Volume 12, Nos. 1 and 2. Social services in the information society: closing the gap

UpFront, Jackie Rafferty.Information technology for specific user groupsInternet based information and support: use by parents of children with disabilities Nancy Shank, Debbie Laible, Virginia Murphy-Berman and Gregg Wright.DISCUS - Using Internet based technology to support the practical aspects of care, D. F. Paulson and C. A. NicolleExperience of an electronic newspaper service for the blind, Paolo Graziani and Laura Burzagli.Computer work in sheltered employment: a systematic approach for qualification, Klaus J. Zink, Frank Leidermann and Harald Weber.Rehabilitation information system for people with disabilities, Alexander Shoshmin, Natalie Martynova and Anna Riabokon.Virtual networks for language therapy - experiences, Magnus Magnusson and Marianne Christensen.Establishment of the network in the field of augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) in Finland, Tuula Petdkoski-Hult.Videoconferencing in psychiatry, Marja-Leena Mielonen, Juha Moring, Arte Ohinmaa and Matti Isohanni.Personalised software application compensating memory disorders, Jaana Leikas, Juha Pdrkkd and Petteri Jdmsd.Computer based interventions for assisting people who have suffered trauma, Bryan Williams, D. Ramanee Peiris, Peter Gregor, Norman Aim, Susan Gumming, Gillian Flockhart and Marjory Groundwater.Social service provision supported by technologyMonitoring child care in adverse circumstances, Andy Bilso

Determining the cause of stillbirth in Kumasi, Ghana

ObjectiveTo classify causeâ ofâ death (COD) for stillbirths occurring in a major referral hospital in Kumasi, Ghana.MethodsIn a retrospective review conducted between June 8, 2011, and June 12, 2012, detailed information was collected on all stillbirths delivered at Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital in Kumasi, Ghana. Patient records were independently reviewed by investigators using the Perinatal Society of Australia and New Zealand’s Perinatal Death Classification system to determine COD for each case.ResultsCOD was analyzed in 465 stillbirth cases. The leading causes of death were hypoxic interpartum death (105, 22.6%), antepartum hemorrhage (67, 14.4%), hypertension (52, 11.2%), and perinatal infection (32, 6.9%). One hundred and fifty seven (33.8%) stillbirths were classified as unexplained antepartum deaths.ConclusionsThis evaluation of stillbirth in a busy, tertiary care hospital in Kumasi, Ghana provides crucial insight into the high volume of stillbirth in Ghana as well as its medical causes. The study demonstrated the high rate of stillbirth attributed to hypoxic intrapartum events, placental abruption, preâ eclampsia, and unspecified bacterial infections. Yet, our rate of unexplained stillbirths underscores the need for a stillbirth classification system that thoughtfully integrates the needs and limitations of lowâ resource settings as unexplained stillbirth rates are a common indicator of the effectiveness of a classification system.This study demonstrates the high rate of stillbirth associated with hypoxic intrapartum events, placental abruption, preâ eclampsia, and infection at a tertiary hospital in Ghana.Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/151859/1/ijgo12930_am.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/151859/2/ijgo12930.pd

Transactions of the Indian Ceramic Society: a bibliometric study

In this study an attempt is made to investigate the scholarly communications in Transactions of the Indian Ceramic Society journal during 2000-2011 and to study its publication trends. For the analysis of the study 12 volumes containing 48 issues have been taken up for evaluation. It is observed that, contributions of articles to each volume is not consistent and on an average 26 articles have been published in each volume. Two authored articles are found to be the highest followed by three and four authored articles. The average degree of collaboration is 0.876. In total 8536 citations have been appended to 308 articles during the period 2000-2011. Journals (80.51%) are the major source of information used by authors followed by books (10.72%). During the period 108 citations have been taken from the source journal. Number of articles written in national collation collaboration is 77 (25%) whereas that of written in international collaboration is only 10 (3.25%)

Fetal volume measurements in the first trimester of pregnancy with three-dimensional ultrasound

Preterm birth and a low birth weight are major complications with significant consequences for families and society. It is expected that these complications are the result of the intra-uterine conditions in the first trimester of pregnancy. If it would be possible to detect the fetus at risk early in pregnancy, then the obstetric care can be adjusted accordingly. Earlier reports suggested that fetal growth in the first trimester of pregnancy is of significant value in assessing these complications in pregnancy, the clinical value of these findings is unknown because of the small differences between normal and abnormal growth (Chapter 1). If the fetal size is measured with routine two-dimensional ultrasound, the differences between normal and abnormal fetal size are small. The extra third dimension with three-dimensional ultrasound is expected to give more information about fetal development. The fetal volume rises seven times faster than the crown-rump-length (routine two-dimensional measurement), so impaired fetal growth will be more obvious. This thesis describes in vitro and in vivo studies in order to analyze the still rather complex volume measurements with three-dimensional ultrasound. Furthermore the predictive value of fetal volume measurements in relation to pregnancy outcome is discussed. In vitro studies Three-dimensional volume measurements are expected to be of diagnostic value in general gynecologic and obstetric practice. Despite that the introduction of volume measurements with VOCAL (Volume Organ Computer Aided AnaLysis) was an advancement, the volume measurements are still rather time consuming and complex, as explained in Chapter 1. The learning curve for volume measurements with three-dimensional ultrasound and VOCAL were analyzed in Chapter 2. There is no significant learning curve for volume measurements with three-dimensional ultrasound. In addition, the measurements from inexperienced sonographers were similar to those of an expert. Chapter 3 describes the relation between the volume of an object and the measurement error in vitro for a range of volumes that are comparable to actual fetal volumes in the first trimester of pregnancy. The results show that the percentage error, i.e. absolute measurement error expressed as a percentage of the actual volume, was smaller for larger objects. One should be aware of the volume-dependent absolute and percentage measurement error when interpreting the measured values. Explorative research in order to develop and verify a more practical semi-automated method for volume calculations with 3DUS images is evaluated in Chapter 4. The results of this study show that mathematical volume calculations are possible with the newly developed semi-automated method. This method was successfully applied on a first trimester fetus, where the points of interest at the contour of the fetal head and body were detected. We also succeeded in detecting voxels in the whole contour, including the limbs, of a first trimester fetus with a gestational age of 12 weeks. In vivo studies The high inter- and intra-observer reliability of abdominal fetal volume measurements with three-dimensional ultrasound measurements of the fetal head and rump, i.e. an inter- and intra-class correlation of 0.934 and 0.994, respectively is discussed in Chapter 5. Because of all these promising results, a prospective cohort study was performed to determine whether it is possible to detect a fetus at risk for preterm birth and/or low birth weight by measuring the fetal volume with three-dimensional ultrasound in the first trimester of pregnancy, of which the study protocol is described in Chapter 6. The results of this prospective cohort study are reported in Chapter 7. The difference in mean percentage error between normal and complicated pregnancies (preterm birth and/or low birth weight) was neither significant nor clinically relevant. The fetal volumes of the neonates born after preterm birth and/or low birth weight are distributed throughout the range of the neonates born a normal birth weight, indicating that it is hard to distinguish the complicated pregnancies from the normal ones by fetal volume alone. Analysis for CRL as a predictor of a low birth weight and the analysis with the individual growth curves showed results similar to the original analysis, i.e. no significant or clinically relevant differences between the normal and complicated group. In conclusion, the measurement of the three-dimensional fetal volume in the first trimester of pregnancy is, by itself, not useful for detecting pregnancies at risk for preterm birth and/or low birth weight. The combination with biochemical markers can be subject of future research. If fetal volume measurements appears to be useful after all, then we know that there is no learning curve for the volume measurements with three-dimensional ultrasound and that the inter- and intraobserver reliability of these measurements are good. Further research concerning automated volume measurements or automated detection of the expected fetal shape might be helpful in pregnancy dating and detection of congenital anomalies

Bibliometric studies on single journals: a review

This paper covers a total of 82 bibliometric studies on single journals (62 studies cover unique titles) published between 1998 and 2008 grouped into the following fields; Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences (12 items); Medical and Health Sciences (19 items); Sciences and Technology (30 items) and Library and Information Sciences (21 items). Under each field the studies are described in accordance to their geographical location in the following order, United Kingdom, United States and Americana, Europe, Asia (India, Africa and Malaysia). For each study, elements described are (a) the journal’s publication characteristics and indexation information; (b) the objectives; (c) the sampling and bibliometric measures used; and (d) the results observed. A list of journal titles studied is appended. The results show that (a)bibliometric studies cover journals in various fields; (b) there are several revisits of some journals which are considered important; (c) Asian and African contributions is high (41.4 of total studies; 43.5 covering unique titles), United States (30.4 of total; 31.0 on unique titles), Europe (18.2 of total and 14.5 on unique titles) and the United Kingdom (10 of total and 11 on unique titles); (d) a high number of bibliometrists are Indians and as such coverage of Indian journals is high (28 of total studies; 30.6 of unique titles); and (e) the quality of the journals and their importance either nationally or internationally are inferred from their indexation status

Rumbo a una economía de datos masivos y su relación con la economía y la sociedad de la información en los territorios fronterizos y periféricos

[ES] El taller sobre Tecnologías Disruptivas de la Información y la Comunicación para la Innovación y la Transformación Digital, organizado en el ámbito del proyecto DISRUPTIVE (disruptive.usal.es) y celebrado el 12 de septiembre de 2022 en Valladolid, tiene como objetivo debatir sobre los problemas, retos y beneficios del uso de tecnologías digitales disruptivas, a saber, Internet de las Cosas, Big data, computación en la nube, sistemas multiagente, aprendizaje automático, realidad virtual y aumentada y robótica colaborativa, para apoyar la transformación digital en curso en la sociedad. El programa del taller incluyó 6 papers técnicos aceptados, 2 charlas de invitados y una sesión de networking. Este volumen contiene 6 de las ponencias presentadas en el taller sobre Tecnologías Disruptivas de la Información y la Comunicación para la Innovación y la Transformación Digital. Este taller fue organizado por ICE (Instituto para la Competitividad Empresarial de Castilla y León), UVa (Universidad de Valladolid) y apoyado principalmente por el Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (FEDER) a través del Programa Interreg España-Portugal V-A (POCTEP) bajo la subvención 0677_DISRUPTIVE_2_E (Dinamización de los Digital Innovation Hubs dentro de la región PocTep para el impulso de las TIC disruptivas y de última generación a través de la cooperación en la región transfronteriza).[EN] The workshop on Disruptive Information and Communication Technologies for Innovation and Digital transformation, organized under the scope of the DISRUPTIVE project (disruptive.usal.es) and held on September 12, 2022 in Valladolid, aims to discuss problems, challenges and benefits of using disruptive digital technologies, namely Internet of Things, Big data, cloud computing, multi-agent systems, machine learning, virtual and augmented reality, and collaborative robotics, to support the on-going digital transformation in society. The main topics included: Intelligent Manufacturing Systems; Industry 4.0 and digital transformation; Internet of Things; Cyber-security; Collaborative and intelligent robotics; Multi-Agent Systems; Industrial Cyber-Physical Systems; Virtualization and digital twins; Predictive maintenance; Virtual and augmented reality, Big Data and advanced data analytics; Edge and cloud Computing; Digital Transformation. The workshop program included 6 accepted technical papers, 2 invited talks and a networking session. This volume contains 6 of the papers presented at the Workshop on Disruptive Information and Communication Technologies for Innovation and Digital Transformation. This workshop was organized by ICE (Institute for Business Competitiveness of Castilla y León), UVa (University of Valladolid) and mainly supported by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) through the Interreg Spain-Portugal V-A Program (POCTEP) under grant 0677_DISRUPTIVE_2_E (Intensifying the activity of Digital Innovation Hubs within the PocTep region to boost the development of disruptive and last generation ICTs through cross-border cooperation)