Supporting and Securing Personal Mobile Devices Within an Existing Information Technology Environment

Personal mobile devices are becoming integrated into the daily operations of business. Managers are realizing that employees who are allowed to use personal mobile devices to access corporate information systems may reduce costs as users buy their own devices. The problem was that managers have a limited understanding of the need to secure or support personal mobile devices. The purpose of this survey study was to examine the relationship between employees\u27 desire to use personal mobile devices and corporation needs for security and support. Hypotheses were tested by examining the relationships between the requirement to support and secure personal mobile devices as the independent variables and the desire to use personal mobile devices as the dependent variable. The theoretical framework for the study included the IT product life-cycle management theory, IT security-management theory, and IT strategic-management theory. Survey data were collected from a convenience sample of 108 employees at the study-site organization from an estimated population of 170. Basic linear regression analyses performed found a correlation coefficient of 0.905 indicating the variables are highly correlated. This finding indicates that if personal mobile devices are given access to corporate information systems, then support and security will be necessary for successful operations. If the relationship between internal factors and operational success is clearly documented, organizations may be able to use the data to justify incorporating personal mobile devices within their own corporate information system to reduce costs, improve productivity, and increase employee satisfaction, thereby making a positive contribution to society

Evidence and Evidence Gaps in Adolescent Health

The momentum to bring adolescents and young adults to center stage in global health and international development is palpable. Adolescents are increasingly seen as a crucial group for the success of the newly adopted Agenda for Sustainable Development [1]. Sitting within the Agenda for Sustainable Development framework, the 2030 Global Strategy for Women\u27s, Children\u27s and Adolescents\u27 Health has extended the Every Woman, Every Child agenda to adolescence [2]. The strategy articulates the need for adolescent responsive health systems as well as social determinants, a focus that extends to legal and policy environments [3]. Countries seeking to adopt this more holistic approach to adolescent health and human rights must extend their public health efforts beyond the traditional yet still essential focus on HIV and sexual and reproductive health to address other infectious diseases, injuries, undernutrition, violence, self-harm, mental health, and the prevention of risks for noncommunicable diseases

University of Maine Connection to the vBNS

This award is made under the high performance connections portion of ANIR\u27s Connections to the Internet announcement, NSF 96-64. It provides partial support for two years for a DS-3 connection to the vBNS. Applications include projects in artificial intelligence and underwater vehicle research, wood science anf forest engineering, tribology, ceramic film characterization, insect population dynamics, digital libraries, conflict and violence, and oceanography. Collaborating institutions include the Naval Postgraduate School; Pennsylvania State University; University of New Hampshire; Brookhaven, Argonne and Oak Ridge National Labs; Naval Research Lab; University of Illinois; Naval Undersea Weapons Center; University of California - Santa Barbara; Woods Hole; Dartmouth; Bedford Institute of Oceanography; several European institutions; Oregon State University; University of Rhode Island; and Goddard Space Flight Center. For additional information: http://homeland.maine.edu

Toward Youth Friendly Services: A Survey of Young People in Primary Care

Background: The World Health Organization encourages the development of youth friendly services, yet little is known on how youth currently present in general practice. Objective: To describe the perspectives, expectations, and service receipt of young people presenting to family doctors to inform the development of youth friendly services. Design: Cross-sectional survey. Participants and measurements: Consecutive young people attending 26 randomly selected practices were recruited in the waiting rooms. Standardized instruments were used to interview them before their consultation. Results: Of 501 young people who were approached, 450 participated (91% participation rate). Most had respiratory (26%) or dermatological complaints (18%). When asked to assess their health status, 59% perceived they had neither a physical nor a mental illness. However, 43% stated they had fears about their health problem and 1 in 5 feared it could be life-threatening. Although only 10% presented with psychological complaints, 24% perceived they currently had a mental illness. The most common expectations were treatment (50%) and good communication (42%). Most youth were prescribed medication (60%), but 40% of those who received a prescription had not expected to receive a treatment. A follow-up appointment was offered to 57% of participants. Conclusions: This study identifies a gap between young people's perception of illness and their presentations to family doctors. It also highlights unexpected fears, and a mismatch between expectations and service receipt. These findings have implications for family medicine training and for clinical practice. They should inform the development of youth friendly service

Role theory of schools and adolescent health.

Evidence that health and education are interlinked is transforming investment in adolescent health. However, no comprehensive theory of how schools influence mental and physical health, which could guide, and be tested through, empirical studies, exists. Using neuroscience, sociology, and other disciplines, we theorise that schools catering for students age 11-18 years can influence health by affecting the behavioural roles that are available for students to perform, the resources available to influence student behaviour, and how peers and teachers (known as the audience) respond. Some schools offer opportunities for students to adopt diverse pro-school roles and to maintain these roles via constructive feedback. Other schools focus narrowly on high academic attainment. Where pro-school roles are unavailable, are beyond students' resources, or elicit negative responses from teachers and peers, students might experience anxiety and choose to adopt anti-school roles, particularly in later adolescence. Behaviours that harm health, such as violence and drug use, are central to anti-school roles because they can facilitate belonging and status within anti-school peer groups and symbolise alternative transitions to adulthood

Text message communication in primary care research: a randomized controlled trial

Background. Text message communication is increasingly used in clinical practice but rarely in research. Particularly in young people, this method of participation in primary care research appears both feasible and acceptable. However, previous experience shows that text messaging for research may lead to lower response rates. Aim. To test the hypothesis that text message communication in primary care research does not lead to lower response rates compared to a paper-based method. Methods. This randomized controlled trial took place in 26 randomly selected practices in Victoria, Australia. Consecutive patients aged 16-24 years attending general practice appointments were recruited as part of a larger study on patients' perspectives. Patients owning a mobile phone were randomized to receive a question about satisfaction with the consultation either by text message or on a card completed before leaving the practice. Logistic regression was used to estimate the effect on the response rate of using text message rather than the card method, adjusting for clustering within practices and for differences in baseline characteristics among participants. Results. In total, 402 of 409 eligible young people agreed to participate and were randomized to either receive a text message (n = 193) or a card enquiry (n = 209). The response rate was 80.2% [95% confidence interval (CI): 73.3-87.1%] with text message and 85.6% (95% CI: 79.6-91.7%) with the card. The adjusted odds of responding (odds ratio: 0.62; 95% CI: 0.30-1.27) were not significantly lower in the group using text messaging compared to the group using the card response method. Conclusion. These findings offer new perspectives for use of text message communication to gather information from patients in primary care researc

Impact of early intervention on the population prevalence of common mental disorders:20-year prospective study

BACKGROUND: The potential for early interventions to reduce the later prevalence of common mental disorders (CMD) first experienced in adolescence is unclear. AIMS: To examine the course of CMD and evaluate the extent to which the prevalence of CMD could be reduced by preventing adolescent CMD, or by intervening to change four young adult processes, between the ages of 20 and 29 years, that could be mediating the link between adolescent and adult disorder. METHOD: This was a prospective cohort study of 1923 Australian participants assessed repeatedly from adolescence (wave 1, mean age 14 years) to adulthood (wave 10, mean age 35 years). Causal mediation analysis was undertaken to evaluate the extent to which the prevalence of CMD at age 35 years in those with adolescent CMD could be reduced by either preventing adolescent CMD, or by intervening on four young adult mediating processes: the occurrence of young adult CMD, frequent cannabis use, parenting a child by age 24 years, and engagement in higher education and employment. RESULTS: At age 35, 19.2% of participants reported CMD; a quarter of these participants experienced CMD during both adolescence and young adulthood. In total, 49% of those with CMD during both adolescence and young adulthood went on to report CMD at age 35 years. Preventing adolescent CMD reduced the population prevalence at age 35 years by 3.9%. Intervening on all four young adult processes among those with adolescent CMD, reduced this prevalence by 1.6%. CONCLUSIONS: In this Australian cohort, a large proportion of adolescent CMD resolved by adulthood, and by age 35 years, the largest proportion of CMD emerged among individuals without prior CMD. Time-limited, early intervention in those with earlier adolescent disorder is unlikely to substantially reduce the prevalence of CMD in midlife

Functionalized paramagnetic nanoparticles for waste water treatment

An approach to the design, development and implementation of a new separation technology for use in the decontamination of radioactive waste streams is reported here. Calixarene-crown-6 derivatives with terminal carboxyl groups were synthesised and attached to nano-sized magnetoferritin molecules and their ability to sequester radioactive caesium(i) ions from aqueous solution was demonstrated. © 2010 The Royal Society of Chemistry