WorldWideScience

Sample records for health information infrastructure

  1. Building the national health information infrastructure for personal health, health care services, public health, and research

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Detmer Don E

    2003-01-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Improving health in our nation requires strengthening four major domains of the health care system: personal health management, health care delivery, public health, and health-related research. Many avoidable shortcomings in the health sector that result in poor quality are due to inaccessible data, information, and knowledge. A national health information infrastructure (NHII offers the connectivity and knowledge management essential to correct these shortcomings. Better health and a better health system are within our reach. Discussion A national health information infrastructure for the United States should address the needs of personal health management, health care delivery, public health, and research. It should also address relevant global dimensions (e.g., standards for sharing data and knowledge across national boundaries. The public and private sectors will need to collaborate to build a robust national health information infrastructure, essentially a 'paperless' health care system, for the United States. The federal government should assume leadership for assuring a national health information infrastructure as recommended by the National Committee on Vital and Health Statistics and the President's Information Technology Advisory Committee. Progress is needed in the areas of funding, incentives, standards, and continued refinement of a privacy (i.e., confidentiality and security framework to facilitate personal identification for health purposes. Particular attention should be paid to NHII leadership and change management challenges. Summary A national health information infrastructure is a necessary step for improved health in the U.S. It will require a concerted, collaborative effort by both public and private sectors. If you cannot measure it, you cannot improve it. Lord Kelvin

  2. Achievable Steps Toward Building a National Health Information Infrastructure in the United States

    OpenAIRE

    Stead, William W.; Kelly, Brian J.; Kolodner, Robert M.

    2005-01-01

    Consensus is growing that a health care information and communication infrastructure is one key to fixing the crisis in the United States in health care quality, cost, and access. The National Health Information Infrastructure (NHII) is an initiative of the Department of Health and Human Services receiving bipartisan support. There are many possible courses toward its objective. Decision makers need to reflect carefully on which approaches are likely to work on a large enough scale to have th...

  3. Hospital Adoption of Health Information Technology to Support Public Health Infrastructure.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Walker, Daniel M; Diana, Mark L

    2016-01-01

    Health information technology (IT) has the potential to improve the nation's public health infrastructure. In support of this belief, meaningful use incentives include criteria for hospitals to electronically report to immunization registries, as well as to public health agencies for reportable laboratory results and syndromic surveillance. Electronic reporting can facilitate faster and more appropriate public health response. However, it remains unclear the extent that hospitals have adopted IT for public health efforts. To examine hospital adoption of IT for public health and to compare hospitals capable of using and not using public health IT. Cross-sectional design with data from the 2012 American Hospital Association annual survey matched with data from the 2013 American Hospital Association Information Technology Supplement. Multivariate logistic regression was used to compare hospital characteristics. Inverse probability weights were applied to adjust for selection bias because of survey nonresponse. All acute care general hospitals in the United States that matched across the surveys and had complete data available were included in the analytic sample. Three separate outcome measures were used: whether the hospital could electronically report to immunization registries, whether the hospital could send electronic laboratory results, and whether the hospital can participate in syndromic surveillance. A total of 2841 hospitals met the inclusion criteria. Weighted results show that of these hospitals, 62.7% can electronically submit to immunization registries, 56.6% can electronically report laboratory results, and 54.4% can electronically report syndromic surveillance. Adjusted and weighted results from the multivariate analyses show that small, rural hospitals and hospitals without electronic health record systems lag in the adoption of public health IT capabilities. While a majority of hospitals are using public health IT, the infrastructure still has

  4. National health information infrastructure model: a milestone for health information management education realignment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Meidani, Zahra; Sadoughi, Farhnaz; Ahmadi, Maryam; Maleki, Mohammad Reza; Zohoor, Alireza; Saddik, Basema

    2012-01-01

    Challenges and drawbacks of the health information management (HIM) curriculum at the Master's degree were examined, including lack of well-established computing sciences and inadequacy to give rise to specific competencies. Information management was condensed to the hospital setting to intensify the indispensability of a well-organized educational campaign. The healthcare information dimensions of a national health information infrastructure (NHII) model present novel requirements for HIM education. Articles related to challenges and barriers to adoption of the personal health record (PHR), the core component of personal health dimension of an NHII, were searched through sources including Science Direct, ProQuest, and PubMed. Through a literature review, concerns about the PHR that are associated with HIM functions and responsibilities were extracted. In the community/public health dimension of the NHII the main components have been specified, and the targeted information was gathered through literature review, e-mail, and navigation of international and national organizations. Again, topics related to HIM were evoked. Using an information system (decision support system, artificial neural network, etc.) to support PHR media and content, patient education, patient-HIM communication skills, consumer health information, conducting a surveillance system in other areas of healthcare such as a risk factor surveillance system, occupational health, using an information system to analyze aggregated data including a geographic information system, data mining, online analytical processing, public health vocabulary and classification system, and emerging automated coding systems pose major knowledge gaps in HIM education. Combining all required skills and expertise to handle personal and public dimensions of healthcare information in a single curriculum is simply impractical. Role expansion and role extension for HIM professionals should be defined based on the essence of

  5. Healthcare information technology infrastructures in Turkey.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dogac, A; Yuksel, M; Ertürkmen, G L; Kabak, Y; Namli, T; Yıldız, M H; Ay, Y; Ceyhan, B; Hülür, U; Oztürk, H; Atbakan, E

    2014-05-22

    The objective of this paper is to describe some of the major healthcare information technology (IT) infrastructures in Turkey, namely, Sağlık-Net (Turkish for "Health-Net"), the Centralized Hospital Appointment System, the Basic Health Statistics Module, the Core Resources Management System, and the e-prescription system of the Social Security Institution. International collaboration projects that are integrated with Sağlık-Net are also briefly summarized. The authors provide a survey of the some of the major healthcare IT infrastructures in Turkey. Sağlık-Net has two main components: the National Health Information System (NHIS) and the Family Medicine Information System (FMIS). The NHIS is a nation-wide infrastructure for sharing patients' Electronic Health Records (EHRs). So far, EHRs of 78.9 million people have been created in the NHIS. Similarly, family medicine is operational in the whole country via FMIS. Centralized Hospital Appointment System enables the citizens to easily make appointments in healthcare providers. Basic Health Statistics Module is used for collecting information about the health status, risks and indicators across the country. Core Resources Management System speeds up the flow of information between the headquarters and Provincial Health Directorates. The e-prescription system is linked with Sağlık-Net and seamlessly integrated with the healthcare provider information systems. Finally, Turkey is involved in several international projects for experience sharing and disseminating national developments. With the introduction of the "Health Transformation Program" in 2003, a number of successful healthcare IT infrastructures have been developed in Turkey. Currently, work is going on to enhance and further improve their functionality.

  6. An open, component-based information infrastructure for integrated health information networks.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tsiknakis, Manolis; Katehakis, Dimitrios G; Orphanoudakis, Stelios C

    2002-12-18

    A fundamental requirement for achieving continuity of care is the seamless sharing of multimedia clinical information. Different technological approaches can be adopted for enabling the communication and sharing of health record segments. In the context of the emerging global information society, the creation of and access to the integrated electronic health record (I-EHR) of a citizen has been assigned high priority in many countries. This requirement is complementary to an overall requirement for the creation of a health information infrastructure (HII) to support the provision of a variety of health telematics and e-health services. In developing a regional or national HII, the components or building blocks that make up the overall information system ought to be defined and an appropriate component architecture specified. This paper discusses current international priorities and trends in developing the HII. It presents technological challenges and alternative approaches towards the creation of an I-EHR, being the aggregation of health data created during all interactions of an individual with the healthcare system. It also presents results from an ongoing Research and Development (R&D) effort towards the implementation of the HII in HYGEIAnet, the regional health information network of Crete, Greece, using a component-based software engineering approach. Critical design decisions and related trade-offs, involved in the process of component specification and development, are also discussed and the current state of development of an I-EHR service is presented. Finally, Human Computer Interaction (HCI) and security issues, which are important for the deployment and use of any I-EHR service, are considered.

  7. Achievable steps toward building a National Health Information infrastructure in the United States.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stead, William W; Kelly, Brian J; Kolodner, Robert M

    2005-01-01

    Consensus is growing that a health care information and communication infrastructure is one key to fixing the crisis in the United States in health care quality, cost, and access. The National Health Information Infrastructure (NHII) is an initiative of the Department of Health and Human Services receiving bipartisan support. There are many possible courses toward its objective. Decision makers need to reflect carefully on which approaches are likely to work on a large enough scale to have the intended beneficial national impacts and which are better left to smaller projects within the boundaries of health care organizations. This report provides a primer for use by informatics professionals as they explain aspects of that dividing line to policy makers and to health care leaders and front-line providers. It then identifies short-term, intermediate, and long-term steps that might be taken by the NHII initiative.

  8. Attending Unintended Transformations of Health Care Infrastructure

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Wentzer, Helle; Bygholm, Ann

    2007-01-01

    Introduction: Western health care is under pressure from growing demands on quality and efficiency. The development and implementation of information technology, IT is a key mean of health care authorities to improve on health care infrastructure. Theory and methods: Against a background of theor......Introduction: Western health care is under pressure from growing demands on quality and efficiency. The development and implementation of information technology, IT is a key mean of health care authorities to improve on health care infrastructure. Theory and methods: Against a background...

  9. Health Information Infrastructure for People with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (I/DD) Living in Supported Accommodation: Communication, Co-Ordination and Integration of Health Information.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dahm, Maria R; Georgiou, Andrew; Balandin, Susan; Hill, Sophie; Hemsley, Bronwyn

    2017-10-25

    People with intellectual and/or developmental disability (I/DD) commonly have complex health care needs, but little is known about how their health information is managed in supported accommodation, and across health services providers. This study aimed to describe the current health information infrastructure (i.e., how data and information are collected, stored, communicated, and used) for people with I/DD living in supported accommodation in Australia. It involved a scoping review and synthesis of research, policies, and health documents relevant in this setting. Iterative database and hand searches were conducted across peer-reviewed articles internationally in English and grey literature in Australia (New South Wales) up to September 2015. Data were extracted from the selected relevant literature and analyzed for content themes. Expert stakeholders were consulted to verify the authors' interpretations of the information and content categories. The included 286 sources (peer-reviewed n = 27; grey literature n = 259) reflect that the health information for people with I/DD in supported accommodation is poorly communicated, coordinated and integrated across isolated systems. 'Work-as-imagined' as outlined in policies, does not align with 'work-as-done' in reality. This gap threatens the quality of care and safety of people with I/DD in these settings. The effectiveness of the health information infrastructure and services for people with I/DD can be improved by integrating the information sources and placing people with I/DD and their supporters at the centre of the information exchange process.

  10. Development of a Geographical Information System for the monitoring of the health infrastructure in rural areas in Tanzania

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jürgen Schweikart

    2008-12-01

    Full Text Available

    Background: Setting up Geographical Information Systems (GIS on the existing health infrastructure and ongoing and planned interventions in public health in Tanzania is still in its infancy. While there are several activities on gathering information and attempts of documentation there does not exist an overall systematic approach of generally capturing all health related facts and bringing them together into a unique information system yet. In order to strengthen the information system in the health sector in general, and to assist Ministry of Health and Social Welfare (MoHSW in better receiving an overview of health related infrastructure and intervention data for management purpose, a first-pilot GIS was built up in the Mbeya Region in cooperation with Tanzanian German Programme to Support Health (TGPSH/Gesellschaft für technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ.

    Methods: The Health-GIS contains information on all health facilities (HF in the region and their infrastructure. Therefore, personal interviews were conducted in selected HF based on a comprehensive questionnaire. The spatial coordinates of the HF were taken with a Global Positioning System (GPS. In a relational database, the newly coded HF are linked to the gathered information pertaining to them and in a second step are analysed and visualised with help of GIS. Results: First results show newly collected geometry and attribute data for a considerable number of HFs in Mbeya Region, which are then supplemented by information on the street network lately surveyed during the fieldtrip. With the help of a database management system (DBMS all information are stored and maintained within one health database. By their spatial relation, data may be analysed and mapped with a Health-GIS. Because of the targeted cooperation with people and institutions from the local health sector, the way for integrating the Health-GIS into the health

  11. Essential levels of health information in Europe: an action plan for a coherent and sustainable infrastructure.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Carinci, Fabrizio

    2015-04-01

    The European Union needs a common health information infrastructure to support policy and governance on a routine basis. A stream of initiatives conducted in Europe during the last decade resulted into several success stories, but did not specify a unified framework that could be broadly implemented on a continental level. The recent debate raised a potential controversy on the different roles and responsibilities of policy makers vs the public health community in the construction of such a pan-European health information system. While institutional bodies shall clarify the statutory conditions under which such an endeavour is to be carried out, researchers should define a common framework for optimal cross-border information exchange. This paper conceptualizes a general solution emerging from past experiences, introducing a governance structure and overarching framework that can be realized through four main action lines, underpinned by the key principle of "Essential Levels of Health Information" for Europe. The proposed information model is amenable to be applied in a consistent manner at both national and EU level. If realized, the four action lines outlined here will allow developing a EU health information infrastructure that would effectively integrate best practices emerging from EU public health initiatives, including projects and joint actions carried out during the last ten years. The proposed approach adds new content to the ongoing debate on the future activity of the European Commission in the area of health information. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  12. Growing the Blockchain information infrastructure

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jabbar, Karim; Bjørn, Pernille

    2017-01-01

    In this paper, we present ethnographic data that unpacks the everyday work of some of the many infrastructuring agents who contribute to creating, sustaining and growing the Blockchain information infrastructure. We argue that this infrastructuring work takes the form of entrepreneurial actions......, which are self-initiated and primarily directed at sustaining or increasing the initiator’s stake in the emerging information infrastructure. These entrepreneurial actions wrestle against the affordances of the installed base of the Blockchain infrastructure, and take the shape of engaging...... or circumventing activities. These activities purposefully aim at either influencing or working around the enablers and constraints afforded by the Blockchain information infrastructure, as its installed base is gaining inertia. This study contributes to our understanding of the purpose of infrastructuring, seen...

  13. Developing geographic information infrastructure : The role of information policies

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Van Loenen, B.

    2006-01-01

    Within information societies, information availability is a key issue affecting societyâs well being. The infrastructure underlying the foundation of the information society may be referred to as the information infrastructure. A geographic information infrastructure (GII) supports the information

  14. Rapid assessment of infrastructure of primary health care facilities - a relevant instrument for health care systems management.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Scholz, Stefan; Ngoli, Baltazar; Flessa, Steffen

    2015-05-01

    Health care infrastructure constitutes a major component of the structural quality of a health system. Infrastructural deficiencies of health services are reported in literature and research. A number of instruments exist for the assessment of infrastructure. However, no easy-to-use instruments to assess health facility infrastructure in developing countries are available. Present tools are not applicable for a rapid assessment by health facility staff. Therefore, health information systems lack data on facility infrastructure. A rapid assessment tool for the infrastructure of primary health care facilities was developed by the authors and pilot-tested in Tanzania. The tool measures the quality of all infrastructural components comprehensively and with high standardization. Ratings use a 2-1-0 scheme which is frequently used in Tanzanian health care services. Infrastructural indicators and indices are obtained from the assessment and serve for reporting and tracing of interventions. The tool was pilot-tested in Tanga Region (Tanzania). The pilot test covered seven primary care facilities in the range between dispensary and district hospital. The assessment encompassed the facilities as entities as well as 42 facility buildings and 80 pieces of technical medical equipment. A full assessment of facility infrastructure was undertaken by health care professionals while the rapid assessment was performed by facility staff. Serious infrastructural deficiencies were revealed. The rapid assessment tool proved a reliable instrument of routine data collection by health facility staff. The authors recommend integrating the rapid assessment tool in the health information systems of developing countries. Health authorities in a decentralized health system are thus enabled to detect infrastructural deficiencies and trace the effects of interventions. The tool can lay the data foundation for district facility infrastructure management.

  15. Health infrastructural challenges to health management information ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Aim: This study aims to assess health management information systems at the ... workers' ability to practice and use the health data generated at their Primary Health ... Only 2 (5.7%) of the health centres surveyed were capable of operating the ... The government at all levels should ensure collective effort and political will to ...

  16. Concepts and procedures for mapping food and health research infrastructure

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Brown, Kerry A.; Timotijević, Lada; Geurts, Marjolein

    2017-01-01

    be achieved in the area of food and health has, to date, been unclear. Scope and approach This commentary paper presents examples of the types of food and health research facilities, resources and services available in Europe. Insights are provided on the challenge of identifying and classifying research...... infrastructure. In addition, suggestions are made for the future direction of food and health research infrastructure in Europe. These views are informed by the EuroDISH project, which mapped research infrastructure in four areas of food and health research: Determinants of dietary behaviour; Intake of foods....../nutrients; Status and functional markers of nutritional health; Health and disease risk of foods/nutrients. Key findings and conclusion There is no objective measure to identify or classify research infrastructure. It is therefore, difficult to operationalise this term. EuroDISH demonstrated specific challenges...

  17. Implementation of a large-scale hospital information infrastructure for multi-unit health-care services.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yoo, Sun K; Kim, Dong Keun; Kim, Jung C; Park, Youn Jung; Chang, Byung Chul

    2008-01-01

    With the increase in demand for high quality medical services, the need for an innovative hospital information system has become essential. An improved system has been implemented in all hospital units of the Yonsei University Health System. Interoperability between multi-units required appropriate hardware infrastructure and software architecture. This large-scale hospital information system encompassed PACS (Picture Archiving and Communications Systems), EMR (Electronic Medical Records) and ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning). It involved two tertiary hospitals and 50 community hospitals. The monthly data production rate by the integrated hospital information system is about 1.8 TByte and the total quantity of data produced so far is about 60 TByte. Large scale information exchange and sharing will be particularly useful for telemedicine applications.

  18. The Internet information infrastructure: Terrorist tool or architecture for information defense?

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kadner, S.; Turpen, E. [Aquila Technologies Group, Albuquerque, NM (United States); Rees, B. [Los Alamos National Lab., NM (United States)

    1998-12-01

    The Internet is a culmination of information age technologies and an agent of change. As with any infrastructure, dependency upon the so-called global information infrastructure creates vulnerabilities. Moreover, unlike physical infrastructures, the Internet is a multi-use technology. While information technologies, such as the Internet, can be utilized as a tool of terror, these same technologies can facilitate the implementation of solutions to mitigate the threat. In this vein, this paper analyzes the multifaceted nature of the Internet information infrastructure and argues that policymakers should concentrate on the solutions it provides rather than the vulnerabilities it creates. Minimizing risks and realizing possibilities in the information age will require institutional activities that translate, exploit and convert information technologies into positive solutions. What follows is a discussion of the Internet information infrastructure as it relates to increasing vulnerabilities and positive potential. The following four applications of the Internet will be addressed: as the infrastructure for information competence; as a terrorist tool; as the terrorist`s target; and as an architecture for rapid response.

  19. 75 FR 67989 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Office of Infrastructure Protection; Infrastructure...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-11-04

    ... DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY [Docket No. DHS-2010-0084] Agency Information Collection Activities: Office of Infrastructure Protection; Infrastructure Protection Stakeholder Input Project--Generic... comments; New Information Collection Request: 1670-NEW. SUMMARY: The Department of Homeland Security...

  20. Global information infrastructure.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lindberg, D A

    1994-01-01

    The High Performance Computing and Communications Program (HPCC) is a multiagency federal initiative under the leadership of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, established by the High Performance Computing Act of 1991. It has been assigned a critical role in supporting the international collaboration essential to science and to health care. Goals of the HPCC are to extend USA leadership in high performance computing and networking technologies; to improve technology transfer for economic competitiveness, education, and national security; and to provide a key part of the foundation for the National Information Infrastructure. The first component of the National Institutes of Health to participate in the HPCC, the National Library of Medicine (NLM), recently issued a solicitation for proposals to address a range of issues, from privacy to 'testbed' networks, 'virtual reality,' and more. These efforts will build upon the NLM's extensive outreach program and other initiatives, including the Unified Medical Language System (UMLS), MEDLARS, and Grateful Med. New Internet search tools are emerging, such as Gopher and 'Knowbots'. Medicine will succeed in developing future intelligent agents to assist in utilizing computer networks. Our ability to serve patients is so often restricted by lack of information and knowledge at the time and place of medical decision-making. The new technologies, properly employed, will also greatly enhance our ability to serve the patient.

  1. Attending unintended transformations of health care infrastructure

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Helle Wentzer

    2007-11-01

    Full Text Available Introduction: Western health care is under pressure from growing demands on quality and efficiency. The development and implementation of information technology, IT is a key mean of health care authorities to improve on health care infrastructure. Theory and methods: Against a background of theories on human-computer interaction and IT-mediated communication, different empirical studies of IT implementation in health care are analyzed. The outcome is an analytical discernment between different relations of communication and levels of interaction with IT in health care infrastructure. These relations and levels are synthesized into a framework for identifying tensions and potential problems in the mediation of health care with the IT system. These problems are also known as unexpected adverse consequences, UACs, from IT implementation into clinical health care practices. Results: This paper develops a conceptual framework for addressing transformations of communication and workflow in health care as a result of implementing IT. Conclusion and discussion: The purpose of the conceptual framework is to support the attention to and continuous screening for errors and unintended consequences of IT implementation into health care practices and outcomes.

  2. The israeli virtual national health record: a robust national health information infrastructure based on a firm foundation of trust.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Saiag, Esther

    2005-01-01

    In many developed countries, a coordinated effort is underway to build national and regional Health Information Infrastructures (HII) for the linking of disparate sites of care, so that an access to a comprehensive Health Record will be feasible when critical medical decisions are made [1]. However, widespread adoption of such national projects is hindered by a series of barriers- regulatory, technical, financial and cultural. Above all, a robust national HII requires a firm foundation of trust: patients must be assured that their confidential health information will not be misused and that there are adequate legal remedies in the event of inappropriate behavior on the part of either authorized or unauthorized parties[2].The Israeli evolving National HII is an innovative state of the art implementation of a wide-range clinical inter-organizational data exchange, based on a unique concept of virtually temporary sharing of information. A logically connection of multiple caregivers and medical organizations creates a patient-centric virtual repository, without centralization. All information remains in its original format, location, system and ownership. On demand, relevant information is instantly integrated and delivered to the point of care. This system, successfully covering more than half of Israel's population, is currently evolving from a voluntary private-public partnership (dbMOTION and CLALIT HMO) to a formal national reality. The governmental leadership, now taking over the process, is essential to achieve a full potential of the health information technology. All partners of the Israeli health system are coordinated in concert with each other, driven with a shared vision - realizing that a secured, private, confidential health information exchange is assured.

  3. Distributed Data Networks That Support Public Health Information Needs.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tabano, David C; Cole, Elizabeth; Holve, Erin; Davidson, Arthur J

    Data networks, consisting of pooled electronic health data assets from health care providers serving different patient populations, promote data sharing, population and disease monitoring, and methods to assess interventions. Better understanding of data networks, and their capacity to support public health objectives, will help foster partnerships, expand resources, and grow learning health systems. We conducted semistructured interviews with 16 key informants across the United States, identified as network stakeholders based on their respective experience in advancing health information technology and network functionality. Key informants were asked about their experience with and infrastructure used to develop data networks, including each network's utility to identify and characterize populations, usage, and sustainability. Among 11 identified data networks representing hundreds of thousands of patients, key informants described aggregated health care clinical data contributing to population health measures. Key informant interview responses were thematically grouped to illustrate how networks support public health, including (1) infrastructure and information sharing; (2) population health measures; and (3) network sustainability. Collaboration between clinical data networks and public health entities presents an opportunity to leverage infrastructure investments to support public health. Data networks can provide resources to enhance population health information and infrastructure.

  4. The Essential Dynamics of Information Infrastructures

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Henningsson, Stefan; Hanseth, Ole

    2011-01-01

    This paper inquires into the complexities of contemporary IT solutions based on a case study of the EU’s eCustoms initiatives using Manuel DeLanda’s Assemblage Theory. Technological innovations have enabled information infrastructures with dramatically increased number and heterogeneity of included...... components, and their dynamic and unexpected interactions. Unfortunately, lack of understanding of how the increasing complexity influences development initiatives is hampering effective information infrastructure development. Assemblage Theory can be seen as holistic synthesis of previous research streams...... seeking to explain how information infrastructures evolve in social contexts. Accordingly, in this paper it helps us getting a holistic grasp of the complexity of contemporary IT solutions and the “essence” of their dynamics. Through Assemblage Theory we explain how the European eCustoms information...

  5. Information infrastructure development in NRU «MPEI»

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    E. G. Gridina

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available The article describes the work on support and development of information infrastructure NRU «MPEI». Information infrastructure have different approaches to the defi nition. The authors defi ne the information infrastructure as a set of basic information services, computing, storage and data transmission systems that provide user access to information resources. New conditions dictate new approaches to building the education system in general and the educational process in each educational institution. NRU «MPEI» working to create a modern information infrastructure, including automated control systems, information resources and services, modular systems disciplines. This article describes the requirements for a modern information infrastructure of the NRU «MPEI», that provides students and teachers with the necessary services. Information infrastructure includes a set of software and hardware to ensure interaction between the participants of the educational process. All services and NRU «MPEI» system included in the unifi ed information educational environment (UIEE. Architecture UIEE NRU «MPEI» is displayed in the article. UIEE NRU «MPEI» is deployed on the basis of information network NRU «MPEI» and enables a comprehensive optimization of university management in various areas. Information and Computing Center supporting information and computer network NRU «MPEI», bought more than 4800 licenses in 43 different license versions of the software manufacturers. The server segment information network NRU «MPEI» contains a complex infrastructure and application servers for processing and storing information.The segment there are 20 high-performance server and storage system capacity of over 30 TB. In the server segment deployed complex systems to meet the needs in the various fi elds of activity NRU «MPEI», and the educational system to support the economic , scientifi c and human complex. Currently, ICC also pays great

  6. Toward a new information infrastructure in health technology assessment: communication, design, process, and results.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Neikter, Susanna Allgurin; Rehnqvist, Nina; Rosén, Måns; Dahlgren, Helena

    2009-12-01

    The aim of this study was to facilitate effective internal and external communication of an international network and to explore how to support communication and work processes in health technology assessment (HTA). STRUCTURE AND METHODS: European network for Health Technology Assessment (EUnetHTA) connected sixty-four HTA Partner organizations from thirty-three countries. User needs in the different steps of the HTA process were the starting point for developing an information system. A step-wise, interdisciplinary, creative approach was used in developing practical tools. An Information Platform facilitated the exchange of scientific information between Partners and with external target groups. More than 200 virtual meetings were set up during the project using an e-meeting tool. A Clearinghouse prototype was developed with the intent to offering a single point of access to HTA relevant information. This evolved into a next step not planned from the outset: Developing a running HTA Information System including several Web-based tools to support communication and daily HTA processes. A communication strategy guided the communication effort, focusing on practical tools, creating added value, involving stakeholders, and avoiding duplication of effort. Modern technology enables a new information infrastructure for HTA. The potential of information and communication technology was used as a strategic tool. Several target groups were represented among the Partners, which supported collaboration and made it easier to identify user needs. A distinctive visual identity made it easier to gain and maintain visibility on a limited budget.

  7. Green Infrastructure, Ecosystem Services, and Human Health.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Coutts, Christopher; Hahn, Micah

    2015-08-18

    Contemporary ecological models of health prominently feature the natural environment as fundamental to the ecosystem services that support human life, health, and well-being. The natural environment encompasses and permeates all other spheres of influence on health. Reviews of the natural environment and health literature have tended, at times intentionally, to focus on a limited subset of ecosystem services as well as health benefits stemming from the presence, and access and exposure to, green infrastructure. The sweeping influence of green infrastructure on the myriad ecosystem services essential to health has therefore often been underrepresented. This survey of the literature aims to provide a more comprehensive picture-in the form of a primer-of the many simultaneously acting health co-benefits of green infrastructure. It is hoped that a more accurately exhaustive list of benefits will not only instigate further research into the health co-benefits of green infrastructure but also promote consilience in the many fields, including public health, that must be involved in the landscape conservation necessary to protect and improve health and well-being.

  8. Green Infrastructure, Ecosystem Services, and Human Health

    Science.gov (United States)

    Coutts, Christopher; Hahn, Micah

    2015-01-01

    Contemporary ecological models of health prominently feature the natural environment as fundamental to the ecosystem services that support human life, health, and well-being. The natural environment encompasses and permeates all other spheres of influence on health. Reviews of the natural environment and health literature have tended, at times intentionally, to focus on a limited subset of ecosystem services as well as health benefits stemming from the presence, and access and exposure to, green infrastructure. The sweeping influence of green infrastructure on the myriad ecosystem services essential to health has therefore often been underrepresented. This survey of the literature aims to provide a more comprehensive picture—in the form of a primer—of the many simultaneously acting health co-benefits of green infrastructure. It is hoped that a more accurately exhaustive list of benefits will not only instigate further research into the health co-benefits of green infrastructure but also promote consilience in the many fields, including public health, that must be involved in the landscape conservation necessary to protect and improve health and well-being. PMID:26295249

  9. Primary health care facility infrastructure and services and the ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    ... Research Council ae Currently from Cape Peninsula University of Technology ... Keywords: primary health care facilities; nutritional status; children; caregivers' rural; South Africa ... underlying causes of malnutrition in children, while poor food quality, .... Information on PHC facility infrastructure and services was obtained.

  10. The National Information Infrastructure: Agenda for Action.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Department of Commerce, Washington, DC. Information Infrastructure Task Force.

    The National Information Infrastructure (NII) is planned as a web of communications networks, computers, databases, and consumer electronics that will put vast amounts of information at the users' fingertips. Private sector firms are beginning to develop this infrastructure, but essential roles remain for the Federal Government. The National…

  11. CRITICAL INFORMATION INFRASTRUCTURE SECURITY - NETWORK INTRUSION DETECTION SYSTEMS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Cristea DUMITRU

    2011-12-01

    Full Text Available Critical Information Infrastructure security will always be difficult to ensure, just because of the features that make it irreplaceable tor other critical infrastructures normal operation. It is decentralized, interconnected interdependent, controlled by multiple actors (mainly private and incorporating diverse types of technologies. It is almost axiomatic that the disruption of the Critical Information Infrastructure affects systems located much farther away, and the cyber problems have direct consequences on the real world. Indeed the Internet can be used as a multiplier in order to amplify the effects of an attack on some critical infrastructures. Security challenges increase with the technological progress. One of the last lines of defense which comes to complete the overall security scheme of the Critical Information Infrastructure is represented by the Network Intrusion Detection Systems.

  12. Importance for Municipalities of Infrastructure Information Systems in Turkey

    OpenAIRE

    Kamil KARATAS; Cemal BIYIK

    2017-01-01

    Technical infrastructures are the important development-level parameters of countries, difficult to maintain and require high-investment cost. It is required to take the advantage of information system for the better administration of technical infrastructure facilities, planning and taking effective decisions. Hence, infrastructure information systems must be built oriented to technical infrastructure (TI). In this study, Kunduracilar Street in Trabzon was selected as pilot area oriented to ...

  13. Information infrastructure(s) boundaries, ecologies, multiplicity

    CERN Document Server

    Mongili, Alessandro

    2014-01-01

    This book marks an important contribution to the fascinating debate on the role that information infrastructures and boundary objects play in contemporary life, bringing to the fore the concern of how cooperation across different groups is enabled, but also constrained, by the material and immaterial objects connecting them. As such, the book itself is situated at the crossroads of various paths and genealogies, all focusing on the problem of the intersection between different levels of scale...

  14. Methodology for Analyzing and Developing Information Management Infrastructure to Support Telerehabilitation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Andi Saptono

    2009-09-01

    Full Text Available The proliferation of advanced technologies led researchers within the Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center on Telerehabilitation (RERC-TR to devise an integrated infrastructure for clinical services using the University of Pittsburgh (PITT model. This model describes five required characteristics for a telerehabilitation (TR infrastructure: openness, extensibility, scalability, cost-effectiveness, and security. The infrastructure is to deliver clinical services over distance to improve access to health services for people living in underserved or remote areas. The methodological approach to design, develop, and employ this infrastructure is explained and detailed for the remote wheelchair prescription project, a research task within the RERC-TR. The availability of this specific clinical service and personnel outside of metropolitan areas is limited due to the lack of specialty expertise and access to resources. The infrastructure is used to deliver expertise in wheeled mobility and seating through teleconsultation to remote clinics, and has been successfully deployed to five rural clinics in Western Pennsylvania. Keywords: Telerehabilitation, Information Management, Infrastructure Development Methodology, Videoconferencing, Online Portal, Database

  15. Towards an affordable public health estate: a review of the 2008 health infrastructure barometer

    CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

    Abbott, G

    2009-05-01

    Full Text Available namely, context and need for health care infrastructure; budget allocations to health infrastructure; health infrastructure delivery, constraints and enabling mechanisms; and lastly, consolidation and recommendations of the future....

  16. Infrastructure of Electronic Information Management

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Twitchell, Gregory D; Frame, Michael T

    2004-01-01

    The information technology infrastructure of an organization, whether it is a private, non-profit, federal, or academic institution, is key to delivering timely and high-quality products and services...

  17. Sustainable mobile information infrastructures in low resource settings.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Braa, Kristin; Purkayastha, Saptarshi

    2010-01-01

    Developing countries represent the fastest growing mobile markets in the world. For people with no computing access, a mobile will be their first computing device. Mobile technologies offer a significant potential to strengthen health systems in developing countries with respect to community based monitoring, reporting, feedback to service providers, and strengthening communication and coordination between different health functionaries, medical officers and the community. However, there are various challenges in realizing this potential including technological such as lack of power, social, institutional and use issues. In this paper a case study from India on mobile health implementation and use will be reported. An underlying principle guiding this paper is to see mobile technology not as a "stand alone device" but potentially an integral component of an integrated mobile supported health information infrastructure.

  18. Infrastructure Management Information System User Manual

    Science.gov (United States)

    1998-10-01

    This publication describes and explains the user interface for the Infrastructure Management Information System (IMIS). The IMIS is designed to answer questions regarding public water supply, wastewater treatment, and census information. This publica...

  19. Development of a public health nursing data infrastructure.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Monsen, Karen A; Bekemeier, Betty; P Newhouse, Robin; Scutchfield, F Douglas

    2012-01-01

    An invited group of national public health nursing (PHN) scholars, practitioners, policymakers, and other stakeholders met in October 2010 identifying a critical need for a national PHN data infrastructure to support PHN research. This article summarizes the strengths, limitations, and gaps specific to PHN data and proposes a research agenda for development of a PHN data infrastructure. Future implications are suggested, such as issues related to the development of the proposed PHN data infrastructure and future research possibilities enabled by the infrastructure. Such a data infrastructure has potential to improve accountability and measurement, to demonstrate the value of PHN services, and to improve population health. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  20. Narrating national geo information infrastructures : Balancing infrastructures and innovation

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Koerten, H.; Veenswijk, M.

    2009-01-01

    This paper examines narratives relating to the development of National Geo Information Infrastructures (NGII) in eth-nographic research on a Dutch NGII project which was monitored throughout its course. We used an approach which focuses on narratives concerning the environment, groups and practice

  1. Information technology developments within the national biological information infrastructure

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cotter, G.; Frame, M.T.

    2000-01-01

    Looking out an office window or exploring a community park, one can easily see the tremendous challenges that biological information presents the computer science community. Biological information varies in format and content depending whether or not it is information pertaining to a particular species (i.e. Brown Tree Snake), or a specific ecosystem, which often includes multiple species, land use characteristics, and geospatially referenced information. The complexity and uniqueness of each individual species or ecosystem do not easily lend themselves to today's computer science tools and applications. To address the challenges that the biological enterprise presents the National Biological Information Infrastructure (NBII) (http://www.nbii.gov) was established in 1993. The NBII is designed to address these issues on a National scale within the United States, and through international partnerships abroad. This paper discusses current computer science efforts within the National Biological Information Infrastructure Program and future computer science research endeavors that are needed to address the ever-growing issues related to our Nation's biological concerns.

  2. Risk Analysis of Accounting Information System Infrastructure

    OpenAIRE

    MIHALACHE, Arsenie-Samoil

    2011-01-01

    National economy and security are fully dependent on information technology and infrastructure. At the core of the information infrastructure society relies on, we have the Internet, a system designed initially as a scientists’ forum for unclassified research. The use of communication networks and systems may lead to hazardous situations that generate undesirable effects such as communication systems breakdown, loss of data or taking the wrong decisions. The paper studies the risk analysis of...

  3. Building oral health research infrastructure: the first national oral health survey of Rwanda.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Morgan, John P; Isyagi, Moses; Ntaganira, Joseph; Gatarayiha, Agnes; Pagni, Sarah E; Roomian, Tamar C; Finkelman, Matthew; Steffensen, Jane E M; Barrow, Jane R; Mumena, Chrispinus H; Hackley, Donna M

    2018-01-01

    Oral health affects quality of life and is linked to overall health. Enhanced oral health research is needed in low- and middle-income countries to develop strategies that reduce the burden of oral disease, improve oral health and inform oral health workforce and infrastructure development decisions. To implement the first National Oral Health Survey of Rwanda to assess the oral disease burden and inform oral health promotion strategies. In this cross-sectional study, sample size and site selection were based on the World Health Organization (WHO) Oral Health Surveys Pathfinder stratified cluster methodologies. Randomly selected 15 sites included 2 in the capital city, 2 other urban centers and 11 rural locations representing all provinces and rural/urban population distribution. A minimum of 125 individuals from each of 5 age groups were included at each site. A Computer Assisted Personal Instrument (CAPI) was developed to administer the study instrument. Nearly two-thirds (64.9%) of the 2097 participants had caries experience and 54.3% had untreated caries. Among adults 20 years of age and older, 32.4% had substantial oral debris and 60.0% had calculus. A majority (70.6%) had never visited an oral health provider. Quality-of-life challenges due to oral diseases/conditions including pain, difficulty chewing, self-consciousness, and difficulty participating in usual activities was reported at 63.9%, 42.2% 36.2%, 35.4% respectively. The first National Oral Health Survey of Rwanda was a collaboration of the Ministry of Health of Rwanda, the University of Rwanda Schools of Dentistry and Public Health, the Rwanda Dental Surgeons and Dental (Therapists) Associations, and Tufts University and Harvard University Schools of Dental Medicine. The international effort contributed to building oral health research capacity and resulted in a national oral health database of oral disease burden. This information is essential for developing oral disease prevention and management

  4. Cyberspace and Critical Information Infrastructures

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dan COLESNIUC

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available Every economy of an advanced nation relies on information systems and interconnected networks, thus in order to ensure the prosperity of a nation, making cyberspace a secure place becomes as crucial as securing society. Cyber security means ensuring the safety of this cyberspace from threats which can take different forms, such as stealing secret information from national companies and government institutions, attacking infrastructure vital for the functioning of the nation or attacking the privacy of the single citizen. The critical information infrastructure (CII represents the indispensable "nervous system", that allow modern societies to work and live. Besides, without it, there would be no distribution of energy, no services like banking or finance, no air traffic control and so on. But at the same time, in the development process of CII, security was never considered a top priority and for this reason they are subject to a high risk in relation to the organized crime.

  5. 77 FR 6825 - NASA Advisory Council; Information Technology Infrastructure Committee; Meeting.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-02-09

    ...; Information Technology Infrastructure Committee; Meeting. AGENCY: National Aeronautics and Space... Information Technology Infrastructure Committee of the NASA Advisory Council. DATES: Wednesday, March 7, 2012... CONTACT: Ms. Karen Harper, Executive Secretary for the Information Technology Infrastructure Committee...

  6. Engineering Information Infrastructure for Product Lifecycle Managment

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kimura, Fumihiko

    For proper management of total product life cycle, it is fundamentally important to systematize design and engineering information about product systems. For example, maintenance operation could be more efficiently performed, if appropriate parts design information is available at the maintenance site. Such information shall be available as an information infrastructure for various kinds of engineering operations, and it should be easily accessible during the whole product life cycle, such as transportation, marketing, usage, repair/upgrade, take-back and recycling/disposal. Different from the traditional engineering database, life cycle support information has several characteristic requirements, such as flexible extensibility, distributed architecture, multiple viewpoints, long-time archiving, and product usage information, etc. Basic approaches for managing engineering information infrastructure are investigated, and various information contents and associated life cycle applications are discussed.

  7. Importance for Municipalities of Infrastructure Information Systems in Turkey

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kamil KARATAS

    2017-08-01

    Full Text Available Technical infrastructures are the important development-level parameters of countries, difficult to maintain and require high-investment cost. It is required to take the advantage of information system for the better administration of technical infrastructure facilities, planning and taking effective decisions. Hence, infrastructure information systems must be built oriented to technical infrastructure (TI. In this study, Kunduracilar Street in Trabzon was selected as pilot area oriented to urban TI studies. Graphic and attribute information of the pilot area were collected. Every TI facility was arranged into the same coordinate system with different layers. Maps showing TI facilities in the pilot area and 3D view of the site were prepared on ArcGIS software.

  8. Space-Based Information Infrastructure Architecture for Broadband Services

    Science.gov (United States)

    Price, Kent M.; Inukai, Tom; Razdan, Rajendev; Lazeav, Yvonne M.

    1996-01-01

    This study addressed four tasks: (1) identify satellite-addressable information infrastructure markets; (2) perform network analysis for space-based information infrastructure; (3) develop conceptual architectures; and (4) economic assessment of architectures. The report concludes that satellites will have a major role in the national and global information infrastructure, requiring seamless integration between terrestrial and satellite networks. The proposed LEO, MEO, and GEO satellite systems have satellite characteristics that vary widely. They include delay, delay variations, poorer link quality and beam/satellite handover. The barriers against seamless interoperability between satellite and terrestrial networks are discussed. These barriers are the lack of compatible parameters, standards and protocols, which are presently being evaluated and reduced.

  9. Slovene smart card and IP based health-care information system infrastructure.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Trcek, D; Novak, R; Kandus, G; Suselj, M

    2001-04-01

    Slovenia initiated a nation-wide project to introduce smart cards in the health sector in 1995 and its full-scale deployment started in September 2000. Although the basic aim of the project was to support insurance related procedures, the system was designed in a flexible and open manner to present an infrastructure for the whole health sector. The functionality of the current system is described in this paper along with lessons learned so far. The upgrade of the system is outlined, with emphasis on technical details, the objective being to provide a real-time EDI based environment for a general set of applications in the medical sector, supported by the flexibility and security of modern smart card technologies. Integration with similar systems in other EU countries is discussed.

  10. Application of information technology infrastructure in information ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    The study investigated the application of infotech infrastructure in information processing for enhancing workplace safety in Rivers State. In view of this, the study was a research survey design. The population of the study comprised 600 oil company workers in Rivers State. A-30% basis was used to randomly select the ...

  11. Scaling Health Information Systems in Developing Countries

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Mengiste, Shegaw Anagaw; Neilsen, Petter

    2006-01-01

    This article addresses the issues of scaling health information system in the context of developing countries by taking a case study from Ethiopia. Concepts of information infrastructure have been used as an analytical lens to better understand scaling of Health Information systems. More...... specifically, we question the fruitfulness of focusing on not being installed base hostile and suggest focusing on how to be installed base “friendly” by underscoring how the installed base can also be draw upon and shaped by human agents. The paper conceptualizes health information infrastructure (HII......) building as an intertwined process of the evolution of the installed base and the construction activities of human agents. Overall, we argue that it is not only the adverse situation that determines how things develop, but HII builders need to navigate and take into account a wide range of issues related...

  12. Information Infrastructure, Information Environments, and Long-Term Collaboration

    Science.gov (United States)

    Baker, K. S.; Pennington, D. D.

    2009-12-01

    Information infrastructure that supports collaborative science is a complex system of people, organizational arrangements, and tools that require co-management. Contemporary studies are exploring how to establish and characterize effective collaborative information environments. Collaboration depends on the flow of information across the human and technical system components through mechanisms that create linkages, both conceptual and technical. This transcends the need for requirements solicitation and usability studies, highlighting synergistic interactions between humans and technology that can lead to emergence of group level cognitive properties. We consider the ramifications of placing priority on establishing new metaphors and new types of learning environments located near-to-data-origin for the field sciences. In addition to changes in terms of participant engagement, there are implications in terms of innovative contributions to the design of information systems and data exchange. While data integration occurs in the minds of individual participants, it may be facilitated by collaborative thinking and community infrastructure. Existing learning frameworks - from Maslow’s hierarchy of needs to organizational learning - require modification and extension if effective approaches to decentralized information management and systems design are to emerge. Case studies relating to data integration include ecological community projects: development of cross-disciplinary conceptual maps and of a community unit registry.

  13. Regional Disparities in Romania. Contribution of the Regional Operational Program to Health Infrastructure

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    VICTOR PLATON

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available Health infrastructure is one of the weaknesses of socio-economic development in Romania and in other European states. In order to get a better picture of the Romanian health system issues, this paper analyzes a number of statistical indicators considered representative for the national and European health infrastructure for a 20 years period, between 1990 and 2010. Our paper has three main objectives: (a to identify the main trends for health infrastructure in some of the European Union countries; (b to describe the evolution of the health system in Romania, the comparative situation at the European level as well as regional level indicators dynamics; (c to overview the Regional Operational Program in Romania, how much does it help the regional health infrastructure in our country. At the European level, there is a constant decrease in the number of hospital beds. For this indicator, Romania has slightly higher values than the European average. We must mention that the hospital beds indicator offers limited information on health infrastructure which also includes medical equipment and specific devices and practices. The number of hospitals in Romania increased with 18.9% during the last 20 years (1990-2010. During the observed timeline, the number of hospitals in Romania had a constant positive evolution at regional level. The number of doctors in hospitals has an increasing trend at the local as well as at the international level. Romania has a number of doctors twice lower than the European average (3.6 doctors for one thousand inhabitants. The Regional Operational Program (ROP has a limited influence in achieving the objectives stated in Applicants Guide for Priority Axis 3. Major Intervention Area 3.1. This happens because supporting infrastructure improvements will not create institutional modernization. The financial contribution through ROP will result in the modernization of 11% of the existing hospitals in Romania.

  14. Communications and information infrastructure security

    CERN Document Server

    Voeller, John G

    2014-01-01

    Communication and Information Systems Security features articles from the Wiley Handbook of Science and Technology for Homeland Security covering strategies for protecting the telecommunications sector, wireless security, advanced web based technology for emergency situations. Science and technology for critical infrastructure consequence mitigation are also discussed.

  15. Base Information Transport Infrastructure Wired (BITI Wired)

    Science.gov (United States)

    2016-03-01

    2016 Major Automated Information System Annual Report Base Information Transport Infrastructure Wired (BITI Wired) Defense Acquisition Management...Combat Information Transport System program was restructured into two pre-Major Automated Information System (pre-MAIS) components: Information...Major Automated Information System MAIS OE - MAIS Original Estimate MAR – MAIS Annual Report MDA - Milestone Decision Authority MDD - Materiel

  16. 6 CFR 29.8 - Disclosure of Protected Critical Infrastructure Information.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... 6 Domestic Security 1 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Disclosure of Protected Critical Infrastructure... PROTECTED CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE INFORMATION § 29.8 Disclosure of Protected Critical Infrastructure... Infrastructure Protection, or either's designee may choose to provide or authorize access to PCII under one or...

  17. Using the National Information Infrastructure for social science, education, and informed decision making

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Tonn, B.E.

    1994-01-07

    The United States has aggressively embarked on the challenging task of building a National Information Infrastructure (NII). This infrastructure will have many levels, extending from the building block capital stock that composes the telecommunications system to the multitude of higher tier applications hardware and software tied to this system. This ``White Paper`` presents a vision for a second and third tier national information infrastructure that focuses exclusively on the needs of social science, education, and decision making (NII-SSEDM). NII-SSEDM will provide the necessary data, information, and automated decision support and educational tools needed to help this nation solve its most pressing social problems. The proposed system has five components: `data collection systems; databases; statistical analysis and modeling tools; policy analysis and decision support tools; and materials and software specially designed for education. This paper contains: a vision statement for each component; comments on progress made on each component as of the early 1990s; and specific recommendations on how to achieve the goals described in the vision statements. The white paper also discusses how the NII-SSEDM could be used to address four major social concerns: ensuring economic prosperity; health care; reducing crime and violence; and K-12 education. Examples of near-term and mid-term goals (e.g., pre-and post Year 2000) are presented for consideration. Although the development of NII-SSEDM will require a concerted effort by government, the private sector, schools, and numerous other organizations, the success of NH-SSEDM is predicated upon the identification of an institutional ``champion`` to acquire and husband key resources and provide strong leadership and guidance.

  18. Quality of service provision assessment in the healthcare information and telecommunications infrastructures.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Babulak, Eduard

    2006-01-01

    The continuous increase in the complexity and the heterogeneity of corporate and healthcare telecommunications infrastructures will require new assessment methods of quality of service (QoS) provision that are capable of addressing all engineering and social issues with much faster speeds. Speed and accessibility to any information at any time from anywhere will create global communications infrastructures with great performance bottlenecks that may put in danger human lives, power supplies, national economy and security. Regardless of the technology supporting the information flows, the final verdict on the QoS is made by the end user. The users' perception of telecommunications' network infrastructure QoS provision is critical to the successful business management operation of any organization. As a result, it is essential to assess the QoS Provision in the light of user's perception. This article presents a cost effective methodology to assess the user's perception of quality of service provision utilizing the existing Staffordshire University Network (SUN) by adding a component of measurement to the existing model presented by Walker. This paper presents the real examples of CISCO Networking Solutions for Health Care givers and offers a cost effective approach to assess the QoS provision within the campus network, which could be easily adapted to any health care organization or campus network in the world.

  19. Information management in civil engineering infrastructural development : With focus on geological and geotechnical information

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Tegtmeier, W.; Zlatanova, S.; Van Oosterom, P.J.M.; Hack, H.R.G.K.

    2009-01-01

    In civil engineering infrastructural projects, information exchange and (re-) use in and between involved parties is difficult. This is mainly caused by a lack of information harmonization. Various specialists are working together on the development of an infrastructural project and are all using

  20. 78 FR 42553 - NASA Advisory Council; Information Technology Infrastructure Committee; Meeting

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-07-16

    ...; Information Technology Infrastructure Committee; Meeting AGENCY: National Aeronautics and Space Administration... Information Technology Infrastructure Committee (ITIC) of the NASA Advisory Council (NAC). This Committee..., DC 20546. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Deborah Diaz, ITIC Executive Secretariat, NASA...

  1. 78 FR 72718 - NASA Advisory Council; Information Technology Infrastructure Committee; Meeting

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-12-03

    ...; Information Technology Infrastructure Committee; Meeting AGENCY: National Aeronautics and Space Administration... Information Technology Infrastructure Committee (ITIC) of the NASA Advisory Council (NAC). DATES: Tuesday... Chief Information Officer Space Launch System Kennedy Space Center Operations and Technology Issues...

  2. The strategy for the development of information society in Serbia by 2020: Information security and critical infrastructure

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Danijela D. Protić

    2012-10-01

    Full Text Available The development of technology has changed the world economy and induced new political trends. The European Union (EU and many non-EU member states apply the strategies of information society development that raise the level of information security (IS. The Serbian Government (Government has adopted the Strategy for Information Society in Serbia by 2020 (Strategy, and pointed to the challenges for the development of a modern Serbian information society. This paper presents an overview of the open-ended questions about IS, critical infrastructures and protection of critical infrastructures. Based on publicly available data, some critical national infrastructures are listed. As a possible solution to the problem of IS, the Public Key Infrastructure (PKI-based Information security integrated information system (ISIIS is presented. The ISIIS provides modularity and interoperability of critical infrastructures both in Serbia and neighboring countries.

  3. 77 FR 35700 - Protected Critical Infrastructure Information (PCII) Program Survey

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-06-14

    ... (NPPD), Office of Infrastructure Protection (IP), Infrastructure Information Collection Division (IICD... Information Collection Request should be forwarded to DHS/NPPD/IP/IICD, 245 Murray Lane, SW., Mailstop 0602, Arlington, VA 20598-0602. Email requests should go to Vickie Bovell, [email protected] . Written...

  4. INFORMATION INFRASTRUCTURE OF THE EDUCATIONAL ENVIRONMENT WITH VIRTUAL MACHINE TECHNOLOGY

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Artem D. Beresnev

    2014-09-01

    Full Text Available Subject of research. Information infrastructure for the training environment with application of technology of virtual computers for small pedagogical systems (separate classes, author's courses is created and investigated. Research technique. The life cycle model of information infrastructure for small pedagogical systems with usage of virtual computers in ARIS methodology is constructed. The technique of information infrastructure formation with virtual computers on the basis of process approach is offered. The model of an event chain in combination with the environment chart is used as the basic model. For each function of the event chain the necessary set of means of information and program support is defined. Technique application is illustrated on the example of information infrastructure design for the educational environment taking into account specific character of small pedagogical systems. Advantages of the designed information infrastructure are: the maximum usage of open or free components; the usage of standard protocols (mainly, HTTP and HTTPS; the maximum portability (application servers can be started up on any of widespread operating systems; uniform interface to management of various virtualization platforms, possibility of inventory of contents of the virtual computer without its start, flexible inventory management of the virtual computer by means of adjusted chains of rules. Approbation. Approbation of obtained results was carried out on the basis of training center "Institute of Informatics and Computer Facilities" (Tallinn, Estonia. Technique application within the course "Computer and Software Usage" gave the possibility to get half as much the number of refusals for components of the information infrastructure demanding intervention of the technical specialist, and also the time for elimination of such malfunctions. Besides, the pupils who have got broader experience with computer and software, showed better results

  5. Towards evidence-based, GIS-driven national spatial health information infrastructure and surveillance services in the United Kingdom

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Boulos Maged

    2004-01-01

    Full Text Available Abstract The term "Geographic Information Systems" (GIS has been added to MeSH in 2003, a step reflecting the importance and growing use of GIS in health and healthcare research and practices. GIS have much more to offer than the obvious digital cartography (map functions. From a community health perspective, GIS could potentially act as powerful evidence-based practice tools for early problem detection and solving. When properly used, GIS can: inform and educate (professionals and the public; empower decision-making at all levels; help in planning and tweaking clinically and cost-effective actions, in predicting outcomes before making any financial commitments and ascribing priorities in a climate of finite resources; change practices; and continually monitor and analyse changes, as well as sentinel events. Yet despite all these potentials for GIS, they remain under-utilised in the UK National Health Service (NHS. This paper has the following objectives: (1 to illustrate with practical, real-world scenarios and examples from the literature the different GIS methods and uses to improve community health and healthcare practices, e.g., for improving hospital bed availability, in community health and bioterrorism surveillance services, and in the latest SARS outbreak; (2 to discuss challenges and problems currently hindering the wide-scale adoption of GIS across the NHS; and (3 to identify the most important requirements and ingredients for addressing these challenges, and realising GIS potential within the NHS, guided by related initiatives worldwide. The ultimate goal is to illuminate the road towards implementing a comprehensive national, multi-agency spatio-temporal health information infrastructure functioning proactively in real time. The concepts and principles presented in this paper can be also applied in other countries, and on regional (e.g., European Union and global levels.

  6. 76 FR 64386 - NASA Advisory Council; Information Technology Infrastructure Committee; Meeting

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-10-18

    ..., Executive Secretary for the Information Technology Infrastructure Committee, National Aeronautics and Space... they are attending the NASA Advisory Council, Information Technology Infrastructure Committee meeting in Building 34, Room W305. All U.S. citizens desiring to attend the Information Technology...

  7. The informational turn in food politics: The US FDA's nutrition label as information infrastructure.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Frohlich, Xaq

    2017-04-01

    This article traces the history of the US FDA regulation of nutrition labeling, identifying an 'informational turn' in the evolving politics of food, diet and health in America. Before nutrition labeling was introduced, regulators actively sought to segregate food markets from drug markets by largely prohibiting health information on food labels, believing such information would 'confuse' the ordinary food consumer. Nutrition labeling's emergence, first in the 1970s as consumer empowerment and then later in the 1990s as a solution to information overload, reflected the belief that it was better to manage markets indirectly through consumer information than directly through command-and-control regulatory architecture. By studying product labels as 'information infrastructure', rather than a 'knowledge fix', the article shows how labels are situated at the center of a legally constructed terrain of inter-textual references, both educational and promotional, that reflects a mix of market pragmatism and evolving legal thought about mass versus niche markets. A change to the label reaches out across a wide informational environment representing food and has direct material consequences for how food is produced, distributed, and consumed. One legacy of this informational turn has been an increasing focus by policymakers, industry, and arguably consumers on the politics of information in place of the politics of the food itself.

  8. Assessment of ebola virus disease, health care infrastructure, and preparedness - four counties,Southeastern Liberia, august 2014.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Forrester, Joseph D; Pillai, Satish K; Beer, Karlyn D; Neatherlin, John; Massaquoi, Moses; Nyenswah, Tolbert G; Montgomery, Joel M; De Cock, Kevin

    2014-10-10

    Ebola virus disease (Ebola) is a multisystem disease caused by a virus of the genus Ebolavirus. In late March 2014, Ebola cases were described in Liberia, with epicenters in Lofa County and later in Montserrado County. While information about case burden and health care infrastructure was available for the two epicenters, little information was available about remote counties in southeastern Liberia. Over 9 days, August 6-14, 2014, Ebola case burden, health care infrastructure, and emergency preparedness were assessed in collaboration with the Liberian Ministry of Health and Social Welfare in four counties in southeastern Liberia: Grand Gedeh, Grand Kru, River Gee, and Maryland. Data were collected by health care facility visits to three of the four county referral hospitals and by unstructured interviews with county and district health officials, hospital administrators, physicians, nurses, physician assistants, and health educators in all four counties. Local burial practices were discussed with county officials, but no direct observation of burial practices was conducted. Basic information about Ebola surveillance and epidemiology, case investigation, contact tracing, case management, and infection control was provided to local officials.

  9. Informal Settlements and the Role of Infrastructure: The case of ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    This has resulted to the growth of slums and informal settlements, which are unplanned, lack basic infrastructure and services such as water, electricity, roads, lighting ... perspective to meet housing and infrastructure needs of the poor, where taxes paid by the rich should be used to subsidize infrastructure costs of the poor.

  10. On the Enterprise Modelling of an Educational Information Infrastructure

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Michiels, E.F.; Widya, I.A.; Volman, C.J.A.M.; Pokraev, S.; de Diana, I.P.F.

    2000-01-01

    In this report, we present the outcomes of exercising a design trajectory in respect of the modelling of an educational information infrastructure. The infrastructure aims to support the organisation of teaching and learning activities, independently of any particular didactic policy. The design

  11. The critical success factor approach to strategic alignment: seeking a trail from a health organization's goals to its management information infrastructure.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tan, J K

    1999-11-01

    The critical success factor (CSF) approach is a technique that will aid health administrators, planners and managers to identify, specify and sort among the most relevant and critical factors determining an organization's survival and success. Following a top-down management perspective, this paper discusses the CSF methodology as a strategic information management process comprising several important phases: (i) understanding the external factors such as the organization's industry, market and environment; (ii) achieving strong support and championship from top management; (iii) encouraging the proactive involvement of management and staff in generic CSF identification; (iv) educating and directing the participation of staff members in CSF verification and further refinement of generic CSFs into specific CSFs; and (v) aggregating, prioritizing and translating activity-related CSFs into organizational information requirements for the design of the organization's management information infrastructure. The implementation of this CSF approach is illustrated in the context of a British Columbia community hospital, with insights provided into key issues for future health researchers and practitioners.

  12. Government Services Information Infrastructure Management

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Cavallini, J.S.; Aiken, R.J.

    1995-04-01

    The Government Services Information Infrastructure (GSII) is that portion of the NII used to link Government and its services, enables virtual agency concepts, protects privacy, and supports emergency preparedness needs. The GSII is comprised of the supporting telecommunications technologies, network and information services infrastructure and the applications that use these. The GSII is an enlightened attempt by the Clinton/Gore Administration to form a virtual government crossing agency boundaries to interoperate more closely with industry and with the public to greatly improve the delivery of government services. The GSII and other private sector efforts, will have a significant impact on the design, development, and deployment of the NII, even if only through the procurement of such services. The Federal Government must adopt new mechanisms and new paradigms for the management of the GSII, including improved acquisition and operation of GSII components in order to maximize benefits. Government requirements and applications will continue to evolv. The requirements from government services and users of form affinity groups that more accurately and effectively define these common requirements, that drive the adoption and use of industry standards, and that provide a significant technology marketplace.

  13. Communications satellites in the national and global health care information infrastructure: their role, impact, and issues

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zuzek, J. E.; Bhasin, K. B.

    1996-01-01

    Health care services delivered from a distance, known collectively as telemedicine, are being increasingly demonstrated on various transmission media. Telemedicine activities have included diagnosis by a doctor at a remote location, emergency and disaster medical assistance, medical education, and medical informatics. The ability of communications satellites to offer communication channels and bandwidth on demand, connectivity to mobile, remote and under served regions, and global access will afford them a critical role for telemedicine applications within the National and Global Information Infrastructure (NII/GII). The importance that communications satellites will have in telemedicine applications within the NII/GII the differences in requirements for NII vs. GII, the major issues such as interoperability, confidentiality, quality, availability, and costs, and preliminary conclusions for future usability based on the review of several recent trails at national and global levels are presented.

  14. A qualitative study of health information technology in the Canadian public health system

    OpenAIRE

    Zinszer, Kate; Tamblyn, Robyn; Bates, David W; Buckeridge, David L

    2013-01-01

    Background: Although the adoption of health information technology (HIT) has advanced in Canada over the past decade, considerable challenges remain in supporting the development, broad adoption, and effective use of HIT in the public health system. Policy makers and practitioners have long recognized that improvements in HIT infrastructure are necessary to support effective and efficient public health practice. The objective of this study was to identify aspects of health information technol...

  15. Public health informatics and information systems

    CERN Document Server

    Magnuson, J A

    2013-01-01

    In a revised edition, this book covers all aspects of public health informatics, and discusses the creation and management of an information technology infrastructure that is essential in linking state and local organizations in their efforts to gather data.

  16. FOREWORD: Structural Health Monitoring and Intelligent Infrastructure

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wu, Zhishen; Fujino, Yozo

    2005-06-01

    This special issue collects together 19 papers that were originally presented at the First International Conference on Structural Health Monitoring and Intelligent Infrastructure (SHMII-1'2003), held in Tokyo, Japan, on 13-15 November 2003. This conference was organized by the Japan Society of Civil Engineers (JSCE) with partial financial support from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) and the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sport, Science and Technology, Japan. Many related organizations supported the conference. A total of 16 keynote papers including six state-of-the-art reports from different counties, six invited papers and 154 contributed papers were presented at the conference. The conference was attended by a diverse group of about 300 people from a variety of disciplines in academia, industry and government from all over the world. Structural health monitoring (SHM) and intelligent materials, structures and systems have been the subject of intense research and development in the last two decades and, in recent years, an increasing range of applications in infrastructure have been discovered both for existing structures and for new constructions. SHMII-1'2003 addressed progress in the development of building, transportation, marine, underground and energy-generating structures, and other civilian infrastructures that are periodically, continuously and/or actively monitored where there is a need to optimize their performance. In order to focus the current needs on SHM and intelligent technologies, the conference theme was set as 'Structures/Infrastructures Sustainability'. We are pleased to have the privilege to edit this special issue on SHM and intelligent infrastructure based on SHMII-1'2003. We invited some of the presenters to submit a revised/extended version of their paper that was included in the SHMII-1'2003 proceedings for possible publication in the special issue. Each paper included in this special issue was edited with the same

  17. Data Requirements and the Basis for Designing Health Information Kiosks.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Afzali, Mina; Ahmadi, Maryam; Mahmoudvand, Zahra

    2017-09-01

    Health kiosks are an innovative and cost-effective solution that organizations can easily implement to help educate people. To determine the data requirements and basis for designing health information kiosks as a new technology to maintain the health of society. By reviewing the literature, a list of information requirements was provided in 4 sections (demographic information, general information, diagnostic information and medical history), and questions related to the objectives, data elements, stakeholders, requirements, infrastructures and the applications of health information kiosks were provided. In order to determine the content validity of the designed set, the opinions of 2 physicians and 2 specialists in medical informatics were obtained. The test-retest method was used to measure its reliability. Data were analyzed using SPSS software. In the proposed model for Iran, 170 data elements in 6 sections were presented for experts' opinion, which ultimately, on 106 elements, a collective agreement was reached. To provide a model of health information kiosk, creating a standard data set is a critical point. According to a survey conducted on the various literature review studies related to the health information kiosk, the most important components of a health information kiosk include six categories; information needs, data elements, applications, stakeholders, requirements and infrastructure of health information kiosks that need to be considered when designing a health information kiosk.

  18. Mental health research in Brazil: policies, infrastructure, financing and human resources

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mari Jair de Jesus

    2006-01-01

    Full Text Available The objective of this descriptive study was to map mental health research in Brazil, providing an overview of infrastructure, financing and policies mental health research. As part of the Atlas-Research Project, a WHO initiative to map mental health research in selected low and middle-income countries, this study was carried out between 1998 and 2002. Data collection strategies included evaluation of governmental documents and sites and questionnaires sent to key professionals for providing information about the Brazilian mental health research infrastructure. In the year 2002, the total budget for Health Research was US$101 million, of which US$3.4 million (3.4 was available for Mental Health Research. The main funding sources for mental health research were found to be the São Paulo State Funding Agency (Fapesp, 53.2% and the Ministry of Education (CAPES, 30.2%. The rate of doctors is 1.7 per 1,000 inhabitants, and the rate of psychiatrists is 2.7 per 100,000 inhabitants estimated 2000 census. In 2002, there were 53 postgraduate courses directed to mental health training in Brazil (43 in psychology, six in psychiatry, three in psychobiology and one in psychiatric nursing, with 1,775 students being trained in Brazil and 67 overseas. There were nine programs including psychiatry, neuropsychiatry, psychobiology and mental health, seven of them implemented in Southern states. During the five-year period, 186 students got a doctoral degree (37 per year and 637 articles were published in Institute for Scientic Information (ISI-indexed journals. The investment channeled towards postgraduate and human resource education programs, by means of grants and other forms of research support, has secured the country a modest but continuous insertion in the international knowledge production in the mental health area.

  19. A knowledge infrastructure for occupational safety and health.

    Science.gov (United States)

    van Dijk, Frank J H; Verbeek, Jos H; Hoving, Jan L; Hulshof, Carel T J

    2010-12-01

    Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) professionals should use scientific evidence to support their decisions in policy and practice. Although examples from practice show that progress has been made in evidence-based decision making, there is a challenge to improve and extend the facilities that support knowledge translation in practice. A knowledge infrastructure that supports OSH practice should include scientific research, systematic reviews, practice guidelines, and other tools for professionals such as well accessible virtual libraries and databases providing knowledge, quality tools, and good learning materials. A good infrastructure connects facilities with each other and with practice. Training and education is needed for OSH professionals in the use of evidence to improve effectiveness and efficiency. New initiatives show that occupational health can profit from intensified international collaboration to establish a good functioning knowledge infrastructure.

  20. A virtual laboratory for micro-grid information and communication infrastructures

    OpenAIRE

    Weimer, James; Xu, Yuzhe; Fischione, Carlo; Johansson, Karl Henrik; Ljungberg, Per; Donovan, Craig; Sutor, Ariane; Fahlén, Lennart E.

    2012-01-01

    Testing smart grid information and communication (ICT) infrastructures is imperative to ensure that they meet industry requirements and standards and do not compromise the grid reliability. Within the micro-grid, this requires identifying and testing ICT infrastructures for communication between distributed energy resources, building, substations, etc. To evaluate various ICT infrastructures for micro-grid deployment, this work introduces the Virtual Micro-Grid Laboratory (VMGL) and provides ...

  1. Utilizing an integrated infrastructure for outcomes research: a systematic review.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dixon, Brian E; Whipple, Elizabeth C; Lajiness, John M; Murray, Michael D

    2016-03-01

    To explore the ability of an integrated health information infrastructure to support outcomes research. A systematic review of articles published from 1983 to 2012 by Regenstrief Institute investigators using data from an integrated electronic health record infrastructure involving multiple provider organisations was performed. Articles were independently assessed and classified by study design, disease and other metadata including bibliometrics. A total of 190 articles were identified. Diseases included cognitive, (16) cardiovascular, (16) infectious, (15) chronic illness (14) and cancer (12). Publications grew steadily (26 in the first decade vs. 100 in the last) as did the number of investigators (from 15 in 1983 to 62 in 2012). The proportion of articles involving non-Regenstrief authors also expanded from 54% in the first decade to 72% in the last decade. During this period, the infrastructure grew from a single health system into a health information exchange network covering more than 6 million patients. Analysis of journal and article metrics reveals high impact for clinical trials and comparative effectiveness research studies that utilised data available in the integrated infrastructure. Integrated information infrastructures support growth in high quality observational studies and diverse collaboration consistent with the goals for the learning health system. More recent publications demonstrate growing external collaborations facilitated by greater access to the infrastructure and improved opportunities to study broader disease and health outcomes. Integrated information infrastructures can stimulate learning from electronic data captured during routine clinical care but require time and collaboration to reach full potential. © 2015 Health Libraries Group.

  2. A secure and efficiently searchable health information architecture.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yasnoff, William A

    2016-06-01

    Patient-centric repositories of health records are an important component of health information infrastructure. However, patient information in a single repository is potentially vulnerable to loss of the entire dataset from a single unauthorized intrusion. A new health record storage architecture, the personal grid, eliminates this risk by separately storing and encrypting each person's record. The tradeoff for this improved security is that a personal grid repository must be sequentially searched since each record must be individually accessed and decrypted. To allow reasonable search times for large numbers of records, parallel processing with hundreds (or even thousands) of on-demand virtual servers (now available in cloud computing environments) is used. Estimated search times for a 10 million record personal grid using 500 servers vary from 7 to 33min depending on the complexity of the query. Since extremely rapid searching is not a critical requirement of health information infrastructure, the personal grid may provide a practical and useful alternative architecture that eliminates the large-scale security vulnerabilities of traditional databases by sacrificing unnecessary searching speed. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  3. A data infrastructure for the assessment of health care performance: lessons from the BRIDGE-health project.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bernal-Delgado, Enrique; Estupiñán-Romero, Francisco

    2018-01-01

    The integration of different administrative data sources from a number of European countries has been shown useful in the assessment of unwarranted variations in health care performance. This essay describes the procedures used to set up a data infrastructure (e.g., data access and exchange, definition of the minimum common wealth of data required, and the development of the relational logic data model) and, the methods to produce trustworthy healthcare performance measurements (e.g., ontologies standardisation and quality assurance analysis). The paper ends providing some hints on how to use these lessons in an eventual European infrastructure on public health research and monitoring. Although the relational data infrastructure developed has been proven accurate, effective to compare health system performance across different countries, and efficient enough to deal with hundred of millions of episodes, the logic data model might not be responsive if the European infrastructure aims at including electronic health records and carrying out multi-cohort multi-intervention comparative effectiveness research. The deployment of a distributed infrastructure based on semantic interoperability, where individual data remain in-country and open-access scripts for data management and analysis travel around the hubs composing the infrastructure, might be a sensible way forward.

  4. Securing military information systems on public infrastructure

    CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

    Botha, P

    2015-03-01

    Full Text Available to set up in time for scenarios which require real time information. This may force communications to utilise public infrastructure. Securing communications for military mobile and Web based systems over public networks poses a greater challenge compared...

  5. Enterprise Modelling for an Educational Information Infrastructure

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Widya, I.A.; Michiels, E.F.; Volman, C.J.A.M.; Pokraev, S.; de Diana, I.P.F.; Filipe, J.; Sharp, B.; Miranda, P.

    2001-01-01

    This paper reports the modelling exercise of an educational information infrastructure that aims to support the organisation of teaching and learning activities suitable for a wide range of didactic policies. The modelling trajectory focuses on capturing invariant structures of relations between

  6. Organisational aspects of spatial information infrastructure in Poland

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bielecka, Elzbieta; Zwirowicz-Rutkowska, Agnieszka

    2013-06-01

    One of the more important elements of spatial information infrastructure is the organisational structure defining the obligations and dependencies between stakeholders that are responsible for the infrastructure. Many SDI practitioners and theoreticians emphasise that its influence on the success or failure of activities undertaken is significantly greater than that of technical aspects. Being aware of the role of the organisational structure in the creating, operating and maintenance of spatial information infrastructure (SII), Polish legislators placed appropriate regulations in the Spatial Information Infrastructure Act, being the transposition of the INSPIRE Directive into Polish Law. The principal spatial information infrastructure stakeholders are discussed in the article and also the scope of cooperation between them. The tasks and relationships between stakeholders are illustrated in UML, in both the use case and the class diagram. Mentioned also are the main problems and obstructions resulting from imprecise legal regulations. Jednym z istotniejszych komponentów infrastruktury informacji przestrzennej (IIP) jest struktura organizacyjna określająca m.in. zależności pomiędzy organizacjami tworzącymi infrastrukturę. Wielu praktyków i teoretyków SDI podkreśla, że wpływ aspektów organizacyjnych na sukces lub porażkę SDI jest dużo większy niż elementów technicznych. Mając świadomość znaczącej roli struktury organizacyjnej w tworzeniu, funkcjonowaniu i zarządzaniu infrastrukturą przestrzenną w Polsce, legislatorzy umieścili odpowiednie zapisy w ustawie z dnia 4 marca 2010 r. o infrastrukturze informacji przestrzennej, będącej transpozycją dyrektywy INSPIRE do prawa polskiego. W artykule omówiono strukturę organizacyjną IIP w Polsce, podając (m.in. w postaci diagramów UML) obowiązki poszczególnych organów administracji zaangażowanych w jej budowę i rozwój, a także omówiono zależności i zakres współpracy pomi

  7. Toward a digital library strategy for a National Information Infrastructure

    Science.gov (United States)

    Coyne, Robert A.; Hulen, Harry

    1993-01-01

    Bills currently before the House and Senate would give support to the development of a National Information Infrastructure, in which digital libraries and storage systems would be an important part. A simple model is offered to show the relationship of storage systems, software, and standards to the overall information infrastructure. Some elements of a national strategy for digital libraries are proposed, based on the mission of the nonprofit National Storage System Foundation.

  8. The cultivation of information infrastructures for international trade : Stakeholder challenges and engagement reasons

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Knol, A.J.; Tan, Y.

    2018-01-01

    The development of information infrastructures for international trade to improve supply chain visibility and security has gained momentum due to technological advances. An information infrastructure is a shared, open, and evolving assemblage of interlinked information systems providing distinct

  9. The European cooperative approach to securing critical information infrastructure.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Purser, Steve

    2011-10-01

    This paper provides an overview of the EU approach to securing critical information infrastructure, as defined in the Action Plan contained in the Commission Communication of March 2009, entitled 'Protecting Europe from large-scale cyber-attacks and disruptions: enhancing preparedness, security and resilience' and further elaborated by the Communication of May 2011 on critical Information infrastructure protection 'Achievements and next steps: towards global cyber-security'. After explaining the need for pan-European cooperation in this area, the CIIP Action Plan is explained in detail. Finally, the current state of progress is summarised together with the proposed next steps.

  10. From BIM to life cycle information management in infrastructure

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Nederveen, G.A. van; Wolfert, R.; Ruitenbeek, M. van de

    2014-01-01

    In principle, Building Information Modelling (BIM) should provide a basis for infrastructure information management during the whole life-cycle. In practice however, the use of BIM is normally limited to the design and construction phases. It seems that the use of BIM information in other life-cycle

  11. Open Access to essential health care information

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Pandey Manoj

    2004-12-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Open Access publishing is a valuable resource for the synthesis and distribution of essential health care information. This article discusses the potential benefits of Open Access, specifically in terms of Low and Middle Income (LAMI countries in which there is currently a lack of informed health care providers – mainly a consequence of poor availability to information. We propose that without copyright restrictions, Open Access facilitates distribution of the most relevant research and health care information. Furthermore, we suggest that the technology and infrastructure that has been put in place for Open Access could be used to publish download-able manuals, guides or basic handbooks created by healthcare providers in LAMI countries.

  12. On Cryptographic Information Security in Cloud Infrastructures: PKI and IBE Methods

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Konstantin Grigorevich Kogos

    2014-05-01

    Full Text Available The application of cryptographic security methods in cloud infrastructure information security is analyzed. The cryptographic problems in cloudy infrastructures are chosen; the appropriate protocols are investigated; the appropriate mathematical problems are examined.

  13. Architectural Building A Public Key Infrastructure Integrated Information Space

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Vadim Ivanovich Korolev

    2015-10-01

    Full Text Available The article keeps under consideration the mattersto apply the cryptographic system having a public key to provide information security and to implya digital signature. It performs the analysis of trust models at the formation of certificates and their use. The article describes the relationships between the trust model and the architecture public key infrastructure. It contains conclusions in respect of the options for building the public key infrastructure for integrated informationspace.

  14. Information system of forecasting infrastructure development in tourism

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gats Bogdan

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available Manuscript is devoted to the development of information system for tourist objects infrastructure growth and its practical implementation in form of information system using methods of fuzzy logic, theory of fractals and diffusion. Developed technology allows compute attractiveness of Carpathian region, structure, dynamics of the main tourist settlements Vorochta and Slavske, prospective territories for tourist business, growing strategies for region.

  15. 75 FR 17744 - Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology HIT Policy Committee...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-07

    ... Coordinator for Health Information Technology, HHS. ACTION: Notice of change of location for meetings. This... Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC). The meeting will be open to the public. Name of Committee... health information technology infrastructure that permits the electronic exchange and use of health...

  16. 3D Spatial Information Infrastructure for the Port of Rotterdam

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Zlatanova, S.; Beetz, J.; Boersma, A.J.; Mulder, A.; Goos, J.

    2013-01-01

    The maintenance of the complex infrastructure and facilities of Port of Rotterdam is based on large amounts of heterogeneous information. Almost all activities of the Port require spatial information about features above- and under- ground. Current information systems are department and data

  17. A relational conceptual framework for multidisciplinary health research centre infrastructure

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Johnson Joy L

    2010-10-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Although multidisciplinary and team-based approaches are increasingly acknowledged as necessary to address some of the most pressing contemporary health challenges, many researchers struggle with a lack of infrastructure to facilitate and formalise the requisite collaborations. Specialised research centres have emerged as an important organisational solution, yet centre productivity and sustainability are frequently dictated by the availability and security of infrastructure funds. Despite being widely cited as a core component of research capacity building, infrastructure as a discrete concept has been rather analytically neglected, often treated as an implicit feature of research environments with little specification or relegated to a narrow category of physical or administrative inputs. The terms research infrastructure, capacity, and culture, among others, are deployed in overlapping and inconsistent ways, further obfuscating the crucial functions of infrastructure specifically and its relationships with associated concepts. The case is made for an expanded conceptualisation of research infrastructure, one that moves beyond conventional 'hardware' notions. Drawing on a case analysis of NEXUS, a multidisciplinary health research centre based at the University of British Columbia, Canada, a conceptual framework is proposed that integrates the tangible and intangible structures that interactively underlie research centre functioning. A relational approach holds potential to allow for more comprehensive accounting of the returns on infrastructure investment. For those developing new research centres or seeking to reinvigorate existing ones, this framework may be a useful guide for both centre design and evaluation.

  18. 6 CFR 29.7 - Safeguarding of Protected Critical Infrastructure Information.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... Infrastructure Information. 29.7 Section 29.7 Domestic Security DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY, OFFICE OF THE..., and consistent with the Act, for Automated Information Systems that contain PCII. Such security requirements will be in conformance with the information technology security requirements in the Federal...

  19. Developing Sustainable Urban Water-Energy Infrastructures: Applying a Multi-Sectoral Social-Ecological-Infrastructural Systems (SEIS) Framework

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ramaswami, A.

    2016-12-01

    Urban infrastructure - broadly defined to include the systems that provide water, energy, food, shelter, transportation-communication, sanitation and green/public spaces in cities - have tremendous impact on the environment and on human well-being (Ramaswami et al., 2016; Ramaswami et al., 2012). Aggregated globally, these sectors contribute 90% of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and 96% of global water withdrawals. Urban infrastructure contributions to such impacts are beginning to dominate. Cities are therefore becoming the action arena for infrastructure transformations that can achieve high levels of service delivery while reducing environmental impacts and enhancing human well-being. Achieving sustainable urban infrastructure transitions requires: information about the engineered infrastructure, and its interaction with the natural (ecological-environmental) and the social sub-systems In this paper, we apply a multi-sector, multi-scalar Social-Ecological-Infrastructural Systems framework that describes the interactions among biophysical engineered infrastructures, the natural environment and the social system in a systems-approach to inform urban infrastructure transformations. We apply the SEIS framework to inform water and energy sector transformations in cities to achieve environmental and human health benefits realized at multiple scales - local, regional and global. Local scales address pollution, health, wellbeing and inequity within the city; regional scales address regional pollution, scarcity, as well as supply risks in the water-energy sectors; global impacts include greenhouse gas emissions and climate impacts. Different actors shape infrastructure transitions including households, businesses, and policy actors. We describe the development of novel cross-sectoral strategies at the water-energy nexus in cities, focusing on water, waste and energy sectors, in a case study of Delhi, India. Ramaswami, A.; Russell, A.G.; Culligan, P.J.; Sharma, K

  20. Critical Infrastructure Protection and Information Assurance (CIPIA) Fellow Program

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Chen, Peter

    2003-01-01

    LSU was one of the universities chosen to participate in the project of training new researchers to work on the Critical Infrastructure Protection and Information Assurance (CIPIA) areas. Three Ph.D...

  1. Assessing health consumerism on the Web: a demographic profile of information-seeking behaviors.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lorence, Daniel P; Park, Heeyoung; Fox, Susannah

    2006-08-01

    The growing diversity of the online health information community is increasingly cited as a limiting factor related to the potential of the Internet as an effective health communication channel and information resource. Public-access Internet portals and decreasing costs of personal computers have created a consensus that unequal access to information, or a "Digital Divide," presents a like problem specific to health care consumers. Access to information, however, is an essential part of the consumer-centric framework outlined in the recently proposed U.S. National Health Information Infrastructure (NHII) and Health Architecture initiatives. To date little research has been done to differentiate the types of health information sought on the Web by different subgroups, linking user characteristics and health-seeking behaviors. Data from a study of consumer Web search activity in a post-intervention era serves as a natural experiment, and can identify whether a "digitally underserved group" persists in the United States. Such an environment would serve to exclude traditionally underserved groups from the benefits of the planned national heath information infrastructure. This exploratory technology assessment study seeks to differentiate and delineate specific behaviors, or lack of desired behaviors, across targeted health care subgroups. Doing so allows the design of more effective strategies to promote the use of the Web as a health education and health promotion tool, under the envisioned shared decision-making, consumer-centric health information model.

  2. relevance of information warfare models to critical infrastructure

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    ismith

    Critical infrastructure models, strategies and policies should take information ... gain an advantage over a competitor or adversary through the use of one's own .... digital communications system, where the vehicles are analogous to bits or packets, ..... performance degraded, causing an increase in traffic finding a new route.

  3. [Public health infrastructure investment difficulties in Chile: concessions and public tenders].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Goyenechea, Matías

    2016-05-12

    This paper seeks to highlight the problems of gaps in health infrastructure in Chile, and to analyze the mechanisms by which it is provided. In Chile this is done in two ways: the first is through competitive bidding or sector-wide modality. The second way is through hospital concessions. Both mechanisms have had difficulties in recent years, which are reported. Finally, we propose ways to improve the provision of health infrastructure in Chile.

  4. Safeguarding information intensive critical infrastructures against novel types of emerging failures

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Balducelli, C.; Bologna, S.; Lavalle, L.; Vicoli, G.

    2007-01-01

    The complexity of information intensive critical infrastructures, like electricity networks, telecommunication networks and public transportation networks is today augmented much more than in the past: such complexity augments the number of possible failures and anomalous working conditions and consequently decreases the survivability of the infrastructures. In this paper, the possibility is investigated to detect early anomalies and failures inside information intensive critical infrastructures by the introduction of anomaly detectors being 'self-aware' about the normal working conditions of the infrastructure itself. This approach has the objective to improve the performance of the most popular signature-based algorithms for intrusion detection, and makes use of different classes of time-oriented algorithms based on artificial intelligence paradigm. It has the advantage to work also in presence of unknown and unexpected types of attacks or failures. The tests, to evaluate the performance of the utilised detectors, are executed inside an emulated supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) system of an electrical power transmission grid, and a proposal for the future integration inside real SCADA systems is also reported

  5. Safeguarding information intensive critical infrastructures against novel types of emerging failures

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Balducelli, C. [ENEA-Italian National Agency for new Technology, Energy and the Environment Via Anguillasere 301, 00060 Rome (Italy)]. E-mail: claudio.balducelli@casaccia.enea.it; Bologna, S. [ENEA-Italian National Agency for new Technology, Energy and the Environment Via Anguillasere 301, 00060 Rome (Italy); Lavalle, L. [ENEA-Italian National Agency for new Technology, Energy and the Environment Via Anguillasere 301, 00060 Rome (Italy); Vicoli, G. [ENEA-Italian National Agency for new Technology, Energy and the Environment Via Anguillasere 301, 00060 Rome (Italy)

    2007-09-15

    The complexity of information intensive critical infrastructures, like electricity networks, telecommunication networks and public transportation networks is today augmented much more than in the past: such complexity augments the number of possible failures and anomalous working conditions and consequently decreases the survivability of the infrastructures. In this paper, the possibility is investigated to detect early anomalies and failures inside information intensive critical infrastructures by the introduction of anomaly detectors being 'self-aware' about the normal working conditions of the infrastructure itself. This approach has the objective to improve the performance of the most popular signature-based algorithms for intrusion detection, and makes use of different classes of time-oriented algorithms based on artificial intelligence paradigm. It has the advantage to work also in presence of unknown and unexpected types of attacks or failures. The tests, to evaluate the performance of the utilised detectors, are executed inside an emulated supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) system of an electrical power transmission grid, and a proposal for the future integration inside real SCADA systems is also reported.

  6. 3D spatial information infrastructure : The case of Port Rotterdam

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Zlatanova, S.; Beetz, J.

    2012-01-01

    The development and maintenance of the infrastructure, facilities, logistics and other assets of the Port of Rotterdam requires a broad spectrum of heterogeneous information. This information concerns features, which are spatially distributed above ground, underground, in the air and in the water.

  7. The information infrastructure that supports evidence-based veterinary medicine: a comparison with human medicine.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Toews, Lorraine

    2011-01-01

    In human medicine, the information infrastructure that supports the knowledge translation processes of exchange, synthesis, dissemination, and application of the best clinical intervention research has developed significantly in the past 15 years, facilitating the uptake of research evidence by clinicians as well as the practice of evidence-based medicine. Seven of the key elements of this improved information infrastructure are clinical trial registries, research reporting standards, systematic reviews, organizations that support the production of systematic reviews, the indexing of clinical intervention research in MEDLINE, clinical search filters for MEDLINE, and point-of-care decision support information resources. The objective of this paper is to describe why these elements are important for evidence-based medicine, the key developments and issues related to these seven information infrastructure elements in human medicine, how these 7 elements compare with the corresponding infrastructure elements in veterinary medicine, and how all of these factors affect the translation of clinical intervention research into clinical practice. A focused search of the Ovid MEDLINE database was conducted for English language journal literature published between 2000 and 2010. Two bibliographies were consulted and selected national and international Web sites were searched using Google. The literature reviewed indicates that the information infrastructure supporting evidence-based veterinary medicine practice in all of the 7 elements reviewed is significantly underdeveloped in relation to the corresponding information infrastructure in human medicine. This lack of development creates barriers to the timely translation of veterinary medicine research into clinical practice and also to the conduct of both primary clinical intervention research and synthesis research.

  8. 77 FR 38092 - NASA Advisory Council; Information Technology Infrastructure Committee; Meeting

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-06-26

    .... The meeting will be held for the purpose of soliciting from the information technology community and... NAC Information Technology Infrastructure Committee meeting in Building 28. All U.S. citizens and... NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION [Notice 12-048] NASA Advisory Council; Information...

  9. Balancing Good Intentions: Protecting the Privacy of Electronic Health Information

    Science.gov (United States)

    McClanahan, Kitty

    2008-01-01

    Electronic information is a vital but complex component in the modern health care system, fueling ongoing efforts to develop a universal electronic health record infrastructure. This innovation creates a substantial tension between two desirable values: the increased quality and utility of patient medical records and the protection of the privacy…

  10. Infrastructure for the Geospatial Web

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lake, Ron; Farley, Jim

    Geospatial data and geoprocessing techniques are now directly linked to business processes in many areas. Commerce, transportation and logistics, planning, defense, emergency response, health care, asset management and many other domains leverage geospatial information and the ability to model these data to achieve increased efficiencies and to develop better, more comprehensive decisions. However, the ability to deliver geospatial data and the capacity to process geospatial information effectively in these domains are dependent on infrastructure technology that facilitates basic operations such as locating data, publishing data, keeping data current and notifying subscribers and others whose applications and decisions are dependent on this information when changes are made. This chapter introduces the notion of infrastructure technology for the Geospatial Web. Specifically, the Geography Markup Language (GML) and registry technology developed using the ebRIM specification delivered from the OASIS consortium are presented as atomic infrastructure components in a working Geospatial Web.

  11. Site Support Program Plan Infrastructure Program

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1995-01-01

    The Fiscal Year 1996 Infrastructure Program Site Support Program Plan addresses the mission objectives, workscope, work breakdown structures (WBS), management approach, and resource requirements for the Infrastructure Program. Attached to the plan are appendices that provide more detailed information associated with scope definition. The Hanford Site's infrastructure has served the Site for nearly 50 years during defense materials production. Now with the challenges of the new environmental cleanup mission, Hanford's infrastructure must meet current and future mission needs in a constrained budget environment, while complying with more stringent environmental, safety, and health regulations. The infrastructure requires upgrading, streamlining, and enhancement in order to successfully support the site mission of cleaning up the Site, research and development, and economic transition

  12. On the Enterprise Modelling of an Educational Information Infrastructure

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Widya, I.A.; Volman, C.J.A.M.; Pokraev, S.; de Diana, I.P.F.; Michiels, E.F.; Filipe, Joaquim; Sharp, Bernadette; Miranda, Paula

    2002-01-01

    This paper reports the modelling exercise of an educational information infrastructure that aims to support the organisation of teaching and learning activities suitable for a wide range of didactic policies. The modelling trajectory focuses on capturing invariant structures of relations between

  13. 75 FR 16126 - Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology; HIT Policy Committee...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-03-31

    ... Coordinator for Health Information Technology, HHS. ACTION: Notice of meeting. This notice announces a... Information Technology (ONC). The meeting will be open to the public. Name of Committee: HIT Policy Committee... framework for the development and adoption of a nationwide health information technology infrastructure that...

  14. 75 FR 151 - Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology; HIT Policy Committee...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-04

    ... Coordinator for Health Information Technology, HHS. ACTION: Notice of meeting. This notice announces a... Information Technology (ONC). The meeting will be open to the public. Name of Committee: HIT Policy Committee... framework for the development and adoption of a nationwide health information technology infrastructure that...

  15. 76 FR 9784 - Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology; HIT Policy Committee...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-02-22

    ... Coordinator for Health Information Technology, HHS. ACTION: Notice of meeting. This notice announces a... Information Technology (ONC). The meeting will be open to the public. Name of Committee: HIT Policy Committee... framework for the development and adoption of a nationwide health information technology infrastructure that...

  16. 75 FR 65486 - Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology; HIT Policy Committee...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-10-25

    ... Coordinator for Health Information Technology, HHS. ACTION: Notice of meeting. This notice announces a... Information Technology (ONC). The meeting will be open to the public. Name of Committee: HIT Policy Committee... framework for the development and adoption of a nationwide health information technology infrastructure that...

  17. 75 FR 29762 - Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology; HIT Policy Committee...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-05-27

    ... Coordinator for Health Information Technology, HHS. ACTION: Notice of meeting. This notice announces a... Information Technology (ONC). The meeting will be open to the public. Name of Committee: HIT Policy Committee... framework for the development and adoption of a nationwide health information technology infrastructure that...

  18. 75 FR 51820 - Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology; HIT Policy Committee...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-08-23

    ... Coordinator for Health Information Technology, HHS. ACTION: Notice of meeting. This notice announces a... Information Technology (ONC). The meeting will be open to the public. Name of Committee: HIT Policy Committee... framework for the development and adoption of a nationwide health information technology infrastructure that...

  19. 76 FR 4352 - Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology; HIT Policy Committee...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-01-25

    ... Coordinator for Health Information Technology, HHS. ACTION: Notice of meeting. This notice announces a... Information Technology (ONC). The meeting will be open to the public. Name of Committee: HIT Policy Committee... framework for the development and adoption of a nationwide health information technology infrastructure that...

  20. 75 FR 5595 - Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology; HIT Policy Committee...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-02-03

    ... Coordinator for Health Information Technology, HHS. ACTION: Notice of meeting. This notice announces a... Information Technology (ONC). The meeting will be open to the public. Name of Committee: HIT Policy Committee... framework for the development and adoption of a nationwide health information technology infrastructure that...

  1. 75 FR 57026 - Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology; HIT Policy Committee...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-09-17

    ... Coordinator for Health Information Technology, HHS. ACTION: Notice of meeting. This notice announces a... Information Technology (ONC). The meeting will be open to the public. Name of Committee: HIT Policy Committee... framework for the development and adoption of a nationwide health information technology infrastructure that...

  2. 75 FR 42091 - Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology; HIT Policy Committee...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-20

    ... Coordinator for Health Information Technology, HHS. ACTION: Notice of meeting. This notice announces a... Information Technology (ONC). The meeting will be open to the public. Name of Committee: HIT Policy Committee... framework for the development and adoption of a nationwide health information technology infrastructure that...

  3. Building research infrastructure in community health centers: a Community Health Applied Research Network (CHARN) report.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Likumahuwa, Sonja; Song, Hui; Singal, Robbie; Weir, Rosy Chang; Crane, Heidi; Muench, John; Sim, Shao-Chee; DeVoe, Jennifer E

    2013-01-01

    This article introduces the Community Health Applied Research Network (CHARN), a practice-based research network of community health centers (CHCs). Established by the Health Resources and Services Administration in 2010, CHARN is a network of 4 community research nodes, each with multiple affiliated CHCs and an academic center. The four nodes (18 individual CHCs and 4 academic partners in 9 states) are supported by a data coordinating center. Here we provide case studies detailing how CHARN is building research infrastructure and capacity in CHCs, with a particular focus on how community practice-academic partnerships were facilitated by the CHARN structure. The examples provided by the CHARN nodes include many of the building blocks of research capacity: communication capacity and "matchmaking" between providers and researchers; technology transfer; research methods tailored to community practice settings; and community institutional review board infrastructure to enable community oversight. We draw lessons learned from these case studies that we hope will serve as examples for other networks, with special relevance for community-based networks seeking to build research infrastructure in primary care settings.

  4. Site Support Program Plan Infrastructure Program

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    1995-09-26

    The Fiscal Year 1996 Infrastructure Program Site Support Program Plan addresses the mission objectives, workscope, work breakdown structures (WBS), management approach, and resource requirements for the Infrastructure Program. Attached to the plan are appendices that provide more detailed information associated with scope definition. The Hanford Site`s infrastructure has served the Site for nearly 50 years during defense materials production. Now with the challenges of the new environmental cleanup mission, Hanford`s infrastructure must meet current and future mission needs in a constrained budget environment, while complying with more stringent environmental, safety, and health regulations. The infrastructure requires upgrading, streamlining, and enhancement in order to successfully support the site mission of cleaning up the Site, research and development, and economic transition.

  5. The Central American Network for Disaster and Health Information.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Arnesen, Stacey J; Cid, Victor H; Scott, John C; Perez, Ricardo; Zervaas, Dave

    2007-07-01

    This paper describes an international outreach program to support rebuilding Central America's health information infrastructure after several natural disasters in the region, including Hurricane Mitch in 1998 and two major earthquakes in 2001. The National Library of Medicine joined forces with the Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization, the United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction, and the Regional Center of Disaster Information for Latin America and the Caribbean (CRID) to strengthen libraries and information centers in Central America and improve the availability of and access to health and disaster information in the region by developing the Central American Network for Disaster and Health Information (CANDHI). Through CRID, the program created ten disaster health information centers in medical libraries and disaster-related organizations in six countries. This project served as a catalyst for the modernization of several medical libraries in Central America. The resulting CANDHI provides much needed electronic access to public health "gray literature" on disasters, as well as access to numerous health information resources. CANDHI members assist their institutions and countries in a variety of disaster preparedness activities through collecting and disseminating information.

  6. Challenges and Opportunities of Implementing District-based Health Information System in Ethiopia

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Mengiste, Shegaw Anagaw

    2005-01-01

    This paper has analyzed the challenges of sustainability and scalability of HIS. The empirical analysis was conducted in a backward and disadvantaged region of Ethiopia. An ongoing process of HISP (Health Information System Program) was addressed and the main challenges in the implementation...... of sustainable and scalable district-based health information system in the context of Primary Health Care (PHC) sector in Ethiopia were identified. Human resource, infrastructure, and HIS related problems are the main challenges hindering the implementation of sustainable and scalable district-based health...... information systems in the region....

  7. Building community-engaged health research and discovery infrastructure on the South Side of Chicago: science in service to community priorities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lindau, Stacy Tessler; Makelarski, Jennifer A; Chin, Marshall H; Desautels, Shane; Johnson, Daniel; Johnson, Waldo E; Miller, Doriane; Peters, Susan; Robinson, Connie; Schneider, John; Thicklin, Florence; Watson, Natalie P; Wolfe, Marcus; Whitaker, Eric

    2011-01-01

    To describe the roles community members can and should play in, and an asset-based strategy used by Chicago's South Side Health and Vitality Studies for, building sustainable, large-scale community health research infrastructure. The Studies are a family of research efforts aiming to produce actionable knowledge to inform health policy, programming, and investments for the region. Community and university collaborators, using a consensus-based approach, developed shared theoretical perspectives, guiding principles, and a model for collaboration in 2008, which were used to inform an asset-based operational strategy. Ongoing community engagement and relationship-building support the infrastructure and research activities of the studies. Key steps in the asset-based strategy include: 1) continuous community engagement and relationship building, 2) identifying community priorities, 3) identifying community assets, 4) leveraging assets, 5) conducting research, 6) sharing knowledge and 7) informing action. Examples of community member roles, and how these are informed by the Studies' guiding principles, are provided. Community and university collaborators, with shared vision and principles, can effectively work together to plan innovative, large-scale community-based research that serves community needs and priorities. Sustainable, effective models are needed to realize NIH's mandate for meaningful translation of biomedical discovery into improved population health. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  8. Position paper: researching and developing open architectures for national health information systems in developing African countries

    CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

    Moodley, D

    2011-08-01

    Full Text Available Most African countries have limited health information systems infrastructure. Some health information system components are implemented but often on an adhoc, piecemeal basis, by foreign software developers and designed to solve specific problems...

  9. Electronic health record standards, coding systems, frameworks, and infrastructures

    CERN Document Server

    Sinha, Pradeep K; Bendale, Prashant; Mantri, Manisha; Dande, Atreya

    2013-01-01

    Discover How Electronic Health Records Are Built to Drive the Next Generation of Healthcare Delivery The increased role of IT in the healthcare sector has led to the coining of a new phrase ""health informatics,"" which deals with the use of IT for better healthcare services. Health informatics applications often involve maintaining the health records of individuals, in digital form, which is referred to as an Electronic Health Record (EHR). Building and implementing an EHR infrastructure requires an understanding of healthcare standards, coding systems, and frameworks. This book provides an

  10. Using GIS to assess priorities of infrastructure and health needs of colonias along the United States-Mexico border

    Science.gov (United States)

    Parcher, J.W.; Humberson, D.G.

    2009-01-01

    Colonias, which are unincorporated border setdements in the United. States, have emerged in rural areas without the governance and services normally provided by local government. Colonia residents live in poverty and lack adequate health care, potable water, and sanitation systems. These conditions create substantial health risks for themselves and surrounding communities. By 2001, more than 1,400 colonias were identified in Texas. Cooperation with several Federal and Texas state agencies has allowed the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) to improve colonia Geographic Information System (GIS) boundaries and develop the Colonia Health, Infrastructure, and Platting Status tool (CHIPS). Together, the GIS boundaries and CHIPS aid the Texas government in prioritizing the limited funds that are available for infrastructure improvement. CHIPS's report: generator can be tailored, to the needs of the user, providing either broad or specific output. CHIPS is publicly available on the U.S. Geological Survey Border Environmental Health Initiative website at http://borderhealth.cr. usgs.gov.

  11. A Secure NEC-enabling Architecture : Disentangling Infrastructure, Information and Security

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Boonstra, D.; Hartog, T.; Schotanus, H.A.; Verkoelen, C.A.A.

    2011-01-01

    The NATO Network-Enabled Capability (NNEC) study envisions effective and efficient cooperation among the coalition partners in missions. This requires information sharing and efficient deployment of IT assets. Current military communication infrastructures are mostly deployed as stand-alone

  12. 76 FR 50487 - Protected Critical Infrastructure Information (PCII) Stakeholder Survey

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-08-15

    ... DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY [Docket No. DHS-2011-0018] Protected Critical Infrastructure Information (PCII) Stakeholder Survey AGENCY: National Protection and Programs Directorate, DHS. ACTION: 30... Department of Homeland Security (DHS), National Protection and Programs Directorate (NPPD), Office of...

  13. 76 FR 17935 - Protected Critical Infrastructure Information (PCII) Stakeholder Survey

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-03-31

    ... DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY [Docket No. DHS-2011-0018] Protected Critical Infrastructure Information (PCII) Stakeholder Survey AGENCY: National Protection and Programs Directorate, DHS. ACTION: 60... Department of Homeland Security (DHS), National Protection and Programs Directorate (NPPD), Office of...

  14. THE COMMUNICATIONS INFRASTRUCTURE OF THE INFORMATION SOCIETY

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nicula Adrian

    2012-12-01

    Full Text Available This paper aims to briefly present the term of „information society”, term used since the beginning of the 90’s, which implies the usage of new information technology both to the individual and organizational level with high ease, in all spheres of activities with a significant economic and social impact, making changes in social, cultural, educational, economic, environmental, political, administrative and judicial dimensions, changes that influence the work, study and life conditions of all citizens. The more and more widely usage of ICT makes any economy become more efficient, more transparent, ensuring increased competitiveness and sustainable development. In terms of how ICT influences economic growth, Romania ranks 47 of the 70 countries analyzed in the Digital economy rankings 2010: Beyond e-readiness. Based on a synthetic indicator, defined by 24 variables in four categories, in order to determine the status of the information society, proposed by Marius Guran, and using the statistical data provided by ANCOM, the paper analyzes the current situation in Romania, answering the question: How digital is Romania in terms of communication infrastructure? Thus the paper presents the communication infrastructure from the point of view of: fixed telephony and its penetration rate per 100 inhabitants and per 100 households, a stagnant rate in the last few years; mobile telephony which reached saturation in recent years; cable TV which shows us that the penetration rate is quite low in Romanian households, mainly due to the low number of subscribers in rural areas, and also that the usage of DTH technology is growing.

  15. Homeland Security -- Reducing the Vulnerability of Public and Private Information Infrastructures to Terrorism: An Overview

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Seifert, Jeffrey W

    2002-01-01

    This report assesses the impact of the September 11, 2001 attacks on public and private information infrastructures in the context of critical infrastructure protection, continuity of operations (COOP...

  16. The Mais Médicos (More Doctors) Program, the infrastructure of Primary Health Units and the Municipal Human Development Index.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Soares, Joaquim José; Machado, Maria Helena; Alves, Cecília Brito

    2016-09-01

    The main objective of this article was to examine the context in which professionals working within the Mais Médicos (More Doctors) Program operate. This study used the infrastructure scale of primary health units (PHUs), which was recently developed by Soares Neto and colleagues to provide more information regarding the relationship between the infrastructure of PHUs and the Municipal Human Development Index (MHDI) of municipalities that received Mais Médicos Program doctors. Using exploratory and inferential statistics, the article shows that 65.2% of the PHUs that received Mais Médicos Program doctors had medium-quality infrastructure and only 5.8% of them had low-quality infrastructure. The correlation of 0.50 between the infrastructure indicator and the MHDI points to a moderate tendency for municipalities with low MHDIs to have more precarious PHUs. Using multiple linear regression analysis it can be inferred that the main factor that contributed to the increase in the infrastructure indicator of the PHUs was the average municipal income. On the other hand, the factor that negatively affected the infrastructure of the PHUs was being located in the north or northeast regions.

  17. A Good Practice Guide on Critical Infor-mation Infrastructure Protection

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Luiijf, H.A.M.; Schie, T.C.C. van

    2017-01-01

    Early 2016, the Meridian Process and the GFCE tasked the Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research TNO to develop a Good Practice Guide on Critical Information Infrastructure Protection (CIIP) for governmental policy-makers [1]. The guide primarily aims at governmental policy-makers,

  18. The Information Infrastructures Design Space

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Henningsson, Stefan; Rapti, Charikleia; Jensen, Thomas

    2017-01-01

    This paper develops a framework for characterising the design space of Information Infrastructures (IIs). Existing research has generally sought to unravel the convergent characteristics and mechanisms uniting IIs across a wide range of manifestations. In this research, we explore this divergence...... within the II design space. We do so by reviewing the II literature, focusing on the two domains of design situation and design resolution. Design situation refers to the relevant dimensions of the context in which an II is employed. Design resolution covers the dimensions along which the socio......-technical constituents can be assembled to form an effective solution. The resulting framework allows for the comparing and contrasting of II initiatives, and contributes towards a cumulative knowledge process aimed at a more refined understanding of how an II can be configured to address the specific problem at hand....

  19. Implementation of information and communication technologies for health in Bangladesh.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Islam, Sheik Mohammed Shariful; Tabassum, Reshman

    2015-11-01

    Bangladesh has yet to develop a fully integrated health information system infrastructure that is critical to guiding policy development and planning. Initial pilot telemedicine and eHealth programmes were not coordinated at national level. However, in 2011, a national eHealth policy was implemented. Bangladesh has made substantial improvements to its health system. However, the country still faces public health challenges with limited and inequitable access to health services and lack of adequate resources to meet the demands of the population. In 2008, eHealth services were introduced, including computerization of health facilities at sub-district levels, internet connections, internet servers and an mHealth service for communicating with health-care providers. Health facilities at sub-district levels were provided with internet connections and servers. In 482 upazila health complexes and district hospitals, an mHealth service was set-up where an on-duty doctor is available for patients at all hours to provide consultations by mobile phone. A government operated telemedicine service was initiated and by 2014, 43 fully equipped centres were in service. These centres provide medical consultations by qualified physicians to patients visiting rural and remote community clinics and union health centres. Despite early pilot interventions and successful implementation, progress in adopting eHealth strategies in Bangladesh has been slow. There is a lack of common standards on information technology for health, which causes difficulties in data management and sharing among different databases. Limited internet bandwidth and the high cost of infrastructure and software development are barriers to adoption of these technologies.

  20. Information needs of rural health professionals: a review of the literature.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dorsch, J L

    2000-10-01

    This review analyzes the existing research on the information needs of rural health professionals and relates it to the broader information-needs literature to establish whether the information needs of rural health professionals differ from those of other health professionals. The analysis of these studies indicates that rural health practitioners appear to have the same basic needs for patient-care information as their urban counterparts, and that both groups rely on colleagues and personal libraries as their main sources of information. Rural practitioners, however, tend to make less use of journals and online databases and ask fewer clinical questions; a difference that correlates with geographic and demographic factors. Rural practitioners experience pronounced barriers to information access including lack of time, isolation, inadequate library access, lack of equipment, lack of skills, costs, and inadequate Internet infrastructure. Outreach efforts to this group of underserved health professionals must be sustained to achieve equity in information access and to change information-seeking behaviors.

  1. Health Information Management System for Elderly Health Sector: A Qualitative Study in Iran.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sadoughi, Farahnaz; Shahi, Mehraban; Ahmadi, Maryam; Davaridolatabadi, Nasrin

    2016-02-01

    There are increasing change and development of information in healthcare systems. Given the increase in aging population, managers are in need of true and timely information when making decision. The aim of this study was to investigate the current status of the health information management system for the elderly health sector in Iran. This qualitative study was conducted in two steps. In the first step, required documents for administrative managers were collected using the data gathering form and observed and reviewed by the researcher. In the second step, using an interview guide, the required information was gathered through interviewing experts and faculty members. The convenience, purposeful and snowball sampling methods were applied to select interviewees and the sampling continued until reaching the data saturation point. Finally, notes and interviews were transcribed and content analysis was used to analyze them. The results of the study showed that there was a health information management system for the elderly health sector in Iran. However, in all primary health care centers the documentation of data was done manually; the data flow was not automated; and the analysis and reporting of data are also manually. Eventually, decision makers are provided with delayed information. It is suggested that the steward of health in Iran, the ministry of health, develops an appropriate infrastructure and finally puts a high priority on the implementation of the health information management system for elderly health sector in Iran.

  2. Integration in primary community care networks (PCCNs: examination of governance, clinical, marketing, financial, and information infrastructures in a national demonstration project in Taiwan

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lin Blossom Yen-Ju

    2007-06-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Taiwan's primary community care network (PCCN demonstration project, funded by the Bureau of National Health Insurance on March 2003, was established to discourage hospital shopping behavior of people and drive the traditional fragmented health care providers into cooperate care models. Between 2003 and 2005, 268 PCCNs were established. This study profiled the individual members in the PCCNs to study the nature and extent to which their network infrastructures have been integrated among the members (clinics and hospitals within individual PCCNs. Methods The thorough questionnaire items, covering the network working infrastructures – governance, clinical, marketing, financial, and information integration in PCCNs, were developed with validity and reliability confirmed. One thousand five hundred and fifty-seven clinics that had belonged to PCCNs for more than one year, based on the 2003–2005 Taiwan Primary Community Care Network List, were surveyed by mail. Nine hundred and twenty-eight clinic members responded to the surveys giving a 59.6 % response rate. Results Overall, the PCCNs' members had higher involvement in the governance infrastructure, which was usually viewed as the most important for establishment of core values in PCCNs' organization design and management at the early integration stage. In addition, it found that there existed a higher extent of integration of clinical, marketing, and information infrastructures among the hospital-clinic member relationship than those among clinic members within individual PCCNs. The financial infrastructure was shown the least integrated relative to other functional infrastructures at the early stage of PCCN formation. Conclusion There was still room for better integrated partnerships, as evidenced by the great variety of relationships and differences in extent of integration in this study. In addition to provide how the network members have done for their initial work at

  3. Enhancing access to health information in Africa: a librarian's perspective.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gathoni, Nasra

    2012-01-01

    In recent years, tremendous progress has been made toward providing health information in Africa, in part because of technological advancements. Nevertheless, ensuring that information is accessible, comprehensible, and usable remains problematic, and there remain needs in many settings to address issues such as computer skills, literacy, and the infrastructure to access information. To determine how librarians might play a more strategic role in meeting information needs of health professionals in Africa, the author reviewed key components of information systems pertinent to knowledge management for the health sector, including access to global online resources, capacity to use computer technology for information retrieval, information literacy, and the potential for professional networks to play a role in improving access to and use of information. The author concluded that, in regions that lack adequate information systems, librarians could apply their knowledge and skills to facilitate access and use by information seekers. Ensuring access to and use of health information can also be achieved by engaging organizations and associations working to enhance access to health information, such as the Association for Health Information and Libraries in Africa. These groups can provide assistance through training, dissemination, information repackaging, and other approaches known to improve information literacy.

  4. Building National Infrastructures for Patient-Centred Digital Services

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Thorseng, Anne; Jensen, Tina Blegind

    2015-01-01

    Patient-centred digital services are increasingly gaining impact in the healthcare sector. The premise is that patients will be better equipped for taking care of their own health through instant access to relevant information and by enhanced electronic communication with healthcare providers. One...... infrastructure theory, we highlight the enabling and constraining dynamics when designing and building a national infrastructure for patient-centred digital services. Furthermore, we discuss how such infrastructures can accommodate further development of services. The findings show that the Danish national e...

  5. Semantic Web Technologies as the Foundation for the Information Infrastructure

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Van Oosterom, Peter; Zlatanova, S.; Van Harmelen, Frank; Van Oosterom, Peter; Zlatanova, S

    2008-01-01

    The Semantic Web is arising over the pas few years as a realistic option for a world wide Information Infrastructure, with its promises of semantic interoperability and serendipitous reuse. In this paper we will analyse the essential ingredients of semantic technologies, what makes them suitable as

  6. [No exchange of information without technology : modern infrastructure in radiology].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hupperts, H; Hermann, K-G A

    2014-01-01

    Modern radiology cannot accomplish the daily numbers of examinations without supportive technology. Even though technology seems to be becoming increasingly more indispensable, business continuity should be ensured at any time and if necessary even with a limited technical infrastructure by business continuity management. An efficient information security management system forms the basis. The early radiology information systems were islands of information processing. A modern radiology department must be able to be modularly integrated into an informational network of a bigger organization. The secondary use of stored data for clinical decision-making support poses new challenges for the integrity of the data or systems because medical knowledge is displayed and provided in a context of treatment. In terms of imaging the creation and distribution radiology services work in a fully digital manner which is often different for radiology reports. Legally secure electronic diagnostic reports require a complex technical infrastructure; therefore, diagnostic findings still need to be filed as a paper document. The internal exchange and an improved dose management can be simplified by systems which continuously and automatically record the doses and thus provide the possibility of permanent analysis and reporting. Communication between patient and radiologist will gain ongoing importance. Intelligent use of technology will convey this to the radiologist and it will facilitate the understanding of the information by the patient.

  7. the GFCE-Meridian Good Practice Guide on Critical Information Infrastructure Protection for governmental policy-makers

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Luiijf, H.A.M.; Schie, T.C.C. van; Ruijven, T.W.J. van; Huistra, A.W.W.

    2016-01-01

    Critical Information Infrastructure Protection (CIIP) is a complex but important topic for nations. Nations at large critically depend on Critical Infrastructure (CI) services such as energy supply, telecommunications, financial systems, drinking water, and governmental services. Critical

  8. Solving a Health Information Management Problem. An international success story.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hannan, Terry J

    2015-01-01

    The management of health care delivery requires the availability of effective 'information management' tools based on e-technologies [eHealth]. In developed economies many of these 'tools' are readily available whereas in Low and Middle Income Countries (LMIC) there is limited access to eHealth technologies and this has been defined as the "digital divide". This paper provides a short introduction to the fundamental understanding of what is meant by information management in health care and how it applies to all social economies. The core of the paper describes the successful implementation of appropriate information management tools in a resource poor environment to manage the HIV/AIDS epidemic and other disease states, in sub-Saharan Africa and how the system has evolved to become the largest open source eHealth project in the world and become the health information infrastructure for several national eHealth economies. The system is known as Open MRS [www.openmrs.org). The continuing successful evolution of the OpenMRS project has permitted its key implementers to define core factors that are the foundations for successful eHealth projects.

  9. Impact of information technology infrastructure flexibility on mergers and acquisitions

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Benitez, Jose; Ray, Gautam; Henseler, Jörg

    2018-01-01

    Although mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are a common strategy to reduce costs and pursue growth, the variance in returns from M&A is very high. This research examines how information technology (IT) infrastructure flexibility affects M&A. We use a combination of secondary as well as matched-pair

  10. Informal settlements and a relational view of health in Nairobi, Kenya: sanitation, gender and dignity.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Corburn, Jason; Karanja, Irene

    2016-06-01

    On an urban planet, slums or informal settlements present an increasing challenge for health promotion. The living conditions in complex informal settlements interact with how people navigate through their daily lives and political institutions to shape health inequities. In this article, we suggest that only a relational place-based characterization of informal settlements can accurately capture the forces contributing to existing urban health inequities and inform appropriate and effective health promotion interventions. We explore our relational framework using household survey, spatial mapping and qualitative focus group data gathered in partnership with residents and non-governmental organizations in the Mathare informal settlement in Nairobi, Kenya. All data interpretation included participation with local residents and organizations. We focus on the inter-relationships between inadequate sanitation and disease, social, economic and human rights for women and girls, who we show are most vulnerable from poor slum infrastructure. We suggest that this collaborative process results in co-produced insights about the meanings and relationships between infrastructure, security, resilience and health. We conclude that complex informal settlements require relational and context-specific data gathering and analyses to understand the multiple determinants of health and to inform appropriate and effective healthy city interventions. © The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  11. Why Replacing Legacy Systems Is So Hard in Global Software Development: An Information Infrastructure Perspective

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Matthiesen, Stina; Bjørn, Pernille

    2015-01-01

    We report on an ethnographic study of an outsourcing global software development (GSD) setup between a Danish IT company and an Indian IT vendor developing a system to replace a legacy system for social services administration in Denmark. Physical distance and GSD collaboration issues tend...... to be obvious explanations for why GSD tasks fail to reach completion; however, we account for the difficulties within the technical nature of software system task. We use the framework of information infrastructure to show how replacing a legacy system in governmental information infrastructures includes...... the work of tracing back to knowledge concerning law, technical specifications, as well as how information infrastructures have dynamically evolved over time. Not easily carried out in a GSD setup is the work around technical tasks that requires careful examination of mundane technical aspects, standards...

  12. Acquiring underground infrastructure's as-built information for cities' sustainability

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jaw, S W

    2014-01-01

    The rapid progress of urbanization around the world has lead to an issue of urban land shortage. As such, the urban infrastructure, especially the utilities infrastructure, were buried underground for space saving and better design of urban landscape. However, this has created difficulties in locating these infrastructures from ground surface since they are invisible to the naked eye. Therefore, this paper offers a method to secure as-built information of the underground utility feature without excavation. This is done by utilizing digital image processing, a series of experiments conducted on preferred test site and real model simulation. By securing these underground utilities as-built information, it can contribute to the sustainability of cities through better urban planning. Moreover, the significant findings achieved in this study also eligible to pinpoint that ground penetrating radar (GPR) backscatter with appropritate treatment can yield unique backscatter signature which functional for identification of the types of underground utility without proving excavation. Thereby, good agreement between the backscatter reflections of GPR with respective underground utility not only serves as input which can channelled into a city's planning, but also uncovers the immense potential of GPR backscatter in reporting the ''feature information'' of the objects

  13. Health-care quality and information failure: Evidence from Nigeria.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Evans, David K; Welander Tärneberg, Anna

    2018-03-01

    Low-quality health services are a problem across low- and middle-income countries. Information failure may contribute, as patients may have insufficient knowledge to discern the quality of health services. That decreases the likelihood that patients will sort into higher quality facilities, increasing demand for better health services. This paper presents results from a health survey in Nigeria to investigate whether patients can evaluate health service quality effectively. Specifically, this paper demonstrates that although more than 90% of patients agree with any positive statement about the quality of their local health services, satisfaction is significantly associated with the diagnostic ability of health workers at the facility. Satisfaction is not associated with more superficial characteristics such as infrastructure quality or prescriptions of medicines. This suggests that patients may have sufficient information to discern some of the most important elements of quality, but that alternative measures are crucial for gauging the overall quality of care. Copyright © The World Bank Health Economics © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  14. Inscription of Behaviour and Flexible Interpretation in Information Infrastructures

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Henningsson, Stefan; Zinner Henriksen, Helle

    2011-01-01

    Despite the increasing importance of large IT-based solutions binding actors and processes together across institutional borders, still little is known about how these Information Infrastructures (IIs) assume their shapes and potentially may be reshaped towards specific ends. We focus...... on the duality of organizations using the IT artefacts of the European e-Customs IIs to inscribe harmonised behaviour into the operation of the infrastructure and how the IT artefacts are divergently interpreted by the users of the II. We find a tension between the need for artefacts with strong inscription...... to regulate the II and a need for flexibility for II users. The consequence is diluted inscriptions and, in contradiction to what has previously been concluded about interpretative flexibility, the European e-Customs II does not show signs of settling down in a stable phase with consensus. This lack...

  15. 75 FR 55616 - NASA Advisory Council; Information Technology Infrastructure Committee; Meeting

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-09-13

    ... NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION [Notice: (10-110)] NASA Advisory Council...-463, as amended, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) announce a meeting for the Information Technology Infrastructure Committee of the NASA Advisory Council (NAC). DATES: Tuesday, September...

  16. Auscope: Australian Earth Science Information Infrastructure using Free and Open Source Software

    Science.gov (United States)

    Woodcock, R.; Cox, S. J.; Fraser, R.; Wyborn, L. A.

    2013-12-01

    Since 2005 the Australian Government has supported a series of initiatives providing researchers with access to major research facilities and information networks necessary for world-class research. Starting with the National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS) the Australian earth science community established an integrated national geoscience infrastructure system called AuScope. AuScope is now in operation, providing a number of components to assist in understanding the structure and evolution of the Australian continent. These include the acquisition of subsurface imaging , earth composition and age analysis, a virtual drill core library, geological process simulation, and a high resolution geospatial reference framework. To draw together information from across the earth science community in academia, industry and government, AuScope includes a nationally distributed information infrastructure. Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) has been a significant enabler in building the AuScope community and providing a range of interoperable services for accessing data and scientific software. A number of FOSS components have been created, adopted or upgraded to create a coherent, OGC compliant Spatial Information Services Stack (SISS). SISS is now deployed at all Australian Geological Surveys, many Universities and the CSIRO. Comprising a set of OGC catalogue and data services, and augmented with new vocabulary and identifier services, the SISS provides a comprehensive package for organisations to contribute their data to the AuScope network. This packaging and a variety of software testing and documentation activities enabled greater trust and notably reduced barriers to adoption. FOSS selection was important, not only for technical capability and robustness, but also for appropriate licensing and community models to ensure sustainability of the infrastructure in the long term. Government agencies were sensitive to these issues and Au

  17. Augmented Reality for Infrastructure Information

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kjems, Erik; Hansen, Lasse Hedegaard

    2018-01-01

    . Is it possible to retrieve useful information of a design model at a later point in the life cycle for instance during maintenance? This question has actually been answered back in 2009 in (Schall et al., 2009) where a group of researchers developed a handheld AR device with a little monitor and GPS...... with infrastructure projects? There are three major use cases which are straight forward but certainly not all there is. 1. During the planning phase the new road structure can be presented making it way more easy for for instance politicians and neighbors in the area to grasp the new structure and the impact...... and consequences to the area. 2. During construction, the contractor can get an impression of the progress in the work especially connected to a 4D project management system seeing what is missing and what is not. 3. Finally, during maintenance, the possibility to “see through” the surface can give you...

  18. Using tracking infrastructure to support public health programs, policies, and emergency response in New York City.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jeffery, Nancy Loder; McKelvey, Wendy; Matte, Thomas

    2015-01-01

    To describe how the New York City (NYC) Tracking Program has used nationally mandated Secure Portal infrastructure and staff analytical expertise to support programs and inform policy. The NYC Health Department assesses, investigates, and acts on a wide range of environmental concerns to protect the health of New Yorkers. Specific examples of highly effective policies or initiatives that relied on the NYC Tracking Program are described, including restaurant sanitary grade posting, rat indexing, converting boilers to cleaner-burning fuels, reducing exposure to mercury from fish and contaminated products, and responding to Superstorm Sandy. The NYC Tracking Program supports the Health Department in using inspectional, administrative, and health data to guide operations. Tracking has also allowed internal and external partners to use these data to guide policy development.

  19. National Information Infrastructure and the realization of Singapore IT2000 initiative

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Cheryl Marie Cordeiro

    2001-01-01

    Full Text Available Being a small island and without any natural resource, Singapore has much to depend on its human potential and investment in National Information Infrastructure (NII in order to find its place in the ever competitive global world economies. From Singapore's first experience with the setting up and accessing of the Internet in 1991, the Singapore Government has expended so much creative and financial energy into using information technology to spearhead Singapore's success in terms of enticing and encouraging economic growth and achieving national competitiveness on a global scale. In 1991, the Singapore government, together with the National Computer Board (NCB currently known as the Infocomm Development Authority (IDA, launched the IT 2000, with the objective of converting Singapore into an intelligent island. With many NII projects in place and the various government initiative, this study focus on the role of Singapore Government in the development of the national information infrastructure and the realisation of IT2000 vision. This investigative study delves into the role of the Singapore government in helping Singapore forge its path into the new millennium of the information world.

  20. TOWARD SEMANTIC WEB INFRASTRUCTURE FOR SPATIAL FEATURES' INFORMATION

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    R. Arabsheibani

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available The Web and its capabilities can be employed as a tool for data and information integration if comprehensive datasets and appropriate technologies and standards enable the web with interpretation and easy alignment of data and information. Semantic Web along with the spatial functionalities enable the web to deal with the huge amount of data and information. The present study investigate the advantages and limitations of the Spatial Semantic Web and compare its capabilities with relational models in order to build a spatial data infrastructure. An architecture is proposed and a set of criteria is defined for the efficiency evaluation. The result demonstrate that when using the data with special characteristics such as schema dynamicity, sparse data or available relations between the features, the spatial semantic web and graph databases with spatial operations are preferable.

  1. Information technology skills and training needs of health information management professionals in Nigeria: a nationwide study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Taiwo Adeleke, Ibrahim; Hakeem Lawal, Adedeji; Adetona Adio, Razzaq; Adisa Adebisi, AbdulLateef

    There is a lack of effective health information management systems in Nigeria due to the prevalence of cumbersome paper-based and disjointed health data management systems. This can make informed healthcare decision making difficult. This study examined the information technology (IT) skills, utilisation and training needs of Nigerian health information management professionals. We deployed a cross-sectional structured questionnaire to determine the IT skills and training needs of health information management professionals who have leadership roles in the nation's healthcare information systems (n=374). It was found that ownership of a computer, level of education and age were associated with knowledge and perception of IT. The vast majority of participants (98.8%) acknowledged the importance and relevance of IT in healthcare information systems and many expressed a desire for further IT training, especially in statistical analysis. Despite this, few (8.1 %) worked in settings where such systems operate and there exists an IT skill gap among these professionals which is not compatible with their roles in healthcare information systems. To rectify this anomaly they require continuing professional development education, especially in the areas of health IT. Government intervention in the provision of IT infrastructure in order to put into practice a computerised healthcare information system would therefore be a worthwhile undertaking.

  2. Health information exchange: national and international approaches.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vest, Joshua R

    2012-01-01

    Health information exchange (HIE), the process of electronically moving patient-level information between different organizations, is viewed as a solution to the fragmentation of data in health care. This review provides a description of the current state of HIE in seven nations, as well was three international HIE efforts, with a particular focus on the relation of exchange efforts to national health care systems, common challenges, and the implications of cross-border information sharing. National and international efforts highlighted in English language informatics journals, professional associations, and government reports are described. Fully functioning HIE is not yet a common phenomenon worldwide. However, multiple nations see the potential benefits of HIE and that has led to national and international efforts of varying scope, scale, and purview. National efforts continue to work to overcome the challenges of interoperability, record linking, insufficient infrastructures, governance, and interorganizational relationships, but have created architectural strategies, oversight agencies, and incentives to foster exchange. The three international HIE efforts reviewed represent very different approaches to the same problem of ensuring the availability of health information across borders. The potential of HIE to address many cost and quality issues will ensure HIE remains on many national agendas. In many instances, health care executives and leaders have opportunities to work within national programs to help shape local exchange governance and decide technology partners. Furthermore, HIE raises policy questions concerning the role of centralized planning, national identifiers, standards, and types of information exchanged, each of which are vital issues to individual health organizations and worthy of their attention.

  3. Building and strengthening infrastructure for data exchange: lessons from the beacon communities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Torres, Gretchen W; Swietek, Karen; Ubri, Petry S; Singer, Rachel F; Lowell, Kristina H; Miller, Wilhelmine

    2014-01-01

    The Beacon Community Cooperative Agreement Program supports interventions, including care-delivery innovations, provider performance measurement and feedback initiatives, and tools for providers and consumers to enhance care. Using a learning health system framework, we examine the Beacon Communities' processes in building and strengthening health IT (HIT) infrastructures, specifically successes and challenges in sharing patient information to improve clinical care. In 2010, the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) launched the three-year program, which provided $250 million to 17 Beacon Communities to invest in HIT and health information exchange (HIE) infrastructure. Beacon Communities used this funding to develop and disseminate HIT-enabled quality improvement practices found effective in particular community and practice environments. NORC conducted 7 site visits, November 2012-March 2013, selecting Communities to represent diverse program features. From August-October 2013, NORC held discussions with the remaining 10 Communities. Following each visit or discussion, NORC summarized the information gathered, including transcripts, team observations, and other documents the Community provided, to facilitate a within-Community analysis of context and stakeholders, intervention strategies, enabling factors, and challenges. Although each Community designed and implemented data-sharing strategies in a unique environment, similar challenges and enabling factors emerged across the Beacons. From a learning health system perspective, their strategies to build and strengthen data-sharing infrastructures address the following crosscutting priorities: promoting technical advances and innovations by helping providers adapt EHRs for data exchange and performance measurement with customizable IT and offering technical support to smaller, independent providers; engaging key stakeholders; and fostering transparent governance and stewardship

  4. Health care capacity and allocations among South Africa's provinces: infrastructure-inequality traps after the end of apartheid.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stuckler, David; Basu, Sanjay; McKee, Martin

    2011-01-01

    We assessed the determinants of health care funding allocations among South Africa's provinces and their effects on health care from 1996 through 2007. We performed multivariate regression of funding allocation data against measures of disease burden and health system infrastructure by province. Disease burden was increasingly negatively correlated with funding allocations and explained less than one quarter of the variation in allocations among provinces. Nearly three quarters of the variation in allocations was explained by preexisting hospital infrastructure and health care workers. The density of private hospitals in the preceding year was associated with greater government allocations (b(private) = 0.12; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.08, 0.15), but public hospital density in the preceding year was not (b(public) = 0.05; 95% CI = -0.02, 0.11). Greater allocations were associated with a higher number of doctors (b = 0.54; 95% CI = 0.34, 0.75) but fewer nurses (b = -0.37; 95% CI = -0.72,-0.25) in the same year. Regions with a greater capacity to spend funds received more funding and created more infrastructure than those with greater health needs. Historical infrastructure inequalities may have created an infrastructure-inequality trap, in which the distribution of funds to those with greater "absorptive capacity" exacerbates inequalities.

  5. Geospatial data infrastructure: The development of metadata for geo-information in China

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xu, Baiquan; Yan, Shiqiang; Wang, Qianju; Lian, Jian; Wu, Xiaoping; Ding, Keyong

    2014-03-01

    Stores of geoscience records are in constant flux. These stores are continually added to by new information, ideas and data, which are frequently revised. The geoscience record is in restrained by human thought and technology for handling information. Conventional methods strive, with limited success, to maintain geoscience records which are readily susceptible and renewable. The information system must adapt to the diversity of ideas and data in geoscience and their changes through time. In China, more than 400,000 types of important geological data are collected and produced in geological work during the last two decades, including oil, natural gas and marine data, mine exploration, geophysical, geochemical, remote sensing and important local geological survey and research reports. Numerous geospatial databases are formed and stored in National Geological Archives (NGA) with available formats of MapGIS, ArcGIS, ArcINFO, Metalfile, Raster, SQL Server, Access and JPEG. But there is no effective way to warrant that the quality of information is adequate in theory and practice for decision making. The need for fast, reliable, accurate and up-to-date information by providing the Geographic Information System (GIS) communities are becoming insistent for all geoinformation producers and users in China. Since 2010, a series of geoinformation projects have been carried out under the leadership of the Ministry of Land and Resources (MLR), including (1) Integration, update and maintenance of geoinformation databases; (2) Standards research on clusterization and industrialization of information services; (3) Platform construction of geological data sharing; (4) Construction of key borehole databases; (5) Product development of information services. "Nine-System" of the basic framework has been proposed for the development and improvement of the geospatial data infrastructure, which are focused on the construction of the cluster organization, cluster service, convergence

  6. Geospatial data infrastructure: The development of metadata for geo-information in China

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Xu, Baiquan; Yan, Shiqiang; Wang, Qianju; Lian, Jian; Wu, Xiaoping; Ding, Keyong

    2014-01-01

    Stores of geoscience records are in constant flux. These stores are continually added to by new information, ideas and data, which are frequently revised. The geoscience record is in restrained by human thought and technology for handling information. Conventional methods strive, with limited success, to maintain geoscience records which are readily susceptible and renewable. The information system must adapt to the diversity of ideas and data in geoscience and their changes through time. In China, more than 400,000 types of important geological data are collected and produced in geological work during the last two decades, including oil, natural gas and marine data, mine exploration, geophysical, geochemical, remote sensing and important local geological survey and research reports. Numerous geospatial databases are formed and stored in National Geological Archives (NGA) with available formats of MapGIS, ArcGIS, ArcINFO, Metalfile, Raster, SQL Server, Access and JPEG. But there is no effective way to warrant that the quality of information is adequate in theory and practice for decision making. The need for fast, reliable, accurate and up-to-date information by providing the Geographic Information System (GIS) communities are becoming insistent for all geoinformation producers and users in China. Since 2010, a series of geoinformation projects have been carried out under the leadership of the Ministry of Land and Resources (MLR), including (1) Integration, update and maintenance of geoinformation databases; (2) Standards research on clusterization and industrialization of information services; (3) Platform construction of geological data sharing; (4) Construction of key borehole databases; (5) Product development of information services. ''Nine-System'' of the basic framework has been proposed for the development and improvement of the geospatial data infrastructure, which are focused on the construction of the cluster organization, cluster

  7. Sustainable Water Infrastructure

    Science.gov (United States)

    Resources for state and local environmental and public health officials, and water, infrastructure and utility professionals to learn about sustainable water infrastructure, sustainable water and energy practices, and their role.

  8. Learning from health information exchange technical architecture and implementation in seven beacon communities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    McCarthy, Douglas B; Propp, Karen; Cohen, Alexander; Sabharwal, Raj; Schachter, Abigail A; Rein, Alison L

    2014-01-01

    As health care providers adopt and make "meaningful use" of health information technology (health IT), communities and delivery systems must set up the infrastructure to facilitate health information exchange (HIE) between providers and numerous other stakeholders who have a role in supporting health and care. By facilitating better communication and coordination between providers, HIE has the potential to improve clinical decision-making and continuity of care, while reducing unnecessary use of services. When implemented as part of a broader strategy for health care delivery system and payment reform, HIE capability also can enable the use of analytic tools needed for population health management, patient engagement in care, and continuous learning and improvement. The diverse experiences of seven communities that participated in the three-year federal Beacon Community Program offer practical insight into factors influencing the technical architecture of exchange infrastructure and its role in supporting improved care, reduced cost, and a healthier population. The case studies also document challenges faced by the communities, such as significant time and resources required to harmonize variations in the interpretation of data standards. Findings indicate that their progress developing community-based HIE strategies, while driven by local needs and objectives, is also influenced by broader legal, policy, and market conditions.

  9. Learning from Health Information Exchange Technical Architecture and Implementation in Seven Beacon Communities

    Science.gov (United States)

    McCarthy, Douglas B.; Propp, Karen; Cohen, Alexander; Sabharwal, Raj; Schachter, Abigail A.; Rein, Alison L.

    2014-01-01

    As health care providers adopt and make “meaningful use” of health information technology (health IT), communities and delivery systems must set up the infrastructure to facilitate health information exchange (HIE) between providers and numerous other stakeholders who have a role in supporting health and care. By facilitating better communication and coordination between providers, HIE has the potential to improve clinical decision-making and continuity of care, while reducing unnecessary use of services. When implemented as part of a broader strategy for health care delivery system and payment reform, HIE capability also can enable the use of analytic tools needed for population health management, patient engagement in care, and continuous learning and improvement. The diverse experiences of seven communities that participated in the three-year federal Beacon Community Program offer practical insight into factors influencing the technical architecture of exchange infrastructure and its role in supporting improved care, reduced cost, and a healthier population. The case studies also document challenges faced by the communities, such as significant time and resources required to harmonize variations in the interpretation of data standards. Findings indicate that their progress developing community-based HIE strategies, while driven by local needs and objectives, is also influenced by broader legal, policy, and market conditions. PMID:25848591

  10. Making green infrastructure healthier infrastructure.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lõhmus, Mare; Balbus, John

    2015-01-01

    Increasing urban green and blue structure is often pointed out to be critical for sustainable development and climate change adaptation, which has led to the rapid expansion of greening activities in cities throughout the world. This process is likely to have a direct impact on the citizens' quality of life and public health. However, alongside numerous benefits, green and blue infrastructure also has the potential to create unexpected, undesirable, side-effects for health. This paper considers several potential harmful public health effects that might result from increased urban biodiversity, urban bodies of water, and urban tree cover projects. It does so with the intent of improving awareness and motivating preventive measures when designing and initiating such projects. Although biodiversity has been found to be associated with physiological benefits for humans in several studies, efforts to increase the biodiversity of urban environments may also promote the introduction and survival of vector or host organisms for infectious pathogens with resulting spread of a variety of diseases. In addition, more green connectivity in urban areas may potentiate the role of rats and ticks in the spread of infectious diseases. Bodies of water and wetlands play a crucial role in the urban climate adaptation and mitigation process. However, they also provide habitats for mosquitoes and toxic algal blooms. Finally, increasing urban green space may also adversely affect citizens allergic to pollen. Increased awareness of the potential hazards of urban green and blue infrastructure should not be a reason to stop or scale back projects. Instead, incorporating public health awareness and interventions into urban planning at the earliest stages can help insure that green and blue infrastructure achieves full potential for health promotion.

  11. On the Use of Geographic Information in Humanities Research Infrastructure: A Case Study on Cultural Heritage

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Albina Mościcka

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available As an invaluable source of knowledge about the past, cultural heritage may be an important element of the humanities research infrastructure, along with other elements, such as spatial references. Therefore, this paper attempts to provide an answer to the questions concerning the ways in which spatial information can contribute to the development of this infrastructure and the aspects of storytelling based on cultural resources that can be supported by such infrastructure. The objective of the methodology that was used was to combine the aspects that refer to spatial information and cultural items into a single, common issue, and to describe them in a formalized way with use of Unified Modeling Language (UML. As a result, the study presents a proposal of the Humanities Infrastructure Architecture based on spatially-oriented movable cultural items, taking into account their use in the context of interoperability, along with the concept of creating spatial databases that would include movable monuments. The authors also demonstrate that the ISO 19100 series of geographical information standards may be a source of interesting conceptual solutions that may be used in the process of the standardization of geographical information that was recorded in the descriptions of cultural heritage items in form of metadata and data structure descriptions.

  12. Infrastructure Systems Interdependencies and Risk Informed Decision Making (RIDM: Impact Scenario Analysis of Infrastructure Risks Induced by Natural, Technological and Intentional Hazards

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rudolph Frederick Stapelberg

    2008-10-01

    Full Text Available This paper reviews current research into infrastructure systems interdependencies with regard to safesty risks induced by natural, technological and intentional hazards. The paper further considers risk informed decision-making.

  13. Infrastructuring and Ordering Devices in Health Care

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Bossen, Claus; Markussen, Randi

    2010-01-01

    ) that is part of an electronic health record (EHR), carried out at an endocrinology department. The upgrade led to a temporary breakdown of the EMM, and a return to paper-based medication plans. The breakdown made visible and noticeable the taken-for-granted capabilities of medication plans in their paper......In this paper, we analyse physicians' and nurses' practices of prescribing and administering medication through the use of paper-based, and digitalized medication plans. Our point of departure is an ethnographic study of the implications of upgrading an electronic medication module (EMM......-based and digital versions, and the distribution of functionalities between medication plans and clinicians. We see the case as an opportunity to analyse infrastructuring in health care, the process by which medical practices and artefacts become parts of social and technological networks with longer reaches...

  14. STRUCTURAL AND HIDDEN BARRIERS TO A LOCAL PRIMARY HEALTH CARE INFRASTRUCTURE: AUTONOMY, DECISIONS ABOUT PRIMARY HEALTH CARE, AND THE CENTRALITY AND SIGNIFICANCE OF POWER.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Freed, Christopher R; Hansberry, Shantisha T; Arrieta, Martha I

    2013-09-01

    To examine a local primary health care infrastructure and the reality of primary health care from the perspective of residents of a small, urban community in the southern United States. Data derive from 13 semi-structured focus groups, plus three semi-structured interviews, and were analyzed inductively consistent with a grounded theory approach. Structural barriers to the local primary health care infrastructure include transportation, clinic and appointment wait time, and co-payments and health insurance. Hidden barriers consist of knowledge about local health care services, non-physician gatekeepers, and fear of medical care. Community residents have used home remedies and the emergency department at the local academic medical center to manage these structural and hidden barriers. Findings might not generalize to primary health care infrastructures in other communities, respondent perspectives can be biased, and the data are subject to various interpretations and conceptual and thematic frameworks. Nevertheless, the structural and hidden barriers to the local primary health care infrastructure have considerably diminished the autonomy community residents have been able to exercise over their decisions about primary health care, ultimately suggesting that efforts concerned with increasing the access of medically underserved groups to primary health care in local communities should recognize the centrality and significance of power. This study addresses a gap in the sociological literature regarding the impact of specific barriers to primary health care among medically underserved groups.

  15. Chain-computerisation for better privacy protection : a new approach to developing non-intrusive information infrastructures that improve privacy protection

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Grijpink, J.H.A.M.

    1999-01-01

    This is the second of a series of two articles in which the author presents some key elements from his recently completed thesis about functional, non-intrusive information infrastructures for interorganisational public policy implementation. The development of these information infrastructures

  16. The impact of green stormwater infrastructure installation on surrounding health and safety

    Science.gov (United States)

    Michelle C. Kondo; Sarah C. Low; Jason Henning; Charles C. Branas

    2015-01-01

    We investigated the health and safety effects of urban green stormwater infrastructure (GSI) installments. We conducted a difference-in-differences analysis of the effects of GSI installments on health (e.g., blood pressure, cholesterol and stress levels) and safety (e.g., felonies, nuisance and property crimes, narcotics crimes) outcomes from 2000 to 2012 in...

  17. Government of Canada position paper on a national strategy for critical infrastructure protection

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    2004-11-01

    The Government of Canada's position on the development of a comprehensive national approach to critical infrastructure protection (CIP) was presented along with a policy framework for developing a national cyber security strategy and a review of the Emergency Preparedness Act. Canada's national critical infrastructure (NCI) is defined as physical and information technology facilities, networks, services and assets, which if destroyed, would have a serious impact on health, safety, security and economics. The CIP strategy includes an NCI assurance program for various sectors of the economy, including the energy, transportation, finance, health care, food, communications, water, safety and manufacturing sectors. It also includes CIP for the government sector. This report described the key elements of an NCI protection strategy. These include guiding principles, risk management, information sharing, inventory of critical infrastructure assets, threats and warnings, critical infrastructure interdependencies, governance mechanisms, research and development, and international cooperation. refs., tabs., figs.

  18. Internet infrastructures and health care systems: a qualitative comparative analysis on networks and markets in the British National Health Service and Kaiser Permanente.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Séror, Ann C

    2002-12-01

    The Internet and emergent telecommunications infrastructures are transforming the future of health care management. The costs of health care delivery systems, products, and services continue to rise everywhere, but performance of health care delivery is associated with institutional and ideological considerations as well as availability of financial and technological resources. to identify the effects of ideological differences on health care market infrastructures including the Internet and telecommunications technologies by a comparative case analysis of two large health care organizations: the British National Health Service and the California-based Kaiser Permanente health maintenance organization. A qualitative comparative analysis focusing on the British National Health Service and the Kaiser Permanente health maintenance organization to show how system infrastructures vary according to market dynamics dominated by health care institutions ("push") or by consumer demand ("pull"). System control mechanisms may be technologically embedded, institutional, or behavioral. The analysis suggests that telecommunications technologies and the Internet may contribute significantly to health care system performance in a context of ideological diversity. The study offers evidence to validate alternative models of health care governance: the national constitution model, and the enterprise business contract model. This evidence also suggests important questions for health care policy makers as well as researchers in telecommunications, organizational theory, and health care management.

  19. Making green infrastructure healthier infrastructure

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mare Lõhmus

    2015-11-01

    Full Text Available Increasing urban green and blue structure is often pointed out to be critical for sustainable development and climate change adaptation, which has led to the rapid expansion of greening activities in cities throughout the world. This process is likely to have a direct impact on the citizens’ quality of life and public health. However, alongside numerous benefits, green and blue infrastructure also has the potential to create unexpected, undesirable, side-effects for health. This paper considers several potential harmful public health effects that might result from increased urban biodiversity, urban bodies of water, and urban tree cover projects. It does so with the intent of improving awareness and motivating preventive measures when designing and initiating such projects. Although biodiversity has been found to be associated with physiological benefits for humans in several studies, efforts to increase the biodiversity of urban environments may also promote the introduction and survival of vector or host organisms for infectious pathogens with resulting spread of a variety of diseases. In addition, more green connectivity in urban areas may potentiate the role of rats and ticks in the spread of infectious diseases. Bodies of water and wetlands play a crucial role in the urban climate adaptation and mitigation process. However, they also provide habitats for mosquitoes and toxic algal blooms. Finally, increasing urban green space may also adversely affect citizens allergic to pollen. Increased awareness of the potential hazards of urban green and blue infrastructure should not be a reason to stop or scale back projects. Instead, incorporating public health awareness and interventions into urban planning at the earliest stages can help insure that green and blue infrastructure achieves full potential for health promotion.

  20. Management of Health Information in Malawi: Role of Technology

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Patrick Albert Chikumba

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper is an extended version of the conference paper presented at IST Africa Week Conference 2016 and it discusses in detail the existing technology gaps using DHIS2 (District Health Information System 2.0 as an example, and how Geographic Information System (GIS and mobile application, as specific examples of technology, can enhance health management information system (HMIS in Malawi. The paper focuses on management of health information. When organisation information is made available, it is expected that the decision-makers use it objectively making rational decisions. This can be achieved by how the information is organized, integrated and presented probably through technology. Along with the increase in strengthening HMIS, questions of how to support the management of information at various organizational levels arise. Research on technologies in health management in developing countries has been on single technologies. Therefore, in this paper, the interest is on multiple technologies and how they support each other to enhance health information management. It has been observed that when it comes to health information management, HMIS employs a mix of paper-based and technology-based practices. Taking into account the infrastructure in Malawi, as in many developing countries, this is probably the most feasible approach. Hence, discussions of existing technology gaps include both paper-based and technology-based practices and how to better support health information management practices through this mixed use of media. The case study confirms that technology plays a role in strengthening HMIS. However, this should be supported by enhancing a culture of information management. It has been noted that DHIS2 is the main information system but it requires the enhancement through inclusions of other technologies. The DHIS2 alone cannot do everything.

  1. Reflections on the role of open source in health information system interoperability.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sfakianakis, S; Chronaki, C E; Chiarugi, F; Conforti, F; Katehakis, D G

    2007-01-01

    This paper reflects on the role of open source in health information system interoperability. Open source is a driving force in computer science research and the development of information systems. It facilitates the sharing of information and ideas, enables evolutionary development and open collaborative testing of code, and broadens the adoption of interoperability standards. In health care, information systems have been developed largely ad hoc following proprietary specifications and customized design. However, the wide deployment of integrated services such as Electronic Health Records (EHRs) over regional health information networks (RHINs) relies on interoperability of the underlying information systems and medical devices. This reflection is built on the experiences of the PICNIC project that developed shared software infrastructure components in open source for RHINs and the OpenECG network that offers open source components to lower the implementation cost of interoperability standards such as SCP-ECG, in electrocardiography. Open source components implementing standards and a community providing feedback from real-world use are key enablers of health care information system interoperability. Investing in open source is investing in interoperability and a vital aspect of a long term strategy towards comprehensive health services and clinical research.

  2. Health Libraries and Information Services in Tanzania: A Strategic Assessment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Haruna, Hussein; Mtoroki, Majaliwa; Gerendasy, Dan D; Detlefsen, Ellen G

    The intention of the Government of Tanzania is to establish more health information resource canters in all health facilities. With this regard, health information science personnel are needed to provide adequate and accurate health information services. However, availability of these personnel remains to be a challenge because of their non-existence. To identify the current status and local impact of health sciences libraries and user perception of these libraries, as a prerequisite to the development of a competence-based curriculum for health information science training in Tanzania. A needs assessment was carried out using a convenience sample of local respondents, including librarians, trainers, academicians, students, health care providers, and patients and families, drawn from national, referral, regional, district hospitals, health training institutions, and universities from both government and nongovernment entities in Tanzania. A focus group approach was used to gather data from respondents. Results from this assessment revealed that health science libraries in Tanzania are faced with the challenges of insufficient infrastructure, old technology, limited facilities and furniture, inadequate and incompetent library staff, lack of health sciences librarians, outdated and insufficient resources, and low knowledge and use of information technologies by library clients. Most respondents would prefer to have both physical and electronic libraries, as well as librarians with specialized health information science skills, to cope with changing nature of the medical field. The findings obtained from this assessment are strong enough to guide the development of a curriculum and training strategy and an operational plan and training packages for health information professionals. The development of a training curriculum for health information science professionals will mean better health information service delivery for Tanzania. Copyright © 2016 Icahn School of

  3. Leveraging health information technology to achieve the "triple aim" of healthcare reform.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sheikh, Aziz; Sood, Harpreet S; Bates, David W

    2015-07-01

    To investigate experiences with leveraging health information technology (HIT) to improve patient care and population health, and reduce healthcare expenditures. In-depth qualitative interviews with federal government employees, health policy, HIT and medico-legal experts, health providers, physicians, purchasers, payers, patient advocates, and vendors from across the United States. The authors undertook 47 interviews. There was a widely shared belief that Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) had catalyzed the creation of a digital infrastructure, which was being used in innovative ways to improve quality of care and curtail costs. There were however major concerns about the poor usability of electronic health records (EHRs), their limited ability to support multi-disciplinary care, and major difficulties with health information exchange, which undermined efforts to deliver integrated patient-centered care. Proposed strategies for enhancing the benefits of HIT included federal stimulation of competition by mandating vendors to open-up their application program interfaces, incenting development of low-cost consumer informatics tools, and promoting Congressional review of the The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPPA) to optimize the balance between data privacy and reuse. Many underscored the need to "kick the legs from underneath the fee-for-service model" and replace it with a data-driven reimbursement system that rewards high quality care. The HITECH Act has stimulated unprecedented, multi-stakeholder interest in HIT. Early experiences indicate that the resulting digital infrastructure is being used to improve quality of care and curtail costs. Reform efforts are however severely limited by problems with usability, limited interoperability and the persistence of the fee-for-service paradigm-addressing these issues therefore needs to be the federal government's main policy target. © The Author 2015

  4. Real-time health monitoring of civil infrastructure systems in Colombia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thomson, Peter; Marulanda Casas, Johannio; Marulanda Arbelaez, Johannio; Caicedo, Juan

    2001-08-01

    Colombia's topography, climatic conditions, intense seismic activity and acute social problems place high demands on the nations deteriorating civil infrastructure. Resources that are available for maintenance of the road and railway networks are often misdirected and actual inspection methods are limited to a visual examination. New techniques for inspection and evaluation of safety and serviceability of civil infrastructure, especially bridges, must be developed. Two cases of civil structures with health monitoring systems in Colombia are presented in this paper. Construction of the Pereria-Dos Quebradas Viaduct was completed in 1997 with a total cost of 58 million dollars, including 1.5 million dollars in health monitoring instrumentation provided and installed by foreign companies. This health monitoring system is not yet fully operational due to the lack of training of national personnel in system operation and extremely limited technical documentation. In contrast to the Pereria-Dos Quebradas Viaduct monitoring system, the authors have proposed a relatively low cost health monitoring system via telemetry. This system has been implemented for real-time monitoring of accelerations of El Hormiguero Bridge spanning the Cauca River using the Colombian Southwest Earthquake Observatory telemetry systems. This two span metallic bridge, located along a critical road between the cities of Puerto Tejada and Cali in the Cauca Valley, was constructed approximately 50 years ago. Experiences with this system demonstrate how effective low cost systems can be used to remotely monitor the structural integrity of deteriorating structures that are continuously subject to high loading conditions.

  5. Key Health Information Technologies and Related Issues for Iran: A Qualitative Study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hemmat, Morteza; Ayatollahi, Haleh; Maleki, Mohammadreza; Saghafi, Fatemeh

    2018-01-01

    Planning for the future of Health Information Technology (HIT) requires applying a systematic approach when conducting foresight studies. The aim of this study was to identify key health information technologies and related issues for Iran until 2025. This was a qualitative study and the participants included experts and policy makers in the field of health information technology. In-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted and data were analyzed by using framework analysis and MAXQDA software. The findings revealed that the development of national health information network, electronic health records, patient health records, a cloud-based service center, interoperability standards, patient monitoring technologies, telehealth, mhealth, clinical decision support systems, health information technology and mhealth infrastructure were found to be the key technologies for the future. These technologies could influence the economic, organizational and individual levels. To achieve them, the economic and organizational obstacles need to be overcome. In this study, a number of key technologies and related issues were identified. This approach can help to focus on the most important technologies in the future and to priorities these technologies for better resource allocation and policy making.

  6. Infrastructures for healthcare

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Langhoff, Tue Odd; Amstrup, Mikkel Hvid; Mørck, Peter

    2018-01-01

    The Danish General Practitioners Database has over more than a decade developed into a large-scale successful information infrastructure supporting medical research in Denmark. Danish general practitioners produce the data, by coding all patient consultations according to a certain set of classif...... synergy into account, if not to risk breaking down the fragile nature of otherwise successful information infrastructures supporting research on healthcare....

  7. 75 FR 68370 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Office of Infrastructure Protection; Chemical Security...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-11-05

    ... DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY National Protection and Programs Directorate [Docket No. DHS-2010-0071] Agency Information Collection Activities: Office of Infrastructure Protection; Chemical Security...: The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), National Protection and Programs Directorate (NPPD), Office...

  8. Support infrastructure available to Canadian residents completing post-graduate global health electives: current state and future directions

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lojan Sivakumaran

    2016-12-01

    Conclusion: Canadian universities are encouraged to continue to send their trainees on global health electives. To address the gaps in infrastructure reported in this study, the authors suggest the development of comprehensive standardized guidelines by post-graduate regulatory/advocacy bodies to better ensure patient and participant safety. We also encourage the centralization of infrastructure management to the universities’ global health departments to aid in resource management.

  9. Medical image informatics infrastructure design and applications.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Huang, H K; Wong, S T; Pietka, E

    1997-01-01

    Picture archiving and communication systems (PACS) is a system integration of multimodality images and health information systems designed for improving the operation of a radiology department. As it evolves, PACS becomes a hospital image document management system with a voluminous image and related data file repository. A medical image informatics infrastructure can be designed to take advantage of existing data, providing PACS with add-on value for health care service, research, and education. A medical image informatics infrastructure (MIII) consists of the following components: medical images and associated data (including PACS database), image processing, data/knowledge base management, visualization, graphic user interface, communication networking, and application oriented software. This paper describes these components and their logical connection, and illustrates some applications based on the concept of the MIII.

  10. How could health information be improved? Recommended actions from the Victorian Consultation on Health Literacy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hill, Sophie J; Sofra, Tanya A

    2017-03-07

    governments have taken a critical interest in improving health literacy. What does this paper add? This article presents the findings of the Victorian Consultation on Health Literacy as they relate to needs, priorities and potential actions for improving health information. In the context of the National Statement for Health Literacy, health information should be a priority, given its centrality to the public's management of its own health and effective, standards-based, patient-centred clinical care. A framework to improve health information would underpin the efforts of government, services and consumer organisations to meet literacy needs in a more consistent way, improving standards and ultimately increasing the participation by consumers and carers in health decision making and self-management. What are the implications for practitioners? The development and provision of health information materials needs to be systematised and supported by infrastructure, requiring leadership, cultural change, standards and skills development.

  11. Integrating grey and green infrastructure to improve the health and well-being of urban populations

    Science.gov (United States)

    Erika S. Svendsen; Mary E. Northridge; Sara S. Metcalf

    2012-01-01

    One of the enduring lessons of cities is the essential relationship between grey infrastructure (e.g., streets and buildings) and green infrastructure (e.g., parks and open spaces). The design and management of natural resources to enhance human health and well-being may be traced back thousands of years to the earliest urban civilizations. From the irrigation projects...

  12. The state of information and communication technology and health informatics in ghana.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Achampong, Emmanuel Kusi

    2012-01-01

    Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has become a major tool in delivery of health services and has had an innovative impact on quality of life. ICT is affecting the way healthcare is delivered to clients. In this paper, we discuss the state of ICT and health informatics in Ghana. We also discuss the state of various relevant infrastructures for the successful implementation of ehealth projects. We analyse the past and present state of health informatics in Ghana, in comparison to other African countries. We also review the challenges facing successful implementation of health informatics projects in Ghana and suggest possible solutions.

  13. Chain-computerisation for interorganisational public policy implementation : A new approach to developing non-intrusive information infrastructures that improve public policy implementation

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Grijpink, J.H.A.M.

    1999-01-01

    In two articles the author presents some key elements from his recently completed thesis about functional, non-intrusive information infrastructures for interorganisational public policy implementation. The development of these information infrastructures requires a new approach,

  14. Health Impacts of Increased Physical Activity from Changes in Transportation Infrastructure: Quantitative Estimates for Three Communities

    Science.gov (United States)

    2015-01-01

    Recently, two quantitative tools have emerged for predicting the health impacts of projects that change population physical activity: the Health Economic Assessment Tool (HEAT) and Dynamic Modeling for Health Impact Assessment (DYNAMO-HIA). HEAT has been used to support health impact assessments of transportation infrastructure projects, but DYNAMO-HIA has not been previously employed for this purpose nor have the two tools been compared. To demonstrate the use of DYNAMO-HIA for supporting health impact assessments of transportation infrastructure projects, we employed the model in three communities (urban, suburban, and rural) in North Carolina. We also compared DYNAMO-HIA and HEAT predictions in the urban community. Using DYNAMO-HIA, we estimated benefit-cost ratios of 20.2 (95% C.I.: 8.7–30.6), 0.6 (0.3–0.9), and 4.7 (2.1–7.1) for the urban, suburban, and rural projects, respectively. For a 40-year time period, the HEAT predictions of deaths avoided by the urban infrastructure project were three times as high as DYNAMO-HIA's predictions due to HEAT's inability to account for changing population health characteristics over time. Quantitative health impact assessment coupled with economic valuation is a powerful tool for integrating health considerations into transportation decision-making. However, to avoid overestimating benefits, such quantitative HIAs should use dynamic, rather than static, approaches. PMID:26504832

  15. Using a CRIS for e-Infrastructure: e-Infrastructure for Scholarly Publications

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    E Dijk

    2010-05-01

    Full Text Available Scholarly publications are a major part of the research infrastructure. One way to make output available is to store the publications in Open Access Repositories (OAR. A Current Research Information System (CRIS that conforms to the standard CERIF (Common European Research Information Format could be a key component in the e-infrastructure. A CRIS provides the structure and makes it possible to interoperate the CRIS metadata at every stage of the research cycle. The international DRIVER projects are creating a European repository infrastructure. Knowledge Exchange has launched a project to develop a metadata exchange format for publications between CRIS and OAR systems.

  16. Next generation information communication infrastructure and case studies for future power systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Qiu, Bin

    As power industry enters the new century, powerful driving forces, uncertainties and new functions are compelling electric utilities to make dramatic changes in their information communication infrastructure. Expanding network services such as real time measurement and monitoring are also driving the need for more bandwidth in the communication network. These needs will grow further as new remote real-time protection and control applications become more feasible and pervasive. This dissertation addresses two main issues for the future power system information infrastructure: communication network infrastructure and associated power system applications. Optical networks no doubt will become the predominant data transmission media for next generation power system communication. The rapid development of fiber optic network technology poses new challenges in the areas of topology design, network management and real time applications. Based on advanced fiber optic technologies, an all-fiber network is investigated and proposed. The study will cover the system architecture and data exchange protocol aspects. High bandwidth, robust optical networks could provide great opportunities to the power system for better service and efficient operation. In the dissertation, different applications are investigated. One of the typical applications is the SCADA information accessing system. An Internet-based application for the substation automation system will be presented. VLSI (Very Large Scale Integration) technology is also used for one-line diagrams auto-generation. High transition rate and low latency optical network is especially suitable for power system real time control. In the dissertation, a new local area network based Load Shedding Controller (LSC) for isolated power system will be presented. By using PMU (Phasor Measurement Unit) and fiber optic network, an AGE (Area Generation Error) based accurate wide area load shedding scheme will also be proposed. The objective

  17. Management of Information and Infrastructure of Indigenous Community at Royal Belum State Park Using Geographical Information System: A Conceptual Design

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Othman Zainon

    2015-06-01

    Full Text Available Abstract. Nowadays, an integrated location, descriptive inventory data and geographical information are required for a better decision making in Indigenous community management activities. The management system can improve productivity and to save time, money and man power. Conventional maps and Indigenous inventories on papers or spread sheet are lack of meeting these requirements which are not static and subjected to change rapidly. The Geographic Information Systems (GIS and Database Management (DBM System are capabilities and confined in manipulation of location and descriptive data, respectively. A GIS system is chosen in Management Information and Infrastructure of Indigenous Communities because its meets all the requirements that can help the authorities to managed the community. GIS able to manipulate location and descriptive data as well as the relationships between them are dynamic. This paper will discussed briefly the conceptual design of GIS activities and Indigenous community in Royal Belum State Park, Malaysia, then terminology and theoretical concepts of GIS, Indigenous community management and the link between them are reviewed. Keywords: Management, information, infrastructure, conceptual design, Indigenous community

  18. Management of Information and Infrastructure of Indigenous Community at Royal Belum State Park Using Geographical Information System: A Conceptual Design

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Othman Zainon

    2015-07-01

    Full Text Available Abstract. Nowadays, an integrated location, descriptive inventory data and geographical information are required for a better decision making in Indigenous community management activities. The management system can improve productivity and to save time, money and man power. Conventional maps and Indigenous inventories on papers or spread sheet are lack of meeting these requirements which are not static and subjected to change rapidly. The Geographic Information Systems (GIS and Database Management (DBM System are capabilities and confined in manipulation of location and descriptive data, respectively. A GIS system is chosen in Management Information and Infrastructure of Indigenous Communities because its meets all the requirements that can help the authorities to managed the community. GIS able to manipulate location and descriptive data as well as the relationships between them are dynamic. This paper will discussed briefly the conceptual design of GIS activities and Indigenous community in Royal Belum State Park, Malaysia, then terminology and theoretical concepts of GIS, Indigenous community management and the link between them are reviewed.Keywords:  Management, information, infrastructure, conceptual design, Indigenous community 

  19. Advanced Manufacturing - National Information Infrastructure (AM-NII) Final Report CRADA No. TO-4013-01

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Vickers, Don [Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)

    2001-03-23

    Advanced Manufacturing - National Information Infrastructure (AM-NII) was a multiyear DOE/DP program, involving multiple DOE laboratories and production facilities, focused on improving the manufacturing capabilities of the Nuclear Weapons Complex (NWC) through the application of modem information technologies. AM-NII's published mission states: "In partnership with the manufacturing business sector, AMNII will leverage DOE capabilities to develop, demonstrate, and pilot industrial information infrastructure and applications that enhance national security." LLNL's AM-NII project targeted two opportunities for improving NWC manufacturing capabilities. First was the link between the NWC and its outside suppliers of manufactured parts - web-based supply-chain integration. Second was the cross-site enterprise integration (EI) within the Complex itself. The general approach to supply-chain integration was to leverage the National Information Infrastructure (including Internet) to demonstrate the procurement of fabricated electrical and mechanical parts using a completely paperless procurement process. The general approach to NWC enterprise integration was to utilize SecureNet, a network that provides a secure, high-speed data link among the various NWC sites. If one looks at SecureNet as "the track," our goal was to get the trains running. Cross-site enterprise integration presupposes there is some level of local integration, so we worked both local and cross-site is sues simultaneously. Our EI work was in support of the LLNL Stockpile Life Extension Programs (SLEPs), the Submarine Launch Ballistic Missile Warhead Protection Program (SWPP), and the Laser Cutter Workstation installed at Y-12.

  20. Using business intelligence to analyze and share health system infrastructure data in a rural health authority.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Haque, Waqar; Urquhart, Bonnie; Berg, Emery; Dhanoa, Ramandeep

    2014-08-06

    Health care organizations gather large volumes of data, which has been traditionally stored in legacy formats making it difficult to analyze or use effectively. Though recent government-funded initiatives have improved the situation, the quality of most existing data is poor, suffers from inconsistencies, and lacks integrity. Generating reports from such data is generally not considered feasible due to extensive labor, lack of reliability, and time constraints. Advanced data analytics is one way of extracting useful information from such data. The intent of this study was to propose how Business Intelligence (BI) techniques can be applied to health system infrastructure data in order to make this information more accessible and comprehensible for a broader group of people. An integration process was developed to cleanse and integrate data from disparate sources into a data warehouse. An Online Analytical Processing (OLAP) cube was then built to allow slicing along multiple dimensions determined by various key performance indicators (KPIs), representing population and patient profiles, case mix groups, and healthy community indicators. The use of mapping tools, customized shape files, and embedded objects further augment the navigation. Finally, Web forms provide a mechanism for remote uploading of data and transparent processing of the cube. For privileged information, access controls were implemented. Data visualization has eliminated tedious analysis through legacy reports and provided a mechanism for optimally aligning resources with needs. Stakeholders are able to visualize KPIs on a main dashboard, slice-and-dice data, generate ad hoc reports, and quickly find the desired information. In addition, comparison, availability, and service level reports can also be generated on demand. All reports can be drilled down for navigation at a finer granularity. We have demonstrated how BI techniques and tools can be used in the health care environment to make informed

  1. Roles and challenges of the health information management educator: a national HIM faculty survey.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Houser, Shannon H; Tesch, Linde; Hart-Hester, Susan; Dixon-Lee, Claire

    2009-01-01

    Health information technology initiatives created the framework for a national health information infrastructure that concomitantly fostered a need to build intellectual capacity within our current and future health information management (HIM) work force. Results from the 2008 HIM Educator Survey are discussed. Developed for voluntary electronic participation, the survey comprised a series of questions about educators' professional interests and responsibilities. Summary data from the 402 respondents are provided and highlight areas such as academic rank, teaching status, salary range, levels of interest in various issues, and use of virtual learning tools. Data from this survey provide insights into the concerns and challenges many HIM educators face in today's training institutions and suggest implications for future directions in work force training and professional development within the HIM field.

  2. The Information Technology Infrastructure for the Translational Genomics Core and the Partners Biobank at Partners Personalized Medicine

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Natalie Boutin

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available The Biobank and Translational Genomics core at Partners Personalized Medicine requires robust software and hardware. This Information Technology (IT infrastructure enables the storage and transfer of large amounts of data, drives efficiencies in the laboratory, maintains data integrity from the time of consent to the time that genomic data is distributed for research, and enables the management of complex genetic data. Here, we describe the functional components of the research IT infrastructure at Partners Personalized Medicine and how they integrate with existing clinical and research systems, review some of the ways in which this IT infrastructure maintains data integrity and security, and discuss some of the challenges inherent to building and maintaining such infrastructure.

  3. Building climate change into infrastructure codes and standards

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Auld, H.; Klaasen, J.; Morris, R.; Fernandez, S.; MacIver, D.; Bernstein, D.

    2009-01-01

    'Full text:' Building codes and standards and the climatic design values embedded within these legal to semi-legal documents have profound safety, health and economic implications for Canada's infrastructure systems. The climatic design values that have been used for the design of almost all of today's more than $5.5 Trillion in infrastructure are based on historical climate data and assume that the extremes of the past will represent future conditions. Since new infrastructure based on codes and standards will be built to survive for decades to come, it is critically important that existing climatic design information be as accurate and up-to-date as possible, that the changing climate be monitored to detect and highlight vulnerabilities of existing infrastructure, that forensic studies of climate-related failures be undertaken and that codes and standards processes incorporate future climates and extremes as much as possible. Uncertainties in the current climate change models and their scenarios currently challenge our ability to project future extremes regionally and locally. Improvements to the spatial and temporal resolution of these climate change scenarios, along with improved methodologies to treat model biases and localize results, will allow future codes and standards to better reflect the extremes and weathering conditions expected over the lifespan of structures. In the meantime, other information and code processes can be used to incorporate changing climate conditions into upcoming infrastructure codes and standards, to “bridge” the model uncertainty gap and to complement the state of existing projections. This presentation will outline some of the varied information and processes that will be used to incorporate climate change adaptation into the next development cycle of the National Building Code of Canada and numerous other national CSA infrastructure standards. (author)

  4. Consumer-Mediated Health Information Exchanges: The 2012 ACMI Debate

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cimino, James J.; Frisse, Mark; Halamka, John; Sweeney, Latanya; Yasnoff, William

    2017-01-01

    The American College of Medical Informatics (ACMI) sponsors periodic debates during the American Medical Informatics Fall Symposium to highlight important informatics issues of broad interest. In 2012, a panel debated the following topic: “Resolved: Health Information Exchange Organizations Should Shift Their Principal Focus to Consumer-Mediated Exchange in Order to Facilitate the Rapid Development of Effective, Scalable, and Sustainable Health Information Infrastructure.” Those supporting the proposition emphasized the need for consumer-controlled community repositories of electronic health records (health record banks) to address privacy, stakeholder cooperation, scalability, and sustainability. Those opposing the proposition emphasized that the current healthcare environment is so complex that development of consumer control will take time and that even then, consumers may not be able to mediate their information effectively. While privately, each discussant recognizes that there are many sides to this complex issue, each followed the debater’s tradition of taking an extreme position in order emphasize some of the polarizing aspects in the short time allotted them. In preparing this summary, we sought to convey the substance and spirit of the debate in printed form. Transcripts of the actual debate were edited for clarity, and appropriate supporting citations were added for the further edification of the reader. PMID:24561078

  5. Consumer-mediated health information exchanges: the 2012 ACMI debate.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cimino, James J; Frisse, Mark E; Halamka, John; Sweeney, Latanya; Yasnoff, William

    2014-04-01

    The American College of Medical Informatics (ACMI) sponsors periodic debates during the American Medical Informatics Fall Symposium to highlight important informatics issues of broad interest. In 2012, a panel debated the following topic: "Resolved: Health Information Exchange Organizations Should Shift Their Principal Focus to Consumer-Mediated Exchange in Order to Facilitate the Rapid Development of Effective, Scalable, and Sustainable Health Information Infrastructure." Those supporting the proposition emphasized the need for consumer-controlled community repositories of electronic health records (health record banks) to address privacy, stakeholder cooperation, scalability, and sustainability. Those opposing the proposition emphasized that the current healthcare environment is so complex that development of consumer control will take time and that even then, consumers may not be able to mediate their information effectively. While privately each discussant recognizes that there are many sides to this complex issue, each followed the debater's tradition of taking an extreme position in order emphasize some of the polarizing aspects in the short time allotted them. In preparing this summary, we sought to convey the substance and spirit of the debate in printed form. Transcripts of the actual debate were edited for clarity, and appropriate supporting citations were added for the further edification of the reader. Published by Elsevier Inc.

  6. The National Biological Information Infrastructure as an E-Government tool

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sepic, R.; Kase, K.

    2002-01-01

    Coordinated by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), the National Biological Information Infrastructure (NBII) is a Web-based system that provides access to data and information on the nation's biological resources. Although it was begun in 1993, predating any formal E-Government initiative, the NBII typifies the E-Government concepts outlined in the President's Management Agenda, as well as in the proposed E-Government Act of 2002. This article-an individual case study and not a broad survey with extensive references to the literature-explores the structure and operation of the NBII in relation to several emerging trends in E-Government: end-user focus, defined and scalable milestones, public-private partnerships, alliances with stakeholders, and interagency cooperation. ?? 2002 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved.

  7. The Southeastern Minnesota Beacon Project for Community-driven Health Information Technology: Origins, Achievements, and Legacy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chute, Christopher G; Hart, Lacey A; Alexander, Alex K; Jensen, Daniel W

    2014-01-01

    The Southeastern (SE) Minnesota Beacon organized all the health care providers, county public health organizations, and school districts in the deployment and integration of health information exchange (HIE) and targeted health communication around childhood asthma and diabetes. The community cooperated to establish a clinical data repository for all residents in the 11-county region. Through this community of practice approach that involved traditional and nontraditional providers, the SE Minnesota Beacon was able to realize unique applications of this technology. This manuscript overviews the associated organization and infrastructure of this community collaboration. The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC), as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) stimulus, established 17 projects throughout the United States targeting the introduction and meaningful use of health information technology (HIT). These 17 communities were intended to serve as an example of what could be accomplished. The SE Minnesota Beacon is one of these communities. The community ultimately opted for peer-to-peer HIE, using Nationwide Health Information Network (NwHIN) Connect software. The clinical data repository was established using the infrastructure developed by the Regenstrief Institute, which operated as a trusted third party. As an extension to HIE, the consortium of county public health departments created a patient data portal for use by school nurses and parents. Childhood asthma was addressed by creating, exchanging, and maintaining an "asthma action plan" for each affected child, shared throughout the community, including through the patient portal. Diabetes management introduced patient treatment decision tools and patient quality of life measures, facilitating care. Influenza vaccination was enhanced by large-scale community reporting in partnership with the state vaccination registry. The methodology and

  8. Multidimensional building objects in a Danish geo-information infrastructure perspective

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Schrøder, Lise

    2002-01-01

    The emerging multidimensional GI- and VR-technologies within the professional disciplines dealing with design, planning and management processes is leading to a demand for four-dimensional building objects as part of the public geo-information infrastructure. The other way around the recognition...... of the building as a four-dimensional geo-phenomenon will provide a reference between different data sets whether representing buildings in two, three or four dimensions. Finally a central issue is the potential in using frameworks of multidimensional representations as interfaces to the available data sets...

  9. CIM overview. (2). ; Architecture, infrastructure, information technology. CIM soron. (2). ; Architecture, infra, joho riyo shien gijutsu

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Seryo, K [IBM Japan Ltd., Tokyo (Japan)

    1991-12-10

    The materialization of computer integrated manufacturing (CIM) requires an establishment of its systematizing system, i.e., architecturer and planning of the infrastructure to support it and basic engineering to support the informational utilization. The CIM architecture is classified into management and system structure, strategic planning method, System development introduction method, etc. The infrastructure aims at epoch-makingly heightening the productivity and speed by integrating the production planning, engineering design, accounting, sales, general business and affairs, production engineering, production activities, and activities of suppliers and clients. The informational utilization support engineering comprises the management support tool, decision making support tool, application development tool, etc. What is important is to establish a system of systematizing engineering in order not to be behind the strategic activation era of information to come. 17 refs., 4 figs., 1 tab.

  10. INFORMATION AND TELECOMMUNICATION INFRASTRUCTURE AND ECONOMIC GROWTH: AN EXPERIENCE FROM NIGERIA

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Wasiu Ishola Oyeniran

    2016-11-01

    Full Text Available The study examines the effect of investment in telecommunication infrastructure on economic growth in Nigeria. Using time series data from 1980 and 2012, the study employs autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL bounds testing approach proposed by Pesaran et al., (2001 to estimate the long run and short run effect of investment in telecommunication infrastructure on economic growth. The result from cointegration test showed presence of long run relationship between dependent and all explanatory variables. The study found foreign direct investment in information and communication technology more effective in improving and raising economic growth in Nigeria than government investment. The output from Chow breakpoint test shows that the liberalization of telecommunication industry introduced in 1992 has significant effect on economic growth in Nigeria. Therefore, it is imperative for Nigerian government to increase its spending on telecom and attract more foreign investment in telecommunication in order to boost productivity and economic growth.

  11. On the Value of Structural Health Monitoring Information for the Operation of Wind Parks

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Thöns, Sebastian; Faber, Michael H.; Val, Dimitri V.

    2017-01-01

    wind turbine systems and its components is developed accounting for the wind park functionality, i.e. power production, its operation and its cascading damage and failure scenarios. This system model facilitates to quantify the expected benefits and risks throughout the service life accounting......In the present paper, an approach for the quantification of the Value of Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) Information building upon a framework for infrastructure system utility and decision analysis is developed and applied to the operation of wind parks. The quantification of the value of SHM...... facilitates a benefit and risk informed assessment and optimization of SHM strategies and encompasses models for the infrastructure functionality, the structural constituent and system risks and its management as well as the performance of SHM strategies. A wind park system model incorporating the structural...

  12. Factors shaping effective utilization of health information technology in urban safety-net clinics.

    Science.gov (United States)

    George, Sheba; Garth, Belinda; Fish, Allison; Baker, Richard

    2013-09-01

    Urban safety-net clinics are considered prime targets for the adoption of health information technology innovations; however, little is known about their utilization in such safety-net settings. Current scholarship provides limited guidance on the implementation of health information technology into safety-net settings as it typically assumes that adopting institutions have sufficient basic resources. This study addresses this gap by exploring the unique challenges urban resource-poor safety-net clinics must consider when adopting and utilizing health information technology. In-depth interviews (N = 15) were used with key stakeholders (clinic chief executive officers, medical directors, nursing directors, chief financial officers, and information technology directors) from staff at four clinics to explore (a) nonhealth information technology-related clinic needs, (b) how health information technology may provide solutions, and (c) perceptions of and experiences with health information technology. Participants identified several challenges, some of which appear amenable to health information technology solutions. Also identified were requirements for effective utilization of health information technology including physical infrastructural improvements, funding for equipment/training, creation of user groups to share health information technology knowledge/experiences, and specially tailored electronic billing guidelines. We found that despite the potential benefit that can be derived from health information technologies, the unplanned and uninformed introduction of these tools into these settings might actually create more problems than are solved. From these data, we were able to identify a set of factors that should be considered when integrating health information technology into the existing workflows of low-resourced urban safety-net clinics in order to maximize their utilization and enhance the quality of health care in such settings.

  13. A Multidisciplinary Research Framework on Green Schools: Infrastructure, Social Environment, Occupant Health, and Performance.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Magzamen, Sheryl; Mayer, Adam P; Barr, Stephanie; Bohren, Lenora; Dunbar, Brian; Manning, Dale; Reynolds, Stephen J; Schaeffer, Joshua W; Suter, Jordan; Cross, Jennifer E

    2017-05-01

    Sustainable school buildings hold much promise to reducing operating costs, improve occupant well-being and, ultimately, teacher and student performance. However, there is a scarcity of evidence on the effects of sustainable school buildings on health and performance indicators. We sought to create a framework for a multidisciplinary research agenda that links school facilities, health, and educational outcomes. We conducted a nonsystematic review of peer review publications, government documents, organizational documents, and school climate measurement instruments. We found that studies on the impact of physical environmental factors (air, lighting, and thermal comfort) on health and occupant performance are largely independent of research on the social climate. The current literature precludes the formation of understanding the causal relation among school facilities, social climate, occupant health, and occupant performance. Given the average age of current school facilities in the United States, construction of new school facilities or retrofits of older facilities will be a major infrastructure investment for many municipalities over the next several decades. Multidisciplinary research that seeks to understand the impact of sustainable design on the health and performance of occupants will need to include both an environmental science and social science perspective to inform best practices and quantification of benefits that go beyond general measures of costs savings from energy efficiencies. © 2017, American School Health Association.

  14. Emergent Risks In Critical Infrastructures

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dynes, Scott

    Firms cannot function successfully without managing a host of internal and external organizational and process interdependencies. Part of this involves business continuity planning, which directly aects how resilient arm and its business sector are in the face of disruptions. This paper presents the results of eld studies related to information risk management practices in the health care and retail sectors. The studies explore information risk management coordinating signals within and across rms in these sectors as well as the potential eects of cyber disruptions on the rms as stand-alone entities and as part of a critical infrastructure. The health care case study investigates the impact of the Zotob worm on the ability to deliver medical care and treatment. The retail study examines the resilience of certain elements of the food supply chain to cyber disruptions.

  15. Critical health infrastructure for refugee resettlement in rural Australia: case study of four rural towns.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sypek, Scott; Clugston, Gregory; Phillips, Christine

    2008-12-01

    To explore the reported impact of regional resettlement of refugees on rural health services, and identify critical health infrastructure for refugee resettlement. Comparative case study, using interviews and situational analysis. Four rural communities in New South Wales, which had been the focus of regional resettlement of refugees since 1999. Refugees, general practitioners, practice managers and volunteer support workers in each town (n = 24). The capacity of health care workers to provide comprehensive care is threatened by low numbers of practitioners, and high levels of turnover of health care staff, which results in attrition of specialised knowledge among health care workers treating refugees. Critical health infrastructure includes general practices with interest and surge capacity, subsidised dental services, mental health support services; clinical support services for rural practitioners; care coordination in the early settlement period; and a supported volunteer network. The need for intensive medical support is greatest in the early resettlement period for 'catch-up' primary health care. The difficulties experienced by rural Australia in securing equitable access to health services are amplified for refugees. While there are economic arguments about resettlement of refugees in regional Australia, the fragility of health services in regional Australia should also be factored into considerations about which towns are best suited to regional resettlement.

  16. When More is Less: The Case of Disconnected Information Systems in Indonesian Public Health Facilities

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wahid, Fathul; Teduh Dirgahayu, Raden; Hamzah, Almed; Setiaji, Hari

    2018-03-01

    The clear majority of previous studies have found that the absence of information systems to properly manage data is one of the main challenges in improving public health management. The present study offers an alternate perspective, revealing other emerging problems in cases where there are many information systems in place but without sufficient orchestration. The national government of Indonesia has been coercive in its implementation of various information systems without involving users at public health facilities, which has created many problems on the ground. The problems identified relate to the quality of the disconnected information systems currently in use, the lack of human resource development, unclear procedures, uncoordinated reports and the absence of an incentive scheme. The present study also highlights some practical implications, including the use of a more holistic perspective in designing and developing an integrated public health information infrastructure.

  17. Infrastructure for Personalized Medicine at Partners HealthCare

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Scott T. Weiss

    2016-02-01

    Full Text Available Partners HealthCare Personalized Medicine (PPM is a center within the Partners HealthCare system (founded by Massachusetts General Hospital and Brigham and Women’s Hospital whose mission is to utilize genetics and genomics to improve the care of patients in a cost effective manner. PPM consists of five interconnected components: (1 Laboratory for Molecular Medicine (LMM, a CLIA laboratory performing genetic testing for patients world-wide; (2 Translational Genomics Core (TGC, a core laboratory providing genomic platforms for Partners investigators; (3 Partners Biobank, a biobank of samples (DNA, plasma and serum for 50,000 Consented Partners patients; (4 Biobank Portal, an IT infrastructure and viewer to bring together genotypes, samples, phenotypes (validated diagnoses, radiology, and clinical chemistry from the electronic medical record to Partners investigators. These components are united by (5 a common IT system that brings researchers, clinicians, and patients together for optimal research and patient care.

  18. Public health component in building information modeling

    Science.gov (United States)

    Trufanov, A. I.; Rossodivita, A.; Tikhomirov, A. A.; Berestneva, O. G.; Marukhina, O. V.

    2018-05-01

    A building information modelling (BIM) conception has established itself as an effective and practical approach to plan, design, construct, and manage buildings and infrastructure. Analysis of the governance literature has shown that the BIM-developed tools do not take fully into account the growing demands from ecology and health fields. In this connection, it is possible to offer an optimal way of adapting such tools to the necessary consideration of the sanitary and hygienic specifications of materials used in construction industry. It is proposed to do it through the introduction of assessments that meet the requirements of national sanitary standards. This approach was demonstrated in the case study of Revit® program.

  19. A Spatial Data Infrastructure for Environmental Noise Data in Europe.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Abramic, Andrej; Kotsev, Alexander; Cetl, Vlado; Kephalopoulos, Stylianos; Paviotti, Marco

    2017-07-06

    Access to high quality data is essential in order to better understand the environmental and health impact of noise in an increasingly urbanised world. This paper analyses how recent developments of spatial data infrastructures in Europe can significantly improve the utilization of data and streamline reporting on a pan-European scale. The Infrastructure for Spatial Information in the European Community (INSPIRE), and Environmental Noise Directive (END) described in this manuscript provide principles for data management that, once applied, would lead to a better understanding of the state of environmental noise. Furthermore, shared, harmonised and easily discoverable environmental spatial data, required by the INSPIRE, would also support the data collection needed for the assessment and development of strategic noise maps. Action plans designed by the EU Member States to reduce noise and mitigate related effects can be shared to the public through already established nodes of the European spatial data infrastructure. Finally, data flows regarding reporting on the state of environment and END implementation to the European level can benefit by applying a decentralised e-reporting service oriented infrastructure. This would allow reported data to be maintained, frequently updated and enable pooling of information from/to other relevant and interrelated domains such as air quality, transportation, human health, population, marine environment or biodiversity. We describe those processes and provide a use case in which noise data from two neighbouring European countries are mapped to common data specifications, defined by INSPIRE, thus ensuring interoperability and harmonisation.

  20. Improvement of infrastructure for risk-informed regulation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Muta, Hitoshi; Tanji, Junichi; Kondo, Keisuke; Uchida, Tsuyoshi; Ito, Tomomichi

    2011-01-01

    Improvement of the infrastructure of probabilistic safety assessment (PSA) is essential to the risk-informed regulation for nuclear power plants. JNES conducted update of initiating event frequency and improvement of method for uncertainty analysis to enhance the technology bases of PSA in 2010. Furthermore, JNES improved human reliability assessment method and reliability assessment method for digital reactor protection systems. JNES estimated initiating event frequencies both for power and shutdown operation based on the recent operating experiences in NPPs of Japan using hierarchical Bayesian method. As for improvement of uncertainty analysis method, JNES conducted trial analysis using SOKC (State-Of-Knowledge Correlation) for representative PWR and BWR of Japan. The study on the advanced HRA method with operator cognitive action model was conducted. The study on reliability analysis method for digital reactor protection systems using Bayesian Network Method was conducted. In order to ensure the quality of PSA, JNES studied requirements and methods for PSA peer review via the preparation of peer review for PSA of a representative Japanese BWR plant conducted by JNES. As an effort to develop the procedures of internal fire PSA and internal flooding PSA, trial analyses were conducted to grasp the risk level cause by fire and flooding in nuclear power plants. JNES participated in OECD/NEA PRISME and FIRE project to obtain the latest information and data to validate and improve the fire propagation analysis codes and the parameters for fire PSA. Furthermore, JNES studies schemes for endorsement and application in risk-informed regulation of PSA standards established by Atomic Energy Society of Japan. (author)

  1. A Disability and Health Institutional Research Capacity Building and Infrastructure Model Evaluation: A Tribal College-Based Case Study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moore, Corey L.; Manyibe, Edward O.; Sanders, Perry; Aref, Fariborz; Washington, Andre L.; Robertson, Cherjuan Y.

    2017-01-01

    Purpose: The purpose of this multimethod study was to evaluate the institutional research capacity building and infrastructure model (IRCBIM), an emerging innovative and integrated approach designed to build, strengthen, and sustain adequate disability and health research capacity (i.e., research infrastructure and investigators' research skills)…

  2. Measuring research in Humanities and Social Sciences: information from a new Italian data infrastructure

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Cicero, T.; Malgarini, M

    2016-07-01

    Measuring research output in Humanities and Social Sciences (HSS) is particularly important, since in these fields scientific production is much more heterogeneous than in Natural and Life Sciences, and as such it is not well represented in standard international databases normally used to assess research output and impact. For these reason, ANVUR has recently started a new data infrastructure, aimed at gathering information about scienticic production, research infrastructures and research groups active in the Italian Universities. On the basis of these data, the aim of this paper is to provide a first characterization of Italian research Departments active in HSS, clustering them according to their level of research productivity and infrastructure availability. On the basis of our analysis, it is generally possible to distinguish among two main groups of Departments, respectively characterized by higher productivity but lower research quality, or by higher shares of excellent articles, but lower overall number of publications. (Author)

  3. HEALTH INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY IN EXCHANGE OF HEALTH INFORMATION

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jordan Deliversky

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available Health information technology involves the exchange of health information in an electronic environment. Data protection is comprised of many elements, including where the data resides, how it is used, and who has access to it. Individually identifiable health information should be protected with reasonable administrative, technical, and physical safeguards to ensure its confidentiality, integrity, and availability and to prevent unauthorized access, use, or disclosure. Health records are among the most sensitive records available containing information concerning an individual. The unauthorized disclosure of a medical condition or diagnosis could negatively impact an individual’s personal and professional life.

  4. SPECIAL AND MILITARY COMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION SYSTEMS AS VITAL PART OF THE CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURES IN ROMANIA. SECURING THEIR PHYSICAL AND INFORMATIONAL PROTECTION

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Constantin MINCU

    2012-11-01

    Full Text Available The article presents several arguments on the need to study the critical infrastructure in Romania including various systems (networks and special military communications. It emphasizes the role and place of such systems and networks to provide national defense and security and the risks and vulnerabilities faced by these infrastructures, and some necessary measures to be taken for the physical and informational protection in the case of hostile military actions, natural disasters or other negative phenomena. Finally some conclusions and proposals are formulated.

  5. Space Applications and Global Information Infrastructure: a Global Approach against Epidemics

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bastos, C. R.

    2002-01-01

    Brazilian space expenditures correspond to a low-middle rank among the space-faring nations. In this regard, international partnerships have opened doors for the country to take part in a wider range of projects than it would be possible if carried out on its own. Within the above framework, this paper will address a concept in which countries join efforts in pursuit of common objectives and needs in the field of health, countries whose similarities tend to make them face the same types of health problems. Exactly for this reason, such countries can get together and share the costs, risks and ultimately the benefits of their joint efforts. Infectious diseases are mankind's leading causes of death. And their agents travel around the world by the action of their vectors: insects, birds, winds, infected individuals, and others. The ways how Global Information Infrastructure and Space applications can be very helpful in the detection, identification, tracking and fighting migratory diseases will then be discussed. A concept for an international cooperative initiative is presented, addressing its composition, its implementation, the international coordination requirements, the financial and funding issues related to its implementation and sustainability, and the roles to be played by such an organization. The funding issue deserves a closer attention, since many good ideas are killed by financial problems in their early implementation stages. Finally, a conclusion drives the audience's attention towards the potential advantages of space-based assets in covering large portions of the Earth, and consequently being suitable for global initiatives for the benefit of mankind.

  6. The Next Generation Information Infrastructure for International Trade

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Henningsson, Stefan; Gal, Uri; Bjørn-Andersen, Niels

    2011-01-01

    that are in control of their business. Trusted traders are entitled to trade facilitations, faster border crossing, and fewer physical inspections. To enable the use of trusted traders, changes are required to the information infrastructure (II) of international trade. This article complements existing works on e......-Government interoperability by a theoretically driven approach with theoretical development of the II concept and how II can be modified as additional focus. Following the principles of IS design research, this paper presents a design proposition for the II of international trade. Using theories of II development and change......Regulators and actors in international trade are facing a difficult challenge of increasing control and security while at the same time lowering the administrative burden for traders. As a tentative response, the European Commission has introduced the concept of “trusted traders”: certified traders...

  7. Project HealthDesign: enhancing action through information.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brennan, Patricia Flatley; Casper, Gail; Downs, Stephen; Aulahk, Veenu

    2009-01-01

    Project HealthDesign is a country-wide initiative in the United States designed to stimulate innovation in personal health records (PHRs). Nine grantee teams engaged in an 18-month long design and prototyping process. Two teams addressed the needs of children and adolescents; three created novel approaches to help adults prevent or manage metabolic syndrome; three groups employed interface innovations to assist patients with chronic care management and one team devised a novel calendaring system to assist patients undergoing complex medical/surgical treatments to integrate care processes into their daily lives. These projects not only included development and testing of novel personal health records applications, but also served as the starting point to specify and implement a common technical core platform. The project advanced PHR development in two key ways: intensive user-centered design and a development architecture that separates applications of PHRs from the infrastructure that supports them. The initiative also allowed systematic investigation of significant ethical, legal and social issues, including how privacy considerations are changed when information technology innovations are used in the home and the rebalancing of the authority structure of health care decision making when patient-centered approaches guide the design of PHRs.

  8. Making it local: Beacon Communities use health information technology to optimize care management.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Allen, Amy; Des Jardins, Terrisca R; Heider, Arvela; Kanger, Chatrian R; Lobach, David F; McWilliams, Lee; Polello, Jennifer M; Rein, Alison L; Schachter, Abigail A; Singh, Ranjit; Sorondo, Barbara; Tulikangas, Megan C; Turske, Scott A

    2014-06-01

    Care management aims to provide cost-effective, coordinated, non-duplicative care to improve care quality, population health, and reduce costs. The 17 communities receiving funding from the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology through the Beacon Community Cooperative Agreement Program are leaders in building and strengthening their health information technology (health IT) infrastructure to provide more effective and efficient care management. This article profiles 6 Beacon Communities' health IT-enabled care management programs, highlighting the influence of local context on program strategy and design, and describing challenges, lessons learned, and policy implications for care delivery and payment reform. The unique needs (eg, disease burden, demographics), community partnerships, and existing resources and infrastructure all exerted significant influence on the overall priorities and design of each community's care management program. Though each Beacon Community needed to engage in a similar set of care management tasks--including patient identification, stratification, and prioritization; intervention; patient engagement; and evaluation--the contextual factors helped shape the specific strategies and tools used to carry out these tasks and achieve their objectives. Although providers across the country are striving to deliver standardized, high-quality care, the diverse contexts in which this care is delivered significantly influence the priorities, strategies, and design of community-based care management interventions. Gaps and challenges in implementing effective community-based care management programs include: optimizing allocation of care management services; lack of available technology tailored to care management needs; lack of standards and interoperability; integrating care management into care settings; evaluating impact; and funding and sustainability.

  9. Infrastructuring Multicultural Healthcare Information Systems.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dreessen, Katrien; Huybrechts, Liesbeth; Grönvall, Erik; Hendriks, Niels

    2017-01-01

    This paper stresses the need for more research in the field of Participatory Design (PD) and in particular into how to design Health Information Technology (HIT) together with care providers and -receivers in multicultural settings. We contribute to this research by describing a case study, the 'Health-Cultures' project, in which we designed HIT for the context of home care of older people with a migration background. The Health-Cultures project is located in the city of Genk, Belgium, which is known for its multicultural population, formed by three historical migration waves of people coming to work in the nowadays closed coal mines. Via a PD approach, we studied existing means of dialogue and designed HIT that both care receivers and care providers in Genk can use in their daily exchanges between cultures in home care contexts. In discussing relevant literature as well as the results of this study, we point to the need and the ways of taking spatio-historical aspects of a specific healthcare situation into account in the PD of HIT to support multicultural perspectives on healthcare.

  10. Understanding the role of technology in health information systems.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lewis, Don; Hodge, Nicola; Gamage, Duminda; Whittaker, Maxine

    2012-04-01

    Innovations in, and the use of emerging information and communications technology (ICT) has rapidly increased in all development contexts, including healthcare. It is believed that the use of appropriate technologies can increase the quality and reach of both information and communication. However, decisions on what ICT to adopt have often been made without evidence of their effectiveness; or information on implications; or extensive knowledge on how to maximise benefits from their use. While it has been stated that 'healthcare ICT innovation can only succeed if design is deeply informed by practice', the large number of 'failed' ICT projects within health indicates the limited application of such an approach. There is a large and growing body of work exploring health ICT issues in the developed world, and some specifically focusing on the developing country context emerging from Africa and India; but not for the Pacific Region. Health systems in the Pacific, while diverse in many ways, are also faced with many common problems including competing demands in the face of limited resources, staff numbers, staff capacity and infrastructure. Senior health managers in the region are commonly asked to commit money, effort and scarce manpower to supporting new technologies on proposals from donor agencies or commercial companies, as well as from senior staff within their system. The first decision they must make is if the investment is both plausible and reasonable; they must also secondly decide how the investment should be made. The objective of this article is three-fold: firstly, to provide a common 'language' for categorising and discussing health information systems, particularly those in developing countries; secondly, to summarise the potential benefits and opportunities offered by the use of ICT in health; and thirdly, to discuss the critical factors countries. Overall, this article aims to illuminate the potential role of information and communication

  11. Digital Trade Infrastructures: A Framework for Analysis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Boriana Boriana

    2018-04-01

    Full Text Available In global supply chains, information about transactions resides in fragmented pockets within business and government systems. The lack of reliable, accurate and complete information makes it hard to detect risks (such as safety, security, compliance and commercial risks and at the same time makes international trade inefficient. The introduction of digital infrastructures that transcend organizational and system domains is driven by the prospect of reducing the fragmentation of information, thereby enabling improved security and efficiency in the trading process. This article develops a digital trade infrastructure framework through an empirically grounded analysis of four digital infrastructures in the trade domain, using the conceptual lens of digital infrastructure.

  12. Improvement of infrastructure for risk-informed regulation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    2012-01-01

    Improvement of the infrastructure of probabilistic safety assessment (PSA) is essential to the risk-informed regulation for nuclear power plants. JNES conducted update of initiating event frequencies and improvement of the method for uncertainty analysis to enhance the technology bases of PSA in 2011. Furthermore, JNES improved the human reliability analysis method and the reliability analysis method for digital reactor protection systems. JNES estimated initiating event frequencies both for power and shutdown operation based on the recent operating experiences in Nuclear Power Plants (NPPs) of Japan using the hierarchical Bayesian method. As for improvement of the uncertainty analysis method, JNES conducted trial analyses using SOKC (State-Of-Knowledge Correlation) for the representative PWR plant and BWR plant of Japan. The study on the advanced HRA method with operator cognitive action model was conducted to improve a quality of HRA. The study on analyses of 'defense in depth' and 'diversity' for introducing digital instrumentation and control (I and C) systems was conducted. In order to ensure the quality of PSA, JNES conducted a peer review of a representative Japanese BWR plant PSA by the professional PSA engineers from the U.S. in order to extract to improve quality of PSA, and made an effort to develop the procedures of internal fire PSA. JNES participated in OECD/NEA PRISME and FIRE project to obtain the latest information and data to validate and improve the fire propagation analysis codes and the parameters for fire PSA as well. Furthermore, JNES studied schemes for the endorsement and application in the risk-informed regulation of PSA standards established by Atomic Energy Society of Japan. (author)

  13. Infrastructuring Multicultural Healthcare Information Systems

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Dreessen, Katrien; Huybrechts, Liesbeth; Grönvall, Erik

    2017-01-01

    This paper stresses the need for more research in the field of Participatory Design (PD) and in particular into how to design Health Information Technology (HIT) together with care providers and -receivers in multicultural settings. We contribute to this research by describing a case study...... of this study, we point to the need and the ways of taking spatio-historical aspects of a specific healthcare situation into account in the PD of HIT to support multicultural perspectives on healthcare....

  14. Critical Infrastructure Information Disclosure and Homeland Security

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Moteff, John D; Stevens, Gina M

    2003-01-01

    Critical infrastructures have been defined as those systems and assets so vital to the United States that the incapacity of such systems and assets would have a debilitating impact on the United States...

  15. Infrastructure to support learning health systems: are we there yet? Innovative solutions and lessons learned from American Recovery and Reinvestment Act CER investments.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Holve, Erin; Segal, Courtney

    2014-11-01

    The 11 big health data networks participating in the AcademyHealth Electronic Data Methods Forum represent cutting-edge efforts to harness the power of big health data for research and quality improvement. This paper is a comparative case study based on site visits conducted with a subset of these large infrastructure grants funded through the Recovery Act, in which four key issues emerge that can inform the evolution of learning health systems, including the importance of acknowledging the challenges of scaling specialized expertise needed to manage and run CER networks; the delicate balance between privacy protections and the utility of distributed networks; emerging community engagement strategies; and the complexities of developing a robust business model for multi-use networks.

  16. The importance of health information technology in care coordination and transitional care.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cipriano, Pamela F; Bowles, Kathryn; Dailey, Maureen; Dykes, Patricia; Lamb, Gerri; Naylor, Mary

    2013-01-01

    Care coordination and transitional care services are strategically important for achieving the priorities of better care, better health, and reduced costs embodied in the National Strategy for Quality Improvement in Health Care (National Quality Strategy [NQS]). Some of the most vulnerable times in a person’s care occur with changes in condition as well as movement within and between settings of care. The American Academy of Nursing (AAN) believes it is essential to facilitate the coordination of care and transitions by using health information technology (HIT) to collect, share, and analyze data that communicate patient-centered information among patients, families, and care providers across communities. HIT makes information accessible, actionable, timely, customizable, and portable. Rapid access to information also creates efficiencies in care by eliminating redundancies and illuminating health history and prior care. The adoption of electronic health records (EHRs) and information systems can enable care coordination to be more effective but only when a number of essential elements are addressed to reflect the team-based nature of care coordination as well as a focus on the individual’s needs and preferences. To that end, the AAN offers a set of recommendations to guide the development of the infrastructure, standards, content, and measures for electronically enabled care coordination and transitions in care as well as research needed to build the evidence base to assess outcomes of the associated interventions.

  17. The Anatomy of Digital Trade Infrastructures

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Rukanova, Boriana; Zinner Henriksen, Helle; Henningsson, Stefan

    2017-01-01

    In global supply chains information about transactions resides in fragmented pockets within business and government systems. The introduction of digital trade infrastructures (DTI) that transcend organizational and systems domains is driven by the prospect of reducing this information fragmentation......, thereby enabling improved security and efficiency in trade process. To understand the problem at hand and build cumulative knowledge about its resolution a way to conceptualize the different digital trade infrastructure initiatives is needed. This paper develops the Digital Trade Infrastructure Framework...

  18. [Access to prenatal care and quality of care in the Family Health Strategy: infrastructure, care, and management].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Guimarães, Wilderi Sidney Gonçalves; Parente, Rosana Cristina Pereira; Guimarães, Thayanne Louzada Ferreira; Garnelo, Luiza

    2018-05-10

    This study focuses on access to prenatal care and quality of care in the Family Health Strategy in Brazil as a whole and in the North region, through evaluation of infrastructure characteristics in the health units, management, and supply of care provided by the teams, from the perspective of regional and state inequalities. A cross-sectional evaluative and normative study was performed, drawing on the external evaluation component of the second round of the Program for Improvement of Access and Quality of Primary Care, in 2013-2014. The results revealed the inadequacy of the primary healthcare network's infrastructure for prenatal care, low adequacy of clinical actions for quality of care, and the teams' low management capacity to guarantee access and quality of care. In the distribution according to geopolitical regions, the findings pertaining to the units' infrastructure indicate a direct relationship between the infrastructure's adequacy and social contexts with higher municipal human development indices and income. For the clinical actions in patient care, the teams in all the regions scored low on adequacy, with slightly better results in the North and South regions of the country. There were important differences between the states of the North, and the states with higher mean income and human development scored higher on adequacy. The results indicate important organizational difficulties in both access and quality of care provided by the health teams, in addition to visible insufficiency in management activities aimed to improve access and quality of prenatal care.

  19. An information infrastructure for earthquake science

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jordan, T. H.; Scec/Itr Collaboration

    2003-04-01

    The Southern California Earthquake Center (SCEC), in collaboration with the San Diego Supercomputer Center, the USC Information Sciences Institute,IRIS, and the USGS, has received a large five-year grant from the NSF's ITR Program and its Geosciences Directorate to build a new information infrastructure for earthquake science. In many respects, the SCEC/ITR Project presents a microcosm of the IT efforts now being organized across the geoscience community, including the EarthScope initiative. The purpose of this presentation is to discuss the experience gained by the project thus far and lay out the challenges that lie ahead; our hope is to encourage cross-discipline collaboration in future IT advancements. Project goals have been formulated in terms of four "computational pathways" related to seismic hazard analysis (SHA). For example, Pathway 1 involves the construction of an open-source, object-oriented, and web-enabled framework for SHA computations that can incorporate a variety of earthquake forecast models, intensity-measure relationships, and site-response models, while Pathway 2 aims to utilize the predictive power of wavefield simulation in modeling time-dependent ground motion for scenario earthquakes and constructing intensity-measure relationships. The overall goal is to create a SCEC "community modeling environment" or collaboratory that will comprise the curated (on-line, documented, maintained) resources needed by researchers to develop and use these four computational pathways. Current activities include (1) the development and verification of the computational modules, (2) the standardization of data structures and interfaces needed for syntactic interoperability, (3) the development of knowledge representation and management tools, (4) the construction SCEC computational and data grid testbeds, and (5) the creation of user interfaces for knowledge-acquisition, code execution, and visualization. I will emphasize the increasing role of standardized

  20. Negotiating the 'trading zone'. Creating a shared information infrastructure in the Dutch public safety sector

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Boersma, F.K.; Wagenaar, F.P.; Wolbers, J.J.

    2012-01-01

    Our main concern in this article is whether nation-wide information technology (IT) infrastructures or systems in emergency response and disaster management are the solution to the communication problems the safety sector suffers from. It has been argued that implementing nation-wide IT systems will

  1. Evaluating a Proof-of-Concept Approach of the German Health Telematics Infrastructure in the Context of Discharge Management.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hübner, Ursula; Schulte, Georg; Sellemann, Björn; Quade, Matthias; Rottmann, Thorsten; Fenske, Matthias; Egbert, Nicole; Kuhlisch, Raik; Rienhoff, Otto

    2015-01-01

    Although national eHealth strategies have existed now for more than a decade in many countries, they have been implemented with varying success. In Germany, the eHealth strategy so far has resulted in a roll out of electronic health cards for all citizens in the statutory health insurance, but in no clinically meaningful IT-applications. The aim of this study was to test the technical and organisation feasibility, usability, and utility of an eDischarge application embedded into a laboratory Health Telematics Infrastructure (TI). The tests embraced the exchange of eDischarge summaries based on the multiprofessional HL7 eNursing Summary standard between a municipal hospital and a nursing home. All in all, 36 transmissions of electronic discharge documents took place. They demonstrated the technical-organisation feasibility and resulted in moderate usability ratings. A comparison between eDischarge and paper-based summaries hinted at higher ratings of utility and information completeness for eDischarges. Despite problems with handling the electronic health card, the proof-of-concept for the first clinically meaningful IT-application in the German Health TI could be regarded as successful.

  2. Infrastructural challenges to better health in maternity facilities in rural Kenya: community and healthworker perceptions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Essendi, Hildah; Johnson, Fiifi Amoako; Madise, Nyovani; Matthews, Zoe; Falkingham, Jane; Bahaj, Abubakr S; James, Patrick; Blunden, Luke

    2015-11-09

    The efforts and commitments to accelerate progress towards the Millennium Development Goals for maternal and newborn health (MDGs 4 and 5) in low and middle income countries have focused primarily on providing key medical interventions at maternity facilities to save the lives of women at the time of childbirth, as well as their babies. However, in most rural communities in sub-Saharan, access to maternal and newborn care services is still limited and even where services are available they often lack the infrastructural prerequisites to function at the very basic level in providing essential routine health care services, let alone emergency care. Lists of essential interventions for normal and complicated childbirth, do not take into account these prerequisites, thus the needs of most health facilities in rural communities are ignored, although there is enough evidence that maternal and newborn deaths continue to remain unacceptably high in these areas. This study uses data gathered through qualitative interviews in Kitonyoni and Mwania sub-locations of Makueni County in Eastern Kenya to understand community and provider perceptions of the obstacles faced in providing and accessing maternal and newborn care at health facilities in their localities. The study finds that the community perceives various challenges, most of which are infrastructural, including lack of electricity, water and poor roads that adversely impact the provision and access to essential life-saving maternal and newborn care services in the two sub-locations. The findings and recommendations from this study are important for the attention of policy makers and programme managers in order to improve the state of lower-tier health facilities serving rural communities and to strengthen infrastructure with the aim of making basic routine and emergency obstetric and newborn care services more accessible.

  3. METHODS OF MANAGING TRAFFIC DISTRIBUTION IN INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION NETWORKS OF CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE SYSTEMS

    OpenAIRE

    Kosenko, Viktor; Persiyanova, Elena; Belotskyy, Oleksiy; Malyeyeva, Olga

    2017-01-01

    The subject matter of the article is information and communication networks (ICN) of critical infrastructure systems (CIS). The goal of the work is to create methods for managing the data flows and resources of the ICN of CIS to improve the efficiency of information processing. The following tasks were solved in the article: the data flow model of multi-level ICN structure was developed, the method of adaptive distribution of data flows was developed, the method of network resource assignment...

  4. Positioning the electric utility to build information infrastructure

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    1994-11-01

    In two particular respects (briefly investigated in this study from a lawyer`s perspective), electric utilities appear uniquely well-positioned to contribute to the National Information Infrastructure (NII). First of all, utilities have legal powers derived from their charters and operating authorities, confirmed in their rights-of-way, to carry out activities and functions necessary for delivering electric service. These activities and functions include building telecommunications facilities and undertaking information services that have become essential to managing electricity demand and supply. The economic value of the efficiencies made possible by telecommunications and information could be substantial. How great remains to be established, but by many estimates electric utility applications could fund a significant share of the capital costs of building the NII. Though utilities` legal powers to pursue such efficiencies through telecommunications and information appear beyond dispute, it is likely that the effort to do so will produce substantial excess capacity. Who will benefit from this excess capacity is a potentially contentious political question that demands early resolution. Will this windfall go to the utility, the customer, or no one (because of political paralysis), or will there be some equitable and practical split? A second aspect of inquiry here points to another contemporary issue of very great societal importance that could very well become the platform on which the first question can be resolved fortuitously-how to achieve universal telecommunications service. In the effort to fashion the NII that will now continue, ways and means to maximize the unique potential contribution of electric utilities to meeting important social and economic needs--in particular, universal service--merit priority attention.

  5. Environmental impacts of dispersed development from federal infrastructure projects.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Southerland, Mark T

    2004-06-01

    Dispersed development, also referred to as urban growth or sprawl, is a pattern of low-density development spread over previously rural landscapes. Such growth can result in adverse impacts to air quality, water quality, human health, aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems, agricultural land, military training areas, water supply and wastewater treatment, recreational resources, viewscapes, and cultural resources. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) is charged with protecting public health and the environment, which includes consideration of impacts from dispersed development. Specifically, because federal infrastructure projects can affect the progress of dispersed development, the secondary impacts resulting from it must be assessed in documents prepared under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) has oversight for NEPA and Section 309 of the Clean Air Act requires that U.S. EPA review and comment on federal agency NEPA documents. The adverse effects of dispersed development can be induced by federal infrastructure projects including transportation, built infrastructure, modifications in natural infrastructure, public land conversion and redevelopment of properties, construction of federal facilities, and large traffic or major growth generation developments requiring federal permits. This paper presents an approach that U.S. EPA reviewers and NEPA practitioners can use to provide accurate, realistic, and consistent analysis of secondary impacts of dispersed development resulting from federal infrastructure projects. It also presents 24 measures that can be used to mitigate adverse impacts from dispersed development by modifying project location and design, participating in preservation or restoration activities, or informing and supporting local communities in planning.

  6. N2R vs. DR Network Infrastructure Evaluation

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Pedersen, Jens Myrup; Roost, Lars Jessen; Toft, Per Nesager

    2007-01-01

    Recent development of Internet-based services has set higher requirements to network infrastructures in terms of more bandwidth, lower delays and more reliability. Theoretical research within the area of Structural Quality of Service (SQoS) has introduced a new type of infrastructure which meet...... these requirements: N2R infrastructures. This paper contributes to the ongoing research with a case study from North Jutland. An evaluation of three N2R infrastructures compared to a Double Ring (DR) infrastructure will provide valuable information of the practical applicability of N2R infrastructures. In order...... to study if N2R infrastructures perform better than the DR infrastructure, a distribution network was established based on geographical information system (GIS) data. Nodes were placed with respect to demographic and geographical factors. The established distribution network was investigated with respect...

  7. Infrastructure and Health Care Services in the Niger Delta Region of Nigeria: A Case Study of Physical Amenities in the Primary Health Care System in Delta State

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Omuta GED

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Background: One of the spin-off effects of the urban-based medical services established by the colonial administration was the total neglect of rural communities. Those that existed lacked infrastructure. Even fifty years after independence, this dichotomy has persisted and become more pronounced. The objective of this study is to examine the state of infrastructure in the primary health care centres in Delta State, Nigeria. Methodology: The study was a survey of the infrastructure of all the PHC centres in nine local government areas; three from each of the three senatorial districts. The facilities covered were sources of water supply, sources of electricity, number of functional beds and type of communication facilities. The field date were cleaned up, processed and analysed using SPSS 10.0. Focus group discussions and key informant interviews were also conducted. In order to make the findings policy-relevant, a project steering committee made of researchers and decision makers and a project management committee made of representatives of decision makers, care providers, care seekers and other stakeholders were se up and integrated into the study. Results: There were varying degrees of infrastructural deficiencies. 34.22 per cent of the PHCs had no access to safe water; 51.33 per cent were not connected to the national electricity grid; and 34.22 per cent of the available beds and 40.89 per cent no means of communication whatsoever. Conclusion: Field data and perspectives of stakeholders revealed that the major cause of infrastructural deficiencies was insufficient funding, lopsided allocation of resources and official corruption. Correspondingly, increased and sustained funding; prioritized allocation of resources and targeted upgrading of facilities, were recommended.

  8. Securing Canada’s Information-Technology Infrastructure: Context, Principles, and Focus Areas of Cybersecurity Research

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dan Craigen

    2013-07-01

    Full Text Available This article addresses the challenges of cybersecurity and ultimately the provision of a stable and resilient information-technology infrastructure for Canada and, more broadly, the world. We describe the context of current cybersecurity challenges by synthesizing key source material whose importance was informed by our own real-world experiences. Furthermore, we present a checklist of guiding principles to a unified response, complete with a set of action-oriented research topics that are linked to known operational limitations. The focus areas are used to drive the formulation of a unified and relevant research and experimental development program, thereby moving us towards a stable and resilient cyberinfrastructure. When cybersecurity is viewed as an inherently interdisciplinary problem of societal concern, we expect that fundamentally new research perspectives will emerge in direct response to domain-specific protection requirements for information-technology infrastructure. Purely technical responses to cybersecurity challenges will be inadequate because human factors are an inherent aspect of the problem. This article will interest managers and entrepreneurs. Senior management teams can assess new technical developments and product releases to fortify their current security solutions, while entrepreneurs can harness new opportunities to commercialize novel technology to solve a high-impact cybersecurity problem..

  9. The Creation and Development of Innovative Infrastructure in the Danube Countries

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Liudmila Rosca-Sadurschi

    2014-08-01

    Full Text Available Entrepreneurship development is supported by a developed infrastructure or innovative infrastructure. The purpose of the business infrastructure is to create favorable conditions for its development by providing support in various areas, complete and targeted to businesses. Training system infrastructure provides creation and development of innovation infrastructure objects. Thus, this article will conduct a comparative analysis of the elements of innovation infrastructure and how their development in different countries. Innovation infrastructure elements analyzed are: information infrastructure refers to access to information; Financial infrastructure refers to financial resources; infrastructure, staff training (qualified staff; material and technical infrastructure; infrastructure consulting (expert consultation; marketing infrastructure.

  10. Prioritizing Infrastructure Investments in Panama : Pilot Application of the World Bank Infrastructure Prioritization Framework

    OpenAIRE

    Marcelo, Darwin; Mandri-Perrott, Cledan; House, Schuyler

    2016-01-01

    Infrastructure services are significant determinants of economic development, social welfare, trade, and public health. As such, they typically feature strongly in national development plans. While governments may receive many infrastructure project proposals, however, resources are often insufficient to finance the full set of proposals in the short term. Leading up to 2020, an estimated US$836 ...

  11. Common Criteria for Information Technology Security Evaluation: Department of Defense Public Key Infrastructure and Key Management Infrastructure Token Protection Profile (Medium Robustness)

    Science.gov (United States)

    2002-03-22

    may be derived from detailed inspection of the IC itself or from illicit appropriation of design information. Counterfeit smart cards can be mass...Infrastructure (PKI) as the Internet to securely and privately exchange data and money through the use of a public and a private cryptographic key pair...interference devices (SQDIS), electrical testing, and electron beam testing. • Other attacks, such as UV or X-rays or high temperatures, could cause erasure

  12. A national survey of health service infrastructure and policy impacts on access to computerised CBT in Scotland

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kenicer David

    2012-09-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background NICE recommends computerised cognitive behavioural therapy (cCBT for the treatment of several mental health problems such as anxiety and depression. cCBT may be one way that services can reduce waiting lists and improve capacity and efficiency. However, there is some doubt about the extent to which the National Health Service (NHS in the UK is embracing this new health technology in practice. This study aimed to investigate Scottish health service infrastructure and policies that promote or impede the implementation of cCBT in the NHS. Methods A telephone survey of lead IT staff at all health board areas across Scotland to systematically enquire about the ability of local IT infrastructure and IT policies to support delivery of cCBT. Results Overall, most of the health boards possess the required software to use cCBT programmes. However, the majority of NHS health boards reported that they lack dedicated computers for patient use, hence access to cCBT at NHS sites is limited. Additionally, local policy in the majority of boards prevent staff from routinely contacting patients via email, skype or instant messenger, making the delivery of short, efficient support sessions difficult. Conclusions Conclusions: Overall most of the infrastructure is in place but is not utilised in ways that allow effective delivery. For cCBT to be successfully delivered within a guided support model, as recommended by national guidelines, dedicated patient computers should be provided to allow access to online interventions. Additionally, policy should allow staff to support patients in convenient ways such as via email or live chat. These measures would increase the likelihood of achieving Scottish health service targets to reduce waiting time for psychological therapies to 18 weeks.

  13. The Social Construction of Public Infrastructure: The Case of the Dutch National Geo-information Clearinghouse Project.

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Koerten, Henk; Veenswijk, Marcel

    2010-01-01

    Disclosure of governmental map related information is increasingly being conceptualized as management of inter-organizational National Spatial Data Infrastructures (NSDIs). Until now, studies have been published on how NSDI projects should be designed, set up and monitored. While these approaches

  14. Digital divide, biometeorological data infrastructures and human vulnerability definition

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fdez-Arroyabe, Pablo; Lecha Estela, Luis; Schimt, Falko

    2018-05-01

    The design and implementation of any climate-related health service, nowadays, imply avoiding the digital divide as it means having access and being able to use complex technological devices, massive meteorological data, user's geographic location and biophysical information. This article presents the co-creation, in detail, of a biometeorological data infrastructure, which is a complex platform formed by multiple components: a mainframe, a biometeorological model called Pronbiomet, a relational database management system, data procedures, communication protocols, different software packages, users, datasets and a mobile application. The system produces four daily world maps of the partial density of the atmospheric oxygen and collects user feedback on their health condition. The infrastructure is shown to be a useful tool to delineate individual vulnerability to meteorological changes as one key factor in the definition of any biometeorological risk. This technological approach to study weather-related health impacts is the initial seed for the definition of biometeorological profiles of persons, and for the future development of customized climate services for users in the near future.

  15. Digital divide, biometeorological data infrastructures and human vulnerability definition

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fdez-Arroyabe, Pablo; Lecha Estela, Luis; Schimt, Falko

    2017-06-01

    The design and implementation of any climate-related health service, nowadays, imply avoiding the digital divide as it means having access and being able to use complex technological devices, massive meteorological data, user's geographic location and biophysical information. This article presents the co-creation, in detail, of a biometeorological data infrastructure, which is a complex platform formed by multiple components: a mainframe, a biometeorological model called Pronbiomet, a relational database management system, data procedures, communication protocols, different software packages, users, datasets and a mobile application. The system produces four daily world maps of the partial density of the atmospheric oxygen and collects user feedback on their health condition. The infrastructure is shown to be a useful tool to delineate individual vulnerability to meteorological changes as one key factor in the definition of any biometeorological risk. This technological approach to study weather-related health impacts is the initial seed for the definition of biometeorological profiles of persons, and for the future development of customized climate services for users in the near future.

  16. Digital divide, biometeorological data infrastructures and human vulnerability definition.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fdez-Arroyabe, Pablo; Lecha Estela, Luis; Schimt, Falko

    2018-05-01

    The design and implementation of any climate-related health service, nowadays, imply avoiding the digital divide as it means having access and being able to use complex technological devices, massive meteorological data, user's geographic location and biophysical information. This article presents the co-creation, in detail, of a biometeorological data infrastructure, which is a complex platform formed by multiple components: a mainframe, a biometeorological model called Pronbiomet, a relational database management system, data procedures, communication protocols, different software packages, users, datasets and a mobile application. The system produces four daily world maps of the partial density of the atmospheric oxygen and collects user feedback on their health condition. The infrastructure is shown to be a useful tool to delineate individual vulnerability to meteorological changes as one key factor in the definition of any biometeorological risk. This technological approach to study weather-related health impacts is the initial seed for the definition of biometeorological profiles of persons, and for the future development of customized climate services for users in the near future.

  17. Infrastructures for healthcare: From synergy to reverse synergy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Langhoff, Tue Odd; Amstrup, Mikkel Hvid; Mørck, Peter; Bjørn, Pernille

    2018-03-01

    The Danish General Practitioners Database has over more than a decade developed into a large-scale successful information infrastructure supporting medical research in Denmark. Danish general practitioners produce the data, by coding all patient consultations according to a certain set of classifications, on the entire Danish population. However, in the Autumn of 2014, the system was temporarily shut down due to a lawsuit filed by two general practitioners. In this article, we ask why and identify a political struggle concerning authority, control, and autonomy related to a transformation of the fundamental ontology of the information infrastructure. We explore how the transformed ontology created cracks in the inertia of the information infrastructure damaging the long-term sustainability. We propose the concept of reverse synergy as the awareness of negative impacts occurring when uncritically adding new actors or purposes to a system without due consideration to the nature of the infrastructure. We argue that while long-term information infrastructures are dynamic by nature and constantly impacted by actors joining or leaving the project, each activity of adding new actors must take reverse synergy into account, if not to risk breaking down the fragile nature of otherwise successful information infrastructures supporting research on healthcare.

  18. 'Two clicks and I'm in!' Patients as co-actors in managing health data through a personal health record infrastructure.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zanutto, Alberto

    2017-06-01

    One of the most significant changes in the healthcare field in the past 10 years has been the large-scale digitalization of patients' healthcare data, and an increasing emphasis on the importance of patients' roles in cooperating with healthcare professionals through digital infrastructures. A project carried out in the North of Italy with the aim of creating a personal health record has been evaluated over the course of 5 years by means of mixed method fieldwork. Two years after the infrastructure was put into regular service, the way in which patients are represented in the system and patient practices have been studied using surveys and qualitative interviews. The data show that, first, patients have become co-actors in describing their clinical histories; second, that they have become co-actors in the diagnosis process; and finally, they have become co-actors in the management of time and space as regards their specific state of health.

  19. Protection of critical infrastructure using fiber optic sensors embedded in technical textiles

    Science.gov (United States)

    Krebber, Katerina; Lenke, Philipp; Liehr, Sascha; Noether, Nils; Wendt, Mario; Wosniok, Aleksander

    2010-04-01

    Terrorists and criminals more and more attack and destroy important infrastructures like routes, railways, bridges, tunnels, dikes and dams, important buildings. Therefore, reliable on-line and long-term monitoring systems are required to protect such critical infrastructures. Fiber optic sensors are well-suited for that. They can be installed over many kilometers and are able to measure continuously distributed strain, pressure, temperature and further mechanical and physical quantities. The very tiny optical fibers can be integrated into structures and materials and can provide information about any significant changes or damages of the structures. These so-called smart materials and smart structures are able to monitor itself or its environment. Particularly smart technical textiles with embedded fiber optic sensors have become very attractive because of their high importance for the structural health monitoring of geotechnical and masonry infrastructures. Such textiles are usually used for reinforcement of the structures; the embedded fiber optic sensors provide information about the condition of the structures and detect the presence of any damages and destructions in real time. Thus, critical infrastructures can be preventively protected. The paper will introduce this innovative field and will present the results achieved within several German and European projects.

  20. Integrating Urban Infrastructure and Health System Impact Modeling for Disasters and Mass-Casualty Events

    Science.gov (United States)

    Balbus, J. M.; Kirsch, T.; Mitrani-Reiser, J.

    2017-12-01

    Over recent decades, natural disasters and mass-casualty events in United States have repeatedly revealed the serious consequences of health care facility vulnerability and the subsequent ability to deliver care for the affected people. Advances in predictive modeling and vulnerability assessment for health care facility failure, integrated infrastructure, and extreme weather events have now enabled a more rigorous scientific approach to evaluating health care system vulnerability and assessing impacts of natural and human disasters as well as the value of specific interventions. Concurrent advances in computing capacity also allow, for the first time, full integration of these multiple individual models, along with the modeling of population behaviors and mass casualty responses during a disaster. A team of federal and academic investigators led by the National Center for Disaster Medicine and Public Health (NCDMPH) is develoing a platform for integrating extreme event forecasts, health risk/impact assessment and population simulations, critical infrastructure (electrical, water, transportation, communication) impact and response models, health care facility-specific vulnerability and failure assessments, and health system/patient flow responses. The integration of these models is intended to develop much greater understanding of critical tipping points in the vulnerability of health systems during natural and human disasters and build an evidence base for specific interventions. Development of such a modeling platform will greatly facilitate the assessment of potential concurrent or sequential catastrophic events, such as a terrorism act following a severe heat wave or hurricane. This presentation will highlight the development of this modeling platform as well as applications not just for the US health system, but also for international science-based disaster risk reduction efforts, such as the Sendai Framework and the WHO SMART hospital project.

  1. Building and measuring infrastructure and capacity for community health assessment and health improvement planning in Florida.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Abarca, Christine; Grigg, C Meade; Steele, Jo Ann; Osgood, Laurie; Keating, Heidi

    2009-01-01

    COMPASS (Comprehensive Assessment, Strategic Success) is the Florida Department of Health's community health assessment and health improvement planning initiative. Since 2002, COMPASS built state and county health department infrastructure to support a comprehensive, systematic, and integrated approach to community health assessment and planning. To assess the capacity of Florida's 67 county health departments (CHDs) to conduct community health assessment and planning and to identify training and technical assistance needs, COMPASS surveyed the CHDs using a Web-based instrument annually from 2004 through 2008. Response rate to the survey was 100 percent annually. In 2007, 96 percent of CHDs reported conducting assessment and planning within the past 3 years; 74 percent used the MAPP (Mobilizing for Action through Planning and Partnerships) framework. Progress was greater for the organizational and assessment phases of the MAPP-based work; only 10 CHDs had identified strategic priorities in 2007, and even fewer had implemented strategies for improving health. In 2007, the most frequently requested types of training were measuring success, developing goals and action plans, and using qualitative data; technical assistance was most frequently requested for program evaluation and writing community health status reports. Florida's CHDs have increased their capacity to conduct community health assessment and planning. Questions remain about sustaining these gains with limited resources.

  2. PHL14/352: The Impact of Electronic Health Information and Computer-mediated Communication for the Coping Abilities of Cancer Patients

    OpenAIRE

    Scheiber, A; Gruendel, M

    1999-01-01

    Introduction World wide-based Information services are providing an increasing variety in information concerning practically every aspect of prevention, health promotion and treatment for patients, their families and care providers. For the case of cancer, a well-established information and communication infrastructure for an English speaking audience has been developed over the past years. Methods Our work has focused on an extensive literature review, identifying publications on the impact ...

  3. Integration of Life Cycle Assessment Into Agent-Based Modeling : Toward Informed Decisions on Evolving Infrastructure Systems

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Davis, C.B.; Nikoli?, I.; Dijkema, G.P.J.

    2009-01-01

    A method is presented that allows for a life cycle assessment (LCA) to provide environmental information on an energy infrastructure system while it evolves. Energy conversion facilities are represented in an agent-based model (ABM) as distinct instances of technologies with owners capable of making

  4. Including Health in Environmental Assessments of Major Transport Infrastructure Projects: A Documentary Analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Riley, Emily; Harris, Patrick; Kent, Jennifer; Sainsbury, Peter; Lane, Anna; Baum, Fran

    2018-05-10

    Transport policy and practice impacts health. Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs) are regulated public policy mechanisms that can be used to consider the health impacts of major transport projects before they are approved. The way health is considered in these environmental assessments (EAs) is not well known. This research asked: How and to what extent was human health considered in EAs of four major transport projects in Australia. We developed a comprehensive coding framework to analyse the Environmental Impact Statements (EISs) of four transport infrastructure projects: three road and one light rail. The coding framework was designed to capture how health was directly and indirectly included. We found that health was partially considered in all four EISs. In the three New South Wales (NSW) projects, but not the one South Australian project, this was influenced by the requirements issued to proponents by the government which directed the content of the EIS. Health was assessed using human health risk assessment (HHRA). We found this to be narrow in focus and revealed a need for a broader social determinants of health approach, using multiple methods. The road assessments emphasised air quality and noise risks, concluding these were minimal or predicted to improve. The South Australian project was the only road project not to include health data explicitly. The light rail EIS considered the health benefits of the project whereas the others focused on risk. Only one project considered mental health, although in less detail than air quality or noise. Our findings suggest EIAs lag behind the known evidence linking transport infrastructure to health. If health is to be comprehensively included, a more complete model of health is required, as well as a shift away from health risk assessment as the main method used. This needs to be mandatory for all significant developments. We also found that considering health only at the EIA stage may be a significant

  5. Next generation terminology infrastructure to support interprofessional care planning.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Collins, Sarah; Klinkenberg-Ramirez, Stephanie; Tsivkin, Kira; Mar, Perry L; Iskhakova, Dina; Nandigam, Hari; Samal, Lipika; Rocha, Roberto A

    2017-11-01

    Develop a prototype of an interprofessional terminology and information model infrastructure that can enable care planning applications to facilitate patient-centered care, learn care plan linkages and associations, provide decision support, and enable automated, prospective analytics. The study steps included a 3 step approach: (1) Process model and clinical scenario development, and (2) Requirements analysis, and (3) Development and validation of information and terminology models. Components of the terminology model include: Health Concerns, Goals, Decisions, Interventions, Assessments, and Evaluations. A terminology infrastructure should: (A) Include discrete care plan concepts; (B) Include sets of profession-specific concerns, decisions, and interventions; (C) Communicate rationales, anticipatory guidance, and guidelines that inform decisions among the care team; (D) Define semantic linkages across clinical events and professions; (E) Define sets of shared patient goals and sub-goals, including patient stated goals; (F) Capture evaluation toward achievement of goals. These requirements were mapped to AHRQ Care Coordination Measures Framework. This study used a constrained set of clinician-validated clinical scenarios. Terminology models for goals and decisions are unavailable in SNOMED CT, limiting the ability to evaluate these aspects of the proposed infrastructure. Defining and linking subsets of care planning concepts appears to be feasible, but also essential to model interprofessional care planning for common co-occurring conditions and chronic diseases. We recommend the creation of goal dynamics and decision concepts in SNOMED CT to further enable the necessary models. Systems with flexible terminology management infrastructure may enable intelligent decision support to identify conflicting and aligned concerns, goals, decisions, and interventions in shared care plans, ultimately decreasing documentation effort and cognitive burden for clinicians and

  6. Care Preferences Among Middle-Aged and Older Adults With Chronic Disease in Europe: Individual Health Care Needs and National Health Care Infrastructure.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mair, Christine A; Quiñones, Ana R; Pasha, Maha A

    2016-08-01

    The purpose of this study is to expand knowledge of care options for aging populations cross-nationally by examining key individual-level and nation-level predictors of European middle-aged and older adults' preferences for care. Drawing on data from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, we analyze old age care preferences of a sample of 6,469 adults aged 50 and older with chronic disease in 14 nations. Using multilevel modeling, we analyze associations between individual-level health care needs and nation-level health care infrastructure and preference for family-based (vs. state-based) personal care. We find that middle-aged and older adults with chronic disease whose health limits their ability to perform paid work, who did not receive personal care from informal sources, and who live in nations with generous long-term care funding are less likely to prefer family-based care and more likely to prefer state-based care. We discuss these findings in light of financial risks in later life and the future role of specialized health support programs, such as long-term care. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Gerontological Society of America. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  7. Scaling of an information system in a public healthcare market--infrastructuring from the vendor's perspective.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Johannessen, Liv Karen; Obstfelder, Aud; Lotherington, Ann Therese

    2013-05-01

    The purpose of this paper is to explore the making and scaling of information infrastructures, as well as how the conditions for scaling a component may change for the vendor. The first research question is how the making and scaling of a healthcare information infrastructure can be done and by whom. The second question is what scope for manoeuvre there might be for vendors aiming to expand their market. This case study is based on an interpretive approach, whereby data is gathered through participant observation and semi-structured interviews. A case study of the making and scaling of an electronic system for general practitioners ordering laboratory services from hospitals is described as comprising two distinct phases. The first may be characterized as an evolving phase, when development, integration and implementation were achieved in small steps, and the vendor, together with end users, had considerable freedom to create the solution according to the users' needs. The second phase was characterized by a large-scale procurement process over which regional healthcare authorities exercised much more control and the needs of groups other than the end users influenced the design. The making and scaling of healthcare information infrastructures is not simply a process of evolution, in which the end users use and change the technology. It also consists of large steps, during which different actors, including vendors and healthcare authorities, may make substantial contributions. This process requires work, negotiation and strategies. The conditions for the vendor may change dramatically, from considerable freedom and close relationships with users and customers in the small-scale development, to losing control of the product and being required to engage in more formal relations with customers in the wider public healthcare market. Onerous procurement processes may be one of the reasons why large-scale implementation of information projects in healthcare is difficult

  8. Creating the American National Information Infrastructure The Interaction of Science, Technology, Business, Legislation and Politics

    CERN Document Server

    Kahn, R E

    1995-01-01

    R.KAHN will discuss the current situation in the United States with respect to development of a National Information Infrastructure(NII). He will address the roles being played by various government and private sector parties and likely scenarios for evolution of the NII. The interplay of technology with non-technological considerations will also be addressed.

  9. Sustainability considerations for health research and analytic data infrastructures.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wilcox, Adam; Randhawa, Gurvaneet; Embi, Peter; Cao, Hui; Kuperman, Gilad J

    2014-01-01

    The United States has made recent large investments in creating data infrastructures to support the important goals of patient-centered outcomes research (PCOR) and comparative effectiveness research (CER), with still more investment planned. These initial investments, while critical to the creation of the infrastructures, are not expected to sustain them much beyond the initial development. To provide the maximum benefit, the infrastructures need to be sustained through innovative financing models while providing value to PCOR and CER researchers. Based on our experience with creating flexible sustainability strategies (i.e., strategies that are adaptive to the different characteristics and opportunities of a resource or infrastructure), we define specific factors that are important considerations in developing a sustainability strategy. These factors include assets, expansion, complexity, and stakeholders. Each factor is described, with examples of how it is applied. These factors are dimensions of variation in different resources, to which a sustainability strategy should adapt. We also identify specific important considerations for maintaining an infrastructure, so that the long-term intended benefits can be realized. These observations are presented as lessons learned, to be applied to other sustainability efforts. We define the lessons learned, relating them to the defined sustainability factors as interactions between factors. Using perspectives and experiences from a diverse group of experts, we define broad characteristics of sustainability strategies and important observations, which can vary for different projects. Other descriptions of adaptive, flexible, and successful models of collaboration between stakeholders and data infrastructures can expand this framework by identifying other factors for sustainability, and give more concrete directions on how sustainability can be best achieved.

  10. Web-GIS platform for green infrastructure in Bucharest, Romania

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sercaianu, Mihai; Petrescu, Florian; Aldea, Mihaela; Oana, Luca; Rotaru, George

    2015-06-01

    In the last decade, reducing urban pollution and improving quality of public spaces became a more and more important issue for public administration authorities in Romania. The paper describes the development of a web-GIS solution dedicated to monitoring of the green infrastructure in Bucharest, Romania. Thus, the system allows the urban residents (citizens) to collect themselves and directly report relevant information regarding the current status of the green infrastructure of the city. Consequently, the citizens become an active component of the decision-support process within the public administration. Besides the usual technical characteristics of such geo-information processing systems, due to the complex legal and organizational problems that arise in collecting information directly from the citizens, additional analysis was required concerning, for example, local government involvement, environmental protection agencies regulations or public entities requirements. Designing and implementing the whole information exchange process, based on the active interaction between the citizens and public administration bodies, required the use of the "citizen-sensor" concept deployed with GIS tools. The information collected and reported from the field is related to a lot of factors, which are not always limited to the city level, providing the possibility to consider the green infrastructure as a whole. The "citizen-request" web-GIS for green infrastructure monitoring solution is characterized by a very diverse urban information, due to the fact that the green infrastructure itself is conditioned by a lot of urban elements, such as urban infrastructures, urban infrastructure works and construction density.

  11. Wisconsin’s Environmental Public Health Tracking Network: Information Systems Design for Childhood Cancer Surveillance

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hanrahan, Lawrence P.; Anderson, Henry A.; Busby, Brian; Bekkedal, Marni; Sieger, Thomas; Stephenson, Laura; Knobeloch, Lynda; Werner, Mark; Imm, Pamela; Olson, Joseph

    2004-01-01

    In this article we describe the development of an information system for environmental childhood cancer surveillance. The Wisconsin Cancer Registry annually receives more than 25,000 incident case reports. Approximately 269 cases per year involve children. Over time, there has been considerable community interest in understanding the role the environment plays as a cause of these cancer cases. Wisconsin’s Public Health Information Network (WI-PHIN) is a robust web portal integrating both Health Alert Network and National Electronic Disease Surveillance System components. WI-PHIN is the information technology platform for all public health surveillance programs. Functions include the secure, automated exchange of cancer case data between public health–based and hospital-based cancer registrars; web-based supplemental data entry for environmental exposure confirmation and hypothesis testing; automated data analysis, visualization, and exposure–outcome record linkage; directories of public health and clinical personnel for role-based access control of sensitive surveillance information; public health information dissemination and alerting; and information technology security and critical infrastructure protection. For hypothesis generation, cancer case data are sent electronically to WI-PHIN and populate the integrated data repository. Environmental data are linked and the exposure–disease relationships are explored using statistical tools for ecologic exposure risk assessment. For hypothesis testing, case–control interviews collect exposure histories, including parental employment and residential histories. This information technology approach can thus serve as the basis for building a comprehensive system to assess environmental cancer etiology. PMID:15471739

  12. Expert panel evaluation of health information technology effects on adverse events.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Abramson, Erika L; Kern, Lisa M; Brenner, Samantha; Hufstader, Meghan; Patel, Vaishali; Kaushal, Rainu

    2014-08-01

    Adverse events (AEs) among hospitalized patients occur frequently and result in significant sequelae. Federal policy is incentivizing health information technology (HIT) use, although research demonstrating safety benefits from HIT is mixed. Our objective was to evaluate the potential effects of HIT on reducing 21 different inpatient AEs. Identifying AEs most likely to be reduced by HIT can inform the design of future studies evaluating its effectiveness. We conducted a modified Delphi panel of national experts in HIT and safety. We conducted a focused literature review to inform the experts. Using a novel framework, experts rated each AE as 'definitely reduced by health IT,' 'possibly reduced by health IT' and 'not likely to be reduced by health IT'. From our panel discussion, experts identified six AEs as 'definitely reduced by health IT': (1) adverse drug events (ADEs) associated with digoxin; (2) ADE associated with IV heparin; (3) ADE associated with hypoglycaemic agents; (4) ADE associated with low molecular weight heparin and factor Xa inhibitor; (5) contrast nephropathy associated with catheter angiography; and (6) ADE hospital-acquired antibiotic-associated Clostridium difficile. Understanding the effects of HIT on patient outcomes will be essential to ensuring that the significant federal investment results in anticipated improvements. This study serves as an important early step in helping with the design of future work evaluating level of HIT infrastructure and rates of inpatient AEs. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  13. Collaborative Access Control For Critical Infrastructures

    Science.gov (United States)

    Baina, Amine; El Kalam, Anas Abou; Deswarte, Yves; Kaaniche, Mohamed

    A critical infrastructure (CI) can fail with various degrees of severity due to physical and logical vulnerabilities. Since many interdependencies exist between CIs, failures can have dramatic consequences on the entire infrastructure. This paper focuses on threats that affect information and communication systems that constitute the critical information infrastructure (CII). A new collaborative access control framework called PolyOrBAC is proposed to address security problems that are specific to CIIs. The framework offers each organization participating in a CII the ability to collaborate with other organizations while maintaining control of its resources and internal security policy. The approach is demonstrated on a practical scenario involving the electrical power grid.

  14. INNOVATIVE INFRASTRUCTURE OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP DEVELOPMENT

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    O. Mykytyuk

    2014-06-01

    Full Text Available Practical realization of sustainable development general conception is passing to the organic production, that allows to satisfy society problems, not putting health and future generations' existence under a threat. At this entrepreneurs, which work in the consumer products' field, must displace accents from economic oriented to social oriented entrepreneurship. The article is dedicated to research negative and positive factors that influence on social oriented Ukrainian enterprises in the sphere of organic goods production. The special attention is attended to the analysis of foodstuffs producers' activity, the results of which have considerable direct influence on consumers' health. The value of informative influences on consumers and producers is analyzed. State support directions of organic goods production, creation of internal market ecologically safe products infrastructure are defined. Recommendations are given according to research results in relation to stimulation social responsibility of businessmen and model forming, which combines interests of consumers and producers, environmental preservation, population health refinement and ecological situation improvement.

  15. Modeling Framework and Results to Inform Charging Infrastructure Investments

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Melaina, Marc W [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Wood, Eric W [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

    2017-09-01

    The plug-in electric vehicle (PEV) market is experiencing rapid growth with dozens of battery electric (BEV) and plug-in hybrid electric (PHEV) models already available and billions of dollars being invested by automotive manufacturers in the PEV space. Electric range is increasing thanks to larger and more advanced batteries and significant infrastructure investments are being made to enable higher power fast charging. Costs are falling and PEVs are becoming more competitive with conventional vehicles. Moreover, new technologies such as connectivity and automation hold the promise of enhancing the value proposition of PEVs. This presentation outlines a suite of projects funded by the U.S. Department of Energy's Vehicle Technology Office to conduct assessments of the economic value and charging infrastructure requirements of the evolving PEV market. Individual assessments include national evaluations of PEV economic value (assuming 73M PEVs on the road in 2035), national analysis of charging infrastructure requirements (with community and corridor level resolution), and case studies of PEV ownership in Columbus, OH and Massachusetts.

  16. Cyberwarfare on the Electricity Infrastructure

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Murarka, N.; Ramesh, V.C.

    2000-03-20

    The report analyzes the possibility of cyberwarfare on the electricity infrastructure. The ongoing deregulation of the electricity industry makes the power grid all the more vulnerable to cyber attacks. The report models the power system information system components, models potential threats and protective measures. It therefore offers a framework for infrastructure protection.

  17. HEALTH RECORDS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY IN SUPPORT OF EXCHANGE OF HEALTH INFORMATION

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jordan Deliversky

    2017-05-01

    Full Text Available The exchange of health information in conditions directly related to electronic environment is referred as health information technology. Usually the protection of personal health related data is comprised of various elements such as ways of information usage and access to sensitive health information. The protection of individually identifiable health information is possible with combination of measures. Protective measures include administrative, technical and physical elements. Through such protective measures is possible to ensure confidentiality, integrity and availability of the information, while at the same time could be guaranteed the prevention of unauthorized access. Sensitive records usually contain personal health information. Personal medical data requires high level of protection, as its content includes medical condition or diagnosis, where unauthorized access could have negative impact on one’s personal and professional life.

  18. Development and Implementation of the DHAPP Military eHealth Information Network System.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kratz, Mary; Thomas, Anne; Hora, Ricardo; Vera, Delphis; Lutz, Mickey; Johnson, Mark D

    2017-01-01

    As the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS, the Global Fund, and the US President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief focus on reaching 90-90-90 goals, military health systems are scaling up to meet the data demands of these ambitious objectives. Since 2008, the US Department of Defense HIV/AIDS Prevention Program (DHAPP) has been working with military partners in 14 countries on implementation and adoption of a Military eHealth Information Network (MeHIN). Each country implementation plan followed a structured process using international eHealth standards. DHAPP worked with the private sector to develop a commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) electronic medical record (EMR) for the collection of data, including patient demographic information, clinical notes for general medical care, HIV encounters, voluntary medical male circumcision, and tuberculosis screening information. The COTS software approach provided a zero-dollar software license and focused on sharing a single version of the EMR across countries, so that all countries could benefit from software enhancements and new features over time. DHAPP also worked with the public sector to modify open source disease surveillance tools and open access of HIV training materials. Important lessons highlight challenges to eHealth implementation, including a paucity of technology infrastructure, military leadership rotations, and the need for basic computer skills building. While not simple, eHealth systems can be built and maintained with requisite security, flexibility, and reporting capabilities that provide critical information to improve the health of individuals and organizations. Copyright© Bentham Science Publishers; For any queries, please email at epub@benthamscience.org.

  19. The Canadian Geospatial Data Infrastructure and health mapping

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Gao, Sheng; Mioc, Darka; Yi, Xiaolun

    2008-01-01

    such as emergency management, public health, disaster relief, environmental impact assessment, transportation, and land information systems. In this paper, our aims are to use the CGDI and to identify its usability in supporting online health mapping. To identify the usability of the CGDI for health mapping, we...

  20. Critical Infrastructure Interdependency Modeling: A Survey of U.S. and International Research

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    2006-08-01

    The Nation’s health, wealth, and security rely on the production and distribution of certain goods and services. The array of physical assets, processes, and organizations across which these goods and services move are called "critical infrastructures".1 This statement is as true in the U.S. as in any country in the world. Recent world events such as the 9-11 terrorist attacks, London bombings, and gulf coast hurricanes have highlighted the importance of stable electric, gas and oil, water, transportation, banking and finance, and control and communication infrastructure systems. Be it through direct connectivity, policies and procedures, or geospatial proximity, most critical infrastructure systems interact. These interactions often create complex relationships, dependencies, and interdependencies that cross infrastructure boundaries. The modeling and analysis of interdependencies between critical infrastructure elements is a relatively new and very important field of study. The U.S. Technical Support Working Group (TSWG) has sponsored this survey to identify and describe this current area of research including the current activities in this field being conducted both in the U.S. and internationally. The main objective of this study is to develop a single source reference of critical infrastructure interdependency modeling tools (CIIMT) that could be applied to allow users to objectively assess the capabilities of CIIMT. This information will provide guidance for directing research and development to address the gaps in development. The results will inform researchers of the TSWG Infrastructure Protection Subgroup of research and development efforts and allow a more focused approach to addressing the needs of CIIMT end-user needs. This report first presents the field of infrastructure interdependency analysis, describes the survey methodology, and presents the leading research efforts in both a cumulative table and through individual datasheets. Data was

  1. Towards a Danish Spatial Information Infrastructure - what can the Danish Authorities offer the citizens today?

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Brande-Lavridsen, Hanne

    2003-01-01

    and greater transparency (e-democracy/participation democracy). The e-government initiatives are rapidly changing the spatial data/spatial information area too. Investigations indicate that about 80% of the information needed for e-government can be related to a location on the Earth. The paper presents five...... is to use the potentials of the Internet to structure the public sector in a more flexible and efficient way (e-government) and, as they say, with higher quality for the citizens. At the same time the citizens are increasingly demanding better service from the public sector by way of more information...... map- and spatial information services available for the citizens via the Internet. The services can be described as building blocks to a Danish Spatial Information Infrastructure...

  2. Enhancing Context Analysis with Intelligence in Providing e-Health Services: Less Infrastructure Dependency in Supporting Cardio-Vascular Patients

    OpenAIRE

    Verbraeck, A.; Widya, I.A.; Shishkov, Boris; Cordeiro, J.; Ranchordas, A.

    2009-01-01

    In Europe, we observe an increasing number of people with health problems, who could theoretically receive care outside of a hospital when their condition could be properly monitored. Not being able to provide this monitoring leads to an increasing pressure on an already overcrowded hospital system and increased costs. Ubiquitous technology on top of a high-quality IT infra-structure has already proven to be able to provide partial solutions. However, such infrastructure is not available thro...

  3. "Measuring Operational Effectiveness of Information Technology Infrastructure Library (IIL) and the Impact of Critical Facilities Inclusion in the Process."

    Science.gov (United States)

    Woodell, Eric A.

    2013-01-01

    Information Technology (IT) professionals use the Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) process to better manage their business operations, measure performance, improve reliability and lower costs. This study examined the operational results of those data centers using ITIL against those that do not, and whether the results change…

  4. A Cloud Computing-Enabled Spatio-Temporal Cyber-Physical Information Infrastructure for Efficient Soil Moisture Monitoring

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lianjie Zhou

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available Comprehensive surface soil moisture (SM monitoring is a vital task in precision agriculture applications. SM monitoring includes remote sensing imagery monitoring and in situ sensor-based observational monitoring. Cloud computing can increase computational efficiency enormously. A geographical web service was developed to assist in agronomic decision making, and this tool can be scaled to any location and crop. By integrating cloud computing and the web service-enabled information infrastructure, this study uses the cloud computing-enabled spatio-temporal cyber-physical infrastructure (CESCI to provide an efficient solution for soil moisture monitoring in precision agriculture. On the server side of CESCI, diverse Open Geospatial Consortium web services work closely with each other. Hubei Province, located on the Jianghan Plain in central China, is selected as the remote sensing study area in the experiment. The Baoxie scientific experimental field in Wuhan City is selected as the in situ sensor study area. The results show that the proposed method enhances the efficiency of remote sensing imagery mapping and in situ soil moisture interpolation. In addition, the proposed method is compared to other existing precision agriculture infrastructures. In this comparison, the proposed infrastructure performs soil moisture mapping in Hubei Province in 1.4 min and near real-time in situ soil moisture interpolation in an efficient manner. Moreover, an enhanced performance monitoring method can help to reduce costs in precision agriculture monitoring, as well as increasing agricultural productivity and farmers’ net-income.

  5. Structural health monitoring of civil infrastructure using optical fiber sensing technology: a comprehensive review.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ye, X W; Su, Y H; Han, J P

    2014-01-01

    In the last two decades, a significant number of innovative sensing systems based on optical fiber sensors have been exploited in the engineering community due to their inherent distinctive advantages such as small size, light weight, immunity to electromagnetic interference (EMI) and corrosion, and embedding capability. A lot of optical fiber sensor-based monitoring systems have been developed for continuous measurement and real-time assessment of diversified engineering structures such as bridges, buildings, tunnels, pipelines, wind turbines, railway infrastructure, and geotechnical structures. The purpose of this review article is devoted to presenting a summary of the basic principles of various optical fiber sensors, innovation in sensing and computational methodologies, development of novel optical fiber sensors, and the practical application status of the optical fiber sensing technology in structural health monitoring (SHM) of civil infrastructure.

  6. [What potential do geographic information systems have for population-wide health monitoring in Germany? : Perspectives and challenges for the health monitoring of the Robert Koch Institute].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thißen, Martin; Niemann, Hildegard; Varnaccia, Gianni; Rommel, Alexander; Teti, Andrea; Butschalowsky, Hans; Manz, Kristin; Finger, Jonas David; Kroll, Lars Eric; Ziese, Thomas

    2017-12-01

    Geographic information systems (GISs) are computer-based systems with which geographical data can be recorded, stored, managed, analyzed, visualized and provided. In recent years, they have become an integral part of public health research. They offer a broad range of analysis tools, which enable innovative solutions for health-related research questions. An analysis of nationwide studies that applied geographic information systems underlines the potential this instrument bears for health monitoring in Germany. Geographic information systems provide up-to-date mapping and visualization options to be used for national health monitoring at the Robert Koch Institute (RKI). Furthermore, objective information on the residential environment as an influencing factor on population health and on health behavior can be gathered and linked to RKI survey data at different geographic scales. Besides using physical information, such as climate, vegetation or land use, as well as information on the built environment, the instrument can link socioeconomic and sociodemographic data as well as information on health care and environmental stress to the survey data and integrate them into concepts for analyses. Therefore, geographic information systems expand the potential of the RKI to present nationwide, representative and meaningful health-monitoring results. In doing so, data protection regulations must always be followed. To conclude, the development of a national spatial data infrastructure and the identification of important data sources can prospectively improve access to high quality data sets that are relevant for the health monitoring.

  7. What supports do health system organizations have in place to facilitate evidence-informed decision-making? A qualitative study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ellen, Moriah E; Léon, Gregory; Bouchard, Gisèle; Lavis, John N; Ouimet, Mathieu; Grimshaw, Jeremy M

    2013-08-06

    Decisions regarding health systems are sometimes made without the input of timely and reliable evidence, leading to less than optimal health outcomes. Healthcare organizations can implement tools and infrastructures to support the use of research evidence to inform decision-making. The purpose of this study was to profile the supports and instruments (i.e., programs, interventions, instruments or tools) that healthcare organizations currently have in place and which ones were perceived to facilitate evidence-informed decision-making. In-depth semi-structured telephone interviews were conducted with individuals in three different types of positions (i.e., a senior management team member, a library manager, and a 'knowledge broker') in three types of healthcare organizations (i.e., regional health authorities, hospitals and primary care practices) in two Canadian provinces (i.e., Ontario and Quebec). The interviews were taped, transcribed, and then analyzed thematically using NVivo 9 qualitative data analysis software. A total of 57 interviews were conducted in 25 organizations in Ontario and Quebec. The main findings suggest that, for the healthcare organizations that participated in this study, the following supports facilitate evidence-informed decision-making: facilitating roles that actively promote research use within the organization; establishing ties to researchers and opinion leaders outside the organization; a technical infrastructure that provides access to research evidence, such as databases; and provision and participation in training programs to enhance staff's capacity building. This study identified the need for having a receptive climate, which laid the foundation for the implementation of other tangible initiatives and supported the use of research in decision-making. This study adds to the literature on organizational efforts that can increase the use of research evidence in decision-making. Some of the identified supports may increase the use of

  8. SUPPORT Tools for evidence-informed health Policymaking (STP) 3: Setting priorities for supporting evidence-informed policymaking.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lavis, John N; Oxman, Andrew D; Lewin, Simon; Fretheim, Atle

    2009-12-16

    This article is part of a series written for people responsible for making decisions about health policies and programmes and for those who support these decision makers. Policymakers have limited resources for developing--or supporting the development of--evidence-informed policies and programmes. These required resources include staff time, staff infrastructural needs (such as access to a librarian or journal article purchasing), and ongoing professional development. They may therefore prefer instead to contract out such work to independent units with more suitably skilled staff and appropriate infrastructure. However, policymakers may only have limited financial resources to do so. Regardless of whether the support for evidence-informed policymaking is provided in-house or contracted out, or whether it is centralised or decentralised, resources always need to be used wisely in order to maximise their impact. Examples of undesirable practices in a priority-setting approach include timelines to support evidence-informed policymaking being negotiated on a case-by-case basis (instead of having clear norms about the level of support that can be provided for each timeline), implicit (rather than explicit) criteria for setting priorities, ad hoc (rather than systematic and explicit) priority-setting process, and the absence of both a communications plan and a monitoring and evaluation plan. In this article, we suggest questions that can guide those setting priorities for finding and using research evidence to support evidence-informed policymaking. These are: 1. Does the approach to prioritisation make clear the timelines that have been set for addressing high-priority issues in different ways? 2. Does the approach incorporate explicit criteria for determining priorities? 3. Does the approach incorporate an explicit process for determining priorities? 4. Does the approach incorporate a communications strategy and a monitoring and evaluation plan?

  9. Mind the Gap: Assessing the Disconnect Between Postpartum Health Information Desired and Health Information Received.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Guerra-Reyes, Lucia; Christie, Vanessa M; Prabhakar, Annu; Siek, Katie A

    Seeking and receiving health information are critical aspects of prenatal and postpartum care; however, many informational sources lack postpartum content. This study explores the gaps between information desired and information received postpartum and identifies the sources women use for health information seeking, with an emphasis on emergent online and mobile phone-based resources. Participants were recruited from our community partners' client base for a cross-sectional study. Mothers (n = 77) of a child 48 months or younger completed a survey on health information seeking, health information needs, and technology use. Postpartum health information gaps were defined as topics about which a participant indicated that she wanted information, but did not receive information. Bivariate analyses assessed the association between demographic characteristics, sources of health information used during pregnancy, and postpartum information gaps. Health care providers, Internet-based resources, and mobile applications were common sources of health information during pregnancy. Mental and sexual health were the most common types of postpartum health information gaps. In bivariate analyses, higher income and education were associated with postpartum information gaps in mental health and sexual health, respectively (p higher levels of education and income and postpartum health information gaps were observed in bivariate analyses. Health educators have the opportunity to capitalize on high rates of Internet information seeking by providing health information online. Health care providers must incorporate mental and sexual health into routine postpartum care. Copyright © 2016 Jacobs Institute of Women's Health. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  10. National Information Infrastructure Education Forum: A summary report

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Tonn, B.E.; Oliver, C.E.

    1994-05-01

    The National Information Infrastructure (NII) Education Forum was held on October 6-8, 1993, in Arlington, Virginia. The Forum was sponsored by the Office of Scientific Computing, U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). Its purpose was to discuss technology for K-12 education and what role DOE and its national laboratories could play in developing, disseminating, and using technology for K-12. The Forum brought together over 120 people from across the nation. Participants represented six groups: national laboratories; education research institutions; K-12 teachers and administrators; industry; federal agencies; and other institutions. The Forum consisted of a series of structured presentations from each of these six groups; technology demonstrations; and open, small group discussions. The presentations covered the following: important K-12 education and computing issues, national laboratory capabilities, other federal sector initiatives, and industry perspectives. The demonstration room had over 20 computers networked to the Internet. Workshop participants were shown (1) how to use the Internet to access resources anywhere in the world, (2) state-of-the-art network video teleconferencing technology, (3) multi-media technology, and (4) various other educational software systems.

  11. 45 CFR 170.210 - Standards for health information technology to protect electronic health information created...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-10-01

    ... 45 Public Welfare 1 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Standards for health information technology to... Welfare DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES HEALTH INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY HEALTH INFORMATION... FOR HEALTH INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY Standards and Implementation Specifications for Health Information...

  12. Intelligent Structural Health Management of Civil Infrastructure

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-10-19

    The collapse of the I-35W Mississippi River Bridge in Minneapolis has spawned a growing interest in the : development of reliable techniques for evaluating the structural integrity of civil infrastructure. Current inspection : techniques tailored to ...

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

    Science.gov (United States)

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

    2008-10-01

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

  14. Development of a structural health monitoring system for the life assessment of critical transportation infrastructure.

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Roach, Dennis Patrick; Jauregui, David Villegas (New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NM); Daumueller, Andrew Nicholas (New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NM)

    2012-02-01

    Recent structural failures such as the I-35W Mississippi River Bridge in Minnesota have underscored the urgent need for improved methods and procedures for evaluating our aging transportation infrastructure. This research seeks to develop a basis for a Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) system to provide quantitative information related to the structural integrity of metallic structures to make appropriate management decisions and ensuring public safety. This research employs advanced structural analysis and nondestructive testing (NDT) methods for an accurate fatigue analysis. Metal railroad bridges in New Mexico will be the focus since many of these structures are over 100 years old and classified as fracture-critical. The term fracture-critical indicates that failure of a single component may result in complete collapse of the structure such as the one experienced by the I-35W Bridge. Failure may originate from sources such as loss of section due to corrosion or cracking caused by fatigue loading. Because standard inspection practice is primarily visual, these types of defects can go undetected due to oversight, lack of access to critical areas, or, in riveted members, hidden defects that are beneath fasteners or connection angles. Another issue is that it is difficult to determine the fatigue damage that a structure has experienced and the rate at which damage is accumulating due to uncertain history and load distribution in supporting members. A SHM system has several advantages that can overcome these limitations. SHM allows critical areas of the structure to be monitored more quantitatively under actual loading. The research needed to apply SHM to metallic structures was performed and a case study was carried out to show the potential of SHM-driven fatigue evaluation to assess the condition of critical transportation infrastructure and to guide inspectors to potential problem areas. This project combines the expertise in transportation infrastructure at New

  15. Structural Health Monitoring of Civil Infrastructure Using Optical Fiber Sensing Technology: A Comprehensive Review

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ye, X. W.; Su, Y. H.; Han, J. P.

    2014-01-01

    In the last two decades, a significant number of innovative sensing systems based on optical fiber sensors have been exploited in the engineering community due to their inherent distinctive advantages such as small size, light weight, immunity to electromagnetic interference (EMI) and corrosion, and embedding capability. A lot of optical fiber sensor-based monitoring systems have been developed for continuous measurement and real-time assessment of diversified engineering structures such as bridges, buildings, tunnels, pipelines, wind turbines, railway infrastructure, and geotechnical structures. The purpose of this review article is devoted to presenting a summary of the basic principles of various optical fiber sensors, innovation in sensing and computational methodologies, development of novel optical fiber sensors, and the practical application status of the optical fiber sensing technology in structural health monitoring (SHM) of civil infrastructure. PMID:25133250

  16. Structural Health Monitoring of Civil Infrastructure Using Optical Fiber Sensing Technology: A Comprehensive Review

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    X. W. Ye

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available In the last two decades, a significant number of innovative sensing systems based on optical fiber sensors have been exploited in the engineering community due to their inherent distinctive advantages such as small size, light weight, immunity to electromagnetic interference (EMI and corrosion, and embedding capability. A lot of optical fiber sensor-based monitoring systems have been developed for continuous measurement and real-time assessment of diversified engineering structures such as bridges, buildings, tunnels, pipelines, wind turbines, railway infrastructure, and geotechnical structures. The purpose of this review article is devoted to presenting a summary of the basic principles of various optical fiber sensors, innovation in sensing and computational methodologies, development of novel optical fiber sensors, and the practical application status of the optical fiber sensing technology in structural health monitoring (SHM of civil infrastructure.

  17. Benchmarking infrastructure for mutation text mining.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Klein, Artjom; Riazanov, Alexandre; Hindle, Matthew M; Baker, Christopher Jo

    2014-02-25

    Experimental research on the automatic extraction of information about mutations from texts is greatly hindered by the lack of consensus evaluation infrastructure for the testing and benchmarking of mutation text mining systems. We propose a community-oriented annotation and benchmarking infrastructure to support development, testing, benchmarking, and comparison of mutation text mining systems. The design is based on semantic standards, where RDF is used to represent annotations, an OWL ontology provides an extensible schema for the data and SPARQL is used to compute various performance metrics, so that in many cases no programming is needed to analyze results from a text mining system. While large benchmark corpora for biological entity and relation extraction are focused mostly on genes, proteins, diseases, and species, our benchmarking infrastructure fills the gap for mutation information. The core infrastructure comprises (1) an ontology for modelling annotations, (2) SPARQL queries for computing performance metrics, and (3) a sizeable collection of manually curated documents, that can support mutation grounding and mutation impact extraction experiments. We have developed the principal infrastructure for the benchmarking of mutation text mining tasks. The use of RDF and OWL as the representation for corpora ensures extensibility. The infrastructure is suitable for out-of-the-box use in several important scenarios and is ready, in its current state, for initial community adoption.

  18. Benchmarking infrastructure for mutation text mining

    Science.gov (United States)

    2014-01-01

    Background Experimental research on the automatic extraction of information about mutations from texts is greatly hindered by the lack of consensus evaluation infrastructure for the testing and benchmarking of mutation text mining systems. Results We propose a community-oriented annotation and benchmarking infrastructure to support development, testing, benchmarking, and comparison of mutation text mining systems. The design is based on semantic standards, where RDF is used to represent annotations, an OWL ontology provides an extensible schema for the data and SPARQL is used to compute various performance metrics, so that in many cases no programming is needed to analyze results from a text mining system. While large benchmark corpora for biological entity and relation extraction are focused mostly on genes, proteins, diseases, and species, our benchmarking infrastructure fills the gap for mutation information. The core infrastructure comprises (1) an ontology for modelling annotations, (2) SPARQL queries for computing performance metrics, and (3) a sizeable collection of manually curated documents, that can support mutation grounding and mutation impact extraction experiments. Conclusion We have developed the principal infrastructure for the benchmarking of mutation text mining tasks. The use of RDF and OWL as the representation for corpora ensures extensibility. The infrastructure is suitable for out-of-the-box use in several important scenarios and is ready, in its current state, for initial community adoption. PMID:24568600

  19. Information systems for mental health in six low and middle income countries: cross country situation analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Upadhaya, Nawaraj; Jordans, Mark J D; Abdulmalik, Jibril; Ahuja, Shalini; Alem, Atalay; Hanlon, Charlotte; Kigozi, Fred; Kizza, Dorothy; Lund, Crick; Semrau, Maya; Shidhaye, Rahul; Thornicroft, Graham; Komproe, Ivan H; Gureje, Oye

    2016-01-01

    Research on information systems for mental health in low and middle income countries (LMICs) is scarce. As a result, there is a lack of reliable information on mental health service needs, treatment coverage and the quality of services provided. With the aim of informing the development and implementation of a mental health information sub-system that includes reliable and measurable indicators on mental health within the Health Management Information Systems (HMIS), a cross-country situation analysis of HMIS was conducted in six LMICs (Ethiopia, India, Nepal, Nigeria, South Africa and Uganda), participating in the 'Emerging mental health systems in low and middle income countries' (Emerald) research programme. A situation analysis tool was developed to obtain and chart information from documents in the public domain. In circumstances when information was inadequate, key government officials were contacted to verify the data collected. In this paper we compare the baseline policy context, human resources situation as well as the processes and mechanisms of collecting, verifying, reporting and disseminating mental health related HMIS data. The findings suggest that countries face substantial policy, human resource and health governance challenges for mental health HMIS, many of which are common across sites. In particular, the specific policies and plans for the governance and implementation of mental health data collection, reporting and dissemination are absent. Across sites there is inadequate infrastructure, few HMIS experts, and inadequate technical support and supervision to junior staff, particularly in the area of mental health. Nonetheless there are also strengths in existing HMIS where a few mental health morbidity, mortality, and system level indicators are collected and reported. Our study indicates the need for greater technical and resources input to strengthen routine HMIS and develop standardized HMIS indicators for mental health, focusing in

  20. Building capacity for evidence informed decision making in public health: a case study of organizational change.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Peirson, Leslea; Ciliska, Donna; Dobbins, Maureen; Mowat, David

    2012-02-20

    Core competencies for public health in Canada require proficiency in evidence informed decision making (EIDM). However, decision makers often lack access to information, many workers lack knowledge and skills to conduct systematic literature reviews, and public health settings typically lack infrastructure to support EIDM activities. This research was conducted to explore and describe critical factors and dynamics in the early implementation of one public health unit's strategic initiative to develop capacity to make EIDM standard practice. This qualitative case study was conducted in one public health unit in Ontario, Canada between 2008 and 2010. In-depth information was gathered from two sets of semi-structured interviews and focus groups (n = 27) with 70 members of the health unit, and through a review of 137 documents. Thematic analysis was used to code the key informant and document data. The critical factors and dynamics for building EIDM capacity at an organizational level included: clear vision and strong leadership, workforce and skills development, ability to access research (library services), fiscal investments, acquisition and development of technological resources, a knowledge management strategy, effective communication, a receptive organizational culture, and a focus on change management. With leadership, planning, commitment and substantial investments, a public health department has made significant progress, within the first two years of a 10-year initiative, towards achieving its goal of becoming an evidence informed decision making organization.

  1. Comparing New Zealand's 'Middle Out' health information technology strategy with other OECD nations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bowden, Tom; Coiera, Enrico

    2013-05-01

    Implementation of efficient, universally applied, computer to computer communications is a high priority for many national health systems. As a consequence, much effort has been channelled into finding ways in which a patient's previous medical history can be made accessible when needed. A number of countries have attempted to share patients' records, with varying degrees of success. While most efforts to create record-sharing architectures have relied upon government-provided strategy and funding, New Zealand has taken a different approach. Like most British Commonwealth nations, New Zealand has a 'hybrid' publicly/privately funded health system. However its information technology infrastructure and automation has largely been developed by the private sector, working closely with regional and central government agencies. Currently the sector is focused on finding ways in which patient records can be shared amongst providers across three different regions. New Zealand's healthcare IT model combines government contributed funding, core infrastructure, facilitation and leadership with private sector investment and skills and is being delivered via a set of controlled experiments. The net result is a 'Middle Out' approach to healthcare automation. 'Middle Out' relies upon having a clear, well-articulated health-reform strategy and a determination by both public and private sector organisations to implement useful healthcare IT solutions by working closely together. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  2. Designing for scale: optimising the health information system architecture for mobile maternal health messaging in South Africa (MomConnect).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Seebregts, Christopher; Dane, Pierre; Parsons, Annie Neo; Fogwill, Thomas; Rogers, Debbie; Bekker, Marcha; Shaw, Vincent; Barron, Peter

    2018-01-01

    MomConnect is a national initiative coordinated by the South African National Department of Health that sends text-based mobile phone messages free of charge to pregnant women who voluntarily register at any public healthcare facility in South Africa. We describe the system design and architecture of the MomConnect technical platform, planned as a nationally scalable and extensible initiative. It uses a health information exchange that can connect any standards-compliant electronic front-end application to any standards-compliant electronic back-end database. The implementation of the MomConnect technical platform, in turn, is a national reference application for electronic interoperability in line with the South African National Health Normative Standards Framework. The use of open content and messaging standards enables the architecture to include any application adhering to the selected standards. Its national implementation at scale demonstrates both the use of this technology and a key objective of global health information systems, which is to achieve implementation scale. The system's limited clinical information, initially, allowed the architecture to focus on the base standards and profiles for interoperability in a resource-constrained environment with limited connectivity and infrastructural capacity. Maintenance of the system requires mobilisation of national resources. Future work aims to use the standard interfaces to include data from additional applications as well as to extend and interface the framework with other public health information systems in South Africa. The development of this platform has also shown the benefits of interoperability at both an organisational and technical level in South Africa.

  3. Pilot Implementations as an Approach to Infrastructure

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Manikas, Maria Ie; Torkilsheyggi, Arnvør Martinsdóttir á

    In this paper we introduce pilot implementation, a supplement to information systems development, as an approach to study and design work infrastructures. We report from two pilot implementations in the Danish healthcare, which showed signs of grappling with aligning the past, present...... and the future while using a pilot system in real use situations and with real users. Based on our initial findings we believe that pilot implementations can address some of the challenges of studying infrastructures, because they make the infrastructure visible and because they can integrate the long......-term with the short-term aspects. The paper is based on work-in-progress and the purpose is not as much to make conclusions as to spark discussion about whether pilot implementations could offer a way to study and design work infrastructures during information system development....

  4. Education as eHealth Infrastructure: Considerations in Advancing a National Agenda for eHealth

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hilberts, Sonya; Gray, Kathleen

    2014-01-01

    This paper explores the role of education as infrastructure in large-scale ehealth strategies--in theory, in international practice and in one national case study. Education is often invisible in the documentation of ehealth infrastructure. Nevertheless a review of international practice shows that there is significant educational investment made…

  5. Management information systems in maternal and child health/family planning programs: a multi-country analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Keller, A

    1991-01-01

    A diagnosis was conducted of management information systems (MIS) for maternal and child health and family planning programs in 27 African, 5 Asian, and 8 Latin American and Caribbean countries. The diagnosis covered the collection and use of information on physical infrastructure, human resources, equipment/supplies, services provided, coverage attained, and program quality and impact. It was found that many programs do not produce certain basic input and output indicators and that even among those that do, information is too infrequently brought to bear on management decision-making. Constraints under which the MIS operate in these countries are identified, and some rudimentary calculations of what would be required to improve MIS functioning are made.

  6. 77 FR 19300 - National Infrastructure Advisory Council

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-03-30

    ... DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY [Docket No. DHS-2012-0012] National Infrastructure Advisory... an open Federal Advisory Committee meeting. SUMMARY: The National Infrastructure Advisory Council... business. For additional information, please consult the NIAC Web site, www.dhs.gov/NIAC , or contact the...

  7. International Civil and Infrastructure Engineering Conference 2013

    CERN Document Server

    Yusoff, Marina; Ismail, Zulhabri; Amin, Norliyati; Fadzil, Mohd

    2014-01-01

    The special focus of this proceedings is to cover the areas of infrastructure engineering and sustainability management. The state-of-the art information in infrastructure and sustainable issues in engineering covers earthquake, bioremediation, synergistic management, timber engineering, flood management and intelligent transport systems. It provides precise information with regards to innovative research development in construction materials and structures in addition to a compilation of interdisciplinary finding combining nano-materials and engineering.

  8. International Civil and Infrastructure Engineering Conference 2014

    CERN Document Server

    Yusoff, Marina; Alisibramulisi, Anizahyati; Amin, Norliyati; Ismail, Zulhabri

    2015-01-01

    The special focus of this proceedings is to cover the areas of infrastructure engineering and sustainability management. The state-of-the art information in infrastructure and sustainable issues in engineering covers earthquake, bioremediation, synergistic management, timber engineering, flood management and intelligent transport systems. It provides precise information with regards to innovative research development in construction materials and structures in addition to a compilation of interdisciplinary finding combining nano-materials and engineering.

  9. Establishing a Nation Wide Infrastructure for Systematic Use of Patient Reported Information.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jensen, Sanne; Lyng, Karen Marie

    2018-01-01

    In Denmark, we have set up a program to establish a nationwide infrastructure for Patient Reported Outcome (PRO) questionnaires. The effort is divided into an IT infrastructure part and a questionnaire development part. This paper describes how development and evaluation are closely knit together in the two tracks, as complexity is high in the PRO field and IT infrastructure, legal issues, various clinical workflows and the numerous stakeholders have to be taken into account concurrently. In the design process, we have thus used a participatory design approach to ensure a high level of active stakeholder involvement and capability of addressing all the relevant issues. In the next phases, we will apply the IT infrastructure in the planned full-scale evaluation of the questionnaires developed in the first phase, while we continue to develop new national questionnaires.

  10. Have Maryland local health departments effectively put in place the information technology relevant to emergency preparedness?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nguh, Jonas

    2013-01-01

    Ever since the terrorist attacks of 9/11, the federal government has increased funding for emergency preparedness. However, the literature continues to document several areas of weaknesses in public health emergency management by local health departments (LHD). This lack of preparedness affects the entire public. The purpose of this study was to determine whether or not Maryland LHDs have effectively put in place the information technology (IT) that is relevant for emergency preparedness. Base Firm-wide IT Infrastructure Services and the Feeny/Willcocks Framework for Core IS Capabilities are the two conceptual frameworks used in this study. This qualitative study used the survey method and the data were analyzed through content analysis. The results revealed that utilization, practice, and performance of IT by Maryland LHDs are not efficient or effective. Recommendations included the development of "best practices," increased funding for IT infrastructure and the establishment of strategic management framework for IT initiatives. Implications for positive social change include the development of recommendations to enhance emergency preparedness practice, and advancement of knowledge so as to facilitate the functions, and duties of health departments in emergency preparedness operations.

  11. Damage assessment of bridge infrastructure subjected to flood-related hazards

    Science.gov (United States)

    Michalis, Panagiotis; Cahill, Paul; Bekić, Damir; Kerin, Igor; Pakrashi, Vikram; Lapthorne, John; Morais, João Gonçalo Martins Paulo; McKeogh, Eamon

    2017-04-01

    Transportation assets represent a critical component of society's infrastructure systems. Flood-related hazards are considered one of the main climate change impacts on highway and railway infrastructure, threatening the security and functionality of transportation systems. Of such hazards, flood-induced scour is a primarily cause of bridge collapses worldwide and one of the most complex and challenging water flow and erosion phenomena, leading to structural instability and ultimately catastrophic failures. Evaluation of scour risk under severe flood events is a particularly challenging issue considering that depth of foundations is very difficult to evaluate in water environment. The continual inspection, assessment and maintenance of bridges and other hydraulic structures under extreme flood events requires a multidisciplinary approach, including knowledge and expertise of hydraulics, hydrology, structural engineering, geotechnics and infrastructure management. The large number of bridges under a single management unit also highlights the need for efficient management, information sharing and self-informing systems to provide reliable, cost-effective flood and scour risk management. The "Intelligent Bridge Assessment Maintenance and Management System" (BRIDGE SMS) is an EU/FP7 funded project which aims to couple state-of-the art scientific expertise in multidisciplinary engineering sectors with industrial knowledge in infrastructure management. This involves the application of integrated low-cost structural health monitoring systems to provide real-time information towards the development of an intelligent decision support tool and a web-based platform to assess and efficiently manage bridge assets. This study documents the technological experience and presents results obtained from the application of sensing systems focusing on the damage assessment of water-hazards at bridges over watercourses in Ireland. The applied instrumentation is interfaced with an open

  12. IPHE Infrastructure Workshop Proceedings

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    None

    2010-02-01

    This proceedings contains information from the IPHE Infrastructure Workshop, a two-day interactive workshop held on February 25-26, 2010, to explore the market implementation needs for hydrogen fueling station development.

  13. Virtual-optical information security system based on public key infrastructure

    Science.gov (United States)

    Peng, Xiang; Zhang, Peng; Cai, Lilong; Niu, Hanben

    2005-01-01

    A virtual-optical based encryption model with the aid of public key infrastructure (PKI) is presented in this paper. The proposed model employs a hybrid architecture in which our previously published encryption method based on virtual-optics scheme (VOS) can be used to encipher and decipher data while an asymmetric algorithm, for example RSA, is applied for enciphering and deciphering the session key(s). The whole information security model is run under the framework of international standard ITU-T X.509 PKI, which is on basis of public-key cryptography and digital signatures. This PKI-based VOS security approach has additional features like confidentiality, authentication, and integrity for the purpose of data encryption under the environment of network. Numerical experiments prove the effectiveness of the method. The security of proposed model is briefly analyzed by examining some possible attacks from the viewpoint of a cryptanalysis.

  14. The very large research infrastructures: the French road-map

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    2008-01-01

    After having recalled that the notion of TGIR (Tres Grande Infrastructure de Recherche, Very large research infrastructure) has evolved in time and now encompasses many different realities in terms of domain or size, this document briefly presents the main challenging fields of research: the planet, the universe seen from the Earth, particles and nuclei, matter, information, communication, computing and data services, human and social sciences, life sciences and health. It indicates TGIRs which have been selected for the French road-map: some already exist and operational (46), some are not yet operational but have been decided in terms of financing (19) and some are still projected but with different levels of priority. Appendices give selection criteria, working group compositions for different domains, and description sheets for these TGIRs (nature, localisation, scientific tools, spin-offs and impacts, international value, concerned scientific community, budget)

  15. Kenya's Integrated Nuclear Infrastructure Review Experience

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ayacko, Ochilo G.M.

    2015-01-01

    Lessons learnt for INIR preparation: → A detailed Self Evaluation report is critical to proper evaluation of each infrastructure; → Involvement of all relevant organizations in preparation of self evaluation report and the main mission; → Meetings on individual infrastructure issues to consolidate the country position; → Openness during interviews and provision of adequate information

  16. Applications of health information exchange information to public health practice.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kierkegaard, Patrick; Kaushal, Rainu; Vest, Joshua R

    2014-01-01

    Increased information availability, timeliness, and comprehensiveness through health information exchange (HIE) can support public health practice. The potential benefits to disease monitoring, disaster response, and other public health activities served as an important justification for the US' investments in HIE. After several years of HIE implementation and funding, we sought to determine if any of the anticipated benefits of exchange participation were accruing to state and local public health practitioners participating in five different exchanges. Using qualitative interviews and template analyses, we identified public health efforts and activities that were improved by participation in HIE. HIE supported public health activities consistent with expectations in the literature. However, no single department realized all the potential benefits of HIE identified. These findings suggest ways to improve HIE usage in public health.

  17. Information demands of occupational health physicians and their attitude towards evidence-based medicine.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schaafsma, Frederieke; Hulshof, Carel; van Dijk, Frank; Verbeek, Jos

    2004-08-01

    This study assessed the extent and nature of information demands among occupational health physicians and their attitude towards the application of evidence-based medicine in occupational health. A questionnaire survey was carried out among a random sample of 159 physicians practicing occupational medicine in The Netherlands. The questionnaire investigated the type and number of questions encountered in daily practice, the actions taken in response, the physicians' experience in using scientific databases on the Internet, and their attitude towards evidence-based medicine. The occupational health physicians' questions concerned medical, legal, and rehabilitation topics in particular. In pursuing answers to their questions, they generally chose to contact colleagues. Scientific databases were not consulted very often, although, in general, the attitude towards evidence-based medicine was positive. In addition to known barriers for practicing evidence-based medicine, occupational health physicians perceive a lack of scientific evidence in their field. The extensiveness of the field of knowledge in occupational health care was not regarded as an obstacle to their application of evidence-based medicine. Occupational health physicians have a demand for information on a broad range of topics, and, in most cases, their attitude towards evidence-based medicine is fairly positive. Besides education and training in evidence-based medicine, access to the Internet and the presence of a good knowledge infrastructure would help occupational health physicians use evidence-based medicine.

  18. Applications of health information exchange information to public health practice

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kierkegaard, Patrick; Kaushal, Rainu; Vest, Joshua R.

    2014-01-01

    Health information exchange (HIE) can support several aspects of public health practice by increasing the availability, timeliness, and comprehensiveness individual-level patient information. The potential benefits to disease monitoring, disaster response, and other public health activities served...... as an important justification for the US’ investments in HIE. After several years of HIE implementation and funding, we sought to determine if any of the anticipated benefits of exchange participation were accruing to state and local public health practitioners participating in five different exchanges. Using...... qualitative interviews and template analyses, we identified public health efforts and activities that were improved by participation in HIE. We derived the codes for the template analysis through a literature review. HIE supported public health activities consistent with expectations in the literature...

  19. After the year 2000: Critical infrastructure protection

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dreicer, M.

    1999-01-01

    Presentation defines the critical infrastructure which includes: telecommunication, banking, transportation, electric energy, oil and gas supply, water supply, emergency services and government operations. The problem of protecting the critical infrastructure is is exposed in detail concerning physical protection and protection of information systems against cyberthreats

  20. 77 FR 70444 - Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology; Health Information...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-11-26

    ... Technology; Health Information Technology; HIT Policy Committee: Request for Comment Regarding the Stage 3 Definition of Meaningful Use of Electronic Health Records (EHRs) AGENCY: Health Information Technology (HIT) Policy Committee, Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC), Department...

  1. The radiation protection infrastructure in Madagascar

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Andriambololona, R.; Ratovonjanahary, J.F.; Randriantseheno, H.F.; Ramanandraibe, M.J.

    2001-01-01

    Madagascar is participating in the Model Project RAF/9/024 on 'Upgrading Radiation Protection Infrastructure'. Its radiation protection legislation is based on the BSS. The efforts being made to upgrade the country's regulatory infrastructure and the problems encountered are described below, as is the national information and training programme for the authorities, the public, workers and students. (author)

  2. Information technology in health promotion.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lintonen, T P; Konu, A I; Seedhouse, D

    2008-06-01

    eHealth, the use of information technology to improve or enable health and health care, has recently been high on the health care development agenda. Given the vivid interest in eHealth, little reference has been made to the use of these technologies in the promotion of health. The aim of this present study was to conduct a review on recent uses of information technology in health promotion through looking at research articles published in peer-reviewed journals. Fifteen relevant journals with issues published between 2003 and June 2005 yielded altogether 1352 articles, 56 of which contained content related to the use of information technology in the context of health promotion. As reflected by this rather small proportion, research on the role of information technology is only starting to emerge. Four broad thematic application areas within health promotion were identified: use of information technology as an intervention medium, use of information technology as a research focus, use of information technology as a research instrument and use of information technology for professional development. In line with this rather instrumental focus, the concepts 'ePromotion of Health' or 'Health ePromotion' would come close to describing the role of information technology in health promotion.

  3. 75 FR 76986 - Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology; Health Information...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-12-10

    ... Technology; Health Information Technology; Request for Information Regarding the President's Council of... Information Technology To Improve Healthcare for Americans: The Path Forward'' AGENCY: Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC), Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). ACTION...

  4. Building infrastructure to prevent disasters like Hurricane Maria

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bandaragoda, C.; Phuong, J.; Mooney, S.; Stephens, K.; Istanbulluoglu, E.; Pieper, K.; Rhoads, W.; Edwards, M.; Pruden, A.; Bales, J.; Clark, E.; Brazil, L.; Leon, M.; McDowell, W. G.; Horsburgh, J. S.; Tarboton, D. G.; Jones, A. S.; Hutton, E.; Tucker, G. E.; McCready, L.; Peckham, S. D.; Lenhardt, W. C.; Idaszak, R.

    2017-12-01

    2000 words Recovery efforts from natural disasters can be more efficient with data-driven information on current needs and future risks. We aim to advance open-source software infrastructure to support scientific investigation and data-driven decision making with a prototype system using a water quality assessment developed to investigate post-Hurricane Maria drinking water contamination in Puerto Rico. The widespread disruption of water treatment processes and uncertain drinking water quality within distribution systems in Puerto Rico poses risk to human health. However, there is no existing digital infrastructure to scientifically determine the impacts of the hurricane. After every natural disaster, it is difficult to answer elementary questions on how to provide high quality water supplies and health services. This project will archive and make accessible data on environmental variables unique to Puerto Rico, damage caused by Hurricane Maria, and will begin to address time sensitive needs of citizens. The initial focus is to work directly with public utilities to collect and archive samples of biological and inorganic drinking water quality. Our goal is to advance understanding of how the severity of a hazard to human health (e.g., no access to safe culinary water) is related to the sophistication, connectivity, and operations of the physical and related digital infrastructure systems. By rapidly collecting data in the early stages of recovery, we will test the design of an integrated cyberinfrastructure system to for usability of environmental and health data to understand the impacts from natural disasters. We will test and stress the CUAHSI HydroShare data publication mechanisms and capabilities to (1) assess the spatial and temporal presence of waterborne pathogens in public water systems impacted by a natural disaster, (2) demonstrate usability of HydroShare as a clearinghouse to centralize selected datasets related to Hurricane Maria, and (3) develop a

  5. Airborne biological hazards and urban transport infrastructure: current challenges and future directions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nasir, Zaheer Ahmad; Campos, Luiza Cintra; Christie, Nicola; Colbeck, Ian

    2016-08-01

    Exposure to airborne biological hazards in an ever expanding urban transport infrastructure and highly diverse mobile population is of growing concern, in terms of both public health and biosecurity. The existing policies and practices on design, construction and operation of these infrastructures may have severe implications for airborne disease transmission, particularly, in the event of a pandemic or intentional release of biological of agents. This paper reviews existing knowledge on airborne disease transmission in different modes of transport, highlights the factors enhancing the vulnerability of transport infrastructures to airborne disease transmission, discusses the potential protection measures and identifies the research gaps in order to build a bioresilient transport infrastructure. The unification of security and public health research, inclusion of public health security concepts at the design and planning phase, and a holistic system approach involving all the stakeholders over the life cycle of transport infrastructure hold the key to mitigate the challenges posed by biological hazards in the twenty-first century transport infrastructure.

  6. Indiana Health Information Exchange

    Science.gov (United States)

    The Indiana Health Information Exchange is comprised of various Indiana health care institutions, established to help improve patient safety and is recognized as a best practice for health information exchange.

  7. Exploring Citizen Infrastructure and Environmental Priorities in Mumbai, India

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Sperling, Joshua; Romero-Lankao, Patricia; Beig, Gufran

    2016-06-01

    Many cities worldwide seek to understand local policy priorities among their general populations. This study explores how differences in local conditions and among citizens within and across Mumbai, India shape local infrastructure (e.g. energy, water, transport) and environmental (e.g. managing pollution, climate-related extreme weather events) policy priorities for change that may or may not be aligned with local government action or global environmental sustainability concerns such as low-carbon development. In this rapidly urbanizing city, multiple issues compete for prominence, ranging from improved management of pollution and extreme weather to energy and other infrastructure services. To inform a broader perspective of policy priorities for urban development and risk mitigation, a survey was conducted among over 1200 citizens. The survey explored the state of local conditions, the challenges citizens face, and the ways in which differences in local conditions (socio-institutional, infrastructure, and health-related) demonstrate inequities and influence how citizens perceive risks and rank priorities for the future design and implementation of local planning, policy, and community-based efforts. With growing discussion and tensions surrounding the new urban sustainable development goal, announced by the UN in late September 2015, and a new global urban agenda document to be agreed upon at 'Habitat III', issues on whether sustainable urbanization priorities should be set at the international, national or local level remain controversial. As such, this study aims to first understand determinants of and variations in local priorities across one city, with implications discussed for local-to-global urban sustainability. Findings from survey results indicate the determinants and variation in conditions such as age, assets, levels of participation in residential action groups, the health outcome of chronic asthma, and the infrastructure service of piped

  8. Wireless technology infrastructures for authentication of patients: PKI that rings.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sax, Ulrich; Kohane, Isaac; Mandl, Kenneth D

    2005-01-01

    As the public interest in consumer-driven electronic health care applications rises, so do concerns about the privacy and security of these applications. Achieving a balance between providing the necessary security while promoting user acceptance is a major obstacle in large-scale deployment of applications such as personal health records (PHRs). Robust and reliable forms of authentication are needed for PHRs, as the record will often contain sensitive and protected health information, including the patient's own annotations. Since the health care industry per se is unlikely to succeed at single-handedly developing and deploying a large scale, national authentication infrastructure, it makes sense to leverage existing hardware, software, and networks. This report proposes a new model for authentication of users to health care information applications, leveraging wireless mobile devices. Cell phones are widely distributed, have high user acceptance, and offer advanced security protocols. The authors propose harnessing this technology for the strong authentication of individuals by creating a registration authority and an authentication service, and examine the problems and promise of such a system.

  9. Building capacity for evidence informed decision making in public health: a case study of organizational change

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Peirson Leslea

    2012-02-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Core competencies for public health in Canada require proficiency in evidence informed decision making (EIDM. However, decision makers often lack access to information, many workers lack knowledge and skills to conduct systematic literature reviews, and public health settings typically lack infrastructure to support EIDM activities. This research was conducted to explore and describe critical factors and dynamics in the early implementation of one public health unit's strategic initiative to develop capacity to make EIDM standard practice. Methods This qualitative case study was conducted in one public health unit in Ontario, Canada between 2008 and 2010. In-depth information was gathered from two sets of semi-structured interviews and focus groups (n = 27 with 70 members of the health unit, and through a review of 137 documents. Thematic analysis was used to code the key informant and document data. Results The critical factors and dynamics for building EIDM capacity at an organizational level included: clear vision and strong leadership, workforce and skills development, ability to access research (library services, fiscal investments, acquisition and development of technological resources, a knowledge management strategy, effective communication, a receptive organizational culture, and a focus on change management. Conclusion With leadership, planning, commitment and substantial investments, a public health department has made significant progress, within the first two years of a 10-year initiative, towards achieving its goal of becoming an evidence informed decision making organization.

  10. Causal pathways linking environmental change with health behaviour change: Natural experimental study of new transport infrastructure and cycling to work.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Prins, R G; Panter, J; Heinen, E; Griffin, S J; Ogilvie, D B

    2016-06-01

    Mechanisms linking changes to the environment with changes in physical activity are poorly understood. Insights into mechanisms of interventions can help strengthen causal attribution and improve understanding of divergent response patterns. We examined the causal pathways linking exposure to new transport infrastructure with changes in cycling to work. We used baseline (2009) and follow-up (2012) data (N=469) from the Commuting and Health in Cambridge natural experimental study (Cambridge, UK). Exposure to new infrastructure in the form of the Cambridgeshire Guided Busway was defined using residential proximity. Mediators studied were changes in perceptions of the route to work, theory of planned behaviour constructs and self-reported use of the new infrastructure. Outcomes were modelled as an increase, decrease or no change in weekly cycle commuting time. We used regression analyses to identify combinations of mediators forming potential pathways between exposure and outcome. We then tested these pathways in a path model and stratified analyses by baseline level of active commuting. We identified changes in perceptions of the route to work, and use of the cycle path, as potential mediators. Of these potential mediators, only use of the path significantly explained (85%) the effect of the infrastructure in increasing cycling. Path use also explained a decrease in cycling among more active commuters. The findings strengthen the causal argument that changing the environment led to changes in health-related behaviour via use of the new infrastructure, but also show how some commuters may have spent less time cycling as a result. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier Inc.

  11. Research-informed design, management and maintenance of infrastructure slopes: development of a multi-scalar approach

    Science.gov (United States)

    Glendinning, S.; Helm, P. R.; Rouainia, M.; Stirling, R. A.; Asquith, J. D.; Hughes, P. N.; Toll, D. G.; Clarke, D.; Powrie, W.; Smethurst, J.; Hughes, D.; Harley, R.; Karim, R.; Dixon, N.; Crosby, C.; Chambers, J.; Dijkstra, T.; Gunn, D.; Briggs, K.; Muddle, D.

    2015-09-01

    The UK's transport infrastructure is one of the most heavily used in the world. The performance of these networks is critically dependent on the performance of cutting and embankment slopes which make up £20B of the £60B asset value of major highway infrastructure alone. The rail network in particular is also one of the oldest in the world: many of these slopes are suffering high incidents of instability (increasing with time). This paper describes the development of a fundamental understanding of earthwork material and system behaviour, through the systematic integration of research across a range of spatial and temporal scales. Spatially these range from microscopic studies of soil fabric, through elemental materials behaviour to whole slope modelling and monitoring and scaling up to transport networks. Temporally, historical and current weather event sequences are being used to understand and model soil deterioration processes, and climate change scenarios to examine their potential effects on slope performance in futures up to and including the 2080s. The outputs of this research are being mapped onto the different spatial and temporal scales of infrastructure slope asset management to inform the design of new slopes through to changing the way in which investment is made into aging assets. The aim ultimately is to help create a more reliable, cost effective, safer and more resilient transport system.

  12. Building National Healthcare Infrastructure

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jensen, Tina Blegind; Thorseng, Anne

    2017-01-01

    This case chapter is about the evolution of the Danish national e-health portal, sundhed.dk, which provides patient-oriented digital services. We present how the organization behind sundhed.dk succeeded in establishing a national healthcare infrastructure by (1) collating and assembling existing...

  13. Information security system based on virtual-optics imaging methodology and public key infrastructure

    Science.gov (United States)

    Peng, Xiang; Zhang, Peng; Cai, Lilong

    In this paper, we present a virtual-optical based information security system model with the aid of public-key-infrastructure (PKI) techniques. The proposed model employs a hybrid architecture in which our previously published encryption algorithm based on virtual-optics imaging methodology (VOIM) can be used to encipher and decipher data while an asymmetric algorithm, for example RSA, is applied for enciphering and deciphering the session key(s). For an asymmetric system, given an encryption key, it is computationally infeasible to determine the decryption key and vice versa. The whole information security model is run under the framework of PKI, which is on basis of public-key cryptography and digital signatures. This PKI-based VOIM security approach has additional features like confidentiality, authentication, and integrity for the purpose of data encryption under the environment of network.

  14. Real time alert system: a disease management system leveraging health information exchange.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Anand, Vibha; Sheley, Meena E; Xu, Shawn; Downs, Stephen M

    2012-01-01

    Rates of preventive and disease management services can be improved by providing automated alerts and reminders to primary care providers (PCPs) using of health information technology (HIT) tools. Using Adaptive Turnaround Documents (ATAD), an existing Health Information Exchange (HIE) infrastructure and office fax machines, we developed a Real Time Alert (RTA) system. RTA is a computerized decision support system (CDSS) that is able to deliver alerts to PCPs statewide for recommended services around the time of the patient visit. RTA is also able to capture structured clinical data from providers using existing fax technology. In this study, we evaluate RTA's performance for alerting PCPs when their patients with asthma have an emergency room visit anywhere in the state. Our results show that RTA was successfully able to deliver "just in time" patient-relevant alerts to PCPs across the state. Furthermore, of those ATADs faxed back and automatically interpreted by the RTA system, 35% reported finding the provided information helpful. The PCPs who reported finding information helpful also reported making a phone call, sending a letter or seeing the patient for follow up care. We have successfully demonstrated the feasibility of electronically exchanging important patient related information with the PCPs statewide. This is despite a lack of a link with their electronic health records. We have shown that using our ATAD technology, a PCP can be notified quickly of an important event such as a patient's asthma related emergency room admission so further follow up can happen in near real time.

  15. Carbon emissions of infrastructure development.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Müller, Daniel B; Liu, Gang; Løvik, Amund N; Modaresi, Roja; Pauliuk, Stefan; Steinhoff, Franciska S; Brattebø, Helge

    2013-10-15

    Identifying strategies for reconciling human development and climate change mitigation requires an adequate understanding of how infrastructures contribute to well-being and greenhouse gas emissions. While direct emissions from infrastructure use are well-known, information about indirect emissions from their construction is highly fragmented. Here, we estimated the carbon footprint of the existing global infrastructure stock in 2008, assuming current technologies, to be 122 (-20/+15) Gt CO2. The average per-capita carbon footprint of infrastructures in industrialized countries (53 (± 6) t CO2) was approximately 5 times larger that that of developing countries (10 (± 1) t CO2). A globalization of Western infrastructure stocks using current technologies would cause approximately 350 Gt CO2 from materials production, which corresponds to about 35-60% of the remaining carbon budget available until 2050 if the average temperature increase is to be limited to 2 °C, and could thus compromise the 2 °C target. A promising but poorly explored mitigation option is to build new settlements using less emissions-intensive materials, for example by urban design; however, this strategy is constrained by a lack of bottom-up data on material stocks in infrastructures. Infrastructure development must be considered in post-Kyoto climate change agreements if developing countries are to participate on a fair basis.

  16. RANCANGAN INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY SERVICE MANAGEMENT MENGGUNAKAN INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY INFRASTRUCTURE LIBRARY (Studi Kasus: STMIK AMIKOM Purwokerto

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nurfaizah Nurfaizah

    2015-08-01

    Full Text Available STMIK AMIKOM Purwokerto merupakan salah satu perguruan tinggi swasta yang dalam proses pengelolaan dan  penyampaian informasi telah menerapan teknologi informasi. Proses pelayanan suatu perguruan tinggi dipandang sebagai suatu solusi yang nantinya dapat meningkatkan kemampuan perusahaan di dalam pelayanan. Hal ini menyebabkan pentingnya peningkatan peran teknologi informasi agar selaras dengan  investasi baik hardware dan software yang dikeluarkan, sehingga dibutuhkan perencanaan yang optimal.IT Service Management (ITSM digunakan sebagai upaya untuk meningkatkan efisiensi pelayanan teknologi informasi kepada pengguna yang terdapat dalam framework Information Technology Infrastructure Library.Diharapkan dengan penerapan ITSM pengelolaan layanan TI menjadi lebih baik serta mampu menyelesaikan beberapa permasalahan yang ada pada organisasiyang sedang berjalan dengan menggunakan COBIT 4.1. ITSM menghasilkan perancangan pada masing-masing prosesnya dari 2 domain pembangun ITSM yaitu domain service support dan service delivery. Kata Kunci: ITSM, ITIL V3, COBIT 4.1

  17. An Overview on Infrastructure of Digital Prescription and a Proposed Strategic Plan

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mohammad Keshavarz

    2015-04-01

    Full Text Available One of the most common and important therapeutic tools used by physicians is prescription. The use of digital systems in the health field has many benefits and significant impacts on the health system. One of these systems is digital prescription. In this article, First, we will review the existing infrastructure and work done in this area, and then with a new perspective on health issues, we will provide a new infrastructure. Instead of introduction and use of a product or a system or statistical work , we aim to reviewe fundamental issues in the field of health system and present a strategic plan in the field of medicine from the perspective of experts of medical informatics and IT specialists. In fact, we will present a strategic plan and will provide infrastructure in the health field The infrastructure needed to create a digital system will be provided in order to increase productivity in various aspects of the health system; also, the interactions between different parts of this infrastructure will be discussed. The advantages of this project will be reviewed from the perspective of various elements involved in the health system; these include patients, doctors, health system managers, pharmacies, pharmaceutical distribution companies, insurance office and other organizations, such as the environmental organizations, tax office, etc. and benefits of each one will be reviewed

  18. [People's interest in health information].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Horch, K; Wirz, J

    2005-11-01

    Well-informed citizens and patients regard health policy innovations as a key element when it comes to reforms in the health service--both in health economics and with regard to prevention issues. We evaluated the data provided by the 2003 Telephone Health Survey (GSTel03) to examine demographic and social distinctions in the use of different information sources. At the same time we examined whether there are any population-related differences in people's interest in health information depending on their levels of health awareness, attitudes to prevention and related modes of behaviour. The data generated by the survey show that there is considerable interest in health-related topics. Only 2% of the people questioned used no information sources for this purpose. In addition to more traditional media (books, newspapers, information from pharmacies), information provided by health insurance companies and via the Internet is becoming increasingly important. With the exception of the Internet, all other sources of information are used more frequently by women than by men, and demand for most of the information media increases with age. The frequency of information use and the number of different media used increase from the lower to the upper strata of society. As far as selected variables of health-related behaviour are concerned (smoking, sport, alcohol), the results show a link between a more positive attitude to health and a greater interest in information.

  19. 76 FR 55693 - Critical Infrastructure Partnership Advisory Council

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-09-08

    ... DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY [Docket No. DHS-2011-0055] Critical Infrastructure Partnership... Advisory Committee Meeting. SUMMARY: The Critical Infrastructure Partnership Advisory Council (CIPAC... meeting may adjourn early if the committee has completed its business. For additional information, please...

  20. Understanding the infrastructure of European Research Infrastructures

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Lindstrøm, Maria Duclos; Kropp, Kristoffer

    2017-01-01

    European Research Infrastructure Consortia (ERIC) are a new form of legal and financial framework for the establishment and operation of research infrastructures in Europe. Despite their scope, ambition, and novelty, the topic has received limited scholarly attention. This article analyses one ER....... It is also a promising theoretical framework for addressing the relationship between the ERIC construct and the large diversity of European Research Infrastructures.......European Research Infrastructure Consortia (ERIC) are a new form of legal and financial framework for the establishment and operation of research infrastructures in Europe. Despite their scope, ambition, and novelty, the topic has received limited scholarly attention. This article analyses one ERIC...... became an ERIC using the Bowker and Star’s sociology of infrastructures. We conclude that focusing on ERICs as a European standard for organising and funding research collaboration gives new insights into the problems of membership, durability, and standardisation faced by research infrastructures...

  1. The effect of hospital-physician integration on health information technology adoption.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lammers, Eric

    2013-10-01

    The US federal government has recently made a substantial investment to enhance the US health information technology (IT) infrastructure. Previous literature on the impact of IT on firm performance across multiple industries has emphasized the importance of a process of co-invention whereby organizations develop complementary practices to achieve greater benefit from their IT investments. In health care, employment of physicians by hospitals can confer greater administrative control to hospitals over physicians' actions and resources and thus enable the implementation of new technology and initiatives aimed at maximizing benefit from use of the technology. In this study, I tested for the relationship between hospital employment of physicians and hospitals' propensity to use health IT. I used state laws that prohibit hospital employment of physicians as an instrument to account for the endogenous relationship with hospital IT use. Hospital employment of physicians is associated with significant increases in the probability of hospital health IT use. Therefore, subsidization of health IT among hospitals not employing physicians may be less efficient. Furthermore, state laws prohibiting hospitals from employing physicians may inhibit adoption of health IT, thus working against policy initiatives aimed at promoting use of the technology. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  2. Health literacy, information seeking, and trust in information in Haitians.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lubetkin, Erica I; Zabor, Emily C; Isaac, Kathleen; Brennessel, Debra; Kemeny, M Margaret; Hay, Jennifer L

    2015-05-01

    To assess heath literacy, health information seeking, and trust in health-related information among Haitian immigrants seen in primary care. Health literacy was measured by the Brief Health Literacy Screen (BHLS); items on health information use were from the 2007 Health Information National Trends Survey. BHLS scores differed according to age, education, and survey language. Participants with lower levels of health literacy tended to be more likely to place "a lot" or "some" trust in family and friends and religious organizations and leaders as sources of information about health or medical topics. Constructing a culturally-tailored and appropriate intervention regarding health promotion requires understanding how the population accesses and conveys health information.

  3. Critical Infrastructure Protection- Los Alamos National Laboratory

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bofman, Ryan K. [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)

    2017-02-24

    Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) has been a key facet of Critical National Infrastructure since the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima exposed the nature of the Laboratory’s work in 1945. Common knowledge of the nature of sensitive information contained here presents a necessity to protect this critical infrastructure as a matter of national security. This protection occurs in multiple forms beginning with physical security, followed by cybersecurity, safeguarding of classified information, and concluded by the missions of the National Nuclear Security Administration.

  4. Correlates of consumer trust in online health information: findings from the health information national trends survey.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ye, Yinjiao

    2011-01-01

    The past few decades have witnessed a dramatic increase in consumers seeking health information online. However, the quality of such information remains questionable, and the trustworthiness of online health information has become a hot topic, whereas little attention has been paid to how consumers evaluate online health information credibility. This study builds on theoretical perspectives of trust such as personal-capital-based, social-capital-based, and transfer-based, and it examines various correlates of consumer trust in online health information. The author analyzed the 2007 Health Information National Trends Survey data (N = 7,674). Results showed that consumer trust in online health information did not correlate with personal capital such as income, education, and health status. Social capital indicated by visiting social networking Web sites was not associated with trust in online health information either. Nevertheless, trust in online health information transferred from traditional mass media and government health agencies to the Internet, and it varied by such information features as easiness to locate and to understand. Age appeared to be a key factor in understanding the correlates of trust in online health information. Theoretical and empirical implications of the results are discussed.

  5. Development of a Network-Based Information Infrastructure for Fisheries and Hydropower Information in the Columbia River Basin : Final Project Report.

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Scheibe, Timothy D.; Johnson, Gary E.; Perkins, Bill

    1997-05-01

    The goal of this project was to help develop technology and a unified structure to access and disseminate information related to the Bonneville Power Administration's fish and wildlife responsibility in the Pacific Northwest. BPA desires to increase access to, and exchange of, information produced by the Environment Fish, and Wildlife Group in concert with regional partners. Historically, data and information have been managed through numerous centralized, controlled information systems. Fisheries information has been fragmented and not widely exchanged. Where exchange has occurred, it often is not timely enough to allow resource managers to effectively use the information to guide planning and decision making. This project (and related projects) have successfully developed and piloted a network-based infrastructure that will serve as a vehicle to transparently connect existing information systems in a manner that makes information exchange efficient and inexpensive. This project was designed to provide a mechanism to help BPA address measures in the Northwest Power Planning Council's (NPPC) Fish and Wildlife program: 3.2H Disseminate Research and Monitoring Information and 5.1A.5 manage water supplies in accordance with the Annual Implementation Work Plan. This project also provided resources that can be used to assist monitoring and evaluation of the Program.

  6. Health information exchanges--Unfulfilled promise as a data source for clinical research.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Parker, Carol; Weiner, Michael; Reeves, Mathew

    2016-03-01

    To determine the use of health information exchange organizations (HIEs) to support and conduct clinical research. This scoping review included US-based studies published between January 2003 and March 2014 that used data from an HIE to address at least one of three categories of research: clinical or epidemiological research, financial evaluation, or utilization of health services. Eligibility was not restricted to research on HIEs. Studies with research questions outside of the evaluation of HIEs themselves were sought. Eighteen articles met final study inclusion criteria from an initial list of 847 hits. Fifteen studies addressed a clinical or epidemiological research question, 6 addressed a financial consideration, and 8 addressed a utilization issue. Considerable overlap was found among the research categories: 13 articles addressed more than one category. Of the eighteen included studies, only two used HIE data to answer a research objective that was NOT specific to HIE use. Research designs were varied and ranged from observational studies, such as cohort and cross-sectional studies, to randomized trials. The 18 articles represent the involvement of a small number of HIEs; 7 of the studies were from a single HIE. This review demonstrates that HIE-provided information is available and used to answer clinical or epidemiological, financial, or utilization-based research questions; however, the majority of the studies using HIE data are done with the primary goal of evaluating the use and impact of HIEs on health care delivery and outcomes. As HIEs mature and become integrated parts of the health care industry, the authors anticipate that fewer studies will be published that describe or validate the role of HIEs, and more will use HIEs as multi-institutional data sources for conducting clinical research and improving health services and clinical outcomes. Articles identified in this review indicate the limited extent that HIE data are being used for clinical

  7. Green infrastructure practices – strategies how to sustain life in metropolitan areas

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zaręba Anna

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Green Infrastructure is ‘an interconnected network of green space that conserves natural ecosystem values and functions and provides associated benefits to human populations’ [1, p. 12]. It contributes to long term strategic development goals for data and information management. The research paper was introduced with the aim to protect green areas in urban environment by improving biodiversity, leisure and recreation, tidal and fluvial flood risk management, grey water treatment and quality of life. Planning and design of green system should provide appropriate responses to the distinctive local circumstances. Green spaces encourage social interactions, form new places to practise sport and contribute to public health and fitness, as well as have indirect benefits for a range of environmental services. The research hypothesis is that Green Infrastructure is a framework for conservation and development and we need to design Green Infrastructure systems strategically to connect across urban, suburban, rural and wilderness landscapes and incorporate green space elements and functions at the state, regional, community, neighbourhood and site scales [2]. Analysis and design of emerging Green Infrastructure system take a holistic view which links related physical, environmental, economic, social and cultural aspects of local communities.

  8. Designing digital health information in a health literacy context

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Meppelink, C.S.

    2016-01-01

    Digital health information is widely available, but not everyone fully benefits due to limited health literacy. Until now, little was known about how health literacy influences information processing and how design features of digital health information can be used to create optimal health messages

  9. The construction of a public key infrastructure for healthcare information networks in Japan.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sakamoto, N

    2001-01-01

    The digital signature is a key technology in the forthcoming Internet society for electronic healthcare as well as for electronic commerce. Efficient exchanges of authorized information with a digital signature in healthcare information networks require a construction of a public key infrastructure (PKI). In order to introduce a PKI to healthcare information networks in Japan, we proposed a development of a user authentication system based on a PKI for user management, user authentication and privilege management of healthcare information systems. In this paper, we describe the design of the user authentication system and its implementation. The user authentication system provides a certification authority service and a privilege management service while it is comprised of a user authentication client and user authentication serves. It is designed on a basis of an X.509 PKI and is implemented with using OpenSSL and OpenLDAP. It was incorporated into the financial information management system for the national university hospitals and has been successfully working for about one year. The hospitals plan to use it as a user authentication method for their whole healthcare information systems. One implementation of the system is free to the national university hospitals with permission of the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. Another implementation is open to the other healthcare institutes by support of the Medical Information System Development Center (MEDIS-DC). We are moving forward to a nation-wide construction of a PKI for healthcare information networks based on it.

  10. Infrastructure Area Simplification Plan

    CERN Document Server

    Field, L.

    2011-01-01

    The infrastructure area simplification plan was presented at the 3rd EMI All Hands Meeting in Padova. This plan only affects the information and accounting systems as the other areas are new in EMI and hence do not require simplification.

  11. Strengthening Rehabilitation in Health Systems Worldwide by Integrating Information on Functioning in National Health Information Systems.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stucki, Gerold; Bickenbach, Jerome; Melvin, John

    2017-09-01

    A complete understanding of the experience of health requires information relevant not merely to the health indicators of mortality and morbidity but also to functioning-that is, information about what it means to live in a health state, "the lived experience of health." Not only is functioning information relevant to healthcare and the overall objectives of person-centered healthcare but to the successful operation of all components of health systems.In light of population aging and major epidemiological trends, the health strategy of rehabilitation, whose aim has always been to optimize functioning and minimize disability, will become a key health strategy. The increasing prominence of the rehabilitative strategy within the health system drives the argument for the integration of functioning information as an essential component in national health information systems.Rehabilitation professionals and researchers have long recognized in WHO's International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health the best prospect for an internationally recognized, sufficiently complete and powerful information reference for the documentation of functioning information. This paper opens the discussion of the promise of integrating the ICF as an essential component in national health systems to secure access to functioning information for rehabilitation, across health systems and countries.

  12. Building an Information Infrastructure.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Breivik, Patricia Senn

    1992-01-01

    College governing boards can promote good campus information management by understanding available services, monitoring changes and their relationship to priorities, supporting policies enhancing access to information, encouraging resource allocation for networking, promoting regional economic development through information use, and supporting…

  13. The anatomy of digital trade infrastructures

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Rukanova, B.D.; Zinner Henriksen, Helle; Henningsson, Stefan; Tan, Y.

    2017-01-01

    In global supply chains information about transactions resides in fragmented pockets within business and government systems. The introduction of digital trade infrastructures (DTI) that transcend organizational and systems domains is driven by the prospect of reducing this information fragmentation,

  14. Mechanisms of Communicating Health Information Through Facebook: Implications for Consumer Health Information Technology Design.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Menefee, Hannah K; Thompson, Morgan J; Guterbock, Thomas M; Williams, Ishan C; Valdez, Rupa S

    2016-08-11

    Consumer health information technology (IT) solutions are designed to support patient health management and have the ability to facilitate patients' health information communication with their social networks. However, there is a need for consumer health IT solutions to align with patients' health management preferences for increased adoption of the technology. It may be possible to gain an understanding of patients' needs for consumer health IT supporting their health information communication with social networks by explicating how they have adopted and adapted social networking sites, such as Facebook, for this purpose. Our aim was to characterize patients' use of all communication mechanisms within Facebook for health information communication to provide insight into how consumer health IT solutions may be better designed to meet patients' communication needs and preferences. This study analyzed data about Facebook communication mechanisms use from a larger, three-phase, sequential, mixed-methods study. We report here on the results of the study's first phase: qualitative interviews (N=25). Participants were over 18, used Facebook, were residents or citizens of the United States, spoke English, and had a diagnosis consistent with type 2 diabetes. Participants were recruited through Facebook groups and pages. Participant interviews were conducted via Skype or telephone between July and September 2014. Data analysis was grounded in qualitative content analysis and the initial coding framework was informed by the findings of a previous study. Participants' rationales for the use or disuse of a particular Facebook mechanism to communicate health information reflected six broad themes: (1) characteristics and circumstances of the person, (2) characteristics and circumstances of the relationship, (3) structure and composition of the social network, (4) content of the information, (5) communication purpose, and (6) attributes of the technology. The results of this

  15. Health information search to deal with the exploding amount of health information produced.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Müller, H; Hanbury, A; Al Shorbaji, N

    2012-01-01

    This focus theme deals with the various aspects of health information search that are necessary to cope with the challenges of an increasing amount and complexity of medical information currently produced. This editorial reviews the main challenges of health information search and summarizes the five papers of this focus theme. The five papers of the focus theme cover a large part of the current challenges in health information search such as coding standards, information extraction from complex data, user requirements analysis, multimedia data analysis and the access to big data. Several future challenges are identified such as the combination of visual and textual data for information search and the difficulty to scale when analyzing big data.

  16. PROTECTING CRITICAL DATABASES – TOWARDS A RISK-BASED ASSESSMENT OF CRITICAL INFORMATION INFRASTRUCTURES (CIIS IN SOUTH AFRICA

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mzukisi N Njotini

    2013-04-01

    Full Text Available South Africa has made great strides towards protecting critical information infrastructures (CIIs. For example, South Africa recognises the significance of safeguarding places or areas that are essential to the national security of South Africa or the economic and social well-being of South African citizens. For this reason South Africa has established mechanisms to assist in preserving the integrity and security of CIIs. The measures provide inter alia for the identification of CIIs; the registration of the full names, address and contact details of the CII administrators (the persons who manage CIIs; the identification of the location(s of CIIs or their component parts; and the outlining of the general descriptions of information or data stored in CIIs.It is argued that the measures to protect CIIs in South Africa are inadequate. In particular, the measures rely on a one-size-fits-all approach to identify and classify CIIs. For this reason the South African measures are likely to lead to the adoption of a paradigm that considers every infrastructure, data or database, regardless of its significance or importance, to be key or critical.

  17. Outcomes of an investment in administrative data infrastructure: An example of capacity building at the Manitoba Centre for Health Policy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Orr, Justine; Smith, Mark; Burchill, Charles; Katz, Alan; Fransoo, Randy

    2016-12-27

    Using the Manitoba Centre for Health Policy as an example, this commentary discusses how even small investments in population health data can create a multitude of research benefits. The authors highlight that through infrastructure development such as acquiring databases, facilitating access to data and developing data management practices, new, innovative research can be achieved at relatively low cost.

  18. Designing for the invisible: user-centered design of infrastructure awareness systems

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Ramos, Juan David Hincapie; Tabard, Aurélien; Bardram, Jakob

    2010-01-01

    Infrastructure awareness systems reveal invisible aspects of infrastructures to their existing or potential users. Designing such systems is challenging as it requires making visible the hidden activity of infrastructures while providing information of interest to the users. To address...

  19. An infrastructure for ontology-based information systems in biomedicine: RICORDO case study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wimalaratne, Sarala M; Grenon, Pierre; Hoehndorf, Robert; Gkoutos, Georgios V; de Bono, Bernard

    2012-02-01

    The article presents an infrastructure for supporting the semantic interoperability of biomedical resources based on the management (storing and inference-based querying) of their ontology-based annotations. This infrastructure consists of: (i) a repository to store and query ontology-based annotations; (ii) a knowledge base server with an inference engine to support the storage of and reasoning over ontologies used in the annotation of resources; (iii) a set of applications and services allowing interaction with the integrated repository and knowledge base. The infrastructure is being prototyped and developed and evaluated by the RICORDO project in support of the knowledge management of biomedical resources, including physiology and pharmacology models and associated clinical data. The RICORDO toolkit and its source code are freely available from http://ricordo.eu/relevant-resources. sarala@ebi.ac.uk.

  20. MODERNIZATION OF NATIONAL ECONOMY THROUGH DEVELOPMENT OF REGIONAL PRODUCTION INFRASTRUCTURE

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    T. G. Guilyadov

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available Any region’s economy comprises production and non-production spheres which are interconnected and equivalent. Key part of any regional production sphere is its production infrastructure whose value is double: it defines the level of regional economic development on one hand, andinterrelation with the whole national economy on the other hand. The greatest and most important regional production infrastructure elements are transportation infrastructure, information/communication infrastructure and communal infrastructure. Analysis and solution of issues related to development of the basic regional production infrastructure elements as suggested in the article will be very useful for modernization of the national economy.

  1. Building a NGII : Balancing between infrastructure and innovation

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Koerten, H.; Veenswijk, M.

    2009-01-01

    A multitude of studies has been published on how National Geo Information Infrastructures (NGII), also known as Spatial Data Infrastructures (SDI), should be designed, set up and monitored. Scientific research on day-to-day experiences, on what is really happening in NGIIprojects is hard to find. We

  2. Partnership effectiveness in primary community care networks: A national empirical analysis of partners' coordination infrastructure designs.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lin, Blossom Yen-Ju; Lin, Yung-Kai; Lin, Cheng-Chieh

    2010-01-01

    Previous empirical and managerial studies have ignored the effectiveness of integrated health networks. It has been argued that the varying definitions and strategic imperatives of integrated organizations may have complicated the assessment of the outcomes/performance of varying models, particularly when their market structures and contexts differed. This study aimed to empirically verify a theoretical perspective on the coordination infrastructure designs and the effectiveness of the primary community care networks (PCCNs) formed and funded by the Bureau of National Health Insurance since March 2003. The PCCNs present a model to replace the traditional fragmented providers in Taiwan's health care. The study used a cross-sectional mailed survey designed to ascertain partnership coordination infrastructure and integration of governance, clinical care, bonding, finances, and information. The outcome indicators were PCCNs' perceived performance and willingness to remain within the network. Structural equation modeling examined the causal relationships, controlling for organizational and environmental factors. Primary data collection occurred from February through December 2005, via structured questionnaires sent to 172 PCCNs. Using the individual PCCN as the unit of analysis, the results found that a network's efforts regarding coordination infrastructures were positively related to the PCCN's perceived performance and willingness to remain within the network. In addition, PCCNs practicing in rural areas and in areas with higher density of medical resources had better perceived effectiveness and willingness to cooperate in the network.Practical Implication: The lack of both an operational definition and an information about system-wide integration may have obstructed understanding of integrated health networks' organizational dynamics. This study empirically examined individual PCCNs and offers new insights on how to improve networks' organizational design and

  3. Resources, indicators, data management, dissemination and use in health information systems in sub-Saharan Africa: results of a questionnaire-based survey.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mbondji, Peter Ebongue; Kebede, Derege; Soumbey-Alley, Edoh William; Zielinski, Chris; Kouvividila, Wenceslas; Lusamba-Dikassa, Paul-Samson

    2014-05-01

    To describe the status of health information systems in 14 sub-Saharan African countries of the World Health Organization African Region. A questionnaire-based survey. Fourteen sub-Saharan African countries of the African Region. Key informants in the ministries of health, national statistics offices, health programmes, donors and technical agencies. State of resources, indicators, data sources, data management, information products, dissemination and use of health information. The highest average score was in the identification and harmonisation of indicators (73%), reflecting successful efforts to identify priority indicators and reach international consensus on indicators for several diseases. This was followed by information products (63%), which indicated the availability of accurate and reliable data. The lowest score (41%) was in data management, the ability to collect, store, analyse and distribute data, followed by resources - policy and planning, human and financial resources, and infrastructure (53%). Data sources (e.g. censuses, surveys) were on average inadequate with a score of 56%. The average score for dissemination and use of health information was 57%, which indicated limited or inadequate use of data for advocacy, planning and decision-making. National health information systems are weak in the surveyed countries and much more needs to be done to improve the quality and relevance of data, and their management, sharing and use for policy-making and decision-making. © The Royal Society of Medicine.

  4. Use of the internet as a resource for consumer health information: results of the second osteopathic survey of health care in America (OSTEOSURV-II).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Licciardone, J C; Smith-Barbaro, P; Coleridge, S T

    2001-01-01

    in rural than urban or suburban areas. The Internet has already surpassed radio as a source of health information but still lags substantially behind print media and television. Significant barriers to acquiring health information on the Internet remain among persons 60 years of age or older, those with 12 or fewer years of education, and those residing in rural areas. Stronger efforts are needed to ensure access to and facility with the Internet among all segments of the population. This includes user-friendly access for older persons with visual or other functional impairments, providing low-literacy Web sites, and expanding Internet infrastructure to reach all areas of the United States.

  5. Audit Layanan Teknologi Informasi Berbasis Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Didin Herlinudinkhaji

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available IT Service Management adalah salah satu cara untuk mengelola layanan teknologi informasi. Layanan teknologi perlu dikelola dengan baik untuk mendapatkan output dalam bentuk informasi yang dibutuhkan oleh manajemen. Untuk meningkatkan layanan teknologi informasi untuk lebih baik, diperlukan audit meliputi audit layanan teknologi informasi. Audit layanan teknologi informasi dilakukan untuk menentukan kelayakan teknologi informasi denngan terkait, dalam hal ini penulis berfokus pada isu-isu keamanan teknologi informasi. Audit keamanan teknologi informasi dibuat untuk menentukan tingkat keamanan untuk layanan teknologi informasi, sejauh mana informasi tersebut bisa sampai kepada yang berhak menerima, apakah informasi tersebut benar-benar tersedia, apakah informasi tersebut bersifat rahasia. Untuk dapat mengukur tingkat keamanan layanan teknologi informasi, penulis memilih untuk menggunakan metode Information Technology Infrastructure Library Versi 3 (ITIL V3. ITIL adalah set yang terdiri dari Layanan Strategi, Jasa Desain, Jasa Transisi, Layanan Operasi, dan terus-menerus Peningkatan Pelayanan. Dalam hal ini penulis berfokus pada layanan desain pada bagian dari manajemen keamanan informasi, pada bagian ini menjelaskan bagaimana layanan dikatakan baik jika memenuhi 8 poin yang telah distandarisasi secara internasional.

  6. Effects of Health Literacy and Social Capital on Health Information Behavior.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kim, Yong-Chan; Lim, Ji Young; Park, Keeho

    2015-01-01

    This study aimed to examine whether social capital (bonding and bridging social capital) attenuate the effect of low functional health literacy on health information resources, efficacy, and behaviors. In-person interviews were conducted with 1,000 residents in Seoul, Korea, in 2011. The authors found that respondents' functional health literacy had positive effects on the scope of health information sources and health information self-efficacy but not health information-seeking intention. Respondents' social capital had positive effects on the scope of health information sources, health information efficacy, and health information-seeking intention. The authors found (a) a significant moderation effect of bridging social capital on the relation between health literacy and health information self-efficacy and (b) a moderation effect of bonding social capital on the relation between health literacy and health information-seeking intention.

  7. Health smart cards: merging technology and medical information.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ward, Sherry R

    2003-01-01

    Smart cards are credit card-sized plastic cards, with an embedded dime-sized Integrated Circuit microprocessor chip. Smart cards can be used for keyless entry, electronic medical records, etc. Health smart cards have been in limited use since 1982 in Europe and the United States, and several barriers including lack of infrastructure, low consumer confidence, competing standards, and cost continue to be addressed.

  8. Development of a network-based information infrastructure for fisheries and hydropower information in the Columbia River Basin : Final project report; TOPICAL

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Scheibe, Timothy D.; Johnson, Gary E.; Perkins, Bill

    1997-01-01

    The goal of this project was to help develop technology and a unified structure to access and disseminate information related to the Bonneville Power Administration's fish and wildlife responsibility in the Pacific Northwest. BPA desires to increase access to, and exchange of, information produced by the Environment Fish, and Wildlife Group in concert with regional partners. Historically, data and information have been managed through numerous centralized, controlled information systems. Fisheries information has been fragmented and not widely exchanged. Where exchange has occurred, it often is not timely enough to allow resource managers to effectively use the information to guide planning and decision making. This project (and related projects) have successfully developed and piloted a network-based infrastructure that will serve as a vehicle to transparently connect existing information systems in a manner that makes information exchange efficient and inexpensive. This project was designed to provide a mechanism to help BPA address measures in the Northwest Power Planning Council's (NPPC) Fish and Wildlife program: 3.2H Disseminate Research and Monitoring Information and 5.1A.5 manage water supplies in accordance with the Annual Implementation Work Plan. This project also provided resources that can be used to assist monitoring and evaluation of the Program

  9. The impact of green stormwater infrastructure installation on surrounding health and safety.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kondo, Michelle C; Low, Sarah C; Henning, Jason; Branas, Charles C

    2015-03-01

    We investigated the health and safety effects of urban green stormwater infrastructure (GSI) installments. We conducted a difference-in-differences analysis of the effects of GSI installments on health (e.g., blood pressure, cholesterol and stress levels) and safety (e.g., felonies, nuisance and property crimes, narcotics crimes) outcomes from 2000 to 2012 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. We used mixed-effects regression models to compare differences in pre- and posttreatment measures of outcomes for treatment sites (n=52) and randomly chosen, matched control sites (n=186) within multiple geographic extents surrounding GSI sites. Regression-adjusted models showed consistent and statistically significant reductions in narcotics possession (18%-27% less) within 16th-mile, quarter-mile, half-mile (P<.001), and eighth-mile (P<.01) distances from treatment sites and at the census tract level (P<.01). Narcotics manufacture and burglaries were also significantly reduced at multiple scales. Nonsignificant reductions in homicides, assaults, thefts, public drunkenness, and narcotics sales were associated with GSI installation in at least 1 geographic extent. Health and safety considerations should be included in future assessments of GSI programs. Subsequent studies should assess mechanisms of this association.

  10. Patient safety goals for the proposed Federal Health Information Technology Safety Center.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sittig, Dean F; Classen, David C; Singh, Hardeep

    2015-03-01

    The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology is expected to oversee creation of a Health Information Technology (HIT) Safety Center. While its functions are still being defined, the center is envisioned as a public-private entity focusing on promotion of HIT related patient safety. We propose that the HIT Safety Center leverages its unique position to work with key administrative and policy stakeholders, healthcare organizations (HCOs), and HIT vendors to achieve four goals: (1) facilitate creation of a nationwide 'post-marketing' surveillance system to monitor HIT related safety events; (2) develop methods and governance structures to support investigation of major HIT related safety events; (3) create the infrastructure and methods needed to carry out random assessments of HIT related safety in complex HCOs; and (4) advocate for HIT safety with government and private entities. The convening ability of a federally supported HIT Safety Center could be critically important to our transformation to a safe and effective HIT enabled healthcare system. © The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the American Medical Informatics Association. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  11. COOPEUS - connecting research infrastructures in environmental sciences

    Science.gov (United States)

    Koop-Jakobsen, Ketil; Waldmann, Christoph; Huber, Robert

    2015-04-01

    The COOPEUS project was initiated in 2012 bringing together 10 research infrastructures (RIs) in environmental sciences from the EU and US in order to improve the discovery, access, and use of environmental information and data across scientific disciplines and across geographical borders. The COOPEUS mission is to facilitate readily accessible research infrastructure data to advance our understanding of Earth systems through an international community-driven effort, by: Bringing together both user communities and top-down directives to address evolving societal and scientific needs; Removing technical, scientific, cultural and geopolitical barriers for data use; and Coordinating the flow, integrity and preservation of information. A survey of data availability was conducted among the COOPEUS research infrastructures for the purpose of discovering impediments for open international and cross-disciplinary sharing of environmental data. The survey showed that the majority of data offered by the COOPEUS research infrastructures is available via the internet (>90%), but the accessibility to these data differ significantly among research infrastructures; only 45% offer open access on their data, whereas the remaining infrastructures offer restricted access e.g. do not release raw data or sensible data, demand user registration or require permission prior to release of data. These rules and regulations are often installed as a form of standard practice, whereas formal data policies are lacking in 40% of the infrastructures, primarily in the EU. In order to improve this situation COOPEUS has installed a common data-sharing policy, which is agreed upon by all the COOPEUS research infrastructures. To investigate the existing opportunities for improving interoperability among environmental research infrastructures, COOPEUS explored the opportunities with the GEOSS common infrastructure (GCI) by holding a hands-on workshop. Through exercises directly registering resources

  12. Managing IT infrastructure standardisation in the networked manufacturing firm

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Akkermans, H.A.; Horst, van der H.

    2002-01-01

    This paper discusses managerial aspects of information technology (IT) infrastructure standardisation in networked manufacturing firms. It shows that in these firms, where local initiative is very important and strict central hierarchical control is lacking, standardisation of IT infrastructure is

  13. Storing and Using Health Data in a Virtual Private Cloud

    Science.gov (United States)

    Regola, Nathan

    2013-01-01

    Electronic health records are being adopted at a rapid rate due to increased funding from the US federal government. Health data provide the opportunity to identify possible improvements in health care delivery by applying data mining and statistical methods to the data and will also enable a wide variety of new applications that will be meaningful to patients and medical professionals. Researchers are often granted access to health care data to assist in the data mining process, but HIPAA regulations mandate comprehensive safeguards to protect the data. Often universities (and presumably other research organizations) have an enterprise information technology infrastructure and a research infrastructure. Unfortunately, both of these infrastructures are generally not appropriate for sensitive research data such as HIPAA, as they require special accommodations on the part of the enterprise information technology (or increased security on the part of the research computing environment). Cloud computing, which is a concept that allows organizations to build complex infrastructures on leased resources, is rapidly evolving to the point that it is possible to build sophisticated network architectures with advanced security capabilities. We present a prototype infrastructure in Amazon’s Virtual Private Cloud to allow researchers and practitioners to utilize the data in a HIPAA-compliant environment. PMID:23485880

  14. Interventions in Bicycle Infrastructure, Lessons from Dutch and Danish Cases

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    van Goeverden, K.; Nielsen, Thomas Alexander Sick; Harder, Henrik

    2015-01-01

    of interventions in bicycle infrastructure on travel choices, safety, design appreciation, and other factors. These clarify under which conditions certain measures are effective or not and inform about the effectiveness of improving a single route versus upgrading a whole network. The information from the studies...... to be still generally valid. In addition to studies that traditionally focus on dedicated bicycle infrastructure, two cases of shared space are discussed, a rather new type of intervention that assumes mixed use of infrastructure. One case is from Denmark, the other from the Netherlands. The paper will so...... uncover the valuable results of the possibly largest evaluations of interventions in bicycle infrastructure ever made, verify these by examining more recent studies, and contribute to the discussion of shared space....

  15. Critical infrastructure protection

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bradley, F. [Canadian Electricity Association, Toronto, ON (Canada)

    2003-04-01

    The need to protect critical electrical infrastructure from terrorist attacks, or other physical damage, including weather related events, or the potential impact of computer viruses and other attacks on IT resources are discussed. Activities of the North American Electric Reliability Council (NERC) are highlighted which seek to safeguard the North American bulk electric power system principally through the Information Sharing and Analysis Sector (ES-ISAC). ES-ISAC serves the electricity sector by facilitating communication between electric sector participants, federal government and other critical infrastructure industries by disseminating threat indications, analyses and warnings, together with interpretations, to assist the industry in taking infrastructure protection actions. Attention is drawn to the numerous cyber incidents in recent years, which although resulted in no loss of service to electricity customers so far, in at least one instance (the January 25th SOL-Slammer worm incident) resulted in degradation of service in a number of sectors, including financial, transportation and telecommunication services. The increasing frequency of cyber-based attacks, coupled with the industry's growing dependence on e-commerce and electronic controls, are good reasons to believe that critical infrastructure protection (CIP) poses a serious challenge to the industry's risk management practices. The Canadian Electricity Association (CEA) is an active participant in ES-ISAC and works cooperatively with a range of partners, such as the Edison Electric Institute and the American Public Power Association to ensure coordination and effective protection program delivery for the electric power sector. The Early Warning System (EWS) developed by the CIP Working Group is one of the results of this cooperation. EWS uses the Internet, e-mail, web-enabled cell phones and Blackberry hand-held devices to deliver real-time threat information to members on a 24/7 basis. EWS

  16. Development of a lunar infrastructure

    Science.gov (United States)

    Burke, J. D.

    If humans are to reside continuously and productively on the Moon, they must be surrounded and supported there by an infrastructure having some attributes of the support systems that have made advanced civilization possible on Earth. Building this lunar infrastructure will, in a sense, be an investment. Creating it will require large resources from Earth, but once it exists it can do much to limit the further demands of a lunar base for Earthside support. What is needed for a viable lunar infrastructure? This question can be approached from two directions. The first is to examine history, which is essentially a record of growing information structures among humans on Earth (tribes, agriculture, specialization of work, education, ethics, arts and sciences, cities and states, technology). The second approach is much less secure but may provide useful insights: it is to examine the minimal needs of a small human community - not just for physical survival but for a stable existence with a net product output. This paper presents a summary, based on present knowledge of the Moon and of the likely functions of a human community there, of some of these infrastructure requirements, and also discusses possible ways to proceed toward meeting early infrastructure needs.

  17. Infrastructure of pharmacies of the primary health care in the Brazilian Unified Health System: Analysis of PNAUM - Services data.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Leite, Silvana Nair; Manzini, Fernanda; Álvares, Juliana; Guerra, Augusto Afonso; Costa, Ediná Alves; Acurcio, Francisco de Assis; Guibu, Ione Aquemi; Costa, Karen Sarmento; Karnikowski, Margô Gomes de Oliveira; Soeiro, Orlando Mário; Farias, Mareni Rocha

    2017-11-13

    To characterize the infrastructure of the primary health care pharmacies of the Brazilian Unified Health System, aiming at humanizing the offered services. This is a cross-sectional study, of quantitative approach, from data obtained in the Pesquisa Nacional de Acesso, Utilização e Promoção do Uso Racional de Medicamentos - Serviços, 2015 (PNAUM - National Survey on Access, Use and Promotion of Rational Use of Medicines - Services, 2015). Information on 1,175 pharmacies/dispensing units were gathered from direct observation and assessment of dispensing units installations conducted by trained researchers who used a standardized form. The analyzed variables refer to the physical structure of pharmacies or medicine dispensing units of the health units under research. The pharmacy area was greater than 14 m2 in 40.3% of the sampled units, highlighting those from Midwest (56.9%) and Southeast (56.2%) regions and those of Northeast, with only 23.3%. About 80.2% units had waiting rooms with chairs for patients, 31.8% of them had dispensing areas inferior to 5m2, while in 46.2% these areas were superior to 10m2. Bars were found in service counters in 23.8% of health units, thus separating the patient from the professional; 44.1% had internet access. In most units, the area of medicine storage had no refrigerator or freezer for their exclusive storage and 13.7% had a specific room for pharmaceutical consultation. Aiming at achieving care humanization and improving working conditions for professionals, the structuring of the environment of pharmacy services is necessary. This would contribute to the better qualification of pharmacy services, comprising more than medicine delivery. Data on the Northeast region indicated less favorable conditions to the development of adequate dispensing services. Based on the panorama pointed out, we suggest the expansion of stimulus concerning the physical structure of pharmaceutical services, considering regional specificities.

  18. Intelligent social infrastructure technology. Infrastructure technology support ultra-reliable society; Chiteki shakai kiban kogaku gijutsu. Choanshin shakai wo sasaeru kiban gijutsu

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    1996-03-01

    This survey was conducted to construct the core of intelligent social infrastructure technology (ISIT), and to investigate its practical application to industries and society. For realizing the ultra-safe and ultra-reliable society, it is necessary to develop the ISIT which can integrate various social infrastructures, such as architecture, city, energy, and lifeline systems required for living. For the systematization of cities, it is necessary to process and control the intelligent information by holding integrated and transverse information in common, as to logistics, lifeline, communication, monitoring, and control. For the communication engineering, the centralized systems are acceleratingly to be converted into the distributed network systems. For the mechanical engineering, intelligent control and robot technology are required. For the architectural engineering, a concept exceeding the conventional antiseismic structure idea is investigated. It is necessary to develop a new information technology providing an intelligent social infrastructures by merging the information networks and the physical world seamlessly. Necessity of ISIT is large for constructing the intelligent and ultra-reliable society consisting of these integrated and organized networks. 84 refs., 68 figs., 6 tabs.

  19. Sharing Cyber Security Information : Good Practice Stemming from the Dutch Public-Private-Participation Approach

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Luiijf, H.A.M.; Kernkamp, A.C.

    2015-01-01

    The failure of a national critical infrastructure may seriously impact the health and well-being of citizens, the economy, the environment, and the functioning of the government. Moreover, critical infrastructures increasingly depend on information and communication technologies (ICT) or, in short,

  20. The Health Information Literacy Research Project*

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kurtz-Rossi, Sabrina; Funk, Carla J.

    2009-01-01

    Objectives: This research studied hospital administrators' and hospital-based health care providers' (collectively, the target group) perceived value of consumer health information resources and of librarians' roles in promoting health information literacy in their institutions. Methods: A web-based needs survey was developed and administered to hospital administrators and health care providers. Multiple health information literacy curricula were developed. One was pilot-tested by nine hospital libraries in the United States and Canada. Quantitative and qualitative methods were used to evaluate the curriculum and its impact on the target group. Results: A majority of survey respondents believed that providing consumer health information resources was critically important to fulfilling their institutions' missions and that their hospitals could improve health information literacy by increasing awareness of its impact on patient care and by training staff to become more knowledgeable about health literacy barriers. The study showed that a librarian-taught health information literacy curriculum did raise awareness about the issue among the target group and increased both the use of National Library of Medicine consumer health resources and referrals to librarians for health information literacy support. Conclusions: It is hoped that many hospital administrators and health care providers will take the health information literacy curricula and recognize that librarians can educate about the topic and that providers will use related consumer health services and resources. PMID:19851494

  1. Information technology acceptance in health information management.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Abdekhoda, M; Ahmadi, M; Dehnad, A; Hosseini, A F

    2014-01-01

    User acceptance of information technology has been a significant area of research for more than two decades in the field of information technology. This study assessed the acceptance of information technology in the context of Health Information Management (HIM) by utilizing Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) which was modified and applied to assess user acceptance of health information technology as well as viability of TAM as a research construct in the context of HIM. This was a descriptive- analytical study in which a sample of 187 personnel from a population of 363 personnel, working in medical records departments of hospitals affiliated to Tehran University of Medical Sciences, was selected. Users' perception of applying information technology was studied by a researcher-developed questionnaire. Collected data were analyzed by SPSS software (version16) using descriptive statistics and regression analysis. The results suggest that TAM is a useful construct to assess user acceptance of information technology in the context of HIM. The findings also evidenced the perceived ease of use (PEOU) and perceived usefulness (PE) were positively associated with favorable users' attitudes towards HIM. PU was relatively more associated (r= 0.22, p = 0.05) than PEOU (r = 0.014, p = 0.05) with favorable user attitudes towards HIM. Users' perception of usefulness and ease of use are important determinants providing the incentive for users to accept information technologies when the application of a successful HIM system is attempted. The findings of the present study suggest that user acceptance is a key element and should subsequently be the major concern of health organizations and health policy makers.

  2. Security infrastructure for dynamically provisioned cloud infrastructure services

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Demchenko, Y.; Ngo, C.; de Laat, C.; Lopez, D.R.; Morales, A.; García-Espín, J.A.; Pearson, S.; Yee, G.

    2013-01-01

    This chapter discusses conceptual issues, basic requirements and practical suggestions for designing dynamically configured security infrastructure provisioned on demand as part of the cloud-based infrastructure. This chapter describes general use cases for provisioning cloud infrastructure services

  3. Towards a Unified Global ICT Infrastructure

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Madsen, Ole Brun

    2006-01-01

    A successful evolution towards a unified global WAN platform allowing for the coexistence and interoperability of all kind of services requires careful planning of the next generation global cooperative wired and wireless information infrastructure. The absence of commonly agreed upon and adopted...... to be solved can be found in the interrelation between communication, connectivity and convergence. This paper will focus on steps to be taken in planning the physical infrastructure as a prerequisite for a successful evolution....

  4. Data and Mined-Knowledge Interoperability in eHealth Systems

    OpenAIRE

    Sartipi, Kamran; Najafi, Mehran; Kazemzadeh, Reza S.

    2008-01-01

    Current healthcare infrastructures in the advanced societies can not fulfil the demands for quality public health services which are characterized by patient-centric, seamless interoperation of heterogeneous healthcare systems, and nation-wide electronic health record services. Consequently, the governments and healthcare institutions are embracing new information and communication technologies to provide the necessary infrastructures for healthcare and medical services. In this chapter, we a...

  5. Evaluating Health Information

    Science.gov (United States)

    Millions of consumers get health information from magazines, TV or the Internet. Some of the information is reliable and up to date; some is not. How can ... the site have an editorial board? Is the information reviewed before it is posted? Be skeptical. Things ...

  6. Mobile health information system: a mobile app. to aid health ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Mobile health information system: a mobile app. to aid health workers relate health information. ... Global Journal of Mathematical Sciences ... phones in delivering vital health information and effective fieldwork reporting is of significance.

  7. Handling Internet-Based Health Information: Improving Health Information Web Site Literacy Among Undergraduate Nursing Students.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Weiwen; Sun, Ran; Mulvehill, Alice M; Gilson, Courtney C; Huang, Linda L

    2017-02-01

    Patient care problems arise when health care consumers and professionals find health information on the Internet because that information is often inaccurate. To mitigate this problem, nurses can develop Web literacy and share that skill with health care consumers. This study evaluated a Web-literacy intervention for undergraduate nursing students to find reliable Web-based health information. A pre- and postsurvey queried undergraduate nursing students in an informatics course; the intervention comprised lecture, in-class practice, and assignments about health Web site evaluation tools. Data were analyzed using Wilcoxon and ANOVA signed-rank tests. Pre-intervention, 75.9% of participants reported using Web sites to obtain health information. Postintervention, 87.9% displayed confidence in using an evaluation tool. Both the ability to critique health Web sites (p = .005) and confidence in finding reliable Internet-based health information (p = .058) increased. Web-literacy education guides nursing students to find, evaluate, and use reliable Web sites, which improves their ability to deliver safer patient care. [J Nurs Educ. 2017;56(2):110-114.]. Copyright 2017, SLACK Incorporated.

  8. Health information technology workforce needs of rural primary care practices.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Skillman, Susan M; Andrilla, C Holly A; Patterson, Davis G; Fenton, Susan H; Ostergard, Stefanie J

    2015-01-01

    This study assessed electronic health record (EHR) and health information technology (HIT) workforce resources needed by rural primary care practices, and their workforce-related barriers to implementing and using EHRs and HIT. Rural primary care practices (1,772) in 13 states (34.2% response) were surveyed in 2012 using mailed and Web-based questionnaires. EHRs or HIT were used by 70% of respondents. Among practices using or intending to use the technology, most did not plan to hire new employees to obtain EHR/HIT skills and even fewer planned to hire consultants or vendors to fill gaps. Many practices had staff with some basic/entry, intermediate and/or advanced-level skills, but nearly two-thirds (61.4%) needed more staff training. Affordable access to vendors/consultants who understand their needs and availability of community college and baccalaureate-level training were the workforce-related barriers cited by the highest percentages of respondents. Accessing the Web/Internet challenged nearly a quarter of practices in isolated rural areas, and nearly a fifth in small rural areas. Finding relevant vendors/consultants and qualified staff were greater barriers in small and isolated rural areas than in large rural areas. Rural primary care practices mainly will rely on existing staff for continued implementation and use of EHR/HIT systems. Infrastructure and workforce-related barriers remain and must be overcome before practices can fully manage patient populations and exchange patient information among care system partners. Efforts to monitor adoption of these skills and ongoing support for continuing education will likely benefit rural populations. © 2014 National Rural Health Association.

  9. Assessing the ability of health information systems in hospitals to support evidence-informed decisions in Kenya

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Elesban Kihuba

    2014-07-01

    Full Text Available Background: Hospital management information systems (HMIS is a key component of national health information systems (HIS, and actions required of hospital management to support information generation in Kenya are articulated in specific policy documents. We conducted an evaluation of core functions of data generation and reporting within hospitals in Kenya to facilitate interpretation of national reports and to provide guidance on key areas requiring improvement to support data use in decision making. Design: The survey was a cross-sectional, cluster sample study conducted in 22 hospitals in Kenya. The statistical analysis was descriptive with adjustment for clustering. Results: Most of the HMIS departments complied with formal guidance to develop departmental plans. However, only a few (3/22 had carried out a data quality audit in the 12 months prior to the survey. On average 3% (range 1–8% of the total hospital income was allocated to the HMIS departments. About half of the records officer positions were filled and about half (13/22 of hospitals had implemented some form of electronic health record largely focused on improving patient billing and not linked to the district HIS. Completeness of manual patient registers varied, being 90% (95% CI 80.1–99.3%, 75.8% (95% CI 68.7–82.8%, and 58% (95% CI 50.4–65.1% in maternal child health clinic, maternity, and pediatric wards, respectively. Vital events notification rates were low with 25.7, 42.6, and 71.3% of neonatal deaths, infant deaths, and live births recorded, respectively. Routine hospital reports suggested slight over-reporting of live births and under-reporting of fresh stillbirths and neonatal deaths. Conclusions: Study findings indicate that the HMIS does not deliver quality data. Significant constraints exist in data quality assurance, supervisory support, data infrastructure in respect to information and communications technology application, human resources, financial

  10. Internet Use for Health Information

    Science.gov (United States)

    ... Health Services Utilization > Internet use for Health Information Internet use for Health Information Narrative Due in part ... adults in the United States who use the Internet has increased substantially, from 47 percent in 2000 ...

  11. Flood vulnerability of critical infrastructure in Cork, Ireland

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    de Bruijn Karin M.

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Recent flood events in Ireland and particularly in County Cork have caused significant disruption to health service provisions, interruption of water and power supplies, and damage to roads and other transportation infrastructure, affecting the lives of hundreds of thousands of people over a prolonged period of weeks. These events clearly reveal- the vulnerability of the critical infrastructure to flooding and the dependence of society on critical infrastructure. In order to reduce the flood vulnerability and increase the resilience of the critical infrastructure networks in the future, detailed evidence-based analysis and assessment is essential. To this end a case study has been carried out on Cork City which analyses this vulnerability as it was in 2009, and as it is currently, and identifies adaptation options to reduce the future vulnerability of critical infrastructure to flooding and to build a more resilient society. This paper describes the storyline approach and CIrcle tool and their application to Cork City which focused on the analysis of the flood vulnerability of critical infrastructure and the impacts of failure of the infrastructure for other critical functions and on society.

  12. Promoting Information Literacy by Promoting Health Literacy in the Information Society

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Meisam Dastani

    2016-09-01

    Full Text Available In the information society, the production, distribution and use of information are freely and widely available for all issues of life. Proper and appropriate use of reliable information is especially important in health care. The present study introduces the concepts and benefits of health literacy and information literacy and its role in improving health literacy. This study was a review based on the concepts of information society, information literacy and information education to present importance of promoting information literacy on health literacy in the information society. The information society is presented by providing a platform of information technology and computer systems to attempt to exchange and develop information among people in the community. Currently, electronic and web-based health information in the mass form is available. Information as a fundamental base of the information society is a phenomenon that our decisions are affected in relation to various issues such as safety and health issues. It is important to avoid the mass of invalid, incorrect and inappropriate information which is available on the internet. This requires information literacy skills such as identifying, accessing and evaluating information. In general, it can be said that the promotion of health literacy in communities requires learning different skills in the form of information literacy.Data obtained from this study can be used in developing the long term health programs to prevention of non-communicable diseases in our country

  13. Evaluating the transport, health and economic impacts of new urban cycling infrastructure in Sydney, Australia - protocol paper.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rissel, Chris; Greaves, Stephen; Wen, Li Ming; Capon, Anthony; Crane, Melanie; Standen, Chris

    2013-10-17

    There are repeated calls to build better cycling paths in Australian cities if the proportion of people cycling is to increase. Yet the full range of transport, health, environmental and economic impacts of new cycling infrastructure and the extent to which observed changes are sustained is not well understood. The City of Sydney is currently building a new bicycle network, which includes a new bicycle path separated from road traffic in the south Sydney area. This protocol paper describes a comprehensive method to evaluate this new cycling infrastructure. A cohort of residents within two kilometres of the new bicycle path will be surveyed at baseline before a new section of bicycle path is built, and again 12 and 24 months later to assess changes in travel behaviour, sense of community, quality of life and health behaviours. Residents in a comparable area of Sydney that will not get a new separated bike path will act as a comparison group. At baseline a sub-set of residents who volunteer will also take a small GPS device with them for one week to assess travel behaviour. This research should contribute to the advancement in evaluation and appraisal methods for cycling projects.

  14. Do knowledge infrastructure facilities support Evidence-Based Practice in occupational health? An exploratory study across countries among occupational physicians enrolled on EBM courses

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Hugenholtz, Nathalie I. R.; Nieuwenhuijsen, Karen; Sluiter, Judith K.; van Dijk, Frank J. H.

    2009-01-01

    ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: Evidence-Based Medicine (EBM) is an important method used by occupational physicians (OPs) to deliver high quality health care. The presence and quality of a knowledge infrastructure is thought to influence the practice of EBM in occupational health care. This study explores

  15. Health Information Brokers in the General Population: An Analysis of the Health Information National Trends Survey 2013-2014.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cutrona, Sarah L; Mazor, Kathleen M; Agunwamba, Amenah A; Valluri, Sruthi; Wilson, Patrick M; Sadasivam, Rajani S; Finney Rutten, Lila J

    2016-06-03

    Health information exchanged between friends or family members can influence decision making, both for routine health questions and for serious health issues. A health information broker is a person to whom friends and family turn for advice or information on health-related topics. Characteristics and online behaviors of health information brokers have not previously been studied in a national population. The objective of this study was to examine sociodemographic characteristics, health information seeking behaviors, and other online behaviors among health information brokers. Data from the Health Information National Trends Survey (2013-2014; n=3142) were used to compare brokers with nonbrokers. Modified Poisson regression was used to examine the relationship between broker status and sociodemographics and online information seeking. Over half (54.8%) of the respondents were consulted by family or friends for advice or information on health topics (ie, they acted as health information brokers). Brokers represented 54.1% of respondents earning brokers (PR 1.34, 95% CI 1.23-1.47) as were those with education past high school (PR 1.42, CI 1.22-1.65). People aged ≥75 were less likely to be brokers as compared to respondents aged 35-49 (PR 0.81, CI 0.67-0.99). Brokers used the Internet more frequently for a variety of online behaviors such as seeking health information, creating and sharing online content, and downloading health information onto a mobile device; and also reported greater confidence in obtaining health information online. More than 50% of adults who responded to this national survey, including those with low income and those born abroad, were providing health information or advice to friends and family. These individuals may prove to be effective targets for initiatives supporting patient engagement and disease management, and may also be well-positioned within their respective social networks to propagate health messages.

  16. Towards a Wireless and Low-Power Infrastructure for Representing Information Based on E-Paper Displays

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Diego Sánchez-de-Rivera

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available There has been much interest in replacing traditional information supports with more technological solutions in recent years. New technologies which allow paper-like perception with minimal power needs have emerged as low-power wireless scenarios. A priority for these new supports is to create the architecture for a scalable solution which maintains minimal power requirements. The retail industry demands a new information infrastructure that improves customer and employee satisfaction. In this work, authors propose an information provision architecture based on E-Paper and carry out an experiment where different smart labeling architectures based on Paper, E-Paper, LED liquid crystal display (LCD and Dot-matrix LCD were tested in order to determine which is best suited for a real labeling environment. Enclosed in a research project called SMARKET, the authors pilot-tested the work in a real supermarket, having the opportunity to survey employees and customers about satisfaction and frustration with the use of the architectures proposed in this research work.

  17. A mental health needs assessment of children and adolescents in post-conflict Liberia: results from a quantitative key-informant survey

    Science.gov (United States)

    Borba, Christina P.C.; Ng, Lauren C.; Stevenson, Anne; Vesga-Lopez, Oriana; Harris, Benjamin L.; Parnarouskis, Lindsey; Gray, Deborah A.; Carney, Julia R.; Domínguez, Silvia; Wang, Edward K.S.; Boxill, Ryan; Song, Suzan J.; Henderson, David C.

    2016-01-01

    Between 1989 and 2004, Liberia experienced a devastating civil war that resulted in widespread trauma with almost no mental health infrastructure to help citizens cope. In 2009, the Liberian Ministry of Health and Social Welfare collaborated with researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital to conduct a rapid needs assessment survey in Liberia with local key informants (n = 171) to examine the impact of war and post-war events on emotional and behavioral problems of, functional limitations of, and appropriate treatment settings for Liberian youth aged 5–22. War exposure and post-conflict sexual violence, poverty, infectious disease and parental death negatively impacted youth mental health. Key informants perceived that youth displayed internalizing and externalizing symptoms and mental health-related functional impairment at home, school, work and in relationships. Medical clinics were identified as the most appropriate setting for mental health services. Youth in Liberia continue to endure the harsh social, economic and material conditions of everyday life in a protracted post-conflict state, and have significant mental health needs. Their observed functional impairment due to mental health issues further limited their access to protective factors such as education, employment and positive social relationships. Results from this study informed Liberia's first post-conflict mental health policy. PMID:26807147

  18. Technical Meeting/Workshop on Topical Issues on Infrastructure Development: Managing the Development of a National Infrastructure for Nuclear Power Plants. Presentations

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    2012-01-01

    The main purpose of the TM/Workshop is to provide an opportunity for exchange of specific information on the management of the development of a sustainable national infrastructure for Nuclear Power Plants as it is recommended in the Agency's Milestones approach. Taking into account the actual status of new nuclear power programmes in Member States, this Agency event shall focus on the moving beyond the consideration of the nuclear power and advancing to the next phase, when future partners (Consultants, NPP Vendors, EPC Contractors, etc.) shall be selected and contracted for the first Nuclear Power Plant. The objectives of the Technical Meeting/Workshop are the following: 1. To exchange specific information and to facilitate the management and coordination of the development and implementation of a national infrastructure for nuclear power; 2. To present and discuss case studies, good practices and lessons learned about recent experiences in implementing an appropriate infrastructure for nuclear power, including management methods and self-evaluation processes; 3. To allow participants to improve their knowledge of various aspects of nuclear infrastructure development; and 4. To provide a forum in which participants can discuss common challenges, opportunities for cooperation, concerns and issues their countries face in the infrastructure implementation process.

  19. Strategy of health information seeking among physicians, medical residents, and students after introducing digital library and information technology in teaching hospitals of Iran.

    Science.gov (United States)

    kahouei, Mehdi; Alaei, Safollah; Shariat Panahi, Sohaila Sadat Ghazavi; Zadeh, Jamileh Mahdi

    2015-05-01

    It is important for physicians, medical students and health care organizations of developing countries to use reliable clinical information in order to deliver the best practice. Therefore, health sector of Iran endeavored to encourage physicians and medical students to integrate research findings into practice since 2005. Several educational interventions in the areas of information technology and databases were performed. Digital library was introduced in the teaching hospitals. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether these interventions increased the use of evidence-based health information resources among physicians, medical residents and students. This descriptive study involved 315 physicians, assistants and medical students in affiliated hospitals of Semnan University of medical sciences in 2013. A total 52.9% of physicians and 79.5% of medical residents and students always used patient data. 81.3% of physicians and 67.1% of medical residents and students reported using their own experiences, 26.5% of physicians and 16.9% of medical residents and students always used databases such as PubMed and MEDLINE for patient care. Our results revealed that in spite of providing educational and technical infrastructures for accomplishment of research utilization in medical education, the study subjects often identified and used what they regarded as reliable and relevant information from sources that do not truly represent the best evidence that is available. © 2015 Chinese Cochrane Center, West China Hospital of Sichuan University and Wiley Publishing Asia Pty Ltd.

  20. New infrastructures for knowledge production understanding e-science

    CERN Document Server

    Hine, Christine

    2006-01-01

    New Infrastructures for Knowledge Production: Understanding E-Science offers a distinctive understanding of new infrastructures for knowledge production based in science and technology studies. This field offers a unique potential to assess systematically the prospects for new modes of science enabled by information and communication technologies. The authors use varied methodological approaches, reviewing the origins of initiatives to develop e-science infrastructures, exploring the diversity of the various solutions and the scientific cultures which use them, and assessing the prospects for wholesale change in scientific structures and practices. New Infrastructures for Knowledge Production: Understanding E-Science contains practical advice for the design of appropriate technological solutions, and long range assessments of the prospects for change useful both to policy makers and those implementing institutional infrastructures. Readers interested in understanding contemporary science will gain a rich pict...

  1. Defining Information Quality Into Health Websites: A Conceptual Framework of Health Website Information Quality for Educated Young Adults.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tao, Donghua; LeRouge, Cynthia; Smith, K Jody; De Leo, Gianluca

    2017-10-06

    Today's health care environment encourages health care consumers to take an active role in managing their health. As digital natives, young educated adults do much of their health information management through the Internet and consider it a valid source of health advice. However, the quality of information on health websites is highly variable and dynamic. Little is known about the understandings and perceptions that young educated adults have garnered on the quality of information on health websites used for health care-related purposes. To fill this gap, the aim of this study was to develop a conceptual framework of health website information quality with quality dimensions (ie, criteria) and associated quality drivers (ie, attributes) specified in the context of young educated adults' use of health websites for health care-related purposes. This aim was achieved by (1) identifying information quality dimensions of health websites from the perspective of young educated adults; (2) identifying the importance ratings of these quality dimensions; and (3) constructing a framework of health website information quality with quality dimensions and associated drivers specified in the context of young educated adults' use of health websites for health care-related purposes. The study employed both qualitative and quantitative methods. Methods included semistructured group interviews and an individual quality assessment exercise grounded in visiting various websites and responding to Likert scale questions regarding the importance ratings of information quality dimensions and open-ended questions with specifying website quality drivers. Study participants included junior and senior undergraduate and graduate students in business, allied health, and public health majors. Qualitative, open-coding procedures were used to develop the conceptual framework reflecting the participants' means of assessing information quality on health websites. Five dimensions of information

  2. How Do Qataris Source Health Information?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sopna M Choudhury

    Full Text Available Qatar is experiencing rapid population expansion with increasing demands on healthcare services for both acute and chronic conditions. Sourcing accurate information about health conditions is crucial, yet the methods used for sourcing health information in Qatar are currently unknown. Gaining a better understanding of the sources the Qatari population use to recognize and manage health and/or disease will help to develop strategies to educate individuals about existing and emerging health problems.To investigate the methods used by the Qatari population to source health information. We hypothesized that the Internet would be a key service used to access health information by the Qatari population.A researcher-led questionnaire was used to collect information from Qatari adults, aged 18-85 years. Participants were approached in shopping centers and public places in Doha, the capital city of Qatar. The questionnaire was used to ascertain information concerning demographics, health status, and utilization of health care services during the past year as well as sources of health information used.Data from a total of 394 eligible participants were included. The Internet was widely used for seeking health information among the Qatari population (71.1%. A greater proportion of Qatari females (78.7% reported searching for health-related information using the Internet compared to Qatari males (60.8%. Other commonly used sources were family and friends (37.8% and Primary Health Care Centers (31.2%. Google was the most commonly used search engine (94.8%. Gender, age and education levels were all significant predictors of Internet use for heath information (P<0.001 for all predictors. Females were 2.9 times more likely than males (P<0.001 and people educated to university or college level were 3.03 times more likely (P<0.001 to use the Internet for heath information.The Internet is a widely used source to obtain health-related information by the Qatari

  3. College Students' Health Information Activities on Facebook: Investigating the Impacts of Health Topic Sensitivity, Information Sources, and Demographics.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Syn, Sue Yeon; Kim, Sung Un

    2016-07-01

    College students tend to lack access to health information. Because social networking sites (SNSs) are popularly adopted by college students, SNSs are considered to be good media channels for college students to obtain health-related information. This study examines the factors that influence college students' health information-seeking and -sharing activities on Facebook. An online survey was distributed to college students between the ages of 18 and 29 to determine intentions pertaining to health information activities according to the factors identified for the study. The factors included both contextual factors (such as health topic sensitivity and health information sources) as well as user factors (such as demographics). Our findings showed that college students are willing to read and post health-related information on Facebook when the health topic is not sensitive. In addition, there are clear differences in preferences between professional sources and personal sources as health information sources. It was found that most user factors, except gender, have no influence on health information activities. The impacts of SNS contexts, awareness of information sources, types of interlocutors, and privacy concerns are further discussed.

  4. Infrastructure investment and incentives with supranational funding

    OpenAIRE

    Socorro, M. Pilar; De Rus, Ginés

    2011-01-01

    Public infrastructure investment is usually co-financed by supranational organizations. The selection of projects is supposed to be decided using the information provided by conventional cost-benefit analysis. Nevertheless, we show that the type of institutional design regarding the financing mechanism affects the incentives of national governments to reduce costs and increase revenues, affecting project selection, the infrastructure capacity, the choice of technology, and the type of contrac...

  5. UNIVERSITY ICT INFRASTRUCTURE CONSTRUCTION: PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Oleksandr V. Spivakovskyi

    2014-02-01

    Full Text Available The paper analyzes the main problems and development of ICT infrastructure of a higher education establishment. The influence of the University’s IT development on its ratings is studied. There are four variants of ICT infrastructure development of the University according to the administrative division of its IT departments and the main structural elements of the system “University Governance -n governing and IT maintaining departments”, their activity direction and forms are determined. In addition, the main components of information and communication pedagogical environment of the University and ICT of administrative direction as the main components of ICT university infrastructure are described and determined.

  6. [Infoxication in health. Health information overload on the Internet and the risk of important information becoming invisible].

    Science.gov (United States)

    D Agostino, Marcelo; Mejía, Felipe Medina; Martí, Myrna; Novillo-Ortiz, David; Hazrum, Flavio; de Cosío, Federico G

    2018-02-19

    The objectives of this study were to: 1) raise awareness of the volume of quality health information on the Internet; 2) explore perceptions of information professionals with regard to the use of qualified sources for health decision-making; and 3) make recommendations that facilitate strengthening health worker capacities and institutional competencies related to digital literacy. A non-experimental, descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted with a non-probability sample of 32 information professionals from nine countries. Internet information was compiled on the volume of content in Internet tools, social networks, and health information sources. Searches in English and Spanish were carried out using the keywords Ebola, Zika, dengue, chikungunya, safe food, health equity, safe sex, and obesity. Finally, information was obtained on opportunities for formal education on the subjects of digital literacy, information management, and other related topics. Selecting only four diseases with a high impact on public health in May 2016 and averaging minimum review time for each information product, it would take more than 50 years without sleeping to consult everything that is published online about dengue, Zika, Ebola, and chikungunya. We conclude that public health would benefit from: health institutions implementing formal knowledge management strategies; academic health sciences institutions incorporating formal digital literacy programs; and having health workers who are professionally responsible and functional in the information society.

  7. CERIF-CRIS for the European e-Infrastructure

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    K Jeffery

    2010-04-01

    Full Text Available The European e-infrastructure is the ICT support for research although the infrastructure will be extended for commercial/business use. It supports the research process across funding agencies to research institutions to innovation. It supports experimental facilities, modelling and simulation, communication between researchers, and workflow of research processes and research management. We propose the core should be CERIF: an EU recommendation to member states for exchanging research information and for homogeneous access to heterogeneous information. CERIF can also integrate associated systems (such as finance, human resource, project management, and library services and provides interoperation among research institutions, research funders, and innovators.

  8. AN ATTEMPT TO DEVELOP AN ENVIRONMENTAL INFORMATION SYSTEM OF ECOLOGICAL INFRASTRUCTURE FOR EVALUATING FUNCTIONS OF ECOSYSTEM-BASED SOLUTIONS FOR DISASTER RISK REDUCTION (ECO-DRR

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    T. Doko

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available “Ecological Infrastructure (EI” are defined as naturally functioning ecosystems that deliver valuable services to people, such as healthy mountain catchments, rivers, wetlands, coastal dunes, and nodes and corridors of natural habitat, which together form a network of interconnected structural elements in the landscape. On the other hand, natural disaster occur at the locations where habitat was reduced due to the changes of land use, in which the land was converted to the settlements and agricultural cropland. Hence, habitat loss and natural disaster are linked closely. Ecological infrastructure is the nature-based equivalent of built or hard infrastructure, and is as important for providing services and underpinning socio-economic development. Hence, ecological infrastructure is expected to contribute to functioning as ecological disaster reduction, which is termed Ecosystem-based Solutions for Disaster Risk Reduction (Eco-DRR. Although ecological infrastructure already exists in the landscape, it might be degraded, needs to be maintained and managed, and in some cases restored. Maintenance and restoration of ecological infrastructure is important for security of human lives. Therefore, analytical tool and effective visualization tool in spatially explicit way for the past natural disaster and future prediction of natural disaster in relation to ecological infrastructure is considered helpful. Hence, Web-GIS based Ecological Infrastructure Environmental Information System (EI-EIS has been developed. This paper aims to describe the procedure of development and future application of EI-EIS. The purpose of the EI-EIS is to evaluate functions of Eco-DRR. In order to analyse disaster data, collection of past disaster information, and disaster-prone area is effective. First, a number of digital maps and analogue maps in Japan and Europe were collected. In total, 18,572 maps over 100 years were collected. The Japanese data includes Future

  9. An Attempt to Develop AN Environmental Information System of Ecological Infrastructure for Evaluating Functions of Ecosystem-Based Solutions for Disaster Risk Reduction Eco-Drr

    Science.gov (United States)

    Doko, T.; Chen, W.; Sasaki, K.; Furutani, T.

    2016-06-01

    "Ecological Infrastructure (EI)" are defined as naturally functioning ecosystems that deliver valuable services to people, such as healthy mountain catchments, rivers, wetlands, coastal dunes, and nodes and corridors of natural habitat, which together form a network of interconnected structural elements in the landscape. On the other hand, natural disaster occur at the locations where habitat was reduced due to the changes of land use, in which the land was converted to the settlements and agricultural cropland. Hence, habitat loss and natural disaster are linked closely. Ecological infrastructure is the nature-based equivalent of built or hard infrastructure, and is as important for providing services and underpinning socio-economic development. Hence, ecological infrastructure is expected to contribute to functioning as ecological disaster reduction, which is termed Ecosystem-based Solutions for Disaster Risk Reduction (Eco-DRR). Although ecological infrastructure already exists in the landscape, it might be degraded, needs to be maintained and managed, and in some cases restored. Maintenance and restoration of ecological infrastructure is important for security of human lives. Therefore, analytical tool and effective visualization tool in spatially explicit way for the past natural disaster and future prediction of natural disaster in relation to ecological infrastructure is considered helpful. Hence, Web-GIS based Ecological Infrastructure Environmental Information System (EI-EIS) has been developed. This paper aims to describe the procedure of development and future application of EI-EIS. The purpose of the EI-EIS is to evaluate functions of Eco-DRR. In order to analyse disaster data, collection of past disaster information, and disaster-prone area is effective. First, a number of digital maps and analogue maps in Japan and Europe were collected. In total, 18,572 maps over 100 years were collected. The Japanese data includes Future-Pop Data Series (1,736 maps

  10. Patient-provider discussion of online health information: results from the 2007 Health Information National Trends Survey (HINTS).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chung, Jae Eun

    2013-01-01

    Increasing numbers of people have turned to the Internet for health information. Little has been done beyond speculation to empirically investigate patients' discussion of online health information with health care professionals (HCPs) and patients' perception of HCPs' reactions to such discussion. The author analyzed data from the 2007 Health Information National Trends Survey (HINTS) to identify the characteristics of patients (a) who search for health information on the Internet, (b) who discuss the information found on the Internet with HCPs, and (c) who positively assess HCPs' reaction to the online information. Findings show that men were more likely than were women to have a conversation on online information with HCPs. It is unfortunate that patients who had trouble understanding or trusting online health information were no more likely to ask questions to or seek guidance from HCPs. Reactions of HCPs to online information were perceived as particularly negative by certain groups of patients, such as those who experienced poor health and those who had more concerns about the quality of their searched information. Results are discussed for their implications for patient empowerment and patient-HCP relationships.

  11. A comprehensive typology for mainstreaming urban green infrastructure

    Science.gov (United States)

    Young, Robert; Zanders, Julie; Lieberknecht, Katherine; Fassman-Beck, Elizabeth

    2014-11-01

    During a National Science Foundation (US) funded "International Greening of Cities Workshop" in Auckland, New Zealand, participants agreed an effective urban green infrastructure (GI) typology should identify cities' present stage of GI development and map next steps to mainstream GI as a component of urban infrastructure. Our review reveals current GI typologies do not systematically identify such opportunities. We address this knowledge gap by developing a new typology incorporating political, economic, and ecological forces shaping GI implementation. Applying this information allows symmetrical, place-based exploration of the social and ecological elements driving a city's GI systems. We use this information to distinguish current levels of GI development and clarify intervention opportunities to advance GI into the mainstream of metropolitan infrastructure. We employ three case studies (San Antonio, Texas; Auckland, New Zealand; and New York, New York) to test and refine our typology.

  12. Health Information Economy: Literature Review.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ebrahimi, Kamal; Roudbari, Masoud; Sadoughi, Farahnaz

    2015-04-19

    Health Information Economy (HIE) is one of the broader, more complex, and challenging and yet important topics in the field of health science that requires the identification of its dimensions for planning and policy making. The aim of this study was to determine HIE concept dimensions. This paper presents a systematic methodology for analyzing the trends of HIE. For this purpose, the main keywords of this area were identified and searched in the databases and from among 4775 retrieved sources, 12 sources were studied in the field of HIE. Information Economy (IE) in the world has passed behind four paradigms that involve the information evaluation perspective, the information technology perspective, the asymmetric information perspective and information value perspective. In this research, the fourth perspective in the HIE was analyzed. The main findings of this research were categorized in three major groups, including the flow of information process in the field of health (production. collection, processing and dissemination), and information applications in the same field (education, research, health industry, policy, legislation, and decision-making) and the underlying fields. According to the findings, HIE has already developed a theoretical and conceptual gap that due to its importance in the next decade would be one of the research approaches to health science.

  13. Health Information Economy: Literature Review

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ebrahimi, Kamal; Roudbari, Masoud; Sadoughi, Farahnaz

    2015-01-01

    Introduction: Health Information Economy (HIE) is one of the broader, more complex, and challenging and yet important topics in the field of health science that requires the identification of its dimensions for planning and policy making. The aim of this study was to determine HIE concept dimensions. Methods: This paper presents a systematic methodology for analyzing the trends of HIE. For this purpose, the main keywords of this area were identified and searched in the databases and from among 4775 retrieved sources, 12 sources were studied in the field of HIE. Results: Information Economy (IE) in the world has passed behind four paradigms that involve the information evaluation perspective, the information technology perspective, the asymmetric information perspective and information value perspective. In this research, the fourth perspective in the HIE was analyzed. The main findings of this research were categorized in three major groups, including the flow of information process in the field of health (production. collection, processing and dissemination), and information applications in the same field (education, research, health industry, policy, legislation, and decision-making) and the underlying fields. Conclusion: According to the findings, HIE has already developed a theoretical and conceptual gap that due to its importance in the next decade would be one of the research approaches to health science. PMID:26153182

  14. Enhancing infrastructure resilience through business continuity planning.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fisher, Ronald; Norman, Michael; Klett, Mary

    2017-01-01

    Critical infrastructure is crucial to the functionality and wellbeing of the world around us. It is a complex network that works together to create an efficient society. The core components of critical infrastructure are dependent on one another to function at their full potential. Organisations face unprecedented environmental risks such as increased reliance on information technology and telecommunications, increased infrastructure interdependencies and globalisation. Successful organisations should integrate the components of cyber-physical and infrastructure interdependencies into a holistic risk framework. Physical security plans, cyber security plans and business continuity plans can help mitigate environmental risks. Cyber security plans are becoming the most crucial to have, yet are the least commonly found in organisations. As the reliance on cyber continues to grow, it is imperative that organisations update their business continuity and emergency preparedness activities to include this.

  15. Socially Shared Health Information

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hansen, Kjeld S.

    2018-01-01

    In this PhD project, I'm investigating how health organizations are sharing health information on social media. My PhD project is divided into two parts, but in this paper, I will only focus on the first part: To understand current practices of how health organizations engage with health...... information and users on social media (empirical studies 1,2,3) and to develop a theoretical model for how it is done efficiently and effectively. I have currently conducted and published on two empirical studies (1,2). I am in the process of collecting data for a revised version of empirical study (2...

  16. Identifying Health Consumers' eHealth Literacy to Decrease Disparities in Accessing eHealth Information.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Park, Hyejin; Cormier, Eileen; Gordon, Glenna; Baeg, Jung Hoon

    2016-02-01

    The increasing amount of health information available on the Internet highlights the importance of eHealth literacy skills for health consumers. Low eHealth literacy results in disparities in health consumers' ability to access and use eHealth information. The purpose of this study was to assess the perceived eHealth literacy of a general health consumer population so that healthcare professionals can effectively address skills gaps in health consumers' ability to access and use high-quality online health information. Participants were recruited from three public library branches in a Northeast Florida community. The eHealth Literacy Scale was used. The majority of participants (n = 108) reported they knew how and where to find health information and how to use it to make health decisions; knowledge of what health resources were available and confidence in the ability to distinguish high- from low-quality information were considerably less. The findings suggest the need for eHealth education and support to health consumers from healthcare professionals, in particular, how to access and evaluate the quality of health information.

  17. Health Consumers eHealth Literacy to Decrease Disparities in Accessing eHealth Information.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Park, Hyejin; Cormier, Eileen; Glenna, Gordon

    2016-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to assess the perceived eHealth literacy of a general health consumer population so that health care professionals can effectively address skills gaps in health consumers' ability to access and use high quality online health information. Participants were recruited from three public library branches in a Northeast Florida community. The eHealth literacy scale (eHEALS) was used. The majority of participants (n = 108) reported they knew how and where to find health information and how to use it to make health decisions; knowledge of what health resources were available and confidence in the ability to distinguish high from low quality information was considerably less. The findings suggest the need for eHealth education and support to health consumers from health care professionals, in particular, how to access and evaluate the quality of health information.

  18. Scenario Based Network Infrastructure Planning

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Knudsen, Thomas Phillip; Pedersen, Jens Myrup; Madsen, Ole Brun

    2005-01-01

    The paper presents a method for IT infrastructure planning that take into account very long term developments in usages. The method creates a scenario for a final, time independent stage in the planning process. The method abstracts relevant modelling factors from available information...

  19. Nuclear Energy Infrastructure Database Description and User’s Manual

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Heidrich, Brenden [Idaho National Lab. (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States)

    2015-11-01

    In 2014, the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Science and Technology Innovation initiated the Nuclear Energy (NE)–Infrastructure Management Project by tasking the Nuclear Science User Facilities, formerly the Advanced Test Reactor National Scientific User Facility, to create a searchable and interactive database of all pertinent NE-supported and -related infrastructure. This database, known as the Nuclear Energy Infrastructure Database (NEID), is used for analyses to establish needs, redundancies, efficiencies, distributions, etc., to best understand the utility of NE’s infrastructure and inform the content of infrastructure calls. The Nuclear Science User Facilities developed the database by utilizing data and policy direction from a variety of reports from the U.S. Department of Energy, the National Research Council, the International Atomic Energy Agency, and various other federal and civilian resources. The NEID currently contains data on 802 research and development instruments housed in 377 facilities at 84 institutions in the United States and abroad. The effort to maintain and expand the database is ongoing. Detailed information on many facilities must be gathered from associated institutions and added to complete the database. The data must be validated and kept current to capture facility and instrumentation status as well as to cover new acquisitions and retirements. This document provides a short tutorial on the navigation of the NEID web portal at NSUF-Infrastructure.INL.gov.

  20. Successful introduction of an underutilized elderly pneumococcal vaccine in a national immunization program by integrating the pre-existing public health infrastructure.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yang, Tae Un; Kim, Eunsung; Park, Young-Joon; Kim, Dongwook; Kwon, Yoon Hyung; Shin, Jae Kyong; Park, Ok

    2016-03-18

    Although pneumococcal vaccines had been recommended for the elderly population in South Korea for a considerable period of time, the coverage has been well below the optimal level. To increase the vaccination rate with integrating the pre-existing public health infrastructure and governmental funding, the Korean government introduced an elderly pneumococcal vaccination into the national immunization program with a 23-valent pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine in May 2013. The aim of this study was to assess the performance of the program in increasing the vaccine coverage rate and maintaining stable vaccine supply and safe vaccination during the 20 months of the program. We qualitatively and quantitatively analyzed the process of introducing and the outcomes of the program in terms of the systematic organization, efficiency, and stability at the national level. A staggered introduction during the first year utilizing the public sector, with a target coverage of 60%, was implemented based on the public demand for an elderly pneumococcal vaccination, vaccine supply capacity, vaccine delivery capacity, safety, and sustainability. During the 20-month program period, the pneumococcal vaccine coverage rate among the population aged ≥65 years increased from 5.0% to 57.3% without a noticeable vaccine shortage or safety issues. A web-based integrated immunization information system, which includes the immunization registry, vaccine supply chain management, and surveillance of adverse events following immunization, reduced programmatic errors and harmonized the overall performance of the program. Introduction of an elderly pneumococcal vaccination in the national immunization program based on strong government commitment, meticulous preparation, financial support, and the pre-existing public health infrastructure resulted in an efficient, stable, and sustainable increase in vaccination coverage. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

  1. Information support for health information management in regional Sri Lanka: health managers' perspectives.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ranasinghe, Kaduruwane Indika; Chan, Taizan; Yaralagadda, Prasad

    Good management, supported by accurate, timely and reliable health information, is vital for increasing the effectiveness of Health Information Systems (HIS). When it comes to managing the under-resourced health systems of developing countries, information-based decision making is particularly important. This paper reports findings of a self-report survey that investigated perceptions of local health managers (HMs) of their own regional HIS in Sri Lanka. Data were collected through a validated, pre-tested postal questionnaire, and distributed among a selected group of HMs to elicit their perceptions of the current HIS in relation to information generation, acquisition and use, required reforms to the information system and application of information and communication technology (ICT). Results based on descriptive statistics indicated that the regional HIS was poorly organised and in need of reform; that management support for the system was unsatisfactory in terms of relevance, accuracy, timeliness and accessibility; that political pressure and community and donor requests took precedence over vital health information when management decisions were made; and use of ICT was unsatisfactory. HIS strengths included user-friendly paper formats, a centralised planning system and an efficient disease notification system; weaknesses were lack of comprehensiveness, inaccuracy, and lack of a feedback system. Responses of participants indicated that HIS would be improved by adopting an internationally accepted framework and introducing ICT applications. Perceived barriers to such improvements were high initial cost of educating staff to improve computer literacy, introduction of ICTs, and HIS restructure. We concluded that the regional HIS of Central Province, Sri Lanka had failed to provide much-needed information support to HMs. These findings are consistent with similar research in other developing countries and reinforce the need for further research to verify causes of

  2. Thumbnail Images:Uncertainties, Infrastructures and Search Engines

    OpenAIRE

    Thylstrup, Nanna; Teilmann, Stina

    2017-01-01

    This article argues that thumbnail images are infrastructural images that raise issues of uncertainty in two distinct, but interrelated, areas: a legal question of how to define, understand and govern visual information infrastructures, in particular image search systems in epistemological and strategic terms; and a cultural question of how human-computer interaction design works with navigational uncertainty, both as an experience to be managed and a resource to be exploited. This paper cons...

  3. District-level variations in childhood immunizations in India: The role of socio-economic factors and health infrastructure.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rammohan, Anu; Awofeso, Niyi

    2015-11-01

    Routine childhood immunizations against measles and DPT are part of the World Health Organization's (WHO) Expanded Program on Immunization (EPI) set up in 1974, with the aim of reducing childhood morbidity and mortality. Despite this, immunization rates are sub-optimal in developing countries such as India, with wide heterogeneity observed across districts and socio-economic characteristics. The aim of this paper is to examine district-level variations in the propensity to vaccinate a child in India for measles and DPT3, and analyse the extent to which these immunizations are given age-inappropriately, either prematurely or delayed. The present study uses data from the Indian District Level Household Survey (DLHS-3) collected in 2008, and the final sample contains detailed information on 42157 children aged between 12 and 60 months, across 549 Indian districts for whom we have complete information on immunization history. Our empirical study analyses: (i) the district-level average immunization rates for measles and DPT3, and (ii) the extent to which these immunizations have been given age-appropriately. A key contribution of this paper is that we link the household-level data at the district level to data on availability and proximity to health infrastructure and district-level socio-economic factors. Our results show that after controlling for an array of socio-economic characteristics, across all our models, the district's income per capita is a strong predictor of better immunization outcomes for children. Mother's education level at the district-level has a statistically significant and positive influence on immunization outcomes across all our models. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  4. Facilitating consumer access to health information.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Snowdon, Anne; Schnarr, Karin; Alessi, Charles

    2014-01-01

    The lead paper from Zelmer and Hagens details the substantive evolution occurring in health information technologies that has the potential to transform the relationship between consumers, health practitioners and health systems. In this commentary, the authors suggest that Canada is experiencing a shift in consumer behaviour toward a desire to actively manage one's health and wellness that is being facilitated through the advent of health applications on mobile and online technologies platforms. The result is that Canadians are now able to create personalized health solutions based on their individual health values and goals. However, before Canadians are able to derive a personal health benefit from these rapid changes in information technology, they require and are increasingly demanding greater real-time access to their own health information to better inform decision-making, as well as interoperability between their personal health tracking systems and those of their health practitioner team.

  5. Green Infrastructure in Context: Public Health and Ecosystem Services

    Science.gov (United States)

    Using interdisciplinary approaches to urban water management strategies can yield benefits for sustainability. While green infrastructure (GI) has primarily been used to increase infiltration/redistribution and reduce runoff in urban areas, the physical siting of GI can provide o...

  6. The role of health anxiety in online health information search

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Hartmann, T.; Baumgartner, S.

    2011-01-01

    This article is one of the first to empirically explore the relationship between health anxiety and online health information search. Two studies investigate how health anxiety influences the use of the Internet for health information and how health anxious individuals respond to online health

  7. Development of infrastructure for the regulatory authority to implement risk-informed regulation

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    2013-08-15

    It is important to assure the technical adequacy of probabilistic risk assessment (PRA) to implement risk-informed regulation of nuclear power plants (NPPs). JNES has been conducting various activities, such as development of PRA model, method, and data base, in order to assure the technical adequacy of PRA as development of the infrastructure for the regulatory authority to implement risk-informed regulation. In 2012, JNES updated the reliability data base used in PRA and improved PRA models to enhance the technical bases of PRA. In addition, JNES has been establishing the PRA model for fuel damage in the spent fuel storage pool in NPPs. As for improvement of PRA model for core damage in reactor, JNES conducted the study including feasibility of a simplified reliability model for digital I and C system developed by the digital I and C task group of OECD/NEA CSNI WGRISK by reproducing the sample calculation, and improvement of PRA models of individual NPPs in Japan. JNES is making effort to develop the procedures of internal fire PRA and internal flooding PRA. To improve the internal fire PRA, JNES is participating in OECD/NEA FIRE project to obtain the latest information and to validate and improve the fire propagation analysis codes and the parameters. JNES is establishing a method for analyzing internal influence due to flooding in NPPs, and this method is the base to develop the procedure of internal flooding PRA. (author)

  8. Health information exposure from information and communication technologies and its associations with health behaviors: Population-based survey.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shen, Chen; Wang, Man Ping; Wan, Alice; Viswanath, Kasisomayajula; Chan, Sophia Siu Chee; Lam, Tai Hing

    2018-08-01

    Health information and communication technologies (ICTs) are increasingly used but little is known about routine exposure to health information from ICTs and its associations with health behaviors. A territory-wide population-based dual landline and mobile telephone survey was conducted in 2016 in Hong Kong, where smartphone ownership and Internet access are among the most prevalent, easiest and fastest in the world. Health information exposure from traditional sources (television/radio/newspaper/magazine), Internet websites, social media sites and instant messaging (IM); and information on smoking, alcohol consumption and physical activity were recorded. Prevalence was weighted by age, sex and education level of the general population. Multinomial logistic regression was used to assess the association of health information exposure with smoking and alcohol consumption, whilst multivariable linear regression was used to assess the association with frequency of moderate and vigorous physical activity (days/week). Of 3063 respondents, most (71.6%) were often or sometimes exposed to health information from traditional sources, followed by Internet websites (40.9%), social media sites (40.7%), and IM (27.0%). Respondents with lower education and household income were less frequently exposed to health information from Internet websites, social media sites and IM (all P < 0.001). Health information exposure from IM was associated with being never smokers, and more frequent moderate and vigorous physical activity (all P for trend <0.05). Health information exposure from IM was least frequent but associated with healthier behaviors. Further public health education campaigns can consider using IM to deliver information, particularly to disadvantaged groups. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  9. [Good practice guidelines for health information].

    Science.gov (United States)

    2016-01-01

    Evidence-based health information is distinguished by the provision of an unbiased and trustworthy description of the current state of medical knowledge. It enables people to learn more about health and disease, and to make health-related decisions - on their own or together with others - reflecting their attitudes and lifestyle. To adequately serve this purpose, health information must be evidence-based. A working group from the German Network for Evidence-based Medicine (Deutsches Netzwerk Evidenzbasierte Medizin) has developed a first draft of good practice guidelines for health information (Gute Praxis Gesundheitsinformation) with the aim of providing support for authors and publishers of evidence-based health information. The group included researchers, patient representatives, journalists and developers of health information. The criteria for evidence-based health information were developed and agreed upon within this author group, and then made available for public comment. All submitted comments were documented and assessed regarding the need to revise or amend the draft. Changes were subsequently implemented following approval by the author group. Gute Praxis Gesundheitsinformation calls for a transparent methodological approach in the development of health information. To achieve this, evidence-based information must be based on (a) a systematic literature search, (b) a justified selection of evidence, (c) unbiased reporting of relevant results, (d) appropriate factual and linguistic communication of uncertainties, (e) either avoidance of any direct recommendations or a strict division between the reporting of results and the derivation of recommendations, (f) the consideration of current evidence on the communication of figures, risks and probabilities, and (g) transparent information about the authors and publishers of the health information, including their funding sources. Gute Praxis Gesundheitsinformation lists a total of 16 aspects to be addressed

  10. How well are health information websites displayed on mobile phones? Implications for the readability of health information.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cheng, Christina; Dunn, Matthew

    2017-03-01

    Issue addressed More than 87% of Australians own a mobile phone with Internet access and 82% of phone owners use their smartphones to search for health information, indicating that mobile phones may be a powerful tool for building health literacy. Yet, online health information has been found to be above the reading ability of the general population. As reading on a smaller screen may further complicate the readability of information, this study aimed to examine how health information is displayed on mobile phones and its implications for readability. Methods Using a cross-sectional design with convenience sampling, a sample of 270 mobile webpages with information on 12 common health conditions was generated for analysis, they were categorised based on design and position of information display. Results The results showed that 71.48% of webpages were mobile-friendly but only 15.93% were mobile-friendly webpages designed in a way to optimise readability, with a paging format and queried information displayed for immediate viewing. Conclusion With inadequate evidence and lack of consensus on how webpage design can best promote reading and comprehension, it is difficult to draw a conclusion on the effect of current mobile health information presentation on readability. So what? Building mobile-responsive websites should be a priority for health information providers and policy-makers. Research efforts are urgently required to identify how best to enhance readability of mobile health information and fully capture the capabilities of mobile phones as a useful device to increase health literacy.

  11. FOSS Tools for Research Infrastructures - A Success Story?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stender, V.; Schroeder, M.; Wächter, J.

    2015-12-01

    Established initiatives and mandated organizations, e.g. the Initiative for Scientific Cyberinfrastructures (NSF, 2007) or the European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructures (ESFRI, 2008), promote and foster the development of sustainable research infrastructures. The basic idea behind these infrastructures is the provision of services supporting scientists to search, visualize and access data, to collaborate and exchange information, as well as to publish data and other results. Especially the management of research data is gaining more and more importance. In geosciences these developments have to be merged with the enhanced data management approaches of Spatial Data Infrastructures (SDI). The Centre for GeoInformationTechnology (CeGIT) at the GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences has the objective to establish concepts and standards of SDIs as an integral part of research infrastructure architectures. In different projects, solutions to manage research data for land- and water management or environmental monitoring have been developed based on a framework consisting of Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) components. The framework provides basic components supporting the import and storage of data, discovery and visualization as well as data documentation (metadata). In our contribution, we present our data management solutions developed in three projects, Central Asian Water (CAWa), Sustainable Management of River Oases (SuMaRiO) and Terrestrial Environmental Observatories (TERENO) where FOSS components build the backbone of the data management platform. The multiple use and validation of tools helped to establish a standardized architectural blueprint serving as a contribution to Research Infrastructures. We examine the question of whether FOSS tools are really a sustainable choice and whether the increased efforts of maintenance are justified. Finally it should help to answering the question if the use of FOSS for Research Infrastructures is a

  12. A technological infrastructure to sustain Internetworked Enterprises

    Science.gov (United States)

    La Mattina, Ernesto; Savarino, Vincenzo; Vicari, Claudia; Storelli, Davide; Bianchini, Devis

    In the Web 3.0 scenario, where information and services are connected by means of their semantics, organizations can improve their competitive advantage by publishing their business and service descriptions. In this scenario, Semantic Peer to Peer (P2P) can play a key role in defining dynamic and highly reconfigurable infrastructures. Organizations can share knowledge and services, using this infrastructure to move towards value networks, an emerging organizational model characterized by fluid boundaries and complex relationships. This chapter collects and defines the technological requirements and architecture of a modular and multi-Layer Peer to Peer infrastructure for SOA-based applications. This technological infrastructure, based on the combination of Semantic Web and P2P technologies, is intended to sustain Internetworked Enterprise configurations, defining a distributed registry and enabling more expressive queries and efficient routing mechanisms. The following sections focus on the overall architecture, while describing the layers that form it.

  13. Health Information Needs of Men

    Science.gov (United States)

    Robinson, Mark; Robertson, Steve

    2014-01-01

    Objective: To understand the views of men and service providers concerning the health information needs of men. Design: A men's health programme was implemented aimed at developing new health information resources designed for use by local organizations with men in socially disadvantaged groups. Research was carried out at the scoping stage to…

  14. Security infrastructure for on-demand provisioned Cloud infrastructure services

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Demchenko, Y.; Ngo, C.; de Laat, C.; Wlodarczyk, T.W.; Rong, C.; Ziegler, W.

    2011-01-01

    Providing consistent security services in on-demand provisioned Cloud infrastructure services is of primary importance due to multi-tenant and potentially multi-provider nature of Clouds Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) environment. Cloud security infrastructure should address two aspects of the

  15. System Dynamics Approach for Critical Infrastructure and Decision Support. A Model for a Potable Water System.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pasqualini, D.; Witkowski, M.

    2005-12-01

    The Critical Infrastructure Protection / Decision Support System (CIP/DSS) project, supported by the Science and Technology Office, has been developing a risk-informed Decision Support System that provides insights for making critical infrastructure protection decisions. The system considers seventeen different Department of Homeland Security defined Critical Infrastructures (potable water system, telecommunications, public health, economics, etc.) and their primary interdependencies. These infrastructures have been modeling in one model called CIP/DSS Metropolitan Model. The modeling approach used is a system dynamics modeling approach. System dynamics modeling combines control theory and the nonlinear dynamics theory, which is defined by a set of coupled differential equations, which seeks to explain how the structure of a given system determines its behavior. In this poster we present a system dynamics model for one of the seventeen critical infrastructures, a generic metropolitan potable water system (MPWS). Three are the goals: 1) to gain a better understanding of the MPWS infrastructure; 2) to identify improvements that would help protect MPWS; and 3) to understand the consequences, interdependencies, and impacts, when perturbations occur to the system. The model represents raw water sources, the metropolitan water treatment process, storage of treated water, damage and repair to the MPWS, distribution of water, and end user demand, but does not explicitly represent the detailed network topology of an actual MPWS. The MPWS model is dependent upon inputs from the metropolitan population, energy, telecommunication, public health, and transportation models as well as the national water and transportation models. We present modeling results and sensitivity analysis indicating critical choke points, negative and positive feedback loops in the system. A general scenario is also analyzed where the potable water system responds to a generic disruption.

  16. Health information systems in Africa: descriptive analysis of data sources, information products and health statistics.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mbondji, Peter Ebongue; Kebede, Derege; Soumbey-Alley, Edoh William; Zielinski, Chris; Kouvividila, Wenceslas; Lusamba-Dikassa, Paul-Samson

    2014-05-01

    To identify key data sources of health information and describe their availability in countries of the World Health Organization (WHO) African Region. An analytical review on the availability and quality of health information data sources in countries; from experience, observations, literature and contributions from countries. Forty-six Member States of the WHO African Region. No participants. The state of data sources, including censuses, surveys, vital registration and health care facility-based sources. In almost all countries of the Region, there is a heavy reliance on household surveys for most indicators, with more than 121 household surveys having been conducted in the Region since 2000. Few countries have civil registration systems that permit adequate and regular tracking of mortality and causes of death. Demographic surveillance sites function in several countries, but the data generated are not integrated into the national health information system because of concerns about representativeness. Health management information systems generate considerable data, but the information is rarely used because of concerns about bias, quality and timeliness. To date, 43 countries in the Region have initiated Integrated Disease Surveillance and Response. A multitude of data sources are used to track progress towards health-related goals in the Region, with heavy reliance on household surveys for most indicators. Countries need to develop comprehensive national plans for health information that address the full range of data needs and data sources and that include provision for building national capacities for data generation, analysis, dissemination and use. © The Royal Society of Medicine.

  17. Withholding differential risk information on legal consumer nicotine/tobacco products: The public health ethics of health information quarantines.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kozlowski, Lynn T; Sweanor, David

    2016-06-01

    The United States provides an example of a country with (a) legal tobacco/nicotine products (e.g., snus, other smokeless tobacco, cigarettes) differing greatly in risks to health and (b) respected health information websites that continue to omit or provide incorrect differential risk information. Concern for the principles of individual rights, health literacy, and personal autonomy (making decisions for oneself), which are key principles of public health ethics, has been countered by utilitarian arguments for the use of misleading or limited information to protect public health overall. We argue that omitting key health relevant information for current or prospective consumers represents a kind of quarantine of health-relevant information. As with disease quarantines, the coercive effects of quarantining information on differential risks need to be justified, not merely by fears of net negative public health effects, but by convincing evidence that such measures are actually warranted, that public health overall is in imminent danger and that the danger is sufficient to override principles of individual autonomy. Omitting such health-relevant information for consumers of such products effectively blindfolds them and impairs their making informed personal choices. Moral psychological issues that treat all tobacco/nicotine products similarly may also be influencing the reluctance to inform on differential risks. In countries where tobacco/nicotine products are legally sold and also differ greatly in disease risks compared to cigarettes (e.g., smokeless tobacco and vape), science-based, comprehensible, and actionable health information (consistent with health literacy principles) on differential risks should be available and only reconsidered if it is established that this information is causing losses to population health overall. Copyright © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  18. Using Infrastructure Awareness to Support the Recruitment of Volunteer Computing Participants

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Ramos, Juan David Hincapie

    , the properties of computational infrastructures provided in the periphery of the user’s attention, and supporting gradual disclosure of detailed information on user’s request. Working with users of the Mini-Grid, this thesis shows the design process of two infrastructure awareness systems aimed at supporting...... the recruitment of participants, the implementation of one possible technical strategy, and an in-the-wild evaluation. The thesis finalizes with a discussion of the results and implications of infrastructure awareness for participative and other computational infrastructures....

  19. 3rd International Civil and Infrastructure Engineering Conference

    CERN Document Server

    Hamid, Nor; Arshad, Mohd; Arshad, Ahmad; Ridzuan, Ahmad; Awang, Haryati

    2016-01-01

    The special focus of these proceedings is on the areas of infrastructure engineering and sustainability management. They provide detailed information on innovative research developments in construction materials and structures, in addition to a compilation of interdisciplinary findings combining nano-materials and engineering. The coverage of cutting-edge infrastructure and sustainability issues in engineering includes earthquakes, bioremediation, synergistic management, timber engineering, flood management and intelligent transport systems.

  20. A comparison of social and spatial determinants of health between formal and informal settlements in a large metropolitan setting in Brazil.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Snyder, Robert E; Jaimes, Guillermo; Riley, Lee W; Faerstein, Eduardo; Corburn, Jason

    2014-06-01

    Urban informal settlements are often under-recognized in national and regional surveys. A lack of quality intra-urban data frequently contributes to a one-size-fits-all public health intervention and clinical strategies that rarely address the variegated socioeconomic disparities across and within different informal settlements in a city. The 2010 Brazilian census gathered detailed population and place-based data across the country's informal settlements. Here, we examined key socio-demographic and infrastructure characteristics that are associated with health outcomes in Rio de Janeiro with the census tract as the unit of analysis. Many of the city's residents (1.39 million people, 22 % of the population) live in informal settlements. Residents of census tracts in Rio de Janeiro's urban informal areas are younger, (median age of 26 versus 35 years in formal settlements), and have less access to adequate water (96 versus 99 % of informal households), sanitation (86 versus 96 %), and electricity (67 versus 92 %). Average per household income in informal settlement census tracts is less than one third that of non-informal tracts (US\\$708 versus US\\$2362). Even among informal settlements in different planning areas in the same city, there is marked variation in these characteristics. Public health interventions, clinical management, and urban planning policies aiming to improve the living conditions of the people residing in informal settlements, including government strategies currently underway, must consider the differences that exist between and within informal settlements that shape place-based physical and social determinants of health.

  1. 102: PROMOTING INFORMATION LITERACY BY PROMOTING HEALTH LITERACY IN THE INFORMATION SOCIETY

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dastani, Meisam; Sattari, Masoume

    2017-01-01

    Background and aims In the information society the production, distribution and use of information is freely and widely available for all issues of life. Correct and appropriate use of appropriate and reliable information is especially important in health care. The present study introduces the concepts and benefits of health literacy and information literacy and its role in improving health literacy. Methods This study is a review based on a review of the concepts of the information society, information literacy and information educated to present importance of promoting information literacy on health literacy in the information society. Results and Conclusion The information society by providing a platform of information technology and computer systems to attempts exchange and development information between people in the community. Currently, electronic and web-based health information in the form of mass is available for people. Information as a fundamental base of the information society is a phenomenon that our decisions are affect in relation to various issues such as safety and health issues. It is important point to avoid the mass of information invalid, incorrect and inappropriate available on the internet. This requires information literacy skills such as identifying, accessing and evaluating information. In general, it can be said that the promotion of health literacy in communities are required to learn different skills in the form of information literacy.

  2. Center for Reinventing Aging Infrastructure for Nutrient Management

    Data.gov (United States)

    Federal Laboratory Consortium — The mission of RAINmgt is to achieve sustainable and cost-effective health and environmental outcomes by re-imagining aging coastal urban infrastructure communities....

  3. PROLOGUE : Health Information System

    OpenAIRE

    Tomar, Shivanjali

    2013-01-01

    Prologue is a health information system developed for underserved communities in Bihar, India. It is aimed at helping people living in poverty and with low literacy to take the right steps to manage their and their family’s health. Bihar suffers from one of the worst healthcare records in the country. This is as much due to the lack of access to the right information as it is due to the economic condition of the region. The inaccessibility of information is aggravated by the complex social se...

  4. Infrastructure: A technology battlefield in the 21st century

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Drucker, H.

    1997-12-31

    A major part of technological advancement has involved the development of complex infrastructure systems, including electric power generation, transmission, and distribution networks; oil and gas pipeline systems; highway and rail networks; and telecommunication networks. Dependence on these infrastructure systems renders them attractive targets for conflict in the twenty-first century. Hostile governments, domestic and international terrorists, criminals, and mentally distressed individuals will inevitably find some part of the infrastructure an easy target for theft, for making political statements, for disruption of strategic activities, or for making a nuisance. The current situation regarding the vulnerability of the infrastructure can be summarized in three major points: (1) our dependence on technology has made our infrastructure more important and vital to our everyday lives, this in turn, makes us much more vulnerable to disruption in any infrastructure system; (2) technologies available for attacking infrastructure systems have changed substantially and have become much easier to obtain and use, easy accessibility to information on how to disrupt or destroy various infrastructure components means that almost anyone can be involved in this destructive process; (3) technologies for defending infrastructure systems and preventing damage have not kept pace with the capability for destroying such systems. A brief review of these points will illustrate the significance of infrastructure and the growing dangers to its various elements.

  5. Application of ICT in strengthening health information systems in developing countries in the wake of globalisation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Simba, Daudi O; Mwangu, Mughwira

    2004-12-01

    Information Communication Technology (ICT) revolution brought opportunities and challenges to developing countries in their efforts to strengthen the Health Management Information Systems (HMIS). In the wake of globalisation, developing countries have no choice but to take advantage of the opportunities and face the challenges. The last decades saw developing countries taking action to strengthen and modernise their HMIS using the existing ICT. Due to poor economic and communication infrastructure, the process has been limited to national and provincial/region levels leaving behind majority of health workers living in remote/rural areas. Even those with access do not get maximum benefit from ICT advancements due to inadequacies in data quality and lack of data utilisation. Therefore, developing countries need to make deliberate efforts to address constraints threatening to increase technology gap between urban minority and rural majority by setting up favourable policies and appropriate strategies. Concurrently, strategies to improve data quality and utilisation should be instituted to ensure that HMIS has positive impact on people's health. Potential strength from private sector and opportunities for sharing experiences among developing countries should be utilised. Short of this, advancement in ICT will continue to marginalise health workers in developing countries especially those living in remote areas.

  6. Cloud Infrastructure Security

    OpenAIRE

    Velev , Dimiter; Zlateva , Plamena

    2010-01-01

    Part 4: Security for Clouds; International audience; Cloud computing can help companies accomplish more by eliminating the physical bonds between an IT infrastructure and its users. Users can purchase services from a cloud environment that could allow them to save money and focus on their core business. At the same time certain concerns have emerged as potential barriers to rapid adoption of cloud services such as security, privacy and reliability. Usually the information security professiona...

  7. Helix Nebula: Enabling federation of existing data infrastructures and data services to an overarching cross-domain e-infrastructure

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lengert, Wolfgang; Farres, Jordi; Lanari, Riccardo; Casu, Francesco; Manunta, Michele; Lassalle-Balier, Gerard

    2014-05-01

    Helix Nebula has established a growing public private partnership of more than 30 commercial cloud providers, SMEs, and publicly funded research organisations and e-infrastructures. The Helix Nebula strategy is to establish a federated cloud service across Europe. Three high-profile flagships, sponsored by CERN (high energy physics), EMBL (life sciences) and ESA/DLR/CNES/CNR (earth science), have been deployed and extensively tested within this federated environment. The commitments behind these initial flagships have created a critical mass that attracts suppliers and users to the initiative, to work together towards an "Information as a Service" market place. Significant progress in implementing the following 4 programmatic goals (as outlined in the strategic Plan Ref.1) has been achieved: × Goal #1 Establish a Cloud Computing Infrastructure for the European Research Area (ERA) serving as a platform for innovation and evolution of the overall infrastructure. × Goal #2 Identify and adopt suitable policies for trust, security and privacy on a European-level can be provided by the European Cloud Computing framework and infrastructure. × Goal #3 Create a light-weight governance structure for the future European Cloud Computing Infrastructure that involves all the stakeholders and can evolve over time as the infrastructure, services and user-base grows. × Goal #4 Define a funding scheme involving the three stake-holder groups (service suppliers, users, EC and national funding agencies) into a Public-Private-Partnership model to implement a Cloud Computing Infrastructure that delivers a sustainable business environment adhering to European level policies. Now in 2014 a first version of this generic cross-domain e-infrastructure is ready to go into operations building on federation of European industry and contributors (data, tools, knowledge, ...). This presentation describes how Helix Nebula is being used in the domain of earth science focusing on geohazards. The

  8. Consumer access to health information on the internet: health policy implications.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Scott, W Guy; Scott, Helen M; Auld, Terry S

    2005-06-28

    Providers of health care usually have much better information about health and health care interventions than do consumers. The internet is an important and rapidly evolving source of global health-related information and could provide a means of correcting for asymmetric information. However, little is known about who accesses this information and how it is used in New Zealand. The aims of this research were to: determine the nature of the health information sought, how respondents use the information, how helpful they perceive the information to be, and the self-assessed value of such information. The researchers conducted an anonymous five minute telephone and mall intercept survey of randomly selected Wellington residents who had searched for health-related information on the internet. Investigators entered the data into an Excel spreadsheet and transferred it to SPSS for data cleaning, data exploration and statistical analysis. Search time costs were based on the opportunity cost of income foregone and respondents were asked to provide a money value for the information found. Eighty-three percent of respondents accessed the internet from home, and 87% conducted the search for themselves. Forty-five percent of people were looking for general health and nutrition information, 42% for data about a specific illness and 40% for a medicine. After finding the information, 58% discussed it with a family member/friend/workmate, 36% consulted a general practitioner, 33% changed their eating or drinking habits, and 13% did nothing. Respondents found the information very quick to find and useful. It took them on average 0.47 hours and cost $12 (opportunity cost of time) to find the information. The average value of the data found was $60 and the net benefit to the consumer was $48 ($60 - $12). The results of this research could assist providers of health information via the internet to tailor their websites to better suit users' needs. Given the high perceived value of

  9. Data Updating Methods for Spatial Data Infrastructure that Maintain Infrastructure Quality and Enable its Sustainable Operation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Murakami, S.; Takemoto, T.; Ito, Y.

    2012-07-01

    The Japanese government, local governments and businesses are working closely together to establish spatial data infrastructures in accordance with the Basic Act on the Advancement of Utilizing Geospatial Information (NSDI Act established in August 2007). Spatial data infrastructures are urgently required not only to accelerate computerization of the public administration, but also to help restoration and reconstruction of the areas struck by the East Japan Great Earthquake and future disaster prevention and reduction. For construction of a spatial data infrastructure, various guidelines have been formulated. But after an infrastructure is constructed, there is a problem of maintaining it. In one case, an organization updates its spatial data only once every several years because of budget problems. Departments and sections update the data on their own without careful consideration. That upsets the quality control of the entire data system and the system loses integrity, which is crucial to a spatial data infrastructure. To ensure quality, ideally, it is desirable to update data of the entire area every year. But, that is virtually impossible, considering the recent budget crunch. The method we suggest is to update spatial data items of higher importance only in order to maintain quality, not updating all the items across the board. We have explored a method of partially updating the data of these two geographical features while ensuring the accuracy of locations. Using this method, data on roads and buildings that greatly change with time can be updated almost in real time or at least within a year. The method will help increase the availability of a spatial data infrastructure. We have conducted an experiment on the spatial data infrastructure of a municipality using those data. As a result, we have found that it is possible to update data of both features almost in real time.

  10. APFiLoc: An Infrastructure-Free Indoor Localization Method Fusing Smartphone Inertial Sensors, Landmarks and Map Information

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shang, Jianga; Gu, Fuqiang; Hu, Xuke; Kealy, Allison

    2015-01-01

    The utility and adoption of indoor localization applications have been limited due to the complex nature of the physical environment combined with an increasing requirement for more robust localization performance. Existing solutions to this problem are either too expensive or too dependent on infrastructure such as Wi-Fi access points. To address this problem, we propose APFiLoc—a low cost, smartphone-based framework for indoor localization. The key idea behind this framework is to obtain landmarks within the environment and to use the augmented particle filter to fuse them with measurements from smartphone sensors and map information. A clustering method based on distance constraints is developed to detect organic landmarks in an unsupervised way, and the least square support vector machine is used to classify seed landmarks. A series of real-world experiments were conducted in complex environments including multiple floors and the results show APFiLoc can achieve 80% accuracy (phone in the hand) and around 70% accuracy (phone in the pocket) of the error less than 2 m error without the assistance of infrastructure like Wi-Fi access points. PMID:26516858

  11. Sharing Health Information and Influencing Behavioral Intentions: The Role of Health Literacy, Information Overload, and the Internet in the Diffusion of Healthy Heart Information.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Crook, Brittani; Stephens, Keri K; Pastorek, Angie E; Mackert, Michael; Donovan, Erin E

    2016-01-01

    Low health literacy remains an extremely common and problematic issue, given that individuals with lower health literacy are more likely to experience health challenges and negative health outcomes. In this study, we use the first three stages of the innovation-decision process found in the theory of diffusion of innovations (Rogers, 2003). We incorporate health literacy into a model explaining how perceived health knowledge, information sharing, attitudes, and behavior are related. Results show that health information sharing explains 33% of the variance in behavioral intentions, indicating that the communicative practice of sharing information can positively impact health outcomes. Further, individuals with high health literacy tend to share less information about heart health than those with lower health literacy. Findings also reveal that perceived heart-health knowledge operates differently than health literacy to predict health outcomes.

  12. Finding online health-related information: usability issues of health portals.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gurel Koybasi, Nergis A; Cagiltay, Kursat

    2012-01-01

    As Internet and computers become widespread, health portals offering online health-related information become more popular. The most important point for health portals is presenting reliable and valid information. Besides, portal needs to be usable to be able to serve information to users effectively. This study aims to determine usability issues emerging when health-related information is searched on a health portal. User-based usability tests are conducted and eye movement analyses are used in addition to traditional performance measures. Results revealed that users prefer systematic, simple and consistent designs offering interactive tools. Moreover, content and partitions needs to be shaped according to the medical knowledge of target users.

  13. to the Question of IPv6-protocol Logical Characteristics Properties Using in order to Increase of the Security Level of the Russian Federation National Information Technology Infrastructure

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dmitry Anatolevich Melnikov

    2014-02-01

    Full Text Available This paper proposes a method of IPv6-protocol logical characteristics using in order to increase the security level of the Russian Federation national information technology infrastructure and the global information society.

  14. Bike Infrastructures

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Silva, Victor; Harder, Henrik; Jensen, Ole B.

    Bike Infrastructures aims to identify bicycle infrastructure typologies and design elements that can help promote cycling significantly. It is structured as a case study based research where three cycling infrastructures with distinct typologies were analyzed and compared. The three cases......, the findings of this research project can also support bike friendly design and planning, and cyclist advocacy....

  15. Infrastructure data in the Internet: network statements and infrastructure register; Infrastrukturdaten im INTERNET: Schienennetz-Benutzungsbedingungen und Infrastrukturregister

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Schmitt, A.; Kuntze, P [DB Netz AG, Frankfurt am Main (Germany); Hoefler, A. [Fichtner Consulting und IT AG, Stuttgart (Germany)

    2007-09-15

    Faced with European Community directives on the liberalization of railway traffic and their transposition into national legal requirements, DB Netz AG, the German infrastructure manager, considers that it has no alternative to using the Internet to publish numerous items of information as regards its railway network and infrastructure facilities. The company took the decision to seek synergies in combining these requirements with achieving internal benefits and so it chose a modern technical architecture that is going to be able to keep pace with the growing demands as regards data complexity, range of functions and number of users. The architecture that first came into being for publishing network statements now also forms the basis for DB Netz' infrastructure register and, in parallel with that, for around twenty intranet solutions, used by more than 5000 users. (orig.)

  16. Family Caregivers and Consumer Health Information Technology.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wolff, Jennifer L; Darer, Jonathan D; Larsen, Kevin L

    2016-01-01

    Health information technology has been embraced as a strategy to facilitate patients' access to their health information and engagement in care. However, not all patients are able to access, or are capable of using, a computer or mobile device. Although family caregivers assist individuals with some of the most challenging and costly health needs, their role in health information technology is largely undefined and poorly understood. This perspective discusses challenges and opportunities of engaging family caregivers through the use of consumer-oriented health information technology. We compile existing evidence to make the case that involving family caregivers in health information technology as desired by patients is technically feasible and consistent with the principles of patient-centered and family-centered care. We discuss how more explicit and purposeful engagement of family caregivers in health information technology could advance clinical quality and patient safety by increasing the transparency, accuracy, and comprehensiveness of patient health information across settings of care. Finally, we describe how clarifying and executing patients' desires to involve family members or friends through health information technology would provide family caregivers greater legitimacy, convenience, and timeliness in health system interactions, and facilitate stronger partnerships between patients, family caregivers, and health care professionals.

  17. Urban underground infrastructure mapping and assessment

    Science.gov (United States)

    Huston, Dryver; Xia, Tian; Zhang, Yu; Fan, Taian; Orfeo, Dan; Razinger, Jonathan

    2017-04-01

    This paper outlines and discusses a few associated details of a smart cities approach to the mapping and condition assessment of urban underground infrastructure. Underground utilities are critical infrastructure for all modern cities. They carry drinking water, storm water, sewage, natural gas, electric power, telecommunications, steam, etc. In most cities, the underground infrastructure reflects the growth and history of the city. Many components are aging, in unknown locations with congested configurations, and in unknown condition. The technique uses sensing and information technology to determine the state of infrastructure and provide it in an appropriate, timely and secure format for managers, planners and users. The sensors include ground penetrating radar and buried sensors for persistent sensing of localized conditions. Signal processing and pattern recognition techniques convert the data in information-laden databases for use in analytics, graphical presentations, metering and planning. The presented data are from construction of the St. Paul St. CCTA Bus Station Project in Burlington, VT; utility replacement sites in Winooski, VT; and laboratory tests of smart phone position registration and magnetic signaling. The soil conditions encountered are favorable for GPR sensing and make it possible to locate buried pipes and soil layers. The present state of the art is that the data collection and processing procedures are manual and somewhat tedious, but that solutions for automating these procedures appear to be viable. Magnetic signaling with moving permanent magnets has the potential for sending lowfrequency telemetry signals through soils that are largely impenetrable by other electromagnetic waves.

  18. Ethical Infrastructure and Successful Handling of Workplace Bullying

    OpenAIRE

    Einarsen, Kari; Mykletun, Reidar; Einarsen, Ståle Valvatna; Skogstad, Anders; Salin, Denise

    2017-01-01

    Antecedents and consequences of workplace bullying are well documented. However, the mea- sures taken against workplace bullying, and the effectiveness of such measures, have received less attention. This study addresses this knowledge gap by exploring the role of ethical infrastructure in perceived successful handling of reported workplace bullying. Ethical infrastructure refers to formal and informal systems that enable ethical behavior and disable unethical behavior in organizations. A sur...

  19. Investigation into How Managers Justify Investments in IT Infrastructure

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ibe, Richmond Ikechukwu

    2012-01-01

    Organization leaders are dependent on information technology for corporate productivity; however, senior managers have expressed concerns about insufficient benefits from information technology investments. The problem researched was to understand how midsized businesses justify investments in information technology infrastructure. The purpose of…

  20. Do Physical Proximity and Availability of Adequate Infrastructure at Public Health Facility Increase Institutional Delivery? A Three Level Hierarchical Model Approach.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Patel, Rachana; Ladusingh, Laishram

    2015-01-01

    This study aims to examine the inter-district and inter-village variation of utilization of health services for institutional births in EAG states in presence of rural health program and availability of infrastructures. District Level Household Survey-III (2007-08) data on delivery care and facility information was used for the purpose. Bivariate results examined the utilization pattern by states in presence of correlates of women related while a three-level hierarchical multilevel model illustrates the effect of accessibility, availability of health facility and community health program variables on the utilization of health services for institutional births. The study found a satisfactory improvement in state Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Orissa, importantly, in Bihar and Uttaranchal. The study showed that increasing distance from health facility discouraged institutional births and there was a rapid decline of more than 50% for institutional delivery as the distance to public health facility exceeded 10 km. Additionally, skilled female health worker (ANM) and observed improved public health facility led to significantly increase the probability of utilization as compared to non-skilled ANM and not-improved health centers. Adequacy of essential equipment/laboratory services required for maternal care significantly encouraged deliveries at public health facility. District/village variables neighborhood poverty was negatively related to institutional delivery while higher education levels in the village and women's residing in more urbanized districts increased the utilization. "Inter-district" variation was 14 percent whereas "between-villages" variation for the utilization was 11 percent variation once controlled for all the three-level variables in the model. This study suggests that the mere availability of health facilities is necessary but not sufficient condition to promote utilization until the quality of service is inadequate and inaccessible considering

  1. Do Physical Proximity and Availability of Adequate Infrastructure at Public Health Facility Increase Institutional Delivery? A Three Level Hierarchical Model Approach.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rachana Patel

    Full Text Available This study aims to examine the inter-district and inter-village variation of utilization of health services for institutional births in EAG states in presence of rural health program and availability of infrastructures. District Level Household Survey-III (2007-08 data on delivery care and facility information was used for the purpose. Bivariate results examined the utilization pattern by states in presence of correlates of women related while a three-level hierarchical multilevel model illustrates the effect of accessibility, availability of health facility and community health program variables on the utilization of health services for institutional births. The study found a satisfactory improvement in state Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Orissa, importantly, in Bihar and Uttaranchal. The study showed that increasing distance from health facility discouraged institutional births and there was a rapid decline of more than 50% for institutional delivery as the distance to public health facility exceeded 10 km. Additionally, skilled female health worker (ANM and observed improved public health facility led to significantly increase the probability of utilization as compared to non-skilled ANM and not-improved health centers. Adequacy of essential equipment/laboratory services required for maternal care significantly encouraged deliveries at public health facility. District/village variables neighborhood poverty was negatively related to institutional delivery while higher education levels in the village and women's residing in more urbanized districts increased the utilization. "Inter-district" variation was 14 percent whereas "between-villages" variation for the utilization was 11 percent variation once controlled for all the three-level variables in the model. This study suggests that the mere availability of health facilities is necessary but not sufficient condition to promote utilization until the quality of service is inadequate and

  2. Developing a systems framework for sustainable infrastructure technologies (SIT) in the built environment focussing on health facilities: A case for Cape Town

    CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

    Saidi, M

    2007-05-01

    Full Text Available The objective of the study is to develop a systems framework for the implementation and management of sustainable infrastructure technologies in the built environment with specific focus on health facilities. It look at the global trends and drivers...

  3. Nuclear Energy Infrastructure Database Description and User's Manual

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Heidrich, Brenden

    2015-01-01

    In 2014, the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Science and Technology Innovation initiated the Nuclear Energy (NE)–Infrastructure Management Project by tasking the Nuclear Science User Facilities, formerly the Advanced Test Reactor National Scientific User Facility, to create a searchable and interactive database of all pertinent NE-supported and -related infrastructure. This database, known as the Nuclear Energy Infrastructure Database (NEID), is used for analyses to establish needs, redundancies, efficiencies, distributions, etc., to best understand the utility of NE's infrastructure and inform the content of infrastructure calls. The Nuclear Science User Facilities developed the database by utilizing data and policy direction from a variety of reports from the U.S. Department of Energy, the National Research Council, the International Atomic Energy Agency, and various other federal and civilian resources. The NEID currently contains data on 802 research and development instruments housed in 377 facilities at 84 institutions in the United States and abroad. The effort to maintain and expand the database is ongoing. Detailed information on many facilities must be gathered from associated institutions and added to complete the database. The data must be validated and kept current to capture facility and instrumentation status as well as to cover new acquisitions and retirements. This document provides a short tutorial on the navigation of the NEID web portal at NSUF-Infrastructure.INL.gov.

  4. Protecting and securing the energy infrastructure

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Gillham, B. [Conoco Canada Ltd., Calgary, AB (Canada)

    2002-07-01

    Critical Infrastructure Protection (CIP) includes protection against physical and cyber attacks as well as potential interruptions and vulnerabilities such as natural disasters and human error. CIP makes it possible to deal with the consequences of infrastructure failures that can have regional, national and international impacts. The energy sector is challenged because there has been an irreversible move to automated control systems and electronic transactions. In addition, due to mergers and joint ventures, the line between traditional oil, natural gas companies and power companies is not perfectly clear. Energy industries can no longer be seen in isolation of each other because they depend on other critical infrastructures. Industry should lead CIP programs through risk management assessments, develop and implement global information technology standards, and enhance response and recovery planning. The National Petroleum Council (NPC) will continue to develop the capabilities of the newly formed Information Sharing and Assessment Centre (ISAC). The sector will also continue to develop common vulnerability assessment goals. It was noted that response and recovery plans must include the cyber dimension, because there has been an increasing number of scans and probes from the Internet since the events of September 11, 2001. It was noted that physical incidents can often turn into cyber incidents and vice versa.

  5. Paradoxical Infrastructures: Ruins, Retrofit, and Risk

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Howe, Cymene; Lockrem, Jessica; Appel, Hannah; Hackett, Edward; Boyer, Dominic; Hall, Randal; Schneider-Mayerson, Matthew; Pope, Albert; Gupta, Akhil; Rodwell, Elizabeth; Ballestero, Andrew; Durbin, Trevor; el-Dahdah, Fares; Long, Elizabeth; Mody, Cyrus C.M.

    2016-01-01

    In recent years, a dramatic increase in the study of infrastructure has occurred in the social sciences and humanities, following upon foundational work in the physical sciences, architecture, planning, information science, and engineering. This article, authored by a multidisciplinary group of

  6. Assessing infrastructure vulnerability to major floods

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Jenssen, Lars

    1998-12-31

    This thesis proposes a method for assessing the direct effects of serious floods on a physical infrastructure or utility. This method should be useful in contingency planning and in the design of structures likely to be damaged by flooding. A review is given of (1) methods of floodplain management and strategies for mitigating floods, (2) methods of risk analysis that will become increasingly important in flood management, (3) methods for hydraulic computations, (4) a variety of scour assessment methods and (5) applications of geographic information systems (GIS) to the analysis of flood vulnerability. Three computer codes were developed: CULVCAP computes the headwater level for circular and box culverts, SCOUR for assessing riprap stability and scour depths, and FASTFLOOD prepares input rainfall series and input files for the rainfall-runoff model used in the case study. A road system in central Norway was chosen to study how to analyse the flood vulnerability of an infrastructure. Finally, the thesis proposes a method for analysing the flood vulnerability of physical infrastructure. The method involves a general stage that will provide data on which parts of the infrastructure are potentially vulnerable to flooding and how to analyse them, and a specific stage which is concerned with analysing one particular kind of physical infrastructure in a study area. 123 refs., 59 figs., 17 tabs= .

  7. Technical challenges for big data in biomedicine and health: data sources, infrastructure, and analytics.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Peek, N; Holmes, J H; Sun, J

    2014-08-15

    To review technical and methodological challenges for big data research in biomedicine and health. We discuss sources of big datasets, survey infrastructures for big data storage and big data processing, and describe the main challenges that arise when analyzing big data. The life and biomedical sciences are massively contributing to the big data revolution through secondary use of data that were collected during routine care and through new data sources such as social media. Efficient processing of big datasets is typically achieved by distributing computation over a cluster of computers. Data analysts should be aware of pitfalls related to big data such as bias in routine care data and the risk of false-positive findings in high-dimensional datasets. The major challenge for the near future is to transform analytical methods that are used in the biomedical and health domain, to fit the distributed storage and processing model that is required to handle big data, while ensuring confidentiality of the data being analyzed.

  8. The visit-data warehouse: enabling novel secondary use of health information exchange data.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fleischman, William; Lowry, Tina; Shapiro, Jason

    2014-01-01

    Health Information Exchange (HIE) efforts face challenges with data quality and performance, and this becomes especially problematic when data is leveraged for uses beyond primary clinical use. We describe a secondary data infrastructure focusing on patient-encounter, nonclinical data that was built on top of a functioning HIE platform to support novel secondary data uses and prevent potentially negative impacts these uses might have otherwise had on HIE system performance. HIE efforts have generally formed for the primary clinical use of individual clinical providers searching for data on individual patients under their care, but many secondary uses have been proposed and are being piloted to support care management, quality improvement, and public health. This infrastructure review describes a module built into the Healthix HIE. Healthix, based in the New York metropolitan region, comprises 107 participating organizations with 29,946 acute-care beds in 383 facilities, and includes more than 9.2 million unique patients. The primary infrastructure is based on the InterSystems proprietary Caché data model distributed across servers in multiple locations, and uses a master patient index to link individual patients' records across multiple sites. We built a parallel platform, the "visit data warehouse," of patient encounter data (demographics, date, time, and type of visit) using a relational database model to allow accessibility using standard database tools and flexibility for developing secondary data use cases. These four secondary use cases include the following: (1) tracking encounter-based metrics in a newly established geriatric emergency department (ED), (2) creating a dashboard to provide a visual display as well as a tabular output of near-real-time de-identified encounter data from the data warehouse, (3) tracking frequent ED users as part of a regional-approach to case management intervention, and (4) improving an existing quality improvement program

  9. Conceptual Model of IT Infrastructure Capability and Its Empirical Justification

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    QI Xianfeng; LAN Boxiong; GUO Zhenwei

    2008-01-01

    Increasing importance has been attached to the value of information technology (IT) infrastructure in today's organizations. The development of efficacious IT infrastructure capability enhances business performance and brings sustainable competitive advantage. This study analyzed the IT infrastructure capability in a holistic way and then presented a concept model of IT capability. IT infrastructure capability was categorized into sharing capability, service capability, and flexibility. This study then empirically tested the model using a set of survey data collected from 145 firms. Three factors emerge from the factor analysis as IT flexibility, IT service capability, and IT sharing capability, which agree with those in the conceptual model built in this study.

  10. Internet health information in the patient-provider dialogue.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hong, Traci

    2008-10-01

    A patient discussing Internet health information with a health care provider (referred to as "patient-provider communication about Internet health information") can contribute positively to health outcomes. Although research has found that once Internet access is achieved, there are no ethnic differences in Internet health information seeking, it is unclear if there are ethnic differences in patient-provider communication about Internet health information. To help fill this gap in the literature, the National Cancer Institute's Health Information National Trends Survey 2005 was analyzed with Stata 9. Two sets of logistic regression analyses were conducted, one for a subsample of Internet users (n = 3,244) and one for a subsample of Internet users who are first-generation immigrants (n = 563). The dependent variable was patient-provider communication about Internet health information, which assessed whether survey participants had discussed online health information with a health care provider. The predictor variables included trust of health care provider, trust of online health information, Internet use, health care coverage, frequency of visits to health care provider, health status, and demographics. Among all Internet users, Whites had higher levels of patient-provider communication about Internet health information than Blacks and Asians. Similarly, among Internet users who are immigrants, Whites had higher levels of patient-provider communication about Internet health information than Blacks and Asians. While the digital divide is narrowing in terms of Internet access, racial differences in patient-provider communication about Internet health information may undermine the potential benefits of the information age.

  11. Possibilities of information infrastructure in evaluation of environmental pollution and water quality by implementing the solutions of sustainable development

    OpenAIRE

    Ramutė Naujikienė; Dalė Dzemydienė

    2014-01-01

    The purpose – of the article is attached to the examination of information infrastructure for the assessment of water resource planning and water treatment activities, to provide data warehouse (DW) analysis measuring environmental and water pollution and indicators for the evaluation based on the requirements of sustainable development.Methodology – the analysis is performed by revealing the factors affecting sustainable development decisions. The insights of scientists are demonstrated by a...

  12. Characterizing Health Information for Different Target Audiences.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sun, Yueping; Hou, Zhen; Hou, Li; Li, Jiao

    2015-01-01

    Different groups of audiences in health care: health professionals and health consumers, each have different information needs. Health monographs targeting different audiences are created by leveraging readers' background knowledge. The NCI's Physician Data Query (PDQ®) Cancer Information Summaries provide parallel cancer information and education resources with different target audiences. In this paper, we used targeted audience-specific cancer information PDQs to measure characteristic differences on the element level between audiences. In addition, we compared vocabulary coverage. Results show a significant difference between the professional and patient version of cancer monographs in both content organization and vocabulary. This study provides a new view to assess targeted audience-specific health information, and helps editors to improve the quality and readability of health information.

  13. A communication and information technology infrastructure for real time monitoring and management of type 1 diabetes patients.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Skevofilakas, Marios; Mougiakakou, Stavroula G; Zarkogianni, Konstantia; Aslanoglou, Erika; Pavlopoulos, Sotiris A; Vazeou, Andriani; Bartsocas, Christos S; Nikita, Konstantina S

    2007-01-01

    This paper is focused on the integration of state-of-the-art technologies in the fields of telecommunications, simulation algorithms, and data mining in order to develop a Type 1 diabetes patient's semi to fully-automated monitoring and management system. The main components of the system are a glucose measurement device, an insulin delivery system (insulin injection or insulin pumps), a mobile phone for the GPRS network, and a PDA or laptop for the Internet. In the medical environment, appropriate infrastructure for storage, analysis and visualizing of patients' data has been implemented to facilitate treatment design by health care experts.

  14. Injustice in Access to Health Information: The Difference between Health Professionals and Patients

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hasan Ashrafi-rizi

    2016-10-01

    Full Text Available The role of information is undeniable in promoting public health (1-3. “Access to health information for all” was the slogan of the World Health Organization in 2004 (4. The proving of this slogan requires access to health information by beneficiaries (health professionals and patients. Access to health information by specialists as partly been achieved, but access to health information for patients and their families is considered low (5-7, which could have adverse effects. Health professionals have quick and easy access to information through libraries and medical information centers, participation in seminars, exchange of scientific information with other professionals, as well as identifying ways to effectively access to health information, but patients and their families do not have access to such facilities and capabilities. Therefore, patients and their families are faced with a phenomenon known as “inequity in access to health information” and the continuation of the injustice leads to health information poverty. Thus, the main question now is what we should do? It seems that the government needs to develop a national policy in the field of health information and it is the most important step. In the next step, the government should expand the concept production via using potentials of different organizations like public media (TV and Radio, health ministry and press and increase the access of patients to health information in the easy language (level of health information between health professionals and patients is different.

  15. The spatio-temporal Development of Copenhagen's bicycle infrastructure 1912-2013

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Carstensen, Trine Agervig; Olafsson, Anton Stahl; Bech, Nynne Marie

    2015-01-01

    Cycling plays an important role in low-carbon transitions. Around the globe, cities are constructing bicycle infrastructure. The city of Copenhagen has a bicycle-friendly infrastructure celebrated for its fine-meshed network. This study documents the spatio-temporal development of Copenhagen......’s bicycle infrastructure and explores how the development corresponds to other processes of urban transformation. The study builds on historical maps of bicycle infrastructure that are digitised into geographical information, which allows for a comprehensive analysis of the formation of the network....... In search for identifying drivers, the study analyses the city’s spatial growth pattern, migration pattern, development of road network and changes in the transport culture. Analyses reveal that the bicycle infrastructure expanded at a relatively constant pace during distinct periods of urban transformation...

  16. Distribution of green infrastructure along walkable roads

    Science.gov (United States)

    Low-income and minority neighborhoods frequently lack healthful resources to which wealthier communities have access. Though important, the addition of facilities such as recreation centers can be costly and take time to implement. Urban green infrastructure, such as street trees...

  17. [Health information on the internet].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ködmön, József

    2018-06-01

    We live in an information society, we search and gather on the internet almost everything we want to know. More and more often we are also looking for information about health issues on the world wide web. The real world is reflected by the internet: more and more false and misleading information can be found. From what home page and how to choose health information that is reliable and professionally correct? If we find relevant, useful information, can we fully understand it? These questions will be answered by this publication. Orv Hetil. 2018; 159(22): 855-862.

  18. Nuclear Energy Infrastructure Database Fitness and Suitability Review

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Heidrich, Brenden [Idaho National Lab. (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States)

    2015-03-01

    In 2014, the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Science and Technology Innovation (NE-4) initiated the Nuclear Energy-Infrastructure Management Project by tasking the Nuclear Science User Facilities (NSUF) to create a searchable and interactive database of all pertinent NE supported or related infrastructure. This database will be used for analyses to establish needs, redundancies, efficiencies, distributions, etc. in order to best understand the utility of NE’s infrastructure and inform the content of the infrastructure calls. The NSUF developed the database by utilizing data and policy direction from a wide variety of reports from the Department of Energy, the National Research Council, the International Atomic Energy Agency and various other federal and civilian resources. The NEID contains data on 802 R&D instruments housed in 377 facilities at 84 institutions in the US and abroad. A Database Review Panel (DRP) was formed to review and provide advice on the development, implementation and utilization of the NEID. The panel is comprised of five members with expertise in nuclear energy-associated research. It was intended that they represent the major constituencies associated with nuclear energy research: academia, industry, research reactor, national laboratory, and Department of Energy program management. The Nuclear Energy Infrastructure Database Review Panel concludes that the NSUF has succeeded in creating a capability and infrastructure database that identifies and documents the major nuclear energy research and development capabilities across the DOE complex. The effort to maintain and expand the database will be ongoing. Detailed information on many facilities must be gathered from associated institutions added to complete the database. The data must be validated and kept current to capture facility and instrumentation status as well as to cover new acquisitions and retirements.

  19. [eHealth in Peru: implementation of policies to strengthen health information systems].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Curioso, Walter H

    2014-01-01

    Health information systems play a key role in enabling high quality, complete health information to be available in a timely fashion for operational and strategic decision-making that makes it possible to save lives and improve the health and quality of life of the population. In many countries, health information systems are weak, incomplete, and fragmented. However, there is broad consensus in the literature of the need to strengthen health information systems in countries around the world. The objective of this paper is to present the essential components of the conceptual framework to strengthen health information systems in Peru. It describes the principal actions and strategies of the Ministry of Health of Peru during the process of strengthening health information systems. These systems make it possible to orient policies for appropriate decision-making in public health.

  20. Privacy Protection in Personal Health Information and Shared Care Records

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Roderick L B Neame

    2014-03-01

    Full Text Available Background The protection of personal information privacy has become one of the most pressing security concerns for record keepers. Many institutions have yet to implement the essential infrastructure for data privacy protection and patient control when accessing and sharing data; even more have failed to instil a privacy and security awareness mindset and culture amongst their staff. Increased regulation, together with better compliance monitoring has led to the imposition of increasingly significant monetary penalties for failures to protect privacy. Objective  There is growing pressure in clinical environments to deliver shared patient care and to support this with integrated information.  This demands that more information passes between institutions and care providers without breaching patient privacy or autonomy.  This can be achieved with relatively minor enhancements of existing infrastructures and does not require extensive investment in inter-operating electronic records: indeed such investments to date have been shown not to materially improve data sharing.Requirements for Privacy  There is an ethical duty as well as a legal obligation on the part of care providers (and record keepers to keep patient information confidential and to share it only with the authorisation of the patient.  To achieve this information storage and retrieval, and communication systems must be appropriately configured. Patients may consult clinicians anywhere and at any time: therefore their data must be available for recipient-driven retrieval under patient control and kept private. 

  1. A Multifunctional Public Lighting Infrastructure, Design and Experimental Test

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Marco Beccali

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available Nowadays, the installation of efficient lighting sources and Information and Communications Technologies can provide economic benefits, energy efficiency, and visual comfort requirements. More advantages can be derived if the public lighting infrastructure integrates a smart grid. This study presents an experimental multifunctional infrastructure for public lighting, installed in Palermo. The system is able to provide smart lighting functions (hotspot Wi-Fi, video-surveillances, car and pedestrian access control, car parking monitoring and support for environmental monitoring. A remote control and monitoring platform called “Centro Servizi” processes the information coming from different installations as well as their status in real time, and sends commands to the devices (e.g. to control the luminous flux, each one provided with a machine to machine interface. Data can be reported either on the web or on a customised app. The study has shown the efficient operation of such new infrastructure and its capability to provide new functions and benefits to citizens, tourists, and public administration. Thus, this system represents a starting point for the implementation of many other lighting infrastructure features typical of a “smart city.”

  2. Toward Mass Customization of Health Information

    Science.gov (United States)

    de la Cruz, Norberto B.; Kahn, Charles E.

    1999-01-01

    As a part of its community outreach efforts, the Medical College of Wisconsin developed the “MCW HealthLink” health information resource. The philosophy, design and implementation of the site lend well to steering future developments towards mass customization of health information.

  3. Internet Resources of Consumer Health Information Studies

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yu-Tzuon Chou

    2004-09-01

    Full Text Available Health and medical care has always been an important issue. Recently, there has been a rapid increase in consumer health awareness. Therefore, Consumer Health Information has been vastlyemphasized, which results in the development of associated websites. According to an investigation in Taiwan, there are 1,820 different health and medical related websites in 2002. However, due to the lack of regulations, some of these websites’ information contents may be faulty and may confuse users or potentially be harmful. The purpose of this article is to advise consumers how to differentiate between correct and incorrect information in the Health Information websites. The present study analyzes the strengths and weaknesses of some Taiwan’s consumer health websites by comparing their structures, contents and other information with those provided by "the Top Ten Most Useful Health Information Websites" of the USA. [Article content in Chinese

  4. 42 CFR 438.242 - Health information systems.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-10-01

    ... 42 Public Health 4 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Health information systems. 438.242 Section 438.242... Measurement and Improvement Standards § 438.242 Health information systems. (a) General rule. The State must ensure, through its contracts, that each MCO and PIHP maintains a health information system that collects...

  5. Structural health monitoring with a wireless vibration sensor network

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Basten, T.G.H.; Sas, P; Schiphorst, F.B.A.; Jonckheere, S.; Moens, D.

    2012-01-01

    Advanced maintenance strategies for infrastructure assets such as bridges or off shore wind turbines require actual and reliable information of the maintenance status. Structural health monitoring based on vibration sensing can help in supplying the input needed for structural health monitoring

  6. A social-ecological database to advance research on infrastructure development impacts in the Brazilian Amazon.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tucker Lima, Joanna M; Valle, Denis; Moretto, Evandro Mateus; Pulice, Sergio Mantovani Paiva; Zuca, Nadia Lucia; Roquetti, Daniel Rondinelli; Beduschi, Liviam Elizabeth Cordeiro; Praia, Amanda Salles; Okamoto, Claudia Parucce Franco; da Silva Carvalhaes, Vinicius Leite; Branco, Evandro Albiach; Barbezani, Bruna; Labandera, Emily; Timpe, Kelsie; Kaplan, David

    2016-08-30

    Recognized as one of the world's most vital natural and cultural resources, the Amazon faces a wide variety of threats from natural resource and infrastructure development. Within this context, rigorous scientific study of the region's complex social-ecological system is critical to inform and direct decision-making toward more sustainable environmental and social outcomes. Given the Amazon's tightly linked social and ecological components and the scope of potential development impacts, effective study of this system requires an easily accessible resource that provides a broad and reliable data baseline. This paper brings together multiple datasets from diverse disciplines (including human health, socio-economics, environment, hydrology, and energy) to provide investigators with a variety of baseline data to explore the multiple long-term effects of infrastructure development in the Brazilian Amazon.

  7. Lowering Entry Barriers for Multidisciplinary Cyber(e)-Infrastructures

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nativi, S.

    2012-04-01

    Multidisciplinarity is more and more important to study the Earth System and address Global Changes. To achieve that, multidisciplinary cyber(e)-infrastructures are an important instrument. In the last years, several European, US and international initiatives have been started to carry out multidisciplinary infrastructures, including: the Spatial Information in the European Community (INSPIRE), the Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES), the Data Observation Network for Earth (DataOne), and the Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS). The majority of these initiatives are developing service-based digital infrastructures asking scientific Communities (i.e. disciplinary Users and data Producers) to implement a set of standards for information interoperability. For scientific Communities, this has represented an entry barrier which has proved to be high, in several cases. In fact, both data Producers and Users do not seem to be willing to invest precious resources to become expert on interoperability solutions -on the contrary, they are focused on developing disciplinary and thematic capacities. Therefore, an important research topic is lowering entry barriers for joining multidisciplinary cyber(e)-Infrastructures. This presentation will introduce a new approach to achieve multidisciplinary interoperability underpinning multidisciplinary infrastructures and lowering the present entry barriers for both Users and data Producers. This is called the Brokering approach: it extends the service-based paradigm by introducing a new a Brokering layer or cloud which is in charge of managing all the interoperability complexity (e.g. data discovery, access, and use) thus easing Users' and Producers' burden. This approach was successfully experimented in the framework of several European FP7 Projects and in GEOSS.

  8. THE ROLE OF THE WORLD INSURANCE MARKET INFRASTRUCTURE

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Antonina Sholoiko

    2017-09-01

    Full Text Available The purpose is to define a role and significance of elements of the world insurance market infrastructure. Tasks of the study are the next: to consider the dynamics of development of the world insurance market from 2012 to 2016; to define groups of elements of the world insurance market infrastructure; to characterize elements of the world insurance market infrastructure. Methodology. These tasks are done because of using such methods as: grouping of elements of the world insurance market infrastructure; a collection of information about elements of the world insurance market infrastructure; generalization to define role and significance of elements of the world insurance market infrastructure. Results. World insurance premiums were increasing and decreasing from 2012 to 2016 and did not exceed 6.3% of Gross Domestic Product. Lots of factors influence global insurance premium volume as an indicator of the development of world insurance market. One of them is an activity of the elements of the world insurance market infrastructure. It is necessary to divide them into some groups: A International insurance associations (associations of organizations connected with insurance but members of such associations do not provide insurance services – International Association of Insurance Supervisors, International Association of Insurance Fraud Agencies, Global Federation of Insurance Associations, International Insurance Foundation; B International associations of insurers (includes associations of insurers and other organizations in a certain area of insurance – International Association of Deposit Insurers, International Union of Credit and Investment Insurers, International Association of Agricultural Production Insurers, International Group of P&I Clubs, International Union of Aerospace Insurers, International Union of Marine Insurance, International Association of Engineering Insurers; C International associations of insurance experts

  9. Potential for sharing nuclear power infrastructure between countries

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    2006-10-01

    The introduction or expansion of a nuclear power programme in a country and its successful execution is largely dependent on the network of national infrastructure, covering a wide range of activities and capabilities. The infrastructure areas include legal framework, safety and environmental regulatory bodies, international agreements, physical facilities, finance, education, training, human resources and public information and acceptance. The wide extent of infrastructure needs require an investment that can be too large or onerous for the national economy. The burden of infrastructure can be reduced significantly if a country forms a sharing partnership with other countries. The sharing can be at regional or at multinational level. It can include physical facilities, common programmes and knowledge, which will reflect in economic benefits. The sharing can also contribute in a significant manner to harmonization of codes and standards in general and regulatory framework in particular. The opportunities and potential of sharing nuclear power infrastructure is determined by the objectives, strategy and scenario of the national nuclear power programme. A review of individual infrastructure items shows that there are several opportunities for sharing of nuclear power infrastructure between countries if they cooperate with each other. International cooperation and sharing of nuclear power infrastructure are not new. This publication provides criteria and guidance for analyzing and identifying the potential for sharing of nuclear power infrastructure during the stages of nuclear power project life cycle. The target users are decision makers, advisers and senior managers in utilities, industrial organizations, regulatory bodies and governmental organizations in countries adopting or extending nuclear power programmes. This publication was produced within the IAEA programme directed to increase the capability of Member States to plan and implement nuclear power

  10. Health Literacy and Online Health Information Processing: Unraveling the Underlying Mechanisms.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Meppelink, Corine S; Smit, Edith G; Diviani, Nicola; Van Weert, Julia C M

    2016-01-01

    The usefulness of the Internet as a health information source largely depends on the receiver's health literacy. This study investigates the mechanisms through which health literacy affects information recall and website attitudes. Using 2 independent surveys addressing different Dutch health websites (N = 423 and N = 395), we tested the mediating role of cognitive load, imagination ease, and website involvement. The results showed that the influence of health literacy on information recall and website attitudes was mediated by cognitive load and imagination ease but only marginally by website involvement. Thus, to improve recall and attitudes among people with lower health literacy, online health communication should consist of information that is not cognitively demanding and that is easy to imagine.

  11. Towards an adaptation action plan : climate change and health in the Toronto-Niagara region : summary for policy makers

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chiotti, Q.; Morton, I.; Maarouf, A.

    2002-10-01

    The current science regarding climate change and its potential health effects was assessed in an effort to provide information to decision-makers dealing with health infrastructure in the Toronto-Niagara region. This report also presents an assessment of how the health care system can adapt to handle the increased demand for services resulting from the projected negative human health effects of climate change. The first part of the report presents some background information on climate change and health issues and demonstrates how the current health care infrastructure cannot deal effectively with the full range of health effects that may occur in heavily populated areas such as the Toronto-Niagara region. The second part of the report summarizes the scientific knowledge about the expected impacts of climate change and associated health effects, such as heat stress, extreme weather events, poor air quality, vector-borne diseases, food and water-borne diseases, and increased exposure to ultra-violet radiation. It was noted that children and the elderly are most vulnerable. The final part of the report outlines an adaptation action plan to improve the health care infrastructure through public education and communication, surveillance and monitoring, ecosystem intervention, infrastructure development, technical engineering, and medical intervention. 100 refs., 1 fig

  12. Building the Partners HealthCare Biobank at Partners Personalized Medicine: Informed Consent, Return of Research Results, Recruitment Lessons and Operational Considerations

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Elizabeth W. Karlson

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available The Partners HealthCare Biobank is a Partners HealthCare enterprise-wide initiative whose goal is to provide a foundation for the next generation of translational research studies of genotype, environment, gene-environment interaction, biomarker and family history associations with disease phenotypes. The Biobank has leveraged in-person and electronic recruitment methods to enroll >30,000 subjects as of October 2015 at two academic medical centers in Partners HealthCare since launching in 2010. Through a close collaboration with the Partners Human Research Committee, the Biobank has developed a comprehensive informed consent process that addresses key patient concerns, including privacy and the return of research results. Lessons learned include the need for careful consideration of ethical issues, attention to the educational content of electronic media, the importance of patient authentication in electronic informed consent, the need for highly secure IT infrastructure and management of communications and the importance of flexible recruitment modalities and processes dependent on the clinical setting for recruitment.

  13. A Multifunctional Public Lighting Infrastructure, Design and Experimental Test

    OpenAIRE

    Marco Beccali; Valerio Lo Brano; Marina Bonomolo; Paolo Cicero; Giacomo Corvisieri; Marco Caruso; Francesco Gamberale

    2017-01-01

    Nowadays, the installation of efficient lighting sources and Information and Communications Technologies can provide economic benefits, energy efficiency, and visual comfort requirements. More advantages can be derived if the public lighting infrastructure integrates a smart grid. This study presents an experimental multifunctional infrastructure for public lighting, installed in Palermo. The system is able to provide smart lighting functions (hotspot Wi-Fi, video-surveillances, car and pedes...

  14. Articulating the Effects of Infrastructure Resourcing on Air Force Missions: Competing Approaches to Inform the Planning, Programming, Budgeting, and Execution System

    Science.gov (United States)

    2017-01-01

    documents work originally shared with the U.S. Air Force on July 15, 2014. The draft report, issued on October 22, 2015, was reviewed by formal peer...maintained infrastructure, particularly facilities associated with morale , welfare, and recreation, can reduce troop morale , health, and fitness...balanced scorecard” approach espoused by Kaplan and Norton. See their 1992 Harvard Business Review article (Kaplan and Norton, 1992) or their

  15. Infrastructure of Electronic Information Management

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Twitchell, Gregory D; Frame, Michael T

    2004-01-01

    .... This presents tremendous challenges to the information technology managers, users, and CEOs of large world-wide corporations who wish to exchange information or get access to resources in today's global marketplace...

  16. The demand for consumer health information.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wagner, T H; Hu, T W; Hibbard, J H

    2001-11-01

    Using data from an evaluation of a community-wide informational intervention, we modeled the demand for medical reference books, telephone advice nurses, and computers for health information. Data were gathered from random household surveys in Boise, ID (experimental site), Billings, MT, and Eugene, OR (control sites). Conditional difference-in-differences show that the intervention increased the use of medical reference books, advice nurses, and computers for health information by approximately 15, 6, and 4%. respectively. The results also suggest that the intervention was associated with a decreased reliance on health professionals for information.

  17. Scaling-up health information systems to improve HIV treatment: An assessment of initial patient monitoring systems in Mozambique.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hochgesang, Mindy; Zamudio-Haas, Sophia; Moran, Lissa; Nhampossa, Leopoldo; Packel, Laura; Leslie, Hannah; Richards, Janise; Shade, Starley B

    2017-01-01

    The rapid scale-up of HIV care and treatment in resource-limited countries requires concurrent, rapid development of health information systems to support quality service delivery. Mozambique, a country with an 11.5% prevalence of HIV, has developed nation-wide patient monitoring systems (PMS) with standardized reporting tools, utilized by all HIV treatment providers in paper or electronic form. Evaluation of the initial implementation of PMS can inform and strengthen future development as the country moves towards a harmonized, sustainable health information system. This assessment was conducted in order to 1) characterize data collection and reporting processes and PMS resources available and 2) provide evidence-based recommendations for harmonization and sustainability of PMS. This baseline assessment of PMS was conducted with eight non-governmental organizations that supported the Ministry of Health to provide 90% of HIV care and treatment in Mozambique. The study team conducted structured and semi-structured surveys at 18 health facilities located in all 11 provinces. Seventy-nine staff were interviewed. Deductive a priori analytic categories guided analysis. Health facilities have implemented paper and electronic monitoring systems with varying success. Where in use, robust electronic PMS facilitate facility-level reporting of required indicators; improve ability to identify patients lost to follow-up; and support facility and patient management. Challenges to implementation of monitoring systems include a lack of national guidelines and norms for patient level HIS, variable system implementation and functionality, and limited human and infrastructure resources to maximize system functionality and information use. This initial assessment supports the need for national guidelines to harmonize, expand, and strengthen HIV-related health information systems. Recommendations may benefit other countries with similar epidemiologic and resource

  18. Health Literacy, Health Disparities, and Sources of Health Information in U.S. Older Adults.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cutilli, Carolyn Crane; Simko, Lynn C; Colbert, Alison M; Bennett, Ian M

    Low health literacy in older adults has been associated with poor health outcomes (i.e., mortality, decreased physical and cognitive functioning, and less preventive care utilization). Many factors associated with low health literacy are also associated with health disparities. Interaction with healthcare providers and sources of health information are influenced by an individual's health literacy and can impact health outcomes. This study examined the relationships between health literacy, sources of health information, and demographic/background characteristics in older adults (aged 65 years and older) related to health literacy and disparities. This descriptive, correlational study is a secondary analysis of the 2003 National Assessment of Adult Literacy, a large-scale national assessment. Older adults with lower health literacy have less income and education, rate their health as poor or fair, have visual or auditory difficulties, need help filling out forms, reading newspaper, or writing notes, and use each source of health information less (print and nonprint). Many of these characteristics and skills are predictive of health literacy and associated with health disparities. The results expand our knowledge of characteristics associated with health literacy and sources of health information used by older adults. Interventions to improve health outcomes including health disparities can focus on recognizing and meeting the health literacy demands of older adults.

  19. Infrastructure Requirements for an Expanded Fuel Ethanol Industry

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Reynolds, Robert E. [Downstream Alternatives, Inc., South Bend, IN (United States)

    2002-01-15

    This report provides technical information specifically related to ethanol transportation, distribution, and marketing issues. This report required analysis of the infrastructure requirements for an expanded ethanol industry.

  20. Infrastructure Joint Venture Projects in Malaysia: A Preliminary Study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Romeli, Norsyakilah; Muhamad Halil, Faridah; Ismail, Faridah; Sufian Hasim, Muhammad

    2018-03-01

    As many developed country practise, the function of the infrastructure is to connect the each region of Malaysia holistically and infrastructure is an investment network projects such as transportation water and sewerage, power, communication and irrigations system. Hence, a billions allocations of government income reserved for the sake of the infrastructure development. Towards a successful infrastructure development, a joint venture approach has been promotes by 2016 in one of the government thrust in Construction Industry Transformation Plan which encourage the internationalisation among contractors. However, there is depletion in information on the actual practise of the infrastructure joint venture projects in Malaysia. Therefore, this study attempt to explore the real application of the joint venture in Malaysian infrastructure projects. Using the questionnaire survey, a set of survey question distributed to the targeted respondents. The survey contained three section which the sections are respondent details, organizations background and project capital in infrastructure joint venture project. The results recorded and analyse using SPSS software. The contractors stated that they have implemented the joint venture practice with mostly the client with the usual construction period of the infrastructure project are more than 5 years. Other than that, the study indicates that there are problems in the joint venture project in the perspective of the project capital and the railway infrastructure should be given a highlights in future study due to its high significant in term of cost and technical issues.