Air Force Institute of Technology Research Report 2003

This report summarizes the research activities of the Air Force Institute of Technology’s Graduate School of Engineering and Management. It describes research interests and faculty expertise; lists student theses/dissertations; identifies research sponsors and contributions; and outlines the procedures for contacting the school. Included in the report are: faculty publications, conference presentations, consultations, and funded research projects. Research was conducted in the areas of Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering, Electrical Engineering and Electro-Optics, Computer Engineering and Computer Science, Systems and Engineering Management, Operational Sciences, and Engineering Physics

Air Force Institute of Technology Research Report 2004

This report summarizes the research activities of the Air Force Institute of Technology’s Graduate School of Engineering and Management. It describes research interests and faculty expertise; lists student theses/dissertations; identifies research sponsors and contributions; and outlines the procedures for contacting the school. Included in the report are: faculty publications, conference presentations, consultations, and funded research projects. Research was conducted in the areas of Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering, Electrical Engineering and Electro-Optics, Computer Engineering and Computer Science, Systems and Engineering Management, Operational Sciences, and Engineering Physics

A comparative study involving the administration of computer- managed instruction in a remedial mathematics program

This comparative study was conducted to gain insight into the effectiveness of two methods of administering a computer-managed component of instruction in a remedial mathematics program. One method of implementing the computer-managed component of instruction involved teacher decisions on what software would be presented to the students. The second administration allowed the computer's management system to diagnose and prescribe software for individual students. A third group not exposed to any computer software was also used in the study. Five Chapter 1 mathematics classes from each of three middle schools were involved in the collection of data. Pretest and posttest scores were collected on 173 seventh and eighth grade students in order to determine gains in achievement. Informal, structured interviews were conducted with each of the six teachers and five students from each class. Interview data provided information which focused on attitudes toward the use of computers in an instructional setting

The application of a human factors approach to the evaluation of a novel outpatient parenteral antimicrobial therapy service in Malta.

The application of a human factors approach to healthcare has been gaining traction ever since its first mention in the early 1960s. The need for this synergistic collaboration stems from the poor safety and quality outcomes that have been plaguing the history of healthcare, despite continuous efforts by stakeholders to offer patient-centred care at all costs. In recent years, healthcare practitioners have positively contributed to bridging the gap between clinical practices and systems-based approaches. To this end, this research project sets out to apply a human factors approach to the evaluation of a specific niche in healthcare - the newly launched Maltese OPAT service. Considering the high quality attributed to systematic literature reviews (SLRs) in evidence-based medicine, the first phase of this study featured a dual-discipline PROSPERO-registered SLR. Data were critically appraised, synthesised and presented to deduce whether human factors approaches were amenable to OPAT pathways. Data synthesis using the SEIPS 2.0 model successfully extracted facilitators and barriers to OPAT services across the globe, indicating how systems needed to be redesigned to improve service outcomes. At this point during the research journey, the absence of a singular reference source about OPAT episodes made benchmarking and auditing against international service provisions impractical. The second phase addressed this lacuna by conducting a prospective observational cohort study about OPAT episodes, whilst concomitantly compiling a repository (October 2016 to October 2019). Details about the patient cohort and OPAT episodes, completion statuses, OPAT durations and the cost to run the service were inferred. Over the study timeframe, a total of 132 episodes were rendered to 117 patients, equating to a total of 3287 hospital bed days saved. Of these, only 23 episodes resulted in a readmission and so the overall success rate was 82.6%. The OPAT duration was significantly influenced by the presenting infection (p = 0.021), VAD (p < 0.001) and occurrence of a readmission (p = 0.05). Despite the importance of these findings, they offered little knowledge about the patients' and professionals' experiences as end users of the service. This reasoning guided the pursuit of identifying facilitators and barriers attributable to the service from the perspective of these end-users. A cross-sectional questionnaire and a focus group session were conducted to gather data from patients and the OPAT team respectively. Quantitative and qualitative analysis were supplemented by human factors strategies - namely hierarchical task analysis and SEIPS-based modelling. Following quantitative data analysis, a general positive trend in patient satisfaction scores (satisfaction rate of 95.8%) was recorded, therefore favouring the service and the high standard it managed to maintain through the years of provision. Thematic analysis supported this finding and advised caution in terms of focusing on the patient's wellbeing, standardisation of practices, availability of resources and the involvement of informal caregivers. Certain themes were also reiterated from the analysis of the focus group discourse, whereby the OPAT team also stressed the importance of standardising procedures (with specific reference to the referral process and training/education methods), and the team's flexibility and adaptability prior to expanding the service further. SEIPS-based modelling conducted on data collected during the cross-sectional survey and focus group contributed to the mapping of a systems based model applicable to the local service. Comparisons between this and the model created during the SLR about global OPAT services shed light on the requirements for system redesigns of local practices. This doctoral research has contributed both to the practice of OPAT nationally and to the general application of systems-based strategies for the betterment of healthcare outcomes. Future work should focus on the use of new methods to gather more data about the local service, including more robust pharmacoeconomic studies and an in-depth ethnography study from the perspective of the end-users through fieldwork, which could then supplement further human factor approaches such as workflow analysis, thereby ensuring further triangulation of data. On a larger scale, the findings of this research shed light on the amenability of human factors approaches to healthcare practices in general and therefore should be applied across the institution beyond the boundaries set by this case study research

Air Force Institute of Technology Research Report 1999

This report summarizes the research activities of the Air Force Institute of Technology’s Graduate School of Engineering and Management. It describes research interests and faculty expertise; lists student theses/dissertations; identifies research sponsors and contributions; and outlines the procedures for contacting the school. Included in the report are: faculty publications, conference presentations, consultations, and funded research projects. Research was conducted in the areas of Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering, Electrical Engineering and Electro-Optics, Computer Engineering and Computer Science, Systems and Engineering Management, Operational Sciences, and Engineering Physics

Air Force Institute of Technology Research Report 2000

This report summarizes the research activities of the Air Force Institute of Technology’s Graduate School of Engineering and Management. It describes research interests and faculty expertise; lists student theses/dissertations; identifies research sponsors and contributions; and outlines the procedures for contacting the school. Included in the report are: faculty publications, conference presentations, consultations, and funded research projects. Research was conducted in the areas of Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering, Electrical Engineering and Electro-Optics, Computer Engineering and Computer Science, Systems and Engineering Management, Operational Sciences, and Engineering Physics

Air Force Institute of Technology Research Report 2006

This report summarizes the research activities of the Air Force Institute of Technology’s Graduate School of Engineering and Management. It describes research interests and faculty expertise; lists student theses/dissertations; identifies research sponsors and contributions; and outlines the procedures for contacting the school. Included in the report are: faculty publications, conference presentations, consultations, and funded research projects. Research was conducted in the areas of Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering, Electrical Engineering and Electro-Optics, Computer Engineering and Computer Science, Systems and Engineering Management, Operational Sciences, Mathematics, Statistics and Engineering Physics

A systematic review evaluating the implementation of technologies to assess, monitor and treat neurodevelopmental disorders: A map of the current evidence

Technology-based interventions provide an attractive option for improving service provision for neurodevelopmental disorders (NDD), for example, widening access to interventions, objective assessment, and monitoring; however, it is unclear whether there is sufficient evidence to support their use in clinical settings. This review provides an evidence map describing how technology is implemented in the assessment/diagnosis and monitoring/ treatment of NDD (Prospero CRD42018091156). Using predefined search terms in six databases, 7982 articles were identified, 808 full-texts were screened, resulting in 47 included papers. These studies were appraised and synthesised according to the following outcomes of interest: effectiveness (clinical effectiveness/ service delivery efficiencies), economic impact, and user impact (acceptability/ feasibility). The findings describe how technology is currently being utilised clinically, highlights gaps in knowledge, and discusses future research needs. Technology has been used to facilitate assessment and treatment across multiple NDD, especially Autism Spectrum (ASD) and attention-deficit/hyperactivity (ADHD) disorders. Technologies include mobile apps/tablets, robots, gaming, computerised tests, videos, and virtual reality. The outcomes presented largely focus on the clinical effectiveness of the technology, with approximately half the papers demonstrating some degree of effectiveness, however, the methodological quality of many studies is limited. Further research should focus on randomised controlled trial designs with longer follow-up periods, incorporating an economic evaluation, as well as qualitative studies including process evaluations and user impact

RE-AIM (Reach, Effectiveness, Adoption, Implementation, and Maintenance) evaluation of the use of activity trackers in the clinical care of adults diagnosed with a chronic disease : integrative systematic review

Background Chronic diseases are a leading cause of adult mortality, accounting for 41 million deaths globally each year. Low levels of physical activity and sedentary behavior are major risk factors for adults to develop a chronic disease. Physical activity interventions can help support patients in clinical care to be more active. Commercial activity trackers that can measure daily steps, physical activity intensity, sedentary behavior, and distance moved are being more frequently used within health-related interventions. The RE-AIM (Reach, Effectiveness, Adoption, Implementation, and Maintenance) framework is a planning and evaluation approach to explore the reach, effectiveness, adoption, implementation, and maintenance of interventions. Objective The objective of this study is to conduct an integrative systematic review and report the 5 main RE-AIM dimensions in interventions that used activity trackers in clinical care to improve physical activity or reduce sedentary behavior in adults diagnosed with chronic diseases. Methods A search strategy and study protocol were developed and registered on the PROSPERO platform. Inclusion criteria included adults (18 years and older) diagnosed with a chronic disease and have used an activity tracker within their clinical care. Searches of 10 databases and gray literature were conducted, and qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods studies were included. Screening was undertaken by more than 1 researcher to reduce the risk of bias. After screening, the final studies were analyzed using a RE-AIM framework data extraction evaluation tool. This tool assisted in identifying the 28 RE-AIM indicators within the studies and linked them to the 5 main RE-AIM dimensions. Results The initial search identified 4585 potential studies. After a title and abstract review followed by full-text screening, 15 studies were identified for data extraction. The analysis of the extracted data found that the RE-AIM dimensions of adoption (n=1, 7% of studies) and maintenance (n=2, 13% of studies) were underreported. The use of qualitative thematic analysis to understand the individual RE-AIM dimensions was also underreported and only used in 3 of the studies. Two studies used qualitative analysis to explore the effectiveness of the project, while 1 study used thematic analysis to understand the implementation of an intervention. Conclusions Further research is required in the use of activity trackers to support patients to lead a more active lifestyle. Such studies should consider using the RE-AIM framework at the planning stage with a greater focus on the dimensions of adoption and maintenance and using qualitative methods to understand the main RE-AIM dimensions within their design. These results should form the basis for establishing long-term interventions in clinical care