined the group, and the interface has been expanded to allow users to integrate their own modeling code using Executable Markup Language (XML), which provides easy access and expandability to the iRIC software interface. In this presentation, the current components of iRIC are described and results from several practical modeling applications are presented to illustrate the capabilities and flexibility of the software. In addition, some future extensions to iRIC are demonstrated, including software for Lagrangian particle tracking and the prediction of bedform development and response to time-varying flows. Education and supporting documentation for iRIC, including detailed tutorials, are available at www.i-ric.org. The iRIC model codes, interface, and all supporting documentation are in the public domain.

Heavy consumption of dental services among Finnish adults.

PubMed

Nihtilä, A; Widström, E; Elonheimo, O

2010-12-01

To compare treatment of heavy and low users of dental services among adults in the Public Dental Service (PDS) in one of the biggest cities in Finland and to identify reasons for heavy use and to suggest improvements to care provision. All adults who attended the PDS in Espoo (pop. 227,500) in 2004 were allocated to a group (n = 3,173) who had made six or more dental visits and a comparison group (n = 22,820) who had three or fewer dental visits. The data were obtained from the patient register of the PDS. A sample of 320 patients was randomly selected from each group. Information on age, gender, number and types of visits, oral health status, treatment provided and fees paid was collected from treatment records. 10.5% of the adults were found to be heavy users and their treatment made up 31.6% of all adult dental visits. The proportion of men was greater among heavy users and the heavy users were on average 6.6 years older than the low users. The mean total treatment time for heavy users was 5.5 hours and 2.0 hours for low users. Heavy users had more untreated and treated caries and more periodontal pockets than low users. Restorative, endodontic and prosthetic treatment needs characterised the heavy user group, while the low users most often received restorative and periodontal treatment only. Our study indicates that complicated treatment needs of heavy users and lack of experience among the caregivers in dealing with them resulted in high numbers of dental visits for individual patients. The PDS should offer appropriate continuing education for its oral health care teams and organize a referral system offering specialist care for difficult endodontic, periodontal and prosthetic treatments.

Effectiveness of a Brief Home-Based Social Work Motivational Intervention for Male Methamphetamine Users in Tehran: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

PubMed

Danaee-Far, Morteza; Maarefvand, Masoomeh; Rafiey, Hassan

2016-12-05

Methamphetamine, a highly addictive psychostimulant drug, is widely used by substance users who are not motivated to undergo treatment throughout the world, including Iran. This research was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of a brief home-based social work motivational intervention (HSWMI) to encourage male methamphetamine users to participate in a treatment program. Fifty-six unmotivated male methamphetamine users participated in a randomized controlled trial. The case group received the HSWMI in addition to the usual consulting services in the clinic; the control group just received the usual consulting services. Data were collected 7 and 90 days after the intervention to evaluate participation and retention in a treatment program. Data were analyzed using the chi-square test. Drug users with a mean age of 32.55 years and mean duration of drug use of 7.73 years, participated in the case (n = 28) and control (n = 28) groups. The case group participated in treatment programs significantly more than the control group and the retention rate for the case group was significantly higher than for the control group. This brief HSWMI was effective to increase the motivation of methamphetamine users to participate and remain in treatment programs. This intervention can be implemented by social workers in substance use treatment centers.

Bone Mineral Density Changes Among Women Initiating Proton Pump Inhibitors or H2 Receptor Antagonists: A SWAN Cohort Study

PubMed Central

Solomon, Daniel H; Diem, Susan J; Ruppert, Kristine; Juan Lian, Yin; Liu, Chih-Chin; Wohlfart, Alyssa; Greendale, Gail A; Finkelstein, Joel S

2015-01-01

Proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) have been associated with diminished bone mineral density (BMD) and an increased risk of fracture; however, prior studies have not yielded consistent results, and many have suboptimal ascertainment of both PPI use and BMD. We used data from the Study of Women’s Health Across the Nation (SWAN), a multicenter, multi-ethnic, community-based longitudinal cohort study of women across the menopause transition to examine the association between annualized BMD changes and new use of PPIs. We compared changes in BMD in new PPI users with changes in BMD in new users of histamine 2 receptor antagonists (H2RAs) and with changes in BMD in subjects who did not use either class of medications. Mixed linear regression models included recognized risk factors for osteoporosis, including demographics, menopausal transition stage, body mass index (BMI), lifestyle factors, as well as comorbidities and concomitant medications. To provide further evidence for the validity of our analytic approach, we also examined the effects of hormone-replacement therapy (HT), a class of medications that should reduce bone loss, on changes in BMD as an internal positive control group. We identified 207 new users of PPIs, 185 new users of H2RAs, and 1,676 non-users. Study subjects had a mean age of 50 years and were followed for a median of 9.9 years. Adjusted models found no difference in the annualized BMD change at the lumbar spine, femoral neck, or total hip in PPI users compared with H2RA users or non-users. These results were robust to sensitivity analyses. BMD increased as expected in HT users, supporting the validity of our study design. These longitudinal analyses plus similar prior studies argue against an association between PPI use and BMD loss. PMID:25156141

Support for Quality Assurance in End-User Systems.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Klepper, Robert; McKenna, Edward G.

1989-01-01

Suggests an approach that organizations can take to provide centralized support services for quality assurance in end-user information systems, based on the experiences of a support group at Citicorp Mortgage, Inc. The functions of the support group include user education, software selection, and assistance in testing, implementation, and support…

[A pilot study of differences in behavioral and linguistic characteristics between Sina suicide microblog users and Sina microblog users without suicide idea].

PubMed

Guan, Li; Hao, Bibo; Liu, Tianli; Cheng, Qijin; Yip, Paul Siu Fai; Zhu, Tingshao

2015-05-01

To investigate how suicide microblog users in China "act" and "speak" differently from other microblog users without suicide idea. The suicide group consisted of 31 Chinese microblog users identified as suicide via online information provided by a Sina microblog user, and the control group consisted of 30 active microblog users without suicide idea screened by using suicide-related psychological scales. The differences in 10 microblog use behavioral characteristics and 88 linguistic characteristics between the suicide group and the control group were compared with normality test and rank sum test respectively. In the behavioral characteristics, the suicide group used hyperlinks and "@" less frequently than the control group [0.04 (0.04) vs. 0.06 (0.04), P=0.029; 0.60 (0.27) vs. 0.69 (0.18), P=0.028], and was more self-focused [0.47 (0.25) vs. 0.30 (0.10), P=0.010]. In the linguistic characteristics, the suicide group showed less frequency in using measure word, work related word and apostrophe than the control group (P<0.05), and showed more frequency in using pronoun, personal pronoun, third person singular, non-specific pronoun, word expressing social experience, word expressing anxiety, word expressing exclusion, sexual word, religious word, second person singular, human being related word, negative emotion related word, anger related word, sadness or death related word (P<0.05). Suicides seemed to interact less with others, showed more self-concern and more negative expressions, use more cognitively exclusive, death-related, religion-related words, and use less work-related words. The results of this study might be helpful for the research on suicide among netizen.

Combining Users’ Needs With Health Behavior Models in Designing an Internet- and Mobile-Based Intervention for Physical Activity in Cardiac Rehabilitation

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

Background Internet-based physical activity interventions have great potential in supporting patients in cardiac rehabilitation. Health behavior change theories and user input are identified as important contributors in the effectiveness of the interventions, but they are rarely combined in a systematic way in the design of the interventions. Objective The aim of this study is to identify the appropriate theoretical framework, along with the needs of the users of a physical activity intervention for cardiac rehabilitation, and to combine them into an effective Internet- and mobile-based intervention. Methods We explain the theoretical framework of the intervention in a narrative overview of the existing health behavior change literature as it applies to physical activity. We also conducted a focus group with 11 participants of a cardiac rehabilitation program and used thematic analysis to identify and analyze patterns of meaning in the transcribed data. Results We chose stage-based approaches, specifically the transtheoretical model and the health action process approach as our main framework for tailoring, supplemented with other theoretical concepts such as regulatory focus within the appropriate stages. From the thematic analysis of the focus group data, we identified seven themes: (1) social, (2) motivation, (3) integration into everyday life, (4) information, (5) planning, (6) monitoring and feedback, and (7) concerns and potential problems. The final design of the intervention was based on both the theoretical review and the user input, and it is explained in detail. Conclusions We applied a combination of health behavioral theory and user input in designing our intervention. We think this is a promising design approach with the potential to combine the high efficacy of theory-based interventions with the higher perceived usefulness of interventions designed according to user input. Trial Registration Clinicaltrials.gov NCT01223170; http://clinicaltrials.gov/show/NCT01223170 (Archived by WebCite at http://www.webcitation.org/6M5FqT9Q2). PMID:24413185

Correcting bias in self-rated quality of life: an application of anchoring vignettes and ordinal regression models to better understand QoL differences across commuting modes.

PubMed

Crane, Melanie; Rissel, Chris; Greaves, Stephen; Gebel, Klaus

2016-02-01

Likert scales are frequently used in public health research, but are subject to scale perception bias. This study sought to explore scale perception bias in quality-of-life (QoL) self-assessment and assess its relationships with commuting mode in the Sydney Travel and Health Study. Multilevel ordinal logistic regression analysis was used to analyse the association between two global QoL items about overall QoL and health satisfaction, with usual travel mode to work or study. Anchoring vignettes were applied using parametric and simpler nonparametric methods to detect and adjust for differences in reporting behaviour across age, sex, education, and income groups. The anchoring vignettes exposed differences in scale responses across demographic groups. After adjusting for these biases, public transport users (OR = 0.37, 95 % CI 0.21-0.65), walkers (OR = 0.44, 95 % CI 0.24-0.82), and motor vehicle users (OR = 0.47, 95 % CI 0.25-0.86) were all found to have lower odds of reporting high QoL compared with bicycle commuters. Similarly, the odds of reporting high health satisfaction were found to be proportionally lower amongst all competing travel modes: motor vehicle users (OR = 0.31, 95 % CI 0.18-0.56), public transport users (OR = 0.34, 95 % CI 0.20-0.57), and walkers (OR = 0.35, 95 % CI 0.20-0.64) when compared with cyclists. Fewer differences were observed in the unadjusted models. Application of the vignettes by the two approaches removed scaling biases, thereby improving the accuracy of the analyses of the associations between travel mode and quality of life. The adjusted results revealed higher quality of life in bicycle commuters compared with all other travel mode users.

Exploring online communication about cigarette smoking among Twitter users who self-identify as having schizophrenia

PubMed Central

Hswen, Yulin; Naslund, John A.; Chandrashekar, Pooja; Siegel, Robert; Brownstein, John S.; Hawkins, Jared B.

2018-01-01

Novel approaches are needed to address elevated tobacco use among people with schizophrenia. This exploratory study examined the frequency, timing, and type of communication about tobacco-related content on Twitter among users who self-identify as having schizophrenia compared with users from the general population. Over a 200-day period from January to July 2016, Twitter users who self-identify as having a schizophrenia spectrum disorder (n = 203) and a randomly selected group of general population control users (n = 173) posted 1,544,122 tweets. Communication frequency did not differ between groups. Tweets containing tobacco-related keywords were extracted. Twitter users with schizophrenia posted significantly more tweets containing any tobacco-related terms (mean = 3.74; SD = 16.3) compared with control users (mean = 0.82; SD = 1.8). A significantly greater proportion of Twitter users with schizophrenia (45%; n = 92) posted tweets containing any tobacco terms compared with control users (30%; n = 52). Schizophrenia users showed significantly greater odds of tweeting about tobacco compared with control users (OR = 1.99; 95% CI 1.29–3.07). These findings suggest that online communication about tobacco may parallel real world trends of elevated tobacco use observed among people with schizophrenia. By showing that Twitter users who self-identify as having schizophrenia discuss tobacco-related content online, popular social media could inform smoking cessation efforts targeting this at-risk group. PMID:28841509

User's Manual for the Object User Interface (OUI): An Environmental Resource Modeling Framework

USGS Publications Warehouse

Markstrom, Steven L.; Koczot, Kathryn M.

2008-01-01

The Object User Interface is a computer application that provides a framework for coupling environmental-resource models and for managing associated temporal and spatial data. The Object User Interface is designed to be easily extensible to incorporate models and data interfaces defined by the user. Additionally, the Object User Interface is highly configurable through the use of a user-modifiable, text-based control file that is written in the eXtensible Markup Language. The Object User Interface user's manual provides (1) installation instructions, (2) an overview of the graphical user interface, (3) a description of the software tools, (4) a project example, and (5) specifications for user configuration and extension.

Arkheia: Data Management and Communication for Open Computational Neuroscience

PubMed Central

Antolík, Ján; Davison, Andrew P.

2018-01-01

Two trends have been unfolding in computational neuroscience during the last decade. First, a shift of focus to increasingly complex and heterogeneous neural network models, with a concomitant increase in the level of collaboration within the field (whether direct or in the form of building on top of existing tools and results). Second, a general trend in science toward more open communication, both internally, with other potential scientific collaborators, and externally, with the wider public. This multi-faceted development toward more integrative approaches and more intense communication within and outside of the field poses major new challenges for modelers, as currently there is a severe lack of tools to help with automatic communication and sharing of all aspects of a simulation workflow to the rest of the community. To address this important gap in the current computational modeling software infrastructure, here we introduce Arkheia. Arkheia is a web-based open science platform for computational models in systems neuroscience. It provides an automatic, interactive, graphical presentation of simulation results, experimental protocols, and interactive exploration of parameter searches, in a web browser-based application. Arkheia is focused on automatic presentation of these resources with minimal manual input from users. Arkheia is written in a modular fashion with a focus on future development of the platform. The platform is designed in an open manner, with a clearly defined and separated API for database access, so that any project can write its own backend translating its data into the Arkheia database format. Arkheia is not a centralized platform, but allows any user (or group of users) to set up their own repository, either for public access by the general population, or locally for internal use. Overall, Arkheia provides users with an automatic means to communicate information about not only their models but also individual simulation results and the entire experimental context in an approachable graphical manner, thus facilitating the user's ability to collaborate in the field and outreach to a wider audience. PMID:29556187

Arkheia: Data Management and Communication for Open Computational Neuroscience.

PubMed

Antolík, Ján; Davison, Andrew P

2018-01-01

Two trends have been unfolding in computational neuroscience during the last decade. First, a shift of focus to increasingly complex and heterogeneous neural network models, with a concomitant increase in the level of collaboration within the field (whether direct or in the form of building on top of existing tools and results). Second, a general trend in science toward more open communication, both internally, with other potential scientific collaborators, and externally, with the wider public. This multi-faceted development toward more integrative approaches and more intense communication within and outside of the field poses major new challenges for modelers, as currently there is a severe lack of tools to help with automatic communication and sharing of all aspects of a simulation workflow to the rest of the community. To address this important gap in the current computational modeling software infrastructure, here we introduce Arkheia. Arkheia is a web-based open science platform for computational models in systems neuroscience. It provides an automatic, interactive, graphical presentation of simulation results, experimental protocols, and interactive exploration of parameter searches, in a web browser-based application. Arkheia is focused on automatic presentation of these resources with minimal manual input from users. Arkheia is written in a modular fashion with a focus on future development of the platform. The platform is designed in an open manner, with a clearly defined and separated API for database access, so that any project can write its own backend translating its data into the Arkheia database format. Arkheia is not a centralized platform, but allows any user (or group of users) to set up their own repository, either for public access by the general population, or locally for internal use. Overall, Arkheia provides users with an automatic means to communicate information about not only their models but also individual simulation results and the entire experimental context in an approachable graphical manner, thus facilitating the user's ability to collaborate in the field and outreach to a wider audience.

Supporting Shared Resource Usage for a Diverse User Community: the OSG Experience and Lessons Learned

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Garzoglio, Gabriele; Levshina, Tanya; Rynge, Mats; Sehgal, Chander; Slyz, Marko

2012-12-01

The Open Science Grid (OSG) supports a diverse community of new and existing users in adopting and making effective use of the Distributed High Throughput Computing (DHTC) model. The LHC user community has deep local support within the experiments. For other smaller communities and individual users the OSG provides consulting and technical services through the User Support area. We describe these sometimes successful and sometimes not so successful experiences and analyze lessons learned that are helping us improve our services. The services offered include forums to enable shared learning and mutual support, tutorials and documentation for new technology, and troubleshooting of problematic or systemic failure modes. For new communities and users, we bootstrap their use of the distributed high throughput computing technologies and resources available on the OSG by following a phased approach. We first adapt the application and run a small production campaign on a subset of “friendly” sites. Only then do we move the user to run full production campaigns across the many remote sites on the OSG, adding to the community resources up to hundreds of thousands of CPU hours per day. This scaling up generates new challenges - like no determinism in the time to job completion, and diverse errors due to the heterogeneity of the configurations and environments - so some attention is needed to get good results. We cover recent experiences with image simulation for the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST), small-file large volume data movement for the Dark Energy Survey (DES), civil engineering simulation with the Network for Earthquake Engineering Simulation (NEES), and accelerator modeling with the Electron Ion Collider group at BNL. We will categorize and analyze the use cases and describe how our processes are evolving based on lessons learned.

Multicentre evaluation of music perception in adult users of Advanced Bionics cochlear implants.

PubMed

Adams, Doris; Ajimsha, Khalid Mohamed; Barberá, Manuel Tomás; Gazibegovic, Dzemal; Gisbert, Javier; Gómez, Justo; Raveh, Eyal; Rocca, Christine; Romanet, Philipe; Seebens, Yvonne; Zarowski, Andrzej

2014-01-01

To document musical listening and enjoyment in recipients of Advanced Bionics cochlear implants (CIs) and to compare musical perception in those using early coding strategies with subjects using the newer HiRes and HiRes 120 strategies. A questionnaire was completed by 136 adult subjects, including questions on the ability to identify specific musical features. The subjects were in three groups: those using early coding strategies (n = 29), HiRes (n = 59), and HiRes 120 (n = 48), and results were compared with a group of 84 normally hearing (NH) subjects. Of the CI users, 79% reported listening to music. The NH group rated listening frequency and enjoyment higher than the CI users. Thirty-five users reported that they sang and this group had significantly higher overall performance. There were no significant differences in overall perception of specific musical features among the strategy groups, though some individual questions showed significantly higher performance in the HiRes 120 users. Users of current CI technology show a high level of musical appreciation, though still significantly less than NH subjects. Frequency of listening and enjoyment were significantly correlated and active participation in musical activities, specifically singing, resulted in significantly higher overall performance scores.

Comparative Analysis of Tear Film Levels of Inflammatory Mediators in Contact Lens Users.

PubMed

Yüksel Elgin, Cansu; İskeleli, Güzin; Talaz, Serap; Akyol, Sibel

2016-04-01

To compare tear films levels of various inflammatory cytokines in asymptomatic contact lens (CL) users. CL users of rigid gas-permeable CLs (RGPCL) (group 1) or silicone hydrogel CLs (SiHCL) (group 2) were compared with non-CL-using healthy subjects (group 3). Tear samples were collected from subjects in each group after ensuring that there were no complications secondary to CL wear in the CL-wearing participants. Tear-film levels of interleukins (ILs)-1β, -6, and -8; granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) (using the Luminex method); and leukotriene B4 (LTB4) (using the ELISA method) were determined. Cytokine levels were compared among the three groups using analysis-of-variance (ANOVA) and Kruskall-Wallis tests. There were significant differences in concentrations of IL-1β, GM-CSF and LTB4 among the three groups (p = 0.002, p = 0.021 and p = 0.009, respectively), as shown by the Kruskall-Wallis test comparing all three groups for the three cytokines. There were no significant differences for IL-6 and IL-8 (p = 0.079 and 0.094, respectively) when all three groups were compared. There were substantial statistically significant differences between RGPCL users, SiHCL users and control subjects in levels of tear film cytokines. Although CL users were asymptomatic, changes in tear-film levels of several important inflammatory mediators revealed that a chronic inflammatory process occurs during CL wear.

Exploring the influence of service user involvement on health and social care services for cancer.

PubMed

Attree, Pamela; Morris, Sara; Payne, Sheila; Vaughan, Suzanne; Hinder, Susan

2011-03-01

Service user involvement in health and social care is a key policy driver in the UK. In cancer care it is central to developing services which are effective, responsive and accessible to patients. Cancer network partnership groups are set up to enable joint working between service users and health care professionals and to drive service improvements. The aim of this study was to explore the influence of the cancer network partnership groups' service user involvement activities on cancer care. This was a qualitative study involving documentary analysis and in-depth case studies of a sample of partnership groups. Five partnership groups were purposively selected as case studies from Macmillan regions across the UK; documents were collated from a further five groups. Forty people, including core group members and key stakeholders in cancer services, were interviewed. The evidence from this study suggests that cancer network partnership groups are at their most influential at 'grass roots' level - contributing to patient information resources, enhancing access to services, and improving care environments. While such improvements are undoubtedly important to patients, the groups' aim is to influence strategic changes, for example in cancer care commissioning or macro-level policy decision-making. The evolution of open, participatory relationships between service users and professionals, and recognition of the value of experiential knowledge are seen as key factors in influencing cancer care. The provision of dedicated resources to strengthen service user involvement activities is also vital. © 2010 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Optimizing Search and Ranking in Folksonomy Systems by Exploiting Context Information

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Abel, Fabian; Henze, Nicola; Krause, Daniel

Tagging systems enable users to annotate resources with freely chosen keywords. The evolving bunch of tag assignments is called folksonomy and there exist already some approaches that exploit folksonomies to improve resource retrieval. In this paper, we analyze and compare graph-based ranking algorithms: FolkRank and SocialPageRank. We enhance these algorithms by exploiting the context of tags, and evaluate the results on the GroupMe! dataset. In GroupMe!, users can organize and maintain arbitrary Web resources in self-defined groups. When users annotate resources in GroupMe!, this can be interpreted in context of a certain group. The grouping activity itself is easy for users to perform. However, it delivers valuable semantic information about resources and their context. We present GRank that uses the context information to improve and optimize the detection of relevant search results, and compare different strategies for ranking result lists in folksonomy systems.

Revealing Neurocomputational Mechanisms of Reinforcement Learning and Decision-Making With the hBayesDM Package

PubMed Central

Ahn, Woo-Young; Haines, Nathaniel; Zhang, Lei

2017-01-01

Reinforcement learning and decision-making (RLDM) provide a quantitative framework and computational theories with which we can disentangle psychiatric conditions into the basic dimensions of neurocognitive functioning. RLDM offer a novel approach to assessing and potentially diagnosing psychiatric patients, and there is growing enthusiasm for both RLDM and computational psychiatry among clinical researchers. Such a framework can also provide insights into the brain substrates of particular RLDM processes, as exemplified by model-based analysis of data from functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) or electroencephalography (EEG). However, researchers often find the approach too technical and have difficulty adopting it for their research. Thus, a critical need remains to develop a user-friendly tool for the wide dissemination of computational psychiatric methods. We introduce an R package called hBayesDM (hierarchical Bayesian modeling of Decision-Making tasks), which offers computational modeling of an array of RLDM tasks and social exchange games. The hBayesDM package offers state-of-the-art hierarchical Bayesian modeling, in which both individual and group parameters (i.e., posterior distributions) are estimated simultaneously in a mutually constraining fashion. At the same time, the package is extremely user-friendly: users can perform computational modeling, output visualization, and Bayesian model comparisons, each with a single line of coding. Users can also extract the trial-by-trial latent variables (e.g., prediction errors) required for model-based fMRI/EEG. With the hBayesDM package, we anticipate that anyone with minimal knowledge of programming can take advantage of cutting-edge computational-modeling approaches to investigate the underlying processes of and interactions between multiple decision-making (e.g., goal-directed, habitual, and Pavlovian) systems. In this way, we expect that the hBayesDM package will contribute to the dissemination of advanced modeling approaches and enable a wide range of researchers to easily perform computational psychiatric research within different populations. PMID:29601060

Mindfulness impairments in individuals seeking treatment for substance use disorders.

PubMed

Dakwar, Elias; Mariani, John P; Levin, Frances R

2011-05-01

Mindfulness training may be an effective treatment for substance use disorders (SUDs). Little research has been done, however, on baseline levels of mindfulness in the substance using population. We investigated mindfulness levels using the Mindful Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS) in individuals presenting for substance use treatment, and compared polydrug vs. monodrug users, as well as investigated for differences between groups based on substance used, predicting that group means would fall below the mean obtained from a large national adult sample, that the different drug groups would have comparable scores, and that the polydrug users would have a significantly lower score than do monodrug users. We found that the means of most drug groups were below the national mean, and that the polydrug users had a lower score on the MAAS than did monodrug users (4 vs. 3.6, p = 0.04). We were also surprised to find that opiate users had a significantly higher score (4.31) than did users of other substances (p = 0.02). These results suggest that mindfulness deficits may be common in the substance using population, that there may be sub-groups in which these deficits are more pronounced, and that they may be a suitable focus of SUD treatment. These findings lend support to the ongoing development of mindfulness-based treatments for SUDs, and suggest that particular sub-groups may benefit more than others. Future research can aim at clarifying these deficits, and at elucidating their clinical relevance.

A Selective Group Authentication Scheme for IoT-Based Medical Information System.

PubMed

Park, YoHan; Park, YoungHo

2017-04-01

The technology of IoT combined with medical systems is expected to support advanced medical services. However, unsolved security problems, such as misuse of medical devices, illegal access to the medical server and so on, make IoT-based medical systems not be applied widely. In addition, users have a high burden of computation to access Things for the explosive growth of IoT devices. Because medical information is critical and important, but users have a restricted computing power, IoT-based medical systems are required to provide secure and efficient authentication for users. In this paper, we propose a selective group authentication scheme using Shamir's threshold technique. The property of selectivity gives the right of choice to users to form a group which consists of things users select and access. And users can get an access authority for those Things at a time. Thus, our scheme provides an efficient user authentication for multiple Things and conditional access authority for safe IoT-based medical information system. To the best of our knowledge, our proposed scheme is the first in which selectivity is combined with group authentication in IoT environments.

Evaluation of a Physiologically Based Pharmacokinetic (PBPK) Model Used to Develop Health Protective Levels for Trichloroethylene

DTIC Science & Technology

2017-02-28

is the response variable resulting from an input parameter value of θ+. EPA (2011) used a variation of this equation to calculate their...EPA (2011) used both individual and grouped data. While individual data are preferred as it maintains any intra-individual variation , it is often...grouped data, the user would, ideally, account for the loss of intra-individual variation in some manner; however, there is not a commonly accepted

Moderate and vigorous physical activity patterns among marijuana users: Results from the 2007-2014 National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys.

PubMed

Vidot, Denise C; Bispo, Jordan B; Hlaing, WayWay M; Prado, Guillermo; Messiah, Sarah E

2017-09-01

The relationship between marijuana use and recreational physical activity has yet to be explored in the United States. Our aim was to examine this relationship in a population-based sample of 20-to-59-year olds (N=12,618) using 2007-2014 National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys. Marijuana use was categorized as never (reference group), past (previously but not within the last 30-days), and current (>1day in the last 30-days) use. Current users were further categorized based on frequency of use (light, moderate, and heavy users). Physical activity was self-reported as moderate (small increase in heartrate/breathing for >10min; MPA) and vigorous (large increase in heartrate/breathing for >10min; VPA). Adjusted odds ratios (AOR) for the relationship between marijuana use and physical activity were estimated via logistic regression models. The majority of the overall sample reported either past (40.5%) or current (12.6%) marijuana use. Marijuana users had a lower prevalence of moderate physical activity than never users (current: 51.9%, past: 50.4%, never: 55.3%, p=0.001). Current (66.8%) and past (67.9%) marijuana users also had a lower prevalence of vigorous physical activity than never users (71.9%, p=0.001). Current and past users had lower odds of recreational MPA (current user AOR: 0.66, 95% CI: 0.50-0.87; past user AOR: 0.78, 95% CI: 0.62-0.98) than never users. As the frequency of marijuana use increased, time spent on MPA decreased. Results suggest that current and past marijuana users were less likely to report recreational MPA than never users. Future studies should examine the potential mechanisms and temporality of this relationship. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Context-Aware Mobile Collaborative Systems: Conceptual Modeling and Case Study

PubMed Central

Benítez-Guerrero, Edgard; Mezura-Godoy, Carmen; Montané-Jiménez, Luis G.

2012-01-01

A Mobile Collaborative System (MCOS) enable the cooperation of the members of a team to achieve a common goal by using a combination of mobile and fixed technologies. MCOS can be enhanced if the context of the group of users is considered in the execution of activities. This paper proposes a novel model for Context-Aware Mobile COllaborative Systems (CAMCOS) and a functional architecture based on that model. In order to validate both the model and the architecture, a prototype system in the tourism domain was implemented and evaluated. PMID:23202007

Characterizing the vulnerability of frequent emergency department users by applying a conceptual framework: a controlled, cross-sectional study.

PubMed

Bodenmann, Patrick; Baggio, Stéphanie; Iglesias, Katia; Althaus, Fabrice; Velonaki, Venetia-Sofia; Stucki, Stephanie; Ansermet, Corine; Paroz, Sophie; Trueb, Lionel; Hugli, Olivier; Griffin, Judith L; Daeppen, Jean-Bernard

2015-12-09

Frequent emergency department (ED) users meet several of the criteria of vulnerability, but this needs to be further examined taking into consideration all vulnerability's different dimensions. This study aimed to characterize frequent ED users and to define risk factors of frequent ED use within a universal health care coverage system, applying a conceptual framework of vulnerability. A controlled, cross-sectional study comparing frequent ED users to a control group of non-frequent users was conducted at the Lausanne University Hospital, Switzerland. Frequent users were defined as patients with five or more visits to the ED in the previous 12 months. The two groups were compared using validated scales for each one of the five dimensions of an innovative conceptual framework: socio-demographic characteristics; somatic, mental, and risk-behavior indicators; and use of health care services. Independent t-tests, Wilcoxon rank-sum tests, Pearson's Chi-squared test and Fisher's exact test were used for the comparison. To examine the -related to vulnerability- risk factors for being a frequent ED user, univariate and multivariate logistic regression models were used. We compared 226 frequent users and 173 controls. Frequent users had more vulnerabilities in all five dimensions of the conceptual framework. They were younger, and more often immigrants from low/middle-income countries or unemployed, had more somatic and psychiatric comorbidities, were more often tobacco users, and had more primary care physician (PCP) visits. The most significant frequent ED use risk factors were a history of more than three hospital admissions in the previous 12 months (adj OR:23.2, 95%CI = 9.1-59.2), the absence of a PCP (adj OR:8.4, 95%CI = 2.1-32.7), living less than 5 km from an ED (adj OR:4.4, 95%CI = 2.1-9.0), and household income lower than USD 2,800/month (adj OR:4.3, 95%CI = 2.0-9.2). Frequent ED users within a universal health coverage system form a highly vulnerable population, when taking into account all five dimensions of a conceptual framework of vulnerability. The predictive factors identified could be useful in the early detection of future frequent users, in order to address their specific needs and decrease vulnerability, a key priority for health care policy makers. Application of the conceptual framework in future research is warranted.

A Group Recommender System for Tourist Activities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Garcia, Inma; Sebastia, Laura; Onaindia, Eva; Guzman, Cesar

This paper introduces a method for giving recommendations of tourist activities to a group of users. This method makes recommendations based on the group tastes, their demographic classification and the places visited by the users in former trips. The group recommendation is computed from individual personal recommendations through the use of techniques such as aggregation, intersection or incremental intersection. This method is implemented as an extension of the e-Tourism tool, which is a user-adapted tourism and leisure application, whose main component is the Generalist Recommender System Kernel (GRSK), a domain-independent taxonomy-driven search engine that manages the group recommendation.

Sizing the cannabis market: a demand-side and user-specific approach in seven European countries.

PubMed

van Laar, Margriet; Frijns, Tom; Trautmann, Franz; Lombi, Linda

2013-06-01

Demand-based estimates of total cannabis consumption rarely consider differences among different user types and variation across countries. To describe cannabis consumption patterns and estimate annual consumption for different user types across EU Member States, a web survey in Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Sweden and United Kingdom (England & Wales) collected data on cannabis use patterns from 3,922 persons who had consumed cannabis at least once in the past year. They were classified into four groups based on their number of use days in the past 12 months: infrequent users or chippers (<11 days), occasional users (11-50 days), regular users (51-250 days) and intensive users (>250 days). User type specific data on typical amounts consumed were matched with data on numbers of users per user type estimated from existing population surveys, taking differences in mode of consumption, age and gender into account. Estimates were supplemented with data from populations of problem users to compensate for under coverage. Results showed remarkably consistent differences among user groups across countries. Both the average number of units consumed per typical use day and the average amount of cannabis consumed per unit increased across user types of increasing frequency of use. In all countries except Portugal, intensive users formed the smallest group of cannabis users but were responsible for the largest part of total annual cannabis consumption. Annual cannabis consumption varied across countries but confidence intervals were wide. Results are compared with previous estimates and discussed in the context of improving estimation methods.

“Thanks for Letting Us All Share Your Mammogram Experience Virtually”: Developing a Web-Based Hub for Breast Cancer Screening

PubMed Central

2017-01-01

Background The decision around whether to attend breast cancer screening can often involve making sense of confusing and contradictory information on its risks and benefits. The Word of Mouth Mammogram e-Network (WoMMeN) project was established to create a Web-based resource to support decision making regarding breast cancer screening. This paper presents data from our user-centered approach in engaging stakeholders (both health professionals and service users) in the design of this Web-based resource. Our novel approach involved creating a user design group within Facebook to allow them access to ongoing discussion between researchers, radiographers, and existing and potential service users. Objective This study had two objectives. The first was to examine the utility of an online user design group for generating insight for the creation of Web-based health resources. We sought to explore the advantages and limitations of this approach. The second objective was to analyze what women want from a Web-based resource for breast cancer screening. Methods We recruited a user design group on Facebook and conducted a survey within the group, asking questions about design considerations for a Web-based breast cancer screening hub. Although the membership of the Facebook group varied over time, there were 71 members in the Facebook group at the end point of analysis. We next conducted a framework analysis on 70 threads from Facebook and a thematic analysis on the 23 survey responses. We focused additionally on how the themes were discussed by the different stakeholders within the context of the design group. Results Two major themes were found across both the Facebook discussion and the survey data: (1) the power of information and (2) the hub as a place for communication and support. Information was considered as empowering but also recognized as threatening. Communication and the sharing of experiences were deemed important, but there was also recognition of potential miscommunication within online discussion. Health professionals and service users expressed the same broad concerns, but there were subtle differences in their opinions. Importantly, the themes were triangulated between the Facebook discussions and the survey data, supporting the validity of an online user design group. Conclusions Online user design groups afford a useful method for understanding stakeholder needs. In contrast to focus groups, they afford access to users from diverse geographical locations and traverse time constraints, allowing more follow-ups to responses. The use of Facebook provides a familiar and naturalistic setting for discussion. Although we acknowledge the limitations in the sample, this approach has allowed us to understand the views of stakeholders in the user-centered design of the WoMMeN hub for breast cancer screening. PMID:29079555

Executive function deficits in short-term abstinent cannabis users.

PubMed

McHale, Sue; Hunt, Nigel

2008-07-01

Few cognitive tasks are adequately sensitive to show the small decrements in performance in abstinent chronic cannabis users. In this series of three experiments we set out to demonstrate a variety of tasks that are sufficiently sensitive to show differences in visual memory, verbal memory, everyday memory and executive function between controls and cannabis users. A series of three studies explored cognitive function deficits in cannabis users (phonemic verbal fluency, visual recognition and immediate and delayed recall, and prospective memory) in short-term abstinent cannabis users. Participants were selected using snowball sampling, with cannabis users being compared to a standard control group and a tobacco-use control group. The cannabis users, compared to both control groups, had deficits on verbal fluency, visual recognition, delayed visual recall, and short- and long-interval prospective memory. There were no differences for immediate visual recall. These findings suggest that cannabis use leads to impaired executive function. Further research needs to explore the longer term impact of cannabis use. Copyright 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Development and usability testing of a web-based decision support for users and health professionals in psychiatric services.

PubMed

Grim, Katarina; Rosenberg, David; Svedberg, Petra; Schön, Ulla-Karin

2017-09-01

Shared decision making (SMD) related to treatment and rehabilitation is considered a central component in recovery-oriented practice. Although decision aids are regarded as an essential component for successfully implementing SDM, these aids are often lacking within psychiatric services. The aim of this study was to use a participatory design to facilitate the development of a user-generated, web-based decision aid for individuals receiving psychiatric services. The results of this effort as well as the lessons learned during the development and usability processes are reported. The participatory design included 4 iterative cycles of development. Various qualitative methods for data collection were used with potential end users participating as informants in focus group and individual interviews and as usability and pilot testers. Interviewing and testing identified usability problems that then led to refinements and making the subsequent prototypes increasingly user-friendly and relevant. In each phase of the process, feedback from potential end-users provided guidance in developing the formation of the web-based decision aid that strengthens the position of users by integrating access to information regarding alternative supports, interactivity between staff and users, and user preferences as a continual focus in the tool. This web-based decision aid has the potential to strengthen service users' experience of self-efficacy and control as well as provide staff access to user knowledge and preferences. Studies employing participatory models focusing on usability have potential to significantly contribute to the development and implementation of tools that reflect user perspectives. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

Understanding Teacher Users of a Digital Library Service: A Clustering Approach

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Xu, Beijie

2011-01-01

This research examined teachers' online behaviors while using a digital library service--the Instructional Architect (IA)--through three consecutive studies. In the first two studies, a statistical model called latent class analysis (LCA) was applied to cluster different groups of IA teachers according to their diverse online behaviors. The third…

Predicting Student Actions in a Procedural Training Environment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Riofrio-Luzcando, Diego; Ramirez, Jaime; Berrocal-Lobo, Marta

2017-01-01

Data mining is known to have a potential for predicting user performance. However, there are few studies that explore its potential for predicting student behavior in a procedural training environment. This paper presents a collective student model, which is built from past student logs. These logs are first grouped into clusters. Then, an…

Computer-Aided Training for Transport Planners: Experience with the Pluto Package.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bonsall, P. W.

1995-01-01

Describes the PLUTO model, an interactive computer program designed for use in education and training of city planners and engineers. Emphasizes four issues: (1) the balance between realism and simplification; (2) the design of the user interface; (3) comparative advantages of group and solo working; and (4) factors affecting the decision to…

Scripting for Collaborative Search Computer-Supported Classroom Activities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Verdugo, Renato; Barros, Leonardo; Albornoz, Daniela; Nussbaum, Miguel; McFarlane, Angela

2014-01-01

Searching online is one of the most powerful resources today's students have for accessing information. Searching in groups is a daily practice across multiple contexts; however, the tools we use for searching online do not enable collaborative practices and traditional search models consider a single user navigating online in solitary. This paper…

Guiding Design: Exposing Librarian and Student Mental Models of Research Guides

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sinkinson, Caroline; Alexander, Stephanie; Hicks, Alison; Kahn, Meredith

2012-01-01

This article details an open card sort study administered to undergraduate students, graduate students, and librarians at the University of Colorado at Boulder in order to reveal perceptions of library research guides. The study identifies user group preferences for organization and content of research guides, as well as themes emerging from the…

The performance of health workers in Ethiopia: results from qualitative research.

PubMed

Lindelow, Magnus; Serneels, Pieter

2006-05-01

Insufficient attention has been paid to understanding what determines the performance of health workers. This paper reports on findings from focus group discussions with both health workers and users of health services in Ethiopia, a country with some of the poorest health outcomes in the world. We describe performance problems identified by both health users and health workers participating in the focus group discussions, including absenteeism and shirking, pilfering drugs and materials, informal health care provision and illicit charging, and corruption. In the second part of the paper we present four structural reasons why these problems arise: (i) the ongoing transition from health sector dominated by the public sector, towards a more mixed model; (ii) the failure of government policies to keep pace with the transition towards a mixed model of service delivery; (iii) weak accountability mechanisms and the erosion of professional norms in the health sector; and (iv) the impact of HIV/AIDS. The discussions underline the need to base policies on a micro-analysis of how health workers make constrained choices, both in their career and in their day to day professional activities.

ATGC transcriptomics: a web-based application to integrate, explore and analyze de novo transcriptomic data.

PubMed

Gonzalez, Sergio; Clavijo, Bernardo; Rivarola, Máximo; Moreno, Patricio; Fernandez, Paula; Dopazo, Joaquín; Paniego, Norma

2017-02-22

In the last years, applications based on massively parallelized RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) have become valuable approaches for studying non-model species, e.g., without a fully sequenced genome. RNA-seq is a useful tool for detecting novel transcripts and genetic variations and for evaluating differential gene expression by digital measurements. The large and complex datasets resulting from functional genomic experiments represent a challenge in data processing, management, and analysis. This problem is especially significant for small research groups working with non-model species. We developed a web-based application, called ATGC transcriptomics, with a flexible and adaptable interface that allows users to work with new generation sequencing (NGS) transcriptomic analysis results using an ontology-driven database. This new application simplifies data exploration, visualization, and integration for a better comprehension of the results. ATGC transcriptomics provides access to non-expert computer users and small research groups to a scalable storage option and simple data integration, including database administration and management. The software is freely available under the terms of GNU public license at http://atgcinta.sourceforge.net .

Multivitamin Use and Serum Vitamin B12 Concentrations in Older-Adult Metformin Users in REGARDS, 2003-2007.

PubMed

Kancherla, Vijaya; Garn, Joshua V; Zakai, Neil A; Williamson, Rebecca S; Cashion, Winn T; Odewole, Oluwaseun; Judd, Suzanne E; Oakley, Godfrey P

2016-01-01

Metformin, an insulin-sensitizing drug, is a first line treatment for type 2 diabetes. Long-term use of metformin has been associated with subsequent reductions in vitamin B12 concentrations. The objective of our study was to determine whether metformin use is associated with lower serum vitamin B12 concentrations in older adults, and whether concurrent use of multivitamins modifies this association. We examined 2,510 participants aged 50 years and over, participating in the national population-based Reasons for Geographic And Racial Differences in Stroke (REGARDS) Study. Multivariable linear and logistic regression models were used to assess associations between multivitamin use and serum vitamin B12 concentrations. We estimated adjusted odds ratios (aOR)s and confidence intervals (CI)s. Results were stratified by three metformin/diabetes sub-groups: 1) participants with diabetes who were metformin users; 2) participants with diabetes who were not metformin users; and 3) participants without diabetes. We found that diabetic metformin users had significantly lower geometric mean serum B12 concentrations (409 pmol/L) than the group with diabetes not taking metformin (485 pmol/L; P<0.01), and the group without diabetes (445 pmol/L; P = 0.02). The geometric mean serum B12 concentrations were greater for multivitamin users (509 pmol/L) compared to those who did not use multivitamins (376 pmol/L; p<0.01). Among the participants with diabetes who were on metformin therapy, multivitamin use was associated with geometric mean serum vitamin B12 concentrations that were 50% (or 161 pmol/L) higher, compared to those not using multivitamins. Among metformin users, multivitamin use was associated with lower prevalence of combined low and borderline vitamin B12 concentrations (aOR = 0.14; 95% CI = 0.04, 0.54) compared to those not using multivitamins. In conclusion, metformin use was associated with lower geometric mean serum vitamin B12 concentrations among diabetic older adults compared to their counterparts. Concurrent multivitamin use may potentially protect against low or borderline vitamin B12 concentrations in long-term metformin users. Additional research is needed to further examine this association as low or borderline vitamin B12 concentrations can be preventable, or treatable if detected at an early stage, in long-term metformin users.

Evaluation of the effects of a diabetes educational program: a randomized clinical trial

PubMed Central

Torres, Heloísa de Carvalho; Pace, Ana Emília; Chaves, Fernanda Figueredo; Velasquez-Melendez, Gustavo; Reis, Ilka Afonso

2018-01-01

ABSTRACT OBJECTIVE Evaluate the effectiveness of a diabetes mellitus educational program in primary health care. METHODS This cluster randomized trial was conducted in a sample of 470 people with type 2 diabetes mellitus from eight health units, randomly assigned to two groups: intervention (n = 231) and control (n = 239). The intervention group participated in the educational program composed of three strategies: group education, home visit, and telephone intervention. Simultaneously, the control group was monitored individually. Group monitoring took place over nine months in the year 2012. Clinical evaluations were performed at the initial time (T0), three (T3), six (T6) and nine (T9) months after the beginning of the intervention. RESULTS After nine months of follow-up, 341 users remained in the study, 171 in the control group and 170 in the intervention group. The average age of users was 60.6 years. In both groups, statistically significant differences were observed in mean HbA1c levels over the follow-up time (p < 0.05). However, the mean HbA1c level at T3, T6 and T9 times were significantly lower among the people in the intervention group (p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS The educational program model developed was effective to improve the glycemic control of the intervention group participants. PMID:29412378

Relationship of credit attitude and debt to self-esteem and locus of control in college-age consumers.

PubMed

Pinto, Mary Beth; Mansfield, Phylis M; Parente, Diane H

2004-06-01

College-age consumers are one of the groups most highly targeted by credit card marketers. While some college students use their credit cards wisely, others are unable to control their spending. The objective of this study was to investigate differences in attitude toward credit cards and the psychological factors of self-esteem and locus of control among college students who possess one or more credit cards. Attitude was operationalized to include three underlying components: cognitive, affective, and behavioral. We separated credit users into subcategories based on amount of installment debt. Convenience users were defined as those consumers who paid the credit-card balance in full each month. Installment users were classified as consumers who carried a balance month-to-month. Convenience users were compared to mild and heavy installment users to assess significance of differences in attitudinal and psychological factors. There were no significant differences in the psychological factors across the credit-card user groups. In addition, there was a statistically significant difference on each of the attitude components (knowledge/beliefs, affect, and behavior) across user groups; convenience users, mild installment, and heavy installment users.

The integrated model of smartphone adoption: hedonic and utilitarian value perceptions of smartphones among Korean college students.

PubMed

Chun, Heasun; Lee, Hyunjoo; Kim, Daejoong

2012-09-01

This study aims to propose an integrated model of smartphone adoption that incorporates social influences (SIs), perceived technicality, as well as hedonic and utilitarian attitudes into the technology acceptance model. The proposed model was empirically evaluated by using survey data collected from 239 Korean college students to investigate their perception and attitudes toward smartphone adoption intention. Our results show that users' attitudes and their adoption intention are highly influenced by SI and positive self-image. This implies that a smartphone is a symbolic product that can signal affiliation and enhance the users' status in a group. The results also indicate that hedonic enjoyment is equally important as utilitarian usefulness in predicting the adoption intention, and the two variables mediate the relationships between SI, positive self-image, perceived technicality, and the intention to use. Consequently, the results reveal that smartphones are convergent media that can be viewed as both task-oriented and entertainment-oriented devices.

The global diabetes model: user friendly version 3.0.

PubMed

Brown, J B; Russell, A; Chan, W; Pedula, K; Aickin, M

2000-11-01

The attributes of Release 3.0 of the user friendly version (UFV) of the global diabetes model (GDM) are described and documented in detail. The GDM is a continuous, stochastic microsimulation model of type 2 diabetes. Suitable for predicting the medical futures of both individuals with diabetes and representative diabetic populations, the GDM predicts medical events (complications of diabetes), survival, utilities, and medical care costs. Incidence rate functions for microvascular and macrovascular complications are based on a combination of published studies and analyses of data describing diabetic members of Kaiser Permanente Northwest Region, a non-profit group-model health maintenance organization. Active risk factors include average blood glucose (HbAlc), systolic blood pressure (SBP), low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL), high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL), triglycerides, smoking status, and use of prophylactic aspirin. Events predicted include diabetic eye disease, diabetic nephropathy, peripheral neuropathy amputation, myocardial infarction, stroke, peripheral artery disease, congestive heart failure, coronary artery surgery, coronary angioplasty, and death.

Dependence and physical exercise: Spanish validation of the Exercise Dependence Scale-Revised (EDS-R).

PubMed

Sicilia, Alvaro; González-Cutre, David

2011-05-01

The purpose of this study was to validate the Spanish version of the Exercise Dependence Scale-Revised (EDS-R). To achieve this goal, a sample of 531 sport center users was used and the psychometric properties of the EDS-R were examined through different analyses. The results supported both the first-order seven-factor model and the higher-order model (seven first-order factors and one second-order factor). The structure of both models was invariant across age. Correlations among the subscales indicated a related factor model, supporting construct validity of the scale. Alpha values over .70 (except for Reduction in Other Activities) and suitable levels of temporal stability were obtained. Users practicing more than three days per week had higher scores in all subscales than the group practicing with a frequency of three days or fewer. The findings of this study provided reliability and validity for the EDS-R in a Spanish context.

Tracing catchment fine sediment sources using the new SIFT (SedIment Fingerprinting Tool) open source software.

PubMed

Pulley, S; Collins, A L

2018-09-01

The mitigation of diffuse sediment pollution requires reliable provenance information so that measures can be targeted. Sediment source fingerprinting represents one approach for supporting these needs, but recent methodological developments have resulted in an increasing complexity of data processing methods rendering the approach less accessible to non-specialists. A comprehensive new software programme (SIFT; SedIment Fingerprinting Tool) has therefore been developed which guides the user through critical data analysis decisions and automates all calculations. Multiple source group configurations and composite fingerprints are identified and tested using multiple methods of uncertainty analysis. This aims to explore the sediment provenance information provided by the tracers more comprehensively than a single model, and allows for model configurations with high uncertainties to be rejected. This paper provides an overview of its application to an agricultural catchment in the UK to determine if the approach used can provide a reduction in uncertainty and increase in precision. Five source group classifications were used; three formed using a k-means cluster analysis containing 2, 3 and 4 clusters, and two a-priori groups based upon catchment geology. Three different composite fingerprints were used for each classification and bi-plots, range tests, tracer variability ratios and virtual mixtures tested the reliability of each model configuration. Some model configurations performed poorly when apportioning the composition of virtual mixtures, and different model configurations could produce different sediment provenance results despite using composite fingerprints able to discriminate robustly between the source groups. Despite this uncertainty, dominant sediment sources were identified, and those in close proximity to each sediment sampling location were found to be of greatest importance. This new software, by integrating recent methodological developments in tracer data processing, guides users through key steps. Critically, by applying multiple model configurations and uncertainty assessment, it delivers more robust solutions for informing catchment management of the sediment problem than many previously used approaches. Copyright © 2018 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

FlexibleSUSY-A spectrum generator generator for supersymmetric models

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Athron, Peter; Park, Jae-hyeon; Stöckinger, Dominik; Voigt, Alexander

2015-05-01

We introduce FlexibleSUSY, a Mathematica and C++ package, which generates a fast, precise C++ spectrum generator for any SUSY model specified by the user. The generated code is designed with both speed and modularity in mind, making it easy to adapt and extend with new features. The model is specified by supplying the superpotential, gauge structure and particle content in a SARAH model file; specific boundary conditions e.g. at the GUT, weak or intermediate scales are defined in a separate FlexibleSUSY model file. From these model files, FlexibleSUSY generates C++ code for self-energies, tadpole corrections, renormalization group equations (RGEs) and electroweak symmetry breaking (EWSB) conditions and combines them with numerical routines for solving the RGEs and EWSB conditions simultaneously. The resulting spectrum generator is then able to solve for the spectrum of the model, including loop-corrected pole masses, consistent with user specified boundary conditions. The modular structure of the generated code allows for individual components to be replaced with an alternative if available. FlexibleSUSY has been carefully designed to grow as alternative solvers and calculators are added. Predefined models include the MSSM, NMSSM, E6SSM, USSM, R-symmetric models and models with right-handed neutrinos.

A user credit assessment model based on clustering ensemble for broadband network new media service supervision

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Fang; Cao, San-xing; Lu, Rui

2012-04-01

This paper proposes a user credit assessment model based on clustering ensemble aiming to solve the problem that users illegally spread pirated and pornographic media contents within the user self-service oriented broadband network new media platforms. Its idea is to do the new media user credit assessment by establishing indices system based on user credit behaviors, and the illegal users could be found according to the credit assessment results, thus to curb the bad videos and audios transmitted on the network. The user credit assessment model based on clustering ensemble proposed by this paper which integrates the advantages that swarm intelligence clustering is suitable for user credit behavior analysis and K-means clustering could eliminate the scattered users existed in the result of swarm intelligence clustering, thus to realize all the users' credit classification automatically. The model's effective verification experiments are accomplished which are based on standard credit application dataset in UCI machine learning repository, and the statistical results of a comparative experiment with a single model of swarm intelligence clustering indicates this clustering ensemble model has a stronger creditworthiness distinguishing ability, especially in the aspect of predicting to find user clusters with the best credit and worst credit, which will facilitate the operators to take incentive measures or punitive measures accurately. Besides, compared with the experimental results of Logistic regression based model under the same conditions, this clustering ensemble model is robustness and has better prediction accuracy.

Matching user needs in health care.

PubMed

Bremer, G; Leggate, P

1982-01-01

Outlines patterns of library service available to users in the (British) National Health Service (NHS); gives preliminary results of a study detailing the character of the library system users, the nature of their needs and the degree to which the library system output meshes with user needs. The NHS library system is composed of widely scattered but small libraries, many of which can be characterized according to the narrow range of needs they serve. The largest libraries of the system, the teaching hospital library, share features of the NHS and university library systems. The most numerous, however, are the postgraduate medical education center libraries and nurse training school libraries. Until recently, there had been no cohesive organizational structure uniting the facilities and services of these various library groups. Regional library systems dating from 1967 have sought to encourage collaboration among libraries and to take into account user needs in policy planning. Recent research into medical libraries conducted by the British Library Research and Development Department points out the need for medical students and doctors to be able to adapt themselves to extracting needed information from any library which they might need to use during their career. Data showed that both clinical and preclinical medical personnel use a wide range of libraries, and are most satisfied with a multifunction library. Interpretation of data was undertaken within a conceptual framework of modelling developed by Checkland which provides a structure for thinking about the system. It is hoped that this approach will help to identify the sort of model of users which the library must maintain in order to provide them with the services they desire.

Automatic User Interface Generation for Visualizing Big Geoscience Data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yu, H.; Wu, J.; Zhou, Y.; Tang, Z.; Kuo, K. S.

2016-12-01

Along with advanced computing and observation technologies, geoscience and its related fields have been generating a large amount of data at an unprecedented growth rate. Visualization becomes an increasingly attractive and feasible means for researchers to effectively and efficiently access and explore data to gain new understandings and discoveries. However, visualization has been challenging due to a lack of effective data models and visual representations to tackle the heterogeneity of geoscience data. We propose a new geoscience data visualization framework by leveraging the interface automata theory to automatically generate user interface (UI). Our study has the following three main contributions. First, geoscience data has its unique hierarchy data structure and complex formats, and therefore it is relatively easy for users to get lost or confused during their exploration of the data. By applying interface automata model to the UI design, users can be clearly guided to find the exact visualization and analysis that they want. In addition, from a development perspective, interface automaton is also easier to understand than conditional statements, which can simplify the development process. Second, it is common that geoscience data has discontinuity in its hierarchy structure. The application of interface automata can prevent users from suffering automation surprises, and enhance user experience. Third, for supporting a variety of different data visualization and analysis, our design with interface automata could also make applications become extendable in that a new visualization function or a new data group could be easily added to an existing application, which reduces the overhead of maintenance significantly. We demonstrate the effectiveness of our framework using real-world applications.

Effectiveness of active-online, an individually tailored physical activity intervention, in a real-life setting: randomized controlled trial.

PubMed

Wanner, Miriam; Martin-Diener, Eva; Braun-Fahrländer, Charlotte; Bauer, Georg; Martin, Brian W

2009-07-28

Effective interventions are needed to reduce the chronic disease epidemic. The Internet has the potential to provide large populations with individual advice at relatively low cost. The focus of the study was the Web-based tailored physical activity intervention Active-online. The main research questions were (1) How effective is Active-online, compared to a nontailored website, in increasing self-reported and objectively measured physical activity levels in the general population when delivered in a real-life setting? (2) Do respondents recruited for the randomized study differ from spontaneous users of Active-online, and how does effectiveness differ between these groups? (3) What is the impact of frequency and duration of use of Active-online on changes in physical activity behavior? Volunteers recruited via different media channels completed a Web-based baseline survey and were randomized to Active-online (intervention group) or a nontailored website (control group). In addition, spontaneous users were recruited directly from the Active-online website. In a subgroup of participants, physical activity was measured objectively using accelerometers. Follow-up assessments took place 6 weeks (FU1), 6 months (FU2), and 13 months (FU3) after baseline. A total of 1531 respondents completed the baseline questionnaire (intervention group n = 681, control group n = 688, spontaneous users n = 162); 133 individuals had valid accelerometer data at baseline. Mean age of the total sample was 43.7 years, and 1146 (74.9%) were women. Mixed linear models (adjusted for sex, age, BMI category, and stage of change) showed a significant increase in self-reported mean minutes spent in moderate- and vigorous-intensity activity from baseline to FU1 (coefficient = 0.14, P = .001) and to FU3 (coefficient = 0.19, P < .001) in all participants with no significant differences between groups. A significant increase in the proportion of individuals meeting the HEPA recommendations (self-reported) was observed in all participants between baseline and FU3 (OR = 1.47, P = .03), with a higher increase in spontaneous users compared to the randomized groups (interaction between FU3 and spontaneous users, OR = 2.95, P = .02). There were no increases in physical activity over time in any group for objectively measured physical activity. A significant relation was found between time spent on the tailored intervention and changes in self-reported physical activity between baseline and FU3 (coefficient = 1.13, P = .03, intervention group and spontaneous users combined). However, this association was no longer significant when adjusting for stage of change. In a real-life setting, Active-online was not more effective than a nontailored website in increasing physical activity levels in volunteers from the general population. Further research may investigate ways of integrating Web-based physical activity interventions in a wider context, for example, primary care or workplace health promotion.

Simple group password-based authenticated key agreements for the integrated EPR information system.

PubMed

Lee, Tian-Fu; Chang, I-Pin; Wang, Ching-Cheng

2013-04-01

The security and privacy are important issues for electronic patient records (EPRs). The goal of EPRs is sharing the patients' medical histories such as the diagnosis records, reports and diagnosis image files among hospitals by the Internet. So the security issue for the integrated EPR information system is essential. That is, to ensure the information during transmission through by the Internet is secure and private. The group password-based authenticated key agreement (GPAKE) allows a group of users like doctors, nurses and patients to establish a common session key by using password authentication. Then the group of users can securely communicate by using this session key. Many approaches about GAPKE employ the public key infrastructure (PKI) in order to have higher security. However, it not only increases users' overheads and requires keeping an extra equipment for storing long-term secret keys, but also requires maintaining the public key system. This investigation presents a simple group password-based authenticated key agreement (SGPAKE) protocol for the integrated EPR information system. The proposed SGPAKE protocol does not require using the server or users' public keys. Each user only remembers his weak password shared with a trusted server, and then can obtain a common session key. Then all users can securely communicate by using this session key. The proposed SGPAKE protocol not only provides users with convince, but also has higher security.

The HydroShare Collaborative Repository for the Hydrology Community

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tarboton, D. G.; Idaszak, R.; Horsburgh, J. S.; Ames, D. P.; Goodall, J. L.; Couch, A.; Hooper, R. P.; Dash, P. K.; Stealey, M.; Yi, H.; Bandaragoda, C.; Castronova, A. M.

2017-12-01

HydroShare is an online, collaboration system for sharing of hydrologic data, analytical tools, and models. It supports the sharing of, and collaboration around, "resources" which are defined by standardized content types for data formats and models commonly used in hydrology. With HydroShare you can: Share your data and models with colleagues; Manage who has access to the content that you share; Share, access, visualize and manipulate a broad set of hydrologic data types and models; Use the web services application programming interface (API) to program automated and client access; Publish data and models and obtain a citable digital object identifier (DOI); Aggregate your resources into collections; Discover and access data and models published by others; Use web apps to visualize, analyze and run models on data in HydroShare. This presentation will describe the functionality and architecture of HydroShare highlighting our approach to making this system easy to use and serving the needs of the hydrology community represented by the Consortium of Universities for the Advancement of Hydrologic Sciences, Inc. (CUAHSI). Metadata for uploaded files is harvested automatically or captured using easy to use web user interfaces. Users are encouraged to add or create resources in HydroShare early in the data life cycle. To encourage this we allow users to share and collaborate on HydroShare resources privately among individual users or groups, entering metadata while doing the work. HydroShare also provides enhanced functionality for users through web apps that provide tools and computational capability for actions on resources. HydroShare's architecture broadly is comprised of: (1) resource storage, (2) resource exploration website, and (3) web apps for actions on resources. System components are loosely coupled and interact through APIs, which enhances robustness, as components can be upgraded and advanced relatively independently. The full power of this paradigm is the extensibility it supports. Web apps are hosted on separate servers, which may be 3rd party servers. They are registered in HydroShare using a web app resource that configures the connectivity for them to be discovered and launched directly from resource types they are associated with.

Pragmatic, consensus-based minimum standards and structured interview to guide the selection and development of cancer support group leaders: a protocol paper.

PubMed

Pomery, Amanda; Schofield, Penelope; Xhilaga, Miranda; Gough, Karla

2017-06-30

Across the globe, peer support groups have emerged as a community-led approach to accessing support and connecting with others with cancer experiences. Little is known about qualities required to lead a peer support group or how to determine suitability for the role. Organisations providing assistance to cancer support groups and their leaders are currently operating independently, without a standard national framework or published guidelines. This protocol describes the methods that will be used to generate pragmatic consensus-based minimum standards and an accessible structured interview with user manual to guide the selection and development of cancer support group leaders. We will: (A) identify and collate peer-reviewed literature that describes qualities of support group leaders through a systematic review; (B) content analyse eligible documents for information relevant to requisite knowledge, skills and attributes of group leaders generally and specifically to cancer support groups; (C) use an online reactive Delphi method with an interdisciplinary panel of experts to produce a clear, suitable, relevant and appropriate structured interview comprising a set of agreed questions with behaviourally anchored rating scales; (D) produce a user manual to facilitate standard delivery of the structured interview; (E) pilot the structured interview to improve clinical utility; and (F) field test the structured interview to develop a rational scoring model and provide a summary of existing group leader qualities. The study is approved by the Department Human Ethics Advisory Group of The University of Melbourne. The study is based on voluntary participation and informed written consent, with participants able to withdraw at any time. The results will be disseminated at research conferences and peer review journals. Presentations and free access to the developed structured interview and user manual will be available to cancer agencies. © Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2017. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted.

Pragmatic, consensus-based minimum standards and structured interview to guide the selection and development of cancer support group leaders: a protocol paper

PubMed Central

Schofield, Penelope; Xhilaga, Miranda; Gough, Karla

2017-01-01

Introduction Across the globe, peer support groups have emerged as a community-led approach to accessing support and connecting with others with cancer experiences. Little is known about qualities required to lead a peer support group or how to determine suitability for the role. Organisations providing assistance to cancer support groups and their leaders are currently operating independently, without a standard national framework or published guidelines. This protocol describes the methods that will be used to generate pragmatic consensus-based minimum standards and an accessible structured interview with user manual to guide the selection and development of cancer support group leaders. Methods and analysis We will: (A) identify and collate peer-reviewed literature that describes qualities of support group leaders through a systematic review; (B) content analyse eligible documents for information relevant to requisite knowledge, skills and attributes of group leaders generally and specifically to cancer support groups; (C) use an online reactive Delphi method with an interdisciplinary panel of experts to produce a clear, suitable, relevant and appropriate structured interview comprising a set of agreed questions with behaviourally anchored rating scales; (D) produce a user manual to facilitate standard delivery of the structured interview; (E) pilot the structured interview to improve clinical utility; and (F) field test the structured interview to develop a rational scoring model and provide a summary of existing group leader qualities. Ethics and dissemination The study is approved by the Department Human Ethics Advisory Group of The University of Melbourne. The study is based on voluntary participation and informed written consent, with participants able to withdraw at any time. The results will be disseminated at research conferences and peer review journals. Presentations and free access to the developed structured interview and user manual will be available to cancer agencies. PMID:28667202

The Role of User Control in Adherence to and Knowledge Gained from a Website: Randomized Comparison Between a Tunneled Version and a Freedom-of-Choice Version

PubMed Central

Cyr, Dianne; de Vries, Nanne K

2012-01-01

Background Internet-delivered interventions can effectively change health risk behaviors and their determinants, but adherence to these interventions once they are accessed is very low. Therefore, it is relevant and necessary to systematically manipulate website characteristics to test their effect on website use. This study focuses on user control as a website characteristic. Objective To test whether and how user control (the freedom of choice to skip pages) can increase website use and knowledge gained from the website. Methods Participants older than 18 years were drawn from the Dutch Internet population (in June 2011) and completed a hepatitis knowledge questionnaire. Subsequently, they were randomly assigned to three groups: (1) a tunneled version of the website with less user control; (2) a high user control version of the website where visitors had the freedom of choice to skip pages; and (3) a control group that was not exposed to the website. Participants completed (1) a questionnaire of validated measures regarding user perceptions immediately after exposure to the website (except for the control group), and (2) a hepatitis knowledge questionnaire after one week to test whether participants in the experimental groups only clicked through the website or actually processed and learned its content. Server registrations were used to assess website use. Analyses of covariance (ANCOVA) using all available data were conducted to determine whether user control increases website use. Structural equation models (SEM) using all available data were constructed to test how user control increases website use—a latent variable derived from number of pages visited and time on website. Results Of the 1044 persons invited to participate, 668 took part (668/1044, 64.0%). One half of participants (332/668 49.7%) were female and the mean age was 49 years (SD 16). A total of 571 participants completed the one-week follow-up measure regarding hepatitis knowledge (571/668, 85.5%). The findings demonstrate that having less user control (ie, a tunneled version of the website) had a negative effect on users’ perception of efficiency (F1,452 = 97.69, P < .001), but a positive effect on number of pages visited (F1,452 = 171.49, P < .001), time on the website (F1,452 = 6.32, P = .01), and knowledge gained from the website (F1,452 = 134.32, P < .001). The direct effect of having less user control appeared to surpass the effect mediated by efficiency, because website use was higher among participants exposed to the tunneled version of the website in comparison with those having the freedom of choice to skip pages. Conclusions The key finding that visitors demonstrated increased website use in the tunneled version of the website indicates that visitors should be carefully guided through the intervention for future intervention websites. PMID:22532074

Extracting Association Patterns in Network Communications

PubMed Central

Portela, Javier; Villalba, Luis Javier García; Trujillo, Alejandra Guadalupe Silva; Orozco, Ana Lucila Sandoval; Kim, Tai-hoon

2015-01-01

In network communications, mixes provide protection against observers hiding the appearance of messages, patterns, length and links between senders and receivers. Statistical disclosure attacks aim to reveal the identity of senders and receivers in a communication network setting when it is protected by standard techniques based on mixes. This work aims to develop a global statistical disclosure attack to detect relationships between users. The only information used by the attacker is the number of messages sent and received by each user for each round, the batch of messages grouped by the anonymity system. A new modeling framework based on contingency tables is used. The assumptions are more flexible than those used in the literature, allowing to apply the method to multiple situations automatically, such as email data or social networks data. A classification scheme based on combinatoric solutions of the space of rounds retrieved is developed. Solutions about relationships between users are provided for all pairs of users simultaneously, since the dependence of the data retrieved needs to be addressed in a global sense. PMID:25679311

Extracting association patterns in network communications.

PubMed

Portela, Javier; Villalba, Luis Javier García; Trujillo, Alejandra Guadalupe Silva; Orozco, Ana Lucila Sandoval; Kim, Tai-hoon

2015-02-11

In network communications, mixes provide protection against observers hiding the appearance of messages, patterns, length and links between senders and receivers. Statistical disclosure attacks aim to reveal the identity of senders and receivers in a communication network setting when it is protected by standard techniques based on mixes. This work aims to develop a global statistical disclosure attack to detect relationships between users. The only information used by the attacker is the number of messages sent and received by each user for each round, the batch of messages grouped by the anonymity system. A new modeling framework based on contingency tables is used. The assumptions are more flexible than those used in the literature, allowing to apply the method to multiple situations automatically, such as email data or social networks data. A classification scheme based on combinatoric solutions of the space of rounds retrieved is developed. Solutions about relationships between users are provided for all pairs of users simultaneously, since the dependence of the data retrieved needs to be addressed in a global sense.

Studying Psychosocial Barriers to Drug Treatment Among Chinese Methamphetamine Users Using A 3-Step Latent Class Analysis.

PubMed

Wang, Jichuan; Kelly, Brian C; Liu, Tieqiao; Hao, Wei

2016-03-01

Given the growth in methamphetamine use in China during the 21st century, we assessed perceived psychosocial barriers to drug treatment among this population. Using a sample of 303 methamphetamine users recruited via Respondent Driven Sampling, we use Latent Class Analysis (LCA) to identify possible distinct latent groups among Chinese methamphetamine users on the basis of their perceptions of psychosocial barriers to drug treatment. After covariates were included to predict latent class membership, the 3-step modeling approach was applied. Our findings indicate that the Chinese methamphetamine using population was heterogeneous on perceptions of drug treatment barriers; four distinct latent classes (subpopulations) were identified--Unsupported Deniers, Deniers, Privacy Anxious, and Low Barriers--and individual characteristics shaped the probability of class membership. Efforts to link Chinese methamphetamine users to treatment may require a multi-faceted approach that attends to differing perceptions about impediments to drug treatment. Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier Inc.

User Perceptions of the "Reliability" of Library Services at Texas A&M University: A Focus Group Study.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ho, Jeannette; Crowley, Gwyneth H.

2003-01-01

Explored user perceptions of dependability and accuracy of Texas A&M library services through focus groups. Reports user difficulties in locating materials, inaccurate catalog and circulation records, inadequate signage, searching the online catalog, and late notification of interlibrary loan arrivals; and discusses the library's efforts to…

QoS prediction for web services based on user-trust propagation model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Thinh, Le-Van; Tu, Truong-Dinh

2017-10-01

There is an important online role for Web service providers and users; however, the rapidly growing number of service providers and users, it can create some similar functions among web services. This is an exciting area for research, and researchers seek to to propose solutions for the best service to users. Collaborative filtering (CF) algorithms are widely used in recommendation systems, although these are less effective for cold-start users. Recently, some recommender systems have been developed based on social network models, and the results show that social network models have better performance in terms of CF, especially for cold-start users. However, most social network-based recommendations do not consider the user's mood. This is a hidden source of information, and is very useful in improving prediction efficiency. In this paper, we introduce a new model called User-Trust Propagation (UTP). The model uses a combination of trust and the mood of users to predict the QoS value and matrix factorisation (MF), which is used to train the model. The experimental results show that the proposed model gives better accuracy than other models, especially for the cold-start problem.

The Value of Humans in the Operational River Forecasting Enterprise

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pagano, T. C.

2012-04-01

The extent of human control over operational river forecasts, such as by adjusting model inputs and outputs, varies from nearly completely automated systems to those where forecasts are generated after discussion among a group of experts. Historical and realtime data availability, the complexity of hydrologic processes, forecast user needs, and forecasting institution support/resource availability (e.g. computing power, money for model maintenance) influence the character and effectiveness of operational forecasting systems. Automated data quality algorithms, if used at all, are typically very basic (e.g. checks for impossible values); substantial human effort is devoted to cleaning up forcing data using subjective methods. Similarly, although it is an active research topic, nearly all operational forecasting systems struggle to make quantitative use of Numerical Weather Prediction model-based precipitation forecasts, instead relying on the assessment of meteorologists. Conversely, while there is a strong tradition in meteorology of making raw model outputs available to forecast users via the Internet, this is rarely done in hydrology; Operational river forecasters express concerns about exposing users to raw guidance, due to the potential for misinterpretation and misuse. However, this limits the ability of users to build their confidence in operational products through their own value-added analyses. Forecasting agencies also struggle with provenance (i.e. documenting the production process and archiving the pieces that went into creating a forecast) although this is necessary for quantifying the benefits of human involvement in forecasting and diagnosing weak links in the forecasting chain. In hydrology, the space between model outputs and final operational products is nearly unstudied by the academic community, although some studies exist in other fields such as meteorology.

Young macaques (Macaca fascicularis) preferentially bias attention towards closer, older, and better tool users.

PubMed

Tan, Amanda W Y; Hemelrijk, Charlotte K; Malaivijitnond, Suchinda; Gumert, Michael D

2018-05-12

Examining how animals direct social learning during skill acquisition under natural conditions, generates data for examining hypotheses regarding how transmission biases influence cultural change in animal populations. We studied a population of macaques on Koram Island, Thailand, and examined model-based biases during interactions by unskilled individuals with tool-using group members. We first compared the prevalence of interactions (watching, obtaining food, object exploration) and proximity to tool users during interactions, in developing individuals (infants, juveniles) versus mature non-learners (adolescents, adults), to provide evidence that developing individuals are actively seeking information about tool use from social partners. All infants and juveniles, but only 49% of mature individuals carried out interacted with tool users. Macaques predominantly obtained food by scrounging or stealing, suggesting maximizing scrounging opportunities motivates interactions with tool users. However, while interactions by adults was limited to obtaining food, young macaques and particularly infants also watched tool users and explored objects, indicating additional interest in tool use itself. We then ran matrix correlations to identify interaction biases, and what attributes of tool users influenced these. Biases correlated with social affiliation, but macaques also preferentially targeted tool users that potentially increase scrounging and learning opportunities. Results suggest that social structure may constrain social learning, but the motivation to bias interactions towards tool users to maximize feeding opportunities may also socially modulate learning by facilitating close proximity to better tool users, and further interest in tool-use actions and materials, especially during development.

Cannabis and Young Users-A Brief Intervention to Reduce Their Consumption (CANABIC): A Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial in Primary Care.

PubMed

Laporte, Catherine; Vaillant-Roussel, Hélène; Pereira, Bruno; Blanc, Olivier; Eschalier, Bénédicte; Kinouani, Shérazade; Brousse, Georges; Llorca, Pierre-Michel; Vorilhon, Philippe

2017-03-01

Brief intervention to reduce cannabis is a promising technique that could be adapted for use in primary care, but it has not been well studied in this setting. We tested the efficacy of a brief intervention conducted by general practitioners among cannabis users aged 15 to 25 years. We performed a cluster randomized controlled trial with 77 general practitioners in France. The intervention consisted of an interview designed according to the FRAMES (feedback, responsibility, advice, menu, empathy, self-efficacy) model, while the control condition consisted of routine care. The general practitioners screened and followed up 261 young cannabis users. After 1 year, there was no significant difference between the intervention and control groups in the median number of joints smoked per month among all users (17.5 vs 17.5; P = .13), but there was a difference in favor of the intervention among nondaily users (3 vs 10; P = .01). After 6 months, the intervention was associated with a more favorable change from baseline in the number of joints smoked (-33.3% vs 0%, P = .01) and, among users younger than age of 18, smoking of fewer joints per month (12.5 vs 20, P = .04). Our findings suggest that a brief intervention conducted by general practitioners with French young cannabis users does not affect use overall. They do, however, strongly support use of brief intervention for younger users and for moderate users. © 2017 Annals of Family Medicine, Inc.

Abnormal medial prefrontal cortex activity in heavy cannabis users during conscious emotional evaluation.

PubMed

Wesley, Michael J; Lile, Joshua A; Hanlon, Colleen A; Porrino, Linda J

2016-03-01

Long-term heavy cannabis users (cannabis users) who are not acutely intoxicated have diminished subconscious neural responsiveness to affective stimuli. This study sought to determine if abnormal processing extends to the conscious evaluation of emotional stimuli. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used to examine brain activity as cannabis users (N = 16) and non-cannabis-using controls (N = 17) evaluated and categorized standardized International Affective Picture System (IAPS) stimuli. Individual judgments were used to isolate activity during the evaluation of emotional (i.e., emotional evaluation) or neutral (i.e., neutral evaluation) stimuli. Within- and between-group analyses were performed. Both groups judged the same stimuli as emotional and had activations in visual, midbrain, and middle cingulate cortices during emotional evaluation, relative to neutral. Within-group analyses also revealed amygdalar and inferior frontal gyrus activations in controls, but not cannabis users, and medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) deactivations in cannabis users, but not controls, during emotional evaluation, relative to neutral. Between-group comparisons found that mPFC activity during positive and negative evaluation was significantly hypoactive in cannabis users, relative to controls. Abnormal neural processing of affective content extends to the level of consciousness in cannabis users. The hypoactive mPFC responses observed resembles the attenuated mPFC responses found during increased non-affective cognitive load in prior research. These findings suggest that abnormal mPFC singling in cannabis users during emotional evaluation might be associated with increased non-affective cognitive load.

Abnormal Medial Prefrontal Cortex Activity in Heavy Cannabis Users During Conscious Emotional Evaluation

PubMed Central

Lile, Joshua A.; Hanlon, Colleen A.; Porrino, Linda J.

2015-01-01

Rationale Long-term heavy cannabis users (cannabis users) who are not acutely intoxicated have diminished subconscious neural responsiveness to affective stimuli. Objective This study sought to determine if abnormal processing extends to the conscious evaluation of emotional stimuli. Methods Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) was used to examine brain activity as cannabis users (N=16) and non-cannabis using controls (N=17) evaluated and categorized standardized International Affective Picture System (IAPS) stimuli. Individual judgments were used to isolate activity during the evaluation of emotional (i.e., emotional evaluation) or neutral (i.e., neutral evaluation) stimuli. Within- and between-group analyses were performed. Results Both groups judged the same stimuli as emotional and had activations in visual, midbrain, and middle cingulate cortices during emotional evaluation, relative to neutral. Within-group analyses also revealed amygdalar and inferior frontal gyrus activations in controls, but not cannabis users, and medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) deactivations in cannabis users, but not controls, during emotional evaluation, relative to neutral. Between-group comparisons found that mPFC activity during positive and negative evaluation was significantly hypoactive in cannabis users, relative to controls. Conclusions Abnormal neural processing of affective content extends to the level of consciousness in cannabis users. The hypoactive mPFC responses observed resembles the attenuated mPFC responses found during increased non-affective cognitive load in prior research. These findings suggest that abnormal mPFC singling in cannabis users during emotional evaluation might be associated with increased non-affective cognitive load. PMID:26690589

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.

Proceedings of the Workshop on Government Oil Spill Modeling

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bishop, J. M. (Compiler)

1980-01-01

Oil spill model users and modelers were brought together for the purpose of fostering joint communication and increasing understanding of mutual problems. The workshop concentrated on defining user needs, presentations on ongoing modeling programs, and discussions of supporting research for these modeling efforts. Specific user recommendations include the development of an oil spill model user library which identifies and describes available models. The development of models for the long-term fate and effect of spilled oil was examined.

Establishing a group of endpoints to support collective operations without specifying unique identifiers for any endpoints

DOEpatents

Archer, Charles J.; Blocksom, Michael A.; Ratterman, Joseph D.; Smith, Brian E.; Xue, Hanghon

2016-02-02

A parallel computer executes a number of tasks, each task includes a number of endpoints and the endpoints are configured to support collective operations. In such a parallel computer, establishing a group of endpoints receiving a user specification of a set of endpoints included in a global collection of endpoints, where the user specification defines the set in accordance with a predefined virtual representation of the endpoints, the predefined virtual representation is a data structure setting forth an organization of tasks and endpoints included in the global collection of endpoints and the user specification defines the set of endpoints without a user specification of a particular endpoint; and defining a group of endpoints in dependence upon the predefined virtual representation of the endpoints and the user specification.

Establishing a group of endpoints in a parallel computer

DOEpatents

Archer, Charles J.; Blocksome, Michael A.; Ratterman, Joseph D.; Smith, Brian E.; Xue, Hanhong

2016-02-02

A parallel computer executes a number of tasks, each task includes a number of endpoints and the endpoints are configured to support collective operations. In such a parallel computer, establishing a group of endpoints receiving a user specification of a set of endpoints included in a global collection of endpoints, where the user specification defines the set in accordance with a predefined virtual representation of the endpoints, the predefined virtual representation is a data structure setting forth an organization of tasks and endpoints included in the global collection of endpoints and the user specification defines the set of endpoints without a user specification of a particular endpoint; and defining a group of endpoints in dependence upon the predefined virtual representation of the endpoints and the user specification.

User-Centered Indexing for Adaptive Information Access

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Chen, James R.; Mathe, Nathalie

1996-01-01

We are focusing on information access tasks characterized by large volume of hypermedia connected technical documents, a need for rapid and effective access to familiar information, and long-term interaction with evolving information. The problem for technical users is to build and maintain a personalized task-oriented model of the information to quickly access relevant information. We propose a solution which provides user-centered adaptive information retrieval and navigation. This solution supports users in customizing information access over time. It is complementary to information discovery methods which provide access to new information, since it lets users customize future access to previously found information. It relies on a technique, called Adaptive Relevance Network, which creates and maintains a complex indexing structure to represent personal user's information access maps organized by concepts. This technique is integrated within the Adaptive HyperMan system, which helps NASA Space Shuttle flight controllers organize and access large amount of information. It allows users to select and mark any part of a document as interesting, and to index that part with user-defined concepts. Users can then do subsequent retrieval of marked portions of documents. This functionality allows users to define and access personal collections of information, which are dynamically computed. The system also supports collaborative review by letting users share group access maps. The adaptive relevance network provides long-term adaptation based both on usage and on explicit user input. The indexing structure is dynamic and evolves over time. Leading and generalization support flexible retrieval of information under similar concepts. The network is geared towards more recent information access, and automatically manages its size in order to maintain rapid access when scaling up to large hypermedia space. We present results of simulated learning experiments.

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

PubMed

Healey, Benjamin; Hoek, Janet; Edwards, Richard

2014-01-01

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

Design and Evaluation of Perceptual-based Object Group Selection Techniques

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dehmeshki, Hoda

Selecting groups of objects is a frequent task in graphical user interfaces. It is required prior to many standard operations such as deletion, movement, or modification. Conventional selection techniques are lasso, rectangle selection, and the selection and de-selection of items through the use of modifier keys. These techniques may become time-consuming and error-prone when target objects are densely distributed or when the distances between target objects are large. Perceptual-based selection techniques can considerably improve selection tasks when targets have a perceptual structure, for example when arranged along a line. Current methods to detect such groups use ad hoc grouping algorithms that are not based on results from perception science. Moreover, these techniques do not allow selecting groups with arbitrary arrangements or permit modifying a selection. This dissertation presents two domain-independent perceptual-based systems that address these issues. Based on established group detection models from perception research, the proposed systems detect perceptual groups formed by the Gestalt principles of good continuation and proximity. The new systems provide gesture-based or click-based interaction techniques for selecting groups with curvilinear or arbitrary structures as well as clusters. Moreover, the gesture-based system is adapted for the graph domain to facilitate path selection. This dissertation includes several user studies that show the proposed systems outperform conventional selection techniques when targets form salient perceptual groups and are still competitive when targets are semi-structured.

A Privacy-Preserving Platform for User-Centric Quantitative Benchmarking

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Herrmann, Dominik; Scheuer, Florian; Feustel, Philipp; Nowey, Thomas; Federrath, Hannes

We propose a centralised platform for quantitative benchmarking of key performance indicators (KPI) among mutually distrustful organisations. Our platform offers users the opportunity to request an ad-hoc benchmarking for a specific KPI within a peer group of their choice. Architecture and protocol are designed to provide anonymity to its users and to hide the sensitive KPI values from other clients and the central server. To this end, we integrate user-centric peer group formation, exchangeable secure multi-party computation protocols, short-lived ephemeral key pairs as pseudonyms, and attribute certificates. We show by empirical evaluation of a prototype that the performance is acceptable for reasonably sized peer groups.

The Generic Short Patient Experiences Questionnaire (GS-PEQ): identification of core items from a survey in Norway

PubMed Central

2011-01-01

Background Questionnaires are commonly used to collect patient, or user, experiences with health care encounters; however, their adaption to specific target groups limits comparison between groups. We present the construction of a generic questionnaire (maximum of ten questions) for user evaluation across a range of health care services. Methods Based on previous testing of six group-specific questionnaires, we first constructed a generic questionnaire with 23 items related to user experiences. All questions included a "not applicable" response option, as well as a follow-up question about the item's importance. Nine user groups from one health trust were surveyed. Seven groups received questionnaires by mail and two by personal distribution. Selection of core questions was based on three criteria: applicability (proportion "not applicable"), importance (mean scores on follow-up questions), and comprehensiveness (content coverage, maximum two items per dimension). Results 1324 questionnaires were returned providing subsample sizes ranging from 52 to 323. Ten questions were excluded because the proportion of "not applicable" responses exceeded 20% in at least one user group. The number of remaining items was reduced to ten by applying the two other criteria. The final short questionnaire included items on outcome (2), clinician services (2), user involvement (2), incorrect treatment (1), information (1), organisation (1), and accessibility (1). Conclusion The Generic Short Patient Experiences Questionnaire (GS-PEQ) is a short, generic set of questions on user experiences with specialist health care that covers important topics for a range of groups. It can be used alone or with other instruments in quality assessment or in research. The psychometric properties and the relevance of the GS-PEQ in other health care settings and countries need further evaluation. PMID:21510871

Integrating pro-environmental behavior with transportation network modeling: User and system level strategies, implementation, and evaluation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Aziz, H. M. Abdul

Personal transport is a leading contributor to fossil fuel consumption and greenhouse (GHG) emissions in the U.S. The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) reports that light-duty vehicles (LDV) are responsible for 61% of all transportation related energy consumption in 2012, which is equivalent to 8.4 million barrels of oil (fossil fuel) per day. The carbon content in fossil fuels is the primary source of GHG emissions that links to the challenge associated with climate change. Evidently, it is high time to develop actionable and innovative strategies to reduce fuel consumption and GHG emissions from the road transportation networks. This dissertation integrates the broader goal of minimizing energy and emissions into the transportation planning process using novel systems modeling approaches. This research aims to find, investigate, and evaluate strategies that minimize carbon-based fuel consumption and emissions for a transportation network. We propose user and system level strategies that can influence travel decisions and can reinforce pro-environmental attitudes of road users. Further, we develop strategies that system operators can implement to optimize traffic operations with emissions minimization goal. To complete the framework we develop an integrated traffic-emissions (EPA-MOVES) simulation framework that can assess the effectiveness of the strategies with computational efficiency and reasonable accuracy. The dissertation begins with exploring the trade-off between emissions and travel time in context of daily travel decisions and its heterogeneous nature. Data are collected from a web-based survey and the trade-off values indicating the average additional travel minutes a person is willing to consider for reducing a lb. of GHG emissions are estimated from random parameter models. Results indicate that different trade-off values for male and female groups. Further, participants from high-income households are found to have higher trade-off values compared with other groups. Next, we propose personal mobility carbon allowance (PMCA) scheme to reduce emissions from personal travel. PMCA is a market-based scheme that allocates carbon credits to users at no cost based on the emissions reduction goal of the system. Users can spend carbon credits for travel and a market place exists where users can buy or sell credits. This dissertation addresses two primary dimensions: the change in travel behavior of the users and the impact at network level in terms of travel time and emissions when PMCA is implemented. To understand this process, a real-time experimental game tool is developed where players are asked to make travel decisions within the carbon budget set by PMCA and they are allowed to trade carbon credits in a market modeled as a double auction game. Random parameter models are estimated to examine the impact of PMCA on short-term travel decisions. Further, to assess the impact at system level, a multi-class dynamic user equilibrium model is formulated that captures the travel behavior under PMCA scheme. The equivalent variational inequality problem is solved using projection method. Results indicate that PMCA scheme is able to reduce GHG emissions from transportation networks. Individuals with high value of travel time (VOTT) are less sensitive to PMCA scheme in context of work trips. High and medium income users are more likely to have non-work trips with lower carbon cost (higher travel time) to save carbon credits for work trips. Next, we focus on the strategies from the perspectives of system operators in transportation networks. Learning based signal control schemes are developed that can reduce emissions from signalized urban networks. The algorithms are implemented and tested in VISSIM micro simulator. Finally, an integrated emissions-traffic simulator framework is outlined that can be used to evaluate the effectiveness of the strategies. The integrated framework uses MOVES2010b as the emissions simulator. To estimate the emissions efficiently we propose a hierarchical clustering technique with dynamic time warping similarity measures (HC-DTW) to find the link driving schedules for MOVES2010b. Test results using the data from a five-intersection corridor show that HC-DTW technique can significantly reduce emissions estimation time without compromising the accuracy. The benefits are found to be most significant when the level of congestion variation is high. In addition to finding novel strategies for reducing emissions from transportation networks, this dissertation has broader impacts on behavior based energy policy design and transportation network modeling research. The trade-off values can be a useful indicator to identify which policies are most effective to reinforce pro-environmental travel choices. For instance, the model can estimate the distribution of trade-off between emissions and travel time, and provide insights on the effectiveness of policies for New York City if we are able to collect data to construct a representative sample. The probability of route choice decisions vary across population groups and trip contexts. The probability as a function of travel and demographic attributes can be used as behavior rules for agents in an agent-based traffic simulation. Finally, the dynamic user equilibrium based network model provides a general framework for energy policies such carbon tax, tradable permit, and emissions credits system.

DEVELOPMENT AND VALIDATION OF 'SURE': A PATIENT REPORTED OUTCOME MEASURE (PROM) FOR RECOVERY FROM DRUG AND ALCOHOL DEPENDENCE.

PubMed

Neale, Joanne; Vitoratou, Silia; Finch, Emily; Lennon, Paul; Mitcheson, Luke; Panebianco, Daria; Rose, Diana; Strang, John; Wykes, Til; Marsden, John

2016-08-01

Patient Reported Outcome Measures (PROMs) assess health status and health-related quality of life from the patient/service user perspective. Our study aimed to: i. develop a PROM for recovery from drug and alcohol dependence that has good face and content validity, acceptability and usability for people in recovery; ii. evaluate the psychometric properties and factorial structure of the new PROM ('SURE'). Item development included Delphi groups, focus groups, and service user feedback on draft versions of the new measure. A 30-item beta version was completed by 575 service users (461 in person [IP] and 114 online [OL]). Analyses comprised rating scale evaluation, assessment of psychometric properties, factorial structure, and differential item functioning. The beta measure had good face and content validity. Nine items were removed due to low stability, low factor loading, low construct validity or high complexity. The remaining 21 items were re-scaled (Rasch model analyses). Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses revealed 5 factors: substance use, material resources, outlook on life, self-care, and relationships. The MIMIC model indicated 95% metric invariance across the IP and OL samples, and 100% metric invariance for gender. Internal consistency and test-retest reliability were granted. The 5 factors correlated positively with the corresponding WHOQOL-BREF and ARC subscales and score differences between participant sub-groups confirmed discriminative validity. 'SURE' is a psychometrically valid, quick and easy-to-complete outcome measure, developed with unprecedented input from people in recovery. It can be used alongside, or instead of, existing outcome tools. Copyright © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Comparison of two intraosseous infusion systems for adult emergency medical use.

PubMed

Brenner, Thorsten; Bernhard, Michael; Helm, Matthias; Doll, Sara; Völkl, Alfred; Ganion, Nicole; Friedmann, Claudia; Sikinger, Marcus; Knapp, Jürgen; Martin, Eike; Gries, André

2008-09-01

The current guidelines of the European Resuscitation Council (ERC) stipulate that an intraosseous access should be placed if establishing a peripheral venous access for cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) would involve delays. The aim of this study was therefore to compare a manual intraosseous infusion technique (MAN-IO) and a semi-automatic intraosseous infusion system (EZ-IO) using adult human cadavers as a model. After receiving verbal instruction and giving their written informed consent, the participants of the study were randomized into two groups (group I: MAN-IO, and group II: EZ-IO). In addition to the demographic data, the following were evaluated: (1) Number of attempts required to successfully place the infusion, (2) Insertion time, (3) Occurrence of technical complications and (4) User friendliness. Evaluation protocols from 84 study participants could be evaluated (MAN-IO: n=39 vs. EZ-IO: n=45). No significant differences were seen in the study participants' characteristics. Insertion times (MW+/-S.D.) of the respective successful attempts were comparable (MAN-IO: 33+/-28s vs. EZ-IO: 32+/-11s). When using the EZ-IO, the access was successfully established significantly more often on the first attempt (MAN-IO: 79.5% vs. EZ-IO: 97.8%; p<0.01). The EZ-IO was also found to have more advantages in terms of technical complications (MAN-IO: 15.4% vs. EZ-IO: 0.0%; p<0.01) and user friendliness (school grading system: MAN-IO: 1.9+/-0.7 vs. EZ-IO: 1.2+/-0.4; p<0.01). In an adult human cadaver model, the semi-automatic system was proven to be more effective. The EZ-IO gave more successful results, was associated with fewer technical complications, and is user friendlier.

Architecture of conference control functions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kausar, Nadia; Crowcroft, Jon

1999-11-01

Conference control is an integral part in many-to-many communications that is used to manage and co-ordinate multiple users in conferences. There are different types of conferences which require different types of control. Some of the features of conference control may be user invoked while others are for internal management of a conference. In recent years, ITU (International Telecommunication Union) and IETF (Internet Engineering Task Force) have standardized two main models of conferencing, each system providing a set of conference control functionalities that are not easily provided in the other one. This paper analyzes the main activities appropriate for different types of conferences and presents an architecture for conference control called GCCP (Generic Conference Control Protocol). GCCP interworks different types of conferencing and provides a set of conference control functions that can be invoked by users directly. As an example of interworking, interoperation of IETF's SIP and ITU's H.323 call control functions have been examined here. This paper shows that a careful analysis of a conferencing architecture can provide a set of control functions essential for any group communication model that can be extensible if needed.

Exploring the safety in numbers effect for vulnerable road users on a macroscopic scale.

PubMed

Tasic, Ivana; Elvik, Rune; Brewer, Simon

2017-12-01

A "Safety in Numbers" effect for a certain group of road users is present if the number of crashes increases at a lower rate than the number of road users. The existence of this effect has been invoked to justify investments in multimodal transportation improvements in order to create more sustainable urban transportation systems by encouraging walking, biking, and transit ridership. The goal of this paper is to explore safety in numbers effect for cyclists and pedestrians in areas with different levels of access to multimodal infrastructure. Data from Chicago served to estimate the expected number of crashes on the census tract level by applying Generalized Additive Models (GAM) to capture spatial dependence in crash data. Measures of trip generation, multimodal infrastructure, network connectivity and completeness, and accessibility were used to model travel exposure in terms of activity, number of trips, trip length, travel opportunities, and conflicts. The results show that a safety in numbers effect exists on a macroscopic level for motor vehicles, pedestrians, and bicyclists. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Alternative futures of proactive tools for a citizen's own wellbeing.

PubMed

Meristö, Tarja; Tuohimaa, Hanna; Leppimäki, Sami; Laitinen, Jukka

2009-01-01

The aim of this paper is to create the basis for a vision of an empowered citizen who can control his/her life, especially in relation to health and personal wellbeing with the use of new ICT-tools. The methods used in the study are based on futures studies, especially on scenario methodology. Alternative future paths, i.e. scenarios are constructed using the scenario filter model that we have developed, with market, technology and society perspectives. Scenarios not resulting in the vision are described in what if - analysis as well. The scenarios are combined with Viherä's model on citizen's skills, access and motivation to use new ICT-tools. The concept COPER is targeted to different user groups with an adaptable user interface and its development is user centered. We will consider the effects and the appropriate elements of COPER in every scenario, as well as the possibilities and challenges nursing will confront. As a result we will gain information of the characteristic of COPER that advance the vision. For the future development of COPER the alternative scenarios give the basis for flexibility planning, too.

The use of a kiosk-model bilingual self-triage system in the pediatric emergency department.

PubMed

Sinha, Madhumita; Khor, Kai-Ning; Amresh, Ashish; Drachman, David; Frechette, Alan

2014-01-01

Streamlining the triage process is the key in improving emergency department (ED) workflow. Our objective was to determine if parents of pediatric ED patients in, low-literacy, inner-city hospital, who used the audio-assisted bilingual (English/Spanish) self-triage kiosk, were able to enter their child's medical history data using a touch screen panel with greater speed and accuracy than routine nurse-initiated triage. Parent/child dyads visiting the pediatric ED for nonurgent conditions (February to April 2012) were randomized prospectively to self-triage kiosk group (n = 200) and standard nurse triage group (n = 200). Both groups underwent routine nurse-initiated triage that included verbal elicitation of basic medical history and manual entry into patients' electronic medical records. The kiosk user was a parent in 88.5% of the cases, a patient (range, 11-17 years) in 9.5% of the cases, and a proxy user (sibling or friend) in 2% of the cases. Language choice for kiosk use was equally distributed (English vs Spanish, 50.5% vs 49.5%). The mean (SD) time to enter medical history data by the kiosk group was significantly shorter than the standard nurse triage group (94.38 [38.61] vs 126.72 [62.61] seconds; P < 0.001). Significant inverse relationship was observed between parent education level and kiosk usage time (r = -0.26; P < 0.001). The mean inaccuracies were significantly lower for kiosk group (P < 0.05) in areas of medical, medication and immunization histories, and total discrepancy score. Kiosk triage enabled users to enter basic medical triage history data quickly and accurately in an ED setting with future potential for its wider use in improving ED workflow efficiency.

Exploring online communication about cigarette smoking among Twitter users who self-identify as having schizophrenia.

PubMed

Hswen, Yulin; Naslund, John A; Chandrashekar, Pooja; Siegel, Robert; Brownstein, John S; Hawkins, Jared B

2017-11-01

Novel approaches are needed to address elevated tobacco use among people with schizophrenia. This exploratory study examined the frequency, timing, and type of communication about tobacco-related content on Twitter among users who self-identify as having schizophrenia compared with users from the general population. Over a 200-day period from January to July 2016, Twitter users who self-identify as having a schizophrenia spectrum disorder (n = 203) and a randomly selected group of general population control users (n = 173) posted 1,544,122 tweets. Communication frequency did not differ between groups. Tweets containing tobacco-related keywords were extracted. Twitter users with schizophrenia posted significantly more tweets containing any tobacco-related terms (mean = 3.74; SD = 16.3) compared with control users (mean = 0.82; SD = 1.8). A significantly greater proportion of Twitter users with schizophrenia (45%; n = 92) posted tweets containing any tobacco terms compared with control users (30%; n = 52). Schizophrenia users showed significantly greater odds of tweeting about tobacco compared with control users (OR = 1.99; 95% CI 1.29-3.07). These findings suggest that online communication about tobacco may parallel real world trends of elevated tobacco use observed among people with schizophrenia. By showing that Twitter users who self-identify as having schizophrenia discuss tobacco-related content online, popular social media could inform smoking cessation efforts targeting this at-risk group. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Time Is Money: The Decision Making of Smartphone High Users in Gain and Loss Intertemporal Choice.

PubMed

Tang, Zixuan; Zhang, Huijun; Yan, An; Qu, Chen

2017-01-01

Nowadays the smartphone plays an important role in our lives. While it brings us convenience and efficiency, its overuse can cause problems. Although a great number of studies have demonstrated that people affected by substance abuse, pathological gambling, and internet addiction disorder have lower self-control than average, scarcely any study has investigated the decision making of smartphone high users by using a behavioral paradigm. The present study employed an intertemporal task, the Smartphone Addiction Inventory (SPAI) and the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale 11th version (BIS-11) to explore the decision control of smartphone high users in a sample of 125 college students. Participants were divided into three groups according to their SPAI scores. The upper third (69 or higher), middle third (from 61 to 68) and lower third (60 or lower) of scores were defined as high smartphone users, medium users and low users, respectively. We compared the percentage of small immediate reward/penalty choices in different conditions between the three groups. Relative to the low users group, high users and medium users were more inclined to request an immediate monetary reward. Moreover, for the two dimensions of time and money in intertemporal choice, high users and medium users showed a bias in intertemporal choice task among most of the time points and value magnitude compared to low users. These findings demonstrated that smartphone overuse was associated with problematic decision-making, a pattern similar to that seen in persons affected by a variety of addictions.

Depression, impulsiveness, sleep, and memory in past and present polydrug users of 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA, ecstasy).

PubMed

Taurah, Lynn; Chandler, Chris; Sanders, Geoff

2014-02-01

Ecstasy (3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine, MDMA) is a worldwide recreational drug of abuse. Unfortunately, the results from human research investigating its psychological effects have been inconsistent. The present study aimed to be the largest to date in sample size and 5HT-related behaviors; the first to compare present ecstasy users with past users after an abstinence of 4 or more years, and the first to include robust controls for other recreational substances. A sample of 997 participants (52 % male) was recruited to four control groups (non-drug (ND), alcohol/nicotine (AN), cannabis/alcohol/nicotine (CAN), non-ecstasy polydrug (PD)), and two ecstasy polydrug groups (present (MDMA) and past users (EX-MDMA). Participants completed a drug history questionnaire, Beck Depression Inventory, Barratt Impulsiveness Scale, Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, and Wechsler Memory Scale-Revised which, in total, provided 13 psychometric measures. While the CAN and PD groups tended to record greater deficits than the non-drug controls, the MDMA and EX-MDMA groups recorded greater deficits than all the control groups on ten of the 13 psychometric measures. Strikingly, despite prolonged abstinence (mean, 4.98; range, 4-9 years), past ecstasy users showed few signs of recovery. Compared with present ecstasy users, the past users showed no change for ten measures, increased impairment for two measures, and improvement on just one measure. Given this record of impaired memory and clinically significant levels of depression, impulsiveness, and sleep disturbance, the prognosis for the current generation of ecstasy users is a major cause for concern.

Enhanced modeling features within TREETOPS

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Vandervoort, R. J.; Kumar, Manoj N.

1989-01-01

The original motivation for TREETOPS was to build a generic multi-body simulation and remove the burden of writing multi-body equations from the engineers. The motivation of the enhancement was twofold: (1) to extend the menu of built-in features (sensors, actuators, constraints, etc.) that did not require user code; and (2) to extend the control system design capabilities by linking with other government funded software (NASTRAN and MATLAB). These enhancements also serve to bridge the gap between structures and control groups. It is common on large space programs for the structures groups to build hi-fidelity models of the structure using NASTRAN and for the controls group to build lower order models because they lack the tools to incorporate the former into their analysis. Now the controls engineers can accept the hi-fidelity NASTRAN models into TREETOPS, add sensors and actuators, perform model reduction and couple the result directly into MATLAB to perform their design. The controller can then be imported directly into TREETOPS for non-linear, time-history simulation.

Airport Performance Model : Volume 2 - User's Manual and Program Documentation

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1978-10-01

Volume II contains a User's manual and program documentation for the Airport Performance Model. This computer-based model is written in FORTRAN IV for the DEC-10. The user's manual describes the user inputs to the interactive program and gives sample...

Interactive Design and the Mythical "Intuitive User Interface."

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bielenberg, Daniel R.

1993-01-01

Discusses the design of graphical user interfaces. Highlights include conceptual models, including user needs, content, and what multimedia can do; and tools for building the users' mental models, including metaphor, natural mappings, prompts, feedback, and user testing. (LRW)

Our Deming Users' Group.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dinklocker, Christina

1992-01-01

After training in the Total Quality Management concept, a suburban Ohio school district created a Deming Users' Group to link agencies, individuals, and ideas. The group has facilitated ongoing school/business collaboration, networking among individuals from diverse school systems, mentoring and cooperative learning activities, and resource…

The space shuttle payload planning working groups. Volume 10: Space technology

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1973-01-01

The findings and recommendations of the Space Technology group of the space shuttle payload planning activity are presented. The elements of the space technology program are: (1) long duration exposure facility, (2) advanced technology laboratory, (3) physics and chemistry laboratory, (4) contamination experiments, and (5) laser information/data transmission technology. The space technology mission model is presented in tabular form. The proposed experiments to be conducted by each test facility are described. Recommended approaches for user community interfacing are included.

Discriminating bot accounts based solely on temporal features of microblog behavior

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pan, Junshan; Liu, Ying; Liu, Xiang; Hu, Hanping

2016-05-01

As the largest microblog service in China, Sina Weibo has attracted numerous automated applications (known as bots) due to its popularity and open architecture. We classify the active users from Sina Weibo into human, bot-based and hybrid groups based solely on the study of temporal features of their posting behavior. The anomalous burstiness parameter and time-interval entropy value are exploited to characterize automation. We also reveal different behavior patterns among the three types of users regarding their reposting ratio, daily rhythm and active days. Our findings may help Sina Weibo manage a better community and should be considered for dynamic models of microblog behaviors.

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

PubMed

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

2017-03-01

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

A Case Study of Design and Usability Evaluation of the Collaborative Problem Solving Instructional Platform System

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chao, Jen-Yi; Chao, Shu-Jen; Yao, Lo-Yi; Liu, Chuan-His

2016-01-01

This study used Focus Group to analyze user requirements for user interface so as to understand what capabilities of the Collaborative Problem Solving (CPS) Instructional Platform were expected by users. After 12 focus group interviews, the following four functions had been identified as essential to the CPS Instructional Platform: CPS…

Visual Reconciliation of Alternative Similarity Spaces in Climate Modeling.

PubMed

Poco, Jorge; Dasgupta, Aritra; Wei, Yaxing; Hargrove, William; Schwalm, Christopher R; Huntzinger, Deborah N; Cook, Robert; Bertini, Enrico; Silva, Claudio T

2014-12-01

Visual data analysis often requires grouping of data objects based on their similarity. In many application domains researchers use algorithms and techniques like clustering and multidimensional scaling to extract groupings from data. While extracting these groups using a single similarity criteria is relatively straightforward, comparing alternative criteria poses additional challenges. In this paper we define visual reconciliation as the problem of reconciling multiple alternative similarity spaces through visualization and interaction. We derive this problem from our work on model comparison in climate science where climate modelers are faced with the challenge of making sense of alternative ways to describe their models: one through the output they generate, another through the large set of properties that describe them. Ideally, they want to understand whether groups of models with similar spatio-temporal behaviors share similar sets of criteria or, conversely, whether similar criteria lead to similar behaviors. We propose a visual analytics solution based on linked views, that addresses this problem by allowing the user to dynamically create, modify and observe the interaction among groupings, thereby making the potential explanations apparent. We present case studies that demonstrate the usefulness of our technique in the area of climate science.

Implementing Recommendations From Web Accessibility Guidelines: A Comparative Study of Nondisabled Users and Users With Visual Impairments.

PubMed

Schmutz, Sven; Sonderegger, Andreas; Sauer, Juergen

2017-09-01

The present study examined whether implementing recommendations of Web accessibility guidelines would have different effects on nondisabled users than on users with visual impairments. The predominant approach for making Web sites accessible for users with disabilities is to apply accessibility guidelines. However, it has been hardly examined whether this approach has side effects for nondisabled users. A comparison of the effects on both user groups would contribute to a better understanding of possible advantages and drawbacks of applying accessibility guidelines. Participants from two matched samples, comprising 55 participants with visual impairments and 55 without impairments, took part in a synchronous remote testing of a Web site. Each participant was randomly assigned to one of three Web sites, which differed in the level of accessibility (very low, low, and high) according to recommendations of the well-established Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0 (WCAG 2.0). Performance (i.e., task completion rate and task completion time) and a range of subjective variables (i.e., perceived usability, positive affect, negative affect, perceived aesthetics, perceived workload, and user experience) were measured. Higher conformance to Web accessibility guidelines resulted in increased performance and more positive user ratings (e.g., perceived usability or aesthetics) for both user groups. There was no interaction between user group and accessibility level. Higher conformance to WCAG 2.0 may result in benefits for nondisabled users and users with visual impairments alike. Practitioners may use the present findings as a basis for deciding on whether and how to implement accessibility best.

Profile of Executive and Memory Function Associated with Amphetamine and Opiate Dependence

PubMed Central

Ersche, Karen D; Clark, Luke; London, Mervyn; Robbins, Trevor W; Sahakian, Barbara J

2007-01-01

Cognitive function was assessed in chronic drug users on neurocognitive measures of executive and memory function. Current amphetamine users were contrasted with current opiate users, and these two groups were compared with former users of these substances (abstinent for at least one year). Four groups of participants were recruited: amphetamine-dependent individuals, opiate-dependent individuals, former users of amphetamines, and/or opiates and healthy non-drug taking controls. Participants were administered the Tower of London (TOL) planning task and the 3D-IDED attentional set-shifting task to assess executive function, and Paired Associates Learning and Delayed Pattern Recognition Memory tasks to assess visual memory function. The three groups of substance users showed significant impairments on TOL planning, Pattern Recognition Memory and Paired Associates Learning. Current amphetamine users displayed a greater degree of impairment than current opiate users. Consistent with previous research showing that healthy men are performing better on visuo-spatial tests than women, our male controls remembered significantly more paired associates than their female counterparts. This relationship was reversed in drug users. While performance of female drug users was normal, male drug users showed significant impairment compared to both their female counterparts and male controls. There was no difference in performance between current and former drug users. Neither years of drug abuse nor years of drug abstinence were associated with performance. Chronic drug users display pronounced neuropsychological impairment in the domains of executive and memory function. Impairment persists after several years of drug abstinence and may reflect neuropathology in frontal and temporal cortices. PMID:16160707

"Recovery" in bipolar disorder: how can service users be supported through a self-management intervention? A qualitative focus group study.

PubMed

Todd, Nicholas J; Jones, Steven H; Lobban, Fiona A

2012-04-01

Bipolar disorder (BD) is a chronic and recurrent affective disorder. Recovery is defined as the process by which people can live fulfilling lives despite experiencing symptoms. To explore how an opportunistically recruited group of service users with BD experience recovery and self-management to understand more about how a service users' recovery may be supported. Twelve service users with BD took part in a series of focus groups. Service users' responses to questions about their personal experiences of self-management and recovery were analysed. Focus groups were transcribed verbatim and thematic analysis ([ Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3(2), 77-101]) was employed to identify common themes in the data. Four key themes were identified: (1) Recovery is not about being symptom free; (2) Recovery requires taking responsibility for your own wellness; (3) Self-management: building on existing techniques; (4) Overcoming barriers to recovery: negativity, stigma and taboo. Service users with BD have provided further support for the concept of recovery and have suggested a number of ways recovery can be supported. A self-management approach informed by the recovery literature has been proposed as a way to support service users' recovery.

Ecstasy (MDMA) and high prevalence psychiatric symptomatology: somatic anxiety symptoms are associated with polydrug, not ecstasy, use.

PubMed

Bedi, G; Van Dam, N T; Redman, J

2010-02-01

Although previous studies have examined anxiety and depression in ecstasy (+/-3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine; MDMA) users, it remains unclear whether symptoms are associated specifically with ecstasy or with polydrug use in general. We compared mean symptomatology and clinically significant symptoms in 45 ecstasy polydrug, 48 cannabis polydrug and 40 legal drug users, who completed standardised self-report anxiety and depression symptom measures. We further examined whether group differences were secondary to increased somatic symptom reporting, which may reflect acute/subacute drug effects. Anxiety and depression scores were higher in polydrug than legal drug users, with no difference between ecstasy and cannabis groups. There was no difference in numbers meeting criteria for clinically significant depression or 'moderate' or 'severe' anxiety, but the polydrug group contained more individuals reporting at least 'mild' anxiety symptoms than the legal drug control. Multivariate analyses indicated that anxiety alone was sufficient to discriminate groups. Polydrug users reported more somatic anxiety symptoms than legal drug users, but endorsed equivalent numbers of non-somatic symptoms. High prevalence psychiatric symptomatology in ecstasy polydrug users may be associated with polydrug rather than ecstasy use. Higher ratings in polydrug users appear to be secondary to increased somatic symptom reporting, suggesting possible impacts of drug effects on symptom endorsement.

Tobacco Alkaloids and Tobacco-specific Nitrosamines in Dust from Homes of Smokeless Tobacco Users, Active Smokers, and Non-tobacco Users

PubMed Central

Whitehead, Todd P.; Havel, Christopher; Metayer, Catherine; Benowitz, Neal L.; Jacob, Peyton

2016-01-01

Smokeless tobacco products, such as moist snuff or chewing tobacco, contain many of the same carcinogens as tobacco smoke; however the impact on children of indirect exposure to tobacco constituents via parental smokeless tobacco use is unknown. As part of the California Childhood Leukemia Study, dust samples were collected from 6 homes occupied by smokeless tobacco users, 6 homes occupied by active smokers, and 20 tobacco-free homes. To assess children’s potential for exposure to tobacco constituents, vacuum-dust concentrations of five tobacco-specific nitrosamines, including N′-nitrosonornicotine [NNN] and 4-(methylnitrosamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanone [NNK], as well as six tobacco alkaloids, including nicotine and myosmine were quantified by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). We used generalized estimating equations derived from a multivariable marginal model to compare levels of tobacco constituents between groups, after adjusting for a history of parental smoking, income, home construction date, and mother’s age and race/ethnicity. The ratio of myosmine:nicotine was used as a novel indicator of the source of tobacco contamination, distinguishing between smokeless tobacco products and tobacco smoke. Median dust concentrations of NNN and NNK were significantly greater in homes with smokeless tobacco users compared to tobacco-free homes. In multivariable models, concentrations of NNN and NNK were 4.8-fold and 6.9-fold higher in homes with smokeless tobacco users compared to tobacco-free homes. Median myosmine:nicotine ratios were lower in homes with smokeless tobacco users (1.8%) compared to homes of active smokers (7.7%), confirming that cigarette smoke was not the predominant source of tobacco constituents in homes with smokeless tobacco users. Children living with smokeless tobacco users may be exposed to carcinogenic tobacco-specific nitrosamines via contact with contaminated dust and household surfaces. PMID:25794360

Deriving user-informed climate information from climate model ensemble results

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huebener, Heike; Hoffmann, Peter; Keuler, Klaus; Pfeifer, Susanne; Ramthun, Hans; Spekat, Arne; Steger, Christian; Warrach-Sagi, Kirsten

2017-07-01

Communication between providers and users of climate model simulation results still needs to be improved. In the German regional climate modeling project ReKliEs-De a midterm user workshop was conducted to allow the intended users of the project results to assess the preliminary results and to streamline the final project results to their needs. The user feedback highlighted, in particular, the still considerable gap between climate research output and user-tailored input for climate impact research. Two major requests from the user community addressed the selection of sub-ensembles and some condensed, easy to understand information on the strengths and weaknesses of the climate models involved in the project.

A Diffusion Model for Two-sided Service Systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Homma, Koichi; Yano, Koujin; Funabashi, Motohisa

A diffusion model is proposed for two-sided service systems. ‘Two-sided’ refers to the existence of an economic network effect between two different and interrelated groups, e.g., card holders and merchants in an electronic money service. The service benefit for a member of one side depends on the number and quality of the members on the other side. A mathematical model by J. H. Rohlfs explains the network (or bandwagon) effect of communications services. In Rohlfs' model, only the users' group exists and the model is one-sided. This paper extends Rohlfs' model to a two-sided model. We propose, first, a micro model that explains individual behavior in regard to service subscription of both sides and a computational method that drives the proposed model. Second, we develop macro models with two diffusion-rate variables by simplifying the micro model. As a case study, we apply the models to an electronic money service and discuss the simulation results and actual statistics.

Risk factors for COPD exacerbations in inhaled medication users: the COPDGene study biannual longitudinal follow-up prospective cohort.

PubMed

Busch, Robert; Han, MeiLan K; Bowler, Russell P; Dransfield, Mark T; Wells, J Michael; Regan, Elizabeth A; Hersh, Craig P

2016-02-10

Despite inhaled medications that decrease exacerbation risk, some COPD patients experience frequent exacerbations. We determined prospective risk factors for exacerbations among subjects in the COPDGene Study taking inhaled medications. 2113 COPD subjects were categorized into four medication use patterns: triple therapy with tiotropium (TIO) plus long-acting beta-agonist/inhaled-corticosteroid (ICS ± LABA), tiotropium alone, ICS ± LABA, and short-acting bronchodilators. Self-reported exacerbations were recorded in telephone and web-based longitudinal follow-up surveys. Associations with exacerbations were determined within each medication group using four separate logistic regression models. A head-to-head analysis compared exacerbation risk among subjects using tiotropium vs. ICS ± LABA. In separate logistic regression models, the presence of gastroesophageal reflux, female gender, and higher scores on the St. George's Respiratory Questionnaire were significant predictors of exacerbator status within multiple medication groups (reflux: OR 1.62-2.75; female gender: OR 1.53 - OR 1.90; SGRQ: OR 1.02-1.03). Subjects taking either ICS ± LABA or tiotropium had similar baseline characteristics, allowing comparison between these two groups. In the head-to-head comparison, tiotropium users showed a trend towards lower rates of exacerbations (OR = 0.69 [95 % CI 0.45, 1.06], p = 0.09) compared with ICS ± LABA users, especially in subjects without comorbid asthma (OR = 0.56 [95% CI 0.31, 1.00], p = 0.05). Each common COPD medication usage group showed unique risk factor patterns associated with increased risk of exacerbations, which may help clinicians identify subjects at risk. Compared to similar subjects using ICS ± LABA, those taking tiotropium showed a trend towards reduced exacerbation risk, especially in subjects without asthma. ClinicalTrials.gov NCT00608764, first received 1/28/2008.

Participatory planning of a primary care service for people with severe mental disorders in rural Ethiopia

PubMed Central

Mayston, Rosie; Alem, Atalay; Habtamu, Alehegn; Shibre, Teshome; Fekadu, Abebaw; Hanlon, Charlotte

2016-01-01

Little is understood about the feasibility and acceptability of primary care-based models of task-sharing care for people with severe mental disorders (SMDs) in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). A participatory planning approach was adopted in preparation for the transition from hospital-delivered psychiatric care for SMD to a primary care-based, task-sharing model in a rural Ethiopian community. In this article, we present findings from community consultation meetings (n = 4), focus group discussions (n = 7) and in-depth interviews (n = 11) with key stakeholders (healthcare administrators and providers, caregivers, service-users and community leaders) which were carried out over a 2-year period in the context of ongoing dialogue with the community. The principle of local delivery of mental health services was agreed upon by all stakeholder groups. Key reasons for supporting local delivery were increased access for the majority due to proximity, reduced cost and reduced stress related to transportation. However, acceptance of the new service was qualified by concerns about the competence of staff to deliver a comprehensive and dependable service of equal quality to that currently provided at the hospital. Adequate training and support, as well as ensuring consistency of medication supply were identified as key components to ensure success. Encouragingly, our results suggest that there is significant support for the service change and an interest for the mobilization of community resources to support this. One of the study strengths was that we were able to present the different perspectives of multiple stakeholder groups. By nesting the study in an ongoing community-based cohort of people with SMD we were able to interview a more representative and empowered group of caregivers and service users than is often available in LMICs. Despite this, the extent to which service-users are able to express their opinions is likely limited by their marginalized role in rural Ethiopian society. PMID:26282860

"Thanks for Letting Us All Share Your Mammogram Experience Virtually": Developing a Web-Based Hub for Breast Cancer Screening.

PubMed

Galpin, Adam; Meredith, Joanne; Ure, Cathy; Robinson, Leslie

2017-10-27

The decision around whether to attend breast cancer screening can often involve making sense of confusing and contradictory information on its risks and benefits. The Word of Mouth Mammogram e-Network (WoMMeN) project was established to create a Web-based resource to support decision making regarding breast cancer screening. This paper presents data from our user-centered approach in engaging stakeholders (both health professionals and service users) in the design of this Web-based resource. Our novel approach involved creating a user design group within Facebook to allow them access to ongoing discussion between researchers, radiographers, and existing and potential service users. This study had two objectives. The first was to examine the utility of an online user design group for generating insight for the creation of Web-based health resources. We sought to explore the advantages and limitations of this approach. The second objective was to analyze what women want from a Web-based resource for breast cancer screening. We recruited a user design group on Facebook and conducted a survey within the group, asking questions about design considerations for a Web-based breast cancer screening hub. Although the membership of the Facebook group varied over time, there were 71 members in the Facebook group at the end point of analysis. We next conducted a framework analysis on 70 threads from Facebook and a thematic analysis on the 23 survey responses. We focused additionally on how the themes were discussed by the different stakeholders within the context of the design group. Two major themes were found across both the Facebook discussion and the survey data: (1) the power of information and (2) the hub as a place for communication and support. Information was considered as empowering but also recognized as threatening. Communication and the sharing of experiences were deemed important, but there was also recognition of potential miscommunication within online discussion. Health professionals and service users expressed the same broad concerns, but there were subtle differences in their opinions. Importantly, the themes were triangulated between the Facebook discussions and the survey data, supporting the validity of an online user design group. Online user design groups afford a useful method for understanding stakeholder needs. In contrast to focus groups, they afford access to users from diverse geographical locations and traverse time constraints, allowing more follow-ups to responses. The use of Facebook provides a familiar and naturalistic setting for discussion. Although we acknowledge the limitations in the sample, this approach has allowed us to understand the views of stakeholders in the user-centered design of the WoMMeN hub for breast cancer screening. ©Adam Galpin, Joanne Meredith, Cathy Ure, Leslie Robinson. Originally published in JMIR Cancer (http://cancer.jmir.org), 27.10.2017.

anyFish 2.0: An open-source software platform to generate and share animated fish models to study behavior

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ingley, Spencer J.; Rahmani Asl, Mohammad; Wu, Chengde; Cui, Rongfeng; Gadelhak, Mahmoud; Li, Wen; Zhang, Ji; Simpson, Jon; Hash, Chelsea; Butkowski, Trisha; Veen, Thor; Johnson, Jerald B.; Yan, Wei; Rosenthal, Gil G.

2015-12-01

Experimental approaches to studying behaviors based on visual signals are ubiquitous, yet these studies are limited by the difficulty of combining realistic models with the manipulation of signals in isolation. Computer animations are a promising way to break this trade-off. However, animations are often prohibitively expensive and difficult to program, thus limiting their utility in behavioral research. We present anyFish 2.0, a user-friendly platform for creating realistic animated 3D fish. anyFish 2.0 dramatically expands anyFish's utility by allowing users to create animations of members of several groups of fish from model systems in ecology and evolution (e.g., sticklebacks, Poeciliids, and zebrafish). The visual appearance and behaviors of the model can easily be modified. We have added several features that facilitate more rapid creation of realistic behavioral sequences. anyFish 2.0 provides a powerful tool that will be of broad use in animal behavior and evolution and serves as a model for transparency, repeatability, and collaboration.

Something for nothing: understanding purchasing behaviors in social virtual environments.

PubMed

Chung, Donghun

2005-12-01

The present paper is composed of two studies. The first study explored the variables influencing the purchase of avatar-related products through the avatar users' survey research. This proposed a theoretical model of the purchase of avatar-related products using attitude toward an avatar, subjective norm, self-presentation, identification, and immersion. Although significant relationships were found for the individual links, the model was not supported. The second study focused on which variables predict the intention to use avatar-related products. A model was tested with avatar non-users. Results indicated that all relationships among variables in the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), such as perceived ease of use of avatar, perceived usefulness of avatar, attitude toward using avatar, and intention to use avatar-related products, were strongly supported, as was the link between Internet self-efficacy and perceived ease of use of avatar. Also, the peer groups' subjective norm component which was a unique variable successfully predicted intention to use avatar-related products. Overall, all hypotheses were supported and the data were judged to be consistent with the model.

User-driven Cloud Implementation of environmental models and data for all

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gurney, R. J.; Percy, B. J.; Elkhatib, Y.; Blair, G. S.

2014-12-01

Environmental data and models come from disparate sources over a variety of geographical and temporal scales with different resolutions and data standards, often including terabytes of data and model simulations. Unfortunately, these data and models tend to remain solely within the custody of the private and public organisations which create the data, and the scientists who build models and generate results. Although many models and datasets are theoretically available to others, the lack of ease of access tends to keep them out of reach of many. We have developed an intuitive web-based tool that utilises environmental models and datasets located in a cloud to produce results that are appropriate to the user. Storyboards showing the interfaces and visualisations have been created for each of several exemplars. A library of virtual machine images has been prepared to serve these exemplars. Each virtual machine image has been tailored to run computer models appropriate to the end user. Two approaches have been used; first as RESTful web services conforming to the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) Web Processing Service (WPS) interface standard using the Python-based PyWPS; second, a MySQL database interrogated using PHP code. In all cases, the web client sends the server an HTTP GET request to execute the process with a number of parameter values and, once execution terminates, an XML or JSON response is sent back and parsed at the client side to extract the results. All web services are stateless, i.e. application state is not maintained by the server, reducing its operational overheads and simplifying infrastructure management tasks such as load balancing and failure recovery. A hybrid cloud solution has been used with models and data sited on both private and public clouds. The storyboards have been transformed into intuitive web interfaces at the client side using HTML, CSS and JavaScript, utilising plug-ins such as jQuery and Flot (for graphics), and Google Maps APIs. We have demonstrated that a cloud infrastructure can be used to assemble a virtual research environment that, coupled with a user-driven development approach, is able to cater to the needs of a wide range of user groups, from domain experts to concerned members of the general public.

Development and Analyses of Privacy Management Models in Online Social Networks Based on Communication Privacy Management Theory

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lee, Ki Jung

2013-01-01

Online social networks (OSNs), while serving as an emerging means of communication, promote various issues of privacy. Users of OSNs encounter diverse occasions that lead to invasion of their privacy, e.g., published conversation, public revelation of their personally identifiable information, and open boundary of distinct social groups within…

Buyers and Borrowers: The Application of Consumer Theory to the Study of Library Use.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Emery, Charles D.

Using Ehrenberg's application of mathematical models to the analysis and prediction of repeated buying patterns of consumers, this study focuses on the concept of library use as a form of consumer behavior. The following hypotheses were tested: designated library user groups will tend to exhibit stable behavioral patterns with respect to the…

National Space Council Users' Advisory Group

NASA Image and Video Library

2018-06-19

James Uthmeier, of the Department of Commerce, speaks about deregulation and space traffic management initiatives at the first meeting of the National Space Council Users' Advisory Group, Tuesday, June 19, 2018 at NASA Headquarters in Washington. The Users' Advisory Group will advise and inform the National Space Council on a broad range of aerospace topics, including the impacts of U.S. and international laws and regulations, national security space priorities, scientific and human space exploration priorities, and ways to bolster support. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)

Technology Acceptance for an Intelligent Comprehensive Interactive Care (ICIC) System for Care of the Elderly: A Survey-Questionnaire Study

PubMed Central

Ke, Pei-Chih; Huang, Chun-Kai; Tsai, Tsai-Hsuan; Chang, Hsien-Tsung; Shieh, Wann-Yun; Chan, Hsiao-Lung; Chen, Chih-Kuang; Pei, Yu-Cheng

2012-01-01

The key components of caring for the elderly are diet, living, transportation, education, and safety issues, and telemedical systems can offer great assistance. Through the integration of personal to community information technology platforms, we have developed a new Intelligent Comprehensive Interactive Care (ICIC) system to provide comprehensive services for elderly care. The ICIC system consists of six items, including medical care (physiological measuring system, Medication Reminder, and Dr. Ubiquitous), diet, living, transportation, education (Intelligent Watch), entertainment (Sharetouch), and safety (Fall Detection). In this study, we specifically evaluated the users' intention of using the Medication Reminder, Dr. Ubiquitous, Sharetouch, and Intelligent Watch using a modified technological acceptance model (TAM). A total of 121 elderly subjects (48 males and 73 females) were recruited. The modified TAM questionnaires were collected after they had used these products. For most of the ICIC units, the elderly subjects revealed great willingness and/or satisfaction in using this system. The elderly users of the Intelligent Watch showed the greatest willingness and satisfaction, while the elderly users of Dr. Ubiquitous revealed fair willingness in the dimension of perceived ease of use. The old-old age group revealed greater satisfaction in the dimension of result demonstrability for the users of the Medication Reminder as compared to the young-old and oldest-old age groups. The women revealed greater satisfaction in the dimension of perceived ease of use for the users of Dr. Ubiquitous as compared to the men. There were no statistically significant differences in terms of gender, age, and education level in the other dimensions. The modified TAM showed its effectiveness in evaluating the acceptance and characteristics of technologic products for the elderly user. The ICIC system offers a user-friendly solution in telemedical care and improves the quality of care for the elderly. PMID:22870200

Technology acceptance for an Intelligent Comprehensive Interactive Care (ICIC) system for care of the elderly: a survey-questionnaire study.

PubMed

Wong, Alice M K; Chang, Wei-Han; Ke, Pei-Chih; Huang, Chun-Kai; Tsai, Tsai-Hsuan; Chang, Hsien-Tsung; Shieh, Wann-Yun; Chan, Hsiao-Lung; Chen, Chih-Kuang; Pei, Yu-Cheng

2012-01-01

The key components of caring for the elderly are diet, living, transportation, education, and safety issues, and telemedical systems can offer great assistance. Through the integration of personal to community information technology platforms, we have developed a new Intelligent Comprehensive Interactive Care (ICIC) system to provide comprehensive services for elderly care. The ICIC system consists of six items, including medical care (physiological measuring system, Medication Reminder, and Dr. Ubiquitous), diet, living, transportation, education (Intelligent Watch), entertainment (Sharetouch), and safety (Fall Detection). In this study, we specifically evaluated the users' intention of using the Medication Reminder, Dr. Ubiquitous, Sharetouch, and Intelligent Watch using a modified technological acceptance model (TAM). A total of 121 elderly subjects (48 males and 73 females) were recruited. The modified TAM questionnaires were collected after they had used these products. For most of the ICIC units, the elderly subjects revealed great willingness and/or satisfaction in using this system. The elderly users of the Intelligent Watch showed the greatest willingness and satisfaction, while the elderly users of Dr. Ubiquitous revealed fair willingness in the dimension of perceived ease of use. The old-old age group revealed greater satisfaction in the dimension of result demonstrability for the users of the Medication Reminder as compared to the young-old and oldest-old age groups. The women revealed greater satisfaction in the dimension of perceived ease of use for the users of Dr. Ubiquitous as compared to the men. There were no statistically significant differences in terms of gender, age, and education level in the other dimensions. The modified TAM showed its effectiveness in evaluating the acceptance and characteristics of technologic products for the elderly user. The ICIC system offers a user-friendly solution in telemedical care and improves the quality of care for the elderly.

Experience with pornography: Rapists, pedophiles, homosexuals, transsexuals, and controls.

PubMed

Goldstein, M; Kant, H; Judd, L; Rice, C; Green, R

1971-03-01

An interview designed to assess a respondent's experience with erotic material in photographs, films, and books, during adolescence and adulthood, was administered to convicted male rapists, pedophiles, homosexuals, transsexuals, heavy pornography users, and two nondeviant contrast groups. One nondeviant group was composed of whites matched for the sex offender group; the other was composed of ghetto and middle-class blacks. Adolescent exposure to erotica was significantly less for all deviant and offender groups compared to the nondeviants. During adulthood, the sex offenders and transsexuals continued to report less exposure to erotic stimuli than controls. The homosexuals and users, however, both report greater exposure during adulthood. As adolescents, the control group, rapists, and heavy users were excited to masturbate by the erotic materials more than the other groups. As adults, the controls and rapists showed a sharp decrease in being excited to masturbate to erotica while the users' rate remained high and the homosexuals' rate rose. Less than a quarter of the respondents in any group imitated sexual behavior seen in the erotic material immediately or shortly after its viewing. The hypothesis that extent of exposure during adolescence to erotica is positively associated with the later emergence of sexual pathology is not borne out by this study. The nondeviant, non-sex-offender groups sampled had had significantly greater exposure to erotic materials during adolescence than the deviants, convicted sex offenders, or heavy adult users of pornography.

Predicting cannabis abuse screening test (CAST) scores: a recursive partitioning analysis using survey data from Czech Republic, Italy, the Netherlands and Sweden.

PubMed

Blankers, Matthijs; Frijns, Tom; Belackova, Vendula; Rossi, Carla; Svensson, Bengt; Trautmann, Franz; van Laar, Margriet

2014-01-01

Cannabis is Europe's most commonly used illicit drug. Some users do not develop dependence or other problems, whereas others do. Many factors are associated with the occurrence of cannabis-related disorders. This makes it difficult to identify key risk factors and markers to profile at-risk cannabis users using traditional hypothesis-driven approaches. Therefore, the use of a data-mining technique called binary recursive partitioning is demonstrated in this study by creating a classification tree to profile at-risk users. 59 variables on cannabis use and drug market experiences were extracted from an internet-based survey dataset collected in four European countries (Czech Republic, Italy, Netherlands and Sweden), n = 2617. These 59 potential predictors of problematic cannabis use were used to partition individual respondents into subgroups with low and high risk of having a cannabis use disorder, based on their responses on the Cannabis Abuse Screening Test. Both a generic model for the four countries combined and four country-specific models were constructed. Of the 59 variables included in the first analysis step, only three variables were required to construct a generic partitioning model to classify high risk cannabis users with 65-73% accuracy. Based on the generic model for the four countries combined, the highest risk for cannabis use disorder is seen in participants reporting a cannabis use on more than 200 days in the last 12 months. In comparison to the generic model, the country-specific models led to modest, non-significant improvements in classification accuracy, with an exception for Italy (p = 0.01). Using recursive partitioning, it is feasible to construct classification trees based on only a few variables with acceptable performance to classify cannabis users into groups with low or high risk of meeting criteria for cannabis use disorder. The number of cannabis use days in the last 12 months is the most relevant variable. The identified variables may be considered for use in future screeners for cannabis use disorders.

Linking Earth Observations and Models to Societal Information Needs: The Case of Coastal Flooding

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Buzzanga, B. A.; Plag, H. P.

2016-12-01

Coastal flooding is expected to increase in many areas due to sea level rise (SLR). Many societal applications such as emergency planning and designing public services depend on information on how the flooding spectrum may change as a result of SLR. To identify the societal information needs a conceptual model is needed that identifies the key stakeholders, applications, and information and observation needs. In the context of the development of the Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS), which is implemented by the Group on Earth Observations (GEO), the Socio-Economic and Environmental Information Needs Knowledge Base (SEE-IN KB) is developed as part of the GEOSS Knowledge Base. A core function of the SEE-IN KB is to facilitate the linkage of societal information needs to observations, models, information and knowledge. To achieve this, the SEE-IN KB collects information on objects such as user types, observational requirements, societal goals, models, and datasets. Comprehensive information concerning the interconnections between instances of these objects is used to capture the connectivity and to establish a conceptual model as a network of networks. The captured connectivity can be used in searches to allow users to discover products and services for their information needs, and providers to search for users and applications benefiting from their products. It also allows to answer "What if?" questions and supports knowledge creation. We have used the SEE-IN KB to develop a conceptual model capturing the stakeholders in coastal flooding and their information needs, and to link these elements to objects. We show how the knowledge base enables the transition of scientific data to useable information by connecting individuals such as city managers to flood maps. Within the knowledge base, these same users can request information that improves their ability to make specific planning decisions. These needs are linked to entities within research institutions that have the capabilities to meet them. Further, current research such as that investigating precipitation-induced flooding under different SLR scenarios is linked to the users who benefit from the knowledge, effectively creating a bi-directional channel between science and society that increases knowledge and improves foresight.

Reasons for not using ecstasy: a qualitative study of non-users, ex-light users and ex-moderate users

PubMed Central

2012-01-01

Background Although ecstasy is often consumed in the electronic music scene, not everyone with the opportunity to use it chooses to do so. The objective of this study was to understand the reasons for non-use or the cessation of use, which could provide information for public health interventions. Methods A qualitative reference method was used. Our “snowball” sample group consisted of 53 people who were split into three subgroups: non-users (NU, n = 23), ex-light users (EX-L, n = 12) and ex-moderate users (EX-M, n = 18). Individual, semi-structured interviews were conducted, transcribed and subjected to content analysis with the aid of NVivo8. Results Adverse health effects and personal values were given as reasons for non-use in the three groups. Non-users (NU) and ex-light users (EX-L) provided reasons that included fear of possible effects as well as moral, family and religious objections. Ex-moderate users (EX-M) cited reasons related to health complications and concomitant withdrawal from the electronic music scene. However, most of the ex-moderate users did not rule out the possibility of future use. Conclusions Potential effects and undesirable consequences appear to guide the decisions within the different groups. Prevention might target these motivations. Individuals who have used ecstasy indicate that social and environmental factors are the most important factors. PMID:22583984

Web usability evaluation with screen reader users: implementation of the partial concurrent thinking aloud technique.

PubMed

Federici, Stefano; Stefano, Federici; Borsci, Simone; Stamerra, Gianluca

2010-08-01

A verbal protocol technique, adopted for a web usability evaluation, requires that the users are able to perform a double task: surfing and talking. Nevertheless, when blind users surf by using a screen reader and talk about the way they interact with the computer, the evaluation is influenced by a structural interference: users are forced to think aloud and listen to the screen reader at the same time. The aim of this study is to build up a verbal protocol technique for samples of visual impaired users in order to overcome the limits of concurrent and retrospective protocols. The technique we improved, called partial concurrent thinking aloud (PCTA), integrates a modified set of concurrent verbalization and retrospective analysis. One group of 6 blind users and another group of 6 sighted users evaluated the usability of a website using PCTA. By estimating the number of necessary users by the means of an asymptotic test, it was found out that the two groups had an equivalent ability of identifying usability problems, both over 80%. The result suggests that PCTA, while respecting the properties of classic verbal protocols, also allows to overcome the structural interference and the limits of concurrent and retrospective protocols when used with screen reader users. In this way, PCTA reduces the efficiency difference of usability evaluation between blind and sighted users.

Stability of a slotted ALOHA system with capture effect

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Onozato, Yoshikuni; Liu, Jin; Noguchi, Shoichi

1989-02-01

The stability of a slotted ALOHA system with capture effect is investigated under a general communication environment where terminals are divided into two groups (low-power and high-power) and the capture effect is modeled by capture probabilities. An approximate analysis is developed using catastrophe theory, in which the effects of system and user parameters on the stability are characterized by the cusp catastrophe. Particular attention is given to the low-power group, since it must bear the strain under the capture effect. The stability conditions of the two groups are given explicitly by bifurcation sets.

Adult heavy and low users of dental services: treatment provided.

PubMed

Nihtilä, Annamari; Widström, Eeva; Elonheimo, Outi

2016-01-01

The aim of this study was to compare treatment provided to adult heavy and low users of dental services in the Finnish Public Dental Service (PDS) and to analyse changes in patients' oral health status. We assigned all adults who attended the PDS in Espoo in 2004 to a group of heavy users (n = 3,173) if they had made six or more dental visits and to a comparison group of low users (n = 22,820), if they had made three or fewer dental visits. Data were obtained from the patient register of the PDS. A sample of 320 patients was randomly selected from each group. Baseline information (year 2004) on age, sex, number and types of visits, oral health status and treatment provided was collected from treatment records. Both groups were followed-up for five years. Restorative treatment measures dominated the heavy and low users'treatments; 88.8% of heavy users and 79.6% low users had received restorations during the five-year period. Fixed prosthetic treatments were provided to just 2% of the heavy users and 0.8% of the low users. Emergency visits were more common for heavy users (74.8%) than for low users (21.6%) (p < 0.001). Fewer than half of the heavy (46.1%) or low (46.5%) users were examined twice. Typical for heavy use of oral health services was a cycle of repetitive repair or replacement of restorations, often as emergency treatment, a lack of proper examinations and preventive care; crown therapy was seldom used. Immediately after the major dental care reform in Finland, the PDS in Espoo had problems providing good quality dental care for the new adult patients. Older patients with lower social class background were not accustomed to regular dental care and the PDS did not actively propose proper comprehensive regular care for adults.

Virtual reality anatomy: is it comparable with traditional methods in the teaching of human forearm musculoskeletal anatomy?

PubMed

Codd, Anthony M; Choudhury, Bipasha

2011-01-01

The use of cadavers to teach anatomy is well established, but limitations with this approach have led to the introduction of alternative teaching methods. One such method is the use of three-dimensional virtual reality computer models. An interactive, three-dimensional computer model of human forearm anterior compartment musculoskeletal anatomy was produced using the open source 3D imaging program "Blender." The aim was to evaluate the use of 3D virtual reality when compared with traditional anatomy teaching methods. Three groups were identified from the University of Manchester second year Human Anatomy Research Skills Module class: a "control" group (no prior knowledge of forearm anatomy), a "traditional methods" group (taught using dissection and textbooks), and a "model" group (taught solely using e-resource). The groups were assessed on anatomy of the forearm by a ten question practical examination. ANOVA analysis showed the model group mean test score to be significantly higher than the control group (mean 7.25 vs. 1.46, P < 0.001) and not significantly different to the traditional methods group (mean 6.87, P > 0.5). Feedback from all users of the e-resource was positive. Virtual reality anatomy learning can be used to compliment traditional teaching methods effectively. Copyright © 2011 American Association of Anatomists.

Robust changes in reward circuitry during reward loss in current and former cocaine users during performance of a monetary incentive delay task.

PubMed

Patel, Krishna T; Stevens, Michael C; Meda, Shashwath A; Muska, Christine; Thomas, Andre D; Potenza, Marc N; Pearlson, Godfrey D

2013-10-01

Abnormal function in reward circuitry in cocaine addiction could predate drug use as a risk factor, follow drug use as a consequence of substance-induced alterations, or both. We used a functional magnetic resonance imaging monetary incentive delay task (MIDT) to investigate reward-loss neural response differences among 42 current cocaine users, 35 former cocaine users, and 47 healthy subjects who also completed psychological measures and tasks related to impulsivity and reward. We found various reward processing-related group differences in several MIDT phases. Across task phases we found a control > current user > former user activation pattern, except for loss outcome, where former compared with current cocaine users activated ventral tegmental area more robustly. We also found regional prefrontal activation differences during loss anticipation between cocaine-using groups. Both groups of cocaine users scored higher than control subjects on impulsivity, compulsivity and reward-punishment sensitivity factors. In addition, impulsivity-related factors correlated positively with activation in amygdala and negatively with anterior cingulate activation during loss anticipation. Compared with healthy subjects, both former and current users displayed abnormal brain activation patterns during MIDT performance. Both cocaine groups differed similarly from healthy subjects, but differences between former and current users were localized to the ventral tegmental area during loss outcome and to prefrontal regions during loss anticipation, suggesting that long-term cocaine abstinence does not normalize most reward circuit abnormalities. Elevated impulsivity-related factors that relate to loss processing in current and former users suggest that these tendencies and relationships may pre-exist cocaine addiction. © 2013 Society of Biological Psychiatry.

Trajectories of 12-Month Usage Patterns for Two Smoking Cessation Websites: Exploring How Users Engage Over Time.

PubMed

Bricker, Jonathan B; Sridharan, Vasundhara; Zhu, Yifan; Mull, Kristin E; Heffner, Jaimee L; Watson, Noreen L; McClure, Jennifer B; Di, Chongzhi

2018-04-20

Little is known about how individuals engage with electronic health (eHealth) interventions over time and whether this engagement predicts health outcomes. The objectives of this study, by using the example of a specific type of eHealth intervention (ie, websites for smoking cessation), were to determine (1) distinct groups of log-in trajectories over a 12-month period, (2) their association with smoking cessation, and (3) baseline user characteristics that predict trajectory group membership. We conducted a functional clustering analysis of 365 consecutive days of log-in data from both arms of a large (N=2637) randomized trial of 2 website interventions for smoking cessation (WebQuit and Smokefree), with a primary outcome of 30-day point prevalence smoking abstinence at 12 months. We conducted analyses for each website separately. A total of 3 distinct trajectory groups emerged for each website. For WebQuit, participants were clustered into 3 groups: 1-week users (682/1240, 55.00% of the sample), 5-week users (399/1240, 32.18%), and 52-week users (159/1240, 12.82%). Compared with the 1-week users, the 5- and 52-week users had 57% higher odds (odds ratio [OR] 1.57, 95% CI 1.13-2.17; P=.007) and 124% higher odds (OR 2.24, 95% CI 1.45-3.43; P<.001), respectively, of being abstinent at 12 months. Smokefree users were clustered into 3 groups: 1-week users (645/1309, 49.27% of the sample), 4-week users (395/1309, 30.18%), and 5-week users (269/1309, 20.55%). Compared with the 1-week users, 5-week users (but not 4-week users; P=.99) had 48% higher odds (OR 1.48, 95% CI 1.05-2.07; P=.02) of being abstinent at 12 months. In general, the WebQuit intervention had a greater number of weekly log-ins within each of the 3 trajectory groups as compared with those of the Smokefree intervention. Baseline characteristics associated with trajectory group membership varied between websites. Patterns of 1-, 4-, and 5-week usage of websites may be common for how people engage in eHealth interventions. The 5-week usage of either website, and 52-week usage only of WebQuit, predicted a higher odds of quitting smoking. Strategies to increase eHealth intervention engagement for 4 more weeks (ie, from 1 week to 5 weeks) could be highly cost effective. ClinicalTrials.gov NCT01812278; https://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT01812278 (Archived by WebCite at http://www.webcitation.org/6yPO2OIKR). ©Jonathan B Bricker, Vasundhara Sridharan, Yifan Zhu, Kristin E Mull, Jaimee L Heffner, Noreen L Watson, Jennifer B McClure, Chongzhi Di. Originally published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research (http://www.jmir.org), 20.04.2018.

Planning a User Group Workshop.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cornick, Donna P.; Erlandson, John A.

1980-01-01

Describes planning of workshops for training online user groups including establishment of a committee, choice of theme and format, funding, and publicity arrangements. A list of do's and don't's is included. (RAA)

The Atlas of Chinese World Wide Web Ecosystem Shaped by the Collective Attention Flows.

PubMed

Lou, Xiaodan; Li, Yong; Gu, Weiwei; Zhang, Jiang

2016-01-01

The web can be regarded as an ecosystem of digital resources connected and shaped by collective successive behaviors of users. Knowing how people allocate limited attention on different resources is of great importance. To answer this, we embed the most popular Chinese web sites into a high dimensional Euclidean space based on the open flow network model of a large number of Chinese users' collective attention flows, which both considers the connection topology of hyperlinks between the sites and the collective behaviors of the users. With these tools, we rank the web sites and compare their centralities based on flow distances with other metrics. We also study the patterns of attention flow allocation, and find that a large number of web sites concentrate on the central area of the embedding space, and only a small fraction of web sites disperse in the periphery. The entire embedding space can be separated into 3 regions(core, interim, and periphery). The sites in the core (1%) occupy a majority of the attention flows (40%), and the sites (34%) in the interim attract 40%, whereas other sites (65%) only take 20% flows. What's more, we clustered the web sites into 4 groups according to their positions in the space, and found that similar web sites in contents and topics are grouped together. In short, by incorporating the open flow network model, we can clearly see how collective attention allocates and flows on different web sites, and how web sites connected each other.

How do frequent users of crisis helplines differ from other users regarding their reasons for calling? Results from a survey with callers to Lifeline, Australia's national crisis helpline service.

PubMed

Middleton, Aves; Woodward, Alan; Gunn, Jane; Bassilios, Bridget; Pirkis, Jane

2017-05-01

Crisis helplines are designed to provide short-term support to people in an immediate crisis. However, there is a group of users who call crisis helplines frequently over an extended period of time. The reasons for their ongoing use remain unclear. The aim of this study was to investigate the differences in the reasons for calling between frequent and other users of crisis helplines. This was achieved by examining the findings from a brief survey completed by callers to Lifeline Australia at the end of their call between February and July 2015. In the survey, callers reported on their socio-demographics, reasons for their current call and number of calls made in the past month. Survey respondents were categorised as frequent, episodic and one-off users, and analyses were conducted using ordered logistic regression. Three hundred and fifteen callers completed the survey, which represented 57% of eligible callers. Twenty-two per cent reported calling 20 times or more in the past month (frequent users), 51% reported calling between 2 and 19 times (episodic users) and 25% reported calling once (one-off users). Two per cent were unable to recall the number of calls they made in the past month. Frequent users reported similar reasons for calling as other users but they were more likely to call regularly to talk about their feelings [OR = 6.0; 95% CI: 3.7-9.8]. This pattern of service use is at odds with the current model of care offered by crisis helplines which is designed to provide one-off support. There is a need to investigate further the factors that drive frequent users to call crisis helplines regularly. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Variability and dilemmas in harm reduction for anabolic steroid users in the UK: a multi-area interview study

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

Background The UK continues to experience a rise in the number of anabolic steroid-using clients attending harm reduction services such as needle and syringe programmes. Methods The present study uses interviews conducted with harm reduction service providers as well as illicit users of anabolic steroids from different areas of England and Wales to explore harm reduction for this group of drug users, focussing on needle distribution policies and harm reduction interventions developed specifically for this population of drug users. Results The article addresses the complexity of harm reduction service delivery, highlighting different models of needle distribution, such as peer-led distribution networks, as well as interventions available in steroid clinics, including liver function testing of anabolic steroid users. Aside from providing insights into the function of interventions available to steroid users, along with principles adopted by service providers, the study found significant tensions and dilemmas in policy implementation due to differing perspectives between service providers and service users relating to practices, risks and effective interventions. Conclusion The overarching finding of the study was the tremendous variability across harm reduction delivery sites in terms of available measures and mode of operation. Further research into the effectiveness of different policies directed towards people who use anabolic steroids is critical to the development of harm reduction. PMID:24986546

Integrating sentiment and social structure to determine preference alignments: the Irish Marriage Referendum

PubMed Central

O’Sullivan, David J. P.; Garduño-Hernández, Guillermo; Gleeson, James P.

2017-01-01

We examine the relationship between social structure and sentiment through the analysis of a large collection of tweets about the Irish Marriage Referendum of 2015. We obtain the sentiment of every tweet with the hashtags #marref and #marriageref that was posted in the days leading to the referendum, and construct networks to aggregate sentiment and use it to study the interactions among users. Our analysis shows that the sentiment of outgoing mention tweets is correlated with the sentiment of incoming mentions, and there are significantly more connections between users with similar sentiment scores than among users with opposite scores in the mention and follower networks. We combine the community structure of the follower and mention networks with the activity level of the users and sentiment scores to find groups that support voting ‘yes’ or ‘no’ in the referendum. There were numerous conversations between users on opposing sides of the debate in the absence of follower connections, which suggests that there were efforts by some users to establish dialogue and debate across ideological divisions. Our analysis shows that social structure can be integrated successfully with sentiment to analyse and understand the disposition of social media users around controversial or polarizing issues. These results have potential applications in the integration of data and metadata to study opinion dynamics, public opinion modelling and polling. PMID:28791141

Usability Guidelines for Product Recommenders Based on Example Critiquing Research

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

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

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

A keyword searchable attribute-based encryption scheme with attribute update for cloud storage.

PubMed

Wang, Shangping; Ye, Jian; Zhang, Yaling

2018-01-01

Ciphertext-policy attribute-based encryption (CP-ABE) scheme is a new type of data encryption primitive, which is very suitable for data cloud storage for its fine-grained access control. Keyword-based searchable encryption scheme enables users to quickly find interesting data stored in the cloud server without revealing any information of the searched keywords. In this work, we provide a keyword searchable attribute-based encryption scheme with attribute update for cloud storage, which is a combination of attribute-based encryption scheme and keyword searchable encryption scheme. The new scheme supports the user's attribute update, especially in our new scheme when a user's attribute need to be updated, only the user's secret key related with the attribute need to be updated, while other user's secret key and the ciphertexts related with this attribute need not to be updated with the help of the cloud server. In addition, we outsource the operation with high computation cost to cloud server to reduce the user's computational burden. Moreover, our scheme is proven to be semantic security against chosen ciphertext-policy and chosen plaintext attack in the general bilinear group model. And our scheme is also proven to be semantic security against chosen keyword attack under bilinear Diffie-Hellman (BDH) assumption.

A keyword searchable attribute-based encryption scheme with attribute update for cloud storage

PubMed Central

Wang, Shangping; Zhang, Yaling

2018-01-01

Ciphertext-policy attribute-based encryption (CP-ABE) scheme is a new type of data encryption primitive, which is very suitable for data cloud storage for its fine-grained access control. Keyword-based searchable encryption scheme enables users to quickly find interesting data stored in the cloud server without revealing any information of the searched keywords. In this work, we provide a keyword searchable attribute-based encryption scheme with attribute update for cloud storage, which is a combination of attribute-based encryption scheme and keyword searchable encryption scheme. The new scheme supports the user's attribute update, especially in our new scheme when a user's attribute need to be updated, only the user's secret key related with the attribute need to be updated, while other user's secret key and the ciphertexts related with this attribute need not to be updated with the help of the cloud server. In addition, we outsource the operation with high computation cost to cloud server to reduce the user's computational burden. Moreover, our scheme is proven to be semantic security against chosen ciphertext-policy and chosen plaintext attack in the general bilinear group model. And our scheme is also proven to be semantic security against chosen keyword attack under bilinear Diffie-Hellman (BDH) assumption. PMID:29795577

Facilitators and barriers to quality of care in maternal, newborn and child health: a global situational analysis through metareview.

PubMed

Nair, Manisha; Yoshida, Sachiyo; Lambrechts, Thierry; Boschi-Pinto, Cynthia; Bose, Krishna; Mason, Elizabeth Mary; Mathai, Matthews

2014-05-22

Conduct a global situational analysis to identify the current facilitators and barriers to improving quality of care (QoC) for pregnant women, newborns and children. Metareview of published and unpublished systematic reviews and meta-analyses conducted between January 2000 and March 2013 in any language. Assessment of Multiple Systematic Reviews (AMSTAR) is used to assess the methodological quality of systematic reviews. Health systems of all countries. Study outcome: QoC measured using surrogate indicators--effective, efficient, accessible, acceptable/patient centred, equitable and safe. Conducted in two phases (1) qualitative synthesis of extracted data to identify and group the facilitators and barriers to improving QoC, for each of the three population groups, into the six domains of WHO's framework and explore new domains and (2) an analysis grid to map the common facilitators and barriers. We included 98 systematic reviews with 110 interventions to improve QoC from countries globally. The facilitators and barriers identified fitted the six domains of WHO's framework--information, patient-population engagement, leadership, regulations and standards, organisational capacity and models of care. Two new domains, 'communication' and 'satisfaction', were generated. Facilitators included active and regular interpersonal communication between users and providers; respect, confidentiality, comfort and support during care provision; engaging users in decision-making; continuity of care and effective audit and feedback mechanisms. Key barriers identified were language barriers in information and communication; power difference between users and providers; health systems not accounting for user satisfaction; variable standards of implementation of standard guidelines; shortage of resources in health facilities and lack of studies assessing the role of leadership in improving QoC. These were common across the three population groups. The barriers to good-quality healthcare are common for pregnant women, newborns and children; thus, interventions targeted to address them will have uniform beneficial effects. Adopting the identified facilitators would help countries strengthen their health systems and ensure high-quality care for all. 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.

User Delay Cost Model and Facilities Maintenance Cost Model for a Terminal Control Area : Volume 2. User's Manual and Program Documentation for the User Delay Cost Model

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1978-05-01

The User Delay Cost Model (UDCM) is a Monte Carlo simulation of certain classes of movement of air traffic in the Boston Terminal Control Area (TCA). It incorporates a weather module, an aircraft generation module, a facilities module, and an air con...

Service user involvement in cancer care: the impact on service users

PubMed Central

Cotterell, Phil; Harlow, Gwen; Morris, Carolyn; Beresford, Peter; Hanley, Bec; Sargeant, Anita; Sitzia, John; Staley, Kristina

2011-01-01

Abstract Background  Service user involvement is embedded in the United Kingdom’s National Health Service, but knowledge about the impact of involvement on service users, such as the benefits and challenges of involvement, is scant. Our research addresses this gap. Objective  To explore the personal impact of involvement on the lives of service users affected by cancer. Design  We conducted eight focus groups with user groups supplemented by nine face‐to‐face interviews with involved individuals active at a local, regional and national level. Thematic analysis was conducted both independently and collectively. Setting and participants  Sixty‐four participants, engaged in involvement activities in cancer services, palliative care and research, were recruited across Great Britain. Results  We identified three main themes: (i) ‘Expectations and motivations for involvement’– the desire to improve services and the need for user groups to have a clear purpose, (ii) ‘Positive aspects of involvement’– support provided by user groups and assistance to live well with cancer and (iii) ‘Challenging aspects of involvement’– insensitivities and undervaluing of involvement by staff. Conclusions  This study identified that involvement has the capacity to produce varied and significant personal impacts for involved people. Involvement can be planned and implemented in ways that increase these impacts and that mediates challenges for those involved. Key aspects to increase positive impact for service users include the value service providers attach to involvement activities, the centrality with which involvement is embedded in providers’ activities, and the capacity of involvement to influence policy, planning, service delivery, research and/or practice. PMID:21029279

GOCE User Toolbox and Tutorial

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Knudsen, P.; Benveniste, J.

2011-07-01

The GOCE User Toolbox GUT is a compilation of tools for the utilisation and analysis of GOCE Level 2 products. GUT support applications in Geodesy, Oceanography and Solid Earth Physics. The GUT Tutorial provides information and guidance in how to use the toolbox for a variety of applications. GUT consists of a series of advanced computer routines that carry out the required computations. It may be used on Windows PCs, UNIX/Linux Workstations, and Mac. The toolbox is supported by The GUT Algorithm Description and User Guide and The GUT Install Guide. A set of a-priori data and models are made available as well. GUT has been developed in a collaboration within the GUT Core Group. The GUT Core Group: S. Dinardo, D. Serpe, B.M. Lucas, R. Floberghagen, A. Horvath (ESA), O. Andersen, M. Herceg (DTU), M.-H. Rio, S. Mulet, G. Larnicol (CLS), J. Johannessen, L.Bertino (NERSC), H. Snaith, P. Challenor (NOC), K. Haines, D. Bretherton (NCEO), C. Hughes (POL), R.J. Bingham (NU), G. Balmino, S. Niemeijer, I. Price, L. Cornejo (S&T), M. Diament, I Panet (IPGP), C.C. Tscherning (KU), D. Stammer, F. Siegismund (UH), T. Gruber (TUM),

PCCEServer

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

Perry, Marcia; Agarwal, Deb

2003-03-17

The PCCEServer application is a server that should be used in conjunction with the LBNLSecureMessaging user interface to enable secure synchronous and asynchronous messaging. It provides authentication and authorization services for members of a collaboration group via PKI/SSL and maintains an access control list. Members of collaboration groups using the LBNLSecureMessaging client must register identifying information. including usemame and password and an optional X.509 certificate, with the PCCEServer. This registration not only restricts access to instant messaging, but augments the LBNLSecureMessaging's IRC-based chat facility with persistence. Users register permanent unique user ids by which they are knowTl to other usersmore » in the system and create permanent venues intended for group conversations on a tong-term or continuous basis. In addition, the PCCEServer enhances instant messaging with presence and awareness information such as user availability, and it allows users to leave notes asynchronously for other users who are online or offline. Written in Java, it is a standalone application that can run on any platform that supports a Java Virtual Machine.« less

Information system end-user satisfaction and continuance intention: A unified modeling approach.

PubMed

Hadji, Brahim; Degoulet, Patrice

2016-06-01

Permanent evaluation of end-user satisfaction and continuance intention is a critical issue at each phase of a clinical information system (CIS) project, but most validation studies are concerned with the pre- or early post-adoption phases. The purpose of this study was twofold: to validate at the Pompidou University Hospital (HEGP) an information technology late post-adoption model built from four validated models and to propose a unified metamodel of evaluation that could be adapted to each context or deployment phase of a CIS project. Five dimensions, i.e., CIS quality (CISQ), perceived usefulness (PU), confirmation of expectations (CE), user satisfaction (SAT), and continuance intention (CI) were selected to constitute the CI evaluation model. The validity of the model was tested using the combined answers to four surveys performed between 2011 and 2015, i.e., more than ten years after the opening of HEGP in July 2000. Structural equation modeling was used to test the eight model-associated hypotheses. The multi-professional study group of 571 responders consisted of 158 doctors, 282 nurses, and 131 secretaries. The evaluation model accounted for 84% of variance of satisfaction and 53% of CI variance for the period 2011-2015 and for 92% and 69% for the period 2014-2015. In very late post adoption, CISQ appears to be the major determinant of satisfaction and CI. Combining the results obtained at various phases of CIS deployment, a Unified Model of Information System Continuance (UMISC) is proposed. In a meaningful CIS use situation at HEGP, this study confirms the importance of CISQ in explaining satisfaction and CI. The proposed UMISC model that can be adapted to each phase of CIS deployment could facilitate the necessary efforts of permanent CIS acceptance and continuance evaluation. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

User's instructions for the Guyton circulatory dynamics model using the Univac 1110 batch and demand processing (with graphic capabilities)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Archer, G. T.

1974-01-01

The model presents a systems analysis of a human circulatory regulation based almost entirely on experimental data and cumulative present knowledge of the many facets of the circulatory system. The model itself consists of eighteen different major systems that enter into circulatory control. These systems are grouped into sixteen distinct subprograms that are melded together to form the total model. The model develops circulatory and fluid regulation in a simultaneous manner. Thus, the effects of hormonal and autonomic control, electrolyte regulation, and excretory dynamics are all important and are all included in the model.

50 CFR 600.325 - National Standard 4-Allocations.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... distribution of the opportunity to participate in a fishery among identifiable, discrete user groups or... legitimate FMP objective. Inherent in an allocation is the advantaging of one group to the detriment of... the FMP; otherwise, the disadvantaged user groups or individuals would suffer without cause. For...

Cognitive dimensions of recreational user experiences in wilderness: an exploratory study in Adirondack wilderness areas.

Treesearch

Chad P. Dawson; Peter Newman; Alan Watson

1998-01-01

This exploratory study involved identifying the dimensions of a wilderness experience sought by users based on the available literature and on input from wilderness users. Input was collected using focus group interviews with members of four groups that were primarily involved in wilderness use and preservation in recent years. Positive and negative dimensions are...

Adult work commitment, financial stability, and social environment as related to trajectories of marijuana use beginning in adolescence.

PubMed

Brook, Judith S; Lee, Jung Yeon; Finch, Stephen J; Seltzer, Nathan; Brook, David W

2013-01-01

The objective of this study is to examine trajectories of marijuana use among African Americans and Puerto Ricans from adolescence to adulthood, with attention paid to work commitment, financial stability, drug use, and violence. Participants (N = 816) completed in-class questionnaires as students in the East Harlem area of New York City at the first wave and provided follow-up data at 4 additional points in time (mean ages = 14, 19, 24, 29, and 32 years). Among 816 participants, there were 60% females, 52% African American, and 48% Puerto Ricans. The chronic marijuana user trajectory group compared with the none or low, increasing, and/or moderate marijuana user trajectory group was associated with negative aspects of work commitment, financial stability, and the social environment. The chronic marijuana user group was similar to the increasing marijuana user group on work commitment and financial stability. These results suggest that treating marijuana use in late adolescence may reduce difficulty in the assumption of adult roles. Because chronic marijuana users experienced the most adverse effects in each of the domains, they require more intense clinical intervention than moderate marijuana users.

Auditory event-related potentials in methadone substituted opiate users.

PubMed

Wang, Grace Y; Kydd, Robert; Russell, Bruce R

2015-09-01

The effects of methadone maintenance treatment (MMT) on neurophysiological function are unclear. Using an auditory oddball paradigm, event-related potential (ERP) amplitudes and latencies were measured in 32 patients undertaking MMT, 17 opiate users who were addicted but not receiving substitution treatment and 25 healthy control subjects. Compared with healthy control subjects, the MMT and opiate user groups showed an increased P200 amplitude in response to target stimuli. The opiate user group also exhibited a decreased amplitude and an increased latency of N200, and a greater number of task-related errors than either healthy control subjects or patients undertaking MMT. There were no significant group differences in the P300 amplitude. However, it is noteworthy that the frontal P300 amplitude of the MMT group was greater than that of opiate users or healthy controls. Our findings suggest that altered sensory information processing associated with a history of opiate use remains in patients undertaking MMT. However, there are less marked ERP abnormalities in those receiving MMT than in active opiate users. The deficits in information processing associated with illicit opiate use are likely to be reduced during MMT. © The Author(s) 2015.

Integrated Model for E-Learning Acceptance

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ramadiani; Rodziah, A.; Hasan, S. M.; Rusli, A.; Noraini, C.

2016-01-01

E-learning is not going to work if the system is not used in accordance with user needs. User Interface is very important to encourage using the application. Many theories had discuss about user interface usability evaluation and technology acceptance separately, actually why we do not make it correlation between interface usability evaluation and user acceptance to enhance e-learning process. Therefore, the evaluation model for e-learning interface acceptance is considered important to investigate. The aim of this study is to propose the integrated e-learning user interface acceptance evaluation model. This model was combined some theories of e-learning interface measurement such as, user learning style, usability evaluation, and the user benefit. We formulated in constructive questionnaires which were shared at 125 English Language School (ELS) students. This research statistics used Structural Equation Model using LISREL v8.80 and MANOVA analysis.

Data Recipes: Toward Creating How-To Knowledge Base for Earth Science Data

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Shen, Suhung; Lynnes, Chris; Acker, James G.; Beaty, Tammy

2015-01-01

Both the diversity and volume of Earth science data from satellites and numerical models are growing dramatically, due to an increasing population of measured physical parameters, and also an increasing variety of spatial and temporal resolutions for many data products. To further complicate matters, Earth science data delivered to data archive centers are commonly found in different formats and structures. NASA data centers, managed by the Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS), have developed a rich and diverse set of data services and tools with features intended to simplify finding, downloading, and working with these data. Although most data services and tools have user guides, many users still experience difficulties with accessing or reading data due to varying levels of familiarity with data services, tools, and or formats. The data recipe project at Goddard Earth Science Data and Information Services Center (GES DISC) was initiated in late 2012 for enhancing user support. A data recipe is a How-To online explanatory document, with step-by-step instructions and examples of accessing and working with real data (http:disc.sci.gsfc.nasa.govrecipes). The current suite of recipes has been found to be very helpful, especially to first-time-users of particular data services, tools, or data products. Online traffic to the data recipe pages is significant, even though the data recipe topics are still limited. An Earth Science Data System Working Group (ESDSWG) for data recipes was established in the spring of 2014, aimed to initiate an EOSDIS-wide campaign for leveraging the distributed knowledge within EOSDIS and its user communities regarding their respective services and tools. The ESDSWG data recipe group is working on an inventory and analysis of existing data recipes and tutorials, and will provide guidelines and recommendation for writing and grouping data recipes, and for cross linking recipes to data products. This presentation gives an overview of the data recipe activites at GES DISC and ESDSWG. We are seeking requirements and input from a broader data user community to establish a strong knowledge base for Earth science data research and application implementations.

Cannabis and Young Users—A Brief Intervention to Reduce Their Consumption (CANABIC): A Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial in Primary Care

PubMed Central

Laporte, Catherine; Vaillant-Roussel, Hélène; Pereira, Bruno; Blanc, Olivier; Eschalier, Bénédicte; Kinouani, Shérazade; Brousse, Georges; Llorca, Pierre-Michel; Vorilhon, Philippe

2017-01-01

PURPOSE Brief intervention to reduce cannabis is a promising technique that could be adapted for use in primary care, but it has not been well studied in this setting. We tested the efficacy of a brief intervention conducted by general practitioners among cannabis users aged 15 to 25 years. METHODS We performed a cluster randomized controlled trial with 77 general practitioners in France. The intervention consisted of an interview designed according to the FRAMES (feedback, responsibility, advice, menu, empathy, self-efficacy) model, while the control condition consisted of routine care. RESULTS The general practitioners screened and followed up 261 young cannabis users. After 1 year, there was no significant difference between the intervention and control groups in the median number of joints smoked per month among all users (17.5 vs 17.5; P = .13), but there was a difference in favor of the intervention among nondaily users (3 vs 10; P = .01). After 6 months, the intervention was associated with a more favorable change from baseline in the number of joints smoked (−33.3% vs 0%, P = .01) and, among users younger than age of 18, smoking of fewer joints per month (12.5 vs 20, P = .04). CONCLUSIONS Our findings suggest that a brief intervention conducted by general practitioners with French young cannabis users does not affect use overall. They do, however, strongly support use of brief intervention for younger users and for moderate users. PMID:28289112

Predictors of insulin initiation in metformin and sulfonylurea users in primary care practices: the role of kidney function.

PubMed

Kostev, Karel; Dippel, Franz-Werner; Rathmann, Wolfgang

2014-09-01

The aims were to investigate predictors of insulin initiation in new users of metformin or sulfonylureas in primary care practices, in particular, its association with decreased renal function. Data from 9103 new metformin and 1120 sulfonylurea users with normal baseline glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) >90 ml/min/1.73 m(2) from 1072 practices were retrospectively analyzed (Disease Analyzer Germany: 01/2003-06/2012). Cox regression models and propensity score matching was used to adjust for confounders (age, sex, practice characteristics, comorbidity). Insulin treatment was started in 394 (4.3%) metformin and in 162 (14.5%) sulfonylurea users within 6 years (P < .001). Kaplan-Meier curves (propensity score matched patients) showed that the metformin group was at a lower risk of insulin initiation compared to sulfonylurea users throughout the study period. A substantial eGFR decline (category: 15-<30 ml/min/1.73 m(2)) was significantly associated with a higher likelihood to have insulin initiated (adjusted hazard ratio [HR]: 2.39; 95% CI: 1.09-5.23) in metformin but not in sulfonylurea (HR: 0.45; 95% CI: 0.16-1.30) users. New users of sulfonylurea monotherapy in primary care practices in Germany were about 3-fold more likely to start insulin therapy than those with metformin. Kidney function decline was associated with earlier insulin initiation in metformin but not in sulfonylurea users. © 2014 Diabetes Technology Society.

An Inter-Personal Information Sharing Model Based on Personalized Recommendations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kamei, Koji; Funakoshi, Kaname; Akahani, Jun-Ichi; Satoh, Tetsuji

In this paper, we propose an inter-personal information sharing model among individuals based on personalized recommendations. In the proposed model, we define an information resource as shared between people when both of them consider it important --- not merely when they both possess it. In other words, the model defines the importance of information resources based on personalized recommendations from identifiable acquaintances. The proposed method is based on a collaborative filtering system that focuses on evaluations from identifiable acquaintances. It utilizes both user evaluations for documents and their contents. In other words, each user profile is represented as a matrix of credibility to the other users' evaluations on each domain of interests. We extended the content-based collaborative filtering method to distinguish other users to whom the documents should be recommended. We also applied a concept-based vector space model to represent the domain of interests instead of the previous method which represented them by a term-based vector space model. We introduce a personalized concept-base compiled from each user's information repository to improve the information retrieval in the user's environment. Furthermore, the concept-spaces change from user to user since they reflect the personalities of the users. Because of different concept-spaces, the similarity between a document and a user's interest varies for each user. As a result, a user receives recommendations from other users who have different view points, achieving inter-personal information sharing based on personalized recommendations. This paper also describes an experimental simulation of our information sharing model. In our laboratory, five participants accumulated a personal repository of e-mails and web pages from which they built their own concept-base. Then we estimated the user profiles according to personalized concept-bases and sets of documents which others evaluated. We simulated inter-personal recommendation based on the user profiles and evaluated the performance of the recommendation method by comparing the recommended documents to the result of the content-based collaborative filtering.

Mechanistic experimental pain assessment in computer users with and without chronic musculoskeletal pain.

PubMed

Ge, Hong-You; Vangsgaard, Steffen; Omland, Øyvind; Madeleine, Pascal; Arendt-Nielsen, Lars

2014-12-06

Musculoskeletal pain from the upper extremity and shoulder region is commonly reported by computer users. However, the functional status of central pain mechanisms, i.e., central sensitization and conditioned pain modulation (CPM), has not been investigated in this population. The aim was to evaluate sensitization and CPM in computer users with and without chronic musculoskeletal pain. Pressure pain threshold (PPT) mapping in the neck-shoulder (15 points) and the elbow (12 points) was assessed together with PPT measurement at mid-point in the tibialis anterior (TA) muscle among 47 computer users with chronic pain in the upper extremity and/or neck-shoulder pain (pain group) and 17 pain-free computer users (control group). Induced pain intensities and profiles over time were recorded using a 0-10 cm electronic visual analogue scale (VAS) in response to different levels of pressure stimuli on the forearm with a new technique of dynamic pressure algometry. The efficiency of CPM was assessed using cuff-induced pain as conditioning pain stimulus and PPT at TA as test stimulus. The demographics, job seniority and number of working hours/week using a computer were similar between groups. The PPTs measured at all 15 points in the neck-shoulder region were not significantly different between groups. There were no significant differences between groups neither in PPTs nor pain intensity induced by dynamic pressure algometry. No significant difference in PPT was observed in TA between groups. During CPM, a significant increase in PPT at TA was observed in both groups (P < 0.05) without significant differences between groups. For the chronic pain group, higher clinical pain intensity, lower PPT values from the neck-shoulder and higher pain intensity evoked by the roller were all correlated with less efficient descending pain modulation (P < 0.05). This suggests that the excitability of the central pain system is normal in a large group of computer users with low pain intensity chronic upper extremity and/or neck-shoulder pain and that increased excitability of the pain system cannot explain the reported pain. However, computer users with higher pain intensity and lower PPTs were found to have decreased efficiency in descending pain modulation.

Time Is Money: The Decision Making of Smartphone High Users in Gain and Loss Intertemporal Choice

PubMed Central

Tang, Zixuan; Zhang, Huijun; Yan, An; Qu, Chen

2017-01-01

Nowadays the smartphone plays an important role in our lives. While it brings us convenience and efficiency, its overuse can cause problems. Although a great number of studies have demonstrated that people affected by substance abuse, pathological gambling, and internet addiction disorder have lower self-control than average, scarcely any study has investigated the decision making of smartphone high users by using a behavioral paradigm. The present study employed an intertemporal task, the Smartphone Addiction Inventory (SPAI) and the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale 11th version (BIS-11) to explore the decision control of smartphone high users in a sample of 125 college students. Participants were divided into three groups according to their SPAI scores. The upper third (69 or higher), middle third (from 61 to 68) and lower third (60 or lower) of scores were defined as high smartphone users, medium users and low users, respectively. We compared the percentage of small immediate reward/penalty choices in different conditions between the three groups. Relative to the low users group, high users and medium users were more inclined to request an immediate monetary reward. Moreover, for the two dimensions of time and money in intertemporal choice, high users and medium users showed a bias in intertemporal choice task among most of the time points and value magnitude compared to low users. These findings demonstrated that smartphone overuse was associated with problematic decision-making, a pattern similar to that seen in persons affected by a variety of addictions. PMID:28344568

PRIMO: An Interactive Homology Modeling Pipeline.

PubMed

Hatherley, Rowan; Brown, David K; Glenister, Michael; Tastan Bishop, Özlem

2016-01-01

The development of automated servers to predict the three-dimensional structure of proteins has seen much progress over the years. These servers make calculations simpler, but largely exclude users from the process. In this study, we present the PRotein Interactive MOdeling (PRIMO) pipeline for homology modeling of protein monomers. The pipeline eases the multi-step modeling process, and reduces the workload required by the user, while still allowing engagement from the user during every step. Default parameters are given for each step, which can either be modified or supplemented with additional external input. PRIMO has been designed for users of varying levels of experience with homology modeling. The pipeline incorporates a user-friendly interface that makes it easy to alter parameters used during modeling. During each stage of the modeling process, the site provides suggestions for novice users to improve the quality of their models. PRIMO provides functionality that allows users to also model ligands and ions in complex with their protein targets. Herein, we assess the accuracy of the fully automated capabilities of the server, including a comparative analysis of the available alignment programs, as well as of the refinement levels used during modeling. The tests presented here demonstrate the reliability of the PRIMO server when producing a large number of protein models. While PRIMO does focus on user involvement in the homology modeling process, the results indicate that in the presence of suitable templates, good quality models can be produced even without user intervention. This gives an idea of the base level accuracy of PRIMO, which users can improve upon by adjusting parameters in their modeling runs. The accuracy of PRIMO's automated scripts is being continuously evaluated by the CAMEO (Continuous Automated Model EvaluatiOn) project. The PRIMO site is free for non-commercial use and can be accessed at https://primo.rubi.ru.ac.za/.

PRIMO: An Interactive Homology Modeling Pipeline

PubMed Central

Glenister, Michael

2016-01-01

The development of automated servers to predict the three-dimensional structure of proteins has seen much progress over the years. These servers make calculations simpler, but largely exclude users from the process. In this study, we present the PRotein Interactive MOdeling (PRIMO) pipeline for homology modeling of protein monomers. The pipeline eases the multi-step modeling process, and reduces the workload required by the user, while still allowing engagement from the user during every step. Default parameters are given for each step, which can either be modified or supplemented with additional external input. PRIMO has been designed for users of varying levels of experience with homology modeling. The pipeline incorporates a user-friendly interface that makes it easy to alter parameters used during modeling. During each stage of the modeling process, the site provides suggestions for novice users to improve the quality of their models. PRIMO provides functionality that allows users to also model ligands and ions in complex with their protein targets. Herein, we assess the accuracy of the fully automated capabilities of the server, including a comparative analysis of the available alignment programs, as well as of the refinement levels used during modeling. The tests presented here demonstrate the reliability of the PRIMO server when producing a large number of protein models. While PRIMO does focus on user involvement in the homology modeling process, the results indicate that in the presence of suitable templates, good quality models can be produced even without user intervention. This gives an idea of the base level accuracy of PRIMO, which users can improve upon by adjusting parameters in their modeling runs. The accuracy of PRIMO’s automated scripts is being continuously evaluated by the CAMEO (Continuous Automated Model EvaluatiOn) project. The PRIMO site is free for non-commercial use and can be accessed at https://primo.rubi.ru.ac.za/. PMID:27855192

Bottle milk feeding and its association with food group consumption, growth and socio-demographic characteristics in Chinese young children.

PubMed

Yeung, Suey; Chan, Ruth; Li, Liz; Leung, Shirley; Woo, Jean

2017-07-01

It is recommended that infants from the age of 12 months should be weaned from bottles. However, an overwhelming proportion of young children were still using bottle after the recommended age of bottle-weaning. This cross-sectional study examined the association between utensils for milk drinking and food group consumption, growth and socio-demographic characteristics among young children. Data from the Survey of Infant and Young Child Feeding in Hong Kong were analyzed for 649 children aged 18-48 months old. Dietary outcomes were obtained via 3-day dietary records, while utensils for milk drinking and socio-demographic characteristics were collected from a self-developed questionnaire. Length/height and weight of the children were measured by the nurses. Results showed that daily consumption of formula milk was significantly greater among bottle users or bottle plus cup users than non-bottle users (p < 0.05). Exclusive bottle users had significantly lower intakes of meat and meat alternatives than bottle plus cup users for the 18 to 24-month group (p = 0.001) and lower intakes of fruits than non-bottle users in the 48-month group (p = 0.015). BMI z-score was significantly higher for exclusive bottle users than non-bottle users, even after adjusting for socio-economic factors and child's age (p = 0.006). The results showed that the milk drinking utensil was associated with the amount of formula milk and food group consumption as well as BMI z-score. There is a need to actively discourage prolonged bottle use in order to help young children develop good dietary habits. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Project Assessment Skills Web Application

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Goff, Samuel J.

2013-01-01

The purpose of this project is to utilize Ruby on Rails to create a web application that will replace a spreadsheet keeping track of training courses and tasks. The goal is to create a fast and easy to use web application that will allow users to track progress on training courses. This application will allow users to update and keep track of all of the training required of them. The training courses will be organized by group and by user, making readability easier. This will also allow group leads and administrators to get a sense of how everyone is progressing in training. Currently, updating and finding information from this spreadsheet is a long and tedious task. By upgrading to a web application, finding and updating information will be easier than ever as well as adding new training courses and tasks. Accessing this data will be much easier in that users just have to go to a website and log in with NDC credentials rather than request the relevant spreadsheet from the holder. In addition to Ruby on Rails, I will be using JavaScript, CSS, and jQuery to help add functionality and ease of use to my web application. This web application will include a number of features that will help update and track progress on training. For example, one feature will be to track progress of a whole group of users to be able to see how the group as a whole is progressing. Another feature will be to assign tasks to either a user or a group of users. All of these together will create a user friendly and functional web application.

Endoscopic and histopathologic gastric changes in chronic users of proton-pump inhibitors.

PubMed

Camilo, Sílvia Maria Perrone; Almeida, Élia Cláudia de Souza; Miranzi, Benito André Silveira; Silva, Juliano Carvalho; Nomelini, Rosemary Simões; Etchebehere, Renata Margarida

2015-01-01

Proton-pump inhibitors have been used for at least two decades. They are among the most commonly sold drugs in the world. However, some controversy remains about the indications for their use and the consequences of their prolonged use. To evaluate and compare the endoscopic and histopathologic gastric changes in chronic users of proton-pump inhibitors to changes in non-users. A prospective study performed at a tertiary Public Hospital involving 105 patients undergoing upper-gastrointestinal endoscopy. Subjects included 81 proton-pump inhibitor users and 24 non-users (control group). Biopsies of the antral-type mucosa, the antral-fundic transition, and the fundus were evaluated by the Sydney System. The presence of erosion or ulceration, lymphatic follicles, reactive gastropathy, and polypoid or epithelial hyperplasia was also determined. Serum levels of gastrin were measured. We found two polyps, one in each group, both of which were negative for Helicobacter pylori. There were two cases of parietal cell hyperplasia in users of proton-pump inhibitors. Gastrin was elevated in 28 users of proton-pump inhibitors and in four members of the control group. We did not find statistically significant differences in the endoscopic or histopathologic findings between the two groups. Chronic use of proton-pump inhibitors for the duration examined was not associated with significant gastric changes. An interesting finding was that the 4 chronic users of proton-pump inhibitors who had serum gastrin levels above 500 pg/mL also had positive serology for Chagas disease.

Aligning Technology with the Organisation Using Focus and User Groups

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Owens, Simeon

As an IT Manager of nine years in a small healthcare organisation, which has transitioned from a minimal base of IT to fully fledged systems in place, I have discovered two structures which have helped enormously in this transition. These structures are firstly, the focus group, which looks at the IT requirements of the business, and secondly the user group, or a group of super users, which help in the day to day running of the systems. I have put together a number of lessons, which I have learnt over the years through experience of the workings of these groups, the benefits of them and the value they bring to the organisation.

Experiences with collaborative climate impacts assessments for regional governments in southwestern British Columbia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sobie, S. R.; Murdock, T. Q.

2016-12-01

Infrastructure vulnerability assessments and adaptation planning have created demand for detailed information about climate change and extreme events from local and regional governments. Individual communities often have distinct priorities regarding climate change impacts. While projections from climate models are available to investigate these impacts, they are not always applicable or easily interpreted by local agencies. We discuss a series of climate impacts assessments for several regional and local governments in southwestern British Columbia. Each of the assessments was conducted with input from the users on project definition from the start of the process and on interpretation of results throughout each project. To produce sufficient detail for the assessment regions, we produce high-resolution (800m) simulations of precipitation and temperature using downscaled climate model projections. Sets of derived climate parameters tailored to each region are calculated from both standard indices such as CLIMDEX and from an energy-balance snowpack model. Involving user groups from the beginning of the analysis helps to convey the meaning and confidence of each set of climate change parameters to users and also clarifies what projections are feasible or not for impact assessments. We discuss the different levels of involvement and collaboration with each organization, and the resulting decisions implemented following each of the projects.

The GEOSS User Requirement Registry (URR): A Cross-Cutting Service-Oriented Infrastructure Linking Science, Society and GEOSS

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Plag, H.-P.; Foley, G.; Jules-Plag, S.; Ondich, G.; Kaufman, J.

2012-04-01

The Group on Earth Observations (GEO) is implementing the Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS) as a user-driven service infrastructure responding to the needs of users in nine interdependent Societal Benefit Areas (SBAs) of Earth observations (EOs). GEOSS applies an interdisciplinary scientific approach integrating observations, research, and knowledge in these SBAs in order to enable scientific interpretation of the collected observations and the extraction of actionable information. Using EOs to actually produce these societal benefits means getting the data and information to users, i.e., decision-makers. Thus, GEO needs to know what the users need and how they would use the information. The GEOSS User Requirements Registry (URR) is developed as a service-oriented infrastructure enabling a wide range of users, including science and technology (S&T) users, to express their needs in terms of EOs and to understand the benefits of GEOSS for their fields. S&T communities need to be involved in both the development and the use of GEOSS, and the development of the URR accounts for the special needs of these communities. The GEOSS Common Infrastructure (GCI) at the core of GEOSS includes system-oriented registries enabling users to discover, access, and use EOs and derived products and services available through GEOSS. In addition, the user-oriented URR is a place for the collection, sharing, and analysis of user needs and EO requirements, and it provides means for an efficient dialog between users and providers. The URR is a community-based infrastructure for the publishing, viewing, and analyzing of user-need related information. The data model of the URR has a core of seven relations for User Types, Applications, Requirements, Research Needs, Infrastructure Needs, Technology Needs, and Capacity Building Needs. The URR also includes a Lexicon, a number of controlled vocabularies, and

A web-application for visualizing uncertainty in numerical ensemble models

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Alberti, Koko; Hiemstra, Paul; de Jong, Kor; Karssenberg, Derek

2013-04-01

Numerical ensemble models are used in the analysis and forecasting of a wide range of environmental processes. Common use cases include assessing the consequences of nuclear accidents, pollution releases into the ocean or atmosphere, forest fires, volcanic eruptions, or identifying areas at risk from such hazards. In addition to the increased use of scenario analyses and model forecasts, the availability of supplementary data describing errors and model uncertainties is increasingly commonplace. Unfortunately most current visualization routines are not capable of properly representing uncertain information. As a result, uncertainty information is not provided at all, not readily accessible, or it is not communicated effectively to model users such as domain experts, decision makers, policy makers, or even novice users. In an attempt to address these issues a lightweight and interactive web-application has been developed. It makes clear and concise uncertainty visualizations available in a web-based mapping and visualization environment, incorporating aggregation (upscaling) techniques to adjust uncertainty information to the zooming level. The application has been built on a web mapping stack of open source software, and can quantify and visualize uncertainties in numerical ensemble models in such a way that both expert and novice users can investigate uncertainties present in a simple ensemble dataset. As a test case, a dataset was used which forecasts the spread of an airborne tracer across Western Europe. Extrinsic uncertainty representations are used in which dynamic circular glyphs are overlaid on model attribute maps to convey various uncertainty concepts. It supports both basic uncertainty metrics such as standard deviation, standard error, width of the 95% confidence interval and interquartile range, as well as more experimental ones aimed at novice users. Ranges of attribute values can be specified, and the circular glyphs dynamically change size to represent the probability of the attribute value falling within the specified interval. For more advanced users graphs of the cumulative probability density function, histograms, and time series plume charts are available. To avoid risking a cognitive overload and crowding of glyphs on the map pane, the support of the data used for generating the glyphs is linked dynamically to the zoom level. Zooming in and out respectively decreases and increases the underlying support size of data used for generating the glyphs, thereby making uncertainty information of the original data upscaled to the resolution of the visualization accessible to the user. This feature also ensures that the glyphs are neatly spaced in a regular grid regardless of the zoom level. Finally, the web-application has been presented to groups of test users of varying degrees of expertise in order to evaluate the usability of the interface and the effectiveness of uncertainty visualizations based on circular glyphs.

Cognitive deficit in methamphetamine users relative to childhood academic performance: link to cortical thickness.

PubMed

Dean, Andy C; Morales, Angelica M; Hellemann, Gerhard; London, Edythe D

2018-04-20

Individuals with cognitive problems may be predisposed to develop substance use disorders; therefore, differences in cognitive function between methamphetamine users and control participants may be attributable to premorbid factors rather than methamphetamine use. The goal of this study was to clarify the extent to which this is the case. Childhood academic transcripts were obtained for 37 methamphetamine-dependent adults and 41 control participants of similar educational level and premorbid IQ. Each participant completed a comprehensive cognitive battery and received a structural magnetic resonance imaging scan. Data from control participants and linear regression were used to develop a normative model to describe the relationship between childhood academic performance and scores on the cognitive battery. Using this model, cognitive performance of methamphetamine users was predicted from their premorbid academic scores. Results indicated that methamphetamine users' childhood grade point average was significantly lower than that of the control group (p < 0.05). Further, methamphetamine users' overall cognitive performance was lower than was predicted from their grade point average prior to methamphetamine use (p = 0.001), with specific deficits in attention/concentration and memory (ps < 0.01). Memory deficits were associated with lower whole-brain cortical thickness (p < 0.05). Thus, in addition to having an apparent premorbid weakness in cognition, methamphetamine users exhibit subsequent cognitive function that is significantly lower than premorbid estimates would predict. The results support the view that chronic methamphetamine use causes a decline in cognition and/or a failure to develop normative cognitive abilities, although aside from methamphetamine use per se, other drug use and unidentified factors likely contribute to the observed effects.

The Third Annual NASA Science Internet User Working Group Conference

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lev, Brian S. (Editor); Gary, J. Patrick (Editor)

1993-01-01

The NASA Science Internet (NSI) User Support Office (USO) sponsored the Third Annual NSI User Working Group (NSIUWG) Conference March 30 through April 3, 1992, in Greenbelt, MD. Approximately 130 NSI users attended to learn more about the NSI, hear from projects which use NSI, and receive updates about new networking technologies and services. This report contains material relevant to the conference; copies of the agenda, meeting summaries, presentations, and descriptions of exhibitors. Plenary sessions featured a variety of speakers, including NSI project management, scientists, and NSI user project managers whose projects and applications effectively use NSI, and notable citizens of the larger Internet community. The conference also included exhibits of advanced networking applications; tutorials on internetworking, computer security, and networking technologies; and user subgroup meetings on the future direction of the conference, networking, and user services and applications.