Metadata interoperability in public sector information

Over recent years, there has been a worldwide growing need for interoperability among the systems that manage and reuse Public Sector Information. This paper explores the documentation needs for Public Sector Information and focuses on metadata interoperability issues. The research work studies a variety of public sector information metadata standards and guidelines internationally accepted and presents two methodologies to obtain interoperability: The first develops an Application Profile, while the second is based on the semantic integration approach and results in the creation of an ontology. The outcomes of the two approaches are compared under the prism of their scope and usage in terms of interoperability during the metadata integration process

The participatory medicine attidutes of general practitioners in Greece: an information behaviour perspective.

In shared health decision-making, cooperation in the patient-doctor relationship is fundamental. However, lack of health literacy may act as a significant barrier in this process. Patients are expected to make decisions even though they are in an uneven position in terms of knowledge (Bernabeo & Holmboe, 2013; McMullan, 2006). In our research we examined the information seeking behaviour of doctors, their views on cooperation with their patients, and the role that information consultations play in shared decision-making. Our study involved a survey of 162 private general practitioners and private pathologists in Greece. We collected demographic characteristics and self-assessments of doctors using a five point Likert scale. We used the Kruskall-Wallis non-parametric test for the analysis of the relationship between demographics and the importance assigned to information consultations. Doctors reported that they used both electronic and interpersonal sources for diagnoses, treatment, and updating their knowledge. The barriers they experienced included lack of time, the cost of access, and the difficulty of finding information, confirming previous research in this area (Davies, 2011). Most doctors considered the cooperation of their patients as important for decision making (mean=3.69) and improving the overall clinical outcome (mean =4.19). Most agreed that they relied on patients to further developing their own information literacy (IL). Doctors expected their patients to consult health related publications they directed them to in the form of print materials (mean=3.59), medical Internet websites (mean=3.81), or the website/Facebook page of their general practice (mean=3.20). However, there was a statistically significant difference when age was factored in. More than half of the more experienced doctors (above 60 years old, 55,1%) did not share the same positive views on cooperation and did not direct their patients to different information sources. It was mostly the younger doctors who took advantage of the Internet as a health consultation tool. Doctors between 40-55 years (97%) directed their patients to articles published on medical websites, while using the website/Facebook page of the general practice was more prevalent in doctors younger than 40 years old (90%). This paper argues that doctors form the main information literacy (IL) pillar for patients as they are their first port of call for their healthcare decisions. But not all doctors are ready and willing to offer information prescriptions that will help advance their patients' IL empowerment to be able to identify and use quality health information independently for their evidence-based and informed decision-making. Title listed on conference website as The Value of Information Related Practices in Patient-Doctor Relationships

Phylogenetic and molecular characterization of equine H3N8 influenza viruses from Greece (2003 and 2007): Evidence for reassortment between evolutionary lineages

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>For first time in Greece equine influenza virus infection was confirmed, by isolation and molecular analysis, as the cause of clinical respiratory disease among unvaccinated horses during 2003 and 2007 outbreaks.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Equine influenza virus (EIV) H3N8 was isolated in MDCK cells from 30 nasal swabs from horses with acute respiratory disease, which were tested positive by Directigen Flu A. Isolation was confirmed by haemagglutination assay and RT-PCR assay of the M, HA and NA gene.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>HA sequences of the Greek isolates appeared to be more closely related to viruses isolated in early 1990s in Europe. These results suggested that viruses with fewer changes than those on the main evolutionary lineage may continue to circulate. On the other hand, analysis of deduced NA amino acid sequences were more closely related to viruses isolated in outbreaks in Europe and Asia during 2003-2007. Phylogenetic analysis characterized the Greek isolates as a member of the Eurasian lineage by the haemagglutinin (HA) protein alignment, but appeared to be a member of the Florida sublineage clade 2 by the neuraminidase (NA) protein sequence suggesting that reassortment might be a possible explanation.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Our findings suggest that the Greek strains represent an example of "frozen evolution" and probably reassortment between genetically distinct co-circulated strains. Therefore expanding current equine influenza surveillance efforts is a necessity.</p