WorldWideScience

Sample records for model information support

  1. Information support model and its impact on utility, satisfaction and loyalty of users

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sead Šadić

    2016-11-01

    Full Text Available In today’s modern age, information systems are of vital importance for successful performance of any organization. The most important role of any information system is its information support. This paper develops an information support model and presents the results of the survey examining the effects of such model. The survey was performed among the employees of Brčko District Government and comprised three phases. The first phase assesses the influence of the quality of information support and information on information support when making decisions. The second phase examines the impact of information support when making decisions on the perceived availability and user satisfaction with information support. The third phase examines the effects of perceived usefulness as well as information support satisfaction on user loyalty. The model is presented using six hypotheses, which were tested by means of a multivariate regression analysis. The demonstrated model shows that the quality of information support and information is of vital importance in the decision-making process. The perceived usefulness and customer satisfaction are of vital importance for continuous usage of information support. The model is universal, and if slightly modified, it can be used in any sphere of life where satisfaction is measured for clients and users of some service.

  2. Management information system model supporting the quality assurance of schools in Thailand

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Daoprakai Raso

    2017-07-01

    Full Text Available Management Information Systems are very important tools for Thai Schools in supporting the quality assurance process. This research therefore aimed to develop a Management Information System (MIS model which consisted of two phases. Phase 1 was the design of MIS model used in Thai school quality assurance (QA. Phase 2 was the evaluation of the model which consisted of four parts. There were the MIS circle which consisted of 1 System Investigation, System Analysis, System Design, System Implementation and System Maintenance. 2 The Management Information System, which consisted of data collecting, data processing, information presenting, information saving, and procedure controlling. 3 The factors that support the MIS, which includes information tools and equipment used factor and the information operator’s factor, and 4 the system theory which consisted of input, process, and output. The results showed that the level of opinions in all aspects was at a “high” level.

  3. Modern Strategies of Modelling Informational and Analytical Support of Inclusive Higher Education in Russia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Karpushkina N.V.

    2017-08-01

    Full Text Available The paper gives a description of modern approaches to the modelling of informational and analytical support of higher education in persons with disabilities. It proposes a model of such support depending on the type of disability and provides a detailed description of structure components of informational and analytical support. It is argued that the main areas of support of individuals with disabilities are the following: adaptational and orientating (pre-university; organizational and coordinative; psychological and educational; academic; sociocultural; medical and health-improving; vocational (postgraduate etc. Each area is comprehensively defined. The paper reveals the principles underlying the modelling of informational and analytical support of higher inclusive education, such as: the principle of expanding and shaping a tolerant ‘barrier-free’ environment; the principle of subjectivity and socialization; the principle of strong motivation and activity; the principle of dialogue; the principle of variation; and, finally, the principle of informational openness. This work was carried out with the support of the Government Contract of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation (project 2016- 01.04- 05- 020 – F- 35.001 “Monitoring and Informational/Analytical Support of Regional Resource Centers for Higher Education for the Disabled”.

  4. In-House Communication Support System Based on the Information Propagation Model Utilizes Social Network

    Science.gov (United States)

    Takeuchi, Susumu; Teranishi, Yuuichi; Harumoto, Kaname; Shimojo, Shinji

    Almost all companies are now utilizing computer networks to support speedier and more effective in-house information-sharing and communication. However, existing systems are designed to support communications only within the same department. Therefore, in our research, we propose an in-house communication support system which is based on the “Information Propagation Model (IPM).” The IPM is proposed to realize word-of-mouth communication in a social network, and to support information-sharing on the network. By applying the system in a real company, we found that information could be exchanged between different and unrelated departments, and such exchanges of information could help to build new relationships between the users who are apart on the social network.

  5. The Model of Information Support for Management of Investment Attractiveness of Machine-Building Enterprises

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chernetska Olga V.

    2016-11-01

    Full Text Available The article discloses the content of the definition of “information support”, identifies basic approaches to the interpretation of this economic category. The main purpose of information support for management of enterprise investment attractiveness is determined. The key components of information support for management of enterprise investment attractiveness are studied. The main types of automated information systems for management of the investment attractiveness of enterprises are identified and characterized. The basic computer programs for assessing the level of investment attractiveness of enterprises are considered. A model of information support for management of investment attractiveness of machine-building enterprises is developed.

  6. Work information and emotional support of self-initiated expatriates: multilevel mediation model

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kubovcikova, Annamária; van Bakel, Marian

    of the network members with the type and amount of support they provide. The dataset consisted of 165 expatriates who rated 575 of their network members on the following learned characteristics: host country knowledge, employment status, and host country origin. The ego-centered network that consists...... of the rated ties is the context in which expatriates are embedded. It was therefore analyzed utilizing a multilevel mediation model. We have hypothesized that all learned characteristics will be determining the frequency of interaction and thus the level and type of support received. Host country knowledge......This article explores the immediate network context of self-initiated expatriates and how it influences their work information and emotional support. Building on the information seeking theory and the theory of weak and strong ties, we have created a model connecting specific characteristics...

  7. Enriching step-based product information models to support product life-cycle activities

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sarigecili, Mehmet Ilteris

    The representation and management of product information in its life-cycle requires standardized data exchange protocols. Standard for Exchange of Product Model Data (STEP) is such a standard that has been used widely by the industries. Even though STEP-based product models are well defined and syntactically correct, populating product data according to these models is not easy because they are too big and disorganized. Data exchange specifications (DEXs) and templates provide re-organized information models required in data exchange of specific activities for various businesses. DEXs show us it would be possible to organize STEP-based product models in order to support different engineering activities at various stages of product life-cycle. In this study, STEP-based models are enriched and organized to support two engineering activities: materials information declaration and tolerance analysis. Due to new environmental regulations, the substance and materials information in products have to be screened closely by manufacturing industries. This requires a fast, unambiguous and complete product information exchange between the members of a supply chain. Tolerance analysis activity, on the other hand, is used to verify the functional requirements of an assembly considering the worst case (i.e., maximum and minimum) conditions for the part/assembly dimensions. Another issue with STEP-based product models is that the semantics of product data are represented implicitly. Hence, it is difficult to interpret the semantics of data for different product life-cycle phases for various application domains. OntoSTEP, developed at NIST, provides semantically enriched product models in OWL. In this thesis, we would like to present how to interpret the GD & T specifications in STEP for tolerance analysis by utilizing OntoSTEP.

  8. Probability Distribution and Deviation Information Fusion Driven Support Vector Regression Model and Its Application

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Changhao Fan

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available In modeling, only information from the deviation between the output of the support vector regression (SVR model and the training sample is considered, whereas the other prior information of the training sample, such as probability distribution information, is ignored. Probabilistic distribution information describes the overall distribution of sample data in a training sample that contains different degrees of noise and potential outliers, as well as helping develop a high-accuracy model. To mine and use the probability distribution information of a training sample, a new support vector regression model that incorporates probability distribution information weight SVR (PDISVR is proposed. In the PDISVR model, the probability distribution of each sample is considered as the weight and is then introduced into the error coefficient and slack variables of SVR. Thus, the deviation and probability distribution information of the training sample are both used in the PDISVR model to eliminate the influence of noise and outliers in the training sample and to improve predictive performance. Furthermore, examples with different degrees of noise were employed to demonstrate the performance of PDISVR, which was then compared with those of three SVR-based methods. The results showed that PDISVR performs better than the three other methods.

  9. 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.

  10. 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

  11. 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.

  12. Model prototype of information support system for operator approaches and realization

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Samoilov, O.B.; Galushkin, V.A.; Drumov, V.V.; Kurachenkov, A.V.; Shashkin, S.L.; Mordvincev, V.M.

    1998-01-01

    In connection with the appearance in a structure of the national regulatory documentation on safety of the requirement about availability of information support systems, the works on development of such system are necessary for making a decision of a question on start-up each NPP. It was developed a model - prototype of the system for Voronezh AST (VAST). Main principles of this model are described in the present report. Besides, similar works on other types of NPPs are carried out. (author)

  13. Hanford sitewide grounwater remediation - supporting technical information

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chiaramonte, G.R.

    1996-05-01

    The Hanford Sitewide Groundwater Remediation Strategy was issued in 1995 to establish overall goals for groundwater remediation on the Hanford Site. This strategy is being refined to provide more detailed justification for remediation of specific plumes and to provide a decision process for long-range planning of remediation activities. Supporting this work is a comprehensive modeling study to predict movement of the major site plumes over the next 200 years to help plan the remediation efforts. The information resulting from these studies will be documented in a revision to the Strategy and the Hanford Site Groundwater Protection Management Plan. To support the modeling work and other studies being performed to refine the strategy, this supporting technical information report has been produced to compile all of the relevant technical information collected to date on the Hanford Site groundwater contaminant plumes. The primary information in the report relates to conceptualization of the source terms and available history of groundwater transport, and description of the contaminant plumes. The primary information in the report relates to conceptualization of the source terms and available history of groundwater transport, description of the contaminant plumes, rate of movement based on the conceptual model and monitoring data, risk assessment, treatability study information, and current approach for plume remediation

  14. TUTORIAL SUPPORT IN THE INFORMATION SPACE OF SCHOOLS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Вита Иммануиловна Глизбург

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available The article deals with teachers and professional competence tyutorskoy, tutor support schools in the information space. The main requirements to the tutor support in the information space of schools, conditions of readiness of the teacher to tutor support schools in the information space. A theoretical analysis of the concept of information competence, tyutorskoy competence. It is noted that in thestructure of information competence must exist an element associated with the motivation, need and interest in the acquisition of knowledge and skills in the field of technical, software and information. Formulated key performance indicators definition of information competence of the tutor. The authors noted that information and work with it is in the modern educational and information space school mandatory components of pedagogical activity as a system.Analyzed and presented on the basis of the author’s experience of the possibility of using information and educational Moodle shell with tutor support positions in the information space of schools, sets out the basic elements and resources Moodle shell with a description of the implementation. In particular, the disclosed educational resources information and educational shell Moodle for remote support learning. The article describes a model developed by the author’s tutor support schools in the information space.

  15. Information sharing model in supporting implementation of e-procurement service: Case of Bandung city

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ramantoko, Gadang; Irawan, Herry

    2017-10-01

    This research examines the factors influencing the Information Sharing Model in Supporting Implementation of e-Procurement Services: Case of Bandung City in its early maturity stage. The early maturity of information sharing stage was determined using e-Government Maturity Stage Conceptual Framework from Estevez. Bandung City e-Procurement Information Sharing system was categorized at stage 1 in Estevez' model where the concern was mainly on assessing the benefit and risk of implementing the system. The Authors were using DeLone & McLean (D&M) Information System Success model to study benefit and risk of implementing the system in Bandung city. The model was then empirically tested by employing survey data that was collected from the available 40 listed supplier firms. D&M's model adjusted by Klischewski's description was introducing Information Quality, System Quality, and Service Quality as independent variable; Usability and User Satisfaction as intermediate dependent variable; and Perceived Net Benefit as final dependent variable. The findings suggested that, all of the predictors in D&M's model significantly influenced the net perceived benefit of implementing the e-Procurement system in the early maturity stage. The theoretical contribution of this research suggested that D&M's model might find useful in modeling complex information technology successfulness such as the one used in e-Procurement service. This research could also have implications for policy makers (LPSE) and system providers (LKPP) following the introduction of the service. However, the small number of respondent might be considered limitation of the study. The model needs to be further tested using larger number of respondents by involving the population of the firms in extended boundary/municipality area around Bandung.

  16. Supporting Information

    Data.gov (United States)

    U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — This is the supporting information for the journal article. This dataset is associated with the following publication: Rankin, K., S. Mabury, T. Jenkins, and J....

  17. Information Support for Sustainable Tourism

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kodym Oldřich

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper focuses on possibilities of information provision for tourists so that they can get familiar more easily with new cultures and the “unknown” environment by means of commonly known and user friendly interfaces. Each object of interest can be equipped with a wireless identification tag that can serve as: 1 Pointer to already downloaded information and thus associate it with the real object in his proper environment. 2 Link for downloading of information in real time – if a wireless communication is available. 3 Direct provider of such information – if the identification tag has sufficient capacity. 4 Provider for feedback inclusive management of tourist movement so that the communication routes are not overloaded. Information support for such kinds of tourist areas is presented. Logistic model based on Petri nets is used for simulation and life cycle assessment following Ekoindikator 99 is evaluated. Advantages of described solutions are discussed.

  18. Framework for Modeling High-Impact, Low-Frequency Power Grid Events to Support Risk-Informed Decisions

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Veeramany, Arun; Unwin, Stephen D.; Coles, Garill A.; Dagle, Jeffery E.; Millard, W. David; Yao, Juan; Glantz, Clifford S.; Gourisetti, Sri Nikhil Gup

    2015-12-03

    grid modernization activities. The availability of a grid HILF risk model, integrated across multi-hazard domains which, when interrogated, can support transparent, defensible and effective decisions, is an attractive prospect among these communities. In this report, we document an integrated HILF risk framework intended to inform the development of risk models. These models would be based on the systematic and comprehensive (to within scope) characterization of hazards to the level of detail required for modeling risk, identification of the stressors associated with the hazards (i.e., the means of impacting grid and supporting infrastructure), characterization of the vulnerability of assets to these stressors and the probabilities of asset compromise, the grid’s dynamic response to the asset failures, and assessment of subsequent severities of consequence with respect to selected impact metrics, such as power outage duration and geographic reach. Specifically, the current framework is being developed to;1. Provide the conceptual and overarching technical paradigms for the development of risk models; 2. Identify the classes of models required to implement the framework - providing examples of existing models, and also identifying where modeling gaps exist; 3. Identify the types of data required, addressing circumstances under which data are sparse and the formal elicitation of informed judgment might be required; and 4. Identify means by which the resultant risk models might be interrogated to form the necessary basis for risk management.

  19. Information Support of Foreign Policy

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Olga A. Melnikova

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available Informatization and modern information technologies cover the most various areas of social, spiritual and material human life and have become the dominating globalization factor with major impact on world events. Modern international relations present new challenges and threats ofcross-border nature, which fall within the area of information security. This brings issues of informational influence on international policy to the fore. In this context the question of improvement and modernization of policy instruments for more effective use of modern means of implementation of foreign policy priorities, including information support of international activities, achieves fundamental importance. Given the complexity of modern international relations and tasks facing foreign affairs departments, diplomatic success in many cases depends onthe efficiency of information support. The article analyses current objectives and methods of information support of foreign policy in the context of modern Russian legislation. The author examines the approach of the Information and Press Department of the Russian Ministryof Foreign Affairs,a subdivision responsible for information support and international cooperation in the media sphere. The article specifies the key role of new information technologies for informing the audience expeditiously and to the full extent in regard to Russian approaches to the solution of international problems, foreign policy initiatives and actions of the Russian Federation, and for counteracting attempts to discredit Russian foreign policy.

  20. Modeling of the Operating Information for System of Logistical Support of the Hardware-software Means of Safety of the Distributed Systems for Data Processing

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    A. A. Durakovsky

    2010-03-01

    Full Text Available The technique of information modeling of processes and procedures making them by preparation of the operating information for system of logistical support of technological processes of operation and service of hardware-software means of safety of the distributed systems of data processing is offered. Procedures of preparation of the operating information for the system of logistical support of APSOB РСОД concern: working out and formalization of algorithm of functioning; construction of model of the functioning, allowing to calculate degree of risk of operation; decomposition of model and classification of its objects for the purpose of the unequivocal description of all elements of the operating information and mutual coordination of relations between information units.

  1. Using a generalised identity reference model with archetypes to support interoperability of demographics information in electronic health record systems.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xu Chen; Berry, Damon; Stephens, Gaye

    2015-01-01

    Computerised identity management is in general encountered as a low-level mechanism that enables users in a particular system or region to securely access resources. In the Electronic Health Record (EHR), the identifying information of both the healthcare professionals who access the EHR and the patients whose EHR is accessed, are subject to change. Demographics services have been developed to manage federated patient and healthcare professional identities and to support challenging healthcare-specific use cases in the presence of diverse and sometimes conflicting demographic identities. Demographics services are not the only use for identities in healthcare. Nevertheless, contemporary EHR specifications limit the types of entities that can be the actor or subject of a record to health professionals and patients, thus limiting the use of two level models in other healthcare information systems. Demographics are ubiquitous in healthcare, so for a general identity model to be usable, it should be capable of managing demographic information. In this paper, we introduce a generalised identity reference model (GIRM) based on key characteristics of five surveyed demographic models. We evaluate the GIRM by using it to express the EN13606 demographics model in an extensible way at the metadata level and show how two-level modelling can support the exchange of instances of demographic identities. This use of the GIRM to express demographics information shows its application for standards-compliant two-level modelling alongside heterogeneous demographics models. We advocate this approach to facilitate the interoperability of identities between two-level model-based EHR systems and show the validity and the extensibility of using GIRM for the expression of other health-related identities.

  2. Automation of information decision support to improve e-learning resources quality

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    A.L. Danchenko

    2013-06-01

    Full Text Available Purpose. In conditions of active development of e-learning the high quality of e-learning resources is very important. Providing the high quality of e-learning resources in situation with mass higher education and rapid obsolescence of information requires the automation of information decision support for improving the quality of e-learning resources by development of decision support system. Methodology. The problem is solved by methods of artificial intelligence. The knowledge base of information structure of decision support system that is based on frame model of knowledge representation and inference production rules are developed. Findings. According to the results of the analysis of life cycle processes and requirements to the e-learning resources quality the information model of the structure of the knowledge base of the decision support system, the inference rules for the automatically generating of recommendations and the software implementation are developed. Practical value. It is established that the basic requirements for quality are performance, validity, reliability and manufacturability. It is shown that the using of a software implementation of decision support system for researched courses gives a growth of the quality according to the complex quality criteria. The information structure of a knowledge base system to support decision-making and rules of inference can be used by methodologists and content developers of learning systems.

  3. An information system supporting design for reliability and maintenance

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rit, J.F.; Beraud, M.T.

    1997-01-01

    EDF is currently developing a methodology to integrate availability, operating experience and maintenance in the design of power plants. This involves studies that depend closely on the results and assumptions of each other about the reliability and operations of the plant. Therefore a support information system must be carefully designed. Concurrently with development of the methodology, a research oriented information system was designed and built. It is based on the database model of a logistic support repository that we tailored to our needs. (K.A.)

  4. An information system supporting design for reliability and maintenance

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Rit, J.F.; Beraud, M.T

    1997-12-31

    EDF is currently developing a methodology to integrate availability, operating experience and maintenance in the design of power plants. This involves studies that depend closely on the results and assumptions of each other about the reliability and operations of the plant. Therefore a support information system must be carefully designed. Concurrently with development of the methodology, a research oriented information system was designed and built. It is based on the database model of a logistic support repository that we tailored to our needs. (K.A.) 10 refs.

  5. SatisFactory Common Information Data Exchange Model

    OpenAIRE

    CERTH

    2016-01-01

    This deliverable defines the Common Information Data Exchange Model (CIDEM). The aim of CIDEM is to provide a model of information elements (e.g. concepts, even, relations, interfaces) used for information exchange between components as well as for modelling work performed by other tasks (e.g. knowledge models to support human resources optimization). The CIDEM definition is considered as a shared vocabulary that enables to address the information needs for the SatisFactory framework components.

  6. Health, Supportive Environments, and the Reasonable Person Model

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stephen Kaplan; Rachel Kaplan

    2003-01-01

    The Reasonable Person Model is a conceptual framework that links environmental factors with human behavior. People are more reasonable, cooperative, helpful, and satisfied when the environment supports their basic informational needs. The same environmental supports are important factors in enhancing human health. We use this framework to identify the informational...

  7. The Evaluation Methodology of Information Support

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lubos Necesal

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Knowledge, information and people are the motive force in today's organizations. Successful organizations need to find the right employees and provide them with the right and highquality information. This is a complex problem. In the world where information plays more and more important role, employees have to be skilled at information activities (searching, processing, saving, etc. of information and information system/-s (IS they work with. Organizations have to cover both these areas. Therefore, we need an effective instrument, which could be used to evaluate new employees within admission or as regular evaluating of current employees, to evaluate information system, whether it is an appropriate tool for fulfilling the employee’s tasks within the organization, and to evaluate how the organization covers the foregoing areas. Such instrument is the “Evaluation methodology of information support in organization”. This paper defines the term “information support“ and its role in organization. The body of the paper proposes the “Evaluation methodology of information support in organization”. The conclusion discusses contributions of information support evaluation

  8. [Information system for supporting the Nursing Care Systematization].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Malucelli, Andreia; Otemaier, Kelly Rafaela; Bonnet, Marcel; Cubas, Marcia Regina; Garcia, Telma Ribeiro

    2010-01-01

    It is an unquestionable fact, the importance, relevance and necessity of implementing the Nursing Care Systematization in the different environments of professional practice. Considering it as a principle, emerged the motivation for the development of an information system to support the Nursing Care Systematization, based on Nursing Process steps and Human Needs, using the diagnoses language, nursing interventions and outcomes for professional practice documentation. This paper describes the methodological steps and results of the information system development - requirements elicitation, modeling, object-relational mapping, implementation and system validation.

  9. Supporting Fiscal Aspect of Land Administration through an LADM-based Valuation Information Model

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Kara, A.; Çağdaş, V.; Lemmen, C.H.J.; Işıkdağ, Ü.; van Oosterom, P.J.M.; Stubkjær, E.

    2018-01-01

    This paper presents an information system artifact for the fiscal aspect of land administration, a valuation information model for the specification of inventories or databases used in valuation for recurrently levied immovable property taxes. The information model is designed as an extension module

  10. System Dynamics Modeling for Supply Chain Information Sharing

    Science.gov (United States)

    Feng, Yang

    In this paper, we try to use the method of system dynamics to model supply chain information sharing. Firstly, we determine the model boundaries, establish system dynamics model of supply chain before information sharing, analyze the model's simulation results under different changed parameters and suggest improvement proposal. Then, we establish system dynamics model of supply chain information sharing and make comparison and analysis on the two model's simulation results, to show the importance of information sharing in supply chain management. We wish that all these simulations would provide scientific supports for enterprise decision-making.

  11. Conceptual Modeling of Time-Varying Information

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Gregersen, Heidi; Jensen, Christian S.

    2004-01-01

    A wide range of database applications manage information that varies over time. Many of the underlying database schemas of these were designed using the Entity-Relationship (ER) model. In the research community as well as in industry, it is common knowledge that the temporal aspects of the mini......-world are important, but difficult to capture using the ER model. Several enhancements to the ER model have been proposed in an attempt to support the modeling of temporal aspects of information. Common to the existing temporally extended ER models, few or no specific requirements to the models were given...

  12. An information model to support user-centered design of medical devices.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hagedorn, Thomas J; Krishnamurty, Sundar; Grosse, Ian R

    2016-08-01

    The process of engineering design requires the product development team to balance the needs and limitations of many stakeholders, including those of the user, regulatory organizations, and the designing institution. This is particularly true in medical device design, where additional consideration must be given for a much more complex user-base that can only be accessed on a limited basis. Given this inherent challenge, few projects exist that consider design domain concepts, such as aspects of a detailed design, a detailed view of various stakeholders and their capabilities, along with the user-needs simultaneously. In this paper, we present a novel information model approach that combines a detailed model of design elements with a model of the design itself, customer requirements, and of the capabilities of the customer themselves. The information model is used to facilitate knowledge capture and automated reasoning across domains with a minimal set of rules by adopting a terminology that treats customer and design specific factors identically, thus enabling straightforward assessments. A uniqueness of this approach is that it systematically provides an integrated perspective on the key usability information that drive design decisions towards more universal or effective outcomes with the very design information impacted by the usability information. This can lead to cost-efficient optimal designs based on a direct inclusion of the needs of customers alongside those of business, marketing, and engineering requirements. Two case studies are presented to show the method's potential as a more effective knowledge management tool with built-in automated inferences that provide design insight, as well as its overall effectiveness as a platform to develop and execute medical device design from a holistic perspective. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  13. Real-time decision support and information gathering system for financial domain

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tseng, Chiu-Che; Gmytrasiewicz, Piotr J.

    2006-05-01

    The challenge of the investment domain is that a large amount of diverse information can be potentially relevant to an investment decision, and that, frequently, the decisions have to be made in a timely manner. This presents the potential for better decision support, but poses the challenge of building a decision support agent that gathers information from different sources and incorporates it for timely decision support. These problems motivate us to investigate ways in which the investors can be equipped with a flexible real-time decision support system to be practical in time-critical situations. The flexible real-time decision support system considers a tradeoff between decision quality and computation cost. For this purpose, we propose a system that uses the object oriented Bayesian knowledge base (OOBKB) design to create a decision model at the most suitable level of detail to guide the information gathering activities, and to produce an investment recommendation within a reasonable length of time. The decision models our system uses are implemented as influence diagrams. We validate our system with experiments in a simplified investment domain. The experiments show that our system produces a quality recommendation under different urgency situations. The contribution of our system is that it provides the flexible decision recommendation for an investor under time constraints in a complex environment.

  14. Compilation of information on melter modeling

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Eyler, L.L.

    1996-03-01

    The objective of the task described in this report is to compile information on modeling capabilities for the High-Temperature Melter and the Cold Crucible Melter and issue a modeling capabilities letter report summarizing existing modeling capabilities. The report is to include strategy recommendations for future modeling efforts to support the High Level Waste (BLW) melter development

  15. Capturing information needs of care providers to support knowledge sharing and distributed decision making.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rogers, M; Zach, L; An, Y; Dalrymple, P

    2012-01-01

    This paper reports on work carried out to elicit information needs at a trans-disciplinary, nurse-managed health care clinic that serves a medically disadvantaged urban population. The trans-disciplinary model provides a "one-stop shop" for patients who can receive a wide range of services beyond traditional primary care. However, this model of health care presents knowledge sharing challenges because little is known about how data collected from the non-traditional services can be integrated into the traditional electronic medical record (EMR) and shared with other care providers. There is also little known about how health information technology (HIT) can be used to support the workflow in such a practice. The objective of this case study was to identify the information needs of care providers in order to inform the design of HIT to support knowledge sharing and distributed decision making. A participatory design approach is presented as a successful technique to specify requirements for HIT applications that can support a trans-disciplinary model of care. Using this design approach, the researchers identified the information needs of care providers working at the clinic and suggested HIT improvements to integrate non-traditional information into the EMR. These modifications allow knowledge sharing among care providers and support better health decisions. We have identified information needs of care providers as they are relevant to the design of health information systems. As new technology is designed and integrated into various workflows it is clear that understanding information needs is crucial to acceptance of that technology.

  16. Infrastructure to Support Hydrologic Research: Information Systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lall, U.; Duffy, C j

    2001-12-01

    Hydrologic Sciences are inherently interdisciplinary. Consequently, a myriad state variables are of interest to hydrologists. Hydrologic processes transcend many spatial and temporal scales, and their measurements reflect a variety of scales of support. The global water cycle is continuously modified by human activity through changes in land use, alteration of rivers, irrigation and groundwater pumping and through a modification of atmospheric composition. Since water is a solvent and a medium of transport, the water cycle fundamentally influences other material and energy cycles. This metaphor extends to the function that a hydrologic research information system needs to provide, to facilitate discovery in earth systems science, and to improve our capability to manage resources and hazards in a sustainable manner. At present, we have a variety of sources that provide data useful for hydrologic analyses, that range from massive remote sensed data sets, to sparsely sampled historical and paleo data. Consequently, the first objective of the Hydrologic Information Systems (HIS) group is to design a data services system that makes these data accessible in a uniform and useful way for specific, prioritized research goals. The design will include protocols for archiving and disseminating data from the Long Term Hydrologic Observatories (LTHOs), and comprehensive modeling experiments. Hydrology has a rich tradition of mathematical and statistical modeling of processes. However, given limited data and access to it, and a narrow focus that has not exploited connections to climatic and ecologic processes (among others), there have been only a few forays into diagnostic analyses of hydrologic fields, to identify and evaluate spatial and process teleconnections and an appropriate reduced space for modeling and understanding systems. The HIS initiative consequently proposes an investment in research and the provision of toolboxes to facilitate such analyses using the data

  17. Utilisation of information technology to support information and knowledge management by lawyers in Polokwane City

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Solomon Bopape

    2010-01-01

    Full Text Available A revolution in information and communication technology is taking place in the world. With this technological revolution, information and knowledge are also considered as crucial assets for every organization. Law firms are regarded as one of the industries which are information and knowledge-intensive. The utilization of information technology can play an essential role in supporting information and knowledge management in law firms. An investigation into the extent to which lawyers or law firms in Polokwane city utilize information technology to support information and knowledge management was conducted through a survey questionnaire based on the Technology Acceptance Model. The findings of this research showed that lawyers utilise information technology systems or applications that are common, such as word processing, e-mail, client billing and online databases for searching legal information. Other information and knowledge management tools, such as Intranets, extranets and web portals, were the least and non-utilised applications by these lawyers. The main reason for non-utilization of such systems may be linked to non- exposure to information technology and unfamiliarity with information and knowledge management tools. It is, therefore, recommended that legal schools should include, in their curriculum, modules on the application and role of information technology in the legal practice. Recommendations for future research related to this subject are also provided.

  18. Computer-Supported Information Systems.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mayhew, William H.

    1983-01-01

    The planning and implementation of a computerized management information system at a fictional small college is described. Nine key points are made regarding department involvement, centralization, gradual program implementation, lowering costs, system documentation, and upper-level administrative support. (MSE)

  19. Online Cancer Information Seeking: Applying and Extending the Comprehensive Model of Information Seeking.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Van Stee, Stephanie K; Yang, Qinghua

    2017-10-30

    This study applied the comprehensive model of information seeking (CMIS) to online cancer information and extended the model by incorporating an exogenous variable: interest in online health information exchange with health providers. A nationally representative sample from the Health Information National Trends Survey 4 Cycle 4 was analyzed to examine the extended CMIS in predicting online cancer information seeking. Findings from a structural equation model supported most of the hypotheses derived from the CMIS, as well as the extension of the model related to interest in online health information exchange. In particular, socioeconomic status, beliefs, and interest in online health information exchange predicted utility. Utility, in turn, predicted online cancer information seeking, as did information-carrier characteristics. An unexpected but important finding from the study was the significant, direct relationship between cancer worry and online cancer information seeking. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

  20. Mathematical model of statistical identification of information support of road transport

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    V. G. Kozlov

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available In this paper based on the statistical identification method using the theory of self-organizing systems, built multifactor model the relationship of road transport and training system. Background information for the model represented by a number of parameters of average annual road transport operations and information provision, including training complex system parameters (inputs, road management and output parameters. Ask two criteria: stability criterion model and test correlation. The program determines their minimum, and is the only model of optimal complexity. The predetermined number of parameters established mathematical relationship of each output parameter with the others. To improve the accuracy and regularity of the forecast of the interpolation nodes allocated in the test data sequence. Other data form the training sequence. Decision model based on the principle of selection. Running it with the gradual complication of the mathematical description and exhaustive search of all possible variants of the models on the specified criteria. Advantages of the proposed model: adequately reflects the actual process, allows you to enter any additional input parameters and determine their impact on the individual output parameters of the road transport, allows in turn change the values of key parameters in a certain ratio and to determine the appropriate changes the output parameters of the road transport, allows to predict the output parameters road transport operations.

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

    Science.gov (United States)

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

    2009-12-16

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

  2. 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.

  3. Prioritization of engineering support requests and advanced technology projects using decision support and industrial engineering models

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tavana, Madjid

    1995-01-01

    The evaluation and prioritization of Engineering Support Requests (ESR's) is a particularly difficult task at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) -- Shuttle Project Engineering Office. This difficulty is due to the complexities inherent in the evaluation process and the lack of structured information. The evaluation process must consider a multitude of relevant pieces of information concerning Safety, Supportability, O&M Cost Savings, Process Enhancement, Reliability, and Implementation. Various analytical and normative models developed over the past have helped decision makers at KSC utilize large volumes of information in the evaluation of ESR's. The purpose of this project is to build on the existing methodologies and develop a multiple criteria decision support system that captures the decision maker's beliefs through a series of sequential, rational, and analytical processes. The model utilizes the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP), subjective probabilities, the entropy concept, and Maximize Agreement Heuristic (MAH) to enhance the decision maker's intuition in evaluating a set of ESR's.

  4. Enterprise Modelling for an Educational Information Infrastructure

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

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

    2001-01-01

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

  5. Thoughtflow: Standards and Tools for Provenance Capture and Workflow Definition to Support Model-Informed Drug Discovery and Development.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wilkins, J J; Chan, Pls; Chard, J; Smith, G; Smith, M K; Beer, M; Dunn, A; Flandorfer, C; Franklin, C; Gomeni, R; Harnisch, L; Kaye, R; Moodie, S; Sardu, M L; Wang, E; Watson, E; Wolstencroft, K; Cheung, Sya

    2017-05-01

    Pharmacometric analyses are complex and multifactorial. It is essential to check, track, and document the vast amounts of data and metadata that are generated during these analyses (and the relationships between them) in order to comply with regulations, support quality control, auditing, and reporting. It is, however, challenging, tedious, error-prone, and time-consuming, and diverts pharmacometricians from the more useful business of doing science. Automating this process would save time, reduce transcriptional errors, support the retention and transfer of knowledge, encourage good practice, and help ensure that pharmacometric analyses appropriately impact decisions. The ability to document, communicate, and reconstruct a complete pharmacometric analysis using an open standard would have considerable benefits. In this article, the Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI) Drug Disease Model Resources (DDMoRe) consortium proposes a set of standards to facilitate the capture, storage, and reporting of knowledge (including assumptions and decisions) in the context of model-informed drug discovery and development (MID3), as well as to support reproducibility: "Thoughtflow." A prototype software implementation is provided. © 2017 The Authors CPT: Pharmacometrics & Systems Pharmacology published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of American Society for Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics.

  6. Developing Information Systems for Competitive Intelligence Support.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hohhof, Bonnie

    1994-01-01

    Discusses issues connected with developing information systems for competitive intelligence support; defines the elements of an effective competitive information system; and summarizes issues affecting system design and implementation. Highlights include intelligence information; information needs; information sources; decision making; and…

  7. REMOTE SYNTHESIS AND CONTROL INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY OF SYSTEM-DYNAMIC MODELS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    A. V. Masloboev

    2015-07-01

    Full Text Available The general line of research is concerned with development of information technologies and computer simulation tools for management information and analytical support of complex semistructured systems. Regional socio-economic systems are consideredas a representative of this system type. Investigation is carried out within the bounds of development strategy implementation of the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation and national safety until 2020 in the Murmansk region, specifically under engineering of high end information infrastructure for innovation and security control problem-solving of regional development. Research methodology consists of system dynamics modeling method, distributed information system engineering technologies, pattern-based modeling and design techniques. The work deals with development of toolkit for decision-making information support problem-solving in the field of innovation security management of regional economics. For that purpose a system-dynamic models suite of innovation process standard components and information technology for remote formation and control of innovation business simulation models under research have been developed. Designed toolkit provides innovation security index dynamics forecasting and innovation business effectiveness of regional economics. Information technology is implemented within the bounds of thin client architecture and is intended for simulation models design process automation of complex systems. Technology implementation software tools provide pattern-based system-dynamic models distributed formation and simulation control of innovation processes. The technology provides availability and reusability index enhancement of information support facilities in application to innovation process simulation at the expense of distributed access to innovation business simulation modeling tools and model synthesis by the reusable components, simulating standard elements of innovation

  8. A model-driven approach to information security compliance

    Science.gov (United States)

    Correia, Anacleto; Gonçalves, António; Teodoro, M. Filomena

    2017-06-01

    The availability, integrity and confidentiality of information are fundamental to the long-term survival of any organization. Information security is a complex issue that must be holistically approached, combining assets that support corporate systems, in an extended network of business partners, vendors, customers and other stakeholders. This paper addresses the conception and implementation of information security systems, conform the ISO/IEC 27000 set of standards, using the model-driven approach. The process begins with the conception of a domain level model (computation independent model) based on information security vocabulary present in the ISO/IEC 27001 standard. Based on this model, after embedding in the model mandatory rules for attaining ISO/IEC 27001 conformance, a platform independent model is derived. Finally, a platform specific model serves the base for testing the compliance of information security systems with the ISO/IEC 27000 set of standards.

  9. Information system and website design to support theautomotive manufacture ERP system

    Science.gov (United States)

    Amran, T. G.; Azmi, N.; Surjawati, A. A.

    2017-12-01

    This research is to create an on-time production system design with Heijunka model so that the product diversity for all models could meet time and capacity requirements, own production flexibility, high quality, meet the customers’ demands, realistic in production as well as creating a web-based local components’ order information system that supports the Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system. The Heijunka model for equalization with heuristic and stochastic model has been implemented for productions up to 3000 units by implementing Suzuki International Manufacturing. The inefficiency in the local order information system demanded the need for a new information system design that is integrated in ERP. Kaizen needs to be done is the Supplier Network that all vendors can download and utilize those data to deliver the components to the company and for vendors’ internal uses as well. The model design is presumed effective where the model is able to be utilized as a solution so that the production can run according to the schedule and presumed efficient were the model is able to show the reduction of loss time and stock.

  10. Social Support, Trust in Health Information, and Health Information-Seeking Behaviors (HISBs): A Study Using the 2012 Annenberg National Health Communication Survey (ANHCS).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yang, Qinghua; Chen, Yixin; Wendorf Muhamad, Jessica

    2017-09-01

    We proposed a conceptual model to predict health information-seeking behaviors (HISBs) from three different sources (family, the Internet, doctors). To test the model, a structural equation modeling (SEM) analysis was conducted using data from the 2012 Annenberg National Health Communication Survey (ANHCS) (N = 3,285). Findings suggest higher social support from family predicts higher trust in health information from family members (abbreviated as trust in this article). Trust is positively related to HISBs from all three sources, with the path linking trust to HISB from family being the strongest. The effect of social support on HISB from family is partially mediated by trust, while effect of social support on HISBs from the Internet/doctors is fully mediated by trust. Implications of the study are discussed.

  11. Clinical Information Support System (CISS)

    Data.gov (United States)

    Department of Veterans Affairs — Clinical Information Support System (CISS) is a web-based portal application that provides a framework of services for the VA enterprise and supplies an integration...

  12. Creation of integrated information model of 'Ukryttia' object premises condition to support the works

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Postil, S.D.; Ermolenko, A.I.; Ivanov, V.V.; Kotlyarov, V.T.

    2002-01-01

    A technology for creation of integrated information model of 'Ukryttia' Object premises conditions was developed on the basis of geoinformation system AutoCad. DB Access and instrumental utility 3D MAX. Information models and database for conditions of 'Ukryttia' object's premises located between 0.000 and 67.000 marks in axes 41-52, row G-T, were created. Using integrated information model of 'Ukryttia' object premises conditions, 3D surface distribution of radiation field in the object premises on level 0.000 has been received. It is revealed that maximum values of radiation field are concentrated over the clusters of fuel-containing materials

  13. Information Systems to Support Surveillance for Malaria Elimination

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ohrt, Colin; Roberts, Kathryn W.; Sturrock, Hugh J. W.; Wegbreit, Jennifer; Lee, Bruce Y.; Gosling, Roly D.

    2015-01-01

    Robust and responsive surveillance systems are critical for malaria elimination. The ideal information system that supports malaria elimination includes: rapid and complete case reporting, incorporation of related data, such as census or health survey information, central data storage and management, automated and expert data analysis, and customized outputs and feedback that lead to timely and targeted responses. Spatial information enhances such a system, ensuring cases are tracked and mapped over time. Data sharing and coordination across borders are vital and new technologies can improve data speed, accuracy, and quality. Parts of this ideal information system exist and are in use, but have yet to be linked together coherently. Malaria elimination programs should support the implementation and refinement of information systems to support surveillance and response and ensure political and financial commitment to maintain the systems and the human resources needed to run them. National malaria programs should strive to improve the access and utility of these information systems and establish cross-border data sharing mechanisms through the use of standard indicators for malaria surveillance. Ultimately, investment in the information technologies that support a timely and targeted surveillance and response system is essential for malaria elimination. PMID:26013378

  14. A model for the electronic support of practice-based research networks.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Peterson, Kevin A; Delaney, Brendan C; Arvanitis, Theodoros N; Taweel, Adel; Sandberg, Elisabeth A; Speedie, Stuart; Richard Hobbs, F D

    2012-01-01

    The principal goal of the electronic Primary Care Research Network (ePCRN) is to enable the development of an electronic infrastructure to support clinical research activities in primary care practice-based research networks (PBRNs). We describe the model that the ePCRN developed to enhance the growth and to expand the reach of PBRN research. Use cases and activity diagrams were developed from interviews with key informants from 11 PBRNs from the United States and United Kingdom. Discrete functions were identified and aggregated into logical components. Interaction diagrams were created, and an overall composite diagram was constructed describing the proposed software behavior. Software for each component was written and aggregated, and the resulting prototype application was pilot tested for feasibility. A practical model was then created by separating application activities into distinct software packages based on existing PBRN business rules, hardware requirements, network requirements, and security concerns. We present an information architecture that provides for essential interactions, activities, data flows, and structural elements necessary for providing support for PBRN translational research activities. The model describes research information exchange between investigators and clusters of independent data sites supported by a contracted research director. The model was designed to support recruitment for clinical trials, collection of aggregated anonymous data, and retrieval of identifiable data from previously consented patients across hundreds of practices. The proposed model advances our understanding of the fundamental roles and activities of PBRNs and defines the information exchange commonly used by PBRNs to successfully engage community health care clinicians in translational research activities. By describing the network architecture in a language familiar to that used by software developers, the model provides an important foundation for the

  15. Environmental insurance: research information support

    OpenAIRE

    Rykova Valentina V.

    2015-01-01

    he article describes information resources to support research on the issue of environmental insurance. It represents a brief analysis of a documentary flow, traces its dynamics and typical-thematic structures, shows the most productive journals

  16. Drought Information Supported by Citizen Scientists (DISCS)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Molthan, A.; Maskey, M.; Hain, C.; Meyer, P.; Nair, U. S.; Handyside, C. T.; White, K.; Amin, M.

    2017-12-01

    by their fellow citizen scientists. This presentation will highlight development of the application, data collected to date, feedback from participants, and opportunities to use the collected information in support of addressing science questions such as verification and validation of modeling and remote sensing data sets.

  17. Analysis of the implementation of a personalized care model in diabetes mellitus as an example of chronic disease with information and communication technology support.

    Science.gov (United States)

    López-Martínez, N; Segú, J L; Vázquez-Castro, J; Brosa, M; Bohigas, L; Comellas, M J; Kalfhaus, L

    2017-04-01

    Diabetes mellitus affects 13.8% of the adult population in Spain, representing some 8.2% of total Spanish health spending, which may be reduced by optimizing treatment and disease monitoring. Areas covered: This perspective article aims to evaluate the possible clinical and economic outcomes of implementing a theoretical personalized care model in diabetes supported by information and communications technology in Spain vs. conventional care. Moreover, we assessed the value of emminens® eConecta, a solution designed to support the operational implementation of this model, which enables the connection and participation of patients and health professionals, facilitates patient education, decision-making, access to information, and data analysis. We carried out a review of the available evidence, consultations with experts and a clinical and cost estimation. Expert commentary: The experts consulted considered that the proposed model is consistent with Spanish strategies on chronicity, supports the management of chronicity/diabetes, and may improve the most important aspects of disease management. In the literature, this type of care models improved or provided equal disease control compared with conventional care, potentiated self-management strategies and reduced the high use of resources. Cost estimation showed a reduction of -12% in total direct costs and around -34% in the costs of outpatient visits.

  18. Safety Case Development as an Information Modelling Problem

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lewis, Robert

    This paper considers the benefits from applying information modelling as the basis for creating an electronically-based safety case. It highlights the current difficulties of developing and managing large document-based safety cases for complex systems such as those found in Air Traffic Control systems. After a review of current tools and related literature on this subject, the paper proceeds to examine the many relationships between entities that can exist within a large safety case. The paper considers the benefits to both safety case writers and readers from the future development of an ideal safety case tool that is able to exploit these information models. The paper also introduces the idea that the safety case has formal relationships between entities that directly support the safety case argument using a methodology such as GSN, and informal relationships that provide links to direct and backing evidence and to supporting information.

  19. Information systems to support surveillance for malaria elimination.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ohrt, Colin; Roberts, Kathryn W; Sturrock, Hugh J W; Wegbreit, Jennifer; Lee, Bruce Y; Gosling, Roly D

    2015-07-01

    Robust and responsive surveillance systems are critical for malaria elimination. The ideal information system that supports malaria elimination includes: rapid and complete case reporting, incorporation of related data, such as census or health survey information, central data storage and management, automated and expert data analysis, and customized outputs and feedback that lead to timely and targeted responses. Spatial information enhances such a system, ensuring cases are tracked and mapped over time. Data sharing and coordination across borders are vital and new technologies can improve data speed, accuracy, and quality. Parts of this ideal information system exist and are in use, but have yet to be linked together coherently. Malaria elimination programs should support the implementation and refinement of information systems to support surveillance and response and ensure political and financial commitment to maintain the systems and the human resources needed to run them. National malaria programs should strive to improve the access and utility of these information systems and establish cross-border data sharing mechanisms through the use of standard indicators for malaria surveillance. Ultimately, investment in the information technologies that support a timely and targeted surveillance and response system is essential for malaria elimination. © The American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.

  20. Supportive Accountability: A Model for Providing Human Support to Enhance Adherence to eHealth Interventions

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-01-01

    The effectiveness of and adherence to eHealth interventions is enhanced by human support. However, human support has largely not been manualized and has usually not been guided by clear models. The objective of this paper is to develop a clear theoretical model, based on relevant empirical literature, that can guide research into human support components of eHealth interventions. A review of the literature revealed little relevant information from clinical sciences. Applicable literature was drawn primarily from organizational psychology, motivation theory, and computer-mediated communication (CMC) research. We have developed a model, referred to as “Supportive Accountability.” We argue that human support increases adherence through accountability to a coach who is seen as trustworthy, benevolent, and having expertise. Accountability should involve clear, process-oriented expectations that the patient is involved in determining. Reciprocity in the relationship, through which the patient derives clear benefits, should be explicit. The effect of accountability may be moderated by patient motivation. The more intrinsically motivated patients are, the less support they likely require. The process of support is also mediated by the communications medium (eg, telephone, instant messaging, email). Different communications media each have their own potential benefits and disadvantages. We discuss the specific components of accountability, motivation, and CMC medium in detail. The proposed model is a first step toward understanding how human support enhances adherence to eHealth interventions. Each component of the proposed model is a testable hypothesis. As we develop viable human support models, these should be manualized to facilitate dissemination. PMID:21393123

  1. An Object-Oriented Information Model for Policy-based Management of Distributed Applications

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Diaz, G.; Gay, V.C.J.; Horlait, E.; Hamza, M.H.

    2002-01-01

    This paper presents an object-oriented information model to support a policy-based management for distributed multimedia applications. The information base contains application-level information about the users, the applications, and their profile. Our Information model is described in details and

  2. Assessing the effects of pharmacists' perceived organizational support, organizational commitment and turnover intention on provision of medication information at community pharmacies in Lithuania: a structural equation modeling approach.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Urbonas, Gvidas; Kubilienė, Loreta; Kubilius, Raimondas; Urbonienė, Aušra

    2015-03-01

    As a member of a pharmacy organization, a pharmacist is not only bound to fulfill his/her professional obligations but is also affected by different personal and organizational factors that may influence his/her behavior and, consequently, the quality of the services he/she provides to patients. The main purpose of the research was to test a hypothesized model of the relationships among several organizational variables, and to investigate whether any of these variables affects the service of provision of medication information at community pharmacies. During the survey, pharmacists working at community pharmacies in Lithuania were asked to express their opinions on the community pharmacies at which they worked and to reflect on their actions when providing information on medicines to their patients. The statistical data were analyzed by applying a structural equation modeling technique to test the hypothesized model of the relationships among the variables of Perceived Organizational Support, Organizational Commitment, Turnover Intention, and Provision of Medication Information. The final model revealed that Organizational Commitment had a positive direct effect on Provision of Medication Information (standardized estimate = 0.27) and a negative direct effect (standardized estimate = -0.66) on Turnover Intention. Organizational Commitment mediated the indirect effects of Perceived Organizational Support on Turnover Intention (standardized estimate = -0.48) and on Provision of Medication Information (standardized estimate = 0.20). Pharmacists' Turnover Intention had no significant effect on Provision of Medication Information. Community pharmacies may be viewed as encouraging, to some extent, the service of provision of medication information. Pharmacists who felt higher levels of support from their organizations also expressed, to a certain extent, higher commitment to their organizations by providing more consistent medication information to patients. However, the

  3. Modeling Interoperable Information Systems with 3LGM² and IHE.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stäubert, S; Schaaf, M; Jahn, F; Brandner, R; Winter, A

    2015-01-01

    Strategic planning of information systems (IS) in healthcare requires descriptions of the current and the future IS state. Enterprise architecture planning (EAP) tools like the 3LGM² tool help to build up and to analyze IS models. A model of the planned architecture can be derived from an analysis of current state IS models. Building an interoperable IS, i. e. an IS consisting of interoperable components, can be considered a relevant strategic information management goal for many IS in healthcare. Integrating the healthcare enterprise (IHE) is an initiative which targets interoperability by using established standards. To link IHE concepts to 3LGM² concepts within the 3LGM² tool. To describe how an information manager can be supported in handling the complex IHE world and planning interoperable IS using 3LGM² models. To describe how developers or maintainers of IHE profiles can be supported by the representation of IHE concepts in 3LGM². Conceptualization and concept mapping methods are used to assign IHE concepts such as domains, integration profiles actors and transactions to the concepts of the three-layer graph-based meta-model (3LGM²). IHE concepts were successfully linked to 3LGM² concepts. An IHE-master-model, i. e. an abstract model for IHE concepts, was modeled with the help of 3LGM² tool. Two IHE domains were modeled in detail (ITI, QRPH). We describe two use cases for the representation of IHE concepts and IHE domains as 3LGM² models. Information managers can use the IHE-master-model as reference model for modeling interoperable IS based on IHE profiles during EAP activities. IHE developers are supported in analyzing consistency of IHE concepts with the help of the IHE-master-model and functions of the 3LGM² tool The complex relations between IHE concepts can be modeled by using the EAP method 3LGM². 3LGM² tool offers visualization and analysis features which are now available for the IHE-master-model. Thus information managers and IHE

  4. Air Risk Information Support Center

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Shoaf, C.R.; Guth, D.J. [Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC (United States)

    1990-12-31

    The Air Risk Information Support Center (Air RISC) was initiated in early 1988 by the US Environmental Protection Agency`s (EPA) Office of Health and Environmental Assessment (OHEA) and the Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards (OAQPS) as a technology transfer effort that would focus on providing information to state and local environmental agencies and to EPA Regional Offices in the areas of health, risk, and exposure assessment for toxic air pollutants. Technical information is fostered and disseminated by Air RISCs three primary activities: (1) a {open_quotes}hotline{close_quotes}, (2) quick turn-around technical assistance projects, and (3) general technical guidance projects. 1 ref., 2 figs.

  5. An architecture model for multiple disease management information systems.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Lichin; Yu, Hui-Chu; Li, Hao-Chun; Wang, Yi-Van; Chen, Huang-Jen; Wang, I-Ching; Wang, Chiou-Shiang; Peng, Hui-Yu; Hsu, Yu-Ling; Chen, Chi-Huang; Chuang, Lee-Ming; Lee, Hung-Chang; Chung, Yufang; Lai, Feipei

    2013-04-01

    Disease management is a program which attempts to overcome the fragmentation of healthcare system and improve the quality of care. Many studies have proven the effectiveness of disease management. However, the case managers were spending the majority of time in documentation, coordinating the members of the care team. They need a tool to support them with daily practice and optimizing the inefficient workflow. Several discussions have indicated that information technology plays an important role in the era of disease management. Whereas applications have been developed, it is inefficient to develop information system for each disease management program individually. The aim of this research is to support the work of disease management, reform the inefficient workflow, and propose an architecture model that enhance on the reusability and time saving of information system development. The proposed architecture model had been successfully implemented into two disease management information system, and the result was evaluated through reusability analysis, time consumed analysis, pre- and post-implement workflow analysis, and user questionnaire survey. The reusability of the proposed model was high, less than half of the time was consumed, and the workflow had been improved. The overall user aspect is positive. The supportiveness during daily workflow is high. The system empowers the case managers with better information and leads to better decision making.

  6. A platform independent prototype for data and information exchange between decision support systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Carle, B.; Baig, S.

    2003-01-01

    Full text: A survey amongst participants in the Decision Support System network (DSSNET) community showed that the organization dealing with the Information exchange between participants and stakeholders in nuclear emergency is too disparate to be defined in one well defined procedure or analysis. Looking at the organization of the national emergency response organizations, and especially when modelling the information flow, diversity is the most striking finding: originators of the information are different, decision making organisation can be different, the approval and publishing of information to press and wider public is dealt with in different ways and the responsibilities for the information flow to other authorities differ as well. Moreover, the place of decision support systems (DSS) in the emergency response organization varies for the different countries. This variation can be found in the way one of the 'big three' (RODOS, ARGOS and RECASS) systems is implemented, and even more in the way other, often country-specific systems, are in use and function more integrated with the particular emergency response organization of the country. Hence we can conclude that there is a need to structure the information exchange system, but this has to be flexible enough to work with the above described variety of existing organizations and procedures. Though it may not be feasible to agree on all specifications of information to be exchanged, we can define at least a minimal set. A prototype for data and information exchange is being developed under the EC project MODEM (Monitoring data and Information exchange among decision support systems). It establishes links between the decision support systems RODOS, ARGOS and RECASS. For setting up this data exchange, the use of xml-based data specifications allows a flexible integration with existing applications. The power to include metadata in a structured way allows the use of automated transformation tools and limits the

  7. Using pattern structures to support information retrieval with Formal Concept Analysis

    OpenAIRE

    Codocedo , Victor; Lykourentzou , Ioanna; Astudillo , Hernan; Napoli , Amedeo

    2013-01-01

    International audience; In this paper we introduce a novel approach to information retrieval (IR) based on Formal Concept Analysis (FCA). The use of concept lattices to support the task of document retrieval in IR has proven effective since they allow querying in the space of terms modelled by concept intents and navigation in the space of documents modelled by concept extents. However, current approaches use binary representations to illustrate the relations between documents and terms (''do...

  8. Implementing Information and Communication Technology to Support Community Aged Care Service Integration: Lessons from an Australian Aged Care Provider.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Douglas, Heather E; Georgiou, Andrew; Tariq, Amina; Prgomet, Mirela; Warland, Andrew; Armour, Pauline; Westbrook, Johanna I

    2017-04-10

    There is limited evidence of the benefits of information and communication technology (ICT) to support integrated aged care services. We undertook a case study to describe carelink+, a centralised client service management ICT system implemented by a large aged and community care service provider, Uniting. We sought to explicate the care-related information exchange processes associated with carelink+ and identify lessons for organisations attempting to use ICT to support service integration. Our case study included seventeen interviews and eleven observation sessions with a purposive sample of staff within the organisation. Inductive analysis was used to develop a model of ICT-supported information exchange. Management staff described the integrated care model designed to underpin carelink+. Frontline staff described complex information exchange processes supporting coordination of client services. Mismatches between the data quality and the functions carelink+ was designed to support necessitated the evolution of new work processes associated with the system. There is value in explicitly modelling the work processes that emerge as a consequence of ICT. Continuous evaluation of the match between ICT and work processes will help aged care organisations to achieve higher levels of ICT maturity that support their efforts to provide integrated care to clients.

  9. MATHEMATICAL AND INFORMATION SUPPORT FOR CALCULATION AND DESIGN OF TUBE GAS HEATERS LOCATED IN STRUCTURES

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    CHORNOMORETS H. Y.

    2016-02-01

    Full Text Available Raising of problem. For the design and construction of tube gas heaters in building structures to need solve the problems of analysis and synthesis of such heating system. The mathematical model of this system is consists of: mathematical model of the tube gas heater, mathematical model of heat distribution in the building structure and corresponding boundary conditions. To solve the tasks of analysis and synthesis must be appropriate mathematical and information support. Purpose. The purpose of this paper is to describe the developed mathematical and information support that solve the problems of analysis and synthesis of heating systems with gas tube heaters, located in building constructions.Conclusion. Mathematical support includes the development of algorithms and software for the numerical solution of problems analysis and synthesis heating system. Information support includes all the necessary parameters characterizing the thermal properties of materials which used in the heating system, and the parameters characterizing the heat exchange between the coolant and components of the heating system. It was developed algorithms for solving problems of analysis and synthesis heating system with tube gas heater located in structures to use evolutionary search algorithm and software. It was made experimental study and was obtained results allow to calculate the heat transfer from the gas-air mixture to the boundary surface of the building structure. This results and computation will provide full information support for solving problems of analysis and synthesis of the heating system. Was developed mathematical and software support, which allows to solve the problems of analysis and synthesis heating systems with gas tube heaters, located in building structures. Tube gas heaters located in the building structures allows with small capital expenditures to provide space heating. Is necessary to solve the problems of analysis (calculation and

  10. Acceptance model of a Hospital Information System.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Handayani, P W; Hidayanto, A N; Pinem, A A; Hapsari, I C; Sandhyaduhita, P I; Budi, I

    2017-03-01

    The purpose of this study is to develop a model of Hospital Information System (HIS) user acceptance focusing on human, technological, and organizational characteristics for supporting government eHealth programs. This model was then tested to see which hospital type in Indonesia would benefit from the model to resolve problems related to HIS user acceptance. This study used qualitative and quantitative approaches with case studies at four privately owned hospitals and three government-owned hospitals, which are general hospitals in Indonesia. The respondents involved in this study are low-level and mid-level hospital management officers, doctors, nurses, and administrative staff who work at medical record, inpatient, outpatient, emergency, pharmacy, and information technology units. Data was processed using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) and AMOS 21.0. The study concludes that non-technological factors, such as human characteristics (i.e. compatibility, information security expectancy, and self-efficacy), and organizational characteristics (i.e. management support, facilitating conditions, and user involvement) which have level of significance of p<0.05, significantly influenced users' opinions of both the ease of use and the benefits of the HIS. This study found that different factors may affect the acceptance of each user in each type of hospital regarding the use of HIS. Finally, this model is best suited for government-owned hospitals. Based on the results of this study, hospital management and IT developers should have more understanding on the non-technological factors to better plan for HIS implementation. Support from management is critical to the sustainability of HIS implementation to ensure HIS is easy to use and provides benefits to the users as well as hospitals. Finally, this study could assist hospital management and IT developers, as well as researchers, to understand the obstacles faced by hospitals in implementing HIS. Copyright © 2016

  11. Development of a descriptive model of an integrated information system to support complex, dynamic, distributed decision making for emergency management in large organisations

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Andersen, V.; Andersen, H.B.; Axel, E.; Petersen, T.

    1990-01-01

    A short introduction will be given to the European (ESPRIT II) project, ''IT Support for Emergency Management - ISEM''. The project is aimed at the development of an integrated information system capable of supporting the complex, dynamic, distributed decision making in the management of emergencies. The basic models developed to describe and construct emergency management organisations and their preparedness have been illustrated, and it has been stated that similarities may be found even in emergency situations that originally are of quite different nature. (author)

  12. Feasibility Risk Assessment of Transport Infrastructure Projects: The CBA-DK Decision Support Model

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Salling, Kim Bang; Banister, David

    2010-01-01

    informed decision support towards decision-makers and stakeholders in terms of accumulated descending graphs. The decision support method developed in this paper aims to provide assistance in the analysis and ultimately the choice of action, while accounting for the uncertainties surrounding any transport......This paper presents the final version of the CBA-DK decision support model for assessment of transport projects. The model makes use of conventional cost-benefit analysis resulting in aggregated single point estimates and quantitative risk analysis using Monte Carlo simulation resulting in interval...... result, and the determination of suitable probability distributions. Use is made of the reference class forecasting information, such as that developed in Optimism Bias for adjustments to investment decisions that relate to all modes of transport. The CBA-DK decision support model results in more...

  13. Informal learning processes in support of clinical service delivery in a service-oriented community pharmacy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Patterson, Brandon J; Bakken, Brianne K; Doucette, William R; Urmie, Julie M; McDonough, Randal P

    The evolving health care system necessitates pharmacy organizations' adjustments by delivering new services and establishing inter-organizational relationships. One approach supporting pharmacy organizations in making changes may be informal learning by technicians, pharmacists, and pharmacy owners. Informal learning is characterized by a four-step cycle including intent to learn, action, feedback, and reflection. This framework helps explain individual and organizational factors that influence learning processes within an organization as well as the individual and organizational outcomes of those learning processes. A case study of an Iowa independent community pharmacy with years of experience in offering patient care services was made. Nine semi-structured interviews with pharmacy personnel revealed initial evidence in support of the informal learning model in practice. Future research could investigate more fully the informal learning model in delivery of patient care services in community pharmacies. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  14. An information model of a centralized admission campaign in ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    The aim of the work is to structure individual application environments of the information model of a centralized admission campaign in higher education institutions in Russia by modifying the corresponding structure of the Federal information system supporting state final examination and admission procedures. , The ...

  15. Information support for Slovenian Cycling Federation

    OpenAIRE

    Mahkovec, Tine

    2011-01-01

    Abstract Following work presents development of information system that will support Slovenian Cycling Federation. In the first part, work introduces the federation, its key processes, people involved and describes main tools, technologies and approaches used in this work. In the main part, work describes main activities of object oriented development of information system, which includes analysis, requirements definition and architecture planning. Implementation and testing was left ...

  16. On the Enterprise Modelling of an Educational Information Infrastructure

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

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

    2002-01-01

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

  17. Evaluation of the quality of patient information to support informed shared decision-making.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Godolphin, W; Towle, A; McKendry, R

    2001-12-01

    (a) To find out how much patient information material on display in family physicians' offices refers to management choices, and hence may be useful to support informed and shared decision-making (ISDM) by patients and (b) to evaluate the quality of print information materials exchanged during the consultation, i.e. brought in by patients or given out by family physicians. All print information available for patients and exchanged between physicians and patients was collected in a single complete day of the office practices of 21 family physicians. A published and validated instrument (DISCERN) was used to assess quality. Community office practices in the greater Vancouver area, British Columbia, Canada. The physicians were purposefully recruited by their association with the medical school Department of Family Practice, their interest in providing patients with print information and their representation of a range of practice types and location. The source of the pamphlets and these categories: available in the physicians' offices; exchanged between physician and patient; and produced with the explicit or apparent intent to support evidence-based patient choice. The quality of the print information to support ISDM, as measured by DISCERN and the ease of use and reliability of the DISCERN tool. Fewer than 50% of pamphlets available in these offices fulfilled our minimum criteria for ISDM (mentioned more than one management option). Offices varied widely in the proportion of pamphlets on display that supported ISDM and how particular the physician was in selecting materials. The DISCERN tool is quick, valid and reliable for the evaluation of patient information. The quality of patient information materials used in the consultation and available in these offices was below midpoint on the DISCERN score. Major deficiencies were with respect to the mention of choices, risks, effect of no treatment or uncertainty and reliability (source, evidence-base). Good quality

  18. Information in general medical practices: the information processing model.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Crowe, Sarah; Tully, Mary P; Cantrill, Judith A

    2010-04-01

    The need for effective communication and handling of secondary care information in general practices is paramount. To explore practice processes on receiving secondary care correspondence in a way that integrates the information needs and perceptions of practice staff both clinical and administrative. Qualitative study using semi-structured interviews with a wide range of practice staff (n = 36) in nine practices in the Northwest of England. Analysis was based on the framework approach using N-Vivo software and involved transcription, familiarization, coding, charting, mapping and interpretation. The 'information processing model' was developed to describe the six stages involved in practice processing of secondary care information. These included the amendment or updating of practice records whilst simultaneously or separately actioning secondary care recommendations, using either a 'one-step' or 'two-step' approach, respectively. Many factors were found to influence each stage and impact on the continuum of patient care. The primary purpose of processing secondary care information is to support patient care; this study raises the profile of information flow and usage within practices as an issue requiring further consideration.

  19. Implementing Information and Communication Technology to Support Community Aged Care Service Integration: Lessons from an Australian Aged Care Provider

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Heather E Douglas

    2017-04-01

    Full Text Available Introduction: There is limited evidence of the benefits of information and communication technology (ICT to support integrated aged care services. Objectives: We undertook a case study to describe carelink+, a centralised client service management ICT system implemented by a large aged and community care service provider, Uniting. We sought to explicate the care-related information exchange processes associated with carelink+ and identify lessons for organisations attempting to use ICT to support service integration. Methods: Our case study included seventeen interviews and eleven observation sessions with a purposive sample of staff within the organisation. Inductive analysis was used to develop a model of ICT-supported information exchange. Results: Management staff described the integrated care model designed to underpin carelink+. Frontline staff described complex information exchange processes supporting coordination of client services. Mismatches between the data quality and the functions carelink+ was designed to support necessitated the evolution of new work processes associated with the system. Conclusions: There is value in explicitly modelling the work processes that emerge as a consequence of ICT. Continuous evaluation of the match between ICT and work processes will help aged care organisations to achieve higher levels of ICT maturity that support their efforts to provide integrated care to clients.

  20. Implementing Information and Communication Technology to Support Community Aged Care Service Integration: Lessons from an Australian Aged Care Provider

    Science.gov (United States)

    Georgiou, Andrew; Tariq, Amina; Prgomet, Mirela; Warland, Andrew; Armour, Pauline; Westbrook, Johanna I

    2017-01-01

    Introduction: There is limited evidence of the benefits of information and communication technology (ICT) to support integrated aged care services. Objectives: We undertook a case study to describe carelink+, a centralised client service management ICT system implemented by a large aged and community care service provider, Uniting. We sought to explicate the care-related information exchange processes associated with carelink+ and identify lessons for organisations attempting to use ICT to support service integration. Methods: Our case study included seventeen interviews and eleven observation sessions with a purposive sample of staff within the organisation. Inductive analysis was used to develop a model of ICT-supported information exchange. Results: Management staff described the integrated care model designed to underpin carelink+. Frontline staff described complex information exchange processes supporting coordination of client services. Mismatches between the data quality and the functions carelink+ was designed to support necessitated the evolution of new work processes associated with the system. Conclusions: There is value in explicitly modelling the work processes that emerge as a consequence of ICT. Continuous evaluation of the match between ICT and work processes will help aged care organisations to achieve higher levels of ICT maturity that support their efforts to provide integrated care to clients. PMID:29042851

  1. Caregiver social support quality when interacting with cancer survivors: advancing the dual-process model of supportive communication.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Harvey-Knowles, Jacquelyn; Faw, Meara H

    2018-04-01

    Cancer caregivers often experience significant challenges in their motivation and ability to comfort cancer survivors, particularly in a spousal or romantic context. Spousal cancer caregivers have been known to report even greater levels of burden and distress than cancer sufferers, yet still take on the role of acting as an informal caregiver so they can attend to their partner's needs. The current study tested whether a theoretical model of supportive outcomes-the dual-process model of supportive communication-explained variations in cancer caregivers' motivation and ability to create high-quality support messages. The study also tested whether participant engagement with reflective journaling on supportive acts was associated with increased motivation or ability to generate high-quality support messages. Based upon the dual-process model, we posited that, following supportive journaling tasks, caregivers of spouses currently managing a cancer experience would report greater motivation but also greater difficulty in generating high-quality support messages, while individuals caring for a patient in remission would report lower motivation but greater ability to create high-quality support messages. Findings provided support for these assertions and suggested that reflective journaling tasks might be a useful tool for improving remission caregivers' ability to provide high-quality social support to survivors. Corresponding theoretical and applied implications are discussed.

  2. Information Retrieval Models

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Hiemstra, Djoerd; Göker, Ayse; Davies, John

    2009-01-01

    Many applications that handle information on the internet would be completely inadequate without the support of information retrieval technology. How would we find information on the world wide web if there were no web search engines? How would we manage our email without spam filtering? Much of the

  3. Management of Research Organization: Informational Support

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Natalia Bruc

    2011-10-01

    Full Text Available We consider the conceptual approach to the system, providing scientific management of a research institution, and information support of scientific cooperation with similar institutions from other countries. This approach is partly tested at the Institute of Mathematics and Computer Science of Academy of Sciences of Moldova and is proposed for several other academic institutions. We believe that this approach will allow automated information management of cooperation with foreign scientific institutions.

  4. Model selection and inference a practical information-theoretic approach

    CERN Document Server

    Burnham, Kenneth P

    1998-01-01

    This book is unique in that it covers the philosophy of model-based data analysis and an omnibus strategy for the analysis of empirical data The book introduces information theoretic approaches and focuses critical attention on a priori modeling and the selection of a good approximating model that best represents the inference supported by the data Kullback-Leibler information represents a fundamental quantity in science and is Hirotugu Akaike's basis for model selection The maximized log-likelihood function can be bias-corrected to provide an estimate of expected, relative Kullback-Leibler information This leads to Akaike's Information Criterion (AIC) and various extensions and these are relatively simple and easy to use in practice, but little taught in statistics classes and far less understood in the applied sciences than should be the case The information theoretic approaches provide a unified and rigorous theory, an extension of likelihood theory, an important application of information theory, and are ...

  5. Prediction on sunspot activity based on fuzzy information granulation and support vector machine

    Science.gov (United States)

    Peng, Lingling; Yan, Haisheng; Yang, Zhigang

    2018-04-01

    In order to analyze the range of sunspots, a combined prediction method of forecasting the fluctuation range of sunspots based on fuzzy information granulation (FIG) and support vector machine (SVM) was put forward. Firstly, employing the FIG to granulate sample data and extract va)alid information of each window, namely the minimum value, the general average value and the maximum value of each window. Secondly, forecasting model is built respectively with SVM and then cross method is used to optimize these parameters. Finally, the fluctuation range of sunspots is forecasted with the optimized SVM model. Case study demonstrates that the model have high accuracy and can effectively predict the fluctuation of sunspots.

  6. Information technology support for emergency management

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Uuspaeae, P.

    1990-01-01

    Information systems for distributed decision support for emergency management are considered. Specific applications include nuclear power plant emergencies. Emergencies in other industries such as chemical industry may also be considered. Research in the ISEM project is briefly summarized

  7. Informing the Implementation of School-Wide Positive Behaviour Support in Singapore Preschools

    OpenAIRE

    LILY HUI SING LAU

    2017-01-01

    This thesis sought to inform the implementation of School-Wide Positive Behaviour Support (SWPBS) in Singapore preschools. Findings indicated that SWPBS implementation is likely to be perceived as needed by teachers, and that there is a need to focus on training teachers in SWPBS primary tier classroom management practices when SWPBS is implemented. Additionally, the Classroom Check-Up consultation model was shown to be a promising coaching model to be included in SWPBS training. A major cont...

  8. System for selecting relevant information for decision support.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kalina, Jan; Seidl, Libor; Zvára, Karel; Grünfeldová, Hana; Slovák, Dalibor; Zvárová, Jana

    2013-01-01

    We implemented a prototype of a decision support system called SIR which has a form of a web-based classification service for diagnostic decision support. The system has the ability to select the most relevant variables and to learn a classification rule, which is guaranteed to be suitable also for high-dimensional measurements. The classification system can be useful for clinicians in primary care to support their decision-making tasks with relevant information extracted from any available clinical study. The implemented prototype was tested on a sample of patients in a cardiological study and performs an information extraction from a high-dimensional set containing both clinical and gene expression data.

  9. Evaluation of the quality of patient information to support informed shared decision‐making

    Science.gov (United States)

    Godolphin, William; Towle, Angela; McKendry, Rachael

    2008-01-01

    Objectives (a) To find out how much patient information material on display in family physicians’ offices refers to management choices, and hence may be useful to support informed and shared decision‐making (ISDM) by patients and (b) to evaluate the quality of print information materials exchanged during the consultation, i.e. brought in by patients or given out by family physicians. Design All print information available for patients and exchanged between physicians and patients was collected in a single complete day of the office practices of 21 family physicians. A published and validated instrument (DISCERN) was used to assess quality. Setting and participants Community office practices in the greater Vancouver area, British Columbia, Canada. The physicians were purposefully recruited by their association with the medical school Department of Family Practice, their interest in providing patients with print information and their representation of a range of practice types and location. Main variables studied The source of the pamphlets and these categories: available in the physicians’ offices; exchanged between physician and patient; and produced with the explicit or apparent intent to support evidence‐based patient choice. Main outcome measures The quality of the print information to support ISDM, as measured by DISCERN and the ease of use and reliability of the DISCERN tool. Results and conclusions Fewer than 50% of pamphlets available in these offices fulfilled our minimum criteria for ISDM (mentioned more than one management option). Offices varied widely in the proportion of pamphlets on display that supported ISDM and how particular the physician was in selecting materials. The DISCERN tool is quick, valid and reliable for the evaluation of patient information. The quality of patient information materials used in the consultation and available in these offices was below midpoint on the DISCERN score. Major deficiencies were with

  10. Supporting virtual enterprise design by a web-based information model

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Dong; Barn, Balbir; McKay, Alison; de Pennington, Alan

    2001-10-01

    Development of IT and its applications have led to significant changes in business processes. To pursue agility, flexibility and best service to customers, enterprises focus on their core competence and dynamically build relationships with partners to form virtual enterprises as customer driven temporary demand chains/networks. Building the networked enterprise needs responsively interactive decisions instead of a single-direction partner selection process. Benefits and risks in the combination should be systematically analysed, and aggregated information about value-adding abilities and risks of networks needs to be derived from interactions of all partners. In this research, a hierarchical information model to assess partnerships for designing virtual enterprises was developed. Internet technique has been applied to the evaluation process so that interactive decisions can be visualised and made responsively during the design process. The assessment is based on the process which allows each partner responds to requirements of the virtual enterprise by planning its operational process as a bidder. The assessment is then produced by making an aggregated value to represent prospect of the combination of partners given current bidding. Final design is a combination of partners with the greatest total value-adding capability and lowest risk.

  11. The Impact of Information on Death Penalty Support, Revisited

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lambert, Eric G.; Camp, Scott D.; Clarke, Alan; Jiang, Shanhe

    2011-01-01

    In 1972, former Supreme Court Justice Marshall postulated that the public was uninformed about the death penalty and information would change their support for it. There is some indication that information about the death penalty may change people's level of support. This study re-examines data used by Lambert and Clarke (2001). Using multivariate…

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

    Science.gov (United States)

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

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

  13. Generalisation of geographic information cartographic modelling and applications

    CERN Document Server

    Mackaness, William A; Sarjakoski, L Tiina

    2011-01-01

    Theoretical and Applied Solutions in Multi Scale MappingUsers have come to expect instant access to up-to-date geographical information, with global coverage--presented at widely varying levels of detail, as digital and paper products; customisable data that can readily combined with other geographic information. These requirements present an immense challenge to those supporting the delivery of such services (National Mapping Agencies (NMA), Government Departments, and private business. Generalisation of Geographic Information: Cartographic Modelling and Applications provides detailed review

  14. Information support systems for cultural heritage protection against flooding

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    K. Nedvedova

    2015-08-01

    Full Text Available The goal of this paper is to present use of different kind of software applications to create complex support system for protection of cultural heritage against flooding. The project is very complex and it tries to cover the whole area of the problem from prevention to liquidation of aftermath effects. We used GIS for mapping the risk areas, ontology systems for vulnerability assessment application and the BORM method (Business Object Relation Modelling for flood protection system planning guide. Those modern technologies helped us to gather a lot of information in one place and provide the knowledge to the broad audience.

  15. Cancer patients and the provision of informational social support.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Robinson, James D; Tian, Yan

    2009-07-01

    Research into the impact of social support on health-care patients has focused on the benefits of receiving social support. Although recipients benefit from social support, there are also potential benefits to the providers of social support that have gone relatively unexplored. The purpose of this investigation was to examine the relationship between the reception and provision of informational social support by cancer patients. Based on the work of Gouldner (1960), this investigation attempts to examine the role reciprocity plays within the social support process. The norm of reciprocity is conceptualized as a generalized moral belief rather than as a simple pattern of exchange between caregivers and care receivers. Use of reciprocity as a generalized moral belief instead of a pattern of behavioral exchange between providers and recipients of social support allows a more thorough integration theoretically and more methodical examination of the role the relationship between providers and recipients plays in this process. Specifically, this investigation employs the notion of optimal matching as part of the mechanism underlying the satisfactions derived from informational social support. The results of the logistic regression analyses suggest that reciprocity is a viable explanation of the mechanism underlying the desire to provide social support to others among cancer patients and among adults who have never been diagnosed with cancer. This relationship between the reception and the provision of informational social support remains even after controlling for age, education, gender, race, social integration, and cancer diagnosis. Implications for the social support literature are discussed.

  16. CSPMS supported by information technology

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Hudan; Wu, Heng

    This paper will propose a whole new viewpoint about building a CSPMS(Coal-mine Safety Production Management System) by means of information technology. This system whose core part is a four-grade automatic triggered warning system achieves the goal that information transmission will be smooth, nondestructive and in time. At the same time, the system provides a comprehensive and collective technology platform for various Public Management Organizations and coal-mine production units to deal with safety management, advance warning, unexpected incidents, preplan implementation, and resource deployment at different levels. The database of this system will support national related industry's resource control, plan, statistics, tax and the construction of laws and regulations effectively.

  17. Testing a Model of Functional Impairment in Telephone Crisis Support Workers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kitchingman, Taneile A; Wilson, Coralie J; Caputi, Peter; Wilson, Ian; Woodward, Alan

    2017-11-01

    It is well known that helping professionals experience functional impairment related to elevated symptoms of psychological distress as a result of frequent empathic engagement with distressed others. Whether telephone crisis support workers are impacted in a similar way is not currently reported in the literature. The purpose of this study was to test a hypothesized model of factors contributing to functional impairment in telephone crisis support workers. A national sample of 210 telephone crisis support workers completed an online survey including measures of emotion regulation, symptoms of general psychological distress and suicidal ideation, intentions to seek help for symptoms, and functional impairment. Structural equation modeling was used to test the fit of the data to the hypothesized model. Goodness-of-fit indices were adequate and supported the interactive effects of emotion regulation, general psychological distress, suicidal ideation, and intentions to seek help for ideation on functional impairment. These results warrant the deliberate management of telephone crisis support workers' impairment through service selection, training, supervision, and professional development strategies. Future research replicating and extending this model will further inform the modification and/or development of strategies to optimize telephone crisis support workers' well-being and delivery of support to callers.

  18. A Model for Information

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Paul Walton

    2014-09-01

    Full Text Available This paper uses an approach drawn from the ideas of computer systems modelling to produce a model for information itself. The model integrates evolutionary, static and dynamic views of information and highlights the relationship between symbolic content and the physical world. The model includes what information technology practitioners call “non-functional” attributes, which, for information, include information quality and information friction. The concepts developed in the model enable a richer understanding of Floridi’s questions “what is information?” and “the informational circle: how can information be assessed?” (which he numbers P1 and P12.

  19. Using the Logistic Regression model in supporting decisions of establishing marketing strategies

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Cristinel CONSTANTIN

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available This paper is about an instrumental research regarding the using of Logistic Regression model for data analysis in marketing research. The decision makers inside different organisation need relevant information to support their decisions regarding the marketing strategies. The data provided by marketing research could be computed in various ways but the multivariate data analysis models can enhance the utility of the information. Among these models we can find the Logistic Regression model, which is used for dichotomous variables. Our research is based on explanation the utility of this model and interpretation of the resulted information in order to help practitioners and researchers to use it in their future investigations

  20. Can online social support be detrimental in stigmatized chronic diseases? A quadratic model of the effects of informational and emotional support on self-care behavior of HIV patients.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Xunyi; Parameswaran, Srikanth; Bagul, Darshan Mahendra; Kishore, Rajiv

    2018-04-18

    We studied the impact of online social support on patient self-care behavior in an online health community for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) patients. We conceptualized emotional and informational support provided by community members into nuanced sub-dimensions. We explored how the direct and interaction effects of these sub-dimensions impact the self-care behavior of a support seeker. We used data from 330 255 posts in 30 050 threads from POZ, an online health community for HIV patients. Our key variables-self-care behaviori, objective informationj, experiential supportj, and emotional tonej-were operationalized using linguistic analysis with self-generated dictionaries and Python libraries. We tested our hypotheses using Tobit regression. Out of 6 null hypotheses, 5 were rejected. Objective information and emotional tone had an inverted-U relationship with self-care behavior. Experiential information and community involvement were positively related to self-care behavior. Community involvement amplified the inverted-U relationship between emotional tone and self-care behavior. No significant interaction effect was found between experiential support and objective information. Beyond a threshold, both informational and emotional online social support had a deleterious impact on self-care behavior of HIV patients. Our results suggested that caution should be exercised in the use of online health community interventions for HIV patients, and perhaps patients with other stigmatized chronic diseases.

  1. Modular Architecture for Integrated Model-Based Decision Support.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gaebel, Jan; Schreiber, Erik; Oeser, Alexander; Oeltze-Jafra, Steffen

    2018-01-01

    Model-based decision support systems promise to be a valuable addition to oncological treatments and the implementation of personalized therapies. For the integration and sharing of decision models, the involved systems must be able to communicate with each other. In this paper, we propose a modularized architecture of dedicated systems for the integration of probabilistic decision models into existing hospital environments. These systems interconnect via web services and provide model sharing and processing capabilities for clinical information systems. Along the lines of IHE integration profiles from other disciplines and the meaningful reuse of routinely recorded patient data, our approach aims for the seamless integration of decision models into hospital infrastructure and the physicians' daily work.

  2. Cloud Computing Application on Transport Dispatching Informational Support Systems

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dmitry Olegovich Gusenitsa

    2015-05-01

    Full Text Available Transport dispatching informational support systems has received widespread attention due to high quality information density, strong coherence and applicable visualization features. Nevertheless, because of large volume of data, complex integration requirements and the need for information exchange between different users, time costs of the development and implementation of the informational support systems, problems associated with various data formats compatibility, security protocols and high maintenance cost, the opportunities for the application of such systems are significantly reduced. This article reviews the possibility of creating a cloud storage data system for transport dispatching informational support system (TDIS using modern computer technology to meet the challenges of mass data processing, information security and reduce operational costs. The system is expected to make full use of the advantages offered by the technology of cloud storage. Integrated cloud will increase the amount of data available to the system, reduce the speed processing requirements and reduce the overall cost of system implementation. Creation and integration of cloud storage is one of the most important areas of TDIS development, which is stimulating and promoting the further development of TDIS to ensure the requirements of its users.

  3. Supporting the Social Media Needs of Emergency Public Information Officers with Human-Centered Design and Development

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hughes, Amanda Lee

    2012-01-01

    Emergency response agencies, which operate as command-and-control organizations, push information to members of the public with too few mechanisms to support communication flowing back. Recently, information communication technologies (ICTs) such as social media have challenged this one-way model by allowing the public to participate in emergency…

  4. Perceived information needs and social support of Chinese-Australian breast cancer survivors.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kwok, C; White, K

    2014-10-01

    Both informational and social support are vital components in achieving a high quality of life as a cancer survivor. The study aims to explore the perceptions of information needs and social support among Chinese-Australian breast cancer survivors and how these resources impacted their cancer experience. Three focus groups were conducted with 23 Chinese-Australian women diagnosed with breast cancer in their native language (Mandarin and Cantonese). Each interview was translated and transcribed. Content analysis was used to uncover the major themes. Themes for information needs were identified as (1) using linguistically appropriate information, (2) the need for culturally sensitive information for the management of expected side effect and promotion of recovery and (3) the need for information on signs and symptoms of recurrence. Families were described as a primary source of multifaceted social support, although it was challenging to obtain. Support groups were also an important support source, but health care professionals were not identified as a source of support. Our study has provided practical insight into the information needs and social support of Chinese women with breast cancer. These findings can be used to inform the development of linguistically and culturally tailored support and survivorship interventions for this vulnerable population.

  5. A non-linear model of information seeking behaviour

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Allen E. Foster

    2005-01-01

    Full Text Available The results of a qualitative, naturalistic, study of information seeking behaviour are reported in this paper. The study applied the methods recommended by Lincoln and Guba for maximising credibility, transferability, dependability, and confirmability in data collection and analysis. Sampling combined purposive and snowball methods, and led to a final sample of 45 inter-disciplinary researchers from the University of Sheffield. In-depth semi-structured interviews were used to elicit detailed examples of information seeking. Coding of interview transcripts took place in multiple iterations over time and used Atlas-ti software to support the process. The results of the study are represented in a non-linear Model of Information Seeking Behaviour. The model describes three core processes (Opening, Orientation, and Consolidation and three levels of contextual interaction (Internal Context, External Context, and Cognitive Approach, each composed of several individual activities and attributes. The interactivity and shifts described by the model show information seeking to be non-linear, dynamic, holistic, and flowing. The paper concludes by describing the whole model of behaviours as analogous to an artist's palette, in which activities remain available throughout information seeking. A summary of key implications of the model and directions for further research are included.

  6. Supporting the information domains of fall-risk management in home care via health information technology.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Alhuwail, Dari; Koru, Güneş; Mills, Mary Etta

    2016-01-01

    In the United States, home care clinicians often start the episode of care devoid of relevant fall-risk information. By collecting and analyzing qualitative data from 30 clinicians in one home health agency, this case study aimed to understand how the currently adopted information technology solutions supported the clinicians' fall-risk management (FRM) information domains, and explored opportunities to adopt other solutions to better support FRM. The currently adopted electronic health record system and fall-reporting application served only some information domains with a limited capacity. Substantial improvement in addressing the FRM information domains is possible by effectively modifying the existing solutions and purposefully adopting new solutions.

  7. Decision Making Based On Management Information System and Decision Support System

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Şükrü Ada

    2015-04-01

    Full Text Available Information hasbecome an essentialresource for managing modern organizations. This is so because today’sbusiness environment is volatile, dynamic, turbulent and necessitates the burgeoning demand for accurate, relevant, complete,timely and economical information needed to drive the decision-making process in order to accentuate organizational abilities to manage opportunities and threat. MIS work on online mode with an average processing speed. Generally, it is used by low level management. Decision support system are powerful tool that assist corporate executives, administrators and other senior officials in making decision regarding the problem. Management Information Systems is a useful tool that provided organized and summarized information in a proper time to decision makers and enable making accurate decision for managers in organizations. This paper will discuss the concept, characteristics, types of MIS, the MIS model, and in particular it will highlight the impact and role of MIS on decision making.

  8. Information behavior versus communication: application models in multidisciplinary settings

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Cecília Morena Maria da Silva

    2015-05-01

    Full Text Available This paper deals with the information behavior as support for models of communication design in the areas of Information Science, Library and Music. The communication models proposition is based on models of Tubbs and Moss (2003, Garvey and Griffith (1972, adapted by Hurd (1996 and Wilson (1999. Therefore, the questions arose: (i what are the informational skills required of librarians who act as mediators in scholarly communication process and informational user behavior in the educational environment?; (ii what are the needs of music related researchers and as produce, seek, use and access the scientific knowledge of your area?; and (iii as the contexts involved in scientific collaboration processes influence in the scientific production of information science field in Brazil? The article includes a literature review on the information behavior and its insertion in scientific communication considering the influence of context and/or situation of the objects involved in motivating issues. The hypothesis is that the user information behavior in different contexts and situations influence the definition of a scientific communication model. Finally, it is concluded that the same concept or a set of concepts can be used in different perspectives, reaching up, thus, different results.

  9. Remote Sensing Technologies and Geospatial Modelling Hierarchy for Smart City Support

    Science.gov (United States)

    Popov, M.; Fedorovsky, O.; Stankevich, S.; Filipovich, V.; Khyzhniak, A.; Piestova, I.; Lubskyi, M.; Svideniuk, M.

    2017-12-01

    The approach to implementing the remote sensing technologies and geospatial modelling for smart city support is presented. The hierarchical structure and basic components of the smart city information support subsystem are considered. Some of the already available useful practical developments are described. These include city land use planning, urban vegetation analysis, thermal condition forecasting, geohazard detection, flooding risk assessment. Remote sensing data fusion approach for comprehensive geospatial analysis is discussed. Long-term city development forecasting by Forrester - Graham system dynamics model is provided over Kiev urban area.

  10. Information security requirements in patient-centred healthcare support systems.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Alsalamah, Shada; Gray, W Alex; Hilton, Jeremy; Alsalamah, Hessah

    2013-01-01

    Enabling Patient-Centred (PC) care in modern healthcare requires the flow of medical information with the patient between different healthcare providers as they follow the patient's treatment plan. However, PC care threatens the stability of the balance of information security in the support systems since legacy systems fall short of attaining a security balance when sharing their information due to compromises made between its availability, integrity, and confidentiality. Results show that the main reason for this is that information security implementation in discrete legacy systems focused mainly on information confidentiality and integrity leaving availability a challenge in collaboration. Through an empirical study using domain analysis, observations, and interviews, this paper identifies a need for six information security requirements in legacy systems to cope with this situation in order to attain the security balance in systems supporting PC care implementation in modern healthcare.

  11. Professional Help-Seeking for Adolescent Dating Violence in the Rural South: The Role of Social Support and Informal Help-Seeking

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hedge, Jasmine M.; Sianko, Natallia; McDonell, James R.

    2016-01-01

    Structural equation modeling with three waves of data was used to assess a mediation model investigating the relationship between perceived social support, informal help-seeking intentions, and professional help-seeking intentions in the context of adolescent dating violence. The sample included 589 adolescents from a rural, southern county who participated in a longitudinal study of teen dating violence victimization and perpetration. Results suggest that informal help-seeking intentions are an important link between perceived social support and professional help-seeking intentions. Findings highlight the importance of informal help-seeking and informal help-giving in fostering professional help-seeking for adolescent victims and perpetrators of dating violence. PMID:27580981

  12. EARLY PARENTING SUPPORT AND INFORMATION: A CONSUMER PERSPECTIVE.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Morawska, Alina; Weston, Kate; Bowd, Courtney

    2018-03-01

    The transition to parenthood is a period of both joy and challenge for most parents. There is a recognized need to support parents during this period, yet existing interventions have shown limited evidence of efficacy. This study takes a consumer-focused approach to examine the needs and preferences of parents both prenatally (n = 77) and postnatally (n = 123) for parenting support. The study used a cross-sectional design with a purpose-built online survey. Parents were recruited via online forums, Facebook and parenting blogs, childcare centers, and playgroups. In general, all parents were satisfied with their current levels of both formal and informal support, and about one fourth of parents had accessed a parenting intervention. Parents expressed a moderate level of interest in additional parenting information, and parents expecting their first baby indicated preferences for information about basic baby care needs whereas postnatally, parents expressed more interest in topics around self-care and behavior management. The implications for developing interventions and engaging families are discussed. © 2018 Michigan Association for Infant Mental Health.

  13. Information support for health information management in regional Sri Lanka: health managers' perspectives.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ranasinghe, Kaduruwane Indika; Chan, Taizan; Yaralagadda, Prasad

    Good management, supported by accurate, timely and reliable health information, is vital for increasing the effectiveness of Health Information Systems (HIS). When it comes to managing the under-resourced health systems of developing countries, information-based decision making is particularly important. This paper reports findings of a self-report survey that investigated perceptions of local health managers (HMs) of their own regional HIS in Sri Lanka. Data were collected through a validated, pre-tested postal questionnaire, and distributed among a selected group of HMs to elicit their perceptions of the current HIS in relation to information generation, acquisition and use, required reforms to the information system and application of information and communication technology (ICT). Results based on descriptive statistics indicated that the regional HIS was poorly organised and in need of reform; that management support for the system was unsatisfactory in terms of relevance, accuracy, timeliness and accessibility; that political pressure and community and donor requests took precedence over vital health information when management decisions were made; and use of ICT was unsatisfactory. HIS strengths included user-friendly paper formats, a centralised planning system and an efficient disease notification system; weaknesses were lack of comprehensiveness, inaccuracy, and lack of a feedback system. Responses of participants indicated that HIS would be improved by adopting an internationally accepted framework and introducing ICT applications. Perceived barriers to such improvements were high initial cost of educating staff to improve computer literacy, introduction of ICTs, and HIS restructure. We concluded that the regional HIS of Central Province, Sri Lanka had failed to provide much-needed information support to HMs. These findings are consistent with similar research in other developing countries and reinforce the need for further research to verify causes of

  14. Asset Condition, Information Systems and Decision Models

    CERN Document Server

    Willett, Roger; Brown, Kerry; Mathew, Joseph

    2012-01-01

    Asset Condition, Information Systems and Decision Models, is the second volume of the Engineering Asset Management Review Series. The manuscripts provide examples of implementations of asset information systems as well as some practical applications of condition data for diagnostics and prognostics. The increasing trend is towards prognostics rather than diagnostics, hence the need for assessment and decision models that promote the conversion of condition data into prognostic information to improve life-cycle planning for engineered assets. The research papers included here serve to support the on-going development of Condition Monitoring standards. This volume comprises selected papers from the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd World Congresses on Engineering Asset Management, which were convened under the auspices of ISEAM in collaboration with a number of organisations, including CIEAM Australia, Asset Management Council Australia, BINDT UK, and Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Chin...

  15. Children's Information Retrieval: how to support children in effective information-seeking?

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Jochmann-Mannak, Hanna; Sanders, Ted; Aly, R.B.N.; Aly, Robin; Hauff, C.; Hiemstra, Djoerd; Hiemstra, D; de Jong, Franciska M.G.; de Jong, F.M.G.; Huibers, Theo W.C.; Huibers, T.W.C.

    2009-01-01

    In this paper, we describe the objectives of our research project in which we aim to design a search interface in ways consistent with children’s needs, cognitive development and thinking style to support children in effective information-seeking.

  16. Models, Metaphors and Symbols for Information and Knowledge Systems

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    David Williams

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available A literature search indicates that Data, Information and Knowledge continue to be placed into a hierarchical construct where it is considered that information is more valuable than data and that information can be processed into becoming precious knowledge. Wisdom continues to be added to the model to further confuse the issue. This model constrains our ability to think more logically about how and why we develop knowledge management systems to support and enhance knowledge- intensive processes, tasks or projects. This paper seeks to summarise development of the Data-Information-Knowledge-Wisdom hierarchy, explore the extensive criticism of it and present a more logical (and accurate construct for the elements of intellectual capital when developing and managing Knowledge Management Systems.

  17. Group Awareness and Self-Presentation in Computer-Supported Information Exchange

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kimmerle, Joachim; Cress, Ulrike

    2008-01-01

    A common challenge in many situations of computer-supported collaborative learning is increasing the willingness of those involved to share their knowledge with other group members. As a prototypical situation of computer-supported information exchange, a shared-database setting was chosen for the current study. This information-exchange situation…

  18. MATHEMATICAL SUPPORT OF THE INTELLIGENT INFORMATION SYSTEM OF ASSESSING THE OBJECT STATE

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sofiia Yakubovska

    2017-11-01

    Full Text Available At present, information technologies (IT are intensively used all over the world in various sectors, and today medical institutions cannot do without them when organizing the process of medical diagnostic. The IT efficiency is determined by the degree of their intellectualization that is by including knowledge bases as their component and by the transition from data processing to the processing of knowledge. The efficiency of making decisions in various areas of activity is determined by the quality and quick delivery of information. Medicine constitutes no exception in this sense. The advanced level of computer technology, applied tools, diagnostics on the basis of automated systems of decision support made it possible to solve the tasks of assessing the state of the object at a qualitatively new level. The subject matter of this study is to ensure the mathematical support of the intelligent information system (IS of assessing the state of the object. The object is understood as a patient who came through a myocardial infarction (MI. The goal of the study is to develop mathematical support of the intelligent IS of assessing and predicting a patient’s condition. To achieve the stated goal, the following tasks were solved: statistically valid and uncorrelated signs were specified; these signs enable distinguishing the group of patients who survived from those who died, “decisive rules” were formulated for predicting the MI clinical outcome. In the process of the study, the mathematical IT of assessing the state of the object was developed. The following result was obtained: the suggested mathematical models for predicting the outcome of myocardial infarction that were developed with the use of the method of discriminant function and took into account human blood values can prevent sudden coronary death and improve the diagnostic efficiency. Conclusions. Mathematical models were developed to predict the state of the object in the event of

  19. Models of Human Information Requirements: "When Reasonable Aiding Systems Disagree"

    Science.gov (United States)

    Corker, Kevin; Pisanich, Gregory; Shafto, Michael (Technical Monitor)

    1994-01-01

    Aircraft flight management and Air Traffic Control (ATC) automation are under development to maximize the economy of flight and to increase the capacity of the terminal area airspace while maintaining levels of flight safety equal to or better than current system performance. These goals are being realized by the introduction of flight management automation aiding and operations support systems on the flight deck and by new developments of ATC aiding systems that seek to optimize scheduling of aircraft while potentially reducing required separation and accounting for weather and wake vortex turbulence. Aiding systems on both the flight deck and the ground operate through algorithmic functions on models of the aircraft and of the airspace. These models may differ from each other as a result of variations in their models of the immediate environment. The resultant flight operations or ATC commands may differ in their response requirements (e.g. different preferred descent speeds or descent initiation points). The human operators in the system must then interact with the automation to reconcile differences and resolve conflicts. We have developed a model of human performance including cognitive functions (decision-making, rule-based reasoning, procedural interruption recovery and forgetting) that supports analysis of the information requirements for resolution of flight aiding and ATC conflicts. The model represents multiple individuals in the flight crew and in ATC. The model is supported in simulation on a Silicon Graphics' workstation using Allegro Lisp. Design guidelines for aviation automation aiding systems have been developed using the model's specification of information and team procedural requirements. Empirical data on flight deck operations from full-mission flight simulation are provided to support the model's predictions. The paper describes the model, its development and implementation, the simulation test of the model predictions, and the empirical

  20. Understanding consumer health information-seeking behavior from the perspective of the risk perception attitude framework and social support in mobile social media websites.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Deng, Zhaohua; Liu, Shan

    2017-09-01

    This study integrates the risk perception attitude framework and social support to examine factors influencing consumers' intentions to seek health information in mobile social media websites. We develop a research model consisting of four social support dimensions, perceived health risk, health self-efficacy, and health information-seeking intention. A survey is conducted among patients with non-serious conditions. A two-step approach of structural equation modeling is used to test the research model. Among the four dimensions of social support, tangible support and appraisal support significantly influence perceived risk, whereas emotional support and esteem support significantly influence health self-efficacy. Perceived health risk and health self-efficacy significantly influence the health information-seeking behavior intention of consumers. Specifically, health self-efficacy significantly moderates the relationship between perceived risk and behavior intention. This study highlights the integrated effects of social capital and risk perception attitude framework on health information-seeking intention. It examines relationships among perceived health risk, health self-efficacy, and behavior intention in the mobile social media context. The findings help understand effects of social capital factors on perceived health risk and health self-efficacy. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  1. Same but different: Comparative modes of information processing are implicated in the construction of perceptions of autonomy support.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, Rebecca Rachael; Chatzisarantis, Nikos L D

    2017-11-01

    An implicit assumption behind tenets of self-determination theory is that perceptions of autonomy support are a function of absolute modes of information processing. In this study, we examined whether comparative modes of information processing were implicated in the construction of perceptions of autonomy support. In an experimental study, we demonstrated that participants employed comparative modes of information processing in evaluating receipt of small, but not large, amounts of autonomy support. In addition, we found that social comparison processes influenced a number of outcomes that are empirically related to perceived autonomy support such as sense of autonomy, positive affect, perceived usefulness, and effort. Findings shed new light upon the processes underpinning construction of perceptions related to autonomy support and yield new insights into how to increase the predictive validity of models that use autonomy support as a determinant of motivation and psychological well-being. © 2017 The British Psychological Society.

  2. What Do Information Technology Support Services Really Cost?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Leach, Karen; Smallen, David

    1998-01-01

    A study examined the cost of information-technology support services in higher education institutions. The report describes the project's origins and work to date and reports initial results in three areas: network services, desktop repair services, and administrative information systems, looking in each case at economies of scale, outsourcing…

  3. Digital terrain modelling development and applications in a policy support environment

    CERN Document Server

    Peckham, Robert Joseph

    2007-01-01

    This publication is the first book on the development and application of digital terrain modelling for regional planning and policy support. It is a compilation of research results by international research groups at the European Commission's Joint Research Centre providing scientific support to the development and implementation of EU environmental policy. Applications include the pan-European River and Catchment Database, European Flood Alert System, European Digital Soil Database and alternative solar energy resources, all discussed in a GIS framework in the context of the INfrastructure for SPatial InfoRmation in Europe (INSPIRE). This practice-oriented book is recommended to practicing environmental modellers and GIS experts working on regional planning and policy support applications.

  4. MATLAB-SIMULINK BASED INFORMATION SUPPORT FOR DIGITAL OVERCURRENT PROTECTION TEST SETS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    I. V. Novash

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available The implementation of information support for PC-based and hardware-software based sets for digital overcurrent protection devices and their models testing using MatLab-Simulink environment is considered. It is demonstrated that the mathematical modeling of a part of the power system – viz. of the generalized electric power object – could be based on rigid and flexible models. Rigid models implemented on the basis of mathematical description of electrical and magnetic circuits of a power system can be considered as a reference model for the simulation results that have been obtained with the aid of another simulation system to be compared with. It is proposed to implement flexible models for generalized electric power object in the MatLabSimulink environment that includes the SimPowerSystems component library targeted to power system modeling. The features of the parameters calculation of the SimPowerSystems component library blocks that the power system model is formed of are considered. Out of the Simulink standard blocks the models of a wye-connected current transformers were composed as well as the digital overcurrent protection, missing in the component library. A comparison of simulation results of one and the same generalized electric power object implemented in various PC-based software packages was undertaken. The divergence of simulation results did not exceed 3 %; the latter allows us to recommend the MatLab-Simulink environment for information support creation for hardware-software based sets for digital overcurrent protection devices testing. The structure of the hardware-software based set for digital overcurrent protection device testing using the Omicron CMC 356 has been suggested. Time to trip comparison between the real digital protection device МР 801 and the model with the parameters which are exactly match the parameters of the prototype device was carried out using the identical test inputs. The results of the tests

  5. Preference Construction Processes for Renewable Energies: Assessing the Influence of Sustainability Information and Decision Support Methods

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kiyotada Hayashi

    2016-11-01

    Full Text Available Sustainability information and decision support can be two important driving forces for making sustainable transitions in society. However, not enough knowledge is available on the effectiveness of these two factors. Here, we conducted an experimental study to support the hypotheses that acquisition of sustainability information and use of decision support methods consistently construct preferences for renewable power generation technologies that use solar power, wind power, small-scale hydroelectric power, geothermal power, wood biomass, or biogas as energy sources. The sustainability information was prepared using a renewable energy-focused input-output model of Japan and contained life cycle greenhouse gas emissions, electricity generation costs, and job creation. We measured rank-ordered preferences in the following four steps in experimental workshops conducted for municipal officials: provision of (1 energy-source names; (2 sustainability information; (3 additional explanation of public value; and (4 knowledge and techniques about multi-attribute value functions. The degree of changes in preference orders was evaluated using Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient. The consistency of rank-ordered preferences among participants was determined by using the maximum eigenvalue for the coefficient matrix. The results show: (1 the individual preferences evolved drastically in response to the sustainability information and the decision support method; and (2 the rank-ordered preferences were more consistent during the preference construction processes. These results indicate that provision of sustainability information, coupled with decision support methods, is effective for decision making regarding renewable energies.

  6. Integrated care: an Information Model for Patient Safety and Vigilance Reporting Systems.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rodrigues, Jean-Marie; Schulz, Stefan; Souvignet, Julien

    2015-01-01

    Quality management information systems for safety as a whole or for specific vigilances share the same information types but are not interoperable. An international initiative tries to develop an integrated information model for patient safety and vigilance reporting to support a global approach of heath care quality.

  7. Management of information in development projects – a proposed integrated model

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    C. Bester

    2008-11-01

    Full Text Available The first section of the article focuses on the need for development in Africa and the specific challenges of development operations. It describes the need for a holistic and integrated information management model as part of the project management body of knowledge aimed at managing the information flow between communities and development project teams. It is argued that information, and access to information, is crucial in development projects and can therefore be seen as a critical success factor in any development project. In the second section of the article, the three information areas of the holistic and integrated information management model are described. In the section thereafter we suggest roles and actions for information managers to facilitate information processes integral to the model. These processes seek to create a developing information community that aligns itself with the development project, and supports and sustains it.

  8. Interactions of the NAEG information support project with other projects

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pfuderer, H.A.

    1976-01-01

    In the past year the Information Support Project to the Nevada Applied Ecology Group has interacted with many other research projects on the transuranics and other radionuclides. Group interactions through symposiums, workshops, and responding to search requests have proven to be mutually beneficial. The NAEG Information Support Project will draw on the information resources of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory to produce a bibliography of the radionuclides (other than the transuranics) of interest to the Nevada Test Site

  9. Combining the Generic Entity-Attribute-Value Model and Terminological Models into a Common Ontology to Enable Data Integration and Decision Support.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bouaud, Jacques; Guézennec, Gilles; Séroussi, Brigitte

    2018-01-01

    The integration of clinical information models and termino-ontological models into a unique ontological framework is highly desirable for it facilitates data integration and management using the same formal mechanisms for both data concepts and information model components. This is particularly true for knowledge-based decision support tools that aim to take advantage of all facets of semantic web technologies in merging ontological reasoning, concept classification, and rule-based inferences. We present an ontology template that combines generic data model components with (parts of) existing termino-ontological resources. The approach is developed for the guideline-based decision support module on breast cancer management within the DESIREE European project. The approach is based on the entity attribute value model and could be extended to other domains.

  10. Modelling and Decision Support of Clinical Pathways

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gabriel, Roland; Lux, Thomas

    The German health care market is under a rapid rate of change, forcing especially hospitals to provide high-quality services at low costs. Appropriate measures for more effective and efficient service provision are process orientation and decision support by information technology of clinical pathway of a patient. The essential requirements are adequate modelling of clinical pathways as well as usage of adequate systems, which are capable of assisting the complete path of a patient within a hospital, and preferably also outside of it, in a digital way. To fulfil these specifications the authors present a suitable concept, which meets the challenges of well-structured clinical pathways as well as rather poorly structured diagnostic and therapeutic decisions, by interplay of process-oriented and knowledge-based hospital information systems.

  11. Is "the perfect model" really needed? - Analysis of the quality level of climate information necessary for supporting adaptation in agriculture and forestry

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gálos, Borbála; Ostler, Wolf-Uwe; Csáki, Péter; Bidló, András; Panferov, Oleg

    2016-04-01

    agriculture a questionnaire has been carried out among 180 farms of different sizes and specializations (mostly arable farming and viniculture) in Reinland-Palatine, Germany. The results show that almost all farmers use the weather information daily and are in need of weather forecast. More than a half requires also the forecast on extreme events. However the farmers require more qualitative (e.g. temperature coarser than 1°C) than high-precision quantitative information in short and medium-term forecasts. Forestry requires long-term (30-100 years) climate projections. For the assessment of climate change impacts on forest distribution, production and tree species selection, monthly temperature means and precipitation sums are sufficient. Based on the results of regional climate models it will be shown how the bias, the spread and spatial resolution of the simulation results are affecting the accuracy of impact assessments. Our analyses can help to fill the gap between climate services and the needs of impact researchers and end users in agriculture and forestry. User-relevant climate information can contribute to appropriate adaptation support services and management options in the two sectors. Keywords: regional climate projections, climate impact assessment, agriculture, forestry, adaptation support, accuracy of climate information Funding: The research is supported by the "Agroclimate-2" (VKSZ_12-1-2013-0034) joint EU-national research project.

  12. On the Enterprise Modelling of an Educational Information Infrastructure

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

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

    2000-01-01

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

  13. Sticker Shock: How Information Affects Citizen Support for Public School Funding.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schueler, Beth E; West, Martin R

    2016-01-01

    This study examines the role of information in shaping public opinion in the context of support for education spending. While there is broad public support for increasing government funding for public schools, Americans tend to underestimate what is currently spent. We embed a series of experiments in a nationally representative survey administered in 2012 ( n = 2,993) to examine whether informing citizens about current levels of education spending alters public opinion about whether funding should increase. Providing information on per-pupil spending in a respondent's local school district reduces the probability that he or she will express support for increasing spending by 22 percentage points on average. Informing respondents about state-average teacher salaries similarly depresses support for salary increases. These effects are larger among respondents who underestimate per-pupil spending and teacher salaries by a greater amount, consistent with the idea that the observed changes in opinion are driven, at least in part, by informational effects, as opposed to priming alone.

  14. Informal and Formal Social Support and Caregiver Burden: The AGES Caregiver Survey

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shiba, Koichiro; Kondo, Naoki; Kondo, Katsunori

    2016-01-01

    Background We examined the associations of informal (eg, family members and friends) and formal (eg, physician and visiting nurses) social support with caregiver’s burden in long-term care and the relationship between the number of available sources of social support and caregiver burden. Methods We conducted a mail-in survey in 2003 and used data of 2998 main caregivers of frail older adults in Aichi, Japan. We used a validated scale to assess caregiver burden. Results Multiple linear regression demonstrated that, after controlling for caregivers’ sociodemographic and other characteristics, informal social support was significantly associated with lower caregiver burden (β = −1.59, P support was not (β = −0.30, P = 0.39). Evaluating the associations by specific sources of social support, informal social supports from the caregiver’s family living together (β = −0.71, P social support was associated with lower caregiver burden only if it was from family physicians (β = −0.56, P = 0.001). Compared to caregivers without informal support, those who had one support (β = −1.62, P supports (β = −1.55, P support. Conclusions Social support from intimate social relationships may positively affect caregivers’ psychological wellbeing independent of the receipt of formal social support, resulting in less burden. PMID:27180934

  15. An expert panel approach to support risk-informed decision making

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pulkkinen, U.; Simola, K.

    2000-01-01

    The report describes the expert panel methodology developed for supporting risk-informed decision making. The aim of an expert panel is to achieve a balanced utilisation of information and expertise from several disciplines in decision-making including probabilistic safety assessment as one decision criterion. We also summarise the application of the methodology in the STUK's RI-ISI (Risk-Informed In-Service Inspection) pilot study, where the expert panel approach was used to combine the deterministic information on degradation mechanisms and probabilistic information on pipe break consequences. The expert panel served both as a critical review of the preliminary results and as a decision support for the final definition of risk categories of piping. (orig.)

  16. Decision Support System Based on Computational Collective Intelligence in Campus Information Systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Saito, Yoshihito; Matsuo, Tokuro

    Education institutions such as universities have a lot of information including book information, equipment administrative information, student information, and several others. The institutions also have multiple information in time series. As collective intelligence in campus, integrating and reusing these preserved information regarding career and taking a class, university can effectively support students' decision making of their getting jobs and subjects choice. Our purpose of support is to increase student's motivation. In this paper, we focus on course record and job information included in students' information, and propose the method to analyze correlation between a pattern of taking class and job lined up. Afterwards, we propose a support system regarding getting a job and taking class by using our proposed method. For a student who has his/her favorite job to get, the system supports his/her decision making of lecture choice by recommending a set of appropriate lecture groups. On another hand, for a student who does not have favorite job to get, the system supports his/her decision making of getting job by presenting appropriate job families related with lecture group in which he/she has ever taken. The contribution of this paper is showing a concrete method to reuse the campus collective information, implementing a system, and user perspectives.

  17. Modeling Routinization in Games: An Information Theory Approach

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Wallner, Simon; Pichlmair, Martin; Hecher, Michael

    2015-01-01

    Routinization is the result of practicing until an action stops being a goal-directed process. This paper formulates a definition of routinization in games based on prior research in the fields of activity theory and practice theory. Routinization is analyzed using the formal model of discrete......-time, discrete-space Markov chains and information theory to measure the actual error between the dynamically trained models and the player interaction. Preliminary research supports the hypothesis that Markov chains can be effectively used to model routinization in games. A full study design is presented...

  18. Aligning building information model tools and construction management methods

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Hartmann, Timo; van Meerveld, H.J.; Vossebeld, N.; Adriaanse, Adriaan Maria

    2012-01-01

    Few empirical studies exist that can explain how different Building Information Model (BIM) based tool implementation strategies work in practical contexts. To help overcoming this gap, this paper describes the implementation of two BIM based tools, the first, to support the activities at an

  19. Executive Support of Information Technology and Information Systems in Australian Hospitals: an empirical study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Graeme Rose

    1997-11-01

    Full Text Available Little is known regarding the form executive support should take for the progressive use of information technology and information systems [FT] within organisations. This study applies the theory developed by Jarvenpaa and Ives (1991 who examined two forms of support provided by chief executive officers. These were executive participation, a set of IT-related activities, and executive involvement, a psychological state reflecting the importance of IT for the organisation's success. Our research, using data obtained from a questionnaire mailed to a sample of Australian hospitals, measures the relationships between these two forms of support and the progressive use of IT. Our statistical analysis supports the findings of Jarvenpaa and Ives (1991, who found a stronger relationship between executive involvement and the progressive use of IT. Using Australian hospitals allowed Jarvenpaa and Ives' (1991 theory to be applied in a different environment, increasing its external validity. Firm size was also found to have a positive relationship with the progressive use of IT independent of the two forms of executive support.

  20. Online discussion compensates for suboptimal timing of supportive information presentation in a digitally supported learning environment

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Noroozi, O.; Busstra, M.C.; Mulder, M.; Biemans, H.J.A.; Tobi, H.; Geelen, A.; Veer, van 't P.; Chizari, M.

    2012-01-01

    This study used a sequential set-up to investigate the consecutive effects of timing of supportive information presentation (information before vs. information during the learning task clusters) in interactive digital learning materials (IDLMs) and type of collaboration (personal discussion vs.

  1. PERFECTION OF INFORMATION SUPPORT OF BUSINESS IN THE AGRARIAN SECTOR

    OpenAIRE

    Tyumerova I. B.

    2014-01-01

    The article defines the functions and information management tools of entrepreneurship in the agrarian sphere, the impact of the algorithm information support for business development in the agrarian sector, identified ways of improving information systems

  2. Standards to support information systems integration in anatomic pathology.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Daniel, Christel; García Rojo, Marcial; Bourquard, Karima; Henin, Dominique; Schrader, Thomas; Della Mea, Vincenzo; Gilbertson, John; Beckwith, Bruce A

    2009-11-01

    Integrating anatomic pathology information- text and images-into electronic health care records is a key challenge for enhancing clinical information exchange between anatomic pathologists and clinicians. The aim of the Integrating the Healthcare Enterprise (IHE) international initiative is precisely to ensure interoperability of clinical information systems by using existing widespread industry standards such as Digital Imaging and Communication in Medicine (DICOM) and Health Level Seven (HL7). To define standard-based informatics transactions to integrate anatomic pathology information to the Healthcare Enterprise. We used the methodology of the IHE initiative. Working groups from IHE, HL7, and DICOM, with special interest in anatomic pathology, defined consensual technical solutions to provide end-users with improved access to consistent information across multiple information systems. The IHE anatomic pathology technical framework describes a first integration profile, "Anatomic Pathology Workflow," dedicated to the diagnostic process including basic image acquisition and reporting solutions. This integration profile relies on 10 transactions based on HL7 or DICOM standards. A common specimen model was defined to consistently identify and describe specimens in both HL7 and DICOM transactions. The IHE anatomic pathology working group has defined standard-based informatics transactions to support the basic diagnostic workflow in anatomic pathology laboratories. In further stages, the technical framework will be completed to manage whole-slide images and semantically rich structured reports in the diagnostic workflow and to integrate systems used for patient care and those used for research activities (such as tissue bank databases or tissue microarrayers).

  3. Mathematical Modeling Of Life-Support Systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Seshan, Panchalam K.; Ganapathi, Balasubramanian; Jan, Darrell L.; Ferrall, Joseph F.; Rohatgi, Naresh K.

    1994-01-01

    Generic hierarchical model of life-support system developed to facilitate comparisons of options in design of system. Model represents combinations of interdependent subsystems supporting microbes, plants, fish, and land animals (including humans). Generic model enables rapid configuration of variety of specific life support component models for tradeoff studies culminating in single system design. Enables rapid evaluation of effects of substituting alternate technologies and even entire groups of technologies and subsystems. Used to synthesize and analyze life-support systems ranging from relatively simple, nonregenerative units like aquariums to complex closed-loop systems aboard submarines or spacecraft. Model, called Generic Modular Flow Schematic (GMFS), coded in such chemical-process-simulation languages as Aspen Plus and expressed as three-dimensional spreadsheet.

  4. Clustering and retrieving information in nuclear science for decision-support techniques

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dulin, S.K.; Kiselev, I.A.

    1996-01-01

    This paper covers the problem of storing and retrieving information from big data bases, where the information does not have an exact structure and different object have very thin (or weak) relations each with other. It is one of the biggest problems in decision-support systems, especially in those environments, where the information is complicated and very changeable. One of the way to solve this problem could be the building a semiotic model of the environment according to our goals. One of the important parts of systems based on semiotic modelling is the active knowledge base supplied with the special concordance mechanism of structural consistency. This paper deals with an active knowledge base condition considered by means of connections structure analysis of knowledge base components. Thereby the dominant attribute of any component is supposed to be the connections structure of knowledge base component (object). A set of objects with connections that have a binary existence estimate is examined. Consonant, dissonant and assonant sets are distinguished, depending on the satisfiability of the consonance criterion. An algorithm is proposed and realised for reducing assonant and dissonant sets to a consonance state with minimum expenditures in the sense of the general number variable estimates of the connections. This way of decision has been applied to arrays of variable information stored on CD-ROM disks

  5. Supporting the Evaluation and Implementation of Musculoskeletal Models of Care: A Globally Informed Framework for Judging Readiness and Success.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Briggs, Andrew M; Jordan, Joanne E; Jennings, Matthew; Speerin, Robyn; Bragge, Peter; Chua, Jason; Woolf, Anthony D; Slater, Helen

    2017-04-01

    To develop a globally informed framework to evaluate readiness for implementation and success after implementation of musculoskeletal models of care (MOCs). Three phases were undertaken: 1) a qualitative study with 27 Australian subject matter experts (SMEs) to develop a draft framework; 2) an eDelphi study with an international panel of 93 SMEs across 30 nations to evaluate face validity, and refine and establish consensus on the framework components; and 3) translation of the framework into a user-focused resource and evaluation of its acceptability with the eDelphi panel. A comprehensive evaluation framework was developed for judging the readiness and success of musculoskeletal MOCs. The framework consists of 9 domains, with each domain containing a number of themes underpinned by detailed elements. In the first Delphi round, scores of "partly agree" or "completely agree" with the draft framework ranged 96.7%-100%. In the second round, "essential" scores ranged 58.6%-98.9%, resulting in 14 of 34 themes being classified as essential. SMEs strongly agreed or agreed that the final framework was useful (98.8%), usable (95.1%), credible (100%) and appealing (93.9%). Overall, 96.3% strongly supported or supported the final structure of the framework as it was presented, while 100%, 96.3%, and 100% strongly supported or supported the content within the readiness, initiating implementation, and success streams, respectively. An empirically derived framework to evaluate the readiness and success of musculoskeletal MOCs was strongly supported by an international panel of SMEs. The framework provides an important internationally applicable benchmark for the development, implementation, and evaluation of musculoskeletal MOCs. © 2016, American College of Rheumatology.

  6. Development of an appropriate resource information system to support agricultural management at farm enterprise level : a prototype design for a decision support system in Moghan Agro-industrial Complex, Iran

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Sharifi, M.A.

    1992-01-01

    This thesis describes development of and experimentation with a prototype of an appropriate resource information system that improves decision making processes in farm management The system includes a geographic information system with a powerful process model that forms a decision support

  7. Applications of system dynamics modelling to support health policy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Atkinson, Jo-An M; Wells, Robert; Page, Andrew; Dominello, Amanda; Haines, Mary; Wilson, Andrew

    2015-07-09

    The value of systems science modelling methods in the health sector is increasingly being recognised. Of particular promise is the potential of these methods to improve operational aspects of healthcare capacity and delivery, analyse policy options for health system reform and guide investments to address complex public health problems. Because it lends itself to a participatory approach, system dynamics modelling has been a particularly appealing method that aims to align stakeholder understanding of the underlying causes of a problem and achieve consensus for action. The aim of this review is to determine the effectiveness of system dynamics modelling for health policy, and explore the range and nature of its application. A systematic search was conducted to identify articles published up to April 2015 from the PubMed, Web of Knowledge, Embase, ScienceDirect and Google Scholar databases. The grey literature was also searched. Papers eligible for inclusion were those that described applications of system dynamics modelling to support health policy at any level of government. Six papers were identified, comprising eight case studies of the application of system dynamics modelling to support health policy. No analytic studies were found that examined the effectiveness of this type of modelling. Only three examples engaged multidisciplinary stakeholders in collective model building. Stakeholder participation in model building reportedly facilitated development of a common 'mental map' of the health problem, resulting in consensus about optimal policy strategy and garnering support for collaborative action. The paucity of relevant papers indicates that, although the volume of descriptive literature advocating the value of system dynamics modelling is considerable, its practical application to inform health policy making is yet to be routinely applied and rigorously evaluated. Advances in software are allowing the participatory model building approach to be extended to

  8. Data Model Management for Space Information Systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hughes, J. Steven; Crichton, Daniel J.; Ramirez, Paul; Mattmann, chris

    2006-01-01

    The Reference Architecture for Space Information Management (RASIM) suggests the separation of the data model from software components to promote the development of flexible information management systems. RASIM allows the data model to evolve independently from the software components and results in a robust implementation that remains viable as the domain changes. However, the development and management of data models within RASIM are difficult and time consuming tasks involving the choice of a notation, the capture of the model, its validation for consistency, and the export of the model for implementation. Current limitations to this approach include the lack of ability to capture comprehensive domain knowledge, the loss of significant modeling information during implementation, the lack of model visualization and documentation capabilities, and exports being limited to one or two schema types. The advent of the Semantic Web and its demand for sophisticated data models has addressed this situation by providing a new level of data model management in the form of ontology tools. In this paper we describe the use of a representative ontology tool to capture and manage a data model for a space information system. The resulting ontology is implementation independent. Novel on-line visualization and documentation capabilities are available automatically, and the ability to export to various schemas can be added through tool plug-ins. In addition, the ingestion of data instances into the ontology allows validation of the ontology and results in a domain knowledge base. Semantic browsers are easily configured for the knowledge base. For example the export of the knowledge base to RDF/XML and RDFS/XML and the use of open source metadata browsers provide ready-made user interfaces that support both text- and facet-based search. This paper will present the Planetary Data System (PDS) data model as a use case and describe the import of the data model into an ontology tool

  9. BIM. Building Information Model. Special issue; BIM. Building Information Model. Themanummer

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Van Gelder, A.L.A. [Arta and Consultancy, Lage Zwaluwe (Netherlands); Van den Eijnden, P.A.A. [Stichting Marktwerking Installatietechniek, Zoetermeer (Netherlands); Veerman, J.; Mackaij, J.; Borst, E. [Royal Haskoning DHV, Nijmegen (Netherlands); Kruijsse, P.M.D. [Wolter en Dros, Amersfoort (Netherlands); Buma, W. [Merlijn Media, Waddinxveen (Netherlands); Bomhof, F.; Willems, P.H.; Boehms, M. [TNO, Delft (Netherlands); Hofman, M.; Verkerk, M. [ISSO, Rotterdam (Netherlands); Bodeving, M. [VIAC Installatie Adviseurs, Houten (Netherlands); Van Ravenswaaij, J.; Van Hoven, H. [BAM Techniek, Bunnik (Netherlands); Boeije, I.; Schalk, E. [Stabiplan, Bodegraven (Netherlands)

    2012-11-15

    A series of 14 articles illustrates the various aspects of the Building Information Model (BIM). The essence of BIM is to capture information about the building process and the building product. [Dutch] In 14 artikelen worden diverse aspecten m.b.t. het Building Information Model (BIM) belicht. De essentie van BIM is het vastleggen van informatie over het bouwproces en het bouwproduct.

  10. Management of Information Supporting Collaborative Networks

    Science.gov (United States)

    Afsarmanesh, Hamideh; Camarinha-Matos, Luis M.

    Dynamic creation of opportunity-based goal-oriented Collaborative Networks (CNs), among organizations or individuals, requires the availability of a variety of up-to-date information. In order to effectively address the complexity, dynamism, and scalability of actors, domains, and operations in opportunity-based CNs, pre-establishment of properly administrated strategic CNs is required. Namely, to effectively support creation/operation of opportunity-based VOs (Virtual Organizations) operating in certain domain, the pre-establishment of a VBE (Virtual organizations Breeding Environment) for that domain plays a crucial role and increases their chances of success. Administration of strategic CN environments however is challenging and requires an advanced set of inter-related functionalities, developed on top of strong management of their information. With the emphasis on information management aspects, a number of generic challenges for the CNs and especially for the administration of VBEs are introduced in the paper.

  11. Factors Predicting Sustainability of the Schoolwide Positive Behavior Intervention Support Model

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chitiyo, Jonathan; May, Michael E.

    2018-01-01

    The Schoolwide Positive Behavior Intervention Support model (SWPBIS) continues to gain widespread use across schools in the United States and abroad. Despite its widespread implementation, little research has examined factors that influence its sustainability. Informed by Rogers's diffusion theory, this study examined school personnel's…

  12. Exploring a model-driven architecture (MDA) approach to health care information systems development.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Raghupathi, Wullianallur; Umar, Amjad

    2008-05-01

    To explore the potential of the model-driven architecture (MDA) in health care information systems development. An MDA is conceptualized and developed for a health clinic system to track patient information. A prototype of the MDA is implemented using an advanced MDA tool. The UML provides the underlying modeling support in the form of the class diagram. The PIM to PSM transformation rules are applied to generate the prototype application from the model. The result of the research is a complete MDA methodology to developing health care information systems. Additional insights gained include development of transformation rules and documentation of the challenges in the application of MDA to health care. Design guidelines for future MDA applications are described. The model has the potential for generalizability. The overall approach supports limited interoperability and portability. The research demonstrates the applicability of the MDA approach to health care information systems development. When properly implemented, it has the potential to overcome the challenges of platform (vendor) dependency, lack of open standards, interoperability, portability, scalability, and the high cost of implementation.

  13. 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

  14. Experiences with using information and communication technology to build a multi-municipal support network for informal carers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Torp, Steffen; Bing-Jonsson, Pia C; Hanson, Elizabeth

    2013-09-01

    This multi-municipal intervention study explored whether informal carers of frail older people and disabled children living at home made use of information and communication technology (ICT) to gain knowledge about caring and to form informal support networks, thereby improving their health. Seventy-nine informal carers accessed web-based information about caring and an e-based discussion forum via their personal computers. They were able to maintain contact with each other using a web camera and via normal group meetings. After the first 12 months, 17 informal carers participated in focus group interviews and completed a short questionnaire. Four staff members were also interviewed. Participant carers who had prior experiences with a similar ICT-based support network reported greater satisfaction and more extensive use of the network than did participants with no such prior experience. It seems that infrequent usage of the service may be explained by too few other carers to identify with and inappropriate recruitment procedures. Nevertheless, carers of disabled children reported that the intervention had resulted in improved services across the participant municipalities. To achieve optimal effects of an ICT-based support network due attention must be given to recruitment processes and social environment building for which care practitioners require training and support.

  15. Comprehensive process model of clinical information interaction in primary care: results of a "best-fit" framework synthesis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Veinot, Tiffany C; Senteio, Charles R; Hanauer, David; Lowery, Julie C

    2018-06-01

    To describe a new, comprehensive process model of clinical information interaction in primary care (Clinical Information Interaction Model, or CIIM) based on a systematic synthesis of published research. We used the "best fit" framework synthesis approach. Searches were performed in PubMed, Embase, the Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), PsycINFO, Library and Information Science Abstracts, Library, Information Science and Technology Abstracts, and Engineering Village. Two authors reviewed articles according to inclusion and exclusion criteria. Data abstraction and content analysis of 443 published papers were used to create a model in which every element was supported by empirical research. The CIIM documents how primary care clinicians interact with information as they make point-of-care clinical decisions. The model highlights 3 major process components: (1) context, (2) activity (usual and contingent), and (3) influence. Usual activities include information processing, source-user interaction, information evaluation, selection of information, information use, clinical reasoning, and clinical decisions. Clinician characteristics, patient behaviors, and other professionals influence the process. The CIIM depicts the complete process of information interaction, enabling a grasp of relationships previously difficult to discern. The CIIM suggests potentially helpful functionality for clinical decision support systems (CDSSs) to support primary care, including a greater focus on information processing and use. The CIIM also documents the role of influence in clinical information interaction; influencers may affect the success of CDSS implementations. The CIIM offers a new framework for achieving CDSS workflow integration and new directions for CDSS design that can support the work of diverse primary care clinicians.

  16. Harnessing Ecosystem Models and Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis for the Support of Forest Management

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wolfslehner, Bernhard; Seidl, Rupert

    2010-12-01

    The decision-making environment in forest management (FM) has changed drastically during the last decades. Forest management planning is facing increasing complexity due to a widening portfolio of forest goods and services, a societal demand for a rational, transparent decision process and rising uncertainties concerning future environmental conditions (e.g., climate change). Methodological responses to these challenges include an intensified use of ecosystem models to provide an enriched, quantitative information base for FM planning. Furthermore, multi-criteria methods are increasingly used to amalgamate information, preferences, expert judgments and value expressions, in support of the participatory and communicative dimensions of modern forestry. Although the potential of combining these two approaches has been demonstrated in a number of studies, methodological aspects in interfacing forest ecosystem models (FEM) and multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) are scarcely addressed explicitly. In this contribution we review the state of the art in FEM and MCDA in the context of FM planning and highlight some of the crucial issues when combining ecosystem and preference modeling. We discuss issues and requirements in selecting approaches suitable for supporting FM planning problems from the growing body of FEM and MCDA concepts. We furthermore identify two major challenges in a harmonized application of FEM-MCDA: (i) the design and implementation of an indicator-based analysis framework capturing ecological and social aspects and their interactions relevant for the decision process, and (ii) holistic information management that supports consistent use of different information sources, provides meta-information as well as information on uncertainties throughout the planning process.

  17. The concept of information support system for operational personnel of operating NPPs

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dunaev, V.G.; Golovanov, V.V.

    1993-01-01

    The paper has been prepared on the materials of the concept developed by the order of ''Rosenergoatom'' concern. In the present paper the main definitions, the principal objectives and functions of the operator support system (OSS) are stated, a brief analysis of operation features of some existing operator information systems is presented, the main trends of development of operator information support system are given, the way and the sequence for implementation of the systems for operating NPPs are reviewed. In this proposed concept in the first place are considered the information support systems for the operators of the power unit main control rooms, however, the presented principles may be applied while designing information support systems for operators of other control rooms of NPP. 4 refs

  18. Graduating to Postdoc: Information-Sharing in Support of Organizational Structures and Needs

    Science.gov (United States)

    Keller, Richard M.; Lucas, Paul J.; Compton, Michael M.; Stewart, Helen J.; Baya, Vinod; DelAlto, Martha

    1999-01-01

    The deployment of information-sharing systems in large organizations can significantly impact existing policies and procedures with regard to authority and control over information. Unless information-sharing systems explicitly support organizational structures and needs, these systems will be rejected summarily. The Postdoc system is a deployed Web-based information-sharing system created specifically to address organizational needs. Postdoc contains various organizational support features including a shared, globally navigable document space, as well as specialized access control, distributed administration, and mailing list features built around the key notion of hierarchical group structures. We review successes and difficulties in supporting organizational needs with Postdoc

  19. A multiple decision support metrics method for effective risk-informed asset management

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Liming, J.K.; Salter, J.E.

    2004-01-01

    The objective of this paper is to provide electric utilities with a concept for developing and applying effective decision support metrics via integrated risk-informed asset management (RIAM) programs for power stations and generating companies. RIAM is a process by which analysts review historical performance and develop predictive logic models and data analyses to predict critical decision support figures-of-merit (or metrics) for generating station managers and electric utility company executives. These metrics include, but are not limited to, the following: profitability, net benefit, benefit-to-cost ratio, projected return on investment, projected revenue, projected costs, asset value, safety (catastrophic facility damage frequency and consequences, etc.), power production availability (capacity factor, etc.), efficiency (heat rate), and others. RIAM applies probabilistic safety assessment (PSA) techniques and generates predictions in a probabilistic way so that metrics information can be supplied to managers in terms of probability distributions as well as point estimates. This enables the managers to apply the concept of 'confidence levels' in their critical decision-making processes. (authors)

  20. Supporting Informed Decision Making in Prevention of Prostate Cancer

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Constantino MARTINS

    2015-05-01

    Full Text Available Identifying and making the correct decision on the best health treatment or screening test option can become a difficult task. Therefore is important that the patients get all types of information appropriate to manage their health. Decision aids can be very useful when there is more than one reasonable option about a treatment or uncertain associated with screening tests. The decision aids tools help people to understand their clinical condition, through the description of the different options available. The purpose of this paper is to present the project “Supporting Informed Decision Making In Prevention of Prostate Cancer” (SIDEMP. This project is focused on the creation of a Web-based decision platform specifically directed to screening prostate cancer, that will support the patient in the process of making an informed decision

  1. Visual Thing Recognition with Binary Scale-Invariant Feature Transform and Support Vector Machine Classifiers Using Color Information

    OpenAIRE

    Wei-Jong Yang; Wei-Hau Du; Pau-Choo Chang; Jar-Ferr Yang; Pi-Hsia Hung

    2017-01-01

    The demands of smart visual thing recognition in various devices have been increased rapidly for daily smart production, living and learning systems in recent years. This paper proposed a visual thing recognition system, which combines binary scale-invariant feature transform (SIFT), bag of words model (BoW), and support vector machine (SVM) by using color information. Since the traditional SIFT features and SVM classifiers only use the gray information, color information is still an importan...

  2. Antecedent characteristics of online cancer information seeking among rural breast cancer patients: an application of the Cognitive-Social Health Information Processing (C-SHIP) model.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shaw, Bret R; Dubenske, Lori L; Han, Jeong Yeob; Cofta-Woerpel, Ludmila; Bush, Nigel; Gustafson, David H; McTavish, Fiona

    2008-06-01

    Little research has examined the antecedent characteristics of patients most likely to seek online cancer information. This study employs the Cognitive-Social Health Information Processing (C-SHIP) model as a framework to understand what psychosocial characteristics precede online cancer-related information seeking among rural breast cancer patients who often have fewer health care providers and limited local support services. Examining 144 patients who were provided free computer hardware, Internet access, and training for how to use an interactive cancer communication system, pretest survey scores indicating patients' psychosocial status were correlated with specific online cancer information seeking behaviors. Each of the factors specified by the C-SHIP model had significant relationships with online cancer information seeking behaviors, with the strongest findings emerging for cancer-relevant encodings and self-construals, cancer-relevant beliefs and expectancies, and cancer-relevant self-regulatory competencies and skills. Specifically, patients with more negative appraisals in these domains were more likely to seek out online cancer information. Additionally, antecedent variables associated with the C-SHIP model had more frequent relationships with experiential information as compared with to didactic information. This study supports the applicability of the model to discern why people afflicted with cancer may seek online information to cope with their disease.

  3. Antecedent Characteristics of Online Cancer Information Seeking Among Rural Breast Cancer Patients: An Application of the Cognitive-Social Health Information Processing (C-SHIP) Model

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shaw, Bret R.; DuBenske, Lori L.; Han, Jeong Yeob; Cofta-Woerpel, Ludmila; Bush, Nigel; Gustafson, David H.; McTavish, Fiona

    2013-01-01

    Little research has examined the antecedent characteristics of patients most likely to seek online cancer information. This study employs the Cognitive-Social Health Information Processing (C-SHIP) model as a framework to understand what psychosocial characteristics precede online cancer-related information seeking among rural breast cancer patients who often have fewer healthcare providers and limited local support services. Examining 144 patients who were provided free computer hardware, Internet access and training for how to use an Interactive Cancer Communication System, pre-test survey scores indicating patients’ psychosocial status were correlated with specific online cancer information seeking behaviors. Each of the factors specified by the C-SHIP model had significant relationships with online cancer information seeking behaviors with the strongest findings emerging for cancer-relevant encodings and self-construals, cancer-relevant beliefs and expectancies and cancer-relevant self-regulatory competencies and skills. Specifically, patients with more negative appraisals in these domains were more likely to seek out online cancer information. Additionally, antecedent variables associated with the C-SHIP model had more frequent relationships with experiential information as compared to didactic information. This study supports the applicability of the model to discern why people afflicted with cancer may seek online information to cope with their disease. PMID:18569368

  4. The MADE reference information model for interoperable pervasive telemedicine systems

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Fung, L.S.N.; Jones, Valerie M.; Hermens, Hermanus J.

    2017-01-01

    Objectives: The main objective is to develop and validate a reference information model (RIM) to support semantic interoperability of pervasive telemedicine systems. The RIM is one component within a larger, computer-interpretable "MADE language" developed by the authors in the context of the

  5. Practical application of decision support metrics for power plant risk-informed asset management

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Liming, James K.; Johnson, David H.; Kee, Ernest J.; Sun, Alice Y.; Young, Garry G.

    2003-01-01

    The objective of this paper is to provide electric utilities with a concept for developing and applying effective decision support metrics via integrated risk-informed asset management (RIAM) programs for power stations and generating companies. RIAM is a process by which analysts review historical performance and develop predictive logic models and data analyses to predict critical decision support figures-of-merit (or metrics) for generating station managers and electric utility company executives. These metrics include, but are not limited to, the following; profitability, net benefit, benefit-to-cost ratio, projected return on investment, projected revenue, projected costs, asset value, safety (catastrophic facility damage frequency and consequences, etc.), power production availability (capacity factor, etc.), efficiency (heat rate), and others. RIAM applies probabilistic safety assessment (PSA) techniques and generates predictions probabilistically so that metrics information can be supplied to managers in terms of probability distributions as well as point estimates. This enables the managers to apply the concept of 'confidence levels' in their critical decision-making processes. (author)

  6. Creation of integrated information model of 'Ukryttya' object premises and industrial site conditions to support works

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Postil, S.D.; Ermolenko, A.I.; Ivanov, V.V.; Kotlyarov, V.T.

    2004-01-01

    Data integration is made using standard AutoCAD utility and special software developed in Visual Basic for Application language. Mutual transfer is realized between the applications prepared in Access and AutoCAD with displaying the submitted information. The work demonstrates a possibility to apply integrated information model for investigating radiation field's change and analysis regularities in premises and on industrial site area, development and visualization, with the use of computer animation means, of movement routes, displaying of emergency situations being forecast with the help of computer graphics means, integration of raster display of structures and vector computer model of objects

  7. Clinical, information and business process modeling to promote development of safe and flexible software.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liaw, Siaw-Teng; Deveny, Elizabeth; Morrison, Iain; Lewis, Bryn

    2006-09-01

    Using a factorial vignette survey and modeling methodology, we developed clinical and information models - incorporating evidence base, key concepts, relevant terms, decision-making and workflow needed to practice safely and effectively - to guide the development of an integrated rule-based knowledge module to support prescribing decisions in asthma. We identified workflows, decision-making factors, factor use, and clinician information requirements. The Unified Modeling Language (UML) and public domain software and knowledge engineering tools (e.g. Protégé) were used, with the Australian GP Data Model as the starting point for expressing information needs. A Web Services service-oriented architecture approach was adopted within which to express functional needs, and clinical processes and workflows were expressed in the Business Process Execution Language (BPEL). This formal analysis and modeling methodology to define and capture the process and logic of prescribing best practice in a reference implementation is fundamental to tackling deficiencies in prescribing decision support software.

  8. Designing an Information System for Decision Support Lending

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Adrian LUPASC

    2017-04-01

    Full Text Available The successful development of financial and banking activities requires a strong information support to ensure the competitive edge over the other competitors on the market. The exponential growth in the volume of lending financial operations made the use of modern information technology in banking has become fundamental to improving lending activity. Thus, the design and use of a computer system adapted to specific requirements of bank lending will provide opportunities to diversify and modernize the procedures for granting, repayment and credit guarantee to correlate products offer credit demands and customer needs. In this regard, the related objectives of this work are oriented to emphasize the positive impact of the adoption of modern information technologies in decision making in the banking field. The proposed objectives are justified by presenting solutions support system of credit decision which aims to automate ongoing operations specific to a banking allowing bank clerks to process a large number of loan applications in a time very short and to the right decisions and substantiated.

  9. Knowledge representation to support reasoning based on multiple models

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gillam, April; Seidel, Jorge P.; Parker, Alice C.

    1990-01-01

    Model Based Reasoning is a powerful tool used to design and analyze systems, which are often composed of numerous interactive, interrelated subsystems. Models of the subsystems are written independently and may be used together while they are still under development. Thus the models are not static. They evolve as information becomes obsolete, as improved artifact descriptions are developed, and as system capabilities change. Researchers are using three methods to support knowledge/data base growth, to track the model evolution, and to handle knowledge from diverse domains. First, the representation methodology is based on having pools, or types, of knowledge from which each model is constructed. In addition information is explicit. This includes the interactions between components, the description of the artifact structure, and the constraints and limitations of the models. The third principle we have followed is the separation of the data and knowledge from the inferencing and equation solving mechanisms. This methodology is used in two distinct knowledge-based systems: one for the design of space systems and another for the synthesis of VLSI circuits. It has facilitated the growth and evolution of our models, made accountability of results explicit, and provided credibility for the user community. These capabilities have been implemented and are being used in actual design projects.

  10. Informal and Formal Support Groups Retain Women and Minorities in Physics

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ong, Maria

    2005-10-01

    Ten U.S. minority female undergraduates who aspire to become physicists were followed over an 8-year period. Participant observation and in-depth interviews recorded the strategies they used to earn bachelor's degrees in physics or physics-related fields, and then go on to graduate school and/or careers in science. One significant strategy these women of color employed was participating in small subcommunities with other women or underrepresented ethnic minorities at the margins of their local physics community. The study found that informal peer groups offered safe spaces to counter negative experiences, to normalize their social realities, and to offer practical guidance for persevering in the field. Formal women- and minority-serving programs in physics provided foundations for community building, stronger curriculum and instruction, networking, and role models. The positive effects of informal and formal support groups on these students' experiences challenge a standard application of Pierre Bourdieu's framework of social and cultural capital. Women of color in the study initially lacked traditional capital of "acceptable" appearance, cultural background and habits, and networks that are more easily acquired by white males and are rewarded by the U.S. physics culture. However, instead of failing or leaving, as Bourdieu's theory would predict, the minority women persisted and achieved in science. The marginal communities contributed to their retention by offering safe spaces in which they could learn and share alternative ways of "accruing capital." Moreover, as these women made strides along their academic and career paths, they also engaged in social justice work in efforts to change the physics culture to be more welcoming of nontraditional members. The outcomes of the study offer empirical confirmation of the critical need for informal and institutionally supported women's and minorities' support groups to promote diversity in science.

  11. Why some governments are ‘less’ open: Sketching out Models of Information Management

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mary Francoli

    2011-12-01

    Full Text Available The purpose of this article is to consider why some national governments have been able to successfully take steps toward open government while others have not. In doing this it outlines two models of information management: a reactive model and a proactive model. Ultimately, it is found that governments following a reactive model, characterized by strong informational control and a lack of high-level political and bureaucratic support for open government, cannot fully or successfully realize open government.

  12. Real-time information support for managing plant emergency responses

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cain, D.G.; Lord, R.J.; Wilkinson, C.D.

    1983-01-01

    The Three Mile Island Unit 2 accident highlighted the need to develop a systematic approach to managing plant emergency responses, to identify a better decision-making process, and to implement real-time information support for decision-making. The overall process management function is described and general information requirements for management of plant emergencies are identified. Basic information systems are being incorporated and future extensions and problem areas are discussed. (U.K.)

  13. ANALYSIS OF INFORMATION SYSTEM IMPLEMENTATION IN BINUS UNIVERSITY USING DELONE AND MCLEAN INFORMATION SYSTEM SUCCESS MODEL AND COBIT FRAMEWORK

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Johan Muliadi Kerta

    2013-05-01

    Full Text Available The success of implementation of information system in an organization will supportthe organization in the process of achieving goals. Successful information system will support theorganization's day-to-day operations, so that problem can be resolved more quickly and easily. Theinformation system which has been developed and implemented is also necessary to measure thematurity level. Therefore, it can determine whether the implementation of information systemsmade in accordance with the goals of the organization. Measuring the success of informationsystems used the DeLone and McLean IS success model. To measure the maturity level ofinformation systems used COBIT (Control Objectives for Information and related Technologyframeworks that provides best practices for IT governance and control. The results of this analysiswill assist and support the IT team in order to develop and build information systems that better fitthe needs and goals of the organization.

  14. KNOWLEDGE IS REFERENCE FACILITIES OF SUPPORT OF PROCESSES OF INFORMATIVE ACCOMPANIMENT OF MEDICAL SERVICE OF POPULATION (first report

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    O. P. Mintser

    2012-11-01

    Full Text Available Described approaches, models and facilities of forming of the systems of knowledges, by the s purpose of support of grant informatively consultative services at medical practice of doctor. Ontological models, facilities of linguistic analysis and visualization of reflection of objects of medical industry, are determined.

  15. Hierarchical Spatial Concept Formation Based on Multimodal Information for Human Support Robots.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hagiwara, Yoshinobu; Inoue, Masakazu; Kobayashi, Hiroyoshi; Taniguchi, Tadahiro

    2018-01-01

    In this paper, we propose a hierarchical spatial concept formation method based on the Bayesian generative model with multimodal information e.g., vision, position and word information. Since humans have the ability to select an appropriate level of abstraction according to the situation and describe their position linguistically, e.g., "I am in my home" and "I am in front of the table," a hierarchical structure of spatial concepts is necessary in order for human support robots to communicate smoothly with users. The proposed method enables a robot to form hierarchical spatial concepts by categorizing multimodal information using hierarchical multimodal latent Dirichlet allocation (hMLDA). Object recognition results using convolutional neural network (CNN), hierarchical k-means clustering result of self-position estimated by Monte Carlo localization (MCL), and a set of location names are used, respectively, as features in vision, position, and word information. Experiments in forming hierarchical spatial concepts and evaluating how the proposed method can predict unobserved location names and position categories are performed using a robot in the real world. Results verify that, relative to comparable baseline methods, the proposed method enables a robot to predict location names and position categories closer to predictions made by humans. As an application example of the proposed method in a home environment, a demonstration in which a human support robot moves to an instructed place based on human speech instructions is achieved based on the formed hierarchical spatial concept.

  16. Hierarchical Spatial Concept Formation Based on Multimodal Information for Human Support Robots

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yoshinobu Hagiwara

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available In this paper, we propose a hierarchical spatial concept formation method based on the Bayesian generative model with multimodal information e.g., vision, position and word information. Since humans have the ability to select an appropriate level of abstraction according to the situation and describe their position linguistically, e.g., “I am in my home” and “I am in front of the table,” a hierarchical structure of spatial concepts is necessary in order for human support robots to communicate smoothly with users. The proposed method enables a robot to form hierarchical spatial concepts by categorizing multimodal information using hierarchical multimodal latent Dirichlet allocation (hMLDA. Object recognition results using convolutional neural network (CNN, hierarchical k-means clustering result of self-position estimated by Monte Carlo localization (MCL, and a set of location names are used, respectively, as features in vision, position, and word information. Experiments in forming hierarchical spatial concepts and evaluating how the proposed method can predict unobserved location names and position categories are performed using a robot in the real world. Results verify that, relative to comparable baseline methods, the proposed method enables a robot to predict location names and position categories closer to predictions made by humans. As an application example of the proposed method in a home environment, a demonstration in which a human support robot moves to an instructed place based on human speech instructions is achieved based on the formed hierarchical spatial concept.

  17. Modeling the Structure and Effectiveness of Intelligence Organizations: Dynamic Information Flow Simulation

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Behrman, Robert; Carley, Kathleen

    2003-01-01

    This paper describes the Dynamic Information Flow Simulation (DIFS), an abstract model for analyzing the structure and function of intelligence support organizations and the activities of entities within...

  18. NOAA Climate Information and Tools for Decision Support Services

    Science.gov (United States)

    Timofeyeva, M. M.; Higgins, W.; Strager, C.; Horsfall, F. M.

    2013-12-01

    NOAA is an active participant of the Global Framework for Climate Services (GFCS) contributing data, information, analytical capabilities, forecasts, and decision support services to the Climate Services Partnership (CSP). These contributions emerge from NOAA's own climate services, which have evolved to respond to the urgent and growing need for reliable, trusted, transparent, and timely climate information across all sectors of the U.S. economy. Climate services not only enhance development opportunities in many regions, but also reduce vulnerability to climate change around the world. The NOAA contribution lies within the NOAA Climate Goal mission, which is focusing its efforts on four key climate priority areas: water, extremes, coastal inundation, and marine ecosystems. In order to make progress in these areas, NOAA is exploiting its fundamental capabilities, including foundational research to advance understanding of the Earth system, observations to preserve and build the climate data record and monitor changes in climate conditions, climate models to predict and project future climate across space and time scales, and the development and delivery of decision support services focused on risk management. NOAA's National Weather Services (NWS) is moving toward provision of Decision Support Services (DSS) as a part of the Roadmap on the way to achieving a Weather Ready National (WRN) strategy. Both short-term and long-term weather, water, and climate information are critical for DSS and emergency services and have been integrated into NWS in the form of pilot projects run by National and Regional Operations Centers (NOC and ROCs respectively) as well as several local offices. Local offices with pilot projects have been focusing their efforts on provision of timely and actionable guidance for specific tasks such as DSS in support of Coastal Environments and Integrated Environmental Studies. Climate information in DSS extends the concept of climate services to

  19. Online information and support needs of women with advanced breast cancer: a qualitative analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kemp, Emma; Koczwara, Bogda; Butow, Phyllis; Turner, Jane; Girgis, Afaf; Schofield, Penelope; Hulbert-Williams, Nicholas; Levesque, Janelle; Spence, Danielle; Vatandoust, Sina; Kichenadasse, Ganessan; Roy, Amitesh; Sukumaran, Shawgi; Karapetis, Christos S; Richards, Caroline; Fitzgerald, Michael; Beatty, Lisa

    2018-04-24

    Women with advanced breast cancer (ABC) face significant adjustment challenges, yet few resources provide them with information and support, and attendance barriers can preclude access to face-to-face psychosocial support. This paper reports on two qualitative studies examining (i) whether information and support-seeking preferences of women with ABC could be addressed in an online intervention, and (ii) how an existing intervention for patients with early stage cancer could be adapted for women with ABC. Women with ABC participated in telephone interviews about their information and support-seeking preferences (N = 21) and evaluated an online intervention focused on early-stage cancer (N = 15). Interviews were transcribed and underwent thematic analysis using the framework method to identify salient themes. Participants most commonly sought medical, lifestyle-related, and practical information/support; however, when presented with an online intervention, participants most commonly gave positive feedback on content on coping with emotional distress. Difficulty finding information and barriers to using common sources of information/support including health professionals, family and friends, and peers were reported; however, some women also reported not wanting information or support. All participants evaluating the existing intervention gave positive feedback on various components, with results suggesting an online intervention could be an effective means of providing information/support to women with ABC, given improved specificity/relevance to ABC and increased tailoring to individual circumstances and preferences. Adaptation of an existing online intervention for early stage cancer appears to be a promising avenue to address the information and support needs of women with ABC.

  20. Persona Development and Educational Needs to Support Informal Caregivers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Al Awar, Zeina; Kuziemsky, Craig

    2017-01-01

    Informal caregivers are playing an increasing role in community based care delivery. Research is needed that looks at the educational needs of informal caregivers as a precursor to HIT design to support community care delivery. A challenge is informal caregivers have very diverse educational needs. Personas are an approach to describe user characteristics as part of systems design and this approach could be used to understand and categorize the various educational needs of informal caregivers. This paper addresses this research need and provides a method for persona development and the identification of educational needs for informal caregivers.

  1. Public support for selected e-cigarette regulations and associations with overall information exposure and contradictory information exposure about e-cigarettes: Findings from a national survey of U.S. adults.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tan, Andy S L; Lee, Chul-Joo; Bigman, Cabral A

    2015-12-01

    We assessed public support for six e-cigarette regulations and examined whether self-reported exposure to e-cigarette information and contradictory e-cigarette information were associated with support. We conducted an online survey among a nationally representative sample of 527 U.S. adults in July 2014. Weighted, fully adjusted multinomial logistic regression models predicted support for banning e-cigarettes in smoke-free areas, prohibiting e-cigarette sales to youth, requiring addiction warnings, banning flavors, requiring labeling nicotine and harmful ingredients, and banning youth-targeted marketing. Between 34% and 72% supported these six policies (disagreed 6-24%; no opinion 18-38%). We found higher support for policies to protect youth (prohibit sales to youth and youth-targeted marketing) and to require labeling e-cigarette constituents (nicotine and harmful ingredients). Banning the use of flavors in e-cigarettes was the least supported. Overall information exposure predicted lower relative risk of support for three policies (prohibit sales to youth, nicotine and harmful ingredient labeling, addiction warnings). In comparison, contradictory information exposure predicted lower relative risk of support for two policies (prohibit sales to youth, nicotine and harmful ingredient labeling). Exposure to overall and conflicting information about e-cigarettes in the public sphere is associated with reduced support for certain proposed e-cigarette policies. These findings are important for policymakers and tobacco control advocates involved in promulgation of e-cigarette policies. The results provide insights on which policies may meet some public resistance and therefore require efforts to first gain public support. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  2. Integration of Water Resource Models with Fayetteville Shale Decision Support and Information System

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Cothren, Jackson; Thoma, Greg; DiLuzio, Mauro; Limp, Fred

    2013-06-30

    ) methodology to assess the shifting and alteration of the flow regime within the river and streams of the study area. 2) Evaluate the effect of measurable land use changes related to gas development (well-pad placement, access road completion, etc.) on surface water flow in the region (Task/Section 3.7). Results showed that since the upsurge in shale-gas related activities in the Fayetteville Shale Play (between 2006 and 2010), shale-gas related infrastructure in the region have increase by 78%. This change in land-cover in comparison with other land-cover classes such as forest, urban, pasture, agricultural and water indicates the highest rate of change in any land-cover category for the study period. A Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) flow model of the Little Red River watershed simulated from 2000 to 2009 showed a 10% increase in storm water runoff. A forecast scenario based on the assumption that 2010 land-cover does not see any significant change over the forecast period (2010 to 2020) also showed a 10% increase in storm water runoff. Further analyses showed that this change in the stream-flow regime for the forecast period is attributable to the increase in land-cover as introduced by the shale-gas infrastructure. 3) Upgrade the Fayetteville Shale Information System to include information on watershed status. (Tasks/Sections 2.1 and 2.2). This development occurred early in the project period, and technological improvements in web-map API’s have made it possible to further improve the map. The current sites (http://lingo.cast.uark.edu) is available but is currently being upgraded to a more modern interface and robust mapping engine using funds outside this project. 4) Incorporate the methodologies developed in Tasks/Sections 3.5 and 3.7 into a Spatial Decision Support System for use by regulatory agencies and producers in the play. The resulting system is available at http://fayshale.cast.uark.edu and is under review the Arkansas Natural Resources Commission.

  3. Development of Information Display System for Operator Support in Severe Accident

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jeong, Kwang Il; Lee, Joon Ku

    2016-01-01

    When the severe accident occurs, the technical support center (TSC) performs the mitigation strategy with severe accident management guidelines (SAMG) and communicates with main control room (MCR) operators to obtain information of plant's status. In such circumstances, the importance of an information display for severe accident is increased. Therefore an information display system dedicated to severe accident conditions is required to secure the plant information, to provide the necessary information to MCR operators and TSC operators, and to support the decision using these information. We setup the design concept of severe accident information display system (SIDS) in the previous study and defined its requirements of function and performance. This paper describes the process, results of the identification of the severe accident information for MCR operator and the implementation of SIDS. Further implementation on post-accident monitoring function and data validation function for severe accidents will be accomplished in the future

  4. Observation on the uses of Mobile Phones to Support Informal Learning

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mohd Azlishah Othman

    2012-10-01

    Full Text Available This paper explores how a group of undergraduate students in one of the university in South of Malaysian use their mobile phones to perform informal learning activities related to the content of their courses outside the classroom. The paper also addresses the usefulness of informal learning activities to support students’ learning. The study adopts an exploratory case study design and uses two methods of data collection including questionnaires and interviews. Main findings suggest that students performed informal learning activities mostly from office, home, interacting mainly with classmates. It also shows that students were in control of their informal learning activities without tutor or SMEs’ input. However, it was found that students used only a limited number of applications but these were considered useful to their learning. The paper contributes to a discussion of the implications of training and instructional support to help students to take more advantage of mobile phone applications to support informal learning. The conclusion is discussed about the further research in this domain.

  5. Multidisciplinary Modelling of Symptoms and Signs with Archetypes and SNOMED-CT for Clinical Decision Support.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Marco-Ruiz, Luis; Maldonado, J Alberto; Karlsen, Randi; Bellika, Johan G

    2015-01-01

    Clinical Decision Support Systems (CDSS) help to improve health care and reduce costs. However, the lack of knowledge management and modelling hampers their maintenance and reuse. Current EHR standards and terminologies can allow the semantic representation of the data and knowledge of CDSS systems boosting their interoperability, reuse and maintenance. This paper presents the modelling process of respiratory conditions' symptoms and signs by a multidisciplinary team of clinicians and information architects with the help of openEHR, SNOMED and clinical information modelling tools for a CDSS. The information model of the CDSS was defined by means of an archetype and the knowledge model was implemented by means of an SNOMED-CT based ontology.

  6. An information offering system for operation support based on plant functional structure

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ohga, Yukiharu; Seki, Hiroshi

    1995-01-01

    A plant information offering system was proposed to support operators in their selection and confirmation of the required information for plant operation under transient conditions in nuclear power plants. The system features include an automatic selection method for information and a dialog input method. The former selects plant information in response to plant status changes and operators' demands. The selection is performed based on the knowledge and data as structured by the plant functional structure; i.e. a means-ends abstraction hierarchy model. In the latter, both speech and CRT touch inputs are transformed into words in Japanese to realize an arbitrary input mode combination. The words are analyzed as a sentence before transforming them into a demand for related programs. A prototype system was evaluated using a BWR simulator, assuming abnormal transients such as loss of feedwater. The contents of the offered information were checked based on emergency operation guidelines. It was confirmed that appropriate information items are automatically selected in real time. Answers are generated in reply to the operators' demands. They include information added to reflect the plant conditions. As for dialog, simple and quick input is realized by combining speech and CRT touch according to the operating situation. (author)

  7. An Exploratory Analysis of the Navy Personnel Support Delivery Model

    Science.gov (United States)

    2017-09-01

    and accurate information, and seamless customer relationship management (Department of the Navy, 2010). There will be field level support for when...of Management and Budget, Paperwork Reduction Project (0704-0188) Washington, DC 20503. 1. AGENCY USE ONLY (Leave blank) 2. REPORT DATE September...through the Pay and Personnel Management Department (PERS-2). The current pay and personnel service delivery model is manpower heavy and relies on

  8. Designing a Business Model for Environmental Monitoring Services Using Fast MCDS Innovation Support Tools

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tuomo Eskelinen

    2017-11-01

    Full Text Available The free availability of open data provides opportunities to start new businesses and gain business intelligence. However, although data is often used to support decisions and actions, the possibilities offered by modern sensor technologies with connections to cloud-based data collection services are not being effectively capitalized. Data collection systems are also not generally open source solutions, even though open and flexibly adjustable systems would broaden the opportunities for solutions and larger revenue streams. In this article, we used action research methods to discover new business opportunities in a semi-open information system that utilizes environmental monitoring data. We applied a four-stage innovation process for industry, which included context definition, idea generation, and selection, and produced multi-criteria decision support (MCDS data to help the design of business model. This was done to reveal business opportunities for an environmental monitoring service. Among these opportunities, one service-style business model canvas was identified as feasible and selected for further development. We identified items that are needed in the commercialization process of environmental monitoring services. Our process combines open environmental monitoring data, participative innovation process, and MCDS support, and it supports and accelerates a co-creative business model creation process that is cost-beneficial in terms of saving time. The results are applicable to the creation of an open data information system that supports data-driven innovation.

  9. Development of Information Display System for Operator Support in Severe Accident

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Jeong, Kwang Il; Lee, Joon Ku [KAERI, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

    2016-05-15

    When the severe accident occurs, the technical support center (TSC) performs the mitigation strategy with severe accident management guidelines (SAMG) and communicates with main control room (MCR) operators to obtain information of plant's status. In such circumstances, the importance of an information display for severe accident is increased. Therefore an information display system dedicated to severe accident conditions is required to secure the plant information, to provide the necessary information to MCR operators and TSC operators, and to support the decision using these information. We setup the design concept of severe accident information display system (SIDS) in the previous study and defined its requirements of function and performance. This paper describes the process, results of the identification of the severe accident information for MCR operator and the implementation of SIDS. Further implementation on post-accident monitoring function and data validation function for severe accidents will be accomplished in the future.

  10. Pattern-based Automatic Translation of Structured Power System Data to Functional Models for Decision Support Applications

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Heussen, Kai; Weckesser, Johannes Tilman Gabriel; Kullmann, Daniel

    2013-01-01

    Improved information and insight for decision support in operations and design are central promises of a smart grid. Well-structured information about the composition of power systems is increasingly becoming available in the domain, e.g. due to standard information models (e.g. CIM or IEC61850......) or otherwise structured databases. More measurements and data do not automatically improve decisions, but there is an opportunity to capitalize on this information for decision support. With suitable reasoning strategies data can be contextualized and decision-relevant events can be promoted and identified....... This paper presents an approach to link available structured power system data directly to a functional representation suitable for diagnostic reasoning. The translation method is applied to test cases also illustrating decision support....

  11. Protecting safeguards information / Division of technical support

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    2002-01-01

    This DVD contains two films representing the key aspects of the IAEA Department of Safeguards. 'Protecting Safeguards Information' is a narrative/fiction film which presents the Agency's information handling and protection measures. A security representative from a fictional nation receives a briefing on the procedures and methods used by the Department. These techniques will assure member states that the information they provide to the Agency is kept safe and confidential. 'Division of Technical Support' is a non-fiction documentary which presents a detailed look at the technical capabilities and management techniques used by the Agency in nuclear material accountancy. The film covers many aspects of safeguards equipment and techniques including: NDA and DA instruments, seals, surveillance, training, development and maintenance. Taken together, these films provide an introduction and overview to many important aspects of the IAEA Department of Safeguards. (IAEA)

  12. An information-motivation-behavioral skills model of adherence to antiretroviral therapy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fisher, Jeffrey D; Fisher, William A; Amico, K Rivet; Harman, Jennifer J

    2006-07-01

    HIV-positive persons who do not maintain consistently high levels of adherence to often complex and toxic highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) regimens may experience therapeutic failure and deterioration of health status and may develop multidrug-resistant HIV that can be transmitted to uninfected others. The current analysis conceptualizes social and psychological determinants of adherence to HAART among HIV-positive individuals. The authors propose an information-motivation-behavioral skills (IMB) model of HAART adherence that assumes that adherence-related information, motivation, and behavioral skills are fundamental determinants of adherence to HAART. According to the model, adherence-related information and motivation work through adherence-related behavioral skills to affect adherence to HAART. Empirical support for the IMB model of adherence is presented, and its application in adherence-promotion intervention efforts is discussed.

  13. Information support of monitoring of technical condition of buildings in construction risk area

    Science.gov (United States)

    Skachkova, M. E.; Lepihina, O. Y.; Ignatova, V. V.

    2018-05-01

    The paper presents the results of the research devoted to the development of a model of information support of monitoring buildings technical condition; these buildings are located in the construction risk area. As a result of the visual and instrumental survey, as well as the analysis of existing approaches and techniques, attributive and cartographic databases have been created. These databases allow monitoring defects and damages of buildings located in a 30-meter risk area from the object under construction. The classification of structures and defects of these buildings under survey is presented. The functional capabilities of the developed model and the field of it practical applications are determined.

  14. Emotional and informational support for families during their child's illness.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sarajärvi, A; Haapamäki, M L; Paavilainen, E

    2006-09-01

    To describe and compare the support provided by nursing staff to families during their child's illness from the viewpoint of families and nurses. A survey method was used. Data were collected by questionnaires planned for families and staff separately. The study population consisted of families who visited paediatric outpatient clinics, families with hospitalized children (n = 344) and the paediatric nursing staff (n = 60). Almost half of the families had received adequate emotional and informational support from the nursing staff for their physical and psychological reactions. One-fifth of the families reported that they had not been supported at all during the child's hospitalization. According to families and nurses, the support was provided in the forms of discussion, listening and giving time. Families' and nurses' suggestions for development of support were related to the time resources of the staff, to the flow of information, to more client-centred attitudes, to being appreciated and listened to and to home care guidance. However, the pervasiveness of this problem in the international literature suggests that deeper consideration of possible underlying reasons for this phenomenon is called for.

  15. Who Helps? Characteristics and Correlates of Informal Supporters to Adults with Disabilities

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sanderson, Kelli A.; Burke, Meghan M.; Urbano, Richard C.; Arnold, Catherine K.; Hodapp, Robert M.

    2017-01-01

    This study examined who provides informal (or unpaid) supports to people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). Participants included 657 adult siblings of people with disabilities who responded to a national survey about informal supports in the areas of recreation, employment, and housing. Results indicated that most people with…

  16. Information Support of Processes in Warehouse Logistics

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gordei Kirill

    2013-11-01

    Full Text Available In the conditions of globalization and the world economic communications, the role of information support of business processes increases in various branches and fields of activity. There is not an exception for the warehouse activity. Such information support is realized in warehouse logistic systems. In relation to territorial administratively education, the warehouse logistic system gets a format of difficult social and economic structure which controls the economic streams covering the intermediary, trade and transport organizations and the enterprises of other branches and spheres. Spatial movement of inventory items makes new demands to participants of merchandising. Warehousing (in the meaning – storage – is one of the operations entering into logistic activity, on the organization of a material stream, as a requirement. Therefore, warehousing as "management of spatial movement of stocks" – is justified. Warehousing, in such understanding, tries to get rid of the perception as to containing stocks – a business expensive. This aspiration finds reflection in the logistic systems working by the principle: "just in time", "economical production" and others. Therefore, the role of warehouses as places of storage is transformed to understanding of warehousing as an innovative logistic system.

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

    Science.gov (United States)

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

    2012-01-01

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

  18. MODELING INFORMATION SYSTEM AVAILABILITY BY USING BAYESIAN BELIEF NETWORK APPROACH

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Semir Ibrahimović

    2016-03-01

    Full Text Available Modern information systems are expected to be always-on by providing services to end-users, regardless of time and location. This is particularly important for organizations and industries where information systems support real-time operations and mission-critical applications that need to be available on 24  7  365 basis. Examples of such entities include process industries, telecommunications, healthcare, energy, banking, electronic commerce and a variety of cloud services. This article presents a modified Bayesian Belief Network model for predicting information system availability, introduced initially by Franke, U. and Johnson, P. (in article “Availability of enterprise IT systems – an expert based Bayesian model”. Software Quality Journal 20(2, 369-394, 2012 based on a thorough review of several dimensions of the information system availability, we proposed a modified set of determinants. The model is parameterized by using probability elicitation process with the participation of experts from the financial sector of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The model validation was performed using Monte Carlo simulation.

  19. Computational Methods for Physical Model Information Management: Opening the Aperture

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Moser, F.; Kirgoeze, R.; Gagne, D.; Calle, D.; Murray, J.; Crowley, J.

    2015-01-01

    The volume, velocity and diversity of data available to analysts are growing exponentially, increasing the demands on analysts to stay abreast of developments in their areas of investigation. In parallel to the growth in data, technologies have been developed to efficiently process, store, and effectively extract information suitable for the development of a knowledge base capable of supporting inferential (decision logic) reasoning over semantic spaces. These technologies and methodologies, in effect, allow for automated discovery and mapping of information to specific steps in the Physical Model (Safeguard's standard reference of the Nuclear Fuel Cycle). This paper will describe and demonstrate an integrated service under development at the IAEA that utilizes machine learning techniques, computational natural language models, Bayesian methods and semantic/ontological reasoning capabilities to process large volumes of (streaming) information and associate relevant, discovered information to the appropriate process step in the Physical Model. The paper will detail how this capability will consume open source and controlled information sources and be integrated with other capabilities within the analysis environment, and provide the basis for a semantic knowledge base suitable for hosting future mission focused applications. (author)

  20. Design and Implementation of Multi Agentbased Information Fusion System for Decision Making Support (A Case Study on Military Operation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Arwin Datunaya Wahyudi Sumari

    2013-09-01

    Full Text Available Quick, accurate, and complete information is highly required for supporting strategically impact decision making in a Military Operation (MO in order to reduce the decision cycle and to minimize the loss. For that purpose, we propose, design and implement a hierarchical Multi Agentbased Information Fusion System for Decision Making Support (MAIFSDMS. The information fusion is implemented by applying Maximum Score of the Total Sum of Joint Probabilities (MSJP fusion method and is done by a collection of Information Fusion Agents (IFA that forms a multiagent system. MAIFS uses a combination of generalization of Dasarathy and Joint Director’s Laboratory (JDL process models for information fusion mechanism. Information fusion products that are displayed in graphical forms provide comprehensive information regarding the MO’s area dynamics. By observing the graphics resulted from the information fusion, the commandant will have situational awareness and knowledge in order to make the most accurate strategic de cision as fast as possible.

  1. Supporting risk-informed decisions during business process execution

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Conforti, R.; Leoni, de M.; La Rosa, M.; Aalst, van der W.M.P.; Salinesi, C.; Norrie, M.C.; Pastor, O.

    2013-01-01

    This paper proposes a technique that supports process participants in making risk-informed decisions, with the aim to reduce the process risks. Risk reduction involves decreasing the likelihood and severity of a process fault from occurring. Given a process exposed to risks, e.g. a financial process

  2. Peer Review of Clinical Information Models: A Web 2.0 Crowdsourced Approach.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Leslie, Heather; Ljosland Bakke, Silje

    2017-01-01

    Over the past 8 years the openEHR Clinical Model program has been developing a Web 2.0 approach and tooling to support the development, review and governance of atomic clincial information models, known as archetypes. This paper describes the background and review process, and provides a practical example where cross standards organisation collaboration resulted in jointly agreed clinical content which was subsequently represented in different implementation formalisms that were effectively semantically aligned. The discussion and conclusions highlight some of the socio-technical benefits and challenges facing organisations who seek to govern automic clinical information models in a global and collaborative online community.

  3. Computer Support of Groups: Theory-Based Models for GDSS Research

    OpenAIRE

    V. Srinivasan Rao; Sirkka L. Jarvenpaa

    1991-01-01

    Empirical research in the area of computer support of groups is characterized by inconsistent results across studies. This paper attempts to reconcile the inconsistencies by linking the ad hoc reasoning in the studies to existing theories of communication, minority influence and human information processing. Contingency models are then presented based on the theories discussed. The paper concludes by discussing the linkages between the current work and other recently published integrations of...

  4. Public support for energy sources and related technologies: The impact of simple information provision

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hobman, Elizabeth V.; Ashworth, Peta

    2013-01-01

    Increasing public awareness and understanding of alternative energy sources and related technologies is an essential component of informed decision-making regarding new options of generating energy for a low carbon future. The current study examined the influence of psychological factors (i.e., pro-environmental beliefs, and subjective norms) and the provision of factual information on public support for a range of energy sources and related technologies. A representative sample of 1907 Australians completed an on-line survey that measured perceptions of a range of climate change and energy issues. Results showed that support for renewables is stronger than support for traditional fossil-fuel based energy sources (i.e., coal or gas) or nuclear energy. The provision of factual information about generation cost and emissions significantly changed support ratings, particularly when cost information was provided. Regression analyses revealed that pro-environmental beliefs were significantly related to support ratings for alternative energy sources. Subjective norms, however, were the strongest positive explanatory factor, suggesting that social mechanisms may be key drivers of support for new and emerging energy sources and related technologies. - Highlights: • We examine support for a wide range of energy sources and technologies. • Support changes when information on cost and emissions is provided. • Pro-environmental beliefs and social norms positively relate to support

  5. Extending the 4I Organizational Learning Model: Information Sources, Foraging Processes and Tools

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tracy A. Jenkin

    2013-08-01

    Full Text Available The continued importance of organizational learning has recently led to several calls for further developing the theory. This article addresses these calls by extending Crossan, Lane and White’s (1999 4I model to include a fifth process, information foraging, and a fourth level, the tool. The resulting 5I organizational learning model can be generalized to a number of learning contexts, especially those that involve understanding and making sense of data and information. Given the need for organizations to both innovate and increase productivity, and the volumes of data and information that are available to support both, the 5I model addresses an important organizational issue.

  6. An Integrated Information Retrieval Support System for Campus Network

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    2006-01-01

    This paper presents a new integrated information retrieval support system (IIRSS) which can help Web search engines retrieve cross-lingual information from heterogeneous resources stored in multi-databases in Intranet. The IIRSS, with a three-layer architecture, can cooperate with other application servers running in Intranet. By using intelligent agents to collect information and to create indexes on-the-fly, using an access control strategy to confine a user to browsing those accessible documents for him/her through a single portal, and using a new cross-lingual translation tool to help the search engine retrieve documents, the new system provides controllable information access with different authorizations, personalized services, and real-time information retrieval.

  7. The Application of Use Case Modeling in Designing Medical Imaging Information Systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Safdari, Reza; Farzi, Jebraeil; Ghazisaeidi, Marjan; Mirzaee, Mahboobeh; Goodini, Azadeh

    2013-01-01

    Introduction. The essay at hand is aimed at examining the application of use case modeling in analyzing and designing information systems to support Medical Imaging services. Methods. The application of use case modeling in analyzing and designing health information systems was examined using electronic databases (Pubmed, Google scholar) resources and the characteristics of the modeling system and its effect on the development and design of the health information systems were analyzed. Results. Analyzing the subject indicated that Provident modeling of health information systems should provide for quick access to many health data resources in a way that patients' data can be used in order to expand distant services and comprehensive Medical Imaging advices. Also these experiences show that progress in the infrastructure development stages through gradual and repeated evolution process of user requirements is stronger and this can lead to a decline in the cycle of requirements engineering process in the design of Medical Imaging information systems. Conclusion. Use case modeling approach can be effective in directing the problems of health and Medical Imaging information systems towards understanding, focusing on the start and analysis, better planning, repetition, and control

  8. Evaluation of clinical information modeling tools.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moreno-Conde, Alberto; Austin, Tony; Moreno-Conde, Jesús; Parra-Calderón, Carlos L; Kalra, Dipak

    2016-11-01

    Clinical information models are formal specifications for representing the structure and semantics of the clinical content within electronic health record systems. This research aims to define, test, and validate evaluation metrics for software tools designed to support the processes associated with the definition, management, and implementation of these models. The proposed framework builds on previous research that focused on obtaining agreement on the essential requirements in this area. A set of 50 conformance criteria were defined based on the 20 functional requirements agreed by that consensus and applied to evaluate the currently available tools. Of the 11 initiative developing tools for clinical information modeling identified, 9 were evaluated according to their performance on the evaluation metrics. Results show that functionalities related to management of data types, specifications, metadata, and terminology or ontology bindings have a good level of adoption. Improvements can be made in other areas focused on information modeling and associated processes. Other criteria related to displaying semantic relationships between concepts and communication with terminology servers had low levels of adoption. The proposed evaluation metrics were successfully tested and validated against a representative sample of existing tools. The results identify the need to improve tool support for information modeling and software development processes, especially in those areas related to governance, clinician involvement, and optimizing the technical validation of testing processes. This research confirmed the potential of these evaluation metrics to support decision makers in identifying the most appropriate tool for their organization. Los Modelos de Información Clínica son especificaciones para representar la estructura y características semánticas del contenido clínico en los sistemas de Historia Clínica Electrónica. Esta investigación define, prueba y valida

  9. Evaluation of a pilot 'peer support' training programme for volunteers in a hospital-based cancer information and support centre.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kinnane, Nicole Anne; Waters, Trish; Aranda, Sanchia

    2011-01-01

    Volunteers from Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre (Peter Mac) Patient Information and Support Centre (PISC) assist the Cancer Support Nurse by helping patients and families/carers find information and provide face-to-face peer support. Benefits of shared personal experiences between volunteer and patient are clearly different from professional support. Volunteers require specific skill sets and detailed preparation for this role. Volunteers completed a 3-day training programme adapted from the Cancer Council Victoria's 'Cancer Connect Telephone Peer Support Volunteer' training programme. The focus was role expectations and boundaries for peer support volunteers, debriefing, communication skills training, support services, complementary and alternative therapies and internet information. Assessment included a quiz and observation for a range of competencies. Role-play with simulated patients developed appropriate support skills. Eight volunteers participated. Pre-training questionnaires revealed all volunteers highly self-rated existing skills supporting people affected by cancer. During training, volunteers recognised these skills were inadequate. All agreed that role-play using an actor as a 'simulated patient' helped develop communication skills; however, the experience proved challenging. Post-training all reported increased knowledge of role definition and boundaries, supportive communication skills, supports available for patients and families/carers and importance of self-care. Facilitators recommended seven of the eight participants be accredited PISC Peer Support Volunteers. One volunteer was assessed unsuitable for consistently overstepping the boundaries of the peer support role and withdrew from training. Success of the programme resulted in a trained 'face-to-face peer support volunteer' group better equipped for their role. Sixteen months following training, all who completed the programme remain active volunteers in the PISC. Planned educational updates

  10. How do top managers support strategic information system projects and why do they sometimes withhold this support?

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Boonstra, A.

    Top management support is an important determinant of information system project success. This is especially the case in complex and large-scale IS projects. Surprisingly, however, there is only limited reliable knowledge about the types of behavior that underlie top management support. Further,

  11. The PDS4 Information Model and its Role in Agile Science Data Curation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hughes, J. S.; Crichton, D.

    2017-12-01

    PDS4 is an information model-driven service architecture supporting the capture, management, distribution and integration of massive planetary science data captured in distributed data archives world-wide. The PDS4 Information Model (IM), the core element of the architecture, was developed using lessons learned from 20 years of archiving Planetary Science Data and best practices for information model development. The foundational principles were adopted from the Open Archival Information System (OAIS) Reference Model (ISO 14721), the Metadata Registry Specification (ISO/IEC 11179), and W3C XML (Extensible Markup Language) specifications. These provided respectively an object oriented model for archive information systems, a comprehensive schema for data dictionaries and hierarchical governance, and rules for rules for encoding documents electronically. The PDS4 Information model is unique in that it drives the PDS4 infrastructure by providing the representation of concepts and their relationships, constraints, rules, and operations; a sharable, stable, and organized set of information requirements; and machine parsable definitions that are suitable for configuring and generating code. This presentation will provide an over of the PDS4 Information Model and how it is being leveraged to develop and evolve the PDS4 infrastructure and enable agile curation of over 30 years of science data collected by the international Planetary Science community.

  12. Weather Information Services supporting Civilian UAS Operations, Phase I

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Aeronautics and Space Administration — We build a system that supports the weather information needs of Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) planning to fly in the National Airspace System (NAS). This weather...

  13. Multidimensional Models of Information Need

    OpenAIRE

    Yun-jie (Calvin) Xu; Kai Huang (Joseph) Tan

    2009-01-01

    User studies in information science have recognised relevance as a multidimensional construct. An implication of multidimensional relevance is that a user's information need should be modeled by multiple data structures to represent different relevance dimensions. While the extant literature has attempted to model multiple dimensions of a user's information need, the fundamental assumption that a multidimensional model is better than a uni-dimensional model has not been addressed. This study ...

  14. Kickstarting Creativity: Supporting the Productive Faces of Uncertainty in Information Practice

    Science.gov (United States)

    Anderson, Theresa Dirndorfer

    2010-01-01

    Introduction: Examines implications of research suggesting fast access to information may reduce the time needed for creative thinking and reflection. To support human thought through information provision, more opportunities to experience and work with imperfect information and to engage with ambiguities are needed. Method: Four linked arguments…

  15. Conceptual models of information processing

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stewart, L. J.

    1983-01-01

    The conceptual information processing issues are examined. Human information processing is defined as an active cognitive process that is analogous to a system. It is the flow and transformation of information within a human. The human is viewed as an active information seeker who is constantly receiving, processing, and acting upon the surrounding environmental stimuli. Human information processing models are conceptual representations of cognitive behaviors. Models of information processing are useful in representing the different theoretical positions and in attempting to define the limits and capabilities of human memory. It is concluded that an understanding of conceptual human information processing models and their applications to systems design leads to a better human factors approach.

  16. Entropic information of dynamical AdS/QCD holographic models

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bernardini, Alex E., E-mail: alexeb@ufscar.br [Departamento de Física, Universidade Federal de São Carlos, PO Box 676, 13565-905, São Carlos, SP (Brazil); Rocha, Roldão da, E-mail: roldao.rocha@ufabc.edu.br [Centro de Matemática, Computação e Cognição, Universidade Federal do ABC, UFABC, 09210-580, Santo André (Brazil)

    2016-11-10

    The Shannon based conditional entropy that underlies five-dimensional Einstein–Hilbert gravity coupled to a dilaton field is investigated in the context of dynamical holographic AdS/QCD models. Considering the UV and IR dominance limits of such AdS/QCD models, the conditional entropy is shown to shed some light onto the meson classification schemes, which corroborate with the existence of light-flavor mesons of lower spins in Nature. Our analysis is supported by a correspondence between statistical mechanics and information entropy which establishes the physical grounds to the Shannon information entropy, also in the context of statistical mechanics, and provides some specificities for accurately extending the entropic discussion to continuous modes of physical systems. From entropic informational grounds, the conditional entropy allows one to identify the lower experimental/phenomenological occurrence of higher spin mesons in Nature. Moreover, it introduces a quantitative theoretical apparatus for studying the instability of high spin light-flavor mesons.

  17. Dynamic information processing states revealed through neurocognitive models of object semantics

    Science.gov (United States)

    Clarke, Alex

    2015-01-01

    Recognising objects relies on highly dynamic, interactive brain networks to process multiple aspects of object information. To fully understand how different forms of information about objects are represented and processed in the brain requires a neurocognitive account of visual object recognition that combines a detailed cognitive model of semantic knowledge with a neurobiological model of visual object processing. Here we ask how specific cognitive factors are instantiated in our mental processes and how they dynamically evolve over time. We suggest that coarse semantic information, based on generic shared semantic knowledge, is rapidly extracted from visual inputs and is sufficient to drive rapid category decisions. Subsequent recurrent neural activity between the anterior temporal lobe and posterior fusiform supports the formation of object-specific semantic representations – a conjunctive process primarily driven by the perirhinal cortex. These object-specific representations require the integration of shared and distinguishing object properties and support the unique recognition of objects. We conclude that a valuable way of understanding the cognitive activity of the brain is though testing the relationship between specific cognitive measures and dynamic neural activity. This kind of approach allows us to move towards uncovering the information processing states of the brain and how they evolve over time. PMID:25745632

  18. Strengthening Health Information Systems to Support Post-Disaster ...

    International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

    Strengthening Health Information Systems to Support Post-Disaster Healthcare in Haiti. The occurrence of a natural disaster may seem to carry repercussions that are indiscriminate in nature; however, it is the vulnerable populations that suffer most during such events, and in the days, months and years that follow. In Haiti ...

  19. Informal and Formal Supports for Former Child Soldiers in Northern Uganda

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sofie Vindevogel

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available This study aimed to evaluate the potential contribution of informal community initiatives and formal interventions in support of former child soldiers' resilience in the wake of armed conflict. Using a cross-sectional survey design, a stratified random sample of 330 formerly recruited and 677 nonrecruited young people was consulted about their perspective on desirable support for former child soldiers provided by close support figures, communities, humanitarian organizations, and governments. Data analysis occurred by conducting qualitative thematic analysis and statistical chi-square analysis to explore clusters, similarities, and variations in reported support across the different “agents,” hereby comparing the perspectives of formerly recruited and non-recruited participants. The results indicated that formerly recruited and non-recruited participants had comparable perspectives that call for the contribution of various informal and formal support systems to former child soldiers' human capacities and the communal sociocultural fabric of war-affected societies. This highlights the importance of community-based, collective, and comprehensive support of formerly recruited young people and their surroundings in the aftermath of armed conflict.

  20. Informal and Formal Supports for Former Child Soldiers in Northern Uganda

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vindevogel, Sofie; Wessells, Michael; De Schryver, Maarten; Broekaert, Eric; Derluyn, Ilse

    2012-01-01

    This study aimed to evaluate the potential contribution of informal community initiatives and formal interventions in support of former child soldiers' resilience in the wake of armed conflict. Using a cross-sectional survey design, a stratified random sample of 330 formerly recruited and 677 nonrecruited young people was consulted about their perspective on desirable support for former child soldiers provided by close support figures, communities, humanitarian organizations, and governments. Data analysis occurred by conducting qualitative thematic analysis and statistical chi-square analysis to explore clusters, similarities, and variations in reported support across the different “agents,” hereby comparing the perspectives of formerly recruited and non-recruited participants. The results indicated that formerly recruited and non-recruited participants had comparable perspectives that call for the contribution of various informal and formal support systems to former child soldiers' human capacities and the communal sociocultural fabric of war-affected societies. This highlights the importance of community-based, collective, and comprehensive support of formerly recruited young people and their surroundings in the aftermath of armed conflict. PMID:23346023

  1. Knowledge-Based Information Management in Decision Support for Ecosystem Management

    Science.gov (United States)

    Keith Reynolds; Micahel Saunders; Richard Olson; Daniel Schmoldt; Michael Foster; Donald Latham; Bruce Miller; John Steffenson; Lawrence Bednar; Patrick Cunningham

    1995-01-01

    The Pacific Northwest Research Station (USDA Forest Service) is developing a knowledge-based information management system to provide decision support for watershed analysis in the Pacific Northwest region of the U.S. The decision support system includes: (1) a GIS interface that allows users to graphically navigate to specific provinces and watersheds and display a...

  2. Use of professional and informal support by African Americans and Caribbean blacks with mental disorders.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Woodward, Amanda Toler; Taylor, Robert Joseph; Bullard, Kai McKeever; Neighbors, Harold W; Chatters, Linda M; Jackson, James S

    2008-11-01

    This study investigated the use of professional services and informal support among African Americans and Caribbean blacks with a lifetime mood, anxiety, or substance use disorder. Data were from the National Survey of American Life. Multinomial logistic regression was used to test the utilization of professional services only, informal support only, both, or neither. Analyses controlled for sociodemographic characteristics, disorder-related variables, and family network variables. The analytic sample included 1,096 African Americans and 372 Caribbean blacks. Forty-one percent used both professional services and informal support, 14% relied on professional services only, 23% used informal support only, and 22% did not seek help. There were no significant differences in help seeking between African Americans and Caribbean blacks. Having co-occurring mental and substance use disorders, having a severe disorder in the past 12 months, having more people in the informal helper network, and being female increased the likelihood of using professional services and informal supports. When men sought help, they were more likely to rely on informal helpers. Marital status, age, and socioeconomic status were also significantly related to help seeking. The significant proportion of black Americans with a mental disorder who relied on informal support alone, professional services alone, or no help at all suggests potential unmet need in this group. However, the reliance on informal support also may be evidence of a strong protective role that informal networks play in the lives of African Americans and Caribbean blacks.

  3. CALS and the Product State Model - Methodology and Supporting Schools and Paradigms

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Larsen, Michael Holm

    1998-01-01

    incorporates relevant information about each stage of the production process.The paper will describe the research object, the model object and discuss a part of the methodology in developing a Product State Model. The project is primarily technological, however, organisational and human aspects......This paper address the preliminary considerations in a research project, initiated February 1997, regarding Continuous Acquisition and Life-cycle Support (CALS) which is a part of the activities in CALS Center Denmark. The CALS concept is presented focusing on the Product State Model (PSM). The PSM...... will be developed upon, will be discussed. Also, the parameters for evaluating the PSM will be considered. In establishing the theoretical body of knowledge with respect to CALS, an identification of schools and paradigms within the research area of applying information technology in a manufacturing environment...

  4. Single-process versus multiple-strategy models of decision making: evidence from an information intrusion paradigm.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Söllner, Anke; Bröder, Arndt; Glöckner, Andreas; Betsch, Tilmann

    2014-02-01

    When decision makers are confronted with different problems and situations, do they use a uniform mechanism as assumed by single-process models (SPMs) or do they choose adaptively from a set of available decision strategies as multiple-strategy models (MSMs) imply? Both frameworks of decision making have gathered a lot of support, but only rarely have they been contrasted with each other. Employing an information intrusion paradigm for multi-attribute decisions from givens, SPM and MSM predictions on information search, decision outcomes, attention, and confidence judgments were derived and tested against each other in two experiments. The results consistently support the SPM view: Participants seemingly using a "take-the-best" (TTB) strategy do not ignore TTB-irrelevant information as MSMs would predict, but adapt the amount of information searched, choose alternative choice options, and show varying confidence judgments contingent on the quality of the "irrelevant" information. The uniformity of these findings underlines the adequacy of the novel information intrusion paradigm and comprehensively promotes the notion of a uniform decision making mechanism as assumed by single-process models. Copyright © 2013 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  5. A proposed clinical decision support architecture capable of supporting whole genome sequence information.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Welch, Brandon M; Loya, Salvador Rodriguez; Eilbeck, Karen; Kawamoto, Kensaku

    2014-04-04

    Whole genome sequence (WGS) information may soon be widely available to help clinicians personalize the care and treatment of patients. However, considerable barriers exist, which may hinder the effective utilization of WGS information in a routine clinical care setting. Clinical decision support (CDS) offers a potential solution to overcome such barriers and to facilitate the effective use of WGS information in the clinic. However, genomic information is complex and will require significant considerations when developing CDS capabilities. As such, this manuscript lays out a conceptual framework for a CDS architecture designed to deliver WGS-guided CDS within the clinical workflow. To handle the complexity and breadth of WGS information, the proposed CDS framework leverages service-oriented capabilities and orchestrates the interaction of several independently-managed components. These independently-managed components include the genome variant knowledge base, the genome database, the CDS knowledge base, a CDS controller and the electronic health record (EHR). A key design feature is that genome data can be stored separately from the EHR. This paper describes in detail: (1) each component of the architecture; (2) the interaction of the components; and (3) how the architecture attempts to overcome the challenges associated with WGS information. We believe that service-oriented CDS capabilities will be essential to using WGS information for personalized medicine.

  6. The Information Warfare Life Cycle Model

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Brett van Niekerk

    2011-11-01

    Full Text Available Information warfare (IW is a dynamic and developing concept, which constitutes a number of disciplines. This paper aims to develop a life cycle model for information warfare that is applicable to all of the constituent disciplines. The model aims to be scalable and applicable to civilian and military incidents where information warfare tactics are employed. Existing information warfare models are discussed, and a new model is developed from the common aspects of these existing models. The proposed model is then applied to a variety of incidents to test its applicability and scalability. The proposed model is shown to be applicable to multiple disciplines of information warfare and is scalable, thus meeting the objectives of the model.

  7. The Information Warfare Life Cycle Model

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Brett van Niekerk

    2011-03-01

    Full Text Available Information warfare (IW is a dynamic and developing concept, which constitutes a number of disciplines. This paper aims to develop a life cycle model for information warfare that is applicable to all of the constituent disciplines. The model aims to be scalable and applicable to civilian and military incidents where information warfare tactics are employed. Existing information warfare models are discussed, and a new model is developed from the common aspects of these existing models. The proposed model is then applied to a variety of incidents to test its applicability and scalability. The proposed model is shown to be applicable to multiple disciplines of information warfare and is scalable, thus meeting the objectives of the model.

  8. Towards Measures to Establish the Relevance of Climate Model Output for Decision Support

    Science.gov (United States)

    Clarke, L.; Smith, L. A.

    2007-12-01

    How exactly can decision-support and policy making benefit from the use of multiple climate model experiments in terms of coping with the uncertainties on climate change projections? Climate modelling faces challenges beyond those of weather forecasting or even seasonal forecasting, as with climate we are now (and will probably always be) required to extrapolate to regimes in which we have no relevant forecast-verification archive. This suggests a very different approach from traditional methods of mixing models and skill based weighting to gain profitable probabilistic information when a large forecast-verification archive is in hand. In the case of climate, it may prove more rational to search for agreement between our models (in distribution), the aim being to determine the space and timescales on which, given our current understanding, the details of the simulation models are unimportant. This suggestion and others from Smith (2002, Proc. National Acad. Sci. USA 4 (99): 2487-2492) are interpreted in the light of recent advances. Climate models are large nonlinear dynamical systems which insightfully but imperfectly reflect the evolving weather patterns of the Earth. Their use in policy making and decision support assumes both that they contain sufficient information regarding reality to inform the decision, and that this information can be effectively communicated to the decision makers. There is nothing unique about climate modeling and these constraints, they apply in all cases where scientific modeling is applied to real-word actions (other than, perhaps, the action of improving our models). Starting with the issue of communication, figures from the 2007 IPCC Summary for Policy Makers will be constructively criticized from the perspective of decision makers, specifically those of the energy sector and the insurance/reinsurance sector. More information on basic questions of reliability and robustness would be of significant value when determining how heavily

  9. THE INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY AS A SUPPORT FOR STRATEGIC INFORMATION MANAGEMENT IN SMALL COMPANIES

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Giseli Diniz de Almeida Moraes

    2006-11-01

    Full Text Available The present article aims to discuss the contribution of information technology (IT as a support to the strategic management of information in small businesses. This is a relevant subject to this sector, in which the information on the subjects is scarce and there is little knowledge of its relevance in the strategic process. Thus, most entrepreneurs do not visualize the information technology as a tool capable of aiding in the decision and strategic process, using it, many times, just in administrative and operational tasks. Another reason that contributes to a minor dissemination of the information technology in the small businesses segment is its lack of adaptation to the environment, where it is implemented without considering the principal management specificities of the small enterprises. The literature about the use of information technology in the strategic process of small organizations shows a series of obstacles to be overcome, such as: implementing financially accessible technologies, involving the entrepreneur in the implementation process and supplying adapted training to employees and entrepreneurs. Therefore, for small businesses it is relevant to develop researches that allow the adaptation of information technology to its needs to improve the strategic management.

  10. Supporting parents following childhood traumatic brain injury: a qualitative study to examine information and emotional support needs across key care transitions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kirk, S; Fallon, D; Fraser, C; Robinson, G; Vassallo, G

    2015-03-01

    Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is the leading cause of death and acquired disability in childhood. Research has demonstrated that TBI can lead to long-term physical, cognitive, emotional and behavioural difficulties for children and parental stress. Less is known about how parents experience a childhood brain injury and their information and support needs. This study aimed to examine parents' experiences and support needs following a childhood TBI from the time of the accident to their child's discharge home. Qualitative semi-structured interviews were conducted with 29 parents/carers of children who had experienced a severe TBI. Participants were recruited from one children's tertiary centre in the UK. Data were analysed using the Framework approach. Parents had unmet information and emotional support needs across the care trajectory from the time of the accident to their child's return home. Information needs related to the impact of the TBI on their child; current and future treatment/rehabilitation plans; helping their child and managing their behaviour; accessing services/support. They lacked information and support for care transitions. In different settings parents faced particular barriers to having their information needs met. Parents' felt they needed emotional support in coming to terms with witnessing the accident and the loss of their former child. Lack of community support related not only to service availability but to a general lack of understanding of the impact of TBI on children, particularly when this was invisible. Overall parents felt unsupported in coping with children's behavioural and psychological difficulties. Taking a holistic approach to examining parents' experiences and support needs has enabled their changing needs to be highlighted across key care transitions within hospital and community settings and the service implications identified. Improvements in care co-ordination across care transitions are needed to ensure continuity of care

  11. Design and Implementation of Multi Agent-based Information Fusion System for Supporting Decision Making (A Case Study on Military Operation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Arwin Datumaya Wahyudi Sumari

    2008-05-01

    Full Text Available Quick, accurate, and complete information is highly required for supporting strategically impact decision making in a Military Operation (MO in order to reduce the decision cycle and to minimize the loss. For that purpose, we propose, design and implement a hierarchical Multi Agent-based Information Fusion System for Decision Making Support (MAIFS-DMS. The information fusion is implemented by applying Maximum Score of the Total Sum of Joint Probabilities (MSJP fusion method and is done by a collection of Information Fusion Agents (IFA that forms a multiagent system. MAIFS uses a combination of generalization of Dasarathy and Joint Director’s Laboratory (JDL process models for information fusion mechanism. Information fusion products that are displayed in graphical forms provide comprehensive information regarding the MO area dynamics. By observing the graphics resulted from the information fusion, the commandant will have situational awareness and knowledge in order to make the most accurate strategic decision as fast as possible

  12. Information and support from dietary consultation for mothers of children with food allergies.

    Science.gov (United States)

    MacKenzie, Heather; Grundy, Jane; Glasbey, Gillian; Dean, Taraneh; Venter, Carina

    2015-01-01

    Professional dietetic input is essential to ensure that children with diagnosed food allergies have an individualized avoidance plan and nutritionally adequate diet. However, it is not clear what dietary information and support parents require. To explore what information and support parents of children with food allergies require from a dietary consultation. Focus groups were conducted with 17 mothers who attend an allergy center for dietary advice for their food allergic child. A number of issues around food allergy dietary advice needs were explored and analyzed using thematic analysis. Six themes were identified. The mothers described how they sought to protect their child from harm, to maintain normality for their child, and to promote child independence. They described needing to become an expert in their child's food allergy and fight their corner when needed. The dietitian supported their needs by ensuring their child's diet was safe and nutritionally adequate and giving information and support to help them provide a normal life for their child. Dietitians also taught mothers about food allergy and provided advocacy and emotional support. Mothers of children with food allergies want to understand how to provide a nutritionally adequate, allergen-safe diet while maintaining a normal life. Hence, mothers value a range of support from dietitians, including monitoring their child's health and providing information, practical advice and support, and emotional support. Copyright © 2015 American College of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  13. Data organisation & description - presentation. RDM Support basic training course for information specialists session 4

    OpenAIRE

    Selm, Mariette van

    2015-01-01

    Presentation for session 4 of RDM Support. RDM Support is a basic training course in research data management (support) for information specialists. The training course was developed by Mariëtte van Selm for the information specialists of the Library of the University of Amsterdam (UvA), within the framework of the RDM Support project (2013-2015). The training course was held from January to April 2014.

  14. The SEA-change Model in Information Literacy: Assessing Information Literacy Development with Reflective Writing

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Barbara Anne Sen

    2014-07-01

    Full Text Available Reflective writing is a key professional skill, and the University of Sheffield Information School seeks to develop this skill in our students through the use of reflective assessments. Reflection has been used as a means of supporting Information Literacy development in the Higher Education context and recent pedagogical IL frameworks highlight the important role of reflection. This paper presents an analysis of Undergraduate students’ reflective writing on one module. The writing is mapped against two models of reflection to understand the nature and depth of the students’ reflection and through this understand their Information literacy development, with the overall aim of improving the teaching and learning experience for the future. Key findings are that students did reflect deeply and identified a number of ways in which they felt their IL had developed (e.g. developing a knowledge of specialist sources, ways they could have improved their information literacy practices (e.g. through storing information in a more organised fashion, and ways that we could improve our teaching (e.g. by providing appropriate scaffolding for the activities.

  15. Support Vector Machines: Relevance Feedback and Information Retrieval.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Drucker, Harris; Shahrary, Behzad; Gibbon, David C.

    2002-01-01

    Compares support vector machines (SVMs) to Rocchio, Ide regular and Ide dec-hi algorithms in information retrieval (IR) of text documents using relevancy feedback. If the preliminary search is so poor that one has to search through many documents to find at least one relevant document, then SVM is preferred. Includes nine tables. (Contains 24…

  16. A study on the information-motivation-behavioural skills model among Chinese adults with peritoneal dialysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chang, Tian-Ying; Zhang, Yi-Lin; Shan, Yan; Liu, Sai-Sai; Song, Xiao-Yue; Li, Zheng-Yan; Du, Li-Ping; Li, Yan-Yan; Gao, Douqing

    2018-05-01

    To examine whether the information-motivation-behavioural skills model could predict self-care behaviour among Chinese peritoneal dialysis patients. Peritoneal dialysis is a treatment performed by patients or their caregivers in their own home. It is important to implement theory-based projects to increase the self-care of patients with peritoneal dialysis. The information-motivation-behavioural model has been verified in diverse populations as a comprehensive, effective model to guide the design, implementation and evaluation of self-care programmes. A cross-sectional, observational study. A total of 201 adults with peritoneal dialysis were recruited at a 3A grade hospital in China. Participant data were collected on demographics, self-care information (knowledge), social support (social motivation), self-care attitude (personal motivation), self-efficacy (behaviour skills) and self-care behaviour. We also collected data on whether the recruited patients had peritoneal dialysis-associated peritonitis from electronic medical records. Measured variable path analysis was performed using mplus 7.4 to identify the information-motivation-behavioural model. Self-efficacy, information and social motivation predict peritoneal dialysis self-care behaviour directly. Information and personal support affect self-care behaviour through self-efficacy, whereas peritoneal dialysis self-care behaviour has a direct effect on the prevention of peritoneal dialysis-associated peritonitis. The information-motivation-behavioural model is an appropriate and applicable model to explain and predict the self-care behaviour of Chinese peritoneal dialysis patients. Poor self-care behaviour among peritoneal dialysis patients results in peritoneal dialysis-associated peritonitis. The findings suggest that self-care education programmes for peritoneal dialysis patients should include strategies based on the information-motivation-behavioural model to enhance knowledge, motivation and behaviour

  17. Intelligence system for reactor operator informational support

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Prangishvili, I.V.; Pashchenko, F.F.; Saprykin, E.M.

    1989-01-01

    Problems related to creation and introduction at NPP of highly efficient and reliable systems for monitoring and control of working processes and intelligence-endowed systems of operator informational support (ISOIS) are considered. The main units included in ISOIS are considered. The main units included in ISOIS are described. The unit of current state monitoring provides information for the operator, which is necessary under concrete conditions for the process monitoring and control, so as to avoid emergencies and affers a program of actions in a dialogue mode for the operator. The identification unit is designed for the obtaining of assessed values of process parameters (neutron fields, temperatures, pressures) and basic equipment (reactivity coefficients, fuel rod weights, time of delay). The prediction unit evaluates the behaviour of process parameters and process state in various situations. 9 refs

  18. Research and design of the structure of information support of road transport

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    V. G. Kozlov

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available The main issue is to study the interaction between the system of road transport and security of its information systems. The mechanism of this interaction is studied only on the basis of studies of the learning process. These two interacting systems through training react to each other. Due to the strong correlation between these two systems offer the development of the basics of management information support to carry out complex, without violating the integrity of the systems. As the methods of research used methods of system analysis and probability theory. The criteria for the study of the interaction of systems: full-scale technological and economic indicators. By the technological parameters include: completeness of use of the system (load, and performance of information security; to full-scale - the cost of labor, energy, materials; to the economic - the cost, payback, profit, profit. The stages of the development of the structure of information support: the definition of objectives; study of the problems and the choice of solution to the problem; agreed solutions (thematic plan; approval of decisions; Management and Implementation; verification of the effectiveness of decisions. Established shortcomings in the existing system of information support of decentralization processes interrelated technical planning; territorial, institutional and administrative divisions of organizations taking interdependent solutions; the lack of control most of the organizations operating information support for road transport; incomplete information of the absolute majority of publishing houses in the needs of motorists; duplication of the work of many publishers. There are two mechanisms of control information management system. Control enhances performance management system, improves the output characteristics of the system.

  19. Information Architecture for Quality Management Support in Hospitals.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rocha, Álvaro; Freixo, Jorge

    2015-10-01

    Quality Management occupies a strategic role in organizations, and the adoption of computer tools within an aligned information architecture facilitates the challenge of making more with less, promoting the development of a competitive edge and sustainability. A formal Information Architecture (IA) lends organizations an enhanced knowledge but, above all, favours management. This simplifies the reinvention of processes, the reformulation of procedures, bridging and the cooperation amongst the multiple actors of an organization. In the present investigation work we planned the IA for the Quality Management System (QMS) of a Hospital, which allowed us to develop and implement the QUALITUS (QUALITUS, name of the computer application developed to support Quality Management in a Hospital Unit) computer application. This solution translated itself in significant gains for the Hospital Unit under study, accelerating the quality management process and reducing the tasks, the number of documents, the information to be filled in and information errors, amongst others.

  20. A Proposed Clinical Decision Support Architecture Capable of Supporting Whole Genome Sequence Information

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Brandon M. Welch

    2014-04-01

    Full Text Available Whole genome sequence (WGS information may soon be widely available to help clinicians personalize the care and treatment of patients. However, considerable barriers exist, which may hinder the effective utilization of WGS information in a routine clinical care setting. Clinical decision support (CDS offers a potential solution to overcome such barriers and to facilitate the effective use of WGS information in the clinic. However, genomic information is complex and will require significant considerations when developing CDS capabilities. As such, this manuscript lays out a conceptual framework for a CDS architecture designed to deliver WGS-guided CDS within the clinical workflow. To handle the complexity and breadth of WGS information, the proposed CDS framework leverages service-oriented capabilities and orchestrates the interaction of several independently-managed components. These independently-managed components include the genome variant knowledge base, the genome database, the CDS knowledge base, a CDS controller and the electronic health record (EHR. A key design feature is that genome data can be stored separately from the EHR. This paper describes in detail: (1 each component of the architecture; (2 the interaction of the components; and (3 how the architecture attempts to overcome the challenges associated with WGS information. We believe that service-oriented CDS capabilities will be essential to using WGS information for personalized medicine.

  1. Assessing the Added Value of information systems supporting facilities management business processes

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Ebbesen, Poul; Jensen, Per Anker

    2017-01-01

    Purpose: To present a method for assessing the added value of Information Systems (IS), which are implemented to support the business processes in Facilities Management (FM). Theory: The method is based on a supply chain management model of FM, general value dimensions such as efficiency...... illustrates that implementing IS includes both organisational and technological changes and demonstrates that the proposed assessment method is applicable to practice. Originality/value: This is the first paper using a supply chain management model of FM, general value dimensions, VAM and Functional...... and effectiveness and the concepts of Value Adding Management (VAM) and Functional Affordances of IS. Design/methodology/approach: From case studies of IS implementation processes in FM in different countries, a general picture of the expressed added value of IS in FM was established. Based on this insight a method...

  2. Model architecture of intelligent data mining oriented urban transportation information

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yang, Bogang; Tao, Yingchun; Sui, Jianbo; Zhang, Feizhou

    2007-06-01

    Aiming at solving practical problems in urban traffic, the paper presents model architecture of intelligent data mining from hierarchical view. With artificial intelligent technologies used in the framework, the intelligent data mining technology improves, which is more suitable for the change of real-time road condition. It also provides efficient technology support for the urban transport information distribution, transmission and display.

  3. Computing with Words in Decision support Systems: An overview on Models and Applications

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Luis Martinez

    2010-10-01

    Full Text Available Decision making is inherent to mankind, as human beings daily face situations in which they should choose among different alternatives by means of reasoning and mental processes. Many of these decision problems are under uncertain environments with vague and imprecise information. This type of information is usually modelled by linguistic information because of the common use of language by the experts involved in the given decision situations, originating linguistic decision making. The use of linguistic information in decision making demands processes of Computing with Words to solve the related decision problems. Different methodologies and approaches have been proposed to accomplish such processes in an accurate and interpretable way. The good performance of linguistic computing dealing with uncertainty has caused a spread use of it in different types of decision based applications. This paper overviews the more significant and extended linguistic computing models due to its key role in linguistic decision making and a wide range of the most recent applications of linguistic decision support models.

  4. Coupling sensing to crop models for closed-loop plant production in advanced life support systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cavazzoni, James; Ling, Peter P.

    1999-01-01

    We present a conceptual framework for coupling sensing to crop models for closed-loop analysis of plant production for NASA's program in advanced life support. Crop status may be monitored through non-destructive observations, while models may be independently applied to crop production planning and decision support. To achieve coupling, environmental variables and observations are linked to mode inputs and outputs, and monitoring results compared with model predictions of plant growth and development. The information thus provided may be useful in diagnosing problems with the plant growth system, or as a feedback to the model for evaluation of plant scheduling and potential yield. In this paper, we demonstrate this coupling using machine vision sensing of canopy height and top projected canopy area, and the CROPGRO crop growth model. Model simulations and scenarios are used for illustration. We also compare model predictions of the machine vision variables with data from soybean experiments conducted at New Jersey Agriculture Experiment Station Horticulture Greenhouse Facility, Rutgers University. Model simulations produce reasonable agreement with the available data, supporting our illustration.

  5. Validation of an Information-Motivation-Behavioral Skills model of diabetes self-care (IMB-DSC).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Osborn, Chandra Y; Egede, Leonard E

    2010-04-01

    Comprehensive behavior change frameworks are needed to provide guidance for the design, implementation, and evaluation of diabetes self-care programs in diverse populations. We applied the Information-Motivation-Behavioral Skills (IMB) model, a well-validated, comprehensive health behavior change framework, to diabetes self-care. Patients with diabetes were recruited from an outpatient clinic. Information gathered pertained to demographics, diabetes knowledge (information); diabetes fatalism (personal motivation); social support (social motivation); and diabetes self-care (behavior). Hemoglobin A1C values were extracted from the patient medical record. Structural equation models tested the IMB framework. More diabetes knowledge (r=0.22 pbehavior; and through behavior, were related to glycemic control (r=-0.20, pmotivation (less fatalistic attitudes), and social motivation (more social support) was associated with behavior; and behavior was the sole predictor of glycemic control. The IMB model is an appropriate, comprehensive health behavior change framework for diabetes self-care. The findings indicate that in addition to knowledge, diabetes education programs should target personal and social motivation to effect behavior change. 2009 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  6. Projecting social support needs of informal caregivers in Malaysia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Abu Bakar, Siti Hajar; Weatherley, Richard; Omar, Noralina; Abdullah, Fatimah; Mohamad Aun, Nur Saadah

    2014-03-01

    This article presents the findings of a self-report study of the consequences of being an informal caregiver in Malaysia. The aim of this exploratory study was to examine Malaysian efforts in assisting informal caregivers, based on an analysis of the issues and concerns raised by the caregivers themselves. Data were obtained from a cross-sectional survey of informal caregivers in 2009. This sample comprised parents, spouses and/or adult siblings, and adult children, caring for their children, spouses or siblings and parents who were chronically ill and/or had a disability. Of 300 prospective participants, only 175 could be located (58%), but all those contacted agreed to participate. Respondents were randomly selected and interviewed using a structured questionnaire to identify the emotional, financial, social and physical issues consequent upon being a caregiver. Most respondents reported that their care-giving responsibilities had impacted their emotional, financial, social and/or physical well-being. Inadequate and/or uncertain income was by far the greatest concern followed in descending order by social, physical and emotional consequences. The one-way analysis of variance showed significant differences among the three categories of caregivers with respect to physical and emotional consequences. The findings show that care-giving has detrimental effects on the lives of informal caregivers, and that they are in significant need of social support to help them deal with care-giving tasks and responsibilities. Based on the findings, an integrated social support programme is proposed, tailored to the needs of informal caregivers. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  7. An Information Model for Product Development : A Case Study at PHILIPS Shavers

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Jauregui Becker, Juan Manuel; Wits, Wessel Willems

    2013-01-01

    This paper presents an investigation into the development of an information model to support the Product Development Process (PDP) of shaving devices at PHILIPS. Firstly, challenges of the PDP were identified by carrying out interviews with several systems engineers and product architects. It was

  8. Attachment-based family therapy for depressed and suicidal adolescents: theory, clinical model and empirical support.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ewing, E Stephanie Krauthamer; Diamond, Guy; Levy, Suzanne

    2015-01-01

    Attachment-Based Family Therapy (ABFT) is a manualized family-based intervention designed for working with depressed adolescents, including those at risk for suicide, and their families. It is an empirically informed and supported treatment. ABFT has its theoretical underpinnings in attachment theory and clinical roots in structural family therapy and emotion focused therapies. ABFT relies on a transactional model that aims to transform the quality of adolescent-parent attachment, as a means of providing the adolescent with a more secure relationship that can support them during challenging times generally, and the crises related to suicidal thinking and behavior, specifically. This article reviews: (1) the theoretical foundations of ABFT (attachment theory, models of emotional development); (2) the ABFT clinical model, including training and supervision factors; and (3) empirical support.

  9. IHY Modeling Support at the Community Coordinated Modeling Center

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chulaki, A.; Hesse, Michael; Kuznetsova, Masha; MacNeice, P.; Rastaetter, L.

    2005-01-01

    The Community Coordinated Modeling Center (CCMC) is a US inter-agency activity aiming at research in support of the generation of advanced space weather models. As one of its main functions, the CCMC provides to researchers the use of space science models, even if they are not model owners themselves. In particular, the CCMC provides to the research community the execution of "runs-onrequest" for specific events of interest to space science researchers. Through this activity and the concurrent development of advanced visualization tools, CCMC provides, to the general science community, unprecedented access to a large number of state-of-the-art research models. CCMC houses models that cover the entire domain from the Sun to the Earth. In this presentation, we will provide an overview of CCMC modeling services that are available to support activities during the International Heliospheric Year. In order to tailor CCMC activities to IHY needs, we will also invite community input into our IHY planning activities.

  10. Item Information in the Rasch Model

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Engelen, Ron J.H.; van der Linden, Willem J.; Oosterloo, Sebe J.

    1988-01-01

    Fisher's information measure for the item difficulty parameter in the Rasch model and its marginal and conditional formulations are investigated. It is shown that expected item information in the unconditional model equals information in the marginal model, provided the assumption of sampling

  11. Information modelling and knowledge bases XXV

    CERN Document Server

    Tokuda, T; Jaakkola, H; Yoshida, N

    2014-01-01

    Because of our ever increasing use of and reliance on technology and information systems, information modelling and knowledge bases continue to be important topics in those academic communities concerned with data handling and computer science. As the information itself becomes more complex, so do the levels of abstraction and the databases themselves. This book is part of the series Information Modelling and Knowledge Bases, which concentrates on a variety of themes in the important domains of conceptual modeling, design and specification of information systems, multimedia information modelin

  12. An Integrative Behavioral Model of Information Security Policy Compliance

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sang Hoon Kim

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available The authors found the behavioral factors that influence the organization members’ compliance with the information security policy in organizations on the basis of neutralization theory, Theory of planned behavior, and protection motivation theory. Depending on the theory of planned behavior, members’ attitudes towards compliance, as well as normative belief and self-efficacy, were believed to determine the intention to comply with the information security policy. Neutralization theory, a prominent theory in criminology, could be expected to provide the explanation for information system security policy violations. Based on the protection motivation theory, it was inferred that the expected efficacy could have an impact on intentions of compliance. By the above logical reasoning, the integrative behavioral model and eight hypotheses could be derived. Data were collected by conducting a survey; 194 out of 207 questionnaires were available. The test of the causal model was conducted by PLS. The reliability, validity, and model fit were found to be statistically significant. The results of the hypotheses tests showed that seven of the eight hypotheses were acceptable. The theoretical implications of this study are as follows: (1 the study is expected to play a role of the baseline for future research about organization members’ compliance with the information security policy, (2 the study attempted an interdisciplinary approach by combining psychology and information system security research, and (3 the study suggested concrete operational definitions of influencing factors for information security policy compliance through a comprehensive theoretical review. Also, the study has some practical implications. First, it can provide the guideline to support the successful execution of the strategic establishment for the implement of information system security policies in organizations. Second, it proves that the need of education and training

  13. An integrative behavioral model of information security policy compliance.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kim, Sang Hoon; Yang, Kyung Hoon; Park, Sunyoung

    2014-01-01

    The authors found the behavioral factors that influence the organization members' compliance with the information security policy in organizations on the basis of neutralization theory, Theory of planned behavior, and protection motivation theory. Depending on the theory of planned behavior, members' attitudes towards compliance, as well as normative belief and self-efficacy, were believed to determine the intention to comply with the information security policy. Neutralization theory, a prominent theory in criminology, could be expected to provide the explanation for information system security policy violations. Based on the protection motivation theory, it was inferred that the expected efficacy could have an impact on intentions of compliance. By the above logical reasoning, the integrative behavioral model and eight hypotheses could be derived. Data were collected by conducting a survey; 194 out of 207 questionnaires were available. The test of the causal model was conducted by PLS. The reliability, validity, and model fit were found to be statistically significant. The results of the hypotheses tests showed that seven of the eight hypotheses were acceptable. The theoretical implications of this study are as follows: (1) the study is expected to play a role of the baseline for future research about organization members' compliance with the information security policy, (2) the study attempted an interdisciplinary approach by combining psychology and information system security research, and (3) the study suggested concrete operational definitions of influencing factors for information security policy compliance through a comprehensive theoretical review. Also, the study has some practical implications. First, it can provide the guideline to support the successful execution of the strategic establishment for the implement of information system security policies in organizations. Second, it proves that the need of education and training programs suppressing

  14. Caring for the person with cancer: Information and support needs and the role of technology.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Heynsbergh, Natalie; Botti, Mari; Heckel, Leila; Livingston, Patricia M

    2018-06-01

    Informal carers experience a variety of information and support needs when providing care to someone with cancer. It is unclear when carers seek information and what resources they access to support themselves throughout the cancer trajectory. A sample of 45 carers and 15 oncology nurses were recruited to participate in either focus groups or phone interviews. Carers in the study were more likely to be women (60%), caring for a spouse or partner (64.4%), living with the patient (86.7%), and hold a university degree (46.7%). The majority of oncology nurses were females (66.6%). Findings showed that carers had limited access to adequate information as needs arose. Supports used to address information needs included information booklets, the Internet, and communication with healthcare professionals or with other carers. Barriers in communication between nurses and carers impacted on the adequacy of information received. Participants reported that technology, such as smartphone applications, might be appropriate for improving information and support needs. Caring for someone with cancer is multifaceted. Carers need access to timely information to help them effectively manage patients' needs. Future studies should assess the role of contemporary approaches, such as digital technology, as a solution to the delivery of information and support for carers of people with cancer. © 2018 The Authors. Psycho-Oncology Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  15. Models to support students’ understanding of measuring area of circles

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rejeki, S.; Putri, R. I. I.

    2018-01-01

    Many studies showed that enormous students got confused about the concepts of measuring area of circles. The main reason is because mathematics classroom practices emphasized on memorizing formulas rather than understanding concepts. Therefore, in this study, a set of learning activities were designed as an innovation in learning area measurement of circles. The activities involved two models namely grid paper and reshaping which are respectively as a means and a strategy to support students’ learning of area measurement of circles. Design research was used as the research approach to achieve the aim. Thirty-eight of 8th graders in Indonesia were involved in this study. In this study, together with the contextual problems, the grid paper and reshaping sectors, which used as the models in this learning, helped the students to gradually develop their understanding of the area measurement of circles. The grid papers plays important role in comparing and estimating areas. Whereas, the reshaping sectors might support students’ understanding of the circumference and the area measurement of circles. Those two models could be the tool for promoting the informal theory of area measurement. Besides, the whole activities gave important role on distinguishing the area and perimeter of circles.

  16. Database system selection for marketing strategies support in information systems

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    František Dařena

    2007-01-01

    Full Text Available In today’s dynamically changing environment marketing has a significant role. Creating successful marketing strategies requires large amount of high quality information of various kinds and data types. A powerful database management system is a necessary condition for marketing strategies creation support. The paper briefly describes the field of marketing strategies and specifies the features that should be provided by database systems in connection with these strategies support. Major commercial (Oracle, DB2, MS SQL, Sybase and open-source (PostgreSQL, MySQL, Firebird databases are than examined from the point of view of accordance with these characteristics and their comparison in made. The results are useful for making the decision before acquisition of a database system during information system’s hardware architecture specification.

  17. Indicators to support the dynamic evaluation of air quality models

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thunis, P.; Clappier, A.

    2014-12-01

    Air quality models are useful tools for the assessment and forecast of pollutant concentrations in the atmosphere. Most of the evaluation process relies on the “operational phase” or in other words the comparison of model results with available measurements which provides insight on the model capability to reproduce measured concentrations for a given application. But one of the key advantages of air quality models lies in their ability to assess the impact of precursor emission reductions on air quality levels. Models are then used in a dynamic mode (i.e. response to a change in a given model input data) for which evaluation of the model performances becomes a challenge. The objective of this work is to propose common indicators and diagrams to facilitate the understanding of model responses to emission changes when models are to be used for policy support. These indicators are shown to be useful to retrieve information on the magnitude of the locally produced impacts of emission reductions on concentrations with respect to the “external to the domain” contribution but also to identify, distinguish and quantify impacts arising from different factors (different precursors). In addition information about the robustness of the model results is provided. As such these indicators might reveal useful as first screening methodology to identify the feasibility of a given action as well as to prioritize the factors on which to act for an increased efficiency. Finally all indicators are made dimensionless to facilitate the comparison of results obtained with different models, different resolutions, or on different geographical areas.

  18. COMPLEMENTARITY OF HISTORIC BUILDING INFORMATION MODELLING AND GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEMS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    X. Yang

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available In this paper, we discuss the potential of integrating both semantically rich models from Building Information Modelling (BIM and Geographical Information Systems (GIS to build the detailed 3D historic model. BIM contributes to the creation of a digital representation having all physical and functional building characteristics in several dimensions, as e.g. XYZ (3D, time and non-architectural information that are necessary for construction and management of buildings. GIS has potential in handling and managing spatial data especially exploring spatial relationships and is widely used in urban modelling. However, when considering heritage modelling, the specificity of irregular historical components makes it problematic to create the enriched model according to its complex architectural elements obtained from point clouds. Therefore, some open issues limiting the historic building 3D modelling will be discussed in this paper: how to deal with the complex elements composing historic buildings in BIM and GIS environment, how to build the enriched historic model, and why to construct different levels of details? By solving these problems, conceptualization, documentation and analysis of enriched Historic Building Information Modelling are developed and compared to traditional 3D models aimed primarily for visualization.

  19. [Development of a medical equipment support information system based on PDF portable document].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cheng, Jiangbo; Wang, Weidong

    2010-07-01

    According to the organizational structure and management system of the hospital medical engineering support, integrate medical engineering support workflow to ensure the medical engineering data effectively, accurately and comprehensively collected and kept in electronic archives. Analyse workflow of the medical, equipment support work and record all work processes by the portable electronic document. Using XML middleware technology and SQL Server database, complete process management, data calculation, submission, storage and other functions. The practical application shows that the medical equipment support information system optimizes the existing work process, standardized and digital, automatic and efficient orderly and controllable. The medical equipment support information system based on portable electronic document can effectively optimize and improve hospital medical engineering support work, improve performance, reduce costs, and provide full and accurate digital data

  20. Effective Team Support: From Task and Cognitive Modeling to Software Agents for Time-Critical Complex Work Environments

    Science.gov (United States)

    Remington, Roger W. (Technical Monitor); John, Bonnie E.; Sycara, Katia

    2005-01-01

    The purpose of this research contract was to perform multidisciplinary research between CMU psychologists, computer scientists and NASA researchers to design a next generation collaborative system to support a team of human experts and intelligent agents. To achieve robust performance enhancement of such a system, we had proposed to perform task and cognitive modeling to thoroughly understand the impact technology makes on the organization and on key individual personnel. Guided by cognitively-inspired requirements, we would then develop software agents that support the human team in decision making, information filtering, information distribution and integration to enhance team situational awareness. During the period covered by this final report, we made substantial progress in completing a system for empirical data collection, cognitive modeling, and the building of software agents to support a team's tasks, and in running experiments for the collection of baseline data.

  1. Life-cycle support for staff assignment rules in process-aware information systems

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Rinderle-Ma, S.; Aalst, van der W.M.P.

    2007-01-01

    Process mining has been proposed as a tool for analyzing business processes based on events logs. Today, most information systems are logging events in some log and thus provide detailed information about the processes they are supporting. This information can be used for two forms of process

  2. Supportive Accountability: A model for providing human support for internet and ehealth interventions

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Mohr, D.C.; Cuijpers, P.; Lehman, K.A.

    2011-01-01

    The effectiveness of and adherence to eHealth interventions is enhanced by human support. However, human support has largely not been manualized and has usually not been guided by clear models. The objective of this paper is to develop a clear theoretical model, based on relevant empirical

  3. The Role of Informal Support Networks in Teaching the Nature of Science

    Science.gov (United States)

    Herman, Benjamin C.; Olson, Joanne K.; Clough, Michael P.

    2017-06-01

    This study reports the participation of 13 secondary science teachers in informal support networks and how that participation was associated with their nature of science (NOS) teaching practices 2 to 5 years after having graduated from the same science teacher education program. The nine teachers who participated in informal support networks taught the NOS at high/medium levels, while the four non-participating teachers taught the NOS at low levels. The nine high/medium NOS implementation teachers credited the informal support networks for maintaining/heightening their sense of responsibility for teaching NOS and for helping them navigate institutional constraints that impede effective NOS instruction. Several high/medium NOS instruction implementers initially struggled to autonomously frame and resolve the complexities experienced in schools and thus drew from the support networks to engage in more sophisticated forms of teacher decision-making. In contrast, the NOS pedagogical decisions of the four teachers not participating in support networks were governed primarily by the expectations and constraints experienced in their schools. Implications of this study include the need for reconsidering the structure of teacher mentorship programs to ensure they do not promote archaic science teaching practices that are at odds with reform efforts in science education.

  4. The Online Parent Information and Support project, meeting parents' information and support needs for home-based management of childhood chronic kidney disease: research protocol.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Swallow, Veronica; Knafl, Kathleen; Sanatacroce, Sheila; Hall, Andrew; Smith, Trish; Campbell, Malcolm; Webb, Nicholas J A

    2012-09-01

    This article is a report of a protocol for studying the development and evaluation of an online parent information and support package for home-based care of children with chronic kidney disease stages 3-5. The study is funded by a National Institute of Health Research, Research for Patient Benefit Grant awarded (December 2010). Approval to undetake the study was obtained from the Department of Health National Research Ethics Service (June 2011). Children with chronic kidney disease require skilled, home-based care by parents, supported by professionals. Parents have identified a need for continuously available online resources to supplement professional support, and structured resources tailored to parents' needs are highlighted by policy makers as key to optimizing care; yet, online resource provision is patchy with little evidence base. Using mixed methods, we will (i) conduct parent/child/young person/professional/patient and parent volunteer focus groups to explore views on existing resources, (ii) collaboratively define gaps in provision, identify desirable components, develop/test resources and conduct a feasibility randomized controlled trial, and (iii) of usual professional support versus usual support supplemented by the package. Eighty parents of children with chronic kidney disease will be randomized. Primary outcomes will assess parents' self-efficacy and views of resources, using standardized measures at entry and 24 weeks, and semi-structured interviews at 24 weeks. We will finalize trial components for a later definitive trial. By working collaboratively, we will derive a detailed insight into parents' information and support needs and experiences of using the package, and should see improved parental self-efficacy. © 2012 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

  5. EIIS: An Educational Information Intelligent Search Engine Supported by Semantic Services

    Science.gov (United States)

    Huang, Chang-Qin; Duan, Ru-Lin; Tang, Yong; Zhu, Zhi-Ting; Yan, Yong-Jian; Guo, Yu-Qing

    2011-01-01

    The semantic web brings a new opportunity for efficient information organization and search. To meet the special requirements of the educational field, this paper proposes an intelligent search engine enabled by educational semantic support service, where three kinds of searches are integrated into Educational Information Intelligent Search (EIIS)…

  6. INFORMATION MODEL OF SOCIAL TRANSFORMATIONS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Мария Васильевна Комова

    2013-09-01

    Full Text Available The social transformation is considered as a process of qualitative changes of the society, creating a new level of organization in all areas of life, in different social formations, societies of different types of development. The purpose of the study is to create a universal model for studying social transformations based on their understanding as the consequence of the information exchange processes in the society. After defining the conceptual model of the study, the author uses the following methods: the descriptive method, analysis, synthesis, comparison.Information, objectively existing in all elements and systems of the material world, is an integral attribute of the society transformation as well. The information model of social transformations is based on the definition of the society transformation as the change in the information that functions in the society’s information space. The study of social transformations is the study of information flows circulating in the society and being characterized by different spatial, temporal, and structural states. Social transformations are a highly integrated system of social processes and phenomena, the nature, course and consequences of which are affected by the factors representing the whole complex of material objects. The integrated information model of social transformations foresees the interaction of the following components: social memory, information space, and the social ideal. To determine the dynamics and intensity of social transformations the author uses the notions of "information threshold of social transformations" and "information pressure".Thus, the universal nature of information leads to considering social transformations as a system of information exchange processes. Social transformations can be extended to any episteme actualized by social needs. The establishment of an information threshold allows to simulate the course of social development, to predict the

  7. The 3LGM2-tool to support information management in health care / Der 3LGM2-Baukasten zur Unterstützung des Informationsmanagements im Gesundheitswesen

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Winter, Alfred

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available Hospital information systems (HIS as well as transinstitutional health information systems (tHIS are constructed like a (complex of building(s out of different and probably heterogeneous bricks and components. Like an architect the information manager needs a description or model for the information system’s architecture respectively the enterprise architecture. 3LGM2 as a meta model has been designed to describe information systems (IS by concepts on three layers. The meta model has been supplemented by the 3LGM2 tool. It enables information managers to graphically design even complex IS and provides means for analyzing information system’s quality and thus supports strategic, tactical and operational information management.

  8. Hydraulic modeling support for conflict analysis: The Manayunk canal revisited

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chadderton, R.A.; Traver, R.G.; Rao, J.N.

    1992-01-01

    This paper presents a study which used a standard, hydraulic computer model to generate detailed design information to support conflict analysis of a water resource use issue. As an extension of previous studies, the conflict analysis in this case included several scenarios for stability analysis - all of which reached the conclusion that compromising, shared access to the water resources available would result in the most benefits to society. This expected equilibrium outcome was found to maximize benefit-cost estimates. 17 refs., 1 fig., 2 tabs

  9. Information-Theoretic Perspectives on Geophysical Models

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nearing, Grey

    2016-04-01

    To test any hypothesis about any dynamic system, it is necessary to build a model that places that hypothesis into the context of everything else that we know about the system: initial and boundary conditions and interactions between various governing processes (Hempel and Oppenheim, 1948, Cartwright, 1983). No hypothesis can be tested in isolation, and no hypothesis can be tested without a model (for a geoscience-related discussion see Clark et al., 2011). Science is (currently) fundamentally reductionist in the sense that we seek some small set of governing principles that can explain all phenomena in the universe, and such laws are ontological in the sense that they describe the object under investigation (Davies, 1990 gives several competing perspectives on this claim). However, since we cannot build perfect models of complex systems, any model that does not also contain an epistemological component (i.e., a statement, like a probability distribution, that refers directly to the quality of of the information from the model) is falsified immediately (in the sense of Popper, 2002) given only a small number of observations. Models necessarily contain both ontological and epistemological components, and what this means is that the purpose of any robust scientific method is to measure the amount and quality of information provided by models. I believe that any viable philosophy of science must be reducible to this statement. The first step toward a unified theory of scientific models (and therefore a complete philosophy of science) is a quantitative language that applies to both ontological and epistemological questions. Information theory is one such language: Cox' (1946) theorem (see Van Horn, 2003) tells us that probability theory is the (only) calculus that is consistent with Classical Logic (Jaynes, 2003; chapter 1), and information theory is simply the integration of convex transforms of probability ratios (integration reduces density functions to scalar

  10. Visual Information and Support Surface for Postural Control in Visual Search Task.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Huang, Chia-Chun; Yang, Chih-Mei

    2016-10-01

    When standing on a reduced support surface, people increase their reliance on visual information to control posture. This assertion was tested in the current study. The effects of imposed motion and support surface on postural control during visual search were investigated. Twelve participants (aged 21 ± 1.8 years; six men and six women) stood on a reduced support surface (45% base of support). In a room that moved back and forth along the anteroposterior axis, participants performed visual search for a given letter in an article. Postural sway variability and head-room coupling were measured. The results of head-room coupling, but not postural sway, supported the assertion that people increase reliance on visual information when standing on a reduced support surface. Whether standing on a whole or reduced surface, people stabilized their posture to perform the visual search tasks. Compared to a fixed target, searching on a hand-held target showed greater head-room coupling when standing on a reduced surface. © The Author(s) 2016.

  11. How information systems should support the information needs of general dentists in clinical settings: suggestions from a qualitative study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Wali Teena

    2010-02-01

    for better visual representation and patient-specific evidence-based information are mostly unmet. While patient records and support staff remain the most used information sources, electronic sources other than electronic dental records (EDR are rarely utilized during patient visits. For future development of dental information or clinical decision-support systems, developers should consider integrating high-quality, up-to-date clinical evidence into comprehensive and easily accessible EDRs as well as supporting dentists' resource use patterns as identified in the study.

  12. Examining the Support Peer Supporters Provide Using Structural Equation Modeling: Nondirective and Directive Support in Diabetes Management.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kowitt, Sarah D; Ayala, Guadalupe X; Cherrington, Andrea L; Horton, Lucy A; Safford, Monika M; Soto, Sandra; Tang, Tricia S; Fisher, Edwin B

    2017-12-01

    Little research has examined the characteristics of peer support. Pertinent to such examination may be characteristics such as the distinction between nondirective support (accepting recipients' feelings and cooperative with their plans) and directive (prescribing "correct" choices and feelings). In a peer support program for individuals with diabetes, this study examined (a) whether the distinction between nondirective and directive support was reflected in participants' ratings of support provided by peer supporters and (b) how nondirective and directive support were related to depressive symptoms, diabetes distress, and Hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c). Three hundred fourteen participants with type 2 diabetes provided data on depressive symptoms, diabetes distress, and HbA1c before and after a diabetes management intervention delivered by peer supporters. At post-intervention, participants reported how the support provided by peer supporters was nondirective or directive. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), correlation analyses, and structural equation modeling examined the relationships among reports of nondirective and directive support, depressive symptoms, diabetes distress, and measured HbA1c. CFA confirmed the factor structure distinguishing between nondirective and directive support in participants' reports of support delivered by peer supporters. Controlling for demographic factors, baseline clinical values, and site, structural equation models indicated that at post-intervention, participants' reports of nondirective support were significantly associated with lower, while reports of directive support were significantly associated with greater depressive symptoms, altogether (with control variables) accounting for 51% of the variance in depressive symptoms. Peer supporters' nondirective support was associated with lower, but directive support was associated with greater depressive symptoms.

  13. Indirect effect of management support on users' compliance behaviour towards information security policies.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Humaidi, Norshima; Balakrishnan, Vimala

    2018-01-01

    Health information systems are innovative products designed to improve the delivery of effective healthcare, but they are also vulnerable to breaches of information security, including unauthorised access, use, disclosure, disruption, modification or destruction, and duplication of passwords. Greater openness and multi-connectedness between heterogeneous stakeholders within health networks increase the security risk. The focus of this research was on the indirect effects of management support (MS) on user compliance behaviour (UCB) towards information security policies (ISPs) among health professionals in selected Malaysian public hospitals. The aim was to identify significant factors and provide a clearer understanding of the nature of compliance behaviour in the health sector environment. Using a survey design and stratified random sampling method, self-administered questionnaires were distributed to 454 healthcare professionals in three hospitals. Drawing on theories of planned behaviour, perceived behavioural control (self-efficacy (SE) and MS components) and the trust factor, an information system security policies compliance model was developed to test three related constructs (MS, SE and perceived trust (PT)) and their relationship to UCB towards ISPs. Results showed a 52.8% variation in UCB through significant factors. Partial least squares structural equation modelling demonstrated that all factors were significant and that MS had an indirect effect on UCB through both PT and SE among respondents to this study. The research model based on the theory of planned behaviour in combination with other human and organisational factors has made a useful contribution towards explaining compliance behaviour in relation to organisational ISPs, with trust being the most significant factor. In adopting a multidimensional approach to management-user interactions via multidisciplinary concepts and theories to evaluate the association between the integrated management

  14. Development of a tiered and binned genetic counseling model for informed consent in the era of multiplex testing for cancer susceptibility.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bradbury, Angela R; Patrick-Miller, Linda; Long, Jessica; Powers, Jacquelyn; Stopfer, Jill; Forman, Andrea; Rybak, Christina; Mattie, Kristin; Brandt, Amanda; Chambers, Rachelle; Chung, Wendy K; Churpek, Jane; Daly, Mary B; Digiovanni, Laura; Farengo-Clark, Dana; Fetzer, Dominique; Ganschow, Pamela; Grana, Generosa; Gulden, Cassandra; Hall, Michael; Kohler, Lynne; Maxwell, Kara; Merrill, Shana; Montgomery, Susan; Mueller, Rebecca; Nielsen, Sarah; Olopade, Olufunmilayo; Rainey, Kimberly; Seelaus, Christina; Nathanson, Katherine L; Domchek, Susan M

    2015-06-01

    Multiplex genetic testing, including both moderate- and high-penetrance genes for cancer susceptibility, is associated with greater uncertainty than traditional testing, presenting challenges to informed consent and genetic counseling. We sought to develop a new model for informed consent and genetic counseling for four ongoing studies. Drawing from professional guidelines, literature, conceptual frameworks, and clinical experience, a multidisciplinary group developed a tiered-binned genetic counseling approach proposed to facilitate informed consent and improve outcomes of cancer susceptibility multiplex testing. In this model, tier 1 "indispensable" information is presented to all patients. More specific tier 2 information is provided to support variable informational needs among diverse patient populations. Clinically relevant information is "binned" into groups to minimize information overload, support informed decision making, and facilitate adaptive responses to testing. Seven essential elements of informed consent are provided to address the unique limitations, risks, and uncertainties of multiplex testing. A tiered-binned model for informed consent and genetic counseling has the potential to address the challenges of multiplex testing for cancer susceptibility and to support informed decision making and adaptive responses to testing. Future prospective studies including patient-reported outcomes are needed to inform how to best incorporate multiplex testing for cancer susceptibility into clinical practice.Genet Med 17 6, 485-492.

  15. Integrated plant information technology design support functionality

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kim, Yeon Seung; Kim, Dae Jin; Barber, P. W.; Goland, D.

    1996-06-01

    This technical report was written as a result of Integrated Plant Information System (IPIS) feasibility study on CANDU 9 project which had been carried out from January, 1994 to March, 1994 at AECL (Atomic Energy Canada Limited) in Canada. From 1987, AECL had done endeavour to change engineering work process from paper based work process to computer based work process through CANDU 3 project. Even though AECL had a lot of good results form computerizing the Process Engineering, Instrumentation Control and Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Computer Aided Design and Drafting, and Document Management System, but there remains the problem of information isolation and integration. On this feasibility study, IPIS design support functionality guideline was suggested by evaluating current AECL CAE tools, analyzing computer aided engineering task and work flow, investigating request for implementing integrated computer aided engineering and describing Korean request for future CANDU design including CANDU 9. 6 figs. (Author)

  16. Integrated plant information technology design support functionality

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kim, Yeon Seung; Kim, Dae Jin [Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Taejon (Korea, Republic of); Barber, P W; Goland, D [Atomic Energy Canada Ltd., (Canada)

    1996-06-01

    This technical report was written as a result of Integrated Plant Information System (IPIS) feasibility study on CANDU 9 project which had been carried out from January, 1994 to March, 1994 at AECL (Atomic Energy Canada Limited) in Canada. From 1987, AECL had done endeavour to change engineering work process from paper based work process to computer based work process through CANDU 3 project. Even though AECL had a lot of good results form computerizing the Process Engineering, Instrumentation Control and Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Computer Aided Design and Drafting, and Document Management System, but there remains the problem of information isolation and integration. On this feasibility study, IPIS design support functionality guideline was suggested by evaluating current AECL CAE tools, analyzing computer aided engineering task and work flow, investigating request for implementing integrated computer aided engineering and describing Korean request for future CANDU design including CANDU 9. 6 figs. (Author).

  17. Creation of integrated information model of premises (blocks B, G, RDAS and deaerator) state of 'Ukryttia' object to support works

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Postil, S.D.; Ermolenko, A.I.; Ivanov, V.V.; Kotlyarov, V.T.

    2003-01-01

    The principles of organization of connection between the attachments prepared in Access and AutoCAD are developed,and a technology of transfer from one application into another with displaying of delivered information is realized.Information models of Reactor Department Auxiliary Systems (RDAS) block premises from axes 25 to 51,and from rows 'U' to 'Yu', deaerator stack from axes 34 to 68,and from row 'B' to 'D', and turbine hall from axes 34 to 68 and from row 'A' to 'B',are created.The possibility is shown of using integrated information model to develop and visualize by means of computer animation the access routes in 'Ukryttia' object premises,to integrate raster image of structure and vector computer model of Object

  18. SANDS: a service-oriented architecture for clinical decision support in a National Health Information Network.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wright, Adam; Sittig, Dean F

    2008-12-01

    In this paper, we describe and evaluate a new distributed architecture for clinical decision support called SANDS (Service-oriented Architecture for NHIN Decision Support), which leverages current health information exchange efforts and is based on the principles of a service-oriented architecture. The architecture allows disparate clinical information systems and clinical decision support systems to be seamlessly integrated over a network according to a set of interfaces and protocols described in this paper. The architecture described is fully defined and developed, and six use cases have been developed and tested using a prototype electronic health record which links to one of the existing prototype National Health Information Networks (NHIN): drug interaction checking, syndromic surveillance, diagnostic decision support, inappropriate prescribing in older adults, information at the point of care and a simple personal health record. Some of these use cases utilize existing decision support systems, which are either commercially or freely available at present, and developed outside of the SANDS project, while other use cases are based on decision support systems developed specifically for the project. Open source code for many of these components is available, and an open source reference parser is also available for comparison and testing of other clinical information systems and clinical decision support systems that wish to implement the SANDS architecture. The SANDS architecture for decision support has several significant advantages over other architectures for clinical decision support. The most salient of these are:

  19. Virtual building environments (VBE) - Applying information modeling to buildings

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bazjanac, Vladimir

    2004-06-21

    A Virtual Building Environment (VBE) is a ''place'' where building industry project staffs can get help in creating Building Information Models (BIM) and in the use of virtual buildings. It consists of a group of industry software that is operated by industry experts who are also experts in the use of that software. The purpose of a VBE is to facilitate expert use of appropriate software applications in conjunction with each other to efficiently support multidisciplinary work. This paper defines BIM and virtual buildings, and describes VBE objectives, set-up and characteristics of operation. It informs about the VBE Initiative and the benefits from a couple of early VBE projects.

  20. COMBINE archive and OMEX format: one file to share all information to reproduce a modeling project.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bergmann, Frank T; Adams, Richard; Moodie, Stuart; Cooper, Jonathan; Glont, Mihai; Golebiewski, Martin; Hucka, Michael; Laibe, Camille; Miller, Andrew K; Nickerson, David P; Olivier, Brett G; Rodriguez, Nicolas; Sauro, Herbert M; Scharm, Martin; Soiland-Reyes, Stian; Waltemath, Dagmar; Yvon, Florent; Le Novère, Nicolas

    2014-12-14

    With the ever increasing use of computational models in the biosciences, the need to share models and reproduce the results of published studies efficiently and easily is becoming more important. To this end, various standards have been proposed that can be used to describe models, simulations, data or other essential information in a consistent fashion. These constitute various separate components required to reproduce a given published scientific result. We describe the Open Modeling EXchange format (OMEX). Together with the use of other standard formats from the Computational Modeling in Biology Network (COMBINE), OMEX is the basis of the COMBINE Archive, a single file that supports the exchange of all the information necessary for a modeling and simulation experiment in biology. An OMEX file is a ZIP container that includes a manifest file, listing the content of the archive, an optional metadata file adding information about the archive and its content, and the files describing the model. The content of a COMBINE Archive consists of files encoded in COMBINE standards whenever possible, but may include additional files defined by an Internet Media Type. Several tools that support the COMBINE Archive are available, either as independent libraries or embedded in modeling software. The COMBINE Archive facilitates the reproduction of modeling and simulation experiments in biology by embedding all the relevant information in one file. Having all the information stored and exchanged at once also helps in building activity logs and audit trails. We anticipate that the COMBINE Archive will become a significant help for modellers, as the domain moves to larger, more complex experiments such as multi-scale models of organs, digital organisms, and bioengineering.

  1. Recent innovation of geospatial information technology to support disaster risk management and responses

    Science.gov (United States)

    Une, Hiroshi; Nakano, Takayuki

    2018-05-01

    Geographic location is one of the most fundamental and indispensable information elements in the field of disaster response and prevention. For example, in the case of the Tohoku Earthquake in 2011, aerial photos taken immediately after the earthquake greatly improved information sharing among different government offices and facilitated rescue and recovery operations, and maps prepared after the disaster assisted in the rapid reconstruction of affected local communities. Thanks to the recent development of geospatial information technology, this information has become more essential for disaster response activities. Advancements in web mapping technology allows us to better understand the situation by overlaying various location-specific data on base maps on the web and specifying the areas on which activities should be focused. Through 3-D modelling technology, we can have a more realistic understanding of the relationship between disaster and topography. Geospatial information technology can sup-port proper preparation and emergency responses against disasters by individuals and local communities through hazard mapping and other information services using mobile devices. Thus, geospatial information technology is playing a more vital role on all stages of disaster risk management and responses. In acknowledging geospatial information's vital role in disaster risk reduction, the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030, adopted at the Third United Nations World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction, repeatedly reveals the importance of utilizing geospatial information technology for disaster risk reduction. This presentation aims to report the recent practical applications of geospatial information technology for disaster risk management and responses.

  2. 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

  3. The reality behind the assumptions: Modelling and simulation support for the SAAF

    CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

    Naidoo, K

    2015-10-01

    Full Text Available : Modelling and simulation support for the SAAF Kavendra Naidoo Military Aerospace Trends & Strategy Military aerospace trends • National security includes other dimensions: social, economic development, environmental, energy security, etc.... • Military budgets constrained • Changing nature of the threat, asymmetric, non-conventional, innovative, etc. • Proliferation and availability of technology, information, skills and experience • Defence Review: official strategy to respond to global...

  4. Coupling hydrological modeling and support vector regression to model hydropeaking in alpine catchments.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chiogna, Gabriele; Marcolini, Giorgia; Liu, Wanying; Pérez Ciria, Teresa; Tuo, Ye

    2018-08-15

    Water management in the alpine region has an important impact on streamflow. In particular, hydropower production is known to cause hydropeaking i.e., sudden fluctuations in river stage caused by the release or storage of water in artificial reservoirs. Modeling hydropeaking with hydrological models, such as the Soil Water Assessment Tool (SWAT), requires knowledge of reservoir management rules. These data are often not available since they are sensitive information belonging to hydropower production companies. In this short communication, we propose to couple the results of a calibrated hydrological model with a machine learning method to reproduce hydropeaking without requiring the knowledge of the actual reservoir management operation. We trained a support vector machine (SVM) with SWAT model outputs, the day of the week and the energy price. We tested the model for the Upper Adige river basin in North-East Italy. A wavelet analysis showed that energy price has a significant influence on river discharge, and a wavelet coherence analysis demonstrated the improved performance of the SVM model in comparison to the SWAT model alone. The SVM model was also able to capture the fluctuations in streamflow caused by hydropeaking when both energy price and river discharge displayed a complex temporal dynamic. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  5. Integrating Building Information Modeling and Augmented Reality to Improve Investigation of Historical Buildings

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Francesco Chionna

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available This paper describes an experimental system to support investigation of historical buildings using Building Information Modeling (BIM and Augmented Reality (AR. The system requires the use of an off-line software to build the BIM representation and defines a method to integrate diagnostic data into BIM. The system offers access to such information during site investigation using AR glasses supported by marker and marker-less technologies. The main innovation is the possibility to contextualize through AR not only existing BIM properties but also results from non-invasive tools. User evaluations show how the use of the system may enhance the perception of engineers during the investigation process.

  6. Improvement of Information and Analytical Support of Strategic Marketing Management of Confectioneries

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yanevych Mykhaylo M.

    2013-12-01

    Full Text Available The article develops and offers to introduce a mechanism of information and analytical support of strategic marketing management of confectioneries, which consists of seven components of various hierarchical levels: macro-marketing and micro-marketing environments, trade, infrastructure, consumer, resource and production and organisational components. A confectionery can justify an optimal marketing strategy within this mechanism, due to consideration of the state of external environment and its impact on internal environment with application of strategic management tools. The author identifies direction of influence of external environment components upon key business processes of strategic marketing management, reveals the nature of transformation of main qualitative indicators of marketing management by means of improvement of its information and analytical support and offers to introduce a system of quantitative indicators of its efficiency. The offered scorecard should become the basis of the methodology of assessing efficiency of information and analytical support of strategic marketing management.

  7. A public health decision support system model using reasoning methods.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mera, Maritza; González, Carolina; Blobel, Bernd

    2015-01-01

    Public health programs must be based on the real health needs of the population. However, the design of efficient and effective public health programs is subject to availability of information that can allow users to identify, at the right time, the health issues that require special attention. The objective of this paper is to propose a case-based reasoning model for the support of decision-making in public health. The model integrates a decision-making process and case-based reasoning, reusing past experiences for promptly identifying new population health priorities. A prototype implementation of the model was performed, deploying the case-based reasoning framework jColibri. The proposed model contributes to solve problems found today when designing public health programs in Colombia. Current programs are developed under uncertain environments, as the underlying analyses are carried out on the basis of outdated and unreliable data.

  8. Subspace identification of Hammer stein models using support vector machines

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Al-Dhaifallah, Mujahed

    2011-01-01

    System identification is the art of finding mathematical tools and algorithms that build an appropriate mathematical model of a system from measured input and output data. Hammerstein model, consisting of a memoryless nonlinearity followed by a dynamic linear element, is often a good trade-off as it can represent some dynamic nonlinear systems very accurately, but is nonetheless quite simple. Moreover, the extensive knowledge about LTI system representations can be applied to the dynamic linear block. On the other hand, finding an effective representation for the nonlinearity is an active area of research. Recently, support vector machines (SVMs) and least squares support vector machines (LS-SVMs) have demonstrated powerful abilities in approximating linear and nonlinear functions. In contrast with other approximation methods, SVMs do not require a-priori structural information. Furthermore, there are well established methods with guaranteed convergence (ordinary least squares, quadratic programming) for fitting LS-SVMs and SVMs. The general objective of this research is to develop new subspace algorithms for Hammerstein systems based on SVM regression.

  9. 76 FR 15054 - Proposed Information Collection (Supporting Statement Regarding Marriage); Comment Request

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-03-18

    ... (Supporting Statement Regarding Marriage); Comment Request AGENCY: Veterans Benefits Administration... eligibility for benefits based on a common law marriage. DATES: Written comments and recommendations on the... use of other forms of information technology. Title: Supporting Statement Regarding Marriage, VA Form...

  10. Modeling Global Urbanization Supported by Nighttime Light Remote Sensing

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhou, Y.

    2015-12-01

    Urbanization, a major driver of global change, profoundly impacts our physical and social world, for example, altering carbon cycling and climate. Understanding these consequences for better scientific insights and effective decision-making unarguably requires accurate information on urban extent and its spatial distributions. In this study, we developed a cluster-based method to estimate the optimal thresholds and map urban extents from the nighttime light remote sensing data, extended this method to the global domain by developing a computational method (parameterization) to estimate the key parameters in the cluster-based method, and built a consistent 20-year global urban map series to evaluate the time-reactive nature of global urbanization (e.g. 2000 in Fig. 1). Supported by urban maps derived from nightlights remote sensing data and socio-economic drivers, we developed an integrated modeling framework to project future urban expansion by integrating a top-down macro-scale statistical model with a bottom-up urban growth model. With the models calibrated and validated using historical data, we explored urban growth at the grid level (1-km) over the next two decades under a number of socio-economic scenarios. The derived spatiotemporal information of historical and potential future urbanization will be of great value with practical implications for developing adaptation and risk management measures for urban infrastructure, transportation, energy, and water systems when considered together with other factors such as climate variability and change, and high impact weather events.

  11. Model-supported interpretation of Cedars-Sinai '201 Tl SPECT polar maps

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Petta, P.

    1994-10-01

    Cardiac scintigraphic imaging yields information about regional heart muscle perfusion distribution. The scintigraphic technique does not directly depict the coronary arteries. Inferring alterations of the supplying vessels from the characteristics of abnormally perfused areas of the myocardium is the difficult task in the interpretation of these image data. We investigate ways of applying model-based techniques to this end. Encoding of a model of myocardial perfusion as background knowledge supplied to a first-order inductive learner yielded classifiers capable of identifying presence of coronary artery disease down to the level of determination of affected vessels with an accuracy comparable to other diagnostic systems for this domain. We also identified criteria setting a limit to the performance obtainable by any single approach, such as machine learning or probabilistic techniques. This led to the realization of a model-supported diagnostic system, integrating an abductive perfusion model with heuristics embodying other domain knowledge, such as common variations of vessel anatomy and information related to the image-delivering process, including typical image artefacts. This system achieves excellent accuracy in the identification of diseased vessels and is additionally capable of locating stenosed vessel segments of affected arteries with satisfactory precision. (author)

  12. An information theory-based approach to modeling the information processing of NPP operators

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kim, Jong Hyun; Seong, Poong Hyun

    2002-01-01

    This paper proposes a quantitative approach to modeling the information processing of NPP operators. The aim of this work is to derive the amount of the information processed during a certain control task. The focus will be on i) developing a model for information processing of NPP operators and ii) quantifying the model. To resolve the problems of the previous approaches based on the information theory, i.e. the problems of single channel approaches, we primarily develop the information processing model having multiple stages, which contains information flows. Then the uncertainty of the information is quantified using the Conant's model, a kind of information theory

  13. Architecture Model of Bussines, Information System and Technology in BAKOSURTANAL Based on TOGAF

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Iyan Supriyana

    2010-04-01

    Full Text Available The information technology (IT is a necessary in BAKOSURTANAL to support business in relation with data and spatial information. Users will get the advantage through easy and fast access to data and spatial information. The important of the enterprise architecture (EA to play a role to support company is proven because it provides technology and process structure which are fundamental aspects in IT strategy. Enterprise architecture framework (EAF will accelerate and simplify the development of EA by ascertaining comprehensive coverage of solutions, ensuring the result of EA is always in line with the growth of enterprise. This paper explains the open group architecture framework (TOGAF from several of EAF. The result shows that the most suitable EAF for BAKOSURTANAL in Blueprint development is by proposing EA model that covers business, information system, and technology architecture which are relied on recommended technical basics that is possible to be implemented.

  14. Use of MODIS Satellite Data to Evaluate Juniperus spp. Pollen Phenology to Support a Pollen Dispersal Model, PREAM, to Support Public Health Allergy Alerts

    Science.gov (United States)

    Luvall, J. C.; Sprigg, W. A.; Levetin, E.; Huete, A.; Nickovic, S.; Prasad, A.; Pejanovic, G. A.; Vukovic, A.; VandeWater, P. K.; Budge, A. M.; hide

    2013-01-01

    Pollen can be transported great distances. Van de Water et. al., 2003 reported Juniperus spp. pollen was transported 200-600 km. Hence local observations of plant phenology may not be consistent with the timing and source of pollen collected by pollen sampling instruments. The DREAM (Dust REgional Atmospheric Model) is a verified model for atmospheric dust transport modeling using MODIS data products to identify source regions and concentrations of dust. We are modifying the DREAM model to incorporate pollen transport. Pollen emission is based on MODIS-derived phenology of Juniperus spp. communities. Ground-based observational records of pollen release timing and quantities will be used as model verification. This information will be used to support the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention s National Environmental Public Health Tracking Program and the State of New Mexico environmental public health decision support for asthma and allergies alerts

  15. Use of MODIS Satellite Data to Evaluate Juniperus spp. Pollen Phenology to Support a Pollen Dispersal Model, PREAM, to Support Public Health Allergy Alerts

    Science.gov (United States)

    Luvall, J. C.; Sprigg, W. A.; Levetin, E.; Huete, A. R.; Nickovic, S.; Prasad, A. K.; Pejanovic, G.; Vukovic, A.; Van De Water, P. K.; Budge, A.; Hudspeth, W. B.; Krapfl, H.; Toth, B.; Zelicoff, A.; Myers, O.; Bunderson, L.; Ponce-Campos, G.; Menache, M.; Crimmins, T. M.; Vujadinovic, M.

    2012-12-01

    Pollen can be transported great distances. Van de Water et. al., 2003 reported Juniperus spp. pollen was transported 200-600 km. Hence local observations of plant phenology may not be consistent with the timing and source of pollen collected by pollen sampling instruments. The DREAM (Dust REgional Atmospheric Model, Nickovic et al. 2001) is a verified model for atmospheric dust transport modeling using MODIS data products to identify source regions and concentrations of dust. We are modifying the DREAM model to incorporate pollen transport. Pollen emission is based on MODIS-derived phenology of Juniperus spp. communities. Ground-based observational records of pollen release timing and quantities will be used as model verification. This information will be used to support the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Environmental Public Health Tracking Program and the State of New Mexico environmental public health decision support for asthma and allergies alerts.

  16. 78 FR 26029 - Toxicological Review of Methanol (Non-Cancer): In Support of Summary Information on the...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-05-03

    ... Review of Methanol (Non-Cancer): In Support of Summary Information on the Integrated Risk Information... and peer review on the draft non-cancer toxicological review of methanol. SUMMARY: EPA is announcing a... Review of Methanol (Non-Cancer): In Support of Summary Information on the Integrated Risk Information...

  17. Simplified risk model support for environmental management integration

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Eide, S.A.; Jones, J.L.; Wierman, T.E.

    1998-01-01

    This paper summarizes the process and results of human health risk assessments of the US Department of Energy (DOE) complex-wide programs for high-level waste, transuranic waste, low-level, mixed low-level waste, and spent nuclear fuel. The DOE baseline programs and alternatives for these five material types were characterized by disposition maps (material flow diagrams) and supporting information in the May 1997 report 'A Contractor Report to the Department of Energy on Environmental Baseline Programs and Integration Opportunities' (Discussion Draft). Risk analyses were performed using the Simplified Risk Model (SRM), developed to support DOE Environmental Management Integration studies. The SRM risk analyses consistently and comprehensively cover the life cycle programs for the five material types, from initial storage through final disposition. Risk results are presented at several levels: DOE complex-wide, material type program, individual DOE sites, and DOE site activities. The detailed risk results are documented in the February 1998 report 'Human Health Risk Comparisons for Environmental Management Baseline Programs and Integration Opportunities' (Discussion Draft)

  18. AHMCT Intelligent Roadway Information System (IRIS) technical support and testing

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-12-31

    This report documents the research project AHMCT IRIS Technical Support and Testing, : performed under contract 65A0275, Task ID 1777. It presents an overview of the Intelligent : Roadway Information System (IRIS), and its design and function. ...

  19. Information decision making support system RECASS-NT

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Shershakov, V.; Kosykh, V.; Borodin, R.

    2003-01-01

    Full text: The primary purpose of the DSS RECASS-NT is analysis and prediction of the situation in case of emergency at nuclear facilities (in early phases of an accident) including dose estimation and working out recommendations with regard to countermeasures to protect the public affected by the accident. The system was created to satisfy the following requirements: the system should be ale to operate in two modes: automatic and interactive; the system is based an the 'client-server' principle. Clients can interact with the system both locally and remotely; all calculations in the system are carried out on the server. The client part is responsible for interaction with the system user (including data presentation). Results of model calculations can be displayed during modeling (dynamically) and on completion of calculations; the information base of the system is the operational database, the systemic database and the database with calculation results; the system should enable parallel calculations, among them calculations by different scenarios for the same accident. The automatic mode involves running a specified chain of modules using appropriate scenarios, with a final result generated. The primary purpose of the automatic mode is conducting express-calculations when detailed information about emergency is unavailable. In the interactive mode selection and start-up of a chain of calculation modules, setting parameters for used models, their correction and other actions key for the system operations are performed by a system user (expert). There are no differences between the automatic and interactive modes in terms of storage of calculation results in the system and method of data transmission between the modules within the chain. The telecommunication subsystem (TCS) is designed to provide linkage between programs occurring an different computers and connected both in the local network and the telecommunication system EGASKRO and, possibly, commercial

  20. Information Operations - Analysis Support and Capability Requirements (Operations d'information - Soutien a l'analyse et exigences de capacites) (CD-ROM)

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    2006-01-01

    ...: The focus of the study "Information Operations - Analysis Support and Capability Requirements" undertaken by the RTO Task Group SAS-057 was to provide recommendations to improve analysis support...

  1. Executive Information Systems' Multidimensional Models

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    2007-01-01

    Full Text Available Executive Information Systems are design to improve the quality of strategic level of management in organization through a new type of technology and several techniques for extracting, transforming, processing, integrating and presenting data in such a way that the organizational knowledge filters can easily associate with this data and turn it into information for the organization. These technologies are known as Business Intelligence Tools. But in order to build analytic reports for Executive Information Systems (EIS in an organization we need to design a multidimensional model based on the business model from the organization. This paper presents some multidimensional models that can be used in EIS development and propose a new model that is suitable for strategic business requests.

  2. A User-Centered Approach to Adaptive Hypertext Based on an Information Relevance Model

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mathe, Nathalie; Chen, James

    1994-01-01

    Rapid and effective to information in large electronic documentation systems can be facilitated if information relevant in an individual user's content can be automatically supplied to this user. However most of this knowledge on contextual relevance is not found within the contents of documents, it is rather established incrementally by users during information access. We propose a new model for interactively learning contextual relevance during information retrieval, and incrementally adapting retrieved information to individual user profiles. The model, called a relevance network, records the relevance of references based on user feedback for specific queries and user profiles. It also generalizes such knowledge to later derive relevant references for similar queries and profiles. The relevance network lets users filter information by context of relevance. Compared to other approaches, it does not require any prior knowledge nor training. More importantly, our approach to adaptivity is user-centered. It facilitates acceptance and understanding by users by giving them shared control over the adaptation without disturbing their primary task. Users easily control when to adapt and when to use the adapted system. Lastly, the model is independent of the particular application used to access information, and supports sharing of adaptations among users.

  3. Textual information access statistical models

    CERN Document Server

    Gaussier, Eric

    2013-01-01

    This book presents statistical models that have recently been developed within several research communities to access information contained in text collections. The problems considered are linked to applications aiming at facilitating information access:- information extraction and retrieval;- text classification and clustering;- opinion mining;- comprehension aids (automatic summarization, machine translation, visualization).In order to give the reader as complete a description as possible, the focus is placed on the probability models used in the applications

  4. Informal caregiving burden and perceived social support in an acute stroke care facility.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Akosile, Christopher Olusanjo; Banjo, Tosin Olamilekan; Okoye, Emmanuel Chiebuka; Ibikunle, Peter Olanrewaju; Odole, Adesola Christiana

    2018-04-05

    Providing informal caregiving in the acute in-patient and post-hospital discharge phases places enormous burden on the caregivers who often require some form of social support. However, it appears there are few published studies about informal caregiving in the acute in-patient phase of individuals with stroke particularly in poor-resource countries. This study was designed to evaluate the prevalence of caregiving burden and its association with patient and caregiver-related variables and also level of perceived social support in a sample of informal caregivers of stroke survivors at an acute stroke-care facility in Nigeria. Ethical approval was sought and obtained. Fifty-six (21 males, 35 females) consecutively recruited informal caregivers of stroke survivors at the medical ward of a tertiary health facility in South-Southern Nigeria participated in this cross-sectional survey. Participants' level of care-giving strain/burden and perceived social support were assessed using the Caregiver Strain Index and the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support respectively. Caregivers' and stroke survivors' socio-demographics were also obtained. Data was analysed using frequency count and percentages, independent t-test, analysis of variance (ANOVA) and partial correlation at α =0.05. The prevalence of care-giving burden among caregivers is 96.7% with a high level of strain while 17.9% perceived social support as low. No significant association was found between caregiver burden and any of the caregiver- or survivor-related socio-demographics aside primary level education. Only the family domain of the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support was significantly correlated with burden (r = - 0.295). Informal care-giving burden was highly prevalent in this acute stroke caregiver sample and about one in every five of these caregivers rated social support low. This is a single center study. Healthcare managers and professionals in acute care facilities

  5. An information-motivation-behavioral skills (IMB) model-based intervention for CABG patients.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zarani, Fariba; Besharat, Mohammad Ali; Sarami, Gholamreza; Sadeghian, Saeed

    2012-12-01

    In order to benefit from a coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery, patients must adhere to medical recommendations and health advices. Despite the importance of adherence in CABG patients, adherence rates are disappointingly low. Despite the low adherence rates, very few articles regarding adherence-enhancing intervention among heart patients have been published. The goal of this study was to assess the effects of the Information-Motivation-Behavioral Skills (IMB) model-based intervention on the IMB model constructs among patients undergoing CABG and to evaluate the relationship of information, motivation, and behavioral skills with adherence. A total of 152 CABG patients were randomly assigned to either an intervention group or to a standard care control group. Participants completed pretest measures and were reassessed 1 month later. Findings showed mixed support for the effectiveness of the intervention. There was a significant effect of IMB intervention on information and motivation of patients, but no significant effect on behavioral skills. Furthermore, the results revealed that intervention constructs (information, motivation, and behavioral skills) were significantly related to patients' adherence. Findings provided initial evidence for the effectiveness of IMB-based interventions on the IMB constructs and supported the importance of these constructs to improve adherence; however, there are additional factors that need to be identified in order to improve behavioral skills more effectively.

  6. Framework model and principles for trusted information sharing in pervasive health.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ruotsalainen, Pekka; Blobel, Bernd; Nykänen, Pirkko; Seppälä, Antto; Sorvari, Hannu

    2011-01-01

    Trustfulness (i.e. health and wellness information is processed ethically, and privacy is guaranteed) is one of the cornerstones for future Personal Health Systems, ubiquitous healthcare and pervasive health. Trust in today's healthcare is organizational, static and predefined. Pervasive health takes place in an open and untrusted information space where person's lifelong health and wellness information together with contextual data are dynamically collected and used by many stakeholders. This generates new threats that do not exist in today's eHealth systems. Our analysis shows that the way security and trust are implemented in today's healthcare cannot guarantee information autonomy and trustfulness in pervasive health. Based on a framework model of pervasive health and risks analysis of ubiquitous information space, we have formulated principles which enable trusted information sharing in pervasive health. Principles imply that the data subject should have the right to dynamically verify trust and to control the use of her health information, as well as the right to set situation based context-aware personal policies. Data collectors and processors have responsibilities including transparency of information processing, and openness of interests, policies and environmental features. Our principles create a base for successful management of privacy and information autonomy in pervasive health. They also imply that it is necessary to create new data models for personal health information and new architectures which support situation depending trust and privacy management.

  7. 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…

  8. 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.

  9. Function Model for Community Health Service Information

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yang, Peng; Pan, Feng; Liu, Danhong; Xu, Yongyong

    In order to construct a function model of community health service (CHS) information for development of CHS information management system, Integration Definition for Function Modeling (IDEF0), an IEEE standard which is extended from Structured Analysis and Design(SADT) and now is a widely used function modeling method, was used to classifying its information from top to bottom. The contents of every level of the model were described and coded. Then function model for CHS information, which includes 4 super-classes, 15 classes and 28 sub-classed of business function, 43 business processes and 168 business activities, was established. This model can facilitate information management system development and workflow refinement.

  10. Model-centric approaches for the development of health information systems.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tuomainen, Mika; Mykkänen, Juha; Luostarinen, Heli; Pöyhölä, Assi; Paakkanen, Esa

    2007-01-01

    Modeling is used increasingly in healthcare to increase shared knowledge, to improve the processes, and to document the requirements of the solutions related to health information systems (HIS). There are numerous modeling approaches which aim to support these aims, but a careful assessment of their strengths, weaknesses and deficiencies is needed. In this paper, we compare three model-centric approaches in the context of HIS development: the Model-Driven Architecture, Business Process Modeling with BPMN and BPEL and the HL7 Development Framework. The comparison reveals that all these approaches are viable candidates for the development of HIS. However, they have distinct strengths and abstraction levels, they require local and project-specific adaptation and offer varying levels of automation. In addition, illustration of the solutions to the end users must be improved.

  11. 9th International Conference on Knowledge, Information and Creativity Support Systems

    CERN Document Server

    Papadopoulos, George; Skulimowski, Andrzej; Kacprzyk  , Janusz

    2016-01-01

    This volume consists of a number of selected papers that were presented at the 9th International Conference on Knowledge, Information and Creativity Support Systems (KICSS 2014) in Limassol, Cyprus, after they were substantially revised and extended. The 27 regular papers and 19 short papers included in this proceedings cover all aspects of knowledge management, knowledge engineering, intelligent information systems, and creativity in an information technology context, including computational creativity and its cognitive and collaborative aspects. .

  12. A generic accounting model to support operations management decisions

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Verdaasdonk, P.J.A.; Wouters, M.J.F.

    2001-01-01

    Information systems are generally unable to generate information about the financial consequences of operations management decisions. This is because the procedures for determining the relevant accounting information for decision support are not formalised in ways that can be implemented in

  13. Distributed support modelling for vertical track dynamic analysis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Blanco, B.; Alonso, A.; Kari, L.; Gil-Negrete, N.; Giménez, J. G.

    2018-04-01

    The finite length nature of rail-pad supports is characterised by a Timoshenko beam element formulation over an elastic foundation, giving rise to the distributed support element. The new element is integrated into a vertical track model, which is solved in frequency and time domain. The developed formulation is obtained by solving the governing equations of a Timoshenko beam for this particular case. The interaction between sleeper and rail via the elastic connection is considered in an analytical, compact and efficient way. The modelling technique results in realistic amplitudes of the 'pinned-pinned' vibration mode and, additionally, it leads to a smooth evolution of the contact force temporal response and to reduced amplitudes of the rail vertical oscillation, as compared to the results from concentrated support models. Simulations are performed for both parametric and sinusoidal roughness excitation. The model of support proposed here is compared with a previous finite length model developed by other authors, coming to the conclusion that the proposed model gives accurate results at a reduced computational cost.

  14. Derivation and validation of the Personal Support Algorithm: an evidence-based framework to inform allocation of personal support services in home and community care.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sinn, Chi-Ling Joanna; Jones, Aaron; McMullan, Janet Legge; Ackerman, Nancy; Curtin-Telegdi, Nancy; Eckel, Leslie; Hirdes, John P

    2017-11-25

    Personal support services enable many individuals to stay in their homes, but there are no standard ways to classify need for functional support in home and community care settings. The goal of this project was to develop an evidence-based clinical tool to inform service planning while allowing for flexibility in care coordinator judgment in response to patient and family circumstances. The sample included 128,169 Ontario home care patients assessed in 2013 and 25,800 Ontario community support clients assessed between 2014 and 2016. Independent variables were drawn from the Resident Assessment Instrument-Home Care and interRAI Community Health Assessment that are standardised, comprehensive, and fully compatible clinical assessments. Clinical expertise and regression analyses identified candidate variables that were entered into decision tree models. The primary dependent variable was the weekly hours of personal support calculated based on the record of billed services. The Personal Support Algorithm classified need for personal support into six groups with a 32-fold difference in average billed hours of personal support services between the highest and lowest group. The algorithm explained 30.8% of the variability in billed personal support services. Care coordinators and managers reported that the guidelines based on the algorithm classification were consistent with their clinical judgment and current practice. The Personal Support Algorithm provides a structured yet flexible decision-support framework that may facilitate a more transparent and equitable approach to the allocation of personal support services.

  15. Derivation and validation of the Personal Support Algorithm: an evidence-based framework to inform allocation of personal support services in home and community care

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chi-Ling Joanna Sinn

    2017-11-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Personal support services enable many individuals to stay in their homes, but there are no standard ways to classify need for functional support in home and community care settings. The goal of this project was to develop an evidence-based clinical tool to inform service planning while allowing for flexibility in care coordinator judgment in response to patient and family circumstances. Methods The sample included 128,169 Ontario home care patients assessed in 2013 and 25,800 Ontario community support clients assessed between 2014 and 2016. Independent variables were drawn from the Resident Assessment Instrument-Home Care and interRAI Community Health Assessment that are standardised, comprehensive, and fully compatible clinical assessments. Clinical expertise and regression analyses identified candidate variables that were entered into decision tree models. The primary dependent variable was the weekly hours of personal support calculated based on the record of billed services. Results The Personal Support Algorithm classified need for personal support into six groups with a 32-fold difference in average billed hours of personal support services between the highest and lowest group. The algorithm explained 30.8% of the variability in billed personal support services. Care coordinators and managers reported that the guidelines based on the algorithm classification were consistent with their clinical judgment and current practice. Conclusions The Personal Support Algorithm provides a structured yet flexible decision-support framework that may facilitate a more transparent and equitable approach to the allocation of personal support services.

  16. Evaluation of the 3d Urban Modelling Capabilities in Geographical Information Systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dogru, A. O.; Seker, D. Z.

    2010-12-01

    Geographical Information System (GIS) Technology, which provides successful solutions to basic spatial problems, is currently widely used in 3 dimensional (3D) modeling of physical reality with its developing visualization tools. The modeling of large and complicated phenomenon is a challenging problem in terms of computer graphics currently in use. However, it is possible to visualize that phenomenon in 3D by using computer systems. 3D models are used in developing computer games, military training, urban planning, tourism and etc. The use of 3D models for planning and management of urban areas is very popular issue of city administrations. In this context, 3D City models are produced and used for various purposes. However the requirements of the models vary depending on the type and scope of the application. While a high level visualization, where photorealistic visualization techniques are widely used, is required for touristy and recreational purposes, an abstract visualization of the physical reality is generally sufficient for the communication of the thematic information. The visual variables, which are the principle components of cartographic visualization, such as: color, shape, pattern, orientation, size, position, and saturation are used for communicating the thematic information. These kinds of 3D city models are called as abstract models. Standardization of technologies used for 3D modeling is now available by the use of CityGML. CityGML implements several novel concepts to support interoperability, consistency and functionality. For example it supports different Levels-of-Detail (LoD), which may arise from independent data collection processes and are used for efficient visualization and efficient data analysis. In one CityGML data set, the same object may be represented in different LoD simultaneously, enabling the analysis and visualization of the same object with regard to different degrees of resolution. Furthermore, two CityGML data sets

  17. A proposed general model of information behaviour.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    2003-01-01

    Full Text Available Presents a critical description of Wilson's (1996 global model of information behaviour and proposes major modification on the basis of research into information behaviour of managers, conducted in Poland. The theoretical analysis and research results suggest that Wilson's model has certain imperfections, both in its conceptual content, and in graphical presentation. The model, for example, cannot be used to describe managers' information behaviour, since managers basically are not the end users of external from organization or computerized information services, and they acquire information mainly through various intermediaries. Therefore, the model cannot be considered as a general model, applicable to every category of information users. The proposed new model encompasses the main concepts of Wilson's model, such as: person-in-context, three categories of intervening variables (individual, social and environmental, activating mechanisms, cyclic character of information behaviours, and the adoption of a multidisciplinary approach to explain them. However, the new model introduces several changes. They include: 1. identification of 'context' with the intervening variables; 2. immersion of the chain of information behaviour in the 'context', to indicate that the context variables influence behaviour at all stages of the process (identification of needs, looking for information, processing and using it; 3. stress is put on the fact that the activating mechanisms also can occur at all stages of the information acquisition process; 4. introduction of two basic strategies of looking for information: personally and/or using various intermediaries.

  18. Intended parents' motivations and information and support needs when seeking extraterritorial compensated surrogacy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hammarberg, Karin; Stafford-Bell, Martyn; Everingham, Sam

    2015-11-01

    Cross-border reproductive care (CBRC) is becoming increasingly common. Little is known about the motivations and information and support needs of people who cross borders to access surrogacy. This study aimed to explore: how those considering or undertaking extraterritorial surrogacy reach their decision; what other avenues they have considered and tried to have children; their sources of information and support; and perceptions of how others view their decision. Members of two Australian parenting support forums completed an anonymous online survey. Of the 249 respondents, 51% were gay men, 43% heterosexual women and 7% heterosexual men. Most heterosexual respondents had tried to conceive spontaneously and with assisted reproductive technology before considering surrogacy. Most respondents felt supported in their decision to try extraterritorial surrogacy by close family and friends. Surrogacy-related information was mostly sourced online and from other parents through surrogacy. Few sought information from a local general practitioner or IVF clinic and those who did reported IVF clinic staff were significantly (P surrogacy. The apparent negative attitudes to cross-border surrogacy among health professionals warrants further research into health professionals' knowledge, beliefs and attitudes relating to surrogacy. Copyright © 2015 Reproductive Healthcare Ltd. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  19. The effect of providing climate and health information on support for alternative electricity portfolios

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sergi, Brian; Davis, Alex; Azevedo, Inês

    2018-02-01

    Support for addressing climate change and air pollution may depend on the type of information provided to the public. We conduct a discrete choice survey assessing preferences for combinations of electricity generation portfolios, electricity bills, and emissions reductions. We test how participants’ preferences change when emissions information is explicitly provided to them. We find that support for climate mitigation increases when mitigation is accompanied by improvements to air quality and human health. We estimate that an average respondent would accept an increase of 19%-27% in their electricity bill if shown information stating that either CO2 or SO2 emissions are reduced by 30%. Furthermore, an average respondent is willing to pay an increase of 30%-40% in electricity bills when shown information stating that both pollutants are reduced by 30% simultaneously. Our findings suggest that the type of emissions information provided to the public will affect their support for different electricity portfolios.

  20. Survey on queueing models with standbys support

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kolledath Sreekanth

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper is a survey article on queueing models with standbys support. Due to many real life applications of queueing models, it has become an interesting area for researchers and a lot of research work has been exerted so far. It is worthwhile to examine the performance based analysis for queueing modelling system as it provides a valuable insight to the tractability of the system and accelerates its efficiency. The provision of standbys to the queueing modelling of a real system is needed for smooth functioning in the presence of its unavoidable failures. The present survey provides a dig into the research work done, and emphasis the sequential developments on queueing models with standbys support.

  1. Perceived information and communication technology (ICT) demands on employee outcomes: the moderating effect of organizational ICT support.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Day, Arla; Paquet, Stephanie; Scott, Natasha; Hambley, Laura

    2012-10-01

    Although many employees are using more information communication technology (ICT) as part of their jobs, few studies have examined the impact of ICT on their well-being, and there is a lack of validated measures designed to assess the ICT factors that may impact employee well-being. Therefore, we developed and validated a measure of ICT demands and supports. Using Exploratory Structural Equation Modeling, we found support for 8 ICT demands (i.e., availability, communication, ICT control, ICT hassles, employee monitoring, learning, response expectations, and workload) and two facets of ICT support (personal assistance and resources/upgrades support). Jointly, the ICT demands were associated with increased strain, stress, and burnout and were still associated with stress and strain after controlling for demographics, job variables, and job demands. The two types of ICT support were associated with lower stress, strain, and burnout. Resources/upgrades support moderated the relationship between learning expectations and most strain outcomes and between ICT hassles and strain. Personal assistance support moderated the relationship between ICT hassles and strain.

  2. The role of information in supporting self-care in vascular conditions: a conceptual and empirical review.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Blickem, Christian; Bower, Peter; Protheroe, Joanne; Kennedy, Anne; Vassilev, Ivaylo; Sanders, Caroline; Kirk, Sue; Chew-Graham, Carolyn; Rogers, Anne

    2011-09-01

    Self-care has the potential to make a significant contribution to vascular conditions, but engagement with self-care support has been limited. Lack of relevant information is highlighted by patients and policy-makers as an important barrier to effective self-care, and information provides a potentially efficient platform for changing behaviour. However, work within the social sciences has generally seen information as a necessary but insufficient driver of health behaviours. Furthermore, some groups (such as the socially disadvantaged) are expected to be less amenable to information interventions. We conducted an integrated conceptual and empirical review on information-based interventions for people with vascular disease (diabetes, heart disease and kidney disease). We reviewed conceptual and empirical work concerning the role and impact of information in self-care support to generate an explanatory framework to determine why information was effective or ineffective in encouraging self-care in patients with vascular conditions. This involved mapping relevant theories and models linking information and self-care. We also explored published systematic reviews of educational interventions in diabetes, coronary heart disease and chronic kidney disease to examine the role of information and evidence concerning its effectiveness and impact in different patient populations. The conceptual review identified variation among information interventions in terms of type, function, and their relationship to behaviour change techniques and psychological mediators of behaviour change. Key moderators of the effect of information included types of disorder, and patient capacity and resources. A wealth of educational interventions exists for diabetes and heart conditions, but the precise components of these interventions that are effective are difficult to identify. There is little evidence concerning optimal ways of tailoring interventions for socially disadvantaged groups other

  3. Academic Information System Support in the Era of Education 3.0

    Science.gov (United States)

    Utomo, HP; Bon, AT; Hendayun, M.

    2017-08-01

    The emergence of Education 3.0 as a new paradigm in education has been spread widely in many educational institutions, especially in higher education institutions (HEIs). Many of them have been implementing the new paradigm and get benefit from it. But somehow, the implementation caused some problems. The new policy and procedures are causing administrative problems, especially in the academic affair. The implementation also needs to provide external involvement. To overcome the problems, the academic information system (AIS) can be used to support the characteristics of Education 3.0. The purpose of the research is to find the possibility support from the AIS to the characteristics of Education 3.0. The research used Education 3.0 concept and information system (IS) concept to find the possibility. The research used a case study as the method and conducted a qualitative research with an unstructured interview. After comparing the Education 3.0 concept and IS concept with the interview analysis, the research found that all the characteristics of Education 3.0 can possibly support by the AIS. The result can be used as a guideline to develop the new AIS with the capability to support the characteristics of Education 3.0.

  4. Modelling Choice of Information Sources

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Agha Faisal Habib Pathan

    2013-04-01

    Full Text Available This paper addresses the significance of traveller information sources including mono-modal and multimodal websites for travel decisions. The research follows a decision paradigm developed earlier, involving an information acquisition process for travel choices, and identifies the abstract characteristics of new information sources that deserve further investigation (e.g. by incorporating these in models and studying their significance in model estimation. A Stated Preference experiment is developed and the utility functions are formulated by expanding the travellers' choice set to include different combinations of sources of information. In order to study the underlying choice mechanisms, the resulting variables are examined in models based on different behavioural strategies, including utility maximisation and minimising the regret associated with the foregone alternatives. This research confirmed that RRM (Random Regret Minimisation Theory can fruitfully be used and can provide important insights for behavioural studies. The study also analyses the properties of travel planning websites and establishes a link between travel choices and the content, provenance, design, presence of advertisements, and presentation of information. The results indicate that travellers give particular credence to governmentowned sources and put more importance on their own previous experiences than on any other single source of information. Information from multimodal websites is more influential than that on train-only websites. This in turn is more influential than information from friends, while information from coachonly websites is the least influential. A website with less search time, specific information on users' own criteria, and real time information is regarded as most attractive

  5. On Support Functions for the Development of MFM Models

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Heussen, Kai; Lind, Morten

    2012-01-01

    a review of MFM applications, and contextualizes the model development with respect to process design and operation knowledge. Developing a perspective for an environment for MFM-oriented model- and application-development a tool-chain is outlined and relevant software functions are discussed......A modeling environment and methodology are necessary to ensure quality and reusability of models in any domain. For MFM in particular, as a tool for modeling complex systems, awareness has been increasing for this need. Introducing the context of modeling support functions, this paper provides....... With a perspective on MFM-modeling for existing processes and automation design, modeling stages and corresponding formal model properties are identified. Finally, practically feasible support functions and model-checks to support the model-development are suggested....

  6. A model supporting Business Continuity auditing & planning in Information Systems

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Zambon, Emmanuele; Bolzoni, D.; Etalle, Sandro; Salvato, Marco

    2007-01-01

    One of the main tasks of IT business continuity planing (BCP) is guaranteeing that incidents affecting the IT infrastructure do not affect the availability of IT-dependent business processes beyond a given acceptable extent. Carrying out BCP of information systems is particularly challenging because

  7. A model supporting Business Continuity auditing & planning in Information Systems

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Zambon, Emmanuele; Bolzoni, D.; Etalle, Sandro; Salvato, Marco

    2007-01-01

    One of the main tasks of IT business continuity planning (BCP) is to guarantee that incidents affecting the IT infrastructure do not affect the availability of IT-dependent business processes beyond a given acceptable extent. Carrying out BCP of information systems is particularly challenging,

  8. Reviewing information support during the Great East Japan Earthquake disaster : From the perspective of a hospital library that received support

    Science.gov (United States)

    Terasawa, Motoko

    The Great East Japan Earthquake of March 11, 2011 caused extensive damage over a widespread area. Our hospital library, which is located in the affected area, was no exception. A large collection of books was lost, and some web content was inaccessible due to damage to the network environment. This greatly hindered our efforts to continue providing post-disaster medical information services. Information support, such as free access to databases, journals, and other online content related to the disaster areas, helped us immensely during this time. We were fortunate to have the cooperation of various medical employees and library members via social networks, such as twitter, during the process of attaining this information support.

  9. Characteristic times in the English Channel from numerical modelling: supporting decision-making

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Perianez, R [Departamento de Fisica Aplicada 1, Universidad de Sevilla, EUITA, Carretera Utrera km 1, 41013 Sevilla (Spain); Miro, C [Departamento de Fisica Aplicada, Facultad de Veterinaria, Universidad de Extremadura, Avenida de la Universidad s/n, 10071 Caceres (Spain)], E-mail: rperianez@us.es, E-mail: cmiro@unex.es

    2009-06-15

    A numerical model that simulates the dispersion of radionuclides in the English Channel has been applied to study the dispersion of conservative and non-conservative radionuclides released from the La Hague nuclear fuel reprocessing plant. The model is based upon previous work and now is able to simulate dispersion over long timescales (decades), explicitly including transport by instantaneous tidal currents and variable wind conditions. Wind conditions are obtained from meteorological statistics using a stochastic method. Outputs from the model are treated using time-series analysis techniques. These techniques allow the determination of characteristic times of the system, transport velocities and dispersion factors. This information may be very useful to support the decision-making process after an emergency situation. Thus, we are proposing that time-series analysis can be integrated with numerical modelling for helping decision-making in response to an accident. The model is first validated through its application to actual releases of {sup 99}Tc and {sup 125}Sb, comparing measured and computed concentrations, and characteristic times for three radionuclides are given next: a perfectly conservative one, a very reactive one ({sup 239,240}Pu) and {sup 137}Cs, which has an intermediate behaviour. Characteristic transport velocities and dispersion factors have been calculated as well. Model results are supported by experimental evidence.

  10. Development of a spatial decision support system for flood risk management in Brazil that combines volunteered geographic information with wireless sensor networks

    Science.gov (United States)

    Horita, Flávio E. A.; Albuquerque, João Porto de; Degrossi, Lívia C.; Mendiondo, Eduardo M.; Ueyama, Jó

    2015-07-01

    Effective flood risk management requires updated information to ensure that the correct decisions can be made. This can be provided by Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN) which are a low-cost means of collecting updated information about rivers. Another valuable resource is Volunteered Geographic Information (VGI) which is a comparatively new means of improving the coverage of monitored areas because it is able to supply supplementary information to the WSN and thus support decision-making in flood risk management. However, there still remains the problem of how to combine WSN data with VGI. In this paper, an attempt is made to investigate AGORA-DS, which is a Spatial Decision Support System (SDSS) that is able to make flood risk management more effective by combining these data sources, i.e. WSN with VGI. This approach is built over a conceptual model that complies with the interoperable standards laid down by the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) - e.g. Sensor Observation Service (SOS) and Web Feature Service (WFS) - and seeks to combine and present unified information in a web-based decision support tool. This work was deployed in a real scenario of flood risk management in the town of São Carlos in Brazil. The evidence obtained from this deployment confirmed that interoperable standards can support the integration of data from distinct data sources. In addition, they also show that VGI is able to provide information about areas of the river basin which lack data since there is no appropriate station in the area. Hence it provides a valuable support for the WSN data. It can thus be concluded that AGORA-DS is able to combine information provided by WSN and VGI, and provide useful information for supporting flood risk management.

  11. Model for Electromagnetic Information Leakage

    OpenAIRE

    Mao Jian; Li Yongmei; Zhang Jiemin; Liu Jinming

    2013-01-01

    Electromagnetic leakage will happen in working information equipments; it could lead to information leakage. In order to discover the nature of information in electromagnetic leakage, this paper combined electromagnetic theory with information theory as an innovative research method. It outlines a systematic model of electromagnetic information leakage, which theoretically describes the process of information leakage, intercept and reproduction based on electromagnetic radiation, and ana...

  12. Implications of Contingency Planning Support for Weather and Icing Information

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vigeant-Langlois, Laurence; Hansman, R. John, Jr.

    2003-01-01

    A human-centered systems analysis was applied to the adverse aircraft weather encounter problem in order to identify desirable functions of weather and icing information. The importance of contingency planning was identified as emerging from a system safety design methodology as well as from results of other aviation decision-making studies. The relationship between contingency planning support and information on regions clear of adverse weather was investigated in a scenario- based analysis. A rapid prototype example of the key elements in the depiction of icing conditions was developed in a case study, and the implications for the components of the icing information system were articulated.

  13. Increasing Information Dissemination in Cancer Communication: Effects of Using "Palliative," "Supportive," or "Hospice" Care Terminology.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fishman, Jessica M; Greenberg, Patricia; Bagga, Margy Barbieri; Casarett, David; Propert, Kathleen

    2018-04-20

    When attempting to share information about comfort-oriented care, many use "palliative," "supportive," and "hospice" care terminology interchangeably, but we lack evidence about the effects of using these different terms. This study was designed to test whether the use of "palliative," "supportive," or "hospice" terminology can improve the dissemination of information among breast cancer patients-a large and growing oncology population. Design, Setting, and Measurement: This experimental study was conducted at a major U.S. hospital serving a diverse population. Patients visiting a cancer clinic encountered opportunities to learn more about cancer care. They were offered health materials that were described as reporting on "palliative," "supportive," or "hospice" care and the primary outcome was whether a patient decided to select or reject each. As a secondary outcome, the study measured the patient's level of interest in receiving each. Compared with alternatives, materials labeled as "supportive" care were most likely to be selected and considered valuable (p value information labeled as being about "supportive" care was significantly more likely to be selected. If these effects are supported by additional research, there may be low-cost, highly feasible changes in language choice that increase the dissemination of relevant health information.

  14. Guiding Principles for Data Architecture to Support the Pathways Community HUB Model.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zeigler, Bernard P; Redding, Sarah; Leath, Brenda A; Carter, Ernest L; Russell, Cynthia

    2016-01-01

    The Pathways Community HUB Model provides a unique strategy to effectively supplement health care services with social services needed to overcome barriers for those most at risk of poor health outcomes. Pathways are standardized measurement tools used to define and track health and social issues from identification through to a measurable completion point. The HUB use Pathways to coordinate agencies and service providers in the community to eliminate the inefficiencies and duplication that exist among them. Experience with the Model has brought out the need for better information technology solutions to support implementation of the Pathways themselves through decision-support tools for care coordinators and other users to track activities and outcomes, and to facilitate reporting. Here we provide a basis for discussing recommendations for such a data infrastructure by developing a conceptual model that formalizes the Pathway concept underlying current implementations. The main contribution is a set of core recommendations as a framework for developing and implementing a data architecture to support implementation of the Pathways Community HUB Model. The objective is to present a tool for communities interested in adopting the Model to learn from and to adapt in their own development and implementation efforts. Experience with the Community Health Access Project (CHAP) data base system (the core implementation of the Model) has identified several issues and remedies that have been developed to address these issues. Based on analysis of issues and remedies, we present several key features for a data architecture meeting the just mentioned recommendations. Presentation of features is followed by a practical guide to their implementation allowing an organization to consider either tailoring off-the-shelf generic systems to meet the requirements or offerings that are specialized for community-based care coordination. Looking to future extensions, we discuss the

  15. Refreshing Information Literacy: Learning from Recent British Information Literacy Models

    Science.gov (United States)

    Martin, Justine

    2013-01-01

    Models play an important role in helping practitioners implement and promote information literacy. Over time models can lose relevance with the advances in technology, society, and learning theory. Practitioners and scholars often call for adaptations or transformations of these frameworks to articulate the learning needs in information literacy…

  16. Net-centric Information Sharing: Supporting the 21st Century Maritime Strategy

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Green, Daniel M

    2008-01-01

    .... The thesis introduces the concept of Ignorance Management as a risk reduction concept to help focus decision makers, and the IT professionals who support them, on getting the "right information...

  17. A model for the design of computer integrated manufacturing systems: Identification of information requirements of decision makers

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Rasmussen, Jens

    1990-01-01

    A predominant interest in recent design research has been the development of a general model of the design process to formulate a framework within which support systems based on modern information technology can be developed. Similarly, for manufacturing systems, advanced information systems...... and compatibility of data bases. It is, however, a question whether traditional models of work process or task procedures are suited for design of advanced information systems such as integrated manufacturing systems. Modern technology and the rapid succession of designs, materials and processes require flexible...... are developed to support production planning and control processes as they are found in the present organizations. In this case, the result has been the evolution of "islands of automation" and in the CIM literature, integration is widely discussed in terms of standardization of communication protocols...

  18. The reality behind the assumptions: Modelling and simulation support for the SAAF

    CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

    Naidoo, K

    2015-10-01

    Full Text Available the required depth of know-how to support and upgrade technologies. 52. Having a strong DSET will further allow the Defence Force to leverage the capabilities of the national SET spectrum to meet future defence demands. Modelling.... • Military budgets constrained • Changing nature of the threat, asymmetric, non-conventional, innovative, etc. • Proliferation and availability of technology, information, skills and experience • Defence Review: official strategy to respond to global...

  19. ELAN - expert system supported information and management system for analytical laboratories

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jaeschke, A.; Orth, H.; Zilly, G.

    1990-08-01

    The demand for high efficiency and short response time calls for the use of computer support in chemico-analytical laboratories. This is usually achieved by laboratory information and management systems covering the three levels of analytical instrument automation, laboratory operation support and laboratory management. The management component of the systems implemented up to now suffers from a lack of flexibility as far as unforeseen analytical investigations outside the laboratory routine work are concerned. Another drawback is the lack of adaptability with respect to structural changes in laboratory organization. It can be eliminated by the application of expert system structures and methods for the implementation of this system level. The ELAN laboratory information and management system has been developed on the basis of this concept. (orig.) [de

  20. Informing a hydrological model of the Ogooué with multi-mission remote sensing data

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kittel, Cecile Marie Margaretha; Nielsen, Karina; Tøttrup, C.

    2018-01-01

    with publicly available and free remote sensing observations. We used a rainfall–runoff model based on the Budyko framework coupled with a Muskingum routing approach. We parametrized the model using the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission digital elevation model (SRTM DEM) and forced it using precipitation from......Remote sensing provides a unique opportunity to inform and constrain a hydrological model and to increase its value as a decision-support tool. In this study, we applied a multi-mission approach to force, calibrate and validate a hydrological model of the ungauged Ogooué river basin in Africa...... model also captures overall total water storage change patterns, although the amplitude of storage change is generally underestimated. By combining hydrological modeling with multi-mission remote sensing from 10 different satellite missions, we obtain new information on an otherwise unstudied basin...

  1. Just-in-time, Schematic Supportive Information Presentation During Cognitive Skill Acquisition.

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Kester, Liesbeth; Lehnen, Chris; Van Gerven, Pascal; Kirschner, Paul A.

    2008-01-01

    Kester, L., Lehnen, C., Van Gerven, P.W. M., & Kirschner, P. A. (2006). Just-in-time, Schematic Supportive Information Presentation During Cognitive Skill Acquisition. Computers in Human Behavior, 22, 93-112 .

  2. Matrix model of information support of the leadership and functional services of the section of rapid information. Matrichnaya model' informatsionnogo obespecheniya rukovodstva i funktsional'nykh sluzhb razreza operativnoy informatsiey

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Zevina, V V; Katrichenko, A N

    1978-01-01

    A mathematical description is made of the matrix model for the rapid presenation of information in the automated control system of the production process of the section using the methods of the theory of relationships. The system of rapid control of the open pit is examined (in an informational aspect) as a set of numerous objects, enlarged indicators and conditions of indicators. The sets are described as frameworks, and the zones of the matrix as a framework for a composite of the aforementioned frameworks. Properties of the matrix, formation of zones and periodicity of presentation are described.

  3. A model for effective planning of SME support services.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rakićević, Zoran; Omerbegović-Bijelović, Jasmina; Lečić-Cvetković, Danica

    2016-02-01

    This paper presents a model for effective planning of support services for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The idea is to scrutinize and measure the suitability of support services in order to give recommendations for the improvement of a support planning process. We examined the applied support services and matched them with the problems and needs of SMEs, based on the survey conducted in 2013 on a sample of 336 SMEs in Serbia. We defined and analysed the five research questions that refer to support services, their consistency with the SMEs' problems and needs, and the relation between the given support and SMEs' success. The survey results have shown a statistically significant connection between them. Based on this result, we proposed an eight-phase model as a method for the improvement of support service planning for SMEs. This model helps SMEs to plan better their requirements in terms of support; government and administration bodies at all levels and organizations that provide support services to understand better SMEs' problems and needs for support. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  4. Directory of Energy Information Administration Models 1994

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1994-07-01

    This directory revises and updates the 1993 directory and includes 15 models of the National Energy Modeling System (NEMS). Three other new models in use by the Energy Information Administration (EIA) have also been included: the Motor Gasoline Market Model (MGMM), Distillate Market Model (DMM), and the Propane Market Model (PPMM). This directory contains descriptions about each model, including title, acronym, purpose, followed by more detailed information on characteristics, uses and requirements. Sources for additional information are identified. Included in this directory are 37 EIA models active as of February 1, 1994

  5. Directory of Energy Information Administration Models 1994

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    1994-07-01

    This directory revises and updates the 1993 directory and includes 15 models of the National Energy Modeling System (NEMS). Three other new models in use by the Energy Information Administration (EIA) have also been included: the Motor Gasoline Market Model (MGMM), Distillate Market Model (DMM), and the Propane Market Model (PPMM). This directory contains descriptions about each model, including title, acronym, purpose, followed by more detailed information on characteristics, uses and requirements. Sources for additional information are identified. Included in this directory are 37 EIA models active as of February 1, 1994.

  6. Assessment of biofuels supporting policies using the BioTrans model

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lensink, Sander; Londo, Marc

    2010-01-01

    The introduction of advanced, 2nd generation biofuels is a difficult to forecast process. Policies may impact the timing of their introduction and the future biofuels mix. The least-cost optimization model BioTrans supports policy analyses on these issues. It includes costs for all parts of the supply chain, and endogenous learning for all biofuels technologies, including cost reductions through scale. BioTrans shows that there are significant lock-in effects favouring traditional biofuels, and that the optimal biofuels mix by 2030 is path dependent. The model captures important barriers for the introduction of emerging technologies, thereby providing valuable quantitative information that can be used in analyses of biofuels supporting policies. It is shown that biodiesel from oil crops will remain a cost effective way of producing biofuels in the medium term at moderate target levels. Aiming solely at least-cost biofuel production is in conflict with a longer term portfolio approach on biofuels, and the desire to come to biofuels with the lowest greenhouse gas emissions. Lowering the targets because of environmental constraints delays the development of 2nd generation biofuels, unless additional policy measures (such as specific sub targets for these fuels) are implemented.

  7. A Planning Process Addresses an Organizational and Support Crisis in Information Technology.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nelson, Keith R.; Davenport, Richard W.

    1996-01-01

    An institutionwide strategic planning effort at Central Michigan University, in response to a need for rapid and significant changes in its information technology infrastructure, is outlined. The effort resulted in a matrix governance structure for information technology that acknowledges the value of both distributed support and a strong central…

  8. Clinicians, security and information technology support services in practice settings--a pilot study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fernando, Juanita

    2010-01-01

    This case study of 9 information technology (IT) support staff in 3 Australian (Victoria) public hospitals juxtaposes their experiences at the user-level of eHealth security in the Natural Hospital Environment with that previously reported by 26 medical, nursing and allied healthcare clinicians. IT support responsibilities comprised the entire hospital, of which clinician eHealth security needs were only part. IT staff believed their support tasks were often fragmented while work responsibilities were hampered by resources shortages. They perceived clinicians as an ongoing security risk to private health information. By comparison clinicians believed IT staff would not adequately support the private and secure application of eHealth for patient care. Preliminary data analysis suggests the tension between these cohorts manifests as an eHealth environment where silos of clinical work are disconnected from silos of IT support work. The discipline-based silos hamper health privacy outcomes. Privacy and security policies, especially those influencing the audit process, will benefit by further research of this phenomenon.

  9. Quality Inspection and Analysis of Three-Dimensional Geographic Information Model Based on Oblique Photogrammetry

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dong, S.; Yan, Q.; Xu, Y.; Bai, J.

    2018-04-01

    In order to promote the construction of digital geo-spatial framework in China and accelerate the construction of informatization mapping system, three-dimensional geographic information model emerged. The three-dimensional geographic information model based on oblique photogrammetry technology has higher accuracy, shorter period and lower cost than traditional methods, and can more directly reflect the elevation, position and appearance of the features. At this stage, the technology of producing three-dimensional geographic information models based on oblique photogrammetry technology is rapidly developing. The market demand and model results have been emerged in a large amount, and the related quality inspection needs are also getting larger and larger. Through the study of relevant literature, it is found that there are a lot of researches on the basic principles and technical characteristics of this technology, and relatively few studies on quality inspection and analysis. On the basis of summarizing the basic principle and technical characteristics of oblique photogrammetry technology, this paper introduces the inspection contents and inspection methods of three-dimensional geographic information model based on oblique photogrammetry technology. Combined with the actual inspection work, this paper summarizes the quality problems of three-dimensional geographic information model based on oblique photogrammetry technology, analyzes the causes of the problems and puts forward the quality control measures. It provides technical guidance for the quality inspection of three-dimensional geographic information model data products based on oblique photogrammetry technology in China and provides technical support for the vigorous development of three-dimensional geographic information model based on oblique photogrammetry technology.

  10. QUALITY INSPECTION AND ANALYSIS OF THREE-DIMENSIONAL GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION MODEL BASED ON OBLIQUE PHOTOGRAMMETRY

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    S. Dong

    2018-04-01

    Full Text Available In order to promote the construction of digital geo-spatial framework in China and accelerate the construction of informatization mapping system, three-dimensional geographic information model emerged. The three-dimensional geographic information model based on oblique photogrammetry technology has higher accuracy, shorter period and lower cost than traditional methods, and can more directly reflect the elevation, position and appearance of the features. At this stage, the technology of producing three-dimensional geographic information models based on oblique photogrammetry technology is rapidly developing. The market demand and model results have been emerged in a large amount, and the related quality inspection needs are also getting larger and larger. Through the study of relevant literature, it is found that there are a lot of researches on the basic principles and technical characteristics of this technology, and relatively few studies on quality inspection and analysis. On the basis of summarizing the basic principle and technical characteristics of oblique photogrammetry technology, this paper introduces the inspection contents and inspection methods of three-dimensional geographic information model based on oblique photogrammetry technology. Combined with the actual inspection work, this paper summarizes the quality problems of three-dimensional geographic information model based on oblique photogrammetry technology, analyzes the causes of the problems and puts forward the quality control measures. It provides technical guidance for the quality inspection of three-dimensional geographic information model data products based on oblique photogrammetry technology in China and provides technical support for the vigorous development of three-dimensional geographic information model based on oblique photogrammetry technology.

  11. Proposal of a Holistic Model to Support Local-Level Evidence-Based Practice

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Said Shahtahmasebi

    2010-01-01

    Full Text Available In response to a central drive for evidence-based practice, there have been many research support schemes, setups, and other practices concentrating on facilitating access to external research, such as the Centre for Evidence Based Healthcare Aotearoa, the Cochrane Collaboration, and the York Centre for Reviews and Dissemination. Very little attention has been paid to supporting internal research in terms of local evidence and internal research capabilities. The whole evidence-based practice movement has alienated internal decision makers and, thus, very little progress has been made in the context of evidence informing local policy formation. Health and social policies are made centrally based on dubious claims and often evidence is sought after implementation. For example, on record, most health care practitioners appear to agree with the causal link between depression and mental illness (sometimes qualified with other social factors with suicide; off the record, even some psychiatrists doubt that such a link is applicable to the population as a whole. Therefore, be it through misplaced loyalty or a lack of support for internal researchers/decision makers, local evidence informing local decision making may have been ignored in favour of external evidence. In this paper, we present a practical holistic model to support local evidence-based decision making. This approach is more relevant in light of a new approach to primary health care of “local knowledge” complementing external evidence. One possible outcome would be to network with other regional programmes around the world to share information and identify “best” practices, such as the “Stop Youth Suicide Campaign”(www.stopyouthsuicide.com.

  12. The evaluator as technical assistant: A model for systemic reform support

    Science.gov (United States)

    Century, Jeanne Rose

    This study explored evaluation of systemic reform. Specifically, it focused on the evaluation of a systemic effort to improve K-8 science, mathematics and technology education. The evaluation was of particular interest because it used both technical assistance and evaluation strategies. Through studying the combination of these roles, this investigation set out to increase understanding of potentially new evaluator roles, distinguish important characteristics of the evaluator/project participant relationship, and identify how these roles and characteristics contribute to effective evaluation of systemic science education reform. This qualitative study used interview, document analysis, and participant observation as methods of data collection. Interviews were conducted with project leaders, project participants, and evaluators and focused on the evaluation strategies and process, the use of the evaluation, and technical assistance. Documents analyzed included transcripts of evaluation team meetings and reports, memoranda and other print materials generated by the project leaders and the evaluators. Data analysis consisted of analytic and interpretive procedures consistent with the qualitative data collected and entailed a combined process of coding transcripts of interviews and meetings, field notes, and other documents; analyzing and organizing findings; writing of reflective and analytic memos; and designing and diagramming conceptual relationships. The data analysis resulted in the development of the Multi-Function Model for Systemic Reform Support. This model organizes systemic reform support into three functions: evaluation, technical assistance, and a third, named here as "systemic perspective." These functions work together to support the project's educational goals as well as a larger goal--building capacity in project participants. This model can now serve as an informed starting point or "blueprint" for strategically supporting systemic reform.

  13. Enabling Real-time Water Decision Support Services Using Model as a Service

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhao, T.; Minsker, B. S.; Lee, J. S.; Salas, F. R.; Maidment, D. R.; David, C. H.

    2014-12-01

    Through application of computational methods and an integrated information system, data and river modeling services can help researchers and decision makers more rapidly understand river conditions under alternative scenarios. To enable this capability, workflows (i.e., analysis and model steps) are created and published as Web services delivered through an internet browser, including model inputs, a published workflow service, and visualized outputs. The RAPID model, which is a river routing model developed at University of Texas Austin for parallel computation of river discharge, has been implemented as a workflow and published as a Web application. This allows non-technical users to remotely execute the model and visualize results as a service through a simple Web interface. The model service and Web application has been prototyped in the San Antonio and Guadalupe River Basin in Texas, with input from university and agency partners. In the future, optimization model workflows will be developed to link with the RAPID model workflow to provide real-time water allocation decision support services.

  14. Supporting Project Work with Information Technology

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Heilesen, Simon

    2015-01-01

    University problem-oriented project work is based. However, in implementing and integrating the new technologies in academic practices, a number of challenges have had to be addressed. This chapter discusses four of these challenges. The first is to provide a physical and virtual framework for learning......Like so many other institutions, Roskilde University has had to adapt to the new realities brought about by the rapid developments in information and communication technology (ICT). On the whole, ICT tools have proven to be helpful in supporting and developing the work forms on which Roskilde...... activities. The second is to direct student use of ICT in terms of making systems available and teaching academic computing. The third challenge is to supervise and conduct project work online and in blended learning environments. Finally, one must find a way to exploit the potentials of ICT in problem...

  15. Supporting Project Work with Information Technology

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Heilesen, Simon

    2015-01-01

    University problem-oriented project work is based. However, in implementing and integrating the new technologies in academic practices, a number of challenges have had to be addressed. This chapter discusses four of these challenges. The first is to provide a physical and virtual framework for learning...... activities. The second is to direct student use of ICT in terms of making systems available and teaching academic computing. The third challenge is to supervise and conduct project work online and in blended learning environments. Finally, one must find a way to exploit the potentials of ICT in problem......Like so many other institutions, Roskilde University has had to adapt to the new realities brought about by the rapid developments in information and communication technology (ICT). On the whole, ICT tools have proven to be helpful in supporting and developing the work forms on which Roskilde...

  16. Proactive Support of Internet Browsing when Searching for Relevant Health Information.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rurik, Clas; Zowalla, Richard; Wiesner, Martin; Pfeifer, Daniel

    2015-01-01

    Many people use the Internet as one of the primary sources of health information. This is due to the high volume and easy access of freely available information regarding diseases, diagnoses and treatments. However, users may find it difficult to retrieve information which is easily understandable and does not require a deep medical background. In this paper, we present a new kind of Web browser add-on, in order to proactively support users when searching for relevant health information. Our add-on not only visualizes the understandability of displayed medical text but also provides further recommendations of Web pages which hold similar content but are potentially easier to comprehend.

  17. Do informal caregivers for elderly in the community use support measures? A qualitative study in five European countries.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Willemse, Evi; Anthierens, Sibyl; Farfan-Portet, Maria Isabel; Schmitz, Olivier; Macq, Jean; Bastiaens, Hilde; Dilles, Tinne; Remmen, Roy

    2016-07-16

    Informal caregivers are essential figures for maintaining frail elderly at home. Providing informal care can affect the informal caregivers' physical and psychological health and labour market participation capabilities. They need support to prevent caregiver burden. A variety of existing support measures can help the caregiver care for the elderly at home, but with some limitations. The objective of this review was to explore the experiences of informal caregivers caring for elderly in the community with the use of supportive policy measures in Belgium and compare these to the experiences in other European countries. An empirical qualitative case study research was conducted in five European countries (Belgium, The Netherlands, Luxembourg, France and Germany). Semi-structured interviews were conducted with informal caregivers and their dependent elderly. Interview data from the different cases were analysed. In particular data from Belgium was compared to data from the cases abroad. Formal services (e.g. home care) were reported to have the largest impact on allowing the caregiver to care for the dependent elderly at home. One of the key issues in Belgium is the lack of timely access to reliable information about formal and informal services in order to proactively support the informal caregiver. Compared to the other countries, informal caregivers in Belgium expressed more difficulties in accessing support measures and navigating through the health system. In the other countries information seemed to be given more timely when home care was provided via care packages. To support the informal caregiver, who is the key person to support the frail elderly, fragmentation of information regarding supportive policy measures is an important issue of concern.

  18. Fracture network modeling and GoldSim simulation support

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sugita, Kenichiro; Dershowitz, William

    2003-01-01

    During Heisei-14, Golder Associates provided support for JNC Tokai through data analysis and simulation of the MIU Underground Rock Laboratory, participation in Task 6 of the Aespoe Task Force on Modelling of Groundwater Flow and Transport, and analysis of repository safety assessment technologies including cell networks for evaluation of the disturbed rock zone (DRZ) and total systems performance assessment (TSPA). MIU Underground Rock Laboratory support during H-14 involved discrete fracture network (DFN) modelling in support of the Multiple Modelling Project (MMP) and the Long Term Pumping Test (LPT). Golder developed updated DFN models for the MIU site, reflecting updated analyses of fracture data. Golder also developed scripts to support JNC simulations of flow and transport pathways within the MMP. Golder supported JNC participation in Task 6 of the Aespoe Task Force on Modelling of Groundwater Flow and Transport during H-14. Task 6A and 6B compared safety assessment (PA) and experimental time scale simulations along a pipe transport pathway. Task 6B2 extended Task 6B simulations from 1-D to 2-D. For Task 6B2, Golder carried out single fracture transport simulations on a wide variety of generic heterogeneous 2D fractures using both experimental and safety assessment boundary conditions. The heterogeneous 2D fractures were implemented according to a variety of in plane heterogeneity patterns. Multiple immobile zones were considered including stagnant zones, infillings, altered wall rock, and intact rock. During H-14, JNC carried out extensive studies of the distributed rock zone (DRZ) surrounding repository tunnels and drifts. Golder supported this activity be evaluating the calculation time necessary for simulating a reference heterogeneous DRZ cell network for a range of computational strategies. To support the development of JNC's total system performance assessment (TSPA) strategy, Golder carried out a review of the US DOE Yucca Mountain Project TSPA. This

  19. Care episode retrieval: distributional semantic models for information retrieval in the clinical domain.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moen, Hans; Ginter, Filip; Marsi, Erwin; Peltonen, Laura-Maria; Salakoski, Tapio; Salanterä, Sanna

    2015-01-01

    Patients' health related information is stored in electronic health records (EHRs) by health service providers. These records include sequential documentation of care episodes in the form of clinical notes. EHRs are used throughout the health care sector by professionals, administrators and patients, primarily for clinical purposes, but also for secondary purposes such as decision support and research. The vast amounts of information in EHR systems complicate information management and increase the risk of information overload. Therefore, clinicians and researchers need new tools to manage the information stored in the EHRs. A common use case is, given a--possibly unfinished--care episode, to retrieve the most similar care episodes among the records. This paper presents several methods for information retrieval, focusing on care episode retrieval, based on textual similarity, where similarity is measured through domain-specific modelling of the distributional semantics of words. Models include variants of random indexing and the semantic neural network model word2vec. Two novel methods are introduced that utilize the ICD-10 codes attached to care episodes to better induce domain-specificity in the semantic model. We report on experimental evaluation of care episode retrieval that circumvents the lack of human judgements regarding episode relevance. Results suggest that several of the methods proposed outperform a state-of-the art search engine (Lucene) on the retrieval task.

  20. A mathematical model for interpretable clinical decision support with applications in gynecology.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Vanya M C A Van Belle

    Full Text Available Over time, methods for the development of clinical decision support (CDS systems have evolved from interpretable and easy-to-use scoring systems to very complex and non-interpretable mathematical models. In order to accomplish effective decision support, CDS systems should provide information on how the model arrives at a certain decision. To address the issue of incompatibility between performance, interpretability and applicability of CDS systems, this paper proposes an innovative model structure, automatically leading to interpretable and easily applicable models. The resulting models can be used to guide clinicians when deciding upon the appropriate treatment, estimating patient-specific risks and to improve communication with patients.We propose the interval coded scoring (ICS system, which imposes that the effect of each variable on the estimated risk is constant within consecutive intervals. The number and position of the intervals are automatically obtained by solving an optimization problem, which additionally performs variable selection. The resulting model can be visualised by means of appealing scoring tables and color bars. ICS models can be used within software packages, in smartphone applications, or on paper, which is particularly useful for bedside medicine and home-monitoring. The ICS approach is illustrated on two gynecological problems: diagnosis of malignancy of ovarian tumors using a dataset containing 3,511 patients, and prediction of first trimester viability of pregnancies using a dataset of 1,435 women. Comparison of the performance of the ICS approach with a range of prediction models proposed in the literature illustrates the ability of ICS to combine optimal performance with the interpretability of simple scoring systems.The ICS approach can improve patient-clinician communication and will provide additional insights in the importance and influence of available variables. Future challenges include extensions of the

  1. Information management to enable personalized medicine: stakeholder roles in building clinical decision support.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Downing, Gregory J; Boyle, Scott N; Brinner, Kristin M; Osheroff, Jerome A

    2009-10-08

    Advances in technology and the scientific understanding of disease processes are presenting new opportunities to improve health through individualized approaches to patient management referred to as personalized medicine. Future health care strategies that deploy genomic technologies and molecular therapies will bring opportunities to prevent, predict, and pre-empt disease processes but will be dependent on knowledge management capabilities for health care providers that are not currently available. A key cornerstone to the potential application of this knowledge will be effective use of electronic health records. In particular, appropriate clinical use of genomic test results and molecularly-targeted therapies present important challenges in patient management that can be effectively addressed using electronic clinical decision support technologies. Approaches to shaping future health information needs for personalized medicine were undertaken by a work group of the American Health Information Community. A needs assessment for clinical decision support in electronic health record systems to support personalized medical practices was conducted to guide health future development activities. Further, a suggested action plan was developed for government, researchers and research institutions, developers of electronic information tools (including clinical guidelines, and quality measures), and standards development organizations to meet the needs for personalized approaches to medical practice. In this article, we focus these activities on stakeholder organizations as an operational framework to help identify and coordinate needs and opportunities for clinical decision support tools to enable personalized medicine. This perspective addresses conceptual approaches that can be undertaken to develop and apply clinical decision support in electronic health record systems to achieve personalized medical care. In addition, to represent meaningful benefits to personalized

  2. Information management to enable personalized medicine: stakeholder roles in building clinical decision support

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Brinner Kristin M

    2009-10-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Advances in technology and the scientific understanding of disease processes are presenting new opportunities to improve health through individualized approaches to patient management referred to as personalized medicine. Future health care strategies that deploy genomic technologies and molecular therapies will bring opportunities to prevent, predict, and pre-empt disease processes but will be dependent on knowledge management capabilities for health care providers that are not currently available. A key cornerstone to the potential application of this knowledge will be effective use of electronic health records. In particular, appropriate clinical use of genomic test results and molecularly-targeted therapies present important challenges in patient management that can be effectively addressed using electronic clinical decision support technologies. Discussion Approaches to shaping future health information needs for personalized medicine were undertaken by a work group of the American Health Information Community. A needs assessment for clinical decision support in electronic health record systems to support personalized medical practices was conducted to guide health future development activities. Further, a suggested action plan was developed for government, researchers and research institutions, developers of electronic information tools (including clinical guidelines, and quality measures, and standards development organizations to meet the needs for personalized approaches to medical practice. In this article, we focus these activities on stakeholder organizations as an operational framework to help identify and coordinate needs and opportunities for clinical decision support tools to enable personalized medicine. Summary This perspective addresses conceptual approaches that can be undertaken to develop and apply clinical decision support in electronic health record systems to achieve personalized medical care. In

  3. Contested collaboration: A descriptive model of intergroup communication in information system design

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Sonnenwald, D.H.

    1995-01-01

    . The model describes design phases, roles, themes, and intergroup communication networks as they evolve throughout the design process and characterizes design as a process of ''contested collaboration.'' It is a first step towards a predictive design model that suggests strategies which may help participants......Many information system design situations today include users, designers, and developers who, with their own unique group and individual perspectives, need to interact so that they can come to a working understanding of how the information system being developed will coexist with and ideally...... support patterns of work activities, social groups, and personal beliefs. In these situations, design is fundamentally an interactive process that requires communication among users, designers, and developers. However, communication among these groups is often difficult although of paramount importance...

  4. Aquifer characterization and groundwater modeling in support of remedial actions at the Weldon Spring Site

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Durham, L.A.; Carman, J.D.

    1993-01-01

    Aquifer characterization studies were performed to develop a hydrogeologic understanding of an unconfined shallow aquifer at the Weldon Spring site west of St. Louis, Missouri. The 88-ha site became contaminated because of uranium and thorium processing and disposal activities that took place from the 1940s through the 1960s. Slug and pumping tests provided valuable information on the lateral distribution of hydraulic conductivities, and packer tests and lithologic information were used to determine zones of contrasting hydrologic properties within the aquifer. A three-dimensional, finite- element groundwater flow model was developed and used to simulate the shallow groundwater flow system at the site. The results of this study show that groundwater flow through the system is predominantly controlled by a zone of fracturing and weathering in the upper portion of the limestone aquifer. The groundwater flow model, developed and calibrated from field investigations, improved the understanding of the hydrogeology and supported decisions regarding remedial actions at the site. The results of this study illustrate the value, in support of remedial actions, of combining field investigations with numerical modeling to develop an improved understanding of the hydrogeology at the site

  5. SANDS: an architecture for clinical decision support in a National Health Information Network.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wright, Adam; Sittig, Dean F

    2007-10-11

    A new architecture for clinical decision support called SANDS (Service-oriented Architecture for NHIN Decision Support) is introduced and its performance evaluated. The architecture provides a method for performing clinical decision support across a network, as in a health information exchange. Using the prototype we demonstrated that, first, a number of useful types of decision support can be carried out using our architecture; and, second, that the architecture exhibits desirable reliability and performance characteristics.

  6. Modeling study of solute transport in the unsaturated zone. Information and data sets. Volume 1

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Polzer, W.L.; Fuentes, H.R.; Springer, E.P.; Nyhan, J.W.

    1986-05-01

    The Environmental Science Group (HSE-12) is conducting a study to compare various approaches of modeling water and solute transport in porous media. Various groups representing different approaches will model a common set of transport data so that the state of the art in modeling and field experimentation can be discussed in a positive framework with an assessment of current capabilities and future needs in this area of research. This paper provides information and sets of data that will be useful to the modelers in meeting the objectives of the modeling study. The information and data sets include: (1) a description of the experimental design and methods used in obtaining solute transport data, (2) supporting data that may be useful in modeling the data set of interest, and (3) the data set to be modeled

  7. The Impact on Informal Supporters of Domestic Violence Survivors: A Systematic Literature Review.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gregory, Alison Clare; Williamson, Emma; Feder, Gene

    2017-12-01

    Domestic violence (DV) is experienced by 1 in 4 women in the United Kingdom during their lifetime, and most survivors will seek informal support from the people around them, even if they choose not to access help from professionals. Support from these relatives, friends, neighbors, and colleagues can provide a buffer against effects on the survivor's physical health, mental health, and quality of life, and has been shown to be protective against future abuse. There has been an absence of research studying members of survivors' networks and, in particular, investigating how the impact of DV might diffuse to affect them. A systematic literature review of reported research (either in peer-reviewed journals or in gray literature) was undertaken to explore the impacts of DV on survivor networks. Of the articles found, 24 had data relating to the topic area, though no study addressed the question directly. Framework analysis and meta-ethnography generated the following themes: physical health impacts, negative impacts on psychological well-being, direct impacts from the perpetrator, and beneficial impacts on psychological well-being. The studies in this review indicated that informal supporters may be experiencing substantial impact, including vicarious trauma and the risk of physical harm. Currently, there is little support available which is directly aimed at informal supporters of DV survivors, thus these findings have practical and policy implications, in order to acknowledge and meet their needs.

  8. Building information modelling (BIM)

    CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

    Conradie, Dirk CU

    2009-02-01

    Full Text Available The concept of a Building Information Model (BIM) also known as a Building Product Model (BPM) is nothing new. A short article on BIM will never cover the entire filed, because it is a particularly complex filed that is recently beginning to receive...

  9. Cyberinfrastructure to Support Collaborative and Reproducible Computational Hydrologic Modeling

    Science.gov (United States)

    Goodall, J. L.; Castronova, A. M.; Bandaragoda, C.; Morsy, M. M.; Sadler, J. M.; Essawy, B.; Tarboton, D. G.; Malik, T.; Nijssen, B.; Clark, M. P.; Liu, Y.; Wang, S. W.

    2017-12-01

    Creating cyberinfrastructure to support reproducibility of computational hydrologic models is an important research challenge. Addressing this challenge requires open and reusable code and data with machine and human readable metadata, organized in ways that allow others to replicate results and verify published findings. Specific digital objects that must be tracked for reproducible computational hydrologic modeling include (1) raw initial datasets, (2) data processing scripts used to clean and organize the data, (3) processed model inputs, (4) model results, and (5) the model code with an itemization of all software dependencies and computational requirements. HydroShare is a cyberinfrastructure under active development designed to help users store, share, and publish digital research products in order to improve reproducibility in computational hydrology, with an architecture supporting hydrologic-specific resource metadata. Researchers can upload data required for modeling, add hydrology-specific metadata to these resources, and use the data directly within HydroShare.org for collaborative modeling using tools like CyberGIS, Sciunit-CLI, and JupyterHub that have been integrated with HydroShare to run models using notebooks, Docker containers, and cloud resources. Current research aims to implement the Structure For Unifying Multiple Modeling Alternatives (SUMMA) hydrologic model within HydroShare to support hypothesis-driven hydrologic modeling while also taking advantage of the HydroShare cyberinfrastructure. The goal of this integration is to create the cyberinfrastructure that supports hypothesis-driven model experimentation, education, and training efforts by lowering barriers to entry, reducing the time spent on informatics technology and software development, and supporting collaborative research within and across research groups.

  10. Toward a Visualization-Supported Workflow for Cyber Alert Management using Threat Models and Human-Centered Design

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Franklin, Lyndsey; Pirrung, Megan A.; Blaha, Leslie M.; Dowling, Michelle V.; Feng, Mi

    2017-10-09

    Cyber network analysts follow complex processes in their investigations of potential threats to their network. Much research is dedicated to providing automated tool support in the effort to make their tasks more efficient, accurate, and timely. This tool support comes in a variety of implementations from machine learning algorithms that monitor streams of data to visual analytic environments for exploring rich and noisy data sets. Cyber analysts, however, often speak of a need for tools which help them merge the data they already have and help them establish appropriate baselines against which to compare potential anomalies. Furthermore, existing threat models that cyber analysts regularly use to structure their investigation are not often leveraged in support tools. We report on our work with cyber analysts to understand they analytic process and how one such model, the MITRE ATT&CK Matrix [32], is used to structure their analytic thinking. We present our efforts to map specific data needed by analysts into the threat model to inform our eventual visualization designs. We examine data mapping for gaps where the threat model is under-supported by either data or tools. We discuss these gaps as potential design spaces for future research efforts. We also discuss the design of a prototype tool that combines machine-learning and visualization components to support cyber analysts working with this threat model.

  11. Autism Treatment and Family Support Models Review

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mehrnoush Esbati

    2009-04-01

    Full Text Available Autism is a lifelong neurological disability of unknown etiology. The criteria for a diagnosis of autism are based on a triad of impairments in social interaction, communication and a lack of flexibility in thinking and behavior There are several factors which are likely to contribute to this variation including the definition of autism and variability in diagnosis amongst professionals, however anecdotally there appears to have been a steadily increasing demand for services. The purpose of this review of research literature relating to the management and treatment of children with autism is to identify the most effective models of best practice. The review includes Comparative evidence supporting a range of treatment and intervention models, across the range of individuals included within autism spectrum disorders, psychodynamic treatment/management which are based on the assumption that autism is the result of emotional damage to the child, usually because of failure to develop a close attachment to parents, especially the mother, biological treatments, educational and behavioral interventions, communication therapies, cost benefits and supporting families.The research is examined for evidence to support best practice models in supporting families at the time of diagnosis and assessment and an overview of the nature of comprehensive supports that help reduce stresses that may be experienced by families of a child with autism and promote inclusion in community activities.

  12. Key Elements of the Tutorial Support Management Model

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lynch, Grace; Paasuke, Philip

    2011-01-01

    In response to an exponential growth in enrolments the "Tutorial Support Management" (TSM) model has been adopted by Open Universities Australia (OUA) after a two-year project on the provision of online tutor support in first year, online undergraduate units. The essential focus of the TSM model was the development of a systemic approach…

  13. An information maximization model of eye movements

    Science.gov (United States)

    Renninger, Laura Walker; Coughlan, James; Verghese, Preeti; Malik, Jitendra

    2005-01-01

    We propose a sequential information maximization model as a general strategy for programming eye movements. The model reconstructs high-resolution visual information from a sequence of fixations, taking into account the fall-off in resolution from the fovea to the periphery. From this framework we get a simple rule for predicting fixation sequences: after each fixation, fixate next at the location that minimizes uncertainty (maximizes information) about the stimulus. By comparing our model performance to human eye movement data and to predictions from a saliency and random model, we demonstrate that our model is best at predicting fixation locations. Modeling additional biological constraints will improve the prediction of fixation sequences. Our results suggest that information maximization is a useful principle for programming eye movements.

  14. Hanford Tank 241-C-106: Residual Waste Contaminant Release Model and Supporting Data

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Deutsch, William J.; Krupka, Kenneth M.; Lindberg, Michael J.; Cantrell, Kirk J.; Brown, Christopher F.; Schaef, Herbert T.

    2005-01-01

    CH2M HILL is producing risk/performance assessments to support the closure of single-shell tanks at the DOE's Hanford Site. As part of this effort, staff at PNNL were asked to develop release models for contaminants of concern that are present in residual sludge remaining in tank 241-C-106 (C-106) after final retrieval of waste from the tank. This report provides the information developed by PNNL

  15. Information and support for co-survivors during or after cancer treatment: Consideration of Un Abrazo Para la Familia as a model for family-focused intervention in cancer rehabilitation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Marshall, Catherine A; Curran, Melissa A; Koerner, Susan Silverberg; Weihs, Karen L; Hickman, Amy C; García, Francisco A R

    2013-01-01

    The development and evaluation of Un Abrazo Para La Familia, [A Hug for the Family] is described. Un Abrazo is discussed as an effective model of education, information-sharing, and skill-building for use with low-income co-survivors of cancer. Sixty co-survivors participated. The majority were women and all reported being Hispanic. Using quantitative data (N=60), the needs, concerns, and characteristics of the co-survivor population served through Un Abrazo are presented. Further, we offer three qualitative case studies (with one co-survivor, one survivor, and one non-participant) to illustrate the model and its impact. The median level of education level of co-survivors was 12 years. The majority were unemployed and/or identified as homemakers, and indicated receipt of services indicating low-income status. Half reported not having health insurance. The top four cancer-related needs or concerns were: Information, Concern for another person, Cost/health insurance, and Fears. Recognizing the centrality of the family in addressing cancer allows for a wider view of the disease and the needs that arise during and after treatment. Key rehabilitation strategies appropriate for intervening with co-survivors of cancer include assessing and building upon strengths and abilities and making culturally-respectful cancer-related information and support accessible.

  16. Education and information for practicing school nurses: which technology-supported resources meet their needs?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Anderson, Lori S; Enge, Karmin J

    2012-10-01

    School nurses care for children with a variety of health-related conditions and they need information about managing these conditions, which is accessible, current, and useful. The goal of this literature review was to gather and synthesize information on technology-supported resources and to determine which met the educational needs of school nurses. Successful online educational programs were interactive and self-directed. The most common barriers were lack of time to find educational information, lack of knowledge about computers, technology, the Internet and specific programs, and lack of administrative support from school officials to use technology to access information and evidence for practice. Recommendations for successful use of technology to meet practicing school nurse's educational needs are offered.

  17. Quality of online information to support patient decision-making in breast cancer surgery.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bruce, Jordan G; Tucholka, Jennifer L; Steffens, Nicole M; Neuman, Heather B

    2015-11-01

    Breast cancer patients commonly use the internet as an information resource. Our objective was to evaluate the quality of online information available to support patients facing a decision for breast surgery. Breast cancer surgery-related queries were performed (Google and Bing), and reviewed for content pertinent to breast cancer surgery. The DISCERN instrument was used to evaluate websites' structural components that influence publication reliability and ability of information to support treatment decision-making. Scores of 4/5 were considered "good." 45 unique websites were identified. Websites satisfied a median 5/9 content questions. Commonly omitted topics included: having a choice between breast conservation and mastectomy (67%) and potential for 2nd surgery to obtain negative margins after breast conservation (60%). Websites had a median DISCERN score of 2.9 (range 2.0-4.5). Websites achieved higher scores on structural criteria (median 3.6 [2.1-4.7]), with 24% rated as "good." Scores on supporting decision-making questions were lower (2.6 [1.3-4.4]), with only 7% scoring "good." Although numerous breast cancer-related websites exist, most do a poor job providing women with essential information necessary to actively participate in decision-making for breast cancer surgery. Providing easily- accessible, high-quality online information has the potential to significantly improve patients' experiences with decision-making. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  18. Informal leadership support: an often overlooked competitive advantage.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Peters, L H; O'Connor, E J

    2001-01-01

    As environmental pressures mount, the advantage of using the same strategies and tactics employed by competitors continues to shrink. An alternative is adapting and applying answers successfully employed in other industries to health care organizations. Working with informal influence leaders to share your change management efforts represents one such example. Informal influence leaders offer an often-overlooked source of competitive advantage--they have already earned credibility and respect from others, who regularly look to them for guidance. When sharing their views, they significantly influence the acceptance or rejection of new initiatives. Influence leaders reach into every conversation, every meeting, and every decision made in an organization. The important question is whether they will exert their leadership in support or in opposition to changes you propose. By identifying influence leaders and inviting them to join a group to discuss change initiatives, physician executives can create a positive force for change.

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

    Science.gov (United States)

    Toews, Lorraine

    2011-01-01

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

  20. ALGORITHMIC support for THE System Wide Information Management concept

    OpenAIRE

    2016-01-01

    The theoretical problems of computer support for the "System Wide Information Management" concept, which was proposed by experts of the International Civil Aviation Organization, are discussed. Within the framework of its provisions certain new requirements for all initial stages of air traffic management preceding the direct aircrafts control are formulated. Algorithmic instruments for ensuring a conflictlessness of a summary plan for the use of airspace during the plan’s implementation are ...

  1. Blogging for Information Management, Learning, and Social Support during Internship

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chu, Samuel K. W.; Kwan, Alvin C. M.; Warning, Peter

    2012-01-01

    The functions and possibilities afforded by blogging have been suggested to be relevant to learning and information management. Its increasing use in the business and education sectors is documented, but currently its use in professional education or internship is limited. The social nature of blogging appears to support the applicability of blogs…

  2. Assessing the ability of health information systems in hospitals to support evidence-informed decisions in Kenya

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Elesban Kihuba

    2014-07-01

    Full Text Available Background: Hospital management information systems (HMIS is a key component of national health information systems (HIS, and actions required of hospital management to support information generation in Kenya are articulated in specific policy documents. We conducted an evaluation of core functions of data generation and reporting within hospitals in Kenya to facilitate interpretation of national reports and to provide guidance on key areas requiring improvement to support data use in decision making. Design: The survey was a cross-sectional, cluster sample study conducted in 22 hospitals in Kenya. The statistical analysis was descriptive with adjustment for clustering. Results: Most of the HMIS departments complied with formal guidance to develop departmental plans. However, only a few (3/22 had carried out a data quality audit in the 12 months prior to the survey. On average 3% (range 1–8% of the total hospital income was allocated to the HMIS departments. About half of the records officer positions were filled and about half (13/22 of hospitals had implemented some form of electronic health record largely focused on improving patient billing and not linked to the district HIS. Completeness of manual patient registers varied, being 90% (95% CI 80.1–99.3%, 75.8% (95% CI 68.7–82.8%, and 58% (95% CI 50.4–65.1% in maternal child health clinic, maternity, and pediatric wards, respectively. Vital events notification rates were low with 25.7, 42.6, and 71.3% of neonatal deaths, infant deaths, and live births recorded, respectively. Routine hospital reports suggested slight over-reporting of live births and under-reporting of fresh stillbirths and neonatal deaths. Conclusions: Study findings indicate that the HMIS does not deliver quality data. Significant constraints exist in data quality assurance, supervisory support, data infrastructure in respect to information and communications technology application, human resources, financial

  3. Integrating climatic and fuels information into National Fire Risk Decision Support Tools

    Science.gov (United States)

    W. Cooke; V. Anantharaj; C. Wax; J. Choi; K. Grala; M. Jolly; G.P. Dixon; J. Dyer; D.L. Evans; G.B. Goodrich

    2007-01-01

    The Wildland Fire Assessment System (WFAS) is a component of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service Decision Support Systems (DSS) that support fire potential modeling. Fire potential models for Mississippi and for Eastern fire environments have been developed as part of a National Aeronautic and Space Agency-funded study aimed at demonstrating the utility...

  4. Mindfulness Training Alters Emotional Memory Recall Compared to Active Controls: Support for an Emotional Information Processing Model of Mindfulness

    OpenAIRE

    Roberts-Wolfe, Douglas; Sacchet, Matthew D.; Hastings, Elizabeth; Roth, Harold; Britton, Willoughby

    2012-01-01

    Objectives: While mindfulness-based interventions have received widespread application in both clinical and non-clinical populations, the mechanism by which mindfulness meditation improves well-being remains elusive. One possibility is that mindfulness training alters the processing of emotional information, similar to prevailing cognitive models of depression and anxiety. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of mindfulness training on emotional information processing (i.e., m...

  5. Compact battery-less information terminal (CoBIT) for location-based support systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nishimura, Takuichi; Itoh, Hideo; Yamamoto, Yoshinobu; Nakashima, Hideyuki

    2002-06-01

    The target of ubiquitous computing environment is to support users to get necessary information and services in a situation-dependent form. Therefore, we propose a location-based information support system by using Compact Battery-less Information Terminal (CoBIT). A CoBIT can communicate with the environmental system and with the user by only the energy supply from the environment. It has a solar cell and get a modulated light from an environmental optical beam transmitter. The current from the solar cell is directly (or through passive circuit) introduced into an earphone, which generates sound for the user. The current is also used to make vibration, LED signal or electrical stimulus on the skin. The sizes of CoBITs are about 2cm in diameter, 3cm in length, which can be hanged on ears conveniently. The cost of it would be only about 1 dollar if produced massively. The CoBIT also has sheet type corner reflector, which reflect optical beam back in the direction of the light source. Therefore the environmental system can easily detect the terminal position and direction as well as some simple signs from the user by multiple cameras with infra-red LEDs. The system identifies the sign by the modulated patterns of the reflected light, which the user makes by occluding the reflector by hand. The environmental system also recognizes other objects using other sensors and displays video information on a nearby monitor in order to realize situated support.

  6. Competing infant feeding information in mothers' networks: advice that supports v. undermines clinical recommendations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ashida, Sato; Lynn, Freda B; Williams, Natalie A; Schafer, Ellen J

    2016-05-01

    To identify the social contextual factors, specifically the presence of information that supports v. undermines clinical recommendations, associated with infant feeding behaviours among mothers in low-income areas. Cross-sectional survey evaluating social support networks and social relationships involved in providing care to the infant along with feeding beliefs and practices. Out-patient paediatric and government-funded (Women, Infants, and Children) clinics in an urban, low-income area of the south-eastern USA. Eighty-one low-income mothers of infants between 0 and 12 months old. Most mothers reported receiving both supportive and undermining advice. The presence of breast-feeding advice that supports clinical recommendations was associated with two infant feeding practices that are considered beneficial to infant health: ever breast-feeding (OR=6·7; 95% CI 1·2, 38·1) and not adding cereal in the infant's bottle (OR=15·9; 95% CI 1·1, 227·4). Advice that undermines clinical recommendations to breast-feed and advice about solid foods were not associated with these behaviours. Efforts to facilitate optimal infant feeding practices may focus on increasing information supportive of clinical recommendations while concentrating less on reducing the presence of undermining information within mothers' networks. Cultural norms around breast-feeding may be stronger than the cultural norms around the introduction of solid foods in mothers' social environments; thus, additional efforts to increase information regarding introduction of solid foods earlier in mothers' infant care career may be beneficial.

  7. Information-Processing Models and Curriculum Design

    Science.gov (United States)

    Calfee, Robert C.

    1970-01-01

    "This paper consists of three sections--(a) the relation of theoretical analyses of learning to curriculum design, (b) the role of information-processing models in analyses of learning processes, and (c) selected examples of the application of information-processing models to curriculum design problems." (Author)

  8. Toward a Model of Human Information Processing for Decision-Making and Skill Acquisition in Laparoscopic Colorectal Surgery.

    Science.gov (United States)

    White, Eoin J; McMahon, Muireann; Walsh, Michael T; Coffey, J Calvin; O Sullivan, Leonard

    To create a human information-processing model for laparoscopic surgery based on already established literature and primary research to enhance laparoscopic surgical education in this context. We reviewed the literature for information-processing models most relevant to laparoscopic surgery. Our review highlighted the necessity for a model that accounts for dynamic environments, perception, allocation of attention resources between the actions of both hands of an operator, and skill acquisition and retention. The results of the literature review were augmented through intraoperative observations of 7 colorectal surgical procedures, supported by laparoscopic video analysis of 12 colorectal procedures. The Wickens human information-processing model was selected as the most relevant theoretical model to which we make adaptions for this specific application. We expanded the perception subsystem of the model to involve all aspects of perception during laparoscopic surgery. We extended the decision-making system to include dynamic decision-making to account for case/patient-specific and surgeon-specific deviations. The response subsystem now includes dual-task performance and nontechnical skills, such as intraoperative communication. The memory subsystem is expanded to include skill acquisition and retention. Surgical decision-making during laparoscopic surgery is the result of a highly complex series of processes influenced not only by the operator's knowledge, but also patient anatomy and interaction with the surgical team. Newer developments in simulation-based education must focus on the theoretically supported elements and events that underpin skill acquisition and affect the cognitive abilities of novice surgeons. The proposed human information-processing model builds on established literature regarding information processing, accounting for a dynamic environment of laparoscopic surgery. This revised model may be used as a foundation for a model describing robotic

  9. Informal support networks of low-income senior women living alone: evidence from Fort St. John, BC.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ryser, Laura; Halseth, Greg

    2011-01-01

    Within the context of an aging Canadian rural and small-town landscape, there is a growing trend of low-income senior women living alone. While there is a perception that rural seniors have well-developed social networks to meet their daily needs, some research suggests that economic and social restructuring processes have impacted the stability of seniors' support networks in small places. While much of the research on seniors' informal networks focuses upon small towns in decline, booming resource economies can also produce challenges for low-income senior women living alone due to both a higher cost of living and the retrenchment of government and service supports. Under such circumstances, an absence of informal supports can impact seniors' health and quality of life and may lead to premature institutionalization. Drawing upon a household survey in Fort St. John, British Columbia, we explore informal supports used by low-income senior women living alone in this different context of the Canadian landscape. Our findings indicate that these women not only have a support network that is comparable to other groups, but that they are also more likely to draw upon such supports to meet their independent-living needs. These women rely heavily on family support, however, and greater efforts are needed to diversify both their formal and informal sources of support as small family networks can quickly become overwhelmed.

  10. Nonmaterialized Relations and the Support of Information Retrieval Applications by Relational Database Systems.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lynch, Clifford A.

    1991-01-01

    Describes several aspects of the problem of supporting information retrieval system query requirements in the relational database management system (RDBMS) environment and proposes an extension to query processing called nonmaterialized relations. User interactions with information retrieval systems are discussed, and nonmaterialized relations are…

  11. SupportNet: a novel incremental learning framework through deep learning and support data

    KAUST Repository

    Li, Yu; Li, Zhongxiao; Ding, Lizhong; Hu, Yuhui; Chen, Wei; Gao, Xin

    2018-01-01

    Motivation: In most biological data sets, the amount of data is regularly growing and the number of classes is continuously increasing. To deal with the new data from the new classes, one approach is to train a classification model, e.g., a deep learning model, from scratch based on both old and new data. This approach is highly computationally costly and the extracted features are likely very different from the ones extracted by the model trained on the old data alone, which leads to poor model robustness. Another approach is to fine tune the trained model from the old data on the new data. However, this approach often does not have the ability to learn new knowledge without forgetting the previously learned knowledge, which is known as the catastrophic forgetting problem. To our knowledge, this problem has not been studied in the field of bioinformatics despite its existence in many bioinformatic problems. Results: Here we propose a novel method, SupportNet, to solve the catastrophic forgetting problem efficiently and effectively. SupportNet combines the strength of deep learning and support vector machine (SVM), where SVM is used to identify the support data from the old data, which are fed to the deep learning model together with the new data for further training so that the model can review the essential information of the old data when learning the new information. Two powerful consolidation regularizers are applied to ensure the robustness of the learned model. Comprehensive experiments on various tasks, including enzyme function prediction, subcellular structure classification and breast tumor classification, show that SupportNet drastically outperforms the state-of-the-art incremental learning methods and reaches similar performance as the deep learning model trained from scratch on both old and new data. Availability: Our program is accessible at: \\url{https://github.com/lykaust15/SupportNet}.

  12. SupportNet: a novel incremental learning framework through deep learning and support data

    KAUST Repository

    Li, Yu

    2018-05-08

    Motivation: In most biological data sets, the amount of data is regularly growing and the number of classes is continuously increasing. To deal with the new data from the new classes, one approach is to train a classification model, e.g., a deep learning model, from scratch based on both old and new data. This approach is highly computationally costly and the extracted features are likely very different from the ones extracted by the model trained on the old data alone, which leads to poor model robustness. Another approach is to fine tune the trained model from the old data on the new data. However, this approach often does not have the ability to learn new knowledge without forgetting the previously learned knowledge, which is known as the catastrophic forgetting problem. To our knowledge, this problem has not been studied in the field of bioinformatics despite its existence in many bioinformatic problems. Results: Here we propose a novel method, SupportNet, to solve the catastrophic forgetting problem efficiently and effectively. SupportNet combines the strength of deep learning and support vector machine (SVM), where SVM is used to identify the support data from the old data, which are fed to the deep learning model together with the new data for further training so that the model can review the essential information of the old data when learning the new information. Two powerful consolidation regularizers are applied to ensure the robustness of the learned model. Comprehensive experiments on various tasks, including enzyme function prediction, subcellular structure classification and breast tumor classification, show that SupportNet drastically outperforms the state-of-the-art incremental learning methods and reaches similar performance as the deep learning model trained from scratch on both old and new data. Availability: Our program is accessible at: \\\\url{https://github.com/lykaust15/SupportNet}.

  13. Informing Public Perceptions About Climate Change: A 'Mental Models' Approach.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wong-Parodi, Gabrielle; Bruine de Bruin, Wändi

    2017-10-01

    As the specter of climate change looms on the horizon, people will face complex decisions about whether to support climate change policies and how to cope with climate change impacts on their lives. Without some grasp of the relevant science, they may find it hard to make informed decisions. Climate experts therefore face the ethical need to effectively communicate to non-expert audiences. Unfortunately, climate experts may inadvertently violate the maxims of effective communication, which require sharing communications that are truthful, brief, relevant, clear, and tested for effectiveness. Here, we discuss the 'mental models' approach towards developing communications, which aims to help experts to meet the maxims of effective communications, and to better inform the judgments and decisions of non-expert audiences.

  14. Assessing exposure to violence using multiple informants: application of hierarchical linear model.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kuo, M; Mohler, B; Raudenbush, S L; Earls, F J

    2000-11-01

    The present study assesses the effects of demographic risk factors on children's exposure to violence (ETV) and how these effects vary by informants. Data on exposure to violence of 9-, 12-, and 15-year-olds were collected from both child participants (N = 1880) and parents (N = 1776), as part of the assessment of the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods (PHDCN). A two-level hierarchical linear model (HLM) with multivariate outcomes was employed to analyze information obtained from these two different groups of informants. The findings indicate that parents generally report less ETV than do their children and that associations of age, gender, and parent education with ETV are stronger in the self-reports than in the parent reports. The findings support a multivariate approach when information obtained from different sources is being integrated. The application of HLM allows an assessment of interactions between risk factors and informants and uses all available data, including data from one informant when data from the other informant is missing.

  15. 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

  16. Lagrangian modeling of atmospheric dispersion of radionuclides and geographical information systems as tools to support emergency planning in area of influence of nuclear complex of Angra dos Reis, RJ, Brazil

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Silva, Corbiniano

    2013-01-01

    Industrial accidents generally endanger structures and the set of environmental influence area where the enterprises are located, especially when affected by atmospheric dispersion of their pollutants, whose concern with the evacuation of the population is the main goal in emergency situations. Considering the nuclear complex Angra dos Reis - RJ, based on computer modeling analysis of the mechanisms of pollutant dispersion in conjunction with geographic information systems were developed. Thus, information about the dispersion of radionuclides - from simulations performed on the HYSPLIT; meteorological data (direction, intensity and calm on the wind regime and analysis of the wind field in the region using WRF), occurrence of landslides and data on the environmental study area were integrated into a GIS database using ArcGIS platform. Aiming at the identification and definition of escape routes in case of evacuation from accidental events in CNAAA, the results point solutions for long-term planning, based on weather and landslides, and short-term, supported by simulations of the dispersion radionuclides, in order to support actions that assist local emergency planning. (author)

  17. Determination of the Support Level of Local Organizations in a Model Forest Initiative: Do Local Stakeholders Have Willingness to Be Involved in the Model Forest Development?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ahmet Tolunay

    2014-10-01

    Full Text Available Voluntary cooperation and the support of stakeholders carry a major importance in the development of Model Forests. The identification of the support level of local organizations as stakeholders in the Bucak Model Forest initiative, located in the Mediterranean region of Turkey, constitutes the theme of this study. Within this scope, the views of the stakeholders comprising local government units (LGUs, non-governmental organizations (NGOs, village councils (VCs, professional organizations (POs and forest products enterprises (FPEs located in the district of Bucak were collected by utilizing a survey technique. The data were analysed by using non-parametric statistical analyses due to the absence of a normal distribution. The results show that the information provided about the Model Forest concept to the stakeholders located in the district on the Bucak Model Forest initiative was identified as a factor impacting the support level. Moreover, it was also observed that the stakeholders were more willing to provide advisory support rather than financial support. NGOs and VCs were identified as stakeholders who could not provide financial support due to their restricted budgets. We discuss the benefits for a Model Forest initiative of establishing international cooperation to strengthen the local and regional sustainable development process.

  18. Agent-Based Model of Information Security System: Architecture and Formal Framework for Coordinated Intelligent Agents Behavior Specification

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Gorodetski, Vladimir

    2001-01-01

    The contractor will research and further develop the technology supporting an agent-based architecture for an information security system and a formal framework to specify a model of distributed knowledge...

  19. Factors of adoption of mobile information technology by homecare nurses: a technology acceptance model 2 approach.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Huiying; Cocosila, Mihail; Archer, Norm

    2010-01-01

    Pervasive healthcare support through mobile information technology solutions is playing an increasing role in the attempt to improve healthcare and reduce costs. Despite the apparent attractiveness, many mobile applications have failed or have not been implemented as predicted. Among factors possibly leading to such outcomes, technology adoption is a key problem. This must be investigated early in the development process because healthcare is a particularly sensitive area with vital social implications. Moreover, it is important to investigate technology acceptance using the support of scientific tools validated for relevant information systems research. This article presents an empirical study based on the Technology Acceptance Model 2 in mobile homecare nursing. The study elicited the perceptions of 91 Canadian nurses who used personal digital assistants for 1 month in their daily activities. A partial least squares modeling data analysis revealed that nurse's perception of usefulness is the main factor in the adoption of mobile technology, having subjective norm and image within the organization as significant antecedents. Overall, this study was the first attempt at investigating scientifically, through a pertinent information systems research model, user adoption of mobile systems by homecare nursing personnel.

  20. Communications tools in research projects to support Semi and Non Structured Information

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Astrid Jaime

    2005-06-01

    Full Text Available Innovation and thus the production of knowledge becomes a factor of competitiveness. In this context quality management could be complemented by knowledge management to aim the improvement of knowledge production by research activities process. To this end, after describing knowledge and informa-tion typologies in engineering activities, a knowledge man-agement system is proposed. The goal is to support: (1 Semi-Structured Information (e.g. reports, etc. thanks to the BASIC-Lab tool functions, which are based on attributing points of view and annotations to documents and document zones, and (2 Non-Structured Information (such as mail, dialogues, etc., thanks to MICA-Graph approach which intends to support ex-change of technical messages that concerns common resolution of research problems within project teams and to capitalise relevant knowledge. For the both approaches, prototype tools have been developed and evaluated, primarily to feed back with manufacturing knowledge in the EADS industrial envi-ronment.

  1. Regulatory research and support program for 1992/93 - project descriptions. Information bulletin

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1992-01-01

    The Regulatory Research and Support Program (RSP) is intended to augment and extend the Atomic Energy Control Board's regulatory program beyond the capability of in-house resources. The overall objective of the research and support program is to produce pertinent and independent information that will assist the Board and its staff in making correct, timely and credible decisions on regulating nuclear facilities and materials

  2. Regulatory research and support program for 1992/93 - project descriptions. Information bulletin

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    1992-03-02

    The Regulatory Research and Support Program (RSP) is intended to augment and extend the Atomic Energy Control Board`s regulatory program beyond the capability of in-house resources. The overall objective of the research and support program is to produce pertinent and independent information that will assist the Board and its staff in making correct, timely and credible decisions on regulating nuclear facilities and materials.

  3. Overload prevention in model supports for wind tunnel model testing

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Anton IVANOVICI

    2015-09-01

    Full Text Available Preventing overloads in wind tunnel model supports is crucial to the integrity of the tested system. Results can only be interpreted as valid if the model support, conventionally called a sting remains sufficiently rigid during testing. Modeling and preliminary calculation can only give an estimate of the sting’s behavior under known forces and moments but sometimes unpredictable, aerodynamically caused model behavior can cause large transient overloads that cannot be taken into account at the sting design phase. To ensure model integrity and data validity an analog fast protection circuit was designed and tested. A post-factum analysis was carried out to optimize the overload detection and a short discussion on aeroelastic phenomena is included to show why such a detector has to be very fast. The last refinement of the concept consists in a fast detector coupled with a slightly slower one to differentiate between transient overloads that decay in time and those that are the result of aeroelastic unwanted phenomena. The decision to stop or continue the test is therefore conservatively taken preserving data and model integrity while allowing normal startup loads and transients to manifest.

  4. Development of the Real Time Situation Identification Model for Adaptive Service Support in Vehicular Communication Networks Domain

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mindaugas Kurmis

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available The article discusses analyses and assesses the key proposals how to deal with the situation identification for the heterogeneous service support in vehicular cooperation environment. This is one of the most important topics of the pervasive computing. Without the solution it is impossible to adequately respond to the user's needs and to provide needed services in the right place at the right moment and in the right way. In this work we present our developed real time situation identification model for adaptive service support in vehicular communication networks domain. Our solution is different from the others as it uses additional virtual context information source - information from other vehicles which for our knowledge is not addressed in the past. The simulation results show the promising context exchange rate between vehicles. The other vehicles provided additional context source in our developed model helps to increase situations identification level.

  5. A reference model catalog for the energy industry. Management of information models for software product managers at methodical analyses; Ein Referenzmodellkatalog fuer die Energiewirtschaft. Management von Informationsmodellen fuer Softwareproduktmanager bei der Anforderungsanalyse

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Gonzalez Vazqez, Jose Manuel

    2012-11-01

    The German energy market is facing several challenges due to changes in regulation, technical advancements as well as increasing energy costs and climate achievements like CO{sub 2} reduction. On the one hand laws have been approved to encourage competition in the German energy sector like the legal unbundling as described in the German energy industry act (''Energiewirtschaftsgesetz''). On the other hand, technical advancements lead to new products and services like Demand Side Management and Automated Meter Reading. This results in changing requirements for companies in the energy market and, thus, business information systems which support their core tasks and processes. Software product managers in energy and software developing companies in charge of driving the functional development of information systems have to deal with those challenges and need to develop new information systems or enhance existing ones. Reference models, also referred to as conceptual models, proved helpful to design and implement information systems within several industries. In the energy market, several heterogeneous information sources like IT standards, descriptions of information systems, enterprise specific models, laws and regulation exist. They provide valuable domain knowledge to support business driven information systems development. However due to the lack of a structured access to information sources in the energy market, identification and management of models as well as conducting impact analysis of model changes results difficult. Here the development of methods and concepts is needed which consider and integrate the difficult terminologies of the heterogeneous sources and hence make them accessible. This thesis aims at supporting software product manager in the German electricity and gas market within their requirements analysis by providing a systematic access to the different information sources. In this thesis, methods to construct, use and

  6. The Role of Masculine Norms and Informal Support on Mental Health in Incarcerated Men.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Iwamoto, Derek Kenji; Gordon, Derrick; Oliveros, Arazais; Perez-Cabello, Arturo; Brabham, Tamika; Lanza, Steve; Dyson, William

    2012-07-01

    Mental health problems, in general, and major depression in particular, are prevalent among incarcerated men. It is estimated that 23% of state inmates report experiencing symptoms of major depression. Despite the high rates of depressive symptoms, there is little understanding about the psychosocial factors that are associated with depressive and anxiety symptoms of incarcerated men. One factor relevant to the mental health of incarcerated men is their adherence to traditional masculine norms. We investigated the role of masculine norms and informal support on depressive and anxiety symptoms among 123 incarcerated men. The results revealed that adherence to the masculine norm of emotional control were negatively associated with depressive symptoms while heterosexual presentation and informal support were related to both depressive and anxiety symptoms. High levels of reported informal support moderated the effects of heterosexual presentation on depressive and anxiety symptoms. Public health and clinical implications are discussed.

  7. Clinical decision support for whole genome sequence information leveraging a service-oriented architecture: a prototype.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Welch, Brandon M; Rodriguez-Loya, Salvador; Eilbeck, Karen; Kawamoto, Kensaku

    2014-01-01

    Whole genome sequence (WGS) information could soon be routinely available to clinicians to support the personalized care of their patients. At such time, clinical decision support (CDS) integrated into the clinical workflow will likely be necessary to support genome-guided clinical care. Nevertheless, developing CDS capabilities for WGS information presents many unique challenges that need to be overcome for such approaches to be effective. In this manuscript, we describe the development of a prototype CDS system that is capable of providing genome-guided CDS at the point of care and within the clinical workflow. To demonstrate the functionality of this prototype, we implemented a clinical scenario of a hypothetical patient at high risk for Lynch Syndrome based on his genomic information. We demonstrate that this system can effectively use service-oriented architecture principles and standards-based components to deliver point of care CDS for WGS information in real-time.

  8. A parameter network and model pyramid for managing technical information flow

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sinnock, S.; Hartman, H.A.

    1994-01-01

    Prototypes of information management tools have been developed that can help communicate the technical basis for nuclear waste disposal to a broad audience of program scientists and engineers, project managers, and informed observers from stakeholder organizations. These tools include system engineering concepts, parameter networks expressed as influence diagrams, associated model hierarchies, and a relational database. These tools are used to express relationships among data-collection parameters, model input parameters, model output parameters, systems requirements, physical elements of a system description, and functional analysis of the contribution of physical elements and their associated parameters in satisfying the system requirements. By organizing parameters, models, physical elements, functions, and requirements in a visually reviewable network and a relational database the severe communication challenges facing participants in the nuclear waste dialog can be addressed. The network identifies the influences that data collected in the field have on measures of repository suitability, providing a visual, traceable map that clarifies the role of data and models in supporting conclusions about repository suitability. The map allows conclusions to be traced directly to the underlying parameters and models. Uncertainty in these underlying elements can be exposed to open review in the context of the effects uncertainty has on judgements about suitability. A parameter network provides a stage upon which an informed social dialog about the technical merits of a nuclear waste repository can be conducted. The basis for such dialog must be that stage, if decisions about repository suitability are to be based on a repository's ability to meet requirements embodied in laws and regulations governing disposal of nuclear wastes

  9. Integrating decision support tools and environmental information systems: a case study on the Province of Milan

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bagli, S.; Pistocchi, A.; Mazzoli, P.; Valentini, P.

    2006-01-01

    The paper demonstrates an application of advanced decision support tools within the framework of the environmental information system of the Province of Milan. These tools include environmental simulation models, multi criteria analysis, risk analysis and environmental accounting for marketable emission permits. After describing the general structure of the system, three demonstrational case studies are introduced concerning: groundwater pollution management; atmospheric pollution management; urban environmental quality perception and management. In the conclusion, potential use of tools like the ones implemented by the province of Milan within the framework of Local Agenda 21 processes is recalled [it

  10. Modeling traceability information and functionality requirement in export-oriented tilapia chain.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Xiaoshuan; Feng, Jianying; Xu, Mark; Hu, Jinyou

    2011-05-01

    Tilapia has been named as the 'food fish of the 21st century' and has become the most important farmed fish. China is the world leader in tilapia production and export. Identifying information and functional requirements is critical in developing an efficient traceability system because traceability has become a fundamental prerequisite for exporting aquaculture products. This paper examines the export-oriented tilapia chains and information flow in the chains, and identifies the key actors, information requirements and information-capturing points. Unified Modeling Language (UML) technology is adopted to describe the information and functionality requirement for chain traceability. The barriers of traceability system adoption are also identified. The results show that the traceability data consist of four categories that must be recorded by each link in the chain. The functionality requirement is classified into four categories from the fundamental information record to decisive quality control; the top three barriers to the traceability system adoption are: high costs of implementing the system, lack of experienced and professional staff; and low level of government involvement and support. Copyright © 2011 Society of Chemical Industry.

  11. 75 FR 1617 - Draft Toxicological Review of Methanol: In Support of the Summary Information in the Integrated...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-12

    ... Toxicological Review of Methanol: In Support of the Summary Information in the Integrated Risk Information... external review draft document titled ``Toxicological Review of Methanol: In Support of Summary Information... methanol will be held on February 23, 2010, beginning at 9 a.m. and ending at 4 p.m., Eastern Standard Time...

  12. Information delivery manuals to integrate building product information into design

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Berard, Ole Bengt; Karlshøj, Jan

    2013-01-01

    Despite continuing BIM progress, professionals in the AEC industry often lack the information they need to perform their work. Although this problem could be alleviated by information systems similar to those in other industries, companies struggle to model processes and information needs....... Traditional business process modeling languages often fail to completely cover all four perspectives. BuildingSMART has proposed Information Delivery Manuals (IDMs) to model and re-engineer processes that address the four perspectives through a collaborative methodology in order to standardize and implement...... in the manner necessary to develop information systems that support digital collaboration, workflows, and information exchange. Processes for information systems can be described from four perspectives: task sequence, information need, organizational interaction, and required logic for the specific task...

  13. Supporting interoperability of collaborative networks through engineering of a service-based Mediation Information System (MISE 2.0)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Benaben, Frederick; Mu, Wenxin; Boissel-Dallier, Nicolas; Barthe-Delanoe, Anne-Marie; Zribi, Sarah; Pingaud, Herve

    2015-08-01

    The Mediation Information System Engineering project is currently finishing its second iteration (MISE 2.0). The main objective of this scientific project is to provide any emerging collaborative situation with methods and tools to deploy a Mediation Information System (MIS). MISE 2.0 aims at defining and designing a service-based platform, dedicated to initiating and supporting the interoperability of collaborative situations among potential partners. This MISE 2.0 platform implements a model-driven engineering approach to the design of a service-oriented MIS dedicated to supporting the collaborative situation. This approach is structured in three layers, each providing their own key innovative points: (i) the gathering of individual and collaborative knowledge to provide appropriate collaborative business behaviour (key point: knowledge management, including semantics, exploitation and capitalisation), (ii) deployment of a mediation information system able to computerise the previously deduced collaborative processes (key point: the automatic generation of collaborative workflows, including connection with existing devices or services) (iii) the management of the agility of the obtained collaborative network of organisations (key point: supervision of collaborative situations and relevant exploitation of the gathered data). MISE covers business issues (through BPM), technical issues (through an SOA) and agility issues of collaborative situations (through EDA).

  14. Operationalizing an "Information Ecosystem" to support information management work of the Long-Term Agroecosystem Research (LTAR) network

    Science.gov (United States)

    As data collection ramps up across the LTAR Network, the “information ecosystem” (Kaplan et al. 2016 and Nardi and O’Day, 1999) must support three domains of sustainable agriculture, and data flow needs to be operationalized. Approaches to prioritizing, designing, and developing shared cyberinfrastr...

  15. 76 FR 36534 - Toxicological Review of Methanol (Non-Cancer): In Support of Summary Information on the...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-06-22

    ... Review of Methanol (Non-Cancer): In Support of Summary Information on the Integrated Risk Information... review draft human health assessment titled ``Toxicological Review of Methanol (Non- Cancer): In Support... Toxicological Review of Methanol (Non-Cancer) and announcing a 14-day public comment period for the addendum...

  16. Informational and emotional elements in online support groups: a Bayesian approach to large-scale content analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Deetjen, Ulrike; Powell, John A

    2016-05-01

    This research examines the extent to which informational and emotional elements are employed in online support forums for 14 purposively sampled chronic medical conditions and the factors that influence whether posts are of a more informational or emotional nature. Large-scale qualitative data were obtained from Dailystrength.org. Based on a hand-coded training dataset, all posts were classified into informational or emotional using a Bayesian classification algorithm to generalize the findings. Posts that could not be classified with a probability of at least 75% were excluded. The overall tendency toward emotional posts differs by condition: mental health (depression, schizophrenia) and Alzheimer's disease consist of more emotional posts, while informational posts relate more to nonterminal physical conditions (irritable bowel syndrome, diabetes, asthma). There is no gender difference across conditions, although prostate cancer forums are oriented toward informational support, whereas breast cancer forums rather feature emotional support. Across diseases, the best predictors for emotional content are lower age and a higher number of overall posts by the support group member. The results are in line with previous empirical research and unify empirical findings from single/2-condition research. Limitations include the analytical restriction to predefined categories (informational, emotional) through the chosen machine-learning approach. Our findings provide an empirical foundation for building theory on informational versus emotional support across conditions, give insights for practitioners to better understand the role of online support groups for different patients, and show the usefulness of machine-learning approaches to analyze large-scale qualitative health data from online settings. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the American Medical Informatics Association. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  17. Modeling the reemergence of information diffusion in social network

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yang, Dingda; Liao, Xiangwen; Shen, Huawei; Cheng, Xueqi; Chen, Guolong

    2018-01-01

    Information diffusion in networks is an important research topic in various fields. Existing studies either focus on modeling the process of information diffusion, e.g., independent cascade model and linear threshold model, or investigate information diffusion in networks with certain structural characteristics such as scale-free networks and small world networks. However, there are still several phenomena that have not been captured by existing information diffusion models. One of the prominent phenomena is the reemergence of information diffusion, i.e., a piece of information reemerges after the completion of its initial diffusion process. In this paper, we propose an optimized information diffusion model by introducing a new informed state into traditional susceptible-infected-removed model. We verify the proposed model via simulations in real-world social networks, and the results indicate that the model can reproduce the reemergence of information during the diffusion process.

  18. A Systematic Review of Unmet Information and Psychosocial Support Needs of Adults Diagnosed with Thyroid Cancer.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hyun, Yong Gyu; Alhashemi, Ahmad; Fazelzad, Rouhi; Goldberg, Alyse S; Goldstein, David P; Sawka, Anna M

    2016-09-01

    Patient education and psychosocial support to patients are important elements of comprehensive cancer care, but the needs of thyroid cancer survivors are not well understood. The published English-language quantitative literature on (i) unmet medical information and (ii) psychosocial support needs of thyroid cancer survivors was systematically reviewed. A librarian information specialist searched seven electronic databases and a hand search was conducted. Two reviewers independently screened citations from the electronic search and reviewed relevant full-text papers. There was consensus between reviewers on the included papers, and duplicate independent abstraction was performed. The results were summarized descriptively. A total of 1984 unique electronic citations were screened, and 51 full-text studies were reviewed (three from the hand search). Seven cross-sectional, single-arm, survey studies were included, containing data from 6215 thyroid cancer survivor respondents. The respective study sizes ranged from 57 to 2398 subjects. All of the studies had some methodological limitations. Unmet information needs were variable relating to the disease, diagnostic tests, treatments, and co-ordination of medical care. There were relatively high unmet information needs related to aftercare (especially long-term effects of the disease or its treatment and its management) and psychosocial concerns (including practical and financial matters). Psychosocial support needs were incompletely met. Patient information on complementary and alternative medicine was very limited. In conclusion, thyroid cancer survivors perceive many unmet information needs, and these needs extend to aftercare. Psychosocial information and supportive care needs may be insufficiently met in this population. More work is needed to improve knowledge translation and psychosocial support for thyroid cancer survivors.

  19. Modeling of ETL-Processes and Processed Information in Clinical Data Warehousing.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tute, Erik; Steiner, Jochen

    2018-01-01

    Literature describes a big potential for reuse of clinical patient data. A clinical data warehouse (CDWH) is a means for that. To support management and maintenance of processes extracting, transforming and loading (ETL) data into CDWHs as well as to ease reuse of metadata between regular IT-management, CDWH and secondary data users by providing a modeling approach. Expert survey and literature review to find requirements and existing modeling techniques. An ETL-modeling-technique was developed extending existing modeling techniques. Evaluation by exemplarily modeling existing ETL-process and a second expert survey. Nine experts participated in the first survey. Literature review yielded 15 included publications. Six existing modeling techniques were identified. A modeling technique extending 3LGM2 and combining it with openEHR information models was developed and evaluated. Seven experts participated in the evaluation. The developed approach can help in management and maintenance of ETL-processes and could serve as interface between regular IT-management, CDWH and secondary data users.

  20. The Research on Informal Learning Model of College Students Based on SNS and Case Study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lu, Peng; Cong, Xiao; Bi, Fangyan; Zhou, Dongdai

    2017-03-01

    With the rapid development of network technology, informal learning based on online become the main way for college students to learn a variety of subject knowledge. The favor to the SNS community of students and the characteristics of SNS itself provide a good opportunity for the informal learning of college students. This research first analyzes the related research of the informal learning and SNS, next, discusses the characteristics of informal learning and theoretical basis. Then, it proposed an informal learning model of college students based on SNS according to the support role of SNS to the informal learning of students. Finally, according to the theoretical model and the principles proposed in this study, using the Elgg and related tools which is the open source SNS program to achieve the informal learning community. This research is trying to overcome issues such as the lack of social realism, interactivity, resource transfer mode in the current network informal learning communities, so as to provide a new way of informal learning for college students.

  1. Information technology to support informal knowledge sharing

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Davison, R.M.; Ou, C.X.J.; Martinsons, M.G.

    2013-01-01

    The knowledge management (KM) literature largely focuses on the explicit and formal representation of knowledge in computer-based KM systems. Informal KM practices are widespread, but less is known about them. This paper aims to redress this imbalance by exploring the use of interactive information

  2. Cost (and Quality and Value) of Information Technology Support in Large Research Universities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Peebles, Christopher S.; Antolovic, Laurie

    1999-01-01

    Shows how financial and quality measures associated with the Balanced Scorecard (developed by Kaplan and Norton to measure organizational performance) can be applied to information technology (IT) user education and support in large research universities. Focuses on University Information Technology Services that has measured the quality of IT…

  3. Fracture network modeling and GoldSim simulation support

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sugita, Kenichiro; Dershowitz, William

    2004-01-01

    During Heisei-15, Golder Associates provided support for JNC Tokai through discrete fracture network data analysis and simulation of the MIU Underground Rock Laboratory, participation in Task 6 of the Aespoe Task Force on Modelling of Groundwater Flow and Transport, and development of methodologies for analysis of repository site characterization strategies and safety assessment. MIU Underground Rock Laboratory support during H-15 involved development of new discrete fracture network (DFN) models for the MIU Shoba-sama Site, in the region of shaft development. Golder developed three DFN models for the site using discrete fracture network, equivalent porous medium (EPM), and nested DFN/EPM approaches. Each of these models were compared based upon criteria established for the multiple modeling project (MMP). Golder supported JNC participation in Task 6AB, 6D and 6E of the Aespoe Task Force on Modelling of Groundwater Flow and Transport during H-15. For Task 6AB, Golder implemented an updated microstructural model in GoldSim, and used this updated model to simulate the propagation of uncertainty from experimental to safety assessment time scales, for 5 m scale transport path lengths. Task 6D and 6E compared safety assessment (PA) and experimental time scale simulations in a 200 m scale discrete fracture network. For Task 6D, Golder implemented a DFN model using FracMan/PA Works, and determined the sensitivity of solute transport to a range of material property and geometric assumptions. For Task 6E, Golder carried out demonstration FracMan/PA Works transport calculations at a 1 million year time scale, to ensure that task specifications are realistic. The majority of work for Task 6E will be carried out during H-16. During H-15, Golder supported JNC's Total System Performance Assessment (TSPO) strategy by developing technologies for the analysis of precipitant concentration. These approaches were based on the GoldSim precipitant data management features, and were

  4. Translating building information modeling to building energy modeling using model view definition.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jeong, WoonSeong; Kim, Jong Bum; Clayton, Mark J; Haberl, Jeff S; Yan, Wei

    2014-01-01

    This paper presents a new approach to translate between Building Information Modeling (BIM) and Building Energy Modeling (BEM) that uses Modelica, an object-oriented declarative, equation-based simulation environment. The approach (BIM2BEM) has been developed using a data modeling method to enable seamless model translations of building geometry, materials, and topology. Using data modeling, we created a Model View Definition (MVD) consisting of a process model and a class diagram. The process model demonstrates object-mapping between BIM and Modelica-based BEM (ModelicaBEM) and facilitates the definition of required information during model translations. The class diagram represents the information and object relationships to produce a class package intermediate between the BIM and BEM. The implementation of the intermediate class package enables system interface (Revit2Modelica) development for automatic BIM data translation into ModelicaBEM. In order to demonstrate and validate our approach, simulation result comparisons have been conducted via three test cases using (1) the BIM-based Modelica models generated from Revit2Modelica and (2) BEM models manually created using LBNL Modelica Buildings library. Our implementation shows that BIM2BEM (1) enables BIM models to be translated into ModelicaBEM models, (2) enables system interface development based on the MVD for thermal simulation, and (3) facilitates the reuse of original BIM data into building energy simulation without an import/export process.

  5. Translating Building Information Modeling to Building Energy Modeling Using Model View Definition

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    WoonSeong Jeong

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper presents a new approach to translate between Building Information Modeling (BIM and Building Energy Modeling (BEM that uses Modelica, an object-oriented declarative, equation-based simulation environment. The approach (BIM2BEM has been developed using a data modeling method to enable seamless model translations of building geometry, materials, and topology. Using data modeling, we created a Model View Definition (MVD consisting of a process model and a class diagram. The process model demonstrates object-mapping between BIM and Modelica-based BEM (ModelicaBEM and facilitates the definition of required information during model translations. The class diagram represents the information and object relationships to produce a class package intermediate between the BIM and BEM. The implementation of the intermediate class package enables system interface (Revit2Modelica development for automatic BIM data translation into ModelicaBEM. In order to demonstrate and validate our approach, simulation result comparisons have been conducted via three test cases using (1 the BIM-based Modelica models generated from Revit2Modelica and (2 BEM models manually created using LBNL Modelica Buildings library. Our implementation shows that BIM2BEM (1 enables BIM models to be translated into ModelicaBEM models, (2 enables system interface development based on the MVD for thermal simulation, and (3 facilitates the reuse of original BIM data into building energy simulation without an import/export process.

  6. Modeling and management of information supporting functional dimension of Collaborative Networks

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Afsarmanesh, H.; Ermilova, E.; Msanjila, S.S.; Camarinha-Matos, L.M.; Hameurlain, A.; Küng, J.; Wagner, R.

    2009-01-01

    Fluent creation of opportunity-based short-term Collaborative Networks (CNs) among organizations or individuals requires the availability of a variety of up-to-date information. A pre-established properly administrated strategic-alliance Collaborative Network (CN) can act as the breeding environment

  7. Groups like the support sharing channel of information and knowledge

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Armando Sergio de Aguiar Filho

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available Introduction: The role of sharing information and knowledge which tends to lead to a new understanding of distribution channels, allowing the maturation of sharing concept and its relationship to the process of information management. This interaction arises range of alternatives par as organizations relate internally with employees and externally with your audience. Objects: The goal is to survey and presentation of studies related to information sharing and knowledge channels, trying to identify its correlates in the area of administration. Methodology: The work was developed from a literature search. For both sought to initially align the concepts and terminology of information science area and a second time to identify a differentiated approach to sharing that would contribute to validate the interdisciplinary character of the information area and the contribution that other areas can make to the studies of information management and knowledge. Results: The analysis of the survey indicated considerations relevant to the understanding of the various approaches used in relation to the sharing of channels, as well as the common and different characteristics of these media and the impact on their dynamics. Conclusions: The Support Group terminology is one of several approaches used in the sharing of information and knowledge, and, like the other approaches presented to assess and promote better information services to meet the specific demands.

  8. INFORMATION TECHNOLOGIES IN INSURANCE SALES SUPPORT

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Stofor Ovidiu-Ilie

    2012-07-01

    Full Text Available Insurance system in Romania is carried out with a constant natural activity, evolving quite honorably these times. This is largely due to the difficulty with which insurance is sold in normal economic conditions when it comes to prosperity. Although psychologists, led by Maslow believes that the protection needs are basic needs, along with the physiological one, on the priority list regarding procurement, insurance needs are for some Romanians, of minimum or no importance, so that they are either pushed to the bottom of the list, or even, as it most often happens, they are non existent. Current economic conditions and climate, urges caution on most fields, especially in terms of individual properties, including, how somewhat forced, life and physical integrity which are still considered property, if this aspect is not debated in terms of Christian or other religious dogma. In other words, many Romanians see insurance as a product that “is not up their alley” including it in the luxury category. Furthermore, the media shows, sometimes amplify certain cases of doubt in relations between insurance company - customer. Appropriate marketing, allied with the information technology can improve the complete relationship between the two entities - the offeror and the consumer. Through this study we aim to identify important issues that facilitate the sale of insurance, using information technology, given that the sales of these financial products through the "ancestral" methods are effective but not very efficient. We will follow, byanchoring to the current reality, the insurance utility and how to use information technologies in support of marketing (sales. The study itself was done by observing the results in practical work, from an insurance agency, but also related to what the literature offers. Because this study is currently underway, there are certainly some limitations of accuracy of results, which are adjusted "on the fly". Realizing

  9. Aquapath-Soil: Supporting farmers with hydrologic models and EO data

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chambel-Leitao, Pedro; Almeida, Carina; Jauch, Eduardo; Rosado, Hugo; Rocha, António; Leitão, José; Neves, Ramiro

    2013-04-01

    The AquaPath-Soil service (support to agricultural production) aims to provide support services for irrigation, based on the use of satellite images, hydrological models and meteorological data. Users can observe the project results through the website page (http://www.agro-evapo.eu) maps of Leaf Area Index (LAI), and animated maps of Actual Evapotranspiration (ETA) or receive SMS throughout the period with meteorological information and actual evapotranspiration. The service has been tested for a period of 3 years, and presently has about 80 pivot being covered by the service. The farmers evaluated positively the service and the service will continue in 2013. ETA maps are generated by MOHID LAND model and represent the evapotranspiration accumulated weekly throughout the growing period of maize between May and September, using LAI as input. Both this models (SWAT and MOHID LAND) calculate plant growth, actual evapotranspiration and soil moisture by explicitly calculating water balance of the system soil-plant-atmosphere. The information provided in the SMS is obtained through SWAT model running in forecast mode using meteorological data from the previous week and forecasts for the next week. The weather data is from the closest station of each field (precipitation, temperature, relative humidity, wind speed and solar radiation). The weather forecasts are obtained from the MM5 model (http://meteo.ist.utl.pt). Models and satellite images have been validated during this last three years using field measurements and farmers support. Main challenge of Aquapath-Soil service is the reduction of operational costs, mainly related with satellite acquisition and processing. The recently approved SenSyF FP7 project will implement a framework to obtain this aim. The SenSyF project proposes a complete system for fully automated data acquisition and processing. The SenSyF project provides a specialized Sandbox Service with tools and development/validation platforms where

  10. Supporting Evidence-Informed Teaching in Biomedical and Health Professions Education Through Knowledge Translation: An Interdisciplinary Literature Review.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tractenberg, Rochelle E; Gordon, Morris

    2017-01-01

    Phenomenon: The purpose of "systematic" reviews/reviewers of medical and health professions educational research is to identify best practices. This qualitative article explores the question of whether systematic reviews can support "evidence informed" teaching and contrasts traditional systematic reviewing with a knowledge translation (KT) approach to this objective. Degrees of freedom analysis (DOFA) is used to examine the alignment of systematic review methods with educational research and the pedagogical strategies and approaches that might be considered with a decision-making framework developed to support valid assessment. This method is also used to explore how KT can be used to inform teaching and learning. The nature of educational research is not compatible with most (11/14) methods for systematic review. The inconsistency of systematic reviewing with the nature of educational research impedes both the identification and implementation of "best-evidence" pedagogy and teaching. This is primarily because research questions that do support the purposes of review do not support educational decision making. By contrast to systematic reviews of the literature, both a DOFA and KT are fully compatible with informing teaching using evidence. A DOFA supports the translation of theory to a specific teaching or learning case, so could be considered a type of KT. The DOFA results in a test of alignment of decision options with relevant educational theory, and KT leads to interventions in teaching or learning that can be evaluated. Examples of how to structure evaluable interventions are derived from a KT approach that are simply not available from a systematic review. Insights: Systematic reviewing of current empirical educational research is not suitable for deriving or supporting best practices in education. However, both "evidence-informed" and scholarly approaches to teaching can be supported as KT projects, which are inherently evaluable and can generate

  11. Looking Forward: Using Scenario Modeling to Support Regional Land Use Planning in Northern Yukon, Canada

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Shawn R. Francis

    2011-12-01

    We describe how the ALCES® landscape cumulative effects simulation model was used to explore possible outcomes of an oil and gas scenario in the Eagle Plain basin of the North Yukon Planning Region of Yukon Territory, Canada. Scenario modeling was conducted to facilitate informed discussion about key land use issues and practices, potential levels of landscape change, and possible socioeconomic benefits and environmental impacts. Modeling results supported the sustainable development and cumulative effects management recommendations of the North Yukon Regional Land Use Plan. Land use scenario modeling, as applied in this project, was found to be an effective approach for establishing sustainable development guidelines through a regional planning process.

  12. Executable Behavioral Modeling of System and Software Architecture Specifications to Inform Resourcing Decisions

    Science.gov (United States)

    2016-09-01

    Infrastructure software projects: 1. The earliest phases or spiral cycles will generally involve prototyping, using the Application Composition model...case needs to achieve, expected results, post conditions, information about the environment, infrastructure to support execution of the tests, and...Leanpub, Feb. 5, 2016. [Online]. Available: http:// microservices -book.com/. Accessed Aug. 20, 2016. [59] M. Farah-Stapleton, M. Auguston, R. Madachy

  13. Nevada Applied Ecology Information Center: a review of technical information support provided to the Nevada Applied Ecology Group

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fore, C.S.; Pfuderer, H.A.

    1983-01-01

    The Nevada Applied Ecology Information Center (NAEIC) was established in January 1972 to serve the needs of the Nevada Applied Ecology Group (NAEG) by identifying, collecting, analyzing, and disseminating technical information relevant to NAEG programs. Since its inception, the NAEIC has been active in providing specialized information support to NAEG staff in the following research areas: (1) environmental aspects of the transuranics; (2) historic literature (pre-1962) on plutonium and uranium; (3) cleanup and treatment of radioactively contaminated land; (4) bioenvironmental aspects of europium and rhodium; (5) NAEG contractor reports; and (6) uptake of radioactivity by food crops

  14. Micro-costing the provision of emotional support and information in UK eye clinics.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gillespie-Gallery, Hanna; Subramanian, Ahalya; Conway, Miriam L

    2013-11-19

    Sight loss has wide ranging implications for an individual in terms of education, employment, mobility and mental health. Therefore there is a need for information and support to be provided in eye clinics at the point of diagnosis of sight threatening conditions, but these aspects of care are often missing from clinics. To meet these needs, some clinics employ an Eye Clinic Liaison Officer (ECLO) but the position has yet to be widely implemented. The aims of this study were:(1) To evaluate the forms of advice and emotional support in eye clinics provided by ECLOs.(2) To determine the cost of the ECLO service per patient. Micro-costing was carried out using interviews, a survey and administrative data. The survey was completed by 18 of the 49 accredited ECLOs in the UK (37%) and provided information on the activities performed by ECLOs, numbers of patients seen per day, training costs incurred and the salary of the ECLOs. ECLOs provided information about the services in eye clinics and the community, referral to social services, emotional support to patients and also other advice. The cost of an ECLO per patient per contact was £17.94 based on an average annual ECLO salary of £23,349.60 per year, reviewing on average 9.1 patients per day, in a 42 week year. This study provides the first costing of support services in hospital eye clinics, providing a range of estimates to suit the circumstances of different clinics. The information can be used by local decision makers to estimate the cost of implementing an ECLO service.

  15. Analysis of methods. [information systems evolution environment

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mayer, Richard J. (Editor); Ackley, Keith A.; Wells, M. Sue; Mayer, Paula S. D.; Blinn, Thomas M.; Decker, Louis P.; Toland, Joel A.; Crump, J. Wesley; Menzel, Christopher P.; Bodenmiller, Charles A.

    1991-01-01

    Information is one of an organization's most important assets. For this reason the development and maintenance of an integrated information system environment is one of the most important functions within a large organization. The Integrated Information Systems Evolution Environment (IISEE) project has as one of its primary goals a computerized solution to the difficulties involved in the development of integrated information systems. To develop such an environment a thorough understanding of the enterprise's information needs and requirements is of paramount importance. This document is the current release of the research performed by the Integrated Development Support Environment (IDSE) Research Team in support of the IISEE project. Research indicates that an integral part of any information system environment would be multiple modeling methods to support the management of the organization's information. Automated tool support for these methods is necessary to facilitate their use in an integrated environment. An integrated environment makes it necessary to maintain an integrated database which contains the different kinds of models developed under the various methodologies. In addition, to speed the process of development of models, a procedure or technique is needed to allow automatic translation from one methodology's representation to another while maintaining the integrity of both. The purpose for the analysis of the modeling methods included in this document is to examine these methods with the goal being to include them in an integrated development support environment. To accomplish this and to develop a method for allowing intra-methodology and inter-methodology model element reuse, a thorough understanding of multiple modeling methodologies is necessary. Currently the IDSE Research Team is investigating the family of Integrated Computer Aided Manufacturing (ICAM) DEFinition (IDEF) languages IDEF(0), IDEF(1), and IDEF(1x), as well as ENALIM, Entity

  16. Informal support to first-parents after childbirth: a qualitative study in low-income suburbs of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mbekenga Columba K

    2011-11-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background In Tanzania, and many sub-Saharan African countries, postpartum health programs have received less attention compared to other maternity care programs and therefore new parents rely on informal support. Knowledge on how informal support is understood by its stakeholders to be able to improve the health in families after childbirth is required. This study aimed to explore discourses on health related informal support to first-time parents after childbirth in low-income suburbs of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Methods Thirteen focus group discussions with first-time parents and female and male informal supporters were analysed by discourse analysis. Results The dominant discourse was that after childbirth a first time mother needed and should be provided with support for care of the infant, herself and the household work by the maternal or paternal mother or other close and extended family members. In their absence, neighbours and friends were described as reconstructing informal support. Informal support was provided conditionally, where poor socio-economic status and non-adherence to social norms risked poor support. Support to new fathers was constructed as less prominent, provided mainly by older men and focused on economy and sexual matters. The discourse conveyed stereotypic gender roles with women described as family caretakers and men as final decision-makers and financial providers. The informal supporters regulated the first-time parents' contacts with other sources of support. Conclusions Strong and authoritative informal support networks appear to persist. However, poverty and non-adherence to social norms was understood as resulting in less support. Family health in this context would be improved by capitalising on existing informal support networks while discouraging norms promoting harmful practices and attending to the poorest. Upholding stereotypic notions of femininity and masculinity implies great burden of care

  17. A model supporting business continuity auditing and planning in information systems

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Zambon, E.; Bolzoni, D.; Etalle, S.; Salvato, M.

    2007-01-01

    One of the main tasks of IT business continuity planning (BCP) is to guarantee that incidents affecting the IT infrastructure do not affect the availability of IT-dependent business processes beyond a given acceptable extent. Carrying out BCP of information systems is particularly challenging,

  18. Fracture network modeling and GoldSim simulation support

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sugita, Kenichirou; Dershowitz, W.

    2005-01-01

    During Heisei-16, Golder Associates provided support for JNC Tokai through discrete fracture network data analysis and simulation of the Mizunami Underground Research Laboratory (MIU), participation in Task 6 of the AEspoe Task Force on Modeling of Groundwater Flow and Transport, and development of methodologies for analysis of repository site characterization strategies and safety assessment. MIU support during H-16 involved updating the H-15 FracMan discrete fracture network (DFN) models for the MIU shaft region, and developing improved simulation procedures. Updates to the conceptual model included incorporation of 'Step2' (2004) versions of the deterministic structures, and revision of background fractures to be consistent with conductive structure data from the DH-2 borehole. Golder developed improved simulation procedures for these models through the use of hybrid discrete fracture network (DFN), equivalent porous medium (EPM), and nested DFN/EPM approaches. For each of these models, procedures were documented for the entire modeling process including model implementation, MMP simulation, and shaft grouting simulation. Golder supported JNC participation in Task 6AB, 6D and 6E of the AEspoe Task Force on Modeling of Groundwater Flow and Transport during H-16. For Task 6AB, Golder developed a new technique to evaluate the role of grout in performance assessment time-scale transport. For Task 6D, Golder submitted a report of H-15 simulations to SKB. For Task 6E, Golder carried out safety assessment time-scale simulations at the block scale, using the Laplace Transform Galerkin method. During H-16, Golder supported JNC's Total System Performance Assessment (TSPA) strategy by developing technologies for the analysis of the use site characterization data in safety assessment. This approach will aid in the understanding of the use of site characterization to progressively reduce site characterization uncertainty. (author)

  19. Applying the Wildland Fire Decision Support System (WFDSS) to support risk-informed decision making: The Gold Pan Fire, Bitterroot National Forest, Montana, USA

    Science.gov (United States)

    Erin K. Noonan-Wright; Tonja S. Opperman

    2015-01-01

    In response to federal wildfire policy changes, risk-informed decision-making by way of improved decision support, is increasingly becoming a component of managing wildfires. As fire incidents escalate in size and complexity, the Wildland Fire Decision Support System (WFDSS) provides support with different analytical tools as fire conditions change. We demonstrate the...

  20. Engineering-Geological Data Model - The First Step to Build National Polish Standard for Multilevel Information Management

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ryżyński, Grzegorz; Nałęcz, Tomasz

    2016-10-01

    The efficient geological data management in Poland is necessary to support multilevel decision processes for government and local authorities in case of spatial planning, mineral resources and groundwater supply and the rational use of subsurface. Vast amount of geological information gathered in the digital archives and databases of Polish Geological Survey (PGS) is a basic resource for multi-scale national subsurface management. Data integration is the key factor to allow development of GIS and web tools for decision makers, however the main barrier for efficient geological information management is the heterogeneity of data in the resources of the Polish Geological Survey. Engineering-geological database is the first PGS thematic domain applied in the whole data integration plan. The solutions developed within this area will facilitate creation of procedures and standards for multilevel data management in PGS. Twenty years of experience in delivering digital engineering-geological mapping in 1:10 000 scale and archival geotechnical reports acquisition and digitisation allowed gathering of more than 300 thousands engineering-geological boreholes database as well as set of 10 thematic spatial layers (including foundation conditions map, depth to the first groundwater level, bedrock level, geohazards). Historically, the desktop approach was the source form of the geological-engineering data storage, resulting in multiple non-correlated interbase datasets. The need for creation of domain data model emerged and an object-oriented modelling (UML) scheme has been developed. The aim of the aforementioned development was to merge all datasets in one centralised Oracle server and prepare the unified spatial data structure for efficient web presentation and applications development. The presented approach will be the milestone toward creation of the Polish national standard for engineering-geological information management. The paper presents the approach and methodology

  1. A quantitative approach to modeling the information processing of NPP operators under input information overload

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kim, Jong Hyun; Seong, Poong Hyun

    2002-01-01

    This paper proposes a quantitative approach to modeling the information processing of NPP operators. The aim of this work is to derive the amount of the information processed during a certain control task under input information overload. We primarily develop the information processing model having multiple stages, which contains information flow. Then the uncertainty of the information is quantified using the Conant's model, a kind of information theory. We also investigate the applicability of this approach to quantifying the information reduction of operators under the input information overload

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

    Science.gov (United States)

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

    2017-10-25

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

  3. A comparative study of the proposed models for the components of the national health information system.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ahmadi, Maryam; Damanabi, Shahla; Sadoughi, Farahnaz

    2014-04-01

    National Health Information System plays an important role in ensuring timely and reliable access to Health information, which is essential for strategic and operational decisions that improve health, quality and effectiveness of health care. In other words, using the National Health information system you can improve the quality of health data, information and knowledge used to support decision making at all levels and areas of the health sector. Since full identification of the components of this system - for better planning and management influential factors of performanceseems necessary, therefore, in this study different attitudes towards components of this system are explored comparatively. This is a descriptive and comparative kind of study. The society includes printed and electronic documents containing components of the national health information system in three parts: input, process and output. In this context, search for information using library resources and internet search were conducted, and data analysis was expressed using comparative tables and qualitative data. The findings showed that there are three different perspectives presenting the components of national health information system Lippeveld and Sauerborn and Bodart model in 2000, Health Metrics Network (HMN) model from World Health Organization in 2008, and Gattini's 2009 model. All three models outlined above in the input (resources and structure) require components of management and leadership, planning and design programs, supply of staff, software and hardware facilities and equipment. Plus, in the "process" section from three models, we pointed up the actions ensuring the quality of health information system, and in output section, except for Lippeveld Model, two other models consider information products and use and distribution of information as components of the national health information system. the results showed that all the three models have had a brief discussion about the

  4. Model driven geo-information systems development

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Morales Guarin, J.M.; Ferreira Pires, Luis; van Sinderen, Marten J.; Williams, A.D.

    Continuous change of user requirements has become a constant for geo-information systems. Designing systems that can adapt to such changes requires an appropriate design methodology that supports abstraction, modularity and other mechanisms to capture the essence of the system and help controlling

  5. [For the Establishment of an Informative Support Framework in Pharmacies: Informative Support System for Diabetes].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yamamoto, Michiko; Doi, Hirohisa; Watanabe, Kazuhiro

    2016-01-01

    According to the Japanese revitalization strategy endorsed by the government in June, 2013, pharmacies are expected to play an active role as the hub of health information. But this is not sufficiently organized: an infrastructure for providing neutral information which becomes the basis of such health information is not yet established for healthcare professionals, patients and consumers. As for drug information available subsequent to the marketing of pharmaceutical products, information from the pharmaceutical companies including Package Inserts and Interview-forms are often found. However, though such information from companies is important, it is necessary for healthcare professionals and patients to have access to the information evaluated by a trustworthy third party. With overseas distribution, the dissemination of drug information is provided by third parties, which are independent of regulatory agencies. For example, National Health Service (NHS) Evidence in the UK offers wide-ranging information based on evidence from a disease to pharmaceutical products, and is a widely available information source for healthcare professionals, patients and consumers. With regard to therapeutic medications, drug information and health foods in the Japanese community, it is necessary for patients and healthcare professionals that we establish neutral and common systematic information based on the research evidence. By providing information on the Internet, which enables people to access the information easily and to assess a product's usefulness objectively, we hope to eventually develop a system that ensures a patient's safety in the use of drugs.

  6. A Planetary Defense Gateway for Smart Discovery of relevant Information for Decision Support

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bambacus, Myra; Yang, Chaowei Phil; Leung, Ronald Y.; Barbee, Brent; Nuth, Joseph A.; Seery, Bernard; Jiang, Yongyao; Qin, Han; Li, Yun; Yu, Manzhu; hide

    2017-01-01

    A Planetary Defense Gateway for Smart Discovery of relevant Information for Decision Support presentation discussing background, framework architecture, current results, ongoing research, conclusions.

  7. User Requirements for Technology to Assist Aging in Place: Qualitative Study of Older People and Their Informal Support Networks.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Elers, Phoebe; Hunter, Inga; Whiddett, Dick; Lockhart, Caroline; Guesgen, Hans; Singh, Amardeep

    2018-06-06

    Informal support is essential for enabling many older people to age in place. However, there is limited research examining the information needs of older adults' informal support networks and how these could be met through home monitoring and information and communication technologies. The purpose of this study was to investigate how technologies that connect older adults to their informal and formal support networks could assist aging in place and enhance older adults' health and well-being. Semistructured interviews were conducted with 10 older adults and a total of 31 members of their self-identified informal support networks. They were asked questions about their information needs and how technology could support the older adults to age in place. The interviews were transcribed and thematically analyzed. The analysis identified three overarching themes: (1) the social enablers theme, which outlined how timing, informal support networks, and safety concerns assist the older adults' uptake of technology, (2) the technology concerns theme, which outlined concerns about cost, usability, information security and privacy, and technology superseding face-to-face contact, and (3) the information desired theme, which outlined what information should be collected and transferred and who should make decisions about this. Older adults and their informal support networks may be receptive to technology that monitors older adults within the home if it enables aging in place for longer. However, cost, privacy, security, and usability barriers would need to be considered and the system should be individualizable to older adults' changing needs. The user requirements identified from this study and described in this paper have informed the development of a technology that is currently being prototyped. ©Phoebe Elers, Inga Hunter, Dick Whiddett, Caroline Lockhart, Hans Guesgen, Amardeep Singh. Originally published in JMIR Mhealth and Uhealth (http://mhealth.jmir.org), 06.06.2018.

  8. Directory of Energy Information Administration models 1996

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    1996-07-01

    This directory revises and updates the Directory of Energy Information Administration Models 1995, DOE/EIA-0293(95), Energy Information Administration (EIA), U.S. Department of Energy, July 1995. Four models have been deleted in this directory as they are no longer being used: (1) Market Penetration Model for Ground-Water Heat Pump Systems (MPGWHP); (2) Market Penetration Model for Residential Rooftop PV Systems (MPRESPV-PC); (3) Market Penetration Model for Active and Passive Solar Technologies (MPSOLARPC); and (4) Revenue Requirements Modeling System (RRMS).

  9. THE INFORMATION MODEL «SOCIAL EXPLOSION»

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Alexander Chernyavskiy

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available Article is dedicated to examination and analysis of the construction of the information model «social explosion», which corresponds to the newest «colored» revolutions. The analysis of model makes it possible to see effective approaches to the initiation of this explosion and by the use of contemporary information communications as honeycomb connection and the mobile Internet

  10. A comprehensive information technology system to support physician learning at the point of care.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cook, David A; Sorensen, Kristi J; Nishimura, Rick A; Ommen, Steve R; Lloyd, Farrell J

    2015-01-01

    MayoExpert is a multifaceted information system integrated with the electronic medical record (EMR) across Mayo Clinic's multisite health system. It was developed as a technology-based solution to manage information, standardize clinical practice, and promote and document learning in clinical contexts. Features include urgent test result notifications; models illustrating expert-approved care processes; concise, expert-approved answers to frequently asked questions (FAQs); a directory of topic-specific experts; and a portfolio for provider licensure and credentialing. The authors evaluate MayoExpert's reach, effectiveness, adoption, implementation, and maintenance. Evaluation data sources included usage statistics, user surveys, and pilot studies.As of October 2013, MayoExpert was available at 94 clinical sites in 12 states and contained 1,368 clinical topics, answers to 7,640 FAQs, and 92 care process models. In 2012, MayoExpert was accessed at least once by 2,578/3,643 (71%) staff physicians, 900/1,374 (66%) midlevel providers, and 1,728/2,291 (75%) residents and fellows. In a 2013 survey of MayoExpert users with 536 respondents, all features were highly rated (≥67% favorable). More providers reported using MayoExpert to answer questions before/after than during patient visits (68% versus 36%). During November 2012 to April 2013, MayoExpert sent 1,660 notifications of new-onset atrial fibrillation and 1,590 notifications of prolonged QT. MayoExpert has become part of routine clinical and educational operations, and its care process models now define Mayo Clinic best practices. MayoExpert's infrastructure and content will continue to expand with improved templates and content organization, new care process models, additional notifications, better EMR integration, and improved support for credentialing activities.

  11. Distinct brain mechanisms support spatial vs temporal filtering of nociceptive information.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nahman-Averbuch, Hadas; Martucci, Katherine T; Granovsky, Yelena; Weissman-Fogel, Irit; Yarnitsky, David; Coghill, Robert C

    2014-12-01

    The role of endogenous analgesic mechanisms has largely been viewed in the context of gain modulation during nociceptive processing. However, these analgesic mechanisms may play critical roles in the extraction and subsequent utilization of information related to spatial and temporal features of nociceptive input. To date, it remains unknown if spatial and temporal filtering of nociceptive information is supported by similar analgesic mechanisms. To address this question, human volunteers were recruited to assess brain activation with functional magnetic resonance imaging during conditioned pain modulation (CPM) and offset analgesia (OA). CPM provides one paradigm for assessing spatial filtering of nociceptive information while OA provides a paradigm for assessing temporal filtering of nociceptive information. CPM and OA both produced statistically significant reductions in pain intensity. However, the magnitude of pain reduction elicited by CPM was not correlated with that elicited by OA across different individuals. Different patterns of brain activation were consistent with the psychophysical findings. CPM elicited widespread reductions in regions engaged in nociceptive processing such as the thalamus, insula, and secondary somatosensory cortex. OA produced reduced activity in the primary somatosensory cortex but was associated with greater activation in the anterior insula, dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, intraparietal sulcus, and inferior parietal lobule relative to CPM. In the brain stem, CPM consistently produced reductions in activity, while OA produced increases in activity. Conjunction analysis confirmed that CPM-related activity did not overlap with that of OA. Thus, dissociable mechanisms support inhibitory processes engaged during spatial vs temporal filtering of nociceptive information. Copyright © 2014 International Association for the Study of Pain. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  12. Women's Experiences of Social Reactions From Informal and Formal Supports: Using a Modified Administration of the Social Reactions Questionnaire.

    Science.gov (United States)

    DePrince, Anne P; Dmitrieva, Julia; Gagnon, Kerry L; Srinivas, Tejaswinhi

    2017-11-01

    A growing literature links social reactions to disclosures of intimate violence to posttraumatic outcomes. The Social Reactions Questionnaire (SRQ), a widely used measure developed to assess social reactions, asks about reactions received from people generally. The ability to examine the impact of social reactions from specific groups of people-such as criminal justice personnel versus community-based providers-has become increasingly more important from both research and practice perspectives. For example, as sexual assault responses nationally have relied on community-coordinated models that involve both criminal justice and community-based systems, tools are lacking to systematically assess the impact of social reactions from criminal justice personnel and community-based providers on survivors. Using the SRQ, the current study asked women to report separately on reactions received from criminal justice personnel, community-based providers, and informal supports. We recruited a diverse community sample of women ( N = 228, ages 18-63, 19% lesbian/bisexual, 44% ethnic minority) who experienced a sexual assault in the previous year and disclosed to the criminal justice system and/or a community-based provider. Multilevel analyses revealed considerable variability in the social reactions reported by women across criminal justice personnel, community-based providers, and informal supports. Analyses supported a seven-factor structure for the SRQ when the measure is yoked to particular experiences of disclosure, in this case to criminal justice personnel, community-based providers, or informal supports. The utility of this modified administration and scoring of the SRQ and the importance of considering reactions across different groups are described.

  13. The Research of Clinical Decision Support System Based on Three-Layer Knowledge Base Model

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yicheng Jiang

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available In many clinical decision support systems, a two-layer knowledge base model (disease-symptom of rule reasoning is used. This model often does not express knowledge very well since it simply infers disease from the presence of certain symptoms. In this study, we propose a three-layer knowledge base model (disease-symptom-property to utilize more useful information in inference. The system iteratively calculates the probability of patients who may suffer from diseases based on a multisymptom naive Bayes algorithm, in which the specificity of these disease symptoms is weighted by the estimation of the degree of contribution to diagnose the disease. It significantly reduces the dependencies between attributes to apply the naive Bayes algorithm more properly. Then, the online learning process for parameter optimization of the inference engine was completed. At last, our decision support system utilizing the three-layer model was formally evaluated by two experienced doctors. By comparisons between prediction results and clinical results, our system can provide effective clinical recommendations to doctors. Moreover, we found that the three-layer model can improve the accuracy of predictions compared with the two-layer model. In light of some of the limitations of this study, we also identify and discuss several areas that need continued improvement.

  14. Agricultural Library Information Retrieval Based on Improved Semantic Algorithm

    OpenAIRE

    Meiling , Xie

    2014-01-01

    International audience; To support users to quickly access information they need from the agricultural library’s vast information and to improve the low intelligence query service, a model for intelligent library information retrieval was constructed. The semantic web mode was introduced and the information retrieval framework was designed. The model structure consisted of three parts: Information data integration, user interface and information retrieval match. The key method supporting retr...

  15. Information Literacy Advocates: developing student skills through a peer support approach.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Curtis, Ruth

    2016-12-01

    Since 2013/2014, an Information Literacy Advocates (ILA) scheme has been running at the University of Nottingham as an extracurricular module on the Nottingham Advantage Award programme. The Information Literacy Advocates scheme, which recruits medicine and health sciences students in their second year or above, aims to facilitate development of information literacy skills and confidence, as well as communication, organisation and teamwork, through the provision of peer support. Previous research indicates peer assistance effectively enhances such skills and is valued by fellow students who welcome the opportunity to approach more experienced students for help. This article, written by guest writer Ruth Curtis from the University of Nottingham, provides an overview of administering the ILA scheme and explores its impact on the Information Literacy Advocates, peers and librarians, and discusses future developments for taking the scheme forward. H. S. © 2016 Health Libraries Group.

  16. The meaningfulness of participating in support groups for informal caregivers of older adults with dementia: a qualitative systematic review

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Lauritzen, Jette; Pedersen, Preben Ulrich; Sørensen, Erik Elgaard

    Introduction: Support groups are considered an effective and economical way to relieve informal caregivers stress and burden. Research shows, that participating in support groups seems to be beneficial for the informal caregivers, but there are no significant improvements in feelings of stress...... and burden. It is unclear how support groups can produce a meaningful and optimal outcome for the informal caregivers. Aim: To identify the meaningfulness of participating in support groups for informal caregivers of older adults with dementia living in their own home. Method: A systematic literature review...... that through comparison and sharing positive and negative emotions, the members of the support group are able to take on and maintain the role as caregiver....

  17. Parsimonious Language Models for Information Retrieval

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Hiemstra, Djoerd; Robertson, Stephen; Zaragoza, Hugo

    We systematically investigate a new approach to estimating the parameters of language models for information retrieval, called parsimonious language models. Parsimonious language models explicitly address the relation between levels of language models that are typically used for smoothing. As such,

  18. Support of an Active Science Project by a Large Information System: Lessons for the EOS Era

    Science.gov (United States)

    Angelici, Gary L.; Skiles, J. W.; Popovici, Lidia Z.

    1993-01-01

    The ability of large information systems to support the changing data requirements of active science projects is being tested in a NASA collaborative study. This paper briefly profiles both the active science project and the large information system involved in this effort and offers some observations about the effectiveness of the project support. This is followed by lessons that are important for those participating in large information systems that need to support active science projects or that make available the valuable data produced by these projects. We learned in this work that it is difficult for a large information system focused on long term data management to satisfy the requirements of an on-going science project. For example, in order to provide the best service, it is important for all information system staff to keep focused on the needs and constraints of the scientists in the development of appropriate services. If the lessons learned in this and other science support experiences are not applied by those involved with large information systems of the EOS (Earth Observing System) era, then the final data products produced by future science projects may not be robust or of high quality, thereby making the conduct of the project science less efficacious and reducing the value of these unique suites of data for future research.

  19. The meaningfulness of participating in support groups for informal caregivers of older adults with dementia: a systematic review

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Lauritzen, Jette; Pedersen, Preben Ulrich; Sørensen, Erik Elgaard

    2015-01-01

    of participants: Informal caregivers of older adults aged 65 years and over with dementia. The informal caregiver was a family member, and care was performed at home. Phenomena of interest: How the informal caregivers perceived the meaningfulness of participating in support groups. The setting was all locations......BACKGROUND Informal caregivers who perform at-home care of older people with dementia might have feelings of a meaningless existence, burden, anxiety, stress and fatigue. Support groups are considered an especially effective and economical way to relieve informal caregivers’ stress and burden......, although it is unclear if participating in group meetings produces a meaningful outcome for the informal caregiver. OBJECTIVES To identify the meaningfulness of participating in support groups for informal caregivers of older adults with dementia living in their own home. INCLUSION CRITERIA Types...

  20. Human cognitive task distribution model for maintenance support system of a nuclear power plant

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Park, Young Ho

    2007-02-15

    In human factors research, more attention has been devoted to the operation of nuclear power plants (NPPs) than to their maintenance. However, human error related to maintenance is 45% among the total human errors from 1990 to 2005 in Korean nuclear power plants. Therefore, it is necessary to study human factors in the maintenance of an NPP. There is a current trend toward introducing digital technology into both safety and non-safety systems in NPPs. A variety of information about plant conditions can be used digitally. In the future, maintenance support systems will be developed based on an information-oriented NPP. In this context, it is necessary to study the cognitive tasks of the personnel involved in maintenance and the interaction between the personnel and maintenance support systems. The fundamental purpose of this work is how to distribute the cognitive tasks of the personnel involved in the maintenance in order to develop a maintenance support system that considers human factors. The second purpose is to find the causes of errors due to engineers or maintainers and propose system functions that are countermeasures to reduce these errors. In this paper, a cognitive task distribution model of the personnel involved in maintenance is proposed using Rasmussen's decision making model. First, the personnel were divided into three groups: the operators (inspectors), engineers, and maintainers. Second, human cognitive tasks related to maintenance were distributed based on these groups. The operators' cognitive tasks are detection and observation; the engineers' cognitive tasks are identification, evaluation, target state, select target, and procedure: and the maintainers' cognitive task is execution. The case study is an analysis of failure reports related to human error in maintenance over a period of 15years. By using error classification based on the information processing approach, the human errors involved in maintenance were classified

  1. Human cognitive task distribution model for maintenance support system of a nuclear power plant

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Park, Young Ho

    2007-02-01

    In human factors research, more attention has been devoted to the operation of nuclear power plants (NPPs) than to their maintenance. However, human error related to maintenance is 45% among the total human errors from 1990 to 2005 in Korean nuclear power plants. Therefore, it is necessary to study human factors in the maintenance of an NPP. There is a current trend toward introducing digital technology into both safety and non-safety systems in NPPs. A variety of information about plant conditions can be used digitally. In the future, maintenance support systems will be developed based on an information-oriented NPP. In this context, it is necessary to study the cognitive tasks of the personnel involved in maintenance and the interaction between the personnel and maintenance support systems. The fundamental purpose of this work is how to distribute the cognitive tasks of the personnel involved in the maintenance in order to develop a maintenance support system that considers human factors. The second purpose is to find the causes of errors due to engineers or maintainers and propose system functions that are countermeasures to reduce these errors. In this paper, a cognitive task distribution model of the personnel involved in maintenance is proposed using Rasmussen's decision making model. First, the personnel were divided into three groups: the operators (inspectors), engineers, and maintainers. Second, human cognitive tasks related to maintenance were distributed based on these groups. The operators' cognitive tasks are detection and observation; the engineers' cognitive tasks are identification, evaluation, target state, select target, and procedure: and the maintainers' cognitive task is execution. The case study is an analysis of failure reports related to human error in maintenance over a period of 15years. By using error classification based on the information processing approach, the human errors involved in maintenance were classified

  2. Evaluating procedural modelling for 3D models of informal settlements in urban design activities

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Victoria Rautenbach

    2015-11-01

    Full Text Available Three-dimensional (3D modelling and visualisation is one of the fastest growing application fields in geographic information science. 3D city models are being researched extensively for a variety of purposes and in various domains, including urban design, disaster management, education and computer gaming. These models typically depict urban business districts (downtown or suburban residential areas. Despite informal settlements being a prevailing feature of many cities in developing countries, 3D models of informal settlements are virtually non-existent. 3D models of informal settlements could be useful in various ways, e.g. to gather information about the current environment in the informal settlements, to design upgrades, to communicate these and to educate inhabitants about environmental challenges. In this article, we described the development of a 3D model of the Slovo Park informal settlement in the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality, South Africa. Instead of using time-consuming traditional manual methods, we followed the procedural modelling technique. Visualisation characteristics of 3D models of informal settlements were described and the importance of each characteristic in urban design activities for informal settlement upgrades was assessed. Next, the visualisation characteristics of the Slovo Park model were evaluated. The results of the evaluation showed that the 3D model produced by the procedural modelling technique is suitable for urban design activities in informal settlements. The visualisation characteristics and their assessment are also useful as guidelines for developing 3D models of informal settlements. In future, we plan to empirically test the use of such 3D models in urban design projects in informal settlements.

  3. Characteristics of evolving models of care for arthritis: A key informant study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Veinot Paula

    2008-07-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background The burden of arthritis is increasing in the face of diminishing health human resources to deliver care. In response, innovative models of care delivery are developing to facilitate access to quality care. Most models have developed in response to local needs with limited evaluation. The primary objective of this study is to a examine the range of models of care that deliver specialist services using a medical/surgical specialist and at least one other health care provider and b document the strengths and challenges of the identified models. A secondary objective is to identify key elements of best practice models of care for arthritis. Methods Semi-structured interviews were conducted with a sample of key informants with expertise in arthritis from jurisdictions with primarily publicly-funded health care systems. Qualitative data were analyzed using a constant comparative approach to identify common types of models of care, strengths and challenges of models, and key components of arthritis care. Results Seventy-four key informants were interviewed from six countries. Five main types of models of care emerged. 1 Specialized arthritis programs deliver comprehensive, multidisciplinary team care for arthritis. Two models were identified using health care providers (e.g. nurses or physiotherapists in expanded clinical roles: 2 triage of patients with musculoskeletal conditions to the appropriate services including specialists; and 3 ongoing management in collaboration with a specialist. Two models promoting rural access were 4 rural consultation support and 5 telemedicine. Key informants described important components of models of care including knowledgeable health professionals and patients. Conclusion A range of models of care for arthritis have been developed. This classification can be used as a framework for discussing care delivery. Areas for development include integration of care across the continuum, including primary

  4. Modeling reliability measurement of interface on information system: Towards the forensic of rules

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nasution, M. K. M.; Sitompul, Darwin; Harahap, Marwan

    2018-02-01

    Today almost all machines depend on the software. As a software and hardware system depends also on the rules that are the procedures for its use. If the procedure or program can be reliably characterized by involving the concept of graph, logic, and probability, then regulatory strength can also be measured accordingly. Therefore, this paper initiates an enumeration model to measure the reliability of interfaces based on the case of information systems supported by the rules of use by the relevant agencies. An enumeration model is obtained based on software reliability calculation.

  5. Vector-model-supported approach in prostate plan optimization

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Liu, Eva Sau Fan; Wu, Vincent Wing Cheung; Harris, Benjamin; Lehman, Margot; Pryor, David; Chan, Lawrence Wing Chi

    2017-01-01

    Lengthy time consumed in traditional manual plan optimization can limit the use of step-and-shoot intensity-modulated radiotherapy/volumetric-modulated radiotherapy (S&S IMRT/VMAT). A vector model base, retrieving similar radiotherapy cases, was developed with respect to the structural and physiologic features extracted from the Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine (DICOM) files. Planning parameters were retrieved from the selected similar reference case and applied to the test case to bypass the gradual adjustment of planning parameters. Therefore, the planning time spent on the traditional trial-and-error manual optimization approach in the beginning of optimization could be reduced. Each S&S IMRT/VMAT prostate reference database comprised 100 previously treated cases. Prostate cases were replanned with both traditional optimization and vector-model-supported optimization based on the oncologists' clinical dose prescriptions. A total of 360 plans, which consisted of 30 cases of S&S IMRT, 30 cases of 1-arc VMAT, and 30 cases of 2-arc VMAT plans including first optimization and final optimization with/without vector-model-supported optimization, were compared using the 2-sided t-test and paired Wilcoxon signed rank test, with a significance level of 0.05 and a false discovery rate of less than 0.05. For S&S IMRT, 1-arc VMAT, and 2-arc VMAT prostate plans, there was a significant reduction in the planning time and iteration with vector-model-supported optimization by almost 50%. When the first optimization plans were compared, 2-arc VMAT prostate plans had better plan quality than 1-arc VMAT plans. The volume receiving 35 Gy in the femoral head for 2-arc VMAT plans was reduced with the vector-model-supported optimization compared with the traditional manual optimization approach. Otherwise, the quality of plans from both approaches was comparable. Vector-model-supported optimization was shown to offer much shortened planning time and iteration

  6. Vector-model-supported approach in prostate plan optimization

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Liu, Eva Sau Fan [Department of Radiation Oncology, Princess Alexandra Hospital, Brisbane (Australia); Department of Health Technology and Informatics, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (Hong Kong); Wu, Vincent Wing Cheung [Department of Health Technology and Informatics, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (Hong Kong); Harris, Benjamin [Department of Radiation Oncology, Princess Alexandra Hospital, Brisbane (Australia); Lehman, Margot; Pryor, David [Department of Radiation Oncology, Princess Alexandra Hospital, Brisbane (Australia); School of Medicine, University of Queensland (Australia); Chan, Lawrence Wing Chi, E-mail: wing.chi.chan@polyu.edu.hk [Department of Health Technology and Informatics, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (Hong Kong)

    2017-07-01

    Lengthy time consumed in traditional manual plan optimization can limit the use of step-and-shoot intensity-modulated radiotherapy/volumetric-modulated radiotherapy (S&S IMRT/VMAT). A vector model base, retrieving similar radiotherapy cases, was developed with respect to the structural and physiologic features extracted from the Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine (DICOM) files. Planning parameters were retrieved from the selected similar reference case and applied to the test case to bypass the gradual adjustment of planning parameters. Therefore, the planning time spent on the traditional trial-and-error manual optimization approach in the beginning of optimization could be reduced. Each S&S IMRT/VMAT prostate reference database comprised 100 previously treated cases. Prostate cases were replanned with both traditional optimization and vector-model-supported optimization based on the oncologists' clinical dose prescriptions. A total of 360 plans, which consisted of 30 cases of S&S IMRT, 30 cases of 1-arc VMAT, and 30 cases of 2-arc VMAT plans including first optimization and final optimization with/without vector-model-supported optimization, were compared using the 2-sided t-test and paired Wilcoxon signed rank test, with a significance level of 0.05 and a false discovery rate of less than 0.05. For S&S IMRT, 1-arc VMAT, and 2-arc VMAT prostate plans, there was a significant reduction in the planning time and iteration with vector-model-supported optimization by almost 50%. When the first optimization plans were compared, 2-arc VMAT prostate plans had better plan quality than 1-arc VMAT plans. The volume receiving 35 Gy in the femoral head for 2-arc VMAT plans was reduced with the vector-model-supported optimization compared with the traditional manual optimization approach. Otherwise, the quality of plans from both approaches was comparable. Vector-model-supported optimization was shown to offer much shortened planning time and iteration

  7. INFORMATION MODELING OF LIFE CYCLE OF HIGH-RISE CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gusakova Elena Aleksandrovna

    2018-02-01

    cycle of high-rise buildings, which, unlike the systems being currently used, is not targeted at the company or production but on the project. The topicality of organizational reengineering of schemes of information interaction between the project’s participants is substantiated. It is shown that consolidation of methods and technologies for data management and project management should become the basis for strategic management of the project’s full life cycle. Conclusions: analysis of the accumulated experience in the development of unique and large-scale projects of high-rise buildings shows that managing the life cycle of the high-rise development project is a topical and unsolved problem that requires serious scientific and project research. The existing concepts and schemes for the project’s life cycle management and the interaction between all participants of the high-rise construction project should be substantially modernized taking into account the use of capabilities of digital modeling of the project (BIM - Building Information Modeling together with technologies for support of its life cycle (Continuous Acquisition and Life Cycle Support. At the same time, the development of an integrated information environment for the project’s life cycle should be based on the integration of data management and project management, which will ensure a multiple increase in the efficiency and competitiveness of a high-rise building project at all stages of its life cycle.

  8. Logical reasoning versus information processing in the dual-strategy model of reasoning.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Markovits, Henry; Brisson, Janie; de Chantal, Pier-Luc

    2017-01-01

    One of the major debates concerning the nature of inferential reasoning is between counterexample-based strategies such as mental model theory and statistical strategies underlying probabilistic models. The dual-strategy model, proposed by Verschueren, Schaeken, & d'Ydewalle (2005a, 2005b), which suggests that people might have access to both kinds of strategy has been supported by several recent studies. These have shown that statistical reasoners make inferences based on using information about premises in order to generate a likelihood estimate of conclusion probability. However, while results concerning counterexample reasoners are consistent with a counterexample detection model, these results could equally be interpreted as indicating a greater sensitivity to logical form. In order to distinguish these 2 interpretations, in Studies 1 and 2, we presented reasoners with Modus ponens (MP) inferences with statistical information about premise strength and in Studies 3 and 4, naturalistic MP inferences with premises having many disabling conditions. Statistical reasoners accepted the MP inference more often than counterexample reasoners in Studies 1 and 2, while the opposite pattern was observed in Studies 3 and 4. Results show that these strategies must be defined in terms of information processing, with no clear relations to "logical" reasoning. These results have additional implications for the underlying debate about the nature of human reasoning. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

  9. The U.S. Department of Energy, National Nuclear Security Agency's Use of Geographic Information Systems for Nuclear Emergency Response Support

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Guber, A. L.

    2001-01-01

    The U.S, Department of Energy (DOE), National Nuclear Security Agency's (NNSA) Remote Sensing Laboratory (RSL) provides Geographic Information System (GIS) support during nuclear emergency response activities. As directed by the NNSA, the RSL GIS staff maintains databases and equipment for rapid field deployment during an emergency response. When on location, GIS operators provide information products to on-site emergency managers as well as to emergency managers at the DOE Headquarters (HQ) Emergency Operations Center (EOC) in Washington, D.C. Data products are derived from multiple information sources in the field including radiological prediction models, field measurements taken on the ground and from the air, and pertinent information researched on the Internet. The GIS functions as a central data hub where it supplies the information to response elements in the field, as well as to headquarters officials at HQ during emergency response activities

  10. Using Information Systems as Directions of the State Support for the Conditionally Depressive Regions

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Morhachov Ilya V.

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available The article is aimed at substantiating the perspectivity of information systems and technologies as a direction of the State support for the conditionally depressive regions. The article clarifies the assumption that an increase in the number of freelancers in region (even evaders from taxation, causes the growth of both the regional enterprises’ revenues and the tax revenues to budgets. Such freelancers become customers of works, services and goods, and, accordingly, employers for other persons who work officially. The State support for the concentration of such persons in the region contributes to reducing the «brain drain» abroad. The article substantiates prospective directions of the State support for the conditionally depressive regions by means of information systems, the basic elements of which are IT-specialists; as well as economic expediency of priority of the State support for the regions with presence of high level of unemployment of working population. The ways of solution of contradictions between the State and the freelancer in the part of payment of taxes and accrual of the insurance period for the future pension have been suggested. The ultimate goal of the State support for the conditionally depressive regions with use of information systems has been defined, which is to achieve the stage of the multiplied effect of growth of income of economic entities and tax revenues to the budget due to the implementation of innovation projects as result of the concentration of IT specialists in region.

  11. Fostering Information Problem Solving Skills: Effects of Worked Examples and Learner Support

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Frerejean, Jimmy; Brand-Gruwel, Saskia; Kirschner, Paul A.

    2013-01-01

    Frerejean, J., Brand-Gruwel, S., & Kirschner, P. A. (2013, August). Fostering Information Problem Solving Skills: Effects of Worked Examples and Learner Support. Paper presented at the biennial EARLI Conference for Research in Learning and Instruction, Münich, Germany.

  12. Social support for diabetes illness management: supporting adolescents and caregivers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Idalski Carcone, April; Ellis, Deborah A; Weisz, Arlene; Naar-King, Sylvie

    2011-10-01

    The aim of this research study was to examine the relationship between 4 sources of social support (support for the adolescent from family, support for the adolescent from friends, support for the caregiver from another adult, and support to the family from the health care provider) and adolescents' diabetes outcomes (illness management behavior and health status) using a diverse sample of urban adolescents. One hundred forty-one adolescents with insulin-managed diabetes and their primary caregivers completed questionnaires assessing social support and illness management behavior. Glucose meters were downloaded and hemoglobin A1c assays were obtained. Structural equation modeling was used to test a model social support informed by social ecological theory. The results of the structural equation modeling indicated that support for the caregiver from another adult was directly and positively related to support for the adolescent from family and indirectly related to better illness management. Support for the adolescent from family was directly related to better diabetes management and, through better management, to better diabetes health. Support to the family from the health care provider was not related to support for the adolescent and support to the adolescent from friends was not related to illness management, as hypothesized. This study identifies a novel target for social support intervention to improve adolescents' illness management behavior-the caregivers of adolescents with diabetes. By enhancing the social support caregivers receive from other adults in their lives, caregivers' ability to support their adolescent children with diabetes might also be improved which, in turn, improves adolescents' illness outcomes.

  13. Potential and Benefits of Building Information Modeling (BIM During Pre-Construction, Construction and Post Construction Stage

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Aw Nien Wei

    2017-11-01

    Full Text Available The construction industry is the main economic support for all countries around the world in which continually adapting to meet competitive challenges around the global market. Nevertheless, the construction project is becoming much more complex and difficult to manage. This is because the construction project involves a large number of stakeholder, for example, the consultant companies, architects, engineers, building surveyors and quantity surveyors. The technology currently used in the construction industry is the AutoCAD (Automatic computeraided design. AutoCAD is a commercial software application for 2D and 3D computer-aided design (CAD and drafting develop by Autodesk. Generally, all the drawing design from Autocad will be exchanged among the stakeholder in the form of paper. Information exchanged among them mostly involves a lot of documents and drawings. This practice creates errors because of documents and drawings are mostly in a paper-based format that is not properly managed which results in miscommunication among them. Having wrong information in the construction process could hinder the productivity of projects because in a construction project information is one of the important construction materials. Building Information Modeling (BIM is one of the newly software in the architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC industries to ensure all parties receive the right information. BIM technology is also an intelligent model of a building constructed digitally in the way of 3D. The software will generate model containing the information needed to support the construction, fabrication, and procurement activities that needed to realize the building. This paper will discuss on potential and benefits of BIM during pre-construction stage, construction stage and during post construction stage

  14. The 12-foot pressure wind tunnel restoration project model support systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sasaki, Glen E.

    1992-01-01

    The 12 Foot Pressure Wind Tunnel is a variable density, low turbulence wind tunnel that operates at subsonic speeds, and up to six atmospheres total pressure. The restoration of this facility is of critical importance to the future of the U.S. aerospace industry. As part of this project, several state of the art model support systems are furnished to provide an optimal balance between aerodynamic and operational efficiency parameters. Two model support systems, the Rear Strut Model Support, and the High Angle of Attack Model Support are discussed. This paper covers design parameters, constraints, development, description, and component selection.

  15. A Personalised Information Support System for Searching Portals and E-Resources

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sirisha, B. S.; Jeevan, V. K. J.; Raja Kumar, R. V.; Goswami, A.

    2009-01-01

    Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to describe the development of a personalised information support system to help faculty members to search various portals and e-resources without typing the search terms in different interfaces and to obtain results re-ordered without human intervention. Design/methodology/approach: After a careful survey of…

  16. Collaborative ethnography for information systems research Studying knowledge work practices and designing supportive information systems

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ronald Maier

    2012-04-01

    Full Text Available Understanding knowledge work and supporting it with information systems (ISs are challenging tasks. Knowledge work has changed substantially recently and studies on how knowledge work is currently performed are scarce. Ethnography is the most suitable qualitative research method for studying knowledge work, yet too time-consuming, costly and unfocused for the fast changing IS domain. Moreover, results from qualitative studies need to be transformed into artefacts useful for IS requirements engineering and design. This paper proposes a procedure for collaborative ethnography to study knowledge work practices and inform IS requirements gathering and design illustrated with the case of a collaborative ethnographic study of seven organisations in four European countries performed in a large-scale international IS research and development project. The paper also critically discusses the procedure’s applicability and limitations.

  17. Research results in the field of information support for innovation activities

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ondřej Žižlavský

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available The paper deals with an actual issue focused on one of the world wide problem – effective development of an innovation process in the company. Just innovation is deemed as an essential part of company’s efficiency and its development with an impact on overall performance and competitiveness. The purpose of this paper is to present and discuss knowledge and findings of original primary research into South-Moravian companies within two projects of Internal Grant Agency Faculty of Business and Management Brno University of Technology, which were conducted in 2009 and 2010. For this analysis a questionnaire survey was used – the results of the primary research reflect innovative activities from the top managers’ point of view. The scientific aim of the paper is to gain knowledge and analyse the present status of innovative activities as it pertains to Czech and foreign professional literature and in the Czech business environment. Authors proved with help of questionnaire survey that many companies still neglect information support of their innovation activities although given the importance of innovation as an engine of growth. Moreover, as shown by the primary research, the majority of companies lack a sophisticated marketing information system, modelling and analysis of the future market, analyses of customers, their behaviour and unsaid needs, definition of price strategies, and analysis of new expansion areas. These findings are not affirmative for our business environment.

  18. 75 FR 45112 - Draft Toxicological Review of Hexachloroethane: In Support of Summary Information on the...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-08-02

    ... than 540 chemical substances that can be used to support the first two steps (hazard identification and... copies are available from the Information Management Team (Address: Information Management Team, National... qualitative risk information on effects that may result from exposure to chemical substances found in the...

  19. CRISP. Information Security Models and Their Economics

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gustavsson, R.; Mellstrand, P.; Tornqvist, B.

    2005-03-01

    The deliverable D1.6 includes background material and specifications of a CRISP Framework on protection of information assets related to power net management and management of business operations related to energy services. During the project it was discovered by the CRISP consortium that the original description of WP 1.6 was not adequate for the project as such. The main insight was that the original emphasis on cost-benefit analysis of security protection measures was to early to address in the project. This issue is of course crucial in itself but requires new models of consequence analysis that still remains to be developed, especially for the new business models we are investigated in the CRISP project. The updated and approved version of the WP1.6 description, together with the also updated WP2.4 focus on Dependable ICT support of Power Grid Operations constitutes an integrated approach towards dependable and secure future utilities and their business processes. This document (D1.6) is a background to deliverable D2.4. Together they provide a dependability and security framework to the three CRISP experiments in WP3

  20. The NIAID Division of AIDS enterprise information system: integrated decision support for global clinical research programs

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gupta, Nitin; Varghese, Suresh; Virkar, Hemant

    2011-01-01

    The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) Division of AIDS (DAIDS) Enterprise Information System (DAIDS-ES) is a web-based system that supports NIAID in the scientific, strategic, and tactical management of its global clinical research programs for HIV/AIDS vaccines, prevention, and therapeutics. Different from most commercial clinical trials information systems, which are typically protocol-driven, the DAIDS-ES was built to exchange information with those types of systems and integrate it in ways that help scientific program directors lead the research effort and keep pace with the complex and ever-changing global HIV/AIDS pandemic. Whereas commercially available clinical trials support systems are not usually disease-focused, DAIDS-ES was specifically designed to capture and incorporate unique scientific, demographic, and logistical aspects of HIV/AIDS treatment, prevention, and vaccine research in order to provide a rich source of information to guide informed decision-making. Sharing data across its internal components and with external systems, using defined vocabularies, open standards and flexible interfaces, the DAIDS-ES enables NIAID, its global collaborators and stakeholders, access to timely, quality information about NIAID-supported clinical trials which is utilized to: (1) analyze the research portfolio, assess capacity, identify opportunities, and avoid redundancies; (2) help support study safety, quality, ethics, and regulatory compliance; (3) conduct evidence-based policy analysis and business process re-engineering for improved efficiency. This report summarizes how the DAIDS-ES was conceptualized, how it differs from typical clinical trial support systems, the rationale for key design choices, and examples of how it is being used to advance the efficiency and effectiveness of NIAID's HIV/AIDS clinical research programs. PMID:21816958

  1. Assessing the impact of information and framing on support for climate policy action

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hatfield-Dodds, Steve

    2007-01-01

    Full text: A significant share of the public appears mislead by the way the economic impacts of emissions reductions are traditionally communicated. This misunderstanding is associated with reduced support for policy action, and risks long term climate impacts that would be avoided if results were communicated properly. Correct this basis appears likely to have a larger effect on attitudes than new research and information on the impacts of climate change. Government action to achieve deep cuts in greenhouse gas emissions - like other major policy changes -depends on public support, which in turn depends on perceptions of policy impacts. This paper reports research exploring the effect of three factors on support for policy action: the way that policy impacts are described; the magnitude of these impacts, and additional information on climate change impacts, provided internally through the surveys and externally through the release of An Inconvenient Truth and media coverage of the Stern Report (2006). The research used split sample phone and internet surveys (n = 4264) conducted in Australia and New Zealand in four waves from April to December 2006. The study gives rise to four major findings: Support for policy action is sensitive to the magnitude of expected economic impacts, with predicted support varying from 27% to 84% across the different levels of policy impact presented; Current approaches to communicating policy impacts are associated with public support for policy action being 8-10% lower than it would be if policy impacts were well communicated. This bias may be corrected by describing policy impacts in terms of changes relative to current levels - stating that incomes continue to rise - as well as describing impacts relative to the base case; The reduction in support associated with these biases is much larger than the increase in support associated with providing credible additional information on the impacts of climate change; Significantly more than

  2. Operations and support cost modeling of conceptual space vehicles

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ebeling, Charles

    1994-01-01

    The University of Dayton is pleased to submit this annual report to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Langley Research Center which documents the development of an operations and support (O&S) cost model as part of a larger life cycle cost (LCC) structure. It is intended for use during the conceptual design of new launch vehicles and spacecraft. This research is being conducted under NASA Research Grant NAG-1-1327. This research effort changes the focus from that of the first two years in which a reliability and maintainability model was developed to the initial development of an operations and support life cycle cost model. Cost categories were initially patterned after NASA's three axis work breakdown structure consisting of a configuration axis (vehicle), a function axis, and a cost axis. A revised cost element structure (CES), which is currently under study by NASA, was used to established the basic cost elements used in the model. While the focus of the effort was on operations and maintenance costs and other recurring costs, the computerized model allowed for other cost categories such as RDT&E and production costs to be addressed. Secondary tasks performed concurrent with the development of the costing model included support and upgrades to the reliability and maintainability (R&M) model. The primary result of the current research has been a methodology and a computer implementation of the methodology to provide for timely operations and support cost analysis during the conceptual design activities.

  3. IDAS, software support for mathematical models and map-based graphics

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Birnbaum, M.D.; Wecker, D.B.

    1984-01-01

    IDAS (Intermediate Dose Assessment System) was developed for the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission as a hardware/software host for radiological models and display of map-based plume graphics at the Operations Center (HQ), regional incident response centers, and site emergency facilities. IDAS design goals acknowledged the likelihood of future changes in the suite of models and the composition of map features for analysis and graphical display. IDAS provides a generalized software support environment to programmers and users of modeling programs. A database manager process provides multi-user access control to all input and output data for modeling programs. A programmer-created data description file (schema) specifies data field names, data types, legal and recommended ranges, default values, preferred units of measurement, and ''help'' text. Subroutine calls to IDAS from a model program invoke a consistent user interface which can show any of the schema contents, convert units of measurement, and route data to multiple logical devices, including the database. A stand-alone data editor allows the user to read and write model data records without execution of a model. IDAS stores digitized map features in a 4-level naming hierarchy. A user can select the map icon, color, and whether to show a stored name tag, for each map feature. The user also selects image scale (zoom) within limits set by map digitization. The resulting image combines static map information, computed analytic modeling results, and the user's feature selections for display to decision-makers

  4. The effect of caregiver support interventions for informal caregivers of community-dwelling frail elderly: a systematic review

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Maja Lopez Hartmann

    2012-08-01

    Full Text Available Introduction: Informal caregivers are important resources for community-dwelling frail elderly. But caring can be challenging. To be able to provide long-term care to the elderly, informal caregivers need to be supported as well. The aim of this study is to review the current best evidence on the effectiveness of different types of support services targeting informal caregivers of community-dwelling frail elderly. Methods: A systematic literature search was performed in Medline, PsychINFO, Ovid Nursing Database, Cinahl, Embase, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials and British Nursing Index in september 2010. Results: Overall, the effect of caregiver support interventions is small and also inconsistent between studies. Respite care can be helpful in reducing depression, burden and anger. Interventions at the individual caregivers' level can be beneficial in reducing or stabilizing depression, burden, stress and role strain. Group support has a positive effect on caregivers' coping ability, knowledge, social support and reducing depression. Technology-based interventions can reduce caregiver burden, depression, anxiety and stress and improve the caregiver's coping ability. Conclusion: Integrated support packages where the content of the package is tailored to the individual caregivers' physical, psychological and social needs should be preferred when supporting informal caregivers of frail elderly. It requires an intense collaboration and coordination between all parties involved.

  5. Information delivery manuals to facilitate it supported energy analysis

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Mondrup, Thomas Fænø; Karlshøj, Jan; Vestergaard, Flemming

    In response to continuing Building Information Modeling (BIM) progress, building performance simulation tools such as IESVE are being utilized to explore construction projects and influence design decisions with increasing frequency. To maximize the potential of these tools, a specification...

  6. Cross-sectional survey of patients' need for information and support with medicines after discharge from hospital.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mackridge, Adam J; Rodgers, Ruth; Lee, Dan; Morecroft, Charles W; Krska, Janet

    2017-11-20

    Most patients experience changes to prescribed medicines during a hospital stay. Ensuring they understand such changes is important for preventing adverse events post-discharge and optimising patient understanding. However, little work has explored the information that patients receive about medicines or their perceived needs for information and support after discharge. To determine information that hospital inpatients who experience medicine changes receive about their medicines during admission and their needs and preferences for, and use of, post-discharge support. Cross-sectional survey with adult medical inpatients experiencing medicine changes in six English hospitals, with telephone follow-up 2-3 weeks post-discharge. A total of 444 inpatients completed surveys, and 99 of these were followed up post-discharge. Of the 444, 44 (10%) were unaware of changes to medicines and 65 (16%) did not recall discussing them with a health professional, but 305 (77%) reported understanding the changes. Type of information provided and patients' perceived need for post-discharge support differed between hospitals. Information about changes was most frequently provided by consultant medical staff (157; 39%) with pharmacists providing information least often (71; 17%). One third of patients surveyed considered community pharmacists as potential sources of information about medicines and associated support post-discharge. Post-discharge, just 5% had spoken to a pharmacist, although 35% reported medicine-related problems. In north-west England, patient inclusion in treatment decisions could be improved, but provision of information prior to discharge is reasonable. There is scope to develop hospital and community pharmacists' role in medicine optimisation to maximise safety and effectiveness of care. © 2017 Royal Pharmaceutical Society.

  7. Big data and information management: modeling the context decisional supported by sistemography

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    William Barbosa Vianna

    2016-04-01

    Full Text Available Introduction: The study justified by the scarcity of studies in the field of information science that addressing the phenomenon of big data from the perspective of information management. that will allow further development of computer simulation. Objective: The objective is to identify and represent the general elements of the decision-making process in the context of big data. Methodology: It is an exploratory study and theoretical and deductive nature. Results: It resulted in the identification of the main elements involved in decision-making on big data environment and its sistemografic representation. Conclusions: It was possible to develop a representation which will allow further development of computer simulation.

  8. The quantization of the attention function under a Bayes information theoretic model

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wynn, H.P.; Sebastiani, P.

    2001-01-01

    Bayes experimental design using entropy, or equivalently negative information, as a criterion is fairly well developed. The present work applies this model but at a primitive level in statistical sampling. It is assumed that the observer/experimentor is allowed to place a window over the support of a sampling distribution and only 'pay for' observations that fall in this window. The window can be modeled with an 'attention function', simply the indicator function of the window. The understanding is that the cost of the experiment is only the number of paid for observations: n. For fixed n and under the information model it turns out that for standard problems the optimal structure for the window, in the limit amongst all types of window including disjoint regions, is discrete. That is to say it is optimal to observe the world (in this sense) through discrete slits. It also shows that in this case Bayesians with different priors will receive different samples because typically the optimal attention windows will be disjoint. This property we refer to as the quantization of the attention function

  9. An Organizational Model for Instructional Support at a Community College.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mundell, Jacqueline; Celene-Martel, Coryl; Braziunas, Tom

    2003-01-01

    Describes the Instructional and Information Support Services (IISS) division at North Seattle Community College, which brings together the college's library, media services, and distance learning units as well as the Teaching and Learning center to support instruction campus-wide. Discusses the campus technological infrastructure, online courses,…

  10. The information-motivation-behavioral skills model of ART adherence in a Deep South HIV+ clinic sample.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Amico, K Rivet; Barta, William; Konkle-Parker, Deborah J; Fisher, Jeffrey D; Cornman, Deborah H; Shuper, Paul A; Fisher, William A

    2009-02-01

    High levels of adherence to antiretroviral therapy (ART) are critical to the management of HIV, yet many people living with HIV do not achieve these levels. There is a substantial body of literature regarding correlates of adherence to ART, and theory-based multivariate models of ART adherence are emerging. The current study assessed the determinants of adherence behavior postulated by the Information-Motivation-Behavioral Skills model of ART adherence in a sample of 149 HIV-positive patients in Mississippi. Structural equation modeling indicated that ART-related information correlated with personal and social motivation, and the two sub-areas of motivation were not intercorrelated. In this Deep South sample, being better informed, socially supported, and perceiving fewer negative consequences of adherence were independently related to stronger behavioral skills for taking medications, which in turn associated with self-reported adherence. The IMB model of ART adherence appeared to well characterize the complexities of adherence for this sample.

  11. A life enriching togetherness--meanings of informal support when being a parent of a child with disability.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lindblad, Britt-Marie; Holritz-Rasmussen, Birgit; Sandman, Per-Olof

    2007-06-01

    The majority of children affected by disability are cared for at home by their parents. It is well documented in research literature that the parents are in need of professional support. In the striving to improve the professional caring, it is also important to deepen our understanding about the meaning of informal support from the perspective of parents' life world. The aim of this study was to illuminate the meanings of lived experience of informal support, when being a parent of a child affected by disability. Thirteen parents, eight mothers and five fathers within eight families, participated in narrative interviews, which were analysed by using a phenomenological-hermeneutic method. The meanings resulted in three themes: 'being gratified by experiences of the child as having a natural place in relation with others', 'being provided a room for sorrow and joy' and 'being enabled to live an eased and spontaneous daily life'. These themes emanated from the experiences of other persons' being and doing in relation to the parents, the child affected by disability and the siblings. According to our interpretation, informal support means a life enriching togetherness, the core of which is natural human caring. The findings also showed that parents highly valued professional support concerning informal supporters.

  12. Gossip Management at Universities Using Big Data Warehouse Model Integrated with a Decision Support System

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Pelin Vardarlier

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Big Data has recently been used for many purposes like medicine, marketing and sports. It has helped improve management decisions. However, for almost each case a unique data warehouse should be built to benefit from the merits of data mining and Big Data. Hence, each time we start from scratch to form and build a Big Data Warehouse. In this study, we propose a Big Data Warehouse and a model for universities to be used for information management, to be more specific gossip management. The overall model is a decision support system that may help university administraitons when they are making decisions and also provide them with information or gossips being circulated among students and staff. In the model, unsupervised machine learning algorithms have been employed. A prototype of the proposed system has also been presented in the study. User generated data has been collected from students in order to learn gossips and students’ problems related to school, classes, staff and instructors. The findings and results of the pilot study suggest that social media messages among students may give important clues for the happenings at school and this information may be used for management purposes.The model may be developed and implemented by not only universities but also some other organisations.

  13. Optimally matching support and perceived spousal sensitivity.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cutrona, Carolyn E; Shaffer, Philip A; Wesner, Kristin A; Gardner, Kelli A

    2007-12-01

    Partner sensitivity is an important antecedent of both intimacy (H. T. Reis & P. Shaver, 1988) and attachment (M. D. S. Ainsworth, 1989). On the basis of the optimal matching model of social support (C. E. Cutrona & D. Russell, 1990), support behaviors that "matched" the support goals of the stressed individual were predicted to lead to the perception of partner sensitivity. Predictions were tested with 59 married couples, who engaged in a videotaped self-disclosure task. Matching support was defined as the disclosure of emotions followed by emotional support or a request for information followed by informational support. Partial evidence was found for the predictions. Matching support following the disclosure of emotions was predictive of perceived partner sensitivity. Mismatched support following the disclosure of emotions predicted lower marital satisfaction, through the mediation of partner sensitivity. Matching support following a request for information was not predictive of perceived partner sensitivity, but negative partner responses (e.g., criticism or sarcasm) following a request for information negatively predicted perceptions of partner sensitivity. The importance of considering the context of support transactions is discussed.

  14. The use of cloud enabled building information models – an expert analysis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Alan Redmond

    2015-10-01

    Full Text Available The dependency of today’s construction professionals to use singular commercial applications for design possibilities creates the risk of being dictated by the language-tools they use. This unknowingly approach to converting to the constraints of a particular computer application’s style, reduces one’s association with cutting-edge design as no single computer application can support all of the tasks associated with building-design and production. Interoperability depicts the need to pass data between applications, allowing multiple types of experts and applications to contribute to the work at hand. Cloud computing is a centralized heterogeneous platform that enables different applications to be connected to each other through using remote data servers. However, the possibility of providing an interoperable process based on binding several construction applications through a single repository platform ‘cloud computing’ required further analysis. The following Delphi questionnaires analysed the exchanging information opportunities of Building Information Modelling (BIM as the possible solution for the integration of applications on a cloud platform. The survey structure is modelled to; (i identify the most appropriate applications for advancing interoperability at the early design stage, (ii detect the most severe barriers of BIM implementation from a business and legal viewpoint, (iii examine the need for standards to address information exchange between design team, and (iv explore the use of the most common interfaces for exchanging information. The anticipated findings will assist in identifying a model that will enhance the standardized passing of information between systems at the feasibility design stage of a construction project.

  15. The use of cloud enabled building information models – an expert analysis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Alan Redmond

    2012-12-01

    Full Text Available The dependency of today’s construction professionals to use singular commercial applications for design possibilities creates the risk of being dictated by the language-tools they use. This unknowingly approach to converting to the constraints of a particular computer application’s style, reduces one’s association with cutting-edge design as no single computer application can support all of the tasks associated with building-design and production. Interoperability depicts the need to pass data between applications, allowing multiple types of experts and applications to contribute to the work at hand. Cloud computing is a centralized heterogeneous platform that enables different applications to be connected to each other through using remote data servers. However, the possibility of providing an interoperable process based on binding several construction applications through a single repository platform ‘cloud computing’ required further analysis. The following Delphi questionnaires analysed the exchanging information opportunities of Building Information Modelling (BIM as the possible solution for the integration of applications on a cloud platform. The survey structure is modelled to; (i identify the most appropriate applications for advancing interoperability at the early design stage, (ii detect the most severe barriers of BIM implementation from a business and legal viewpoint, (iii examine the need for standards to address information exchange between design team, and (iv explore the use of the most common interfaces for exchanging information. The anticipated findings will assist in identifying a model that will enhance the standardized passing of information between systems at the feasibility design stage of a construction project.

  16. BIM Anatomy II: Standardisation Needs & Support Systems

    OpenAIRE

    Hooper, Martin

    2015-01-01

    This thesis presents the results of an investigation into BIM standardisation needs and procedural supporting mechanisms that may enable design, construction and operating (DCO) organisations to advance their deployment of Building Information Modelling (BIM) technology, and improve construction project outcomes. To achieve sustainable development requires effective information management. Building Information Modelling is of strategic importance for the development of effi...

  17. Efficient transfer of sensitivity information in multi-component models

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Abdel-Khalik, Hany S.; Rabiti, Cristian

    2011-01-01

    In support of adjoint-based sensitivity analysis, this manuscript presents a new method to efficiently transfer adjoint information between components in a multi-component model, whereas the output of one component is passed as input to the next component. Often, one is interested in evaluating the sensitivities of the responses calculated by the last component to the inputs of the first component in the overall model. The presented method has two advantages over existing methods which may be classified into two broad categories: brute force-type methods and amalgamated-type methods. First, the presented method determines the minimum number of adjoint evaluations for each component as opposed to the brute force-type methods which require full evaluation of all sensitivities for all responses calculated by each component in the overall model, which proves computationally prohibitive for realistic problems. Second, the new method treats each component as a black-box as opposed to amalgamated-type methods which requires explicit knowledge of the system of equations associated with each component in order to reach the minimum number of adjoint evaluations. (author)

  18. From Management Information Systems to Business Intelligence: The Development of Management Information Needs

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gėlytė Kazakevičienė

    2013-09-01

    Full Text Available Despite the advances in IT, information systems intended for management informing did not uniformly fulfil the increased expectations of users; this can be said mostly about complex information needs. Although some of the technologies for supporting complicated insights, like management decision support systems and technologies, experienced reduction in interest both from researchers and practitioners, this did not reduce the importance of well-supported business informing and decision making. Being attributed to the group of intelligent systems and technologies, decision support (DS technologies have been largely supplemented by business intelligence (BI technologies. Both types of technologies are supported by respective information technologies, which often appear to be quite closely related. The objective of this paper is to define relations between simple and complex informing intended to satisfy different sets of needs and provided by different sets of support tools. The paper attempts to put together decision support and business intelligence technologies, based on common goals of sense-making and use of advanced analytical tools. A model of two interconnected cycles has been developed to relate the activities of decision support and business intelligence. Empirical data from earlier research is used to direct possible further insights into this area.

  19. Bearing Degradation Process Prediction Based on the Support Vector Machine and Markov Model

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Shaojiang Dong

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available Predicting the degradation process of bearings before they reach the failure threshold is extremely important in industry. This paper proposed a novel method based on the support vector machine (SVM and the Markov model to achieve this goal. Firstly, the features are extracted by time and time-frequency domain methods. However, the extracted original features are still with high dimensional and include superfluous information, and the nonlinear multifeatures fusion technique LTSA is used to merge the features and reduces the dimension. Then, based on the extracted features, the SVM model is used to predict the bearings degradation process, and the CAO method is used to determine the embedding dimension of the SVM model. After the bearing degradation process is predicted by SVM model, the Markov model is used to improve the prediction accuracy. The proposed method was validated by two bearing run-to-failure experiments, and the results proved the effectiveness of the methodology.

  20. The Relationship between Return on Profitability and Costs of Outsourcing Information Technology Technical Support

    Science.gov (United States)

    Odion, Segun

    2011-01-01

    The purpose of this quantitative correlational research study was to examine the relationship between costs of operation and total return on profitability of outsourcing information technology technical support in a two-year period of outsourcing operations. United States of America list of Fortune 1000 companies' chief information officers…