Eliciting usage contexts of safety-critical medical devices

This position paper outlines our approach to improve the usage choice of suitable devices in different health care environments (contexts). Safety-critical medical devices are presumed to have undergone a thorough (user-centred) design process to optimize the device for the intended purpose, user group and environment. However, in real-life health care scenarios, actual usage may not reflect the original design parameters. We suggest the identification of further usage contexts for safety-critical medical devices through ethnographic and other studies, to assist better modelling of the challenges of different usage environments. In combination with system and interaction models, these context models can then be used for decision-support in choosing medical devices that are suitable for the intended environment

Inquiry of L2 learning and beyond during study abroad : Preliminary study of Japanese university students’ in-class and out-of-class learning in the UK

There has been a significant increase in the number of Japanese students participating in study abroad （SA） programs in English-speaking countries. Students might have different reasons for studying abroad including second language learning, learning about other cultures, disciplinary learning and professional development. To help learners to enhance their learning outcomes, host institutions overseas and institutions in Japan can develop mutual understanding of learners’ perceptions toward actual learning happening overseas in order to know which activities can enhance their productive skills.Learning can occur anywhere in any form especially in the situation of SA. Therefore, this study aims to explore Japanese university students’ in-class and out-of-class learning activities in the UK to determine what activities could lead students to develop and change their thoughts on language learning and host cultures.Thirteen Japanese university students and twelve students from South Korea, France, Thailand, Saudi Arabia, Iran, China and Italy participated in this study. A questionnaire was distributed to the students and a semi-structured interview was conducted with the Japanese students shortly before the end of the program. Questions were on students’ educational background, their future study and work plans, their in-class and out-of-class activities, improvement in their English language skills and thoughts. These outcomes were analyzed by two researchers （Japanese and British） comparing their observations of students’ progress and language improvement to synthesize the pedagogical implications of SA.The identified in-class activities which students found effective are summarized under broad-ranging categories: Expressing self in English, such as reflective journals, presentations and explaining own interests and opinions and learning strategies. Out-of-class activities include language socialization such as meeting up and traveling with flatmates, and social events organized by the university.The researchers’ reflections on effective learning activities, implications for study abroad program are discussed

Students and their videos: implications for a video digital library

Personal information collections have expanded to include video files but users often organize their content with the same tools they use for other simpler media types. We analyze the ‘native’ video management behavior expressed in 35 self-interviews and diary studies produced by New Zealand students, to create a ‘rich picture’ of personal video collection size, formats, organization and intended usage. We consider how conventional digital libraries can better support usage of personal video material

Personal video collection management behavior

Video content typically consumes more storage space and bandwidth than other document types although users structure their content with the same organisational tools they use for smaller and simpler items. We analyze the "native" video management behavior as expressed in 35 self-interviews and diary studies produced by New Zealand students, to create a "rich picture" of personal video collections. We see that personal collections can have diffuse boundaries and many different intended users' and that these information management needs are difficult to fulfill with their homegrown video collection management strategies

Investigating the use of activity trackers to observe high-risk work environments

The New Zealand forestry industry has the country's highest rate of workplace fatalities. The reasons are not well studied or understood and no large-scale systematic physical and physiological data has been recorded to investigate this. Current research focusses on developing mechanised solutions and changing worker behaviour. We believe the first step in identifying any successful solution is to develop a fine-grained understanding of the physical context of forestry work by performing large-scale data collection of the levels of physical activity the workers engage in as well as their sleep patterns over extended periods of time. Our goal is to use lightweight, wearable technology (so-called activity trackers) to collect this data. In order to do so we need a clear understanding of the capabilities and limitations of such devices, both in general and in the proposed use environment for forestry workers. In this paper we present the results of user studies and comparisons of six activity trackers and three mobile phone applications used to track activity and sleep. We also discuss our initial pilot study with forestry workers and discuss the problems encountered using the trackers in the environment

What's news? Encounters with news in everyday life: A study of behaviours and attitudes

As the news landscape changes, for many users the nature of news itself is changing as well. Insights into the changing news behaviour of users can inform the design of access tools and news archives. We analysed a set of 35 autoethnographies of news encounters, created by students in New Zealand. These comprise rich descriptions of the news sources, modalities, topics of interest, and news ‘routines’ by which the students keep in touch with friends and maintain awareness of personal, local, national, and international events. We explore the implications of these insights into news behaviour for digital news systems

Mobile early detection and connected intervention to coproduce better care in severe mental illness

Current approaches to the management of severe mentalillness have four major limitations: 1) symptom reporting isintermittent and subject to problems with reliability; 2) serviceusers report feelings of disengagement from their careplanning; 3) late detection of symptoms delay interventionsand increase the risk of relapse; and 4) care systems are heldback by the costs of unscheduled hospital admissions thatcould have been avoided with earlier detection andintervention. The ClinTouch system was developed to close theloop between service users and health professionals.ClinTouch is an end-to-end secure platform, providing avalidated mobile assessment technology, a web interface toview symptom data and a clinical algorithm to detect risk ofrelapse. ClinTouch integrates high-resolution, continuouslongitudinal symptom data into mental health care servicesand presents it in a form that is easy to use for targeting carewhere it is needed. The architecture and methodology can beeasily extended to other clinical domains, where the paradigmof targeted clinical interventions, triggered by the earlydetection of decline, can improve health outcomes

The Role of the Iron Transporter ABCB7 in Refractory Anemia with Ring Sideroblasts

Refractory Anemia with Ring Sideroblasts (RARS) is an acquired myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) characterized by an excess iron accumulation in the mitochondria of erythroblasts. The pathogenesis of RARS and the cause of this unusual pattern of iron deposition remain unknown. We considered that the inherited X-linked sideroblastic anemia with ataxia (XLSA/A) might be informative for the acquired disorder, RARS. XLSA/A is caused by partial inactivating mutations of the ABCB7 ATP-binding cassette transporter gene, which functions to enable transport of iron from the mitochondria to the cytoplasm. Furthermore, ABCB7 gene silencing in HeLa cells causes an accumulation of iron in the mitochondria. We have studied the role of ABCB7 in RARS by DNA sequencing, methylation studies, and gene expression studies in primary CD34+ cells and in cultured erythroblasts. The DNA sequence of the ABCB7 gene is normal in patients with RARS. We have investigated ABCB7 gene expression levels in the CD34+ cells of 122 MDS cases, comprising 35 patients with refractory anemia (RA), 33 patients with RARS and 54 patients with RA with excess blasts (RAEB), and in the CD34+ cells of 16 healthy controls. We found that the expression levels of ABCB7 are significantly lower in the RARS group. RARS is thus characterized by lower levels of ABCB7 gene expression in comparison to other MDS subtypes. Moreover, we find a strong relationship between increasing percentage of bone marrow ring sideroblasts and decreasing ABCB7 gene expression levels. Erythroblast cell cultures confirm the low levels of ABCB7 gene expression levels in RARS. These data provide an important link between inherited and acquired forms of sideroblastic anemia and indicate that ABCB7 is a strong candidate gene for RARS

Toxic iron species in lower-risk myelodysplastic syndrome patients : course of disease and effects on outcome

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Public health research outputs from efficacy to dissemination: a bibliometric analysis

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>More intervention research is needed, particularly 'real world' intervention replication and dissemination studies, to optimize improvements in health. This study assessed the proportion and type of published public health intervention research papers over time in physical activity and falls prevention, both important contributors to preventable morbidity and mortality.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A keyword search was conducted, using Medline and PsycINFO to locate publications in 1988-1989, 1998-1999, and 2008-2009 for the two topic areas. In stage 1, a random sample of 1200 publications per time period for both topics were categorized as: non-public health, non-data-based public health, or data-based public health. In stage 2 data-based public health articles were further classified as measurement, descriptive, etiological or intervention research. Finally, intervention papers were categorized as: efficacy, intervention replication or dissemination studies. Inter-rater reliability of paper classification was 88%.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Descriptive studies were the most common data-based papers across all time periods (1988-89; 1998-1999;2008-2009) for both issues (physical activity: 47%; 54%; 65% and falls 75%; 64%; 63%), increasing significantly over time for physical activity. The proportion of intervention publications did not increase over time for physical activity comprising 23% across all time periods and fluctuated for falls across the time periods (10%; 21%; 17%). The proportion of intervention articles that were replication studies increased over the three time periods for physical activity (0%; 2%; 11%) and for falls (0%; 22%; 35%). Dissemination studies first appeared in the literature in 2008-2009, making up only 3% of physical activity and 7% of falls intervention studies.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Intervention research studies remain only a modest proportion of all published studies in physical activity and falls prevention; the majority of the intervention studies, are efficacy studies although there is growing evidence of a move towards replication and dissemination studies, which may have greater potential for improving population health.</p