WorldWideScience

Sample records for informatics supported web-based

  1. Informatics in radiology: web-based preliminary reporting system for radiology residents with PACS integration.

    Science.gov (United States)

    O'Connell, Timothy; Chang, Debra

    2012-01-01

    While on call, radiology residents review imaging studies and issue preliminary reports to referring clinicians. In the absence of an integrated reporting system at the training sites of the authors' institution, residents were typing and faxing preliminary reports. To partially automate the on-call resident workflow, a Web-based system for resident reporting was developed by using the free open-source xAMP Web application framework and an open-source DICOM (Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine) software toolkit, with the goals of reducing errors and lowering barriers to education. This reporting system integrates with the picture archiving and communication system to display a worklist of studies. Patient data are automatically entered in the preliminary report to prevent identification errors and simplify the report creation process. When the final report for a resident's on-call study is available, the reporting system queries the report broker for the final report, and then displays the preliminary report side by side with the final report, thus simplifying the review process and encouraging review of all of the resident's reports. The xAMP Web application framework should be considered for development of radiology department informatics projects owing to its zero cost, minimal hardware requirements, ease of programming, and large support community.

  2. MIRASS: medical informatics research activity support system using information mashup network.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kiah, M L M; Zaidan, B B; Zaidan, A A; Nabi, Mohamed; Ibraheem, Rabiu

    2014-04-01

    The advancement of information technology has facilitated the automation and feasibility of online information sharing. The second generation of the World Wide Web (Web 2.0) enables the collaboration and sharing of online information through Web-serving applications. Data mashup, which is considered a Web 2.0 platform, plays an important role in information and communication technology applications. However, few ideas have been transformed into education and research domains, particularly in medical informatics. The creation of a friendly environment for medical informatics research requires the removal of certain obstacles in terms of search time, resource credibility, and search result accuracy. This paper considers three glitches that researchers encounter in medical informatics research; these glitches include the quality of papers obtained from scientific search engines (particularly, Web of Science and Science Direct), the quality of articles from the indices of these search engines, and the customizability and flexibility of these search engines. A customizable search engine for trusted resources of medical informatics was developed and implemented through data mashup. Results show that the proposed search engine improves the usability of scientific search engines for medical informatics. Pipe search engine was found to be more efficient than other engines.

  3. METEOR: An Enterprise Health Informatics Environment to Support Evidence-Based Medicine.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Puppala, Mamta; He, Tiancheng; Chen, Shenyi; Ogunti, Richard; Yu, Xiaohui; Li, Fuhai; Jackson, Robert; Wong, Stephen T C

    2015-12-01

    The aim of this paper is to propose the design and implementation of next-generation enterprise analytics platform developed at the Houston Methodist Hospital (HMH) system to meet the market and regulatory needs of the healthcare industry. For this goal, we developed an integrated clinical informatics environment, i.e., Methodist environment for translational enhancement and outcomes research (METEOR). The framework of METEOR consists of two components: the enterprise data warehouse (EDW) and a software intelligence and analytics (SIA) layer for enabling a wide range of clinical decision support systems that can be used directly by outcomes researchers and clinical investigators to facilitate data access for the purposes of hypothesis testing, cohort identification, data mining, risk prediction, and clinical research training. Data and usability analysis were performed on METEOR components as a preliminary evaluation, which successfully demonstrated that METEOR addresses significant niches in the clinical informatics area, and provides a powerful means for data integration and efficient access in supporting clinical and translational research. METEOR EDW and informatics applications improved outcomes, enabled coordinated care, and support health analytics and clinical research at HMH. The twin pressures of cost containment in the healthcare market and new federal regulations and policies have led to the prioritization of the meaningful use of electronic health records in the United States. EDW and SIA layers on top of EDW are becoming an essential strategic tool to healthcare institutions and integrated delivery networks in order to support evidence-based medicine at the enterprise level.

  4. Web-Based Learning Support System

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fan, Lisa

    Web-based learning support system offers many benefits over traditional learning environments and has become very popular. The Web is a powerful environment for distributing information and delivering knowledge to an increasingly wide and diverse audience. Typical Web-based learning environments, such as Web-CT, Blackboard, include course content delivery tools, quiz modules, grade reporting systems, assignment submission components, etc. They are powerful integrated learning management systems (LMS) that support a number of activities performed by teachers and students during the learning process [1]. However, students who study a course on the Internet tend to be more heterogeneously distributed than those found in a traditional classroom situation. In order to achieve optimal efficiency in a learning process, an individual learner needs his or her own personalized assistance. For a web-based open and dynamic learning environment, personalized support for learners becomes more important. This chapter demonstrates how to realize personalized learning support in dynamic and heterogeneous learning environments by utilizing Adaptive Web technologies. It focuses on course personalization in terms of contents and teaching materials that is according to each student's needs and capabilities. An example of using Rough Set to analyze student personal information to assist students with effective learning and predict student performance is presented.

  5. Health Informatics 3.0 and other increasingly dispersed technologies require even greater trust: promoting safe evidence-based health informatics. Contribution of the IMIA Working Group on Technology Assessment & Quality Development in Health Informatics.

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    Rigby, M; Ammenwerth, E; Talmon, J; Nykänen, P; Brender, J; de Keizer, N

    2011-01-01

    Health informatics is generally less committed to a scientific evidence-based approach than any other area of health science, which is an unsound position. Introducing the new Web 3.0 paradigms into health IT applications can unleash a further great potential, able to integrate and distribute data from multiple sources. The counter side is that it makes the user and the patient evermore dependent on the 'black box' of the system, and the re-use of the data remote from the author and initial context. Thus anticipatory consideration of uses, and proactive analysis of evidence of effects, are imperative, as only when a clinical technology can be proven to be trustworthy and safe should it be implemented widely - as is the case with other health technologies. To argue for promoting evidence-based health informatics as systems become more powerful and pro-active yet more dispersed and remote; and evaluation as the means of generating the necessary scientific evidence base. To present ongoing IMIA and EFMI initiatives in this field. Critical overview of recent developments in health informatics evaluation, alongside the precedents of other health technologies, summarising current initiatives and the new challenges presented by Health Informatics 3.0. Web 3.0 should be taken as an opportunity to move health informatics from being largely unaccountable to one of being an ethical and responsible science-based domain. Recent and planned activities of the EFMI and IMIA working groups have significantly progressed key initiatives. Concurrent with the emergence of Web 3.0 as a means of new-generation diffuse health information systems comes an increasing need for an evidence-based culture in health informatics.

  6. A Web-Based Learning Support System for Inquiry-Based Learning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kim, Dong Won; Yao, Jingtao

    The emergence of the Internet and Web technology makes it possible to implement the ideals of inquiry-based learning, in which students seek truth, information, or knowledge by questioning. Web-based learning support systems can provide a good framework for inquiry-based learning. This article presents a study on a Web-based learning support system called Online Treasure Hunt. The Web-based learning support system mainly consists of a teaching support subsystem, a learning support subsystem, and a treasure hunt game. The teaching support subsystem allows instructors to design their own inquiry-based learning environments. The learning support subsystem supports students' inquiry activities. The treasure hunt game enables students to investigate new knowledge, develop ideas, and review their findings. Online Treasure Hunt complies with a treasure hunt model. The treasure hunt model formalizes a general treasure hunt game to contain the learning strategies of inquiry-based learning. This Web-based learning support system empowered with the online-learning game and founded on the sound learning strategies furnishes students with the interactive and collaborative student-centered learning environment.

  7. An informatics supported web-based data annotation and query tool to expedite translational research for head and neck malignancies

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Amin, Waqas; Kang, Hyunseok P; Egloff, Ann Marie; Singh, Harpreet; Trent, Kerry; Ridge-Hetrick, Jennifer; Seethala, Raja R; Grandis, Jennifer; Parwani, Anil V

    2009-01-01

    The Specialized Program of Research Excellence (SPORE) in Head and Neck Cancer neoplasm virtual biorepository is a bioinformatics-supported system to incorporate data from various clinical, pathological, and molecular systems into a single architecture based on a set of common data elements (CDEs) that provides semantic and syntactic interoperability of data sets. The various components of this annotation tool include the Development of Common Data Elements (CDEs) that are derived from College of American Pathologists (CAP) Checklist and North American Association of Central Cancer Registries (NAACR) standards. The Data Entry Tool is a portable and flexible Oracle-based data entry device, which is an easily mastered web-based tool. The Data Query Tool helps investigators and researchers to search de-identified information within the warehouse/resource through a 'point and click' interface, thus enabling only the selected data elements to be essentially copied into a data mart using a multi dimensional model from the warehouse's relational structure. The SPORE Head and Neck Neoplasm Database contains multimodal datasets that are accessible to investigators via an easy to use query tool. The database currently holds 6553 cases and 10607 tumor accessions. Among these, there are 965 metastatic, 4227 primary, 1369 recurrent, and 483 new primary cases. The data disclosure is strictly regulated by user's authorization. The SPORE Head and Neck Neoplasm Virtual Biorepository is a robust translational biomedical informatics tool that can facilitate basic science, clinical, and translational research. The Data Query Tool acts as a central source providing a mechanism for researchers to efficiently find clinically annotated datasets and biospecimens that are relevant to their research areas. The tool protects patient privacy by revealing only de-identified data in accordance with regulations and approvals of the IRB and scientific review committee

  8. The Use of RESTful Web Services in Medical Informatics and Clinical Research and Its Implementation in Europe.

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    Aerts, Jozef

    2017-01-01

    RESTful web services nowadays are state-of-the-art in business transactions over the internet. They are however not very much used in medical informatics and in clinical research, especially not in Europe. To make an inventory of RESTful web services that can be used in medical informatics and clinical research, including those that can help in patient empowerment in the DACH region and in Europe, and to develop some new RESTful web services for use in clinical research and regulatory review. A literature search on available RESTful web services has been performed and new RESTful web services have been developed on an application server using the Java language. Most of the web services found originate from institutes and organizations in the USA, whereas no similar web services could be found that are made available by European organizations. New RESTful web services have been developed for LOINC codes lookup, for UCUM conversions and for use with CDISC Standards. A comparison is made between "top down" and "bottom up" web services, the latter meant to answer concrete questions immediately. The lack of RESTful web services made available by European organizations in healthcare and medical informatics is striking. RESTful web services may in short future play a major role in medical informatics, and when localized for the German language and other European languages, can help to considerably facilitate patient empowerment. This however requires an EU equivalent of the US National Library of Medicine.

  9. Tourism informatics towards novel knowledge based approaches

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    Hashimoto, Kiyota; Iwamoto, Hidekazu

    2015-01-01

    This book introduces new trends of theory and practice of information technologies in tourism. The book does not handle only the fundamental contribution, but also discusses innovative and emerging technologies to promote and develop new generation tourism informatics theory and their applications. Some chapters are concerned with data analysis, web technologies, social media, and their case studies. Travel information on the web provided by travelers is very useful for other travelers make their travel plan. A chapter in this book proposes a method for interactive retrieval of information on accommodation facilities to support travelling customers in their travel preparations. Also an adaptive user interface for personalized transportation guidance system is proposed. Another chapter in this book shows a novel support system for the collaborative tourism planning by using the case reports that are collected via Internet. Also, a system for recommending hotels for the users is proposed and evaluated. Other ch...

  10. The Epilepsy Phenome/Genome Project (EPGP) informatics platform.

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    Nesbitt, Gerry; McKenna, Kevin; Mays, Vickie; Carpenter, Alan; Miller, Kevin; Williams, Michael

    2013-04-01

    The Epilepsy Phenome/Genome Project (EPGP) is a large-scale, multi-institutional, collaborative network of 27 epilepsy centers throughout the U.S., Australia, and Argentina, with the objective of collecting detailed phenotypic and genetic data on a large number of epilepsy participants. The goals of EPGP are (1) to perform detailed phenotyping on 3750 participants with specific forms of non-acquired epilepsy and 1500 parents without epilepsy, (2) to obtain DNA samples on these individuals, and (3) to ultimately genotype the samples in order to discover novel genes that cause epilepsy. To carry out the project, a reliable and robust informatics platform was needed for standardized electronic data collection and storage, data quality review, and phenotypic analysis involving cases from multiple sites. EPGP developed its own suite of web-based informatics applications for participant tracking, electronic data collection (using electronic case report forms/surveys), data management, phenotypic data review and validation, specimen tracking, electroencephalograph and neuroimaging storage, and issue tracking. We implemented procedures to train and support end-users at each clinical site. Thus far, 3780 study participants have been enrolled and 20,957 web-based study activities have been completed using this informatics platform. Over 95% of respondents to an end-user satisfaction survey felt that the informatics platform was successful almost always or most of the time. The EPGP informatics platform has successfully and effectively allowed study management and efficient and reliable collection of phenotypic data. Our novel informatics platform met the requirements of a large, multicenter research project. The platform has had a high level of end-user acceptance by principal investigators and study coordinators, and can serve as a model for new tools to support future large scale, collaborative research projects collecting extensive phenotypic data. Copyright © 2012

  11. Analysis on Big Data Problems and Technique Supports of Archives Informatization

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    Du Xiaoyan

    2017-06-01

    Full Text Available [Purpose/significance] The realistic questions of the archives informatization management are faced with data size rapidly increasing, and their types and structures more diverse and complex. [Method/process] Based on the essential attribute of archives in this paper, the big data characteristics of digital archives in their storage and utilization links were analyzed, and the support of new big data techniques in the course of archives informatization, and their applications to the storage and utilization of digital archives and knowledge discovery were researched. [Result/conclusion] Modern processing technology for big data would not only bring certain supports for the management of archives informatization, but also promote the development of its theory and practice.

  12. Development of a real-time clinical decision support system upon the Web MVC-based architecture for prostate cancer treatment.

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    Lin, Hsueh-Chun; Wu, Hsi-Chin; Chang, Chih-Hung; Li, Tsai-Chung; Liang, Wen-Miin; Wang, Jong-Yi Wang

    2011-03-08

    A real-time clinical decision support system (RTCDSS) with interactive diagrams enables clinicians to instantly and efficiently track patients' clinical records (PCRs) and improve their quality of clinical care. We propose a RTCDSS to process online clinical informatics from multiple databases for clinical decision making in the treatment of prostate cancer based on Web Model-View-Controller (MVC) architecture, by which the system can easily be adapted to different diseases and applications. We designed a framework upon the Web MVC-based architecture in which the reusable and extractable models can be conveniently adapted to other hospital information systems and which allows for efficient database integration. Then, we determined the clinical variables of the prostate cancer treatment based on participating clinicians' opinions and developed a computational model to determine the pretreatment parameters. Furthermore, the components of the RTCDSS integrated PCRs and decision factors for real-time analysis to provide evidence-based diagrams upon the clinician-oriented interface for visualization of treatment guidance and health risk assessment. The resulting system can improve quality of clinical treatment by allowing clinicians to concurrently analyze and evaluate the clinical markers of prostate cancer patients with instantaneous clinical data and evidence-based diagrams which can automatically identify pretreatment parameters. Moreover, the proposed RTCDSS can aid interactions between patients and clinicians. Our proposed framework supports online clinical informatics, evaluates treatment risks, offers interactive guidance, and provides real-time reference for decision making in the treatment of prostate cancer. The developed clinician-oriented interface can assist clinicians in conveniently presenting evidence-based information to patients and can be readily adapted to an existing hospital information system and be easily applied in other chronic diseases.

  13. Development of a real-time clinical decision support system upon the web mvc-based architecture for prostate cancer treatment

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    Liang Wen-Miin

    2011-03-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background A real-time clinical decision support system (RTCDSS with interactive diagrams enables clinicians to instantly and efficiently track patients' clinical records (PCRs and improve their quality of clinical care. We propose a RTCDSS to process online clinical informatics from multiple databases for clinical decision making in the treatment of prostate cancer based on Web Model-View-Controller (MVC architecture, by which the system can easily be adapted to different diseases and applications. Methods We designed a framework upon the Web MVC-based architecture in which the reusable and extractable models can be conveniently adapted to other hospital information systems and which allows for efficient database integration. Then, we determined the clinical variables of the prostate cancer treatment based on participating clinicians' opinions and developed a computational model to determine the pretreatment parameters. Furthermore, the components of the RTCDSS integrated PCRs and decision factors for real-time analysis to provide evidence-based diagrams upon the clinician-oriented interface for visualization of treatment guidance and health risk assessment. Results The resulting system can improve quality of clinical treatment by allowing clinicians to concurrently analyze and evaluate the clinical markers of prostate cancer patients with instantaneous clinical data and evidence-based diagrams which can automatically identify pretreatment parameters. Moreover, the proposed RTCDSS can aid interactions between patients and clinicians. Conclusions Our proposed framework supports online clinical informatics, evaluates treatment risks, offers interactive guidance, and provides real-time reference for decision making in the treatment of prostate cancer. The developed clinician-oriented interface can assist clinicians in conveniently presenting evidence-based information to patients and can be readily adapted to an existing hospital

  14. Education in Biomedical and Health Informatics in the Web 3.0 Era: Standards for data, curricula, and activities. Contribution of the IMIA Working Group on Health and Medical Informatics Education.

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    Otero, P; Hersh, W

    2011-01-01

    Web 3.0 is transforming the World Wide Web by allowing knowledge and reasoning to be gleaned from its content. Describe a new scenario in education and training known as "Education 3.0" that can help in the promotion of learning in health informatics in a collaborative way. Review of the current standards available for curricula and learning activities in in Biomedical and Health Informatics (BMHI) for a Web 3.0 scenario. A new scenario known as "Education 3.0" can provide open educational resources created and reused throughout different institutions and improved by means of an international collaborative knowledge powered by the use of E-learning. Currently there are standards that could be used in identifying and deliver content in education in BMHI in the semantic web era such as Resource Description Format (RDF), Web Ontology Language (OWL) and Sharable Content Object Reference Model (SCORM). In addition, there are other standards to support healthcare education and training. There are few experiences in the use of standards in e-learning in BMHI published in the literature. Web 3.0 can propose new approaches to building the BMHI workforce so there is a need to build tools as knowledge infrastructure to leverage it. The usefulness of standards in the content and competencies of training programs in BMHI needs more experience and research so as to promote the interoperability and sharing of resources in this growing discipline.

  15. PEDAGOGICAL BASIS OF DEVELOPING OF EDUCATIONAL WEB RESOURCE IN THE DISCIPLINE “INFORMATICS AND SYSTEMOLOGY” FOR FUTURE ECOLOGIES

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    Sherman M.

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available Based on the analysis of the information presented in psychological and pedagogical sources, educational and methodological works and the results of own research, a number of contradictions are identified, without which the process of formation of the professional information culture of future ecologists is problematic and uncertain. The main contradictions between the modern social requirements to the level of professional information and technological training of future ecologists and the current state of its organization in state agricultural universities are insufficient in the content of the disciplines «Fundamentals of Informatics and Computer Technology», «Informatics and Systemology», «Information Technologies», «Statistics» the direction needs by which the training of future ecologists is carried out; the actual realization of these disciplines is only a general development function in teaching process, while the realization of tasks of professional computer-information training of future ecologists is secondary task; the interdisciplinary and inter-cycle connections between professionally oriented ecological disciplines and computer science and related disciplines are insufficiently clearly identified and outlined. In order to overcome the above contradictions, we selected the professional-pedagogical principles of creating the content of the discipline «Informatics and Systemology» (principles of professional orientation, professional conformity, integrity, continuity, consistency, logical consistency, pedagogical expediency, information security ensuring, the starting level of mastering by means of information-communication technologies, there is structurization of content of discipline in accordance with the spatio- temporal boundaries, provided by the curriculum of future ecologists professional training, the components of methodological support of teaching of the discipline are developed. The web-resource of educational

  16. Profile-IQ: Web-based data query system for local health department infrastructure and activities.

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    Shah, Gulzar H; Leep, Carolyn J; Alexander, Dayna

    2014-01-01

    To demonstrate the use of National Association of County & City Health Officials' Profile-IQ, a Web-based data query system, and how policy makers, researchers, the general public, and public health professionals can use the system to generate descriptive statistics on local health departments. This article is a descriptive account of an important health informatics tool based on information from the project charter for Profile-IQ and the authors' experience and knowledge in design and use of this query system. Profile-IQ is a Web-based data query system that is based on open-source software: MySQL 5.5, Google Web Toolkit 2.2.0, Apache Commons Math library, Google Chart API, and Tomcat 6.0 Web server deployed on an Amazon EC2 server. It supports dynamic queries of National Profile of Local Health Departments data on local health department finances, workforce, and activities. Profile-IQ's customizable queries provide a variety of statistics not available in published reports and support the growing information needs of users who do not wish to work directly with data files for lack of staff skills or time, or to avoid a data use agreement. Profile-IQ also meets the growing demand of public health practitioners and policy makers for data to support quality improvement, community health assessment, and other processes associated with voluntary public health accreditation. It represents a step forward in the recent health informatics movement of data liberation and use of open source information technology solutions to promote public health.

  17. Offering Distance Education in Health Informatics: The State of the Web Sites.

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    Lazinger, Susan; Handzel, Ruth

    2003-01-01

    Within the framework of a bi-national project, between the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and four Israeli universities, a prototype database of programs and courses in health informatics was implemented. Examined Web sites particularly for courses offered via distance education and discusses results of a content analysis. (Author/LRW)

  18. A multimedia comprehensive informatics system with decision support tools for a multi-site collaboration research of stroke rehabilitation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Ximing; Documet, Jorge; Garrison, Kathleen A.; Winstein, Carolee J.; Liu, Brent

    2012-02-01

    Stroke is a major cause of adult disability. The Interdisciplinary Comprehensive Arm Rehabilitation Evaluation (I-CARE) clinical trial aims to evaluate a therapy for arm rehabilitation after stroke. A primary outcome measure is correlative analysis between stroke lesion characteristics and standard measures of rehabilitation progress, from data collected at seven research facilities across the country. Sharing and communication of brain imaging and behavioral data is thus a challenge for collaboration. A solution is proposed as a web-based system with tools supporting imaging and informatics related data. In this system, users may upload anonymized brain images through a secure internet connection and the system will sort the imaging data for storage in a centralized database. Users may utilize an annotation tool to mark up images. In addition to imaging informatics, electronic data forms, for example, clinical data forms, are also integrated. Clinical information is processed and stored in the database to enable future data mining related development. Tele-consultation is facilitated through the development of a thin-client image viewing application. For convenience, the system supports access through desktop PC, laptops, and iPAD. Thus, clinicians may enter data directly into the system via iPAD while working with participants in the study. Overall, this comprehensive imaging informatics system enables users to collect, organize and analyze stroke cases efficiently.

  19. Nursing informatics, ethics and decisions: implications for translational research

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kaltoft, Mette Kjer; Nielsen, Jesper Bo; Dowie, Jack

    Nursing informatics, ethics and decisions: implications for translational research Objective: To introduce, in the multi-disciplinary contexts of clinical decision making and policy formation, a theory-based decision-analytic framework for the transparent forward translation of research......-calculation with evidence-based ratings for option performance on those criteria to produce a preference-sensitive assessment or opinion. Results: The first example shows the framework connecting nursing informatics and nursing ethics in the clinical context of a nurse’s decision to disclose or not disclose information......, satisfaction, Quality of Life), organization-related (staff and work environment, internal and external communication and relationships) and economics-related (start-up costs, financial implications and externalities)). Conclusion: Web-based decision support can provide nursing with a template, technique...

  20. Assessing the current state of dental informatics in saudi arabia: the new frontier.

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    Al-Nasser, Lubna; Al-Ehaideb, Ali; Househ, Mowafa

    2014-01-01

    Dental informatics is an emerging field that has the potential to transform the dental profession. This study aims to summarize the current applications of dental informatics in Saudi Arabia and to identify the challenges facing expansion of dental informatics in the Saudi context. Search for published articles and specialized forum entries was conducted, as well as interviews with dental professionals familiar with the topic. Results indicated that digital radiography/analysis and administrative management of dental practice are the commonest applications used. Applications in Saudi dental education included: web-based learning systems, computer-based assessments and virtual technology for clinical skills' teaching. Patients' education software, electronic dental/oral health records and the potential of dental research output from electronic databases are yet to be achieved in Saudi Arabia. Challenges facing Saudi dental informatics include: lack of IT infrastructure/support, social acceptability and financial cost. Several initiatives are taken towards the research in dental informatics. Still, more investments are needed to fully achieve the potential of various application of informatics in dental education, practice and research.

  1. Evaluation of Web-Based Ostomy Patient Support Resources.

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    Pittman, Joyce; Nichols, Thom; Rawl, Susan M

    To evaluate currently available, no-cost, Web-based patient support resources designed for those who have recently undergone ostomy surgery. Descriptive, correlational study using telephone survey. The sample comprised 202 adults who had ostomy surgery within the previous 24 months in 1 of 5 hospitals within a large healthcare organization in the Midwestern United States. Two of the hospitals were academic teaching hospitals, and 3 were community hospitals. The study was divided into 2 phases: (1) gap analysis of 4 Web sites (labeled A-D) based on specific criteria; and (2) telephone survey of individuals with an ostomy. In phase 1, a comprehensive checklist based on best practice standards was developed to conduct the gap analysis. In phase 2, data were collected from 202 participants by trained interviewers via 1-time structured telephone interviews that required approximately 30 minutes to complete. Descriptive analyses were performed, along with correlational analysis of relationships among Web site usage, acceptability and satisfaction, demographic characteristics, and medical history. Gap analysis revealed that Web site D, managed by a patient advocacy group, received the highest total content score of 155/176 (88%) and the highest usability score of 31.7/35 (91%). Two hundred two participants completed the telephone interview, with 96 (48%) reporting that they used the Internet as a source of information. Sixty participants (30%) reported that friends or family member had searched the Internet for ostomy information on their behalf, and 148 (75%) indicated they were confident they could get information about ostomies on the Internet. Of the 90 participants (45%) who reported using the Internet to locate ostomy information, 73 (82%) found the information on the Web easy to understand, 28 (31%) reported being frustrated during their search for information, 24 (27%) indicated it took a lot of effort to get the information they needed, and 39 (43%) were

  2. A demanding web-based PACS supported by web services technology

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    Costa, Carlos M. A.; Silva, Augusto; Oliveira, José L.; Ribeiro, Vasco G.; Ribeiro, José

    2006-03-01

    During the last years, the ubiquity of web interfaces have pushed practically all PACS suppliers to develop client applications in which clinical practitioners can receive and analyze medical images, using conventional personal computers and Web browsers. However, due to security and performance issues, the utilization of these software packages has been restricted to Intranets. Paradigmatically, one of the most important advantages of digital image systems is to simplify the widespread sharing and remote access of medical data between healthcare institutions. This paper analyses the traditional PACS drawbacks that contribute to their reduced usage in the Internet and describes a PACS based on Web Services technology that supports a customized DICOM encoding syntax and a specific compression scheme providing all historical patient data in a unique Web interface.

  3. Informatics to support the IOM social and behavioral domains and measures.

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    Hripcsak, George; Forrest, Christopher B; Brennan, Patricia Flatley; Stead, William W

    2015-07-01

    Consistent collection and use of social and behavioral determinants of health can improve clinical care, prevention and general health, patient satisfaction, research, and public health. A recent Institute of Medicine committee defined a panel of 11 domains and 12 measures to be included in electronic health records. Incorporating the panel into practice creates a number of informatics research opportunities as well as challenges. The informatics issues revolve around standardization, efficient collection and review, decision support, and support for research. The informatics community can aid the effort by simultaneously optimizing the collection of the selected measures while also partnering with social science researchers to develop and validate new sources of information about social and behavioral determinants of health. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the American Medical Informatics Association.

  4. Chemical Markup, XML and the World-Wide Web. 8. Polymer Markup Language.

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    Adams, Nico; Winter, Jerry; Murray-Rust, Peter; Rzepa, Henry S

    2008-11-01

    Polymers are among the most important classes of materials but are only inadequately supported by modern informatics. The paper discusses the reasons why polymer informatics is considerably more challenging than small molecule informatics and develops a vision for the computer-aided design of polymers, based on modern semantic web technologies. The paper then discusses the development of Polymer Markup Language (PML). PML is an extensible language, designed to support the (structural) representation of polymers and polymer-related information. PML closely interoperates with Chemical Markup Language (CML) and overcomes a number of the previously identified challenges.

  5. Case-based medical informatics

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Arocha José F

    2004-11-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background The "applied" nature distinguishes applied sciences from theoretical sciences. To emphasize this distinction, we begin with a general, meta-level overview of the scientific endeavor. We introduce the knowledge spectrum and four interconnected modalities of knowledge. In addition to the traditional differentiation between implicit and explicit knowledge we outline the concepts of general and individual knowledge. We connect general knowledge with the "frame problem," a fundamental issue of artificial intelligence, and individual knowledge with another important paradigm of artificial intelligence, case-based reasoning, a method of individual knowledge processing that aims at solving new problems based on the solutions to similar past problems. We outline the fundamental differences between Medical Informatics and theoretical sciences and propose that Medical Informatics research should advance individual knowledge processing (case-based reasoning and that natural language processing research is an important step towards this goal that may have ethical implications for patient-centered health medicine. Discussion We focus on fundamental aspects of decision-making, which connect human expertise with individual knowledge processing. We continue with a knowledge spectrum perspective on biomedical knowledge and conclude that case-based reasoning is the paradigm that can advance towards personalized healthcare and that can enable the education of patients and providers. We center the discussion on formal methods of knowledge representation around the frame problem. We propose a context-dependent view on the notion of "meaning" and advocate the need for case-based reasoning research and natural language processing. In the context of memory based knowledge processing, pattern recognition, comparison and analogy-making, we conclude that while humans seem to naturally support the case-based reasoning paradigm (memory of past experiences

  6. Web-Based Administrative Supports for University Students.

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    McClelland, Robert J.

    2001-01-01

    Evaluates development and effectiveness of a Web-based administration support for business students at Liverpool John Moores University. Considers whether the strategic planning and individual school developments have influenced the development and usefulness of the campus-wide information system. Discusses action research findings on student…

  7. Person-centred web-based support--development through a Swedish multi-case study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Josefsson, Ulrika; Berg, Marie; Koinberg, Ingalill; Hellström, Anna-Lena; Nolbris, Margaretha Jenholt; Ranerup, Agneta; Lundin, Carina Sparud; Skärsäter, Ingela

    2013-10-19

    Departing from the widespread use of the internet in modern society and the emerging use of web applications in healthcare this project captures persons' needs and expectations in order to develop highly usable web recourses. The purpose of this paper is to outline a multi-case research project focused on the development and evaluation of person-centred web-based support for people with long-term illness. To support the underlying idea to move beyond the illness, we approach the development of web support from the perspective of the emergent area of person-centred care. The project aims to contribute to the ongoing development of web-based supports in health care and to the emerging field of person-centred care. The research design uses a meta-analytical approach through its focus on synthesizing experiences from four Swedish regional and national cases of design and use of web-based support in long-term illness. The cases include children (bladder dysfunction and urogenital malformation), young adults (living close to persons with mental illness), and two different cases of adults (women with breast cancer and childbearing women with type 1 diabetes). All of the cases are ongoing, though in different stages of design, implementation, and analysis. This, we argue, will lead to a synthesis of results on a meta-level not yet described. To allow valid comparisons between the four cases we explore and problematize them in relation to four main aspects: 1) The use of people's experiences and needs; 2) The role of use of theories in the design of person-centred web-based supports; 3) The evaluation of the effects of health outcomes for the informants involved and 4) The development of a generic person-centred model for learning and social support for people with long-term illness and their significant others. Person-centred web-based support is a new area and few studies focus on how web-based interventions can contribute to the development of person-centred care. In

  8. Evaluation of a web based informatics system with data mining tools for predicting outcomes with quantitative imaging features in stroke rehabilitation clinical trials

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Ximing; Kim, Bokkyu; Park, Ji Hoon; Wang, Erik; Forsyth, Sydney; Lim, Cody; Ravi, Ragini; Karibyan, Sarkis; Sanchez, Alexander; Liu, Brent

    2017-03-01

    Quantitative imaging biomarkers are used widely in clinical trials for tracking and evaluation of medical interventions. Previously, we have presented a web based informatics system utilizing quantitative imaging features for predicting outcomes in stroke rehabilitation clinical trials. The system integrates imaging features extraction tools and a web-based statistical analysis tool. The tools include a generalized linear mixed model(GLMM) that can investigate potential significance and correlation based on features extracted from clinical data and quantitative biomarkers. The imaging features extraction tools allow the user to collect imaging features and the GLMM module allows the user to select clinical data and imaging features such as stroke lesion characteristics from the database as regressors and regressands. This paper discusses the application scenario and evaluation results of the system in a stroke rehabilitation clinical trial. The system was utilized to manage clinical data and extract imaging biomarkers including stroke lesion volume, location and ventricle/brain ratio. The GLMM module was validated and the efficiency of data analysis was also evaluated.

  9. An imaging informatics-based ePR (electronic patient record) system for providing decision support in evaluating dose optimization in stroke rehabilitation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Brent J.; Winstein, Carolee; Wang, Ximing; Konersman, Matt; Martinez, Clarisa; Schweighofer, Nicolas

    2012-02-01

    Stroke is one of the major causes of death and disability in America. After stroke, about 65% of survivors still suffer from severe paresis, while rehabilitation treatment strategy after stroke plays an essential role in recovery. Currently, there is a clinical trial (NIH award #HD065438) to determine the optimal dose of rehabilitation for persistent recovery of arm and hand paresis. For DOSE (Dose Optimization Stroke Evaluation), laboratory-based measurements, such as the Wolf Motor Function test, behavioral questionnaires (e.g. Motor Activity Log-MAL), and MR, DTI, and Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) imaging studies are planned. Current data collection processes are tedious and reside in various standalone systems including hardcopy forms. In order to improve the efficiency of this clinical trial and facilitate decision support, a web-based imaging informatics system has been implemented together with utilizing mobile devices (eg, iPAD, tablet PC's, laptops) for collecting input data and integrating all multi-media data into a single system. The system aims to provide clinical imaging informatics management and a platform to develop tools to predict the treatment effect based on the imaging studies and the treatment dosage with mathematical models. Since there is a large amount of information to be recorded within the DOSE project, the system provides clinical data entry through mobile device applications thus allowing users to collect data at the point of patient interaction without typing into a desktop computer, which is inconvenient. Imaging analysis tools will also be developed for structural MRI, DTI, and TMS imaging studies that will be integrated within the system and correlated with the clinical and behavioral data. This system provides a research platform for future development of mathematical models to evaluate the differences between prediction and reality and thus improve and refine the models rapidly and efficiently.

  10. Towards health informatics 3.0. Editorial.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kulikowski, Casimir A; Geissbuhler, Antoine

    2011-01-01

    To provide an editorial introduction to the 2011 IMIA Yearbook of Medical Informatics with an overview of its contents and contributors. A brief overview of the main theme, and an outline of the purposes, contents, format, and acknowledgment of contributions for the 2011 IMIA Yearbook. This 2011 issue of the IMIA Yearbook highlights important developments in the development of Web 3.0 capabilities that are increasing in Health Informatics, impacting the activities in research, education and practice in this interdisciplinary field. There has been steady progress towards introducing semantics into informatics systems through more sophisticated representations of knowledge in their underlying information. Health Informatics 3.0 capabilities are identified from the recent literature, illustrated by selected papers published during the past 12 months, and articles reported by IMIA Working Groups. Surveys of the main research sub-fields in biomedical informatics in the Yearbook provide an overview of progress and current challenges across the spectrum of the discipline, focusing on Web 3.0 challenges and opportunities.

  11. Using Web-Based Knowledge Extraction Techniques to Support Cultural Modeling

    Science.gov (United States)

    Smart, Paul R.; Sieck, Winston R.; Shadbolt, Nigel R.

    The World Wide Web is a potentially valuable source of information about the cognitive characteristics of cultural groups. However, attempts to use the Web in the context of cultural modeling activities are hampered by the large-scale nature of the Web and the current dominance of natural language formats. In this paper, we outline an approach to support the exploitation of the Web for cultural modeling activities. The approach begins with the development of qualitative cultural models (which describe the beliefs, concepts and values of cultural groups), and these models are subsequently used to develop an ontology-based information extraction capability. Our approach represents an attempt to combine conventional approaches to information extraction with epidemiological perspectives of culture and network-based approaches to cultural analysis. The approach can be used, we suggest, to support the development of models providing a better understanding of the cognitive characteristics of particular cultural groups.

  12. Health informatics 3.0.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kalra, Dipak

    2011-01-01

    Web 3.0 promises us smart computer services that will interact with each other and leverage knowledge about us and our immediate context to deliver prioritised and relevant information to support decisions and actions. Healthcare must take advantage of such new knowledge-integrating services, in particular to support better co-operation between professionals of different disciplines working in different locations, and to enable well-informed co-operation between clinicians and patients. To grasp the potential of Web 3.0 we will need well-harmonised semantic resources that can richly connect virtual teams and link their strategies to real-time and tailored evidence. Facts, decision logic, care pathway steps, alerts, education need to be embedded within components that can interact with multiple EHR systems and services consistently. Using Health Informatics 3.0 a patient's current situation could be compared with the outcomes of very similar patients (from across millions) to deliver personalised care recommendations. The integration of EHRs with biomedical sciences ('omics) research results and predictive models such as the Virtual Physiological Human could help speed up the translation of new knowledge into clinical practice. The mission, and challenge, for Health Informatics 3.0 is to enable healthy citizens, patients and professionals to collaborate within a knowledge-empowered social network in which patient specific information and personalised real-time evidence are seamlessly interwoven.

  13. Design and Implementation of English Reading Examination System Based on WEB Platform

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lan Guo

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available For the self-assessment and practice-based improvement of students' English reading level, this paper designed an English reading test system based on the WEB platform, which will enrich the methods for students to improve their reading ability and will advance the informatization level of English tests. The system adopts the browser / server architecture with the back-end database SQL Server as the database management system and C # and ASP.NET as the programming language to meet multiple needs of English reading examinations and achieve the informatization management of English reading examinations. The design and implementation of the English reading examination system based on the WEB platform will not only improve the efficiency of the examination management, but also drive students to actively learn English reading, with certain application value.

  14. Supporting teachers integrating web 2.0 in a Problem Based Learning approach

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Buus, Lillian

    2010-01-01

    Based on theoretical and methodological considerations within problem-based learning (PBL), web 2.0 technologies and learning designs, the article try to illustrate a design model for supporting teachers in their learning design trying to integrate web 2.0 technologies into their PBL approach...... that a transition from curriculum-based teaching to PBL entails a movement from a teacher-centered approach to a learner-centered approach [4],[5]. This move can in many ways be compared to the conceptual move from web 1.0 to web 2.0 that by some is seen as a transition from ‘users/learners as consumers’ towards...... ‘users/learners as producers’ [6]. Consequently, it makes good sense to connect Web 2.0 with a problem-based approach to learning. Therefore it’s interesting to look upon a learning design model supporting teachers at AAU in their pedagogical design combining these two. The Collaborative E...

  15. An informatics research agenda to support precision medicine: seven key areas.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tenenbaum, Jessica D; Avillach, Paul; Benham-Hutchins, Marge; Breitenstein, Matthew K; Crowgey, Erin L; Hoffman, Mark A; Jiang, Xia; Madhavan, Subha; Mattison, John E; Nagarajan, Radhakrishnan; Ray, Bisakha; Shin, Dmitriy; Visweswaran, Shyam; Zhao, Zhongming; Freimuth, Robert R

    2016-07-01

    The recent announcement of the Precision Medicine Initiative by President Obama has brought precision medicine (PM) to the forefront for healthcare providers, researchers, regulators, innovators, and funders alike. As technologies continue to evolve and datasets grow in magnitude, a strong computational infrastructure will be essential to realize PM's vision of improved healthcare derived from personal data. In addition, informatics research and innovation affords a tremendous opportunity to drive the science underlying PM. The informatics community must lead the development of technologies and methodologies that will increase the discovery and application of biomedical knowledge through close collaboration between researchers, clinicians, and patients. This perspective highlights seven key areas that are in need of further informatics research and innovation to support the realization of PM. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the American Medical Informatics Association.

  16. Evidence-based Practice. Findings from the Section on Education and Consumer Health Informatics.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Staccini, P; Douali, N

    2013-01-01

    To provide an overview of outstanding current research conducted in Education and Consumer Informatics. Synopsis of the articles on education and consumer health informatics published in 2012 and selected for the IMIA Yearbook of Medical Informatics 2013. Architecture of monitoring or telehealth information systems for patients with chronic disease must include wireless devices to aid in the collection of personal data. Data acquisition technologies have an impact on patients' willingness to participate in telehealth programmes. Patients are more likely to prefer mobile applications over web-based applications. Social media is widely used by clinicians. Especially younger clinicians use it for personal purposes and for reference materials retrieval. Questions remain on optimal training requirements and on the effects on clinician behavior and on patient outcomes. A high level of e-Health literacy by patients will promote increased adoption and utilization of personal health records. The selected articles highlight the need for training of clinicians to become aware of existing telehealth systems, in order to correctly inform and guide patients to take part in telehealth systems and adopt personal healthcare records (PHR).

  17. Clinical Research Informatics: Supporting the Research Study Lifecycle.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Johnson, S B

    2017-08-01

    Objectives: The primary goal of this review is to summarize significant developments in the field of Clinical Research Informatics (CRI) over the years 2015-2016. The secondary goal is to contribute to a deeper understanding of CRI as a field, through the development of a strategy for searching and classifying CRI publications. Methods: A search strategy was developed to query the PubMed database, using medical subject headings to both select and exclude articles, and filtering publications by date and other characteristics. A manual review classified publications using stages in the "research study lifecycle", with key stages that include study definition, participant enrollment, data management, data analysis, and results dissemination. Results: The search strategy generated 510 publications. The manual classification identified 125 publications as relevant to CRI, which were classified into seven different stages of the research lifecycle, and one additional class that pertained to multiple stages, referring to general infrastructure or standards. Important cross-cutting themes included new applications of electronic media (Internet, social media, mobile devices), standardization of data and procedures, and increased automation through the use of data mining and big data methods. Conclusions: The review revealed increased interest and support for CRI in large-scale projects across institutions, regionally, nationally, and internationally. A search strategy based on medical subject headings can find many relevant papers, but a large number of non-relevant papers need to be detected using text words which pertain to closely related fields such as computational statistics and clinical informatics. The research lifecycle was useful as a classification scheme by highlighting the relevance to the users of clinical research informatics solutions. Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart.

  18. Implementation of a scalable, web-based, automated clinical decision support risk-prediction tool for chronic kidney disease using C-CDA and application programming interfaces.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Samal, Lipika; D'Amore, John D; Bates, David W; Wright, Adam

    2017-11-01

    Clinical decision support tools for risk prediction are readily available, but typically require workflow interruptions and manual data entry so are rarely used. Due to new data interoperability standards for electronic health records (EHRs), other options are available. As a clinical case study, we sought to build a scalable, web-based system that would automate calculation of kidney failure risk and display clinical decision support to users in primary care practices. We developed a single-page application, web server, database, and application programming interface to calculate and display kidney failure risk. Data were extracted from the EHR using the Consolidated Clinical Document Architecture interoperability standard for Continuity of Care Documents (CCDs). EHR users were presented with a noninterruptive alert on the patient's summary screen and a hyperlink to details and recommendations provided through a web application. Clinic schedules and CCDs were retrieved using existing application programming interfaces to the EHR, and we provided a clinical decision support hyperlink to the EHR as a service. We debugged a series of terminology and technical issues. The application was validated with data from 255 patients and subsequently deployed to 10 primary care clinics where, over the course of 1 year, 569 533 CCD documents were processed. We validated the use of interoperable documents and open-source components to develop a low-cost tool for automated clinical decision support. Since Consolidated Clinical Document Architecture-based data extraction extends to any certified EHR, this demonstrates a successful modular approach to clinical decision support. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the American Medical Informatics Association.

  19. Characterizing stroke lesions using digital templates and lesion quantification tools in a web-based imaging informatics system for a large-scale stroke rehabilitation clinical trial

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Ximing; Edwardson, Matthew; Dromerick, Alexander; Winstein, Carolee; Wang, Jing; Liu, Brent

    2015-03-01

    Previously, we presented an Interdisciplinary Comprehensive Arm Rehabilitation Evaluation (ICARE) imaging informatics system that supports a large-scale phase III stroke rehabilitation trial. The ePR system is capable of displaying anonymized patient imaging studies and reports, and the system is accessible to multiple clinical trial sites and users across the United States via the web. However, the prior multicenter stroke rehabilitation trials lack any significant neuroimaging analysis infrastructure. In stroke related clinical trials, identification of the stroke lesion characteristics can be meaningful as recent research shows that lesion characteristics are related to stroke scale and functional recovery after stroke. To facilitate the stroke clinical trials, we hope to gain insight into specific lesion characteristics, such as vascular territory, for patients enrolled into large stroke rehabilitation trials. To enhance the system's capability for data analysis and data reporting, we have integrated new features with the system: a digital brain template display, a lesion quantification tool and a digital case report form. The digital brain templates are compiled from published vascular territory templates at each of 5 angles of incidence. These templates were updated to include territories in the brainstem using a vascular territory atlas and the Medical Image Processing, Analysis and Visualization (MIPAV) tool. The digital templates are displayed for side-by-side comparisons and transparent template overlay onto patients' images in the image viewer. The lesion quantification tool quantifies planimetric lesion area from user-defined contour. The digital case report form stores user input into a database, then displays contents in the interface to allow for reviewing, editing, and new inputs. In sum, the newly integrated system features provide the user with readily-accessible web-based tools to identify the vascular territory involved, estimate lesion area

  20. Medical decision support and medical informatics education: roots, methods and applications in czechoslovakia and the czech republic.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zvárová, Jana

    2013-01-01

    The paper describes the history of medical informatics in Czechoslovakia and the Czech Republic. It focuses on the topics of medical informatics education and decision support methods and systems. Several conferences held in Czechoslovakia and in the Czech Republic organized in cooperation with IMIA or EFMI are described. Support of European Union and Czech agencies in several European and national projects focused on medical informatics topics highly contributed to medical informatics development in Czechoslovakia and the Czech Republic and to the establishment of the European Center for Medical Informatics, Statistics and Epidemiology as the joint workplace of Charles University in Prague and Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic in 1994.

  1. Biomedical informatics and translational medicine

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sarkar Indra

    2010-02-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Biomedical informatics involves a core set of methodologies that can provide a foundation for crossing the "translational barriers" associated with translational medicine. To this end, the fundamental aspects of biomedical informatics (e.g., bioinformatics, imaging informatics, clinical informatics, and public health informatics may be essential in helping improve the ability to bring basic research findings to the bedside, evaluate the efficacy of interventions across communities, and enable the assessment of the eventual impact of translational medicine innovations on health policies. Here, a brief description is provided for a selection of key biomedical informatics topics (Decision Support, Natural Language Processing, Standards, Information Retrieval, and Electronic Health Records and their relevance to translational medicine. Based on contributions and advancements in each of these topic areas, the article proposes that biomedical informatics practitioners ("biomedical informaticians" can be essential members of translational medicine teams.

  2. Web-based Traffic Noise Control Support System for Sustainable Transportation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fan, Lisa; Dai, Liming; Li, Anson

    Traffic noise is considered as one of the major pollutions that will affect our communities in the future. This paper presents a framework of web-based traffic noise control support system (WTNCSS) for a sustainable transportation. WTNCSS is to provide the decision makers, engineers and publics a platform to efficiently access the information, and effectively making decisions related to traffic control. The system is based on a Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) which takes the advantages of the convenience of World Wide Web system with the data format of XML. The whole system is divided into different modules such as the prediction module, ontology-based expert module and dynamic online survey module. Each module of the system provides a distinct information service to the decision support center through the HTTP protocol.

  3. Continued multidisciplinary project-based learning - implementation in health informatics.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wessel, C; Spreckelsen, C

    2009-01-01

    Problem- and project-based learning are approved methods to train students, graduates and post-graduates in scientific and other professional skills. The students are trained on realistic scenarios in a broader context. For students specializing in health informatics we introduced continued multidisciplinary project-based learning (CM-PBL) at a department of medical informatics. The training approach addresses both students of medicine and students of computer science. The students are full members of an ongoing research project and develop a project-related application or module, or explore or evaluate a sub-project. Two teachers guide and review the students' work. The training on scientific work follows a workflow with defined milestones. The team acts as peer group. By participating in the research team's work the students are trained on professional skills. A research project on a web-based information system on hospitals built the scenario for the realistic context. The research team consisted of up to 14 active members at a time, who were scientists and students of computer science and medicine. The well communicated educational approach and team policy fostered the participation of the students. Formative assessment and evaluation showed a considerable improvement of the students' skills and a high participant satisfaction. Alternative education approaches such as project-based learning empower students to acquire scientific knowledge and professional skills, especially the ability of life-long learning, multidisciplinary team work and social responsibility.

  4. Building a semantic web-based metadata repository for facilitating detailed clinical modeling in cancer genome studies.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sharma, Deepak K; Solbrig, Harold R; Tao, Cui; Weng, Chunhua; Chute, Christopher G; Jiang, Guoqian

    2017-06-05

    Detailed Clinical Models (DCMs) have been regarded as the basis for retaining computable meaning when data are exchanged between heterogeneous computer systems. To better support clinical cancer data capturing and reporting, there is an emerging need to develop informatics solutions for standards-based clinical models in cancer study domains. The objective of the study is to develop and evaluate a cancer genome study metadata management system that serves as a key infrastructure in supporting clinical information modeling in cancer genome study domains. We leveraged a Semantic Web-based metadata repository enhanced with both ISO11179 metadata standard and Clinical Information Modeling Initiative (CIMI) Reference Model. We used the common data elements (CDEs) defined in The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) data dictionary, and extracted the metadata of the CDEs using the NCI Cancer Data Standards Repository (caDSR) CDE dataset rendered in the Resource Description Framework (RDF). The ITEM/ITEM_GROUP pattern defined in the latest CIMI Reference Model is used to represent reusable model elements (mini-Archetypes). We produced a metadata repository with 38 clinical cancer genome study domains, comprising a rich collection of mini-Archetype pattern instances. We performed a case study of the domain "clinical pharmaceutical" in the TCGA data dictionary and demonstrated enriched data elements in the metadata repository are very useful in support of building detailed clinical models. Our informatics approach leveraging Semantic Web technologies provides an effective way to build a CIMI-compliant metadata repository that would facilitate the detailed clinical modeling to support use cases beyond TCGA in clinical cancer study domains.

  5. On Informatics Diagnostics and Informatics Therapeutics - Good Medical Informatics Research Is Needed Here.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Haux, Reinhold

    2017-01-01

    In the era of digitization some new procedures play an increasing role for diagnosis as well as for therapy: informatics diagnostics and informatics therapeutics. Challenges for such procedures are described. It is discussed, when research on such diagnostics and therapeutics can be regarded as good research. Examples are mentioned for informatics diagnostics and informatics therapeutics, which are based on health-enabling technologies.

  6. A New Pedagogical Design for Geo-Informatics Courses Using an E-Training Support System

    Science.gov (United States)

    Eldin, Ahmed Sharaf; ElNahry, Alaa H.; Elsayed, Adel; Ibrahim, Rania Elsayed

    2014-01-01

    The current study seeks to introduce a new pedagogical design for geo-informatics courses using an e-training support system. Laurillard's conversational approach based on conceptual representation for both instructor and learner was used to form the framework. As the current study specifically interested in training as a special form for…

  7. From bed to bench: bridging from informatics practice to theory: an exploratory analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Haux, R; Lehmann, C U

    2014-01-01

    In 2009, Applied Clinical Informatics (ACI)--focused on applications in clinical informatics--was launched as a companion journal to Methods of Information in Medicine (MIM). Both journals are official journals of the International Medical Informatics Association. To explore which congruencies and interdependencies exist in publications from theory to practice and from practice to theory and to determine existing gaps. Major topics discussed in ACI and MIM were analyzed. We explored if the intention of publishing companion journals to provide an information bridge from informatics theory to informatics practice and vice versa could be supported by this model. In this manuscript we will report on congruencies and interdependences from practice to theory and on major topics in MIM. Retrospective, prolective observational study on recent publications of ACI and MIM. All publications of the years 2012 and 2013 were indexed and analyzed. Hundred and ninety-six publications were analyzed (ACI 87, MIM 109). In MIM publications, modelling aspects as well as methodological and evaluation approaches for the analysis of data, information, and knowledge in biomedicine and health care were frequently raised - and often discussed from an interdisciplinary point of view. Important themes were ambient-assisted living, anatomic spatial relations, biomedical informatics as scientific discipline, boosting, coding, computerized physician order entry, data analysis, grid and cloud computing, health care systems and services, health-enabling technologies, health information search, health information systems, imaging, knowledge-based decision support, patient records, signal analysis, and web science. Congruencies between journals could be found in themes, but with a different focus on content. Interdependencies from practice to theory, found in these publications, were only limited. Bridging from informatics theory to practice and vice versa remains a major component of successful

  8. An Integrated Web-based Decision Support System in Disaster Risk Management

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aye, Z. C.; Jaboyedoff, M.; Derron, M. H.

    2012-04-01

    Nowadays, web based decision support systems (DSS) play an essential role in disaster risk management because of their supporting abilities which help the decision makers to improve their performances and make better decisions without needing to solve complex problems while reducing human resources and time. Since the decision making process is one of the main factors which highly influence the damages and losses of society, it is extremely important to make right decisions at right time by combining available risk information with advanced web technology of Geographic Information System (GIS) and Decision Support System (DSS). This paper presents an integrated web-based decision support system (DSS) of how to use risk information in risk management efficiently and effectively while highlighting the importance of a decision support system in the field of risk reduction. Beyond the conventional systems, it provides the users to define their own strategies starting from risk identification to the risk reduction, which leads to an integrated approach in risk management. In addition, it also considers the complexity of changing environment from different perspectives and sectors with diverse stakeholders' involvement in the development process. The aim of this platform is to contribute a part towards the natural hazards and geosciences society by developing an open-source web platform where the users can analyze risk profiles and make decisions by performing cost benefit analysis, Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) with the support of others tools and resources provided. There are different access rights to the system depending on the user profiles and their responsibilities. The system is still under development and the current version provides maps viewing, basic GIS functionality, assessment of important infrastructures (e.g. bridge, hospital, etc.) affected by landslides and visualization of the impact

  9. Development of a Prototype Web-Based Decision Support System for Watershed Management

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dejian Zhang

    2015-02-01

    Full Text Available Using distributed hydrological models to evaluate the effectiveness of reducing non-point source pollution by applying best management practices (BMPs is an important support to decision making for watershed management. However, complex interfaces and time-consuming simulations of the models have largely hindered the applications of these models. We designed and developed a prototype web-based decision support system for watershed management (DSS-WMRJ, which is user friendly and supports quasi-real-time decision making. DSS-WMRJ is based on integrating an open-source Web-based Geographical Information Systems (Web GIS tool (Geoserver, a modeling component (SWAT, Soil and Water Assessment Tool, a cloud computing platform (Hadoop and other open source components and libraries. In addition, a private cloud is used in an innovative manner to parallelize model simulations, which are time consuming and computationally costly. Then, the prototype DSS-WMRJ was tested with a case study. Successful implementation and testing of the prototype DSS-WMRJ lay a good foundation to develop DSS-WMRJ into a fully-fledged tool for watershed management. DSS-WMRJ can be easily customized for use in other watersheds and is valuable for constructing other environmental decision support systems, because of its performance, flexibility, scalability and economy.

  10. Evaluation of a novel Web-based pediatric advanced life support course.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gerard, James M; Scalzo, Anthony J; Laffey, Steven P; Sinks, Glen; Fendya, Diana; Seratti, Patrice

    2006-06-01

    To assess the educational efficacy of a Web-based pediatric advanced life support course (Web-PALS). Nonrandomized, prospective, cohort study. University medical center. Health care providers (includes physicians, nurses, paramedics, and respiratory therapists) taking either the Web-PALS or a traditional PALS course (Trad-PALS). Web-PALS. Postcourse written examination scores and scored videotapes of students performing 5 PALS procedures were compared between study groups. Students completed precourse and postcourse questionnaires, rating on a 5-point Likert scale their self-confidence to perform PALS assessments and procedures. A structured, course satisfaction survey was given after students had taken the Web-PALS course. Eighty-six students completed the study (44 Web-PALS and 42 Trad-PALS). All students achieved a passing score on the written examination on their first attempt. Compared with students in the Trad-PALS group, students in the Web-PALS group scored slightly lower (97.1% vs 95.4%; difference, 1.7%; 95% confidence interval, 0.1-3.2). Mean overall videotape scores were similar among the Web-PALS and Trad-PALS groups (75.0% vs 73.0%; difference, 2.0%; 95% confidence interval, -2.0 to 6.0). After completing the Web-PALS course, the mean level of confidence improved from 3.77 to 4.28 (difference, 0.51; 95% confidence interval, 0.33-0.69). Ninety-six percent of respondents indicated that Web-PALS met all of the stated objectives of the PALS course. All respondents indicated that they would recommend Web-PALS to a colleague. Students perceive Web-PALS as a positive educational experience. Though not identical to students taking the Trad-PALS course, they performed well on postcourse cognitive and psychomotor testing. These findings support Web-PALS as an acceptable format for administering the PALS course.

  11. GIDEON: a comprehensive Web-based resource for geographic medicine

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Berger Stephen A

    2005-04-01

    Full Text Available Abstract GIDEON (Global Infectious Diseases and Epidemiology Network is a web-based computer program designed for decision support and informatics in the field of Geographic Medicine. The first of four interactive modules generates a ranked differential diagnosis based on patient signs, symptoms, exposure history and country of disease acquisition. Additional options include syndromic disease surveillance capability and simulation of bioterrorism scenarios. The second module accesses detailed and current information regarding the status of 338 individual diseases in each of 220 countries. Over 50,000 disease images, maps and user-designed graphs may be downloaded for use in teaching and preparation of written materials. The third module is a comprehensive source on the use of 328 anti-infective drugs and vaccines, including a listing of over 9,500 international trade names. The fourth module can be used to characterize or identify any bacterium or yeast, based on laboratory phenotype. GIDEON is an up-to-date and comprehensive resource for Geographic Medicine.

  12. Moving toward a United States strategic plan in primary care informatics: a White Paper of the Primary Care Informatics Working Group, American Medical Informatics Association

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    David Little

    2003-06-01

    Full Text Available The Primary Care Informatics Working Group (PCIWG of the American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA has identified the absence of a national strategy for primary care informatics. Under PCIWG leadership, major national and international societies have come together to create the National Alliance for Primary Care Informatics (NAPCI, to promote a connection between the informatics community and the organisations that support primary care. The PCIWG clinical practice subcommittee has recognised the necessity of a global needs assessment, and proposed work in point-of-care technology, clinical vocabularies, and ambulatory electronic medical record development. Educational needs include a consensus statement on informatics competencies, recommendations for curriculum and teaching methods, and methodologies to evaluate their effectiveness. The research subcommittee seeks to define a primary care informatics research agenda, and to support and disseminate informatics research throughout the primary care community. The AMIA board of directors has enthusiastically endorsed the conceptual basis for this White Paper.

  13. Big data in multiple sclerosis: development of a web-based longitudinal study viewer in an imaging informatics-based eFolder system for complex data analysis and management

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ma, Kevin; Wang, Ximing; Lerner, Alex; Shiroishi, Mark; Amezcua, Lilyana; Liu, Brent

    2015-03-01

    In the past, we have developed and displayed a multiple sclerosis eFolder system for patient data storage, image viewing, and automatic lesion quantification results stored in DICOM-SR format. The web-based system aims to be integrated in DICOM-compliant clinical and research environments to aid clinicians in patient treatments and disease tracking. This year, we have further developed the eFolder system to handle big data analysis and data mining in today's medical imaging field. The database has been updated to allow data mining and data look-up from DICOM-SR lesion analysis contents. Longitudinal studies are tracked, and any changes in lesion volumes and brain parenchyma volumes are calculated and shown on the webbased user interface as graphical representations. Longitudinal lesion characteristic changes are compared with patients' disease history, including treatments, symptom progressions, and any other changes in the disease profile. The image viewer is updated such that imaging studies can be viewed side-by-side to allow visual comparisons. We aim to use the web-based medical imaging informatics eFolder system to demonstrate big data analysis in medical imaging, and use the analysis results to predict MS disease trends and patterns in Hispanic and Caucasian populations in our pilot study. The discovery of disease patterns among the two ethnicities is a big data analysis result that will help lead to personalized patient care and treatment planning.

  14. A web-based system for supporting global land cover data production

    Science.gov (United States)

    Han, Gang; Chen, Jun; He, Chaoying; Li, Songnian; Wu, Hao; Liao, Anping; Peng, Shu

    2015-05-01

    Global land cover (GLC) data production and verification process is very complicated, time consuming and labor intensive, requiring huge amount of imagery data and ancillary data and involving many people, often from different geographic locations. The efficient integration of various kinds of ancillary data and effective collaborative classification in large area land cover mapping requires advanced supporting tools. This paper presents the design and development of a web-based system for supporting 30-m resolution GLC data production by combining geo-spatial web-service and Computer Support Collaborative Work (CSCW) technology. Based on the analysis of the functional and non-functional requirements from GLC mapping, a three tiers system model is proposed with four major parts, i.e., multisource data resources, data and function services, interactive mapping and production management. The prototyping and implementation of the system have been realised by a combination of Open Source Software (OSS) and commercially available off-the-shelf system. This web-based system not only facilitates the integration of heterogeneous data and services required by GLC data production, but also provides online access, visualization and analysis of the images, ancillary data and interim 30 m global land-cover maps. The system further supports online collaborative quality check and verification workflows. It has been successfully applied to China's 30-m resolution GLC mapping project, and has improved significantly the efficiency of GLC data production and verification. The concepts developed through this study should also benefit other GLC or regional land-cover data production efforts.

  15. Clinical microbiology informatics.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rhoads, Daniel D; Sintchenko, Vitali; Rauch, Carol A; Pantanowitz, Liron

    2014-10-01

    The clinical microbiology laboratory has responsibilities ranging from characterizing the causative agent in a patient's infection to helping detect global disease outbreaks. All of these processes are increasingly becoming partnered more intimately with informatics. Effective application of informatics tools can increase the accuracy, timeliness, and completeness of microbiology testing while decreasing the laboratory workload, which can lead to optimized laboratory workflow and decreased costs. Informatics is poised to be increasingly relevant in clinical microbiology, with the advent of total laboratory automation, complex instrument interfaces, electronic health records, clinical decision support tools, and the clinical implementation of microbial genome sequencing. This review discusses the diverse informatics aspects that are relevant to the clinical microbiology laboratory, including the following: the microbiology laboratory information system, decision support tools, expert systems, instrument interfaces, total laboratory automation, telemicrobiology, automated image analysis, nucleic acid sequence databases, electronic reporting of infectious agents to public health agencies, and disease outbreak surveillance. The breadth and utility of informatics tools used in clinical microbiology have made them indispensable to contemporary clinical and laboratory practice. Continued advances in technology and development of these informatics tools will further improve patient and public health care in the future. Copyright © 2014, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

  16. Medical imaging informatics simulators: a tutorial.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Huang, H K; Deshpande, Ruchi; Documet, Jorge; Le, Anh H; Lee, Jasper; Ma, Kevin; Liu, Brent J

    2014-05-01

    A medical imaging informatics infrastructure (MIII) platform is an organized method of selecting tools and synthesizing data from HIS/RIS/PACS/ePR systems with the aim of developing an imaging-based diagnosis or treatment system. Evaluation and analysis of these systems can be made more efficient by designing and implementing imaging informatics simulators. This tutorial introduces the MIII platform and provides the definition of treatment/diagnosis systems, while primarily focusing on the development of the related simulators. A medical imaging informatics (MII) simulator in this context is defined as a system integration of many selected imaging and data components from the MIII platform and clinical treatment protocols, which can be used to simulate patient workflow and data flow starting from diagnostic procedures to the completion of treatment. In these processes, DICOM and HL-7 standards, IHE workflow profiles, and Web-based tools are emphasized. From the information collected in the database of a specific simulator, evidence-based medicine can be hypothesized to choose and integrate optimal clinical decision support components. Other relevant, selected clinical resources in addition to data and tools from the HIS/RIS/PACS and ePRs platform may also be tailored to develop the simulator. These resources can include image content indexing, 3D rendering with visualization, data grid and cloud computing, computer-aided diagnosis (CAD) methods, specialized image-assisted surgical, and radiation therapy technologies. Five simulators will be discussed in this tutorial. The PACS-ePR simulator with image distribution is the cradle of the other simulators. It supplies the necessary PACS-based ingredients and data security for the development of four other simulators: the data grid simulator for molecular imaging, CAD-PACS, radiation therapy simulator, and image-assisted surgery simulator. The purpose and benefits of each simulator with respect to its clinical relevance

  17. Authoring support in concept-based web information systems for educational applications

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Aroyo, L.M.; Dicheva, D.

    2004-01-01

    The increasing complexity of concept-based web information systems (WIS) and their educational applications requires more intelligent support for their authoring. We propose an ontological approach towards a common authoring framework for such systems to formally describe the overall authoring

  18. Behavioral Informatics and Computational Modeling in Support of Proactive Health Management and Care.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pavel, Misha; Jimison, Holly B; Korhonen, Ilkka; Gordon, Christine M; Saranummi, Niilo

    2015-12-01

    Health-related behaviors are among the most significant determinants of health and quality of life. Improving health behavior is an effective way to enhance health outcomes and mitigate the escalating challenges arising from an increasingly aging population and the proliferation of chronic diseases. Although it has been difficult to obtain lasting improvements in health behaviors on a wide scale, advances at the intersection of technology and behavioral science may provide the tools to address this challenge. In this paper, we describe a vision and an approach to improve health behavior interventions using the tools of behavioral informatics, an emerging transdisciplinary research domain based on system-theoretic principles in combination with behavioral science and information technology. The field of behavioral informatics has the potential to optimize interventions through monitoring, assessing, and modeling behavior in support of providing tailored and timely interventions. We describe the components of a closed-loop system for health interventions. These components range from fine grain sensor characterizations to individual-based models of behavior change. We provide an example of a research health coaching platform that incorporates a closed-loop intervention based on these multiscale models. Using this early prototype, we illustrate how the optimized and personalized methodology and technology can support self-management and remote care. We note that despite the existing examples of research projects and our platform, significant future research is required to convert this vision to full-scale implementations.

  19. ESIP Federation: A Case Study on Enabling Collaboration Infrastructure to Support Earth Science Informatics Communities

    Science.gov (United States)

    Robinson, E.; Meyer, C. B.; Benedict, K. K.

    2013-12-01

    toolbox of collaborative development resources including Amazon Web Services to quickly spin-up the testbed instance and a GitHub account for maintaining testbed project code enabling reuse. Recently, the Foundation supported development of the ESIP Commons (http://commons.esipfed.org), a Drupal-based knowledge repository for non-traditional publications to preserve community products and outcomes like white papers, posters and proceedings. The ESIP Commons adds additional structured metadata, provides attribution to contributors and allows those unfamiliar with ESIP a straightforward way to find information. The success of ESIP Federation activities is difficult to measure. The ESIP Commons is a step toward quantifying sponsor return on investment and is one dataset used in network map analysis of the ESIP community network, another success metric. Over the last 15 years, ESIP has continually grown and attracted experts in the Earth science data and informatics field becoming a primary locus of research and development on the application and evolution of Earth science data standards and conventions. As funding agencies push toward a more collaborative approach, the lessons learned from ESIP and the collaboration services themselves are a crucial component of supporting science research.

  20. Improving the quality of the evidence base of health informatics.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Talmon, Jan

    2008-11-06

    Evaluation of health informatics technology has had attention from quite a few researchers in health informatics in the last few decades. In the early nineties of the past century several working groups and research projects have discussed evaluation methods and methodologies. Despite these activities, evaluation of health informatics has not received the recognition it deserves. In this presentation we will reiterate the arguments put forward in the Declaration of Innsbruck to consider evaluation an essential element of the evidence base of health informatics. Not only are evaluation studies essential, it is also required that such studies are properly reported. A joint effort of the IMIA, EFMI and AMIA working groups on evaluation has resulted in a guideline for reporting the results of evaluation studies of health informatics applications (STARE-HI). STARE-HI is currently endorsed by EFMI. The general assembly of IMIA has adopted STARE-HI as an official IMIA document. Endorsement from AMIA is being sought. A pilot study in which STARE-HI was applied to assess the quality of current reporting clearly indicates that there is quite some room for improvement. Application of guidelines such as STARE-HI would contribute to a further improvement of the evidence base of health informatics and would open the road for high quality reviews and meta-analyses.

  1. "MedTRIS" (Medical Triage and Registration Informatics System): A Web-based Client Server System for the Registration of Patients Being Treated in First Aid Posts at Public Events and Mass Gatherings.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gogaert, Stefan; Vande Veegaete, Axel; Scholliers, Annelies; Vandekerckhove, Philippe

    2016-10-01

    First aid (FA) services are provisioned on-site as a preventive measure at most public events. In Flanders, Belgium, the Belgian Red Cross-Flanders (BRCF) is the major provider of these FA services with volunteers being deployed at approximately 10,000 public events annually. The BRCF has systematically registered information on the patients being treated in FA posts at major events and mass gatherings during the last 10 years. This information has been collected in a web-based client server system called "MedTRIS" (Medical Triage and Registration Informatics System). MedTRIS contains data on more than 200,000 patients at 335 mass events. This report describes the MedTRIS architecture, the data collected, and how the system operates in the field. This database consolidates different types of information with regards to FA interventions in a standardized way for a variety of public events. MedTRIS allows close monitoring in "real time" of the situation at mass gatherings and immediate intervention, when necessary; allows more accurate prediction of resources needed; allows to validate conceptual and predictive models for medical resources at (mass) public events; and can contribute to the definition of a standardized minimum data set (MDS) for mass-gathering health research and evaluation. Gogaert S , Vande veegaete A , Scholliers A , Vandekerckhove P . "MedTRIS" (Medical Triage and Registration Informatics System): a web-based client server system for the registration of patients being treated in first aid posts at public events and mass gatherings. Prehosp Disaster Med. 2016;31(5):557-562.

  2. An imaging informatics-based system to support animal studies for treating pain in spinal cord injury utilizing proton-beam radiotherapy

    Science.gov (United States)

    Verma, Sneha K.; Liu, Brent J.; Gridley, Daila S.; Mao, Xiao W.; Kotha, Nikhil

    2015-03-01

    In previous years we demonstrated an imaging informatics system designed to support multi-institutional research focused on the utilization of proton radiation for treating spinal cord injury (SCI)-related pain. This year we will demonstrate an update on the system with new modules added to perform image processing on evaluation data using immunhistochemistry methods to observe effects of proton therapy. The overarching goal of the research is to determine the effectiveness of using the proton beam for treating SCI-related neuropathic pain as an alternative to invasive surgical lesioning. The research is a joint collaboration between three major institutes, University of Southern California (data collection/integration and image analysis), Spinal Cord Institute VA Healthcare System, Long Beach (patient subject recruitment), and Loma Linda University and Medical Center (human and preclinical animal studies). The system that we are presenting is one of its kind which is capable of integrating a large range of data types, including text data, imaging data, DICOM objects from proton therapy treatment and pathological data. For multi-institutional studies, keeping data secure and integrated is very crucial. Different kinds of data within the study workflow are generated at different stages and different groups of people who process and analyze them in order to see hidden patterns within healthcare data from a broader perspective. The uniqueness of our system relies on the fact that it is platform independent and web-based which makes it very useful in such a large-scale study.

  3. OpenGeneMed: a portable, flexible and customizable informatics hub for the coordination of next-generation sequencing studies in support of precision medicine trials.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Palmisano, Alida; Zhao, Yingdong; Li, Ming-Chung; Polley, Eric C; Simon, Richard M

    2017-09-01

    Trials involving genomic-driven treatment selection require the coordination of many teams interacting with a great variety of information. The need of better informatics support to manage this complex set of operations motivated the creation of OpenGeneMed. OpenGeneMed is a stand-alone and customizable version of GeneMed (Zhao et al. GeneMed: an informatics hub for the coordination of next-generation sequencing studies that support precision oncology clinical trials. Cancer Inform 2015;14(Suppl 2):45), a web-based interface developed for the National Cancer Institute Molecular Profiling-based Assignment of Cancer Therapy (NCI-MPACT) clinical trial coordinated by the NIH. OpenGeneMed streamlines clinical trial management and it can be used by clinicians, lab personnel, statisticians and researchers as a communication hub. It automates the annotation of genomic variants identified by sequencing tumor DNA, classifies the actionable mutations according to customizable rules and facilitates quality control in reviewing variants. The system generates summarized reports with detected genomic alterations that a treatment review team can use for treatment assignment. OpenGeneMed allows collaboration to happen seamlessly along the clinical pipeline; it helps reduce errors made transferring data between groups and facilitates clear documentation along the pipeline. OpenGeneMed is distributed as a stand-alone virtual machine, ready for deployment and use from a web browser; its code is customizable to address specific needs of different clinical trials and research teams. Examples on how to change the code are provided in the technical documentation distributed with the virtual machine. In summary, OpenGeneMed offers an initial set of features inspired by our experience with GeneMed, a system that has been proven to be efficient and successful for coordinating the application of next-generation sequencing in the NCI-MPACT trial. Published by Oxford University Press 2016. This

  4. Log In to Experiential Learning Theory: Supporting Web-Based Faculty Development

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brien, Sarah; Parry, Marcus

    2017-01-01

    Background For an increasingly busy and geographically dispersed faculty, the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Southampton, United Kingdom, developed a range of Web-based faculty development modules, based on Kolb’s experiential learning cycle, to complement the faculty’s face-to-face workshops. Objective The objective of this study was to assess users’ views and perceptions of the effectiveness of Web-based faculty development modules based on Kolb’s experiential learning cycle. We explored (1) users’ satisfaction with the modules, (2) whether Kolb’s design framework supported users’ learning, and (3) whether the design principle impacts their work as educators. Methods We gathered data from users over a 3-year period using evaluation surveys built into each of the seven modules. Quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, and responses to open-ended questions were analyzed using content analysis. Results Out of the 409 module users, 283 completed the survey (69.1% response rate). Over 80% of the users reported being satisfied or very satisfied with seven individual aspects of the modules. The findings suggest a strong synergy between the design features that users rated most highly and the key stages of Kolb’s learning cycle. The use of simulations and videos to give the users an initial experience as well as the opportunity to “Have a go” and receive feedback in a safe environment were both considered particularly useful. In addition to providing an opportunity for reflection, many participants considered that the modules would enhance their roles as educators through: increasing their knowledge on various education topics and the required standards for medical training, and improving their skills in teaching and assessing students through practice and feedback and ultimately increasing their confidence. Conclusions Kolb’s theory-based design principle used for Web-based faculty development can support faculty to

  5. Log In to Experiential Learning Theory: Supporting Web-Based Faculty Development.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Omer, Selma; Choi, Sunhea; Brien, Sarah; Parry, Marcus

    2017-09-27

    For an increasingly busy and geographically dispersed faculty, the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Southampton, United Kingdom, developed a range of Web-based faculty development modules, based on Kolb's experiential learning cycle, to complement the faculty's face-to-face workshops. The objective of this study was to assess users' views and perceptions of the effectiveness of Web-based faculty development modules based on Kolb's experiential learning cycle. We explored (1) users' satisfaction with the modules, (2) whether Kolb's design framework supported users' learning, and (3) whether the design principle impacts their work as educators. We gathered data from users over a 3-year period using evaluation surveys built into each of the seven modules. Quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, and responses to open-ended questions were analyzed using content analysis. Out of the 409 module users, 283 completed the survey (69.1% response rate). Over 80% of the users reported being satisfied or very satisfied with seven individual aspects of the modules. The findings suggest a strong synergy between the design features that users rated most highly and the key stages of Kolb's learning cycle. The use of simulations and videos to give the users an initial experience as well as the opportunity to "Have a go" and receive feedback in a safe environment were both considered particularly useful. In addition to providing an opportunity for reflection, many participants considered that the modules would enhance their roles as educators through: increasing their knowledge on various education topics and the required standards for medical training, and improving their skills in teaching and assessing students through practice and feedback and ultimately increasing their confidence. Kolb's theory-based design principle used for Web-based faculty development can support faculty to improve their skills and has impact on their role as educators

  6. Ontological support for web courseware authoring

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Aroyo, L.M.; Dicheva, D.; Cristea, A.I.; Cerri, S.A.; Gouardères, G.; Paraguaçu, F.

    2002-01-01

    In this paper we present an ontology- oriented authoring support system for Web-based courseware. This is an elaboration of our approach to knowledge classification and indexing in the previously developed system AIMS (Agent-based Information Management System) aimed at supporting students while

  7. Role of Theories in the Design of Web-Based Person-Centered Support: A Critical Analysis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Agneta Ranerup

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available Objective. The aim of this study was to provide a critical understanding of the role of theories and their compatibility with a person-centered approach in the design and evaluation of web-based support for the management of chronic illness. Methods. Exploration of web-based support research projects focusing on four cases: (1 preschool children aged 4–6 with bladder dysfunction and urogenital malformation; (2 young adults aged 16–25 living with mental illness; (3 women with type 1 diabetes who are pregnant or in early motherhood; and (4 women who have undergone surgery for breast cancer. Data comprised interviews with research leaders and documented plans. Analysis was performed by means of a cross-case methodology. Results. The used theories concerned design, learning, health and well-being, or transition. All web support products had been developed using a participatory design (PD. Fundamental to the technology design and evaluation of outcomes were theories focusing on learning and on health and well-being. All theories were compatible with a person-centered approach. However, a notable exception was the relatively collective character of PD and Communities of Practice. Conclusion. Our results illustrate multifaceted ways for theories to be used in the design and evaluation of web-based support.

  8. Usability evaluation of a web-based support system for people with a schizophrenia diagnosis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    van der Krieke, Lian; Emerencia, Ando C; Aiello, Marco; Sytema, Sjoerd

    2012-02-06

    Routine Outcome Monitoring (ROM) is a systematic way of assessing service users' health conditions for the purpose of better aiding their care. ROM consists of various measures used to assess a service user's physical, psychological, and social condition. While ROM is becoming increasingly important in the mental health care sector, one of its weaknesses is that ROM is not always sufficiently service user-oriented. First, clinicians tend to concentrate on those ROM results that provide information about clinical symptoms and functioning, whereas it has been suggested that a service user-oriented approach needs to focus on personal recovery. Second, service users have limited access to ROM results and they are often not equipped to interpret them. These problems need to be addressed, as access to resources and the opportunity to share decision making has been indicated as a prerequisite for service users to become a more equal partner in communication with their clinicians. Furthermore, shared decision making has been shown to improve the therapeutic alliance and to lead to better care. Our aim is to build a web-based support system which makes ROM results more accessible to service users and to provide them with more concrete and personalized information about their functioning (ie, symptoms, housing, social contacts) that they can use to discuss treatment options with their clinician. In this study, we will report on the usability of the web-based support system for service users with schizophrenia. First, we developed a prototype of a web-based support system in a multidisciplinary project team, including end-users. We then conducted a usability study of the support system consisting of (1) a heuristic evaluation, (2) a qualitative evaluation and (3) a quantitative evaluation. Fifteen service users with a schizophrenia diagnosis and four information and communication technology (ICT) experts participated in the study. The results show that people with a

  9. Emergence of a new consumer health informatics framework: introducing the healthcare organization.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Reid, Paulette; Borycki, Elizabeth M

    2011-01-01

    Healthcare consumers are increasingly seeking reliable forms of health information on the Internet that can be used to support health related decision-making. Frameworks that have been developed and tested in the field of health informatics have attempted to describe the effects of the Internet upon the health care consumer and physician relationship. More recently, health care organizations are responding by providing information such as hospital wait lists or strategies for self-managing disease, and this information is being provided on organizational web-sites. The authors of this paper propose that current conceptualizations of the relationship between the Internet, physicians and patients are limited from a consumer informatics perspective and may need to be extended to include healthcare organizations.

  10. Emerging medical informatics research trends detection based on MeSH terms.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lyu, Peng-Hui; Yao, Qiang; Mao, Jin; Zhang, Shi-Jing

    2015-01-01

    The aim of this study is to analyze the research trends of medical informatics over the last 12 years. A new method based on MeSH terms was proposed to identify emerging topics and trends of medical informatics research. Informetric methods and visualization technologies were applied to investigate research trends of medical informatics. The metric of perspective factor (PF) embedding MeSH terms was appropriately employed to assess the perspective quality for journals. The emerging MeSH terms have changed dramatically over the last 12 years, identifying two stages of medical informatics: the "medical imaging stage" and the "medical informatics stage". The focus of medical informatics has shifted from acquisition and storage of healthcare data by integrating computational, informational, cognitive and organizational sciences to semantic analysis for problem solving and clinical decision-making. About 30 core journals were determined by Bradford's Law in the last 3 years in this area. These journals, with high PF values, have relative high perspective quality and lead the trend of medical informatics.

  11. Process Support for Cooperative Work on the World Wide Web

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Sikkel, Nicolaas; Neumann, Olaf; Sachweh, Sabine

    The World Wide Web is becoming a dominating factor in information technology. Consequently, computer supported cooperative work on the Web has recently drawn a lot of attention. Process Support for Cooperative Work (PSCW) is a Web based system supporting both structured and unstructured forms of

  12. Current Status of Nursing Informatics Education in Korea.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jeon, Eunjoo; Kim, Jeongeun; Park, Hyeoun-Ae; Lee, Ji-Hyun; Kim, Jungha; Jin, Meiling; Ahn, Shinae; Jun, Jooyeon; Song, Healim; On, Jeongah; Jung, Hyesil; Hong, Yeong Joo; Yim, Suran

    2016-04-01

    This study presents the current status of nursing informatics education, the content covered in nursing informatics courses, the faculty efficacy, and the barriers to and additional supports for teaching nursing informatics in Korea. A set of questionnaires consisting of an 18-item questionnaire for nursing informatics education, a 6-item questionnaire for faculty efficacy, and 2 open-ended questions for barriers and additional supports were sent to 204 nursing schools via email and the postal service. Nursing schools offering nursing informatics were further asked to send their syllabuses. The subjects taught were analyzed using nursing informatics competency categories and other responses were tailed using descriptive statistics. A total of 72 schools (35.3%) responded to the survey, of which 38 reported that they offered nursing informatics courses in their undergraduate nursing programs. Nursing informatics courses at 11 schools were taught by a professor with a degree majoring in nursing informatics. Computer technology was the most frequently taught subject (27 schools), followed by information systems used for practice (25 schools). The faculty efficacy was 3.76 ± 0.86 (out of 5). The most frequently reported barrier to teaching nursing informatics (n = 9) was lack of awareness of the importance of nursing informatics. Training and educational opportunities was the most requested additional support. Nursing informatics education has increased during the last decade in Korea. However, the proportions of faculty with degrees in nursing informatics and number of schools offering nursing informatics courses have not increased much. Thus, a greater focus is needed on training faculty and developing the courses.

  13. Mining social networks and security informatics

    CERN Document Server

    Özyer, Tansel; Rokne, Jon; Khoury, Suheil

    2013-01-01

    Crime, terrorism and security are in the forefront of current societal concerns. This edited volume presents research based on social network techniques showing how data from crime and terror networks can be analyzed and how information can be extracted. The topics covered include crime data mining and visualization; organized crime detection; crime network visualization; computational criminology; aspects of terror network analyses and threat prediction including cyberterrorism and the related area of dark web; privacy issues in social networks; security informatics; graph algorithms for soci

  14. Faith-Based Organizations and Veteran Reintegration: Enriching the Web of Support.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Werber, Laura; Derose, Kathryn Pitkin; Rudnick, Mollie; Harrell, Margaret C; Naranjo, Diana

    2015-11-30

    Faith-based organizations (FBOs) are an important community-based resource for veterans as they readjust to civilian life. Through interviews with both national-level and smaller, local FBOs, the authors sought to understand better the current and potential roles for FBOs in veteran reintegration. Interviewees suggested that veterans may look to FBOs for support because they offer privacy and confidentiality, two features that may be especially critical when a potential stigma is involved. Some FBOs have also developed a reputation as safe places for veterans, providing supportive, judgment-free environments. FBOs not only help veterans with spiritual matters but address diverse areas of veteran health and wellness, including vocation, education, financial and legal stability, shelter, access to goods and services, mental health, access to health care, physical health, family, and social networks. In some cases, the support is offered to veterans directly; in other instances, the support is indirect, via training individuals to help veterans or educating the public about them. In the process of providing support, FBOs interact with varied organizations, including government entities, private nonprofits, and one another, for training, outreach, referrals, information exchange, obtaining donations, and collaboration. Yet challenges exist, including insufficient connections with chaplains working in different settings and others in the web of support, resource and capacity constraints, lack of awareness of experience with veterans, issues related to religious philosophy or orientation, and characteristics of veterans themselves. To move forward, the authors offer recommendations for policymakers, organizations that interact with FBOs, and FBOs themselves to help FBOs engage fully in the web of reintegration support.

  15. CER Hub: An informatics platform for conducting comparative effectiveness research using multi-institutional, heterogeneous, electronic clinical data.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hazlehurst, Brian L; Kurtz, Stephen E; Masica, Andrew; Stevens, Victor J; McBurnie, Mary Ann; Puro, Jon E; Vijayadeva, Vinutha; Au, David H; Brannon, Elissa D; Sittig, Dean F

    2015-10-01

    Comparative effectiveness research (CER) requires the capture and analysis of data from disparate sources, often from a variety of institutions with diverse electronic health record (EHR) implementations. In this paper we describe the CER Hub, a web-based informatics platform for developing and conducting research studies that combine comprehensive electronic clinical data from multiple health care organizations. The CER Hub platform implements a data processing pipeline that employs informatics standards for data representation and web-based tools for developing study-specific data processing applications, providing standardized access to the patient-centric electronic health record (EHR) across organizations. The CER Hub is being used to conduct two CER studies utilizing data from six geographically distributed and demographically diverse health systems. These foundational studies address the effectiveness of medications for controlling asthma and the effectiveness of smoking cessation services delivered in primary care. The CER Hub includes four key capabilities: the ability to process and analyze both free-text and coded clinical data in the EHR; a data processing environment supported by distributed data and study governance processes; a clinical data-interchange format for facilitating standardized extraction of clinical data from EHRs; and a library of shareable clinical data processing applications. CER requires coordinated and scalable methods for extracting, aggregating, and analyzing complex, multi-institutional clinical data. By offering a range of informatics tools integrated into a framework for conducting studies using EHR data, the CER Hub provides a solution to the challenges of multi-institutional research using electronic medical record data. Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd.

  16. Building a Culture of Health Informatics Innovation and Entrepreneurship: A New Frontier.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Househ, Mowafa; Alshammari, Riyad; Almutairi, Mariam; Jamal, Amr; Alshoaib, Saleh

    2015-01-01

    Entrepreneurship and innovation within the health informatics (HI) scientific community are relatively sluggish when compared to other disciplines such as computer science and engineering. Healthcare in general, and specifically, the health informatics scientific community needs to embrace more innovative and entrepreneurial practices. In this paper, we explore the concepts of innovation and entrepreneurship as they apply to the health informatics scientific community. We also outline several strategies to improve the culture of innovation and entrepreneurship within the health informatics scientific community such as: (I) incorporating innovation and entrepreneurship in health informatics education; (II) creating strong linkages with industry and healthcare organizations; (III) supporting national health innovation and entrepreneurship competitions; (IV) creating a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship within healthcare organizations; (V) developing health informatics policies that support innovation and entrepreneurship based on internationally recognized standards; and (VI) develop an health informatics entrepreneurship ecosystem. With these changes, we conclude that embracing health innovation and entrepreneurship may be more readily accepted over the long-term within the health informatics scientific community.

  17. Incorporating Health Information Technology and Pharmacy Informatics in a Pharmacy Professional Didactic Curriculum -with a Team-based Learning Approach.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hincapie, Ana L; Cutler, Timothy W; Fingado, Amanda R

    2016-08-25

    Objective. To incorporate a pharmacy informatics program in the didactic curriculum of a team-based learning institution and to assess students' knowledge of and confidence with health informatics during the course. Design. A previously developed online pharmacy informatics course was adapted and implemented into a team-based learning (TBL) 3-credit-hour drug information course for doctor of pharmacy (PharmD) students in their second didactic year. During a period of five weeks (15 contact hours), students used the online pharmacy informatics modules as part of their readiness assurance process. Additional material was developed to comply with the TBL principles. Online pre/postsurveys were administered to evaluate knowledge gained and students' perceptions of the informatics program. Assessment. Eighty-three second-year students (84% response rate) completed the surveys. Participants' knowledge of electronic health records, computerized physician order entry, pharmacy information systems, and clinical decision support was significantly improved. Additionally, their confidence significantly improved in terms of describing health informatics terminology, describing the benefits and barriers of using health information technology, and understanding reasons for systematically processing health information. Conclusion. Students responded favorably to the incorporation of pharmacy informatics content into a drug information course using a TBL approach. Students met the learning objectives of seven thematic areas and had positive attitudes toward the course after its completion.

  18. Current Status of Nursing Informatics Education in Korea

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jeon, Eunjoo; Kim, Jeongeun; Lee, Ji-Hyun; Kim, Jungha; Jin, Meiling; Ahn, Shinae; Jun, Jooyeon; Song, Healim; On, Jeongah; Jung, Hyesil; Hong, Yeong Joo; Yim, Suran

    2016-01-01

    Objectives This study presents the current status of nursing informatics education, the content covered in nursing informatics courses, the faculty efficacy, and the barriers to and additional supports for teaching nursing informatics in Korea. Methods A set of questionnaires consisting of an 18-item questionnaire for nursing informatics education, a 6-item questionnaire for faculty efficacy, and 2 open-ended questions for barriers and additional supports were sent to 204 nursing schools via email and the postal service. Nursing schools offering nursing informatics were further asked to send their syllabuses. The subjects taught were analyzed using nursing informatics competency categories and other responses were tailed using descriptive statistics. Results A total of 72 schools (35.3%) responded to the survey, of which 38 reported that they offered nursing informatics courses in their undergraduate nursing programs. Nursing informatics courses at 11 schools were taught by a professor with a degree majoring in nursing informatics. Computer technology was the most frequently taught subject (27 schools), followed by information systems used for practice (25 schools). The faculty efficacy was 3.76 ± 0.86 (out of 5). The most frequently reported barrier to teaching nursing informatics (n = 9) was lack of awareness of the importance of nursing informatics. Training and educational opportunities was the most requested additional support. Conclusions Nursing informatics education has increased during the last decade in Korea. However, the proportions of faculty with degrees in nursing informatics and number of schools offering nursing informatics courses have not increased much. Thus, a greater focus is needed on training faculty and developing the courses. PMID:27200224

  19. A Java-based enterprise system architecture for implementing a continuously supported and entirely Web-based exercise solution.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Zhihui; Kiryu, Tohru

    2006-04-01

    Since machine-based exercise still uses local facilities, it is affected by time and place. We designed a web-based system architecture based on the Java 2 Enterprise Edition that can accomplish continuously supported machine-based exercise. In this system, exercise programs and machines are loosely coupled and dynamically integrated on the site of exercise via the Internet. We then extended the conventional health promotion model, which contains three types of players (users, exercise trainers, and manufacturers), by adding a new player: exercise program creators. Moreover, we developed a self-describing strategy to accommodate a variety of exercise programs and provide ease of use to users on the web. We illustrate our novel design with examples taken from our feasibility study on a web-based cycle ergometer exercise system. A biosignal-based workload control approach was introduced to ensure that users performed appropriate exercise alone.

  20. The effectiveness of web-programming module based on scientific approach to train logical thinking ability for students in vocational high school

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nashiroh, Putri Khoirin; Kamdi, Waras; Elmunsyah, Hakkun

    2017-09-01

    Web programming is a basic subject in Computer and Informatics Engineering, a program study in a vocational high school. It requires logical thinking ability in its learning activities. The purposes of this research were (1) to develop a web programming module that implement scientific approach that can improve logical thinking ability for students in vocational high school; and (2) to test the effectiveness of web programming module based on scientific approach to train students' logical thinking ability. The results of this research was a web-programming module that apply scientific approach for learning activities to improve logical thinking ability of students in the vocational high school. The results of the effectiveness test of web-programming module give conclusion that it was very effective to train logical thinking ability and to improve learning result, this conclusion was supported by: (1) the average of posttest result of students exceeds the minimum criterion value, it was 79.91; (2) the average percentage of students' logical thinking score is 82,98; and (3) the average percentage of students' responses to the web programming module was 81.86%.

  1. PRINCIPLES, BASES, AND LAWS OF FUNDAMENTAL INFORMATICS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gennady N. Zverev

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper defines the goals and problems of fundamental informatics, formulates principal laws of information universe and constructive bases of information objects and processes. The classification of semantics types of knowledge and skills is presented. 

  2. Students’ Views about the Problem Based Collaborative Learning Environment Supported By Dynamic Web Technologies

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Erhan ÜNAL

    2017-04-01

    Full Text Available The purpose of this study is to design a problem based collaborative learning environment supported by dynamic web technologies and examine students’ views about this learning environment. The study was designed as a qualitative research. 36 students who took Object Oriented Programming I-II course from a public university at the department of computer programming participated in the study. During the research process, the Object Oriented Programming I-II course was designed with incorporating different dynamic web technologies (Edmodo, Google Services, and Mind42 and Nelson (1999’s collaborative problem solving method. At the end of the course, there were focus group interviews in regards to the students’ views on a learning environment supported by dynamic web technologies and collaborative problem solving method. At the end of the focus group interviews, 4 themes were obtained from the students’ views, including positive aspects of the learning environment, difficulties faced in the learning environment, advantages of the learning environment, and skills gained as a result of the project. The results suggest that problem based collaborative learning methods and dynamic web technologies can be used in learning environments in community colleges.

  3. DRIFTER Web App Development Support

    Science.gov (United States)

    Davis, Derrick D.; Armstrong, Curtis D.

    2015-01-01

    During my 2015 internship at Stennis Space Center (SSC) I supported the development of a web based tool to enable user interaction with a low-cost environmental monitoring buoy called the DRIFTER. DRIFTERs are designed by SSC's Applied Science and Technology Projects branch and are used to measure parameters such as water temperature and salinity. Data collected by the buoys help verify measurements by NASA satellites, which contributes to NASA's mission to advance understanding of the Earth by developing technologies to improve the quality of life on or home planet. My main objective during this internship was to support the development of the DRIFTER by writing web-based software that allows the public to view and access data collected by the buoys. In addition, this software would enable DRIFTER owners to configure and control the devices.

  4. Web-Based Course Management and Web Services

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mandal, Chittaranjan; Sinha, Vijay Luxmi; Reade, Christopher M. P.

    2004-01-01

    The architecture of a web-based course management tool that has been developed at IIT [Indian Institute of Technology], Kharagpur and which manages the submission of assignments is discussed. Both the distributed architecture used for data storage and the client-server architecture supporting the web interface are described. Further developments…

  5. The Top 100 Articles in the Medical Informatics: a Bibliometric Analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nadri, Hamed; Rahimi, Bahlol; Timpka, Toomas; Sedghi, Shahram

    2017-08-19

    The number of citations that a research paper receives can be used as a measure of its scientific impact. The objective of this study was to identify and to examine the characteristics of top 100 cited articles in the field of Medical Informatics based on data acquired from the Thomson Reuters' Web of Science (WOS) in October, 2016. The data was collected using two procedures: first we included articles published in the 24 journals listed in the "Medical Informatics" category; second, we retrieved articles using the key words: "informatics", "medical informatics", "biomedical informatics", "clinical informatics" and "health informatics". After removing duplicate records, articles were ranked by the number of citations they received. When the 100 top cited articles had been identified, we collected the following information for each record: all WOS database citations, year of publication, journal, author names, authors' affiliation, country of origin and topics indexed for each record. Citations for the top 100 articles ranged from 346 to 7875, and citations per year ranged from 11.12 to 525. The majority of articles were published in the 2000s (n=43) and 1990s (n=38). Articles were published across 10 journals, most commonly Statistics in medicine (n=71) and Medical decision making (n=28). The articles had an average of 2.47 authors. Statistics and biostatistics modeling was the most common topic (n=71), followed by artificial intelligence (n=12), and medical errors (n=3), other topics included data mining, diagnosis, bioinformatics, information retrieval, and medical imaging. Our bibliometric analysis illustrated a historical perspective on the progress of scientific research on Medical Informatics. Moreover, the findings of the current study provide an insight on the frequency of citations for top cited articles published in Medical Informatics as well as quality of the works, journals, and the trends steering Medical Informatics.

  6. Semantic Web-Based Services for Supporting Voluntary Collaboration among Researchers Using an Information Dissemination Platform

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hanmin Jung

    2007-05-01

    Full Text Available Information dissemination platforms for supporting voluntary collaboration among researchers should assure that controllable and verified information is being disseminated. However, previous related studies on this field narrowed their research scopes into information type and information specification. This paper focuses on the verification and the tracing of information using an information dissemination platform and other Semantic Web-based services. Services on our platform include information dissemination services to support reliable information exchange among researchers and knowledge service to provide unrevealed information. The latter is also divided into the two: knowledgization using ontology and inference using a Semantic Web-based inference engine. This paper discusses how this platform supports instant knowledge addition and inference. We demonstrate our approach by constructing an ontology for national R&D reference information using 37,656 RDF triples from about 2,300 KISTI (Korea Institute of Science and Technology Information outcomes. Three knowledge services including 'Communities of Practice', 'Researcher Tracing,' and 'Research Map' were implemented on our platform using a Jena framework. Our study shows that information dissemination platforms will make a meaningful contribution to the possibility of realizing a practical Semantic Web-based information dissemination platform.

  7. Consumer Health Informatics Aspects of Direct-to-Consumer Personal Genomic Testing.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gray, Kathleen; Stephen, Remya; Terrill, Bronwyn; Wilson, Brenda; Middleton, Anna; Tytherleigh, Rigan; Turbitt, Erin; Gaff, Clara; Savard, Jacqueline; Hickerton, Chriselle; Newson, Ainsley; Metcalfe, Sylvia

    2017-01-01

    This paper uses consumer health informatics as a framework to explore whether and how direct-to-consumer personal genomic testing can be regarded as a form of information which assists consumers to manage their health. It presents findings from qualitative content analysis of web sites that offer testing services, and of transcripts from focus groups conducted as part a study of the Australian public's expectations of personal genomics. Content analysis showed that service offerings have some features of consumer health information but lack consistency. Focus group participants were mostly unfamiliar with the specifics of test reports and related information services. Some of their ideas about aids to knowledge were in line with the benefits described on provider web sites, but some expectations were inflated. People were ambivalent about whether these services would address consumers' health needs, interests and contexts and whether they would support consumers' health self-management decisions and outcomes. There is scope for consumer health informatics approaches to refine the usage and the utility of direct-to-consumer personal genomic testing. Further research may focus on how uptake is affected by consumers' health literacy or by services' engagement with consumers about what they really want.

  8. Cancer Digital Slide Archive: an informatics resource to support integrated in silico analysis of TCGA pathology data

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gutman, David A; Cobb, Jake; Somanna, Dhananjaya; Park, Yuna; Wang, Fusheng; Kurc, Tahsin; Saltz, Joel H; Brat, Daniel J; Cooper, Lee A D

    2013-01-01

    Background The integration and visualization of multimodal datasets is a common challenge in biomedical informatics. Several recent studies of The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) data have illustrated important relationships between morphology observed in whole-slide images, outcome, and genetic events. The pairing of genomics and rich clinical descriptions with whole-slide imaging provided by TCGA presents a unique opportunity to perform these correlative studies. However, better tools are needed to integrate the vast and disparate data types. Objective To build an integrated web-based platform supporting whole-slide pathology image visualization and data integration. Materials and methods All images and genomic data were directly obtained from the TCGA and National Cancer Institute (NCI) websites. Results The Cancer Digital Slide Archive (CDSA) produced is accessible to the public (http://cancer.digitalslidearchive.net) and currently hosts more than 20 000 whole-slide images from 22 cancer types. Discussion The capabilities of CDSA are demonstrated using TCGA datasets to integrate pathology imaging with associated clinical, genomic and MRI measurements in glioblastomas and can be extended to other tumor types. CDSA also allows URL-based sharing of whole-slide images, and has preliminary support for directly sharing regions of interest and other annotations. Images can also be selected on the basis of other metadata, such as mutational profile, patient age, and other relevant characteristics. Conclusions With the increasing availability of whole-slide scanners, analysis of digitized pathology images will become increasingly important in linking morphologic observations with genomic and clinical endpoints. PMID:23893318

  9. 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.

  10. Making of Evalution’s Information System of Lecturer's Lecture and Major’s Service-Based Web in PTIK Major FKIP UNS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Irma Nuur Rochmah

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available The quality of education of a study program can be measured from the level of customer satisfaction with the existing service. In accordance with ISO 9001: 2008, an organization should measure and obtain information related to customers and customers. Measurements and information that can be done survey data on customer satisfaction. From this survey data, Informatics and Computer Education Study Program can follow which aspect need improvement for program quality. One way to get survey data by doing the evaluation. In the Study Program of Informatics and Computer Engineering, evaluation using application form online form. The study program does not yet have its own evaluation information system. Therefore, the purpose of this research is to produce information technology and pelaynaan web-based program in the Study Program (Prodi Educational Engineering and Computer Informatics and to determine the level of the feasibility of information. In this study used research and development model with the first phase of the preliminary study, the second stage of product development and the last stage. At the product development stage is done by using software development model. From the stages of inputs obtained from the assessment of students on lecturers' lectures and prodi services in Education Program Informatics and Computer Engineering. The result of evaluation of lecturers' lectures and prodi services by selected students with their rena as output that can be seen by lecturer and admin. A system that can be used to help the services that have been given to the students, both in lecturers' lectures and prodi services. The results of this study, first, has created information and web-based programming services in Informatics and Computer Engineering Education Program, FKIP, UNS. Second, the feasibility of information and product and service development, Informatics and Computer Engineering Education Study Program, FKIP, UNS conducted by expert

  11. Innovatively Supporting Teachers' Implementation of School-Based Sex Education: Developing A Web-Based Coaching Intervention From Problem to Solution.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schutte, Lisette; van den Borne, Marieke; Kok, Gerjo; Meijer, Suzanne; Mevissen, Fraukje Ef

    2016-07-12

    Full program implementation is crucial for effectiveness but is often overlooked or insufficiently considered during development of behavioral change interventions. For school-based health promotion programs, teachers are key players in program implementation, but teacher support in this phase is mostly limited to technical support and information. To ensure optimal implementation of the Dutch school-based sexual health program Long Live Love, a Web-based coaching website was developed to support teachers in completeness and fidelity of program implementation. The aim of this paper is to provide insight into the process of systematic development of a Web-based coaching intervention to support teachers in their implementation of a school-based sexual health program. The intervention mapping (IM) protocol was applied for the development of a theory- and evidence-based intervention. The IM process begins with (1) a needs assessment, followed by (2) the formulation of change objectives, (3) the selection of theory-based intervention methods and practical applications that take the parameters for effectiveness into consideration, (4) integration of practical applications into an organized program, (5) planning for adoption, implementation, and sustainability of the program, and finally, (6) generating an evaluation plan to measure program effectiveness. Teacher's implementation behavior was characterized by inconsistently selecting parts of the program and not delivering (all) lessons as intended by program developers. Teachers, however, did not perceive this behavior as problematic, revealing the discrepancy between teacher's actual and perceived need for support in delivering Long Live Love lessons with completeness and fidelity. Teachers did, however, acknowledge different difficulties they encountered which could potentially negatively influence the quality of implementation. With the IM protocol, this Web-based coaching intervention was developed based on a concept

  12. Innovatively Supporting Teachers’ Implementation of School-Based Sex Education: Developing A Web-Based Coaching Intervention From Problem to Solution

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kok, Gerjo; Meijer, Suzanne; Mevissen, Fraukje EF

    2016-01-01

    Background Full program implementation is crucial for effectiveness but is often overlooked or insufficiently considered during development of behavioral change interventions. For school-based health promotion programs, teachers are key players in program implementation, but teacher support in this phase is mostly limited to technical support and information. To ensure optimal implementation of the Dutch school-based sexual health program Long Live Love, a Web-based coaching website was developed to support teachers in completeness and fidelity of program implementation. Objective The aim of this paper is to provide insight into the process of systematic development of a Web-based coaching intervention to support teachers in their implementation of a school-based sexual health program. Methods The intervention mapping (IM) protocol was applied for the development of a theory- and evidence-based intervention. The IM process begins with (1) a needs assessment, followed by (2) the formulation of change objectives, (3) the selection of theory-based intervention methods and practical applications that take the parameters for effectiveness into consideration, (4) integration of practical applications into an organized program, (5) planning for adoption, implementation, and sustainability of the program, and finally, (6) generating an evaluation plan to measure program effectiveness. Results Teacher’s implementation behavior was characterized by inconsistently selecting parts of the program and not delivering (all) lessons as intended by program developers. Teachers, however, did not perceive this behavior as problematic, revealing the discrepancy between teacher’s actual and perceived need for support in delivering Long Live Love lessons with completeness and fidelity. Teachers did, however, acknowledge different difficulties they encountered which could potentially negatively influence the quality of implementation. With the IM protocol, this Web-based coaching

  13. 76 FR 24889 - Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request; Cancer Biomedical Informatics Grid® (caBIG®) Support...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-05-03

    ... to offer to their unique organizational goals and needs, so having this customized support option...; Comment Request; Cancer Biomedical Informatics Grid[supreg] (caBIG[supreg]) Support Service Provider (SSP... Grid [supreg] (caBIG [supreg]) Support Service Provider (SSP) Program (NCI). Type of Information...

  14. The experiences of working carers of older people regarding access to a web-based family care support network offered by a municipality.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Andersson, Stefan; Erlingsson, Christen; Magnusson, Lennart; Hanson, Elizabeth

    2017-09-01

    Policy makers in Sweden and other European Member States pay increasing attention as to how best support working carers; carers juggling providing unpaid family care for older family members while performing paid work. Exploring perceived benefits and challenges with web-based information and communication technologies as a means of supporting working carers' in their caregiving role, this paper draws on findings from a qualitative study. The study aimed to describe working carers' experiences of having access to the web-based family care support network 'A good place' (AGP) provided by the municipality to support those caring for an older family member. Content analysis of interviews with nine working carers revealed three themes: A support hub, connections to peers, personnel and knowledge; Experiencing ICT support as relevant in changing life circumstances; and Upholding one's personal firewall. Findings indicate that the web-based family care support network AGP is an accessible, complementary means of support. Utilising support while balancing caregiving, work obligations and responsibilities was made easier with access to AGP; enabling working carers to access information, psychosocial support and learning opportunities. In particular, it provided channels for carers to share experiences with others, to be informed, and to gain insights into medical and care issues. This reinforced working carers' sense of competence, helping them meet caregiving demands and see positive aspects in their situation. Carers' low levels of digital skills and anxieties about using computer-based support were barriers to utilising web-based support and could lead to deprioritising of this support. However, to help carers overcome these barriers and to better match web-based support to working carers' preferences and situations, web-based support must be introduced in a timely manner and must more accurately meet each working carer's unique caregiving needs. © 2016 Nordic College

  15. Web-based information and support for patients with a newly diagnosed neuroendocrine tumor: a feasibility study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bouma, Grietje; de Hosson, Lotte D; van Woerkom, Claudia E; van Essen, Hennie; de Bock, Geertruida H; Admiraal, Jolien M; Reyners, Anna K L; Walenkamp, Annemiek M E

    2017-07-01

    Patients with a neuroendocrine tumor (NET) frequently experience physical and psychosocial complaints. Novel strategies to provide information to optimize supportive care in these patients are of interest. The aim of this study was to examine whether the use of a web-based system consisting of self-screening of problems and care needs, patient education, and self-referral to professional health care is feasible in NET patients and to evaluate their opinion on this. Newly diagnosed NET patients were randomized between standard care (n = 10) or intervention with additional access to the web-based system (n = 10) during 12 weeks. Patients completed questionnaires regarding received information, distress, quality of life (QoL), and empowerment. The intervention group completed a semi-structured interview to assess patients' opinion on the web-based system. The participation rate was 77% (20/26 invited patients) with no dropouts. The use of the web-based system had a negative effect on patients' perception and satisfaction of received information (range Cohen's d -0.88 to 0.13). Positive effects were found for distress (Cohen's d 0.75), global QoL (subscale European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) QLQ-C30, Cohen's d 0.46), resolving problems with social functioning and finding information (subscales EORTC QLQ-GINET 21, Cohen's d 0.69, respectively, 1.04), and feeling informed (subscale empowerment questionnaire, Cohen's d 0.51). The interview indicated that the web-based system was of additional value to standard care. Use of this web-based system is feasible. Contradictory effects on informing and supporting NET patients were found and should be subject of further research. NCT01849523.

  16. DXplain: a Web-based diagnostic decision support system for medical students.

    Science.gov (United States)

    London, S

    1998-01-01

    DXplain is a diagnostic decision support program, with a new World Wide Web interface, designed to help medical students and physicians formulate differential diagnoses based on clinical findings. It covers over 2000 diseases and 5000 clinical manifestations. DXplain suggests possible diagnoses, and provides brief descriptions of every disease in the database. Not all diseases are included, nor does DXplain take into account preexisting conditions or the chronological sequence of clinical manifestations. Despite these limitations, it is a useful educational tool, particularly for problem-based learning (PBL) cases and for students in clinical rotations, as it fills a niche not adequately covered by MEDLINE or medical texts. The system is relatively self-explanatory, requiring little or no end-user training. Medical libraries offering, or planning to offer, their users access to Web-based materials and resources may find this system a valuable addition to their electronic collections. Should it prove popular with the local users, provision of access may also establish or enhance the library's image as a partner in medical education.

  17. Does Brief Telephone Support Improve Engagement With a Web-Based Weight Management Intervention? Randomized Controlled Trial

    OpenAIRE

    Dennison, Laura; Morrison, Leanne; Lloyd, Scott; Phillips, Dawn; Stuart, Beth; Williams, Sarah; Bradbury, Katherine; Roderick, Paul; Murray, Elizabeth; Michie, Susan; Little, Paul; Yardley, Lucy

    2014-01-01

    Background Recent reviews suggest Web-based interventions are promising approaches for weight management but they identify difficulties with suboptimal usage. The literature suggests that offering some degree of human support to website users may boost usage and outcomes. Objective We disseminated the POWeR (“Positive Online Weight Reduction”) Web-based weight management intervention in a community setting. POWeR consisted of weekly online sessions that emphasized self-monitoring, goal-settin...

  18. Development of national competency-based learning objectives "Medical Informatics" for undergraduate medical education.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Röhrig, R; Stausberg, J; Dugas, M

    2013-01-01

    The aim of this project is to develop a catalogue of competency-based learning objectives "Medical Informatics" for undergraduate medical education (abbreviated NKLM-MI in German). The development followed a multi-level annotation and consensus process. For each learning objective a reason why a physician needs this competence was required. In addition, each objective was categorized according to the competence context (A = covered by medical informatics, B = core subject of medical informatics, C = optional subject of medical informatics), the competence level (1 = referenced knowledge, 2 = applied knowledge, 3 = routine knowledge) and a CanMEDS competence role (medical expert, communicator, collaborator, manager, health advocate, professional, scholar). Overall 42 objectives in seven areas (medical documentation and information processing, medical classifications and terminologies, information systems in healthcare, health telematics and telemedicine, data protection and security, access to medical knowledge and medical signal-/image processing) were identified, defined and consented. With the NKLM-MI the competences in the field of medical informatics vital to a first year resident physician are identified, defined and operationalized. These competencies are consistent with the recommendations of the International Medical Informatics Association (IMIA). The NKLM-MI will be submitted to the National Competence-Based Learning Objectives for Undergraduate Medical Education. The next step is implementation of these objectives by the faculties.

  19. Web-Based Analysis for Decision Support Systems

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    pc

    2018-03-05

    Mar 5, 2018 ... Faculty of Computing and Information Technology, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, SA ... impact of web-based analysis on DSSs and how it affects ... Internal users. ... and control of models, especially accounting, financial,.

  20. Web-Centric Systems in Support of Argumentation, Negotiation, and Organizational Memory

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Vickers, Randal

    1997-01-01

    .... This medium will take advantage of the latest in web technologies while conducting a detailed analysis and design of a prototype web based decision support system to support on-line argumentation...

  1. Launching a virtual decision lab: development and field-testing of a web-based patient decision support research platform.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hoffman, Aubri S; Llewellyn-Thomas, Hilary A; Tosteson, Anna N A; O'Connor, Annette M; Volk, Robert J; Tomek, Ivan M; Andrews, Steven B; Bartels, Stephen J

    2014-12-12

    Over 100 trials show that patient decision aids effectively improve patients' information comprehension and values-based decision making. However, gaps remain in our understanding of several fundamental and applied questions, particularly related to the design of interactive, personalized decision aids. This paper describes an interdisciplinary development process for, and early field testing of, a web-based patient decision support research platform, or virtual decision lab, to address these questions. An interdisciplinary stakeholder panel designed the web-based research platform with three components: a) an introduction to shared decision making, b) a web-based patient decision aid, and c) interactive data collection items. Iterative focus groups provided feedback on paper drafts and online prototypes. A field test assessed a) feasibility for using the research platform, in terms of recruitment, usage, and acceptability; and b) feasibility of using the web-based decision aid component, compared to performance of a videobooklet decision aid in clinical care. This interdisciplinary, theory-based, patient-centered design approach produced a prototype for field-testing in six months. Participants (n = 126) reported that: the decision aid component was easy to use (98%), information was clear (90%), the length was appropriate (100%), it was appropriately detailed (90%), and it held their interest (97%). They spent a mean of 36 minutes using the decision aid and 100% preferred using their home/library computer. Participants scored a mean of 75% correct on the Decision Quality, Knowledge Subscale, and 74 out of 100 on the Preparation for Decision Making Scale. Completing the web-based decision aid reduced mean Decisional Conflict scores from 31.1 to 19.5 (p development of a web-based patient decision support research platform that was feasible for use in research studies in terms of recruitment, acceptability, and usage. Within this platform, the web-based

  2. Informatics in radiology: automated Web-based graphical dashboard for radiology operational business intelligence.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nagy, Paul G; Warnock, Max J; Daly, Mark; Toland, Christopher; Meenan, Christopher D; Mezrich, Reuben S

    2009-11-01

    Radiology departments today are faced with many challenges to improve operational efficiency, performance, and quality. Many organizations rely on antiquated, paper-based methods to review their historical performance and understand their operations. With increased workloads, geographically dispersed image acquisition and reading sites, and rapidly changing technologies, this approach is increasingly untenable. A Web-based dashboard was constructed to automate the extraction, processing, and display of indicators and thereby provide useful and current data for twice-monthly departmental operational meetings. The feasibility of extracting specific metrics from clinical information systems was evaluated as part of a longer-term effort to build a radiology business intelligence architecture. Operational data were extracted from clinical information systems and stored in a centralized data warehouse. Higher-level analytics were performed on the centralized data, a process that generated indicators in a dynamic Web-based graphical environment that proved valuable in discussion and root cause analysis. Results aggregated over a 24-month period since implementation suggest that this operational business intelligence reporting system has provided significant data for driving more effective management decisions to improve productivity, performance, and quality of service in the department.

  3. Design and Development of a Web-Based Self-Monitoring System to Support Wellness Coaching.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zarei, Reza; Kuo, Alex

    2017-01-01

    We analyzed, designed and deployed a web-based, self-monitoring system to support wellness coaching. A wellness coach can plan for clients' exercise and diet through the system and is able to monitor the changes in body dimensions and body composition that the client reports. The system can also visualize the client's data in form of graphs for both the client and the coach. Both parties can also communicate through the messaging feature embedded in the application. A reminder system is also incorporated into the system and sends reminder messages to the clients when their reporting is due. The web-based self-monitoring application uses Oracle 11g XE as the backend database and Application Express 4.2 as user interface development tool. The system allowed users to access, update and modify data through web browser anytime, anywhere, and on any device.

  4. Piloting a Web-Based Practicum Support Tool: Associate Teachers' Perceived Benefits and Drawbacks

    Science.gov (United States)

    Petrarca, Diana

    2014-01-01

    This pilot study explored how a small group of associate teachers responded to a web-based learning tool created specifically to support them in mentoring teacher candidates during the practicum component of an initial teacher education program in Southern Ontario, Canada. The learning tool's content drew from the teacher education literature, and…

  5. Managing fatigue after cancer treatment: development of RESTORE, a web-based resource to support self-management.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Foster, C; Calman, L; Grimmett, C; Breckons, M; Cotterell, P; Yardley, L; Joseph, J; Hughes, S; Jones, R; Leonidou, C; Armes, J; Batehup, L; Corner, J; Fenlon, D; Lennan, E; Morris, C; Neylon, A; Ream, E; Turner, L; Richardson, A

    2015-08-01

    The aim of this study is to co-create an evidence-based and theoretically informed web-based intervention (RESTORE) designed to enhance self-efficacy to live with cancer-related fatigue (CRF) following primary cancer treatment. A nine-step process informed the development of the intervention: (1) review of empirical literature; (2) review of existing patient resources; (3) establish theoretical framework; (4) establish design team with expertise in web-based interventions, CRF and people affected by cancer; (5) develop prototype intervention; (6) user testing phase 1; (7) refinement of prototype; (8) user testing phase 2; and (9) develop final intervention. Key stakeholders made a critical contribution at every step of intervention development, and user testing, which involved an iterative process and resulted in the final intervention. The RESTORE intervention has five sessions; sessions 1 and 2 include an introduction to CRF and goal setting. Sessions 3-5 can be tailored to user preference and are designed to cover areas of life where CRF may have an impact: home and work life, personal relationships and emotional adjustment. It is feasible to systematically 'co-create' an evidence-based and theory-driven web-based self-management intervention to support cancer survivors living with the consequences of cancer and its treatment. This is the first account of the development of a web-based intervention to support self-efficacy to manage CRF. An exploratory trial to test the feasibility and acceptability of RESTORE is now warranted. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  6. A web-based support for pregnant women and new mothers with type 1 diabetes mellitus in Sweden (MODIAB-Web): study protocol for a randomized controlled trial.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Adolfsson, Annsofie; Linden, Karolina; Sparud-Lundin, Carina; Larsson, Per-Göran; Berg, Marie

    2014-12-29

    Women with type 1 diabetes face particular demands in their lives in relation to childbearing. During pregnancy, in order to optimize the probability of giving birth to a healthy child, their blood glucose levels need to be as normal as possible. After childbirth, they experience a 'double stress': in addition to the ordinary challenges they face as new mothers, they also need to focus on getting their blood glucose levels normal. To improve self-management of diabetes and overall well-being in women with type 1 diabetes, a person-centered web-based support was designed to be tested in a randomized controlled trial (RCT) to be used during pregnancy and early motherhood. This protocol outlines the design of this RCT, which will evaluate the effectiveness of the specially designed web-based support for mothers with type 1 diabetes in Sweden. The study is designed as an RCT. The web support consists of three parts: 1) evidence-based information, 2) a self-care diary, and 3) communication with peers. The primary outcome is general well-being evaluated with the Well-Being Questionnaire short version (W-BQ12) and diabetes management evaluated with the Diabetes Empowerment Scale, short version (SWE-DES). Women attending six hospital-based antenatal care centers in Sweden are invited to participate. The inclusion period is November 2011 to late 2014. The allocation of participants to web support (intervention group) and to usual care (control group) is equal (1:1). In total, 68 participants in each group will be needed to reach a statistical power of 80% with significance level 0.05. The web support is expected to strengthen the women's personal capacity and autonomy during pregnancy, breastfeeding, and early motherhood, leading to optimal well-being and diabetes management. ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT01565824 (registration date March 27th 2012).

  7. Prototype development of a web-based participative decision support platform in risk management

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aye, Zar Chi; Olyazadeh, Roya; Jaboyedoff, Michel; Derron, Marc-Henri

    2014-05-01

    This paper discusses the proposed background architecture and prototype development of an internet-based decision support system (DSS) in the field of natural hazards and risk management using open-source geospatial software and web technologies. It is based on a three-tier, client-server architecture with the support of boundless (opengeo) framework and its client side SDK application environment using customized gxp components and data utility classes. The main purpose of the system is to integrate the workflow of risk management systematically with the diverse involvement of stakeholders from different organizations dealing with natural hazards and risk for evaluation of management measures through the active online participation approach. It aims to develop an adaptive user friendly, web-based environment that allows the users to set up risk management strategies based on actual context and data by integrating web-GIS and DSS functionality associated with process flow and other visualization tools. Web-GIS interface has been integrated within the DSS to deliver maps and provide certain geo-processing capabilities on the web, which can be easily accessible and shared by different organizations located in case study sites of the project. This platform could be envisaged not only as a common web-based platform for the centralized sharing of data such as hazard maps, elements at risk maps and additional information but also to ensure an integrated platform of risk management where the users could upload data, analyze risk and identify possible alternative scenarios for risk reduction especially for floods and landslides, either quantitatively or qualitatively depending on the risk information provided by the stakeholders in case study regions. The level of involvement, access to and interaction with the provided functionality of the system varies depending on the roles and responsibilities of the stakeholders, for example, only the experts (planners, geological

  8. The Effectiveness of Hands-on Health Informatics Skills Exercises in the Multidisciplinary Smart Home Healthcare and Health Informatics Training Laboratories.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sapci, A H; Sapci, H A

    2017-10-01

    This article aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of newly established innovative smart home healthcare and health informatics laboratories, and a novel laboratory course that focuses on experiential health informatics training, and determine students' self-confidence to operate wireless home health monitoring devices before and after the hands-on laboratory course. Two web-based pretraining and posttraining questionnaires were sent to 64 students who received hands-on training with wireless remote patient monitoring devices in smart home healthcare and health informatics laboratories. All 64 students completed the pretraining survey (100% response rate), and 49 students completed the posttraining survey (76% response rate). The quantitative data analysis showed that 95% of students had an interest in taking more hands-on laboratory courses. Sixty-seven percent of students had no prior experience with medical image, physiological data acquisition, storage, and transmission protocols. After the hands-on training session, 75.51% of students expressed improved confidence about training patients to measure blood pressure monitor using wireless devices. Ninety percent of students preferred to use a similar experiential approach in their future learning experience. Additionally, the qualitative data analysis demonstrated that students were expecting to have more courses with hands-on exercises and integration of technology-enabled delivery and patient monitoring concepts into the curriculum. This study demonstrated that the multidisciplinary smart home healthcare and health informatics training laboratories and the hands-on exercises improved students' technology adoption rates and their self-confidence in using wireless patient monitoring devices. Schattauer GmbH Stuttgart.

  9. Translational Bioinformatics and Clinical Research (Biomedical) Informatics.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sirintrapun, S Joseph; Zehir, Ahmet; Syed, Aijazuddin; Gao, JianJiong; Schultz, Nikolaus; Cheng, Donavan T

    2015-06-01

    Translational bioinformatics and clinical research (biomedical) informatics are the primary domains related to informatics activities that support translational research. Translational bioinformatics focuses on computational techniques in genetics, molecular biology, and systems biology. Clinical research (biomedical) informatics involves the use of informatics in discovery and management of new knowledge relating to health and disease. This article details 3 projects that are hybrid applications of translational bioinformatics and clinical research (biomedical) informatics: The Cancer Genome Atlas, the cBioPortal for Cancer Genomics, and the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center clinical variants and results database, all designed to facilitate insights into cancer biology and clinical/therapeutic correlations. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  10. Language Practice with Multimedia Supported Web-Based Grammar Revision Material

    Science.gov (United States)

    Baturay, Meltem Huri; Daloglu, Aysegul; Yildirim, Soner

    2010-01-01

    The aim of this study was to investigate the perceptions of elementary-level English language learners towards web-based, multimedia-annotated grammar learning. WEBGRAM, a system designed to provide supplementary web-based grammar revision material, uses audio-visual aids to enrich the contextual presentation of grammar and allows learners to…

  11. Semantics-based Automated Web Testing

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hai-Feng Guo

    2015-08-01

    Full Text Available We present TAO, a software testing tool performing automated test and oracle generation based on a semantic approach. TAO entangles grammar-based test generation with automated semantics evaluation using a denotational semantics framework. We show how TAO can be incorporated with the Selenium automation tool for automated web testing, and how TAO can be further extended to support automated delta debugging, where a failing web test script can be systematically reduced based on grammar-directed strategies. A real-life parking website is adopted throughout the paper to demonstrate the effectivity of our semantics-based web testing approach.

  12. Pathology Informatics Essentials for Residents: A flexible informatics curriculum linked to Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education milestones

    Science.gov (United States)

    Henricks, Walter H; Karcher, Donald S; Harrison, James H; Sinard, John H; Riben, Michael W; Boyer, Philip J; Plath, Sue; Thompson, Arlene; Pantanowitz, Liron

    2016-01-01

    Context: Recognition of the importance of informatics to the practice of pathology has surged. Training residents in pathology informatics have been a daunting task for most residency programs in the United States because faculty often lacks experience and training resources. Nevertheless, developing resident competence in informatics is essential for the future of pathology as a specialty. Objective: The objective of the study is to develop and deliver a pathology informatics curriculum and instructional framework that guides pathology residency programs in training residents in critical pathology informatics knowledge and skills and meets Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education Informatics Milestones. Design: The College of American Pathologists, Association of Pathology Chairs, and Association for Pathology Informatics formed a partnership and expert work group to identify critical pathology informatics training outcomes and to create a highly adaptable curriculum and instructional approach, supported by a multiyear change management strategy. Results: Pathology Informatics Essentials for Residents (PIER) is a rigorous approach for educating all pathology residents in important pathology informatics knowledge and skills. PIER includes an instructional resource guide and toolkit for incorporating informatics training into residency programs that vary in needs, size, settings, and resources. PIER is available at http://www.apcprods.org/PIER (accessed April 6, 2016). Conclusions: PIER is an important contribution to informatics training in pathology residency programs. PIER introduces pathology trainees to broadly useful informatics concepts and tools that are relevant to practice. PIER provides residency program directors with a means to implement a standardized informatics training curriculum, to adapt the approach to local program needs, and to evaluate resident performance and progress over time. PMID:27563486

  13. Evidence-based patient choice and consumer health informatics in the Internet age.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Eysenbach, G; Jadad, A R

    2001-01-01

    In this paper we explore current access to and barriers to health information for consumers. We discuss how computers and other developments in information technology are ushering in the era of consumer health informatics, and the potential that lies ahead. It is clear that we witness a period in which the public will have unprecedented ability to access information and to participate actively in evidence-based health care. We propose that consumer health informatics be regarded as a whole new academic discipline, one that should be devoted to the exploration of the new possibilities that informatics is creating for consumers in relation to health and health care issues.

  14. System for Selection of Relevant Information for Decision Support

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Kalina, Jan; Seidl, L.; Zvára, K.; Grünfeldová, H.; Slovák, Dalibor; Zvárová, Jana

    2013-01-01

    Roč. 1, č. 1 (2013), s. 46-46 ISSN 1805-8698. [EFMI 2013 Special Topic Conference. 17.04.2013-19.04.2013, Prague] Institutional support: RVO:67985807 Keywords : decision support system * web-service * information extraction * high-dimension * gene expressions Subject RIV: IN - Informatics, Computer Science

  15. CoP Sensing Framework on Web-Based Environment

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mustapha, S. M. F. D. Syed

    The Web technologies and Web applications have shown similar high growth rate in terms of daily usages and user acceptance. The Web applications have not only penetrated in the traditional domains such as education and business but have also encroached into areas such as politics, social, lifestyle, and culture. The emergence of Web technologies has enabled Web access even to the person on the move through PDAs or mobile phones that are connected using Wi-Fi, HSDPA, or other communication protocols. These two phenomena are the inducement factors toward the need of building Web-based systems as the supporting tools in fulfilling many mundane activities. In doing this, one of the many focuses in research has been to look at the implementation challenges in building Web-based support systems in different types of environment. This chapter describes the implementation issues in building the community learning framework that can be supported on the Web-based platform. The Community of Practice (CoP) has been chosen as the community learning theory to be the case study and analysis as it challenges the creativity of the architectural design of the Web system in order to capture the presence of learning activities. The details of this chapter describe the characteristics of the CoP to understand the inherent intricacies in modeling in the Web-based environment, the evidences of CoP that need to be traced automatically in a slick manner such that the evidence-capturing process is unobtrusive, and the technologies needed to embrace a full adoption of Web-based support system for the community learning framework.

  16. Secure grid-based computing with social-network based trust management in the semantic web

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Špánek, Roman; Tůma, Miroslav

    2006-01-01

    Roč. 16, č. 6 (2006), s. 475-488 ISSN 1210-0552 R&D Projects: GA AV ČR 1ET100300419; GA MŠk 1M0554 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z10300504 Keywords : semantic web * grid computing * trust management * reconfigurable networks * security * hypergraph model * hypergraph algorithms Subject RIV: IN - Informatics, Computer Science

  17. Using web-based group support systems to enhance procedural fairness in administrative decision making in South Africa

    CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

    Twinomurinzi, H

    2009-11-01

    Full Text Available The authors are investigating whether Web-based Group Support System (GSS) tools can support and enhance procedural fairness in administrative decision making in South Africa. They report here on work that emanates from a masters dissertation...

  18. The Ark: a customizable web-based data management tool for health and medical research.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bickerstaffe, Adrian; Ranaweera, Thilina; Endersby, Travis; Ellis, Christopher; Maddumarachchi, Sanjaya; Gooden, George E; White, Paul; Moses, Eric K; Hewitt, Alex W; Hopper, John L

    2017-02-15

    The Ark is an open-source web-based tool that allows researchers to manage health and medical research data for humans and animals without specialized database skills or programming expertise. The system provides data management for core research information including demographic, phenotype, biospecimen and pedigree data, in addition to supporting typical investigator requirements such as tracking participant consent and correspondence, whilst also being able to generate custom data exports and reports. The Ark is 'study generic' by design and highly configurable via its web interface, allowing researchers to tailor the system to the specific data management requirements of their study. Source code for The Ark can be obtained freely from the website https://github.com/The-Ark-Informatics/ark/ . The source code can be modified and redistributed under the terms of the GNU GPL v3 license. Documentation and a pre-configured virtual appliance can be found at the website http://sphinx.org.au/the-ark/ . adrianb@unimelb.edu.au. Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com

  19. Introducing a technology-enabled problem-based learning approach into a health informatics curriculum.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Green, Carolyn J; van Gyn, Geraldine H; Moehr, Jochen R; Lau, Francis Y; Coward, Patricia M

    2004-03-18

    To investigate the effect on learner satisfaction of introducing a technology-enabled problem-based learning (PBL) approach into a health informatics curriculum. Course redesign was undertaken to prepare students for three 4-month work terms and a rapidly changing professional environment upon graduation. Twenty-six Canadian undergraduate students of a redesigned course in biomedical fundamentals completed a midterm questionnaire in 2002. Eight of these students participated in a focus group. Students agreed that seven of nine functions provided by the web-based online course management system enhanced their learning: private email (92.3%), calendaring (88.5%), course notes (88.5%), discussion forums (84.5%), online grades (84.5%) assignment descriptions (80.8%) and online quizzes (80.8%). Although students agreed that two PBL activities enhanced learning (learning to present information) (84.5%) and learning to identify information needed (73.1%), the majority of students (69.2%) expressed a preference for the traditional lecture approach over the PBL approach. Students reported feeling uncertain of what was required of them and related anxiety accounted for most of the negative feedback. These findings give us clear goals for improvement in the course beginning with a comprehensive, carefully guided introduction to the processes of PBL. The positive trends are encouraging for the use of web-enabled courseware and for the further development of the PBL approach.

  20. Prototype of a Web-based Participative Decision Support Platform in Natural Hazards and Risk Management

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zar Chi Aye

    2015-07-01

    Full Text Available This paper presents the current state and development of a prototype web-GIS (Geographic Information System decision support platform intended for application in natural hazards and risk management, mainly for floods and landslides. This web platform uses open-source geospatial software and technologies, particularly the Boundless (formerly OpenGeo framework and its client side software development kit (SDK. The main purpose of the platform is to assist the experts and stakeholders in the decision-making process for evaluation and selection of different risk management strategies through an interactive participation approach, integrating web-GIS interface with decision support tool based on a compromise programming approach. The access rights and functionality of the platform are varied depending on the roles and responsibilities of stakeholders in managing the risk. The application of the prototype platform is demonstrated based on an example case study site: Malborghetto Valbruna municipality of North-Eastern Italy where flash floods and landslides are frequent with major events having occurred in 2003. The preliminary feedback collected from the stakeholders in the region is discussed to understand the perspectives of stakeholders on the proposed prototype platform.

  1. Web-Based Self-Service Systems for Managed IT Support: Service Provider Perspectives of Stakeholder-Based Issues

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cooper, Vanessa A.; Lichtenstein, Sharman; Smith, Ross

    This chapter explores the provision of after-sales information technology (IT) support services using Web-based self-service systems (WSSs) in a business-to-business (B2B) context. A recent study conducted at six large multi-national IT support organisations revealed a number of critical success factors (CSFs) and stakeholder-based issues. To better identify and understand these important enablers and barriers, we explain how WSSs should be considered within a complex network of service providers, business partners and customer firms. The CSFs and stakeholder-based issues are discussed. The chapter highlights that for more successful service provision using WSSs, IT service providers should collaborate more effectively with enterprise customers and business partners and should better integrate their WSSs.

  2. Personalization of Rule-based Web Services.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Choi, Okkyung; Han, Sang Yong

    2008-04-04

    Nowadays Web users have clearly expressed their wishes to receive personalized services directly. Personalization is the way to tailor services directly to the immediate requirements of the user. However, the current Web Services System does not provide any features supporting this such as consideration of personalization of services and intelligent matchmaking. In this research a flexible, personalized Rule-based Web Services System to address these problems and to enable efficient search, discovery and construction across general Web documents and Semantic Web documents in a Web Services System is proposed. This system utilizes matchmaking among service requesters', service providers' and users' preferences using a Rule-based Search Method, and subsequently ranks search results. A prototype of efficient Web Services search and construction for the suggested system is developed based on the current work.

  3. Intelligent Electric Vehicle Integration - Domain Interfaces and Supporting Informatics

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Andersen, Peter Bach

    This thesis seeks to apply the field of informatics to the intelligent integration of electric vehicles into the power system. The main goal is to release the potential of electric vehicles in relation to a reliable, economically efficient power system based on renewables. To make intelligent EV...... and services in which the electric vehicle may be best suited to participate. The next stakeholder investigated is the distribution system operator representing the low voltage grid. The challenge is assessed by considering a number of grid impacts studies. Next, a set of grid congestion mitigation strategies...

  4. Web-Based Parenting Support: Development of the COPING Confident Parenting Programme

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Judith Hutchings

    2018-04-01

    Full Text Available Parents have the most significant impact on children’s development and the key parenting factors that promote child development and wellbeing are well known. Furthermore, many behavioural, social and emotional problems in children are associated with poor parenting practices. Parenting interventions that address parental skill deficits and teach positive parenting principles based on social learning theory are effective and are the recommended treatment for conduct disorder. Alongside the development of treatment programmes, universal parenting programmes have been developed; many present the same core parenting principles but their rationales vary from promoting children’s development to addressing common behavioural challenges and the evidence for these programmes is less well established. Most parents now have internet access and are making daily use of it, including seeking advice on parenting matters but that advice is often anecdotal and lacking evidence. In the meantime, a small number of web-based programmes, including parenting programmes have been developed and evaluated. This paper summarises the rationale for web-based universal programmes to support parents and briefly describes the history, content and a summary of the initial research on the COPING (confident parent internet guide programme developed by the authors. The paper concludes with suggestions for future research directions.

  5. Medical Informatics Idle YouTube Potential.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hucíková, Anežka; Babic, Ankica

    2017-01-01

    YouTube as an online video-sharing service in the context of Web 2.0 goes beyond the bounds of pure fun, for which the platform was primarily established. Nowadays, commonly to other social media, it serves also educational, informational and last but not least, marketing purposes. The importance of video sharing is supported by several predictions about video reaching over 90% of global internet traffic by 2020. Using qualitative content analysis over selected YouTube videos, paper examines the current situation of the platform's marketing potential usage by medical informatics organizations, researches and other healthcare professionals. Results of the analysis demonstrate several ways in which YouTube is already used to inform, educate or promote above-mentioned medical institutions. However, their engagement in self-promo or spreading awareness of their research projects via YouTube is considered to be low.

  6. Students' Views about the Problem Based Collaborative Learning Environment Supported by Dynamic Web Technologies

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ünal, Erhan; Çakir, Hasan

    2017-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to design a problem based collaborative learning environment supported by dynamic web technologies and to examine students' views about this learning environment. The study was designed as a qualitative research. Some 36 students who took an Object Oriented Programming I-II course at the department of computer…

  7. Data, Staff, and Money: Leadership Reflections on the Future of Public Health Informatics.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Leider, Jonathon P; Shah, Gulzar H; Williams, Karmen S; Gupta, Akrati; Castrucci, Brian C

    Health informatics can play a critical role in supporting local health departments' (LHDs') delivery of certain essential public health services and improving evidence base for decision support. However, LHDs' informatics capacities are below an optimum level. Efforts to build such capacities face ongoing challenges. Moreover, little is known about LHD leaders' desires for the future of public health informatics. Conduct a qualitative analysis of LHDs' future informatics plans, perceived barriers to accomplishing those plans, and potential impact of future advances in public health informatics on the work of the public health enterprise. This research presents findings from 49 in-depth key informant interviews with public health leaders and informatics professionals from LHDs, representing insights from across the United States. Interviewees were selected on the basis of the size of the population their LHD serves, as well as level of informatics capacity. Interviews were transcribed, verified, and double coded. Major barriers to doing more with informatics included staff capacity and training, financial constraints, dependency on state health agency, and small LHD size/lack of regionalization. When asked about the role of leadership in expanding informatics, interviewees said that leaders could make it a priority through (1) learning more about informatics and (2) creating appropriate budgets for integrated information systems. Local health department leaders said that they desired data that were timely and geographically specific. In addition, LHD leaders said that they desired greater access to clinical data, especially around chronic disease indicators. Local health department leadership desires to have timely or even real-time data. Local health departments have a great potential to benefit from informatics, particularly electronic health records in advancing their administrative practices and service delivery, but financial and human capital represents the

  8. Critical social theory as a model for the informatics curriculum for nursing.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wainwright, P; Jones, P G

    2000-01-01

    It is widely acknowledged that the education and training of nurses in information management and technology is problematic. Drawing from recent research this paper presents a theoretical framework within which the nature of the problems faced by nurses in the use of information may be analyzed. This framework, based on the critical social theory of Habermas, also provides a model for the informatics curriculum. The advantages of problem based learning and multi-media web-based technologies for the delivery of learning materials within this area are also discussed.

  9. [Looking for evidence-based medical informatics].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Coiera, Enrico

    2016-03-01

    e-Health is experiencing a difficult time. On the one side, the forecast is for a bright digital health future created by precision medicine and smart devices. On the other hand, most large scale e-health projects struggle to make a difference and are often controversial. Both futures fail because they are not evidence-based. Medical informatics should follow the example of evidence-based medicine, i.e. conduct rigorous research that gives us evidence to solve real world problems, synthesise that evidence and then apply it strictly. We already have the tools for creating a different universe. What we need is evidence, will, a culture of learning, and hard work.

  10. The development and evaluation of a web-based programme to support problem-solving skills following brain injury.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Powell, Laurie Ehlhardt; Wild, Michelle R; Glang, Ann; Ibarra, Summer; Gau, Jeff M; Perez, Amanda; Albin, Richard W; O'Neil-Pirozzi, Therese M; Wade, Shari L; Keating, Tom; Saraceno, Carolyn; Slocumb, Jody

    2017-10-24

    Cognitive impairments following brain injury, including difficulty with problem solving, can pose significant barriers to successful community reintegration. Problem-solving strategy training is well-supported in the cognitive rehabilitation literature. However, limitations in insurance reimbursement have resulted in fewer services to train such skills to mastery and to support generalization of those skills into everyday environments. The purpose of this project was to develop and evaluate an integrated, web-based programme, ProSolv, which uses a small number of coaching sessions to support problem solving in everyday life following brain injury. We used participatory action research to guide the iterative development, usability testing, and within-subject pilot testing of the ProSolv programme. The finalized programme was then evaluated in a between-subjects group study and a non-experimental single case study. Results were mixed across studies. Participants demonstrated that it was feasible to learn and use the ProSolv programme for support in problem solving. They highly recommended the programme to others and singled out the importance of the coach. Limitations in app design were cited as a major reason for infrequent use of the app outside of coaching sessions. Results provide mixed evidence regarding the utility of web-based mobile apps, such as ProSolv to support problem solving following brain injury. Implications for Rehabilitation People with cognitive impairments following brain injury often struggle with problem solving in everyday contexts. Research supports problem solving skills training following brain injury. Assistive technology for cognition (smartphones, selected apps) offers a means of supporting problem solving for this population. This project demonstrated the feasibility of a web-based programme to address this need.

  11. Application of a web-based Decision Support System in risk management

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aye, Zar Chi; Jaboyedoff, Michel; Derron, Marc-Henri

    2013-04-01

    Increasingly, risk information is widely available with the help of advanced technologies such as earth observation satellites, global positioning technologies, coupled with hazard modeling and analysis, and geographical information systems (GIS). Even though it exists, no effort will be put into action if it is not properly presented to the decision makers. These information need to be communicated clearly and show its usefulness so that people can make better informed decision. Therefore, communicating available risk information has become an important challenge and decision support systems have been one of the significant approaches which can help not only in presenting risk information to the decision makers but also in making efficient decisions while reducing human resources and time needed. In this study, the conceptual framework of an internet-based decision support system is presented to highlight its importance role in risk management framework and how it can be applied in case study areas chosen. The main purpose of the proposed system is to facilitate the available risk information in risk reduction by taking into account of the changes in climate, land use and socio-economic along with the risk scenarios. It allows the users to formulate, compare and select risk reduction scenarios (mainly for floods and landslides) through an enhanced participatory platform with diverse stakeholders' involvement in the decision making process. It is based on the three-tier (client-server) architecture which integrates web-GIS plus DSS functionalities together with cost benefit analysis and other supporting tools. Embedding web-GIS provides its end users to make better planning and informed decisions referenced to a geographical location, which is the one of the essential factors in disaster risk reduction programs. Different risk reduction measures of a specific area (local scale) will be evaluated using this web-GIS tool, available risk scenarios obtained from

  12. Initial Field Trial of a Coach-Supported Web-Based Depression Treatment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schueller, Stephen M; Mohr, David C

    2015-08-01

    Early web-based depression treatments were often self-guided and included few interactive elements, instead focusing mostly on delivering informational content online. Newer programs include many more types of features. As such, trials should analyze the ways in which people use these sites in order to inform the design of subsequent sites and models of support. The current study describes of a field trial consisting of 9 patients with major depressive disorder who completed a 12-week program including weekly coach calls. Patients usage varied widely, however, patients who formed regular patterns tended to persist with the program for the longest. Future sites might be able to facilitate user engagement by designing features to support regular use and to use coaches to help establish patterns to increase long-term use and benefit.

  13. Web-video-mining-supported workflow modeling for laparoscopic surgeries.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Rui; Zhang, Xiaoli; Zhang, Hao

    2016-11-01

    As quality assurance is of strong concern in advanced surgeries, intelligent surgical systems are expected to have knowledge such as the knowledge of the surgical workflow model (SWM) to support their intuitive cooperation with surgeons. For generating a robust and reliable SWM, a large amount of training data is required. However, training data collected by physically recording surgery operations is often limited and data collection is time-consuming and labor-intensive, severely influencing knowledge scalability of the surgical systems. The objective of this research is to solve the knowledge scalability problem in surgical workflow modeling with a low cost and labor efficient way. A novel web-video-mining-supported surgical workflow modeling (webSWM) method is developed. A novel video quality analysis method based on topic analysis and sentiment analysis techniques is developed to select high-quality videos from abundant and noisy web videos. A statistical learning method is then used to build the workflow model based on the selected videos. To test the effectiveness of the webSWM method, 250 web videos were mined to generate a surgical workflow for the robotic cholecystectomy surgery. The generated workflow was evaluated by 4 web-retrieved videos and 4 operation-room-recorded videos, respectively. The evaluation results (video selection consistency n-index ≥0.60; surgical workflow matching degree ≥0.84) proved the effectiveness of the webSWM method in generating robust and reliable SWM knowledge by mining web videos. With the webSWM method, abundant web videos were selected and a reliable SWM was modeled in a short time with low labor cost. Satisfied performances in mining web videos and learning surgery-related knowledge show that the webSWM method is promising in scaling knowledge for intelligent surgical systems. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  14. Best Practices in Supporting Persistence of Distant Education Students through Integrated Web-Based Systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    McCracken, Holly

    2009-01-01

    The importance of the interconnectedness of academic, student, and technical support processes intrinsic to the provision of on-line instruction has been frequently depicted as a "service Web," with students at the center of the infrastructure. However, as programming to support distance learning continues to develop, such service Webs have grown…

  15. Web-based tools for quality assurance and radiation protection in diagnostic radiology.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moores, B M; Charnock, P; Ward, M

    2010-01-01

    of new examination QA performance indicators will be discussed. The application of web-based IT tools for QA and radiation protection in diagnostic radiology is already opening up the possibility of developing new and improved scientific support services as well as research possibilities in radiological informatics. These will be outlined together with areas for possible future development by the medical physics community.

  16. Web-based tools for quality assurance and radiation protection in diagnostic radiology

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Moores, B. M.; Charnock, P.; Ward, M.

    2010-01-01

    of new examination QA performance indicators will be discussed. The application of web-based IT tools for QA and radiation protection in diagnostic radiology is already opening up the possibility of developing new and improved scientific support services as well as research possibilities in radiological informatics. These will be outlined together with areas for possible future development by the medical physics community. (authors)

  17. Anesthesia 2.0: internet-based information resources and Web 2.0 applications in anesthesia education.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chu, Larry F; Young, Chelsea; Zamora, Abby; Kurup, Viji; Macario, Alex

    2010-04-01

    Informatics is a broad field encompassing artificial intelligence, cognitive science, computer science, information science, and social science. The goal of this review is to illustrate how Web 2.0 information technologies could be used to improve anesthesia education. Educators in all specialties of medicine are increasingly studying Web 2.0 technologies to maximize postgraduate medical education of housestaff. These technologies include microblogging, blogs, really simple syndication (RSS) feeds, podcasts, wikis, and social bookmarking and networking. 'Anesthesia 2.0' reflects our expectation that these technologies will foster innovation and interactivity in anesthesia-related web resources which embraces the principles of openness, sharing, and interconnectedness that represent the Web 2.0 movement. Although several recent studies have shown benefits of implementing these systems into medical education, much more investigation is needed. Although direct practice and observation in the operating room are essential, Web 2.0 technologies hold great promise to innovate anesthesia education and clinical practice such that the resident learner need not be in a classroom for a didactic talk, or even in the operating room to see how an arterial line is properly placed. Thoughtful research to maximize implementation of these technologies should be a priority for development by academic anesthesiology departments. Web 2.0 and advanced informatics resources will be part of physician lifelong learning and clinical practice.

  18. Prompting in Web-Based Environments: Supporting Self-Monitoring and Problem Solving Skills in College Students

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kauffman, Douglas F.; Ge, Xun; Xie, Kui; Chen, Ching-Huei

    2008-01-01

    This study explored Metacognition and how automated instructional support in the form of problem-solving and self-reflection prompts influenced students' capacity to solve complex problems in a Web-based learning environment. Specifically, we examined the independent and interactive effects of problem-solving prompts and reflection prompts on…

  19. Training multidisciplinary biomedical informatics students: three years of experience.

    Science.gov (United States)

    van Mulligen, Erik M; Cases, Montserrat; Hettne, Kristina; Molero, Eva; Weeber, Marc; Robertson, Kevin A; Oliva, Baldomero; de la Calle, Guillermo; Maojo, Victor

    2008-01-01

    The European INFOBIOMED Network of Excellence recognized that a successful education program in biomedical informatics should include not only traditional teaching activities in the basic sciences but also the development of skills for working in multidisciplinary teams. A carefully developed 3-year training program for biomedical informatics students addressed these educational aspects through the following four activities: (1) an internet course database containing an overview of all Medical Informatics and BioInformatics courses, (2) a BioMedical Informatics Summer School, (3) a mobility program based on a 'brokerage service' which published demands and offers, including funding for research exchange projects, and (4) training challenges aimed at the development of multi-disciplinary skills. This paper focuses on experiences gained in the development of novel educational activities addressing work in multidisciplinary teams. The training challenges described here were evaluated by asking participants to fill out forms with Likert scale based questions. For the mobility program a needs assessment was carried out. The mobility program supported 20 exchanges which fostered new BMI research, resulted in a number of peer-reviewed publications and demonstrated the feasibility of this multidisciplinary BMI approach within the European Union. Students unanimously indicated that the training challenge experience had contributed to their understanding and appreciation of multidisciplinary teamwork. The training activities undertaken in INFOBIOMED have contributed to a multi-disciplinary BMI approach. It is our hope that this work might provide an impetus for training efforts in Europe, and yield a new generation of biomedical informaticians.

  20. Medical informatics in morocco.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bouhaddou, O; Bennani Othmani, M; Diouny, S

    2013-01-01

    Informatics is an essential tool for helping to transform healthcare from a paper-based to a digital sector. This article explores the state-of-the-art of health informatics in Morocco. Specifically, it aims to give a general overview of the Moroccan healthcare system, the challenges it is facing, and the efforts undertaken by the informatics community and Moroccan government in terms of education, research and practice to reform the country's health sector. Through the experience of establishing Medical Informatics as a medical specialty in 2008, creating a Moroccan Medical Informatics Association in 2010 and holding a first national congress took place in April 2012, the authors present their assessment of some important priorities for health informatics in Morocco. These Moroccan initiatives are facilitating collaboration in education, research, and implementation of clinical information systems. In particular, the stakeholders have recognized the need for a national coordinator office and the development of a national framework for standards and interoperability. For developing countries like Morocco, new health IT approaches like mobile health and trans-media health advertising could help optimize scarce resources, improve access to rural areas and focus on the most prevalent health problems, optimizing health care access, quality, and cost for Morocco population.

  1. Computer, Informatics, Cybernetics and Applications : Proceedings of the CICA 2011

    CERN Document Server

    Hua, Ertian; Lin, Yun; Liu, Xiaozhu

    2012-01-01

    Computer Informatics Cybernetics and Applications offers 91 papers chosen for publication from among 184 papers accepted for presentation to the International Conference on Computer, Informatics, Cybernetics and Applications 2011 (CICA 2011), held in Hangzhou, China, September 13-16, 2011. The CICA 2011 conference provided a forum for engineers and scientists in academia, industry, and government to address the most innovative research and development including technical challenges and social, legal, political, and economic issues, and to present and discuss their ideas, results, work in progress and experience on all aspects of Computer, Informatics, Cybernetics and Applications. Reflecting the broad scope of the conference, the contents are organized in these topical categories: Communication Technologies and Applications Intelligence and Biometrics Technologies Networks Systems and Web Technologies Data Modeling and Programming Languages Digital Image Processing Optimization and Scheduling Education and In...

  2. Nursing informatics and nursing ethics

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kaltoft, Mette Kjer

    2013-01-01

    All healthcare visions, including that of The TIGER (Technology-Informatics-Guiding-Educational-Reform) Initiative envisage a crucial role for nursing. However, its 7 descriptive pillars do not address the disconnect between Nursing Informatics and Nursing Ethics and their distinct communities......-of-(care)-decision. Increased pressure for translating 'evidence-based' research findings into 'ethically-sound', 'value-based' and 'patient-centered' practice requires rethinking the model implicit in conventional knowledge translation and informatics practice in all disciplines, including nursing. The aim is to aid 'how...... nurses and other health care scientists more clearly identify clinical and other relevant data that can be captured to inform future comparative effectiveness research. 'A prescriptive, theory-based discipline of '(Nursing) Decisionics' expands the Grid for Volunteer Development of TIGER's newly launched...

  3. Towards Development of Web-based Assessment System Based on Semantic Web Technology

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hosam Farouk El-Sofany

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available The assessment process in an educational system is an important and primordial part of its success to assure the correct way of knowledge transmission and to ensure that students are working correctly and succeed to acquire the needed knowledge. In this study, we aim to include Semantic Web technologies in the E-learning process, as new components. We use Semantic Web (SW to: 1 support the evaluation of open questions in e-learning courses, 2 support the creation of questions and exams automatically, 3 support the evaluation of exams created by the system. These components should allow for measuring academic performance, providing feedback mechanisms, and improving participative and collaborative ideas. Our goal is to use Semantic Web and Wireless technologies to design and implement the assessment system that allows the students, to take: web-based tutorials, quizzes, free exercises, and exams, to download: course reviews, previous exams and their model answers, to access the system through the Mobile and take quick quizzes and exercises. The system facilitates generation of automatic, balanced, and different exam sheets that contain different types of questions covering the entire curriculum, and display gradually from easiness to difficulty. The system provides the teachers and administrators with several services such as: store different types of questions, generate exams with specific criteria, and upload course assignments, exams, and reviews.

  4. Evaluating the Utility of Web-Based Consumer Support Tools Using Rough Sets

    Science.gov (United States)

    Maciag, Timothy; Hepting, Daryl H.; Slezak, Dominik; Hilderman, Robert J.

    On the Web, many popular e-commerce sites provide consumers with decision support tools to assist them in their commerce-related decision-making. Many consumers will rank the utility of these tools quite highly. Data obtained from web usage mining analyses, which may provide knowledge about a user's online experiences, could help indicate the utility of these tools. This type of analysis could provide insight into whether provided tools are adequately assisting consumers in conducting their online shopping activities or if new or additional enhancements need consideration. Although some research in this regard has been described in previous literature, there is still much that can be done. The authors of this paper hypothesize that a measurement of consumer decision accuracy, i.e. a measurement preferences, could help indicate the utility of these tools. This paper describes a procedure developed towards this goal using elements of rough set theory. The authors evaluated the procedure using two support tools, one based on a tool developed by the US-EPA and the other developed by one of the authors called cogito. Results from the evaluation did provide interesting insights on the utility of both support tools. Although it was shown that the cogito tool obtained slightly higher decision accuracy, both tools could be improved from additional enhancements. Details of the procedure developed and results obtained from the evaluation will be provided. Opportunities for future work are also discussed.

  5. The Health Information Technology Competencies Tool: Does It Translate for Nursing Informatics in the United States?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sipes, Carolyn; Hunter, Kathleen; McGonigle, Dee; West, Karen; Hill, Taryn; Hebda, Toni

    2017-12-01

    Information technology use in healthcare delivery mandates a prepared workforce. The initial Health Information Technology Competencies tool resulted from a 2-year transatlantic effort by experts from the US and European Union to identify approaches to develop skills and knowledge needed by healthcare workers. It was determined that competencies must be identified before strategies are established, resulting in a searchable database of more than 1000 competencies representing five domains, five skill levels, and more than 250 roles. Health Information Technology Competencies is available at no cost and supports role- or competency-based queries. Health Information Technology Competencies developers suggest its use for curriculum planning, job descriptions, and professional development.The Chamberlain College of Nursing informatics research team examined Health Information Technology Competencies for its possible application to our research and our curricular development, comparing it originally with the TIGER-based Assessment of Nursing Informatics Competencies and Nursing Informatics Competency Assessment of Level 3 and Level 4 tools, which examine informatics competencies at four levels of nursing practice. Additional analysis involved the 2015 Nursing Informatics: Scope and Standards of Practice. Informatics is a Health Information Technology Competencies domain, so clear delineation of nursing-informatics competencies was expected. Researchers found TIGER-based Assessment of Nursing Informatics Competencies and Nursing Informatics Competency Assessment of Level 3 and Level 4 differed from Health Information Technology Competencies 2016 in focus, definitions, ascribed competencies, and defined levels of expertise. When Health Information Technology Competencies 2017 was compared against the nursing informatics scope and standards, researchers found an increase in the number of informatics competencies but not to a significant degree. This is not surprising

  6. Nurse Leadership and Informatics Competencies: Shaping Transformation of Professional Practice.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kennedy, Margaret Ann; Moen, Anne

    2017-01-01

    Nurse leaders must demonstrate capacities and develop specific informatics competencies in order to provide meaningful leadership and support ongoing transformation of the healthcare system. Concurrently, staff informatics competencies must be planned and fostered to support critical principles of transformation and patient safety in practice, advance evidence-informed practice, and enable nursing to flourish in complex digital environments across the healthcare continuum. In addition to nurse leader competencies, two key aspects of leadership and informatics competencies will be addressed in this chapter - namely, the transformation of health care and preparation of the nursing workforce.

  7. Internet-based peer support for Ménière's disease: a summary of web-based data collection, impact evaluation, and user evaluation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pyykkő, Ilmari; Manchaiah, Vinaya; Levo, Hilla; Kentala, Erna; Juhola, Martti

    2017-07-01

    This paper presents a summary of web-based data collection, impact evaluation, and user evaluations of an Internet-based peer support program for Ménière's disease (MD). The program is written in html-form. The data are stored in a MySQL database and uses machine learning in the diagnosis of MD. The program works interactively with the user and assesses the participant's disorder profile in various dimensions (i.e., symptoms, impact, personal traits, and positive attitude). The inference engine uses a database to compare the impact with 50 referents, and provides regular feedback to the user. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics and regression analysis. The impact evaluation was based on 740 cases and the user evaluation on a sample of 75 cases of MD respectively. The web-based system was useful in data collection and impact evaluation of people with MD. Among those with a recent onset of MD, 78% rated the program as useful or very useful, whereas those with chronic MD rated the program 55%. We suggest that a web-based data collection and impact evaluation for peer support can be helpful while formulating the rehabilitation goals of building the self-confidence needed for coping and increasing social participation.

  8. Adoption of web-based group decision support systems: experiences from the field and future developments

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jos van Hillegersberg

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available While organizations have massively adopted enterprise information systems to support business processes, business meetings in which key decisions are made about products, services and processes, are usually held without much support of information systems. This is remarkable as group decision support systems (GDSS seems to fit for this purpose. They have existed for decades and modern versions benefit of web-based technologies, enabling low cost any-place, any time and device independent meeting support. In this exploratory case research, we study nine organizations in four different adoption categories to learn more about the reasons for the relatively slow adoption of web-based GDSS. Using the Fit-Viability adoption framework we conduct interviews with organizations that have experience with using GDSS. We conclude that adopting GDSS requires considerable and carefully planned change of processes that are deeply grounded in the organization. Existing meeting routines need to be adapted. Introduction needs to be carefully planned and room for face-to-face meetings and creativity sessions away from the keyboard need to be built in depending on the type of meeting. Not all companies find the cost level affordable. Clear and convincing business cases are lacking. Still the added value is ranked highly and there are frequent and enthusiastic user organizations that may lead the way for others. Their success stories show others how to mitigate problems.

  9. [Biomedical informatics].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Capurro, Daniel; Soto, Mauricio; Vivent, Macarena; Lopetegui, Marcelo; Herskovic, Jorge R

    2011-12-01

    Biomedical Informatics is a new discipline that arose from the need to incorporate information technologies to the generation, storage, distribution and analysis of information in the domain of biomedical sciences. This discipline comprises basic biomedical informatics, and public health informatics. The development of the discipline in Chile has been modest and most projects have originated from the interest of individual people or institutions, without a systematic and coordinated national development. Considering the unique features of health care system of our country, research in the area of biomedical informatics is becoming an imperative.

  10. Web-Based Interventions Supporting Adolescents and Young People With Depressive Symptoms: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Välimäki, Maritta; Anttila, Katriina; Anttila, Minna; Lahti, Mari

    2017-12-08

    Although previous studies on information and communication technology (ICT)-based intervention on mental health among adolescents with depressive symptoms have already been combined in a number of systematic reviews, coherent information is still missing about interventions used, participants' engagement of these interventions, and how these interventions work. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of trials to describe the effectiveness of Web-based interventions to support adolescents with depression or depressive symptoms, anxiety, and stress. We also explored the content of the interventions, as there has previously been a lack of coherent understanding of the detailed content of the Web-based interventions for these purposes. We included parallel randomized controlled trials targeted at adolescents, or young people in the age range of 10 and 24 years, with symptoms or diagnoses of depression and anxiety. The interventions were from original studies aimed to support mental health among adolescents, and they were delivered via Web-based information and communication technology. Out of 2087 records identified, 27 papers (22 studies) met the inclusion criteria. On the basis of a narrative analysis of 22 studies, a variety of Web-based interventions were found; the most commonly used intervention was based on cognitive behavioral therapy. Meta-analysis was further conducted with 15 studies (4979 participants). At the end of the intervention, a statistically significant improvement was found in the intervention group (10 studies) regarding depressive symptoms (P=.02, median 1.68, 95% CI 3.11-0.25) and after 6 months (3 studies; P=.01, median 1.78, 95% CI 3.20-0.37). Anxiety symptoms (8 studies; Pstress scores. However, adolescents in the intervention group left the study early more often, both in short-term studies (11 studies; P=.007, median 1.31, 95% CI 1.08-1.58) and mid-term studies (3 studies; P=.02, median 1.65, 95% CI 1.09-2.49). We did not find

  11. Web-based targeted nutrition counselling and social support for patients at increased cardiovascular risk in general practice: randomized controlled trial.

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Verheijden, M.E.; Bakx, J.C.; Akkermans, R.P.; Hoogen, H.J.M. van den; Godwin, N.M.; Rosser, W.W.; Staveren, W.A. van; Weel, C. van

    2004-01-01

    BACKGROUND: Using the Internet may prove useful in providing nutrition counselling and social support for patients with chronic diseases. OBJECTIVE: We evaluated the impact of Web-based nutrition counselling and social support on social support measures, anthropometry, blood pressure, and serum

  12. Web-based targeted nutrition counselling and social support for patients at increased cardiovascular risk in general practice: Randomized controlled trial

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Verheijden, M.; Bakx, J.C.; Akkermans, R.; Hoogen, H. van den; Godwin, N.M.; Rosser, W.; Staveren, W. van; Weel, C. van

    2004-01-01

    Background: Using the Internet may prove useful in providing nutrition counselling and social support for patients with chronic diseases. Objective: We evaluated the impact of Web-based nutrition counselling and social support on social support measures, anthropometry, blood pressure, and serum

  13. Web-based targeted nutrition counselling and social support for patients at increased cardiovascular risk in general practice: randomized controlled trial.

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Verheijden, M.W.; Bakx, J.C.; Akkermans, R.; Hoogen, van den H.; Godwin, M.; Rosser, W.; Staveren, van W.A.; Weel, van C.

    2004-01-01

    Background: Using the Internet may prove useful in providing nutrition counselling and social support for patients with chronic diseases. Objective: We evaluated the impact of Web-based nutrition counselling and social support on social support measures, anthropometry, blood pressure, and serum

  14. Earth Science Informatics - Overview

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ramapriyan, H. K.

    2017-01-01

    Over the last 10-15 years, significant advances have been made in information management, there are an increasing number of individuals entering the field of information management as it applies to Geoscience and Remote Sensing data, and the field of informatics has come to its own. Informatics is the science and technology of applying computers and computational methods to the systematic analysis, management, interchange, and representation of science data, information, and knowledge. Informatics also includes the use of computers and computational methods to support decision making and applications. Earth Science Informatics (ESI, a.k.a. geoinformatics) is the application of informatics in the Earth science domain. ESI is a rapidly developing discipline integrating computer science, information science, and Earth science. Major national and international research and infrastructure projects in ESI have been carried out or are on-going. Notable among these are: the Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS), the European Commissions INSPIRE, the U.S. NSDI and Geospatial One-Stop, the NASA EOSDIS, and the NSF DataONE, EarthCube and Cyberinfrastructure for Geoinformatics. More than 18 departments and agencies in the U.S. federal government have been active in Earth science informatics. All major space agencies in the world, have been involved in ESI research and application activities. In the United States, the Federation of Earth Science Information Partners (ESIP), whose membership includes over 180 organizations (government, academic and commercial) dedicated to managing, delivering and applying Earth science data, has been working on many ESI topics since 1998. The Committee on Earth Observation Satellites (CEOS)s Working Group on Information Systems and Services (WGISS) has been actively coordinating the ESI activities among the space agencies.The talk will present an overview of current efforts in ESI, the role members of IEEE GRSS play, and discuss

  15. Some Innovative Approaches for Public Health and Epidemiology Informatics.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Toubiana, L; Griffon, N

    2016-11-10

    Summarize excellent current research published in 2015 in the field of Public Health and Epidemiology Informatics. The complete 2015 literature concerning public health and epidemiology informatics has been searched in PubMed and Web of Science, and the returned references were reviewed by the two section editors to select 14 candidate best papers. These papers were then peer-reviewed by external reviewers to allow the editorial team an enlightened selection of the best papers. Among the 1,272 references retrieved from PubMed and Web of Science, three were finally selected as best papers. The first one presents a language agnostic approach for epidemic event detection in news articles. The second paper describes a system using big health data gathered by a statewide system to forecast emergency department visits. The last paper proposes a rather original approach that uses machine learning to solve the old issue of outbreak detection and prediction. The increasing availability of data, now directly from health systems, will probably lead to a boom in public health surveillance systems and in large-scale epidemiologic studies.

  16. A Web-Based Model for Diabetes Education and Decision Support for the Home Care Nurse

    OpenAIRE

    Hill, Michelle; Kirby, Judy

    1998-01-01

    Diabetes education for the home care population requires expert knowledge to be available at the point-of-care, the patient's home. This poster displays a model for Web-based diabetes education and decision support for the home care nurse. The system utilizes the line of reasoning (LOR) model to organize and represent expert decision-making thought processes.

  17. InvestigationOrganizer: The Development and Testing of a Web-based Tool to Support Mishap Investigations

    Science.gov (United States)

    Carvalho, Robert F.; Williams, James; Keller, Richard; Sturken, Ian; Panontin, Tina

    2004-01-01

    InvestigationOrganizer (IO) is a collaborative web-based system designed to support the conduct of mishap investigations. IO provides a common repository for a wide range of mishap related information, and allows investigators to make explicit, shared, and meaningful links between evidence, causal models, findings and recommendations. It integrates the functionality of a database, a common document repository, a semantic knowledge network, a rule-based inference engine, and causal modeling and visualization. Thus far, IO has been used to support four mishap investigations within NASA, ranging from a small property damage case to the loss of the Space Shuttle Columbia. This paper describes how the functionality of IO supports mishap investigations and the lessons learned from the experience of supporting two of the NASA mishap investigations: the Columbia Accident Investigation and the CONTOUR Loss Investigation.

  18. The pathology informatics curriculum wiki: Harnessing the power of user-generated content.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kim, Ji Yeon; Gudewicz, Thomas M; Dighe, Anand S; Gilbertson, John R

    2010-07-13

    The need for informatics training as part of pathology training has never been so critical, but pathology informatics is a wide and complex field and very few programs currently have the resources to provide comprehensive educational pathology informatics experiences to their residents. In this article, we present the "pathology informatics curriculum wiki", an open, on-line wiki that indexes the pathology informatics content in a larger public wiki, Wikipedia, (and other online content) and organizes it into educational modules based on the 2003 standard curriculum approved by the Association for Pathology Informatics (API). In addition to implementing the curriculum wiki at http://pathinformatics.wikispaces.com, we have evaluated pathology informatics content in Wikipedia. Of the 199 non-duplicate terms in the API curriculum, 90% have at least one associated Wikipedia article. Furthermore, evaluation of articles on a five-point Likert scale showed high scores for comprehensiveness (4.05), quality (4.08), currency (4.18), and utility for the beginner (3.85) and advanced (3.93) learners. These results are compelling and support the thesis that Wikipedia articles can be used as the foundation for a basic curriculum in pathology informatics. The pathology informatics community now has the infrastructure needed to collaboratively and openly create, maintain and distribute the pathology informatics content worldwide (Wikipedia) and also the environment (the curriculum wiki) to draw upon its own resources to index and organize this content as a sustainable basic pathology informatics educational resource. The remaining challenges are numerous, but largest by far will be to convince the pathologists to take the time and effort required to build pathology informatics content in Wikipedia and to index and organize this content for education in the curriculum wiki.

  19. The Implementation of Medical Informatics in the National Competence Based Catalogue of Learning Objectives for Undergraduate Medical Education (NKLM).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Behrends, Marianne; Steffens, Sandra; Marschollek, Michael

    2017-01-01

    The National Competence Based Catalogue of Learning Objectives for Undergraduate Medical Education (NKLM) describes medical skills and attitudes without being ordered by subjects or organs. Thus, the NKLM enables systematic curriculum mapping and supports curricular transparency. In this paper we describe where learning objectives related to Medical Informatics (MI) in Hannover coincide with other subjects and where they are taught exclusively in MI. An instance of the web-based MERLIN-database was used for the mapping process. In total 52 learning objectives overlapping with 38 other subjects could be allocated to MI. No overlap exists for six learning objectives describing explicitly topics of information technology or data management for scientific research. Most of the overlap was found for learning objectives relating to documentation and aspects of data privacy. The identification of numerous shared learning objectives with other subjects does not mean that other subjects teach the same content as MI. Identifying common learning objectives rather opens up the possibility for teaching cooperations which could lead to an important exchange and hopefully an improvement in medical education. Mapping of a whole medical curriculum offers the opportunity to identify common ground between MI and other medical subjects. Furthermore, in regard to MI, the interaction with other medical subjects can strengthen its role in medical education.

  20. Web-Based Instruction (WBI): An Introduction.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Khan, Badrul H.

    1998-01-01

    Advances in information technology, coupled with changes in society, are creating new paradigms for education. The Web, as a medium of learning and instruction, has the potential to support the creation of well-designed resources. A table of features and components associated with Web-based instruction learning environments is provided.…

  1. osni.info-Using free/libre/open source software to build a virtual international community for open source nursing informatics.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Oyri, Karl; Murray, Peter J

    2005-12-01

    Many health informatics organizations seem to be slow to take up the advantages of dynamic, web-based technologies for providing services to, and interaction with, their members; these are often the very technologies they promote for use within healthcare environments. This paper aims to introduce some of the many free/libre/open source (FLOSS) applications that are now available to develop interactive websites and dynamic online communities as part of the structure of health informatics organizations, and to show how the Open Source Nursing Informatics Working Group (OSNI) of the special interest group in nursing informatics of the International Medical Informatics Association (IMIA-NI) is using some of these tools to develop an online community of nurse informaticians through their website, at . Some background introduction to FLOSS applications is used for the benefit of those less familiar with such tools, and examples of some of the FLOSS content management systems (CMS) being used by OSNI are described. The experiences of the OSNI will facilitate a knowledgeable nursing contribution to the wider discussions on the applications of FLOSS within health and healthcare, and provides a model that many other groups could adopt.

  2. Web-Based Learning Environment Based on Students’ Needs

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hamzah, N.; Ariffin, A.; Hamid, H.

    2017-08-01

    Traditional learning needs to be improved since it does not involve active learning among students. Therefore, in the twenty-first century, the development of internet technology in the learning environment has become the main needs of each student. One of the learning environments to meet the needs of the teaching and learning process is a web-based learning environment. This study aims to identify the characteristics of a web-based learning environment that supports students’ learning needs. The study involved 542 students from fifteen faculties in a public higher education institution in Malaysia. A quantitative method was used to collect the data via a questionnaire survey by randomly. The findings indicate that the characteristics of a web-based learning environment that support students’ needs in the process of learning are online discussion forum, lecture notes, assignments, portfolio, and chat. In conclusion, the students overwhelmingly agreed that online discussion forum is the highest requirement because the tool can provide a space for students and teachers to share knowledge and experiences related to teaching and learning.

  3. A spatial web/agent-based model to support stakeholders' negotiation regarding land development.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pooyandeh, Majeed; Marceau, Danielle J

    2013-11-15

    Decision making in land management can be greatly enhanced if the perspectives of concerned stakeholders are taken into consideration. This often implies negotiation in order to reach an agreement based on the examination of multiple alternatives. This paper describes a spatial web/agent-based modeling system that was developed to support the negotiation process of stakeholders regarding land development in southern Alberta, Canada. This system integrates a fuzzy analytic hierarchy procedure within an agent-based model in an interactive visualization environment provided through a web interface to facilitate the learning and negotiation of the stakeholders. In the pre-negotiation phase, the stakeholders compare their evaluation criteria using linguistic expressions. Due to the uncertainty and fuzzy nature of such comparisons, a fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process is then used to prioritize the criteria. The negotiation starts by a development plan being submitted by a user (stakeholder) through the web interface. An agent called the proposer, which represents the proposer of the plan, receives this plan and starts negotiating with all other agents. The negotiation is conducted in a step-wise manner where the agents change their attitudes by assigning a new set of weights to their criteria. If an agreement is not achieved, a new location for development is proposed by the proposer agent. This process is repeated until a location is found that satisfies all agents to a certain predefined degree. To evaluate the performance of the model, the negotiation was simulated with four agents, one of which being the proposer agent, using two hypothetical development plans. The first plan was selected randomly; the other one was chosen in an area that is of high importance to one of the agents. While the agents managed to achieve an agreement about the location of the land development after three rounds of negotiation in the first scenario, seven rounds were required in the second

  4. Internet/Web-based administration of benefits.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vitiello, J

    2001-09-01

    Most funds will face the challenge of deploying at least some Web-based functionality in the near future, if they have not already done so. Clear objectives and careful planning will help ensure success. Issues that must be considered include support requirements, security concerns, functional business objectives, and employer and member Web access.

  5. Selecting Relevant Information for Medical Decision Support with Application in Cardiology

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Kalina, Jan; Seidl, L.; Grünfeldová, H.; Slovák, Dalibor; Zvárová, Jana

    2013-01-01

    Roč. 9, č. 1 (2013), s. 2-6 ISSN 1801-5603 R&D Projects: GA MŠk(CZ) 1M06014 Institutional support: RVO:67985807 Keywords : decision support system * web-service * information extraction * high dimension * gene expressions Subject RIV: IN - Informatics, Computer Science http://www.ejbi.org/img/ejbi/2013/1/Kalina_en.pdf

  6. Use of web based systems to support postgraduate medical education.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tochel, C; Beggs, K; Haig, A; Roberts, J; Scott, H; Walker, K; Watson, M

    2011-12-01

    BACKGROUND To meet the demands of delivering the Foundation programme across a geographically diverse country, two web based systems (ePortfolio and eLearning) were developed to promote accessibility to training material and assessment tools on standardised platforms. This study evaluated the use of both tools throughout an entire academic year. METHODS All Scottish Foundation trainees' online learning and assessment data in 2007/08 were analysed, providing a national breakdown of post specialty, completion rates of mandatory assessments (including summary analysis of anonymised scores), and trainees' use of non-mandatory learning tools. Independent verification of competence data was sought from Deaneries. RESULTS There were high levels of engagement with both the ePortfolio (75-97% assessment completion) and eLearning systems (89-98% induction course completion), and the majority of trainees completed all required elements. There was extensive use of ePortfolio beyond mandatory levels for recording of learning events, including almost 20 000 personal learning records submitted by second year trainees. There was evidence that ePortfolio was used to record achievement of clinical competence rather than to track improvements towards competence (median workplace based assessment scores were 'high' or 'very high'). Online learning modules received positive feedback and its flexible format suited the trainees' working environment. External verification of formal assessment data revealed good correlation with locally stored outcomes, both indicating approximately 99% programme completion rates. CONCLUSIONS Core components of the Foundation programme have been delivered successfully to thousands of trainees across Scotland using web based systems to deliver and support education and assessment. There is great potential for further exploration of this carefully managed, rich dataset at individual, regional, and national levels to inform the future of medical education.

  7. Examining the Role of Web 2.0 Tools in Supporting Problem Solving during Case-Based Instruction

    Science.gov (United States)

    Koehler, Adrie A.; Newby, Timothy J.; Ertmer, Peggy A.

    2017-01-01

    As learners solve complex problems, such as the ones present in case narratives, they need instructional support. Potentially, Web 2.0 applications can be useful to learners during case-based instruction (CBI), as their affordances offer creative and collaborative opportunities. However, there is limited research available on how the affordances…

  8. Creating and sharing clinical decision support content with Web 2.0: Issues and examples.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wright, Adam; Bates, David W; Middleton, Blackford; Hongsermeier, Tonya; Kashyap, Vipul; Thomas, Sean M; Sittig, Dean F

    2009-04-01

    Clinical decision support is a powerful tool for improving healthcare quality and patient safety. However, developing a comprehensive package of decision support interventions is costly and difficult. If used well, Web 2.0 methods may make it easier and less costly to develop decision support. Web 2.0 is characterized by online communities, open sharing, interactivity and collaboration. Although most previous attempts at sharing clinical decision support content have worked outside of the Web 2.0 framework, several initiatives are beginning to use Web 2.0 to share and collaborate on decision support content. We present case studies of three efforts: the Clinfowiki, a world-accessible wiki for developing decision support content; Partners Healthcare eRooms, web-based tools for developing decision support within a single organization; and Epic Systems Corporation's Community Library, a repository for sharing decision support content for customers of a single clinical system vendor. We evaluate the potential of Web 2.0 technologies to enable collaborative development and sharing of clinical decision support systems through the lens of three case studies; analyzing technical, legal and organizational issues for developers, consumers and organizers of clinical decision support content in Web 2.0. We believe the case for Web 2.0 as a tool for collaborating on clinical decision support content appears strong, particularly for collaborative content development within an organization.

  9. Web-based control application using WebSocket

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Furukawa, Y.

    2012-01-01

    The WebSocket allows asynchronous full-duplex communication between a Web-based (i.e. Java Script-based) application and a Web-server. WebSocket started as a part of HTML5 standardization but has now been separated from HTML5 and has been developed independently. Using WebSocket, it becomes easy to develop platform independent presentation layer applications for accelerator and beamline control software. In addition, a Web browser is the only application program that needs to be installed on client computer. The WebSocket-based applications communicate with the WebSocket server using simple text-based messages, so WebSocket is applicable message-based control system like MADOCA, which was developed for the SPring-8 control system. A simple WebSocket server for the MADOCA control system and a simple motor control application were successfully made as a first trial of the WebSocket control application. Using Google-Chrome (version 13.0) on Debian/Linux and Windows 7, Opera (version 11.0) on Debian/Linux and Safari (version 5.0.3) on Mac OS X as clients, the motors can be controlled using a WebSocket-based Web-application. Diffractometer control application use in synchrotron radiation diffraction experiment was also developed. (author)

  10. Developing capacity in health informatics in a resource poor setting: lessons from Peru.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kimball, Ann Marie; Curioso, Walter H; Arima, Yuzo; Fuller, Sherrilynne; Garcia, Patricia J; Segovia-Juarez, Jose; Castagnetto, Jesus M; Leon-Velarde, Fabiola; Holmes, King K

    2009-10-27

    The public sectors of developing countries require strengthened capacity in health informatics. In Peru, where formal university graduate degrees in biomedical and health informatics were lacking until recently, the AMAUTA Global Informatics Research and Training Program has provided research and training for health professionals in the region since 1999. The Fogarty International Center supports the program as a collaborative partnership between Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia in Peru and the University of Washington in the United States of America. The program aims to train core professionals in health informatics and to strengthen the health information resource capabilities and accessibility in Peru. The program has achieved considerable success in the development and institutionalization of informatics research and training programs in Peru. Projects supported by this program are leading to the development of sustainable training opportunities for informatics and eight of ten Peruvian fellows trained at the University of Washington are now developing informatics programs and an information infrastructure in Peru. In 2007, Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia started offering the first graduate diploma program in biomedical informatics in Peru.

  11. A Powerful, Cost Effective, Web Based Engineering Solution Supporting Conjunction Detection and Visual Analysis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Novak, Daniel M.; Biamonti, Davide; Gross, Jeremy; Milnes, Martin

    2013-08-01

    An innovative and visually appealing tool is presented for efficient all-vs-all conjunction analysis on a large catalogue of objects. The conjunction detection uses a nearest neighbour search algorithm, based on spatial binning and identification of pairs of objects in adjacent bins. This results in the fastest all vs all filtering the authors are aware of. The tool is constructed on a server-client architecture, where the server broadcasts to the client the conjunction data and ephemerides, while the client supports the user interface through a modern browser, without plug-in. In order to make the tool flexible and maintainable, Java software technologies were used on the server side, including Spring, Camel, ActiveMQ and CometD. The user interface and visualisation are based on the latest web technologies: HTML5, WebGL, THREE.js. Importance has been given on the ergonomics and visual appeal of the software. In fact certain design concepts have been borrowed from the gaming industry.

  12. Integrating community-based participatory research and informatics approaches to improve the engagement and health of underserved populations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Unertl, Kim M; Schaefbauer, Chris L; Campbell, Terrance R; Senteio, Charles; Siek, Katie A; Bakken, Suzanne; Veinot, Tiffany C

    2016-01-01

    We compare 5 health informatics research projects that applied community-based participatory research (CBPR) approaches with the goal of extending existing CBPR principles to address issues specific to health informatics research. We conducted a cross-case analysis of 5 diverse case studies with 1 common element: integration of CBPR approaches into health informatics research. After reviewing publications and other case-related materials, all coauthors engaged in collaborative discussions focused on CBPR. Researchers mapped each case to an existing CBPR framework, examined each case individually for success factors and barriers, and identified common patterns across cases. Benefits of applying CBPR approaches to health informatics research across the cases included the following: developing more relevant research with wider impact, greater engagement with diverse populations, improved internal validity, more rapid translation of research into action, and the development of people. Challenges of applying CBPR to health informatics research included requirements to develop strong, sustainable academic-community partnerships and mismatches related to cultural and temporal factors. Several technology-related challenges, including needs to define ownership of technology outputs and to build technical capacity with community partners, also emerged from our analysis. Finally, we created several principles that extended an existing CBPR framework to specifically address health informatics research requirements. Our cross-case analysis yielded valuable insights regarding CBPR implementation in health informatics research and identified valuable lessons useful for future CBPR-based research. The benefits of applying CBPR approaches can be significant, particularly in engaging populations that are typically underserved by health care and in designing patient-facing technology. © The Authors 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the American Medical

  13. Informatic system for a global tissue–fluid biorepository with a graph theory–oriented graphical user interface

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    William E. Butler

    2014-09-01

    Full Text Available The Richard Floor Biorepository supports collaborative studies of extracellular vesicles (EVs found in human fluids and tissue specimens. The current emphasis is on biomarkers for central nervous system neoplasms but its structure may serve as a template for collaborative EV translational studies in other fields. The informatic system provides specimen inventory tracking with bar codes assigned to specimens and containers and projects, is hosted on globalized cloud computing resources, and embeds a suite of shared documents, calendars, and video-conferencing features. Clinical data are recorded in relation to molecular EV attributes and may be tagged with terms drawn from a network of externally maintained ontologies thus offering expansion of the system as the field matures. We fashioned the graphical user interface (GUI around a web-based data visualization package. This system is now in an early stage of deployment, mainly focused on specimen tracking and clinical, laboratory, and imaging data capture in support of studies to optimize detection and analysis of brain tumour–specific mutations. It currently includes 4,392 specimens drawn from 611 subjects, the majority with brain tumours. As EV science evolves, we plan biorepository changes which may reflect multi-institutional collaborations, proteomic interfaces, additional biofluids, changes in operating procedures and kits for specimen handling, novel procedures for detection of tumour-specific EVs, and for RNA extraction and changes in the taxonomy of EVs. We have used an ontology-driven data model and web-based architecture with a graph theory–driven GUI to accommodate and stimulate the semantic web of EV science.

  14. Informatic system for a global tissue–fluid biorepository with a graph theory–oriented graphical user interface

    Science.gov (United States)

    Butler, William E.; Atai, Nadia; Carter, Bob; Hochberg, Fred

    2014-01-01

    The Richard Floor Biorepository supports collaborative studies of extracellular vesicles (EVs) found in human fluids and tissue specimens. The current emphasis is on biomarkers for central nervous system neoplasms but its structure may serve as a template for collaborative EV translational studies in other fields. The informatic system provides specimen inventory tracking with bar codes assigned to specimens and containers and projects, is hosted on globalized cloud computing resources, and embeds a suite of shared documents, calendars, and video-conferencing features. Clinical data are recorded in relation to molecular EV attributes and may be tagged with terms drawn from a network of externally maintained ontologies thus offering expansion of the system as the field matures. We fashioned the graphical user interface (GUI) around a web-based data visualization package. This system is now in an early stage of deployment, mainly focused on specimen tracking and clinical, laboratory, and imaging data capture in support of studies to optimize detection and analysis of brain tumour–specific mutations. It currently includes 4,392 specimens drawn from 611 subjects, the majority with brain tumours. As EV science evolves, we plan biorepository changes which may reflect multi-institutional collaborations, proteomic interfaces, additional biofluids, changes in operating procedures and kits for specimen handling, novel procedures for detection of tumour-specific EVs, and for RNA extraction and changes in the taxonomy of EVs. We have used an ontology-driven data model and web-based architecture with a graph theory–driven GUI to accommodate and stimulate the semantic web of EV science. PMID:25317275

  15. Informatic system for a global tissue-fluid biorepository with a graph theory-oriented graphical user interface.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Butler, William E; Atai, Nadia; Carter, Bob; Hochberg, Fred

    2014-01-01

    The Richard Floor Biorepository supports collaborative studies of extracellular vesicles (EVs) found in human fluids and tissue specimens. The current emphasis is on biomarkers for central nervous system neoplasms but its structure may serve as a template for collaborative EV translational studies in other fields. The informatic system provides specimen inventory tracking with bar codes assigned to specimens and containers and projects, is hosted on globalized cloud computing resources, and embeds a suite of shared documents, calendars, and video-conferencing features. Clinical data are recorded in relation to molecular EV attributes and may be tagged with terms drawn from a network of externally maintained ontologies thus offering expansion of the system as the field matures. We fashioned the graphical user interface (GUI) around a web-based data visualization package. This system is now in an early stage of deployment, mainly focused on specimen tracking and clinical, laboratory, and imaging data capture in support of studies to optimize detection and analysis of brain tumour-specific mutations. It currently includes 4,392 specimens drawn from 611 subjects, the majority with brain tumours. As EV science evolves, we plan biorepository changes which may reflect multi-institutional collaborations, proteomic interfaces, additional biofluids, changes in operating procedures and kits for specimen handling, novel procedures for detection of tumour-specific EVs, and for RNA extraction and changes in the taxonomy of EVs. We have used an ontology-driven data model and web-based architecture with a graph theory-driven GUI to accommodate and stimulate the semantic web of EV science.

  16. Design and development of an ethnically-diverse imaging informatics-based eFolder system for multiple sclerosis patients.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ma, Kevin C; Fernandez, James R; Amezcua, Lilyana; Lerner, Alex; Shiroishi, Mark S; Liu, Brent J

    2015-12-01

    MRI has been used to identify multiple sclerosis (MS) lesions in brain and spinal cord visually. Integrating patient information into an electronic patient record system has become key for modern patient care in medicine in recent years. Clinically, it is also necessary to track patients' progress in longitudinal studies, in order to provide comprehensive understanding of disease progression and response to treatment. As the amount of required data increases, there exists a need for an efficient systematic solution to store and analyze MS patient data, disease profiles, and disease tracking for both clinical and research purposes. An imaging informatics based system, called MS eFolder, has been developed as an integrated patient record system for data storage and analysis of MS patients. The eFolder system, with a DICOM-based database, includes a module for lesion contouring by radiologists, a MS lesion quantification tool to quantify MS lesion volume in 3D, brain parenchyma fraction analysis, and provide quantitative analysis and tracking of volume changes in longitudinal studies. Patient data, including MR images, have been collected retrospectively at University of Southern California Medical Center (USC) and Los Angeles County Hospital (LAC). The MS eFolder utilizes web-based components, such as browser-based graphical user interface (GUI) and web-based database. The eFolder database stores patient clinical data (demographics, MS disease history, family history, etc.), MR imaging-related data found in DICOM headers, and lesion quantification results. Lesion quantification results are derived from radiologists' contours on brain MRI studies and quantified into 3-dimensional volumes and locations. Quantified results of white matter lesions are integrated into a structured report based on DICOM-SR protocol and templates. The user interface displays patient clinical information, original MR images, and viewing structured reports of quantified results. The GUI also

  17. Web-based Cooperative Learning in College Chemistry Teaching

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bin Jiang

    2014-03-01

    Full Text Available With the coming of information era, information process depend on internet and multi-media technology in education becomes the new approach of present teaching model reform. Web-based cooperative learning is becoming a popular learning approach with the rapid development of web technology. The paper aims to how to carry out the teaching strategy of web-based cooperative learning and applied in the foundation chemistry teaching.It was shown that with the support of modern web-based teaching environment, students' cooperative learning capacity and overall competence can be better improved and the problems of interaction in large foundation chemistry classes can be solved. Web-based cooperative learning can improve learning performance of students, what's more Web-based cooperative learning provides students with cooperative skills, communication skills, creativity, critical thinking skills and skills in information technology application.

  18. SU-E-T-220: A Web-Based Research System for Outcome Analysis of NSCLC Treated with SABR.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Le, A; Yang, Y; Michalski, D; Heron, D; Huq, M

    2012-06-01

    To establish a web-based software system, an electronic patient record (ePR), to consolidate and evaluate clinical data, dose delivery and treatment outcomes for non small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients treated with hypofractionated stereotactic ablative radiation therapy (SABR) across institutions. The new trend of information technology in medical imaging and informatics is towards the development of an electronic patient record (ePR), in which all health and medical information of each patient are organized under the patient's name and identification number. The system has been developed using the Wamp Server, a package of Apache web server, PHP and MySQL database to facilitate patient data input and management, and evaluation of patient clinical data and dose delivery across institution using web technology. The data of each patient to be recorded in the database include pre-treatment clinical data, treatment plan in DICOM-RT format and follow-up data. The pre-treatment data include demographics data, pathology condition, cancer staging. The follow-up data include the survival status, local tumor control condition and toxicity. The clinical data are entered to the system through the web page while the treatment plan data will be imported from the treatment planning system (TPS) using DICOM communication. The collection of data of NSCLC patients treated with SABR stored in the ePR is always accessible and can be retrieved and processed in the future. The core of the ePR is the database which integrates all patient data in one location. The web-based DICOM RT ePR system utilizes the current state-of-the-art medical informatics approach to investigate the combination and consolidation of patient data and outcome results. This will allow clinically-driven data mining for dose distributions and resulting treatment outcome in connection with biological modeling of the treatment parameters to quantify the efficacy of SABR in treating NSCLC patients. © 2012

  19. A web-based Decision Support System for the optimal management of construction and demolition waste.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Banias, G; Achillas, Ch; Vlachokostas, Ch; Moussiopoulos, N; Papaioannou, I

    2011-12-01

    Wastes from construction activities constitute nowadays the largest by quantity fraction of solid wastes in urban areas. In addition, it is widely accepted that the particular waste stream contains hazardous materials, such as insulating materials, plastic frames of doors, windows, etc. Their uncontrolled disposal result to long-term pollution costs, resource overuse and wasted energy. Within the framework of the DEWAM project, a web-based Decision Support System (DSS) application - namely DeconRCM - has been developed, aiming towards the identification of the optimal construction and demolition waste (CDW) management strategy that minimises end-of-life costs and maximises the recovery of salvaged building materials. This paper addresses both technical and functional structure of the developed web-based application. The web-based DSS provides an accurate estimation of the generated CDW quantities of twenty-one different waste streams (e.g. concrete, bricks, glass, etc.) for four different types of buildings (residential, office, commercial and industrial). With the use of mathematical programming, the DeconRCM provides also the user with the optimal end-of-life management alternative, taking into consideration both economic and environmental criteria. The DSS's capabilities are illustrated through a real world case study of a typical five floor apartment building in Thessaloniki, Greece. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  20. e-MIR2: a public online inventory of medical informatics resources.

    Science.gov (United States)

    de la Calle, Guillermo; García-Remesal, Miguel; Nkumu-Mbomio, Nelida; Kulikowski, Casimir; Maojo, Victor

    2012-08-02

    Over the past years, the number of available informatics resources in medicine has grown exponentially. While specific inventories of such resources have already begun to be developed for Bioinformatics (BI), comparable inventories are as yet not available for the Medical Informatics (MI) field, so that locating and accessing them currently remains a difficult and time-consuming task. We have created a repository of MI resources from the scientific literature, providing free access to its contents through a web-based service. We define informatics resources as all those elements that constitute, serve to define or are used by informatics systems, ranging from architectures or development methodologies to terminologies, vocabularies, databases or tools. Relevant information describing the resources is automatically extracted from manuscripts published in top-ranked MI journals. We used a pattern matching approach to detect the resources' names and their main features. Detected resources are classified according to three different criteria: functionality, resource type and domain. To facilitate these tasks, we have built three different classification schemas by following a novel approach based on folksonomies and social tagging. We adopted the terminology most frequently used by MI researchers in their publications to create the concepts and hierarchical relationships belonging to the classification schemas. The classification algorithm identifies the categories associated with resources and annotates them accordingly. The database is then populated with this data after manual curation and validation. We have created an online repository of MI resources to assist researchers in locating and accessing the most suitable resources to perform specific tasks. The database contains 609 resources at the time of writing and is available at http://www.gib.fi.upm.es/eMIR2. We are continuing to expand the number of available resources by taking into account further

  1. e-MIR2: a public online inventory of medical informatics resources

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    de la Calle Guillermo

    2012-08-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Over the past years, the number of available informatics resources in medicine has grown exponentially. While specific inventories of such resources have already begun to be developed for Bioinformatics (BI, comparable inventories are as yet not available for the Medical Informatics (MI field, so that locating and accessing them currently remains a difficult and time-consuming task. Description We have created a repository of MI resources from the scientific literature, providing free access to its contents through a web-based service. We define informatics resources as all those elements that constitute, serve to define or are used by informatics systems, ranging from architectures or development methodologies to terminologies, vocabularies, databases or tools. Relevant information describing the resources is automatically extracted from manuscripts published in top-ranked MI journals. We used a pattern matching approach to detect the resources’ names and their main features. Detected resources are classified according to three different criteria: functionality, resource type and domain. To facilitate these tasks, we have built three different classification schemas by following a novel approach based on folksonomies and social tagging. We adopted the terminology most frequently used by MI researchers in their publications to create the concepts and hierarchical relationships belonging to the classification schemas. The classification algorithm identifies the categories associated with resources and annotates them accordingly. The database is then populated with this data after manual curation and validation. Conclusions We have created an online repository of MI resources to assist researchers in locating and accessing the most suitable resources to perform specific tasks. The database contains 609 resources at the time of writing and is available at http://www.gib.fi.upm.es/eMIR2. We are continuing to expand the number

  2. Attitudes in a Web-Supported Learning Environment

    Science.gov (United States)

    Acun, Ismail

    2013-01-01

    The aim of the study is to investigate the possible effect of web-supported teaching on students' attitudes on Human Rights, Democracy and Citizenship Education and technology (HRDCE). To examine weather web-supported instruction would make a difference in attitude levels of the subjects, a quasi-experimental design was employed. Subjects of the…

  3. Competency-Based Assessment for Clinical Supervisors: Design-Based Research on a Web-Delivered Program

    Science.gov (United States)

    Williams, Lauren Therese; Grealish, Laurie; Jamieson, Maggie

    2015-01-01

    Background Clinicians need to be supported by universities to use credible and defensible assessment practices during student placements. Web-based delivery of clinical education in student assessment offers professional development regardless of the geographical location of placement sites. Objective This paper explores the potential for a video-based constructivist Web-based program to support site supervisors in their assessments of student dietitians during clinical placements. Methods This project was undertaken as design-based research in two stages. Stage 1 describes the research consultation, development of the prototype, and formative feedback. In Stage 2, the program was pilot-tested and evaluated by a purposeful sample of nine clinical supervisors. Data generated as a result of user participation during the pilot test is reported. Users’ experiences with the program were also explored via interviews (six in a focus group and three individually). The interviews were transcribed verbatim and thematic analysis conducted from a pedagogical perspective using van Manen’s highlighting approach. Results This research succeeded in developing a Web-based program, “Feed our Future”, that increased supervisors’ confidence with their competency-based assessments of students on clinical placements. Three pedagogical themes emerged: constructivist design supports transformative Web-based learning; videos make abstract concepts tangible; and accessibility, usability, and pedagogy are interdependent. Conclusions Web-based programs, such as Feed our Future, offer a viable means for universities to support clinical supervisors in their assessment practices during clinical placements. A design-based research approach offers a practical process for such Web-based tool development, highlighting pedagogical barriers for planning purposes. PMID:25803172

  4. Supporting teachers integrating web 2.0 in a Problem Based Learning approach

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Buus, Lillian

    2010-01-01

    ‘users/learners as producers’ [6]. Consequently, it makes good sense to connect Web 2.0 with a problem-based approach to learning. Therefore it’s interesting to look upon a learning design model supporting teachers at AAU in their pedagogical design combining these two. The Collaborative E-learning...... at Aalborg University (AAU). Problem-Based Learning (PBL) has gained a lot of interest since it was launched in established educational settings over 30 years ago in the medical programmes at McMaster University, Canada. Essentially it is a leaning methods based on the principle of using problems......, in particular, in the work of the German philosopher and sociologist Oskar Negt. Negt’s work gained a lot of interest in Denmark and the Problem oriented project based learning (POPBL) was developed under this inspiration. It was implemented as a framework for learning when Aalborg University was established...

  5. Informatics and Technology in Resident Education.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Niehaus, William

    2017-05-01

    Biomedical or clinical informatics is the transdisciplinary field that studies and develops effective uses of biomedical data, information technology innovations, and medical knowledge for scientific inquiry, problem solving, and decision making, with an emphasis on improving human health. Given the ongoing advances in information technology, the field of informatics is becoming important to clinical practice and to residency education. This article will discuss how informatics is specifically relevant to residency education and the different ways to incorporate informatics into residency education, and will highlight applications of current technology in the context of residency education. How informatics can optimize communication for residents, promote information technology use, refine documentation techniques, reduce medical errors, and improve clinical decision making will be reviewed. It is hoped that this article will increase faculty and trainees' knowledge of the field of informatics, awareness of available technology, and will assist practitioners to maximize their ability to provide quality care to their patients. This article will also introduce the idea of incorporating informatics specialists into residency programs to help practitioners deliver more evidenced-based care and to further improve their efficiency. Copyright © 2017 American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  6. Current Challenge in Consumer Health Informatics: Bridging the Gap between Access to Information and Information Understanding

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Laurence Alpay

    2009-01-01

    Full Text Available The number of health-related websites has proliferated over the past few years. Health information consumers confront a myriad of health related resources on the internet that have varying levels of quality and are not always easy to comprehend. There is thus a need to help health information consumers to bridge the gap between access to information and information understanding—i.e. to help consumers understand health related web-based resources so that they can act upon it. At the same time health information consumers are becoming not only more involved in their own health care but also more information technology minded. One way to address this issue is to provide consumers with tailored information that is contextualized and personalized e.g. directly relevant and easily comprehensible to the person’s own health situation. This paper presents a current trend in Consumer Health Informatics which focuses on theory-based design and development of contextualized and personalized tools to allow the evolving consumer with varying backgrounds and interests to use online health information efficiently. The proposed approach uses a theoretical framework of communication in order to support the consumer’s capacity to understand health-related web-based resources.

  7. Energy informatics: Fundamentals and standardization

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Biyao Huang

    2017-06-01

    Full Text Available Based on international standardization and power utility practices, this paper presents a preliminary and systematic study on the field of energy informatics and analyzes boundary expansion of information and energy system, and the convergence of energy system and ICT. A comprehensive introduction of the fundamentals and standardization of energy informatics is provided, and several key open issues are identified.

  8. MATHEMATICAL BASES DECISION OF OLYMPIAD TASKS FROM INFORMATICS ON SITE E-OLIMP

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    T.A. Vakalyuk

    2010-08-01

    Full Text Available In the article a new section is examined on a portal from the sporting programming of e-olimp, namely mathematical bases during uniting of olympiads them tasks from an informatics.

  9. Enabling the Integrated Assessment of Large Marine Ecosystems: Informatics to the Forefront of Science-Based Decision Support

    Science.gov (United States)

    Di Stefano, M.; Fox, P. A.; Beaulieu, S. E.; Maffei, A. R.; West, P.; Hare, J. A.

    2012-12-01

    Integrated assessments of large marine ecosystems require the understanding of interactions between environmental, ecological, and socio-economic factors that affect production and utilization of marine natural resources. Assessing the functioning of complex coupled natural-human systems calls for collaboration between natural and social scientists across disciplinary and national boundaries. We are developing a platform to implement and sustain informatics solutions for these applications, providing interoperability among very diverse and heterogeneous data and information sources, as well as multi-disciplinary organizations and people. We have partnered with NOAA NMFS scientists to facilitate the deployment of an integrated ecosystem approach to management in the Northeast U.S. (NES) and California Current Large Marine Ecosystems (LMEs). Our platform will facilitate the collaboration and knowledge sharing among NMFS natural and social scientists, promoting community participation in integrating data, models, and knowledge. Here, we present collaborative software tools developed to aid the production of the Ecosystem Status Report (ESR) for the NES LME. The ESR addresses the D-P-S portion of the DPSIR (Driver-Pressure-State-Impact-Response) management framework: reporting data, indicators, and information products for climate drivers, physical and human (fisheries) pressures, and ecosystem state (primary and secondary production and higher trophic levels). We are developing our tools in open-source software, with the main tool based on a web application capable of providing the ability to work on multiple data types from a variety of sources, providing an effective way to share the source code used to generate data products and associated metadata as well as track workflow provenance to allow in the reproducibility of a data product. Our platform retrieves data, conducts standard analyses, reports data quality and other standardized metadata, provides iterative

  10. Virtualization of open-source secure web services to support data exchange in a pediatric critical care research network.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Frey, Lewis J; Sward, Katherine A; Newth, Christopher J L; Khemani, Robinder G; Cryer, Martin E; Thelen, Julie L; Enriquez, Rene; Shaoyu, Su; Pollack, Murray M; Harrison, Rick E; Meert, Kathleen L; Berg, Robert A; Wessel, David L; Shanley, Thomas P; Dalton, Heidi; Carcillo, Joseph; Jenkins, Tammara L; Dean, J Michael

    2015-11-01

    To examine the feasibility of deploying a virtual web service for sharing data within a research network, and to evaluate the impact on data consistency and quality. Virtual machines (VMs) encapsulated an open-source, semantically and syntactically interoperable secure web service infrastructure along with a shadow database. The VMs were deployed to 8 Collaborative Pediatric Critical Care Research Network Clinical Centers. Virtual web services could be deployed in hours. The interoperability of the web services reduced format misalignment from 56% to 1% and demonstrated that 99% of the data consistently transferred using the data dictionary and 1% needed human curation. Use of virtualized open-source secure web service technology could enable direct electronic abstraction of data from hospital databases for research purposes. © The Author 2015. 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. MEDICAL INFORMATICS TODAY AND TOMORROW

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jure Dimec

    2004-02-01

    Full Text Available The article describes the state and some trends in the development of medical informatics especially regarding the fields of scientific information, knowledge discovery in databases, and the role of standards in data exchange.The ways of publication of scientific documents experienced dramatic changes with the development of the www, hence causing major changes in daily information practice. Contemporary textual databases contain full documents of hypertextual and multimedia nature and links to full documents are increasingly common within the records of bibliographic databases. The last decade brought the advent of the web information tools, from web portals to global search engines, which are powerful aids but demand strong precaution regarding the quality of retrieved documents from the users. On the other hand, we are witnessing the development of digital libraries of scientific documents as a result of the self-organization of academic institutions, research groups and individuals, often in the opposition to the interests of publishing companies.The information support as an important element of medical procedures made possible the exchange of data between all segments of the health-care system and it has become clear that lack of standards governing structure, understanding and safety is among the biggest obstacles to successful data exchange.In addition, the article comprises a report on the methods of knowledge discovery in databases, which help us discover hidden structures and potential knowledge, invisible to the normal data-processing software, in the enormous amount of data.

  12. Information technology for clinical, translational and comparative effectiveness research. Findings from the section clinical research informatics.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Daniel, C; Choquet, R

    2013-01-01

    To summarize advances of excellent current research in the new emerging field of Clinical Research Informatics. Synopsis of four key articles selected for the IMIA Yearbook 2013. The selection was performed by querying PubMed and Web of Science with predefined keywords. From the original set of 590 papers, a first subset of 461 articles which was in the scope of Clinical Research Informatics was refined into a second subset of 79 relevant articles from which 15 articles were retained for peer-review. The four selected articles exemplify current research efforts conducted in the areas of data representation and management in clinical trials, secondary use of EHR data for clinical research, information technology platforms for translational and comparative effectiveness research and implementation of privacy control. The selected articles not only illustrate how innovative information technology supports classically organized randomized controlled trials but also demonstrate that the long promised benefits of electronic health care data for research are becoming a reality through concrete platforms and projects.

  13. FEMA's Earthquake Incident Journal: A Web-Based Data Integration and Decision Support Tool for Emergency Management

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jones, M.; Pitts, R.

    2017-12-01

    For emergency managers, government officials, and others who must respond to rapidly changing natural disasters, timely access to detailed information related to affected terrain, population and infrastructure is critical for planning, response and recovery operations. Accessing, analyzing and disseminating such disparate information in near real-time are critical decision support components. However, finding a way to handle a variety of informative yet complex datasets poses a challenge when preparing for and responding to disasters. Here, we discuss the implementation of a web-based data integration and decision support tool for earthquakes developed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) as a solution to some of these challenges. While earthquakes are among the most well- monitored and measured of natural hazards, the spatially broad impacts of shaking, ground deformation, landslides, liquefaction, and even tsunamis, are extremely difficult to quantify without accelerated access to data, modeling, and analytics. This web-based application, deemed the "Earthquake Incident Journal", provides real-time access to authoritative and event-specific data from external (e.g. US Geological Survey, NASA, state and local governments, etc.) and internal (FEMA) data sources. The journal includes a GIS-based model for exposure analytics, allowing FEMA to assess the severity of an event, estimate impacts to structures and population in near real-time, and then apply planning factors to exposure estimates to answer questions such as: What geographic areas are impacted? Will federal support be needed? What resources are needed to support survivors? And which infrastructure elements or essential facilities are threatened? This presentation reviews the development of the Earthquake Incident Journal, detailing the data integration solutions, the methodology behind the GIS-based automated exposure model, and the planning factors as well as other analytical advances that

  14. Supporting the running and analysis of trials of web-based behavioural interventions: the LifeGuide

    OpenAIRE

    Yang, Yang; Osmond, Adrian; Chen, Xiaoyu; Weal, Mark; Wills, Gary; De Roure, David; Joseph, Judith; Yardley, Lucy

    2009-01-01

    Behavioural interventions - packages of advice and support for behaviour change - are one of the most important methodologies and technologies employed by social scientists for understanding and changing behaviour. A typical web-based behavioural intervention study includes the designing, deploying, piloting and trialling of the intervention as well as data analysis. We have developed a research environment named LifeGuide, which covers the full scope of this process, enabling social scientis...

  15. SOMWeb: a semantic web-based system for supporting collaboration of distributed medical communities of practice.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Falkman, Göran; Gustafsson, Marie; Jontell, Mats; Torgersson, Olof

    2008-08-26

    Information technology (IT) support for remote collaboration of geographically distributed communities of practice (CoP) in health care must deal with a number of sociotechnical aspects of communication within the community. In the mid-1990s, participants of the Swedish Oral Medicine Network (SOMNet) began discussing patient cases in telephone conferences. The cases were distributed prior to the conferences using PowerPoint and email. For the technical support of online CoP, Semantic Web technologies can potentially fulfill needs of knowledge reuse, data exchange, and reasoning based on ontologies. However, more research is needed on the use of Semantic Web technologies in practice. The objectives of this research were to (1) study the communication of distributed health care professionals in oral medicine; (2) apply Semantic Web technologies to describe community data and oral medicine knowledge; (3) develop an online CoP, Swedish Oral Medicine Web (SOMWeb), centered on user-contributed case descriptions and meetings; and (4) evaluate SOMWeb and study how work practices change with IT support. Based on Java, and using the Web Ontology Language and Resource Description Framework for handling community data and oral medicine knowledge, SOMWeb was developed using a user-centered and iterative approach. For studying the work practices and evaluating the system, a mixed-method approach of interviews, observations, and a questionnaire was used. By May 2008, there were 90 registered users of SOMWeb, 93 cases had been added, and 18 meetings had utilized the system. The introduction of SOMWeb has improved the structure of meetings and their discussions, and a tenfold increase in the number of participants has been observed. Users submit cases to seek advice on diagnosis or treatment, to show an unusual case, or to create discussion. Identified barriers to submitting cases are lack of time, concern about whether the case is interesting enough, and showing gaps in one's own

  16. A new Web-based medical tool for assessment and prevention of comprehensive cardiovascular risk

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Daniele Franchi

    2011-02-01

    Full Text Available Daniele Franchi1,2, Davide Cini1, Giorgio Iervasi11Istituto di Fisiologia Clinica, CNR, Pisa, Italy; 2Dipartimento di Oncologia, dei Trapianti e delle Nuove Tecnologie in Medicina, Università di Pisa, Pisa, ItalyBackground: Multifactor cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death; besides well-known cardiovascular risk factors, several emerging factors such as mental stress, diet type, and physical inactivity, have been associated to cardiovascular disease. To date, preventive strategies are based on the concept of absolute risk calculated by different algorithms and scoring systems. However, in general practice the patient's data collection represents a critical issue.Design: A new multipurpose computer-based program has been developed in order to:1 easily calculate and compare the absolute cardiovascular risk by the Framingham, Procam, and Progetto Cuore algorithms; 2 to design a web-based computerized tool for prospective collection of structured data; 3 to support the doctor in the decision-making process for patients at risk according to recent international guidelines.Methods: During a medical consultation the doctor utilizes a common computer connected by Internet to a medical server where all the patient's data and software reside. The program evaluates absolute and relative cardiovascular risk factors, personalized patient's goals, and multiparametric trends, monitors critical parameter values, and generates an automated medical report.Results: In a pilot study on 294 patients (47% males; mean age 60 ± 12 years [± SD] the global time to collect data at first consultation was 13 ± 11 minutes which declined to 8 ± 7 minutes at the subsequent consultation. In 48.2% of cases the program revealed 2 or more primary risk factor parameters outside guideline indications and gave specific clinical suggestions to return altered parameters to target values.Conclusion: The web-based system proposed here may represent a feasible and

  17. Free and open source enabling technologies for patient-centric, guideline-based clinical decision support: a survey.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Leong, T Y; Kaiser, K; Miksch, S

    2007-01-01

    Guideline-based clinical decision support is an emerging paradigm to help reduce error, lower cost, and improve quality in evidence-based medicine. The free and open source (FOS) approach is a promising alternative for delivering cost-effective information technology (IT) solutions in health care. In this paper, we survey the current FOS enabling technologies for patient-centric, guideline-based care, and discuss the current trends and future directions of their role in clinical decision support. We searched PubMed, major biomedical informatics websites, and the web in general for papers and links related to FOS health care IT systems. We also relied on our background and knowledge for specific subtopics. We focused on the functionalities of guideline modeling tools, and briefly examined the supporting technologies for terminology, data exchange and electronic health record (EHR) standards. To effectively support patient-centric, guideline-based care, the computerized guidelines and protocols need to be integrated with existing clinical information systems or EHRs. Technologies that enable such integration should be accessible, interoperable, and scalable. A plethora of FOS tools and techniques for supporting different knowledge management and quality assurance tasks involved are available. Many challenges, however, remain in their implementation. There are active and growing trends of deploying FOS enabling technologies for integrating clinical guidelines, protocols, and pathways into the main care processes. The continuing development and maturation of such technologies are likely to make increasingly significant contributions to patient-centric, guideline-based clinical decision support.

  18. Establishing a national resource: a health informatics collection to maintain the legacy of health informatics development.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ellis, Beverley; Roberts, Jean; Cooper, Helen

    2007-01-01

    This case study report of the establishment of a national repository of multi-media materials describes the creation process, the challenges faced in putting it into operation and the opportunities for the future. The initial resource has been incorporated under standard library and knowledge management practices. A collaborative action research method was used with active experts in the domain to determine the requirements and priorities for further development. The National Health Informatics Collection (NatHIC) is now accessible and the further issues are being addressed by inclusion in future University and NHS strategic plans. Ultimately the Collection will link with other facilities that contribute to the description and maintenance of effective informatics in support of health globally. The issues raised about the National Health Informatics Collection as established in the UK have resonance with the challenges of capturing the overall historic development of an emerging discipline in any country.

  19. Prototype of a web - based participative decision support platform in natural hazards and risk management

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Aye, Z.C.; Jaboyedoff, M.; Derron, M.H.; van Westen, C.J.

    2015-01-01

    This paper presents the current state and development of a prototype web-GIS (Geographic Information System) decision support platform intended for application in natural hazards and risk management, mainly for floods and landslides. This web platform uses open-source geospatial software and

  20. Bioinformatics and Medical Informatics: Collaborations on the Road to Genomic Medicine?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Maojo, Victor; Kulikowski, Casimir A.

    2003-01-01

    In this report, the authors compare and contrast medical informatics (MI) and bioinformatics (BI) and provide a viewpoint on their complementarities and potential for collaboration in various subfields. The authors compare MI and BI along several dimensions, including: (1) historical development of the disciplines, (2) their scientific foundations, (3) data quality and analysis, (4) integration of knowledge and databases, (5) informatics tools to support practice, (6) informatics methods to support research (signal processing, imaging and vision, and computational modeling, (7) professional and patient continuing education, and (8) education and training. It is pointed out that, while the two disciplines differ in their histories, scientific foundations, and methodologic approaches to research in various areas, they nevertheless share methods and tools, which provides a basis for exchange of experience in their different applications. MI expertise in developing health care applications and the strength of BI in biological “discovery science” complement each other well. The new field of biomedical informatics (BMI) holds great promise for developing informatics methods that will be crucial in the development of genomic medicine. The future of BMI will be influenced strongly by whether significant advances in clinical practice and biomedical research come about from separate efforts in MI and BI, or from emerging, hybrid informatics subdisciplines at their interface. PMID:12925552

  1. BACHELOR OF INFORMATICS COMPETENCE IN PROGRAMMING

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Andrii M. Striuk

    2015-04-01

    Full Text Available Based on the analysis of approaches to the definition of professional competencies of IT students the competence in programming of bachelor of informatics is proposed. Due to the standard of training in 040302 “Informatics” and Computing Curricula 2001 it was defined the content and structure of the competence in programming of bachelor of informatics. The system of content modules providing its formation was designed. The contribution of regulatory competencies of bachelor of informatics in the formation of competence in programming is defined. The directions of formation of competence in programming in the cloudy-oriented learning environment are proposed.

  2. Interdisciplinary training to build an informatics workforce for precision medicine

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Marc S. Williams

    2015-09-01

    Full Text Available The proposed Precision Medicine Initiative has the potential to transform medical care in the future through a shift from interventions based on evidence from population studies and empiric response to ones that account for a range of individual factors that more reliably predict response and outcomes for the patient. Many things are needed to realize this vision, but one of the most critical is an informatics workforce that has broad interdisciplinary training in basic science, applied research and clinical implementation. Current approaches to informatics training do not support this requirement. We present a collaborative model of training that has the potential to produce a workforce prepared for the challenges of implementing precision medicine.

  3. Web-based tools from AHRQ's National Resource Center.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cusack, Caitlin M; Shah, Sapna

    2008-11-06

    The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) has made an investment of over $216 million in research around health information technology (health IT). As part of their investment, AHRQ has developed the National Resource Center for Health IT (NRC) which includes a public domain Web site. New content for the web site, such as white papers, toolkits, lessons from the health IT portfolio and web-based tools, is developed as needs are identified. Among the tools developed by the NRC are the Compendium of Surveys and the Clinical Decision Support (CDS) Resources. The Compendium of Surveys is a searchable repository of health IT evaluation surveys made available for public use. The CDS Resources contains content which may be used to develop clinical decision support tools, such as rules, reminders and templates. This live demonstration will show the access, use, and content of both these freely available web-based tools.

  4. Pathology informatics fellowship retreats: The use of interactive scenarios and case studies as pathology informatics teaching tools.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, Roy E; McClintock, David S; Balis, Ulysses J; Baron, Jason M; Becich, Michael J; Beckwith, Bruce A; Brodsky, Victor B; Carter, Alexis B; Dighe, Anand S; Haghighi, Mehrvash; Hipp, Jason D; Henricks, Walter H; Kim, Jiyeon Y; Klepseis, Veronica E; Kuo, Frank C; Lane, William J; Levy, Bruce P; Onozato, Maristela L; Park, Seung L; Sinard, John H; Tuthill, Mark J; Gilbertson, John R

    2012-01-01

    Last year, our pathology informatics fellowship added informatics-based interactive case studies to its existing educational platform of operational and research rotations, clinical conferences, a common core curriculum with an accompanying didactic course, and national meetings. The structure of the informatics case studies was based on the traditional business school case study format. Three different formats were used, varying in length from short, 15-minute scenarios to more formal multiple hour-long case studies. Case studies were presented over the course of three retreats (Fall 2011, Winter 2012, and Spring 2012) and involved both local and visiting faculty and fellows. Both faculty and fellows found the case studies and the retreats educational, valuable, and enjoyable. From this positive feedback, we plan to incorporate the retreats in future academic years as an educational component of our fellowship program. Interactive case studies appear to be valuable in teaching several aspects of pathology informatics that are difficult to teach in more traditional venues (rotations and didactic class sessions). Case studies have become an important component of our fellowship's educational platform.

  5. Improving Bridging from Informatics Practice to Theory.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lehmann, C U; Gundlapalli, A V

    2015-01-01

    In 1962, Methods of Information in Medicine ( MIM ) began to publish papers on the methodology and scientific fundamentals of organizing, representing, and analyzing data, information, and knowledge in biomedicine and health care. Considered a companion journal, Applied Clinical Informatics ( ACI ) was launched in 2009 with a mission to establish a platform that allows sharing of knowledge between clinical medicine and health IT specialists as well as to bridge gaps between visionary design and successful and pragmatic deployment of clinical information systems. Both journals are official journals of the International Medical Informatics Association. As a follow-up to prior work, we set out to explore congruencies and interdependencies in publications of ACI and MIM. The objectives were to describe the major topics discussed in articles published in ACI in 2014 and to determine if there was evidence that theory in 2014 MIM publications was informed by practice described in ACI publications in any year. We also set out to describe lessons learned in the context of bridging informatics practice and theory and offer opinions on how ACI editorial policies could evolve to foster and improve such bridging. We conducted a retrospective observational study and reviewed all articles published in ACI during the calendar year 2014 (Volume 5) for their main theme, conclusions, and key words. We then reviewed the citations of all MIM papers from 2014 to determine if there were references to ACI articles from any year. Lessons learned in the context of bridging informatics practice and theory and opinions on ACI editorial policies were developed by consensus among the two authors. A total of 70 articles were published in ACI in 2014. Clinical decision support, clinical documentation, usability, Meaningful Use, health information exchange, patient portals, and clinical research informatics emerged as major themes. Only one MIM article from 2014 cited an ACI article. There

  6. Semantic Web: Metadata, Linked Data, Open Data

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Vanessa Russo

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available What's the Semantic Web? What's the use? The inventor of the Web Tim Berners-Lee describes it as a research methodology able to take advantage of the network to its maximum capacity. This metadata system represents the innovative element through web 2.0 to web 3.0. In this context will try to understand what are the theoretical and informatic requirements of the Semantic Web. Finally will explain Linked Data applications to develop new tools for active citizenship.

  7. Development and Construction of the Multimedia Web-Based Courses Based on ASP

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Yu; Liu, Jianbo

    2011-01-01

    With the quick development of internet and computer technology, more and more information acquirers begin to more depend on the network, and for the transmission route of knowledge, the advantageous state of web-based courses becomes more and more obvious. The support of modern education technology for the web-based courses would gradually replace…

  8. Health Care Transformation Through Collaboration on Open-Source Informatics Projects: Integrating a Medical Applications Platform, Research Data Repository, and Patient Summarization

    Science.gov (United States)

    McCoy, Allison B; Wright, Adam; Wattanasin, Nich; Sittig, Dean F; Murphy, Shawn N

    2013-01-01

    Background The Strategic Health IT Advanced Research Projects (SHARP) program seeks to conquer well-understood challenges in medical informatics through breakthrough research. Two SHARP centers have found alignment in their methodological needs: (1) members of the National Center for Cognitive Informatics and Decision-making (NCCD) have developed knowledge bases to support problem-oriented summarizations of patient data, and (2) Substitutable Medical Apps, Reusable Technologies (SMART), which is a platform for reusable medical apps that can run on participating platforms connected to various electronic health records (EHR). Combining the work of these two centers will ensure wide dissemination of new methods for synthesized views of patient data. Informatics for Integrating Biology and the Bedside (i2b2) is an NIH-funded clinical research data repository platform in use at over 100 sites worldwide. By also working with a co-occurring initiative to SMART-enabling i2b2, we can confidently write one app that can be used extremely broadly. Objective Our goal was to facilitate development of intuitive, problem-oriented views of the patient record using NCCD knowledge bases that would run in any EHR. To do this, we developed a collaboration between the two SHARPs and an NIH center, i2b2. Methods First, we implemented collaborative tools to connect researchers at three institutions. Next, we developed a patient summarization app using the SMART platform and a previously validated NCCD problem-medication linkage knowledge base derived from the National Drug File-Reference Terminology (NDF-RT). Finally, to SMART-enable i2b2, we implemented two new Web service “cells” that expose the SMART application programming interface (API), and we made changes to the Web interface of i2b2 to host a “carousel” of SMART apps. Results We deployed our SMART-based, NDF-RT-derived patient summarization app in this SMART-i2b2 container. It displays a problem-oriented view of

  9. Health care transformation through collaboration on open-source informatics projects: integrating a medical applications platform, research data repository, and patient summarization.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Klann, Jeffrey G; McCoy, Allison B; Wright, Adam; Wattanasin, Nich; Sittig, Dean F; Murphy, Shawn N

    2013-05-30

    The Strategic Health IT Advanced Research Projects (SHARP) program seeks to conquer well-understood challenges in medical informatics through breakthrough research. Two SHARP centers have found alignment in their methodological needs: (1) members of the National Center for Cognitive Informatics and Decision-making (NCCD) have developed knowledge bases to support problem-oriented summarizations of patient data, and (2) Substitutable Medical Apps, Reusable Technologies (SMART), which is a platform for reusable medical apps that can run on participating platforms connected to various electronic health records (EHR). Combining the work of these two centers will ensure wide dissemination of new methods for synthesized views of patient data. Informatics for Integrating Biology and the Bedside (i2b2) is an NIH-funded clinical research data repository platform in use at over 100 sites worldwide. By also working with a co-occurring initiative to SMART-enabling i2b2, we can confidently write one app that can be used extremely broadly. Our goal was to facilitate development of intuitive, problem-oriented views of the patient record using NCCD knowledge bases that would run in any EHR. To do this, we developed a collaboration between the two SHARPs and an NIH center, i2b2. First, we implemented collaborative tools to connect researchers at three institutions. Next, we developed a patient summarization app using the SMART platform and a previously validated NCCD problem-medication linkage knowledge base derived from the National Drug File-Reference Terminology (NDF-RT). Finally, to SMART-enable i2b2, we implemented two new Web service "cells" that expose the SMART application programming interface (API), and we made changes to the Web interface of i2b2 to host a "carousel" of SMART apps. We deployed our SMART-based, NDF-RT-derived patient summarization app in this SMART-i2b2 container. It displays a problem-oriented view of medications and presents a line-graph display of

  10. Open Access Publishing in the Field of Medical Informatics.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kuballa, Stefanie

    2017-05-01

    The open access paradigm has become an important approach in today's information and communication society. Funders and governments in different countries stipulate open access publications of funded research results. Medical informatics as part of the science, technology and medicine disciplines benefits from many research funds, such as National Institutes of Health in the US, Wellcome Trust in UK, German Research Foundation in Germany and many more. In this study an overview of the current open access programs and conditions of major journals in the field of medical informatics is presented. It was investigated whether there are suitable options and how they are shaped. Therefore all journals in Thomson Reuters Web of Science that were listed in the subject category "Medical Informatics" in 2014 were examined. An Internet research was conducted by investigating the journals' websites. It was reviewed whether journals offer an open access option with a subsequent check of conditions as for example the type of open access, the fees and the licensing. As a result all journals in the field of medical informatics that had an impact factor in 2014 offer an open access option. A predominantly consistent pricing range was determined with an average fee of 2.248 € and a median fee of 2.207 €. The height of a journals' open access fee did not correlate with the height of its Impact Factor. Hence, medical informatics journals have recognized the trend of open access publishing, though the vast majority of them are working with the hybrid method. Hybrid open access may however lead to problems in questions of double dipping and the often stipulated gold open access.

  11. Web-based services for drug design and discovery.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Frey, Jeremy G; Bird, Colin L

    2011-09-01

    Reviews of the development of drug discovery through the 20(th) century recognised the importance of chemistry and increasingly bioinformatics, but had relatively little to say about the importance of computing and networked computing in particular. However, the design and discovery of new drugs is arguably the most significant single application of bioinformatics and cheminformatics to have benefitted from the increases in the range and power of the computational techniques since the emergence of the World Wide Web, commonly now referred to as simply 'the Web'. Web services have enabled researchers to access shared resources and to deploy standardized calculations in their search for new drugs. This article first considers the fundamental principles of Web services and workflows, and then explores the facilities and resources that have evolved to meet the specific needs of chem- and bio-informatics. This strategy leads to a more detailed examination of the basic components that characterise molecules and the essential predictive techniques, followed by a discussion of the emerging networked services that transcend the basic provisions, and the growing trend towards embracing modern techniques, in particular the Semantic Web. In the opinion of the authors, the issues that require community action are: increasing the amount of chemical data available for open access; validating the data as provided; and developing more efficient links between the worlds of cheminformatics and bioinformatics. The goal is to create ever better drug design services.

  12. A web service system supporting three-dimensional post-processing of medical images based on WADO protocol.

    Science.gov (United States)

    He, Longjun; Xu, Lang; Ming, Xing; Liu, Qian

    2015-02-01

    Three-dimensional post-processing operations on the volume data generated by a series of CT or MR images had important significance on image reading and diagnosis. As a part of the DIOCM standard, WADO service defined how to access DICOM objects on the Web, but it didn't involve three-dimensional post-processing operations on the series images. This paper analyzed the technical features of three-dimensional post-processing operations on the volume data, and then designed and implemented a web service system for three-dimensional post-processing operations of medical images based on the WADO protocol. In order to improve the scalability of the proposed system, the business tasks and calculation operations were separated into two modules. As results, it was proved that the proposed system could support three-dimensional post-processing service of medical images for multiple clients at the same moment, which met the demand of accessing three-dimensional post-processing operations on the volume data on the web.

  13. Web-Based Cognitive Remediation Improves Supported Employment Outcomes in Severe Mental Illness: Randomized Controlled Trial.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Harris, Anthony Wf; Kosic, Tanya; Xu, Jean; Walker, Chris; Gye, William; Redoblado Hodge, Antoinette

    2017-09-20

    Finding work is a top priority for most people; however, this goal remains out of reach for the majority of individuals with a severe mental illness (SMI) who remain on benefits or are unemployed. Supported employment (SE) programs aimed at returning people with a severe mental illness to work are successful; however, they still leave a significant number of people with severe mental illness unemployed. Cognitive deficits are commonly found in SMI and are a powerful predictor of poor outcome. Fortunately, these deficits are amenable to treatment with cognitive remediation therapy (CRT) that significantly improves cognition in SMI. CRT combined with SE significantly increases the likelihood of individuals with severe mental illness obtaining and staying in work. However, the availability of CRT is limited in many settings. The aim of this study was to examine whether Web-based CRT combined with a SE program can improve the rate return to work of people with severe mental illness. A total of 86 people with severe mental illness (mean age 39.6 years; male: n=55) who were unemployed and who had joined a SE program were randomized to either a Web-based CRT program (CogRem) or an Internet-based control condition (WebInfo). Primary outcome measured was hours worked over 6 months post treatment. At 6 months, those participants randomized to CogRem had worked significantly more hours (P=.01) and had earned significantly more money (P=.03) than those participants randomized to the WebInfo control condition. No change was observed in cognition. This study corroborates other work that has found a synergistic effect of combining CRT with a SE program and extends this to the use of Web-based CRT. The lack of any improvement in cognition obscures the mechanism by which an improved wage outcome for participants randomized to the active treatment was achieved. However, the study substantially lowers the barrier to the deployment of CRT with other psychosocial interventions for

  14. Web-based interventions for menopause: A systematic integrated literature review.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Im, Eun-Ok; Lee, Yaelim; Chee, Eunice; Chee, Wonshik

    2017-01-01

    Advances in computer and Internet technologies have allowed health care providers to develop, use, and test various types of Web-based interventions for their practice and research. Indeed, an increasing number of Web-based interventions have recently been developed and tested in health care fields. Despite the great potential for Web-based interventions to improve practice and research, little is known about the current status of Web-based interventions, especially those related to menopause. To identify the current status of Web-based interventions used in the field of menopause, a literature review was conducted using multiple databases, with the keywords "online," "Internet," "Web," "intervention," and "menopause." Using these keywords, a total of 18 eligible articles were analyzed to identify the current status of Web-based interventions for menopause. Six themes reflecting the current status of Web-based interventions for menopause were identified: (a) there existed few Web-based intervention studies on menopause; (b) Web-based decision support systems were mainly used; (c) there was a lack of detail on the interventions; (d) there was a lack of guidance on the use of Web-based interventions; (e) counselling was frequently combined with Web-based interventions; and (f) the pros and cons were similar to those of Web-based methods in general. Based on these findings, directions for future Web-based interventions for menopause are provided. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  15. An analysis of application of health informatics in Traditional Medicine: A review of four Traditional Medicine Systems.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Raja Ikram, Raja Rina; Abd Ghani, Mohd Khanapi; Abdullah, Noraswaliza

    2015-11-01

    This paper shall first investigate the informatics areas and applications of the four Traditional Medicine systems - Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), Ayurveda, Traditional Arabic and Islamic Medicine and Traditional Malay Medicine. Then, this paper shall examine the national informatics infrastructure initiatives in the four respective countries that support the Traditional Medicine systems. Challenges of implementing informatics in Traditional Medicine Systems shall also be discussed. The literature was sourced from four databases: Ebsco Host, IEEE Explore, Proquest and Google scholar. The search term used was "Traditional Medicine", "informatics", "informatics infrastructure", "traditional Chinese medicine", "Ayurveda", "traditional Arabic and Islamic medicine", and "traditional malay medicine". A combination of the search terms above was also executed to enhance the searching process. A search was also conducted in Google to identify miscellaneous books, publications, and organization websites using the same terms. Amongst major advancements in TCM and Ayurveda are bioinformatics, development of Traditional Medicine databases for decision system support, data mining and image processing. Traditional Chinese Medicine differentiates itself from other Traditional Medicine systems with documented ISO Standards to support the standardization of TCM. Informatics applications in Traditional Arabic and Islamic Medicine are mostly ehealth applications that focus more on spiritual healing, Islamic obligations and prophetic traditions. Literature regarding development of health informatics to support Traditional Malay Medicine is still insufficient. Major informatics infrastructure that is common in China and India are automated insurance payment systems for Traditional Medicine treatment. National informatics infrastructure in Middle East and Malaysia mainly cater for modern medicine. Other infrastructure such as telemedicine and hospital information systems focus its

  16. A Sensor Web and Web Service-Based Approach for Active Hydrological Disaster Monitoring

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Xi Zhai

    2016-09-01

    Full Text Available Rapid advancements in Earth-observing sensor systems have led to the generation of large amounts of remote sensing data that can be used for the dynamic monitoring and analysis of hydrological disasters. The management and analysis of these data could take advantage of distributed information infrastructure technologies such as Web service and Sensor Web technologies, which have shown great potential in facilitating the use of observed big data in an interoperable, flexible and on-demand way. However, it remains a challenge to achieve timely response to hydrological disaster events and to automate the geoprocessing of hydrological disaster observations. This article proposes a Sensor Web and Web service-based approach to support active hydrological disaster monitoring. This approach integrates an event-driven mechanism, Web services, and a Sensor Web and coordinates them using workflow technologies to facilitate the Web-based sharing and processing of hydrological hazard information. The design and implementation of hydrological Web services for conducting various hydrological analysis tasks on the Web using dynamically updating sensor observation data are presented. An application example is provided to demonstrate the benefits of the proposed approach over the traditional approach. The results confirm the effectiveness and practicality of the proposed approach in cases of hydrological disaster.

  17. INFORMATIZATION IN EDUCATION

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    А А Меджидова

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available The article draws attention to the fact that the Informatization of primary education is a uniform process, in which I the first turn mathematics and computer science are associated. Learning these disciplines is in natural interrelation and this comes from the nature of these disciplines. But in other subjects both mathematics and computer science play an applied role. It is proved that at the modern stage of Informatization in education contributes to improving the quality of assimilated knowledge acquired and skills.The article touches upon issues that reveal the relevance of the subject of Informatics in education. In connection with the information development there is a need of Informatization of education and society as a whole. The basic concepts of Informatics as a scientific and academic discipline are shown. Set out the subject, object and objectives of teaching science. Methodical program of the subject, aimed to develop school education is also considered.

  18. Empower the patients with a dialogue-based web application.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bjørnes, Charlotte D; Cummings, Elizabeth; Nøhr, Christian

    2012-01-01

    Based on a clinical intervention study this paper adds to the significance of users involvement in design processes and substantiate the potential of online, flexible health informatics tools as useful components to accommodate organizational changes that short stay treatment demands. A dialogue-based web application was designed and implemented to accommodate patients' information and communication needs in short stay hospital settings. To ensure the system meet the patients' needs, both patients and healthcare professionals were involved in the design process by applying various participatory methods. Contextualization of the new application was also central in all phases to ensure a focus not only on the technology itself, but also the way it is used and in which relations and contexts. In evaluation of the tool, the patients' descriptions as user substantiate that the use of Internet applications can expand the time for dialogue between the individual patient and healthcare professionals. The patients experience being partners in an on going dialogue, and thereby are empowered, e.g. in managing their care even at home, as these dialogues generate individualized information.

  19. A structural informatics approach to mine kinase knowledge bases.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brooijmans, Natasja; Mobilio, Dominick; Walker, Gary; Nilakantan, Ramaswamy; Denny, Rajiah A; Feyfant, Eric; Diller, David; Bikker, Jack; Humblet, Christine

    2010-03-01

    In this paper, we describe a combination of structural informatics approaches developed to mine data extracted from existing structure knowledge bases (Protein Data Bank and the GVK database) with a focus on kinase ATP-binding site data. In contrast to existing systems that retrieve and analyze protein structures, our techniques are centered on a database of ligand-bound geometries in relation to residues lining the binding site and transparent access to ligand-based SAR data. We illustrate the systems in the context of the Abelson kinase and related inhibitor structures. 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  20. Using ant-behavior-based simulation model AntWeb to improve website organization

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Weigang; Pinheiro Dib, Marcos V.; Teles, Wesley M.; Morais de Andrade, Vlaudemir; Alves de Melo, Alba C. M.; Cariolano, Judas T.

    2002-03-01

    Some web usage mining algorithms showed the potential application to find the difference among the organizations expected by visitors to the website. However, there are still no efficient method and criterion for a web administrator to measure the performance of the modification. In this paper, we developed an AntWeb, a model inspired by ants' behavior to simulate the sequence of visiting the website, in order to measure the efficient of the web structure. We implemented a web usage mining algorithm using backtrack to the intranet website of the Politec Informatic Ltd., Brazil. We defined throughput (the number of visitors to reach their target pages per time unit relates to the total number of visitors) as an index to measure the website's performance. We also used the link in a web page to represent the effect of visitors' pheromone trails. For every modification in the website organization, for example, putting a link from the expected location to the target object, the simulation reported the value of throughput as a quick answer about this modification. The experiment showed the stability of our simulation model, and a positive modification to the intranet website of the Politec.

  1. Nursing Informatics Certification Worldwide: History, Pathway, Roles, and Motivation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cummins, M. R.; Gundlapalli, A. V.; Murray, P.; Park, H.-A.; Lehmann, C. U.

    2016-01-01

    numbers of informatics nurses are pursuing certification. Conclusions The pathway to certification is clear and well-established for U.S. based informatics nurses. The motivation for obtaining and maintaining nursing informatics certification appears to be stronger for nurses who do not have an advanced informatics degree. The primary difference between nursing and physician certification pathways relates to the requirement of formal training and level of informatics practice. Nurse informatics certification requires no formal education or training and verifies knowledge and skill at a more basic level. Physician informatics certification validates informatics knowledge and skill at a more advanced level; currently this requires documentation of practice and experience in clinical informatics and in the future will require successful completion of an accredited two-year fellowship in clinical informatics. For the profession of nursing, a graduate degree in nursing or biomedical informatics validates specialty knowledge at a level more comparable to the physician certification. As the field of informatics and its professional organization structures mature, a common certification pathway may be appropriate. Nurses, physicians, and other healthcare professionals with informatics training and certification are needed to contribute their expertise in clinical operations, teaching, research, and executive leadership. PMID:27830261

  2. Informatization of radiological protection:new tools of information dissemination and sharing knowledge

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Levy, Denise S.; Sordi, Gian Maria A.A.

    2013-01-01

    This project aims the informatization of the radiological protection optimization programs in a single system in order to offer unified programs and inter-related information in Portuguese, providing Brazilian radioactive facilities a complete repository for research, consultation and information. In order to meet both national and international recommendations within the scope of this work, we conducted a comprehensive job of perception about each program contents as well as its real dimension, identifying and detailing the vital parts of programs. The content includes concepts, definitions and theory in addition to the optimization programs, help decision making techniques, information related to protection costs, radiation doses and detriment. The content allows to answer to every question when an optimization program is elaborated, according to decision maker's specific situation. For dimensioning the work of informatization and developing the WEB platform according to the needs of the target public profile, we have conducted an extensive research regarding the possibilities of Information and Communication Technology access in companies throughout the country, which allowed to define the best interfaces tools and resources. The servers processing power added to the technology of relational databases allow to integrate information from different sources, enabling complex queries with reduced response time. The project was implemented in a web environment, using the Web 2.0 tools and resources that allow the entire organizational structure, that would enable the inter-relationships and joints needed for proper use of information technology in radiological protection. This project uses the combination of multiple technologies, maximizing the resources available in each one of them in order to achieve our goals. The investigation of the usage profile for five months enabled important data that suggest new possibilities for the development of computerization of

  3. Pathology informatics fellowship retreats: The use of interactive scenarios and case studies as pathology informatics teaching tools

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Roy E Lee

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available Background: Last year, our pathology informatics fellowship added informatics-based interactive case studies to its existing educational platform of operational and research rotations, clinical conferences, a common core curriculum with an accompanying didactic course, and national meetings. Methods: The structure of the informatics case studies was based on the traditional business school case study format. Three different formats were used, varying in length from short, 15-minute scenarios to more formal multiple hour-long case studies. Case studies were presented over the course of three retreats (Fall 2011, Winter 2012, and Spring 2012 and involved both local and visiting faculty and fellows. Results: Both faculty and fellows found the case studies and the retreats educational, valuable, and enjoyable. From this positive feedback, we plan to incorporate the retreats in future academic years as an educational component of our fellowship program. Conclusions: Interactive case studies appear to be valuable in teaching several aspects of pathology informatics that are difficult to teach in more traditional venues (rotations and didactic class sessions. Case studies have become an important component of our fellowship′s educational platform.

  4. The role of ethics in information technology decisions: a case-based approach to biomedical informatics education.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Anderson, James G

    2004-03-18

    The purpose of this paper is to propose a case-based approach to instruction regarding ethical issues raised by the use of information technology (IT) in healthcare. These issues are rarely addressed in graduate degree and continuing professional education programs in health informatics. There are important reasons why ethical issues need to be addressed in informatics training. Ethical issues raised by the introduction of information technology affect practice and are ubiquitous. These issues are frequently among the most challenging to young practitioners who are ill prepared to deal with them in practice. First, the paper provides an overview of methods of moral reasoning that can be used to identify and analyze ethical problems in health informatics. Second, we provide a framework for defining cases that involve ethical issues and outline major issues raised by the use of information technology. Specific cases are used as examples of new dilemmas that are posed by the introduction of information technology in healthcare. These cases are used to illustrate how ethics can be integrated with the other elements of informatics training. The cases discussed here reflect day-to-day situations that arise in health settings that require decisions. Third, an approach that can be used to teach ethics in health informatics programs is outlined and illustrated.

  5. Chapter 17: bioimage informatics for systems pharmacology.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Fuhai Li

    2013-04-01

    Full Text Available Recent advances in automated high-resolution fluorescence microscopy and robotic handling have made the systematic and cost effective study of diverse morphological changes within a large population of cells possible under a variety of perturbations, e.g., drugs, compounds, metal catalysts, RNA interference (RNAi. Cell population-based studies deviate from conventional microscopy studies on a few cells, and could provide stronger statistical power for drawing experimental observations and conclusions. However, it is challenging to manually extract and quantify phenotypic changes from the large amounts of complex image data generated. Thus, bioimage informatics approaches are needed to rapidly and objectively quantify and analyze the image data. This paper provides an overview of the bioimage informatics challenges and approaches in image-based studies for drug and target discovery. The concepts and capabilities of image-based screening are first illustrated by a few practical examples investigating different kinds of phenotypic changes caEditorsused by drugs, compounds, or RNAi. The bioimage analysis approaches, including object detection, segmentation, and tracking, are then described. Subsequently, the quantitative features, phenotype identification, and multidimensional profile analysis for profiling the effects of drugs and targets are summarized. Moreover, a number of publicly available software packages for bioimage informatics are listed for further reference. It is expected that this review will help readers, including those without bioimage informatics expertise, understand the capabilities, approaches, and tools of bioimage informatics and apply them to advance their own studies.

  6. Informatics in radiology: radiology gamuts ontology: differential diagnosis for the Semantic Web.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Budovec, Joseph J; Lam, Cesar A; Kahn, Charles E

    2014-01-01

    The Semantic Web is an effort to add semantics, or "meaning," to empower automated searching and processing of Web-based information. The overarching goal of the Semantic Web is to enable users to more easily find, share, and combine information. Critical to this vision are knowledge models called ontologies, which define a set of concepts and formalize the relations between them. Ontologies have been developed to manage and exploit the large and rapidly growing volume of information in biomedical domains. In diagnostic radiology, lists of differential diagnoses of imaging observations, called gamuts, provide an important source of knowledge. The Radiology Gamuts Ontology (RGO) is a formal knowledge model of differential diagnoses in radiology that includes 1674 differential diagnoses, 19,017 terms, and 52,976 links between terms. Its knowledge is used to provide an interactive, freely available online reference of radiology gamuts ( www.gamuts.net ). A Web service allows its content to be discovered and consumed by other information systems. The RGO integrates radiologic knowledge with other biomedical ontologies as part of the Semantic Web. © RSNA, 2014.

  7. Web-Based Tools for Data Visualization and Decision Support for South Asia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jones, N.; Nelson, J.; Pulla, S. T.; Ames, D. P.; Souffront, M.; David, C. H.; Zaitchik, B. F.; Gatlin, P. N.; Matin, M. A.

    2017-12-01

    The objective of the NASA SERVIR project is to assist developing countries in using information provided by Earth observing satellites to assess and manage climate risks, land use, and water resources. We present a collection of web apps that integrate earth observations and in situ data to facilitate deployment of data and water resources models as decision-making tools in support of this effort. The interactive nature of web apps makes this an excellent medium for creating decision support tools that harness cutting edge modeling techniques. Thin client apps hosted in a cloud portal eliminates the need for the decision makers to procure and maintain the high performance hardware required by the models, deal with issues related to software installation and platform incompatibilities, or monitor and install software updates, a problem that is exacerbated for many of the regional SERVIR hubs where both financial and technical capacity may be limited. All that is needed to use the system is an Internet connection and a web browser. We take advantage of these technologies to develop tools which can be centrally maintained but openly accessible. Advanced mapping and visualization make results intuitive and information derived actionable. We also take advantage of the emerging standards for sharing water information across the web using the OGC and WMO approved WaterML standards. This makes our tools interoperable and extensible via application programming interfaces (APIs) so that tools and data from other projects can both consume and share the tools developed in our project. Our approach enables the integration of multiple types of data and models, thus facilitating collaboration between science teams in SERVIR. The apps developed thus far by our team process time-varying netCDF files from Earth observations and large-scale computer simulations and allow visualization and exploration via raster animation and extraction of time series at selected points and/or regions.

  8. Web Based Database Processing for Turkish Navy Officers in USA

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Ozkan, Gokhan

    2002-01-01

    ...) and details the supporting web server and database server choices, It then presents a prototype of a web-based database system to speed and simplify tracking of academic and personal information...

  9. Web-based applications for virtual laboratories

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Bier, H.H.

    2011-01-01

    Web-based applications for academic education facilitate, usually, exchange of multimedia files, while design-oriented domains such as architectural and urban design require additional support in collaborative real-time drafting and modeling. In this context, multi-user interactive interfaces

  10. Does self-directed and web-based support for parents enhance the effects of viewing a reality television series based on the Triple P-Positive Parenting Programme?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sanders, Matthew; Calam, Rachel; Durand, Marianne; Liversidge, Tom; Carmont, Sue Ann

    2008-09-01

    This study investigated whether providing self-directed and web-based support for parents enhanced the effects of viewing a reality television series based on the Triple P - Positive Parenting Programme. Parents with a child aged 2 to 9 (N = 454) were randomly assigned to either a standard or enhanced intervention condition. In the standard television alone viewing condition, parents watched the six-episode weekly television series, 'Driving Mum and Dad Mad'. Parents in the enhanced television viewing condition received a self-help workbook, extra web support involving downloadable parenting tip sheets, audio and video streaming of positive parenting messages and email support, in addition to viewing the television series. Parents in both conditions reported significant improvements in their child's disruptive behaviour and improvements in dysfunctional parenting practices. Effects were greater for the enhanced condition as seen on the ECBI, two of the three parenting indicators and overall programme satisfaction. However, no significant differences were seen on other measures, including parent affect indicators. The level of improvement was related to number of episodes watched, with greatest changes occurring in families who watched each episode. Improvements achieved at post-intervention by parents in both groups were maintained at six-month follow-up. Online tip sheets were frequently accessed; uptake of web-based resources was highest early in the series. The value of combining self-help approaches, technology and media as part of a comprehensive public health approach to providing parenting support is discussed.

  11. An 8-Week Web-Based Weight Loss Challenge With Celebrity Endorsement and Enhanced Social Support: Observational Study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Collins, Clare E; Morgan, Philip J; Callister, Robin

    2013-01-01

    Background Initial engagement and weight loss within Web-based weight loss programs may predict long-term success. The integration of persuasive Web-based features may boost engagement and therefore weight loss. Objective To determine whether an 8-week challenge within a commercial Web-based weight loss program influenced weight loss, website use, and attrition in the short term, when compared to the standard program. Methods De-identified data for participants (mean age 36.7±10.3 years; 86% female) who enrolled in the Biggest Loser Club (BLC) (n=952) and the BLC’s Shannan Ponton Fast Track Challenge (SC) for 8 weeks (n=381) were compared. The BLC program used standard evidence-based website features, with individualized calorie and exercise targets to facilitate a weight loss of 0.5-1 kg per week (–500kcal/day less than estimated energy expenditure). SC used the same website features but in addition promoted greater initial weight loss using a 1200 kcal/day energy intake target and physical activity energy expenditure of 600 kcal/day. SC used persuasive features to facilitate greater user engagement, including offering additional opportunities for social support (eg, webinar meetings with a celebrity personal trainer and social networking) endorsed by a celebrity personal trainer. Self-reported weekly weight records were used to determine weight change after 8 weeks. A primary analysis was undertaken using a generalized linear mixed model (GLMM) with all available weight records for all participants included. Dropout (participants who cancelled their subscription) and nonusage (participants who stopped using the Web-based features) attrition rates at 8 weeks were calculated. The number of participants who accessed each website feature and the total number of days each feature was used were calculated. The difference between attrition rates and website use for the two programs were tested using chi-square and Wilcoxon Rank Sum tests, respectively. Results

  12. An 8-week web-based weight loss challenge with celebrity endorsement and enhanced social support: observational study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hutchesson, Melinda J; Collins, Clare E; Morgan, Philip J; Callister, Robin

    2013-07-04

    Initial engagement and weight loss within Web-based weight loss programs may predict long-term success. The integration of persuasive Web-based features may boost engagement and therefore weight loss. To determine whether an 8-week challenge within a commercial Web-based weight loss program influenced weight loss, website use, and attrition in the short term, when compared to the standard program. De-identified data for participants (mean age 36.7±10.3 years; 86% female) who enrolled in the Biggest Loser Club (BLC) (n=952) and the BLC's Shannan Ponton Fast Track Challenge (SC) for 8 weeks (n=381) were compared. The BLC program used standard evidence-based website features, with individualized calorie and exercise targets to facilitate a weight loss of 0.5-1 kg per week (-500kcal/day less than estimated energy expenditure). SC used the same website features but in addition promoted greater initial weight loss using a 1200 kcal/day energy intake target and physical activity energy expenditure of 600 kcal/day. SC used persuasive features to facilitate greater user engagement, including offering additional opportunities for social support (eg, webinar meetings with a celebrity personal trainer and social networking) endorsed by a celebrity personal trainer. Self-reported weekly weight records were used to determine weight change after 8 weeks. A primary analysis was undertaken using a generalized linear mixed model (GLMM) with all available weight records for all participants included. Dropout (participants who cancelled their subscription) and nonusage (participants who stopped using the Web-based features) attrition rates at 8 weeks were calculated. The number of participants who accessed each website feature and the total number of days each feature was used were calculated. The difference between attrition rates and website use for the two programs were tested using chi-square and Wilcoxon Rank Sum tests, respectively. Using GLMM, including weight data for all

  13. A Web-based spatial decision supporting system for land management and soil conservation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Terribile, F.; Agrillo, A.; Bonfante, A.; Buscemi, G.; Colandrea, M.; D'Antonio, A.; De Mascellis, R.; De Michele, C.; Langella, G.; Manna, P.; Marotta, L.; Mileti, F. A.; Minieri, L.; Orefice, N.; Valentini, S.; Vingiani, S.; Basile, A.

    2015-07-01

    Today it is evident that there are many contrasting demands on our landscape (e.g. food security, more sustainable agriculture, higher income in rural areas, etc.) as well as many land degradation problems. It has been proved that providing operational answers to these demands and problems is extremely difficult. Here we aim to demonstrate that a spatial decision support system based on geospatial cyberinfrastructure (GCI) can address all of the above, so producing a smart system for supporting decision making for agriculture, forestry, and urban planning with respect to the landscape. In this paper, we discuss methods and results of a special kind of GCI architecture, one that is highly focused on land management and soil conservation. The system allows us to obtain dynamic, multidisciplinary, multiscale, and multifunctional answers to agriculture, forestry, and urban planning issues through the Web. The system has been applied to and tested in an area of about 20 000 ha in the south of Italy, within the framework of a European LIFE+ project (SOILCONSWEB). The paper reports - as a case study - results from two different applications dealing with agriculture (olive growth tool) and environmental protection (soil capability to protect groundwater). Developed with the help of end users, the system is starting to be adopted by local communities. The system indirectly explores a change of paradigm for soil and landscape scientists. Indeed, the potential benefit is shown of overcoming current disciplinary fragmentation over landscape issues by offering - through a smart Web-based system - truly integrated geospatial knowledge that may be directly and freely used by any end user (www.landconsultingweb.eu). This may help bridge the last very important divide between scientists working on the landscape and end users.

  14. A web based spatial decision supporting system for land management and soil conservation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Terribile, F.; Agrillo, A.; Bonfante, A.; Buscemi, G.; Colandrea, M.; D'Antonio, A.; De Mascellis, R.; De Michele, C.; Langella, G.; Manna, P.; Marotta, L.; Mileti, F. A.; Minieri, L.; Orefice, N.; Valentini, S.; Vingiani, S.; Basile, A.

    2015-02-01

    Today it is evident that there are many contrasting demands on our landscape (e.g. food security, more sustainable agriculture, higher income in rural areas, etc.) but also many land degradation problems. It has been proved that providing operational answers to these demands and problems is extremely difficult. Here we aim to demonstrate that a Spatial Decision Support System based on geospatial cyber-infrastructure (GCI) can embody all of the above, so producing a smart system for supporting decision making for agriculture, forestry and urban planning with respect to the landscape. In this paper, we discuss methods and results of a special kind of GCI architecture, one that is highly focused on soil and land conservation (SOILCONSWEB-LIFE+ project). The system allows us to obtain dynamic, multidisciplinary, multiscale, and multifunctional answers to agriculture, forestry and urban planning issues through the web. The system has been applied to and tested in an area of about 20 000 ha in the South of Italy, within the framework of a European LIFE+ project. The paper reports - as a case study - results from two different applications dealing with agriculture (olive growth tool) and environmental protection (soil capability to protect groundwater). Developed with the help of end users, the system is starting to be adopted by local communities. The system indirectly explores a change of paradigm for soil and landscape scientists. Indeed, the potential benefit is shown of overcoming current disciplinary fragmentation over landscape issues by offering - through a smart web based system - truly integrated geospatial knowledge that may be directly and freely used by any end user (http://www.landconsultingweb.eu). This may help bridge the last much important divide between scientists working on the landscape and end users.

  15. The relationships among nurses' job characteristics and attitudes toward web-based continuing learning.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chiu, Yen-Lin; Tsai, Chin-Chung; Fan Chiang, Chih-Yun

    2013-04-01

    The purpose of this study was to explore the relationships between job characteristics (job demands, job control and social support) and nurses' attitudes toward web-based continuing learning. A total of 221 in-service nurses from hospitals in Taiwan were surveyed. The Attitudes toward Web-based Continuing Learning Survey (AWCL) was employed as the outcome variables, and the Chinese version Job Characteristic Questionnaire (C-JCQ) was administered to assess the predictors for explaining the nurses' attitudes toward web-based continuing learning. To examine the relationships among these variables, hierarchical regression was conducted. The results of the regression analysis revealed that job control and social support positively associated with nurses' attitudes toward web-based continuing learning. However, the relationship of job demands to such learning was not significant. Moreover, a significant demands×job control interaction was found, but the job demands×social support interaction had no significant relationships with attitudes toward web-based continuing learning. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  16. Web-Based Specialist Support for Spinal Cord Injury Person’s Care: Lessons Learned

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Vincenzo Della Mea

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available Persons with disability from spinal cord injury (SCI are subject to high risk of pathological events and need a regular followup even after discharge from the rehabilitation hospital. To help in followup, we developed a web portal for providing online specialist as well as GP support to SCI persons. After a feasibility study with 13 subjects, the portal has been introduced in the regional healthcare network in order to make it compliant with current legal regulations on data protection, including smartcard authentication. Although a number of training courses have been made to introduce SCI persons to portal use (up to 50 users, the number of accesses remained very low. Reasons for that have been investigated by means of a questionnaire submitted to the initial feasibility study subjects and included the still easier use of telephone versus our web-based smartcard-authenticated portal, in particular, because online communications are still perceived as an unusual way of interacting with the doctor. To summarize, the overall project has been appreciated by the users, but when it is time to ask for help to, the specialist, it is still much easier to make a phone call.

  17. Providing web-based mental health services to at-risk women.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lipman, Ellen L; Kenny, Meghan; Marziali, Elsa

    2011-08-19

    We examined the feasibility of providing web-based mental health services, including synchronous internet video conferencing of an evidence-based support/education group, to at-risk women, specifically poor lone mothers. The objectives of this study were to: (i) adapt a face-to-face support/education group intervention to a web-based format for lone mothers, and (ii) evaluate lone mothers' response to web-based services, including an online video conferencing group intervention program. Participating mothers were recruited through advertisements. To adapt the face-to-face intervention to a web-based format, we evaluated participant motivation through focus group/key informant interviews (n = 7), adapted the intervention training manual for a web-based environment and provided a computer training manual. To evaluate response to web-based services, we provided the intervention to two groups of lone mothers (n = 15). Pre-post quantitative evaluation of mood, self-esteem, social support and parenting was done. Post intervention follow up interviews explored responses to the group and to using technology to access a health service. Participants received $20 per occasion of data collection. Interviews were taped, transcribed and content analysis was used to code and interpret the data. Adherence to the intervention protocol was evaluated. Mothers participating in this project experienced multiple difficulties, including financial and mood problems. We adapted the intervention training manual for use in a web-based group environment and ensured adherence to the intervention protocol based on viewing videoconferencing group sessions and discussion with the leaders. Participant responses to the group intervention included decreased isolation, and increased knowledge and confidence in themselves and their parenting; the responses closely matched those of mothers who obtained same service in face-to-face groups. Pre-and post-group quantitative evaluations did not show

  18. Web-Based Intervention to Teach Developmentally Supportive Care to Parents of Preterm Infants: Feasibility and Acceptability Study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Luu, Thuy Mai; Xie, Li Feng; Peckre, Perrine; Cote, Sylvana; Karsenti, Thierry; Walker, Claire-Dominique; Gosselin, Julie

    2017-11-30

    Preterm birth affects 8% to 11% of the population and conveys a significant risk of developmental delays. Intervention programs that support child development have been shown to have a positive impact on early motor and cognitive development and on parental well-being. However, these programs are often difficult to implement in a real-life setting due to lack of resources. Hence, our multidisciplinary team developed Mieux Agir au Quotidien (MAQ) to teach developmentally supportive care to parents of preterm infants with the goal of improving child development and parental outcomes. Our intervention included 3 in-person workshops that occurred prior to hospital discharge and a Web-based platform with written and videotaped materials that addressed 5 main themes: (1) infant behavioral cues, (2) flexion positioning; (3) oral feeding support, (4) parent-infant interactions, and (5) anticipation of developmental milestones. This study aimed to test the feasibility and acceptability of the intervention by parents of preterm infants and assess clinical benefits on child neurodevelopment and parental outcomes during the first year of life. A total of 107 infants born at children and investigate how Web-based technologies can efficiently complement individualized intervention to alleviate the burden on health care resources. ©Thuy Mai Luu, Li Feng Xie, Perrine Peckre, Sylvana Cote, Thierry Karsenti, Claire-Dominique Walker, Julie Gosselin. Originally published in JMIR Research Protocols (http://www.researchprotocols.org), 30.11.2017.

  19. X-Informatics: Practical Semantic Science

    Science.gov (United States)

    Borne, K. D.

    2009-12-01

    The discipline of data science is merging with multiple science disciplines to form new X-informatics research disciplines. They are almost too numerous to name, but they include geoinformatics, bioinformatics, cheminformatics, biodiversity informatics, ecoinformatics, materials informatics, and the emerging discipline of astroinformatics. Within any X-informatics discipline, the information granules are unique to that discipline -- e.g., gene sequences in bio, the sky object in astro, and the spatial object in geo (such as points, lines, and polygons in the vector model, and pixels in the raster model). Nevertheless the goals are similar: transparent data re-use across subdisciplines and within education settings, information and data integration and fusion, personalization of user interactions with the data collection, semantic search and retrieval, and knowledge discovery. The implementation of an X-informatics framework enables these semantic e-science research goals. We describe the concepts, challenges, and new developments associated with the new discipline of astroinformatics, and how geoinformatics provides valuable lessons learned and a model for practical semantic science within a traditional science discipline through the accretion of data science methodologies (such as formal metadata creation, data models, data mining, information retrieval, knowledge engineering, provenance, taxonomies, and ontologies). The emerging concept of data-as-a-service (DaaS) builds upon the concept of smart data (or data DNA) for intelligent data management, automated workflows, and intelligent processing. Smart data, defined through X-informatics, enables several practical semantic science use cases, including self-discovery, data intelligence, automatic recommendations, relevance analysis, dimension reduction, feature selection, constraint-based mining, interdisciplinary data re-use, knowledge-sharing, data use in education, and more. We describe these concepts within the

  20. Initiating informatics and GIS support for a field investigation of Bioterrorism: The New Jersey anthrax experience

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Skinner Ric

    2003-11-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background The investigation of potential exposure to anthrax spores in a Trenton, New Jersey, mail-processing facility required rapid assessment of informatics needs and adaptation of existing informatics tools to new physical and information-processing environments. Because the affected building and its computers were closed down, data to list potentially exposed persons and map building floor plans were unavailable from the primary source. Results Controlling the effects of anthrax contamination required identification and follow-up of potentially exposed persons. Risk of exposure had to be estimated from the geographic relationship between work history and environmental sample sites within the contaminated facility. To assist in establishing geographic relationships, floor plan maps of the postal facility were constructed in ArcView Geographic Information System (GIS software and linked to a database of personnel and visitors using Epi Info and Epi Map 2000. A repository for maintaining the latest versions of various documents was set up using Web page hyperlinks. Conclusions During public health emergencies, such as bioterrorist attacks and disease epidemics, computerized information systems for data management, analysis, and communication may be needed within hours of beginning the investigation. Available sources of data and output requirements of the system may be changed frequently during the course of the investigation. Integrating data from a variety of sources may require entering or importing data from a variety of digital and paper formats. Spatial representation of data is particularly valuable for assessing environmental exposure. Written documents, guidelines, and memos important to the epidemic were frequently revised. In this investigation, a database was operational on the second day and the GIS component during the second week of the investigation.

  1. Interdisciplinary innovations in biomedical and health informatics graduate education.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Demiris, G

    2007-01-01

    Biomedical and health informatics (BHI) is a rapidly growing domain that relies on the active collaboration with diverse disciplines and professions. Educational initiatives in BHI need to prepare students with skills and competencies that will allow them to function within and even facilitate interdisciplinary teams (IDT). This paper describes an interdisciplinary educational approach introduced into a BHI graduate curriculum that aims to prepare informatics researchers to lead IDT research. A case study of the "gerontechnology" research track is presented which highlights how the curriculum fosters collaboration with and understanding of the disciplines of Nursing, Engineering, Computer Science, and Health Administration. Gerontechnology is a new interdisciplinary field that focuses on the use of technology to support aging. Its aim is to explore innovative ways to use information technology and develop systems that support independency and increase quality of life for senior citizens. As a result of a large research group that explores "smart home" technologies and the use of information technology, we integrated this new domain into the curriculum providing a platform for computer scientists, engineers, nurses and physicians to explore challenges and opportunities with our informatics students and faculty. The interdisciplinary educational model provides an opportunity for health informatics students to acquire the skills for communication and collaboration with other disciplines. Numerous graduate and postgraduate students have already participated in this initiative. The evaluation model of this approach is presented. Interdisciplinary educational models are required for health informatics graduate education. Such models need to be innovative and reflect the needs and trends in the domains of health care and information technology.

  2. Nursing informatics and nursing ethics: addressing their disconnect through an enhanced TIGER-vision.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kaltoft, Mette Kjer

    2013-01-01

    All healthcare visions, including that of The TIGER (Technology-Informatics-Guiding-Educational-Reform) Initiative envisage a crucial role for nursing. However, its 7 descriptive pillars do not address the disconnect between Nursing Informatics and Nursing Ethics and their distinct communities in the clinical-disciplinary landscape. Each sees itself as providing decision support by way of information inputs and ethical insights, respectively. Both have reasons - ideological, professional, institutional - for their task construction, but this simultaneously disables each from engaging fully in the point-of-(care)-decision. Increased pressure for translating 'evidence-based' research findings into 'ethically-sound', 'value-based' and 'patient-centered' practice requires rethinking the model implicit in conventional knowledge translation and informatics practice in all disciplines, including nursing. The aim is to aid 'how nurses and other health care scientists more clearly identify clinical and other relevant data that can be captured to inform future comparative effectiveness research. 'A prescriptive, theory-based discipline of '(Nursing) Decisionics' expands the Grid for Volunteer Development of TIGER's newly launched virtual learning environment (VLE). This provides an enhanced TIGER-vision for educational reform to deliver ethically coherent, person-centered care transparently.

  3. Extending E-Book with Contextual Knowledge Recommender for Reading Support on a Web-Based Learning System

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Gwo-Dong; Wei, Fu-Hsiang; Wang, Chin-Yeh; Lee, Jih-Hsien

    2007-01-01

    Reading content of the Web is increasingly popular. When students read the same material, each student has a unique comprehension of the text and requires individual support from appropriate references. Most references in typical web learning systems are unorganized. Students are often required to disrupt their reading to locate references. This…

  4. Web 2.0 systems supporting childhood chronic disease management: design guidelines based on information behaviour and social learning theories.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ekberg, Joakim; Ericson, Leni; Timpka, Toomas; Eriksson, Henrik; Nordfeldt, Sam; Hanberger, Lena; Ludvigsson, Johnny

    2010-04-01

    Self-directed learning denotes that the individual is in command of what should be learned and why it is important. In this study, guidelines for the design of Web 2.0 systems for supporting diabetic adolescents' every day learning needs are examined in light of theories about information behaviour and social learning. A Web 2.0 system was developed to support a community of practice and social learning structures were created to support building of relations between members on several levels in the community. The features of the system included access to participation in the culture of diabetes management practice, entry to information about the community and about what needs to be learned to be a full practitioner or respected member in the community, and free sharing of information, narratives and experience-based knowledge. After integration with the key elements derived from theories of information behaviour, a preliminary design guideline document was formulated.

  5. An Integrated Web-Based 3d Modeling and Visualization Platform to Support Sustainable Cities

    Science.gov (United States)

    Amirebrahimi, S.; Rajabifard, A.

    2012-07-01

    Sustainable Development is found as the key solution to preserve the sustainability of cities in oppose to ongoing population growth and its negative impacts. This is complex and requires a holistic and multidisciplinary decision making. Variety of stakeholders with different backgrounds also needs to be considered and involved. Numerous web-based modeling and visualization tools have been designed and developed to support this process. There have been some success stories; however, majority failed to bring a comprehensive platform to support different aspects of sustainable development. In this work, in the context of SDI and Land Administration, CSDILA Platform - a 3D visualization and modeling platform -was proposed which can be used to model and visualize different dimensions to facilitate the achievement of sustainability, in particular, in urban context. The methodology involved the design of a generic framework for development of an analytical and visualization tool over the web. CSDILA Platform was then implemented via number of technologies based on the guidelines provided by the framework. The platform has a modular structure and uses Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA). It is capable of managing spatial objects in a 4D data store and can flexibly incorporate a variety of developed models using the platform's API. Development scenarios can be modeled and tested using the analysis and modeling component in the platform and the results are visualized in seamless 3D environment. The platform was further tested using number of scenarios and showed promising results and potentials to serve a wider need. In this paper, the design process of the generic framework, the implementation of CSDILA Platform and technologies used, and also findings and future research directions will be presented and discussed.

  6. Feasibility and Acceptability of a Web-Based Treatment with Telephone Support for Postpartum Women With Anxiety: Randomized Controlled Trial.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ashford, Miriam T; Olander, Ellinor K; Rowe, Heather; Fisher, Jane Rw; Ayers, Susan

    2018-04-20

    Postpartum anxiety can have adverse effects on the mother and child if left untreated. Time constraints and stigma are common barriers to postpartum treatment. Web-based treatments offer potential flexibility and anonymity. What Am I Worried About (WaWa) is a self-guided treatment based on cognitive-behavioral and mindfulness principles for women experiencing postpartum anxiety. WaWa was developed in Australia and consists of 9 modules with optional weekly telephone support. WaWa was adapted to a Web-based version for use in England (Internet-based What Am I Worried About, iWaWa). This study aimed to investigate the feasibility (engagement and usability) and acceptability (usefulness, satisfaction, and helpfulness) of iWaWa among English postpartum women with anxiety. Postpartum (parenting styles. Despite interest in iWaWa, the results suggest that both the study and iWaWa were not feasible in the current format. However, this first trial provides useful evidence about treatment format and content preferences that can inform iWaWa's future development, as well as research and development of Web-based postpartum anxiety treatments, in general, to optimize adherence. ClinicalTrials.gov NCT02434406; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02434406 (Archived by WebCite at http://www.webcitation.org/6xTq7Bwmd). ©Miriam T Ashford, Ellinor K Olander, Heather Rowe, Jane RW Fisher, Susan Ayers. Originally published in JMIR Mental Health (http://mental.jmir.org), 20.04.2018.

  7. Finding Web-Based Anxiety Interventions on the World Wide Web: A Scoping Review.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ashford, Miriam Thiel; Olander, Ellinor K; Ayers, Susan

    2016-06-01

    fee. Half of the programs offered some form of paid therapist or professional support. Programs varied in treatment length and number of modules and employed a variety of presentation modes. Relatively few programs had published research evidence of the intervention's efficacy. This review represents a snapshot of available Web-based intervention programs for anxiety that could be found by consumers in March 2015. The consumer is confronted with a diversity of programs, which makes it difficult to identify an appropriate program. Limited reports and existence of empirical evidence for efficacy make it even more challenging to identify credible and reliable programs. This highlights the need for consistent guidelines and standards on developing, providing, and evaluating Web-based interventions and platforms with reliable up-to-date information for professionals and consumers about the characteristics, quality, and accessibility of Web-based interventions.

  8. Translational informatics: an industry perspective.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cantor, Michael N

    2012-01-01

    Translational informatics (TI) is extremely important for the pharmaceutical industry, especially as the bar for regulatory approval of new medications is set higher and higher. This paper will explore three specific areas in the drug development lifecycle, from tools developed by precompetitive consortia to standardized clinical data collection to the effective delivery of medications using clinical decision support, in which TI has a major role to play. Advancing TI will require investment in new tools and algorithms, as well as ensuring that translational issues are addressed early in the design process of informatics projects, and also given higher weight in funding or publication decisions. Ultimately, the source of translational tools and differences between academia and industry are secondary, as long as they move towards the shared goal of improving health.

  9. Development and challenges of using web-based GIS for health applications

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Gao, Sheng; Mioc, Darka; Boley, Harold

    2011-01-01

    Web-based GIS is increasingly used in health applications. It has the potential to provide critical information in a timely manner, support health care policy development, and educate decision makers and the general public. This paper describes the trends and recent development of health...... applications using a Web-based GIS. Recent progress on the database storage and geospatial Web Services has advanced the use of Web-based GIS for health applications, with various proprietary software, open source software, and Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) available. Current challenges in applying...... care planning, and public health participation....

  10. Self Reflections of Undergraduate Students on Using Web-Supported Counterintuitive Science Demonstrations

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kumar, David Devraj; Dunn, Jessica

    2018-03-01

    Analysis of self-reflections of undergraduate education students in a project involving web-supported counterintuitive science demonstrations is reported in this paper. Participating students (N = 19) taught science with counterintuitive demonstrations in local elementary school classrooms and used web-based resources accessed via wireless USB adapters. Student reflections to seven questions were analyzed qualitatively using four components of reflection (meeting objectives/perception of learning, dynamics of pedagogy, special needs accommodations, improving teaching) deriving 27 initial data categories and 12 emergent themes. Overall the undergraduates reported meeting objectives, engaging students in pedagogically relevant learning tasks including, providing accommodations to students with special needs, and gaining practice and insight to improve their own teaching. Additional research is needed to arrive at generalizable findings concerning teaching with web-supported counterintuitive science demonstrations in elementary classrooms.

  11. The Recurrence Relations in Teaching Students of Informatics

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bakoev, Valentin P.

    2010-01-01

    The topic "Recurrence relations" and its place in teaching students of Informatics is discussed in this paper. We represent many arguments about the importance, the necessity and the benefit of studying this subject by Informatics students. They are based on investigation of some fundamental books and textbooks on Discrete Mathematics,…

  12. Public health informatics in India: the potential and the challenges.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Athavale, A V; Zodpey, Sanjay P

    2010-01-01

    Public health informatics is emerging as a new and distinct specialty area in the global scenario within the broader discipline of health informatics. The potential role of informatics in reducing health disparities in underserved populations has been identified by a number of reports from all over the world. The article discusses the scope, the limitations, and future perspective of this novice discipline in context to India. It also highlights information and technology related tools namely Geographical Information Systems, Telemedicine and Electronic Medical Record/Electronic Health Record. India needs to leverage its "technology" oriented growth until now (e.g., few satellite-based telemedicine projects, etc.) simultaneously toward development of "information"-based public health informatics systems in future. Under the rapidly evolving scenario of global public health, the future of the public health governance and population health in India would depend upon building and integrating the comprehensive and responsive domain of public health informatics.

  13. WebPresent: a World Wide Web-based telepresentation tool for physicians

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sampath-Kumar, Srihari; Banerjea, Anindo; Moshfeghi, Mehran

    1997-05-01

    In this paper, we present the design architecture and the implementation status of WebPresent - a world wide web based tele-presentation tool. This tool allows a physician to use a conference server workstation and make a presentation of patient cases to a geographically distributed audience. The audience consists of other physicians collaborating on patients' health care management and physicians participating in continuing medical education. These physicians are at several locations with networks of different bandwidth and capabilities connecting them. Audiences also receive the patient case information on different computers ranging form high-end display workstations to laptops with low-resolution displays. WebPresent is a scalable networked multimedia tool which supports the presentation of hypertext, images, audio, video, and a white-board to remote physicians with hospital Intranet access. WebPresent allows the audience to receive customized information. The data received can differ in resolution and bandwidth, depending on the availability of resources such as display resolution and network bandwidth.

  14. Semantic-Web Architecture for Electronic Discharge Summary Based on OWL 2.0 Standard.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tahmasebian, Shahram; Langarizadeh, Mostafa; Ghazisaeidi, Marjan; Safdari, Reza

    2016-06-01

    Patients' electronic medical record contains all information related to treatment processes during hospitalization. One of the most important documents in this record is the record summary. In this document, summary of the whole treatment process is presented which is used for subsequent treatments and other issues pertaining to the treatment. Using suitable architecture for this document, apart from the aforementioned points we can use it in other fields such as data mining or decision making based on the cases. In this study, at first, a model for patient's medical record summary has been suggested using semantic web-based architecture. Then, based on service-oriented architecture and using Java programming language, a software solution was designed and run in a way to generate medical record summary with this structure and at the end, new uses of this structure was explained. in this study a structure for medical record summaries along with corrective points within semantic web has been offered and a software running within Java along with special ontologies are provided. After discussing the project with the experts of medical/health data management and medical informatics as well as clinical experts, it became clear that suggested design for medical record summary apart from covering many issues currently faced in the medical records has also many advantages including its uses in research projects, decision making based on the cases etc.

  15. Teaching Children's Rights and Climate Change with the Support of Act for Climate Web-Based Learning Environment

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gkotzos, Dimitrios

    2017-01-01

    This article presents an effort to integrate the issues of climate change and children's rights into the Greek primary school curriculum through the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs). The curriculum Act for Climate was developed through the lens of children's rights and with the support of a web-based learning environment…

  16. Web-Based Media Contents Editor for UCC Websites

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kim, Seoksoo

    The purpose of this research is to "design web-based media contents editor for establishing UCC(User Created Contents)-based websites." The web-based editor features user-oriented interfaces and increased convenience, significantly different from previous off-line editors. It allows users to edit media contents online and can be effectively used for online promotion activities of enterprises and organizations. In addition to development of the editor, the research aims to support the entry of enterprises and public agencies to the online market by combining the technology with various UCC items.

  17. USING PCU-CAMEL, A WEB-BASED LEARNING ENVIRONMENT, IN EVALUATING TEACHING-LEARNING PROCESS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Arlinah Imam Rahardjo

    2008-01-01

    Full Text Available PCU-CAMEL (Petra Christian University-Computer Aided Mechanical Engineering Department Learning Environment has been developed to integrate the use of this web-based learning environment into the traditional, face-to-face setting of class activities. This integrated learning method is designed as an effort to enrich and improve the teaching-learning process at Petra Christian University. A study was conducted to introduce the use of PCU-CAMEL as a tool in evaluating teaching learning process. The study on this method of evaluation was conducted by using a case analysis on the integration of PCU-CAMEL to the traditional face-to-face meetings of LIS (Library Information System class at the Informatics Engineering Department of Petra Christian University. Students’ responses documented in some features of PCU-CAMEL were measured and analyzed to evaluate the effectiveness of this integrated system in developing intrinsic motivation of the LIS students of the first and second semester of 2004/2005 to learn. It is believed that intrinsic motivation can drive students to learn more. From the study conducted, it is concluded that besides its capability in developing intrinsic motivation, PCU-CAMEL as a web-based learning environment, can also serve as an effective tool for both students and instructors to evaluate the teaching-learning process. However, some weaknesses did exist in using this method of evaluating teaching-learning process. The free style and unstructured form of the documentation features of this web-based learning environment can lead to ineffective evaluation results

  18. Providing web-based mental health services to at-risk women

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kenny Meghan

    2011-08-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background We examined the feasibility of providing web-based mental health services, including synchronous internet video conferencing of an evidence-based support/education group, to at-risk women, specifically poor lone mothers. The objectives of this study were to: (i adapt a face-to-face support/education group intervention to a web-based format for lone mothers, and (ii evaluate lone mothers' response to web-based services, including an online video conferencing group intervention program. Methods Participating mothers were recruited through advertisements. To adapt the face-to-face intervention to a web-based format, we evaluated participant motivation through focus group/key informant interviews (n = 7, adapted the intervention training manual for a web-based environment and provided a computer training manual. To evaluate response to web-based services, we provided the intervention to two groups of lone mothers (n = 15. Pre-post quantitative evaluation of mood, self-esteem, social support and parenting was done. Post intervention follow up interviews explored responses to the group and to using technology to access a health service. Participants received $20 per occasion of data collection. Interviews were taped, transcribed and content analysis was used to code and interpret the data. Adherence to the intervention protocol was evaluated. Results Mothers participating in this project experienced multiple difficulties, including financial and mood problems. We adapted the intervention training manual for use in a web-based group environment and ensured adherence to the intervention protocol based on viewing videoconferencing group sessions and discussion with the leaders. Participant responses to the group intervention included decreased isolation, and increased knowledge and confidence in themselves and their parenting; the responses closely matched those of mothers who obtained same service in face-to-face groups. Pre-and post

  19. A Model for Clinical Informatics Education for Residents: Addressing an Unmet Need.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mai, Mark V; Luo, Brooke T; Orenstein, Evan W; Luberti, Anthony A

    2018-04-01

    Opportunities for education in clinical informatics exist throughout the spectrum of formal education extending from high school to postgraduate training. However, physicians in residency represent an underdeveloped source of potential informaticians. Despite the rapid growth of accredited fellowship programs since clinical informatics became a board-eligible subspecialty in 2011, few resident physicians are aware of their role at the intersection of clinical medicine and health information technology or associated opportunities. In an effort to educate and engage residents in clinical informatics, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia has developed a three-pronged model: (1) an elective rotation with hands-on project experience; (2) a longitudinal experience that offers increased exposure and mentorship; and (3) a resident founded and led working group in clinical informatics. We describe resident participation in these initiatives and lessons learned, as well as resident perceptions of how these components have positively influenced informatics knowledge and career choices. Since inception of this model, five residents have pursued the clinical informatics fellowship. This educational model supports resident involvement in hospital-wide informatics efforts with tangible projects and promotes wider engagement through educational opportunities commensurate with the resident's level of interest. Schattauer GmbH Stuttgart.

  20. Web-based interventions in nursing.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Im, Eun-Ok; Chang, Sun Ju

    2013-02-01

    With recent advances in computer and Internet technologies and high funding priority on technological aspects of nursing research, researchers at the field level began to develop, use, and test various types of Web-based interventions. Despite high potential impacts of Web-based interventions, little is still known about Web-based interventions in nursing. In this article, to identify strengths and weaknesses of Web-based nursing interventions, a literature review was conducted using multiple databases with combined keywords of "online," "Internet" or "Web," "intervention," and "nursing." A total of 95 articles were retrieved through the databases and sorted by research topics. These articles were then analyzed to identify strengths and weaknesses of Web-based interventions in nursing. A strength of the Web-based interventions was their coverage of various content areas. In addition, many of them were theory-driven. They had advantages in their flexibility and comfort. They could provide consistency in interventions and require less cost in the intervention implementation. However, Web-based intervention studies had selected participants. They lacked controllability and had high dropouts. They required technical expertise and high development costs. Based on these findings, directions for future Web-based intervention research were provided.

  1. Design of a Community-Engaged Health Informatics Platform with an Architecture of Participation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Millery, Mari; Ramos, Wilson; Lien, Chueh; Aguirre, Alejandra N; Kukafka, Rita

    2015-01-01

    Community-engaged health informatics (CEHI) applies information technology and participatory approaches to improve the health of communities. Our objective was to translate the concept of CEHI into a usable and replicable informatics platform that will facilitate community-engaged practice and research. The setting is a diverse urban neighborhood in New York City. The methods included community asset mapping, stakeholder interviews, logic modeling, analysis of affordances in open-source tools, elicitation of use cases and requirements, and a survey of early adopters. Based on synthesis of data collected, GetHealthyHeigths.org (GHH) was developed using open-source LAMP stack and Drupal content management software. Drupal's organic groups module was used for novel participatory functionality, along with detailed user roles and permissions. Future work includes evaluation of GHH and its impact on agency and service networks. We plan to expand GHH with additional functionality to further support CEHI by combining informatics solutions with community engagement to improve health.

  2. Nip, tuck and click: medical tourism and the emergence of web-based health information.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lunt, Neil; Hardey, Mariann; Mannion, Russell

    2010-02-12

    An emerging trend is what has become commonly known as 'Medical Tourism' where patients travel to overseas destinations for specialised surgical treatments and other forms of medical care. With the rise of more affordable cross-border travel and rapid technological developments these movements are becoming more commonplace. A key driver is the platform provided by the internet for gaining access to healthcare information and advertising. There has been relatively little attention given to the role and impact of web-based information to inform Medical Tourism decisions.This article provides a brief overview of the most recent development in Medical Tourism and examines how this is linked to the emergence of specialized internet web sites. It produces a summary of the functionality of medical tourist sites, and situates Medical Tourism informatics within the broader literatures relating to information search, information quality and decision-making.This paper is both a call to strengthen the empirical evidence in this area, and also to advocate integrating Medical Tourism research within a broader conceptual framework.

  3. Nip, Tuck and Click: Medical Tourism and the Emergence of Web-Based Health Information

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lunt, Neil; Hardey, Mariann; Mannion, Russell

    2010-01-01

    An emerging trend is what has become commonly known as ‘Medical Tourism’ where patients travel to overseas destinations for specialised surgical treatments and other forms of medical care. With the rise of more affordable cross-border travel and rapid technological developments these movements are becoming more commonplace. A key driver is the platform provided by the internet for gaining access to healthcare information and advertising. There has been relatively little attention given to the role and impact of web-based information to inform Medical Tourism decisions. This article provides a brief overview of the most recent development in Medical Tourism and examines how this is linked to the emergence of specialized internet web sites. It produces a summary of the functionality of medical tourist sites, and situates Medical Tourism informatics within the broader literatures relating to information search, information quality and decision-making. This paper is both a call to strengthen the empirical evidence in this area, and also to advocate integrating Medical Tourism research within a broader conceptual framework. PMID:20517465

  4. An Organizational Informatics Analysis of Colorectal, Breast, and Cervical Cancer Screening Clinical Decision Support and Information Systems within Community Health Centers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Carney, Timothy Jay

    2012-01-01

    A study design has been developed that employs a dual modeling approach to identify factors associated with facility-level cancer screening improvement and how this is mediated by the use of clinical decision support. This dual modeling approach combines principles of (1) Health Informatics, (2) Cancer Prevention and Control, (3) Health Services…

  5. Social care informatics as an essential part of holistic health care: a call for action.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rigby, Michael; Hill, Penny; Koch, Sabine; Keeling, Debbie

    2011-08-01

    The authors identified the need for a cross-disciplinary research view of issues to ensure an integrated citizen-centric support to achieve optimal health of individual citizens and, in particular, the role of informatics to inform and coordinate support towards integrated and holistic care. An Exploratory Workshop was approved and sponsored by the European Science Foundation. Twenty-three participants from 15 countries attended, covering a full range of health, social care and informatics professions and disciplines. The participants found strong common ground in identifying key issues to be addressed if citizens with compromised health are to receive integrated and coordinated support to a common set of objectives, while also ensuring appropriate choice and support for citizen, family and other informal carers. At the same time, optimal health was identified as a fundamental human right, and that achieving this is a necessary priority of a caring society. Moreover, Europe has a commitment to researching and developing health informatics (e-health), though not yet giving a priority to this integration of health and social care. Specifically the following main informatics challenges to be addressed were identified: (1) to identify available information and communication needs related to different scenarios of use in the intersection between health and social care, (2) to develop and map shared ontologies, and standards for integration and/or brokerage, (3) to enable planned information access and sharing, shaping a system of trust where the patient is an active partner and policies are established considering all partners/interests, (4) to investigate the use of automatic/intelligent knowledge based and context-relevant services, and (5) empowering the citizen (or their selected agent) as co-producer through modern informatics tools, while carefully avoiding selective disempowerment of the most vulnerable. The Exploratory Workshop resulted in a unanimous

  6. Recommendations of the International Medical Informatics Association (IMIA) on Education in Health and Medical Informatics

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Arokiasamy, J.; Ball, M.; Barnett, D.; Bearman, M.; Bemmel van, J.; Douglas, J.; Fisher, P.; Garrie, R.; Gatewood, L.; Goossen, W.; Grant, A.; Hales, J.; Hasman, A.; Haux, R.; Hovenga, E.; Johns, M.; Knaup, P.; Leven, F. J.; Lorenzi, N.; Murray, P.; Neame, R.; Protti, D.; Power, M.; Richard, J.; Schuster, E.; Swinkels, W.; Yang, J.; Zelmer, L.; Zvárová, Jana

    2001-01-01

    Roč. 40, č. 5 (2001), s. 267-277 ISSN 0026-1270 Institutional research plan: AV0Z1030915 Keywords : health informatics * medical informatics * education * recommendations * International Medical Informatics Association * IMIA Subject RIV: BB - Applied Statistics, Operational Research Impact factor: 1.254, year: 2001

  7. 10th International Conference on Health Informatics

    CERN Document Server

    2017-01-01

    The purpose of the International Conference on Health Informatics is to bring together researchers and practitioners interested in the application of information and communication technologies (ICT) to healthcare and medicine in general and to the support of persons with special needs in particular.

  8. Middle East and North African Health Informatics Association (MENAHIA): Building Sustainable Collaboration.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Al-Shorbaji, Najeeb; Househ, Mowafa; Taweel, Adel; Alanizi, Abdullah; Mohammed, Bennani Othmani; Abaza, Haitham; Bawadi, Hala; Rasuly, Hamayon; Alyafei, Khalid; Fernandez-Luque, Luis; Shouman, Mohamed; El-Hassan, Osama; Hussein, Rada; Alshammari, Riyad; Mandil, Salah; Shouman, Sarah; Taheri, Shahrad; Emara, Tamer; Dalhem, Wasmiya; Al-Hamdan, Zaid; Serhier, Zineb

    2018-04-22

    There has been a growing interest in Health Informatics applications, research, and education within the Middle East and North African Region over the past twenty years. People of this region share similar cultural and religious values, primarily speak the Arabic language, and have similar health care related issues, which are in dire need of being addressed. Health Informatics efforts, organizations, and initiatives within the region have been largely under-represented within, but not ignored by, the International Medical Informatics Association (IMIA). Attempts to create bonds and collaboration between the different organizations of the region have remained scattered, and often, resulted in failure despite the fact that the need for a united health informatics collaborative within the region has never been more crucial than today. During the 2017 MEDINFO, held in Hangzhou, China, a new organization, the Middle East and North African Health Informatics Association (MENAHIA) was conceived as a regional non-governmental organization to promote and facilitate health informatics uptake within the region endorsing health informatics research and educational initiatives of the 22 countries represented within the region. This paper provides an overview of the collaboration and efforts to date in forming MENAHIA and displays the variety of initiatives that are already occurring within the MENAHIA region, which MENAHIA will help, endorse, support, share, and improve within the international forum of health informatics. Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart.

  9. Informatics for Metabolomics.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kusonmano, Kanthida; Vongsangnak, Wanwipa; Chumnanpuen, Pramote

    2016-01-01

    Metabolome profiling of biological systems has the powerful ability to provide the biological understanding of their metabolic functional states responding to the environmental factors or other perturbations. Tons of accumulative metabolomics data have thus been established since pre-metabolomics era. This is directly influenced by the high-throughput analytical techniques, especially mass spectrometry (MS)- and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR)-based techniques. Continuously, the significant numbers of informatics techniques for data processing, statistical analysis, and data mining have been developed. The following tools and databases are advanced for the metabolomics society which provide the useful metabolomics information, e.g., the chemical structures, mass spectrum patterns for peak identification, metabolite profiles, biological functions, dynamic metabolite changes, and biochemical transformations of thousands of small molecules. In this chapter, we aim to introduce overall metabolomics studies from pre- to post-metabolomics era and their impact on society. Directing on post-metabolomics era, we provide a conceptual framework of informatics techniques for metabolomics and show useful examples of techniques, tools, and databases for metabolomics data analysis starting from preprocessing toward functional interpretation. Throughout the framework of informatics techniques for metabolomics provided, it can be further used as a scaffold for translational biomedical research which can thus lead to reveal new metabolite biomarkers, potential metabolic targets, or key metabolic pathways for future disease therapy.

  10. Students' Satisfaction and Perceived Learning with a Web-based Course

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Derek Holton

    2003-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper describes a study, which explored students' responses and reactions to a Web-based tertiary statistics course supporting problem-based learning. The study was undertaken among postgraduate students in a Malaysian university. The findings revealed that the majority of the students were satisfied with their learning experience and achieved comparable learning outcomes to students in the face-to-face version of the course. Students appreciated the flexibility of anytime, anywhere learning. The majority of the students was motivated to learn and had adequate technical support to complete the course. Improvement in computer skills was an incidental learning outcome from the course. The student-student and student-teacher communication was satisfactory but a few students felt isolated learning in the Web environment. These students expressed a need for some face-to-face lectures. While the majority of the students saw value in learning in a problem-based setting, around a third of the students expressed no opinion on, or were dissatisfied with, the problem-based environment. They were satisfied with the group facilitators and learning materials but were unhappy with the group dynamics. Some of the students felt unable to contribute to or learn from the asynchronous Web-based conferences using problem-based approach. Some of the students were not punctual and were not prepared to take part in the Web-based conferences. The findings have suggested a need to explicitly design an organising strategy in the asynchronous Web-based conferences using problem-based approach to aid students in completing the problem-based learning process.

  11. Social media and patient health outcomes. Findings from the yearbook 2014 section on consumer health informatics.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Staccini, P; Douali, N

    2014-08-15

    To provide a review of the current excellent research published in the field of Consumer Health Informatics. We searched MEDLINE® and WEB OF SCIENCE® databases for papers published in 2013 in relation with Consumer Health Informatics. The authors identified 16 candidate best papers, which were then reviewed by four reviewers. Five out of the 16 candidate papers were selected as best papers. One paper presents the key features of a system to automate the collection of web-based social media content for subsequent semantic annotation. This paper emphasizes the importance of mining social media to collect novel data from which new findings in drug abuse research were uncovered. The second paper presents a practical method to predict how a community structure would impact the spreading of information within the community. The third paper presents a method for improving the quality of online health communities. The fourth presents a new social network to allow the monitoring of the evolution of individuals' health status and diagnostic deficiencies, difficulties or barriers in rehabilitation. The last paper reports on teenage patients' perception on privacy and social media. Selected papers not only show the value of using social media in the medical field but how to use these media to detect emergent diseases or risks, inform patients, promote disease prevention, and follow patients' opinion on healthcare resources.

  12. Web Design for Space Operations: An Overview of the Challenges and New Technologies Used in Developing and Operating Web-Based Applications in Real-Time Operational Support Onboard the International Space Station, in Astronaut Mission Planning and Mission Control Operations

    Science.gov (United States)

    Khan, Ahmed

    2010-01-01

    The International Space Station (ISS) Operations Planning Team, Mission Control Centre and Mission Automation Support Network (MAS) have all evolved over the years to use commercial web-based technologies to create a configurable electronic infrastructure to manage the complex network of real-time planning, crew scheduling, resource and activity management as well as onboard document and procedure management required to co-ordinate ISS assembly, daily operations and mission support. While these Web technologies are classified as non-critical in nature, their use is part of an essential backbone of daily operations on the ISS and allows the crew to operate the ISS as a functioning science laboratory. The rapid evolution of the internet from 1998 (when ISS assembly began) to today, along with the nature of continuous manned operations in space, have presented a unique challenge in terms of software engineering and system development. In addition, the use of a wide array of competing internet technologies (including commercial technologies such as .NET and JAVA ) and the special requirements of having to support this network, both nationally among various control centres for International Partners (IPs), as well as onboard the station itself, have created special challenges for the MCC Web Tools Development Team, software engineers and flight controllers, who implement and maintain this system. This paper presents an overview of some of these operational challenges, and the evolving nature of the solutions and the future use of COTS based rich internet technologies in manned space flight operations. In particular this paper will focus on the use of Microsoft.s .NET API to develop Web-Based Operational tools, the use of XML based service oriented architectures (SOA) that needed to be customized to support Mission operations, the maintenance of a Microsoft IIS web server onboard the ISS, The OpsLan, functional-oriented Web Design with AJAX

  13. It's Just (Academic) Business: A Use Case in Improving Informatics Operations with Business Intelligence.

    Science.gov (United States)

    McIntosh, Leslie D; Zabarovskaya, Connie; Uhlmansiek, Mary

    2015-01-01

    Academic biomedical informatics cores are beholden to funding agencies, institutional administration, collaborating researchers, and external agencies for ongoing funding and support. Services provided and translational research outcomes are increasingly important to monitor, report and analyze, to demonstrate value provided to the organization and the greater scientific community. Thus, informatics operations are also business operations. As such, adopting business intelligence practices offers an opportunity to improve the efficiency of evaluation efforts while fulfilling reporting requirements. Organizing informatics development documentation, service requests, and work performed with adaptable tools have greatly facilitated these and related business activities within our informatics center. Through the identification and measurement of key performance indicators, informatics objectives and results are now quickly and nimbly assessed using dashboards. Acceptance of the informatics operation as a business venture and the adoption of business intelligence strategies has allowed for data-driven decision making, faster corrective action, and greater transparency for interested stakeholders.

  14. Web TA Production (WebTA)

    Data.gov (United States)

    US Agency for International Development — WebTA is a web-based time and attendance system that supports USAID payroll administration functions, and is designed to capture hours worked, leave used and...

  15. 3D Web-based HMI with WebGL Rendering Performance

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Muennoi Atitayaporn

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available An HMI, or Human-Machine Interface, is a software allowing users to communicate with a machine or automation system. It usually serves as a display section in SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition system for device monitoring and control. In this papper, a 3D Web-based HMI with WebGL (Web-based Graphics Library rendering performance is presented. The main purpose of this work is to attempt to reduce the limitations of traditional 3D web HMI using the advantage of WebGL. To evaluate the performance, frame rate and frame time metrics were used. The results showed 3D Web-based HMI can maintain the frame rate 60FPS for #cube=0.5K/0.8K, 30FPS for #cube=1.1K/1.6K when it was run on Internet Explorer and Chrome respectively. Moreover, the study found that 3D Web-based HMI using WebGL contains similar frame time in each frame even though the numbers of cubes are up to 5K. This indicated stuttering incurred less in the proposed 3D Web-based HMI compared to the chosen commercial HMI product.

  16. A humanist's legacy in medical informatics: visions and accomplishments of Professor Jean-Raoul Scherrer.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Geissbühler, A; Lovis, C; Spahni, S; Appel, R D; Ratib, O; Boyer, C; Hochstrasser, D F; Baud, R

    2002-01-01

    To report about the work of Prof. Jean-Raoul Scherrer, and show how his humanist vision, his medical skills and his scientific background have enabled and shaped the development of medical informatics over the last 30 years. Starting with the mainframe-based patient-centered hospital information system DIOGENE in the 70s, Prof. Scherrer developed, implemented and evolved innovative concepts of man-machine interfaces, distributed and federated environments, leading the way with information systems that obstinately focused on the support of care providers and patients. Through a rigorous design of terminologies and ontologies, the DIOGENE data would then serve as a basis for the development of clinical research, data mining, and lead to innovative natural language processing techniques. In parallel, Prof. Scherrer supported the development of medical image management, ranging from a distributed picture archiving and communication systems (PACS) to molecular imaging of protein electrophoreses. Recognizing the need for improving the quality and trustworthiness of medical information on the Web, Prof. Scherrer created the Health-On-the-Net (HON) foundation. These achievements, made possible thanks to his visionary mind, deep humanism, creativity, generosity and determination, have made of Prof. Scherrer a true pioneer and leader of the human-centered, patient-oriented application of information technology for improving healthcare.

  17. Web components and the semantic web

    OpenAIRE

    Casey, Maire; Pahl, Claus

    2003-01-01

    Component-based software engineering on the Web differs from traditional component and software engineering. We investigate Web component engineering activites that are crucial for the development,com position, and deployment of components on the Web. The current Web Services and Semantic Web initiatives strongly influence our work. Focussing on Web component composition we develop description and reasoning techniques that support a component developer in the composition activities,fo cussing...

  18. TU-F-BRD-01: Biomedical Informatics for Medical Physicists

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Phillips, M; Kalet, I; McNutt, T; Smith, W

    2014-01-01

    Biomedical informatics encompasses a very large domain of knowledge and applications. This broad and loosely defined field can make it difficult to navigate. Physicists often are called upon to provide informatics services and/or to take part in projects involving principles of the field. The purpose of the presentations in this symposium is to help medical physicists gain some knowledge about the breadth of the field and how, in the current clinical and research environment, they can participate and contribute. Three talks have been designed to give an overview from the perspective of physicists and to provide a more in-depth discussion in two areas. One of the primary purposes, and the main subject of the first talk, is to help physicists achieve a perspective about the range of the topics and concepts that fall under the heading of 'informatics'. The approach is to de-mystify topics and jargon and to help physicists find resources in the field should they need them. The other talks explore two areas of biomedical informatics in more depth. The goal is to highlight two domains of intense current interest--databases and models--in enough depth into current approaches so that an adequate background for independent inquiry is achieved. These two areas will serve as good examples of how physicists, using informatics principles, can contribute to oncology practice and research. Learning Objectives: To understand how the principles of biomedical informatics are used by medical physicists. To put the relevant informatics concepts in perspective with regard to biomedicine in general. To use clinical database design as an example of biomedical informatics. To provide a solid background into the problems and issues of the design and use of data and databases in radiation oncology. To use modeling in the service of decision support systems as an example of modeling methods and data use. To provide a background into how uncertainty in our data and knowledge can be

  19. NURSING INFORMATICS EDUCATION AND USE: CHALLENGES ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    PROF. BARTH EKWEME

    179 .... how organizations can utilize IT to progress their strategic goal from ... Clinical informatics, Veterinary informatics, Dental informatics ... In the late 1990s, the Finnish/Nigerian research ..... International Journal of Nursing &. Midwifery, 5, (5): ...

  20. Process Mediation, Execution Monitoring and Recovery for Semantic Web Services

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Sycara, K.; Vaculín, Roman

    2008-01-01

    Roč. 31, č. 3 (2008), s. 14-18 ISSN N R&D Projects: GA ČR(CZ) GD201/05/H014; GA MŠk ME08095 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z10300504 Keywords : process mediation of semantic web services * semantic web services * OWL-S Subject RIV: IN - Informatics, Computer Science

  1. Web-Based Analysis for Decision Support Systems

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    pc

    2018-03-05

    Mar 5, 2018 ... such as web mining, social analytics, and data mining were examined. ... Additionally, the systems possess superb interaction capability which enables .... technologies has a significant impact on DSS design especially ..... Evaluating the Impact of User Characteristics and Different Layouts on an Interactive ...

  2. Medical Informatics in Clinical Practice: An Overview. | Okoromah ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Providing a high-quality service to patients involves having the right information at the ... Knowledge and practice and application of computer technology in both ... informatics and to stimulate interest in computer support in health care in our ...

  3. Web-based GIS: the vector-borne disease airline importation risk (VBD-AIR) tool.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Huang, Zhuojie; Das, Anirrudha; Qiu, Youliang; Tatem, Andrew J

    2012-08-14

    Over the past century, the size and complexity of the air travel network has increased dramatically. Nowadays, there are 29.6 million scheduled flights per year and around 2.7 billion passengers are transported annually. The rapid expansion of the network increasingly connects regions of endemic vector-borne disease with the rest of the world, resulting in challenges to health systems worldwide in terms of vector-borne pathogen importation and disease vector invasion events. Here we describe the development of a user-friendly Web-based GIS tool: the Vector-Borne Disease Airline Importation Risk Tool (VBD-AIR), to help better define the roles of airports and airlines in the transmission and spread of vector-borne diseases. Spatial datasets on modeled global disease and vector distributions, as well as climatic and air network traffic data were assembled. These were combined to derive relative risk metrics via air travel for imported infections, imported vectors and onward transmission, and incorporated into a three-tier server architecture in a Model-View-Controller framework with distributed GIS components. A user-friendly web-portal was built that enables dynamic querying of the spatial databases to provide relevant information. The VBD-AIR tool constructed enables the user to explore the interrelationships among modeled global distributions of vector-borne infectious diseases (malaria. dengue, yellow fever and chikungunya) and international air service routes to quantify seasonally changing risks of vector and vector-borne disease importation and spread by air travel, forming an evidence base to help plan mitigation strategies. The VBD-AIR tool is available at http://www.vbd-air.com. VBD-AIR supports a data flow that generates analytical results from disparate but complementary datasets into an organized cartographical presentation on a web map for the assessment of vector-borne disease movements on the air travel network. The framework built provides a flexible

  4. Crossing Borders: An Online Interdisciplinary Course in Health Informatics for Students From Two Countries.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fossum, Mariann; Fruhling, Ann; Moe, Carl Erik; Thompson, Cheryl Bagley

    2017-04-01

    A cross-countries and interprofessional novel approach for delivering an international interdisciplinary graduate health informatics course online is presented. Included in this discussion are the challenges, lessons learned, and pedagogical recommendations from the experiences of teaching the course. Four professors from three different fields and from three universities collaborated in offering an international health informatics course for an interdisciplinary group of 18 US and seven Norwegian students. Highly motivated students and professors, an online technology infrastructure that supported asynchronously communication and course delivery, the ability to adapt the curriculum to meet the pedagogy requirements at all universities, and the support of higher administration for international collaboration were enablers for success. This project demonstrated the feasibility and advantages of an interdisciplinary, interprofessional, and cross-countries approach in teaching health informatics online. Students were able to establish relationships and conduct professional conversations across disciplines and international boundaries using content management software. This graduate course can be used as a part of informatics, computer science, and/or health science programs.

  5. Using Web-Based, Group Communication Systems to Support Case Study Learning at a Distance

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Liam Rourke

    2002-10-01

    Full Text Available This study explored the capacity of Web-based, group communication systems to support case-based teaching and learning. Eleven graduate students studying at a distance were divided into three groups to collaborate on a case study using either a synchronous voice, an asynchronous voice, or a synchronous text communication system. Participants kept a detailed log of the time they spent on various activities, wrote a 1,500-word reflection on their experience, and participated in a group interview. Analysis of these data reveals that each group supplemented the system that had been assigned to them with additional communication systems in order to complete the project. Each of these systems were used strategically: email was used to share files and arrange meetings, and synchronous voice systems were used to brainstorm and make decisions. Learning achievement was high across groups and students enjoyed collaborating with others on a concrete task.

  6. Smart Web-Based Platform to Support Physical Rehabilitation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yves Rybarczyk

    2018-04-01

    Full Text Available The enhancement of ubiquitous and pervasive computing brings new perspectives in medical rehabilitation. In that sense, the present study proposes a smart, web-based platform to promote the reeducation of patients after hip replacement surgery. This project focuses on two fundamental aspects in the development of a suitable tele-rehabilitation application, which are: (i being based on an affordable technology, and (ii providing the patients with a real-time assessment of the correctness of their movements. A probabilistic approach based on the development and training of ten Hidden Markov Models (HMMs is used to discriminate in real time the main faults in the execution of the therapeutic exercises. Two experiments are designed to evaluate the precision of the algorithm for classifying movements performed in the laboratory and clinical settings, respectively. A comparative analysis of the data shows that the models are as reliable as the physiotherapists to discriminate and identify the motion errors. The results are discussed in terms of the required setup for a successful application in the field and further implementations to improve the accuracy and usability of the system.

  7. Paradigm shift or annoying distraction: emerging implications of web 2.0 for clinical practice.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Spallek, H; O'Donnell, J; Clayton, M; Anderson, P; Krueger, A

    2010-01-01

    Web 2.0 technologies, known as social media, social technologies or Web 2.0, have emerged into the mainstream. As they grow, these new technologies have the opportunity to influence the methods and procedures of many fields. This paper focuses on the clinical implications of the growing Web 2.0 technologies. Five developing trends are explored: information channels, augmented reality, location-based mobile social computing, virtual worlds and serious gaming, and collaborative research networks. Each trend is discussed based on their utilization and pattern of use by healthcare providers or healthcare organizations. In addition to explorative research for each trend, a vignette is presented which provides a future example of adoption. Lastly each trend lists several research challenge questions for applied clinical informatics.

  8. Effectiveness of web-based versus folder support interventions for young informal carers of persons with mental illness: a randomized controlled trial.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ali, Lilas; Krevers, Barbro; Sjöström, Nils; Skärsäter, Ingela

    2014-03-01

    Compare the impact of two interventions, a web-based support and a folder support, for young persons who care for people who suffer from mental illness. This study was a randomized control trial, following the CONSORT statements, which compared the impact of two interventions. Primary outcome variable was stress, and secondary outcome variables were caring situation, general self-efficacy, well-being, health, and quality of life of young informal carers (N=241). Data were collected in June 2010 to April 2011, with self-assessment questionnaires, comparing the two interventions and also to detect changes. The stress levels were high in both groups at baseline, but decreased in the folder group. The folder group had improvement in their caring situation (also different from the web group), general self-efficacy, well-being, and quality of life. The web group showed increase in well-being. Young informal carers who take on the responsibility for people close to them; suffer consequences on their own health. They live in a life-situation characterized by high stress and low well-being. This signals a need for support. The non-significant differences show that each intervention can be effective, and that it depends upon the individual's preferences. This highlights the importance of adopting person-centered approach, in which young persons can themselves choose support strategy. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  9. Two Decades of HELINA Conferences: A Historical Review of Health Informatics in Africa.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Korpela, M

    2013-01-01

    Review the history of health informatics in Africa as projected by the HELINA conferences, to draw inferences for the next phase. Summarising from the proceedings of HELINA 93, unpublished programmes and reports of later conferences, abstracts and presentations on the web sites of the most recent conferences, and personal recollections of all but one of the conferences. Analysing the e-health situation in Africa in 1993, 2007 and 2011 by mapping software applications presented in the respective conferences on a simplified model of potential spots for e-health use. The following phases were identified: Pre-phase from 1979; individual scientific papers. Phase 1, the 1993-1999 conferences; carried by the momentum of HELINA 93. Phase 2, interregnum; difficulty to find conference organisers. Phase 3, the 2007-2011 conferences; carried by the HELINA association as IMIA Africa Region. Currently most of the important spots for e-health use are being populated by appropriate software applications, mostly by collaborative open source projects. Phase 4 starting, characterised by the expansion of e-health practice on the continent, the HELINA association as a key organiser, and annual HELINA conferences becoming scientifically stronger and more visible. Key issues in making health informatics blossom in Africa include local development capacity, community orientation, collaborative design, international collaboration, government support, champions and organised continent-wide collaboration.

  10. GEO-ENGINEERING MODELING THROUGH INTERNET INFORMATICS (GEMINI)

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    W. Lynn Watney; John H. Doveton

    2004-05-13

    GEMINI (Geo-Engineering Modeling through Internet Informatics) is a public-domain web application focused on analysis and modeling of petroleum reservoirs and plays (http://www.kgs.ukans.edu/Gemini/index.html). GEMINI creates a virtual project by ''on-the-fly'' assembly and analysis of on-line data either from the Kansas Geological Survey or uploaded from the user. GEMINI's suite of geological and engineering web applications for reservoir analysis include: (1) petrofacies-based core and log modeling using an interactive relational rock catalog and log analysis modules; (2) a well profile module; (3) interactive cross sections to display ''marked'' wireline logs; (4) deterministic gridding and mapping of petrophysical data; (5) calculation and mapping of layer volumetrics; (6) material balance calculations; (7) PVT calculator; (8) DST analyst, (9) automated hydrocarbon association navigator (KHAN) for database mining, and (10) tutorial and help functions. The Kansas Hydrocarbon Association Navigator (KHAN) utilizes petrophysical databases to estimate hydrocarbon pay or other constituent at a play- or field-scale. Databases analyzed and displayed include digital logs, core analysis and photos, DST, and production data. GEMINI accommodates distant collaborations using secure password protection and authorized access. Assembled data, analyses, charts, and maps can readily be moved to other applications. GEMINI's target audience includes small independents and consultants seeking to find, quantitatively characterize, and develop subtle and bypassed pays by leveraging the growing base of digital data resources. Participating companies involved in the testing and evaluation of GEMINI included Anadarko, BP, Conoco-Phillips, Lario, Mull, Murfin, and Pioneer Resources.

  11. Hardening cookies in web-based systems for better system integrity

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mohamad Safuan Sulaiman; Mohd Dzul Aiman Aslan; Saaidi Ismail; Abdul Aziz Mohd Ramli; Abdul Muin Abdul Rahman; Siti Nurbahyah Hamdan; Norlelawati Hashimuddin; Sufian Norazam Mohamed Aris

    2012-01-01

    IT Center (ITC) as technical support and provider for most of web-based systems in Nuclear Malaysia has conducted a study to investigate cookie vulnerability in a system for better integrity. A part of the result has found that cookies in a web-based system in Nuclear Malaysia can be easily manipulated. The main objective of the study is to harden the vulnerability of the cookies. Two levels of security procedures have been used and enforced which consist of 1) Penetration test (Pen Test) 2) Hardening procedure. In one of the system, study has found that 121 attempts threats have been detected after the hardening enforcement from 23 March till 20 September 2012. At this stage, it can be concluded that cookie vulnerability in the system has been hardened and integrity has been assured after the enforcement. This paper describes in detail the penetration and hardening process of cookie vulnerability for better supporting web-based system in Nuclear Malaysia. (author)

  12. Recommendations of the International Medical Informatics Association (IMIA) on Education in Biomedical and Health Informatics. First Revision

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Mantas, John; Ammenwerth, Elske; Demiris, George; Hasman, Arie; Haux, Reinhold; Hersh, William; Hovenga, Evelyn; Lun, K. C.; Marin, Heimar; Martin-Sanchez, Fernando; Wright, Graham

    2010-01-01

    Objective: The International Medical Informatics Association (IMIA) agreed on revising the existing international recommendations in health informatics/medical informatics education. These should help to establish courses, course tracks or even complete programs in this field, to further develop

  13. Innovation in transformative nursing leadership: nursing informatics competencies and roles.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Remus, Sally; Kennedy, Margaret Ann

    2012-12-01

    In a recent brief to the Canadian Nurses Association's National Expert Commission on the Health of Our Nation, the Academy of Canadian Executive Nurses (ACEN) discussed leadership needs in the Canadian healthcare system, and promoted the pivotal role of nursing executives in transforming Canada's healthcare system into an integrated patient-centric system. Included among several recommendations was the need to develop innovative leadership competencies that enable nurse leaders to lead and advance transformative health system change. This paper focuses on an emerging "avant-garde executive leadership competency" recommended for today's health leaders to guide health system transformation. Specifically, this competency is articulated as "state of the art communication and technology savvy," and it implies linkages between nursing informatics competencies and transformational leadership roles for nurse executive. The authors of this paper propose that distinct nursing informatics competencies are required to augment traditional executive skills to support transformational outcomes of safe, integrated, high-quality care delivery through knowledge-driven care. International trends involving nursing informatics competencies and the evolution of new corporate informatics roles, such as chief nursing informatics officers (CNIOs), are demonstrating value and advanced transformational leadership as nursing executive roles that are informed by clinical data. Copyright © 2013 Longwoods Publishing.

  14. EnviroInfo 2016. Environmental informatics. Stability, continuity, innovation. Current trends and future perspectives based on 30 years of history. Proceedings

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Wohlgemuth, Volker; Fuchs-Kittowski, Frank; Wittmann, Jochen (eds.) [Hochschule fuer Technik und Wirtschaft, Berlin (Germany)

    2016-07-01

    This book covers selected keynotes, short papers and work in progress papers of the 30th edition of the long standing and established international and interdisciplinary conference series on leading environmental information and communication technologies (Envirolnfo 2016). The conference was held in September 14 - 16, 2016 at the Hochschule fiir Technik und Wirtschaft Berlin (HTW Berlin), University of Applied Sciences. Basic topics that were covered under the central focus ''Environmental Informatics - Current trends and future perspectives based on 30 years of history'' were applications of geographical information systems, environmental modelling and simulation, risk management, material and energy flow management, climate change, tools and database applications and other aspects with regard to the main topic ICT and the environment. Due to the interdisciplinary character of environmental informatics, one important goal of this conference was to bring experts from industry, research and education together to exchange ideas and proposals for solution of urgent problems and needs in the field on environmental protection and it's IT-support. Three papers are separately analyzed for this database.

  15. Open Source Web-Based Solutions for Disseminating and Analyzing Flood Hazard Information at the Community Level

    Science.gov (United States)

    Santillan, M. M.-M.; Santillan, J. R.; Morales, E. M. O.

    2017-09-01

    We discuss in this paper the development, including the features and functionalities, of an open source web-based flood hazard information dissemination and analytical system called "Flood EViDEns". Flood EViDEns is short for "Flood Event Visualization and Damage Estimations", an application that was developed by the Caraga State University to address the needs of local disaster managers in the Caraga Region in Mindanao, Philippines in accessing timely and relevant flood hazard information before, during and after the occurrence of flood disasters at the community (i.e., barangay and household) level. The web application made use of various free/open source web mapping and visualization technologies (GeoServer, GeoDjango, OpenLayers, Bootstrap), various geospatial datasets including LiDAR-derived elevation and information products, hydro-meteorological data, and flood simulation models to visualize various scenarios of flooding and its associated damages to infrastructures. The Flood EViDEns application facilitates the release and utilization of this flood-related information through a user-friendly front end interface consisting of web map and tables. A public version of the application can be accessed at http://121.97.192.11:8082/. The application is currently expanded to cover additional sites in Mindanao, Philippines through the "Geo-informatics for the Systematic Assessment of Flood Effects and Risks for a Resilient Mindanao" or the "Geo-SAFER Mindanao" Program.

  16. Communicative Informatics: An Active and Creative Audience Framework of Social Media

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Linda M. Gallant

    2011-09-01

    Full Text Available Communicative informatics reflects the interactive complexity of web-based communication and a paradigm shift away from mass communication. Three discursive spheres (database and information systems, human computer interaction, and active audiences work together to control online communication openness and its consequences for post-mass media society’s public common. This has implications for communication freedom, creativity, and constraints in an information-based society. Four propositions shed light on how online audience activity is encouraged by and imperative to corporate interests; how audience creativity can create, accept, or reject messages; how the online audience is monitored; and how online rhetoric can produce or inhibit public commons. Evidence shows that social media’s corporate interests can be at odds with online privacy and citizen communication. This tension is explored with a unique focus on rhetoric, argument, and the communication between audience members and Internet-based corporate media by way of digitized communication feedback loops.

  17. The exploration of the exhibition informatization

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Jiankang

    2017-06-01

    The construction and management of exhibition informatization is the main task and choke point during the process of Chinese exhibition industry’s transformation and promotion. There are three key points expected to realize a breakthrough during the construction of Chinese exhibition informatization, and the three aspects respectively are adopting service outsourcing to construct and maintain the database, adopting advanced chest card technology to collect various kinds of information, developing statistics analysis to maintain good cutomer relations. The success of Chinese exhibition informatization mainly calls for mature suppliers who can provide construction and maintenance of database, the proven technology, a sense of data security, advanced chest card technology, the ability of data mining and analysis and the ability to improve the exhibition service basing on the commercial information got from the data analysis. Several data security measures are expected to apply during the process of system developing, including the measures of the terminal data security, the internet data security, the media data security, the storage data security and the application data security. The informatization of this process is based on the chest card designing. At present, there are several types of chest card technology: bar code chest card; two-dimension code card; magnetic stripe chest card; smart-chip chest card. The information got from the exhibition data will help the organizers to make relevant service strategies, quantify the accumulated indexes of the customers, and improve the level of the customer’s satisfaction and loyalty, what’s more, the information can also provide more additional services like the commercial trips, VIP ceremonial reception.

  18. Evaluation of Web-Based Training Courses by Means of Criteria on Learning Support

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Geisser, R.; Keefer, F.; Schoenfelder, C.

    2015-07-01

    In recent years, due to the widespread use of digital media and the internet, more and more traditional education and training measures have been replaced or enhanced by elearning. In the context of the nuclear industry, however, with its stringent demand for well qualified and motivated human resources, it is very important to know to what extent these new learning formats will contribute to effective education and training. In cooperation with AREVA and within the scope of a master thesis, it was first investigated as to which factors greatly support the effectiveness of learning by using digital media, from a learner’s point of view in particular. Then, several criteria were developed that could be used to evaluate web based training courses. Next, these criteria were applied to three courses that have already been implemented at AREVA for different target groups and training objectives. The investigation has shown that factors which support the effectiveness of learning are not well known and not systematically applied in the training development process. Consequently, the success of training implementation depends to a great extent on the competence of external suppliers for e-learning programming. (Author)

  19. Informatics for RNA Sequencing: A Web Resource for Analysis on the Cloud.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Malachi Griffith

    2015-08-01

    Full Text Available Massively parallel RNA sequencing (RNA-seq has rapidly become the assay of choice for interrogating RNA transcript abundance and diversity. This article provides a detailed introduction to fundamental RNA-seq molecular biology and informatics concepts. We make available open-access RNA-seq tutorials that cover cloud computing, tool installation, relevant file formats, reference genomes, transcriptome annotations, quality-control strategies, expression, differential expression, and alternative splicing analysis methods. These tutorials and additional training resources are accompanied by complete analysis pipelines and test datasets made available without encumbrance at www.rnaseq.wiki.

  20. INFORMATIZATION: PHILOSOPHICAL AND ANTHROPOLOGICAL PROBLEMS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    A. A. Kosolapov

    2015-07-01

    Full Text Available Purpose.Computerization and informatization in recent decades gave the mankind automated electronic document management systems, automated process of production, Internet and network information resources WWW, expanded the communications capabilities and led to the globalization of the information society. At the same time gives rise to a number of processes of informatization philosophical and anthropological problems, that has become an existential character. It is necessary to identify and understanding of these issues on the basis of the gnoseological model of the evolution informatization paradigms and determine their main characteristics. Methodology. The system-activity approach was used; it allowed identifying and analyzing the impact of the main components of information and communication technologies (ICT for educational activities. And further to present them as a unified system of human activity in conditions computerization/informatization. The philosophical principles: a comprehensive review of the subject, the unity of the logical and historical, ascending from the abstract to the concrete was used. The general scientific principles: unity and development of the system, the decomposition hierarchy, individualization and cooperation, diversity and taxonomy were applied. Findings.The three-stage gnoseological model of the paradigms computerization/informatization evolution was proposed by the author. It is based on three information system characteristics: speed, interface and data access. The seven-bar anthrop-centric model, which is called the architecture of information systems (AIS, which describes the changes in their types of procuring, was proposed for each paradigm. The philosophical-anthropological problems that affect negatively its progress were formulated for each stage of modern information society transformation. Originality. The gnoseological model of development processes of informatization in the form of three

  1. Features Predicting Weight Loss in Overweight or Obese Participants in a Web-Based Intervention: Randomized Trial

    OpenAIRE

    Brindal, Emily; Freyne, Jill; Saunders, Ian; Berkovsky, Shlomo; Smith, Greg; Noakes, Manny

    2012-01-01

    Background Obesity remains a serious issue in many countries. Web-based programs offer good potential for delivery of weight loss programs. Yet, many Internet-delivered weight loss studies include support from medical or nutritional experts, and relatively little is known about purely web-based weight loss programs. Objective To determine whether supportive features and personalization in a 12-week web-based lifestyle intervention with no in-person professional contact affect retention and we...

  2. The Future of Public Health Informatics: Alternative Scenarios and Recommended Strategies

    Science.gov (United States)

    Edmunds, Margo; Thorpe, Lorna; Sepulveda, Martin; Bezold, Clem; Ross, David A.

    2014-01-01

    Background: In October 2013, the Public Health Informatics Institute (PHII) and Institute for Alternative Futures (IAF) convened a multidisciplinary group of experts to evaluate forces shaping public health informatics (PHI) in the United States, with the aim of identifying upcoming challenges and opportunities. The PHI workshop was funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation as part of its larger strategic planning process for public health and primary care. Workshop Context: During the two-day workshop, nine experts from the public and private sectors analyzed and discussed the implications of four scenarios regarding the United States economy, health care system, information technology (IT) sector, and their potential impacts on public health in the next 10 years, by 2023. Workshop participants considered the potential role of the public health sector in addressing population health challenges in each scenario, and then identified specific informatics goals and strategies needed for the sector to succeed in this role. Recommendations and Conclusion: Participants developed recommendations for the public health informatics field and for public health overall in the coming decade. These included the need to rely more heavily on intersectoral collaborations across public and private sectors, to improve data infrastructure and workforce capacity at all levels of the public health enterprise, to expand the evidence base regarding effectiveness of informatics-based public health initiatives, and to communicate strategically with elected officials and other key stakeholders regarding the potential for informatics-based solutions to have an impact on population health. PMID:25848630

  3. Engaging clinicians in health informatics projects.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Caballero Muñoz, Erika; Hullin Lucay Cossio, Carola M

    2010-01-01

    This chapter gives an educational overview of: * The importance of the engagement of clinicians within a health informatics project * Strategies required for an effective involvement of clinicians throughout a change management process within a clinical context for the implementation of a health informatics project * The critical aspects for a successful implementation of a health informatics project that involves clinicians as end users * Key factors during the administration of changes during the implementation of an informatics project for an information system in clinical practice.

  4. Designing and Implementing Web-Based Scaffolding Tools for Technology-Enhanced Socioscientific Inquiry

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shin, Suhkyung; Brush, Thomas A.; Glazewski, Krista D.

    2017-01-01

    This study explores how web-based scaffolding tools provide instructional support while implementing a socio-scientific inquiry (SSI) unit in a science classroom. This case study focused on how students used web-based scaffolding tools during SSI activities, and how students perceived the SSI unit and the scaffolding tools embedded in the SSI…

  5. Using web services for linking genomic data to medical information systems.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Maojo, V; Crespo, J; de la Calle, G; Barreiro, J; Garcia-Remesal, M

    2007-01-01

    To develop a new perspective for biomedical information systems, regarding the introduction of ideas, methods and tools related to the new scenario of genomic medicine. Technological aspects related to the analysis and integration of heterogeneous clinical and genomic data include mapping clinical and genetic concepts, potential future standards or the development of integrated biomedical ontologies. In this clinicomics scenario, we describe the use of Web services technologies to improve access to and integrate different information sources. We give a concrete example of the use of Web services technologies: the OntoFusion project. Web services provide new biomedical informatics (BMI) approaches related to genomic medicine. Customized workflows will aid research tasks by linking heterogeneous Web services. Two significant examples of these European Commission-funded efforts are the INFOBIOMED Network of Excellence and the Advancing Clinico-Genomic Trials on Cancer (ACGT) integrated project. Supplying medical researchers and practitioners with omics data and biologists with clinical datasets can help to develop genomic medicine. BMI is contributing by providing the informatics methods and technological infrastructure needed for these collaborative efforts.

  6. Pay-as-you-go data integration for bio-informatics

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Wanders, B.

    2012-01-01

    Scientific research in bio-informatics is often data-driven and supported by numerous biological databases. A biological database contains factual information collected from scientific experiments and computational analyses about areas including genomics, proteomics, metabolomics, microarray gene

  7. Rweb:Web-based Statistical Analysis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jeff Banfield

    1999-03-01

    Full Text Available Rweb is a freely accessible statistical analysis environment that is delivered through the World Wide Web (WWW. It is based on R, a well known statistical analysis package. The only requirement to run the basic Rweb interface is a WWW browser that supports forms. If you want graphical output you must, of course, have a browser that supports graphics. The interface provides access to WWW accessible data sets, so you may run Rweb on your own data. Rweb can provide a four window statistical computing environment (code input, text output, graphical output, and error information through browsers that support Javascript. There is also a set of point and click modules under development for use in introductory statistics courses.

  8. The use of advanced web-based survey design in Delphi research.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Helms, Christopher; Gardner, Anne; McInnes, Elizabeth

    2017-12-01

    A discussion of the application of metadata, paradata and embedded data in web-based survey research, using two completed Delphi surveys as examples. Metadata, paradata and embedded data use in web-based Delphi surveys has not been described in the literature. The rapid evolution and widespread use of online survey methods imply that paper-based Delphi methods will likely become obsolete. Commercially available web-based survey tools offer a convenient and affordable means of conducting Delphi research. Researchers and ethics committees may be unaware of the benefits and risks of using metadata in web-based surveys. Discussion paper. Two web-based, three-round Delphi surveys were conducted sequentially between August 2014 - January 2015 and April - May 2016. Their aims were to validate the Australian nurse practitioner metaspecialties and their respective clinical practice standards. Our discussion paper is supported by researcher experience and data obtained from conducting both web-based Delphi surveys. Researchers and ethics committees should consider the benefits and risks of metadata use in web-based survey methods. Web-based Delphi research using paradata and embedded data may introduce efficiencies that improve individual participant survey experiences and reduce attrition across iterations. Use of embedded data allows the efficient conduct of multiple simultaneous Delphi surveys across a shorter timeframe than traditional survey methods. The use of metadata, paradata and embedded data appears to improve response rates, identify bias and give possible explanation for apparent outlier responses, providing an efficient method of conducting web-based Delphi surveys. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  9. Neonatal Informatics: Transforming Neonatal Care Through Translational Bioinformatics

    Science.gov (United States)

    Palma, Jonathan P.; Benitz, William E.; Tarczy-Hornoch, Peter; Butte, Atul J.; Longhurst, Christopher A.

    2012-01-01

    The future of neonatal informatics will be driven by the availability of increasingly vast amounts of clinical and genetic data. The field of translational bioinformatics is concerned with linking and learning from these data and applying new findings to clinical care to transform the data into proactive, predictive, preventive, and participatory health. As a result of advances in translational informatics, the care of neonates will become more data driven, evidence based, and personalized. PMID:22924023

  10. Web-based Surveys: Changing the Survey Process

    OpenAIRE

    Gunn, Holly

    2002-01-01

    Web-based surveys are having a profound influence on the survey process. Unlike other types of surveys, Web page design skills and computer programming expertise play a significant role in the design of Web-based surveys. Survey respondents face new and different challenges in completing a Web-based survey. This paper examines the different types of Web-based surveys, the advantages and challenges of using Web-based surveys, the design of Web-based surveys, and the issues of validity, error, ...

  11. Tool Supported Analysis of Web Services Protocols

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Marques, Abinoam P.; Ravn, Anders Peter; Srba, Jiri

    2011-01-01

    We describe an abstract protocol model suitable for modelling of web services and other protocols communicating via unreliable, asynchronous communication channels. The model is supported by a tool chain where the first step translates tables with state/transition protocol descriptions, often used...... e.g. in the design of web services protocols, into an intermediate XML format. We further translate this format into a network of communicating state machines directly suitable for verification in the model checking tool UPPAAL. We introduce two types of communication media abstractions in order...

  12. Community Based Informatics: Geographical Information Systems, Remote Sensing and Ontology collaboration - A technical hands-on approach

    Science.gov (United States)

    Branch, B. D.; Raskin, R. G.; Rock, B.; Gagnon, M.; Lecompte, M. A.; Hayden, L. B.

    2009-12-01

    With the nation challenged to comply with Executive Order 12906 and its needs to augment the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) pipeline, applied focus on geosciences pipelines issue may be at risk. The Geosciences pipeline may require intentional K-12 standard course of study consideration in the form of project based, science based and evidenced based learning. Thus, the K-12 to geosciences to informatics pipeline may benefit from an earth science experience that utilizes a community based “learning by doing” approach. Terms such as Community GIS, Community Remotes Sensing, and Community Based Ontology development are termed Community Informatics. Here, approaches of interdisciplinary work to promote and earth science literacy are affordable, consisting of low cost equipment that renders GIS/remote sensing data processing skills necessary in the workforce. Hence, informal community ontology development may evolve or mature from a local community towards formal scientific community collaboration. Such consideration may become a means to engage educational policy towards earth science paradigms and needs, specifically linking synergy among Math, Computer Science, and Earth Science disciplines.

  13. Informatics and Nursing in a Post-Nursing Informatics World: Future Directions for Nurses in an Automated, Artificially Intelligent, Social-Networked Healthcare Environment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Booth, Richard G

    2016-01-01

    The increased adoption and use of technology within healthcare and society has influenced the nursing informatics specialty in a multitude of fashions. Namely, the nursing informatics specialty currently faces a range of important decisions related to its knowledge base, established values and future directions - all of which are in need of development and future-proofing. In light of the increased use of automation, artificial intelligence and big data in healthcare, the specialty must also reconceptualize the roles of both nurses and informaticians to ensure that the nursing profession is ready to operate within future digitalized healthcare ecosystems. To explore these goals, the author of this manuscript outlines an examination of technological advancements currently taking place within healthcare, and also proposes implications for the nursing role and the nursing informatics specialty. Finally, recommendations and insights towards how the roles of nurses and informaticians might evolve or be shaped in the growing post-nursing informatics era are presented. Copyright © 2016 Longwoods Publishing.

  14. Usage and applications of Semantic Web techniques and technologies to support chemistry research.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Borkum, Mark I; Frey, Jeremy G

    2014-01-01

    The drug discovery process is now highly dependent on the management, curation and integration of large amounts of potentially useful data. Semantics are necessary in order to interpret the information and derive knowledge. Advances in recent years have mitigated concerns that the lack of robust, usable tools has inhibited the adoption of methodologies based on semantics. THIS PAPER PRESENTS THREE EXAMPLES OF HOW SEMANTIC WEB TECHNIQUES AND TECHNOLOGIES CAN BE USED IN ORDER TO SUPPORT CHEMISTRY RESEARCH: a controlled vocabulary for quantities, units and symbols in physical chemistry; a controlled vocabulary for the classification and labelling of chemical substances and mixtures; and, a database of chemical identifiers. This paper also presents a Web-based service that uses the datasets in order to assist with the completion of risk assessment forms, along with a discussion of the legal implications and value-proposition for the use of such a service. We have introduced the Semantic Web concepts, technologies, and methodologies that can be used to support chemistry research, and have demonstrated the application of those techniques in three areas very relevant to modern chemistry research, generating three new datasets that we offer as exemplars of an extensible portfolio of advanced data integration facilities. We have thereby established the importance of Semantic Web techniques and technologies for meeting Wild's fourth "grand challenge".

  15. Research on the Model of E-commerce of China’s Urban Informatization Community

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yu Han

    2014-02-01

    Full Text Available Urban informatization e-commerce is a business model of the combination of e-commerce operators and organizational forms of community property management, and the import of people management and property management into e-commerce. This paper analyzes the current situation of Chinese urban community e-commerce and informatization community building. It puts forward the model of community e-commerce based on informatization, and its feasibility was verified by PIECE method. Finally, focusing on the application, the model of community e-commerce based on informatization community is analyzed in detail from the perspective of the role and value, supply chain and collaborative management works. Information services are most likely to succeed in the entry point of e-commerce. The study has shown that the establishment of community e-commerce on the basis of urban informatization community can be regarded as a solution of e-commerce development.

  16. Optimization and Data Analysis in Biomedical Informatics

    CERN Document Server

    Pardalos, Panos M; Xanthopoulos, Petros

    2012-01-01

    This volume covers some of the topics that are related to the rapidly growing field of biomedical informatics. In June 11-12, 2010 a workshop entitled 'Optimization and Data Analysis in Biomedical Informatics' was organized at The Fields Institute. Following this event invited contributions were gathered based on the talks presented at the workshop, and additional invited chapters were chosen from world's leading experts. In this publication, the authors share their expertise in the form of state-of-the-art research and review chapters, bringing together researchers from different disciplines

  17. [Role of self-leadership in the relationship between organizational culture and informatics competency].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kim, Myoung Soo

    2009-10-01

    The purpose of this study was to identify the moderating and mediating effects of self-leadership in the relationship between organizational culture and nurses' informatics competency. Participants in this study were 297 nurses from the cities of Busan and Ulsan. The scales of organizational culture, self-leadership and informatics competency for nurses were used in this study. Descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation coefficient, stepwise multiple regression were used for data analysis. Nursing informatics competency of the participants was relatively low with a mean score 3.02. There were significant positive correlations between subcategories of perceived organizational culture, self-leadership and nursing informatics competency. Self-leadership was a moderator and a mediator between organizational culture and informatics competency. Based on the results of this study, self-leadership promotion strategies to improve nursing informatics competency are needed.

  18. A medical informatics perspective on health informatics 3.0. Findings from the Yearbook 2011 section on health informatics 3.0.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ruch, P

    2011-01-01

    To summarize current advances of the so-called Web 3.0 and emerging trends of the semantic web. We provide a synopsis of the articles selected for the IMIA Yearbook 2011, from which we attempt to derive a synthetic overview of the today's and future activities in the field. while the state of the research in the field is illustrated by a set of fairly heterogeneous studies, it is possible to identify significant clusters. While the most salient challenge and obsessional target of the semantic web remains its ambition to simply interconnect all available information, it is interesting to observe the developments of complementary research fields such as information sciences and text analytics. The combined expression power and virtually unlimited data aggregation skills of Web 3.0 technologies make it a disruptive instrument to discover new biomedical knowledge. In parallel, such an unprecedented situation creates new threats for patients participating in large-scale genetic studies as Wjst demonstrate how various data set can be coupled to re-identify anonymous genetic information. The best paper selection of articles on decision support shows examples of excellent research on methods concerning original development of core semantic web techniques as well as transdisciplinary achievements as exemplified with literature-based analytics. This selected set of scientific investigations also demonstrates the needs for computerized applications to transform the biomedical data overflow into more operational clinical knowledge with potential threats for confidentiality directly associated with such advances. Altogether these papers support the idea that more elaborated computer tools, likely to combine heterogeneous text and data contents should soon emerge for the benefit of both experimentalists and hopefully clinicians.

  19. Using informatics to capture older adults' wellness.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Demiris, George; Thompson, Hilaire J; Reeder, Blaine; Wilamowska, Katarzyna; Zaslavsky, Oleg

    2013-11-01

    The aim of this paper is to demonstrate how informatics applications can support the assessment and visualization of older adults' wellness. A theoretical framework is presented that informs the design of a technology enhanced screening platform for wellness. We highlight an ongoing pilot demonstration in an assisted living facility where a community room has been converted into a living laboratory for the use of diverse technologies (including a telehealth component to capture vital signs and customized questionnaires, a gait analysis component and cognitive assessment software) to assess the multiple aspects of wellness of older adults. A demonstration project was introduced in an independent retirement community to validate our theoretical framework of informatics and wellness assessment for older adults. Subjects are being recruited to attend a community room and engage in the use of diverse technologies to assess cognitive performance, physiological and gait variables as well as psychometrics pertaining to social and spiritual components of wellness for a period of eight weeks. Data are integrated from various sources into one study database and different visualization approaches are pursued to efficiently display potential correlations between different parameters and capture overall trends of wellness. Preliminary findings indicate that older adults are willing to participate in technology-enhanced interventions and embrace different information technology applications given appropriate and customized training and hardware and software features that address potential functional limitations and inexperience with computers. Informatics can advance health care for older adults and support a holistic assessment of older adults' wellness. The described framework can support decision making, link formal and informal caregiving networks and identify early trends and patterns that if addressed could reduce adverse health events. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ireland

  20. Web-Based Activity Within a Sexual Health Economy: Observational Study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Turner, Katy Me; Zienkiewicz, Adam K; Syred, Jonathan; Looker, Katharine J; de Sa, Joia; Brady, Michael; Free, Caroline; Holdsworth, Gillian; Baraitser, Paula

    2018-03-07

    Regular testing for sexually transmitted infections (STIs) is important to maintain sexual health. Self-sampling kits ordered online and delivered in the post may increase access, convenience, and cost-effectiveness. Sexual health economies may target limited resources more effectively by signposting users toward Web-based or face-to-face services according to clinical need. The aim of this paper was to investigate the impact of two interventions on testing activity across a whole sexual health economy: (1) the introduction of open access Web-based STI testing services and (2) a clinic policy of triage and signpost online where users without symptoms who attended clinics for STI testing were supported to access the Web-based service instead. Data on attendances at all specialist public sexual health providers in an inner-London area were collated into a single database. Each record included information on user demographics, service type accessed, and clinical activity provided, including test results. Clinical activity was categorized as a simple STI test (could be done in a clinic or online), a complex visit (requiring face-to-face consultation), or other. Introduction of Web-based services increased total testing activity across the whole sexual health economy by 18.47% (from 36,373 to 43,091 in the same 6-month period-2014-2015 and 2015-2016), suggesting unmet need for testing in the area. Triage and signposting shifted activity out of the clinic onto the Web-based service, with simple STI testing in the clinic decreasing from 16.90% (920/5443) to 12.25% (511/4172) of total activity, P<.001, and complex activity in the clinic increasing from 69.15% (3764/5443) to 74.86% (3123/4172) of total activity, P<.001. This intervention created a new population of online users with different demographic and clinical profiles from those who use Web-based services spontaneously. Some triage and signposted users (29.62%, 375/1266) did not complete the Web-based testing

  1. Analysis and Design of Web-Based Database Application for Culinary Community

    OpenAIRE

    Huda, Choirul; Awang, Osel Dharmawan; Raymond, Raymond; Raynaldi, Raynaldi

    2017-01-01

    This research is based on the rapid development of the culinary and information technology. The difficulties in communicating with the culinary expert and on recipe documentation make a proper support for media very important. Therefore, a web-based database application for the public is important to help the culinary community in communication, searching and recipe management. The aim of the research was to design a web-based database application that could be used as social media for the cu...

  2. The need of a multi-actor perspective to understand expectations from virtual presence: managing elderly homecare informatics.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mettler, Tobias; Vimarlund, Vivian

    2011-12-01

    Different studies have analysed a wide range of use cases and scenarios for using IT-based services in homecare settings for elderly people. In most instances, the impact of such services has been studied using a one-dimensional approach, either focusing on the benefits for the patient or health service provider. The objective of this contribution is to explore a model for identifying and understanding outcomes of IT-based homecare services from a multi-actor perspective. In order to better understand the state of the art in homecare informatics, we conducted a literature review. We use experiences from previous research in the area of informatics to develop the proposed model. The proposed model consists of four core activities 'identify involved actors', 'understand consequences', 'clarify contingencies', 'take corrective actions', and one additional activity 'brainstorming IT use'. The primary goal of innovating organisations, processes and services in homecare informatics today, is to offer continued care, better decision support both to practitioners and patients, as well as effective distribution of resources. A multi-actor analysis perspective is needed to understand utility determination for the involved stakeholders.

  3. From bench to bed: bridging from informatics theory to practice. An exploratory analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lehmann, C U; Haux, R

    2014-01-01

    In 2009, the journal Applied Clinical Informatics (ACI) commenced publication. Focused on applications in clinical informatics, ACI was intended to be a companion journal to METHODS of Information in Medicine (MIM). Both journals are official journals of IMIA, the International Medical Informatics Association. To explore, after five years, which congruencies and interdependencies exist in publications of these journals and to determine if gaps exist. To achieve this goal, major topics discussed in ACI and in MIM had to be analysed. Finally, we wanted to explore, whether the intention of publishing these companion journals to provide an information bridge from informatics theory to informatics practice and from practice to theory could be supported by this model. In this manuscript we will report on congruencies and interdependencies from practise to theory and on major topis in ACI. Further results will be reported in a second paper. Retrospective, prolective observational study on recent publications of ACI and MIM. All publications of the years 2012 and 2013 from these journals were indexed and analysed. Hundred and ninety-six publications have been analysed (87 ACI, 109 MIM). In ACI publications addressed care coordination, shared decision support, and provider communication in its importance for complex patient care and safety and quality. Other major themes included improving clinical documentation quality and efficiency, effectiveness of clinical decision support and alerts, implementation of health information technology systems including discussion of failures and succeses. An emerging topic in the years analyzed was a focus on health information technology to predict and prevent hospital admissions and managing population health including the application of mobile health technology. Congruencies between journals could be found in themes, but with different focus in its contents. Interdependencies from practise to theory found in these publications, were

  4. Ontology-Driven Search and Triage: Design of a Web-Based Visual Interface for MEDLINE.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Demelo, Jonathan; Parsons, Paul; Sedig, Kamran

    2017-02-02

    Diverse users need to search health and medical literature to satisfy open-ended goals such as making evidence-based decisions and updating their knowledge. However, doing so is challenging due to at least two major difficulties: (1) articulating information needs using accurate vocabulary and (2) dealing with large document sets returned from searches. Common search interfaces such as PubMed do not provide adequate support for exploratory search tasks. Our objective was to improve support for exploratory search tasks by combining two strategies in the design of an interactive visual interface by (1) using a formal ontology to help users build domain-specific knowledge and vocabulary and (2) providing multi-stage triaging support to help mitigate the information overload problem. We developed a Web-based tool, Ontology-Driven Visual Search and Triage Interface for MEDLINE (OVERT-MED), to test our design ideas. We implemented a custom searchable index of MEDLINE, which comprises approximately 25 million document citations. We chose a popular biomedical ontology, the Human Phenotype Ontology (HPO), to test our solution to the vocabulary problem. We implemented multistage triaging support in OVERT-MED, with the aid of interactive visualization techniques, to help users deal with large document sets returned from searches. Formative evaluation suggests that the design features in OVERT-MED are helpful in addressing the two major difficulties described above. Using a formal ontology seems to help users articulate their information needs with more accurate vocabulary. In addition, multistage triaging combined with interactive visualizations shows promise in mitigating the information overload problem. Our strategies appear to be valuable in addressing the two major problems in exploratory search. Although we tested OVERT-MED with a particular ontology and document collection, we anticipate that our strategies can be transferred successfully to other contexts.

  5. Development and usability testing of a web-based decision support for users and health professionals in psychiatric services.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Grim, Katarina; Rosenberg, David; Svedberg, Petra; Schön, Ulla-Karin

    2017-09-01

    Shared decision making (SMD) related to treatment and rehabilitation is considered a central component in recovery-oriented practice. Although decision aids are regarded as an essential component for successfully implementing SDM, these aids are often lacking within psychiatric services. The aim of this study was to use a participatory design to facilitate the development of a user-generated, web-based decision aid for individuals receiving psychiatric services. The results of this effort as well as the lessons learned during the development and usability processes are reported. The participatory design included 4 iterative cycles of development. Various qualitative methods for data collection were used with potential end users participating as informants in focus group and individual interviews and as usability and pilot testers. Interviewing and testing identified usability problems that then led to refinements and making the subsequent prototypes increasingly user-friendly and relevant. In each phase of the process, feedback from potential end-users provided guidance in developing the formation of the web-based decision aid that strengthens the position of users by integrating access to information regarding alternative supports, interactivity between staff and users, and user preferences as a continual focus in the tool. This web-based decision aid has the potential to strengthen service users' experience of self-efficacy and control as well as provide staff access to user knowledge and preferences. Studies employing participatory models focusing on usability have potential to significantly contribute to the development and implementation of tools that reflect user perspectives. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

  6. Teachers' professional development in a community: A study of the central actors, their networks and web-based learning

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jiri Lallimo

    2008-07-01

    Full Text Available The goal of this article was to study teachers' professional development related to web-based learning in the context of the teacher community. The object was to learn in what kind of networks teachers share the knowledge of web-based learning and what are the factors in the community that support or challenge teachers professional development of web-based learning. The findings of the study revealed that there are teachers who are especially active, called the central actors in this study, in the teacher community who collaborate and share knowledge of web-based learning. These central actors share both technical and pedagogical knowledge of web-based learning in networks that include both internal and external relations in the community and involve people, artefacts and a variety of media. Furthermore, the central actors appear to bridge different fields of teaching expertise in their community.According to the central actors' experiences the important factors that support teachers' professional development of web-based learning in the community are; the possibility to learn from colleagues and from everyday working practices, an emotionally safe atmosphere, the leader's personal support and community-level commitment. Also, the flexibility in work planning, challenging pupils, shared lessons with colleagues, training events in an authentic work environment and colleagues' professionalism are considered meaningful for professional development. As challenges, the knowledge sharing of web-based learning in the community needs mutual interests, transactive memory, time and facilities, peer support, a safe atmosphere and meaningful pedagogical practices.On the basis of the findings of the study it is suggested that by intensive collaboration related to web-based learning it may be possible to break the boundaries of individual teachership and create such sociocultural activities which support collaborative professional development in the teacher

  7. Development of a model web-based system to support a statewide quality consortium in radiation oncology.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moran, Jean M; Feng, Mary; Benedetti, Lisa A; Marsh, Robin; Griffith, Kent A; Matuszak, Martha M; Hess, Michael; McMullen, Matthew; Fisher, Jennifer H; Nurushev, Teamour; Grubb, Margaret; Gardner, Stephen; Nielsen, Daniel; Jagsi, Reshma; Hayman, James A; Pierce, Lori J

    A database in which patient data are compiled allows analytic opportunities for continuous improvements in treatment quality and comparative effectiveness research. We describe the development of a novel, web-based system that supports the collection of complex radiation treatment planning information from centers that use diverse techniques, software, and hardware for radiation oncology care in a statewide quality collaborative, the Michigan Radiation Oncology Quality Consortium (MROQC). The MROQC database seeks to enable assessment of physician- and patient-reported outcomes and quality improvement as a function of treatment planning and delivery techniques for breast and lung cancer patients. We created tools to collect anonymized data based on all plans. The MROQC system representing 24 institutions has been successfully deployed in the state of Michigan. Since 2012, dose-volume histogram and Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine-radiation therapy plan data and information on simulation, planning, and delivery techniques have been collected. Audits indicated >90% accurate data submission and spurred refinements to data collection methodology. This model web-based system captures detailed, high-quality radiation therapy dosimetry data along with patient- and physician-reported outcomes and clinical data for a radiation therapy collaborative quality initiative. The collaborative nature of the project has been integral to its success. Our methodology can be applied to setting up analogous consortiums and databases. Copyright © 2016 American Society for Radiation Oncology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  8. Design of Cognitive Interfaces for Personal Informatics Feedback

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jensen, Camilla Birgitte Falk

    to personal informatics systems, and propose an approach to design cognitive interfaces, which considers both users’ motivations, needs, and goals. In this thesis I propose a new personal informatics framework, the feedback loop, which incorporates lean agile design principles. Including hierarchical modeling...... of goals, activities, and tasks to create minimal viable products. While considering how micro-interactions based on an understanding of data, couples with user needs and the context they appear in, can contribute to creating cognitive interfaces. Designing cognitive interfaces requires a focus....... For instance, examining emotional responses to pleasant and unpleasant media content from brain activity, reveals the large amount of data and extensive analysis required to apply this to future personal informatics systems. In addition we analyse challenges related to temporal aspects of the feedback loop...

  9. Decision Support for Mental Health: Towards the Information-based Psychiatry

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Kalina, Jan; Zvárová, Jana

    2014-01-01

    Roč. 4, č. 2 (2014), s. 53-65 ISSN 1947-3133 Grant - others:GA MŠk(CZ) ED2.1.00/03.0078 Institutional support: RVO:67985807 Keywords : big data * classification rule * decision support systems * e-health * mental health care Subject RIV: IN - Informatics, Computer Science

  10. Interest in web-based treatments for postpartum anxiety: an exploratory survey.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ashford, Miriam T; Ayers, Susan; Olander, Ellinor K

    2017-09-01

    This study aimed to explore women's interest in web-based treatments for postpartum anxiety and determine the feasibility of reaching women with postpartum anxiety online. Anxiety in the postpartum period is common and often untreated. One innovative approach of offering treatment during this period is through web-based self-help. Assessing women's interest in new treatments, such as a web-based self-help, is an important step prior to development efforts. A cross-sectional online survey was created and promoted for 4 months via unpaid social media posts (Facebook and Twitter). To be eligible, women had to be over the age of 18, live in England, fluent in English, be within 12 months postpartum and self-report at least mild levels of anxiety. A sample of 114 eligible women were recruited. The majority were Caucasian, well-educated, middle-class women. Seventy percent reported moderate or severe anxiety. Sixty-one percent of women expressed interest in web-based postpartum anxiety treatments. Women preferred treatment in a smartphone/tablet application format, presented in brief modules and supported by a therapist via email or chat/instant messaging. Based on the stated preferences of participating women it is recommended that postpartum anxiety web-based treatments include different forms of therapist support and use a flexibly accessible smartphone/tablet application format with content split into short sections. The findings also suggest that unpaid social media can be feasible in reaching women with postpartum anxiety, but additional efforts are needed to reach a more diverse population.

  11. Development of grid-like applications for public health using Web 2.0 mashup techniques.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Scotch, Matthew; Yip, Kevin Y; Cheung, Kei-Hoi

    2008-01-01

    Development of public health informatics applications often requires the integration of multiple data sources. This process can be challenging due to issues such as different file formats, schemas, naming systems, and having to scrape the content of web pages. A potential solution to these system development challenges is the use of Web 2.0 technologies. In general, Web 2.0 technologies are new internet services that encourage and value information sharing and collaboration among individuals. In this case report, we describe the development and use of Web 2.0 technologies including Yahoo! Pipes within a public health application that integrates animal, human, and temperature data to assess the risk of West Nile Virus (WNV) outbreaks. The results of development and testing suggest that while Web 2.0 applications are reasonable environments for rapid prototyping, they are not mature enough for large-scale public health data applications. The application, in fact a "systems of systems," often failed due to varied timeouts for application response across web sites and services, internal caching errors, and software added to web sites by administrators to manage the load on their servers. In spite of these concerns, the results of this study demonstrate the potential value of grid computing and Web 2.0 approaches in public health informatics.

  12. Development, implementation and pilot evaluation of a Web-based Virtual Patient Case Simulation environment--Web-SP.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zary, Nabil; Johnson, Gunilla; Boberg, Jonas; Fors, Uno G H

    2006-02-21

    The Web-based Simulation of Patients (Web-SP) project was initiated in order to facilitate the use of realistic and interactive virtual patients (VP) in medicine and healthcare education. Web-SP focuses on moving beyond the technology savvy teachers, when integrating simulation-based education into health sciences curricula, by making the creation and use of virtual patients easier. The project strives to provide a common generic platform for design/creation, management, evaluation and sharing of web-based virtual patients. The aim of this study was to evaluate if it was possible to develop a web-based virtual patient case simulation environment where the entire case authoring process might be handled by teachers and which would be flexible enough to be used in different healthcare disciplines. The Web-SP system was constructed to support easy authoring, management and presentation of virtual patient cases. The case authoring environment was found to facilitate for teachers to create full-fledged patient cases without the assistance of computer specialists. Web-SP was successfully implemented at several universities by taking into account key factors such as cost, access, security, scalability and flexibility. Pilot evaluations in medical, dentistry and pharmacy courses shows that students regarded Web-SP as easy to use, engaging and to be of educational value. Cases adapted for all three disciplines were judged to be of significant educational value by the course leaders. The Web-SP system seems to fulfil the aim of providing a common generic platform for creation, management and evaluation of web-based virtual patient cases. The responses regarding the authoring environment indicated that the system might be user-friendly enough to appeal to a majority of the academic staff. In terms of implementation strengths, Web-SP seems to fulfil most needs from course directors and teachers from various educational institutions and disciplines. The system is currently in

  13. Public Policy and Health Informatics.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bell, Katherine

    2018-04-05

    To provide an overview of the history of electronic health policy and identify significant laws that influence health informatics. US Department of Health and Human Services. The development of health information technology has influenced the process for delivering health care. Public policy and regulations are an important part of health informatics and establish the structure of electronic health systems. Regulatory bodies of the government initiate policies to ease the execution of electronic health record implementation. These same bureaucratic entities regulate the system to protect the rights of the patients and providers. Nurses should have an overall understanding of the system behind health informatics and be able to advocate for change. Nurses can utilize this information to optimize the use of health informatics and campaign for safe, effective, and efficient health information technology. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  14. Laboratory informatics tools integration strategies for drug discovery: integration of LIMS, ELN, CDS, and SDMS.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Machina, Hari K; Wild, David J

    2013-04-01

    There are technologies on the horizon that could dramatically change how informatics organizations design, develop, deliver, and support applications and data infrastructures to deliver maximum value to drug discovery organizations. Effective integration of data and laboratory informatics tools promises the ability of organizations to make better informed decisions about resource allocation during the drug discovery and development process and for more informed decisions to be made with respect to the market opportunity for compounds. We propose in this article a new integration model called ELN-centric laboratory informatics tools integration.

  15. Supporting Professional Development in Special Education with Web-Based Professional Learning Communities: New Possibilities with Web 2.0

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hardman, Elizabeth L.

    2012-01-01

    This article describes the challenges in organizing professional learning communities (PLCs) in special education, identifies the teacher and student benefits of using a PLC approach to professional development, and discusses the promise and pitfalls of organizing web-based PLCs to engage distributed stakeholders in the practice of special…

  16. Comparing effects in regular practice of e-communication and Web-based self-management support among breast cancer patients: preliminary results from a randomized controlled trial.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Børøsund, Elin; Cvancarova, Milada; Moore, Shirley M; Ekstedt, Mirjam; Ruland, Cornelia M

    2014-12-18

    While Web-based interventions have been shown to assist a wide range of patients successfully in managing their illness, few studies have examined the relative contribution of different Web-based components to improve outcomes. Further efficacy trials are needed to test the effects of Web support when offered as a part of routine care. Our aim was to compare in regular care the effects of (1) an Internet-based patient provider communication service (IPPC), (2) WebChoice, a Web-based illness management system for breast cancer patients (IPPC included), and (3) usual care on symptom distress, anxiety, depression, (primary outcomes), and self-efficacy (secondary outcome). This study reports preliminary findings from 6 months' follow-up data in a 12-month trial. We recruited 167 patients recently diagnosed with breast cancer and undergoing treatment from three Norwegian hospitals. The nurse-administered IPPC allowed patients to send secure e-messages to and receive e-messages from health care personnel at the hospital where they were treated. In addition to the IPPC, WebChoice contains components for symptom monitoring, tailored information and self-management support, a diary, and communication with other patients. A total of 20 care providers (11 nurses, 6 physicians, and 3 social workers) were trained to answer questions from patients. Outcomes were measured with questionnaires at study entry and at study months 2, 4, and 6. Linear mixed models for repeated measures were fitted to compare effects on outcomes over time. Patients were randomly assigned to the WebChoice group (n=64), the IPPC group (n=45), or the usual care group (n=58). Response rates to questionnaires were 73.7% (123/167) at 2 months, 65.9 (110/167) at 4 months, and 62.3% (104/167) at 6 months. Attrition was similar in all study groups. Among those with access to WebChoice, 64% (41/64) logged on more than once and 39% (25/64) sent e-messages to care providers. In the IPPC group, 40% (18/45) sent e

  17. Analysis and Design of Web-Based Database Application for Culinary Community

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Choirul Huda

    2017-03-01

    Full Text Available This research is based on the rapid development of the culinary and information technology. The difficulties in communicating with the culinary expert and on recipe documentation make a proper support for media very important. Therefore, a web-based database application for the public is important to help the culinary community in communication, searching and recipe management. The aim of the research was to design a web-based database application that could be used as social media for the culinary community. This research used literature review, user interviews, and questionnaires. Moreover, the database system development life cycle was used as a guide for designing a database especially for conceptual database design, logical database design, and physical design database. Web-based application design used eight golden rules for user interface design. The result of this research is the availability of a web-based database application that can fulfill the needs of users in the culinary field related to communication and recipe management.

  18. Map-IT! A Web-Based GIS Tool for Watershed Science Education.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Curtis, David H.; Hewes, Christopher M.; Lossau, Matthew J.

    This paper describes the development of a prototypic, Web-accessible GIS solution for K-12 science education and citizen-based watershed monitoring. The server side consists of ArcView IMS running on an NT workstation. The client is built around MapCafe. The client interface, which runs through a standard Web browser, supports standard MapCafe…

  19. Refining a self-assessment of informatics competency scale using Mokken scaling analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yoon, Sunmoo; Shaffer, Jonathan A; Bakken, Suzanne

    2015-01-01

    Healthcare environments are increasingly implementing health information technology (HIT) and those from various professions must be competent to use HIT in meaningful ways. In addition, HIT has been shown to enable interprofessional approaches to health care. The purpose of this article is to describe the refinement of the Self-Assessment of Nursing Informatics Competencies Scale (SANICS) using analytic techniques based upon item response theory (IRT) and discuss its relevance to interprofessional education and practice. In a sample of 604 nursing students, the 93-item version of SANICS was examined using non-parametric IRT. The iterative modeling procedure included 31 steps comprising: (1) assessing scalability, (2) assessing monotonicity, (3) assessing invariant item ordering, and (4) expert input. SANICS was reduced to an 18-item hierarchical scale with excellent reliability. Fundamental skills for team functioning and shared decision making among team members (e.g. "using monitoring systems appropriately," "describing general systems to support clinical care") had the highest level of difficulty, and "demonstrating basic technology skills" had the lowest difficulty level. Most items reflect informatics competencies relevant to all health professionals. Further, the approaches can be applied to construct a new hierarchical scale or refine an existing scale related to informatics attitudes or competencies for various health professions.

  20. AHEAD OF THE GAME: ADOPTING 21ST CENTURY LEARNING APPROACHES SUPPORTED BY VIDEO-BASED WEB CONFERENCING TECHNOLOGY IN A ROMANIAN PROFESSIONAL TRAINING MILITARY CONTEXT

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Paula CHARBONNEAU-GOWDY

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available Recent major political uprisings are indicating the extent to which social learning Web 2.0 technologies, can infl uence change in informal learning settings. Recognition and a discussion of the potential of that infl uence in formal learning settings have only just begun. This article describes a study of an international distance learning project in 2004, using a variety of Web 2.0 technologies, including video-based web conferencing, that sought to initiate and respond to this urgent need for dialogue in the research. Self-selected participants took part in a 5-week English as a foreign language (EFL program, a joint NATO sponsored Canadian and Romanian Ministry of Defense-supported initiative. Clear evidence of linguistic knowledge construction and of important changes to participants’ learner identities, indicates the power of these technologies to support the kind of learning that can lead to the development of global citizens and the skills they will increasingly require in the 21st century.

  1. WEB-BASED ADAPTIVE TESTING SYSTEM (WATS FOR CLASSIFYING STUDENTS ACADEMIC ABILITY

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jaemu LEE,

    2012-08-01

    Full Text Available Computer Adaptive Testing (CAT has been highlighted as a promising assessment method to fulfill two testing purposes: estimating student academic ability and classifying student academic level. In this paper, we introduced the Web-based Adaptive Testing System (WATS developed to support a cost effective assessment for classifying students’ ability into different academic levels. Instead of using a traditional paper and pencil test, the WATS is expected to serve as an alternate method to promptly diagnosis and identify underachieving students through Web-based testing. The WATS can also help provide students with appropriate learning contents and necessary academic support in time. In this paper, theoretical background and structure of WATS, item construction process based upon item response theory, and user interfaces of WATS were discussed.

  2. Implementation of Web-Based Argumentation in Facilitating Elementary School Students to Learn Environmental Issues

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, T. H.

    2014-01-01

    This research develops a Web-based argumentation system named the Web-based Interactive Argumentation System (WIAS). WIAS can provide teachers with the scaffolding for argumentation instruction. Students can propose their statements, collect supporting evidence and share and discuss with peers online. This research adopts a quasi-experimental…

  3. Craniofacial imaging informatics and technology development.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vannier, M W

    2003-01-01

    'Craniofacial imaging informatics' refers to image and related scientific data from the dentomaxillofacial complex, and application of 'informatics techniques' (derived from disciplines such as applied mathematics, computer science and statistics) to understand and organize the information associated with the data. Major trends in information technology determine the progress made in craniofacial imaging and informatics. These trends include industry consolidation, disruptive technologies, Moore's law, electronic atlases and on-line databases. Each of these trends is explained and documented, relative to their influence on craniofacial imaging. Craniofacial imaging is influenced by major trends that affect all medical imaging and related informatics applications. The introduction of cone beam craniofacial computed tomography scanners is an example of a disruptive technology entering the field. An important opportunity lies in the integration of biologic knowledge repositories with craniofacial images. The progress of craniofacial imaging will continue subject to limitations imposed by the underlying technologies, especially imaging informatics. Disruptive technologies will play a major role in the evolution of this field.

  4. Clinical research informatics

    CERN Document Server

    Richesson, Rachel L

    2012-01-01

    This book provides foundational coverage of key areas, concepts, constructs, and approaches of medical informatics as it applies to clinical research activities, in both current settings and in light of emerging policies. The field of clinical research is fully characterized (in terms of study design and overarching business processes), and there is emphasis on information management aspects and informatics implications (including needed activities) within various clinical research environments. The purpose of the book is to provide an overview of clinical research (types), activities, and are

  5. 1st International Conference on Computational Intelligence and Informatics

    CERN Document Server

    Prasad, V; Rani, B; Udgata, Siba; Raju, K

    2017-01-01

    The book covers a variety of topics which include data mining and data warehousing, high performance computing, parallel and distributed computing, computational intelligence, soft computing, big data, cloud computing, grid computing, cognitive computing, image processing, computer networks, wireless networks, social networks, wireless sensor networks, information and network security, web security, internet of things, bioinformatics and geoinformatics. The book is a collection of best papers submitted in the First International Conference on Computational Intelligence and Informatics (ICCII 2016) held during 28-30 May 2016 at JNTUH CEH, Hyderabad, India. It was hosted by Department of Computer Science and Engineering, JNTUH College of Engineering in association with Division V (Education & Research) CSI, India. .

  6. The experiential health information processing model: supporting collaborative web-based patient education.

    Science.gov (United States)

    O'Grady, Laura A; Witteman, Holly; Wathen, C Nadine

    2008-12-16

    First generation Internet technologies such as mailing lists or newsgroups afforded unprecedented levels of information exchange within a variety of interest groups, including those who seek health information. With emergence of the World Wide Web many communication applications were ported to web browsers. One of the driving factors in this phenomenon has been the exchange of experiential or anecdotal knowledge that patients share online, and there is emerging evidence that participation in these forums may be having an impact on people's health decision making. Theoretical frameworks supporting this form of information seeking and learning have yet to be proposed. In this article, we propose an adaptation of Kolb's experiential learning theory to begin to formulate an experiential health information processing model that may contribute to our understanding of online health information seeking behaviour in this context. An experiential health information processing model is proposed that can be used as a research framework. Future research directions include investigating the utility of this model in the online health information seeking context, studying the impact of collaborating in these online environments on patient decision making and on health outcomes are provided.

  7. The experiential health information processing model: supporting collaborative web-based patient education

    Science.gov (United States)

    O'Grady, Laura A; Witteman, Holly; Wathen, C Nadine

    2008-01-01

    Background First generation Internet technologies such as mailing lists or newsgroups afforded unprecedented levels of information exchange within a variety of interest groups, including those who seek health information. With emergence of the World Wide Web many communication applications were ported to web browsers. One of the driving factors in this phenomenon has been the exchange of experiential or anecdotal knowledge that patients share online, and there is emerging evidence that participation in these forums may be having an impact on people's health decision making. Theoretical frameworks supporting this form of information seeking and learning have yet to be proposed. Results In this article, we propose an adaptation of Kolb's experiential learning theory to begin to formulate an experiential health information processing model that may contribute to our understanding of online health information seeking behaviour in this context. Conclusion An experiential health information processing model is proposed that can be used as a research framework. Future research directions include investigating the utility of this model in the online health information seeking context, studying the impact of collaborating in these online environments on patient decision making and on health outcomes are provided. PMID:19087353

  8. The experiential health information processing model: supporting collaborative web-based patient education

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Wathen C Nadine

    2008-12-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background First generation Internet technologies such as mailing lists or newsgroups afforded unprecedented levels of information exchange within a variety of interest groups, including those who seek health information. With emergence of the World Wide Web many communication applications were ported to web browsers. One of the driving factors in this phenomenon has been the exchange of experiential or anecdotal knowledge that patients share online, and there is emerging evidence that participation in these forums may be having an impact on people's health decision making. Theoretical frameworks supporting this form of information seeking and learning have yet to be proposed. Results In this article, we propose an adaptation of Kolb's experiential learning theory to begin to formulate an experiential health information processing model that may contribute to our understanding of online health information seeking behaviour in this context. Conclusion An experiential health information processing model is proposed that can be used as a research framework. Future research directions include investigating the utility of this model in the online health information seeking context, studying the impact of collaborating in these online environments on patient decision making and on health outcomes are provided.

  9. Communications and Informational Technologies: professional preparation of the Informatics professor

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Adrian Robaina Valdés

    2017-09-01

    Full Text Available The development of the society it is sign by the development of the techniques and the science that has challenges the educational system in the formation of the new generation. The Cuban Educational politics had defined the social mission to each subsystem of education, in the particular case of the professional polytechnic education, belongs to the professors of Informatics, the accomplish of this mission, develop an important role in the educational use of the communication and informational technologies that requires and an adequate professional preparation. The aim of this article is to based form the theoretical and methodological point, the process of the professional preparation of the professors of informatics in the technical schools while they apply the communication and informational technologies, the theorical bases offered the historical past and tendencies of the professional preparation while they apply the communication and information technologies, the educative use of information technologies in the pedagogical process and the theoretical support in this process, using revision methods bibliography and systematizing . We may say that the research work concludes that the preparation of the professors had passed for different stages that had point to the need of the formation of professor to give answers to the introduction of the informatics subject at school, using different ways, the postgraduate updates and all the variety of ways to upgrade the professors will use. Form the educative point of view a part from the study as a subject must be use as an intermediate in the pedagogical process, also, to determine the characteristic that distinguish the professional preparation process.

  10. Meta-Search Utilizing Evolitionary Recommendation: A Web Search Architecture Proposal

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Húsek, Dušan; Keyhanipour, A.; Krömer, P.; Moshiri, B.; Owais, S.; Snášel, V.

    2008-01-01

    Roč. 33, - (2008), s. 189-200 ISSN 1870-4069 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z10300504 Keywords : web search * meta-search engine * intelligent re-ranking * ordered weighted averaging * Boolean search queries optimizing Subject RIV: IN - Informatics, Computer Science

  11. An Adaptive Web-Based Support to e-Education in Robotics and Automation

    Science.gov (United States)

    di Giamberardino, Paolo; Temperini, Marco

    The paper presents the hardware and software architecture of a remote laboratory, with robotics and automation applications, devised to support e-teaching and e-learning activities, at an undergraduate level in computer engineering. The hardware is composed by modular structures, based on the Lego Mindstorms components: they are reasonably sophisticated in terms of functions, pretty easy to use, and sufficiently affordable in terms of cost. Moreover, being the robots intrinsically modular, wrt the number and distribution of sensors and actuators, they are easily and quickly reconfigurable. A web application makes the laboratory and its robots available via internet. The software framework allows the teacher to define, for the course under her/his responsibility, a learning path made of different and differently complex exercises, graduated in terms of the "difficulty" they require to meet and of the "competence" that the solver is supposed to have shown. The learning path of exercises is adapted to the individual learner's progressively growing competence: at any moment, only a subset of the exercises is available (depending on how close their levels of competence and difficulty are to those of the exercises already solved by the learner).

  12. The Effect of Social Support Features and Gamification on a Web-Based Intervention for Rheumatoid Arthritis Patients: Randomized Controlled Trial

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kostova, Zlatina; Nakamoto, Kent; Schulz, Peter Johannes

    2015-01-01

    Background Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is chronic systematic disease that affects people during the most productive period of their lives. Web-based health interventions have been effective in many studies; however, there is little evidence and few studies showing the effectiveness of online social support and especially gamification on patients’ behavioral and health outcomes. Objective The aim of this study was to look into the effects of a Web-based intervention that included online social support features and gamification on physical activity, health care utilization, medication overuse, empowerment, and RA knowledge of RA patients. The effect of gamification on website use was also investigated. Methods We conducted a 5-arm parallel randomized controlled trial for RA patients in Ticino (Italian-speaking part of Switzerland). A total of 157 patients were recruited through brochures left with physicians and were randomly allocated to 1 of 4 experimental conditions with different types of access to online social support and gamification features and a control group that had no access to the website. Data were collected at 3 time points through questionnaires at baseline, posttest 2 months later, and at follow-up after another 2 months. Primary outcomes were physical activity, health care utilization, and medication overuse; secondary outcomes included empowerment and RA knowledge. All outcomes were self-reported. Intention-to-treat analysis was followed and multilevel linear mixed models were used to study the change of outcomes over time. Results The best-fit multilevel models (growth curve models) that described the change in the primary outcomes over the course of the intervention included time and empowerment as time-variant predictors. The growth curve analyses of experimental conditions were compared to the control group. Physical activity increased over time for patients having access to social support sections plus gaming (unstandardized beta coefficient

  13. The effect of social support features and gamification on a Web-based intervention for rheumatoid arthritis patients: randomized controlled trial.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Allam, Ahmed; Kostova, Zlatina; Nakamoto, Kent; Schulz, Peter Johannes

    2015-01-09

    Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is chronic systematic disease that affects people during the most productive period of their lives. Web-based health interventions have been effective in many studies; however, there is little evidence and few studies showing the effectiveness of online social support and especially gamification on patients' behavioral and health outcomes. The aim of this study was to look into the effects of a Web-based intervention that included online social support features and gamification on physical activity, health care utilization, medication overuse, empowerment, and RA knowledge of RA patients. The effect of gamification on website use was also investigated. We conducted a 5-arm parallel randomized controlled trial for RA patients in Ticino (Italian-speaking part of Switzerland). A total of 157 patients were recruited through brochures left with physicians and were randomly allocated to 1 of 4 experimental conditions with different types of access to online social support and gamification features and a control group that had no access to the website. Data were collected at 3 time points through questionnaires at baseline, posttest 2 months later, and at follow-up after another 2 months. Primary outcomes were physical activity, health care utilization, and medication overuse; secondary outcomes included empowerment and RA knowledge. All outcomes were self-reported. Intention-to-treat analysis was followed and multilevel linear mixed models were used to study the change of outcomes over time. The best-fit multilevel models (growth curve models) that described the change in the primary outcomes over the course of the intervention included time and empowerment as time-variant predictors. The growth curve analyses of experimental conditions were compared to the control group. Physical activity increased over time for patients having access to social support sections plus gaming (unstandardized beta coefficient [B]=3.39, P=.02). Health care

  14. Persuasive System Design Does Matter: A Systematic Review of Adherence to Web-Based Interventions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kok, Robin N; Ossebaard, Hans C; Van Gemert-Pijnen, Julia EWC

    2012-01-01

    Background Although web-based interventions for promoting health and health-related behavior can be effective, poor adherence is a common issue that needs to be addressed. Technology as a means to communicate the content in web-based interventions has been neglected in research. Indeed, technology is often seen as a black-box, a mere tool that has no effect or value and serves only as a vehicle to deliver intervention content. In this paper we examine technology from a holistic perspective. We see it as a vital and inseparable aspect of web-based interventions to help explain and understand adherence. Objective This study aims to review the literature on web-based health interventions to investigate whether intervention characteristics and persuasive design affect adherence to a web-based intervention. Methods We conducted a systematic review of studies into web-based health interventions. Per intervention, intervention characteristics, persuasive technology elements and adherence were coded. We performed a multiple regression analysis to investigate whether these variables could predict adherence. Results We included 101 articles on 83 interventions. The typical web-based intervention is meant to be used once a week, is modular in set-up, is updated once a week, lasts for 10 weeks, includes interaction with the system and a counselor and peers on the web, includes some persuasive technology elements, and about 50% of the participants adhere to the intervention. Regarding persuasive technology, we see that primary task support elements are most commonly employed (mean 2.9 out of a possible 7.0). Dialogue support and social support are less commonly employed (mean 1.5 and 1.2 out of a possible 7.0, respectively). When comparing the interventions of the different health care areas, we find significant differences in intended usage (p = .004), setup (p persuasive technology elements, a substantial amount of variance in adherence can be explained. Although there are

  15. A web-based tool to support shared decision making for people with a psychotic disorder: randomized controlled trial and process evaluation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    van der Krieke, Lian; Emerencia, Ando C; Boonstra, Nynke; Wunderink, Lex; de Jonge, Peter; Sytema, Sjoerd

    2013-10-07

    Mental health policy makers encourage the development of electronic decision aids to increase patient participation in medical decision making. Evidence is needed to determine whether these decision aids are helpful in clinical practice and whether they lead to increased patient involvement and better outcomes. This study reports the outcome of a randomized controlled trial and process evaluation of a Web-based intervention to facilitate shared decision making for people with psychotic disorders. The study was carried out in a Dutch mental health institution. Patients were recruited from 2 outpatient teams for patients with psychosis (N=250). Patients in the intervention condition (n=124) were provided an account to access a Web-based information and decision tool aimed to support patients in acquiring an overview of their needs and appropriate treatment options provided by their mental health care organization. Patients were given the opportunity to use the Web-based tool either on their own (at their home computer or at a computer of the service) or with the support of an assistant. Patients in the control group received care as usual (n=126). Half of the patients in the sample were patients experiencing a first episode of psychosis; the other half were patients with a chronic psychosis. Primary outcome was patient-perceived involvement in medical decision making, measured with the Combined Outcome Measure for Risk Communication and Treatment Decision-making Effectiveness (COMRADE). Process evaluation consisted of questionnaire-based surveys, open interviews, and researcher observation. In all, 73 patients completed the follow-up measurement and were included in the final analysis (response rate 29.2%). More than one-third (48/124, 38.7%) of the patients who were provided access to the Web-based decision aid used it, and most used its full functionality. No differences were found between the intervention and control conditions on perceived involvement in medical

  16. Pathosphere.org: Pathogen Detection and Characterization Through a Web-based, Open-source Informatics Platform

    Science.gov (United States)

    2015-12-29

    human), Homo sapiens chromosome (human), Mus_musculus ( rodent ), Sus scrofa (pig), mitochondrion genome, and Xenopus laevis (frog) . The taxonomy... Amazon Web Services. PLoS Comput Biol 2011, 7:e1002147. 10. Briese T, Paweska JT, McMullan LK, Hutchison SK, Street C, Palacios G, Khristova ML...human enterovirus C genotypes found in respiratory samples from Peru . J Gen Virol 2013, 94(Pt 1):120–7. 54. Jacob ST, Crozier I, Schieffelin JS

  17. Web-based Survey Data Collection With Peer Support and Advocacy Organizations: Implications of Participatory Methods.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ostrow, Laysha; Penney, Darby; Stuart, Elizabeth; Leaf, Phillip J

    2017-01-01

    The 2012 National Survey of Peer-Run Organizations is one of the first to survey a nationally representative sample of mental health peer-run organizations, nonprofit venues for support and advocacy which are defined by people with psychiatric histories being in positions of authority and control. This paper describes data collection methods and demonstrates how participatory strategies to involve people with psychiatric histories intersected with Internet research to achieve study aims. People with psychiatric histories were involved in designing and implementing a web-based survey to collect data on peer-run organizations' operations and views on national policy. Participatory approaches were used throughout design, data collection analysis, and dissemination. The extensive involvement of people with psychiatric histories in project design and implementation were important strategies that contributed to this study's success.

  18. How to increase rearch and adherence of web-based interventions : a design research viewpoint

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Ludden, Geke D.S.; van Rompay, Thomas J.L.; Kelders, Saskia M.; van Gemert-Pijnen, Julia E.W.C.

    2015-01-01

    Nowadays, technology is increasingly used to increase people’s well-being. For example, many mobile and Web-based apps have been developed that can support people to become mentally fit or to manage their daily diet. However, analyses of current Web-based interventions show that many systems are

  19. Current trends on knowledge-based systems

    CERN Document Server

    Valencia-García, Rafael

    2017-01-01

    This book presents innovative and high-quality research on the implementation of conceptual frameworks, strategies, techniques, methodologies, informatics platforms and models for developing advanced knowledge-based systems and their application in different fields, including Agriculture, Education, Automotive, Electrical Industry, Business Services, Food Manufacturing, Energy Services, Medicine and others. Knowledge-based technologies employ artificial intelligence methods to heuristically address problems that cannot be solved by means of formal techniques. These technologies draw on standard and novel approaches from various disciplines within Computer Science, including Knowledge Engineering, Natural Language Processing, Decision Support Systems, Artificial Intelligence, Databases, Software Engineering, etc. As a combination of different fields of Artificial Intelligence, the area of Knowledge-Based Systems applies knowledge representation, case-based reasoning, neural networks, Semantic Web and TICs used...

  20. The Informatics Security Cost of Distributed Applications

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ion IVAN

    2010-01-01

    Full Text Available The objective, necessity, means and estimated efficiency of information security cost modeling are presented. The security requirements of distributed informatics applications are determined. Aspects regarding design, development and implementation are established. Influence factors for informatics security are presented and their correlation is analyzed. The costs associated to security processes are studied. Optimal criteria for informatics security are established. The security cost of the informatics application for validating organizational identifiers is determined using theoretical assumptions made for cost models. The conclusions highlight the validity of research results and offer perspectives for future research.

  1. Pathology informatics fellowship training: Focus on molecular pathology

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Diana Mandelker

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available Background: Pathology informatics is both emerging as a distinct subspecialty and simultaneously becoming deeply integrated within the breadth of pathology practice. As specialists, pathology informaticians need a broad skill set, including aptitude with information fundamentals, information systems, workflow and process, and governance and management. Currently, many of those seeking training in pathology informatics additionally choose training in a second subspecialty. Combining pathology informatics training with molecular pathology is a natural extension, as molecular pathology is a subspecialty with high potential for application of modern biomedical informatics techniques. Methods and Results: Pathology informatics and molecular pathology fellows and faculty evaluated the current fellowship program′s core curriculum topics and subtopics for relevance to molecular pathology. By focusing on the overlap between the two disciplines, a structured curriculum consisting of didactics, operational rotations, and research projects was developed for those fellows interested in both pathology informatics and molecular pathology. Conclusions: The scope of molecular diagnostics is expanding dramatically as technology advances and our understanding of disease extends to the genetic level. Here, we highlight many of the informatics challenges facing molecular pathology today, and outline specific informatics principles necessary for the training of future molecular pathologists.

  2. Pathology informatics fellowship training: Focus on molecular pathology.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mandelker, Diana; Lee, Roy E; Platt, Mia Y; Riedlinger, Gregory; Quinn, Andrew; Rao, Luigi K F; Klepeis, Veronica E; Mahowald, Michael; Lane, William J; Beckwith, Bruce A; Baron, Jason M; McClintock, David S; Kuo, Frank C; Lebo, Matthew S; Gilbertson, John R

    2014-01-01

    Pathology informatics is both emerging as a distinct subspecialty and simultaneously becoming deeply integrated within the breadth of pathology practice. As specialists, pathology informaticians need a broad skill set, including aptitude with information fundamentals, information systems, workflow and process, and governance and management. Currently, many of those seeking training in pathology informatics additionally choose training in a second subspecialty. Combining pathology informatics training with molecular pathology is a natural extension, as molecular pathology is a subspecialty with high potential for application of modern biomedical informatics techniques. Pathology informatics and molecular pathology fellows and faculty evaluated the current fellowship program's core curriculum topics and subtopics for relevance to molecular pathology. By focusing on the overlap between the two disciplines, a structured curriculum consisting of didactics, operational rotations, and research projects was developed for those fellows interested in both pathology informatics and molecular pathology. The scope of molecular diagnostics is expanding dramatically as technology advances and our understanding of disease extends to the genetic level. Here, we highlight many of the informatics challenges facing molecular pathology today, and outline specific informatics principles necessary for the training of future molecular pathologists.

  3. Web 2.0 collaboration tools to support student research in hydrology - an opinion

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pathirana, A.; Gersonius, B.; Radhakrishnan, M.

    2012-02-01

    A growing body of evidence suggests that it is unwise to make the a-priori assumption that university students are ready and eager to embrace modern online technologies employed to enhance the educational experience. We present an opinion on employing Wiki, a popular Web 2.0 technology, in small student groups, based on a case-study of using it customized as a personal learning environment (PLE) for supporting thesis research in hydrology. Since inception in 2006 the system presented has proven to facilitate knowledge construction and peer-communication within and across groups of students of different academic years and to stimulate learning. Being an open ended and egalitarian system, it was a minimal burden to maintain, as all students became content authors and shared responsibility. A number of unintended uses of the system were also observed, like using it as a backup medium and mobile storage. We attribute the success and sustainability of the proposed web 2.0-based approach to the fact that the efforts were not limited to the application of the technology, but comprised the creation of a supporting environment with educational activities organized around it. We propose that Wiki-based PLEs are much more suitable than traditional learning management systems for supporting non-classroom education activities like thesis research in hydrology.

  4. The Process Mediation Framework for Semantic Web Services

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Vaculín, Roman; Neruda, Roman

    2009-01-01

    Roč. 3, č. 1 (2009), s. 27-58 ISSN 1746-1375 R&D Projects: GA MŠk ME08095; GA AV ČR 1ET100300517 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z10300504 Keywords : process mediation * OWL-S * semantic web services * adapter synthesis Subject RIV: IN - Informatics, Computer Science

  5. Development, implementation and pilot evaluation of a Web-based Virtual Patient Case Simulation environment – Web-SP

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Boberg Jonas

    2006-02-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background The Web-based Simulation of Patients (Web-SP project was initiated in order to facilitate the use of realistic and interactive virtual patients (VP in medicine and healthcare education. Web-SP focuses on moving beyond the technology savvy teachers, when integrating simulation-based education into health sciences curricula, by making the creation and use of virtual patients easier. The project strives to provide a common generic platform for design/creation, management, evaluation and sharing of web-based virtual patients. The aim of this study was to evaluate if it was possible to develop a web-based virtual patient case simulation environment where the entire case authoring process might be handled by teachers and which would be flexible enough to be used in different healthcare disciplines. Results The Web-SP system was constructed to support easy authoring, management and presentation of virtual patient cases. The case authoring environment was found to facilitate for teachers to create full-fledged patient cases without the assistance of computer specialists. Web-SP was successfully implemented at several universities by taking into account key factors such as cost, access, security, scalability and flexibility. Pilot evaluations in medical, dentistry and pharmacy courses shows that students regarded Web-SP as easy to use, engaging and to be of educational value. Cases adapted for all three disciplines were judged to be of significant educational value by the course leaders. Conclusion The Web-SP system seems to fulfil the aim of providing a common generic platform for creation, management and evaluation of web-based virtual patient cases. The responses regarding the authoring environment indicated that the system might be user-friendly enough to appeal to a majority of the academic staff. In terms of implementation strengths, Web-SP seems to fulfil most needs from course directors and teachers from various educational

  6. Biomedical informatics: we are what we publish.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Elkin, P L; Brown, S H; Wright, G

    2013-01-01

    This article is part of a For-Discussion-Section of Methods of Information in Medicine on "Biomedical Informatics: We are what we publish". It is introduced by an editorial and followed by a commentary paper with invited comments. In subsequent issues the discussion may continue through letters to the editor. Informatics experts have attempted to define the field via consensus projects which has led to consensus statements by both AMIA. and by IMIA. We add to the output of this process the results of a study of the Pubmed publications with abstracts from the field of Biomedical Informatics. We took the terms from the AMIA consensus document and the terms from the IMIA definitions of the field of Biomedical Informatics and combined them through human review to create the Health Informatics Ontology. We built a terminology server using the Intelligent Natural Language Processor (iNLP). Then we downloaded the entire set of articles in Medline identified by searching the literature by "Medical Informatics" OR "Bioinformatics". The articles were parsed by the joint AMIA / IMIA terminology and then again using SNOMED CT and for the Bioinformatics they were also parsed using HGNC Ontology. We identified 153,580 articles using "Medical Informatics" and 20,573 articles using "Bioinformatics". This resulted in 168,298 unique articles and an overlap of 5,855 articles. Of these 62,244 articles (37%) had titles and abstracts that contained at least one concept from the Health Informatics Ontology. SNOMED CT indexing showed that the field interacts with most all clinical fields of medicine. Further defining the field by what we publish can add value to the consensus driven processes that have been the mainstay of the efforts to date. Next steps should be to extract terms from the literature that are uncovered and create class hierarchies and relationships for this content. We should also examine the high occurring of MeSH terms as markers to define Biomedical Informatics

  7. A Web-Based Tool to Support Shared Decision Making for People With a Psychotic Disorder: Randomized Controlled Trial and Process Evaluation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Emerencia, Ando C; Boonstra, Nynke; Wunderink, Lex; de Jonge, Peter; Sytema, Sjoerd

    2013-01-01

    Background Mental health policy makers encourage the development of electronic decision aids to increase patient participation in medical decision making. Evidence is needed to determine whether these decision aids are helpful in clinical practice and whether they lead to increased patient involvement and better outcomes. Objective This study reports the outcome of a randomized controlled trial and process evaluation of a Web-based intervention to facilitate shared decision making for people with psychotic disorders. Methods The study was carried out in a Dutch mental health institution. Patients were recruited from 2 outpatient teams for patients with psychosis (N=250). Patients in the intervention condition (n=124) were provided an account to access a Web-based information and decision tool aimed to support patients in acquiring an overview of their needs and appropriate treatment options provided by their mental health care organization. Patients were given the opportunity to use the Web-based tool either on their own (at their home computer or at a computer of the service) or with the support of an assistant. Patients in the control group received care as usual (n=126). Half of the patients in the sample were patients experiencing a first episode of psychosis; the other half were patients with a chronic psychosis. Primary outcome was patient-perceived involvement in medical decision making, measured with the Combined Outcome Measure for Risk Communication and Treatment Decision-making Effectiveness (COMRADE). Process evaluation consisted of questionnaire-based surveys, open interviews, and researcher observation. Results In all, 73 patients completed the follow-up measurement and were included in the final analysis (response rate 29.2%). More than one-third (48/124, 38.7%) of the patients who were provided access to the Web-based decision aid used it, and most used its full functionality. No differences were found between the intervention and control conditions

  8. The ICNP-BaT--a multilingual web-based tool to support the collaborative translation of the International Classification for Nursing Practice (ICNP).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schrader, Ulrich; Tackenberg, Peter; Widmer, Rudolf; Portenier, Lucien; König, Peter

    2007-01-01

    To ease and speed up the translation of the ICNP version 1 into the German language a web service was developed to support the collaborative work of all Austrian, Swiss, and German translators and subsequently of the evaluators of the resultant translation. The web service does help to support a modified Delphi technique. Since the web service is multilingual by design it can facilitate the translation of the ICNP into other languages as well. The process chosen can be adopted by other projects involved in translating terminologies.

  9. Persuasive system design does matter: a systematic review of adherence to web-based interventions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kelders, Saskia M; Kok, Robin N; Ossebaard, Hans C; Van Gemert-Pijnen, Julia E W C

    2012-11-14

    Although web-based interventions for promoting health and health-related behavior can be effective, poor adherence is a common issue that needs to be addressed. Technology as a means to communicate the content in web-based interventions has been neglected in research. Indeed, technology is often seen as a black-box, a mere tool that has no effect or value and serves only as a vehicle to deliver intervention content. In this paper we examine technology from a holistic perspective. We see it as a vital and inseparable aspect of web-based interventions to help explain and understand adherence. This study aims to review the literature on web-based health interventions to investigate whether intervention characteristics and persuasive design affect adherence to a web-based intervention. We conducted a systematic review of studies into web-based health interventions. Per intervention, intervention characteristics, persuasive technology elements and adherence were coded. We performed a multiple regression analysis to investigate whether these variables could predict adherence. We included 101 articles on 83 interventions. The typical web-based intervention is meant to be used once a week, is modular in set-up, is updated once a week, lasts for 10 weeks, includes interaction with the system and a counselor and peers on the web, includes some persuasive technology elements, and about 50% of the participants adhere to the intervention. Regarding persuasive technology, we see that primary task support elements are most commonly employed (mean 2.9 out of a possible 7.0). Dialogue support and social support are less commonly employed (mean 1.5 and 1.2 out of a possible 7.0, respectively). When comparing the interventions of the different health care areas, we find significant differences in intended usage (p=.004), setup (psystem (p=.003) and peers (p=.017), duration (F=6.068, p=.004), adherence (F=4.833, p=.010) and the number of primary task support elements (F=5.631, p=.005

  10. Web Based Seismological Monitoring (wbsm)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Giudicepietro, F.; Meglio, V.; Romano, S. P.; de Cesare, W.; Ventre, G.; Martini, M.

    Over the last few decades the seismological monitoring systems have dramatically improved tanks to the technological advancements and to the scientific progresses of the seismological studies. The most modern processing systems use the network tech- nologies to realize high quality performances in data transmission and remote controls. Their architecture is designed to favor the real-time signals analysis. This is, usually, realized by adopting a modular structure that allow to easy integrate any new cal- culation algorithm, without affecting the other system functionalities. A further step in the seismic processing systems evolution is the large use of the web based appli- cations. The web technologies can be an useful support for the monitoring activities allowing to automatically publishing the results of signals processing and favoring the remote access to data, software systems and instrumentation. An application of the web technologies to the seismological monitoring has been developed at the "Os- servatorio Vesuviano" monitoring center (INGV) in collaboration with the "Diparti- mento di Informatica e Sistemistica" of the Naples University. A system named Web Based Seismological Monitoring (WBSM) has been developed. Its main objective is to automatically publish the seismic events processing results and to allow displaying, analyzing and downloading seismic data via Internet. WBSM uses the XML tech- nology for hypocentral and picking parameters representation and creates a seismic events data base containing parametric data and wave-forms. In order to give tools for the evaluation of the quality and reliability of the published locations, WBSM also supplies all the quality parameters calculated by the locating program and allow to interactively display the wave-forms and the related parameters. WBSM is a modular system in which the interface function to the data sources is performed by two spe- cific modules so that to make it working in conjunction with a

  11. Comparative effectiveness research and medical informatics.

    Science.gov (United States)

    D'Avolio, Leonard W; Farwell, Wildon R; Fiore, Louis D

    2010-12-01

    As is the case for environmental, ecological, astronomical, and other sciences, medical practice and research finds itself in a tsunami of data. This data deluge, due primarily to the introduction of digitalization in routine medical care and medical research, affords the opportunity for improved patient care and scientific discovery. Medical informatics is the subdiscipline of medicine created to make greater use of information in order to improve healthcare. The 4 areas of medical informatics research (information access, structure, analysis, and interaction) are used as a framework to discuss the overlap in information needs of comparative effectiveness research and potential contributions of medical informatics. Examples of progress from the medical informatics literature and the Veterans Affairs Healthcare System are provided. Published by Elsevier Inc.

  12. 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.

  13. Usability Evaluation of a Web-Based Learning System

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nguyen, Thao

    2012-01-01

    The paper proposes a contingent, learner-centred usability evaluation method and a prototype tool of such systems. This is a new usability evaluation method for web-based learning systems using a set of empirically-supported usability factors and can be done effectively with limited resources. During the evaluation process, the method allows for…

  14. Creating a pipeline of talent for informatics: STEM initiative for high school students in computer science, biology, and biomedical informatics

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Joyeeta Dutta-Moscato

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available This editorial provides insights into how informatics can attract highly trained students by involving them in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM training at the high school level and continuing to provide mentorship and research opportunities through the formative years of their education. Our central premise is that the trajectory necessary to be expert in the emergent fields in front of them requires acceleration at an early time point. Both pathology (and biomedical informatics are new disciplines which would benefit from involvement by students at an early stage of their education. In 2009, Michael T Lotze MD, Kirsten Livesey (then a medical student, now a medical resident at University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC, Richard Hersheberger, PhD (Currently, Dean at Roswell Park, and Megan Seippel, MS (the administrator launched the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute (UPCI Summer Academy to bring high school students for an 8 week summer academy focused on Cancer Biology. Initially, pathology and biomedical informatics were involved only in the classroom component of the UPCI Summer Academy. In 2011, due to popular interest, an informatics track called Computer Science, Biology and Biomedical Informatics (CoSBBI was launched. CoSBBI currently acts as a feeder program for the undergraduate degree program in bioinformatics at the University of Pittsburgh, which is a joint degree offered by the Departments of Biology and Computer Science. We believe training in bioinformatics is the best foundation for students interested in future careers in pathology informatics or biomedical informatics. We describe our approach to the recruitment, training and research mentoring of high school students to create a pipeline of exceptionally well-trained applicants for both the disciplines of pathology informatics and biomedical informatics. We emphasize here how mentoring of high school students in pathology informatics and biomedical

  15. Creating a pipeline of talent for informatics: STEM initiative for high school students in computer science, biology, and biomedical informatics.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dutta-Moscato, Joyeeta; Gopalakrishnan, Vanathi; Lotze, Michael T; Becich, Michael J

    2014-01-01

    This editorial provides insights into how informatics can attract highly trained students by involving them in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) training at the high school level and continuing to provide mentorship and research opportunities through the formative years of their education. Our central premise is that the trajectory necessary to be expert in the emergent fields in front of them requires acceleration at an early time point. Both pathology (and biomedical) informatics are new disciplines which would benefit from involvement by students at an early stage of their education. In 2009, Michael T Lotze MD, Kirsten Livesey (then a medical student, now a medical resident at University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC)), Richard Hersheberger, PhD (Currently, Dean at Roswell Park), and Megan Seippel, MS (the administrator) launched the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute (UPCI) Summer Academy to bring high school students for an 8 week summer academy focused on Cancer Biology. Initially, pathology and biomedical informatics were involved only in the classroom component of the UPCI Summer Academy. In 2011, due to popular interest, an informatics track called Computer Science, Biology and Biomedical Informatics (CoSBBI) was launched. CoSBBI currently acts as a feeder program for the undergraduate degree program in bioinformatics at the University of Pittsburgh, which is a joint degree offered by the Departments of Biology and Computer Science. We believe training in bioinformatics is the best foundation for students interested in future careers in pathology informatics or biomedical informatics. We describe our approach to the recruitment, training and research mentoring of high school students to create a pipeline of exceptionally well-trained applicants for both the disciplines of pathology informatics and biomedical informatics. We emphasize here how mentoring of high school students in pathology informatics and biomedical informatics

  16. Web-Based Distributed XML Query Processing

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Smiljanic, M.; Feng, L.; Jonker, Willem; Blanken, Henk; Grabs, T.; Schek, H-J.; Schenkel, R.; Weikum, G.

    2003-01-01

    Web-based distributed XML query processing has gained in importance in recent years due to the widespread popularity of XML on the Web. Unlike centralized and tightly coupled distributed systems, Web-based distributed database systems are highly unpredictable and uncontrollable, with a rather

  17. Four Data Visualization Heuristics to Facilitate Reflection in Personal Informatics

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Cuttone, Andrea; Petersen, Michael Kai; Larsen, Jakob Eg

    2014-01-01

    In this paper we discuss how to facilitate the process of reflection in Personal Informatics and Quantified Self systems through interactive data visualizations. Four heuristics for the design and evaluation of such systems have been identified through analysis of self-tracking devices and apps....... Dashboard interface paradigms in specific self-tracking devices (Fitbit and Basis) are discussed as representative examples of state of the art in feedback and reflection support. By relating to existing work in other domains, such as event related representation of time series multivariate data...... in financial analytics, it is discussed how the heuristics could guide designs that would further facilitate reflection in self-tracking personal informatics systems....

  18. Development of Web-Based Menu Planning Support System and its Solution Using Genetic Algorithm

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kashima, Tomoko; Matsumoto, Shimpei; Ishii, Hiroaki

    2009-10-01

    Recently lifestyle-related diseases have become an object of public concern, while at the same time people are being more health conscious. As an essential factor for causing the lifestyle-related diseases, we assume that the knowledge circulation on dietary habits is still insufficient. This paper focuses on everyday meals close to our life and proposes a well-balanced menu planning system as a preventive measure of lifestyle-related diseases. The system is developed by using a Web-based frontend and it provides multi-user services and menu information sharing capabilities like social networking services (SNS). The system is implemented on a Web server running Apache (HTTP server software), MySQL (database management system), and PHP (scripting language for dynamic Web pages). For the menu planning, a genetic algorithm is applied by understanding this problem as multidimensional 0-1 integer programming.

  19. Mouse Genome Informatics (MGI) Is the International Resource for Information on the Laboratory Mouse.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Law, MeiYee; Shaw, David R

    2018-01-01

    Mouse Genome Informatics (MGI, http://www.informatics.jax.org/ ) web resources provide free access to meticulously curated information about the laboratory mouse. MGI's primary goal is to help researchers investigate the genetic foundations of human diseases by translating information from mouse phenotypes and disease models studies to human systems. MGI provides comprehensive phenotypes for over 50,000 mutant alleles in mice and provides experimental model descriptions for over 1500 human diseases. Curated data from scientific publications are integrated with those from high-throughput phenotyping and gene expression centers. Data are standardized using defined, hierarchical vocabularies such as the Mammalian Phenotype (MP) Ontology, Mouse Developmental Anatomy and the Gene Ontologies (GO). This chapter introduces you to Gene and Allele Detail pages and provides step-by-step instructions for simple searches and those that take advantage of the breadth of MGI data integration.

  20. Approaches, requirements and trends in teacher training informatics to attestation of pedagogical stuff under conditions of informatization

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ольга Юрьевна Заславская

    2013-12-01

    Full Text Available This article describes the requirements for the training of teachers of Informatics, the need for managerial competence. Recommendations to the teacher of Informatics for the attestation of pedagogical staff.

  1. The Role of Medical Informatics in Primary Care Education

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    PJ McCullagh

    2000-02-01

    Full Text Available This paper investigates the ability of a group of Primary Care professionals to acquire appropriate document retrieval skills, so that they can apply evidence based health care techniques to their various Primary Care roles. The participants, most of whom had little prior experience of the Internet, were enrolled on a two-year part-time Postgraduate Diploma / MSc in Primary Care. As part of the course, they took a compulsory 12-week module in Medical Informatics. A specific task was set: to find appropriate information on Meningococcal Meningitis and Public Health, by using National Library of Medicine's PUBMED bibliographic retrieval system and other unspecified Internet sources. A supplementary piece of coursework required the group to become information providers by providing tutorials on the world wide web. Analysis of the reports showed that the participants were able to learn and use the information tools successfully and that appropriate skills can be transferred in a short time. Overall nine were positive as to the benefits of the evidence-based approach contributing to local health care, with nine expressing mixed views and two having more negative opinions.

  2. Web-based objective structured clinical examination with remote standardized patients and Skype: resident experience.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Langenau, Erik; Kachur, Elizabeth; Horber, Dot

    2014-07-01

    Using Skype and remote standardized patients (RSPs), investigators sought to evaluate user acceptance of a web-based objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) among resident physicians. After participating in four web-based clinical encounters addressing pain with RSPs, 59 residents from different training programs, disciplines and geographic locations completed a 52-item questionnaire regarding their experience with Skype and RSPs. Open-ended responses were solicited as well. The majority of participants (97%) agreed or strongly agreed the web-based format was convenient and a practical learning exercise, and 90% agreed or strongly agreed the format was effective in teaching communication skills. Although 93% agreed or strongly agreed they could communicate easily with RSPs using Skype, 80% preferred traditional face-to-face clinical encounters, and 58% reported technical difficulties during the encounters. Open-ended written responses supported survey results. Findings from this study expose challenges with technology and human factors, but positive experiences support the continued investigation of web-based OSCEs as a synchronous e-learning initiative for teaching and assessing doctor-patient communication. Such educational programs are valuable but unlikely to replace face-to-face encounters with patients. This web-based OSCE program provides physician learners with additional opportunity to improve doctor-patient communication. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  3. Building the foundations of an informatics agenda for global health - 2011 workshop report.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mirza, Muzna; Kratz, Mary; Medeiros, Donna; Pina, Jamie; Richards, Janise; Zhang, Xiaohui; Fraser, Hamish; Bailey, Christopher; Krishnamurthy, Ramesh

    2012-01-01

    Strengthening the capacity of public health systems to protect and promote the health of the global population continues to be essential in an increasingly connected world. Informatics practices and principles can play an important role for improving global health response capacity. A critical step is to develop an informatics agenda for global health so that efforts can be prioritized and important global health issues addressed. With the aim of building a foundation for this agenda, the authors developed a workshop to examine the evidence in this domain, recognize the gaps, and document evidence-based recommendations. On 21 August 2011, at the 2011 Public Health Informatics Conference in Atlanta, GA, USA, a four-hour interactive workshop was conducted with 85 participants from 15 countries representing governmental organizations, private sector companies, academia, and non-governmental organizations. The workshop discussion followed an agenda of a plenary session - planning and agenda setting - and four tracks: Policy and governance; knowledge management, collaborative networks and global partnerships; capacity building; and globally reusable resources: metrics, tools, processes, templates, and digital assets. Track discussions examined the evidence base and the participants' experience to gather information about the current status, compelling and potential benefits, challenges, barriers, and gaps for global health informatics as well as document opportunities and recommendations. This report provides a summary of the discussions and key recommendations as a first step towards building an informatics agenda for global health. Attention to the identified topics and issues is expected to lead to measurable improvements in health equity, health outcomes, and impacts on population health. We propose the workshop report be used as a foundation for the development of the full agenda and a detailed roadmap for global health informatics activities based on further

  4. CorRECTreatment: a web-based decision support tool for rectal cancer treatment that uses the analytic hierarchy process and decision tree.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Suner, A; Karakülah, G; Dicle, O; Sökmen, S; Çelikoğlu, C C

    2015-01-01

    The selection of appropriate rectal cancer treatment is a complex multi-criteria decision making process, in which clinical decision support systems might be used to assist and enrich physicians' decision making. The objective of the study was to develop a web-based clinical decision support tool for physicians in the selection of potentially beneficial treatment options for patients with rectal cancer. The updated decision model contained 8 and 10 criteria in the first and second steps respectively. The decision support model, developed in our previous study by combining the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) method which determines the priority of criteria and decision tree that formed using these priorities, was updated and applied to 388 patients data collected retrospectively. Later, a web-based decision support tool named corRECTreatment was developed. The compatibility of the treatment recommendations by the expert opinion and the decision support tool was examined for its consistency. Two surgeons were requested to recommend a treatment and an overall survival value for the treatment among 20 different cases that we selected and turned into a scenario among the most common and rare treatment options in the patient data set. In the AHP analyses of the criteria, it was found that the matrices, generated for both decision steps, were consistent (consistency ratiodecisions of experts, the consistency value for the most frequent cases was found to be 80% for the first decision step and 100% for the second decision step. Similarly, for rare cases consistency was 50% for the first decision step and 80% for the second decision step. The decision model and corRECTreatment, developed by applying these on real patient data, are expected to provide potential users with decision support in rectal cancer treatment processes and facilitate them in making projections about treatment options.

  5. How to Boost Engineering Support Via Web 2.0 - Seeds for the Ares Project...and/or Yours?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Scott, David W.

    2010-01-01

    The Mission Operations Laboratory (MOL) at Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) is responsible for Engineering Support capability for NASA s Ares launch system development. In pursuit of this, MOL is building the Ares Engineering and Operations Network (AEON), a web-based portal intended to provide a seamless interface to support and simplify two critical activities: a) Access and analyze Ares manufacturing, test, and flight performance data, with access to Shuttle data for comparison. b) Provide archive storage for engineering instrumentation data to support engineering design, development, and test. A mix of NASA-written and COTS software provides engineering analysis tools. A by-product of using a data portal to access and display data is access to collaborative tools inherent in a Web 2.0 environment. This paper discusses how Web 2.0 techniques, particularly social media, might be applied to the traditionally conservative and formal engineering support arena. A related paper by the author [1] considers use

  6. Integrating UIMA annotators in a web-based text processing framework.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Xiang; Arnold, Corey W

    2013-01-01

    The Unstructured Information Management Architecture (UIMA) [1] framework is a growing platform for natural language processing (NLP) applications. However, such applications may be difficult for non-technical users deploy. This project presents a web-based framework that wraps UIMA-based annotator systems into a graphical user interface for researchers and clinicians, and a web service for developers. An annotator that extracts data elements from lung cancer radiology reports is presented to illustrate the use of the system. Annotation results from the web system can be exported to multiple formats for users to utilize in other aspects of their research and workflow. This project demonstrates the benefits of a lay-user interface for complex NLP applications. Efforts such as this can lead to increased interest and support for NLP work in the clinical domain.

  7. BELIEF dashboard - a web-based curation interface to support generation of BEL networks

    OpenAIRE

    Madan, Sumit; Hodapp, Sven; Fluck, Juliane

    2015-01-01

    The relevance of network-based approaches in systems biology to achieve a better understanding of biological mechanisms has increased enormously. The Biological Expression Language (BEL) is well designed to collate findings from scientific literature into biological network models. To facilitate encoding and biocuration of such findings in BEL, a free and user-friendly web-based curation interface called BELIEF Dashboard has been developed. The interface incorporates an information extraction...

  8. Consumer Health Informatics: The Application of ICT in Improving Patient-Provider Partnership for a Better Health Care.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Abaidoo, Benjamin; Larweh, Benjamin Teye

    2014-01-01

    There is a growing interest concerning the potential of ICT solutions that are customized to consumers. This emerging discipline referred to as consumer health informatics (CHI) plays a major role in providing information to patients and the public, and facilitates the promotion of self-management. The concept of CHI has emerged out of the desire of most patients to shoulder responsibilities regarding their health and a growing desire of health practitioners to fully appreciate the potential of the patient. To describe the role of ICT in improving the patient-provider partnership in consumer health informatics. Systematic reviewing of literature, identification of reference sources and formulation of search strategies and manual search regarding the significance of developed CHI applications in healthcare delivery. New consumer health IT applications have been developed to be used on a variety of different platforms, including the Web, messaging systems, PDAs, and cell phones. These applications assists patients with self-management through reminders and prompts, delivery of real-time data on a patient's health condition to patients and providers, web-based communication and personal electronic health information. New tools are being developed for the purposes of providing information to patients and the public which has enhanced decision making in health matters and an avenue for clinicians and consumers to exchange health information for personal and public use. This calls for corroboration among healthcare organizations, governments and the ICT industry to develop new research and IT innovations which are tailored to the health needs of the consumer.

  9. An overview of medical informatics education in China.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hu, Dehua; Sun, Zhenling; Li, Houqing

    2013-05-01

    To outline the history of medical informatics education in the People's Republic of China, systematically analyze the current status of medical informatics education at different academic levels (bachelor's, master's, and doctoral), and suggest reasonable strategies for the further development of the field in China. The development of medical informatics education was divided into three stages, defined by changes in the specialty's name. Systematic searches of websites for material related to the specialty of medical informatics were then conducted. For undergraduate education, the websites surveyed included the website of the Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China (MOE) and those of universities or colleges identified using the baidu.com search engine. For postgraduate education, the websites included China's Graduate Admissions Information Network (CGAIN) and the websites of the universities or their schools or faculties. Specialties were selected on the basis of three criteria: (1) for undergraduate education, the name of specialty or program was medical informatics or medical information or information management and information system; for postgraduate education, medical informatics or medical information; (2) the specialty was approved and listed by the MOE; (3) the specialty was set up by a medical college or medical university, or a school of medicine of a comprehensive university. The information abstracted from the websites included the year of program approval and listing, the university/college, discipline catalog, discipline, specialty, specialty code, objectives, and main courses. A total of 55 program offerings for undergraduate education, 27 for master's-level education, and 5 for PhD-level education in medical informatics were identified and assessed in China. The results indicate that medical informatics education, a specialty rooted in medical library and information science education in China, has grown significantly in that

  10. The New Web-Based Hera Data Processing System at the HEASARC

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pence, W.; Chai, P.

    2012-09-01

    The HEASARC at NASA/GSFC has hosted an on-line astronomical data processing system called Hera for several years. Hera provides a complete data processing environment, including installed software packages, local data storage, and the CPU resources needed to support astronomical research by external users. The original design of Hera was based on a ‘client/server’ model which required that the user a) download and install a small helper program on their own computer before using Hera, and b) ensure that several non-standard computer ports/sockets be open for communication through any local firewalls on the user's machine. Hera has now been redesigned to eliminate these restrictions by operating within a purely Web-based environment which is accessed via a standard Web browser. Web-Hera is available at http://heasarc.gsfc.nasa.gov/webHera.

  11. Supporting Case-Based Learning in Information Security with Web-Based Technology

    Science.gov (United States)

    He, Wu; Yuan, Xiaohong; Yang, Li

    2013-01-01

    Case-based learning has been widely used in many disciplines. As an effective pedagogical method, case-based learning is also being used to support teaching and learning in the domain of information security. In this paper, we demonstrate case-based learning in information security by sharing our experiences in using a case study to teach security…

  12. Emerging Geospatial Sharing Technologies in Earth and Space Science Informatics

    Science.gov (United States)

    Singh, R.; Bermudez, L. E.

    2013-12-01

    Emerging Geospatial Sharing Technologies in Earth and Space Science Informatics The Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) mission is to serve as a global forum for the collaboration of developers and users of spatial data products and services, and to advance the development of international standards for geospatial interoperability. The OGC coordinates with over 400 institutions in the development of geospatial standards. In the last years two main trends are making disruptions in geospatial applications: mobile and context sharing. People now have more and more mobile devices to support their work and personal life. Mobile devices are intermittently connected to the internet and have smaller computing capacity than a desktop computer. Based on this trend a new OGC file format standard called GeoPackage will enable greater geospatial data sharing on mobile devices. GeoPackage is perhaps best understood as the natural evolution of Shapefiles, which have been the predominant lightweight geodata sharing format for two decades. However the format is extremely limited. Four major shortcomings are that only vector points, lines, and polygons are supported; property names are constrained by the dBASE format; multiple files are required to encode a single data set; and multiple Shapefiles are required to encode multiple data sets. A more modern lingua franca for geospatial data is long overdue. GeoPackage fills this need with support for vector data, image tile matrices, and raster data. And it builds upon a database container - SQLite - that's self-contained, single-file, cross-platform, serverless, transactional, and open source. A GeoPackage, in essence, is a set of SQLite database tables whose content and layout is described in the candidate GeoPackage Implementation Specification available at https://portal.opengeospatial.org/files/?artifact_id=54838&version=1. The second trend is sharing client 'contexts'. When a user is looking into an article or a product on the web

  13. A Low-Effort Analytics Platform for Visualizing Evolving Flask-Based Python Web Services

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Vogel, Patrick; Klooster, Thijs; Andrikopoulos, Vasilios OR Vasileios; Lungu, Micea-Filip

    2017-01-01

    Tens of thousands of web applications are written in Flask, a Python-based web framework. Despite a rich ecosystem of extensions, there is none that supports the developer in gaining insight into the evolving performance of their service. In this paper, we introduce Flask Dashboard, a library that

  14. Review of "Biomedical Informatics; Computer Applications in Health Care and Biomedicine" by Edward H. Shortliffe and James J. Cimino

    OpenAIRE

    Clifford Gari D

    2006-01-01

    Abstract This article is an invited review of the third edition of "Biomedical Informatics; Computer Applications in Health Care and Biomedicine", one of thirty-six volumes in Springer's 'Health Informatics Series', edited by E. Shortliffe and J. Cimino. This book spans most of the current methods and issues in health informatics, ranging through subjects as varied as data acquisition and storage, standards, natural language processing, imaging, electronic health records, decision support, te...

  15. Development of Grid-like Applications for Public Health Using Web 2.0 Mashup Techniques

    OpenAIRE

    Scotch, Matthew; Yip, Kevin Y.; Cheung, Kei-Hoi

    2008-01-01

    Development of public health informatics applications often requires the integration of multiple data sources. This process can be challenging due to issues such as different file formats, schemas, naming systems, and having to scrape the content of web pages. A potential solution to these system development challenges is the use of Web 2.0 technologies. In general, Web 2.0 technologies are new internet services that encourage and value information sharing and collaboration among individuals....

  16. Medical informatics: an essential tool for health sciences research in acute care.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Man; Pickering, Brian W; Smith, Vernon D; Hadzikadic, Mirsad; Gajic, Ognjen; Herasevich, Vitaly

    2009-10-01

    Medical Informatics has become an important tool in modern health care practice and research. In the present article we outline the challenges and opportunities associated with the implementation of electronic medical records (EMR) in complex environments such as intensive care units (ICU). We share our initial experience in the design, maintenance and application of a customized critical care, Microsoft SQL based, research warehouse, ICU DataMart. ICU DataMart integrates clinical and administrative data from heterogeneous sources within the EMR to support research and practice improvement in the ICUs. Examples of intelligent alarms -- "sniffers", administrative reports, decision support and clinical research applications are presented.

  17. Medical Informatics: An Essential Tool for Health Sciences Research in Acute Care

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Man Li

    2009-10-01

    Full Text Available Medical Informatics has become an important tool in modern health care practice and research. In the present article we outline the challenges and opportunities associated with the implementation of electronic medical records (EMR in complex environments such as intensive care units (ICU. We share our initial experience in the design, maintenance and application of a customized critical care, Microsoft SQL based, research warehouse, ICU DataMart. ICU DataMart integrates clinical and administrative data from heterogeneous sources within the EMR to support research and practice improvement in the ICUs. Examples of intelligent alarms – “sniffers”, administrative reports, decision support and clinical research applications are presented.

  18. Written online situational feedback via mobile phone to support self-management of chronic widespread pain: a usability study of a Web-based intervention

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Eide Erlend

    2011-02-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background This pretrial study aimed to develop and test the usability of a four-week Internet intervention delivered by a Web-enabled mobile phone to support self-management of chronic widespread pain. Methods The intervention included daily online entries and individualized written feedback, grounded in a mindfulness-based cognitive behavioral approach. The participants registered activities, emotions and pain cognitions three times daily using the mobile device. The therapist had immediate access to this information through a secure Web site. The situational information was used to formulate and send a personalized text message to the participant with the aim of stimulating effective self-management of the current situation. Six women participated and evaluated the experience. Results The intervention was rated as supportive, meaningful and user-friendly by the majority of the women. The response rate to the daily registration entries was high and technical problems were few. Conclusion The results indicate a feasible intervention. Web-applications are fast becoming standard features of mobile phones and interventions of this kind can therefore be more available than before. Trial registration number ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT01236209

  19. Quality of reporting web-based and non-web-based survey studies: What authors, reviewers and consumers should consider.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Turk, Tarek; Elhady, Mohamed Tamer; Rashed, Sherwet; Abdelkhalek, Mariam; Nasef, Somia Ahmed; Khallaf, Ashraf Mohamed; Mohammed, Abdelrahman Tarek; Attia, Andrew Wassef; Adhikari, Purushottam; Amin, Mohamed Alsabbahi; Hirayama, Kenji; Huy, Nguyen Tien

    2018-01-01

    Several influential aspects of survey research have been under-investigated and there is a lack of guidance on reporting survey studies, especially web-based projects. In this review, we aim to investigate the reporting practices and quality of both web- and non-web-based survey studies to enhance the quality of reporting medical evidence that is derived from survey studies and to maximize the efficiency of its consumption. Reporting practices and quality of 100 random web- and 100 random non-web-based articles published from 2004 to 2016 were assessed using the SUrvey Reporting GuidelinE (SURGE). The CHERRIES guideline was also used to assess the reporting quality of Web-based studies. Our results revealed a potential gap in the reporting of many necessary checklist items in both web-based and non-web-based survey studies including development, description and testing of the questionnaire, the advertisement and administration of the questionnaire, sample representativeness and response rates, incentives, informed consent, and methods of statistical analysis. Our findings confirm the presence of major discrepancies in reporting results of survey-based studies. This can be attributed to the lack of availability of updated universal checklists for quality of reporting standards. We have summarized our findings in a table that may serve as a roadmap for future guidelines and checklists, which will hopefully include all types and all aspects of survey research.

  20. Energy Decision Science and Informatics | Integrated Energy Solutions |

    Science.gov (United States)

    NREL Decision Science and Informatics Energy Decision Science and Informatics NREL utilizes and advances state-of-the-art decision science and informatics to help partners make well-informed energy decisions backed by credible, objective data analysis and insights to maximize the impact of energy

  1. Effective collaborative learning in biomedical education using a web-based infrastructure.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wu, Yunfeng; Zheng, Fang; Cai, Suxian; Xiang, Ning; Zhong, Zhangting; He, Jia; Xu, Fang

    2012-01-01

    This paper presents a feature-rich web-based system used for biomedical education at the undergraduate level. With the powerful groupware features provided by the wiki system, the instructors are able to establish a community-centered mentoring environment that capitalizes on local expertise to create a sense of online collaborative learning among students. The web-based infrastructure can help the instructors effectively organize and coordinate student research projects, and the groupware features may support the interactive activities, such as interpersonal communications and data sharing. The groupware features also provide the web-based system with a wide range of additional ways of organizing collaboratively developed materials, which makes it become an effective tool for online active learning. Students are able to learn the ability to work effectively in teams, with an improvement of project management, design collaboration, and technical writing skills. With the fruitful outcomes in recent years, it is positively thought that the web-based collaborative learning environment can perform an excellent shift away from the conventional instructor-centered teaching to community- centered collaborative learning in the undergraduate education.

  2. Medical Informatics Education & Research in Greece.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chouvarda, I; Maglaveras, N

    2015-08-13

    This paper aims to present an overview of the medical informatics landscape in Greece, to describe the Greek ehealth background and to highlight the main education and research axes in medical informatics, along with activities, achievements and pitfalls. With respect to research and education, formal and informal sources were investigated and information was collected and presented in a qualitative manner, including also quantitative indicators when possible. Greece has adopted and applied medical informatics education in various ways, including undergraduate courses in health sciences schools as well as multidisciplinary postgraduate courses. There is a continuous research effort, and large participation in EU-wide initiatives, in all the spectrum of medical informatics research, with notable scientific contributions, although technology maturation is not without barriers. Wide-scale deployment of eHealth is anticipated in the healthcare system in the near future. While ePrescription deployment has been an important step, ICT for integrated care and telehealth have a lot of room for further deployment. Greece is a valuable contributor in the European medical informatics arena, and has the potential to offer more as long as the barriers of research and innovation fragmentation are addressed and alleviated.

  3. Web-based interventions for caregivers of cancer patients: A review of literatures

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Winnie PY Tang

    2014-06-01

    Full Text Available Diagnosed with cancer is a traumatic event; it does not only affect the diagnosed patients, but also their caregivers. It brings along negative impacts on biopsychosocial health to the caregivers. Supportive interventions are essential for the caregivers to go through the cancer trajectory. In the past, interventions were being delivered in either face-to-face format or delivering written documents. Although Internet becomes a popular platform for delivering interventions given its substantial growth in usage, the effectiveness of this mode of intervention delivery is unclear. The aim of this review is to review existing literatures regarding efficacy of web-based interventions in psychological outcomes of cancer caregivers. A Literature search was performed in December 2012 from seven databases, including, Ovid MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsycINFO, CINHAL, ERIC, British Nursing Index and EBM Reviews. The following keywords were used in the search but were not limited to "paediatric", "parent", "caregiver", "cancer", "web-based", and "psycho education". Totally 4668 citations were identified, after excluding the duplicated and irrelevant citations; finally six studies were included in this review. A review of the literatures identified that the web-based interventions including either online support group only or a combination of informational website and online support group significantly improved coping skills, in a way reduced anxiety, stress, depression, burden, as well as negative mood and perceived bonding in cancer caregivers. It is concluded that a web-based format as a potential platform for delivering intervention to the caregivers of cancer patients for its unique advantage of easy accessibility, and no geographic or time barriers.

  4. Key features of intertidal food webs that support migratory shorebirds.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Blanche Saint-Béat

    Full Text Available The migratory shorebirds of the East Atlantic flyway land in huge numbers during a migratory stopover or wintering on the French Atlantic coast. The Brouage bare mudflat (Marennes-Oléron Bay, NE Atlantic is one of the major stopover sites in France. The particular structure and function of a food web affects the efficiency of carbon transfer. The structure and functioning of the Brouage food web is crucial for the conservation of species landing within this area because it provides sufficient food, which allows shorebirds to reach the north of Europe where they nest. The aim of this study was to describe and understand which food web characteristics support nutritional needs of birds. Two food-web models were constructed, based on in situ measurements that were made in February 2008 (the presence of birds and July 2008 (absence of birds. To complete the models, allometric relationships and additional data from the literature were used. The missing flow values of the food web models were estimated by Monte Carlo Markov Chain--Linear Inverse Modelling. The flow solutions obtained were used to calculate the ecological network analysis indices, which estimate the emergent properties of the functioning of a food-web. The total activities of the Brouage ecosystem in February and July are significantly different. The specialisation of the trophic links within the ecosystem does not appear to differ between the two models. In spite of a large export of carbon from the primary producer and detritus in winter, the higher recycling leads to a similar retention of carbon for the two seasons. It can be concluded that in February, the higher activity of the ecosystem coupled with a higher cycling and a mean internal organization, ensure the sufficient feeding of the migratory shorebirds.

  5. A TOOL FOR EMOTIONAL USER EXPERIENCE ASSESSMENT OF WEB-BASED MEDICAL SERVICES

    OpenAIRE

    Alexander Nikov; Tramaine Alaina Gumaia

    2016-01-01

    Emotional User Experience Design (eUXD) has become increasingly important for web-based services. The primary objective of this study is to enable users to use websites that are easy to understand and operate and pleasing to use. A checklist tool for an emotional user experience (eUX) assessment that supports web-based medical services is proposed. This tool measures user moods while using medical services’ websites. The tool allocates emotive design-oriented problems and thus defines relevan...

  6. Integrated Visualization of Multi-sensor Ocean Data across the Web

    Science.gov (United States)

    Platt, F.; Thompson, C. K.; Roberts, J. T.; Tsontos, V. M.; Hin Lam, C.; Arms, S. C.; Quach, N.

    2017-12-01

    Whether for research or operational decision support, oceanographic applications rely on the visualization of multivariate in situ and remote sensing data as an integral part of analysis workflows. However, given their inherently 3D-spatial and temporally dynamic nature, the visual representation of marine in situ data in particular poses a challenge. The Oceanographic In situ data Interoperability Project (OIIP) is a collaborative project funded under the NASA/ACCESS program that seeks to leverage and enhance higher TRL (technology readiness level) informatics technologies to address key data interoperability and integration issues associated with in situ ocean data, including the dearth of effective web-based visualization solutions. Existing web tools for the visualization of key in situ data types - point, profile, trajectory series - are limited in their support for integrated, dynamic and coordinated views of the spatiotemporal characteristics of the data. Via the extension of the JPL Common Mapping Client (CMC) software framework, OIIP seeks to provide improved visualization support for oceanographic in situ data sets. More specifically, this entails improved representation of both horizontal and vertical aspects of these data, which inherently are depth resolved and time referenced, as well as the visual synchronization with relevant remotely-sensed gridded data products, such as sea surface temperature and salinity. Electronic tagging datasets, which are a focal use case for OIIP, provide a representative, if somewhat complex, visualization challenge in this regard. Critical to the achievement of these development objectives has been compilation of a well-rounded set of visualization use cases and requirements based on a series of end-user consultations aimed at understanding their satellite-in situ visualization needs. Here we summarize progress on aspects of the technical work and our approach.

  7. Bridging the gap between informatics and medicine upon medical school entry: Implementing a course on the Applicative Use of ICT.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Milic, Natasa M; Ilic, Nikola; Stanisavljevic, Dejana M; Cirkovic, Andja M; Milin, Jelena S; Bukumiric, Zoran M; Milic, Nikola V; Savic, Marko D; Ristic, Sara M; Trajkovic, Goran Z

    2018-01-01

    Education is undergoing profound changes due to permanent technological innovations. This paper reports the results of a pilot study aimed at developing, implementing and evaluating the course, "Applicative Use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in Medicine," upon medical school entry. The Faculty of Medicine, University of Belgrade, introduced a curriculum reform in 2014 that included the implementation of the course, "Applicative Use of ICT in Medicine" for first year medical students. The course was designed using a blended learning format to introduce the concepts of Web-based learning environments. Data regarding student knowledge, use and attitudes towards ICT were prospectively collected for the classes of 2015/16 and 2016/17. The teaching approach was supported by multimedia didactic materials using Moodle LMS. The overall quality of the course was also assessed. The five level Likert scale was used to measure attitudes related to ICT. In total, 1110 students were assessed upon medical school entry. A small number of students (19%) had previous experience with e-learning. Students were largely in agreement that informatics is needed in medical education, and that it is also useful for doctors (4.1±1.0 and 4.1±0.9, respectively). Ability in informatics and use of the Internet in education in the adjusted multivariate regression model were significantly associated with positive student attitudes toward ICT. More than 80% of students stated that they had learned to evaluate medical information and would use the Internet to search medical literature as an additional source for education. The majority of students (77%) agreed that a blended learning approach facilitates access to learning materials and enables time independent learning (72%). Implementing the blended learning course, "Applicative Use of ICT in Medicine," may bridge the gap between medicine and informatics upon medical school entry. Students displayed positive attitudes towards

  8. Clinical Research Informatics Contributions from 2015.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Daniel, C; Choquet, R

    2016-11-10

    To summarize key contributions to current research in the field of Clinical Research Informatics (CRI) and to select best papers published in 2015. A bibliographic search using a combination of MeSH and free terms search over PubMed on Clinical Research Informatics (CRI) was performed followed by a double-blind review in order to select a list of candidate best papers to be then peer-reviewed by external reviewers. A consensus meeting between the two section editors and the editorial team was finally organized to conclude on the selection of best papers. Among the 579 returned papers published in the past year in the various areas of Clinical Research Informatics (CRI) - i) methods supporting clinical research, ii) data sharing and interoperability, iii) re-use of healthcare data for research, iv) patient recruitment and engagement, v) data privacy, security and regulatory issues and vi) policy and perspectives - the full review process selected four best papers. The first selected paper evaluates the capability of the Clinical Data Interchange Standards Consortium (CDISC) Operational Data Model (ODM) to support the representation of case report forms (in both the design stage and with patient level data) during a complete clinical study lifecycle. The second selected paper describes a prototype for secondary use of electronic health records data captured in non-standardized text. The third selected paper presents a privacy preserving electronic health record linkage tool and the last selected paper describes how big data use in US relies on access to health information governed by varying and often misunderstood legal requirements and ethical considerations. A major trend in the 2015 publications is the analysis of observational, "nonexperimental" information and the potential biases and confounding factors hidden in the data that will have to be carefully taken into account to validate new predictive models. In addiction, researchers have to understand

  9. A Multidisciplinary PBL Approach for Teaching Industrial Informatics and Robotics in Engineering

    Science.gov (United States)

    Calvo, Isidro; Cabanes, Itziar; Quesada, Jeronimo; Barambones, Oscar

    2018-01-01

    This paper describes the design of an industrial informatics course, following the project-based learning methodology, and reports the experience of four academic years (from 2012-13 to 2015-16). Industrial Informatics is a compulsory course taught in the third year of the B.Sc. degree in industrial electronics and automation engineering at the…

  10. A national survey on the current status of informatics residency education in pharmacy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Blash, Anthony; Saltsman, Connie L; Steil, Condit

    2017-11-01

    Upon completion of their post-graduate training, pharmacy informatics residents need to be prepared to interact with clinical and technology experts in the new healthcare environment. This study describes pharmacy informatics residency programs within the United States. Preliminary information for all pharmacy informatics residency programs was accessed from program webpages. An email was sent out to programs asking them to respond to a six-item questionnaire. This questionnaire was designed to elicit information on attributes of the program, behaviors of the preceptors and residents, and attitudes of the residency directors. Of 22 pharmacy informatics residencies identified, nineteen (86%) participated. Twenty (91%) were second post-graduate year (PGY2) residencies. Ten (45%) were accredited by the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP), while eight (36%) were candidates for accreditation. Hospital (17/22, 77%) and administrative offices (3/22, 14%) were the predominant training sites for pharmacy informatics residents. Large institutions were the predominant training environment for the pharmacy informatics resident, with 19 of 22 (86%) institutions reporting a licensed bed count of 500 or more. The median (range) number of informatics preceptors at a site was six to eight. Regarding barriers to pharmacy informatics residency education, residency directors reported that residents did not feel prepared based on the limited availability of curricular offerings. In the United States, relatively few residencies are explicitly focused on pharmacy informatics. Most of these are accredited and hospital affiliated, especially with large institutions (>500 beds). Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  11. ASHP statement on the pharmacy technician's role in pharmacy informatics.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2014-02-01

    The American Society of Health- System Pharmacists (ASHP) believes that specially trained pharmacy technicians can assume important supportive roles in pharmacy informatics. These roles include automation and technology systems management, management of projects, training and education, policy and governance, customer service, charge integrity, and reporting. Such roles require pharmacy technicians to gain expertise in information technology (IT) systems, including knowledge of interfaces, computer management techniques, problem resolution, and database maintenance. This knowledge could be acquired through specialized training or experience in a health science or allied scientific field (e.g., health informatics). With appropriate safeguards and supervision, pharmacy technician informaticists (PTIs) will manage IT processes in health-system pharmacy services, ensuring a safe and efficient medication-use process.

  12. Use of a wiki as an interactive teaching tool in pathology residency education: Experience with a genomics, research, and informatics in pathology course

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Seung Park

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available Background: The need for informatics and genomics training in pathology is critical, yet limited resources for such training are available. In this study we sought to critically test the hypothesis that the incorporation of a wiki (a collaborative writing and publication tool with roots in "Web 2.0" in a combined informatics and genomics course could both (1 serve as an interactive, collaborative educational resource and reference and (2 actively engage trainees by requiring the creation and sharing of educational materials. Materials and Methods: A 2-week full-time course at our institution covering genomics, research, and pathology informatics (GRIP was taught by 36 faculty to 18 second- and third-year pathology residents. The course content included didactic lectures and hands-on demonstrations of technology (e.g., whole-slide scanning, telepathology, and statistics software. Attendees were given pre- and posttests. Residents were trained to use wiki technology (MediaWiki and requested to construct a wiki about the GRIP course by writing comprehensive online review articles on assigned lectures. To gauge effectiveness, pretest and posttest scores for our course were compared with scores from the previous 7 years from the predecessor course (limited to informatics given at our institution that did not utilize wikis. Results: Residents constructed 59 peer-reviewed collaborative wiki articles. This group showed a 25% improvement (standard deviation 12% in test scores, which was greater than the 16% delta recorded in the prior 7 years of our predecessor course (P = 0.006. Conclusions: Our use of wiki technology provided a wiki containing high-quality content that will form the basis of future pathology informatics and genomics courses and proved to be an effective teaching tool, as evidenced by the significant rise in our resident posttest scores. Data from this project provide support for the notion that active participation in content creation

  13. Analytic webs support the synthesis of ecological data sets.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ellison, Aaron M; Osterweil, Leon J; Clarke, Lori; Hadley, Julian L; Wise, Alexander; Boose, Emery; Foster, David R; Hanson, Allen; Jensen, David; Kuzeja, Paul; Riseman, Edward; Schultz, Howard

    2006-06-01

    A wide variety of data sets produced by individual investigators are now synthesized to address ecological questions that span a range of spatial and temporal scales. It is important to facilitate such syntheses so that "consumers" of data sets can be confident that both input data sets and synthetic products are reliable. Necessary documentation to ensure the reliability and validation of data sets includes both familiar descriptive metadata and formal documentation of the scientific processes used (i.e., process metadata) to produce usable data sets from collections of raw data. Such documentation is complex and difficult to construct, so it is important to help "producers" create reliable data sets and to facilitate their creation of required metadata. We describe a formal representation, an "analytic web," that aids both producers and consumers of data sets by providing complete and precise definitions of scientific processes used to process raw and derived data sets. The formalisms used to define analytic webs are adaptations of those used in software engineering, and they provide a novel and effective support system for both the synthesis and the validation of ecological data sets. We illustrate the utility of an analytic web as an aid to producing synthetic data sets through a worked example: the synthesis of long-term measurements of whole-ecosystem carbon exchange. Analytic webs are also useful validation aids for consumers because they support the concurrent construction of a complete, Internet-accessible audit trail of the analytic processes used in the synthesis of the data sets. Finally we describe our early efforts to evaluate these ideas through the use of a prototype software tool, SciWalker. We indicate how this tool has been used to create analytic webs tailored to specific data-set synthesis and validation activities, and suggest extensions to it that will support additional forms of validation. The process metadata created by SciWalker is

  14. Persuasive Features in Web-Based Alcohol and Smoking Interventions: A Systematic Review of the Literature

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-01-01

    Background In the past decade, the use of technologies to persuade, motivate, and activate individuals’ health behavior change has been a quickly expanding field of research. The use of the Web for delivering interventions has been especially relevant. Current research tends to reveal little about the persuasive features and mechanisms embedded in Web-based interventions targeting health behavior change. Objectives The purpose of this systematic review was to extract and analyze persuasive system features in Web-based interventions for substance use by applying the persuasive systems design (PSD) model. In more detail, the main objective was to provide an overview of the persuasive features within current Web-based interventions for substance use. Methods We conducted electronic literature searches in various databases to identify randomized controlled trials of Web-based interventions for substance use published January 1, 2004, through December 31, 2009, in English. We extracted and analyzed persuasive system features of the included Web-based interventions using interpretive categorization. Results The primary task support components were utilized and reported relatively widely in the reviewed studies. Reduction, self-monitoring, simulation, and personalization seem to be the most used features to support accomplishing user’s primary task. This is an encouraging finding since reduction and self-monitoring can be considered key elements for supporting users to carry out their primary tasks. The utilization of tailoring was at a surprisingly low level. The lack of tailoring may imply that the interventions are targeted for too broad an audience. Leveraging reminders was the most common way to enhance the user-system dialogue. Credibility issues are crucial in website engagement as users will bind with sites they perceive credible and navigate away from those they do not find credible. Based on the textual descriptions of the interventions, we cautiously

  15. Medical Imaging Informatics in Nuclear Medicine

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    van Ooijen, Peter; Glaudemans, Andor W.J.M.; Medema, Jitze; van Zanten, Annie K.; Dierckx, Rudi A.J.O.; Ahaus, C.T.B. (Kees)

    2016-01-01

    Medical imaging informatics is gaining importance in medicine both in clinical practice and in scientific research. Besides radiology, nuclear medicine is also a major stakeholder in medical imaging informatics because of the variety of available imaging modalities and the imaging-oriented operation

  16. Massive open online course for health informatics education.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Paton, Chris

    2014-04-01

    This paper outlines a new method of teaching health informatics to large numbers of students from around the world through a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC). The Health Informatics Forum is a social networking site for educating health informatics students and professionals [corrected]. It is running a MOOC for students from around the world that uses creative commons licenced content funded by the US government and developed by five US universities. The content is delivered through narrated lectures with slides that can be viewed online with discussion threads on the forum for class interactions. Students can maintain a professional profile, upload photos and files, write their own blog posts and post discussion threads on the forum. The Health Informatics Forum MOOC has been accessed by 11,316 unique users from 127 countries from August 2, 2012 to January 24, 2014. Most users accessed the MOOC via a desktop computer, followed by tablets and mobile devices and 55% of users were female. Over 400,000 unique users have now accessed the wider Health Informatics Forum since it was established in 2008. Advances in health informatics and educational technology have both created a demand for online learning material in health informatics and a solution for providing it. By using a MOOC delivered through a social networking platform it is hoped that high quality health informatics education will be able to be delivered to a large global audience of future health informaticians without cost.

  17. A Data Management System Integrating Web-based Training and Randomized Trials: Requirements, Experiences and Recommendations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Muroff, Jordana; Amodeo, Maryann; Larson, Mary Jo; Carey, Margaret; Loftin, Ralph D

    2011-01-01

    This article describes a data management system (DMS) developed to support a large-scale randomized study of an innovative web-course that was designed to improve substance abuse counselors' knowledge and skills in applying a substance abuse treatment method (i.e., cognitive behavioral therapy; CBT). The randomized trial compared the performance of web-course-trained participants (intervention group) and printed-manual-trained participants (comparison group) to determine the effectiveness of the web-course in teaching CBT skills. A single DMS was needed to support all aspects of the study: web-course delivery and management, as well as randomized trial management. The authors briefly reviewed several other systems that were described as built either to handle randomized trials or to deliver and evaluate web-based training. However it was clear that these systems fell short of meeting our needs for simultaneous, coordinated management of the web-course and the randomized trial. New England Research Institute's (NERI) proprietary Advanced Data Entry and Protocol Tracking (ADEPT) system was coupled with the web-programmed course and customized for our purposes. This article highlights the requirements for a DMS that operates at the intersection of web-based course management systems and randomized clinical trial systems, and the extent to which the coupled, customized ADEPT satisfied those requirements. Recommendations are included for institutions and individuals considering conducting randomized trials and web-based training programs, and seeking a DMS that can meet similar requirements.

  18. Multi-dimensional knowledge translation: enabling health informatics capacity audits using patient journey models.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Catley, Christina; McGregor, Carolyn; Percival, Jennifer; Curry, Joanne; James, Andrew

    2008-01-01

    This paper presents a multi-dimensional approach to knowledge translation, enabling results obtained from a survey evaluating the uptake of Information Technology within Neonatal Intensive Care Units to be translated into knowledge, in the form of health informatics capacity audits. Survey data, having multiple roles, patient care scenarios, levels, and hospitals, is translated using a structured data modeling approach, into patient journey models. The data model is defined such that users can develop queries to generate patient journey models based on a pre-defined Patient Journey Model architecture (PaJMa). PaJMa models are then analyzed to build capacity audits. Capacity audits offer a sophisticated view of health informatics usage, providing not only details of what IT solutions a hospital utilizes, but also answering the questions: when, how and why, by determining when the IT solutions are integrated into the patient journey, how they support the patient information flow, and why they improve the patient journey.

  19. International Journal of Web Based Communities

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    2006-01-01

    Special Issue on Knowledge Communication, culture and communities of practice in web based communities. ......Special Issue on Knowledge Communication, culture and communities of practice in web based communities. ...

  20. Web-based Project Reporting System

    Data.gov (United States)

    US Agency for International Development — Web-PRS is a web-based system that captures financial information and project status information that is sortable by geographical location, pillar, project type and...

  1. Patient Centred Systems: Techno-Anthropological reflections on the challenges of 'meaningfully engaging' patients within health informatics research.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wong, Ming-Chao; Almond, Helen; Cummings, Elizabeth; Roehrer, Erin; Showell, Chris; Turner, Paul

    2015-01-01

    This chapter explores how Techno-Anthropology can contribute to more explicitly professional and ethically responsible reflections on the socio-technical practices involved in meaningfully engaging patients in health informatics research. The chapter draws on insights from health informatics research projects focused on chronic disease and self-management conducted in Tasmania during the last 10 years. Through these projects the paper explores three topics of relevance to 'meaningful engagement' with patients: (i) Patient Self-Management and Chronic Disease (ii) Patients as Users in Health Informatics research, and, (iii) Evaluations of outcomes in Health and Health Informatics Interventions. Techno-Anthropological reflections are then discussed through the concepts of liminality, polyphony and power. This chapter argues that beyond its contribution to methodology, an important role for Techno-Anthropology in patient centred health informatics research may be its capacity to support new ways of conceptualising and critically reflecting on the construction and mediation of patients' needs, values and perspectives.

  2. Nursing Informatics Competencies Among Nursing Students and Their Relationship to Patient Safety Competencies: Knowledge, Attitude, and Skills.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Abdrbo, Amany Ahmed

    2015-11-01

    With implementation of information technology in healthcare settings to promote safety and evidence-based nursing care, a growing emphasis on the importance of nursing informatics competencies has emerged. This study assessed the relationship between nursing informatics and patient safety competencies among nursing students and nursing interns. A descriptive, cross-sectional correlational design with a convenience sample of 154 participants (99 nursing students and 55 interns) completed the Self-assessment of Nursing Informatics Competencies and Patient Safety Competencies. The nursing students and interns were similar in age and years of computer experience, and more than half of the participants in both groups had taken a nursing informatics course. There were no significant differences between competencies in nursing informatics and patient safety except for clinical informatics role and applied computer skills in the two groups of participants. Nursing informatics competencies and patient safety competencies were significantly correlated except for clinical informatics role both with patient safety knowledge and attitude. These results provided feedback to adjust and incorporate informatics competencies in the baccalaureate program and to recommend embracing the nursing informatics course as one of the core courses, not as an elective course, in the curriculum.

  3. Web-based health interventions for family caregivers of elderly individuals: A Scoping Review.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wasilewski, Marina B; Stinson, Jennifer N; Cameron, Jill I

    2017-07-01

    For the growing proportion of elders globally, aging-related illnesses are primary causes of morbidity causing reliance on family members for support in the community. Family caregivers experience poorer physical and mental health than their non-caregiving counterparts. Web-based interventions can provide accessible support to family caregivers to offset declines in their health and well-being. Existing reviews focused on web-based interventions for caregivers have been limited to single illness populations and have mostly focused on the efficacy of the interventions. We therefore have limited insight into how web-based interventions for family caregiver have been developed, implemented and evaluated across aging-related illness. To describe: a) theoretical underpinnings of the literature; b) development, content and delivery of web-based interventions; c) caregiver usage of web-based interventions; d) caregiver experience with web-based interventions and e) impact of web-based interventions on caregivers' health outcomes. We followed Arksey and O'Malley's methodological framework for conducting scoping reviews which entails setting research questions, selecting relevant studies, charting the data and synthesizing the results in a report. Fifty-three publications representing 32 unique web-based interventions were included. Over half of the interventions were targeted at dementia caregivers, with the rest targeting caregivers to the stroke, cancer, diabetes and general frailty populations. Studies used theory across the intervention trajectory. Interventions aimed to improve a range of health outcomes for caregivers through static and interactive delivery methods Caregivers were satisfied with the usability and accessibility of the websites but usage was generally low and declined over time. Depression and caregiver burden were the most common outcomes evaluated. The interventions ranged in their impact on health and social outcomes but reductions in perception of

  4. Facilitating Teamwork with Lean Six Sigma and Web-Based Technology

    Science.gov (United States)

    Krause, Tim

    2009-01-01

    In this article, the author outlines a variety of ways of defining, making explicit, and supporting effective team-based projects through the basic tenets of Lean Six Sigma and the use of Web-based technologies. A combination of Lean Six Sigma and a handful of project management technologies not only help in fostering the communication central to…

  5. Basic support for cooperative work on the World Wide Web

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Bentley, R.; Appelt, W.; Busbach, U.; Hinrichs, E.; Kerr, D.; Sikkel, Nicolaas; Trevor, J.; Woetzel, G.

    The emergence and widespread adoption of the World Wide Web offers a great deal of potential in supporting cross-platform cooperative work within widely dispersed working groups. The Basic Support for Cooperative Work (BSCW) project at GMD is attempting to realize this potential through development

  6. THE CONCEPT OF VOCATIONAL TRAINING OF FUTURE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL TEACHER TO INFORMATICS TRAINING

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Olena Sagan

    2016-09-01

    Full Text Available In the article the problem of professional training of future elementary school teacher to teach Informatics of junior schoolchild is revealed. Rapid development of information and communication technologies actualizes the high-quality requirements to informational competent members of society. Transformation of content of primary education, namely putting Informatics in the curricula, exerted impact on a social request of the elementary school teacher who doesn’t only thoroughly use means of information technologies, but also teaches Informatics as invariant discipline of elementary school. In work it is designed the methodical model of training of future elementary school teacher for teaching Informatics, its purpose is forming of methodology informational competence at future elementary school teacher, which is based on theoretical and practical readiness for teaching Informatics of junior schoolchild and is shown in abilities to organize of the teaching and educational process. Finding of a ratio of essential results of training in higher education institution and general and professional competences which were determined by means of expert evaluations became a basis of a substantial component of system. We design the expected result in the form of competence-based model of future elementary school teacher in a perspective of its preparation for the decision the informational and the methodology-informational tasks of elementary school.

  7. A development process meta-model for Web based expert systems: The Web engineering point of view

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Dokas, I.M.; Alapetite, Alexandre

    2006-01-01

    raised their complexity. Unfortunately, there is so far no clear answer to the question: How may the methods and experience of Web engineering and expert systems be combined and applied in order todevelop effective and successful Web based expert systems? In an attempt to answer this question...... on Web based expert systems – will be presented. The idea behind the presentation of theaccessibility evaluation and its conclusions is to show to Web based expert system developers, who typically have little Web engineering background, that Web engineering issues must be considered when developing Web......Similar to many legacy computer systems, expert systems can be accessed via the Web, forming a set of Web applications known as Web based expert systems. The tough Web competition, the way people and organizations rely on Web applications and theincreasing user requirements for better services have...

  8. Big Data: Are Biomedical and Health Informatics Training Programs Ready? Contribution of the IMIA Working Group for Health and Medical Informatics Education.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Otero, P; Hersh, W; Jai Ganesh, A U

    2014-08-15

    The growing volume and diversity of health and biomedical data indicate that the era of Big Data has arrived for healthcare. This has many implications for informatics, not only in terms of implementing and evaluating information systems, but also for the work and training of informatics researchers and professionals. This article addresses the question: What do biomedical and health informaticians working in analytics and Big Data need to know? We hypothesize a set of skills that we hope will be discussed among academic and other informaticians. The set of skills includes: Programming - especially with data-oriented tools, such as SQL and statistical programming languages; Statistics - working knowledge to apply tools and techniques; Domain knowledge - depending on one's area of work, bioscience or health care; and Communication - being able to understand needs of people and organizations, and articulate results back to them. Biomedical and health informatics educational programs must introduce concepts of analytics, Big Data, and the underlying skills to use and apply them into their curricula. The development of new coursework should focus on those who will become experts, with training aiming to provide skills in "deep analytical talent" as well as those who need knowledge to support such individuals.

  9. Informatics for materials science and engineering data-driven discovery for accelerated experimentation and application

    CERN Document Server

    Rajan, Krishna

    2014-01-01

    Materials informatics: a 'hot topic' area in materials science, aims to combine traditionally bio-led informatics with computational methodologies, supporting more efficient research by identifying strategies for time- and cost-effective analysis. The discovery and maturation of new materials has been outpaced by the thicket of data created by new combinatorial and high throughput analytical techniques. The elaboration of this ""quantitative avalanche""-and the resulting complex, multi-factor analyses required to understand it-means that interest, investment, and research are revisiting in

  10. History of health informatics: a global perspective.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cesnik, Branko; Kidd, Michael R

    2010-01-01

    In considering a 'history' of Health Informatics it is important to be aware that the discipline encompasses a wide array of activities, products, research and theories. Health Informatics is as much a result of evolution as planned philosophy, having its roots in the histories of information technology and medicine. The process of its growth continues so that today's work is tomorrow's history. A 'historical' discussion of the area is its history to date, a report rather than a summation. As well as its successes, the history of Health Informatics is populated with visionary promises that have failed to materialise despite the best intentions. For those studying the subject or working in the field, the experiences of others' use of Information Technologies for the betterment of health care can provide a necessary perspective. This chapter starts by noting some of the major events and people that form a technological backdrop to Health Informatics and ends with some thoughts on the future. This chapter gives an educational overview of: * The history of computing * The beginnings of the health informatics discipline.

  11. People, organizational, and leadership factors impacting informatics support for clinical and translational research

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Payne Philip RO

    2013-02-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background In recent years, there have been numerous initiatives undertaken to describe critical information needs related to the collection, management, analysis, and dissemination of data in support of biomedical research (J Investig Med 54:327-333, 2006; (J Am Med Inform Assoc 16:316–327, 2009; (Physiol Genomics 39:131-140, 2009; (J Am Med Inform Assoc 18:354–357, 2011. A common theme spanning such reports has been the importance of understanding and optimizing people, organizational, and leadership factors in order to achieve the promise of efficient and timely research (J Am Med Inform Assoc 15:283–289, 2008. With the emergence of clinical and translational science (CTS as a national priority in the United States, and the corresponding growth in the scale and scope of CTS research programs, the acuity of such information needs continues to increase (JAMA 289:1278–1287, 2003; (N Engl J Med 353:1621–1623, 2005; (Sci Transl Med 3:90, 2011. At the same time, systematic evaluations of optimal people, organizational, and leadership factors that influence the provision of data, information, and knowledge management technologies and methods are notably lacking. Methods In response to the preceding gap in knowledge, we have conducted both: 1 a structured survey of domain experts at Academic Health Centers (AHCs; and 2 a subsequent thematic analysis of public-domain documentation provided by those same organizations. The results of these approaches were then used to identify critical factors that may influence access to informatics expertise and resources relevant to the CTS domain. Results A total of 31 domain experts, spanning the Biomedical Informatics (BMI, Computer Science (CS, Information Science (IS, and Information Technology (IT disciplines participated in a structured surveyprocess. At a high level, respondents identified notable differences in theaccess to BMI, CS, and IT expertise and services depending on the

  12. Web analytics tools and web metrics tools: An overview and comparative analysis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ivan Bekavac

    2015-10-01

    Full Text Available The aim of the paper is to compare and analyze the impact of web analytics tools for measuring the performance of a business model. Accordingly, an overview of web analytics and web metrics tools is given, including their characteristics, main functionalities and available types. The data acquisition approaches and proper choice of web tools for particular business models are also reviewed. The research is divided in two sections. First, a qualitative focus is placed on reviewing web analytics tools to exploring their functionalities and ability to be integrated into the respective business model. Web analytics tools support the business analyst’s efforts in obtaining useful and relevant insights into market dynamics. Thus, generally speaking, selecting a web analytics and web metrics tool should be based on an investigative approach, not a random decision. The second section is a quantitative focus shifting from theory to an empirical approach, and which subsequently presents output data resulting from a study based on perceived user satisfaction of web analytics tools. The empirical study was carried out on employees from 200 Croatian firms from either an either IT or marketing branch. The paper contributes to highlighting the support for management that available web analytics and web metrics tools available on the market have to offer, and based on the growing needs of understanding and predicting global market trends.

  13. SDI-based business processes: A territorial analysis web information system in Spain

    Science.gov (United States)

    Béjar, Rubén; Latre, Miguel Á.; Lopez-Pellicer, Francisco J.; Nogueras-Iso, Javier; Zarazaga-Soria, F. J.; Muro-Medrano, Pedro R.

    2012-09-01

    Spatial Data Infrastructures (SDIs) provide access to geospatial data and operations through interoperable Web services. These data and operations can be chained to set up specialized geospatial business processes, and these processes can give support to different applications. End users can benefit from these applications, while experts can integrate the Web services in their own business processes and developments. This paper presents an SDI-based territorial analysis Web information system for Spain, which gives access to land cover, topography and elevation data, as well as to a number of interoperable geospatial operations by means of a Web Processing Service (WPS). Several examples illustrate how different territorial analysis business processes are supported. The system has been established by the Spanish National SDI (Infraestructura de Datos Espaciales de España, IDEE) both as an experimental platform for geoscientists and geoinformation system developers, and as a mechanism to contribute to the Spanish citizens knowledge about their territory.

  14. A web-based programme for person-centred learning and support designed for preschool children with long-term illness: a pilot study of a new intervention.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hellström, Anna-Lena; Simeonsdotter Svensson, Agneta; Pramling Samuelsson, Ingrid; Jenholt Nolbris, Margaretha

    2012-01-01

    For children living with long-term illness, school age is a risk period with regard to psychosocial ill health and poor compliance with treatment. There is a need for methods to promote health, well-being, and self-esteem. This study describes a new concept for supporting children, person-centred web-based learning and support, which has been tested in 12 preschool children and incorporates learning about feelings, relationships, and the right to integrity. SKYPE was used for conversations between the child and the web teacher. Methods. The programme was developed and tested in two steps. The conversations were tape-recorded and analysed using phenomenography. The questions addressed concerned the quality of the intervention process: accessibility of intervention, learning content and support, and identification of measurable items and patterns. Findings. The children found it interesting to communicate with their web teacher using SKYPE. The story about Max and Sara served as a good basis for discussion, and development was found in the learning process. The children were able to talk about relations and feelings and developed an understanding for use in new situations in their daily lives. Items and patterns that are useful for research and documentation were identified, for example, well-being, resources, needs, and wishes.

  15. Effects of the implementation of the web-based patient support system on staff's attitudes towards computers and IT use: a randomised controlled trial.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Koivunen, Marita; Välimäki, Maritta; Patel, Anita; Knapp, Martin; Hätönen, Heli; Kuosmanen, Lauri; Pitkänen, Anneli; Anttila, Minna; Katajisto, Jouko

    2010-09-01

    Utilisation of information technology (IT) in the treatment of people with severe mental health problems is an unknown area in Europe. Use of IT and guiding patients to relevant sources of health information requires that nursing staff have positive attitudes toward computers and accept IT use as a part of daily practises. The aim of the study was to assess the effects of the implementation of a web-based patient support system on staff's attitudes towards computers and IT use on psychiatric wards. Hundred and forty-nine nurses in two psychiatric hospitals in Finland were randomised to two groups to deliver patient education for patients with schizophrenia and psychosis with a web-based system (n = 76) or leaflets (n = 73). After baseline nurses were followed-up for 18 months after the introduction of the system. The primary outcome was nurses' motivation to utilise computers, and the secondary outcomes were nurses' beliefs in and satisfaction with computers, and use of computer and internet. There were no statistically significant differences between study groups in attitudes towards computers (motivation p = 0.936, beliefs p = 0.270, satisfaction p = 0.462) and internet use (p = 0.276). However, nurses' general computer use (p = 0.029) increased more in the leaflet group than in the IT intervention group. We can conclude that IT has promise as an alternative method in patient education, as the implementation of the web-based patient support system in daily basis did not have a negative effect on nurses' attitudes towards IT. © 2010 The Authors. Journal compilation © 2010 Nordic College of Caring Science.

  16. Discussion on informatization teaching of certain radar transmitter

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liang, Guanhui; Lv, Guizhou; Meng, Yafeng

    2017-04-01

    With the development of informatization, the traditional teaching method of certain radar transmitter is more and more difficult to meet the need of cultivating new type of high-quality military talents. This paper first analyzes the problems traditional teaching method of certain radar transmitter, and then puts forward the strategy of informatization teaching, and finally elaborates the concrete steps and contents of informatization teaching. Using the multimedia maintenance training system, information simulation training system and network courses and other informatization means, effectively improves the master degree to radar transmitter by trainees, but also lays a good foundation for repair in the next step.

  17. Fuzzy-logic based learning style prediction in e-learning using web ...

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    tion, especially in web environments and proposes to use Fuzzy rules to handle the uncertainty in .... learning in safe and supportive environment ... working of the proposed Fuzzy-logic based learning style prediction in e-learning. Section 4.

  18. Health Informatics.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Russell, Marie; Brittain, J. Michael

    2002-01-01

    Identifies current trends and issues in health informatics with examples of applications, particularly in English-speaking countries. Topics include health systems, professionals, and patients; consumer health information; electronic medical records; nursing; privacy and confidentiality; finding and using information; the Internet; e-mail;…

  19. Developing an evidence-based public health informatics course.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yu, Xinyu; Xie, Yue; Pan, Xuequn; Mayfield-Johnson, Susan; Whipple, Jessica; Azadbakht, Elena

    2015-10-01

    This study assessed the need to develop a public health informatics (PHI) introductory course and determine contents of such a course. Community assessments employing focus group interviews and an online survey were utilized to determine course need and content. Results revealed a need to provide PHI training to graduate public health students and suggested broad course content requirements. Results indicated lack of awareness of libraries and librarians as sources of public health information. A graduate PHI course was developed and delivered. Additionally, implementation of a subject guide increased the library's profile.

  20. Case-Based Learning, Pedagogical Innovation, and Semantic Web Technologies

    Science.gov (United States)

    Martinez-Garcia, A.; Morris, S.; Tscholl, M.; Tracy, F.; Carmichael, P.

    2012-01-01

    This paper explores the potential of Semantic Web technologies to support teaching and learning in a variety of higher education settings in which some form of case-based learning is the pedagogy of choice. It draws on the empirical work of a major three year research and development project in the United Kingdom: "Ensemble: Semantic…

  1. WebEase: Development of a Web-Based Epilepsy Self-Management Intervention

    OpenAIRE

    DiIorio, Colleen; Escoffery, Cam; Yeager, Katherine A.; Koganti, Archana; Reisinger, Elizabeth; Koganti, Archana; McCarty, Frances; Henry, Thomas R.; Robinson, Elise; Kobau, Rosemarie; Price, Patricia

    2008-01-01

    People with epilepsy must adopt many self-management behaviors, especially regarding medication adherence, stress management, and sleep quality. In response to the need for theory-based self-management programs that people with epilepsy can easily access, the WebEase Web site was created and tested for feasibility, acceptability, and usability. This article discusses the theoretical background and developmental phases of WebEase and lessons learned throughout the development process. The WebE...

  2. Opportunities for web-based indicators in environmental sciences.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sergio Malcevschi

    Full Text Available This paper proposes a set of web-based indicators for quantifying and ranking the relevance of terms related to key-issues in Ecology and Sustainability Science. Search engines that operate in different contexts (e.g. global, social, scientific are considered as web information carriers (WICs and are able to analyse; (i relevance on different levels: global web, individual/personal sphere, on-line news, and culture/science; (ii time trends of relevance; (iii relevance of keywords for environmental governance. For the purposes of this study, several indicators and specific indices (relational indices and dynamic indices were applied to a test-set of 24 keywords. Outputs consistently show that traditional study topics in environmental sciences such as water and air have remained the most quantitatively relevant keywords, while interest in systemic issues (i.e. ecosystem and landscape has grown over the last 20 years. Nowadays, the relevance of new concepts such as resilience and ecosystem services is increasing, but the actual ability of these concepts to influence environmental governance needs to be further studied and understood. The proposed approach, which is based on intuitive and easily replicable procedures, can support the decision-making processes related to environmental governance.

  3. Optimization of the pharmaceutical care system for diabetes patients using modern pharmaceutical informatics methodology

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Андрій Ігорович Бойко

    2016-04-01

    Full Text Available Aim. Implementation of pharmaceutical informatics methods in the system of pharmaceutical care for diabetes patients in Ukraine.Methods. System method was used for the analysis of status and reforming the pharmaceutical care for patients with diabetes; program-oriented management at informatization project realization; pharmaceutical informatics in the creation of computer pharmaceutical knowledge bases; methods of data synthesis and summarizing.Results. System analysis of the basic directions of reforming the pharmaceutical care for patients with diabetes in Ukraine was carried out. Ways of it’s of optimization were processed: establishment of specialized pharmacies with implementation of modern information technologies and special postgraduate education for pharmacists. Structure and information providing of computer knowledge base “Pharmaceutical care for patients with diabetes” was substantiated.Conclusion. Based on the regional project “Informatization of prescription antidiabetic drugs circulation in Ukraine” realization, the necessity of establishment of specialized pharmacies providing pharmaceutical care for patients with diabetes was substantiated. Ways for optimization of postgraduate education for pharmacists of the specialized pharmacies by implementation of special thematic improvement cycles were proceed. Computer knowledge base as an effective tool for optimization of pharmaceutical care for patients with diabetes was realized

  4. Selected Topics on Business Informatics Research: Editorial Introduction to Issue 6 of CSIMQ

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Fabrizio Maria Maggi

    2016-04-01

    Full Text Available Business informatics research bridges management and engineering domains and facilitates communication between scientific and practical applications. The sixth issue of the journal of Complex Systems Informatics and Modeling Quarterly contains four publications that present the extended papers from the workshops of the 14th International Conference on Perspectives in Business Informatics Research (BIR 2015 that was organized in Tartu, Estonia, 26-28 August, 2015. The BIR 2015 workshops captured important and novel topics on information logistics and knowledge supply, security and compliance in business processes, and use of ontologies in information systems. Within this context the fifth publication included in this issue complements the topic of the business informatics research with the investigation of a model-driven approach on the gesture-based interaction in information systems.

  5. The Learning Tutor: A Web based Authoring System to Support Distance Tutoring

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Omar Abou Khaled

    2000-01-01

    Full Text Available In distance learning contexts, such as those are being widely promoted and developed with the extensive use of ICT (Information and Communication Technology some important issues have to be carefully addressed, in order to make education more effective and available. Distant students have to face sound organizational problems concerning the working time-management and the regulation of all the learning process. These are far more complex at a distance because of the difficulties to understand and objectively evaluate how the study is progressing in term of knowledge and competence acquisition, both for the students themselves and for the teacher who is supposed to adjust the teaching process in case of need. Moreover, the absence of clear indication for the student of the relative level of importance of each piece of information available comes to be another key issue in distance education. This paper describes a Web-based authoring system, the Learning Tutor, conceived to cover these issues. The environment is composed by several interconnected authoring systems: “The Course Description, the Guiding Thread and the Agenda”, “The Work Plan and Themes Reviewer”, and “The Quizzes self-evaluation facility”. This model of combined tools aims at providing the suitable support for organization, work and time management in distance learning processes using well documented mastery learning principles.

  6. Health Informatics via Machine Learning for the Clinical Management of Patients.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Clifton, D A; Niehaus, K E; Charlton, P; Colopy, G W

    2015-08-13

    To review how health informatics systems based on machine learning methods have impacted the clinical management of patients, by affecting clinical practice. We reviewed literature from 2010-2015 from databases such as Pubmed, IEEE xplore, and INSPEC, in which methods based on machine learning are likely to be reported. We bring together a broad body of literature, aiming to identify those leading examples of health informatics that have advanced the methodology of machine learning. While individual methods may have further examples that might be added, we have chosen some of the most representative, informative exemplars in each case. Our survey highlights that, while much research is taking place in this high-profile field, examples of those that affect the clinical management of patients are seldom found. We show that substantial progress is being made in terms of methodology, often by data scientists working in close collaboration with clinical groups. Health informatics systems based on machine learning are in their infancy and the translation of such systems into clinical management has yet to be performed at scale.

  7. Health Informatics and E-health Curriculum for Clinical Health Profession Degrees.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gray, Kathleen; Choo, Dawn; Butler-Henderson, Kerryn; Whetton, Sue; Maeder, Anthony

    2015-01-01

    The project reported in this paper models a new approach to making health informatics and e-health education widely available to students in a range of Australian clinical health profession degrees. The development of a Masters level subject uses design-based research to apply educational quality assurance practices which are consistent with university qualification frameworks, and with clinical health profession education standards; at the same time it gives recognition to health informatics as a specialised profession in its own right. The paper presents details of (a) design with reference to the Australian Qualifications Framework and CHIA competencies, (b) peer review within a three-university teaching team, (c) external review by experts from the professions, (d) cross-institutional interprofessional online learning, (e) methods for evaluating student learning experiences and outcomes, and (f) mechanisms for making the curriculum openly available to interested parties. The project has sought and found demand among clinical health professionals for formal health informatics and e-health education that is designed for them. It has helped the educators and organisations involved to understand the need for nuanced and complementary health informatics educational offerings in Australian universities. These insights may aid in further efforts to address substantive and systemic challenges that clinical informatics faces in Australia.

  8. Web-based telemonitoring and delivery of caregiver support for patients with Parkinson disease after deep brain stimulation: protocol.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Marceglia, Sara; Rossi, Elena; Rosa, Manuela; Cogiamanian, Filippo; Rossi, Lorenzo; Bertolasi, Laura; Vogrig, Alberto; Pinciroli, Francesco; Barbieri, Sergio; Priori, Alberto

    2015-03-06

    existing WebBioBank Web-based platform allowing health care professionals to manage patient electronic health records and neurophysiological signals. New modules in the WebBioBank platform will be implemented to allow integration and data exchange with mobile health apps. The results of this project will provide a novel approach to long-term evaluation of patients with chronic, severe conditions in the homecare environment, based on caregiver empowerment and tailored applications developed according to consensus care pathways established by clinicians. The creation of a direct communication channel between health care professionals and caregivers can benefit large communities of patients and would represent a scalable experience in integrating data and information coming from a clinical setting to those in home monitoring.

  9. Characteristics of the Web-Based Learning Environment in Distance Education: Students' Perceptions of Their Learning Needs

    Science.gov (United States)

    Atan, Hanafi; Rahman, Zuraidah; Idrus, Rozhan M.

    2004-01-01

    A study was conducted regarding students' perceptions on the characteristics of the learning requirements in a web-based learning environment. Various aspects of on-line learning were studied including the general web-based support system for the students, the learning materials, instructional strategies of the learning materials and the learning…

  10. Medical imaging, PACS, and imaging informatics: retrospective.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Huang, H K

    2014-01-01

    Historical reviews of PACS (picture archiving and communication system) and imaging informatics development from different points of view have been published in the past (Huang in Euro J Radiol 78:163-176, 2011; Lemke in Euro J Radiol 78:177-183, 2011; Inamura and Jong in Euro J Radiol 78:184-189, 2011). This retrospective attempts to look at the topic from a different angle by identifying certain basic medical imaging inventions in the 1960s and 1970s which had conceptually defined basic components of PACS guiding its course of development in the 1980s and 1990s, as well as subsequent imaging informatics research in the 2000s. In medical imaging, the emphasis was on the innovations at Georgetown University in Washington, DC, in the 1960s and 1970s. During the 1980s and 1990s, research and training support from US government agencies and public and private medical imaging manufacturers became available for training of young talents in biomedical physics and for developing the key components required for PACS development. In the 2000s, computer hardware and software as well as communication networks advanced by leaps and bounds, opening the door for medical imaging informatics to flourish. Because many key components required for the PACS operation were developed by the UCLA PACS Team and its collaborative partners in the 1980s, this presentation is centered on that aspect. During this period, substantial collaborative research efforts by many individual teams in the US and in Japan were highlighted. Credits are due particularly to the Pattern Recognition Laboratory at Georgetown University, and the computed radiography (CR) development at the Fuji Electric Corp. in collaboration with Stanford University in the 1970s; the Image Processing Laboratory at UCLA in the 1980s-1990s; as well as the early PACS development at the Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Japan, in the late 1970s, and film scanner and digital radiography developed by Konishiroku Photo Ind. Co. Ltd

  11. Web-based e-learning and virtual lab of human-artificial immune system.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gong, Tao; Ding, Yongsheng; Xiong, Qin

    2014-05-01

    Human immune system is as important in keeping the body healthy as the brain in supporting the intelligence. However, the traditional models of the human immune system are built on the mathematics equations, which are not easy for students to understand. To help the students to understand the immune systems, a web-based e-learning approach with virtual lab is designed for the intelligent system control course by using new intelligent educational technology. Comparing the traditional graduate educational model within the classroom, the web-based e-learning with the virtual lab shows the higher inspiration in guiding the graduate students to think independently and innovatively, as the students said. It has been found that this web-based immune e-learning system with the online virtual lab is useful for teaching the graduate students to understand the immune systems in an easier way and design their simulations more creatively and cooperatively. The teaching practice shows that the optimum web-based e-learning system can be used to increase the learning effectiveness of the students.

  12. Examining the Potential of Web-Based Multimedia to Support Complex Fine Motor Skill Learning: An Empirical Study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Papastergiou, Marina; Pollatou, Elisana; Theofylaktou, Ioannis; Karadimou, Konstantina

    2014-01-01

    Research on the utilization of the Web for complex fine motor skill learning that involves whole body movements is still scarce. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of the introduction of a multimedia web-based learning environment, which was targeted at a rhythmic gymnastics routine consisting of eight fine motor skills, into an…

  13. Information and Communication Technology: Design, Delivery, and Outcomes from a Nursing Informatics Boot Camp

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kleib, Manal; Simpson, Nicole; Rhodes, Beverly

    2016-05-31

    Information and communication technology (ICT) is integral in today’s healthcare as a critical piece of support to both track and improve patient and organizational outcomes. Facilitating nurses’ informatics competency development through continuing education is paramount to enhance their readiness to practice safely and accurately in technologically enabled work environments. In this article, we briefly describe progress in nursing informatics (NI) and share a project exemplar that describes our experience in the design, implementation, and evaluation of a NI educational event, a one-day boot camp format that was used to provide foundational knowledge in NI targeted primarily at frontline nurses in Alberta, Canada. We also discuss the project outcomes, including lessons learned and future implications. Overall, the boot camp was successful to raise nurses’ awareness about the importance of informatics in nursing practice.

  14. Clinical Informatics Fellowship Programs: In Search of a Viable Financial Model: An open letter to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lehmann, C U; Longhurst, C A; Hersh, W; Mohan, V; Levy, B P; Embi, P J; Finnell, J T; Turner, A M; Martin, R; Williamson, J; Munger, B

    2015-01-01

    In the US, the new subspecialty of Clinical Informatics focuses on systems-level improvements in care delivery through the use of health information technology (HIT), data analytics, clinical decision support, data visualization and related tools. Clinical informatics is one of the first subspecialties in medicine open to physicians trained in any primary specialty. Clinical Informatics benefits patients and payers such as Medicare and Medicaid through its potential to reduce errors, increase safety, reduce costs, and improve care coordination and efficiency. Even though Clinical Informatics benefits patients and payers, because GME funding from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has not grown at the same rate as training programs, the majority of the cost of training new Clinical Informaticians is currently paid by academic health science centers, which is unsustainable. To maintain the value of HIT investments by the government and health care organizations, we must train sufficient leaders in Clinical Informatics. In the best interest of patients, payers, and the US society, it is therefore critical to find viable financial models for Clinical Informatics fellowship programs. To support the development of adequate training programs in Clinical Informatics, we request that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issue clarifying guidance that would allow accredited ACGME institutions to bill for clinical services delivered by fellows at the fellowship program site within their primary specialty.

  15. Provenance-Based Approaches to Semantic Web Service Discovery and Usage

    Science.gov (United States)

    Narock, Thomas William

    2012-01-01

    The World Wide Web Consortium defines a Web Service as "a software system designed to support interoperable machine-to-machine interaction over a network." Web Services have become increasingly important both within and across organizational boundaries. With the recent advent of the Semantic Web, web services have evolved into semantic…

  16. A new web-based tool for data visualization in MDSplus

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Manduchi, G., E-mail: gabriele.manduchi@igi.cnr.it [Consorzio RFX, Euratom-ENEA Association, Corso Stati Uniti 4, Padova 35127 (Italy); Fredian, T.; Stillerman, J. [Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 175 Albany Street, Cambridge, MA 02139 (United States)

    2014-05-15

    Highlights: • The paper describes a new web-based data visualization tool for MDSplus. • It describes the experience gained with the previous data visualization tools. • It describes the used technologies for web data access and visualization. • It describes the current architecture of the tool and the new foreseen features. - Abstract: The Java tool jScope has been widely used for years to display acquired waveform in MDSplus. The choice of the Java programming language for its implementation has been successful for several reasons among which the fact that Java supports a multiplatform environment and it is well suited for graphics and the management of network communication. jScope can be used both as a local and remote application. In the latter case, data are acquired via TCP/IP communication using the mdsip protocol. Exporting data in this way however introduces several security problems due to the necessity of opening firewall holes for the user ports. For this reason, and also due to the fact that JavaScript is becoming a widely used language for web applications, a new tool written in JavaScript and called WebScope has been developed for the visualization of MDSplus data in web browsers. Data communication is now achieved via http protocol using Asynchronous JavaScript and XML (AJAX) technology. At the server side, data access is carried out by a Python module that interacts with the web server via Web Server Gateway Interface (WSGI). When a data item, described by an MDSplus expression, is requested by the web browser for visualization, it is returned as a binary message and then handled by callback JavaScript functions activated by the web browser. Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) technology is used to handle graphics within the web browser and to carry out the same interactive data visualization provided by jScope. In addition to mouse events, touch events are supported to provide interactivity also on touch screens. In this way, waveforms can be

  17. A new web-based tool for data visualization in MDSplus

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Manduchi, G.; Fredian, T.; Stillerman, J.

    2014-01-01

    Highlights: • The paper describes a new web-based data visualization tool for MDSplus. • It describes the experience gained with the previous data visualization tools. • It describes the used technologies for web data access and visualization. • It describes the current architecture of the tool and the new foreseen features. - Abstract: The Java tool jScope has been widely used for years to display acquired waveform in MDSplus. The choice of the Java programming language for its implementation has been successful for several reasons among which the fact that Java supports a multiplatform environment and it is well suited for graphics and the management of network communication. jScope can be used both as a local and remote application. In the latter case, data are acquired via TCP/IP communication using the mdsip protocol. Exporting data in this way however introduces several security problems due to the necessity of opening firewall holes for the user ports. For this reason, and also due to the fact that JavaScript is becoming a widely used language for web applications, a new tool written in JavaScript and called WebScope has been developed for the visualization of MDSplus data in web browsers. Data communication is now achieved via http protocol using Asynchronous JavaScript and XML (AJAX) technology. At the server side, data access is carried out by a Python module that interacts with the web server via Web Server Gateway Interface (WSGI). When a data item, described by an MDSplus expression, is requested by the web browser for visualization, it is returned as a binary message and then handled by callback JavaScript functions activated by the web browser. Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) technology is used to handle graphics within the web browser and to carry out the same interactive data visualization provided by jScope. In addition to mouse events, touch events are supported to provide interactivity also on touch screens. In this way, waveforms can be

  18. A Framework for Effective User Interface Design for Web-Based Electronic Commerce Applications

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Justyna Burns

    2001-01-01

    Full Text Available Efficient delivery of relevant product information is increasingly becoming the central basis of competition between firms. The interface design represents the central component for successful information delivery to consumers. However, interface design for web-based information systems is probably more an art than a science at this point in time. Much research is needed to understand properties of an effective interface for electronic commerce. This paper develops a framework identifying the relationship between user factors, the role of the user interface and overall system success for web-based electronic commerce. The paper argues that web-based systems for electronic commerce have some similar properties to decision support systems (DSS and adapts an established DSS framework to the electronic commerce domain. Based on a limited amount of research studying web browser interface design, the framework identifies areas of research needed and outlines possible relationships between consumer characteristics, interface design attributes and measures of overall system success.

  19. An information technology emphasis in biomedical informatics education.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kane, Michael D; Brewer, Jeffrey L

    2007-02-01

    Unprecedented growth in the interdisciplinary domain of biomedical informatics reflects the recent advancements in genomic sequence availability, high-content biotechnology screening systems, as well as the expectations of computational biology to command a leading role in drug discovery and disease characterization. These forces have moved much of life sciences research almost completely into the computational domain. Importantly, educational training in biomedical informatics has been limited to students enrolled in the life sciences curricula, yet much of the skills needed to succeed in biomedical informatics involve or augment training in information technology curricula. This manuscript describes the methods and rationale for training students enrolled in information technology curricula in the field of biomedical informatics, which augments the existing information technology curriculum and provides training on specific subjects in Biomedical Informatics not emphasized in bioinformatics courses offered in life science programs, and does not require prerequisite courses in the life sciences.

  20. Practical guidelines for development of web-based interventions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chee, Wonshik; Lee, Yaelim; Chee, Eunice; Im, Eun-Ok

    2014-10-01

    Despite a recent high funding priority on technological aspects of research and a high potential impact of Web-based interventions on health, few guidelines for the development of Web-based interventions are currently available. In this article, we propose practical guidelines for development of Web-based interventions based on an empirical study and an integrative literature review. The empirical study aimed at development of a Web-based physical activity promotion program that was specifically tailored to Korean American midlife women. The literature review included a total of 202 articles that were retrieved through multiple databases. On the basis of the findings of the study and the literature review, we propose directions for development of Web-based interventions in the following steps: (1) meaningfulness and effectiveness, (2) target population, (3) theoretical basis/program theory, (4) focus and objectives, (5) components, (6) technological aspects, and (7) logistics for users. The guidelines could help promote further development of Web-based interventions at this early stage of Web-based interventions in nursing.

  1. Informatics Solutions for Prosumers connected to Smart Grids

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Simona Vasilica OPREA

    2015-03-01

    Full Text Available This paper gives a brief overview about electricity consumption optimization based on consumption profiles of electricity prosumers that are connected to smart grids. The main object of this approach is identification of informatics solutions for electricity consumption optimization in order to decrease electricity bill. In this way, larger scale integration of renewable energy sources is allowed therefore entire society will gain benefits. This paper describes the main objectives of such informatics system and stages for its implementation. The system will analyze the specific profile and behavior of each electricity consumer or prosumer, automatically assist him to make right decisions and offer optimal advice for usage of controllable and non-controllable appliances. It will serve, based on big data transfer from electricity consumers or prosumers, as a powerful tool for grid operators that will be able to better plan their resources.

  2. Online Persistence in Higher Education Web-Supported Courses

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hershkovitz, Arnon; Nachmias, Rafi

    2011-01-01

    This research consists of an empirical study of online persistence in Web-supported courses in higher education, using Data Mining techniques. Log files of 58 Moodle websites accompanying Tel Aviv University courses were drawn, recording the activity of 1189 students in 1897 course enrollments during the academic year 2008/9, and were analyzed…

  3. Applying Web usage mining for personalizing hyperlinks in Web-based adaptive educational systems

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Romero, C.; Ventura, S.; Zafra, A.; Bra, de P.M.E.

    2009-01-01

    Nowadays, the application of Web mining techniques in e-learning and Web-based adaptive educational systems is increasing exponentially. In this paper, we propose an advanced architecture for a personalization system to facilitate Web mining. A specific Web mining tool is developed and a recommender

  4. Institutional paradoxes of informatization of state and municipal governance in modern Russia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nikolay Vasilyevich Lukashov

    2015-06-01

    Full Text Available Objective to show that the informatization of state and municipal governance in modern Russia should be aimed directly at reducing costs and improving productivity of the state and municipal authorities and not at the achievement of indirect performance indicators like ldquothe proportion of documents in digital formquot. Methods the method of analysis of the research object condition at various stages of its development the synthesis of cognition elements followed by synthesis and transition from the singular to the general. General scientific specific and private scientific research methods were used. Results basing on the analysis of informatization of state and municipal management it is shown that the main reason for its low efficiency is the current evaluation system based on indirect indicators. Scientific novelty the efficiency and effectiveness of informatization of state and municipal management are considered from the point of view of consistency and optimal allocation of resources. The scientific justification of performance indicators of informatization in the sphere of state and municipal management is proposed which is characterized by the blurring of the quality criteria difficult to express in monetary terms. Examples of such criteria are cost of rendering of state municipal services physical geographical by mode of operation by convenience accessibility of services time of waiting in queue and length of obtaining the service by a citizen regardless of in which form traditional or digital it is rendered. Practical value the article considers the problems of selecting the efficiency criteria of social control informatization. Specific measures are proposed aimed at improving the efficiency of informatization including in the framework of realization of the Federal program of the Russian Federation quotInformational societyquot for 20122020. nbsp

  5. An Automatic Web Service Composition Framework Using QoS-Based Web Service Ranking Algorithm.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mallayya, Deivamani; Ramachandran, Baskaran; Viswanathan, Suganya

    2015-01-01

    Web service has become the technology of choice for service oriented computing to meet the interoperability demands in web applications. In the Internet era, the exponential addition of web services nominates the "quality of service" as essential parameter in discriminating the web services. In this paper, a user preference based web service ranking (UPWSR) algorithm is proposed to rank web services based on user preferences and QoS aspect of the web service. When the user's request cannot be fulfilled by a single atomic service, several existing services should be composed and delivered as a composition. The proposed framework allows the user to specify the local and global constraints for composite web services which improves flexibility. UPWSR algorithm identifies best fit services for each task in the user request and, by choosing the number of candidate services for each task, reduces the time to generate the composition plans. To tackle the problem of web service composition, QoS aware automatic web service composition (QAWSC) algorithm proposed in this paper is based on the QoS aspects of the web services and user preferences. The proposed framework allows user to provide feedback about the composite service which improves the reputation of the services.

  6. A Web-Based Treatment Decision Support Tool for Patients With Advanced Knee Arthritis: Evaluation of User Interface and Content Design.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zheng, Hua; Rosal, Milagros C; Li, Wenjun; Borg, Amy; Yang, Wenyun; Ayers, David C; Franklin, Patricia D

    2018-04-30

    Data-driven surgical decisions will ensure proper use and timing of surgical care. We developed a Web-based patient-centered treatment decision and assessment tool to guide treatment decisions among patients with advanced knee osteoarthritis who are considering total knee replacement surgery. The aim of this study was to examine user experience and acceptance of the Web-based treatment decision support tool among older adults. User-centered formative and summative evaluations were conducted for the tool. A sample of 28 patients who were considering total knee replacement participated in the study. Participants' responses to the user interface design, the clarity of information, as well as usefulness, satisfaction, and acceptance of the tool were collected through qualitative (ie, individual patient interviews) and quantitative (ie, standardized Computer System Usability Questionnaire) methods. Participants were older adults with a mean age of 63 (SD 11) years. Three-quarters of them had no technical questions using the tool. User interface design recommendations included larger fonts, bigger buttons, less colors, simpler navigation without extra "next page" click, less mouse movement, and clearer illustrations with simple graphs. Color-coded bar charts and outcome-specific graphs with positive action were easiest for them to understand the outcomes data. Questionnaire data revealed high satisfaction with the tool usefulness and interface quality, and also showed ease of use of the tool, regardless of age or educational status. We evaluated the usability of a patient-centered decision support tool designed for advanced knee arthritis patients to facilitate their knee osteoarthritis treatment decision making. The lessons learned can inform other decision support tools to improve interface and content design for older patients' use. ©Hua Zheng, Milagros C Rosal, Wenjun Li, Amy Borg, Wenyun Yang, David C Ayers, Patricia D Franklin. Originally published in JMIR Human

  7. Swarm-based adaptation: wayfinding support for lifelong learners

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Tattersall, Colin; Van den Berg, Bert; Van Es, René; Janssen, José; Manderveld, Jocelyn; Koper, Rob

    2004-01-01

    Please refer to the orinigal publication in: Tattersall, C. Van den Berg, B., Van Es, R., Janssen, J., Manderveld, J., Koper, R. (2004). Swarm-based adaptation: wayfinding support for lifelong learners. In P. de Bra & W. Nejdl, Adaptive Hypermedia and Adaptive Web-Based Systems (LNCS3137), (pp.

  8. Evaluation of Founding Members of the International Academy of Health Sciences Informatics (IAHSI) Based on Google Scholar and Scopus Parameters.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Masic, Izet

    2017-12-01

    The International Academy of Health Sciences Informatics (IAHSI) is established by International Medical Informatics Association (IMIA) which is the world body for health and biomedical informatics. The Academy will serve as an honor society that recognizes expertise in biomedical and health informatics internationally. Academy membership will be one of the highest honors in the international field of biomedical and health informatics. To present scientometric analysis of founding members of the International Academy of Health Sciences Informatics, to evaluate members and their scientific rating. The work has an analytical character and presents analysis of the data obtained from the Google Scholar and Scopus database. Results are shown through number of cases, percentage and graphically. The analysis showed a significant correlation between the Academy and the country (continent) of origin of the academician. In IAHSI are mainly represented academics originating from Europe - 40 members (33,3%), North America - 39 members (32,5%), Asia - 20 members (16,6%), South America - 9 members (7,5%), Australia - 7 members (5,8%), while only 5 members or 4,16% come from Africa. Criteria for number of representatives of each continent to main academic communities are relatively questionable, as this analysis showed. Development of Health Sciences Informatics should be the main purpose, and it should be evenly distributed with slight deviations in number of representatives of each continent.

  9. Supporting special-purpose health care models via Web interfaces

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Warren, James R.; Frankel, Heath K.; Noone, Joseph T.; van der Zwaag, B.J.

    The potential of the Web, via both the Internet and intranets, to facilitate development of clinical information systems has been evident for some time. Most Web-based clinical workstations interfaces, however, provide merely a loose collection of access channels. There are numerous examples of

  10. VxBPEL : Supporting variability for Web services in BPEL

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Koning, Michiel; Sun, Chang-ai; Sinnema, Marco; Avgeriou, Paris

    Web services provide a way to facilitate the business integration over the Internet. Flexibility is an important and desirable property of Web service-based systems due to dynamic business environments. The flexibility can be provided or addressed by incorporating variability into a system. In this

  11. A Semantic Sensor Web for Environmental Decision Support Applications

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gray, Alasdair J. G.; Sadler, Jason; Kit, Oles; Kyzirakos, Kostis; Karpathiotakis, Manos; Calbimonte, Jean-Paul; Page, Kevin; García-Castro, Raúl; Frazer, Alex; Galpin, Ixent; Fernandes, Alvaro A. A.; Paton, Norman W.; Corcho, Oscar; Koubarakis, Manolis; De Roure, David; Martinez, Kirk; Gómez-Pérez, Asunción

    2011-01-01

    Sensing devices are increasingly being deployed to monitor the physical world around us. One class of application for which sensor data is pertinent is environmental decision support systems, e.g., flood emergency response. For these applications, the sensor readings need to be put in context by integrating them with other sources of data about the surrounding environment. Traditional systems for predicting and detecting floods rely on methods that need significant human resources. In this paper we describe a semantic sensor web architecture for integrating multiple heterogeneous datasets, including live and historic sensor data, databases, and map layers. The architecture provides mechanisms for discovering datasets, defining integrated views over them, continuously receiving data in real-time, and visualising on screen and interacting with the data. Our approach makes extensive use of web service standards for querying and accessing data, and semantic technologies to discover and integrate datasets. We demonstrate the use of our semantic sensor web architecture in the context of a flood response planning web application that uses data from sensor networks monitoring the sea-state around the coast of England. PMID:22164110

  12. Does the Test Work? Evaluating a Web-Based Language Placement Test

    Science.gov (United States)

    Long, Avizia Y.; Shin, Sun-Young; Geeslin, Kimberly; Willis, Erik W.

    2018-01-01

    In response to the need for examples of test validation from which everyday language programs can benefit, this paper reports on a study that used Bachman's (2005) assessment use argument (AUA) framework to examine evidence to support claims made about the intended interpretations and uses of scores based on a new web-based Spanish language…

  13. The Biodiversity Informatics Potential Index

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-01-01

    Background Biodiversity informatics is a relatively new discipline extending computer science in the context of biodiversity data, and its development to date has not been uniform throughout the world. Digitizing effort and capacity building are costly, and ways should be found to prioritize them rationally. The proposed 'Biodiversity Informatics Potential (BIP) Index' seeks to fulfill such a prioritization role. We propose that the potential for biodiversity informatics be assessed through three concepts: (a) the intrinsic biodiversity potential (the biological richness or ecological diversity) of a country; (b) the capacity of the country to generate biodiversity data records; and (c) the availability of technical infrastructure in a country for managing and publishing such records. Methods Broadly, the techniques used to construct the BIP Index were rank correlation, multiple regression analysis, principal components analysis and optimization by linear programming. We built the BIP Index by finding a parsimonious set of country-level human, economic and environmental variables that best predicted the availability of primary biodiversity data accessible through the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) network, and constructing an optimized model with these variables. The model was then applied to all countries for which sufficient data existed, to obtain a score for each country. Countries were ranked according to that score. Results Many of the current GBIF participants ranked highly in the BIP Index, although some of them seemed not to have realized their biodiversity informatics potential. The BIP Index attributed low ranking to most non-participant countries; however, a few of them scored highly, suggesting that these would be high-return new participants if encouraged to contribute towards the GBIF mission of free and open access to biodiversity data. Conclusions The BIP Index could potentially help in (a) identifying countries most likely to

  14. Pre-School Teachers' Informatics and Information Literacy

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tatkovic, Nevenka; Ruzic, Maja; Pecaric, Dilda

    2006-01-01

    The life and activities of every man in the period of transition from the second into the third millennium have been marked by epochal changes which appear as the consequence of scientific and technological revolution dominated by highly developed information and communication technology. Informatics and information education based on information…

  15. Integrating Informatics Technologies into Oracle

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Manole VELICANU

    2006-01-01

    Full Text Available A characteristic of the actual informatics’ context is the interference of the technologies, which assumes that for creating an informatics product, is necessary to use integrate many technologies. This thing is also used for database systems which had integrated, in the past few years, almost everything is new in informatics technology. The idea is that when using database management systems - DBMS the user can benefit all the necessary interfaces and instruments for developing an application with databases from the very beginning to the end, no matter the type of application and the work environment. For example, if the database application needs any Internet facilities these could be appealed from the products that the DBMS is working with offers. The concept of the interference of informatics technologies has many advantages, which all contribute to increasing the efficiency of the activities that develop and maintain complex databases applications.

  16. Planning and Designing Web- Based Electronic Commerce: a case study in the insurance industry

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rolf Teubner

    1998-11-01

    Full Text Available Electronic Commerce (EC comprises new ways of doing business with customers, suppliers and other business partners. EC is enabled by information and communication technology, in particular the World Wide Web (in short, the Web. While numerous organisations have started to use the Web as an interface to clients and business partners, many have been disappointed by lower than expected response rates and higher than expected costs. One reason for non profitable Web based EC applications is that they do not reflect the strategic preconditions of EC. This lack may be due to deficits in the process of developing an EC-strategy for their Web application. Furthermore, there is a void of instruments and tools to support this process. In order to fill this void, this paper proposes two basic frameworks for planning a Web based EC application. The application of these frameworks is illustrated by the example of a medium seized insurance company. Based on experiences drawn from the case study, the proposed frameworks will be evaluated.

  17. Innovative web based support for e-Governance in sociological, economical and biological systems

    OpenAIRE

    Ranđelović, Dragan

    2013-01-01

    This paper proposes a novel approach to facilitate and foster e-government optimization and automation through the use of advanced information retrieval methods and techniques, and advanced Web technologies, as well. The approach suggested in this article aims to consider interactive processes which are simple, effective, and based on the user's needs and capabilities, rather than the government's organizational structure or government business models. It should create the opportunity to eval...

  18. Assessment of Health Informatics Competencies in Undergraduate ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Rwanda Journal Series F: Medicine and Health Sciences Vol. ... establishment of continuous on-the-job training in health informatics for those ... deals with the resources, devices and formalized methods .... informatics competencies in undergraduate level, the tool ... Descriptive statistics were used to describe numerical.

  19. Developing genomic knowledge bases and databases to support clinical management: current perspectives.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Huser, Vojtech; Sincan, Murat; Cimino, James J

    2014-01-01

    Personalized medicine, the ability to tailor diagnostic and treatment decisions for individual patients, is seen as the evolution of modern medicine. We characterize here the informatics resources available today or envisioned in the near future that can support clinical interpretation of genomic test results. We assume a clinical sequencing scenario (germline whole-exome sequencing) in which a clinical specialist, such as an endocrinologist, needs to tailor patient management decisions within his or her specialty (targeted findings) but relies on a genetic counselor to interpret off-target incidental findings. We characterize the genomic input data and list various types of knowledge bases that provide genomic knowledge for generating clinical decision support. We highlight the need for patient-level databases with detailed lifelong phenotype content in addition to genotype data and provide a list of recommendations for personalized medicine knowledge bases and databases. We conclude that no single knowledge base can currently support all aspects of personalized recommendations and that consolidation of several current resources into larger, more dynamic and collaborative knowledge bases may offer a future path forward.

  20. Medical Imaging Informatics: Towards a Personalized Computational Patient.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ayache, N

    2016-05-20

    Medical Imaging Informatics has become a fast evolving discipline at the crossing of Informatics, Computational Sciences, and Medicine that is profoundly changing medical practices, for the patients' benefit.

  1. Web-based Therapy Plus Support by a Coach in Depressed Patients Referred to Secondary Mental Health Care: Randomized Controlled Trial.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hatcher, Simon; Whittaker, Robyn; Patton, Murray; Miles, Wayne Sylvester; Ralph, Nicola; Kercher, Katharina; Sharon, Cynthia

    2018-01-23

    The evidence for the effectiveness of Web-based therapies comes mainly from nonclinical populations, with a few studies in primary care. There is little evidence from patients referred to secondary mental health care with depression. Adherence to Web-based therapies is often poor. One way to increase this is to create a new health service role of a coach to guide people through the therapy. This study aimed to test in people referred to secondary care with depression if a Web-based therapy (The Journal) supported by a coach plus usual care would be more effective in reducing depression compared with usual care plus an information leaflet about Web-based resources after 12 weeks. We conducted a randomized controlled trial with two parallel arms and a process evaluation that included structured qualitative interviews analyzed using thematic analysis. The coach had a background in occupational therapy. Participants were recruited face-to-face at community mental health centers. We recruited 63 people into the trial (intervention 35, control 28). There were no statistically significant differences in the change from baseline in Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) scores at 12 weeks comparing The Journal with usual care (mean change in PHQ-9 score 9.4 in the intervention group and 7.1 in the control group, t 41 =1.05, P=.30; mean difference=2.3, 95% CI -2.1 to 6.7). People who were offered The Journal attended on average about one less outpatient appointment compared with usual care, although this difference was not statistically significant (intervention mean number of visits 2.8 (SD 5.5) compared with 4.1 (SD 6.7) in the control group, t 45 =-0.80, P=.43; mean difference=1.3, 95% CI -4.5 to 2.0). The process evaluation found that the mean number of lessons completed in the intervention group was 2.5 (SD=1.9; range=0-6) and the number of contacts with the coach was a mean of 8.1 (SD=4.4; range=0-17). The qualitative interviews highlighted the problem of engaging

  2. Omics AnalySIs System for PRecision Oncology (OASISPRO): A Web-based Omics Analysis Tool for Clinical Phenotype Prediction.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yu, Kun-Hsing; Fitzpatrick, Michael R; Pappas, Luke; Chan, Warren; Kung, Jessica; Snyder, Michael

    2017-09-12

    Precision oncology is an approach that accounts for individual differences to guide cancer management. Omics signatures have been shown to predict clinical traits for cancer patients. However, the vast amount of omics information poses an informatics challenge in systematically identifying patterns associated with health outcomes, and no general-purpose data-mining tool exists for physicians, medical researchers, and citizen scientists without significant training in programming and bioinformatics. To bridge this gap, we built the Omics AnalySIs System for PRecision Oncology (OASISPRO), a web-based system to mine the quantitative omics information from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA). This system effectively visualizes patients' clinical profiles, executes machine-learning algorithms of choice on the omics data, and evaluates the prediction performance using held-out test sets. With this tool, we successfully identified genes strongly associated with tumor stage, and accurately predicted patients' survival outcomes in many cancer types, including mesothelioma and adrenocortical carcinoma. By identifying the links between omics and clinical phenotypes, this system will facilitate omics studies on precision cancer medicine and contribute to establishing personalized cancer treatment plans. This web-based tool is available at http://tinyurl.com/oasispro ;source codes are available at http://tinyurl.com/oasisproSourceCode . © The Author (2017). Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com

  3. Informatization Level Assessment Framework and Educational Policy Implications

    OpenAIRE

    Ana Sekulovska; Pece Mitrevski

    2018-01-01

    Seeing the informatization as a measure of the educational policy, we propose an informatization level assessment framework and introduce a composite indicator – Education Informatization Index, calculated as a weighted sum by applying the Rank-Order Centroid method for weight designation. Although it is made up of only two main categories (Educational Policy Implementation subindex and Educational Policy Creation subindex) and a total of six individual indicators, it captures well all the so...

  4. Applying Web Usage Mining for Personalizing Hyperlinks in Web-Based Adaptive Educational Systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Romero, Cristobal; Ventura, Sebastian; Zafra, Amelia; de Bra, Paul

    2009-01-01

    Nowadays, the application of Web mining techniques in e-learning and Web-based adaptive educational systems is increasing exponentially. In this paper, we propose an advanced architecture for a personalization system to facilitate Web mining. A specific Web mining tool is developed and a recommender engine is integrated into the AHA! system in…

  5. Behavioral Signal Processing: Deriving Human Behavioral Informatics From Speech and Language

    Science.gov (United States)

    Narayanan, Shrikanth; Georgiou, Panayiotis G.

    2013-01-01

    The expression and experience of human behavior are complex and multimodal and characterized by individual and contextual heterogeneity and variability. Speech and spoken language communication cues offer an important means for measuring and modeling human behavior. Observational research and practice across a variety of domains from commerce to healthcare rely on speech- and language-based informatics for crucial assessment and diagnostic information and for planning and tracking response to an intervention. In this paper, we describe some of the opportunities as well as emerging methodologies and applications of human behavioral signal processing (BSP) technology and algorithms for quantitatively understanding and modeling typical, atypical, and distressed human behavior with a specific focus on speech- and language-based communicative, affective, and social behavior. We describe the three important BSP components of acquiring behavioral data in an ecologically valid manner across laboratory to real-world settings, extracting and analyzing behavioral cues from measured data, and developing models offering predictive and decision-making support. We highlight both the foundational speech and language processing building blocks as well as the novel processing and modeling opportunities. Using examples drawn from specific real-world applications ranging from literacy assessment and autism diagnostics to psychotherapy for addiction and marital well being, we illustrate behavioral informatics applications of these signal processing techniques that contribute to quantifying higher level, often subjectively described, human behavior in a domain-sensitive fashion. PMID:24039277

  6. The history of pathology informatics: A global perspective

    Science.gov (United States)

    Park, Seung; Parwani, Anil V.; Aller, Raymond D.; Banach, Lech; Becich, Michael J.; Borkenfeld, Stephan; Carter, Alexis B.; Friedman, Bruce A.; Rojo, Marcial Garcia; Georgiou, Andrew; Kayser, Gian; Kayser, Klaus; Legg, Michael; Naugler, Christopher; Sawai, Takashi; Weiner, Hal; Winsten, Dennis; Pantanowitz, Liron

    2013-01-01

    Pathology informatics has evolved to varying levels around the world. The history of pathology informatics in different countries is a tale with many dimensions. At first glance, it is the familiar story of individuals solving problems that arise in their clinical practice to enhance efficiency, better manage (e.g., digitize) laboratory information, as well as exploit emerging information technologies. Under the surface, however, lie powerful resource, regulatory, and societal forces that helped shape our discipline into what it is today. In this monograph, for the first time in the history of our discipline, we collectively perform a global review of the field of pathology informatics. In doing so, we illustrate how general far-reaching trends such as the advent of computers, the Internet and digital imaging have affected pathology informatics in the world at large. Major drivers in the field included the need for pathologists to comply with national standards for health information technology and telepathology applications to meet the scarcity of pathology services and trained people in certain countries. Following trials by a multitude of investigators, not all of them successful, it is apparent that innovation alone did not assure the success of many informatics tools and solutions. Common, ongoing barriers to the widespread adoption of informatics devices include poor information technology infrastructure in undeveloped areas, the cost of technology, and regulatory issues. This review offers a deeper understanding of how pathology informatics historically developed and provides insights into what the promising future might hold. PMID:23869286

  7. Scalable software architectures for decision support.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Musen, M A

    1999-12-01

    Interest in decision-support programs for clinical medicine soared in the 1970s. Since that time, workers in medical informatics have been particularly attracted to rule-based systems as a means of providing clinical decision support. Although developers have built many successful applications using production rules, they also have discovered that creation and maintenance of large rule bases is quite problematic. In the 1980s, several groups of investigators began to explore alternative programming abstractions that can be used to build decision-support systems. As a result, the notions of "generic tasks" and of reusable problem-solving methods became extremely influential. By the 1990s, academic centers were experimenting with architectures for intelligent systems based on two classes of reusable components: (1) problem-solving methods--domain-independent algorithms for automating stereotypical tasks--and (2) domain ontologies that captured the essential concepts (and relationships among those concepts) in particular application areas. This paper highlights how developers can construct large, maintainable decision-support systems using these kinds of building blocks. The creation of domain ontologies and problem-solving methods is the fundamental end product of basic research in medical informatics. Consequently, these concepts need more attention by our scientific community.

  8. Data Analysis and Data Mining: Current Issues in Biomedical Informatics

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bellazzi, Riccardo; Diomidous, Marianna; Sarkar, Indra Neil; Takabayashi, Katsuhiko; Ziegler, Andreas; McCray, Alexa T.

    2011-01-01

    Summary Background Medicine and biomedical sciences have become data-intensive fields, which, at the same time, enable the application of data-driven approaches and require sophisticated data analysis and data mining methods. Biomedical informatics provides a proper interdisciplinary context to integrate data and knowledge when processing available information, with the aim of giving effective decision-making support in clinics and translational research. Objectives To reflect on different perspectives related to the role of data analysis and data mining in biomedical informatics. Methods On the occasion of the 50th year of Methods of Information in Medicine a symposium was organized, that reflected on opportunities, challenges and priorities of organizing, representing and analysing data, information and knowledge in biomedicine and health care. The contributions of experts with a variety of backgrounds in the area of biomedical data analysis have been collected as one outcome of this symposium, in order to provide a broad, though coherent, overview of some of the most interesting aspects of the field. Results The paper presents sections on data accumulation and data-driven approaches in medical informatics, data and knowledge integration, statistical issues for the evaluation of data mining models, translational bioinformatics and bioinformatics aspects of genetic epidemiology. Conclusions Biomedical informatics represents a natural framework to properly and effectively apply data analysis and data mining methods in a decision-making context. In the future, it will be necessary to preserve the inclusive nature of the field and to foster an increasing sharing of data and methods between researchers. PMID:22146916

  9. Web Services as Public Services: Are We Supporting Our Busiest Service Point?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Riley-Huff, Debra A.

    2009-01-01

    This article is an analysis of academic library organizational culture, patterns, and processes as they relate to Web services. Data gathered in a research survey is examined in an attempt to reveal current departmental and administrative attitudes, practices, and support for Web services in the library research environment. (Contains 10 tables.)

  10. Construction of Multimedia Courseware and Web-based E-Learning Courses of "Biomedical Materials".

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xiaoying, Lu; Jian, He; Tian, Qin; Dongxu, Jiang; Wei, Chen

    2005-01-01

    In order to reform the traditional teaching methodology and to improve the teaching effect, we developed new teaching system for course "Biomedical Materials" in our university by the support of the computer technique and Internet. The new teaching system includes the construction of the multimedia courseware and web-based e-learning courses. More than 2000 PowerPoint slides have been designed and optimized and flash movies for several capitals are included. On the basis of this multimedia courseware, a web-based educational environment has been established further, which includes course contents, introduction of the teacher, courseware download, study forum, sitemap of the web, and relative link. The multimedia courseware has been introduced in the class teaching for "Biomedical Materials" for 6 years and a good teaching effect has been obtained. The web-based e-learning courses have been constructed for two years and proved that they are helpful for the students by their preparing and reviewing the teaching contents before and after the class teaching.

  11. Web-based Service Portal in Healthcare

    Science.gov (United States)

    Silhavy, Petr; Silhavy, Radek; Prokopova, Zdenka

    Information delivery is one the most important task in healthcare. The growing sector of electronic healthcare has an important impact on the information delivery. There are two basic approaches towards information delivering. The first is web portal and second is touch-screen terminal. The aim of this paper is to investigate the web-based service portal. The most important advantage of web-based portal in the field of healthcare is an independent access for patients. This paper deals with the conditions and frameworks for healthcare portals

  12. Developing a Web Platform to Support a Community of Practice: A Mixed Methods Study in Pediatric Physiotherapy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pratte, Gabrielle; Hurtubise, Karen; Rivard, Lisa; Berbari, Jade; Camden, Chantal

    2018-01-01

    Web platforms are increasingly used to support virtual interactions between members of communities of practice (CoP). However, little is known about how to develop these platforms to support the implementation of best practices for health care professionals. The aim of this article is to explore pediatric physiotherapists' (PTs) perspectives regarding the utility and usability of the characteristic of a web platform developed to support virtual communities of practice (vCoP). This study adopted an explanatory sequential mixed methods design. A web platform supporting the interactions of vCoP members was developed for PTs working with children with developmental coordination disorder. Specific strategies and features were created to support the effectiveness of the platform across three domains: social, information-quality, and system-quality factors. Quantitative data were collected from a cross-sectional survey (n = 41) after 5 months of access to the web platform. Descriptive statistics were calculated. Qualitative data were also collected from semistructured interviews (n = 9), which were coded, interpreted, and analyzed by using Boucher's Web Ergonomics Conceptual Framework. The utility of web platform characteristics targeting the three key domain factors were generally perceived positively by PTs. However, web platform usability issues were noted by PTs, including problems with navigation and information retrieval. Web platform aiming to support vCoP should be carefully developed to target potential users' needs. Whenever possible, users should co-construct the web platform with vCoP developers. Moreover, each of the developed characteristics (eg, newsletter, search function) should be evaluated in terms of utility and usability for the users.

  13. Machine learning in healthcare informatics

    CERN Document Server

    Acharya, U; Dua, Prerna

    2014-01-01

    The book is a unique effort to represent a variety of techniques designed to represent, enhance, and empower multi-disciplinary and multi-institutional machine learning research in healthcare informatics. The book provides a unique compendium of current and emerging machine learning paradigms for healthcare informatics and reflects the diversity, complexity and the depth and breath of this multi-disciplinary area. The integrated, panoramic view of data and machine learning techniques can provide an opportunity for novel clinical insights and discoveries.

  14. Life Cycle Project Plan Outline: Web Sites and Web-based Applications

    Science.gov (United States)

    This tool is a guideline for planning and checking for 508 compliance on web sites and web based applications. Determine which EIT components are covered or excepted, which 508 standards and requirements apply, and how to implement them.

  15. The Integration of Nursing Informatics in Delaware Nursing Education Programs

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wheeler, Bernadette

    2016-01-01

    Over the past decade, there has been a conversion to electronic health records (EHRs) in an effort to improve patient care, access, and efficiency. The goal, which has been supported by federal initiatives, is to meaningfully use informatics to improve the safety and quality of patient care as a major force in improving healthcare. How nurses…

  16. Improving Pediatric Basic Life Support Performance Through Blended Learning With Web-Based Virtual Patients: Randomized Controlled Trial.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lehmann, Ronny; Thiessen, Christiane; Frick, Barbara; Bosse, Hans Martin; Nikendei, Christoph; Hoffmann, Georg Friedrich; Tönshoff, Burkhard; Huwendiek, Sören

    2015-07-02

    E-learning and blended learning approaches gain more and more popularity in emergency medicine curricula. So far, little data is available on the impact of such approaches on procedural learning and skill acquisition and their comparison with traditional approaches. This study investigated the impact of a blended learning approach, including Web-based virtual patients (VPs) and standard pediatric basic life support (PBLS) training, on procedural knowledge, objective performance, and self-assessment. A total of 57 medical students were randomly assigned to an intervention group (n=30) and a control group (n=27). Both groups received paper handouts in preparation of simulation-based PBLS training. The intervention group additionally completed two Web-based VPs with embedded video clips. Measurements were taken at randomization (t0), after the preparation period (t1), and after hands-on training (t2). Clinical decision-making skills and procedural knowledge were assessed at t0 and t1. PBLS performance was scored regarding adherence to the correct algorithm, conformance to temporal demands, and the quality of procedural steps at t1 and t2. Participants' self-assessments were recorded in all three measurements. Procedural knowledge of the intervention group was significantly superior to that of the control group at t1. At t2, the intervention group showed significantly better adherence to the algorithm and temporal demands, and better procedural quality of PBLS in objective measures than did the control group. These aspects differed between the groups even at t1 (after VPs, prior to practical training). Self-assessments differed significantly only at t1 in favor of the intervention group. Training with VPs combined with hands-on training improves PBLS performance as judged by objective measures.

  17. Advancing the Implementation of Hydrologic Models as Web-based Applications

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dahal, P.; Tarboton, D. G.; Castronova, A. M.

    2017-12-01

    Advanced computer simulations are required to understand hydrologic phenomenon such as rainfall-runoff response, groundwater hydrology, snow hydrology, etc. Building a hydrologic model instance to simulate a watershed requires investment in data (diverse geospatial datasets such as terrain, soil) and computer resources, typically demands a wide skill set from the analyst, and the workflow involved is often difficult to reproduce. This work introduces a web-based prototype infrastructure in the form of a web application that provides researchers with easy to use access to complete hydrological modeling functionality. This includes creating the necessary geospatial and forcing data, preparing input files for a model by applying complex data preprocessing, running the model for a user defined watershed, and saving the results to a web repository. The open source Tethys Platform was used to develop the web app front-end Graphical User Interface (GUI). We used HydroDS, a webservice that provides data preparation processing capability to support backend computations used by the app. Results are saved in HydroShare, a hydrologic information system that supports the sharing of hydrologic data, model and analysis tools. The TOPographic Kinematic APproximation and Integration (TOPKAPI) model served as the example for which we developed a complete hydrologic modeling service to demonstrate the approach. The final product is a complete modeling system accessible through the web to create input files, and run the TOPKAPI hydrologic model for a watershed of interest. We are investigating similar functionality for the preparation of input to Regional Hydro-Ecological Simulation System (RHESSys). Key Words: hydrologic modeling, web services, hydrologic information system, HydroShare, HydroDS, Tethys Platform

  18. The phytophthora genome initiative database: informatics and analysis for distributed pathogenomic research.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Waugh, M; Hraber, P; Weller, J; Wu, Y; Chen, G; Inman, J; Kiphart, D; Sobral, B

    2000-01-01

    The Phytophthora Genome Initiative (PGI) is a distributed collaboration to study the genome and evolution of a particularly destructive group of plant pathogenic oomycete, with the goal of understanding the mechanisms of infection and resistance. NCGR provides informatics support for the collaboration as well as a centralized data repository. In the pilot phase of the project, several investigators prepared Phytophthora infestans and Phytophthora sojae EST and Phytophthora sojae BAC libraries and sent them to another laboratory for sequencing. Data from sequencing reactions were transferred to NCGR for analysis and curation. An analysis pipeline transforms raw data by performing simple analyses (i.e., vector removal and similarity searching) that are stored and can be retrieved by investigators using a web browser. Here we describe the database and access tools, provide an overview of the data therein and outline future plans. This resource has provided a unique opportunity for the distributed, collaborative study of a genus from which relatively little sequence data are available. Results may lead to insight into how better to control these pathogens. The homepage of PGI can be accessed at http:www.ncgr.org/pgi, with database access through the database access hyperlink.

  19. Semantic SenseLab: Implementing the vision of the Semantic Web in neuroscience.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Samwald, Matthias; Chen, Huajun; Ruttenberg, Alan; Lim, Ernest; Marenco, Luis; Miller, Perry; Shepherd, Gordon; Cheung, Kei-Hoi

    2010-01-01

    Integrative neuroscience research needs a scalable informatics framework that enables semantic integration of diverse types of neuroscience data. This paper describes the use of the Web Ontology Language (OWL) and other Semantic Web technologies for the representation and integration of molecular-level data provided by several of SenseLab suite of neuroscience databases. Based on the original database structure, we semi-automatically translated the databases into OWL ontologies with manual addition of semantic enrichment. The SenseLab ontologies are extensively linked to other biomedical Semantic Web resources, including the Subcellular Anatomy Ontology, Brain Architecture Management System, the Gene Ontology, BIRNLex and UniProt. The SenseLab ontologies have also been mapped to the Basic Formal Ontology and Relation Ontology, which helps ease interoperability with many other existing and future biomedical ontologies for the Semantic Web. In addition, approaches to representing contradictory research statements are described. The SenseLab ontologies are designed for use on the Semantic Web that enables their integration into a growing collection of biomedical information resources. We demonstrate that our approach can yield significant potential benefits and that the Semantic Web is rapidly becoming mature enough to realize its anticipated promises. The ontologies are available online at http://neuroweb.med.yale.edu/senselab/. 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  20. Conceptual Models in Health Informatics Research: A Literature Review and Suggestions for Development.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gray, Kathleen; Sockolow, Paulina

    2016-02-24

    Contributing to health informatics research means using conceptual models that are integrative and explain the research in terms of the two broad domains of health science and information science. However, it can be hard for novice health informatics researchers to find exemplars and guidelines in working with integrative conceptual models. The aim of this paper is to support the use of integrative conceptual models in research on information and communication technologies in the health sector, and to encourage discussion of these conceptual models in scholarly forums. A two-part method was used to summarize and structure ideas about how to work effectively with conceptual models in health informatics research that included (1) a selective review and summary of the literature of conceptual models; and (2) the construction of a step-by-step approach to developing a conceptual model. The seven-step methodology for developing conceptual models in health informatics research explained in this paper involves (1) acknowledging the limitations of health science and information science conceptual models; (2) giving a rationale for one's choice of integrative conceptual model; (3) explicating a conceptual model verbally and graphically; (4) seeking feedback about the conceptual model from stakeholders in both the health science and information science domains; (5) aligning a conceptual model with an appropriate research plan; (6) adapting a conceptual model in response to new knowledge over time; and (7) disseminating conceptual models in scholarly and scientific forums. Making explicit the conceptual model that underpins a health informatics research project can contribute to increasing the number of well-formed and strongly grounded health informatics research projects. This explication has distinct benefits for researchers in training, research teams, and researchers and practitioners in information, health, and other disciplines.