Sample records for targeted malicious email

  1. Detecting Targeted Malicious Email through Supervised Classification of Persistent Threat and Recipient Oriented Features

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Amin, Rohan Mahesh

    2010-01-01

    Targeted email attacks to enable computer network exploitation have become more prevalent, more insidious, and more widely documented in recent years. Beyond nuisance spam or phishing designed to trick users into revealing personal information, targeted malicious email (TME) facilitates computer network exploitation and the gathering of sensitive…

  2. Malicious Hubs: Detecting Abnormally Malicious Autonomous Systems

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

    Kalafut, Andrew J.; Shue, Craig A; Gupta, Prof. Minaxi

    While many attacks are distributed across botnets, investigators and network operators have recently targeted malicious networks through high profile autonomous system (AS) de-peerings and network shut-downs. In this paper, we explore whether some ASes indeed are safe havens for malicious activity. We look for ISPs and ASes that exhibit disproportionately high malicious behavior using 12 popular blacklists. We find that some ASes have over 80% of their routable IP address space blacklisted and others account for large fractions of blacklisted IPs. Overall, we conclude that examining malicious activity at the AS granularity can unearth networks with lax security or thosemore » that harbor cybercrime.« less

  3. Awareness of Malicious Social Engineering among Facebook Users

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Slonka, Kevin J.

    2014-01-01

    With the rapid growth of Facebook, the social networking website is becoming a lucrative target for malicious activity. Users of Facebook therefore should be aware of various malicious attacks and know how to identify them. This research analyzed Facebook users' level of understanding in the domain of malicious social engineering on Facebook. The…

  4. Abnormally Malicious Autonomous Systems and their Internet Connectivity

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

    Shue, Craig A; Kalafut, Prof. Andrew; Gupta, Prof. Minaxi

    While many attacks are distributed across botnets, investigators and network operators have recently targeted malicious networks through high profile autonomous system (AS) de-peerings and network shut-downs. In this paper, we explore whether some ASes indeed are safe havens for malicious activity. We look for ISPs and ASes that exhibit disproportionately high malicious behavior using ten popular blacklists, plus local spam data, and extensive DNS resolutions based on the contents of the blacklists. We find that some ASes have over 80% of their routable IP address space blacklisted. Yet others account for large fractions of blacklisted IP addresses. Several ASes regularlymore » peer with ASes associated with significant malicious activity. We also find that malicious ASes as a whole differ from benign ones in other properties not obviously related to their malicious activities, such as more frequent connectivity changes with their BGP peers. Overall, we conclude that examining malicious activity at AS granularity can unearth networks with lax security or those that harbor cybercrime.« less

  5. Tumor Microenvironment Modulation via Gold Nanoparticles Targeting Malicious Exosomes: Implications for Cancer Diagnostics and Therapy

    PubMed Central

    Roma-Rodrigues, Catarina; Raposo, Luís R.; Cabral, Rita; Paradinha, Fabiana; Baptista, Pedro V.; Fernandes, Alexandra R.

    2017-01-01

    Exosomes are nanovesicles formed in the endosomal pathway with an important role in paracrine and autocrine cell communication. Exosomes secreted by cancer cells, malicious exosomes, have important roles in tumor microenvironment maturation and cancer progression. The knowledge of the role of exosomes in tumorigenesis prompted a new era in cancer diagnostics and therapy, taking advantage of the use of circulating exosomes as tumor biomarkers due to their stability in body fluids and targeting malignant exosomes’ release and/or uptake to inhibit or delay tumor development. In recent years, nanotechnology has paved the way for the development of a plethora of new diagnostic and therapeutic platforms, fostering theranostics. The unique physical and chemical properties of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) make them suitable vehicles to pursuit this goal. AuNPs’ properties such as ease of synthesis with the desired shape and size, high surface:volume ratio, and the possibility of engineering their surface as desired, potentiate AuNPs’ role in nanotheranostics, allowing the use of the same formulation for exosome detection and restraining the effect of malicious exosomes in cancer progression. PMID:28098821

  6. Tumor Microenvironment Modulation via Gold Nanoparticles Targeting Malicious Exosomes: Implications for Cancer Diagnostics and Therapy.

    PubMed

    Roma-Rodrigues, Catarina; Raposo, Luís R; Cabral, Rita; Paradinha, Fabiana; Baptista, Pedro V; Fernandes, Alexandra R

    2017-01-14

    Exosomes are nanovesicles formed in the endosomal pathway with an important role in paracrine and autocrine cell communication. Exosomes secreted by cancer cells, malicious exosomes, have important roles in tumor microenvironment maturation and cancer progression. The knowledge of the role of exosomes in tumorigenesis prompted a new era in cancer diagnostics and therapy, taking advantage of the use of circulating exosomes as tumor biomarkers due to their stability in body fluids and targeting malignant exosomes' release and/or uptake to inhibit or delay tumor development. In recent years, nanotechnology has paved the way for the development of a plethora of new diagnostic and therapeutic platforms, fostering theranostics. The unique physical and chemical properties of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) make them suitable vehicles to pursuit this goal. AuNPs' properties such as ease of synthesis with the desired shape and size, high surface:volume ratio, and the possibility of engineering their surface as desired, potentiate AuNPs' role in nanotheranostics, allowing the use of the same formulation for exosome detection and restraining the effect of malicious exosomes in cancer progression.

  7. DROP: Detecting Return-Oriented Programming Malicious Code

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Chen, Ping; Xiao, Hai; Shen, Xiaobin; Yin, Xinchun; Mao, Bing; Xie, Li

    Return-Oriented Programming (ROP) is a new technique that helps the attacker construct malicious code mounted on x86/SPARC executables without any function call at all. Such technique makes the ROP malicious code contain no instruction, which is different from existing attacks. Moreover, it hides the malicious code in benign code. Thus, it circumvents the approaches that prevent control flow diversion outside legitimate regions (such as W ⊕ X ) and most malicious code scanning techniques (such as anti-virus scanners). However, ROP has its own intrinsic feature which is different from normal program design: (1) uses short instruction sequence ending in "ret", which is called gadget, and (2) executes the gadgets contiguously in specific memory space, such as standard GNU libc. Based on the features of the ROP malicious code, in this paper, we present a tool DROP, which is focused on dynamically detecting ROP malicious code. Preliminary experimental results show that DROP can efficiently detect ROP malicious code, and have no false positives and negatives.

  8. Omen: identifying potential spear-phishing targets before the email is sent.

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

    Wendt, Jeremy Daniel.

    2013-07-01

    We present the results of a two year project focused on a common social engineering attack method called "spear phishing". In a spear phishing attack, the user receives an email with information specifically focused on the user. This email contains either a malware-laced attachment or a link to download the malware that has been disguised as a useful program. Spear phishing attacks have been one of the most effective avenues for attackers to gain initial entry into a target network. This project focused on a proactive approach to spear phishing. To create an effective, user-specific spear phishing email, the attackermore » must research the intended recipient. We believe that much of the information used by the attacker is provided by the target organization's own external website. Thus when researching potential targets, the attacker leaves signs of his research in the webserver's logs. We created tools and visualizations to improve cybersecurity analysts' abilities to quickly understand a visitor's visit patterns and interests. Given these suspicious visitors and log-parsing tools, analysts can more quickly identify truly suspicious visitors, search for potential spear-phishing targeted users, and improve security around those users before the spear phishing email is sent.« less

  9. Characterizing and Measuring Maliciousness for Cybersecurity Risk Assessment

    PubMed Central

    King, Zoe M.; Henshel, Diane S.; Flora, Liberty; Cains, Mariana G.; Hoffman, Blaine; Sample, Char

    2018-01-01

    Cyber attacks have been increasingly detrimental to networks, systems, and users, and are increasing in number and severity globally. To better predict system vulnerabilities, cybersecurity researchers are developing new and more holistic approaches to characterizing cybersecurity system risk. The process must include characterizing the human factors that contribute to cyber security vulnerabilities and risk. Rationality, expertise, and maliciousness are key human characteristics influencing cyber risk within this context, yet maliciousness is poorly characterized in the literature. There is a clear absence of literature pertaining to human factor maliciousness as it relates to cybersecurity and only limited literature relating to aspects of maliciousness in other disciplinary literatures, such as psychology, sociology, and law. In an attempt to characterize human factors as a contribution to cybersecurity risk, the Cybersecurity Collaborative Research Alliance (CSec-CRA) has developed a Human Factors risk framework. This framework identifies the characteristics of an attacker, user, or defender, all of whom may be adding to or mitigating against cyber risk. The maliciousness literature and the proposed maliciousness assessment metrics are discussed within the context of the Human Factors Framework and Ontology. Maliciousness is defined as the intent to harm. Most maliciousness cyber research to date has focused on detecting malicious software but fails to analyze an individual’s intent to do harm to others by deploying malware or performing malicious attacks. Recent efforts to identify malicious human behavior as it relates to cybersecurity, include analyzing motives driving insider threats as well as user profiling analyses. However, cyber-related maliciousness is neither well-studied nor is it well understood because individuals are not forced to expose their true selves to others while performing malicious attacks. Given the difficulty of interviewing

  10. Characterizing and Measuring Maliciousness for Cybersecurity Risk Assessment.

    PubMed

    King, Zoe M; Henshel, Diane S; Flora, Liberty; Cains, Mariana G; Hoffman, Blaine; Sample, Char

    2018-01-01

    Cyber attacks have been increasingly detrimental to networks, systems, and users, and are increasing in number and severity globally. To better predict system vulnerabilities, cybersecurity researchers are developing new and more holistic approaches to characterizing cybersecurity system risk. The process must include characterizing the human factors that contribute to cyber security vulnerabilities and risk. Rationality, expertise, and maliciousness are key human characteristics influencing cyber risk within this context, yet maliciousness is poorly characterized in the literature. There is a clear absence of literature pertaining to human factor maliciousness as it relates to cybersecurity and only limited literature relating to aspects of maliciousness in other disciplinary literatures, such as psychology, sociology, and law. In an attempt to characterize human factors as a contribution to cybersecurity risk, the Cybersecurity Collaborative Research Alliance (CSec-CRA) has developed a Human Factors risk framework. This framework identifies the characteristics of an attacker, user, or defender, all of whom may be adding to or mitigating against cyber risk. The maliciousness literature and the proposed maliciousness assessment metrics are discussed within the context of the Human Factors Framework and Ontology. Maliciousness is defined as the intent to harm. Most maliciousness cyber research to date has focused on detecting malicious software but fails to analyze an individual's intent to do harm to others by deploying malware or performing malicious attacks. Recent efforts to identify malicious human behavior as it relates to cybersecurity, include analyzing motives driving insider threats as well as user profiling analyses. However, cyber-related maliciousness is neither well-studied nor is it well understood because individuals are not forced to expose their true selves to others while performing malicious attacks. Given the difficulty of interviewing malicious

  11. IDMA: improving the defense against malicious attack for mobile ad hoc networks based on ARIP protocol

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Peng, Chaorong; Chen, Chang Wen

    2008-04-01

    Malicious nodes are mounting increasingly sophisticated attacking operations on the Mobile Ad Hoc Networks (MANETs). This is mainly because the IP-based MANETs are vulnerable to attacks by various malicious nodes. However, the defense against malicious attack can be improved when a new layer of network architecture can be developed to separate true IP address from disclosing to the malicious nodes. In this paper, we propose a new algorithm to improve the defense against malicious attack (IDMA) that is based on a recently developed Assignment Router Identify Protocol (ARIP) for the clustering-based MANET management. In the ARIP protocol, we design the ARIP architecture based on the new Identity instead of the vulnerable IP addresses to provide the required security that is embedded seamlessly into the overall network architecture. We make full use of ARIP's special property to monitor gateway forward packets by Reply Request Route Packets (RREP) without additional intrusion detection layer. We name this new algorithm IDMA because of its inherent capability to improve the defense against malicious attacks. Through IDMA, a watching algorithm can be established so as to counterattack the malicious node in the routing path when it unusually drops up packets. We provide analysis examples for IDMA for the defense against a malicious node that disrupts the route discovery by impersonating the destination, or by responding with state of corrupted routing information, or by disseminating forged control traffic. The IDMA algorithm is able to counterattack the malicious node in the cases when the node lunch DoS attack by broadcast a large number of route requests, or make Target traffic congestion by delivering huge mount of data; or spoof the IP addresses and send forge packets with a fake ID to the same Target causing traffic congestion at that destination. We have implemented IDMA algorism using the GloMoSim simulator and have demonstrated its performance under a variety of

  12. Analysis of Malicious Traffic in Modbus/TCP Communications

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kobayashi, Tiago H.; Batista, Aguinaldo B.; Medeiros, João Paulo S.; Filho, José Macedo F.; Brito, Agostinho M.; Pires, Paulo S. Motta

    This paper presents the results of our analysis about the influence of Information Technology (IT) malicious traffic on an IP-based automation environment. We utilized a traffic generator, called MACE (Malicious trAffic Composition Environment), to inject malicious traffic in a Modbus/TCP communication system and a sniffer to capture and analyze network traffic. The realized tests show that malicious traffic represents a serious risk to critical information infrastructures. We show that this kind of traffic can increase latency of Modbus/TCP communication and that, in some cases, can put Modbus/TCP devices out of communication.

  13. A Learning System for Discriminating Variants of Malicious Network Traffic

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

    Beaver, Justin M; Symons, Christopher T; Gillen, Rob

    Modern computer network defense systems rely primarily on signature-based intrusion detection tools, which generate alerts when patterns that are pre-determined to be malicious are encountered in network data streams. Signatures are created reactively, and only after in-depth manual analysis of a network intrusion. There is little ability for signature-based detectors to identify intrusions that are new or even variants of an existing attack, and little ability to adapt the detectors to the patterns unique to a network environment. Due to these limitations, the need exists for network intrusion detection techniques that can more comprehensively address both known unknown networkbased attacksmore » and can be optimized for the target environment. This work describes a system that leverages machine learning to provide a network intrusion detection capability that analyzes behaviors in channels of communication between individual computers. Using examples of malicious and non-malicious traffic in the target environment, the system can be trained to discriminate between traffic types. The machine learning provides insight that would be difficult for a human to explicitly code as a signature because it evaluates many interdependent metrics simultaneously. With this approach, zero day detection is possible by focusing on similarity to known traffic types rather than mining for specific bit patterns or conditions. This also reduces the burden on organizations to account for all possible attack variant combinations through signatures. The approach is presented along with results from a third-party evaluation of its performance.« less

  14. Spy the Lie: Detecting Malicious Insiders

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

    Noonan, Christine F.

    Insider threat is a hard problem. There is no ground truth, there are innumerable variables, and the data is sparse. The types of crimes and abuses associated with insider threats are significant; the most serious include espionage, sabotage, terrorism, embezzlement, extortion, bribery, and corruption. Malicious activities include an even broader range of exploits, such as negligent use of classified data, fraud, cybercrime, unauthorized access to sensitive information, and illicit communications with unauthorized recipients. Inadvertent action or inaction without malicious intent (e.g., disposing of sensitive documents incorrectly) can also cause harm to an organization. This review article will explore insider threat,more » specifically behaviors, beliefs, and current debates within the field. Additionally particular focus is given to deception, a significant behavioral component of the malicious insider. Finally, research and policy implications for law enforcement and the intelligence community are addressed.« less

  15. Leveraging Client-Side DNS Failure Patterns to Identify Malicious Behaviors

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2015-09-28

    malicious behavior found in our dataset and (ii) to create ground truth to evaluate the system proposed in Section V. We begin by removing those cases that...2011. [10] S. Hao, N. Feamster, and R. Pandrangi, “Monitoring the Initial DNS Behavior of Malicious Domains,” in ACM IMC , 2011. [11] R. Perdisci et...distribution is unlimited. Leveraging Client-Side DNS Failure Patterns to Identify Malicious Behaviors The views, opinions and/or findings contained in

  16. Automatic Identification of Critical Data Items in a Database to Mitigate the Effects of Malicious Insiders

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    White, Jonathan; Panda, Brajendra

    A major concern for computer system security is the threat from malicious insiders who target and abuse critical data items in the system. In this paper, we propose a solution to enable automatic identification of critical data items in a database by way of data dependency relationships. This identification of critical data items is necessary because insider threats often target mission critical data in order to accomplish malicious tasks. Unfortunately, currently available systems fail to address this problem in a comprehensive manner. It is more difficult for non-experts to identify these critical data items because of their lack of familiarity and due to the fact that data systems are constantly changing. By identifying the critical data items automatically, security engineers will be better prepared to protect what is critical to the mission of the organization and also have the ability to focus their security efforts on these critical data items. We have developed an algorithm that scans the database logs and forms a directed graph showing which items influence a large number of other items and at what frequency this influence occurs. This graph is traversed to reveal the data items which have a large influence throughout the database system by using a novel metric based formula. These items are critical to the system because if they are maliciously altered or stolen, the malicious alterations will spread throughout the system, delaying recovery and causing a much more malignant effect. As these items have significant influence, they are deemed to be critical and worthy of extra security measures. Our proposal is not intended to replace existing intrusion detection systems, but rather is intended to complement current and future technologies. Our proposal has never been performed before, and our experimental results have shown that it is very effective in revealing critical data items automatically.

  17. Leveling up and down: the experiences of benign and malicious envy.

    PubMed

    van de Ven, Niels; Zeelenberg, Marcel; Pieters, Rik

    2009-06-01

    Envy is the painful emotion caused by the good fortune of others. This research empirically supports the distinction between two qualitatively different types of envy, namely benign and malicious envy. It reveals that the experience of benign envy leads to a moving-up motivation aimed at improving one's own position, whereas the experience of malicious envy leads to a pulling-down motivation aimed at damaging the position of the superior other. Study 1 used guided recall of the two envy types in a culture (the Netherlands) that has separate words for benign and malicious envy. Analyses of the experiential content of these emotions found the predicted differences. Study 2 and 3 used one sample from the United States and one from Spain, respectively, where a single word exists for both envy types. A latent class analysis based on the experiential content of envy confirmed the existence of separate experiences of benign and malicious envy in both these cultures as well. The authors discuss the implications of distinguishing the two envy types for theories of cooperation, group performance, and Schadenfreude.

  18. Identification of Malicious Web Pages by Inductive Learning

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Liu, Peishun; Wang, Xuefang

    Malicious web pages are an increasing threat to current computer systems in recent years. Traditional anti-virus techniques focus typically on detection of the static signatures of Malware and are ineffective against these new threats because they cannot deal with zero-day attacks. In this paper, a novel classification method for detecting malicious web pages is presented. This method is generalization and specialization of attack pattern based on inductive learning, which can be used for updating and expanding knowledge database. The attack pattern is established from an example and generalized by inductive learning, which can be used to detect unknown attacks whose behavior is similar to the example.

  19. The Impact of a Targeted Training Program on E-Mail System Processing Capabilities and Self-Perception of E-Mail Overload

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Einstein, Michael M.

    2014-01-01

    As business e-mail volumes continue to grow and employees spend increasingly larger portions of their day processing e-mail, there is strong evidence of the negative impacts of e-mail processing, especially with respect to e-mail overload. This study sought to determine whether a training program focused on select e-mail features and processing…

  20. Dispositional envy revisited: unraveling the motivational dynamics of benign and malicious envy.

    PubMed

    Lange, Jens; Crusius, Jan

    2015-02-01

    Previous research has conceptualized dispositional envy as a unitary construct. Recently however, episodic envy has been shown to emerge in two qualitatively different forms. Benign envy is related to the motivation to move upward, whereas malicious envy is related to pulling superior others down. In four studies (N = 1,094)--using the newly developed Benign and Malicious Envy Scale (BeMaS)--we show that dispositional envy is also characterized by two independent dimensions related to distinct motivational dynamics and behavioral consequences. Dispositional benign and malicious envy uniquely predict envious responding following upward social comparisons. Furthermore, they are differentially connected to hope for success and fear of failure. Corresponding to these links, dispositional benign envy predicted faster race performance of marathon runners mediated via higher goal setting. In contrast, dispositional malicious envy predicted race goal disengagement. The findings highlight that disentangling the two sides of envy opens up numerous research avenues. © 2014 by the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Inc.

  1. Deterring Malicious Behavior in Cyberspace

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2015-01-01

    Malicious Behavior in Cyberspace Strategic Studies Quarterly ♦ Spring 2015 [ 79 ] 8. Chris Pepper, ed., Defending against Denial of Service Attacks...Jackson Higgins , “Chinese Cyberespionage Tool Updated for Traditional Cyber- crime,” Dark Reading, 27 November 2012, http://www.darkreading.com/attacks...content /uploads/sites/43/vlpdfs/kaspersky-the-net-traveler-part1-final.pdf. 13. Kelly Jackson Higgins , “ ‘NetTraveler’ Cyberespionage Campaign

  2. Malicious Use of Nonpharmaceuticals in Children

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Yin, Shan

    2011-01-01

    Objective: The objective of this study was to describe malicious nonpharmaceutical exposures in children reported to US poison centers. Methods: We performed a retrospective study of all nonpharmaceutical exposures involving children 7 years old reported to the US National Poison Data System (NPDS) from 2000 to 2008 for which the reason for…

  3. Effect of Gratitude on Benign and Malicious Envy: The Mediating Role of Social Support.

    PubMed

    Xiang, Yanhui; Chao, Xiaomei; Ye, Yanyan

    2018-01-01

    Gratitude has been investigated in various areas in psychology. The present research showed that gratitude had some positive effects on some aspects of our life, such as subjective well-being, life satisfaction, and social relationships. It can also help us relieve negative emotions. However, the existing literature has not studied the influence of gratitude on envy. The present study used structural equation modeling to test the mediating role of social support between gratitude and two types of envy (malicious and benign). We recruited 426 Chinese undergraduates to complete the Gratitude Questionnaire, Malicious and Benign Envy Scales, and the Multi-Dimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support. Results showed that gratitude positively predicted benign envy and negatively predicted malicious envy. In addition, the indirect effect of gratitude on two types of envy via social support was significant. These results revealed the direct relationship between gratitude and malicious/benign envy, and the mediating effect of social support, which will contribute to find effective measures to inhibit malicious envy and promote benign envy from the perspective of cultivating gratitude and increasing individuals' social support.

  4. Effect of Gratitude on Benign and Malicious Envy: The Mediating Role of Social Support

    PubMed Central

    Xiang, Yanhui; Chao, Xiaomei; Ye, Yanyan

    2018-01-01

    Gratitude has been investigated in various areas in psychology. The present research showed that gratitude had some positive effects on some aspects of our life, such as subjective well-being, life satisfaction, and social relationships. It can also help us relieve negative emotions. However, the existing literature has not studied the influence of gratitude on envy. The present study used structural equation modeling to test the mediating role of social support between gratitude and two types of envy (malicious and benign). We recruited 426 Chinese undergraduates to complete the Gratitude Questionnaire, Malicious and Benign Envy Scales, and the Multi-Dimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support. Results showed that gratitude positively predicted benign envy and negatively predicted malicious envy. In addition, the indirect effect of gratitude on two types of envy via social support was significant. These results revealed the direct relationship between gratitude and malicious/benign envy, and the mediating effect of social support, which will contribute to find effective measures to inhibit malicious envy and promote benign envy from the perspective of cultivating gratitude and increasing individuals' social support. PMID:29867595

  5. A fragile zero watermarking scheme to detect and characterize malicious modifications in database relations.

    PubMed

    Khan, Aihab; Husain, Syed Afaq

    2013-01-01

    We put forward a fragile zero watermarking scheme to detect and characterize malicious modifications made to a database relation. Most of the existing watermarking schemes for relational databases introduce intentional errors or permanent distortions as marks into the database original content. These distortions inevitably degrade the data quality and data usability as the integrity of a relational database is violated. Moreover, these fragile schemes can detect malicious data modifications but do not characterize the tempering attack, that is, the nature of tempering. The proposed fragile scheme is based on zero watermarking approach to detect malicious modifications made to a database relation. In zero watermarking, the watermark is generated (constructed) from the contents of the original data rather than introduction of permanent distortions as marks into the data. As a result, the proposed scheme is distortion-free; thus, it also resolves the inherent conflict between security and imperceptibility. The proposed scheme also characterizes the malicious data modifications to quantify the nature of tempering attacks. Experimental results show that even minor malicious modifications made to a database relation can be detected and characterized successfully.

  6. A Study on Architecture of Malicious Code Blocking Scheme with White List in Smartphone Environment

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Lee, Kijeong; Tolentino, Randy S.; Park, Gil-Cheol; Kim, Yong-Tae

    Recently, the interest and demands for mobile communications are growing so fast because of the increasing prevalence of smartphones around the world. In addition, the existing feature phones were replaced by smartphones and it has widely improved while using the explosive growth of Internet users using smartphones, e-commerce enabled Internet banking transactions and the importance of protecting personal information. Therefore, the development of smartphones antivirus products was developed and launched in order to prevent malicious code or virus infection. In this paper, we proposed a new scheme to protect the smartphone from malicious codes and malicious applications that are element of security threats in mobile environment and to prevent information leakage from malicious code infection. The proposed scheme is based on the white list smartphone application which only allows installing authorized applications and to prevent the installation of malicious and untrusted mobile applications which can possibly infect the applications and programs of smartphones.

  7. The effects of malicious nodes on performance of mobile ad hoc networks

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Li, Fanzhi; Shi, Xiyu; Jassim, Sabah; Adams, Christopher

    2006-05-01

    Wireless ad hoc networking offers convenient infrastructureless communication over the shared wireless channel. However, the nature of ad hoc networks makes them vulnerable to security attacks. Unlike their wired counterpart, infrastructureless ad hoc networks do not have a clear line of defense, their topology is dynamically changing, and every mobile node can receive messages from its neighbors and can be contacted by all other nodes in its neighborhood. This poses a great danger to network security if some nodes behave in a malicious manner. The immediate concern about the security in this type of networks is how to protect the network and the individual mobile nodes against malicious act of rogue nodes from within the network. This paper is concerned with security aspects of wireless ad hoc networks. We shall present results of simulation experiments on ad hoc network's performance in the presence of malicious nodes. We shall investigate two types of attacks and the consequences will be simulated and quantified in terms of loss of packets and other factors. The results show that network performance, in terms of successful packet delivery ratios, significantly deteriorates when malicious nodes act according to the defined misbehaving characteristics.

  8. Preventing and Profiling Malicious Insider Attacks

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2012-04-01

    malicious insiders. This research program could also be extended to look at general human factors issues surrounding information security behaviours ... behaviours . This research also draws on corresponding studies into fraud and espionage in non IT scenarios. A range of preventative measures is...This includes motivating factors, personality traits and observable behaviours that may assist organisations in the detection and profiling of

  9. Behavioral analysis of malicious code through network traffic and system call monitoring

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Grégio, André R. A.; Fernandes Filho, Dario S.; Afonso, Vitor M.; Santos, Rafael D. C.; Jino, Mario; de Geus, Paulo L.

    2011-06-01

    Malicious code (malware) that spreads through the Internet-such as viruses, worms and trojans-is a major threat to information security nowadays and a profitable business for criminals. There are several approaches to analyze malware by monitoring its actions while it is running in a controlled environment, which helps to identify malicious behaviors. In this article we propose a tool to analyze malware behavior in a non-intrusive and effective way, extending the analysis possibilities to cover malware samples that bypass current approaches and also fixes some issues with these approaches.

  10. Accuracy comparison among different machine learning techniques for detecting malicious codes

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Narang, Komal

    2016-03-01

    In this paper, a machine learning based model for malware detection is proposed. It can detect newly released malware i.e. zero day attack by analyzing operation codes on Android operating system. The accuracy of Naïve Bayes, Support Vector Machine (SVM) and Neural Network for detecting malicious code has been compared for the proposed model. In the experiment 400 benign files, 100 system files and 500 malicious files have been used to construct the model. The model yields the best accuracy 88.9% when neural network is used as classifier and achieved 95% and 82.8% accuracy for sensitivity and specificity respectively.

  11. Impact of malicious servers over trust and reputation models in wireless sensor networks

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Verma, Vinod Kumar; Singh, Surinder; Pathak, N. P.

    2016-03-01

    This article deals with the impact of malicious servers over different trust and reputation models in wireless sensor networks. First, we analysed the five trust and reputation models, namely BTRM-WSN, Eigen trust, peer trust, power trust, linguistic fuzzy trust model. Further, we proposed wireless sensor network design for optimisation of these models. Finally, influence of malicious servers on the behaviour of above mentioned trust and reputation models is discussed. Statistical analysis has been carried out to prove the validity of our proposal.

  12. EmailTime: visual analytics and statistics for temporal email

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Erfani Joorabchi, Minoo; Yim, Ji-Dong; Shaw, Christopher D.

    2011-01-01

    Although the discovery and analysis of communication patterns in large and complex email datasets are difficult tasks, they can be a valuable source of information. We present EmailTime, a visual analysis tool of email correspondence patterns over the course of time that interactively portrays personal and interpersonal networks using the correspondence in the email dataset. Our approach is to put time as a primary variable of interest, and plot emails along a time line. EmailTime helps email dataset explorers interpret archived messages by providing zooming, panning, filtering and highlighting etc. To support analysis, it also measures and visualizes histograms, graph centrality and frequency on the communication graph that can be induced from the email collection. This paper describes EmailTime's capabilities, along with a large case study with Enron email dataset to explore the behaviors of email users within different organizational positions from January 2000 to December 2001. We defined email behavior as the email activity level of people regarding a series of measured metrics e.g. sent and received emails, numbers of email addresses, etc. These metrics were calculated through EmailTime. Results showed specific patterns in the use email within different organizational positions. We suggest that integrating both statistics and visualizations in order to display information about the email datasets may simplify its evaluation.

  13. Statistics attack on `quantum private comparison with a malicious third party' and its improvement

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Gu, Jun; Ho, Chih-Yung; Hwang, Tzonelih

    2018-02-01

    Recently, Sun et al. (Quantum Inf Process:14:2125-2133, 2015) proposed a quantum private comparison protocol allowing two participants to compare the equality of their secrets via a malicious third party (TP). They designed an interesting trap comparison method to prevent the TP from knowing the final comparison result. However, this study shows that the malicious TP can use the statistics attack to reveal the comparison result. A simple modification is hence proposed to solve this problem.

  14. Elucidating the Dark Side of Envy: Distinctive Links of Benign and Malicious Envy With Dark Personalities

    PubMed Central

    Lange, Jens; Paulhus, Delroy L.; Crusius, Jan

    2017-01-01

    Researchers have recently drawn a contrast between two forms of envy: benign and malicious envy. In three studies (total N = 3,123), we challenge the assumption that malicious envy is destructive, whereas benign envy is entirely constructive. Instead, both forms have links with the Dark Triad of personality. Benign envy is associated with Machiavellian behaviors, whereas malicious envy is associated with both Machiavellian and psychopathic behaviors. In Study 1, this pattern emerged from meta-analyzed trait correlations. In Study 2, a manipulation affecting the envy forms mediated an effect on antisocial behavioral intentions. Study 3 replicated these patterns by linking envy to specific antisocial behaviors and their impact on status in the workplace. Together, our correlational and experimental results suggest that the two forms of envy can both be malevolent. Instead of evaluating envy’s morality, we propose to focus on its functional value. PMID:29271287

  15. FORENSIC ANALYSIS OF WINDOW’S® VIRTUAL MEMORY INCORPORATING THE SYSTEM’S PAGEFILE COUNTERINTELLIGENCE THROUGH MALICIOUS CODE ANALYSIS

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

    Jared Stimson

    FORENSIC ANALYSIS OF WINDOW’S® VIRTUAL MEMORY INCORPORATING THE SYSTEM’S PAGEFILE Computer Forensics is concerned with the use of computer investigation and analysis techniques in order to collect evidence suitable for presentation in court. The examination of volatile memory is a relatively new but important area in computer forensics. More recently criminals are becoming more forensically aware and are now able to compromise computers without accessing the hard disk of the target computer. This means that traditional incident response practice of pulling the plug will destroy the only evidence of the crime. While some techniques are available for acquiring the contentsmore » of main memory, few exist which can analyze these data in a meaningful way. One reason for this is how memory is managed by the operating system. Data belonging to one process can be distributed arbitrarily across physical memory or the hard disk, making it very difficult to recover useful information. This report will focus on how these disparate sources of information can be combined to give a single, contiguous address space for each process. Using address translation a tool is developed to reconstruct the virtual address space of a process by combining a physical memory dump with the page-file on the hard disk. COUNTERINTELLIGENCE THROUGH MALICIOUS CODE ANALYSIS As computer network technology continues to grow so does the reliance on this technology for everyday business functionality. To appeal to customers and employees alike, businesses are seeking an increased online prescience, and to increase productivity the same businesses are computerizing their day-to-day operations. The combination of a publicly accessible interface to the businesses network, and the increase in the amount of intellectual property present on these networks presents serious risks. All of this intellectual property now faces constant attacks from a wide variety of malicious software that is intended to

  16. Non-developmental item computer systems and the malicious software threat

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Bown, Rodney L.

    1991-01-01

    The following subject areas are covered: a DOD development system - the Army Secure Operating System; non-development commercial computer systems; security, integrity, and assurance of service (SI and A); post delivery SI and A and malicious software; computer system unique attributes; positive feedback to commercial computer systems vendors; and NDI (Non-Development Item) computers and software safety.

  17. Evil acts and malicious gossip: a multiagent model of the effects of gossip in socially distributed person perception.

    PubMed

    Smith, Eliot R

    2014-11-01

    Although person perception is central to virtually all human social behavior, it is ordinarily studied in isolated individual perceivers. Conceptualizing it as a socially distributed process opens up a variety of novel issues, which have been addressed in scattered literatures mostly outside of social psychology. This article examines some of these issues using a series of multiagent models. Perceivers can use gossip (information from others about social targets) to improve their ability to detect targets who perform rare negative behaviors. The model suggests that they can simultaneously protect themselves against being influenced by malicious gossip intended to defame specific targets. They can balance these potentially conflicting goals by using specific strategies including disregarding gossip that differs from a personally obtained impression. Multiagent modeling demonstrates the outcomes produced by different combinations of assumptions about gossip, and suggests directions for further research and theoretical development. © 2014 by the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Inc.

  18. Using Insights from Email Users to Inform Organisational Email Management Policy

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ramsay, Judith; Renaud, Karen

    2012-01-01

    One would expect email substantially to increase organisational productivity and efficiency. There is little empirical evidence of this since email use is such a complex tool that it would be well nigh impossible to attribute efficiency increases solely to email. There is anecdotal evidence of the positive aspects of email (Phillips, S.R. and…

  19. Detecting Heap-Spraying Code Injection Attacks in Malicious Web Pages Using Runtime Execution

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Choi, Younghan; Kim, Hyoungchun; Lee, Donghoon

    The growing use of web services is increasing web browser attacks exponentially. Most attacks use a technique called heap spraying because of its high success rate. Heap spraying executes a malicious code without indicating the exact address of the code by copying it into many heap objects. For this reason, the attack has a high potential to succeed if only the vulnerability is exploited. Thus, attackers have recently begun using this technique because it is easy to use JavaScript to allocate the heap memory area. This paper proposes a novel technique that detects heap spraying attacks by executing a heap object in a real environment, irrespective of the version and patch status of the web browser. This runtime execution is used to detect various forms of heap spraying attacks, such as encoding and polymorphism. Heap objects are executed after being filtered on the basis of patterns of heap spraying attacks in order to reduce the overhead of the runtime execution. Patterns of heap spraying attacks are based on analysis of how an web browser accesses benign web sites. The heap objects are executed forcibly by changing the instruction register into the address of them after being loaded into memory. Thus, we can execute the malicious code without having to consider the version and patch status of the browser. An object is considered to contain a malicious code if the execution reaches a call instruction and then the instruction accesses the API of system libraries, such as kernel32.dll and ws_32.dll. To change registers and monitor execution flow, we used a debugger engine. A prototype, named HERAD(HEap spRAying Detector), is implemented and evaluated. In experiments, HERAD detects various forms of exploit code that an emulation cannot detect, and some heap spraying attacks that NOZZLE cannot detect. Although it has an execution overhead, HERAD produces a low number of false alarms. The processing time of several minutes is negligible because our research focuses on

  20. Job Analysis Results for Malicious-Code Reverse Engineers: A Case Study

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2014-05-01

    Testing in Personnel Selection: Contemporary Issues in Cognitive Ability and Personality Testing .” Journal of Business Inquiry: Research , Edu- cation, and...federally funded research and development center. Any opinions, findings and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of...predict the develop- ment of expertise is important. Currently, job analysis research on teams of malicious-code re- verse engineers is lacking. Therefore

  1. A comparison of email versus letter threat contacts toward members of the United States Congress.

    PubMed

    Schoeneman-Morris, Katherine A; Scalora, Mario J; Chang, Grace H; Zimmerman, William J; Garner, Yancey

    2007-09-01

    To better understand inappropriate correspondence sent to public officials, 301 letter cases and 99 email cases were randomly selected from the United States Capitol Police investigative case files and compared. Results indicate that letter writers were significantly more likely than emailers to exhibit indicators of serious mental illness (SMI), engage in target dispersion, use multiple methods of contact, and make a problematic approach toward their target. Emailers were significantly more likely than letter writers to focus on government concerns, use obscene language, and display disorganization in their writing. Also, letter writers tended to be significantly older, have more criminal history, and write longer communications. A multivariate model found that disorganization, SMI symptoms, problematic physical approach, and target dispersion significantly differentiated between the correspondence groups. The group differences illuminated by this study reveal that letter writers are engaging in behavior that is higher risk for problematic approach than are emailers.

  2. Detecting Malicious Tweets in Twitter Using Runtime Monitoring With Hidden Information

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2016-06-01

    text mining using Twitter streaming API and python [Online]. Available: http://adilmoujahid.com/posts/2014/07/twitter-analytics/ [22] M. Singh, B...sites with 645,750,000 registered users [3] and has open source public tweets for data mining . 2. Malicious Users and Tweets In the modern world...want to data mine in Twitter, and presents the natural language assertions and corresponding rule patterns. It then describes the steps performed using

  3. Fluctuations in email size

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Matsubara, Yoshitsugu; Musashi, Yasuo

    2017-12-01

    The purpose of this study is to explain fluctuations in email size. We have previously investigated the long-term correlations between email send requests and data flow in the system log of the primary staff email server at a university campus, finding that email size frequency follows a power-law distribution with two inflection points, and that the power-law property weakens the correlation of the data flow. However, the mechanism underlying this fluctuation is not completely understood. We collected new log data from both staff and students over six academic years and analyzed the frequency distribution thereof, focusing on the type of content contained in the emails. Furthermore, we obtained permission to collect "Content-Type" log data from the email headers. We therefore collected the staff log data from May 1, 2015 to July 31, 2015, creating two subdistributions. In this paper, we propose a model to explain these subdistributions, which follow log-normal-like distributions. In the log-normal-like model, email senders -consciously or unconsciously- regulate the size of new email sentences according to a normal distribution. The fitting of the model is acceptable for these subdistributions, and the model demonstrates power-law properties for large email sizes. An analysis of the length of new email sentences would be required for further discussion of our model; however, to protect user privacy at the participating organization, we left this analysis for future work. This study provides new knowledge on the properties of email sizes, and our model is expected to contribute to the decision on whether to establish upper size limits in the design of email services.

  4. Did You Get My E-Mail? Moving E-Mails beyond the Inbox

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ellis, Susan J.

    2011-01-01

    The challenge today is how to make e-mail and other forms of electronic communication effective in motivating volunteer action. Is it possible to make e-mails feel personal and welcoming? E-mail, instant messaging, texting, and social media are tools that allow individuals to communicate quickly and inexpensively, but they are lifeless without the…

  5. Email--from "to" to "send".

    PubMed

    Granberry, Nancy

    2007-03-01

    Occupational health nurses' ability to use email efficiently and effectively enhances their professionalism, responsiveness, and overall communications. Poorly written emails can damage the reputations of nurses and their organizations. Knowing when not to communicate by email is as important as being able to write effective emails. Many safeguards can be employed to prevent or minimize confusion and strengthen email communications. Names and addresses must be checked, appropriate subject lines used, and humor applied conscientiously. All emails should be proofread prior to sending, and replies must be carefully considered. Simple, colorless email backgrounds make downloading quicker. Sharp, clear fonts are easier on the eyes. Direct and defined requests and confirmations augment communication. Once "Send" is pressed, the email is out of the sender's control. Lack of network security, forwarding by others, and potential confidentiality breaches can lead to legal or public relations controversies. Email is an important business tool. Occupational health nurses must be competent in the skills of effective email communication, as it is an integral part of business and health care.

  6. Audit of a sexual health website email link for general practitioners.

    PubMed

    Biggs, K; Lowe, P; Walsh, J; Lagios, K

    2010-01-01

    The aim of this review was to evaluate an 'Email a Clinician' link on a medically reviewed sexual health website, which was established to allow general practitioners (GPs) to communicate remotely with sexual health clinic specialists. The website was developed in consultation with GPs and extensively promoted throughout the relevant professional primary health-care networks. Despite this, the email link appeared to fail in its objective of facilitating GP access to specialist sexual health physician opinion within five working days. An audit examining use of the email link was conducted for a one-year period, during which time 324 emails were received. Results showed that the bulk of the emails (93.2%) were spam, and only 6.8% were genuine enquiries. Of the 22 genuine emails, 21 (95%) originated from the general public and there were no enquiries from the GPs, who were the target audience of the website, resulting in removal of the email link from the site. Direct survey of local GPs to evaluate reasons for non-utilization of the link was not possible. However, discomfort with the technology, time added to existing workload, lack of direct perceived benefit and lack of immediate response have been cited as contributing factors that may limit widespread adoption of other telemedicine services. As a new generation of recently graduated GPs enters the Australian workforce, who might be expected to be skilled and comfortable with electronic medical communication, the option of a direct email link to a sexual health clinic, with a faster turnaround time, may be worth re-visiting in the future.

  7. Behavioral biometrics for verification and recognition of malicious software agents

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Yampolskiy, Roman V.; Govindaraju, Venu

    2008-04-01

    Homeland security requires technologies capable of positive and reliable identification of humans for law enforcement, government, and commercial applications. As artificially intelligent agents improve in their abilities and become a part of our everyday life, the possibility of using such programs for undermining homeland security increases. Virtual assistants, shopping bots, and game playing programs are used daily by millions of people. We propose applying statistical behavior modeling techniques developed by us for recognition of humans to the identification and verification of intelligent and potentially malicious software agents. Our experimental results demonstrate feasibility of such methods for both artificial agent verification and even for recognition purposes.

  8. Neural Detection of Malicious Network Activities Using a New Direct Parsing and Feature Extraction Technique

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2015-09-01

    intrusion detection systems , neural networks 15. NUMBER OF PAGES 75 16. PRICE CODE 17. SECURITY CLASSIFICATION OF... detection system (IDS) software, which learns to detect and classify network attacks and intrusions through prior training data. With the added criteria of...BACKGROUND The growing threat of malicious network activities and intrusion attempts makes intrusion detection systems (IDS) a

  9. The Use of Email to Coach Preservice Early Childhood Teachers

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Barton, Erin E.; Fuller, Elizabeth A.; Schnitz, Alana

    2016-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of performance feedback on preservice teachers' use of recommended practices within inclusive early childhood classrooms. A multiple baseline design across behaviors was used to examine the relation between performance feedback delivered via email and practicum students' use of target-recommended…

  10. Effects of malicious ocular laser exposure in commercial airline pilots.

    PubMed

    Palakkamanil, Mathew M; Fielden, Michael P

    2015-12-01

    Intentional malicious laser strikes on commercial pilots are committed by individuals who target a laser into airplane cockpits during takeoff and landing. Because laser exposure to pilots is a relatively new but growing occurrence, our study investigates the ocular effect of this laser exposure in pilots. Retrospective chart review by a single ophthalmologist. All commercial airline pilots (58 male, 3 female) who experienced a laser strike while flying between April 2012 and November 2014 who presented to our clinic were included. A retrospective chart review was performed in a retinal specialist's practice. Ocular assessment was performed within 3 days of laser exposure. A complete ophthalmic evaluation was conducted, including Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study visual acuity, colour vision, visual fields, intraocular pressure, slit-lamp examination, dilated fundus examination, colour fundus photographs, and ocular coherence tomography. Sixty-four laser strike incidents involving commercial pilots were included. All pilots in the study experienced some degree of immediate ocular irritation or light sensitivity. No definite cases of ocular damage were attributed to laser strikes. No pilot had any functional ocular deficits. Our study revealed that laser strikes on aircraft did not result in permanent visual functional or structural deficits. However, laser strikes cause immediate visual effects, including glare, flash blindness, and ocular irritation that can interfere with a pilot's visual function. Given the widespread accessibility of high-power lasers and the rapid increase in incidents, laser strikes threaten to jeopardize aviation safety unless effective preventative measures are put in place. Copyright © 2015 Canadian Ophthalmological Society. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  11. Unsolicited E-mails to Forensic Psychiatrists.

    PubMed

    Friedman, Susan Hatters; Appel, Jacob M; Ash, Peter; Frierson, Richard L; Giorgi-Guarnieri, Deborah; Martinez, Richard; Newman, Alan W; Pinals, Debra A; Resnick, Phillip J; Simpson, Alexander I F

    2016-12-01

    E-mail communication is pervasive. Since many forensic psychiatrists have their e-mail addresses available online (either on personal websites, university websites, or articles they have authored), they are likely to receive unsolicited e-mails. Although there is an emerging body of literature about exchanging e-mail with patients, there is little guidance about how to respond to e-mails from nonpatients. Therefore, we used a Delphi technique to develop a consensus about salient points for the forensic psychiatrist to consider regarding responding to e-mails from nonpatients and the risks entailed. Four scenarios are described, including e-mails from nonpatients and unknown others requesting advice or help. The potential ethics-related, legal, moral, and practical concerns for forensic psychiatrists are discussed. Finally, potential pitfalls for forensic psychiatrists are described. © 2016 American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law.

  12. Detecting malicious chaotic signals in wireless sensor network

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Upadhyay, Ranjit Kumar; Kumari, Sangeeta

    2018-02-01

    In this paper, an e-epidemic Susceptible-Infected-Vaccinated (SIV) model has been proposed to analyze the effect of node immunization and worms attacking dynamics in wireless sensor network. A modified nonlinear incidence rate with cyrtoid type functional response has been considered using sleep and active mode approach. Detailed stability analysis and the sufficient criteria for the persistence of the model system have been established. We also established different types of bifurcation analysis for different equilibria at different critical points of the control parameters. We performed a detailed Hopf bifurcation analysis and determine the direction and stability of the bifurcating periodic solutions using center manifold theorem. Numerical simulations are carried out to confirm the theoretical results. The impact of the control parameters on the dynamics of the model system has been investigated and malicious chaotic signals are detected. Finally, we have analyzed the effect of time delay on the dynamics of the model system.

  13. Dataset of anomalies and malicious acts in a cyber-physical subsystem.

    PubMed

    Laso, Pedro Merino; Brosset, David; Puentes, John

    2017-10-01

    This article presents a dataset produced to investigate how data and information quality estimations enable to detect aNomalies and malicious acts in cyber-physical systems. Data were acquired making use of a cyber-physical subsystem consisting of liquid containers for fuel or water, along with its automated control and data acquisition infrastructure. Described data consist of temporal series representing five operational scenarios - Normal, aNomalies, breakdown, sabotages, and cyber-attacks - corresponding to 15 different real situations. The dataset is publicly available in the .zip file published with the article, to investigate and compare faulty operation detection and characterization methods for cyber-physical systems.

  14. Protecting software agents from malicious hosts using quantum computing

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Reisner, John; Donkor, Eric

    2000-07-01

    We evaluate how quantum computing can be applied to security problems for software agents. Agent-based computing, which merges technological advances in artificial intelligence and mobile computing, is a rapidly growing domain, especially in applications such as electronic commerce, network management, information retrieval, and mission planning. System security is one of the more eminent research areas in agent-based computing, and the specific problem of protecting a mobile agent from a potentially hostile host is one of the most difficult of these challenges. In this work, we describe our agent model, and discuss the capabilities and limitations of classical solutions to the malicious host problem. Quantum computing may be extremely helpful in addressing the limitations of classical solutions to this problem. This paper highlights some of the areas where quantum computing could be applied to agent security.

  15. Factors affecting acceptability of an email-based intervention to increase fruit and vegetable consumption.

    PubMed

    Kothe, Emily J; Mullan, Barbara A

    2014-09-30

    Fresh Facts is a 30-day email-delivered intervention designed to increase the fruit and vegetable consumption of Australian young adults. This study investigated the extent to which the program was acceptable to members of the target audience and examined the relationships between participant and intervention characteristics, attrition, effectiveness, and acceptability ratings. Young adults were randomised to two levels of message frequency: high-frequency (n = 102), low-frequency (n = 173). Individuals in the high-frequency group received daily emails while individuals in the low-frequency group received an email every 3 days. Individuals in the high-frequency group were more likely to indicate that they received too many emails than individuals in the low-frequency group. No other differences in acceptability were observed. Baseline beliefs about fruit and vegetables were an important predictor of intervention acceptability. In turn, acceptability was associated with a number of indicators of intervention success, including change in fruit and vegetable consumption. The findings highlight the importance of considering the relationship between these intervention and participant factors and acceptability in intervention design and evaluation. Results support the ongoing use of email-based interventions to target fruit and vegetable consumption within young adults. However, the relationships between beliefs about fruit and vegetable consumption and acceptability suggest that this intervention may be differentially effective depending on individual's existing beliefs about fruit and vegetable consumption. As such, there is a pressing need to consider these factors in future research in order to minimize attrition and maximize intervention effectiveness when interventions are implemented outside of a research context.

  16. Talking Shop via E-Mail: A Thematic and Linguistic Analysis of Electronic Mail Communication. Research Report 99.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Tella, Seppo

    The linguistic purposes of this research were to focus on content, themes and topics, and to analyze the way the target language (English) was used in e-mail. Communicativeness and the roles of the communicator (writer-reader) became central, emphasizing the multidirectional character of e-mail communication. The basic tenet of communicativeness…

  17. The use of physician-patient email: a follow-up examination of adoption and best-practice adherence 2005-2008.

    PubMed

    Menachemi, Nir; Prickett, Charles T; Brooks, Robert G

    2011-02-25

    Improved communication from physician- patient emailing is an important element of patient centeredness. Physician-patient email use has been low; and previous data from Florida suggest that physicians who email with patients rarely implement best-practice guidelines designed to protect physicians and patients. Our objective was to examine whether email use with patients has changed over time (2005-2008) by using two surveys of Florida physicians, and to determine whether physicians have more readily embraced the best-practice guidelines in 2008 versus 2005. Lastly, we explored the 2008 factors associated with email use with patients and determined whether these factors changed relative to 2005. Our pooled time-series design used results from a 2005 survey (targeting 14,921 physicians) and a separate 2008 survey (targeting 7003 different physicians). In both years, physicians practicing in the outpatient setting were targeted with proportionally identical sampling strategies. Combined data from questions focusing on email use were analyzed using chi-square analysis, Fisher exact test, and logistic regression. A combined 6260 responses were available for analyses, representing a participation rate of 28.2% (4203/14,921) in 2005 and 29.4% (2057/7003) in 2008. Relative to 2005, respondents in 2008 were more likely to indicate that they personally used email with patients (690/4148, 16.6% vs 408/2001, 20.4%, c(2) (1) = 13.0, P < .001). However, physicians who reported frequently using email with patients did not change from 2005 to 2008 (2.9% vs 59/2001, 2.9%). Interest among physicians in future email use with patients was lower in 2008 (58.4% vs 52.8%, c(2) (2) = 16.6, P < .001). Adherence to email best practices remained low in 2008. When comparing 2005 and 2008 adherences with each of the individual guidelines, rates decreased over time in each category and were significantly lower for 4 of the 13 guidelines. Physician characteristics in 2008 that predicted email

  18. The Use of Physician-Patient Email: A Follow-up Examination of Adoption and Best-Practice Adherence 2005-2008

    PubMed Central

    Prickett, Charles T; Brooks, Robert G

    2011-01-01

    Background Improved communication from physician- patient emailing is an important element of patient centeredness. Physician-patient email use has been low; and previous data from Florida suggest that physicians who email with patients rarely implement best-practice guidelines designed to protect physicians and patients. Objective Our objective was to examine whether email use with patients has changed over time (2005-2008) by using two surveys of Florida physicians, and to determine whether physicians have more readily embraced the best-practice guidelines in 2008 versus 2005. Lastly, we explored the 2008 factors associated with email use with patients and determined whether these factors changed relative to 2005. Methods Our pooled time-series design used results from a 2005 survey (targeting 14,921 physicians) and a separate 2008 survey (targeting 7003 different physicians). In both years, physicians practicing in the outpatient setting were targeted with proportionally identical sampling strategies. Combined data from questions focusing on email use were analyzed using chi-square analysis, Fisher exact test, and logistic regression. Results A combined 6260 responses were available for analyses, representing a participation rate of 28.2% (4203/14,921) in 2005 and 29.4% (2057/7003) in 2008. Relative to 2005, respondents in 2008 were more likely to indicate that they personally used email with patients (690/4148, 16.6% vs 408/2001, 20.4%, c2 1 = 13.0, P < .001). However, physicians who reported frequently using email with patients did not change from 2005 to 2008 (2.9% vs 59/2001, 2.9%). Interest among physicians in future email use with patients was lower in 2008 (58.4% vs 52.8%, c2 2 = 16.6, P < .001). Adherence to email best practices remained low in 2008. When comparing 2005 and 2008 adherences with each of the individual guidelines, rates decreased over time in each category and were significantly lower for 4 of the 13 guidelines. Physician characteristics

  19. Email consultations in general practice.

    PubMed

    Neville, Ron G; Marsden, Wendy; McCowan, Colin; Pagliari, Claudia; Mullen, Helen; Fannin, Allison

    2004-01-01

    Email is an established method of communication in business, leisure and education but not yet health care. To evaluate an email service enabling communication between patients and their general practice regarding repeat prescriptions, appointment booking and clinical enquiries. Qualitative analysis of interactions and an electronic user survey. An urban practice in Dundee, Scotland. 150 patients aged 24 to 85. We set up a practice facility to allow our patients to use email to book appointments, order repeat prescriptions and consult their general practitioner (GP). Patient satisfaction with the service was very high. Patients specifically commended the practice for setting up a facility to allow communication outside standard working hours and for the ease of ordering repeat prescriptions. Patients were pleased to have a means of seeking their doctor's comment or opinion without bothering him or her by making and attending a formal face-to-face consultation. Email dialogue was polite, factual, but less formal than standard letters. Staff did not experience any perceptible rise in workload. Use of an email consultation facility worked well within an urban practice, was deemed helpful by patients, and resulted in no apparent increase in GP workload. Our results suggest that there may be an unmet need amongst patients for clinical email services, and that such services may have positive outcomes for patients and practices.

  20. A literature review of email-based telemedicine.

    PubMed

    Caffery, Liam J; Smith, Anthony C

    2010-01-01

    A structured analysis of peer-reviewed literature about the delivery of health services by email was undertaken for this review. A total of 185 articles were included in the analysis. These articles were thematically categorised for medical specialty, participants, sub-topic, study design and service-delivery application. It was shown that email-based telemedicine can be practiced in a large number of medical specialties and has application in primary consultation, second opinion consultation, telediagnosis and administrative roles (e.g. e-referral). Email has niche applications in low-bandwidth, image-based specialties (e.g. dermatology, pathology, wound care and ophthalmology) where attached digital camera images were used for telediagnosis. Diagnostic accuracy of these images was the predominant topic of research and results show email as a valid means of delivering these medical services. Email is also often used in general practice as an adjunct for face-to-face consultation. Further, a number of organisations have significantly improved the efficiency of their outpatient services when using email as a triage or e-referral system. Email-based telemedicine provides specialist medical opinion in the majority of reviewed services and is most likely to be instigated by the patient's primary care giver. However, email-consultations between patient and primary care and patient and secondary care are not uncommon. Most email services are implemented using ordinary email. However, a number of organisations have developed purpose-written email applications to support their telemedicine service due to impediments of using ordinary email. These impediments include lack of management tools for: the allocation and auditing of cases for a timely response and the co-ordination of effort in a multi-clinician, multi-disciplinary service. The ability to encrypt ordinary email thereby securing patient confidentiality is also regarded as difficult when using ordinary email. Hence

  1. in e-mail and in chat.

    PubMed

    Stommel, Wyke; Van Der Houwen, Fleur

    2015-01-01

    In this article, we examine problem presentations in e-mail and chat counseling. Previous studies of online counseling have found that the medium (e.g., chat, email) impacts the unfolding interaction. However, the implications for counseling are unclear. We focus on problem presentations and use conversation analysis to compare 15 chat and 22 e-mail interactions from the same counseling program. We find that in e-mail counseling, counselors open up the interactional space to discuss various issues, whereas in chat, counselors restrict problem presentations and give the client less space to elaborate. We also find that in e-mail counseling, clients use narratives to present their problem and orient to its seriousness and legitimacy, while in chat counseling, they construct problem presentations using a symptom or a diagnosis. Furthermore, in email counseling, clients close their problem presentations stating completeness, while in chat counseling, counselors treat clients’ problem presentations as incomplete. Our findings shed light on how the medium has implications for counseling.

  2. Email Updates

    MedlinePlus

    ... MedlinePlus GO GO About MedlinePlus Site Map FAQs Customer Support Health Topics Drugs & Supplements Videos & Tools Español ... spam" or "junk." About MedlinePlus Site Map FAQs Customer Support Get email updates Subscribe to RSS Follow ...

  3. Prevention of Malicious Nodes Communication in MANETs by Using Authorized Tokens

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Chandrakant, N.; Shenoy, P. Deepa; Venugopal, K. R.; Patnaik, L. M.

    A rapid increase of wireless networks and mobile computing applications has changed the landscape of network security. A MANET is more susceptible to the attacks than wired network. As a result, attacks with malicious intent have been and will be devised to take advantage of these vulnerabilities and to cripple the MANET operation. Hence we need to search for new architecture and mechanisms to protect the wireless networks and mobile computing applications. In this paper, we examine the nodes that come under the vicinity of base node and members of the network and communication is provided to genuine nodes only. It is found that the proposed algorithm is a effective algorithm for security in MANETs.

  4. E-mail, decisional styles, and rest breaks.

    PubMed

    Baker, James R; Phillips, James G

    2007-10-01

    E-mail is a common but problematic work application. A scale was created to measure tendencies to use e-mail to take breaks (e-breaking); and self-esteem and decisional style (vigilance, procrastination, buck-passing, hypervigilance) were used to predict the self-reported and actual e-mail behaviors of 133 participants (students and marketing employees). Individuals who were low in defensive avoidance (buck-passing) engaged in more e-mailing per week, both in time spent on e-mail and message volume. E-breakers were more likely to engage in behavioral procrastination and spent more time on personal e-mail.

  5. Take charge of your e-mail!

    PubMed

    Mehta, Neil B; Atreja, Ashish; Jain, Anil

    2008-08-01

    Although e-mail is supposed to help save time and increase efficiency, for many it has become a burden. You can fight e-mail overload by taking steps to decrease the amount of unwanted e-mail you receive and by managing your in-box in an organized manner.

  6. Email Updates About FASTSim | Transportation Research | NREL

    Science.gov Websites

    Email Updates About FASTSim Email Updates about FASTSim Subscribe Please provide the following information to subscribe for email updates about FASTSim, the Future Automotive Systems Technology Simulator . * indicates required Email Address: * Name (first and last): Organization/Affiliation: Subscribe

  7. Email Updates about ADOPT | Transportation Research | NREL

    Science.gov Websites

    Email Updates about ADOPT Email Updates about ADOPT Subscribe Please provide the following information to subscribe for email updates about ADOPT, the Automotive Deployment Options Projection Tool . * indicates required Email Address: * Name (first and last): Organization/Affiliation Subscribe

  8. Intense or malicious? The decoding of eyebrow-lowering frowning in laughter animations depends on the presentation mode.

    PubMed

    Hofmann, Jennifer

    2014-01-01

    Joyful laughter is the only laughter type that has received sufficient validation in terms of morphology (i.e., face, voice). Still, it is unclear whether joyful laughter involves one prototypical facial-morphological configuration (Duchenne Display and mouth opening) to be decoded as such, or whether qualitatively distinct facial markers occur at different stages of laughter intensity. It was proposed that intense laughter goes along with eyebrow-lowering frowning, but in decoding studies of pictures, these "frowns" were associated with perceived maliciousness rather than higher intensity. Thus, two studies were conducted to investigate the influence of the presentation mode (static, dynamic) and eyebrow-lowering frowning on the perception of laughter animations of different intensity. In Study 1, participants (N = 110) were randomly assigned to two presentation modes (static pictures vs. dynamic videos) to watch animations of Duchenne laughter and laughter with added eyebrow-lowering frowning. Ratings on the intensity, valence, and contagiousness of the laughter were completed. In Study 2, participants (N = 55) saw both animation types in both presentation modes sequentially. Results confirmed that the static presentation lead to eyebrow-lowering frowning in intense laughter being perceived as more malicious, less intense, less benevolent, and less contagious compared to the dynamic presentation. This was replicated for maliciousness in Study 2, although participants could potentially infer the "frown" as a natural element of the laugh, as they had seen the video and the picture. Thus, a dynamic presentation is necessary for detecting graduating intensity markers in the joyfully laughing face. While this study focused on the decoding, future studies should investigate the encoding of frowning in laughter. This is important, as tools assessing facially expressed joy might need to account for laughter intensity markers that differ from the Duchenne Display.

  9. Intense or malicious? The decoding of eyebrow-lowering frowning in laughter animations depends on the presentation mode

    PubMed Central

    Hofmann, Jennifer

    2014-01-01

    Joyful laughter is the only laughter type that has received sufficient validation in terms of morphology (i.e., face, voice). Still, it is unclear whether joyful laughter involves one prototypical facial-morphological configuration (Duchenne Display and mouth opening) to be decoded as such, or whether qualitatively distinct facial markers occur at different stages of laughter intensity. It was proposed that intense laughter goes along with eyebrow-lowering frowning, but in decoding studies of pictures, these “frowns” were associated with perceived maliciousness rather than higher intensity. Thus, two studies were conducted to investigate the influence of the presentation mode (static, dynamic) and eyebrow-lowering frowning on the perception of laughter animations of different intensity. In Study 1, participants (N = 110) were randomly assigned to two presentation modes (static pictures vs. dynamic videos) to watch animations of Duchenne laughter and laughter with added eyebrow-lowering frowning. Ratings on the intensity, valence, and contagiousness of the laughter were completed. In Study 2, participants (N = 55) saw both animation types in both presentation modes sequentially. Results confirmed that the static presentation lead to eyebrow-lowering frowning in intense laughter being perceived as more malicious, less intense, less benevolent, and less contagious compared to the dynamic presentation. This was replicated for maliciousness in Study 2, although participants could potentially infer the “frown” as a natural element of the laugh, as they had seen the video and the picture. Thus, a dynamic presentation is necessary for detecting graduating intensity markers in the joyfully laughing face. While this study focused on the decoding, future studies should investigate the encoding of frowning in laughter. This is important, as tools assessing facially expressed joy might need to account for laughter intensity markers that differ from the Duchenne Display

  10. MedlinePlus Connect: Email List

    MedlinePlus

    ... MedlinePlus Connect → Email List URL of this page: https://medlineplus.gov/connect/emaillist.html MedlinePlus Connect: Email ... will change.) Old URLs New URLs Web Application https://apps.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/services/mpconnect.cfm? ...

  11. The Importance of Etiquette in School Email

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Filippone, Monica; Survinski, Melissa

    2016-01-01

    This article investigates the appropriate use of email among secondary and postsecondary students and instructors and provides recommendations for proper email etiquette. A review of the current literature shows that poor email etiquette can impact the working relationship between teachers and students. Evidence indicates that email etiquette must…

  12. Acceptability of a theory of planned behaviour email-based nutrition intervention.

    PubMed

    Kothe, E J; Mullan, B A

    2014-03-01

    This study investigated feasibility and acceptability of a new email-delivered intervention promoting fruit and vegetable consumption in a university-based population of Australian young adults. The study explored whether there are differences in the reported feasibility and acceptability between demographic groups within the population of interest and at three levels of intervention intensity. The email-delivered intervention program consists of an implementation intention 'planning task' and between 3 and 15 short email messages over a 15-day study period. The intervention program was developed using the Theory of Planned Behaviour and was designed to modify perceived behavioural control. One hundred and ten participants (mean age = 19.21 years, 25.6% male) completed the feasibility and acceptability questionnaire at Day 15. This questionnaire contained items about all intervention components. High acceptability and feasibility scores were found for all intervention parts and at all levels of intervention intensity. There were few significant differences in the reported acceptability of items between key demographic sub-groups, and no differences in reported acceptability at different levels of intervention intensity. These results suggest that this email-delivered intervention is an acceptable and feasible tool for promoting fruit and vegetable consumption for participants in the target population.

  13. Secure E-mailing Between Physicians and Patients

    PubMed Central

    Garrido, Terhilda; Meng, Di; Wang, Jian J.; Palen, Ted E.; Kanter, Michael H.

    2014-01-01

    Secure e-mailing between Kaiser Permanente physicians and patients is widespread; primary care providers receive an average of 5 e-mails from patients each workday. However, on average, secure e-mailing with patients has not substantially impacted primary care provider workloads. Secure e-mail has been associated with increased member retention and improved quality of care. Separate studies associated patient portal and secure e-mail use with both decreased and increased use of other health care services, such as office visits, telephone encounters, emergency department visits, and hospitalizations. Directions for future research include more granular analysis of associations between patient-physician secure e-mail and health care utilization. PMID:24887522

  14. Stalked by E-mail on Vacation

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bugeja, Michael

    2006-01-01

    In this essay, the author describes the difficulties email has introduced to the academic world, from monopolizing faculty's down time to adding a new dimension to interpersonal problems. He discusses the "withdrawal" symptoms he felt when he decided to go without email during a family vacation, and his realization, upon examining the emails sent…

  15. Excel Yourself with Personalised Email Messages

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    McClean, Stephen

    2008-01-01

    Combining the Excel spreadsheet with an email program provides a very powerful tool for sending students personalised emails. Most email clients now support a Mail Merge facility whereby a generic template is created and information unique to each student record in the spreadsheet is filled into that template, generating tens if not hundreds of…

  16. FNAL central email systems

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

    Schmidt, Jack; Lilianstrom, Al; Pasetes, Ray

    2004-10-01

    The FNAL Email System is the primary point of entry for email destined for an employee or user at Fermilab. This centrally supported system is designed for reliability and availability. It uses multiple layers of protection to help ensure that: (1) SPAM messages are tagged properly; (2) All mail is inspected for viruses; and (3) Valid mail gets delivered. This system employs numerous redundant subsystems to accomplish these tasks.

  17. The Use of E-Mail as a Tool To Enhance Second Language Education Programs: An Example from a Core French Classroom.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lawrence, Geoff

    2002-01-01

    Outlines reasons why electronic mail, and specifically e-mail exchanges, are valuable tools for promoting authentic target language interaction in the second language (L2) classroom. Research examining the use of e-mail exchanges on the L2 learning process is outlined, followed by one specific example of an e-mail exchange in a secondary core…

  18. Transparent Proxy for Secure E-Mail

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Michalák, Juraj; Hudec, Ladislav

    2010-05-01

    The paper deals with the security of e-mail messages and e-mail server implementation by means of a transparent SMTP proxy. The security features include encryption and signing of transported messages. The goal is to design and implement a software proxy for secure e-mail including its monitoring, administration, encryption and signing keys administration. In particular, we focus on automatic public key on-the-fly encryption and signing of e-mail messages according to S/MIME standard by means of an embedded computer system whose function can be briefly described as a brouter with transparent SMTP proxy.

  19. Persuasive Email Messages for Patient Communication

    PubMed Central

    Walji, Muhammad; Johnson-Throop, Kathy; Johnson, Todd; Bernstam, Elmer; Zhang, Jiajie

    2005-01-01

    To improve health and reduce costs, we need to encourage patients to make better health care decisions. Since email is widely available, it may be useful for patient-directed interventions. However, we know little about how the contents of an email message can influence a health-related decision. We propose a model to understand how patients may process persuasive email messages. PMID:16779434

  20. E-Mail and Ethical Issues

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bradley, Loretta J.; Hendricks, Bret

    2009-01-01

    The proliferation of the use of e-mail and texting has created some ethical dilemmas for family counselors. Although e-mail can expand and encourage communication, it is not problem free and, in fact, can pose problems. There are issues with privacy, confidentiality, and maintaining an appropriate professional relationship. Family counselors…

  1. Hacked E-mail

    MedlinePlus

    ... Money & Credit Homes & Mortgages Health & Fitness Jobs & Making Money Privacy, Identity & Online Security Limiting Unwanted Calls and Emails Online Security "Free" Security Scans Computer Security Disposing of Old Computers ...

  2. Conversation Threads Hidden within Email Server Logs

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Palus, Sebastian; Kazienko, Przemysław

    Email server logs contain records of all email Exchange through this server. Often we would like to analyze those emails not separately but in conversation thread, especially when we need to analyze social network extracted from those email logs. Unfortunately each mail is in different record and those record are not tided to each other in any obvious way. In this paper method for discussion threads extraction was proposed together with experiments on two different data sets - Enron and WrUT..

  3. New method for assessing risks of email

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Raja, Seyyed H.; Afrooz, Farzad

    2013-03-01

    E-mail technology, has become one of the requirements of human lives for correspondence between individuals. Given this, the important point is that the messages, server and client of e-mail and correspondences that exchanged between different people have acceptable security, to make people sure to use of this technology. In the information age, many of financial and non financial transactions are done electronically, data exchange takes place via the internet and theft and manipulation of data can make exorbitant cost in terms of integrity, financial, political, economic and culture. E-mail correspondence in there is same and it is very important. With review took place, a method that will focus on email system for risks assessment is not provided. We are examining ways of assessing for other systems and their strengths and weaknesses, then we use Mr Convery method for assessing email risks which it is for assessing network risks. At the end of paper we have offered special table for email risk assessment.

  4. Interfacing Email Tutoring: Shaping an Emergent Literate Practice.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Anderson, Dana

    2002-01-01

    Presents a descriptive analysis of 29 online writing lab sites for email tutoring, currently the most popular mode of computer-mediated collaboration. Considers how email tutoring interfaces represent the literate practice of email tutoring, shaping expectations and experiences consistent with its literate aims. Suggests that email tutoring…

  5. Decisional style, mood and work communication: email diaries.

    PubMed

    Shirren, S; Phillips, J G

    2011-10-01

    To understand the use of technology to support interpersonal interaction, a theory of decisional style was applied to email use within the workplace. Previous research has used self-report and rating scales to address employee email behaviours, but this falls short of management's capability to monitor the actual behaviour. Thirty-nine employed individuals completed a five-day communication diary recording their actual behaviour upon receiving personal and work-related emails as well as the Melbourne Decision Making Questionnaire and the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales. It was found that vigilant individuals were more likely to use email in an efficient manner by deleting personal email and being less likely to open email later. Procrastinators, buckpassers and people experiencing high levels of negative affect were all more likely to delay dealing with email, which could be viewed as dealing with email in a less efficient manner. STATEMENT OF RELEVANCE: This work offers insights as to how people receive and process emails and is thus relevant to the development and implementation of collaborative technologies. Whilst other studies use individual's self-reports, this study uses a more accurate communication diary. Decisional style can predict the monitoring and response to electronic communication.

  6. The Traveler's Guide to E-mail Access.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Clyde, Anne

    1999-01-01

    Presents options that travelers can use to keep in e-mail contact. Discusses equipment/access issues related to traveling with a laptop; Internet cafes; free e-mail services; accessing home mail via a Web page; and new options e-mail access for travelers. Includes Internet resources on Internet access providers. (AEF)

  7. Phishing E-Mails--Six Month Investigation into What People Click

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lehrfeld, Michael R.

    2014-01-01

    Phishing and SPAM emails have been used by marketers and hackers alike since the inception of email and the Internet. Phishing messages have become so common that many legitimate emails often get flagged and placed in a user's spam bucket. No one is denying that these messages are at a minimum a nuisance, and in many cases malicious. But what is…

  8. Develop a solution for protecting and securing enterprise networks from malicious attacks

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kamuru, Harshitha; Nijim, Mais

    2014-05-01

    In the world of computer and network security, there are myriad ways to launch an attack, which, from the perspective of a network, can usually be defined as "traffic that has huge malicious intent." Firewall acts as one of the measure in order to secure the device from incoming unauthorized data. There are infinite number of computer attacks that no firewall can prevent, such as those executed locally on the machine by a malicious user. From the network's perspective, there are numerous types of attack. All the attacks that degrade the effectiveness of data can be grouped into two types: brute force and precision. The Firewall that belongs to Juniper has the capability to protect against both types of attack. Denial of Service (DoS) attacks are one of the most well-known network security threats under brute force attacks, which is largely due to the high-profile way in which they can affect networks. Over the years, some of the largest, most respected Internet sites have been effectively taken offline by Denial of Service (DOS) attacks. A DoS attack typically has a singular focus, namely, to cause the services running on a particular host or network to become unavailable. Some DoS attacks exploit vulnerabilities in an operating system and cause it to crash, such as the infamous Win nuke attack. Others submerge a network or device with traffic so that there are no more resources to handle legitimate traffic. Precision attacks typically involve multiple phases and often involves a bit more thought than brute force attacks, all the way from reconnaissance to machine ownership. Before a precision attack is launched, information about the victim needs to be gathered. This information gathering typically takes the form of various types of scans to determine available hosts, networks, and ports. The hosts available on a network can be determined by ping sweeps. The available ports on a machine can be located by port scans. Screens cover a wide variety of attack traffic

  9. E-mail on the Move

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    1999-01-01

    PocketScience, Inc. was a member of the NASA Ames Technology Commercialization Center. Their PocketMail product is an email service that brings email capabilities to new hand-held devices. The PocketMail service uses technology originally developed at JPL. Through its involvement with the ATCC, PocketScience, Inc. was able to use this space probe communications technology and adapt it for advanced signal processing on Earth.

  10. Email for clinical communication between healthcare professionals.

    PubMed

    Pappas, Yannis; Atherton, Helen; Sawmynaden, Prescilla; Car, Josip

    2012-09-12

    Email is a popular and commonly-used method of communication, but its use in healthcare is not routine. Where email communication has been utilised in health care, its purposes have included use for clinical communication between healthcare professionals, but the effects of using email in this way are not known. This review assesses the use of email for two-way clinical communication between healthcare professionals. To assess the effects of healthcare professionals using email to communicate clinical information, on healthcare professional outcomes, patient outcomes, health service performance, and service efficiency and acceptability, when compared to other forms of communicating clinical information. We searched: the Cochrane Consumers and Communication Review Group Specialised Register, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL, The Cochrane Library, Issue 1 2010), MEDLINE (OvidSP) (1950 to January 2010), EMBASE (OvidSP) (1980 to January 2010), PsycINFO (1967 to January 2010), CINAHL (EbscoHOST) (1982 to February 2010), and ERIC (CSA) (1965 to January 2010). We searched grey literature: theses/dissertation repositories, trials registers and Google Scholar (searched July 2010). We used additional search methods: examining reference lists, contacting authors. Randomised controlled trials, quasi-randomised trials, controlled before and after studies and interrupted time series studies examining interventions in which healthcare professionals used email for communicating clinical information, and that took the form of 1) unsecured email 2) secure email or 3) web messaging. All healthcare professionals, patients and caregivers in all settings were considered. Two authors independently assessed studies for inclusion, assessed the included studies' risk of bias, and extracted data. We contacted study authors for additional information. We report all measures as per the study report. We included one randomised controlled trial involving 327 patients and

  11. An Approach for Detecting Malicious Emails Using Runtime Monitoring with Hidden Data

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2016-09-01

    demonstrating that a system meets the user’s true requirements--often called ‘building the right system’” [14]. To select a validation and verification...requirements [18]. For example, we give a generalization of how natural language can be ambiguous. No restaurants will allow smoking inside. Here no...can qualify the rest of the sentence, meaning thereby there is not a restaurant that will allow smoking inside. On the other hand, it can qualify only

  12. Physicians slow to e-mail routinely with patients.

    PubMed

    Boukus, Ellyn R; Grossman, Joy M; O'Malley, Ann S

    2010-10-01

    Some experts view e-mail between physicians and patients as a potential tool to improve physician-patient communication and, ultimately, patient care. Despite indications that many patients want to e-mail their physicians, physician adoption and use of e-mail with patients remains uncommon--only 6.7 percent of office-based physicians routinely e-mailed patients in 2008, according to a new national study from the Center for Studying Health System Change (HSC). Overall, about one-third of office-based physicians reported that information technology (IT) was available in their practice for e-mailing patients about clinical issues. Of those, fewer than one in five reported using e-mail with patients routinely; the remaining physicians were roughly evenly split between occasional users and non-users. Physicians in practices with access to electronic medical records and those working in health maintenance organizations (HMOs) or medical school settings were more likely to adopt and use e-mail to communicate with patients compared with other physicians. However, even among the highest users--physicians in group/staff-model HMOs--only 50.6 percent reported routinely e-mailing patients.

  13. Email for clinical communication between healthcare professionals.

    PubMed

    Goyder, Clare; Atherton, Helen; Car, Mate; Heneghan, Carl J; Car, Josip

    2015-02-20

    Email is one of the most widely used methods of communication, but its use in healthcare is still uncommon. Where email communication has been utilised in health care, its purposes have included clinical communication between healthcare professionals, but the effects of using email in this way are not well known. We updated a 2012 review of the use of email for two-way clinical communication between healthcare professionals. To assess the effects of email for clinical communication between healthcare professionals on healthcare professional outcomes, patient outcomes, health service performance, and service efficiency and acceptability, when compared to other forms of communicating clinical information. We searched: the Cochrane Consumers and Communication Review Group Specialised Register, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL, The Cochrane Library, Issue 9 2013), MEDLINE (OvidSP) (1946 to August 2013), EMBASE (OvidSP) (1974 to August 2013), PsycINFO (1967 to August 2013), CINAHL (EbscoHOST) (1982 to August 2013), and ERIC (CSA) (1965 to January 2010). We searched grey literature: theses/dissertation repositories, trials registers and Google Scholar (searched November 2013). We used additional search methods: examining reference lists and contacting authors. Randomised controlled trials, quasi-randomised trials, controlled before and after studies, and interrupted time series studies examining interventions in which healthcare professionals used email for communicating clinical information in the form of: 1) unsecured email, 2) secure email, or 3) web messaging. All healthcare professionals, patients and caregivers in all settings were considered. Two authors independently assessed studies for inclusion, assessed the included studies' risk of bias, and extracted data. We contacted study authors for additional information and have reported all measures as per the study report. The previous version of this review included one randomised controlled

  14. E-mail in patient–provider communication: A systematic review

    PubMed Central

    Ye, Jiali; Rust, George; Fry-Johnson, Yvonne; Strothers, Harry

    2014-01-01

    Objective To review systematically the role of e-mails in patient–provider communication in terms of e-mail content, and perspectives of providers and patients on e-mail communication in health care. Methods A systematic review of studies on e-mail communication between patients and health providers in regular health care published from 2000 to 2008. Results A total of 24 studies were included in the review. Among these studies, 21 studies examined e-mail communication between patients and providers, and three studies examined the e-mail communication between parents of patients in pediatric primary care and pediatricians. In the content analyses of e-mail messages, topics well represented were medical information exchange, medical condition or update, medication information, and subspecialty evaluation. A number of personal and institutional features were associated with the likelihood of e-mail use between patients and providers. While benefits of e-mails in enhancing communication were recognized by both patients and providers, concerns about confidentiality and security were also expressed. Conclusion The e-mail is transforming the relationship between patients and providers. The rigorous exploration of pros and cons of electronic interaction in health care settings will help make e-mail communication a more powerful, mutually beneficial health care provision tool. Practice implications It is important to develop an electronic communication system for the clinical practice that can address a range of concerns. More efforts need to be made to educate patients and providers to appropriately and effectively use e-mail for communication. PMID:19914022

  15. Group Dynamic Processes in Email Groups

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Alpay, Esat

    2005-01-01

    Discussion is given on the relevance of group dynamic processes in promoting decision-making in email discussion groups. General theories on social facilitation and social loafing are considered in the context of email groups, as well as the applicability of psychodynamic and interaction-based models. It is argued that such theories may indeed…

  16. O How Wondrous Is E-Mail!

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Buchanan, Larry

    1998-01-01

    Addresses the use of e-mail for communication and collaborative projects in schools. Discusses the effectiveness of an e-mail system based on a UNIX host; problems with POP (post office protocol) client programs; and the new Internet Mail Access Protocol (IMAP) which addresses most of the shortcomings of the POP protocol while keeping advantages…

  17. What a difference your e-mail makes: effects of informal e-mail addresses in online résumé screening.

    PubMed

    van Toorenburg, Marlies; Oostrom, Janneke K; Pollet, Thomas V

    2015-03-01

    Résumés are screened rapidly, with some reports stating that recruiters form their impressions within 10 seconds. Certain résumé characteristics can have a significant impact on the snap judgments these recruiters make. The main goal of the present study was to examine the effect of the e-mail address (formal vs. informal) used in a résumé on the hirability perceptions formed by professional recruiters (N=73). In addition, the effect of the e-mail address on hirability perceptions was compared to the effects of spelling errors and typeface. Participants assessed the cognitive ability, personality, and the hirability of six fictitious applicants for the job of an HR specialist. The hirability ratings for the résumés with informal e-mail addresses were significantly lower than the hirability ratings for résumés that featured a formal e-mail address. The effect of e-mail address was as strong as the effect of spelling errors and stronger than that of typeface. The effect of e-mail address on hirability was mediated by perceptions of conscientiousness and honesty-humility. This study among actual recruiters shows for the first time that the choice of the e-mail address used on a résumé might make a real difference.

  18. Senior Citizens Who Use E-Mail

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Stark-Wroblewski, Kimberly; Edelbaum, Jessica K.; Ryan, Joseph J.

    2007-01-01

    Increases in the aging population and use of computer-related technology have spawned research regarding older adults' use of the Internet. This study examined characteristics differentiating rural Midwestern senior citizens (N = 298) who use e-mail from those who do not. Compared to those who did not use e-mail, e-mail-using seniors were younger…

  19. Reaching consumers: How the tobacco industry uses email marketing.

    PubMed

    Brock, Betsy; Carlson, Samantha C; Moilanen, Molly; Schillo, Barbara A

    2016-12-01

    Tobacco companies are restricted from engaging in many traditional forms of marketing. Direct marketing is one way tobacco companies can reach consumers while complying with regulation and avoiding negative public perception. There is little research on this type of opt-in marketing, which includes mail marketing, email marketing, web marketing, and mobile marketing, and its impact is not well understood. This study examined 6990 tobacco company emails received by individuals living in the state of Minnesota, US between January 2010 and May 2015 to determine email frequency by brand. These emails were gathered as part of ongoing surveillance of tobacco industry direct marketing. A subset of these emails received between October 2014 and May 2015 (n = 1646) were content analyzed to identify the purpose of the email communication along with type of product promoted. Tobacco companies use email to communicate with consumers on a regular basis. This communication was observed to be as frequent as nine times per month. Emails are most commonly used to promote contests (54.1%), content on tobacco company websites (39.1%), and tobacco coupons (15.7%). Email promotion of menthol-flavored tobacco products was common and was associated with promotion of coupons. Emails promoting menthol had a 1.9 times higher prevalence of also promoting coupons (95% CI: 1.52-2.37). Little is known about tobacco company email marketing and this study fills an identified research gap. A deeper understanding of this type of marketing is needed in order to counter tobacco industry messaging and advance tobacco control.

  20. Using Email to Improve Parental Involvement in Middle School

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Radin, Benjamin Theodore

    2013-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to test the relationship between the type of school-to-home communication (regularly sent, structured emails versus ad hoc emails), the originator of these emails (teacher or student), and Parental Involvement (PI) as measured according to the frequency of email contact and distribution of student and parent emails…

  1. Data Leakage Prevention: E-Mail Protection via Gateway

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kaur, Kamaljeet; Gupta, Ishu; Singh, Ashutosh Kumar

    2018-01-01

    Protection of digital assets and intellectual property is becoming a challenge for most of the companies. Due to increasing availability of database services on internet, data may be insecure after passing through precarious networks. To protect intellectual property (IP) is a major concern for today's organizations, because a leakage that compromises IP means, sensitive information of a company is in the hands of biggest competitors. Electronic information processing and communication is replacing paper in many applications increasingly. Instead of paper, an email is being used for communication at workplace and from social media logins to bank accounts. Nowadays an email is becoming a mainstream business tool. An email can be misused to leave company’s sensitive data open to compromise. So, it may be of little surprise that attacks on emails are common. So, here we need an email protection system (EPS) that will protect information to leave organization via mail. In this paper, we developed an algorithm that will offer email protection via gateway during data transfer. This algorithm matches the patterns with the keywords stored in the database and then takes the actions accordingly to protect the data. This paper describes why email protection is important? How companies can protect their confidential information from being leaked by insiders.

  2. Teaching Email Politeness in the EFL/ESL Classroom

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Economidou-Kogetsidis, Maria

    2015-01-01

    Writing status-congruent emails is a skill that requires high pragmatic competence and awareness of the politeness conventions and email etiquette that need to be followed. Planning and composing such emails pose a greater challenge for EFL learners who use English in "lingua franca" communication (ELF), as they not only often struggle…

  3. Prevent Spam Filters from Blocking Legitimate E-Mail

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Goldsborough, Reid

    2004-01-01

    There's no question about it: Spam is a scourge. This ever-increasing torrent of unsolicited commercial mass e-mail saps productivity and, for some, threatens the very viability of e-mail. The battle against spam, unfortunately, is creating problems of its own, with people sometimes unable to send legitimate e-mail and other times unable to…

  4. Solar Market Research and Analysis Email Updates | Solar Research | NREL

    Science.gov Websites

    Analysis Email Updates Solar Market Research and Analysis Email Updates NREL's Solar Market email updates, please provide and submit the following information. Email Address

  5. Digital Authentication for Official Bulk Email

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2009-03-01

    39 A. S/MIME SIGNED BY COMMON ACCESS CARD VS THAWTE FREE EMAIL .............................................39 1...such as Thawte and Verisign) are formatted. This inconsistency, combined with an implementation error present in some mail user agents, prevents CAC...This was a non-standard usage adopted by venders in the early days of S/MIME. Verisign and Thawte put the email address in both the RFC 822 Name

  6. The Educational Impact of E-Mail: Extraverted versus Introverted Students.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kunderewicz, Larisa; Michener, Stacey; Chambliss, Catherine

    College students (N=151) completed surveys assessing the relationship between e-mail use and extraversion. The variables studied included time spent on e-mail; the frequency of e-mail usage; and the purposes e-mail served for each student. The results suggest that extraverts use e-mail as a form of procrastination more than introverts, and that…

  7. Impact of predictive scoring model and e-mail messages on African American blood donors.

    PubMed

    Bachegowda, Lohith S; Timm, Brad; Dasgupta, Pinaki; Hillyer, Christopher D; Kessler, Debra; Rebosa, Mark; France, Christopher R; Shaz, Beth H

    2017-06-01

    Expanding the African American (AA) donor pool is critical to sustain transfusion support for sickle cell disease patients. The aims were to: 1) apply cognitive computing on donation related metrics to develop a predictive model that effectively identifies repeat AA donors, 2) determine whether a single e-mail communication could improve AA donor retention and compare retention results on higher versus lower predictive score donors, and 3) evaluate the effect of e-mail marketing on AA donor retention with culturally versus nonculturally tailored message. Between 2011 and 2012, 30,786 AA donors donated blood at least once on whom predictive repeat donor scores (PRDSs) was generated from donor-related metrics (frequency of donations, duration between donations, age, blood type, and sex). In 2013, 28% (8657/30,786) of 2011 to 2012 donors returned to donate on whom PRDS was validated. Returning blood donors had a higher mean PRDS compared to nonreturning donors (0.649 vs. 0.268; p < 0.001). In the e-mail pilot, high PRDS (≥0.6) compared to low PRDS (<0.6) was associated with 89% higher donor presentation rate (p < 0.001), 20% higher e-mail opening rate (p < 0.001), and, specifically among those who opened the e-mail, 159% higher presentation rate (p < 0.001). Finally, blood donation rate did not differ (p = 0.79) as a function of generic (n = 9312, 1.4%) versus culturally tailored (n = 9326, 1.3%) message. Computational algorithms utilizing readily available donor metrics can identify highly committed AA donors and in conjunction with targeted e-mail communication has the potential to increase the efficiency of donor marketing. © 2017 AABB.

  8. The impact of e-mail in acquiring and retaining whole-blood donors: a comparative analysis of the Puget Sound Blood Center donor e-mail communication program.

    PubMed

    Geyer, Maria Elena

    2005-12-01

    With the emergence of e-mail as a common form of communication, it is important to understand the role and impact e-mail can have on acquiring and retaining whole-blood donors. Whole-blood donors who opted in to receive e-mail communications (n = 43,232) from the Puget Sound Blood Center (PSBC) and as a result participated in one or more of five e-mail marketing campaigns between July 2002 and March 2003 were studied. New donors with e-mail addresses grew by 74 percent over the measurement period compared with 2 percent growth of those without e-mail addresses. Nearly 15,000 prospective donors were reached as a result of donors passing along e-mails they received from PSBC to friends and family. Nearly 5 percent of PSBC e-mail campaign recipients registered to donate online. PSBC e-mail campaigns have outperformed e-mail marketing industry mean open rates by 44 percent and click-through rates by 36 percent. E-mail is now a mainstream communication medium. It has proven to be an effective method of reaching new donors and generating new donation registrations. Donors respond more favorably to e-mail communications from PSBC compared with e-mail they receive from other organizations. Deeper understanding of how different segments of blood donors use e-mail may help blood centers adjust their donor acquisition and retention programs. New recruitment methods are needed to grow the overall donor base, and e-mail appears to have the potential to make a significant contribution to meeting this objective.

  9. Email medication counseling services provided by Finnish community pharmacies.

    PubMed

    Pohjanoksa-Mäntylä, Marika K; Kulovaara, Heidi; Bell, J Simon; Enäkoski, Marianne; Airaksinen, Marja S

    2008-12-01

    The importance of email as a mode of communication between medication users and pharmacists is likely to increase. However, little is known about the email medication counseling practices of community pharmacies. To determine the prevalence of email medication counseling services in Finland and to assess the accuracy and comprehensiveness of responses by pharmacies providing the opportunity for email medication counseling to inquiries related to use of antidepressants. An inventory was made of all Finnish community pharmacies that provided the opportunity for email medication counseling. Data related to the accuracy and comprehensiveness of responses were collected, using a virtual pseudo-customer method with 3 scenarios related to common concerns of patients on antidepressants. Two inquiries were emailed to each pharmacy that provided the opportunity for email medication counseling in January and February 2005. The responses were content analyzed by 2 researchers, using a prestructured scoring system. Almost one-third (30%, n = 182) of Finnish community pharmacies maintained a working Web site, and 94% of those provided the opportunity for email medication counseling. An online "ask-the-pharmacist" service was offered by 13% (n = 23) of the pharmacies with a Web site. Pharmacies responded to 54% of the email inquiries sent by the virtual pseudo-customers. The response rate and the content score ratio between mean and maximum scores varied among the scenarios. The content score ratio was highest for the scenarios concerning the adverse effects of fluoxetine (0.53, n = 55) and interactions with mirtazapine (0.52, n = 63) and lowest for the scenario related to sexual dysfunction and weight gain associated with citalopram (0.38, n = 52). Community pharmacies are potential providers of email medication counseling services. However, more attention should be directed to responding to consumer inquiries and to the content of these responses.

  10. State and Local Governments Email Updates | State, Local, and Tribal

    Science.gov Websites

    Governments | NREL Local Governments Email Updates State and Local Governments Email Updates : NREL does not share its email lists with other organizations or companies. Subscribe To subscribe for email updates, please provide and submit the following information. * indicates required Full Name

  11. Advantages and Disadvantages of Educational Email Alerts for Family Physicians: Viewpoint

    PubMed Central

    Badran, Hani; Grad, Roland

    2015-01-01

    Background Electronic knowledge resources constitute an important channel for accredited Continuing Medical Education (CME) activities. However, email usage for educational purposes is controversial. On the one hand, family physicians become aware of new information, confirm what they already know, and obtain reassurance by reading educational email alerts. Email alerts can also encourage physicians to search Web-based resources. On the other hand, technical difficulties and privacy issues are common obstacles. Objective The purpose of this discussion paper, informed by a literature review and a small qualitative study, was to understand family physicians’ knowledge, attitudes, and behavior in regard to email in general and educational emails in particular, and to explore the advantages and disadvantages of educational email alerts. In addition, we documented participants’ suggestions to improve email alert services for CME. Methods We conducted a qualitative descriptive study using the “Knowledge, Attitude, Behavior” model. We conducted semi-structured face-to-face interviews with 15 family physicians. We analyzed the collected data using inductive-deductive thematic qualitative data analysis. Results All 15 participants scanned and prioritized their email, and 13 of them checked their email daily. Participants mentioned (1) advantages of educational email alerts such as saving time, convenience and valid information, and (2) disadvantages such as an overwhelming number of emails and irrelevance. They offered suggestions to improve educational email. Conclusions The advantages of email alerts seem to compensate for their disadvantages. Suggestions proposed by family physicians can help to improve educational email alerts. PMID:25803184

  12. Advantages and disadvantages of educational email alerts for family physicians: viewpoint.

    PubMed

    Badran, Hani; Pluye, Pierre; Grad, Roland

    2015-02-27

    Electronic knowledge resources constitute an important channel for accredited Continuing Medical Education (CME) activities. However, email usage for educational purposes is controversial. On the one hand, family physicians become aware of new information, confirm what they already know, and obtain reassurance by reading educational email alerts. Email alerts can also encourage physicians to search Web-based resources. On the other hand, technical difficulties and privacy issues are common obstacles. The purpose of this discussion paper, informed by a literature review and a small qualitative study, was to understand family physicians' knowledge, attitudes, and behavior in regard to email in general and educational emails in particular, and to explore the advantages and disadvantages of educational email alerts. In addition, we documented participants' suggestions to improve email alert services for CME. We conducted a qualitative descriptive study using the "Knowledge, Attitude, Behavior" model. We conducted semi-structured face-to-face interviews with 15 family physicians. We analyzed the collected data using inductive-deductive thematic qualitative data analysis. All 15 participants scanned and prioritized their email, and 13 of them checked their email daily. Participants mentioned (1) advantages of educational email alerts such as saving time, convenience and valid information, and (2) disadvantages such as an overwhelming number of emails and irrelevance. They offered suggestions to improve educational email. The advantages of email alerts seem to compensate for their disadvantages. Suggestions proposed by family physicians can help to improve educational email alerts.

  13. Embedded Business Emails: Meeting New Demands in International Business Communication

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Gimenez, Julio

    2006-01-01

    The last decade has witnessed increasing interest in email communication. Research in this area has focused on stylistic conventions, the role of email in the communication patterns of a company and the link between emails and corporate culture. Most of the studies so far published have concentrated on simple, one-way emails. However, evidence…

  14. Using Mobile-Based Email for English Foreign Language Learners

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Alzu'bi, Mohammad Akram mohammad; Sabha, Muhannad Rushdi Nimer

    2013-01-01

    This study aimed at investigating the role of Mobile-based Email in improving Ajloun College English Students' Achievement. It attempts to answer the following questions: What is the potential contribution of mobile-based email exchanged to writing skills? What is the potential contribution of mobile-based email exchanged to vocabulary…

  15. You've Got Mail!: Understanding How E-Mail Works

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Roman, Harry T.

    2007-01-01

    Conceptually, e-mail is not a whole lot different from regular postal mail ("snail mail"), except that it is much faster. E-mail requires three things: (1) a personal computer; (2) a telephone or communication line; and (3) an Internet provider (e-mail service account). This article provides details on how it works--plus some research activities…

  16. A transmission security framework for email-based telemedicine.

    PubMed

    Caffery, Liam J; Smith, Anthony C

    2010-01-01

    Encryption is used to convert an email message to an unreadable format thereby securing patient privacy during the transmission of the message across the Internet. Two available means of encryption are: public key infrastructure (PKI) used in conjunction with ordinary email and secure hypertext transfer protocol (HTTPS) used by secure web-mail applications. Both of these approaches have advantages and disadvantages in terms of viability, cost, usability and compliance. The aim of this study was develop an instrument to identify the most appropriate means of encrypting email communication for telemedicine. A multi-method approach was used to construct the instrument. Technical assessment and existing bodies of knowledge regarding the utility of PKI were analyzed, along with survey results from users of Queensland Health's Child and Youth Mental Health Service secure web-mail service. The resultant decision support model identified that the following conditions affect the choice of encryption technology: correspondent's risk perception, correspondent's identification to the security afforded by encryption, email-client used by correspondents, the tolerance to human error and the availability of technical resources. A decision support model is presented as a flow chart to identify the most appropriate encryption for a specific email-based telemedicine service.

  17. The Security Email Based on Smart Card

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Lina, Zhang; Jiang, Meng Hai.

    Email has become one of the most important communication tools in modern internet society, and its security is an important issue that can't be ignored. The security requirements of Email can be summarized as confidentiality, integrity, authentication and non-repudiation. Recently many researches on IBE (identify based encrypt) have been carried out to solve these security problems. However, because of IBE's fatal flaws and great advantages of PKI (Public Key Infrastructure), PKI is found to be still irreplaceable especially in the applications based on smart card. In this paper, a construction of security Email is presented, then the design of relatively cryptography algorithms and the configuration of certificates are elaborated, and finally the security for the proposed system is discussed.

  18. Therapeutic emails

    PubMed Central

    Alemi, Farrokh; Haack, Mary R; Nemes, Susanna; Aughburns, Renita; Sinkule, Jennifer; Neuhauser, Duncan

    2007-01-01

    Background In this paper, we show how counselors and psychologists can use emails for online management of substance abusers, including the anatomy and content of emails that clinicians should send substance abusers. Some investigators have attempted to determine if providing mental health services online is an efficacious delivery of treatment. The question of efficacy is an empirical issue that cannot be settled unless we are explicitly clear about the content and nature of online treatment. We believe that it is not the communications via internet that matters, but the content of these communications. The purpose of this paper is to provide the content of our online counseling services so others can duplicate the work and investigate its efficacy. Results We have managed nearly 300 clients online for recovery from substance abuse. Treatment included individual counseling (motivational interviewing, cognitive-behavior therapy, relapse prevention assignments), participation in an electronic support group and the development of a recovery team. Our findings of success with these interventions are reported elsewhere. Our experience has led to development of a protocol of care that is described more fully in this paper. This protocol is based on stages of change and relapse prevention theories and follows a Motivational Interviewing method of counseling. Conclusion The use of electronic media in providing mental health treatment remains controversial due to concerns about confidentiality, security and legal considerations. More research is needed to validate and generalize the use of online treatment for mental health problems. If researchers have to build on each others work, it is paramount that we share our protocols of care, as we have done in this paper. PMID:17302991

  19. Modeling Personalized Email Prioritization: Classification-based and Regression-based Approaches

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

    Yoo S.; Yang, Y.; Carbonell, J.

    2011-10-24

    Email overload, even after spam filtering, presents a serious productivity challenge for busy professionals and executives. One solution is automated prioritization of incoming emails to ensure the most important are read and processed quickly, while others are processed later as/if time permits in declining priority levels. This paper presents a study of machine learning approaches to email prioritization into discrete levels, comparing ordinal regression versus classier cascades. Given the ordinal nature of discrete email priority levels, SVM ordinal regression would be expected to perform well, but surprisingly a cascade of SVM classifiers significantly outperforms ordinal regression for email prioritization. Inmore » contrast, SVM regression performs well -- better than classifiers -- on selected UCI data sets. This unexpected performance inversion is analyzed and results are presented, providing core functionality for email prioritization systems.« less

  20. Internet and Email Use Among STD Clinic Patients

    PubMed Central

    Mark, Karen E.; Wald, Anna; Drolette, Linda; Golden, Matthew R.

    2009-01-01

    Background Little data exist on Internet and email use among STD clinic patients for research and clinical care communication. Methods An anonymous cross-sectional survey of STD clinic patients aged ≥ 18 years in Seattle, Washington, March 13–22, 2006. Results Of 489 study period patients, 251 (51%) completed the questionnaire. Participants had a median age of 30 (range 18–66) years and were 69% male, 56% White, 19% African-American, 9% Hispanic, and 7% Asian/Pacific Islander. 75% had some post-secondary education but half reported an annual income of email that they check at least 3 times a week, and 144 (57%) were willing to receive an email reminding them to come back for a follow-up appointment if diagnosed with an STD. MSM were more likely than women and heterosexual men to be regular Internet and email users (92% versus 70%, p = 0.001) and to have met a sex partner over the Internet during the past year (69% versus 11%, p < 0.001). Higher educational level and income, but not age or gender, were also associated with Internet and email use, as was racial/ethnic background (86% of Whites, 48% of African-Americans, 73% of Hispanics, 100% of Asians/Pacific Islanders, and 57% of others, p < 0.001). Conclusions Internet and email use are common and acceptable to many STD clinic patients for research and clinical purposes. PMID:18685548

  1. Hooked on E-Mail

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Espinoza, Kathy

    2011-01-01

    Information overload, and an expectation that e-mails, tweets, and text messages will be answered immediately, impact productivity. The younger, information-addicted workers have a greater capacity to process this open floodgate of information, as well as a better ability to multitask. Research suggests that there is a marked drop in worker…

  2. Social Email: A Framework and Application for More Socially-Aware Communications

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Tran, Thomas; Rowe, Jeff; Wu, S. Felix

    As online social networks (OSN) attempt to mimic real life social networks, we have made progress towards using OSNs to provide us with data to allow for richer and more robust online communications. In this paper, we present a novel approach towards socially-aware email. Currently, email provides too little control to the recipient. Our approach, dubbed SoEmail, provides social context to messages using an OSN's underlying social graph. This not only gives the recipient control over who can message her, but it also provides her with an understanding of where the message originated from, socially. Furthermore, users who do not wish to use the built-in social aspect of SoEmail, can send and receive emails without any changes to their behavior. The modifications we made to the email application to provide this social context are not invasive and can be easily ignored by any existing email client. We built SoEmail on top of an existing framework, known as Davis Social Links, which allows SoEmail to be completely agnostic about the underlying OSN. We created a web-based, standards-based web client for SoEmail using Facebook and Gmail as the underlying systems which has been released for public use and has had a good adoption rate.

  3. The impacts of email reminder/recall on adolescent influenza vaccination.

    PubMed

    Dombkowski, Kevin J; Cowan, Anne E; Reeves, Sarah L; Foley, Matthew R; Dempsey, Amanda F

    2017-05-25

    We sought to: (1) explore the feasibility of using email for seasonal influenza vaccination reminders to parents of adolescents and (2) assess influenza vaccination rates among adolescents whose parents were randomized to either receive or not receive email reminders. Email addresses were obtained for parents of patients 10-18years from 4 practices in Michigan. Addresses were randomized to either receive email reminders, or not. Reminder messages were sent during October 2012-March 2013 (Season 1) and October 2013-March 2014 (Season 2). Vaccination status was determined 60days following the last email reminder for each season using the statewide Michigan Care Improvement Registry (MCIR); per protocol bivariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were conducted to evaluate reminder notification. After email cleaning, testing, and matching with MCIR, approximately half of email addresses (2348 of 5312 in Season 1; 3457 of 6549 in Season 2) were randomized. Bivariate analyses found that influenza vaccination within 60days after notification date was similar among those notified (34%) versus not notified (29%) in both Season 1 (p=0.06) and Season 2 (39% vs. 37%, p=0.20). However, multivariate models adjusted for season, site, and receipt of notification in two seasons found a higher likelihood of influenza vaccination among children that received notification (aOR=1.28, 95% CI=1.09, 1.51); in addition, differences in influenza vaccination were also observed between practice sites (range: p=0.15 to p<0.001). We found that practice-based email influenza vaccine reminders to parents of adolescents are feasible, but not without complications. Our study demonstrates that email reminders from practices can yield increases in influenza vaccination rates among adolescents. Practices should consider email as an option for influenza reminders and establish business practices for collecting and maintaining patient email addresses. This study is registered at www

  4. Assessment of email communication skills of rheumatology fellows: a pilot study

    PubMed Central

    Dhuper, Sonal; Siva, Chokkalingam; Fresen, John L; Petruc, Marius; Velázquez, Celso R

    2010-01-01

    Physician–patient email communication is gaining popularity. However, a formal assessment of physicians' email communication skills has not been described. We hypothesized that the email communication skills of rheumatology fellows can be measured in an objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) setting using a novel email content analysis instrument which has 18 items. During an OSCE, we asked 50 rheumatology fellows to respond to a simulated patient email. The content of the responses was assessed using our instrument. The majority of rheumatology fellows wrote appropriate responses scoring a mean (±SD) of 10.6 (±2.6) points (maximum score 18), with high inter-rater reliability (0.86). Most fellows were concise (74%) and courteous (68%) but not formal (22%). Ninety-two percent of fellows acknowledged that the patient's condition required urgent medical attention, but only 30% took active measures to contact the patient. No one encrypted their messages. The objective assessment of email communication skills is possible using simulated emails in an OSCE setting. The variable email communication scores and incidental patient safety gaps identified, suggest a need for further training and defined proficiency standards for physicians' email communication skills. PMID:20962134

  5. Professional e-mail communication among health care providers: proposing evidence-based guidelines.

    PubMed

    Malka, S Terez; Kessler, Chad S; Abraham, John; Emmet, Thomas W; Wilbur, Lee

    2015-01-01

    E-mail is now a primary method of correspondence in health care, and proficiency with professional e-mail use is a vital skill for physicians. Fundamentals of e-mail courtesy can be derived from lay literature, but there is a dearth of scientific literature that addresses the use of e-mail between physicians. E-mail communication between providers is generally more familiar and casual than other professional interactions, which can promote unprofessional behavior or misunderstanding. Not only e-mail content but also wording, format, and tone may influence clinical recommendations and perceptions of the e-mail sender. In addition, there are serious legal and ethical implications when unprofessional or unsecured e-mails related to patient-identifying information are exchanged or included within an electronic medical record. The authors believe that the appropriate use of e-mail is a vital skill for physicians, with serious legal and ethical ramifications and the potential to affect professional development and patient care. In this article, the authors analyze a comprehensive literature search, explore several facets of e-mail use between physicians, and offer specific recommendations for professional e-mail use.

  6. Doctors Who Are Using E-mail With Their Patients: a Qualitative Exploration

    PubMed Central

    Patt, Madhavi R; Jenckes, Mollie W; Sands, Daniel Z; Ford, Daniel E

    2003-01-01

    Background Despite the potential for rapid, asynchronous, documentable communication, the use of e-mail for physician-patient communication has not been widely adopted. Objective To survey physicians currently using e-mail with their patients daily to understand their experiences. Methods In-depth phone interviews of 45 physicians currently using e-mail with patients were audio taped and transcribed verbatim. Two investigators independently qualitatively coded comments. Differences were adjudicated by group consensus. Results Almost all of the 642 comments from these physicians who currently use e-mail with patients daily could be grouped into 1 of 4 broad domains: (1) e-mail access and content, (2) effects of e-mail on the doctor-patient relationship, (3) managing clinical issues by e-mail, and (4) integrating e-mail into office processes. The most consistent theme was that e-mail communication enhances chronic-disease management. Many physicians also reported improved continuity of care and increased flexibility in responding to nonurgent issues. Integration of e-mail into daily workflow, such as utilization of office personnel, appears to be a significant area of concern for many of the physicians. For other issues, such as content, efficiency of e-mail, and confidentiality, there were diverging experiences and opinions. Physicians appear to be selective in choosing which patients they will communicate with via e-mail, but the criteria for selection is unclear. Conclusions These physician respondents did perceive benefits to e-mail with a select group of patients. Several areas, such as identifying clinical situations where e-mail communication is effective, incorporating e-mail into office flow, and being reimbursed for online medical care/communication, need to be addressed before this mode of communication diffuses into most practices. PMID:12857665

  7. Electronic Identities: The Strategic Use of Email for Impression Management.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kersten, Larry; Phillips, Stephen R.

    Traditionally, e-mail (electronic mail) has been seen as an efficient communications medium for the transmission of simple, routine, unambiguous messages. More recent research has argued that the simple, efficient view of e-mail is incomplete. Future research should be extended into the strategic and symbolic functions of email, such as the use of…

  8. E-mail: Boon or Bane for School Leaders?

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Glendinning, Matt

    2006-01-01

    This article, by a principal who received over 17,000 e-mails in his first year on the job, explores ways in which email is reshaping education leadership. The main assets of e-mail--swift and efficient communication, more informed decision making through improved consultation with stakeholders, and automatic archiving of correspondence--come at a…

  9. Pitfalls in computer housekeeping by doctors and nurses in KwaZulu-Natal: no malicious intent.

    PubMed

    Jack, Caron; Singh, Yashik; Mars, Maurice

    2013-01-01

    Information and communication technologies are becoming an integral part of medical practice, research and administration and their use will grow as telemedicine and electronic medical record use become part of routine practice. Security in maintaining patient data is important and there is a statuary obligation to do so, but few health professionals have been trained on how to achieve this. There is no information on the use of computers and email by doctors and nurses in South Africa in the workplace and at home, and whether their current computer practices meets legal and ethical requirements. The aims of this study were to determine the use of computers by healthcare practitioners in the workplace and home; the use and approach to data storage, encryption and security of patient data and patient email; and the use of informed consent to transmit data by email. A self-administered questionnaire was administered to 400 health care providers from the state and private health care sectors. The questionnaire covered computer use in the workplace and at home, sharing of computers, data encryption and storage, email use, encryption of emails and storage, and the use of informed consent for email communication. 193 doctors and 207 nurses in the private and public sectors completed the questionnaire. Forty (10%) of participants do not use a computer. A third of health professionals were the only users of computers at work or at home. One hundred and ninety-eight respondents (55%) did not know if the data on the computers were encrypted, 132 (36.7%) knew that the data were not encrypted and 30 (8.3%) individuals knew that the data on the computers they were using were encrypted. Few doctors, 58 (16%), received emails from patients, with doctors more likely to receive emails from patients than nurses (p = 0.0025). Thirty-one percent of individuals did not respond to the emails. Emails were saved by 40 (69%) recipients but only 5 (12.5%) doctors encrypted the messages, 19

  10. Email for clinical communication between patients/caregivers and healthcare professionals.

    PubMed

    Atherton, Helen; Sawmynaden, Prescilla; Sheikh, Aziz; Majeed, Azeem; Car, Josip

    2012-11-14

    Email is a popular and commonly-used method of communication, but its use in health care is not routine. Where email communication has been demonstrated in health care this has included its use for communication between patients/caregivers and healthcare professionals for clinical purposes, but the effects of using email in this way is not known.This review addresses the use of email for two-way clinical communication between patients/caregivers and healthcare professionals. To assess the effects of healthcare professionals and patients using email to communicate with each other, on patient outcomes, health service performance, service efficiency and acceptability. We searched: the Cochrane Consumers and Communication Review Group Specialised Register, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL, The Cochrane Library, Issue 1 2010), MEDLINE (OvidSP) (1950 to January 2010), EMBASE (OvidSP) (1980 to January 2010), PsycINFO (OvidSP) (1967 to January 2010), CINAHL (EbscoHOST) (1982 to February 2010) and ERIC (CSA) (1965 to January 2010). We searched grey literature: theses/dissertation repositories, trials registers and Google Scholar (searched July 2010). We used additional search methods: examining reference lists, contacting authors. Randomised controlled trials, quasi-randomised trials, controlled before and after studies and interrupted time series studies examining interventions using email to allow patients to communicate clinical concerns to a healthcare professional and receive a reply, and taking the form of 1) unsecured email 2) secure email or 3) web messaging. All healthcare professionals, patients and caregivers in all settings were considered. Two authors independently assessed the risk of bias of included studies and extracted data. We contacted study authors for additional information. We assessed risk of bias according to the Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions. For continuous measures, we report effect sizes as mean

  11. E-Mail at Work: Is it Really Private?

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Rosenblum, Cindy

    This paper examines the controversy of e-mail privacy in the workplace. Once an employee uses an e-mail system that belongs to the employer, according to recent case law, their privacy rights are forfeited. Employers will now have to start creating policies to safeguard themselves from expensive litigation, and employees will have to be more…

  12. Email for the coordination of healthcare appointments and attendance reminders.

    PubMed

    Atherton, Helen; Sawmynaden, Prescilla; Meyer, Barbara; Car, Josip

    2012-08-15

    Email is a popular and commonly-used method of communication, but its use in health care is not routine. Where email communication has been utilised in health care, its purposes have included the coordination of healthcare appointments and attendance reminders, but the effects of using email in this way are not known. This review considers the use of email for the coordination of healthcare appointments and reminders for attendance; particularly scheduling, rescheduling and cancelling healthcare appointments, and providing prompts/reminders for attendance at appointments. To assess the effects of using email for the coordination of healthcare appointments and attendance reminders, compared to other forms of coordinating appointments and reminders, on outcomes for health professionals, patients and carers, and health services, including harms. We searched: the Cochrane Consumers and Communication Review Group Specialised Register, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL, The Cochrane Library, Issue 1 2010), MEDLINE (OvidSP) (1950 to January 2010), EMBASE (OvidSP) (1980 to January 2010), PsycINFO (OvidSP) (1967 to January 2010), CINAHL (EbscoHOST) (1982 to February 2010),and ERIC (CSA) (1965 to January 2010). We searched grey literature: theses/dissertation repositories, trials registers and Google Scholar (searched July 2010). We used additional search methods: examining reference lists and contacting authors. Randomised controlled trials, quasi-randomised trials, controlled before and after studies and interrupted time series studies of interventions that use email for scheduling health appointments, for reminders for a scheduled health appointment or for ongoing coordination of health appointments and that took the form of 1) unsecured email 2) secure email or 3) web messaging. All healthcare professionals, patients and caregivers in all settings were considered. Two review authors independently assessed the titles and abstracts of retrieved

  13. E-mail security. An overview of threats and safeguards.

    PubMed

    Stine, Kevin; Scholl, Matthew

    2010-04-01

    Not everyone in the organization needs to know how to secure the e-mail service, but anyone who handles patient information must understand e-mail's vulnerabilities and recognize when a system is secure enough to transmit sensitive information.

  14. E-mail communication in the management of gastroenterology patients: A review

    PubMed Central

    Plener, Ian; Hayward, Andrew; Saibil, Fred

    2014-01-01

    E-mail correspondence between physicians and patients can be a useful tool to improve communication efficiency, provide economic and ecological benefits, improve therapeutic interventions and adherence, and enhance self-management. The model of self-management in chronic disease has become an integral component of North American and British medicine. From a practical standpoint, the use of e-mail between physicians and patients can complement the self-management model. E-mail communication has many benefits from both patient and physician perspectives. E-mail contact reduces the inefficiencies associated with telecommunications. Physicians are able to better document out-of-office patient encounters and provide access to specialist care for patients in remote locations. This use of e-mail has the potential to increase patient safety through physician approval of self-manager actions, including earlier initiation of needed treatments. Fewer clinic visits afford additional time for new consultations and sicker patients, reducing the overall burden on referral and wait times. The present article reviews some of the literature regarding physician-patient e-mail communication in the general ambulatory setting, in the context of chronic disease and with a specific focus on inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). The authors provide a framework for the use of e-mail communication in the IBD population, with emphasis on the concept of e-mail use. Also illustrated are the benefits and disadvantages, and examples of the e-mail contract as proposed by the Canadian Medical Protective Association. Examples of specific e-mail communication topics are provided for several IBD scenarios. Potential negative consequences of this mode of communication are also discussed. PMID:24619639

  15. Semantic Analysis of Email Using Domain Ontologies and WordNet

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Berrios, Daniel C.; Keller, Richard M.

    2005-01-01

    The problem of capturing and accessing knowledge in paper form has been supplanted by a problem of providing structure to vast amounts of electronic information. Systems that can construct semantic links for natural language documents like email messages automatically will be a crucial element of semantic email tools. We have designed an information extraction process that can leverage the knowledge already contained in an existing semantic web, recognizing references in email to existing nodes in a network of ontology instances by using linguistic knowledge and knowledge of the structure of the semantic web. We developed a heuristic score that uses several forms of evidence to detect references in email to existing nodes in the Semanticorganizer repository's network. While these scores cannot directly support automated probabilistic inference, they can be used to rank nodes by relevance and link those deemed most relevant to email messages.

  16. Measuring Future Worker Productivity via Business Email Message Creation: Implications for Education

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hagler, Barbara E.; Erthal, Margaret; Walzer, Dona; Anderson, Marcia A.

    2009-01-01

    Objective: This research was conducted to determine if relationships exist among college students' business email message productivity score and (a) email message quality score, (b) text keying method used to create email message, and (c) self-reported college English grade. Background: Email is increasingly the communication channel preferred for…

  17. Evaluation of a social cognitive theory-based email intervention designed to influence the physical activity of survivors of breast cancer.

    PubMed

    Hatchett, Andrew; Hallam, Jeffrey S; Ford, M Allison

    2013-04-01

    The aim of this study is to evaluate a 12-week social cognitive theory (SCT)-based email intervention designed to influence the physical activity of survivors of breast cancer. Seventy-four volunteers (intervention group, n = 36; control group, n = 38) were recruited by mass email and written letter solicitation. Participants completed a series of online questionnaires measuring demographic characteristics, physical activity readiness, level of physical activity and selected SCT variables at baseline, 6 and 12 weeks. The intervention group received email messages based on SCT designed specifically for breast cancer survivors and targeting physical activity. For the first 6 weeks of the intervention, participants assigned to the intervention group received messages weekly, from weeks 7 to 12, participants received messages every other week and had access to an e-counselor. The control group did not receive email messages, nor did they have access to an e-counselor. Significant differences in levels of self-reported vigorous physical activity were found between groups at 6 and 12 weeks. Significant differences were also found for self-reported moderate physical activity at 12 weeks. Email-based interventions based on SCT can significantly influence levels of self-reported physical activity of breast cancer survivors. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  18. Secure e-mailing between physicians and patients: transformational change in ambulatory care.

    PubMed

    Garrido, Terhilda; Meng, Di; Wang, Jian J; Palen, Ted E; Kanter, Michael H

    2014-01-01

    Secure e-mailing between Kaiser Permanente physicians and patients is widespread; primary care providers receive an average of 5 e-mails from patients each workday. However, on average, secure e-mailing with patients has not substantially impacted primary care provider workloads. Secure e-mail has been associated with increased member retention and improved quality of care. Separate studies associated patient portal and secure e-mail use with both decreased and increased use of other health care services, such as office visits, telephone encounters, emergency department visits, and hospitalizations. Directions for future research include more granular analysis of associations between patient-physician secure e-mail and health care utilization.

  19. Who Owns Your E-mail?

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Panepinto, Joe

    1995-01-01

    Examines recent findings that could influence the use of e-mail on university campuses. National privacy legislation and the inviolability of student records are discussed. It is concluded that more effective safeguards are necessary, and that the current steps are inadequate for the protection of students' rights. (Author/LRW)

  20. Email for the provision of information on disease prevention and health promotion.

    PubMed

    Sawmynaden, Prescilla; Atherton, Helen; Majeed, Azeem; Car, Josip

    2012-11-14

    Email is a popular and commonly used method of communication, but its use in health care is not routine. Its application in health care has included the provision of information on disease prevention and health promotion, but the effects of using email in this way are not known. This review assesses the use of email for the provision of information on disease prevention and health promotion. To assess the effects of email for the provision of information on disease prevention and health promotion, compared to standard mail or usual care, on outcomes for healthcare professionals, patients and caregivers, and health services, including harms. We searched: the Cochrane Consumers and Communication Review Group Specialised Register (January 2010), the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL, The Cochrane Library, Issue 1 2010), MEDLINE (1950 to January 2010), EMBASE (1980 to January 2010), CINAHL (1982 to February 2010), ERIC (1965 to January 2010) and PsycINFO (1967 to January 2010). We searched grey literature: theses/dissertation repositories, trials registers and Google Scholar (searched July 2010). We used additional search methods: examining reference lists, contacting authors. Randomised controlled trials, quasi-randomised trials, controlled before and after studies and interrupted time series studies examining interventions where email is used by healthcare professionals to provide information to patients on disease prevention and health promotion, and taking the form of 1) unsecured email 2) secure email or 3) web messaging. We considered healthcare professionals or associated administrative staff as participants originating the email communication, and patients and caregivers as participants receiving the email communication, in all settings. Email communication was one-way from healthcare professionals or associated administrative staff originating the email communication, to patients or caregivers receiving the email communication. Two

  1. Private E-Mail Requests and the Diffusion of Responsibility.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Barron, Greg; Yechiam, Eldad

    2002-01-01

    Discussion of e-mail technology and requesting information from multiple sources simultaneously focuses on an experiment demonstrating that addressing e-mails simultaneously to multiple recipients may actually reduce the number of helpful responses. Discusses diffusion of responsibility and implications for the application of social cueing theory…

  2. The relative efficacy of telephone and email reminders to elicit blood donation.

    PubMed

    Germain, M; Godin, G

    2016-04-01

    The aim of the study was to test the relative efficacy of telephone and email reminders to trigger blood donation. A sample of 3454 donors was randomized to one of three conditions: phone only (n = 1176), email only (n = 1091) and phone + email (n = 1187). There was a higher proportion of donors who registered to give blood in the phone + email condition (18·45%) compared to the other two conditions (phone: 15·73%, P < 0·05; email: 13·20%; P < 0·001); this effect was apparent only in men. The phone and email conditions did not differ significantly (P = 0·16), suggesting equivalent efficacy. © 2015 International Society of Blood Transfusion.

  3. Who sends the email? Using electronic surveys in violence research.

    PubMed

    Sutherland, Melissa A; Amar, Angela F; Laughon, Kathryn

    2013-08-01

    Students aged 16-24 years are at greatest risk for interpersonal violence and the resulting short and long-term health consequences. Electronic survey methodology is well suited for research related to interpersonal violence. Yet methodological questions remain about best practices in using electronic surveys. While researchers often indicate that potential participants receive multiple emails as reminders to complete the survey, little mention is made of the sender of the recruitment email. The purpose of this analysis is to describe the response rates from three violence-focused research studies when the recruitment emails are sent from a campus office, researcher or survey sampling firm. Three violence-focused studies were conducted about interpersonal violence among college students in the United States. Seven universities and a survey sampling firm were used to recruit potential participants to complete an electronic survey. The sender of the recruitment emails varied within and across the each of the studies depending on institutional review boards and university protocols. An overall response rate of 30% was noted for the 3 studies. Universities in which researcher-initiated recruitment emails were used had higher response rates compared to universities where campus officials sent the recruitment emails. Researchers found lower response rates to electronic surveys at Historically Black Colleges or Universities and that other methods were needed to improve response rates. The sender of recruitment emails for electronic surveys may be an important factor in response rates for violence-focused research. For researchers identification of best practices for survey methodology is needed to promote accurate disclosure and increase response rates.

  4. E-mail communication patterns and job burnout

    PubMed Central

    2018-01-01

    A considerable body of research has documented the negative effects of job burnout on employees and their organizations, emphasizing the importance of the identification of early signs of the phenomenon for the purposes of prevention and intervention. However, such timely identification is difficult due to the time and cost of assessing the burnout levels of all employees in an organization using established scales. In this paper, we propose an innovative way to identify employees at risk of job burnout by analyzing their e-mail communication patterns. Building on the Job Demands–Resources model, we theorize about the relationship between e-mail communication patterns and levels of employee exhaustion and disengagement (two dimensions of burnout). We analyzed 52,190 e-mails exchanged between 57 employees of a medium sized R&D company over a five-month period. We then related these employees’ communication patterns to their levels of burnout, collected using an established scale (the OLBI–Oldenburg Burnout Inventory). Our results provide support for the overall proposition of the paper, that e-mail communications can be used to identify individuals at risk of job burnout. Our models explain up to 34% of the variance of burnout and up to 37% and 19% respectively of the variance of exhaustion and disengagement. They also successfully distinguish between employees with a higher risk of burnout and those with lower levels of risk (F1 score of 84% with recall of 100% and 73% precision). We discuss the implications of our results and present suggestions for future research. PMID:29518128

  5. E-mail communication patterns and job burnout.

    PubMed

    Estévez-Mujica, Claudia P; Quintane, Eric

    2018-01-01

    A considerable body of research has documented the negative effects of job burnout on employees and their organizations, emphasizing the importance of the identification of early signs of the phenomenon for the purposes of prevention and intervention. However, such timely identification is difficult due to the time and cost of assessing the burnout levels of all employees in an organization using established scales. In this paper, we propose an innovative way to identify employees at risk of job burnout by analyzing their e-mail communication patterns. Building on the Job Demands-Resources model, we theorize about the relationship between e-mail communication patterns and levels of employee exhaustion and disengagement (two dimensions of burnout). We analyzed 52,190 e-mails exchanged between 57 employees of a medium sized R&D company over a five-month period. We then related these employees' communication patterns to their levels of burnout, collected using an established scale (the OLBI-Oldenburg Burnout Inventory). Our results provide support for the overall proposition of the paper, that e-mail communications can be used to identify individuals at risk of job burnout. Our models explain up to 34% of the variance of burnout and up to 37% and 19% respectively of the variance of exhaustion and disengagement. They also successfully distinguish between employees with a higher risk of burnout and those with lower levels of risk (F1 score of 84% with recall of 100% and 73% precision). We discuss the implications of our results and present suggestions for future research.

  6. Email communication in a developing country: different family physician and patient perspectives.

    PubMed

    Makarem, Nisrine N; Antoun, Jumana

    2016-01-01

    Email communication between physicians and patients could improve access to and delivery of health care. Most of the literature studies about email communication between physicians and patients have been conducted in developing countries. Therefore, this study aims to analyze the practices, attitudes, and barriers of both physicians' and patients' use of email within the same health care setting of a developing country. A cross-sectional paper-based survey was conducted among 39 physicians and 500 patients at the Family Medicine clinics of the American University of Beirut, a tertiary academic medical center. Most of the surveyed patients and physicians reported that they would like to communicate through email and agreed that it is useful. However, only 19% of the patients have ever communicated with their physicians via email, and only 5.1% of physicians have often communicated with their patients via email. Almost half of the patients surveyed were unaware of the possibility of this form of communication, and only 17% reported that their physician offered them his or her email address. In addition, physicians and patients did not agree on the services to be provided by email communication. For instance, almost half of the patients indicated consultation for an urgent medical matter as suitable for email communication. The use of email communication in health care is still scarce. Patients and physicians have different perspectives of its use and importance. Further rigorous research is needed to clarify the advantages and disadvantages of this form of communication, especially in the developing world. Interested physicians are encouraged to establish appropriate personal policies for email communication with adequate announcement and patient education plans.

  7. Email communication in a developing country: different family physician and patient perspectives.

    PubMed

    Makarem, Nisrine N; Antoun, Jumana

    2016-01-01

    Background Email communication between physicians and patients could improve access to and delivery of health care. Most of the literature studies about email communication between physicians and patients have been conducted in developing countries. Therefore, this study aims to analyze the practices, attitudes, and barriers of both physicians' and patients' use of email within the same health care setting of a developing country. Methods A cross-sectional paper-based survey was conducted among 39 physicians and 500 patients at the Family Medicine clinics of the American University of Beirut, a tertiary academic medical center. Results Most of the surveyed patients and physicians reported that they would like to communicate through email and agreed that it is useful. However, only 19% of the patients have ever communicated with their physicians via email, and only 5.1% of physicians have often communicated with their patients via email. Almost half of the patients surveyed were unaware of the possibility of this form of communication, and only 17% reported that their physician offered them his or her email address. In addition, physicians and patients did not agree on the services to be provided by email communication. For instance, almost half of the patients indicated consultation for an urgent medical matter as suitable for email communication. Conclusion The use of email communication in health care is still scarce. Patients and physicians have different perspectives of its use and importance. Further rigorous research is needed to clarify the advantages and disadvantages of this form of communication, especially in the developing world. Interested physicians are encouraged to establish appropriate personal policies for email communication with adequate announcement and patient education plans.

  8. Email communication in a developing country: different family physician and patient perspectives

    PubMed Central

    Makarem, Nisrine N.; Antoun, Jumana

    2016-01-01

    Background Email communication between physicians and patients could improve access to and delivery of health care. Most of the literature studies about email communication between physicians and patients have been conducted in developing countries. Therefore, this study aims to analyze the practices, attitudes, and barriers of both physicians’ and patients’ use of email within the same health care setting of a developing country. Methods A cross-sectional paper-based survey was conducted among 39 physicians and 500 patients at the Family Medicine clinics of the American University of Beirut, a tertiary academic medical center. Results Most of the surveyed patients and physicians reported that they would like to communicate through email and agreed that it is useful. However, only 19% of the patients have ever communicated with their physicians via email, and only 5.1% of physicians have often communicated with their patients via email. Almost half of the patients surveyed were unaware of the possibility of this form of communication, and only 17% reported that their physician offered them his or her email address. In addition, physicians and patients did not agree on the services to be provided by email communication. For instance, almost half of the patients indicated consultation for an urgent medical matter as suitable for email communication. Conclusion The use of email communication in health care is still scarce. Patients and physicians have different perspectives of its use and importance. Further rigorous research is needed to clarify the advantages and disadvantages of this form of communication, especially in the developing world. Interested physicians are encouraged to establish appropriate personal policies for email communication with adequate announcement and patient education plans. PMID:27855773

  9. E3 Sample Follow-up Email

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    Sample follow-up email to assist in identifying and nominating those suppliers who you think could benefit most from joining the Green Suppliers Network; your role is to facilitate supplier selection and engagement.

  10. Secure E-Mail Communication across Company Boundaries Experiences and Architectures

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wichmann, Markus; von der Heidt, Guido; Hille, Carsten; Jacobson, Gunnar

    The important role of e-mail in business communication demands a protection of the transmitted information, not only within one company, but in particular across company borders. E-mail encryption using digital certificates provides means to fulfill this demand. The article discusses the obstacles organizations are faced with during the set up and operation of e-mail encryption between companies. Based on the case study of Siemens, experiences made as well as organizational and infrastructural solutions are outlined.

  11. Successful practices in the use of secure e-mail.

    PubMed

    Johnson, Laura W; Garrido, Terhilda; Christensen, Kate; Handley, Matt

    2014-01-01

    Physician use of secure e-mail with patients is anticipated to increase under Stage 2 Meaningful Use requirements, but little is known about how physicians can successfully incorporate it into daily work. We interviewed 27 "super user" physicians at Kaiser Permanente and Group Health who were identified by leaders as being technologically, operationally, and clinically adept and as having high levels of secure e-mail use with patients. They highly valued the use of secure e-mail with patients, despite concerns about a lack of adequate time to respond, and provided tips for using it successfully. They identified benefits that included better care and improved relationships with their patients.

  12. Using E-mail in a Math/Computer Core Course.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Gurwitz, Chaya

    This paper notes the advantages of using e-mail in computer literacy classes, and discusses the results of incorporating an e-mail assignment in the "Introduction to Mathematical Reasoning and Computer Programming" core course at Brooklyn College (New York). The assignment consisted of several steps. The students first read and responded…

  13. Email networks and the spread of computer viruses

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Newman, M. E.; Forrest, Stephanie; Balthrop, Justin

    2002-09-01

    Many computer viruses spread via electronic mail, making use of computer users' email address books as a source for email addresses of new victims. These address books form a directed social network of connections between individuals over which the virus spreads. Here we investigate empirically the structure of this network using data drawn from a large computer installation, and discuss the implications of this structure for the understanding and prevention of computer virus epidemics.

  14. Test and Evaluation of the Malicious Activity Simulation Tool (MAST) in a Local Area Network (LAN) Running the Common PC Operating System Environment (COMPOSE)

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2013-09-01

    Malicious Activity Simulation Tool MMORPG Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game MMS Mission Management Server MOA Memorandum of Agreement MS...conferencing, and massively multiplayer online role- playing games (MMORPG). During all of these Internet-based exchanges and transactions, the Internet user...In its 2011 Internet Crime Report, the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) stated there were more than 300,000 complaints of online criminal

  15. Instruction and Pragmatic Change during Study Abroad Email Communication

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Alcón-Soler, Eva

    2015-01-01

    The study deals with the effect of instruction and study abroad (SA) on pragmatic knowledge. More specifically, the focus is on gains in explicit knowledge of request mitigators, and whether learners draw on this knowledge when they perform email requests. Email requests produced by 60 Spanish students staying abroad (30 treatment/30 control…

  16. A Discourse Analysis of School Counseling Supervisory E-Mail

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Luke, Melissa; Gordon, Cynthia

    2011-01-01

    This article is a discourse analysis of weekly computer-mediated communications between 8 school counseling interns and their e-mail supervisor over a 16-week semester. Course-required e-mail supervision was provided as an adjunct to traditional face-to-face individual and group supervision. School counselor supervisees and supervisor enacted 3…

  17. How E-mail Can Give You Back Your Life.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Monroe, Barbara

    2003-01-01

    Suggests the use of e-mail in the place of writing comments on individual papers. Notes the importance of using e-mail and the listserv in a student's writing experience. Considers some of the implications for professional benefit by exploring the relationship between online communication and oral discussion and between private and public…

  18. Universal Access to E-Mail: Feasibility and Societal Implications.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Anderson, Robert H.; And Others

    E-mail has swept the communications and information world, providing instantaneous global information and data exchange. However, an information elite still exists, made up of those with access to and knowledge about computers and e-mail. The diverging trends in access based on income and education are placing significant groups of current and…

  19. Send it: study of e-mail etiquette and notions from doctors in training.

    PubMed

    Resendes, Sarah; Ramanan, Thammi; Park, Angela; Petrisor, Brad; Bhandari, Mohit

    2012-01-01

    Worldwide, more than 247 billion e-mails are sent each day. Little empiric evidence is available to guide how e-mail presentation style, tone, and content affect e-mail recipients and whether these factors impact opinions about the sender and the rapidity of response. In a study of physicians in training assessing a series of 100 e-mail examples, we examined the following: (1) formatting characteristics most and least endorsed, (2) impression of the sender based on the e-mail itself, and (3) factors associated with the decision to respond. We reasoned that our study would provide empiric data to support recommendations for e-mail etiquette, focusing specifically on doctors in training. Cross-sectional survey study. Division of Orthopaedic Surgery at McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. After each e-mail, the participating surgical residents completed a series of questions focusing on their impression of the e-mail appearance, their perception of the sender, and their motivation to respond to the e-mail. Thirty-two residents participated in this study. The responses indicate that the key negatively endorsed features of the e-mails included the use of colored backgrounds (84%), difficult-to-read font (83%), lack of a subject header (55%), opening salutations without recipient names (50%), or no salutation at all (42%). The senders of negatively endorsed e-mails were perceived by participants as inefficient (p = 0.03), unprofessional (p < 0.001), and irritating (p = 0.007). E-mails with overall positive endorsements were significantly more likely to have the participants perceive the e-mail senders as professional (p < 0.001), pleasant (p = 0.048), and kind (p = 0.059). The participants were 2.6-fold more likely to respond immediately when they perceived e-mails as favorable compared with disliking them (42% vs 16% of responses, respectively, p < 0.001). The e-mails perceived as being disliked overall are likely to result in a negative perception of the

  20. Etiquette for medical students' email communication with faculty members: a single-institution study.

    PubMed

    Kim, Do-Hwan; Yoon, Hyun Bae; Yoo, Dong-Mi; Lee, Sang-Min; Jung, Hee-Yeon; Kim, Seog Ju; Shin, Jwa-Seop; Lee, Seunghee; Yim, Jae-Joon

    2016-04-27

    Email is widely used as a means of communication between faculty members and students in medical education because of its practical and educational advantages. However, because of the distinctive nature of medical education, students' inappropriate email etiquette may adversely affect their learning as well as faculty members' perception of them. Little data on medical students' competency in professional email writing is available; therefore, this study explored the strengths and weaknesses of medical students' email etiquette and factors that contribute to professional email writing. A total of 210 emails from four faculty members at Seoul National University College of Medicine were collected. An evaluation criteria and a scoring rubric were developed based on the various email-writing guidelines. The rubric comprised 10 items, including nine items for evaluation related to the email components and one item for the assessment of global impression of politeness. Three evaluators independently assessed all emails according to the criteria. Students were identified as being 61.0% male and 52.8% were in the undergraduate-entry program. The sum of each component score was 62.21 out of 100 and the mean value for global impression was 2.6 out of 4. The results demonstrated that students' email etiquettes remained low-to-mediocre for most criteria, except for readability and honorifics. Three criteria, salutation (r=0.668), closing (r=0.653), and sign-off (r=0.646), showed a strong positive correlation with the global impression of politeness. Whether a student entered a graduate-entry program or an undergraduate-entry program significantly contributed to professional email writing after other variables were controlled. Although students in the graduate-entry program demonstrated a relatively superior level of email etiquette, the majority of medical students did not write emails professionally. Educating all medical students in email etiquette may well contribute to

  1. The Application of E-Mail to College English Teaching in China

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Wang, Guofeng

    2010-01-01

    With the development of information technology in the past 10 years, e-mail has been widely used in the field of English teaching. This paper, based on an analysis of the ways of using e-mail in college English teaching in China, probes the feasibility and the benefits of application of e-mail to college English teaching.

  2. The Impact of E-Mail Address on Credibility in Higher Education

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Livermore, Jeffrey A.; Scafe, Marla G.; Asher, Corinne

    2016-01-01

    The researchers have often been surprised to see the e-mail addresses used by our students and colleagues. Many students and faculty choose their own user names and choose their providers. E-mail addresses may provide an insight into the background and employment situation of the user. This study quantifies the impact that e-mail address choices…

  3. Student Perceptions of Peer Credibility Based on Email Addresses

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Livermore, Jeffrey A.; Scafe, Marla G.; Wiechowski, Linda S.; Maier, David J.

    2013-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to evaluate students' perceptions of their peer's credibility based on email addresses. The survey was conducted at a community college in Michigan where all students were registered and actively taking at least one course. The survey results show that a student's selection of an email address does influence other…

  4. Student Perceptions of Faculty Credibility Based on Email Addresses

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Livermore, Jeffrey A.; Scafe, Marla G.; Wiechowski, Linda S.

    2010-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to evaluate students' perceptions of faculty credibility based on email addresses. The survey was conducted at an upper division business school in Michigan where all students have completed at least two years of college courses. The survey results show that a faculty member's selection of an email address does…

  5. MedlinePlus E-mail Updates | NIH MedlinePlus the Magazine

    MedlinePlus

    ... of this page please turn Javascript on. MedlinePlus E-mail Updates Past Issues / Spring - Summer 2010 Table ... in health and medicine? Sign up for MedlinePlus e-mail updates, and you'll receive alerts whenever ...

  6. Successful Practices in the Use of Secure E-mail

    PubMed Central

    Johnson, Laura W; Garrido, Terhilda; Christensen, Kate; Handley, Matt

    2014-01-01

    Physician use of secure e-mail with patients is anticipated to increase under Stage 2 Meaningful Use requirements, but little is known about how physicians can successfully incorporate it into daily work. We interviewed 27 “super user” physicians at Kaiser Permanente and Group Health who were identified by leaders as being technologically, operationally, and clinically adept and as having high levels of secure e-mail use with patients. They highly valued the use of secure e-mail with patients, despite concerns about a lack of adequate time to respond, and provided tips for using it successfully. They identified benefits that included better care and improved relationships with their patients. PMID:24937149

  7. What parents want from emails with their pediatrician: implications for teaching communication skills.

    PubMed

    Schiller, Jocelyn H; Christner, Jennifer G; Stansfield, Robert Brent; Watnick, Caroline S; Mullan, Patricia B

    2013-07-01

    Physician-patient email communication is increasing but trainees receive no education on this communication medium. Research eliciting patient preferences about email communication could inform training. Investigators elicited parents' perspectives on physician-parent email communication and compared parent and faculty assessments of medical students' emails. This mixed methods study explored physician-parent email communication in 5 parent focus groups using qualitative analyses to identify themes. Differences between faculty and parent assessment scores for students' email responses were calculated using univariate general linear modeling. Themes that emerged were: (1) Building the Relationship, (2) Clarity of Communication and (3) Expectations. Parents criticized student's statements as condescending. The sum of assessment scores by parents and faculty were moderately correlated (r(44)=.407, P<.01), but parents gave students lower scores on "acknowledges validity/expresses empathy" (P=.01) and higher scores on "provides next steps" (P<.01) and "identifies issues" (P<.01). Parents place value on students' abilities to communicate clearly and convey respect and empathy in email. Parent and faculty perspectives on email communication are similar but not the same. Differences between parental and faculty assessments of medical students' emails supports the need for the involvement of patients and families in email communication curriculum development. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  8. Learning to Detect Phishing Emails

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2006-06-01

    assumptions, such as certain words like “ viagra ” being indicative of a class of un-desirable emails, no longer hold when the attackers are using the same...offering to sell “ viagra ” over the Internet does not need to convince potential buyers that they are a pharmacy that the user already has a relationship

  9. Email communication at the medical primary-secondary care interface: a qualitative exploration.

    PubMed

    Sampson, Rod; Barbour, Rosaline; Wilson, Philip

    2016-07-01

    There is little published research into the influence of email communication between primary and secondary care clinicians on patient care. To explore the use of email communication between clinicians across the primary- secondary care interface, and how this may relate to patient care. A qualitative study involving primary and secondary care services in the NHS Highland Health Board area, Scotland. Ten GPs and 12 hospital consultants were purposively sampled to reflect diversity. Eligible clinicians were invited to take part in a semi-structured interview. Data were analysed using a thematic analysis approach. Key themes that emerged for clinicians included general perceptions of email; using email in practice (managing workload, impact on patient journeys, and 'quick answers'); system issues (variability and governance); relational aspects; and email skills. Email communication between primary and secondary care clinicians generally has a positive impact on patient access to specialist expertise. Governance issues around the use of clinical email need to be defined. There may currently be a two-tier health service for those patients (and their GPs) requiring 'quick answers'. © British Journal of General Practice 2016.

  10. 36 CFR 1250.76 - May I email my FOIA appeal?

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-07-01

    ... ADMINISTRATION PUBLIC AVAILABILITY AND USE PUBLIC AVAILABILITY AND USE OF FEDERAL RECORDS Appeals § 1250.76 May I email my FOIA appeal? Yes, you may submit a FOIA appeal via email to http://www.archives.gov/global...

  11. Faculty Perceptions of Student Credibility Based on Email Addresses

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Livermore, Jeffrey A.; Wiechowski, Linda S.; Scafe, Marla G.

    2011-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to evaluate faculty perceptions of student credibility based on email addresses. The survey was conducted at an upper division business school in Michigan where all students have completed at least two years of college courses. The survey results show that a student's selection of an email address does influence the…

  12. Email for communicating results of diagnostic medical investigations to patients.

    PubMed

    Meyer, Barbara; Atherton, Helen; Sawmynaden, Prescilla; Car, Josip

    2012-08-15

    As medical care becomes more complex and the ability to test for conditions grows, pressure on healthcare providers to convey increasing volumes of test results to patients is driving investigation of alternative technological solutions for their delivery. This review addresses the use of email for communicating results of diagnostic medical investigations to patients. To assess the effects of using email for communicating results of diagnostic medical investigations to patients, compared to SMS/ text messaging, telephone communication or usual care, on outcomes, including harms, for health professionals, patients and caregivers, and health services. We searched: the Cochrane Consumers and Communication Review Group Specialised Register, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL, The Cochrane Library, Issue 1 2010), MEDLINE (OvidSP) (1950 to January 2010), EMBASE (OvidSP) (1980 to January 2010), PsycINFO (OvidSP) (1967 to January 2010), CINAHL (EbscoHOST) (1982 to February 2010), and ERIC (CSA) (1965 to January 2010). We searched grey literature: theses/dissertation repositories, trials registers and Google Scholar (searched July 2010). We used additional search methods: examining reference lists and contacting authors. Randomised controlled trials, quasi-randomised trials, controlled before and after studies and interrupted time series studies of interventions using email for communicating results of any diagnostic medical investigations to patients, and taking the form of 1) unsecured email 2) secure email or 3) web messaging. All healthcare professionals, patients and caregivers in all settings were considered. Two review authors independently assessed the titles and abstracts of retrieved citations. No studies were identified for inclusion. Consequently, no data collection or analysis was possible. No studies met the inclusion criteria, therefore there are no results to report on the use of email for communicating results of diagnostic medical

  13. Email communication at the medical primary–secondary care interface: a qualitative exploration

    PubMed Central

    Sampson, Rod; Barbour, Rosaline; Wilson, Philip

    2016-01-01

    Background There is little published research into the influence of email communication between primary and secondary care clinicians on patient care. Aim To explore the use of email communication between clinicians across the primary– secondary care interface, and how this may relate to patient care. Design and setting A qualitative study involving primary and secondary care services in the NHS Highland Health Board area, Scotland. Ten GPs and 12 hospital consultants were purposively sampled to reflect diversity. Method Eligible clinicians were invited to take part in a semi-structured interview. Data were analysed using a thematic analysis approach. Results Key themes that emerged for clinicians included general perceptions of email; using email in practice (managing workload, impact on patient journeys, and ‘quick answers’); system issues (variability and governance); relational aspects; and email skills. Conclusion Email communication between primary and secondary care clinicians generally has a positive impact on patient access to specialist expertise. Governance issues around the use of clinical email need to be defined. There may currently be a two-tier health service for those patients (and their GPs) requiring ‘quick answers’. PMID:27162209

  14. Cyberdermatoethics I: ethical, legal, technologic, and clinical aspects of patient-physician e-mail.

    PubMed

    Luo, John; Logan, Christopher; Long, Thomas P; Bercovitch, Lionel

    2009-01-01

    As Internet access has become ubiquitous, electronic mail (e-mail) is becoming more widely used as a means of communication between patient and dermatologist. Dealing with the ethical, legal, and clinical consequences has lagged behind the technology. Privacy of e-mail cannot exist without security, and as a foundation for understanding e-mail security, the elements of e-mail technology are reviewed. One of the greatest risks of e-mail is compromise of privacy. Although self-documenting and convenient, e-mail lacks the emotional cues of face-to-face encounters, is asynchronous and not always read in timely fashion, and is not suitable for certain clinical concerns such as urgent matters and cancer diagnoses. Legal issues relating to federal privacy regulations, ethical issues such as autonomy and justice, and guidelines for the use of e-mail in clinical practice are reviewed. Case scenarios are used to present the pitfalls in clinical e-mail encounters, including establishment of the doctor-patient relationship, diagnosis and treatment over the Internet, and curbside consultations.

  15. Statistics-based email communication security behavior recognition

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Yi, Junkai; Su, Yueyang; Zhao, Xianghui

    2017-08-01

    With the development of information technology, e-mail has become a popular communication medium. It has great significant to determine the relationship between the two sides of the communication. Firstly, this paper analysed and processed the content and attachment of e-mail using the skill of steganalysis and malware analysis. And it also conducts the following feature extracting and behaviour model establishing which based on Naive Bayesian theory. Then a behaviour analysis method was employed to calculate and evaluate the communication security. Finally, some experiments about the accuracy of the behavioural relationship of communication identifying has been carried out. The result shows that this method has a great effects and correctness as eighty-four percent.

  16. The Perceived Helpfulness of Rendering Emotional First Aid via Email

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Gilat, Itzhak; Reshef, Eyal

    2015-01-01

    The present research examined the perceived helpfulness of an increasingly widespread mode of psychological assistance, namely, emotional first aid via email. The sample comprised 62 naturally occurring email interactions between distressful clients and trained volunteers operating within the framework of the Israeli Association for Emotional…

  17. Use of email for patient communication in student health care: a cross-sectional study

    PubMed Central

    Castrén, Johanna; Niemi, Marja; Virjo, Irma

    2005-01-01

    Background Citizens increasingly use email in personal communication. It is not however clear to what extent physicians utilize it for patient communication. Our study was designed to examine physicians' activity in using email and to estimate the proportion of email messages missing from documentation in electronic patient records (EPR). Methods All physicians (n = 76; 48 general practitioners and 28 specialists) at the Finnish Student Health Service received a questionnaire by email, and were asked to print it and keep a daily tally of visits, phone calls and email messages over the study period of one working week (5.5. – 9.5.2003). The response rate was 70%. The data originating from the questionnaire were compared with statistical data from the EPR during the study period. Results The majority (79%, 41/52) of doctors reported using email with patients, averaging 8.6 (range: 0–96) email contacts and a percentage rate of "email / visit" 20% (range: 0–185%) in one working week. Doctors in the capital city region and those doctors who had a positive attitude toward email for patient communication were most active in email use. Up to 73% of email contacts were not documented in the EPR. Conclusion The activity in using email with patients verified among Finnish physicians is compatible with recent study results elsewhere. The notable proportion of un-recorded email messages establishes the need for an electric communication system built into the EPR to improve the quality of patient care and to limit medico-legal risks. PMID:15676077

  18. Experiences of using email for general practice consultations: a qualitative study.

    PubMed

    Atherton, Helen; Pappas, Yannis; Heneghan, Carl; Murray, Elizabeth

    2013-11-01

    Reports suggest approximately 21-23% of GPs in the UK have consulted with patients using email, but little is known about the nature of this use and what it means for clinicians and patients in general practice. To understand the use of email consultation in general practice by investigating the experiences of existing users and views of experts. A qualitative study conducted in 2010 using purposive sampling and semi-structured interviews in general practice and community settings in some London boroughs. A maximum variation sample of GPs and patients who had used email for consultation in general practice were recruited, as were policy and/or implementation experts. Interviews continued until saturation was achieved. In total 10 GPs, 14 patients, and six experts were interviewed. Consultation by email was often triggered by logistic or practical issues; motivators for ongoing use were the benefits, such as convenience, for GPs and patients. Both GPs and patients reported concerns about safety and lack of guidance about the 'rules of engagement' in email consultations, with GPs also concerned about workload. In response, both groups attempted to introduce their own rules, although this only went some way to addressing uncertainty. Long term, participants felt there was a need for regulation and guidance. Consultations by email in general practice occur in an unregulated and unstructured way. Current UK policy is to promote consultations by email, making it crucial to consider the responsibility and workload faced by clinicians, and the changes required to ensure safe use; not doing so may risk safety breaches and result in suboptimal care for patients.

  19. The Influence of Textual Cues on First Impressions of an Email Sender

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Marlow, Shannon L.; Lacerenza, Christina N.; Iwig, Chelsea

    2018-01-01

    The present study experimentally manipulated the gender of an email sender, closing salutation, and sending mode (i.e., email sent via desktop computer/laptop as compared with email sent via a mobile device) to determine if these specific cues influence first impressions of the sender's competence, professionalism, positive affect, and negative…

  20. Employees' Perceptions of Email Communication, Volume and Management Strategies in an Australian University

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Pignata, Silvia; Lushington, Kurt; Sloan, Jeremy; Buchanan, Fiona

    2015-01-01

    Despite email playing a central role in university business, little is known about the strategies used by staff to manage email and the factors contributing to email overload. In a mixed method study undertaken in one Australian university comparing academic (n = 193) and professional (n = 278) staff, we found that while email volume was higher in…

  1. Advantages and Disadvantages of Using E-Mail as Instructional Aid: Some Random Thoughts.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Xu, Gong-Li

    This paper explores the educational benefits and limitations of e-mail as an instructional aid to classroom-based teaching. It looks at practical ideas of how e-mail has been used to aid classroom instruction, and highlights and examines each usage of e-mail in terms of its effects on classroom teaching. E-mail systems have been used for classroom…

  2. Outcomes of an Intercultural E-Mail Based University Discussion Project

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Furcsa, Laura

    2009-01-01

    This article investigates the development of intercultural awareness in an electronic mail (e-mail) discussion project between Hungarian learners of English and American speakers. Students discussed topics relating to cultures, languages, and pedagogical issues. The e-mails were analyzed in terms of language skill improvement, apprehensiveness…

  3. GlobalTrust: An Attack Resilient Reputation System for Tactical Networks

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2014-07-03

    MSA): Some malicious nodes misbehave while other malicious nodes, called malicious spies, behave normally by providing proper services. These...disseminate conflicting (or inconsistent) LTOs. For example, they may misbehave only to a subset of honest nodes (referred to as target nodes) to... misbehaving with prob. α honestly reporting LTOs NRA misbehaving with prob. α reporting opposite LTOs, 1− α CRA misbehaving with prob. α reporting

  4. Improving Instructor Response to Student E-Mails Using Template and Reminder Interventions

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Elbeck, Matthew; Song, Minjung

    2011-01-01

    Student e-mails without the student's name, message, file attachment, and other identifying information may impede a timely and thorough instructor response. To help resolve this issue, we apply template and reminder interventions to improve student e-mail format defined as the degree of agreement between a student's e-mail format and an…

  5. Using E-Mail in Computer Assisted Freshman Composition and Rhetoric.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Dowden, Rebecca; Humphries, Sharon

    1997-01-01

    Describes teaching freshman composition and rhetoric via e-mail as a distance education course at Tomball Community College (Texas). Discusses student and instructor responsibilities, e-mail procedures, problems encountered (lack of time, and managing disk and mailbox space), and benefits (reduced paper use, typed corrections, accurate records,…

  6. Comparing Response Rates in E-Mail and Paper Surveys: A Meta-Analysis

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Shih, Tse-Hua; Fan, Xitao

    2009-01-01

    This meta-analysis examined 35 study results within last 10 years that directly compared the response rates of e-mail versus mail surveys. Individual studies reported inconsistent findings concerning the response rate difference between e-mail and mail surveys, but e-mail surveys generally have lower response rate (about 20% lower on the average)…

  7. Collaboration via E-Mail and Internet Relay Chat: Understanding Time and Technology.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Duin, Ann Hill; Archee, Ray

    1996-01-01

    Examines how college students working across distances used e-mail and Internet Relay Chat (IRC) to facilitate their collaboration and decision-making processes. Finds that students came to a decision more quickly using e-mail than with IRC, and when IRC was slow, students reverted to a series of rapid-fire e-mail messages. (RS)

  8. Do you feel you know how to write an e-mail?

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Leonova, Anna O.

    2003-10-01

    Computers have opened doors to the new era of telecommunication. Electronic mail is becoming very popular in different spheres of professional activity and everyday life of people all over the world as it provides people an excellent opportunity for real, natural communication. The use of e-mail and the Internet involves a whole range of skills including knowing how to use a personal computer, knowing how to navigate the immense resources of cyberspace, and becoming familiar with the special register of e-mail communication (which lies somewhere between the formality of traditional writing and the spontaneity of speech). Conferencing via e-mail, or communicating with partners through networked computers, offers many opportunities in the Scientific Community. E-mail allows us to collaborate easily with thousands of colleagues, sharing new ideas, resources, and materials. It can provide the information, contacts, and stimulation that can make our research work more effective and enjoyable. The English language is world-wide accepted as lingua-franca of the Internet and intercultural communication. This brings us to a necessity to introduce some ideas on e-mail writing.

  9. An IT Manager's View on E-Mail and Internet Policies and Procedures

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Desai, Mayur S.; Hart, Jeff; Richards, Thomas C.

    2009-01-01

    E-mail is mandatory tool of communications any business to survive in the 21st century. It is imperative that Information technology (IT) managers monitor and make sure that the e-mail systems are used properly. In order to organize a systematic process for proper use of email an administrator must have an input into the development of appropriate…

  10. Providing cell phone numbers and email addresses to Patients: the physician's perspective.

    PubMed

    Peleg, Roni; Avdalimov, Angelika; Freud, Tamar

    2011-03-23

    The provision of cell phone numbers and email addresses enhances the accessibility of medical consultations, but can add to the burden of physicians' routine clinical practice and affect their free time. The objective was to assess the attitudes of physicians to providing their telephone number or email address to patients. Primary care physicians in the southern region of Israel completed a structured questionnaire that related to the study objective. The study population included 120 primary care physicians with a mean age of 41.2 ± 8.5, 88 of them women (73.3%). Physicians preferred to provide their cell phone number rather than their email address (P = 0.0007). They preferred to answer their cell phones only during the daytime and at predetermined times, but would answer email most hours of the day, including weekends and holidays (P = 0.001). More physicians (79.7%) would have preferred allotted time for email communication than allotted time for cell phone communication (50%). However, they felt that email communication was more likely to lead to miscommunication than telephone calls (P = 0.0001). There were no differences between male and female physicians on the provision of cell phone numbers or email addresses to patients. Older physicians were more prepared to provide cell phone numbers that younger ones (P = 0.039). The attitude of participating physicians was to provide their cell phone number or email address to some of their patients, but most of them preferred to give out their cell phone number.

  11. Providing cell phone numbers and email addresses to Patients: the physician's perspective

    PubMed Central

    2011-01-01

    Background The provision of cell phone numbers and email addresses enhances the accessibility of medical consultations, but can add to the burden of physicians' routine clinical practice and affect their free time. The objective was to assess the attitudes of physicians to providing their telephone number or email address to patients. Methods Primary care physicians in the southern region of Israel completed a structured questionnaire that related to the study objective. Results The study population included 120 primary care physicians with a mean age of 41.2 ± 8.5, 88 of them women (73.3%). Physicians preferred to provide their cell phone number rather than their email address (P = 0.0007). They preferred to answer their cell phones only during the daytime and at predetermined times, but would answer email most hours of the day, including weekends and holidays (P = 0.001). More physicians (79.7%) would have preferred allotted time for email communication than allotted time for cell phone communication (50%). However, they felt that email communication was more likely to lead to miscommunication than telephone calls (P = 0.0001). There were no differences between male and female physicians on the provision of cell phone numbers or email addresses to patients. Older physicians were more prepared to provide cell phone numbers that younger ones (P = 0.039). Conclusions The attitude of participating physicians was to provide their cell phone number or email address to some of their patients, but most of them preferred to give out their cell phone number. PMID:21426591

  12. Experiences of using email for general practice consultations: a qualitative study

    PubMed Central

    Atherton, Helen; Pappas, Yannis; Heneghan, Carl; Murray, Elizabeth

    2013-01-01

    Background Reports suggest approximately 21–23% of GPs in the UK have consulted with patients using email, but little is known about the nature of this use and what it means for clinicians and patients in general practice. Aim To understand the use of email consultation in general practice by investigating the experiences of existing users and views of experts. Design and setting A qualitative study conducted in 2010 using purposive sampling and semi-structured interviews in general practice and community settings in some London boroughs. Method A maximum variation sample of GPs and patients who had used email for consultation in general practice were recruited, as were policy and/or implementation experts. Interviews continued until saturation was achieved. Results In total 10 GPs, 14 patients, and six experts were interviewed. Consultation by email was often triggered by logistic or practical issues; motivators for ongoing use were the benefits, such as convenience, for GPs and patients. Both GPs and patients reported concerns about safety and lack of guidance about the ‘rules of engagement’ in email consultations, with GPs also concerned about workload. In response, both groups attempted to introduce their own rules, although this only went some way to addressing uncertainty. Long term, participants felt there was a need for regulation and guidance. Conclusion Consultations by email in general practice occur in an unregulated and unstructured way. Current UK policy is to promote consultations by email, making it crucial to consider the responsibility and workload faced by clinicians, and the changes required to ensure safe use; not doing so may risk safety breaches and result in suboptimal care for patients. PMID:24267859

  13. An Email Exchange Project between Non-Native Speakers of English.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Fedderholdt, Karen

    2001-01-01

    Describes a recent email writing project between nonnative speakers of English. The project was carried out by a group of Japanese university students, and a group of Danish students preparing for university entrance examinations. Explains the reasons for choosing to use email in writing classes and why nonnative speakers were chosen. (Author/VWL)

  14. Factors that impact nurses' use of electronic mail (e-mail).

    PubMed

    Hughes, J A; Pakieser, R A

    1999-01-01

    As electronic applications are used increasingly in healthcare, nurses are being challenged to adopt them. Electronic mail (e-mail) is an electronic tool with general as well as healthcare uses. E-mail use may be an opportunity to learn a tool that requires skills similar to those used in other applications. This study aimed to identify barriers and facilitators that impact nurses' use of e-mail in the workplace. Data for this study were gathered using focus group methodology. Content analysis identified and labeled factors into seven major categories. Specific factors identified were generally consistent with those previously described in the literature as affecting use of computers in general. However, there were several additional factors identified that were not reported in other previous studies: lack of face-to-face communication, individual writing skills, recency of any educational experience, volume of mail received, password integrity, and technical support. Findings from this study provide information for any individual involved in introducing or updating an e-mail system in a healthcare environment.

  15. The Most Preferred Free E-mail Service Used by Students

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Cavus, Nadire; Bicen, Huseyin

    2009-01-01

    The aim of this study is to investigate the most preferred free web based e-mail used by students in the technology departments of the Near East University (Departments CIS, CEIT and COM.ENG), and also to find out which technical characteristics affect the participants when making a decision for the choice of an e-mail service. The volunteer…

  16. Con Artists Attack Colleges with Fake Help-Desk E-Mail

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Young, Jeffrey R.

    2008-01-01

    An e-mail scam has hit tens of thousands of users at dozens of colleges over the past few weeks, leaving network administrators scrambling to respond before campus computer accounts are taken over by spammers. Students, professors, and staff members at the affected colleges received e-mail messages that purported to come from the colleges' help…

  17. Pediatric caregiver attitudes toward email communication: survey in an urban primary care setting.

    PubMed

    Dudas, Robert Arthur; Crocetti, Michael

    2013-10-23

    Overall usage of email communication between patients and physicians continues to increase, due in part to expanding the adoption of electronic health records and patient portals. Unequal access and acceptance of these technologies has the potential to exacerbate disparities in care. Little is known about the attitudes of pediatric caregivers with regard to their acceptance of email as a means to communicate with their health care providers. We conducted a survey to assess pediatric caregiver access to and attitudes toward the use of electronic communication modalities to communicate with health care providers in an urban pediatric primary care clinic. Participants were pediatric caregivers recruited from an urban pediatric primary care clinic in Baltimore, Maryland, who completed a 35-item questionnaire in this cross-sectional study. Of the 229 caregivers who completed the survey (91.2% response rate), 171 (74.6%) reported that they use email to communicate with others. Of the email users, 145 respondents (86.3%) stated that they would like to email doctors, although only 18 (10.7%) actually do so. Among email users, African-American caregivers were much less likely to support the expanded use of email communication with health care providers (adjusted OR 0.34, 95% CI 0.14-0.82) as were those with annual incomes less than US $30,000 (adjusted OR 0.26, 95% CI 0.09-0.74). Caregivers of children have access to email and many would be interested in communicating with health care providers. However, African-Americans and those in lower socioeconomic groups were much less likely to have positive attitudes toward email.

  18. Perceptions and use of e-mail among Universiti Utara Malaysia staff: A pilot study

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Mohamed, Shafinah Farvin Packeer; Ku-Mahamud, Ku Ruhana; Ramli, Razamin; Abdullah, Kamarudin

    2017-10-01

    The use of e-mail has become common either for work purposes or personal usage. Despite its usefulness, complain about the overwhelming messages received which cause the users to have problem in managing those messages. Similar situation occurred among Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM) staff. Thus, a pilot study was conducted to investigate its staff's perception and use of e-mail in order to improve the e-mail service provided to them. This paper discusses the findings from the pilot study, which involves 41 UUM staff. Self-administered questionnaires were used to gather the data, while descriptive statistical analysis was used for data analysis. The findings of the study reveal that UUM staff appreciate the e-mail service. However they faced problems like limited storage size and overwhelming e-mails. They think that UUM e-mail is being abused by the repeating advertisements and news sent to them. The output of this study can be used as a guideline by the UUM management in revising its e-mail policy to serve better quality of e-mail service.

  19. Essays on Information Assurance: Examination of Detrimental Consequences of Information Security, Privacy, and Extreme Event Concerns on Individual and Organizational Use of Systems

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Park, Insu

    2010-01-01

    The purpose of this study is to explore systems users' behavior on IS under the various circumstances (e.g., email usage and malware threats, online communication at the individual level, and IS usage in organizations). Specifically, the first essay develops a method for analyzing and predicting the impact category of malicious code, particularly…

  20. Understanding the "Other Side": Intercultural learning in a Spanish-English E-Mail Exchange.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    O'Dowd, Robert

    2003-01-01

    Reviews recent research on intercultural learning and reports on a yearlong e-mail exchange between Spanish and English second year university students. Identifies key characteristics of e-mail exchanges that helped to develop learners' intercultural communicative competence. Outlines elements of e-mail messages that may enable students to develop…

  1. Pediatric Caregiver Attitudes Toward Email Communication: Survey in an Urban Primary Care Setting

    PubMed Central

    2013-01-01

    Background Overall usage of email communication between patients and physicians continues to increase, due in part to expanding the adoption of electronic health records and patient portals. Unequal access and acceptance of these technologies has the potential to exacerbate disparities in care. Little is known about the attitudes of pediatric caregivers with regard to their acceptance of email as a means to communicate with their health care providers. Objective We conducted a survey to assess pediatric caregiver access to and attitudes toward the use of electronic communication modalities to communicate with health care providers in an urban pediatric primary care clinic. Methods Participants were pediatric caregivers recruited from an urban pediatric primary care clinic in Baltimore, Maryland, who completed a 35-item questionnaire in this cross-sectional study. Results Of the 229 caregivers who completed the survey (91.2% response rate), 171 (74.6%) reported that they use email to communicate with others. Of the email users, 145 respondents (86.3%) stated that they would like to email doctors, although only 18 (10.7%) actually do so. Among email users, African-American caregivers were much less likely to support the expanded use of email communication with health care providers (adjusted OR 0.34, 95% CI 0.14-0.82) as were those with annual incomes less than US $30,000 (adjusted OR 0.26, 95% CI 0.09-0.74). Conclusions Caregivers of children have access to email and many would be interested in communicating with health care providers. However, African-Americans and those in lower socioeconomic groups were much less likely to have positive attitudes toward email. PMID:24152542

  2. Pandora's electronic box: GPs reflect upon email communication with their patients.

    PubMed

    Goodyear-Smith, Felicity; Wearn, Andy; Everts, Hans; Huggard, Peter; Halliwell, Joan

    2005-01-01

    Global access to information technology has increased dramatically in the past decade, with electronic health care changing medical practice. One example for general practitioners (GPs) is communication with patients via electronic mail (email). GPs face issues regarding e-communication with patients, including how and when it should it be used. The study aims were to assess the extent that GPs communicate with patients by email and explore their attitudes to this mode of communication. Design--telephone interview survey. Setting--primary care, largest urban and suburban area in New Zealand (NZ). Subjects--randomly selected GPs from the Auckland region. Main outcome measure--description of email use; analysis of issues by telephone survey. Data analysed using SPSS-12 and by thematic content analysis. At data saturation, 80 GPs had been interviewed. The majority (68%) had not used email with patients. Only 4% used it regularly. However, there was strong interest in this method. Perceived advantages were the ability to communicate at a distance and time convenient to both doctor and patient; communication where disability affected traditional methods; information-giving (for example, web links); passing on normal results. Identified problems involved inequity of access; linking of electronic data; security; unsuitability for some topics; medico-legal concerns; time; remuneration. Study sample closely mirrored current NZ GP population. Although few GPs emailed with patients, many might once barriers are addressed. GPs had a collective view of the appropriate boundaries for email communication, routine tasks and the transmission of information. GPs would encourage professional debate regarding guidelines for good practice, managing demand and remuneration.

  3. 78 FR 45910 - Proposed Information Collection; Comment Request; Current Population Survey (CPS) Email Address...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2013-07-30

    ... associated with the multiple personal visits. The email could also be as simple as a ``Thank You'' with... collecting email addresses and collecting interest in being contacted by email or answering the survey...

  4. Power Perceptions and Negotiations in a Cross-National Email Writing Activity

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Liu, Yichun

    2011-01-01

    The present study investigates EFL students' perceptions of power differentials and their negotiation strategies when communicating with native English-speaking students via emails. The study involved 28 Taiwanese and American undergraduates who participated in a semester-long cross-national email writing activity. Findings show that students in…

  5. Estimation of Anonymous Email Network Characteristics through Statistical Disclosure Attacks

    PubMed Central

    Portela, Javier; García Villalba, Luis Javier; Silva Trujillo, Alejandra Guadalupe; Sandoval Orozco, Ana Lucila; Kim, Tai-Hoon

    2016-01-01

    Social network analysis aims to obtain relational data from social systems to identify leaders, roles, and communities in order to model profiles or predict a specific behavior in users’ network. Preserving anonymity in social networks is a subject of major concern. Anonymity can be compromised by disclosing senders’ or receivers’ identity, message content, or sender-receiver relationships. Under strongly incomplete information, a statistical disclosure attack is used to estimate the network and node characteristics such as centrality and clustering measures, degree distribution, and small-world-ness. A database of email networks in 29 university faculties is used to study the method. A research on the small-world-ness and Power law characteristics of these email networks is also developed, helping to understand the behavior of small email networks. PMID:27809275

  6. Estimation of Anonymous Email Network Characteristics through Statistical Disclosure Attacks.

    PubMed

    Portela, Javier; García Villalba, Luis Javier; Silva Trujillo, Alejandra Guadalupe; Sandoval Orozco, Ana Lucila; Kim, Tai-Hoon

    2016-11-01

    Social network analysis aims to obtain relational data from social systems to identify leaders, roles, and communities in order to model profiles or predict a specific behavior in users' network. Preserving anonymity in social networks is a subject of major concern. Anonymity can be compromised by disclosing senders' or receivers' identity, message content, or sender-receiver relationships. Under strongly incomplete information, a statistical disclosure attack is used to estimate the network and node characteristics such as centrality and clustering measures, degree distribution, and small-world-ness. A database of email networks in 29 university faculties is used to study the method. A research on the small-world-ness and Power law characteristics of these email networks is also developed, helping to understand the behavior of small email networks.

  7. Use of simulated electronic mail (e-mail) to assess medical student knowledge, professionalism, and communication skills.

    PubMed

    Christner, Jennifer G; Stansfield, R Brent; Schiller, Jocelyn H; Madenci, Arin; Keefer, Patricia M; Pituch, Ken

    2010-10-01

    Physicians communicate with patients using electronic mail (e-mail) with increasing frequency. Communication skills specific to e-mail do not appear to be taught explicitly in medical school. Therefore, the effect of an instructive session on effective e-mail communication was examined. Four simulated e-mails from a parent were developed. Students responded to an initial e-mail and then participated in a session on effective e-mail communication. Responses to a final e-mail were assessed using a rubric with subscores for medical knowledge, communication, and professionalism. Performance improved from the first to final e-mail response in the overall score and in each subscore. Improvement was sustained over the course of the academic year. Interrater reliability revealed good agreement. Communicating effectively with patients via e-mail is not intuitive but can be taught. It is feasible to introduce responses to a simulated e-mail case in a clinical clerkship as an assessment tool.

  8. Embracing technology: patients', family members' and nurse specialists' experience of communicating using e-mail.

    PubMed

    Cornwall, Amanda; Moore, Sally; Plant, Hilary

    2008-07-01

    This paper reports on a study exploring the usefulness of e-mail as a means of communication between nurse specialists and patients with lung cancer and their families. The study involved two lung cancer nurse specialists and 16 patients and family members who used e-mail with them during the 6-month study period. Data were collected from three sources: (1) e-mail contact between the nurse specialists and patients/family members, (2) patient/family member questionnaire and (3) a focus group/reflective session with the nurse specialists. Quantitative data collected from the e-mails and the questionnaires were analysed descriptively and are presented as summary statistics. Text data from the questionnaires and e-mails were analysed using content analysis. Findings suggest that e-mail can be an effective and convenient means of communication between nurse specialists, and patients and family members. Patients and family members reported high levels of satisfaction with this method of communication. It was found to be quick and easy, and patients and family members were satisfied with both the response and the speed of response from the nurse specialists. Nurse specialists were also positive about e-mail use and found that the benefits of using e-mail with patients/family members outweighed any disadvantages. Further investigation is recommended involving other health care professionals and different patient groups to ensure the safe and appropriate use of e-mail within health care.

  9. Teaching individuals with intellectual disability to email across multiple device platforms.

    PubMed

    Cihak, David F; McMahon, Donald; Smith, Cate C; Wright, Rachel; Gibbons, Melinda M

    2014-11-20

    The purpose of this study was to examine the use of email by people with intellectual disability across multiple technological devices or platforms. Four individuals with intellectual disability participated in this study. Participants were taught how to access and send an email on a Windows desktop computer, laptop, and an iPad tablet device. Results indicated a functional relation. All participants acquired and generalized sending and receiving an email from multiple platforms. Conclusions are discussed about the importance of empowering people with intellectual disability by providing multiple means of expression, including the ability to communicate effectively using a variety of devices. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  10. A malicious pattern detection engine for embedded security systems in the Internet of Things.

    PubMed

    Oh, Doohwan; Kim, Deokho; Ro, Won Woo

    2014-12-16

    With the emergence of the Internet of Things (IoT), a large number of physical objects in daily life have been aggressively connected to the Internet. As the number of objects connected to networks increases, the security systems face a critical challenge due to the global connectivity and accessibility of the IoT. However, it is difficult to adapt traditional security systems to the objects in the IoT, because of their limited computing power and memory size. In light of this, we present a lightweight security system that uses a novel malicious pattern-matching engine. We limit the memory usage of the proposed system in order to make it work on resource-constrained devices. To mitigate performance degradation due to limitations of computation power and memory, we propose two novel techniques, auxiliary shifting and early decision. Through both techniques, we can efficiently reduce the number of matching operations on resource-constrained systems. Experiments and performance analyses show that our proposed system achieves a maximum speedup of 2.14 with an IoT object and provides scalable performance for a large number of patterns.

  11. A Malicious Pattern Detection Engine for Embedded Security Systems in the Internet of Things

    PubMed Central

    Oh, Doohwan; Kim, Deokho; Ro, Won Woo

    2014-01-01

    With the emergence of the Internet of Things (IoT), a large number of physical objects in daily life have been aggressively connected to the Internet. As the number of objects connected to networks increases, the security systems face a critical challenge due to the global connectivity and accessibility of the IoT. However, it is difficult to adapt traditional security systems to the objects in the IoT, because of their limited computing power and memory size. In light of this, we present a lightweight security system that uses a novel malicious pattern-matching engine. We limit the memory usage of the proposed system in order to make it work on resource-constrained devices. To mitigate performance degradation due to limitations of computation power and memory, we propose two novel techniques, auxiliary shifting and early decision. Through both techniques, we can efficiently reduce the number of matching operations on resource-constrained systems. Experiments and performance analyses show that our proposed system achieves a maximum speedup of 2.14 with an IoT object and provides scalable performance for a large number of patterns. PMID:25521382

  12. Probabilistic Characterization of Adversary Behavior in Cyber Security

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

    Meyers, C A; Powers, S S; Faissol, D M

    2009-10-08

    The objective of this SMS effort is to provide a probabilistic characterization of adversary behavior in cyber security. This includes both quantitative (data analysis) and qualitative (literature review) components. A set of real LLNL email data was obtained for this study, consisting of several years worth of unfiltered traffic sent to a selection of addresses at ciac.org. The email data was subjected to three interrelated analyses: a textual study of the header data and subject matter, an examination of threats present in message attachments, and a characterization of the maliciousness of embedded URLs.

  13. An Exploratory Study of E-Mail Application on FL Writing Performance

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Shang, Hui-Fang

    2007-01-01

    This study focused on examining the overall effect of using email on the improvement of writing performance in aspects of syntactic complexity, grammatical accuracy and lexical density, as well as investigating the relation between the number of email exchanges and writing performance. Subjects in this study were 40 non-traditional EFL students…

  14. Ars Dictaminis Perverted: The Personal Solicitation E-Mail as a Genre

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ross, Derek G.

    2009-01-01

    Phishing e-mails deceive individuals into giving out personal information which may then be utilized for identity theft. One particular type, the Personal Solicitation E-mail (PSE) mimics personal letters--modern perversions of "ars dictaminis" (the classical art of letter writing). In this article, I determine and discuss 19 appeals common to the…

  15. Linguistic Characteristics of ESL Writing in Task-based E-mail Activities.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Li, Yili

    2000-01-01

    Investigated the efficacy of integrating task-based e-mail activities into a process-oriented English-as-Second-Language (ESL) writing class. Particular focus was on the linguistic characteristics of 132 pieces of e-mail writing by ESL students in tasks that differed in terms of purpose, audience interaction, and task structure. Computerized text…

  16. Phishtest: Measuring the Impact of Email Headers on the Predictive Accuracy of Machine Learning Techniques

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Tout, Hicham

    2013-01-01

    The majority of documented phishing attacks have been carried by email, yet few studies have measured the impact of email headers on the predictive accuracy of machine learning techniques in detecting email phishing attacks. Research has shown that the inclusion of a limited subset of email headers as features in training machine learning…

  17. A qualitative analysis of email interactions of children who use augmentative and alternative communication.

    PubMed

    Sundqvist, Anett; Rönnberg, Jerker

    2010-12-01

    The aim of this study was to introduce email as a form of interaction for a group of six children who used augmentative and alternative communication. In a 12-week exploratory study, aspects of the email messages sent were analyzed. The content of the messages was analyzed by an inductive qualitative method, and seven descriptive categories emerged. The most frequently occurring categories were Social Etiquette, Personal/Family Statistics and Personal Common Ground. The children utilized different email strategies that included use of most of the above-mentioned categories. Through the email writing practice, the children developed new social skills and increased their social participation. Email practice may be a good strategy to increase children's social networks.

  18. Physicians’ Use of Email With Patients: Factors Influencing Electronic Communication and Adherence to Best Practices

    PubMed Central

    Menachemi, Nir

    2006-01-01

    Background With the public’s increased use of the Internet, the use of email as a means of communication between patients and physicians will likely increase. Yet, despite evidence of increased interest by patients, email use by physicians for clinical care has been slow. Objective To examine the factors associated with physician-patient email, and report on the physicians’ adherence to recognized guidelines for email communication. Methods Cross-sectional survey (March–May, 2005) of all primary care physicians (n = 10253), and a 25% stratified, random sample of all ambulatory clinical specialists (n = 3954) in the state of Florida. Physicians were surveyed on email use with patients, adherence to recognized guidelines, and demographics. Results The 4203 physicians completed the questionnaire (a 28.2% participation rate). Of these, 689 (16.6%) had personally used email to communicate with patients. Only 120 (2.9%) used email with patients frequently. In univariate analysis, email use correlated with physician age (decreased use: age > 61; P = .014), race (decreased use: Asian background; P < .001), medical training (increased use: family medicine, P = .001; or surgical specialty, P = .007; but not internal medicine, P = .112), practice size (> 50 physicians, P < .001), and geographic location (urban 17.2% vs. rural, 7.9%; P < .001). Multivariate modeling showed that only practice size greater than 50 (OR = 1.94; 95% CI = 1.01-3.79) and Asian-American race (OR = 0.26; 95% CI = 0.14-0.49) were related to email use with patients. Remarkably, only 46 physicians (6.7%) adhered to at least half of the 13 selected guidelines for email communication. Conclusions This large survey of physicians, practicing in ambulatory settings, shows only modest advances in the adoption of email communication, and little adherence to recognized guidelines for email correspondence. Further efforts are required to educate both patients and physicians on the advantages and limitations

  19. Crossing the Threshold of Rocket Mail: E-Mail Use by U.S. Humanities Faculty.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bridges, Anne E.; Clement, Russell T.

    1997-01-01

    Discusses the use of e-mail by humanities faculty based on an e-mail survey of faculty at Brigham Young University (Utah) and the University of Tennessee at Knoxville. Results indicate that humanities faculty are significantly heavier e-mail users than previously reported. (LRW)

  20. Can Email Prompting Minimize the Decrease in Wintertime Physical Activity Levels?

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Liguori, Gary; Mozumdar, Arupendra

    2007-01-01

    The primary purpose of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of using email prompts to attenuate the decrease of physical activity in adults during a winter season. In addition, the secondary purposes were (1) to evaluate the effectiveness of email prompts at increasing motivation towards physical activity and (2) to evaluate the awareness…

  1. The STRENGTH Ezine: an application of e-mail for health promotion in adolescent girls.

    PubMed

    Abroms, Lorien C; Fagan, Pebbles; Eisenberg, Marla E; Lee, Hye-Seung H; Remba, Natania; Sorensen, Glorian

    2004-01-01

    Few studies have investigated the efficacy of e-mail for promoting behavior change. This study evaluates the participation in and outcomes associated with an e-mail-based health promotion program. Adolescent girls aged 15 to 17 years were recruited at a shopping mall. Participants with an e-mail address were assigned to the interactive e-mail magazine (Ezine) group (n = 37), whereas those not reporting an e-mail address were assigned to the non-Ezine group (n = 33). Participants in the Ezine group received the health Ezine, which included a quiz and an advice column, on a weekly basis. Results indicate that among the Ezine group, there was a high recall of the Ezine (81.1%), and more than one third of the participants replied to Ezine volumes with quiz answers or an advice question (36.6%). Differences in health behavior change between the Ezine and non-Ezine groups were not significant. E-mails on health-related matters can generate moderate levels of involvement in adolescent girls. Given the widespread use of e-mail, more studies are needed on the effective application of e-mail for health behavior change.

  2. Analysis of Naïve Bayes Algorithm for Email Spam Filtering across Multiple Datasets

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Fitriah Rusland, Nurul; Wahid, Norfaradilla; Kasim, Shahreen; Hafit, Hanayanti

    2017-08-01

    E-mail spam continues to become a problem on the Internet. Spammed e-mail may contain many copies of the same message, commercial advertisement or other irrelevant posts like pornographic content. In previous research, different filtering techniques are used to detect these e-mails such as using Random Forest, Naïve Bayesian, Support Vector Machine (SVM) and Neutral Network. In this research, we test Naïve Bayes algorithm for e-mail spam filtering on two datasets and test its performance, i.e., Spam Data and SPAMBASE datasets [8]. The performance of the datasets is evaluated based on their accuracy, recall, precision and F-measure. Our research use WEKA tool for the evaluation of Naïve Bayes algorithm for e-mail spam filtering on both datasets. The result shows that the type of email and the number of instances of the dataset has an influence towards the performance of Naïve Bayes.

  3. Ethical Judgments Concerning Email Use in the Workplace: University Students' Perceptions.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Keith, Nancy; Perreault, Heidi; Sutliff, Kris

    2001-01-01

    A survey of 1,272 college students showed that most believed it appropriate to use company e-mail accounts for personal messages, but inappropriate to read others' e-mail or send messages with ethnic, racial, or sexual content. Students who participated in ethics discussions were less likely to rate certain behaviors as appropriate. (Contains 22…

  4. Location Is Everything: The Use and Marketing of Reference E-Mail

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Collins, Susan L.

    2006-01-01

    Reference e-mail continues to be a vital reference service. This article studies the trends in reference e-mail use over an eight year period. Usage statistics are analyzed particularly in light of the marketing of the service via changes in the location of the service on the official university libraries' Web pages. Included are recommendations…

  5. Report on Climate Change E-mails Exonerates Scientists

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Showstack, Randy

    2010-07-01

    A new report commissioned by the University of East Anglia (UEA) has largely exonerated climate scientists from the university's Climatic Research Unit (CRU) who wrote a number of controversial e-mail messages that were made public without authorization in November 2009. Critics have argued that the e-mails indicate that scientists had tampered with scientific data—including data related to land station temperatures and temperature reconstructions from tree ring analysis—subverted the peer review process, misused the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) process, and withheld data from critics. At a 7 July news conference to release the “Independent climate change e-mails review,” report chair Muir Russell said, “Climate science is a matter of such global importance that the highest standards of honesty, rigor, and openness are needed in its conduct. On the specific allegations made against the behavior of CRU scientists, we find that their rigor and honesty as scientists are not in doubt.” He continued, “In addition, we do not find that their behavior has prejudiced the balance of advice given to policy makers. In particular, we did not find any evidence of behavior that might undermine the conclusions of the IPCC assessments.” Russell is chair of the Judicial Appointments Board for Scotland and formerly was principal and vice-chancellor of the University of Glasgow, in Scotland.

  6. [E-mail in psychotherapy--an aftercare model via electronic mail for psychotherapy inpatients].

    PubMed

    Wolf, Markus; Maurer, Wolf-Jürgen; Dogs, Peter; Kordy, Hans

    2006-01-01

    We introduce an aftercare program for psychotherapy inpatients, which is based on regular communication via E-mail. The organizational and operational structure of the program are described within the context of computer mediated communication. First results on utilization and acceptance are reported. In comparison to patients who did not participate in either aftercare program of the clinic, the E-mail participants are younger and higher educated. Inpatient treatment of the participants was three days shorter in duration than that of non participants. Both groups were similar with regard to symptom distress at discharge from hospital. A low dropout rate of 8%, the high activity and satisfaction emphasize the positive acceptance of the program. Therapists' E-mail activity turned out to be important for the participants. Neither age, internet experience or symptom related variables nor the own E-mail activity were associated with participants' evaluation of the new service. Based on these first positive experiences the perspectives of using E-mail in psychotherapy will be discussed.

  7. Online Counseling Using Email: A Qualitative Study

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Salleh, Amla; Hamzah, Ramlan; Nordin, Norazah; Ghavifekr, Simin; Joorabchi, Toktam Namyandeh

    2015-01-01

    Despite numerous studies in increasingly popular online mental health service, the nature of the relationship between online counselors and their clients, particularly in the email modality, deserves more attention. To enhance the knowledge in this area, this study was conducted to explore whether the online counseling relationship could be…

  8. Beemsterboer email discussion Jan. 10 - Mar. 4, 2014

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    A series of emails between Beemsterboer Slag Corp. and the Air Enforcement department of EPA Region 5 regarding site monitoring, and transportation of pet coke and met coke from facilities in Chicago, Illinois.

  9. Postgraduate Supervision: E-Mail as an Alternative

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    White, Toy; Coetzee, Elsabe

    2014-01-01

    Supervisors at higher education institutions cannot ignore the possibilities created by technology, and for the sake of this article, e-mail, as an aid for supervision on postgraduate level. After completing the modules for the Magister Technologiae (M Tech): Education qualification, students are required to complete a dissertation of limited…

  10. Understanding Patient Experience Using Internet-based Email Surveys: A Feasibility Study at Mount Sinai Hospital.

    PubMed

    Morgan, Matthew; Lau, Davina; Jivraj, Tanaz; Principi, Tania; Dietrich, Sandra; Bell, Chaim M

    2015-01-01

    Email is becoming a widely accepted communication tool in healthcare settings. This study sought to test the feasibility of Internet-based email surveys of patient experience in the ambulatory setting. We conducted a study of email Internet-based surveys sent to patients in selected ambulatory clinics at Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto, Canada. Our findings suggest that email links to Internet surveys are a feasible, timely and efficient method to solicit patient feedback about their experience. Further research is required to optimally leverage Internet-based email surveys as a tool to better understand the patient experience.

  11. Weight problems and spam e-mail for weight loss products.

    PubMed

    Fogel, Joshua; Shlivko, Sam

    2010-01-01

    This study focuses on young adult behaviors with regard to spam e-mails that sell weight loss products. Participants (N = 200) with and without weight problems were asked if they received, opened, and bought products from spam e-mail about weight loss topics in the past year. Psychological factors of self-esteem and perceived stress were measured. Those with weight problems had significantly greater percentages than those without weight problems for receiving (87.7% vs. 73.3%, P = 0.02), opening (41.5% vs. 17.8%, P <0.001), and buying products (18.5% vs. 5.2%, P = 0.003). In the multivariate logistic regression analyses, weight problems were significantly associated with receiving (OR: 3.39, 95% CI: 1.31, 8.82), opening (OR: 3.10, 95% CI: 1.53, 6.29), and buying products (OR: 3.38, 95% CI: 1.16, 9.82). Physicians should consider discussing with patients the potential risks of opening and/or purchasing weight loss products from spam e-mails.

  12. Using PLSI-U To Detect Insider Threats from Email Traffic

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Okolica, James; Peterson, Gilbert; Mills, Robert

    Despite a technology bias that focuses on external electronic threats, insiders pose the greatest threat to commercial and government organizations. Once information on a specific topic has gone missing, being able to quickly determine who has shown an interest in that topic can allow investigators to focus their attention. Even more promising is when individuals can be found who have an interest in the topic but who have never communicated that interest within the organization. An employee's interests can be discerned by data mining corporate email correspondence. These interests can be used to construct social networks that graphically expose investigative leads. This paper describes the use of Probabilistic Latent Semantic Indexing (PLSI) [4] extended to include users (PLSI-U) to determine topics that are of interest to employees from their email activity. It then applies PLSI-U to the Enron email corpus and finds a small number of employees (0.02%) who appear to have had clandestine interests.

  13. Promoting Engagement With a Digital Health Intervention (HeLP-Diabetes) Using Email and Text Message Prompts: Mixed-Methods Study

    PubMed Central

    Modrow, Kerstin; Hamilton, Fiona; Pal, Kingshuk; Ross, Jamie

    2017-01-01

    Background Engagement with digital health interventions (DHIs) may be regarded as a prerequisite for the intervention to achieve positive health or behavior change outcomes. One method employed to promote engagement is the use of prompts such as emails and text messages. However, little is known about the characteristics of prompts that promote engagement. This study explored the association between the content and delivery mode of prompts and the users’ engagement with HeLP-Diabetes (Healthy Living for People with type 2 Diabetes), a DHI that aimed to promote self-management in adults with type 2 diabetes. Objective The objective of this study was to identify the characteristics of prompts, specifically the content and delivery mode, which were associated with increased engagement. Methods This was a mixed-methods study. Email and text message prompts were sent to the registered users of HeLP-Diabetes. Use of the intervention was recorded and examined to identify which email and text message prompts were associated with subsequent visits to the DHI. Characteristics of prompts that were identified as particularly effective or ineffective were explored through think-aloud interviews with the participants. Results Of a total of 39 email prompts, 49% (19/39) prompts showed a significant association with subsequent visits to the DHI. However, none of the text message prompts were associated with subsequent visits to the DHI. Furthermore, think-aloud interviews were carried out with 6 experienced participants with type 2 diabetes. The findings suggest that these participants preferred email prompts that were clear, relatively short, and empowering; used nondirective advice; included health professional references; were visually appealing; and contained news and updates. Conclusions The findings of this study contribute to the existing evidence supporting the role of email prompts in promoting and maintaining engagement with DHIs. This study described the content of

  14. Pragmatic Failure of Turkish EFL Learners in Request Emails to Their Professors

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Burgucu-Tazegül, Assiye; Han, Turgay; Engin, Ali Osman

    2016-01-01

    In an established convention regarding the e-mail communication setting, the e-mails should be linguistically polite to facilitate interaction by reducing the likelihood of conflicts and preventing pragmatic failure regarding the comprehension of any meaning conveyed by what is stated. These are potential problems for most…

  15. Comparing appropriateness and equivalence of email interviews to phone interviews in qualitative research on reproductive decisions.

    PubMed

    Hershberger, Patricia E; Kavanaugh, Karen

    2017-10-01

    Despite an increasing use of qualitative email interviews by nurse researchers, there is little understanding about the appropriateness and equivalence of email interviews to other qualitative data collection methods, especially on sensitive topics research. The purpose is to describe our procedures for completing asynchronous, email interviews and to evaluate the appropriateness and equivalency of email interviews to phone interviews in two qualitative research studies that examined reproductive decisions. Content analysis guided the methodological appraisal of appropriateness and equivalency of in-depth, asynchronous email interviews to single phone interviews. Appropriateness was determined by: (a) participants' willingness to engage in email or phone interviews, (b) completing data collection in a timely period, and (c) participants' satisfaction with the interview. Equivalency was evaluated by: (a) completeness of the interview data, and (b) insight obtained from the data. Of the combined sample in the two studies (N=71), 31% of participants chose to participate via an email interview over a phone interview. The time needed to complete the email interviews averaged 27 to 28days and the number of investigator probe-participant response interchanges was 4 to 5cycles on average. In contrast, the phone interviews averaged 59 to 61min in duration. Most participants in both the email and phone interviews reported they were satisfied or very satisfied with their ability to express their true feelings throughout the interview. Regarding equivalence, 100% of the email and phone interviews provided insight into decision processes. Although insightful, two of the email and one phone interview had short answers or, at times, underdeveloped responses. Participants' quotes and behaviors cited within four published articles, a novel evaluation of equivalency, revealed that 20% to 37.5% of the citations about decision processes were from email participants, which is

  16. Fighting Spam: Moving Email to the Cloud

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Schrader, Andrew

    2011-01-01

    On average, more than 90% of email is unwanted junk mail--spam. Many spam messages include annoying promotions for irrelevant products, but others include viruses and pornographic content, which can pose a severe legal issue for schools. Spam puts districts in a difficult situation as schools try to enhance learning in the classroom with advanced…

  17. Network Analysis with the Enron Email Corpus

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hardin, J. S.; Sarkis, G.; URC, P. .

    2015-01-01

    We use the Enron email corpus to study relationships in a network by applying six different measures of centrality. Our results came out of an in-semester undergraduate research seminar. The Enron corpus is well suited to statistical analyses at all levels of undergraduate education. Through this article's focus on centrality, students can explore…

  18. Do Family Physicians Retrieve Synopses of Clinical Research Previously Read as Email Alerts?

    PubMed Central

    Pluye, Pierre; Johnson-Lafleur, Janique; Granikov, Vera; Shulha, Michael; Bartlett, Gillian; Marlow, Bernard

    2011-01-01

    Background A synopsis of new clinical research highlights important aspects of one study in a brief structured format. When delivered as email alerts, synopses enable clinicians to become aware of new developments relevant for practice. Once read, a synopsis can become a known item of clinical information. In time-pressured situations, remembering a known item may facilitate information retrieval by the clinician. However, exactly how synopses first delivered as email alerts influence retrieval at some later time is not known. Objectives We examined searches for clinical information in which a synopsis previously read as an email alert was retrieved (defined as a dyad). Our study objectives were to (1) examine whether family physicians retrieved synopses they previously read as email alerts and then to (2) explore whether family physicians purposefully retrieved these synopses. Methods We conducted a mixed-methods study in which a qualitative multiple case study explored the retrieval of email alerts within a prospective longitudinal cohort of practicing family physicians. Reading of research-based synopses was tracked in two contexts: (1) push, meaning to read on email and (2) pull, meaning to read after retrieval from one electronic knowledge resource. Dyads, defined as synopses first read as email alerts and subsequently retrieved in a search of a knowledge resource, were prospectively identified. Participants were interviewed about all of their dyads. Outcomes were the total number of dyads and their type. Results Over a period of 341 days, 194 unique synopses delivered to 41 participants resulted in 4937 synopsis readings. In all, 1205 synopses were retrieved over an average of 320 days. Of the 1205 retrieved synopses, 21 (1.7%) were dyads made by 17 family physicians. Of the 1205 retrieved synopses, 6 (0.5%) were known item type dyads. However, dyads also occurred serendipitously. Conclusion In the single knowledge resource we studied, email alerts containing

  19. [Email in a dedicated headache clinic: experience gained over a five-year period].

    PubMed

    Pedraza, M Isabel; Herrero-Velázquez, Sonia; López-Mesonero, Luis; Ruiz-Piñero, Marina; Posadas, Javier; Guerrero-Peral, Ángel L

    2015-06-16

    The use of email can facilitate communication between the different levels of an organisation. Our primary care physicians have had an email service in the dedicated headache clinic (DHC) since November 2009, and our aim is therefore to analyse the use of email over that five-year period. Data concerning the emails sent up until October 2014 were collected prospectively. The questions were classified as need for referral to the DHC (group 1), progress made by the cases seen in the DHC (group 2), training in headaches (group 3) or the treatment of the headaches suffered by primary care physicians themselves as patients (group 4). A total of 274 email messages were analysed. Monthly consultations have increased (from 1.5 per month during the first year to 7.5 per month during the fifth). Findings showed that 10.2% of the email messages came from rural health centres and 89.8% were sent from urban health centres. Replies were sent within 2 ± 2.8 days (range: 0-24 days). Altogether 130 consultations were classified as belonging to group 1 (47.4%), in which referral through the normal channel was recommended in 60 cases (46.2%), via the preferential channel in 47 (36.2%) and non-referral was suggested in 23 cases (17.6%). Group 2 included 125 emails (45.7%) and in 80 cases there was no need to make a new appointment or to bring forward the existing one (64%). Thirteen visits (4.7%) were classified into group 3 and six (2.2%) in group 4. Our primary care physicians are using the email of the DHC on an increasingly more frequent basis. Its use makes it possible to detect patients whose appointment -whether the first or a follow-up- needs to be brought forward, as well as allowing issues to be solved without the need for referral. It is effective for the treatment of physicians who themselves have headaches and as a tool for continuing education.

  20. Do family physicians retrieve synopses of clinical research previously read as email alerts?

    PubMed

    Grad, Roland; Pluye, Pierre; Johnson-Lafleur, Janique; Granikov, Vera; Shulha, Michael; Bartlett, Gillian; Marlow, Bernard

    2011-11-30

    A synopsis of new clinical research highlights important aspects of one study in a brief structured format. When delivered as email alerts, synopses enable clinicians to become aware of new developments relevant for practice. Once read, a synopsis can become a known item of clinical information. In time-pressured situations, remembering a known item may facilitate information retrieval by the clinician. However, exactly how synopses first delivered as email alerts influence retrieval at some later time is not known. We examined searches for clinical information in which a synopsis previously read as an email alert was retrieved (defined as a dyad). Our study objectives were to (1) examine whether family physicians retrieved synopses they previously read as email alerts and then to (2) explore whether family physicians purposefully retrieved these synopses. We conducted a mixed-methods study in which a qualitative multiple case study explored the retrieval of email alerts within a prospective longitudinal cohort of practicing family physicians. Reading of research-based synopses was tracked in two contexts: (1) push, meaning to read on email and (2) pull, meaning to read after retrieval from one electronic knowledge resource. Dyads, defined as synopses first read as email alerts and subsequently retrieved in a search of a knowledge resource, were prospectively identified. Participants were interviewed about all of their dyads. Outcomes were the total number of dyads and their type. Over a period of 341 days, 194 unique synopses delivered to 41 participants resulted in 4937 synopsis readings. In all, 1205 synopses were retrieved over an average of 320 days. Of the 1205 retrieved synopses, 21 (1.7%) were dyads made by 17 family physicians. Of the 1205 retrieved synopses, 6 (0.5%) were known item type dyads. However, dyads also occurred serendipitously. In the single knowledge resource we studied, email alerts containing research-based synopses were rarely retrieved

  1. 49 CFR 551.63 - May a foreign manufacturer submit a designation by email or facsimile?

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... email or facsimile? 551.63 Section 551.63 Transportation Other Regulations Relating to Transportation... foreign manufacturer submit a designation by email or facsimile? No, the statute requires designation... designation documents submitted via email or facsimile, as they do not satisfy this requirement. ...

  2. Cyber Exercise Playbook

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2014-11-01

    unclassified tools and techniques that can be shared with PNs, to include social engineering, spear phishing , fake web sites, physical access attempts, and...and instead rely on commercial services such as Yahoo or Google . Some nations have quite advanced cyber security practices, but may take vastly...unauthorized access to data/systems Inject external network scanning, email phishing , malicious website access, social engineering Sample

  3. Colleges Get out of E-Mail Business

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Carnevale, Dan

    2008-01-01

    Frantic troubleshooting by an overworked staff versus someone else fixing problems smoothly. A sliver of server space per person versus a five-gigabyte chunk. Half a million dollars versus free. That's what colleges are faced with as they decide whether to continue running their own e-mail services or outsource them to a professional service like…

  4. Development of an E-mail Application Seemit and its Utilization in an Information Literacy Course

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kita, Toshihiro; Miyazaki, Makoto; Nakano, Hiroshi; Sugitani, Kenichi; Akiyama, Hidenori

    We have developed a simple e-mail application named Seemit which is designed for being used in information literacy courses. It has necessary and sufficient functionality of an e-mail application, and it has been developed for the purpose of learning basic operations and mechanisms of e-mail transfer easily. It is equipped with the function to automatically set the configuration of user's SMTP/POP servers and e-mail address, etc. The process of transferring e-mail via SMTP and POP can be demonstrated step by step showing actual messages passed during the client-server interaction. We have utilized Seemit in a university-wide information literacy course which holds about 1800 students.

  5. A Mixed-Methods Study of Patient-Provider E-mail Content in a Safety-Net Setting

    PubMed Central

    Mirsky, Jacob B.; Tieu, Lina; Lyles, Courtney; Sarkar, Urmimala

    2016-01-01

    Objective To explore the content of patient-provider e-mails in a safety-net primary care clinic. Methods We conducted a content analysis using inductive and deductive coding of e-mail exchanges (n=31) collected from January through November of 2013. Participants were English-speaking adult patients with a chronic condition (or their caregivers) cared for at a single publicly-funded general internal medicine clinic and their primary care providers (attending general internist physicians, clinical fellows, internal medicine residents, and nurse practitioners). Results All e-mails were non-urgent. Patients included a medical update in 19% of all e-mails. Patients requested action in 77% of e-mails, and the most common requests overall were for action regarding medications or treatment (29%). Requests for information were less common (45% of e-mails). Patient requests (n=56) were resolved in 84% of e-mail exchanges, resulting in 63 actions. Conclusion Patients in safety-net clinics are capable of safely and effectively using electronic messaging for between-visit communication with providers. Practical Implications Safety-net systems should implement electronic communications tools as soon as possible to increase healthcare access and enhance patient involvement in their care. PMID:26332306

  6. Using Email to Enable E[superscript 3] (Effective, Efficient, and Engaging) Learning

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kim, ChanMin

    2008-01-01

    This article argues that technology that supports both noncognitive and cognitive aspects can make learning more effective, efficient, and engaging (e[superscript 3]-learning). The technology of interest in this article is email. The investigation focuses on characteristics of email that are likely to enable e[superscript 3]-learning. In addition,…

  7. E-Mail Communication Practices and Preferences Among Patients and Providers in a Large Comprehensive Cancer Center.

    PubMed

    Cook, Natalie; Maganti, Manjula; Dobriyal, Aditi; Sheinis, Michal; Wei, Alice C; Ringash, Jolie; Krzyzanowska, Monika K

    2016-07-01

    Little is known about how electronic mail (e-mail) is currently used in oncology practice to facilitate patient care. The objective of our study was to understand the current e-mail practices and preferences of patients and physicians in a large comprehensive cancer center. Separate cross-sectional surveys were administered to patients and physicians (staff physicians and clinical fellows) at the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre. Logistic regression was used to identify factors associated with current e-mail use. Record review was performed to assess the impact of e-mail communication on care. The survey was completed by 833 patients. E-mail contact with a member of the health care team was reported by 41% of respondents. The team members contacted included administrative assistants (52%), nurses (45%), specialist physicians (36%), and family physicians (18%). Patient factors associated with a higher likelihood of e-mail contact with the health care team included younger age, higher education, higher income, enrollment in a clinical trial, and receipt of multiple treatments. Eighty percent of physicians (n = 63 of 79) reported previous contact with a patient via e-mail. Physician factors associated with a greater likelihood of e-mail contact with patients included older age, more senior clinical position, and higher patient volume. Nine hundred sixty-two patient records were reviewed, with e-mail correspondence documented in only 9% of cases. E-mail is commonly used for patient care but is poorly documented. The use of e-mail in this setting can be developed with appropriate guidance; however, there may be concerns about widening the gap between certain groups of patients. Copyright © 2016 by American Society of Clinical Oncology.

  8. Social work practice in the digital age: therapeutic e-mail as a direct practice methodology.

    PubMed

    Mattison, Marian

    2012-07-01

    The author addresses the risks and benefits of incorporating therapeutic e-mail communication into clinical social work practice. Consumer demand for online clinical services is growing faster than the professional response. E-mail, when used as an adjunct to traditional meetings with clients, offers distinct advantages and risks. Benefits include the potential to reach clients in geographically remote and underserved communities, enhancing and extending the therapeutic relationship and improving treatment outcomes. Risks include threats to client confidentiality and privacy, liability coverage for practitioners, licensing jurisdiction, and the lack of competency standards for delivering e-mail interventions. Currently, the social work profession does not have adequate instructive guidelines and best-practice standards for using e-mail as a direct practice methodology. Practitioners need (formal) academic training in the techniques connected to e-mail exchanges with clients. The author describes the ethical and legal risks for practitioners using therapeutic e-mail with clients and identifies recommendations for establishing best-practice standards.

  9. Use of email in a family practice setting: opportunities and challenges in patient- and physician-initiated communication

    PubMed Central

    Virji, Ayaz; Yarnall, Kimberly SH; Krause, Katrina M; Pollak, Kathryn I; Scannell, Margaret A; Gradison, Margaret; Østbye, Truls

    2006-01-01

    Background Electronic mail (email) has the potential to improve communication between physicians and patients. Methods We conducted two research studies in a family practice setting: 1) a brief, anonymous patient survey of a convenience sample to determine the number of clinic patients receptive to communicating with their physician via email, and 2) a randomized, controlled pilot study to assess the feasibility of providing health education via email to family practice patients. Results Sixty-eight percent of patients used email, and the majority of those (80%) were interested in using email to communicate with the clinic. The majority also reported that their email address changed less frequently than their home address (65%, n = 173) or telephone number (68%, n = 181). Forty-two percent were willing to pay an out-of-pocket fee to have email access to their physicians. When evaluating email initiated by the clinic, 26% of otherwise eligible patients could not participate because they lacked email access; those people were more likely to be black and to be insured through Medicaid. Twenty-four subjects agreed to participate, but one-third failed to return the required consent form by mail. All participants who received the intervention emails said they would like to receive health education emails in the future. Conclusion Our survey results show that patients are interested in email communication with the family practice clinic. Our feasibility study also illustrates important challenges in physician-initiated electronic communication. The 'digital divide' – decreased access to electronic technologies in lower income groups – is an ethical concern in the use of email for patient-physician communication. PMID:16911780

  10. Perceived Barriers to and Facilitators of Patient-to-Provider E-Mail in the Management of Diabetes Care.

    PubMed

    Popeski, Naomi; McKeen, Caitlin; Khokhar, Bushra; Edwards, Alun; Ghali, William A; Sargious, Peter; White, Debbie; Hebert, Marilynne; Rabi, Doreen M

    2015-12-01

    1) to describe current utilization of e-mail in the clinical care of patients with diabetes; and 2) to identify barriers to and facilitators of the adoption of e-mail in diabetes care. Participants included diabetes care providers, including 9 physicians and 7 allied health professionals (AHPs). Participation involved, first, completing a self-administered survey to evaluate the use of e-mail within diabetes-related clinical practice. Second, focus group discussions were conducted with diabetes care providers using semistructured interviews to collect data about their perceptions of using e-mail to exchange information with patients diagnosed with diabetes. Patients' perspectives on the use of e-communication with their care providers was also proposed on the basis of the discussions. Significant differences were found between physicians and AHPs concerning questions that were related to the use of e-mail and the amount of time spent using e-mail to communicate to patients. There was perceived function and value to the use of e-mail among AHPs, while few physicians used e-mail routinely and were uncertain about its potential in improving care. Five themes, including barriers, benefits, risks, safeguards and compensation, were developed from the focus group interviews. Currently, most of the physicians surveyed do not e-mail patients directly; however, AHPs frequently use e-mail in diabetes care and find this tool valuable. Variation in practices regarding clinical e-mail across care disciplines suggest that appropriate policy with guidelines for e-mail and e-communication within the health care system may improve uptake of clinical e-mail and perhaps, by extension, improve efficiency and access in diabetes care. Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier Inc.

  11. Districts Weigh Benefits and Drawbacks of Setting Up Student E-Mail Accounts

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ash, Katie

    2008-01-01

    Some school districts hoping to improve communication and student engagement in learning are taking a step many educators still view warily: providing students with their own e-mail accounts. However, making e-mail a regular part of students' school lives raises a host of concerns about inappropriate use. In addition, many teachers doubt that the…

  12. Internet and e-mail use in ENT: a survey of patient usage and satisfaction.

    PubMed

    Shaw, B; Farboud, A; Trinidade, A; Kothari, P

    2012-03-01

    Nowadays, internet and e-mail are important modes of communication and information. This paper seeks to determine internet usage as a source of health information amongst ENT patients and to investigate whether patients prefer to communicate primarily with the hospital via e-mail. The method used is a questionnaire study and 201 patients attending an ENT clinic completed questionnaires over 2 weeks in December 2010. Of those with internet access (85%), 37% had used it for health information prior to their appointment; 90% rated the information between average and excellent; over half stated they would like doctor-recommended websites. Overall, 8% had previously used e-mail to communicate with healthcare professionals, but 50% stated that they wished to use e-mail in the future. ENT patients are becoming increasingly computer-literate. As healthcare professionals, we must do more to incorporate the internet as a source of reliable healthcare information. Properly implemented, e-mail can become an invaluable method of communication with patients.

  13. The Development of E-Mail Literacy: From Writing to Peers to Writing to Authority Figures

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Chen, Chi-Fen Emily

    2006-01-01

    Though e-mail has become a common interpersonal communication medium, it does not mean that this medium is used without difficulty. While people can write e-mails to peers in any manner they like, writing e-mails to authority figures requires higher pragmatic competence and critical language awareness of how discourse shapes and reflects power…

  14. Langley Communications: Socializing and Snooping on E-mail.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Rymer, Jone

    1998-01-01

    Presents a case study for use in business communication classes to help students understand and learn both the context and the strategies for the communication with business management. Deals with a business problem revolving around issues of appropriate e-mail use and privacy. Includes five assignments. (SR)

  15. E-mail marketing grows up: a primer for the managed care industry.

    PubMed

    Dysart, J

    2000-02-01

    Managed care plans are jumping onto the electronic marketing bandwagon in a big way, taking advantage of not only the basic E-mail system but also expanding on that medium and developing creative vehicles to send the health plan's message. In this article, the author describes how E-mail technology is being used to hone the marketing edge in MCOs.

  16. Email solicitation for scholarly work--a single researcher's perspective.

    PubMed

    Bugeja, Justine; Grech, Victor

    2015-01-01

    Publishing is important for career progression. The traditional journal model results in subscribers bearing publication costs. The eagerness with which researchers seek journals for the publishing of their work, along with the internet, has resulted in the creation of a new model called open access (OA). Author/s or their institution/s pay an actual publication fee. This has in turn resulted in the creation of questionable journals which charge steep publishing fees. Emails soliciting publication to one of the authors (VG) were collected for the month of March 2015. Information collected included costs of OA publishing, and whether or not this information was readily available. The appropriateness of said solicitations was also assessed with regard to topics with which the targeted author was familiar. There was a total of 44 solicitations: 3 were duplicates. Out of 41 solicitations, 20 (49%) were appropriate. The open access fee was readily available in 27 out of 41 solicitations (66%). The open access fee averaged $475, ranging from $25 to $1500. The only journal which provided true OA was Medical Principles and Practice, with no fees charged whatsoever. Potential authors should carefully investigate OA journals prior to choosing journals wherein to submit their work.

  17. E-mail to Promote Colorectal Cancer Screening Within Social Networks: Acceptability and Content

    PubMed Central

    CUTRONA, SARAH L.; WAGNER, JOANN; ROBLIN, DOUGLAS W.; GAGLIO, BRIDGET; WILLIAMS, ANDREW; TORRES-STONE, ROSALIE; MAZOR, KATHLEEN M.

    2016-01-01

    Effective techniques to encourage colorectal cancer (CRC) screening in underscreened populations have included social support interventions and email reminders from physicians. Personalized email messages to promote CRC screening within social networks could be even more effective, but have not been studied. We interviewed 387 email users, aged 42-73 years in Massachusetts, Hawaii, and Georgia. Participants were asked to edit a sample message in which the sender shares a recent colonoscopy experience and urges the recipient to discuss CRC screening with a doctor. For those reporting willingness to send this message, changes to the message and suggested subject lines were recorded. Edited text was analyzed for content and concordance with original message. The majority of participants (74.4%) were willing to email a modifiable message. Of those willing, 63.5% edited the message. Common edits included deletion (17.7%) or modification (17.4%) of a negatively framed sentence on colon cancer risks and addition or modification of personalizing words (15.6%). Few edits changed the meaning of the message (5.6%) and even fewer introduced factual inaccuracies (1.7%). Modifiable email messages offer a way for screened individuals to promote CRC screening to social network members. Accuracy and impact of such messages should be further studied. PMID:25839968

  18. Effect of Media Usage Selection on Social Mobilization Speed: Facebook vs E-Mail.

    PubMed

    Wang, Jing; Madnick, Stuart; Li, Xitong; Alstott, Jeff; Velu, Chander

    2015-01-01

    Social mobilization is a process that enlists a large number of people to achieve a goal within a limited time, especially through the use of social media. There is increasing interest in understanding the factors that affect the speed of social mobilization. Based on the Langley Knights competition data set, we analyzed the differences in mobilization speed between users of Facebook and e-mail. We include other factors that may influence mobilization speed (gender, age, timing, and homophily of information source) in our model as control variables in order to isolate the effect of such factors. We show that, in this experiment, although more people used e-mail to recruit, the mobilization speed of Facebook users was faster than that of those that used e-mail. We were also able to measure and show that the mobilization speed for Facebook users was on average seven times faster compared to e-mail before controlling for other factors. After controlling for other factors, we show that Facebook users were 1.84 times more likely to register compared to e-mail users in the next period if they have not done so at any point in time. This finding could provide useful insights for future social mobilization efforts.

  19. Effect of Media Usage Selection on Social Mobilization Speed: Facebook vs E-Mail

    PubMed Central

    Wang, Jing; Madnick, Stuart; Li, Xitong; Alstott, Jeff; Velu, Chander

    2015-01-01

    Social mobilization is a process that enlists a large number of people to achieve a goal within a limited time, especially through the use of social media. There is increasing interest in understanding the factors that affect the speed of social mobilization. Based on the Langley Knights competition data set, we analyzed the differences in mobilization speed between users of Facebook and e-mail. We include other factors that may influence mobilization speed (gender, age, timing, and homophily of information source) in our model as control variables in order to isolate the effect of such factors. We show that, in this experiment, although more people used e-mail to recruit, the mobilization speed of Facebook users was faster than that of those that used e-mail. We were also able to measure and show that the mobilization speed for Facebook users was on average seven times faster compared to e-mail before controlling for other factors. After controlling for other factors, we show that Facebook users were 1.84 times more likely to register compared to e-mail users in the next period if they have not done so at any point in time. This finding could provide useful insights for future social mobilization efforts. PMID:26422171

  20. Deaf and Hard of Hearing Americans' Instant Messaging and E-mail Use: A National Survey.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bowe, Frank G.

    2002-01-01

    A survey of 884 adults with hearing impairments found they were using e-mail and instant messaging (IM) more than TTY and telecommunications relay services. Virtually all participants had e-mail and IM at home. While the vast majority also had and used e-mail at work, just 1 in 3 had IM. (Contains 2 references.) (Author/CR)

  1. Problems and risks of unsolicited e-mails in patient-physician encounters in travel medicine settings.

    PubMed

    Sing, A; Salzman, J; Sing, D

    2001-01-01

    International travel and use of modern information technology are expressions of modern life style. Seeking on-line travel health advice via E-mail for preventive (teleprevention) or diagnostic reasons may become increasingly popular among patients with financial resources and Internet access. This study was undertaken to compare the behavior of travel clinic or tropical medicine physicians and other providers of travel-related medical information services toward unsolicited E-mails from fictitious patients in pretravel and post-travel scenarios. We also wanted to test the potential of E-mail advice for preventive medicine (teleprevention), and to find out how the "Good Samaritan Law" is observed. Two different E-mails were posted to E-mail addresses of 171 physicians (members of travel health and/or tropical medicine societies) and services offering advice on travel health issues identified by an AltaVista search. These E-mails, from two different fictitious travelers, were asking for advice regarding malaria prophylaxis in a pretravel scenario and describing symptoms suggesting acute malaria. Of the contacted addresses 43.3% and 49.7% respectively, replied to the pre- and post-travel E-mail. Of those suggesting antimalarial chemoprophylaxis in the pretravel scenario, 13.2% proposed inadequate regimens, and at least 3.5% of the post-travel replies were inappropriate. The "Good Samaritan Law" was observed by a significant number of physicians. Both patients and physicians have to be aware of the limitations of E-mail communication. Guidelines protecting physicians against legal and ethical consequences of this new communication technology are urgently needed.

  2. Ribozyme Targeting the Novel Fusion Junction of EGFRvIII in Breast Cancer

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2003-07-01

    targeting the novel junction of EGFRvyII. * Demonstrate the therapeutic efficacy of an anti-EGFRvIll hammerhead ribozyme targeting the endogenous...first demonstration of the therapeutic efficacy of an anti-EGFRvlII hammerhead ribozyme targeting the endogenous EGFRvAII expression against human...202-687-7505.designed and generated a tumor specific hammerhead ribozyme E-mail: Tangc@georgetown.edu targeted to the novel fusion junction of

  3. Relationships between Emotional States and Emoticons in Mobile Phone Email Communication in Japan

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kato, Shogo; Kato, Yuuki; Scott, Douglass

    2009-01-01

    Three related studies conducted on the role of emotional transfer in email messages were studied in order to better understand Japanese college students' online communications and their broader participation in online communications. The first study investigated users' initiatives in preventing emotional misunderstandings when sending email.…

  4. Patient Use of Email, Facebook, and Physician Websites to Communicate with Physicians: A National Online Survey of Retail Pharmacy Users.

    PubMed

    Lee, Joy L; Choudhry, Niteesh K; Wu, Albert W; Matlin, Olga S; Brennan, Troyen A; Shrank, William H

    2016-01-01

    Patient-physician communication often occurs outside the clinic setting; many institutions discourage electronic communication outside of established electronic health record systems. Little empirical data are available on patient interest in electronic communication and Web-based health tools that are technically feasible but not widely available. To explore patient behavior and interest in using the Internet to contact physicians. National cross-sectional online survey. A sample of 4,510 CVS customers with at least one chronic condition in the household was used to target patients with chronic conditions and their caregivers. Subjects were identified from a national panel of over 100,000 retail pharmacy customers. Of those sampled, 2,252 responded (50.0 % response rate). Survey measures included demographic and health information, patient use of email and Facebook to contact physicians, and patient interest in and use of Web-based tools for health. A total of 37 % of patients reported contacting their physicians via email within the last six months, and 18 % via Facebook. Older age was negatively associated with contacting physicians using email (OR 0.57 [95 % CI 0.41-0.78]) or Facebook (OR 0.28 [0.17-0.45]). Non-white race (OR 1.61 [1.18-2.18] and OR 1.82 [1.24-2.67]) and caregiver status (OR 1.58 [1.27-1.96] and OR 1.71 [1.31- 2.23]) were positively associated with using email and Facebook, respectively. Patients were interested in using Web-based tools to fill prescriptions, track their own health, and access health information (37-57 %), but few were currently doing so (4-8 %). In this population of retail pharmacy users, there is strong interest among patients in the use of email and Facebook to communicate with their physicians. The findings highlight the gap between patient interest for online communication and what physicians may currently provide. Improving and accelerating the adoption of secure Web messaging systems is a possible solution that

  5. Speech-based E-mail and driver behavior: effects of an in-vehicle message system interface.

    PubMed

    Jamson, A Hamish; Westerman, Stephen J; Hockey, G Robert J; Carsten, Oliver M J

    2004-01-01

    As mobile office technology becomes more advanced, drivers have increased opportunity to process information "on the move." Although speech-based interfaces can minimize direct interference with driving, the cognitive demands associated with such systems may still cause distraction. We studied the effects on driving performance of an in-vehicle simulated "E-mail" message system; E-mails were either system controlled or driver controlled. A high-fidelity, fixed-base driving simulator was used to test 19 participants on a car-following task. Virtual traffic scenarios varying in driving demand. Drivers compensated for the secondary task by adopting longer headways but showed reduced anticipation of braking requirements and shorter time to collision. Drivers were also less reactive when processing E-mails, demonstrated by a reduction in steering wheel inputs. In most circumstances, there were advantages in providing drivers with control over when E-mails were opened. However, during periods without E-mail interaction in demanding traffic scenarios, drivers showed reduced braking anticipation. This may be a result of increased cognitive costs associated with the decision making process when using a driver-controlled interface when the task of scheduling E-mail acceptance is added to those of driving and E-mail response. Actual or potential applications of this research include the design of speech-based in-vehicle messaging systems.

  6. Measuring Cyber Operations Effectiveness

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2014-11-01

    are advanced firewalls capable of taking limited action to block malicious traffic or hacking attempts. Their capabilities vary widely and must be...using many automated tools, included in the defense hardware and software itself. These devices include hardware and software firewalls , Network...DoD networks are probed millions of times per day…the Air Force blocks roughly two billion threats and denies two million emails each week

  7. The remote diagnosis of malaria using telemedicine or e-mailed images.

    PubMed

    Murray, Clinton K; Mody, Rupal M; Dooley, David P; Hospenthal, Duane R; Horvath, Lynn L; Moran, Kimberly A; Muntz, Ronald W

    2006-12-01

    We determined the ability of blinded remote expert microscopy to identify malaria parasites through transmission of malaria smear images via telemedicine and as e-mail attachments. Protocols for malaria smear transmission included: (1) transmission of sender-selected televised smears at various bandwidths (Bw), (2) transmission of remote reader-directed televised smears at various Bw, and (3) transmission of digital photomicrographs as e-mail attachments. Twenty (14%) of 147 sender-selected, and 13 (6%) of 221 reader-directed, images were deemed unreadable by slide readers. The presence or absence of malaria was correctly identified in 98% of the remaining images. Sixty-four (34%) of 190 digital microphotographs were deemed unreadable, while the presence or absence of malaria was correctly identified in 100% of the remaining images. Correct speciation ranged from 45% to 83% across various transmission methods and Bw. The use of telemedicine and e-mail technology shows promise for the remote diagnosis of malaria.

  8. Usage of insecure E-mail services among researchers with different scientific background.

    PubMed

    Solić, Kresimir; Grgić, Krešimir; Ilakovac, Vesna; Zagar, Drago

    2011-08-01

    Free web‑based e-mail services are considered to have more security flaws than institutional ones, but they are frequently used among scientific researchers for professional communication. The aim of this study was to analyze frequency of usage of the insecure free e-mail services for professional communication among biomedical, economical and technical researchers, who published papers in one of three different journals: Croatian Medical Journal, Automatika and Economic Research. Contact details of the authors who provided their e‑mail address from the papers published in those three journals during one year period were collected. These e‑mail addresses were collected from the electronic archive of the journals in question. The domains of all e‑mail addresses were assessed and contacts were categorized into three groups according to the following types: world-wide known free web‑based e‑mail services, national Internet Service Provider (ISP) e-mail services, and institutional or corporate e-mail addresses. The proportion of authors using free web-based e-mail services, the least secure group type, was highest among biomedical researchers (17.8%) while every e‑mail address collected from the technical journal belonged to the secured institutional e‑mail group type. It seems that all researchers from the technical scientific field and most of the researchers from the economical field value good security practice and use more secure systems for professional communication. High percentage of the biomedical researchers who use insecure e‑mail services may mean that they need to be warned of the possible security disadvantages of those kinds of e‑mail addresses.

  9. Drug-Target Interactions: Prediction Methods and Applications.

    PubMed

    Anusuya, Shanmugam; Kesherwani, Manish; Priya, K Vishnu; Vimala, Antonydhason; Shanmugam, Gnanendra; Velmurugan, Devadasan; Gromiha, M Michael

    2018-01-01

    Identifying the interactions between drugs and target proteins is a key step in drug discovery. This not only aids to understand the disease mechanism, but also helps to identify unexpected therapeutic activity or adverse side effects of drugs. Hence, drug-target interaction prediction becomes an essential tool in the field of drug repurposing. The availability of heterogeneous biological data on known drug-target interactions enabled many researchers to develop various computational methods to decipher unknown drug-target interactions. This review provides an overview on these computational methods for predicting drug-target interactions along with available webservers and databases for drug-target interactions. Further, the applicability of drug-target interactions in various diseases for identifying lead compounds has been outlined. Copyright© Bentham Science Publishers; For any queries, please email at epub@benthamscience.org.

  10. Understanding Style, Language and Etiquette in Email Communication in Higher Education: A Survey

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lewin-Jones, Jenny; Mason, Victoria

    2014-01-01

    This study investigates academic staff and student attitudes to style and etiquette of emails. Data were collected through two online staff and student surveys. Reported use and acceptability of particular features of email style were assessed. Open-ended responses yielded four themes: the balance between formality and informality, relationships,…

  11. Advanced Email Risk Classification and Recipient Decision Assistance

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Estes, Aaron

    2016-01-01

    Email attacks comprise an overwhelming majority of the daily attacks on modern enterprise. "Phishing" is the leading attack vector for the world's most dangerous threats such as the so-called, Advanced Persistent Threat (APT), and hacktivist groups such as Anonymous and LulzSec. The leading mitigation strategy is a combination of user…

  12. Therapeutic neuroscience education via e-mail: a case report.

    PubMed

    Louw, Adriaan

    2014-11-01

    Therapeutic neuroscience education (TNE) aims to alter a patient's thoughts and beliefs about pain and has shown efficacy in treating chronic pain. To date, TNE sessions mainly consist of one-on-one verbal communication. This approach limits availability of TNE to pain patients in remote areas. A 32-year-old patient with chronic low back pain (CLBP) who underwent surgery for thoracic outlet syndrome (TOS) attended a single clinic one-on-one TNE session followed by TNE via electronic mail (e-mail), pacing and graded exposure over a 4-month period. A physical examination, Numeric Rating Scale (NRS), Oswestry Disability Index (ODI), the Disabilities of Arm, Shoulder and Hand (DASH), and Fear-Avoidance Beliefs Questionnaire (FABQ) were assessed during her initial physical therapy visit as well as 1 and 4 months later. Pre-TNE, the patient reported: NPRS (arm) = 7/10; NPRS (leg) = 4/10; ODI = 10.0%; DASH = 36.7%; FABQ-W = 24; and FABQ-PA = 17. After 5 e-mail sessions all outcome measures improved, most noticeably NRS (arm) = 2/10; NRS (leg) = 0/10; DASH = 16.7%; FABQ-W = 8; and FABQ-PA = 7. TNE can potentially be delivered to suffering pain patients in remote areas or to individuals who have time and financial constraints, and likely at a significant reduced cost via e-mail.

  13. Email Between Patient and Provider: Assessing the Attitudes and Perspectives of 624 Primary Health Care Patients.

    PubMed

    Seth, Puneet; Abu-Abed, Mohamed Ismail; Kapoor, Vikram; Nicholson, Kathryn; Agarwal, Gina

    2016-12-22

    Email between patients and their health care providers can serve as a continuous and collaborative forum to improve access to care, enhance convenience of communication, reduce administrative costs and missed appointments, and improve satisfaction with the patient-provider relationship. The main objective of this study was to investigate the attitudes of patients aged 16 years and older toward receiving email communication for health-related purposes from an academic inner-city family health team in Southern Ontario. In addition to exploring the proportion of patients with a functioning email address and interest in email communication with their health care provider, we also examined patient-level predictors of interest in email communication. A cross-sectional study was conducted using a self-administered, 1-page survey of attitudes toward electronic communication for health purposes. Participants were recruited from attending patients at the McMaster Family Practice in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. These patients were aged 16 years and older and were approached consecutively to complete the self-administered survey (N=624). Descriptive analyses were conducted using the Pearson chi-square test to examine correlations between variables. A logistic regression analysis was conducted to determine statistically significant predictors of interest in email communication (yes or no). The majority of respondents (73.2%, 457/624) reported that they would be willing to have their health care provider (from the McMaster Family Practice) contact them via email to communicate health-related information. Those respondents who checked their personal email more frequently were less likely to want to engage in this electronic communication. Among respondents who check their email less frequently (fewer than every 3 days), 46% (37/81) preferred to communicate with the McMaster Family Practice via email. Online applications, including email, are emerging as a viable avenue for patient

  14. Using viral e-mails to distribute tobacco control advertisements: an experimental investigation.

    PubMed

    Carter, Owen B J; Donovan, Robert; Jalleh, Geoffrey

    2011-08-01

    The authors' objective was to conduct a trial of viral e-mail marketing as a distribution method for tobacco control advertisements. University students (n = 200) in the state of Western Australia were randomly allocated to receive 1 of 2 e-mails with hyperlinks to tobacco control advertisements ("Toilet" and "Rubbish") emphasizing the disgusting nature of smoking. Recipients followed a hyperlink to a Web page playing Toilet or Rubbish on endless loop. Viewers were encouraged to forward the e-mail to their friends and invited to complete an online survey about the advertisement. Unique downloads for each advertisement were identified by internet provider (IP) location and tallied by date and geographical location to assess subsequent dissemination beyond the initial 200 students. There were 826 unique viewings of the advertisements averaging 26.9 viewings per day for the first fortnight, followed by a lower average of 4.1 hits per day for the next 3.5 months. IP addresses identified hits from 3 other Australian states and 7 other countries. Online surveys were completed by 103 respondents (12.5% of total hits) but included few smokers (n = 9). Significantly more respondents rated Toilet as "funny" compared with Rubbish (40% vs. 11%; p < .05), likely explaining why the former accounted for significantly more viewings than the latter (487 vs. 339; p < .001). There was a greater than fourfold return in dissemination for each initial e-mail sent but daily hits rapidly deteriorated over time. Entertainment appears to facilitate viral e-mails being forwarded onwards but only exceptionally compelling tobacco control materials are ever likely to become self-perpetuating.

  15. Mitigating E-Mail Requests in Teenagers' First and Second Language Academic Cyber-Consultation

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Alcón Soler, Eva

    2013-01-01

    The study analyses teenagers' e-mail requests during academic cyber-consultation, exploring how the performance of request modifiers is influenced by participants' perceptions of the degree of imposition of the speech act and social distance with the recipient. A total of 295 e-mail requests, 145 produced by British English speakers (BES) and 150…

  16. Request Strategies in Professional E-Mail Correspondence: Insights from the United States Workplace

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Leopold, Lisa

    2015-01-01

    Despite growing interest in the rhetorical features of e-mail correspondence, this is the first study to examine the request strategies in e-mails written by native English-speaking professionals from a variety of industries in the United States. This study uses Blum-Kulka, House, and Kasper's (1989) speech act framework to analyze the request…

  17. "My Heart Want to Say Something": Exploring ELL Vocabulary Use through E-Mail

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hwang, Sung-on; Piazza, Carolyn L.; Pierce, Michael J.; Bryce, Sara M.

    2011-01-01

    Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to report on one high school English-language-learner's (ELL) breadth and depth of vocabulary as he communicated with his teacher through e-mail across geographic boundaries for over 18 months. Design/methodology/approach: The authors began by separating 358 e-mails into three time periods (first beginning,…

  18. The Impact of Using Email on Improving the Writing Skills among Iranian Students

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Janfaza, Abusaied; Shahsavari, Khadijeh; Soori, Afshin

    2014-01-01

    The need for the application of technology in education has been increased. One of the new approaches in technology is using email for learning a second or a foreign language. The present study aimed at investigating the effectiveness of using email in improving writing skills among Iranian EFL students. The participants of the study were 42…

  19. E-Mail Writing: Providing Background Information in the Core of Computer Assisted Instruction

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Nazari, Behzad; Ninknejad, Sahar

    2015-01-01

    The present study highly supported the effective role of providing background information via email by the teacher to write e-mail by the students in learners' writing ability. A total number of 50 EFL advanced male students aged between 25 and 40 at different branches of Iran Language Institute in Tehran, Tehran. Through the placement test of…

  20. A Content Analysis of E-mail Communication between Patients and Their Providers: Patients Get the Message

    PubMed Central

    White, Casey B.; Moyer, Cheryl A.; Stern, David T.; Katz, Steven J.

    2004-01-01

    Objective: E-mail use in the clinical setting has been slow to diffuse for several reasons, including providers' concerns about patients' inappropriate and inefficient use of the technology. This study examined the content of a random sample of patient–physician e-mail messages to determine the validity of those concerns. Design: A qualitative analysis of patient–physician e-mail messages was performed. Measurements: A total of 3,007 patient–physician e-mail messages were collected over 11 months as part of a randomized, controlled trial of a triage-based e-mail system in two primary care centers (including 98 physicians); 10% of messages were randomly selected for review. Messages were coded across such domains as message type, number of requests per e-mail, inclusion of sensitive content, necessity of a physician response, and message tone. Results: The majority (82.8%) of messages addressed a single issue. The most common message types included information updates to the physicians (41.4%), prescription renewals (24.2%), health questions (13.2%), questions about test results (10.9%), referrals (8.8%), “other” (including thank yous, apologies) (8.8%), appointments (5.4%), requests for non-health-related information (4.8%), and billing questions (0.3%). Overall, messages were concise, formal, and medically relevant. Very few (5.1%) included sensitive content, and none included urgent messages. Less than half (43.2%) required a physician response. Conclusion: A triage-based e-mail system promoted e-mail exchanges appropriate for primary care. Most patients adhered to guidelines aimed at focusing content, limiting the number of requests per message, and avoiding urgent requests or highly sensitive content. Thus, physicians' concerns about the content of patients' e-mails may be unwarranted. PMID:15064295

  1. Internet use and e-mail communications between patients and providers: a survey of rheumatology outpatients.

    PubMed

    Siva, Chokkalingam; Smarr, Karen L; Hanson, Kathleen Donovan; Parikh, Meghal; Lawlor, Kenneth; Ge, Bin

    2008-12-01

    As health care costs rise in the United States and elsewhere, adopting health information technology is being advocated to reduce costs and improve efficiency. Physician e-mail communication is a frequently proposed tool in this strategy. We examined the interest of rheumatology outpatients in using E-mail for communication with their rheumatologist. We sought to identify their privacy and cost concerns on this issue, and examine the patients' demographics, internet usage, and preferences. An anonymous survey was given to 150 consecutive patients. Patients responded to questions on demographics, rheumatic diseases, comorbidities, computer/internet access, E-mail use, privacy concerns, payment issues, and preferences regarding communication with their rheumatologist. Statistical analyses on the relationships between demographics and patient preferences on communications with their rheumatologist were conducted. There were 145 respondents; the mean age was 52.3 years, mean education level was 13.6 years. The sample tended to be women (74%), retired/disabled (46%) or employed full time (35%). Most had internet access (74.5%). Differences were found based on gender, age, education, and income levels. Younger adults were more likely to desire E-mail communication with their rheumatologists, especially if paid by insurance. More men than women had concerns about privacy; persons with higher income levels were more willing to self-pay for E-mail. As a significant number of patients with rheumatic diseases express interest in E-mail communication with their providers, rheumatologists need to be cognizant of patients' preferences. To deliver patient-centered care, rheumatology practices might consider incorporating E-mail communication into their practices.

  2. Mass Communication and Journalism Faculty's Perceptions of the Effectiveness of Email Communication with College Students: A Nationwide Study

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Yates, Bradford L.; Adams, Jennifer Wood; Brunner, Brigitta R.

    2009-01-01

    Nearly 700 US journalism and mass communication faculty (all teaching personnel) reported their perceptions of student email use via a web-based survey. This nationwide study focused on the content of email sent by faculty to students, email's effectiveness, and email's effect on student learning. Comparisons were made based on faculty gender,…

  3. Elderly Americans and the Internet: E-Mail, TV News, Information and Entertainment Websites

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hilt, Michael L.; Lipschultz, Jeremy H.

    2004-01-01

    Older Americans, like other groups, vary in their use of the Internet. The participants for this study-elderly computer users from a Midwestern mid-size sample-used e-mail and considered it the most important Internet function. It was common for them to use e-mail with family and friends on a regular, if not daily, basis. When this group of older…

  4. Elderly Americans and the Internet: E-Mail, TV News, Information and Entertainment Websites

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hilt, Michael L.; Lipschultz, Jeremy H.

    2004-01-01

    Older Americans, like other groups, vary in their use of the Internet. The participants for this study--elderly computer users from a Midwestern mid-size sample--used e-mail and considered it the most important Internet function. It was common for them to use e-mail with family and friends on a regular, if not daily, basis. When this group of…

  5. Health literacy and global cognitive function predict e-mail but not internet use in heart failure patients.

    PubMed

    Schprechman, Jared P; Gathright, Emily C; Goldstein, Carly M; Guerini, Kate A; Dolansky, Mary A; Redle, Joseph; Hughes, Joel W

    2013-01-01

    Background. The internet offers a potential for improving patient knowledge, and e-mail may be used in patient communication with providers. However, barriers to internet and e-mail use, such as low health literacy and cognitive impairment, may prevent patients from using technological resources. Purpose. We investigated whether health literacy, heart failure knowledge, and cognitive function were related to internet and e-mail use in older adults with heart failure (HF). Methods. Older adults (N = 119) with heart failure (69.84 ± 9.09 years) completed measures of health literacy, heart failure knowledge, cognitive functioning, and internet use in a cross-sectional study. Results. Internet and e-mail use were reported in 78.2% and 71.4% of this sample of patients with HF, respectively. Controlling for age and education, logistic regression analyses indicated that higher health literacy predicted e-mail (P < .05) but not internet use. Global cognitive function predicted e-mail (P < .05) but not internet use. Only 45% used the Internet to obtain information on HF and internet use was not associated with greater HF knowledge. Conclusions. The majority of HF patients use the internet and e-mail, but poor health literacy and cognitive impairment may prevent some patients from accessing these resources. Future studies that examine specific internet and email interventions to increase HF knowledge are needed.

  6. Tailored emails prompt electric vehicle owners to engage with tariff switching information

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Nicolson, Moira; Huebner, Gesche M.; Shipworth, David; Elam, Simon

    2017-06-01

    The carbon intensity of the electricity used to charge an electric vehicle (EV) is dependent on when in the day charging occurs. However, persuading EV owners to adopt incentives to charge during off-peak hours is challenging. Here we show that governments could exploit the 'window of opportunity' created when people purchase their first EV to promote time-of-use tariffs. Email recipients (n = 7,038 EV owners) were more likely to click-through to an information webpage when the email emphasized specific reductions in home-charging costs versus general bill savings. However, the 'window of opportunity' for maximizing potential adoption is short; email open rates declined from over 70% immediately after purchase to 40% for recipients owning their EV for over three months. These results demonstrate the potential of prompts to change behaviours for which opt-out enrolment (where enrolment is automatic unless people explicitly opt out) would be unethical or less effective.

  7. When envy leads to schadenfreude.

    PubMed

    van de Ven, Niels; Hoogland, Charles E; Smith, Richard H; van Dijk, Wilco W; Breugelmans, Seger M; Zeelenberg, Marcel

    2015-01-01

    Previous research has yielded inconsistent findings concerning the relationship between envy and schadenfreude. Three studies examined whether the distinction between benign and malicious envy can resolve this inconsistency. We found that malicious envy is related to schadenfreude, while benign envy is not. This result held both in the Netherlands where benign and malicious envy are indicated by separate words (Study 1: Sample A, N = 139; Sample B, N = 150), and in the USA where a single word is used to denote both types (Study 2, N = 180; Study 3, N = 349). Moreover, the effect of malicious envy on schadenfreude was independent of other antecedents of schadenfreude (such as feelings of inferiority, disliking the target person, anger, and perceived deservedness). These findings improve our understanding of the antecedents of schadenfreude and help reconcile seemingly contradictory findings on the relationship between envy and schadenfreude.

  8. Language Use in Computer-Mediated Communication: An Investigation into the Genre of Workplace Emails

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    AlAfnan, Mohammad Awad

    2015-01-01

    This study investigated the moves and communicative purposes used in 522 email messages that were exchanged in a Malaysian private educational institute. Using Swales's (1990) move approach, this study revealed that email writers used fourteen moves that are mainly six framing and eight content moves. Content moves included four main, one…

  9. Consumer understanding of calorie labeling: a healthy monday e-mail and text message intervention.

    PubMed

    Abel, Michelle L; Lee, Katherine; Loglisci, Ralph; Righter, Allison; Hipper, Thomas J; Cheskin, Lawrence J

    2015-03-01

    To assess caloric knowledge of participants and determine if an e-mail and/or text message intervention could increase knowledge of recommended daily caloric intake. Randomized, control trial. Johns Hopkins Hospital Cobblestone Café. The 246 participants reported eating at the Café at least twice/week. Participants randomized to control, e-mail, or text condition. The text and e-mail conditions received a message on four consecutive Mondays stating the recommended daily caloric intake. Knowledge of the government reference value of 2,000 calories. Intention-to-treat analysis was conducted. Multivariate logistic regression examined the effectiveness of text and e-mail messaging for improving knowledge of the government calorie reference value. Baseline awareness of the daily calorie reference value in study population was low. Participants in the text message condition were twice as likely to know the government calorie reference value compared to controls (p = .047, odds ratio = 2.2, 95% confidence interval [1.01, 4.73]). No significant differences were found for the e-mail condition (p = .5). Many people do not know the daily recommended caloric intake. Public education on the government calorie reference value is necessary for menu-labeling interventions to be more effective. Weekly text messaging can serve as an effective modality for delivering calorie information and nutrition education. © 2014 Society for Public Health Education.

  10. Fostering E-Mail Security Awareness: The West Point Carronade

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ferguson, Aaron J.

    2005-01-01

    The United States Military Academy (USMA) at West Point had a problem with some cadets clicking on suspicious attachments and embedded links, significantly affecting network performance and resource availability. West Point information technology leadership needed a way to increase e-mail security awareness in hopes of maintaining a strong…

  11. E-mail et Web: Pour une Navigation Sans Risque

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

    Dellabella, Sebastien

    2010-06-28

    Présentation orale en français, support visuel en anglais. À travers des exemples concrets, vous consoliderez vos connaissances et pourrez ainsi réajuster vos habitudes concernant l’utilisation sécurisée de votre boîte e-mail et de votre navigateur Web.

  12. 76 FR 46853 - International Business Machines Corporation, ITD Business Unit, Division 7, E-mail and...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2011-08-03

    ...] International Business Machines Corporation, ITD Business Unit, Division 7, E-mail and Collaboration Group... Business Machines Corporation (IBM), ITD Business Unit, Division 7, E- mail and Collaboration Group... Business Unit, Division 7, E-mail and Collaboration [[Page 46854

  13. Polite Requestive Strategies in Emails: An Investigation of Pragmatic Competence of Chinese EFL Learners

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Zhu, Wuhan

    2012-01-01

    This paper is motivated by the premise that little is known about the use of requestive strategies in request emails in Chinese English-as-a-Foreign-Language (EFL) context. Specifically, the paper examines and compares requestive strategies in request emails between two groups of university students, namely English majors (EM) and non-English…

  14. Email and All that Jazz: Training Staff to Use Electronic Communication Tools Professionally

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Stephens, Karen

    2008-01-01

    There are many benefits of e-mails. Through e-mail, a person can relay specific details to any number of "need to know" persons at the press of a "send" key at any time of day, without playing endless phone tag or waking someone up on the wrong side of the time zone. A person can also get "newsy" information out fast and save printing money, too.…

  15. Identifying Speech Acts in E-Mails: Toward Automated Scoring of the "TOEIC"® E-Mail Task. Research Report. ETS RR-12-16

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    De Felice, Rachele; Deane, Paul

    2012-01-01

    This study proposes an approach to automatically score the "TOEIC"® Writing e-mail task. We focus on one component of the scoring rubric, which notes whether the test-takers have used particular speech acts such as requests, orders, or commitments. We developed a computational model for automated speech act identification and tested it…

  16. An AIS-Based E-mail Classification Method

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Qing, Jinjian; Mao, Ruilong; Bie, Rongfang; Gao, Xiao-Zhi

    This paper proposes a new e-mail classification method based on the Artificial Immune System (AIS), which is endowed with good diversity and self-adaptive ability by using the immune learning, immune memory, and immune recognition. In our method, the features of spam and non-spam extracted from the training sets are combined together, and the number of false positives (non-spam messages that are incorrectly classified as spam) can be reduced. The experimental results demonstrate that this method is effective in reducing the false rate.

  17. Exploring Students' Use of E-Mail for Out-of-Class Communication: Frequency, Satisfaction, and Learning Self-Efficacy

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Zhao, Q.; Ahn, S.; Meyers, R. A.; Timmerman, C. E.; Fonner, K. L.

    2012-01-01

    The authors assessed students' use of e-mail for out-of-class communication (OCC) and its impact on satisfaction and learning self-efficacy. Findings showed that students and instructors use e-mail frequently for OCC, and frequency of use is positively associated with student satisfaction with e-mail as an OCC medium. Moreover, the content of…

  18. E-mail communication in pain practice: The importance of being earnest.

    PubMed

    Ruiz, Irene Solera; García, Guadalupe Población; Riquelme, Irene

    2014-07-01

    Information technology can play a vital role in meeting patient needs and reinforcing the relationship among patients and their pain physicians. However, strong resistance remains on the medical side to this type of non-frontal care. The primary objective of this study was to assess the effectiveness of an E-mail intervention on customers' satisfaction. The secondary goals were to analyze the messages from patients to their clinician (not only the volume but also the content) and the impact on client, professional and health services outcomes. A prospective, non-randomized evaluation of patients undergoing treatment for chronic pain from September 2011 to May 2012. A private, specialty referral center in Spain. Participants were users visiting the Pain Management Unit evaluated by one physician. The E-mail address of the facility was written in every medical report provided. Patient satisfaction at the end of the 8-month trial period was assessed and outcomes recorded. Patients reported better communication with their therapist and greater satisfaction with overall care. 780 E-mails were read. Specialists received an average of 5 messages per day (standard deviation 0,3). None of them was unsuitable. This is a prospective, single center evaluation performed by one doctor. There was no control group due to ethical considerations. Electronic communication is a cheap, easy and feasible way to address a wide range of concerns, thus enhancing patients' satisfaction. More efforts are needed to implement routinely usage of this tool. If used appropriately, E-mail can facilitate physician-dependent interactions, promote access to care, save time and reduce costs. Concerns about billing, improper utilization, privacy and confidentiality might complicate its introduction and acceptance. Internet access remains a significant barrier to online patient-provider transference.

  19. New Secure E-mail System Based on Bio-Chaos Key Generation and Modified AES Algorithm

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hoomod, Haider K.; Radi, A. M.

    2018-05-01

    The E-mail messages exchanged between sender’s Mailbox and recipient’s Mailbox over the open systems and insecure Networks. These messages may be vulnerable to eavesdropping and itself poses a real threat to the privacy and data integrity from unauthorized persons. The E-mail Security includes the following properties (Confidentiality, Authentication, Message integrity). We need a safe encryption algorithm to encrypt Email messages such as the algorithm Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) or Data Encryption Standard DES, as well as biometric recognition and chaotic system. The proposed E-mail system security uses modified AES algorithm and uses secret key-bio-chaos that consist of biometric (Fingerprint) and chaotic system (Lu and Lorenz). This modification makes the proposed system more sensitive and random. The execution time for both encryption and decryption of the proposed system is much less from original AES, in addition to being compatible with all Mail Servers.

  20. CyberTerrorism: Cyber Prevention vs Cyber Recovery

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2007-12-01

    appropriate available security measures (i.e. appropriate level of spy ware, IDS, and antivirus protection software installed) are unaffected by worm attacks...a worm is a form of a virus designed to copy itself by utilizing e-mail or other software applications. The main goal of using this technique is...to permeate the network or portions of the Internet with malicious code that will affect the performance of certain software applications or will

  1. Diagnostic Testing at UK Universities: An E-Mail Survey

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Gillard, Jonathan; Levi, Margaret; Wilson, Robert

    2010-01-01

    In July 2009, an e-mail survey was sent to various UK universities to gain information regarding current practices concerning mathematics diagnostic testing, and to provide an update from the review "Diagnostic Testing for Mathematics" published by the LTSN MathsTEAM Project in 2003. A total of 38 university departments were contacted…

  2. Communications between volunteers and health researchers during recruitment and informed consent: qualitative content analysis of email interactions.

    PubMed

    Townsend, Anne; Amarsi, Zubin; Backman, Catherine L; Cox, Susan M; Li, Linda C

    2011-10-13

    While use of the Internet is increasingly widespread in research, little is known about the role of routine electronic mail (email) correspondence during recruitment and early volunteer-researcher interactions. To gain insight into the standpoint of volunteers we analyzed email communications in an early rheumatoid arthritis qualitative interview study. The objectives of our study were (1) to understand the perspectives and motivations of individuals who volunteered for an interview study about the experiences of early rheumatoid arthritis, and (2) to investigate the role of emails in volunteer-researcher interactions during recruitment. Between December 2007 and December 2008 we recruited 38 individuals with early rheumatoid arthritis through rheumatologist and family physician offices, arthritis Internet sites, and the Arthritis Research Centre of Canada for a (face-to-face) qualitative interview study. Interested individuals were invited to contact us via email or telephone. In this paper, we report on email communications from 12 of 29 volunteers who used email as their primary communication mode. Emails offered insights into the perspective of study volunteers. They provided evidence prospectively about recruitment and informed consent in the context of early rheumatoid arthritis. First, some individuals anticipated that participating would have mutual benefits, for themselves and the research, suggesting a reciprocal quality to volunteering. Second, volunteering for the study was strongly motivated by a need to access health services and was both a help-seeking and self-managing strategy. Third, volunteers expressed ambivalence around participation, such as how far participating would benefit them, versus more general benefits for research. Fourth, practical difficulties of negotiating symptom impact, medical appointments, and research tasks were revealed. We also reflect on how emails documented volunteer-researcher interactions, illustrating typically

  3. Communications Between Volunteers and Health Researchers during Recruitment and Informed Consent: Qualitative Content Analysis of Email Interactions

    PubMed Central

    Amarsi, Zubin; Backman, Catherine L; Cox, Susan M; Li, Linda C

    2011-01-01

    Background While use of the Internet is increasingly widespread in research, little is known about the role of routine electronic mail (email) correspondence during recruitment and early volunteer–researcher interactions. To gain insight into the standpoint of volunteers we analyzed email communications in an early rheumatoid arthritis qualitative interview study. Objectives The objectives of our study were (1) to understand the perspectives and motivations of individuals who volunteered for an interview study about the experiences of early rheumatoid arthritis, and (2) to investigate the role of emails in volunteer–researcher interactions during recruitment. Methods Between December 2007 and December 2008 we recruited 38 individuals with early rheumatoid arthritis through rheumatologist and family physician offices, arthritis Internet sites, and the Arthritis Research Centre of Canada for a (face-to-face) qualitative interview study. Interested individuals were invited to contact us via email or telephone. In this paper, we report on email communications from 12 of 29 volunteers who used email as their primary communication mode. Results Emails offered insights into the perspective of study volunteers. They provided evidence prospectively about recruitment and informed consent in the context of early rheumatoid arthritis. First, some individuals anticipated that participating would have mutual benefits, for themselves and the research, suggesting a reciprocal quality to volunteering. Second, volunteering for the study was strongly motivated by a need to access health services and was both a help-seeking and self-managing strategy. Third, volunteers expressed ambivalence around participation, such as how far participating would benefit them, versus more general benefits for research. Fourth, practical difficulties of negotiating symptom impact, medical appointments, and research tasks were revealed. We also reflect on how emails documented volunteer

  4. Design and implementation of an automated email notification system for results of tests pending at discharge.

    PubMed

    Dalal, Anuj K; Schnipper, Jeffrey L; Poon, Eric G; Williams, Deborah H; Rossi-Roh, Kathleen; Macleay, Allison; Liang, Catherine L; Nolido, Nyryan; Budris, Jonas; Bates, David W; Roy, Christopher L

    2012-01-01

    Physicians are often unaware of the results of tests pending at discharge (TPADs). The authors designed and implemented an automated system to notify the responsible inpatient physician of the finalized results of TPADs using secure, network email. The system coordinates a series of electronic events triggered by the discharge time stamp and sends an email to the identified discharging attending physician once finalized results are available. A carbon copy is sent to the primary care physicians in order to facilitate communication and the subsequent transfer of responsibility. Logic was incorporated to suppress selected tests and to limit notification volume. The system was activated for patients with TPADs discharged by randomly selected inpatient-attending physicians during a 6-month pilot. They received approximately 1.6 email notifications per discharged patient with TPADs. Eighty-four per cent of inpatient-attending physicians receiving automated email notifications stated that they were satisfied with the system in a brief survey (59% survey response rate). Automated email notification is a useful strategy for managing results of TPADs.

  5. SPONGY (SPam ONtoloGY): Email Classification Using Two-Level Dynamic Ontology

    PubMed Central

    2014-01-01

    Email is one of common communication methods between people on the Internet. However, the increase of email misuse/abuse has resulted in an increasing volume of spam emails over recent years. An experimental system has been designed and implemented with the hypothesis that this method would outperform existing techniques, and the experimental results showed that indeed the proposed ontology-based approach improves spam filtering accuracy significantly. In this paper, two levels of ontology spam filters were implemented: a first level global ontology filter and a second level user-customized ontology filter. The use of the global ontology filter showed about 91% of spam filtered, which is comparable with other methods. The user-customized ontology filter was created based on the specific user's background as well as the filtering mechanism used in the global ontology filter creation. The main contributions of the paper are (1) to introduce an ontology-based multilevel filtering technique that uses both a global ontology and an individual filter for each user to increase spam filtering accuracy and (2) to create a spam filter in the form of ontology, which is user-customized, scalable, and modularized, so that it can be embedded to many other systems for better performance. PMID:25254240

  6. SPONGY (SPam ONtoloGY): email classification using two-level dynamic ontology.

    PubMed

    Youn, Seongwook

    2014-01-01

    Email is one of common communication methods between people on the Internet. However, the increase of email misuse/abuse has resulted in an increasing volume of spam emails over recent years. An experimental system has been designed and implemented with the hypothesis that this method would outperform existing techniques, and the experimental results showed that indeed the proposed ontology-based approach improves spam filtering accuracy significantly. In this paper, two levels of ontology spam filters were implemented: a first level global ontology filter and a second level user-customized ontology filter. The use of the global ontology filter showed about 91% of spam filtered, which is comparable with other methods. The user-customized ontology filter was created based on the specific user's background as well as the filtering mechanism used in the global ontology filter creation. The main contributions of the paper are (1) to introduce an ontology-based multilevel filtering technique that uses both a global ontology and an individual filter for each user to increase spam filtering accuracy and (2) to create a spam filter in the form of ontology, which is user-customized, scalable, and modularized, so that it can be embedded to many other systems for better performance.

  7. Method for detecting core malware sites related to biomedical information systems.

    PubMed

    Kim, Dohoon; Choi, Donghee; Jin, Jonghyun

    2015-01-01

    Most advanced persistent threat attacks target web users through malicious code within landing (exploit) or distribution sites. There is an urgent need to block the affected websites. Attacks on biomedical information systems are no exception to this issue. In this paper, we present a method for locating malicious websites that attempt to attack biomedical information systems. Our approach uses malicious code crawling to rearrange websites in the order of their risk index by analyzing the centrality between malware sites and proactively eliminates the root of these sites by finding the core-hub node, thereby reducing unnecessary security policies. In particular, we dynamically estimate the risk index of the affected websites by analyzing various centrality measures and converting them into a single quantified vector. On average, the proactive elimination of core malicious websites results in an average improvement in zero-day attack detection of more than 20%.

  8. Method for Detecting Core Malware Sites Related to Biomedical Information Systems

    PubMed Central

    Kim, Dohoon; Choi, Donghee; Jin, Jonghyun

    2015-01-01

    Most advanced persistent threat attacks target web users through malicious code within landing (exploit) or distribution sites. There is an urgent need to block the affected websites. Attacks on biomedical information systems are no exception to this issue. In this paper, we present a method for locating malicious websites that attempt to attack biomedical information systems. Our approach uses malicious code crawling to rearrange websites in the order of their risk index by analyzing the centrality between malware sites and proactively eliminates the root of these sites by finding the core-hub node, thereby reducing unnecessary security policies. In particular, we dynamically estimate the risk index of the affected websites by analyzing various centrality measures and converting them into a single quantified vector. On average, the proactive elimination of core malicious websites results in an average improvement in zero-day attack detection of more than 20%. PMID:25821511

  9. E-Rate to Support Wireless E-Mail, Internet Calling

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Trotter, Andrew

    2006-01-01

    This article deals with federal E-rate program's support of school leaders' Blackberry habit. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has cleared the way to allow money from the $2.25 billion program of subsidies for school technology to apply to e-mail service for mobile, wireless devices, such as the BlackBerry, which are increasingly…

  10. Deaf and hard of hearing Americans' instant messaging and e-mail use: a national survey.

    PubMed

    Bowe, Frank G

    2002-10-01

    An online survey of 884 deaf and hard of hearing adults asked about their current and past use of communication technologies, notably TTY, telecommunications relay services, e-mail, and instant messaging (IM). Results showed that respondents were using e-mail and IM far more than TTY and relay services. The study participants virtually all had e-mail and IM at home. In fact, about one quarter had a high-speed ("broadband") connection at home. While the vast majority also had and used e-mail at work, just 1 in 3 had IM at his or her place of employment. The findings have several implications. Most important for educators is that strong reading and writing skills are essential if adults who are deaf or hard of hearing are to take advantage of today's communications technologies. Another conclusion is that some workers who are deaf or hard of hearing appear to face discrimination in employment because office policies forbid the use of a highly effective reasonable accommodation, instant messaging.

  11. The messages they send: e-mail use by adolescents with and without a history of specific language impairment (SLI).

    PubMed

    Conti-Ramsden, Gina; Durkin, Kevin; Walker, Allan J

    2012-01-01

    Contemporary adolescents use e-mail for a variety of purposes, including peer communication and education. Research into these uses has focused on typically developing individuals; much less is known about the use of e-mail by exceptional youth. The present study examined the structure and form of e-mail messages sent by adolescents with and without a history of specific language impairment (SLI). Thirty-eight adolescents with a history of SLI and 56 typically developing (TD) peers were assessed on measures of nonverbal abilities, core language skills and literacy skills (reading and spelling). The participants were asked to compose an e-mail reply to a standard e-mail sent by an experimenter. These reply e-mails were coded for linguistic structure, readability and spelling errors. Two adult raters, blind to the participants' language ability, judged how understandable the e-mails were, how grammatically correct the e-mails were, and also the sender's command of the English language. Adolescents with a history of SLI produced e-mails that were similar to those sent by their TD peers in terms of structure and readability. However, they made significantly more spelling errors. Furthermore, the adult raters considered the messages from participants with a history of SLI to be of poorer standard than those sent by their TD peers. The findings suggest that the e-mail messages of adolescents with a history of SLI provide indicators of the sender's language and literacy skills. Implications for intervention and technology development are discussed. © 2011 Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists.

  12. Uses and Perceptions of E-Mail for Course-Related Communication between Business Faculty and Undergraduates

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Costello, Robert

    2011-01-01

    Technological advancements have facilitated the learning process by offering faculty members and students better access to resources, while increasing the potential for more interaction and communication flexibility (Firmin & Miller, 2005). Among these technologies is electronic mail or e-mail. The uses and perceptions of e-mail between business…

  13. Teaching Email Requests in the Academic Context: A Focus on the Role of Corrective Feedback

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Nguyen, Thi Thuy Minh; Do, Thi Thanh Ha; Nguyen, Anh Tuan; Pham, Thi Thanh Thuy

    2015-01-01

    As email requests from students to professors have become increasingly common in academic settings, research has also shown second-language (L2) students' unfamiliarity with email etiquette in L2 has adversely affected their communication with their professors. The present study examines whether giving corrective feedback on students' performance…

  14. Inexpensive E-mail Systems for LANs and Dial-up.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Pfaffman, Jay

    Internet e-mail is becoming more accessible to K-12 teachers. Many colleges and universities will give accounts to teachers for the price of asking. Unfortunately, many of these university systems are hard to use and are usually not offered to K-12 students. Also, most schools do not have phone lines in classrooms. This paper discusses two systems…

  15. E-Mail from Professor Enhances Student Motivation and Attitudes

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Legg, Angela M.; Wilson, Janie H.

    2009-01-01

    Traditionally, professors use the first day of class to build rapport. However, current technology allows professors to contact students prior to the first day of class. This study assessed how the receipt of a welcoming e-mail from a female professor 1 week before the first day of class affected student motivation and attitudes toward the…

  16. E-mail et Web: Pour une Navigation Sans Risque

    ScienceCinema

    Dellabella, Sebastien

    2018-04-27

    Présentation orale en français, support visuel en anglais. À travers des exemples concrets, vous consoliderez vos connaissances et pourrez ainsi réajuster vos habitudes concernant l’utilisation sécurisée de votre boîte e-mail et de votre navigateur Web.

  17. An Email From the Ether: After the Cronulla Events

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Burchell, David

    2006-01-01

    An email calling for support against racism during the late 2005 Cronulla riots left some wondering about the incapacity of critical intellectuals to consider the riots and revenge attacks which followed them in the same light--as an instance of inter-communal strife. The author of this article argues that the call for support against racism was…

  18. Social Work Practice in the Digital Age: Therapeutic E-Mail as a Direct Practice Methodology

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Mattison, Marian

    2012-01-01

    The author addresses the risks and benefits of incorporating therapeutic e-mail communication into clinical social work practice. Consumer demand for online clinical services is growing faster than the professional response. E-mail, when used as an adjunct to traditional meetings with clients, offers distinct advantages and risks. Benefits include…

  19. Rapid response: email, immediacy, and medical humanitarianism in Aceh, Indonesia.

    PubMed

    Grayman, Jesse Hession

    2014-11-01

    After more than 20 years of sporadic separatist insurgency, the Free Aceh Movement and the Indonesian government signed an internationally brokered peace agreement in August 2005, just eight months after the Indian Ocean tsunami devastated Aceh's coastal communities. This article presents a medical humanitarian case study based on ethnographic data I collected while working for a large aid agency in post-conflict Aceh from 2005 to 2007. In December 2005, the agency faced the first test of its medical and negotiation capacities to provide psychiatric care to a recently amnestied political prisoner whose erratic behavior upon returning home led to his re-arrest and detention at a district police station. I juxtapose two methodological approaches-an ethnographic content analysis of the agency's email archive and field-based participant-observation-to recount contrasting narrative versions of the event. I use this contrast to illustrate and critique the immediacy of the humanitarian imperative that characterizes the industry. Immediacy is explored as both an urgent moral impulse to assist in a crisis and a form of mediation that seemingly projects neutral and transparent transmission of content. I argue that the sense of immediacy afforded by email enacts and amplifies the humanitarian imperative at the cost of abstracting elite humanitarian actors out of local and moral context. As a result, the management and mediation of this psychiatric case by email produced a bureaucratic model of care that failed to account for complex conditions of chronic political and medical instability on the ground. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  20. Behavior change through automated e-mails: mediation analysis of self-help strategy use for depressive symptoms.

    PubMed

    Morgan, Amy J; Mackinnon, Andrew J; Jorm, Anthony F

    2013-02-01

    To evaluate whether automated e-mails promoting effective self-help strategies for depressive symptoms were effective in changing self-help behavior, and whether this improved depression outcomes. 568 adults with sub-threshold depression participated in a randomized controlled trial and provided complete data. A series of 12 e-mails promoting the use of evidence-based self-help strategies was compared with e-mails providing non-directive depression information. Depression symptoms were assessed with the Patient Health Questionnaire depression scale (PHQ-9) and use of self-help strategies was assessed at baseline and post-intervention. We hypothesized that those receiving the self-help e-mails would increase their use of evidence-based self-help and this would be associated with improvements in depression. Mediation analyses were conducted using a non-parametric bootstrapping procedure. Total use of the self-help strategies promoted in the e-mails significantly mediated the effect of the intervention on depressive symptoms (B = -0.75, SE = 0.16, 95% CI: -1.06 to -0.48). The direct effect of the intervention on depressive symptoms was much smaller and not significant when the mediation path was included. The majority of the individual strategies also had a significant indirect effect on depressive symptoms. In adults with sub-threshold depression, automated e-mails based on behavior change principles can successfully increase use of self-help strategies, leading to a reduction in depressive symptoms. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  1. Formalized Conflicts Detection Based on the Analysis of Multiple Emails: An Approach Combining Statistics and Ontologies

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zakaria, Chahnez; Curé, Olivier; Salzano, Gabriella; Smaïli, Kamel

    In Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW), it is crucial for project leaders to detect conflicting situations as early as possible. Generally, this task is performed manually by studying a set of documents exchanged between team members. In this paper, we propose a full-fledged automatic solution that identifies documents, subjects and actors involved in relational conflicts. Our approach detects conflicts in emails, probably the most popular type of documents in CSCW, but the methods used can handle other text-based documents. These methods rely on the combination of statistical and ontological operations. The proposed solution is decomposed in several steps: (i) we enrich a simple negative emotion ontology with terms occuring in the corpus of emails, (ii) we categorize each conflicting email according to the concepts of this ontology and (iii) we identify emails, subjects and team members involved in conflicting emails using possibilistic description logic and a set of proposed measures. Each of these steps are evaluated and validated on concrete examples. Moreover, this approach's framework is generic and can be easily adapted to domains other than conflicts, e.g. security issues, and extended with operations making use of our proposed set of measures.

  2. "While you still think, I already type": experienced social power reduces deliberation during e-mail communication.

    PubMed

    Scholl, Annika; Sassenberg, Kai

    2014-11-01

    E-mail allows individuals to deliberate on their communication before sending it off. For instance, communication partners can easily take their time to ponder how best to frame a request before they actually send a message. Individuals at times strategically exploit this opportunity to deliberate in order to tailor messages to their communication partner, such as when communicating with a relatively more powerful person. As social power reduces concerns about impression management, we predicted that individuals deliberate more while composing e-mail messages under low (vs. high) power. This assumption was tested with well-established power priming. As such, we expected that experienced power in one context would diminish deliberation times during a subsequent e-mail communication. An experiment manipulating the experience of (low vs. high) power and measuring deliberation times during e-mail composition supported this hypothesis. The findings thus indicate how social power alters deliberation times. More importantly, the results show that individuals not only strategically deliberate during e-mail communication in line with their current situation, but also in line with their social standing in a previous situation (here, their experience of power).

  3. A Comparative Analysis of E-Mail and Face-to-Face Communication in an Educational Environment

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lightfoot, Jay M.

    2006-01-01

    Electronic mail (e-mail) is an extremely important medium for Internet-based education. Due to its unique characteristics, there is reason to be concerned that students do not put appropriate care into writing messages that are sent via e-mail. This has significant implications for the effectiveness of online learning environments. This paper…

  4. Using Email Interviews in Qualitative Educational Research: Creating Space to Think and Time to Talk

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    James, Nalita

    2016-01-01

    The article explores how the Internet and email offer space for participants to think and make sense of their experiences in the qualitative research encounter. It draws on a research study that used email interviewing to generate online narratives to understand academic lives and identities through research encounters in virtual space. The…

  5. Redefining Technological Literacy in the Workplace: A Qualitative Study of Social Affordances in Workplace Email

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bacci, Tina Marie

    2011-01-01

    This dissertation examines the social affordances of workplace email use. Through group and individual interviews of six knowledge workers in a distributed real estate firm, it explores the extent workplace writers recognize and rely on extra-textual devices (i.e., copy, blind-copy, and forward devices) and email applications (i.e., email…

  6. Low-cost, email-based system for self blood pressure monitoring at home.

    PubMed

    Nakajima, Kazuki; Nambu, Masayuki; Kiryu, Tohru; Tamura, Toshiyo; Sasaki, Kazuo

    2006-01-01

    We have developed a low-cost monitoring system, which allows subjects to send blood pressure (BP) data obtained at home to health-care professionals by email. The system consists of a wrist BP monitor and a personal computer (PC) with an Internet connection. The wrist BP monitor includes an advanced positioning sensor to verify that the wrist is placed properly at heart level. Subjects at home can self-measure their BP every day, automatically transfer the BP data to their PC each week, and then send a comma-separated values (CSV) file to their health-care professional by email. In a feasibility study, 10 subjects used the system for a mean period of 207 days (SD 149). The mean percent achievement of measurement in the 10 subjects was 84% (SD 12). There was a seasonal variation in systolic and diastolic BP, which was inversely correlated with temperature. Eight of the 10 subjects evaluated the system favourably. The results of the present study demonstrate the feasibility of our email-based system for self-monitoring of blood pressure. Its low cost means that it may have widespread application in future home telecare studies.

  7. Patient perceptions of text-messages, email, and video in dermatologic surgery patients.

    PubMed

    Hawkins, Spencer D; Barilla, Steven; Williford, Phillip Williford M; Feldman, Steven R; Pearce, Daniel J

    2017-04-14

    We developed dermatology patient education videos and a post-operative text message service that could be accessed universally via web based applications. A secondary outcome of the study was to assess patient opinions of text-messages, email, and video in the health care setting which is reported here. An investigator-blinded, randomized, controlled intervention was evaluated in 90 nonmelanoma MMS patients at Wake Forest Baptist Dermatology. Patients were randomized 1:1:1:1 for exposure to: 1) videos with text messages, 2) videos only, 3) text messages-only, or 4) standard of care. Assessment measures were obtained by the use of REDCap survey questions during the follow up visit. 1) 67% would like to receive an email with information about the procedure beforehand 2) 98% of patients reported they would like other doctors to use educational videos as a form of patient education 3) 88% of our patients think it is appropriate for physicians to communicate to patients via text message in certain situations. Nearly all patients desired physicians to use text-messages and video in their practice and the majority of patients preferred to receive an email with information about their procedure beforehand.

  8. The finer points of lying online: e-mail versus pen and paper.

    PubMed

    Naquin, Charles E; Kurtzberg, Terri R; Belkin, Liuba Y

    2010-03-01

    The authors present 3 experimental studies that build on moral disengagement theory by exploring lying in online environments. Findings indicate that, when e-mail is compared with pen and paper communication media (both of which are equal in terms of media richness, as both are text only), people are more willing to lie when communicating via e-mail than via pen and paper and feel more justified in doing so. The findings were consistent whether the task assured participants that their lie either would or would not be discovered by their counterparts. Implications for theory and practice are discussed. 2010 APA, all rights reserved

  9. Potential Limitations of E-mail and Text Messaging in Improving Adherence in Glaucoma and Ocular Hypertension.

    PubMed

    Saeedi, Osamah J; Luzuriaga, Christine; Ellish, Nancy; Robin, Alan

    2015-01-01

    To determine how receptive patients are to the use of e-mail and text message reminders for appointments and medications. We conducted a consecutive cross-sectional survey of eligible patients with glaucoma or ocular hypertension at a private glaucoma subspecialty practice with 3 locations from February 2011 to January 2012. Main outcome measures were answers to survey questions regarding how receptive patients are to e-mail and text messaging reminders for appointments and medications. Of 989 patients, 404 (40.8%) patients reported that e-mail reminders would help remember appointments and 185 (18.7%) reported that they would help for medications. Among those with access to text messaging, 280 (68.9%) reported text messaging would help them remember appointments and 193 (47.5%) reported it would help with medications. Patients who reported e-mail would help them remember medications were more likely to live in an urban location [P=0.05, odds ratio (OR)=1.84], check the internet at least daily (P≤0.001, OR=1.04), check e-mail when not at home or the office (P=0.02, OR=1.62), and know how to open attachments (P=0.03, OR=1.87). Patients who reported that text messaging would help them remember their medications were more likely to be 40 or less (P≤0.001, OR=8.54) and African American (P<0.001, OR=2.59). E-mail and text messaging reminders currently may have a limited utility in improving adherence in the general glaucoma population but may be useful in younger patients with glaucoma.

  10. The Additional Value of an E-Mail to Inform Healthcare Professionals of a Drug Safety Issue: A Randomized Controlled Trial in the Netherlands.

    PubMed

    Piening, Sigrid; de Graeff, Pieter A; Straus, Sabine M J M; Haaijer-Ruskamp, Flora M; Mol, Peter G M

    2013-09-01

    The usefulness and the impact of Direct Healthcare Professional Communications (DHPCs, or 'Dear Doctor letters') in changing the clinical behaviour of physicians have been debated. Changes in the current risk communication methods should preferably be based on the preferences of the healthcare professionals, to optimize the uptake of the message. The aim of this study was to assess whether safety issues are communicated more effectively with an additional e-mail sent by the Dutch Medicines Evaluation Board (MEB) than with the DHPC only. A randomized controlled trial was conducted amongst ophthalmologists and hospital pharmacists in the Netherlands, who were the target group of a DHPC that was issued for pegaptanib, a drug that is administered intra-ocularly in patients with macular degeneration. The intervention group (N = 110) received the pegaptanib DHPC, as well as the MEB e-mail. The control group (N = 105) received the traditional paper-based DHPC only. Two weeks later, the study population received an invitation to fill out an online questionnaire. Questions were asked about the respondents' knowledge and attitude regarding the pegaptanib issue, and any action they had consequently taken. Additional questions were asked about their satisfaction with the DHPC and the e-mail, and their preferred source of such information. Forty respondents (18.6%) completed the questionnaire. Eighty-one percent of the respondents in the intervention group (N = 21) and 47% of the control group (N = 19) correctly indicated that a serious increase in intra-ocular pressure could be caused by pegaptanib injections (Fishers' exact test, p = 0.046). Nine respondents in the intervention group versus none of the control group respondents indicated that they had taken action in response to the pegaptanib safety issue (Fishers' exact test, p = 0.01). The majority of both the intervention group and the control group confirmed that they would like to receive an MEB e-mail with safety

  11. Real-Time Computer-Mediated Communication: Email and Instant Messaging Simulation

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Newman, Amy

    2007-01-01

    As computer-mediated communication becomes increasingly prevalent in the workplace, students need to apply effective writing principles to today's technologies. Email, in particular, requires interns and new hires to manage incoming messages, use an appropriate tone, and craft clear, concise messages. In addition, with instant messaging (IM)…

  12. Providing cell phone numbers and e-mail addresses to patients: The patient's perspective, a cross sectional study.

    PubMed

    Peleg, Roni; Nazarenko, Elena

    2012-08-28

    Today patients can consult with their treating physician by cell phone or e-mail. These means of communication enhance the quality of medical care and increase patient satisfaction, but they can also impinge on physicians' free time and their patient schedule while at work. The objective of this study is to assess the attitudes and practice of patients on obtaining the cell phone number or e-mail address of their physician for the purpose of medical consultation. Personal interviews with patients, 18 years of age or above, selected by random sampling from the roster of adults insured by Clalit Health Services, Southern Division. The total response rate was 41%. The questionnaire included questions on the attitude and practice of patients towards obtaining their physician's cell phone number or e-mail address. Comparisons were performed using Chi-square tests to analyze statistically significant differences of categorical variables. Two-tailed p values less than 0.05 were considered statistically significant, with a power of 0.8. The study sample included 200 patients with a mean age of 46.6 ± 17.1, of whom 110 were women (55%). Ninety-three (46.5%) responded that they would be very interested in obtaining their physician's cell phone number, and an additional 83 (41.5%) would not object to obtaining it. Of the 171 patients (85.5%) who had e-mail addresses, 25 (14.6%) said they would be very interested in obtaining their physician's e-mail address, 85 (49.7%) said they would not object to getting it, and 61 (35.7%) were not interested. In practice only one patient had requested the physician's e-mail address and none actually had it. Patients favored cell phones over e-mail for consulting with their treating physicians. With new technologies such as cell phones and e-mail in common use, it is important to determine how they can be best used and how they should be integrated into the flow of clinical practice.

  13. Digital Literacies and Generational Micro-Cultures: Email Feedback in Lebanon

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    De Coursey, Christina; Dandashly, Nadine

    2015-01-01

    This study reports on the introduction of email feedback, in a private university in Lebanon with marked generational differences and a traditional instructor culture focused on grammar correction. The instructor profile showed insufficient ELT training and a disjuncture between those with low and those with long service. Instructors were trained,…

  14. Changing Cultural Stereotypes through E-Mail Assisted Foreign Language Learning

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Itakura, Hiroko

    2004-01-01

    This paper explores the question of how cultural stereotypes are formed, modified, dismissed or reinforced, drawing on findings from a collaborative intercultural e-mail project between Hong Kong learners of Japanese at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University and native Japanese speakers at Kagoshima University. It also evaluates role of e-mail…

  15. Test of the Behavioral Perspective Model in the Context of an E-Mail Marketing Experiment

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Sigurdsson, Valdimar; Menon, R. G. Vishnu; Sigurdarson, Johannes Pall; Kristjansson, Jon Skafti; Foxall, Gordon R.

    2013-01-01

    An e-mail marketing experiment based on the behavioral perspective model was conducted to investigate consumer choice. Conversion e-mails were sent to two groups from the same marketing database of registered consumers interested in children's books. The experiment was based on A-B-A-C-A and A-C-A-B-A withdrawal designs and consisted of sending B…

  16. Adult Willingness to Use Email and Social Media for Peer-to-Peer Cancer Screening Communication: Quantitative Interview Study.

    PubMed

    Cutrona, Sarah L; Roblin, Douglas W; Wagner, Joann L; Gaglio, Bridget; Williams, Andrew E; Torres Stone, Rosalie; Field, Terry S; Mazor, Kathleen M

    2013-11-28

    Adults over age 40 are increasing their use of email and social media, raising interest in use of peer-to-peer Internet-based messaging to promote cancer screening. The objective of our study was to assess current practices and attitudes toward use of email and other e-communication for peer-to-peer dialogues on cancer screening. We conducted in-person interviews with 438 insured adults ages 42-73 in Georgia, Hawaii, and Massachusetts. Participants reported on use of email and other e-communication including social media to discuss with peers routine health topics including breast and colorectal cancer (CRC). We ascertained willingness to share personal CRC screening experiences via conversation, postcard, email, or other e-communication. Health literacy scores were measured. Email had been used by one-third (33.8%, 148/438) to discuss routine health topics, by 14.6% (64/438) to discuss breast cancer screening, and by 12.6% (55/438) to discuss CRC screening. Other e-communication was used to discuss routine health topics (11.6%, 51/438), screening for breast cancer (3.9%, 17/438), and CRC (2.3%, 10/438). In the preceding week, 84.5% (370/438) of participants had used email, 55.9% (245/438) had used e-communication of some type; 44.3% (194/438) text, 32.9% (144/438) Facebook, 12.3% (54/438) instant message, 7.1% (31/438) video chat, and 4.8% (21/438) Twitter. Many participants were willing to share their CRC screening experiences via email (32.4%, 142/438 might be willing; 36.3%, 159/438 very willing) and via other e-communication (15.8%, 69/438 might be willing; 14.4%, 63/438 very willing). Individuals willing to send CRC screening emails scored significantly higher on tests of health literacy compared to those willing to send only postcards (P<.001). Many adults are willing to use email and e-communication to promote cancer screening to peers. Optimal approaches for encouraging peer-to-peer transmission of accurate and appropriate cancer screening messages must be

  17. Use of e-mail for Parkinson's disease consultations: Are answers just a clic away?

    PubMed

    Viedma-Guiard, E; Agüero, P; Crespo-Araico, L; Estévez-Fraga, C; Sánchez-Díez, G; López-Sendón, J L; Aviles-Olmos, I; García-Ribas, G; Palacios Romero, M L; Masjuan Vallejo, J; Martínez-Castrillo, J C; Alonso-Cánovas, A

    2018-03-01

    The clinical problems of patients with movement disorders (MD) are complex, and the duration and frequency of face-to-face consultations may be insufficient to meet their needs. We analysed the implementation of an e-mail-based query service for our MD unit's patients and their primary care physicians (PCPs). We retrospectively reviewed all consecutive emails sent and received over a period of 4 months, one year after implementation of the e-mail inquiry system. All patients received the during consultations, and PCPs, during scheduled informative meetings. We recorded and later analysed the profile of the questioner, patients' demographic and clinical data, number of queries, reason for consultation, and actions taken. From 1 January 2015 to 30 April 2015, the service received 137 emails from 63 patients (43% male, mean age 71±10.5) diagnosed with Parkinson's disease (76%), atypical parkinsonism (10%), and others (14%); 116 responses were sent. Twenty (32%) emails were written by patients, 38 (60%) by their caregivers, and 5 (8%) by their PCPs. The reasons for consultation were clinical in 50 cases (80%): 16 (32%) described clinical deterioration, 14 (28%) onset of new symptoms, and 20 (40%) side effects or concerns about medications. In 13 cases (20%), the query was bureaucratic: 11 were related to appointments (85%) and 2 were requests for clinical reports (15%). In response, new appointments were scheduled in 9 cases (14%), while the rest of the questions were answered by email. Patients were satisfied overall and the additional care burden on specialists was not excessive. Implementing an e-mail-based consultation system is feasible in MD units. It facilitates both communication between neurologists and patients and continued care in the primary care setting. Copyright © 2016 Sociedad Española de Neurología. Publicado por Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

  18. Dynamics of Email Communications among University Students throughout a Semester

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Uddin, Shahadat; Jacobson, Michael J.

    2013-01-01

    Email is considered as one of the most widely accepted computer-mediated communication tools among university students. Evidence from the present literature shows that students make a significant amount of their course-related communications (e.g. discuss a topic with peers) using this tool. This study explores the dynamics of an email…

  19. Email Surveys in Educational Research: Ethical and Net-Cultural Concerns

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Nguyen, Chi Hong

    2007-01-01

    The growth of the Internet and the increasing application of electronic mail in many aspects of business and educational research have urged researchers to reach different individuals across geographical borders with an obvious reduction of costs and time. While the use of email surveys in educational research, as this paper mainly argues, offers…

  20. E-Mail Alerts and RSS Feeds for Distance Learning Administrators

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Washburn, Allyson; Howell, Scott L.

    2008-01-01

    This article describes how E-Mail Alerts and RSS feeds can be helpful tools for busy distance education administrators by helping them to efficiently sort through the research and news information that is now available. These tools and their respective filters and aggregators make it possible for busy distance education administrators to stay…

  1. Understanding the use of email consultation in primary care using a retrospective observational study with data of Dutch electronic health records

    PubMed Central

    Huygens, Martine W J; Swinkels, Ilse C S; Verheij, Robert A; Friele, Roland D; van Schayck, Onno C P; de Witte, Luc P

    2018-01-01

    Objectives It is unclear why the use of email consultation is not more widespread in Dutch general practice, particularly because, since 2006, its costs can be reimbursed. To encourage further implementation, it is needed to understand the current use of email consultations. This study aims to understand the use of email consultation by different patient groups, compared with other general practice (GP) consultations. Setting For this retrospective observational study, we used Dutch routine electronic health record data obtained from NIVEL Primary Care Database for the years 2010 and 2014. Participants 200 general practices were included in 2010 (734 122 registered patients) and 434 in 2014 (1 630 386 registered patients). Primary outcome measures The number and percentage of email consultations and patient characteristics (age, gender, neighbourhood socioeconomic status and diagnoses) of email consultation users were investigated and compared with those who had a telephone or face-to-face consultation. General practice characteristics were also taken into account. Results 32.0% of the Dutch general practices had at least one email consultation in 2010, rising to 52.8% in 2014. In 2014, only 0.7% of the GP consultations were by email (the others comprised home visits, telephone and face-to-face consultations). Its use highly varied among general practices. Most email consultations were done for psychological (14.7%); endocrine, metabolic and nutritional (10.9%); and circulatory (10.7%) problems. These diagnosis categories appeared less frequently in telephone and face-to-face consultations. Patients who had an email consultation were older than patients who had a telephone or face-to-face consultation. In contrast, patients with diabetes who had an email consultation were younger. Conclusion Even though email consultation was done in half the general practices in the Netherlands in 2014, the actual use of it is extremely low. Patients who had an email consultation

  2. The Messages They Send: E-Mail Use by Adolescents with and without a History of Specific Language Impairment (SLI)

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Conti-Ramsden, Gina; Durkin, Kevin; Walker, Allan J.

    2012-01-01

    Background: Contemporary adolescents use e-mail for a variety of purposes, including peer communication and education. Research into these uses has focused on typically developing individuals; much less is known about the use of e-mail by exceptional youth. Aims: The present study examined the structure and form of e-mail messages sent by…

  3. Email Tandem Exchanges as a Tool for Authentic Cultural Learning

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Llopis-García, Reyes

    2012-01-01

    This paper presents the description of an email Tandem exchange project conducted between 94 intermediate-level students (47 pairs) from Columbia University/Barnard College in New York and Universidad Autonóma de Madrid in Spain during the Fall Semester 2010. There were several goals to this project: to help improve students' writing skills; to…

  4. Responsiveness to a Prospective Student E-Mail Inquiry by Community Colleges in the Nine Mega-States

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Shadinger, David A.

    2014-01-01

    This quantitative study investigated e-mail responsiveness by community colleges in the nine mega-states to an inquiry from a prospective student. Noel-Levitz (2006b) reported that prospective students want to receive an e-mail with information about an institution prior to applying for admission. Specifically, high school juniors and seniors want…

  5. Self-esteem, interpersonal risk, and preference for e-mail to face-to-face communication.

    PubMed

    Joinson, Adam N

    2004-08-01

    The media choices made by high and low self-esteem Internet users were studied using web-based methodology (n = 265). Participants were asked to rank four media (face-to-face, e-mail, letter, and telephone) in order of preference across four different communication scenarios designed to pose an interpersonal risk. The level of interpersonal risk posed by two of the scenarios (asking for a pay rise and asking for a date) were also experimentally manipulated by randomly allocating participants to a 25%, 50%, or 75% chance of rejection. Low self-esteem users (LSE) showed a significant preference toward e-mail communication compared to high self-esteem users (HSE). This pattern was reversed for face-to-face preferences. Similarly, a greater chance of rejection in a scenario led to e-mail being preferred to face-to-face communication. The results are discussed in light of both the strategic use of different media and the motivated Internet user.

  6. Contributions of Traditional Web 1.0 Tools e.g. Email and Web 2.0 Tools e.g. Weblog towards Knowledge Management

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Dehinbo, Johnson

    2010-01-01

    The use of email utilizes the power of Web 1.0 to enable users to access their email from any computer and mobile devices that is connected to the Internet making email valuable in acquiring and transferring knowledge. But the advent of Web 2.0 and social networking seems to indicate certain limitations of email. The use of social networking seems…

  7. Maintaining confidentiality in prospective studies: anonymous repeated measurements via email (ARME) procedure.

    PubMed

    Carli, Vladimir; Hadlaczky, Gergö; Wasserman, Camilla; Stingelin-Giles, Nicola; Reiter-Theil, Stella; Wasserman, Danuta

    2012-02-01

    Respecting and protecting the confidentiality of data and the privacy of individuals regarding the information that they have given as participants in a research project is a cornerstone of complying with accepted research standards. However, in longitudinal studies, establishing and maintaining privacy is often challenging because of the necessity of repeated contact with participants. A novel internet-based solution is introduced here, which maintains privacy while at the same time ensures linkage of data to individual participants in a repeated measures design. With the use of the anonymous repeated measurements via email (ARME) procedure, two separate one-way communication systems are established through ad hoc email accounts and a secure study website. Strengths and limitations of the approach are discussed.

  8. Sodium fluoroacetate toxicity: a case report of malicious poisoning in dogs across a Phoenix, Arizona neighborhood.

    PubMed

    Brower, Alexandra; Struthers, Jason; Schmidt, Jemima

    2017-12-01

    In May 2016, thirteen dogs housed in backyards within a single neighborhood were reported to have developed convulsions and died within a 24 h period. An investigation of the scene by law enforcement resulted in submission of eight dogs for postmortem examination. It was suspected that a rapid acting toxin was the cause of death. A gas chromatography-mass spectrophotometry (GC-MS) protocol combined with thin-layer chromatography that allows screening for common convulsants failed to identify a toxin in either pooled gastric content or liver samples from select cases. After consultation with a veterinary toxicologist, sodium fluoroacetate poisoning was investigated. Sodium fluoroacetate, also known as 1080, is a pesticide that was available in the United States from the 1940's to the 1970's, but since 1972 has been banned or under EPA restricted use. When gastric content was re-tested using a GC-MS protocol with selective fluoroacetate ion monitoring and carbon 14 radiolabeling to facilitate quantification, 379 ppb sodium fluoroacetate was detected in a pooled gastric content sample. In spite of its banned status, sodium fluoroacetate remains a rarely reported cause of malicious poisoning in domestic dogs in the United Sates. This compound is highly toxic and is capable of causing death in dogs, humans, other mammals, and insects in ingested quantities as small as a few droplets. Even when geographic or historical proximity to a source is not evident, this intoxication should be considered in dogs exhibiting compatible clinical signs.

  9. R U Able to Meat Me: The Impact of Students' Overly Casual Email Messages to Instructors

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Stephens, Keri K.; Houser, Marian L.; Cowan, Renee L.

    2009-01-01

    Out-of-classroom communication (OCC) in the form of email has increased considerably in the past few years. This study uses Interaction Adaptation Theory (IAT) to inform and frame the impact of using overly casual email messages with instructors. Study one used an experimental method to determine that message quality (casual vs. formal messages)…

  10. Adult Willingness to Use Email and Social Media for Peer-to-Peer Cancer Screening Communication: Quantitative Interview Study

    PubMed Central

    Roblin, Douglas W; Wagner, Joann L; Gaglio, Bridget; Williams, Andrew E; Torres Stone, Rosalie; Field, Terry S; Mazor, Kathleen M

    2013-01-01

    Background Adults over age 40 are increasing their use of email and social media, raising interest in use of peer-to-peer Internet-based messaging to promote cancer screening. Objective The objective of our study was to assess current practices and attitudes toward use of email and other e-communication for peer-to-peer dialogues on cancer screening. Methods We conducted in-person interviews with 438 insured adults ages 42-73 in Georgia, Hawaii, and Massachusetts. Participants reported on use of email and other e-communication including social media to discuss with peers routine health topics including breast and colorectal cancer (CRC). We ascertained willingness to share personal CRC screening experiences via conversation, postcard, email, or other e-communication. Health literacy scores were measured. Results Email had been used by one-third (33.8%, 148/438) to discuss routine health topics, by 14.6% (64/438) to discuss breast cancer screening, and by 12.6% (55/438) to discuss CRC screening. Other e-communication was used to discuss routine health topics (11.6%, 51/438), screening for breast cancer (3.9%, 17/438), and CRC (2.3%, 10/438). In the preceding week, 84.5% (370/438) of participants had used email, 55.9% (245/438) had used e-communication of some type; 44.3% (194/438) text, 32.9% (144/438) Facebook, 12.3% (54/438) instant message, 7.1% (31/438) video chat, and 4.8% (21/438) Twitter. Many participants were willing to share their CRC screening experiences via email (32.4%, 142/438 might be willing; 36.3%, 159/438 very willing) and via other e-communication (15.8%, 69/438 might be willing; 14.4%, 63/438 very willing). Individuals willing to send CRC screening emails scored significantly higher on tests of health literacy compared to those willing to send only postcards (P<.001). Conclusions Many adults are willing to use email and e-communication to promote cancer screening to peers. Optimal approaches for encouraging peer-to-peer transmission of accurate

  11. MABEL at IPAC: managing address books and email lists at the Infrared Processing and Analysis Center

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Crane, Megan; Brinkworth, Carolyn; Gelino, Dawn; O'Leary, Ellen

    2012-09-01

    The Infrared Processing and Analysis Center (IPAC), located on the campus of the California Institute of Technology, is NASA's multi-mission data center for infrared astrophysics. Some of IPAC's services include administering data analysis funding awards to the astronomical community, organizing conferences and workshops, and soliciting and selecting fellowship and observing proposals. As most of these services are repeated annually or biannually, it becomes necessary to maintain multiple lists of email contacts associated with each service. MABEL is a PHP/MySQL web database application designed to facilitate this process. It serves as an address book containing up-to-date contact information for thousands of recipients. Recipients may be assigned to any number of email lists categorized by IPAC project and team. Lists may be public (viewable by all project members) or private (viewable only by team members). MABEL can also be used to send HTML or plain-text emails to multiple lists at once and prevents duplicate emails to a single recipient. This work was performed at the California Institute of Technology under contract to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

  12. Providing cell phone numbers and e-mail addresses to patients: The patient’s perspective, a cross sectional study

    PubMed Central

    2012-01-01

    Background Today patients can consult with their treating physician by cell phone or e-mail. These means of communication enhance the quality of medical care and increase patient satisfaction, but they can also impinge on physicians’ free time and their patient schedule while at work. The objective of this study is to assess the attitudes and practice of patients on obtaining the cell phone number or e-mail address of their physician for the purpose of medical consultation. Methods Personal interviews with patients, 18 years of age or above, selected by random sampling from the roster of adults insured by Clalit Health Services, Southern Division. The total response rate was 41%. The questionnaire included questions on the attitude and practice of patients towards obtaining their physician’s cell phone number or e-mail address. Comparisons were performed using Chi-square tests to analyze statistically significant differences of categorical variables. Two-tailed p values less than 0.05 were considered statistically significant, with a power of 0.8. Results The study sample included 200 patients with a mean age of 46.6 ± 17.1, of whom 110 were women (55%). Ninety-three (46.5%) responded that they would be very interested in obtaining their physician’s cell phone number, and an additional 83 (41.5%) would not object to obtaining it. Of the 171 patients (85.5%) who had e-mail addresses, 25 (14.6%) said they would be very interested in obtaining their physician’s e-mail address, 85 (49.7%) said they would not object to getting it, and 61 (35.7%) were not interested. In practice only one patient had requested the physician’s e-mail address and none actually had it. Conclusions Patients favored cell phones over e-mail for consulting with their treating physicians. With new technologies such as cell phones and e-mail in common use, it is important to determine how they can be best used and how they should be integrated into the flow of clinical practice

  13. Association between secure patient–clinician email and clinical services utilisation in a US integrated health system: a retrospective cohort study

    PubMed Central

    Meng, Di; Palen, Ted E; Tsai, Joanne; McLeod, Melanie; Garrido, Terhilda; Qian, Heather

    2015-01-01

    Objective To assess associations between secure patient–clinician email use and clinical services utilisation over time. Design Retrospective cohort study between July 2010 and December 2013. Controlling for a utilisation surge around first secure email use, we analysed difference of differences between propensity score-matched groups of secure patient–clinician email users and non-users for utilisation 1–12 months before and 7–18 months after first email (users) or a randomly assigned index date (non-users). Setting US integrated healthcare delivery system. Participants 9345 adults with first secure email use between July 2011 and July 2012 and continuous enrolment for ≥30 months and 9345 adults without secure email use between July 2010 and July 2012 matched to users on demographics, health status, and baseline utilisation. Primary Outcome Measures Rates of office visits, patient-initiated phone calls, scheduled telephone visits, after-hours clinic visits, emergency department visits, and hospitalisations. Results After controlling for multiple factors, no statistically significant differences in utilisation between secure email users and non-users occurred. Utilisation transiently increased by 88–237% around first email use. Annual rates of patient-initiated phone calls decreased among secure email users, 0.2 fewer calls per person (95% CI −0.3 to −0.1), from a mean of 4.1 calls per person 1–12 months before first use to a mean of 3.8 calls per person 7–18 months after first use. Rates of patient-initiated phone calls also decreased among non-users, 0.1 fewer calls per person (95% CI −0.2 to 0.0), from a mean of 4.2 calls per person 1–12 months before the index date to mean of 4.1 calls per person 7–18 months after the index date. Conclusions Compared with non-users, patient use of secure email with clinicians was not associated with statistically significant differences in clinical services utilisation 7–18

  14. Faculty and student expectations and perceptions of e-mail communication in a campus and distance doctor of pharmacy program.

    PubMed

    Foral, Pamela A; Turner, Paul D; Monaghan, Michael S; Walters, Ryan W; Merkel, Jennifer J; Lipschultz, Jeremy H; Lenz, Thomas L

    2010-12-15

    To examine faculty members' and students' expectations and perceptions of e-mail communication in a dual pathway pharmacy program. Three parallel survey instruments were administered to campus students, distance students, and faculty members, respectively. Focus groups with students and faculty were conducted. Faculty members perceived themselves as more accessible and approachable by e-mail than either group of students did. Campus students expected a shorter faculty response time to e-mail and for faculty members to be more available than did distance students. E-mail is an effective means of computer-mediated communication between faculty members and students and can be used to promote a sense of community and inclusiveness (ie, immediacy), especially with distant students.

  15. Mining emotional profiles using e-mail messages for earlier warnings of potential terrorist activities

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Galitsky, Boris; Kovalerchuk, Boris

    2006-04-01

    We develop a software system Text Scanner for Emotional Distress (TSED) for helping to detect email messages which are suspicious of coming from people under strong emotional distress. It has been confirmed by multiple studies that terrorist attackers have experienced a substantial emotional distress at some points before committing a terrorist attack. Therefore, if an individual in emotional distress can be detected on the basis of email texts, some preventive measures can be taken. The proposed detection machinery is based on extraction and classification of emotional profiles from emails. An emotional profile is a formal representation of a sequence of emotional states through a textual discourse where communicative actions are attached to these emotional states. The issues of extraction of emotional profiles from text and reasoning about it are discussed and illustrated. We then develop an inductive machine learning and reasoning framework to relate an emotional profile to the class "Emotional distress" or "No emotional distress", given a training dataset where the class is assigned by an expert. TSED's machine learning is evaluated using the database of structured customer complaints.

  16. Results of a content analysis of electronic messages (email) sent between patients and their physicians

    PubMed Central

    Sittig, Dean F

    2003-01-01

    Background Email is the most important mechanism introduced since the telephone for developing interpersonal relationships. This study was designed to provide insight into how patients are using email to request information or services from their healthcare providers. Methods Following IRB approval, we reviewed all electronic mail (e-mail) messages sent between five study clinicians and their patients over a one-month period. We used a previously described taxonomy of patient requests to categorize all patient requests contained in the messages. We measured message volume, frequency, length and response time for all messages sent to and received by these clinicians. Results On average the 5 physicians involved in this study received 40 messages per month, each containing approximately 139 words. Replies sent by the physicians contained 39 words on average and 59.4% of them were sent within 24 hours. Patients averaged 1 request per message. Requests for information on medications or treatments, specific symptoms or diseases, and requests for actions regarding medications or treatments accounted for 75% of all requests. Physicians fulfilled 80.2% of all these requests. Upon comparison of these data to that obtained from traditional office visits, it appears that the potential exists for email encounters to substitute for some percentage of office visits. Conclusion Electronic messaging is an important method for physicians and patients to communicate and further develop their relationship. While many physicians worry that either the number or length of messages from their patients will overwhelm them, there is no evidence to support this. In fact, the evidence suggests that many patient requests, formerly made over the telephone or during office visits, can be addressed via email thus potentially saving both patients and physicians time. PMID:14519206

  17. An e-mail survey identified unpublished studies for systematic reviews.

    PubMed

    Reveiz, Ludovic; Cardona, Andres Felipe; Ospina, Edgar Guillermo; de Agular, Sylvia

    2006-07-01

    A large number of trials remain difficult to locate or unpublished for systematic reviews. The objective of this article was to determine the usefulness of making e-mail contact with authors of clinical trials and literature reviews found in MEDLINE to identify unpublished or difficult to locate Randomized Controlled Trials (RCTs). A structured search for detecting RCTs in MEDLINE was made from January 1999 to June 2003; a questionnaire was sent to a random sample of 525 author's mails. Those RCTs obtained were sought in MEDLINE, EMBASE, the Cochrane Controlled Trials Register, LILACS, and ongoing registers. 40 (7.6%) replies were received; 10 previously undescribed and unpublished RCTs and 21 unregistered ongoing RCTs were found. The most frequently given reasons for not publishing were: lack of time for finalizing the statistical analysis and preparing the manuscript, contractual obligations with the pharmaceutical industry, methodologic errors in designing, and editorial rejection. Using the e-mails of authors detected by the search in electronic databases could contribute toward detecting potentially relevant ongoing or unpublished RCTs enabling rapid, straightforward, low-cost systematic review; in addition, the results of this study support the need of universal registration of all studies at their inception.

  18. An evaluation of the role of email in promoting science investigative skills in primary rural schools in England

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Jarvis, Tina; Hargreaves, Linda; Comber, Chris

    1997-06-01

    This project evaluated the effect of collaboration via email links on the quality of 10-11 year old students’ science investigative skills in six primary rural schools. After a joint planning meeting, sixty children collected, identified and shared information via email about moths in their area, in order to produce a joint booklet. All email traffic was monitored throughout the project. Indepth structured observations and interviews were carried out at the schools. Children completed daily diaries. The children demonstrated a variety of science skills, particularly observation and recording. Their competence and confidence in using computers, handling email and in manipulating a data base developed during the project. The project identified a number of important issues relating to teacher inservice training requirements, the importance of a suitable progression of IT experiences throughout the school, development in cooperative groupwork for children, and software design.

  19. Comparison of e-mail communication skills among first- and fourth-year dental students.

    PubMed

    Oakley, Marnie; Horvath, Zsuzsa; Weinberg, Seth M; Bhatt, Jaya; Spallek, Heiko

    2013-11-01

    As e-mail and other forms of electronic communication increase in popularity, it is important for dental schools to consider a curriculum that prepares their graduates to understand and apply effective electronic communication strategies to their patients. Reflecting this shift in communication behavior, the American Medical Association has developed specific e-mail communication guidelines. Some behavioral examples in these guidelines include protecting patients' protected health information (PHI), ensuring proper record keeping, and using professional, courteous, and understandable language. In this study, a sample of first- and fourth-year dental students (n=160) at the University of Pittsburgh School of Dental Medicine participated in an assignment assessing their patient-provider e-mail communication skills. A rubric was used to evaluate and compare the data between dental student classes. The results reveal a generalized lack of compliance with several of these guidelines by both classes (e.g., failure to protect PHI), despite efforts to expose students to these concepts in the curriculum. In an effort to train emerging dentists to function in a rapidly changing technological environment, these findings suggest a need for growth and development of curricula and perhaps guidelines/recommendations for behavioral competencies regarding dental students' use of electronic communication in the patient care environment.

  20. Towards Technology Integration: The Impact of Motivational and Volitional Email Messages

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kim, ChanMin; Keller, John M.

    2011-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of motivational and volitional email messages (MVEM) on preservice teachers' motivation, volition, performance, and their attitudes toward technology integration. Each of four sections in an educational technology course for preservice teachers was randomly assigned to one of two groups: one…

  1. Computer-Mediated Communication in Psychology Teaching: Influence of Cultural Background on E-Mail Content and on Appraisal

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hansen, Miriam; Jucks, Regina

    2014-01-01

    A significant amount of communication between lecturers and students takes place via e-mail. This study provides evidence that two types of cultural cues contained in the e-mail impacts lecturers' linguistic adaptation to, and appraisal of, the student. A total of 186 psychology lecturers from universities in Germany answered a fictitious…

  2. Designing Email Tasks for the Business English Classroom: Implications from a Study of Hong Kong's Key Industries

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Evans, Stephen

    2012-01-01

    Email has revolutionised the way in which professionals work and companies operate, and yet has received surprisingly little scholarly attention in English for Specific Purposes and has an unexpectedly muted presence in many Business English textbooks. The dearth of research into email use in globalised business settings may be one of the factors…

  3. The Influence of User Characteristics and a Periodic Email Prompt on Exposure to an Internet-Delivered Computer-Tailored Lifestyle Program

    PubMed Central

    van Osch, Liesbeth; Schulz, Daniela N; Kremers, Stef PJ; de Vries, Hein

    2012-01-01

    Background The Internet is a promising medium in the field of health promotion for offering tailored and targeted lifestyle interventions applying computer-tailored (CT) techniques to the general public. Actual exposure to CT interventions is not living up to its high expectations, as only a (limited) proportion of the target group is actually using these programs. Objective To investigate exposure to an Internet-delivered, CT lifestyle intervention, targeting physical activity, fruit and vegetable intake, smoking behavior, and alcohol intake, we focused on three processes: first use, prolonged use, and sustained use. The first objectives were to identify user characteristics that predict initiation of an online CT lifestyle program (first use) and completion of this program (prolonged use). Furthermore, we studied the effect of using a proactive strategy, consisting of periodic email prompts, on program revisits (sustained use). Methods The research population for this study consisted of Dutch adults participating in the Adult Health Monitor, offered by the regional public health services. We used a randomized controlled trial design to assess predictors of first use, prolonged use, and sustained use. Demographics and behavioral characteristics, as well as the strategy used for revisiting, were included as predictors in the model. Results A total of 9169 participants indicated their interest in the new program and 5168 actually logged in to the program. Participants significantly more likely to initiate one of the CT modules were male, older, and employed, and had a lower income, higher body mass index, and relatively unhealthy lifestyle. Participants significantly more likely to complete one of the CT modules were older and had a higher income and a relatively healthier lifestyle. Finally, using a proactive strategy influenced sustained use, with people from the prompting condition being more likely to revisit the program (odds ratio 28.92, 95% confidence

  4. Email recruitment to use web decision support tools for pneumonia.

    PubMed

    Flanagan, James R; Peterson, Michael; Dayton, Charles; Strommer Pace, Lori; Plank, Andrew; Walker, Kristy; Carlson, William S

    2002-01-01

    Application of guidelines to improve clinical decisions for Community Acquired Pneumonia (CAP) patients depends on accurate information about specific facts of each case and on presenting guideline support at the time decisions are being made. We report here on a system designed to solicit information from physicians about their CAP patients in order to classify CAP and present appropriate guidelines for type of care, length of stay, and use of antibiotics. We used elements of three existing information systems to create a achieve these goals: professionals coding diagnoses captured by the existing clinical information system (CIS), email, and web-based decision support tools including a pneumonia severity evaluation tool (SET). The non-secure IS components (email and web) were able to link to information in the CIS using tokens that do not reveal confidential patient-identifiable information. We examined their response to this strategy and the accuracy of pneumonia classification using this approach compared to chart review as a gold standard. On average physicians responded to email solicitations 50% of the time over the 14 month study. Also using this standard, we examined various information triggers for case finding. Professional coding of the primary reason for admission as pneumonia was fairly sensitive as an indicator of CAP. Physician use of the web SET was insensitive but fairly specific. Pneumonia classification using the SET was very reliable compared to experts' chart review using the same algorithm. We examined the distribution of severity of pneumonia for cases of pneumonia found by the various information triggers and for each severity the average length of stay. The distribution found by both chart review and by SET has demonstrated a shift toward more severe cases being admitted compared to only 3 years ago. The length of stay for level of severity is above expectations published by guidelines even for cases of true CAP by chart review. We suggest

  5. Faculty and Student Expectations and Perceptions of E-mail Communication in a Campus and Distance Doctor of Pharmacy Program

    PubMed Central

    Turner, Paul D.; Monaghan, Michael S.; Walters, Ryan W.; Merkel, Jennifer J.; Lipschultz, Jeremy H.; Lenz, Thomas L.

    2010-01-01

    Objective To examine faculty members' and students' expectations and perceptions of e-mail communication in a dual pathway pharmacy program. Methods Three parallel survey instruments were administered to campus students, distance students, and faculty members, respectively. Focus groups with students and faculty were conducted. Results Faculty members perceived themselves as more accessible and approachable by e-mail than either group of students did. Campus students expected a shorter faculty response time to e-mail and for faculty members to be more available than did distance students. Conclusion E-mail is an effective means of computer-mediated communication between faculty members and students and can be used to promote a sense of community and inclusiveness (ie, immediacy), especially with distant students. PMID:21436932

  6. Using Publicly Available Data to Characterize Consumers Use of Email to Communicate with Healthcare Providers.

    PubMed

    Sandefer, Ryan H; Khairat, Saif S; Pieczkiewicz, David S; Speedie, Stuart M

    2015-01-01

    The use of patient focused technology has been proclaimed as a means to improve patient satisfaction and improve care outcomes. The Center for Medicaid/Medicare Services, through its EHR Incentive Program, has required eligible hospitals and professionals to send and receive secure messages from patients in order to receive financial incentives and avoid reimbursement penalties. Secure messaging between providers and patients has the potential to improve communication and care outcomes. The purpose of this study was to use National Health Interview Series (NHIS) data to identify the patient characteristics associated with communicating with healthcare providers via email. Individual patient characteristics were analyzed to determine the likelihood of emailing healthcare providers. The use of email for this purpose is associated with educational attainment, having a usual place of receiving healthcare, income, and geography. Publicly available data such as the NHIS may be used to better understand trends in adoption and use of consumer health information technologies.

  7. Predicted Outcome Value of E-Mail Communication: Factors that Foster Professional Relational Development between Students and Teachers

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Young, Stacy; Kelsey, Dawn; Lancaster, Alexander

    2011-01-01

    Using predicted outcome value theory as a guide, this study investigated the link between e-mail correspondence as a form of computer mediated extra class communication and how it may shape students' desire to foster student-teacher relational development. The findings revealed that when students believe their teacher e-mails the class frequently,…

  8. Can Messages Make a Difference? The Association between E-Mail Messages and Health Outcomes in Diabetes Patients

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Turner, Jeanine Warisse; Robinson, James D.; Tian, Yan; Neustadtl, Alan; Angelus, Pam; Russell, Marie; Mun, Seong K.; Levine, Betty

    2013-01-01

    This investigation examined the impact of social support messages on patient health outcomes. Forty-one American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian patients received a total of 618 e-mail messages from their healthcare provider (HCP). The e-mail messages were divided into 3,565 message units and coded for instances of emotional social…

  9. Association between secure patient-clinician email and clinical services utilisation in a US integrated health system: a retrospective cohort study.

    PubMed

    Meng, Di; Palen, Ted E; Tsai, Joanne; McLeod, Melanie; Garrido, Terhilda; Qian, Heather

    2015-11-09

    To assess associations between secure patient-clinician email use and clinical services utilisation over time. Retrospective cohort study between July 2010 and December 2013. Controlling for a utilisation surge around first secure email use, we analysed difference of differences between propensity score-matched groups of secure patient-clinician email users and non-users for utilisation 1-12 months before and 7-18 months after first email (users) or a randomly assigned index date (non-users). US integrated healthcare delivery system. 9345 adults with first secure email use between July 2011 and July 2012 and continuous enrolment for ≥30 months and 9345 adults without secure email use between July 2010 and July 2012 matched to users on demographics, health status, and baseline utilisation. Rates of office visits, patient-initiated phone calls, scheduled telephone visits, after-hours clinic visits, emergency department visits, and hospitalisations. After controlling for multiple factors, no statistically significant differences in utilisation between secure email users and non-users occurred. Utilisation transiently increased by 88-237% around first email use. Annual rates of patient-initiated phone calls decreased among secure email users, 0.2 fewer calls per person (95% CI -0.3 to -0.1), from a mean of 4.1 calls per person 1-12 months before first use to a mean of 3.8 calls per person 7-18 months after first use. Rates of patient-initiated phone calls also decreased among non-users, 0.1 fewer calls per person (95% CI -0.2 to 0.0), from a mean of 4.2 calls per person 1-12 months before the index date to mean of 4.1 calls per person 7-18 months after the index date. Compared with non-users, patient use of secure email with clinicians was not associated with statistically significant differences in clinical services utilisation 7-18 months after first use. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted

  10. The relationship between the external environment and physician e-mail communication: The mediating role of health information technology availability.

    PubMed

    Mazurenko, Olena; Hearld, Larry R; Menachemi, Nir

    Physician e-mail communication, with patients and other providers, is one of the cornerstones of effective care coordination but varies significantly across physicians. A physician's external environment may contribute to such variations by enabling or constraining a physician's ability to adopt innovations such as health information technology (HIT) that can be used to support e-mail communication. The aim of the study was to examine whether the relationship of the external environment and physician e-mail communication with patients and other providers is mediated by the practice's HIT availability. The data were obtained from the Health Tracking Physician Survey (2008) and the Area Resource File (2008). Cross-sectional multivariable subgroup path analysis was used to investigate the mediating role of HIT availability across 2,850 U.S. physicians. Solo physicians' perceptions about malpractice were associated with 0.97 lower odds (p < .05) of e-mail communication with patients and other providers, as compared to group and hospital practices, even when mediated by HIT availability. Subgroup analyses indicated that different types of practices are responsive to the different dimensions of the external environment. Specifically, solo practitioners were more responsive to the availability of resources in their environment, with per capita income associated with lower likelihood of physician e-mail communication (OR = 0.99, p < .01). In contrast, physicians working in the group practices were more responsive to the complexity of their environment, with a physician's perception of practicing in environments with higher malpractice risks associated with greater information technology availability, which in turn was associated with a greater likelihood of communicating via e-mail with patients (OR = 1.02, p < .05) and other physicians (OR = 1.03, p < .001). The association between physician e-mail communication and the external environment is mediated by the practice

  11. Team Learning and Communication: The Effectiveness of Email-Based Ethics Discussions

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Peek, Lucia; Peek, George; Roxas, Maria; Robichaud, Yves; Blanco, Huguette

    2007-01-01

    In fall 2003, students from two U.S. universities and a Canadian university participated in an ethics project. One solution to overcome the obstacles to ethics discussions among students who are geographically separated is the use of email as a mode of communication. As a basis for their discussions, the students used the accounting ethics…

  12. Is email a reliable means of contacting authors of previously published papers? A study of the Emergency Medicine Journal for 2001.

    PubMed

    O'Leary, F

    2003-07-01

    To determine whether it is possible to contact authors of previously published papers via email. A cross sectional study of the Emergency Medicine Journal for 2001. 118 articles were included in the study. The response rate from those with valid email addresses was 73%. There was no statistical difference between the type of email address used and the address being invalid (p=0.392) or between the type of article and the likelihood of a reply (p=0.197). More responses were obtained from work addresses when compared with Hotmail addresses (86% v 57%, p=0.02). Email is a valid means of contacting authors of previously published articles, particularly within the emergency medicine specialty. A work based email address may be a more valid means of contact than a Hotmail address.

  13. Two Minute Training in Class Significantly Increases the Use of Professional Formatting in Student to Faculty Email Correspondence

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Aguilar-Roca, Nancy; Williams, Adrienne; Warrior, Rahul; O'Dowd, Diane K.

    2009-01-01

    Many university faculty value email as an important tool for communicating with colleagues, but express frustration with a high incidence of unprofessional email correspondence from students. The goals of this study were to document the frequency of specific formatting mistakes that contribute to faculty's unfavorable perception of student emails…

  14. Assessing the potential of e-mail for communicating drug therapy recommendations to physicians in patients with heart failure and ventricular-assist devices.

    PubMed

    Lekura, Jona; Tita, Cristina; Lanfear, David E; Williams, Celeste T; Jennings, Douglas L

    2014-10-01

    This project explores electronic mail (e-mail) as a potential medium for pharmacists to communicate pharmacotherapy interventions to prescribers. This retrospective descriptive analysis was conducted at an urban, academic teaching hospital. The pharmacist attempted a drug therapy intervention via e-mail when unable to make face-to-face contact with the attending physician. Eligible patients for this project were admitted to the advanced heart failure (HF) team between December 1, 2010, and July 31, 2011, and had at least 1 attempted e-mail intervention. The primary outcome was the number of accepted interventions, while the secondary end point was the time until a physician e-mail response. A total of 51 e-mail interventions were attempted on 29 patients (mean age = 53, 24% caucasian, 59% male, 69% left ventricular-assist device [VAD]). Overall, of the total 51 interventions,44 (86.3%) were accepted. The average time to a physician e-mail response was 41 minutes. Initiation of drug therapy and changing dose and route or frequency accounted for the most frequent intervention (33%). The most common drug classes involved in the e-mail interventions were angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (15.7%), loop diuretics (9.8%), and antiplatelet agents (7.8%). Clinical pharmacists with well-established physician relationships can effectively implement timely drug therapy recommendations using e-mail communications in patients with advanced HF or VADs. © The Author(s) 2013.

  15. Target Surface Area Effects on Hot Electron Dynamics from High Intensity Laser-Plasma Interactions

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2016-08-19

    New J. Phys. 18 (2016) 063020 doi:10.1088/1367-2630/18/6/063020 PAPER Target surface area effects on hot electron dynamics from high intensity laser ...Science, University ofMichigan, AnnArbor,MI 48109-2099, USA E-mail: czulick@umich.edu Keywords: laser -plasma,mass-limited, fast electrons, sheath...field Abstract Reduced surface area targets were studied using an ultra-high intensity femtosecond laser in order to determine the effect of electron

  16. Effects of text messaging in addition to emails on physical activity among university and college employees in the UK.

    PubMed

    Suggs, Suzanne; Blake, Holly; Bardus, Marco; Lloyd, Scott

    2013-04-01

    To test the effects of adding text messages to weekly email communications on recipients' total physical activity (leisure-time; workplace; domestic and garden; and active transportation) in employees of universities and colleges in the UK. A randomised trial with two study groups (email only or email plus text messaging for 12 weeks) was implemented at five workplaces. Data were collected at baseline, immediately after, and four weeks after the intervention. Intervention effects on physical activity were evaluated using latent growth modelling. Total physical activity decreased over time in both groups but the decrease was non-significant. The only significant difference between groups was found for workplace physical activity, with the group receiving emails and text messages having a linear decrease of 2.81 Metabolic Equivalent h/week (β = -0.31, p = 0.035) compared to the email only group. Sending employees two additional text messages resulted in less physical activity. Further investigation is needed to understand whether text messaging may play a beneficial role in promoting physical activity in workplace settings. © The Author(s) 2013 Reprints and permissions: sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav.

  17. Effectiveness of an intensive E-mail based intervention in smoking cessation (TABATIC study): study protocol for a randomized controlled trial.

    PubMed

    Díaz-Gete, Laura; Puigdomènech, Elisa; Briones, Elena Mercedes; Fàbregas-Escurriola, Mireia; Fernandez, Soraya; Del Val, Jose Luis; Ballvé, Jose Luis; Casajuana, Marc; Sánchez-Fondevila, Jessica; Clemente, Lourdes; Castaño, Carmen; Martín-Cantera, Carlos

    2013-04-18

    Intensive interventions on smoking cessation increase abstinence rates. However, few electronic mail (E-mail) based intensive interventions have been tested in smokers and none in primary care (PC) setting. The aim of the present study is to evaluate the effectiveness of an intensive E-mail based intervention in smokers attending PC services. Randomized Controlled Multicentric Trial. 1060 smokers aged between 18-70 years from Catalonia, Salamanca and Aragón (Spain) who have and check regularly an E-mail account. Patients will be randomly assigned to control or intervention group. Six phase intensive intervention with two face to face interviews and four automatically created and personal E-mail patients tracking, if needed other E-mail contacts will be made. Control group will receive a brief advice on smoking cessation. Will be measured at 6 and 12 months after intervention: self reported continuous abstinence (confirmed by cooximetry), point prevalence abstinence, tobacco consumption, evolution of stage according to Prochaska and DiClemente's Stages of Change Model, length of visit, costs for the patient to access Primary Care Center. Descriptive and logistic and Poisson regression analysis under the intention to treat basis using SPSS v.17. The proposed intervention is an E-mail based intensive intervention in smokers attending primary care. Positive results could be useful to demonstrate a higher percentage of short and long-term abstinence among smokers attended in PC in Spain who regularly use E-mail. Furthermore, this intervention could be helpful in all health services to help smokers to quit. Clinical Trials.gov Identifier: NCT01494246.

  18. "Go local" island food network: using email networking to promote island foods for their health, biodiversity, and other "CHEEF" benefits.

    PubMed

    Englberger, L; Lorens, A; Pretrick, M E; Spegal, R; Falcam, I

    2010-04-01

    Dietary- and lifestyle-related diseases are problems of epidemic proportion in the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM). Public health resources to help prevent nutrition-related problems are limited. There is also concern about biodiversity, neglect of traditional staple foods, and threatened loss of traditional knowledge. A "Go Local" campaign was initiated to increase production and consumption of locally grown foods, for their Culture, Health, Environment, Economics, and Food security ("CHEEF") benefits. To provide updates and discuss local island food topics, the Island Food Community of Pohnpei launched an interagency email network in 2003. Interested members' email addresses were recorded in distribution lists, weekly/bi-weekly emails were sent and from these messages, a database was organized to record email topic details. An analysis of all emails up to July 2009 showed that membership had expanded to over 600 listed people from all FSM states, other Pacific Island countries and beyond. Information was shared on topics ranging from scientific findings of carotenoid content in local island food cultivars, to discussions on how daily habits related to island food use can be improved. Over 200 men and women, aged 22 to 80 years, contributed items, some indicating that they had shared emails to a further network at their workplace or community. In conclusion, this email network is a simple, cost-effective method to share information, create awareness, and mobilize island food promotion efforts with potential for providing health, biodiversity and other benefits of island foods to populations in the FSM and other countries.

  19. (Mis)Use of Email in Student-Faculty Interaction: Implications for University Instruction in Germany, Saudi Arabia, and Japan

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Danielewicz-Betz, Anna

    2013-01-01

    This paper examines student-faculty communication by email and the lack of clear guidelines that leads to misuse of email in student-faculty interaction, whereby status-incongruent pragmatic markers are employed, resulting in impoliteness and inappropriateness. The main objective is to bridge the gap in research on other than requestive speech…

  20. WASP (Write a Scientific Paper): Open access unsolicited emails for scholarly work - Young and senior researchers perspectives.

    PubMed

    Cuschieri, Sarah; Grech, Victor

    2018-04-20

    The increasing demand on academics and researchers to publish has led to the development of fake journals (also known as predatory journals). Such journals lack peer review and precipitate unfair criticism toward legitimate open access journals. Predatory journals tend to bombard a researcher's mailbox on a daily basis, inviting authors to submit a review/manuscript/opinion/short case to their journal while promising expedited publication - against a fee. This study assessed the unsolicited emails received over the period of November 2017 by a young and by a senior researcher. The young researcher received a substantially higher amount of emails (n = 101) compared to the senior researcher (n = 23). The article processing costs for solicited journals received, ranged between $49 and $3019. These journals are almost all only indexed in Google Scholar and do not display any meaningful journal metrics. Furthermore, the majority of the unsolicited emails were not relevant to the researcher's field of study. Therefore authors and readers alike should evaluate emails received with regard to journal legitimacy prior to submission of work to possibly predatory journals. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  1. Human communication dynamics in digital footsteps: a study of the agreement between self-reported ties and email networks.

    PubMed

    Wuchty, Stefan; Uzzi, Brian

    2011-01-01

    Digital communication data has created opportunities to advance the knowledge of human dynamics in many areas, including national security, behavioral health, and consumerism. While digital data uniquely captures the totality of a person's communication, past research consistently shows that a subset of contacts makes up a person's "social network" of unique resource providers. To address this gap, we analyzed the correspondence between self-reported social network data and email communication data with the objective of identifying the dynamics in e-communication that correlate with a person's perception of a significant network tie. First, we examined the predictive utility of three popular methods to derive social network data from email data based on volume and reciprocity of bilateral email exchanges. Second, we observed differences in the response dynamics along self-reported ties, allowing us to introduce and test a new method that incorporates time-resolved exchange data. Using a range of robustness checks for measurement and misreporting errors in self-report and email data, we find that the methods have similar predictive utility. Although e-communication has lowered communication costs with large numbers of persons, and potentially extended our number of, and reach to contacts, our case results suggest that underlying behavioral patterns indicative of friendship or professional contacts continue to operate in a classical fashion in email interactions.

  2. Human Communication Dynamics in Digital Footsteps: A Study of the Agreement between Self-Reported Ties and Email Networks

    PubMed Central

    Wuchty, Stefan; Uzzi, Brian

    2011-01-01

    Digital communication data has created opportunities to advance the knowledge of human dynamics in many areas, including national security, behavioral health, and consumerism. While digital data uniquely captures the totality of a person's communication, past research consistently shows that a subset of contacts makes up a person's “social network” of unique resource providers. To address this gap, we analyzed the correspondence between self-reported social network data and email communication data with the objective of identifying the dynamics in e-communication that correlate with a person's perception of a significant network tie. First, we examined the predictive utility of three popular methods to derive social network data from email data based on volume and reciprocity of bilateral email exchanges. Second, we observed differences in the response dynamics along self-reported ties, allowing us to introduce and test a new method that incorporates time-resolved exchange data. Using a range of robustness checks for measurement and misreporting errors in self-report and email data, we find that the methods have similar predictive utility. Although e-communication has lowered communication costs with large numbers of persons, and potentially extended our number of, and reach to contacts, our case results suggest that underlying behavioral patterns indicative of friendship or professional contacts continue to operate in a classical fashion in email interactions. PMID:22114665

  3. Targeting Signal Transducers and Activators of Transcription-3 (Stat3) As a Novel Strategy In Sensitizing Breast Cancer To Egfr-Targeted Therapy

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2008-06-01

    Distribution Unlimited The views, opinions and/or findings contained in this report are those of the author( s ) and...Novel Strategy In Sensitizing Breast Cancer To Egfr-Targeted Therapy 5b. GRANT NUMBER W81XWH-07-1-0390 5c. PROGRAM ELEMENT NUMBER 6. AUTHOR( S ...Hui-Wen Lo, Ph.D. 5d. PROJECT NUMBER 5e. TASK NUMBER Email: huiwen.lo@duke.edu 5f. WORK UNIT NUMBER 7. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION NAME( S

  4. E-mail support as an adjunct to cognitive-behavioral group therapy for social anxiety disorder: Impact on dropout and outcome.

    PubMed

    Delsignore, Aba; Rufer, Michael; Emmerich, Juliane; Weidt, Steffi; Brühl, Annette Beatrix; Moergeli, Hanspeter

    2016-10-30

    The present study evaluates the impact of semi-individualized e-mail support as an adjunct to cognitive behavioral group therapy (CBGT) for social anxiety disorder (SAD) on dropout and outcome. The effectiveness of additional semi-individualized e-mail support was evaluated for the whole sample and for a subsample of patients at risk of dropping out of therapy. A total of 91 patients with SAD were allocated either to the intervention condition (CBGT with e-mail support), or to the control condition (CBGT without e-mail support). Anxiety symptoms, depression, global symptomatology and life satisfaction were assessed at pretreatment, post-treatment and follow-up (3, 6 and 12 months). From pre-treatment to post-treatment, both groups improved significantly on all symptom measures. Therapy gains were maintained at the 1-year follow-up. Subsample analyses showed that CBGT+e-mail was more effective than CGBT alone in reducing symptom severity among patients missing at least two therapy sessions. Additionally, in this subgroup, those receiving additional e-mail support showed a tendency towards lower dropout rates. Based on the results of this study, semi-individualized e-mail support between sessions seems to enhance the effectiveness of CBGT for SAD patients at risk of dropping out of treatment and should be considered as an additional tool in clinical practice. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  5. Promising Targets in Anti-cancer Drug Development: Recent Updates.

    PubMed

    Kumar, Bhupinder; Singh, Sandeep; Skvortsova, Ira; Kumar, Vinod

    2017-01-01

    Cancer is a multifactorial disease and its genesis and progression are extremely complex. The biggest problem in the anticancer drug development is acquiring of multidrug resistance and relapse. Classical chemotherapeutics directly target the DNA of the cell, while the contemporary anticancer drugs involve molecular-targeted therapy such as targeting the proteins possessing abnormal expression inside the cancer cells. Conventional strategies for the complete eradication of the cancer cells proved ineffective. Targeted chemotherapy was successful in certain malignancies however, the effectiveness has often been limited by drug resistance and side effects on normal tissues and cells. Since last few years, many promising drug targets have been identified for the effective treatment of cancer. The current review article describes some of these promising anticancer targets that include kinases, tubulin, cancer stem cells, monoclonal antibodies and vascular targeting agents. In addition, promising drug candidates under various phases of clinical trials are also described. Multi-acting drugs that simultaneously target different cancer cell signaling pathways may facilitate the process of effective anti-cancer drug development. Copyright© Bentham Science Publishers; For any queries, please email at epub@benthamscience.org.

  6. TargetVue: Visual Analysis of Anomalous User Behaviors in Online Communication Systems.

    PubMed

    Cao, Nan; Shi, Conglei; Lin, Sabrina; Lu, Jie; Lin, Yu-Ru; Lin, Ching-Yung

    2016-01-01

    Users with anomalous behaviors in online communication systems (e.g. email and social medial platforms) are potential threats to society. Automated anomaly detection based on advanced machine learning techniques has been developed to combat this issue; challenges remain, though, due to the difficulty of obtaining proper ground truth for model training and evaluation. Therefore, substantial human judgment on the automated analysis results is often required to better adjust the performance of anomaly detection. Unfortunately, techniques that allow users to understand the analysis results more efficiently, to make a confident judgment about anomalies, and to explore data in their context, are still lacking. In this paper, we propose a novel visual analysis system, TargetVue, which detects anomalous users via an unsupervised learning model and visualizes the behaviors of suspicious users in behavior-rich context through novel visualization designs and multiple coordinated contextual views. Particularly, TargetVue incorporates three new ego-centric glyphs to visually summarize a user's behaviors which effectively present the user's communication activities, features, and social interactions. An efficient layout method is proposed to place these glyphs on a triangle grid, which captures similarities among users and facilitates comparisons of behaviors of different users. We demonstrate the power of TargetVue through its application in a social bot detection challenge using Twitter data, a case study based on email records, and an interview with expert users. Our evaluation shows that TargetVue is beneficial to the detection of users with anomalous communication behaviors.

  7. Effectiveness of an intensive E-mail based intervention in smoking cessation (TABATIC study): study protocol for a randomized controlled trial

    PubMed Central

    2013-01-01

    Background Intensive interventions on smoking cessation increase abstinence rates. However, few electronic mail (E-mail) based intensive interventions have been tested in smokers and none in primary care (PC) setting. The aim of the present study is to evaluate the effectiveness of an intensive E-mail based intervention in smokers attending PC services. Methods/design Randomized Controlled Multicentric Trial. Study population: 1060 smokers aged between 18–70 years from Catalonia, Salamanca and Aragón (Spain) who have and check regularly an E-mail account. Patients will be randomly assigned to control or intervention group. Intervention: Six phase intensive intervention with two face to face interviews and four automatically created and personal E-mail patients tracking, if needed other E-mail contacts will be made. Control group will receive a brief advice on smoking cessation. Outcome measures: Will be measured at 6 and 12 months after intervention: self reported continuous abstinence (confirmed by cooximetry), point prevalence abstinence, tobacco consumption, evolution of stage according to Prochaska and DiClemente's Stages of Change Model, length of visit, costs for the patient to access Primary Care Center. Statistical analysis: Descriptive and logistic and Poisson regression analysis under the intention to treat basis using SPSS v.17. Discussion The proposed intervention is an E-mail based intensive intervention in smokers attending primary care. Positive results could be useful to demonstrate a higher percentage of short and long-term abstinence among smokers attended in PC in Spain who regularly use E-mail. Furthermore, this intervention could be helpful in all health services to help smokers to quit. Trial Registration Clinical Trials.gov Identifier: NCT01494246. PMID:23597262

  8. [Mobile-phone e-mail use, social networks, and loneliness among Japanese high school students].

    PubMed

    Ogata, Yasuko; Izumi, Yukiko; Kitaike, Tadashi

    2006-07-01

    The purposes of this study were to assess the loneliness of Japanese high school students who own and use a mobile phone, to clarify the relationships between students' loneliness and their social network and frequency of use of e-mail feature, and to demonstrate relationships with a student's social network and recognition of the benefits and drawbacks of mobile phone use. The participants were 227 students from two classes in each grade of a high school in the Kanto region of Japan. Participants answered a questionnaire covering the UCLA Loneliness Scale as well as questions pertaining to the circumstances of use of their mobile phones, their social networks (e.g., number of friends), and their perceptions of the benefits and drawbacks of mobile phone use. The questionnaires of students owning a mobile phone were analyzed. Total scores for the UCLA Loneliness Scale were calculated, and factor analysis was performed for the benefits and drawbacks. A total of 220 questionnaires were returned, for which 94.1 percent of respondents owned a mobile phone. The percentages of male and female respondents were 58% and 42%. Chronbach's alpha for the UCLA Loneliness Scale (total score) was 0.87, a result similar to previous studies with high school and university students. Factor analysis revealed five factors associated with the benefits and drawbacks of mobile phone use. Multiple-regression analysis showed that 42.9% of the variance in "frequency of e-mail use" was explained by grade level, frequency of mobile phone use, and two of the five factors from the benefits and drawbacks ("difficulty of communication," and "possible sleep loss due to nighttime e-mailing"). Stepwise multiple-regression analysis revealed that 24.4% of the variance in UCLA Loneliness Score was explained by gender, the frequency of e-mail use, the number of friends and the presence/absence of a girlfriend or boyfriend. Presence of an active social network and frequent e-mailing by mobile phone reduced

  9. Important imaging finding e-mail alert system: experience after 3 years of implementation.

    PubMed

    Abujudeh, Hani H; Kaewlai, Rathachai; Choy, Garry; Whelton, Dianne G; Rosenthal, Daniel I

    2009-09-01

    To evaluate the effectiveness of an important finding alert (IFA) system that uses e-mail technology to alert referring physicians to an important but nonurgent imaging finding. The institutional review board approved the study; the requirement for informed consent was waived. The authors retrospectively reviewed the radiology reports generated from January 2005 to December 2007 to determine how many reports contained an IFA statement, how many IFA messages were sent, and how many such messages were viewed by referring physicians. They reviewed 1000 randomly selected radiology reports that contained the IFA statement to identify the imaging modalities and findings that triggered the radiologists' use of the IFA system. A total of 1540254 radiology reports were generated during the 3-year period. A total of 56 691 (3.7%) reports contained the IFA statement. IFA e-mail messages were sent for 52 883 (93.3%) of the 56 691 reports, and 42 285 (74.6%) of the 56 691 reports were viewed by the referring physicians. The most common important but nonurgent findings were definitive (449 [44.9%] of 1000 reports) and indeterminate (260 [26.0%] of 1000 reports) abnormalities. More than half (n = 503) of the alerts were related to computed tomographic examinations, and the majority (n = 677, 67.7%) of them were initiated by thoracic and abdominal radiologists. The IFA system is a potentially useful method of communicating nonurgent but important imaging findings with use of e-mail technology.

  10. Recent Advances in Targeted Therapy for Glioma.

    PubMed

    Lin, Lin; Cai, Jinquan; Jiang, Chuanlu

    2017-01-01

    Gliomas are the most common primary malignant brain tumors, which have a universally fatal outcome. Current standard treatment for glioma patients is surgical removal followed by radiotherapy and adjuvant chemotherapy. Due to therapeutic resistance and tumor recurrence, efforts are ongoing to identify the molecules that are fundamental to regulate the tumor progression and provide additional methods for individual treatment of glioma patients. By studying the initiation and maintenance of glioma, studies focused on the targets of tyrosine kinase receptors including EGFR, PDGFR and other crucial signal pathways such as PI3K/AKT and RAS/RAF/MAPK pathway. Furthermore, recent advances in targeting immunotherapy and stem cell therapy also brought numerous strategies to glioma treatment. This article reviewed the researches focused on the advanced strategies of various target therapies for improving the glioma treatment efficacy, and discussed the challenges and future directions for glioma therapy. Copyright© Bentham Science Publishers; For any queries, please email at epub@benthamscience.org.

  11. A Grounded Theory Study of the Relationship between E-Mail and Burnout

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Camargo, Marta Rocha

    2008-01-01

    Introduction: This study consisted of a qualitative investigation into the role of e-mail in work-related burnout among high technology employees working full time and on-site for Internet, hardware, and software companies. Method: Grounded theory methodology was used to provide a systemic approach in categorising, sorting, and analysing data…

  12. Shared Semantics and the Use of Organizational Memories for E-Mail Communications.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Schwartz, David G.

    1998-01-01

    Examines the use of shared semantics information to link concepts in an organizational memory to e-mail communications. Presents a framework for determining shared semantics based on organizational and personal user profiles. Illustrates how shared semantics are used by the HyperMail system to help link organizational memories (OM) content to…

  13. An overview of targeted alpha therapy with 225Actinium and 213Bismuth.

    PubMed

    Morgenstern, Alfred; Apostolidis, Christos; Kratochwil, Clemens; Sathekge, Mike; Krolicki, Leszek; Bruchertseifer, Frank

    2018-05-01

    Recent reports of the remarkable therapeutic efficacy of 225Ac-labeled PSMA-617 for therapy of metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer have underlined the clinical potential of targeted alpha therapy. This review describes methods for the production of 225Ac and its daughter nuclide 213Bi and summarizes the current clinical experience with both alpha emitters with particular focus on recent studies of targeted alpha therapy of bladder cancer, brain tumors, neuroendocrine tumors and prostate cancer. Copyright© Bentham Science Publishers; For any queries, please email at epub@benthamscience.org.

  14. Comparison of Text Messages Versus E-mail When Communicating and Querying With Mothers About Safe Infant Sleep.

    PubMed

    Moon, Rachel Y; Hauck, Fern R; Kellams, Ann L; Colson, Eve R; Geller, Nicole L; Heeren, Timothy C; Kerr, Stephen M; Corwin, Michael J

    To assess how mothers' choice of e-mail or text messages (SMS) to receive safe sleep communications is associated with educational video viewing and responses to care practice queries. Seven hundred ninety-two new mothers received safe sleep-related communications for 60 days after newborn hospital discharge as part of a trial of health education interventions on infant care practices. Mothers chose e-mail or SMS for study communications and were sent 22 short safe sleep videos and 41 queries regarding infant care practices. Study communications via e-mail were elected by 55.7% of participants. The SMS group had a modestly higher overall view rate of videos (59.1% vs 54.4%; adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 1.39; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.07-1.81) and a substantially higher response rate to queries (70.0% vs 45.2%; aOR, 3.48; 95% CI, 2.74-4.43). Participants more commonly opted to receive infant care practice videos and queries via e-mail. SMS was associated with higher viewing and response rates, especially for query responses. These results highlight the importance of understanding how specific modalities of communication might vary in reach. Copyright © 2017 Academic Pediatric Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  15. Changing paradigm from one target one ligand towards multi target directed ligand design for key drug targets of Alzheimer disease: An important role of Insilco methods in multi target directed ligands design.

    PubMed

    Kumar, Akhil; Tiwari, Ashish; Sharma, Ashok

    2018-03-15

    discovery and play an important role in optimizing multi-target drug discovery. Copyright© Bentham Science Publishers; For any queries, please email at epub@benthamscience.org.

  16. Discursive Negotiation of Face via Email: Professional Identity Development in School Counseling Supervision

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Gordon, Cynthia; Luke, Melissa

    2012-01-01

    This article examines email exchanges between eight Master's-level school counseling student interns and their internship supervisor to investigate how politeness strategies contribute to professional identity development in supervisory discourse. Our analysis demonstrates how identity development occurs via collaborative facework accomplished…

  17. The Use of Email and the Relationships between Education Leaders and Followers

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Haddouch, Reda

    2017-01-01

    Through the use of a survey questionnaire and descriptive statistics to analyze the collected data, this quantitative research study sought to determine whether there is a relationship between the use of email as a form of communication and the quality of the leader-follower relationship in organizations. Two electronic survey questionnaires were…

  18. Computerized Automated Reminder Diabetes System (CARDS): e-mail and SMS cell phone text messaging reminders to support diabetes management.

    PubMed

    Hanauer, David A; Wentzell, Katherine; Laffel, Nikki; Laffel, Lori M

    2009-02-01

    Cell phone text messaging, via the Short Messaging Service (SMS), offers the promise of a highly portable, well-accepted, and inexpensive modality for engaging youth and young adults in the management of their diabetes. This pilot and feasibility study compared two-way SMS cell phone messaging with e-mail reminders that were directed at encouraging blood glucose (BG) monitoring. Forty insulin-treated adolescents and young adults with diabetes were randomized to receive electronic reminders to check their BG levels via cell phone text messaging or e-mail reminders for a 3-month pilot study. Electronic messages were automatically generated, and participant replies with BG results were processed by the locally developed Computerized Automated Reminder Diabetes System (CARDS). Participants set their schedule for reminders on the secure CARDS website where they could also enter and review BG data. Of the 40 participants, 22 were randomized to receive cell phone text message reminders and 18 to receive e-mail reminders; 18 in the cell phone group and 11 in the e-mail group used the system. Compared to the e-mail group, users in the cell phone group received more reminders (180.4 vs. 106.6 per user) and responded with BG results significantly more often (30.0 vs. 6.9 per user, P = 0.04). During the first month cell phone users submitted twice as many BGs as e-mail users (27.2 vs. 13.8 per user); by month 3, usage waned. Cell phone text messaging to promote BG monitoring is a viable and acceptable option in adolescents and young adults with diabetes. However, maintaining interest levels for prolonged intervals remains a challenge.

  19. Treat to target in gout.

    PubMed

    Perez-Ruiz, Fernando; Moreno-Lledó, Aitana; Urionagüena, Irati; Dickson, Alastair J

    2018-01-01

    The treat-to-target (T2T) approach has been successfully implemented in a number of diseases. T2T has been proposed for rheumatic diseases such as RA, spondyloarthritis, lupus, and recently for gout. The level of evidence for such approaches differs from one condition to the other (moderate to high for hyperlipidaemia, for example). Practice is based on the best available evidence at any time, and in absence of good evidence for T2T in gout, some suggest a conservative only-treat-symptoms approach. Evidence suggests that not treating gout to target in the long term is overall associated with worsening outcomes, such as flares, tophi and structural damage, which is associated to loss of quality of life and mortality. Different targets have been proposed for hyperuricaemia in gout; lower than 6 mg/dl (0.36 mmol/l) for all patients, at least <5 mg/dl (0.30 mmol/l) for patients with severe-polyarticular or tophaceous-gout. © The Author 2018. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the British Society for Rheumatology. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  20. Not Wanted in the Inbox!: Evaluations of Unsolicited and Harassing E-Mail

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Khoo, Pek Ne; Senn, Charlene Y.

    2004-01-01

    This study was designed as a first step to explore sexual harassment in the electronic domain. One hundred six students read 10 e-mail messages ranging from jokes to spam to a sexual proposition from a stranger and rated them on an offensiveness evaluative scale. Participants also completed social desirability and attitudes toward sexual…

  1. Shilling Attacks Detection in Recommender Systems Based on Target Item Analysis

    PubMed Central

    Zhou, Wei; Wen, Junhao; Koh, Yun Sing; Xiong, Qingyu; Gao, Min; Dobbie, Gillian; Alam, Shafiq

    2015-01-01

    Recommender systems are highly vulnerable to shilling attacks, both by individuals and groups. Attackers who introduce biased ratings in order to affect recommendations, have been shown to negatively affect collaborative filtering (CF) algorithms. Previous research focuses only on the differences between genuine profiles and attack profiles, ignoring the group characteristics in attack profiles. In this paper, we study the use of statistical metrics to detect rating patterns of attackers and group characteristics in attack profiles. Another question is that most existing detecting methods are model specific. Two metrics, Rating Deviation from Mean Agreement (RDMA) and Degree of Similarity with Top Neighbors (DegSim), are used for analyzing rating patterns between malicious profiles and genuine profiles in attack models. Building upon this, we also propose and evaluate a detection structure called RD-TIA for detecting shilling attacks in recommender systems using a statistical approach. In order to detect more complicated attack models, we propose a novel metric called DegSim’ based on DegSim. The experimental results show that our detection model based on target item analysis is an effective approach for detecting shilling attacks. PMID:26222882

  2. Epidermal growth factor receptor and variant III targeted immunotherapy.

    PubMed

    Congdon, Kendra L; Gedeon, Patrick C; Suryadevara, Carter M; Caruso, Hillary G; Cooper, Laurence J N; Heimberger, Amy B; Sampson, John H

    2014-10-01

    Immunotherapeutic approaches to cancer have shown remarkable promise. A critical barrier to successfully executing such immune-mediated interventions is the selection of safe yet immunogenic targets. As patient deaths have occurred when tumor-associated antigens shared by normal tissue have been targeted by strong cellular immunotherapeutic platforms, route of delivery, target selection and the immune-mediated approach undertaken must work together to maximize efficacy with safety. Selected tumor-specific targets can spare potential toxicity to normal tissue; however, they are far less common than tumor-associated antigens and may not be present on all patients. In the context of immunotherapy for high-grade glioma, 2 of the most prominently studied antigens are the tumor-associated epidermal growth factor receptor and its tumor-specific genetic deletion variant III. In this review, we will summarize the immune-mediated strategies employed against these targets as well as the caveats particular to these approaches. © The Author(s) 2014. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Neuro-Oncology. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  3. Promoting Children's Resilience and Coping Following September 11, 2001: An Email Analysis.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kirkley, Kevin O.; Medway, Frederic J.

    2003-01-01

    Examines a sample of 45 emails written by adults in response to an Internet article on how to help children develop resilience and cope with hardship in the wake of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. Results reveal that the sample responses often failed to include school-based support services, suggesting that schools may need to increase…

  4. Mirror, Mirror on the Wall: Email as an Object of Practitioner Inquiry

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Maxwell, Sally V.

    2015-01-01

    As new communication technologies enter the classroom, teachers must attend to how digital platforms impact the interpersonal practices of teaching and learning. In this article, I study email exchanges with three of my students--Jorge, Adriana, and Jason--over the course of one year in an 11th-grade English class at River High School, a…

  5. Computerized Automated Reminder Diabetes System (CARDS): E-Mail and SMS Cell Phone Text Messaging Reminders to Support Diabetes Management

    PubMed Central

    Hanauer, David A.; Wentzell, Katherine; Laffel, Nikki

    2009-01-01

    Abstract Background: Cell phone text messaging, via the Short Messaging Service (SMS), offers the promise of a highly portable, well-accepted, and inexpensive modality for engaging youth and young adults in the management of their diabetes. This pilot and feasibility study compared two-way SMS cell phone messaging with e-mail reminders that were directed at encouraging blood glucose (BG) monitoring. Methods: Forty insulin-treated adolescents and young adults with diabetes were randomized to receive electronic reminders to check their BG levels via cell phone text messaging or e-mail reminders for a 3-month pilot study. Electronic messages were automatically generated, and participant replies with BG results were processed by the locally developed Computerized Automated Reminder Diabetes System (CARDS). Participants set their schedule for reminders on the secure CARDS website where they could also enter and review BG data. Results: Of the 40 participants, 22 were randomized to receive cell phone text message reminders and 18 to receive e-mail reminders; 18 in the cell phone group and 11 in the e-mail group used the system. Compared to the e-mail group, users in the cell phone group received more reminders (180.4 vs. 106.6 per user) and responded with BG results significantly more often (30.0 vs. 6.9 per user, P=0.04). During the first month cell phone users submitted twice as many BGs as e-mail users (27.2 vs. 13.8 per user); by month 3, usage waned. Conclusions: Cell phone text messaging to promote BG monitoring is a viable and acceptable option in adolescents and young adults with diabetes. However, maintaining interest levels for prolonged intervals remains a challenge. PMID:19848576

  6. Social media, text messaging, and email-preferences of asthma patients between 12 and 40 years old.

    PubMed

    Baptist, Alan P; Thompson, Michael; Grossman, Karla Stoermer; Mohammed, Layla; Sy, Annie; Sanders, Georgiana M

    2011-10-01

    Electronic media such as social media (Facebook, Twitter, MySpace), email, and text messaging could be useful in the management of asthma. However, patient use and preferences for electronic media in asthma management is currently unknown. A survey was sent to asthma patients between 12-40 years of age. The survey collected demographic information, use of electronic media, interest in using electronic media to receive asthma information, and interest in using electronic media to communicate with a health care provider about asthma. Free text entries were encouraged. 145 completed surveys were returned. Text messaging, email, and Facebook were used at least weekly by a majority of respondents (82%, 77%, and 65%, respectively). Email was clearly the most preferred method to receive asthma information and to communicate with a physician. There was some interest in using Facebook or text messaging, whereas Myspace and Twitter had minimal interest. On logistic regression analysis, female and Black or Hispanic participants were more likely to have an interest in the use of electronic media for asthma care. Frequent users (>1X/week) of each electronic media type had greater enthusiasm for their incorporation into asthma care. Free text entries revealed that many participants felt social media sites were for connecting with friends rather than for health care, and privacy concerns were also raised. Electronic media offers a novel way to improve asthma care. Email was the most preferred method, though text messaging and social media sites like Facebook may be appropriate for certain patients.

  7. A Study of Jordanian University Students' Perceptions of Using Email Exchanges with Native English Keypals for Improving Their Writing Competency

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Mahfouz, Safi Mahmoud

    2010-01-01

    English foreign language learners generally tend to consider email exchanges with native speakers (NSs) as an effective tool for improving their foreign language proficiency. This study investigated Jordanian university students' perceptions of using email exchanges with native English keypals (NEKs) for improving their writing competency. A…

  8. Use of email, cell phone and text message between patients and primary-care physicians: cross-sectional study in a French-speaking part of Switzerland.

    PubMed

    Dash, Jonathan; Haller, Dagmar M; Sommer, Johanna; Junod Perron, Noelle

    2016-10-05

    Physicians' daily work is increasingly affected by the use of emails, text messages and cell phone calls with their patients. The aim of this study was to describe their use between primary-care physicians and patients in a French-speaking part of Switzerland. A cross-sectional mail survey was conducted among all primary-care physicians of Geneva canton (n = 636). The questionnaire focused on the frequency of giving access to, type of use, advantages and disadvantages of email, cell phone calls and text messages communication between physicians and patients. Six hundred thirty-six questionnaires were mailed, 412 (65 %) were returned and 372 (58 %) could be analysed (37 refusals and three blanks). Seventy-two percent physicians gave their email-address and 74 % their cell phone number to their patients. Emails were used to respond to patients' questions (82 %) and change appointments (72 %) while cell phone calls and text messages were used to follow patients' health conditions. Sixty-four percent of those who used email communication never discussed the rules for email exchanges, and 54 % did not address confidentiality issues with their patients. Most commonly identified advantages of emails, cell phone calls and text messages were improved relationship with the patient, saving time (for emails) and improving the follow-up (for cell phone and text messages). The main disadvantages included misuse by the patient, interference with private life and lack of reimbursement. These tools are widely used by primary-care physicians with their patients. More attention should be paid to confidentiality, documentation and reimbursement when using email communication in order to optimize its use.

  9. If You're House Is Still Available, Send Me an Email: Personality Influences Reactions to Written Errors in Email Messages.

    PubMed

    Boland, Julie E; Queen, Robin

    2016-01-01

    The increasing prevalence of social media means that we often encounter written language characterized by both stylistic variation and outright errors. How does the personality of the reader modulate reactions to non-standard text? Experimental participants read 'email responses' to an ad for a housemate that either contained no errors or had been altered to include either typos (e.g., teh) or homophonous grammar errors (grammos, e.g., to/too, it's/its). Participants completed a 10-item evaluation scale for each message, which measured their impressions of the writer. In addition participants completed a Big Five personality assessment and answered demographic and language attitude questions. Both typos and grammos had a negative impact on the evaluation scale. This negative impact was not modulated by age, education, electronic communication frequency, or pleasure reading time. In contrast, personality traits did modulate assessments, and did so in distinct ways for grammos and typos.

  10. The Role of E-Mail Communications in Determining Response Rates and Mode of Participation in a Mixed-Mode Design

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Cernat, Alexandru; Lynn, Peter

    2018-01-01

    This article is concerned with the extent to which the propensity to participate in a web face-to-face sequential mixed-mode survey is influenced by the ability to communicate with sample members by e-mail in addition to mail. Researchers may be able to collect e-mail addresses for sample members and to use them subsequently to send survey…

  11. Designing Email Messages for Corporate Readers: A Case Study of Effective and Ineffective Rhetorical Strategies at a "Fortune" 100 Company

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    DeKay, Sam H.

    2010-01-01

    Within the last 12 years, email has emerged as the most commonly used form of written communication in the corporate workplace. Several factors have contributed to the widespread use of email. This form of communication is generally rapid, is more economical than distributing or mailing printed documents, and permits simultaneous communication…

  12. Minding Your E-Mail: District Leaders Need to Prepare for Public Records Requests

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Keenan, Daniel; Keener, Clinton; Shoaf, Michael; McIntyre, Daniel

    2009-01-01

    Since the Supreme Court approved a 2006 amendment to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure requiring public entities such as school districts to produce electronically stored public records during the "discovery process" in lawsuits, maintaining such records, especially e-mail messages, has been an ongoing obligation for district leaders. While…

  13. E-mail Communities--A Story of Collaboration between Students in Australia and Indonesia.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lelong, Peter; Fearnley-Sander, Mary

    1999-01-01

    Describes two projects: the first linked teacher-education students in Australia and Indonesia through e-mail and then grew into a link between primary students; the second project was a prize-winning publication by the primary students on the Internet. Gives a list of different materials and guidelines for teachers. (CMK)

  14. Single Session Email Consultation for Parents: An Evaluation of Its Effect on Empowerment

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Nieuwboer, Christa C.; Fukkink, Ruben G.; Hermanns, Jo M. A.

    2015-01-01

    This study evaluated the effect of single session email consultation (SSEC) on empowerment of parents. Practitioners in a control group (n = 19) received no training and practitioners in an experimental group (n = 21) were trained to use empowerment-oriented techniques in online consultation. Parental empowerment was measured (n = 96) through a…

  15. Patient use of email for health care communication purposes across 14 European countries: an analysis of users according to demographic and health-related factors.

    PubMed

    Newhouse, Nikki; Lupiáñez-Villanueva, Francisco; Codagnone, Cristiano; Atherton, Helen

    2015-03-06

    The use of the Internet for health purposes is growing steadily, yet the use of asynchronous communication tools for health care purposes remains undeveloped. The introduction of email as a method of communication in health care has the potential to impact on both patients and health care professionals. This study aims to describe the characteristics of people who have sent or received an email to or from their doctor, nurse, or health care organization, by country and in relation to demographics, health care resource use, and health status factors. We conducted a secondary analysis of data (N=14,000) collected from the online Citizens and Information Communication Technology for Health survey, a project undertaken in 2011 by the Institute for Prospective Technology Studies of the European Commission's Joint Research Centre. The survey was developed to understand and characterize European citizens' use of information communication technologies for health. Descriptive and statistical analyses of association were used to interpret the data. Denmark reported the highest level of emails sent/received (507/1000, 50.70%). The lowest level reported was by participants in France (187/1000, 18.70%). Men used email communication for health care more than women, as did respondents in the 16-24 age group and those educated to tertiary level or still within the education system. As self-reported health state worsens, the proportion of people reporting having sent or received an email within the context of health care increases. Email use, poor health, multimorbidity, and number of visits to a physician are positively correlated. The use of email communication within the context of European health care is extremely varied. The relationship between high email use, poor health, doctor visits, and multimorbidity is especially pertinent: provision of asynchronous communication for such groups is favored by policymakers. Low reported email use by country may not necessarily reflect

  16. Using e-mail recruitment and an online questionnaire to establish effect size: A worked example.

    PubMed

    Kirkby, Helen M; Wilson, Sue; Calvert, Melanie; Draper, Heather

    2011-06-09

    Sample size calculations require effect size estimations. Sometimes, effect size estimations and standard deviation may not be readily available, particularly if efficacy is unknown because the intervention is new or developing, or the trial targets a new population. In such cases, one way to estimate the effect size is to gather expert opinion. This paper reports the use of a simple strategy to gather expert opinion to estimate a suitable effect size to use in a sample size calculation. Researchers involved in the design and analysis of clinical trials were identified at the University of Birmingham and via the MRC Hubs for Trials Methodology Research. An email invited them to participate.An online questionnaire was developed using the free online tool 'Survey Monkey©'. The questionnaire described an intervention, an electronic participant information sheet (e-PIS), which may increase recruitment rates to a trial. Respondents were asked how much they would need to see recruitment rates increased by, based on 90%. 70%, 50% and 30% baseline rates, (in a hypothetical study) before they would consider using an e-PIS in their research.Analyses comprised simple descriptive statistics. The invitation to participate was sent to 122 people; 7 responded to say they were not involved in trial design and could not complete the questionnaire, 64 attempted it, 26 failed to complete it. Thirty-eight people completed the questionnaire and were included in the analysis (response rate 33%; 38/115). Of those who completed the questionnaire 44.7% (17/38) were at the academic grade of research fellow 26.3% (10/38) senior research fellow, and 28.9% (11/38) professor. Dependent upon the baseline recruitment rates presented in the questionnaire, participants wanted recruitment rate to increase from 6.9% to 28.9% before they would consider using the intervention. This paper has shown that in situations where effect size estimations cannot be collected from previous research, opinions

  17. Report: Congressionally Requested Inquiry Into the EPA’s Use of Private and Alias Email Accounts

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    Report #13-P-0433, September 26, 2013. We found no evidence that the EPA used, promoted or encouraged the use of private “non-governmental” email accounts to circumvent records management responsibilities

  18. The Contribution of Email Exchanges to Second Language Acquisition: A Case of Cross-Cultural Communication between Africa and North America

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ndemanu, Michael Takafor

    2012-01-01

    An online epistolary project was conducted with Cameroonian French-speaking students in order to boost English language learning. The project involved email exchanges (in English) between a small group of students from Cameroon and Canada, and it was coordinated by their teachers in both countries. At the end of the study, student emails were…

  19. If You’re House Is Still Available, Send Me an Email: Personality Influences Reactions to Written Errors in Email Messages

    PubMed Central

    2016-01-01

    The increasing prevalence of social media means that we often encounter written language characterized by both stylistic variation and outright errors. How does the personality of the reader modulate reactions to non-standard text? Experimental participants read ‘email responses’ to an ad for a housemate that either contained no errors or had been altered to include either typos (e.g., teh) or homophonous grammar errors (grammos, e.g., to/too, it’s/its). Participants completed a 10-item evaluation scale for each message, which measured their impressions of the writer. In addition participants completed a Big Five personality assessment and answered demographic and language attitude questions. Both typos and grammos had a negative impact on the evaluation scale. This negative impact was not modulated by age, education, electronic communication frequency, or pleasure reading time. In contrast, personality traits did modulate assessments, and did so in distinct ways for grammos and typos. PMID:26959823

  20. Efficient visualization of high-throughput targeted proteomics experiments: TAPIR.

    PubMed

    Röst, Hannes L; Rosenberger, George; Aebersold, Ruedi; Malmström, Lars

    2015-07-15

    Targeted mass spectrometry comprises a set of powerful methods to obtain accurate and consistent protein quantification in complex samples. To fully exploit these techniques, a cross-platform and open-source software stack based on standardized data exchange formats is required. We present TAPIR, a fast and efficient Python visualization software for chromatograms and peaks identified in targeted proteomics experiments. The input formats are open, community-driven standardized data formats (mzML for raw data storage and TraML encoding the hierarchical relationships between transitions, peptides and proteins). TAPIR is scalable to proteome-wide targeted proteomics studies (as enabled by SWATH-MS), allowing researchers to visualize high-throughput datasets. The framework integrates well with existing automated analysis pipelines and can be extended beyond targeted proteomics to other types of analyses. TAPIR is available for all computing platforms under the 3-clause BSD license at https://github.com/msproteomicstools/msproteomicstools. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  1. Using Automated Network Detection & Response to Visualize Malicious IT

    Science.gov Websites

    answer. So I'm going to target talking for about 40 minutes, and leave some time left over for question forced operators to switch to manual mode. The media at the time reported on it, and determined that a available online. I would encourage you, if you have not read it, to please take time to read this and to

  2. Resident use of the Internet, e-mail, and personal electronics in the care of surgical patients.

    PubMed

    Plant, Mathew A; Fish, Joel S

    2015-01-01

    The use of smartphones, e-mail, and the Internet has affected virtually all areas of patient care. Current university and hospital policies concerning the use of devices may be incongruent with day-to-day patient care. The goal was to assess the current usage patterns of the Internet, e-mail, and personal electronics for clinical purposes by surgical residents as well as their communication habits and preferences. Also assessed was residents' knowledge regarding the institutional policies surrounding these issues. Surgical residents (n = 294) at a large teaching institution were surveyed regarding their knowledge of university policies as well as daily use of various communication technologies. Communication preferences were determined using theoretical clinical scenarios. Our survey with a response rate of 54.7% (n = 161) revealed that 93.8% of participants indicated daily Internet use for clinical duties. Most respondents (72%) were either completely unaware of the existence of guidelines for its use or aware but had no familiarity with their content. Use of e-mail for clinical duties was common (85%), and 74% of the respondents rated e-mail as "very important" or "extremely important" for patient care. Everyone who responded had a mobile phone with 98.7% being "smartphones," which the majority (82.9%) stated was "very important" or "extremely important" for patient care. Text messaging was the primary communication method for 57.8% of respondents. The traditional paging system was the primary communication method for only 1.3% of respondents and the preferred method for none. Daily use of technology is the norm among residents; however, knowledge of university guidelines was exceedingly low. Residents need better education regarding current guidelines. Current guidelines do not reflect current clinical practice. Hospitals should consider abandoning the traditional paging system and consider facilitating better use of residents' mobile phones.

  3. Email Marketing for U.S. Army and Special Operations Forces (SOF) Recruiting

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2007-12-01

    church. Users had the ability to read the church’s ministry goals and standpoint on religion . The site also contained podcasts of recent church...Cost vs. Time Table for Phone and Email The formula used in this model is: Y =CX The Decision Variables are listed below: X1= Phone Leads X2... Millennial Consumers. Consumer Behavior. United States. Molenaar, C. (2002). The Future of Marketing. Great Britain: Pearson Education

  4. Exploring Culture from a Distance: A U.S./Israeli E-Mail Exchange Project.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Nutta, Joyce W.; Spector-Cohen, Elana

    2002-01-01

    Explores the use of electronic mail to link native-English-speaking teachers and teacher candidates in one country with English-as-a-Foreign-Language students in the other. An average of 10 participants per semester have spent approximately 2 months leaning about each other's cultures through an e-mail exchange of ideas and views. (Author/VWL)

  5. Patient Use of Email for Health Care Communication Purposes Across 14 European Countries: An Analysis of Users According to Demographic and Health-Related Factors

    PubMed Central

    Lupiáñez-Villanueva, Francisco; Codagnone, Cristiano; Atherton, Helen

    2015-01-01

    Background The use of the Internet for health purposes is growing steadily, yet the use of asynchronous communication tools for health care purposes remains undeveloped. The introduction of email as a method of communication in health care has the potential to impact on both patients and health care professionals. Objective This study aims to describe the characteristics of people who have sent or received an email to or from their doctor, nurse, or health care organization, by country and in relation to demographics, health care resource use, and health status factors. Methods We conducted a secondary analysis of data (N=14,000) collected from the online Citizens and Information Communication Technology for Health survey, a project undertaken in 2011 by the Institute for Prospective Technology Studies of the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre. The survey was developed to understand and characterize European citizens’ use of information communication technologies for health. Descriptive and statistical analyses of association were used to interpret the data. Results Denmark reported the highest level of emails sent/received (507/1000, 50.70%). The lowest level reported was by participants in France (187/1000, 18.70%). Men used email communication for health care more than women, as did respondents in the 16-24 age group and those educated to tertiary level or still within the education system. As self-reported health state worsens, the proportion of people reporting having sent or received an email within the context of health care increases. Email use, poor health, multimorbidity, and number of visits to a physician are positively correlated. Conclusions The use of email communication within the context of European health care is extremely varied. The relationship between high email use, poor health, doctor visits, and multimorbidity is especially pertinent: provision of asynchronous communication for such groups is favored by policymakers. Low

  6. Uptake and adherence of a self-directed internet-based mental health intervention with tailored e-mail reminders in senior high schools in Norway.

    PubMed

    Lillevoll, Kjersti R; Vangberg, Hans Christian B; Griffiths, Kathleen M; Waterloo, Knut; Eisemann, Martin R

    2014-01-21

    Internet-based cognitive behavioural therapy (ICBT) is a promising approach to the prevention and reduction of depressive symptoms among adolescents. This study aimed to evaluate the feasibility and efficacy of disseminating a self-directed internet-based mental health intervention (MoodGYM) in senior high schools. It also sought to investigate possible effects of tailored and weekly e-mail reminders on initial uptake and adherence to the intervention. A baseline survey was conducted in four senior high schools in two Norwegian municipalities (n = 1337). 52.8% (707/1337) of the students consented to further participation in the trial and were randomly allocated to one of three MoodGYM intervention groups (tailored weekly e-mail reminder (n = 175), standardized weekly e-mail reminder (n = 176 ) or no e-mail reminder (n = 175)) or a waitlist control group (n = 180). We tested for effects of the intervention on depression and self-esteem using multivariate analysis of variance, effects of tailored e-mail and self-reported current need of help on initial uptake of the intervention using logistic regression and the effect of weekly e-mails on adherence using ordinal regression. There was substantial non-participation from the intervention, with only 8.5% (45/527) participants logging on to MoodGYM, and few proceeding beyond the first part of the programme. No significant effect on depression or self-esteem was found among the sample as a whole or among participants with elevated depression scores at baseline. Having a higher average grade in senior high school predicted initial uptake of the intervention, but tailored e-mail and self-reported current need of help did not. Weekly e-mail prompts did not predict adherence. The main reasons for non-use reported were lack of time/forgetting about it and doubt about the usefulness of the program. Overall, disseminating a self-directed internet-based intervention to a school population proved difficult despite steps taken to

  7. Evaluation of email alerts in practice: Part 2. Validation of the information assessment method.

    PubMed

    Pluye, Pierre; Grad, Roland M; Johnson-Lafleur, Janique; Bambrick, Tara; Burnand, Bernard; Mercer, Jay; Marlow, Bernard; Campbell, Craig

    2010-12-01

    The information assessment method (IAM) permits health professionals to systematically document the relevance, cognitive impact, use and health outcomes of information objects delivered by or retrieved from electronic knowledge resources. The companion review paper (Part 1) critically examined the literature, and proposed a 'Push-Pull-Acquisition-Cognition-Application' evaluation framework, which is operationalized by IAM. The purpose of the present paper (Part 2) is to examine the content validity of the IAM cognitive checklist when linked to email alerts. A qualitative component of a mixed methods study was conducted with 46 doctors reading and rating research-based synopses sent on email. The unit of analysis was a doctor's explanation of a rating of one item regarding one synopsis. Interviews with participants provided 253 units that were analysed to assess concordance with item definitions. The content relevance of seven items was supported. For three items, revisions were needed. Interviews suggested one new item. This study has yielded a 2008 version of IAM. © 2010 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

  8. Exploring the reach and program use of Hello World, an email-based health promotion program for pregnant women in the Netherlands.

    PubMed

    van Dongen, Johanna M; van Poppel, Mireille N M; Milder, Ivon E J; van Oers, Hans A M; Brug, Johannes

    2012-09-22

    In 2006, the Dutch government initiated Hello World, an email-based program promoting healthy lifestyles among pregnant women through quizzes with pregnancy-related questions. In 2008, an updated version was released.The present study aimed to (1) examine the reach of Hello World and the representativeness of its users for all pregnant women in the Netherlands, (2) explore the relationship between program engagement and lifestyle characteristics, and (3) explore the relationship between the program content participants accessed (content on smoking, physical activity, and nutrition) and their lifestyle characteristics. Data from 4,363 pregnant women were included. After registration, women received an online questionnaire with demographic and lifestyle questions. To evaluate their representativeness, their demographic characteristics were compared with existing data for Dutch (pregnant) women. Women were classified on the following lifestyle characteristics: smoking, nutrition, physical activity, and pre-pregnancy weight status. Program use was tracked and the relationships between lifestyle characteristics, program engagement, and the percentage of smoking, physical activity, and nutrition questions accessed after opening a quiz were explored using Mann-Whitney U tests and Kruskal-Wallis tests. Hello World reached ±4% of its target population. Ten percent of participants were low educated and 22% immigrants. On average, women received 6.1 (SD:2.8) quiz emails and opened 32% of the associated quizzes (2.0, SD:2.1). A significant positive association was found between the number of quizzes opened and the number of healthy lifestyle characteristics. After opening a quiz, women accessed most smoking, nutrition, and physical activity questions. Significant relationships were found between several lifestyle characteristics and the percentage of smoking, physical activity, and nutrition questions accessed. However, between-group differences were small, quiz topics were

  9. Neuroprotection in Hypoxic-Ischemic Brain Injury Targeting Glial Cells.

    PubMed

    Mucci, Sofia; Herrera, Maria Ines; Barreto, George E; Kolliker-Frers, Rodolfo; Capani, Francisco

    2017-01-01

    Brain injury constitutes a disabling health condition of several etiologies. One of the major causes of brain injury is hypoxia-ischemia. Until recently, pharmacological treatments were solely focused on neurons. In the last decades, glial cells started to be considered as alternative targets for neuroprotection. Novel treatments for hypoxia-ischemia intend to modulate reactive forms of glial cells, and/or potentiate their recovery response. In this review, we summarize these neuroprotective strategies in hypoxia-ischemia and discuss their mechanisms of action. Copyright© Bentham Science Publishers; For any queries, please email at epub@benthamscience.org.

  10. Speech-based interaction with in-vehicle computers: the effect of speech-based e-mail on drivers' attention to the roadway.

    PubMed

    Lee, J D; Caven, B; Haake, S; Brown, T L

    2001-01-01

    As computer applications for cars emerge, a speech-based interface offers an appealing alternative to the visually demanding direct manipulation interface. However, speech-based systems may pose cognitive demands that could undermine driving safety. This study used a car-following task to evaluate how a speech-based e-mail system affects drivers' response to the periodic braking of a lead vehicle. The study included 24 drivers between the ages of 18 and 24 years. A baseline condition with no e-mail system was compared with a simple and a complex e-mail system in both simple and complex driving environments. The results show a 30% (310 ms) increase in reaction time when the speech-based system is used. Subjective workload ratings and probe questions also indicate that speech-based interaction introduces a significant cognitive load, which was highest for the complex e-mail system. These data show that a speech-based interface is not a panacea that eliminates the potential distraction of in-vehicle computers. Actual or potential applications of this research include design of in-vehicle information systems and evaluation of their contributions to driver distraction.

  11. Experimental Study of Gender Effects on Language Use in College Students' Email to Faculty

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Thomas-Tate, Shurita; Daugherty, Timothy K.; Bartkoski, Timothy J.

    2017-01-01

    Anecdotal reports have arisen regarding gender bias in electronic communication on college campuses. In an experiment designed to test language use in different gender contexts, participants were asked to compose an email to a professor whose gender had been experimentally manipulated. Female students, but not male students, displayed lower…

  12. Emerging molecular therapies targeting myocardial infarction-related arrhythmias.

    PubMed

    Driessen, Helen E; van Veen, Toon A B; Boink, Gerard J J

    2017-04-01

    Cardiac disease is the leading cause of death in the developed world. Ventricular arrhythmias associated with myocardial ischaemia and/or infarction are a major contributor to cardiovascular mortality, and require improved prevention and treatment. Drugs, devices, and radiofrequency catheter ablation have made important inroads, but have significant limitations ranging from incomplete success to undesired toxicities and major side effects. These limitations derive from the nature of the intervention. Drugs are frequently ineffective, target the entire heart, and often do not deal with the specific arrhythmia trigger or substrate. Devices can terminate rapid rhythms but at best indirectly affect the underlying disease, while ablation, even when appropriately targeted, induces additional tissue damage. In contrast, exploration of gene and cell therapies are expected to provide a targeted, non-destructive, and potentially regenerative approach to ischaemia- and infarction-related arrhythmias. Although these approaches are in the early stages of development, they carry substantial potential to advance arrhythmia prevention and treatment. Published on behalf of the European Society of Cardiology. All rights reserved. © The Author 2016. For permissions please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  13. 16 CFR 1130.8 - Requirements for Web site registration or alternative e-mail registration.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-01-01

    ... 16 Commercial Practices 2 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Requirements for Web site registration or... PRODUCTS (Eff. June 28, 2010) § 1130.8 Requirements for Web site registration or alternative e-mail registration. (a) Link to registration page. The manufacturer's Web site, or other Web site established for the...

  14. 16 CFR 1130.8 - Requirements for Web site registration or alternative e-mail registration.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-01-01

    ... 16 Commercial Practices 2 2012-01-01 2012-01-01 false Requirements for Web site registration or... PRODUCTS § 1130.8 Requirements for Web site registration or alternative e-mail registration. (a) Link to registration page. The manufacturer's Web site, or other Web site established for the purpose of registration...

  15. 16 CFR 1130.8 - Requirements for Web site registration or alternative e-mail registration.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-01-01

    ... 16 Commercial Practices 2 2011-01-01 2011-01-01 false Requirements for Web site registration or... PRODUCTS § 1130.8 Requirements for Web site registration or alternative e-mail registration. (a) Link to registration page. The manufacturer's Web site, or other Web site established for the purpose of registration...

  16. 16 CFR 1130.7 - Requirements for Web site registration or alternative e-mail registration.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-01-01

    ... 16 Commercial Practices 2 2014-01-01 2014-01-01 false Requirements for Web site registration or... PRODUCTS § 1130.7 Requirements for Web site registration or alternative e-mail registration. (a) Link to registration page. The manufacturer's Web site, or other Web site established for the purpose of registration...

  17. Increasing Faculty-Student Communication through Email Messaging to Improve the Success of Online Students

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Jimison, Donna L.

    2013-01-01

    In a large community college in the Midwest, an online medical terminology course was experiencing success rates below that of college- and state-wide levels. This study evaluated the outcomes of intentional, increased numbers of e-mail communications between under-performing students and faculty for the purpose of improving student academic…

  18. Testing Behavior Change Techniques to Encourage Primary Care Physicians to Access Cancer Screening Audit and Feedback Reports: Protocol for a Factorial Randomized Experiment of Email Content

    PubMed Central

    Witteman, Holly O; Bouck, Zachary; Bravo, Caroline A; Desveaux, Laura; Llovet, Diego; Presseau, Justin; Saragosa, Marianne; Taljaard, Monica; Umar, Shama; Grimshaw, Jeremy M; Tinmouth, Jill; Ivers, Noah M

    2018-01-01

    Background Cancer Care Ontario’s Screening Activity Report (SAR) is an online audit and feedback tool designed to help primary care physicians in Ontario, Canada, identify patients who are overdue for cancer screening or have abnormal results requiring follow-up. Use of the SAR is associated with increased screening rates. To encourage SAR use, Cancer Care Ontario sends monthly emails to registered primary care physicians announcing that updated data are available. However, analytics reveal that 50% of email recipients do not open the email and less than 7% click the embedded link to log in to their report. Objective The goal of the study is to determine whether rewritten emails result in increased log-ins. This manuscript describes how different user- and theory-informed messages intended to improve the impact of the monthly emails will be experimentally tested and how a process evaluation will explore why and how any effects observed were (or were not) achieved. Methods A user-centered approach was used to rewrite the content of the monthly email, including messages operationalizing 3 behavior change techniques: anticipated regret, material incentive (behavior), and problem solving. A pragmatic, 2x2x2 factorial experiment within a multiphase optimization strategy will test the redesigned emails with an embedded qualitative process evaluation to understand how and why the emails may or may not have worked. Trial outcomes will be ascertained using routinely collected administrative data. Physicians will be recruited for semistructured interviews using convenience and snowball sampling. Results As of April 2017, 5576 primary care physicians across the province of Ontario, Canada, had voluntarily registered for the SAR, and in so doing, signed up to receive the monthly email updates. From May to August 2017 participants received the redesigned monthly emails with content specific to their allocated experimental condition prompting use of the SAR. We have not yet

  19. Identifying Drug-Target Interactions with Decision Templates.

    PubMed

    Yan, Xiao-Ying; Zhang, Shao-Wu

    2018-01-01

    During the development process of new drugs, identification of the drug-target interactions wins primary concerns. However, the chemical or biological experiments bear the limitation in coverage as well as the huge cost of both time and money. Based on drug similarity and target similarity, chemogenomic methods can be able to predict potential drug-target interactions (DTIs) on a large scale and have no luxurious need about target structures or ligand entries. In order to reflect the cases that the drugs having variant structures interact with common targets and the targets having dissimilar sequences interact with same drugs. In addition, though several other similarity metrics have been developed to predict DTIs, the combination of multiple similarity metrics (especially heterogeneous similarities) is too naïve to sufficiently explore the multiple similarities. In this paper, based on Gene Ontology and pathway annotation, we introduce two novel target similarity metrics to address above issues. More importantly, we propose a more effective strategy via decision template to integrate multiple classifiers designed with multiple similarity metrics. In the scenarios that predict existing targets for new drugs and predict approved drugs for new protein targets, the results on the DTI benchmark datasets show that our target similarity metrics are able to enhance the predictive accuracies in two scenarios. And the elaborate fusion strategy of multiple classifiers has better predictive power than the naïve combination of multiple similarity metrics. Compared with other two state-of-the-art approaches on the four popular benchmark datasets of binary drug-target interactions, our method achieves the best results in terms of AUC and AUPR for predicting available targets for new drugs (S2), and predicting approved drugs for new protein targets (S3).These results demonstrate that our method can effectively predict the drug-target interactions. The software package can

  20. Bridging the Gap? Internet and E-Mail Access within Universities in Developing Commonwealth Countries.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lund, Helen

    This study examined the extent to which e-mail and Internet access is available within universities in developing countries in the British Commonwealth. Data were gathered using a survey of 300 institutions in developing Commonwealth countries, and responses by 112 institutions in 19 countries were evaluated. The study concluded that a major gulf…

  1. Use of bright light therapy among psychiatrists in massachusetts: an e-mail survey.

    PubMed

    Oldham, Mark A; Ciraulo, Domenic A

    2014-01-01

    Evidence on the use of bright light therapy for conditions beyond seasonal affective disorder continues to accrue; however, data on the prevalent use of bright light therapy in the community or in hospitals remain limited, particularly in the United States. We conducted a 5-minute e-mail survey of practicing psychiatrists in Massachusetts using the membership roster through the Massachusetts Psychiatric Society to evaluate prevalent use of bright light therapy as well as to solicit attitudes toward the treatment. Three e-mails were sent out over a 2-week period, and responses were obtained from March 2-24, 2013. An iPad raffle was used to incentivize survey completion. Of the 1,366 delivered e-mails, 197 responses were obtained. Of respondents, 72% indicated that they used bright light therapy in their practice, and, among these, all but 1 used bright light therapy for seasonal affective disorder. Only 55% of responding psychiatrists who use bright light therapy consider it to treat nonseasonal depression, and 11% of respondents who recommend bright light therapy would consider its use in inpatient settings. Lack of insurance coverage for light-delivery devices was identified as the largest barrier to using bright light therapy, being cited by 55% of respondents. Survey results suggest that limitations in practitioner knowledge of bright light therapy and the absence of bright light therapy in treatment algorithms are the 2 leading modifiable factors to encourage broader implementation. The principal limitation of our survey was the low response rate. As such, we consider these data preliminary. Response bias very likely led to an overestimation in prevalent use of bright light therapy; however, this bias notwithstanding, it appears that bright light therapy is used significantly less often for nonseasonal depression than for seasonal affective disorder. Further, its use in inpatient settings is significantly less than in outpatient settings. We expect that efforts

  2. E-mail management of the modified Atkins Diet for adults with epilepsy is feasible and effective.

    PubMed

    Cervenka, Mackenzie C; Terao, Natalie N; Bosarge, Jennifer L; Henry, Bobbie J; Klees, Angela A; Morrison, Peter F; Kossoff, Eric H

    2012-04-01

    The modified Atkins Diet (MAD) is an effective dietary treatment for children with epilepsy. However, adults may have limited access to this therapy because of lack of availability of dietitian or nutrition support or familiarity with the diet by their treating neurologist. This study was designed to investigate the tolerability and efficacy of the MAD administered solely via e-mail to adults with pharmacoresistant epilepsy. A prospective, open-label, proof-of-principle 3-month study design was employed. Adults were enrolled, instructed on how to self-administer a 20 g carbohydrate per day MAD, and followed by the investigators only via e-mail. There were no clinic visits or dietitian contacts during the study period. Twenty-five participants (median age 30 years [range 18-66 years], 68% female) consented and 22 started the MAD. The median prior anticonvulsants was 5 (range 2-10) and seizure frequency was 5 per week (range 1-140). Urinary ketosis was achieved in 21 participants (95%), of which 16 (76%) reported at least 40 mg/dl (moderate). Twenty-one participants (95%) remained on the MAD at 1 month and 14 (64%) at 3 months. After 1 month, 9 (41%) had >50% seizure reduction including one (5%) with >90% seizure reduction using intent-to-treat analysis. After 3 months, 6 (27%) had >50% seizure reduction including 3 (14%) with >90% seizure reduction. The mean ketogenic ratio was 1.1:1 (fat:carbohydrates and protein) for those who provided a MAD food record at follow-up. Over the study period, the median number of e-mails sent by the participants was 6 (range 1-19). The most frequent side effect was weight loss. E-mail administration of the MAD to adults with refractory epilepsy appears to be feasible and effective. Therefore, when dietitian or physician support is limited for adult patients with epilepsy, remote access via telemedicine could provide an alternative. Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2012 International League Against Epilepsy.

  3. Transferrin-Conjugated Nanocarriers as Active-Targeted Drug Delivery Platforms for Cancer Therapy.

    PubMed

    Nogueira-Librelotto, Daniele R; Codevilla, Cristiane F; Farooqi, Ammad; Rolim, Clarice M B

    2017-01-01

    A lot of effort has been devoted to achieving active targeting for cancer therapy in order to reach the right cells. Hence, increasingly it is being realized that active-targeted nanocarriers notably reduce off-target effects, mainly because of targeted localization in tumors and active cellular uptake. In this context, by taking advantage of the overexpression of transferrin receptors on the surface of tumor cells, transferrin-conjugated nanodevices have been designed, in hope that the biomarker grafting would help to maximize the therapeutic benefit and to minimize the side effects. Notably, active targeting nanoparticles have shown improved therapeutic performances in different tumor models as compared to their passive targeting counterparts. In this review, current development of nano-based devices conjugated with transferrin for active tumor-targeting drug delivery are highlighted and discussed. The main objective of this review is to provide a summary of the vast types of nanomaterials that have been used to deliver different chemotherapeutics into tumor cells, and to ultimately evaluate the progression on the strategies for cancer therapy in view of the future research. Copyright© Bentham Science Publishers; For any queries, please email at epub@benthamscience.org.

  4. High mobile phone ownership, but low internet and email usage among pregnant, HIV-infected women attending antenatal care in Johannesburg

    PubMed Central

    Clouse, Kate; Schwartz, Sheree R.; Van Rie, Annelies; Bassett, Jean; Vermund, Sten H.; Pettifor, Audrey E.

    2016-01-01

    Summary We investigated mobile phone usage amongst HIV-positive pregnant women attending antenatal services in a primary care clinic in Johannesburg (n=50). We conducted a semi-structured interview and asked them about their mobile phone, Internet and email use. The median age of the women was 28 years, 36% had moved one or more times in the past year, and most were employed or recently employed, albeit earning low wages. Nearly all women (94%) reported that they did not share their phone and 76% of the SIM cards were registered to the woman herself. The median time with the current phone was one year (range 1 month–6 years) and the median time with the current phone number was three years (range 1 month–13 years). Even though 42% of the participants were from outside South Africa, they all had mobile phone numbers local to South Africa. About one-third of respondents reported Internet use (30%) and about one-fifth reported using email (18%). Overall, 20% accessed the Internet and 10% accessed email on their mobile phone. Mobile phone interventions are feasible amongst HIV-positive pregnant women and may be useful in prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV (PMTCT). Email and Internet-based interventions may not yet be appropriate. PMID:25586808

  5. Email notification combined with off site signing substantially reduces resident approval to faculty verification time.

    PubMed

    Deitte, Lori A; Moser, Patricia P; Geller, Brian S; Sistrom, Chris L

    2011-06-01

    Attending radiologist signature time (AST) is a variable and modifiable component of overall report turnaround time. Delays in finalized reports have potential to undermine radiologists' value as consultants and adversely affect patient care. This study was performed to evaluate the impact of notebook computer distribution and daily automated e-mail notification on reducing AST. Two simultaneous interventions were initiated in the authors' radiology department in February 2010. These included the distribution of a notebook computer with preloaded software for each attending radiologist to sign radiology reports and daily automated e-mail notifications for unsigned reports. The digital dictation system archive and the radiology information system were queried for all radiology reports produced from January 2009 through August 2010. The time between resident approval and attending radiologist signature before and after the intervention was analyzed. Potential unintended "side effects" of the intervention were also studied. Resident-authored reports were signed, on average, 2.53 hours sooner after the intervention. This represented a highly significant (P = .003) decrease in AST with all else held equal. Postintervention reports were authored by residents at the same rate (about 70%). An unintended "side effect" was that attending radiologists were less likely to make changes to resident-authored reports after the intervention. E-mail notification combined with offsite signing can reduce AST substantially. Notebook computers with preloaded software streamline the process of accessing, editing, and signing reports. The observed decrease in AST reflects a positive change in the timeliness of report signature. Copyright © 2011 AUR. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  6. In silico Analysis of Toxins of Staphylococcus aureus for Validating Putative Drug Targets.

    PubMed

    Mohana, Ramadevi; Venugopal, Subhashree

    2017-01-01

    Toxins are one among the numerous virulence factors produced by the bacteria. These are powerful poisonous substances enabling the bacteria to encounter the defense mechanism of human body. The pathogenic system of Staphylococcus aureus is evolved with various exotoxins that cause detrimental effects on human immune system. Four toxins namely enterotoxin A, exfoliative toxin A, TSST-1 and γ-hemolysin were downloaded from Uniprot database and were analyzed to understand the nature of the toxins and for drug target validation. The results inferred that the toxins were found to interact with many protein partners and no homologous sequences for human proteome were found, and based on similarity search in Drugbank, the targets were identified as novel drug targets. Copyright© Bentham Science Publishers; For any queries, please email at epub@benthamscience.org.

  7. Language with Character: A Stratified Corpus Comparison of Individual Differences in E-Mail Communication

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Oberlander, Jon; Gill, Alastair J.

    2006-01-01

    To what extent does the wording and syntactic form of people's writing reflect their personalities? Using a bottom-up stratified corpus comparison, rather than the top-down content analysis techniques that have been used before, we examine a corpus of e-mail messages elicited from individuals of known personality, as measured by the Eysenck…

  8. Appropriate Targets for Search Advertising as Part of Online Gatekeeping for Suicide Prevention.

    PubMed

    Sueki, Hajime; Ito, Jiro

    2018-05-01

    Gatekeeper training is an effective suicide prevention strategy. However, the appropriate targets of online gatekeeping have not yet been clarified. We examined the association between the outcomes of online gatekeeping using the Internet and the characteristics of consultation service users. An advertisement to encourage the use of e-mail-based psychological consultation services among viewers was placed on web pages that showed the results of searches using suicide-related keywords. All e-mails received between October 2014 and December 2015 were replied to as part of gatekeeping, and the obtained data (responses to an online questionnaire and the content of the received e-mails) were analyzed. A total of 154 consultation service users were analyzed, 35.7% of whom were male. The median age range was 20-29 years. Online gatekeeping was significantly more likely to be successful when such users faced financial/daily life or workplace problems, or revealed their names (including online names). By contrast, the activity was more likely to be unsuccessful when it was impossible to assess the problems faced by consultation service users. It may be possible to increase the success rate of online gatekeeping by targeting individuals facing financial/daily life or workplace problems with marked tendencies for self-disclosure.

  9. Computer Abuse: Vandalizing the Information Society.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Furnell, Steven M.; Warren, Matthew J.

    1997-01-01

    Computing and telecommunications, key to an information-based society, are increasingly targets for criminals and mischief makers. This article examines the effects of malicious computer abuse: hacking and viruses, highlights the apparent increase in incidents, and examines their effect on public perceptions of technology. Presents broad…

  10. Targeting Key Transporters in Tumor Glycolysis as a Novel Anticancer Strategy.

    PubMed

    Shi, Yunli; Liu, Shengnan; Ahmad, Shabir; Gao, Qingzhi

    2018-05-22

    Increased glycolysis has been one of the metabolic characteristics known as the Warburg effect. The functional and therapeutic importance of the Warburg effect in targeted therapy is scientifically recognized and the glucose metabolic pathway has become a desirable target of anticancer strategies. Glucose transporters (GLUTs) play an important role in cancer glycolysis to sustain cancer cell proliferation, metastasis and survival. Utilizing the knowledge of differential expression and biological functions of GLUTs offers us the possibility of designing and delivering chemotherapeutics toward targeted tumor tissues for improved cancer selectivity. Inhibition of glucose uptake or glycolysis may effectively kill hypoxic cancer cells. Facilitative drug uptake via active transportation provides the potential opportunity to circumvent the drug resistance in chemotherapy. GLUTs as the hallmarks and biotargets of cancer metabolism enable the design and development of novel targeted theranostic agents. In this updated review, we examine the current scenario of the GLUTs as strategic targets in cancer and the unique concepts for discovery and development of GLUTs-targeted anticancer agents. We highlight the recent progresses on structural biology and underlying mechanism studies of GLUTs, with a brief introduction to the computational approaches in GLUT-mediated drug transport and tumor targeting. Copyright© Bentham Science Publishers; For any queries, please email at epub@benthamscience.org.

  11. Incorporating E-Mail into the Learning Process: Its Impact on Student Academic Achievement and Attitudes.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Yu, Fu-Yun; Yu, Hsin-Jin Jessy

    2002-01-01

    Describes a study of Taiwan university students that investigated the impacts of incorporating email into the classroom on student achievement and attitudes using a posttest-only control-group design. Results showed a statistically significant difference in academic performance but not in student attitudes toward computers. (Author/LRW)

  12. Promoting linguistic complexity, greater message length and ease of engagement in email writing in people with aphasia: initial evidence from a study utilizing assistive writing software.

    PubMed

    Thiel, Lindsey; Sage, Karen; Conroy, Paul

    2017-01-01

    Improving email writing in people with aphasia could enhance their ability to communicate, promote interaction and reduce isolation. Spelling therapies have been effective in improving single-word writing. However, there has been limited evidence on how to achieve changes to everyday writing tasks such as email writing in people with aphasia. One potential area that has been largely unexplored in the literature is the potential use of assistive writing technologies, despite some initial evidence that assistive writing software use can lead to qualitative and quantitative improvements to spontaneous writing. This within-participants case series design study aimed to investigate the effects of using assistive writing software to improve email writing in participants with dysgraphia related to aphasia. Eight participants worked through a hierarchy of writing tasks of increasing complexity within broad topic areas that incorporate the spheres of writing need of the participants: writing for domestic needs, writing for social needs and writing for business/administrative needs. Through completing these tasks, participants had the opportunity to use the various functions of the software, such as predictive writing, word banks and text to speech. Therapy also included training and practice in basic computer and email skills to encourage increased independence. Outcome measures included email skills, keyboard skills, email writing and written picture description tasks, and a perception of disability assessment. Four of the eight participants showed statistically significant improvements to spelling accuracy within emails when using the software. At a group level there was a significant increase in word length with the software; while four participants showed noteworthy changes to the range of word classes used. Enhanced independence in email use and improvements in participants' perceptions of their writing skills were also noted. This study provided some initial evidence

  13. Development In Drug Targeting And Delivery In Cervical Cancer.

    PubMed

    Aggarwal, Urvashi; Goyal, Amit Kumar; Rath, Goutam

    2017-10-09

    Cervical cancer is the second most common cancer in women. Standard treatment options available for cervical cancer including chemotherapy, surgery and radiation therapy associated with their own side effects and toxicities. Tumor-targeted delivery of anticancer drugs is perhaps one of the most appropriate strategies to achieve optimal outcomes from treatment and improve quality of life. Recently nanocarriers based drug delivery systems owing to their unique properties have been extensively investigated for anticancer drug delivery. In addition to that addressing the anatomical significance of cervical cancer, various local drug delivery strategies for the cancer treatment are introduced like: gels, nanoparticles, polymeric films, rods and wafers, lipid based nanocarrier. Localized drug delivery systems allows passive drug targeting results in high drug concentration at the target site. Further they can be tailor made to achieve both sustained and controlled release behavior, substantially improving therapeutic outcomes and minimizing side effects. This review summarizes the meaningful advances in drug delivery strategies to treat cervical cancer. Copyright© Bentham Science Publishers; For any queries, please email at epub@benthamscience.org.

  14. Do e-mail alerts of new research increase knowledge translation? A "Nephrology Now" randomized control trial.

    PubMed

    Tanna, Gemini V; Sood, Manish M; Schiff, Jeffrey; Schwartz, Daniel; Naimark, David M

    2011-01-01

    As the volume of medical literature increases exponentially, maintaining current clinical practice is becoming more difficult. Multiple, Internet-based journal clubs and alert services have recently emerged. The purpose of this study is to determine whether the use of the e-mail alert service, Nephrology Now, increases knowledge translation regarding current nephrology literature. Nephrology Now is a nonprofit, monthly e-mail alert service that highlights clinically relevant articles in nephrology. In 2007-2008, the authors randomized 1,683 subscribers into two different groups receiving select intervention articles, and then they used an online survey to assess both groups on their familiarity with the articles and their acquisition of knowledge. Of the randomized subscribers, 803 (47.7%) completed surveys, and the two groups had a similar number of responses (401 and 402, respectively). The authors noted no differences in baseline characteristics between the two groups. Familiarity increased as a result of the Nephrology Now alerts (0.23 ± 0.087 units on a familiarity scale; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.06-0.41; P = .007) especially in physicians (multivariate odds ratio 1.83; P = .0002). No detectable improvement in knowledge occurred (0.03 ± 0.083 units on a knowledge scale; 95% CI: -0.13 to 0.20; P = .687). An e-mail alert service of new literature improved a component of knowledge translation--familiarity--but not knowledge acquisition in a large, randomized, international population.

  15. Email triage is an effective, efficient and safe way of managing new referrals to a neurologist.

    PubMed

    Patterson, Victor; Humphreys, Jenny; Henderson, Mark; Crealey, Grainne

    2010-10-01

    Patients referred to secondary care in the UK often wait many months to be seen, and the UK government has announced various initiatives to address this issue. Since 2002, we have developed an email referral system which allows some neurological referrals to be managed by advice and investigations rather than by a conventional hospital clinic appointment. This system has previously been shown to reduce clinic attendances and to be acceptable to patients and their general practitioners (GPs). To analyse the effects of an email triage system on waiting times, cost of care and safety over 5 years. Referral numbers and waiting times for clinics using this system were analysed. Cost was determined by comparing detailed costs with those of conventional care. Safety was analysed by examining the GP records of all patients referred from a single practice who had been dealt with by advice or investigation, noting deaths, re-referrals and changes in diagnosis. Waiting times fell from 72 to 4 weeks, despite an increase in referrals. The cost per patient of email referral was about £100, compared with £152 for conventional care, a 35% reduction. Safety data on 120 individuals showed a minor change in diagnosis in three. This system is safe, effective (in reducing waiting times) and efficient. It enables neurologists to focus on patients with significant neurological disease and, if applied more widely, could reduce costs and waiting times for neurology services in the UK.

  16. Evaluation of Malware Target Recognition Deployed in a Cloud-Based Fileserver Environment

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2012-03-01

    many of these detection techniques could be evaded with simple obfuscation. Kolter and Maloof extend Schultz’s research in [KM04] and [KM06]. Their...69 [KM04] Jeremy Z. Kolter and Marcus A. Maloof. Learning to detect malicious executables in the wild. In Proceedings of the tenth ACM SIGKDD...international conference on Knowledge discovery and data mining, KDD ’04, pages 470–478, New York, NY, USA, 2004. ACM. [KM06] J.Z. Kolter and M.A. Maloof

  17. Endorsement of the New Ecological Paradigm in Systematic and E-Mail Samples of College Students

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Rideout, Bruce E.; Hushen, Katherine; McGinty, Dawn; Perkins, Stephanie; Tate, Jennifer

    2005-01-01

    As the initial phase of a longitudinal study of environmental perspective in college students, resident student opinion was sampled using the New Ecological Paradigm (NEP) scale administered through systematic alphabetical sampling. Sampling was also carried out by a blanket e-mail distribution of surveys for voluntary response. Results showed…

  18. High mobile phone ownership, but low Internet and email usage among pregnant, HIV-infected women attending antenatal care in Johannesburg.

    PubMed

    Clouse, Kate; Schwartz, Sheree R; Van Rie, Annelies; Bassett, Jean; Vermund, Sten H; Pettifor, Audrey E

    2015-03-01

    We investigated mobile phone usage amongst HIV-positive pregnant women attending antenatal services in a primary care clinic in Johannesburg (n = 50). We conducted a semi-structured interview and asked them about their mobile phone, Internet and email use. The median age of the women was 28 years, 36% had moved one or more times in the past year, and most were employed or recently employed, albeit earning low wages. Nearly all women (94%) reported that they did not share their phone and 76% of the SIM cards were registered to the woman herself. The median time with the current phone was one year (range 1 month-6 years) and the median time with the current phone number was three years (range 1 month-13 years). Even though 42% of the participants were from outside South Africa, they all had mobile phone numbers local to South Africa. About one-third of respondents reported Internet use (30%) and about one-fifth reported using email (18%). Overall, 20% accessed the Internet and 10% accessed email on their mobile phone. Mobile phone interventions are feasible amongst HIV-positive pregnant women and may be useful in prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV (PMTCT). Email and Internet-based interventions may not yet be appropriate. © The Author(s) 2015 Reprints and permissions: sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav.

  19. Targeted Drug Delivery Based on Gold Nanoparticle Derivatives.

    PubMed

    Gholipourmalekabadi, Mazaher; Mobaraki, Mohammadmahdi; Ghaffari, Maryam; Zarebkohan, Amir; Omrani, Vahid Fallah; Urbanska, Aleksandra M; Seifalian, Alexander

    2017-01-01

    Drug delivery systems are effective and attractive methods which allow therapeutic substances to be introduced into the body more effectively and safe by having tunable delivery rate and release target site. Gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) have a myriad of favorable physical, chemical, optical, thermal and biological properties that make them highly suitable candidates as non-toxic carriers for drug and gene delivery. The surface modifications of AuNPs profoundly improve their circulation, minimize aggregation rates, enhance attachment to therapeutic molecules and target agents due to their nano range size which further increases their ability to cross cell membranes and reduce overall cytotoxicity. This comprehensive article reviews the applications of the AuNPs in drug delivery systems along with their corresponding surface modifications. The highlighting results obtained from the preclinical trial are promising and next five years have huge possibility move to the clinical setting. Copyright© Bentham Science Publishers; For any queries, please email at epub@benthamscience.org.

  20. Periodic email prompts to re-use an internet-delivered computer-tailored lifestyle program: influence of prompt content and timing.

    PubMed

    Schneider, Francine; de Vries, Hein; Candel, Math; van de Kar, Angelique; van Osch, Liesbeth

    2013-01-31

    Adherence to Internet-delivered lifestyle interventions using multiple tailoring is suboptimal. Therefore, it is essential to invest in proactive strategies, such as periodic email prompts, to boost re-use of the intervention. This study investigated the influence of content and timing of a single email prompt on re-use of an Internet-delivered computer-tailored (CT) lifestyle program. A sample of municipality employees was invited to participate in the program. All participants who decided to use the program received an email prompting them to revisit the program. A 2×3 (content × timing) design was used to test manipulations of prompt content and timing. Depending on the study group participants were randomly assigned to, they received either a prompt containing standard content (an invitation to revisit the program), or standard content plus a preview of new content placed on the program website. Participants received this prompt after 2, 4, or 6 weeks. In addition to these 6 experimental conditions, a control condition was included consisting of participants who did not receive an additional email prompt. Clicks on the uniform resource locator (URL) provided in the prompt and log-ins to the CT program were objectively monitored. Logistic regression analyses were conducted to determine whether prompt content and/or prompt timing predicted clicking on the URL and logging in to the CT program. Of all program users (N=240), 206 participants received a subsequent email prompting them to revisit the program. A total of 53 participants (25.7%) who received a prompt reacted to this prompt by clicking on the URL, and 25 participants (12.1%) actually logged in to the program. There was a main effect of prompt timing; participants receiving an email prompt 2 weeks after their first visit clicked on the URL significantly more often compared with participants that received the prompt after 4 weeks (odds ratio [OR] 3.069, 95% CI 1.392-6.765, P=.005) and after 6 weeks (OR 4

  1. Periodic Email Prompts to Re-Use an Internet-Delivered Computer-Tailored Lifestyle Program: Influence of Prompt Content and Timing

    PubMed Central

    de Vries, Hein; Candel, Math; van de Kar, Angelique; van Osch, Liesbeth

    2013-01-01

    Background Adherence to Internet-delivered lifestyle interventions using multiple tailoring is suboptimal. Therefore, it is essential to invest in proactive strategies, such as periodic email prompts, to boost re-use of the intervention. Objective This study investigated the influence of content and timing of a single email prompt on re-use of an Internet-delivered computer-tailored (CT) lifestyle program. Methods A sample of municipality employees was invited to participate in the program. All participants who decided to use the program received an email prompting them to revisit the program. A 2×3 (content × timing) design was used to test manipulations of prompt content and timing. Depending on the study group participants were randomly assigned to, they received either a prompt containing standard content (an invitation to revisit the program), or standard content plus a preview of new content placed on the program website. Participants received this prompt after 2, 4, or 6 weeks. In addition to these 6 experimental conditions, a control condition was included consisting of participants who did not receive an additional email prompt. Clicks on the uniform resource locator (URL) provided in the prompt and log-ins to the CT program were objectively monitored. Logistic regression analyses were conducted to determine whether prompt content and/or prompt timing predicted clicking on the URL and logging in to the CT program. Results Of all program users (N=240), 206 participants received a subsequent email prompting them to revisit the program. A total of 53 participants (25.7%) who received a prompt reacted to this prompt by clicking on the URL, and 25 participants (12.1%) actually logged in to the program. There was a main effect of prompt timing; participants receiving an email prompt 2 weeks after their first visit clicked on the URL significantly more often compared with participants that received the prompt after 4 weeks (odds ratio [OR] 3.069, 95% CI 1

  2. Role of Email in Intercultural Communication of Criticism in a Chinese English Curriculum Reform Context

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lü, Linqiong

    2018-01-01

    Western teachers working in China often experience cultural conflicts arising from, for instance, the ways that Chinese students perceive face and express criticism. To better understand these face-concerned conflicts, this paper explores the role and significance of email for a group of Chinese students to communicate pedagogical criticism with…

  3. 16 CFR § 1130.8 - Requirements for Web site registration or alternative e-mail registration.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-01-01

    ... 16 Commercial Practices 2 2013-01-01 2013-01-01 false Requirements for Web site registration or... OR TODDLER PRODUCTS § 1130.8 Requirements for Web site registration or alternative e-mail registration. (a) Link to registration page. The manufacturer's Web site, or other Web site established for the...

  4. Testing Behavior Change Techniques to Encourage Primary Care Physicians to Access Cancer Screening Audit and Feedback Reports: Protocol for a Factorial Randomized Experiment of Email Content.

    PubMed

    Vaisson, Gratianne; Witteman, Holly O; Bouck, Zachary; Bravo, Caroline A; Desveaux, Laura; Llovet, Diego; Presseau, Justin; Saragosa, Marianne; Taljaard, Monica; Umar, Shama; Grimshaw, Jeremy M; Tinmouth, Jill; Ivers, Noah M

    2018-02-16

    Cancer Care Ontario's Screening Activity Report (SAR) is an online audit and feedback tool designed to help primary care physicians in Ontario, Canada, identify patients who are overdue for cancer screening or have abnormal results requiring follow-up. Use of the SAR is associated with increased screening rates. To encourage SAR use, Cancer Care Ontario sends monthly emails to registered primary care physicians announcing that updated data are available. However, analytics reveal that 50% of email recipients do not open the email and less than 7% click the embedded link to log in to their report. The goal of the study is to determine whether rewritten emails result in increased log-ins. This manuscript describes how different user- and theory-informed messages intended to improve the impact of the monthly emails will be experimentally tested and how a process evaluation will explore why and how any effects observed were (or were not) achieved. A user-centered approach was used to rewrite the content of the monthly email, including messages operationalizing 3 behavior change techniques: anticipated regret, material incentive (behavior), and problem solving. A pragmatic, 2x2x2 factorial experiment within a multiphase optimization strategy will test the redesigned emails with an embedded qualitative process evaluation to understand how and why the emails may or may not have worked. Trial outcomes will be ascertained using routinely collected administrative data. Physicians will be recruited for semistructured interviews using convenience and snowball sampling. As of April 2017, 5576 primary care physicians across the province of Ontario, Canada, had voluntarily registered for the SAR, and in so doing, signed up to receive the monthly email updates. From May to August 2017 participants received the redesigned monthly emails with content specific to their allocated experimental condition prompting use of the SAR. We have not yet begun analyses. This study will inform

  5. Trypanothione Reductase: A Target for the Development of Anti- Trypanosoma cruzi Drugs.

    PubMed

    Vázquez, Karina; Paulino, Margot; Salas, Cristian O; Zarate-Ramos, Juan J; Vera, Brenda; Rivera, Gildardo

    2017-01-01

    Chagas disease or American trypanosomiasis is a major parasitic disease in Latin America with restricted available treatment: nifurtimox and benznidazole. These two drugs are ineffective in the chronic phase of the disease; therefore, there is a need for the development of new, efficient and safe drugs for the treatment of this pathology. With this goal, one of the promising targets is trypanothione reductase (TR), a key enzyme in the metabolism of Trypanosoma cruzi. In this review, we analyse the importance of TR as a drug target, as well as the well-known and new inhibitors reported in the last decade as potential therapeutic agents for Chagas disease. Copyright© Bentham Science Publishers; For any queries, please email at epub@benthamscience.org.

  6. How connected are people with schizophrenia? Cell phone, computer, email, and social media use.

    PubMed

    Miller, Brian J; Stewart, Adriana; Schrimsher, John; Peeples, Dale; Buckley, Peter F

    2015-02-28

    Technologies such as Internet based social media network (SMN) websites are becoming an important part of many adult lives; however, less is known about their use in patients with schizophrenia. We need to determine (1) how "connected" are patients with schizophrenia?, (2) do these technologies interfere with the patient׳s illness?, and (3) do patients envision these technologies being involved in their treatment? We recruited 80 inpatients and outpatients age 18-70 with schizophrenia to complete a brief survey on the prevalence and frequency of cell phone, text messaging, computer, email, and SMN use, and associated attitudes. 56% of subjects use text messaging, 48% have an email account, and 27% of subjects use SMN sites daily, with Facebook being the most popular. Many current users agreed that these technologies help them interact/socialize more, expressed interest in receiving text messages from their doctors, and disagreed that these technologies make symptoms worse. These preliminary findings should be investigated in larger samples, but suggest that these technologies afford a unique opportunity to engage and improve treatment for some patients with schizophrenia. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  7. Practitioner Response to Parental Need in Email Consultation: How Do They Match? A Content Analysis

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Nieuwboer, Christa C.; Fukkink, Ruben G.; Hermanns, Jo M. A.

    2014-01-01

    Background: Single session email consultations in web-based parenting support may be used for a variety of reasons. Parents may be looking for information on developmental needs of children, for suggestions to improve their parenting skills, or for referrals to helpful resources. The way the practitioner meets the needs of parents, choosing a…

  8. Reduced Toxicity Breast Cancer Therapy: Changing the Or to And in Dual Targeted Therapeutics

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2010-10-01

    s ) and should not be construed as an official Department of the Army position, policy or decision unless so designated by other documentation...And” in Dual Targeted Therapeutics 5b. GRANT NUMBER 5c. PROGRAM ELEMENT NUMBER 6. AUTHOR( S ) 5d. PROJECT NUMBER Rebekah Drezek, Ph.D...5e. TASK NUMBER Email: drezek@rice.edu 5f. WORK UNIT NUMBER 7. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION NAME( S ) AND ADDRESS(ES) 8. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION

  9. Helping Students with Cognitive Disabilities Improve Social Writing Skills through Email Modeling and Scaffolding

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Wang, Xiao-lei; Eberhard, Dominique; Voron, Mike; Bernas, Ronan

    2016-01-01

    The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of email modeling and scaffolding on the social writing quality of students with cognitive disabilities. Ten students from a university-affiliated lab school (mean age = 19.3; SD = 1.2) with an average of IQ of 55.30 (SD = 5.98) and 10 teacher candidates in a university teacher education…

  10. Stimuli-responsive Smart Liposomes in Cancer Targeting.

    PubMed

    Jain, Ankit; Jain, Sanjay K

    2018-02-08

    Liposomes are vesicular carriers which possess aqueous core entrapped within the lipid bilayer. These are carriers of choice because of biocompatible and biodegradable features in addition to flexibility of surface modifications at surface and lipid compositions of lipid bilayers. Liposomes have been reported well for cancer treatment using both passive and active targeting approaches however tumor microenvironment is still the biggest hurdle for safe and effective delivery of anticancer agents. To overcome this problem, stimuli-responsive smart liposomes have emerged as promising cargoes pioneered to anomalous tumor milieu in response to pH, temperature, and enzymes etc. as internal triggers, and magnetic field, ultrasound, and redox potential as external guides for enhancement of drug delivery to tumors. This review focuses on all such stimuli-responsive approaches using fabrication potentiality of liposomes in combination to various ligands, linkers, and PEGylation etc. Scientists engaged in cancer targeting approaches can get benefited greatly with this knowledgeable assemblage of advances in liposomal nanovectors. Copyright© Bentham Science Publishers; For any queries, please email at epub@benthamscience.org.

  11. Benchmarking CRISPR on-target sgRNA design.

    PubMed

    Yan, Jifang; Chuai, Guohui; Zhou, Chi; Zhu, Chenyu; Yang, Jing; Zhang, Chao; Gu, Feng; Xu, Han; Wei, Jia; Liu, Qi

    2017-02-15

    CRISPR (Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats)-based gene editing has been widely implemented in various cell types and organisms. A major challenge in the effective application of the CRISPR system is the need to design highly efficient single-guide RNA (sgRNA) with minimal off-target cleavage. Several tools are available for sgRNA design, while limited tools were compared. In our opinion, benchmarking the performance of the available tools and indicating their applicable scenarios are important issues. Moreover, whether the reported sgRNA design rules are reproducible across different sgRNA libraries, cell types and organisms remains unclear. In our study, a systematic and unbiased benchmark of the sgRNA predicting efficacy was performed on nine representative on-target design tools, based on six benchmark data sets covering five different cell types. The benchmark study presented here provides novel quantitative insights into the available CRISPR tools. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  12. Lipid Nanoparticles: A novel approach for brain targeting.

    PubMed

    Shankar, Ravi; Joshi, Monika; Pathak, Kamla

    2018-06-10

    Brain is a delicate organ, separated from general circulation and is characterized by the presence of relatively impermeable Blood Brain Barrier (BBB). The BBB maintains homeostasis in the brain thus restricting the entrance of foreign bodies and several molecules from reaching the brain. As a result several promising molecules do not reach the target site and fail to produce in vivo response. Nevertheless, lipid nanoparticles are taken up readily by the brain because of their lipophilic nature. The bioacceptable and biodegradable nature of lipid nanoparticles makes them less toxic and suited for brain targeting. In the present review the BBB, mechanism of transport across the BBB, strategies to bypass the blood-brain barrier have been presented. The aptness of lipid nanoparticles for brain targeting has been highlighted. The proposed mechanism of uptake of the lipid nanoparticles, methods of prolonging the plasma retention and various methods of preparation for formulation of effective delivery systems for brain targeting have been included and dealt in this review. Lipid based formulations can be designated as the current and future generation of drug delivery systems as these possess tremendous potential to bypass BBB and reach the target site due to their small size and ability to dodge the reticular endothelial system. However, these nanostructures need to be investigated intensively to successfully reach the clinical trials stage. Copyright© Bentham Science Publishers; For any queries, please email at epub@benthamscience.org.

  13. Chalcone Derivatives: Anti-inflammatory Potential and Molecular Targets Perspectives.

    PubMed

    Mahapatra, Debarshi Kar; Bharti, Sanjay Kumar; Asati, Vivek

    2017-11-20

    Chalcone or (E)-1,3-diphenyl-2-propene-1-one scaffold has gained considerable scientific interest in medicinal chemistry owing to its simple chemistry, ease in synthesizing a variety of derivatives and exhibiting a broad range of promising pharmacological activities by modulating several molecular targets. A number of natural and (semi-) synthetic chalcone derivatives have demonstrated admirable anti-inflammatory activity due to their inhibitory potential against various therapeutic targets like Cyclooxygenase (COX), Lipooxygenase (LOX), Interleukins (IL), Prostaglandins (PGs), Nitric Oxide Synthase (NOS), Leukotriene D4 (LTD4), Nuclear Factor-κB (NF- κB), Intracellular Cell Adhesion Molecule-1 (ICAM-1), Vascular Cell Adhesion Molecule-1 (VCAM-1), Monocyte Chemoattractant Protein-1 (MCP-1) and TLR4/MD-2, etc. The chalcone scaffold with hydroxyl, methoxyl, carboxyl, prenyl group and/or heterocyclic ring substitution like thiophene/furan/indole showed promising anti-inflammatory activity. In this review, a comprehensive study (from the year 1991 to 2016) on multi-targets of inflammatory interest, related inflammation reactions and their treatment by chalcone-based inhibitors acting on various molecular targets entailed in inflammation, Structure-Activity Relationships (SARs), Mechanism of Actions (MOAs), and patents are highlighted. Copyright© Bentham Science Publishers; For any queries, please email at epub@benthamscience.org.

  14. Retrieval of Enterobacteriaceae drug targets using singular value decomposition.

    PubMed

    Silvério-Machado, Rita; Couto, Bráulio R G M; Dos Santos, Marcos A

    2015-04-15

    The identification of potential drug target proteins in bacteria is important in pharmaceutical research for the development of new antibiotics to combat bacterial agents that cause diseases. A new model that combines the singular value decomposition (SVD) technique with biological filters composed of a set of protein properties associated with bacterial drug targets and similarity to protein-coding essential genes of Escherichia coli (strain K12) has been created to predict potential antibiotic drug targets in the Enterobacteriaceae family. This model identified 99 potential drug target proteins in the studied family, which exhibit eight different functions and are protein-coding essential genes or similar to protein-coding essential genes of E.coli (strain K12), indicating that the disruption of the activities of these proteins is critical for cells. Proteins from bacteria with described drug resistance were found among the retrieved candidates. These candidates have no similarity to the human proteome, therefore exhibiting the advantage of causing no adverse effects or at least no known adverse effects on humans. rita_silverio@hotmail.com. Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online. © The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  15. In their own words? A terminological analysis of e-mail to a cancer information service.

    PubMed Central

    Smith, Catherine Arnott; Stavri, P. Zoë; Chapman, Wendy Webber

    2002-01-01

    OBJECTIVE: To better understand the terms used by consumers to describe their health information needs and determine if this "consumer terminology"differs from those used by health care professionals. METHODS: Features and findings identified in 139 e-mail messages to the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute's Cancer Information and Referral Service were coded and matched against the 2001 Unified Medical Language System Metathesaurus. RESULTS:504 unique terms were identified. 185 (36%) were exact matches to concepts in the 2001 UMLS Metathesaurus (MTH). 179 (35%) were partial string matches; 119 (24%) were known synonyms for MTH concepts; and 2 (<1%) were lexical variants. Only 19,or 4% of the total terms, were not found to be present in the 2001 MT1H. CONCLUSION: 96% of the clinical findings and features mentioned in e-mail by correspondents who did not self-identify as healthcare professionals were described using terms from controlled healthcare terminologies. The notion of a paradigmatic "consumer" who uses a particular vocabulary specific to her "consumer" status may be ill-founded. PMID:12463914

  16. E-mail as the Appropriate Method of Communication for the Decision-Maker When Soliciting Advice for an Intellective Decision Task.

    PubMed

    Prahl, Andrew; Dexter, Franklin; Swol, Lyn Van; Braun, Michael T; Epstein, Richard H

    2015-09-01

    For many problems in operating room and anesthesia group management, there are tasks with optimal decisions, and yet experienced personnel tend to make decisions that are worse or no better than random chance. Such decisions include staff scheduling, case scheduling, moving cases among operating rooms, and choosing patient arrival times. In such settings, operating room management leadership decision-making should typically be autocratic rather than participative. Autocratic-style decision-making calls for managers to solicit and consider feedback from stakeholders in the decision outcome but to make the decision themselves using their expert knowledge and the facts received. For this to be effective, often the manager will obtain expert advice from outside the organization (e.g., health system). In this narrative review, we evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of using prompt asynchronous written communication (i.e., e-mail) as a communication channel for such interaction between a decision-maker (manager) and advisor. A detailed Appendix (Supplemental Digital Content, http://links.lww.com/AA/B72) lists each observational and experimental result. We find that the current ubiquitous role of e-mail for such communication is appropriate. Its benefits include improved time management via asynchronicity, low cognitive load (e.g., relative to Web conferencing), the ability to hide undesirable and irrelevant cues (e.g., physical appearance), the appropriateness of adding desirable cues (e.g., titles and degrees), the opportunity to provide written expression of confidence, and the ability for the advisor to demonstrate the answer for the decision-maker. Given that the manager is e-mailing an advisor whose competence the manager trusts, it is unnecessary to use a richer communication channel to develop trust. Finally, many of the limitations of e-mail can be rectified through training. We expect that decades from now, e-mail (i.e., asynchronous writing) between an

  17. Virtual Collaborations in the Spanish Class: From E-Mail to Web Design and CD-ROM Development.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hellebrandt, Josef

    1999-01-01

    Modern technologies can provide language students with authentic content and contextualized, collaborative learning situations. This article illustrates how e-mail exchanges, Web exercises, and CD-ROM development between students in the United States and organizations in Ecuador can promote contextualized and authentic practice of Spanish language…

  18. Peptide and low molecular weight proteins based kidney targeted drug delivery systems.

    PubMed

    Xu, Pengfei; Zhang, Hailiang; Dang, Ruili; Jiang, Pei

    2018-05-30

    Renal disease is a worldwide public health problem, and unfortunately, the therapeutic index of regular drugs is limited. Thus, it is a great need to develop effective treatment strategies. Among the reported strategies, kidney-targeted drug delivery system is a promising method to increase renal efficacy and reduce extra-renal toxicity. In recent years, working as vehicles for targeted drug delivery, low molecular weight proteins (LMWP) and peptide have received immense attention due to their many advantages, such as selective accumulation in kidney, high drug loading capability, control over routes of biodegradation, convenience in modification at the amino terminus, and good biocompatibility. In this review, we describe the current LMWP and peptide carriers for kidney targeted drug delivery systems. In addition, we discuss different linking strategies between carriers and drugs. Furthermore, we briefly outline the current status and attempt to give an outlook on the further study. Copyright© Bentham Science Publishers; For any queries, please email at epub@benthamscience.org.

  19. Polymorphic Attacks and Network Topology: Application of Concepts from Natural Systems

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Rangan, Prahalad

    2010-01-01

    The growing complexity of interactions between computers and networks makes the subject of network security a very interesting one. As our dependence on the services provided by computing networks grows, so does our investment in such technology. In this situation, there is a greater risk of occurrence of targeted malicious attacks on computers…

  20. Asynchronous Communication: Investigating the Influences of Relational Elements and Background on the Framing Structure of Emails

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    AlAfnan, Mohammad Awad

    2015-01-01

    This study explored the influences of relational elements and the background of communicators on the framing structure of email messages that were exchanged in an educational Institute in Malaysia. The investigation revealed that social distance played a more significant role than power relations as Malaysian respondents are, generally, more…

  1. Dissemination strategies and adherence predictors for web-based interventions-how efficient are patient education sessions and email reminders?

    PubMed

    Schweier, R; Romppel, M; Richter, C; Grande, G

    2016-06-01

    The Internet offers the potential to efficaciously deliver health interventions at a low cost and with a low threshold across any distance. However, since many web-based interventions are confronted with low use and adherence, proactive dissemination strategies are needed. We, therefore, tested the efficacy of a 1-h patient education session as part of a rehabilitation program and an email reminder 4 weeks later on the publicity and use of a web-based intervention aimed at lifestyle changes in patients with either coronary heart disease or chronic back pain (CBP) and examined adherence predictors. The website www.lebensstil-aendern.de is a cost-free, German-language website providing more than 1000 patient narratives about successful lifestyle changes. To test the efficacy of the dissemination strategies and to examine adherence predictors, we conducted a sequential controlled trial with heart and CBP patients recruited from German inpatient rehabilitation centers. The dissemination strategies were found to be efficient. Use rates, however, remained low. The email reminder and internal health locus of control emerged as notable factors in motivating patients to participate in the web-based intervention. Other factors that have been suggested to be related to nonuse, e.g. sociodemographic characteristics and medical condition, did not predict use or adherence. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  2. Becoming Known through Email: A Case of Woman, Leadership, and an Awfully Familiar Strange Land

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Drake, Pat

    2015-01-01

    This project explores women and educational leadership from the perspective of an individual who moved from the UK to Australia in order to take up the position of Dean of an education grouping in a university. Emails sent by the Dean to the group are analysed after nine months in post and categorised according to the requirements of the position…

  3. You've Got Mail … ! Using Email Interviews to Gather Academics' Narratives of Their Working Lives

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    James, Nalita

    2017-01-01

    The paper explores how computer-mediated communication offers space for academics to think and make sense of their experiences in the qualitative research encounter. It draws on a research study that used email interviewing to generate online narratives to understand academic lives and identities through research encounters in virtual space. The…

  4. Physician assessments of the value of therapeutic information delivered via e-mail

    PubMed Central

    Grad, Roland; Pluye, Pierre; Repchinsky, Carol; Jovaisas, Barbara; Marlow, Bernard; Marques Ricarte, Ivan L.; Galvão, Maria Cristiane Barbosa; Shulha, Michael; de Gaspé Bonar, James

    2014-01-01

    Abstract Problem addressed Although e-learning programs are popular and access to electronic knowledge resources has improved, raising awareness about updated therapeutic recommendations in practice continues to be a challenge. Objective of program To raise awareness about and document the use of therapeutic recommendations. Program description In 2010, family physicians evaluated e-Therapeutics (e-T) Highlights with a Web-based tool called the Information Assessment Method (IAM). The e-T Highlights consisted of information found in the primary care reference e-Therapeutics+. Each week, family physicians received an e-mail containing a link to 1 Highlight from a different chapter of e-Therapeutics+. Family physicians received continuing medical education credits for each Highlight they rated with the IAM. Of the 5346 participants, 85% of them were full-time or part-time practitioners. A total of 31 429 Highlights ratings were received in 2010 (median of 2 ratings per participant, range 1 to 49). Among participants who rated more than 2 Highlights, the median number of ratings was 7 (mean 11.9). The relevance of the information from individual Highlights varied widely; however, for 90% of the rated Highlights participants indicated total or partial relevance of the information for at least 1 patient. For 41% of rated Highlights, participants expected patient health benefits to result from implementing the recommendation, such as avoiding an unnecessary or inappropriate treatment, or a preventive intervention. Conclusion This continuing medical education program stimulated family physicians to rate therapeutic recommendations that were delivered weekly via e-mail. The process of rating e-T Highlights with the IAM raised awareness about treatment recommendations and documented self-reported use of this information in practice. PMID:24829020

  5. E-Mail Molecules—Individualizing the Large Lecture Class

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wamser, Carl C.

    2003-11-01

    All students in the organic chemistry class are assigned a unique set of nine molecules to report on as optional extra credit assignments. The molecules are taken from a list containing over 200 molecules on the class Web site; they represent an assortment of biologically relevant compounds, from acetaminophen to yohimbine. Once a week, students may submit information about one of the molecules for two points extra credit (where the course includes a total of over 600 points from traditional quizzes and exams). The information requested about the molecules varies slightly each term as student expertise grows, for example, molecular formula, hybridizations, functional groups, or number of stereocenters, but always includes biological relevance and sources of information. Initially students submitted data directly to the instructor by e-mail, but submissions now are handled by a Web-based course management system (WebCT). The goal is to give students individualized assignments that are relatively realistic in light of their future careers in health sciences. Nearly all of the students do some of the molecules, and many students do all of them. About 30 40% of the students who do the assignments regularly gain a grade benefit. Student responses to the exercise have been positive.

  6. Drug Target Validation Methods in Malaria - Protein Interference Assay (PIA) as a Tool for Highly Specific Drug Target Validation.

    PubMed

    Meissner, Kamila A; Lunev, Sergey; Wang, Yuan-Ze; Linzke, Marleen; de Assis Batista, Fernando; Wrenger, Carsten; Groves, Matthew R

    2017-01-01

    The validation of drug targets in malaria and other human diseases remains a highly difficult and laborious process. In the vast majority of cases, highly specific small molecule tools to inhibit a proteins function in vivo are simply not available. Additionally, the use of genetic tools in the analysis of malarial pathways is challenging. These issues result in difficulties in specifically modulating a hypothetical drug target's function in vivo. The current "toolbox" of various methods and techniques to identify a protein's function in vivo remains very limited and there is a pressing need for expansion. New approaches are urgently required to support target validation in the drug discovery process. Oligomerisation is the natural assembly of multiple copies of a single protein into one object and this self-assembly is present in more than half of all protein structures. Thus, oligomerisation plays a central role in the generation of functional biomolecules. A key feature of oligomerisation is that the oligomeric interfaces between the individual parts of the final assembly are highly specific. However, these interfaces have not yet been systematically explored or exploited to dissect biochemical pathways in vivo. This mini review will describe the current state of the antimalarial toolset as well as the potentially druggable malarial pathways. A specific focus is drawn to the initial efforts to exploit oligomerisation surfaces in drug target validation. As alternative to the conventional methods, Protein Interference Assay (PIA) can be used for specific distortion of the target protein function and pathway assessment in vivo. Copyright© Bentham Science Publishers; For any queries, please email at epub@benthamscience.org.

  7. Getting better byte by byte: a pilot randomised controlled trial of email therapy for bulimia nervosa and binge eating disorder.

    PubMed

    Robinson, Paul; Serfaty, Marc

    2008-03-01

    One hundred and ten people in an university population responded to emailed eating disorder questionnaires. Ninty-seven fulfilling criteria for eating disorders (bulimia nervosa (BN), binge eating disorder (BED), EDNOS) were randomised to therapist administered email bulimia therapy (eBT), unsupported Self directed writing (SDW) or Waiting list control (WLC). Measures were repeated at 3 months. Diagnosis, Beck depression inventory (BDI) and Bulimia investigatory test (BITE) scores were recorded. Follow-up rate was 63% and results must be interpreted cautiously. However significantly fewer participants who had received eBT or SDW fulfilled criteria for eating disorders at follow up compared to WLC. There was no significant difference between eBT and SDW in the analysis of variance (ANOVA), although in separate analyses, eBT was significantly superior to WLC (p < 0.02) and the difference for SDW approached significance (p = 0.06). BDI and BITE scores showed no significant change. For eBT participants there was a significant positive correlation between words written and improvement in BITE severity score. BN, BED and EDNOS can be treated via email. (c) 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and Eating Disorders Association

  8. Impact of smartphone digital photography, email, and media communication on emergency room visits post-hypospadias repair.

    PubMed

    Chua, Michael E; Saunders, Megan A; Bowlin, Paul R; Ming, Jessica M; Lopes, Roberto Iglesias; Farhat, Walid A; Dos Santos, Joana

    2017-01-01

    Advances in communication technology are shaping our medical practice. To date, there is no clear evidence that this mode of communication will have any effect on unnecessary postoperative emergency room (ER) visits. We aim to evaluate the effect of email and media communication with application of smartphone digital photography on post-hypospadias repair ER visit rates. This prospective cohort study included all patients who underwent hypospadias repair performed by a single surgeon from October 2014 to November 2015. Patients were categorized into two groups: Group A consented for smartphone photography and email communication and Group B declined. Reason for ER visits within 30 days postoperatively was assessed by another physician, who was blinded of patient group assignment. The reasons were categorized as: unnecessary ER visit, indicated ER visit, or visit unrelated to hypospadias surgery. Chi-square test and T-test were used for statistical analysis. Relative risk (RR) and corresponding 95% confidence interval (CI) were also calculated. Statistical significance was set at p<0.05. Over a 14-month period, 96 patients underwent hypospadias repair (81 in Group A, 15 in Group B 5). No significant difference was noted between groups for overall ER return rate (RR 0.46, 95% CI 0.21, 1.0). However, the number of ER visits for wound check not requiring intervention was significantly lower in Group A than in Group B (RR 0.14, 95% CI 0.035, 0.56); likewise, a higher number of ER visits requiring intervention was noted in Group A compared with Group B, although statistically this was not significant (RR 1.67, 95% CI 0.23, 12.21). Email communication with the use of smartphone digital photography significantly reduced the number of unnecessary ER visits for post-hypospadias wound checks.

  9. Do personalised e-mail invitations increase the response rates of breast cancer survivors invited to participate in a web-based behaviour change intervention? A quasi-randomised 2-arm controlled trial.

    PubMed

    Short, Camille E; Rebar, Amanda L; Vandelanotte, Corneel

    2015-08-19

    Previous research has shown that the personalisation of study invitations improves response rates in survey-based research. To examine if this finding extends to experimental studies, we examined the impact of personalised study invitation e-mails on the response rates of potentially eligible breast cancer survivors for participation in a 6 month randomised controlled trial testing the efficacy of a physical activity intervention. Potential participants (n = 344) were sent either a personalised email or a generic email. Those sent the personalised email were 1.5 times (95 % CI = 1.18-1.93) more likely to respond than those sent the generic email. These findings suggest that personalisation may be a useful and potentially powerful tool that can be utilised when recruiting participants into experimental studies in order to boost response rates.

  10. Assessing the Factors Affecting the Amount of E-Mail Spam Delivery in a Public School District

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Yasenchock, David A.

    2013-01-01

    Eighty to ninety percent of e-mail is considered unsolicited commercial communication, or spam. Not only does spam violate the privacy of users, but it also incurs societal costs associated with time-related losses, serves as a vehicle for cyber-crime, and threatens the success of e-commerce by lowering consumer confidence. This quantitative…

  11. Is it time to abandon paper? The use of emails and the Internet for health services research--a cost-effectiveness and qualitative study.

    PubMed

    Hunter, Jennifer; Corcoran, Katherine; Leeder, Stephen; Phelps, Kerryn

    2013-10-01

    A multidisciplinary primary care clinic in Sydney, Australia, was planning to use electronic questionnaires to measure patient-reported outcomes. Semi-structured interviews with 20 patients were undertaken to explore, among other things, practical issues regarding different questionnaire formats. The response rates and costs of email versus postal invitations were also evaluated. Compared with postal invitations, email invitations offered a cost-effective and practical alternative, with a greater proportion of patients volunteering for an interview. Assuming the interface is well-designed and user-friendly, many patients were happy to use the Internet to answer questionnaires. Most patients thought alternate formats should also be offered. Patients discussed advantages and disadvantages of the Internet format. Although more younger patients and females had given the clinic an email address; both sexes, and young and old patients, expressed strong preferences for either wanting or not wanting to use the Internet. Researchers should consider using email invitations as a cost-effective first-line strategy to recruit patients to participate in health services research. Internet questionnaires are potentially cheaper than paper questionnaires, and the format is acceptable to many patients. However, for the time being, concurrent alternate formats need to be offered to ensure wider acceptability and to maximize response rates. © 2012 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  12. Differential Sources for 2 Neural Signatures of Target Detection: An Electrocorticography Study.

    PubMed

    Kam, J W Y; Szczepanski, S M; Canolty, R T; Flinker, A; Auguste, K I; Crone, N E; Kirsch, H E; Kuperman, R A; Lin, J J; Parvizi, J; Knight, R T

    2018-01-01

    Electrophysiology and neuroimaging provide conflicting evidence for the neural contributions to target detection. Scalp electroencephalography (EEG) studies localize the P3b event-related potential component mainly to parietal cortex, whereas neuroimaging studies report activations in both frontal and parietal cortices. We addressed this discrepancy by examining the sources that generate the target-detection process using electrocorticography (ECoG). We recorded ECoG activity from cortex in 14 patients undergoing epilepsy monitoring, as they performed an auditory or visual target-detection task. We examined target-related responses in 2 domains: high frequency band (HFB) activity and the P3b. Across tasks, we observed a greater proportion of electrodes that showed target-specific HFB power relative to P3b over frontal cortex, but their proportions over parietal cortex were comparable. Notably, there was minimal overlap in the electrodes that showed target-specific HFB and P3b activity. These results revealed that the target-detection process is characterized by at least 2 different neural markers with distinct cortical distributions. Our findings suggest that separate neural mechanisms are driving the differential patterns of activity observed in scalp EEG and neuroimaging studies, with the P3b reflecting EEG findings and HFB activity reflecting neuroimaging findings, highlighting the notion that target detection is not a unitary phenomenon. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  13. PXRF, μ-XRF, vacuum μ-XRF, and EPMA analysis of Email Champlevé objects present in Belgian museums.

    PubMed

    Van der Linden, Veerle; Meesdom, Eva; Devos, Annemie; Van Dooren, Rita; Nieuwdorp, Hans; Janssen, Elsje; Balace, Sophie; Vekemans, Bart; Vincze, Laszlo; Janssens, Koen

    2011-10-01

    The enamel of 20 Email Champlevé objects dating between the 12th and 19th centuries was investigated by means of microscopic and portable X-ray fluorescence analysis (μ-XRF and PXRF). Seven of these objects were microsampled and the fragments were analyzed with electron probe microanalysis (EPMA) and vacuum μ-XRF to obtain quantitative data about the composition of the glass used to produce these enameled objects. As a result of the evolution of the raw materials employed to produce the base glass, three different compositional groups could be discriminated. The first group consisted of soda-lime-silica glass with a sodium source of mineral origin (with low K content) that was opacified by addition of calcium antimonate crystals. This type of glass was only used in objects made in the 12th century. Email Champlevé objects from the beginning of the 13th century onward were enameled with soda-lime-silica glass with a sodium source of vegetal origin. This type of glass, which has a higher potassium content, was opacified with SnO2 crystals. The glass used for 19th century Email Champlevé artifacts was produced with synthetic and purified components resulting in a different chemical composition compared to the other groups. Although the four analytical techniques employed in this study have their own specific characteristics, they were all found to be suitable for classifying the objects into the different chronological categories.

  14. Text messaging versus email for emergency medicine residents’ knowledge retention: a pilot comparison in the United States

    PubMed Central

    2016-01-01

    We evaluated the effectiveness of text messaging versus email, as a delivery method to enhance knowledge retention of emergency medicine (EM) content in EM residents. We performed a multi-centered, prospective, randomized study consisting of postgraduate year (PGY) 1 to PGY 3 & 4 residents in three United States EM residency programs in 2014. Fifty eight residents were randomized into one delivery group: text message or email. Participants completed a 40 question pre- and post-intervention exam. Primary outcomes were the means of pre- and post-intervention exam score differences. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, paired t-test, and multiple linear regressions. No significant difference was found between the primary outcomes of the two groups (P=0.51). PGY 2 status had a significant negative effect (P=0.01) on predicted exam score difference. Neither delivery method enhanced resident knowledge retention. Further research on implementation of mobile technology in residency education is required. PMID:27780350

  15. Text messaging versus email for emergency medicine residents' knowledge retention: a pilot comparison in the United States.

    PubMed

    Hoonpongsimanont, Wirachin; Kulkarni, Miriam; Tomas-Domingo, Pedro; Anderson, Craig; McCormack, Denise; Tu, Khoa; Chakravarthy, Bharath; Lotfipour, Shahram

    2016-01-01

    We evaluated the effectiveness of text messaging versus email, as a delivery method to enhance knowledge retention of emergency medicine (EM) content in EM residents. We performed a multi-centered, prospective, randomized study consisting of postgraduate year (PGY) 1 to PGY 3 & 4 residents in three United States EM residency programs in 2014. Fifty eight residents were randomized into one delivery group: text message or email. Participants completed a 40 question pre- and post-intervention exam. Primary outcomes were the means of pre- and post-intervention exam score differences. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, paired t-test, and multiple linear regressions. No significant difference was found between the primary outcomes of the two groups (P=0.51). PGY 2 status had a significant negative effect (P=0.01) on predicted exam score difference. Neither delivery method enhanced resident knowledge retention. Further research on implementation of mobile technology in residency education is required.

  16. German Deaf People Using Text Communication: Short Message Service, TTY, Relay Services, Fax, and E-Mail

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Power, Des; Power, Mary R.; Rehling, Bernd

    2007-01-01

    An online survey of German deaf people demonstrated that they use text communication through Short Message Service (SMS), e-mail, fax, and telephone typewriters (TTY) to communicate within communities of deaf and hearing people. SMS is used most, with more than 96% of respondents having access to a mobile phone. Most use is intrinsic and directed…

  17. Engineered Peptides for Applications in Cancer-Targeted Drug Delivery and Tumor Detection.

    PubMed

    Soudy, R; Byeon, N; Raghuwanshi, Y; Ahmed, S; Lavasanifar, A; Kaur, K

    2017-01-01

    Cancer-targeting peptides as ligands for targeted delivery of anticancer drugs or drug carriers have the potential to significantly enhance the selectivity and the therapeutic benefit of current chemotherapeutic agents. Identification of tumor-specific biomarkers like integrins, aminopeptidase N, and epidermal growth factor receptor as well as the popularity of phage display techniques along with synthetic combinatorial methods used for peptide design and structure optimization have fueled the advancement and application of peptide ligands for targeted drug delivery and tumor detection in cancer treatment, detection and guided therapy. Although considerable preclinical data have shown remarkable success in the use of tumor targeting peptides, peptides generally suffer from poor pharmacokinetics, enzymatic instability, and weak receptor affinity, and they need further structural modification before successful translation to clinics is possible. The current review gives an overview of the different engineering strategies that have been developed for peptide structure optimization to confer selectivity and stability. We also provide an update on the methods used for peptide ligand identification, and peptide- receptor interactions. Additionally, some applications for the use of peptides in targeted delivery of chemotherapeutics and diagnostics over the past 5 years are summarized. Copyright© Bentham Science Publishers; For any queries, please email at epub@benthamscience.org.

  18. Piloting an email-based resource package for job seekers with multiple sclerosis.

    PubMed

    Dorstyn, Diana; Roberts, Rachel; Murphy, Gregory; Kneebone, Ian; Migliorini, Christine; Craig, Ashley; Hutchinson, Claire; Field, Deborah

    2017-05-01

    Media-based rehabilitation provides a powerful opportunity to examine vocational behaviors in the disability sector. However, this research is preliminary at best. This paper reports pilot data. Eighteen adults with multiple sclerosis (MS) accessed an email-delivered, resource-based package, Work and MS. Pre- and post-access vocational self-efficacy and identity (Job-Procurement Self Efficacy Scale, My Vocational Situation Scale- primary outcomes), life orientation and depressed mood (Life Orientation Test - revised and Patient Health Questionnaire-9 - secondary outcomes) were assessed. Pre- and post-change scores were examined with Wilcoxon signed ranks tests and Hedges g effect sizes with associated 95% confidence intervals. Reliable change analyses were additionally calculated to determine the clinical significance of individual change scores. Significant and positive effects were reported for vocational self-efficacy, identity, and optimism. Reliable change scores in one or more of these key outcomes were reported by 30% of the sample. Satisfaction with the content and delivery of the email-based intervention was also noted. Preliminary evidence suggests that Work and MS can help to promote vocational goals, interests and strengths among job seekers with a disability by providing a set of tools, information and linkages relating to vocational pursuits and career development. Replication with a randomized control design is indicated. Implications for Rehabilitation Research indicates a high unemployment rate among working-age adults with MS. A combination of disease-specific, psychological, programmatic and societal variables contribute to employment instability in this group. This pilot study demonstrates that an e-mail-based resource package, Work and MS, provides an innovative and feasible option for promoting consumer engagement with vocational services and, potentially, improving vocational outcomes. Work and MS has potential applicability to other

  19. A Cross-Cultural Pragmatic Study of Rapport-Management Strategies in Chinese and English Academic Upward Request Emails

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Zhu, Wuhan

    2017-01-01

    This article discusses and compares how Chinese and English postgraduate students manage a harmonious relationship with university instructors by managing rapport and doing relational work in their academic request emails. The rapport-management strategies were explored and then further evaluated in relation to the taxonomies of relational work…

  20. Just-in-Time Evidence-Based E-mail “Reminders” in Home Health Care: Impact on Nurse Practices

    PubMed Central

    Murtaugh, Christopher M; Pezzin, Liliana E; McDonald, Margaret V; Feldman, Penny H; Peng, Timothy R

    2005-01-01

    Objective To test the effectiveness of two interventions designed to improve the adoption of evidence-based practices by home health nurses caring for heart failure (HF) patients. Data Sources/Study Setting Information on nurse practices was abstracted from the clinical records of patients admitted between June 2000 and November 2001 to the care of 354 study nurses at a large, urban, nonprofit home care agency. Study Design The study employed a randomized design with nurses assigned to usual care or one of two intervention groups upon identification of an eligible patient. The basic intervention was a one-time e-mail reminder highlighting six HF-specific clinical recommendations. The augmented intervention consisted of the initial e-mail reminder supplemented by provider prompts, patient education material, and clinical nurse specialist outreach. Data Collection At each home health visit provided by a study nurse to an eligible HF patient during the 45-day follow-up period, a structured chart abstraction tool was used to collect information on whether the nurse provided the care practices highlighted in the e-mail reminder. Principal Findings Both the basic and the augmented interventions greatly increased the practice of evidence-based care, according to patient records, in the areas of patient assessment and instructions about HF disease management. While not all results were statistically significant at conventional levels, intervention effects were positive in virtually all cases and effect magnitudes frequently were large. Conclusions The results of this randomized trial strongly support the efficacy of just-in-time evidence-based reminders as a means of changing clinical practice among home health nurses who are geographically dispersed and spend much of their time in the field. PMID:15960694