The Scene- Interactive Video Scene Controller

In modern society, people spend much time watching videos to meet their emotional and social needs. Movies and TV shows increasingly contain violence and sexuality to catch the eye. In addition to this trend, the current age-based rating becomes more and more lenient than the one in the past. As a result, the content rating system does not provide a clear standard about the level of graphic intensity anymore. This situation prevents a particular group of viewers from fully enjoying the video contents: parents and highly sensitive people. Whenever these two groups watch movies or live TV, they need to be careful about undesirable videos or scenes to stay safe. The Scene is an interactive video scene controller and informational community for those who feel uncomfortable about specific scenes. It provides clear standards on rating issues by using categorized and visualized symbols. Besides, the viewers can skip or hide unpleasant scenes with filters function in real-time or in advance. The Scene also functions as an informational community where the user can get useful information and share their thoughts about the video experience. This application is intended to protect those who are vulnerable to aggressive and suggestive videos and give a right not to expose unwanted images and sounds. For these users’ better experience, it can also be a proposal to the video streaming providers

Early winners and losers in dialysis center pay-for-performance

Abstract Background We examined the association of dialysis facility characteristics with payment reductions and change in clinical performance measures during the first year of the United States Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) End Stage Renal Disease Quality Incentive Plan (ESRD QIP) to determine its potential impact on quality and disparities in dialysis care. Methods We linked the 2012 ESRD QIP Facility Performance File to the 2007–2011 American Community Survey by zip code and dichotomized the QIP total performance scores—derived from percent of patients with urea reduction rate > 65, hemoglobin  12 g/dL—as ‘any’ versus ‘no’ payment reduction. We characterized associations between payment reduction and dialysis facility characteristics and neighborhood demographics, and examined changes in facility outcomes between 2007 and 2010. Results In multivariable analysis, facilities with any payment reduction were more likely to have longer operation (OR 1.03 per year), a medium or large number of stations (OR 1.31 and OR 1.42, respectively), and a larger proportion of African Americans (OR 1.25, highest versus lowest quartile), all p < 0.05. Most improvement in clinical performance was due to reduced overtreatment of anemia, a decline in the percentage of patients with hemoglobin ≥ 12 g/dL; for-profits and facilities in African American neighborhoods had the greatest reduction. Conclusions In the first year of CMS pay-for-performance, most clinical improvement was due to reduced overtreatment of anemia. Facilities in African American neighborhoods were more likely to receive a payment reduction, despite their large decline in anemia overtreatment.https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/139722/1/12913_2017_Article_2764.pd

Racial disparities in kidney transplant waitlist appearance in Chicago: Is it race or place?

BackgroundPrior work has demonstrated how neighborhood poverty and racial composition impact racial disparities in access to the deceased donor kidney transplant waitlist, both nationally and regionally. We examined the association between neighborhood characteristics and racial disparities in time to transplant waitlist in Chicago, a diverse city with continued neighborhood segregation.MethodsUsing data from the United States Renal Data System (USRDS) and the US Census, we investigated time from dialysis initiation to kidney transplant waitlisting for African American and white patients in Chicago using cause‐specific proportional hazards analyses, adjusting for individual sociodemographic and clinical characteristics, as well as neighborhood poverty and racial composition.ResultsIn Chicago, African Americans are significantly less likely than whites to appear on the renal transplant waitlist (HR 0.73, P < .05). Compared to whites in nonpoor neighborhoods, African Americans in poor neighborhoods are significantly less likely to appear on the transplant waitlist (HR 0.61, P < .05). Over 69% of African Americans with ESRD live in these neighborhoods.ConclusionsConsistent with national data, African Americans in Chicago have a lower likelihood of waitlisting than whites. This disparity is explained in part by neighborhood poverty, which impacts the majority of African American ESRD patients in Chicago.Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/144246/1/ctr13195_am.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/144246/2/ctr13195.pd

Effect of blood pressure and glycemic control on the plasma cell-free DNA in hemodialysis patients

AbstractBackgroundThe plasma levels of cell-free DNA (cfDNA) are known to be elevated under inflammatory or apoptotic conditions. Increased cfDNA levels have been reported in hemodialysis (HD) patients. The aim of this study was to investigate the clinical significance of cfDNA in HD patients.MethodsA total of 95 patients on HD were enrolled. We measured their predialysis cfDNA levels using real-time EIF2C1 gene sequence amplification and analyzed its association with certain clinical parameters.ResultsThe mean plasma cfDNA level in the HD patients was 3,884 ± 407 GE/mL, and the mean plasma cfDNA level in the control group was 1,420 ± 121 GE/mL (P < 0.05). Diabetic patients showed higher plasma cfDNA levels compared with nondiabetic patients (P < 0.01). Patients with cardiovascular complications also showed higher plasma cfDNA levels compared with those without cardiovascular complication (P < 0.05). In univariable analysis, the cfDNA level was associated with 3-month mean systolic blood pressure (SBP), white blood cell, serum albumin, creatinine (Cr), normalized protein catabolic rate in HD patients. In diabetic patients, it was significantly correlated with SBP, hemoglobin A1c, and serum albumin. In multivariate analysis, SBP was the independent determinant for the cfDNA level. In diabetic patients, cfDNA level was independently associated with hemoglobin A1c and SBP.ConclusionsIn patients with HD, cfDNA is elevated in diabetic patients and patients with cardiovascular diseases. Uncontrolled hypertension and poor glycemic control are independent determinants for the elevated cfDNA. Our data suggest that cfDNA might be a marker of vascular injury rather than proinflammatory condition in HD patients

A Wearable Wrist Band-Type System for Multimodal Biometrics Integrated with Multispectral Skin Photomatrix and Electrocardiogram Sensors

Multimodal biometrics are promising for providing a strong security level for personal authentication, yet the implementation of a multimodal biometric system for practical usage need to meet such criteria that multimodal biometric signals should be easy to acquire but not easily compromised. We developed a wearable wrist band integrated with multispectral skin photomatrix (MSP) and electrocardiogram (ECG) sensors to improve the issues of collectability, performance and circumvention of multimodal biometric authentication. The band was designed to ensure collectability by sensing both MSP and ECG easily and to achieve high authentication performance with low computation, efficient memory usage, and relatively fast response. Acquisition of MSP and ECG using contact-based sensors could also prevent remote access to personal data. Personal authentication with multimodal biometrics using the integrated wearable wrist band was evaluated in 150 subjects and resulted in 0.2% equal error rate ( EER ) and 100% detection probability at 1% FAR (false acceptance rate) ( PD.1 ), which is comparable to other state-of-the-art multimodal biometrics. An additional investigation with a separate MSP sensor, which enhanced contact with the skin, along with ECG reached 0.1% EER and 100% PD.1 , showing a great potential of our in-house wearable band for practical applications. The results of this study demonstrate that our newly developed wearable wrist band may provide a reliable and easy-to-use multimodal biometric solution for personal authentication

Association of Stress Management with Success of Smoking Cessation in Korean Female Emotional Labor Workers for Service and Sales

Emotional labor is paid work that involves managing and regulating one’s emotions during the job including evoking and suppressing one’s feelings. This study examined the factors associated with successful smoking cessation through tailored smoking cessation counseling including stress management among female emotional labor workers. The study was conducted from 1 September 2015 to 31 December 2017. A total of 2674 women registered in the Comprehensive Smoking Cessation Service System and were grouped as either emotional labor workers for service and sales (1002) or other occupations (1672) for analysis. The participants received nine sessions of face-to-face and telephone smoking cessation counseling over 6 months, and follow-up assessments were conducted 4, 6, 12, and 24 weeks after counseling. Smoking cessation counseling involved a stress management program comprising stress tests, depression tests, color therapy, and a buddy program including peer support. Factors associated with successful smoking cessation included the number of counseling sessions, motivation rulers (Importance, Confidence, Readiness), average daily smoking amount, expired carbon monoxide (CO), and nicotine dependence. The most associated factor was the number of counseling sessions. Since counseling focused on stress management, it was the most important factor in smoking cessation, and continuous counseling could help those wanting to quit smoking

Patient safety competency and educational needs of nursing educators in South Korea

<div><p>Background</p><p>Nursing educators must be qualified to teach patient safety to nursing students to ensure patient safety in the clinical field. The purpose of this study was to assess nursing educators’ competencies and educational needs for patient safety in hospitals and nursing schools.</p><p>Method</p><p>A mixed-methods sequential explanatory design employed a survey and focus group interview with nursing educators (school clinical instructors and hospital nurse preceptors). Thirty-eight questionnaires filled out by clinical instructors from six four-year nursing universities and 106 questionnaires from nurse preceptors from three high-level general hospitals in the Seoul metropolitan area were analyzed to obtain quantitative data. Focus group interviews were conducted among six clinical instructors from one nursing school and four nurse preceptors from one high-level general hospital in Seoul.</p><p>Results</p><p>Nursing educators had higher levels of attitude compared with relatively lower levels of skill and knowledge regarding patient safety. They reported educational needs of “medication” and “infection prevention” as being higher and “human factors” and “complexity of systems” as being lower. Nursing educators desired different types of education for patient safety.</p><p>Conclusion</p><p>It is necessary to enhance nursing educators’ patient safety skills and knowledge by developing and providing an integrated program of patient safety, with various teaching methods to meet their educational needs. The findings of this study provide the basic information needed to reform patient safety education programs appropriately to fit nursing educators' needs and their patient safety competencies in both clinical practice and academia. Furthermore, the findings have revealed the importance of effective communication between clinical and academic settings in making patient safety education seamless.</p></div

Theme, category, subcategory, and codes from content analysis.

<p>Theme, category, subcategory, and codes from content analysis.</p