Friend-to-friend short message service with opportunistic Wi-Fi beacons

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Türkes, Okan; Scholten, Johan; Havinga, Paul J.M.

2016-01-01

This study introduces Oppline, an ad hoc opportunistic short message service that can be collaboratively used by everyone who has a smart mobile device. The data exchange method of Oppline is built on top of the universal Wi-Fi standard, thus expedites platform-independent integration of related

Sunspot drawings handwritten character recognition method based on deep learning

Science.gov (United States)

Zheng, Sheng; Zeng, Xiangyun; Lin, Ganghua; Zhao, Cui; Feng, Yongli; Tao, Jinping; Zhu, Daoyuan; Xiong, Li

2016-05-01

High accuracy scanned sunspot drawings handwritten characters recognition is an issue of critical importance to analyze sunspots movement and store them in the database. This paper presents a robust deep learning method for scanned sunspot drawings handwritten characters recognition. The convolution neural network (CNN) is one algorithm of deep learning which is truly successful in training of multi-layer network structure. CNN is used to train recognition model of handwritten character images which are extracted from the original sunspot drawings. We demonstrate the advantages of the proposed method on sunspot drawings provided by Chinese Academy Yunnan Observatory and obtain the daily full-disc sunspot numbers and sunspot areas from the sunspot drawings. The experimental results show that the proposed method achieves a high recognition accurate rate.

Simple Multi-Authority Attribute-Based Encryption for Short Messages

OpenAIRE

Viktoria I. Villanyi

2016-01-01

Central authority free multi-authority attribute based encryption scheme for short messages will be presented. Several multi-authority attribute based encryption schemes were recently proposed. We can divide these schemes into two groups, one of them are the ciphertext-policy attribute based encryption schemes (CP-ABE), the another one are the key-policy attribute based encryption schemes (KP-ABE). In our new multi-authority attribute based encryption scheme we combine them: the access struct...

An adaptive deep Q-learning strategy for handwritten digit recognition.

Science.gov (United States)

Qiao, Junfei; Wang, Gongming; Li, Wenjing; Chen, Min

2018-02-22

Handwritten digits recognition is a challenging problem in recent years. Although many deep learning-based classification algorithms are studied for handwritten digits recognition, the recognition accuracy and running time still need to be further improved. In this paper, an adaptive deep Q-learning strategy is proposed to improve accuracy and shorten running time for handwritten digit recognition. The adaptive deep Q-learning strategy combines the feature-extracting capability of deep learning and the decision-making of reinforcement learning to form an adaptive Q-learning deep belief network (Q-ADBN). First, Q-ADBN extracts the features of original images using an adaptive deep auto-encoder (ADAE), and the extracted features are considered as the current states of Q-learning algorithm. Second, Q-ADBN receives Q-function (reward signal) during recognition of the current states, and the final handwritten digits recognition is implemented by maximizing the Q-function using Q-learning algorithm. Finally, experimental results from the well-known MNIST dataset show that the proposed Q-ADBN has a superiority to other similar methods in terms of accuracy and running time. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Handwritten document age classification based on handwriting styles

Science.gov (United States)

Ramaiah, Chetan; Kumar, Gaurav; Govindaraju, Venu

2012-01-01

Handwriting styles are constantly changing over time. We approach the novel problem of estimating the approximate age of Historical Handwritten Documents using Handwriting styles. This system will have many applications in handwritten document processing engines where specialized processing techniques can be applied based on the estimated age of the document. We propose to learn a distribution over styles across centuries using Topic Models and to apply a classifier over weights learned in order to estimate the approximate age of the documents. We present a comparison of different distance metrics such as Euclidean Distance and Hellinger Distance within this application.

IMPROVEMENT IN HANDWRITTEN NUMERAL STRING RECOGNITION BY SLANT NORMALIZATION AND CONTEXTUAL INFORMATION

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Britto jr., A. de S.; Sabourin, R.; Lethelier, E.; Bortolozzi, F.; Suen, C.Y.

2004-01-01

This work describes a way of enhancing handwritten numeral string recognition by considering slant normalization and contextual information to train an implicit segmentation­based system. A word slant normalization method is modified in order to improve the results for handwritten numeral strings.

Beyond OCR: Handwritten manuscript attribute understanding

NARCIS (Netherlands)

He, Sheng

2017-01-01

Knowing the author, date and location of handwritten historical documents is very important for historians to completely understand and reveal the valuable information they contain. In this thesis, three attributes, such as writer, date and geographical location, are studied by analyzing the

Optimizing Short Message Text Sentiment Analysis for Mobile Device Forensics

OpenAIRE

Aboluwarin , Oluwapelumi; Andriotis , Panagiotis; Takasu , Atsuhiro; Tryfonas , Theo

2016-01-01

Part 2: MOBILE DEVICE FORENSICS; International audience; Mobile devices are now the dominant medium for communications. Humans express various emotions when communicating with others and these communications can be analyzed to deduce their emotional inclinations. Natural language processing techniques have been used to analyze sentiment in text. However, most research involving sentiment analysis in the short message domain (SMS and Twitter) do not account for the presence of non-dictionary w...

Raising Cervical Cancer Awareness: Analysing the Incremental Efficacy of Short Message Service

Science.gov (United States)

Lemos, Marina Serra; Rothes, Inês Areal; Oliveira, Filipa; Soares, Luisa

2017-01-01

Objective: To evaluate the incremental efficacy of a Short Message Service (SMS) combined with a brief video intervention in increasing the effects of a health education intervention for cervical cancer prevention, over and beyond a video-alone intervention, with respect to key determinants of health behaviour change--knowledge, motivation and…

Short Text Messages (SMS) as an Additional Tool for Notifying Medical Staff in Case of a Hospital Mass Casualty Incident.

Science.gov (United States)

Timler, Dariusz; Bogusiak, Katarzyna; Kasielska-Trojan, Anna; Neskoromna-Jędrzejczak, Aneta; Gałązkowski, Robert; Szarpak, Łukasz

2016-02-01

The aim of the study was to verify the effectiveness of short text messages (short message service, or SMS) as an additional notification tool in case of fire or a mass casualty incident in a hospital. A total of 2242 SMS text messages were sent to 59 hospital workers divided into 3 groups (n=21, n=19, n=19). Messages were sent from a Samsung GT-S8500 Wave cell phone and Orange Poland was chosen as the telecommunication provider. During a 3-month trial period, messages were sent between 3:35 PM and midnight with no regular pattern. Employees were asked to respond by telling how much time it would take them to reach the hospital in case of a mass casualty incident. The mean reaction time (SMS reply) was 36.41 minutes. The mean declared time of arrival to the hospital was 100.5 minutes. After excluding 10% of extreme values for declared arrival time, the mean arrival time was estimated as 38.35 minutes. Short text messages (SMS) can be considered an additional tool for notifying medical staff in case of a mass casualty incident.

Key technologies of the server monitor and control system based on GSM short messages

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chen Taiwei; Zhou Zhenliu; Liu Baoxu

2007-01-01

The network management based on SNMP protocol cannot effectively monitor and control application-system states and key-process states on the computer server. Furthermore, it needs the administrator's longtime surveillance. When the administrator leaves the computer, he can't receive the malfunction message in time. In this paper we present a server monitor and control system based on monitor agents and GSM short messages, introduce the key technology to realize it, and implement a model system in the real network environment. (authors)

On writing legibly: Processing fluency systematically biases evaluations of handwritten material

OpenAIRE

Greifeneder, Rainer; Alt, Alexander; Bottenberg, Konstantin; Seele, Tim; Zelt, Sarah; Wagener, Dietrich

2010-01-01

Evaluations of handwritten essays or exams are often suspected of being biased, such as by mood states or individual predilections. Although most of these influences are unsystematic, at least one bias is problematic because it systematically affects evaluations of handwritten materials. Three experiments revealed that essays in legible as compared to less legible handwriting were evaluated more positively. This robust finding was related to a basic judgmental mechanism that builds on the flu...

DATABASES FOR RECOGNITION OF HANDWRITTEN ARABIC CHEQUES

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Alohali, Y.; Cheriet, M.; Suen, C.Y.

2004-01-01

This paper describes an effort toward building Arabic cheque databases for research in recognition of handwritten Arabic cheques. Databases of Arabic legal amounts, Arabic sub­ words, courtesy amounts, Indian digits, and Arabic cheques are provided. This paper highlights the characteristics of the

Handwritten-word spotting using biologically inspired features

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van der Zant, Tijn; Schomaker, Lambert; Haak, Koen

For quick access to new handwritten collections, current handwriting recognition methods are too cumbersome. They cannot deal with the lack of labeled data and would require extensive laboratory training for each individual script, style, language, and collection. We propose a biologically inspired

Recall effect of short message service (SMS) as a complementary marketing communications instrument

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Wouters, J.P.M.; Wetzels, M.G.M.

2006-01-01

A quasi-experimental study was designed to investigate the recall effect of Short Message Service (SMS) as a complementary marketing communications instrument. An experimental group (EG) was formed, consisting of people who had called an SMS number mentioned in a car brand campaign. A control group

RECOGNITION AND VERIFICATION OF TOUCHING HANDWRITTEN NUMERALS

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Zhou, J.; Kryzak, A.; Suen, C.Y.

2004-01-01

In the field of financial document processing, recognition of touching handwritten numerals has been limited by lack of good benchmarking databases and low reliability of algorithms. This paper addresses the efforts toward solving the two problems. Two databases IRIS-Bell\\\\\\'98 and TNIST are

A NEW APPROACH TO SEGMENT HANDWRITTEN DIGITS

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Oliveira, L.S.; Lethelier, E.; Bortolozzi, F.; Sabourin, R.

2004-01-01

This article presents a new segmentation approach applied to unconstrained handwritten digits. The novelty of the proposed algorithm is based on the combination of two types of structural features in order to provide the best segmentation path between connected entities. In this article, we first

Multi-digit handwritten sindhi numerals recognition using som neural network

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chandio, A.A.; Jalbani, A.H.; Awan, S.A.

2017-01-01

In this research paper a multi-digit Sindhi handwritten numerals recognition system using SOM Neural Network is presented. Handwritten digits recognition is one of the challenging tasks and a lot of research is being carried out since many years. A remarkable work has been done for recognition of isolated handwritten characters as well as digits in many languages like English, Arabic, Devanagari, Chinese, Urdu and Pashto. However, the literature reviewed does not show any remarkable work done for Sindhi numerals recognition. The recognition of Sindhi digits is a difficult task due to the various writing styles and different font sizes. Therefore, SOM (Self-Organizing Map), a NN (Neural Network) method is used which can recognize digits with various writing styles and different font sizes. Only one sample is required to train the network for each pair of multi-digit numerals. A database consisting of 4000 samples of multi-digits consisting only two digits from 10-50 and other matching numerals have been collected by 50 users and the experimental results of proposed method show that an accuracy of 86.89% is achieved. (author)

A Study of Moment Based Features on Handwritten Digit Recognition

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pawan Kumar Singh

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Handwritten digit recognition plays a significant role in many user authentication applications in the modern world. As the handwritten digits are not of the same size, thickness, style, and orientation, therefore, these challenges are to be faced to resolve this problem. A lot of work has been done for various non-Indic scripts particularly, in case of Roman, but, in case of Indic scripts, the research is limited. This paper presents a script invariant handwritten digit recognition system for identifying digits written in five popular scripts of Indian subcontinent, namely, Indo-Arabic, Bangla, Devanagari, Roman, and Telugu. A 130-element feature set which is basically a combination of six different types of moments, namely, geometric moment, moment invariant, affine moment invariant, Legendre moment, Zernike moment, and complex moment, has been estimated for each digit sample. Finally, the technique is evaluated on CMATER and MNIST databases using multiple classifiers and, after performing statistical significance tests, it is observed that Multilayer Perceptron (MLP classifier outperforms the others. Satisfactory recognition accuracies are attained for all the five mentioned scripts.

Segmentation-Based And Segmentation-Free Methods for Spotting Handwritten Arabic Words

OpenAIRE

Ball , Gregory R.; Srihari , Sargur N.; Srinivasan , Harish

2006-01-01

http://www.suvisoft.com; Given a set of handwritten documents, a common goal is to search for a relevant subset. Attempting to find a query word or image in such a set of documents is called word spotting. Spotting handwritten words in documents written in the Latin alphabet, and more recently in Arabic, has received considerable attention. One issue is generating candidate word regions on a page. Attempting to definitely segment the document into such regions (automatic segmentation) can mee...

A novel handwritten character recognition system using gradient ...

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

The issues faced by the handwritten character recognition systems are the similarity. ∗ ... tical/structural features have also been successfully used in character ..... The coordinates (xc, yc) of centroid are calculated by equations (4) and (5). xc =.

Comparison of crisp and fuzzy character networks in handwritten word recognition

Science.gov (United States)

Gader, Paul; Mohamed, Magdi; Chiang, Jung-Hsien

1992-01-01

Experiments involving handwritten word recognition on words taken from images of handwritten address blocks from the United States Postal Service mailstream are described. The word recognition algorithm relies on the use of neural networks at the character level. The neural networks are trained using crisp and fuzzy desired outputs. The fuzzy outputs were defined using a fuzzy k-nearest neighbor algorithm. The crisp networks slightly outperformed the fuzzy networks at the character level but the fuzzy networks outperformed the crisp networks at the word level.

The Effect of Education through Short Message Service (SMS) Messages on Diabetic Patients Adherence.

Science.gov (United States)

Adikusuma, Wirawan; Qiyaam, Nurul

2017-05-12

Poor adherence and a lack of understanding of medication instructions for oral antidiabetic use are key factors that inhibit the control of glycemic levels. The aforementioned situation needs intervention to improve medication adherence and the therapy. This study was conducted with a quasi-experimental design with prospective data collection. The subjects of this study were 50 outpatients with type 2 diabetes melitus (T2DM) who had received oral antidiabetic medicine therapy at least six months prior to adherence measurement. The patients were classified into two groups-the control group and the intervention group. The intervention group received Short Message Service (SMS) messages of diabetes education, while the control group did not. Data collection was conducted by doing interviews and administering the Morisky Medication Adherence Scale (MMAS) questionnaire. The results showed the increase in adherence in the intervention group as 1.15 ± 1.04 and that in the control group as 0.72 ± 0.90. These results indicated that there were significant differences in MMAS score between the control and intervention groups ( p < 0.05). The decrease in fasting blood glucose and glucose measured 2 h postprandially was greater in the intervention group than that in the control group. It was concluded that the provision of education through SMS had a positive effect on medication adherence and glycemic levels.

An Investigation of the Impact of an Intervention to Reduce Academic Procrastination Using Short Message Service (SMS) Technology

Science.gov (United States)

Davis, Darrel R.; Abbitt, Jason T.

2013-01-01

This mixed-method pilot study investigated the impact of a custom Short Message Service (SMS) reminder system developed to help students reduce procrastination and increase performance on weekly content-related quizzes in a high-enrollment hybrid online course. Text message reminders were sent to three students with high procrastination and low…

Short Message Service (SMS) as an Educational Tool during Pregnancy: A Literature Review

Science.gov (United States)

Lamont, Kim; Sliwa, Karen; Stewart, Simon; Carrington, Melinda; Pretorius, Sandra; Libhaber, Elena; Wiysonge, Charles S.; Adebayo, Esther F.; Klipstein-Grobusch, Kerstin

2016-01-01

Background: In many low- and middle-income countries, access to health information during pregnancy is poor. The rapid adoption of mobile phones in these countries has created new opportunities for disseminating such information. Objective: This paper reviews existing information on the use of short message services (SMSs) as a feasible tool to…

Survey of Instant Messaging Applications Encryption Methods

OpenAIRE

Kabakuş, Abdullah; Kara, Resul

2015-01-01

Instant messaging applications has already taken the place of traditional Short Messaging Service (SMS) and Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) due to their popularity and usage easement they provide. Users of instant messaging applications are able to send both text and audio messages, different types of attachments such as photos, videos, contact information to their contacts in real time. Because of instant messaging applications use internet instead of Short Message Service Technical Reali...

Influencing Health Behaviors via Short Message Service (SMS): Evidence for Best Practices From Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania and Xi’an China

OpenAIRE

Heitner, Jesse

2016-01-01

Text messaging, also known as short message services (SMS), is a burgeoning innovation area showing promise in eliciting health behavior changes. This dissertation details two intervention trials that each comparatively tests the efficacy of different text message sets intended to improve behaviors. In light of pervasive road traffic injuries amongst young men in Tanzania, the first intervention tested messaging strategies aimed at increasing helmet wearing amongst commercial motorcycle t...

WORD LEVEL DISCRIMINATIVE TRAINING FOR HANDWRITTEN WORD RECOGNITION

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Chen, W.; Gader, P.

2004-01-01

Word level training refers to the process of learning the parameters of a word recognition system based on word level criteria functions. Previously, researchers trained lexicon­driven handwritten word recognition systems at the character level individually. These systems generally use statistical

Where are the Search Engines for Handwritten Documents?

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van der Zant, Tijn; Schomaker, Lambert; Zinger, Svitlana; van Schie, Henny

Although the problems of optical character recognition for contemporary printed text have been resolved, for historical printed and handwritten connected cursive text (i.e. western style writing), they have not. This does not mean that scanning historical documents is not useful. This article

Where are the search engines for handwritten documents?

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Zant, T.; Schomaker, L.; Zinger, S.; Schie, H.

2009-01-01

Although the problems of optical character recognition for contemporary printed text have been resolved, for historical printed and handwritten connected cursive text (i.e. western style writing), they have not. This does not mean that scanning historical documents is not useful. This article

Pendidikan gizi dan pesan gizi melalui short message service terhadap pengetahuan, perilaku, dan kepatuhan ibu hamil minum tablet besi

OpenAIRE

Kusfriyadi, Mars Khendra; Hadi, Hamam; Fuad, Anis

2012-01-01

Background: Low compliance as one cause of high prevalence of anemia in Indonesia is mainly due to forgetfulness. Nutrition education and short message service (SMS) are expected to become media to send nutrition message and remind pregnant mothers of taking iron tablet. Objective: To identify impact of nutrition education and nutrition message through SMS to knowledge, behavior and compliance of pregnant mothers with taking iron tablet. Method: The study was a quasi experiment that use...

Detection of Text Lines of Handwritten Arabic Manuscripts using Markov Decision Processes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Youssef Boulid

2016-09-01

Full Text Available In a character recognition systems, the segmentation phase is critical since the accuracy of the recognition depend strongly on it. In this paper we present an approach based on Markov Decision Processes to extract text lines from binary images of Arabic handwritten documents. The proposed approach detects the connected components belonging to the same line by making use of knowledge about features and arrangement of those components. The initial results show that the system is promising for extracting Arabic handwritten lines.

Slant correction for handwritten English documents

Science.gov (United States)

Shridhar, Malayappan; Kimura, Fumitaka; Ding, Yimei; Miller, John W. V.

2004-12-01

Optical character recognition of machine-printed documents is an effective means for extracting textural material. While the level of effectiveness for handwritten documents is much poorer, progress is being made in more constrained applications such as personal checks and postal addresses. In these applications a series of steps is performed for recognition beginning with removal of skew and slant. Slant is a characteristic unique to the writer and varies from writer to writer in which characters are tilted some amount from vertical. The second attribute is the skew that arises from the inability of the writer to write on a horizontal line. Several methods have been proposed and discussed for average slant estimation and correction in the earlier papers. However, analysis of many handwritten documents reveals that slant is a local property and slant varies even within a word. The use of an average slant for the entire word often results in overestimation or underestimation of the local slant. This paper describes three methods for local slant estimation, namely the simple iterative method, high-speed iterative method, and the 8-directional chain code method. The experimental results show that the proposed methods can estimate and correct local slant more effectively than the average slant correction.

Modeling the lexical morphology of Western handwritten signatures.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Moises Diaz-Cabrera

Full Text Available A handwritten signature is the final response to a complex cognitive and neuromuscular process which is the result of the learning process. Because of the many factors involved in signing, it is possible to study the signature from many points of view: graphologists, forensic experts, neurologists and computer vision experts have all examined them. Researchers study written signatures for psychiatric, penal, health and automatic verification purposes. As a potentially useful, multi-purpose study, this paper is focused on the lexical morphology of handwritten signatures. This we understand to mean the identification, analysis, and description of the signature structures of a given signer. In this work we analyze different public datasets involving 1533 signers from different Western geographical areas. Some relevant characteristics of signature lexical morphology have been selected, examined in terms of their probability distribution functions and modeled through a General Extreme Value distribution. This study suggests some useful models for multi-disciplinary sciences which depend on handwriting signatures.

Getting Your Message Across: Mobile Phone Text Messaging

Science.gov (United States)

Beecher, Constance C.; Hayungs, Lori

2017-01-01

Want to send a message that 99% of your audience will read? Many Extension professionals are familiar with using social media tools to enhance Extension programming. Extension professionals may be less familiar with the use of mobile phone text-based marketing tools. The purpose of this article is to introduce SMS (short message system) marketing…

Cryptographic key generation using handwritten signature

OpenAIRE

Freire, Manuel R.; Fiérrez, Julián; Ortega-García, Javier

2006-01-01

M. Freire-Santos ; J. Fierrez-Aguilar ; J. Ortega-Garcia; "Cryptographic key generation using handwritten signature", Biometric Technology for Human Identification III, Proc. SPIE 6202 (April 17, 2006); doi:10.1117/12.665875. Copyright 2006 Society of Photo‑Optical Instrumentation Engineers. One print or electronic copy may be made for personal use only. Systematic reproduction and distribution, duplication of any material in this paper for a fee or for commercial purposes, or modification of...

SISTEM PEMESANAN KAMAR RAWAT INAP MENGGUNAKAN SHORT MESSAGE SERVICES (SMS PADA RUMAH SAKIT

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Beny Irawan

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Abstrak – Manusia hidup di dunia ada bermacam-macam bentuk tubuh, besar, kecil, tua-muda, laki-laki, perempuan, bentuk muka, warna kulit atau kondisi fisiknya ada yang sehat dan sakit. Semakin bertambahnya manusia di alam ini, semakin banyak persentase kemungkinan orang mengalami sakit mendadak, sehingga membutuhkan perawatan medis yang mendadak juga. Untuk itu, diperlukan suatu cara yang paling mudah untuk melakukan konfirmasi ada atau tidaknya kamar untuk rawat inap di rumah sakit yang bersangkutan, sehingga pasien tidak harus melakukan pemesanan kamar ketika sudah tiba di rumah sakit yang bersangkutan, dan kemudian semua kamar sudah penuh dan harus dipindahkan lagi ke rumah sakit lain. Hal ini menyebabkan si pasien akan mengalami keterlambatan untuk ditangani, sehingga bisa berakibat fatal bagi pasien tersebut. Permasalahan tersebut dapat ditangani dengan pengembangan sistem baru menggunakan short message services (sms terutama untuk pemesanan kamar rawat inap, dan untuk mengetahui jenis pelayanan lain yang ada di rumah sakit tersebut melalui website rumah sakit, sehingga sistem pemesanan kamar semakin efektif dan efisien. Namun, sistem yang dikembangkan masih memiliki kelemahan karena sistem hanya dapat digunakan pada telepon selular yang menggunakan modem GSM.   Keywords : Short Message Service (SMS, SMS Gateway, GSM

The effect of mobile phone short messaging system on healthy food choices among Iranian postmenopausal women.

Science.gov (United States)

Vakili, Mahdis; Abedi, Parvin; Afshari, Poorandokht; Kaboli, Nayereh Esmael

2015-01-01

Central adiposity and metabolic syndrome are quite common among postmenopausal women. Dietary diversity and healthy food choices have essential role in health and also in prevention of obesity. The main objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of mobile phone short messaging system on healthy food choices among Iranian postmenopausal women. This was a randomized controlled trial in which 100 postmenopausal women aged 40-60 years were recruited and assigned to two groups (50 each in the intervention and control groups). Food frequency consumption was measured using a questionnaire. A total of 16 text messages including information about modification of food selection (healthy choices, benefits, methods, etc.,) were sent to participants in the intervention group during 4 months follow-up (1/week). The Chi-square and independent t-test used for data analysis. Ninety-two women completed the study. The consumption of Vitamin A rich fruits and vegetables significantly increased in the intervention group compared to the control group (P mobile phone short messaging system can improve the healthy food choices regarding Vitamin A rich fruits and vegetables and fish among postmenopausal women.

Segmentation of Handwritten Chinese Character Strings Based on improved Algorithm Liu

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zhihua Cai

2014-09-01

Full Text Available Algorithm Liu attracts high attention because of its high accuracy in segmentation of Japanese postal address. But the disadvantages, such as complexity and difficult implementation of algorithm, etc. have an adverse effect on its popularization and application. In this paper, the author applies the principles of algorithm Liu to handwritten Chinese character segmentation according to the characteristics of the handwritten Chinese characters, based on deeply study on algorithm Liu.In the same time, the author put forward the judgment criterion of Segmentation block classification and adhering mode of the handwritten Chinese characters.In the process of segmentation, text images are seen as the sequence made up of Connected Components (CCs, while the connected components are made up of several horizontal itinerary set of black pixels in image. The author determines whether these parts will be merged into segmentation through analyzing connected components. And then the author does image segmentation through adhering mode based on the analysis of outline edges. Finally cut the text images into character segmentation. Experimental results show that the improved Algorithm Liu obtains high segmentation accuracy and produces a satisfactory segmentation result.

Interpreting Chicken-Scratch: Lexical Access for Handwritten Words

Science.gov (United States)

Barnhart, Anthony S.; Goldinger, Stephen D.

2010-01-01

Handwritten word recognition is a field of study that has largely been neglected in the psychological literature, despite its prevalence in society. Whereas studies of spoken word recognition almost exclusively employ natural, human voices as stimuli, studies of visual word recognition use synthetic typefaces, thus simplifying the process of word…

Recognition of handwritten characters using local gradient feature descriptors

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Surinta, Olarik; Karaaba, Mahir F.; Schomaker, Lambert R.B.; Wiering, Marco A.

2015-01-01

Abstract In this paper we propose to use local gradient feature descriptors, namely the scale invariant feature transform keypoint descriptor and the histogram of oriented gradients, for handwritten character recognition. The local gradient feature descriptors are used to extract feature vectors

Transcription of Spanish Historical Handwritten Documents with Deep Neural Networks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Emilio Granell

2018-01-01

Full Text Available The digitization of historical handwritten document images is important for the preservation of cultural heritage. Moreover, the transcription of text images obtained from digitization is necessary to provide efficient information access to the content of these documents. Handwritten Text Recognition (HTR has become an important research topic in the areas of image and computational language processing that allows us to obtain transcriptions from text images. State-of-the-art HTR systems are, however, far from perfect. One difficulty is that they have to cope with image noise and handwriting variability. Another difficulty is the presence of a large amount of Out-Of-Vocabulary (OOV words in ancient historical texts. A solution to this problem is to use external lexical resources, but such resources might be scarce or unavailable given the nature and the age of such documents. This work proposes a solution to avoid this limitation. It consists of associating a powerful optical recognition system that will cope with image noise and variability, with a language model based on sub-lexical units that will model OOV words. Such a language modeling approach reduces the size of the lexicon while increasing the lexicon coverage. Experiments are first conducted on the publicly available Rodrigo dataset, which contains the digitization of an ancient Spanish manuscript, with a recognizer based on Hidden Markov Models (HMMs. They show that sub-lexical units outperform word units in terms of Word Error Rate (WER, Character Error Rate (CER and OOV word accuracy rate. This approach is then applied to deep net classifiers, namely Bi-directional Long-Short Term Memory (BLSTMs and Convolutional Recurrent Neural Nets (CRNNs. Results show that CRNNs outperform HMMs and BLSTMs, reaching the lowest WER and CER for this image dataset and significantly improving OOV recognition.

Beyond OCR : Multi-faceted understanding of handwritten document characteristics

NARCIS (Netherlands)

He, Sheng; Schomaker, Lambert

Handwritten document understanding is a fundamental research problem in pattern recognition and it relies on the effective features. In this paper, we propose a joint feature distribution (JFD) principle to design novel discriminative features which could be the joint distribution of features on

[About da tai - abortion in old Chinese folk medicine handwritten manuscripts].

Science.gov (United States)

Zheng, Jinsheng

2013-01-01

Of 881 Chinese handwritten volumes with medical texts of the 17th through mid-20th century held by Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin and Ethnologisches Museum Berlin-Dahlem, 48 volumes include prescriptions for induced abortion. A comparison shows that these records are significantly different from references to abortion in Chinese printed medical texts of pre-modern times. For example, the percentage of recipes recommended for artificial abortions in handwritten texts is significantly higher than those in printed medical books. Authors of handwritten texts used 25 terms to designate artificial abortion, with the term da tai [see text], lit.: "to strike the fetus", occurring most frequently. Its meaning is well defined, in contrast to other terms used, such as duo tai [see text], lit: "to make a fetus fall", xia tai [see text], lit. "to bring a fetus down", und duan chan [see text], lit., to interrupt birthing", which is mostly used to indicate a temporary or permanent sterilization. Pre-modern Chinese medicine has not generally abstained from inducing abortions; physicians showed a differentiating attitude. While abortions were descibed as "things a [physician with an attitude of] humaneness will not do", in case a pregnancy was seen as too risky for a woman she was offered medication to terminate this pregnancy. The commercial application of abortifacients has been recorded in China since ancient times. A request for such services has continued over time for various reasons, including so-called illegitimate pregnancies, and those by nuns, widows and prostitutes. In general, recipes to induce abortions documented in printed medical literature have mild effects and are to be ingested orally. In comparison, those recommended in handwritten texts are rather toxic. Possibly to minimize the negative side-effects of such medication, practitioners of folk medicine developed mechanical devices to perform "external", i.e., vaginal approaches.

A GRU-based Encoder-Decoder Approach with Attention for Online Handwritten Mathematical Expression Recognition

OpenAIRE

Zhang, Jianshu; Du, Jun; Dai, Lirong

2017-01-01

In this study, we present a novel end-to-end approach based on the encoder-decoder framework with the attention mechanism for online handwritten mathematical expression recognition (OHMER). First, the input two-dimensional ink trajectory information of handwritten expression is encoded via the gated recurrent unit based recurrent neural network (GRU-RNN). Then the decoder is also implemented by the GRU-RNN with a coverage-based attention model. The proposed approach can simultaneously accompl...

Evaluation of a Short Message Service diary methodology in a nonclinical, naturalistic setting.

Science.gov (United States)

Walsh, Erin I; Brinker, Jay K

2012-11-01

Particularly suited to repeated measures in naturalistic settings, Short Message Service (SMS) is garnering increasing attention as a viable method of data collection. The current study explored issues of practical importance for the development of this methodology, including factors impacting on attrition and compliance, and participant perception of SMS. Using a business-card-sized questionnaire key, 98 university students were sent prompt SMS messages nightly for a week. Completion and compliance were very high in all participants who responded to at least one prompt SMS; those who responded at least once (n=63) responded to 83 percent of all seven prompts, with 95 percent of responses containing appropriate alphanumeric answers to all questions. However, a time lag between recruitment and participation was associated with a failure to commence the diary study. Participants reported positive perceptions of SMS privacy and convenience.

A model for short message service advertising avoidance determinants – an Iranian experience

OpenAIRE

Shahriar AZIZI

2013-01-01

Short Message Service (SMS) advertising is a growing phenomenon in the Iranian marketing industry. Many Iranian companies are intensively interested in SMS advertising for its low cost and comprehensive coverage. The vital challenge in using SMS as an advertising medium is mobile avoidance. In this research, a conceptual model containing six hypotheses was developed and tested. Using 211 self-reporting questionnaires and structural equation modeling (SEM), this study found that self-esteem an...

ADAPTIVE CONTEXT PROCESSING IN ON-LINE HANDWRITTEN CHARACTER RECOGNITION

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Iwayama, N.; Ishigaki, K.

2004-01-01

We propose a new approach to context processing in on-line handwritten character recognition (OLCR). Based on the observation that writers often repeat the strings that they input, we take the approach of adaptive context processing. (ACP). In ACP, the strings input by a writer are automatically

Script-independent text line segmentation in freestyle handwritten documents.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Yi; Zheng, Yefeng; Doermann, David; Jaeger, Stefan; Li, Yi

2008-08-01

Text line segmentation in freestyle handwritten documents remains an open document analysis problem. Curvilinear text lines and small gaps between neighboring text lines present a challenge to algorithms developed for machine printed or hand-printed documents. In this paper, we propose a novel approach based on density estimation and a state-of-the-art image segmentation technique, the level set method. From an input document image, we estimate a probability map, where each element represents the probability that the underlying pixel belongs to a text line. The level set method is then exploited to determine the boundary of neighboring text lines by evolving an initial estimate. Unlike connected component based methods ( [1], [2] for example), the proposed algorithm does not use any script-specific knowledge. Extensive quantitative experiments on freestyle handwritten documents with diverse scripts, such as Arabic, Chinese, Korean, and Hindi, demonstrate that our algorithm consistently outperforms previous methods [1]-[3]. Further experiments show the proposed algorithm is robust to scale change, rotation, and noise.

Recognition of Handwritten Arabic words using a neuro-fuzzy network

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Boukharouba, Abdelhak; Bennia, Abdelhak

2008-01-01

We present a new method for the recognition of handwritten Arabic words based on neuro-fuzzy hybrid network. As a first step, connected components (CCs) of black pixels are detected. Then the system determines which CCs are sub-words and which are stress marks. The stress marks are then isolated and identified separately and the sub-words are segmented into graphemes. Each grapheme is described by topological and statistical features. Fuzzy rules are extracted from training examples by a hybrid learning scheme comprised of two phases: rule generation phase from data using a fuzzy c-means, and rule parameter tuning phase using gradient descent learning. After learning, the network encodes in its topology the essential design parameters of a fuzzy inference system.The contribution of this technique is shown through the significant tests performed on a handwritten Arabic words database

Segmentation of Arabic Handwritten Documents into Text Lines using Watershed Transform

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Abdelghani Souhar

2017-12-01

Full Text Available A crucial task in character recognition systems is the segmentation of the document into text lines and especially if it is handwritten. When dealing with non-Latin document such as Arabic, the challenge becomes greater since in addition to the variability of writing, the presence of diacritical points and the high number of ascender and descender characters complicates more the process of the segmentation. To remedy with this complexity and even to make this difficulty an advantage since the focus is on the Arabic language which is semi-cursive in nature, a method based on the Watershed Transform technique is proposed. Tested on «Handwritten Arabic Proximity Datasets» a segmentation rate of 93% for a 95% of matching score is achieved.

The effect of mobile phone short messaging system on healthy food choices among Iranian postmenopausal women

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mahdis Vakili

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Introduction: Central adiposity and metabolic syndrome are quite common among postmenopausal women. Dietary diversity and healthy food choices have essential role in health and also in prevention of obesity. The main objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of mobile phone short messaging system on healthy food choices among Iranian postmenopausal women. Materials and Methods: This was a randomized controlled trial in which 100 postmenopausal women aged 40-60 years were recruited and assigned to two groups (50 each in the intervention and control groups. Food frequency consumption was measured using a questionnaire. A total of 16 text messages including information about modification of food selection (healthy choices, benefits, methods, etc., were sent to participants in the intervention group during 4 months follow-up (1/week. The Chi-square and independent t-test used for data analysis. Ninety-two women completed the study. Results: The consumption of Vitamin A rich fruits and vegetables significantly increased in the intervention group compared to the control group (P < 0.001. More women in the intervention group consumed fish after intervention (P = 0.02. The consumption of green leafy vegetables showed a nonsignificant increase in the intervention group. Conclusion: Using mobile phone short messaging system can improve the healthy food choices regarding Vitamin A rich fruits and vegetables and fish among postmenopausal women.

[Can a mobile phone short message increase participation in breast cancer screening programmes?].

Science.gov (United States)

Arcas, M M; Buron, A; Ramis, O; Esturi, M; Hernández, C; Macià, F

2014-01-01

To evaluate the impact of a mobile phone short message on women's uptake in a breast cancer screening programme. A total of 703 women from a Basic Health Area of Barcelona, and with a mobile phone number registered, were invited to participate in a breast cancer screening programme between 25 January 2011 and 22 March 2011. The control group (n=470) followed the usual appointment track, and the intervention group (n=233) received, after the first letter of invitation, a mobile phone short message reminder. The differences between the two groups were analysed, comparing the uptake rates according to age, educational level, and participation in previous round, as well as the number of re-invitation calls to non-attenders according to uptake, age and level of education;and the percentages of exclusions of both groups. The intervention group had a greater uptake than the control group (78.1% vs. 72.3%), with a significant trend observed in the 55-59 years age group (P=.036) and the low secondary educational level (P=.014).The intervention group mean of re-invitation calls of non-attenders lower than the control group (.41 vs. .65, Pcancer screening programme may increase uptake rates and lead to a management improvement. Copyright © 2013 SECA. Published by Elsevier Espana. All rights reserved.

Analysis and implementation of cross lingual short message service spam filtering using graph-based k-nearest neighbor

Science.gov (United States)

Ayu Cyntya Dewi, Dyah; Shaufiah; Asror, Ibnu

2018-03-01

SMS (Short Message Service) is on e of the communication services that still be the main choice, although now the phone grow with various applications. Along with the development of various other communication media, some countries lowered SMS rates to keep the interest of mobile users. It resulted in increased spam SMS that used by several parties, one of them for advertisement. Given the kind of multi-lingual documents in a message SMS, the Web, and others, necessary for effective multilingual or cross-lingual processing techniques is becoming increasingly important. The steps that performed in this research is data / messages first preprocessing then represented into a graph model. Then calculated using GKNN method. From this research we get the maximum accuracy is 98.86 with training data in Indonesian language and testing data in indonesian language with K 10 and threshold 0.001.

Applications of Short Message Service and WAP in Operating Remotely Triggered Laboratories

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ananda Maiti

2011-11-01

Full Text Available Mobile devices are becoming more powerful, reliable and common every year. Hence we can use mobile devices for conducting laboratory sessions in distance education. This paper discusses issues of integrating Short Message Service (SMS to operate instruments of hardware-based remotely triggered laboratories. Components of the system include searching an experiment, performing experiment, result handling, error handling and method of exchanging information. It is designed using the National Instruments (NI Laboratory Virtual Instrument Engineering Workbench (LabVIEW development system and web services. The scheme will enable students to conduct hardware experiments with mobile devices using SMS from anywhere and anytime.

Development of a scale to measure problem use of short message service: the SMS Problem Use Diagnostic Questionnaire.

Science.gov (United States)

Rutland, J Brian; Sheets, Tilman; Young, Tony

2007-12-01

This exploratory study examines a subset of mobile phone use, the compulsive use of short message service (SMS) text messaging. A measure of SMS use, the SMS Problem Use Diagnostic Questionnaire (SMS-PUDQ), was developed and found to possess acceptable reliability and validity when compared to other measures such as self-reports of time spent using SMS and scores on a survey of problem mobile phone use. Implications for the field of addiction research, technological and behavioral addictions in particular, are discussed, and directions for future research are suggested.

Marker Registration Technique for Handwritten Text Marker in Augmented Reality Applications

Science.gov (United States)

Thanaborvornwiwat, N.; Patanukhom, K.

2018-04-01

Marker registration is a fundamental process to estimate camera poses in marker-based Augmented Reality (AR) systems. We developed AR system that creates correspondence virtual objects on handwritten text markers. This paper presents a new method for registration that is robust for low-content text markers, variation of camera poses, and variation of handwritten styles. The proposed method uses Maximally Stable Extremal Regions (MSER) and polygon simplification for a feature point extraction. The experiment shows that we need to extract only five feature points per image which can provide the best registration results. An exhaustive search is used to find the best matching pattern of the feature points in two images. We also compared performance of the proposed method to some existing registration methods and found that the proposed method can provide better accuracy and time efficiency.

What's in a message? Delivering sexual health promotion to young people in Australia via text messaging

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hellard Margaret E

2010-12-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Advances in communication technologies have dramatically changed how individuals access information and communicate. Recent studies have found that mobile phone text messages (SMS can be used successfully for short-term behaviour change. However there is no published information examining the acceptability, utility and efficacy of different characteristics of health promotion SMS. This paper presents the results of evaluation focus groups among participants who received twelve sexual health related SMS as part of a study examining the impact of text messaging for sexual health promotion to on young people in Victoria, Australia. Methods Eight gender-segregated focus groups were held with 21 males and 22 females in August 2008. Transcripts of audio recordings were analysed using thematic analysis. Data were coded under one or more themes. Results Text messages were viewed as an acceptable and 'personal' means of health promotion, with participants particularly valuing the informal language. There was a preference for messages that were positive, relevant and short and for messages to cover a variety of topics. Participants were more likely to remember and share messages that were funny, rhymed and/or tied into particular annual events. The message broadcasting, generally fortnightly on Friday afternoons, was viewed as appropriate. Participants said the messages provided new information, a reminder of existing information and reduced apprehension about testing for sexually transmitted infections. Conclusions Mobile phones, in particular SMS, offer health promoters an exciting opportunity to engage personally with a huge number of individuals for low cost. The key elements emerging from this evaluation, such as message style, language and broadcast schedule are directly relevant to future studies using SMS for health promotion, as well as for future health promotion interventions in other mediums that require short formats, such

Entity-based Classification of Twitter Messages

OpenAIRE

Yerva, Surender Reddy; Miklós, Zoltán; Aberer, Karl

2012-01-01

Twitter is a popular micro-blogging service on theWeb, where people can enter short messages, which then become visible to some other users of the service. While the topics of these messages varies, there are a lot of messages where the users express their opinions about some companies or their products. These messages are a rich source of information for companies for sentiment analysis or opinion mining. There is however a great obstacle for analyzing the messages directly: as the company n...

Evaluating structural pattern recognition for handwritten math via primitive label graphs

Science.gov (United States)

Zanibbi, Richard; Mouchère, Harold; Viard-Gaudin, Christian

2013-01-01

Currently, structural pattern recognizer evaluations compare graphs of detected structure to target structures (i.e. ground truth) using recognition rates, recall and precision for object segmentation, classification and relationships. In document recognition, these target objects (e.g. symbols) are frequently comprised of multiple primitives (e.g. connected components, or strokes for online handwritten data), but current metrics do not characterize errors at the primitive level, from which object-level structure is obtained. Primitive label graphs are directed graphs defined over primitives and primitive pairs. We define new metrics obtained by Hamming distances over label graphs, which allow classification, segmentation and parsing errors to be characterized separately, or using a single measure. Recall and precision for detected objects may also be computed directly from label graphs. We illustrate the new metrics by comparing a new primitive-level evaluation to the symbol-level evaluation performed for the CROHME 2012 handwritten math recognition competition. A Python-based set of utilities for evaluating, visualizing and translating label graphs is publicly available.

Device of Definition of Hand-Written Documents Belonging to One Executor

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S. D. Kulik

2012-03-01

Full Text Available Results of working out of the device of definition of hand-written documents belonging to the executor of the text in Russian are presented. The device is intended for automation of work of experts and allows to solve problems of information security and search of criminals.

Short Message Service (SMS) Texting Symbols: A Functional Analysis of 10,000 Cellular Phone Text Messages

Science.gov (United States)

Beasley, Robert E.

2009-01-01

The purpose of this study was to investigate the use of symbolic expressions (e.g., "BTW," "LOL," "UR") in an SMS text messaging corpus consisting of over 10,000 text messages. More specifically, the purpose was to determine, not only how frequently these symbolic expressions are used, but how they are utilized in terms of the language functions…

The Effects of Handwritten Feedback on Paper and Tablet PC in Learning Japanese Writing

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kai LI

2007-12-01

Full Text Available This paper compares the effect of paper-basedhandwritten feedback (PBHF and that of Tablet PC-basedhandwritten feedback (TBHF in learning Japanese writing.The study contributes to the research on motivation,usability and presence when learners are given differentmedia-based handwritten error feedback. The resultsindicated that there was little difference in the effect of thetwo media on motivation and usability factors. However,PBHF showed a positive effect on presence factor thanTBHF. Also, there was little difference in proficiencyimprovement after the students reviewed different mediabased handwritten feedback. The results of this studysuggest that language teachers should not use ICT withtraditional strategies, but in an innovative way to improvetheir writing instruction and enhance learners’ writingproficiency.

BanglaLekha-Isolated: A multi-purpose comprehensive dataset of Handwritten Bangla Isolated characters

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mithun Biswas

2017-06-01

Full Text Available BanglaLekha-Isolated, a Bangla handwritten isolated character dataset is presented in this article. This dataset contains 84 different characters comprising of 50 Bangla basic characters, 10 Bangla numerals and 24 selected compound characters. 2000 handwriting samples for each of the 84 characters were collected, digitized and pre-processed. After discarding mistakes and scribbles, 1,66,105 handwritten character images were included in the final dataset. The dataset also includes labels indicating the age and the gender of the subjects from whom the samples were collected. This dataset could be used not only for optical handwriting recognition research but also to explore the influence of gender and age on handwriting. The dataset is publicly available at https://data.mendeley.com/datasets/hf6sf8zrkc/2.

Contribution to automatic handwritten characters recognition. Application to optical moving characters recognition

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gokana, Denis

1986-01-01

This paper describes a research work on computer aided vision relating to the design of a vision system which can recognize isolated handwritten characters written on a mobile support. We use a technique which consists in analyzing information contained in the contours of the polygon circumscribed to the character's shape. These contours are segmented and labelled to give a new set of features constituted by: - right and left 'profiles', - topological and algebraic unvarying properties. A new method of character's recognition induced from this representation based on a multilevel hierarchical technique is then described. In the primary level, we use a fuzzy classification with dynamic programming technique using 'profiles'. The other levels adjust the recognition by using topological and algebraic unvarying properties. Several results are presented and an accuracy of 99 pc was reached for handwritten numeral characters, thereby attesting the robustness of our algorithm. (author) [fr

Semi-supervised probabilistics approach for normalising informal short text messages

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Modupe, A

2017-03-01

Full Text Available The growing use of informal social text messages on Twitter is one of the known sources of big data. These type of messages are noisy and frequently rife with acronyms, slangs, grammatical errors and non-standard words causing grief for natural...

Delicious words – Assessing the impact of short storytelling messages on consumer preferences for variations of a new processed meat product

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Fenger, Morten H. J.; Aschemann-Witzel, Jessica; Hansen, Flemming

2015-01-01

related to stimulation seeking and hedonism and with a tendency towards variety seeking – reacted positively to the new product, others were less interested. The introduction of elements of storytelling, however, had a favorable effect on choice for the segment previously less interested. Thus......Continuous food product improvements require communication that induces consumers to test the new products. The paper presents an experiment that investigated the characteristics of consumers who reacted positively to variations of a new meat product, and explores the effect of short storytelling...... messages on choice. 1087 Danish consumers were presented with binary choice sets consisting of conventional and new variations of a cubed ham product; half of the respondents in addition saw short storytelling messages. It was found that while some consumers – especially those characterized by values...

Students' Perceived Preference for Visual and Auditory Assessment with E-Handwritten Feedback

Science.gov (United States)

Crews, Tena B.; Wilkinson, Kelly

2010-01-01

Undergraduate business communication students were surveyed to determine their perceived most effective method of assessment on writing assignments. The results indicated students' preference for a process that incorporates visual, auditory, and e-handwritten presentation via a tablet PC. Students also identified this assessment process would…

Short- and long-term effects of real-time medication monitoring with short message service (SMS) reminders for missed doses on the refill adherence of people with Type 2 diabetes: evidence from a randomised controlled trial.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Vervloet, M.; Dijk, L. van; Bakker, D.H. de; Souverein, P.C.; Santen-Reestman, J.; Vlijmen, B. van; Aarle, M.C.W. van; Hoek, L.S. van der; Bouvy, M.L.

2014-01-01

Aims: To investigate short- and long-term effects of real-time monitoring medication use combined with short message service (SMS) reminders for missed doses on refill adherence to oral anti-diabetic medication. Methods: A randomized controlled trial with two intervention groups and one control

HMM-based lexicon-driven and lexicon-free word recognition for online handwritten Indic scripts.

Science.gov (United States)

Bharath, A; Madhvanath, Sriganesh

2012-04-01

Research for recognizing online handwritten words in Indic scripts is at its early stages when compared to Latin and Oriental scripts. In this paper, we address this problem specifically for two major Indic scripts--Devanagari and Tamil. In contrast to previous approaches, the techniques we propose are largely data driven and script independent. We propose two different techniques for word recognition based on Hidden Markov Models (HMM): lexicon driven and lexicon free. The lexicon-driven technique models each word in the lexicon as a sequence of symbol HMMs according to a standard symbol writing order derived from the phonetic representation. The lexicon-free technique uses a novel Bag-of-Symbols representation of the handwritten word that is independent of symbol order and allows rapid pruning of the lexicon. On handwritten Devanagari word samples featuring both standard and nonstandard symbol writing orders, a combination of lexicon-driven and lexicon-free recognizers significantly outperforms either of them used in isolation. In contrast, most Tamil word samples feature the standard symbol order, and the lexicon-driven recognizer outperforms the lexicon free one as well as their combination. The best recognition accuracies obtained for 20,000 word lexicons are 87.13 percent for Devanagari when the two recognizers are combined, and 91.8 percent for Tamil using the lexicon-driven technique.

Short message service (SMS) applications for disease prevention in developing countries.

Science.gov (United States)

Déglise, Carole; Suggs, L Suzanne; Odermatt, Peter

2012-01-12

The last decade has witnessed unprecedented growth in the number of mobile phones in the developing world, thus linking millions of previously unconnected people. The ubiquity of mobile phones, which allow for short message service (SMS), provides new and innovative opportunities for disease prevention efforts. The aim of this review was to describe the characteristics and outcomes of SMS interventions for disease prevention in developing countries and provide recommendations for future work. A systematic search of peer-reviewed and gray literature was performed for papers published in English, French, and German before May 2011 that describe SMS applications for disease prevention in developing countries. A total of 34 SMS applications were described, among which 5 had findings of an evaluation reported. The majority of SMS applications were pilot projects in various levels of sophistication; nearly all came from gray literature sources. Many applications were initiated by the project with modes of intervention varying between one-way or two-way communication, with or without incentives, and with educative games. Evaluated interventions were well accepted by the beneficiaries. The primary barriers identified were language, timing of messages, mobile network fluctuations, lack of financial incentives, data privacy, and mobile phone turnover. This review illustrates that while many SMS applications for disease prevention exist, few have been evaluated. The dearth of peer-reviewed studies and the limited evidence found in this systematic review highlight the need for high-quality efficacy studies examining behavioral, social, and economic outcomes of SMS applications and mobile phone interventions aimed to promote health in developing country contexts.

The Comparison of Typed and Handwritten Essays of Iranian EFL Students in terms of Length, Spelling, and Grammar

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Behrouz Sarbakhshian

2016-11-01

Full Text Available This study attempted to compare typed and handwritten essays of Iranian EFL students in terms of length, spelling, and grammar. To administer the study, the researchers utilized Alice Touch Typing Tutor software to select 15 upper intermediate students with higher ability to write two essays: one typed and the other handwritten. The students were both males and females between the ages of 22 to 35. The analyses of the students’ scores in the three mentioned criteria through three paired samples t-tests indicate that typed essays are significantly better than handwritten ones in terms of length of texts and grammatical mistakes, but not significantly different in spelling mistakes. Positive effects of typing can provide a logical reason for students, especially TOEFL applicants, to spend more time on acquiring typing skill and also for teachers to encourage their students with higher typing ability to choose typed format in their essays.

Development of an optical character recognition pipeline for handwritten form fields from an electronic health record.

Science.gov (United States)

Rasmussen, Luke V; Peissig, Peggy L; McCarty, Catherine A; Starren, Justin

2012-06-01

Although the penetration of electronic health records is increasing rapidly, much of the historical medical record is only available in handwritten notes and forms, which require labor-intensive, human chart abstraction for some clinical research. The few previous studies on automated extraction of data from these handwritten notes have focused on monolithic, custom-developed recognition systems or third-party systems that require proprietary forms. We present an optical character recognition processing pipeline, which leverages the capabilities of existing third-party optical character recognition engines, and provides the flexibility offered by a modular custom-developed system. The system was configured and run on a selected set of form fields extracted from a corpus of handwritten ophthalmology forms. The processing pipeline allowed multiple configurations to be run, with the optimal configuration consisting of the Nuance and LEADTOOLS engines running in parallel with a positive predictive value of 94.6% and a sensitivity of 13.5%. While limitations exist, preliminary experience from this project yielded insights on the generalizability and applicability of integrating multiple, inexpensive general-purpose third-party optical character recognition engines in a modular pipeline.

Rancang Bangun Sistem Informasi Pelayanan Kesehatan Berbasis Customer Relationship Management Menggunakan Teknologi Short Message Service (SMS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Trismianto Asmo Sutrisno Sutrisno

2014-02-01

Full Text Available Recently, there are many hospitals as the health-care services choose to use the concept of Customer Relationship Management (CRM to build the trust bridges between the hospitals and their patients. The implementation of CRM in health caring, especially for pregnant women needs to do; such as the delivery of information related to the pregnant women to get antenatal care as the scheduled or pregnant women desire to obtain information dealing with their pregnancy. The irrelevant, slow and inaccurate information can cause the health care services given to the patients are not optimal, so that they can reduce patients’ loyalty toward the health-care services. This research resulted health care information system based on Customer Relationship Management using Short Message Service (SMS technology with case study of health care for pregnant women. The resulted information system is produced by the System Development Life Cycle methodology using the Waterfall model. One of the features produced is the pregnant women will receive a confirmation SMS to obtain antenatal care with a schedule until 28 weeks of their pregnancy check up every four weeks, 28-36 weeks of their pregnancy check up every two weeks, and 36-40 weeks of their pregnancy check up once a week.   Keywords: Pregnant Women, Antenatal Care, Customer Relationship Management, Short Message Service

SMS Messaging Applications

CERN Document Server

Pero, Nicola

2009-01-01

Cell phones are the most common communication device on the planet, and Short Message Service (SMS) is the chief channel for companies to offer services, accept requests, report news, and download binary files over cell phones. This guide describes the protocols and best practices (things that ensure you won't get sued or lose your right to offer a service) you need to know to make SMS messaging part of an organizational service. Issues such as character sets, differences among vendors, common practices in Europe and North America, and API choices are covered.

Active ambulatory care management supported by short message services and mobile phone technology in patients with arterial hypertension.

Science.gov (United States)

Kiselev, Anton R; Gridnev, Vladimir I; Shvartz, Vladimir A; Posnenkova, Olga M; Dovgalevsky, Pavel Ya

2012-01-01

The use of short message services and mobile phone technology for ambulatory care management is the most accessible and most inexpensive way to transition from traditional ambulatory care management to active ambulatory care management in patients with arterial hypertension (AH). The aim of this study was to compare the clinical efficacy of active ambulatory care management supported by short message services and mobile phone technology with traditional ambulatory care management in AH patients. The study included 97 hypertensive patients under active ambulatory care management and 102 patients under traditional ambulatory care management. Blood pressure levels, body mass, and smoking history of patients were analyzed in the study. The duration of study was 1 year. In the active ambulatory care management group, 36% of patients were withdrawn from the study within a year. At the end of the year, 77% of patients from the active care management group had achieved the goal blood pressure level. That was more than 5 times higher than that in the traditional ambulatory care management group (P mobile phone improves the quality of ambulatory care of hypertensive patients. Copyright © 2012 American Society of Hypertension. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Comparing Postsecondary Marketing Student Performance on Computer-Based and Handwritten Essay Tests

Science.gov (United States)

Truell, Allen D.; Alexander, Melody W.; Davis, Rodney E.

2004-01-01

The purpose of this study was to determine if there were differences in postsecondary marketing student performance on essay tests based on test format (i.e., computer-based or handwritten). Specifically, the variables of performance, test completion time, and gender were explored for differences based on essay test format. Results of the study…

Online handwritten mathematical expression recognition

Science.gov (United States)

Büyükbayrak, Hakan; Yanikoglu, Berrin; Erçil, Aytül

2007-01-01

We describe a system for recognizing online, handwritten mathematical expressions. The system is designed with a user-interface for writing scientific articles, supporting the recognition of basic mathematical expressions as well as integrals, summations, matrices etc. A feed-forward neural network recognizes symbols which are assumed to be single-stroke and a recursive algorithm parses the expression by combining neural network output and the structure of the expression. Preliminary results show that writer-dependent recognition rates are very high (99.8%) while writer-independent symbol recognition rates are lower (75%). The interface associated with the proposed system integrates the built-in recognition capabilities of the Microsoft's Tablet PC API for recognizing textual input and supports conversion of hand-drawn figures into PNG format. This enables the user to enter text, mathematics and draw figures in a single interface. After recognition, all output is combined into one LATEX code and compiled into a PDF file.

Feasibility and acceptability of SMS text messaging in a prostate cancer educational intervention for African American men.

Science.gov (United States)

Le, Daisy; Holt, Cheryl L; Saunders, Darlene R; Wang, Min Qi; Coriolan, Annie; Savoy, Alma D; Slade, Jimmie L; Muwwakkil, Bettye; Atkinson, Nancy L

2016-12-01

African Americans' greater access to mobile phones makes short messaging service technology a promising complement to health promotion interventions. Short messaging service text messages were added to the Men's Prostate Awareness Church Training project, a men's health intervention for African American men. We report on the feasibility and acceptability of the use of short messaging service text messages in the intervention. Short messaging service text messages served as (1) workshop reminders; (2) post-workshop message reinforcement; (3) spiritual/motivational messages; and (4) participant retention. At workshop 4, over 65 percent of participants wished to continue receiving the messages. While there was an increase in recall over time, more than one-third of the participants did not recall receiving the 53 text messages. However, recall was considerably greater among men who attended the Men's Prostate Awareness Church Training workshops. Overall, the inclusion of text messages in health promotion interventions targeting mature African American men was found to be feasible and acceptable. © The Author(s) 2015.

Perancangan Dan Realisasi Sistem Transmisi Data GPS Menggunakan Teknologi SMS (Short Messaging Service) Sebagai Aplikasi Sistem Personal Tracking

OpenAIRE

DECY NATALIANA

2013-01-01

Abstrak Berprinsip pada pengembangan teknologi dan aplikasi dari sistem penjejakan posisi (tracking), maka dibuatlah sistem personal tracking dengan mentransmisikan data GPS (Global Positioning System) dengan menggunakan teknologi SMS (Short Messaging Service) pada jaringan GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) sebagai media transmisinya.  Dengan sistem GPS akan diperoleh data garis lintang, serta garis bujur dari GPS receiver.  Data tersebut akan diteruskan oleh mikrokontroler untuk ...

Are participants concerned about privacy and security when using short message service to report product adherence in a rectal microbicide trial?

Science.gov (United States)

Giguere, Rebecca; Brown, William; Balán, Ivan C; Dolezal, Curtis; Ho, Titcha; Sheinfil, Alan; Ibitoye, Mobolaji; Lama, Javier R; McGowan, Ian; Cranston, Ross D; Carballo-Diéguez, Alex

2018-04-01

During a Phase 2 rectal microbicide trial, men who have sex with men and transgender women (n = 187) in 4 countries (Peru, South Africa, Thailand, United States) reported product use daily via short message service (SMS). To prevent disclosure of study participation, the SMS system program included privacy and security features. We evaluated participants' perceptions of privacy while using the system and acceptability of privacy/security features. To protect privacy, the SMS system: (1) confirmed participant availability before sending the study questions, (2) required a password, and (3) did not reveal product name or study participation. To ensure security, the system reminded participants to lock phone/delete messages. A computer-assisted self-interview (CASI), administered at the final visit, measured burden of privacy and security features and SMS privacy concerns. A subsample of 33 participants underwent an in-depth interview (IDI). Based on CASI, 85% had no privacy concerns; only 5% were very concerned. Most were not bothered by the need for a password (73%) or instructions to delete messages (82%). Based on IDI, reasons for low privacy concerns included sending SMS in private or feeling that texting would not draw attention. A few IDI participants found the password unnecessary and more than half did not delete messages. Most participants were not concerned that the SMS system would compromise their confidentiality. SMS privacy and security features were effective and not burdensome. Short ID-related passwords, ambiguous language, and reminders to implement privacy and security-enhancing behaviors are recommended for SMS systems.

Analyzing Short Message Services Application Effect on Diabetic Patients' Self-caring.

Science.gov (United States)

Naghibi, Seyed Abolhassan; Moosazadeh, Mahmood; Zhyanifard, Akram; Jafari Makrani, Zoreh; Yazdani Cherati, Jamshid

2015-01-01

Diabetes is the most prevalent metabolic disease with a growing spread rate in word wide. Short message service (SMS) is of the most common public communication networks, which have brought about a broad spectrum of applications like social, cultural and service products in the late decade. The objective of this research is, the investigate of using SMS on diabetes patients self-caring. In an interventional study, 228 diabetes patients have been selected from a community charity. With using of random sampling method, they were divided into two groups of 114 subjects as the control and case. The case group was sent messages reminding them about sports, caring foot, taking insulin and oral tablet for 4 weeks via mobile phone. After 4 weeks, a posttest questionnaire was completed. The data analysis was performed using a descriptive statistic, Chi-square, independent t-test, and paired t-test. There are not significant differences between case and control groups before intervention by studied dependent variables (P > 0.05). Performance score mean of taking care of foot, sport and taking oral tablet and insulin in case group before intervention were 29.90, 10, 11.16 and 3.75 respectively and after intervention were 20.11, 41.36, 13.09 and 4.90, respectively. Furthermore, the performance scores mean difference after intervention, taking care of foot (P tablet (P = 0.020) was meaningful in case and control groups. Regarding the study results on using cell phone, to utilize virtual training methods is recommended as an appropriate procedure for different health care, self-caring and follow-up training plans for various groups in society, especially diabetic and chronic patients.

Handwritten dynamics assessment through convolutional neural networks: An application to Parkinson's disease identification.

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Pereira, Clayton R; Pereira, Danilo R; Rosa, Gustavo H; Albuquerque, Victor H C; Weber, Silke A T; Hook, Christian; Papa, João P

2018-04-16

Parkinson's disease (PD) is considered a degenerative disorder that affects the motor system, which may cause tremors, micrography, and the freezing of gait. Although PD is related to the lack of dopamine, the triggering process of its development is not fully understood yet. In this work, we introduce convolutional neural networks to learn features from images produced by handwritten dynamics, which capture different information during the individual's assessment. Additionally, we make available a dataset composed of images and signal-based data to foster the research related to computer-aided PD diagnosis. The proposed approach was compared against raw data and texture-based descriptors, showing suitable results, mainly in the context of early stage detection, with results nearly to 95%. The analysis of handwritten dynamics using deep learning techniques showed to be useful for automatic Parkinson's disease identification, as well as it can outperform handcrafted features. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Corticospinal excitability during the processing of handwritten and typed words and non-words.

Science.gov (United States)

Gordon, Chelsea L; Spivey, Michael J; Balasubramaniam, Ramesh

2017-06-09

A number of studies have suggested that perception of actions is accompanied by motor simulation of those actions. To further explore this proposal, we applied Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) to the left primary motor cortex during the observation of handwritten and typed language stimuli, including words and non-word consonant clusters. We recorded motor-evoked potentials (MEPs) from the right first dorsal interosseous (FDI) muscle to measure cortico-spinal excitability during written text perception. We observed a facilitation in MEPs for handwritten stimuli, regardless of whether the stimuli were words or non-words, suggesting potential motor simulation during observation. We did not observe a similar facilitation for the typed stimuli, suggesting that motor simulation was not occurring during observation of typed text. By demonstrating potential simulation of written language text during observation, these findings add to a growing literature suggesting that the motor system plays a strong role in the perception of written language. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

An Optimal Non-Interactive Message Authentication Protocol

OpenAIRE

Pasini, Sylvain; Vaudenay, Serge

2006-01-01

Vaudenay recently proposed a message authentication protocol which is interactive and based on short authenticated strings (SAS). We study here SAS-based non-interactive message authentication protocols (NIMAP). We start by the analysis of two popular non-interactive message authentication protocols. The first one is based on a collision-resistant hash function and was presented by Balfanz et al. The second protocol is based on a universal hash function family and was proposed by Gehrmann, Mi...

Kompresi Teks Menggunakan Algoritma Huffman Dan Md5 Pada Instant Messaging Smartphone Android

OpenAIRE

Chulkamdi, M. Taofik; Pramono, Sholeh Hadi; Yudaningtyas, Erni

2015-01-01

Instant messaging is one of Android social media application that make user possible to send short messages directly in the same time (real time) using text to another user that online in the some network, more ever a lot of user using this application as an alternative communication via short message service (SMS). Remembering how important this application, so writer make an instant message application with small text transmission that will provide in the current needs with Huffman algorith...

Design and implementation of a children vaccination reminder system based on short message service

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Marjan Ghazisaeedi

2016-09-01

Full Text Available Background: Most problems related to quality of care and patient safety are related to human negligence. One of the causes of these problems is forgetting to do something. This problem can be avoided with information technology in many cases. Some forgotten are very important. Among these is failure to comply with vaccination schedule by parents that can result in inappropriate outcomes. In this study, we developed and evaluated a SMS reminder system for regular and timely vaccination of children. Methods: In this developmental-applied research, firstly, a child vaccination reminder system was designed and implemented to help parents reduce the forgetfulness. This system based on the child's vaccination history and the date of birth, offer time and type of future vaccines. Then the parents of 27 children, that their vaccination was between 22 June and 21 August 2015, referred to Children's Medical Center, were sent text messages by using this system. We evaluated the accuracy of the system logic by using some scenarios. In addition, we evaluated parents' satisfaction with the system using a questionnaire. Results: In all cases but one, the system proposed the type and date of future children vaccines correctly. All the parents who have received text messages had good perception and satisfaction on the majority of questions (total mean score of 4.15 out of 5. Most parents (4.92 out of 5 stated that using the system to remind their visit for child immunization was helpful and willing to offer the system to their friends and other families. Conclusion: Using the short message system is beneficial for parents to remind their children’s vaccination time and increases their satisfaction. So, it can be considered as an important and essential tool in providing healthcare services. SMS is an easy, cheap and effective way to improve the quality of care services.

Ensemble methods for handwritten digit recognition

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hansen, Lars Kai; Liisberg, Christian; Salamon, P.

1992-01-01

Neural network ensembles are applied to handwritten digit recognition. The individual networks of the ensemble are combinations of sparse look-up tables (LUTs) with random receptive fields. It is shown that the consensus of a group of networks outperforms the best individual of the ensemble....... It is further shown that it is possible to estimate the ensemble performance as well as the learning curve on a medium-size database. In addition the authors present preliminary analysis of experiments on a large database and show that state-of-the-art performance can be obtained using the ensemble approach...... by optimizing the receptive fields. It is concluded that it is possible to improve performance significantly by introducing moderate-size ensembles; in particular, a 20-25% improvement has been found. The ensemble random LUTs, when trained on a medium-size database, reach a performance (without rejects) of 94...

Diabetes education via mobile text messaging.

Science.gov (United States)

Wangberg, Silje C; Arsand, Eirik; Andersson, Niklas

2006-01-01

Living with diabetes makes great educational demands on a family. We have tested the feasibility of using the mobile phone short message service (SMS) for reaching people with diabetes information. We also assessed user satisfaction and perceived pros and cons of the medium through interviews. Eleven parents of children with type 1 diabetes received messages for 11 weeks. The parents were positive about the system and said that they would like to continue to use it. The pop-up reminding effect of SMS messages in busy everyday life was noted as positive. Some parents experienced the messages as somewhat intrusive, arriving too often and at inconvenient times. The parents also noted the potential of the messages to facilitate communication with their adolescent children. The inability to store all of the messages or to print them out were seen as major disadvantages. Overall, the SMS seems to hold promise as means of delivering diabetes information.

Structural analysis of online handwritten mathematical symbols based on support vector machines

Science.gov (United States)

Simistira, Foteini; Papavassiliou, Vassilis; Katsouros, Vassilis; Carayannis, George

2013-01-01

Mathematical expression recognition is still a very challenging task for the research community mainly because of the two-dimensional (2d) structure of mathematical expressions (MEs). In this paper, we present a novel approach for the structural analysis between two on-line handwritten mathematical symbols of a ME, based on spatial features of the symbols. We introduce six features to represent the spatial affinity of the symbols and compare two multi-class classification methods that employ support vector machines (SVMs): one based on the "one-against-one" technique and one based on the "one-against-all", in identifying the relation between a pair of symbols (i.e. subscript, numerator, etc). A dataset containing 1906 spatial relations derived from the Competition on Recognition of Online Handwritten Mathematical Expressions (CROHME) 2012 training dataset is constructed to evaluate the classifiers and compare them with the rule-based classifier of the ILSP-1 system participated in the contest. The experimental results give an overall mean error rate of 2.61% for the "one-against-one" SVM approach, 6.57% for the "one-against-all" SVM technique and 12.31% error rate for the ILSP-1 classifier.

Handwritten Character Recognition Based on the Specificity and the Singularity of the Arabic Language

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Youssef Boulid

2017-08-01

Full Text Available A good Arabic handwritten recognition system must consider the characteristics of Arabic letters which can be explicit such as the presence of diacritics or implicit such as the baseline information (a virtual line on which cursive text are aligned and/join. In order to find an adequate method of features extraction, we have taken into consideration the nature of the Arabic characters. The paper investigate two methods based on two different visions: one describes the image in terms of the distribution of pixels, and the other describes it in terms of local patterns. Spatial Distribution of Pixels (SDP is used according to the first vision; whereas Local Binary Patterns (LBP are used for the second one. Tested on the Arabic portion of the Isolated Farsi Handwritten Character Database (IFHCDB and using neural networks as a classifier, SDP achieve a recognition rate around 94% while LBP achieve a recognition rate of about 96%.

Boosting bonsai trees for handwritten/printed text discrimination

Science.gov (United States)

Ricquebourg, Yann; Raymond, Christian; Poirriez, Baptiste; Lemaitre, Aurélie; Coüasnon, Bertrand

2013-12-01

Boosting over decision-stumps proved its efficiency in Natural Language Processing essentially with symbolic features, and its good properties (fast, few and not critical parameters, not sensitive to over-fitting) could be of great interest in the numeric world of pixel images. In this article we investigated the use of boosting over small decision trees, in image classification processing, for the discrimination of handwritten/printed text. Then, we conducted experiments to compare it to usual SVM-based classification revealing convincing results with very close performance, but with faster predictions and behaving far less as a black-box. Those promising results tend to make use of this classifier in more complex recognition tasks like multiclass problems.

HWNet v2: An Efficient Word Image Representation for Handwritten Documents

OpenAIRE

Krishnan, Praveen; Jawahar, C. V.

2018-01-01

We present a framework for learning efficient holistic representation for handwritten word images. The proposed method uses a deep convolutional neural network with traditional classification loss. The major strengths of our work lie in: (i) the efficient usage of synthetic data to pre-train a deep network, (ii) an adapted version of ResNet-34 architecture with region of interest pooling (referred as HWNet v2) which learns discriminative features with variable sized word images, and (iii) rea...

A comparison of 1D and 2D LSTM architectures for the recognition of handwritten Arabic

Science.gov (United States)

Yousefi, Mohammad Reza; Soheili, Mohammad Reza; Breuel, Thomas M.; Stricker, Didier

2015-01-01

In this paper, we present an Arabic handwriting recognition method based on recurrent neural network. We use the Long Short Term Memory (LSTM) architecture, that have proven successful in different printed and handwritten OCR tasks. Applications of LSTM for handwriting recognition employ the two-dimensional architecture to deal with the variations in both vertical and horizontal axis. However, we show that using a simple pre-processing step that normalizes the position and baseline of letters, we can make use of 1D LSTM, which is faster in learning and convergence, and yet achieve superior performance. In a series of experiments on IFN/ENIT database for Arabic handwriting recognition, we demonstrate that our proposed pipeline can outperform 2D LSTM networks. Furthermore, we provide comparisons with 1D LSTM networks trained with manually crafted features to show that the automatically learned features in a globally trained 1D LSTM network with our normalization step can even outperform such systems.

Public health interventions: reaching Latino adolescents via short message service and social media.

Science.gov (United States)

Vyas, Amita N; Landry, Megan; Schnider, Marisa; Rojas, Angela M; Wood, Susan F

2012-07-12

Adolescents are substantial users of short message service (SMS) and social media. The public health community now has more opportunities to reach this population with positive youth development and health messages through these media. Latinos are a growing and youthful population with significant health risks and needs. This population may benefit from SMS and social media health interventions. To examine (1) SMS and social media utilization and behavior among Latino youth, and (2) how SMS and social media can be effectively used as a component of public health interventions focused on decreasing sexual risk taking among Latino youth. A mixed-methods approach, using both quantitative survey data and qualitative interview data, was used to provide a robust understanding of SMS and social media use and behavior for public health interventions. We recruited 428 ninth and tenth grade, self-identifying Latino adolescents to participate in a quantitative survey. Additionally, we conducted five key informant interviews with staff and 15 youth. We found that 90.8% (355/391) of respondents had access to a mobile phone either through having their own or through borrowing or sharing one. Of those who had access to a mobile phone, 94.1% (334/355) used SMS, with 41.1% (113/275) sending and receiving more than 100 text messages per day. Of 395 respondents, 384 (97.2%) had at least one social media account, and the mean number of accounts was 3.0 (range 0-8). A total of 75.8% (291/384) of adolescents logged in to their account daily. Of those with a social media account, 89.1% (342/384) had a Facebook account. Youth who took the survey in English were significantly more likely than those who took it in Spanish to have access to a mobile phone (χ(2) (1 )= 5.3; 93.3% vs 86.3%; P = .02); to be high-volume texters (χ(2) (2 )= 16.8; 49.4% vs 25.3%; P Facebook account (χ(2) (1 )= 9.9; 90.9% vs 79.7%; P = .002); and to have a greater mean number of social media accounts (t(387 )= 7

Incremental Tensor Principal Component Analysis for Handwritten Digit Recognition

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Chang Liu

2014-01-01

Full Text Available To overcome the shortcomings of traditional dimensionality reduction algorithms, incremental tensor principal component analysis (ITPCA based on updated-SVD technique algorithm is proposed in this paper. This paper proves the relationship between PCA, 2DPCA, MPCA, and the graph embedding framework theoretically and derives the incremental learning procedure to add single sample and multiple samples in detail. The experiments on handwritten digit recognition have demonstrated that ITPCA has achieved better recognition performance than that of vector-based principal component analysis (PCA, incremental principal component analysis (IPCA, and multilinear principal component analysis (MPCA algorithms. At the same time, ITPCA also has lower time and space complexity.

How Online Peer-to-Peer Conversation Shapes the Effects of a Message About Healthy Sleep.

Science.gov (United States)

Robbins, Rebecca; Niederdeppe, Jeff

2017-02-01

Conversation about health messages and campaigns is common, and message-related conversations are increasingly recognized as a consequential factor in shaping message effects. The evidence base is limited, however, about the conditions under which conversation may help or hinder health communication efforts. In this study, college students (N = 301) first watched a short sleep video and were randomly assigned to either talk with a partner in an online chat conversation or proceed directly to a short survey. Unknown to participants, the chat partner was a confederate coached to say positive things about sleep and the message ('positive' chat condition), negative things ('negative' chat condition), or unrelated things ('natural' chat condition). All respondents completed a short survey on beliefs about sleep, reactions to the message, and intentions to get adequate sleep. Respondents had greater intentions to engage in healthy sleep when they engaged in positive conversation following message exposure than when they engaged in negative conversation after the message (p chat perceptions were significant predictors (p < 0.05) of intentions to achieve healthy sleep. Health message designers may benefit from understanding how messages are exchanged in peer-to-peer conversation to better predict and explain their effects.

An analysis of patient-provider secure messaging at two Veterans Health Administration medical centers: message content and resolution through secure messaging.

Science.gov (United States)

Shimada, Stephanie L; Petrakis, Beth Ann; Rothendler, James A; Zirkle, Maryan; Zhao, Shibei; Feng, Hua; Fix, Gemmae M; Ozkaynak, Mustafa; Martin, Tracey; Johnson, Sharon A; Tulu, Bengisu; Gordon, Howard S; Simon, Steven R; Woods, Susan S

2017-09-01

We sought to understand how patients and primary care teams use secure messaging (SM) to communicate with one another by analyzing secure message threads from 2 Department of Veterans Affairs facilities. We coded 1000 threads of SM communication sampled from 40 primary care teams. Most threads (94.5%) were initiated by patients (90.4%) or caregivers (4.1%); only 5.5% were initiated by primary care team members proactively reaching out to patients. Medication renewals and refills (47.2%), scheduling requests (17.6%), medication issues (12.9%), and health issues (12.7%) were the most common patient-initiated requests, followed by referrals (7.0%), administrative issues (6.5%), test results (5.4%), test issues (5.2%), informing messages (4.9%), comments about the patient portal or SM (4.1%), appreciation (3.9%), self-reported data (2.8%), life issues (1.5%), and complaints (1.5%). Very few messages were clinically urgent (0.7%) or contained other potentially challenging content. Message threads were mostly short (2.7 messages), comprising an average of 1.35 discrete content types. A substantial proportion of issues (24.2%) did not show any evidence of being resolved through SM. Time to response and extent of resolution via SM varied by message content. Proactive SM use by teams varied, but was most often for test results (32.7%), medication-related issues (21.8%), medication renewals (16.4%), or scheduling issues (18.2%). The majority of messages were transactional and initiated by patients or caregivers. Not all content categories were fully addressed over SM. Further education and training for both patients and clinical teams could improve the quality and efficiency of SM communication. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the American Medical Informatics Association 2017. This work is written by US Government employees and is in the public domain in the United States.

New Approach of Feature Extraction Method Based on the Raw Form and his Skeleton for Gujarati Handwritten Digits using Neural Networks Classifier

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K. Moro

2014-12-01

Full Text Available This paper presents an optical character recognition (OCR system for Gujarati handwritten digits. One may find so much of work for latin writing, arabic, chines, etc. but Gujarati is a language for which hardly any work is traceable especially for handwritten characters. Here in this work we have proposed a method of feature extraction based on the raw form of the character and his skeleton and we have shown the advantage of using this method over other approaches mentioned in this article.

Crafting a Real-Time Information Aggregator for Mobile Messaging

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Jenq-Shiou Leu

2010-01-01

Full Text Available Mobile messaging is evolving beyond SMS (Short Message Service text messaging with the introduction of MMS (Multimedia Messaging Service. In the past, such a scheme is used for peer-to-peer communication. Messages are generally displayed on a cellular phone with a limited-sized screen. However, such a visualizing process is not suitable to broadcast real-time SMS/MMS messages to people in public. To facilitate the instancy and publicity, we develop a real-time information aggregator—Visualizing SMS and MMS Messages System (VSMMS—to realize the concept by integrating SMS and MMS messaging over GSM/GPRS/UMTS onto a remote display device. The device exhibits messages on a larger display device in public. VSMMS features a revolutionized variation of mass media broadcasting. In this paper, we practically illustrate how to design and implement VSMMS and use a M/M/1 model to conduct a theoretical analysis about the message delay in the system queue. Meanwhile, we make an empirical performance evaluation about the message transmission time over different networks.

Effectiveness of Short Message Service Text-Based Smoking Cessation Intervention Among University Students: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

Science.gov (United States)

Müssener, Ulrika; Bendtsen, Marcus; Karlsson, Nadine; White, Ian R; McCambridge, Jim; Bendtsen, Preben

2016-03-01

Smoking is globally the most important preventable cause of ill health and death. Mobile telephone interventions and, in particular, short message service (SMS) text messaging, have the potential to overcome access barriers to traditional health services, not least among young people. To determine the effectiveness of a text-based smoking cessation intervention among young people. A single-blind, 2-arm, randomized clinical trial (Nicotine Exit [NEXit]) was conducted from October 23, 2014, to April 17, 2015; data analysis was performed from April 23, 2014, to May 22, 2015. Participants included daily or weekly smokers willing to set a quit date within 1 month of enrollment. The study used email to invite all college and university students throughout Sweden to participate. The NEXit core program is initiated with a 1- to 4-week motivational phase during which participants can choose to set a stop date. The intervention group then received 157 text messages based on components of effective smoking cessation interventions for 12 weeks. The control group received 1 text every 2 weeks thanking them for participating in the study, with delayed access to the intervention. The primary outcomes were self-reported prolonged abstinence (not having smoked >5 cigarettes over the past 8 weeks) and 4-week point prevalence of complete smoking cessation shortly after the completion of the intervention (approximately 4 months after the quit date). A total of 1590 participants, mainly between 21 and 30 years of age, were randomized into the study; 827 (573 [69.3%] women) were allocated to the intervention group and 763 (522 [68.4%] women) were included in the control group. Primary outcome data were available for 783 (94.7%) of the intervention group and 719 (94.2%) of the control group. At baseline, participants were smoking a median (range) of 63 (1-238) and 70 (2-280) cigarettes per week, respectively. Eight-week prolonged abstinence was reported by 203 participants (25.9%) in the

The Effect of Bilingualism on Communication Efficiency in Text Messages (SMS)

Science.gov (United States)

Carrier, L. Mark; Benitez, Sandra Y.

2010-01-01

The widespread use of cell phones has led to the proliferation of messages sent using the Short Messaging Service (SMS). The 160-character limit on text messages encourages the use of shortenings and other shortcuts in language use. When bilingual speakers use SMS, their access to multiple sources of vocabulary, sentence structure, and other…

The Proximate Unit in Chinese Handwritten Character Production

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Jenn-Yeu eChen

2013-08-01

Full Text Available In spoken word production, a proximate unit is the first phonological unit at the sublexical level that is selectable for production (O’Seaghdha, Chen, & Chen, 2010. The present study investigated whether the proximate unit in Chinese handwritten word production is the stroke, the radical, or something in between. A written version of the form preparation task was adopted. Chinese participants learned sets of two-character words, later were cued with the first character of each word, and had to write down the second character (the target. Response times were measured from the onset of a cue character to the onset of a written response. In Experiment 1, the target characters within a block shared (homogeneous or did not share (heterogeneous the first stroke. In Experiment 2, the first two strokes were shared in the homogeneous blocks. Response times in the homogeneous blocks and in the heterogeneous blocks were comparable in both experiments (Exp. 1: 687 ms vs. 684 ms, Exp. 2: 717 vs. 716. In Experiment 3 and 4, the target characters within a block shared or did not share the first radical. Response times in the homogeneous blocks were significantly faster than those in the heterogeneous blocks (Exp. 3: 685 vs. 704, Exp. 4: 594 vs. 650. In Experiment 5 and 6, the shared component was a Gestalt-like form that is more than a stroke, constitutes a portion of the target character, can be a stand-alone character itself, can be a radical of another character but is not a radical of the target character (e.g., 士in聲, 鼓, 穀, 款; called a logographeme. Response times in the homogeneous blocks were significantly faster than those in the heterogeneous blocks (Exp. 5: 576 vs. 625, Exp. 6: 586 vs. 620. These results suggest a model of Chinese handwritten character production in which the stroke is not a functional unit, the radical plays the role of a morpheme, and the logographeme is the proximate unit.

Evaluation of Sexual Communication Message Strategies

Science.gov (United States)

2011-01-01

Parent-child communication about sex is an important proximal reproductive health outcome. But while campaigns to promote it such as the Parents Speak Up National Campaign (PSUNC) have been effective, little is known about how messages influence parental cognitions and behavior. This study examines which message features explain responses to sexual communication messages. We content analyzed 4 PSUNC ads to identify specific, measurable message and advertising execution features. We then develop quantitative measures of those features, including message strategies, marketing strategies, and voice and other stylistic features, and merged the resulting data into a dataset drawn from a national media tracking survey of the campaign. Finally, we conducted multivariable logistic regression models to identify relationships between message content and ad reactions/receptivity, and between ad reactions/receptivity and parents' cognitions related to sexual communication included in the campaign's conceptual model. We found that overall parents were highly receptive to the PSUNC ads. We did not find significant associations between message content and ad reactions/receptivity. However, we found that reactions/receptivity to specific PSUNC ads were associated with increased norms, self-efficacy, short- and long-term expectations about parent-child sexual communication, as theorized in the conceptual model. This study extends previous research and methods to analyze message content and reactions/receptivity. The results confirm and extend previous PSUNC campaign evaluation and provide further evidence for the conceptual model. Future research should examine additional message content features and the effects of reactions/receptivity. PMID:21599875

Evaluation of Sexual Communication Message Strategies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Khan Munziba

2011-05-01

Full Text Available Abstract Parent-child communication about sex is an important proximal reproductive health outcome. But while campaigns to promote it such as the Parents Speak Up National Campaign (PSUNC have been effective, little is known about how messages influence parental cognitions and behavior. This study examines which message features explain responses to sexual communication messages. We content analyzed 4 PSUNC ads to identify specific, measurable message and advertising execution features. We then develop quantitative measures of those features, including message strategies, marketing strategies, and voice and other stylistic features, and merged the resulting data into a dataset drawn from a national media tracking survey of the campaign. Finally, we conducted multivariable logistic regression models to identify relationships between message content and ad reactions/receptivity, and between ad reactions/receptivity and parents' cognitions related to sexual communication included in the campaign's conceptual model. We found that overall parents were highly receptive to the PSUNC ads. We did not find significant associations between message content and ad reactions/receptivity. However, we found that reactions/receptivity to specific PSUNC ads were associated with increased norms, self-efficacy, short- and long-term expectations about parent-child sexual communication, as theorized in the conceptual model. This study extends previous research and methods to analyze message content and reactions/receptivity. The results confirm and extend previous PSUNC campaign evaluation and provide further evidence for the conceptual model. Future research should examine additional message content features and the effects of reactions/receptivity.

The effect of positive and negative message framing on short term continuous positive airway pressure compliance in patients with obstructive sleep apnea.

Science.gov (United States)

Pengo, Martino F; Czaban, Marcin; Berry, Marc P; Nirmalan, Prajeshan; Brown, Richard; Birdseye, Adam; Woroszyl, Asia; Chapman, Julia; Kent, Brian D; Hart, Nicholas; Rossi, Gian Paolo; Steier, Joerg

2018-01-01

Continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP), the best available treatment for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), requires long-term compliance to be effective. Behavioral interventions may be used to improve adherence to CPAP. We aimed to investigate whether positive or negative message framing impacts on CPAP compliance in patients with OSA, when compared to standard care. Consenting patients with confirmed OSA were randomly allocated to receive along with their CPAP either positively or negatively framed messages (Pos; Neg), or standard care (Con). Standardized motivational messages were read out to patients during an initial teaching session and through weekly telephone calls. Patients' compliance data were reviewed 2 and 6 weeks following CPAP initiation. We randomized 112 patients to groups that were matched for age, BMI, and OSA severity. The positively framed group (Pos) showed greater CPAP usage after 2 weeks (total use 53.7±31.4 hours) as compared to the negatively framed and the control group (35.6±27.4 and 40.8±33.5 hours, Pframed groups (Pos n=5; Neg n=8; Con n=11; Pframed messages can improve CPAP adherence in patients with OSA in the short-term; however, strategies for implementing its long-term use need to be developed.

Short message service (SMS) language and written language skills ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

SMS language is English language slang, used as a means of mobile phone text messaging. This practice may impact on the written language skills of learners at school. The main aim of this study was to determine the perspectives of Grade 8 and 9 English (as Home Language) educators in Gauteng regarding the ...

A Proposed Arabic Handwritten Text Normalization Method

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Tarik Abu-Ain

2014-11-01

Full Text Available Text normalization is an important technique in document image analysis and recognition. It consists of many preprocessing stages, which include slope correction, text padding, skew correction, and straight the writing line. In this side, text normalization has an important role in many procedures such as text segmentation, feature extraction and characters recognition. In the present article, a new method for text baseline detection, straightening, and slant correction for Arabic handwritten texts is proposed. The method comprises a set of sequential steps: first components segmentation is done followed by components text thinning; then, the direction features of the skeletons are extracted, and the candidate baseline regions are determined. After that, selection of the correct baseline region is done, and finally, the baselines of all components are aligned with the writing line.  The experiments are conducted on IFN/ENIT benchmark Arabic dataset. The results show that the proposed method has a promising and encouraging performance.

High-precision GNSS ocean positioning with BeiDou short-message communication

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Bofeng; Zhang, Zhiteng; Zang, Nan; Wang, Siyao

2018-04-01

The current popular GNSS RTK technique would be not applicable on ocean due to the limited communication access for transmitting differential corrections. A new technique is proposed for high-precision ocean RTK, referred to as ORTK, where the corrections are transmitted by employing the function of BeiDou satellite short-message communication (SMC). To overcome the limitation of narrow bandwidth of BeiDou SMC, a new strategy of simplifying and encoding corrections is proposed instead of standard differential corrections, which reduces the single-epoch corrections from more than 1000 to less than 300 bytes. To solve the problems of correction delays, cycle slips, blunders and abnormal epochs over ultra-long baseline ORTK, a series of powerful algorithms were designed at the user-end software for achieving the stable and precise kinematic solutions on far ocean applications. The results from two long baselines of 240 and 420 km and real ocean experiments reveal that the kinematic solutions with horizontal accuracy of 5 cm and vertical accuracy of better than 15 cm are achievable by convergence time of 3-10 min. Compared to commercial ocean PPP with satellite telecommunication, ORTK is of much cheaper expense, higher accuracy and shorter convergence. It will be very prospective in many location-based ocean services.

The effect of a short message service maintenance treatment on body mass index and psychological well-being in overweight and obese children: a randomized controlled trial

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Passchier, J.; de Niet, J.; Timman, R.; Bauer, S.; van den Akker, E.; Buijks, H.; De Klerk, C.; Kordy, H.

2012-01-01

Objective: Maintaining weight loss results in childhood obesity treatment is difficult to achieve. Self-management techniques such as self-monitoring are associated with increased weight loss and maintenance. This study analyzes whether self-monitoring of lifestyle behaviours through a short message

Alternative Data Storage Solution for Mobile Messaging Services

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

David C. C. Ong

2007-01-01

Full Text Available In recent years, mobile devices have become relatively more powerful with additional features which have the capability to provide multimedia streaming. Better, faster and more reliable data storage solutions in the mobile messaging platform have become more essential with these additional improvements. The existing mobile messaging infrastructure, in particular the data storage platform has become less proficient in coping with the increased demand for its services. This demand especially in the mobile messaging area (i.e. SMS – Short Messaging Service, MMS – Multimedia Messaging Service, which may well exceeded 250,000 requests per second, means that the need to evaluate competing data management systems has become not only necessary but essential. This paper presents an evaluation of SMS and MMS platforms using different database management systems – DBMS and recommends the best data management strategies for these platforms.

Two-Way Text Messaging: An Interactive Mobile Learning Environment in Higher Education

Science.gov (United States)

Premadasa, H. K. Salinda; Meegama, R. G. N.

2016-01-01

Short messaging service (SMS) is perhaps the most popular mobile technology prevalent among students in higher education due to its ubiquitous nature and the capability of two-way communication. However, a major limitation in two-way text messaging is sending back a part of received data with the reply message. This limitation results in users of…

Mobile phone text messaging improves antihypertensive drug adherence in the community.

Science.gov (United States)

Varleta, Paola; Acevedo, Mónica; Akel, Carlos; Salinas, Claudia; Navarrete, Carlos; García, Ana; Echegoyen, Carolina; Rodriguez, Daniel; Gramusset, Lissette; Leon, Sandra; Cofré, Pedro; Retamal, Raquel; Romero, Katerine

2017-12-01

Antihypertensive drug adherence (ADA) is a mainstay in blood pressure control. Education through mobile phone short message system (SMS) text messaging could improve ADA. The authors conducted a randomized study involving 314 patients with hypertension with Text messaging intervention improved ADA (risk ratio, 1.3; 95% confidence interval, 1.0-1.6 [Ptext messaging resulted in an increase in reporting ADA in this hypertensive Latino population. This approach could become an effective tool to overcome poor medication adherence in the community. ©2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Perceptions and acceptability of short message services technology to improve treatment adherence amongst tuberculosis patients in Peru: a Focus Group Study.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sandra Albino

Full Text Available Tuberculosis (TB is global health concern and a leading infectious cause of mortality. Reversing TB incidence and disease-related mortality is a major global health priority. Infectious disease mortality is directly linked to failure to adhere to treatments. Using technology to send reminders by short message services have been shown to improve treatment adherence. However, few studies have examined tuberculosis patient perceptions and attitudes towards using SMS technology to increase treatment adherence. In this study, we sought to investigate perceptions related to feasibility and acceptability of using text messaging to improve treatment adherence among adults who were receiving treatment for TB in Callao, Peru.We conducted focus group qualitative interviews with current TB positive and non-contagious participants to understand the attitudes, perceptions, and feasibility of using short message service (SMS reminders to improve TB treatment adherence. Subjects receiving care through the National TB Program were recruited through public health centers in Ventanilla, Callao, Peru. In four focus groups, we interviewed 16 patients. All interviews were recorded and transcribed verbatim. Thematic network analysis and codebook techniques were used to analyze data.Three major themes emerged from the data: limits on health literacy and information posed challenges to successful TB treatment adherence, treatment motivation at times facilitated adherence to TB treatment, and acceptability of SMS including positive perceptions of SMS to improve TB treatment adherence. The majority of patients shared considerations about how to effectively and confidentially administer an SMS intervention with TB positive participants.The overall perceptions of the use of SMS were positive and indicated that SMS technology may be an efficient way to transmit motivational texts on treatment, health education information, and simple reminders to increase treatment adherence

Perceptions and acceptability of short message services technology to improve treatment adherence amongst tuberculosis patients in Peru: a Focus Group Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Albino, Sandra; Tabb, Karen M; Requena, David; Egoavil, Miguel; Pineros-Leano, Maria F; Zunt, Joseph R; García, Patricia J

2014-01-01

Tuberculosis (TB) is global health concern and a leading infectious cause of mortality. Reversing TB incidence and disease-related mortality is a major global health priority. Infectious disease mortality is directly linked to failure to adhere to treatments. Using technology to send reminders by short message services have been shown to improve treatment adherence. However, few studies have examined tuberculosis patient perceptions and attitudes towards using SMS technology to increase treatment adherence. In this study, we sought to investigate perceptions related to feasibility and acceptability of using text messaging to improve treatment adherence among adults who were receiving treatment for TB in Callao, Peru. We conducted focus group qualitative interviews with current TB positive and non-contagious participants to understand the attitudes, perceptions, and feasibility of using short message service (SMS) reminders to improve TB treatment adherence. Subjects receiving care through the National TB Program were recruited through public health centers in Ventanilla, Callao, Peru. In four focus groups, we interviewed 16 patients. All interviews were recorded and transcribed verbatim. Thematic network analysis and codebook techniques were used to analyze data. Three major themes emerged from the data: limits on health literacy and information posed challenges to successful TB treatment adherence, treatment motivation at times facilitated adherence to TB treatment, and acceptability of SMS including positive perceptions of SMS to improve TB treatment adherence. The majority of patients shared considerations about how to effectively and confidentially administer an SMS intervention with TB positive participants. The overall perceptions of the use of SMS were positive and indicated that SMS technology may be an efficient way to transmit motivational texts on treatment, health education information, and simple reminders to increase treatment adherence for low

Using short-message-service notification as a method to improve acute flaccid paralysis surveillance in Papua New Guinea

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Siddhartha Sankar Datta

2016-05-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background High quality acute flaccid paralysis (AFP surveillance is required to maintain polio-free status of a country. Papua New Guinea (PNG is considered as one of the highest risk countries for polio re-importation and circulation in the Western Pacific Region (WPRO of the World Health Organization due to poor healthcare infrastructure and inadequate performance in AFP surveillance. The Government of PNG, in collaboration with WHO, piloted the introduction of short-message-service (SMS to sensitize pediatricians and provincial disease control officers on AFP and to receive notification of possible AFP cases to improve surveillance quality in PNG. Methods Ninety six health care professionals were registered to receive SMS reminders to report any case of acute flaccid paralysis. Fourteen SMS messages were sent to each participant from September 2012 to November 2013. The number of reported AFP cases were compared before and after the introduction of SMS. Results Two hundred fifty three unique responses were received with an overall response rate of 21 %. More than 80 % of responses were reported within 3 days of sending the SMS. The number of reported AFP cases increased from 10 cases per year in 2009–2012 to 25 cases per year during the study period and correlated with provincial participation of the health care professionals. Conclusions Combined with improved sensitization of health care professionals on AFP reporting criteria and sample collection, SMS messaging provides an effective means to increase timely reporting and improve the availability of epidemiologic information on polio surveillance in PNG.

SISTEM PEMESANAN KAMAR RAWAT INAP MENGGUNAKAN SHORT MESSAGE SERVICES (SMS PADA RUMAH SAKIT

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Beny Irawan

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Manusia hidup di dunia ada bermacam-macam bentuk tubuh, besar, kecil, tua-muda, laki-laki, perempuan, bentuk muka, warna kulit atau kondisi fisiknya ada yang sehat dan sakit. Semakin bertambahnya manusia di alam ini, semakin banyak persentase kemungkinan orang mengalami sakit mendadak, sehingga membutuhkan perawatan medis yang mendadak juga. Untuk itu, diperlukan suatu cara yang paling mudah untuk melakukan konfirmasi ada atau tidaknya kamar untuk rawat inap di rumah sakit yang bersangkutan, sehingga pasien tidak harus melakukan pemesanan kamar ketika sudah tiba di rumah sakit yang bersangkutan, dan kemudian semua kamar sudah penuh dan harus dipindahkan lagi ke rumah sakit lain. Hal ini menyebabkan si pasien akan mengalami keterlambatan untuk ditangani, sehingga bisa berakibat fatal bagi pasien tersebut. Permasalahan tersebut dapat ditangani dengan pengembangan sistem baru menggunakan short message services (sms terutama untuk pemesanan kamar rawat inap, dan untuk mengetahui jenis pelayanan lain yang ada di rumah sakit tersebut melalui website rumah sakit, sehingga sistem pemesanan kamar semakin efektif dan efisien. Namun, sistem yang dikembangkan masih memiliki kelemahan karena sistem hanya dapat digunakan pada telepon selular yang menggunakan modem GSM.

Handwritten Devanagari Character Recognition Using Layer-Wise Training of Deep Convolutional Neural Networks and Adaptive Gradient Methods

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Mahesh Jangid

2018-02-01

Full Text Available Handwritten character recognition is currently getting the attention of researchers because of possible applications in assisting technology for blind and visually impaired users, human–robot interaction, automatic data entry for business documents, etc. In this work, we propose a technique to recognize handwritten Devanagari characters using deep convolutional neural networks (DCNN which are one of the recent techniques adopted from the deep learning community. We experimented the ISIDCHAR database provided by (Information Sharing Index ISI, Kolkata and V2DMDCHAR database with six different architectures of DCNN to evaluate the performance and also investigate the use of six recently developed adaptive gradient methods. A layer-wise technique of DCNN has been employed that helped to achieve the highest recognition accuracy and also get a faster convergence rate. The results of layer-wise-trained DCNN are favorable in comparison with those achieved by a shallow technique of handcrafted features and standard DCNN.

Instant Apache Camel message routing

CERN Document Server

Ibryam, Bilgin

2013-01-01

Filled with practical, step-by-step instructions and clear explanations for the most important and useful tasks. This short, instruction-based guide shows you how to perform application integration using the industry standard Enterprise Integration Patterns.This book is intended for Java developers who are new to Apache Camel and message- oriented applications.

Using mobile phones and short message service to deliver self-management interventions for chronic conditions: a meta-review.

Science.gov (United States)

Jones, Katherine R; Lekhak, Nirmala; Kaewluang, Napatsawan

2014-04-01

The worldwide burden of chronic disease is widespread and growing. This shift from acute to chronic care requires rethinking how resources are invested in managing these conditions. One response has been to create programs and interventions that have the goal of helping patients better manage their own conditions. Over time, these self-management interventions and strategies have increasingly relied on various technologies for their implementation, with the newest technology being mobile phones and short message service (SMS). The objective of this meta-review was to evaluate the current evidence on the use of mobile phones and SMS to deliver self-management interventions for chronic conditions. A meta-review was conducted of the 11 systematic reviews (SRs) that were identified and retrieved after an extensive search of electronic databases covering the years 2000-2012. Relevant information was abstracted from each systematic review and a quality assessment carried out using the AMSTAR ("A Measurement Tool to Assess Systematic Reviews") criteria. The number and types of included studies and total number of subjects varied significantly across the systematic reviews. Mobile phone text messaging was reported to significantly improve adherence to appointments and antiretroviral therapy, short-term smoking quit rates, and selected clinical and behavioral outcomes. AMSTAR scores ranged from 11 to 3, reflecting substantial variation in SR quality. Mobile phones and SMS show promise as a technology to deliver self-management interventions to improve outcomes of chronic care management. However, the quality of future studies and systematic reviews needs to be improved. There also are unresolved issues about the technology itself. © 2014 Sigma Theta Tau International.

Perancangan Dan Realisasi Sistem Transmisi Data GPS Menggunakan Teknologi SMS (Short Messaging Service Sebagai Aplikasi Sistem Personal Tracking

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

DECY NATALIANA

2017-06-01

Full Text Available Abstrak Berprinsip pada pengembangan teknologi dan aplikasi dari sistem penjejakan posisi (tracking, maka dibuatlah sistem personal tracking dengan mentransmisikan data GPS (Global Positioning System dengan menggunakan teknologi SMS (Short Messaging Service pada jaringan GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications sebagai media transmisinya.  Dengan sistem GPS akan diperoleh data garis lintang, serta garis bujur dari GPS receiver.  Data tersebut akan diteruskan oleh mikrokontroler untuk dikirim ke ponsel pengamat melalui komunikasi SMS.  Hasil pengujian menunjukkan bahwa device personal tracking berhasil mengirimkan data berupa IMEI, Tanggal satelit, waktu satelit, koordinat longitude, koordinat latitude, dan jumlah satelit yang berhasil ditangkap oleh device ke ponsel pengamat.  Dari data koordinat tersebut pengamat dapat memantau posisi device personal tracking berada dengan bantuan aplikasi pendukung yaitu Google Maps. Kata kunci: GPS, Personal Tracking, SMS, Google Maps.   Abstract Base on technology and application development of tracking, personal tracking system was made by transmiting GPS (Global Positioning System data using SMS (Short Messaging Service technology with GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications network as transmitter media.  BY GPS system, we can get datas such as latitude and longitude of GPS receiver.  Those datas will be processed by microcontroller to be sent from GSM/GPRS module to user cellular phone through SMS communication.  The test result showed that the device can be sending datas such as IMEI, UTC date, UTC time, longitude coordinate, latitude coordinate, and number sattelite which detected by device to user’s phonecell.  From those coordinate, user can be monitoring the device’s position with the Google Maps application. Keywords: GPS, Personal Tracking, SMS, Google Maps.

Instant messaging at the hospital: supporting articulation work?

Science.gov (United States)

Iversen, Tobias Buschmann; Melby, Line; Toussaint, Pieter

2013-09-01

Clinical work is increasingly fragmented and requires extensive articulation and coordination. Computer systems may support such work. In this study, we investigate how instant messaging functions as a tool for supporting articulation work at the hospital. This paper aims to describe the characteristics of instant messaging communication in terms of number and length of messages, distribution over time, and the number of participants included in conversations. We also aim to determine what kind of articulation work is supported by analysing message content. Analysis of one month's worth of instant messages sent through the perioperative coordination and communication system at a Danish hospital. Instant messaging was found to be used extensively for articulation work, mostly through short, simple conversational exchanges. It is used particularly often for communication concerning the patient, specifically, the coordination and logistics of patient care. Instant messaging is used by all actors involved in the perioperative domain. Articulation work and clinical work are hard to separate in a real clinical setting. Predefined messages and strict workflow design do not suffice when supporting communication in the context of collaborative clinical work. Flexibility is of vital importance, and this needs to be reflected in the design of supportive communication systems. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Two-way text messaging: an interactive mobile learning environment in higher education

OpenAIRE

Premadasa, H. K. Salinda; Meegama, R. G. N.

2016-01-01

Short messaging service (SMS) is perhaps the most popular mobile technology prevalent among students in higher education due to its ubiquitous nature and the capability of two-way communication. However, a major limitation in two-way text messaging is sending back a part of received data with the reply message. This limitation results in users of a mobile learning environment being unable to reply back to the correct destination. This article presents a two-way text messaging system that can ...

Effectiveness of mobile-phone short message service (SMS reminders for ophthalmology outpatient appointments: Observational study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Car Josip

2008-05-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Non-attendance for hospital outpatient appointments is a significant problem in many countries. It causes suboptimal use of clinical and administrative staff and financial losses, as well as longer waiting times. The use of Short Message Service (SMS appointment reminders potentially offers a cost-effective and time-efficient strategy to decrease non-attendance and so improve the efficiency of outpatient healthcare delivery. Methods An SMS text message was sent to patients with scheduled appointments between April and September 2006 in a hospital ophthalmology department in London, reminding them of their appointments. This group acted as the intervention group. Controls were patients with scheduled ophthalmology appointments who did not receive an SMS or any alternative reminder. Results During the period of the study, 11.2% (50/447 of patients who received an SMS appointment reminder were non-attenders, compared to 18.1% (1720/9512 who did not receive an SMS reminder. Non-attendance rates were 38% lower in patients who received an SMS reminder than in patients who did not receive a reminder (RR of non-attendance = 0.62; 95% CI = 0.48 – 0.80. Conclusion The use of SMS reminders for ophthalmology outpatient appointments was associated with a reduction of 38% in the likelihood of patients not attending their appointments, compared to no appointment reminder. The use of SMS reminders may also be more cost-effective than traditional appointment reminders and require less labour. These findings should be confirmed with a more rigorous study design before a wider roll-out.

Testing the effects of a message framing intervention on intentions towards hearing loss prevention in adolescents.

Science.gov (United States)

de Bruijn, Gert-Jan; Spaans, Pieter; Jansen, Bastiaan; van't Riet, Jonathan

2016-04-01

Adolescent hearing loss is a public health problem that has eluded effective intervention. A persuasive message strategy was tested for its effectiveness on adolescents' intention to listen to music at a reduced volume. The messages manipulated both type of message frame [positive consequences of listening to music at a reduced volume (gain-framed) versus negative consequences of not listening to music at a reduced volume (loss-framed)] and type of temporal context (short-term versus long-term consequences). Participants were recruited from four vocational and secondary education schools in the Netherlands and message exposure took place online during class hours. Two weeks prior to message exposure, adolescents provided data on intention and risk perception towards hearing loss and use of (digital) music players. After message exposure, 194 adolescents (mean age = 14.71 years, SD = 1.00, 37.8% males) provided immediate follow-up data on intention. Results revealed that intention to listen to music at a reduced volume increased in those exposed to a loss-framed message with short-term consequences. No changes were found in the other conditions. Messages that emphasize negative short-term consequences of not listening to music at a moderate volume have the ability to influence adolescents' intention towards hearing loss prevention. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Creating Effective Media Messaging for Rural Smoke-free Policy.

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Riker, Carol A; Butler, Karen M; Ricks, JaNelle M; Record, Rachael A; Begley, Kathy; Anderson, Debra Gay; Hahn, Ellen J

2015-01-01

Objectives were to (1) explore perceived effectiveness of existing smoke-free print advertisements in rural communities and (2) generate message content, characteristics, and media delivery channels that resonate with residents. Qualitative methods design. Thirty-nine rural adults recruited by community partners. Content analysis of findings from individuals in four focus groups who participated in general discussion and reviewed eight print ads related to secondhand smoke (SHS) and smoke-free policy. Six content themes were identified: smoking/SHS dangers, worker health, analogies, economic impact, rights, and nostalgia. Seven message characteristics were recognized: short/to the point, large enough to read, graphic images, poignant stories, statistics/charts/graphs, message sender, and messages targeting different groups. Four media delivery channels were considered most effective: local media, technology, billboard messages, and print materials. Seeking input from key informants is essential to reaching rural residents. Use of analogies in media messaging is a distinct contribution to the literature on effective smoke-free campaigns. Other findings support previous studies of effective messaging and delivery channels. Further research is needed to examine effectiveness of themes related to message content in smoke-free ads and delivery strategies. Effective media messaging can lead to policy change in rural communities to reduce exposure to SHS. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Alert Messaging in the CMS Distributed Workflow System

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Maxa, Zdenek

2012-01-01

WMAgent is the core component of the CMS workload management system. One of the features of this job managing platform is a configurable messaging system aimed at generating, distributing and processing alerts: short messages describing a given alert-worthy information or pathological condition. Apart from the framework's sub-components running within the WMAgent instances, there is a stand-alone application collecting alerts from all WMAgent instances running across the CMS distributed computing environment. The alert framework has a versatile design that allows for receiving alert messages also from other CMS production applications, such as PhEDEx data transfer manager. We present implementation details of the system, including its Python implementation using ZeroMQ, CouchDB message storage and future visions as well as operational experiences. Inter-operation with monitoring platforms such as Dashboard or Lemon is described.

Design and implementation of modular home security system with short messaging system

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Budijono Santoso

2014-03-01

Full Text Available Today we are living in 21st century where crime become increasing and everyone wants to secure they asset at their home. In that situation user must have system with advance technology so person do not worry when getting away from his home. It is therefore the purpose of this design to provide home security device, which send fast information to user GSM (Global System for Mobile mobile device using SMS (Short Messaging System and also activate - deactivate system by SMS. The Modular design of this Home Security System make expandable their capability by add more sensors on that system. Hardware of this system has been designed using microcontroller AT Mega 328, PIR (Passive Infra Red motion sensor as the primary sensor for motion detection, camera for capturing images, GSM module for sending and receiving SMS and buzzer for alarm. For software this system using Arduino IDE for Arduino and Putty for testing connection programming in GSM module. This Home Security System can monitor home area that surrounding by PIR sensor and sending SMS, save images capture by camera, and make people panic by turn on the buzzer when trespassing surrounding area that detected by PIR sensor. The Modular Home Security System has been tested and succeed detect human movement.

An Examination of Adolescent Recall of Anti-Smoking Messages: Attitudes, Message Type, and Message Perceptions.

Science.gov (United States)

Bigsby, Elisabeth; Monahan, Jennifer L; Ewoldsen, David R

2017-04-01

Delayed message recall may be influenced by currently held accessible attitudes, the nature of the message, and message perceptions (perception of bias and message elaboration). This study examined the potential of message perceptions to mediate the influence of valenced attitude accessibility and message type on unaided recall of anti-smoking Public Service Announcements (PSAs). In a field experiment, ninth grade students (N = 244) watched three PSAs and responded to items on laptop computers. Twelve weeks later, follow-up telephone surveys were conducted to assess unaided recall. Both valenced attitude accessibility and message type were associated with message perceptions. However, only perception of message bias partially mediated the relationship between message type and unaided recall.

A Novel Handwritten Letter Recognizer Using Enhanced Evolutionary Neural Network

Science.gov (United States)

Mahmoudi, Fariborz; Mirzashaeri, Mohsen; Shahamatnia, Ehsan; Faridnia, Saed

This paper introduces a novel design for handwritten letter recognition by employing a hybrid back-propagation neural network with an enhanced evolutionary algorithm. Feeding the neural network consists of a new approach which is invariant to translation, rotation, and scaling of input letters. Evolutionary algorithm is used for the global search of the search space and the back-propagation algorithm is used for the local search. The results have been computed by implementing this approach for recognizing 26 English capital letters in the handwritings of different people. The computational results show that the neural network reaches very satisfying results with relatively scarce input data and a promising performance improvement in convergence of the hybrid evolutionary back-propagation algorithms is exhibited.

A study of symbol segmentation method for handwritten mathematical formula recognition using mathematical structure information

OpenAIRE

Toyozumi, Kenichi; Yamada, Naoya; Kitasaka, Takayuki; Mori, Kensaku; Suenaga, Yasuhito; Mase, Kenji; Takahashi, Tomoichi

2004-01-01

Symbol segmentation is very important in handwritten mathematical formula recognition, since it is the very first portion of the recognition, since it is the very first portion of the recognition process. This paper proposes a new symbol segmentation method using mathematical structure information. The base technique of symbol segmentation employed in theexisting methods is dynamic programming which optimizes the overall results of individual symbol recognition. The new method we propose here...

Gendered, Bilingual Communication Practices: Mobile text-messaging among Hong Kong College Students

OpenAIRE

Angel Lin

2005-01-01

Mobile text messaging—variously known as SMS (short message service), text messaging, or texting—has become a common means of keeping in constant touch, especially among young people, in many parts of the world today. The research literature abounds with studies on the social, cultural, and communicative aspects of mobile text messaging in different sociocultural contexts in the world. In this paper, current theoretical positions in the research literature on mobile communication will be summ...

Temporal Consequences, Message Framing, and Consideration of Future Consequences: Persuasion Effects on Adult Fruit Intake Intention and Resolve.

Science.gov (United States)

de Bruijn, Gert-Jan; Budding, Jeen

2016-08-01

Message framing is a persuasive strategy that has seen mixed evidence for promoting fruit intake intentions, potentially because framed messages for fruit intake have not (a) explicitly compared short-term consequences versus long-term consequences, (b) considered individual-level differences in time perspective, and (c) used alternative measures of fruit intake intentions. In the present online study, the effects of persuasive messages created from temporal context (short term vs. long term) and message frame (gain framed vs. loss framed) were investigated on fruit intake intentions and resolve among a sample of Dutch adults who were categorized as either present oriented or future oriented. For intention and resolve, results showed a significant Type of Frame × Type of Temporal Context interaction, such that gain-framed messages were more persuasive when combined with long-term consequences and loss-framed messages were more persuasive when combined with short-term consequences. The effect sizes for these differences were similar for resolve and intention, but only differences for intentions were significant. No other effects were found. These results demonstrate that message framing theory may usefully consider the inclusion of temporal context of outcomes and alternative motivation measures to maximize their persuasive effects.

Exploring Factors Influencing Mobile Users' Intention to Adopt Multimedia Messaging Service

Science.gov (United States)

Chang, Shuchih Ernest; Pan, Ying-Hui Vera

2011-01-01

While short messaging service (SMS) is discussed often in recent literature, multimedia messaging service (MMS), a media rich successor of SMS, is seldom heard or understood by mobile users in Taiwan. The adoption rates of MMS are far from satisfactory, implying that there might be some factors keeping the potential users away from using MMS. This…

Ancient administrative handwritten documents: X-ray analysis and imaging

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Albertin, F.; Astolfo, A.; Stampanoni, M.; Peccenini, Eva; Hwu, Y.; Kaplan, F.; Margaritondo, G.

2015-01-01

The heavy-element content of ink in ancient administrative documents makes it possible to detect the characters with different synchrotron imaging techniques, based on attenuation or refraction. This is the first step in the direction of non-interactive virtual X-ray reading. Handwritten characters in administrative antique documents from three centuries have been detected using different synchrotron X-ray imaging techniques. Heavy elements in ancient inks, present even for everyday administrative manuscripts as shown by X-ray fluorescence spectra, produce attenuation contrast. In most cases the image quality is good enough for tomography reconstruction in view of future applications to virtual page-by-page ‘reading’. When attenuation is too low, differential phase contrast imaging can reveal the characters from refractive index effects. The results are potentially important for new information harvesting strategies, for example from the huge Archivio di Stato collection, objective of the Venice Time Machine project

Ancient administrative handwritten documents: X-ray analysis and imaging

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Albertin, F., E-mail: fauzia.albertin@epfl.ch [Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), CH-1015 Lausanne (Switzerland); Astolfo, A. [Paul Scherrer Institut (PSI), Villigen (Switzerland); Stampanoni, M. [Paul Scherrer Institut (PSI), Villigen (Switzerland); ETHZ, Zürich (Switzerland); Peccenini, Eva [University of Ferrara (Italy); Technopole of Ferrara (Italy); Hwu, Y. [Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan (China); Kaplan, F. [Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) (Switzerland); Margaritondo, G. [Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), CH-1015 Lausanne (Switzerland)

2015-01-30

The heavy-element content of ink in ancient administrative documents makes it possible to detect the characters with different synchrotron imaging techniques, based on attenuation or refraction. This is the first step in the direction of non-interactive virtual X-ray reading. Handwritten characters in administrative antique documents from three centuries have been detected using different synchrotron X-ray imaging techniques. Heavy elements in ancient inks, present even for everyday administrative manuscripts as shown by X-ray fluorescence spectra, produce attenuation contrast. In most cases the image quality is good enough for tomography reconstruction in view of future applications to virtual page-by-page ‘reading’. When attenuation is too low, differential phase contrast imaging can reveal the characters from refractive index effects. The results are potentially important for new information harvesting strategies, for example from the huge Archivio di Stato collection, objective of the Venice Time Machine project.

Managing healthcare information using short message service (SMS) in wireless broadband networks

Science.gov (United States)

Documet, Jorge; Tsao, Sinchai; Documet, Luis; Liu, Brent J.; Zhou, Zheng; Joseph, Anika O.

2007-03-01

Due to the ubiquity of cell phones, SMS (Short Message Service) has become an ideal means to wirelessly manage a Healthcare environment and in particular PACS (Picture Archival and Communications System) data. SMS is a flexible and mobile method for real-time access and control of Healthcare information systems such as HIS (Hospital Information System) or PACS. Unlike conventional wireless access methods, SMS' mobility is not limited by the presence of a WiFi network or any other localized signal. It provides a simple, reliable yet flexible method to communicate with an information system. In addition, SMS services are widely available for low costs from cellular phone service providers and allows for more mobility than other services such as wireless internet. This paper aims to describe a use case of SMS as a means of remotely communicating with a PACS server. Remote access to a PACS server and its Query-Retrieve services allows for a more convenient, flexible and streamlined radiology workflow. Wireless access methods such as SMS will increase dedicated PACS workstation availability for more specialized DICOM (Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine) workflow management. This implementation will address potential security, performance and cost issues of applying SMS as part of a healthcare information management system. This is in an effort to design a wireless communication system with optimal mobility and flexibility at minimum material and time costs.

Does SMS Text Messaging Help or Harm Adults' Knowledge of Standard Spelling?

Science.gov (United States)

Powell, D.; Dixon, M.

2011-01-01

The recent increase in short messaging system (SMS) text messaging, often using abbreviated, non-conventional "textisms" (e.g. "2nite"), in school-aged children has raised fears of negative consequences of such technology for literacy. The current research used a paradigm developed by Dixon and Kaminska, who showed that exposure to phonetically…

Micro-cultural customization of organ donation propagation messages.

Science.gov (United States)

Dunkel, Anke; Nakamoto, Kent; Schulz, Peter J

2018-05-01

Organ transplantation is plagued by limited availability of organs. This study investigated the effect of messages promoting organ donation which were customized according to the language-defined micro-cultures in Switzerland. Community-, informative-, and emotional-oriented messages were carried by conventional flyers. A 3 × 3 between-subjects experiment was conducted with short- and long-term willingness to donate, long-term signing of organ donation card and long-term interpersonal communication on organ donation as outcome variables. The culturally customized interventions appeared to have no immediate effect and consequently no differential effect on willingness to donate organs and on signing a donor card. Among the Swiss Germans, of the three messages, the community-oriented one instigated less interpersonal communication. Findings are consistent with a mechanism in which the message does not have an immediate effect on willingness to donate organs but motivates further thought and related behaviors that lead to higher commitment and later increased willingness to donate. Targeting not only the message but also the objective that drives the messages must be considered. Campaigns should include elements that build on the unfolding commitment process to promote the follow-up actions that lead to greater willingness. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Randomized Trial of a Smartphone Mobile Application Compared to Text Messaging to Support Smoking Cessation

OpenAIRE

Buller, David B.; Borland, Ron; Bettinghaus, Erwin P.; Shane, James H.; Zimmerman, Donald E.

2014-01-01

Background: Text messaging has successfully supported smoking cessation. This study compares a mobile application with text messaging to support smoking cessation. Materials and Methods: Young adult smokers 18–30 years old (n=102) participated in a randomized pretest–posttest trial. Smokers received a smartphone application (REQ-Mobile) with short messages and interactive tools or a text messaging system (onQ), managed by an expert system. Self-reported usability of REQ-Mobile and qu...

Impact of nutrition messages on children's food choice: pilot study.

Science.gov (United States)

Bannon, Katie; Schwartz, Marlene B

2006-03-01

This pilot study tested the influence of nutrition message framing on snack choice among kindergarteners. Three classrooms were randomly assigned to watch one of the following 60s videos: (a) a gain-framed nutrition message (i.e. the positive benefits of eating apples) (n=14); (b) a loss-framed message (i.e. the negative consequences of not eating apples) (n=18); or (c) a control scene (children playing a game) (n=18). Following this, the children were offered a choice between animal crackers and an apple for their snack. Among the children who saw one of the nutrition message videos, 56% chose apples rather than animal crackers; in the control condition only 33% chose apples. This difference was statistically significant (chi2=7.56, p<0.01). These results suggest that videos containing nutritional messages may have a positive influence on children's short-term food choices.

Qualitative study to explore Prospect Theory and message framing and diet and cancer prevention-related issues among African American adolescents.

Science.gov (United States)

Satia, Jessie A; Barlow, Jameta; Armstrong-Brown, Janelle; Watters, Joanne L

2010-01-01

There is a dearth of knowledge regarding factors that may motivate African American adolescents to consume healthier diets. To develop and test cancer prevention messages based on Prospect Theory on motivation to improve dietary intake in African American adolescents and to explore other salient factors that may inform dietary intervention design and implementation in this population. Semistructured in-person qualitative interviews were conducted with 13 African American male and female adolescents, aged 12 to 16 years, in North Carolina. Prospect Theory and message framing were used to guide the design of the 4 sets of diet-related messages related to cancer prevention: short-term, gain-framed; long-term, gain-framed; short-term, loss-framed; and long-term, loss-framed messages. Data were also collected on demographic, behavioral, and psychological factors; usual health behaviors; and preferences for intervention delivery. Most respondents found the gain-framed, short-term messages most salient for both fruits/vegetables (8 [61.5%]) and fat consumption (7 [53.8%]). For fat consumption only, 2 (15.4%) found the loss-framed, short-term messages pertinent; none found the loss-framed, long-term messages relevant for either dietary variable. All indicated interest in participating in a dietary intervention/education program; most preferred the Internet as a channel for intervention delivery. Participants expressed diverse views regarding knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs regarding healthy eating. The gain-framed, short-term messages were most salient for motivating the majority of respondents to consume a healthy diet and most expressed a strong interest in participating in programs about diet and nutrition, with the Internet as the preferred communication channel. Researchers conducting dietary interventions and education initiatives and medical professionals who counsel African American adolescents should consider using Prospect Theory as a theoretical framework

A qualitative study to explore Prospect theory and message framing and diet and cancer prevention-related issues among African American adolescents

Science.gov (United States)

Satia, Jessie A.; Barlow, Jameta; Armstrong-Brown, Janelle; Watters, Joanne L.

2010-01-01

Aims To develop and test cancer prevention messages based on Prospect theory on motivation to improve dietary intake in African American adolescents, and to explore other salient factors that may inform dietary intervention design and implementation in this population. Methods Semi-structured in-person qualitative interviews were conducted with 13 African-American male and female adolescents, 12-16 years, in North Carolina. Prospect theory and message framing were used to guide the design of the four sets of diet-related messages related to cancer prevention: short-term gain-, long-term gain-, short-term loss-, and long-term loss-framed messages. Data were also collected on demographic, behavioral, and psychological factors; usual health behaviors; and preferences for intervention delivery. Results The majority of respondents found the gain-framed, short-term messages most salient for both fruits/vegetables (8 (61.5%)), and fat consumption (7 (53.8%)). For fat consumption only, 2 (15.4%) found the loss-framed, short-term messages pertinent; none found the loss-framed, long-term messages relevant for either dietary variable. All indicated interest in participating in a dietary intervention/education program; most preferred the Internet as a channel for intervention delivery. Participants expressed diverse views regarding knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs regarding healthy eating. Conclusions Researchers conducting dietary interventions and education initiatives and medical professionals who counsel African American adolescents should consider using Prospect Theory as a theoretical framework, should focus on gain-framed short-term messages regarding cancer prevention, and should employ the Internet for data collection and intervention and information delivery. PMID:20142738

WATERSHED ALGORITHM BASED SEGMENTATION FOR HANDWRITTEN TEXT IDENTIFICATION

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

P. Mathivanan

2014-02-01

Full Text Available In this paper we develop a system for writer identification which involves four processing steps like preprocessing, segmentation, feature extraction and writer identification using neural network. In the preprocessing phase the handwritten text is subjected to slant removal process for segmentation and feature extraction. After this step the text image enters into the process of noise removal and gray level conversion. The preprocessed image is further segmented by using morphological watershed algorithm, where the text lines are segmented into single words and then into single letters. The segmented image is feature extracted by Daubechies’5/3 integer wavelet transform to reduce training complexity [1, 6]. This process is lossless and reversible [10], [14]. These extracted features are given as input to our neural network for writer identification process and a target image is selected for each training process in the 2-layer neural network. With the several trained output data obtained from different target help in text identification. It is a multilingual text analysis which provides simple and efficient text segmentation.

Short Message Service (SMS) Language and Written Language Skills: Educators' Perspectives

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Geertsema, Salomé; Hyman, Charene; van Deventer, Chantelle

2011-01-01

SMS language is English language slang, used as a means of mobile phone text messaging. This practice may impact on the written language skills of learners at school. The main aim of this study was to determine the perspectives of Grade 8 and 9 English (as Home Language) educators in Gauteng regarding the possible influence of SMS language on…

"Fate: The short film"

OpenAIRE

Maya Quintana, Jennifer

2014-01-01

"Fate: The Short Film" is a four minute short film which reflects the idea that nobody can escape from the fate. It has a good picture and sound quality with an understandable message for all public and with the collaboration of actors, filmmaker, stylist, script advisor and media technician.

Breastfeeding, Infant Formula, and Introduction to Complementary Foods-Comparing Data Obtained by Questionnaires and Health Visitors' Reports to Weekly Short Message Service Text Messages.

Science.gov (United States)

Bruun, Signe; Buhl, Susanne; Husby, Steffen; Jacobsen, Lotte Neergaard; Michaelsen, Kim F; Sørensen, Jan; Zachariassen, Gitte

2017-11-01

Studies on prevalence and effects of breastfeeding call for reliable and precise data collection to optimize infant nutrition, growth, and health. Data on breastfeeding and infant nutrition are at risk of, for example, recall bias or social desirability bias. The aim of the present analysis was to compare data on infant nutrition, that is, breastfeeding, use of infant formula, and introduction to complementary foods, obtained by four different methods. We assumed that weekly short message service (SMS) questions were the most reliable method, to which the other methods were compared. The study population was part of the Odense Child Cohort. The four methods used were: (a) self-administered questionnaire 3 months postpartum, (b) self-administered questionnaire 18 months postpartum, (c) registrations from health visitors visiting the families several times within the first year of life, and (d) weekly SMS questions introduced shortly after birth. In total, 639 singleton mothers with data from all four methods were included. The proportion of mothers initiating breastfeeding varied from 86% to 97%, the mean duration of exclusive breastfeeding from 12 to 19 weeks, and the mean age when introduced to complementary foods from 19 to 21 weeks. The mean duration of any breastfeeding was 33 weeks across methods. Compared with the weekly SMS questions, the self-administered questionnaires and the health visitors' reports resulted in a greater proportion of mothers with an unknown breastfeeding status, a longer duration of exclusive breastfeeding and later introduction to complementary foods, while the duration of any breastfeeding did not differ.

Effects of eye contact and iconic gestures on message retention in human-robot interaction

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Dijk, van E.T.; Torta, E.; Cuijpers, R.H.

2013-01-01

The effects of iconic gestures and eye contact on message retention in human-robot interaction were investigated in a series of experiments. A humanoid robot gave short verbal messages to participants, accompanied either by iconic gestures or no gestures while making eye contact with the participant

Message banking: Perceptions of persons with motor neuron disease, significant others and clinicians.

Science.gov (United States)

Oosthuizen, Imke; Dada, Shakila; Bornman, Juan; Koul, Rajinder

2017-07-31

Message banking is an intervention strategy that has the potential to facilitate effective communication for people with motor neuron disease when their condition deteriorates to the extent that they cannot communicate using natural speech. The aim of the current study was to determine and compare the perceptions on message banking of three stakeholder groups, namely, persons with motor neuron disease, their significant others and speech-language pathologists. A comparative group survey design was used. Participants listened to a short presentation about message banking, after which they individually completed a questionnaire. Although most participants reported that they had never heard of message banking, all were interested in it. The survey results revealed statistically significant differences between the various groups of stakeholders regarding the relevance of message banking and types of messages to bank. The study concluded that there is limited awareness about message banking amongst all participant groups.

Gendered, Bilingual Communication Practices: Mobile text-messaging among Hong Kong College Students

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Angel Lin

2005-01-01

Full Text Available Mobile text messaging—variously known as SMS (short message service, text messaging, or texting—has become a common means of keeping in constant touch, especially among young people, in many parts of the world today. The research literature abounds with studies on the social, cultural, and communicative aspects of mobile text messaging in different sociocultural contexts in the world. In this paper, current theoretical positions in the research literature on mobile communication will be summarized and then findings of a pilot study on the mobile text-messaging practices of university students in Hong Kong will be reported. Implications for emerging bilingual and bicultural identities and gendered sociality practices among Hong Kong young people will be discussed.

How voter mobilization from short text messages travels within households and families

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bhatti, Yosef; Dahlgaard, Jens Olav; Hansen, Jonas Hedegaard

2017-01-01

Through two large GOTV field experiments in two different elections, we investigate the spillover effect to other household members and family members outside the household. We mobilized young voters with cell phone text messages, a campaign tactic unlikely to be observed by other persons than th...

Rancang Bangun Sistem Pemantauan dan Peringatan dini Parameter Lingkungan Mikro Budidaya Tanaman pada Rumah Tanaman Berbasis SMS (Short Message Service

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mohamad Solahudin

2006-12-01

Full Text Available SMS (Short Message Service is one of technology can be use alternative to develop greenhouse micro climate monitoring and alert system. This technology selected because of simplicity in information access and widely spread use as comunication tools. The purpose of this research is to develop greenhouse Micro Climate Monitoring and Alert System by combining SMS technology, Portable Weather Station and Mobile FBUS V 1.5. System test performance for variouse provider shows the result wihch vary. The results shows that this system can be applied as monitoring and alert system technology. The performance test shows thaht the average of time service from all communication providers is 24,45 second, with 2.65 lag time.

The effect of short message system (SMS) reminder on adherence to a healthy diet, medication, and cessation of smoking among adult patients with cardiovascular diseases.

Science.gov (United States)

Akhu-Zaheya, Laila M; Shiyab, Wa'ed Y

2017-02-01

Cardiovascular Disease is the leading cause of death worldwide. Non-adherence to a recommended regimen among patients with Cardiovascular Diseases represents a significant problem which could lead to an increase in Cardiovascular Diseases. This study aimed to assess the effects of Short Message System (SMS) reminders on adherence to a healthy diet, medication, and cessation of smoking among adult patients with Cardiovascular Diseases. Randomized controlled trial design with three groups was used for this study. A non-probability convenient sample of 160 patients was recruited in this study. The participants were assigned randomly to an experimental group (received SMS regarding adherence to a healthy diet, medication, and smoking cessation), placebo group (received general messages) and control group (routine care). Morisky 8-Item Medication Adherence Scale (MMAS), Mediterranean Diet Adherence Screener (MEDAS), and Readiness to Quit Ladder, were used to assess patients' adherence to medication, adherence to Mediterranean diet, and smoking cessation, respectively. The outcomes were assessed at the beginning of the study and three months later, following completion of the intervention. One way ANONVA was used to assess the study hypothesis. Significant differences between study groups found in terms of adherence to medication (p=.001) and adherence to a healthy diet (p=.000); however, no significant difference was found between groups, in terms of intention to quit smoking, and/or the number of cigarettes smoked (p= .327), (p=.34), respectively. It is documented that SMS is effective in improving adherence to a healthy diet and medication. SMS could be a promising solution for management of different chronic diseases. It is recommended to apply Short Message System (SMS) via cellphone services to improve patient's adherence to a healthy diet and medication. However, further research is needed to support the effectiveness of SMS. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland

Design of Instant Messaging System of Multi-language E-commerce Platform

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Heng; Chen, Xinyi; Li, Jiajia; Cao, Yaru

2017-09-01

This paper aims at researching the message system in the instant messaging system based on the multi-language e-commerce platform in order to design the instant messaging system in multi-language environment and exhibit the national characteristics based information as well as applying national languages to e-commerce. In order to develop beautiful and friendly system interface for the front end of the message system and reduce the development cost, the mature jQuery framework is adopted in this paper. The high-performance server Tomcat is adopted at the back end to process user requests, and MySQL database is adopted for data storage to persistently store user data, and meanwhile Oracle database is adopted as the message buffer for system optimization. Moreover, AJAX technology is adopted for the client to actively pull the newest data from the server at the specified time. In practical application, the system has strong reliability, good expansibility, short response time, high system throughput capacity and high user concurrency.

Two-way text messaging: an interactive mobile learning environment in higher education

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

H.K. Salinda Premadasa

2016-11-01

Full Text Available Short messaging service (SMS is perhaps the most popular mobile technology prevalent among students in higher education due to its ubiquitous nature and the capability of two-way communication. However, a major limitation in two-way text messaging is sending back a part of received data with the reply message. This limitation results in users of a mobile learning environment being unable to reply back to the correct destination. This article presents a two-way text messaging system that can be integrated into a learning management system (LMS to provide an interactive learning experience to the user community. Initially, a database is integrated into the LMS that holds message information such as recipient's phone number, message body and user data header. A specific port associated with the SMS is used to conceal and exchange data of a particular course unit. Subsequently, software in the student's mobile device captures this message and sends back the reply message to the appropriate course unit allowing both teachers and students to view messages sent and replies received pertaining to a particular course. Results indicate the educational impact of the proposed system in improving the learning environment and benefits it offers to the community in a campus-wide implementation.

Comparative implementation of Handwritten and Machine written Gurmukhi text utilizing appropriate parameters

Science.gov (United States)

Kaur, Jaswinder; Jagdev, Gagandeep, Dr.

2018-01-01

Optical character recognition is concerned with the recognition of optically processed characters. The recognition is done offline after the writing or printing has been completed, unlike online recognition where the computer has to recognize the characters instantly as they are drawn. The performance of character recognition depends upon the quality of scanned documents. The preprocessing steps are used for removing low-frequency background noise and normalizing the intensity of individual scanned documents. Several filters are used for reducing certain image details and enabling an easier or faster evaluation. The primary aim of the research work is to recognize handwritten and machine written characters and differentiate them. The language opted for the research work is Punjabi Gurmukhi and tool utilized is Matlab.

Positive messaging promotes walking in older adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Notthoff, Nanna; Carstensen, Laura L

2014-06-01

Walking is among the most cost-effective and accessible means of exercise. Mounting evidence suggests that walking may help to maintain physical and cognitive independence in old age by preventing a variety of health problems. However, older Americans fall far short of meeting the daily recommendations for walking. In 2 studies, we examined whether considering older adults' preferential attention to positive information may effectively enhance interventions aimed at promoting walking. In Study 1, we compared the effectiveness of positive, negative, and neutral messages to encourage walking (as measured with pedometers). Older adults who were informed about the benefits of walking walked more than those who were informed about the negative consequences of failing to walk, whereas younger adults were unaffected by framing valence. In Study 2, we examined within-person change in walking in older adults in response to positively- or negatively-framed messages over a 28-day period. Once again, positively-framed messages more effectively promoted walking than negatively-framed messages, and the effect was sustained across the intervention period. Together, these studies suggest that consideration of age-related changes in preferences for positive and negative information may inform the design of effective interventions to promote healthy lifestyles. Future research is needed to examine the mechanisms underlying the greater effectiveness of positively- as opposed to negatively-framed messages and the generalizability of findings to other intervention targets and other subpopulations of older adults. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved.

Designing Anti-Binge Drinking Prevention Messages: Message Framing vs. Evidence Type.

Science.gov (United States)

Kang, Hannah; Lee, Moon J

2017-09-27

We investigated whether presenting anti-binge drinking health campaign messages in different message framing and evidence types influences college students' intention to avoid binge drinking, based on prospect theory (PT) and exemplification theory. A 2 (message framing: loss-framed message/gain-framed message) X 2 (evidence type: statistical/narrative) between-subjects factorial design with a control group was conducted with 156 college students. College students who were exposed to the loss-framed message condition exhibited a higher level of intention to avoid binge drinking in the near future than those who did not see any messages (the control group). This finding was mainly among non-binge drinkers. Regardless of evidence type, those who were exposed to the messages exhibited a higher level of intention to avoid binge drinking than those in the control group. This is also mainly among non-binge drinkers. We also found the main effects of message framing and evidence type on attitude toward the message and the main effect of message framing on attitude toward drinking.

Unsupervised improvement of named entity extraction in short informal context using disambiguation clues

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Habib, Mena Badieh; van Keulen, Maurice

2012-01-01

Short context messages (like tweets and SMS’s) are a potentially rich source of continuously and instantly updated information. Shortness and informality of such messages are challenges for Natural Language Processing tasks. Most efforts done in this direction rely on machine learning techniques

Handwritten Sindhi Character Recognition Using Neural Networks

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Shafique Ahmed Awan

2018-01-01

Full Text Available OCR (OpticalCharacter Recognition is a technology in which text image is used to understand and write text by machines. The work on languages containing isolated characters such as German, English, French and others is at its peak. The OCR and ICR (Intelligent Character Recognition research in Sindhi script is currently at in starting stages and not sufficient work have been cited in this area even though Sindhi language is rich in culture and history. This paper presents one of the initial steps in recognizing Sindhi handwritten characters. The isolated characters of Sindhi script written by thesubjects have been recognized. The various subjects were asked to write Sindhi characters in unconstrained form and then the written samples were collected and scanned through a flatbed scanner. The scanned documents were preprocessedwith the help of binary conversion, removing noise by pepper noise and the lines were segmented with the help of horizontal profile technique. The segmented lines were used to extract characters from scanned pages.This character segmentation was done by vertical projection. The extracted characters have been used to extract features so that the characters can be classified easily. Zoning was used for the feature extraction technique. For the classification, neural network has been used. The recognized characters converted into editable text with an average accuracy of 85%.

Advanced Messaging Concept Development Basic Safety Message

Data.gov (United States)

Department of Transportation — Contains all Basic Safety Messages (BSMs) collected during the Advanced Messaging Concept Development (AMCD) field testing program. For this project, all of the Part...

Politeness Strategies Used in Text Messaging

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shahrzad Eshghinejad

2016-03-01

Full Text Available One aspect of short message service (SMS communication through a cell phone is use of politeness strategies. As it is extensively argued that females are more polite language users, the present study sought to describe the strategies used by these two groups and to find out whether there is any significant difference between male and female English as a foreign language (EFL learners in the use of positive and negative politeness strategies in sending SMS to their professors, considering that there is an asymmetric power relation and social distance between them. To this end, a corpus of 300 L1 (Persian and L2 (English request messages was compiled. Results of qualitative and quantitative data analysis showed no significant difference between the two groups. Results of the study have implication in politeness research.

Friendly-Sharing: Improving the Performance of City Sensoring through Contact-Based Messaging Applications

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Jorge Herrera-Tapia

2016-09-01

Full Text Available Regular citizens equipped with smart devices are being increasingly used as “sensors” by Smart Cities applications. Using contacts among users, data in the form of messages is obtained and shared. Contact-based messaging applications are based on establishing a short-range communication directly between mobile devices, and on storing the messages in these devices for subsequent delivery to cloud-based services. An effective way to increase the number of messages that can be shared is to increase the contact duration. We thus introduce the Friendly-Sharing diffusion approach, where, during a contact, the users are aware of the time needed to interchange the messages stored in their buffers, and they can thus decide to wait more time in order to increase the message sharing probability. The performance of this approach is anyway closely related to the size of the buffer in the device. We therefore compare various policies either for the message selection at forwarding times and for message dropping when the buffer is full. We evaluate our proposal with a modified version of the Opportunistic Networking Environment (ONE simulator and using real human mobility traces.

Friendly-Sharing: Improving the Performance of City Sensoring through Contact-Based Messaging Applications.

Science.gov (United States)

Herrera-Tapia, Jorge; Hernández-Orallo, Enrique; Tomás, Andrés; Manzoni, Pietro; Tavares Calafate, Carlos; Cano, Juan-Carlos

2016-09-18

Regular citizens equipped with smart devices are being increasingly used as "sensors" by Smart Cities applications. Using contacts among users, data in the form of messages is obtained and shared. Contact-based messaging applications are based on establishing a short-range communication directly between mobile devices, and on storing the messages in these devices for subsequent delivery to cloud-based services. An effective way to increase the number of messages that can be shared is to increase the contact duration. We thus introduce the Friendly-Sharing diffusion approach, where, during a contact, the users are aware of the time needed to interchange the messages stored in their buffers, and they can thus decide to wait more time in order to increase the message sharing probability. The performance of this approach is anyway closely related to the size of the buffer in the device. We therefore compare various policies either for the message selection at forwarding times and for message dropping when the buffer is full. We evaluate our proposal with a modified version of the Opportunistic Networking Environment (ONE) simulator and using real human mobility traces.

When message-frame fits salient cultural-frame, messages feel more persuasive.

Science.gov (United States)

Uskul, Ayse K; Oyserman, Daphna

2010-03-01

The present study examines the persuasive effects of tailored health messages comparing those tailored to match (versus not match) both chronic cultural frame and momentarily salient cultural frame. Evidence from two studies (Study 1: n = 72 European Americans; Study 2: n = 48 Asian Americans) supports the hypothesis that message persuasiveness increases when chronic cultural frame, health message tailoring and momentarily salient cultural frame all match. The hypothesis was tested using a message about health risks of caffeine consumption among individuals prescreened to be regular caffeine consumers. After being primed for individualism, European Americans who read a health message that focused on the personal self were more likely to accept the message-they found it more persuasive, believed they were more at risk and engaged in more message-congruent behaviour. These effects were also found among Asian Americans who were primed for collectivism and who read a health message that focused on relational obligations. The findings point to the importance of investigating the role of situational cues in persuasive effects of health messages and suggest that matching content to primed frame consistent with the chronic frame may be a way to know what to match messages to.

ASM Based Synthesis of Handwritten Arabic Text Pages

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Laslo Dinges

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Document analysis tasks, as text recognition, word spotting, or segmentation, are highly dependent on comprehensive and suitable databases for training and validation. However their generation is expensive in sense of labor and time. As a matter of fact, there is a lack of such databases, which complicates research and development. This is especially true for the case of Arabic handwriting recognition, that involves different preprocessing, segmentation, and recognition methods, which have individual demands on samples and ground truth. To bypass this problem, we present an efficient system that automatically turns Arabic Unicode text into synthetic images of handwritten documents and detailed ground truth. Active Shape Models (ASMs based on 28046 online samples were used for character synthesis and statistical properties were extracted from the IESK-arDB database to simulate baselines and word slant or skew. In the synthesis step ASM based representations are composed to words and text pages, smoothed by B-Spline interpolation and rendered considering writing speed and pen characteristics. Finally, we use the synthetic data to validate a segmentation method. An experimental comparison with the IESK-arDB database encourages to train and test document analysis related methods on synthetic samples, whenever no sufficient natural ground truthed data is available.

ASM Based Synthesis of Handwritten Arabic Text Pages.

Science.gov (United States)

Dinges, Laslo; Al-Hamadi, Ayoub; Elzobi, Moftah; El-Etriby, Sherif; Ghoneim, Ahmed

2015-01-01

Document analysis tasks, as text recognition, word spotting, or segmentation, are highly dependent on comprehensive and suitable databases for training and validation. However their generation is expensive in sense of labor and time. As a matter of fact, there is a lack of such databases, which complicates research and development. This is especially true for the case of Arabic handwriting recognition, that involves different preprocessing, segmentation, and recognition methods, which have individual demands on samples and ground truth. To bypass this problem, we present an efficient system that automatically turns Arabic Unicode text into synthetic images of handwritten documents and detailed ground truth. Active Shape Models (ASMs) based on 28046 online samples were used for character synthesis and statistical properties were extracted from the IESK-arDB database to simulate baselines and word slant or skew. In the synthesis step ASM based representations are composed to words and text pages, smoothed by B-Spline interpolation and rendered considering writing speed and pen characteristics. Finally, we use the synthetic data to validate a segmentation method. An experimental comparison with the IESK-arDB database encourages to train and test document analysis related methods on synthetic samples, whenever no sufficient natural ground truthed data is available.

A comparative study of different feature sets for recognition of handwritten Arabic numerals using a Multi Layer Perceptron

OpenAIRE

Das, Nibaran; Mollah, Ayatullah Faruk; Sarkar, Ram; Basu, Subhadip

2010-01-01

The work presents a comparative assessment of seven different feature sets for recognition of handwritten Arabic numerals using a Multi Layer Perceptron (MLP) based classifier. The seven feature sets employed here consist of shadow features, octant centroids, longest runs, angular distances, effective spans, dynamic centers of gravity, and some of their combinations. On experimentation with a database of 3000 samples, the maximum recognition rate of 95.80% is observed with both of two separat...

Using text messages to bridge the intention-behavior gap? A pilot study on the use of text message reminders to increase objectively assessed physical activity in daily life

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Andreas Richard Schwerdtfeger

2012-08-01

Full Text Available Sedentarism is a serious health concern in industrialized countries throughout the world. We examined whether a text message-based intervention, targeted at increasing daily levels of physical activity, would be more effective than a standard psychoeducational intervention and a control condition. Sixty-three individuals (43 women with a mean age of 23.7 years participated in the study. They were randomly assigned to a psychoeducational standard intervention; an augmented intervention with additional short text messages sent to the mobile phones to remind participants of their action plans, and a control condition. Objectively assessed physical activity and self-efficacy were assessed pre- and post-intervention. Participants in the control condition showed a significant decline in physical activity from pre- assessment to post-assessment, whereas participants in both intervention arms exhibited a slight increase. Moreover, the augmented intervention resulted in a marginally significant increase in self-efficacy, whereas the standard intervention resulted in a significant decrease. The findings suggest that short text messages reminding individuals of their action plans are not more effective than an intervention without text messages, although there seems to be a beneficial effect on self-efficacy, which might facilitate behavior change in the long-term. Challenging aspects of the research design (e.g., reactivity of the assessment protocol are discussed and suggestions for future research are highlighted.

Text Messaging for Addiction: A Review

Science.gov (United States)

Keoleian, Victoria; Polcin, Douglas; Galloway, Gantt P.

2015-01-01

Individuals seeking treatment for addiction often experience barriers due to cost, lack of local treatment resources, or either school or work schedule conflicts. Text messaging-based addiction treatment is inexpensive and has the potential to be widely accessible in real time. We conducted a comprehensive literature review identifying 11 published randomized controlled trials (RCTs) evaluating text messaging-based interventions for tobacco smoking, 4 studies for reducing alcohol consumption, 1 pilot study in former methamphetamine (MA) users, and 1 study based on qualitative interviews with cannabis users. Abstinence outcome results in RCTs of smokers willing to make a quit attempt have been positive overall in the short term and as far out as at 6 and 12 months. Studies aimed at reducing alcohol consumption have been promising. More data are needed to evaluate the feasibility, acceptability, and efficacy of this approach for other substance use problems. PMID:25950596

Instant Messaging for Creating Interactive and Collaborative m-Learning Environments

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

James Kadirire

2007-06-01

Full Text Available 'Instant Messaging' (IM and 'Presence,' which is essentially the ability of being able to detect if other users are logged in on the network and send them messages in real time, has become one of the most popular applications of the Internet, causing people to want to stay connected to the Internet for inordinate amounts of time, a phenomena that also fosters a sense of "online community," that perhaps no other application has done previously (Alvestrand, 2002. This research looks at the use of mobile devices to send instant messages that can carry much more information than the short message service (SMS messages, but would be free to use, notwithstanding the price of getting online. We present a prototype IM system that can be used as a viable means of communicating and learning in higher education establishments. There is some evidence to show that learning using mobile devices reduces the formality of the learning experience, and helps engage reluctant learners and raise their self-confidence. In order for the learning process to be successful in online distance learning, unlike in the traditional face-to-face learning, attention must be paid to developing the participants' sense of community within their particular group. Instant messaging – or IM – is a natural medium for online community building and asynchronous/ synchronous peer discussions.

Using Text Message Surveys to Evaluate a Mobile Sexual Health Question-and-Answer Service.

Science.gov (United States)

Willoughby, Jessica Fitts; L'Engle, Kelly Ladin; Jackson, Kennon; Brickman, Jared

2018-01-01

Text message programs for sexual health are becoming increasingly popular as practitioners aim to meet youth on media they use frequently. Two-way mobile health (mHealth) interventions allow for feedback solicitation from participants. This study explores the use of a text message survey to assess demographics and program feedback from users of an adolescent sexual health text message question-and-answer service. Development and feasibility of the short-message service survey are discussed. The text message survey achieved a 43.9% response rate, which is comparable to response rates of surveys conducted via other methods. When compared to respondents who used the service and completed an online in-school questionnaire, text survey respondents were more likely to be female and older. They also reported higher service satisfaction. Results have implications for text message service providers and researchers. This article examines a community application of a new intervention strategy and research methodology.

Unpacking the performance of a mobile health information messaging program for mothers (MomConnect) in South Africa: evidence on program reach and messaging exposure.

Science.gov (United States)

LeFevre, Amnesty E; Dane, Pierre; Copley, Charles J; Pienaar, Cara; Parsons, Annie Neo; Engelhard, Matt; Woods, David; Bekker, Marcha; Benjamin, Peter; Pillay, Yogan; Barron, Peter; Seebregts, Christopher John; Mohan, Diwakar

2018-01-01

Despite calls to address broader evidence gaps in linking digital technologies to outcome and impact level health indicators, limited attention has been paid to measuring processes pertaining to the performance of programs. In this paper, we assess the program reach and message exposure of a mobile health information messaging program for mothers (MomConnect) in South Africa. In this descriptive study, we draw from system generated data to measure exposure to the program through registration attempts and conversions, message delivery, opt-outs and drop-outs. Using a logit model, we additionally explore determinants for early registration, opt-outs and drop-outs. From August 2014 to April 2017, 1 159 431 women were registered to MomConnect; corresponding to half of women attending antenatal care 1 (ANC1) and nearly 60% of those attending ANC1 estimated to own a mobile phone. In 2016, 26% of registrations started to get women onto MomConnect did not succeed. If registration attempts were converted to successful registrations, coverage of ANC1 attendees would have been 74% in 2016 and 86% in 2017. When considered as percentage of ANC1 attendees with access to a mobile phone, addressing conversion challenges bring registration coverage to an estimated 83%-89% in 2016 and 97%-100% in 2017. Among women registered, nearly 80% of expected short messaging service messages were received. While registration coverage and message delivery success rates exceed those observed for mobile messaging programs elsewhere, study findings highlight opportunities for program improvement and reinforce the need for rigorous and continuous monitoring of delivery systems.

A Record Book of Open Heart Surgical Cases between 1959 and 1982, Hand-Written by a Cardiac Surgeon.

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Won-Gon

2016-08-01

A book of brief records of open heart surgery underwent between 1959 and 1982 at Seoul National University Hospital was recently found. The book was hand-written by the late professor and cardiac surgeon Yung Kyoon Lee (1921-1994). This book contains valuable information about cardiac patients and surgery at the early stages of the establishment of open heart surgery in Korea, and at Seoul National University Hospital. This report is intended to analyze the content of the book.

Uncovering the most effective active ingredients of antismoking public service announcements: the role of actor and message characteristics.

Science.gov (United States)

Shadel, William G; Fryer, Craig S; Tharp-Taylor, Shannah

2009-05-01

This study examined whether the appeal of actors (i.e., their likeability and attractiveness) used in antismoking public service announcements (PSAs) interacts with adolescents' risk of future smoking to predict adolescents' smoking resistance self-efficacy and whether the antismoking messages in the PSAs further moderate this relationship. We used a 2 (future smoking risk: low, high) x 2 (actor appeal: low, high) x 3 (PSA antismoking message: tobacco industry manipulation, short-term smoking effects, long-term smoking effects) study design. A diverse sample of 110 adolescents (aged 11-17 years), with varying levels of experience with smoking, rated their smoking resistance self-efficacy after viewing each of the PSAs in each design cell. Overall, PSAs that used long-term smoking effects messages were associated with the strongest smoking resistance self-efficacy, followed in turn by PSAs that used short-term smoking effects messages and by tobacco industry manipulation messages. We found a significant interaction of actor appeal and PSA antismoking message. The use of more appealing actors was associated with stronger smoking resistance self-efficacy only in long-term smoking effects PSAs. The use of less appealing actors was associated with stronger smoking resistance self-efficacy for tobacco industry manipulation PSAs and short-term smoking effects PSAs. Future smoking risk did not moderate any of these findings. Antismoking PSAs that emphasize long-term smoking effects are most strongly associated with increased smoking resistance self-efficacy. The effect of these PSAs can be strengthened by using actors whom adolescents perceive to be appealing.

Hooked on You.

Science.gov (United States)

Sevier, Robert

1988-01-01

Most successful yield strategies use a series of messages specifically designed to meet the informational and emotional needs of students in the final decision-making stages. Techniques to try include: brochures, videotapes, handwritten postscripts, posters, and phone campaigns. (MLW)

Handwritten Javanese Character Recognition Using Several Artificial Neural Network Methods

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Gregorius Satia Budhi

2015-07-01

Full Text Available Javanese characters are traditional characters that are used to write the Javanese language. The Javanese language is a language used by many people on the island of Java, Indonesia. The use of Javanese characters is diminishing more and more because of the difficulty of studying the Javanese characters themselves. The Javanese character set consists of basic characters, numbers, complementary characters, and so on. In this research we have developed a system to recognize Javanese characters. Input for the system is a digital image containing several handwritten Javanese characters. Preprocessing and segmentation are performed on the input image to get each character. For each character, feature extraction is done using the ICZ-ZCZ method. The output from feature extraction will become input for an artificial neural network. We used several artificial neural networks, namely a bidirectional associative memory network, a counterpropagation network, an evolutionary network, a backpropagation network, and a backpropagation network combined with chi2. From the experimental results it can be seen that the combination of chi2 and backpropagation achieved better recognition accuracy than the other methods.

A Visualized Message Interface (VMI) for intelligent messaging services

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Endo, T.; Kasahara, H.; Nakagawa, T.

1984-01-01

In CCITT, Message Handling Systems (MHS) have been studied from the viewpoint of communications protocol standardization. In addition to MHS services, Message Processing (MP) services, such as image processing, filing and retrieving services, will come into increasing demand in office automation field. These messaging services, including MHS services, can be thought of as Intelligent Messaging (IM) services. IM services include many basic services, optional user facilities and service parameters. Accordingly, it is necessary to deal with these parameters and MP procedures in as systematic and user-friendly a manner as possible. As one step towards realizing a user-friendly IM services interface, the characteristics of IM service parameters are studied and a Visualized Message Interface (VMI) which resembles a conventional letter exchange format is presented. The concept of VMI formation is discussed using the generic document structure concept as well as a Screen Interface and Protocol Interface conversion package

Technology-Enhanced Maintenance of Treatment Gains in Eating Disorders: Efficacy of an Intervention Delivered via Text Messaging

Science.gov (United States)

Bauer, Stephanie; Okon, Eberhard; Meermann, Rolf; Kordy, Hans

2012-01-01

Objective: Given the lack of maintenance interventions for eating disorders, a program delivered via the short message service (SMS) and text messaging was developed to support patients after their discharge from inpatient treatment. Method: The efficacy of the intervention was studied in a randomized controlled trial. Additionally, its impact on…

Delivery of Patient-Reported Outcome Instruments by Automated Mobile Phone Text Messaging.

Science.gov (United States)

Anthony, Christopher A; Lawler, Ericka A; Glass, Natalie A; McDonald, Katelyn; Shah, Apurva S

2017-11-01

Patient-reported outcome (PRO) instruments allow patients to interpret their health and are integral in evaluating orthopedic treatments and outcomes. The purpose of this study was to define: (1) correlation between PROs collected by automated delivery of text messages on mobile phones compared with paper delivery; and (2) patient use characteristics of a technology platform utilizing automated delivery of text messages on mobile phones. Paper versions of the 12-Item Short Form Health Survey (SF-12) and the short form of the Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder and Hand (QuickDASH) were completed by patients in orthopedic hand and upper extremity clinics. Over the next 48 hours, the same patients also completed the mobile phone portion of the study outside of the clinic which included text message delivery of the SF-12 and QuickDASH, assigned in a random order. Correlations between paper and text message delivery of the 2 PROs were assessed. Among 72 patients, the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) between the written and mobile phone delivery of QuickDASH was 0.91 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.85-0.95). The ICC between the paper and mobile phone delivery of the SF-12 physical health composite score was 0.88 (95% CI, 0.79-0.93) and 0.86 (95% CI, 0.75-0.92) for the SF-12 mental health composite score. We find that text message delivery using mobile phones permits valid assessment of SF-12 and QuickDASH scores. The findings suggest that software-driven automated delivery of text communication to patients via mobile phones may be a valid method to obtain other PRO scores in orthopedic patients.

Coding for Electronic Mail

Science.gov (United States)

Rice, R. F.; Lee, J. J.

1986-01-01

Scheme for coding facsimile messages promises to reduce data transmission requirements to one-tenth current level. Coding scheme paves way for true electronic mail in which handwritten, typed, or printed messages or diagrams sent virtually instantaneously - between buildings or between continents. Scheme, called Universal System for Efficient Electronic Mail (USEEM), uses unsupervised character recognition and adaptive noiseless coding of text. Image quality of resulting delivered messages improved over messages transmitted by conventional coding. Coding scheme compatible with direct-entry electronic mail as well as facsimile reproduction. Text transmitted in this scheme automatically translated to word-processor form.

Does the Screening Status of Message Characters Affect Message Effects?

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Alber, Julia M.; Glanz, Karen

2018-01-01

Public health messages can be used to increase awareness about colorectal cancer screenings. Free or inexpensive images for creating health messages are readily available, yet little is known about how a pictured individual's engagement in the behavior of interest affects message outcomes. Participants (N = 360), aged 50 to 75 years, completed an…

DMS message design workshops.

Science.gov (United States)

2009-03-01

This report summarizes the training conducted statewide regarding the design and display of messages on : dynamic message signs. The training is based on the Dynamic Message Sign Message Design and Display : Manual (0-4023-P3). Researchers developed ...

Use of short message service (SMS to improve malaria chemoprophylaxis compliance after returning from a malaria endemic area

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Boutin Jean-Paul

2009-10-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Malaria chemoprophylaxis compliance is suboptimal among French soldiers despite the availability of free malaria chemoprophylaxis and repeated health education before, during and after deployment to malaria endemic areas. Methods In 2007, a randomized controlled study was performed among a cohort of French soldiers returning from Côte d'Ivoire to assess the feasibility and acceptability of sending a daily short message service (SMS reminder message via mobile device to remind soldiers to take their malaria chemoprophylaxis, and to assess the impact of the daily reminder SMS on chemoprophylaxis compliance. Malaria chemoprophylaxis consisted of a daily dose of 100 mg doxycycline monohydrate, which began upon arrival in Côte d'Ivoire and was to be continued for 28 days following return to France. Feasibility and acceptability were assessed by questionnaire. Cohort members were followed for a 28 day period, with compliance assessed by use of an electronic medication monitoring device, from which several indicators were developed: daily proportion of compliant individuals, average number of pills taken, and early discontinuation. Results Among 424 volunteers randomized to the study, 47.6% were assigned to the SMS group and 52.3% to the control group. Approximately 90% of subjects assigned to the SMS group received a daily SMS at midday during the study. Persons of the SMS group agreed more frequently that SMS reminders were very useful and that the device was not annoying. Compliance did not vary significantly between groups across the compliance indicators. Conclusion SMS did not increase malaria chemoprophylaxis compliance above baseline, likely because the persons did not benefit from holidays after the return and stayed together. So the reminder by SMS was noted by all subjects of the study. Another study should be done to confirm these results on soldiers going on holidays from employment after return or with individual

Application of a Tsunami Warning Message Metric to refine NOAA NWS Tsunami Warning Messages

Science.gov (United States)

Gregg, C. E.; Johnston, D.; Sorensen, J.; Whitmore, P.

2013-12-01

In 2010, the U.S. National Weather Service (NWS) funded a three year project to integrate social science into their Tsunami Program. One of three primary requirements of the grant was to make improvements to tsunami warning messages of the NWS' two Tsunami Warning Centers- the West Coast/Alaska Tsunami Warning Center (WCATWC) in Palmer, Alaska and the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center (PTWC) in Ewa Beach, Hawaii. We conducted focus group meetings with a purposive sample of local, state and Federal stakeholders and emergency managers in six states (AK, WA, OR, CA, HI and NC) and two US Territories (US Virgin Islands and American Samoa) to qualitatively asses information needs in tsunami warning messages using WCATWC tsunami messages for the March 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami event. We also reviewed research literature on behavioral response to warnings to develop a tsunami warning message metric that could be used to guide revisions to tsunami warning messages of both warning centers. The message metric is divided into categories of Message Content, Style, Order and Formatting and Receiver Characteristics. A message is evaluated by cross-referencing the message with the operational definitions of metric factors. Findings are then used to guide revisions of the message until the characteristics of each factor are met. Using findings from this project and findings from a parallel NWS Warning Tiger Team study led by T. Nicolini, the WCATWC implemented the first of two phases of revisions to their warning messages in November 2012. A second phase of additional changes, which will fully implement the redesign of messages based on the metric, is in progress. The resulting messages will reflect current state-of-the-art knowledge on warning message effectiveness. Here we present the message metric; evidence-based rational for message factors; and examples of previous, existing and proposed messages.

Text messaging intervention for teens and young adults with diabetes.

Science.gov (United States)

Markowitz, Jessica T; Cousineau, Tara; Franko, Debra L; Schultz, Alan T; Trant, Meredith; Rodgers, Rachel; Laffel, Lori M B

2014-09-01

Adolescents and young adults use text messaging as their primary mode of communication, thus providing an opportunity to use this mode of communication for mobile health (mHealth) interventions. Youth with diabetes are an important group for these mHealth initiatives, as diabetes management requires an enormous amount of daily effort and this population has difficulty achieving optimal diabetes management. Goal setting and self-efficacy are 2 factors in the management of diabetes. We examined the feasibility of a healthy lifestyle text messaging program targeting self-efficacy and goal setting among adolescents and young adults with diabetes. Participants, ages 16-21, were assigned to either a text messaging group, which received daily motivational messages about nutrition and physical activity, or a control group, which received paper-based information about healthy lifestyle. Both groups set goals for nutrition and physical activity and completed a measure of self-efficacy. Participants' mean age was 18.7 ± 1.6 years old, with diabetes duration of 10.0 ± 4.6 years, and A1c of 8.7 ± 1.7%. The text messaging intervention was rated highly and proved to be acceptable to participants. Self-efficacy, glycemic control, and body mass index did not change over the course of the short, 1-month pilot study. Positive, daily, motivational text messages may be effective in increasing motivation for small goal changes in the areas of nutrition and physical activity. These interventions may be used in the future in youth with diabetes to improve diabetes care. Utilizing more targeted text messages is an area for future research. © 2014 Diabetes Technology Society.

Secret Message Decryption: Group Consulting Projects Using Matrices and Linear Programming

Science.gov (United States)

Gurski, Katharine F.

2009-01-01

We describe two short group projects for finite mathematics students that incorporate matrices and linear programming into fictional consulting requests presented as a letter to the students. The students are required to use mathematics to decrypt secret messages in one project involving matrix multiplication and inversion. The second project…

Development of environmentally friendly messages to promote longer durations of breastfeeding for already breastfeeding mothers.

Science.gov (United States)

Hamilton, Amanda E

2015-01-01

Durations of breastfeeding activity in the United States fall short of established recommendations by leading public health institutions. In response to this problem, this study sought to develop environmentally friendly messages to promote continued breastfeeding for moms already breastfeeding in order to help them reach recommended breastfeeding durations. Messages were successfully cultivated to encourage moms already breastfeeding to meet recommended breastfeeding durations. In addition, this study cultivated strategies by which to use environmentally friendly messages to urge mothers who still need to decide whether to breastfeed or formula feed to breastfeed, although this was not the purpose of the research. Avenues for future communication-based breastfeeding research were also elucidated. The Elaboration Likelihood Model serves as useful theory to assess the role of environmentally friendly messages in the promotion of continued breastfeeding.

Randomized trial of a smartphone mobile application compared to text messaging to support smoking cessation.

Science.gov (United States)

Buller, David B; Borland, Ron; Bettinghaus, Erwin P; Shane, James H; Zimmerman, Donald E

2014-03-01

Text messaging has successfully supported smoking cessation. This study compares a mobile application with text messaging to support smoking cessation. Young adult smokers 18-30 years old (n = 102) participated in a randomized pretest-posttest trial. Smokers received a smartphone application (REQ-Mobile) with short messages and interactive tools or a text messaging system (onQ), managed by an expert system. Self-reported usability of REQ-Mobile and quitting behavior (quit attempts, point-prevalence, 30-day point-prevalence, and continued abstinence) were assessed in posttests. Overall, 60% of smokers used mobile services (REQ-Mobile, 61%, mean of 128.5 messages received; onQ, 59%, mean of 107.8 messages), and 75% evaluated REQ-Mobile as user-friendly. A majority of smokers reported being abstinent at posttest (6 weeks, 53% of completers; 12 weeks, 66% of completers [44% of all cases]). Also, 37% (25%of all cases) reported 30-day point-prevalence abstinence, and 32% (22% of all cases) reported continuous abstinence at 12 weeks. OnQ produced more abstinence (ptext messaging. Text messaging may work better because it is simple, well known, and delivered to a primary inbox. These advantages may disappear as smokers become more experienced with new handsets. Mobile phones may be promising delivery platforms for cessation services using either smartphone applications or text messaging.

Text Messaging Interventions on Cancer Screening Rates: A Systematic Review.

Science.gov (United States)

Uy, Catherine; Lopez, Jennifer; Trinh-Shevrin, Chau; Kwon, Simona C; Sherman, Scott E; Liang, Peter S

2017-08-24

Despite high-quality evidence demonstrating that screening reduces mortality from breast, cervical, colorectal, and lung cancers, a substantial portion of the population remains inadequately screened. There is a critical need to identify interventions that increase the uptake and adoption of evidence-based screening guidelines for preventable cancers at the community practice level. Text messaging (short message service, SMS) has been effective in promoting behavioral change in various clinical settings, but the overall impact and reach of text messaging interventions on cancer screening are unknown. The objective of this systematic review was to assess the effect of text messaging interventions on screening for breast, cervical, colorectal, and lung cancers. We searched multiple databases for studies published between the years 2000 and 2017, including PubMed, EMBASE, and the Cochrane Library, to identify controlled trials that measured the effect of text messaging on screening for breast, cervical, colorectal, or lung cancers. Study quality was evaluated using the Cochrane risk of bias tool. Our search yielded 2238 citations, of which 31 underwent full review and 9 met inclusion criteria. Five studies examined screening for breast cancer, one for cervical cancer, and three for colorectal cancer. No studies were found for lung cancer screening. Absolute screening rates for individuals who received text message interventions were 0.6% to 15.0% higher than for controls. Unadjusted relative screening rates for text message recipients were 4% to 63% higher compared with controls. Text messaging interventions appear to moderately increase screening rates for breast and cervical cancer and may have a small effect on colorectal cancer screening. Benefit was observed in various countries, including resource-poor and non-English-speaking populations. Given the paucity of data, additional research is needed to better quantify the effectiveness of this promising intervention

Antenatal health promotion via short message service at a Midwife Obstetrics Unit in South Africa: a mixed methods study.

Science.gov (United States)

Lau, Yan Kwan; Cassidy, Tali; Hacking, Damian; Brittain, Kirsty; Haricharan, Hanne Jensen; Heap, Marion

2014-08-21

Adequate antenatal care is important to both the health of a pregnant woman and her unborn baby. Given South Africa's high rate of cellphone penetration, mobile health interventions have been touted as a potentially powerful means to disseminate health information. This study aimed to increase antenatal health knowledge and awareness by disseminating text messages about clinic procedures at antenatal visits, and how to be healthy during pregnancy. Participants recruited were pregnant women attending a primary health care facility in Cape Town. A controlled clinical trial was carried out where the intervention group (n = 102) received text messages staggered according to the week of pregnancy at the time of recruitment. The control group (n = 104) received no text messages. These text messages contained antenatal health information, and were delivered in English, Xhosa or Afrikaans, according to the preference of each participant. A baseline knowledge questionnaire with nine questions was administered prior to the intervention. The same questionnaire was used with added health-related behaviour questions for the intervention group at exit. A modified intention-to-treat analysis was done. To compare the control and intervention group's knowledge, Fisher's exact tests and two-sample t-tests tests were carried out for binary and continuous outcomes, respectively. A focus group of seven participants from the intervention group was then conducted to gain more insight into how the text messages were perceived. There was substantial loss to follow-up during the study with only 57% of the participants retained at exit. No statistically significant difference was detected between the control and intervention group in any of the nine knowledge questions at exit (all p > 0.05). Responses from the focus group indicated that the text messages acted as a welcome reminder and a source of positive motivation, and were perceived as extended care from the health care provider. While

Hardware Acceleration on Cloud Services: The use of Restricted Boltzmann Machines on Handwritten Digits Recognition

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Eleni Bougioukou

2018-02-01

Full Text Available Cloud computing allows users and enterprises to process their data in high performance servers, thus reducing the need for advanced hardware at the client side. Although local processing is viable in many cases, collecting data from multiple clients and processing them in a server gives the best possible performance in terms of processing rate. In this work, the implementation of a high performance cloud computing engine for recognizing handwritten digits is presented. The engine exploits the benefits of cloud and uses a powerful hardware accelerator in order to classify the images received concurrently from multiple clients. The accelerator implements a number of neural networks, operating in parallel, resulting to a processing rate of more than 10 MImages/sec.

Unified Internet Messaging

OpenAIRE

Healy, Paul; Barber, Declan

2015-01-01

As telephony services, mobile services and internet services continue to converge, the prospect of providing Unified Messaging and even Unified Communications becomes increasingly achievable. This paper discusses the growing importance of IP-based networks to Unified Messaging developments and examines some of the key services and protocols that are likely to make Unified Messaging more widely available. In this initial paper, we limit ourselves initially to the unification of text-based mess...

Message-driven factors influencing opening and forwarding of mobile advertising messages

OpenAIRE

Sanz Blas, Silvia; Ruiz Mafé, Carla; Martí Parreño, José

2015-01-01

This work aims to analyse the influence of message-driven factors -informativeness, ubiquity, frequency and personalization- on consumer attitude and behaviour -opening and forwarding- towards mobile advertising messages. A theoretical model was developed and empirically tested using a sample of 355 Spanish teenager mobile users. Findings show that frequency is the dimension accounting the most -and significantly- of the four message-driven factors analysed on attitude toward mobile advertisi...

Mobile phone SMS messages can enhance healthy behaviour: a meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials.

Science.gov (United States)

Orr, Jayne A; King, Robert J

2015-01-01

Healthy behaviour, such as smoking cessation and adherence to prescribed medications, mitigates illness risk factors but health behaviour change can be challenging. Mobile phone short-message service (SMS) messages are increasingly used to deliver interventions designed to enhance healthy behaviour. This meta-analysis used a random-effects model to synthesise 38 randomised controlled trials that investigated the efficacy of SMS messages to enhance healthy behaviour. Participants (N = 19,641) lived in developed and developing countries and were diverse with respect to age, ethnicity, socioeconomic background and health behaviours targeted for change. SMS messages had a small, positive, significant effect (g = 0.291) on a broad range of healthy behaviour. This effect was maximised when multiple SMS messages per day were used (g = 0.395) compared to using lower frequencies (daily, multiple per week and once-off) (g = 0.244). The low heterogeneity in this meta-analysis (I (2) = 38.619) supports reporting a summary effect size and implies that the effect of SMS messaging is robust, regardless of population characteristics or healthy behaviour targeted. SMS messaging is a simple, cost-effective intervention that can be automated and can reach any mobile phone owner. While the effect size is small, potential health benefits are well worth achieving.

When message-frame fits salient cultural-frame, messages feel more persuasive

OpenAIRE

Uskul, Ayse K.; Oyserman, Daphna

2010-01-01

The present study examines the persuasive effects of tailored health messages comparing those tailored to match (versus not match) both chronic cultural frame and momentarily salient cultural frame. Evidence from two studies (Study 1: n = 72 European Americans; Study 2: n = 48 Asian Americans) supports the hypothesis that message persuasiveness increases when chronic cultural frame, health message tailoring and momentarily salient cultural frame all match. The hypothesis was tested using a me...

Preferred Tone of Nutrition Text Messages for Young Adults: Focus Group Testing

Science.gov (United States)

2016-01-01

Background Young adults are a particularly hard to reach group using conventional health promotion practices as they do not see nutrition messages as personally relevant to them. Text messaging (short message service, SMS) offers an innovative approach to reaching young adults to support and promote dietary behavior change. Objective The aim of this study was to develop and test tonal preferences for nutrition text messages among young adults using focus groups. Methods A total of 39 young adults aged 18-30 years residing in Perth, Western Australia participated in four focus groups. Participants briefly discussed their perception of healthy eating and their responses to messages about increasing fruit and vegetables, and reducing “junk food” and alcohol intake. They ranked their preference for 15 nutrition messages across 3 dietary behaviors (fruit and vegetables, junk food, and alcohol) with 5 different message tones (authoritative, empathetic, generation Y, solutions, and substitutions) and identified the messages most likely to persuade young adults to change their diet. A 5-point ranking of the nutrition messages was from the most likely to least likely to persuade (1-5). The focus groups were conducted by a trained facilitator and observer and were recorded. Data driven content analysis was used to explore themes. Tonal preferences and potential motivators were collated and frequencies presented. Results Participants ranked offering substitutes (29%, 11/39) and using empathy (22%, 9/39) as the most persuasive message techniques in improving diets of young adults, with low responses for Generation Y (17%, 7/39), solutions (17%, 7/39), and authoritative (15%, 6/39) tones. Females were more likely to consider substitution messages persuasive (35%, 7/20) compared with males (22%, 4/19). A greater proportion of males compared with females considered authoritative messages persuasive: (22%, 4/19) compared with (7%, 1/20). There is a strong preference for a

Short message service (SMS) texting as a method of communication during on call: prevalence and experience of medical staff in a large acute NHS Trust in the UK.

Science.gov (United States)

Matharu, J; Hale, B; Ammar, M; Brennan, P A

2016-10-01

With the widespread use of smartphones, text messaging has become an accepted form of communication for both social and professional use in medicine. To our knowledge no published studies have assessed the prevalence and use of short message service (SMS) texting by doctors on call. We have used an online questionnaire to seek information from doctors in a large NHS Trust in the UK about their use of texting while on call, what they use it for, and whether they send images relevant to patients' care. We received 302 responses (43% response rate), of whom 166 (55%) used SMS while on call. There was a significant association between SMS and age group (p=0.005), with the 20-30-year-old group using it much more than the other age groups. Doctors in the surgical specialties used it significantly less than those in other speciality groups (pcall was deemed to be safe and reliable (pcommunication to use when on call. Copyright © 2016 The British Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A Service-Oriented Healthcare Message Alerting Architecture in an Asia Medical Center: A Case Study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jin-Shin Lai

2009-06-01

Full Text Available This paper illustrates how our development team has used some information technologies to let physicians obtain an instant abnormal laboratory result report for critical patient care services. We have implementeda healthcare message alerting system (HMAS on a healthcare short message service (HSMS engine and the distributed healthcare-oriented service environment (DiHOSE in the National Taiwan University Hospital (NTUH. The HSMS engine has a general interface for all applications which could easily send any kind of alerting messages. Fundamentally, the DiHOSE uses HL7 standard formats to process the information exchange behaviors and can be flexibly extended for reasonable user requirements. The disease surveillance subsystem is an integral part of NTUH new hospital information system which is based on DiHOSE and the disease surveillance subsystem would send alerting messages through the HSMS engine. The latest cell phone message alerting subsystem, a case study, in NTUH proved that the DiHOSE could integrate the user required functions without much work. We concluded that both HSMS and DiHOSE can generalize and extend application demands efficiently.

Interest of pregnant women in the use of SMS (short message service) text messages for the improvement of perinatal and postnatal care.

Science.gov (United States)

Cormick, Gabriela; Kim, Natalie A; Rodgers, Ashlei; Gibbons, Luz; Buekens, Pierre M; Belizán, José M; Althabe, Fernando

2012-08-06

Mobile health (mHealth) is emerging as a useful tool to improve healthcare access especially in the developing world, where limited access to health services is linked to poor antenatal care, and maternal and perinatal mortality.The objective of this study is to 1) understand pregnant women's access and usage of cell phones and 2) survey the health information needs and interests in a population attending public hospitals and health centers of two cities in Argentina. This information is not available and it is the basis to develop a strategy for improving maternal care via cell phones. Questionnaires were verbally administered to pregnant women who were attending an antenatal care visit in community health centers and public hospitals in Rosario, Santa Fe and Mercedes, Corrientes. Participants were 18 years of age or older and had previously given birth. The data obtained was qualitative and analyzed using SPSS version 18. A total of 147 pregnant women meeting inclusion criteria (Rosario: 63; Mercedes: 84) were approached and verbally consented to participate. The average age was 29.5 years, most lived in urban areas (89%) with a mean travel time of 43.4 minutes required to get to the health center and 57.3 minutes to get the hospital.Ninety-six percent of women (n = 140) responded that they would like to receive text messages and cell phone calls with information regarding prenatal care, although the topics and period of time to receive information varied greatly. Considering the vast majority of the interviewed women had access to and were interested in receiving text messages and calls with educational information regarding pregnancy and infant health, pregnant women in Argentina could benefit from such an mHealth program. The low access to Internet suggests it is not an option for this population; however, this cannot be assumed as representative of the country's situation.To retain active participation, other forms of health communication, such as a 2

Interest of pregnant women in the use of SMS (short message service text messages for the improvement of perinatal and postnatal care

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cormick Gabriela

2012-08-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Mobile health (mHealth is emerging as a useful tool to improve healthcare access especially in the developing world, where limited access to health services is linked to poor antenatal care, and maternal and perinatal mortality. The objective of this study is to 1 understand pregnant women’s access and usage of cell phones and 2 survey the health information needs and interests in a population attending public hospitals and health centers of two cities in Argentina. This information is not available and it is the basis to develop a strategy for improving maternal care via cell phones. Methods Questionnaires were verbally administered to pregnant women who were attending an antenatal care visit in community health centers and public hospitals in Rosario, Santa Fe and Mercedes, Corrientes. Participants were 18 years of age or older and had previously given birth. The data obtained was qualitative and analyzed using SPSS version 18. Results A total of 147 pregnant women meeting inclusion criteria (Rosario: 63; Mercedes: 84 were approached and verbally consented to participate. The average age was 29.5 years, most lived in urban areas (89% with a mean travel time of 43.4 minutes required to get to the health center and 57.3 minutes to get the hospital. Ninety-six percent of women (n = 140 responded that they would like to receive text messages and cell phone calls with information regarding prenatal care, although the topics and period of time to receive information varied greatly. Conclusions Considering the vast majority of the interviewed women had access to and were interested in receiving text messages and calls with educational information regarding pregnancy and infant health, pregnant women in Argentina could benefit from such an mHealth program. The low access to Internet suggests it is not an option for this population; however, this cannot be assumed as representative of the country’s situation. To retain

MessageSpace: a messaging system for health research

Science.gov (United States)

Escobar, Rodrigo D.; Akopian, David; Parra-Medina, Deborah; Esparza, Laura

2013-03-01

Mobile Health (mHealth) has emerged as a promising direction for delivery of healthcare services via mobile communication devices such as cell phones. Examples include texting-based interventions for chronic disease monitoring, diabetes management, control of hypertension, smoking cessation, monitoring medication adherence, appointment keeping and medical test result delivery; as well as improving patient-provider communication, health information communication, data collection and access to health records. While existing messaging systems very well support bulk messaging and some polling applications, they are not designed for data collection and processing of health research oriented studies. For that reason known studies based on text-messaging campaigns have been constrained in participant numbers. In order to empower healthcare promotion and education research, this paper presents a system dedicated for healthcare research. It is designed for convenient communication with various study groups, feedback collection and automated processing.

EMI Messaging Guidelines

CERN Document Server

Cons, L.

2011-01-01

Guidelines for potential users of messaging within EMI. The goal is to provide enough practical information so that EMI product teams can start investigating whether using messaging in their products can be beneficial or not.

RECOGNIZING REFERENCES TO PHYSICAL PLACES INSIDE SHORT TEXTS BY USING PATTERNS AS A SEQUENCE OF GRAMMATICAL CATEGORIES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. Romero

2017-09-01

Full Text Available Collecting data by crowdsourcing is an explored trend to support database population and update. This kind of data is unstructured and comes from text, in particular text in social networks. Geographic database is a particular case of database that can be populated by crowdsourcing which can be done when people report some urban event in a social network by writing a short message. An event can describe an accident or a non-functioning device in the urban area. The authorities then need to read and to interpret the message to provide some help for injured people or to fix a problem in a device installed in the urban area like a light or a problem on road. Our main interest is located on working with short messages organized in a collection. Most of the messages do not have geographical coordinates. The messages can then be classified by text patterns describing a location. In fact, people use a text pattern to describe an urban location. Our work tries to identify patterns inside a short text and to indicate when it describes a location. When a pattern is identified our approach look to describe the place where the event is located. The source messages used are tweets reporting events from several Mexican cities.

Recognizing References to Physical Places Inside Short Texts by Using Patterns as a Sequence of Grammatical Categories

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Romero, A.; Sol, D.

2017-09-01

Collecting data by crowdsourcing is an explored trend to support database population and update. This kind of data is unstructured and comes from text, in particular text in social networks. Geographic database is a particular case of database that can be populated by crowdsourcing which can be done when people report some urban event in a social network by writing a short message. An event can describe an accident or a non-functioning device in the urban area. The authorities then need to read and to interpret the message to provide some help for injured people or to fix a problem in a device installed in the urban area like a light or a problem on road. Our main interest is located on working with short messages organized in a collection. Most of the messages do not have geographical coordinates. The messages can then be classified by text patterns describing a location. In fact, people use a text pattern to describe an urban location. Our work tries to identify patterns inside a short text and to indicate when it describes a location. When a pattern is identified our approach look to describe the place where the event is located. The source messages used are tweets reporting events from several Mexican cities.

Downlink Transmission of Short Packets

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Trillingsgaard, Kasper Fløe; Popovski, Petar

2017-01-01

Cellular wireless systems rely on frame-based transmissions. The frame design is conventionally based on heuristics, consisting of a frame header and a data part. The frame header contains control information that provides pointers to the messages within the data part. In this paper, we revisit...... the principles of frame design and show the impact of the new design in scenarios that feature short data packets, which are central to various 5G and Internet of Things applications. We~treat framing for downlink transmission in an AWGN broadcast channel with $K$ users, where the sizes of the messages....... This requires changes in the way control information is sent, and it requires that the users need to spend power decoding other messages, thereby increasing the average power consumption. We~show that the common heuristic design is only one point on a curve that represents the tradeoff between latency and power...

Promoting the avoidance of high-calorie snacks. The role of temporal message framing and eating self-efficacy.

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Churchill, Susan; Good, Anna; Pavey, Louisa

2014-09-01

Message framing outcomes of healthy behaviours as occurring 'every day' vs. 'every year' can influence the temporal proximity and perceived likelihood of these outcomes. However, it is not known how pre-existing beliefs such as confidence in one's ability to perform health-related behaviour interact with such messages. The purpose of this research was to investigate whether eating self-efficacy moderates the effect of temporal framing (day-frame vs. year-frame) on snacking behaviour. Participants (N = 95) completed the short form of the Weight Efficacy Lifestyle Questionnaire (WEL-SF) and read either a day-framed or year-framed message about the health benefits associated with avoiding snacking. Consumption of snacks was reported 7 days later. For those with low levels of eating self-efficacy (WEL-SF score framed message was associated with lower levels of snacking than the day-framed message. The current research identifies a key role for eating self-efficacy in shaping recipients' responses to temporally framed messages about the health benefits associated with the avoidance of snacking. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Control mechanism to prevent correlated message arrivals from degrading signaling no. 7 network performance

Science.gov (United States)

Kosal, Haluk; Skoog, Ronald A.

1994-04-01

Signaling System No. 7 (SS7) is designed to provide a connection-less transfer of signaling messages of reasonable length. Customers having access to user signaling bearer capabilities as specified in the ANSI T1.623 and CCITT Q.931 standards can send bursts of correlated messages (e.g., by doing a file transfer that results in the segmentation of a block of data into a number of consecutive signaling messages) through SS7 networks. These message bursts with short interarrival times could have an adverse impact on the delay performance of the SS7 networks. A control mechanism, Credit Manager, is investigated in this paper to regulate incoming traffic to the SS7 network by imposing appropriate time separation between messages when the incoming stream is too bursty. The credit manager has a credit bank where credits accrue at a fixed rate up to a prespecified credit bank capacity. When a message arrives, the number of octets in that message is compared to the number of credits in the bank. If the number of credits is greater than or equal to the number of octets, then the message is accepted for transmission and the number of credits in the bank is decremented by the number of octets. If the number of credits is less than the number of octets, then the message is delayed until enough credits are accumulated. This paper presents simulation results showing delay performance of the SS7 ISUP and TCAP message traffic with a range of correlated message traffic, and control parameters of the credit manager (i.e., credit generation rate and bank capacity) are determined that ensure the traffic entering the SS7 network is acceptable. The results show that control parameters can be set so that for any incoming traffic stream there is no detrimental impact on the SS7 ISUP and TCAP message delay, and the credit manager accepts a wide range of traffic patterns without causing significant delay.

Considerations in using text messages to improve adherence to highly active antiretroviral therapy: a qualitative study among clients in Yaoundé, Cameroon

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mbuagbaw L

2012-04-01

Full Text Available Lawrence Mbuagbaw1,2, Renée Cécile Bonono-Momnougui1, Lehana Thabane2,31Centre for the Development of Best Practices in Health (CDBPH, Yaoundé Central Hospital, Yaoundé, Cameroon; 2Department of Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada; 3Biostatistics Unit, Father Sean O'Sullivan Research Centre, St Joseph's Healthcare, Hamilton, Ontario, CanadaAbstract: Poor adherence to highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART is a major hindrance to the reduction of mortality and morbidity due to HIV. This qualitative study used focus groups to explore the views and experiences of HIV patients on HAART with adherence reminders, especially the text message (SMS [short message service]. The ethnographic data obtained were used to design a clinical trial to assess the effect of motivational text messages versus usual care to enhance adherence to HAART among HIV patients in Yaoundé, Cameroon. Participants appreciated the idea of a timely SMS reminder, and cited the physician as a role model. They expressed concerns about privacy. Long-term life goals were a motivating factor to adhere. Overall, text messaging was viewed positively as a tool with a dual function of reminder and motivator. Messages coming from the attending physician may have a stronger impact. Trials investigating the use of text messages to improve adherence to HAART need to consider the content and timing of SMS, taking into account technical challenges and privacy.Keywords: focus groups, adherence, highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART, text message, short message service (SMS, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV

Communicating with the workforce during emergencies: developing an employee text messaging program in a local public health setting.

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Karasz, Hilary N; Bogan, Sharon; Bosslet, Lindsay

2014-01-01

Short message service (SMS) text messaging can be useful for communicating information to public health employees and improving workforce situational awareness during emergencies. We sought to understand how the 1,500 employees at Public Health--Seattle & King County, Washington, perceived barriers to and benefits of participation in a voluntary, employer-based SMS program. Based on employee feedback, we developed the system, marketed it, and invited employees to opt in. The system was tested during an ice storm in January 2012. Employee concerns about opting into an SMS program included possible work encroachment during non-work time and receiving excessive irrelevant messages. Employees who received messages during the weather event reported high levels of satisfaction and perceived utility from the program. We conclude that text messaging is a feasible form of communication with employees during emergencies. Care should be taken to design and deploy a program that maximizes employee satisfaction.

Positive mood can increase or decrease message scrutiny: the hedonic contingency view of mood and message processing.

Science.gov (United States)

Wegener, D T; Petty, R E; Smith, S M

1995-07-01

Currently dominant explanations of mood effects on persuasive message processing (i.e., cognitive capacity and feelings as information) predict that happy moods lead to less message scrutiny than neutral or sad moods. The hedonic contingency view (D. T. Wegener & R. E. Petty, 1994) predicts that happy moods can sometimes be associated with greater message processing activity because people in a happy mood are more attentive than neutral or sad people to the hedonic consequences of their actions. Consistent with this view, Experiment 1 finds that a happy mood can lead to greater message scrutiny than a neutral mood when the message is not mood threatening. Experiment 2 finds that a happy mood leads to greater message scrutiny than a sad mood when an uplifting message is encountered, but to less message scrutiny when a depressing message is encountered.

CDC MessageWorks: Designing and Validating a Social Marketing Tool to Craft and Defend Effective Messages.

Science.gov (United States)

Cole, Galen E; Keller, Punam A; Reynolds, Jennifer; Schaur, Michelle; Krause, Diane

2016-03-01

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Division of Cancer Prevention and Control, in partnership with Oak Ridge Associated Universities, designed an online social marketing strategy tool, MessageWorks, to help health communicators effectively formulate messages aimed at changing health behaviors and evaluate message tactics and audience characteristics. MessageWorks is based on the advisor for risk communication model that identifies 10 variables that can be used to predict target audience intentions to comply with health recommendations. This article discusses the value of the MessageWorks tool to health communicators and to the field of social marketing by (1) describing the scientific evidence supporting use of MessageWorks to improve health communication practice and (2) summarizing how to use MessageWorks and interpret the results it produces.

Scope and effectiveness of mobile phone messaging for HIV/AIDS care: a systematic review.

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van Velthoven, M H M M T; Brusamento, S; Majeed, A; Car, J

2013-01-01

The objective of this mixed method systematic review was to assess the scope, effectiveness, acceptability and feasibility of the use of mobile phone messaging for HIV infection prevention, treatment and care. We comprehensively searched the peer-reviewed and grey literature. Two authors independently screened citations, extracted data and assessed study quality of included studies (any research design) focusing on mobile phone messaging interventions for HIV care. We present a narrative overview of the results. Twenty-one studies met the inclusion criteria: three randomized controlled trials, 11 interventional studies using other study designs and seven qualitative or cross-sectional studies. We also found six on-going trials and 21 projects. Five of the on-going trials and all the above mentioned projects took place in low or middle-income countries. Mobile phone messaging was researched for HIV prevention, appointment reminders, HIV testing reminders, medication adherence and for communication between health workers. Of the three randomized controlled trials assessing the use of short message service (SMS) to improve medication adherence, two showed positive results. Other interventional studies did not provide significant results. In conclusion, despite an extensive search we found limited evidence on the effectiveness of mobile phone messaging for HIV care. There is a need to adequately document outcomes and constraints of programs using mobile phone messaging to support HIV care to assess the impact and to focus on best practice.

Mobile phone messaging reminders for attendance at healthcare appointments.

Science.gov (United States)

Car, Josip; Gurol-Urganci, Ipek; de Jongh, Thyra; Vodopivec-Jamsek, Vlasta; Atun, Rifat

2012-07-11

Missed appointments are a major cause of inefficiency in healthcare delivery, with substantial monetary costs for the health system, leading to delays in diagnosis and appropriate treatment. Patients' forgetfulness is one of the main reasons for missed appointments, and reminders may help alleviate this problem. Modes of communicating reminders for appointments to patients include face-to-face communication, postal messages, calls to landlines or mobile phones, and mobile phone messaging. Mobile phone messaging applications such as Short Message Service (SMS) and Multimedia Message Service (MMS) could provide an important, inexpensive delivery medium for reminders for healthcare appointments. To assess the effects of mobile phone messaging reminders for attendance at healthcare appointments. Secondary objectives include assessment of patients' and healthcare providers' evaluation of the intervention; costs; and possible risks and harms associated with the intervention. We searched the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL,The Cochrane Library 2009, Issue 2), MEDLINE (OvidSP) (January 1993 to June 2009), EMBASE (OvidSP) (January 1993 to June 2009), PsycINFO (OvidSP) (January 1993 to June 2009), CINAHL (EbscoHOST) (January 1993 to June 2009), LILACS (January 1993 to June 2009) and African Health Anthology (January 1993 to June 2009). We also reviewed grey literature (including trial registers) and reference lists of articles. We included randomised controlled trials (RCTs), quasi-randomised controlled trials (QRCTs), controlled before-after (CBA) studies, or interrupted time series (ITS) studies with at least three time points before and after the intervention. We included studies assessing mobile phone messaging as reminders for healthcare appointments. We only included studies in which it was possible to assess effects of mobile phone messaging independent of other technologies or interventions.   Two review authors independently assessed all

CDC MessageWorks: Designing and Validating a Social Marketing Tool to Craft and Defend Effective Messages

Science.gov (United States)

Cole, Galen E.; Keller, Punam A.; Reynolds, Jennifer; Schaur, Michelle; Krause, Diane

2016-01-01

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Division of Cancer Prevention and Control, in partnership with Oak Ridge Associated Universities, designed an online social marketing strategy tool, MessageWorks, to help health communicators effectively formulate messages aimed at changing health behaviors and evaluate message tactics and audience characteristics. MessageWorks is based on the advisor for risk communication model that identifies 10 variables that can be used to predict target audience intentions to comply with health recommendations. This article discusses the value of the MessageWorks tool to health communicators and to the field of social marketing by (1) describing the scientific evidence supporting use of MessageWorks to improve health communication practice and (2) summarizing how to use MessageWorks and interpret the results it produces. PMID:26877714

Electronic folklore among teenagers: SMS messages

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cvjetićanin Tijana

2006-01-01

Full Text Available The development of ICT media made way for a new form of folklore communication. Newly developed media, such as mobile phones, make it possible for their users to participate in electronically mediated communication, thus approaching the form of oral communication. The exchange of special type of SMS text messages represents a new way of transmitting contemporary folklore short forms. These messages use poetic language, they have standard style themes, patterns and formulas, and they form different genres and categories corresponding with already existing familiar folklore forms. The communication process that happens during the exchange of these messages also has folklore’s characteristics: it takes place within small groups, the communication is informal, the texts circulate in chain style, and undergo different transformation which generates the making of variants, etc. This form of electronic folklore is especially popular among teenagers, where it’s social functions and meanings are also most emphasized. Within this population, it adds to an older tradition of children’s written folklore poetry albums. Like poetry albums, SMS exchange influences the development of girls’ gender identity, providing also a socially defined channel for contacts between the sexes. It also functions as a mechanism of socialization and stratification within the group. At the same time, it creates a new field of meaning, which derives from the very media’s novelty and significance. In this sense, the exchange of SMS represents a symbolic act of acknowledging one’s belonging to the group of mobile telephone users. In this way, a new phenomenon is being symbolically processed through a new form of folklore.

Optical character recognition of handwritten Arabic using hidden Markov models

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Aulama, Mohannad M.; Natsheh, Asem M.; Abandah, Gheith A.; Olama, Mohammed M.

2011-04-01

The problem of optical character recognition (OCR) of handwritten Arabic has not received a satisfactory solution yet. In this paper, an Arabic OCR algorithm is developed based on Hidden Markov Models (HMMs) combined with the Viterbi algorithm, which results in an improved and more robust recognition of characters at the sub-word level. Integrating the HMMs represents another step of the overall OCR trends being currently researched in the literature. The proposed approach exploits the structure of characters in the Arabic language in addition to their extracted features to achieve improved recognition rates. Useful statistical information of the Arabic language is initially extracted and then used to estimate the probabilistic parameters of the mathematical HMM. A new custom implementation of the HMM is developed in this study, where the transition matrix is built based on the collected large corpus, and the emission matrix is built based on the results obtained via the extracted character features. The recognition process is triggered using the Viterbi algorithm which employs the most probable sequence of sub-words. The model was implemented to recognize the sub-word unit of Arabic text raising the recognition rate from being linked to the worst recognition rate for any character to the overall structure of the Arabic language. Numerical results show that there is a potentially large recognition improvement by using the proposed algorithms.

Message Framing and Physical Activity Promotion in Colorectal Cancer Survivors.

Science.gov (United States)

Hirschey, Rachel; Lipkus, Isaac; Jones, Lee; Mantyh, Christopher; Sloane, Richard; Demark-Wahnefried, Wendy

2016-11-01

To test effects of gain-framed versus loss-framed mailed brochures on increasing physical activity (PA) among colorectal cancer (CRC) survivors.
. Randomized trial with repeated measures at baseline, 1 month, and 12 months postintervention.
. Mail recruitment from tumor registries.
. 148 inactive CRC survivors who had completed primary therapy. 
. PA and constructs from the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) were assessed at baseline, 1 month, and 12 months. Participants were randomized to receive pamphlets describing PA benefits (gain framed) or disadvantages of not being physically active (loss framed). Baseline characteristics were compared using descriptive statistics. Repeated measures linear models were used to test PA changes.
. Minutes of PA and TPB constructs.
. Significant PA increases were observed in both study arms. Results did not differ by message frame. At one month, about 25% of previously inactive participants increased activity to national recommendations. Those who increased PA compared to those who did not had higher baseline scores on subjective norms, perceived behavioral control, and PA intentions. 
. Independent of message framing, mailed brochures are highly effective in producing within-subject short- and long-term increases in PA.
. CRC survivors may increase short- and long-term levels of PA by receiving inexpensive print brochures.

Mobile Phone Short Message Service (SMS for Weight Management in Iranian Overweight and Obese Women: A Pilot Study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Somayeh Faghanipour

2013-01-01

Full Text Available We conducted a text message-based intervention for weight management over three months by two months intervention and one month wash-out period. In a quasi-experimental study with control ( and experimental group (, 80 overweight and obese employed women were entered. Participants were recruited via announcement. All subjects attended a face-to-face information session and received a booklet that contained food calorie chart and strategies and recommendations for weight management. The experimental group received text messages (SMS about weight management twice a day for two months, in addition to the information and the booklet which they had received in the information session. Also, the experimental group was instructed to weekly self-weight and to send the data to the principle researcher. All subjects were measured for baseline and secondary weight in a standardized manner by a nurse, and the data were compared between the two groups. Experimental group lost more weight than the control group (1.5 kg difference, . Text messaging seems to be an effective channel of communication for weight management in Iranian overweight and obese women. The clinical trial registration number is IRCT201204029360N1.

Message framing in social networking sites.

Science.gov (United States)

Kao, Danny Tengti; Chuang, Shih-Chieh; Wang, Sui-Min; Zhang, Lei

2013-10-01

Online social networking sites represent significant new opportunities for Internet advertisers. However, results based on the real world cannot be generalized to all virtual worlds. In this research, the moderating effects of need for cognition (NFC) and knowledge were applied to examine the impact of message framing on attitudes toward social networking sites. A total of 216 undergraduates participated in the study. Results reveal that for social networking sites, while high-NFC individuals form more favorable attitudes toward negatively framed messages than positively framed messages, low-NFC individuals form more favorable attitudes toward positively framed messages than negatively framed messages. In addition, low-knowledge individuals demonstrate more favorable attitudes toward negatively framed messages than positively framed messages; however, the framing effect does not differentially affect the attitudes of high-knowledge individuals. Furthermore, the framing effect does not differentially affect the attitudes of high-NFC individuals with high knowledge. In contrast, low-NFC individuals with low knowledge hold more favorable attitudes toward positively framed messages than negatively framed messages.

Resident Use of Text Messaging for Patient Care: Ease of Use or Breach of Privacy?

Science.gov (United States)

Prochaska, Micah T; Bird, Amber-Nicole; Chadaga, Amar; Arora, Vineet M

2015-11-26

Short message service (SMS) text messaging is an efficient form of communication and pervasive in health care, but may not securely protect patient information. It is unclear if resident providers are aware of the security concerns of SMS text messaging when communicating about patient care. We sought to compare residents' preferences for SMS text messaging compared with other forms of in-hospital communication when considering security versus ease of use. This study was a cross-sectional multi-institutional survey of internal medicine residents. Residents ranked different communication modalities based on efficiency, ease of use, and security using a Likert scale. Communication options included telephone, email, hospital paging, and SMS text messaging. Respondents also reported whether they had received confidential patient identifiers through any of these modalities. SMS text messaging was preferred by 71.7% (94/131) of respondents because of its efficiency and by 79.8% (103/129) of respondents because of its ease of use. For security, 82.5% (104/126) of respondents preferred the hospital paging system, whereas only 20.6% (26/126) of respondents preferred SMS text messaging for secure communication. In all, 70.9% (93/131) of respondents reported having received patient identifiers (first and/or last name), 81.7% (107/131) reported receiving patient initials, and 50.4% (66/131) reported receiving a patient's medical record number through SMS text messages. Residents prefer in-hospital communication through SMS text messaging because of its ease of use and efficiency. Despite security concerns, the majority of residents reported receiving confidential patient information through SMS text messaging. For providers, it is possible that the benefits of improved in-hospital communication with SMS text messaging and the presumed improvement in the coordination and delivery of patient care outweigh security concerns they may have. The tension between the security and

Texting Styles and Information Change of SMS Text Messages in Filipino

Science.gov (United States)

Cabatbat, Josephine Jill T.; Tapang, Giovanni A.

2013-02-01

We identify the different styles of texting in Filipino short message service (SMS) texts and analyze the change in unigram and bigram frequencies due to these styles. Style preference vectors for sample texts were calculated and used to identify the style combination used by an average individual. The change in Shannon entropy of the SMS text is explained in light of a coding process.

Improving the Effectiveness of Fundraising Messages: The Impact of Charity Goal Attainment, Message Framing, and Evidence on Persuasion

Science.gov (United States)

Das, Enny; Kerkhof, Peter; Kuiper, Joyce

2008-01-01

This experimental study assessed the effectiveness of fundraising messages. Based on recent findings regarding the effects of message framing and evidence, effective fundraising messages should combine abstract, statistical information with a negative message frame and anecdotal evidence with a positive message frame. In addition, building on…

Starting Off on the Best Foot: A Review of Message Framing and Message Tailoring, and Recommendations for the Comprehensive Messaging Strategy for Sustained Behavior Change.

Science.gov (United States)

Pope, J Paige; Pelletier, Luc; Guertin, Camille

2018-09-01

Health promotion programs represent a salient means through which physical activity promoters can cultivate positive health behavior change and maintenance. The messages communicated within these programs serve as an essential component as they are often used to convey valuable information, resources, or tools that facilitate health behavior initiation and sustained engagement. Identifying the most effective way to communicate health promotion information is, therefore, of considerable importance to ensuring that people not only attend to these messages, but also connect with and internalize the information conveyed within them. This paper was written to (1) summarize and evaluate the most prominent reviewed research approaches of message framing and tailoring to message design; and (2) offer a comprehensive messaging strategy to promote sustained health behavior change. A review of the literature demonstrated that a messaging strategy that has consistently led to healthy behavior change has yet to be identified. Furthermore, scholars have articulated that a multi-theoretical approach that places emphasis on facilitating motivation and healthy behavior change needs to be employed. Thus, this paper proposes and provides recommendations for employing the Comprehensive Messaging Strategy for Sustained Behavior Change (CMSSBC), which advocates tailoring messages to peoples' stage of change and framing them to focus on self-determined motives and intrinsic goals.

Impact of Cultural Exposure and Message Framing on Oral Health Behavior: Exploring the Role of Message Memory.

Science.gov (United States)

Brick, Cameron; McCully, Scout N; Updegraff, John A; Ehret, Phillip J; Areguin, Maira A; Sherman, David K

2016-10-01

Health messages are more effective when framed to be congruent with recipient characteristics, and health practitioners can strategically choose message features to promote adherence to recommended behaviors. We present exposure to US culture as a moderator of the impact of gain-frame versus loss-frame messages. Since US culture emphasizes individualism and approach orientation, greater cultural exposure was expected to predict improved patient choices and memory for gain-framed messages, whereas individuals with less exposure to US culture would show these advantages for loss-framed messages. 223 participants viewed a written oral health message in 1 of 3 randomized conditions-gain-frame, loss-frame, or no-message control-and were given 10 flosses. Cultural exposure was measured with the proportions of life spent and parents born in the US. At baseline and 1 week later, participants completed recall tests and reported recent flossing behavior. Message frame and cultural exposure interacted to predict improved patient decisions (increased flossing) and memory maintenance for the health message over 1 week; for example, those with low cultural exposure who saw a loss-frame message flossed more. Incongruent messages led to the same flossing rates as no message. Memory retention did not explain the effect of message congruency on flossing. Flossing behavior was self-reported. Cultural exposure may only have practical application in either highly individualistic or collectivistic countries. In health care settings where patients are urged to follow a behavior, asking basic demographic questions could allow medical practitioners to intentionally communicate in terms of gains or losses to improve patient decision making and treatment adherence. © The Author(s) 2015.

Degree sequence in message transfer

Science.gov (United States)

Yamuna, M.

2017-11-01

Message encryption is always an issue in current communication scenario. Methods are being devised using various domains. Graphs satisfy numerous unique properties which can be used for message transfer. In this paper, I propose a message encryption method based on degree sequence of graphs.

Mobile phone messaging reminders for attendance at healthcare appointments.

Science.gov (United States)

Gurol-Urganci, Ipek; de Jongh, Thyra; Vodopivec-Jamsek, Vlasta; Atun, Rifat; Car, Josip

2013-12-05

This review is an update of the original Cochrane review published in July 2012. Missed appointments are a major cause of inefficiency in healthcare delivery with substantial monetary costs for the health system, leading to delays in diagnosis and appropriate treatment. Patients' forgetfulness is one of the main reasons for missed appointments. Patient reminders may help reduce missed appointments. Modes of communicating reminders for appointments to patients include face-to-face communication, postal messages, calls to landlines or mobile phones, and mobile phone messaging. Mobile phone messaging applications, such as Short Message Service (SMS) and Multimedia Message Service (MMS), could provide an important, inexpensive delivery medium for reminders for healthcare appointments. To update our review assessing the effects of mobile phone messaging reminders for attendance at healthcare appointments. Secondary objectives include assessment of costs; health outcomes; patients' and healthcare providers' evaluation of the intervention and perceptions of safety; and possible harms and adverse effects associated with the intervention. Original searches were run in June 2009. For this update, we searched the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL,The Cochrane Library 2012, Issue 8), MEDLINE (OvidSP) (January 1993 to August 2012), EMBASE (OvidSP) (January 1993 to August 2012), PsycINFO (OvidSP) (January 1993 to August 2012) and CINAHL (EbscoHOST) (January 1993 to August 2012). We also reviewed grey literature (including trial registers) and reference lists of articles. Randomised controlled trials (RCTs) assessing mobile phone messaging as reminders for healthcare appointments. We only included studies in which it was possible to assess effects of mobile phone messaging independent of other technologies or interventions.   Two review authors independently assessed all studies against the inclusion criteria, with any disagreements resolved by a third

Text Messaging (SMS) Helping Cancer Care in Patients Undergoing Chemotherapy Treatment: a Pilot Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Rico, Timóteo Matthies; Dos Santos Machado, Karina; Fernandes, Vanessa Pellegrini; Madruga, Samanta Winck; Noguez, Patrícia Tuerlinckx; Barcelos, Camila Rose Guadalupe; Santin, Mateus Madail; Petrarca, Cristiane Rios; Dumith, Samuel Carvalho

2017-10-09

Cancer treatment is an extremely stressful life experience that is accompanied by a range of psychological, social, physical, and practical difficulties. Cancer patients need to receive information that helps them to better understand the disease, assists them in decision-making, and helps them deal with treatment. Patients are interested in receiving such information. The degree of satisfaction with the information received has been associated with positive health outcomes, specifically regarding quality of life, severity of side effects, and psychological well-being. This study investigates a method of guiding cancer patients, in relation to outpatient chemotherapy treatment, using SMS (short message service) text messaging. A smartphone application called cHEmotHErApp was developed, and its primary function is to send out SMS text messages with guidance for self-care and emotional support for oncology patients undergoing chemotherapy. Thus, the main objective of this study is to evaluate the acceptance and perception of patients of the receipt of these SMS messages, as well as to evaluate the possible benefits reported by the participants. Adult patients diagnosed with cancer, who started the first outpatient chemotherapy treatment scheme between August and November 2016 at the School Hospital (HE) of the Federal University of Pelotas (UFPel), were invited to participate in this pilot study. In total, 14 cancer patients were adherent to this study. Each of these patients received a daily text message on their cell phone with some guidance on encouraging self-care and emotional support. Patients reported that, because of the SMS text messages they received, they felt more confident in their treatment, felt more supported and encouraged, and that the text messages facilitated self-care. In addition, patients reported that the SMS text messages they received helped them to take better care of themselves and to continue further treatment.

Fear, threat and efficacy in threat appeals: message involvement as a key mediator to message acceptance.

Science.gov (United States)

Cauberghe, Verolien; De Pelsmacker, Patrick; Janssens, Wim; Dens, Nathalie

2009-03-01

In a sample of 170 youngsters, the effect of two versions of a public service announcement (PSA) threat appeal against speeding, placed in four different contexts, on evoked fear, perceived threat (severity and probability of occurrence), perceived response efficacy and self-efficacy, message involvement and anti-speeding attitude and anti-speeding intention is investigated. Evoked fear and perceived threat and efficacy independently influence message involvement. Message involvement is a full mediator between evoked fear, perceived threat and efficacy perception on the one hand, and attitudes towards the message and behavioral intention to accept the message on the other. Speeding experience has a significantly negative impact on anti-speeding attitudes. Message and medium context threat levels and context thematic congruency have a significant effect on evoked fear and to a lesser extent on perceived threat.

Getting the message across: age differences in the positive and negative framing of health care messages.

Science.gov (United States)

Shamaskin, Andrea M; Mikels, Joseph A; Reed, Andrew E

2010-09-01

Although valenced health care messages influence impressions, memory, and behavior (Levin, Schneider, & Gaeth, 1998) and the processing of valenced information changes with age (Carstensen & Mikels, 2005), these 2 lines of research have thus far been disconnected. This study examined impressions of, and memory for, positively and negatively framed health care messages that were presented in pamphlets to 25 older adults and 24 younger adults. Older adults relative to younger adults rated positive pamphlets more informative than negative pamphlets and remembered a higher proportion of positive to negative messages. However, older adults misremembered negative messages to be positive. These findings demonstrate the age-related positivity effect in health care messages with promise as to the persuasive nature and lingering effects of positive messages. (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved.

Methods to assess youth engagement in a text messaging supplement to an effective teen pregnancy program.

Science.gov (United States)

Devine, Sharon; Leeds, Caroline; Shlay, Judith C; Leytem, Amber; Beum, Robert; Bull, Sheana

2015-08-01

Youth are prolific users of cell phone minutes and text messaging. Numerous programs using short message service text messaging (SMS) have been employed to help improve health behaviors and health outcomes. However, we lack information on whether and what type of interaction or engagement with SMS program content is required to realize any benefit. We explored youth engagement with an automated SMS program designed to supplement a 25-session youth development program with demonstrated efficacy for reductions in teen pregnancy. Using two years of program data, we report on youth participation in design of message content and response frequency to messages among youth enrolled in the intervention arm of a randomized controlled trial (RCT) as one indicator of engagement. There were 221 youth between the ages of 14-18 enrolled over two years in the intervention arm of the RCT. Just over half (51%) were female; 56% were Hispanic; and 27% African American. Youth were sent 40,006 messages of which 16,501 were considered bi-directional where youth were asked to text a response. Four-fifths (82%) responded at least once to a text. We found variations in response frequency by gender, age, and ethnicity. The most popular types of messages youth responded to include questions and quizzes. The first two months of the program in each year had the highest response frequency. An important next step is to assess whether higher response to SMS results in greater efficacy. This future work can facilitate greater attention to message design and content to ensure messages are engaging for the intended audience. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Improving the effectiveness of fundraising messages: The impact of charity goal attainment, message framing, and evidence on persuasion

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Das, E.; Kerkhof, P.; Kuiper, J.

2008-01-01

This experimental study assessed the effectiveness of fundraising messages. Based on recent findings regarding the effects of message framing and evidence, effective fundraising messages should combine abstract, statistical information with a negative message frame and anecdotal evidence with a

The impact of cultural exposure and message framing on oral health behavior: Exploring the role of message memory

Science.gov (United States)

Brick, Cameron; McCully, Scout N.; Updegraff, John A.; Ehret, Phillip J.; Areguin, Maira A.; Sherman, David K.

2015-01-01

Background Health messages are more effective when framed to be congruent with recipient characteristics, and health practitioners can strategically decide on message features to promote adherence to recommended behaviors. We present exposure to United States (U.S.) culture as a moderator of the impact of gain- vs. loss-frame messages. Since U.S. culture emphasizes individualism and approach orientation, greater cultural exposure was expected to predict improved patient choices and memory for gain-framed messages, whereas individuals with less exposure to U.S. culture would show these advantages for loss-framed messages. Methods 223 participants viewed a written oral health message in one of three randomized conditions: gain-frame, loss-frame, or no-message control, and were given ten flosses. Cultural exposure was measured with the proportions of life spent and parents born in the U.S. At baseline and one week later, participants completed recall tests and reported recent flossing behavior. Results Message frame and cultural exposure interacted to predict improved patient decisions (increased flossing) and memory maintenance for the health message over one week. E.g., those with low cultural exposure who saw a loss-frame message flossed more. Incongruent messages led to the same flossing rates as no message. Memory retention did not explain the effect of message congruency on flossing. Limitations Flossing behavior was self-reported. Cultural exposure may only have practical application in either highly individualistic or collectivistic countries. Conclusions In healthcare settings where patients are urged to follow a behavior, asking basic demographic questions could allow medical practitioners to intentionally communicate in terms of gains or losses to improve patient decision making and treatment adherence. PMID:25654986

Developing effective messages about potable recycled water: The importance of message structure and content

Science.gov (United States)

Price, J.; Fielding, K. S.; Gardner, J.; Leviston, Z.; Green, M.

2015-04-01

Community opposition is a barrier to potable recycled water schemes. Effective communication strategies about such schemes are needed. Drawing on social psychological literature, two experimental studies are presented, which explore messages that improve public perceptions of potable recycled water. The Elaboration-Likelihood Model of information processing and attitude change is tested and supported. Study 1 (N = 415) premeasured support for recycled water, and trust in government information at Time 1. Messages varied in complexity and sidedness were presented at Time 2 (3 weeks later), and support and trust were remeasured. Support increased after receiving information, provided that participants received complex rather than simple information. Trust in government was also higher after receiving information. There was tentative evidence of this in response to two-sided messages rather than one-sided messages. Initial attitudes to recycled water moderated responses to information. Those initially neutral or ambivalent responded differently to simple and one-sided messages, compared to participants with positive or negative attitudes. Study 2 (N = 957) tested the effectiveness of information about the low relative risks, and/or benefits of potable recycled water, compared to control groups. Messages about the low risks resulted in higher support when the issue of recycled water was relevant. Messages about benefits resulted in higher perceived issue relevance, but did not translate into greater support. The results highlight the importance of understanding people's motivation to process information, and need to tailor communication to match attitudes and stage of recycled water schemes' development.

Toward Predicting Popularity of Social Marketing Messages

Science.gov (United States)

Yu, Bei; Chen, Miao; Kwok, Linchi

Popularity of social marketing messages indicates the effectiveness of the corresponding marketing strategies. This research aims to discover the characteristics of social marketing messages that contribute to different level of popularity. Using messages posted by a sample of restaurants on Facebook as a case study, we measured the message popularity by the number of "likes" voted by fans, and examined the relationship between the message popularity and two properties of the messages: (1) content, and (2) media type. Combining a number of text mining and statistics methods, we have discovered some interesting patterns correlated to "more popular" and "less popular" social marketing messages. This work lays foundation for building computational models to predict the popularity of social marketing messages in the future.

Pengaruh pendidikan kesehatan melalui short message service (sms dan booklet tentang obesitas pada remaja overweight dan obesitas

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Usi Lanita

2015-07-01

Full Text Available Background: Adolescent is an important period to be considered because it is a transition period between children and adult. Nutrition problem in an adolescent is while the decline of physical activity, teenage generally have a big appetite, hence, they often look for additional food. The majority of diet that teenage like are an energy dense, sweet, and high-fat foods, which could have a risk of causing overweight and obesity if consumed excessively. Therefore, one of the efforts to overcome the nutrition problem is given a health education to teenage. Objective: To seek for the effect of health education by short message service (SMS and a booklet about obesity on knowledge and body mass index (BMI in an overweight and obese adolescent. Method: This study used a quasi-experiment with pre-test and post-test design. The subject were 105 respondents of overweight and obese senior high school students. The data were analyze used a paired t-test and ANOVA with p=0.05 and CI=95%. Results: Health education by SMS, booklet and the combination of SMS and booklet had a significant effect statistically (p0.05 to reduce BMI in an overweight and obese adolescent. Conclusion: Health education by SMS, booklet, and combination of SMS and booklet have an effect on increasing the knowledge in overweight and obese adolescent, whereas on BMI, only SMS and booklet have an effect on reducing BMI.

Raising Public Awareness of Clinical Trials: Development of Messages for a National Health Communication Campaign.

Science.gov (United States)

Massett, Holly A; Dilts, David M; Bailey, Robert; Berktold, Jennifer; Ledsky, Rebecca; Atkinson, Nancy L; Mishkin, Grace; Denicoff, Andrea; Padberg, Rose Mary; Allen, Marin P; Silver, Karen; Carrington, Kelli; Johnson, Lenora E

2017-05-01

Clinical trials are essential for developing new and effective treatments and improving patient quality of life; however, many trials cannot answer their primary research questions because they fall short of their recruitment goals. This article reports the results of formative research conducted in two populations, the public and primary care physicians, to identify messages that may raise awareness and increase interest in clinical trials and be used in a national communication campaign. Results suggested that participants were primarily motivated to participate in clinical trials out of a self-interest to help themselves first. Messages illustrated that current treatments were tested via clinical trials, helped normalize trials as routine practices, and reduced concerns over trying something new first. Participants wanted messages that portray trials as state-of-the-art choices that offer some hope, show people like themselves, and are described in a clear, concise manner with actionable steps for them to take. The study revealed some differences in message salience, with healthy audiences exhibiting lower levels of interest. Our results suggest that targeted messages are needed, and that communication with primary health-care providers is an important and necessary component in raising patient awareness of the importance of clinical trials.

A Messaging Infrastructure for WLCG

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Casey, James; Cons, Lionel; Lapka, Wojciech; Paladin, Massimo; Skaburskas, Konstantin

2011-01-01

During the EGEE-III project operational tools such as SAM, Nagios, Gridview, the regional Dashboard and GGUS moved to a communication architecture based on ActiveMQ, an open-source enterprise messaging solution. LHC experiments, in particular ATLAS, developed prototypes of systems using the same messaging infrastructure, validating the system for their use-cases. In this paper we describe the WLCG messaging use cases and outline an improved messaging architecture based on the experience gained during the EGEE-III period. We show how this provides a solid basis for many applications, including the grid middleware, to improve their resilience and reliability.

Short message service prompted mouth self-examination in oral cancer patients as an alternative to frequent hospital-based surveillance.

Science.gov (United States)

Vaishampayan, Sagar; Malik, Akshat; Pawar, Prashant; Arya, Kavi; Chaturvedi, Pankaj

2017-01-01

Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) are amongst commonest cancer in the Indian sub-continent. After treatment, these patients require frequent followup to look for recurrences/second primary. Mouth Self Examination (MSE) has a great potential in all levels of prevention of oral cancer. However, the compliance to self-examination has been reported as poor. Mobile phone is a cheap and effective way to reach out to people. Short Message Service (SMS) is extremely popular can be a very effective motivational and interactive tool in health care setting. We aimed to identify in adequately treated OSCC patients, the influence of health provider initiated SMS on the compliance to the MSE and to establish the efficacy of MSE by comparing patients' MSE interpretation via replies to the SMS with that of the experts' opinion on clinical examination status during follow up. We conclude that MSE can be very useful in adequately treated OSCC patients for evaluating disease status. All treated OSCC patients must be adequately educated for MSE as an integral part of treatment & follow-up protocol by the health provider facility. Health provider generated SMS reminders do improve motivation and compliance towards MSE but don't seem to reduce dropouts in follow up for large and diverse population like that in India.

Short message service (SMS)-based intervention targeting alcohol consumption among university students: study protocol of a randomized controlled trial.

Science.gov (United States)

Thomas, Kristin; Bendtsen, Marcus; Linderoth, Catharina; Karlsson, Nadine; Bendtsen, Preben; Müssener, Ulrika

2017-04-04

Despite significant health risks, heavy drinking of alcohol among university students is a widespread problem; excessive drinking is part of the social norm. A growing number of studies indicate that short message service (SMS)-based interventions are cost-effective, accessible, require limited effort by users, and can enable continuous, real-time, brief support in real-world settings. Although there is emerging evidence for the effect of SMS-based interventions in reducing alcohol consumption, more research is needed. This study aims to test the effectiveness of a newly developed SMS-based intervention targeting excessive alcohol consumption among university and college students in Sweden. The study is a two-arm randomized controlled trial with an intervention (SMS programme) and a control (treatment as usual) group. Outcome measures will be investigated at baseline and at 3-month follow up. The primary outcome is total weekly alcohol consumption. Secondary outcomes are frequency of heavy episodic drinking, highest estimated blood alcohol concentration and number of negative consequences due to excessive drinking. This study contributes knowledge on the effect of automatized SMS support to reduce excessive drinking among students compared with existing support such as Student Health Centres. ISRCTN.com, ISRCTN95054707 . Registered on 31 August 2016.

Distributed parallel messaging for multiprocessor systems

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Dong; Heidelberger, Philip; Salapura, Valentina; Senger, Robert M; Steinmacher-Burrow, Burhard; Sugawara, Yutaka

2013-06-04

A method and apparatus for distributed parallel messaging in a parallel computing system. The apparatus includes, at each node of a multiprocessor network, multiple injection messaging engine units and reception messaging engine units, each implementing a DMA engine and each supporting both multiple packet injection into and multiple reception from a network, in parallel. The reception side of the messaging unit (MU) includes a switch interface enabling writing of data of a packet received from the network to the memory system. The transmission side of the messaging unit, includes switch interface for reading from the memory system when injecting packets into the network.

When communications collide with recipients' actions: effects of post-message behavior on intentions to follow the message recommendation.

Science.gov (United States)

Albarracín, Dolores; Cohen, Joel B; Kumkale, G Tarcan

2003-07-01

Two experiments investigated the processes through which post-message behavior (e.g., noncompliance) influences resistance to the message. Participants in Experiment 1 read preventive, consumer-education messages that either opposed the consumption of an alcohol-like product or recommended moderation. Half of the participants then tried the product, whereas the remaining participants performed a filler task. In the absence of trial, the two messages had the same effect. However, recipients of the abstinence-promoting preventive message who tried the product had stronger intentions to use the product in the future than recipients of the moderation message. This finding suggests that assessments of message impact may be inadequate unless an opportunity for trial is also provided. Results are interpreted in terms of self-perception and cognitive dissonance and contrasted from psychological reactance.

When Communications Collide With Recipients’ Actions: Effects of Post-Message Behavior on Intentions to Follow the Message Recommendation

Science.gov (United States)

Albarracín, Dolores; Cohen, Joel B.; Kumkale, G. Tarcan

2013-01-01

Two experiments investigated the processes through which post-message behavior (e.g., noncompliance) influences resistance to the message. Participants in Experiment 1 read preventive, consumer-education messages that either opposed the consumption of an alcohol-like product or recommended moderation. Half of the participants then tried the product, whereas the remaining participants performed a filler task. In the absence of trial, the two messages had the same effect. However, recipients of the abstinence-promoting preventive message who tried the product had stronger intentions to use the product in the future than recipients of the moderation message. This finding suggests that assessments of message impact may be inadequate unless an opportunity for trial is also provided. Results are interpreted in terms of self-perception and cognitive dissonance and contrasted from psychological reactance. PMID:15018672

A Mobile Text Message Intervention to Reduce Repeat Suicidal Episodes: Design and Development of Reconnecting After a Suicide Attempt (RAFT)

OpenAIRE

Larsen, Mark Erik; Shand, Fiona; Morley, Kirsten; Batterham, Philip J; Petrie, Katherine; Reda, Bill; Berrouiguet, Sofian; Haber, Paul S; Carter, Gregory; Christensen, Helen

2017-01-01

Background Suicide is a leading cause of death, particularly among young people. Continuity of care following discharge from hospital is critical, yet this is a time when individuals often lose contact with health care services. Offline brief contact interventions following a suicide attempt can reduce the number of repeat attempts, and text message (short message service, SMS) interventions are currently being evaluated. Objective The aim of this study was to extend postattempt caring contac...

System of message for gamma-radiation monitor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bolic, M.D.; Koturovic, A.M.

2001-01-01

Paper describes a system of voice messages for gamma-radiation monitor based on PC. The systems reproduces recorded messages that is simpler than the process of their synthesis. Message choice is based on combination of recorded digital results and/or received reference messages or warnings. The system of generation of voice messages applies the Windows based software. The total memory array required to create independent voice system is maximum 1.7 mbyte. The monitor may be used for continuous monitoring of radioactivity level with 5-8 s period of message repetition. Another option of the system operation is based on monitor application for the environment monitoring. Period of messages in this case is equal to 5-30 min [ru

Guidelines for designing messages in risk communication

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Takashita, Hirofumi; Horikoshi, Hidehiko

2004-07-01

Risk Communication Study Team (hereafter called RC team) has designed messages for risk communication based on the analysis of the local residents' opinions which were expressed in several questionnaire surveys. The messages are described in a side format (Power Point format) every single content. This report provides basic guidelines for making messages that are used for risk communication, and does not include concrete messages which RC team designed. The RC team has already published the report entitled 'Information materials for risk communication' (JNC TN8450 2003-008) separately, and it gives the concrete messages. This report shows general cautions and checklists in designing messages, comments on the messages from outside risk communication experts, and opinions from local residents. (author)

Mobile Phone Short Messages to Improve Exclusive Breastfeeding and Reduce Adverse Infant Feeding Practices: Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial in Yangon, Myanmar.

Science.gov (United States)

Hmone, Myat Pan; Li, Mu; Alam, Ashraful; Dibley, Michael J

2017-06-28

Myanmar has a high burden of mortality for children aged younger than 5 years in which undernutrition plays a major role. Despite current efforts, the exclusive breastfeeding rate for children under 6 months is only 24%. To date there have been no interventions using mobile phones to improve breastfeeding and other feeding practices in Myanmar. This study aims to implement a breastfeeding promotion intervention using mobile phone text messages in Yangon, Myanmar, and evaluate its impact on breastfeeding practices. M528 is a 2-group parallel-arm randomized controlled trial with 9 months follow-up from recruitment until 6 months post-delivery. A total of 353 pregnant women between 28 and 34 weeks' gestation who had access to a mobile phone and were able to read and write have been recruited from the Central Women's Hospital, Yangon, and allocated randomly to an intervention or control group in a 1:1 ratio. The intervention group received breastfeeding promotional SMS messages 3 times a week while the control group received maternal and child health care messages (excluding breastfeeding-related messages) once a week. The SMS messages were tailored for the women's stage of gestation or the child's age. A formative qualitative study was conducted prior to the trial to inform the study design and text message content. We hypothesize that the exclusive breastfeeding rate in the intervention group will be double that in the control group. The primary outcome is exclusive breastfeeding from birth to 6 months and secondary outcomes are median durations of exclusive breastfeeding and other infant feeding practices. Both primary and secondary outcomes were assessed by monthly phone calls at 1 to 6 months postdelivery in both groups. Participants' delivery status was tracked through text messages, phone calls, and hospital records, and delivery characteristics were assessed 1 month after delivery. Child morbidity and breastfeeding self-efficacy scores were assessed at 1, 3

Short message service (SMS language and written language skills: educators' perspectives

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Salomé Geertsema

2011-01-01

Full Text Available SMS language is English language slang, used as a means of mobile phone text messaging. This practice may impact on the written language skills of learners at school. The main aim of this study was to determine the perspectives of Grade 8 and 9 English (as Home Language educators in Gauteng regarding the possible influence of SMS language on certain aspects of learners' written language skills. If an influence was perceived by the educators, their perceptions regarding the degree and nature of the influence were also explored. A quantitative research design, utilising a questionnaire, was employed. The sample of participants comprised 22 educators employed at independent secondaryschools within Gauteng, South Africa. The results indicated that the majority of educators viewed SMS language as having a negative influence on the written language skills of Grade 8 and 9 learners. The influence was perceived as occurring in the learners' spelling, punctuation, and sentence length. A further finding was that the majority of educators address the negative influences of SMS language when encountered in written tasks.

TXT@WORK: pediatric hospitalists and text messaging.

Science.gov (United States)

Kuhlmann, Stephanie; Ahlers-Schmidt, Carolyn R; Steinberger, Erik

2014-07-01

Many studies assess provider-patient communication through text messaging; however, minimal research has addressed communication among physicians. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the use of text messaging by pediatric hospitalists. A brief, anonymous, electronic survey was distributed through the American Academy of Pediatrics Section on Hospital Medicine Listserv in February 2012. Survey questions assessed work-related text messaging. Of the 106 pediatric hospitalist respondents, 97 met inclusion criteria. Most were female (73%) and had been in practice text messages, some (12%) more than 10 times per shift. More than half (53%) received work-related text messages when not at work. When asked to identify all potential work recipients, most often sent work-related text messages to other pediatric hospitalists (64%), fellows or resident physicians (37%), and subspecialists/consulting physicians (28%). When asked their preferred mode for brief communication, respondents' preferences varied. Many (46%) respondents worried privacy laws can be violated by sending/receiving text messages, and some (30%) reported having received protected health information (PHI) through text messages. However, only 11% reported their institution offered encryption software for text messaging. Physicians were using text messaging as a means of brief, work-related communication. Concerns arose regarding transfer of PHI using unsecure systems and work-life balance. Future research should examine accuracy and effectiveness of text message communication in the hospital, as well as patient privacy issues.

78 FR 52166 - Quantitative Messaging Research

Science.gov (United States)

2013-08-22

... COMMODITY FUTURES TRADING COMMISSION Quantitative Messaging Research AGENCY: Commodity Futures... survey will follow qualitative message testing research (for which CFTC received fast-track OMB approval... message testing research (for which CFTC received fast-track OMB approval) and is necessary to identify...

Source Similarity and Social Media Health Messages: Extending Construal Level Theory to Message Sources.

Science.gov (United States)

Young, Rachel

2015-09-01

Social media users post messages about health goals and behaviors to online social networks. Compared with more traditional sources of health communication such as physicians or health journalists, peer sources are likely to be perceived as more socially close or similar, which influences how messages are processed. This experimental study uses construal level theory of psychological distance to predict how mediated health messages from peers influence health-related cognition and behavioral intention. Participants were exposed to source cues that identified peer sources as being either highly attitudinally and demographically similar to or different from participants. As predicted by construal level theory, participants who perceived sources of social media health messages as highly similar listed a greater proportion of beliefs about the feasibility of health behaviors and a greater proportion of negative beliefs, while participants who perceived sources as more dissimilar listed a greater proportion of positive beliefs about the health behaviors. Results of the study could be useful in determining how health messages from peers could encourage individuals to set realistic health goals.

The Effectiveness of Mobile Phone Text Messaging in Improving Medication Adherence for Patients with Chronic Diseases: A Systematic Review.

Science.gov (United States)

Ershad Sarabi, Roghayeh; Sadoughi, Farahnaz; Jamshidi Orak, Roohangiz; Bahaadinbeigy, Kambiz

2016-05-01

Medication non-adherence is a commonly observed problem in the self-administration of treatment, regardless of the disease type. Text messaging reminders, as electronic reminders, provide an opportunity to improve medication adherence. In this study, we aimed to provide evidence addressing the question of whether text message reminders were effective in improving patients' adherence to medication. We carried out a systematic literature search, using the five electronic bibliographic databases: PubMed, Embase, PsycINFO, CINAHL, and the Cochrane central register of controlled trials. Studies were included on the basis of whether they examined the benefits and effects of short-message service (SMS) interventions on medication adherence. The results of this systematic review indicated that text messaging interventions have improved patients' medication adherence rate (85%, 29.34). Included in the review, those who had problems with adherence, or those whom text messaging was most helpful had HIV, asthma, diabetes, schizophrenia and heart disease (73.5%). The period of intervention varied from 1 week to 14 months. The most common study design was randomized controlled trials (RCTs) (66%) carried out in the developed countries. This study demonstrated the potential of mobile phone text messaging for medication non-adherence problem solving.

Effects of Text Messaging on Academic Performance

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Barks Amanda

2011-12-01

Full Text Available University students frequently send and receive cellular phone text messages during classroominstruction. Cognitive psychology research indicates that multi-tasking is frequently associatedwith performance cost. However, university students often have considerable experience withelectronic multi-tasking and may believe that they can devote necessary attention to a classroomlecture while sending and receiving text messages. In the current study, university students whoused text messaging were randomly assigned to one of two conditions: 1. a group that sent andreceived text messages during a lecture or, 2. a group that did not engage in text messagingduring the lecture. Participants who engaged in text messaging demonstrated significantlypoorer performance on a test covering lecture content compared with the group that did notsend and receive text messages. Participants exhibiting higher levels of text messaging skill hadsignificantly lower test scores than participants who were less proficient at text messaging. It ishypothesized that in terms of retention of lecture material, more frequent task shifting by thosewith greater text messaging proficiency contributed to poorer performance. Overall, the findingsdo not support the view, held by many university students, that this form of multitasking has littleeffect on the acquisition of lecture content. Results provide empirical support for teachers andprofessors who ban text messaging in the classroom.

Improving Type Error Messages in OCaml

OpenAIRE

Charguéraud , Arthur

2015-01-01

International audience; Cryptic type error messages are a major obstacle to learning OCaml or other ML-based languages. In many cases, error messages cannot be interpreted without a sufficiently-precise model of the type inference algorithm. The problem of improving type error messages in ML has received quite a bit of attention over the past two decades, and many different strategies have been considered. The challenge is not only to produce error messages that are both sufficiently concise ...

CMLOG: A common message logging system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chen, J.; Akers, W.; Bickley, M.; Wu, D.; Watson, W. III

1997-01-01

The Common Message Logging (CMLOG) system is an object-oriented and distributed system that not only allows applications and systems to log data (messages) of any type into a centralized database but also lets applications view incoming messages in real-time or retrieve stored data from the database according to selection rules. It consists of a concurrent Unix server that handles incoming logging or searching messages, a Motif browser that can view incoming messages in real-time or display stored data in the database, a client daemon that buffers and sends logging messages to the server, and libraries that can be used by applications to send data to or retrieve data from the database via the server. This paper presents the design and implementation of the CMLOG system meanwhile it will also address the issue of integration of CMLOG into existing control systems. CMLOG into existing control systems

Engineered cell-cell communication via DNA messaging

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ortiz Monica E

2012-09-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Evolution has selected for organisms that benefit from genetically encoded cell-cell communication. Engineers have begun to repurpose elements of natural communication systems to realize programmed pattern formation and coordinate other population-level behaviors. However, existing engineered systems rely on system-specific small molecules to send molecular messages among cells. Thus, the information transmission capacity of current engineered biological communication systems is physically limited by specific biomolecules that are capable of sending only a single message, typically “regulate transcription.” Results We have engineered a cell-cell communication platform using bacteriophage M13 gene products to autonomously package and deliver heterologous DNA messages of varying lengths and encoded functions. We demonstrate the decoupling of messages from a common communication channel via the autonomous transmission of various arbitrary genetic messages. Further, we increase the range of engineered DNA messaging across semisolid media by linking message transmission or receipt to active cellular chemotaxis. Conclusions We demonstrate decoupling of a communication channel from message transmission within engineered biological systems via the autonomous targeted transduction of user-specified heterologous DNA messages. We also demonstrate that bacteriophage M13 particle production and message transduction occurs among chemotactic bacteria. We use chemotaxis to improve the range of DNA messaging, increasing both transmission distance and communication bit rates relative to existing small molecule-based communication systems. We postulate that integration of different engineered cell-cell communication platforms will allow for more complex spatial programming of dynamic cellular consortia.

Spiking neural networks for handwritten digit recognition-Supervised learning and network optimization.

Science.gov (United States)

Kulkarni, Shruti R; Rajendran, Bipin

2018-07-01

We demonstrate supervised learning in Spiking Neural Networks (SNNs) for the problem of handwritten digit recognition using the spike triggered Normalized Approximate Descent (NormAD) algorithm. Our network that employs neurons operating at sparse biological spike rates below 300Hz achieves a classification accuracy of 98.17% on the MNIST test database with four times fewer parameters compared to the state-of-the-art. We present several insights from extensive numerical experiments regarding optimization of learning parameters and network configuration to improve its accuracy. We also describe a number of strategies to optimize the SNN for implementation in memory and energy constrained hardware, including approximations in computing the neuronal dynamics and reduced precision in storing the synaptic weights. Experiments reveal that even with 3-bit synaptic weights, the classification accuracy of the designed SNN does not degrade beyond 1% as compared to the floating-point baseline. Further, the proposed SNN, which is trained based on the precise spike timing information outperforms an equivalent non-spiking artificial neural network (ANN) trained using back propagation, especially at low bit precision. Thus, our study shows the potential for realizing efficient neuromorphic systems that use spike based information encoding and learning for real-world applications. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Hand hygiene posters: selling the message.

Science.gov (United States)

Jenner, E A; Jones, F; Fletcher, B C; Miller, L; Scott, G M

2005-02-01

This literature review was undertaken to determine the established theory and research that might be utilized to inform the construction of persuasive messages on hand hygiene posters. It discusses the principles of message framing and the use of fear appeals. Current theory suggests that the most effective messages for health promotion behaviours should be framed in terms of gains rather than losses for the individual. However, as clinical hand hygiene is largely for the benefit of others (i.e. patients), messages should also invoke a sense of personal responsibility and appeal to altruistic behaviour. The use of repeated minimal fear appeals have their place. Posters that simply convey training messages are not effective persuaders.

The message development tool: a case for effective operationalization of messaging in social marketing practice.

Science.gov (United States)

Mattson, Marifran; Basu, Ambar

2010-07-01

That messages are essential, if not the most critical component of any communicative process, seems like an obvious claim. More so when the communication is about health--one of the most vital and elemental of human experiences (Babrow & Mattson, 2003). Any communication campaign that aims to change a target audience's health behaviors needs to centralize messages. Even though messaging strategies are an essential component of social marketing and are a widely used campaign model, health campaigns based on this framework have not always been able to effectively operationalize this key component, leading to cases where initiating and sustaining prescribed health behavior has been difficult (MacStravic, 2000). Based on an examination of the VERB campaign and an Australian breastfeeding promotion campaign, we propose a message development tool within the ambit of the social marketing framework that aims to extend the framework and ensure that the messaging component of the model is contextualized at the core of planning, implementation, and evaluation efforts.

Investigating the impact of viral message appeal and message credibility on consumer attitude toward brand

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Majid Esmaeilpour

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Background - Due to the rapid growth of the Internet and use of e-commerce in recent years, viral marketing has drawn the attention of manufacturing and service organizations. However, no research has been conducted to examine the impact of message appeal and message source credibility on consumers' attitude with mediating role of intellectual involvement of consumers and their risk taking level. Purpose - The aim of this study was to examine the impact of appeal and message source credibility on consumers’ attitude with mediating role of consumers’ intellectual involvement and their risk taking level. Design/methodology/approach – The population of this study includes consumers of mobile phones (Samsung, Sony, Nokia, LG and iPhone in Bushehr city (Iran. As the population of the study is unlimited, 430 questionnaires were distributed using available sampling method, and 391 questionnaires were collected and analyzed. Using structural equation modeling, data were analyzed through smart PLS software. Findings –The results show that the appeal and credibility of the message source have impact on consumer attitudes toward the brand. It was also found that intellectual involvement of consumers plays the mediating role in the relationship between message appeal and consumer attitudes toward brand. In the relationship between message source credibility and customer attitude towards the brand, the level of risk taking of people has no mediating role. Research limitations/implications – Data collection tool was questionnaire in this study, and questionnaire has some disadvantages that can affect the results. Additionally, this study was conducted in Bushehr city (Iran. Therefore, we should be cautious in generalizing the findings. Originality/value – In this study, the effect of message appeal and message source credibility on consumer attitude to brand was examined. The risk taking level of consumer and his involvement level were considered

Message exchange in the building industry

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Vries, de B.; Somers, L.J.A.M.

1995-01-01

A process model is described for exchanging information in the building industry. In this model participants send and receive messages. On receipt of a message an activity is executed if all required information is available. Otherwise a message will be sent to another participant to obtain the

A theory-based video messaging mobile phone intervention for smoking cessation: randomized controlled trial.

Science.gov (United States)

Whittaker, Robyn; Dorey, Enid; Bramley, Dale; Bullen, Chris; Denny, Simon; Elley, C Raina; Maddison, Ralph; McRobbie, Hayden; Parag, Varsha; Rodgers, Anthony; Salmon, Penny

2011-01-21

Advances in technology allowed the development of a novel smoking cessation program delivered by video messages sent to mobile phones. This social cognitive theory-based intervention (called "STUB IT") used observational learning via short video diary messages from role models going through the quitting process to teach behavioral change techniques. The objective of our study was to assess the effectiveness of a multimedia mobile phone intervention for smoking cessation. A randomized controlled trial was conducted with 6-month follow-up. Participants had to be 16 years of age or over, be current daily smokers, be ready to quit, and have a video message-capable phone. Recruitment targeted younger adults predominantly through radio and online advertising. Registration and data collection were completed online, prompted by text messages. The intervention group received an automated package of video and text messages over 6 months that was tailored to self-selected quit date, role model, and timing of messages. Extra messages were available on demand to beat cravings and address lapses. The control group also set a quit date and received a general health video message sent to their phone every 2 weeks. The target sample size was not achieved due to difficulty recruiting young adult quitters. Of the 226 randomized participants, 47% (107/226) were female and 24% (54/226) were Maori (indigenous population of New Zealand). Their mean age was 27 years (SD 8.7), and there was a high level of nicotine addiction. Continuous abstinence at 6 months was 26.4% (29/110) in the intervention group and 27.6% (32/116) in the control group (P = .8). Feedback from participants indicated that the support provided by the video role models was important and appreciated. This study was not able to demonstrate a statistically significant effect of the complex video messaging mobile phone intervention compared with simple general health video messages via mobile phone. However, there was

Recent computer attacks via Instant Messaging

CERN Multimedia

IT Department

2008-01-01

Be cautious of any unexpected messages containing web links even if they appear to come from known contacts. If you happen to click on such a link and if your permission is requested to run or install software, always decline it. Several computers at CERN have recently been broken into by attackers who have tricked users of Instant Messaging applications (e.g. MSN, Yahoo Messenger, etc.) into clicking on web links which appeared to come from known contacts. The links appeared to be photos from ‘friends’ and requested software to be installed. In practice, attacker software was installed and the messages did not come from real contacts. In the past such fake messages were mainly sent by email but now a wider range of applications are being targeted, including Instant Messaging. Cybercriminals are making growing use of fake messages to try to trick you into clicking on Web links which will help them to install malicious software on your computer. Anti-virus software cann...

Auctioning Bulk Mobile Messages

NARCIS (Netherlands)

S. Meij (Simon); L-F. Pau (Louis-François); H.W.G.M. van Heck (Eric)

2003-01-01

textabstractThe search for enablers of continued growth of SMS traffic, as well as the take-off of the more diversified MMS message contents, open up for enterprises the potential of bulk use of mobile messaging , instead of essentially one-by-one use. In parallel, such enterprises or value added

Measures for Controlling Spam Messages%垃圾短信控制措施

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

乐炯; 陈信刚; 洪亮

2016-01-01

With the rapid development of Short Message Service(SMS)value-added services,spam messages repre-sented by advertising messages and fraud messages are increasing,and therefore the mobile phone user's legitimate rights and interests,as the right to tranquility in life,right to communication freedom and right to privacy,etc. are infringed. In order to effectively control the number of spam messages,the paper comprehensively analyzes spam messages types and their transmitting channels. Some control measures of spam messages,as the function of over-clocking intercept,keyword intercept,black list,white list,differentiated quality of services and SMS signature, etc. are deployed in six important network elements of the spam messages transmitting channels,such as SMS cen-ter,SMS gateway,device for mass messages,Service Provider(SP) platform,SP management platform and industry SMS platform. Through the implementation of the measures for controlling spam messages,complaints on spam messages are relatively reduced,and therefore as mobile phone user's experience improves significantly.%随着短信增值业务的快速发展，以广告短信、欺诈短信为代表的垃圾短信日益增加，手机用户的生活安宁权、通信自由权、隐私权等合法权益受到侵害。为有效控制垃圾短信数量，本文对垃圾短信种类及其发送通道进行了全面梳理分析，在短信中心、短信网关、短信群发器、SP平台、SP管理平台、行业短信平台六个垃圾短信发送通道中的重要网元上部署了超频拦截功能、关键字拦截功能、黑名单功能、白名单功能、差异化服务质量保障功能、短信签名功能等垃圾短信控制措施。通过垃圾短信控制措施的实施，垃圾短信投诉量得到较好的控制，手机用户的感知明显提升。

Designing Skin Cancer Prevention Messages: Should We Emphasize Gains or Losses? Message Framing, Risk Type, and Prior Experience.

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Moon J; Kang, Hannah

2018-05-01

To test whether message framing (ie, gain vs. loss) and risk type (ie, health vs appearance risk) in skin cancer prevention messages interact with one's prior experience. Two experiments with a 2 (message framing: gain vs loss) × 2 (risk type: health vs appearance risk) factorial design were conducted. The participants were given a URL to the experiment website via e-mail. On the first page of the website, the participants were told that they would be asked to evaluate a skin cancer print public service announcement (PSA): Online experiments. A total of 397 individuals participated (236 for experiment 1 and 161 for experiment 2). Apparatus: Four versions of the skin cancer print PSAs were developed. Four PSAs were identical except for the 2 manipulated components: message framing and risk type. Measures were adopted from Cho and Boster (message framing), Jones and Leary and Kiene et al. (risk type), De Vries, Mesters, van't Riet, Willems, and Reubsaet and Knight, Kirincich, Farmer, and Hood (prior experience), and Hammond, Fong, Zanna, Thrasher, and Borland and Hoffner and Ye (behavioral intent). General linear models were used to test hypotheses. Three-way interactions among message framing, risk type, and prior experience were found: When the intent of the message was to encourage sunscreen use, the effects of message framing and risk type were shown to be the exact opposite directions from when the intent was to discourage indoor/outdoor tanning. To discourage tanning among those with prior experience, messages emphasizing losses in terms of one's health will work better. For those with no prior experience, messages emphasizing potential appearance losses will work better for discouraging tanning while messages emphasizing gains like improving appearance will do a better job in encouraging sunscreen use.

Popular Mobilization Messaging

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

James Garrison

2017-04-01

Full Text Available This Research Paper examines the Iraqi Popular Mobilization Unit’s (PMU messaging on the organisation’s website and social media platforms through early January 2017 to develop a more nuanced understanding of the PMU’s outlook, both present and future. After providing an overview of the PMU’s media presence online, the paper discusses how the organisation promotes its core narrative: that it is a cross-confessional and patriotic force for the defence of all Iraqis against a brutal and evil IS. The paper then addresses the PMU’s use of messaging to refute the sectarian portrayal of the organisation in some quarters before turning to the way the PMU approaches regional and international states in its media. Finally, the paper summarises the PMU’s messaging strategy and discusses how this strategy implies a less threatening future for the organisation than is often anticipated.

Hooked on a feeling: Affective anti-smoking messages are more effective than cognitive messages at changing implicit evaluations of smoking

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Colin Tucker Smith

2015-10-01

Full Text Available Because implicit evaluations are thought to underlie many aspects of behavior, researchers have started looking for ways to change them. We examine whether and when persuasive messages alter strongly-held implicit evaluations of smoking. In smokers, an affective anti-smoking message led to more negative implicit evaluations on four different implicit measures as compared to a cognitive anti-smoking message which seemed to backfire. Additional analyses suggested that the observed effects were mediated by the feelings and emotions raised by the messages. In non-smokers, both the affective and cognitive message engendered slightly more negative implicit evaluations. We conclude that persuasive messages change implicit evaluations in a way that depends on properties of the message and of the participant. Thus, our data open new avenues for research directed at tailoring persuasive messages to change implicit evaluations.

Hooked on a feeling: affective anti-smoking messages are more effective than cognitive messages at changing implicit evaluations of smoking.

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, Colin Tucker; De Houwer, Jan

2015-01-01

Because implicit evaluations are thought to underlie many aspects of behavior, researchers have started looking for ways to change them. We examine whether and when persuasive messages alter strongly held implicit evaluations of smoking. In smokers, an affective anti-smoking message led to more negative implicit evaluations on four different implicit measures as compared to a cognitive anti-smoking message which seemed to backfire. Additional analyses suggested that the observed effects were mediated by the feelings and emotions raised by the messages. In non-smokers, both the affective and cognitive message engendered slightly more negative implicit evaluations. We conclude that persuasive messages change implicit evaluations in a way that depends on properties of the message and of the participant. Thus, our data open new avenues for research directed at tailoring persuasive messages to change implicit evaluations.

Sistem kontrol inventori pemasokan barang Secara Real Time Menggunakan Vendor-Managed Inventory (VMI dan Short Message Service (SMS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rinaldo Turang

2016-01-01

Full Text Available This research underlines the urgency of real-time stock replenishment control system for distributors using vendor-managed inventory. It is valuable in improving corporate performance in lowering inventory cost as well as making better customer service due to the cut made in ordering cycle. The system produces real-time information on stock available at the retailing stores. Stock replenishment can then be done by the distributor at the right time. Using Short Message Service (SMS as a one-way information channel from retailers to their distributor, the data of every transaction of the supervised item are processed by a rule-based forward-chaining inference system to determine the item’s availability in stores. Folowing steps in Rapid Application Development (RAD, the construction of this system takes place through business modeling, data modeling, process modeling of VMI system, then the application is generated and tested as a prototype. The results are: the stock replenishment control system are able to make transactional data at the stores transparent to the distributor, facilitating the continuation in stock delivery. System architecture reduces the time needed to access information about sales on supervised item by using SMS shortcut. This control system developed in stores can be operationally independent from the retailing systems. Rule-based forward-chaining inference technique processes facts on stock variations, resulting in stock replenishment notification such as normal, reserve, and depleted warning. Keywords: VMI, inventory; Stock replenishment; Rule-based reasoning; Forward-chaining system, RAD

Nonblocking and orphan free message logging protocols

Science.gov (United States)

Alvisi, Lorenzo; Hoppe, Bruce; Marzullo, Keith

1992-12-01

Currently existing message logging protocols demonstrate a classic pessimistic vs. optimistic tradeoff. We show that the optimistic-pessimistic tradeoff is not inherent to the problem of message logging. We construct a message-logging protocol that has the positive features of both optimistic and pessimistic protocol: our protocol prevents orphans and allows simple failure recovery; however, it requires no blocking in failure-free runs. Furthermore, this protocol does not introduce any additional message overhead as compared to one implemented for a system in which messages may be lost but processes do not crash.

The religious message in action - a case study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

René Gothóni

1975-01-01

Full Text Available We understand a religious message to be the product of a religious movement. In studying such a message, it is very much to the purpose to place it in the context in which it operates. The cultural and social context of a religious message is some religious movement. Hence, the message should be examined against that framework. Each message has a certain structure, and its detection is of prime importance. Messages are not only part of the tradition, but themselves unique in their respective communicative situations. Thus, in our view, structural analysis does not have analytical use-value unless the message's symbols are set into their communicative context. The aim of this paper is dual: On the one hand, we intend to analyze and clarify the structure of a religious message of the Laestadian movement, how the message operates, also how the members of that movement respond to the codes of the message, and what kind of functions it fulfills; on the other, to develop and test an analytical model which would combine structural and interactional analysis.

Short message service prompted mouth self-examination in oral cancer patients as an alternative to frequent hospital-based surveillance

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sagar Vaishampayan

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Introduction: Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC are amongst commonest cancer in the Indian sub-continent. After treatment, these patients require frequent followup to look for recurrences/second primary. Mouth Self Examination (MSE has a great potential in all levels of prevention of oral cancer. However, the compliance to self-examination has been reported as poor. Mobile phone is a cheap and effective way to reach out to people. Short Message Service (SMS is extremely popular can be a very effective motivational and interactive tool in health care setting. Methodology: We aimed to identify in adequately treated OSCC patients, the influence of health provider initiated SMS on the compliance to the MSE and to establish the efficacy of MSE by comparing patients' MSE interpretation via replies to the SMS with that of the experts' opinion on clinical examination status during follow up. Conclusion: We conclude that MSE can be very useful in adequately treated OSCC patients for evaluating disease status. All treated OSCC patients must be adequately educated for MSE as an integral part of treatment & follow-up protocol by the health provider facility. Health provider generated SMS reminders do improve motivation and compliance towards MSE but don't seem to reduce dropouts in follow up for large and diverse population like that in India.

Message Scheduling and Forwarding in Congested DTNs

KAUST Repository

Elwhishi, Ahmed; Ho, Pin-Han; Shihada, Basem

2012-01-01

Multi-copy utility-based routing has been considered as one of the most applicable approaches to effective message delivery in Delay Tolerant Networks (DTNs). By allowing multiple message replicas launched, the ratio of message delivery or delay can be significantly reduced compared with other counterparts. Such an advantage, nonetheless, is at the expense of taking more buffer space at each node and higher complexity in message forwarding decisions. This paper investigates an efficient message scheduling and dropping policy via analytical modeling approach, aiming to achieve optimal performance in terms of message delivery delay. Extensive simulation results, based on a synthetic mobility model and real mobility traces, show that the proposed scheduling framework can achieve superb performance against its counterparts in terms of delivery delay.

Message Scheduling and Forwarding in Congested DTNs

KAUST Repository

Elwhishi, Ahmed

2012-08-19

Multi-copy utility-based routing has been considered as one of the most applicable approaches to effective message delivery in Delay Tolerant Networks (DTNs). By allowing multiple message replicas launched, the ratio of message delivery or delay can be significantly reduced compared with other counterparts. Such an advantage, nonetheless, is at the expense of taking more buffer space at each node and higher complexity in message forwarding decisions. This paper investigates an efficient message scheduling and dropping policy via analytical modeling approach, aiming to achieve optimal performance in terms of message delivery delay. Extensive simulation results, based on a synthetic mobility model and real mobility traces, show that the proposed scheduling framework can achieve superb performance against its counterparts in terms of delivery delay.

Does perceived risk influence the effects of message framing? Revisiting the link between prospect theory and message framing

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Riet, J.P. van 't; Cox, A.D.; Cox, D.; Zimet, G.D.; Bruijn, G.J. de; Putte, B. van den; Vries, H. de; Werrij, M.Q.; Ruiter, R.A.C.

2016-01-01

Health-promoting messages can be framed in terms of the beneficial consequences of healthy behaviour (gain-framed messages) or the detrimental consequences of unhealthy behaviour (loss-framed messages). An influential notion holds that the perceived risk associated with the recommended behaviour

The Message Reporting System of the ATLAS DAQ System

CERN Document Server

Caprini, M; Kolos, S; 10th ICATPP Conference on Astroparticle, Particle, Space Physics, Detectors and Medical Physics Applications

2008-01-01

The Message Reporting System (MRS) in the ATLAS data acquisition system (DAQ) is one package of the Online Software which acts as a glue of various elements of DAQ, High Level Trigger (HLT) and Detector Control System (DCS). The aim of the MRS is to provide a facility which allows all software components in ATLAS to report messages to other components of the distributed DAQ system. The processes requiring a MRS are on one hand applications that report error conditions or information and on the other hand message processors that receive reported messages. A message reporting application can inject one or more messages into the MRS at any time. An application wishing to receive messages can subscribe to a message group according to defined criteria. The application receives messages that fulfill the subscription criteria when they are reported to MRS. The receiver message processing can consist of anything from simply logging the messages in a file/terminal to performing message analysis. The inter-process comm...

Competing with big business: a randomised experiment testing the effects of messages to promote alcohol and sugary drink control policy.

Science.gov (United States)

Scully, Maree; Brennan, Emily; Durkin, Sarah; Dixon, Helen; Wakefield, Melanie; Barry, Colleen L; Niederdeppe, Jeff

2017-12-28

Evidence-based policies encouraging healthy behaviours are often strongly opposed by well-funded industry groups. As public support is crucial for policy change, public health advocates need to be equipped with strategies to offset the impact of anti-policy messages. In this study, we aimed to investigate the effectiveness of theory-based public health advocacy messages in generating public support for sugary drink/alcohol policies (increased taxes; sport sponsorship bans) and improving resistance to subsequent anti-policy messages typical of the sugary drink/alcohol industry. We conducted a two-wave randomised online experiment assigning Australian adults to one of four health policies (sugary drink tax; sugary drink industry sports sponsorship ban; alcohol tax; alcohol industry sports sponsorship ban). Within each health policy, we randomised participants to one of five message conditions: (i) non-advocacy based message about the size and seriousness of the relevant health issue (control); (ii) standard pro-policy arguments alone; (iii) standard pro-policy arguments combined with an inoculation message (forewarning and directly refuting anti-policy arguments from the opposition); (iv) standard pro-policy arguments combined with a narrative message (a short, personal story about an individual's experience of the health issue); or (v) standard pro-policy arguments combined with a composite inoculation and narrative message. At time 1, we exposed participants (n = 6000) to their randomly assigned message. Around two weeks later, we re-contacted participants (n = 3285) and exposed them to an anti-policy message described as being from a representative of the sugary drink/alcohol industry. Generalised linear models tested for differences between conditions in policy support and anti-industry beliefs at both time points. Only the standard argument plus narrative message increased policy support relative to control at time 1. The standard argument plus narrative

Hand hygiene posters: motivators or mixed messages?

Science.gov (United States)

Jenner, E A; Jones, F; Fletcher, B C; Miller, L; Scott, G M

2005-07-01

Poster campaigns regarding hand hygiene are commonly used by infection control teams to improve practice, yet little is known of the extent to which they are based on established theory or research. This study reports on the content analysis of hand hygiene posters (N=69) and their messages (N=75) using message-framing theory. The results showed that posters seldom drew on knowledge about effective ways to frame messages. Frequently, they simply conveyed information 'telling' rather than 'selling' and some of this was confusing. Most posters were not designed to motivate, and some conveyed mixed messages. Few used fear appeals. Hand hygiene posters could have a greater impact if principles of message framing were utilized in their design. Suggestions for gain-framed messages are offered, but these need to be tested empirically.

Preventing messaging queue deadlocks in a DMA environment

Science.gov (United States)

Blocksome, Michael A; Chen, Dong; Gooding, Thomas; Heidelberger, Philip; Parker, Jeff

2014-01-14

Embodiments of the invention may be used to manage message queues in a parallel computing environment to prevent message queue deadlock. A direct memory access controller of a compute node may determine when a messaging queue is full. In response, the DMA may generate and interrupt. An interrupt handler may stop the DMA and swap all descriptors from the full messaging queue into a larger queue (or enlarge the original queue). The interrupt handler then restarts the DMA. Alternatively, the interrupt handler stops the DMA, allocates a memory block to hold queue data, and then moves descriptors from the full messaging queue into the allocated memory block. The interrupt handler then restarts the DMA. During a normal messaging advance cycle, a messaging manager attempts to inject the descriptors in the memory block into other messaging queues until the descriptors have all been processed.

Topicality and impact in social media: diverse messages, focused messengers.

Science.gov (United States)

Weng, Lilian; Menczer, Filippo

2015-01-01

We have a limited understanding of the factors that make people influential and topics popular in social media. Are users who comment on a variety of matters more likely to achieve high influence than those who stay focused? Do general subjects tend to be more popular than specific ones? Questions like these demand a way to detect the topics hidden behind messages associated with an individual or a keyword, and a gauge of similarity among these topics. Here we develop such an approach to identify clusters of similar hashtags in Twitter by detecting communities in the hashtag co-occurrence network. Then the topical diversity of a user's interests is quantified by the entropy of her hashtags across different topic clusters. A similar measure is applied to hashtags, based on co-occurring tags. We find that high topical diversity of early adopters or co-occurring tags implies high future popularity of hashtags. In contrast, low diversity helps an individual accumulate social influence. In short, diverse messages and focused messengers are more likely to gain impact.

AMS: Area Message Service for SLC

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Crane, M.; Mackenzie, R.; Millsom, D.; Zelazny, M.

1993-04-01

The Area Message Service (AMS) is a TCP/IP based messaging service currently in use at SLAC. A number of projects under development here at SLAC require and application level interface to the 4.3BSD UNIX socket level communications functions using TCP/IP over ethernet. AMS provides connection management, solicited message transfer, unsolicited message transfer, and asynchronous notification of pending messages. AMS is written completely in ANSI 'C' and is currently portable over three hardware/operating system/network manager platforms, VAX/VMS/Multinet, PC/MS-DOS/Pathworks, VME 68K/pSOS/pNA. The basic architecture is a client-server connection where either end of the interface may be the server. This allows for connections and data flow to be initiated from either end of the interface. Included in the paper are details concerning the connection management, the handling of the multi-platform code, and the implementation process

Women's Perceptions of Participation in an Extended Contact Text Message-Based Weight Loss Intervention: An Explorative Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Job, Jennifer R; Spark, Lauren C; Fjeldsoe, Brianna S; Eakin, Elizabeth G; Reeves, Marina M

2017-02-27

Extending contact with participants after the end of an initial weight loss intervention has been shown to lead to maintained weight loss and related behavioral change. Mobile phone text messaging (short message service, SMS) offers a low-cost and efficacious method to deliver extended contact. In this rapidly developing area, formative work is required to understand user perspectives of text message technology. An extended contact intervention delivered by text messages following an initial telephone-delivered weight loss intervention in breast cancer survivors provided this opportunity. The aim of this study was to qualitatively explore women's perceptions of participation in an extended contact intervention using text messaging to support long-term weight loss, physical activity, and dietary behavioral change. Following the end of an initial 6-month randomized controlled trial of a telephone-delivered weight loss intervention (versus usual care), participants received a 6-month extended contact intervention via tailored text messages. Participant perceptions of the different types of text messages, the content, tailoring, timing, and frequency of the text messages, and the length of the intervention were assessed through semistructured interviews conducted after the extended contact intervention. The interviews were transcribed verbatim and analyzed with key themes identified. Participants (n=27) were a mean age of 56.0 years (SD 7.8) and mean body mass index of 30.4 kg/m2 (SD 4.2) and were at a mean of 16.1 months (SD 3.1) postdiagnosis at study baseline. Participants perceived the text messages to be useful behavioral prompts and felt the messages kept them accountable to their behavioral change goals. The individual tailoring of the text message content and schedules was a key to the acceptability of the messages; however, some women preferred the support and real-time discussion via telephone calls (during the initial intervention) compared with the text

The influence of message framing, intention to quit smoking, and nicotine dependence on the persuasiveness of smoking cessation messages.

Science.gov (United States)

Moorman, Marjolein; van den Putte, Bas

2008-10-01

This study explores the combined effect of message framing, intention to quit smoking, and nicotine dependence on the persuasiveness of smoking cessation messages. Pre- and post-message measures of quit intention, attitude toward smoking cessation, and perceived behavioral control were taken in two separate waves from current cigarette smokers with varying levels of nicotine dependence (N=151). In the second wave, participants were randomly assigned to one of two groups. In the first group, participants read a smoking cessation message which emphasized the benefits of quitting (positive frame). In the second group participants read a message which emphasized the costs of not quitting (negative frame). Results show that smokers' intentions to quit smoking and their level of nicotine dependence jointly influence the persuasiveness of positive and negative message frames. When nicotine dependence and quitting intention are both high, a negative frame works best. Conversely, a positive frame is preferable when nicotine dependence or quitting intention is low. Smokers' level of processing is proposed as the underlying mechanism explaining the different effects of message frames.

Improved Message Authentication and Confidentiality Checking

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ismail Jabiullah, M.; Abdullah Al-Shamim, M.; Lutfar Rahman, M.

2005-01-01

The most confusing areas of the secured network communications are the message authentication and confidentiality checking. The attacks and the counter measures have become so convoluted that the users in this area begin to account for all contingencies. Two session-key generation techniques are used here to generate two separate session keys K 1 and K 2 ; and both the sender and the reveiver share these keys for higher degree of authentication and confidentiality. For this, the message is first encrypted by the key K 1 , and then the intermediary message authenticatin code (MAC) is generated by encrypting the encrypted message using the key K 2 . Then, the encrypted message and the intermediary MAC is again encrypted by using the K 2 and concatenated with the encrypted message and sent to the destination. At the receiving end, first, the received ciphertext is encrypted by using key K 2 and compared to the received MAC. The received ciphertext again is decrypted by the key K 2 and compared with the first decrypted MAC twice by the key K 2 . The plaintext is obtained by decrypting the received ciphertext first by K 2 and then by K 1 , using the corresponding decryption techniques respectively. The encryption techniques with key K 2 provides the authentication and with key K 1 provides the confidentiality checking of the transmitted message. The developed technique can be applied to both academic and commercial applications in online or offline electronic transactions for security.(authors)

A one-way text messaging intervention for obesity.

Science.gov (United States)

Ahn, Ahleum; Choi, Jaekyung

2016-04-01

Worldwide, there has been a startling increase in the number of people who are obese or overweight. Obesity increases the risk of cardiovascular disease and overall mortality. Mobile phone messaging is an important means of human communication globally. Because the mobile phone can be used anywhere at any time, mobile phone messaging has the potential to manage obesity. We investigated the effectiveness of a one-way text messaging intervention for obesity. Participants' body mass index and waist circumference were measured at the beginning of the programme and again after 12 weeks. The text message group received text messages about exercise, dietary intake, and general information about obesity three times a week, while the control group did not receive any text messages from the study. Of the 80 participants, 25 subjects in the text message group and 29 participants in the control group completed the study. After adjusting for baseline body mass index, the body mass index was significantly lower in the text message group than in the control group (27.9 vs. 28.3; p = 0.02). After adjusting for the baseline waist circumference, the difference of waist circumference between the text message group and control group was not significant (93.4 vs. 94.6; p = 0.13). The one-way text messaging intervention was a simple and effective way to manage obesity. The one-way text messaging intervention may be a useful method for lifestyle modification in obese subjects. © The Author(s) 2015.

Persuasive messages. Development of persuasive messages may help increase mothers' compliance of their children's immunization schedule.

Science.gov (United States)

Gore, P; Madhavan, S; Curry, D; McClurg, G; Castiglia, M; Rosenbluth, S A; Smego, R A

1998-01-01

Effective immunization campaigns can be designed by determining which persuasion strategy is most effective in attracting the attention of mothers of preschoolers. The authors assess the impact of three persuasional strategies: fear-arousal, motherhood-arousal, and rational messages, on mothers of preschoolers who are late for their immunizations. The fear-arousal message was found to be most effective, followed by the motherhood-arousal, and then the rational message, in attracting mothers' attention to their child's immunization status.

Empowerment in the process of health messaging for rural low-income mothers: an exploratory message design project.

Science.gov (United States)

Aldoory, Linda; Braun, Bonnie; Maring, Elisabeth Fost; Duggal, Mili; Briones, Rowena Lynn

2015-01-01

Rural, low-income mothers face challenges to their health equal to or greater than those of low-income mothers from urban areas. This study put health message design into the hands of low-income rural mothers. The current study filled a research gap by analyzing a participatory process used to design health messages tailored to the everyday lives of rural low-income mothers. A total of forty-three mothers participated in nine focus groups, which were held from 2012 to 2013, in eight states. The mothers were from different racial and ethnic backgrounds. Participants discussed food security, physical activity, and oral health information. They created messages by considering several elements: visuals, length of message, voice/perspective, self-efficacy and personal control, emotional appeals, positive and negative reinforcements, and steps to health behavior change. This study was innovative in its focus on empowerment as a key process to health message design.

Fundamentals for Future Mobile-Health (mHealth): A Systematic Review of Mobile Phone and Web-Based Text Messaging in Mental Health.

Science.gov (United States)

Berrouiguet, Sofian; Baca-García, Enrique; Brandt, Sara; Walter, Michel; Courtet, Philippe

2016-06-10

Mobile phone text messages (short message service, SMS) are used pervasively as a form of communication. Almost 100% of the population uses text messaging worldwide and this technology is being suggested as a promising tool in psychiatry. Text messages can be sent either from a classic mobile phone or a web-based application. Reviews are needed to better understand how text messaging can be used in mental health care and other fields of medicine. The objective of the study was to review the literature regarding the use of mobile phone text messaging in mental health care. We conducted a thorough literature review of studies involving text messaging in health care management. Searches included PubMed, PsycINFO, Cochrane, Scopus, Embase and Web of Science databases on May 25, 2015. Studies reporting the use of text messaging as a tool in managing patients with mental health disorders were included. Given the heterogeneity of studies, this review was summarized using a descriptive approach. From 677 initial citations, 36 studies were included in the review. Text messaging was used in a wide range of mental health situations, notably substance abuse (31%), schizophrenia (22%), and affective disorders (17%). We identified four ways in which text messages were used: reminders (14%), information (17%), supportive messages (42%), and self-monitoring procedures (42%). Applications were sometimes combined. We report growing interest in text messaging since 2006. Text messages have been proposed as a health care tool in a wide spectrum of psychiatric disorders including substance abuse, schizophrenia, affective disorders, and suicide prevention. Most papers described pilot studies, while some randomized clinical trials (RCTs) were also reported. Overall, a positive attitude toward text messages was reported. RCTs reported improved treatment adherence and symptom surveillance. Other positive points included an increase in appointment attendance and in satisfaction with

AMS: Area Message Service for SLC

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Crane, M.; Mackenzie, R.; Millsom, D.; Zelazny, M.

1993-01-01

The Area Message Service (AMS) is a TCP/IP based messaging service currently in use at SLAC. A number of projects under development here at SLAC require an application level interface to the 4.3BSD UNIX socket level communications functions using TCP/IP over ethernet. AMS provides connection management, solicited message transfer, unsolicited message transfer, and asynchronous notification of pending messages. AMS is written completely in ANSI open-quote C close-quote and is currently portable over three hardware/operating system/network manager platforms, VAX/VMS/Multinet, PC/MS-DOS/Pathworks, VME 68K/pSOS/pNA. The basic architecture is a client-server connection where either end of the interface may be the server. This allows for connections and data flow to be initiated from either end of the interface. Included in the paper are details concerning the connection management, the handling of the multi-platform code, and the implementation process

Does perceived risk influence the effects of message framing? Revisiting the link between prospect theory and message framing.

Science.gov (United States)

Van 't Riet, Jonathan; Cox, Anthony D; Cox, Dena; Zimet, Gregory D; De Bruijn, Gert-Jan; Van den Putte, Bas; De Vries, Hein; Werrij, Marieke Q; Ruiter, Robert A C

2016-12-01

Health-promoting messages can be framed in terms of the beneficial consequences of healthy behaviour (gain-framed messages) or the detrimental consequences of unhealthy behaviour (loss-framed messages). An influential notion holds that the perceived risk associated with the recommended behaviour determines the relative persuasiveness of gain- and loss-framed messages. This 'risk-framing hypothesis', which was derived from prospect theory, has been central to health message-framing research for the better part of two decades and has enduring appeal to researchers and practitioners. It has found its way into several health communication handbooks and is communicated to the general public. The present article examines the validity of the risk-framing hypothesis anew by providing a review of the health message-framing literature. In spite of its ongoing appeal, we conclude that the hypothesis has severe theoretical flaws. In addition, we find that the empirical evidence in favour of the hypothesis is weak and inconsistent. It seems that, in applying prospect theory's tenets to a health-promotion context, some of the theory's key aspects have been lost in translation. At the close of the article, we offer a research agenda for the future, arguing that, above all, new methodology is needed to bring the message-framing literature further.

Factors influencing message dissemination through social media

Science.gov (United States)

Zheng, Zeyu; Yang, Huancheng; Fu, Yang; Fu, Dianzheng; Podobnik, Boris; Stanley, H. Eugene

2018-06-01

Online social networks strongly impact our daily lives. An internet user (a "Netizen") wants messages to be efficiently disseminated. The susceptible-infected-recovered (SIR) dissemination model is the traditional tool for exploring the spreading mechanism of information diffusion. We here test our SIR-based dissemination model on open and real-world data collected from Twitter. We locate and identify phase transitions in the message dissemination process. We find that message content is a stronger factor than the popularity of the sender. We also find that the probability that a message will be forwarded has a threshold that affects its ability to spread, and when the probability is above the threshold the message quickly achieves mass dissemination.

Mobile phone messaging for communicating results of medical investigations.

Science.gov (United States)

Gurol-Urganci, Ipek; de Jongh, Thyra; Vodopivec-Jamsek, Vlasta; Car, Josip; Atun, Rifat

2012-06-13

Mobile phone messaging, such as Short Message Service (SMS) and Multimedia Message Service (MMS), has rapidly grown into a mode of communication with a wide range of applications, including communicating the results from medical investigations to patients. Alternative modes of communication of results include face-to-face communication, postal messages, calls to landlines or mobile phones, through web-based health records and email. Possible advantages of mobile phone messaging include convenience to both patients and healthcare providers, reduced waiting times for health services and healthcare costs. To assess the effects of mobile phone messaging for communicating results of medical investigations, on people's healthcare-seeking behaviour and health outcomes. Secondary objectives include assessment of participants' evaluation of the intervention, direct and indirect healthcare costs and possible risks and harms associated with the intervention. We searched the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL, The Cochrane Library 2009, Issue 2), MEDLINE (OvidSP) (January 1993 to June 2009), EMBASE (OvidSP) (January 1993 to June 2009), PsycINFO (OvidSP) (January 1993 to June 2009), CINAHL (EbscoHOST) (January 1993 to June 2009), LILACS (January 1993 to June 2009) and African Health Anthology (January 1993 to June 2009). We also reviewed grey literature (including trial registers) and reference lists of articles. We included randomised controlled trials (RCTs), quasi-randomised controlled trials (QRCTs), controlled before-after (CBA) studies, or interrupted time series (ITS) studies with at least three time points before and after the intervention. We included studies assessing mobile phone messaging for communicating results of medical tests, between a healthcare provider or 'treatment buddy' and patient. We only included studies in which it was possible to assess the effects of mobile phone messaging independent of other technologies or interventions. �

Twitter weather warnings: Communicating risk in 140 characters-the impact of imperative and declarative message style on weather risk perception and behavioral intentions.

Science.gov (United States)

Rainear, Adam M; Lachlan, Kenneth A; Spence, Patric R

Understanding how individuals utilize risk messages is important for protecting lives and gaining compliance toward safe behaviors. Recent advances in technology afford users with timeliness when needing to acquire information, and research investigating imperative and declarative message styles suggests utilizing both strategies is most effective. Similarly, the element of time can play a role when an individual engages in certain behaviors. This study employed an experimental design to better understand how imperative and declarative tweets, and time can contribute to risk perceptions and behavioral intentions. Results indicate the most negative affect is experienced after receiving an imperative-only tweet in a short-lead time condition, whereas a tweet utilizing both message styles in a long-lead time condition induces the most fear. Future research should investigate stylistic message elements on new media platforms to better understand how messages can be effectively sent and received by the intended audience within character-limited platforms.

Investigating the impact of viral message appeal and message credibility on consumer attitude toward the brand

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Esmaeilpour Majid

2016-07-01

Full Text Available Due to the rapid growth of the Internet and use of e-commerce in the recent years, viral marketing has drawn the attention of manufacturing and service organizations. However, no research has been conducted to examine the impact of message appeal and message source credibility on consumers’ attitude with mediating role of intellectual involvement of consumers and their risk taking level. The aim of this study was to examine the impact of appeal and message source credibility on consumers’ attitude with mediating role of consumers’ intellectual involvement and their risk taking level. The population of this study includes consumers of mobile phones (Samsung, Sony, Nokia, LG and iPhone in the Bushehr city (Iran. As the population of the study is unlimited, 430 questionnaires were distributed using available sampling method, and 391 questionnaires were collected and analyzed. Using structural equation modeling, we analysed the data through smart PLS software. The results show that the appeal and credibility of the message source impact the consumer attitudes toward the brand. We also found that the intellectual involvement of consumers plays the mediating role in the relationship between message appeal and consumer attitudes toward brands. In the relationship between message source credibility and customer attitude towards the brand, the level of risk taking of people has no mediating role.

Management and Archiving e-mail Messages in Governmental Organization

OpenAIRE

Ashraf Mohamed A.Mohsen

2006-01-01

The study deals great issue of digital preservation that is e-mail archiving, it covered all aspects of the topic; it discuss: e-mail system, components of e-mail message, advantages and disadvantages of e-mail, official e-mail messages, management of e-mail messages, organizing and arrangement of e-mail messages, keeping and deleting messages, archiving e-mail messages, and some related issues like: privacy and security.

The influence of message framing, intention to quit smoking, and nicotine dependence on the persuasiveness of smoking cessation messages

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Moorman, M.; van den Putte, B.

2008-01-01

This study explores the combined effect of message framing, intention to quit smoking, and nicotine dependence on the persuasiveness of smoking cessation messages. Pre- and post-message measures of quit intention, attitude toward smoking cessation, and perceived behavioral control were taken in two

Improving Type Error Messages in OCaml

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Arthur Charguéraud

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Cryptic type error messages are a major obstacle to learning OCaml or other ML-based languages. In many cases, error messages cannot be interpreted without a sufficiently-precise model of the type inference algorithm. The problem of improving type error messages in ML has received quite a bit of attention over the past two decades, and many different strategies have been considered. The challenge is not only to produce error messages that are both sufficiently concise and systematically useful to the programmer, but also to handle a full-blown programming language and to cope with large-sized programs efficiently. In this work, we present a modification to the traditional ML type inference algorithm implemented in OCaml that, by significantly reducing the left-to-right bias, allows us to report error messages that are more helpful to the programmer. Our algorithm remains fully predictable and continues to produce fairly concise error messages that always help making some progress towards fixing the code. We implemented our approach as a patch to the OCaml compiler in just a few hundred lines of code. We believe that this patch should benefit not just to beginners, but also to experienced programs developing large-scale OCaml programs.

The WLCG Messaging Service and its Future

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cons, Lionel; Paladin, Massimo

2012-01-01

Enterprise messaging is seen as an attractive mechanism to simplify and extend several portions of the Grid middleware, from low level monitoring to experiments dashboards. The production messaging service currently used by WLCG includes four tightly coupled brokers operated by EGI (running Apache ActiveMQ and designed to host the Grid operational tools such as SAM) as well as two dedicated services for ATLAS-DDM and experiments dashboards (currently also running Apache ActiveMQ). In the future, this service is expected to grow in numbers of applications supported, brokers and technologies. The WLCG Messaging Roadmap identified three areas with room for improvement (security, scalability and availability/reliability) as well as ten practical recommendations to address them. This paper describes a messaging service architecture that is in line with these recommendations as well as a software architecture based on reusable components that ease interactions with the messaging service. These two architectures will support the growth of the WLCG messaging service.

Short message service reminder intervention doubles sexually transmitted infection/HIV re-testing rates among men who have sex with men.

Science.gov (United States)

Bourne, C; Knight, V; Guy, R; Wand, H; Lu, H; McNulty, A

2011-04-01

To evaluate the impact of a short message service (SMS) reminder system on HIV/sexually transmitted infection (STI) re-testing rates among men who have sex with men (MSM). The SMS reminder programme started in late 2008 at a large Australian sexual health clinic. SMS reminders were recommended 3-6 monthly for MSM considered high-risk based on self-reported sexual behaviour. The evaluation compared HIV negative MSM who had a HIV/STI test between 1 January and 31 August 2010 and received a SMS reminder (SMS group) with those tested in the same time period (comparison group) and pre-SMS period (pre-SMS group, 1 January 2008 and 31 August 2008) who did not receive the SMS. HIV/STI re-testing rates were measured within 9 months for each group. Baseline characteristics were compared between study groups and multivariate logistic regression used to assess the association between SMS and re-testing and control for any imbalances in the study groups. There were 714 HIV negative MSM in the SMS group, 1084 in the comparison group and 1753 in the pre-SMS group. In the SMS group, 64% were re-tested within 9 months compared to 30% in the comparison group (preminders increased HIV/STI re-testing among HIV negative MSM. SMS offers a cheap, efficient system to increase HIV/STI re-testing in a busy clinical setting.

Comment ameliorer la selection et le traitement des messages verbaux? (How to Improve the Selection and Processing of Verbal Messages)

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Rivenez, Marie; Darwin, Chris; Guillaume, Anne

2005-01-01

L'objectif de cette recherche est d'ameliorer la selection des messages verbaux. Nous cherchons a determiner les facteurs influencant le traitement d'un message verbal lorsque l'attention est portee sur un autre message...

User satisfaction with the structure and content of the NEXit intervention, a text messaging-based smoking cessation programme

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ulrika Müssener

2016-11-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Smoking is still the leading cause of preventable ill health and death. There is a limited amount of evidence for effective smoking cessation interventions among young people. To address this, a text messaging-based smoking cessation programme, the NEXit intervention, was developed. Short-term effectiveness, measured immediately after the 12-week intervention revealed that 26% of smokers in the intervention group had prolonged abstinence compared with 15% in the control group. The present study was performed to explore the users’ experiences of the structure and content of the intervention in order to further develop the intervention. Methods Students participating in the main NEXit randomized controlled trial were invited to grade their experiences of the structure and content of the intervention after having completed follow-up. The participants received an e-mail with an electronic link to a short questionnaire. Descriptive analysis of the distribution of the responses to the questionnaire was performed. Free-text comments to 14 questions were analysed. Results The response rate for the user feedback questionnaire was 35% (n = 289/827 and 428 free-text comments were collected. The first motivational phase of the intervention was appreciated by 55% (158/289 of the participants. Most participants wanted to quit smoking immediately and only 124/289 (43% agreed to have to decide a quit-date in the future. Most participants 199/289 (69% found the content of the messages in the core programme to be very good or good, and the variability between content types was appreciated by 78% (224/289. Only 34% (97/289 of the participants thought that all or nearly all messages were valuable, and some mentioned that it was not really the content that mattered, but that the messages served as a reminder about the decision to quit smoking. Conclusions The programme was largely perceived satisfactory in most aspects concerning structure

"Necesita una vacuna": what Spanish-speakers want in text-message immunization reminders.

Science.gov (United States)

Ahlers-Schmidt, Carolyn R; Chesser, Amy; Brannon, Jennifer; Lopez, Venessa; Shah-Haque, Sapna; Williams, Katherine; Hart, Traci

2013-08-01

Appointment reminders help parents deal with complex immunization schedules. Preferred content of text-message reminders has been identified for English-speakers. Spanish-speaking parents of children under three years old were recruited to develop Spanish text-message immunization reminders. Structured interviews included questions about demographic characteristics, use of technology, and willingness to receive text reminders. Each participant was assigned to one user-centered design (UCD) test: card sort, needs analysis or comprehension testing. Respondents (N=54) were female (70%) and averaged 27 years of age (SD=7). A card sort of 20 immunization-related statements resulted in identification of seven pieces of critical information, which were compiled into eight example texts. These texts were ranked in the needs assessment and the top two were assessed for comprehension. All participants were able to understand the content and describe intention to act. Utilizing UCD testing, Spanish-speakers identified short, specific text content that differed from preferred content of English-speaking parents.

Message passing for quantified Boolean formulas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang, Pan; Ramezanpour, Abolfazl; Zecchina, Riccardo; Zdeborová, Lenka

2012-01-01

We introduce two types of message passing algorithms for quantified Boolean formulas (QBF). The first type is a message passing based heuristics that can prove unsatisfiability of the QBF by assigning the universal variables in such a way that the remaining formula is unsatisfiable. In the second type, we use message passing to guide branching heuristics of a Davis–Putnam–Logemann–Loveland (DPLL) complete solver. Numerical experiments show that on random QBFs our branching heuristics give robust exponential efficiency gain with respect to state-of-the-art solvers. We also manage to solve some previously unsolved benchmarks from the QBFLIB library. Apart from this, our study sheds light on using message passing in small systems and as subroutines in complete solvers

Using Publish-Subscribe Messaging for System Status and Automation

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, Danford S.

2015-01-01

The NASA Goddard Mission Services Evolution Center (GMSEC) system is a message-based plug-and-play open system architecture used in many of NASA mission operations centers. This presentation will focus on the use of GMSEC standard messages to report and analyze the status of a system and enable the automation of the system's components. In GMSEC systems, each component reports its status using a keep-alive message and also publishes status and activities as log messages. In addition, the components can accept functional directive messages from the GMSEC message bus. Over the past several years, development teams have found ways to utilize these messages to create innovative display pages and increasingly sophisticated approaches to automation. This presentation will show the flexibility and value of the message-based approach to system awareness and automation.

Using Text-Messaging in the Secondary Classroom

Science.gov (United States)

Thomas, Kevin; Orthober, Corrie

2011-01-01

To examine the potential uses of and barriers to text-messaging in secondary schools, three classes (66 students) of high school students used their personal mobile phones to receive out of school, course-related text-messages from teachers. Forty-six students (70%) agreed to receive text-messages. Findings indicate that participants found…

Emotional flow in persuasive health messages.

Science.gov (United States)

Nabi, Robin L

2015-01-01

Overwhelmingly, the literature on the persuasive influence of emotions has focused on individual emotions, fear in particular, though some recent attention has been given to mixed emotions in persuasive appeals. Building on this newer wave of research, this article argues that instead of focusing on singular emotional states or collections of emotions evoked by a message, it might prove valuable to explore the flow, or evolution, of emotional experience over the course of exposure to a health message. The article offers a brief introduction to the concept of emotion, followed by a review of the state of the literature on the use of emotion in health messages. The concept of emotional flow is then introduced along with a consideration of how it has been tacitly incorporated into the study of emotional health messages. Finally, the utility of the concept of emotional flow is elaborated by articulating the ways in which it might be harnessed to facilitate the creation of more effective health messages, individually as well as across campaigns. The article concludes with an agenda for future research.

Matching Message Design and Depressed Cognition: An Exploration of Attention Patterns for Gain- and Loss-Framed Depression Help-Seeking Messages.

Science.gov (United States)

Lueck, Jennifer A

2017-07-01

Although disproportionally affected by depression, most depressed college students do not seek the help they need. Research has recently uncovered the potential negative effects of depression help-seeking messages if depressed cognition is not considered in the health message design process. It is unclear if depression determines whether and how individuals pay attention to gain- and loss-framed depression help-seeking messages-a mechanism that has significant implications for the strategic planning of health communication interventions. In order to enable the effective matching of message design and audience features, this study investigated attention patterns for gain (n = 75)- and loss (n = 78)-framed depression help-seeking messages using eye-tracking technology and self-report measures. The results confirmed that depression is a characteristic of risk avoidance and negative cognition. Depressed participants tended to pay more attention to disease information that was placed in a loss-framed rather than a gain-framed depression help-seeking message. Using negative message framing strategies for health messages seeking to educate about depression symptoms might therefore be a useful persuasive strategy-particularly when disseminated to vulnerable populations affected by depression. Furthermore, the present study emphasizes the effective use of eye-tracking technology in communication research.

Effects of argument quality, source credibility and self-reported diabetes knowledge on message attitudes: an experiment using diabetes related messages.

Science.gov (United States)

Lin, Tung-Cheng; Hwang, Lih-Lian; Lai, Yung-Jye

2017-05-17

Previous studies have reported that credibility and content (argument quality) are the most critical factors affecting the quality of health information and its acceptance and use; however, this causal relationship merits further investigation in the context of health education. Moreover, message recipients' prior knowledge may moderate these relationships. This study used the elaboration likelihood model to determine the main effects of argument quality, source credibility and the moderating effect of self-reported diabetes knowledge on message attitudes. A between-subjects experimental design using an educational message concerning diabetes for manipulation was applied to validate the effects empirically. A total of 181 participants without diabetes were recruited from the Department of Health, Taipei City Government. Four group messages were manipulated in terms of argument quality (high and low) × source credibility (high and low). Argument quality and source credibility of health information significantly influenced the attitude of message recipients. The participants with high self-reported knowledge participants exhibited significant disapproval for messages with low argument quality. Effective health information should provide objective descriptions and cite reliable sources; in addition, it should provide accurate, customised messages for recipients who have high background knowledge level and ability to discern message quality. © 2017 Health Libraries Group Health Information & Libraries Journal.

Quantum signature scheme for known quantum messages

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Taewan; Lee, Hyang-Sook

2015-01-01

When we want to sign a quantum message that we create, we can use arbitrated quantum signature schemes which are possible to sign for not only known quantum messages but also unknown quantum messages. However, since the arbitrated quantum signature schemes need the help of a trusted arbitrator in each verification of the signature, it is known that the schemes are not convenient in practical use. If we consider only known quantum messages such as the above situation, there can exist a quantum signature scheme with more efficient structure. In this paper, we present a new quantum signature scheme for known quantum messages without the help of an arbitrator. Differing from arbitrated quantum signature schemes based on the quantum one-time pad with the symmetric key, since our scheme is based on quantum public-key cryptosystems, the validity of the signature can be verified by a receiver without the help of an arbitrator. Moreover, we show that our scheme provides the functions of quantum message integrity, user authentication and non-repudiation of the origin as in digital signature schemes. (paper)

Instant Messaging by SIP

Science.gov (United States)

Muhi, Daniel; Dulai, Tibor; Jaskó, Szilárd

2008-11-01

SIP is a general-purpose application layer protocol which is able to establish sessions between two or more parties. These sessions are mainly telephone calls and multimedia conferences. However it can be used for other purposes like instant messaging and presence service. SIP has a very important role in mobile communication as more and more communicating applications are going mobile. In this paper we would like to show how SIP can be used for instant messaging purposes.

Text Messaging for Exercise Promotion in Older Adults From an Upper-Middle-Income Country: Randomized Controlled Trial.

Science.gov (United States)

Müller, Andre Matthias; Khoo, Selina; Morris, Tony

2016-01-07

Mobile technology to promote exercise is effective; however, most evidence is from studies of younger groups in high-income countries. Investigating if short message service (SMS) texting can affect exercise participation in older adults from an upper-middle-income country is important considering the proliferation of mobile phones in developing regions and the increased interest of older adults in using mobile phones. The main objective was to examine the short- and long-term effects of SMS text messaging on exercise frequency in older adults. Secondary objectives were to investigate how SMS text messages impact study participants' exercise frequency and the effects of the intervention on secondary outcomes. The Malaysian Physical Activity for Health Study (myPAtHS) was a 24-week, 2-arm, parallel randomized controlled trial conducted in urban Malaysia. Participants were recruited via health talks in resident associations and religious facilities. Older Malaysians (aged 55-70 years) who used mobile phones and did not exercise regularly were eligible to participate in the study. Participants randomly allocated to the SMS texting arm received an exercise booklet and 5 weekly SMS text messages over 12 weeks. The content of the SMS text messages was derived from effective behavior change techniques. The non-SMS texting arm participants received only the exercise booklet. Home visits were conducted to collect outcome data: (1) exercise frequency at 12 and 24 weeks, (2) secondary outcome data (exercise self-efficacy, physical activity-related energy expenditure, sitting time, body mass index, grip and leg strength) at baseline and at 12 and 24 weeks. Intention-to-treat procedures were applied for data analysis. Semistructured interviews focusing primarily on the SMS text messages and their impact on exercise frequency were conducted at weeks 12 and 24. In total, 43 participants were randomized into the SMS texting arm (n=22) and the non-SMS texting arm (n=21). Study

The Message Logging System for NOνA Experiment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lu Qiming; Kowalkowski, J B; Biery, K A

2011-01-01

The message logging system provides the infrastructure for all of the distributed processes in the data acquisition (DAQ) to report status messages of various severities in a consistent manner to a central location, as well as providing the tools for displaying and archiving the messages. The message logging system has been developed over a decade, and has been run successfully on CDF and CMS experiments. The most recent work to the message logging system is to build it as a stand-alone package with the name MessageFacility which works for any generic framework or applications, with NOνA as the first driving user. System designs and architectures, as well as the efforts of making it a generic library will be discussed. We also present new features that have been added.

Moving the campaign from the front door to the front pocket: field experimental evidence on the effect of phrasing and timing of text messages on voter turnout

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bhatti, Yosef; Dahlgaard, Jens Olav; Hansen, Jonas Hedegaard

2017-01-01

Despite the widespread scholarly attention given to get-out-the-vote tactics the recent one and a half decade, few have studied the effect of short text messages (SMS) on voter turnout, and no previous such study has been conducted outside the US. We analyze four SMS experiments with more than 300......,000 voters conducted in relation to two elections in Denmark and find intention-to-treat (ITT) effects between 0.33 and 1.82 percentage points with a pooled effect of 0.74 percentage points. Furthermore, we vary the timing and the content of the messages to test existing theories of text messages...... as mobilization tools. In one experiment, we find messages delivered before Election Day to have a higher effect than those delivered on Election Day, while we find no additional effect of delivering multiple messages. We also vary message content and in general find no significant differences from sending...

Gain versus loss-framed messaging and colorectal cancer screening among African Americans: A preliminary examination of perceived racism and culturally targeted dual messaging.

Science.gov (United States)

Lucas, Todd; Hayman, Lenwood W; Blessman, James E; Asabigi, Kanzoni; Novak, Julie M

2016-05-01

This preliminary study examined the effect of gain versus loss-framed messaging as well as culturally targeted personal prevention messaging on African Americans' receptivity to colorectal cancer (CRC) screening. This research also examined mechanistic functions of perceived racism in response to message framing. Community samples of African Americans (N = 132) and White Americans (N = 50) who were non-compliant with recommended CRC screening completed an online education module about CRC, and were either exposed to a gain-framed or loss-framed message about CRC screening. Half of African Americans were exposed to an additional and culturally targeted self-control message about personal prevention of CRC. Theory of planned behavior measures of attitudes, normative beliefs, perceived behavioural control, and intentions to obtain a CRC screen served as primary outcomes. The effect of messaging on perceived racism was also measured as an outcome. Consistent with prior research, White Americans were more receptive to CRC screening when exposed to a loss-framed message. However, African Americans were more receptive when exposed to a gain-framed message. The contrary effect of loss-framed messaging on receptivity to screening among African Americans was mediated by an increase in perceived racism. However, including an additional and culturally targeted prevention message mitigated the adverse effect of a loss-framed message. This study identifies an important potential cultural difference in the effect of message framing on illness screening among African Americans, while also suggesting a culturally relevant linking mechanism. This study also suggests the potential for simultaneously presented and culturally targeted messaging to alter the effects of gain and loss-framed messaging on African Americans. What is already known on this subject? African Americans are at an increased risk of both developing and dying from colorectal cancer (CRC). These disparities can be

Mobile phone messaging for preventive health care.

Science.gov (United States)

Vodopivec-Jamsek, Vlasta; de Jongh, Thyra; Gurol-Urganci, Ipek; Atun, Rifat; Car, Josip

2012-12-12

Preventive health care promotes health and prevents disease or injuries by addressing factors that lead to the onset of a disease, and by detecting latent conditions to reduce or halt their progression. Many risk factors for costly and disabling conditions (such as cardiovascular diseases, cancer, diabetes, and chronic respiratory diseases) can be prevented, yet healthcare systems do not make the best use of their available resources to support this process. Mobile phone messaging applications, such as Short Message Service (SMS) and Multimedia Message Service (MMS), could offer a convenient and cost-effective way to support desirable health behaviours for preventive health care. To assess the effects of mobile phone messaging interventions as a mode of delivery for preventive health care, on health status and health behaviour outcomes. We searched: the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL, The Cochrane Library 2009, Issue 2), MEDLINE (OvidSP) (January 1993 to June 2009), EMBASE (OvidSP) (January 1993 to June 2009), PsycINFO (OvidSP) (January 1993 to June 2009), CINAHL (EbscoHOST) (January 1993 to June 2009), LILACS (January 1993 to June 2009) and African Health Anthology (January 1993 to June 2009).We also reviewed grey literature (including trial registers) and reference lists of articles. We included randomised controlled trials (RCTs), quasi-randomised controlled trials (QRCTs), controlled before-after (CBA) studies, and interrupted time series (ITS) studies with at least three time points before and after the intervention. We included studies using SMS or MMS as a mode of delivery for any type of preventive health care. We only included studies in which it was possible to assess the effects of mobile phone messaging independent of other technologies or interventions. Two review authors independently assessed all studies against the inclusion criteria, with any disagreements resolved by a third review author. Study design features

Actors with Multi-Headed Message Receive Patterns

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sulzmann, Martin; Lam, Edmund Soon Lee; Van Weert, Peter

2008-01-01

style actors with receive clauses containing multi-headed message patterns. Patterns may be non-linear and constrained by guards. We provide a number of examples to show the usefulness of the extension. We also explore the design space for multi-headed message matching semantics, for example first-match......The actor model provides high-level concurrency abstractions to coordinate simultaneous computations by message passing. Languages implementing the actor model such as Erlang commonly only support single-headed pattern matching over received messages. We propose and design an extension of Erlang...... and rule priority-match semantics. The various semantics are inspired by the multi-set constraint matching semantics found in Constraint Handling Rules. This provides us with a formal model to study actors with multi-headed message receive patterns. The system can be implemented efficiently and we have...

Short message service (SMS)-based intervention to improve treatment adherence among HIV-positive youth in Uganda: focus group findings.

Science.gov (United States)

Rana, Yashodhara; Haberer, Jessica; Huang, Haijing; Kambugu, Andrew; Mukasa, Barbara; Thirumurthy, Harsha; Wabukala, Peter; Wagner, Glenn J; Linnemayr, Sebastian

2015-01-01

This paper presents one of the first qualitative studies to discuss programmatic barriers to SMS-based interventions for HIV-positive youth and discusses pathways through which youth perceive them to work. We conducted six focus groups with 20 male and 19 female HIV-positive youths in two clinics in Kampala, Uganda. We find that youth commonly use SMS as over 90% of this study's youths knew how to read, write and send messages and almost three-fourths of them had phones. Youth strongly felt that the success of this intervention hinged on ensuring confidentiality about their HIV-positive status. Key programmatic challenges discussed where restrictions on phone use and phone sharing that could exclude some youth. Participants felt that the intervention would improve their adherence by providing them with needed reminders and social support. Youths' suggestions about intervention logistics related to content, frequency, timing and two-way messages will be helpful to practitioners in the field.

Leveraging text messaging and mobile technology to support pediatric obesity-related behavior change: a qualitative study using parent focus groups and interviews.

Science.gov (United States)

Sharifi, Mona; Dryden, Eileen M; Horan, Christine M; Price, Sarah; Marshall, Richard; Hacker, Karen; Finkelstein, Jonathan A; Taveras, Elsie M

2013-12-06

Text messaging (short message service, SMS) is a widely accessible and potentially cost-effective medium for encouraging behavior change. Few studies have examined text messaging interventions to influence child health behaviors or explored parental perceptions of mobile technologies to support behavior change among children. Our aim was to examine parental acceptability and preferences for text messaging to support pediatric obesity-related behavior change. We conducted focus groups and follow-up interviews with parents of overweight and obese children, aged 6-12 years, seen for "well-child" care in eastern Massachusetts. A professional moderator used a semistructured discussion guide and sample text messages to catalyze group discussions. Seven participants then received 3 weeks of text messages before a follow-up one-on-one telephone interview. All focus groups and interviews were recorded and transcribed verbatim. Using a framework analysis approach, we systematically coded and analyzed group and interview data to identify salient and convergent themes. We reached thematic saturation after five focus groups and seven follow-up interviews with a total of 31 parents of diverse race/ethnicity and education levels. Parents were generally enthusiastic about receiving text messages to support healthy behaviors for their children and preferred them to paper or email communication because they are brief and difficult to ignore. Participants anticipated high responsiveness to messaging endorsed by their child's doctor and indicated they would appreciate messages 2-3 times/week or more as long as content remains relevant. Suggestions for maintaining message relevance included providing specific strategies for implementation and personalizing information. Most felt the negative features of text messaging (eg, limited message size) could be overcome by providing links within messages to other media including email or websites. Text messaging is a promising medium for

Effects of Text Messaging on Academic Performance

OpenAIRE

Barks Amanda; Searight H. Russell; Ratwik Susan

2011-01-01

University students frequently send and receive cellular phone text messages during classroominstruction. Cognitive psychology research indicates that multi-tasking is frequently associatedwith performance cost. However, university students often have considerable experience withelectronic multi-tasking and may believe that they can devote necessary attention to a classroomlecture while sending and receiving text messages. In the current study, university students whoused text messaging were ...

Reactions to threatening health messages.

Science.gov (United States)

Ten Hoor, Gill A; Peters, Gjalt-Jorn Y; Kalagi, Janice; de Groot, Lianne; Grootjans, Karlijne; Huschens, Alexander; Köhninger, Constanze; Kölgen, Lizan; Pelssers, Isabelle; Schütt, Toby; Thomas, Sophia; Ruiter, Robert A C; Kok, Gerjo

2012-11-21

Threatening health messages that focus on severity are popular, but frequently have no effect or even a counterproductive effect on behavior change. This paradox (i.e. wide application despite low effectiveness) may be partly explained by the intuitive appeal of threatening communication: it may be hard to predict the defensive reactions occurring in response to fear appeals. We examine this hypothesis by using two studies by Brown and colleagues, which provide evidence that threatening health messages in the form of distressing imagery in anti-smoking and anti-alcohol campaigns cause defensive reactions. We simulated both Brown et al. experiments, asking participants to estimate the reactions of the original study subjects to the threatening health information (n = 93). Afterwards, we presented the actual original study outcomes. One week later, we assessed whether this knowledge of the actual study outcomes helped participants to more successfully estimate the effectiveness of the threatening health information (n = 72). Results showed that participants were initially convinced of the effectiveness of threatening health messages and were unable to anticipate the defensive reactions that in fact occurred. Furthermore, these estimates did not improve after participants had been explained the dynamics of threatening communication as well as what the effects of the threatening communication had been in reality. These findings are consistent with the hypothesis that the effectiveness of threatening health messages is intuitively appealing. What is more, providing empirical evidence against the use of threatening health messages has very little effect on this intuitive appeal.

Text messages to increase attendance to follow-up cervical cancer screening appointments among HPV-positive Tanzanian women (Connected2Care)

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Linde, Ditte S; Andersen, Marianne S; Mwaiselage, Julius D

2017-01-01

group (standard care). In a period of 10 months, the intervention group will receive 15 one-directional health educative text messages and SMS reminders for their appointment. The total sample size will be 700 with 350 women in each study arm. Primary outcome is attendance rate for follow-up. Secondary...... on how such interventions may perform in relation to cervical cancer screening in low-income settings. This study aims to assess the degree to which a Short Message Service (SMS) intervention can increase attendance at appointments among women who have tested positive for high-risk (HR) Human...

Determining the impact of text messaging for sexual health promotion to young people.

Science.gov (United States)

Gold, Judy; Lim, Megan S C; Hocking, Jane S; Keogh, Louise A; Spelman, Tim; Hellard, Margaret E

2011-04-01

The use of new technologies, such as mobile phones and internet, has increased dramatically in recent years. Text messages offer a novel method of sexual health promotion to young people who are the greatest users of new technology and are also at high risk of sexually transmitted infections (STIs). In January 2008, young people aged between 16 and 29 years were recruited from a music festival in Melbourne, Australia. They completed a short survey and were asked to provide their mobile phone numbers. Participants received fortnightly short messaging service (SMS) relating to sexual health for 4 months, and then completed an online follow-up survey. Survey data were weighted to account for those lost to follow-up. McNemar's test was used to compare changes in survey responses. A total of 1771 participants were included in analysis as they were sexually active and provided a valid mobile phone number at baseline. In all, 18% (319/1771) withdrew from receiving the SMS during the broadcast period and 40% (587/1452) completed the follow-up survey. The majority reported on the follow-up survey that they found the SMS entertaining (80%), informative (68%), and they showed the SMS to others (73%). Weighted analyses found a significant increase in knowledge (P rate, positive feedback, and an observed improvement in sexual health knowledge and STI testing.

Outpatient blood pressure monitoring using bi-directional text messaging.

Science.gov (United States)

Anthony, Chris A; Polgreen, Linnea A; Chounramany, James; Foster, Eric D; Goerdt, Christopher J; Miller, Michelle L; Suneja, Manish; Segre, Alberto M; Carter, Barry L; Polgreen, Philip M

2015-05-01

To diagnose hypertension, multiple blood pressure (BP) measurements are recommended. We randomized patients into three groups: EMR-only (patients recorded BP measurements in an electronic medical record [EMR] web portal), EMR + reminders (patients were sent text message reminders to record their BP measurements in the EMR), and bi-directional text messaging (patients were sent a text message asking them to respond with their current BP). Subjects were asked to complete 14 measurements. Automated messages were sent to each patient in the bi-directional text messaging and EMR + reminder groups twice daily. Among 121 patients, those in the bi-directional text messaging group reported the full 14 measurements more often than both the EMR-only group (P text messaging is an effective way to gather patient BP data. Text-message-based reminders alone are an effective way to encourage patients to record BP measurements. Copyright © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Tracing How Normative Messages May Influence Physical Activity Intention.

Science.gov (United States)

van Bavel, René; Esposito, Gabriele; Baranowski, Tom; Duch-Brown, Néstor

2017-04-01

Normative messages have been shown to increase intention to do physical activity. We traced how "positive" and "negative" normative messages influenced physical activity intention by comparing constructs of the model of goal-directed behavior with descriptive norms (MGDB + DNs) across control and treatment groups in an experiment. For this purpose, 16-24-year-old respondents (n = 1,200) in Bulgaria, Croatia, and Romania were asked about their age, sex, and levels of physical activity before being exposed to positive and negative normative messages and completing a questionnaire with MGDB + DNs scales. Different MGDB + DNs constructs were influenced by the normative messages: compared with the control, the negative message group showed stronger attitudes (p = .003) and the positive message group showed higher positive anticipated emotions (p = .005). The positive message's effect is consistent with the literature on conformity to social norms. The negative message's effect lends itself to interpretations based on social identity and deviance regulation theories.

Effects of Instant Messaging on School Performance in Adolescents.

Science.gov (United States)

Grover, Karan; Pecor, Keith; Malkowski, Michael; Kang, Lilia; Machado, Sasha; Lulla, Roshni; Heisey, David; Ming, Xue

2016-06-01

Instant messaging may compromise sleep quality and school performance in adolescents. We aimed to determine associations between nighttime messaging and daytime sleepiness, self-reported sleep parameters, and/or school performance. Students from 3 high schools in New Jersey completed anonymous questionnaires assessing sleep duration, daytime sleepiness, messaging habits, and academic performance. Of the 2,352 students sampled, 1,537 responses were contrasted among grades, sexes, and messaging duration, both before and after lights out. Students who reported longer duration of messaging after lights out were more likely to report a shorter sleep duration, higher rate of daytime sleepiness, and poorer academic performance. Messaging before lights out was not associated with higher rates of daytime sleepiness or poorer academic performance. Females reported more messaging, more daytime sleepiness, and better academic performance than males. There may be an association between text messaging and school performance in this cohort of students. © The Author(s) 2016.

Development of a text messaging system to improve receipt of survivorship care in adolescent and young adult survivors of childhood cancer.

Science.gov (United States)

Casillas, Jacqueline; Goyal, Anju; Bryman, Jason; Alquaddoomi, Faisal; Ganz, Patricia A; Lidington, Emma; Macadangdang, Joshua; Estrin, Deborah

2017-08-01

This study aimed to develop and examine the acceptability, feasibility, and usability of a text messaging, or Short Message Service (SMS), system for improving the receipt of survivorship care for adolescent and young adult (AYA) survivors of childhood cancer. Researchers developed and refined the text messaging system based on qualitative data from AYA survivors in an iterative three-stage process. In stage 1, a focus group (n = 4) addressed acceptability; in stage 2, key informant interviews (n = 10) following a 6-week trial addressed feasibility; and in stage 3, key informant interviews (n = 23) following a 6-week trial addressed usability. Qualitative data were analyzed using a constant comparative analytic approach exploring in-depth themes. The final system includes programmed reminders to schedule and attend late effect screening appointments, tailored suggestions for community resources for cancer survivors, and messages prompting participant feedback regarding the appointments and resources. Participants found the text messaging system an acceptable form of communication, the screening reminders and feedback prompts feasible for improving the receipt of survivorship care, and the tailored suggestions for community resources usable for connecting survivors to relevant services. Participants suggested supplementing survivorship care visits and forming AYA survivor social networks as future implementations for the text messaging system. The text messaging system may assist AYA survivors by coordinating late effect screening appointments, facilitating a partnership with the survivorship care team, and connecting survivors with relevant community resources. The text messaging system has the potential to improve the receipt of survivorship care.

The WLCG Messaging Service and its Future

CERN Document Server

Cons, Lionel

2012-01-01

Enterprise messaging is seen as an attractive mechanism to simplify and extend several portions of the Grid middleware, from low level monitoring to experiments dashboards. The production messaging service currently used by WLCG includes four tightly coupled brokers operated by EGI (running Apache ActiveMQ and designed to host the Grid operational tools such as SAM) as well as two dedicated services for ATLAS-DDM and experiments dashboards (currently also running Apache ActiveMQ). In the future, this service is expected to grow in numbers of applications supported, brokers and technologies. The WLCG Messaging Roadmap identified three areas with room for improvement (security, scalability and availability/reliability) as well as ten practical recommendations to address them. This paper describes a messaging service architecture that is in line with these recommendations as well as a software architecture based on reusable components that ease interactions with the messaging service. These two architectures wil...

Pilot study of psychotherapeutic text messaging for depression.

Science.gov (United States)

Pfeiffer, Paul N; Henry, Jennifer; Ganoczy, Dara; Piette, John D

2017-08-01

Background Text messaging services could increase access to psychotherapeutic content for individuals with depression by avoiding barriers to in-person psychotherapy such as cost, transportation, and therapist availability. Determining whether text messages reflecting different psychotherapeutic techniques exhibit differences in acceptability or effectiveness may help guide service development. Objectives We aimed to determine: (1) the feasibility of delivering a psychotherapy-based text messaging service to people with depression identified via the internet, (2) whether there is variation in satisfaction with messages according to the type of psychotherapeutic technique they represent, and (3) whether symptoms of depression vary according to receipt of each message type and participants' satisfaction with the messages they received. Methods For this study 190 US adults who screened positive for a major depressive episode (Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) score ≥10) were recruited from online advertisements. Participants received a daily psychotherapy-based text message 6 days per week for 12 weeks. Text messages were developed by a team of psychiatrists, psychologists, and social workers to reflect three psychotherapeutic approaches: acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), behavioural activation, and cognitive restructuring. Each week the message type for the week was randomly assigned from one of the three types, allowing for repeats. Participants were asked daily to rate each message. On the 7th day of each week, participants completed a two-item depression screener (PHQ-2). Web-based surveys at baseline, 6, and 12 weeks were used as the primary measure of depressive symptoms (PHQ-9). Results Of the 190 participants enrolled, 85 (45%) completed the 6-week web survey and 67 (35%) completed the 12-week survey. The mean baseline PHQ-9 score was 19.4 (SD 4.2) and there was a statistically significant mean improvement in PHQ-9 scores of -2.9 (SD 6.0; p�

TransWatL - Crowdsourced water level transmission via short message service within the Sondu River Catchment, Kenya

Science.gov (United States)

Weeser, Björn; Jacobs, Suzanne; Breuer, Lutz; Butterbach-Bahl, Klaus; Rufino, Mariana

2016-04-01

The fast economic development in East African countries causes an increasing need of water and farmland. Ongoing changes in land use and climate may affect the function of water tower areas such as the Mau Forest complex as an important water source and tropical montane forest in Kenya. Reliable models and predictions are necessary to ensure a sustainable and adequate water resource management. The calibration and validation process of these models requires solid data, based on widespread monitoring in both space and time, which is a time consuming and expensive exercise. Countries with merging economies often do not have the technical capacity and resources to operate monitoring networks, although both the government and citizens are aware of the importance of sustainable water management. Our research focus on the implementation and testing of a crowdsourced database as a low-cost method to assess the water quantity within the Sondu river catchment in Kenya. Twenty to 30 water level gauges will be installed and equipped with instructional signage. Citizens are invited to read and transmit the water level and the station number to the database using a simple text message and their cell phone. The text message service is easy to use, stable, inexpensive and an established way of communication in East African countries. The simplicity of the method ensures a broad access for interested citizens and integration of locals in water monitoring all over the catchment. Furthermore, the system allows a direct and fast feedback to the users, which likely increases the awareness for water flow changes in the test region. A raspberry pi 2 Model B equipped with a mobile broadband modem will be used as a server receiving and storing incoming text messages. The received raw data will be quality checked and formatted by a python script and afterwards written back in a database. This ensures flexible and standardized access for postprocessing and data visualization, for which a

Systematic and heuristic processing of majority and minority-endorsed messages: the effects of varying outcome relevance and levels of orientation on attitude and message processing.

Science.gov (United States)

Martin, Robin; Hewstone, Miles; Martin, Pearl Y

2007-01-01

Two experiments investigated the conditions under which majority and minority sources instigate systematic processing of their messages. Both experiments crossed source status (majority vs. minority) with message quality (strong vs. weak arguments). In each experiment, message elaboration was manipulated by varying either motivational (outcome relevance, Experiment 1) or cognitive (orientating tasks, Experiment 2) factors. The results showed that when either motivational or cognitive factors encouraged low message elaboration, there was heuristic acceptance of the majority position without detailed message processing. When the level of message elaboration was intermediate, there was message processing only for the minority source. Finally, when message elaboration was high, there was message processing for both source conditions. These results show that majority and minority influence is sensitive to motivational and cognitive factors that constrain or enhance message elaboration and that both sources can lead to systematic processing under specific circumstances.

Flow of emotional messages in artificial social networks

OpenAIRE

Chmiel, Anna; Holyst, Janusz A.

2010-01-01

Models of message flows in an artificial group of users communicating via the Internet are introduced and investigated using numerical simulations. We assumed that messages possess an emotional character with a positive valence and that the willingness to send the next affective message to a given person increases with the number of messages received from this person. As a result, the weights of links between group members evolve over time. Memory effects are introduced, taking into account t...

Message Passing Framework for Globally Interconnected Clusters

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hafeez, M; Riaz, N; Asghar, S; Malik, U A; Rehman, A

2011-01-01

In prevailing technology trends it is apparent that the network requirements and technologies will advance in future. Therefore the need of High Performance Computing (HPC) based implementation for interconnecting clusters is comprehensible for scalability of clusters. Grid computing provides global infrastructure of interconnecting clusters consisting of dispersed computing resources over Internet. On the other hand the leading model for HPC programming is Message Passing Interface (MPI). As compared to Grid computing, MPI is better suited for solving most of the complex computational problems. MPI itself is restricted to a single cluster. It does not support message passing over the internet to use the computing resources of different clusters in an optimal way. We propose a model that provides message passing capabilities between parallel applications over the internet. The proposed model is based on Architecture for Java Universal Message Passing (A-JUMP) framework and Enterprise Service Bus (ESB) named as High Performance Computing Bus. The HPC Bus is built using ActiveMQ. HPC Bus is responsible for communication and message passing in an asynchronous manner. Asynchronous mode of communication offers an assurance for message delivery as well as a fault tolerance mechanism for message passing. The idea presented in this paper effectively utilizes wide-area intercluster networks. It also provides scheduling, dynamic resource discovery and allocation, and sub-clustering of resources for different jobs. Performance analysis and comparison study of the proposed framework with P2P-MPI are also presented in this paper.

Understanding health food messages on Twitter for health literacy promotion.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhou, J; Liu, F; Zhou, H

2018-05-01

With the popularity of social media, Twitter has become an important tool to promote health literacy. However, many health-related messages on Twitter are dead-ended and cannot reach many people. This is unhelpful for health literacy promotion. This article aims to examine the features of online health food messages that people like to retweet. We adopted rumour theory as our theoretical foundation and extracted seven characteristics (i.e. emotional valence, attractiveness, sender's authoritativeness, external evidence, argument length, hashtags, and direct messages). A total of 10,025 health-related messages on Twitter were collected, and 1496 messages were randomly selected for further analysis. Each message was treated as one unit and then coded. All the hypotheses were tested with logistic regression. Emotional valence, attractiveness, sender's authoritativeness, argument length, and direct messages in a Twitter message had positive effects on people's retweet behaviour. The effect of external evidence was negative. Hashtags had no significant effect after consideration of other variables. Online health food messages containing positive emotions, including pictures, containing direct messages, having an authoritative sender, having longer arguments, or not containing external URLs are more likely to be retweeted. However, a message only containing positive or negative emotions or including direct messages without any support information will not be retweeted.

78 FR 64202 - Quantitative Messaging Research

Science.gov (United States)

2013-10-28

... COMMODITY FUTURES TRADING COMMISSION Quantitative Messaging Research AGENCY: Commodity Futures... survey will follow qualitative message testing research (for which CFTC received fast- track OMB approval... comments. Please submit your comments using only one method and identify that it is for the ``Quantitative...

The Prodiguer Messaging Platform

Science.gov (United States)

Denvil, S.; Greenslade, M. A.; Carenton, N.; Levavasseur, G.; Raciazek, J.

2015-12-01

CONVERGENCE is a French multi-partner national project designed to gather HPC and informatics expertise to innovate in the context of running French global climate models with differing grids and at differing resolutions. Efficient and reliable execution of these models and the management and dissemination of model output are some of the complexities that CONVERGENCE aims to resolve.At any one moment in time, researchers affiliated with the Institut Pierre Simon Laplace (IPSL) climate modeling group, are running hundreds of global climate simulations. These simulations execute upon a heterogeneous set of French High Performance Computing (HPC) environments. The IPSL's simulation execution runtime libIGCM (library for IPSL Global Climate Modeling group) has recently been enhanced so as to support hitherto impossible realtime use cases such as simulation monitoring, data publication, metrics collection, simulation control, visualizations … etc. At the core of this enhancement is Prodiguer: an AMQP (Advanced Message Queue Protocol) based event driven asynchronous distributed messaging platform. libIGCM now dispatches copious amounts of information, in the form of messages, to the platform for remote processing by Prodiguer software agents at IPSL servers in Paris. Such processing takes several forms: Persisting message content to database(s); Launching rollback jobs upon simulation failure; Notifying downstream applications; Automation of visualization pipelines; We will describe and/or demonstrate the platform's: Technical implementation; Inherent ease of scalability; Inherent adaptiveness in respect to supervising simulations; Web portal receiving simulation notifications in realtime.

Safety message broadcast in vehicular networks

CERN Document Server

Bi, Yuanguo; Zhuang, Weihua; Zhao, Hai

2017-01-01

This book presents the current research on safety message dissemination in vehicular networks, covering medium access control and relay selection for multi-hop safety message broadcast. Along with an overall overview of the architecture, characteristics, and applications of vehicular networks, the authors discuss the challenging issues in the research on performance improvement for safety applications, and provide a comprehensive review of the research literature. A cross layer broadcast protocol is included to support efficient safety message broadcast by jointly considering geographical location, physical-layer channel condition, and moving velocity of vehicles in the highway scenario. To further support multi-hop safety message broadcast in a complex road layout, the authors propose an urban multi-hop broadcast protocol that utilizes a novel forwarding node selection scheme. Additionally, a busy tone based medium access control scheme is designed to provide strict priority to safety applications in vehicle...

Effects of Electronic Word - of - Mouth Messages

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Choong Hoon Lim

2012-01-01

Full Text Available With the increased usage of online technologies, there has been an escalation of Electronic Word - of –Mouth (eWOM messages related to sport products and services offered and consumed. Therefore, in this original investigation by applying eWOM to the sport industry, this study examined how the combination of the quality of the eWOM message and the provider of the eWOM message affects purchaseintentions depending on the expertise level of the consumer. This study – which involved the collection of data from 134 students at a large university situated in the Midwest of the United States – utilized repeated measures of Analysis of Variance (ANOVA with tripartite groups of expertise and experimental conditions as independent variables. Purchase intention was the dependent variables. The results indicated that the quality of the eWOM message moderated the effect of the provider of the eWOM message. The subject’s level of expertise also had a moderating role on purchase intention.

An alcohol message beneath the surface of ER: how implicit memory influences viewers' health attitudes and intentions using entertainment-education.

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Kyongseok; Lee, Mina; Macias, Wendy

2014-01-01

While previous research on entertainment-education has assessed its effectiveness, primarily at the conscious level (e.g., free recall and self-reported change in knowledge), few studies have explored its effect on viewers' implicit knowledge. To fill this gap, this study examined the mechanism through which viewers form implicit memory of short health messages inserted in a primetime TV show and its preconscious effects on viewers' health attitudes and intentions. An experiment was conducted using a 3-group (health message: present vs. absent vs. control), posttest-only design with additional planned analyses of differences by subject variables (past experience and involvement). Overall, findings supported the hypothesized effects of implicit memory of a brief antialcohol message embedded in an ER episode on college students' attitudes and intentions against binge drinking. Results showed that participants who were exposed to the health message reported less positive attitudes toward binge drinking and lower intentions to binge drink, compared with those who were not exposed; the causal relations among viewers' implicit memory, attitudes, and intentions were also validated. Results also showed that individuals' past experience and involvement moderated the effects of the health message on attitudes and intentions. Theoretical explanations and practical implications are discussed.

Individual differences in drivers' cognitive processing of road safety messages.

Science.gov (United States)

Kaye, Sherrie-Anne; White, Melanie J; Lewis, Ioni M

2013-01-01

Using Gray and McNaughton's (2000) revised reinforcement sensitivity theory (r-RST), we examined the influence of personality on processing of words presented in gain-framed and loss-framed anti-speeding messages and how the processing biases associated with personality influenced message acceptance. The r-RST predicts that the nervous system regulates personality and that behaviour is dependent upon the activation of the behavioural activation system (BAS), activated by reward cues and the fight-flight-freeze system (FFFS), activated by punishment cues. According to r-RST, individuals differ in the sensitivities of their BAS and FFFS (i.e., weak to strong), which in turn leads to stable patterns of behaviour in the presence of rewards and punishments, respectively. It was hypothesised that individual differences in personality (i.e., strength of the BAS and the FFFS) would influence the degree of both message processing (as measured by reaction time to previously viewed message words) and message acceptance (measured three ways by perceived message effectiveness, behavioural intentions, and attitudes). Specifically, it was anticipated that, individuals with a stronger BAS would process the words presented in the gain-frame messages faster than those with a weaker BAS and individuals with a stronger FFFS would process the words presented in the loss-frame messages faster than those with a weaker FFFS. Further, it was expected that greater processing (faster reaction times) would be associated with greater acceptance for that message. Driver licence holding students (N=108) were recruited to view one of four anti-speeding messages (i.e., social gain-frame, social loss-frame, physical gain-frame, and physical loss-frame). A computerised lexical decision task assessed participants' subsequent reaction times to message words, as an indicator of the extent of processing of the previously viewed message. Self-report measures assessed personality and the three message

Reactions to threatening health messages

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

ten Hoor Gill A

2012-11-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Threatening health messages that focus on severity are popular, but frequently have no effect or even a counterproductive effect on behavior change. This paradox (i.e. wide application despite low effectiveness may be partly explained by the intuitive appeal of threatening communication: it may be hard to predict the defensive reactions occurring in response to fear appeals. We examine this hypothesis by using two studies by Brown and colleagues, which provide evidence that threatening health messages in the form of distressing imagery in anti-smoking and anti-alcohol campaigns cause defensive reactions. Methods We simulated both Brown et al. experiments, asking participants to estimate the reactions of the original study subjects to the threatening health information (n = 93. Afterwards, we presented the actual original study outcomes. One week later, we assessed whether this knowledge of the actual study outcomes helped participants to more successfully estimate the effectiveness of the threatening health information (n = 72. Results Results showed that participants were initially convinced of the effectiveness of threatening health messages and were unable to anticipate the defensive reactions that in fact occurred. Furthermore, these estimates did not improve after participants had been explained the dynamics of threatening communication as well as what the effects of the threatening communication had been in reality. Conclusions These findings are consistent with the hypothesis that the effectiveness of threatening health messages is intuitively appealing. What is more, providing empirical evidence against the use of threatening health messages has very little effect on this intuitive appeal.

Lol: New Language and Spelling in Instant Messaging

Science.gov (United States)

Varnhagen, Connie K.; McFall, G. Peggy; Pugh, Nicole; Routledge, Lisa; Sumida-MacDonald, Heather; Kwong, Trudy E.

2010-01-01

Written communication in instant messaging, text messaging, chat, and other forms of electronic communication appears to have generated a "new language" of abbreviations, acronyms, word combinations, and punctuation. In this naturalistic study, adolescents collected their instant messaging conversations for a 1-week period and then completed a…

A Novel Message Scheduling Framework for Delay Tolerant Networks Routing

KAUST Repository

Elwhishi, Ahmed

2013-05-01

Multicopy routing strategies have been considered the most applicable approaches to achieve message delivery in Delay Tolerant Networks (DTNs). Epidemic routing and two-hop forwarding routing are two well-reported approaches for delay tolerant networks routing which allow multiple message replicas to be launched in order to increase message delivery ratio and/or reduce message delivery delay. This advantage, nonetheless, is at the expense of additional buffer space and bandwidth overhead. Thus, to achieve efficient utilization of network resources, it is important to come up with an effective message scheduling strategy to determine which messages should be forwarded and which should be dropped in case of buffer is full. This paper investigates a new message scheduling framework for epidemic and two-hop forwarding routing in DTNs, such that the forwarding/dropping decision can be made at a node during each contact for either optimal message delivery ratio or message delivery delay. Extensive simulation results show that the proposed message scheduling framework can achieve better performance than its counterparts.

Efficacy of a text messaging (SMS) based intervention for adults with hypertension: protocol for the StAR (SMS Text-message Adherence suppoRt trial) randomised controlled trial.

Science.gov (United States)

Bobrow, Kirsty; Brennan, Thomas; Springer, David; Levitt, Naomi S; Rayner, Brian; Namane, Mosedi; Yu, Ly-Mee; Tarassenko, Lionel; Farmer, Andrew

2014-01-11

Interventions to support people with hypertension in attending clinics and taking their medication have potential to improve outcomes, but delivery on a wide scale and at low cost is challenging. Some trials evaluating clinical interventions using short message service (SMS) text-messaging systems have shown important outcomes, although evidence is limited. We have developed a novel SMS system integrated with clinical care for use by people with hypertension in a low-resource setting. We aim to test the efficacy of the system in improving blood pressure control and treatment adherence compared to usual care. The SMS Text-message Adherence suppoRt trial (StAR) is a pragmatic individually randomised three-arm parallel group trial in adults treated for hypertension at a single primary care centre in Cape Town, South Africa. The intervention is a structured programme of clinic appointment, medication pick-up reminders, medication adherence support and hypertension-related education delivered remotely using an automated system with either informational or interactive SMS text-messages. Usual care is supplemented by infrequent non-hypertension related SMS text-messages. Participants are 1:1:1 individually randomised, to usual care or to one of the two active interventions using minimisation to dynamically adjust for gender, age, baseline systolic blood pressure, years with hypertension, and previous clinic attendance. The primary outcome is the change in mean systolic blood pressure at 12-month follow-up from baseline measured with research staff blinded to trial allocation. Secondary outcomes include the proportion of patients with 80% or more of days medication available, proportion of participants achieving a systolic blood pressure less than 140 mmHg and a diastolic blood pressure less than 90 mmHg, hospital admissions, health status, retention in clinical care, satisfaction with treatment and care, and patient related quality of life. Anonymised demographic data

The message is the message-maker.

Science.gov (United States)

Chalkley, A B

1977-03-01

For those engaged in family planning or other demographic work of an active kind, serious errors can be made and much money and skill wasted unless there is a clear idea of available means of communication. Literacy and media-diffusion figures offer vague parameters, especially in Asia, and the role of spoken communication -- considered key in "illiterate" societies -- is even more difficult to assess. For mass media, the starting point is "diffusion rates" representing numbers of TV sets owned or newspapers sold per 1000 population and so on -- measures of quantity. This article surveys the population growth rates, urban-rural distribution, educational levels, literacy rates, numbers of newspapers bought, radios and TVs owned (per 1000 population) for 12 Asian countries, and discusses their meaning in terms of media use. Chief among the points made are that print media still have an enormous role to play in the developing countries -- newspaper diffusion rates are quite high, even in countries with low urban population (especially India). The quality of electronic media (too often considered the natural "wave of the future" everywhere) varies but is generally not high. Where they are fully developed their role is vital -- but it might be noted that it is the message makers themselves who are most vital. Choosing the right medium and the proper message for it is essential.

Comparing tailored and untailored text messages for smoking cessation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Skov-Ettrup, L S; Ringgaard, L W; Dalum, P

2014-01-01

The aim was to compare the effectiveness of untailored text messages for smoking cessation to tailored text messages delivered at a higher frequency. From February 2007 to August 2009, 2030 users of an internet-based smoking cessation program with optional text message support aged 15-25 years were...... of text messages increases quit rates among young smokers....

Motivating Smoking Cessation Text Messages: Perspectives from Pregnant Smokers.

Science.gov (United States)

Schindler-Ruwisch, Jennifer M; Leavitt, Leah E; Macherelli, Laura E; Turner, Monique M; Abroms, Lorien C

2018-06-01

The purpose of this research is to analyze cessation text-messages written by pregnant smokers to elucidate the target population's preferred content and message attributes. To achieve this goal, the objectives of this study are three-fold; to qualitatively code messages written by pregnant smokers for frame, type of appeal, and intended target. Study participants were recruited as part of a larger trial of pregnant smokers who were enrolled in a text-messaging program or control group and surveyed 1 month post-enrollment. Each participant was asked to write a brief message to another pregnant smoker and two independent coders qualitatively analyzed responses. User generated messages (N = 51) were equally loss and gain framed, and the most common appeals were: fear, guilt, cognitive, hope and empathy, in order of most to least frequent. The target of the majority of the messages was the baby. Allowing pregnant smokers to write cessation text-messages for other pregnant women can provide relevant insight into intervention content. Specifically, pregnant smokers appear to equally promote gain and loss frames, but may prefer messages that include components of fear and guilt related to the impact of smoking on their baby. Additional research is needed to systematically uncover perspectives of pregnant smokers to ensure interventions are optimally effective.

Development and Testing of an Automated 4-Day Text Messaging Guidance as an Aid for Improving Colonoscopy Preparation.

Science.gov (United States)

Walter, Benjamin Michael; Klare, Peter; Neu, Bruno; Schmid, Roland M; von Delius, Stefan

2016-06-21

In gastroenterology a sufficient colon cleansing improves adenoma detection rate and prevents the need for preterm repeat colonoscopies due to invalid preparation. It has been shown that patient education is of major importance for improvement of colon cleansing. Objective of this study was to assess the function of an automated text messaging (short message service, SMS)-supported colonoscopy preparation starting 4 days before colonoscopy appointment. After preevaluation to assess mobile phone usage in the patient population for relevance of this approach, a Web-based, automated SMS text messaging system was developed, following which a single-center feasibility study at a tertiary care center was performed. Patients scheduled for outpatient colonoscopy were invited to participate. Patients enrolled in the study group received automated information about dietary recommendations and bowel cleansing during colonoscopy preparation. Data of outpatient colonoscopies with regular preparation procedure were used for pair matching and served as control. Primary end point was feasibility of SMS text messaging support in colonoscopy preparation assessed as stable and satisfactory function of the system. Secondary end points were quality of bowel preparation according to the Boston Bowel Preparation Scale (BBPS) and patient satisfaction with SMS text messaging-provided information assessed by a questionnaire. Web-based SMS text messaging-supported colonoscopy preparation was successful and feasible in 19 of 20 patients. Mean (standard error of the mean, SEM) total BBPS score was slightly higher in the SMS group than in the control group (7.3, SEM 0.3 vs 6.4, SEM 0.2) and for each colonic region (left, transverse, and right colon). Patient satisfaction regarding SMS text messaging-based information was high. Using SMS for colonoscopy preparation with 4 days' guidance including dietary recommendation is a new approach to improve colonoscopy preparation. Quality of colonoscopy

Extracting messages masked by chaos

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Perez, G.; Cerdeira, H.A.

1995-01-01

We show how to extract messages that are masked by a chaotic signal in a system of two Lorenz oscillators. This mask removal is done for two different modes of transmission, a digital one where a parameter of the sender is switched between two values, and an analog mode, where a small amplitude message is added to the carrier signal. We achieve this without using a second Lorenz oscillator as receiver, and without doing a full reconstruction of the dynamics. This method is robust with respect to transformations that impede the unmasking using a Lorenz receiver, and is not affected by the broad-band noise that is inherent to the synchronization process. We also discuss the limitations of this way of extraction for messages in high frequency bands. (author). 12 refs, 4 figs

Flow of Emotional Messages in Artificial Social Networks

Science.gov (United States)

Chmiel, Anna; Hołyst, Janusz A.

Models of message flows in an artificial group of users communicating via the Internet are introduced and investigated using numerical simulations. We assumed that messages possess an emotional character with a positive valence and that the willingness to send the next affective message to a given person increases with the number of messages received from this person. As a result, the weights of links between group members evolve over time. Memory effects are introduced, taking into account that the preferential selection of message receivers depends on the communication intensity during the recent period only. We also model the phenomenon of secondary social sharing when the reception of an emotional e-mail triggers the distribution of several emotional e-mails to other people.

Mobile Message Services Using Text, Audio or Video for Improving the Learning Infrastructure in Higher Education

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Björn Olof Hedin

2006-06-01

Full Text Available This study examines how media files sent to mobile phones can be used to improve education at universities, and describes a prototype implement of such a system using standard components. To accomplish this, university students were equipped with mobile phones and software that allowed teachers to send text-based, audio-based and video-based messages to the students. Data was collected using questionnaires, focus groups and log files. The conclusions were that students preferred to have information and learning content sent as text, rather than audio or video. Text messages sent to phones should be no longer than 2000 characters. The most appreciated services were notifications of changes in course schedules, short lecture introductions and reminders. The prototype showed that this functionality is easy to implement using standard components.

Subtle Messages.

Science.gov (United States)

Tamplin de Poinsot, Nan

1999-01-01

Describes a self-portrait assignment inspired by the work of Frida Kahlo. Discusses Frida Kahlo's artwork and use of surrealist and symbolist views. States that each student had to incorporate personal symbolism in the portrait to convey a message about him or herself in a subtle manner. (CMK)

Art messaging to engage homeless young adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Nyamathi, Adeline; Slagle, Alexandra; Thomas, Alexandra; Hudson, Angela; Kahilifard, Farinaz; Avila, Glenna; Orser, Julie; Cuchilla, Manuel

2011-01-01

Art has been shown to be an empowering and engaging entity with numerous benefits to vulnerable populations, including the homeless persons and young adults. However, little is known how homeless young adults perceive the use of art as messages that can communicate the danger of initiating or continuing drug and alcohol use. The purpose of this study was to solicit perspectives of homeless, drug-using young adults as to how art can be used to design messages for their peers about the danger of initiating or continuing drug and alcohol use. Qualitative methodology via focus group discussions was utilized to engage 24 homeless young adults enrolled from a drop-in site in Santa Monica, California. The findings revealed support for a myriad of delivery styles, including in-person communication, flyers, music, documentary film, and creative writing. The young adults also provided insight into the importance of the thematic framework of messages. Such themes ranged from empowering and hopeful messages to those designed to scare young homeless adults into not experimenting with drugs. The findings indicate that in addition to messages communicating the need to prevent or reduce drug and alcohol use, homeless young adults respond to messages that remind them of goals and dreams they once had for their future, and to content that is personal, real, and truthful. Our research indicates that messages that reinforce protective factors such as hope for the future and self-esteem may be as important to homeless young adults as information about the risks and consequences of drug use.

A qualitative study of college student responses to conflicting messages in advertising: anti-binge drinking public service announcements versus wine promotion health messages.

Science.gov (United States)

Ahn, Ho-Young; Wu, Lei; Kelly, Stephanie; Haley, Eric

2011-06-01

The purpose of this study was to investigate how college students deal with conflicting health messages in advertising regarding binge drinking and wine promotion. Phenomenological in-depth long interviews were conducted beyond the point of redundancy (N = 16). The results of this study indicated that students' meaning making regarding the conflicting messages relied greatly upon how consistent either message was with their prior beliefs about alcohol. Additionally, not all students perceived the messages to be contradictory; these students saw the messages as being constructed for different purposes and as such incomparable. Overall, students who perceived conflict responded to the topic with apathy fueled by advertising skepticism. Employing qualitative methodology to understand how college students respond to conflicting messages will assist health promotion practitioners develop more effective alcohol abuse prevention messages and provide suggestions for researchers for studying this phenomenon from other perspectives in the future. Implications are further discussed within.

Military Message Experiment. Volume II.

Science.gov (United States)

1982-04-01

elements of the Department of Defense. This resulted in a memorandum from the Director, Telecomunications and Comand and Control, OSD, in June 1975...1978 to April 1979 and provides a discussion of the telecomunications inter- face aspects of the experiment. This Final Report covers the period of...arise in the telecomunication system which require A retransmission of an outgoing message. A "service" message may be created within the

Mobile phone text messaging to reduce alcohol and tobacco use in young people – a narrative review

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Haug S

2013-10-01

school classes and received text messages tailored to demographic and smoking-related variables. The program was accepted very well by the target group. It did not affect smoking abstinence rates at 6-months follow-up but resulted in significant lower cigarette consumption. Conclusion: First results on the appropriateness and short-term efficacy of text message-based interventions to reduce tobacco and alcohol use in young people are promising; however, further adequately powered trials are needed to confirm these initial results and to test the longer-term efficacy of these programs. Keywords: text messaging, alcohol, tobacco, young people

19 CFR 4.7d - Container status messages.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 19 Customs Duties 1 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Container status messages. 4.7d Section 4.7d... TREASURY VESSELS IN FOREIGN AND DOMESTIC TRADES Arrival and Entry of Vessels § 4.7d Container status messages. (a) Container status messages required. In addition to the advance filing requirements pursuant...

Developing mHealth Messages to Promote Postmenstrual Regulation Contraceptive Use in Bangladesh: Participatory Interview Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Eckersberger, Elisabeth; Pearson, Erin; Andersen, Kathryn; Hossain, Altaf; Footman, Katharine; Biswas, Kamal Kanti; Nuremowla, Sadid; Reiss, Kate

2017-12-14

Abortions are restricted in Bangladesh, but menstrual regulation is an approved alternative, defined as a procedure of regulating the menstrual cycle when menstruation is absent for a short duration. Use of contraception after menstrual regulation can reduce subsequent unintended pregnancy, but in Bangladesh, the contraceptive method mix is dominated by short-term methods, which have higher discontinuation and failure rates. Mobile phones are a channel via which menstrual regulation clients could be offered contraceptive support after leaving the clinic. This study aimed to support the development of a mobile phone intervention to support postmenstrual regulation family planning use in Bangladesh. It explored what family planning information women want to receive after having a menstrual regulation procedure, whether they would like to receive this information via their mobile phone, and if so, what their preferences are for the way in which it is delivered. We conducted participatory interviews with 24 menstrual regulation clients in Dhaka and Sylhet divisions in Bangladesh. Women were recruited from facilities in urban and peri-urban areas, which included public sector clinics supported by Ipas, an international nongovernmental organization (NGO), and NGO clinics run by Marie Stopes. Main themes covered in the interviews were factors affecting the use of contraception, what information and support women want after their menstrual regulation procedure, how respondents would prefer to receive information about contraception, and other key issues for mobile health (mHealth) interventions, such as language and privacy. As part of the in-depth interviews, women were shown and played 6 different messages about contraception on the research assistant's phone, which they were given to operate, and were then asked to give feedback. Women were open to both receiving messages about family planning methods on their mobile phones and talking to a counselor about family

Identifying spam e-mail messages using an intelligence algorithm

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Parichehr Ghaedi

2014-06-01

Full Text Available During the past few years, there have been growing interests in using email for delivering various types of messages such as social, financial, etc. There are also people who use email messages to promote products and services or even to do criminal activities called Spam email. These unwanted messages are sent to different target population for different purposes and there is a growing interest to develop methods to filter such email messages. This paper presents a method to filter Spam email messages based on the keyword pattern. In this article, a multi-agent filter trade based on the Bayes rule, which has benefit of using the users’ interest, keywords and investigation the message content according to its topic, has been used. Then Nested Neural Network has been used to detect the spam messages. To check the authenticity of this proposed method, we test it for a couple of email messages, so that it could determine spams and hams from each other, effectively. The result shows the superiority of this method over the previous ones including filters with Multi-Layer Perceptron that detect spams.

How consumers evaluate eWOM (electronic word-of-mouth) messages.

Science.gov (United States)

Doh, Sun-Jae; Hwang, Jang-Sun

2009-04-01

This experiment explored how consumers evaluate electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) messages about products. Each participant was exposed a 10-message set in a single board. Five groups were manipulated in terms of their ratios of positive and negative messages. The result showed significant differences across various sets of eWOM messages. Although more positive sets showed higher scores in many cases, this was not true in all situations, especially for the case of credibility. Involvement and prior knowledge partially moderated the relationship between the ratio of messages and the eWOM effect. The credibility of Web sites and eWOM messages can be damaged in the long run if all of the eWOM messages are positive.

A comparison between phone-based psychotherapy with and without text messaging support in between sessions for crisis patients.

Science.gov (United States)

Furber, Gareth; Jones, Gabrielle Margaret; Healey, David; Bidargaddi, Niranjan

2014-10-08

Few studies have tested whether individually tailored text messaging interventions have an effect on clinical outcomes when used to supplement traditional psychotherapy. This is despite the potential to improve outcomes through symptom monitoring, prompts for between-session activities, and psychoeducation. The intent of the study was to explore the use of individually tailored between-session text messaging, or short message service (SMS), as an adjunct to telephone-based psychotherapy for consumers who present to the Emergency Department (ED) in situational and/or emotional crises. Over a 4-month period, two therapists offered 68 prospective consumers of a telephone-based psychotherapy service individually tailored between-session text messaging alongside their telephone-based psychotherapy. Attendance and clinical outcomes (depression, anxiety, functional impairment) of those receiving messages were compared against a historical control group (n=157) who received telephone psychotherapy only. A total of 66% (45/68) of the consumers offered SMS accepted the intervention. A total of 432 messages were sent over the course of the trial, the majority involving some kind of psychoeducation or reminders to engage in therapy goals. There were no significant differences in clinical outcomes between consumers who received the SMS and those in the control group. There was a trend for participants in the intervention group to attend fewer sessions than those in the control group (mean 3.7, SD 1.9 vs mean 4.4, SD 2.3). Both groups showed significant improvement over time. Individually tailored SMS were not found to improve clinical outcomes in consumers receiving telephone-based psychotherapy, but the study was underpowered, given the effect sizes noted and the significance level chosen. Given the ease of implementation and positive feedback from therapists and clients, individually tailored text messages should be explored further in future trials with a focus on enhancing

Text messaging-based smoking cessation intervention: a narrative review.

Science.gov (United States)

Kong, Grace; Ells, Daniel M; Camenga, Deepa R; Krishnan-Sarin, Suchitra

2014-05-01

Smoking cessation interventions delivered via text messaging on mobile phones may enhance motivations to quit smoking. The goal of this narrative review is to describe the text messaging interventions' theoretical contents, frequency and duration, treatment outcome, and sample characteristics such as age and motivation to quit, to better inform the future development of this mode of intervention. Studies were included if text messaging was primarily used to deliver smoking cessation intervention and published in English in a peer-reviewed journal. All articles were coded by two independent raters to determine eligibility and to extract data. Twenty-two studies described 15 text messaging interventions. About half of the interventions recruited adults (ages 30-40) and the other half targeted young adults (ages 18-29). Fourteen interventions sent text messages during the quit phase, 10 had a preparation phase and eight had a maintenance phase. The number of text messages and the duration of the intervention varied. All used motivational messages grounded in social cognitive behavioral theories, 11 used behavioral change techniques, and 14 used individually tailored messages. Eleven interventions also offered other smoking cessation tools. Three interventions yielded smoking cessation outcomes greater than the control condition. The proliferation of text messaging in recent years suggests that text messaging interventions may have the potential to improve smoking cessation rates. Detailed summary of the interventions suggests areas for future research and clinical application. More rigorous studies are needed to identify components of the interventions that can enhance their acceptability, feasibility and efficacy. Copyright © 2013. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Preference for gain- or loss-framed electronic cigarette prevention messages.

Science.gov (United States)

Kong, Grace; Cavallo, Dana A; Camenga, Deepa R; Morean, Meghan E; Krishnan-Sarin, Suchitra

2016-11-01

Effective electronic cigarette (e-cigarette) prevention messages are needed to combat the rising popularity/uptake of e-cigarettes among youth. We examined preferences for e-cigarette prevention messages that either emphasized gains (e.g., You save money by not using e-cigarettes) or losses (e.g., You spend money by using e-cigarettes) among adolescents and young adults. Using surveys in two middle schools, four high schools, and one college in CT (N=5405), we assessed students' preferences for gain- or loss-framed e-cigarette prevention messages related to four themes: financial cost, health risks, addiction potential, and social labeling as a smoker. We also assessed whether preferences for each message framing theme differed by sex, school level, cigarette-use status, and e-cigarette use-status. We also examined whether preference for message framing differed by cigarette and e-cigarette susceptibility status among never e-cigarette users. Overall, loss-framing was preferred for message themes related to health risks, addiction potential, and social labeling as a smoker, whereas gain-framing was preferred for message themes related to financial cost. Logistic regression analyses showed that 1) females preferred loss-framed messages for all themes relative to males, 2) lifetime e-cigarette users preferred loss-framed health risks and social labeling messages relative to never users, and 3) high school students preferred gain-framed social labeling messages relative to college students. The preference for message framing did not differ by cigarette or e-cigarette susceptibility. Preference for message framing differed by themes and individual characteristics. This formative research could inform the construction of persuasive e-cigarette prevention messages. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Quantum messages with signatures forgeable in arbitrated quantum signature schemes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Taewan; Choi, Jeong Woon; Jho, Nam-Su; Lee, Soojoon

2015-01-01

Even though a method to perfectly sign quantum messages has not been known, the arbitrated quantum signature scheme has been considered as one of the good candidates. However, its forgery problem has been an obstacle to the scheme becoming a successful method. In this paper, we consider one situation, which is slightly different from the forgery problem, that we use to check whether at least one quantum message with signature can be forged in a given scheme, although all the messages cannot be forged. If there are only a finite number of forgeable quantum messages in the scheme, then the scheme can be secured against the forgery attack by not sending forgeable quantum messages, and so our situation does not directly imply that we check whether the scheme is secure against the attack. However, if users run a given scheme without any consideration of forgeable quantum messages, then a sender might transmit such forgeable messages to a receiver and in such a case an attacker can forge the messages if the attacker knows them. Thus it is important and necessary to look into forgeable quantum messages. We show here that there always exists such a forgeable quantum message-signature pair for every known scheme with quantum encryption and rotation, and numerically show that there are no forgeable quantum message-signature pairs that exist in an arbitrated quantum signature scheme. (paper)

Countering Islamic State Messaging Through “Linkage-Based” Analysis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

J.M. Berger

2017-08-01

Full Text Available The Islamic State’s recent losses on the battlefield, including significant casualties within its media and propaganda division, offer a unique opportunity to inject competing and alternative messages into the information space. This paper proposes that the content of such messages should be guided by a linkage-based analysis of existing Islamic State messaging. A linkage-based analysis of a top-level 2017 audio message by Islamic State spokesperson Abu Hasan al Muhajir offers several potential insights into crafting effective content for competing and alternative messages. A comparison of the 2017 work to earlier Islamic State messaging also reveals specific opportunities to undermine the credibility of the organisation’s broader propaganda programme by highlighting the organisation’s repeated failure to follow through on its extravagantly promised commitment to achieving its stated goals.

RSA Key Development Using Fingerprint Image on Text Message

Science.gov (United States)

Rahman, Sayuti; Triana, Indah; Khairani, Sumi; Yasir, Amru; Sundari, Siti

2017-12-01

Along with the development of technology today, humans are very facilitated in accessing information and Communicate with various media, including through the Internet network . Messages are sent by media such as text are not necessarily guaranteed security. it is often found someone that wants to send a secret message to the recipient, but the messages can be known by irresponsible people. So the sender feels dissappointed because the secret message that should be known only to the recipient only becomes known by the irresponsible people . It is necessary to do security the message by using the RSA algorithm, Using fingerprint image to generate RSA key.This is a solution to enrich the security of a message,it is needed to process images firstly before generating RSA keys with feature extraction.

THE ISSUES OF NARRATIVE POETICS IN THE CREATIVE HISTORY OF THE SHORT NOVEL “CROSSROADS” BY I. S. SHMELEV

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nikolay I. Sobolev

2015-11-01

Full Text Available Th e article is dedicated to one of the major problems of literature that is scientifi c description, introduction into scientifi c use and comprehension of handwritten materials of  writer’s creative heritage. At the heart of the research there is a draft novel of I. S. Shmelev “Crossroads” [“Rosstani”] kept in the Research Department of Manuscripts of the Russian State Library. Th e  article presents codicological description and textual analysis of the draft that brought to light two versions and two editions of the short novel, revealed their genealogy, the process of formation and development of the narration. Philological analysis of discrepancies in the editions allows us to comprehend genesis of the plot, reveal the author’s objectives in the poetics of the short novel. In the course of the comparative analysis of diff erent editions in the poetics of the short novel there were found out literary devices inherent to a Neo-Realist literary work, such as the abundance of out-of-plot elements that produce eff ect of a discrete narrative; repeating common details, the images of Russian nature, the motives of memory and leave that form a symbolic level of the short novel.

Hybrid Message-Embedded Cipher Using Logistic Map

OpenAIRE

Mishra, Mina; Mankar, V. H.

2012-01-01

The proposed hybrid message embedded scheme consists of hill cipher combined with message embedded chaotic scheme. Message-embedded scheme using non-linear feedback shift register as non-linear function and 1-D logistic map as chaotic map is modified, analyzed and tested for avalanche property and strength against known plaintext attack and brute-force attack. Parameter of logistic map acts as a secret key. As we know that the minimum key space to resist brute-force attack is 2100, and it is ...

Messages about Sexuality: An Ecological Perspective

Science.gov (United States)

Boone, Tanya L.

2015-01-01

The goal of this two-part study was to identify the perceived influence of sexuality messages from parents, peers, school and the media--four microsystems within the Ecological Model--on emerging adult US college women's sexual attitudes. Findings suggest that parents were the most likely source of the message to "remain abstinent until…

Using mobile phone text messages to improve insulin injection technique and glycaemic control in patients with diabetes mellitus: a multi-centre study in Turkey.

Science.gov (United States)

Celik, Selda; Cosansu, Gulhan; Erdogan, Semra; Kahraman, Alev; Isik, Sengul; Bayrak, Gulay; Bektas, Belgin; Olgun, Nermin

2015-06-01

To improve the knowledge and skills of diabetic patients on insulin injections using mobile phone short message services and to evaluate the association of this intervention with metabolic outcomes. Mobile communication technologies are widely used in Turkey, which maintains a diabetic population of more than 6·5 million. However, there are a limited number of studies using mobile technologies in the challenging and complicated management of diabetes. A one group pretest-posttest design was used in this study. The study sample consisted of 221 people with type 1 and type 2 Diabetes Mellitus from eight outpatient clinics in six cities in Turkey. The 'Demographic and diabetes-related information Form' and 'Insulin Injection Technique and Knowledge Form' were used in the initial interview. Subsequently, 12 short messages related to insulin administration were sent to patients twice a week for six months. Each patient's level of knowledge and skills regarding both the insulin injection technique and glycaemic control (glycated haemoglobin A1c) levels were measured at three months and six months during the text messaging period and six months later (12 months total) when text messaging was stopped. The mean age of the patients with diabetes was 39·8 ± 16·2 years (min: 18; max: 75). More than half of the patients were females with a mean duration of diabetes of 11·01 ± 7·22 years (min 1; max: 32). Following the text message reminders, the patients' level of knowledge and skills regarding the insulin injection technique improved at month 3 and 6 (p 12 compared to the baseline values (p insulin injection sites and the frequency of rotation of skin sites for insulin injections also increased. This study demonstrated that a short message services-based information and reminder system on insulin injection administration provided to insulin-dependent patients with diabetes by nurses resulted in improved self-administration of insulin and metabolic control

Real Time Assessment of Young Adults' Attitudes toward Tobacco Messages.

Science.gov (United States)

Hébert, Emily T; Vandewater, Elizabeth A; Businelle, Michael S; Harrell, Melissa B; Kelder, Steven H; Perry, Cheryl L

2018-01-01

We used ecological momentary assessment (EMA) to examine young adults' attitudes towards pro-tobacco messages encountered in real time and their association with intentions to use tobacco. Young adults (N = 92, ages 18-29) recorded sightings of marketing or social media related to tobacco in real time via mobile app for 28 days. Participants reported message characteristics, their attitudes towards the message, and intentions to use the depicted product for each submission. We used generalized linear mixed models to examine factors related to attitude towards message and intentions to use tobacco. Messages depicting e-cigarettes (p < .001) or hookah (p < .05) were associated with significantly more favorable attitudes compared with traditional cigarettes. Positive attitude towards the message was significantly associated with intention to use the depicted product (p < .001). Messages depicting e-cigarettes and hookah were significantly associated with higher intention to use. Message source was not significantly related to attitudes towards the message or product use intentions. Marketing featuring e-cigarettes and hookah is an important target for future regulation. Given that pro-tobacco and e-cigarette messages are prevalent online, future research should consider the Internet and social media as important venues for counter-marketing and intervention efforts.

Social media for message testing: a multilevel approach to linking favorable viewer responses with message, producer, and viewer influence on YouTube.

Science.gov (United States)

Paek, Hye-Jin; Hove, Thomas; Jeon, Jehoon

2013-01-01

To explore the feasibility of social media for message testing, this study connects favorable viewer responses to antismoking videos on YouTube with the videos' message characteristics (message sensation value [MSV] and appeals), producer types, and viewer influences (viewer rating and number of viewers). Through multilevel modeling, a content analysis of 7,561 viewer comments on antismoking videos is linked with a content analysis of 87 antismoking videos. Based on a cognitive response approach, viewer comments are classified and coded as message-oriented thought, video feature-relevant thought, and audience-generated thought. The three mixed logit models indicate that videos with a greater number of viewers consistently increased the odds of favorable viewer responses, while those presenting humor appeals decreased the odds of favorable message-oriented and audience-generated thoughts. Some significant interaction effects show that videos produced by laypeople may hinder favorable viewer responses, while a greater number of viewer comments can work jointly with videos presenting threat appeals to predict favorable viewer responses. Also, for a more accurate understanding of audience responses to the messages, nuance cues should be considered together with message features and viewer influences.

Mobile phone text messaging and Telephone follow-up in type 2 diabetic patients for 3 months: a comparative study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zolfaghari Mirta

2012-08-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background To investigate and to compare the effectiveness of a nurse short message service (SMS by cellular phone and telephone follow-up by nurse on Glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c levels in people with type 2 diabetes. Methods Semi experimental study consisted of 77 patients with type 2 diabetes that randomly assigned to two groups: telephone follow-up (n = 39 and short message service (n = 38. Telephone interventions were applied by researcher for 3 months. SMS group that received message daily for 12 weeks. Data gathering instrument include data sheet to record HbA1c and questionnaire that consisted of demographic characteristics. Data gathering was performed at two points: initial the study and after 12 weeks. Data analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics methods with SPSS version 11.5. Results Demographic variables were compared and all of them were homogenous. Results of this study showed that both interventions had significant mean changes in HbA1c; for the telephone group (p = 0.001, with a mean change of −0.93% and for the SMS group (p = 0.001, with a mean change of −1.01%. Conclusion Finding of this research showed that intervention using SMS via cellular phone and nurse-led-telephone follow up improved HbA1c for three months in type 2 diabetic patients and it can consider as alternative methods for diabetes control.

Developing Social Media-Based Suicide Prevention Messages in Partnership With Young People: Exploratory Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Robinson, Jo; Bailey, Eleanor; Hetrick, Sarah; Paix, Steve; O'Donnell, Matt; Cox, Georgina; Ftanou, Maria; Skehan, Jaelea

2017-10-04

Social media is increasingly being used by young people for health-related issues, including communicating about suicide. Due to the concerns about causing distress or inducing suicidal thoughts or behaviors, to date young people neither have been engaged in the development of social media-based suicide prevention interventions nor have interventions focused on educating young people about safe ways to communicate about suicide online. Given the potential that social media holds to deliver messages to vast numbers of people across space and time and the fact that young people often prefer to seek help from their friends and peers, safely educating and engaging young people to develop suicide prevention messages that can be delivered via social media is an obvious next step. The objectives of this study were to (1) provide education to a small number of secondary school students about safe ways to communicate about suicide via social media; (2) engage the same young people in the development of a suite of social media-based suicide prevention multimedia messages; (3) assess the impact of this on participants; and (4) assess the acceptability and safety of the messages developed. This study involved two phases. In phase 1, 20 participants recruited from two schools took part in an 8- to 10-week program during which they were provided with psychoeducation about mental health and suicide, including how to talk safely about suicide online, and they were then supported to design and develop their own media messages. These participants completed an evaluation questionnaire at the conclusion of the program. In phase 2, a larger group of participants (n=69), recruited via an opt-in process, viewed the media messages and completed a short questionnaire about each one. Participants in phase 1 enjoyed the program and reported that they learned new skills, such as how to talk safely about suicide online, and felt more able to provide emotional support to others (16/20, 80%). No

Text messaging reminders for influenza vaccine in primary care: protocol for a cluster randomised controlled trial (TXT4FLUJAB).

Science.gov (United States)

Herrett, Emily; van Staa, Tjeerd; Free, Caroline; Smeeth, Liam

2014-05-02

The UK government recommends that at least 75% of people aged under 64 with certain conditions receive an annual influenza vaccination. Primary care practices often fall short of this target and strategies to increase vaccine uptake are required. Text messaging reminders are already used in 30% of practices to remind patients about vaccination, but there has been no trial addressing their effectiveness in increasing influenza vaccine uptake in the UK. The aims of the study are (1) to develop the methodology for conducting cluster randomised trials of text messaging interventions utilising routine electronic health records and (2) to assess the effectiveness of using a text messaging influenza vaccine reminder in achieving an increase in influenza vaccine uptake in patients aged 18-64 with chronic conditions, compared with standard care. This cluster randomised trial will recruit general practices across three settings in English primary care (Clinical Practice Research Datalink, ResearchOne and London iPLATO text messaging software users) and randomise them to either standard care or a text messaging campaign to eligible patients. Flu vaccine uptake will be ascertained using routinely collected, anonymised electronic patient records. This protocol outlines the proposed study design and analysis methods. This study will determine the effectiveness of text messaging vaccine reminders in primary care in increasing influenza vaccine uptake, and will strengthen the methodology for using electronic health records in cluster randomised trials of text messaging interventions. This trial was approved by the Surrey Borders Ethics Committee (13/LO/0872). The trial results will be disseminated at national conferences and published in a peer-reviewed medical journal. The results will also be distributed to the Primary Care Research Network and to all participating general practices. This study is registered at controlled-trials.com ISRCTN48840025, July 2013.

An Investigation into Patient Non-Attendance and Use of a Short-Message Reminder System at a University Dental Clinic.

Science.gov (United States)

Storrs, Mark J; Ramov, Helen M; Lalloo, Ratilal

2016-01-01

Non-attended appointments in health care facilities create inefficiencies and loss of clinical productivity: clinical teaching hours are reduced, impacting students' ability to meet the competencies necessary for professional registration. The aim of this study was to assess demographic and time-related factors for patient non-attendance at a dental school clinic in Australia. Appointment data were extracted from the patient management system for the years 2011 and 2012. Data included the status of appointment (attended, cancelled, or failed to attend [FTA]) and an array of demographic and time-related factors. Multinomial logistic regression was conducted to assess relationships between these factors and appointment status. Attendance rates were also compared by year following implementation of a short message service (SMS) reminder at the beginning of 2012. The results showed that, of 58,622 appointments booked with students during 2011 and 2012, 68% of patients attended, 23% cancelled, and 9% were FTA. The percentage of non-attended (cancelled or FTA) appointments differed by demographic and time-related factors. Females were 7% less likely to be FTA, those aged 16-24 years were five times more likely to be FTA, and early morning appointments were 18% less likely to be cancelled and FTA. With the SMS reminder system, the odds of a cancellation were 15% higher, but FTAs were 14% lower (both were statistically significant differences). This study found that failing to attend an appointment was significantly related to a number of factors. Clinical scheduling and reminder systems may need to take these factors into account to decrease the number of teaching hours lost due to patients' missing their appointments.

Partition function expansion on region graphs and message-passing equations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhou, Haijun; Wang, Chuang; Xiao, Jing-Qing; Bi, Zedong

2011-01-01

Disordered and frustrated graphical systems are ubiquitous in physics, biology, and information science. For models on complete graphs or random graphs, deep understanding has been achieved through the mean-field replica and cavity methods. But finite-dimensional 'real' systems remain very challenging because of the abundance of short loops and strong local correlations. A statistical mechanics theory is constructed in this paper for finite-dimensional models based on the mathematical framework of the partition function expansion and the concept of region graphs. Rigorous expressions for the free energy and grand free energy are derived. Message-passing equations on the region graph, such as belief propagation and survey propagation, are also derived rigorously. (letter)

Driver memory for in-vehicle visual and auditory messages

Science.gov (United States)

1999-12-01

Three experiments were conducted in a driving simulator to evaluate effects of in-vehicle message modality and message format on comprehension and memory for younger and older drivers. Visual icons and text messages were effective in terms of high co...

Representing culture in interstellar messages

Science.gov (United States)

Vakoch, Douglas A.

2008-09-01

As scholars involved with the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) have contemplated how we might portray humankind in any messages sent to civilizations beyond Earth, one of the challenges they face is adequately representing the diversity of human cultures. For example, in a 2003 workshop in Paris sponsored by the SETI Institute, the International Academy of Astronautics (IAA) SETI Permanent Study Group, the International Society for the Arts, Sciences and Technology (ISAST), and the John Templeton Foundation, a varied group of artists, scientists, and scholars from the humanities considered how to encode notions of altruism in interstellar messages . Though the group represented 10 countries, most were from Europe and North America, leading to the group's recommendation that subsequent discussions on the topic should include more globally representative perspectives. As a result, the IAA Study Group on Interstellar Message Construction and the SETI Institute sponsored a follow-up workshop in Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA in February 2005. The Santa Fe workshop brought together scholars from a range of disciplines including anthropology, archaeology, chemistry, communication science, philosophy, and psychology. Participants included scholars familiar with interstellar message design as well as specialists in cross-cultural research who had participated in the Symposium on Altruism in Cross-cultural Perspective, held just prior to the workshop during the annual conference of the Society for Cross-cultural Research . The workshop included discussion of how cultural understandings of altruism can complement and critique the more biologically based models of altruism proposed for interstellar messages at the 2003 Paris workshop. This paper, written by the chair of both the Paris and Santa Fe workshops, will explore the challenges of communicating concepts of altruism that draw on both biological and cultural models.

Feasibility and Acceptability of a Text Message-Based Smoking Cessation Program for Young Adults in Lima, Peru: Pilot Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Blitchtein-Winicki, Dora; Zevallos, Karine; Samolski, M Reuven; Requena, David; Velarde, Chaska; Briceño, Patricia; Piazza, Marina; Ybarra, Michele L

2017-08-04

In Peru's urban communities, tobacco smoking generally starts during adolescence and smoking prevalence is highest among young adults. Each year, many attempt to quit, but access to smoking cessation programs is limited. Evidence-based text messaging smoking cessation programs are an alternative that has been successfully implemented in high-income countries, but not yet in middle- and low-income countries with limited tobacco control policies. The objective was to assess the feasibility and acceptability of an short message service (SMS) text message-based cognitive behavioral smoking cessation program for young adults in Lima, Peru. Recruitment included using flyers and social media ads to direct young adults interested in quitting smoking to a website where interested participants completed a Google Drive survey. Inclusion criteria were being between ages 18 and 25 years, smoking at least four cigarettes per day at least 6 days per week, willing to quit in the next 30 days, owning a mobile phone, using SMS text messaging at least once in past year, and residing in Lima. Participants joined one of three phases: (1) focus groups and in-depth interviews whose feedback was used to develop the SMS text messages, (2) validating the SMS text messages, and (3) a pilot of the SMS text message-based smoking cessation program to test its feasibility and acceptability among young adults in Lima. The outcome measures included adherence to the SMS text message-based program, acceptability of content, and smoking abstinence self-report on days 2, 7, and 30 after quitting. Of 639 participants who completed initial online surveys, 42 met the inclusion criteria and 35 agreed to participate (focus groups and interviews: n=12; validate SMS text messages: n=8; program pilot: n=15). Common quit practices and beliefs emerged from participants in the focus groups and interviews informed the content, tone, and delivery schedule of the messages used in the SMS text message smoking

SIAM (Suicide intervention assisted by messages): the development of a post-acute crisis text messaging outreach for suicide prevention.

Science.gov (United States)

Berrouiguet, Sofian; Alavi, Zarrin; Vaiva, Guillaume; Courtet, Philippe; Baca-García, Enrique; Vidailhet, Pierre; Gravey, Michel; Guillodo, Elise; Brandt, Sara; Walter, Michel

2014-11-18

Suicidal behaviour and deliberate self-harm are common among adults. Research indicates that maintaining contact either via letter or postcard with at-risk adults following discharge from care services can reduce reattempt risk. Feasibility trials demonstrated that intervention through text message was also effective in preventing suicide repetition amongst suicide attempters. The aim of the current study is to investigate the effect of text message intervention versus traditional treatment on reducing the risk of suicide attempt repetition among adults after self-harm. The study will be a 2-year multicentric randomized controlled trial conducted by the Brest University Hospital, France. Participants will be adults discharged after self-harm, from emergency services or after a short hospitalization. Participants will be recruited over a 12-month period. The intervention is comprised of an SMS that will be sent at h48, D7, D15 and monthly. The text message enquires about the patients' well-being and includes information regarding individual sources of help and evidence-based self help strategies. Participants will be assessed at the baseline, month 6 and 13. As primary endpoint, we will assess the number of patients who reattempt suicide in each group at 6 months. As secondary endpoints, we will assess the number of patients who reattempt suicide at 13 month, the number of suicide attempts in the intervention and control groups at 6 and 13 month, the number of death by suicide in the intervention and control groups at month 6 and 13. In both groups, suicidal ideations, will be assessed at the baseline, month 6 and 13. Medical costs and satisfaction will be assessed at month 13. This paper describes the design and deployment of a trial SIAM; an easily reproducible intervention that aims to reduce suicide risk in adults after self-harm. It utilizes several characteristics of interventions that have shown a significant reduction in the number of suicide reattempts. We

Gender messages in contemporary popular Malay songs

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Collin Jerome

2013-07-01

Full Text Available Gender has been an important area of research in the field of popular music studies. Numerous scholars have found that contemporary popular music functions as a locus of diverse constructions and expressions of gender. While most studies focus on content analyses of popular music, there is still a need for more research on audience’s perception of popular music’s messages. This study examined adult Malay listeners’ perceptions of gender messages in contemporary Malay songs. A total of 16 contemporary Malay songs were analysed using Fairclough’s (1992 method of text analysis. The content of the songs that conveyed messages about gender were the basis for analysis. The results showed that the messages revolve mainly around socially constructed gender roles and expectations in romantic relationships. Gender stereotypes are also used in the songs to reinforce men’s and women’s roles in romantic relationships. The results also showed that, while listeners acknowledge the songs’ messages about gender, their own perceptions of gender and what it means to be a gendered being in today’s world are neither represented nor discussed fully in the songs analysed. It is hoped the findings from this, particularly the mismatch between projected and perceived notions of gender, contribute to the field of popular Malay music studies in particular, and popular music studies in general where gender messages in popular songs and their influence on listeners’ perceptions of their own gender is concerned.

Fear, threat and efficacy in threat appeals: Message involvement as a key mediator to message acceptance

OpenAIRE

Cauberghe, Verolien; De Pelsmacker, Patrick; JANSSENS, Wim; Dens, Nathalie

2009-01-01

In a sample of 170 youngsters, the effect of two versions of a public service announcement (PSA) threat appeal against speeding, placed in four different contexts. on evoked fear, perceived threat (severity and probability of occurrence), perceived response efficacy and self-efficacy, message involvement and anti-speeding attitude and anti-speeding intention is investigated. Evoked fear and perceived threat and efficacy independently influence message involvement...

Supervising simulations with the Prodiguer Messaging Platform

Science.gov (United States)

Greenslade, Mark; Carenton, Nicolas; Denvil, Sebastien

2015-04-01

At any one moment in time, researchers affiliated with the Institut Pierre Simon Laplace (IPSL) climate modeling group, are running hundreds of global climate simulations. These simulations execute upon a heterogeneous set of High Performance Computing (HPC) environments spread throughout France. The IPSL's simulation execution runtime is called libIGCM (library for IPSL Global Climate Modeling group). libIGCM has recently been enhanced so as to support realtime operational use cases. Such use cases include simulation monitoring, data publication, environment metrics collection, automated simulation control … etc. At the core of this enhancement is the Prodiguer messaging platform. libIGCM now emits information, in the form of messages, for remote processing at IPSL servers in Paris. The remote message processing takes several forms, for example: 1. Persisting message content to database(s); 2. Notifying an operator of changes in a simulation's execution status; 3. Launching rollback jobs upon simulation failure; 4. Dynamically updating controlled vocabularies; 5. Notifying downstream applications such as the Prodiguer web portal; We will describe how the messaging platform has been implemented from a technical perspective and demonstrate the Prodiguer web portal receiving realtime notifications.

Synchronous message-based communication for distributed heterogeneous systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wilkinson, N.; Dohan, D.

1992-01-01

The use of a synchronous, message-based real-time operating system (Unison) as the basis of transparent interprocess and inter-processor communication over VME-bus is described. The implementation of a synchronous, message-based protocol for network communication between heterogeneous systems is discussed. In particular, the design and implementation of a message-based session layer over a virtual circuit transport layer protocol using UDP/IP is described. Inter-process communication is achieved via a message-based semantic which is portable by virtue of its ease of implementation in other operating system environments. Protocol performance for network communication among heterogeneous architecture is presented, including VMS, Unix, Mach and Unison. (author)

The prototype message broadcast system for the superconducting super collider

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Low, K.; Skegg, R.

1991-01-01

This paper presents a prototype unified message broadcast system to handle the site-wide distribution of all control system messages for the Superconducting Super Collider. The messages are assembled in the control room area and encapsulated for transmission via a general fiber-optic link system to devices distributed throughout 70 miles of tunnels. An embedded timing signal is used by the distribution system to ensure that messages arrive at all devices simultaneously. Devices receive messages using a special receiver sub-system

Arbitrated quantum signature scheme with message recovery

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, Hwayean; Hong, Changho; Kim, Hyunsang; Lim, Jongin; Yang, Hyung Jin

2004-01-01

Two quantum signature schemes with message recovery relying on the availability of an arbitrator are proposed. One scheme uses a public board and the other does not. However both schemes provide confidentiality of the message and a higher efficiency in transmission

(In-)Secure messaging with the Silent Circle instant messaging protocol

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Verschoor, S.R.; Lange, T.

2016-01-01

Silent Text, the instant messaging application by the company Silent Circle, provides its users with end-to-end encrypted communication on the Blackphone and other smartphones. The underlying protocol, SCimp, has received many extensions during the update to version 2, but has not been subjected to

ZeroMQ: Messaging Made Simple

CERN Multimedia

CERN. Geneva

2013-01-01

Since its inception in 2007, ZeroMQ has defined a new product category of thin, fast, open source message transports. This little library has now grown into a large, vibrant community of projects tied together with standard protocols and APIs. Applications, written in any language, talk to each other over TCP, multicast, or inproc transports, using a single socket-based API, and a set of "patterns" (pub-sub, request-reply, dealer-router, pipeline). ZeroMQ handles message framing, batching, and I/O, but ignores aspects like serialization and persistence. By focussing on the essentials, and acting as a toolkit rather than a pre-packaged solution, ZeroMQ turns the complex problem of distributed computing into a relatively simple recipe. About the speaker Pieter Hintjens is a writer, programmer, and public speaker who has spent decades building large software systems, organizations, and businesses. He designed the Advanced Message Queuing Protocol (AMQP) in 2006 for JPMorganChase and left ...

Mental health message appeals and audience engagement: Evidence from Australia.

Science.gov (United States)

Yap, Jo En; Zubcevic-Basic, Nives; Johnson, Lester W; Lodewyckx, Michaela A

2017-09-07

Social media platforms are increasingly used to disseminate social marketing messages about mental health and wellbeing. This study presents a range of message appeals used in social media enabled mental health promotion and stigma reduction messages. Furthermore, it examines the relationship between the type of message appeals and audience engagement. A content analysis of 65 organisation-generated YouTube videos about depression and anxiety and stigma reduction was conducted. The most utilised message appeal was Sorrow, followed by Affiliation, Ease/Convenience, Hope, Humour, Guilt/Shame, Heroic/Successful, and Fear. Multiple regression analysis was used to examine the relationship between the type of message appeals and audience engagement in terms of the number of likes, comments, and shares. The analysis revealed that Sorrow is the most useful message appeal for generating audience comments. However, Sorrow is negatively associated with the number of likes and shares. The results suggest that mental health promotion messages may engage a larger audience through Affiliation and Hope as they have a positive impact on the number of shares. This could, in effect, turn audiences into vocal advocates for mental health promotion and stigma reduction messages. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Bidirectional Text Messaging to Improve Adherence to Recommended Lipid Testing.

Science.gov (United States)

Baldwin, Laura-Mae; Morrison, Caitlin; Griffin, Jonathan; Anderson, Nick; Edwards, Kelly; Green, Jeff; Waldren, Cleary; Reiter, William

2017-01-01

Synergies between technology and health care in the United States are accelerating, increasing opportunities to leverage these technologies to improve patient care. This study was a collaboration between an academic study team, a rural primary care clinic, and a local nonprofit informatics company developing tools to improve patient care through population management. Our team created a text messaging management tool, then developed methods for and tested the feasibility of bidirectional text messaging to remind eligible patients about the need for lipid testing. We measured patient response to the text messages, then interviewed 8 patients to explore their text messaging experience. Of the 129 patients the clinic was able to contact by phone, 29.4% had no cell phone or text-messaging capabilities. An additional 20% refused to participate. Two thirds of the 28 patients who participated in the text messaging intervention (67.9%) responded to at least 1 of the up to 3 messages. Seven of 8 interviewed patients had a positive text-messaging experience. Bidirectional text messaging is a feasible and largely acceptable form of communication for test reminders that has the potential to reach large numbers of patients in clinical care. © Copyright 2017 by the American Board of Family Medicine.

VISUAL ART AND REGULATORY FIT MESSAGES ON CONSUMER EVALUATIONS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Danielle Mantovani

2016-03-01

Full Text Available In this study, we demonstrate that the art infusion effect, in which the presence of visual art causes a positive impact on consumers’ perceptions of products and advertising messages, might have a moderation effect on regulatory fit and non-fit messages. We investigate the impact of visual art on advertisement evaluations in regulatory (non- fit conditions. Regulatory focus theory suggests that consumers rely on their motivational focus (prevention vs. promotion for their evaluations and decisions. Usually, consumers prefer products that fit with their personal motivational focus. In the present study, the results of three experiments indicate that using visual art with a promotion or prevention fit message is recommended, while non-art images increase message persuasiveness when non-fit messages are presented. Therefore, not all information compatible with the consumer’s motivational focus are best evaluated. When non-art images are presented, non-fit messages might be more persuasive.

Assessing the impact of different persuasive messages on the intentions and behaviour of cat owners: A randomised control trial.

Science.gov (United States)

McLeod, Lynette J; Hine, Donald W; Bengsen, Andrew J; Driver, Aaron B

2017-10-01

Owners of free-ranging domestic cats (Felis catus) are under increasing pressure to keep their pet contained within their house or yard, in an effort to reduce adverse impacts on cat welfare, ecosystem biodiversity and neighbourhoods. We conducted a randomised online experiment to assess the effectiveness of two persuasive messages to encourage cat owners to contain their pets. A total of 512 Australian cat owners, who currently do not contain their cats, were randomly assigned to view one of three short video messages: one framed to highlight the negative impact of cats' on wildlife and biodiversity ('wildlife protection' frame), one framed to highlight the health and safety benefits of keeping cats contained ('cat benefit' frame), and a control message focused on general information about cats ('neutral' frame). We assessed the impact of these video messages on two post-treatment outcome variables: (1) the intention of owners to contain their cat; and (2) the adoption of containment practices, based on a 4-week follow-up survey. Mediation analysis revealed both the 'wildlife protection' and 'cat benefit' messages increased owners' motivation to contain their cat and their beliefs that they could effectively contain their cat to achieve the desired outcomes (response efficacy). In turn, higher levels of motivation and response efficacy predicted increased cat containment intentions and increased adoption of cat containment. In addition, the response efficacy effects of the 'cat benefit' message were strengthened by the cat owner's bond to their pet, suggesting audience segmentation may improve the effectiveness of interventions. Implications for future intervention development are discussed. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Understanding the effectiveness of the entertainment-education strategy: an investigation of how audience involvement, message processing, and message design influence health information recall.

Science.gov (United States)

Quintero Johnson, Jessie M; Harrison, Kristen; Quick, Brian L

2013-01-01

A growing body of evidence suggests that entertainment-education (EE) is a promising health communication strategy. The purpose of this study was to identify some of the factors that facilitate and hinder audience involvement with EE messages. Using confirmatory factor analysis, the authors introduce a construct they call experiential involvement, which describes the experience of being cognitively and emotionally involved with EE messages and is a product of transportation into an EE text and identification with EE characters. Using an experimental design, the authors also investigated how reports of experiential involvement and health information recall varied depending on the degree to which the educational content was well integrated with the narrative content in EE messages. Findings indicated that integration significantly influenced health information recall. Results indicated that experiential involvement and the perception that the health topic in EE messages was personally relevant predicted participants' systematic processing of the information in EE messages. Contrary to expectation, personal relevance did not predict experiential involvement, and systematic message processing was negatively related to health information recall. Implications for the construction of EE messages and the study of the EE strategy are discussed.

Message strategies in direct-to-consumer pharmaceutical advertising: a content analysis using Taylor's six-segment message strategy wheel.

Science.gov (United States)

Tsai, Wan-Hsiu Sunny; Lancaster, Alyse R

2012-01-01

This exploratory study applies Taylor's (1999) six-segment message strategy wheel to direct-to-consumer (DTC) pharmaceutical television commercials to understand message strategies adopted by pharmaceutical advertisers to persuade consumers. A convenience sample of 96 DTC commercial campaigns was analyzed. The results suggest that most DTC drug ads used a combination approach, providing consumers with medical and drug information while simultaneously appealing to the viewer's ego-related needs and desires. In contrast to ration and ego strategies, other approaches including routine, acute need, and social are relatively uncommon while sensory was the least common message strategy. Findings thus recognized the educational value of DTC commercials.

Suspecting Neurological Dysfunction From E Mail Messages ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

A non medical person suspected and confirmed neurological dysfunction in an individual, based only on e mail messages sent by the individual. With email communication becoming rampant “peculiar” email messages may raise the suspicion of neurological dysfunction. Organic pathology explaining the abnormal email ...

Tendency to Message Delivery in Internet Viral Marketing

OpenAIRE

Mostafa Ghazizadeh; Ahmad Sardari; Seyyed Reza Shojaee; Mehdi Samizadeh

2011-01-01

Abstract The main goal of this research is to review and determine the factors associated with tendency to forward the marketing messages in viral marketing plans of Fast-food industries. In other words, in this study, the effects of three critical determinants, i.e. commercial intention, attractiveness, and media richness have been examined on receivers' intention to forward marketing message in Tehran, Isfahan and Shiraz. Findings imply that receivers’ attitude toward the message has pos...

Teaching Students the Persuasive Message through Small Group Activity

Science.gov (United States)

Creelman, Valerie

2008-01-01

Teaching students to write persuasive messages is a critical feature of any undergraduate business communications course. For the persuasive writing module in the author's course, students write a persuasive message on the basis of the four-part indirect pattern often used for sales or fund-raising messages. The course text she uses identifies…

Message Correlation Analysis Tool for NOvA

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lu Qiming; Biery, Kurt A; Kowalkowski, James B

2012-01-01

A complex running system, such as the NOvA online data acquisition, consists of a large number of distributed but closely interacting components. This paper describes a generic real-time correlation analysis and event identification engine, named Message Analyzer. Its purpose is to capture run time abnormalities and recognize system failures based on log messages from participating components. The initial design of analysis engine is driven by the data acquisition (DAQ) of the NOvA experiment. The Message Analyzer performs filtering and pattern recognition on the log messages and reacts to system failures identified by associated triggering rules. The tool helps the system maintain a healthy running state and to minimize data corruption. This paper also describes a domain specific language that allows the recognition patterns and correlation rules to be specified in a clear and flexible way. In addition, the engine provides a plugin mechanism for users to implement specialized patterns or rules in generic languages such as C++.

Message Correlation Analysis Tool for NOvA

CERN Multimedia

CERN. Geneva

2012-01-01

A complex running system, such as the NOvA online data acquisition, consists of a large number of distributed but closely interacting components. This paper describes a generic realtime correlation analysis and event identification engine, named Message Analyzer. Its purpose is to capture run time abnormalities and recognize system failures based on log messages from participating components. The initial design of analysis engine is driven by the DAQ of the NOvA experiment. The Message Analyzer performs filtering and pattern recognition on the log messages and reacts to system failures identified by associated triggering rules. The tool helps the system maintain a healthy running state and to minimize data corruption. This paper also describes a domain specific language that allows the recognition patterns and correlation rules to be specified in a clear and flexible way. In addition, the engine provides a plugin mechanism for users to implement specialized patterns or rules in generic languages such as C++.

Message correlation analysis tool for NOvA

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lu, Qiming [Fermilab; Biery, Kurt A. [Fermilab; Kowalkowski, James B. [Fermilab

2012-01-01

A complex running system, such as the NOvA online data acquisition, consists of a large number of distributed but closely interacting components. This paper describes a generic real-time correlation analysis and event identification engine, named Message Analyzer. Its purpose is to capture run time abnormalities and recognize system failures based on log messages from participating components. The initial design of analysis engine is driven by the data acquisition (DAQ) of the NOvA experiment. The Message Analyzer performs filtering and pattern recognition on the log messages and reacts to system failures identified by associated triggering rules. The tool helps the system maintain a healthy running state and to minimize data corruption. This paper also describes a domain specific language that allows the recognition patterns and correlation rules to be specified in a clear and flexible way. In addition, the engine provides a plugin mechanism for users to implement specialized patterns or rules in generic languages such as C++.

A one-mode-for-all predictor for text messaging

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vimala Balakrishnan

2011-08-01

Full Text Available This paper discusses the enhancements made on the current mobile phone messaging software, namely the predictive text entry. In addition, the application also has a facility to abbreviate any unabbreviated words that exist in the dictionary, so that the message length can be reduced. The application was tested in a computer-simulated mobile environment and the results of the tests are presented here. These additional features will potentially enable users to send messages at a reduced length and thus reduce the cost of sending messages. Moreover, users who are not adept in using the abbreviations can now do so with features made available on their mobile phones. It is believed that these additional features will also encourage more users to use the predictive software as well as further improve users’ messaging satisfaction.

Asynchronous Message Service Reference Implementation

Science.gov (United States)

Burleigh, Scott C.

2011-01-01

This software provides a library of middleware functions with a simple application programming interface, enabling implementation of distributed applications in conformance with the CCSDS AMS (Consultative Committee for Space Data Systems Asynchronous Message Service) specification. The AMS service, and its protocols, implement an architectural concept under which the modules of mission systems may be designed as if they were to operate in isolation, each one producing and consuming mission information without explicit awareness of which other modules are currently operating. Communication relationships among such modules are self-configuring; this tends to minimize complexity in the development and operations of modular data systems. A system built on this model is a society of generally autonomous, inter-operating modules that may fluctuate freely over time in response to changing mission objectives, modules functional upgrades, and recovery from individual module failure. The purpose of AMS, then, is to reduce mission cost and risk by providing standard, reusable infrastructure for the exchange of information among data system modules in a manner that is simple to use, highly automated, flexible, robust, scalable, and efficient. The implementation is designed to spawn multiple threads of AMS functionality under the control of an AMS application program. These threads enable all members of an AMS-based, distributed application to discover one another in real time, subscribe to messages on specific topics, and to publish messages on specific topics. The query/reply (client/server) communication model is also supported. Message exchange is optionally subject to encryption (to support confidentiality) and authorization. Fault tolerance measures in the discovery protocol minimize the likelihood of overall application failure due to any single operational error anywhere in the system. The multi-threaded design simplifies processing while enabling application nodes to

Exploring the use of text and instant messaging in higher education classrooms

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sharon Lauricella

2013-09-01

Full Text Available This article examined how higher education students used text and instant messaging for academic purposes with their peers and faculty. Specifically, comfort level, frequency of use, usefulness, reasons for messaging and differences between peer-to-peer and peer-to-instructor interactions were examined. Students noted that they were very comfortable with using both text and instant messaging. Text messaging was used weekly with instructors and daily with peers. Instant messaging was used rarely with instructors but weekly with peers. Students rated text messaging as very useful and instant messaging as moderately useful for academic purposes. Key reasons cited for using both text and instant messaging included saving time, resolving administrative issues, convenience and ease of use. Text messaging appears to be the preferred mode of communication for students with respect to communicating with both peers and instructors. It is concluded that both text and instant messaging are useful and viable tools for augmenting student's communication among peers and faculty in higher education.

Persuasiveness of Anti-Smoking Messages: Self-Construal and Message Focus

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Bo; Nan, Xiaoli; Zhao, Xinyan

2017-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of independent vs interdependent self-construal in non-smokers' responses to an anti-smoking message that focuses on either personal or relational consequences of smoking. Design/methodology/approach: Two web-based experimental studies were conducted among US college non-smokers. In the…

The BlackBerry Project: Capturing the Content of Adolescents’ Text Messaging

Science.gov (United States)

Underwood, Marion K.; Rosen, Lisa H.; More, David; Ehrenreich, Sam; Gentsch, Joanna K.

2011-01-01

This brief report presents an innovative method for capturing the content of adolescents’ electronic communication on handheld devices: text messaging, email, and Instant Messaging. In an ongoing longitudinal study, adolescents were provided with BlackBerry devices with service plans paid by the investigators, and use of text messaging was examined when participants were 15 years old and in the 10th grade (N=175, 81 girls). BlackBerries are configured so that the content of all text messages, email messages, and Instant Messages is saved to a secure server and organized in a highly secure, searchable, online archive. This paper describes the technology used to devise this method and ethical considerations. Evidence for validity is presented, including information on use of text messaging to show that participants used these devices heavily and frequencies of profane and sexual language in a two-day sample of text messaging to demonstrate that they were communicating openly. PMID:22004337

Text messages as a learning tool for midwives | Woods | South ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The use of cell phone text messaging to improve access to continuing ... with 50 of the message recipients, demonstrated that the text messages were well received by ... services, such as the management of HIV-infected children and adults.

Antenatal health promotion via short message service at a Midwife Obstetrics Unit in South Africa: a mixed methods study

OpenAIRE

Lau, Yan Kwan; Cassidy, Tali; Hacking, Damian; Brittain, Kirsty; Haricharan, Hanne Jensen; Heap, Marion

2014-01-01

Background Adequate antenatal care is important to both the health of a pregnant woman and her unborn baby. Given South Africa’s high rate of cellphone penetration, mobile health interventions have been touted as a potentially powerful means to disseminate health information. This study aimed to increase antenatal health knowledge and awareness by disseminating text messages about clinic procedures at antenatal visits, and how to be healthy during pregnancy. Methods Participants recruited wer...

Undergraduates' Text Messaging Language and Literacy Skills

Science.gov (United States)

Grace, Abbie; Kemp, Nenagh; Martin, Frances Heritage; Parrila, Rauno

2014-01-01

Research investigating whether people's literacy skill is being affected by the use of text messaging language has produced largely positive results for children, but mixed results for adults. We asked 150 undergraduate university students in Western Canada and 86 in South Eastern Australia to supply naturalistic text messages and to complete…

Expectancy Theory in Media and Message Selection.

Science.gov (United States)

Van Leuven, Jim

1981-01-01

Argues for reversing emphasis on uses and gratifications research in favor of an expectancy model which holds that selection of a particular medium depends on (1) the expectation that the choice will be followed by a message of interest and (2) the importance of that message in satisfying user's values. (PD)

The prototype message broadcast system for the Superconducting Super Collider

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Low, K.; Skegg, R.

1990-11-01

A prototype unified message broadcast system to handle the site-wide distribution of all control system messages for the Superconducting Super Collider is presented. The messages are assembled in the control room area and encapsulated for transmission via a general fiber-optic link system to devices distributed throughout 70 miles of tunnels. An embedded timing signal is used by the distribution system to ensure that messages arrive at all devices simultaneously. Devices receive messages using a special receiver sub-system. A simple version of this system is to be used in the Accelerator Systems String Test (ASST) at the SSC site in 1991. 3 refs., 6 figs., 1 tab

Modelling of a LWR open fuel cycle using the message

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Estanislau, Fidéllis B.G.L. e; Jonusan, Raoni A.S.; Costa, Antonella L.; Pereira, Claubia, E-mail: fidellis01@hotmail.com, E-mail: rjonusan@gmail.com, E-mail: antonella@nuclear.ufmg.br, E-mail: claubia@nuclear.ufmg.br [Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (UFMG), Belo Horizonte, MG (Brazil). Departamento de Engenharia Nuclear

2017-07-01

The main goal of the national energy planning is the development of a short and long-term strategies based on a holistic evaluation of all available energy sources guiding trends and delimiting expansion alternatives in the energetic sector. For a better understanding of the future possibilities, energy systems analyses are indispensable and support in the decision making related to the long term strategy and energy planning. Due to the projections for increased energy consumption according to the Energy Decennial Plan (year 2015) and the need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions presented by Brazil in the UNFCCC (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change), alternative energy sources such as solar, wind, nuclear and biomass sources have played an important role in the world energy matrix. In this way, since the nuclear energy is an option for the national energy mix, the present work aims to use the modelling tool MESSAGE (Model for Energy Supply System Alternatives and Their General Environmental Impact) to analyze and evaluate a nuclear power plant in an energy system. This tool is an optimization model for medium and long-term energy planning taking into account conversion and distribution technologies, energy policies and scenarios to satisfy a determined demand and systems constraints. In this work, a reproduction of results considering an LWR (Light Water Reactor) open-cycle are presented using a model in the MESSAGE code. (author)

A Novel Message Scheduling Framework for Delay Tolerant Networks Routing

KAUST Repository

Elwhishi, Ahmed; Ho, Pin-Han; Naik, K.; Shihada, Basem

2013-01-01

new message scheduling framework for epidemic and two-hop forwarding routing in DTNs, such that the forwarding/dropping decision can be made at a node during each contact for either optimal message delivery ratio or message delivery delay. Extensive

Calcium, Vitamin D, Iron, and Folate Messages in Three Canadian Magazines.

Science.gov (United States)

Cooper, Marcia; Zalot, Lindsay; Wadsworth, Laurie A

2014-12-01

Data from the Canadian Community Health Survey showed that calcium, vitamin D, iron, and folate are nutrients of concern for females 19-50 years of age. The study objectives were to assess the quantity, format, and accuracy of messages related to these nutrients in selected Canadian magazines and to examine their congruency with Canadian nutrition policies. Using content analysis methodology, messages were coded using a stratified sample of a constructed year for Canadian Living, Chatelaine, and Homemakers magazines (n = 33) from 2003-2008. Pilot research was conducted to assess inter-coder agreement and to develop the study coding sheet and codebook. The messages identified (n = 595) averaged 18 messages per magazine issue. The most messages were found for calcium, followed by folate, iron, and vitamin D, and the messages were found primarily in articles (46%) and advertisements (37%). Overall, most messages were coded as accurate (82%) and congruent with Canadian nutrition policies (90%). This research demonstrated that the majority of messages in 3 Canadian magazines between 2003 and 2008 were accurate and reflected Canadian nutrition policies. Because Canadian women continue to receive much nutrition information via print media, this research provides important insights for dietitians into media messaging.

MMS: An electronic message management system for emergency response

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Andersen, H.B.; Garde, H.; Andersen, V.

1998-01-01

among messages can be viewed in a graphic tree-like display. By employing the extensive filtration facilities offered by the MMS. users are able to monitor the current status of messages. And, in general, filtration provides users with means of surveying a possibly large number of responses to messages...... contingency plan and procedures to be applied during predefined stages of an emergency....

Instant Messaging in Dental Education.

Science.gov (United States)

Khatoon, Binish; Hill, Kirsty B; Walmsley, A Damien

2015-12-01

Instant messaging (IM) is when users communicate instantly via their mobile devices, and it has become one of the most preferred choices of tools to communicate amongst health professions students. The aim of this study was to understand how dental students communicate via IM, faculty members' perspectives on using IM to communicate with students, and whether such tools are useful in the learning environment. After free-associating themes on online communication, two draft topic guides for structured interviews were designed that focussed on mobile device-related communication activities. A total of 20 students and six faculty members at the University of Birmingham School of Dentistry agreed to take part in the interviews. Students were selected from years 1-5 representing each year group. The most preferred communication tools were emails, social networking, and IM. Emails were used for more formal messages, and IM and social networking sites were used for shorter messages. WhatsApp was the most used IM app because of its popular features such as being able to check if recipients have read and received messages and group work. The students reported that changes were necessary to improve their communication with faculty members. The faculty members reported having mixed feelings toward the use of IM to communicate with students. The students wished to make such tools a permanent part of their learning environment, but only with the approval of faculty members. The faculty members were willing to accept IM as a communication tool only if it is monitored and maintained by the university and has a positive effect on learning.

My Quest, an Intervention Using Text Messaging to Improve Dietary and Physical Activity Behaviors and Promote Weight Loss in Low-Income Women.

Science.gov (United States)

Griffin, Jamie B; Struempler, Barb; Funderburk, Katie; Parmer, Sondra M; Tran, Cecilia; Wadsworth, Danielle D

2018-01-01

To evaluate changes in dietary and physical activity behaviors and weight after implementation of a 12-week text messaging initiative (My Quest). The researchers conducted a 1-group, pre- to posttest study design to determine changes after implementation of a text messaging initiative developed using the tenets of the Social Cognitive Theory. A total of 55 Alabama counties (84% rural) with high rates of poverty, overweight/obesity, and chronic diseases. Convenience sample of low-income, primarily overweight/obese women (n = 104). Short texts (n = 2-3/d) provided health tips, reminders, and goal-setting prompts. Weekly electronic newsletters provided tips and recipes. Participant self-monitored body weight weekly. Outcomes included goal setting, self-efficacy, behavioral and environmental factors, self-monitoring, and body weight; data collection occurred through text message response and online surveys. Analyses were conducted using McNemar test (dichotomous data), Wilcoxon signed rank test (ordinal data), or paired t test (continuous data). Participants significantly (P text messaging initiative particularly targeting women residing in rural communities with high rates of poverty and obesity can promote weight loss and improve dietary and physical activity behaviors. Future studies may include a control group and social support component such as group text messaging. Copyright © 2017 Society for Nutrition Education and Behavior. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Partisan Responses to Public Health Messages: Motivated Reasoning and Sugary Drink Taxes.

Science.gov (United States)

Gollust, Sarah E; Barry, Colleen L; Niederdeppe, Jeff

2017-12-01

This study examines the public's motivated reasoning of competitive messages about sugary drink taxes, a public health policy approach attempted with some recent success in the United States. In an experiment embedded in a nationally representative survey fielded in the fall of 2012, we randomized participants ( N  = 5,147) to receive one of four messages: control, a strong protax message, a two-sided message, or a message refuting arguments made in soda company antitax messages. The protax message showed no effects on tax support, while the two-sided message depressed Republicans' support. The refutation message boosted independents' support but produced backlash among Republicans. This motivated response was pronounced among Republicans who were plausibly previously exposed to the sugary drink tax debate. These findings reinforce the communication challenges in an increasingly politicized US health policy discourse. Copyright © 2017 by Duke University Press.

Reactions to framing of cessation messages: insights from dual-smoker couples.

Science.gov (United States)

Lipkus, Isaac M; Ranby, Krista W; Lewis, Megan A; Toll, Benjamin

2013-12-01

Couples in which both members smoke (dual-smoker couples) have not been the explicit target of cessation interventions. Quit rates are lower and relapse rates are higher among individuals in dual-smoker couples. A potentially effective strategy to motivate dual-smoker couples to quit is to convey messages that highlight how the positive outcomes of quitting (gain frame) or the negative outcomes of continued smoking (loss frame) affect the couple rather than the individual smoker. We explored whether dual-smoker couples' smoking behaviors (e.g., amount smoked) and desire to quit would differ as a function of message frame (gain vs. loss) or outcome focus (individual vs. couple). Dual-smoker couples (N = 40) completed a baseline survey and were then randomized to review gain- or loss-framed messages that varied whether the outcomes influenced the individual or the couple. Main outcomes were desire to quit after reading messages and smoking behaviors at a 1-month follow-up. Couple-focused messages produced the strongest desire to quit and decreased amount of cigarettes smoked at follow-up. The latter effect was mediated by desire to quit. Loss-framed messages produced inconsistent effects on desire to quit. There were no significant interactions between outcome focus and message framing. Findings suggest that messages emphasizing how smoking affects both partners can motivate cessation among dual-smoker couples. Contrary to findings showing that gain-framed messages motivate cessation targeting individual smokers, results suggest that loss-framed messages may be more persuasive than gain-framed messages when the target of the outcome involves significant others.

The Effectiveness of Campaign Messages on Turnout and Vote Choice

OpenAIRE

Friedel, Sylvia

2013-01-01

In this dissertation, I study campaign effects on turnout and vote choice. I analyze different campaign messages and the way they affect voters across various situations. First, through an online survey experiment, I study the impact of campaign messages and ideological cues on voters as they make inferences on candidates. Next, through a field experiment, I test whether microtargeted messages or general messages on the economy have any effect on turnout. Lastly, using online survey data, I e...

Secure message authentication system for node to node network

Science.gov (United States)

Sindhu, R.; Vanitha, M. M.; Norman, J.

2017-10-01

The Message verification remains some of the best actual methods for prevent the illegal and dis honored communication after presence progressed to WSNs (Wireless Sensor Networks). Intend for this purpose, several message verification systems must stand established, created on both symmetric key cryptography otherwise public key cryptosystems. Best of them will have some limits for great computational then statement above in count of deficiency of climb ability then flexibility in node settlement occurrence. In a polynomial based system was newly presented for these problems. Though, this system then situations delay will must the dimness of integral limitation firm in the point of polynomial: once the amount of message transferred remains the greater than the limitation then the opponent will completely improve the polynomial approaches. This paper suggests using ECC (Elliptic Curve Cryptography). Though using the node verification the technique in this paper permits some nodes to transfer a limitless amount of messages lacking misery in the limit problem. This system will have the message cause secrecy. Equally theoretic study then model effects show our planned system will be effective than the polynomial based method in positions of calculation then statement above in privacy points though message basis privacy.

Effectiveness of safety and public service announcement messages on dynamic message signs.

Science.gov (United States)

2014-07-01

The number of transportation agencies that use dynamic message signs (DMS) to provide traffic information to motorists has increased dramatically over the past four decades. This growing trend of DMS deployment is a reflection of the public interest ...

Framing Effects in Narrative and Non-Narrative Risk Messages.

Science.gov (United States)

Steinhardt, Joseph; Shapiro, Michael A

2015-08-01

Narrative messages are increasingly popular in health and risk campaigns, yet gain/loss framing effects have never been tested with such messages. Three experiments examined framing in narrative messages. Experiment 1 found that only the character's decision, not framing, influenced judgments about characters in a narrative derived from a prospect theory context. Experiment 2 found that a framing effect that occurred when presented in a decision format did not occur when the same situation was presented as a narrative. Using a different story/decision context, Experiment 3 found no significant difference in preference for surgery over radiation therapy in a narrative presentation compared to a non-narrative presentation. The results suggest that health and risk campaigns cannot assume that framing effects will be the same in narrative messages and non-narrative messages. Potential reasons for these differences and suggestions for future research are discussed. © 2015 Society for Risk Analysis.

Creating buzz: the neural correlates of effective message propagation.

Science.gov (United States)

Falk, Emily B; Morelli, Sylvia A; Welborn, B Locke; Dambacher, Karl; Lieberman, Matthew D

2013-07-01

Social interaction promotes the spread of values, attitudes, and behaviors. Here, we report on neural responses to ideas that are destined to spread. We scanned message communicators using functional MRI during their initial exposure to the to-be-communicated ideas. These message communicators then had the opportunity to spread the messages and their corresponding subjective evaluations to message recipients outside the scanner. Successful ideas were associated with neural responses in the communicators' mentalizing systems and reward systems when they first heard the messages, prior to spreading them. Similarly, individuals more able to spread their own views to others produced greater mentalizing-system activity during initial encoding. Unlike prior social-influence studies that focused on the individuals being influenced, this investigation focused on the brains of influencers. Successful social influence is reliably associated with an influencer-to-be's state of mind when first encoding ideas.

47 CFR 64.3100 - Restrictions on mobile service commercial messages.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... subscriber; (2) Include a functioning return electronic mail address or other Internet-based mechanism that... of mobile service commercial messages and/or commercial electronic mail messages, and that does not... electronic mail messages with a functioning option and clear and conspicuous instructions to reject further...

Collecting location-based voice messages on a TalkingBadge

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hansen, John Paulin; Glenstrup, Arne John; Wusheng, Wang

2012-01-01

and specific enough to distinguish between zones located just 20 meters apart. Finally, we played digitized voice messages to 11 participants walking into a zone. They received most of the messages well, but a majority of their comments were negative, expressing concerns for the potential infringement...... of privacy. We conclude that location specific audio messaging works from a technical perspective, but requires careful consideration of social comfort....

Short message service (SMS) as an educational tool during pregnancy : A literature review

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Lamont, Kim; Sliwa, Karen; Stewart, Simon; Carrington, Melinda; Pretorius, Sandra; Libhaber, Elena; Wiysonge, Charles S.; Adebayo, Esther F.; Klipstein-Grobusch, Kerstin

2016-01-01

Background: In many low- and middle-income countries, access to health information during pregnancy is poor. The rapid adoption of mobile phones in these countries has created new opportunities for disseminating such information. Objective: This paper reviews existing information on the use of short

Learning from Marketing: Rapid Development of Medication Messages that Engage Patients

Science.gov (United States)

Yank, Veronica; Tribett, Erika; Green, Lydia; Pettis, Jasmine

2015-01-01

Objective To adapt marketing approaches in a health services environment. Methods Researchers and advertising professionals partnered in developing advertising-style messages designed to activate patients pre-identified as having chronic kidney disease to ask providers about recommended medications. We assessed feasibility of the development process by evaluating partnership structure, costs, and timeframe. We tested messages with patients and providers using preliminary surveys to refine initial messages and subsequent focus groups to identify the most persuasive ones. Results The partnership achieved an efficient structure, $14,550 total costs, and 4-month timeframe. The advertising team developed 11 initial messages. The research team conducted surveys and focus groups with a total of 13 patients and 8 providers to identify three messages as most activating. Focus group themes suggested the general approach of using advertising-style messages was acceptable if it supported patient-provider relationships and had a credible evidence base. Individual messages were more motivating if they elicited personal identification with imagery, particular emotions, active patient role, and message clarity. Conclusion We demonstrated feasibility of a research-advertising partnership and acceptability and likely impact of advertising-style messages on patient medication-seeking behavior. Practice Implications Healthcare systems may want to replicate our adaptation of marketing approaches to patients with chronic conditions. PMID:25913245

Learning from marketing: Rapid development of medication messages that engage patients.

Science.gov (United States)

Yank, Veronica; Tribett, Erika; Green, Lydia; Pettis, Jasmine

2015-08-01

To adapt marketing approaches in a health services environment. Researchers and advertising professionals partnered in developing advertising-style messages designed to activate patients pre-identified as having chronic kidney disease to ask providers about recommended medications. We assessed feasibility of the development process by evaluating partnership structure, costs, and timeframe. We tested messages with patients and providers using preliminary surveys to refine initial messages and subsequent focus groups to identify the most persuasive ones. The partnership achieved an efficient structure, $14,550 total costs, and 4-month timeframe. The advertising team developed 11 initial messages. The research team conducted surveys and focus groups with a total of 13 patients and 8 providers to identify three messages as most activating. Focus group themes suggested the general approach of using advertising-style messages was acceptable if it supported patient-provider relationships and had a credible evidence base. Individual messages were more motivating if they elicited personal identification with imagery, particular emotions, active patient role, and message clarity. We demonstrated feasibility of a research-advertising partnership and acceptability and likely impact of advertising-style messages on patient medication-seeking behavior. Healthcare systems may want to replicate our adaptation of marketing approaches to patients with chronic conditions. Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd.

Multi-level scaling properties of instant-message communications

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Guanxiong; Han, Xiaopu; Wang, Binghong

2010-08-01

To research the statistical properties of human's communication behaviors is one of the highlight areas of Human Dynamics. In this paper, we analyze the instant message data of QICQ from volunteers, and discover that there are many forms of non-Poisson characters, such as inter-event distributions of sending and receiving messages, communications between two friends, log-in activities, the distribution of online time, quantities of messages, and so on. These distributions not only denote the pattern of human communication activities, but also relate to the statistical property of human behaviors in using software. We find out that most of these exponents distribute between -1 and -2, which indicates that the Instant Message (IM) communication behavior of human is different from Non-IM communication behaviors; there are many fat-tail characters related to IM communication behavior.

Sequencing the threat and recommendation components of persuasive messages differentially improves the effectiveness of high- and low-distressing imagery in an anti-alcohol message in students.

Science.gov (United States)

Brown, Stephen L; West, Charlotte

2015-05-01

Distressing imagery is often used to improve the persuasiveness of mass-reach health promotion messages, but its effectiveness may be limited because audiences avoid attending to content. Prior self-affirmation or self-efficacy inductions have been shown to reduce avoidance and improve audience responsiveness to distressing messages, but these are difficult to introduce into a mass-reach context. Reasoning that a behavioural recommendation may have a similar effect, we reversed the traditional threat-behavioural recommendation health promotion message sequence. 2 × 2 experimental design: Factor 1, high- and low-distress images; Factor 2, threat-recommendation and recommendation-threat sequences. Ninety-one students were exposed to an identical text message accompanied by high- or low-distress imagery presented in threat-recommendation and recommendation-threat sequences. For the high-distress message, greater persuasion was observed for the recommendation-threat than the threat-recommendation sequence. This was partially mediated by participants' greater self-exposure to the threat component of the message, which we attribute to the effect of sequence in reducing attentional avoidance. For the low-distress message, greater persuasion was observed for the threat-recommendation sequence, which was not mediated by reading time allocated to the threat. Tailoring message sequence to suit the degree of distress that message developers wish to induce provides a tool that could improve persuasive messages. These findings provide a first step in this process and discuss further steps needed to consolidate and expand these findings. Statement of contribution What is already known on this subject? Health promotion messages accompanied by distressing imagery might, under some circumstances, persuade individuals to engage in healthier behaviour. Audiences can respond defensively to distressing imagery, but may be less inclined to do so when an easily followed behavioural

3. Secure Messaging

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

Home; Journals; Resonance – Journal of Science Education; Volume 6; Issue 1. Electronic Commerce - Secure Messaging. V Rajaraman. Series Article Volume 6 Issue 1 January 2001 pp 8-17. Fulltext. Click here to view fulltext PDF. Permanent link: https://www.ias.ac.in/article/fulltext/reso/006/01/0008-0017 ...

Should We Ban Instant Messaging In School?

Science.gov (United States)

Texley, Sharon; DeGennaro, Donna

2005-01-01

This article is a brief debate on the pros and cons of allowing students to use instant messaging (IM) in school. On one hand, teenagers' desire to socialize can overcome other priorities and schools may set policies to ban instant messaging. The contrary view is that schools should embrace the IM technology being popularized by youth and find…

Mobile phone messaging for facilitating self-management of long-term illnesses.

Science.gov (United States)

de Jongh, Thyra; Gurol-Urganci, Ipek; Vodopivec-Jamsek, Vlasta; Car, Josip; Atun, Rifat

2012-12-12

Long-term illnesses affect a significant proportion of the population in developed and developing countries. Mobile phone messaging applications, such as Short Message Service (SMS) and Multimedia Message Service (MMS), may present convenient, cost-effective ways of supporting self-management and improving patients' self-efficacy skills through, for instance, medication reminders, therapy adjustments or supportive messages. To assess the effects of mobile phone messaging applications designed to facilitate self-management of long-term illnesses, in terms of impact on health outcomes and patients' capacity to self-manage their condition. Secondary objectives include assessment of: user evaluation of the intervention; health service utilisation and costs; and possible risks and harms associated with the intervention. We searched the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL,The Cochrane Library 2009, Issue 2), MEDLINE (OvidSP) (January 1993 to June 2009), EMBASE (OvidSP) (January 1993 to June 2009), PsycINFO (OvidSP) (January 1993 to June 2009), CINAHL (EbscoHOST) (January 1993 to June 2009), LILACS (January 1993 to June 2009) and African Health Anthology (January 1993 to June 2009).We also reviewed grey literature (including trial registers) and reference lists of articles. We included randomised controlled trials (RCTs), quasi-randomised controlled trials (QRCTs), controlled before-after (CBA) studies, or interrupted time series (ITS) studies with at least three time points before and after the intervention. We selected only studies where it was possible to assess the effects of mobile phone messaging independent of other technologies or interventions. Two review authors independently assessed all studies against the inclusion criteria, with any disagreements resolved by a third review author. Study design features, characteristics of target populations, interventions and controls, and results data were extracted by two review authors and confirmed by

Fighting obesity or obese persons? Public perceptions of obesity-related health messages.

Science.gov (United States)

Puhl, R; Peterson, J L; Luedicke, J

2013-06-01

This study examined public perceptions of obesity-related public health media campaigns with specific emphasis on the extent to which campaign messages are perceived to be motivating or stigmatizing. In summer 2011, data were collected online from a nationally representative sample of 1014 adults. Participants viewed a random selection of 10 (from a total of 30) messages from major obesity public health campaigns from the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia, and rated each campaign message according to positive and negative descriptors, including whether it was stigmatizing or motivating. Participants also reported their familiarity with each message and their intentions to comply with the message content. Participants responded most favorably to messages involving themes of increased fruit and vegetable consumption, and general messages involving multiple health behaviors. Messages that have been publicly criticized for their stigmatizing content received the most negative ratings and the lowest intentions to comply with message content. Furthermore, messages that were perceived to be most positive and motivating made no mention of the word 'obesity' at all, and instead focused on making healthy behavioral changes without reference to body weight. These findings have important implications for framing messages in public health campaigns to address obesity, and suggest that certain types of messages may lead to increased motivation for behavior change among the public, whereas others may be perceived as stigmatizing and instill less motivation to improve health.

Use of an android phone application for automated text messages in international settings: A case study in an HIV clinical trial in St. Petersburg, Russia.

Science.gov (United States)

Forman, Leah S; Patts, Gregory J; Coleman, Sharon M; Blokhina, Elena; Lu, John; Yaroslavtseva, Tatiana; Gnatienko, Natalia; Krupitsky, Evgeny; Samet, Jeffrey H; Chaisson, Christine E

2018-02-01

Reproducible outcomes in clinical trials depend on adherence to study protocol. Short message service (also known as text message) reminders have been shown to improve clinical trial adherence in the United States and elsewhere. However, due to systematic differences in mobile data plans, languages, and technology, these systems are not easily translated to international settings. To gauge technical capabilities for international projects, we developed SMSMessenger, an automated Android application that uses a US server to send medication reminders to participants in a clinical trial in St. Petersburg, Russia (Zinc for HIV disease among alcohol users-a randomized controlled trial in the Russia Alcohol Research Collaboration on HIV/AIDS cohort). The application is downloaded once onto an Android study phone. When it is time for the text message reminders to be sent, study personnel access the application on a local phone, which in turn accesses the existing clinical trial database hosted on a US web server. The application retrieves a list of participants with the following information: phone number, whether a message should be received at that time, and the appropriate text of the message. The application is capable of storing multiple outgoing messages. With a few clicks, text messages are sent to study participants who can reply directly to the message. Study staff can check the local phone for incoming messages. The SMSMessenger application uses an existing clinical trial database and is able to receive real-time updates. All communications between the application and server are encrypted, and phone numbers are stored in a secure database behind a firewall. No sensitive data are stored on the phone, as outgoing messages are sent through the application and not by messaging features on the phone itself. Messages are sent simultaneously to study participants, which reduces the burden on local study staff. Costs and setup are minimal. The only local requirements

Secure Media Independent Handover Message Transport in Heterogeneous Networks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cho Choong-Ho

2009-01-01

Full Text Available The IEEE 802.21 framework for Media Independent Handover (MIH provides seamless vertical handover support for multimode mobile terminals. MIH messages are exchanged over various wireless media between mobile terminals and access networks to facilitate seamless handover. This calls for the need to secure MIH messages against network security threats in the wireless medium. In this paper, we first analyze IPSec/IKEv2 and DTLS security solution for secure MIH message transport. We show that handover latency can be an impediment to the use of IPSec and DTLS solutions. To overcome the handover overhead and hence minimize authentication time, a new secure MIH message transport solution, referred as MIHSec in this paper, is proposed. Experimental results are obtained for MIH between WLAN and Ethernet networks and the impacts of MIH message security on the handover latency are evaluated for IPSec, DTLS, and MIHSec security solutions. The effectiveness of MIHSec is demonstrated.

Statistics of Epidemics in Networks by Passing Messages

Science.gov (United States)

Shrestha, Munik Kumar

Epidemic processes are common out-of-equilibrium phenomena of broad interdisciplinary interest. In this thesis, we show how message-passing approach can be a helpful tool for simulating epidemic models in disordered medium like networks, and in particular for estimating the probability that a given node will become infectious at a particular time. The sort of dynamics we consider are stochastic, where randomness can arise from the stochastic events or from the randomness of network structures. As in belief propagation, variables or messages in message-passing approach are defined on the directed edges of a network. However, unlike belief propagation, where the posterior distributions are updated according to Bayes' rule, in message-passing approach we write differential equations for the messages over time. It takes correlations between neighboring nodes into account while preventing causal signals from backtracking to their immediate source, and thus avoids "echo chamber effects" where a pair of adjacent nodes each amplify the probability that the other is infectious. In our first results, we develop a message-passing approach to threshold models of behavior popular in sociology. These are models, first proposed by Granovetter, where individuals have to hear about a trend or behavior from some number of neighbors before adopting it themselves. In thermodynamic limit of large random networks, we provide an exact analytic scheme while calculating the time dependence of the probabilities and thus learning about the whole dynamics of bootstrap percolation, which is a simple model known in statistical physics for exhibiting discontinuous phase transition. As an application, we apply a similar model to financial networks, studying when bankruptcies spread due to the sudden devaluation of shared assets in overlapping portfolios. We predict that although diversification may be good for individual institutions, it can create dangerous systemic effects, and as a result

I spy with my little eye: cognitive processing of framed physical activity messages.

Science.gov (United States)

Bassett-Gunter, Rebecca L; Latimer-Cheung, Amy E; Martin Ginis, Kathleen A; Castelhano, Monica

2014-01-01

The primary purpose was to examine the relative cognitive processing of gain-framed versus loss-framed physical activity messages following exposure to health risk information. Guided by the Extended Parallel Process Model, the secondary purpose was to examine the relation between dwell time, message recall, and message-relevant thoughts, as well as perceived risk, personal relevance, and fear arousal. Baseline measures of perceived risk for inactivity-related disease and health problems were administered to 77 undergraduate students. Participants read population-specific health risk information while wearing a head-mounted eye tracker, which measured dwell time on message content. Perceived risk was then reassessed. Next, participants read PA messages while the eye tracker measured dwell time on message content. Immediately following message exposure, recall, thought-listing, fear arousal, and personal relevance were measured. Dwell time on gain-framed messages was significantly greater than loss-framed messages. However, message recall and thought-listing did not differ by message frame. Dwell time was not significantly related to recall or thought-listing. Consistent with the Extended Parallel Process Model, fear arousal was significantly related to recall, thought-listing, and personal relevance. In conclusion, gain-framed messages may evoke greater dwell time than loss-famed messages. However, dwell time alone may be insufficient for evoking further cognitive processing.

Microprocessorized message multiplexer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ejzman, S.; Guglielmi, L.; Jaeger, J.J.

1980-07-01

The 'Microprocessorized Message Multiplexer' is an elementary development tool used to create and debug the software of a target microprocessor (User Module: UM). It connects together four devices: a terminal, a cassette recorder, the target microprocessor and a host computer where macro and editor for the M 6800 microprocessor are resident [fr

Effects of media messages on parent-child sexual communication.

Science.gov (United States)

Evans, W Douglas; Davis, Kevin C; Silber Ashley, Olivia; Khan, Munziba

2012-01-01

Parent-child communication about sex is an important reproductive health outcome. Consistent, positive perceptions of communication by parents and children can promote behavioral outcomes such as delaying sexual debut and increasing contraceptive use. The authors investigated whether exposure to messages from the Parents Speak Up National Campaign (PSUNC), a social marketing campaign to promote increased parent-child sexual communication, led to increased children's self-reports of communication. Also, the authors examined whether PSUNC message exposure increased agreement about communication between parents and their children. In a randomized experimental design, the authors surveyed children of parents exposed and not exposed to PSUNC messages. Parents and children completed online instruments asking matched questions about sexual attitudes, beliefs, and communication. The authors matched 394 parents and children for analysis. They used ordinal logistic regression modeling and kappa statistics. Children of parents exposed to PSUNC messages were more likely to (a) report sexual communication than were those not exposed and (b) agree with their parents about extent and content. Parent-child pairs of the same gender, younger pairs, and non-White pairs were more likely to agree. Overall, PSUNC message exposure appears to have promoted more extensive sexual communication. Future research should examine behavioral mechanisms and message receptivity among subgroups of parents and children.