SwarmSight: Measuring the Temporal Progression of Animal Group Activity Levels from Natural Scene and Laboratory Videos

PubMed Central

Birgiolas, Justas; Jernigan, Christopher M.; Smith, Brian H.; Crook, Sharon M.

2016-01-01

We describe SwarmSight (available at: https://github.com/justasb/SwarmSight), a novel, open-source, Microsoft Windows software tool for quantitative assessment of the temporal progression of animal group activity levels from recorded videos. The tool utilizes a background subtraction machine vision algorithm and provides an activity metric that can be used to quantitatively assess and compare animal group behavior. Here we demonstrate the tool utility by analyzing defensive bee behavior as modulated by alarm pheromones, wild bird feeding onset and interruption, and cockroach nest finding activity. While more sophisticated, commercial software packages are available, SwarmSight provides a low-cost, open-source, and easy-to-use alternative that is suitable for a wide range of users, including minimally trained research technicians and behavioral science undergraduate students in classroom laboratory settings. PMID:27130170

The Clinician in the Driver’s Seat: Part 2 – Intelligent Uses of Space in a Drag/Drop User-Composable Electronic Health Record

PubMed Central

Senathirajah, Yalini; Kaufman, David; Bakken, Suzanne

2018-01-01

User-composable approaches provide clinicians with the control to design and assemble information elements on screen via drag/drop. They hold considerable promise for enhancing the electronic-health-records (EHRs) user experience. We previously described this novel approach to EHR design and our illustrative system, MedWISE. The purpose of this paper is to describe clinician users’ intelligent uses of space during completion of real patient case studies in a laboratory setting using MedWISE. Thirteen clinicians at a quaternary academic medical center used the system to review four real patient cases. We analyzed clinician utterances, behaviors, screen layouts (i.e., interface designs), and their perceptions associated with completing patient case studies. Clinicians effectively used the system to review all cases. Two coding schemata pertaining to human-computer interaction and diagnostic reasoning were used to analyze the data. Users adopted three main interaction strategies: rapidly gathering items on screen and reviewing (‘opportunistic selection’ approach); creating highly structured screens (‘structured’ approach); and interacting with small groups of items in sequence as their case review progressed (‘dynamic stage’ approach). They also used spatial arrangement in ways predicted by theory and research on workplace spatial arrangement. This includes assignment of screen regions for particular purposes (24% of spatial codes), juxtaposition to facilitate calculation or other cognitive tasks (‘epistemic action’), and grouping elements with common meanings or relevance to the diagnostic facets of the case (20.3%). A left-to-right progression of orienting materials, data, and action items or reflection space was a commonly observed pattern. Widget selection was based on user assessment of what information was useful or relevant. We developed and tested an illustrative system that gives clinicians greater control of the EHR, and demonstrated its feasibility for case review by typical clinicians. Producing the simplifying inventions, such as user-composable platforms that shift control to the user, may serve to promote productive EHR use and enhance its value as an instrument of patient care. PMID:25445921

Development and operations of the astrophysics data system

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Murray, S. S.

1996-01-01

Monthly progress reports are given for the period April 1994 through September 1994. Each month's progress includes a general summary and overviews of Administrative functions, Systems Engineering, User Committee, User Support, Test and QA, System Integration, Development, Operations, and Suppliers of Data. These overviews include user and query statistics for the month.

Development and operations of the astrophysics data system

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Murray, S. S.

1996-01-01

Monthly progress reports are given for the period October 1993 through March 1994. Each month's progress includes a general summary and overviews of Administrative functions, Systems Engineering, User Committee, User Support, Test and QA, System Integration, Development, Operations, and Suppliers of Data. These overviews include user and query statistics for the month.

Effect of yoga on self-rated visual discomfort in computer users.

PubMed

Telles, Shirley; Naveen, K V; Dash, Manoj; Deginal, Rajendra; Manjunath, N K

2006-12-03

'Dry eye' appears to be the main contributor to the symptoms of computer vision syndrome. Regular breaks and the use of artificial tears or certain eye drops are some of the options to reduce visual discomfort. A combination of yoga practices have been shown to reduce visual strain in persons with progressive myopia. The present randomized controlled trial was planned to evaluate the effect of a combination of yoga practices on self-rated symptoms of visual discomfort in professional computer users in Bangalore. Two hundred and ninety one professional computer users were randomly assigned to two groups, yoga (YG, n = 146) and wait list control (WL, n = 145). Both groups were assessed at baseline and after sixty days for self-rated visual discomfort using a standard questionnaire. During these 60 days the YG group practiced an hour of yoga daily for five days in a week and the WL group did their usual recreational activities also for an hour daily for the same duration. At 60 days there were 62 in the YG group and 55 in the WL group. While the scores for visual discomfort of both groups were comparable at baseline, after 60 days there was a significantly decreased score in the YG group, whereas the WL group showed significantly increased scores. The results suggest that the yoga practice appeared to reduce visual discomfort, while the group who had no yoga intervention (WL) showed an increase in discomfort at the end of sixty days.

The AAS Working Group on Accessibility and Disability (WGAD): progress, current projects, and prospects for making astronomy accessible to all

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Aarnio, Alicia; Diaz-Merced, Wanda; Monkiewicz, Jacqueline; Knierman, Karen; AAS WGAD

2018-01-01

Representation of astronomers with disabilities is low at the earliest career stages and losses compound with career stage thereafter; single-digit and lower percentage representation statistics are in large part due to systemic barriers to access and failure to accommodate the needs of users of a wide range of abilities. In this presentation, we discuss the barriers currently inhibiting broad access to astronomical publications, databases, and conferences. The WGAD was formed in January of 2016 to work toward removal of these barriers to make our field inclusive of astronomers with disabilities at all career stages. We have productively engaged with publishers and accessibility audits have been performed. Database accessibility evaluation is underway, and we are working with the AAS and other professional organizations on conference accessibility. We are keeping users centrally focused via surveys and user test groups, and holding paramount the overarching idea that meeting present accessibility standards is a necessary but insufficient condition for full access.

Participatory design of a collaborative clinical trial protocol writing system.

PubMed

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

2007-06-01

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

Evaluating progressive-rendering algorithms in appearance design tasks.

PubMed

Jiawei Ou; Karlik, Ondrej; Křivánek, Jaroslav; Pellacini, Fabio

2013-01-01

Progressive rendering is becoming a popular alternative to precomputational approaches to appearance design. However, progressive algorithms create images exhibiting visual artifacts at early stages. A user study investigated these artifacts' effects on user performance in appearance design tasks. Novice and expert subjects performed lighting and material editing tasks with four algorithms: random path tracing, quasirandom path tracing, progressive photon mapping, and virtual-point-light rendering. Both the novices and experts strongly preferred path tracing to progressive photon mapping and virtual-point-light rendering. None of the participants preferred random path tracing to quasirandom path tracing or vice versa; the same situation held between progressive photon mapping and virtual-point-light rendering. The user workflow didn’t differ significantly with the four algorithms. The Web Extras include a video showing how four progressive-rendering algorithms converged (at http://youtu.be/ck-Gevl1e9s), the source code used, and other supplementary materials.

Exercise for everyone: a randomized controlled trial of project workout on wheels in promoting exercise among wheelchair users.

PubMed

Froehlich-Grobe, Katherine; Lee, Jaehoon; Aaronson, Lauren; Nary, Dorothy E; Washburn, Richard A; Little, Todd D

2014-01-01

To compare the effectiveness of 2 home-based behavioral interventions for wheelchair users to promote exercise adoption and maintenance over 12 months. Randomized controlled trial, with participants stratified into groups based on disability type (stable, episodic, progressive) and support partner availability. Exercise occurred in participant-preferred locations (eg, home, recreation center), with physiological data collected at a university-based exercise laboratory. Inactive wheelchair users (N=128; 64 women) with sufficient upper arm mobility for arm-based exercise were enrolled. Participants on average were 45 years of age and lived with their impairment for 22 years, with spinal cord injury (46.1%) most commonly reported as causing mobility impairment. Both groups received home-based exercise interventions. The staff-supported group (n=69) received intensive exercise support, while the self-guided group (n=59) received minimal support. Both received exercise information, resistance bands, instructions to self-monitor exercise, regularly scheduled phone calls, and handwritten cards. The primary outcome derived from weekly self-reported exercise. Secondary outcomes included physical fitness (aerobic/muscular) and predictors of exercise participation. The staff-supported group reported significantly greater exercise (∼17min/wk) than the self-guided group over the year (t=10.6, P=.00), with no significant between-group difference in aerobic capacity (t=.76, P=.45) and strength (t=1.5, P=.14). Although the staff-supported group reported only moderately more exercise, the difference is potentially clinically significant because they also exercised more frequently. The staff-supported approach holds promise for encouraging exercise among wheelchair users, yet additional support may be necessary to achieve more exercise to meet national recommendations. Copyright © 2014 American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Exercise for Everyone: A randomized controlled trial of Project Workout On Wheels in promoting exercise among wheelchair users

PubMed Central

Froehlich-Grobe, Katherine; Lee, Jaehoon; Aaronson, Lauren; Nary, Dorothy E.; Washburn, Richard A; Little, Todd D

2015-01-01

Objective To compare the effectiveness of two home-based behavioral interventions to promote wheelchair users exercise adoption and maintenance over 12 months. Design Randomized controlled trial, with participants stratified into groups based on disability type (stable, episodic, progressive) and support partner availability. Setting Exercise occurred in participant preferred locations (e.g., home, recreation center), with physiological data collected at the university-based exercise lab. Participants One hundred twenty-eight inactive wheelchair users (64 women) with sufficient upper arm mobility for arm-based exercise enrolled. Participants on average were 45 years old, lived with their impairment for 22 years, with spinal cord injury (46.1%) most commonly reported as causing mobility impairment. Interventions Both groups received home-based exercise interventions. The staff-supported group (n= 69) received intensive exercise support, while the self-guided group (n= 59) received minimal support. Both received exercise information, resistance bands, instructions to self-monitor exercise, regularly-scheduled phone calls, and handwritten cards. Main Outcome Measures The primary outcome derived from weekly self-reported exercise. Secondary outcomes included physical fitness (aerobic/muscular) and predictors of exercise participation. Results The staff-supported group reported significantly greater exercise (~ 16 minutes/week) than the self-guided group over the year (t=10.6, p=0.00), with no significant between group difference in aerobic capacity (t=0.76, p=0.45) and strength (t=1.5, p=0.14). Conclusions Although the staff-supported group reported only moderately more exercise, the difference is potentially clinically significant as they also exercised more frequently. The staff-supported approach holds promise for encouraging exercise among wheelchair users, yet additional support may be necessary to achieve more exercise to meet national recommendations. PMID:23872080

‘Working the system’. Achieving change through partnership working: an evaluation of cancer partnership groups

PubMed Central

Richardson, Alison; Sitzia, John; Cotterell, Phil

2005-01-01

Abstract Aims and objectives  To investigate the characteristics and achievements of cancer partnership groups – collaborative service improvement groups formed of NHS staff and service users – in the 34 cancer networks in England, and in particular to explore the influence that such groups had on local cancer services. Design  A qualitative approach employing a structured telephone survey, face‐to‐face interviews and documentary analysis. Participants and setting  Thirty cancer networks in England with an active Partnership Group completed the telephone survey. From these 30 networks, six networks were subsequently selected from which service users and NHS professionals involved in partnership groups and NHS professionals who were non‐members were recruited to take part in face‐to‐face interviews. Results and conclusions  Partnership groups were established in the majority of cancer networks. Typically, these groups were at network level, been established for less than a year, met once every 2 months, and were populated with both service users and health‐care professionals. Five common activities and achievements were identified: establishment of the group itself; acting as a ‘reference’ group for consultation; networking and representation on other groups; patient information and communication and proactive influencing. Activities progressed in scale and complexity as groups evolved. Groups had learnt the basics of change management and some identified a more sophisticated understanding of change processes in the NHS as essential for the group's motivation and survival. When gauging the impact of involvement strategies it would seem important to subscribe to broad indicators of success that include both process and outcome measures. PMID:16098151

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

PubMed

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

2016-02-01

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

Moving through MOOCs: Understanding the Progression of Users in Massive Open Online Courses

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Perna, Laura W.; Ruby, Alan; Boruch, Robert F.; Wang, Nicole; Scull, Janie; Ahmad, Seher; Evans, Chad

2014-01-01

This paper reports on the progress of users through 16 Coursera courses taught by University of Pennsylvania faculty for the first time between June 2012 and July 2013. Using descriptive analyses, this study advances knowledge by considering two definitions of massive open online course (MOOC) users (registrants and starters), comparing two…

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

PubMed

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

2017-01-01

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

Concurrent crack and powder cocaine users from Sao Paulo: Do they represent a different group?

PubMed Central

Guindalini, Camila; Vallada, Homero; Breen, Gerome; Laranjeira, Ronaldo

2006-01-01

Background Cocaine abuse is a serious and socially damaging illegal drug problem. Different routes of administration are associated with a specific progression of use, different degrees of abuse liability, propensity for dependence and treatment response. There have been relatively few studies comparing different cocaine users groups and no studies into the characterization of the group of individuals reporting concurrent use of powder cocaine and crack cocaine. Methods Six hundred and ninety-nine cocaine users were assessed during the period August 1997 to October 1998 in one outpatient and six inpatient clinics located in the São Paulo, Brazil. Patients were interviewed using a structured questionnaire schedule in Portuguese, designed specifically for the Brazilian population. The statistical analyses were performed using either ANOVA or a chi-squared test and focusing on their preferred form of use/route of administration and other variables. Results For 83% of the variables tested in this study, the Dual Users subgroup (using both powder and crack cocaine) demonstrated statistical differences from the single drug user subgroups. Those differences include the initiation of cocaine, the abuse of other illicit drugs, and rates of criminal history. Conclusion These data suggest cocaine-dependent individuals who report use of both powder and crack cocaine are an at least partially, distinct subgroup. However, further studies will be necessary to confirm this and to determine if they also show a different treatment response. PMID:16426451

Mental health crisis and respite services: service user and carer aspirations.

PubMed

Lyons, C; Hopley, P; Burton, C R; Horrocks, J

2009-06-01

There is emerging evidence that crisis resolution services can provide alternatives to hospital admission, reducing demand on inpatient beds. Following a public consultation exercise in Lancashire (England), a team of nurses undertook a study, using interactive research methodology, to gain an understanding of how users and carers define a crisis and what range of crisis services, resources and interventions service users and carers thought would help avoid unnecessary hospital admission. Data collection comprised postal questionnaires and 24 group meetings with service users and carers, which were held during 2006. Data were analysed, and seven themes were identified: (1) definitions of a crisis; (2) access to services; (3) interventions; (4) range of services required (before, during and after crisis); (5) place of treatment; (6) recovery and rehabilitation; and (7) community support. We conclude that expressed preferences of service users and carers for pre-emptive services that are delivered flexibly will present a challenge for service commissioners and providers, particularly where stringent access criteria are used. Home-based pre-emptive services that reduce the need for unnecessary hospital treatment may avoid progression to social exclusion of service users.

Biomedical Computing Technology Information Center: introduction and report of early progress

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

Maskewitz, B.F.; Henne, R.L.; McClain, W.J.

1976-01-01

In July 1975, the Biomedical Computing Technology Information Center (BCTIC) was established by the Division of Biomedical and Environmental Research of the U. S. Energy Research and Development Administration (ERDA) at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. BCTIC collects, organizes, evaluates, and disseminates information on computing technology pertinent to biomedicine, providing needed routes of communication between installations and serving as a clearinghouse for the exchange of biomedical computing software, data, and interface designs. This paper presents BCTIC's functions and early progress to the MUMPS Users' Group in order to stimulate further discussion and cooperation between the two organizations. (BCTIC services aremore » available to its sponsors and their contractors and to any individual/group willing to participate in mutual exchange.) 1 figure.« less

Why psychiatry needs psychedelics and psychedelics need psychiatry.

PubMed

Sessa, Ben

2014-01-01

Without researching psychedelic drugs for medical therapy, psychiatry is turning its back on a group of compounds that could have great potential. Without the validation of the medical profession, the psychedelic drugs, and those who take them off-license, remain archaic sentiments of the past, with the users maligned as recreational drug abusers and subject to continued negative opinion. These two disparate groups--psychiatrists and recreational psychedelic drug users--are united by their shared recognition of the healing potential of these compounds. A resolution of this conflict is essential for the future of psychiatric medicine and psychedelic culture alike. Progression will come from professionals working in the field adapting to fit a conservative paradigm. In this way, they can provide the public with important treatments and also raise the profile of expanded consciousness in mainstream society.

Clinical Investigation Program Annual Progress Report

DTIC Science & Technology

1988-10-20

Presented: Interna- tional Symposium on Orthopedics, Mexico , September 1987. Publications: In preparation. 147 FAMC A.P.R. (RCS MED 300) Detail Summary...Infection: A Prospective Study. Presented: 2nd Annual Symposium of the Rocky Moun- tain Flow Cytometry Users Group, Albuquerque, New Mexico , 10-11...Podgore, COL, MC (9) Dept/ISvc: Pediatrics (10) Associate Investigators (11) Key Words: Myron J. Levin, M.D. varicella vaccine U Co. HSC (12

The Professional Development Plan of a Health Care Workforce as a Qualitative Indicator of the Health Care System's Well-Being

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Saiti, Anna; Mylona, Vasiliki

2015-01-01

The quality of a health care system is heavily dependent on a capable and skillful health care workforce so as to guarantee the delivery of quality health care services to its user groups. Hence, only through continuous training and development can the health care workforce follow rapid scientific progress while equitably balancing investment…

Framework for Educational Robotics: A Multiphase Approach to Enhance User Learning in a Competitive Arena

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lye, Ngit Chan; Wong, Kok Wai; Chiou, Andrew

2013-01-01

Educational robotics involves using robots as an educational tool to provide a long term, and progressive learning activity, to cater to different age group. The current concern is that, using robots in education should not be an instance of a one-off project for the sole purpose of participating in a competitive event. Instead, it should be a…

Recommendations for the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of chronic hepatitis B and C in special population groups (migrants, intravenous drug users and prison inmates).

PubMed

Almasio, Piero L; Babudieri, Sergio; Barbarini, Giorgio; Brunetto, Maurizia; Conte, Dario; Dentico, Pietro; Gaeta, Giovanni B; Leonardi, Claudio; Levrero, Massimo; Mazzotta, Francesco; Morrone, Aldo; Nosotti, Lorenzo; Prati, Daniele; Rapicetta, Maria; Sagnelli, Evangelista; Scotto, Gaetano; Starnini, Giulio

2011-08-01

The global spread of hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV), their high chronicity rates and their progression to cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma, are major public health problems. Research and intervention programmes for special population groups are needed in order to assess their infection risk and set up suitable prevention and control strategies. Aim of this paper is to give health care professionals information on HBV and HCV infections amongst migrants, drug users and prison inmates. The manuscript is an official Position Paper on behalf of the following Scientific Societies: Italian Association for the Study of the Liver (A.I.S.F.), Italian Society of Infectious and Tropical Diseases (S.I.M.I.T.), Italian Federation Department's Operators and Addiction Services (FederSerD), Italian Prison Medicine and Healthcare Society (S.I.M.S.Pe.). The considered population groups, having a high prevalence HBV and HCV infections, require specific interventions. In this context, the expression "special population" refers to specific vulnerable groups at risk of social exclusion, such as migrants, prison inmates, and intravenous drug users. When dealing with special population groups, social, environmental and clinical factors should be considered when selecting candidates for therapy as indicated by national and international guidelines. Copyright © 2010 Editrice Gastroenterologica Italiana S.r.l. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A Review of Brain-Computer Interface Games and an Opinion Survey from Researchers, Developers and Users

PubMed Central

Ahn, Minkyu; Lee, Mijin; Choi, Jinyoung; Jun, Sung Chan

2014-01-01

In recent years, research on Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) technology for healthy users has attracted considerable interest, and BCI games are especially popular. This study reviews the current status of, and describes future directions, in the field of BCI games. To this end, we conducted a literature search and found that BCI control paradigms using electroencephalographic signals (motor imagery, P300, steady state visual evoked potential and passive approach reading mental state) have been the primary focus of research. We also conducted a survey of nearly three hundred participants that included researchers, game developers and users around the world. From this survey, we found that all three groups (researchers, developers and users) agreed on the significant influence and applicability of BCI and BCI games, and they all selected prostheses, rehabilitation and games as the most promising BCI applications. User and developer groups tended to give low priority to passive BCI and the whole head sensor array. Developers gave higher priorities to “the easiness of playing” and the “development platform” as important elements for BCI games and the market. Based on our assessment, we discuss the critical point at which BCI games will be able to progress from their current stage to widespread marketing to consumers. In conclusion, we propose three critical elements important for expansion of the BCI game market: standards, gameplay and appropriate integration. PMID:25116904

A review of brain-computer interface games and an opinion survey from researchers, developers and users.

PubMed

Ahn, Minkyu; Lee, Mijin; Choi, Jinyoung; Jun, Sung Chan

2014-08-11

In recent years, research on Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) technology for healthy users has attracted considerable interest, and BCI games are especially popular. This study reviews the current status of, and describes future directions, in the field of BCI games. To this end, we conducted a literature search and found that BCI control paradigms using electroencephalographic signals (motor imagery, P300, steady state visual evoked potential and passive approach reading mental state) have been the primary focus of research. We also conducted a survey of nearly three hundred participants that included researchers, game developers and users around the world. From this survey, we found that all three groups (researchers, developers and users) agreed on the significant influence and applicability of BCI and BCI games, and they all selected prostheses, rehabilitation and games as the most promising BCI applications. User and developer groups tended to give low priority to passive BCI and the whole head sensor array. Developers gave higher priorities to "the easiness of playing" and the "development platform" as important elements for BCI games and the market. Based on our assessment, we discuss the critical point at which BCI games will be able to progress from their current stage to widespread marketing to consumers. In conclusion, we propose three critical elements important for expansion of the BCI game market: standards, gameplay and appropriate integration.

Residential solar energy users: a review of empirical research and related literature

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

Unseld, C.T.; Crews, R.

1979-12-01

This report reviews 15 empirical studies of residential solar energy users and related literature on residential solar energy use. The purpose of the review is to summarize and analyze the experiences of residential solar users for helping formulate policies concerning the accelerated commercialization of solar technologies. Four of the studies employed case histories or focus group techniques. The 11 questionnaire studies represented interviews with over 1,600 owners of solar systems. The demographic characteristics of samples are listed and compared; research findings and conclusions are presented. Findings on user satisfaction and system performance, possible reasons for evidence of lacking correlation betweenmore » them, and implications for consumer protection and future research are discussed. General findings are: (1) systematic research on the experiences of solar users is lacking - much research remains to be done; (2) the reported overall experiences of users has been very positive; (3) user reports indicate that system performance is generally good but there is some evidence that user reports are not accurate measures of actual performance; (4) a need exists for adequate consumer protection; (5) design or installation problems are evidenced in significant numbers of early solar installations; and (6) these problems evidently are resolvable. An annotated bibliography describes 10 other studies in progress.« less

Mental health recovery on care farms and day centres: a qualitative comparative study of users' perspectives.

PubMed

Iancu, Sorana C; Zweekhorst, Marjolein B M; Veltman, Dick J; van Balkom, Anton J L M; Bunders, Joske F G

2014-01-01

Mental health services increasingly incorporate the vision of recovery. This qualitative study analysed and compared experiences of recovery on prevocational services, in order to assess if users make progress towards recovery, relative to a staged recovery model. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with participants on care farms (n = 14), work (n = 7) and creative projects (n = 5). The transition from past to current lives was described as a progressive, non-linear process, with different stages guided by different goals. Participants on creative projects lacked clear goals, presented less interest in peers and high need for emotional support. Participants on work projects aimed for occupational rehabilitation, but struggled with the patient culture of the peer community. Participants on care farms aimed for daytime occupations and closer contact with society. They experienced care farms as open, real-life work settings where they could exercise responsibility and connect with people. Participants progressed towards recovery, as care farms, work- and creative projects empowered them to leave behind inactive, isolated or disorganized living. In day centres, users focused on self-reflection and personal development (creative projects) or on occupational performance (work projects), whereas on care farms, users fulfilled worker roles in a real-life, open community environment. Organized as open communities in real-life settings, care farms facilitate the reflection on personal and social responsibility, and therefore have the potential to help users internalize worker identities and improve their motivation to progress towards recovery. Supervisors on care farms are regarded by users as close contacts within the social networks they develop on the service, a position that allows supervisors to actively engage and promote users' progress towards recovery. Elements of the farm environment (such as the "normal life", presence of family members and visitors, and nature) can serve as anchors for supporting the progress towards recovery.

Progress Report on the Airborne Metadata and Time Series Working Groups of the 2016 ESDSWG

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Evans, K. D.; Northup, E. A.; Chen, G.; Conover, H.; Ames, D. P.; Teng, W. L.; Olding, S. W.; Krotkov, N. A.

2016-12-01

NASA's Earth Science Data Systems Working Groups (ESDSWG) was created over 10 years ago. The role of the ESDSWG is to make recommendations relevant to NASA's Earth science data systems from users' experiences. Each group works independently focusing on a unique topic. Participation in ESDSWG groups comes from a variety of NASA-funded science and technology projects, including MEaSUREs and ROSS. Participants include NASA information technology experts, affiliated contractor staff and other interested community members from academia and industry. Recommendations from the ESDSWG groups will enhance NASA's efforts to develop long term data products. The Airborne Metadata Working Group is evaluating the suitability of the current Common Metadata Repository (CMR) and Unified Metadata Model (UMM) for airborne data sets and to develop new recommendations as necessary. The overarching goal is to enhance the usability, interoperability, discovery and distribution of airborne observational data sets. This will be done by assessing the suitability (gaps) of the current UMM model for airborne data using lessons learned from current and past field campaigns, listening to user needs and community recommendations and assessing the suitability of ISO metadata and other standards to fill the gaps. The Time Series Working Group (TSWG) is a continuation of the 2015 Time Series/WaterML2 Working Group. The TSWG is using a case study-driven approach to test the new Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) TimeseriesML standard to determine any deficiencies with respect to its ability to fully describe and encode NASA earth observation-derived time series data. To do this, the time series working group is engaging with the OGC TimeseriesML Standards Working Group (SWG) regarding unsatisfied needs and possible solutions. The effort will end with the drafting of an OGC Engineering Report based on the use cases and interactions with the OGC TimeseriesML SWG. Progress towards finalizing recommendations will be presented at the meeting.

Implementation of internet training on posture reform of computer users in iran.

PubMed

Keykhaie, Zohreh; Zareban, Iraj; Shahrakipoor, Mahnaz; Hormozi, Maryam; Sharifi-Rad, Javad; Masoudi, Gholamreza; Rahimi, Fatemeh

2014-12-01

Musculoskeletal disorders are of common problems among computer (PC) users. Training of posture reform plays a significant role in the prevention of the emergence, progression and complications of these diseases. The present research was performed to study the effect of the Internet training on the posture reform of the Internet users working in two Iranian universities including Sistan and Baluchestan University and Islamic Azad University of Zahedan in 2014. This study was a quasi-experimental intervention with control group and conducted in two Iranian universities including Sistan and Baluchestan University and Islamic Azad University of Zahedan. The study was done on 160 PC users in the two groups of intervention (80 people) and control (80 people). Training PowerPoint was sent to the intervention group through the Internet and a post test was given to them after 45 days. Statistical software of SPSS 19 and statistical tests of Kolmogrov, t-test, Fisher Exact test, and correlation coefficient were used for data analysis. After the training, the mean scores of knowledge, attitude, performance and self-efficacy in the intervention group were 24.21 ± 1.34, 38.36 ± 2.89, 7.59 ± 1.16, and 45.06 ± 4.11, respectively (P <0.001). The mean scores of knowledge in the intervention group 5.45±2.81 and in the control group 1.20 ± 1.07 showed a significant change. Mean scores of attitude in the intervention group 3.60 ± 3.59 and in the control group 0.48± 1.03 showed a significant change as well. Mean scores of self-efficacy in the intervention group 14.83 ± 4.67 and in the control group 0.88 ± 1.93 indicated a significant change and mean scores of performance in the intervention group 5.28 ± 1.24 and in the control group 0.62 ± 0.73 indicated a significant change (P <0.001). The results of the study showed that training through the Internet had a significant impact on the posture reform of the PC users. According to the findings observed, there was a significant relationship between the scores of self-efficacy-performance after training. Therefore, based on the findings of the study, it is suggested that Internet training to increase self-efficacy approach in the successive periods can be effective to reform the postures of PC users.

Project MAC Progress Report 11

DTIC Science & Technology

1974-12-01

whether a subroutine would be useful as a part of some larger program , and, if so, how to use it [8]. The programming methodology employed by CALICO...7. Seriff, Marc, How to Write Programs for the CALICO Environment. SYS. 14.04 (unpublished). 8. Reeve, Chris, Marty Draper, D. E. Burmaster, and J...Introduction Automatic Programming Group A. Introduction B. Understanding How a User Might Interact with a Knowledge-Based Application System C

Drought Predictability and Prediction in a Changing Climate: Assessing Current Predictive Knowledge and Capabilities, User Requirements and Research Priorities

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Schubert, Siegfried

2011-01-01

Drought is fundamentally the result of an extended period of reduced precipitation lasting anywhere from a few weeks to decades and even longer. As such, addressing drought predictability and prediction in a changing climate requires foremost that we make progress on the ability to predict precipitation anomalies on subseasonal and longer time scales. From the perspective of the users of drought forecasts and information, drought is however most directly viewed through its impacts (e.g., on soil moisture, streamflow, crop yields). As such, the question of the predictability of drought must extend to those quantities as well. In order to make progress on these issues, the WCRP drought information group (DIG), with the support of WCRP, the Catalan Institute of Climate Sciences, the La Caixa Foundation, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and the National Science Foundation, has organized a workshop to focus on: 1. User requirements for drought prediction information on sub-seasonal to centennial time scales 2. Current understanding of the mechanisms and predictability of drought on sub-seasonal to centennial time scales 3. Current drought prediction/projection capabilities on sub-seasonal to centennial time scales 4. Advancing regional drought prediction capabilities for variables and scales most relevant to user needs on sub-seasonal to centennial time scales. This introductory talk provides an overview of these goals, and outlines the occurrence and mechanisms of drought world-wide.

User Interfaces for Patient-Centered Communication of Health Status and Care Progress

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wilcox-Patterson, Lauren

2013-01-01

The recent trend toward patients participating in their own healthcare has opened up numerous opportunities for computing research. This dissertation focuses on how technology can foster this participation, through user interfaces to effectively communicate personal health status and care progress to hospital patients. I first characterize the…

Rollator use and functional outcome of geriatric rehabilitation.

PubMed

Vogt, Lutz; Lucki, Katrin; Bach, Matthias; Banzer, Winfried

2010-01-01

In a quasi-experimental pre- and postdesign, we examined the effect of rollator use on functional rehabilitation outcome in geriatric patients.From a sample of 458 geriatric inpatients, we matched 30 subjects who were not using assistive devices in their everyday lives but received a wheeled walker at the time of hospital admission (first-time user group) according to their admission scores on three motor performance tests (Timed Up-and-Go, Five-Times-Sit-to-Stand, and Performance-Oriented Mobility Assessment -Balance) with 30 patients who were actively using rollators as their primary walking aid for at least 3 months (long-term user group) and 30 control subjects without walking-aid assistance. Measurements were repeated after the inpatient rehabilitation regimen.The Kruskal-Wallis test did not reveal significant group differences in rehabilitation progress. Controls and device users, regardless of walking-aid experience, demonstrated nearly comparable mobility, strength, and balance improvements. More than half of each cohort (controls, n = 22; first-time, n = 17; long-term, n = 18) achieved functional gains in all three motor tests.The study showed that rollator assistance does not interfere with rehabilitation outcome and, to some extent, legitimates the prescription of assistive devices to improve confidence and restore or maintain motor ability at the highest possible level.

Perceptions of a computer-based instruction system in special education: high school teachers and students views.

PubMed

Chiang, Hsin-Yu Ariel; Jacobs, Karen

2010-01-01

Researchers investigated how one type of computer-based instruction (CBI)--Kurzweil 3000 (K-3000), was perceived to affect the reading, functional task performance, and academic self-perception of high school students with special needs. 16 students with special needs used K-3000 (assistive software that provides students with reading support) for six months to read assignments for their English language arts class and six teachers who had previous experience with integrating K-3000 into their classes were recruited. Data from focus group interviews of students and teachers were used. The advantages and disadvantages of K-3000, the factors that affected teachers' use of CBI and users' progress were explored. After the regular use of K-3000, students and teachers reported improvement in the amount and speed of reading and increased academic self-perception, specifically related to reading comprehension and pronunciation. Teachers reported that lack of accessibility to technology, time constraints, and difficulties with class management were the major reasons that hindered CBI use in their classrooms. Student participants noted that CBI was helpful when they were engaged in functional activities related to reading and writing. The progress of students in self-perception, and the advantages and drawbacks of the K-3000, along with the mechanism of users' progression were described and discussed.

Effect of statins on disease-related outcomes in patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.

PubMed

Kreuter, Michael; Bonella, Francesco; Maher, Toby M; Costabel, Ulrich; Spagnolo, Paolo; Weycker, Derek; Kirchgaessler, Klaus-Uwe; Kolb, Martin

2017-02-01

Data are conflicting regarding the possible effects of statins in patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). This post hoc analysis assessed the effects of statin therapy on disease-related outcomes in IPF. Patients randomised to placebo (n=624) in three controlled trials of pirfenidone in IPF (CAPACITY 004 and 006, ASCEND) were categorised by baseline statin use. Outcomes assessed during the 1-year follow-up included disease progression, mortality, hospitalisation and composite outcomes of death or ≥10% absolute decline in FVC and death or ≥50 m decline in 6-minute walk distance (6MWD). At baseline, 276 (44%) patients were statin users versus 348 (56%) non-users. Baseline characteristics were similar between groups, except statin users were older and had higher prevalence of cardiovascular disease and risk factors. In multivariate analyses adjusting for differences in baseline characteristics, statin users had lower risks of death or 6MWD decline (HR 0.69; 95% CI 0.48 to 0.99, p=0.0465), all-cause hospitalisation (HR 0.58; 95% CI 0.35 to 0.94, p=0.0289), respiratory-related hospitalisation (HR 0.44; 95% CI 0.25 to 0.80, p=0.0063) and IPF-related mortality (HR 0.36; 95% CI 0.14 to 0.95, p=0.0393) versus non-users. Non-significant treatment effects favouring statin use were observed for disease progression (HR 0.75; 95% CI 0.52 to 1.07, p=0.1135), all-cause mortality (HR 0.54; 95% CI 0.24 to 1.21, p=0.1369) and death or FVC decline (HR 0.71; 95% CI 0.48 to 1.07, p=0.1032). This post hoc analysis supports the hypothesis that statins may have a beneficial effect on clinical outcomes in IPF. Prospective clinical trials are required to validate these observations. NCT01366209, NCT00287729 and NCT00287716. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/.

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

PubMed

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

2015-07-10

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

Reply to Wiebe et al

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Boruch, Robert F.; Rovine, Michael J.; Perna, Laura W.; Ruby, Alan

2015-01-01

The intent of our 2014 article titled "Moving Through MOOCs: Understanding the Progression of Users in MOOCs" was to present evidence and to stimulate evidence-based discussion about the progression of users through MOOCs. It is then a pleasure to respond to those who reacted to the article. Most attention in our response is given to the…

User-defined Material Model for Thermo-mechanical Progressive Failure Analysis

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Knight, Norman F., Jr.

2008-01-01

Previously a user-defined material model for orthotropic bimodulus materials was developed for linear and nonlinear stress analysis of composite structures using either shell or solid finite elements within a nonlinear finite element analysis tool. Extensions of this user-defined material model to thermo-mechanical progressive failure analysis are described, and the required input data are documented. The extensions include providing for temperature-dependent material properties, archival of the elastic strains, and a thermal strain calculation for materials exhibiting a stress-free temperature.

Assistive Walking Device Use and Knee Osteoarthritis: the Health, Aging, and Body Composition Study (Health ABC Study)

PubMed Central

Carbone, Laura D.; Satterfield, Suzanne; Liu, Caiqin; Kwoh, Kent C.; Neogi, Tuhina; Tolley, Elizabeth; Nevitt, Michael

2012-01-01

Objectives To identify factors that predicted incident use of assistive walking devices (AWDs) and to explore whether AWD use was associated with changes in osteoarthritis of the knee. Design Prospective cohort study. Setting 2,639 elderly men and women in the Health ABC (Health, Aging and Body Composition). Study followed for incident use of AWDs, including a subset of 874 with prevalent knee pain. Participants NA Interventions NA Main Outcome Measures Incident use of AWDs, mean Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC) pain scores and frequency of joint space narrowing on knee radiographs over a three year time period. Results AWD use was initiated by 9% of the entire Health ABC cohort and 12% of the knee pain subset. Factors that predicted use in both groups were age ≥73 [entire cohort: OR 2.07 (95% CI 1.43, 3.01); knee pain subset: OR 1.87 (95% CI 1.16, 3.03)], black race [entire cohort: OR 2.95 (95% CI 2.09, 4.16); knee pain subset: OR 3.21 (95% CI 2.01, 5.11)] and lower balance ratios [entire cohort: OR 3.18 (95% CI 2.21, 4.59); knee pain subset: OR 3.77 (95% CI 2.34, 6.07)]. Mean WOMAC pain scores decreased slightly over time in both AWD and non-AWD users. 20% of non-AWD users and 28% of AWD users had radiographic progression in joint space narrowing of the tibiofemoral joint in at least one knee. 14% of non-AWD users and 12% of AWD users had radiographic progression in joint space narrowing in the patellofemoral joint in at least one knee. Conclusions Assistive walking devices are frequently used by elderly men and women. Knee pain and balance problems are significant reasons why elderly individuals initiate use of an assistive walking device. In an exploratory analysis, there was no consistent relationship between use or nonuse of an AWD and WOMAC pain scores or knee joint space narrowing progression. Further studies of the relationship of use of AWDs to changes in knee osteoarthritis are needed. PMID:23041146

Exploratory analysis of osteoarthritis progression among medication users: data from the Osteoarthritis Initiative.

PubMed

Driban, Jeffrey B; Lo, Grace H; Eaton, Charles B; Lapane, Kate L; Nevitt, Michael; Harvey, William F; McCulloch, Charles E; McAlindon, Timothy E

2016-12-01

We conducted an exploratory analysis of osteoarthritis progression among medication users in the Osteoarthritis Initiative to identify interventions or pathways that may be associated with disease modification and therefore of interest for future clinical trials. We used participants from the Osteoarthritis Initiative with annual medication inventory data between the baseline and 36-month follow-up visit ( n = 2938). Consistent medication users were defined for each medication classification as a participant reporting at all four annual visits that they were regularly using an oral prescription medication at the time of the visit. The exploratory analysis focused on medication classes with 40 or more users. The primary outcome measures were medial tibiofemoral joint space width change and the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Arthritis Index (WOMAC) knee pain score change (12-36-month visits). Within each knee, we explored eight comparisons between users and matched or unmatched nonusers (defined two ways). An effect size of each comparison was calculated. Medication classes had potential signals if (a) both knees had less progression among users compared with nonusers, or (b) there was less progression based on structure and symptoms in one knee. We screened 28 medication classes. Six medication classes had signals for fewer structural changes and better knee pain changes: alpha-adrenergic blockers, antilipemic (excluding statins and fibric acid), anticoagulants, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, antihistamines, and antineoplastic agents. Four medication classes had signals for structural changes alone: anti-estrogen (median effect size = 0.28; range = -0.41-0.64), angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (median effect size = 0.13; range = -0.08-0.28), beta-adrenergic blockers (median effect size = 0.09; range = 0.01-0.30), and thyroid agents (median effect size = 0.04; range = -0.05-0.14). Thiazide diuretics had evidence for symptom modification (median effect size = -0.12; range = -0.24-0.04). Users of neurovascular, antilipemic, or hormonal interventions may have less disease progression compared with nonusers.

Designing the National Assessment of Educational Progress to Serve a Wider Community of Users: A Position Paper.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bock, R. Darrell

Efforts have been made to increase the dissemination and use of data generated by the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). Potential users include those concerned with curriculum and methods evaluation, public policymakers, and researchers. NAEP can provide data for curriculum evaluation, including item analysis data which assist in…

A comparison of traditional textbook and interactive computer learning of neuromuscular block.

PubMed

Ohrn, M A; van Oostrom, J H; van Meurs, W L

1997-03-01

We designed an educational software package, RELAX, for teaching first-year anesthesiology residents about the pharmacology and clinical management of neuromuscular blockade. The software uses an interactive, problem-based approach and moves the user through cases in an operating room environment. It can be run on personal computers with Microsoft Windows (Microsoft Corp., Redmond, WA) and combines video, graphics, and text with mouse-driven user input. We utilized test scores 1) to determine whether our software was beneficial to be the educational progress of anesthesiology residents and 2) to compare computer-based learning with textbook learning. Twenty-three residents were divided into two groups matched for age and sex, and a pretest was administered to all 23 residents. There was no significant difference (P > 0.05) in the pretest scores of the two groups. Three weeks later, both groups were subjected to an educational intervention; one with our computer software and the other with selected textbooks. Both groups took a posttest immediately after the intervention. The test scores of the computer group improved significantly more (P < 0.05) than those of the textbook group. Although prior to the study the two groups showed no statistical difference in their familiarity with computers, the computer group reported much higher satisfaction with their learning experience than did the textbook group (P < 0.0001).

Beryllium10: a free and simple tool for creating and managing group safety data sheets

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

Background Countless chemicals and mixtures are used in laboratories today, which all possess their own properties and dangers. Therefore, it is important to brief oneself about possible risks and hazards before doing any experiments. However, this task is laborious and time consuming. Summary Beryllium10 is a program, which supports users by carrying out a large part of the work such as collecting/importing data sets from different providers and compiling most of the information into a single group safety data sheet, which is suitable for having all necessary information at hand while an experiment is in progress. We present here the features of Beryllium10, their implementation, and their design and development criteria and ideas. Conclusion A program for creating and managing of group safety data sheets was developed and released as open source under GPL. The program provides a fast and clear user-interface, and well-conceived design for collecting and managing safety data. It is available for download from the web page http://beryllium.keksecks.de. PMID:24650446

Effectively identifying user profiles in network and host metrics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Murphy, John P.; Berk, Vincent H.; Gregorio-de Souza, Ian

2010-04-01

This work presents a collection of methods that is used to effectively identify users of computers systems based on their particular usage of the software and the network. Not only are we able to identify individual computer users by their behavioral patterns, we are also able to detect significant deviations in their typical computer usage over time, or compared to a group of their peers. For instance, most people have a small, and relatively unique selection of regularly visited websites, certain email services, daily work hours, and typical preferred applications for mandated tasks. We argue that these habitual patterns are sufficiently specific to identify fully anonymized network users. We demonstrate that with only a modest data collection capability, profiles of individual computer users can be constructed so as to uniquely identify a profiled user from among their peers. As time progresses and habits or circumstances change, the methods presented update each profile so that changes in user behavior can be reliably detected over both abrupt and gradual time frames, without losing the ability to identify the profiled user. The primary benefit of our methodology allows one to efficiently detect deviant behaviors, such as subverted user accounts, or organizational policy violations. Thanks to the relative robustness, these techniques can be used in scenarios with very diverse data collection capabilities, and data privacy requirements. In addition to behavioral change detection, the generated profiles can also be compared against pre-defined examples of known adversarial patterns.

Cannabis use is associated with reduced prevalence of progressive stages of alcoholic liver disease.

PubMed

Adejumo, Adeyinka C; Ajayi, Tokunbo O; Adegbala, Oluwole M; Adejumo, Kelechi L; Alliu, Samson; Akinjero, Akintunde M; Onyeakusi, Nnaemeka E; Ojelabi, Ogooluwa; Bukong, Terence N

2018-01-17

Abusive alcohol use has well-established health risks including causing liver disease (ALD) characterized by alcoholic steatosis (AS), steatohepatitis (AH), fibrosis, cirrhosis (AC) and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Strikingly, a significant number of individuals who abuse alcohol also use Cannabis, which has seen increased legalization globally. While cannabis has demonstrated anti-inflammatory properties, its combined use with alcohol and the development of liver disease remain unclear. The aim of this study was to determine the effects of cannabis use on the incidence of liver disease in individuals who abuse alcohol. We analysed the 2014 Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project-Nationwide Inpatient Sample (NIS) discharge records of patients 18 years and older, who had a past or current history of abusive alcohol use (n = 319 514). Using the International Classification of Disease, Ninth Edition codes, we studied the four distinct phases of progressive ALD with respect to three cannabis exposure groups: non-cannabis users (90.39%), non-dependent cannabis users (8.26%) and dependent cannabis users (1.36%). We accounted for the complex survey sampling methodology and estimated the adjusted odds ratio (AOR) for developing AS, AH, AC and HCC with respect to cannabis use (SAS 9.4). Our study revealed that among alcohol users, individuals who additionally use cannabis (dependent and non-dependent cannabis use) showed significantly lower odds of developing AS, AH, AC and HCC (AOR: 0.55 [0.48-0.64], 0.57 [0.53-0.61], 0.45 [0.43-0.48] and 0.62 [0.51-0.76]). Furthermore, dependent users had significantly lower odds than non-dependent users for developing liver disease. Our findings suggest that cannabis use is associated with a reduced incidence of liver disease in alcoholics. © 2018 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

The effect of acute tryptophan depletion on mood and impulsivity in polydrug ecstasy users.

PubMed

Young, Simon N; Regoli, Martine; Leyton, Marco; Pihl, Robert O; Benkelfat, Chawki

2014-02-01

Several studies suggest users of 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (ecstasy) have low levels of serotonin. Low serotonin may make them susceptible to lowered mood. This work aims to study the acute effects on mood and impulsivity of lowering serotonin levels with acute tryptophan depletion in polydrug ecstasy users and to determine whether effects were different in men and women. In a double-blind cross-over study, participants who had used ecstasy at least 25 times (n = 13) and nonuser controls (n = 17) received a tryptophan-deficient amino acid mixture and a control amino acid mixture containing tryptophan, at least 1 week apart. Mood was measured using the profile of mood states, and impulsivity was measured with the Go/No-Go task. The main result shows that a lowering of mood after acute tryptophan depletion occurred only in female polydrug ecstasy users (n = 7), relative to controls (n = 9). Results from the Go/No-Go task suggested that impulsivity was not increased by acute tryptophan depletion in polydrug ecstasy users. The group sizes were small, when males and females were considered separately. Women polydrug ecstasy users appear to be more susceptible than men to the effects of lowered serotonin levels. If use of ecstasy alone or in conjunction with other drugs causes progressive damage of serotonin neurons, women polydrug ecstasy users may become susceptible to clinical depression.

Cocaine abuse versus cocaine dependence: cocaine self-administration and pharmacodynamic response in the human laboratory.

PubMed

Walsh, Sharon L; Donny, Eric C; Nuzzo, Paul A; Umbricht, Annie; Bigelow, George E

2010-01-01

Cocaine has high abuse liability but only a subset of individuals who experiment with it develop dependence. The DSM-IV (APA. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders DSM-IV-R. American Psychiatric Association, Washington, DC, 2000) provides criteria for diagnosing cocaine abuse and cocaine dependence as distinct disorders- the latter characterized by additional symptoms related to loss of control over drug use. In this study, two groups of cocaine users (n=8/group), matched on demographic factors and length of cocaine use history and meeting criteria for either cocaine abuse (CocAb) or cocaine dependence (CocDep), were compared on (1) measures related to impulsivity and sensation seeking, (2) response to experimenter-administered cocaine (0, 12.5, 25 and 50mg/70 kg, i.v.), and (3) cocaine self-administration using a Relapse Choice and a Progressive Ratio Procedure (0, 12.5 and 25mg/70 kg, i.v.). Groups did not differ on impulsivity or sensation seeking scores. After experimenter-administered cocaine, the CocAb group reported feeling more suspicious and observers rated them significantly higher on unpleasant effects (e.g., irritability, difficulty concentrating). In contrast, the CocDep group reported significantly greater desire for cocaine, which was sustained over the course of the study, and gave higher street value estimates for cocaine (p<0.05). While cocaine self-administration was dose-related and generally comparable across the two procedures, the CocDep users chose to take significantly more cocaine than the CocAb users. These data suggest that, while regular long-term users of cocaine with cocaine abuse or dependence diagnoses cannot be distinguished by trait measures related to impulsivity, they do exhibit significant differences with regard to cocaine-directed behavior and response to cocaine administration. Copyright 2009 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

National Assessment of Educational Progress: 1983-84 Public-Use Data Tapes, Version 3.1. Users' Guide.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Barone, John L.; And Others

This document is the users' guide for Version 3.1 of the Public-Use data tapes compiled by the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), 1983-84. The Public-Use tapes are produced to allow outside researchers access to the NAEP data. The tapes accompanying this guide contain data assessing student achievement in reading and writing at…

The NCAR Research Data Archive's Hybrid Approach for Data Discovery and Access

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schuster, D.; Worley, S. J.

2013-12-01

The NCAR Research Data Archive (RDA http://rda.ucar.edu) maintains a variety of data discovery and access capabilities for it's 600+ dataset collections to support the varying needs of a diverse user community. In-house developed and standards-based community tools offer services to more than 10,000 users annually. By number of users the largest group is external and access the RDA through web based protocols; the internal NCAR HPC users are fewer in number, but typically access more data volume. This paper will detail the data discovery and access services maintained by the RDA to support both user groups, and show metrics that illustrate how the community is using the services. The distributed search capability enabled by standards-based community tools, such as Geoportal and an OAI-PMH access point that serves multiple metadata standards, provide pathways for external users to initially discover RDA holdings. From here, in-house developed web interfaces leverage primary discovery level metadata databases that support keyword and faceted searches. Internal NCAR HPC users, or those familiar with the RDA, may go directly to the dataset collection of interest and refine their search based on rich file collection metadata. Multiple levels of metadata have proven to be invaluable for discovery within terabyte-sized archives composed of many atmospheric or oceanic levels, hundreds of parameters, and often numerous grid and time resolutions. Once users find the data they want, their access needs may vary as well. A THREDDS data server running on targeted dataset collections enables remote file access through OPENDAP and other web based protocols primarily for external users. In-house developed tools give all users the capability to submit data subset extraction and format conversion requests through scalable, HPC based delayed mode batch processing. Users can monitor their RDA-based data processing progress and receive instructions on how to access the data when it is ready. External users are provided with RDA server generated scripts to download the resulting request output. Similarly they can download native dataset collection files or partial files using Wget or cURL based scripts supplied by the RDA server. Internal users can access the resulting request output or native dataset collection files directly from centralized file systems.

Looking back, looking forward: Recovery journeys in a high secure hospital.

PubMed

McKeown, Mick; Jones, Fiona; Foy, Paul; Wright, Karen; Paxton, Tracey; Blackmon, Mike

2016-06-01

A qualitative study of staff and service users' views of recovery was undertaken in a UK high secure hospital working to implement recovery practices. 30 staff and 25 service users participated in semi-structured interviews or focus groups. Thematic analysis identified four broad accounts of how recovery was made sense of in the high secure environment: the importance of meaningful occupation; valuing relationships; recovery journeys and dialogue with the past; and recovery as personal responsibility. These themes are discussed with an emphasis on service user strategies of cooperation or resistance, respectively advancing or impeding progress through the system. In this context the notion of cooperation is, for many, commensurate with compliance with a dominant medical model. The policy framing of recovery opens up contemplation of treatment alternatives, more participatory approaches to risk management, and emphasise the value of relational skills, but may not elude the overarching bio-psychiatric episteme. © 2016 Australian College of Mental Health Nurses Inc.

Shoulder magnetic resonance imaging abnormalities, wheelchair propulsion, and gender.

PubMed

Boninger, Michael L; Dicianno, Brad E; Cooper, Rory A; Towers, Jeffrey D; Koontz, Alicia M; Souza, Aaron L

2003-11-01

To investigate the relationship between pushrim forces and the progression of shoulder injuries in manual wheelchair users. Longitudinal case series. Biomechanics laboratory and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) facility at a Veterans Health Administration medical center and university hospital, respectively. Fourteen individuals with spinal cord injury (8 men, 6 women) who used manual wheelchairs. Subjects propelled their own wheelchairs on a dynamometer at 0.9 and 1.8m/s. Bilateral biomechanical data were obtained by using force and moment sensing pushrims at time 1. Bilateral shoulder MR images were also completed on 2 occasions, at time 1 and, approximately 2 years later, at time 2. The peak pushrim forces in a pushrim coordinate system were calculated, weight normalized and averaged over 5 strokes (presented as % body weight). MRI abnormalities were graded by using a summated scale. Differences between scores between times 1 and 2 were calculated. Subjects were divided into 2 groups based on change in MRI score. Seven subjects were in the group with worsening scores (MRI+; mean, 8.14 points; range, 5-16), and 7 were in the group with improving or unchanging scores (MRI-; mean, -1.00 point; range, -5 to 1). There was no significant difference between groups with respect to age, body mass index, or years from injury. There were significantly more women in the MRI+ group (6 women, 1 man) than in the MRI- group (7 men) (P=.001). The MRI+ group used significantly greater weight-normalized radial force, or force directed toward the axle at time 1, to propel their wheelchairs at each speed (P<.01): MRI+ at 0.9m/s (mean radial force +/- standard deviation, 5.2%+/-1.0%) and MRI- at 0.9m/s (mean radial force, 3.2%+/-1.7%) (P=.028); and MRI+ at 1.8m/s (mean radial force, 6.6%+/-1.2%) (P=.023) and MRI- at 1.8m/s (mean radial force, 4.1%+/-2.2%). In a separate analysis, women were found to propel with a significantly higher radial force. A logistic regression found a significant relationship between radial force at time 1 and increased risk of progression of MRI findings over time. Individuals who propel with a greater percentage of force directed toward the axle were at increased risk of progression of MRI findings over time. Most people in this group were women. Clinicians should instruct wheelchair users in effective propulsion techniques and should pay particular attention to women who use wheelchairs. Reducing forces during wheelchair propulsion may minimize the likelihood of developing shoulder injuries.

HKHC Community Dashboard: design, development, and function of a Web-based performance monitoring system.

PubMed

Bors, Philip A; Kemner, Allison; Fulton, John; Stachecki, Jessica; Brennan, Laura K

2015-01-01

As part of Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's Healthy Kids, Healthy Communities (HKHC) national grant program, a technical assistance team designed the HKHC Community Dashboard, an online progress documentation and networking system. The Dashboard was central to HKHC's multimethod program evaluation and became a communication interface for grantees and technical assistance providers. The Dashboard was designed through an iterative process of identifying needs and priorities; designing the user experience, technical development, and usability testing; and applying visual design. The system was created with an open-source content management system and support for building an online community of users. The site developer trained technical assistance providers at the national program office and evaluators, who subsequently trained all 49 grantees. Evaluators provided support for Dashboard users and populated the site with the bulk of its uploaded tools and resource documents. The system tracked progress through an interactive work plan template, regular documentation by local staff and partners, and data coding and analysis by the evaluation team. Other features included the ability to broadcast information to Dashboard users via e-mail, event calendars, discussion forums, private messaging, a resource clearinghouse, a technical assistance diary, and real-time progress reports. The average number of Dashboard posts was 694 per grantee during the grant period. Technical assistance providers and grantees uploaded a total of 1304 resource documents. The Dashboard functions with the highest grantee satisfaction were its interfaces for sharing and progress documentation. A majority of Dashboard users (69%) indicated a preference for continued access to the Dashboard's uploaded resource documents. The Dashboard was a useful and innovative tool for participatory evaluation of a large national grant program. While progress documentation added some burden to local project staff, the system proved to be a useful resource-sharing technology.

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

DOEpatents

DeRobertis, Christopher V.; Lu, Yantian T.

2010-02-23

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

Development of regional climate scenarios in the Netherlands - involvement of users

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bessembinder, Janette; Overbeek, Bernadet

2013-04-01

Climate scenarios are consistent and plausible pictures of possible future climates. They are intended for use in studies exploring the impacts of climate change, and to formulate possible adaptation strategies. To ensure that the developed climate scenarios are relevant to the intended users, interaction with the users is needed. As part of the research programmes "Climate changes Spatial Planning" and "Knowledge for Climate" several projects on climate services, tailoring of climate information and communication were conducted. Some of the important lessons learned about user interaction are: *) To be able to deliver relevant climate information in the right format, proper knowledge is required on who will be using the climate information and data, how it will be used and why they use it; *) Users' requirements can be very diverse and requirements may change over time. Therefore, sustained (personal) contact with users is required; *) Organising meetings with climate researchers and users of climate information together, and working together in projects results in mutual understanding on the requirements of users and the limitations to deliver certain types of climate information, which facilitates the communication and results in more widely accepted products; *) Information and communication should be adapted to the type of users (e.g. impact researchers or policy makers) and to the type of problem (unstructured problems require much more contact with the users). In 2001 KNMI developed climate scenarios for the National Commission on Water management in the 21st century (WB21 scenarios). In 2006 these were replaced by a the KNMI'06 scenarios, intended for a broader group of users. The above lessons are now taken into account during the development of the next generation of climate scenarios for the Netherlands, expected at the end of 2013, after the publication of the IPCC WG1 report: *) users' requirements are taken into account explicitly in the whole process of the development of the climate scenarios; *) users are involved already in the early phases of the development of new scenarios, among others in the following way: **) workshops on users' requirements to check whether they have changed and to get more information; **) feedback group of users to get more detailed feedback on the modes of communication; **) newsletter with information on the progress and procedures to be followed and separate workshops for researchers and policy makers with different levels of detail; **) projects together with impact researchers: tailoring of data and in order to be able to present impact information consistent with the climate scenarios much earlier. During the presentation more detailed information will be given on the interaction with users.

The AAS Working Group on Accessibility and Disability (WGAD) Year 1 Highlights and Database Access

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Knierman, Karen A.; Diaz Merced, Wanda; Aarnio, Alicia; Garcia, Beatriz; Monkiewicz, Jacqueline A.; Murphy, Nicholas Arnold

2017-06-01

The AAS Working Group on Accessibility and Disability (WGAD) was formed in January of 2016 with the express purpose of seeking equity of opportunity and building inclusive practices for disabled astronomers at all educational and career stages. In this presentation, we will provide a summary of current activities, focusing on developing best practices for accessibility with respect to astronomical databases, publications, and meetings. Due to the reliance of space sciences on databases, it is important to have user centered design systems for data retrieval. The cognitive overload that may be experienced by users of current databases may be mitigated by use of multi-modal interfaces such as xSonify. Such interfaces would be in parallel or outside the original database and would not require additional software efforts from the original database. WGAD is partnering with the IAU Commission C1 WG Astronomy for Equity and Inclusion to develop such accessibility tools for databases and methods for user testing. To collect data on astronomical conference and meeting accessibility considerations, WGAD solicited feedback from January AAS attendees via a web form. These data, together with upcoming input from the community and analysis of accessibility documents of similar conferences, will be used to create a meeting accessibility document. Additionally, we will update the progress of journal access guidelines and our social media presence via Twitter. We recommend that astronomical journals form committees to evaluate the accessibility of their publications by performing user-centered usability studies.

Association of statin use and hypertriglyceridemia with diabetic macular edema in patients with type 2 diabetes and diabetic retinopathy.

PubMed

Chung, Yoo-Ri; Park, Sung Wook; Choi, Shin-Young; Kim, Seung Woo; Moon, Ka Young; Kim, Jeong Hun; Lee, Kihwang

2017-01-07

To investigate the effects of dyslipidemia and statin therapy on progression of diabetic retinopathy and diabetic macular edema in patients with type 2 diabetes. The medical records of 110 patients with type 2 diabetes (70 statin users and 40 non-users) were retrospectively reviewed. The two outcome measures were progression of diabetic retinopathy by two or more steps on the early treatment diabetic retinopathy study scale and diabetic macular edema based on optical coherence tomography. Serum lipid profiles were analyzed from 6 months prior to diagnosis of diabetic macular edema. Diabetic retinopathy progressed in 23% of statin users and 18% of non-users (p = 0.506), but diabetic macular edema was present in 23% of statin users and 48% of non-users (p = 0.008). Statins reduced low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels in patients with and without diabetic macular edema (p = 0.043 and p = 0.031, respectively). Among statin users, patients with diabetic macular edema had higher levels of triglycerides (p = 0.004) and lower levels of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (p = 0.033) than those without diabetic macular edema. Logistic regression analysis showed that statin use significantly lowered the risk of diabetic macular edema [odds ratio (OR): 0.33, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.12-0.91, p = 0.032]. Hypertriglyceridemia at 6 months prior to development of macular edema was significantly associated with central retinal thickness (OR: 1.52; 95% CI 1.14-2.02, p = 0.005). Lipid lowering therapy with statins protected against the development of diabetic macular edema and progression of diabetic retinopathy in patients with type 2 diabetes. Hypertriglyceridemia could be used as a surrogate marker for diabetic macular edema.

User interface development

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Aggrawal, Bharat

1994-01-01

This viewgraph presentation describes the development of user interfaces for OS/2 versions of computer codes for the analysis of seals. Current status, new features, work in progress, and future plans are discussed.

AF-Shell 1.0 User Guide

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

McElroy, Mark W.

2017-01-01

This document serves as a user guide for the AF-Shell 1.0 software, an efficient tool for progressive damage simulation in composite laminates. This guide contains minimal technical material and is meant solely as a guide for a new user to apply AF-Shell 1.0 to laminate damage simulation problems.

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

PubMed

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

2010-12-01

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

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

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

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

2010-12-01

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

Team Oriented Robotic Exploration Task on Scorpion and K9 Platforms

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kirchner, Frank

2003-01-01

This final report describes the achievements that have been made in the project over the complete period of performance. The technical progress highlights the different areas of work in terms of Progress in Mechatronics, Sensor integration, Software Development. User Interfaces, Behavior Development and Experimental Results and System Testing. The different areas are: Mechatronics, Sensor integration, Software development, Experimental results and Basic System Testing, Behaviors Development and Advanced System Testing, User Interface and Wireless Communication.

Abstract of talk for Silicon Valley Linux Users Group

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Clanton, Sam

2003-01-01

The use of Linux for research at NASA Ames is discussed.Topics include:work with the Atmospheric Physics branch on software for a spectrometer to be used in the CRYSTAL-FACE mission this summer; work on in the Neuroengineering Lab with code IC including an introduction to the extension of the human senses project,advantages with using linux for real-time biological data processing,algorithms utilized on a linux system, goals of the project,slides of people with Neuroscan caps on, and progress that has been made and how linux has helped.

Association Between Receptivity to Tobacco Advertising and Progression to Tobacco Use in Youth and Young Adults in the PATH Study.

PubMed

Pierce, John P; Sargent, James D; Portnoy, David B; White, Martha; Noble, Madison; Kealey, Sheila; Borek, Nicolette; Carusi, Charles; Choi, Kelvin; Green, Victoria R; Kaufman, Annette R; Leas, Eric; Lewis, M Jane; Margolis, Katherine A; Messer, Karen; Shi, Yuyan; Silveira, Marushka L; Snyder, Kimberly; Stanton, Cassandra A; Tanski, Susanne E; Bansal-Travers, Maansi; Trinidad, Dennis; Hyland, Andrew

2018-03-26

Cigarette marketing contributes to initiation of cigarette smoking among young people, which has led to restrictions on use of cigarette advertising. However, little is known about other tobacco advertising and progression to tobacco use in youth and young adults. To investigate whether receptivity to tobacco advertising among youth and young adults is associated with progression (being a susceptible never user or ever user) to use of the product advertised, as well as conventional cigarette smoking. The Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health (PATH) Study at wave 1 (2013-2014) and 1-year follow-up at wave 2 (2014-2015) was conducted in a US population-based sample of never tobacco users aged 12 to 24 years from wave 1 of the PATH Study (N = 10 989). Household interviews using audio computer-assisted self-interviews were conducted. Advertising for conventional cigarettes, electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes), cigars, and smokeless tobacco products at wave 1. Progression to susceptibility or ever tobacco use at 1-year follow-up in wave 2. Of the 10 989 participants (5410 male [weighted percentage, 48.3%]; 5579 female [weighted percentage, 51.7%]), receptivity to any tobacco advertising at wave 1 was high for those aged 12 to 14 years (44.0%; 95% confidence limit [CL], 42.6%-45.4%) but highest for those aged 18 to 21 years (68.7%; 95% CL, 64.9%-72.2%). e-Cigarette advertising had the highest receptivity among all age groups. For those aged 12 to 17 years, susceptibility to use a product at wave 1 was significantly associated with product use at wave 2 for conventional cigarettes, e-cigarettes, cigars, and smokeless tobacco products. Among committed never users aged 12 to 17 years at wave 1, any receptivity was associated with progression toward use of the product at wave 2 (conventional cigarettes: adjusted odds ratio [AOR], 1.43; 95% CL, 1.23-1.65; e-cigarettes: AOR, 1.62; 95% CL, 1.41-1.85; cigars: AOR, 2.01; 95% CL, 1.62-2.49; and smokeless (males only): AOR, 1.42; 95% CL, 1.07-1.89) and with use of the product (conventional cigarettes: AOR, 1.54; 95% CL, 1.03-2.32; e-cigarettes: AOR, 1.45; 95% CL, 1.19-1.75; cigars: AOR, 2.07; 95% CL, 1.26-3.40). Compared with those not receptive to any product advertising, receptivity to e-cigarette advertising, but not to cigarette advertising, was independently associated with those aged 12 to 21 years having used a cigarette at wave 2 (AOR, 1.60; 95% CL, 1.08-2.38). Receptivity to tobacco advertising was significantly associated with progression toward use in adolescents. Receptivity was highest for e-cigarette advertising and was associated with trying a cigarette.

User-Defined Material Model for Progressive Failure Analysis

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Knight, Norman F. Jr.; Reeder, James R. (Technical Monitor)

2006-01-01

An overview of different types of composite material system architectures and a brief review of progressive failure material modeling methods used for structural analysis including failure initiation and material degradation are presented. Different failure initiation criteria and material degradation models are described that define progressive failure formulations. These progressive failure formulations are implemented in a user-defined material model (or UMAT) for use with the ABAQUS/Standard1 nonlinear finite element analysis tool. The failure initiation criteria include the maximum stress criteria, maximum strain criteria, the Tsai-Wu failure polynomial, and the Hashin criteria. The material degradation model is based on the ply-discounting approach where the local material constitutive coefficients are degraded. Applications and extensions of the progressive failure analysis material model address two-dimensional plate and shell finite elements and three-dimensional solid finite elements. Implementation details and use of the UMAT subroutine are described in the present paper. Parametric studies for composite structures are discussed to illustrate the features of the progressive failure modeling methods that have been implemented.

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

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

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

2013-04-01

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

Individual and Group-Based Engagement in an Online Physical Activity Monitoring Program in Georgia.

PubMed

Smith, Matthew Lee; Durrett, Nicholas K; Bowie, Maria; Berg, Alison; McCullick, Bryan A; LoPilato, Alexander C; Murray, Deborah

2018-06-07

Given the rising prevalence of obesity in the United States, innovative methods are needed to increase physical activity (PA) in community settings. Evidence suggests that individuals are more likely to engage in PA if they are given a choice of activities and have support from others (for encouragement, motivation, and accountability). The objective of this study was to describe the use of the online Walk Georgia PA tracking platform according to whether the user was an individual user or group user. Walk Georgia is a free, interactive online tracking platform that enables users to log PA by duration, activity, and perceived difficulty, and then converts these data into points based on metabolic equivalents. Users join individually or in groups and are encouraged to set weekly PA goals. Data were examined for 6,639 users (65.8% were group users) over 28 months. We used independent sample t tests and Mann-Whitney U tests to compare means between individual and group users. Two linear regression models were fitted to identify factors associated with activity logging. Users logged 218,766 activities (15,119,249 minutes of PA spanning 592,714 miles [41,858,446 points]). On average, group users had created accounts more recently than individual users (P < .001); however, group users logged more activities (P < .001). On average, group users logged more minutes of PA (P < .001) and earned more points (P < .001). Being in a group was associated with a larger proportion of weeks in which 150 minutes or more of weekly PA was logged (B = 20.47, P < .001). Use of Walk Georgia was significantly higher among group users than among individual users. To expand use and dissemination of online tracking of PA, programs should target naturally occurring groups (eg, workplaces, schools, faith-based groups).

Association between metformin use and progression of monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance to multiple myeloma in US veterans with diabetes mellitus: a population-based retrospective cohort study.

PubMed

Chang, Su-Hsin; Luo, Suhong; O'Brian, Katiuscia K; Thomas, Theodore S; Colditz, Graham A; Carlsson, Nils P; Carson, Kenneth R

2015-01-01

Multiple myeloma is one of the most common haematological malignancies in the USA and is consistently preceded by monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS). We aimed to assess the association between metformin use and progression of MGUS to multiple myeloma. We did a retrospective cohort study of patients registered in the US Veterans Health Administration database and diagnosed with MGUS between Oct 1, 1999, and Dec 31, 2009. We included patients (aged >18 years) with at least one International Classification of Diseases (9th revision) code for diabetes mellitus and one treatment for their diabetes before MGUS diagnosis. We reviewed patient-level clinical data to verify diagnoses and extract any available data for size of baseline M-protein and type of MGUS. We defined metformin users as patients with diabetes who were given metformin consistently for 4 years after their diabetes diagnosis and before multiple myeloma development, death, or censorship. Our primary outcome was time from MGUS diagnosis to multiple myeloma diagnosis. We used Kaplan-Meier curves and Cox models to analyse the association between metformin use and MGUS progression. We obtained data for 3287 patients, of whom 2003 (61%) were included in the final analytical cohort. Median follow-up was 69 months (IQR 49–96). 463 (23%) participants were metformin users and 1540 (77%) participants were non-users. 13 (3%) metformin users progressed to multiple myeloma compared with 74 (5%) non-users. After adjustment, metformin use was associated with a reduced risk of progression to multiple myeloma (hazard ratio 0·47, 95% CI 0·25–0·87). For patients with diabetes diagnosed with MGUS, metformin use for 4 years or longer was associated with a reduced risk of progression of MGUS to multiple myeloma. Prospective studies are needed to establish whether this association is causal and whether these results can be extrapolated to non-diabetic individuals. Barnes-Jewish Hospital Foundation, National Institutes of Health, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, American Cancer Society.

Development of multiple user AMTRAN on the Datacraft DC6024

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Austin, S. L.

1973-01-01

A multiple user version of AMTRAn was implemented on the Datacraft DC6024 computer is reported. The major portion of the multiple user logic is incorporated in the main program which remains in core during all AMTRAN processes. A detailed flowchart of the main program is provided as documentation of the multiple user capability. Activities are directed toward perfecting its capability, providing new features in response to user needs and requests, providing a two-dimensional array AMTRAN containing multiple user logic, and providing documentation as the tasks progress.

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

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

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

2017-11-01

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

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

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gao, Jian; Zhou, Tao

2017-05-01

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

Auditory Brainstem Responses and EMFs Generated by Mobile Phones.

PubMed

Khullar, Shilpa; Sood, Archana; Sood, Sanjay

2013-12-01

There has been a manifold increase in the number of mobile phone users throughout the world with the current number of users exceeding 2 billion. However this advancement in technology like many others is accompanied by a progressive increase in the frequency and intensity of electromagnetic waves without consideration of the health consequences. The aim of our study was to advance our understanding of the potential adverse effects of GSM mobile phones on auditory brainstem responses (ABRs). 60 subjects were selected for the study and divided into three groups of 20 each based on their usage of mobile phones. Their ABRs were recorded and analysed for latency of waves I-V as well as interpeak latencies I-III, I-V and III-V (in ms). Results revealed no significant difference in the ABR parameters between group A (control group) and group B (subjects using mobile phones for maximum 30 min/day for 5 years). However the latency of waves was significantly prolonged in group C (subjects using mobile phones for 10 years for a maximum of 30 min/day) as compared to the control group. Based on our findings we concluded that long term exposure to mobile phones may affect conduction in the peripheral portion of the auditory pathway. However more research needs to be done to study the long term effects of mobile phones particularly of newer technologies like smart phones and 3G.

DIA2: Web-based Cyberinfrastructure for Visual Analysis of Funding Portfolios.

PubMed

Madhavan, Krishna; Elmqvist, Niklas; Vorvoreanu, Mihaela; Chen, Xin; Wong, Yuetling; Xian, Hanjun; Dong, Zhihua; Johri, Aditya

2014-12-01

We present a design study of the Deep Insights Anywhere, Anytime (DIA2) platform, a web-based visual analytics system that allows program managers and academic staff at the U.S. National Science Foundation to search, view, and analyze their research funding portfolio. The goal of this system is to facilitate users' understanding of both past and currently active research awards in order to make more informed decisions of their future funding. This user group is characterized by high domain expertise yet not necessarily high literacy in visualization and visual analytics-they are essentially casual experts-and thus require careful visual and information design, including adhering to user experience standards, providing a self-instructive interface, and progressively refining visualizations to minimize complexity. We discuss the challenges of designing a system for casual experts and highlight how we addressed this issue by modeling the organizational structure and workflows of the NSF within our system. We discuss each stage of the design process, starting with formative interviews, prototypes, and finally live deployments and evaluation with stakeholders.

Web-based magazine design for self publishers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hunter, Andrew; Slatter, David; Greig, Darryl

2011-03-01

Short run printing technology and web services such as MagCloud provide new opportunities for long-tail magazine publishing. They enable self publishers to supply magazines to a wide range of communities, including groups that are too small to be viable as target communities for conventional publishers. In a Web 2.0 world where users constantly discover new services and where they may be infrequent patrons of any single service, it is unreasonable to expect users to learn the complex service behaviors. Furthermore, we want to open up publishing opportunities to novices who are unlikely to have prior experience of publishing and who lack design expertise. Magazine design automation is an ambitious goal, but recent progress with another web service, Autophotobook, proves that some level of automation of publication design is feasible. This paper describes our current research effort to extend the automation capabilities of Autophotobook to address the issues of magazine design so that we can provide a service to support professional-quality self publishing by novice users for a wide range of community types and sizes.

Progress Report on the Airborne Composition Standard Variable Name and Time Series Working Groups of the 2017 ESDSWG

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Evans, K. D.; Early, A. B.; Northup, E. A.; Ames, D. P.; Teng, W. L.; Olding, S. W.; Krotkov, N. A.; Arctur, D. K.; Beach, A. L., III; Silverman, M. L.

2017-12-01

The role of NASA's Earth Science Data Systems Working Groups (ESDSWG) is to make recommendations relevant to NASA's Earth science data systems from users' experiences and community insight. Each group works independently, focusing on a unique topic. Progress of two of the 2017 Working Groups will be presented. In a single airborne field campaign, there can be several different instruments and techniques that measure the same parameter on one or more aircraft platforms. Many of these same parameters are measured during different airborne campaigns using similar or different instruments and techniques. The Airborne Composition Standard Variable Name Working Group is working to create a list of variable standard names that can be used across all airborne field campaigns in order to assist in the transition to the ICARTT Version 2.0 file format. The overall goal is to enhance the usability of ICARTT files and the search ability of airborne field campaign data. The Time Series Working Group (TSWG) is a continuation of the 2015 and 2016 Time Series Working Groups. In 2015, we started TSWG with the intention of exploring the new OGC (Open Geospatial Consortium) WaterML 2 standards as a means for encoding point-based time series data from NASA satellites. In this working group, we realized that WaterML 2 might not be the best solution for this type of data, for a number of reasons. Our discussion with experts from other agencies, who have worked on similar issues, identified several challenges that we would need to address. As a result, we made the recommendation to study the new TimeseriesML 1.0 standard of OGC as a potential NASA time series standard. The 2016 TSWG examined closely the TimeseriesML 1.0 and, in coordination with the OGC TimeseriesML Standards Working Group, identified certain gaps in TimeseriesML 1.0 that would need to be addressed for the standard to be applicable to NASA time series data. An engineering report was drafted based on the OGC Engineering Report template, describing recommended changes to TimeseriesML 1.0, in the form of use cases. In 2017, we are conducting interoperability experiments to implement the use cases and demonstrate the feasibility and suitability of these modifications for NASA and related user communities. The results will be incorporated into the existing draft engineering report.

Progress Report on the Airborne Composition Standard Variable Name and Time Series Working Groups of the 2017 ESDSWG

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Evans, Keith D.; Early, Amanda; Northup, Emily; Ames, Dan; Teng, William; Archur, David; Beach, Aubrey; Olding, Steve; Krotkov, Nickolay A.

2017-01-01

The role of NASA's Earth Science Data Systems Working Groups (ESDSWG) is to make recommendations relevant to NASA's Earth science data systems from users' experiences and community insight. Each group works independently, focusing on a unique topic. Progress of two of the 2017 Working Groups will be presented. In a single airborne field campaign, there can be several different instruments and techniques that measure the same parameter on one or more aircraft platforms. Many of these same parameters are measured during different airborne campaigns using similar or different instruments and techniques. The Airborne Composition Standard Variable Name Working Group is working to create a list of variable standard names that can be used across all airborne field campaigns in order to assist in the transition to the ICARTT Version 2.0 file format. The overall goal is to enhance the usability of ICARTT files and the search ability of airborne field campaign data. The Time Series Working Group (TSWG) is a continuation of the 2015 and 2016 Time Series Working Groups. In 2015, we started TSWG with the intention of exploring the new OGC (Open Geospatial Consortium) WaterML 2 standards as a means for encoding point-based time series data from NASA satellites. In this working group, we realized that WaterML 2 might not be the best solution for this type of data, for a number of reasons. Our discussion with experts from other agencies, who have worked on similar issues, identified several challenges that we would need to address. As a result, we made the recommendation to study the new TimeseriesML 1.0 standard of OGC as a potential NASA time series standard. The 2016 TSWG examined closely the TimeseriesML 1.0 and, in coordination with the OGC TimeseriesML Standards Working Group, identified certain gaps in TimeseriesML 1.0 that would need to be addressed for the standard to be applicable to NASA time series data. An engineering report was drafted based on the OGC Engineering Report template, describing recommended changes to TimeseriesML 1.0, in the form of use cases. In 2017, we are conducting interoperability experiments to implement the use cases and demonstrate the feasibility and suitability of these modifications for NASA and related user communities. The results will be incorporated into the existing draft engineering report.

Similarity and Difference in Drug Addiction Process Between Heroin- and Methamphetamine-Dependent Users.

PubMed

Wang, Ziyun; Li, Wei-Xiu; Zhi-Min, Liu

2017-03-21

This study aimed to compare the drug addiction process between Chinese heroin- and methamphetamine (MA)-dependent users via a modified 4-stage addiction model (experimentation, occasional use, regular use, and compulsive use). A descriptive study was conducted among 683 eligible participants. In the statistical analysis, we selected 340 heroin- and 295 MA-dependent users without illicit drug use prior to onset of heroin or MA use. The addiction process of heroin-dependent users was shorter than that of MA-dependent users, with shorter transitions from the onset of drug-use to the first drug craving (19.5 vs. 50.0 days), regular use (30.0 vs. 60.0 days), and compulsive use (50.0 vs. 85.0 days). However, no significant differences in the addiction process were observed in frequency of drug administration, except that heroin users reported more administrations of the drug (20.0 vs. 15.0) before progressing to the stage of compulsive drug use. A larger proportion of regular heroin users progressed to use illicit drugs recklessly than did MA users. Most heroin and MA users reported psychological dependence as their primary motivation for compulsive drug use, but more heroin users selected uncomfortable symptoms upon ceasing drug use as further reason to continue. Our results suggest that typical heroin and MA users may experience a similar four-stage addiction process, but MA users might undergo a longer addiction process (in days). More research is necessary to further explore factors influencing the drug addiction process.

User interfaces in space science instrumentation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McCalden, Alec John

This thesis examines user interaction with instrumentation in the specific context of space science. It gathers together existing practice in machine interfaces with a look at potential future usage and recommends a new approach to space science projects with the intention of maximising their science return. It first takes a historical perspective on user interfaces and ways of defining and measuring the science return of a space instrument. Choices of research methodology are considered. Implementation details such as the concepts of usability, mental models, affordance and presentation of information are described, and examples of existing interfaces in space science are given. A set of parameters for use in analysing and synthesizing a user interface is derived by using a set of case studies of diverse failures and from previous work. A general space science user analysis is made by looking at typical practice, and an interview plus persona technique is used to group users with interface designs. An examination is made of designs in the field of astronomical instrumentation interfaces, showing the evolution of current concepts and including ideas capable of sustaining progress in the future. The parameters developed earlier are then tested against several established interfaces in the space science context to give a degree of confidence in their use. The concept of a simulator that is used to guide the development of an instrument over the whole lifecycle is described, and the idea is proposed that better instrumentation would result from more efficient use of the resources available. The previous ideas in this thesis are then brought together to describe a proposed new approach to a typical development programme, with an emphasis on user interaction. The conclusion shows that there is significant room for improvement in the science return from space instrumentation by attention to the user interface.

Community detection in networks: A user guide

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fortunato, Santo; Hric, Darko

2016-11-01

Community detection in networks is one of the most popular topics of modern network science. Communities, or clusters, are usually groups of vertices having higher probability of being connected to each other than to members of other groups, though other patterns are possible. Identifying communities is an ill-defined problem. There are no universal protocols on the fundamental ingredients, like the definition of community itself, nor on other crucial issues, like the validation of algorithms and the comparison of their performances. This has generated a number of confusions and misconceptions, which undermine the progress in the field. We offer a guided tour through the main aspects of the problem. We also point out strengths and weaknesses of popular methods, and give directions to their use.

Detecting errors and anomalies in computerized materials control and accountability databases

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

Whiteson, R.; Hench, K.; Yarbro, T.

The Automated MC and A Database Assessment project is aimed at improving anomaly and error detection in materials control and accountability (MC and A) databases and increasing confidence in the data that they contain. Anomalous data resulting in poor categorization of nuclear material inventories greatly reduces the value of the database information to users. Therefore it is essential that MC and A data be assessed periodically for anomalies or errors. Anomaly detection can identify errors in databases and thus provide assurance of the integrity of data. An expert system has been developed at Los Alamos National Laboratory that examines thesemore » large databases for anomalous or erroneous data. For several years, MC and A subject matter experts at Los Alamos have been using this automated system to examine the large amounts of accountability data that the Los Alamos Plutonium Facility generates. These data are collected and managed by the Material Accountability and Safeguards System, a near-real-time computerized nuclear material accountability and safeguards system. This year they have expanded the user base, customizing the anomaly detector for the varying requirements of different groups of users. This paper describes the progress in customizing the expert systems to the needs of the users of the data and reports on their results.« less

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

Ketterer, S.P.

This manual is designed as a comprehensive hands-on instructional manual for learning the T{sub E}X* computer typesetting program in a classroom environment. Each section presents a new concept in careful detail, concluding with an exercise (T{sub E}Xercise) to reinforce the learning of the concept. The manual introduces the novice T{sub E}X user to the program's basic command structure, along with the concepts of grouping, producing accents, making font changes, and generating mathematical symbols. The T{sub E}Xercises guide the new user in generating text containing footnotes, multilevel lists, and hanging indentations, as well as in magnifying text for viewgraphs. Once themore » basic text generation is defined, the more advanced topics of formatting math equations and tables are explained. A full range of math capabilities is presented --- beginning with simple one-line equations, progressing through complex numbered and aligned equations, and concluding with matrices. The sections on table generation present the basic concepts in T{sub E}X's table-formatting program and then build on them. The new user first learns to construct simple tables, and with careful explanations and guidance, learns to add one new table enhancement at a time. By the conclusion of these sections, the user can construct tables with horizontal and vertical rules and with column entries that are paragraphs. 1 ref.« less

How Hierarchical Topics Evolve in Large Text Corpora.

PubMed

Cui, Weiwei; Liu, Shixia; Wu, Zhuofeng; Wei, Hao

2014-12-01

Using a sequence of topic trees to organize documents is a popular way to represent hierarchical and evolving topics in text corpora. However, following evolving topics in the context of topic trees remains difficult for users. To address this issue, we present an interactive visual text analysis approach to allow users to progressively explore and analyze the complex evolutionary patterns of hierarchical topics. The key idea behind our approach is to exploit a tree cut to approximate each tree and allow users to interactively modify the tree cuts based on their interests. In particular, we propose an incremental evolutionary tree cut algorithm with the goal of balancing 1) the fitness of each tree cut and the smoothness between adjacent tree cuts; 2) the historical and new information related to user interests. A time-based visualization is designed to illustrate the evolving topics over time. To preserve the mental map, we develop a stable layout algorithm. As a result, our approach can quickly guide users to progressively gain profound insights into evolving hierarchical topics. We evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed method on Amazon's Mechanical Turk and real-world news data. The results show that users are able to successfully analyze evolving topics in text data.

Service user engagement in healthcare education as a mechanism for value based recruitment: An evaluation study.

PubMed

Heaslip, Vanessa; Scammell, Janet; Mills, Anne; Spriggs, Ashley; Addis, Andrea; Bond, Mandy; Latchford, Carolyn; Warren, Angela; Borwell, Juliet; Tee, Stephen

2018-01-01

Within the United Kingdom (UK) there is an increasing focus on Values Based Recruitment (VBR) of staff working in the National Health Service (NHS) in response to public inquiries criticising the lack of person-centred care. All NHS employees are recruited on the basis of a prescribed set of values. This is extended to the recruitment of student healthcare professionals, yet there is little research of how to implement this. Involving Service Users in healthcare educational practice is gaining momentum internationally, yet involvement of service users in VBR of 'would be' healthcare professionals remains at an embryonic phase. Adult nurses represent the largest healthcare workforce in the UK, yet involvement of service users in their recruitment has received scant attention. This paper is an evaluation of the inclusion of service users in a VBR of 640 adult student nurses. This study used a participatory mixed methods approach, with service users as co-researchers in the study. The study consisted of mixed methods design. Quantitative data via an online questionnaire to ascertain candidates' perspectives (n=269 response rate of 42%), and academic/clinical nurses (n=35 response rate 34.65%). Qualitative data were gathered using focus groups and one to one interviews with service users (n=9). Data analysis included descriptive statistics and thematic analysis. 4 overarching themes were identified; increasing sense of humanness, substantiating care values; impact of involvement; working together and making it work, a work in progress. The findings from the study highlight that involving service users in VBR of student healthcare professionals has benefits to candidates, service users and local health services. Appreciating the perceptions of healthcare professionals is fundamental in the UK and internationally to implementing service users' engagement in service enhancement and delivery. Findings from this study identify there may be a dissonance between the policy, the nurses' thoughts and their practice. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

PACE Continuous Innovation Indicators-a novel tool to measure progress in cancer treatments.

PubMed

Paddock, Silvia; Brum, Lauren; Sorrow, Kathleen; Thomas, Samuel; Spence, Susan; Maulbecker-Armstrong, Catharina; Goodman, Clifford; Peake, Michael; McVie, Gordon; Geipel, Gary; Li, Rose

2015-01-01

Concerns about rising health care costs and the often incremental nature of improvements in health outcomes continue to fuel intense debates about 'progress' and 'value' in cancer research. In times of tightening fiscal constraints, it is increasingly important for patients and their representatives to define what constitutes 'value' to them. It is clear that diverse stakeholders have different priorities. Harmonisation of values may be neither possible nor desirable. Stakeholders lack tools to visualise or otherwise express these differences and to track progress in cancer treatments based on variable sets of values. The Patient Access to Cancer care Excellence (PACE) Continuous Innovation Indicators are novel, scientifically rigorous progress trackers that employ a three-step process to quantify progress in cancer treatments: 1) mine the literature to determine the strength of the evidence supporting each treatment; 2) allow users to weight the analysis according to their priorities and values; and 3) calculate Evidence Scores (E-Scores), a novel measure to track progress, based on the strength of the evidence weighted by the assigned value. We herein introduce a novel, flexible value model, show how the values from the model can be used to weight the evidence from the scientific literature to obtain E-Scores, and illustrate how assigning different values to new treatments influences the E-Scores. The Indicators allow users to learn how differing values lead to differing assessments of progress in cancer research and to check whether current incentives for innovation are aligned with their value model. By comparing E-Scores generated by this tool, users are able to visualise the relative pace of innovation across areas of cancer research and how stepwise innovation can contribute to substantial progress against cancer over time. Learning from experience and mapping current unmet needs will help to support a broad audience of stakeholders in their efforts to accelerate and maximise progress against cancer.

Doing Your Science While You're in Orbit

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Green, Mark L.; Miller, Stephen D.; Vazhkudai, Sudharshan S.; Trater, James R.

2010-11-01

Large-scale neutron facilities such as the Spallation Neutron Source (SNS) located at Oak Ridge National Laboratory need easy-to-use access to Department of Energy Leadership Computing Facilities and experiment repository data. The Orbiter thick- and thin-client and its supporting Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) based services (available at https://orbiter.sns.gov) consist of standards-based components that are reusable and extensible for accessing high performance computing, data and computational grid infrastructure, and cluster-based resources easily from a user configurable interface. The primary Orbiter system goals consist of (1) developing infrastructure for the creation and automation of virtual instrumentation experiment optimization, (2) developing user interfaces for thin- and thick-client access, (3) provide a prototype incorporating major instrument simulation packages, and (4) facilitate neutron science community access and collaboration. The secure Orbiter SOA authentication and authorization is achieved through the developed Virtual File System (VFS) services, which use Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) for data repository file access, thin-and thick-client functionality and application access, and computational job workflow management. The VFS Relational Database Management System (RDMS) consists of approximately 45 database tables describing 498 user accounts with 495 groups over 432,000 directories with 904,077 repository files. Over 59 million NeXus file metadata records are associated to the 12,800 unique NeXus file field/class names generated from the 52,824 repository NeXus files. Services that enable (a) summary dashboards of data repository status with Quality of Service (QoS) metrics, (b) data repository NeXus file field/class name full text search capabilities within a Google like interface, (c) fully functional RBAC browser for the read-only data repository and shared areas, (d) user/group defined and shared metadata for data repository files, (e) user, group, repository, and web 2.0 based global positioning with additional service capabilities are currently available. The SNS based Orbiter SOA integration progress with the Distributed Data Analysis for Neutron Scattering Experiments (DANSE) software development project is summarized with an emphasis on DANSE Central Services and the Virtual Neutron Facility (VNF). Additionally, the DANSE utilization of the Orbiter SOA authentication, authorization, and data transfer services best practice implementations are presented.

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

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

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

Big Data Discovery and Access Services through NOAA OneStop

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Casey, K. S.; Neufeld, D.; Ritchey, N. A.; Relph, J.; Fischman, D.; Baldwin, R.

2017-12-01

The NOAA OneStop Project was created as a pathfinder effort to to improve the discovery of, access to, and usability of NOAA's vast and diverse collection of big data. OneStop is led by the NOAA/NESDIS National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI), and is seen as a key NESDIS contribution to NOAA's open data and data stewardship efforts. OneStop consists of an entire framework of services, from storage and interoperable access services at the base, through metadata and catalog services in the middle, to a modern user interface experience at the top. Importantly, it is an open framework where external tools and services can connect at whichever level is most appropriate. Since the beta release of the OneStop user interface at the 2016 Fall AGU meeting, significant progress has been made improving and modernizing many NOAA data collections to optimize their use within the framework. In addition, OneStop has made progress implementing robust metadata management and catalog systems at the collection and granule level and improving the user experience with the web interface. This progress will be summarized and the results of extensive user testing including professional usability studies will be reviewed. Key big data technologies supporting the framework will be presented and a community input sought on the future directions of the OneStop Project.

"It was the whole picture" a mixed methods study of successful components in an integrated wellness service in North East England.

PubMed

Cheetham, M; Van der Graaf, P; Khazaeli, B; Gibson, E; Wiseman, A; Rushmer, R

2018-03-22

A growing number of Local Authorities (LAs) have introduced integrated wellness services as part of efforts to deliver cost effective, preventive services that address the social determinants of health. This study examined which elements of an integrated wellness service in the north east of England were effective in improving health and wellbeing (HWB). The study used a mixed-methods approach. In-depth semi-structured interviews (IVs) were conducted with integrated wellness service users (n = 25) and focus groups (FGs) with group based service users (n = 14) and non-service users (n = 23) to gather the views of stakeholders. Findings are presented here alongside analysis of routine monitoring data. The different data were compared to examine what each data source revealed about the effectiveness of the service. Findings suggest that integrated wellness services work by addressing the social determinants of health and respond to multiple complex health and social concerns rather than single issues. The paper identifies examples of 'active ingredients' at the heart of the programme, such as sustained relationships, peer support and confidence building, as well as the activities through which changes take place, such as sports and leisure opportunities which in turn encourage social interaction. Wider wellbeing outcomes, including reduced social isolation and increased self-efficacy are also reported. Practical and motivational support helped build community capacity by encouraging community groups to access funding, helped navigate bureaucratic systems, and promoted understanding of marginalised communities. Fully integrated wellness services could support progression opportunities through volunteering and mentoring. An integrated wellness service that offers a holistic approach was valued by service users and allowed them to address complex issues simultaneously. Few of the reported health gains were captured in routine data. Quantitative and qualitative data each offered a partial view of how effectively services were working.

Service user satisfaction with cognitive behavioural therapy for psychosis: Associations with therapy outcomes and perceptions of the therapist.

PubMed

Lawlor, Caroline; Sharma, Bina; Khondoker, Mizanur; Peters, Emmanuelle; Kuipers, Elizabeth; Johns, Louise

2017-03-01

Few studies have investigated service user satisfaction with cognitive behavioural therapy for psychosis (CBTp). This study explored its associations with clinical presentation and outcomes, retrospective expectations of progress, perceptions of the therapist, and demographic variables. One hundred and sixty-five service users completed self-report questionnaires pre- and post-CBTp in relation to the constructs of interest. Regression analyses explored associations with (1) overall satisfaction with therapy and (2) perceived progress, skills, and knowledge gained. Ninety-six per cent of service users reported satisfaction with therapy. Higher levels of overall satisfaction with, and perceived benefit from, therapy were associated with positive therapy expectations, positive ratings of therapist's personal qualities, competence and trustworthiness, lower pre-therapy depression, and improvements in quality of life. Symptom improvements were not related to overall satisfaction with therapy; however, with the exception of voices, better clinical outcomes were associated with subjective ratings of having made more progress and gained more CBT skills and knowledge. Demographic factors were not associated with satisfaction or perceived progress. In multiple regression analyses, expectations of progress showed the strongest associations with both satisfaction and perceived benefits. Other remaining significant associations consisted of perceptions of the therapist for satisfaction, and both pre-therapy levels of, and changes in, depression for perceived benefits. Qualitative feedback emphasized the importance of the therapeutic relationship and developing new coping strategies. The findings provide preliminary evidence that high levels of satisfaction with therapy are not contingent on good clinical outcomes and are instead associated with positive therapy expectations and perceptions of the therapist. Therapy expectations represent a neglected area of research and may have implications for levels of satisfaction with therapy and perceived benefit. The findings reinforce the importance of cognitive behavioural therapy for psychosis (CBTp) therapists demonstrating that they are supportive, competent, and trustworthy. The findings suggest that positive experiences of therapy do not require changes in psychosis symptoms and are instead related to changes in quality of life. Depressive symptoms at the start of therapy may adversely influence the extent to which CBT skills and knowledge are gained and levels of perceived progress at the end of therapy. The present sample was restricted to service users who completed therapy. Satisfaction levels were high. Further research is needed to explore factors associated with dissatisfaction with therapy. © 2016 The British Psychological Society.

Service user involvement for mental health system strengthening in India: a qualitative study.

PubMed

Samudre, Sandesh; Shidhaye, Rahul; Ahuja, Shalini; Nanda, Sharmishtha; Khan, Azaz; Evans-Lacko, Sara; Hanlon, Charlotte

2016-07-28

There is a wide recognition that involvement of service users and their caregivers in health system policy and planning processes can strengthen health systems; however, most evidence and experience has come from high-income countries. This study aimed to explore baseline experiences, barriers and facilitators to service user-caregiver involvement in the emerging mental health system in India, and stakeholders' perspectives on how greater involvement could be achieved. A qualitative study was conducted in Sehore district of Madhya Pradesh, India. In-depth interviews (n = 27) and a focus group discussion were conducted among service users, caregivers and their representatives at district, state and national levels and policy makers, service providers and mental health researchers. The topic guide explored the baseline situation in India, barriers and facilitators to service user and caregiver involvement in the following aspects of mental health systems: policy-making and planning, service development, monitoring and quality control, as well as research. Framework analysis was employed. Respondents spoke of the limited involvement of service users and caregivers in the current Indian mental health system. The major reported barriers to this involvement were (1) unmet treatment and economic needs arising from low access to mental health services coupled with the high burden of illness, (2) pervasive stigmatising attitudes operating at the level of service user, caregiver, community, healthcare provider and healthcare administrators, and (3) entrenched power differentials between service providers and service users. Respondents prioritised greater involvement of service users in the planning of their own individual-level mental health care before considering involvement at the mental health system level. A stepwise progression was endorsed, starting from needs assessment, through empowerment and organization of service users and caregivers, leading finally to meaningful involvement. Societal and system level barriers need to be addressed in order to facilitate the involvement of service users and caregivers to strengthen the Indian mental health system. Shifting from a largely 'provider-centric' to a more 'user-centric' model of mental health care may be a fundamental first step to sustainable user involvement at the system level.

Effectiveness and Cost-effectiveness of Opportunistic Screening and Stepped-care Interventions for Older Alcohol Users in Primary Care.

PubMed

Coulton, Simon; Bland, Martin; Crosby, Helen; Dale, Veronica; Drummond, Colin; Godfrey, Christine; Kaner, Eileen; Sweetman, Jennifer; McGovern, Ruth; Newbury-Birch, Dorothy; Parrott, Steve; Tober, Gillian; Watson, Judith; Wu, Qi

2017-11-01

To compare the clinical effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of a stepped-care intervention versus a minimal intervention for the treatment of older hazardous alcohol users in primary care. Multi-centre, pragmatic RCT, set in Primary Care in UK. Patients aged ≥ 55 years scoring ≥ 8 on the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test were allocated either to 5-min of brief advice or to 'Stepped Care': an initial 20-min of behavioural change counselling, with Step 2 being three sessions of Motivational Enhancement Therapy and Step 3 referral to local alcohol services (progression between each Step being determined by outcomes 1 month after each Step). Outcome measures included average drinks per day, AUDIT-C, alcohol-related problems using the Drinking Problems Index, health-related quality of life using the Short Form 12, costs measured from a NHS/Personal Social Care perspective and estimated health gains in quality adjusted life-years measured assessed EQ-5D. Both groups reduced alcohol consumption at 12 months but the difference between groups was small and not significant. No significant differences were observed between the groups on secondary outcomes. In economic terms stepped care was less costly and more effective than the minimal intervention. Stepped care does not confer an advantage over a minimal intervention in terms of reduction in alcohol use for older hazardous alcohol users in primary care. However, stepped care has a greater probability of being more cost-effective. Current controlled trials ISRCTN52557360. A stepped care approach was compared with brief intervention for older at-risk drinkers attending primary care. While consumption reduced in both groups over 12 months there was no significant difference between the groups. An economic analysis indicated the stepped care which had a greater probability of being more cost-effective than brief intervention. © The Author 2017. Medical Council on Alcohol and Oxford University Press. All rights reserved.

The efficiency of child formula dentifrices containing different calcium and phosphate compounds on artificial enamel caries.

PubMed

Rirattanapong, Praphasri; Vongsavan, Kadkao; Saengsirinavin, Chavengkiat; Khumsub, Ploychompoo

2016-01-01

Fluoride toothpaste has been extensively used to prevent dental caries. However, the risk of fluorosis is concerning, especially in young children. Calcium phosphate has been an effective remineralizing agent and is present in commercial dental products, with no risk of fluorosis to users. This in vitro study aimed to compare the effects of different calcium phosphate compounds and fluoride-containing dentifrices on artificial caries in primary teeth. Fifty sound primary incisors were coated with nail varnish, leaving two 1 mm 2 windows on the labial surface before immersion in demineralizing solution for 96 hours to produce artificial enamel lesions. Subsequently, one window from each tooth was coated with nail varnish, and all 50 teeth were divided into five groups ( n = 10); group A - deionized water; group B - casein phosphopeptide-amorphous calcium phosphate (CPP-ACP) paste (Tooth Mousse); group C - 500 ppm F (Colgate Spiderman ® ); group D - nonfluoridated toothpaste with triple calcium phosphate (Pureen ® ); and group E - tricalcium phosphate (TCP). Polarized light microscopy and Image-Pro ® Plus software were used to evaluate lesions. After a 7-day pH-cycle, mean lesion depths in groups A, B, C, D, and E had increased by 57.52 ± 10.66%, 33.28 ± 10.16%, 17.04 ± 4.76%, 32.51 ± 8.99%, and 21.76 ± 8.15%, respectively. All data were processed by the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (version 16.0) software package. Comparison of percentage changes using one-way analysis of variance and Fisher's least squares difference tests at a 95% level of confidence demonstrated that group A was significantly different from the other groups ( P < 0.001). Lesions in groups B and D had a significant lesion progression when compared with groups C and E. All toothpastes in this study had the potential to delay the demineralization progression of artificial enamel caries in primary teeth. The fluoride 500 ppm and TCP toothpastes were equal in the deceleration of enamel caries progression and better than CPP-ACP paste and TCP toothpaste.

The efficiency of child formula dentifrices containing different calcium and phosphate compounds on artificial enamel caries

PubMed Central

Rirattanapong, Praphasri; Vongsavan, Kadkao; Saengsirinavin, Chavengkiat; Khumsub, Ploychompoo

2016-01-01

Objectives: Fluoride toothpaste has been extensively used to prevent dental caries. However, the risk of fluorosis is concerning, especially in young children. Calcium phosphate has been an effective remineralizing agent and is present in commercial dental products, with no risk of fluorosis to users. This in vitro study aimed to compare the effects of different calcium phosphate compounds and fluoride-containing dentifrices on artificial caries in primary teeth. Materials and Methods: Fifty sound primary incisors were coated with nail varnish, leaving two 1 mm2 windows on the labial surface before immersion in demineralizing solution for 96 hours to produce artificial enamel lesions. Subsequently, one window from each tooth was coated with nail varnish, and all 50 teeth were divided into five groups (n = 10); group A – deionized water; group B – casein phosphopeptide–amorphous calcium phosphate (CPP–ACP) paste (Tooth Mousse); group C – 500 ppm F (Colgate Spiderman®); group D – nonfluoridated toothpaste with triple calcium phosphate (Pureen®); and group E – tricalcium phosphate (TCP). Polarized light microscopy and Image-Pro® Plus software were used to evaluate lesions. Results: After a 7-day pH-cycle, mean lesion depths in groups A, B, C, D, and E had increased by 57.52 ± 10.66%, 33.28 ± 10.16%, 17.04 ± 4.76%, 32.51 ± 8.99%, and 21.76 ± 8.15%, respectively. All data were processed by the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (version 16.0) software package. Comparison of percentage changes using one-way analysis of variance and Fisher's least squares difference tests at a 95% level of confidence demonstrated that group A was significantly different from the other groups (P < 0.001). Lesions in groups B and D had a significant lesion progression when compared with groups C and E. Conclusions: All toothpastes in this study had the potential to delay the demineralization progression of artificial enamel caries in primary teeth. The fluoride 500 ppm and TCP toothpastes were equal in the deceleration of enamel caries progression and better than CPP–ACP paste and TCP toothpaste. PMID:28032049

Impact of non-menthol flavours in tobacco products on perceptions and use among youth, young adults and adults: a systematic review.

PubMed

Huang, Li-Ling; Baker, Hannah M; Meernik, Clare; Ranney, Leah M; Richardson, Amanda; Goldstein, Adam O

2017-11-01

This systematic review examines the impact of non-menthol flavours in tobacco products on tobacco use perceptions and behaviours among youth, young adults and adults. English-language peer-reviewed publications indexed in 4 databases were searched through April 2016. A search strategy was developed related to tobacco products and flavours. Of 1688 articles identified, we excluded articles that were not English-language, were not peer-reviewed, were qualitative, assessed menthol-flavoured tobacco products only and did not contain original data on outcomes that assessed the impact of flavours in tobacco products on perceptions and use behaviour. Outcome measures were identified and tabulated. 2 researchers extracted the data independently and used a validated quality assessment tool to assess study quality. 40 studies met the inclusion criteria. Data showed that tobacco product packaging with flavour descriptors tended to be rated as more appealing and as less harmful by tobacco users and non-users. Many tobacco product users, especially adolescents, reported experimenting, initiating and continuing to use flavoured products because of the taste and variety of the flavours. Users of many flavoured tobacco products also showed decreased likelihood of intentions to quit compared with non-flavoured tobacco product users. Flavours in most tobacco products appear to play a key role in how users and non-users, especially youth, perceive, initiate, progress and continue using tobacco products. Banning non-menthol flavours from tobacco products may ultimately protect public health by reducing tobacco use, particularly among youth. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/.

Latent tuberculosis infections in hard-to-reach drug using population-detection, prevention and control.

PubMed

Hwang, Lu-Yu; Grimes, Carolyn Z; Beasley, R Palmer; Graviss, Edward A

2009-12-01

Interferon-gamma release assays (IGRAs) need be evaluated for effectiveness as screening tests for tuberculosis (TB) infection in drug users. These tests have demonstrated improved sensitivity and specificity, but have not been studied in drug users. These one step blood tests are intended to replace the tuberculin skin test (TST), which is difficult to use and requires 48 hour follow-up, so they are expected to be particularly suitable for risk groups, like drug users, in whom follow-up is problematic. Drug users have traditionally been identified as being at increased risk for acquiring TB disease. The results of our pilot study using the TST and simpler and more sensitive interferon-gamma release assays showed that about 45% of current drug users in Houston tested have at least one test positive for latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI). These preliminary data suggest that there is an important reservoir of LTBI in drug using populations, and the risk of progression to active TB disease with other infections is great. However, LTBI in drug using populations has not been studied in depth and deserves further investigation. We need to evaluate the validity of IGRAs for detection of latent TB infection, the factors associated with LTBI, the incidence and risk for developing active TB disease in drug users and the effectiveness of early treatment of LTBI. We believe that using better tuberculosis screening tools will allow us to more accurately measure the prevalence of latent TB infection and incidence of active TB disease in drug using populations and develop more effective TB prevention and treatment interventions in the community.

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

PubMed

Spotts, J V; Shontz, F C

1991-10-01

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

Creating Coherent Incidental Learning Journeys on Smartphones Using Feedback and Progress Indicators: The SCAMP Framework

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jones, Ann; Gaved, Mark; Kukulska-Hulme, Agnes; Scanlon, Eileen; Pearson, Charlie; Lameras, Petros; Dunwell, Ian; Jones, Jan

2014-01-01

Although the motivating role of feedback and progress indicators is understood in formal learning, their role in supporting incidental mobile learning is less well understood. In this paper we argue that well-designed feedback and progress indicators (FPIs) offer guidance and structure that may encourage mobile app users to move from fragmented…

Identifying online user reputation in terms of user preference

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

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

2018-03-01

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

A hospital-wide transition from paper to digital problem-oriented clinical notes. A descriptive history and cross-sectional survey of use, usability, and satisfaction.

PubMed

Cillessen, Felix H J M; de Vries Robbé, Pieter F; Biermans, Marion C J

2017-05-17

To evaluate the use, usability, and physician satisfaction of a locally developed problem-oriented clinical notes application that replaced paper-based records in a large Dutch university medical center. Using a clinical notes database and an application event log file and a cross-sectional survey of usability, authors retrospectively analyzed system usage for medical specialties, users, and patients over 4 years. A standardized questionnaire measured usability. Authors analyzed the effects of sex, age, professional experience, training hours, and medical specialty on user satisfaction via univariate analysis of variance. Authors also examined the correlation between user satisfaction in relation to users' intensity of use of the application. In total 1,793 physicians used the application to record progress notes for 219,755 patients. The overall satisfaction score was 3.2 on a scale from 1 (highly dissatisfied) to 5 (highly satisfied). A statistically significant difference occurred in satisfaction by medical specialty, but no statistically significant differences in satisfaction took place by sex, age, professional experience, or training hours. Intensity of system use did not correlate with physician satisfaction. By two years after the start of the implementation, all medical specialties utilized the clinical notes application. User satisfaction was neutral (3.2 on a 1-5 scale). Authors believe that the significant factors facilitating this transition mirrored success factors reported by other groups: a generic, consistent, and transparent design of the application; intensive collaboration; continuous monitoring; and an incremental rollout.

A model of user engagement in medical device development.

PubMed

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

2007-01-01

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

Recreational user attitudes towards management strategies of Allegany State Park

Treesearch

Michael Nisengard; Miklos Gratzer

1998-01-01

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

PACE Continuous Innovation Indicators—a novel tool to measure progress in cancer treatments

PubMed Central

Paddock, Silvia; Brum, Lauren; Sorrow, Kathleen; Thomas, Samuel; Spence, Susan; Maulbecker-Armstrong, Catharina; Goodman, Clifford; Peake, Michael; McVie, Gordon; Geipel, Gary; Li, Rose

2015-01-01

Concerns about rising health care costs and the often incremental nature of improvements in health outcomes continue to fuel intense debates about ‘progress’ and ‘value’ in cancer research. In times of tightening fiscal constraints, it is increasingly important for patients and their representatives to define what constitutes ’value’ to them. It is clear that diverse stakeholders have different priorities. Harmonisation of values may be neither possible nor desirable. Stakeholders lack tools to visualise or otherwise express these differences and to track progress in cancer treatments based on variable sets of values. The Patient Access to Cancer care Excellence (PACE) Continuous Innovation Indicators are novel, scientifically rigorous progress trackers that employ a three-step process to quantify progress in cancer treatments: 1) mine the literature to determine the strength of the evidence supporting each treatment; 2) allow users to weight the analysis according to their priorities and values; and 3) calculate Evidence Scores (E-Scores), a novel measure to track progress, based on the strength of the evidence weighted by the assigned value. We herein introduce a novel, flexible value model, show how the values from the model can be used to weight the evidence from the scientific literature to obtain E-Scores, and illustrate how assigning different values to new treatments influences the E-Scores. The Indicators allow users to learn how differing values lead to differing assessments of progress in cancer research and to check whether current incentives for innovation are aligned with their value model. By comparing E-Scores generated by this tool, users are able to visualise the relative pace of innovation across areas of cancer research and how stepwise innovation can contribute to substantial progress against cancer over time. Learning from experience and mapping current unmet needs will help to support a broad audience of stakeholders in their efforts to accelerate and maximise progress against cancer. PMID:25624879

A knee monitoring device and the preferences of patients living with osteoarthritis: a qualitative study

PubMed Central

Papi, Enrica; Belsi, Athina; McGregor, Alison H

2015-01-01

Objectives To identify perspective of patients with osteoarthritis, in particular design requirements and mode of use, of wearable technology to support the rehabilitation pathway. This study is part of a user-centred design approach adopted to develop a rehabilitation tool for patients with osteoarthritis. Design Qualitative study using a focus group approach; data management via a thematic analysis of patients’ responses. Participants 21 patients with osteoarthritis (age range 45–65 years) participated in 1 of the 4 focus groups. Recruitment continued until data saturation. Setting The study was conducted in a university setting. Results Main determinants of user acceptance of a wearable technology were appearance and comfort during use. Patients were supportive of the use of wearable technologies during rehabilitation and could recognise their benefit as monitors for their progress, incentives to adhere to exercise, and tools for more informed interaction with clinicians. Conclusions This paper should encourage adoption and development of wearable technology to support rehabilitation of patients with osteoarthritis. It is pivotal that technological development takes into account patients’ views in that it should be small, light, discrete, not ‘appear medical’ or challenge the identity of the user. Derived data should be available to patients and clinicians. Furthermore, wearable technologies should be developed to operate in two modes: for exercise guidance and assessment only, and for unobtrusive everyday monitoring. The information obtained from this study should guide the design of new technologies and support their use in clinical practice. PMID:26346873

A qualitative study of user perceptions of mobile health apps.

PubMed

Peng, Wei; Kanthawala, Shaheen; Yuan, Shupei; Hussain, Syed Ali

2016-11-14

Mobile apps for health exist in large numbers today, but oftentimes, consumers do not continue to use them after a brief period of initial usage, are averse toward using them at all, or are unaware that such apps even exist. The purpose of our study was to examine and qualitatively determine the design and content elements of health apps that facilitate or impede usage from the users' perceptive. In 2014, six focus groups and five individual interviews were conducted in the Midwest region of the U.S. with a mixture of 44 smartphone owners of various social economic status. The participants were asked about their general and health specific mobile app usage. They were then shown specific features of exemplar health apps and prompted to discuss their perceptions. The focus groups and interviews were audio recorded, transcribed verbatim, and coded using the software NVivo. Inductive thematic analysis was adopted to analyze the data and nine themes were identified: 1) barriers to adoption of health apps, 2) barriers to continued use of health apps, 3) motivators, 4) information and personalized guidance, 5) tracking for awareness and progress, 6) credibility, 7) goal setting, 8) reminders, and 9) sharing personal information. The themes were mapped to theories for interpretation of the results. This qualitative research with a diverse pool of participants extended previous research on challenges and opportunities of health apps. The findings provide researchers, app designers, and health care providers insights on how to develop and evaluate health apps from the users' perspective.

14 Years longitudinal evaluation of clinical information systems acceptance: The HEGP case.

PubMed

Hadji, Brahim; Martin, Guillaume; Dupuis, Isabelle; Campoy, Eric; Degoulet, Patrice

2016-02-01

Meaningful use and end-user satisfaction are two major components of the success of a clinical information system (CIS). The purpose of this study was to longitudinally measure and analyze the CIS use and satisfaction determinants in a multi-professional group at the Georges Pompidou university hospital (HEGP) in Paris. From the different evaluation surveys performed at HEGP, three periods were considered corresponding to 4, 8 and over 10 years after the first CIS deployment in 2000, respectively. Six acceptance dimensions were considered: CIS quality (CISQ), facilitating conditions (FC), perceived usefulness (PU), confirmation of expectations (CE), use, and global satisfaction (GS). Relationships between these constructs were tested through multiple regressions analysis and structural equation modeling (SEM). Responses were obtained from 298, 332, and 448 users for the three periods considered. CIS acceptance dimensions progressively and significantly increased over time. Significant differences between professions were observed with an initial low PU among medical staff. In the early deployment phase, GS appeared to be determined by CIS use, CISQ and PU (R(2)=.53 in SEM). In the very late post-adoption phase, GS was strongly determined by CISQ, CE, and PU (R(2)=.86 in SEM) and was no longer associated with CIS use. Acceptance models should be adapted to the phase of deployment of a CIS and integrate end-users' individual characteristics. Progressive reduction over time of the positive relationships between CIS use and satisfaction could possibly be considered as a maturity indicator of CIS deployment. These observations validate the introduction in post-adoption models of a continuance intention dimension. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

PsychDT Working Group: Report Psychosocial Aspects of Artificial Pancreas Systems.

PubMed

Barnard, Katharine D; Venkat, Manu V; Close, Kelly; Heinemann, Lutz; Weissberg-Benchell, Jill; Hood, Korey K; Kubiak, Thomas; Kowalski, Aaron J; Laffel, Lori

2015-07-01

Diabetes technology is a cornerstone of diabetes management in the 21st century, with advances in available devices over recent years playing a central role in the way that health care has progressed. Psychosocial interventions have been shown to have a positive impact on glycemic control, reduce psychological distress and reduce costs of health care. Addressing and improving psychosocial outcomes that complement biomedical improvements and looking to the future are crucial to enhance patient acceptance of artificial pancreas (AP) systems. To achieve closer collaboration and comparability across different AP research trials, a working group was established. Existing measures fail to adequately capture the extent to which human and psychological factors play a role in the uptake and efficient use of AP systems. Understanding these factors will ultimately lead to the most benefit for users. Reliable measures of the psychosocial impact of AP systems for users is crucial to ensure that (1) regulatory authorities are able to robustly consider these aspects as part of their approval process, (2) government and private payers are able to factor these aspects into their decisions regarding reimbursement, and (3) persons with diabetes maximize benefits in terms of both glycemic control and quality of life to minimize the burden of diabetes in everyday life. This working group will serve as a platform to foster exchange, identify research needs, and guide and initiate collaborative research laying the groundwork for optimal utilization of diabetes technology in clinical diabetes care. A close collaboration among all key stakeholders is crucial to ensure that devices are designed, trialed, approved, and provided with minimal user burden and maximum beneficial effect. © 2015 Diabetes Technology Society.

Improving Critical Thinking Using a Web-Based Tutorial Environment.

PubMed

Wiesner, Stephen M; Walker, J D; Creeger, Craig R

2017-01-01

With a broad range of subject matter, students often struggle recognizing relationships between content in different subject areas. A scenario-based learning environment (SaBLE) has been developed to enhancing clinical reasoning and critical thinking among undergraduate students in a medical laboratory science program and help them integrate their new knowledge. SaBLE incorporates aspects of both cognitive theory and instructional design, including reduction of extraneous cognitive load, goal-based learning, feedback timing, and game theory. SaBLE is a website application that runs in most browsers and devices, and is used to develop randomly selected scenarios that challenge user thinking in almost any scenario-based instruction. User progress is recorded to allow comprehensive data analysis of changes in user performance. Participation is incentivized using a point system and digital badges or awards. SaBLE was deployed in one course with a total exposure for the treatment group of approximately 9 weeks. When assessing performance of SaBLE participants, and controlling for grade point average as a possible confounding variable, there was a statistically significant correlation between the number of SaBLE levels completed and performance on selected critical-thinking exam questions addressing unrelated content.

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

PubMed

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

2018-06-01

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

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

PubMed

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

2016-01-01

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

Status Report on the Development of Research Campaigns

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

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

2013-06-30

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

MULTIPLE PROJECTIONS SYSTEM (MPS): USER'S MANUAL VERSION 2.0

EPA Science Inventory

The document is a user's manual for Multiple Projections System (MPS) Version 2.0, based on the 3% reasonable further progress (RFP) tracking system that was developed in FY92/FY93. The 3% RFP tracking system is a Windows application, and enhancements to convert the 3% RFP track...

Are We Ready for the Virtual Library? Technology Push, Market Pull and Organisational Response.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gilbert, J. D.

1993-01-01

Discusses virtual libraries, i.e., library services available to users via personal computers; considers the issues of technological development, user demands, and organizational response; and describes progress toward virtual libraries in the Netherlands, including networks, online systems, navigation tools, subject classification, coordination…

MULTIPLE PROJECTIONS SYSTEM (MPS) - USER'S MANUAL VERSION 1.0

EPA Science Inventory

The report is a user's manual for version 1.0 of the Multiple Projections Systems (MPS), a computer system that can perform "what if" scenario analysis and report the final results (i.e., Rate of Further Progress - ROP - inventories) to EPA (i.e., the Aerometric Information Retri...

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

PubMed

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

2004-07-01

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

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

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Page, Richard C.; Wills, Judy

1983-01-01

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

The Arctic Observing Viewer: A Web-mapping Application for U.S. Arctic Observing Activities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cody, R. P.; Manley, W. F.; Gaylord, A. G.; Kassin, A.; Villarreal, S.; Barba, M.; Dover, M.; Escarzaga, S. M.; Habermann, T.; Kozimor, J.; Score, R.; Tweedie, C. E.

2015-12-01

Although a great deal of progress has been made with various arctic observing efforts, it can be difficult to assess such progress when so many agencies, organizations, research groups and others are making such rapid progress over such a large expanse of the Arctic. To help meet the strategic needs of the U.S. SEARCH-AON program and facilitate the development of SAON and other related initiatives, the Arctic Observing Viewer (AOV; http://ArcticObservingViewer.org) has been developed. This web mapping application compiles detailed information pertaining to U.S. Arctic Observing efforts. Contributing partners include the U.S. NSF, USGS, ACADIS, ADIwg, AOOS, a2dc, AON, ARMAP, BAID, IASOA, INTERACT, and others. Over 7700 observation sites are currently in the AOV database and the application allows users to visualize, navigate, select, advance search, draw, print, and more. During 2015, the web mapping application has been enhanced by the addition of a query builder that allows users to create rich and complex queries. AOV is founded on principles of software and data interoperability and includes an emerging "Project" metadata standard, which uses ISO 19115-1 and compatible web services. Substantial efforts have focused on maintaining and centralizing all database information. In order to keep up with emerging technologies, the AOV data set has been structured and centralized within a relational database and the application front-end has been ported to HTML5 to enable mobile access. Other application enhancements include an embedded Apache Solr search platform which provides users with the capability to perform advance searches and an administration web based data management system that allows administrators to add, update, and delete information in real time. We encourage all collaborators to use AOV tools and services for their own purposes and to help us extend the impact of our efforts and ensure AOV complements other cyber-resources. Reinforcing dispersed but interoperable resources in this way will help to ensure improved capacities for conducting activities such as assessing the status of arctic observing efforts, optimizing logistic operations, and for quickly accessing external and project-focused web resources for more detailed information and access to scientific data and derived products.

The Arctic Observing Viewer: A Web-mapping Application for U.S. Arctic Observing Activities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kassin, A.; Gaylord, A. G.; Manley, W. F.; Villarreal, S.; Tweedie, C. E.; Cody, R. P.; Copenhaver, W.; Dover, M.; Score, R.; Habermann, T.

2014-12-01

Although a great deal of progress has been made with various arctic observing efforts, it can be difficult to assess such progress when so many agencies, organizations, research groups and others are making such rapid progress. To help meet the strategic needs of the U.S. SEARCH-AON program and facilitate the development of SAON and related initiatives, the Arctic Observing Viewer (AOV; http://ArcticObservingViewer.org) has been developed. This web mapping application compiles detailed information pertaining to U.S. Arctic Observing efforts. Contributing partners include the U.S. NSF, USGS, ACADIS, ADIwg, AOOS, a2dc, AON, ARMAP, BAID, IASOA, INTERACT, and others. Over 6100 sites are currently in the AOV database and the application allows users to visualize, navigate, select, advance search, draw, print, and more. AOV is founded on principles of software and data interoperability and includes an emerging "Project" metadata standard, which uses ISO 19115-1 and compatible web services. In the last year, substantial efforts have focused on maintaining and centralizing all database information. In order to keep up with emerging technologies and demand for the application, the AOV data set has been structured and centralized within a relational database; furthermore, the application front-end has been ported to HTML5. Porting the application to HTML5 will now provide access to mobile users utilizing tablets and cell phone devices. Other application enhancements include an embedded Apache Solr search platform which provides users with the capability to perform advance searches throughout the AOV dataset, and an administration web based data management system which allows the administrators to add, update, and delete data in real time. We encourage all collaborators to use AOV tools and services for their own purposes and to help us extend the impact of our efforts and ensure AOV complements other cyber-resources. Reinforcing dispersed but interoperable resources in this way will help to ensure improved capacities for conducting activities such as assessing the status of arctic observing efforts, optimizing logistic operations, and for quickly accessing external and project-focused web resources for more detailed information and data.

FY2013 Progress Report for Fuel & Lubricant Technologies

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

none,

2014-02-01

Annual progress report for Fuel & Lubricant Technologies. The Fuel & Lubricant Technologies Program supports fuels and lubricants research and development (R&D) to provide vehicle manufacturers and users with cost-competitive options that enable high fuel economy with low emissions, and contribute to petroleum displacement.

FY2014 Fuel & Lubricant Technologies Annual Progress Report

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

Stork, Kevin

2016-02-01

Annual progress report for Fuel & Lubricant Technologies. The Fuel & Lubricant Technologies Program supports fuels and lubricants research and development (R&D) to provide vehicle manufacturers and users with cost-competitive options that enable high fuel economy with low emissions, and contribute to petroleum displacement.

Forumclínic: the shaping of virtual communities to assist patients with chronic diseases.

PubMed

Grau, Immaculada; Grajales Iii, Francisco J; Gene-Badia, Joan; Siso, Antoni; de Semir, Marc

2013-01-01

Information and communication technologies (ICTs) provide new opportunities to complement traditional care while enhancing patient autonomy. With the objective to supplement patient care, a group of health professionals at the Hospital Clínic de Barcelona created Forumclínic, an online networking website in Spanish and Catalan. In 2008, seven web- and DVD-based chronic disease portals (Diabetes, Schizophrenia, Cardiac Ischemia, COPD, Depression, Breast Cancer and cardiovascular risk) were created with the following resources: multimedia patient education material; physician-specialist transcribed research (articles) news; an open question forum (for clinician-user and user-to-user interaction); and patient and specialist interview videos on the progress of disease, common diagnosis and treatment procedures; and information on the best or worst prognoses. Using data from Google Analytics, server logs were used to observe online behaviour patterns and user postings. This data combined with a mixed methods approach were used to evaluate the development of a virtual community (VC). A virtual community was developed when the number of forum visits was greater than those in the disease portal (definition). While nearly half of the visitors were from the Americas, the Schizophrenia, Breast Cancer, Depression and COPD forums met the criteria for and developed a virtual community. However, the Diabetes and Cardiac Ischemia forums did not reach VC status. It is also interesting to note that users in their late thirties and early forties were primarily women. The development of four virtual communities in Forumclínic seems to support the self-care needs of virtual patients. Users also reported appreciating the increased interaction with experts online and commonly collaborated with the forum moderator to guide and support other users with similar conditions in managing their health. Thence, we believe that Forumclínic is a good model to complement traditional patient care. A formal evaluation of this adjuvant form of care, from both the users' and moderators' perspective, is currently in its final stages.

Accurate and scalable social recommendation using mixed-membership stochastic block models.

PubMed

Godoy-Lorite, Antonia; Guimerà, Roger; Moore, Cristopher; Sales-Pardo, Marta

2016-12-13

With increasing amounts of information available, modeling and predicting user preferences-for books or articles, for example-are becoming more important. We present a collaborative filtering model, with an associated scalable algorithm, that makes accurate predictions of users' ratings. Like previous approaches, we assume that there are groups of users and of items and that the rating a user gives an item is determined by their respective group memberships. However, we allow each user and each item to belong simultaneously to mixtures of different groups and, unlike many popular approaches such as matrix factorization, we do not assume that users in each group prefer a single group of items. In particular, we do not assume that ratings depend linearly on a measure of similarity, but allow probability distributions of ratings to depend freely on the user's and item's groups. The resulting overlapping groups and predicted ratings can be inferred with an expectation-maximization algorithm whose running time scales linearly with the number of observed ratings. Our approach enables us to predict user preferences in large datasets and is considerably more accurate than the current algorithms for such large datasets.

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

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

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

2012-09-01

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

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

PubMed

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

2017-01-01

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

Determinants of Successful Weight Loss After Using a Commercial Web-Based Weight Reduction Program for Six Months: Cohort Study

PubMed Central

Postrach, Elisa; Aspalter, Rosa; Elbelt, Ulf; Koller, Michael; Longin, Rita; Schulzke, Jörg-Dieter

2013-01-01

Background The Internet is widely available and commonly used for health information; therefore, Web-based weight loss programs could provide support to large parts of the population in self-guided weight loss. Previous studies showed that Web-based weight loss interventions can be effective, depending on the quality of the program. The most effective program tools are visual progress charts or tools for the self-monitoring of weight, diet, and exercises. KiloCoach, a commercial program currently available in German-speaking countries, incorporates these features. A previous investigation showed that the program effectively supports users in losing weight. Objective We investigated weight loss dynamics stratified by weight loss success after 6-month use of KiloCoach. Furthermore, we analyzed possible associations between intensity of program use and weight loss. The results are intended for tailoring user recommendations for weight-loss Internet platforms. Methods Datasets of KiloCoach users (January 1, 2008 to December 31, 2011) who actively used the platform for 6 months or more were assigned to this retrospective analysis. Users (N=479) were 42.2% men, mean age of 44.0 years (SD 11.7), with a mean body mass index (BMI) of 31.7 kg/m2 (SD 3.2). Based on the weight loss achieved after 6 months, 3 success groups were generated. The unsuccessful group lost <5%, the moderate success group lost 5%-9.9%, and the high success group lost ≥10% of their baseline body weight. At baseline, the unsuccessful (n=261, 54.5%), moderate success (n=133, 27.8%), and high success (n=85, 17.8%) groups were similar in age, weight, BMI, and gender distribution. Results After 6 months, the unsuccessful group lost 1.2% (SD 2.4), the moderate success group lost 7.4% (SD 1.5), and the high success group lost 14.2% (SD 3.8) of their initial weight (P<.001). Multivariate regression showed that early weight loss (weeks 3-4), the total number of dietary protocols, and the total number of weight entries were independent predictors for 6-month weight reduction (all P<.001) explaining 52% of the variance in weight reduction. Sensitivity analysis by baseline carried forward method confirmed all independent predictors of 6-month weight loss and reduced the model fit by only 11%. The high success group lost weight faster and maintained weight loss more efficiently than the other groups (P<.001). Early weight loss was associated with weight maintenance after 1 year and 2 years (both P<.001). Weight dynamics did not differ between men and women over 6 months when adjusted for baseline and usage parameters (P=.91). The percentage of male long-term users was unusually high (42.2%). Conclusions Our results suggest that early weight loss and close program adherence (ie, 5 dietary protocols per week and weekly entering of current weight), especially in the early phase of program usage, can improve weight loss outcome. PMID:24126250

Impact of tobacco advertisements on tobacco use among urban adolescents in India: results from a longitudinal study.

PubMed

Arora, Monika; Gupta, Vinay K; Nazar, Gaurang P; Stigler, Melissa H; Perry, Cheryl L; Reddy, K Srinath

2012-05-01

To examine the longitudinal relationship between exposure and receptivity to tobacco advertisements and progression towards tobacco use among adolescents in India. A 2-year longitudinal group-randomised trial, Mobilizing Youth for Tobacco Related Initiatives (MYTRI), was undertaken from 2004 to 2006 in 32 schools in Delhi and Chennai. Among the control schools (n=16), mixed-effects regression models were used to assess the objectives. Subjects Students who were non-susceptible, never users of tobacco (n=2782) at baseline (2004) in the control schools of Project MYTRI, who progressed academically and were followed up at endline (2006). Progression towards tobacco use (on tobacco uptake continuum). Bivariate results suggest that exposure to tobacco advertisements at baseline was associated in a dose-dependent manner with progression at endline. Students exposed at more than four places were 1.5 times (95% CI 1.12 to 1.94; p<0.05) more likely to progress towards tobacco use at endline versus those not exposed. Among boys, those exposed at more than four places were 1.7 times more likely to progress (95% CI 1.14 to 2.62; p<0.05). These significant results disappeared in multivariate analysis, when other psychosocial risk factors for tobacco use were controlled. In both bivariate and multivariate analyses, the risk of progression at endline was more than two times higher (95% CI 1.28 to 4.32; p<0.05) among boys who were highly receptive versus non-receptive boys. The same relationship did not hold among girls. High receptivity to tobacco advertising predicts future progression to tobacco use among boys in India. Suggestive evidence exists of a causal relationship between tobacco marketing and adolescent tobacco use.

User Requirements for a Chronic Kidney Disease Clinical Decision Support Tool to Promote Timely Referral.

PubMed

Gulla, Joy; Neri, Pamela M; Bates, David W; Samal, Lipika

2017-05-01

Timely referral of patients with CKD has been associated with cost and mortality benefits, but referrals are often done too late in the course of the disease. Clinical decision support (CDS) offers a potential solution, but interventions have failed because they were not designed to support the physician workflow. We sought to identify user requirements for a chronic kidney disease (CKD) CDS system to promote timely referral. We interviewed primary care physicians (PCPs) to identify data needs for a CKD CDS system that would encourage timely referral and also gathered information about workflow to assess risk factors for progression of CKD. Interviewees were general internists recruited from a network of 14 primary care clinics affiliated with Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH). We then performed a qualitative analysis to identify user requirements and system attributes for a CKD CDS system. Of the 12 participants, 25% were women, the mean age was 53 (range 37-82), mean years in clinical practice was 27 (range 11-58). We identified 21 user requirements. Seven of these user requirements were related to support for the referral process workflow, including access to pertinent information and support for longitudinal co-management. Six user requirements were relevant to PCP management of CKD, including management of risk factors for progression, interpretation of biomarkers of CKD severity, and diagnosis of the cause of CKD. Finally, eight user requirements addressed user-centered design of CDS, including the need for actionable information, links to guidelines and reference materials, and visualization of trends. These 21 user requirements can be used to design an intuitive and usable CDS system with the attributes necessary to promote timely referral. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

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

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-03-01

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

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

PubMed Central

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

2016-01-01

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

A Generic Approach for Pen-Based User Interface Development

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Macé, Sébastien; Anquetil, Éric

Pen-based interaction is an intuitive way to realize hand drawn structured documents, but few applications take advantage of it. Indeed, the interpretation of the user hand drawn strokes in the context of document is a complex problem. In this paper, we propose a new generic approach to develop such systems based on three independent components. The first one is a set of graphical and editing functions adapted to pen interaction. The second one is a rule-based formalism that models structured document composition and the corresponding interpretation process. The last one is a hand drawn stroke analyzer that is able to interpret strokes progressively, directly while the user is drawing. We highlight in particular the human-computer interaction induced from this progressive interpretation process. Thanks to this generic approach, three pen-based system prototypes have already been developed, for musical score editing, for graph editing, and for UML class diagram editing

Supporting Dictation Speech Recognition Error Correction: The Impact of External Information

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shi, Yongmei; Zhou, Lina

2011-01-01

Although speech recognition technology has made remarkable progress, its wide adoption is still restricted by notable effort made and frustration experienced by users while correcting speech recognition errors. One of the promising ways to improve error correction is by providing user support. Although support mechanisms have been proposed for…

Collaborative Strategic Reading on Multi-Touch and Multi-User Digital Tabletop Displays

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Maslamani, Jaber Ali; Windeatt, Scott; Olivier, Patrick; Heslop, Phil; Kharrufa, Ahmed; Shearer, John; Balaam, Madeline

2012-01-01

This paper is part of a work-in-progress that reports on the design, development, and evaluation of a Digital Collaborative Strategic Reading (DCSR) application with regard to its effectiveness in improving English as a second language (ESL) reading comprehension. The DCSR application allows users to read collaboratively on multitouch and…

Physicality and Language Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Park, Jaeuk; Seedhouse, Paul; Seedhouse, Rob; Kiaer, Jieun

2016-01-01

The study draws on the digital technology which allows users to be able to learn both linguistic and non-linguistic skills at the same time. Activity recognition as well as wireless sensor technology, similar to a Nintendo Wii, is embedded or attached to the equipment and ingredients, allowing users to detect and evaluate progress as they carry…

Libraries' Place in Virtual Social Networks

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mathews, Brian S.

2007-01-01

Do libraries belong in the virtual world of social networking? With more than 100 million users, this environment is impossible to ignore. A rising philosophy for libraries, particularly in blog-land, involves the concept of being where the users are. Simply using new media to deliver an old message is not progress. Instead, librarians should…

Prostate cancer-specific survival among warfarin users in the Finnish Randomized Study of Screening for Prostate Cancer.

PubMed

Kinnunen, Pete T T; Murtola, Teemu J; Talala, Kirsi; Taari, Kimmo; Tammela, Teuvo L J; Auvinen, Anssi

2017-08-29

Venous thromboembolic events (VTE) are common in cancer patients and associated with higher mortality. In vivo thrombosis and anticoagulation might be involved in tumor growth and progression. We studied the association of warfarin and other anticoagulant use as antithrombotic medication and prostate cancer (PCa) death in men with the disease. The study included 6,537 men diagnosed with PCa during 1995-2009. Information on anticoagulant use was obtained from a national reimbursement registry. Cox regression with adjustment for age, PCa risk group, primary therapy and use of other medication was performed to compare risk of PCa death between warfarin users with 1) men using other types of anticoagulants and 2) non-users of anticoagulants. Medication use was analyzed as a time-dependent variable to minimize immortal time bias. In total, 728 men died from PCa during a median follow-up of 9 years. Compared to anticoagulant non-users, post-diagnostic use of warfarin was associated with an increased risk of PCa death (overall HR 1.47, 95% CI 1.13-1.93). However, this was limited to low-dose, low-intensity use. Otherwise, the risk was similar to anticoagulant non-users. Additionally, we found no risk difference between warfarin and other types of anticoagulants. Pre-diagnostic use of warfarin was not associated with the risk of PCa death. We found no reduction in risk of PCa death associated with warfarin use. Conversely, the risk was increased in short-term use, which is probably explained by a higher risk of thrombotic events prompting warfarin use in patients with terminal PCa.

User interface issues in supporting human-computer integrated scheduling

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Cooper, Lynne P.; Biefeld, Eric W.

1991-01-01

Explored here is the user interface problems encountered with the Operations Missions Planner (OMP) project at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). OMP uses a unique iterative approach to planning that places additional requirements on the user interface, particularly to support system development and maintenance. These requirements are necessary to support the concepts of heuristically controlled search, in-progress assessment, and iterative refinement of the schedule. The techniques used to address the OMP interface needs are given.

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

PubMed

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

2007-01-01

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

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

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

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

2006-01-01

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

Smoking habits are an independent prognostic factor in patients with lung cancer.

PubMed

Avci, Nilufer; Hayar, Murat; Altmisdortoglu, Ozgur; Tanriverdi, Ozgur; Deligonul, Adem; Ordu, Cetin; Evrensel, Turkkan

2017-09-01

The role of tobacco in the pathogenesis of lung cancer (LC) has been clearly established. Based on the epidemiological evidence that smoking may influence LC progression, we investigated the idea that smoking behavior could be associated with overall survival (OS) in this group of patients. A total of 351 patients with LC (311 men and 40 women) were reviewed. Smoking status was assessed as tobacco users or non-users. To calculate pack-years of smoking, the average of number of cigarettes smoked per day was divided by 20 to give packs per day, and then multiplied by the total number of years of smoking. OS was the main outcome measure. The mean follow-up was 3.3 ± 1.2 years. Kaplan-Meier plots of OS by use of tobacco revealed significant differences by smoking status (log-rank = 5.44, P < 0.01), indicating a reduced survival rate in tobacco users. The effect on OS of the amount of cigarette smoking was also evident when we subdivided the former and current smokers into ≤7 (mean value) pack-years and >7 pack-years groups (log-rank = 4.27, P < 0.05). After adjusting for all potential confounders, tobacco smoking retained its independent prognostic significance for OS (hazard ratio = 1.53, 95% confidence interval = 1.19-2.17, P = 0.02). Our data indicate that cigarette smoking is significantly associated with a poor prognosis among patients diagnosed with LC in a dose-dependent manner. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

National Space Council Users' Advisory Group

NASA Image and Video Library

2018-06-19

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

Scalable Computing of the Mesh Size Effect on Modeling Damage Mechanics in Woven Armor Composites

DTIC Science & Technology

2008-12-01

manner of a user defined material subroutine to provide overall stress increments to, the parallel LS-DYNA3D a Lagrangian explicit code used in...finite element code, as a user defined material subroutine . The ability of this subroutine to model the effect of the progressions of a select number...is added as a user defined material subroutine to parallel LS-DYNA3D. The computations of the global mesh are handled by LS-DYNA3D and are spread

Research on Influence of Cloud Environment on Traditional Network Security

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ming, Xiaobo; Guo, Jinhua

2018-02-01

Cloud computing is a symbol of the progress of modern information network, cloud computing provides a lot of convenience to the Internet users, but it also brings a lot of risk to the Internet users. Second, one of the main reasons for Internet users to choose cloud computing is that the network security performance is great, it also is the cornerstone of cloud computing applications. This paper briefly explores the impact on cloud environment on traditional cybersecurity, and puts forward corresponding solutions.

Short progressive muscle relaxation or motor coordination training does not increase performance in a brain-computer interface based on sensorimotor rhythms (SMR).

PubMed

Botrel, L; Acqualagna, L; Blankertz, B; Kübler, A

2017-11-01

Brain computer interfaces (BCIs) allow for controlling devices through modulation of sensorimotor rhythms (SMR), yet a profound number of users is unable to achieve sufficient accuracy. Here, we investigated if visuo-motor coordination (VMC) training or Jacobsen's progressive muscle relaxation (PMR) prior to BCI use would increase later performance compared to a control group who performed a reading task (CG). Running the study in two different BCI-labs, we achieved a joint sample size of N=154 naïve participants. No significant effect of either intervention (VMC, PMR, control) was found on resulting BCI performance. Relaxation level and visuo-motor performance were associated with later BCI performance in one BCI-lab but not in the other. These mixed results do not indicate a strong potential of VMC or PMR for boosting performance. Yet further research with different training parameters or experimental designs is needed to complete the picture. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

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

PubMed

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

2017-10-01

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

Extending Prior Posts in Dyadic Online Text Chat

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tudini, Vincenza

2015-01-01

This study explores whether chat users are able to extend prior, apparently completed posts in the dyadic online text chat context. Dyadic text chat has a unique turn-taking system, and most chat softwares do not permit users to monitor one another's written messages-in-progress. This is likely to impact on their use of online extensions as an…

U.S. TIMSS and PIRLS 2011 Technical Report and User's Guide. NCES 2013-046

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kastberg, David; Roey, Stephen; Ferraro, David; Lemanski, Nita; Erberber, Ebru

2013-01-01

The "U.S. TIMSS and PIRLS 2011 Technical Report and User's Guide" provides an overview of the design and implementation of the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) 2011 and the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) 2011 in the United States and the nine participating benchmarking states:…

Computerized Placement Management Software (CPMS): User Manual, Version 3.0.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

College Entrance Examination Board, Princeton, NJ.

This guide is designed to enable the beginner, as well as the advanced user, to understand and use the Computerized Placement Management Software (CPMS). The CPMS is a system for evaluating information about students and recommending their placement into courses best suited for them. It also tracks their progress and maintains their records. The…

How to Represent Adaptation in e-Learning with IMS Learning Design

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Burgos, Daniel; Tattersall, Colin; Koper, Rob

2007-01-01

Adaptation in e-learning has been an important research topic for the last few decades in computer-based education. In adaptivity the behaviour of the user triggers some actions in the system that guides the learning process. In adaptability, the user makes changes and takes decisions. Progressing from computer-based training and adaptive…

MUNDUS project: MUltimodal neuroprosthesis for daily upper limb support.

PubMed

Pedrocchi, Alessandra; Ferrante, Simona; Ambrosini, Emilia; Gandolla, Marta; Casellato, Claudia; Schauer, Thomas; Klauer, Christian; Pascual, Javier; Vidaurre, Carmen; Gföhler, Margit; Reichenfelser, Werner; Karner, Jakob; Micera, Silvestro; Crema, Andrea; Molteni, Franco; Rossini, Mauro; Palumbo, Giovanna; Guanziroli, Eleonora; Jedlitschka, Andreas; Hack, Marco; Bulgheroni, Maria; d'Amico, Enrico; Schenk, Peter; Zwicker, Sven; Duschau-Wicke, Alexander; Miseikis, Justinas; Graber, Lina; Ferrigno, Giancarlo

2013-07-03

MUNDUS is an assistive framework for recovering direct interaction capability of severely motor impaired people based on arm reaching and hand functions. It aims at achieving personalization, modularity and maximization of the user's direct involvement in assistive systems. To this, MUNDUS exploits any residual control of the end-user and can be adapted to the level of severity or to the progression of the disease allowing the user to voluntarily interact with the environment. MUNDUS target pathologies are high-level spinal cord injury (SCI) and neurodegenerative and genetic neuromuscular diseases, such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Friedreich ataxia, and multiple sclerosis (MS). The system can be alternatively driven by residual voluntary muscular activation, head/eye motion, and brain signals. MUNDUS modularly combines an antigravity lightweight and non-cumbersome exoskeleton, closed-loop controlled Neuromuscular Electrical Stimulation for arm and hand motion, and potentially a motorized hand orthosis, for grasping interactive objects. The definition of the requirements and of the interaction tasks were designed by a focus group with experts and a questionnaire with 36 potential end-users. The functionality of all modules has been successfully demonstrated. User's intention was detected with a 100% success. Averaging all subjects and tasks, the minimum evaluation score obtained was 1.13 ± 0.99 for the release of the handle during the drinking task, whilst all the other sub-actions achieved a mean value above 1.6. All users, but one, subjectively perceived the usefulness of the assistance and could easily control the system. Donning time ranged from 6 to 65 minutes, scaled on the configuration complexity. The MUNDUS platform provides functional assistance to daily life activities; the modules integration depends on the user's need, the functionality of the system have been demonstrated for all the possible configurations, and preliminary assessment of usability and acceptance is promising.

CHISSL: A Human-Machine Collaboration Space for Unsupervised Learning

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

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

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

Interaction techniques for radiology workstations: impact on users' productivity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Moise, Adrian; Atkins, M. Stella

2004-04-01

As radiologists progress from reading images presented on film to modern computer systems with images presented on high-resolution displays, many new problems arise. Although the digital medium has many advantages, the radiologist"s job becomes cluttered with many new tasks related to image manipulation. This paper presents our solution for supporting radiologists" interpretation of digital images by automating image presentation during sequential interpretation steps. Our method supports scenario based interpretation, which group data temporally, according to the mental paradigm of the physician. We extended current hanging protocols with support for "stages". A stage reflects the presentation of digital information required to complete a single step within a complex task. We demonstrated the benefits of staging in a user study with 20 lay subjects involved in a visual conjunctive search for targets, similar to a radiology task of identifying anatomical abnormalities. We designed a task and a set of stimuli which allowed us to simulate the interpretation workflow from a typical radiology scenario - reading a chest computed radiography exam when a prior study is also available. The simulation was possible by abstracting the radiologist"s task and the basic workstation navigation functionality. We introduced "Stages," an interaction technique attuned to the radiologist"s interpretation task. Compared to the traditional user interface, Stages generated a 14% reduction in the average interpretation.

On Gait Analysis Estimation Errors Using Force Sensors on a Smart Rollator

PubMed Central

Ballesteros, Joaquin; Urdiales, Cristina; Martinez, Antonio B.; van Dieën, Jaap H.

2016-01-01

Gait analysis can provide valuable information on a person’s condition and rehabilitation progress. Gait is typically captured using external equipment and/or wearable sensors. These tests are largely constrained to specific controlled environments. In addition, gait analysis often requires experts for calibration, operation and/or to place sensors on volunteers. Alternatively, mobility support devices like rollators can be equipped with onboard sensors to monitor gait parameters, while users perform their Activities of Daily Living. Gait analysis in rollators may use odometry and force sensors in the handlebars. However, force based estimation of gait parameters is less accurate than traditional methods, especially when rollators are not properly used. This paper presents an evaluation of force based gait analysis using a smart rollator on different groups of users to determine when this methodology is applicable. In a second stage, the rollator is used in combination with two lab-based gait analysis systems to assess the rollator estimation error. Our results show that: (i) there is an inverse relation between the variance in the force difference between handlebars and support on the handlebars—related to the user condition—and the estimation error; and (ii) this error is lower than 10% when the variation in the force difference is above 7 N. This lower limit was exceeded by the 95.83% of our challenged volunteers. In conclusion, rollators are useful for gait characterization as long as users really need the device for ambulation. PMID:27834911

On Gait Analysis Estimation Errors Using Force Sensors on a Smart Rollator.

PubMed

Ballesteros, Joaquin; Urdiales, Cristina; Martinez, Antonio B; van Dieën, Jaap H

2016-11-10

Gait analysis can provide valuable information on a person's condition and rehabilitation progress. Gait is typically captured using external equipment and/or wearable sensors. These tests are largely constrained to specific controlled environments. In addition, gait analysis often requires experts for calibration, operation and/or to place sensors on volunteers. Alternatively, mobility support devices like rollators can be equipped with onboard sensors to monitor gait parameters, while users perform their Activities of Daily Living. Gait analysis in rollators may use odometry and force sensors in the handlebars. However, force based estimation of gait parameters is less accurate than traditional methods, especially when rollators are not properly used. This paper presents an evaluation of force based gait analysis using a smart rollator on different groups of users to determine when this methodology is applicable. In a second stage, the rollator is used in combination with two lab-based gait analysis systems to assess the rollator estimation error. Our results show that: (i) there is an inverse relation between the variance in the force difference between handlebars and support on the handlebars-related to the user condition-and the estimation error; and (ii) this error is lower than 10% when the variation in the force difference is above 7 N. This lower limit was exceeded by the 95.83% of our challenged volunteers. In conclusion, rollators are useful for gait characterization as long as users really need the device for ambulation.

Emergence of long-range correlations and bursty activity patterns in online communication

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Panzarasa, Pietro; Bonaventura, Moreno

2015-12-01

Research has suggested that the activity occurring in a variety of social, economic, and technological systems exhibits long-range fluctuations in time. Pronounced levels of rapidly occurring events are typically observed over short periods of time, followed by long periods of inactivity. Relatively few studies, however, have shed light on the degree to which inhomogeneous temporal processes can be detected at, and emerge from, different levels of analysis. Here we investigate patterns of human activity within an online forum in which communication can be assessed at three intertwined levels: the micro level of the individual users; the meso level of discussion groups and continuous sessions; and the macro level of the whole system. To uncover the relation between different levels, we conduct a number of numerical simulations of a zero-crossing model in which users' behavior is constrained by progressively richer and more realistic rules of social interaction. Results indicate that, when users are solipsistic, their bursty behavior is not sufficient for generating heavy-tailed interevent time distributions at a higher level. However, when users are socially interdependent, the power spectra and interevent time distributions of the simulated and real forums are remarkably similar at all levels of analysis. Social interaction is responsible for the aggregation of multiple bursty activities at the micro level into an emergent bursty activity pattern at a higher level. We discuss the implications of the findings for an emergentist account of burstiness in complex systems.

LDA-Based Unified Topic Modeling for Similar TV User Grouping and TV Program Recommendation.

PubMed

Pyo, Shinjee; Kim, Eunhui; Kim, Munchurl

2015-08-01

Social TV is a social media service via TV and social networks through which TV users exchange their experiences about TV programs that they are viewing. For social TV service, two technical aspects are envisioned: grouping of similar TV users to create social TV communities and recommending TV programs based on group and personal interests for personalizing TV. In this paper, we propose a unified topic model based on grouping of similar TV users and recommending TV programs as a social TV service. The proposed unified topic model employs two latent Dirichlet allocation (LDA) models. One is a topic model of TV users, and the other is a topic model of the description words for viewed TV programs. The two LDA models are then integrated via a topic proportion parameter for TV programs, which enforces the grouping of similar TV users and associated description words for watched TV programs at the same time in a unified topic modeling framework. The unified model identifies the semantic relation between TV user groups and TV program description word groups so that more meaningful TV program recommendations can be made. The unified topic model also overcomes an item ramp-up problem such that new TV programs can be reliably recommended to TV users. Furthermore, from the topic model of TV users, TV users with similar tastes can be grouped as topics, which can then be recommended as social TV communities. To verify our proposed method of unified topic-modeling-based TV user grouping and TV program recommendation for social TV services, in our experiments, we used real TV viewing history data and electronic program guide data from a seven-month period collected by a TV poll agency. The experimental results show that the proposed unified topic model yields an average 81.4% precision for 50 topics in TV program recommendation and its performance is an average of 6.5% higher than that of the topic model of TV users only. For TV user prediction with new TV programs, the average prediction precision was 79.6%. Also, we showed the superiority of our proposed model in terms of both topic modeling performance and recommendation performance compared to two related topic models such as polylingual topic model and bilingual topic model.

LANSCE Activity Report

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

Amy Robinson; Audrey Archuleta; Barbara Maes

1999-02-01

The Los Alamos Neutron Science Center Activity Report describes scientific and technological progress and achievements in LANSCE Division during the period of 1995 to 1998. This report includes a message from the Division Director, an overview of LANSCE, sponsor overviews, research highlights, advanced projects and facility upgrades achievements, experimental and user program accomplishments, news and events, and a list of publications. The research highlights cover the areas of condensed-matter science and engineering, accelerator science, nuclear science, and radiography. This report also contains a compact disk that includes an overview, the Activity Report itself, LANSCE operations progress reports for 1996 andmore » 1997, experiment reports from LANSCE users, as well as a search capability.« less

Social networking sites: a novel portal for communication.

PubMed

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

2009-09-01

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

Metrics for measuring net-centric data strategy implementation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kroculick, Joseph B.

2010-04-01

An enterprise data strategy outlines an organization's vision and objectives for improved collection and use of data. We propose generic metrics and quantifiable measures for each of the DoD Net-Centric Data Strategy (NCDS) data goals. Data strategy metrics can be adapted to the business processes of an enterprise and the needs of stakeholders in leveraging the organization's data assets to provide for more effective decision making. Generic metrics are applied to a specific application where logistics supply and transportation data is integrated across multiple functional groups. A dashboard presents a multidimensional view of the current progress to a state where logistics data shared in a timely and seamless manner among users, applications, and systems.

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

PubMed

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

2013-01-01

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

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

PubMed

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

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

Technology User Groups and Early Childhood Education: A Preliminary Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

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

2013-01-01

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

Effects of Using Child Personas in the Development of a Digital Peer Support Service for Childhood Cancer Survivors.

PubMed

Wärnestål, Pontus; Svedberg, Petra; Lindberg, Susanne; Nygren, Jens M

2017-05-18

Peer support services have the potential to support children who survive cancer by handling the physical, mental, and social challenges associated with survival and return to everyday life. Involving the children themselves in the design process allows for adapting services to authentic user behaviors and goals. As there are several challenges that put critical requirements on a user-centered design process, we developed a design method based on personas adapted to the particular needs of children that promotes health and handles a sensitive design context. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of using child personas in the development of a digital peer support service for childhood cancer survivors. The user group's needs and behaviors were characterized based on cohort data and literature, focus group interviews with childhood cancer survivors (n=15, 8-12 years), stakeholder interviews with health care professionals and parents (n=13), user interviews, and observations. Data were interpreted and explained together with childhood cancer survivors (n=5) in three explorative design workshops and a validation workshop with children (n=7). We present findings and insights on how to codesign child personas in the context of developing digital peer support services with childhood cancer survivors. The work resulted in three primary personas that model the behaviors, attitudes, and goals of three user archetypes tailored for developing health-promoting services in this particular use context. Additionally, we also report on the effects of using these personas in the design of a digital peer support service called Give Me a Break. By applying our progressive steps of data collection and analysis, we arrive at authentic child-personas that were successfully used to design and develop health-promoting services for children in vulnerable life stages. The child-personas serve as effective collaboration and communication aids for both internal and external purposes. ©Pontus Wärnestål, Petra Svedberg, Susanne Lindberg, Jens M Nygren. Originally published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research (http://www.jmir.org), 18.05.2017.

Interface Prostheses With Classifier-Feedback-Based User Training.

PubMed

Fang, Yinfeng; Zhou, Dalin; Li, Kairu; Liu, Honghai

2017-11-01

It is evident that user training significantly affects performance of pattern-recognition-based myoelectric prosthetic device control. Despite plausible classification accuracy on offline datasets, online accuracy usually suffers from the changes in physiological conditions and electrode displacement. The user ability in generating consistent electromyographic (EMG) patterns can be enhanced via proper user training strategies in order to improve online performance. This study proposes a clustering-feedback strategy that provides real-time feedback to users by means of a visualized online EMG signal input as well as the centroids of the training samples, whose dimensionality is reduced to minimal number by dimension reduction. Clustering feedback provides a criterion that guides users to adjust motion gestures and muscle contraction forces intentionally. The experiment results have demonstrated that hand motion recognition accuracy increases steadily along the progress of the clustering-feedback-based user training, while conventional classifier-feedback methods, i.e., label feedback, hardly achieve any improvement. The result concludes that the use of proper classifier feedback can accelerate the process of user training, and implies prosperous future for the amputees with limited or no experience in pattern-recognition-based prosthetic device manipulation.It is evident that user training significantly affects performance of pattern-recognition-based myoelectric prosthetic device control. Despite plausible classification accuracy on offline datasets, online accuracy usually suffers from the changes in physiological conditions and electrode displacement. The user ability in generating consistent electromyographic (EMG) patterns can be enhanced via proper user training strategies in order to improve online performance. This study proposes a clustering-feedback strategy that provides real-time feedback to users by means of a visualized online EMG signal input as well as the centroids of the training samples, whose dimensionality is reduced to minimal number by dimension reduction. Clustering feedback provides a criterion that guides users to adjust motion gestures and muscle contraction forces intentionally. The experiment results have demonstrated that hand motion recognition accuracy increases steadily along the progress of the clustering-feedback-based user training, while conventional classifier-feedback methods, i.e., label feedback, hardly achieve any improvement. The result concludes that the use of proper classifier feedback can accelerate the process of user training, and implies prosperous future for the amputees with limited or no experience in pattern-recognition-based prosthetic device manipulation.

1994 activity report: Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory

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

Cantwell, K.; Dunn, L.

1994-01-01

The SSRL facility delivered 89% of the scheduled user beam to 25 experimental stations during 6.5 months of user running. Users from private industry were involved in 31% of these experiments. The SPEAR accelerator ran very well with no major component failures and an unscheduled down time of only 2.9%. In addition to this increased reliability, there was a significant improvement in the stability of the beam. The enhancements to the SPEAR orbit as part of a concerted three-year program were particularly noticeable to users. The standard deviation of beam movement (both planes) in the last part of the runmore » was 80 microns, major progress toward the ultimate goal of 50-micron stability. This was a significant improvement from the previous year when the movement was 400 microns in the horizontal and 200 microns in the vertical. A new accelerator Personal Protection System (PPS), built with full redundancy and providing protection from both radiation exposure and electrical hazards, was installed in 1994. It is not possible to describe in this summary all of the scientific experimentation which was performed during the run. However, the flavor of current research projects and the many significant accomplishments can be realized by the following highlights: A multinational collaboration performed several experiments involving x-ray scattering from nuclear resonances; Studies related to nuclear waste remediation by groups from Los Alamos National Laboratory and Pacific Northwest Laboratories continued in 1994; Diffraction data sets for a number of important protein crystals were obtained; During the past two years a collaboration consisting of groups from Hewlett Packard, Intel, Fisons Instruments and SSRL has been exploring the utility of synchrotron radiation for total reflection x-ray fluorescence (TRXRF); and High-resolution angle-resolved photoemission experiments have continued to generate exciting new results from highly correlated and magnetic materials.« less

An Adaptive Source-Channel Coding with Feedback for Progressive Transmission of Medical Images

PubMed Central

Lo, Jen-Lung; Sanei, Saeid; Nazarpour, Kianoush

2009-01-01

A novel adaptive source-channel coding with feedback for progressive transmission of medical images is proposed here. In the source coding part, the transmission starts from the region of interest (RoI). The parity length in the channel code varies with respect to both the proximity of the image subblock to the RoI and the channel noise, which is iteratively estimated in the receiver. The overall transmitted data can be controlled by the user (clinician). In the case of medical data transmission, it is vital to keep the distortion level under control as in most of the cases certain clinically important regions have to be transmitted without any visible error. The proposed system significantly reduces the transmission time and error. Moreover, the system is very user friendly since the selection of the RoI, its size, overall code rate, and a number of test features such as noise level can be set by the users in both ends. A MATLAB-based TCP/IP connection has been established to demonstrate the proposed interactive and adaptive progressive transmission system. The proposed system is simulated for both binary symmetric channel (BSC) and Rayleigh channel. The experimental results verify the effectiveness of the design. PMID:19190770

Bandwidth-sharing in LHCONE, an analysis of the problem

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wildish, T.

2015-12-01

The LHC experiments have traditionally regarded the network as an unreliable resource, one which was expected to be a major source of errors and inefficiency at the time their original computing models were derived. Now, however, the network is seen as much more capable and reliable. Data are routinely transferred with high efficiency and low latency to wherever computing or storage resources are available to use or manage them. Although there was sufficient network bandwidth for the experiments’ needs during Run-1, they cannot rely on ever-increasing bandwidth as a solution to their data-transfer needs in the future. Sooner or later they need to consider the network as a finite resource that they interact with to manage their traffic, in much the same way as they manage their use of disk and CPU resources. There are several possible ways for the experiments to integrate management of the network in their software stacks, such as the use of virtual circuits with hard bandwidth guarantees or soft real-time flow-control, with somewhat less firm guarantees. Abstractly, these can all be considered as the users (the experiments, or groups of users within the experiment) expressing a request for a given bandwidth between two points for a given duration of time. The network fabric then grants some allocation to each user, dependent on the sum of all requests and the sum of available resources, and attempts to ensure the requirements are met (either deterministically or statistically). An unresolved question at this time is how to convert the users’ requests into an allocation. Simply put, how do we decide what fraction of a network's bandwidth to allocate to each user when the sum of requests exceeds the available bandwidth? The usual problems of any resourcescheduling system arise here, namely how to ensure the resource is used efficiently and fairly, while still satisfying the needs of the users. Simply fixing quotas on network paths for each user is likely to lead to inefficient use of the network. If one user cannot use their quota for some reason, that bandwidth is lost. Likewise, there is no incentive for the user to be efficient within their quota, they have nothing to gain by using less than their allocation. As with CPU farms, some sort of dynamic allocation is more likely to be useful. A promising approach for sharing bandwidth at LHCONE is the ’Progressive Second-Price auction’, where users are given a budget and are required to bid from that budget for the specific resources they want to reserve. The auction allows users to effectively determine among themselves the degree of sharing they are willing to accept based on the priorities of their traffic and their global share, as represented by their total budget. The network then implements those allocations using whatever mix of technologies is appropriate or available. This paper describes how the Progressive Second-Price auction works and how it can be applied to LHCONE. Practical questions are addressed, such as how are budgets set, what strategy should users use to manage their budget, how and how often should the auction be run, and how do we ensure that the goals of fairness and efficiency are met.

Conjunctival impression cytology in computer users.

PubMed

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

2013-01-01

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

VERA-CS User Support Activities for PoR 14

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

Kochunas, Brendan

2017-11-01

The purpose of this milestone is to document the user support activities that took place between 10/1/2016 and 3/31/2017 (PoR 14). In the normal PHI workflow, that also extends to several activities within RTM, a Kanban process is followed. This involves creating tickets for specific work items and track the progress to complete these specific work items.

LLE 1998 annual report, October 1997--September 1998. Inertial fusion program and National Laser Users` Facility program

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

NONE

1999-01-01

This report summarizes research at the Laboratory for Laser Energetics (LLE), the operation of the National Laser Users` Facility (NLUF), and programs involving the education of high school, undergraduate, and graduate students for FY98. Research summaries cover: progress in laser fusion; diagnostic development; laser and optical technology; and advanced technology for laser targets.

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

PubMed

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

2014-01-01

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

Enhancing the control of force in putting by video game training.

PubMed

Fery, Y A; Ponserre, S

2001-10-10

Even if golf video games provide no proprioceptive afferences on actual putting movement, they may give sufficient substitutive visual cues to enhance force control in this skill. It was hypothesized that this usefulness requires, however, two conditions: the video game must provide reliable demonstrations of actual putts, and the user must want to use the game to make progress in actual putting. Accordingly, a video game was selected on the basis of its fidelity to the real-world game. It allowed two different methods of adjusting the virtual player's putting force in order to hole a putt: an analogue method that consisted of focusing on the virtual player's movement and a symbolic method that consisted of focusing on the movement of a gauge on a scale representing the virtual player's putting force. The participants had to use one of these methods with either the intention of making progress in actual putting or in a second condition to simply enjoy the game. Results showed a positive transfer of video playing to actual putting skill for the learning group and also, to a lesser degree, for the enjoyment group; but only when they used the symbolic method. Results are discussed in the context of how vision may convey force cues in sports video games.

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

PubMed Central

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

2014-01-01

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

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

PubMed

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

2014-01-02

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

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

PubMed

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

2014-03-01

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

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

PubMed

Nersveen, Jonny

2016-01-01

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

Call progress time measurement in IP telephony

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Khasnabish, Bhumip

1999-11-01

Usually a voice call is established through multiple stages in IP telephony. In the first stage, a phone number is dialed to reach a near-end or call-originating IP-telephony gateway. The next stages involve user identification through delivering an m-digit user-id to the authentication and/or billing server, and then user authentication by using an n- digit PIN. After that, the caller is allowed (last stage dial tone is provided) to dial a destination phone number provided that authentication is successful. In this paper, we present a very flexible method for measuring call progress time in IP telephony. The proposed technique can be used to measure the system response time at every stage. It is flexible, so that it can be easily modified to include new `tone' or a set of tones, or `voice begin' can be used in every stage to detect the system's response. The proposed method has been implemented using scripts written in Hammer visual basic language for testing with a few commercially available IP telephony gateways.

The Electronic Patient Reported Outcome Tool: Testing Usability and Feasibility of a Mobile App and Portal to Support Care for Patients With Complex Chronic Disease and Disability in Primary Care Settings

PubMed Central

Gill, Ashlinder; Khan, Anum Irfan; Hans, Parminder Kaur; Kuluski, Kerry; Cott, Cheryl

2016-01-01

Background People experiencing complex chronic disease and disability (CCDD) face some of the greatest challenges of any patient population. Primary care providers find it difficult to manage multiple discordant conditions and symptoms and often complex social challenges experienced by these patients. The electronic Patient Reported Outcome (ePRO) tool is designed to overcome some of these challenges by supporting goal-oriented primary care delivery. Using the tool, patients and providers collaboratively develop health care goals on a portal linked to a mobile device to help patients and providers track progress between visits. Objectives This study tested the usability and feasibility of adopting the ePRO tool into a single interdisciplinary primary health care practice in Toronto, Canada. The Fit between Individuals, Fask, and Technology (FITT) framework was used to guide our assessment and explore whether the ePRO tool is: (1) feasible for adoption in interdisciplinary primary health care practices and (2) usable from both the patient and provider perspectives. This usability pilot is part of a broader user-centered design development strategy. Methods A 4-week pilot study was conducted in which patients and providers used the ePRO tool to develop health-related goals, which patients then monitored using a mobile device. Patients and providers collaboratively set goals using the system during an initial visit and had at least 1 follow-up visit at the end of the pilot to discuss progress. Focus groups and interviews were conducted with patients and providers to capture usability and feasibility measures. Data from the ePRO system were extracted to provide information regarding tool usage. Results Six providers and 11 patients participated in the study; 3 patients dropped out mainly owing to health issues. The remaining 8 patients completed 210 monitoring protocols, equal to over 1300 questions, with patients often answering questions daily. Providers and patients accessed the portal on an average of 10 and 1.5 times, respectively. Users found the system easy to use, some patients reporting that the tool helped in their ability to self-manage, catalyzed a sense of responsibility over their care, and improved patient-centered care delivery. Some providers found that the tool helped focus conversations on goal setting. However, the tool did not fit well with provider workflows, monitoring questions were not adequately tailored to individual patient needs, and daily reporting became tedious and time-consuming for patients. Conclusions Although our study suggests relatively low usability and feasibility of the ePRO tool, we are encouraged by the early impact on patient outcomes and generally positive responses from both user groups regarding the potential of the tool to improve care for patients with CCDD. As is consistent with our user-centered design development approach, we have modified the tool based on user feedback, and are now testing the redeveloped tool through an exploratory trial. PMID:27256035

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

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

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

2011-08-01

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

Accurate and scalable social recommendation using mixed-membership stochastic block models

PubMed Central

Godoy-Lorite, Antonia; Moore, Cristopher

2016-01-01

With increasing amounts of information available, modeling and predicting user preferences—for books or articles, for example—are becoming more important. We present a collaborative filtering model, with an associated scalable algorithm, that makes accurate predictions of users’ ratings. Like previous approaches, we assume that there are groups of users and of items and that the rating a user gives an item is determined by their respective group memberships. However, we allow each user and each item to belong simultaneously to mixtures of different groups and, unlike many popular approaches such as matrix factorization, we do not assume that users in each group prefer a single group of items. In particular, we do not assume that ratings depend linearly on a measure of similarity, but allow probability distributions of ratings to depend freely on the user’s and item’s groups. The resulting overlapping groups and predicted ratings can be inferred with an expectation-maximization algorithm whose running time scales linearly with the number of observed ratings. Our approach enables us to predict user preferences in large datasets and is considerably more accurate than the current algorithms for such large datasets. PMID:27911773

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

PubMed

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

2016-08-01

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

Brainstorming about next-generation computer-based documentation: an AMIA clinical working group survey.

PubMed

Johnson, Kevin B; Ravich, William J; Cowan, John A

2004-09-01

Computer-based software to record histories, physical exams, and progress or procedure notes, known as computer-based documentation (CBD) software, has been touted as an important addition to the electronic health record. The functionality of CBD systems has remained static over the past 30 years, which may have contributed to the limited adoption of these tools. Early users of this technology, who have tried multiple products, may have insight into important features to be considered in next-generation CBD systems. We conducted a cross-sectional, observational study of the clinical working group membership of the American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA) to generate a set of features that might improve adoption of next-generation systems. The study was conducted online over a 4-month period; 57% of the working group members completed the survey. As anticipated, CBD tool use was higher (53%) in this population than in the US physician offices. The most common methods of data entry employed keyboard and mouse, with agreement that these modalities worked well. Many respondents had experience with pre-printed data collection forms before interacting with a CBD system. Respondents noted that CBD improved their ability to document large amounts of information, allowed timely sharing of information, enhanced patient care, and enhanced medical information with other clinicians (all P < 0.001). Respondents also noted some important but absent features in CBD, including the ability to add images, get help, and generate billing information. The latest generation of CBD systems is being used successfully by early adopters, who find that these tools confer many advantages over the approaches to documentation that they replaced. These users provide insights that may improve successive generations of CBD tools. Additional surveys of CBD non-users and failed adopters will be necessary to provide other useful insights that can address barriers to the adoption of CBD by less computer literate physicians.

Marijuana Use Trajectories and Academic Outcomes among College Students

PubMed Central

Suerken, Cynthia K.; Reboussin, Beth A.; Egan, Kathleen L.; Sutfin, Erin L.; Wagoner, Kimberly G.; Spangler, John; Wolfson, Mark

2016-01-01

Background Marijuana is the most commonly used illicit drug by college students. Prior studies have established an association between marijuana use and poor academic performance in college, but research on the frequency of marijuana use over the entire college career is limited. The study objective was to examine the association of marijuana use trajectories on academic outcomes, including senior year enrollment, plans to graduate on time, and GPA. Methods Data were collected from a cohort of 3,146 students from 11 colleges in North Carolina and Virginia at six time points across the college career. Group-based trajectory models were used to characterize longitudinal marijuana use patterns during college. Associations between marijuana trajectory groups and academic outcomes were modeled using random-effects linear and logistic regressions. Results Five marijuana trajectory groups were identified: non-users (69.0%), infrequent users (16.6%), decreasing users (4.7%), increasing users (5.8%), and frequent users (3.9%). Decreasing users and frequent users were more likely to drop out of college and plan to delay graduation when compared to non-users. All marijuana user groups reported lower GPAs, on average, than non-users. Conclusion These results identify marijuana use patterns that put students at risk for poor academic performance in college. Students who use marijuana frequently at the beginning of the college career are especially at risk for lower academic achievement than non-users, suggesting that early intervention is critical. PMID:27020322

Evaluating service user pedagogy in UK higher education: Validating the Huddersfield Service User Pedagogy Scale.

PubMed

Tobbell, Jane; Boduszek, Daniel; Kola-Palmer, Susanna; Vaughan, Joanne; Hargreaves, Janet

2018-04-01

There is global recognition that the inclusion of service users in the education of health and social care students in higher education can lead to more compassionate professional identities which will enable better decision making. However, to date there is no systematic tool to explore learning and service user involvement in the curriculum. To generate and validate a psychometric instrument which will allow educators to evaluate service user pedagogy. Construction and validation of a new scale. 365 undergraduate students from health and social care departments in two universities. A two correlated factor scale. Factor 1 - perceived presence of service users in the taught curriculum and factor 2 - professionals and service users working together (correlation between factor 1 and factor 2 - r = 0.32). The Huddersfield Service User Pedagogy Scale provides a valid instrument for educators to evaluate student learning. In addition, the tool can contribute to student reflections on their shifting professional identities as they progress through their studies. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

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

PubMed

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

2013-12-01

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

Promoting development and uptake of health innovations: The Nose to Tail Tool

PubMed Central

Gupta, Archna; Thorpe, Cathy; Bhattacharyya, Onil; Zwarenstein, Merrick

2016-01-01

Introduction Health sector management is increasingly complex as new health technologies, treatments, and innovative service delivery strategies are developed. Many of these innovations are implemented prematurely, or fail to be implemented at scale, resulting in substantial wasted resources.   Methods A scoping review was conducted to identify articles that described the scale up process conceptually or that described an instance in which a healthcare innovation was scaled up. We define scale up as the expansion and extension of delivery or access to an innovation for all end users in a jurisdiction who will benefit from it. Results Sixty nine articles were eligible for review. Frequently described stages in the innovation process and contextual issues that influence progress through each stage were mapped. 16 stages were identified: 12 deliberation and 4 action stages. Included papers suggest that innovations progress through stages of maturity and the uptake of innovation depends on the innovation aligning with the interests of 3 critical stakeholder groups (innovators, end users and the decision makers) and is also influenced by 3 broader contexts (social and physical environment, the health system, and the regulatory, political and economic environment). The 16 stages form the rows of the Nose to Tail Tool (NTT) grid and the 6 contingency factors form columns. The resulting stage-by-issue grid consists of 72 cells, each populated with cell-specific questions, prompts and considerations from the reviewed literature. Conclusion We offer a tool that helps stakeholders identify the stage of maturity of their innovation, helps facilitate deliberative discussions on the key considerations for each major stakeholder group and the major contextual barriers that the innovation faces. We believe the NTT will help to identify potential problems that the innovation will face and facilitates early modification, before large investments are made in a potentially flawed solution. PMID:27239275

Performing quantum computing experiments in the cloud

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Devitt, Simon J.

2016-09-01

Quantum computing technology has reached a second renaissance in the past five years. Increased interest from both the private and public sector combined with extraordinary theoretical and experimental progress has solidified this technology as a major advancement in the 21st century. As anticipated my many, some of the first realizations of quantum computing technology has occured over the cloud, with users logging onto dedicated hardware over the classical internet. Recently, IBM has released the Quantum Experience, which allows users to access a five-qubit quantum processor. In this paper we take advantage of this online availability of actual quantum hardware and present four quantum information experiments. We utilize the IBM chip to realize protocols in quantum error correction, quantum arithmetic, quantum graph theory, and fault-tolerant quantum computation by accessing the device remotely through the cloud. While the results are subject to significant noise, the correct results are returned from the chip. This demonstrates the power of experimental groups opening up their technology to a wider audience and will hopefully allow for the next stage of development in quantum information technology.

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

PubMed Central

Åkerberg, Anna; Söderlund, Anne; Lindén, Maria

2017-01-01

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

Adjusting to progress: interactions between the National Library of Medicine and health sciences librarians, 1961–2001*

PubMed Central

Humphreys, Betsy L.

2002-01-01

Most health sciences librarians would agree that the National Library of Medicine's (NLM's) leadership and its services have been highly beneficial to the field, but this does not prevent specific NLM actions—or lack of action—from being perceived as annoying or infuriating. Over the past forty years, NLM's interactions with health sciences librarians have been affected by significant additions to NLM's mission and services, the expansion of NLM's direct user groups, and the growing range of possible relationships between health sciences librarians and NLM. The greatest friction between NLM and health services librarians occurs when there is a fundamental change in the way NLM carries out its mission—a change that adds to the web of relationships that link librarians and NLM and prompts corresponding changes in the way other libraries do business. Between 1961 and 2001, there were two such fundamental changes: the implementation of the National Network of Libraries of Medicine and the development and promotion of services targeted toward individual health professionals. On a lesser scale, each new service that connects NLM and health sciences librarians is another potential source of irritation, ready to flare up when the service is interrupted, changed, or eliminated. Other factors—including strong personalities, mistakes, and poor communication—add to, but do not cause, the intermittent problems between NLM and its most longstanding and engaged user group. These problems are in essence the price we pay for the leadership and vision of NLM's directors and for NLM's success in developing excellent services and in enhancing them based on advice from librarians and other users. PMID:11838459

Modeling Goal-Directed User Exploration in Human-Computer Interaction

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-02-01

scent, other factors including the layout position and grouping of options in the user-interface also affect user exploration and the likelihood of...grouping of options in the user-interface also affect user exploration and the likelihood of success. This dissertation contributes a new model of goal...better inform UI design. 1.1 RESEARCH GAPS IN MODELING In addition to infoscent, the layout of the UI also affects the choices made during

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

PubMed

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

2016-01-01

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

Performance & Emotion--A Study on Adaptive E-Learning Based on Visual/Verbal Learning Styles

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Beckmann, Jennifer; Bertel, Sven; Zander, Steffi

2015-01-01

Adaptive e-Learning systems are able to adjust to a user's learning needs, usually by user modeling or tracking progress. Such learner-adaptive behavior has rapidly become a hot topic for e-Learning, furthered in part by the recent rapid increase in the use of MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses). A lack of general, individual, and situational data…

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

PubMed

Zupančič, Vesna; Pahor, Majda; Kogovšek, Tina

2018-04-27

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

HIV Testing, Care, and Treatment Among Women Who Use Drugs From a Global Perspective: Progress and Challenges.

PubMed

Metsch, Lisa; Philbin, Morgan M; Parish, Carrigan; Shiu, Karen; Frimpong, Jemima A; Giang, Le Minh

2015-06-01

The article reviews data on HIV testing, treatment, and care outcomes for women who use drugs in 5 countries across 5 continents. We chose countries in which the HIV epidemic has, either currently or historically, been fueled by injection and non-injection drug use and that have considerable variation in social structural and drug policies: Argentina, Vietnam, Australia, Ukraine, and the United States. There is a dearth of available HIV care continuum outcome data [ie, testing, linkage, retention, antiretroviral therapy (ART) provision, viral suppression] among women drug users, particularly among noninjectors. Although some progress has been made in increasing HIV testing in this population, HIV-positive women drug users in 4 of the 5 countries have not fully benefitted from ART nor are they regularly engaged in HIV care. Issues such as the criminalization of drug users, HIV-specific criminal laws, and the lack of integration between substance use treatment and HIV primary care play a major role. Strategies that effectively address the pervasive factors that prevent women drug users from engaging in HIV care and benefitting from ART and other prevention services are critical. Future success in enhancing the HIV continuum for women drug users should consider structural and contextual level barriers and promote social, economic, and legal policies that overhaul the many years of discrimination and stigmatization faced by women drug users worldwide. Such efforts must emphasis the translation of policies into practice and approaches to implementation that can help HIV-infected women who use drugs engage at all points of the HIV care continuum.

Exoskeletal meal assistance system (EMAS II) for progressive muscle dystrophy patient.

PubMed

Hasegawa, Yasuhisa; Oura, Saori

2011-01-01

This paper introduces a 4-DOFs exoskeletal meal assistance system (EMAS II) for progressive muscle dystrophy patient. It is generally better for the patient to use his/her hands by himself in daily life because active works maintain level of residual functions, health and initiative of him/her. The EMAS II that has a new joystick-type user interface device and three-DOFs on a shoulder part is enhanced for an easier operation and more comfortable support on eating, as the succeeding model of the previous system that has two-DOFs on a shoulder. In order to control the 4-DOFs system by the simple user interface device, the EMAS II simulates upper limb motion patterns of a healthy person. The motion patterns are modeled by extracting correlations between the height of a user's wrist joint and that of the user's elbow joint at the table. Moreover, the EMAS II automatically brings user's hand up to his/her mouth or back to a table when he/she pushes a preset switch on the interface device. Therefore a user has only to control a position of his/her wrist to pick or scoop foods and then flip the switch to start automatic mode, while a height of the elbow joint is automatically controlled by the EMAS II itself. The results of experiments, where a healthy subject regarded as a muscle dystrophy patient eats a meal with EMAS II, show that the subject finished her meal in a natural way in 18 minutes 40 seconds which was within a recommended time of 30 minutes. © 2011 IEEE

COSPAR/PRBEM international working group activities report

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bourdarie, S.; Blake, B.; Cao, J. B.; Friedel, R.; Miyoshi, Y.; Panasyuk, M.; Underwood, C.

It is now clear to everybody that the current standard AE8 AP8 model for ionising particle specification in the radiation belts must be updated But such an objective is quite difficult to reach just as a reminder to develop AE8 AP8 model in the seventies was 10 persons full time for ten years It is clear that world-wide efforts must be combined because not any individual group has the human resource to perform these new models by themselves Under COSPAR umbrella an international group of expert well distributed around the world has been created to set up a common framework for everybody involved in this field Planned activities of the international group of experts are to - Define users needs - Provide guidelines for standard file format for ionising measurements - Set up guidelines to process in-situ data on a common basis - Decide in which form the new models will have to be - Centralise all progress done world-wide to advise the community - Try to organise world-wide activities as a project to ensure complementarities and more efficiencies between all efforts done Activities of this working group since its creation will be reported as well as future plans

Development and field testing of a smartphone "App" for tinnitus management.

PubMed

Henry, James A; Thielman, Emily; Zaugg, Tara; Kaelin, Christine; Choma, Christie; Chang, Bill; Hahn, Shira; Fuller, Bret

2017-10-01

This study's objective was to develop and test a smartphone app that supports learning and using coping skills for managing tinnitus. The app's content was based on coping skills that are taught as a part of progressive tinnitus management (PTM). The study involved three phases: (1) develop a prototype app and conduct usability testing; (2) conduct two focus groups to obtain initial feedback from individuals representing potential users; and (3) conduct a field study to evaluate the app, with three successive groups of participants. Participants were adults with bothersome tinnitus. For Phase 2, two focus groups were attended by a total of 17 participants. Phase 3 involved three consecutive rounds of participants: five from the focus groups followed by two rounds with 10 participants each who had not seen the app previously. In both the focus groups and field studies, participants responded favourably to the content. Certain features, however, were deemed too complex. Completion of this project resulted in the development and testing of the delivery of PTM coping skills via a smartphone app. This new approach has the potential to improve access to coping skills for those with bothersome tinnitus.

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

PubMed Central

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

2000-01-01

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

 PMID:10811694

Critical thinking: optimal outcomes through end user involvement in the design of critical care areas.

PubMed

Braun, Debra; Barnhardt, Kim

2014-01-01

Including end users in evidence-based design is vital to outcomes. The physical environment impacts caregiver efficiencies, safety, satisfaction, and quality of patient outcomes. End users are more than members of the organization: patients should have representation as well. Patients bring value by offering insight from a different perspective. Timing is key; therefore, it is critical in obtaining desired outcomes, to include end users as early as possible, gaining the most insight into the design of the build. Consideration should also be given to best practice standards, regulatory compliance, progressive sciences, and technologies. Another vital factor is education of the end users on their role and expectations for participation in a design team. When end users are educated and understand the significance of input, the design team will be able to conceive a critical care unit that will meet needs for today and be able to adapt to needs for the future.

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

PubMed

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

2006-03-01

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

Security Analysis of Accountable Anonymous Group Communication in Dissent

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-01-31

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

Understanding music with cochlear implants

PubMed Central

Bruns, Lisa; Mürbe, Dirk; Hahne, Anja

2016-01-01

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

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

PubMed

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

2018-04-14

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

Memory is preserved in older adults taking AT1 receptor blockers.

PubMed

Ho, Jean K; Nation, Daniel A

2017-04-26

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

A Comparison of Mobile and Fixed Device Access on User Engagement Associated With Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) Online Nutrition Education

PubMed Central

2016-01-01

Background Online health education has expanded its reach due to cost-effective implementation and demonstrated effectiveness. However, a limitation exists with the evaluation of online health education implementations and how the impact of the system is attenuated by the extent to which a user engages with it. Moreover, the current online health education research does not consider how this engagement has been affected by the transition from fixed to mobile user access over the last decade. Objective This paper focuses on comparing the impact mobile versus fixed devices have on user engagement key performance indicators (KPI) associated with the wichealth website (.org), an Internet-based parent-child feeding intervention offered to clients associated with the US Department of Agriculture’s Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC). Methods Data were collected from 612,201 nutrition education lessons completed by 305,735 unique WIC participants in 21 states over a 1-year period. Data consisted of system-collected measures, profile items, and items from an exit survey administered at the conclusion of each lesson. User engagement was defined based on 3 KPIs associated with usage of the wichealth website: number of link views, link view time, and progression in stage of readiness to change. Independent samples t tests were used to compare KPIs between fixed only and mobile only device users and paired samples t tests were used to compare KPIs within users who completed at least one lesson each on both a fixed and mobile device. A logistic regression was performed to estimate the odds of KPI performance thresholds in the independent samples study group given access device type while controlling for confounding of user characteristics associated with these KPIs. Results Analysis of 8 user characteristics (lessons completed, race, ethnicity, language, state of residence, pregnancy status, beginning stage of change, and preferred nutrition education method) were significantly (P<.001) related to various KPI differences between mobile and fixed device access. Non-mobile users were significantly (P<.001) more likely to engage based on all 3 KPIs, even after logistic regression control for the potential confounding related to the strongly associated user characteristics identified. Conclusions The findings of this study support the idea that online health education developers need to seriously consider access device when creating programs. Online health education developers need to take extra effort to truly understand access patterns of populations being served, and whether or not access device will influence user engagement performance indicators. PMID:27847351

Marijuana use trajectories and academic outcomes among college students.

PubMed

Suerken, Cynthia K; Reboussin, Beth A; Egan, Kathleen L; Sutfin, Erin L; Wagoner, Kimberly G; Spangler, John; Wolfson, Mark

2016-05-01

Marijuana is the most commonly used illicit drug by college students. Prior studies have established an association between marijuana use and poor academic performance in college, but research on the frequency of marijuana use over the entire college career is limited. The study objective was to examine the association of marijuana use trajectories on academic outcomes, including senior year enrollment, plans to graduate on time, and GPA. Data were collected from a cohort of 3146 students from 11 colleges in North Carolina and Virginia at six time points across the college career. Group-based trajectory models were used to characterize longitudinal marijuana use patterns during college. Associations between marijuana trajectory groups and academic outcomes were modeled using random-effects linear and logistic regressions. Five marijuana trajectory groups were identified: non-users (69.0%), infrequent users (16.6%), decreasing users (4.7%), increasing users (5.8%), and frequent users (3.9%). Decreasing users and frequent users were more likely to drop out of college and plan to delay graduation when compared to non-users. All marijuana user groups reported lower GPAs, on average, than non-users. These results identify marijuana use patterns that put students at risk for poor academic performance in college. Students who use marijuana frequently at the beginning of the college career are especially at risk for lower academic achievement than non-users, suggesting that early intervention is critical. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Web-Based Osteoarthritis Management Resource My Joint Pain Improves Quality of Care: A Quasi-Experimental Study.

PubMed

Umapathy, Hema; Bennell, Kim; Dickson, Chris; Dobson, Fiona; Fransen, Marlene; Jones, Graeme; Hunter, David J

2015-07-07

Despite the availability of evidence-based guidelines for conservative treatment of osteoarthritis (OA), management is often confined to the use of analgesics and waiting for eventual total joint replacement. This suggests a gap in knowledge for persons with OA regarding the many different treatments available to them. Our objective was to evaluate outcomes after usage of a Web-based resource called My Joint Pain that contains tailored, evidence-based information and tools aimed to improve self-management of OA on self-management and change in knowledge. A quasi-experimental design was used to evaluate the My Joint Pain website intervention over a 12-month period. The intervention provided participants with general and user-specific information, monthly assessments with validated instruments, and progress-tracking tools. A nationwide convenience sample of 195 participants with self-assessed hip and/or knee OA completed both baseline and 12-month questionnaires (users: n=104; nonusers: n=91). The primary outcome measure was the Health Evaluation Impact Questionnaire (heiQ) to evaluate 8 different domains (health-directed activity, positive and active engagement in life, emotional distress, self-monitoring and insight, constructive attitudes and approaches, skill and technique acquisition, social integration and support, health service navigation) and the secondary outcome measure was the 17-item Osteoarthritis Quality Indicator (OAQI) questionnaire to evaluate the change in appropriateness of care received by participants. Independent t tests were used to compare changes between groups for the heiQ and chi-square tests to identify changes within and between groups from baseline to 12 months for each OAQI item. Baseline demographics between groups were similar for gender (152/195, 77.9% female), age (mean 60, SD 9 years) and body mass index (mean 31.1, SD 6.8 kg/m(2)). With the exception of health service navigation, mean effect sizes from all other heiQ domains showed a positive trend for My Joint Pain users compared to the nonusers, although the differences between groups did not reach statistical significance. Within-group changes also showed improvements among the users of the My Joint Pain website for self-management (absolute change score=15%, P=.03), lifestyle (absolute change score=16%, P=.02), and physical activity (absolute change score=11%, P=.04), with no significant improvements for the nonusers. Following 12 months of exposure to the website, there were significant improvements for users compared to nonusers in self-management (absolute change score 15% vs 2%, P=.001) and weight reduction (absolute change scores 3% vs -6%, P=.03) measured on the OAQI. The My Joint Pain Web resource does not significantly improve overall heiQ, but does improve other important aspects of quality of care in people with hip and/or knee OA. Further work is required to improve engagement with the website and the quality of information delivered in order to provide a greater impact.

Characterizing User Groups in Online Social Networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gyarmati, László; Trinh, Tuan Anh

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

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

PubMed

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

2018-04-01

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

Implementing an Intrusion Detection System in the Mysea Architecture

DTIC Science & Technology

2008-06-01

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

Tooth segmentation system with intelligent editing for cephalometric analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Shoupu

2015-03-01

Cephalometric analysis is the study of the dental and skeletal relationship in the head, and it is used as an assessment and planning tool for improved orthodontic treatment of a patient. Conventional cephalometric analysis identifies bony and soft-tissue landmarks in 2D cephalometric radiographs, in order to diagnose facial features and abnormalities prior to treatment, or to evaluate the progress of treatment. Recent studies in orthodontics indicate that there are persistent inaccuracies and inconsistencies in the results provided using conventional 2D cephalometric analysis. Obviously, plane geometry is inappropriate for analyzing anatomical volumes and their growth; only a 3D analysis is able to analyze the three-dimensional, anatomical maxillofacial complex, which requires computing inertia systems for individual or groups of digitally segmented teeth from an image volume of a patient's head. For the study of 3D cephalometric analysis, the current paper proposes a system for semi-automatically segmenting teeth from a cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) volume with two distinct features, including an intelligent user-input interface for automatic background seed generation, and a graphics processing unit (GPU) acceleration mechanism for three-dimensional GrowCut volume segmentation. Results show a satisfying average DICE score of 0.92, with the use of the proposed tooth segmentation system, by 15 novice users who segmented a randomly sampled tooth set. The average GrowCut processing time is around one second per tooth, excluding user interaction time.

Exercise reinforcement, stress, and β-endorphins: an initial examination of exercise in anabolic-androgenic steroid dependence.

PubMed

Hildebrandt, Tom; Shope, Sydney; Varangis, Eleanna; Klein, Diane; Pfaff, Donald W; Yehuda, Rachel

2014-06-01

Anabolic-androgenic steroids (AASs) are abused primarily in the context of intense exercise and for the purposes of increasing muscle mass as opposed to drug-induced euphoria. AASs also modulate the HPA axis and may increase the reinforcing value of exercise through changes to stress hormone and endorphin release. To test this hypothesis, 26 adult males drawn from a larger study on AAS use completed a progressive ratio task designed to examine the reinforcing value of exercise relative to financial reinforcer. Sixteen experienced and current users (8 on-cycle, 8 off-cycle) and 10 controls matched on quantity×frequency of exercise, age, and education abstained from exercise for 24 h prior to testing and provided 24-h cortisol, plasma cortisol, ACTH, β-endorphin samples, and measures of mood, compulsive exercise, and body image. Between group differences indicated that on-cycle AAS users had the highest β-endorphin levels, lowest cortisol levels, higher ACTH levels than controls. Conversely, off-cycle AAS users had the highest cortisol and ACTH levels, but the lowest β-endorphin levels. Exercise value was positively correlated with β-endorphin and symptoms of AAS dependence. The HPA response to AASs may explain why AASs are reinforcing in humans and exercise may play a key role in the development of AAS dependence. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

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

PubMed

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

2013-03-01

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

Characterizing Sleep Issues Using Twitter.

PubMed

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

2015-06-08

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

EarthCube - A Community-led, Interdisciplinary Collaboration for Geoscience Cyberinfrastructure

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dick, Cindy; Allison, Lee

2016-04-01

The US NSF EarthCube Test Enterprise Governance Project completed its initial two-year long process to engage the community and test a demonstration governing organization with the goal of facilitating a community-led process on designing and developing a geoscience cyberinfrastructure. Conclusions are that EarthCube is viable, has engaged a broad spectrum of end-users and contributors, and has begun to foster a sense of urgency around the importance of open and shared data. Levels of trust among participants are growing. At the same time, the active participants in EarthCube represent a very small sub-set of the larger population of geoscientists. Results from Stage I of this project have impacted NSF decisions on the direction of the EarthCube program. The overall tone of EarthCube events has had a constructive, problem-solving orientation. The technical and organizational elements of EarthCube are poised to support a functional infrastructure for the geosciences community. The process for establishing shared technological standards has notable progress but there is a continuing need to expand technological and cultural alignment. Increasing emphasis is being given to the interdependencies among EarthCube funded projects. The newly developed EarthCube Technology Plan highlights important progress in this area by five working groups focusing on: 1. Use cases; 2. Funded project gap analysis; 3. Testbed development; 4. Standards; and 5. Architecture. The EarthCube governance implementing processes to facilitate community convergence on a system architecture, which is expected to emerge naturally from a set of data principles, user requirements, science drivers, technology capabilities, and domain needs.

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

PubMed

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

2017-05-01

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

Marathon Group Therapy with Former Drug Users.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Page, Richard C.; Mannion, John

1980-01-01

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

A dual-user teleoperation system with Online Authority Adjustment for haptic training.

PubMed

Fei Liu; Leleve, Arnaud; Eberard, Damien; Redarce, Tanneguy

2015-08-01

This paper introduces a dual-user teleoperation system for hands-on medical training. A shared control based architecture is presented for authority management. In this structure, the combination of control signals is obtained using a dominance factor. Its main improvement is Online Authority Adjustment (OAA): the authority can be adjusted manually/automatically during the training progress. Experimental results are provided to validate the performances of the system.

THE BRAIN (The Harvard Experimental Basic Reckoning and Instructional Network)

DTIC Science & Technology

1968-10-01

shown to be flexible enough to be serviceable, at least initially, for most users. As the user grows in experience and his programs in...and firmly established of the two. The advance of science has been marked by a progressive and rapidly accelerating separation of observable...impossible for them to distinguish incorrect reasoning or calculation from errors in graphing. " The bridge crossed, the instrument grows more

Customer satisfaction at US Army Corps of Engineers-administered lakes: a compilation of two years of performance data

Treesearch

Robert C. Burns; Alan R. Graefe; John P. Titre

1998-01-01

The purpose of this paper was to demonstrate the application of a model which can be used to predict the overall customer satisfaction levels of water-based recreationists. Data were collected from two distinctly different user groups; boat ramp users and campground users. Results indicated that each user group had different satisfaction attributes that impacted their...

From the mouths of social media users: A focus group study exploring the social casino gaming-online gambling link.

PubMed

Kim, Hyoun S; Wohl, Michael J A; Gupta, Rina; Derevensky, Jeffrey

2016-03-01

Background and aims The potential link between social casino gaming and online gambling has raised considerable concerns among clinicians, researchers and policy makers. Unfortunately, however, there is a paucity of research examining this potential link, especially among young adults. This represents a significant gap given young adults are frequently exposed to and are players of social casino games. Methods To better understand the potential link between social casino games and online gambling, we conducted three focus groups (N = 30) at two large Canadian Universities with college students who were avid social media users (who are regularly exposed to social casino games). Results Many participants spontaneously mentioned that social casino games were a great opportunity to build gambling skills before playing for real money. Importantly, some participants expressed a belief that there is a direct progression from social casino gaming to online gambling. Conversely, others believed the transition to online gambling depended on a person's personality, rather than mere exposure to social casino games. While many young adults in our focus groups felt immune to the effects of social casino games, there was a general consensus that social casino games may facilitate the transition to online gambling among younger teenagers (i.e., 12-14 yr olds), due to the ease of accessibility and early exposure. Discussion The results of the present research point to the need for more study on the effects of social casino gambling as well as a discussion concerning regulation of social casino games in order to minimize their potential risks.

From the mouths of social media users: A focus group study exploring the social casino gaming–online gambling link

PubMed Central

Kim, Hyoun S.; Wohl, Michael J. A.; Gupta, Rina; Derevensky, Jeffrey

2016-01-01

Background and aims The potential link between social casino gaming and online gambling has raised considerable concerns among clinicians, researchers and policy makers. Unfortunately, however, there is a paucity of research examining this potential link, especially among young adults. This represents a significant gap given young adults are frequently exposed to and are players of social casino games. Methods To better understand the potential link between social casino games and online gambling, we conducted three focus groups (N = 30) at two large Canadian Universities with college students who were avid social media users (who are regularly exposed to social casino games). Results Many participants spontaneously mentioned that social casino games were a great opportunity to build gambling skills before playing for real money. Importantly, some participants expressed a belief that there is a direct progression from social casino gaming to online gambling. Conversely, others believed the transition to online gambling depended on a person’s personality, rather than mere exposure to social casino games. While many young adults in our focus groups felt immune to the effects of social casino games, there was a general consensus that social casino games may facilitate the transition to online gambling among younger teenagers (i.e., 12–14 yr olds), due to the ease of accessibility and early exposure. Discussion The results of the present research point to the need for more study on the effects of social casino gambling as well as a discussion concerning regulation of social casino games in order to minimize their potential risks. PMID:28092197

Transitioning hearing aid users with severe and profound loss to a new gain/frequency response: benefit, perception, and acceptance.

PubMed

Convery, Elizabeth; Keidser, Gitte

2011-03-01

Adults with severe and profound hearing loss tend to be long-term, full-time users of amplification who are highly reliant on their hearing aids. As a result of these characteristics, they are often reluctant to update their hearing aids when new features or signal-processing algorithms become available. Due to the electroacoustic constraints of older devices, many severely and profoundly hearing-impaired adults continue to wear hearing aids that provide more low- and mid-frequency gain and less high-frequency gain than would be prescribed by the National Acoustic Laboratories' revised formula with profound correction factor (NAL-RP). To investigate the effect of a gradual change in gain/frequency response on experienced hearing-aid wearers with moderately severe to profound hearing loss. Double-blind, randomized controlled trial. Twenty-three experienced adult hearing-aid users with severe and profound hearing loss participated in the study. Participants were selected for inclusion in the study if the gain/frequency response of their own hearing aids differed significantly from their NAL-RP prescription. Participants were assigned either to a control or to an experimental group balanced for aided ear three-frequency pure-tone average (PTA) and age. Participants were fitted with Siemens Artis 2 SP behind-the-ear (BTE) hearing aids that were matched to the gain/frequency response of their own hearing aids for a 65 dB SPL input level. The experimental group progressed incrementally to their NAL-RP targets over the course of 15 wk, while the control group maintained their initial settings throughout the study. Aided speech discrimination testing, loudness scaling, and structured questionnaires were completed at 3, 6, 9, 12, and 15 wk postfitting. A paired comparison between the old and new gain/frequency responses was completed at 1 and 15 wk postfitting. Statistical analysis was conducted to examine differences between the experimental and control groups and changes in objective performance and subjective perception over time. The results of the study showed that participants in the experimental group were subjectively accepting of the changes to their amplification characteristics, as evidenced by nonsignificant changes in the ratings of device performance over time. Perception of loudness, sound quality, speech intelligibility, and own voice volume did not change significantly throughout the study. Objectively, participants in the experimental group demonstrated poorer speech discrimination performance as the study progressed, although there was no change in objective loudness perception. According to the paired comparison, there was an overall subjective preference for the original gain/frequency response among all participants, although participants in the experimental group did show an increase in preference for the NAL-RP response by the end of the study. Based on the findings of this study, we suggest that undertaking a gradual change to a new gain/frequency response with severely and profoundly hearing-impaired adults is a feasible procedure. However, we recommend that clinicians select transition candidates carefully and initiate the procedure only if there is a clinical reason for doing so. A validated prescriptive formula should be used as a transition target, and speech discrimination performance should be monitored throughout the transition. American Academy of Audiology.

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

PubMed Central

Anass, M. Abbas; G. Ahmed, Hussain

2013-01-01

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

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

PubMed

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

2017-10-26

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

Perinatal Outcomes in Pregnant Women Users of Illegal Drugs.

PubMed

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

2016-04-01

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

A New Perspective for the Training Assessment: Machine Learning-Based Neurometric for Augmented User's Evaluation

PubMed Central

Borghini, Gianluca; Aricò, Pietro; Di Flumeri, Gianluca; Sciaraffa, Nicolina; Colosimo, Alfredo; Herrero, Maria-Trinidad; Bezerianos, Anastasios; Thakor, Nitish V.; Babiloni, Fabio

2017-01-01

Inappropriate training assessment might have either high social costs and economic impacts, especially in high risks categories, such as Pilots, Air Traffic Controllers, or Surgeons. One of the current limitations of the standard training assessment procedures is the lack of information about the amount of cognitive resources requested by the user for the correct execution of the proposed task. In fact, even if the task is accomplished achieving the maximum performance, by the standard training assessment methods, it would not be possible to gather and evaluate information about cognitive resources available for dealing with unexpected events or emergency conditions. Therefore, a metric based on the brain activity (neurometric) able to provide the Instructor such a kind of information should be very important. As a first step in this direction, the Electroencephalogram (EEG) and the performance of 10 participants were collected along a training period of 3 weeks, while learning the execution of a new task. Specific indexes have been estimated from the behavioral and EEG signal to objectively assess the users' training progress. Furthermore, we proposed a neurometric based on a machine learning algorithm to quantify the user's training level within each session by considering the level of task execution, and both the behavioral and cognitive stabilities between consecutive sessions. The results demonstrated that the proposed methodology and neurometric could quantify and track the users' progresses, and provide the Instructor information for a more objective evaluation and better tailoring of training programs. PMID:28659751

A New Perspective for the Training Assessment: Machine Learning-Based Neurometric for Augmented User's Evaluation.

PubMed

Borghini, Gianluca; Aricò, Pietro; Di Flumeri, Gianluca; Sciaraffa, Nicolina; Colosimo, Alfredo; Herrero, Maria-Trinidad; Bezerianos, Anastasios; Thakor, Nitish V; Babiloni, Fabio

2017-01-01

Inappropriate training assessment might have either high social costs and economic impacts, especially in high risks categories, such as Pilots, Air Traffic Controllers, or Surgeons. One of the current limitations of the standard training assessment procedures is the lack of information about the amount of cognitive resources requested by the user for the correct execution of the proposed task. In fact, even if the task is accomplished achieving the maximum performance, by the standard training assessment methods, it would not be possible to gather and evaluate information about cognitive resources available for dealing with unexpected events or emergency conditions. Therefore, a metric based on the brain activity ( neurometric ) able to provide the Instructor such a kind of information should be very important. As a first step in this direction, the Electroencephalogram (EEG) and the performance of 10 participants were collected along a training period of 3 weeks, while learning the execution of a new task. Specific indexes have been estimated from the behavioral and EEG signal to objectively assess the users' training progress. Furthermore, we proposed a neurometric based on a machine learning algorithm to quantify the user's training level within each session by considering the level of task execution, and both the behavioral and cognitive stabilities between consecutive sessions. The results demonstrated that the proposed methodology and neurometric could quantify and track the users' progresses, and provide the Instructor information for a more objective evaluation and better tailoring of training programs.

LLE 2010 Annual Report October 2009 - September 2010

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

None

2011-01-01

The fiscal year ending September 2010 (FY10) concluded the third year of the third five-year renewal of Cooperative Agreement DE-FC52-08NA28302 with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). This annual report summarizes progress in inertial fusion research at the Laboratory for Laser Energetics (LLE) during the past fiscal year including work on the National Ignition Campaign (NIC). It also reports on LLE's progress on laboratory basic science research; laser, optical materials, and advanced technology development; operation of OMEGA and OMEGA EP for the NIC and high-energy density (HED) campaigns, the National Laser Users Facility (NLUF), and for other external users; andmore » programs focusing on the education of high school, undergraduate, and graduate students during the year.« less

Aeropropulsion 1987. Session 5: Subsonic Propulsion Technology

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1987-01-01

NASA is conducting aeropropulsion research over a broad range of Mach numbers. In addition to the high-speed propulsion research described, major progress was recorded in research aimed at the subsonic flight regimes of interest to many commercial and military users. Recent progress and future directions in such areas as small engine technology, rotorcraft transmissions, icing, Hot Section Technology (HOST) and the Advanced Turboprop Program (ATP) are covered.

Aeropropulsion '87. Session 5: Subsonic propulsion technology

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

Not Available

1987-11-01

NASA is conducting aeropropulsion research over a broad range of Mach numbers. In addition to the high-speed propulsion research described, major progress was recorded in research aimed at the subsonic flight regimes of interest to many commercial and military users. Recent progress and future directions in such areas as small engine technology, rotorcraft transmissions, icing, Hot Section Technology (HOST) and the Advanced Turboprop Program (ATP) are covered.

Designing Unmanned Systems with Greater Autonomy: Using a Federated, Partially Open Systems Architecture Approach

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-01-01

system UAV unmanned aircraft vehicle UCI User -Computer Interface UCS UAS control segment Abbreviations xxix UGS unmanned ground system UGV unmanned ...made substantial progress in the deployment of more capable sensors, unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), and other unmanned systems (UxS). Innovative...progress in fielding more, and more capable unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) to meet the needs of warfighters

"I'm still me - I'm still here!" Understanding the person's sense of self in the provision of self-management support for people with progressive neurological long-term conditions.

PubMed

Kulnik, Stefan Tino; Hollinshead, Lucinda; Jones, Fiona

2018-01-11

There is increasing interest in tailoring self-management support, but little detail is available on the relevance and impact of such approaches for people with progressive neurological conditions. The aim of this study was to draw on individuals' experiences to inform the practice of self-management support for these groups. Community rehabilitation service users were purposively recruited and took part in in-depth qualitative interviews. Interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed. Data analysis was iterative and interpretative, taking a phenomenological approach. Strategies to enhance rigor were auditability, peer review, and researcher reflexivity. The sample consisted of 10 adults (age 20-79 years) who were living with a range of progressive neurological conditions. Individuals demonstrated resourcefulness in developing practice-based self-management strategies. Beyond practical strategies, interviewees' experiences were signified by reflecting on and upholding a sense of identity and a desire for purpose against the background of losses and gains over time. Linking with this overarching theme of "Sense of self" were aspects of "My body and mind", "Time", "Space", "Relationships", and "What I do". Self-management approaches for individuals with progressive neurological conditions will benefit from incorporating ways of recognizing, articulating, and supporting the person's sense of identity and purpose. Implications for rehabilitation Self-management approaches for people with progressive neurological conditions need to take account of individuals' wishes to contribute, connect with others, and be valued as a person. Person-centred self-management support can be realized through a broader approach than solely managing disease progression. The experiences and words of people with progressive neurological conditions can be used to inform meaningful evaluation of self-management support to drive service delivery by measuring what really matters. Rehabilitation practitioners need to adapt their conceptualisations of goal setting to account for how people with progressive neurological conditions themselves interpret "progress" and "improvement". Person-centred conversation that values who the person is can be an effective starting point for self-management interventions in people with progressive neurological conditions.

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

PubMed

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

2018-01-01

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

Graph State-Based Quantum Group Authentication Scheme

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

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

2017-02-01

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

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

PubMed

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

2016-01-30

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

Formation of an environmental restoration user group for radiological controls

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

Morris, R.L.

1993-12-31

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

Impaired arterial smooth muscle cell vasodilatory function in methamphetamine users.

PubMed

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

2016-11-15

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

ATR NSUF Instrumentation Enhancement Efforts

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

Joy L. Rempe; Mitchell K. Meyer; Darrell L. Knudson

A key component of the Advanced Test Reactor (ATR) National Scientific User Facility (NSUF) effort is to expand instrumentation available to users conducting irradiation tests in this unique facility. In particular, development of sensors capable of providing real-time measurements of key irradiation parameters is emphasized because of their potential to increase data fidelity and reduce posttest examination costs. This paper describes the strategy for identifying new instrumentation needed for ATR irradiations and the program underway to develop and evaluate new sensors to address these needs. Accomplishments from this program are illustrated by describing new sensors now available to users ofmore » the ATR NSUF. In addition, progress is reported on current research efforts to provide improved in-pile instrumentation to users.« less

Optical correction of refractive error for preventing and treating eye symptoms in computer users.

PubMed

Heus, Pauline; Verbeek, Jos H; Tikka, Christina

2018-04-10

Computer users frequently complain about problems with seeing and functioning of the eyes. Asthenopia is a term generally used to describe symptoms related to (prolonged) use of the eyes like ocular fatigue, headache, pain or aching around the eyes, and burning and itchiness of the eyelids. The prevalence of asthenopia during or after work on a computer ranges from 46.3% to 68.5%. Uncorrected or under-corrected refractive error can contribute to the development of asthenopia. A refractive error is an error in the focusing of light by the eye and can lead to reduced visual acuity. There are various possibilities for optical correction of refractive errors including eyeglasses, contact lenses and refractive surgery. To examine the evidence on the effectiveness, safety and applicability of optical correction of refractive error for reducing and preventing eye symptoms in computer users. We searched the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL); PubMed; Embase; Web of Science; and OSH update, all to 20 December 2017. Additionally, we searched trial registries and checked references of included studies. We included randomised controlled trials (RCTs) and quasi-randomised trials of interventions evaluating optical correction for computer workers with refractive error for preventing or treating asthenopia and their effect on health related quality of life. Two authors independently assessed study eligibility and risk of bias, and extracted data. Where appropriate, we combined studies in a meta-analysis. We included eight studies with 381 participants. Three were parallel group RCTs, three were cross-over RCTs and two were quasi-randomised cross-over trials. All studies evaluated eyeglasses, there were no studies that evaluated contact lenses or surgery. Seven studies evaluated computer glasses with at least one focal area for the distance of the computer screen with or without additional focal areas in presbyopic persons. Six studies compared computer glasses to other types of glasses; and one study compared them to an ergonomic workplace assessment. The eighth study compared optimal correction of refractive error with the actual spectacle correction in use. Two studies evaluated computer glasses in persons with asthenopia but for the others the glasses were offered to all workers regardless of symptoms. The risk of bias was unclear in five, high in two and low in one study. Asthenopia was measured as eyestrain or a summary score of symptoms but there were no studies on health-related quality of life. Adverse events were measured as headache, nausea or dizziness. Median asthenopia scores at baseline were about 30% of the maximum possible score.Progressive computer glasses versus monofocal glassesOne study found no considerable difference in asthenopia between various progressive computer glasses and monofocal computer glasses after one-year follow-up (mean difference (MD) change scores 0.23, 95% confidence interval (CI) -5.0 to 5.4 on a 100 mm VAS scale, low quality evidence). For headache the results were in favour of progressive glasses.Progressive computer glasses with an intermediate focus in the upper part of the glasses versus other glassesIn two studies progressive computer glasses with intermediate focus led to a small decrease in asthenopia symptoms (SMD -0.49, 95% CI -0.75 to -0.23, low-quality evidence) but not in headache score in the short-term compared to general purpose progressive glasses. There were similar small decreases in dizziness. At medium term follow-up, in one study the effect size was not statistically significant (SMD -0.64, 95% CI -1.40 to 0.12). The study did not assess adverse events.Another study found no considerable difference in asthenopia between progressive computer glasses and monofocal computer glasses after one-year follow-up (MD change scores 1.44, 95% CI -6.95 to 9.83 on a 100 mm VAS scale, very low quality evidence). For headache the results were inconsistent.Progressive computer glasses with far-distance focus in the upper part of the glasses versus other glassesOne study found no considerable difference in number of persons with asthenopia between progressive computer glasses with far-distance focus and bifocal computer glasses after four weeks' follow-up (OR 1.00, 95% CI 0.40 to 2.50, very low quality evidence). The number of persons with headache, nausea and dizziness was also not different between groups.Another study found no considerable difference in asthenopia between progressive computer glasses with far-distance focus and monofocal computer glasses after one-year follow-up (MD change scores -1.79, 95% CI -11.60 to 8.02 on a 100 mm VAS scale, very low quality evidence). The effects on headaches were inconsistent.One study found no difference between progressive far-distance focus computer glasses and trifocal glasses in effect on eyestrain severity (MD -0.50, 95% CI -1.07 to 0.07, very low quality evidence) or on eyestrain frequency (MD -0.75, 95% CI -1.61 to 0.11, very low quality evidence).Progressive computer glasses versus ergonomic assessment with habitual (computer) glassesOne study found that computer glasses optimised for individual needs reduced asthenopia sum score more than an ergonomic assessment and habitual (computer) glasses (MD -8.9, 95% CI -16.47 to -1.33, scale 0 to 140, very low quality evidence) but there was no effect on the frequency of eyestrain (OR 1.08, 95% CI 0.38 to 3.11, very low quality evidence).We rated the quality of the evidence as low or very low due to risk of bias in the included studies, inconsistency in the results and imprecision. There is low to very low quality evidence that providing computer users with progressive computer glasses does not lead to a considerable decrease in problems with the eyes or headaches compared to other computer glasses. Progressive computer glasses might be slightly better than progressive glasses for daily use in the short term but not in the intermediate term and there is no data on long-term follow-up. The quality of the evidence is low or very low and therefore we are uncertain about this conclusion. Larger studies with several hundreds of participants are needed with proper randomisation, validated outcome measurement methods, and longer follow-up of at least one year to improve the quality of the evidence.

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

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lee, Roderick L.

2008-01-01

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

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

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Duncan, Brean W.

1996-01-01

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

Heavy consumption of dental services among Finnish adults.

PubMed

Nihtilä, A; Widström, E; Elonheimo, O

2010-12-01

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

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

PubMed

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

2016-12-05

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

Support for Quality Assurance in End-User Systems.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Klepper, Robert; McKenna, Edward G.

1989-01-01

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

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

PubMed

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

2015-05-01

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

Rapid application design of an electronic clinical skills portfolio for undergraduate medical students.

PubMed

Dornan, Tim; Lee, Catherine; Stopford, Adam; Hosie, Liam; Maredia, Neil; Rector, Alan

2005-04-01

The aim was to find how to use information and communication technology to present the clinical skills content of an undergraduate medical curriculum. Rapid application design was used to develop the product, and technical action research was used to evaluate the development process. A clinician-educator, two medical students, two computing science masters students, two other project workers, and a hospital education informatics lead, formed a design team. A sample of stakeholders took part in requirements planning workshops and continued to advise the team throughout the project. A university hospital had many features that favoured fast, inexpensive, and successful system development: a clearly defined and readily accessible user group; location of the development process close to end-users; fast, informal communication; leadership by highly motivated and senior end-users; devolved authority and lack of any rigidly imposed management structure; cooperation of clinicians because the project drew on their clinical expertise to achieve scholastic goals; a culture of learning and involvement of highly motivated students. A detailed specification was developed through storyboarding, use case diagramming, and evolutionary prototyping. A very usable working product was developed within weeks. "SkillsBase" is a database web application using Microsoft Active Server Pages, served from a Microsoft Windows 2000 Server operating system running Internet Information Server 5.0. Graphing functionality is provided by the KavaChart applet. It presents the skills curriculum, provides a password-protected portfolio function, and offers training materials. The curriculum can be presented in several different ways to help students reflect on their objectives and progress towards achieving them. The reflective portfolio function is entirely private to each student user and allows them to document their progress in attaining skills, as judged by self, peer and tutor assessment, and examinations. Training materials include web links and materials developed locally using pedagogic principles developed by the SkillsBase team. Although the usability of SkillsBase has been proven, uptake of software that has arisen 'bottom-up' from within the curriculum has proved slow. We plan to incorporate the SkillsBase services into a more comprehensive virtual managed learning environment, anticipating that presenting the functionality in an environment that is routinely used by students and teachers will increase uptake and use.

Progress report of the IAU Commission 4 Working Group on Ephemeris Access and the comparison of high accuracy planetary ephemerides

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hilton, J. L.

2012-12-01

In September 2010 IAU Commission 4, Ephemerides, organized a working group to provide a recommendation for a preferred format for solar system ephemerides. The purpose of this recommendation is to provide easy access to a wide range of solar system ephemerides for users. The working group, chaired by Hilton, includes representatives from each of the major planetary ephemeris groups and representatives from the satellite and asteroid ephemeris communities. The working group has tentatively decided to recommend the SPK format developed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory's Navigation and Ancillary Information Facility for use with its SPICE Toolkit. Certain details, however, must still be resolved before a final recommendation is made by the working group. An update is also provided to ongoing analysis comparing the three high accuracy planetary ephemerides, DE421, EPM2008, and INPOP10a. The principal topics of this update are: replacing the INPOP08 ephemeris with the INPOP10a ephemeris, making the comparisons with respect to DE421 rather than DE405, and comparing the TT - TDB values determined in EPM2008 and INPOP10a with the Fairhead & Bretagnon (1990, A&A, 229, 240) model used in DE421 as T_eph.

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

PubMed Central

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

2018-01-01

Novel approaches are needed to address elevated tobacco use among people with schizophrenia. This exploratory study examined the frequency, timing, and type of communication about tobacco-related content on Twitter among users who self-identify as having schizophrenia compared with users from the general population. Over a 200-day period from January to July 2016, Twitter users who self-identify as having a schizophrenia spectrum disorder (n = 203) and a randomly selected group of general population control users (n = 173) posted 1,544,122 tweets. Communication frequency did not differ between groups. Tweets containing tobacco-related keywords were extracted. Twitter users with schizophrenia posted significantly more tweets containing any tobacco-related terms (mean = 3.74; SD = 16.3) compared with control users (mean = 0.82; SD = 1.8). A significantly greater proportion of Twitter users with schizophrenia (45%; n = 92) posted tweets containing any tobacco terms compared with control users (30%; n = 52). Schizophrenia users showed significantly greater odds of tweeting about tobacco compared with control users (OR = 1.99; 95% CI 1.29–3.07). These findings suggest that online communication about tobacco may parallel real world trends of elevated tobacco use observed among people with schizophrenia. By showing that Twitter users who self-identify as having schizophrenia discuss tobacco-related content online, popular social media could inform smoking cessation efforts targeting this at-risk group. PMID:28841509

Multicentre evaluation of music perception in adult users of Advanced Bionics cochlear implants.

PubMed

Adams, Doris; Ajimsha, Khalid Mohamed; Barberá, Manuel Tomás; Gazibegovic, Dzemal; Gisbert, Javier; Gómez, Justo; Raveh, Eyal; Rocca, Christine; Romanet, Philipe; Seebens, Yvonne; Zarowski, Andrzej

2014-01-01

To document musical listening and enjoyment in recipients of Advanced Bionics cochlear implants (CIs) and to compare musical perception in those using early coding strategies with subjects using the newer HiRes and HiRes 120 strategies. A questionnaire was completed by 136 adult subjects, including questions on the ability to identify specific musical features. The subjects were in three groups: those using early coding strategies (n = 29), HiRes (n = 59), and HiRes 120 (n = 48), and results were compared with a group of 84 normally hearing (NH) subjects. Of the CI users, 79% reported listening to music. The NH group rated listening frequency and enjoyment higher than the CI users. Thirty-five users reported that they sang and this group had significantly higher overall performance. There were no significant differences in overall perception of specific musical features among the strategy groups, though some individual questions showed significantly higher performance in the HiRes 120 users. Users of current CI technology show a high level of musical appreciation, though still significantly less than NH subjects. Frequency of listening and enjoyment were significantly correlated and active participation in musical activities, specifically singing, resulted in significantly higher overall performance scores.

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

PubMed

Chang, Kaowen Grace; Chien, Hungju

2017-07-05

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

Comparative Analysis of Tear Film Levels of Inflammatory Mediators in Contact Lens Users.

PubMed

Yüksel Elgin, Cansu; İskeleli, Güzin; Talaz, Serap; Akyol, Sibel

2016-04-01

To compare tear films levels of various inflammatory cytokines in asymptomatic contact lens (CL) users. CL users of rigid gas-permeable CLs (RGPCL) (group 1) or silicone hydrogel CLs (SiHCL) (group 2) were compared with non-CL-using healthy subjects (group 3). Tear samples were collected from subjects in each group after ensuring that there were no complications secondary to CL wear in the CL-wearing participants. Tear-film levels of interleukins (ILs)-1β, -6, and -8; granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) (using the Luminex method); and leukotriene B4 (LTB4) (using the ELISA method) were determined. Cytokine levels were compared among the three groups using analysis-of-variance (ANOVA) and Kruskall-Wallis tests. There were significant differences in concentrations of IL-1β, GM-CSF and LTB4 among the three groups (p = 0.002, p = 0.021 and p = 0.009, respectively), as shown by the Kruskall-Wallis test comparing all three groups for the three cytokines. There were no significant differences for IL-6 and IL-8 (p = 0.079 and 0.094, respectively) when all three groups were compared. There were substantial statistically significant differences between RGPCL users, SiHCL users and control subjects in levels of tear film cytokines. Although CL users were asymptomatic, changes in tear-film levels of several important inflammatory mediators revealed that a chronic inflammatory process occurs during CL wear.

Exploring the influence of service user involvement on health and social care services for cancer.

PubMed

Attree, Pamela; Morris, Sara; Payne, Sheila; Vaughan, Suzanne; Hinder, Susan

2011-03-01

Service user involvement in health and social care is a key policy driver in the UK. In cancer care it is central to developing services which are effective, responsive and accessible to patients. Cancer network partnership groups are set up to enable joint working between service users and health care professionals and to drive service improvements. The aim of this study was to explore the influence of the cancer network partnership groups' service user involvement activities on cancer care. This was a qualitative study involving documentary analysis and in-depth case studies of a sample of partnership groups. Five partnership groups were purposively selected as case studies from Macmillan regions across the UK; documents were collated from a further five groups. Forty people, including core group members and key stakeholders in cancer services, were interviewed. The evidence from this study suggests that cancer network partnership groups are at their most influential at 'grass roots' level - contributing to patient information resources, enhancing access to services, and improving care environments. While such improvements are undoubtedly important to patients, the groups' aim is to influence strategic changes, for example in cancer care commissioning or macro-level policy decision-making. The evolution of open, participatory relationships between service users and professionals, and recognition of the value of experiential knowledge are seen as key factors in influencing cancer care. The provision of dedicated resources to strengthen service user involvement activities is also vital. © 2010 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Optimizing Search and Ranking in Folksonomy Systems by Exploiting Context Information

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Abel, Fabian; Henze, Nicola; Krause, Daniel

Tagging systems enable users to annotate resources with freely chosen keywords. The evolving bunch of tag assignments is called folksonomy and there exist already some approaches that exploit folksonomies to improve resource retrieval. In this paper, we analyze and compare graph-based ranking algorithms: FolkRank and SocialPageRank. We enhance these algorithms by exploiting the context of tags, and evaluate the results on the GroupMe! dataset. In GroupMe!, users can organize and maintain arbitrary Web resources in self-defined groups. When users annotate resources in GroupMe!, this can be interpreted in context of a certain group. The grouping activity itself is easy for users to perform. However, it delivers valuable semantic information about resources and their context. We present GRank that uses the context information to improve and optimize the detection of relevant search results, and compare different strategies for ranking result lists in folksonomy systems.

Mindfulness impairments in individuals seeking treatment for substance use disorders.

PubMed

Dakwar, Elias; Mariani, John P; Levin, Frances R

2011-05-01

Mindfulness training may be an effective treatment for substance use disorders (SUDs). Little research has been done, however, on baseline levels of mindfulness in the substance using population. We investigated mindfulness levels using the Mindful Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS) in individuals presenting for substance use treatment, and compared polydrug vs. monodrug users, as well as investigated for differences between groups based on substance used, predicting that group means would fall below the mean obtained from a large national adult sample, that the different drug groups would have comparable scores, and that the polydrug users would have a significantly lower score than do monodrug users. We found that the means of most drug groups were below the national mean, and that the polydrug users had a lower score on the MAAS than did monodrug users (4 vs. 3.6, p = 0.04). We were also surprised to find that opiate users had a significantly higher score (4.31) than did users of other substances (p = 0.02). These results suggest that mindfulness deficits may be common in the substance using population, that there may be sub-groups in which these deficits are more pronounced, and that they may be a suitable focus of SUD treatment. These findings lend support to the ongoing development of mindfulness-based treatments for SUDs, and suggest that particular sub-groups may benefit more than others. Future research can aim at clarifying these deficits, and at elucidating their clinical relevance.

A Selective Group Authentication Scheme for IoT-Based Medical Information System.

PubMed

Park, YoHan; Park, YoungHo

2017-04-01

The technology of IoT combined with medical systems is expected to support advanced medical services. However, unsolved security problems, such as misuse of medical devices, illegal access to the medical server and so on, make IoT-based medical systems not be applied widely. In addition, users have a high burden of computation to access Things for the explosive growth of IoT devices. Because medical information is critical and important, but users have a restricted computing power, IoT-based medical systems are required to provide secure and efficient authentication for users. In this paper, we propose a selective group authentication scheme using Shamir's threshold technique. The property of selectivity gives the right of choice to users to form a group which consists of things users select and access. And users can get an access authority for those Things at a time. Thus, our scheme provides an efficient user authentication for multiple Things and conditional access authority for safe IoT-based medical information system. To the best of our knowledge, our proposed scheme is the first in which selectivity is combined with group authentication in IoT environments.

GMove: Group-Level Mobility Modeling Using Geo-Tagged Social Media.

PubMed

Zhang, Chao; Zhang, Keyang; Yuan, Quan; Zhang, Luming; Hanratty, Tim; Han, Jiawei

2016-08-01

Understanding human mobility is of great importance to various applications, such as urban planning, traffic scheduling, and location prediction. While there has been fruitful research on modeling human mobility using tracking data ( e.g. , GPS traces), the recent growth of geo-tagged social media (GeoSM) brings new opportunities to this task because of its sheer size and multi-dimensional nature. Nevertheless, how to obtain quality mobility models from the highly sparse and complex GeoSM data remains a challenge that cannot be readily addressed by existing techniques. We propose GMove, a group-level mobility modeling method using GeoSM data. Our insight is that the GeoSM data usually contains multiple user groups, where the users within the same group share significant movement regularity. Meanwhile, user grouping and mobility modeling are two intertwined tasks: (1) better user grouping offers better within-group data consistency and thus leads to more reliable mobility models; and (2) better mobility models serve as useful guidance that helps infer the group a user belongs to. GMove thus alternates between user grouping and mobility modeling, and generates an ensemble of Hidden Markov Models (HMMs) to characterize group-level movement regularity. Furthermore, to reduce text sparsity of GeoSM data, GMove also features a text augmenter. The augmenter computes keyword correlations by examining their spatiotemporal distributions. With such correlations as auxiliary knowledge, it performs sampling-based augmentation to alleviate text sparsity and produce high-quality HMMs. Our extensive experiments on two real-life data sets demonstrate that GMove can effectively generate meaningful group-level mobility models. Moreover, with context-aware location prediction as an example application, we find that GMove significantly outperforms baseline mobility models in terms of prediction accuracy.

GMove: Group-Level Mobility Modeling Using Geo-Tagged Social Media

PubMed Central

Zhang, Chao; Zhang, Keyang; Yuan, Quan; Zhang, Luming; Hanratty, Tim; Han, Jiawei

2017-01-01

Understanding human mobility is of great importance to various applications, such as urban planning, traffic scheduling, and location prediction. While there has been fruitful research on modeling human mobility using tracking data (e.g., GPS traces), the recent growth of geo-tagged social media (GeoSM) brings new opportunities to this task because of its sheer size and multi-dimensional nature. Nevertheless, how to obtain quality mobility models from the highly sparse and complex GeoSM data remains a challenge that cannot be readily addressed by existing techniques. We propose GMove, a group-level mobility modeling method using GeoSM data. Our insight is that the GeoSM data usually contains multiple user groups, where the users within the same group share significant movement regularity. Meanwhile, user grouping and mobility modeling are two intertwined tasks: (1) better user grouping offers better within-group data consistency and thus leads to more reliable mobility models; and (2) better mobility models serve as useful guidance that helps infer the group a user belongs to. GMove thus alternates between user grouping and mobility modeling, and generates an ensemble of Hidden Markov Models (HMMs) to characterize group-level movement regularity. Furthermore, to reduce text sparsity of GeoSM data, GMove also features a text augmenter. The augmenter computes keyword correlations by examining their spatiotemporal distributions. With such correlations as auxiliary knowledge, it performs sampling-based augmentation to alleviate text sparsity and produce high-quality HMMs. Our extensive experiments on two real-life data sets demonstrate that GMove can effectively generate meaningful group-level mobility models. Moreover, with context-aware location prediction as an example application, we find that GMove significantly outperforms baseline mobility models in terms of prediction accuracy. PMID:28163978

A Group Recommender System for Tourist Activities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Garcia, Inma; Sebastia, Laura; Onaindia, Eva; Guzman, Cesar

This paper introduces a method for giving recommendations of tourist activities to a group of users. This method makes recommendations based on the group tastes, their demographic classification and the places visited by the users in former trips. The group recommendation is computed from individual personal recommendations through the use of techniques such as aggregation, intersection or incremental intersection. This method is implemented as an extension of the e-Tourism tool, which is a user-adapted tourism and leisure application, whose main component is the Generalist Recommender System Kernel (GRSK), a domain-independent taxonomy-driven search engine that manages the group recommendation.

Sizing the cannabis market: a demand-side and user-specific approach in seven European countries.

PubMed

van Laar, Margriet; Frijns, Tom; Trautmann, Franz; Lombi, Linda

2013-06-01

Demand-based estimates of total cannabis consumption rarely consider differences among different user types and variation across countries. To describe cannabis consumption patterns and estimate annual consumption for different user types across EU Member States, a web survey in Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Sweden and United Kingdom (England & Wales) collected data on cannabis use patterns from 3,922 persons who had consumed cannabis at least once in the past year. They were classified into four groups based on their number of use days in the past 12 months: infrequent users or chippers (<11 days), occasional users (11-50 days), regular users (51-250 days) and intensive users (>250 days). User type specific data on typical amounts consumed were matched with data on numbers of users per user type estimated from existing population surveys, taking differences in mode of consumption, age and gender into account. Estimates were supplemented with data from populations of problem users to compensate for under coverage. Results showed remarkably consistent differences among user groups across countries. Both the average number of units consumed per typical use day and the average amount of cannabis consumed per unit increased across user types of increasing frequency of use. In all countries except Portugal, intensive users formed the smallest group of cannabis users but were responsible for the largest part of total annual cannabis consumption. Annual cannabis consumption varied across countries but confidence intervals were wide. Results are compared with previous estimates and discussed in the context of improving estimation methods.

“Thanks for Letting Us All Share Your Mammogram Experience Virtually”: Developing a Web-Based Hub for Breast Cancer Screening

PubMed Central

2017-01-01

Background The decision around whether to attend breast cancer screening can often involve making sense of confusing and contradictory information on its risks and benefits. The Word of Mouth Mammogram e-Network (WoMMeN) project was established to create a Web-based resource to support decision making regarding breast cancer screening. This paper presents data from our user-centered approach in engaging stakeholders (both health professionals and service users) in the design of this Web-based resource. Our novel approach involved creating a user design group within Facebook to allow them access to ongoing discussion between researchers, radiographers, and existing and potential service users. Objective This study had two objectives. The first was to examine the utility of an online user design group for generating insight for the creation of Web-based health resources. We sought to explore the advantages and limitations of this approach. The second objective was to analyze what women want from a Web-based resource for breast cancer screening. Methods We recruited a user design group on Facebook and conducted a survey within the group, asking questions about design considerations for a Web-based breast cancer screening hub. Although the membership of the Facebook group varied over time, there were 71 members in the Facebook group at the end point of analysis. We next conducted a framework analysis on 70 threads from Facebook and a thematic analysis on the 23 survey responses. We focused additionally on how the themes were discussed by the different stakeholders within the context of the design group. Results Two major themes were found across both the Facebook discussion and the survey data: (1) the power of information and (2) the hub as a place for communication and support. Information was considered as empowering but also recognized as threatening. Communication and the sharing of experiences were deemed important, but there was also recognition of potential miscommunication within online discussion. Health professionals and service users expressed the same broad concerns, but there were subtle differences in their opinions. Importantly, the themes were triangulated between the Facebook discussions and the survey data, supporting the validity of an online user design group. Conclusions Online user design groups afford a useful method for understanding stakeholder needs. In contrast to focus groups, they afford access to users from diverse geographical locations and traverse time constraints, allowing more follow-ups to responses. The use of Facebook provides a familiar and naturalistic setting for discussion. Although we acknowledge the limitations in the sample, this approach has allowed us to understand the views of stakeholders in the user-centered design of the WoMMeN hub for breast cancer screening. PMID:29079555

Quantitative Analysis Of User Interfaces For Large Electronic Home Appliances And Mobile Devices Based On Lifestyle Categorization Of Older Users.

PubMed

Shin, Wonkyoung; Park, Minyong

2017-01-01

Background/Study Context: The increasing longevity and health of older users as well as aging populations has created the need to develop senior-oriented product interfaces. This study aims to find user interface (UI) priorities according to older user groups based on their lifestyle and develop quality of UI (QUI) models for large electronic home appliances and mobile products. A segmentation table designed to show how older users can be categorized was created through a review of the literature to survey 252 subjects with a questionnaire. Factor analysis was performed to extract six preliminary lifestyle factors, which were then used for subsequent cluster analysis. The analysis resulted in four groups. Cross-analysis was carried out to investigate which characteristics were included in the groups. Analysis of variance was then applied to investigate the differences in the UI priorities among the user groups for various electronic devices. Finally, QUI models were developed and applied to those electronic devices. Differences in UI priorities were found according to the four lifestyles ("money-oriented," "innovation-oriented," "stability- and simplicity-oriented," and "innovation- and intellectual-oriented"). Twelve QUI models were developed for four different lifestyle groups associated with different products. Three washers and three smartphones were used as an example for testing the QUI models. The UI differences of the older user groups by the segmentation in this study using several key (i.e., demographic, socioeconomic, and physical-cognitive) variables are distinct from earlier studies made by a single variable. The differences in responses clearly indicate the benefits of integrating various factors of older users, rather than single variable, in order to design and develop more innovative and better consumer products in the future. The results of this study showed that older users with a potentially high buying power in the future are likely to have higher satisfaction when selecting products customized for their lifestyle. Designers could also use the results of UI evaluation for older users based on their lifestyle before developing products through QUI modeling. This approach would save time and costs.

Executive function deficits in short-term abstinent cannabis users.

PubMed

McHale, Sue; Hunt, Nigel

2008-07-01

Few cognitive tasks are adequately sensitive to show the small decrements in performance in abstinent chronic cannabis users. In this series of three experiments we set out to demonstrate a variety of tasks that are sufficiently sensitive to show differences in visual memory, verbal memory, everyday memory and executive function between controls and cannabis users. A series of three studies explored cognitive function deficits in cannabis users (phonemic verbal fluency, visual recognition and immediate and delayed recall, and prospective memory) in short-term abstinent cannabis users. Participants were selected using snowball sampling, with cannabis users being compared to a standard control group and a tobacco-use control group. The cannabis users, compared to both control groups, had deficits on verbal fluency, visual recognition, delayed visual recall, and short- and long-interval prospective memory. There were no differences for immediate visual recall. These findings suggest that cannabis use leads to impaired executive function. Further research needs to explore the longer term impact of cannabis use. Copyright 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

PubMed Interact: an Interactive Search Application for MEDLINE/PubMed

PubMed Central

Muin, Michael; Fontelo, Paul; Ackerman, Michael

2006-01-01

Online search and retrieval systems are important resources for medical literature research. Progressive Web 2.0 technologies provide opportunities to improve search strategies and user experience. Using PHP, Document Object Model (DOM) manipulation and Asynchronous JavaScript and XML (Ajax), PubMed Interact allows greater functionality so users can refine search parameters with ease and interact with the search results to retrieve and display relevant information and related articles. PMID:17238658

Status of Public Earthquake Early Warning in the U.S

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Given, D. D.

2013-12-01

Earthquake Early Warning (EEW) is a proven use of seismological science that can give people and businesses outside the epicentral area of a large earthquake up to a minute to take protective actions before the most destructive shaking hits them. Since 2006 several organizations have been collaborating to create such a system in the United States. These groups include the US Geological Survey, Caltech, UC Berkeley, the University of Washington, the Southern California Earthquake Center, the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zürich, the California Office of Emergency Services, and the California Geological Survey. A demonstration version of the system, called ShakeAlert, began sending test notifications to selected users in California in January 2012. In August 2012 San Francisco's Bay Area Rapid Transit district began slowing and stopping trains in response to strong ground shaking. The next step in the project is to progress to a production prototype for the west coast. The system is built on top of the considerable technical and organizational earthquake monitoring infrastructure of the Advanced National Seismic System (ANSS). While a fully functional, robust, public EEW system will require significant new investment and development in several major areas, modest progress is being made with current resources. First, high-quality sensors must be installed with sufficient density, particularly near source faults. Where possible, we are upgrading and augmenting the existing ANSS networks on the west coast. Second, data telemetry from those sensors must be engineered for speed and reliability. Next, robust central processing infrastructure is being designed and built. Also, computer algorithms to detect and characterize the evolving earthquake must be further developed and tested. Last year the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation funded USGS, Caltech, UCB and UW to accelerate R&D efforts. Every available means of distributing alerts must be used to insure the system's effectiveness. We have developed an internet-based UserDisplay application and a smartphone app based on Google Cloud Messaging. In addition, USGS has applied for authorization to alert over FEMA's Integrated Pubic Alert and Warning System. We are also working with private companies to develop alert distribution channels and end user implementation capabilities. Finally, because policy makers, institutional users, and the public must be educated about the system, social scientists and communicators are determining how to communicate the alerts most effectively. Progress is also being made in several related areas. Real-time GPS position data is becoming available on a large scale and algorithms are being developed to use these data to rapidly characterize the fault rupture as it propagates. New, advanced seismological and geodetic algorithms for the Cascadia megathrust and San Andreas fault are being developed. We are exploring public-private partnerships to develop commercial EEW applications. And Federal, State and local agencies are working out their roles and responsibilities in building, operating and educating users about the system. There is much more to be done and funding the creation and operation of this new capability is a challenge in the current budget climate. However, our goal is to build an EEW system before the next big earthquake rather than in its aftermath.

Relationship of credit attitude and debt to self-esteem and locus of control in college-age consumers.

PubMed

Pinto, Mary Beth; Mansfield, Phylis M; Parente, Diane H

2004-06-01

College-age consumers are one of the groups most highly targeted by credit card marketers. While some college students use their credit cards wisely, others are unable to control their spending. The objective of this study was to investigate differences in attitude toward credit cards and the psychological factors of self-esteem and locus of control among college students who possess one or more credit cards. Attitude was operationalized to include three underlying components: cognitive, affective, and behavioral. We separated credit users into subcategories based on amount of installment debt. Convenience users were defined as those consumers who paid the credit-card balance in full each month. Installment users were classified as consumers who carried a balance month-to-month. Convenience users were compared to mild and heavy installment users to assess significance of differences in attitudinal and psychological factors. There were no significant differences in the psychological factors across the credit-card user groups. In addition, there was a statistically significant difference on each of the attitude components (knowledge/beliefs, affect, and behavior) across user groups; convenience users, mild installment, and heavy installment users.

Understanding why users tag: A survey of tagging motivation literature and results from an empirical study.

PubMed

Strohmaier, Markus; Körner, Christian; Kern, Roman

2012-12-01

While recent progress has been achieved in understanding the structure and dynamics of social tagging systems, we know little about the underlying user motivations for tagging, and how they influence resulting folksonomies and tags. This paper addresses three issues related to this question. (1) What distinctions of user motivations are identified by previous research, and in what ways are the motivations of users amenable to quantitative analysis? (2) To what extent does tagging motivation vary across different social tagging systems? (3) How does variability in user motivation influence resulting tags and folksonomies? In this paper, we present measures to detect whether a tagger is primarily motivated by categorizing or describing resources, and apply these measures to datasets from seven different tagging systems. Our results show that (a) users' motivation for tagging varies not only across, but also within tagging systems, and that (b) tag agreement among users who are motivated by categorizing resources is significantly lower than among users who are motivated by describing resources . Our findings are relevant for (1) the development of tag-based user interfaces, (2) the analysis of tag semantics and (3) the design of search algorithms for social tagging systems.

Simple group password-based authenticated key agreements for the integrated EPR information system.

PubMed

Lee, Tian-Fu; Chang, I-Pin; Wang, Ching-Cheng

2013-04-01

The security and privacy are important issues for electronic patient records (EPRs). The goal of EPRs is sharing the patients' medical histories such as the diagnosis records, reports and diagnosis image files among hospitals by the Internet. So the security issue for the integrated EPR information system is essential. That is, to ensure the information during transmission through by the Internet is secure and private. The group password-based authenticated key agreement (GPAKE) allows a group of users like doctors, nurses and patients to establish a common session key by using password authentication. Then the group of users can securely communicate by using this session key. Many approaches about GAPKE employ the public key infrastructure (PKI) in order to have higher security. However, it not only increases users' overheads and requires keeping an extra equipment for storing long-term secret keys, but also requires maintaining the public key system. This investigation presents a simple group password-based authenticated key agreement (SGPAKE) protocol for the integrated EPR information system. The proposed SGPAKE protocol does not require using the server or users' public keys. Each user only remembers his weak password shared with a trusted server, and then can obtain a common session key. Then all users can securely communicate by using this session key. The proposed SGPAKE protocol not only provides users with convince, but also has higher security.

Toward a Progress Indicator for Machine Learning Model Building and Data Mining Algorithm Execution: A Position Paper.

PubMed

Luo, Gang

2017-12-01

For user-friendliness, many software systems offer progress indicators for long-duration tasks. A typical progress indicator continuously estimates the remaining task execution time as well as the portion of the task that has been finished. Building a machine learning model often takes a long time, but no existing machine learning software supplies a non-trivial progress indicator. Similarly, running a data mining algorithm often takes a long time, but no existing data mining software provides a nontrivial progress indicator. In this article, we consider the problem of offering progress indicators for machine learning model building and data mining algorithm execution. We discuss the goals and challenges intrinsic to this problem. Then we describe an initial framework for implementing such progress indicators and two advanced, potential uses of them, with the goal of inspiring future research on this topic.

Factors Influencing Progressive Failure Analysis Predictions for Laminated Composite Structure

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Knight, Norman F., Jr.

2008-01-01

Progressive failure material modeling methods used for structural analysis including failure initiation and material degradation are presented. Different failure initiation criteria and material degradation models are described that define progressive failure formulations. These progressive failure formulations are implemented in a user-defined material model for use with a nonlinear finite element analysis tool. The failure initiation criteria include the maximum stress criteria, maximum strain criteria, the Tsai-Wu failure polynomial, and the Hashin criteria. The material degradation model is based on the ply-discounting approach where the local material constitutive coefficients are degraded. Applications and extensions of the progressive failure analysis material model address two-dimensional plate and shell finite elements and three-dimensional solid finite elements. Implementation details are described in the present paper. Parametric studies for laminated composite structures are discussed to illustrate the features of the progressive failure modeling methods that have been implemented and to demonstrate their influence on progressive failure analysis predictions.

Toward a Progress Indicator for Machine Learning Model Building and Data Mining Algorithm Execution: A Position Paper

PubMed Central

Luo, Gang

2017-01-01

For user-friendliness, many software systems offer progress indicators for long-duration tasks. A typical progress indicator continuously estimates the remaining task execution time as well as the portion of the task that has been finished. Building a machine learning model often takes a long time, but no existing machine learning software supplies a non-trivial progress indicator. Similarly, running a data mining algorithm often takes a long time, but no existing data mining software provides a nontrivial progress indicator. In this article, we consider the problem of offering progress indicators for machine learning model building and data mining algorithm execution. We discuss the goals and challenges intrinsic to this problem. Then we describe an initial framework for implementing such progress indicators and two advanced, potential uses of them, with the goal of inspiring future research on this topic. PMID:29177022

A Small Disc Area Is a Risk Factor for Visual Field Loss Progression in Primary Open-Angle Glaucoma: The Glaucoma Stereo Analysis Study.

PubMed

Kitaoka, Yasushi; Tanito, Masaki; Yokoyama, Yu; Nitta, Koji; Katai, Maki; Omodaka, Kazuko; Nakazawa, Toru

2018-01-01

The Glaucoma Stereo Analysis Study, a cross-sectional multicenter collaborative study, used a stereo fundus camera (nonmyd WX) to assess various morphological parameters of the optic nerve head (ONH) in glaucoma patients. We compared the associations of each parameter between the visual field loss progression group and no-progression group. The study included 187 eyes of 187 patients with primary open-angle glaucoma or normal-tension glaucoma. We divided the mean deviation (MD) slope values of all patients into the progression group (<-0.3 dB/year) and no-progression group (≧-0.3 dB/year). ONH morphological parameters were calculated with prototype analysis software. The correlations between glaucomatous visual field progression and patient characteristics or each ONH parameter were analyzed with Spearman's rank correlation coefficient. The MD slope averages in the progression group and no-progression group were -0.58 ± 0.28 dB/year and 0.05 ± 0.26 dB/year, respectively. Among disc parameters, vertical disc width (diameter), disc area, cup area, and cup volume in the progression group were significantly less than those in the no-progression group. Logistic regression analysis revealed a significant association between the visual field progression and disc area (odds ratio 0.49/mm 2 disc area). A smaller disc area may be associated with more rapid glaucomatous visual field progression.

User Perceptions of the "Reliability" of Library Services at Texas A&M University: A Focus Group Study.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ho, Jeannette; Crowley, Gwyneth H.

2003-01-01

Explored user perceptions of dependability and accuracy of Texas A&M library services through focus groups. Reports user difficulties in locating materials, inaccurate catalog and circulation records, inadequate signage, searching the online catalog, and late notification of interlibrary loan arrivals; and discusses the library's efforts to…

Lightning Simulation and Design Program (LSDP)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Smith, D. A.

This computer program simulates a user-defined lighting configuration. It has been developed as a tool to aid in the design of exterior lighting systems. Although this program is used primarily for perimeter security lighting design, it has potential use for any application where the light can be approximated by a point source. A data base of luminaire photometric information is maintained for use with this program. The user defines the surface area to be illuminated with a rectangular grid and specifies luminaire positions. Illumination values are calculated for regularly spaced points in that area and isolux contour plots are generated. The numerical and graphical output for a particular site mode are then available for analysis. The amount of time spent on point-to-point illumination computation with this progress is much less than that required for tedious hand calculations. The ease with which various parameters can be interactively modified with the progress also reduces the time and labor expended. Consequently, the feasibility of design ideas can be examined, modified, and retested more thoroughly, and overall design costs can be substantially lessened by using this progress as an adjunct to the design process.

Thermal sensation, rate of temperature change, and the heat dissipation design for tablet computers.

PubMed

Zhang, Han; Hedge, Alan; Cosley, Daniel

2017-07-01

Past research has shown that the rate of change of skin surface temperature can affect thermal sensation. This study investigated users' thermal responses to a tablet heating surface with different heat pads and different temperature change rates. The test conditions included: A. keeping the surface at a constant 42 °C, B. increasing the surface temperature from 38 °C to 42 °C at a rate of 0.02 °C/s in progressive intervals, C. increasing the temperature at 0.15 °C/s in progressive intervals, and D. Heating two left and right side pads alternately from 38 °C to 42 °C at 0.15 °C/s in progressive intervals. Overall results showed the lowest temperature change rate of 0.02 °C/s was most preferred in terms of thermal comfort. The findings suggest a potential to improve user thermal experience by dissipating tablet computer heat at a lower temperature change rate, or by alternating the dissipation areas. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Three visualization approaches for communicating and exploring PIT tag data

USGS Publications Warehouse

Letcher, Benjamin; Walker, Jeffrey D.; O'Donnell, Matthew; Whiteley, Andrew R.; Nislow, Keith; Coombs, Jason

2018-01-01

As the number, size and complexity of ecological datasets has increased, narrative and interactive raw data visualizations have emerged as important tools for exploring and understanding these large datasets. As a demonstration, we developed three visualizations to communicate and explore passive integrated transponder tag data from two long-term field studies. We created three independent visualizations for the same dataset, allowing separate entry points for users with different goals and experience levels. The first visualization uses a narrative approach to introduce users to the study. The second visualization provides interactive cross-filters that allow users to explore multi-variate relationships in the dataset. The last visualization allows users to visualize the movement histories of individual fish within the stream network. This suite of visualization tools allows a progressive discovery of more detailed information and should make the data accessible to users with a wide variety of backgrounds and interests.

Application of remote sensing data to surveys of the Alaskan environment

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Belon, A. E.; Miller, J. M.

1974-01-01

Coupling of satellite data to resource management problems in Alaska is implemented through feasibility studies of applicability of Landsat data to specific environmental surveys in ecology, agriculture, hydrology, wildlife management, oceanography, geology, etc.; and using the results of these studies to extend the benefits of satellite data applications to the operational needs of mission-oriented agencies of federal, state, and regional governments, as well as private industry. Activities designed to encourage the participation of users in the Landsat program at levels most appropriate to the users' interests are described and include: observation, coordination, and information exchange; training courses and workshops; data exchange; consulting services; data processing services; user participation in University research projects; and university participation in the operational projects of user agencies. Progress in these areas is reported. The effectiveness of this broad-based approach in overcoming the initial apprehensiveness of users is demonstrated.

Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS): Initial Actions to Enhance Data Sharing to Meet Societal Needs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Adang, T.

2006-05-01

Over 60 nations and 50 participating organizations are working to make the Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS) a reality. The U.S. contribution to GEOSS is the Integrated Earth Observation System (IEOS), with a vision of enabling a healthy public, economy and planet through an integrated, comprehensive, and sustained Earth observation system. The international Group on Earth Observations (GEO) and the U.S. Group on Earth Observations have developed strategic plans for both GEOSS and IEOS, respectively, and are now working the first phases of implementation. Many of these initial actions are data architecture related and are being addressed by architecture and data working groups from both organizations - the GEO Architecture and Data Committee and the USGEO Architecture and Data Management Working Group. NOAA has actively participated in both architecture groups and has taken internal action to better support GEOSS and IEOS implementation by establishing the Global Earth Observation Integrated Data Environment (GEO IDE). GEO IDE provides a "system of systems" framework for effective and efficient integration of NOAA's many quasi-independent systems, which individually address diverse mandates in such areas resource management, weather forecasting, safe navigation, disaster response, and coastal mapping among others. GEO IDE will have a services oriented architecture, allowing NOAA Line Offices to retain a high level of independence in many of their data management decisions, and encouraging innovation in pursuit of their missions. Through GEO IDE, NOAA partners (both internal and external) will participate in a well-ordered, standards-based data and information infrastructure that will allow users to easily locate, acquire, integrate and utilize NOAA data and information. This paper describes the initial progress being made by GEO and USGEO architecture and data working groups, a status report on GEO IDE development within NOAA, and an assessment of how GEO IDE can facilitate greater progress in GEOSS and IEOS development.

Abnormal medial prefrontal cortex activity in heavy cannabis users during conscious emotional evaluation.

PubMed

Wesley, Michael J; Lile, Joshua A; Hanlon, Colleen A; Porrino, Linda J

2016-03-01

Long-term heavy cannabis users (cannabis users) who are not acutely intoxicated have diminished subconscious neural responsiveness to affective stimuli. This study sought to determine if abnormal processing extends to the conscious evaluation of emotional stimuli. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used to examine brain activity as cannabis users (N = 16) and non-cannabis-using controls (N = 17) evaluated and categorized standardized International Affective Picture System (IAPS) stimuli. Individual judgments were used to isolate activity during the evaluation of emotional (i.e., emotional evaluation) or neutral (i.e., neutral evaluation) stimuli. Within- and between-group analyses were performed. Both groups judged the same stimuli as emotional and had activations in visual, midbrain, and middle cingulate cortices during emotional evaluation, relative to neutral. Within-group analyses also revealed amygdalar and inferior frontal gyrus activations in controls, but not cannabis users, and medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) deactivations in cannabis users, but not controls, during emotional evaluation, relative to neutral. Between-group comparisons found that mPFC activity during positive and negative evaluation was significantly hypoactive in cannabis users, relative to controls. Abnormal neural processing of affective content extends to the level of consciousness in cannabis users. The hypoactive mPFC responses observed resembles the attenuated mPFC responses found during increased non-affective cognitive load in prior research. These findings suggest that abnormal mPFC singling in cannabis users during emotional evaluation might be associated with increased non-affective cognitive load.

Abnormal Medial Prefrontal Cortex Activity in Heavy Cannabis Users During Conscious Emotional Evaluation

PubMed Central

Lile, Joshua A.; Hanlon, Colleen A.; Porrino, Linda J.

2015-01-01

Rationale Long-term heavy cannabis users (cannabis users) who are not acutely intoxicated have diminished subconscious neural responsiveness to affective stimuli. Objective This study sought to determine if abnormal processing extends to the conscious evaluation of emotional stimuli. Methods Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) was used to examine brain activity as cannabis users (N=16) and non-cannabis using controls (N=17) evaluated and categorized standardized International Affective Picture System (IAPS) stimuli. Individual judgments were used to isolate activity during the evaluation of emotional (i.e., emotional evaluation) or neutral (i.e., neutral evaluation) stimuli. Within- and between-group analyses were performed. Results Both groups judged the same stimuli as emotional and had activations in visual, midbrain, and middle cingulate cortices during emotional evaluation, relative to neutral. Within-group analyses also revealed amygdalar and inferior frontal gyrus activations in controls, but not cannabis users, and medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) deactivations in cannabis users, but not controls, during emotional evaluation, relative to neutral. Between-group comparisons found that mPFC activity during positive and negative evaluation was significantly hypoactive in cannabis users, relative to controls. Conclusions Abnormal neural processing of affective content extends to the level of consciousness in cannabis users. The hypoactive mPFC responses observed resembles the attenuated mPFC responses found during increased non-affective cognitive load in prior research. These findings suggest that abnormal mPFC singling in cannabis users during emotional evaluation might be associated with increased non-affective cognitive load. PMID:26690589

Identifying and Tracing User Needs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

To, C.; Tauer, E.

2017-12-01

Providing adequate tools to the user community hinges on reaching the specific goals and needs behind the intended application of the tool. While the approach of leveraging user-supplied inputs and use cases to identify those goals is not new, there frequently remains the challenge of tracing those use cases through to implementation in an efficient and manageable fashion. Processes can become overcomplicated very quickly, and additionally, explicitly mapping progress towards the achievement of the user demands can become overwhelming when hundreds of use-cases are at play. This presentation will discuss a demonstrated use-case approach that has achieved an initial success with a tool re-design and deployment, the means to apply use cases in the generation of a roadmap for future releases over time, and the ability to include and adjust to new user requirements and suggestions with minimal disruption to the traceability. It is hoped that the findings and lessons learned will help make use case employment easier for others seeking to create user-targeted capabilities.

Cannabis Use in Adolescence and Young Adulthood

PubMed Central

Coffey, Carolyn

2016-01-01

The Victorian Adolescent Health Cohort Study (VAHCS) is a long-term Australian cohort study that has documented cannabis use in young Australians from the mid-teens to the mid-30s. The study findings have described the natural history of early cannabis use, remission, and escalation and the social and mental health consequences of different patterns of use. The adverse consequences of cannabis use are most clear-cut in heavy early adolescent users. These consequences include educational failure, persisting mental health problems, and progression to other substance use. For later onset and occasional users, the risks are lower and appear to entail modest elevations in risk for other drug use compared with never users. With growing evidence of health consequences, there is a strong case for actions around early heavy adolescent users. Prevention of early use, identification and treatment of early heavy users, and harm reduction through diversion of early heavy users away from the custodial justice system into health care are all priority responses. PMID:27254840

Facilitating the exploitation of ERTS-1 imagery using snow enhancement techniques. [geological fault maps of Massachusetts and Connecticut

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wobber, F. J. (Principal Investigator); Martin, K. R.; Amato, R. V.; Leshendok, T.

1973-01-01

The author has identified the following significant results. The applications of ERTS-1 imagery for geological fracture mapping regardless of season has been repeatedly confirmed. The enhancement provided by a differential cover of snow increases the number and length of fracture-lineaments which can be detected with ERTS-1 data and accelerates the fracture mapping process for a variety of practical applications. The geological mapping benefits of the program will be realized in geographic areas where data are most needed - complex glaciated terrain and areas of deep residual soils. ERTS-1 derived fracture-lineament maps which provide detail well in excess of existing geological maps are not available in the Massachusetts-Connecticut area. The large quantity of new data provided by ERTS-1 may accelerate and improve field mapping now in progress in the area. Numerous other user groups have requested data on the techniques. This represents a major change in operating philosophy for groups who to data judged that snow obscured geological detail.

COINS: A composites information database system

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Siddiqi, Shahid; Vosteen, Louis F.; Edlow, Ralph; Kwa, Teck-Seng

1992-01-01

An automated data abstraction form (ADAF) was developed to collect information on advanced fabrication processes and their related costs. The information will be collected for all components being fabricated as part of the ACT program and include in a COmposites INformation System (COINS) database. The aim of the COINS development effort is to provide future airframe preliminary design and fabrication teams with a tool through which production cost can become a deterministic variable in the design optimization process. The effort was initiated by the Structures Technology Program Office (STPO) of the NASA LaRC to implement the recommendations of a working group comprised of representatives from the commercial airframe companies. The principal working group recommendation was to re-institute collection of composite part fabrication data in a format similar to the DOD/NASA Structural Composites Fabrication Guide. The fabrication information collection form was automated with current user friendly computer technology. This work in progress paper describes the new automated form and features that make the form easy to use by an aircraft structural design-manufacturing team.

Establishing a group of endpoints to support collective operations without specifying unique identifiers for any endpoints

DOEpatents

Archer, Charles J.; Blocksom, Michael A.; Ratterman, Joseph D.; Smith, Brian E.; Xue, Hanghon

2016-02-02

A parallel computer executes a number of tasks, each task includes a number of endpoints and the endpoints are configured to support collective operations. In such a parallel computer, establishing a group of endpoints receiving a user specification of a set of endpoints included in a global collection of endpoints, where the user specification defines the set in accordance with a predefined virtual representation of the endpoints, the predefined virtual representation is a data structure setting forth an organization of tasks and endpoints included in the global collection of endpoints and the user specification defines the set of endpoints without a user specification of a particular endpoint; and defining a group of endpoints in dependence upon the predefined virtual representation of the endpoints and the user specification.

Establishing a group of endpoints in a parallel computer

DOEpatents

Archer, Charles J.; Blocksome, Michael A.; Ratterman, Joseph D.; Smith, Brian E.; Xue, Hanhong

2016-02-02

A parallel computer executes a number of tasks, each task includes a number of endpoints and the endpoints are configured to support collective operations. In such a parallel computer, establishing a group of endpoints receiving a user specification of a set of endpoints included in a global collection of endpoints, where the user specification defines the set in accordance with a predefined virtual representation of the endpoints, the predefined virtual representation is a data structure setting forth an organization of tasks and endpoints included in the global collection of endpoints and the user specification defines the set of endpoints without a user specification of a particular endpoint; and defining a group of endpoints in dependence upon the predefined virtual representation of the endpoints and the user specification.

Advanced light source: Compendium of user abstracts and technical reports,1993-1996

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

None, None

1997-04-01

This compendium contains abstracts written by users summarizing research completed or in progress from 1993-1996, ALS technical reports describing ongoing efforts related to improvement in machine operations and research and development projects, and information on ALS beamlines planned through 1998. Two tables of contents organize the user abstracts by beamline and by area of research, and an author index makes abstracts accessible by author and by principal investigator. Technical details for each beamline including whom to contact for additional information can be found in the beamline information section. Separate abstracts have been indexed into the database for contributions to thismore » compendium.« less

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

PubMed

Padir, Taşkin; Skorinko, Jeanine; Dimitrov, Velin

2015-01-01

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

CALIL.JP, a new web service that provides one-stop searching of Japan-wide libraries' collections

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yoshimoto, Ryuuji

Calil.JP is a new free online service that enables federated searching, marshalling and integration of Web-OPAC data on the collections of libraries from around Japan. It offers the search results through user-friendly interface. Developed with a concept of accelerating discovery of fun-to-read books and motivating users to head for libraries, Calil was initially designed mainly for public library users. It now extends to cover university libraries and special libraries. This article presents the Calil's basic capabilities, concept, progress made thus far, and plan for further development as viewed from an engineering development manager.

Analysis Tools in Geant4 10.2 and 10.3

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hřivnáčová, I.; Barrand, G.

2017-10-01

A new analysis category based on g4tools was added in Geant4 release 9.5 (2011). The aim was to provide users with a lightweight analysis tool available as part of the Geant4 installation without the need to link to an external analysis package. It has progressively been included in all Geant4 examples. Frequent questions in the Geant4 users forum show its increasing popularity in the Geant4 users community. In this presentation, we will give a brief overview of g4tools and the analysis category. We report on new developments since our CHEP 2013 contribution as well as mention upcoming new features.

MUST - An integrated system of support tools for research flight software engineering. [Multipurpose User-oriented Software Technology

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Straeter, T. A.; Foudriat, E. C.; Will, R. W.

1977-01-01

The objectives of NASA's MUST (Multipurpose User-oriented Software Technology) program at Langley Research Center are to cut the cost of producing software which effectively utilizes digital systems for flight research. These objectives will be accomplished by providing an integrated system of support software tools for use throughout the research flight software development process. A description of the overall MUST program and its progress toward the release of a first MUST system will be presented. This release includes: a special interactive user interface, a library of subroutines, assemblers, a compiler, automatic documentation tools, and a test and simulation system.

A Privacy-Preserving Platform for User-Centric Quantitative Benchmarking

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Herrmann, Dominik; Scheuer, Florian; Feustel, Philipp; Nowey, Thomas; Federrath, Hannes

We propose a centralised platform for quantitative benchmarking of key performance indicators (KPI) among mutually distrustful organisations. Our platform offers users the opportunity to request an ad-hoc benchmarking for a specific KPI within a peer group of their choice. Architecture and protocol are designed to provide anonymity to its users and to hide the sensitive KPI values from other clients and the central server. To this end, we integrate user-centric peer group formation, exchangeable secure multi-party computation protocols, short-lived ephemeral key pairs as pseudonyms, and attribute certificates. We show by empirical evaluation of a prototype that the performance is acceptable for reasonably sized peer groups.

The Generic Short Patient Experiences Questionnaire (GS-PEQ): identification of core items from a survey in Norway

PubMed Central

2011-01-01

Background Questionnaires are commonly used to collect patient, or user, experiences with health care encounters; however, their adaption to specific target groups limits comparison between groups. We present the construction of a generic questionnaire (maximum of ten questions) for user evaluation across a range of health care services. Methods Based on previous testing of six group-specific questionnaires, we first constructed a generic questionnaire with 23 items related to user experiences. All questions included a "not applicable" response option, as well as a follow-up question about the item's importance. Nine user groups from one health trust were surveyed. Seven groups received questionnaires by mail and two by personal distribution. Selection of core questions was based on three criteria: applicability (proportion "not applicable"), importance (mean scores on follow-up questions), and comprehensiveness (content coverage, maximum two items per dimension). Results 1324 questionnaires were returned providing subsample sizes ranging from 52 to 323. Ten questions were excluded because the proportion of "not applicable" responses exceeded 20% in at least one user group. The number of remaining items was reduced to ten by applying the two other criteria. The final short questionnaire included items on outcome (2), clinician services (2), user involvement (2), incorrect treatment (1), information (1), organisation (1), and accessibility (1). Conclusion The Generic Short Patient Experiences Questionnaire (GS-PEQ) is a short, generic set of questions on user experiences with specialist health care that covers important topics for a range of groups. It can be used alone or with other instruments in quality assessment or in research. The psychometric properties and the relevance of the GS-PEQ in other health care settings and countries need further evaluation. PMID:21510871

Image transfer protocol in progressively increasing resolution

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Percival, Jeffrey W. (Inventor); White, Richard L. (Inventor)

1999-01-01

A method of transferring digital image data over a communication link transforms and orders the data so that, as data is received by a receiving station, a low detail version of the image is immediately generated with later transmissions of data providing progressively greater detail in this image. User instructions are accepted, limiting the ultimate resolution of the image or suspending enhancement of the image except in certain user defined regions. When a low detail image is requested followed by a request for a high detailed version of the same image, the originally transmitted data of the low resolution image is not discarded or retransmitted but used with later data to improve the originally transmitted image. Only a single copy of the transformed image need be retained by the transmitting device in order to satisfy requests for different amounts of image detail.

Simplified programming and control of automated radiosynthesizers through unit operations.

PubMed

Claggett, Shane B; Quinn, Kevin M; Lazari, Mark; Moore, Melissa D; van Dam, R Michael

2013-07-15

Many automated radiosynthesizers for producing positron emission tomography (PET) probes provide a means for the operator to create custom synthesis programs. The programming interfaces are typically designed with the engineer rather than the radiochemist in mind, requiring lengthy programs to be created from sequences of low-level, non-intuitive hardware operations. In some cases, the user is even responsible for adding steps to update the graphical representation of the system. In light of these unnecessarily complex approaches, we have created software to perform radiochemistry on the ELIXYS radiosynthesizer with the goal of being intuitive and easy to use. Radiochemists were consulted, and a wide range of radiosyntheses were analyzed to determine a comprehensive set of basic chemistry unit operations. Based around these operations, we created a software control system with a client-server architecture. In an attempt to maximize flexibility, the client software was designed to run on a variety of portable multi-touch devices. The software was used to create programs for the synthesis of several 18F-labeled probes on the ELIXYS radiosynthesizer, with [18F]FDG detailed here. To gauge the user-friendliness of the software, program lengths were compared to those from other systems. A small sample group with no prior radiosynthesizer experience was tasked with creating and running a simple protocol. The software was successfully used to synthesize several 18F-labeled PET probes, including [18F]FDG, with synthesis times and yields comparable to literature reports. The resulting programs were significantly shorter and easier to debug than programs from other systems. The sample group of naive users created and ran a simple protocol within a couple of hours, revealing a very short learning curve. The client-server architecture provided reliability, enabling continuity of the synthesis run even if the computer running the client software failed. The architecture enabled a single user to control the hardware while others observed the run in progress or created programs for other probes. We developed a novel unit operation-based software interface to control automated radiosynthesizers that reduced the program length and complexity and also exhibited a short learning curve. The client-server architecture provided robustness and flexibility.

Simplified programming and control of automated radiosynthesizers through unit operations

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background Many automated radiosynthesizers for producing positron emission tomography (PET) probes provide a means for the operator to create custom synthesis programs. The programming interfaces are typically designed with the engineer rather than the radiochemist in mind, requiring lengthy programs to be created from sequences of low-level, non-intuitive hardware operations. In some cases, the user is even responsible for adding steps to update the graphical representation of the system. In light of these unnecessarily complex approaches, we have created software to perform radiochemistry on the ELIXYS radiosynthesizer with the goal of being intuitive and easy to use. Methods Radiochemists were consulted, and a wide range of radiosyntheses were analyzed to determine a comprehensive set of basic chemistry unit operations. Based around these operations, we created a software control system with a client–server architecture. In an attempt to maximize flexibility, the client software was designed to run on a variety of portable multi-touch devices. The software was used to create programs for the synthesis of several 18F-labeled probes on the ELIXYS radiosynthesizer, with [18F]FDG detailed here. To gauge the user-friendliness of the software, program lengths were compared to those from other systems. A small sample group with no prior radiosynthesizer experience was tasked with creating and running a simple protocol. Results The software was successfully used to synthesize several 18F-labeled PET probes, including [18F]FDG, with synthesis times and yields comparable to literature reports. The resulting programs were significantly shorter and easier to debug than programs from other systems. The sample group of naive users created and ran a simple protocol within a couple of hours, revealing a very short learning curve. The client–server architecture provided reliability, enabling continuity of the synthesis run even if the computer running the client software failed. The architecture enabled a single user to control the hardware while others observed the run in progress or created programs for other probes. Conclusions We developed a novel unit operation-based software interface to control automated radiosynthesizers that reduced the program length and complexity and also exhibited a short learning curve. The client–server architecture provided robustness and flexibility. PMID:23855995

Deep Interactive Learning with Sharkzor

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

None

Sharkzor is a web application for machine-learning assisted image sort and summary. Deep learning algorithms are leveraged to infer, augment, and automate the user’s mental model. Initially, images uploaded by the user are spread out on a canvas. The user then interacts with the images to impute their mental model into the applications algorithmic underpinnings. Methods of interaction within Sharkzor’s user interface and user experience support three primary user tasks: triage, organize and automate. The user triages the large pile of overlapping images by moving images of interest into proximity. The user then organizes said images into meaningful groups. Aftermore » interacting with the images and groups, deep learning helps to automate the user’s interactions. The loop of interaction, automation, and response by the user allows the system to quickly make sense of large amounts of data.« less

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

PubMed

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

2017-11-01

Novel approaches are needed to address elevated tobacco use among people with schizophrenia. This exploratory study examined the frequency, timing, and type of communication about tobacco-related content on Twitter among users who self-identify as having schizophrenia compared with users from the general population. Over a 200-day period from January to July 2016, Twitter users who self-identify as having a schizophrenia spectrum disorder (n = 203) and a randomly selected group of general population control users (n = 173) posted 1,544,122 tweets. Communication frequency did not differ between groups. Tweets containing tobacco-related keywords were extracted. Twitter users with schizophrenia posted significantly more tweets containing any tobacco-related terms (mean = 3.74; SD = 16.3) compared with control users (mean = 0.82; SD = 1.8). A significantly greater proportion of Twitter users with schizophrenia (45%; n = 92) posted tweets containing any tobacco terms compared with control users (30%; n = 52). Schizophrenia users showed significantly greater odds of tweeting about tobacco compared with control users (OR = 1.99; 95% CI 1.29-3.07). These findings suggest that online communication about tobacco may parallel real world trends of elevated tobacco use observed among people with schizophrenia. By showing that Twitter users who self-identify as having schizophrenia discuss tobacco-related content online, popular social media could inform smoking cessation efforts targeting this at-risk group. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Time Is Money: The Decision Making of Smartphone High Users in Gain and Loss Intertemporal Choice.

PubMed

Tang, Zixuan; Zhang, Huijun; Yan, An; Qu, Chen

2017-01-01

Nowadays the smartphone plays an important role in our lives. While it brings us convenience and efficiency, its overuse can cause problems. Although a great number of studies have demonstrated that people affected by substance abuse, pathological gambling, and internet addiction disorder have lower self-control than average, scarcely any study has investigated the decision making of smartphone high users by using a behavioral paradigm. The present study employed an intertemporal task, the Smartphone Addiction Inventory (SPAI) and the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale 11th version (BIS-11) to explore the decision control of smartphone high users in a sample of 125 college students. Participants were divided into three groups according to their SPAI scores. The upper third (69 or higher), middle third (from 61 to 68) and lower third (60 or lower) of scores were defined as high smartphone users, medium users and low users, respectively. We compared the percentage of small immediate reward/penalty choices in different conditions between the three groups. Relative to the low users group, high users and medium users were more inclined to request an immediate monetary reward. Moreover, for the two dimensions of time and money in intertemporal choice, high users and medium users showed a bias in intertemporal choice task among most of the time points and value magnitude compared to low users. These findings demonstrated that smartphone overuse was associated with problematic decision-making, a pattern similar to that seen in persons affected by a variety of addictions.

Depression, impulsiveness, sleep, and memory in past and present polydrug users of 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA, ecstasy).

PubMed

Taurah, Lynn; Chandler, Chris; Sanders, Geoff

2014-02-01

Ecstasy (3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine, MDMA) is a worldwide recreational drug of abuse. Unfortunately, the results from human research investigating its psychological effects have been inconsistent. The present study aimed to be the largest to date in sample size and 5HT-related behaviors; the first to compare present ecstasy users with past users after an abstinence of 4 or more years, and the first to include robust controls for other recreational substances. A sample of 997 participants (52 % male) was recruited to four control groups (non-drug (ND), alcohol/nicotine (AN), cannabis/alcohol/nicotine (CAN), non-ecstasy polydrug (PD)), and two ecstasy polydrug groups (present (MDMA) and past users (EX-MDMA). Participants completed a drug history questionnaire, Beck Depression Inventory, Barratt Impulsiveness Scale, Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, and Wechsler Memory Scale-Revised which, in total, provided 13 psychometric measures. While the CAN and PD groups tended to record greater deficits than the non-drug controls, the MDMA and EX-MDMA groups recorded greater deficits than all the control groups on ten of the 13 psychometric measures. Strikingly, despite prolonged abstinence (mean, 4.98; range, 4-9 years), past ecstasy users showed few signs of recovery. Compared with present ecstasy users, the past users showed no change for ten measures, increased impairment for two measures, and improvement on just one measure. Given this record of impaired memory and clinically significant levels of depression, impulsiveness, and sleep disturbance, the prognosis for the current generation of ecstasy users is a major cause for concern.

OAP- OFFICE AUTOMATION PILOT GRAPHICS DATABASE SYSTEM

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ackerson, T.

1994-01-01

The Office Automation Pilot (OAP) Graphics Database system offers the IBM PC user assistance in producing a wide variety of graphs and charts. OAP uses a convenient database system, called a chartbase, for creating and maintaining data associated with the charts, and twelve different graphics packages are available to the OAP user. Each of the graphics capabilities is accessed in a similar manner. The user chooses creation, revision, or chartbase/slide show maintenance options from an initial menu. The user may then enter or modify data displayed on a graphic chart. The cursor moves through the chart in a "circular" fashion to facilitate data entries and changes. Various "help" functions and on-screen instructions are available to aid the user. The user data is used to generate the graphics portion of the chart. Completed charts may be displayed in monotone or color, printed, plotted, or stored in the chartbase on the IBM PC. Once completed, the charts may be put in a vector format and plotted for color viewgraphs. The twelve graphics capabilities are divided into three groups: Forms, Structured Charts, and Block Diagrams. There are eight Forms available: 1) Bar/Line Charts, 2) Pie Charts, 3) Milestone Charts, 4) Resources Charts, 5) Earned Value Analysis Charts, 6) Progress/Effort Charts, 7) Travel/Training Charts, and 8) Trend Analysis Charts. There are three Structured Charts available: 1) Bullet Charts, 2) Organization Charts, and 3) Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) Charts. The Block Diagram available is an N x N Chart. Each graphics capability supports a chartbase. The OAP graphics database system provides the IBM PC user with an effective means of managing data which is best interpreted as a graphic display. The OAP graphics database system is written in IBM PASCAL 2.0 and assembler for interactive execution on an IBM PC or XT with at least 384K of memory, and a color graphics adapter and monitor. Printed charts require an Epson, IBM, OKIDATA, or HP Laser printer (or equivalent). Plots require the Tektronix 4662 Penplotter. Source code is supplied to the user for modification and customizing. Executables are also supplied for all twelve graphics capabilities. This system was developed in 1983, and Version 3.1 was released in 1986.

A Collaborative Brain-Computer Interface for Improving Human Performance

PubMed Central

Wang, Yijun; Jung, Tzyy-Ping

2011-01-01

Electroencephalogram (EEG) based brain-computer interfaces (BCI) have been studied since the 1970s. Currently, the main focus of BCI research lies on the clinical use, which aims to provide a new communication channel to patients with motor disabilities to improve their quality of life. However, the BCI technology can also be used to improve human performance for normal healthy users. Although this application has been proposed for a long time, little progress has been made in real-world practices due to technical limits of EEG. To overcome the bottleneck of low single-user BCI performance, this study proposes a collaborative paradigm to improve overall BCI performance by integrating information from multiple users. To test the feasibility of a collaborative BCI, this study quantitatively compares the classification accuracies of collaborative and single-user BCI applied to the EEG data collected from 20 subjects in a movement-planning experiment. This study also explores three different methods for fusing and analyzing EEG data from multiple subjects: (1) Event-related potentials (ERP) averaging, (2) Feature concatenating, and (3) Voting. In a demonstration system using the Voting method, the classification accuracy of predicting movement directions (reaching left vs. reaching right) was enhanced substantially from 66% to 80%, 88%, 93%, and 95% as the numbers of subjects increased from 1 to 5, 10, 15, and 20, respectively. Furthermore, the decision of reaching direction could be made around 100–250 ms earlier than the subject's actual motor response by decoding the ERP activities arising mainly from the posterior parietal cortex (PPC), which are related to the processing of visuomotor transmission. Taken together, these results suggest that a collaborative BCI can effectively fuse brain activities of a group of people to improve the overall performance of natural human behavior. PMID:21655253

Development and feasibility of Inlife: A pilot study of an online social support intervention for informal caregivers of people with dementia.

PubMed

Dam, Alieske E H; van Boxtel, Martin P J; Rozendaal, Nico; Verhey, Frans R J; de Vugt, Marjolein E

2017-01-01

Informal caregivers of individuals with dementia have an increased risk to face social isolation due to progression of the disease. Online social media interventions might offer a new opportunity to increase access to social support and enhance positive interactions and openness in dementia care networks. This explorative pilot study describes (1) the development of an online social support intervention Inlife, and (2) the evaluation of the feasibility of this intervention and the measurements to assess its effectiveness. The Medical Research Council (MRC) framework guided the development of the online social support intervention. This is a stepwise approach that integrates potential users' views with the development and validation of the program content. The program was developed by combining (1) individual caregiver interviews (n = 10), (2) focus group sessions with experts and web designers (n = 6), and (3) individual think-aloud tests (n = 2). Subsequently, a pilot study with informal caregivers was conducted (n = 25) to examine the program's feasibility and preliminary effectiveness. Online self-report measures were completed at baseline and at four follow-up time points. In total, 23 participants completed the newly developed Inlife intervention. Despite the high number of low-active users (17/23, 73%), Inlife had a good feasibility score of 7.1 (range: 1-10). The Calendar and Timeline were used most frequently and contributed to better care coordination and positive interactions. Although the Inlife platform received a sufficient feasibility rating, the uptake was not optimal. Therefore, the Inlife platform was adapted to limit the number of low-active users and improve user friendliness. Recommendations for additional treatment adherence were provided. The development according to the MRC framework and the sufficient feasibility rating of Inlife formed the basis for a future effectiveness study.

Local knowledge and perception of biological soil crusts by land users in the Sahel (Niger)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

J-M Ambouta, K.; Hassan Souley, B.; Malam Issa, O.; Rajot, J. L.; Mohamadou, A.

2012-04-01

Local knowledge, i.e. knowledge based on accumulation of observations is of great interest for many scientific fields as it can help for identification, evaluation and selection of relevant indicators and furthermore for progress through conservation goals. This study aimed at gathering and understanding the local knowledge and perception of biological soil crusts (BSC) by users of land, pastoralists that cross the Sahel and sedentary farmers. The methodological approach is based on a semi-direct surveys conducted on a north-south rainfall gradient (350 to 650 mm/year) including agricultural- and pastoral-dominated areas in western Niger. Denomination, formation processes, occurrence, distribution and role of biological soil crusts are among the major issues of the inquiry. The results of the surveys showed that BSC are mainly identified by the names of "Bankwado" and "Korobanda", respectively in hausa and zarma langages, what means "toad back". Other denominations varying according to region, ethnic groups and users are used. They are all related to the aspects, colors and behaviour of BSC with regard wetting and drying cycle. From the point of view of users depressed areas and land lied fallow are favourable places for the occurrence of BSC, while cultivation and observed changes in rainfall regimes represent negative factors. The formation processes of BSC are mainly related to the occurrence and the impact of rain and wind on soil surface. Their roles in protecting soil against degradation or as an indicator of soil fertility were recognised by at least 83% of farmers and breeders. This study reveals significant aspects of BSC already validated by scientific knowledge. Integrating the two forms of knowledge will help to define relevant indicators of soil surface dynamics and to perform practices to minimize farming and grazing impacts on BSCs.

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

PubMed

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

2013-11-01

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

Our Deming Users' Group.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dinklocker, Christina

1992-01-01

After training in the Total Quality Management concept, a suburban Ohio school district created a Deming Users' Group to link agencies, individuals, and ideas. The group has facilitated ongoing school/business collaboration, networking among individuals from diverse school systems, mentoring and cooperative learning activities, and resource…

The impact of user centered design on student motivation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Locker, Craig T.

There is a current push for STEM education within the U.S.; however current studies show that students' interest to pursue STEM fields is decreasing as they progress through high school. This lose in interest has shown to have a strong tie to students' perceived levels of motivation towards the subject. The question that this studied set out to answer was if user centered design (UCD) would affect students perceived level of motivation. For this study a treatment of UCD was compared to a traditional high school engineering design curriculum, with the goal to identify if UCD would have a positive effect on the students perceived level of motivation. 59 9th grade high school students from an urban Midwestern city were selected to participate. Students were given a pre and posttest to determine their levels of motivation before and after the comparison or treatment. Analysis showed that students perceived level of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation significantly went up in the treatment group. The study concluded that due to the ease of implementation and low cost of deployment that UCD should be introduced into high school design challenges that focus on developing a solution for an external stakeholder.

Epidemiology, transmission, diagnosis, and outcome of Hepatitis C virus infection.

PubMed

Moosavy, Seyed Hamid; Davoodian, Parivash; Nazarnezhad, Mirza Ali; Nejatizaheh, Abdolazim; Eftekhar, Ebrahim; Mahboobi, Hamidreza

2017-10-01

Hepatitis C infection is one of the main causes of chronic liver disorders worldwide. Nearly three percent (3%) of the world population has an HCV infection. Prevalence of HCV infection was higher in some groups such as injected drug users (IDUs) and HIV positive populations. Acute hepatitis has proven asymptomatic in most cases, and delay of diagnosis might lead to late onset of hepatocellular carcinoma and cirrhosis. Some host characteristics such as age, gender, body mass index, and viral properties are associated with HCV outcome hepatitis. Although disease progression is typically slow, some risk factors such as alcohol abuse and coinfection of patients with HBV and HIV can worsen the disease. On the other hand, viral overload is one of the main causes of prediction of HCV infection outcome. Prevalence of HCV infection will increase if we do not consider means of transmission, virus behaviors, and immunologic responses. Rapid diagnostic tests can help us to create preventive strategies among undeveloped villages and prisoners. Screening and training of the high-risk population such as IV drug users, dialysis patients, and hemophiliacs must be one of main HCV preventive programs. The present review is intended to help health policymakers to design suitable preventive and management programs.

Multi-agents and learning: Implications for Webusage mining.

PubMed

Lotfy, Hewayda M S; Khamis, Soheir M S; Aboghazalah, Maie M

2016-03-01

Characterization of user activities is an important issue in the design and maintenance of websites. Server weblog files have abundant information about the user's current interests. This information can be mined and analyzed therefore the administrators may be able to guide the users in their browsing activity so they may obtain relevant information in a shorter span of time to obtain user satisfaction. Web-based technology facilitates the creation of personally meaningful and socially useful knowledge through supportive interactions, communication and collaboration among educators, learners and information. This paper suggests a new methodology based on learning techniques for a Web-based Multiagent-based application to discover the hidden patterns in the user's visited links. It presents a new approach that involves unsupervised, reinforcement learning, and cooperation between agents. It is utilized to discover patterns that represent the user's profiles in a sample website into specific categories of materials using significance percentages. These profiles are used to make recommendations of interesting links and categories to the user. The experimental results of the approach showed successful user pattern recognition, and cooperative learning among agents to obtain user profiles. It indicates that combining different learning algorithms is capable of improving user satisfaction indicated by the percentage of precision, recall, the progressive category weight and F 1-measure.

Knowing when to assist: developmental issues in lifelong assistive robotics.

PubMed

Demiris, Yiannis

2009-01-01

Children and adults with sensorimotor disabilities can significantly increase their autonomy through the use of assistive robots. As the field progresses from short-term, task-specific solutions to long-term, adaptive ones, new challenges are emerging. In this paper a lifelong methodological approach is presented, that attempts to balance the immediate context-specific needs of the user, with the long-term effects that the robot's assistance can potentially have on the user's developmental trajectory.

Progressively consolidating historical visual explorations for new discoveries

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhao, Kaiyu; Ward, Matthew O.; Rundensteiner, Elke A.; Higgins, Huong N.

2013-12-01

A significant task within data mining is to identify data models of interest. While facilitating the exploration tasks, most visualization systems do not make use of all the data models that are generated during the exploration. In this paper, we introduce a system that allows the user to gain insights from the data space progressively by forming data models and consolidating the generated models on the fly. Each model can be a a computationally extracted or user-defined subset that contains a certain degree of interest and might lead to some discoveries. When the user generates more and more data models, the degree of interest of some portion of some models will either grow (indicating higher occurrence) or will fluctuate or decrease (corresponding to lower occurrence). Our system maintains a collection of such models and accumulates the interestingness of each model into a consolidated model. In order to consolidate the models, the system summarizes the associations between the models in the collection and identifies support (models reinforce each other), complementary (models complement each other), and overlap of the models. The accumulated interestingness keeps track of historical exploration and helps the user summarize their findings which can lead to new discoveries. This mechanism for integrating results from multiple models can be applied to a wide range of decision support systems. We demonstrate our system in a case study involving the financial status of US companies.

Judgment of musical emotions after cochlear implantation in adults with progressive deafness

PubMed Central

Ambert-Dahan, Emmanuèle; Giraud, Anne-Lise; Sterkers, Olivier; Samson, Séverine

2015-01-01

While cochlear implantation is rather successful in restoring speech comprehension in quiet environments (Nimmons et al., 2008), other auditory tasks, such as music perception, can remain challenging for implant users. Here, we tested how patients who had received a cochlear implant (CI) after post-lingual progressive deafness perceive emotions in music. Thirteen adult CI recipients with good verbal comprehension (dissyllabic words ≥70%) and 13 normal hearing participants matched for age, gender, and education listened to 40 short musical excerpts that selectively expressed fear, happiness, sadness, and peacefulness ( Vieillard et al., 2008). The participants were asked to rate (on a 0–100 scale) how much the musical stimuli expressed these four cardinal emotions, and to judge their emotional valence (unpleasant–pleasant) and arousal (relaxing–stimulating). Although CI users performed above chance level, their emotional judgments (mean correctness scores) were generally impaired for happy, scary, and sad, but not for peaceful excerpts. CI users also demonstrated deficits in perceiving arousal of musical excerpts, whereas rating of valence remained unaffected. The current findings indicate that judgments of emotional categories and dimensions of musical excerpts are not uniformly impaired after cochlear implantation. These results are discussed in relation to the relatively spared abilities of CI users in perceiving temporal (rhythm and metric) as compared to spectral (pitch and timbre) musical dimensions, which might benefit the processing of musical emotions (Cooper et al., 2008). PMID:25814961

Design and development of a mobile exercise application for home care aides and older adult medicaid home and community-based clients.

PubMed

Danilovich, Margaret K; Diaz, Laura; Saberbein, Gustavo; Healey, William E; Huber, Gail; Corcos, Daniel M

2017-01-01

We describe a community-engaged approach with Medicaid home and community-based services (HCBS), home care aide (HCA), client, and physical therapist stakeholders to develop a mobile application (app) exercise intervention through focus groups and interviews. Participants desired a short exercise program with modification capabilities, goal setting, and mechanisms to track progress. Concerns regarding participation were training needs and feasibility within usual care services. Technological preferences were for simple, easy-to-use, and engaging content. The app was piloted with HCA-client dyads (n = 5) to refine the intervention and evaluate content. Engaging stakeholders in intervention development provides valuable user-feedback on both desired exercise program contents and mobile technology preferences for HCBS recipients.

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

PubMed

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

2017-03-01

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

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

PubMed Central

Chang, Kaowen Grace; Chien, Hungju

2017-01-01

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

A Comparison of Mobile and Fixed Device Access on User Engagement Associated With Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) Online Nutrition Education.

PubMed

Brusk, John J; Bensley, Robert J

2016-11-15

Online health education has expanded its reach due to cost-effective implementation and demonstrated effectiveness. However, a limitation exists with the evaluation of online health education implementations and how the impact of the system is attenuated by the extent to which a user engages with it. Moreover, the current online health education research does not consider how this engagement has been affected by the transition from fixed to mobile user access over the last decade. This paper focuses on comparing the impact mobile versus fixed devices have on user engagement key performance indicators (KPI) associated with the wichealth website (.org), an Internet-based parent-child feeding intervention offered to clients associated with the US Department of Agriculture's Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC). Data were collected from 612,201 nutrition education lessons completed by 305,735 unique WIC participants in 21 states over a 1-year period. Data consisted of system-collected measures, profile items, and items from an exit survey administered at the conclusion of each lesson. User engagement was defined based on 3 KPIs associated with usage of the wichealth website: number of link views, link view time, and progression in stage of readiness to change. Independent samples t tests were used to compare KPIs between fixed only and mobile only device users and paired samples t tests were used to compare KPIs within users who completed at least one lesson each on both a fixed and mobile device. A logistic regression was performed to estimate the odds of KPI performance thresholds in the independent samples study group given access device type while controlling for confounding of user characteristics associated with these KPIs. Analysis of 8 user characteristics (lessons completed, race, ethnicity, language, state of residence, pregnancy status, beginning stage of change, and preferred nutrition education method) were significantly (P<.001) related to various KPI differences between mobile and fixed device access. Non-mobile users were significantly (P<.001) more likely to engage based on all 3 KPIs, even after logistic regression control for the potential confounding related to the strongly associated user characteristics identified. The findings of this study support the idea that online health education developers need to seriously consider access device when creating programs. Online health education developers need to take extra effort to truly understand access patterns of populations being served, and whether or not access device will influence user engagement performance indicators. ©John J Brusk, Robert J Bensley. Originally published in JMIR Research Protocols (http://www.researchprotocols.org), 15.11.2016.

A Case Study of Design and Usability Evaluation of the Collaborative Problem Solving Instructional Platform System

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chao, Jen-Yi; Chao, Shu-Jen; Yao, Lo-Yi; Liu, Chuan-His

2016-01-01

This study used Focus Group to analyze user requirements for user interface so as to understand what capabilities of the Collaborative Problem Solving (CPS) Instructional Platform were expected by users. After 12 focus group interviews, the following four functions had been identified as essential to the CPS Instructional Platform: CPS…

Implementing Recommendations From Web Accessibility Guidelines: A Comparative Study of Nondisabled Users and Users With Visual Impairments.

PubMed

Schmutz, Sven; Sonderegger, Andreas; Sauer, Juergen

2017-09-01

The present study examined whether implementing recommendations of Web accessibility guidelines would have different effects on nondisabled users than on users with visual impairments. The predominant approach for making Web sites accessible for users with disabilities is to apply accessibility guidelines. However, it has been hardly examined whether this approach has side effects for nondisabled users. A comparison of the effects on both user groups would contribute to a better understanding of possible advantages and drawbacks of applying accessibility guidelines. Participants from two matched samples, comprising 55 participants with visual impairments and 55 without impairments, took part in a synchronous remote testing of a Web site. Each participant was randomly assigned to one of three Web sites, which differed in the level of accessibility (very low, low, and high) according to recommendations of the well-established Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0 (WCAG 2.0). Performance (i.e., task completion rate and task completion time) and a range of subjective variables (i.e., perceived usability, positive affect, negative affect, perceived aesthetics, perceived workload, and user experience) were measured. Higher conformance to Web accessibility guidelines resulted in increased performance and more positive user ratings (e.g., perceived usability or aesthetics) for both user groups. There was no interaction between user group and accessibility level. Higher conformance to WCAG 2.0 may result in benefits for nondisabled users and users with visual impairments alike. Practitioners may use the present findings as a basis for deciding on whether and how to implement accessibility best.

Profile of Executive and Memory Function Associated with Amphetamine and Opiate Dependence

PubMed Central

Ersche, Karen D; Clark, Luke; London, Mervyn; Robbins, Trevor W; Sahakian, Barbara J

2007-01-01

Cognitive function was assessed in chronic drug users on neurocognitive measures of executive and memory function. Current amphetamine users were contrasted with current opiate users, and these two groups were compared with former users of these substances (abstinent for at least one year). Four groups of participants were recruited: amphetamine-dependent individuals, opiate-dependent individuals, former users of amphetamines, and/or opiates and healthy non-drug taking controls. Participants were administered the Tower of London (TOL) planning task and the 3D-IDED attentional set-shifting task to assess executive function, and Paired Associates Learning and Delayed Pattern Recognition Memory tasks to assess visual memory function. The three groups of substance users showed significant impairments on TOL planning, Pattern Recognition Memory and Paired Associates Learning. Current amphetamine users displayed a greater degree of impairment than current opiate users. Consistent with previous research showing that healthy men are performing better on visuo-spatial tests than women, our male controls remembered significantly more paired associates than their female counterparts. This relationship was reversed in drug users. While performance of female drug users was normal, male drug users showed significant impairment compared to both their female counterparts and male controls. There was no difference in performance between current and former drug users. Neither years of drug abuse nor years of drug abstinence were associated with performance. Chronic drug users display pronounced neuropsychological impairment in the domains of executive and memory function. Impairment persists after several years of drug abstinence and may reflect neuropathology in frontal and temporal cortices. PMID:16160707

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

PubMed

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

2018-01-01

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

"Recovery" in bipolar disorder: how can service users be supported through a self-management intervention? A qualitative focus group study.

PubMed

Todd, Nicholas J; Jones, Steven H; Lobban, Fiona A

2012-04-01

Bipolar disorder (BD) is a chronic and recurrent affective disorder. Recovery is defined as the process by which people can live fulfilling lives despite experiencing symptoms. To explore how an opportunistically recruited group of service users with BD experience recovery and self-management to understand more about how a service users' recovery may be supported. Twelve service users with BD took part in a series of focus groups. Service users' responses to questions about their personal experiences of self-management and recovery were analysed. Focus groups were transcribed verbatim and thematic analysis ([ Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3(2), 77-101]) was employed to identify common themes in the data. Four key themes were identified: (1) Recovery is not about being symptom free; (2) Recovery requires taking responsibility for your own wellness; (3) Self-management: building on existing techniques; (4) Overcoming barriers to recovery: negativity, stigma and taboo. Service users with BD have provided further support for the concept of recovery and have suggested a number of ways recovery can be supported. A self-management approach informed by the recovery literature has been proposed as a way to support service users' recovery.

Ecstasy (MDMA) and high prevalence psychiatric symptomatology: somatic anxiety symptoms are associated with polydrug, not ecstasy, use.

PubMed

Bedi, G; Van Dam, N T; Redman, J

2010-02-01

Although previous studies have examined anxiety and depression in ecstasy (+/-3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine; MDMA) users, it remains unclear whether symptoms are associated specifically with ecstasy or with polydrug use in general. We compared mean symptomatology and clinically significant symptoms in 45 ecstasy polydrug, 48 cannabis polydrug and 40 legal drug users, who completed standardised self-report anxiety and depression symptom measures. We further examined whether group differences were secondary to increased somatic symptom reporting, which may reflect acute/subacute drug effects. Anxiety and depression scores were higher in polydrug than legal drug users, with no difference between ecstasy and cannabis groups. There was no difference in numbers meeting criteria for clinically significant depression or 'moderate' or 'severe' anxiety, but the polydrug group contained more individuals reporting at least 'mild' anxiety symptoms than the legal drug control. Multivariate analyses indicated that anxiety alone was sufficient to discriminate groups. Polydrug users reported more somatic anxiety symptoms than legal drug users, but endorsed equivalent numbers of non-somatic symptoms. High prevalence psychiatric symptomatology in ecstasy polydrug users may be associated with polydrug rather than ecstasy use. Higher ratings in polydrug users appear to be secondary to increased somatic symptom reporting, suggesting possible impacts of drug effects on symptom endorsement.

[Attitude and opinion of medical students about organ donation and transplantation].

PubMed

Galvao, Flavio H F; Caires, Renato A; Azevedo-Neto, Raimundo S; Mory, Eduardo K; Figueira, Estela R R; Otsuzi, Thiago S; Bacchella, Telesforo; Machado, Marcel C C

2007-01-01

We analyzed the opinion and understanding of medical students about organ donation and transplantation. 347 students voluntarily completed a questionnaire with 17 queries concerning organ donation and transplantation. They were analyzed to identify general tendencies and divided into five groups, according to their year of study (first through sixth year), to assess differences among the years. Students of the fifth and sixth years were placed in the same group. Results were analyzed by the Chi-square test. The intention to become a post mortem or living donor was of 89% and 90% respectively; however, only 62% were aware of living donation risks. 70% of the 347 students admitted regular or little knowledge of the subject, 90.2% considered organ transplantation an important issue for a medical graduation program, 76.9% considered informed/expressed consent the best organ donation criterion and 64.3% of them chose severity of patient disease as the best allocation condition. As students progressed in their studies their understanding about transplantation improved. Students of the fourth, fifth and sixth year manifested a negative attitude about organ donation to alcohol addicts, non donors, drug users, law offenders and foreigners. This data show the great interest and positive attitude of medical students toward organ donation and transplantation, despite the fact that most of them admitted having insufficient knowledge on the subject. A negative attitude by students of the fourth, fifth and sixth year on organ donation to alcohol addicts, non donors, drug users, law offenders and foreigners was also observed.

Harmful alcohol consumption and patterns of substance use in HIV-infected patients receiving antiretrovirals (ANRS-EN12-VESPA Study): relevance for clinical management and intervention.

PubMed

Michel, Laurent; Carrieri, M Patrizia; Fugon, Lionel; Roux, Perrine; Aubin, Henri-Jean; Lert, France; Obadia, Yolande; Spire, Bruno

2010-09-01

Alcohol abuse affects secondary prevention and disease progression in HIV-infected patients, and adherence and response to treatment in those chronically treated. The objective of this study was to estimate the prevalence of harmful alcohol consumption (HAC) using various indicators and identify which groups of patients may require specific targeted interventions for HAC risk reduction. A cross-sectional survey, based on a random sample representative of people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) was carried out in 102 French hospital departments delivering HIV care. As alcohol abuse is particularly detrimental to patients receiving highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART), we focused only on those individuals receiving HAART with complete alcohol assessment (CAGE, AUDIT-C, regular binge drinking, N=2340). Collected information included medical and socio-demographic data, HIV risk behaviors, adherence to treatment and substance and alcohol use, together with depression, anxiety, and experience of attempted suicide or sex work. HAC prevalence was evaluated as follows: 12% (CAGE score > or =2), 27% (AUDIT-C), and 9% (regular binge drinking). Three groups were at higher risk of HAC: men who have sex with men using stimulants, polydrug users, and to a lesser degree, ex-drug users. Innovative intervention strategies to reduce HAC and improve HIV prevention and HAART adherence in various PLWHA populations need urgent testing and implementation. Such interventions for alcohol risk reduction remain central to promoting improved HIV prevention and assuring HAART effectiveness in these populations.

Barriers to telemedicine: survey of current users in acute care units.

PubMed

Rogove, Herbert J; McArthur, David; Demaerschalk, Bart M; Vespa, Paul M

2012-01-01

The present study of current telemedicine users is a unique attempt to understand the barriers and motivational factors related to the utilization of telemedicine. A survey of emergency and critical care remote presence telemedicine users was conducted to determine the factors that motivate and the barriers that impede the acceptance and maintenance of a robotic telemedicine (RTM) program. The majority of the survey users were in the Emergency Department or in the Intensive Care Unit. E-mail invitations were sent to 483 individuals representing 63 healthcare institutions and groups in North America and Europe. Respondents were directed to a Web-based survey. The survey consisted of 96 separate questions, addressing user familiarity and 5-point Likert scales, addressing issues spanning the conceptual and practical issues surrounding adoption of telemedicine. A total of 106 surveys were completed, representing an individual response rate of 21.9% but an institutional response rate of 60.3%. More than two-thirds of the respondents were physicians who participated in active RTM programs. Across seven different topics related to barriers to implementing RTM, the majority of all respondents indicated that cultural issues did not constitute meaningful hurdles, technological matters were generally favorable, and that most personnel were agreeable to both achieving the buy-in to start an RTM program and to maintaining RTM once started. However, respondents proclaimed that RTM's success was still hampered by licensing, credentialing, and malpractice protection, as well as costs, billing, and reimbursement issues. Achieving immediate patient access, overcoming service gaps, improving quality, providing clinical support, maintaining patient satisfaction, and adhering to practice guidelines were viewed as significant motives for RTM implementation. The leading applications of RTM included emergency response and consultation. The patients, physicians, nurses, nor hospital executives served as barriers to implementation. However, licensing, costs for technology, and reimbursement for RTM continue to impede progress.

Effects of Using Child Personas in the Development of a Digital Peer Support Service for Childhood Cancer Survivors

PubMed Central

Wärnestål, Pontus; Svedberg, Petra; Lindberg, Susanne

2017-01-01

Background Peer support services have the potential to support children who survive cancer by handling the physical, mental, and social challenges associated with survival and return to everyday life. Involving the children themselves in the design process allows for adapting services to authentic user behaviors and goals. As there are several challenges that put critical requirements on a user-centered design process, we developed a design method based on personas adapted to the particular needs of children that promotes health and handles a sensitive design context. Objective The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of using child personas in the development of a digital peer support service for childhood cancer survivors. Methods The user group’s needs and behaviors were characterized based on cohort data and literature, focus group interviews with childhood cancer survivors (n=15, 8-12 years), stakeholder interviews with health care professionals and parents (n=13), user interviews, and observations. Data were interpreted and explained together with childhood cancer survivors (n=5) in three explorative design workshops and a validation workshop with children (n=7). Results We present findings and insights on how to codesign child personas in the context of developing digital peer support services with childhood cancer survivors. The work resulted in three primary personas that model the behaviors, attitudes, and goals of three user archetypes tailored for developing health-promoting services in this particular use context. Additionally, we also report on the effects of using these personas in the design of a digital peer support service called Give Me a Break. Conclusions By applying our progressive steps of data collection and analysis, we arrive at authentic child-personas that were successfully used to design and develop health-promoting services for children in vulnerable life stages. The child-personas serve as effective collaboration and communication aids for both internal and external purposes. PMID:28526663

Simulating Initial and Progressive Failure of Open-Hole Composite Laminates under Tension

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Guo, Zhangxin; Zhu, Hao; Li, Yongcun; Han, Xiaoping; Wang, Zhihua

2016-12-01

A finite element (FE) model is developed for the progressive failure analysis of fiber reinforced polymer laminates. The failure criterion for fiber and matrix failure is implemented in the FE code Abaqus using user-defined material subroutine UMAT. The gradual degradation of the material properties is controlled by the individual fracture energies of fiber and matrix. The failure and damage in composite laminates containing a central hole subjected to uniaxial tension are simulated. The numerical results show that the damage model can be used to accurately predicte the progressive failure behaviour both qualitatively and quantitatively.

Towards a Global Hub and a Network for Collaborative Advancing of Space Weather Predictive Capabilities.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kuznetsova, M. M.; Heynderickz, D.; Grande, M.; Opgenoorth, H. J.

2017-12-01

The COSPAR/ILWS roadmap on space weather published in 2015 (Advances in Space Research, 2015: DOI: 10.1016/j.asr.2015.03.023) prioritizes steps to be taken to advance understanding of space environment phenomena and to improve space weather forecasting capabilities. General recommendations include development of a comprehensive space environment specification, assessment of the state of the field on a 5-yr basis, standardization of meta-data and product metrics. To facilitate progress towards roadmap goals there is a need for a global hub for collaborative space weather capabilities assessment and development that brings together research, engineering, operational, educational, and end-user communities. The COSPAR Panel on Space Weather is aiming to build upon past progress and to facilitate coordination of established and new international space weather research and development initiatives. Keys to the success include creating flexible, collaborative, inclusive environment and engaging motivated groups and individuals committed to active participation in international multi-disciplinary teams focused on topics addressing emerging needs and challenges in the rapidly growing field of space weather. Near term focus includes comprehensive assessment of the state of the field and establishing an internationally recognized process to quantify and track progress over time, development of a global network of distributed web-based resources and interconnected interactive services required for space weather research, analysis, forecasting and education.

"Thanks for Letting Us All Share Your Mammogram Experience Virtually": Developing a Web-Based Hub for Breast Cancer Screening.

PubMed

Galpin, Adam; Meredith, Joanne; Ure, Cathy; Robinson, Leslie

2017-10-27

The decision around whether to attend breast cancer screening can often involve making sense of confusing and contradictory information on its risks and benefits. The Word of Mouth Mammogram e-Network (WoMMeN) project was established to create a Web-based resource to support decision making regarding breast cancer screening. This paper presents data from our user-centered approach in engaging stakeholders (both health professionals and service users) in the design of this Web-based resource. Our novel approach involved creating a user design group within Facebook to allow them access to ongoing discussion between researchers, radiographers, and existing and potential service users. This study had two objectives. The first was to examine the utility of an online user design group for generating insight for the creation of Web-based health resources. We sought to explore the advantages and limitations of this approach. The second objective was to analyze what women want from a Web-based resource for breast cancer screening. We recruited a user design group on Facebook and conducted a survey within the group, asking questions about design considerations for a Web-based breast cancer screening hub. Although the membership of the Facebook group varied over time, there were 71 members in the Facebook group at the end point of analysis. We next conducted a framework analysis on 70 threads from Facebook and a thematic analysis on the 23 survey responses. We focused additionally on how the themes were discussed by the different stakeholders within the context of the design group. Two major themes were found across both the Facebook discussion and the survey data: (1) the power of information and (2) the hub as a place for communication and support. Information was considered as empowering but also recognized as threatening. Communication and the sharing of experiences were deemed important, but there was also recognition of potential miscommunication within online discussion. Health professionals and service users expressed the same broad concerns, but there were subtle differences in their opinions. Importantly, the themes were triangulated between the Facebook discussions and the survey data, supporting the validity of an online user design group. Online user design groups afford a useful method for understanding stakeholder needs. In contrast to focus groups, they afford access to users from diverse geographical locations and traverse time constraints, allowing more follow-ups to responses. The use of Facebook provides a familiar and naturalistic setting for discussion. Although we acknowledge the limitations in the sample, this approach has allowed us to understand the views of stakeholders in the user-centered design of the WoMMeN hub for breast cancer screening. ©Adam Galpin, Joanne Meredith, Cathy Ure, Leslie Robinson. Originally published in JMIR Cancer (http://cancer.jmir.org), 27.10.2017.

National Space Council Users' Advisory Group

NASA Image and Video Library

2018-06-19

James Uthmeier, of the Department of Commerce, speaks about deregulation and space traffic management initiatives at the first meeting of the National Space Council Users' Advisory Group, Tuesday, June 19, 2018 at NASA Headquarters in Washington. The Users' Advisory Group will advise and inform the National Space Council on a broad range of aerospace topics, including the impacts of U.S. and international laws and regulations, national security space priorities, scientific and human space exploration priorities, and ways to bolster support. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)

Experience with pornography: Rapists, pedophiles, homosexuals, transsexuals, and controls.

PubMed

Goldstein, M; Kant, H; Judd, L; Rice, C; Green, R

1971-03-01

An interview designed to assess a respondent's experience with erotic material in photographs, films, and books, during adolescence and adulthood, was administered to convicted male rapists, pedophiles, homosexuals, transsexuals, heavy pornography users, and two nondeviant contrast groups. One nondeviant group was composed of whites matched for the sex offender group; the other was composed of ghetto and middle-class blacks. Adolescent exposure to erotica was significantly less for all deviant and offender groups compared to the nondeviants. During adulthood, the sex offenders and transsexuals continued to report less exposure to erotic stimuli than controls. The homosexuals and users, however, both report greater exposure during adulthood. As adolescents, the control group, rapists, and heavy users were excited to masturbate by the erotic materials more than the other groups. As adults, the controls and rapists showed a sharp decrease in being excited to masturbate to erotica while the users' rate remained high and the homosexuals' rate rose. Less than a quarter of the respondents in any group imitated sexual behavior seen in the erotic material immediately or shortly after its viewing. The hypothesis that extent of exposure during adolescence to erotica is positively associated with the later emergence of sexual pathology is not borne out by this study. The nondeviant, non-sex-offender groups sampled had had significantly greater exposure to erotic materials during adolescence than the deviants, convicted sex offenders, or heavy adult users of pornography.

Reasons for not using ecstasy: a qualitative study of non-users, ex-light users and ex-moderate users

PubMed Central

2012-01-01

Background Although ecstasy is often consumed in the electronic music scene, not everyone with the opportunity to use it chooses to do so. The objective of this study was to understand the reasons for non-use or the cessation of use, which could provide information for public health interventions. Methods A qualitative reference method was used. Our “snowball” sample group consisted of 53 people who were split into three subgroups: non-users (NU, n = 23), ex-light users (EX-L, n = 12) and ex-moderate users (EX-M, n = 18). Individual, semi-structured interviews were conducted, transcribed and subjected to content analysis with the aid of NVivo8. Results Adverse health effects and personal values were given as reasons for non-use in the three groups. Non-users (NU) and ex-light users (EX-L) provided reasons that included fear of possible effects as well as moral, family and religious objections. Ex-moderate users (EX-M) cited reasons related to health complications and concomitant withdrawal from the electronic music scene. However, most of the ex-moderate users did not rule out the possibility of future use. Conclusions Potential effects and undesirable consequences appear to guide the decisions within the different groups. Prevention might target these motivations. Individuals who have used ecstasy indicate that social and environmental factors are the most important factors. PMID:22583984

Web usability evaluation with screen reader users: implementation of the partial concurrent thinking aloud technique.

PubMed

Federici, Stefano; Stefano, Federici; Borsci, Simone; Stamerra, Gianluca

2010-08-01

A verbal protocol technique, adopted for a web usability evaluation, requires that the users are able to perform a double task: surfing and talking. Nevertheless, when blind users surf by using a screen reader and talk about the way they interact with the computer, the evaluation is influenced by a structural interference: users are forced to think aloud and listen to the screen reader at the same time. The aim of this study is to build up a verbal protocol technique for samples of visual impaired users in order to overcome the limits of concurrent and retrospective protocols. The technique we improved, called partial concurrent thinking aloud (PCTA), integrates a modified set of concurrent verbalization and retrospective analysis. One group of 6 blind users and another group of 6 sighted users evaluated the usability of a website using PCTA. By estimating the number of necessary users by the means of an asymptotic test, it was found out that the two groups had an equivalent ability of identifying usability problems, both over 80%. The result suggests that PCTA, while respecting the properties of classic verbal protocols, also allows to overcome the structural interference and the limits of concurrent and retrospective protocols when used with screen reader users. In this way, PCTA reduces the efficiency difference of usability evaluation between blind and sighted users.

Computer Graphics Research Laboratory Quarterly Progress Report Number 49, July-September 1993

DTIC Science & Technology

1993-11-22

20 Texture Sampling and Strength Guided Motion: Jeffry S. Nimeroff 23 21 Radiosity : Min-Zhi Shao 24 22 Blended Shape Primitives: Douglas DeCarlo 25 23...placement. "* Extensions of radiosity rendering. "* A discussion of blended shape primitives and the applications in computer vision and computer...user. Radiosity : An improved version of the radiosity renderer is included. This version uses a fast over- relaxation progressive refinement algorithm

78 FR 79499 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Comment Request

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-12-30

... descriptive and may include, for example, lists of successful proposal and users, the characteristics of... facilities, and to evaluate the progress of the program. Estimate of Burden: 790 hours per facility for three...

78 FR 79012 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Comment Request

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-12-27

... descriptive and may include, for example, lists of successful proposal and users, the characteristics of... facilities, and to evaluate the progress of the program. Estimate of Burden: 790 hours per facility for three...

78 FR 79013 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Comment Request

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-12-27

... descriptive and may include, for example, lists of successful proposal and users, the characteristics of... facilities, and to evaluate the progress of the program. Estimate of Burden: 790 hours per facility for three...

Adult heavy and low users of dental services: treatment provided.

PubMed

Nihtilä, Annamari; Widström, Eeva; Elonheimo, Outi

2016-01-01

The aim of this study was to compare treatment provided to adult heavy and low users of dental services in the Finnish Public Dental Service (PDS) and to analyse changes in patients' oral health status. We assigned all adults who attended the PDS in Espoo in 2004 to a group of heavy users (n = 3,173) if they had made six or more dental visits and to a comparison group of low users (n = 22,820), if they had made three or fewer dental visits. Data were obtained from the patient register of the PDS. A sample of 320 patients was randomly selected from each group. Baseline information (year 2004) on age, sex, number and types of visits, oral health status and treatment provided was collected from treatment records. Both groups were followed-up for five years. Restorative treatment measures dominated the heavy and low users'treatments; 88.8% of heavy users and 79.6% low users had received restorations during the five-year period. Fixed prosthetic treatments were provided to just 2% of the heavy users and 0.8% of the low users. Emergency visits were more common for heavy users (74.8%) than for low users (21.6%) (p < 0.001). Fewer than half of the heavy (46.1%) or low (46.5%) users were examined twice. Typical for heavy use of oral health services was a cycle of repetitive repair or replacement of restorations, often as emergency treatment, a lack of proper examinations and preventive care; crown therapy was seldom used. Immediately after the major dental care reform in Finland, the PDS in Espoo had problems providing good quality dental care for the new adult patients. Older patients with lower social class background were not accustomed to regular dental care and the PDS did not actively propose proper comprehensive regular care for adults.

Protecting the patient by promoting end-user competence in health informatics systems-moves towards a generic health computer user "driving license".

PubMed

Rigby, Michael

2004-03-18

The effectiveness and quality of health informatics systems' support to healthcare delivery are largely determined by two factors-the suitability of the system installed, and the competence of the users. However, the profile of users of large-scale clinical health systems is significantly different from the profile of end-users in other enterprises such as the finance sector, insurance, travel or retail sales. Work with a mental health provider in Ireland, who was introducing a customized electronic patient record (EPR) system, identified the strong legal and ethical importance of adequately skills for the health professionals and others, who would be the system users. The experience identified the need for a clear and comprehensive generic user qualification at a basic but robust level. The European computer driving license (ECDL) has gained wide recognition as a basic generic qualification for users of computer systems. However, health systems and data have a series of characteristics that differentiate them from other data systems. The logical conclusion was the recognition of a need for an additional domain-specific qualification-an "ECDL Health Supplement". Development of this is now being progressed.

Understanding why users tag: A survey of tagging motivation literature and results from an empirical study

PubMed Central

Strohmaier, Markus; Körner, Christian; Kern, Roman

2012-01-01

While recent progress has been achieved in understanding the structure and dynamics of social tagging systems, we know little about the underlying user motivations for tagging, and how they influence resulting folksonomies and tags. This paper addresses three issues related to this question. (1) What distinctions of user motivations are identified by previous research, and in what ways are the motivations of users amenable to quantitative analysis? (2) To what extent does tagging motivation vary across different social tagging systems? (3) How does variability in user motivation influence resulting tags and folksonomies? In this paper, we present measures to detect whether a tagger is primarily motivated by categorizing or describing resources, and apply these measures to datasets from seven different tagging systems. Our results show that (a) users’ motivation for tagging varies not only across, but also within tagging systems, and that (b) tag agreement among users who are motivated by categorizing resources is significantly lower than among users who are motivated by describing resources. Our findings are relevant for (1) the development of tag-based user interfaces, (2) the analysis of tag semantics and (3) the design of search algorithms for social tagging systems. PMID:23471473

Towards a more complete SOCCR: Establishing a Coastal Carbon Data Network

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pidgeon, E.; Howard, J.; Tang, J.; Kroeger, K. D.; Windham-Myers, L.

2015-12-01

The 2007 State of the Carbon Cycle Report (SOCCR) was highly influential in ensuring components of the carbon cycle were accounted for in national policy and related management. However, while SOCCR detailed the significance of North American coastal wetlands, it was not until recently that leading governments began to fully recognized these ecosystems for their carbon sequestration and storage capacity and hence the significant role coastal ecosystems can play in GHG emission reductions strategies, offset mechanisms, coastal management strategies and climate mitigation policy. The new attention on coastal carbon systems has exposed limitations in terms of data availability and data quality, as well as insufficient knowledge of coastal carbon distributions, characteristics and coastal carbon cycle processes. In addition to restricting scientific progress, lack of comprehensive, comparable, and quality-controlled coastal carbon data is hindering progress towards carbon based conservation and coastal management. To directly address those limitations, we are developing a Global Science and Data Network for Coastal "Blue" Carbon, with support from the Carbon Cycle Interagency Working Group. Goals include: • Improving basic and applied science on carbon and GHG cycling in vegetated coastal ecosystems; • Supporting a coastal carbon and associated GHG data archive for use by the science community, coastal and climate practitioners and other data users; • Building the capacity of coastal carbon stakeholders globally to collect and interpret high quality coastal carbon science and data; • Providing a forum and mechanism to promote exchange and collaboration between scientists and coastal carbon data users globally; and • Outreach activities to ensure the best available data are globally accessible and that science is responsive to the needs of coastal managers and policy-makers.

Robust changes in reward circuitry during reward loss in current and former cocaine users during performance of a monetary incentive delay task.

PubMed

Patel, Krishna T; Stevens, Michael C; Meda, Shashwath A; Muska, Christine; Thomas, Andre D; Potenza, Marc N; Pearlson, Godfrey D

2013-10-01

Abnormal function in reward circuitry in cocaine addiction could predate drug use as a risk factor, follow drug use as a consequence of substance-induced alterations, or both. We used a functional magnetic resonance imaging monetary incentive delay task (MIDT) to investigate reward-loss neural response differences among 42 current cocaine users, 35 former cocaine users, and 47 healthy subjects who also completed psychological measures and tasks related to impulsivity and reward. We found various reward processing-related group differences in several MIDT phases. Across task phases we found a control > current user > former user activation pattern, except for loss outcome, where former compared with current cocaine users activated ventral tegmental area more robustly. We also found regional prefrontal activation differences during loss anticipation between cocaine-using groups. Both groups of cocaine users scored higher than control subjects on impulsivity, compulsivity and reward-punishment sensitivity factors. In addition, impulsivity-related factors correlated positively with activation in amygdala and negatively with anterior cingulate activation during loss anticipation. Compared with healthy subjects, both former and current users displayed abnormal brain activation patterns during MIDT performance. Both cocaine groups differed similarly from healthy subjects, but differences between former and current users were localized to the ventral tegmental area during loss outcome and to prefrontal regions during loss anticipation, suggesting that long-term cocaine abstinence does not normalize most reward circuit abnormalities. Elevated impulsivity-related factors that relate to loss processing in current and former users suggest that these tendencies and relationships may pre-exist cocaine addiction. © 2013 Society of Biological Psychiatry.

Trajectories of 12-Month Usage Patterns for Two Smoking Cessation Websites: Exploring How Users Engage Over Time.

PubMed

Bricker, Jonathan B; Sridharan, Vasundhara; Zhu, Yifan; Mull, Kristin E; Heffner, Jaimee L; Watson, Noreen L; McClure, Jennifer B; Di, Chongzhi

2018-04-20

Little is known about how individuals engage with electronic health (eHealth) interventions over time and whether this engagement predicts health outcomes. The objectives of this study, by using the example of a specific type of eHealth intervention (ie, websites for smoking cessation), were to determine (1) distinct groups of log-in trajectories over a 12-month period, (2) their association with smoking cessation, and (3) baseline user characteristics that predict trajectory group membership. We conducted a functional clustering analysis of 365 consecutive days of log-in data from both arms of a large (N=2637) randomized trial of 2 website interventions for smoking cessation (WebQuit and Smokefree), with a primary outcome of 30-day point prevalence smoking abstinence at 12 months. We conducted analyses for each website separately. A total of 3 distinct trajectory groups emerged for each website. For WebQuit, participants were clustered into 3 groups: 1-week users (682/1240, 55.00% of the sample), 5-week users (399/1240, 32.18%), and 52-week users (159/1240, 12.82%). Compared with the 1-week users, the 5- and 52-week users had 57% higher odds (odds ratio [OR] 1.57, 95% CI 1.13-2.17; P=.007) and 124% higher odds (OR 2.24, 95% CI 1.45-3.43; P<.001), respectively, of being abstinent at 12 months. Smokefree users were clustered into 3 groups: 1-week users (645/1309, 49.27% of the sample), 4-week users (395/1309, 30.18%), and 5-week users (269/1309, 20.55%). Compared with the 1-week users, 5-week users (but not 4-week users; P=.99) had 48% higher odds (OR 1.48, 95% CI 1.05-2.07; P=.02) of being abstinent at 12 months. In general, the WebQuit intervention had a greater number of weekly log-ins within each of the 3 trajectory groups as compared with those of the Smokefree intervention. Baseline characteristics associated with trajectory group membership varied between websites. Patterns of 1-, 4-, and 5-week usage of websites may be common for how people engage in eHealth interventions. The 5-week usage of either website, and 52-week usage only of WebQuit, predicted a higher odds of quitting smoking. Strategies to increase eHealth intervention engagement for 4 more weeks (ie, from 1 week to 5 weeks) could be highly cost effective. ClinicalTrials.gov NCT01812278; https://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT01812278 (Archived by WebCite at http://www.webcitation.org/6yPO2OIKR). ©Jonathan B Bricker, Vasundhara Sridharan, Yifan Zhu, Kristin E Mull, Jaimee L Heffner, Noreen L Watson, Jennifer B McClure, Chongzhi Di. Originally published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research (http://www.jmir.org), 20.04.2018.

Planning a User Group Workshop.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cornick, Donna P.; Erlandson, John A.

1980-01-01

Describes planning of workshops for training online user groups including establishment of a committee, choice of theme and format, funding, and publicity arrangements. A list of do's and don't's is included. (RAA)

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

PubMed

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

2017-01-01

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

Service user involvement in cancer care: the impact on service users

PubMed Central

Cotterell, Phil; Harlow, Gwen; Morris, Carolyn; Beresford, Peter; Hanley, Bec; Sargeant, Anita; Sitzia, John; Staley, Kristina

2011-01-01

Abstract Background  Service user involvement is embedded in the United Kingdom’s National Health Service, but knowledge about the impact of involvement on service users, such as the benefits and challenges of involvement, is scant. Our research addresses this gap. Objective  To explore the personal impact of involvement on the lives of service users affected by cancer. Design  We conducted eight focus groups with user groups supplemented by nine face‐to‐face interviews with involved individuals active at a local, regional and national level. Thematic analysis was conducted both independently and collectively. Setting and participants  Sixty‐four participants, engaged in involvement activities in cancer services, palliative care and research, were recruited across Great Britain. Results  We identified three main themes: (i) ‘Expectations and motivations for involvement’– the desire to improve services and the need for user groups to have a clear purpose, (ii) ‘Positive aspects of involvement’– support provided by user groups and assistance to live well with cancer and (iii) ‘Challenging aspects of involvement’– insensitivities and undervaluing of involvement by staff. Conclusions  This study identified that involvement has the capacity to produce varied and significant personal impacts for involved people. Involvement can be planned and implemented in ways that increase these impacts and that mediates challenges for those involved. Key aspects to increase positive impact for service users include the value service providers attach to involvement activities, the centrality with which involvement is embedded in providers’ activities, and the capacity of involvement to influence policy, planning, service delivery, research and/or practice. PMID:21029279

PCCEServer

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

Perry, Marcia; Agarwal, Deb

2003-03-17

The PCCEServer application is a server that should be used in conjunction with the LBNLSecureMessaging user interface to enable secure synchronous and asynchronous messaging. It provides authentication and authorization services for members of a collaboration group via PKI/SSL and maintains an access control list. Members of collaboration groups using the LBNLSecureMessaging client must register identifying information. including usemame and password and an optional X.509 certificate, with the PCCEServer. This registration not only restricts access to instant messaging, but augments the LBNLSecureMessaging's IRC-based chat facility with persistence. Users register permanent unique user ids by which they are knowTl to other usersmore » in the system and create permanent venues intended for group conversations on a tong-term or continuous basis. In addition, the PCCEServer enhances instant messaging with presence and awareness information such as user availability, and it allows users to leave notes asynchronously for other users who are online or offline. Written in Java, it is a standalone application that can run on any platform that supports a Java Virtual Machine.« less

50 CFR 600.325 - National Standard 4-Allocations.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... distribution of the opportunity to participate in a fishery among identifiable, discrete user groups or... legitimate FMP objective. Inherent in an allocation is the advantaging of one group to the detriment of... the FMP; otherwise, the disadvantaged user groups or individuals would suffer without cause. For...

Cognitive dimensions of recreational user experiences in wilderness: an exploratory study in Adirondack wilderness areas.

Treesearch

Chad P. Dawson; Peter Newman; Alan Watson

1998-01-01

This exploratory study involved identifying the dimensions of a wilderness experience sought by users based on the available literature and on input from wilderness users. Input was collected using focus group interviews with members of four groups that were primarily involved in wilderness use and preservation in recent years. Positive and negative dimensions are...

Adult work commitment, financial stability, and social environment as related to trajectories of marijuana use beginning in adolescence.

PubMed

Brook, Judith S; Lee, Jung Yeon; Finch, Stephen J; Seltzer, Nathan; Brook, David W

2013-01-01

The objective of this study is to examine trajectories of marijuana use among African Americans and Puerto Ricans from adolescence to adulthood, with attention paid to work commitment, financial stability, drug use, and violence. Participants (N = 816) completed in-class questionnaires as students in the East Harlem area of New York City at the first wave and provided follow-up data at 4 additional points in time (mean ages = 14, 19, 24, 29, and 32 years). Among 816 participants, there were 60% females, 52% African American, and 48% Puerto Ricans. The chronic marijuana user trajectory group compared with the none or low, increasing, and/or moderate marijuana user trajectory group was associated with negative aspects of work commitment, financial stability, and the social environment. The chronic marijuana user group was similar to the increasing marijuana user group on work commitment and financial stability. These results suggest that treating marijuana use in late adolescence may reduce difficulty in the assumption of adult roles. Because chronic marijuana users experienced the most adverse effects in each of the domains, they require more intense clinical intervention than moderate marijuana users.

Auditory event-related potentials in methadone substituted opiate users.

PubMed

Wang, Grace Y; Kydd, Robert; Russell, Bruce R

2015-09-01

The effects of methadone maintenance treatment (MMT) on neurophysiological function are unclear. Using an auditory oddball paradigm, event-related potential (ERP) amplitudes and latencies were measured in 32 patients undertaking MMT, 17 opiate users who were addicted but not receiving substitution treatment and 25 healthy control subjects. Compared with healthy control subjects, the MMT and opiate user groups showed an increased P200 amplitude in response to target stimuli. The opiate user group also exhibited a decreased amplitude and an increased latency of N200, and a greater number of task-related errors than either healthy control subjects or patients undertaking MMT. There were no significant group differences in the P300 amplitude. However, it is noteworthy that the frontal P300 amplitude of the MMT group was greater than that of opiate users or healthy controls. Our findings suggest that altered sensory information processing associated with a history of opiate use remains in patients undertaking MMT. However, there are less marked ERP abnormalities in those receiving MMT than in active opiate users. The deficits in information processing associated with illicit opiate use are likely to be reduced during MMT. © The Author(s) 2015.

Exercise frequency and calcium intake predict 4-year bone changes in postmenopausal women.

PubMed

Cussler, Ellen C; Going, Scott B; Houtkooper, Linda B; Stanford, Vanessa A; Blew, Robert M; Flint-Wagner, Hilary G; Metcalfe, Lauve L; Choi, Ji-Eun; Lohman, Timothy G

2005-12-01

The aim of this study was to examine the association of exercise frequency and calcium intake (CI) with change in regional and total bone mineral density (BMD) in a group of postmenopausal women completing 4 years of progressive strength training. One hundred sixty-seven calcium-supplemented (800 mg/day) sedentary women (56.1+/-4.5 years) randomized to a progressive strength training exercise program or to control were followed for 4 years. Fifty-four percent of the women were using hormone therapy (HT) at baseline. At 1 year, controls were permitted to begin the exercise program (crossovers). The final sample included 23 controls, 55 crossovers, and 89 randomized exercisers. Exercisers were instructed to complete two sets of six to eight repetitions of exercises at 70-80% of one repetition maximum, three times weekly. BMD was measured at baseline and thereafter annually using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. Four-year percentage exercise frequency (ExFreq) averaged 26.8%+/-20.1% for crossovers (including the first year at 0%), and 50.4%+/-26.7% for exercisers. Four-year total CI averaged 1,635+/-367 mg/day and supplemental calcium intake, 711+/-174 mg/day. In adjusted multiple linear regression models, ExFreq was positively and significantly related to changes in femur trochanter (FT) and neck (FN), lumbar spine (LS), and total body (TB) BMD. Among HT users, FT BMD increased 1.5%, and FN and LS BMD, 1.2% (p<0.01) for each standard deviation (SD) of percentage ExFreq (29.5% or 0.9 days/week). HT non-users gained 1.9% and 2.3% BMD at FT and FN, respectively, (p<0.05) for every SD of CI. The significant, positive, association between BMD change and ExFreq supports the long-term usefulness of strength training exercise for the prevention of osteoporosis in postmenopausal women, especially HT users. The positive relationship of CI to change in BMD among postmenopausal women not using HT has clinical implications in light of recent evidence of an increased health risk associated with HT.

Mechanistic experimental pain assessment in computer users with and without chronic musculoskeletal pain.

PubMed

Ge, Hong-You; Vangsgaard, Steffen; Omland, Øyvind; Madeleine, Pascal; Arendt-Nielsen, Lars

2014-12-06

Musculoskeletal pain from the upper extremity and shoulder region is commonly reported by computer users. However, the functional status of central pain mechanisms, i.e., central sensitization and conditioned pain modulation (CPM), has not been investigated in this population. The aim was to evaluate sensitization and CPM in computer users with and without chronic musculoskeletal pain. Pressure pain threshold (PPT) mapping in the neck-shoulder (15 points) and the elbow (12 points) was assessed together with PPT measurement at mid-point in the tibialis anterior (TA) muscle among 47 computer users with chronic pain in the upper extremity and/or neck-shoulder pain (pain group) and 17 pain-free computer users (control group). Induced pain intensities and profiles over time were recorded using a 0-10 cm electronic visual analogue scale (VAS) in response to different levels of pressure stimuli on the forearm with a new technique of dynamic pressure algometry. The efficiency of CPM was assessed using cuff-induced pain as conditioning pain stimulus and PPT at TA as test stimulus. The demographics, job seniority and number of working hours/week using a computer were similar between groups. The PPTs measured at all 15 points in the neck-shoulder region were not significantly different between groups. There were no significant differences between groups neither in PPTs nor pain intensity induced by dynamic pressure algometry. No significant difference in PPT was observed in TA between groups. During CPM, a significant increase in PPT at TA was observed in both groups (P < 0.05) without significant differences between groups. For the chronic pain group, higher clinical pain intensity, lower PPT values from the neck-shoulder and higher pain intensity evoked by the roller were all correlated with less efficient descending pain modulation (P < 0.05). This suggests that the excitability of the central pain system is normal in a large group of computer users with low pain intensity chronic upper extremity and/or neck-shoulder pain and that increased excitability of the pain system cannot explain the reported pain. However, computer users with higher pain intensity and lower PPTs were found to have decreased efficiency in descending pain modulation.

Time Is Money: The Decision Making of Smartphone High Users in Gain and Loss Intertemporal Choice

PubMed Central

Tang, Zixuan; Zhang, Huijun; Yan, An; Qu, Chen

2017-01-01

Nowadays the smartphone plays an important role in our lives. While it brings us convenience and efficiency, its overuse can cause problems. Although a great number of studies have demonstrated that people affected by substance abuse, pathological gambling, and internet addiction disorder have lower self-control than average, scarcely any study has investigated the decision making of smartphone high users by using a behavioral paradigm. The present study employed an intertemporal task, the Smartphone Addiction Inventory (SPAI) and the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale 11th version (BIS-11) to explore the decision control of smartphone high users in a sample of 125 college students. Participants were divided into three groups according to their SPAI scores. The upper third (69 or higher), middle third (from 61 to 68) and lower third (60 or lower) of scores were defined as high smartphone users, medium users and low users, respectively. We compared the percentage of small immediate reward/penalty choices in different conditions between the three groups. Relative to the low users group, high users and medium users were more inclined to request an immediate monetary reward. Moreover, for the two dimensions of time and money in intertemporal choice, high users and medium users showed a bias in intertemporal choice task among most of the time points and value magnitude compared to low users. These findings demonstrated that smartphone overuse was associated with problematic decision-making, a pattern similar to that seen in persons affected by a variety of addictions. PMID:28344568

Bottle milk feeding and its association with food group consumption, growth and socio-demographic characteristics in Chinese young children.

PubMed

Yeung, Suey; Chan, Ruth; Li, Liz; Leung, Shirley; Woo, Jean

2017-07-01

It is recommended that infants from the age of 12 months should be weaned from bottles. However, an overwhelming proportion of young children were still using bottle after the recommended age of bottle-weaning. This cross-sectional study examined the association between utensils for milk drinking and food group consumption, growth and socio-demographic characteristics among young children. Data from the Survey of Infant and Young Child Feeding in Hong Kong were analyzed for 649 children aged 18-48 months old. Dietary outcomes were obtained via 3-day dietary records, while utensils for milk drinking and socio-demographic characteristics were collected from a self-developed questionnaire. Length/height and weight of the children were measured by the nurses. Results showed that daily consumption of formula milk was significantly greater among bottle users or bottle plus cup users than non-bottle users (p < 0.05). Exclusive bottle users had significantly lower intakes of meat and meat alternatives than bottle plus cup users for the 18 to 24-month group (p = 0.001) and lower intakes of fruits than non-bottle users in the 48-month group (p = 0.015). BMI z-score was significantly higher for exclusive bottle users than non-bottle users, even after adjusting for socio-economic factors and child's age (p = 0.006). The results showed that the milk drinking utensil was associated with the amount of formula milk and food group consumption as well as BMI z-score. There is a need to actively discourage prolonged bottle use in order to help young children develop good dietary habits. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Endoscopic and histopathologic gastric changes in chronic users of proton-pump inhibitors.

PubMed

Camilo, Sílvia Maria Perrone; Almeida, Élia Cláudia de Souza; Miranzi, Benito André Silveira; Silva, Juliano Carvalho; Nomelini, Rosemary Simões; Etchebehere, Renata Margarida

2015-01-01

Proton-pump inhibitors have been used for at least two decades. They are among the most commonly sold drugs in the world. However, some controversy remains about the indications for their use and the consequences of their prolonged use. To evaluate and compare the endoscopic and histopathologic gastric changes in chronic users of proton-pump inhibitors to changes in non-users. A prospective study performed at a tertiary Public Hospital involving 105 patients undergoing upper-gastrointestinal endoscopy. Subjects included 81 proton-pump inhibitor users and 24 non-users (control group). Biopsies of the antral-type mucosa, the antral-fundic transition, and the fundus were evaluated by the Sydney System. The presence of erosion or ulceration, lymphatic follicles, reactive gastropathy, and polypoid or epithelial hyperplasia was also determined. Serum levels of gastrin were measured. We found two polyps, one in each group, both of which were negative for Helicobacter pylori. There were two cases of parietal cell hyperplasia in users of proton-pump inhibitors. Gastrin was elevated in 28 users of proton-pump inhibitors and in four members of the control group. We did not find statistically significant differences in the endoscopic or histopathologic findings between the two groups. Chronic use of proton-pump inhibitors for the duration examined was not associated with significant gastric changes. An interesting finding was that the 4 chronic users of proton-pump inhibitors who had serum gastrin levels above 500 pg/mL also had positive serology for Chagas disease.

Aligning Technology with the Organisation Using Focus and User Groups

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Owens, Simeon

As an IT Manager of nine years in a small healthcare organisation, which has transitioned from a minimal base of IT to fully fledged systems in place, I have discovered two structures which have helped enormously in this transition. These structures are firstly, the focus group, which looks at the IT requirements of the business, and secondly the user group, or a group of super users, which help in the day to day running of the systems. I have put together a number of lessons, which I have learnt over the years through experience of the workings of these groups, the benefits of them and the value they bring to the organisation.

Data publication and sharing using the SciDrive service

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mishin, Dmitry; Medvedev, D.; Szalay, A. S.; Plante, R. L.

2014-01-01

Despite the last years progress in scientific data storage, still remains the problem of public data storage and sharing system for relatively small scientific datasets. These are collections forming the “long tail” of power log datasets distribution. The aggregated size of the long tail data is comparable to the size of all data collections from large archives, and the value of data is significant. The SciDrive project's main goal is providing the scientific community with a place to reliably and freely store such data and provide access to it to broad scientific community. The primary target audience of the project is astoromy community, and it will be extended to other fields. We're aiming to create a simple way of publishing a dataset, which can be then shared with other people. Data owner controls the permissions to modify and access the data and can assign a group of users or open the access to everyone. The data contained in the dataset will be automaticaly recognized by a background process. Known data formats will be extracted according to the user's settings. Currently tabular data can be automatically extracted to the user's MyDB table where user can make SQL queries to the dataset and merge it with other public CasJobs resources. Other data formats can be processed using a set of plugins that upload the data or metadata to user-defined side services. The current implementation targets some of the data formats commonly used by the astronomy communities, including FITS, ASCII and Excel tables, TIFF images, and YT simulations data archives. Along with generic metadata, format-specific metadata is also processed. For example, basic information about celestial objects is extracted from FITS files and TIFF images, if present. A 100TB implementation has just been put into production at Johns Hopkins University. The system features public data storage REST service supporting VOSpace 2.0 and Dropbox protocols, HTML5 web portal, command-line client and Java standalone client to synchronize a local folder with the remote storage. We use VAO SSO (Single Sign On) service from NCSA for users authentication that provides free registration for everyone.

Some effects of stress on users of a voice recognition system: A preliminary inquiry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

French, B. A.

1983-03-01

Recent work with Automatic Speech Recognition has focused on applications and productivity considerations in the man-machine interface. This thesis is an attempt to see if placing users of such equipment under time-induced stress has an effect on their percent correct recognition rates. Subjects were given a message-handling task of fixed length and allowed progressively shorter times to attempt to complete it. Questionnaire responses indicate stress levels increased with decreased time-allowance; recognition rates decreased as time was reduced.

Annual Review of Progress in Applied Computational Electromagnetics (4th), Held in Monterey, California on March 22-24, 1988

DTIC Science & Technology

1988-03-24

1430-1445 BREAK 1445-1645 EM CODE USERS PANEL DISCUSSION. Chaired by Wkn Breakal of LLNL. User community sugqestlons on needed enhancemento for EM Codes...I -"FINITE DIFFERENCE & FINITE ELEMENT METHC"S" Moderator: David E . Stein The LTV Aerospace and Defense Company "A Firite Element Analysis of...conduction (resulting from charge movement) or displacement ( e ,0 E /Wt) terms. The sum of these current densities are referred to as the Maxwell current

A Naval Aviation Maintenance Organizational Activity Strategic Information System (OASIS)

DTIC Science & Technology

1990-03-01

regarding how a problem should be solved." [Ref. 22- p, 5 fl They amount to " educated guesses" about the solution to a problem. 30 * Digital Equipment...user provides the developers with the requirements. feedback about progress, and approval of the final system. End-user invol \\ement has be- 37 come a...of confidence. If MCCs had access to such data thev could make better educated decisions about the likelihood of a partic- ular part being the cause

MAGSAT for geomagnetic studies over Indian region

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rastogi, R. G.; Bhargava, B. N.; Singh, B. P.; Rao, D. R. K.; Rangarajan, G. K.; Rajaram, R.; Roy, M.; Arora, B. R.; Seth, A. (Principal Investigator)

1981-01-01

Progress in the preparation of software for converting data tapes produced on an IBM system to data readable on a DEC-10 system, in the creation of awareness of the utility of MAGSAT data among users in India, and in making computer programs supplied by NASA operational on the DEC-10 system is reported. Papers presented to Indian users, at the IAGA fourth scientific assembly, at a symposium on interdisciplinary approaches to geomagnetism, and a paper published in Science Today are included.

The Third Annual NASA Science Internet User Working Group Conference

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lev, Brian S. (Editor); Gary, J. Patrick (Editor)

1993-01-01

The NASA Science Internet (NSI) User Support Office (USO) sponsored the Third Annual NSI User Working Group (NSIUWG) Conference March 30 through April 3, 1992, in Greenbelt, MD. Approximately 130 NSI users attended to learn more about the NSI, hear from projects which use NSI, and receive updates about new networking technologies and services. This report contains material relevant to the conference; copies of the agenda, meeting summaries, presentations, and descriptions of exhibitors. Plenary sessions featured a variety of speakers, including NSI project management, scientists, and NSI user project managers whose projects and applications effectively use NSI, and notable citizens of the larger Internet community. The conference also included exhibits of advanced networking applications; tutorials on internetworking, computer security, and networking technologies; and user subgroup meetings on the future direction of the conference, networking, and user services and applications.

Investigating Users' Requirements

PubMed Central

Walker, Deborah S.; Lee, Wen-Yu; Skov, Neil M.; Berger, Carl F.; Athley, Brian D.

2002-01-01

Objective: User data and information about anatomy education were used to guide development of a learning environment that is efficient and effective. The research question focused on how to design instructional software suitable for the educational goals of different groups of users of the Visible Human data set. The ultimate goal of the study was to provide options for students and teachers to use different anatomy learning modules corresponding to key topics, for course work and professional training. Design: The research used both qualitative and quantitative methods. It was driven by the belief that good instructional design must address learning context information and pedagogic content information. The data collection emphasized measurement of users' perspectives, experience, and demands in anatomy learning. Measurement: Users' requirements elicited from 12 focus groups were combined and rated by 11 researchers. Collective data were sorted and analyzed by use of multidimensional scaling and cluster analysis. Results: A set of functions and features in high demand across all groups of users was suggested by the results. However, several subgroups of users shared distinct demands. The design of the learning modules will encompass both unified core components and user-specific applications. The design templates will allow sufficient flexibility for dynamic insertion of different learning applications for different users. Conclusion: This study describes how users' requirements, associated with users' learning experiences, were systematically collected and analyzed and then transformed into guidelines informing the iterative design of multiple learning modules. Information about learning challenges and processes was gathered to define essential anatomy teaching strategies. A prototype instrument to design and polish the Visible Human user interface system is currently being developed using ideas and feedback from users. PMID:12087112

Assessing the effects of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs on antihypertensive drug therapy using post-marketing surveillance database.

PubMed

Ishiguro, Chieko; Fujita, Toshiharu; Omori, Takashi; Fujii, Yosuke; Mayama, Takeshi; Sato, Tosiya

2008-01-01

Antihypertensive and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are used to treat many common diseases. However, it has been suspected that interactions between these drugs exist. Here, we assessed the interactions between non-selective NSAIDs and several classes of antihypertensive drugs. The study design was a cohort study using "The Antihypertensive Drug Database," which is a collection of data accumulated from Drug Use Investigations. Subjects newly starting antihypertensive drug therapy were identified in the database. We compared the "User" group, who were co-administered NSAIDs, with the "Non-user" group, who were not. The outcome measure was the change in systolic blood pressure from the baseline after 2 months of treatment. We estimated the non-adjusted and adjusted differences in the change in systolic blood pressure between the "User" and "Non-user" groups. Data were collected for a total of 1,204 subjects, of whom 364 were prescribed beta blockers, 60 were prescribed diuretics, 628 were prescribed angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors, and 152 were prescribed calcium channel blockers. The adjusted difference in the change in systolic blood pressure between the User (n = 301) and Non-user (n = 903) groups was 2.88 mmHg (95% confidence interval: 0.89, 4.87); thus, systolic blood pressure in the Non-User group decreased further from the baseline than that in the User group. In subjects administered beta blockers, diuretics, angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors, and calcium channel blockers, the corresponding differences were 0.37 mmHg (-3.24, 3.98), 6.11 mmHg (-3.16, 15.37), 3.85 mmHg (1.16, 6.66), and 3.50 mmHg (-2.03, 9.02). The effectiveness of antihypertensive drugs was attenuated by the co-administration of NSAIDs. The differences in the effects of NSAIDs varied with different classes of antihypertensive drugs.

Effects of resistance exercise and the use of anabolic androgenic steroids on hemodynamic characteristics and muscle damage markers in bodybuilders.

PubMed

Nasseri, Azadeh; Nadimi, Amir; Nikookheslat, Saeed D

2016-09-01

Anabolic androgenic steroids (AAS), synthetic compounds of testosterone commonly used as sport performance enhancers, could cause cardiovascular dysfunction and cell damage. Even though the side effects of AAS intake have been widely studied, yet little is known about how resistance exercise can alter these side effects. This study aimed to determine the effects of one session resistance exercise and the use of AAS on hemodynamic characteristics and muscle damage markers in professional bodybuilders. Sixteen bodybuilders were divided into two groups: bodybuilders using AAS for at least 5 years (users; N.=8) and AAS-free bodybuilders (non-users; N.=8). The exercise protocol was a circuit strength training session involved three sets of 8-9 repetitions at 80-85% of 1-RM. Heart rate (HR), blood pressure (BP) and concentrations of serum creatine kinase (CK) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) were measured at three different time points, immediately before and after the exercise session and 24 hours following the exercise session. The users group showed greater basal levels of hemodynamic characteristics (i.e. HR and BP) and cell damage markers (i.e. CK and LDH) compared to those in the non-users group (all P<0.05). Furthermore, the exercise session significantly increased the levels of HR (P=0.02) and CK (P=0.01) in the users group compared to those in the non-users group immediately after the exercise. No significant differences were observed in BP and LDH responses to exercise between the users and the non-users groups (P>0.05). These findings indicate that the use of AAS could be potentially harmful as it enhances the levels of the hemodynamic characteristics and the muscle enzymes. These harmful effects of AAS intake could be more evident in response to resistance exercise.

Usability Operations on Touch Mobile Devices for Users with Autism.

PubMed

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

2017-10-14

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

Evaluation of the Tear Function Tests and the Ocular Surface in First-Time Users of Silicone Hydrogel Contact Lenses.

PubMed

Yildiz Tasci, Yelda; Gürdal, Canan; Sarac, Ozge; Onusever, Aykut

2017-07-01

To evaluate the effects of three different silicone hydrogel contact lenses (SHCL), (balafilcon A, senofilcon A, and comfilcon A) on tear function tests, corneal thickness, and ocular surface cytology in first time contact lens users. In this prospective study, 120 eyes of 60 subjects were evaluated. Balafilcon A users were designated as group 1, senofilcon A users as group 2, and comfilcon A users as group 3. In all cases, before and after 6 months of contact lens wear, ocular surface disease index score (OSDI), tear breakup time (TBUT), Schirmer 1 test, central corneal thickness (CCT), central corneal epithelium thickness (CCET), and conjunctival impression cytology samples were evaluated. In group 1, 40 eyes of the 20 patients, in group 2, 40 eyes of the 20 patients, and in group 3, 40 eyes of the 20 patients were evaluated. The mean OSDI scores did not differ between the three groups after contact lens wear (p > 0.05). In group 1 and group 2, significant decrease was found in the mean TBUT 6 months after contact lens wear (p = 0.04, p < 0.001, respectively). In group 3, after 6 months of contact lens wear, the mean Schirmer 1 tear test was decreased significantly (p = 0.021). In all 3 groups, no significant change was observed in the mean CCT and CCET after contact lens wear (p > 0.05). After 6 months, the morphological changes in temporal and superior conjunctival epithelial cells were found to be significant in all groups (p < 0.001). Six months after SHCL wear, marked morphological changes occurred in the conjunctival epithelium. Tear function tests were also affected, while corneal thickness did not show any significant difference.

Centralized Authorization Using a Direct Service, Part II

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

Wachsmann, A

Authorization is the process of deciding if entity X is allowed to have access to resource Y. Determining the identity of X is the job of the authentication process. One task of authorization in computer networks is to define and determine which user has access to which computers in the network. On Linux, the tendency exists to create a local account for each single user who should be allowed to logon to a computer. This is typically the case because a user not only needs login privileges to a computer but also additional resources like a home directory to actuallymore » do some work. Creating a local account on every computer takes care of all this. The problem with this approach is that these local accounts can be inconsistent with each other. The same user name could have a different user ID and/or group ID on different computers. Even more problematic is when two different accounts share the same user ID and group ID on different computers: User joe on computer1 could have user ID 1234 and group ID 56 and user jane on computer2 could have the same user ID 1234 and group ID 56. This is a big security risk in case shared resources like NFS are used. These two different accounts are the same for an NFS server so that these users can wipe out each other's files. The solution to this inconsistency problem is to have only one central, authoritative data source for this kind of information and a means of providing all your computers with access to this central source. This is what a ''Directory Service'' is. The two directory services most widely used for centralizing authorization data are the Network Information Service (NIS, formerly known as Yellow Pages or YP) and Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP).« less

Effect of an institutional development plan for user participation on professionals' knowledge, practice, and attitudes. A controlled study

PubMed Central

2011-01-01

Background Governments in several countries attempt to strengthen user participation through instructing health care organisations to plan and implement activities such as user representation in administrational boards, improved information to users, and more individual user participation in clinical work. The professionals are central in implementing initiatives to enhance user participation in organisations, but no controlled studies have been conducted on the effect on professionals from implementing institutional development plans. The objective was to investigate whether implementing a development plan intending to enhance user participation in a mental health hospital had any effect on the professionals' knowledge, practice, or attitudes towards user participation. Methods This was a non-randomized controlled study including professionals from three mental health hospitals in Central Norway. A development plan intended to enhance user participation was implemented in one of the hospitals as a part of a larger re-organizational process. The plan included i.e. establishing a patient education centre and a user office, purchasing of user expertise, appointing contact professionals for next of kin, and improving of the centre's information and the professional culture. The professionals at the intervention hospital thus constituted the intervention group, while the professionals at two other hospitals participated as control group. All professionals were invited to answer the Consumer Participation Questionnaire (CPQ) and additional questions, focusing on knowledge, practice, and attitudes towards user participation, two times with a 16 months interval. Results A total of 438 professionals participated (55% response rate). Comparing the changes in the intervention group with the changes in the control group revealed no statistically significant differences at a 0.05 level. The implementation of the development plan thus had no measurable effect on the professionals' knowledge, practice, or attitudes at the intervention hospital, compared to the control hospitals. Conclusion This is the first controlled study on the effect on professionals from implementing a development plan to enhance user participation in a mental health hospital. The plan had no effect on professionals' knowledge, practice, or attitudes. This can be due to the quality of the development plan, the implementation process, and/or the suitability of the outcome measures. PMID:22047466

Effect of an institutional development plan for user participation on professionals' knowledge, practice, and attitudes. A controlled study.

PubMed

Rise, Marit By; Grimstad, Hilde; Solbjør, Marit; Steinsbekk, Aslak

2011-11-02

Governments in several countries attempt to strengthen user participation through instructing health care organisations to plan and implement activities such as user representation in administrational boards, improved information to users, and more individual user participation in clinical work. The professionals are central in implementing initiatives to enhance user participation in organisations, but no controlled studies have been conducted on the effect on professionals from implementing institutional development plans. The objective was to investigate whether implementing a development plan intending to enhance user participation in a mental health hospital had any effect on the professionals' knowledge, practice, or attitudes towards user participation. This was a non-randomized controlled study including professionals from three mental health hospitals in Central Norway. A development plan intended to enhance user participation was implemented in one of the hospitals as a part of a larger re-organizational process. The plan included i.e. establishing a patient education centre and a user office, purchasing of user expertise, appointing contact professionals for next of kin, and improving of the centre's information and the professional culture. The professionals at the intervention hospital thus constituted the intervention group, while the professionals at two other hospitals participated as control group. All professionals were invited to answer the Consumer Participation Questionnaire (CPQ) and additional questions, focusing on knowledge, practice, and attitudes towards user participation, two times with a 16 months interval. A total of 438 professionals participated (55% response rate). Comparing the changes in the intervention group with the changes in the control group revealed no statistically significant differences at a 0.05 level. The implementation of the development plan thus had no measurable effect on the professionals' knowledge, practice, or attitudes at the intervention hospital, compared to the control hospitals. This is the first controlled study on the effect on professionals from implementing a development plan to enhance user participation in a mental health hospital. The plan had no effect on professionals' knowledge, practice, or attitudes. This can be due to the quality of the development plan, the implementation process, and/or the suitability of the outcome measures.

Implications of Boy Scout group use of public lands for natural resource managers: a regional comparison

Treesearch

Gail A. Vander Stoep

1992-01-01

Resource managers can apply group-specific rather than generic communications and management strategies to different public land user groups. This study compares use patterns of one user group, Boy Scout troops, from two regions of the United States. It identifies their public land use patterns, activities, needs, and motivations. Results can be used by resource...

Object relations and differential treatment response to methadone maintenance.

PubMed

Nicholson, B; Treece, C

1981-07-01

The authors report results from a psychiatric study of narcotic addicts in which the relationship between specified aspects of object relations development and treatment response to methadone maintenance was examined. Two groups were defined as high and low drug users (in addition to the prescribed methadone dose) depending upon the frequency and intensity of additional drug use; a middle group was excluded. Thirty subjects participated. The dimensions of separation/individuation, narcissistic development, and self and object representations were measured by 12 scaled variables; scores of the high and low drug users were compared by t-test. In all cases, the high use group was found to be more impaired than the low use group. However, the dimensions differed greatly in their ability to differentiate the groups. The strongest group differences were found in the area of narcissistic development, with the high user group significantly more impaired than the low user group. The strength of these findings lends empirical support to the notion that an addict population can be differentiated on diagnostic and ego psychological measures. This has important implications for methadone maintenance treatment programs, and, possibly, for drug programs in general.

Making sense of HUSK: practice implications for social change initiatives.

PubMed

McBeath, Bowen

2015-01-01

As an exemplar of bottom-up progressive social experimentation, HUSK provides opportunities to examine how innovative practice is supported and challenged in bureaucratic settings. In this analysis the author uses a sensemaking lens to identify critical issues and questions for those seeking to promote progressive change initiative in social welfare systems. Findings identify essential organizational and managerial supports needed to support service user voice and participation and reinforce the importance of reflexivity in practice and research.

Electrophysiological evidence of early attentional bias to drug-related pictures in chronic cannabis users.

PubMed

Asmaro, Deyar; Carolan, Patrick L; Liotti, Mario

2014-01-01

Behavioral and electrophysiological correlates of attentional bias to cannabis-related cues were investigated in a marijuana dependent group and a non-user group employing a drug Stroop task in which cannabis-related, negative and neutral images were presented. Behaviorally, cannabis users were less accurate during drug-containing blocks than non-users. Electrophysiologically, in chronic marijuana-users, an early positive ERP enhancement over left frontal scalp (EAP, 200-350ms) was present in response to drug-containing blocks relative to negative blocks. This effect was absent in the non-user group. Furthermore, drug-containing blocks gave rise to enhanced voltage of a posterior P300 (300-400ms), and a posterior sustained slow wave (LPP, 400-700ms) relative to negative blocks. However, such effects were similar between cannabis users and non-users. Brain source imaging in cannabis users revealed a generator for the EAP effect to drug stimuli in left ventromedial prefrontal cortex/medial orbitofrontal cortex, a region active in fMRI studies of drug cue-reactivity and a target of the core dopaminergic mesolimbic pathway involved in the processing of substances of abuse. This study identifies the timing and brain localization of an ERP correlate of early attentional capture to drug-related pictures in chronic marijuana users. The EAP to drug cues may identify a new electrophysiological marker with clinical implications for predicting abstinence versus relapse or to evaluate treatment interventions. © 2013.

The Problem of “Just for Fun”: Patterns of Use Situations among Active Club Drug Users

PubMed Central

Starks, Tyrel J.; Golub, Sarit; Kelly, Brian C.; Parsons, Jeffrey T.

2010-01-01

Existing research has demonstrated the significance of situational antecedents to substance use. The current study used a cluster analytic approach to identify groups of club drug users who report using substances in similar situations (assessed by the Inventory of Drug Taking Situations) with longitudinal data from 400 active drug users. A three-cluster solution emerged in baseline data and was replicated in 12-month follow-up data. Groups were identified as Situationally Restricted, Pleasure Driven, and Situationally Broad users. Group differences were observed on measures of mental health, attitudes towards substance use, amount of substance use, and rates of substance dependence. Cluster membership predicted substance dependence after controlling for past dependence, current use, and current depression/anxiety. PMID:20696530

Standardizing Navigation Data: A Status Update

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

VanEepoel, John M.; Berry, David S.; Pallaschke, Siegmar; Foliard, Jacques; Kiehling, Reinhard; Ogawa, Mina; Showell, Avanaugh; Fertig, Juergen; Castronuovo, Marco

2007-01-01

This paper presents the work of the Navigation Working Group of the Consultative Committee for Space Data Systems (CCSDS) on development of standards addressing the transfer of orbit, attitude and tracking data for space objects. Much progress has been made since the initial presentation of the standards in 2004, including the progression of the orbit data standard to an accepted standard, and the near completion of the attitude and tracking data standards. The orbit, attitude and tracking standards attempt to address predominant parameterizations for their respective data, and create a message format that enables communication of the data across space agencies and other entities. The messages detailed in each standard are built upon a keyword = value paradigm, where a fixed list of keywords is provided in the standard where users specify information about their data, and also use keywords to encapsulate their data. The paper presents a primer on the CCSDS standardization process to put in context the state of the message standards, and the parameterizations supported in each standard, then shows examples of these standards for orbit, attitude and tracking data. Finalization of the standards is expected by the end of calendar year 2007.

Building clinical networks: a developmental evaluation framework.

PubMed

Carswell, Peter; Manning, Benjamin; Long, Janet; Braithwaite, Jeffrey

2014-05-01

Clinical networks have been designed as a cross-organisational mechanism to plan and deliver health services. With recent concerns about the effectiveness of these structures, it is timely to consider an evidence-informed approach for how they can be developed and evaluated. To document an evaluation framework for clinical networks by drawing on the network evaluation literature and a 5-year study of clinical networks. We searched literature in three domains: network evaluation, factors that aid or inhibit network development, and on robust methods to measure network characteristics. This material was used to build a framework required for effective developmental evaluation. The framework's architecture identifies three stages of clinical network development; partner selection, network design and network management. Within each stage is evidence about factors that act as facilitators and barriers to network growth. These factors can be used to measure progress via appropriate methods and tools. The framework can provide for network growth and support informed decisions about progress. For the first time in one place a framework incorporating rigorous methods and tools can identify factors known to affect the development of clinical networks. The target user group is internal stakeholders who need to conduct developmental evaluation to inform key decisions along their network's developmental pathway.

Mental disorders in current and former heavy ecstasy (MDMA) users.

PubMed

Thomasius, R; Petersen, K U; Zapletalova, P; Wartberg, L; Zeichner, D; Schmoldt, A

2005-09-01

Ecstasy use has often been found to be associated with psychopathology, yet this research has so far been based largely on subjective symptom ratings. To investigate whether ecstasy users suffered from long-term psychopathological consequences. We compared the prevalence of Diagnostic and Statistical Manual version IV (DSM-IV) mental disorders in 30 current and 29 former ecstasy users, 29 polydrug and 30 drug-naive controls. Groups were approximately matched by age, gender and level of education. The current ecstasy users reported a life-time dose of an average of 821 and the former ecstasy users of 768 ecstasy tablets. Ecstasy users did not significantly differ from controls in the prevalence of mental disorders, except those related to substance use. Substance-induced affective, anxiety and cognitive disorders occurred more frequently among ecstasy users than polydrug controls. The life-time prevalence of ecstasy dependence amounted to 73% in the ecstasy user groups. More than half of the former ecstasy users and nearly half of the current ecstasy users met the criteria of substance-induced cognitive disorders at the time of testing. Logistic regression analyses showed the estimated life-time doses of ecstasy to be predictive of cognitive disorders, both current and life-time. The motivation for ecstasy use is not likely to be self-medication of pre-existing depressive or anxiety disorders as these did not occur more frequently in the ecstasy users than in control groups or in the general population. Cognitive disorders still present after over 5 months of ecstasy abstinence may well be functional consequences of serotonergic neurotoxicity of 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA).

Multisensory emotion perception in congenitally, early, and late deaf CI users

PubMed Central

Nava, Elena; Villwock, Agnes K.; Büchner, Andreas; Lenarz, Thomas; Röder, Brigitte

2017-01-01

Emotions are commonly recognized by combining auditory and visual signals (i.e., vocal and facial expressions). Yet it is unknown whether the ability to link emotional signals across modalities depends on early experience with audio-visual stimuli. In the present study, we investigated the role of auditory experience at different stages of development for auditory, visual, and multisensory emotion recognition abilities in three groups of adolescent and adult cochlear implant (CI) users. CI users had a different deafness onset and were compared to three groups of age- and gender-matched hearing control participants. We hypothesized that congenitally deaf (CD) but not early deaf (ED) and late deaf (LD) CI users would show reduced multisensory interactions and a higher visual dominance in emotion perception than their hearing controls. The CD (n = 7), ED (deafness onset: <3 years of age; n = 7), and LD (deafness onset: >3 years; n = 13) CI users and the control participants performed an emotion recognition task with auditory, visual, and audio-visual emotionally congruent and incongruent nonsense speech stimuli. In different blocks, participants judged either the vocal (Voice task) or the facial expressions (Face task). In the Voice task, all three CI groups performed overall less efficiently than their respective controls and experienced higher interference from incongruent facial information. Furthermore, the ED CI users benefitted more than their controls from congruent faces and the CD CI users showed an analogous trend. In the Face task, recognition efficiency of the CI users and controls did not differ. Our results suggest that CI users acquire multisensory interactions to some degree, even after congenital deafness. When judging affective prosody they appear impaired and more strongly biased by concurrent facial information than typically hearing individuals. We speculate that limitations inherent to the CI contribute to these group differences. PMID:29023525

Multisensory emotion perception in congenitally, early, and late deaf CI users.

PubMed

Fengler, Ineke; Nava, Elena; Villwock, Agnes K; Büchner, Andreas; Lenarz, Thomas; Röder, Brigitte

2017-01-01

Emotions are commonly recognized by combining auditory and visual signals (i.e., vocal and facial expressions). Yet it is unknown whether the ability to link emotional signals across modalities depends on early experience with audio-visual stimuli. In the present study, we investigated the role of auditory experience at different stages of development for auditory, visual, and multisensory emotion recognition abilities in three groups of adolescent and adult cochlear implant (CI) users. CI users had a different deafness onset and were compared to three groups of age- and gender-matched hearing control participants. We hypothesized that congenitally deaf (CD) but not early deaf (ED) and late deaf (LD) CI users would show reduced multisensory interactions and a higher visual dominance in emotion perception than their hearing controls. The CD (n = 7), ED (deafness onset: <3 years of age; n = 7), and LD (deafness onset: >3 years; n = 13) CI users and the control participants performed an emotion recognition task with auditory, visual, and audio-visual emotionally congruent and incongruent nonsense speech stimuli. In different blocks, participants judged either the vocal (Voice task) or the facial expressions (Face task). In the Voice task, all three CI groups performed overall less efficiently than their respective controls and experienced higher interference from incongruent facial information. Furthermore, the ED CI users benefitted more than their controls from congruent faces and the CD CI users showed an analogous trend. In the Face task, recognition efficiency of the CI users and controls did not differ. Our results suggest that CI users acquire multisensory interactions to some degree, even after congenital deafness. When judging affective prosody they appear impaired and more strongly biased by concurrent facial information than typically hearing individuals. We speculate that limitations inherent to the CI contribute to these group differences.

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

PubMed

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

2012-01-01

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

How the national healthcare quality and disparities reports can catalyze quality improvement.

PubMed

McNeill, Dwight; Kelley, Ed

2005-03-01

The purpose of the National Reports on Healthcare Quality and Disparities is to enhance awareness of quality and health care disparities, track progress, understand variations, and catalyze improvements in health care. The objective of this paper is to propose a model that will facilitate a user's progression from knowledge to action and to show how the reports, its data warehouse, associated products, and Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality resources are integrated and focused on a comprehensive campaign to improve health care quality. The design of the paper is to present a conceptual model and to show how implementation strategies for the reports fit the model. The authors propose a quality improvement supply chain model to help elucidate the links of the process, corresponding developmental stages that potential users need to master and progress through, and "just-in-time" supply chain inputs at each of the corresponding stages, and populate the model with examples. The traditional ways of disseminating knowledge derived from science through reports and conferences are inadequate to the humbling need for vast improvements in the US health care system. Our model suggests the need for a wide variety of information, packaged in a diverse ways, and delivered just in time and on demand. It encourages the alignment of decision makers and researchers, along with information intermediaries and innovation brokers, to make the information production cycle more efficient and effective. Future iterations of the reports will improve relevance, meaning, and distribution of information to facilitate its uptake by potential users.

Predictive validity of cannabis consumption measures: Results from a national longitudinal study.

PubMed

Buu, Anne; Hu, Yi-Han; Pampati, Sanjana; Arterberry, Brooke J; Lin, Hsien-Chang

2017-10-01

Validating the utility of cannabis consumption measures for predicting later cannabis related symptomatology or progression to cannabis use disorder (CUD) is crucial for prevention and intervention work that may use consumption measures for quick screening. This study examined whether cannabis use quantity and frequency predicted CUD symptom counts, progression to onset of CUD, and persistence of CUD. Data from the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions (NESARC) at Wave 1 (2001-2002) and Wave 2 (2004-2005) were used to identify three risk samples: (1) current cannabis users at Wave 1 who were at risk for having CUD symptoms at Wave 2; (2) current users without lifetime CUD who were at risk for incident CUD; and (3) current users with past-year CUD who were at risk for persistent CUD. Logistic regression and zero-inflated Poisson models were used to examine the longitudinal effect of cannabis consumption on CUD outcomes. Higher frequency of cannabis use predicted lower likelihood of being symptom-free but it did not predict the severity of CUD symptomatology. Higher frequency of cannabis use also predicted higher likelihood of progression to onset of CUD and persistence of CUD. Cannabis use quantity, however, did not predict any of the developmental stages of CUD symptomatology examined in this study. This study has provided a new piece of evidence to support the predictive validity of cannabis use frequency based on national longitudinal data. The result supports the common practice of including frequency items in cannabis screening tools. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Engineering web maps with gradual content zoom based on streaming vector data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huang, Lina; Meijers, Martijn; Šuba, Radan; van Oosterom, Peter

2016-04-01

Vario-scale data structures have been designed to support gradual content zoom and the progressive transfer of vector data, for use with arbitrary map scales. The focus to date has been on the server side, especially on how to convert geographic data into the proposed vario-scale structures by means of automated generalisation. This paper contributes to the ongoing vario-scale research by focusing on the client side and communication, particularly on how this works in a web-services setting. It is claimed that these functionalities are urgently needed, as many web-based applications, both desktop and mobile, require gradual content zoom, progressive transfer and a high performance level. The web-client prototypes developed in this paper make it possible to assess the behaviour of vario-scale data and to determine how users will actually see the interactions. Several different options of web-services communication architectures are possible in a vario-scale setting. These options are analysed and tested with various web-client prototypes, with respect to functionality, ease of implementation and performance (amount of transmitted data and response times). We show that the vario-scale data structure can fit in with current web-based architectures and efforts to standardise map distribution on the internet. However, to maximise the benefits of vario-scale data, a client needs to be aware of this structure. When a client needs a map to be refined (by means of a gradual content zoom operation), only the 'missing' data will be requested. This data will be sent incrementally to the client from a server. In this way, the amount of data transferred at one time is reduced, shortening the transmission time. In addition to these conceptual architecture aspects, there are many implementation and tooling design decisions at play. These will also be elaborated on in this paper. Based on the experiments conducted, we conclude that the vario-scale approach indeed supports gradual content zoom and the progressive web transfer of vector data. This is a big step forward in making vector data at arbitrary map scales available to larger user groups.

Use of an electronic patient portal among the chronically ill: an observational study.

PubMed

Riippa, Iiris; Linna, Miika; Rönkkö, Ilona; Kröger, Virpi

2014-12-08

Electronic patient portals may enhance effective interaction between the patient and the health care provider. To grasp the full potential of patient portals, health care providers need more knowledge on which patient groups prefer electronic services and how patients should be served through this channel. The objective of this study was to assess how chronically ill patients' state of health, comorbidities, and previous care are associated with their adoption and use of a patient portal. A total of 222 chronically ill patients, who were offered access to a patient portal with their health records and secure messaging with care professionals, were included in the study. Differences in the characteristics of non-users, viewers, and interactive users of the patient portal were analyzed before access to the portal. Patients' age, gender, diagnoses, levels of the relevant physiological measurements, health care contacts, and received physiological measurements were collected from the care provider's electronic health record. In addition, patient-reported health and patient activation were assessed by a survey. Despite the broad range of measures used to indicate the patients' state of health, the portal user groups differed only in their recorded diagnosis for hypertension, which was most common in the non-user group. However, there were significant differences in the amount of care received during the year before access to the portal. The non-user group had more nurse visits and more measurements of relevant physiological outcomes than viewers and interactive users. They also had fewer referrals to specialized care during the year before access to the portal than the two other groups. The viewers and the interactive users differed from each other significantly in the number of nurse calls received, the interactive users having more calls than the viewers. No significant differences in age, gender, or patient activation were detected between the user groups. Previous care received by the patient is an important predictor for the use of a patient portal. In a group of patients with a similar disease burden, demand for different types of health services and preferences related to the service channel seem to contribute to the choice to use the patient portal. Further research on patient portal functionalities and their potential to meet patient needs by complementing or substituting for traditional health care services is suggested.

ERP evidence suggests executive dysfunction in ecstasy polydrug users.

PubMed

Roberts, C A; Fairclough, S H; Fisk, J E; Tames, F; Montgomery, C

2013-08-01

Deficits in executive functions such as access to semantic/long-term memory have been shown in ecstasy users in previous research. Equally, there have been many reports of equivocal findings in this area. The current study sought to further investigate behavioural and electro-physiological measures of this executive function in ecstasy users. Twenty ecstasy-polydrug users, 20 non-ecstasy-polydrug users and 20 drug-naïve controls were recruited. Participants completed background questionnaires about their drug use, sleep quality, fluid intelligence and mood state. Each individual also completed a semantic retrieval task whilst 64 channel Electroencephalography (EEG) measures were recorded. Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) revealed no between-group differences in behavioural performance on the task. Mixed ANOVA on event-related potential (ERP) components P2, N2 and P3 revealed significant between-group differences in the N2 component. Subsequent exploratory univariate ANOVAs on the N2 component revealed marginally significant between-group differences, generally showing greater negativity at occipito-parietal electrodes in ecstasy users compared to drug-naïve controls. Despite absence of behavioural differences, differences in N2 magnitude are evidence of abnormal executive functioning in ecstasy-polydrug users.

Master of Puppets: An Animation-by-Demonstration Computer Puppetry Authoring Framework

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cui, Yaoyuan; Mousas, Christos

2018-03-01

This paper presents Master of Puppets (MOP), an animation-by-demonstration framework that allows users to control the motion of virtual characters (puppets) in real time. In the first step, the user is asked to perform the necessary actions that correspond to the character's motions. The user's actions are recorded, and a hidden Markov model is used to learn the temporal profile of the actions. During the runtime of the framework, the user controls the motions of the virtual character based on the specified activities. The advantage of the MOP framework is that it recognizes and follows the progress of the user's actions in real time. Based on the forward algorithm, the method predicts the evolution of the user's actions, which corresponds to the evolution of the character's motion. This method treats characters as puppets that can perform only one motion at a time. This means that combinations of motion segments (motion synthesis), as well as the interpolation of individual motion sequences, are not provided as functionalities. By implementing the framework and presenting several computer puppetry scenarios, its efficiency and flexibility in animating virtual characters is demonstrated.

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

PubMed

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

2017-01-01

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

The perceived value of using BIM for energy simulation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lewis, Anderson M.

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

Rates of escalation to triple COPD therapy among incident users of LAMA and LAMA/LABA.

PubMed

Hahn, Beth; Hull, Michael; Blauer-Peterson, Cori; Buikema, Ami R; Ray, Riju; Stanford, Richard H

2018-06-01

Improved outcomes have been reported for patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) receiving combination long-acting muscarinic antagonist/long-acting β 2 -agonist (LAMA/LABA) therapy compared with LAMA monotherapy. However, little is known about the relative characteristics of these patients and their rates of escalation to triple therapy (TT, combining a LAMA, LABA, and inhaled corticosteroid). This study aimed to characterize patients initiating treatment with the LAMA tiotropium (TIO) and the fixed-dose LAMA/LABA combination therapy umeclidinium/vilanterol (UMEC/VI), and to compare rates of escalation to TT between patients receiving these therapies. Retrospective study of patients with COPD enrolled in a US health insurance plan during 2013-2015 and newly initiated on TIO or UMEC/VI. Patients were ≥40 years of age at index (date of therapy initiation) with continuous enrollment for 12 months pre-index and ≥30 days post-index. LAMA users were propensity score matched 1:1 to LAMA/LABA users, with TT initiation rates reported by cohort using pharmacy claims. 35,357 patients initiating on TIO and 2407 patients initiating on UMEC/VI were identified. After propensity score matching, the rate of TT initiation was significantly higher in new TIO users (n = 1320) than in new UMEC/VI users (n = 1320) (0.92 vs 0.49 per 100 months of exposure, respectively; p < 0.001). Relative to the UMEC/VI cohort, the TIO cohort had an 87% higher risk of TT initiation (hazard ratio: 1.87; 95% confidence interval: 1.4-2.5; p = 0.001). Patients receiving UMEC/VI progressed to TT more slowly, and were at lower risk of progressing to TT, than patients receiving TIO. Copyright © 2018 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Is the igeneration a 'we' generation? Social networking use among 9- to 13-year-olds and belonging.

PubMed

Quinn, Sally; Oldmeadow, Julian A

2013-03-01

Research suggests that online communication is associated with increased closeness to friends and friendship quality. Children under 13 years of age are increasingly using social networking sites (SNSs), but research with this younger age group is scarce. This study examined the relationship between SNS use and feelings of belonging among children aged 9-13 years. A self-report questionnaire was administered to 443 children (48.98% boys), asking about their SNS use and their sense of belonging to their friendship group. SNS users reported a stronger sense of belonging to their friendship group than non-users, but this was found only among older boys. Furthermore, among boy SNS users, a positive linear relationship was found between the intensity of usage and feelings of belonging. No significant relationships were found for girls. These findings suggest that boys who use these sites are gaining friendship benefits over and above those boys who are non-users or low-intensity users. Longitudinal studies should investigate the causal relationships between SNS use and social effects within this age group. © 2012 The British Psychological Society.

Status Report on Efforts to Enhance Instrumentation to Support Advanced Test Reactor Irradiations

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

J. Rempe; D. Knudson; J. Daw

2014-01-01

The Department of Energy (DOE) designated the Advanced Test Reactor (ATR) as a National Scientific User Facility (NSUF) in April 2007 to support the growth of nuclear science and technology in the United States (US). By attracting new research users - universities, laboratories, and industry - the ATR NSUF facilitates basic and applied nuclear research and development, further advancing the nation's energy security needs. A key component of the ATR NSUF effort at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) is to design, develop, and deploy new in-pile instrumentation techniques that are capable of providing real-time measurements of key parameters during irradiation.more » To address this need, an assessment of instrumentation available and under-development at other test reactors was completed. Based on this initial review, recommendations were made with respect to what instrumentation is needed at the ATR, and a strategy was developed for obtaining these sensors. In 2009, a report was issued documenting this program’s strategy and initial progress toward accomplishing program objectives. Since 2009, annual reports have been issued to provide updates on the program strategy and the progress made on implementing the strategy. This report provides an update reflecting progress as of January 2014.« less

Guidelines and Parameter Selection for the Simulation of Progressive Delamination

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Song, Kyongchan; Davila, Carlos G.; Rose, Cheryl A.

2008-01-01

Turon s methodology for determining optimal analysis parameters for the simulation of progressive delamination is reviewed. Recommended procedures for determining analysis parameters for efficient delamination growth predictions using the Abaqus/Standard cohesive element and relatively coarse meshes are provided for single and mixed-mode loading. The Abaqus cohesive element, COH3D8, and a user-defined cohesive element are used to develop finite element models of the double cantilever beam specimen, the end-notched flexure specimen, and the mixed-mode bending specimen to simulate progressive delamination growth in Mode I, Mode II, and mixed-mode fracture, respectively. The predicted responses are compared with their analytical solutions. The results show that for single-mode fracture, the predicted responses obtained with the Abaqus cohesive element correlate well with the analytical solutions. For mixed-mode fracture, it was found that the response predicted using COH3D8 elements depends on the damage evolution criterion that is used. The energy-based criterion overpredicts the peak loads and load-deflection response. The results predicted using a tabulated form of the BK criterion correlate well with the analytical solution and with the results predicted with the user-written element.

Self-Reported and Judged Personality, Value, and Attitudinal Patterns: A Comparison of Users and Non Users of LSD-25.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jones, Allan P.

This study is designed to assess the benefits of LSD use as well as to examine personality, value, and attitudinal variables in order to characterize users and non users. The main assessment tool used was the in-depth interview. Subjects were 31 male and 8 female users and a non user group matched for education and age. The user was characterized…

Effect of oral contraceptive use on the erythrocytic glutathione reductase and aspartate aminotransferase activities in women with or without clinical signs of vitamin deficiency.

PubMed

Tovar, A; Bourges, H; Canto, T; Torres, N; Lopez-castro, B R

1985-07-01

The effect of the chronic use of combined oral contraceptives (OCs) on the "activity coefficients" (alpha = coenzyme-stimulated activity/basal activity) of erythrocytic glutathione reductase and aspartate aminotransferase was studied in 2 groups of 90 female volunteers each; 1 of the groups, from the state of Yucatan in southeast Mexico, presented clinical lesions of vitamin deficiency, while the other group, from Mexico City, did not have any clinical evidence of vitamin deficiency. One half of the women (45) in each group were chronic OC users and the other half were not. The results were analyzed comparing OC users with non-users in each location. For both glutathione reductase and aspartate aminotransferase, the Mexico City OC users had significantly higher (p 0.001) alpha values than nonusers, while in the Yucatan women, the alpha values were similarly high independent of OC use.

User-independent EBSD parameters to study the progress of recovery and recrystallization in Cu-Zn alloy during in situ heating.

PubMed

Sharma, N K; Shekhar, S

2016-12-01

Microstructural evolution of cold-rolled Cu-5%Zn alloy during in situ heating inside field-emission scanning electron microscope was utilized to obtain user-independent parameters in order to trace the progress of static recovery and recrystallization. Electron back-scattered diffraction (EBSD)-based orientation imaging microscopy was used to obtain micrographs at various stages of in situ heating. It is shown that unlike the pre-existing methods, additional EBSD-based parameter can be used to trace the progress of recovery and recrystallization, which is not dependent on user input and hence less prone to error. True strain of 0.3 was imposed during cold rolling of alloy sample. Rolled sample was subjected to in situ heating from room temperature to 500°C (∼0.58 Tm) with soaking time of 10 min, at each of the intermediate temperatures viz. 100, 200, 300, 400 and 450°C. After reaching 500°C, the sample was kept at this temperature for a maximum duration of around 15 h. The sample showed clear signs of recovery for temperature up to 450°C, and at 500°C, recrystallization started to take place. Recrystallization kinetics was moderate, and full recrystallization was achieved in approximately 120 min. We found that EBSD parameter, namely, band contrast intensity can be used as an extra handle to map out the progress of recrystallization occurring in the sample. By contrast, mean angular deviation can be used to understand the evolution of recovery in samples. The parameters mentioned in the current study, unlike other pre-existing methods, can also be used for mapping local microstructural transformations due to recovery and recrystallization. We discuss the benefits and limitations in using these additional handles in understanding the changes taking place in the material during in situ heating. © 2016 The Authors Journal of Microscopy © 2016 Royal Microscopical Society.

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

PubMed

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

2017-08-01

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

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

PubMed

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

2016-05-01

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

Older Adults' Knowledge of Internet Hazards

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Grimes, Galen A.; Hough, Michelle G.; Mazur, Elizabeth; Signorella, Margaret L.

2010-01-01

Older adults are less likely to be using computers and less knowledgeable about Internet security than are younger users. The two groups do not differ on trust of Internet information. The younger group shows no age or gender differences. Within the older group, computer users are more trusting of Internet information, and along with those with…

Resource use and cost implications of switching among warfarin formulations in atrial fibrillation patients.

PubMed

Kwong, Winghan Jacqueline; Kamat, Siddhesh; Fang, Christy

2012-12-01

Despite the uncertainty surrounding the safety of switching warfarin formulations, limited data exist on the resource use and costs associated with this switching pattern. To evaluate health care resource use and costs associated with switching warfarin formulations among patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) in a managed care organization. Patients diagnosed with AF (ICD-9 427.31) between July 2004 and August 2008 and who received warfarin therapy were identified in the HealthCore Integrated Research Database and categorized into 3 groups: users of generic warfarin formulations from a single drug manufacturer (generic-only group), users of branded warfarin formulations only (brand-only group), and patients who used generic and branded warfarin therapy interchangeably or who may have used generic drugs from 1 or more manufacturers (generic/brand switching group). Patients were followed 12 months or longer after their index warfarin prescription date to compare all-cause resource use and costs using multivariable regression analysis. The analysis included 12,908 patients: 71.82% were in the genericonly group, 9.61% were in the brand-only group, and 18.57% were in the generic/brand switching group. Patients in the generic/brand switching group were more likely to be hospitalized (relative risk [RR] = 1.43, p < 0.0001) or to use emergency department services (RR = 1.20, p < 0.01), compared to the brand-only users. Hospitalizations were more likely (RR = 1.26, p < 0.001) to occur among generic-only users versus brand-only users. Adjusted mean pharmacy costs per member per month were lower in the generic/brand switching group compared to the brand-only group ($257 vs $273, p = 0.038), but inpatient costs were higher ($1250 vs $972, p < 0.001), resulting in higher ($2125 vs $1847, p < 0.001) total costs. Generic-only users had lower pharmacy costs compared to brand-only users ($246 vs $273, p < 0.001), but total health care costs trended to be higher in the generic-only group ($1957 vs $1847, p = 0.053). The use of both generic and branded formulations of warfarin interchangeably, or the use of generics from more than 1 manufacturer, was associated with increased use of all-cause health care resources and total costs in patients with AF.

User and group storage management the CMS CERN T2 centre

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cerminara, G.; Franzoni, G.; Pfeiffer, A.

2015-12-01

A wide range of detector commissioning, calibration and data analysis tasks is carried out by CMS using dedicated storage resources available at the CMS CERN Tier-2 centre. Relying on the functionalities of the EOS disk-only storage technology, the optimal exploitation of the CMS user/group resources has required the introduction of policies for data access management, data protection, cleanup campaigns based on access pattern, and long term tape archival. The resource management has been organised around the definition of working groups and the delegation to an identified responsible of each group composition. In this paper we illustrate the user/group storage management, and the development and operational experience at the CMS CERN Tier-2 centre in the 2012-2015 period.

78 FR 22916 - Notice of Intent To Seek Approval To Establish an Information Collection

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-04-17

... Research.gov . These indicators are both quantitative and descriptive and may include, for example, lists... evaluate the progress of the program. Estimate of Burden: 200 hours per facility for three national user...

Comparison of transportation related injury mechanisms and outcome of young road users and adult road users, a retrospective analysis on 24,373 patients derived from the TraumaRegister DGU®.

PubMed

Brockamp, Thomas; Schmucker, Uli; Lefering, Rolf; Mutschler, Manuel; Driessen, Arne; Probst, Christian; Bouillon, Bertil; Koenen, Paola

2017-06-14

Most young people killed in road crashes are known as vulnerable road users. A combination of physical and developmental immaturity as well as inexperience increases the risk of road traffic accidents with a high injury severity rate. Understanding injury mechanism and pattern in a group of young road users may reduce morbidity and mortality. This study analyzes injury patterns and outcomes of young road users compared to adult road users. The comparison takes into account different transportation related injury mechanisms. A retrospective analysis using data collected between 2002 and 2012 from the TraumaRegister DGU® was performed. Only patients with a transportation related injury mechanism (motor vehicle collision (MVC), motorbike, cyclist, and pedestrian) and an ISS ≥ 9 were included in our analysis. Four different groups of young road users were compared to adult trauma data depending on the transportation related injury mechanism. Twenty four thousand three hundred seventy three, datasets were retrieved to compare all subgroups. The mean ISS was 23.3 ± 13.1. The overall mortality rate was 8.61%. In the MVC, the motorbike and the cyclist group, we found young road users having more complex injury patterns with a higher AIS pelvis, AIS head, AIS abdomen and AIS of the extremities and also a lower GCS. Whereas in these three sub-groups the adult trauma group only had a higher AIS thorax. Only in the group of the adult pedestrians we found a higher AIS pelvis, AIS abdomen, AIS thorax, a higher AIS of the extremities and a lower GCS. This study reports on the most common injuries and injury patterns in young trauma patients in comparison to an adult trauma sample. Our analysis show that in contrast to more experienced road users our young collective refers to be a vulnerable trauma group with an increased risk of a high injury severity and high mortality rate. We indicate a striking difference in terms of the region of injury and the mechanism of injury when comparing the young versus the adult trauma collectives. Young drivers of cars, motorbikes and bikes were shown to be on high risk to sustain a specific severe injury pattern and a high mortality rate compared to adult road users. Our data emphasize a characteristic injury pattern of young trauma patients and may be used to improve trauma care and to guide prevention strategies to decrease injury severity and mortality due to road traffic injuries.

An Intelligent computer-aided tutoring system for diagnosing anomalies of spacecraft in operation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rolincik, Mark; Lauriente, Michael; Koons, Harry C.; Gorney, David

1993-01-01

A new rule-based, expert system for diagnosing spacecraft anomalies is under development. The knowledge base consists of over two-hundred (200) rules and provides links to historical and environmental databases. Environmental causes considered are bulk charging, single event upsets (SEU), surface charging, and total radiation dose. The system's driver translates forward chaining rules into a backward chaining sequence, prompting the user for information pertinent to the causes considered. When the user selects the novice mode, the system automatically gives detailed explanations and descriptions of terms and reasoning as the session progresses, in a sense teaching the user. As such it is an effective tutoring tool. The use of heuristics frees the user from searching through large amounts of irrelevant information and allows the user to input partial information (varying degrees of confidence in an answer) or 'unknown' to any question. The system is available on-line and uses C Language Integrated Production System (CLIPS), an expert shell developed by the NASA Johnson Space Center AI Laboratory in Houston.

Usability Evaluation of a Private Social Network on Mental Health for Relatives.

PubMed

Toribio-Guzmán, José Miguel; García-Holgado, Alicia; Soto Pérez, Felipe; García-Peñalvo, Francisco J; Franco Martín, Manuel

2017-09-01

Usability is one of the most prominent criteria that must be fulfilled by a software product. This study aims to evaluate the usability of SocialNet, a private social network for monitoring the daily progress of patients by their relatives, using a mixed usability approach: heuristic evaluation conducted by experts and user testing. A double heuristic evaluation with one expert evaluator identified the issues related to consistency, design, and privacy. User testing was conducted on 20 users and one evaluator using observation techniques and questionnaires. The main usability problems were found to be related to the structure of SocialNet, and the users presented some difficulties in locating the buttons or links. The results show a high level of usability and satisfaction with the product. This evaluation provides data on the usability of SocialNet based on the difficulties experienced by the users and the expert. The results help in redesigning the tool to resolve the identified problems as part of an iterative process.

Virtual reality games for movement rehabilitation in neurological conditions: how do we meet the needs and expectations of the users?

PubMed

Lewis, Gwyn N; Rosie, Juliet A

2012-01-01

To review quantitative and qualitative studies that have examined the users' response to virtual reality game-based interventions in people with movement disorders associated with chronic neurological conditions. We aimed to determine key themes that influenced users' enjoyment and engagement in the games and develop suggestions as to how future systems could best address their needs and expectations. There were a limited number of studies that evaluated user opinions. From those found, seven common themes emerged: technology limitations, user control and therapist assistance, the novel physical and cognitive challenge, feedback, social interaction, game purpose and expectations, and the virtual environments. Our key recommendations derived from the review were to avoid technology failure, maintain overt therapeutic principles within the games, encompass progression to promote continuing physical and cognitive challenge, and to provide feedback that is easily and readily associated with success. While there have been few studies that have evaluated the users' perspective of virtual rehabilitation games, our findings indicate that canvassing these experiences provides valuable information on the needs of the intended users. Incorporating our recommendations may enhance the efficacy of future systems to optimize the rehabilitation benefits of virtual reality games.

Perceptions Toward a Smoking Cessation App Targeting LGBTQ+ Youth and Young Adults: A Qualitative Framework Analysis of Focus Groups.

PubMed

Baskerville, N Bruce; Dash, Darly; Wong, Katy; Shuh, Alanna; Abramowicz, Aneta

2016-11-18

The prevalence of smoking among lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, queer, and other sexual minority (LGBTQ+) youth and young adults (YYA) is significantly higher compared with that among non-LGBTQ+ persons. However, in the past, interventions were primarily group cessation classes that targeted LGBTQ+ persons of all ages. mHealth interventions offer an alternate and modern intervention platform for this subpopulation and may be of particular interest for young LGBTQ+ persons. This study explored LGBTQ+ YYA (the potential users') perceptions of a culturally tailored mobile app for smoking cessation. Specifically, we sought to understand what LGBTQ+ YYA like and dislike about this potential cessation tool, along with how such interventions could be improved. We conducted 24 focus groups with 204 LGBTQ+ YYA (aged 16-29 years) in Toronto and Ottawa, Canada. Participants reflected on how an app might support LGBTQ+ persons with smoking cessation. Participants indicated their feelings, likes and dislikes, concerns, and additional ideas for culturally tailored smoking cessation apps. Framework analysis was used to code transcripts and identify the overarching themes. Study findings suggested that LGBTQ+ YYA were eager about using culturally tailored mobile apps for smoking cessation. Accessibility, monitoring and tracking, connecting with community members, tailoring, connecting with social networks, and personalization were key reasons that were valued for a mobile app cessation program. However, concerns were raised about individual privacy and that not all individuals had access to a mobile phone, users might lose interest quickly, an app would need to be marketed effectively, and app users might cheat and lie about progress to themselves. Participants highlighted that the addition of distractions, rewards, notifications, and Web-based and print versions of the app would be extremely useful to mitigate some of their concerns. This study provided insight into the perspectives of LGBTQ+ YYA on a smoking cessation intervention delivered through a mobile app. The findings suggested a number of components of a mobile app that were valued and those that were concerning, as well as suggestions on how to make a mobile app cessation program successful. App development for this subpopulation should take into consideration the opinions of the intended users and involve them in the development and evaluation of mobile-based smoking cessation programs. ©N Bruce Baskerville, Darly Dash, Katy Wong, Alanna Shuh, Aneta Abramowicz. Originally published in JMIR Public Health and Surveillance (http://publichealth.jmir.org), 18.11.2016.

Transitions in Illicit Drug Use Status over 3 Years: A Prospective Analysis of a General Population Sample

PubMed Central

Compton, Wilson M.; Dawson, Deborah A.; Conway, Kevin P.; Brodsky, Marc; Grant, Bridget F.

2015-01-01

Objective To examine 3-year transitions among nonuse, asymptomatic use and problem use of illicit drugs for US adults in the general household population. Method Data from the nationally representative NESARC study of 34,653 adults interviewed twice, 3 years apart. Three mutually exclusive categories of baseline drug status comprised past year non-users (n=32,675), past-year asymptomatic drug users (n=861), and past-year symptomatic drug users (n=1,117). Symptomatic drug use was defined as presence of one or more symptoms that operationalize DSM-IV drug abuse and dependence criteria. Variables tested for association with 3-year transitions to different status categories included sociodemographic, health, substance use and psychiatric covariates. Results Among baseline nonusers, 95.4% continued to be nonusers at follow-up, 2.1% became asymptomatic users, and 2.5% developed drug problems. Among baseline asymptomatic users, 66.6% had stopped using drugs at follow-up, 14.3% continued to be asymptomatic users and 19.1% had developed drug problems. Nearly half (49.0%) of those with drug problems at baseline had stopped using drugs at follow-up, 10.9% had transitioned to asymptomatic use and 40.1% continued to have drug problems. Younger age, male gender, white race, and not being married were associated with progression from non-use to use or problematic use, as were alcohol and tobacco categories, major depression and schizotypal, borderline and narcissistic personality disorders. Panic disorder and avoidant personality disorder were associated with less progression. Conclusions Transitions in drug use status are common. The finding that alcohol and tobacco-related variables and co-occurring psychopathology are important correlates of transitions suggests the value of addressing all co-occurring disorders and substance use in patient assessments and treatment planning, both for preventing adverse transitions and promoting positive transitions. PMID:23511653

Proceedings of Military Librarians' Workshop. The User and the Library (11th, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, October 31-November 2, 1967).

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Air Force Inst. of Tech., Wright-Patterson AFB, OH.

The purpose of this workshop was to investigate the problems the user faces in using a military library and to develop some methods of overcoming these problems. To provide balanced representation of both users and librarians, outside speakers contributed ideas that were discussed in group meetings. Each group discussed the same major topics,…

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

PubMed Central

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

2018-01-01

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

OA11 Public health and hospices: what is really possible?

PubMed

Hartley, Nigel; Richardson, Heather

2015-04-01

Whilst a growing number of hospices are proactively engaging in the public health agenda, questions remain about whether this is an approach that hospices can adopt successfully. (Sallnow et al . 2014). The experience of St Christopher's in the development of its social hub (The Anniversary Centre) offers insights into the challenges and how these are best addressed. The Anniversary Centre was established to provide a more open and flexible approach to end of life care and to challenge and change public attitudes towards death and dying. It sought, also, to contest an existing culture of care, shifting from professional management of problems to one in which people take a lead in their own care and wellbeing. A review of the progress of the Centre in achieving these aims has been undertaken five years after its establishment. Questions focus on: The degree to which the centre has engaged more of the local communities How much its users are able to determine their own priorities, care and wellbeing through attendance at the centre What evidence of a public health approach exists in the support it provides. The Centre offers a new and alternative way of supporting people living with a life threatening condition. Although successes have been achieved, organisational and historical cultural barriers continue to limit progress. Hospice culture can prohibit public health approaches to palliative care. However, related innovation is possible when clear values and stories are shared, champions are identified and professional assumptions are challenged. Sallnow L, Paul S. Understanding community engagement in end-of-life care: developing conceptual clarity. Crit Public Health 2015;25(2):231-8. © 2015, Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions.

Abnormal maximal finger tapping in abstinent cannabis users.

PubMed

Flavel, Stanley C; White, Jason M; Todd, Gabrielle

2013-11-01

To investigate movement speed and rhythmicity in abstinent cannabis users, we hypothesized that abstinent cannabis users exhibit decreased maximal finger tapping frequency and increased variability of tapping compared with non-drug users. The study involved 10 healthy adult cannabis users and 10 age-matched and gender-matched controls with no history of illicit drug use. Subjects underwent a series of screening tests prior to participation. Subjects were then asked to tap a strain gauge as fast as possible with the index finger of their dominant hand (duration 5 s). The average intertap interval did not significantly differ between groups, but the coefficient of variation of the intertap interval was significantly greater in the cannabis group than in controls (p=0.011). The cannabis group also exhibited a slow tapping frequency at the beginning of the task. Rhythmicity of finger tapping is abnormal in individuals with a history of cannabis use. The abnormality appears to be long lasting and adds to the list of functional changes present in abstinent cannabis users. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Monitoring and Benchmarking eHealth in the Nordic Countries.

PubMed

Nøhr, Christian; Koch, Sabine; Vimarlund, Vivian; Gilstad, Heidi; Faxvaag, Arild; Hardardottir, Gudrun Audur; Andreassen, Hege K; Kangas, Maarit; Reponen, Jarmo; Bertelsen, Pernille; Villumsen, Sidsel; Hyppönen, Hannele

2018-01-01

The Nordic eHealth Research Network, a subgroup of the Nordic Council of Ministers eHealth group, is working on developing indicators to monitor progress in availability, use and outcome of eHealth applications in the Nordic countries. This paper reports on the consecutive analysis of National eHealth policies in the Nordic countries from 2012 to 2016. Furthermore, it discusses the consequences for the development of indicators that can measure changes in the eHealth environment arising from the policies. The main change in policies is reflected in a shift towards more stakeholder involvement and intensified focus on clinical infrastructure. This change suggests developing indicators that can monitor understandability and usability of eHealth systems, and the use and utility of shared information infrastructure from the perspective of the end-users - citizens/patients and clinicians in particular.

The use of hypermedia to increase the productivity of software development teams

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Coles, L. Stephen

1991-01-01

Rapid progress in low-cost commercial PC-class multimedia workstation technology will potentially have a dramatic impact on the productivity of distributed work groups of 50-100 software developers. Hypermedia/multimedia involves the seamless integration in a graphical user interface (GUI) of a wide variety of data structures, including high-resolution graphics, maps, images, voice, and full-motion video. Hypermedia will normally require the manipulation of large dynamic files for which relational data base technology and SQL servers are essential. Basic machine architecture, special-purpose video boards, video equipment, optical memory, software needed for animation, network technology, and the anticipated increase in productivity that will result for the introduction of hypermedia technology are covered. It is suggested that the cost of the hardware and software to support an individual multimedia workstation will be on the order of $10,000.

Human papillomavirus type specific risk of progression and remission during long-term follow-up of equivocal and low-grade HPV-positive cervical smears.

PubMed

Vintermyr, Olav Karsten; Andersland, Marie Songstad; Bjørge, Tone; Skar, Robert; Iversen, Ole Erik; Nygård, Mari; Haugland, Hans Kristian

2018-03-23

The prevalence of clinically relevant HPV types and their specific risk for progression and regression in women with atypical squamous cells of uncertain significance (ASCUS) and low-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions (LSIL) were studied in a routine screening population. A 4-year cohort of women (n = 820) with ASCUS/LSIL and a positive HPV test in triage were followed for 6-9 years. The progression risks for CIN2+/CIN3+ were determined for single (71.2%) and multiple HPV infections (28.8%). The CIN2+ progression risk for all HPV 16, all HPV 35, single HPV 16 and single HPV 35 infections were 65.3% (95% CI: 59.6-71.0), 64.4% (95% CI: 50.4-78.4), 63.8% (95% CI: 56.2-71.4) and 73.7% (95% CI: 53.9-93.5), respectively. Based on CIN2+ progression risks four main groups were defined; the HPV 16 group, the HPV 31/33/35 group, the HPV 18/45/51/52 group and the HPV 39/56/58/59/66/68 group with progression risks of 65.3% (95% CI: 59.6-71.0), 62.1% (95% CI: 54.8-69.4), 52.6 (95% CI: 45.9-59.3) and 39.5 (95% CI: 33.0-46.0), respectively. In multivariate analyses, women in the age group 40-49 years had an increased risk of CIN2+ progression. As for CIN3+, HPV 16 had a higher progression risk than other HPV risk groups (p < 0.05). In multiple infections only HPV 16 had a significant additive CIN3+ progression risk (p < 0.05) as compared to other HPV risk groups. In summary, HPV types 16 and 35, including the HPV risk group 31/33/35, had a similar CIN2+ progression risk, but only HPV 16 had a higher risk for CIN3+ progression. © 2018 UICC.

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

PubMed

Norman, Chenelle; Mello, Michael; Choi, Bryan

2016-01-01

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

Vitamin D supplementation as a potential cause of U-shaped associations between vitamin D levels and negative health outcomes: a decision tree analysis for risk of frailty.

PubMed

Kojima, Gotaro; Iliffe, Steve; Tanabe, Marianne

2017-10-16

A recent controversy in vitamin D research is a "U-shaped association", with elevated disease risks at both high and low 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25 (OH) D) levels. This is a cross-sectional study of 238 male nursing home veterans in Hawaii. Classification and regression tree (CART) analysis identified groups based on 25 (OH) D and vitamin D supplementation for frailty risk. Characteristics were examined and compared across the groups using logistic regression and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analyses. CART analysis identified three distinct groups: vitamin D supplement users (n = 86), non-users with low vitamin D (n = 55), and non-users with high vitamin D (n = 97). Supplement users were the most frail, but had high mean 25 (OH) D of 26.6 ng/mL, which was compatible with 27.1 ng/mL in non-users with high vitamin D, while mean 25 (OH) D of non-users with low vitamin D was 11.7 ng/mL. Supplement users and non-users with low vitamin D were significantly more likely to be frail (odds ratio (OR) = 9.90, 95% CI = 2.18-44.86, p = 0.003; OR = 4.28, 95% CI = 1.44-12.68, p = 0.009, respectively), compared with non-users with low vitamin D. ROC curve analysis showed the three groups significantly predicted frailty (area under the curve = 0.73), with sensitivity of 64.4% and specificity of 76.7%, while 25 (OH) D did not predict frailty. In these nursing home veterans, vitamin D supplement users were the most frail but with high 25 (OH) D. This can potentially be a cause of U-shaped associations between vitamin D levels and negative health outcomes.

Treatment outcomes for professional voice users.

PubMed

Wingate, Judith M; Brown, William S; Shrivastav, Rahul; Davenport, Paul; Sapienza, Christine M

2007-07-01

Professional voice users comprise 25% to 35% of the U.S. working population. Their voice problems may interfere with job performance and impact costs for both employers and employees. The purpose of this study was to examine treatment outcomes of two specific rehabilitation programs for a group of professional voice users. Eighteen professional voice users participated in this study; half had complaints of throat pain or vocal fatigue (Dysphonia Group), and half were found to have benign vocal fold lesions (Lesion Group). One group received 5 weeks of expiratory muscle strength training followed by six sessions of traditional voice therapy. Treatment order was reversed for the second group. The study was designed as a repeated measures study with independent variables of treatment order, laryngeal diagnosis (lesion vs non-lesion), gender, and time. Dependent variables included maximum expiratory pressure (MEP), Voice Handicap Index (VHI) score, Vocal Rating Scale (VRS) score, Voice Effort Scale score, phonetogram measures, subglottal pressures, and acoustic and perceptual measures. Results showed significant improvements in MEP, VHI scores, and VRS scores, subglottal pressure for loud intensity, phonetogram area, and dynamic range. No significant difference was found between laryngeal diagnosis groups. A significant difference was not observed for treatment order. It was concluded that the combined treatment was responsible for the improvements observed. The results indicate that a combined modality treatment may be successful in the remediation of vocal problems for professional voice users.

A high prevalence of abnormal personality traits in chronic users of anabolic-androgenic steroids.

PubMed Central

Cooper, C J; Noakes, T D; Dunne, T; Lambert, M I; Rochford, K

1996-01-01

OBJECTIVE: (1) To assess the personality profiles of the anabolic androgenic steroid users (AAS) and (2) to determine whether valid premorbid personality traits could be obtained from cross sectional assessment using multisource data. METHODS: The first author became a participant-observer in a group of body builders. An experimental group of body builders who had been using AAS for no more than 18 months (n = 12) was identified. A group of control subjects, each of whom claimed that he did not, and never had, used AAS (n = 12) was also recruited during this period. Key informants played a crucial role in recruiting subjects representative of the AAS and body building communities. An interview schedule based on the Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (DSM3-R) personality disorder criteria was conducted with each subject. Additional data were obtained from an AAS using informant and significant others including family and friends. RESULTS: The user group was significantly heavier than the control group and showed abnormal personality traits, in contrast to the control group. Personality traits of AAS users before the onset of AAS use, assessed retrospectively, were not different from personality traits of control subjects. There were significant differences between the before and after personality traits in AAS user group. CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest (1) that AAS use is associated with significant disturbances in personality profile, and (2) that these personality disturbances are possibly the direct result of AAS use. PMID:8889121

A high prevalence of abnormal personality traits in chronic users of anabolic-androgenic steroids.

PubMed

Cooper, C J; Noakes, T D; Dunne, T; Lambert, M I; Rochford, K

1996-09-01

(1) To assess the personality profiles of the anabolic androgenic steroid users (AAS) and (2) to determine whether valid premorbid personality traits could be obtained from cross sectional assessment using multisource data. The first author became a participant-observer in a group of body builders. An experimental group of body builders who had been using AAS for no more than 18 months (n = 12) was identified. A group of control subjects, each of whom claimed that he did not, and never had, used AAS (n = 12) was also recruited during this period. Key informants played a crucial role in recruiting subjects representative of the AAS and body building communities. An interview schedule based on the Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (DSM3-R) personality disorder criteria was conducted with each subject. Additional data were obtained from an AAS using informant and significant others including family and friends. The user group was significantly heavier than the control group and showed abnormal personality traits, in contrast to the control group. Personality traits of AAS users before the onset of AAS use, assessed retrospectively, were not different from personality traits of control subjects. There were significant differences between the before and after personality traits in AAS user group. The results suggest (1) that AAS use is associated with significant disturbances in personality profile, and (2) that these personality disturbances are possibly the direct result of AAS use.

Translation and validation of the Brown attention-deficit disorder scale for use in Brazil: identifying cases of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder among samples of substance users and non-users. Cross-cultural validation study.

PubMed

Kakubo, Simone Mayumi; Mendez, Mariel; Silveira, Juliana Doering; Maringolo, Leonardo; Nitta, Conrado; Silveira, Dartiu Xavier da; Fidalgo, Thiago Marques

2018-04-23

The Brown Attention-Deficit Disorder Scale (BADDS) was developed as a self-report assessment that was designed to screen for presence of symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The objective here was to translate and validate the adult self-report BADDS for use in Brazil. Cross-cultural validation study conducted in an addiction unit at a public university hospital. This study included a control group (n = 100) and a drug-user group (n = 100). Both groups included subjects aged 18 to 60 years old. The control group had no prior diagnosis of drug addiction and the drug-user group included participants with a diagnosis of addiction. Each participant answered Brazilian Portuguese translations of both the BADDS and the Adult Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Self-Report Scale (ASRS) questionnaires, in paper-and-pencil format. The drug-user group scored higher than the control group on both scales. The mean scores on ASRS were 27.26 (standard deviation, SD: 11.99) and 25.85 (SD: 8.65) respectively (P > 0.05). The mean scores on BADDS were 79.56 (SD: 29.61) and 79.31 (SD: 18.09), respectively (P > 0.05). Cronbach's alpha for BADDS was 0.95. BADDS presented fair sensitivity (72% accuracy) and fair specificity (88% accuracy). This study provides discriminative validity evidence for use of BADDS among Brazilian adults with substance-use disorders.

Progressive Visual Analytics: User-Driven Visual Exploration of In-Progress Analytics.

PubMed

Stolper, Charles D; Perer, Adam; Gotz, David

2014-12-01

As datasets grow and analytic algorithms become more complex, the typical workflow of analysts launching an analytic, waiting for it to complete, inspecting the results, and then re-Iaunching the computation with adjusted parameters is not realistic for many real-world tasks. This paper presents an alternative workflow, progressive visual analytics, which enables an analyst to inspect partial results of an algorithm as they become available and interact with the algorithm to prioritize subspaces of interest. Progressive visual analytics depends on adapting analytical algorithms to produce meaningful partial results and enable analyst intervention without sacrificing computational speed. The paradigm also depends on adapting information visualization techniques to incorporate the constantly refining results without overwhelming analysts and provide interactions to support an analyst directing the analytic. The contributions of this paper include: a description of the progressive visual analytics paradigm; design goals for both the algorithms and visualizations in progressive visual analytics systems; an example progressive visual analytics system (Progressive Insights) for analyzing common patterns in a collection of event sequences; and an evaluation of Progressive Insights and the progressive visual analytics paradigm by clinical researchers analyzing electronic medical records.

Non-Dependent and Dependent Daily Cannabis Users Differ in Mental Health but Not Prospective Memory Ability

PubMed Central

Braidwood, Ruth; Mansell, Samantha; Waldron, Jon; Rendell, Peter G.; Kamboj, Sunjeev K.; Curran, H. Valerie

2018-01-01

Research suggests that daily cannabis users have impaired memory for past events, but it is not clear whether they are also impaired in prospective memory (PM) for future events. The present study examined PM in daily cannabis users who were either dependent (n = 18) or non-dependent (n = 18), and compared them with non-using controls (n = 18). The effect of future event simulation (FES) on PM performance was also examined. Participants were matched across groups on age, gender, and highest level of education. The virtual week (VW) was used to objectively assess PM abilities, both at baseline and following FES. Other measures used were: cannabis use variables, immediate and delayed prose recall, phonemic and category fluency, spot-the-word test (premorbid intelligence), Beck Depression Inventory, Beck Anxiety Inventory, and a measure of schizotypy (Oxford-Liverpool Inventory of Feelings and Experiences: unusual experiences subscale). No group differences were found in PM performance on the VW, and FES did not improve PM performance in any group. Dependent cannabis users scored higher on depression, anxiety, and schizotypy than both other groups with non-dependent cannabis users scoring at a similar level to controls. There were no group differences in alcohol use. Findings suggest that when carefully matched on baseline variables, and not differing in premorbid IQ or alcohol use, young, near-daily cannabis users do not differ from non-using controls in PM performance. PMID:29636705

Increased self-reported impulsivity in methamphetamine users maintaining drug abstinence.

PubMed

Jones, Hannah W; Dean, Andy C; Price, Kimberly A; London, Edythe D

2016-09-01

Impulsivity has been proposed as an important factor in the initiation and maintenance of addiction. Indirect evidence suggests that some methamphetamine users report less impulsivity when they are using methamphetamine compared to when abstaining from drug use, but this hypothesis has not been directly tested. In this study, self-reports of impulsivity were obtained from 32 methamphetamine-dependent (DSM-IV) research participants and 41 healthy control subjects, using the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale-11. The methamphetamine users were assessed during an active period of methamphetamine use, as determined through urinalysis, and again after approximately 1 week of confirmed abstinence. Control subjects likewise completed two assessments. A subset of participants also completed serial assessments of the Beck Depression Inventory (Methamphetamine Group, N = 17, Control Group, N = 38) and the Methamphetamine Withdrawal Questionnaire (Methamphetamine Group, N = 12). There was a significant interaction of group with time on impulsivity (p = 0.044), reflecting a significant increase from the first to the second assessment in the methamphetamine users (p = 0.013), but no change among healthy control subjects. In contrast, depressive and withdrawal symptoms significantly decreased between the first and second assessments in the methamphetamine users (ps ≤0.01). Change in impulsivity in methamphetamine users was not significantly correlated with change in withdrawal or depression (ps >0.05). These findings suggest that methamphetamine users report more impulsivity when abstaining from drug use, an effect that is not significantly related to methamphetamine withdrawal. Attenuation of impulsivity may reinforce continued methamphetamine use in these individuals.

Reduced response to reward in smokers and cannabis users.

PubMed

Martin-Soelch, Chantal; Kobel, Maja; Stoecklin, Markus; Michael, Tanja; Weber, Simone; Krebs, Bigna; Opwis, Klaus

2009-01-01

Cannabis is one of the most commonly used illicit drugs. Reduced neural and behavioral reactions to reward have been demonstrated in other forms of addiction, as expressed by reduced mood reactivity and lack of striatal activation to rewards, but this effect has not yet been investigated in cannabis users. We hypothesized that cannabis users and tobacco smokers would evidence lower positive mood ratings in rewarded conditions than control participants and that this reduction would be greater in cannabis users than in smokers. We examined the influence of reward on mood and performance in a group of regular cannabis users, a group of tobacco smokers and a group of nonsmokers while they performed a spatial recognition task with delayed response that incorporated 3 levels of difficulty. Correct responses were either not reinforced or reinforced with money. We measured the accuracy of reactions, reaction times and mood ratings throughout the trials. Cannabis users rated their mood as significantly worse than the smokers and nonsmokers during the easiest level of the rewarded condition. A significant positive correlation between mood ratings and monetary reward was found in the nonsmokers but not in the cannabis users and smokers. The groups did not differ with regard to task performance. Our results suggest that regular cannabis use affects certain aspects of motivation and that both tobacco smoking and cannabis use lead to similar motivational changes. However, the use of cannabis seems to affect motivation in a stronger way than does tobacco smoking alone. 2009 S. Karger AG, Basel

Development of a multi-behavioral mHealth app for women smokers

PubMed Central

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

2017-01-01

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

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

PubMed

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

2016-02-18

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

Brave New World

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Panettieri, Joseph C.

2007-01-01

Across the globe, progressive universities are embracing any number of MUVEs (multi-user virtual environments), 3D environments, and "immersive" virtual reality tools. And within the next few months, several universities are expected to test so-called "telepresence" videoconferencing systems from Cisco Systems and other leading…

SARA: A Mobile App to Engage Users in Health Data Collection

PubMed Central

Rabbi, Mashfiqui; Philyaw-Kotov, Meredith; Lee, Jinseok; Mansour, Anthony; Dent, Laura; Wang, Xiaolei; Cunningham, Rebecca; Bonar, Erin; Nahum-Shani, Inbal; Klasnja, Predrag; Walton, Maureen; Murphy, Susan

2017-01-01

Despite the recent progress in sensor technologies, many relevant health data can be only captured with manual input (e.g., food intake, stress appraisal, subjective emotion, substance use). A common problem of manual logging is that users often disengage within a short time because of high burden. In this work, we propose SARA, a novel app to engage users with ongoing tracking using timely rewards thereby reinforcing users for data input. SARA is developed for adolescents and emerging adults at risk for substance abuse. The rewards in SARA are designed to be developmentally and culturally appropriate to the target demographic and are theoretically grounded in the behavioral science literature. In this paper, we describe SARA and its rewards to increase data collection. We also briefly discuss future plans to evaluate SARA and develop just in time adaptive interventions for engagement and behavior change. PMID:29503985

Group Treatment for Men with Intellectual Disability and Sexually Abusive Behaviour: Service User Views

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hays, Sarah-Jane; Murphy, Glynis H.; Langdon, Peter E.; Rose, David; Reed, Tracy

2007-01-01

Background: Men with intellectual disability (ID) and sexually abusive behaviour are a disempowered and marginalised group. Nevertheless, as service users, they can be consulted and involved in a variety of different ways, including ascertaining their views of the services they receive. Method: A group of 16 men with ID and sexually abusive…

Social Influences on User Behavior in Group Information Repositories

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rader, Emilee Jeanne

2009-01-01

Group information repositories are systems for organizing and sharing files kept in a central location that all group members can access. These systems are often assumed to be tools for storage and control of files and their metadata, not tools for communication. The purpose of this research is to better understand user behavior in group…

Interpersonal Relationship Styles in Marathon Group Therapy: A Study with Illicit Drug Users.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Page, Richard C.; Bridges, Ned

1983-01-01

Assessed how illegal drug users (N=12) related to one another during a 16-hour unstructured group marathon. Interaction analysis supported the effectiveness of the marathon group. Members and facilitators were able to relate to each other by confronting significant behaviors and receiving feedback about ways to cope with personal problems. (JAC)

The Effects of 16 Hour Long Marathon Groups on the Ways that Female Drug Users Perceive Women.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Page, Richard C.

1984-01-01

Evaluated the effectiveness of three 16-hour-long unstructured marathon groups composed of female illicit drug users in a woman's prison (N=78), using evaluative adjective pairs of the semantic differential concept Women. Marathon groups rated women as more successful and more pleasurable than did controls. (JAC)

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

PubMed Central

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

2016-01-01

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

Identifying research needs for wheelchair transfers in the built environment.

PubMed

Crytzer, Theresa Marie; Cooper, Rory; Jerome, Genevieve; Koontz, Alicia

2017-02-01

The purpose of this study is to describe the results of focus groups held during the Independent Wheelchair Transfer (IWT) Workgroup. The aims were to facilitate exchange of ideas on (1) the impact of the built environment on the wheelchair transfer process within the community (i.e. moving from wheelchair to and from other surfaces (e.g. furniture, toilet seat, bath bench, car seat) to participate in daily activities), (2) wheelchair users' needs during transfers in the built environment, and (3) future research directions. Live web-based conferencing using Adobe Connect technology (Clarix Technologies, Inc., Pittsford, NY) was utilized to conduct three focus groups composed of experts in the field of assistive technology. Investigators independently reviewed focus group meeting transcripts and used qualitative methods to identify main themes. Thirty-one experts in assistive technology and related fields participated in focus groups. Nine main themes were found including the effect of transfer skills training, space considerations in the built environment, wheelchair configuration, and the interaction between the built environment, user preferences, and transfer techniques. All groups raised issues about the transfer process in areas of the built environment with limited access, the effect of wheelchair users' transfer techniques, and user preferences during transfers. The area of independent transfers is multi-faceted and several factors require consideration when contemplating environmental changes to improve accessibility for wheelchair users. Obvious opportunity exists for research which could lead to advances in transfer technology, environments, and techniques for wheelchair users. Implications for Rehabilitation Tremendous opportunities for research collaborations in the field of assistive technology: To develop new terminology to describe wheelchair transfers. To improve the design of the built environment for wheelchair users. To investigate wheelchair transfer training techniques.

A Radiographic Comparison of Progressive and Conventional Loading on Crestal Bone Loss and Density in Single Dental Implants: A Randomized Controlled Trial Study

PubMed Central

Ghoveizi, Rahab; Alikhasi, Marzieh; Siadat, Mohammad-Reza; Siadat, Hakimeh; Sorouri, Majid

2013-01-01

Objective: Crestal bone loss is a biological complication in implant dentistry. The aim of this study was to compare the effect of progressive and conventional loading on crestal bone height and bone density around single osseointegrated implants in the posterior maxilla by a longitudinal radiographic assessment technique. Materials and Methods: Twenty micro thread implants were placed in 10 patients (two implants per patient). One of the two implants in each patient was assigned to progressive and the other to conventional loading groups. Eight weeks after surgery, conventional implants were restored with a metal ceramic crown and the progressive group underwent a progressive loading protocol. The progressive loading group took different temporary acrylic crowns at 2, 4 and 6 months. After eight months, acrylic crowns were replaced with a metal ceramic crown. Computer radiography of both progressive and conventional implants was taken at 2, 4, 6, and 12 months. Image analysis was performed to measure the height of crestal bone loss and bone density. Results: The mean values of crestal bone loss at month 12 were 0.11 (0.19) mm for progressively and 0.36 (0.36) mm for conventionally loaded implants, with a statistically significant difference (P < 0.05) using Wilcoxon sign rank. Progressively loaded group showed a trend for higher bone density gain compared to the conventionally loaded group, but when tested with repeated measure ANOVA, the differences were not statistically significant (P > 0.05). Conclusion: The progressive group showed less crestal bone loss in single osseointegrated implant than the conventional group. Bone density around progressively loaded implants showed increase in crestal, middle and apical areas. PMID:23724215

Effects of accessible website design on nondisabled users: age and device as moderating factors.

PubMed

Schmutz, Sven; Sonderegger, Andreas; Sauer, Juergen

2018-05-01

This study examined how implementing recommendations from Web accessibility guidelines affects nondisabled people in different age groups using different technical devices. While recent research showed positive effects of implementing such recommendations for nondisabled users, it remains unclear whether such effects would apply to different age groups and kind of devices. A 2 × 2 × 2 design was employed with website accessibility (high accessibility vs. very low accessibility), age (younger adults vs. older adults) and type of device (laptop vs. tablet) as independent variables. 110 nondisabled participants took part in a usability test, in which performance and satisfaction were measured as dependent variables. The results showed that higher accessibility increased task completion rate, task completion time and satisfaction ratings of nondisabled users. While user age did not have any effects, users showed faster task completion time under high accessibility when using a tablet rather than a laptop. The findings confirmed previous findings, which showed benefits of accessible websites for nondisabled users. These beneficial effects may now be generalised to a wide age range and across different devices. Practitioner Summary: This work is relevant to the design of websites since it emphasises the need to consider the characteristics of different user groups. Accessible website design (aimed at users with disabilities) leads to benefits for nondisabled users across different ages. These findings provide further encouragement for practitioners to apply WCAG 2.0.

The effect of temporal gap identification on speech perception by users of cochlear implants

PubMed Central

Sagi, Elad; Kaiser, Adam R.; Meyer, Ted A.; Svirsky, Mario A.

2008-01-01

Purpose This study examined the ability of listeners using cochlear implants (CIs) and listeners with normal-hearing (NH) to identify silent gaps of different duration, and the relation of this ability to speech understanding in CI users. Method Sixteen NH adults and eleven postlingually deafened adults with CIs identified synthetic vowel-like stimuli that were either continuous or contained an intervening silent gap ranging from 15 to 90 ms. Cumulative d’, an index of discriminability, was calculated for each participant. Consonant and CNC word identification tasks were administered to the CI group. Results Overall, the ability to identify stimuli with gaps of different duration was better for the NH group than for the CI group. Seven CI users had cumulative d' scores that were no higher than those of any NH listener, and their CNC word scores ranged from 0 to 30%. The other four CI users had cumulative d’ scores within the range of the NH group, and their CNC word scores ranged from 46% to 68%. For the CI group, cumulative d’ scores were significantly correlated with their speech testing scores. Conclusions The ability to identify silent gap duration may help explain individual differences in speech perception by CI users. PMID:18806216

Adaptive interface for personalizing information seeking.

PubMed

Narayanan, S; Koppaka, Lavanya; Edala, Narasimha; Loritz, Don; Daley, Raymond

2004-12-01

An adaptive interface autonomously adjusts its display and available actions to current goals and abilities of the user by assessing user status, system task, and the context. Knowledge content adaptability is needed for knowledge acquisition and refinement tasks. In the case of knowledge content adaptability, the requirements of interface design focus on the elicitation of information from the user and the refinement of information based on patterns of interaction. In such cases, the emphasis on adaptability is on facilitating information search and knowledge discovery. In this article, we present research on adaptive interfaces that facilitates personalized information seeking from a large data warehouse. The resulting proof-of-concept system, called source recommendation system (SRS), assists users in locating and navigating data sources in the repository. Based on the initial user query and an analysis of the content of the search results, the SRS system generates a profile of the user tailored to the individual's context during information seeking. The user profiles are refined successively and are used in progressively guiding the user to the appropriate set of sources within the knowledge base. The SRS system is implemented as an Internet browser plug-in to provide a seamless and unobtrusive, personalized experience to the users during the information search process. The rationale behind our approach, system design, empirical evaluation, and implications for research on adaptive interfaces are described in this paper.

The efficacy of early initiated, supervised, progressive resistance training compared to unsupervised, home-based exercise after unicompartmental knee arthroplasty: a single-blinded randomized controlled trial.

PubMed

Jørgensen, Peter B; Bogh, Søren B; Kierkegaard, Signe; Sørensen, Henrik; Odgaard, Anders; Søballe, Kjeld; Mechlenburg, Inger

2017-01-01

To examine if supervised progressive resistance training was superior to home-based exercise in rehabilitation after unicompartmental knee arthroplasty. Single blinded, randomized clinical trial. Surgery, progressive resistance training and testing was carried out at Aarhus University Hospital and home-based exercise was carried out in the home of the patient. Fifty five patients were randomized to either progressive resistance training or home-based exercise. Patients were randomized to either progressive resistance training (home based exercise five days/week and progressive resistance training two days/week) or control group (home based exercise seven days/week). Preoperative assessment, 10-week (primary endpoint) and one-year follow-up were performed for leg extension power, spatiotemporal gait parameters and knee injury and osteoarthritis outcome score (KOOS). Forty patients (73%) completed 1-year follow-up. Patients in the progressive resistance training group participated in average 11 of 16 training sessions. Leg extension power increased from baseline to 10-week follow-up in progressive resistance training group (progressive resistance training: 0.28 W/kg, P= 0.01, control group: 0.01 W/kg, P=0.93) with no between-group difference. Walking speed and KOOS scores increased from baseline to 10-week follow-up in both groups with no between-group difference (six minutes walk test P=0.63, KOOS P>0.29). Progressive resistance training two days/week combined with home based exercise five days/week was not superior to home based exercise seven days/week in improving leg extension power of the operated leg.

Evaluation of new multimedia formats for cancer communications.

PubMed

Bader, Judith L; Strickman-Stein, Nancy

2003-01-01

Providing quality, current cancer information to cancer patients and their families is a key function of the National Cancer Institute (NCI) Web site. This information is now provided in predominantly-text format, but could be provided in formats using multimedia, including animation and sound. Since users have many choices about where to get their information, it is important to provide the information in a format that is helpful and that they prefer. To pilot and evaluate multimedia strategies for future cancer-information program formats for lay users, the National Cancer Institute created new multimedia versions of existing text programs. We sought to evaluate user performance and preference on these 3 new formats and on the 2 existing text formats. The National Cancer Institute's "What You Need to Know About Lung Cancer" program was the test vehicle. There were 5 testing sessions, 1 dedicated to each format. Each session lasted about 1 hour, with 9 participants per session and 45 users overall. Users were exposed to the assigned cancer program from beginning to end in 1 of 5 formats: text paperback booklet, paperback booklet formatted in HTML on the Web, spoken audio alone, spoken audio synchronized with a text Web page, and Flash multimedia (animation, spoken audio, and text). Immediately thereafter, the features and design of the 4 alternative formats were demonstrated in detail. A multiple-choice pre-test and post-test quiz on the cancer content was used to assess user learning (performance) before and after experiencing the assigned program. The quiz was administered using an Authorware software interface writing to an Access database. Users were asked to rank from 1 to 5 their preference for the 5 program formats, and provide structured and open-ended comments about usability of the 5 formats. Significant improvement in scores from pre-test to post-test was seen for the total study population. Average scores for users in each of the 5 format groups improved significantly. Increments in improvement, however, were not statistically different between any of the format groups. Significant improvements in quiz scores were seen irrespective of age group or education level. Of the users, 71.1% ranked the Flash program first among the 5 formats, and 84.4% rated Flash as their first or second choice. Audio was the least-preferred format, ranking fifth among 46.7% of users and first among none. Flash was ranked first among users regardless of education level, age group, or format group to which the user was assigned. Under the pilot study conditions, users overwhelmingly preferred the Flash format to the other 4 formats. Learning occurred equally in all formats. Use of multimedia should be considered as communication strategies are developed for updating cancer content and attracting new users.

Evaluation of New Multimedia Formats for Cancer Communications

PubMed Central

Strickman-Stein, Nancy

2003-01-01

Background Providing quality, current cancer information to cancer patients and their families is a key function of the National Cancer Institute (NCI) Web site. This information is now provided in predominantly-text format, but could be provided in formats using multimedia, including animation and sound. Since users have many choices about where to get their information, it is important to provide the information in a format that is helpful and that they prefer. Objective To pilot and evaluate multimedia strategies for future cancer-information program formats for lay users, the National Cancer Institute created new multimedia versions of existing text programs. We sought to evaluate user performance and preference on these 3 new formats and on the 2 existing text formats. Methods The National Cancer Institute's "What You Need to Know About Lung Cancer" program was the test vehicle. There were 5 testing sessions, 1 dedicated to each format. Each session lasted about 1 hour, with 9 participants per session and 45 users overall. Users were exposed to the assigned cancer program from beginning to end in 1 of 5 formats: text paperback booklet, paperback booklet formatted in HTML on the Web, spoken audio alone, spoken audio synchronized with a text Web page, and Flash multimedia (animation, spoken audio, and text). Immediately thereafter, the features and design of the 4 alternative formats were demonstrated in detail. A multiple-choice pre-test and post-test quiz on the cancer content was used to assess user learning (performance) before and after experiencing the assigned program. The quiz was administered using an Authorware software interface writing to an Access database. Users were asked to rank from 1 to 5 their preference for the 5 program formats, and provide structured and open-ended comments about usability of the 5 formats. Results Significant improvement in scores from pre-test to post-test was seen for the total study population. Average scores for users in each of the 5 format groups improved significantly. Increments in improvement, however, were not statistically different between any of the format groups. Significant improvements in quiz scores were seen irrespective of age group or education level. Of the users, 71.1% ranked the Flash program first among the 5 formats, and 84.4% rated Flash as their first or second choice. Audio was the least-preferred format, ranking fifth among 46.7% of users and first among none. Flash was ranked first among users regardless of education level, age group, or format group to which the user was assigned. Conclusions Under the pilot study conditions, users overwhelmingly preferred the Flash format to the other 4 formats. Learning occurred equally in all formats. Use of multimedia should be considered as communication strategies are developed for updating cancer content and attracting new users. PMID:14517107

Simulating Progressive Damage of Notched Composite Laminates with Various Lamination Schemes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mandal, B.; Chakrabarti, A.

2017-05-01

A three dimensional finite element based progressive damage model has been developed for the failure analysis of notched composite laminates. The material constitutive relations and the progressive damage algorithms are implemented into finite element code ABAQUS using user-defined subroutine UMAT. The existing failure criteria for the composite laminates are modified by including the failure criteria for fiber/matrix shear damage and delamination effects. The proposed numerical model is quite efficient and simple compared to other progressive damage models available in the literature. The efficiency of the present constitutive model and the computational scheme is verified by comparing the simulated results with the results available in the literature. A parametric study has been carried out to investigate the effect of change in lamination scheme on the failure behaviour of notched composite laminates.

[The father image in male substance users].

PubMed

Sánchez Huesca, R; Guisa Cruz, V M; Cedillo González, A; Pascual Blanco, Y

2002-01-01

Due to the fact that various research studies have shown that drug users usually have a father with negative characteristics, it is convenient to investigate this phenomenon and take it into consideration in addict treatment efforts. This is a qualitative study that explores the fatherly perception among male substance users. The sample included 25 users who asked for treatment at Youth Integration Center and 25 non-users. Both groups were subjected to projective tests. The father image among substance users emphasizes negative characteristics; in contrast, non-users present a basically positive father perception, considering him as the most valuable family member. These data show that substance users relate less with the fatherly figure than non-users. They perceive their father as a devaluated member that occupies a secondary place in the family and sometimes does not even have an affective role. The findings of this investigation can be applied in individual psychotherapy, facilitating the revaluation and reflection of the fatherly figure among substance users. It would be convenient to create the necessary conditions to restitute the father role in family therapy and counseling groups for relatives. The findings must consider the size of the sample and limitations of qualitative research methology.

Communication training improves sense of performance expectancy of public health nurses engaged in long-term elderly prevention care program.

PubMed

Tanabe, Motoko; Suzukamo, Yoshimi; Tsuji, Ichiro; Izumi, Sin-Ichi

2012-01-01

This study examines the effectiveness of a communication skill training based on a coaching theory for public health nurses (PHNs) who are engaged in Japan's long-term care prevention program. The participants in this study included 112 PHNs and 266 service users who met with these PHNs in order to create a customized care plan within one month after the PHNs' training. The participants were divided into three groups: a supervised group in which the PHNs attended the 1-day training seminar and the follow-up supervision; a seminar group attended only the 1-day training seminar; a control group. The PHNs' sense of performance expectancy, and user's satisfaction, user's spontaneous behavior were evaluated at the baseline (T1), at one month (T2), and at three months (T3) after the PHNs' training. At T3, the PHNs performed a recalled evaluation (RE) of their communication skills before the training. The PHNs' sense of performance expectancy increased significantly over time in the supervised group and the control group (F = 11.28, P < 0.001; F = 4.03, P < 0.05, resp.). The difference score between T3-RE was significantly higher in the supervised group than the control group (P < 0.01). No significant differences in the users' outcomes were found.

Urinary prostate-specific antigen: predictor of benign prostatic hyperplasia progression?

PubMed

Pejcic, Tomislav P; Tulic, Cane Dz; Lalic, Natasa V; Glisic, Biljana D; Ignjatovic, Svetlana D; Markovic, Biljana B; Hadzi-Djokic, Jovan B

2013-04-01

Urinary prostate-specific antigen (uPSA) can be used as additional parameter of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) progression. From January 2001 to December 2011, uPSA was determined in 265 patients with benign prostate. Based on total prostate volume (TPV), the patients with benign prostate were divided in two groups: TPV < 31 mL and TPV ≥ 31 mL. Additional three groups were formed upon MTOPS study criteria: non- progressive BPH group (TPV < 31 mL, PSA < 1.6 ng/mL, age < 62 yrs), intermediate group (one, or two parameters {TPV, PSA, age} increased) and progressive BPH group (TPV ≥ 31 ml, PSA ≥ 1.6 ng/mL, age ≥ 62 yrs). Average uPSA values in the groups TPV < 31 mL and TPV ≥ 31 mL were 119.3 ± 124.5 and 255.5 ± 204.9 ng/mL, respectively and they were significantly different (p < 0.0001). Average uPSA values in the non- progressive BPH group, intermediate group and progressive BPH group were 86.8 ± 82.4 ng/mL, 166.6 ± 164.9 ng/mL and 274.9 ± 208.3 ng/mL, respectively and they were significantly different (p < 0.0001). The level of uPSA correlated significantly with TPV (r = 0.32, p < 0.0001). The cut off uPSA level of 150 ng/mL discriminates the patients with non-progressive BPH and progressive BPH with specificity of 0.83 and sensitivity of 0.67. The level of uPSA reflects prostatic hormonal activity and correlates with TPV, PSA and age. UPSA level ≥ 150 ng/mL can be used as additional predictive parameter of BPH progression.

Beyond Participation: Politics, Incommensurability and the Emergence of Mental Health Service Users' Activism in Chile.

PubMed

Montenegro, Cristian R

2018-04-24

Although the organisation of mental health service users and ex-users in Latin America is a recent and under-researched phenomenon, global calls for their involvement in policy have penetrated national agendas, shaping definitions and expectations about their role in mental health systems. In this context, how such groups react to these expectations and define their own goals, strategies and partnerships can reveal the specificity of the "user movement" in Chile and Latin America. This study draws on Jacques Rancière's theorisation of "police order" and "politics" to understand the emergence of users' collective identity and activism, highlighting the role of practices of disengagement and rejection. It is based on interviews and participant observation with a collective of users, ex-users and professionals in Chile. The findings show how the group's aims and self-understandings evolved through hesitations and reflexive engagements with the legal system, the mental health system, and wider society. The notion of a "politics of incommensurability" is proposed to thread together a reflexive rejection of external expectations and definitions and the development of a sense of being "outside" of the intelligibility of the mental health system and its frameworks of observation and proximity. This incommensurability problematises a technical definition of users' presence and influence and the generalisation of abstract parameters of engagement, calling for approaches that address how these groups constitute themselves meaningfully in specific situations.

Library Users' Service Desires: A LibQUAL+ Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Thompson, Bruce; Kyrillidou, Martha; Cook, Colleen

2008-01-01

The present study was conducted to explore library users' desired service quality levels on the twenty-two core LibQUAL+ items. Specifically, we explored similarities and differences in users' desired library service quality levels across user groups (i.e., undergraduate students, graduate students, and faculty), across geographic locations (i.e.,…

A progress report on a NASA research program for embedded computer systems software

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Foudriat, E. C.; Senn, E. H.; Will, R. W.; Straeter, T. A.

1979-01-01

The paper presents the results of the second stage of the Multipurpose User-oriented Software Technology (MUST) program. Four primary areas of activities are discussed: programming environment, HAL/S higher-order programming language support, the Integrated Verification and Testing System (IVTS), and distributed system language research. The software development environment is provided by the interactive software invocation system. The higher-order programming language (HOL) support chosen for consideration is HAL/S mainly because at the time it was one of the few HOLs with flight computer experience and it is the language used on the Shuttle program. The overall purpose of IVTS is to provide a 'user-friendly' software testing system which is highly modular, user controlled, and cooperative in nature.

A progress report on UNICOS misuse detection at Los Alamos

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

Thompson, J.L.; Jackson, K.A.; Stallings, C.A.

An effective method for detecting computer misuse is the automatic monitoring and analysis of on-line user activity. During the past year, Los Alamos enhanced its Network Anomaly Detection and Intrusion Reporter (NADIR) to include analysis of user activity on Los Alamos` UNICOS Crays. In near real-time, NADIR compares user activity to historical profiles and tests activity against expert rules. The expert rules express Los Alamos` security policy and define improper or suspicious behavior. NADIR reports suspicious behavior to security auditors and provides tools to aid in follow-up investigations. This paper describes the implementation to date of the UNICOS component ofmore » NADIR, along with the operational experiences and future plans for the system.« less

An overview of the 1984 Battelle outside users payload model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Day, J. B.; Conlon, R. J.; Neale, D. B.; Fischer, N. H.

1984-10-01

The methodology and projections from a model for the market for non-NASA, non-DOD, reimbursable payloads from the non-Soviet bloc countries over the 1984-2000 AD time period are summarized. High and low forecast ranges were made based on demand forecasts by industrial users, NASA estimates, and other publications. The launches were assumed to be alloted to either the Shuttle or the Ariane. The greatest demand for launch services is expected to come form communications and materials processing payloads, the latter either becoming a large user or remaining a research item. The number of Shuttle payload equivalents over the reference time spanis projected as 84-194, showing the large variance that is dependent on the progress in materials processing operations.

Designing for Persuasion: Toward Ambient Eco-Visualization for Awareness

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kim, Tanyoung; Hong, Hwajung; Magerko, Brian

When people are aware of their lifestyle's ecological consequences, they are more likely to adjust their behavior to reduce their impact. Persuasive design that provides feedback to users without interfering with their primary tasks can increases the awareness of neighboring problems. As a case study of design for persuasion, we designed two ambient displays as desktop widgets. Both represent a users' computer usage time, but in different visual styles. In this paper, we present the results of a comparative study of two ambient displays. We discuss the gradual progress of persuasion supported by the ambient displays and the differences in users' perception affected by the different visualization styles. Finally, Our empirical findings lead to a series of design implications for persuasive media.

Intelligent hypertext systems for aerospace engineering applications

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lo, Ching F.

1989-01-01

This paper is a progress report on the utilization of AI technology for assisting users locating and understanding technical information in manuals used for planning and conducting wind tunnel test. The specific goal is to create an Intelligent Hypertext System (IHS) for wind tunnel testing which combines the computerized manual in the form of hypertext and an advisory system that stores experts' knowledge and experiences. A prototype IHS for conducting transonic wind tunnel testing has been constructed with limited knowledge base. The prototype is being evaluated by potential users.

Using a Smartphone App and Coaching Group Sessions to Promote Residents' Reflection in the Workplace.

PubMed

Könings, Karen D; van Berlo, Jean; Koopmans, Richard; Hoogland, Henk; Spanjers, Ingrid A E; ten Haaf, Jeroen A; van der Vleuten, Cees P M; van Merriënboer, Jeroen J G

2016-03-01

Reflecting on workplace-based experiences is necessary for professional development. However, residents need support to raise their awareness of valuable moments for learning and to thoughtfully analyze those learning moments afterwards. From October to December 2012, the authors held a multidisciplinary six-week postgraduate training module focused on general competencies. Residents were randomly assigned to one of four conditions with varying degrees of reflection support; they were offered (1) a smartphone app, (2) coaching group sessions, (3) a combination of both, or (4) neither type of support. The app allowed participants to capture in real time learning moments as a text note, audio recording, picture, or video. Coaching sessions held every two weeks aimed to deepen participants' reflection on captured learning moments. Questionnaire responses and reflection data were compared between conditions to assess the effects of the app and coaching sessions on intensity and frequency of reflection. Sixty-four residents participated. App users reflected more often, captured more learning moments, and reported greater learning progress than nonapp users. Participants who attended coaching sessions were more alert to learning moments and pursued more follow-up learning activities to improve on the general competencies. Those who received both types of support were most alert to these learning moments. A simple mobile app for capturing learning moments shows promise as a tool to support workplace-based learning, especially when combined with coaching sessions. Future research should evaluate these tools on a broader scale and in conjunction with residents' and students' personal digital portfolios.

Consensus on Quality Indicators of Postgraduate Medical E-Learning: Delphi Study

PubMed Central

Walsh, Kieran; Westerman, Michiel; Scheele, Fedde

2018-01-01

Background The progressive use of e-learning in postgraduate medical education calls for useful quality indicators. Many evaluation tools exist. However, these are diversely used and their empirical foundation is often lacking. Objective We aimed to identify an empirically founded set of quality indicators to set the bar for “good enough” e-learning. Methods We performed a Delphi procedure with a group of 13 international education experts and 10 experienced users of e-learning. The questionnaire started with 57 items. These items were the result of a previous literature review and focus group study performed with experts and users. Consensus was met when a rate of agreement of more than two-thirds was achieved. Results In the first round, the participants accepted 37 items of the 57 as important, reached no consensus on 20, and added 15 new items. In the second round, we added the comments from the first round to the items on which there was no consensus and added the 15 new items. After this round, a total of 72 items were addressed and, of these, 37 items were accepted and 34 were rejected due to lack of consensus. Conclusions This study produced a list of 37 items that can form the basis of an evaluation tool to evaluate postgraduate medical e-learning. This is, to our knowledge, the first time that quality indicators for postgraduate medical e-learning have been defined and validated. The next step is to create and validate an e-learning evaluation tool from these items. PMID:29699970

Looking Similar Promotes Group Stability in a Game-Based Virtual Community.

PubMed

Lortie, Catherine L; Guitton, Matthieu J

2012-08-01

Online support groups are popular Web-based resources that provide tailored information and peer support through virtual communities and fulfill the users' needs for empowerment and belonging. However, the therapeutic potential of online support groups is at present limited by the lack of systematic research on the cognitive mechanisms underlying social group cohesion in virtual communities. We might increase the benefits of participation in online support groups if we gain more insight into the factors that promote long-term commitment to peer support. One approach to foster the therapeutic potential of online support groups could be to increase social selection based on visual similarity. We performed a case study using the popular virtual setting of "World of Warcraft" (Blizzard Entertainment, Irvine, CA). We monitored the social dynamics of a virtual community composed of avatars whose appearance was identical during a period of 3 months, biweekly, for a total of 24 measures. We observed that this homogeneous community displayed a very high level of group stability over time in terms of the total number of members, the number of members that stayed the same, and the number of arrivals and departures, despite the fact that belonging to a heterogeneous group typically favors the success of the group with respect to game progression. Our results confirm that appearance can trigger social selection in online virtual communities. Displaying a similar appearance could be one way to strengthen social bonds among peers who share various health and well-being issues. Thus, the therapeutic potential of online support groups could be promoted through visual cohesion.

Demographic-Based Content Analysis of Web-Based Health-Related Social Media.

PubMed

Sadah, Shouq A; Shahbazi, Moloud; Wiley, Matthew T; Hristidis, Vagelis

2016-06-13

An increasing number of patients from diverse demographic groups share and search for health-related information on Web-based social media. However, little is known about the content of the posted information with respect to the users' demographics. The aims of this study were to analyze the content of Web-based health-related social media based on users' demographics to identify which health topics are discussed in which social media by which demographic groups and to help guide educational and research activities. We analyze 3 different types of health-related social media: (1) general Web-based social networks Twitter and Google+; (2) drug review websites; and (3) health Web forums, with a total of about 6 million users and 20 million posts. We analyzed the content of these posts based on the demographic group of their authors, in terms of sentiment and emotion, top distinctive terms, and top medical concepts. The results of this study are: (1) Pregnancy is the dominant topic for female users in drug review websites and health Web forums, whereas for male users, it is cardiac problems, HIV, and back pain, but this is not the case for Twitter; (2) younger users (0-17 years) mainly talk about attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and depression-related drugs, users aged 35-44 years discuss about multiple sclerosis (MS) drugs, and middle-aged users (45-64 years) talk about alcohol and smoking; (3) users from the Northeast United States talk about physical disorders, whereas users from the West United States talk about mental disorders and addictive behaviors; (4) Users with higher writing level express less anger in their posts. We studied the popular topics and the sentiment based on users' demographics in Web-based health-related social media. Our results provide valuable information, which can help create targeted and effective educational campaigns and guide experts to reach the right users on Web-based social chatter.

Impact of a Moving Noise Masker on Speech Perception in Cochlear Implant Users

PubMed Central

Weissgerber, Tobias; Rader, Tobias; Baumann, Uwe

2015-01-01

Objectives Previous studies investigating speech perception in noise have typically been conducted with static masker positions. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of spatial separation of source and masker (spatial release from masking, SRM) in a moving masker setup and to evaluate the impact of adaptive beamforming in comparison with fixed directional microphones in cochlear implant (CI) users. Design Speech reception thresholds (SRT) were measured in S0N0 and in a moving masker setup (S0Nmove) in 12 normal hearing participants and 14 CI users (7 subjects bilateral, 7 bimodal with a hearing aid in the contralateral ear). Speech processor settings were a moderately directional microphone, a fixed beamformer, or an adaptive beamformer. The moving noise source was generated by means of wave field synthesis and was smoothly moved in a shape of a half-circle from one ear to the contralateral ear. Noise was presented in either of two conditions: continuous or modulated. Results SRTs in the S0Nmove setup were significantly improved compared to the S0N0 setup for both the normal hearing control group and the bilateral group in continuous noise, and for the control group in modulated noise. There was no effect of subject group. A significant effect of directional sensitivity was found in the S0Nmove setup. In the bilateral group, the adaptive beamformer achieved lower SRTs than the fixed beamformer setting. Adaptive beamforming improved SRT in both CI user groups substantially by about 3 dB (bimodal group) and 8 dB (bilateral group) depending on masker type. Conclusions CI users showed SRM that was comparable to normal hearing subjects. In listening situations of everyday life with spatial separation of source and masker, directional microphones significantly improved speech perception with individual improvements of up to 15 dB SNR. Users of bilateral speech processors with both directional microphones obtained the highest benefit. PMID:25970594

Marijuana usage in relation to harmfulness ratings, perceived likelihood of negative consequences, and defense mechanisms in high school students.

PubMed

Como-Lesko, N; Primavera, L H; Szeszko, P R

1994-08-01

This study investigated high school students' marijuana usage patterns in relation to their harmfulness ratings of 15 licit and illicit drugs, perceived negative consequences from using marijuana, and types of defense mechanisms employed. Subjects were classified into one of five pattern-of-use groups based on marijuana usage: principled nonusers, nonusers, light users, moderate users, and heavy users. Principled nonusers (individuals who have never used marijuana and would not do so if it was legalized) rated marijuana, hashish, cocaine, and alcohol as significantly more harmful than heavy users. A cluster analysis of the drugs' harmfulness ratings best fit a three cluster solution and were named medicinal drugs, recreational drugs, and hard drugs. In general, principled nonusers rated negative consequences from using marijuana as significantly more likely to occur than other groups. Principled nonusers and heavy users utilized reversal from the Defense Mechanism Inventory, which includes repression and denial, significantly more than nonusers, indicating some trait common to the two extreme pattern-of-use groups.

Design method for multi-user workstations utilizing anthropometry and preference data.

PubMed

Mahoney, Joseph M; Kurczewski, Nicolas A; Froede, Erick W

2015-01-01

Past efforts have been made to design single-user workstations to accommodate users' anthropometric and preference distributions. However, there is a lack of methods for designing workstations for group interaction. This paper introduces a method for sizing workstations to allow for a personal work area for each user and a shared space for adjacent users. We first create a virtual population with the same anthropometric and preference distributions as an intended demographic of college-aged students. Members of the virtual population are randomly paired to test if their extended reaches overlap but their normal reaches do not. This process is repeated in a Monte Carlo simulation to estimate the total percentage of groups in the population that will be accommodated for a workstation size. We apply our method to two test cases: in the first, we size polygonal workstations for two populations and, in the second, we dimension circular workstations for different group sizes. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd and The Ergonomics Society. All rights reserved.

Polarization of the vaccination debate on Facebook.

PubMed

Schmidt, Ana Lucía; Zollo, Fabiana; Scala, Antonio; Betsch, Cornelia; Quattrociocchi, Walter

2018-06-14

Vaccine hesitancy has been recognized as a major global health threat. Having access to any type of information in social media has been suggested as a potential influence on the growth of anti-vaccination groups. Recent studies w.r.t. other topics than vaccination show that access to a wide amount of content through the Internet without intermediaries resolved into major segregation of the users in polarized groups. Users select information adhering to theirs system of beliefs and tend to ignore dissenting information. The goal was to assess whether users' attitudes are polarized on the topic of vaccination on Facebook and how this polarization develops over time. We perform a thorough quantitative analysis by studying the interaction of 2.6 M users with 298,018 Facebook posts over a time span of seven years and 5 months. We applied community detection algorithms to automatically detect the emergence of communities accounting for the users' activity on the pages. Also, we quantified the cohesiveness of these communities over time. Our findings show that the consumption of content about vaccines is dominated by the echo chamber effect and that polarization increased over the years. Well-segregated communities emerge from the users' consumption habits i.e., the majority of users consume information in favor or against vaccines, not both. The existence of echo chambers may explain why social-media campaigns that provide accurate information have limited reach and be effective only in sub-groups, even fomenting further opinion polarization. The introduction of dissenting information into a sub-group is disregarded and can produce a backfire effect, thus reinforcing the pre-existing opinions within the sub-group. Public health professionals should try to understand the contents of these echo chambers, for example by getting passively involved in such groups. Only then it will be possible to find effective ways of countering anti-vaccination thinking. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

User Working Group Charter

Atmospheric Science Data Center

2014-04-29

... Earth Observing System (EOS) Program through the EOS Data Information System (EOSDIS) Project and the Langley ASDC, located at NASA ... of the ASDC user interface, development of the Information Management System (IMS), and ASDC user conferences requirements for and ...

Preliminary evidence of hippocampal damage in chronic users of ecstasy.

PubMed

den Hollander, Bjørnar; Schouw, Marieke; Groot, Paul; Huisman, Henk; Caan, Matthan; Barkhof, Frederik; Reneman, Liesbeth

2012-01-01

Various studies have shown that ecstasy (3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine) users display significant memory impairments, whereas their performance on other cognitive tests is generally normal. The hippocampus plays an essential role in short-term memory. There are, however, no structural human data on the effects of ecstasy on the hippocampus. The objective of this study was to investigate whether the hippocampal volume of chronic ecstasy users is reduced when compared with healthy polydrug-using controls, as an indicator of hippocampal damage. The hippocampus was manually outlined in volumetric MRI scans in 10 male ecstasy users (mean age 25.4 years) and seven healthy age- and gender-matched control subjects (21.3 years). Other than the use of ecstasy, there were no statistically significant differences between both groups in exposure to other drugs of abuse and alcohol. The ecstasy users were on average drug-free for more than 2 months and had used on average 281 tablets over the past six and a half years. The hippocampal volume in the ecstasy using group was on average 10.5% smaller than the hippocampal volume in the control group (p=0.032). These data provide preliminary evidence that ecstasy users may be prone to incurring hippocampal damage, in line with previous reports of acute hippocampal sclerosis and subsequent atrophy in chronic users of this drug.

Using the event analysis of systemic teamwork (EAST) to explore conflicts between different road user groups when making right hand turns at urban intersections.

PubMed

Salmon, Paul M; Lenne, Michael G; Walker, Guy H; Stanton, Neville A; Filtness, Ashleigh

2014-01-01

Collisions between different types of road users at intersections form a substantial component of the road toll. This paper presents an analysis of driver, cyclist, motorcyclist and pedestrian behaviour at intersections that involved the application of an integrated suite of ergonomics methods, the Event Analysis of Systemic Teamwork (EAST) framework, to on-road study data. EAST was used to analyse behaviour at three intersections using data derived from an on-road study of driver, cyclist, motorcyclist and pedestrian behaviour. The analysis shows the differences in behaviour and cognition across the different road user groups and pinpoints instances where this may be creating conflicts between different road users. The role of intersection design in creating these differences in behaviour and resulting conflicts is discussed. It is concluded that currently intersections are not designed in a way that supports behaviour across the four forms of road user studied. Interventions designed to improve intersection safety are discussed. Practitioner Summary: Intersection safety currently represents a key road safety issue worldwide. This paper presents a novel application of a framework of ergonomics methods for studying differences in road user behaviour at intersections. The findings support development of interventions that consider all road users as opposed to one group in isolation.

Latent Classes of Substance Use Among American Indian and White Students Living on or Near Reservations, 2009-2013.

PubMed

Stanley, Linda R; Swaim, Randall C

2018-01-01

American Indian adolescents who reside on or near reservations report higher levels of substance use than adolescents in other racial/ethnic groups. Little research has addressed patterns of use, which have important implications for prevention and treatment planning. The objective of our study was to describe substance use among a large, population-based sample of American Indian and white students who lived on or near reservations. We obtained data from 4964 students in grades 7-12 attending 46 schools on or near reservations throughout the United States during 4 academic years (2009-2013). Measures assessed current substance use for alcohol, heavy drinking, marijuana, cigarettes, inhalants, and other drugs. We used latent class analysis to identify patterns of substance use by grade group (grades 7-8 and grades 9-12) and race (American Indian or white). For American Indians in both grade groups, we found 4 classes of substance use (in order of size): (1) nonusers; (2) marijuana and cigarette users; (3) alcohol, marijuana, and cigarette users; and (4) polysubstance users. For white students, we found 2 classes (nonusers and polysubstance users) among younger students and 4 classes (nonusers; alcohol, marijuana, and cigarette users; alcohol and cigarette users; and polysubstance users) among older students. We found significant differences in substance use patterns, especially at younger ages, between reservation American Indian students and white students attending the same schools. Combinations of substances used by American Indian adolescents were most likely to include marijuana, as compared with alcohol for white adolescents. Identifying subpopulations of users allows the design of interventions that will more efficiently and effectively address prevention and treatment needs of groups of individuals than would a one-size-fits-all approach.

Brand equity and willingness to pay for condoms in Zimbabwe.

PubMed

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

2011-10-26

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

Lack of Substantial Post-Cessation Weight Increase in Electronic Cigarettes Users.

PubMed

Russo, Cristina; Cibella, Fabio; Mondati, Enrico; Caponnetto, Pasquale; Frazzetto, Evelise; Caruso, Massimo; Caci, Grazia; Polosa, Riccardo

2018-03-23

Minimization of post-cessation weight gain in quitters is important, but existing approaches (e.g., antismoking medications) shows only limited success. We investigated changes in body weight in smokers who quit or reduced substantially their cigarette consumption by switching to electronic cigarettes (ECs) use. Body weight and smoking/vaping history were extracted from medical records of smokers and ex-smokers to match three study groups: (1) regular EC users on at least two consecutive follow-up visits; (2) regular smokers (and not using ECs); (3) subjects who reported sustained smoking abstinence after completing a cessation program. Review of their medical records was conducted at two follow-up visits at 6- (F/U 6m) and 12-months (F/U 12m). A total of 86 EC users, 93 regular smokers, and 44 quitters were studied. In the EC users study group, cigarettes/day use decreased from 21.1 at baseline to 1.8 at F/U 12m ( p < 0.0001). Dual usage was reported by approximately 50% of EC users. Both within factor (time, p < 0.0001) and between factor (study groups, p < 0.0001) produced significant effect on weight (% change from baseline), with a significant 4.8% weight gain from baseline in the quitters study group at F/U 12m. For the EC users, weight gain at F/U 12m was only 1.5% of baseline. There was no evidence of post-cessation weight increase in those who reduced substantially cigarette consumption by switching to ECs (i.e., dual users) and only modest post-cessation weight increase was reported in exclusive EC users at F/U 12m. By reducing weight gain and tobacco consumption, EC-based interventions may promote an overall improvement in quality of life.

A predictive model to allocate frequent service users of community-based mental health services to different packages of care.

PubMed

Grigoletti, Laura; Amaddeo, Francesco; Grassi, Aldrigo; Boldrini, Massimo; Chiappelli, Marco; Percudani, Mauro; Catapano, Francesco; Fiorillo, Andrea; Perris, Francesco; Bacigalupi, Maurizio; Albanese, Paolo; Simonetti, Simona; De Agostini, Paola; Tansella, Michele

2010-01-01

To develop predictive models to allocate patients into frequent and low service users groups within the Italian Community-based Mental Health Services (CMHSs). To allocate frequent users to different packages of care, identifying the costs of these packages. Socio-demographic and clinical data and GAF scores at baseline were collected for 1250 users attending five CMHSs. All psychiatric contacts made by these patients during six months were recorded. A logistic regression identified frequent service users predictive variables. Multinomial logistic regression identified variables able to predict the most appropriate package of care. A cost function was utilised to estimate costs. Frequent service users were 49%, using nearly 90% of all contacts. The model classified correctly 80% of users in the frequent and low users groups. Three packages of care were identified: Basic Community Treatment (4,133 Euro per six months); Intensive Community Treatment (6,180 Euro) and Rehabilitative Community Treatment (11,984 Euro) for 83%, 6% and 11% of frequent service users respectively. The model was found to be accurate for 85% of users. It is possible to develop predictive models to identify frequent service users and to assign them to pre-defined packages of care, and to use these models to inform the funding of psychiatric care.

Body weight and body composition of depot medroxyprogesterone acetate users.

PubMed

Dal'Ava, Natália; Bahamondes, Luis; Bahamondes, M Valeria; Bottura, Bruna F; Monteiro, Ilza

2014-08-01

Weight gain is a concern with the contraceptive depot-medroxyprogesterone acetate (DMPA); however, this issue remains controversial. The objective of this study was to compare body weight (BW) and body composition (BC) in DMPA and copper intrauterine device (IUD) users at baseline and after one year of use. We enrolled new DMPA users and age and weight matched new IUD users into this prospective study. Weight and height were measured, BC (fat and lean mass) was evaluated using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry, and physical activity was assessed at baseline and at 12 months. Student's paired t test and the Wilcoxon paired test for matched samples were used. Ninety-seven women were enrolled for the study; 26 matched pairs continued using the initial method for at least one year, and completed the baseline and 12 month assessments. An increase of 1.9 kg occurred in BW (p=.02) in DMPA users at 12 months of use, resulting from an increase in fat mass of 1.6 kg (p=.03). Weight remained stable in IUD users; however, there was an increase in lean mass at 12 months of use (p=.001). The number of women practicing physical activity increased in this group. There was a significant difference between the groups regarding the variation in the percentage of central fat (p=.04). Weight gain in the DMPA group after the first year of use resulted from an increase in fat mass. Weight remained stable in the IUD group; however, an increase in lean mass and a reduction in localized abdominal fat mass occurred, possibly because more users were practicing physical activity. There was a greater increase in body weight in DMPA users compared to TCu380A IUD users in the first year of use of the contraceptive method. Furthermore, the weight increase in users of DMPA occurred principally as the result of an increase in fat mass. Physical activity probably could increase the lean mass in the users of TCu380A IUD. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Scaling the PuNDIT project for wide area deployments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McKee, Shawn; Batista, Jorge; Carcassi, Gabriele; Dovrolis, Constantine; Lee, Danny

2017-10-01

In today’s world of distributed scientific collaborations, there are many challenges to providing reliable inter-domain network infrastructure. Network operators use a combination of active monitoring and trouble tickets to detect problems, but these are often ineffective at identifying issues that impact wide-area network users. Additionally, these approaches do not scale to wide area inter-domain networks due to unavailability of data from all the domains along typical network paths. The Pythia Network Diagnostic InfrasTructure (PuNDIT) project aims to create a scalable infrastructure for automating the detection and localization of problems across these networks. The project goal is to gather and analyze metrics from existing perfSONAR monitoring infrastructures to identify the signatures of possible problems, locate affected network links, and report them to the user in an intuitive fashion. Simply put, PuNDIT seeks to convert complex network metrics into easily understood diagnoses in an automated manner. We present our progress in creating the PuNDIT system and our status in developing, testing and deploying PuNDIT. We report on the project progress to-date, describe the current implementation architecture and demonstrate some of the various user interfaces it will support. We close by discussing the remaining challenges and next steps and where we see the project going in the future.

Mobile phones electromagnetic radiation and NAD+-dependent isocitrate dehydrogenase as a mitochondrial marker in asthenozoospermia.

PubMed

Hagras, Abeer M; Toraih, Eman A; Fawzy, Manal S

2016-12-01

NAD + -dependent Isocitrate Dehydrogenase (NAD + -IDH) could be one of the cell phone radiation targets. Enzyme activity alteration may lead to decline in sperm motility during radio-frequency electromagnetic waves (RF-EMW) exposure. The current case control study aimed to investigate the possible relationship between mitochondrial NAD + -IDH activity in human seminal plasma and sperm motility among asthenozoospermic cellular phone users. A total number of ninety idiopathic infertile males referred from the Department of Dermatology and Andrology, were enrolled in this study. NAD + -IDH activity was measured in human seminal plasma by spectrophotometer. Computer-aided sperm analysis (CASA) following WHO criteria has been used for semen analyses. The results showed that IDH activity was increased in patients with prolonged cell phone daily use ≥4 h/day. Its level, correlated negatively with either the motility ratio percentages (r = -0.46, p  < 0.001) or the progressive motility percentages (r = -0.50, p  < 0.001) in the study groups. The current study suggests that NAD + -IDH in human seminal plasma could be one of seminal plasma biomarkers reflecting the mitochondrial function of spermatozoa. Alteration of its level could reflect the defective motility of sperms among some cases of cellular phone users.

Hybrid ontology for semantic information retrieval model using keyword matching indexing system.

PubMed

Uthayan, K R; Mala, G S Anandha

2015-01-01

Ontology is the process of growth and elucidation of concepts of an information domain being common for a group of users. Establishing ontology into information retrieval is a normal method to develop searching effects of relevant information users require. Keywords matching process with historical or information domain is significant in recent calculations for assisting the best match for specific input queries. This research presents a better querying mechanism for information retrieval which integrates the ontology queries with keyword search. The ontology-based query is changed into a primary order to predicate logic uncertainty which is used for routing the query to the appropriate servers. Matching algorithms characterize warm area of researches in computer science and artificial intelligence. In text matching, it is more dependable to study semantics model and query for conditions of semantic matching. This research develops the semantic matching results between input queries and information in ontology field. The contributed algorithm is a hybrid method that is based on matching extracted instances from the queries and information field. The queries and information domain is focused on semantic matching, to discover the best match and to progress the executive process. In conclusion, the hybrid ontology in semantic web is sufficient to retrieve the documents when compared to standard ontology.

[Facilitators and barriers to implementation of intercultural health policy in Chile].

PubMed

Pérez, Camila; Nazar, Gabriela; Cova, Félix

2016-02-01

Objective To identify elements that either facilitate or hinder implementation of Chile's intercultural health policy. Methods A descriptive study was conducted with the participation of health services users from the Mapuche ethnic group, biomedical health professionals, intercultural facilitators, and key informants in two health facilities serving towns with a high density of Mapuche population. The information was obtained through semi-structured interviews that were analyzed thematically. Results Factors identified as facilitating the implementation of this policy include laws and regulations pertaining to the rights of indigenous peoples, the empowerment of users around their rights, the formation of implementation teams, the presence of professionals of Mapuche origin in health facilities, and the existence of processes for systematization of the work carried out. The asymmetric relationship between the Mapuche people and the state, and between the Mapuche health system and the biomedical model, constitutes a fundamental barrier. Other obstacles include the lack of theoretical and practical clarity around the concept of intercultural health and a lack of resources. Conclusions Despite the facilitators identified and the achievements to date, meaningful progress in implementation of an intercultural health policy is limited by barriers that are hard to change. These include the usual forms of government planning and the hegemony of the biomedical model.

Hybrid Ontology for Semantic Information Retrieval Model Using Keyword Matching Indexing System

PubMed Central

Uthayan, K. R.; Anandha Mala, G. S.

2015-01-01

Ontology is the process of growth and elucidation of concepts of an information domain being common for a group of users. Establishing ontology into information retrieval is a normal method to develop searching effects of relevant information users require. Keywords matching process with historical or information domain is significant in recent calculations for assisting the best match for specific input queries. This research presents a better querying mechanism for information retrieval which integrates the ontology queries with keyword search. The ontology-based query is changed into a primary order to predicate logic uncertainty which is used for routing the query to the appropriate servers. Matching algorithms characterize warm area of researches in computer science and artificial intelligence. In text matching, it is more dependable to study semantics model and query for conditions of semantic matching. This research develops the semantic matching results between input queries and information in ontology field. The contributed algorithm is a hybrid method that is based on matching extracted instances from the queries and information field. The queries and information domain is focused on semantic matching, to discover the best match and to progress the executive process. In conclusion, the hybrid ontology in semantic web is sufficient to retrieve the documents when compared to standard ontology. PMID:25922851

The Heliophysics Data Environment Today

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Fung, Shing F.; McGuire, R.; Roberts, D. A.

2008-01-01

Driven by the nature of the research questions now most critical to further progress in heliophysics science, data-driven research has evolved from a model once centered on individual instrument Principal investigator groups and a circle of immediate collaborators into a more inclusive and open environment where data gathered ay great public cost must then be findable and useable throughout the broad national and international research community. In this paper and as an introduction to this special session, we will draw a picture of existing and evolving resources throughout the heliophyscs community, the capabilities and data now available to end users, and the relationships and complementarity of different elements in the environment today. We will cite the relative roles of mission and instrument data centers and resident archives, multi-mission data centers, and the growing importance of virtual discipline observatories and cross-cutting services including the evolution of a common data dictionary. We will briefly summarize our view of the most important challenges still faced by users and providers, and our vision in ow the efforts today can evolve into a more and more enabling data framework for the global research community to tap the widest range of existing missions and their data to address a full range of critical science questions from the scale of microphysics to the heliospheric system as a whole.

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

PubMed Central

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

2014-01-01

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

Examining the role of oral contraceptive users as an experimental and/or control group in athletic performance studies.

PubMed

Elliott-Sale, Kirsty Jayne; Smith, Stephanie; Bacon, James; Clayton, David; McPhilimey, Martin; Goutianos, Georgios; Hampson, Jennifer; Sale, Craig

2013-09-01

This study was conducted to examine the effect of oral contraceptives on endogenous reproductive hormone levels in order to assess the suitability of oral contraceptive users as experimental and/or control groups in human performance studies. Ninety-five females who were taking a variety of oral contraceptives (2 types and 11 brands) were recruited. A single blood sample was analysed for endogenous concentrations of oestradiol and progesterone. There were significant differences (p<.05) in circulating oestradiol and progesterone as a result of oral contraceptive type and brand. Overall, oral contraceptive use resulted in low levels of oestradiol and progesterone and large variation in hormone concentration when multiple brands were analysed together. This study indicates that future studies should employ a single pill type and brand when using oral contraceptive users as either a control or experimental group and that comparison between oral contraceptive users as a control group and the early follicular phase of the menstrual cycle as an experimental group should be reconsidered. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

A comparison of male users and nonusers of marijuana on the perceived harmfulness of drugs.

PubMed

Primavera, L H; Pascal, R

1986-01-01

Subjects (n = 108) who volunteered to participate in a study in which they expected to smoke marijuana were asked, as part of a screening procedure, to rate the harmfulness of a number of illicit drugs including marijuana. Subjects were separated into three groups according to their reported history of use of marijuana. The three groups were: naive users (at least 1 but no more than 25 incidences of use in a lifetime), light users (1 to 3 incidences of use per week), and heavy users (at least 5 incidences of use per week). Groups did not differ in terms of their perceived harmfulness of any of the drugs. Cluster analyses of the results for each group and for the total group indicated three distinct clusters: the drugs perceived to be the most harmful were heroin, morphine, and LSD; drugs perceived to be less harmful were cocaine, amphetamines, barbiturates, and nicotine; and the drugs perceived to be the least harmful were caffeine and marijuana, with marijuana being judged the least harmful of all the drugs.

E-Cigarettes and the Drug Use Patterns of Adolescents.

PubMed

Miech, Richard A; O'Malley, Patrick M; Johnston, Lloyd D; Patrick, Megan E

2016-05-01

This study examines the role of e-cigarettes in the drug use patterns of adolescents. Of specific interest is whether adolescent e-cigarette users fall into a group of (1) youth who do not use traditional drugs of abuse or (2) polysubstance users. Using latent class analysis, we identify major "classes" of substance users on the basis of recent use of e-cigarettes, alcohol, marijuana, cigarettes, and prescription drugs. Analyses are conducted separately for adolescents in 8th, 10th, and 12th grades. Data come from 16 615 participants in the 2014 Monitoring the Future survey. Youth who do not use traditional drugs of abuse account for about 50% of e-cigarette users in 8th grade, 35% in 10th grade, and 17% in 12th grade. These youth come from a large "low-level users" group found in each grade, characterized by low probability of use for all substances (e-cigarette probability in this group for 8th graders = .046; 10th graders = .071; 12th graders = .027). Other e-cigarette users come from a smaller, "poly-users" group found in each grade, characterized by high-to-moderate probabilities (.83-.21) of using e-cigarettes and other substances. Specific to 12th grade is a third, additional polysubstance group characterized by high likelihood of e-cigarette use (.93). The proportion of e-cigarette users who do not use traditional drugs of abuse is larger at younger ages. Longitudinal panel studies starting at 8th and 10th grades may best inform the current debate on whether e-cigarette use is a risk or protective factor for future transition to the use of other substances. The proportion of e-cigarette users who do not use traditional drugs of abuse is larger at younger ages. Longitudinal panel studies starting at 8th and 10th grades may best inform the current debate on whether e-cigarette use is a risk or protective factor for future transition to the use of other substances. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Duty of care and autonomy: how support workers managed the tension between protecting service users from risk and promoting their independence in a specialist group home.

PubMed

Hawkins, R; Redley, M; Holland, A J

2011-09-01

In the UK those paid to support adults with intellectual disabilities must manage two potentially conflicting duties that are set out in policy documents as being vital to their role: protecting service users (their duty of care) and recognising service users' autonomy. This study focuses specifically on the support of people with the genetically determined condition, Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS). Due to the behaviours associated with PWS, the support of this group of people vividly illustrates the tension between respect for autonomy and duty of care. This article explores how support workers working in a residential group home managed their competing duties of managing risk and promoting independence in practice. An ethnographic study, comprising of qualitative observations, semi-structured interviews and documentary analysis, was undertaken to investigate the work of support workers in a UK residential group home specialising in the support of adults diagnosed with PWS. The study focused on how support workers attempted to reconcile the tension between protecting service users from the risks associated with the syndrome and acknowledging service users' autonomy by enabling independence. Findings demonstrate that risk was central to the structure of care delivery at the group home and support workers often adhered to standardised risk management procedures. The organisation also required support workers to promote service users' independence and many thought acknowledging service users' autonomy through the promotion of their independence was important. To manage tensions between their differing duties, some support workers deviated from standardised risk management procedures to allow service users a degree of independence. There is a tension between the duty of care and the duty to recognise autonomy at the level of service delivery in residential homes. Support workers attempt to manage this tension; however, further work needs to be done by both residential services and policy makers to facilitate the reconciliation of the duty of care with the duty to recognise service users' autonomy in practice. © 2011 The Authors. Journal of Intellectual Disability Research © 2011 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

A course on motor vehicle trauma : instructor's guide--final/users manual

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1986-09-01

Author's abstract: Health professionals are key to any progress in reducing motor vehicle-related injury and death, yet they have been slow to recognize their role in this important area. One contributing factor to this situation has been the absence...

Neurocognitive Correlates of White Matter Quality in Adolescent Substance Users

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bava, Sunita; Jacobus, Joanna; Mahmood, Omar; Yang, Tony T.; Tapert, Susan F.

2010-01-01

Background: Progressive myelination during adolescence implicates an increased vulnerability to neurotoxic substances and enduring neurocognitive consequences. This study examined the cognitive manifestations of altered white matter microstructure in chronic marijuana and alcohol-using (MJ + ALC) adolescents. Methods: Thirty-six MJ + ALC…

Nuclear Physics Laboratory 1979 annual report

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

Adelberger, E.G.

1979-07-01

Research progress is reported in the following areas: astrophysics and cosmology, fundamental symmetries, nuclear structure, radiative capture, medium energy physics, heavy ion reactions, research by users and visitors, accelerator and ion source development, instrumentation and experimental techniques, and computers and computing. Publications are listed. (WHK)