Huggable Communication Medium Maintains Level of Trust during Conversation Game.

PubMed

Takahashi, Hideyuki; Ban, Midori; Osawa, Hirotaka; Nakanishi, Junya; Sumioka, Hidenobu; Ishiguro, Hiroshi

2017-01-01

There have been several attempts in recent years to develop a remote communication device using sensory modalities other than speech that would induce a user's positive experience with his/her conversation partner. Specifically, Hugvie is a human-shaped pillow as well as a remote communication device enabling users to combine a hugging experience with telecommunication to improve the quality of remote communication. The present research is based on the hypothesis that using Hugvie maintains users' level of trust toward their conversation partners in situations prone to suspicion. The level of trust felt toward other remote game players was compared between participants using Hugvie and those using a basic communication device while playing a modified version of Werewolf , a conversation-based game, designed to evaluate trust. Although there are always winners and losers in the regular version of Werewolf , the rules were modified to generate a possible scenario in which no enemy was present among the players and all players would win if they trusted each other. We examined the effect of using Hugvie while playing Werewolf on players' level of trust toward each other and our results demonstrated that in those using Hugvie , the level of trust toward other players was maintained.

HIV/AIDS and disability: a pilot survey of HIV/AIDS knowledge among a deaf population in Swaziland.

PubMed

Groce, Nora; Yousafzai, Aisha; Dlamini, Phindile; Zalud, Sarah; Wirz, Shelia

2006-12-01

This study sought to establish whether there were measurable differences in the level of knowledge about HIV/AIDS between hearing individuals and individuals who identified themselves as deaf sign language users in Swaziland. A cross-sectional survey of 191 rural and urban hearing and deaf adults was undertaken in Swaziland in December 2003. A structured questionnaire was administered, seeking to establish whether there were statistically significant differences between hearing and deaf populations in their level of knowledge about HIV/AIDS symptoms, transmission and prevention, as well as differences in sources of information about HIV/AIDS. Additional questions were asked regarding whether there were differences in accessibility of HIV testing services and HIV/AIDS-related healthcare for the two groups. Significant differences in levels of knowledge about HIV/AIDS were identified between the hearing and deaf respondents. The deaf population was significantly more likely (P<0.05) to believe in incorrect modes of HIV transmission (e.g. hugging and airborne transmission) and HIV prevention (e.g. avoiding sharing utensils and eating healthy foods). Almost all of the deaf respondents (99%) reported difficulties in communicating with healthcare facility staff, which may result in less use of HIV voluntary counseling and testing services. This paper reports the results of this study, and discusses the need for targeted HIV/AIDS education campaigns and improved accessibility in healthcare facilities for deaf sign language users in countries such as Swaziland.

Hugli River Delta, India

NASA Image and Video Library

2001-10-22

The western-most part of the Ganges Delta is seen in this 54.5 by 60 km ASTER sub-scene acquired on January 6, 2005. The Hugli River branches off from the Ganges River 300 km to the north, and flows by the city of Calcutta before emptying into the Bay of Bengal. High sediment load is evident by the light tan colors in the water, particularly downstream from off-shore islands. The deep green colors of some of these islands are mangrove swamps. The image is centered at 21.9 degrees north latitude, 88 degrees east longitude. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA11158

First Generation Korean American Parents’ Perceptions of Discipline

PubMed Central

Kim, Eunjung; Hong, Seunghye

2007-01-01

Nurses not only need to be familiar with the professional guidelines of discipline and but also be aware of variances in styles of acceptable discipline across cultural groups. The goal of this study was to explore cultural influences in relation to (1) first generation Korean American parents’ perceptions of common discipline strategies in the United States and (2) discipline strategies commonly used among first generation Korean American parents. Inductive content analysis was used to analyze interview data from seven first generation Korean American parents. Derived themes indicated that parents considered spanking/hitting and less hugging/kissing as Korean style and time out, using a sticker chart, hugging/kissing, removing/adding privileges, and giving chores as American style. Recent immigrant parents were not familiar with common positive discipline strategies in the United States. As they adapted to the mainstream society, they discontinued what they perceived to be negative aspects of Korean style and adopted positive aspects of American style. They were sensitive to children’s views on discipline and they experienced communication difficulties with children. These findings indicated that Korean American parents’ perceptions on discipline strategies were shaped by living in two cultures and were different from the western viewpoints. PMID:17292135

First-generation Korean-American parents' perceptions of discipline.

PubMed

Kim, Eunjung; Hong, Seunghye

2007-01-01

Nurses not only need to be familiar with professional guidelines of discipline and but also need to be aware of variances in styles of acceptable discipline across cultural groups. The goal of this study was to explore cultural influences in relation to (1) first-generation Korean-American parents' perceptions of common discipline strategies in the United States, and (2) discipline strategies commonly used among first-generation Korean-American parents. Inductive content analysis was used to analyze interview data from seven first-generation Korean-American parents. Derived themes indicated that parents considered spanking/hitting and less hugging/kissing as Korean style, and time-out, use of sticker charts, hugging/kissing, removing/adding privileges, and giving chores as American style. Recent immigrant parents were not familiar with common positive discipline strategies in the United States. As they adapted to mainstream society, they discontinued what they perceived to be negative aspects of Korean style and adopted positive aspects of American style. They were sensitive to children's views on discipline, and they experienced communication difficulties with children. These findings indicated that Korean-American parents' perceptions of discipline strategies were shaped by living in two cultures and were different from western viewpoints.

A "migrant friendly hospital" initiative in Geneva, Switzerland: evaluation of the effects on staff knowledge and practices.

PubMed

Hudelson, Patricia; Dominice Dao, Melissa; Perneger, Thomas; Durieux-Paillard, Sophie

2014-01-01

International migration poses important challenges to European health care systems. The development of "migrant friendly hospitals" has been identified as a priority in both Europe and Switzerland. A multi-pronged initiative was developed at Geneva University Hospitals (HUG) to improve staff knowledge and use of existing "migrant friendly" resources. A self-administered questionnaire was sent pre and post-intervention to random samples of 4 major professional groups with direct patient contact at the HUG. The questionnaire assessed staff knowledge, attitudes and reported practices regarding the care of migrant patients. Overall response rate was 51% (N = 1460) in 2010 but only 19% (N = 761) in 2013 owing to an institutionally imposed change in survey method. Despite these difficulties, and after adjusting for sample differences, we found that respondents in 2013 were significantly more likely to have received training in how to organize an appointment with an interpreter, how to work with an interpreter and about health and social services available for migrant patients. Respondents were also significantly more likely to have used several Migrant Friendly structures at the HUG. Use of, preference for and perceived skill at working with professional interpreters all improved, and respondents were both more likely to be encouraged by their supervisors to use professional interpreters, and less likely to be encouraged to look for alternative solutions for communicating with non francophone patients. Finally, 2013 respondents encountered fewer difficulties caring for migrant patients, although lack of time and language barriers continued to be the most important sources of difficulty. Our results suggest that an institution-wide information campaign may contribute to increased awareness and use of migrant friendly resources by clinical staff. Hospital commitment and financing, along with inter-departmental participation in all activities were important in creating and maintaining project visibility, and in contributing to a migrant friendly institutional culture.

Modiolus-Hugging Intracochlear Electrode Array with Shape Memory Alloy

PubMed Central

Min, Kyou Sik; Lim, Yoon Seob; Park, Se-Ik; Kim, Sung June

2013-01-01

In the cochlear implant system, the distance between spiral ganglia and the electrodes within the volume of the scala tympani cavity significantly affects the efficiency of the electrical stimulation in terms of the threshold current level and spatial selectivity. Because the spiral ganglia are situated inside the modiolus, the central axis of the cochlea, it is desirable that the electrode array hugs the modiolus to minimize the distance between the electrodes and the ganglia. In the present study, we propose a shape-memory-alloy-(SMA-) embedded intracochlear electrode which gives a straight electrode a curved modiolus-hugging shape using the restoration force of the SMA as triggered by resistive heating after insertion into the cochlea. An eight-channel ball-type electrode array is fabricated with an embedded titanium-nickel SMA backbone wire. It is demonstrated that the electrode array changes its shape in a transparent plastic human cochlear model. To verify the safe insertion of the electrode array into the human cochlea, the contact pressures during insertion at the electrode tip and the contact pressures over the electrode length after insertion were calculated using a 3D finite element analysis. The results indicate that the SMA-embedded electrode is functionally and mechanically feasible for clinical applications. PMID:23762181

Hepatitis C

MedlinePlus

... may include dark yellow urine feeling tired fever gray- or clay-colored stools joint pain loss of ... or sneezed on by an infected person drinking water or eating food hugging an infected person shaking ...

Comparison of hematologic measurements between local and central laboratories: data from the BABY HUG trial.

PubMed

Kalpatthi, Ram; Thompson, Bruce; Lu, Ming; Wang, Winfred C; Patel, Niren; Kutlar, Abdullah; Howard, Thomas; Luchtman-Jones, Lori; Miller, Scott T

2013-02-01

To investigate the concordance of blood count indices measured locally and at a central laboratory. In a multi-center clinical trial of hydroxyurea therapy in infants with sickle cell anemia (BABY HUG), the concordance between blood count indices measured locally and at a central laboratory was investigated. Local laboratory measurements of neutrophil and monocyte counts were significantly higher (44% and 37%, respectively) compared to the central measurements (p<0.0001), and mean corpuscular volume (MCV) was higher centrally. Overnight shipping with processing delay causes spurious reductions in absolute neutrophil count (ANC) and absolute monocyte count (AMC) that may result in incorrect monitoring decisions in multicenter clinical trials. Copyright © 2012 The Canadian Society of Clinical Chemists. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Secondhand Smoke

MedlinePlus

... smoke sticks to people and their clothing, when smokers come back inside, they should wash their hands and change their clothing, especially before holding or hugging children. Never smoke in a car with other people. Even ...

Altitude control in honeybees: joint vision-based learning and guidance.

PubMed

Portelli, Geoffrey; Serres, Julien R; Ruffier, Franck

2017-08-23

Studies on insects' visual guidance systems have shed little light on how learning contributes to insects' altitude control system. In this study, honeybees were trained to fly along a double-roofed tunnel after entering it near either the ceiling or the floor of the tunnel. The honeybees trained to hug the ceiling therefore encountered a sudden change in the tunnel configuration midways: i.e. a "dorsal ditch". Thus, the trained honeybees met a sudden increase in the distance to the ceiling, corresponding to a sudden strong change in the visual cues available in their dorsal field of view. Honeybees reacted by rising quickly and hugging the new, higher ceiling, keeping a similar forward speed, distance to the ceiling and dorsal optic flow to those observed during the training step; whereas bees trained to follow the floor kept on following the floor regardless of the change in the ceiling height. When trained honeybees entered the tunnel via the other entry (the lower or upper entry) to that used during the training step, they quickly changed their altitude and hugged the surface they had previously learned to follow. These findings clearly show that trained honeybees control their altitude based on visual cues memorized during training. The memorized visual cues generated by the surfaces followed form a complex optic flow pattern: trained honeybees may attempt to match the visual cues they perceive with this memorized optic flow pattern by controlling their altitude.

Amblyopia

MedlinePlus

... Olitsky SE, Hug D, Plummer LS, Stahl ED, Ariss MM, Lindquist TP. Disorders of eye movement and alignment. In: Kliegman RM, Stanton BF, St. Geme JW, Schor NF, eds. Nelson Textbook of Pediatrics . 20th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier; 2016:chap 623.

Helping Your Child Deal with Death

MedlinePlus

... a way to show that people will feel better. For example, "We all will go eat food together. People will laugh, talk, and hug some more. Focusing on the happy memories about Grandma and on the good feeling of ...

Warm partner contact is related to lower cardiovascular reactivity.

PubMed

Grewen, Karen M; Anderson, Bobbi J; Girdler, Susan S; Light, Kathleen C

2003-01-01

The authors investigated the relationship between brief warm social and physical contact among cohabitating couples and blood pressure (BP) reactivity to stress in a sample of healthy adults (66 African American, 117 Caucasian; 74 women, 109 men). Prior to stress, the warm contact group underwent a 10-minute period of handholding while viewing a romantic video. Followed by a 20-second hug with their partner, while the no contact group rested quietly for 10 minutes and 20 seconds. In response to a public speaking task, individuals receiving prestress partner contact demonstrated lower systolic BP diastolic BP, and heart rate increases compared with the no contact group. The effects of warm contact were comparable for men and women and were greater for African Americans compared with Caucasians. These findings suggest that affectionate relationships with a supportive partner may contribute to lower reactivity to stressful life events and may partially mediate the benefit of marital support on better cardiovascular health.

Periorbital cellulitis

MedlinePlus

... Olitsky SE, Hug D, Plummer LS, Stahl ED, Ariss MM, Lindquist TP. Orbital infections. In: Kliegman RM, Stanton BF, St Geme JW III, Schor NF, eds. Nelson Textbook of Pediatrics . 20th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier; 2016:chap 634. Review Date 12/10/2015 Updated ...

Epicanthal folds

MedlinePlus

... Olitsky SE, Hug D, Plummer LS, Stahl ED, Ariss MM, Lindquist TP. Abnormalities of the lids. In: Kliegman RM, Stanton BF, St. Geme JW, Schor NF, eds. Nelson Textbook of Pediatrics . 20th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier; 2016:chap 624. Orge FH, Grigorian F. Examination and ...

Diapers Full of?…?Pampered, Hugged, and "Luved" Babies: Teaching Ideological Criticism through Diapers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wells, Celeste C.

2016-01-01

Courses: Communication Criticism, Rhetorical Criticism, Introduction to Rhetoric, Introduction to Communication, Media Studies, and Persuasion courses. Objective: The aim of this activity is to introduce and explain the method of ideological criticism through commonplace advertising.

Broad nasal bridge

MedlinePlus

... Olitsky SE, Hug D, Plummer LS, Stahl ED, Ariss MM, Lindquist TP. Disorders of eye movement and alignment. In: Kliegman RM, Stanton BF, St Geme JW, Schor NF, eds. Nelson Textbook of Pediatrics . 20th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier; 2016:chap 623. Review Date 2/15/2016 Updated ...

Perspectives on Leadership in Facilities Management.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jenkins, Charles W. Ed.

This collection of papers examines issues concerning leadership in facilities management in higher education. Chapters include: (1) "Catch the Spirit of Leadership" (Jack Hug); (2) "Visionary Leadership: Creating a New Tomorrow" (Burt Nanus); (3) "Some Thoughts on Leadership" (Charles W. Jenkins); (4) "Educational Leadership: The Role of…

Stochastic resonance in an underdamped system with FitzHug-Nagumo potential for weak signal detection

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

López, Cristian; Zhong, Wei; Lu, Siliang; Cong, Feiyun; Cortese, Ignacio

2017-12-01

Vibration signals are widely used for bearing fault detection and diagnosis. When signals are acquired in the field, usually, the faulty periodic signal is weak and is concealed by noise. Various de-noising methods have been developed to extract the target signal from the raw signal. Stochastic resonance (SR) is a technique that changed the traditional denoising process, in which the weak periodic fault signal can be identified by adding an expression, the potential, to the raw signal and solving a differential equation problem. However, current SR methods have some deficiencies such us limited filtering performance, low frequency input signal and sequential search for optimum parameters. Consequently, in this study, we explore the application of SR based on the FitzHug-Nagumo (FHN) potential in rolling bearing vibration signals. Besides, we improve the search of the SR optimum parameters by the use of particle swarm optimization (PSO). The effectiveness of the proposed method is verified by using both simulated and real bearing data sets.

Early intervention to protect the mother-infant relationship following postnatal depression: study protocol for a randomised controlled trial.

PubMed

Milgrom, Jeannette; Holt, Charlene

2014-10-03

At least 13% of mothers experience depression in the first postnatal year, with accompanying feelings of despair and a range of debilitating symptoms. Serious sequelae include disturbances in the mother-infant relationship and poor long-term cognitive and behavioural outcomes for the child. Surprisingly, treatment of maternal symptoms of postnatal depression does not improve the mother-infant relationship for a majority of women. Targeted interventions to improve the mother-infant relationship following postnatal depression are scarce and, of those that exist, the majority are not evaluated in randomised controlled trials. This study aims to evaluate a brief targeted mother-infant intervention, to follow cognitive behavioural therapy treatment of postnatal depression, which has the potential to improve developmental outcomes of children of depressed mothers. The proposed study is a two-arm randomised controlled trial with follow-up to 6 months. One hundred participants will be recruited via referrals from health professionals including maternal and child health nurses and general practitioners, as well as self-referrals from women who have seen promotional materials for the study. Women who meet inclusion criteria (infant aged <12 months, women 18+ years of age) will complete the Structured Clinical Interview for the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-IV-TR Axis I Disorders. Those with a clinical diagnosis of current major or minor depressive disorder and who do not meet exclusion criteria (that is, currently receiving treatment for depression, significant difficulty with English, medium to high suicide risk, current self-harm, current substance abuse, current post-traumatic stress disorder, current manic/hypomanic episode or psychotic symptoms) will be randomised to receive either a 4-session mother-infant intervention (HUGS: Happiness Understanding Giving and Sharing) or a 4-session attention placebo playgroup (Playtime) following a 12-session postnatal depression group treatment programme. Primary outcome measures are the Parenting Stress Index (self-report measure) and the Parent-child Early Relational Assessment (observational measure coded by a blinded observer). Measurements are taken at baseline, after the postnatal depression programme, post-HUGS/Playtime, and at 6 months post-HUGS/Playtime. This research addresses the need for specific treatment for mother-infant interactional difficulties following postnatal depression. There is a need to investigate interventions in randomised trials to prevent detrimental effects on child development and make available evidence-based treatments. Australia and New Zealand Clinical Trials Register: ACTRN12612001110875. Date Registered: 17 October 2012.

An Analysis of Military Use of Commercial Satellite Communications

DTIC Science & Technology

2008-09-01

frequent visits to my office (complete with hugs, throwing of stuffed animals, and random strumming of my guitar ) helped to ensure the maintenance of...policy). This option is the primary recommendation of this thesis, although the Depot 50/50 Paradigm also scored relatively high. The following

Hugging, Drinking Tea, and Listening: Mental Health Needs of Turkish Immigrants

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sohtorik, Yasemin; McWilliams, Nancy

2011-01-01

Twelve Turkish immigrants were interviewed in a hypothesis-generating, qualitative investigation of their immigration experiences and mental health needs. Findings suggest high levels of psychological distress associated with homesickness, lack of English proficiency, problematic immigration status, difficulty adjusting to a new culture, and…

No Lickin'--No L'arnin' Versus No Huggin'--No Hope.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gillogly, Robert

1997-01-01

Examines the lessons taught by physical punishment in education and childbearing. Discusses education and religious beliefs that have long supported corporal punishment. Details the lessons instilled by spanking, the historical myth that spanking was practiced by all ancestors, and some alternatives to spanking, such as hugs. (RJM)

NASA in the Park, 2018

NASA Image and Video Library

2018-06-20

NASA in the Park on June 16 in Huntsville featured more than 60 exhibits and demonstrations by NASA experts, as well as performances by Marshall musicians, educational opportunities, games and hands-on activities for all ages. ”Oscar the Robot” gets and gives lots of hugs.

Comprehension and Production of Word Order in Stage I.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Roberts, Kenneth

1983-01-01

The notion that partial control of full agent-action-patient word order in comprehension may precede its production was examined. Reversible active sentences including the verbs "kiss,""hug," and "tickle" were presented to a triad of listeners consisting of a test child, a familiar adult caretaker, and a familiar…

Teaching Discriminated Social Approaches to Individuals with Angelman Syndrome

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fichtner, Caitlin S.; Tiger, Jeffrey H.

2015-01-01

Angelman syndrome is a neurogenetic disorder characterized by intellectual and developmental disability. Common behavioral characteristics of this disorder include a heightened interest in social interactions and frequent bids to initiate interaction. These bids can be problematic, for instance, when a child attempts to hug strangers in public…

Fantasy and Experiential-Gestalt Therapy.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Witchel, Robert

Fantasy activities are part of everyday experience. The author imagines hugging or touching someone, daydreams about sitting on a bench or riverbank, visualizes standing up during a boring meeting and shouting "let's wake up and do something!" Fantasy is also a tool that can be used in experimenting with new behavior, becoming more aware…

Why Training Fails (And What to Do about It).

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hendon, David H.; Barlow, Judith L.

1985-01-01

Presents (with tongue in cheek) a four-style behavior model guaranteed to produce excellence in the four types of trainees: nematodes (docile but learn nothing), gerbils (fond of noncompetitive games and hugging), warthogs (like to attend expensive seminars), and Cro-Magnon (like to interpret to others as opposed to actually learning anything…

Hugs and Smiles: Demonstrating Caring in a Multicultural Early Childhood Classroom

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pappamihiel, Eleni N.

2004-01-01

In many ways, teacher preparation programs have made great strides in preparing future teachers to work with an increasingly diverse population. However, there is still controversy about whether or not these courses are adequate and result in real change. This article represents a study that was designed to investigate preservice teachers' beliefs…

Creating a Successful Academic Climate for Urban Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Slaughter, Terri

2009-01-01

Teaching students in the inner city has been likened to hugging a porcupine--teachers nudge them toward success while getting pricked along the way. Many urban students perform below proficiency level and are difficult to manage. Their apathy toward completing class assignments, let alone homework, compounds the problem. As a whole, educators do…

Moving into the 21st Century: Curriculum Strategies for Children's Physical Education. PACE VI Presentation Handouts.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Belka, David E., Ed.

The handouts from the Ohio conference PACE (Positive Approaches to Children's Education) VI are presented. Among them are: (1) "Hugs" (submitted by A. Braselton); (2) "Rhythmic Activities for 2001" (L. Hardman); (3) "A Strategy for Cognitive Development in Physical Education" (C. Regimal); (4) "It's the Kids That…

Affection Activities: Procedures for Encouraging Young Children with Handicaps to Interact with Their Peers.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McEvoy, Mary A.; And Others

1990-01-01

Affection activities (such as hugging, smiling, and saying positive things) can be added to typical preschool games and songs to encourage interaction between handicapped children and nonhandicapped peers. The intervention can be adapted for use with children with diverse handicapping conditions. Typical activities, modified directions for…

In a Perfect World

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Murray, Jeannette

2010-01-01

In a perfect world, all children should live at home with their family, play with the kids in their neighborhood, walk or ride the school bus to a community-based school--after affectionately kissing or hugging their parents goodbye. They should receive adequate classroom services and return home at 3 p.m. or thereabouts. They may even…

Healthons: errorless healthcare with bionic hugs and no need for quality control.

PubMed

Bushko, Renata G

2005-01-01

Errorless, invisible, continuous and infrastructure-free healthcare should become our goal. In order to achieve that goal, we need to rapidly move from current episodic and emergency-driven "healthcare delivery system" to an intelligent and extelligent health environment. That requires introduction of distributed affective Intelligent Caring Creatures (ICCs) consisting of healthons. Healthons are tools combining prevention with diagnosis and treatment based on continuous monitoring and analyzing of vital signs and biochemistry. Unlike humans, who posses only two or three dimensions of thinking, healthons can assure errorless health because of their adaptability, flexibility, and multidimensional reasoning capability. ICCs can do "the right thing" based on (1) state-of-art medical knowledge, (2) data about emotional, physiological, and genetic state of a consumer and (3) moral values of a consumer. The transition to the intelligent health environment based on ICCs requires the solutions to many currently unsolved healthcare problems. This paper lists the unsolved problems (by analogy to mathematical unsolved problems list) and explains why errorless healthcare with bionic hugs and no need for quality control is possible.

Views of STS-9 crewmembers with families upon return to Ellington

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1983-01-01

Astronaut John W. Young, STS-9 commander, is joined by his wife Susy at Ellington Air Force Base following arrival from the STS-9 landing site in southern California (45650); Astronaut Brewster H. Shaw Jr., STS-9 pilot, hugs his wife Kathleen and children Brewster III, right, Jessica and Brandon at ELlington AFB (45651).

Beyond Hammers versus Hugs: Leveraging Educator Evaluation and Professional Learning Communities into Job-Embedded Professional Development

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Woodland, Rebecca H.; Mazur, Rebecca

2015-01-01

Educational evaluation (Ed Eval) and professional learning communities (PLCs) are two of the nation's most predominant approaches to widespread instructional improvement. Yet key attributes of these reform initiatives are too often experienced by teachers as burdensome, or even detrimental, rather than helpful. The authors of this article contend…

Challenges and Opportunities: Using a Science-Based Video Game in Secondary School Settings

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Muehrer, Rachel; Jenson, Jennifer; Friedberg, Jeremy; Husain, Nicole

2012-01-01

Simulations and games are not new artifacts to the study of science in secondary school settings (Hug, Kriajcik and Marx 2005), however teachers remain skeptical as to their value, use and appropriateness (Rice 2006). The difficulty is not only the design and development of effective play environments that produce measurable changes in knowledge…

A Self-Report Measure of Touching Behavior.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schutte, Nicola S.; And Others

Because touching is an important and often studied construct, and there is need for a valid self-report measure of touching behavior, a measure of touching behaviors was developed. Touching behaviors to be reported were: brief touch on the arm or shoulder, handshake, hug, hand holding, kiss on the cheek, and kiss on the lips. Persons identified as…

WH-Questions and Extraction from Temporal Adjuncts: A Case for Movement.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Goodluck, Helen; And Others

A study investigated young children's knowledge of the constraint that prevents questioning from a position inside a temporal adjunct: i.e., knowledge of the ungrammaticality of a question such as "Who did Fred kiss Sue before hugging...?" Subjects were 30 children aged 3 to 5 years, who listened to stories accompanied by pictures and…

Handling Pressures: Analysing Touch in American Films about Youth Sport

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chare, Nicholas

2013-01-01

This paper examines how films produced in the USA in the past 10 years and featuring the coaching of youth sport, represent the issue of touch during instruction and training. Touch in such films is figured in diverse ways ranging from pats of reassurance and hugs of congratulation to cuffs of disapprobation. Touch is also occasionally depicted…

Heterosexual Risk Behaviors Among Urban Young Adolescents

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

O'Donnell, Lydia; Stueve, Ann; Wilson-Simmons, Renee; Dash, Kim; Agronick, Gail; JeanBaptiste, Varzi

2006-01-01

Urban 6th graders (n = 294) participate in a survey assessing early heterosexual risk behaviors as part of the Reach for Health Middle Childhood Study. About half the boys (47%) and 20% of girls report having a girlfriend or boyfriend; 42% of boys and 10% of girls report kissing and hugging for a long time. Stepwise regressions model the…

Horowitz is hugged by Usachev in the ISS Service Module/Zvezda

NASA Image and Video Library

2001-08-12

STS-105-E-5121 (12 August 2001) --- Yury V. Usachev of Rosaviakosmos, Expedition Two mission commander, and Scott J. Horowitz, STS-105 commander, embrace in the Zvezda Service Module with open arms during the initial ingress into the International Space Station (ISS) for the STS-105 mission. This image was taken with a digital still camera.

Too Much Stuff Can Hinder Children: What Do Children Really Want from Us?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Arnold, Johann Christoph

2002-01-01

Contends that our materialistic culture has drawn in families and created pampered, spoiled, and unhappy children which parents, child care providers, and educators are left to deal with. Asserts that parents should not be tempted by "things" to make their children happy; rather they should provide time, attentiveness, hugs, and an…

Huggable Communication Medium Maintains Level of Trust during Conversation Game

PubMed Central

Takahashi, Hideyuki; Ban, Midori; Osawa, Hirotaka; Nakanishi, Junya; Sumioka, Hidenobu; Ishiguro, Hiroshi

2017-01-01

There have been several attempts in recent years to develop a remote communication device using sensory modalities other than speech that would induce a user’s positive experience with his/her conversation partner. Specifically, Hugvie is a human-shaped pillow as well as a remote communication device enabling users to combine a hugging experience with telecommunication to improve the quality of remote communication. The present research is based on the hypothesis that using Hugvie maintains users’ level of trust toward their conversation partners in situations prone to suspicion. The level of trust felt toward other remote game players was compared between participants using Hugvie and those using a basic communication device while playing a modified version of Werewolf, a conversation-based game, designed to evaluate trust. Although there are always winners and losers in the regular version of Werewolf, the rules were modified to generate a possible scenario in which no enemy was present among the players and all players would win if they trusted each other. We examined the effect of using Hugvie while playing Werewolf on players’ level of trust toward each other and our results demonstrated that in those using Hugvie, the level of trust toward other players was maintained. PMID:29118727

Teaching a Child with Autism and Severe Language Delays to Reject: Direct and Indirect Effects of Functional Communication Training

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Martin, Christian A.; Drasgow, Erik; Halle, James W.; Brucker, Jennifer M.

2005-01-01

We used functional communication training to teach Bob, a 10-year-old student with autism and severe language delays, to reject items by touching an icon. Our initial assessment revealed that Bob's behaviours serving a rejecting function consisted of pushing away, yelling, bear hugging-grabbing, and leaving. We used prompting, differential…

Finding Support Online: Parents are Finding Comfort and Support in Virtual Hugs

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Miller, Janice

2006-01-01

When Tamara learned that she and her husband were expecting a baby girl, Tamara remembers the doctor telling her "the odds were high" her daughter would inherit her bipolar disorder. As it turned out, her daughter, Lindsay was also formally diagnosed with bipolar disorder after her 11th birthday. Tamara turned to Internet to find someone who…

Teachers' Perceptions of Well-Being and Involvement in Preschool Children

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sönmez, Sibel; Ceylan, Burcu

2017-01-01

Well-being indicates that one is doing well emotionally and feeling comfortable with oneself as a person. A low level of well-being signals that a child is not succeeding in fulfilling his/her fundamental needs, such as eating, being hugged, physical contact, a more or less predictable environment, feeling accepted and feeling like he or she is a…

Principals in the Pipeline: Districts Construct a Framework to Develop School Leadership

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mendels, Pamela

2012-01-01

A diverse school district hugging the eastern border of Washington, D.C., Prince George's County, has introduced rigorous hiring methods and other practices to boost the quality of leadership in its 198 schools. In so doing, the district has also earned a spot among the pioneers in efforts nationally to ensure that public schools are led by the…

Voices from India: A Look into the Lives of Children with Special Needs & Their Families

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hackett, Pamela

2010-01-01

Harsha is a "hugger." The first day the author met him, he smiled and hugged her gently as they walked together into his classroom at the Beautiful Gate Special School (BGSS). His mom lovingly tugged at his arm, pulling him away. "I'm sorry," she said, looking concerned that her son had once again crossed the line of physical…

Simply pyroclastic currents

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Palladino, Danilo M.

2017-07-01

Gravity-driven, ground-hugging gas-pyroclast mixtures produced during explosive volcanic eruptions define a full spectrum of particle concentration, flow regime and particle support mechanisms. To describe these phenomena, the term "pyroclastic density current" (PDC) has become increasingly popular in the last few tens of years. Here, I question the general application of the term PDC to the whole flow spectrum and, instead, I propose the simpler term "pyroclastic current".

Mouths of the Amazon River, Brazil, South America

NASA Image and Video Library

1992-08-08

STS046-80-009 (31 July-8 Aug. 1992) --- A view of the mouth of the Amazon River and the Amazon Delta shows a large sediment plume expanding outward into the Atlantic Ocean. The sediment plume can be seen hugging the coast north of the Delta. This is caused by the west-northwest flowing Guyana Current. The large island of Marajo is partially visible through the clouds.

Defense Management: U.S. Southern Command Demonstrates Interagency Collaboration, but Its Haiti Disaster Response Revealed Challenges Conducting a Large Military Operation

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-07-01

Barbados, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile , Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica...19The international liaisons at SOUTHCOM include representatives from eight countries— Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile ...Nongovernmental Participants Agua Viva Alliance for Rabies Control FACE Food for the Poor Haiti Resource Development Foundation Hugs Across America

National Wild Turkey Federation Programs

Treesearch

Rob Keck

2005-01-01

I recently read an article about several women who were preparing to sit 80 ft (25 m) above a forest floor in tree-sitting nets to protest a logging operation in Jefferson National Forest (Appalachia). Tree hugging is nothing new in this country. But did environmental activists know we have more forests now than we did in the 1920s? In 1920, we only had 735 million ac...

Critical coastal issues of Sagar Island, east coast of India.

PubMed

Gopinath, Girish

2010-01-01

Sagar Island, situated in the east coast of India and one of the biggest deltas in Sundarban group, faces coastal erosion and degradation of coastal vegetation and various natural hazards. Erosion is mainly due to clay mining, wave activities, and the impact of river and tidal currents of Muri Ganga and Hugly Rivers. Further, the coastal zone of Sagar Island faces increasingly severe problems of rapidly growing human population, deteriorating environmental quality, and loss of critical habitats. Sagar Island has been victimized several times by tropical cyclones and influenced daily by tidal fluctuations. The island needs immediate attention on the coastal zone in order to protect the shoreline and ecosystem. The capability of satellite remote sensing to provide synoptic, repetitive, and multispectral data has proved to be very useful in the inventory and monitoring of critical coastal issues. Sagar Island and its environs are subjected to both natural and anthropogenic activities that continuously modify the region.

Seven types of nonsexual romantic physical affection among Brigham young university students.

PubMed

Gulledge, Andrew K; Stahmann, Robert F; Wilson, Colwick M

2004-10-01

College students from Brigham Young University (N= 186; 68 men, 118 women, M age=22.7 yr., SD=3.5) completed a survey regarding nonsexual, romantic physical affection-defined as any touch intended to arouse feelings of love in the giver or the recipient. Respondents included both dating and married individuals, although this was not specified on the questionnaire. This descriptive study reports the mean, median, mode, and standard deviation for each of the seven physical affection types: backrubs/massages, caressing/stroking, cuddling/holding, holding hands, hugging, kissing on the face, and kissing on the lips. Grouped frequency distributions further describe the amounts of each type of physical affection. Although physical affection has been underrepresented in the literature, studies have shown it to be associated with relationship satisfaction, partner satisfaction, psychological intimacy, feeling understood, the development of attachment bonds, modulating cardiovascular arousal, and easier conflict resolution.

Aunque cerca...sano: Una guia para prevencion de los riesgos de los pesticidas (Although Nearby...Healthy: A Guide for the Prevention of Pesticide Risks).

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Saenz, Salvador

Intended for Spanish-speaking farmworkers with children, this publication in comic book format tells these parents how they can protect their children from pesticide risks. On returning home from work, one farmworker couple does not hug their young children. When their behavior is questioned by neighbors, the mother explains that the fields were…

Fiches pratiques: Fourchettes, et baguettes; La Revolution en mosaique; Bons Baisers, a bientot; Vieux Chat et jeune souris (Practical Ideas: Forks, and Bread; The Revolution in Mosaic; Hugs and Kisses, See You Later; Old Cat and Young Mouse).

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lauzeral, Isabelle; And Others

1989-01-01

Four classroom activities for French language instruction are described: an exercise focusing on differences in national cuisine and eating habits; a game about the French Revolution; analysis of and activities using a personal letter; and discussion based on a fable. (MSE)

Structure of a BMI-1-Ring1B Polycomb Group Ubiquitin Ligase Complex

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

Li,Z.; Cao, R.; Wang, M.

2006-01-01

Polycomb group (PcG) proteins Bmi-1 and Ring1B are core subunits of the PRC1 complex which plays important roles in the regulation of Hox gene expression, X-chromosome inactivation, tumorigenesis and stem cell self-renewal. The RING finger protein Ring1B is an E3 ligase that participates in the ubiquitination of lysine 119 of histone H2A, and the binding of Bmi-1 stimulates the E3 ligase activity. We have mapped the regions of Bmi-1 and Ring1B required for efficient ubiquitin transfer and determined a 2.5 Angstroms structure of the Bmi-1-Ring1B core domain complex. The structure reveals that Ring1B 'hugs' Bmi-1 through extensive RING domain contactsmore » and its N-terminal tail wraps around Bmi-1. The two regions of interaction have a synergistic effect on the E3 ligase activity. Our analyses suggest a model where the Bmi-1-Ring1B complex stabilizes the interaction between the E2 enzyme and the nucleosomal substrate to allow efficient ubiquitin transfer.« less

Florida, Bahamas, Cuba and Gulf Stream, USA

NASA Image and Video Library

1992-08-08

This unique photo offers a view of the Florida peninsula, western Bahamas, north central Cuba and the deep blue waters of the Gulf Stream, that hugs the east coast of Florida (27.0N, 82.0W). In addition to being an excellent photograph for showing the geographical relationships between the variety of landforms in this scene, the typical effect of the land-sea breeze is very much in evidence as few clouds over water, cumulus build up over landmass.

A New Type of Great Power Relationship Between the United States and China: The Military Dimension

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-09-01

multipolar world system and a pro - spective security and economic partner of the United States. This stands midway between the panda-hug- ging and dragon...actually played different roles in East Asia, from victim to suzerain, from pro - moting the policies of openness and mutual respect characteristic of... Finlandization of Asia would be a profoundly destabilizing development that needs to be deterred. The United States therefore must steer a complex

HIV/AIDS transmission knowledge among adolescents aged 11 years from Southern Brazil.

PubMed

Gonçalves, Helen; González-Chica, David Alejandro; Menezes, Ana M B; Hallal, Pedro C; Araújo, Cora L P; Dumith, Samuel C

2013-06-01

To investigate the effect of demographic, socioeconomic, educational and family variables on HIV/AIDS knowledge among adolescents aged 11 years. 3,949 adolescents born in Pelotas (Brazil). HIV/AIDS knowledge was assessed through a self-administered questionnaire and measured through five questions about HIV transmission: heterosexual intercourse, homosexual intercourse, needle sharing, open-mouth kissing and hugging someone with AIDS. All the analyses were adjusted based on a hierarchical model, using Poisson regression with robust adjustment of variance. Prevalence of wrong answers to the examined questions were 17.2% for heterosexual transmission, 44.1% for homosexual intercourse, 34.9% for needle sharing, 25.6% for kiss on the mouth and 16.2% for hugging someone with AIDS. In adjusted analysis, lower knowledge levels were more prevalent among boys, adolescents with lower socioeconomic status and with less maternal education level, among those who had not talked about sex with mother and without sexual education lessons at school. Knowledge was not associated with school type (public or private), skin color or talk about sex with father. Providing information to adolescents is essential to improve knowledge about HIV and other sexually transmitted infections, especially among young males, with lower socioeconomic status and with lower maternal education level. Public policies aimed to reducing HIV infection should consider maternal and school relevance to improve knowledge on adolescents.

Phytoplankton off the Coast of Washington State

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2002-01-01

Clear weather over the Pacific Northwest yesterday gave the Sea-viewing Wide Field-of-view Sensor (SeaWiFS) a good view of this mountain region of the United States. Also, there are several phytoplankton blooms visible offshore. The white areas hugging the California coastline toward the bottom of the image are low-level stratus clouds. SeaWiFS acquired this true-color scene on October 3, 2001. Image courtesy the SeaWiFS Project, NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, and ORBIMAGE

Enhancing Mediated Interpersonal Communication through Affective Haptics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tsetserukou, Dzmitry; Neviarouskaya, Alena; Prendinger, Helmut; Kawakami, Naoki; Ishizuka, Mitsuru; Tachi, Susumu

Driven by the motivation to enhance emotionally immersive experience of real-time messaging in 3D virtual world Second Life, we are proposing a conceptually novel approach to reinforcing (intensifying) own feelings and reproducing (simulating) the emotions felt by the partner through specially designed system, iFeel_IM!. In the paper we are describing the development of novel haptic devices (HaptiHeart, HaptiHug, HaptiTickler, HaptiCooler, and HaptiWarmer) integrated into iFeel_IM! system, which architecture is presented in detail.

Mouths of the Amazon River, Brazil, South America

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1992-01-01

In this view of the Amazon River Mouth (0.0, 51.0W), a large sediment plume can be seen expanding outward into the Atlantic Ocean. The sediment plume can be seen hugging the coast north of the delta as a result of the northwest flowing coastal Guyana Current. In recent years, the flow of the Amazon has become heavily laden with sediment as soil runoff from the denuded landscape of the interior enters the Amazon River (and other rivers) drainage system.

JPRS Report, China, Red Flag, Number 10, 16 May 1987

DTIC Science & Technology

1987-07-24

Correct Course (pp 8-13) ( Li Xif an) . • 9 Think Over Whom To Serve and How To Serve (pp 13-14) (Liu Shaotang) 1Ö Hug the Fertile Soil of Life...carry out the struggle against bourgeois liberalization in a deep-going way? The key lies in following the requirements of the central documents and...FROM THE CORRECT COURSE Beijing HONGQI [RED FLAG] in Chinese No 10, 16 May 87 pp 8-13 [Article by Li Xifan [2621 1585 0416

Pyroclastic Deposits on Venus as Indicators of the Youngest Volcanism

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Campbell, B. A.; Morgan, G. A.; Whitten, J. L.; Carter, L. M.; Glaze, L. S.; Campbell, D. B.

2017-01-01

While most of the surface of Venus formed by effusive volcanic processes, deposits suggesting eruption styles that distribute airfall debris over large areas, or ground-hugging flows from plume collapse, are not common. Prior work notes radar-bright units with diffuse margins, generally consistent with a plume collapse emplacement model, in Eistla Regio, Dione Regio, and near Sappho Patera. We examine these deposits, and map additional occurrences, using Magellan data and Earth-based polarimetric radar maps from 1988, 2012, and 2015 observations.

GBS: Guidance by Semantics-Using High-Level Visual Inference to Improve Vision-Based Mobile Robot Localization

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-08-28

for the scene, and effectively isolates the points on buildings. We are now able to accurately filter in buildings, and filter out the ground, but...brushing hair and hugging. Time Action running kids Agent Motion rolling ball panning camera waves crashing Figure 3: Our work distinguishes inten- tional...action of an unknown agent (the kids in this example) from various other motions, such as the rolling ball, the crashing waves and the background mo

The Effects of Accelerator Frequency and Electron Beam Focusing in Free Electron Lasers

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-12-01

relative to one another. This freezing effect is a result of relativistic time dilation; in the lab frame, the relativistic electron bunch has a slower...average 1 hour per response, including the time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed...is five months old at the time of this writing, and his smiles and hugs were a much needed treat when I returned home after long days of classes

Winter Frost and Fog

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2005-01-01

This somewhat oblique blue wide angle Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows the 174 km (108 mi) diameter crater, Terby, and its vicinity in December 2004. Located north of Hellas, this region can be covered with seasonal frost and ground-hugging fog, even in the afternoon, despite being north of 30oS. The subtle, wavy pattern is a manifestation of fog.

Location near: 28oS, 286oW Illumination from: upper left Season: Southern Winter

Virtually assisted optical colonoscopy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Marino, Joseph; Qiu, Feng; Kaufman, Arie

2008-03-01

We present a set of tools used to enhance the optical colonoscopy procedure in a novel manner with the aim of improving both the accuracy and efficiency of this procedure. In order to better present the colon information to the gastroenterologist performing a conventional (optical) colonoscopy, we undistort the radial distortion of the fisheye view of the colonoscope. The radial distortion is modeled with a function that converts the fisheye view to the perspective view, where the shape and size of polyps can be more readily observed. The conversion, accelerated on the graphics processing unit and running in real-time, calculates the corresponding position in the fisheye view of each pixel on the perspective image. We also merge our previous work in computer-aided polyp detection for virtual colonoscopy into the optical colonoscopy environment. The physical colonoscope path in the optical colonoscopy is approximated with the hugging corner shortest path, which is correlated with the centerline in the virtual colonoscopy. With the estimated distance that the colonoscope has been inserted, we are able to provide the gastroenterologist with visual cues along the observation path as to the location of possible polyps found by the detection process. In order to present the information to the gastroenterologist in a non-intrusive manner, we have developed a friendly user interface to enhance the optical colonoscopy without being cumbersome, distracting, or resulting in a more lackadaisical inspection by the gastroenterologist.

Sensitivity of physical examination versus arthroscopy in diagnosing subscapularis tendon injury.

PubMed

Faruqui, Sami; Wijdicks, Coen; Foad, Abdullah

2014-01-01

The purpose of this study was to examine the accuracy of physical examination in the detection of subscapularis tendon tears and compare it with the gold standard of arthroscopy to determine whether clinical examination can reliably predict the presence of subscapularis tendon tears. This was a retrospective analysis of 52 patients (52 shoulders) who underwent arthroscopic subscapularis tendon repairs between September 2008 and April 2012. Positive findings on any combination of the belly press, lift-off, and bear hug tests constituted a positive physical examination result. There was a positive finding on physical examination in 42 of 52 patients. The sensitivity of the physical examination as a whole was 81%. The literature has shown that the belly press, bear hug, and lift-off tests are specific to the subscapularis tendon. To the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to evaluate the sensitivity of these 3 separate clinical tests as a composite. Knowledge regarding the sensitivity of the subscapularis-specific physical examination as a composite can lead practitioners to implement all 3 components, even when 1 test has a negative finding, thus promoting a more thorough physical examination. Because unrepaired subscapularis tendon tears can result in poor outcomes in the repair of other rotator cuff tendons, a complete physical examination would be beneficial to patients with shoulder pathology. The authors conclude that physical examination, when performed consistently by an experienced practitioner, can reliably predict the presence of subscapularis tendon tears.

Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) Mission

NASA Image and Video Library

2014-02-23

A car drives on the twisty roads that hug the coast line of the Tanegashima Space Center (TNSC) on Sunday, Feb. 23, 2014, Tanegashima Island, Japan. A Japanese H-IIA rocket carrying the NASA-Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) Core Observatory is planned for launch from the space center on Feb. 28, 2014. Once launched, the GPM spacecraft will collect information that unifies data from an international network of existing and future satellites to map global rainfall and snowfall every three hours. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

Search Techniques for Multi-Objective Optimization of Mixed-Variable Systems Having Stochastic Responses

DTIC Science & Technology

2007-09-01

kids . Thanks for all the encouragement and for reminding me that there is more to life than graduate school and that there really is a light at the end...in-law for being a great help with the kids during times of emergency. There are not enough words to thank my husband and sons for their support over...worth doing rarely are. To my beloved sons, hugs and kisses for being such great kids through all of this. You guys are the two best sons a Mommy can

The effect of spouses' educational classes held for primiparous women referring to Hajar hospital on their quality of life and pregnancy outcomes.

PubMed

Dehcheshmeh, Faranak Safdari; Salehian, Tahmineh; Parvin, Neda

2014-02-01

With regard to the importance of quality of life in pregnant women, the present study aimed to determine the effect of spouses' educational classes held for primaparous women referring to Hajar hospital on women's quality of life and pregnancy outcomes. This clinical trial was conducted from September 2011 to June 2012 in the clinic of the Hajar university center in Shahrekord. Eligible primiparous women who registered for physiologic delivery educational classes were randomly assigned to study (n = 31) and control (n = 27) groups. In the control group, eight physiologic delivery educational sessions were held. In the study group, in addition to attendance of pregnant women, their husbands also attended the third and the eighth sessions of these classes. Women's quality of life was investigated with SF36 questionnaire and pregnancy outcomes after delivery were investigated. Data were analyzed by t-test and Chi-square test. Before intervention, there was no significant difference between scores of quality of life and demographic characteristics (P > 0.05). After intervention, there was a significant difference only in the dimensions of mental health, hugging time, kissing, and breast feeding between the study and control groups (P < 0.05). There was no significant difference in gestational age, gravida, number of miscarriages, pregnancy outcomes, and spouses' age (P > 0.05). Educational classes held for the pregnant women's husbands during pregnancy can be efficient in promotion of pregnant women's quality of life, especially in improving their mental health.

Concussive convulsions: A YouTube video analysis.

PubMed

Tényi, Dalma; Gyimesi, Csilla; Horváth, Réka; Kovács, Norbert; Ábrahám, Hajnalka; Darnai, Gergely; Fogarasi, András; Büki, András; Janszky, József

2016-08-01

To analyze seizure-like motor phenomena immediately occurring after concussion (concussive convulsions). Twenty-five videos of concussive convulsions were obtained from YouTube as a result of numerous sports-related search terms. The videos were analyzed by four independent observers, documenting observations of the casualty, the head injury, motor symptoms of the concussive convulsions, the postictal period, and the outcome. Immediate responses included the fencing response, bear hug position, and bilateral leg extension. Fencing response was the most common. The side of the hit (p = 0.039) and the head turning (p = 0.0002) was ipsilateral to the extended arm. There was a tendency that if the blow had only a vertical component, the bear hug position appeared more frequently (p = 0.12). The motor symptom that appeared with latency of 6 ± 3 s was clonus, sometimes superimposed with tonic motor phenomena. Clonus was focal, focally evolving bilateral or bilateral, with a duration of 27 ± 19 s (5-72 s). Where lateralization of clonus could be determined, the side of clonus and the side of hit were contralateral (p = 0.039). Concussive convulsions consist of two phases. The short-latency first phase encompasses motor phenomena resembling neonatal reflexes and may be of brainstem origin. The long-latency second phase consists of clonus. We hypothesize that the motor symptoms of the long-latency phase are attributed to cortical structures; however, they are probably not epileptic in origin but rather a result of a transient cortical neuronal disturbance induced by mechanical forces. Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2016 International League Against Epilepsy.

Emotional instability but intact spatial cognition in adenosine receptor 1 knock out mice.

PubMed

Lang, Undine E; Lang, Florian; Richter, Kerstin; Vallon, Volker; Lipp, Hans-Peter; Schnermann, Jürgen; Wolfer, David P

2003-10-17

Several lines of evidence point to the involvement of adenosine in the regulation of important central mechanisms such as cognition, arousal, aggression and anxiety. In order to elucidate the involvement of the adenosine A1 receptor (A1AR) in spatial learning and the control of exploratory behaviour, we assessed A1AR knockout mice (A1AR-/-) and their wild-type littermates (A1AR+/+) in a place navigation task in the water maze and in a battery of forced and free exploration tests. In the water maze, A1AR-/- mice showed normal escape latencies and were indistinguishable from controls with respect to measures of spatial performance during both training and probe trial. But despite normal performance they showed increased wall hugging, most prominently after the relocation of the goal platform for reversal training. Quantitative analysis of strategy choices indicated that wall hugging was increased mainly at the expense of chaining and passive floating, whereas the frequency of trials characterised as direct swims or focal searching was normal in A1AR-/- mice. These results indicate intact spatial cognition, but mildly altered emotional reactions to the water maze environment. In line with this interpretation, A1AR-/- mice showed normal levels and patterns of activity, but a mild increase of some measures of anxiety in our battery of forced and free exploration paradigms. These results are in line with findings published using a genetically similar line, but demonstrate that the magnitude of the changes and the range of affected behavioural measures may vary considerably depending on the environmental conditions during testing.

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.

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).

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.

Field building: lessons from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's anthology series.

PubMed

Isaacs, Stephen L; Knickman, James R

2005-01-01

As editors of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's (RWJF's) anthology series, we have examined the entire range of the foundation's grant making since 1972. We found that the RWJF has enjoyed considerable success in building fields--from nurse practitioners to tobacco control to end-of-life care. The RWJF has done this by shaping fields as they were emerging, by adopting a wide-ranging "bear hug" approach, and by staying the course. The lessons from the RWJF's field-building efforts are relevant for both large and small foundations: Small funders can develop strategic plans aimed at building fields in their home state or locality.

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

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.

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.

KSC-99pp0907

NASA Image and Video Library

1999-07-19

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- After her performance at the Apollo/Saturn V Center, country western recording artist Teresa gets a congratulatory hug from NASA Administrator Daniel Goldin. Teresa performed a song, "Brave New Girls," written for astronaut Catherine "Cady" Coleman, mission specialist on STS-93. She entertained participants and attendees of a women's forum held in the center earlier in the day. The attendees are planning to view the launch of STS-93 at the Banana Creek viewing sight. Much attention has been generated over the launch due to Commander Eileen M. Collins, the first woman to serve as commander of a Shuttle mission. Liftoff is scheduled for July 20 at 12:36 a.m. EDT

Massive Accidental Overdose of Hydroxyurea in a Young Child with Sickle Cell Anemia

PubMed Central

Miller, Scott T.; Rey, Kathy; He, Jin; Flanagan, Jonathan; Fish, Billie J.; Rogers, Zora R.; Wang, Winfred C.; Ware, Russell E.

2011-01-01

The Pediatric Hydroxyurea Phase III Clinical Trial (BABY HUG) confirmed safety and efficacy of hydroxyurea therapy for infants with sickle cell anemia. Treatment was associated with reduction in rates of pain, acute chest syndrome, hospitalizations and blood transfusions; improved hematologic values; and, perhaps, preservation of organ function. During the study, a two year-old ingested at one time an entire 35-day supply of hydroxyurea (612 mg/kg body-weight). Despite a serum level of 7,756 μM four hours post-ingestion, the only toxicity was transient mild myelosuppression. With wider usage of hydroxyurea anticipated, conservative management of future overdoses seems reasonable. (ClinicalTrials.gov NCT00006400) PMID:21744485

Country western singer Teresa is congratulated by Daniel Goldin

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1999-01-01

After her performance at the Apollo/Saturn V Center, country western recording artist Teresa gets a congratulatory hug from NASA Administrator Daniel Goldin. Teresa performed a song, 'Brave New Girls,' written for astronaut Catherine 'Cady' Coleman, mission specialist on STS-93. She entertained participants and attendees of a women's forum held in the center earlier in the day. The attendees are planning to view the launch of STS-93 at the Banana Creek viewing sight. Much attention has been generated over the launch due to Commander Eileen M. Collins, the first woman to serve as commander of a Shuttle mission. Liftoff is scheduled for July 20 at 12:36 a.m. EDT.

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...

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.

Design and implementation of an integrated, continuous evaluation, and quality improvement system for a state-based home-visiting program.

PubMed

McCabe, Bridget K; Potash, Dru; Omohundro, Ellen; Taylor, Cathy R

2012-10-01

To describe the design and implementation of an evaluation system to facilitate continuous quality improvement (CQI) and scientific evaluation in a statewide home visiting program, and to provide a summary of the system's progress in meeting intended outputs and short-term outcomes. Help Us Grow Successfully (HUGS) is a statewide home visiting program that provides services to at-risk pregnant/post-partum women, children (0-5 years), and their families. The program goals are to improve parenting skills and connect families to needed services and thus improve the health of the service population. The evaluation system is designed to: (1) integrate evaluation into daily workflow; (2) utilize standardized screening and evaluation tools; (3) facilitate a culture of CQI in program management; and, (4) facilitate scientifically rigorous evaluations. The review of the system's design and implementation occurred through a formative evaluation process (reach, dose, and fidelity). Data was collected through electronic and paper surveys, administrative data, and notes from management meetings, and medical chart review. In the design phase, four process and forty outcome measures were selected and are tracked using standardized screening and monitoring tools. During implementation, the reach and dose of training were adequate to successfully launch the evaluation/CQI system. All staff (n = 165) use the system for management of families; the supervisors (n = 18) use the system to track routine program activities. Data quality and availability is sufficient to support periodic program reviews at the region and state level. In the first 7 months, the HUGS evaluation system tracked 3,794 families (7,937 individuals). System use and acceptance is high. A successful implementation of a structured evaluation system with a strong CQI component is feasible in an existing, large statewide program. The evaluation/CQI system is an effective mechanism to drive modest change in management of the program.

Runout distance and dynamic pressure of pyroclastic density currents: Evidence from 18 May 1980 blast surge of Mount St. Helens

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gardner, J. E.; Andrews, B. J.

2016-12-01

Pyroclastic density currents (flows and surges) are one of the most deadly hazards associated with volcanic eruptions. Understanding what controls how far such currents will travel, and how their dynamic pressure evolves, could help mitigate their hazards. The distance a ground hugging, pyroclastic density current travels is partly limited by when it reverses buoyancy and lifts off into the atmosphere. The 1980 blast surge of Mount St. Helens offers an example of a current seen to lift off. Before lofting, it had traveled up to 20 km and leveled more than 600 km3 of thick forest (the blowdown zone). The outer edge of the devastated area - where burned trees that were left standing (the singe zone) - is where the surge is thought to have lifted off. We recently examined deposits in the outer parts of the blowdown and in the singe zone at 32 sites. The important finding is that the laterally moving surge travelled into the singe zone, and hence the change in tree damage does not mark the run out distance of the ground hugging surge. Eyewitness accounts and impacts on trees and vehicles reveal that the surge consisted of a fast, dilute "overcurrent" and a slower "undercurrent", where most of the mass (and heat) was retained. Reasonable estimates for flow density and velocity show that dynamic pressure of the surge (i.e., its ability to topple trees) peaked near the base of the overcurrent. We propose that when the overcurrent began to lift off, the height of peak dynamic pressure rose above the trees and stopped toppling them. The slower undercurrent continued forward, burning trees but it lacked the dynamic pressure needed to topple them. Grain-size variations argue that it slowed from 30 m/s when it entered the singe zone to 3 m/s at the far end. Buoyancy reversal and liftoff are thus not preserved in the deposits where the surge lofted upwards.

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)

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).

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

STS-76 Flight Day 7

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1996-01-01

On this seventh day of the STS-76 mission, the flight crew, Cmdr. Kevin P. Chilton, Pilot Richard A Searfoss, and Mission Specialists Linda M. Godwin, Michael R. Clifford, and Ronald M. Sega are shown bidding the Mir crew and Shannon W. Lucid an emotional farewell, Chilton calling it 'a bittersweet moment.' The Atlantis and Mir commanders, Chilton and Onufrienko, along with spacewalkers Godwin and Clifford took time out to talk with CBS' 'Up to the Minute.' The space flyers discussed the success of their joint mission and the 6-hour spacewalk. The astronauts and cosmonauts exchanged handshakes and hugs in the Mir core module, and then praised both mission control centers, Houston and Kaliningrad for their support throughout the joint phase of the mission.

[CERN-MEDICIS (Medical Isotopes Collected from ISOLDE): a new facility].

PubMed

Viertl, David; Buchegger, Franz; Prior, John O; Forni, Michel; Morel, Philippe; Ratib, Osman; Bühler Léo H; Stora, Thierry

2015-06-17

CERN-MEDICIS is a facility dedicated to research and development in life science and medical applications. The research platform was inaugurated in October 2014 and will produce an increasing range of innovative isotopes using the proton beam of ISOLDE for fundamental studies in cancer research, for new imaging and therapy protocols in cell and animal models and for preclinical trials, possibly extended to specific early phase clinical studies (phase 0) up to phase I trials. CERN, the University Hospital of Geneva (HUG), the University Hospital of Lausanne (CHUV), the Swiss Institute for Experimental Cancer (ISREC) at Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology (EPFL) that currently support the project will benefit of the initial production that will then be extended to other centers.

[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…

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)

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.

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

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.

Immunologic effects of hydroxyurea in sickle cell anemia.

PubMed

Lederman, Howard M; Connolly, Margaret A; Kalpatthi, Ram; Ware, Russell E; Wang, Winfred C; Luchtman-Jones, Lori; Waclawiw, Myron; Goldsmith, Jonathan C; Swift, Andrea; Casella, James F

2014-10-01

Susceptibility to encapsulated bacteria is well known in sickle cell disease (SCD). Hydroxyurea use is common in adults and children with SCD, but little is known about hydroxyurea's effects on immune function in SCD. Because hydroxyurea inhibits ribonucleotide reductase, causing cell cycle arrest at the G1-S interface, we postulated that hydroxyurea might delay transition from naive to memory T cells, with inhibition of immunologic maturation and vaccine responses. T-cell subsets, naive and memory T cells, and antibody responses to pneumococcal and measles, mumps, and rubella vaccines were measured among participants in a multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of hydroxyurea in infants and young children with SCD (BABY HUG). Compared with placebo, hydroxyurea treatment resulted in significantly lower total lymphocyte, CD4, and memory T-cell counts; however, these numbers were still within the range of historical healthy controls. Antibody responses to pneumococcal vaccination were not affected, but a delay in achieving protective measles antibody levels occurred in the hydroxyurea group. Antibody levels to measles, mumps, and rubella showed no differences between groups at exit, indicating that effective immunization can be achieved despite hydroxyurea use. Hydroxyurea does not appear to have significant deleterious effects on the immune function of infants and children with SCD. Additional assessments of lymphocyte parameters of hydroxyurea-treated children may be warranted. No changes in current immunization schedules are recommended; however, for endemic disease or epidemics, adherence to accelerated immunization schedules for the measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine should be reinforced. Copyright © 2014 by the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Immunologic Effects of Hydroxyurea in Sickle Cell Anemia

PubMed Central

Lederman, Howard M.; Connolly, Margaret A.; Kalpatthi, Ram; Ware, Russell E.; Wang, Winfred C.; Luchtman-Jones, Lori; Waclawiw, Myron; Goldsmith, Jonathan C.; Swift, Andrea

2014-01-01

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Susceptibility to encapsulated bacteria is well known in sickle cell disease (SCD). Hydroxyurea use is common in adults and children with SCD, but little is known about hydroxyurea’s effects on immune function in SCD. Because hydroxyurea inhibits ribonucleotide reductase, causing cell cycle arrest at the G1–S interface, we postulated that hydroxyurea might delay transition from naive to memory T cells, with inhibition of immunologic maturation and vaccine responses. METHODS: T-cell subsets, naive and memory T cells, and antibody responses to pneumococcal and measles, mumps, and rubella vaccines were measured among participants in a multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of hydroxyurea in infants and young children with SCD (BABY HUG). RESULTS: Compared with placebo, hydroxyurea treatment resulted in significantly lower total lymphocyte, CD4, and memory T-cell counts; however, these numbers were still within the range of historical healthy controls. Antibody responses to pneumococcal vaccination were not affected, but a delay in achieving protective measles antibody levels occurred in the hydroxyurea group. Antibody levels to measles, mumps, and rubella showed no differences between groups at exit, indicating that effective immunization can be achieved despite hydroxyurea use. CONCLUSIONS: Hydroxyurea does not appear to have significant deleterious effects on the immune function of infants and children with SCD. Additional assessments of lymphocyte parameters of hydroxyurea-treated children may be warranted. No changes in current immunization schedules are recommended; however, for endemic disease or epidemics, adherence to accelerated immunization schedules for the measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine should be reinforced. PMID:25180279

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.

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…

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.

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.

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.

Earth observations taken from orbiter Discovery during STS-85 mission

NASA Image and Video Library

1997-08-11

STS085-716-081 (7-19 August 1997) --- This photograph provides a southerly view from Vancouver, B. C. in the foreground, to Portland, Oregon near the top. Coastal stratus, a common occurrence, hugs the Pacific coastline and laps into Puget sound. The silty Fraser River cuts through Vancouver and empties into Puget Sound with a large, milky plume of sediment (bottom). Near the top of the image, the Columbia River runs across the Cascades (between Mt. Adams and Mt. Hood) and the Coast Ranges to the Pacific Ocean. Snow caps the highest peaks of the Olympic Mountains (near center), and the Cascade volcanoes of Rainier (closest to Seattle), Adams and Hood (top). The smaller, gray mountain just south (above and right) of Rainier is Mt. St. Helens.

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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

PubMed

Zupančič, Vesna; Pahor, Majda; Kogovšek, Tina

2018-04-27

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

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

PubMed Central

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

2000-01-01

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

 PMID:10811694

Sexual behaviors among older adults in Spain: results from a population-based national sexual health survey.

PubMed

Palacios-Ceña, Domingo; Carrasco-Garrido, Pilar; Hernández-Barrera, Valentín; Alonso-Blanco, Cristina; Jiménez-García, Rodrigo; Fernández-de-las-Peñas, César

2012-01-01

The Spanish National Sexual Health Survey (SNSHS) is designed to examine sexual activity, sexual behaviors, and sexual health among the Spanish population. To describe sexual activity and behaviors of Spaniards aged ≥ 65 years old focusing on gender differences. A population-based descriptive study was conducted using individual data from the SNSHS. The number of subjects aged ≥ 65 years included was 1,939 (1,118 women, 821 men). Sexual activity, frequency, sexual behaviors, sexual practices, and reasons for lack of sexual activity were assessed from questions included in the survey. Subjects who reported having any sexual practice including giving or receiving kissing and hugging, vaginal intercourse, oral sex, or masturbation, with at least one partner in the previous 12 months were considered as sexually active. We analyzed sociodemographic characteristics, self-rated physical and sexual health, comorbid conditions, and medications using multivariate logistic regression models. Overall, 62.3% of men and 37.4% of elderly women were sexually active (P < 0.01). The prevalence of sexual inactivity significantly increased with age (P < 0.01, odds ratio [OR] 5.8, 95% confidence interval 3.8-9.05 men; 6.37, 3.9-10.4 women). Not having a partner was a predictor of sexual inactivity (OR 5.79, 3.98-8.42 men; OR 12.0, 8.4-17.2 women). Worse self-rated sexual health, suffering ≥ 2 comorbid conditions, and taking ≥ 2 medications were associated with higher probability of reporting no sexual activity in both men and women. The most common sexual practices were kissing, hugging, and vaginal intercourse. The most common reasons for sexual inactivity were: partner was physically ill (23%), lack of interest (21%), and the man was a widower (23%). This study provided data on sexual activity in older Spanish adults and has identified potential factors that appear to influence sexuality in the elderly with some gender differences. Current results can have implications for healthcare providers for addressing these concerns in an effective manner. © 2011 International Society for Sexual Medicine.

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.

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.

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

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.

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)

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...

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.

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.

Compiler Optimizations for Power-Aware Computing. Volume 1 of 2

DTIC Science & Technology

2003-09-01

Engineering University of Delaware Newark, DE 19716 fhyang,ggao,marquez,hug@capsl.udel.edu ‡ Intel Corp 1501 S. Mopac Expressway, Suite 400 Austin, TX 78746...and Reports, 1215 Jefferson Davis Highway, Suite 1204, Arlington, VA 22202-4302, and to the Office of Management and Budget, Paperwork Reduction...Gg7\\ dE ]3 k a8\\*¾$�f�nª$·µYP¸·fÃ/·)¾2ô)�Y�)���Y�"«8�Y� ·�µAµA·fª ø ··ù �ª2�zf�A| ���*�¤ª6�z*���»���.�ú���.�¾¥��£^¤¸`g^ô)¤ ¨ú£5���Y

The flow structure of pyroclastic density currents: evidence from particle models and large-scale experiments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dellino, Pierfrancesco; Büttner, Ralf; Dioguardi, Fabio; Doronzo, Domenico Maria; La Volpe, Luigi; Mele, Daniela; Sonder, Ingo; Sulpizio, Roberto; Zimanowski, Bernd

2010-05-01

Pyroclastic flows are ground hugging, hot, gas-particle flows. They represent the most hazardous events of explosive volcanism, one striking example being the famous historical eruption of Pompeii (AD 79) at Vesuvius. Much of our knowledge on the mechanics of pyroclastic flows comes from theoretical models and numerical simulations. Valuable data are also stored in the geological record of past eruptions, i.e. the particles contained in pyroclastic deposits, but they are rarely used for quantifying the destructive potential of pyroclastic flows. In this paper, by means of experiments, we validate a model that is based on data from pyroclastic deposits. It allows the reconstruction of the current's fluid-dynamic behaviour. We show that our model results in likely values of dynamic pressure and particle volumetric concentration, and allows quantifying the hazard potential of pyroclastic flows.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Reduced optimism and a heightened neural response to everyday worries are specific to generalized anxiety disorder, and not seen in social anxiety.

PubMed

Blair, K S; Otero, M; Teng, C; Geraci, M; Ernst, M; Blair, R J R; Pine, D S; Grillon, C

2017-07-01

Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) and social anxiety disorder (SAD) are co-morbid and associated with similar neural disruptions during emotion regulation. In contrast, the lack of optimism examined here may be specific to GAD and could prove an important biomarker for that disorder. Unmedicated individuals with GAD (n = 18) and age-, intelligence quotient- and gender-matched SAD (n = 18) and healthy (n = 18) comparison individuals were scanned while contemplating likelihoods of high- and low-impact negative (e.g. heart attack; heartburn) or positive (e.g. winning lottery; hug) events occurring to themselves in the future. As expected, healthy subjects showed significant optimistic bias (OB); they considered themselves significantly less likely to experience future negative but significantly more likely to experience future positive events relative to others (p < 0.001). This was also seen in SAD, albeit at trend level for positive events (p < 0.001 and p < 0.10, respectively). However, GAD patients showed no OB for positive events (t 17 = 0.82, n.s.) and showed significantly reduced neural modulation relative to the two other groups of regions including the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) and caudate to these events (p < 0.001 for all). The GAD group further differed from the other groups by showing increased neural responses to low-impact events in regions including the rostral mPFC (p < 0.05 for both). The neural dysfunction identified here may represent a unique feature associated with reduced optimism and increased worry about everyday events in GAD. Consistent with this possibility, patients with SAD did not show such dysfunction. Future studies should consider if this dysfunction represents a biomarker for GAD.

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…

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

Issues and challenges of involving users in medical device development.

PubMed

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

2008-03-01

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

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.

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

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.

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…

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 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.

"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.

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.

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)

Nipah Virus Infection Outbreak with Nosocomial and Corpse-to-Human Transmission, Bangladesh

PubMed Central

Hossain, M. Jahangir; Gurley, Emily S.; Ameen, Kazi M.H.; Parveen, Shahana; Islam, M. Saiful; Faruque, Labib I.; Podder, Goutam; Banu, Sultana S.; Lo, Michael K.; Rollin, Pierre E.; Rota, Paul A.; Daszak, Peter; Rahman, Mahmudur; Luby, Stephen P.

2013-01-01

Active Nipah virus encephalitis surveillance identified an encephalitis cluster and sporadic cases in Faridpur, Bangladesh, in January 2010. We identified 16 case-patients; 14 of these patients died. For 1 case-patient, the only known exposure was hugging a deceased patient with a probable case, while another case-patient’s exposure involved preparing the same corpse for burial by removing oral secretions and anogenital excreta with a cloth and bare hands. Among 7 persons with confirmed sporadic cases, 6 died, including a physician who had physically examined encephalitis patients without gloves or a mask. Nipah virus–infected patients were more likely than community-based controls to report drinking raw date palm sap and to have had physical contact with an encephalitis patient (29% vs. 4%, matched odds ratio undefined). Efforts to prevent transmission should focus on reducing caregivers’ exposure to infected patients’ bodily secretions during care and traditional burial practices. PMID:23347678

Mass movements on Venus - Preliminary results from Magellan cycle 1 observations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Malin, Michael C.

1992-01-01

A preliminary assessment of mass movements and their geomorphic characteristics as determined from visual inspection of Magellan cycle 1 synthetic aperture radar images is described. The primary data set was a catalog of over 200 ten-inch square photographic prints of full-resolution mosaic image data records. Venus exhibits unambiguous evidence of mass movements at a variety of scales. Mass movements appear mostly in the form of block and rock movements; there is little evidence of regolith and sediment movements. Unique Venusian conditions may play a role in the creation of some mass movement features. Dark (smooth) surfaces surrounding many rockslide avalanches are probably fine materials emplaced as part of the mass movement process, as airfall, surface-hugging density flows, or coarse-depleted debris flows. The size and efficiency of emplacement of landslide deposits on Venus are comparable to those seen on Mars, which in turn generally resemble terrestrial occurrences.

From William's Doll to Jacob's New Dress: The Depiction of Gender Non-Conforming Boys in Children's Picture Books From 1972 to 2014.

PubMed

Malcom, Nancy L; Sheahan, Nicole

2018-06-12

Charlotte Zolotow's 1972 storybook William's doll introduced us to a young boy who wanted nothing more than a baby doll of his own to hug, cuddle, and love. Since that time other children's picture books featuring gender non-conforming boys have been published, telling stories about boys who dance, cook, and prefer to wear dresses. This qualitative research examines twenty of these books, published between 1972 and 2014. We analyze the themes and messages found in these books, paying particular attention to how the portrayals have changed over time. Research findings focus on historical shifts in the ways that gender non-conformity is depicted, the role that parents and peers play in these books, and how the books frame gender non-conformity as a problem that needs to be resolved.

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

Developmental Function in Toddlers With Sickle Cell Anemia

PubMed Central

Elkin, T. David; Brown, R. Clark; Glass, Penny; Rana, Sohail; Casella, James F.; Kalpatthi, Ram V.; Pavlakis, Steven; Mi, Zhibao; Wang, Winfred C.

2013-01-01

BACKGROUND: Neurocognitive impairment occurs in children and adults with sickle cell anemia, but little is known about neurodevelopment in very young children. We examined the neurodevelopmental status of infants participating in the Pediatric Hydroxyurea Phase III Clinical Trial (Baby Hug) to determine relationships with age, cerebral blood flow velocity, and hemoglobin concentration. METHODS: Standardized measures of infant neurodevelopment were administered to 193 infants with hemoglobin SS or hemoglobin S-β0 thalassemia between 7 and 18 months of age at the time of their baseline evaluation. Associations between neurodevelopmental scores and age, family income, parent education, hemoglobin concentration, and transcranial Doppler velocity were examined. RESULTS: Mean functioning on the baseline neurodevelopment scales was in the average range. There were no mental development scores <70 (impaired); 22 children had scores in the clinically significant range, 11 with impaired psychomotor scores and 11 with problematic behavior rating scores. Significantly poorer performance was observed with older age at baseline. Behavior rating scores were an average of 2.82 percentile points lower per month of age, with similar patterns observed with parent report using adaptive behavior scales. Parent-reported functional abilities and hemoglobin were negatively associated with higher transcranial Doppler velocities. CONCLUSIONS: Whereas overall functioning was in the normal range, behavioral and adaptive function was poorer with older age, even in this very young group of children. Explanatory mechanisms for this association between poorer developmental function and older age need to be identified. PMID:23296434

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.

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.

Project Assessment Skills Web Application

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Goff, Samuel J.

2013-01-01

The purpose of this project is to utilize Ruby on Rails to create a web application that will replace a spreadsheet keeping track of training courses and tasks. The goal is to create a fast and easy to use web application that will allow users to track progress on training courses. This application will allow users to update and keep track of all of the training required of them. The training courses will be organized by group and by user, making readability easier. This will also allow group leads and administrators to get a sense of how everyone is progressing in training. Currently, updating and finding information from this spreadsheet is a long and tedious task. By upgrading to a web application, finding and updating information will be easier than ever as well as adding new training courses and tasks. Accessing this data will be much easier in that users just have to go to a website and log in with NDC credentials rather than request the relevant spreadsheet from the holder. In addition to Ruby on Rails, I will be using JavaScript, CSS, and jQuery to help add functionality and ease of use to my web application. This web application will include a number of features that will help update and track progress on training. For example, one feature will be to track progress of a whole group of users to be able to see how the group as a whole is progressing. Another feature will be to assign tasks to either a user or a group of users. All of these together will create a user friendly and functional web application.

Endoscopic and histopathologic gastric changes in chronic users of proton-pump inhibitors.

PubMed

Camilo, Sílvia Maria Perrone; Almeida, Élia Cláudia de Souza; Miranzi, Benito André Silveira; Silva, Juliano Carvalho; Nomelini, Rosemary Simões; Etchebehere, Renata Margarida

2015-01-01

Proton-pump inhibitors have been used for at least two decades. They are among the most commonly sold drugs in the world. However, some controversy remains about the indications for their use and the consequences of their prolonged use. To evaluate and compare the endoscopic and histopathologic gastric changes in chronic users of proton-pump inhibitors to changes in non-users. A prospective study performed at a tertiary Public Hospital involving 105 patients undergoing upper-gastrointestinal endoscopy. Subjects included 81 proton-pump inhibitor users and 24 non-users (control group). Biopsies of the antral-type mucosa, the antral-fundic transition, and the fundus were evaluated by the Sydney System. The presence of erosion or ulceration, lymphatic follicles, reactive gastropathy, and polypoid or epithelial hyperplasia was also determined. Serum levels of gastrin were measured. We found two polyps, one in each group, both of which were negative for Helicobacter pylori. There were two cases of parietal cell hyperplasia in users of proton-pump inhibitors. Gastrin was elevated in 28 users of proton-pump inhibitors and in four members of the control group. We did not find statistically significant differences in the endoscopic or histopathologic findings between the two groups. Chronic use of proton-pump inhibitors for the duration examined was not associated with significant gastric changes. An interesting finding was that the 4 chronic users of proton-pump inhibitors who had serum gastrin levels above 500 pg/mL also had positive serology for Chagas disease.

Aligning Technology with the Organisation Using Focus and User Groups

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Owens, Simeon

As an IT Manager of nine years in a small healthcare organisation, which has transitioned from a minimal base of IT to fully fledged systems in place, I have discovered two structures which have helped enormously in this transition. These structures are firstly, the focus group, which looks at the IT requirements of the business, and secondly the user group, or a group of super users, which help in the day to day running of the systems. I have put together a number of lessons, which I have learnt over the years through experience of the workings of these groups, the benefits of them and the value they bring to the organisation.

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.

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

Abdominal Ultrasound With Scintigraphic and Clinical Correlates in Infants With Sickle Cell Anemia: Baseline Data From the BABY HUG Trial

PubMed Central

McCarville, M. Beth; Luo, Zhaoyu; Huang, Xiangke; Rees, Renee C.; Rogers, Zora R.; Miller, Scott T.; Thompson, Bruce; Kalpatthi, Ram; Wang, Winfred C.

2015-01-01

OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study is to perform and evaluate baseline abdominal ultrasound in infants with sickle cell anemia who participated in the BABY HUG multiinstitutional randomized placebo-controlled trial of hydroxyurea therapy and to examine the potential relationships among ultrasound results and clinical, nuclear medicine, and laboratory data. SUBJECTS AND METHODS After local institutional review board approval and with informed guardian consent, 116 girls and 87 boys (age range, 7.5–18 months) with sickle cell anemia underwent standardized abdominal sonography at 14 institutions. Imaging was centrally reviewed by one radiologist who assessed and measured the spleen, kidneys, gallbladder, and common bile duct. Baseline physical assessment of spleen size, serum alanine aminotransferase and bilirubin levels, 99mTc sulfur colloid liver-spleen scans, and 99mTc diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid clearance glomerular filtration rates (GFRs) were obtained. Analysis of variance and the Student test were performed to compare sonographic findings to published results in healthy children and to clinical and laboratory findings. RESULTS The mean (± SD) spleen volume (108 ± 47 mL) was significantly greater than published normal control values (30 ± 14 mL; p < 0.0001). There was no correlation between spleen volume and function assessed by liver-spleen scan. The mean GFR (125 ± 34 mL/min/1.73 m2) was elevated compared with control GFRs (92 ± 18 mL/min/1.73 m2). Renal volumes (right kidney, 29 ± 8 mL; left kidney, 31 ± 9 mL) were significantly greater than control volumes (right kidney, 27 ± 3 mL; left kidney, 27 ± 3 mL; p < 0.0001) and were positively correlated with GFR (p = 0.0009). Five percent of patients had sonographic biliary abnormalities (sludge, n = 6; dilated common bile duct, n = 2; and cholelithiasis and thickened gallbladder wall, n = 1 each). There was no correlation between biliary sonographic findings and laboratory results. CONCLUSION In infants with sickle cell anemia, sonographic spleen volume does not reflect function, but increased renal volume correlates with GFR and is consistent with hyperfiltration. Sonographic biliary abnormalities can occur early in life, while remaining clinically silent. PMID:21606305

[Predictive factors of suicidal behaviour recurrence in borderline personality disorder patients].

PubMed

Cailhol, L; Damsa, C; Marclay, L; Burnand, Y; Lazignac, C; Andreoli, A

2007-01-01

The high prevalence of suicidal behavior (SB) in patients with borderline personality disorder (BPD) raises clinical questions in terms of screening and prevention, particularly for an emergency psychiatric department. The purpose of this prospective study was to determine the risk factors of the recurrence of SB during a one year follow-up in BPD patients consulting the emergency unit of the University Hospitals of Geneva (HUG) following a suicide attempt. All subjects included in the study (age 18-65) had been diagnosed with BPD according to DSM IV criteria. Furthermore, they all consulted the emergency psychiatric unit after a suicide attempt. The exclusion criteria were the presence of cognitive, bipolar or psychotic disorders. Almost all SB patients from the Canton of Geneva (350 000 inhabitants) are directed to the HUG emergency department. After one year, 95 subjects were included in the study, while the total number of emergency psychiatric consultations was of about 10 000. During the emergency consultations, the clinicians checked the DSM IV criteria for BPD and current Major Depressive Episode, following the usual guidelines, independently of the study. The clinicians were specifically trained to set up the diagnosis of BPD by means of the International Personality Disorder Examination (IPDE). The gravity of depressive disorders was assessed with the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRS). The recurrence of SB was recorded for every patient during one year. Among the 95 patients included in the study, 34 patients (36%) were re-admitted to the emergency unit for one or several SB during the first year after inclusion. The recurrence of the SB was significantly higher in women (OR=9.8), in patients with past history of SB (OR=8.9) and in patients living alone (OR=2.5). Interestingly, the presence of a farewell letter seems to be a protective factor (OR=0.1) for SB. Furthermore, low economic status appears to be associated with a higher recurrence risk, but the trend is not statistically significant. Recurrence and intensity (HDRS) of the major depressive episode, drug addiction, and other disorders on axis I of DSM IV did not differ statistically in patients with or without SB recurrence. In this preliminary study, we tried to identify patients at risk for SB, relating to early secondary prevention, starting from the first assessment at the emergency unit.

Comparison of different techniques for in microgravity-a simple mathematic estimation of cardiopulmonary resuscitation quality for space environment.

PubMed

Braunecker, S; Douglas, B; Hinkelbein, J

2015-07-01

Since astronauts are selected carefully, are usually young, and are intensively observed before and during training, relevant medical problems are rare. Nevertheless, there is a certain risk for a cardiac arrest in space requiring cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). Up to now, there are 5 known techniques to perform CPR in microgravity. The aim of the present study was to analyze different techniques for CPR during microgravity about quality of CPR. To identify relevant publications on CPR quality in microgravity, a systematic analysis with defined searching criteria was performed in the PubMed database (http://www.pubmed.com). For analysis, the keywords ("reanimation" or "CPR" or "resuscitation") and ("space" or "microgravity" or "weightlessness") and the specific names of the techniques ("Standard-technique" or "Straddling-manoeuvre" or "Reverse-bear-hug-technique" or "Evetts-Russomano-technique" or "Hand-stand-technique") were used. To compare quality and effectiveness of different techniques, we used the compression product (CP), a mathematical estimation for cardiac output. Using the predefined keywords for literature search, 4 different publications were identified (parabolic flight or under simulated conditions on earth) dealing with CPR efforts in microgravity and giving specific numbers. No study was performed under real-space conditions. Regarding compression depth, the handstand (HS) technique as well as the reverse bear hug (RBH) technique met parameters of the guidelines for CPR in 1G environments best (HS ratio, 0.91 ± 0.07; RBH ratio, 0.82 ± 0.13). Concerning compression rate, 4 of 5 techniques reached the required compression rate (ratio: HS, 1.08 ± 0.11; Evetts-Russomano [ER], 1.01 ± 0.06; standard side straddle, 1.00 ± 0.03; and straddling maneuver, 1.03 ± 0.12). The RBH method did not meet the required criteria (0.89 ± 0.09). The HS method showed the highest cardiac output (69.3% above the required CP), followed by the ER technique (33.0% above the required CP). Concerning CPR quality, the HS seems to be most effective to treat a cardiac arrest. In some environmental conditions where this technique cannot be used, the ER technique is a good alternative because CPR quality is only slightly lower. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

Program status

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Smith, P.

1986-01-01

The Pilot Climate Data System (PCDS) was designed to support a variety of users that have been arbitrarily categorized into four groups: researchers, data producers, occasional users, and management. The expanding capabilities of the system are attracting the attention of both academic and other scientific institutions worldwide. Highlighted by progress in networking capabilities, hardware acquisitions, software developments, data set additions, and tutorial developments, exciting advances have taken place since the First PCDS Workshop. In the plans for the 1986 fiscal year, recommendations from an ad hoc users' group meeting in May 1985 and from the First PCDS workshop are apparent. This year's plans are listed, along with comments made at the users' group meeting. Although the PCDS is presently considered to be in a developmental phase, plans for making the transition to an operational phase are being implemented.

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.

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

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

[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.

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.,…

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.

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.

Innovations in user-defined analysis: dynamic grouping and customized user datasets in VistaPHw.

PubMed

Solet, David; Glusker, Ann; Laurent, Amy; Yu, Tianji

2006-01-01

Flexible, ready access to community health assessment data is a feature of innovative Web-based data query systems. An example is VistaPHw, which provides access to Washington state data and statistics used in community health assessment. Because of its flexible analysis options, VistaPHw customizes local, population-based results to be relevant to public health decision-making. The advantages of two innovations, dynamic grouping and the Custom Data Module, are described. Dynamic grouping permits the creation of user-defined aggregations of geographic areas, age groups, race categories, and years. Standard VistaPHw measures such as rates, confidence intervals, and other statistics may then be calculated for the new groups. Dynamic grouping has provided data for major, successful grant proposals, building partnerships with local governments and organizations, and informing program planning for community organizations. The Custom Data Module allows users to prepare virtually any dataset so it may be analyzed in VistaPHw. Uses for this module may include datasets too sensitive to be placed on a Web server or datasets that are not standardized across the state. Limitations and other system needs are also discussed.

Groups: knowledge spreadsheets for symbolic biocomputing.

PubMed

Travers, Michael; Paley, Suzanne M; Shrager, Jeff; Holland, Timothy A; Karp, Peter D

2013-01-01

Knowledge spreadsheets (KSs) are a visual tool for interactive data analysis and exploration. They differ from traditional spreadsheets in that rather than being oriented toward numeric data, they work with symbolic knowledge representation structures and provide operations that take into account the semantics of the application domain. 'Groups' is an implementation of KSs within the Pathway Tools system. Groups allows Pathway Tools users to define a group of objects (e.g. groups of genes or metabolites) from a Pathway/Genome Database. Groups can be transformed (e.g. by transforming a metabolite group to the group of pathways in which those metabolites are substrates); combined through set operations; analysed (e.g. through enrichment analysis); and visualized (e.g. by painting onto a metabolic map diagram). Users of the Pathway Tools-based BioCyc.org website have made extensive use of Groups, and an informal survey of Groups users suggests that Groups has achieved the goal of allowing biologists themselves to perform some data manipulations that previously would have required the assistance of a programmer. Database URL: BioCyc.org.

Users Manual for FAA Cost Allocation Model.

DTIC Science & Technology

1986-12-01

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

Brain Microstructure and Impulsivity Differ between Current and Past Methamphetamine Users.

PubMed

Andres, Tamara; Ernst, Thomas; Oishi, Kenichi; Greenstein, David; Nakama, Helenna; Chang, Linda

2016-09-01

Methamphetamine (Meth) use disorder continues to be highly prevalent worldwide. Meth users have higher impulsivity and brain abnormalities that may be different between current and past Meth users. The current study assessed impulsivity and depressive symptoms in 94 participants (27 current Meth users, 32 past Meth users and 35 non-drug user controls). Additionally, brain microstructure was assessed using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI); fractional anisotropy (FA) and mean diffusivity (MD) were assessed in the striatum, and FA, MD, radial and axial diffusivity were quantified in five white matter structures using DtiStudio.Across the three subject groups, current users had the highest self-reported impulsivity scores, while both Meth user groups had larger striatal structures than the controls. Past Meth users had the highest FA and lowest MD in the striatum, which is likely due to greater magnetic susceptibility from higher iron content and greater dendritic spine density. In white matter tracts, current Meth users had higher AD than past users, indicating greater water diffusion along the axons, and suggesting inflammation with axonal swelling. In contrast, past users had the lowest AD, indicating more restricted diffusion, which might have resulted from reactive gliosis. Although current Meth users had greater impulsivity than past users, the brain microstructural abnormalities showed differences that may reflect different stages of neuroinflammation or iron-induced neurodegeneration. Combining current and past Meth users may lead to greater variability in studies of Meth users. Longitudinal studies are needed to further evaluate the relationship between recency of Meth use and brain microstructure.

The importance of social media for patients and families affected by congenital anomalies: A Facebook cross-sectional analysis and user survey.

PubMed

Jacobs, Robyn; Boyd, Leanne; Brennan, Kirsty; Sinha, C K; Giuliani, Stefano

2016-11-01

We aimed to define characteristics and needs of Facebook users in relation to congenital anomalies. Cross-sectional analysis of Facebook related to four congenital anomalies: anorectal malformation (ARM), congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH), congenital heart disease (CHD) and hypospadias/epispadias (HS/ES). A keyword search was performed to identify relevant Groups/Pages. An anonymous survey was posted to obtain quantitative/qualitative data on users and their healthcare needs. 54 Groups and 24 Pages were identified (ARM: 10 Groups; CDH: 9 Groups, 7 Pages; CHD: 32 Groups, 17 Pages; HS/ES: 3 Groups), with 16,191 Group members and 48,766 Page likes. 868/1103 (79%) of respondents were parents. Male:female ratio was 1:10.9. 65% of the users were 26-40years old. Common reasons for joining these Groups/Pages included: seeking support, education, making friends, and providing support to others. 932/1103 (84%) would like healthcare professionals (HCPs) to actively participate in their Group. 31% of the respondents felt that they did not receive enough support from their healthcare system. 97% of the respondents would like to join a Group linked to their primary hospital. Facebook Groups/Pages related to congenital anomalies are highly populated and active. There is a need for HCPs and policy makers to better understand and participate in social media to support families and improve patient care. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Disconnection: the user voice within the wound dressing supply chain.

PubMed

Campling, Natasha; Grocott, Patricia; Cowley, Sarah

2008-03-01

This study examined the user voice in England's National Health Service (NHS) wound dressing supply chain. The impetus for this work came from involvement in a collaboration between industry and clinicians, entitled Woundcare Research for Appropriate Products. Experiences from that study highlighted the notable absence of research about the impact of the supply chain on the users of dressings. Interview data are presented following an outline of the grounded theory method used. These data were obtained from key stakeholders (n = 41) within the wound dressing supply chain such as nurses, manufacturers, distributors, professional organizations, government organizations and user groups. The consequences of supply disconnection revealed haphazard supply, unmet user needs and lack of information transfer between player groups. These consequences explain the lack of user voice in the supply chain and have far-reaching implications for nursing management, through purchasing decisions and nurses' management of wound care.

Discovery of User-Oriented Class Associations for Enriching Library Classification Schemes.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pu, Hsiao-Tieh

2002-01-01

Presents a user-based approach to exploring the possibility of adding user-oriented class associations to hierarchical library classification schemes. Classes not grouped in the same subject hierarchies yet relevant to users' knowledge are obtained by analyzing a log book of a university library's circulation records, using collaborative filtering…

From the Users' Perspective-The UCSD Libraries User Survey Project.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Talbot, Dawn E.; Lowell, Gerald R.; Martin, Kerry

1998-01-01

Discussion of a user-driven survey conducted at the University of California, San Diego libraries focuses on the methodology that resulted in a high response rate. Highlights goals for the survey, including acceptance of data by groups outside the library and for benchmarking data; planning; user population; and questionnaire development. (LRW)

Improving Requirements Generation Thoroughness in User-Centered Workshops: The Role of Prompting and Shared User Stories

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Read, Aaron

2013-01-01

The rise of stakeholder centered software development has led to organizations engaging users early in the development process to help define system requirements. To facilitate user involvement in the requirements elicitation process, companies can use Group Support Systems (GSS) to conduct requirements elicitation workshops. The effectiveness of…

DIRAC distributed secure framework

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Casajus, A.; Graciani, R.; LHCb DIRAC Team

2010-04-01

DIRAC, the LHCb community Grid solution, provides access to a vast amount of computing and storage resources to a large number of users. In DIRAC users are organized in groups with different needs and permissions. In order to ensure that only allowed users can access the resources and to enforce that there are no abuses, security is mandatory. All DIRAC services and clients use secure connections that are authenticated using certificates and grid proxies. Once a client has been authenticated, authorization rules are applied to the requested action based on the presented credentials. These authorization rules and the list of users and groups are centrally managed in the DIRAC Configuration Service. Users submit jobs to DIRAC using their local credentials. From then on, DIRAC has to interact with different Grid services on behalf of this user. DIRAC has a proxy management service where users upload short-lived proxies to be used when DIRAC needs to act on behalf of them. Long duration proxies are uploaded by users to a MyProxy service, and DIRAC retrieves new short delegated proxies when necessary. This contribution discusses the details of the implementation of this security infrastructure in DIRAC.

Effect of mobile usage on serum melatonin levels among medical students.

PubMed

Shrivastava, Abha; Saxena, Yogesh

2014-01-01

Exposure to extremely low frequency (ELF) electromagnetic radiations from mobile phones may affect the circadian rhythm of melatonin in mobile users. The study was designed with objective to evaluate the influence of mobile phone on circadian rhythm of melatonin and to find the association if any between the hours of mobile usage with serum melatonin levels. All the volunteers medical students using mobiles for > 2 hrs/day were included in high users group and volunteers who used mobile for ≤ 2 hrs where included in low users group. Both high and low users volunteers were sampled three times in the same day (Morning-3-4 am, Noon 1-2 pm, Evening-5-6 pm) for estimation of serum melatonin levels: Comparsion of sernum melatonin levels in high users and low users were done by Mann Whitney "U" Test. Reduced morning melatonin levels (3-4 am) was observed in high users (> 2 hrs/day) i.e high users had a disturbed melatonin circadian rhythm.There was a negative correlation between melatonin secretion and hours of mobile usages.

A Multirelational Social Network Analysis of an Online Health Community for Smoking Cessation.

PubMed

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

2016-08-25

Online health communities (OHCs) provide a convenient and commonly used way for people to connect around shared health experiences, exchange information, and receive social support. Users often interact with peers via multiple communication methods, forming a multirelational social network. Use of OHCs is common among smokers, but to date, there have been no studies on users' online interactions via different means of online communications and how such interactions are related to smoking cessation. Such information can be retrieved in multirelational social networks and could be useful in the design and management of OHCs. To examine the social network structure of an OHC for smoking cessation using a multirelational approach, and to explore links between subnetwork position (ie, centrality) and smoking abstinence. We used NetworkX to construct 4 subnetworks based on users' interactions via blogs, group discussions, message boards, and private messages. We illustrated topological properties of each subnetwork, including its degree distribution, density, and connectedness, and compared similarities among these subnetworks by correlating node centrality and measuring edge overlap. We also investigated coevolution dynamics of this multirelational network by analyzing tie formation sequences across subnetworks. In a subset of users who participated in a randomized, smoking cessation treatment trial, we conducted user profiling based on users' centralities in the 4 subnetworks and identified user groups using clustering techniques. We further examined 30-day smoking abstinence at 3 months postenrollment in relation to users' centralities in the 4 subnetworks. The 4 subnetworks have different topological characteristics, with message board having the most nodes (36,536) and group discussion having the highest network density (4.35×10(-3)). Blog and message board subnetworks had the most similar structures with an in-degree correlation of .45, out-degree correlation of .55, and Jaccard coefficient of .23 for edge overlap. A new tie in the group discussion subnetwork had the lowest probability of triggering subsequent ties among the same two users in other subnetworks: 6.33% (54,142/855,893) for 2-tie sequences and 2.13% (18,207/855,893) for 3-tie sequences. Users' centralities varied across the 4 subnetworks. Among a subset of users enrolled in a randomized trial, those with higher centralities across subnetworks generally had higher abstinence rates, although high centrality in the group discussion subnetwork was not associated with higher abstinence rates. A multirelational approach revealed insights that could not be obtained by analyzing the aggregated network alone, such as the ineffectiveness of group discussions in triggering social ties of other types, the advantage of blogs, message boards, and private messages in leading to subsequent social ties of other types, and the weak connection between one's centrality in the group discussion subnetwork and smoking abstinence. These insights have implications for the design and management of online social networks for smoking cessation.

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

PubMed

Ribu, Kirsten; Patel, Tulpesh

2016-01-01

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

The Effect of Personality on Collaborative Task Performance and Interaction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Givney, Sinéad Mc; Smeaton, Alan F.; Lee, Hyowon

Collocated, multi-user technologies, which support group-work are becoming increasingly popular. Examples include MERL’s Diamondtouch and Microsoft’s Surface, both of which have evolved from research prototypes to commercial products. Many applications have been developed for such technologies which support the work and entertainment needs of small groups of people. None of these applications however, have been studied in terms of the interactions and performances of their users with regards to their personality. In this paper, we address this research gap by conducting a series of user studies involving dyads working on a number of multi-user applications on the DiamondTouch tabletop device.

Managing Personal and Group Collections of Information

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wolfe, Shawn R.; Wragg, Stephen D.; Chen, James R.; Koga, Dennis (Technical Monitor)

1999-01-01

The internet revolution has dramatically increased the amount of information available to users. Various tools such as search engines have been developed to help users find the information they need from this vast repository. Users often also need tools to help manipulate the growing amount of useful information they have discovered. Current tools available for this purpose are typically local components of web browsers designed to manage URL bookmarks. They provide limited functionalities to handle high information complexities. To tackle this have created DIAMS, an agent-based tool to help users or groups manage their information collections and share their collections with other. the main features of DIAMS are described here.

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

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

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

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

The effects of concurrent cannabis use among ecstasy users: neuroprotective or neurotoxic?

PubMed

Fisk, John E; Montgomery, Catharine; Wareing, Michelle; Murphy, Philip N

2006-08-01

The research evidence regarding the potential effects of ecstasy suggests that it may be neurotoxic and that its use is associated with cognitive impairment. In recent years evidence has emerged suggesting that cannabinoids, the active ingredients in cannabis, can be neuroprotective under certain conditions. Given that many ecstasy users also consume cannabis at the same time, the possibility emerges that these individuals might be less susceptible to ecstasy-related impairment. The present paper reanalyses the data from a number of previous studies, contrasting the performance of those individuals who generally consume cannabis and ecstasy at the same time with those who generally consume ecstasy on its own. The two ecstasy-using groups are compared with non-ecstasy users on a range of measures including processing speed, random letter generation, verbal and visuo-spatial working memory span, reasoning and associative learning. The two ecstasy user groups did not differ significantly from each other on any of the measures. Both user groups were significantly worse than non-ecstasy users on measures of associative learning, verbal and visuo-spatial working memory and reasoning. The results suggest that consuming cannabis at the same time as ecstasy does not reduce the likelihood of cognitive impairment.

Men's and women's perspectives on using a powered mobility device: benefits and societal challenges.

PubMed

Pettersson, Cecilia; Iwarsson, Susanne; Brandt, Ase; Norin, Lizette; Månsson Lexell, Eva

2014-11-01

To describe how men and women experience their use of powered wheelchairs (PW) and powered scooters (PS) in everyday occupations, in the home and in society at large. A qualitative research approach with focus-group methodology was used. Four focus groups were created, with men and women as well as PW and PS users in different groups. Applying a descriptive approach, data were analysed according to the principles described by Krueger. Three categories emerged and revealed that even though use of PW and PS increased independence and enabled everyday occupations, participants struggled to be independent powered mobility device (PMD) users. They experienced many accessibility problems in dwellings and in society, described similarly by users of PW and PS. Men and women experienced their use of (PMD) differently, especially in relation to the service delivery process. The study contributes with new knowledge on accessibility for PW and PS users and related service delivery processes, stating that gender differences regarding provision and training must be taken into account. Occupational therapists can contribute to an enhanced understanding of PMD users' challenges in person-environment-occupation transactions in the home and society, and thereby promote occupational justice for PMD users.

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

PubMed

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

2004-06-01

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

The National Ignition Facility (NIF) as a User Facility

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Keane, Christopher; NIF Team

2013-10-01

The National Ignition Facility (NIF) has made significant progress towards operation as a user facility. Through June 2013, NIF conducted over 1200 experiments in support of ICF, HED science, and development of facility capabilities. The NIF laser has met or achieved all specifications and a wide variety of diagnostic and target fabrication capabilities are in place. A NIF User Group and associated Executive Board have been formed. Two User Group meetings have been conducted since formation of the User Group. NIF experiments in fundamental science have provided important new results. NIF ramp compression experiments have been conducted using diamond and iron, with EOS results obtained at pressures up to approximately 50 Mbar and 8 Mbar, respectively. Initial experiments in supernova hydrodynamics, the fundamental physics of the Rayleigh-Taylor instability, and equation of state in the Gbar pressure regime have also been conducted. This presentation will discuss the fundamental science program at NIF, including the proposal solicitation and scientific review processes and other aspects of user facility operation. This work was performed under the auspices of the Lawrence Livermore National Security, LLC, (LLNS) under Contract No. DE-AC52-07NA27344.

Effects of galvanic skin response feedback on user experience in gaze-controlled gaming: A pilot study.

PubMed

Larradet, Fanny; Barresi, Giacinto; Mattos, Leonardo S

2017-07-01

Eye-tracking (ET) is one of the most intuitive solutions for enabling people with severe motor impairments to control devices. Nevertheless, even such an effective assistive solution can detrimentally affect user experience during demanding tasks because of, for instance, the user's mental workload - using gaze-based controls for an extensive period of time can generate fatigue and cause frustration. Thus, it is necessary to design novel solutions for ET contexts able to improve the user experience, with particular attention to its aspects related to workload. In this paper, a pilot study evaluates the effects of a relaxation biofeedback system on the user experience in the context of a gaze-controlled task that is mentally and temporally demanding: ET-based gaming. Different aspects of the subjects' experience were investigated under two conditions of a gaze-controlled game. In the Biofeedback group (BF), the user triggered a command by means of voluntary relaxation, monitored through Galvanic Skin Response (GSR) and represented by visual feedback. In the No Biofeedback group (NBF), the same feedback was timed according to the average frequency of commands in BF. After the experiment, each subject filled out a user experience questionnaire. The results showed a general appreciation for BF, with a significant between-group difference in the perceived session time duration, with the latter being shorter for subjects in BF than for the ones in NBF. This result implies a lower mental workload for BF than for NBF subjects. Other results point toward a potential role of user's engagement in the improvement of user experience in BF. Such an effect highlights the value of relaxation biofeedback for improving the user experience in a demanding gaze-controlled task.

Effect of high-potency cannabis on corpus callosum microstructure.

PubMed

Rigucci, S; Marques, T R; Di Forti, M; Taylor, H; Dell'Acqua, F; Mondelli, V; Bonaccorso, S; Simmons, A; David, A S; Girardi, P; Pariante, C M; Murray, R M; Dazzan, P

2016-03-01

The use of cannabis with higher Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol content has been associated with greater risk, and earlier onset, of psychosis. However, the effect of cannabis potency on brain morphology has never been explored. Here, we investigated whether cannabis potency and pattern of use are associated with changes in corpus callosum (CC) microstructural organization, in patients with first-episode psychosis (FEP) and individuals without psychosis, cannabis users and non-users. The CC of 56 FEP (37 cannabis users) and 43 individuals without psychosis (22 cannabis users) was virtually dissected and segmented using diffusion tensor imaging tractography. The diffusion index of fractional anisotropy, mean diffusivity (MD), axial diffusivity (AD) and radial diffusivity was calculated for each segment. Across the whole sample, users of high-potency cannabis had higher total CC MD and higher total CC AD than both low-potency users and those who never used (p = 0.005 and p = 0.004, respectively). Daily users also had higher total CC MD and higher total CC AD than both occasional users and those who never used (p = 0.001 and p < 0.001, respectively). However, there was no effect of group (patient/individuals without psychosis) or group x potency interaction for either potency or frequency of use. The within-group analysis showed in fact that the effects of potency and frequency were similar in FEP users and in users without psychosis. Frequent use of high-potency cannabis is associated with disturbed callosal microstructural organization in individuals with and without psychosis. Since high-potency preparations are now replacing traditional herbal drugs in many European countries, raising awareness about the risks of high-potency cannabis is crucial.

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

PubMed

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

2015-05-01

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

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

PubMed Central

Ruefli, Terry; Rogers, Susan J

2004-01-01

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

Training NOAA Staff on Effective Communication Methods with Local Climate Users

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Timofeyeva, M. M.; Mayes, B.

2011-12-01

Since 2002 NOAA National Weather Service (NWS) Climate Services Division (CSD) offered training opportunities to NWS staff. As a result of eight-year-long development of the training program, NWS offers three training courses and about 25 online distance learning modules covering various climate topics: climate data and observations, climate variability and change, NWS national and local climate products, their tools, skill, and interpretation. Leveraging climate information and expertise available at all NOAA line offices and partners allows delivery of the most advanced knowledge and is a very critical aspect of the training program. NWS challenges in providing local climate services includes effective communication techniques on provide highly technical scientific information to local users. Addressing this challenge requires well trained, climate-literate workforce at local level capable of communicating the NOAA climate products and services as well as provide climate-sensitive decision support. Trained NWS climate service personnel use proactive and reactive approaches and professional education methods in communicating climate variability and change information to local users. Both scientifically-unimpaired messages and amiable communication techniques such as story telling approach are important in developing an engaged dialog between the climate service providers and users. Several pilot projects NWS CSD conducted in the past year applied the NWS climate services training program to training events for NOAA technical user groups. The technical user groups included natural resources managers, engineers, hydrologists, and planners for transportation infrastructure. Training of professional user groups required tailoring the instructions to the potential applications of each group of users. Training technical user identified the following critical issues: (1) Knowledge of target audience expectations, initial knowledge status, and potential use of climate information; (2) Leveraging partnership with climate services providers; and, (3) Applying 3H training approach, where the first H stands for Head (trusted science), the second H stands for Heart (make it easy), and the third H for Hand (support with applications).

A multicenter prospective cohort study on camera navigation training for key user groups in minimally invasive surgery.

PubMed

Graafland, Maurits; Bok, Kiki; Schreuder, Henk W R; Schijven, Marlies P

2014-06-01

Untrained laparoscopic camera assistants in minimally invasive surgery (MIS) may cause suboptimal view of the operating field, thereby increasing risk for errors. Camera navigation is often performed by the least experienced member of the operating team, such as inexperienced surgical residents, operating room nurses, and medical students. The operating room nurses and medical students are currently not included as key user groups in structured laparoscopic training programs. A new virtual reality laparoscopic camera navigation (LCN) module was specifically developed for these key user groups. This multicenter prospective cohort study assesses face validity and construct validity of the LCN module on the Simendo virtual reality simulator. Face validity was assessed through a questionnaire on resemblance to reality and perceived usability of the instrument among experts and trainees. Construct validity was assessed by comparing scores of groups with different levels of experience on outcome parameters of speed and movement proficiency. The results obtained show uniform and positive evaluation of the LCN module among expert users and trainees, signifying face validity. Experts and intermediate experience groups performed significantly better in task time and camera stability during three repetitions, compared to the less experienced user groups (P < .007). Comparison of learning curves showed significant improvement of proficiency in time and camera stability for all groups during three repetitions (P < .007). The results of this study show face validity and construct validity of the LCN module. The module is suitable for use in training curricula for operating room nurses and novice surgical trainees, aimed at improving team performance in minimally invasive surgery. © The Author(s) 2013.

Age of onset of Cannabis use and cognitive function in first-episode non-affective psychosis patients: Outcome at three-year follow-up.

PubMed

Setién-Suero, Esther; Martínez-García, Obdulia; de la Foz, Víctor Ortiz-García; Vázquez-Bourgon, Javier; Correa-Ghisays, Patricia; Ferro, Adele; Crespo-Facorro, Benedicto; Ayesa-Arriola, Rosa

2018-05-31

In recent years, the effects of cannabis use on cognitive functions in patients with psychosis have been widely studied. Recently, special emphasis has been placed on the impact of age at the onset of consumption on cognition in these patients. 349 patients with a first episode of non-affective psychosis were studied. Patients were classified as cannabis users and non-users. Users were divided, according to their age when they began using cannabis, into: early-onset (age < 16) and late-onset (age ≥ 16) users. Differences between groups at baseline were studied based on sociodemographic, clinical, and cognitive variables. The groups were longitudinally (3-year) compared on cognitive variables. Out of the 349 patients included in this study, 38.7% (N = 135) were cannabis users. Of them, 39.3% (N = 53) were early-onset and 60.7% (N = 82) were late-onset cannabis users. No baseline differences were found between the early-onset and late-onset groups on cognitive domains. Longitudinally, only patients who had withdrawn from cannabis use during follow-up showed a significant improvement in verbal memory. Our results did not show differences between the early-onset group and the other two groups in long-term cognitive performance, even if they kept consuming cannabis during the first three years of disease progression. Further studies are needed to elucidate the true relationship between early-onset cannabis use and cognitive function in patients with a first episode of psychosis. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Portable music player users: cultural differences and potential dangers.

PubMed

Levey, Sandra; Fligor, Brian J; Cutler, Cecelia; Harushimana, Immaculee

2013-01-01

Many studies have examined the use of portable music players portable listening devices (PLDs) from various ethnic groups. Some findings suggest that there may be differences among ethnic groups that lead to louder or longer listening when using PLD devices. For example, some studies found that Hispanic PLD users listen at higher volume levels while other studies found that African American PLD users listen at higher volume levels. No investigator has explained the reasons for differences among ethnic groups in listening intensity. This paper will address the possible reasons for these differences and offer guidelines for the prevention of noise-induced hearing loss.

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

PubMed

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

2016-01-01

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

Gingival abrasion and recession in manual and oscillating-rotating power brush users.

PubMed

Rosema, N A M; Adam, R; Grender, J M; Van der Sluijs, E; Supranoto, S C; Van der Weijden, G A

2014-11-01

To assess gingival recession (GR) in manual and power toothbrush users and evaluate the relationship between GR and gingival abrasion scores (GA). This was an observational (cross-sectional), single-centre, examiner-blind study involving a single-brushing exercise, with 181 young adult participants: 90 manual brush users and 91 oscillating-rotating power brush users. Participants were assessed for GR and GA as primary response variables. Secondary response variables were the level of gingival inflammation, plaque score reduction and brushing duration. Pearson correlation was used to describe the relationship between number of recession sites and number of abrasions. Prebrushing (baseline) and post-brushing GA and plaque scores were assessed and differences analysed using paired tests. Two-sample t-test was used to analyse group differences; ancova was used for analyses of post-brushing changes with baseline as covariate. Overall, 97.8% of the study population had at least one site of ≥1 mm of gingival recession. For the manual group, this percentage was 98.9%, and for the power group, this percentage was 96.7% (P = 0.621). Post-brushing, the power group showed a significantly smaller GA increase than the manual group (P = 0.004); however, there was no significant correlation between number of recession sites and number of abrasions for either group (P ≥ 0.327). Little gingival recession was observed in either toothbrush user group; the observed GR levels were comparable. Lower post-brushing gingival abrasion levels were seen in the power group. There was no correlation between gingival abrasion as a result of brushing and the observed gingival recession following use of either toothbrush. © 2014 The Authors International Journal of Dental Hygiene Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Motor imagery-induced EEG patterns in individuals with spinal cord injury and their impact on brain-computer interface accuracy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Müller-Putz, G. R.; Daly, I.; Kaiser, V.

2014-06-01

Objective. Assimilating the diagnosis complete spinal cord injury (SCI) takes time and is not easy, as patients know that there is no ‘cure' at the present time. Brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) can facilitate daily living. However, inter-subject variability demands measurements with potential user groups and an understanding of how they differ to healthy users BCIs are more commonly tested with. Thus, a three-class motor imagery (MI) screening (left hand, right hand, feet) was performed with a group of 10 able-bodied and 16 complete spinal-cord-injured people (paraplegics, tetraplegics) with the objective of determining what differences were present between the user groups and how they would impact upon the ability of these user groups to interact with a BCI. Approach. Electrophysiological differences between patient groups and healthy users are measured in terms of sensorimotor rhythm deflections from baseline during MI, electroencephalogram microstate scalp maps and strengths of inter-channel phase synchronization. Additionally, using a common spatial pattern algorithm and a linear discriminant analysis classifier, the classification accuracy was calculated and compared between groups. Main results. It is seen that both patient groups (tetraplegic and paraplegic) have some significant differences in event-related desynchronization strengths, exhibit significant increases in synchronization and reach significantly lower accuracies (mean (M) = 66.1%) than the group of healthy subjects (M = 85.1%). Significance. The results demonstrate significant differences in electrophysiological correlates of motor control between healthy individuals and those individuals who stand to benefit most from BCI technology (individuals with SCI). They highlight the difficulty in directly translating results from healthy subjects to participants with SCI and the challenges that, therefore, arise in providing BCIs to such individuals.

Gingival abrasion and recession in manual and oscillating–rotating power brush users

PubMed Central

Rosema, NAM; Adam, R; Grender, JM; Van der Sluijs, E; Supranoto, SC; Van der Weijden, GA

2014-01-01

Objective To assess gingival recession (GR) in manual and power toothbrush users and evaluate the relationship between GR and gingival abrasion scores (GA). Methods This was an observational (cross-sectional), single-centre, examiner-blind study involving a single-brushing exercise, with 181 young adult participants: 90 manual brush users and 91 oscillating–rotating power brush users. Participants were assessed for GR and GA as primary response variables. Secondary response variables were the level of gingival inflammation, plaque score reduction and brushing duration. Pearson correlation was used to describe the relationship between number of recession sites and number of abrasions. Prebrushing (baseline) and post-brushing GA and plaque scores were assessed and differences analysed using paired tests. Two-sample t-test was used to analyse group differences; ancova was used for analyses of post-brushing changes with baseline as covariate. Results Overall, 97.8% of the study population had at least one site of ≥1 mm of gingival recession. For the manual group, this percentage was 98.9%, and for the power group, this percentage was 96.7% (P = 0.621). Post-brushing, the power group showed a significantly smaller GA increase than the manual group (P = 0.004); however, there was no significant correlation between number of recession sites and number of abrasions for either group (P ≥ 0.327). Conclusions Little gingival recession was observed in either toothbrush user group; the observed GR levels were comparable. Lower post-brushing gingival abrasion levels were seen in the power group. There was no correlation between gingival abrasion as a result of brushing and the observed gingival recession following use of either toothbrush. PMID:24871587

Comparison of Urinary Biomarkers of Exposure in Humans Using Electronic Cigarettes, Combustible Cigarettes, and Smokeless Tobacco.

PubMed

Lorkiewicz, Pawel; Riggs, Daniel W; Keith, Rachel J; Conklin, Daniel J; Xie, Zhengzhi; Sutaria, Saurin; Lynch, Blake; Srivastava, Sanjay; Bhatnagar, Aruni

2018-06-02

Cigarette smoking is associated with an increase in cardiovascular disease risk, attributable in part to reactive volatile organic chemicals (VOCs). However, little is known about the extent of VOC exposure due to the use of other tobacco products. We recruited 48 healthy, tobacco users in four groups: cigarette, smokeless tobacco, occasional users of first generation e-cigarette and e-cigarette menthol and 12 healthy nontobacco users. After abstaining for 48 h, tobacco users used an assigned product. Urine was collected at baseline followed by five collections over a 3-h period to measure urinary metabolites of VOCs, nicotine, and tobacco alkaloids. Urinary levels of nicotine were ≃2-fold lower in occasional e-cigarette and smokeless tobacco users than in the cigarette smokers; cotinine and 3-hydroxycotinine levels were similar in all groups. Compared with nontobacco users, e-cigarette users had higher levels of urinary metabolites of xylene, cyanide, styrene, ethylbenzene, and benzene at baseline and elevated urinary levels of metabolites of xylene, N,N-dimethylformamide, and acrylonitrile after e-cigarette use. Metabolites of acrolein, crotonaldehyde, and 1,3-butadiene were significantly higher in smokers than in users of other products or nontobacco users. VOC metabolite levels in smokeless tobacco group were comparable to those found in nonusers with the exception of xylene metabolite-2-methylhippuric acid (2MHA), which was almost three fold higher than in nontobacco users. Smoking results in exposure to a range of VOCs at concentrations higher than those observed with other products, and first generation e-cigarette use is associated with elevated levels of N,N-dimethylformamide and xylene metabolites. This study shows that occasional users of first generation e-cigarettes have lower levels of nicotine exposure than the users of combustible cigarettes. Compared with combustible cigarettes, e-cigarettes, and smokeless tobacco products deliver lower levels of most VOCs, with the exception of xylene, N,N-dimethylformamide, and acrylonitrile, whose metabolite levels were higher in the urine of e-cigarette users than nontobacco users. Absence of anatabine in the urine of e-cigarette users suggests that measuring urinary levels of this alkaloid may be useful in distinguishing between users of e-cigarettes and combustible cigarettes. However, these results have to be validated in a larger cohortcomprised of users of e-cigarettes of multiple brands.

Aspects of Methamphetamine Abuse in Adolescents and Young Adults in a Thuringian County.

PubMed

Dhein, Stefan; Schmelmer, Katrin; Guenther, Julika; Salameh, Aida

2018-06-14

Drug abuse is an increasing problem among young adults in European countries. We wanted to assess the prevalence of methamphetamine and cannabis use in young people and to ask for their socioeconomic, parental and emotional background. All pupils (n = 1,087) in the final class of 3 school types (-general school [in Germany: Hauptschule/Regelschule mit Hauptschulabschluss] class 9, regular school [in Germany: Regelschule] class 10, high school [in Germany: Gymnasium] class 10) and the first 2 classes of the vocational school (in Germany: Berufsschule) in the entire rural district of Altenburger Land, a Thuringian county in Germany with a total of 92,344 inhabitants were asked to fill out a 2-page questionnaire. In all, 920 questionnaires could be finally evaluated (mean age: 16.6 ± 0.07 years; mode value: 16; maximum range: 13-29). In the entire group, 5.81% (33 females, 20 males) reported the use of methamphetamine, while 42.8% stated that they have used it only once, the remaining 57.2% specified that they have used it on a more regular basis, mostly once a month, but 14.2% had used it almost daily. With regard to the socioeconomic background, 55% of the parents of the methamphetamine users were employees and 10% of the parents were in a leading position. This was not different from the non-user group (p = 0.193). Unemployment of the parents was found in 6.5% of the methamphetamine users and in 4.7% of the non-users. Overall, 67.92% had a basic knowledge of the side effects of this drug. In 55.32% of the methamphetamine users, the parents lived alone, were divorced or widowed, while this was only 33.1% in the non-user group. Of all the methamphetamine users, 69% had friends who also consumed the drug, which may give a hint on the impact of a peer group. In the entire group, 29.84% were smokers (female group: 28.47%; male group 31.25%) and 25.5% consumed cannabis. Ecstasy was used by a total of 4.05% and cocaine by 1.53%. No participant mentioned that they have used opiates. Among pupils aged about 16 years nearly 6% reported to have consumed methamphetamine. This group has a middle socioeconomic background. Two factors were strongly associated with methamphetamine usage: a family with only a single parent and friends who were used to taking methamphetamine. The self-perception of users was generally considered to be a disadvantage as compared to the other factors. © 2018 S. Karger AG, Basel.

Latent Classes of Polydrug Users as a Predictor of Crash Involvement and Alcohol Consumption.

PubMed

Scherer, Michael; Romano, Eduardo; Voas, Robert; Taylor, Eileen

2018-05-01

Polydrug users have been shown to be at higher risk for alcohol consumption and crash involvement. However, research has shown that polydrug groups differ in some important ways. It is currently unknown how polydrug-using groups differ in terms of crash involvement and alcohol consumption. The current study used latent class analysis to examine subgroups of polydrug users (n = 384) among a sample of drivers in Virginia Beach, Virginia (N = 10,512). A series of logistic regression analyses were conducted to determine the relationship between polydrug use categories and crash involvement and alcohol consumption. Four distinct subclasses of users were identified among polydrug-using drivers: Class 1 is the "marijuana-amphetamines class" and accounts for 21.6% of polydrug users. Class 2 is the "benzo-antidepressant class" and accounts for 39.0% of polydrug users. Class 3 is the "opioid-benzo class" and accounts for 32.7% of polydrug users. Finally, Class 4 is the "marijuana-cocaine class" and accounts for 6.7% of the study sample. Drivers in the opioid-benzo class were significantly more likely than those in any other class as well as non-drug users and single-drug users to be involved in a crash and were more likely than those in most other conditions to consume alcohol. No significant difference was found between marijuana-amphetamine users or benzo-antidepressant users and non-drug users on crash risk. Some polydrug users are indeed at greater risk for crash involvement and alcohol consumption; however, not all polydrug users are significantly worse than single-drug users and/or non-drug users, and the practice of lumping polydrug users together when predicting crash risk runs the risk of inaccurately attributing crash involvement to certain drivers.

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

PubMed Central

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

2016-01-01

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

Task-specific usability requirements of electronic medical records systems: Lessons learned from a national survey of end-users.

PubMed

Farzandipour, Mehrdad; Meidani, Zahra; Riazi, Hossein; Sadeqi Jabali, Monireh

2018-09-01

There are various approaches to evaluating the usability of electronic medical record (EMR) systems. User perspectives are an integral part of evaluation. Usability evaluations efficiently and effectively contribute to user-centered design and supports tasks and increase user satisfaction. This study determined the main usability requirements for EMRs by means of an end-user survey. A mixed-method strategy was conducted in three phases. A qualitative approach was employed to collect and formulate EMR usability requirements using the focus group method and the modified Delphi technique. Classic Delphi technique was used to evaluate the proposed requirements among 380 end-users in Iran. The final list of EMR usability requirements was verified and included 163 requirements divided into nine groups. The highest rates of end-user agreement relate to EMR visual clarity (3.65 ± 0.61), fault tolerance (3.58 ± 0.56), and suitability for learning (3.55 ± 0.54). The lowest end-user agreement was for auditory presentation (3.18 ± 0.69). The highest and lowest agreement among end-users was for visual clarity and auditory presentation by EMRs, respectively. This suggests that user priorities in determination of EMR usability and their understanding of the importance of the types of individual tasks and context characteristics differ.

Relation between cannabis use and subcortical volumes in people at clinical high risk of psychosis

PubMed Central

Buchy, Lisa; Mathalon, Daniel H.; Cannon, Tyrone D.; Cadenhead, Kristin S.; Cornblatt, Barbara A.; McGlashan, Thomas H.; Perkins, Diana O.; Seidman, Larry J.; Tsuang, Ming T.; Walker, Elaine F.; Woods, Scott W.; Bearden, Carrie E.; Addington, Jean

2016-01-01

Among people at genetic risk of schizophrenia, those who use cannabis show smaller thalamic and hippocampal volumes. We evaluated this relationship in people at clinical high risk (CHR) of psychosis. The Alcohol and Drug Use Scale was used to identify 132 CHR cannabis users, the majority of whom were non-dependent cannabis users, 387 CHR non-users, and 204 healthy control non-users, and all participants completed magnetic resonance imaging scans. Volumes of the thalamus, hippocampus and amygdala were extracted with FreeSurfer, and compared across groups. Comparing all CHR participants with healthy control participants revealed no significant differences in volumes of any ROI. However, when comparing CHR users to CHR non-users, a significant ROI × Cannabis group effect emerged: CHR users showed significantly smaller amygdala compared to CHR non-users. However, when limiting analysis to CHR subjects who reported using alcohol at a ‘use without impairment’ severity level, the amygdala effect was non-significant; rather, smaller hippocampal volumes were seen in CHR cannabis users compared to non-users. Controlling statistically for effects of alcohol and tobacco use rendered all results non-significant. These results highlight the importance of controlling for residual confounding effects of other substance use when examining the relationship between cannabis use and neural structure. PMID:27289213

A user-centred design process of new cold-protective clothing for offshore petroleum workers operating in the Barents Sea

PubMed Central

NAESGAARD, Ole Petter; STORHOLMEN, Tore Christian Bjørsvik; WIGGEN, Øystein Nordrum; REITAN, Jarl

2017-01-01

Petroleum operations in the Barents Sea require personal protective clothing (PPC) to ensure the safety and performance of the workers. This paper describes the accomplishment of a user-centred design process of new PPC for offshore workers operating in this area. The user-centred design process was accomplished by mixed-methods. Insights into user needs and context of use were established by group interviews and on-the-job observations during a field-trip. The design was developed based on these insights, and refined by user feedback and participatory design. The new PPC was evaluated via field-tests and cold climate chamber tests. The insight into user needs and context of use provided useful input to the design process and contributed to tailored solutions. Providing users with clothing prototypes facilitated participatory design and iterations of design refinement. The group interviews following the final field test showed consensus of enhanced user satisfaction compared to PPC in current use. The final cold chamber test indicated that the new PPC provides sufficient thermal protection during the 60 min of simulated work in a wind-chill temperature of −25°C. Conclusion: Accomplishing a user-centred design process contributed to new PPC with enhanced user satisfaction and included relevant functional solutions. PMID:29046494

A user-centred design process of new cold-protective clothing for offshore petroleum workers operating in the Barents Sea.

PubMed

Naesgaard, Ole Petter; Storholmen, Tore Christian Bjørsvik; Wiggen, Øystein Nordrum; Reitan, Jarl

2017-12-07

Petroleum operations in the Barents Sea require personal protective clothing (PPC) to ensure the safety and performance of the workers. This paper describes the accomplishment of a user-centred design process of new PPC for offshore workers operating in this area. The user-centred design process was accomplished by mixed-methods. Insights into user needs and context of use were established by group interviews and on-the-job observations during a field-trip. The design was developed based on these insights, and refined by user feedback and participatory design. The new PPC was evaluated via field-tests and cold climate chamber tests. The insight into user needs and context of use provided useful input to the design process and contributed to tailored solutions. Providing users with clothing prototypes facilitated participatory design and iterations of design refinement. The group interviews following the final field test showed consensus of enhanced user satisfaction compared to PPC in current use. The final cold chamber test indicated that the new PPC provides sufficient thermal protection during the 60 min of simulated work in a wind-chill temperature of -25°C. Accomplishing a user-centred design process contributed to new PPC with enhanced user satisfaction and included relevant functional solutions.

'Is it the crime of the century?': factors for psychiatrists and service users that influence the long-term prescription of hypnosedatives.

PubMed

MacDonald, Joanna; Garvie, Christopher; Gordon, Sarah; Huthwaite, Mark; Mathieson, Fiona; Wood, Amber-Jane; Romans, Sarah

2015-07-01

Given the longstanding controversy about hypnosedative use, we aimed to investigate the attitudes of prescribing psychiatrists and service users towards long-term use of hypnosedative medication, and their perceptions of barriers to evidence-based nonmedication alternatives. Qualitative data from focus groups in Aotearoa/NZ were analysed thematically. A novel research design involved a service user researcher contributing throughout the research design and process. Service users and psychiatrists met to discuss each other's views, initially separately, and subsequently together. Analysis of the data identified four key themes: the challenge, for both parties, of sleep disturbance among service users with mental health problems; the conceptual and ethical conflicts for service users and psychiatrists in managing this challenge; the significant barriers to service users accessing evidence-based nonmedication alternatives; and the initial sense of disempowerment, shared by both service users and psychiatrists, which was transformed during the research process. Our results raise questions about the relevance of the existing guidelines for this group of service users, highlight the resource and time pressures that discourage participants from embarking on withdrawal regimes and education programmes on alternatives, highlight the lack of knowledge about alternatives and reflect the complex interaction between sleep and mental health problems, which poses a significant dilemma for service users and psychiatrists.

Surf zone entrainment, along-shore transport, and human health implications of pollution from tidal outlets

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Grant, S. B.; Kim, J. H.; Jones, B. H.; Jenkins, S. A.; Wasyl, J.; Cudaback, C.

2005-10-01

Field experiments and modeling studies were carried out to characterize the surf zone entrainment and along-shore transport of pollution from two tidal outlets that drain into Huntington Beach and Newport Beach, popular public beaches in southern California. The surf zone entrainment and near-shore transport of pollutants from these tidal outlets appears to be controlled by prevailing wave conditions and coastal currents, and fine-scale features of the flow field around the outlets. An analysis of data from dye experiments and fecal indicator bacteria monitoring studies reveals that the along-shore flux of surf zone water is at least 50 to 300 times larger than the cross-shore flux of surf zone water. As a result, pollutants entrained in the surf zone hug the shore, where they travel significant distances parallel to the beach before diluting to extinction. Under the assumption that all surf zone pollution at Huntington Beach originates from two tidal outlets, the Santa Ana River and Talbert Marsh outlets, models of mass and momentum transport in the surf zone approximately capture the observed tidal phasing and magnitude of certain fecal indicator bacteria groups (total coliform) but not others (Escherichia coli and enterococci), implying the existence of multiple sources of, and/or multiple transport pathways for, fecal pollution at this site. The intersection of human recreation and near-shore pollution pathways implies that, from a human health perspective, special care should be taken to reduce the discharge of harmful pollutants from land-side sources of surface water runoff, such as tidal outlets and storm drains.

Renegotiating sexuality and intimacy in the context of cancer: the experiences of carers.

PubMed

Gilbert, Emilee; Ussher, Jane M; Perz, Janette

2010-08-01

There is a growing body of evidence to show that cancer can result in dramatic changes in sexuality, sexual functioning, and intimate couple relationships, with significant implications for both quality of life and psychological well-being. However, the experiences of intimate partners are often neglected in research on sexuality and intimacy in the context of cancer. This study used a material-discursive framework and a qualitative methodology to investigate the ways in which intimacy and sexuality are renegotiated in the context of cancer, and what factors are associated with successful or unsuccessful renegotiation, from the perspective of partners caring for a person with cancer. Twenty participants were interviewed, across a range of cancer types, stages, and age groups. Eleven participants reported that they were unable to negotiate other ways of being sexually intimate when penetrative sexual intercourse was no longer physiologically possible or desirable. Nine were able to renegotiate sexual intimacy in the context of cancer to include practices previously positioned as secondary to "real sex," such as mutual masturbation, self masturbation, manual stimulation, oral sex, massage, the use of vibrators, kissing, and hugging. Grounded theory analysis identified two themes associated with renegotiation: "Alternative" sexual practices-redefining sexual intimacy, and couple communication and relationship context. Difficulties in renegotiation were associated with adherence to the coital imperative, sexual relationship or communication problems which existed prior to cancer, and the positioning of the person with cancer as a child or an asexual sick patient rather than a sexual partner. The implications for health professional intervention to ameliorate changes to sexuality in the context of cancer are discussed.

Aggregation Trade Offs in Family Based Recommendations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Berkovsky, Shlomo; Freyne, Jill; Coombe, Mac

Personalized information access tools are frequently based on collaborative filtering recommendation algorithms. Collaborative filtering recommender systems typically suffer from a data sparsity problem, where systems do not have sufficient user data to generate accurate and reliable predictions. Prior research suggested using group-based user data in the collaborative filtering recommendation process to generate group-based predictions and partially resolve the sparsity problem. Although group recommendations are less accurate than personalized recommendations, they are more accurate than general non-personalized recommendations, which are the natural fall back when personalized recommendations cannot be generated. In this work we present initial results of a study that exploits the browsing logs of real families of users gathered in an eHealth portal. The browsing logs allowed us to experimentally compare the accuracy of two group-based recommendation strategies: aggregated group models and aggregated predictions. Our results showed that aggregating individual models into group models resulted in more accurate predictions than aggregating individual predictions into group predictions.

Passive solar energy information user study

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

Belew, W.W.; Wood, B.L.; Marle, T.L.

1980-11-01

The results of a series of telephone interviews with groups of users of information on passive solar heating and cooling are described. These results, part of a larger study on many different solar technologies, identify types of information each group needed and the best ways to get information to each group. The overall study provides baseline data about information needs in the solar community. An earlier study identified the information user groups in the solar community and the priority (to accelerate solar energy commercialization) of getting information to each group. In the current study only high-priority groups were examined. Resultsmore » from seven passive groups respondents are analyzed in this report: Federally Funded Researchers, Manufacturer Representatives, Architects, Builders, Educators, Cooperative Extension Service County Agents, and Homeowners. The data will be used as input to the determination of information products and services the Solar Energy Research Institute, the Solar Energy Information Data Bank Network, and the entire information outreach community should be preparing and disseminating.« less

Skin patch and vaginal ring versus combined oral contraceptives for contraception.

PubMed

Lopez, Laureen M; Grimes, David A; Gallo, Maria F; Stockton, Laurie L; Schulz, Kenneth F

2013-04-30

The delivery of combination contraceptive steroids from a transdermal contraceptive patch or a contraceptive vaginal ring offers potential advantages over the traditional oral route. The transdermal patch and vaginal ring could require a lower dose due to increased bioavailability and improved user compliance. To compare the contraceptive effectiveness, cycle control, compliance (adherence), and safety of the contraceptive patch or the vaginal ring versus combination oral contraceptives (COCs). Through February 2013, we searched MEDLINE, POPLINE, CENTRAL, LILACS, ClinicalTrials.gov, and ICTRP for trials of the contraceptive patch or the vaginal ring. Earlier searches also included EMBASE. For the initial review, we contacted known researchers and manufacturers to identify other trials. We considered randomized controlled trials comparing a transdermal contraceptive patch or a contraceptive vaginal ring with a COC. Data were abstracted by two authors and entered into RevMan. For dichotomous variables, the Peto odds ratio (OR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) was calculated. For continuous variables, the mean difference was computed. We also assessed the quality of evidence for this review. We found 18 trials that met our inclusion criteria. Of six patch studies, five examined the marketed patch containing norelgestromin plus ethinyl estradiol (EE); one studied a patch in development that contains levonorgestrel (LNG) plus EE. Of 12 vaginal ring trials, 11 examined the same marketing ring containing etonogestrel plus EE; one studied a ring being developed that contains nesterone plus EE.Contraceptive effectiveness was not significantly different for the patch or ring versus the comparison COC. Compliance data were limited. Patch users showed better compliance than COC users in three trials. For the norelgestromin plus EE patch, ORs were 2.05 (95% CI 1.83 to 2.29) and 2.76 (95% CI 2.35 to 3.24). In the levonorgestrel plus EE patch report, patch users were less likely to have missed days of therapy (OR 0.36; 95% CI 0.25 to 0.51). Of four vaginal ring trials, one found ring users had more noncompliance (OR 3.99; 95% CI 1.87 to 8.52), while another showed more compliance with the regimen (OR 1.67; 95% CI 1.04 to 2.68).More patch users discontinued early than COC users. ORs from two meta-analyses were 1.59 (95% CI 1.26 to 2.00) and 1.56 (95% CI 1.18 to 2.06) and another trial showed OR 2.57 (95% CI 0.99 to 6.64). Patch users also had more discontinuation due to adverse events than COC users. Users of the norelgestromin-containing patch reported more breast discomfort, dysmenorrhea, nausea, and vomiting. In the levonorgestrel-containing patch trial, patch users reported less vomiting, headaches, and fatigue.Of 11 ring trials with discontinuation data, two showed the ring group discontinued less than the COC group: OR 0.32 (95% CI 0.16 to 0.66) and OR 0.52 (95% CI 0.31 to 0.88). Ring users were less likely to discontinue due to adverse events in one study (OR 0.32; 95% CI 0.15 to 0.70). Compared to the COC users, ring users had more vaginitis and leukorrhea but less vaginal dryness. Ring users also reported less nausea, acne, irritability, depression, and emotional lability than COC users.For cycle control, only one trial study showed a significant difference. Women in the patch group were less likely to have breakthrough bleeding and spotting. Seven ring studies had bleeding data; four trials showed the ring group generally had better cycle control than the COC group. Effectiveness was not significantly different for the methods compared. Pregnancy data were available from half of the patch trials but two-thirds of ring trials. The patch could lead to more discontinuation than the COC. The patch group had better compliance than the COC group. Compliance data came from half of the patch studies and one-third of the ring trials. Patch users had more side effects than the COC group. Ring users generally had fewer adverse events than COC users but more vaginal irritation and discharge.The quality of the evidence for this review was considered low for the patch and moderate for the ring. The main reasons for downgrading were lack of information on the randomization sequence generation or allocation concealment, the outcome assessment methods, high losses to follow up, and exclusions after randomization.

Coordinating Technological Resources in a Non-Technical Profession: The Administrative Computer User Group.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rollo, J. Michael; Marmarchev, Helen L.

1999-01-01

The explosion of computer applications in the modern workplace has required student affairs professionals to keep pace with technological advances for office productivity. This article recommends establishing an administrative computer user groups, utilizing coordinated web site development, and enhancing working relationships as ways of dealing…

The Role of Focus Groups with Other Performance Measurement Methods.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hart, Elizabeth

Huddersfield University Library (England) has undertaken a wide range of evaluative studies of its services and systems, using various data collection techniques such as: user surveys; exit interviews; online and CD-ROM analysis; benchmarking; user groups; staffing and staff development evaluation; suggestion sheets; student project work; group…

Altered response to tryptophan supplementation after long-term abstention from MDMA (ecstasy) is highly correlated with human memory function.

PubMed

Curran, H Valerie; Verheyden, Suzanne L

2003-08-01

MDMA (ecstasy; +3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine) damages brain serotonin (5-HT) neurons and, in non-human primates, a loss of various 5-HT axonal markers persists for several years. This raises the question of whether long lasting effects occur in human beings that persist even after they have stopped using MDMA. We therefore assessed the effects of an indirect 5-HT manipulation on functions thought to be affected by MDMA use in people who had stopped using MDMA (ex-users) compared with continuing users and non-users. Ninety-six participants were recruited: 32 ex-users who had stopped using MDMA for >1 year (mean, 2.4 years); 32 current users and 32 polydrug controls who had never used MDMA but were matched with ex-users and controls on cannabis use and pre-morbid IQ. Participants were given an amino acid mixture that contained either no tryptophan (T-) or augmented tryptophan (T+) and assessed before and 5 h after the drink on measures of cognitive function and mood. T+ and T- produced plasma tryptophan augmentation and depletion, respectively, in all three groups. Ex-users' plasma tryptophan levels in response to T+ were significantly higher than other groups. Ex-users' performance on a delayed prose recall task improved after T+ and lessened after T-. Changes in ex-users' free plasma tryptophan levels correlated highly (r=-0.9) with their baseline performance on immediate and delayed prose recall; change in total plasma tryptophan correlated (r=-0.81) with delayed recall. Further, total baseline plasma tryptophan correlated with number of years they had used MDMA before quitting. Baseline differences between groups were found on learning, working memory, aggression and impulsivity. T- did not produce differential effects in the three groups. Our results suggest that prolonged abstinence from MDMA might be associated with altered tryptophan metabolism. Ex-users showing the poorest memory function at baseline were also those who metabolised least tryptophan. These findings may reflect pre-morbid differences in 5-HT function of those who stop using this drug or consequences of MDMA use that emerge after abstention. Aggression is also associated with MDMA use and subsequent abstinence.

Quality of life in haemophilia A: Hemophilia Utilization Group Study Va (HUGS-Va).

PubMed

Poon, J-L; Zhou, Z-Y; Doctor, J N; Wu, J; Ullman, M M; Ross, C; Riske, B; Parish, K L; Lou, M; Koerper, M A; Gwadry-Sridhar, F; Forsberg, A D; Curtis, R G; Johnson, K A

2012-09-01

This study describes health-related quality of life (HRQoL) of persons with haemophilia A in the United States (US) and determines associations between self-reported joint pain, motion limitation and clinically evaluated joint range of motion (ROM), and between HRQoL and ROM. As part of a 2-year cohort study, we collected baseline HRQoL using the SF-12 (adults) and PedsQL (children), along with self-ratings of joint pain and motion limitation, in persons with factor VIII deficiency recruited from six Haemophilia Treatment Centres (HTCs) in geographically diverse regions of the US. Clinically measured joint ROM measurements were collected from medical charts of a subset of participants. Adults (N = 156, mean age: 33.5 ± 12.6 years) had mean physical and mental component scores of 43.4 ± 10.7 and 50.9 ± 10.1, respectively. Children (N = 164, mean age: 9.7 ± 4.5 years) had mean total PedsQL, physical functioning, and psychosocial health scores of 85.9 ± 13.8, 89.5 ± 15.2, and 84.1 ± 15.3, respectively. Persons with more severe haemophilia and higher self-reported joint pain and motion limitation had poorer scores, particularly in the physical aspects of HRQoL. In adults, significant correlations (P < 0.01) were found between ROM measures and both self-reported measures. Except among those with severe disease, children and adults with haemophilia have HRQoL scores comparable with those of the healthy US population. The physical aspects of HRQoL in both adults and children with haemophilia A in the US decrease with increasing severity of illness. However, scores for mental aspects of HRQoL do not differ between severity groups. These findings are comparable with those from studies in European and Canadian haemophilia populations. © 2012 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Using naturalistic driving data to identify variables associated with infrequent, occasional, and consistent seat belt use.

PubMed

Reagan, Ian J; McClafferty, Julie A; Berlin, Sharon P; Hankey, Jonathan M

2013-01-01

Seat belt use is one of the most effective countermeasures to reduce traffic fatalities and injuries. The success of efforts to increase use is measured by road side observations and self-report questionnaires. These methods have shortcomings, with the former requiring a binary point estimate and the latter being subjective. The 100-car naturalistic driving study presented a unique opportunity to study seat belt use in that seat belt status was known for every trip each driver made during a 12-month period. Drivers were grouped into infrequent, occasional, or consistent seat belt users based on the frequency of belt use. Analyses were then completed to assess if these groups differed on several measures including personality, demographics, self-reported driving style variables as well as measures from the 100-car study instrumentation suite (average trip speed, trips per day). In addition, detailed analyses of the occasional belt user group were completed to identify factors that were predictive of occasional belt users wearing their belts. The analyses indicated that consistent seat belt users took fewer trips per day, and that increased average trip speed was associated with increased belt use among occasional belt users. The results of this project may help focus messaging efforts to convert occasional and inconsistent seat belt users to consistent users. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Providing oceanographic data and information for Pacific Island communities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Potemra, James; Maurer, John; Burns, Echelle

2016-04-01

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

The role of marijuana use etiquette in avoiding targeted police enforcement

PubMed Central

REAM, GEOFFREY L.; JOHNSON, BRUCE D.; DUNLAP, ELOISE; BENOIT, ELLEN

2012-01-01

Internationally, where marijuana is illegal, users follow etiquette rules that prevent negative consequences of use. In this study, adherence to etiquette is hypothesized to reduce likelihood of marijuana-related police stop/search and arrest. Ethnographers administered group surveys to a diverse, purposive sample of 462 marijuana-using peer groups in several areas of New York City. Findings indicated that lack of etiquette was associated with dramatically higher likelihood of police stop/search or arrest only for users who were Black, male, and/or recruited from Harlem/South Bronx. If these users followed a few identified etiquette rules, their risk of police stop/search or arrest was comparable to that of other users. Implications are that etiquette represents an intentional conscientiousness about marijuana use. Groups that are specially targeted for anti-marijuana enforcement can remediate that heightened risk by following marijuana etiquette. PMID:23155303

Comparison of cannabis and tobacco withdrawal: severity and contribution to relapse.

PubMed

Budney, Alan J; Vandrey, Ryan G; Hughes, John R; Thostenson, Jeff D; Bursac, Zoran

2008-12-01

This naturalistic telephone survey study compared perceptions of withdrawal severity in 67 daily cannabis users and 54 daily tobacco cigarette smokers who made quit attempts during the prior 30 days. A Withdrawal Symptom Checklist assessed the severity of abstinence symptoms and a Likert scale assessed perceived relations between abstinence symptoms and relapse. A composite Withdrawal Discomfort Score did not differ significantly between groups (M = 13.0 for cannabis, vs. M = 13.2 for tobacco). Individual symptom severity ratings were also of similar magnitude, except craving and sweating were slightly higher for tobacco. Both groups reported that withdrawal contributed substantially to relapse, and the strength of these ratings was similar across groups. The diverse convenience sample examined in this study adds external validity and generalizability to prior studies that included only users not planning to quit or excluded many common types of cannabis users. The comparable withdrawal experience from these heterogeneous cannabis and tobacco users supports previous findings from controlled laboratory studies and indicates that real-world, frequent cannabis users perceive that withdrawal symptoms negatively affect their desire and ability to quit.

Echo Chambers: Emotional Contagion and Group Polarization on Facebook.

PubMed

Del Vicario, Michela; Vivaldo, Gianna; Bessi, Alessandro; Zollo, Fabiana; Scala, Antonio; Caldarelli, Guido; Quattrociocchi, Walter

2016-12-01

Recent findings showed that users on Facebook tend to select information that adhere to their system of beliefs and to form polarized groups - i.e., echo chambers. Such a tendency dominates information cascades and might affect public debates on social relevant issues. In this work we explore the structural evolution of communities of interest by accounting for users emotions and engagement. Focusing on the Facebook pages reporting on scientific and conspiracy content, we characterize the evolution of the size of the two communities by fitting daily resolution data with three growth models - i.e. the Gompertz model, the Logistic model, and the Log-logistic model. Although all the models appropriately describe the data structure, the Logistic one shows the best fit. Then, we explore the interplay between emotional state and engagement of users in the group dynamics. Our findings show that communities' emotional behavior is affected by the users' involvement inside the echo chamber. Indeed, to an higher involvement corresponds a more negative approach. Moreover, we observe that, on average, more active users show a faster shift towards the negativity than less active ones.

Seeking support on facebook: a content analysis of breast cancer groups.

PubMed

Bender, Jacqueline L; Jimenez-Marroquin, Maria-Carolina; Jadad, Alejandro R

2011-02-04

Social network sites have been growing in popularity across broad segments of Internet users, and are a convenient means to exchange information and support. Research on their use for health-related purposes is limited. This study aimed to characterize the purpose, use, and creators of Facebook groups related to breast cancer. We searched Facebook (www.Facebook.com) using the term breast cancer. We restricted our analysis to groups that were related to breast cancer, operated in English, and were publicly available. Two of us independently extracted information on the administrator and purpose of the group, as well as the number of user-generated contributions. We developed a coding scheme to guide content analysis. We found 620 breast cancer groups on Facebook containing a total of 1,090,397 members. The groups were created for fundraising (277/620, 44.7%), awareness (236, 38.1%), product or service promotion related to fundraising or awareness (61, 9%), or patient/caregiver support (46, 7%). The awareness groups as a whole contained by far the most members (n = 957,289). The majority of groups (532, 85.8%) had 25 wall posts or fewer. The support oriented groups, 47% (27/57) of which were established by high school or college students, were associated with the greatest number of user-generated contributions. Facebook groups have become a popular tool for awareness-raising, fundraising, and support-seeking related to breast cancer attracting over one million users. Given their popularity and reach, further research is warranted to explore the implications of social network sites as a health resource across various health conditions, cultures, ages, and socioeconomic groups.

Demographic-Based Content Analysis of Web-Based Health-Related Social Media

PubMed Central

Shahbazi, Moloud; Wiley, Matthew T; Hristidis, Vagelis

2016-01-01

Background 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. Objective 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. Methods 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. Results 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. Conclusion 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. PMID:27296242

Characteristics of drug use among pregnant women in the United States: Opioid and non-opioid illegal drug use.

PubMed

Metz, Verena E; Brown, Qiana L; Martins, Silvia S; Palamar, Joseph J

2018-02-01

The opioid epidemic in the US is affecting pregnant women and their offspring, with rising numbers of maternal and neonatal treatment episodes. The aim of this study was to characterize pregnant drug users in order to inform intervention strategies based on sociodemographic, mental health, and substance use characteristics. Data on pregnant women aged 18-44 reporting past-year, nonmedical opioid use or use of non-opioid illegal drugs (other than marijuana) were analyzed from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (2005-2014). Women (N = 818) were categorized into 3 groups: 1) use of opioids only (n = 281), 2) opioid-polydrug users (n = 241), and 3) other (non-opioid) illegal drug users (n = 296). Characteristics between the 3 groups of women were compared using bivariable analyses. Most women were non-Hispanic White (67.6%), had a high school diploma or less education (61.0%), a household income <$20,000/year (72.2%), and health insurance coverage (84.3%). No significant differences between the three groups were found regarding sociodemographic characteristics. Past-30-day marijuana use was less prevalent among opioid-only users (10.9%) compared to opioid-polydrug users (43.6%) and other pregnant illegal drug users (27.6%) (P < 0.001) and past-year drug/alcohol treatment was less prevalent among opioid-only users (6.3%) compared to opioid-polydrug users (20.3%) and other illegal drug users (8.3%) (P = 0.002). Opioid-only users also reported lower prevalence of past-year depression (P < 0.001) and anxiety (P = 0.039). Pregnant drug-using women were often of low socioeconomic status, with mental health and substance use patterns suggesting the need for targeted mental health/substance use screening and interventions before and during pregnancy, particularly for opioid-polydrug users. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Notebook input devices put to the age test: the usability of trackpoint and touchpad for middle-aged adults.

PubMed

Armbrüster, C; Sutter, C; Ziefle, M

2007-03-01

In two experiments, the usability of input devices integrated into computer notebooks was under study. The most common input devices, touchpad (experiment 1) and trackpoint (experiment 2) were examined. So far, the evaluation of mobile input devices has been restricted to younger users. However, due to ongoing demographic change, the main target group of mobile devices will be older users. Therefore, the present study focused on ageing effects. A total of 14 middle-aged (40-65 years) and 20 younger (20-32 years) users were compared regarding speed and accuracy of cursor control in a point-click and a point-drag-drop task. Moreover, the effects of training were addressed by examining the performance increase over time. In total, 640 trials per task and input device were executed. The results show that ageing is a central factor to be considered in input device design. Middle-aged users were significantly slower than younger users when executing the different tasks. Over time, a significant training effect was observed for both devices and both age groups, although the benefit of training was greater for the middle-aged group. Generally, the touchpad performance was higher than the trackpoint performance in both age groups, but the age-related performance decrements were less distinct when using the touchpad.

[Adjustment processes of foreign exchange high school students in Japan].

PubMed

Nagai, S

1988-04-01

The main purpose of the present study was to excavate the adjustment problems of 93 high school exchange students in Japan. Questionnaires including Cornell Medical Index (CMI) were administered longitudinally. In addition, individual interviews were held with those who had failed to adjust to the Japanese society. As for the subjective psychosomatic symptoms manifested in CMI, there was no significant sex difference while Asians were successively found to be significantly more liable to diseases and less adjusted than non-Asians. The questionnaires other than CMI disclosed difficulties which exchange students found in adjusting at Japanese home, including delicate personal relationships with host siblings, apparent lack of affective gestures (hugs and kisses), and early curfew. In the meanwhile, language barrier and trifling rules constituted the primary difficulties they faced at host school. On account of prejudice against women, girls had more unpleasant experiences than boys. Through individual interviews, all of the early returners were found to have already had a basic problem in their home countries.

RNA splicing regulated by RBFOX1 is essential for cardiac function in zebrafish.

PubMed

Frese, Karen S; Meder, Benjamin; Keller, Andreas; Just, Steffen; Haas, Jan; Vogel, Britta; Fischer, Simon; Backes, Christina; Matzas, Mark; Köhler, Doreen; Benes, Vladimir; Katus, Hugo A; Rottbauer, Wolfgang

2015-08-15

Alternative splicing is one of the major mechanisms through which the proteomic and functional diversity of eukaryotes is achieved. However, the complex nature of the splicing machinery, its associated splicing regulators and the functional implications of alternatively spliced transcripts are only poorly understood. Here, we investigated the functional role of the splicing regulator rbfox1 in vivo using the zebrafish as a model system. We found that loss of rbfox1 led to progressive cardiac contractile dysfunction and heart failure. By using deep-transcriptome sequencing and quantitative real-time PCR, we show that depletion of rbfox1 in zebrafish results in an altered isoform expression of several crucial target genes, such as actn3a and hug. This study underlines that tightly regulated splicing is necessary for unconstrained cardiac function and renders the splicing regulator rbfox1 an interesting target for investigation in human heart failure and cardiomyopathy. © 2015. Published by The Company of Biologists Ltd.

A hospital-wide clinical findings dictionary based on an extension of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD).

PubMed

Bréant, C; Borst, F; Campi, D; Griesser, V; Momjian, S

1999-01-01

The use of a controlled vocabulary set in a hospital-wide clinical information system is of crucial importance for many departmental database systems to communicate and exchange information. In the absence of an internationally recognized clinical controlled vocabulary set, a new extension of the International statistical Classification of Diseases (ICD) is proposed. It expands the scope of the standard ICD beyond diagnosis and procedures to clinical terminology. In addition, the common Clinical Findings Dictionary (CFD) further records the definition of clinical entities. The construction of the vocabulary set and the CFD is incremental and manual. Tools have been implemented to facilitate the tasks of defining/maintaining/publishing dictionary versions. The design of database applications in the integrated clinical information system is driven by the CFD which is part of the Medical Questionnaire Designer tool. Several integrated clinical database applications in the field of diabetes and neuro-surgery have been developed at the HUG.

Impact of silver nanoparticles on benthic prokaryotes in heavy metal-contaminated estuarine sediments in a tropical environment.

PubMed

Antizar-Ladislao, B; Bhattacharya, B D; Ray Chaudhuri, S; Sarkar, S K

2015-10-15

Little knowledge is available about the potential impact of commercial silver nanoparticles (Ag-NPs) on estuarine microbial communities. The Hugli river estuary, India, is susceptible to heavy metals pollution through boat traffic, and there is the potential for Ag-NP exposure via effluent discharged from ongoing municipal and industrial activities located in close proximity. This study investigated the effects of commercial Ag-NPs on native microbial communities in estuarine sediments collected from five stations, using terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (T-RFLP) technique. An increase in the number of bacteria in consortium in sediments was observed following exposure to Ag-NPs. In general microbial communities may be resistant in estuarine systems to the antimicrobial effects of commercial Ag-NPs, but key microorganisms, such as Pelobacter propionicus, disappeared following exposure to Ag-NPs. In conclusion, the T-RFLP analysis indicated that Ag-NPs have the potential to shape estuarine sediment bacterial community structure. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A hospital-wide clinical findings dictionary based on an extension of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD).

PubMed Central

Bréant, C.; Borst, F.; Campi, D.; Griesser, V.; Momjian, S.

1999-01-01

The use of a controlled vocabulary set in a hospital-wide clinical information system is of crucial importance for many departmental database systems to communicate and exchange information. In the absence of an internationally recognized clinical controlled vocabulary set, a new extension of the International statistical Classification of Diseases (ICD) is proposed. It expands the scope of the standard ICD beyond diagnosis and procedures to clinical terminology. In addition, the common Clinical Findings Dictionary (CFD) further records the definition of clinical entities. The construction of the vocabulary set and the CFD is incremental and manual. Tools have been implemented to facilitate the tasks of defining/maintaining/publishing dictionary versions. The design of database applications in the integrated clinical information system is driven by the CFD which is part of the Medical Questionnaire Designer tool. Several integrated clinical database applications in the field of diabetes and neuro-surgery have been developed at the HUG. Images Figure 1 PMID:10566451

Volcanic lightning and plume behavior reveal evolving hazards during the April 2015 eruption of Calbuco Volcano, Chile

DOE PAGES

Van Eaton, Alexa R.; Behnke, Sonja Ann; Amigo, Alvaro; ...

2016-04-12

Soon after the onset of an eruption, model forecasts of ash dispersal are used to mitigate the hazards to aircraft, infrastructure, and communities downwind. However, it is a significant challenge to constrain the model inputs during an evolving eruption. Here we demonstrate that volcanic lightning may be used in tandem with satellite detection to recognize and quantify changes in eruption style and intensity. Using the eruption of Calbuco volcano in southern Chile on 22 and 23 April 2015, we investigate rates of umbrella cloud expansion from satellite observations, occurrence of lightning, and mapped characteristics of the fall deposits. Our remotemore » sensing analysis gives a total erupted volume that is within uncertainty of the mapped volume (0.56 ± 0.28 km3 bulk). Furthermore, observations and volcanic plume modeling further suggest that electrical activity was enhanced both by ice formation in the ash clouds >10 km above sea level and development of a low-level charge layer from ground-hugging currents.« less

Volcanic lightning and plume behavior reveal evolving hazards during the April 2015 eruption of Calbuco volcano, Chile

USGS Publications Warehouse

Van Eaton, Alexa; Amigo, Álvaro; Bertin, Daniel; Mastin, Larry G.; Giacosa, Raúl E; González, Jerónimo; Valderrama, Oscar; Fontijn, Karen; Behnke, Sonja A

2016-01-01

Soon after the onset of an eruption, model forecasts of ash dispersal are used to mitigate the hazards to aircraft, infrastructure and communities downwind. However, it is a significant challenge to constrain the model inputs during an evolving eruption. Here we demonstrate that volcanic lightning may be used in tandem with satellite detection to recognize and quantify changes in eruption style and intensity. Using the eruption of Calbuco volcano in southern Chile on 22-23 April 2015, we investigate rates of umbrella cloud expansion from satellite observations, occurrence of lightning, and mapped characteristics of the fall deposits. Our remote-sensing analysis gives a total erupted volume that is within uncertainty of the mapped volume (0.56 ±0.28 km3 bulk). Observations and volcanic plume modeling further suggest that electrical activity was enhanced both by ice formation in the ash clouds >10 km asl and development of a low-level charge layer from ground-hugging currents.

Volcanic lightning and plume behavior reveal evolving hazards during the April 2015 eruption of Calbuco Volcano, Chile

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

Van Eaton, Alexa R.; Behnke, Sonja Ann; Amigo, Alvaro

Soon after the onset of an eruption, model forecasts of ash dispersal are used to mitigate the hazards to aircraft, infrastructure, and communities downwind. However, it is a significant challenge to constrain the model inputs during an evolving eruption. Here we demonstrate that volcanic lightning may be used in tandem with satellite detection to recognize and quantify changes in eruption style and intensity. Using the eruption of Calbuco volcano in southern Chile on 22 and 23 April 2015, we investigate rates of umbrella cloud expansion from satellite observations, occurrence of lightning, and mapped characteristics of the fall deposits. Our remotemore » sensing analysis gives a total erupted volume that is within uncertainty of the mapped volume (0.56 ± 0.28 km3 bulk). Furthermore, observations and volcanic plume modeling further suggest that electrical activity was enhanced both by ice formation in the ash clouds >10 km above sea level and development of a low-level charge layer from ground-hugging currents.« less

Charming Users into Scripting CIAO with Python

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Burke, D. J.

2011-07-01

The Science Data Systems group of the Chandra X-ray Center provides a number of scripts and Python modules that extend the capabilities of CIAO. Experience in converting the existing scripts—written in a variety of languages such as bash, csh/tcsh, Perl and S-Lang—to Python, and conversations with users, led to the development of the ciao_contrib.runtool module. This allows users to easily run CIAO tools from Python scripts, and utilizes the metadata provided by the parameter-file system to create an API that provides the flexibility and safety guarantees of the command-line. The module is provided to the user community and is being used within our group to create new scripts.

Use Model for a User Centred Design in Multidisciplinary Teams.

PubMed

Clark, Colin; Michelle, Jess; Shahi, Sepideh; Stolarick, Kevin; Trevinarus, Jutta; Vanderheiden, Gregg; Vimarlund, Vivian

2017-01-01

The Use Model identifies user groups who will be using services and products the Prosperity4All infrastructure offers. The Model provides developers a tool to keep in mind the full diversity of users while building and designing the infrastructure.

Benefit of social media on patient engagement and satisfaction: Results of a 9-month, qualitative pilot study using Facebook.

PubMed

Dhar, Vikrom K; Kim, Young; Graff, Justin T; Jung, Andrew D; Garrett, Jennifer; Dick, Lauren E; Harris, Jenifer; Shah, Shimul A

2018-03-01

Despite the potential benefits of social media, health care providers are often hesitant to engage patients through these sites. Our aim was to explore how implementation of social media may affect patient engagement and satisfaction. In September 2016 a Facebook support group was created for liver transplant patients to use as a virtual community forum. Data including user demographics and group activity were reviewed. A survey was conducted evaluating users' perceptions regarding participation in the group. Over 9 months, 350 unique users (50% liver transplant patients, 36% caregivers/friends, 14% health care providers) contributed 339 posts, 2,338 comments, and 6,274 reactions to the group; 98% of posts were reacted to or commented on by other group members. Patients were the most active users compared with health care providers and caregivers. A total of 95% of survey respondents reported that joining the group had a positive impact on their care; and 97% reported that their main motivation for joining was to provide or receive support from other patients. This pilot study indicates that the integration of social media into clinical practice can empower surgeons to synthesize effectively a patient support community that augments patient engagement and satisfaction. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Oxygen uptake during peak graded exercise and single-stage fatigue tests of wheelchair propulsion in manual wheelchair users and the able-bodied.

PubMed

Keyser, R E; Rodgers, M M; Gardner, E R; Russell, P J

1999-10-01

To determine if a single-stage, submaximal fatigue test on a wheelchair ergometer would result in higher than expected energy expenditure. An experimental survey design contrasting physiologic responses during peak graded exercise tests and fatigue tests. A rehabilitation science laboratory that included a prototypical wheelchair ergometer, open-circuit spirometry system, and heart rate monitor. Nine able-bodied non-wheelchair users (the NWC group: 6 men and 3 women, mean +/- SD age 30 +/- 7yrs) and 15 manual wheelchair users (the WC group: 12 men and 3 women, age 40 +/- 9yrs, time in wheelchair 16 +/- 9yrs). No subject had any disease, medication regimen, or upper body neurologic, orthopedic, or other condition that would limit wheelchair exercise. Peak oxygen uptake (VO2) for graded exercise testing and during fatigue testing, using a power output corresponding to 75% peak aerobic capacity on graded exercise test. In the WC group, VO2 at 6 minutes of fatigue testing was not significantly different from peak VO2. In the NWC group, VO2 was similar to the expected level throughout fatigue testing. Energy expenditure was higher than expected in the WC group but not in the NWC group. Fatigue testing may provide a useful evaluation of cardiorespiratory status in manual wheelchair users.

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

PubMed

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

2016-01-01

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

Protocol for a qualitative study exploring perspectives on the INternational CLassification of Diseases (11th revision); Using lived experience to improve mental health Diagnosis in NHS England: INCLUDE study

PubMed Central

Hackmann, Corinna; Green, Amanda; Notley, Caitlin; Perkins, Amorette; Reed, Geoffrey M; Ridler, Joseph; Wilson, Jon; Shakespeare, Tom

2017-01-01

Introduction Developed in dialogue with WHO, this research aims to incorporate lived experience and views in the refinement of the International Classification of Diseases Mental and Behavioural Disorders 11th Revision (ICD-11). The validity and clinical utility of psychiatric diagnostic systems has been questioned by both service users and clinicians, as not all aspects reflect their lived experience or are user friendly. This is critical as evidence suggests that diagnosis can impact service user experience, identity, service use and outcomes. Feedback and recommendations from service users and clinicians should help minimise the potential for unintended negative consequences and improve the accuracy, validity and clinical utility of the ICD-11. Methods and analysis The name INCLUDE reflects the value of expertise by experience as all aspects of the proposed study are co-produced. Feedback on the planned criteria for the ICD-11 will be sought through focus groups with service users and clinicians. The data from these groups will be coded and inductively analysed using a thematic analysis approach. Findings from this will be used to form the basis of co-produced recommendations for the ICD-11. Two service user focus groups will be conducted for each of these diagnoses: Personality Disorder, Bipolar I Disorder, Schizophrenia, Depressive Disorder and Generalised Anxiety Disorder. There will be four focus groups with clinicians (psychiatrists, general practitioners and clinical psychologists). Ethics and dissemination This study has received ethical approval from the Coventry and Warwickshire HRA Research Ethics Committee (16/WM/0479). The output for the project will be recommendations that reflect the views and experiences of experts by experience (service users and clinicians). The findings will be disseminated via conferences and peer-reviewed publications. As the ICD is an international tool, the aim is for the methodology to be internationally disseminated for replication by other groups. Trial registration number ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT03131505. PMID:28871029

ShakeAlert Users Transition to the Production Prototype System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Strauss, J. A.; Vinci, M.; Steele, W. P.; Hellweg, M.; Allen, R. M.; DeGroot, R. M.

2016-12-01

The ShakeAlert Earthquake Early Warning system transitioned from the demonstration system into the fully-fledged production prototype system this year. Users were migrated over to the new system concurrent with the release of the ShakeAlert UserDisplay Version 2.5.0. The production prototype system provides robust connectivity, fail-over mechanisms to ensure that alarms are deliverd even if one connection fails, and provides a framework to connect future stations, participants, and other sources as the project expands to the full public system. We will present an overview of key user sectors that are either testing or launching pilot projects for the system within their organizations. We will outline the implementation of certain actions, and highlight accomplishments and challenges the Beta Users encounter in fully implementing ShakeAlert within their organizations. By better studying these issues, project partners can better assist the users in incorporating early warning in their operations. Opening up the system to allow for pilot projects enables ShakeAlert users to develop hardware, software, and policy solutions for actions in response to early warning alerts in a controlled environment. This is the first step on the path toward limited rollouts. The pilot groups leverage the expertise of our stakeholders to develop the `last mile' alert distribution and responses. The transition went smoothly in February 2015, for users in California, and we expect to connect with more beta users and pilot groups in this next phase. User transition is planned for Fall 2016 for users in the Pacific Northwest. Beta Users, such as municipalities, emergency response groups, and county officials, lifelines, schools, and private industry continue to meet with ShakeAlert partners to 1) further education and training on both benefits and limitations 2) strategize on implementation actions, such as opening fire house bay doors in response to an alarm, and 3) coordinate continued engagement as the system comes online with more Users and in more areas. The newly created Joint Committee on Communication, Education, and Outreach is aiding with the education and training aspect of the rollout.

The role of cues, self-efficacy, level of worry, and high-risk behaviors in college student condom use.

PubMed

Mahoney, C A

1995-01-01

A sample of 879 undergraduate students were recruited from a public university in western New York state during the 1993-94 academic year in order to study condom use among sexually active young people 18-24 years old. A 104-item questionnaire was administered consisting of 5 instruments and single-item measures of sexual behavior and demographics. The instruments were: the Condom Use Self-Efficacy Scale (CUSES), the Perceived Barriers to Condom Use, the Perceived Susceptibility to HIV/AIDS and other STDs, the Cues to Condom Action Scale, and the Perceived Norms scale. 92% of students reported having had sexual intercourse in the past, while 86.75 reported having sexual intercourse in the previous year. About 61% reported having 1 sex partner in the previous 12 months, whereas 35.2% reported having 3 or more partners. 22.4% reported 2 or more 1-night stands. 54.5% reported worrying about HIV/AIDS occasionally, while 23.1% reported doing so frequently. 17.2% (99) of the students were classified as non-users of condoms, 50.2% (289) as sporadic users, and 32.6% (188) as consistent users. 78 (12%) could not be classified. A multiple discriminant function analysis was also conducted to distinguish among the 3 condom user groups totalling 576 cases. The variables were age, gender, frequency of drunkenness during sexual intercourse, number of sex partners, and number of 1-night stands in the past 12 months, perceived barriers, worrying about HIV/AIDS, perceived susceptibility, condom use self-efficacy, and cues to condom action. Two significant functions emerged. Function 1 clearly separated the sporadic users from the consistent users (p 0.001), while Function 2 clearly separated the sporadic users from the non-users (p 0.001). The discriminating variables correctly classified 64.58% of the respondents into the 3 condom user groups. The variables were most effective at correctly classifying non-users (68.7%), consistent users (67.8%), and sporadic users (61.2%). Sporadic users were more diverse with respect to condom use than the other 2 groups.

Drug users in contact with general practice.

PubMed

Robertson, J R

1985-01-05

A group of heroin users who are in contact with a general practice in north west Edinburgh are described. The study group was younger and included more women than previous studies. These people used a large variety of drugs and mainly purchased them locally. Frequent and often prolonged abstinent periods occurred with no prescribed opiate treatment. The group had experienced a high rate of drug related medical disorders. All these points raise the possibility that opiate users who are known to general practitioners may be a distinctly different population from those who attend drug dependency clinics. The frequency of remission and the prevalence of polydrug use have profound implications for planning and evaluating an effective medical response.

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

PubMed

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

2018-02-07

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

Assessing the effect of physical activity classes in public spaces on leisure-time physical activity: "Al Ritmo de las Comunidades" A natural experiment in Bogota, Colombia.

PubMed

Torres, Andrea; Díaz, María Paula; Hayat, Matthew J; Lyn, Rodney; Pratt, Michael; Salvo, Deborah; Sarmiento, Olga L

2017-10-01

The Recreovia program provides free physical activity (PA) classes in public spaces in Bogota, Colombia. The purpose of this study was to assess the effectiveness of the Recreovia program in increasing PA among users of nine parks in Bogota. This study was a natural experiment conducted between 2013 and 2015 in Bogota. Community members and park users living nearby three groups of parks were compared: Group 1 were parks implementing new Recreovias (n=3), Group 2 were control parks (n=3) without Recreovias, and Group 3 were parks with existing Recreovías. Individuals in the "intervention" group were exposed to newly implemented Recreovia programs in parks near their homes. Measurements were collected at baseline and 6-8months after the intervention started. A total of 1533 participants were enrolled in the study: 501 for the existing Recreovias (included in a cross-sectional assessment) and 1032 participants (from the new Recreovias and control parks) included in the cross-sectional and pre-post study. Most participants were low income females. Twenty-three percent of the intervention group started participating in the program. Users of existing Recreovias were significantly more active and less likely to be overweight/obese compared to new Recreovia users at baseline. No changes on PA were found when comparing the intervention and control groups. Recreovias may have potential for increasing PA at the population level in urban areas given their rapid scalability, the higher levels of PA observed among program users, and its potential to reach women, low-income, less educated populations, and the overweight and obese. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Comparison of effectiveness and time-efficiency between multimedia and conventional counselling on metered-dose inhaler technique education.

PubMed

King, Teck Long; Kho, Evelyn Kui Yee; Tiong, Yiek Hung; Julaihi, Siti Norhajariah Binti

2015-02-01

This study aimed to evaluate whether multimedia counselling (MC) using a touchscreen computer is as effective and time-efficient as conventional counselling (CC) in promoting correct metered-dose inhaler (MDI) technique, with or without the valved holding chamber (VHC). Participants in the MDI-only and MDI-with-VHC groups were randomly assigned to the MC group or CC group. No blinding was imposed. Inhalation technique was assessed using checklists before and after counselling. Time spent on counselling was determined for all participants, while time taken to perfect the technique was determined only for participants who achieved perfect technique within one hour. The CC group had more elderly participants than the MC group, but the difference was not significant. MDI-only and MDI-with-VHC users showed significant improvement in their inhaler technique after multimedia (44.5 ± 28.0% and 44.1 ± 14.4%, respectively) and conventional counselling (36.8 ± 20.5% and 37.0 ± 14.6%, respectively). No significant difference in MDI technique enhancement was found between the two groups. Although no significant difference was found between the MC and CC groups with regard to the time spent on counselling and the time taken to perfect the technique, the average time spent on counselling was longer for MDI-only users. MDI-only users had 13.5 times the odds of failing to achieve perfect technique compared to MDI-with-VHC users (95% confidence interval 1.50-121.32, p = 0.020). MC and CC significantly improved MDI technique. Both methods showed comparable short-term effectiveness and time-efficiency in MDI technique education. VHC was beneficial, especially for MDI-users with hand-lung coordination problems.

Capturing Public Opinion on Public Health Topics: A Comparison of Experiences from a Systematic Review, Focus Group Study, and Analysis of Online, User-Generated Content.

PubMed

Giles, Emma Louise; Adams, Jean M

2015-01-01

Capturing public opinion toward public health topics is important to ensure that services, policy, and research are aligned with the beliefs and priorities of the general public. A number of approaches can be used to capture public opinion. We are conducting a program of work on the effectiveness and acceptability of health promoting financial incentive interventions. We have captured public opinion on financial incentive interventions using three methods: a systematic review, focus group study, and analysis of online user-generated comments to news media reports. In this short editorial-style piece, we compare and contrast our experiences with these three methods. Each of these methods had their advantages and disadvantages. Advantages include tailoring of the research question for systematic reviews, probing of answers during focus groups, and the ability to aggregate a large data set using online user-generated content. However, disadvantages include needing to update systematic reviews, participants conforming to a dominant perspective in focus groups, and being unable to collect respondent characteristics during analysis of user-generated online content. That said, analysis of user-generated online content offers additional time and resource advantages, and we found it elicited similar findings to those obtained via more traditional methods, such as systematic reviews and focus groups. A number of methods for capturing public opinions on public health topics are available. Public health researchers, policy makers, and practitioners should choose methods appropriate to their aims. Analysis of user-generated online content, especially in the context of news media reports, may be a quicker and cheaper alternative to more traditional methods, without compromising on the breadth of opinions captured.

Upper limb joint motion of two different user groups during manual wheelchair propulsion

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

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

2013-02-01

Manual wheelchair users have a high risk of injury to the upper extremities. Recent studies have focused on kinematic and kinetic analyses of manual wheelchair propulsion in order to understand the physical demands on wheelchair users. The purpose of this study was to investigate upper limb joint motion by using a motion capture system and a dynamometer with two different groups of wheelchair users propelling their wheelchairs at different speeds under different load conditions. The variations in the contact time, release time, and linear velocity of the experienced group were all larger than they were in the novice group. The propulsion angles of the experienced users were larger than those of the novices under all conditions. The variances in the propulsion force (both radial and tangential) of the experienced users were larger than those of the novices. The shoulder joint moment had the largest variance with the conditions, followed by the wrist joint moment and the elbow joint moment. The variance of the maximum shoulder joint moment was over four times the variance of the maximum wrist joint moment and eight times the maximum elbow joint moment. The maximum joint moments increased significantly as the speed and load increased in both groups. Quick and significant manipulation ability based on environmental changes is considered an important factor in efficient propulsion. This efficiency was confirmed from the propulsion power results. Sophisticated strategies for efficient manual wheelchair propulsion could be understood by observation of the physical responses of each upper limb joint to changes in load and speed. We expect that the findings of this study will be utilized for designing a rehabilitation program to reduce injuries.

The CORALIE study: improving patient education to help new users better understand their oral contraceptive.

PubMed

de Reilhac, Pia; Plu-Bureau, Geneviève; Serfaty, David; Letombe, Brigitte; Gondry, Jean; Christin-Maitre, Sophie

2016-10-01

Combined oral contraceptives (COCs) are the most widely used contraceptive method in Europe. Paradoxically, rates of unintended pregnancy and abortion are still remarkably high. A lack of knowledge about COCs is often reported to lead to poor adherence, suggesting an unmet need for adequate contraceptive counselling. Our objective was to investigate the impact on the knowledge level of users of a structured approach to deliver contraceptive information for a first COC prescription. The Oral Contraception Project to Optimise Patient Information (CORALIE) is a multicentre, prospective, randomised study conducted in France between March 2009 and January 2013. The intervention involved providing either an 'essential information' checklist or unstructured counselling to new COC users. The outcome measure was a questionnaire that assessed whether the information provided to the new user by the gynaecologist had been correctly understood. One hundred gynaecologists and an expert committee used the Delphi method to develop an 'essential information' checklist, after which 161 gynaecologists were randomised to two groups. Group I (n = 81) used the checklist with 324 new COC users and group II (n = 80) delivered unstructured information to 307 new COC users. The average score for understanding the information delivered during the visit was significantly higher in women in group I than in the women in group II, even after adjustment for age and previous history of pregnancy: 16.48/20 vs 14.27/20 (p < 0.0001). Delivering structured information for a first COC prescription is beneficial for understanding contraception. Our tool could ultimately contribute to increased adherence and should be investigated in a prospective study of long-term outcomes.

Comparison of bimodal and bilateral cochlear implant users on speech recognition with competing talker, music perception, affective prosody discrimination, and talker identification.

PubMed

Cullington, Helen E; Zeng, Fan-Gang

2011-02-01

Despite excellent performance in speech recognition in quiet, most cochlear implant users have great difficulty with speech recognition in noise, music perception, identifying tone of voice, and discriminating different talkers. This may be partly due to the pitch coding in cochlear implant speech processing. Most current speech processing strategies use only the envelope information; the temporal fine structure is discarded. One way to improve electric pitch perception is to use residual acoustic hearing via a hearing aid on the nonimplanted ear (bimodal hearing). This study aimed to test the hypothesis that bimodal users would perform better than bilateral cochlear implant users on tasks requiring good pitch perception. Four pitch-related tasks were used. 1. Hearing in Noise Test (HINT) sentences spoken by a male talker with a competing female, male, or child talker. 2. Montreal Battery of Evaluation of Amusia. This is a music test with six subtests examining pitch, rhythm and timing perception, and musical memory. 3. Aprosodia Battery. This has five subtests evaluating aspects of affective prosody and recognition of sarcasm. 4. Talker identification using vowels spoken by 10 different talkers (three men, three women, two boys, and two girls). Bilateral cochlear implant users were chosen as the comparison group. Thirteen bimodal and 13 bilateral adult cochlear implant users were recruited; all had good speech perception in quiet. There were no significant differences between the mean scores of the bimodal and bilateral groups on any of the tests, although the bimodal group did perform better than the bilateral group on almost all tests. Performance on the different pitch-related tasks was not correlated, meaning that if a subject performed one task well they would not necessarily perform well on another. The correlation between the bimodal users' hearing threshold levels in the aided ear and their performance on these tasks was weak. Although the bimodal cochlear implant group performed better than the bilateral group on most parts of the four pitch-related tests, the differences were not statistically significant. The lack of correlation between test results shows that the tasks used are not simply providing a measure of pitch ability. Even if the bimodal users have better pitch perception, the real-world tasks used are reflecting more diverse skills than pitch. This research adds to the existing speech perception, language, and localization studies that show no significant difference between bimodal and bilateral cochlear implant users.

Farm and personal characteristics of the clientele of a community-based animal-health service programme in northern Malawi.

PubMed

Hüttner, K; Leidl, K; Pfeiffer, D U; Jere, F B; Kasambara, D

2001-05-01

The social background, farm characteristics, indicators of income and self-evaluation returns of 96 randomly selected users of a Basic Animal Health Service (BAHS) programme in northern Malawi were compared with those of 96 matched past-users and 96 non-users, respectively. All 288 farms were visited between July and October 1997. Data analysis was performed using univariate and multivariate techniques. The results showed that, on average, BAHS users had larger cattle herds (16.3) than part-users (14.7) or non-users (12.4). Similarly, the annual yields of crops were higher for users compared to either of the other groups. Users occupied better houses and owned a larger number of farm and household items than did part-users or non-users. A third of all farmers were engaged in additional income generation to lessen the risk of poverty. However, analysis of the livestock management and the educational background of the farmers suggested that usage of the BAHS programme was not only determined by already existing 'wealth'. Improved livestock husbandry and management measures, which do not require capital investment, were more frequently applied by users compared to either of the other groups. Non-users and part-users had attained a lower level of education, were less open towards improved farming methods and felt less knowledgeable than BAHS users. The average straight-line distances from farms using BAHS to their respective village animal health worker (2.2 km) or veterinary assistant (2.9 km) were similar but varied according to ecological zone. Intensified extension and awareness meetings in villages will be required to get more non-users involved in BAHS.

Improving mental health service users' with medical co-morbidity transition between tertiary medical hospital and primary care services: a qualitative study.

PubMed

Cranwell, Kate; Polacsek, Meg; McCann, Terence V

2016-07-26

Mental health service users have high rates of medical co-morbidity but frequently experience problems accessing and transitioning between tertiary medical and primary care services. The aim of this study was to identify ways to improve service users' with medical co-morbidity care and experience during their transition between tertiary medical hospitals and primary care services. Experience-based co-design (EBCD) qualitative study incorporating a focus group discussion. The study took place in a large tertiary medical service, incorporating three medical hospitals, and primary care services, in Melbourne, Australia. A purposive sample of service users and their caregivers and tertiary medical and primary care clinicians participated in the focus group discussion, in August 2014. A semi-structured interview guide was used to inform data collection. A thematic analysis of the data was undertaken. Thirteen participants took part in the focus group interview, comprising 5 service users, 2 caregivers and 6 clinicians. Five themes were abstracted from the data, illustrating participants' perspectives about factors that facilitated (clinicians' expertise, engagement and accessibility enhancing transition) and presented as barriers (improving access pathways; enhancing communication and continuity of care; improving clinicians' attitudes; and increasing caregiver participation) to service users' progress through tertiary medical and primary care services. A sixth theme, enhancing service users' transition, incorporated three strategies to enhance their transition through tertiary medical and primary care services. EBCD is a useful approach to collaboratively develop strategies to improve service users' with medical co-morbidity and their caregivers' transition between tertiary medical and primary care services. A whole-of-service approach, incorporating policy development and implementation, change of practice philosophy, professional development education and support for clinicians, and acceptance of the need for caregiver participation, is required to improve service users' transition.

Shared decision-making for psychiatric medication: A mixed-methods evaluation of a UK training programme for service users and clinicians.

PubMed

Ramon, Shulamit; Morant, Nicola; Stead, Ute; Perry, Ben

2017-12-01

Shared decision making (SDM) is recognised as a promising strategy to enhance good collaboration between clinicians and service users, yet it is not practised regularly in mental health. Develop and evaluate a novel training programme to enhance SDM in psychiatric medication management for service users, psychiatrists and care co-ordinators. The training programme design was informed by existing literature and local stakeholders consultations. Parallel group-based training programmes on SDM process were delivered to community mental health service users and providers. Evaluation consisted of quantitative measures at baseline and 12-month follow-up, post-programme participant feedback and qualitative interviews. Training was provided to 47 service users, 35 care-coordinators and 12 psychiatrists. Participant feedback was generally positive. Statistically significant changes in service users' decisional conflict and perceptions of practitioners' interactional style in promoting SDM occurred at the follow-up. Qualitative data suggested positive impacts on service users' and care co-ordinators confidence to explore medication experience, and group-based training was valued. The programme was generally acceptable to service users and practitioners. This indicates the value of conducting a larger study and exploring application for non-medical decisions.

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

PubMed

Pledger, Megan; Martin, Greg; Cumming, Jacqueline

2016-04-22

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

Incidence of tinnitus in mp3 player users.

PubMed

Figueiredo, Ricardo Rodrigues; Azevedo, Andreia Aparecida de; Oliveira, Patrícia Mello de; Amorim, Sandro Pereira Vasconcellos; Rios, Artur Guedes; Baptista, Vanderlei

2011-06-01

Exposure to loud noise is one of the main causes of tinnitus. To analyze the incidence of tinnitus in mp3 player users and non-users. One hundred subjects aged from 15 to 30 years were enrolled, 54 of them were regular mp3 player users and 46 were not. Patients with continuous tinnitus for at least 6 months completed the Tinnitus Handicap Inventory (THI) and were tested with high frequency audiometry and transient-evoked otoacoustic emissions (TAOE). A cross-sectional cohort study. The incidence of tinnitus in non-users was about 8 %; in mp3 player users it was about 28 %, a statistically significant difference. Hearing thresholds at 8 kHz were significantly higher in tinnitus patients that used mp3 portable players.TAOE were reduced at 2 kHz in the users group. No statistically significant difference was found in the THI scores between the two groups. Tinnitus was more frequent in teenagers and young adults who regularly listen to mp3 music in players. Moreover, the incidence of tinnitus among mp3 player users was associated with higher hearing thresholds at 8 kHz and lower TOAE at 2 kHz.

Salivary buffer capacity, pH, and stimulated flow rate of crack cocaine users.

PubMed

Woyceichoski, Iverson Ernani Cogo; Costa, Carlos Henrique; de Araújo, Cristiano Miranda; Brancher, João Armando; Resende, Luciane Grochocki; Vieira, Iran; de Lima, Antonio Adilson Soares

2013-08-01

Crack cocaine is the freebase form of cocaine that can be smoked. The use of this drug has been considered a public health problem in many countries. The aim of this study was to assess the stimulated salivary flow rate (SSFR), pH, and the buffer capacity of saliva in crack cocaine users. Stimulated whole saliva was collected from 54 selected crack cocaine users and 40 non-users. All samples were analyzed for SSFR, pH, and buffer capacity. SSFR was analyzed by gravimetric method. The buffer capacity and pH were determined using a digital pH meter. The crack cocaine users demonstrated higher buffer capacity than the control group (P > 0.05). Salivary pH was lower in crack cocaine users (P < 0.05). Mean values of the SSFR for the experimental and control groups were 1.1 and 1.3 mL/min, respectively (P > 0.05). Crack cocaine users might exhibit a significant decrease in salivary pH, but not in salivary flow rate or buffer capacity. © 2012 Blackwell Publishing Asia Pty Ltd.

FACTORS RELATED TO ORAL CANDIDIASIS IN ELDERLY USERS AND NON-USERS OF REMOVABLE DENTAL PROSTHESES.

PubMed

Bianchi, Cyra Maria Pires de Carvalho; Bianchi, Hélcio Aparecido; Tadano, Tomoko; Paula, Claudete Rodrigues de; Hoffmann-Santos, Hugo Dias; Leite, Diniz Pereira; Hahn, Rosane Christine

2016-01-01

This study examined the association between oral candidiasis in elderly users and nonusers of prosthesis and its predisposing factors. To this end, we performed a cross-sectional study where saliva samples from 48 patients were collected they used prosthesis and 43 patients (control group) who did not use. Among the 91 patients, Candida spp were isolated in 40 (83.3%) who used prosthesis and in 23 (53.5%) in the control group. A statistically significant association was determined between the two groups, the isolation of yeasts and dental prosthesis (p < 0.05, OR = 4.3). The most common etiological agent was Candida albicans (37 isolates), with 23 (62.2%) in the denture group and 14 (37.8%) (control group). Among patients who presented clinical manifestations of oral candidiasis (n = 24), 83.3% (n = 20) belonged to the group that wore dentures, while only 16.7% (n = 4) belonged to the control group. Elderly patients with diabetes had 4.4 times higher estimated risk of developing oral candidiasis when compared with individuals without this condition. There was no statistically significant association between being user prostheses and have diabetes with the onset of candidiasis. No statistically significant association was determined between xerostomia, use of prosthesis and oral candidiasis. The use of prosthetics and poor oral hygiene in elderly patients predisposes to the development of oral candidiasis.

FACTORS RELATED TO ORAL CANDIDIASIS IN ELDERLY USERS AND NON-USERS OF REMOVABLE DENTAL PROSTHESES

PubMed Central

BIANCHI, Cyra Maria Pires de Carvalho; BIANCHI, Hélcio Aparecido; TADANO, Tomoko; de PAULA, Claudete Rodrigues; HOFFMANN-SANTOS, Hugo Dias; LEITE, Diniz Pereira; HAHN, Rosane Christine

2016-01-01

This study examined the association between oral candidiasis in elderly users and nonusers of prosthesis and its predisposing factors. To this end, we performed a cross-sectional study where saliva samples from 48 patients were collected they used prosthesis and 43 patients (control group) who did not use. Among the 91 patients, Candida spp were isolated in 40 (83.3%) who used prosthesis and in 23 (53.5%) in the control group. A statistically significant association was determined between the two groups, the isolation of yeasts and dental prosthesis (p < 0.05, OR = 4.3). The most common etiological agent was Candida albicans (37 isolates), with 23 (62.2%) in the denture group and 14 (37.8%) (control group). Among patients who presented clinical manifestations of oral candidiasis (n = 24), 83.3% (n = 20) belonged to the group that wore dentures, while only 16.7% (n = 4) belonged to the control group. Elderly patients with diabetes had 4.4 times higher estimated risk of developing oral candidiasis when compared with individuals without this condition. There was no statistically significant association between being user prostheses and have diabetes with the onset of candidiasis. No statistically significant association was determined between xerostomia, use of prosthesis and oral candidiasis. The use of prosthetics and poor oral hygiene in elderly patients predisposes to the development of oral candidiasis. PMID:27007560

Addiction, agency, and the politics of self-control: doing harm reduction in a heroin users' group.

PubMed

Gowan, Teresa; Whetstone, Sarah; Andic, Tanja

2012-04-01

Our 2007-2009 ethnography describes and analyses the practice of harm reduction in a heroin users' group in the midwestern United States. While dominant addiction interventions conceptualize the addict as powerless - either through moral or physical weakness - this group contested such "commonsense," treating illicit drug use as one of many ways that modern individuals attempt to "fill the void." Insisting on the destigmatization of addiction and the normalization of illicit drug use, the group helped its members work on incremental steps toward self-management. Although "Connection Points" had very limited resources to improve the lives of its members, our work suggests that the users' group did much to restore self-respect, rational subjectivity, and autonomy to a group historically represented as incapable of reason and self-control. As the users cohered as a community, they developed a critique of the oppressions suffered by "junkies," discussed their rights and entitlements, and even planned the occasional political action. Engaging with literature on the cultural construction of agency and responsibility, we consider, but ultimately complicate, the conceptualization of needle exchange as a "neoliberal" form of population management. Within the context of the United States' War on Drugs, the group's work on destigmatization, health education, and the practice of incremental control showed the potential for reassertions of social citizenship within highly marginal spaces. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Impact of Demographic Characteristics on Awareness and Usage of Support Groups.

PubMed

Coleman, Linda Jane; Shah, Nehal; Jain, Sanjay

2015-01-01

There are support groups established for one's emotional and/or physical health; as a result, marketing has appeared in regards to the needs, benefits, and hesitations regarding these groups. This study addresses several types of individuals and situations that lend themselves to using support groups. The authors conducted a study designed to examine demographic characteristics as they relate to a person's decision to go to support groups for health conditions. Looking at the demographics of users and the types of support groups, the authors discuss diverse opportunities for support groups and their organizations to promote communication, improve marketing strategies, and create influential users.

Mediating the Cognitive Walkthrough with Patient Groups to achieve Personalized Health in Chronic Disease Self-Management System Evaluation.

PubMed

Georgsson, Mattias; Kushniruk, Andre

2016-01-01

The cognitive walkthrough (CW) is a task-based, expert inspection usability evaluation method involving benefits such as cost effectiveness and efficiency. A drawback of the method is that it doesn't involve the user perspective from real users but instead is based on experts' predictions about the usability of the system and how users interact. In this paper, we propose a way of involving the user in an expert evaluation method by modifying the CW with patient groups as mediators. This along with other modifications include a dual domain session facilitator, specific patient groups and three different phases: 1) a preparation phase where suitable tasks are developed by a panel of experts and patients, validated through the content validity index 2) a patient user evaluation phase including an individual and collaborative process part 3) an analysis and coding phase where all data is digitalized and synthesized making use of Qualitative Data Analysis Software (QDAS) to determine usability deficiencies. We predict that this way of evaluating will utilize the benefits of the expert methods, also providing a way of including the patient user of these self-management systems. Results from this prospective study should provide evidence of the usefulness of this method modification.

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

PubMed

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

2017-02-01

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

Oral tongue squamous cell carcinoma (OTSCC): alcohol and tobacco consumption versus non-consumption. A study in a Portuguese population.

PubMed

Albuquerque, Rui; López-López, José; Marí-Roig, Antonio; Jané-Salas, Enric; Roselló-Llabrés, Xavier; Santos, Jorge Rosa

2011-01-01

There has been an increase in the incidence of carcinoma of the tongue, particularly among alcohol and tobacco non-users. However, the number of studies that would allow a better understanding of etiological factors and clinical features, particularly in the Portuguese population, is very limited. This study was based on patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the anterior two thirds of the tongue that were treated at the Department of Head and Neck Surgery of the "Instituto Portugues de Oncologia de Lisboa - Francisco Gentil" (IPOLFG) in Lisbon, Portugal, between January 1, 2001 and December 31, 2009. The patients were divided in alcohol and tobacco users and non-users in order to evaluate the differences between these 2 groups based on gender, age, tumor location, denture use, and tumor size, metastasis and stage. Of the 354 cases, 208 were users and 146 were non-users. The main location in both groups was the lateral border of the tongue. Denture use showed no significant effect in both study groups. It was possible to conclude that patients who did not drink or smoke were older and presented with smaller tumor size, lower incidence of ganglion metastasis and lower tumor stage compared with alcohol and tobacco users.

gLExec: gluing grid computing to the Unix world

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Groep, D.; Koeroo, O.; Venekamp, G.

2008-07-01

The majority of compute resources in todays scientific grids are based on Unix and Unix-like operating systems. In this world, user and user-group management are based around the concepts of a numeric 'user ID' and 'group ID' that are local to the resource. In contrast, grid concepts of user and group management are centered around globally assigned identifiers and VO membership, structures that are independent of any specific resource. At the fabric boundary, these 'grid identities' have to be translated to Unix user IDs. New job submission methodologies, such as job-execution web services, community-deployed local schedulers, and the late binding of user jobs in a grid-wide overlay network of 'pilot jobs', push this fabric boundary ever further down into the resource. gLExec, a light-weight (and thereby auditable) credential mapping and authorization system, addresses these issues. It can be run both on fabric boundary, as part of an execution web service, and on the worker node in a late-binding scenario. In this contribution we describe the rationale for gLExec, how it interacts with the site authorization and credential mapping frameworks such as LCAS, LCMAPS and GUMS, and how it can be used to improve site control and traceability in a pilot-job system.

Updating of working memory in ecstasy polydrug users: Findings from fNIRS.

PubMed

Montgomery, Catharine; Fisk, John E; Roberts, Carl A

2017-05-01

Cognitive deficits are now well documented in ecstasy (MDMA) users with type and relative demand of task emerging as important factors. The updating component of executive processes appears to be particularly affected. The study reported here used functional near infrared spectroscopy imaging to investigate changes in cortical haemodynamics during memory updating. Twenty ecstasy users and 20 non-users completed verbal and spatial memory updating tasks and brain blood oxygenation and deoxygenation change was measured using functional near infrared spectroscopy. There was no interaction between group and difficulty on the updating tasks, though there was a significant main effect of difficulty on both tasks. The effects of group approached significance on the verbal updating task. There were significant differences in blood oxygenation and deoxygenation change at optodes centred over the right and left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, with ecstasy users showing greater blood oxygenation than the other groups. The lack of a behavioural difference on both tasks but presence of blood oxygenation and deoxygenation changes in letter updating provides support for the notion that ecstasy-polydrug users are investing more effort to achieve the same behavioural output. Total lifetime dose was high, and recency of use was significantly related to most changes, suggesting that heavy and recent use may be particularly detrimental. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Adolescent tobacco use practices and user profiles in a mature Swedish moist snuff (snus) market: Results from a school-based cross-sectional study.

PubMed

Lund, Ingeborg; Scheffels, Janne

2016-06-23

The aim of this work was to study the diversity of tobacco use among Norwegian adolescent tobacco users and to investigate how different user groups compared with each other in terms of lifestyle and risk correlates. Swedish moist snuff (snus) use has increased dramatically in Norway over the last few years and is now more prevalent than smoking in younger age groups. The participants were 736 15-year-old tobacco users obtained from a large school-based cross-sectional survey (response rate 73%). Leisure time activity and risk behaviour factors were extracted by principal components analysis. Associations between tobacco use, leisure activities, risk behaviours, alcohol use and sex were studied bivariately and by logistic regression. In total, 41.5% of the tobacco users were dual users (smokers and snus users). Problem behaviour and risk-taking lifestyles were associated with tobacco use frequency and high-frequency dual use, with a low risk profile for all types of occasional users (snus, cigarettes or dual users), a medium risk profile for all types of daily single-product users, including those who occasionally used the other product (i.e. dual users) and a high-risk profile for those who used both products daily (daily dual users). FRAGMENTED USE PATTERNS IN ADOLESCENCE UNDERMINE THE DICHOTOMY OFTEN APPLIED BETWEEN SMOKERS AND SNUS USERS FOR ASSOCIATIONS WITH LIFESTYLE AND RISK CORRELATES, USE FREQUENCY AND HIGH-FREQUENCY DUAL USE SEEM TO BE MORE IMPORTANT THAN THE CHOICE OF PRODUCT. © 2016 the Nordic Societies of Public Health.

Chronic cocaine but not chronic amphetamine use is associated with perseverative responding in humans

PubMed Central

Roiser, Jonathan P.; Robbins, Trevor W.; Sahakian, Barbara J.

2013-01-01

Rationale Chronic drug use has been associated with increased impulsivity and maladaptive behaviour, but the underlying mechanisms of this impairment remain unclear. We investigated the ability to adapt behaviour according to changes in reward contingencies, using a probabilistic reversal-learning task, in chronic drug users and controls. Materials and methods Five groups were compared: chronic amphetamine users (n = 30); chronic cocaine users (n = 27); chronic opiate users (n = 42); former drug users of psychostimulants and opiates (n = 26); and healthy non-drug-taking control volunteers (n = 25). Participants had to make a forced choice between two alternative stimuli on each trial to acquire a stimulus–reward association on the basis of degraded feedback and subsequently to reverse their responses when the reward contingencies changed. Results Chronic cocaine users demonstrated little behavioural change in response to the change in reward contingencies, as reflected by perseverative responding to the previously rewarded stimulus. Perseverative responding was observed in cocaine users regardless of whether they completed the reversal stage successfully. Task performance in chronic users of amphetamines and opiates, as well as in former drug users, was not measurably impaired. Conclusion Our findings provide convincing evidence for response perseveration in cocaine users during probabilistic reversal-learning. Pharmacological differences between amphetamine and cocaine, in particular their respective effects on the 5-HT system, may account for the divergent task performance between the two psychostimulant user groups. The inability to reverse responses according to changes in reinforcement contingencies may underlie the maladaptive behaviour patterns observed in chronic cocaine users but not in chronic users of amphetamines or opiates. PMID:18214445

Evaluation of a Serious Self-Regulation Game Intervention for Overweight-Related Behaviors ("Balance It"): A Pilot Study.

PubMed

Spook, Jorinde; Paulussen, Theo; Kok, Gerjo; van Empelen, Pepijn

2016-09-26

Serious games have the potential to promote health behavior. Because overweight is still a major issue among secondary vocational education students in the Netherlands, this study piloted the effects of "Balance It," a serious self-regulation game intervention targeting students' overweight-related behaviors: dietary intake and physical activity (PA). We aimed to pilot the effects of Balance It on secondary vocational education students' dietary intake and PA. In total, 501 secondary vocational education students participated at baseline (intervention: n=250; control: n=251) in this pre-post cluster randomized trial. After 4 weeks, at immediate posttest, 231 students filled in the posttest questionnaire (intervention: n=105; control: n=126). The sample had a mean age of 17.28 (SD 1.26, range 15-21) years, 62.8% (145/231) were female, and 26.8% (62/231) had a non-Dutch background. Body mass index (BMI kg/m 2 ) ranged from 14.4 to 31.1 (mean 21.1, SD 3.3). The intervention and control groups were compared on the primary (behavioral) outcomes of dietary intake (fruit and vegetable consumption, snack consumption, and soft drink consumption) and PA (moderate and vigorous). Additionally, we explored (1) differences between the intervention and control groups in determinants of dietary intake and PA, including attitude, self-efficacy, intention, barrier identification, action planning, and action control, and (2) differences between active (intervention) users and the control group in dietary intake, PA, and associated determinants. After corrections for multiple testing, we did not find significant differences between the intervention group and control group in terms of dietary intake, PA, and determinants of dietary intake and PA. Exploratory research indicated that only 27.6% (29/105) of the intervention group reported actual intervention use (ie, active users). For exploratory reasons, we compared the active users (n=29) with the control group (n=124) and corrected for multiple testing. Results showed that active users' snack consumption decreased more strongly (active users: mean change=-0.20; control group: mean change=-0.08; beta=-0.36, P=.01, R 2 change=.05), and their use of active transport had a stronger increase (active users: mean change=0.92; control group=-0.12; beta=1.58, P=.02, R 2 change=.03) than the control group. Results also revealed significant differences in action planning (active users: mean change=0.42; control group: mean change=0.07; beta=0.91, P=.01, R 2 change=.04) and action control (active users: mean change=0.63; control group: mean change=-0.05; beta=1.25, P=.001, R 2 change=.08) in terms of unhealthy eating. The Balance It intervention did not show favorable effects on dietary intake and PA compared to the control condition. However, only a small number of people in the intervention condition actually used Balance It (27.6%). Exploratory analyses did suggest that, if used as planned, Balance It could contribute to changing dietary intake and PA behaviors, albeit it remains debatable whether this would be sufficient to prevent overweight.

Analysis Tools (AT)

Treesearch

Larry J. Gangi

2006-01-01

The FIREMON Analysis Tools program is designed to let the user perform grouped or ungrouped summary calculations of single measurement plot data, or statistical comparisons of grouped or ungrouped plot data taken at different sampling periods. The program allows the user to create reports and graphs, save and print them, or cut and paste them into a word processor....

Social Benefits of a Tangible User Interface for Children with Autistic Spectrum Conditions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Farr, William; Yuill, Nicola; Raffle, Hayes

2010-01-01

Tangible user interfaces (TUIs) embed computer technology in graspable objects. This study assessed the potential of Topobo, a construction toy with programmable movement, to support social interaction in children with Autistic Spectrum Conditions (ASC). Groups of either typically developing (TD) children or those with ASC had group play sessions…

Delivering Health Information via Podcast or Web: Media Effects on Psychosocial and Physiological Responses

PubMed Central

Turner-McGrievy, Gabrielle; Kalyanaraman, Sri; Campbell, Marci K.

2016-01-01

This study explored differences in psychosocial and physiological variables in response to being presented with information on weight loss through either reading text on a website or listening to the same information via podcast. Participants were randomized to receive a weight loss website (n = 20) or podcast (n = 20). Participants had skin conductance levels measured and completed questionnaire items assessing demographic characteristics, user control, novelty, and knowledge. Participants in the podcast group exhibited greater levels of physiological arousal and reported the intervention to be more novel than those in the Web group; however, the Web group reported greater user control. There was no difference in knowledge between the groups. This study presents the first step in examining the role that novelty and user control may play in two different weight-loss electronic media, as well as differences in knowledge acquisition. Future research should explore adding additional media features, such as video content, to the podcasts and websites in order to optimize fully the different mediums and to examine whether user control and novelty are potential mediators of weight loss outcomes. PMID:22420785

Clinical evaluation of long-term users of two contact lens care preservative systems.

PubMed

Young, Graeme; Keir, Nancy; Hunt, Chris; Woods, Craig A

2009-03-01

To clinically evaluate long-term users of two different contact lens care preservative systems and to investigate whether prolonged use is associated with an increase in the prevalence of dry eye. Eighty-nine wearers of group IV hydrogel or silicone hydrogel lenses participated in this one-visit, investigator-masked study. Subjects were required to have consistently used a polyhexamethylene biguanide (PHMB) or polyquaternium-1 (PQT) based solution for 2 years. Consistent use was defined as 80% for the past 2 years and 100% for the past year. Clinical assessments included: average and comfortable wear time; overall and end-of-day comfort; signs of dryness, discomfort, burning or stinging, grittiness or scratchiness and visual changes; non-invasive and fluorescein break-up-time; pre-ocular tear film lipids, tear meniscus height, Schirmer and fluorescein clearance tests; limbal and bulbar hyperemia; palpebral roughness; corneal and conjunctival staining; lens front surface wetting; and lens film deposits. Significantly more grittiness or scratchiness was reported by subjects using a PHMB-containing system (67% vs. 44%; P = 0.02). Palpebral roughness and hyperemia were significantly greater in the PHMB group wearing group IV lenses (P = 0.01 and P = 0.05, respectively). Corneal staining was significantly higher in the PHMB users in all four peripheral sectors (P < 0.01). Nasal and temporal conjunctival staining was also significantly higher for users of PHMB-containing systems (P < 0.05). Front surface lens wettability was significantly better for group IV PQT users compared to PHMB users (P = 0.008), with 84% vs. 72%, respectively, with lenses graded by the investigator as having "good" or "excellent" wettability. Significantly higher levels of lens front surface film deposits were noted with PHMB users (P = 0.007), with 58% of group IV lenses treated with PHMB compared with 38% of group IV lenses treated with PQT showing some lens front surface film deposition. No significant differences between the two preservative system groups were noted for the range of dry eye evaluations nor the remaining clinical assessments. Differences in both ocular and lens characteristic were observed between long-term users of two preservative systems used in many contact lens multi-purpose solutions. The findings from this study did not support the hypothesis that prolonged use of PHMB-containing solutions leads to dry eye. Additional studies including a larger sample size and perhaps longer use of the systems could help to further elucidate differences in clinical performance between systems.

Implicit motive profile of treatment-seeking opiate users: high affiliation and low achievement.

PubMed

Bársonya, Katalin; Martos, Tamás; Ehmann, Bea; Balázs, Hedvig; Demetrovics, Zsolt

2013-01-01

Research on basic human motives (achievement, affiliation, and power) encoded at the emotional level recently returned to the forefront of scientific research. To date, there are only a few studies on the pattern of implicit motives of substance users, so the present study examined opiate users participating in methadone maintenance treatment (N = 80) along these dimensions, comparing them to 40 non-substance users. Participants were asked to create stories on the basis of the pictures of the Thematic Apperception Test. The stories were analyzed using the content analysis method of David Winter (1991). Like other substance user groups, opiate-dependent persons used less achievement and more affiliation notions in creating stories, while there was no significant difference between the two groups concerning power notions. The results proved to be independent of the presence of anxiety and depression symptoms, despite substance users reporting higher levels of these, and suggest that motivational factors are worth considering in treatment planning.

Musical FAVORS: Reintroducing music to adult cochlear implant users.

PubMed

Plant, Geoff

2015-09-01

Music represents a considerable challenge for many adult users of cochlear implants (CIs). Around half of adult CI users report that they do not find music enjoyable, and, in some cases, despite enhanced speech perception skills, this leads to considerable frustration and disappointment for the CI user. This paper presents suggestions to improve the musical experiences of deafened adults with CIs. Interviews with a number of adult CI users revealed that there were a number of factors which could lead to enhanced music experiences. The acronym FAVORS (familiar music, auditory-visual access, open-mindedness, and simple arrangements) summarizes the factors that have been identified, which can help CI users in their early music listening experiences. Each of these factors is discussed in detail, along with suggestions for how they can be used in therapy sessions. The use of a group approach (music focus groups) is also discussed and an overview of the approach and exercises used is presented. The importance of live music experiences is also discussed.

Differences between patients' and clinicians' research priorities from the Anaesthesia and Peri-operative Care Priority Setting Partnership.

PubMed

Boney, O; Nathanson, M H; Grocott, M P W; Metcalf, L

2017-09-01

The James Lind Alliance Anaesthesia and Peri-operative Care Priority Setting Partnership was a recent collaborative venture bringing approximately 2000 patients, carers and clinicians together to agree priorities for future research into anaesthesia and critical care. This secondary analysis compares the research priorities of 303 service users, 1068 clinicians and 325 clinicians with experience as service users. All three groups prioritised research to improve patient safety. Service users prioritised research about improving patient experience, whereas clinicians prioritised research about clinical effectiveness. Clinicians who had experience as service users consistently prioritised research more like clinicians than like service users. Individual research questions about patient experience were more popular with patients and carers than with clinicians in all but one case. We conclude that patients, carers and clinicians prioritise research questions differently. All groups prioritise research into patient safety, but service users also favour research into patient experience, whereas clinicians favour research into clinical effectiveness. © 2017 The Association of Anaesthetists of Great Britain and Ireland.

Simplicity, safety, and acceptability of insulin pen use versus the conventional vial/syringe device in patients with type 1 and type 2 diabetes mellitus in Lebanon

PubMed Central

Ramadan, Wijdan H; Khreis, Noura A; Kabbara, Wissam K

2015-01-01

Background The aim of the study was to evaluate the simplicity, safety, patients’ preference, and convenience of the administration of insulin using the pen device versus the conventional vial/syringe in patients with diabetes. Methods This observational study was conducted in multiple community pharmacies in Lebanon. The investigators interviewed patients with diabetes using an insulin pen or conventional vial/syringe. A total of 74 questionnaires were filled over a period of 6 months. Answers were entered into the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) software and Excel spreadsheet. t-test, logistic regression analysis, and correlation analysis were used in order to analyze the results. Results A higher percentage of patients from the insulin pen users group (95.2%) found the method easy to use as compared to only 46.7% of the insulin conventional users group (P 0.001, relative risk [RR]: 2.041, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.178–3.535). Moreover, 61.9% and 26.7% of pen users and conventional users, respectively, could read the scale easily (P 0.037, RR 2.321, 95% CI: 0.940–5.731), while 85.7% of pen users found it more convenient shifting to pen and 86.7% of the conventional users would want to shift to pen if it had the same cost. Pain perception was statistically different between the groups. A much higher percentage (76.2%) of pen users showed no pain during injection compared to only 26.7% of conventional users (P 0.003, RR 2.857, 95% CI: 1.194–6.838). Conclusion The insulin pen was significantly much easier to use and less painful than the conventional vial/syringe. Proper education on the methods of administration/storage and disposal of needles/syringes is needed in both groups. PMID:25848231

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

PubMed Central

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

2007-01-01

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

Brand equity and willingness to pay for condoms in zimbabwe

PubMed Central

2011-01-01

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

A Secure and Efficient Communications Architecture for Global Information Grid Users Via Cooperating Space Assets

DTIC Science & Technology

2008-06-19

ground troop component of a deployed contingency, and not a stationary infrastructure. With respect to fast- moving vehicles and aircraft, troops...the rapidly- moving user. In fact, the Control Group users could have been randomly assigned the Stationary , Sea, or 134 Ground Mobility Category...additional re-keying on the non- stationary users, just as they induce no re-keying on the Stationary users (assuming those fast- moving aircraft have the

Using Rapid Prototyping to Design a Smoking Cessation Website with End-Users.

PubMed

Ronquillo, Charlene; Currie, Leanne; Rowsell, Derek; Phillips, J Craig

2016-01-01

Rapid prototyping is an iterative approach to design involving cycles of prototype building, review by end-users and refinement, and can be a valuable tool in user-centered website design. Informed by various user-centered approaches, we used rapid prototyping as a tool to collaborate with users in building a peer-support focused smoking-cessation website for gay men living with HIV. Rapid prototyping was effective in eliciting feedback on the needs of this group of potential end-users from a smoking cessation website.

Biospecimen User Fees: Global Feedback on a Calculator Tool.

PubMed

Matzke, Lise A M; Babinszky, Sindy; Slotty, Alex; Meredith, Anna; Castillo-Pelayo, Tania; Henderson, Marianne K; Simeon-Dubach, Daniel; Schacter, Brent; Watson, Peter H

2017-02-01

The notion of attributing user fees to researchers for biospecimens provided by biobanks has been discussed frequently in the literature. However, the considerations around how to attribute the cost for these biospecimens and data have, until recently, not been well described. Common across most biobank disciplines are similar factors that influence user fees such as capital and operating costs, internal and external demand, and market competition. A biospecimen user fee calculator tool developed by CTRNet, a tumor biobank network, was published in 2014 and is accessible online at www.biobanking.org . The next year a survey was launched that tested the applicability of this user fee tool among a global health research biobank user base, including both cancer and noncancer biobanking. Participants were first asked to estimate user fee pricing for three hypothetical user scenarios based on their biobanking experience (estimated pricing) and then to calculate fees for the same scenarios using the calculator tool (calculated pricing). Results demonstrated variation in estimated pricing that was reduced by calculated pricing. These results are similar to those found in a similar previous study restricted to a group of Canadian tumor biobanks. We conclude that the use of a biospecimen user fee calculator contributes to reduced variation of user fees and for biobank groups (e.g., biobank networks), could become an important part of a harmonization strategy.

Well-being, problematic alcohol consumption and acute subjective drug effects in past-year ayahuasca users: a large, international, self-selecting online survey.

PubMed

Lawn, Will; Hallak, Jaime E; Crippa, Jose A; Dos Santos, Rafael; Porffy, Lilla; Barratt, Monica J; Ferris, Jason A; Winstock, Adam R; Morgan, Celia J A

2017-11-09

Ayahuasca is a natural psychedelic brew, which contains dimethyltryptamine (DMT). Its potential as a psychiatric medicine has recently been demonstrated and its non-medical use around the world appears to be growing. We aimed to investigate well-being and problematic alcohol use in ayahuasca users, and ayahuasca's subjective effects. An online, self-selecting, global survey examining patterns of drug use was conducted in 2015 and 2016 (n = 96,901). Questions were asked about: use of ayahuasca, lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) and magic mushrooms; demographics, current well-being and past-year problematic alcohol use of past-year ayahuasca users and comparison drug users; and subjective effects of ayahuasca and comparison drugs. Ayahuasca users (n = 527) reported greater well-being than both classic psychedelic users (n = 18,138) and non-psychedelic drug-using respondents (n = 78,236). Ayahuasca users reported less problematic drinking than classic psychedelic users, although both groups reported greater problematic drinking than the other respondents. Ayahuasca's acute subjective effects usually lasted for six hours and were most strongly felt one hour after consumption. Within our online, self-selecting survey, ayahuasca users reported better well-being than comparison groups and less problematic drinking than classic psychedelic users. Future longitudinal studies of international samples and randomised controlled trials are needed to dissect the effects of ayahuasca on these outcomes.

Relation between cannabis use and subcortical volumes in people at clinical high risk of psychosis.

PubMed

Buchy, Lisa; Mathalon, Daniel H; Cannon, Tyrone D; Cadenhead, Kristin S; Cornblatt, Barbara A; McGlashan, Thomas H; Perkins, Diana O; Seidman, Larry J; Tsuang, Ming T; Walker, Elaine F; Woods, Scott W; Bearden, Carrie E; Addington, Jean

2016-08-30

Among people at genetic risk of schizophrenia, those who use cannabis show smaller thalamic and hippocampal volumes. We evaluated this relationship in people at clinical high risk (CHR) of psychosis. The Alcohol and Drug Use Scale was used to identify 132 CHR cannabis users, the majority of whom were non-dependent cannabis users, 387 CHR non-users, and 204 healthy control non-users, and all participants completed magnetic resonance imaging scans. Volumes of the thalamus, hippocampus and amygdala were extracted with FreeSurfer, and compared across groups. Comparing all CHR participants with healthy control participants revealed no significant differences in volumes of any ROI. However, when comparing CHR users to CHR non-users, a significant ROI×Cannabis group effect emerged: CHR users showed significantly smaller amygdala compared to CHR non-users. However, when limiting analysis to CHR subjects who reported using alcohol at a 'use without impairment' severity level, the amygdala effect was non-significant; rather, smaller hippocampal volumes were seen in CHR cannabis users compared to non-users. Controlling statistically for effects of alcohol and tobacco use rendered all results non-significant. These results highlight the importance of controlling for residual confounding effects of other substance use when examining the relationship between cannabis use and neural structure. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Biospecimen User Fees: Global Feedback on a Calculator Tool

PubMed Central

Babinszky, Sindy; Slotty, Alex; Meredith, Anna; Castillo-Pelayo, Tania; Henderson, Marianne K.; Simeon-Dubach, Daniel; Schacter, Brent; Watson, Peter H.

2017-01-01

The notion of attributing user fees to researchers for biospecimens provided by biobanks has been discussed frequently in the literature. However, the considerations around how to attribute the cost for these biospecimens and data have, until recently, not been well described. Common across most biobank disciplines are similar factors that influence user fees such as capital and operating costs, internal and external demand, and market competition. A biospecimen user fee calculator tool developed by CTRNet, a tumor biobank network, was published in 2014 and is accessible online at www.biobanking.org. The next year a survey was launched that tested the applicability of this user fee tool among a global health research biobank user base, including both cancer and noncancer biobanking. Participants were first asked to estimate user fee pricing for three hypothetical user scenarios based on their biobanking experience (estimated pricing) and then to calculate fees for the same scenarios using the calculator tool (calculated pricing). Results demonstrated variation in estimated pricing that was reduced by calculated pricing. These results are similar to those found in a similar previous study restricted to a group of Canadian tumor biobanks. We conclude that the use of a biospecimen user fee calculator contributes to reduced variation of user fees and for biobank groups (e.g., biobank networks), could become an important part of a harmonization strategy. PMID:27576065

User Interface Technology Transfer to NASA's Virtual Wind Tunnel System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

vanDam, Andries

1998-01-01

Funded by NASA grants for four years, the Brown Computer Graphics Group has developed novel 3D user interfaces for desktop and immersive scientific visualization applications. This past grant period supported the design and development of a software library, the 3D Widget Library, which supports the construction and run-time management of 3D widgets. The 3D Widget Library is a mechanism for transferring user interface technology from the Brown Graphics Group to the Virtual Wind Tunnel system at NASA Ames as well as the public domain.

Oral health assessment for users of marijuana and cocaine/crack substances.

PubMed

Sordi, Mariane Beatriz; Massochin, Rachel Captzan; Camargo, Alessandra Rodrigues de; Lemos, Tadeu; Munhoz, Etiene de Andrade

2017-12-18

The objective of this study was to assess the oral health status of users of illicit drugs such as marijuana and cocaine/crack and compare it with individuals not using these chemical substances. Questionnaires were applied to 35 illicit drugs users to gather information on demographic status, general health, and use of drugs. Then, a clinical assessment of the oral health condition was performed to collect data on decayed, missing and filled teeth (DMFT) index, salivary flow rate (SFR), and mucosal lesions. The control group was composed of 35 non-illicit drug users. In the experimental group, 91.43% were males, 80% were smokers, and 42.85% were alcoholics. Cocaine was the most common drug used (77.15%), followed by marijuana (68.6%), and crack (51.4%). The average DMFT index was 9.8 and the SFR was reduced in 60% of subjects. Mucosal alterations were detected, but no potentially malignant disorders or oral cancer were diagnosed. Compared to control group, significantly higher values for gender (40%, p = 0.0001), smoking (22.86%) and heavy drinking (5.7%) habits (p = 0.0001), SFR (31.4%; p = 0.0308), and oral lesions (p = 0.0488) were found for the experimental group, although significantly higher values were found in the control group for DMFT index (p = 0.0148). It can be concluded that the use of illicit drugs contributed to an increased prevalence of oral mucosa lesions. In addition, a decline on SFR and a reduced DMFT index was observed for illicit drug users.

Estimation and comparison of salivary immunoglobulin A levels in tobacco chewers, tobacco smokers and normal subjects.

PubMed

Doni, Bharati R; Patil, Santosh; Peerapur, Basavaraj V; Kadaganchi, Harish; Bhat, Kishore G

2013-06-01

To estimate the salivary immunoglobulin A (IgA) levels in tobacco chewers, tobacco smokers and normal subjects and to compare the salivary IgA levels among tobacco chewers and tobacco smokers. The study group consisted of 80 subjects (tobacco users), 40 tobacco chewers and 40 tobacco smokers. Unstimulated whole saliva was collected from all tobacco users and 40 healthy age- and gender-matched non-tobacco users as control group. The study and control groups were divided into four subgroups based on age range. Salivary IgA levels were estimated by single radial immunodiffusion assay (SRID). All data were analysed using statistical software and to compare the results in three groups, single-factor analysis of variance was applied. The mean salivary IgA level in control group was 16.76 ± 1.37 mg/dl (SD); in tobacco chewers it was 7.89 ± 0.61 mg/dl (SD) and in tobacco smokers it was 6.55 ± 0.99 mg/dl (SD). The salivary IgA levels were decreased in tobacco chewers and tobacco smokers compared with the controls. Among the tobacco users, tobacco smokers had much reduced salivary IgA levels compared to tobacco chewers. All of these results were highly significant (P<0.001). The present study showed that tobacco chewers and tobacco smokers had decreased salivary IgA levels and among tobacco users, tobacco smokers had much reduced salivary IgA levels compared to tobacco chewers in unstimulated whole saliva.

Attitudes and Acceptance of Oral and Parenteral HIV Preexposure Prophylaxis among Potential User Groups: A Multinational Study

PubMed Central

Gomez, Gabriela B.; Garnett, Geoffrey P.; Dybul, Mark R.; Piot, Peter K.

2012-01-01

Background The use of antiviral medications by HIV negative people to prevent acquisition of HIV or pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) has shown promising results in recent trials. To understand the potential impact of PrEP for HIV prevention, in addition to efficacy data, we need to understand both the acceptability of PrEP among members of potential user groups and the factors likely to determine uptake. Methods and findings Surveys of willingness to use PrEP products were conducted with 1,790 members of potential user groups (FSWs, MSM, IDUs, SDCs and young women) in seven countries: Peru, Ukraine, India, Kenya, Botswana, Uganda and South Africa. Analyses of variance were used to assess levels of acceptance across different user groups and countries. Conjoint analysis was used to examine the attitudes and preferences towards hypothetical and known attributes of PrEP programs and medications. Overall, members of potential user groups were willing to consider taking PrEP (61% reported that they would definitely use PrEP). Current results demonstrate that key user groups in different countries perceived PrEP as giving them new possibilities in their lives and would consider using it as soon as it becomes available. These results were maintained when subjects were reminded of potential side effects, the need to combine condom use with PrEP, and for regular HIV testing. Across populations, route of administration was considered the most important attribute of the presented alternatives. Conclusions Despite multiple conceivable barriers, there was a general willingness to adopt PrEP in key populations, which suggests that if efficacious and affordable, it could be a useful tool in HIV prevention. There would be a willingness to experience inconvenience and expense at the levels included in the survey. The results suggest that delivery in a long lasting injection would be a good target in drug development. PMID:22247757

Interactive On-Line Conferences.

DTIC Science & Technology

1984-12-01

equipment and greater communication bandwidth than voice, and studies by Chapanis[16] suggest that the - usefulness of video in helping a group solve a...time conferences were conducted using RTCAL, in groups of up to four users at a time. (Because all participants’ "workstations" run on the same time...interfacds. 20 ABSTRACT (Continue on reverse side if neceseery and Identify by block number) 1 A real-time conference allows a group of users, each at his

Globus Nexus: A Platform-as-a-Service Provider of Research Identity, Profile, and Group Management.

PubMed

Chard, Kyle; Lidman, Mattias; McCollam, Brendan; Bryan, Josh; Ananthakrishnan, Rachana; Tuecke, Steven; Foster, Ian

2016-03-01

Globus Nexus is a professionally hosted Platform-as-a-Service that provides identity, profile and group management functionality for the research community. Many collaborative e-Science applications need to manage large numbers of user identities, profiles, and groups. However, developing and maintaining such capabilities is often challenging given the complexity of modern security protocols and requirements for scalable, robust, and highly available implementations. By outsourcing this functionality to Globus Nexus, developers can leverage best-practice implementations without incurring development and operations overhead. Users benefit from enhanced capabilities such as identity federation, flexible profile management, and user-oriented group management. In this paper we present Globus Nexus, describe its capabilities and architecture, summarize how several e-Science applications leverage these capabilities, and present results that characterize its scalability, reliability, and availability.

Globus Nexus: A Platform-as-a-Service provider of research identity, profile, and group management

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

Chard, Kyle; Lidman, Mattias; McCollam, Brendan

Globus Nexus is a professionally hosted Platform-as-a-Service that provides identity, profile and group management functionality for the research community. Many collaborative e-Science applications need to manage large numbers of user identities, profiles, and groups. However, developing and maintaining such capabilities is often challenging given the complexity of modern security protocols and requirements for scalable, robust, and highly available implementations. By outsourcing this functionality to Globus Nexus, developers can leverage best-practice implementations without incurring development and operations overhead. Users benefit from enhanced capabilities such as identity federation, flexible profile management, and user-oriented group management. In this paper we present Globus Nexus,more » describe its capabilities and architecture, summarize how several e-Science applications leverage these capabilities, and present results that characterize its scalability, reliability, and availability.« less

Information Retention and Overload in First-Time Hearing Aid Users: An Interactive Multimedia Educational Solution.

PubMed

Ferguson, Melanie; Brandreth, Marian; Brassington, William; Wharrad, Heather

2015-09-01

An educational intervention to improve knowledge of hearing aids and communication in first-time hearing aid users was assessed. This intervention was based on the concept of reusable learning objects (RLOs). A randomized controlled trial was conducted. One group received the educational intervention, and the other acted as a control group. RLOs were delivered online and through DVD for television and personal computer. Knowledge of both practical and psychosocial aspects of hearing aids and communication was assessed using a free-recall method 6 weeks postfitting. Knowledge of both practical and psychosocial issues was significantly higher in the group that received the RLOs than in the control group. Moderate to large effect sizes indicated that these differences were clinically significant. An educational intervention that supplements clinical practice results in improved knowledge in first-time hearing aid users.

Globus Nexus: A Platform-as-a-Service Provider of Research Identity, Profile, and Group Management

PubMed Central

Lidman, Mattias; McCollam, Brendan; Bryan, Josh; Ananthakrishnan, Rachana; Tuecke, Steven; Foster, Ian

2015-01-01

Globus Nexus is a professionally hosted Platform-as-a-Service that provides identity, profile and group management functionality for the research community. Many collaborative e-Science applications need to manage large numbers of user identities, profiles, and groups. However, developing and maintaining such capabilities is often challenging given the complexity of modern security protocols and requirements for scalable, robust, and highly available implementations. By outsourcing this functionality to Globus Nexus, developers can leverage best-practice implementations without incurring development and operations overhead. Users benefit from enhanced capabilities such as identity federation, flexible profile management, and user-oriented group management. In this paper we present Globus Nexus, describe its capabilities and architecture, summarize how several e-Science applications leverage these capabilities, and present results that characterize its scalability, reliability, and availability. PMID:26688598

Effects of hormonal contraceptives on mental rotation and verbal fluency.

PubMed

Griksiene, Ramune; Ruksenas, Osvaldas

2011-09-01

Cognitive abilities, such as verbal fluency and mental rotation, are most sensitive to changes in sex steroids but poorly studied in the context of hormonal contraceptive usage. Therefore, we investigated the performance of mental rotation and verbal fluency in young (21.5±1.8 years) healthy oral contraceptive (OC) users (23 women) and non-users (20 women) during the follicular, ovulatory and luteal phases of the menstrual cycle. Salivary 17β-estradiol, progesterone and testosterone levels were assayed to evaluate hormonal differences between groups and the phases of the menstrual cycle. To assess the effects of progestins having androgenic/anti-androgenic properties, OC users were subdivided into the third and new generation OC users. In addition, positive and negative affects as factors possibly affecting cognitive performance were evaluated. Salivary 17β-estradiol and progesterone levels were significantly lower in hormonal contraception users. Level of salivary testosterone was slightly lower in the OC users group with significant difference only during ovulatory phase. Naturally cycling women performed better on verbal fluency task as compared to OC users. Subjects who used the third generation (androgenic) OCs generated significantly fewer words as compared to new generation (anti-androgenic) OC users and non-users. The third generation OC users demonstrated significantly longer RT in MRT task as compared to non-users. The MRT, verbal fluency and mood parameters did not depend on the phase of menstrual cycle. The parameters of the PANAS (Positive and Negative Affect Schedule) scales did not differ between OC users and non-users. Our findings show that hormonal contraception has an impact on verbal and spatial abilities. Different performances between users of oral contraceptives with androgenic and anti-androgenic properties suggest an essential role for the progestins contained in OCs on cognitive performance. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

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

PubMed

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

2017-09-20

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

Psychosocial functioning among regular cannabis users with and without cannabis use disorder.

PubMed

Foster, Katherine T; Arterberry, Brooke J; Iacono, William G; McGue, Matt; Hicks, Brian M

2017-11-27

In the United States, cannabis accessibility has continued to rise as the perception of its harmfulness has decreased. Only about 30% of regular cannabis users develop cannabis use disorder (CUD), but it is unclear if individuals who use cannabis regularly without ever developing CUD experience notable psychosocial impairment across the lifespan. Therefore, psychosocial functioning was compared across regular cannabis users with or without CUD and a non-user control group during adolescence (age 17; early risk) and young adulthood (ages 18-25; peak CUD prevalence). Weekly cannabis users with CUD (n = 311), weekly users without CUD (n = 111), and non-users (n = 996) were identified in the Minnesota Twin Family Study. Groups were compared on alcohol and illicit drug use, psychiatric problems, personality, and social functioning at age 17 and from ages 18 to 25. Self-reported cannabis use and problem use were independently verified using co-twin informant report. In both adolescence and young adulthood, non-CUD users reported significantly higher levels of substance use problems and externalizing behaviors than non-users, but lower levels than CUD users. High agreement between self- and co-twin informant reports confirmed the validity of self-reported cannabis use problems. Even in the absence of CUD, regular cannabis use was associated with psychosocial impairment in adolescence and young adulthood. However, regular users with CUD endorsed especially high psychiatric comorbidity and psychosocial impairment. The need for early prevention and intervention - regardless of CUD status - was highlighted by the presence of these patterns in adolescence.

Proceedings of the Second Annual NASA Science Internet User Working Group Conference

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Jackson, Lenore A. (Editor); Gary, J. Patrick (Editor)

1991-01-01

Copies of the agenda, list of attendees, meeting summaries, and all presentations and exhibit material are contained. Included are plenary sessions, exhibits of advanced networking applications, and user subgroup meetings on NASA Science Internet policy, networking, security, and user services and applications topics.

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.

EarthScope's Education, Outreach, and Communications: Using Social Media from Continental to Global Scales

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bohon, W.; Frus, R.; Arrowsmith, R.; Fouch, M. J.; Garnero, E. J.; Semken, S. C.; Taylor, W. L.

2011-12-01

Social media has emerged as a popular and effective form of communication among all age groups, with nearly half of Internet users belonging to a social network or using another form of social media on a regular basis. This phenomenon creates an excellent opportunity for earth science organizations to use the wide reach, functionality and informal environment of social media platforms to disseminate important scientific information, create brand recognition, and establish trust with users. Further, social media systems can be utilized for missions of education, outreach, and communicating important timely information (e.g., news agencies are common users). They are eminently scaleable (thus serving from a few to millions of users with no cost and no performance problem), searchable (people are turning to them more frequently as conduits for information), and user friendly (thanks to the massive resources poured into the underlying technology and design, these systems are easy to use and have been widely adopted). They can be used, therefore, to engage the public interactively with the EarthScope facilities, experiments, and discoveries, and continue the cycle of discussions, experiments, analysis and conclusions that typify scientific advancement. The EarthScope National Office (ESNO) is launching an effort to utilize social media to broaden its impact as a conduit between scientists, facilities, educators, and the public. The ESNO will use the opportunities that social media affords to offer high quality science content in a variety of formats that appeal to social media users of various age groups, including blogs (popular with users 18-29), Facebook and Twitter updates (popular with users ages 18-50), email updates (popular with older adults), and video clips (popular with all age groups). We will monitor the number of "fans" and "friends" on social media and networking pages in order to gauge the increase in the percentage of the user population visiting the site. We will also use existing tools available on social media sites to track the relationships between users who visit or "friend" the site to determine how knowledge of the site is transferred amongst various social, educational or geographic groups. Finally, we will use this information to iteratively improve the variety of content and media on the site to increase our user pool, improve EarthScope recognition, and provide appropriate and user-specific Earth science information, especially for time sensitive events of wide interest such as natural disasters.

Prescriptive contraceptive use among isotretinoin users in the Netherlands in comparison with non-users: a drug utilisation study.

PubMed

Crijns, Hubertina J M J; van Rein, Nienke; Gispen-de Wied, Christine C; Straus, Sabine M; de Jong-van den Berg, Lolkje T W

2012-10-01

To assess the compliance with the isotretinoin Pregnancy Prevention Programme (PPP) by evaluating the use of prescribed contraceptives among isotretinoin users. The PPP contains a requirement for the use of contraceptive methods for women of childbearing potential. A drug utilisation study was performed using data from a drug prescription database (containing Dutch community pharmacy data) covering a population of 500 000 patients. Contraceptive use in female isotretinoin users and in a reference group of female non-isotretinoin users (aged 15-49 years) was compared using data from 1999 until 2006 in 2-year periods. Descriptive statistics were used. Of the female isotretinoin users (n = 651), 52%-54% filled prescriptions on contraceptives in strict accordance to the PPP, used before, during, and after discontinuation of isotretinoin, compared with 39%-46% in the reference group. A more liberal approach of a minimum of one prescription for a contraceptive method showed 61%-64% use of contraceptives among isotretinoin users. Similar patterns were seen when data were broken down in age groups. Furthermore, a higher proportion of female patients using isotretinoin prescribed by general practitioners used prescribed contraceptives compared with those receiving isotretinoin by specialists. Compliance with the contraceptive use according to a PPP for a teratogenic drug such as isotretinoin is 52%-64%, which is lower than anticipated. Reasons for the low compliance will need to be clarified before further measures can be taken. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

User Evaluation of Neonatology Ward Design.

PubMed

Trujillo, Juan Luis Higuera; Aviñó, Antoni Montañana I; Millán, Carmen Llinares

2017-01-01

The object of this article is to identify the set of affective and emotional factors behind users' assessments of a space in a neonatology unit and to propose design guidelines based on these. The importance of the neonatology service and the variety of users place great demands on the space at all levels. Despite the repercussions, the emotional aspects of the environment have received less attention. To avoid incurring limitations in the user mental scheme, this study uses two complementary methodologies: focus group and semantic differential. The (qualitative) focus group methodology provides exploratory information and concepts. The (quantitative) semantic differential methodology then uses these concepts to extract the conceptual structures that users employ in their assessment of the space. Of the total 175 subjects, 31 took part in focus groups and 144 in semantic differential. Five independent concepts were identified: privacy, functionality and professional nature, spaciousness, lighting, and cleanliness. In relation to the importance of the overall positive assessment of the space, the perception of privacy and sensations of dominance and pleasure are fundamental. Six relevant design aspects were also identified: provide spacious surroundings, facilitate sufficient separation between the different posts or cots, use different colors from those usually found in health-care centers, as some aversion was found to white and especially green, design areas with childhood themes, use warm artificial light, and choose user-friendly equipment. Results provide design recommendations of interest and show the possibilities offered by combining both systems to analyze user response.

The Sixth Omega Laser Facility Users Group Workshop

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

Petrasso, R. D.

A capacity gathering of over 100 researchers from 25 universities and laboratories met at the Laboratory for Laser Energetics (LLE) for the Sixth Omega Laser Facility Users Group (OLUG) workshop. The purpose of the 2.5-day workshop was to facilitate communications and exchanges among individual OMEGA users, and between users and the LLE management; to present ongoing and proposed research; to encourage research opportunities and collaborations that could be undertaken at the Omega Laser Facility and in a complementary fashion at other facilities [such as the National Ignition Facility (NIF) or the Laboratoire pour l’Utilisation des Lasers Intenses (LULI)]; to providemore » an opportunity for students, postdoctoral fellows, and young researchers to present their research in an informal setting; and to provide feedback from the users to LLE management about ways to improve and keep the facility and future experimental campaigns at the cutting edge.« less

The Fifth Omega Laser Facility Users Group Workshop

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

Petrasso, R. D.

A capacity gathering of over 100 researchers from 25 universities and laboratories met at the Laboratory for Laser Energetics (LLE) for the Fifth Omega Laser Facility Users Group (OLUG) workshop. The purpose of the 2.5-day workshop was to facilitate communications and exchanges among individual Omega users and between users and the LLE management; to present ongoing and proposed research; to encourage research opportunities and collaborations that could be undertaken at the Omega Laser Facility and in a complementary fashion at other facilities [such as the National Ignition Facility (NIF) or the Laboratoire pour l’Utilisation des Lasers Intenses (LULI)]; to providemore » an opportunity for students, postdoctoral fellows, and young researchers to present their research in an informal setting; and to provide feedback to LLE management from the users about ways to improve the facility and future experimental campaigns.« less

Lesson 6: Registration

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Lesson 6 provides CROMERR checklist items grouped under the Registration Process, where users establish their accounts in the system. This process typically requires users to provide information about them.

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

PubMed

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

2017-05-18

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

Seeking Support on Facebook: A Content Analysis of Breast Cancer Groups

PubMed Central

Jimenez-Marroquin, Maria-Carolina; Jadad, Alejandro R

2011-01-01

Background Social network sites have been growing in popularity across broad segments of Internet users, and are a convenient means to exchange information and support. Research on their use for health-related purposes is limited. Objective This study aimed to characterize the purpose, use, and creators of Facebook groups related to breast cancer. Methods We searched Facebook (www.Facebook.com) using the term breast cancer. We restricted our analysis to groups that were related to breast cancer, operated in English, and were publicly available. Two of us independently extracted information on the administrator and purpose of the group, as well as the number of user-generated contributions. We developed a coding scheme to guide content analysis. Results We found 620 breast cancer groups on Facebook containing a total of 1,090,397 members. The groups were created for fundraising (277/620, 44.7%), awareness (236, 38.1%), product or service promotion related to fundraising or awareness (61, 9%), or patient/caregiver support (46, 7%). The awareness groups as a whole contained by far the most members (n = 957,289). The majority of groups (532, 85.8%) had 25 wall posts or fewer. The support oriented groups, 47% (27/57) of which were established by high school or college students, were associated with the greatest number of user-generated contributions. Conclusions Facebook groups have become a popular tool for awareness-raising, fundraising, and support-seeking related to breast cancer attracting over one million users. Given their popularity and reach, further research is warranted to explore the implications of social network sites as a health resource across various health conditions, cultures, ages, and socioeconomic groups. PMID:21371990

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

PubMed

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

2014-10-25

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

Internet usage and knowledge of radiation health effects and preventive behaviours among workers in Fukushima after the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant accident.

PubMed

Kanda, Hideyuki; Takahashi, Kenzo; Sugaya, Nagisa; Mizushima, Shunsaku; Koyama, Kikuo

2014-10-01

The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant accident (FDNPPA) was the world's second largest nuclear power plant accident. At the time that it occurred, internet usage prevalence in Japan was as high as 80%. To compare health knowledge on radiation and preventive behaviour between internet users and non-users among adults employed in industries in Fukushima after the nuclear disaster. We conducted a cross-sectional questionnaire study among adults employed in industries in Fukushima 3-5 months after the FDNPPA. Targets were 1394 regular workers who took part in health seminars provided by the Fukushima Occupational Health Promotion Center. After applying the selection criteria, there were 1119 eligible participants. The questionnaire asked for personal characteristics and main sources of information about the FDNPPA, as well as health knowledge on radiation and preventive behaviours following the nuclear accident. We assessed the contribution of each variable using logistic regression analysis. Among the eligible respondents, 637 workers (56.9%) were internet users and 482 (43.1%) were non-users. Internet users had more health knowledge than non-users (average 4.6 radiation-related health conditions in internet users vs 3.6 conditions in non-users) and more preventive behaviours (average 2.6 behaviours in internet users vs 1.9 in non-users). According to logistic regression analyses, internet usage was positively associated with greater health knowledge on radiation (OR 1.13; 95% CI 1.08 to 1.20) and more preventive behaviours (OR 1.14; 95% CI 1.07 to 1.23). Internet usage was significantly and positively associated with greater health knowledge and more preventive behaviours. The internet is a useful method of distributing information to the general public in emergency situations such as a nuclear disaster. 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.

Solar thermal electric power information user study

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

Belew, W.W.; Wood, B.L.; Marle, T.L.

1981-02-01

The results of a series of telephone interviews with groups of users of information on solar thermal electric power are described. These results, part of a larger study on many different solar technologies, identify types of information each group needed and the best ways to get information to each group. The report is 1 of 10 discussing study results. The overall study provides baseline data about information needs in the solar community. An earlier study identified the information user groups in the solar community and the priority (to accelerate solar energy commercialization) of getting information to each group. In themore » current study only high-priority groups were examined. Results from five solar thermal electric power groups of respondents are analyzed: DOE-Funded Researchers, Non-DOE-Funded Researchers, Representatives of Utilities, Electric Power Engineers, and Educators. The data will be used as input to the determination of information products and services the Solar Energy Research Institute, the Solar Energy Information Data Bank Network, and the entire information outreach community should be preparing and disseminating.« less

Inhibitory Control and Impulsivity Levels in Women Crack Users.

PubMed

Hess, Adriana Raquel Binsfeld; Menezes, Carolina B; de Almeida, Rosa Maria Martins

2018-05-12

investigate impulsivity levels and inhibitory control in women crack users and explore the relationships between impulsivity and inhibitory control. 52 healthy women (M = 32.83 years; SD = 9.54) and 46 crack cocaine users (M = 31.02 years; SD = 7.73), in abstinence, performed the assessment protocol included a Sociodemographic Data Questionnaire, Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), a GO/No-Go Task and the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale-11 (BIS-11). It was a quantitative research with cross-sectional design and control group. crack group showed higher levels of impulsivity in all domains when compared to the control group (crack group M = 76.39, SD = 11.39, control group M = 58.53, SD = 10.76, p <.01). Participants from the crack group presented a significantly higher total reaction time in the Go-NoGo task (F(1,93) = 9.93, p =.002; effect size =.09, observed power =.87) and significantly more commission (F(1,93) = 7.20, p =.009; effect size =.07, observed power =.75) and omission errors (F(1,93) = 6.04, p =.01; effect size =.06, observed power =.68), in Go/NoGo Task. Groups did also significantly differ on total standard deviations suggesting that variability in total reaction time was significantly greater in the crack group. Results showed that only in the crack group there were significant correlations between Go-NoGo parameters and Barratt Impulsiveness Scale. Our findings are consistent that impulsivity and inhibitory control are closely linked to crack use in women. Future studies should consider to evaluate crack users in different withdrawal times, controlling the impact of abstinence time in the variables studied.

Hydroxycarbamide in very young children with sickle-cell anaemia: a multicentre, randomised, controlled trial (BABY HUG).

PubMed

Wang, Winfred C; Ware, Russell E; Miller, Scott T; Iyer, Rathi V; Casella, James F; Minniti, Caterina P; Rana, Sohail; Thornburg, Courtney D; Rogers, Zora R; Kalpatthi, Ram V; Barredo, Julio C; Brown, R Clark; Sarnaik, Sharada A; Howard, Thomas H; Wynn, Lynn W; Kutlar, Abdullah; Armstrong, F Daniel; Files, Beatrice A; Goldsmith, Jonathan C; Waclawiw, Myron A; Huang, Xiangke; Thompson, Bruce W

2011-05-14

Sickle-cell anaemia is associated with substantial morbidity from acute complications and organ dysfunction beginning in the first year of life. Hydroxycarbamide substantially reduces episodes of pain and acute chest syndrome, admissions to hospital, and transfusions in adults with sickle-cell anaemia. We assessed the effect of hydroxycarbamide therapy on organ dysfunction and clinical complications, and examined laboratory findings and toxic effects. This randomised trial was undertaken in 13 centres in the USA between October, 2003, and September, 2009. Eligible participants had haemoglobin SS (HbSS) or haemoglobin Sβ(0)thalassaemia, were aged 9-18 months at randomisation, and were not selected for clinical severity. Participants received liquid hydroxycarbamide, 20 mg/kg per day, or placebo for 2 years. Randomisation assignments were generated by the medical coordinating centre by a pre-decided schedule. Identical appearing and tasting formulations were used for hydroxycarbamide and placebo. Patients, caregivers, and coordinating centre staff were masked to treatment allocation. Primary study endpoints were splenic function (qualitative uptake on (99)Tc spleen scan) and renal function (glomerular filtration rate by (99m)Tc-DTPA clearance). Additional assessments included blood counts, fetal haemoglobin concentration, chemistry profiles, spleen function biomarkers, urine osmolality, neurodevelopment, transcranial Doppler ultrasonography, growth, and mutagenicity. Study visits occurred every 2-4 weeks. Analysis was by intention to treat. The trial is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT00006400. 96 patients received hydroxycarbamide and 97 placebo, of whom 83 patients in the hydroxycarbamide group and 84 in the placebo group completed the study. Significant differences were not seen between groups for the primary endpoints (19 of 70 patients with decreased spleen function at exit in the hydroxycarbamide group vs 28 of 74 patients in the placebo group, p=0·21; and a difference in the mean increase in DTPA glomerular filtration rate in the hydroxycarbamide group versus the placebo group of 2 mL/min per 1·73 m(2), p=0·84). Hydroxycarbamide significantly decreased pain (177 events in 62 patients vs 375 events in 75 patients in the placebo group, p=0·002) and dactylitis (24 events in 14 patients vs 123 events in 42 patients in the placebo group, p<0·0001), with some evidence for decreased acute chest syndrome, hospitalisation rates, and transfusion. Hydroxyurea increased haemoglobin and fetal haemoglobin, and decreased white blood-cell count. Toxicity was limited to mild-to-moderate neutropenia. On the basis of the safety and efficacy data from this trial, hydroxycarbamide can now be considered for all very young children with sickle-cell anaemia. The US National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute; and the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

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

PubMed

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

2014-01-01

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

Is the Internet the Right Medium for a "Don't Quit Campaign?"

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wynne, Liam G.; Mai, Li-Wei

2002-01-01

A survey of 98 British adolescents intending to continue postcompulsory education and 30 not continuing revealed similar levels of television, newspaper, and radio use. Internet users included 87% of group one, 42% of group two; the latter are less likely to have access. Among Internet users, only 40.8% use it for information on…

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

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

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

2009-01-01

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

Catalogue Use by the Petherick Readers of the National Library of Australia

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hider, Philip

2007-01-01

An online questionnaire survey was distributed amongst the Petherick Readers of the National Library of Australia, a user group of scholars and researchers. The survey asked questions about the readers' use and appreciation of the NLA catalogue. This group of users clearly appreciated the library catalogue and demonstrated that there are still…

76 FR 38383 - Revised Public Utility Filing; Requirements for Electric Quarterly Reports; Notice of Electric...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-06-30

... DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY Federal Energy Regulatory Commission [Docket No.: ER02-2001-000] Revised Public Utility Filing; Requirements for Electric Quarterly Reports; Notice of Electric Quarterly Reports Users Group Meeting This notice announces a meeting of the Electric Quarterly Reports (EQR) Users Group to be held Wednesday, July 13, 2011, in the...

The importance of user centered design methods applied to the design of a new workstation: a case study.

PubMed

Duschenes, Ronaldo; Mendes, Andressa; Betiol, Adriana; Barreto, Suzana

2012-01-01

This paper presents a case study of the application of user centered design methodologies in the product development for a line of ergonomic office furniture. The study aimed to analyze the experience of using a workstation from the perspective of two groups of users, installers and end users. The observation of users in their natural context of use not only allowed the development team to identify key needs and strategies of the users, transforming them into design solutions, but mainly it warned them of the importance and impact of user involvement in the product development cycle.

Qualification Users' Perceptions and Experiences of Assessment Reliability

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chamberlain, Suzanne

2013-01-01

This paper presents the findings of a study designed to explore qualification users' perceptions and experiences of reliability in the context of national assessment outcomes in England. The study consisted of 17 focus groups conducted across six sectors of qualification users: students, teachers, trainee teachers, job-seekers, employers and…

Thus Spake the OPAC User.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Markey, Karen

1983-01-01

Findings of focused-group interviews conducted for OCLC study of library users and online public access catalogs (OPACs) indicate users like OPACs, have problems finding right subject heading, envision features to improve subject access, want access to more than books, and want OPACs to provide new services. Eight references are listed. (EJS)

Exploring Factors That Affect Adoption of Computer Security Practices among College Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Alqarni, Amani

2017-01-01

Cyber-attacks threaten the security of computer users' information, networks, machines, and privacy. Studies of computer security education, awareness, and training among ordinary computer users, college students, non-IT-oriented user groups, and non-technically trained citizens are limited. Most research has focused on computer security standards…

Community structure of mesozooplankton in coastal waters of Sundarban mangrove wetland, India: A multivariate approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bhattacharya, Bhaskar Deb; Hwang, Jiang-Shiou; Sarkar, Santosh Kumar; Rakhsit, Dibyendu; Murugan, K.; Tseng, Li-Chun

2015-01-01

Spatial and temporal distribution of community structure and seasonal distribution of mesozooplankton (MZ; 20-200 μm) in the context of environmental parameters were studied in the coastal waters of Indian Sundarban wetland formed at the confluence of Hugli (Ganges) River estuary, India. The work has been aimed for better understanding of its ecological characteristics in terms of the most dominant mesozooplankton group in a tropical mesomacrotidal setting. Samples were collected from four sampling sites of different hydrodynamic set up using a ring trawl net (Hydro-Bios No. 438 700, mesh size 200 μm) equipped with a calibrated flowmeter and both water and plankton samples were analyzed by standard methods. Distribution of MZ showed bimodality with two peak periods, primary peak during April coinciding with maximum number of copepod species (974 ind. m- 3) and the secondary one during August. Copepod was the most dominant taxon where the calanoids formed bulk of the biomass representing 33 species of 7 genera, while cyclopoids formed the next dominant group comprising 4 species of 3 genera followed by 4 monogeneric harpacticoid species. Results of correlation matrix revealed that two copepod families Acartiidae and Pseudodiaptomidae maintain negative relationship with other six families indicating that they form a group by themselves. Results of multiple regression analysis reveal that salinity, chlorophyll-a and transparency are the potential hydrological factors in the distribution and existence of the dominant copepods and total chaetognaths. An overall high diversity index values (max. 3.21) was associated with high richness index (4.39) and high evenness index (0.96) at the site of the mouth of the estuary. In terms of feeding guild, the herbivore copepods were dominant followed by omnivores. Cluster analysis confirmed an overall dominance of the calanoid copepod Bestiolina similis as a solitary group for all the sites. The chaetognath Sagitta bedoti was perennial in distribution where the contribution of juvenile form (recognized as Stage I) was dominant. Among the other MZ, hydromedusae, ctenophore, sergestid and mysid were also encountered contributing insignificant part of the total density. A long-term decadal change in copepod community was pronounced which might be due to climate-induced environmental changes which also modulate the physicochemical characteristics of water.

Body weight and composition in users of levonorgestrel-releasing intrauterine system.

PubMed

Dal'Ava, Natália; Bahamondes, Luis; Bahamondes, M Valeria; de Oliveira Santos, Allan; Monteiro, Ilza

2012-10-01

There is little information about body weight and body composition (BC) among users of the levonorgestrel-releasing intrauterine system (LNG-IUS). The aim of this study was to evaluate body weight and BC in LNG-IUS users compared to users of the TCu380A intrauterine device (IUD). A prospective study was done with 76 new users of both contraceptive methods. Women were paired by age (±2 years) and body mass index (BMI, kg/m², ±2). Body weight and BC (% lean mass and % fat mass) were evaluated by a trained professional at baseline and at 1 year of contraceptive use. The BC measurements were obtained using Lunar DXA equipment. Weight and BC were evaluated in each woman at baseline and at 12 months and analyzed as the mean change within each woman. Then, the changes in weight and BC for each woman were calculated and then compared between LNG-IUS and TCu380A IUD users (paired data for each woman). The central-to-peripheral fat ratio was calculated by dividing trunk fat by the upper and lower limb fat. There were no significant differences at time of IUD insertion between LNG-IUS and TCu380A IUD users regarding age (mean±SD) (34.4±7.5 vs. 33.9±8.0 years), BMI (25.3±4.1 vs. 25.9±4.1) and number of pregnancies (1.9±0.2 vs. 1.7±0.2), respectively. Mean body weight gain of 2.9 kg was observed among LNG-IUS users at 12 months (p=.0012), whereas the body weight of TCu380A IUD users only increased by 1.4 kg (p=.067). There was no significant difference in body weight change between the two groups of users at 12 months. The variation in the central-to-peripheral fat ratio was the same between the two groups (-1.6% vs. -0.2%; p=.364). LNG-IUS users showed a 2.5% gain in fat mass (p=.0009) and a 1.4% loss of lean mass, whereas TCu380A IUD users showed a loss of 1.3% of fat mass (p=.159) and gain of 1.0% of lean mass (p=.120). TCu380A IUD users gained more lean mass than LNG-IUS users (p=.0270), although there was no significant difference between the two groups after 12 months of use. Although an increase in mean fat mass among LNG-IUS users at 12 months of use was observed, it should be noted that an increase of body weight was also observed in both groups after 1 year of insertion of the device. However, a study with a larger number of women and long-term evaluation is necessary to evaluate these body changes. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Practice-based skill acquisition of pushrim-activated power-assisted wheelchair propulsion versus regular handrim propulsion in novices.

PubMed

de Klerk, Rick; Lutjeboer, Thijs; Vegter, Riemer J K; van der Woude, Lucas H V

2018-06-26

Regular handrim wheelchair (RHW) propulsion is straining for the upper extremities and wheelchair users often experience overuse problems. A recent advancement in wheelchair technology that could assist users is the pushrim-activated power-assisted wheelchair (PAPAW). PAPAWs are challenging to control, yet it is unclear how people learn to use a PAPAW. The purpose of this study is to examine early skill acquisition through practice in PAPAWs and compare it with RHWs. Twenty-four able-bodied novices were randomly allocated to either the RHW group or the PAPAW group. The experiment consisted of five sessions with three blocks of 4 min steady-state practice at 1.11 m/s and 0.21 W/kg. Finally, a transfer to the other mode was made. Data were collected with a drag-test, breath-by-breath spirometry, and a motion capture system. The last minute of each four-minute block was used for analysis. A mixed analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to test for group, time, and interaction effects. Both groups improved their (assisted) mechanical efficiency, reduced their stroke rate, right-left and forward-backward deviation on the treadmill, and had a lower rate of perceived exertion (RPE) over time. (Assisted) mechanical efficiency was higher for the PAPAW group than for the RHW group and RPE was lower. However, left-right and forward-backward deviation was also found to be higher in the PAPAW group. At the group level the energetic cost of RHW and PAPAW propulsion can be lowered through low-intensity practice in novice users. The PAPAW is more 'efficient' than the RHW given the reduced energy requirement of the user from the motor assist, but more difficult to control. Future studies on PAPAWs should focus on the control needs of the user and their interaction with the power-assist technology.

Characteristics of Internet use in relation to game genre in Korean adolescents.

PubMed

Lee, Moon-Soo; Ko, Young-Hoon; Song, Hyoung-Seok; Kwon, Ku-Hyung; Lee, Hyeon-Soo; Nam, Min; Jung, In-Kwa

2007-04-01

As the number of internet users increases, a new game genre using the internet as a networking tool is emerging. Some game genres are regarded as having greater addiction potentials than others. Games and the internet are closely related. We investigated games frequently used by adolescents and classified each of them with the help of game professionals. We also examined internet use patterns to identify relationships between game genre and internet use patterns. 627 middle school and high school students (male 488, female 139) completed questionnaires concerning computer and game use patterns and Korean internet addiction scales. Game genres were divided into eight criteria (simulation, role playing game, web board, community, action, adventure, shooting, and sports). Using Korean internet addiction scales, 627 participants were divided into a normal group (474), a potential risk group (128), and a high-risk group (25). Each group showed significant differences in total internet addiction scores. We classified players into specific game users based upon the game types they most prefer. Role playing game users showed significantly higher internet addiction scores than web board and sports game users. Game and internet addictions are also connected with interpersonal relationship patterns. We suggest that users of some game genre have unique psychological addiction potentials that are different from others and that this influences both game selection and internet use.

Frequent Canned Food Use is Positively Associated with Nutrient-Dense Food Group Consumption and Higher Nutrient Intakes in US Children and Adults

PubMed Central

Comerford, Kevin B.

2015-01-01

In addition to fresh foods, many canned foods also provide nutrient-dense dietary options, often at a lower price, with longer storage potential. The aim of this study was to compare nutrient-dense food group intake and nutrient intake between different levels of canned food consumption in the US. Consumption data were collected for this cross-sectional study from 9761 American canned food consumers (aged two years and older) from The NPD Group’s National Eating Trends® (NET®) database during 2011–2013; and the data were assessed using The NPD Group’s Nutrient Intake Database. Canned food consumers were placed into three groups: Frequent Can Users (≥6 canned items/week); n = 2584, Average Can Users (3–5 canned items/week); n = 4445, and Infrequent Can Users (≤2 canned items/week); n = 2732. The results provide evidence that Frequent Can Users consume more nutrient-dense food groups such as fruits, vegetables, dairy products, and protein-rich foods, and also have higher intakes of 17 essential nutrients including the shortfall nutrients—potassium, calcium and fiber—when compared to Infrequent Can Users. Therefore, in addition to fresh foods, diets higher in nutrient-dense canned food consumption can also offer dietary options which improve nutrient intakes and the overall diet quality of Americans. PMID:26184294

Body composition and weight gain in new users of the three-monthly injectable contraceptive, depot-medroxyprogesterone acetate, after 12 months of follow-up.

PubMed

dos Santos, Priscilla de Nazaré Silva; Modesto, Waleska Oliveira; Dal'Ava, Nathalia; Bahamondes, Maria Valéria; Pavin, Elizabeth João; Fernandes, Arlete

2014-12-01

To evaluate weight gain and body composition (BC) in new users of depot-medroxyprogesterone acetate (DMPA) as a contraceptive. This cohort study followed up 20 DMPA users and 20 copper intrauterine device (TCu380A IUD) users, paired for age (± 1 year) and body mass index (BMI ± 1 kg/m(2)), during 12-months. Healthy, non-obese women aged 18 to 40 years, unaffected by conditions that could influence their body weight, were enrolled. Socio-demographic variables, habits, weight, BMI, BC using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry, circumferences, skinfold thickness, body fat percentage and waist-to-hip ratio were evaluated. All participants were encouraged to adopt healthy habits. At baseline, median age was 29 and 30.5 years, and mean BMI was 24.8 and 24.5 kg/m(2) in the DMPA and IUD groups, respectively. At 12 months, an increase was observed in waist and hip circumference in the DMPA users and 8/20 of them had a weight gain ≥ 5% (mean 4.6 kg) with accumulation of fat centrally. There were no differences in weight gain or in BC measurements between the groups; nevertheless 40% of women in the DMPA group had larger weight gain and accumulation of fat centrally. The duration of follow-up may have been insufficient to detect differences between the groups.

Examining the use of an open digital health library for professionals.

PubMed

Eggen, Runar; Tjensvoll, Kjell; Nylenna, Magne

2014-11-18

The Norwegian Electronic Health Library (The Library) is a website for health personnel. Most of the content is also open to the public. Usage statistics have risen sharply in the years 2010-2013. We wanted to find out whether the rise was caused by health personnel, the general public, or other factors. Since we lacked direct information, we had to use proxy data to shed light on our questions. We applied mixed methods (database of registered users, user survey, usage statistics, and statistics from suppliers), and triangulated between them. Health personnel were our largest user group, but The Library was also accessed by students, patients, and other groups. Content in Norwegian was preferred to English language content. Concise, practical information was preferred to more comprehensive information. Patient leaflets were the most popular information type. Mobile phone visits differed from personal computer visits both in terms of time of day and what kind of information was viewed. The Library was used mostly by health personnel, as intended, but our data are inconclusive regarding a possible change in user groups. There was a large degree of consistency in results when using different investigation methods. The survey points toward health personnel being the largest user group, and the usage statistics show that patient leaflets are the most popular content, being viewed by both health personnel and patients.

Interrogative suggestibility in opiate users.

PubMed

Murakami, A; Edelmann, R J; Davis, P E

1996-09-01

The present study investigated interrogative suggestibility in opiate users. A group of patients undergoing a methadone detoxification programme in an in-patient drug treatment unit (Detox group, n = 21), and a group of residents who had come off drugs and were no longer suffering from withdrawal syndrome (Rehab group, n = 19) were compared on interrogative suggestibility and various other psychological factors. Significant differences were found between the two groups, with the Detox group having more physical and psychological problems, and a higher total suggestibility score in comparison with the Rehab group. These findings are discussed in relation to the context of police interrogations and the reliability of confessions made by suspects and witnesses dependent on opiates.

Comparison of combined hormonal vaginal ring and low dose combined oral hormonal pill for the treatment of idiopathic chronic pelvic pain: a randomised trial.

PubMed

Priya, Khushboo; Rajaram, Shalini; Goel, Neerja

2016-12-01

To compare the efficacy and acceptability of combined hormonal vaginal ring with combined oral hormonal pill in women with idiopathic chronic pelvic pain. Randomised prospective interventional trial conducted in 60 women with idiopathic chronic pelvic pain. Women were randomised into two groups of 30 each. In each group, treatment was given for 84 days using either combined vaginal ring or combined oral hormonal pill. Hormonal vaginal ring releases 15mcg of ethinyl estradiol and 120mcg of the etonogestrel per day while the hormonal pill contained 30mcg of ethinyl estradiol and 150mcg of levonorgestrel. There was no ring or pill free week. After every 28 days, pain relief was measured using visual analogue scale (VAS), and verbal rating score (VRS) calculated by summing dysmenorrhea, non-cyclic pelvic pain (NCCP) and deep dyspareunia scores. Side effects, compliance, satisfaction, and user acceptability were also measured. Data was analyzed using various parametric and non-parametric tests. Reduction in mean VAS score at end of treatment in ring group was 6.23 (95% confidence interval [CI], 5.45-7.01; p<0.001) as compared to 5.53 in pill group (95% CI, 4.83-6.23; p<0.001). Reduction in mean VRS score was 5.63 in ring users (95% CI, 4.84-6.42; p<0.001) versus 4.36 in pill users (95% CI, 3.63-5.10; p<0.001). A significantly higher persistent relief in NCPP score was observed in vaginal ring group as compared to oral pill group at end of one month after stopping treatment. Compliance, satisfaction, and user acceptability were higher in ring users (80%) than pill users (70%) and a higher incidence of nausea was seen in pill group. Present study demonstrates for first time that both vaginal and oral hormonal therapy are effective in treatment of idiopathic chronic pelvic pain and vaginal ring may be a better choice with higher satisfaction rate and fewer side effects. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

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

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-12-01

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

Identification of general characteristics, motivation, and satisfaction of internet-based medical consultation service users in Croatia.

PubMed

Klinar, Ivana; Balazin, Ana; Barsić, Bruno; Tiljak, Hrvoje

2011-08-15

To identify users' reasons to look for physician consultation on the internet instead of visiting a physician and to explore their general characteristics, motivation, and satisfaction with internet medical consultation service 'Your Questions.' Users of a free internet medical consultation service 'Your Questions' (www.plivazdravlje.hr) were invited to participate in a web-based survey designed to explore their general characteristics (age, sex, etc), reasons for using the service, the nature of their health problem or question, and their satisfaction with the service. Respondents were divided into two groups: users who consulted an internet physician only (Group I) and users who used internet consulting before or after visiting a physician (Group II). The response rate was 38% (1036/2747), with 79% female respondents. A fifth of the respondents (21%) consulted an internet physician only (Group I). Multivariate analysis revealed that the respondents in Group I were younger (median 24 vs 28 years in Group II), more interested into questions about pregnancy (odds ratio [OR], 1.984; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.203-3.272), more often embarrassed to talk to a physician in person (OR, 1.828; 95% CI, 1.119-2.989), and more motivated to protect their privacy (OR, 1.727; 95% CI, 1.252-2.380). They also had greater satisfaction with the service (77% vs 60%, P<0.001). The factors associated with the use of internet-based medical consultation services were younger age, need for privacy protection, avoidance of embarrassment at the physician's office, and having a question related to pregnancy. This reveals the internet medical consultation service as a useful health promotion supplement that is particularly applicable for the population of young adults.

Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors and intraoperative blood pressure.

PubMed

van Haelst, Ingrid M M; van Klei, Wilton A; Doodeman, Hieronymus J; Kalkman, Cor J; Egberts, Toine C G

2012-02-01

The influence of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) on blood pressure is poorly understood. We hypothesized that if SSRIs have an influence on blood pressure, this might become manifest in changes in intraoperative blood pressure. We aimed to study the association between perioperative use of SSRIs and changes in intraoperative blood pressure by measuring the occurrence of intraoperative hyper- and hypotension. We conducted a retrospective observational follow-up study among patients who underwent elective primary total hip arthroplasty. The index group included users of SSRIs. The reference group included a random sample (ratio 1:3) of nonusers of an antidepressant agent. The outcome was the occurrence of intraoperative hypo- and hypertensive episodes (number, mean and total duration, and area under the curve (AUC)). The outcome was adjusted for confounding factors using regression techniques. The index group included 20 users of an SSRI. The reference group included 60 nonusers. Users of SSRIs showed fewer intraoperative hypotensive episodes, a shorter mean and total duration, and a smaller AUC when compared to the reference group. After adjustment for confounders, SSRI use was associated with a significantly shorter total duration of hypotension: mean difference of -29.4 min (95% confidence interval (CI) -50.4 to -8.3). Two users of an SSRI and two patients in the reference group had a hypertensive episode. Continuation of treatment with SSRIs before surgery was associated with a briefer duration of intraoperative hypotension.

A randomized trial to evaluate the efficacy of a computer-tailored intervention to promote safer injection practices among drug users.

PubMed

Gagnon, Hélène; Godin, Gaston; Alary, Michel; Bruneau, Julie; Otis, Joanne

2010-06-01

The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of a theory-based intervention to increase the use of a new syringe for each injection among injection drug users (IDUs). Users of two needle exchange programs (NEPs) were involved. At both sites, participants were assigned at random to either the experimental or the control group. Once a week for four weeks, users reported to the NEPs where they logged onto a computer and received an audiovisual message. A total of 260 IDUs were recruited. At baseline, 52.3% of participants reported that they had not always used new syringes in the previous week. The results indicate that it is possible for IDUs to adopt safer injection practices. One month after the intervention began, participants in the experimental group were using fewer dirty syringes compared to the control group (RR: 0.47 CI(95%) 0.28-0.79; P = .004). This short-term effect was no longer present 3 months later.

A web-based platform to support an evidence-based mental health intervention: lessons from the CBITS web site.

PubMed

Vona, Pamela; Wilmoth, Pete; Jaycox, Lisa H; McMillen, Janey S; Kataoka, Sheryl H; Wong, Marleen; DeRosier, Melissa E; Langley, Audra K; Kaufman, Joshua; Tang, Lingqi; Stein, Bradley D

2014-11-01

To explore the role of Web-based platforms in behavioral health, the study examined usage of a Web site for supporting training and implementation of an evidence-based intervention. Using data from an online registration survey and Google Analytics, the investigators examined user characteristics and Web site utilization. Site engagement was substantial across user groups. Visit duration differed by registrants' characteristics. Less experienced clinicians spent more time on the Web site. The training section accounted for most page views across user groups. Individuals previously trained in the Cognitive-Behavioral Intervention for Trauma in Schools intervention viewed more implementation assistance and online community pages than did other user groups. Web-based platforms have the potential to support training and implementation of evidence-based interventions for clinicians of varying levels of experience and may facilitate more rapid dissemination. Web-based platforms may be promising for trauma-related interventions, because training and implementation support should be readily available after a traumatic event.

A Randomized Intervention Trial to Reduce the Lending of Used Injection Equipment Among Injection Drug Users Infected With Hepatitis C

PubMed Central

Latka, Mary H.; Hagan, Holly; Kapadia, Farzana; Golub, Elizabeth T.; Bonner, Sebastian; Campbell, Jennifer V.; Coady, Micaela H.; Garfein, Richard S.; Pu, Minya; Thomas, Dave L.; Thiel, Thelma K.; Strathdee, Steffanie A.

2008-01-01

Objectives. We evaluated the efficacy of a peer-mentoring behavioral intervention designed to reduce risky distributive injection practices (e.g., syringe lending, unsafe drug preparation) among injection drug users with hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. Methods. A randomized trial with a time-equivalent attention-control group was conducted among 418 HCV-positive injection drug users aged 18 to 35 years in 3 US cities. Participants reported their injection-related behaviors at baseline and at 3- and 6-month follow-ups. Results. Compared with the control group, intervention-group participants were less likely to report distributive risk behaviors at 3 months (odds ratio [OR]=0.46; 95% confidence interval [CI]=0.27, 0.79) and 6 months (OR=0.51; 95% CI=0.31, 0.83), a 26% relative risk reduction, but were no more likely to cite their HCV-positive status as a reason for refraining from syringe lending. Effects were strongest among intervention-group participants who had known their HCV-positive status for at least 6 months. Peer mentoring and self-efficacy were significantly increased among intervention-group participants, and intervention effects were mediated through improved self-efficacy. Conclusions. This behavioral intervention reduced unsafe injection practices that may propagate HCV among injection drug users. PMID:18382005

A randomized intervention trial to reduce the lending of used injection equipment among injection drug users infected with hepatitis C.

PubMed

Latka, Mary H; Hagan, Holly; Kapadia, Farzana; Golub, Elizabeth T; Bonner, Sebastian; Campbell, Jennifer V; Coady, Micaela H; Garfein, Richard S; Pu, Minya; Thomas, Dave L; Thiel, Thelma K; Strathdee, Steffanie A

2008-05-01

We evaluated the efficacy of a peer-mentoring behavioral intervention designed to reduce risky distributive injection practices (e.g., syringe lending, unsafe drug preparation) among injection drug users with hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. A randomized trial with a time-equivalent attention-control group was conducted among 418 HCV-positive injection drug users aged 18 to 35 years in 3 US cities. Participants reported their injection-related behaviors at baseline and at 3- and 6-month follow-ups. Compared with the control group, intervention-group participants were less likely to report distributive risk behaviors at 3 months (odds ratio [OR]=0.46; 95% confidence interval [CI]=0.27, 0.79) and 6 months (OR=0.51; 95% CI=0.31, 0.83), a 26% relative risk reduction, but were no more likely to cite their HCV-positive status as a reason for refraining from syringe lending. Effects were strongest among intervention-group participants who had known their HCV-positive status for at least 6 months. Peer mentoring and self-efficacy were significantly increased among intervention-group participants, and intervention effects were mediated through improved self-efficacy. This behavioral intervention reduced unsafe injection practices that may propagate HCV among injection drug users.

Social Features of Online Networks: The Strength of Intermediary Ties in Online Social Media

PubMed Central

Grabowicz, Przemyslaw A.; Ramasco, José J.; Moro, Esteban; Pujol, Josep M.; Eguiluz, Victor M.

2012-01-01

An increasing fraction of today's social interactions occur using online social media as communication channels. Recent worldwide events, such as social movements in Spain or revolts in the Middle East, highlight their capacity to boost people's coordination. Online networks display in general a rich internal structure where users can choose among different types and intensity of interactions. Despite this, there are still open questions regarding the social value of online interactions. For example, the existence of users with millions of online friends sheds doubts on the relevance of these relations. In this work, we focus on Twitter, one of the most popular online social networks, and find that the network formed by the basic type of connections is organized in groups. The activity of the users conforms to the landscape determined by such groups. Furthermore, Twitter's distinction between different types of interactions allows us to establish a parallelism between online and offline social networks: personal interactions are more likely to occur on internal links to the groups (the weakness of strong ties); events transmitting new information go preferentially through links connecting different groups (the strength of weak ties) or even more through links connecting to users belonging to several groups that act as brokers (the strength of intermediary ties). PMID:22247773

Magazines as wilderness information sources: assessing users' general wilderness knowledge and specific leave no trace knowledge

Treesearch

John J. Confer; Andrew J. Mowen; Alan K. Graefe; James D. Absher

2000-01-01

The Leave No Trace (LNT) educational program has the potential to provide wilderness users with useful minimum impact information. For LNT to be effective, managers need to understand who is most/least aware of minimum impact practices and how to expose users to LNT messages. This study examined LNT knowledge among various user groups at an Eastern wilderness area and...

Cannabis and Ecstasy/ MDMA: empirical measures of creativity in recreational users.

PubMed

Jones, Katy A; Blagrove, M; Parrott, A C

2009-12-01

This study investigated the associations between chronic cannabis and Ecstasy/MDMA use and one objective and two subjective measure of creativity. Fifteen abstinent Ecstasy users, 15 abstinent cannabis users, and 15 nondrug-user controls, completed three measures of creativity: the Consequences behavioral test of creativity, self-assessed performance on the Consequences test, and Gough's Trait Self-Report Creative Adjective Checklist. The Consequences test involved five scenarios where possible consequences had to be devised; scoring was conducted by the standard blind rating (by two independent judges) for "remoteness" and "rarity," and by a frequency and rarity of responses method. Cannabis users had significantly more "rare-creative" responses than controls (Tukey, p < 0.05); this effect remained significant with gender as a covariate. There were no significant differences between the groups on the number of standard scoring "remote-creative" ideas or for fluency of responses. On self-rated creativity, there was a significant ANOVA group difference (p < 0.05), with Ecstasy users tending to rate their answers as more creative than controls (Tukey comparison; p = 0.058, two-tailed). Ecstasy users did not differ from controls on the behavioral measures of creativity, although there was a borderline trend for self-assessment of greater creativity. Cannabis users produced significantly more "rare-creative" responses, but did not rate themselves as more creative.

Prospective Memory Deficits in Ecstasy Users: Effects of Longer Ongoing Task Delay Interval

PubMed Central

WEINBORN, MICHAEL; WOODS, STEVEN PAUL; NULSEN, CLAIRE; PARK, KATHERINE

2011-01-01

Ecstasy use has been associated with neurotoxicity and neurocognitive impairment in a variety of domains, including prospective memory (ProM), which involves the delayed execution of a previously encoded intention in response to a specific cue. The present study adopted the multiprocess theory of ProM to evaluate the hypothesis that ecstasy users would evidence differentially impaired ProM on longer versus shorter ongoing task delays. Ecstasy (n = 31) users, high-risk alcohol users (n = 21) and healthy nonusers (n = 31) completed the short (2-min) and long (15-min) delay ProM scales of the Memory for Intentions Screening Test. Results showed a significant group by ProM delay interaction, such that ecstasy users performed comparably to the comparison groups on short-delay trials, but were impaired on long-delay ProM, particularly for time-based cues. Among the ecstasy users, long-delay ProM was positively associated with risky decision-making, but not with retrospective memory or other aspects of executive functions. These findings suggest that ecstasy users may be particularly susceptible to deficits in strategic target monitoring and maintenance of cue-intention pairings over longer ProM delays. Findings are discussed in the context of their potential everyday functioning (e.g., academic, vocational) and treatment implications for ecstasy users. PMID:22047194

Posthumously Assessing a Homeless Population: Services Use and Characteristics.

PubMed

Metraux, Stephen; Manjelievskaia, Janna; Treglia, Dan; Hoffman, Roy; Culhane, Dennis P; Ku, Bon S

2016-12-01

Data on services use, characteristics, and geographic distribution of homeless individuals who died in Philadelphia from 2009 to 2011 provided perspective on assessments of the homeless population that rely on conventional counts and surveys. Data from the City of Philadelphia Medical Examiner's Office were used to parse homeless decedents into three groups on the basis of use of homelessness services (known users, occasional users, and nonusers), and differences among the groups were assessed by using descriptive and multivariate methods. Of 141 adult decedents, 49% made substantial use of the homelessness services system (known users), 27% made occasional use of these services (occasional users), and 24% had no record of use of homelessness services (nonusers). Compared with known users, nonusers and occasional users were less likely to have had a severe mental illness diagnosis or to have received either disability benefits or Medicaid coverage and were more likely to be white. Nonusers and occasional users were also more likely than known users to have died in outlying parts of the city. More conventional homeless surveys and enumerations miss a substantial portion of the homeless population. Including these "hidden homeless" persons would alter perceptions about the composition of Philadelphia's homeless population, lowering estimates of the incidence of psychiatric disability and increasing estimates of racial diversity.