AN EMPIRICAL STUDY ON THE PHYSICIANS’ BEHAVIORAL INTENTION WITH ELECTRONIC MEDICAL RECORD SYSTEMS IN TAIWAN

Currently in healthcare organizations paper-based patient record management faces many challenges. Most countries are promoting the full implementation of electronic medical records in every hospital. Medical environments change frequently and dramatically, which makes full acceptance of electronic medical records (EMR) by physicians an important issue. This empirical study combines the theory on reasoned action (TRA) and information technology acceptance model (TAM) resulted in a modified TAM to find what critical factors influence the acceptance behavior of EMR by physicians. To test these hypotheses, this study administered a cross-sectional mailed questionnaire survey during the period of three months in 2012. The survey was deployed to1000 physicians randomly from the estimated total 2000 physicians of 50 regional acute hospitals (more than 300 beds) in Taiwan currently. From these, 252effective responses were received, resulting in a net response rate of 25%. These research findings indicate that four variables significantly positively impact the intention to adopt EMR. Among these, attitude has the most significant positive impact on adoption intentions. Moreover, it shows that the professional autonomy might play an important role to moderate the attitude with significant statistics. These results maintain enough explanatory power (R2 =78.4%) to help explain the attitudes and intentions of physicians in adopting electronic medical record information systems. Our analysis revealed the importance of the perception usefulness which moderated by professional autonomy and pragmatism by physicians for their adoption electronic medical record systems in clinical practice

Explore the Functional Connectivity between Brain Regions during a Chemistry Working Memory Task.

Previous studies have rarely examined how temporal dynamic patterns, event-related coherence, and phase-locking are related to each other. This study assessed reaction-time-sorted spectral perturbation and event-related spectral perturbation in order to examine the temporal dynamic patterns in the frontal midline (F), central parietal (CP), and occipital (O) regions during a chemistry working memory task at theta, alpha, and beta frequencies. Furthermore, the functional connectivity between F-CP, CP-O, and F-O were assessed by component event-related coherence (ERCoh) and component phase-locking (PL) at different frequency bands. In addition, this study examined whether the temporal dynamic patterns are consistent with the functional connectivity patterns across different frequencies and time courses. Component ERCoh/PL measured the interactions between different independent components decomposed from the scalp EEG, mixtures of time courses of activities arising from different brain, and artifactual sources. The results indicate that the O and CP regions' temporal dynamic patterns are similar to each other. Furthermore, pronounced component ERCoh/PL patterns were found to exist between the O and CP regions across each stimulus and probe presentation, in both theta and alpha frequencies. The consistent theta component ERCoh/PL between the F and O regions was found at the first stimulus and after probe presentation. These findings demonstrate that temporal dynamic patterns at different regions are in accordance with the functional connectivity patterns. Such coordinated and robust EEG temporal dynamics and component ERCoh/PL patterns suggest that these brain regions' neurons work together both to induce similar event-related spectral perturbation and to synchronize or desynchronize simultaneously in order to swiftly accomplish a particular goal. The possible mechanisms for such distinct component phase-locking and coherence patterns were also further discussed

"An Econometric Analysis of SARS and Avian Flu on International Tourist Arrivals to Asia"

This paper compares the impacts of SARS and human deaths arising from Avian Flu on international tourist arrivals to Asia. The effects of SARS and human deaths from Avian Flu will be compared directly according to human deaths. The nature of the short run and long run relationship is examined empirically by estimating a static line fixed effect model and a difference transformation dynamic model, respectively. Empirical results from the static fixed effect and difference transformation dynamic models are consistent, and indicate that both the short run and long run SARS effect have a more significant impact on international tourist arrivals than does Avian Flu. In addition, the effects of deaths arising from both SARS and Avian Flu suggest that SARS is more important to international tourist arrivals than is Avian Flu. Thus, while Avian Flu is here to stay, its effect is currently not as significant as that of SARS.

Using Hybrid Angle/Distance Information for Distributed Topology Control in Vehicular Sensor Networks

In a vehicular sensor network (VSN), the key design issue is how to organize vehicles effectively, such that the local network topology can be stabilized quickly. In this work, each vehicle with on-board sensors can be considered as a local controller associated with a group of communication members. In order to balance the load among the nodes and govern the local topology change, a group formation scheme using localized criteria is implemented. The proposed distributed topology control method focuses on reducing the rate of group member change and avoiding the unnecessary information exchange. Two major phases are sequentially applied to choose the group members of each vehicle using hybrid angle/distance information. The operation of Phase I is based on the concept of the cone-based method, which can select the desired vehicles quickly. Afterwards, the proposed time-slot method is further applied to stabilize the network topology. Given the network structure in Phase I, a routing scheme is presented in Phase II. The network behaviors are explored through simulation and analysis in a variety of scenarios. The results show that the proposed mechanism is a scalable and effective control framework for VSNs

Clinical Characteristics and Risk Factors for Mortality in Patients with Meningitis Caused by Staphylococcus aureus and Vancomycin Minimal Inhibitory Concentrations Against These Isolates

Background/PurposeBacterial meningitis caused by Staphylococcus aureus is uncommon but has a high mortality rate. The aims of this study were to better understand the clinical manifestations of S. aureus meningitis, to identify the risk factors for mortality in the affected patients, and to determine the levels of vancomycin minimal inhibitory concentrations (MICs) against these pathogens.MethodsA retrospective study of patients with S. aureus meningitis hospitalized between December 2000 and December 2008 was made, and vancomycin MICs against S. aureus isolates was determined using Etest.ResultsAmong 37 patients with S. aureus meningitis, fever was most commonly observed. Twenty-six patients (70.3%) had received prior neurosurgery, and 24 (64.9%) patients were suffering from methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) infections. The vancomycin MIC of 2 μg/mL was found in 23 (74.2%) of 31 S. aureus isolates available for testing. Excluding three patients who did not receive antibiotics for their S. aureus meningitis the mortality rate was 35.3% in the 34 remaining patients, with concurrent infective endocarditis an independent risk factor for mortality (odds ratio = 21.00; 95% confidence interval, 1.834-240.515; p = 0.01).ConclusionPatients with S. aureus meningitis and concurrent infective endocarditis were at a higher risk of mortality. A vancomycin MIC of 2 μg/mL against a substantial number of S. aureus isolates that grew from the cerebrospinal fluid suggests the importance of obtaining trough vancomycin concentrations of 15-20 μg/mL for the treatment of MRSA meningitis

Capacity development of Madurese female farmers in the implementation of integrated crop management in corn

Women as housewives have a big role in managing their family economy. This study aims to: 1. Analyze the level of awareness of gender equality among female corn farmers, 2. Analyze levels of knowledge, attitude, and skill of female farmers in terms of PTT in corn, 3. Analyze the empowerment process, results, and impacts obtained by female corn farmers from farming school. The study was conducted in three regencies of Madura, namely Bangkalan, Sampang, and Pamekasan. Data were analyzed using descriptive quantitative analysis to answer the first and second objectives, and PAR analysis to answer the third question. Based on the results of the study, women’s role is more dominant than men in several aspects. Some of them are activities in finance, post-harvest, and others. The majority of farmers adopt corn farming methods based on experiences from generations. Empowerment activities such as FGD and training have benefited female farmers

A study of energy correction for the electron beam data in the BGO ECAL of the DAMPE

The DArk Matter Particle Explorer (DAMPE) is an orbital experiment aiming at searching for dark matter indirectly by measuring the spectra of photons, electrons and positrons originating from deep space. The BGO electromagnetic calorimeter is one of the key sub-detectors of the DAMPE, which is designed for high energy measurement with a large dynamic range from 5 GeV to 10 TeV. In this paper, some methods for energy correction are discussed and tried, in order to reconstruct the primary energy of the incident electrons. Different methods are chosen for the appropriate energy ranges. The results of Geant4 simulation and beam test data (at CERN) are presented

Quantitative measures of functional outcomes and quality of life in patients with C5 palsy

AbstractBackgroundIt is generally understood that postoperative C5 palsy can occur with anterior or posterior decompression surgery, but functional measures of the palsy have not been well documented. This study aimed to investigate the incidence of C5 palsy in different surgical procedures, examine the correlations between muscle strength, upper extremity functional measures, and health-related quality of life, and to observe potential risk factors contributing to C5 palsy.MethodsOur investigation involved a retrospective study design. A total of 364 patients who underwent decompression surgery were indicated within the selected exclusion criteria. Additionally, 12 C5 palsy patients were recruited. The relationships between the manual muscle test (MMT), the action research arm test (ARAT), the Jebsen test of hand function (JTHF), and the European quality of life-5 dimensions (EQ-5D) were studied, and univariate analyses were performed to search possible risk factors and recovery investigation.ResultsThe data analyzed in the 12 cases and C5 palsy incidences (3.3%) were: 0.7% in anterior procedures (n = 2), 8.8% in posterior procedures (n = 6), and 36.4% in combined procedures (n = 4). Moderate-to-high correlations were observed between the ARAT, JTHF, EQ-5D visual analog scale scores, and MMT (r = 0.636–0.899). There were significant differences in patient age, etiology of cervical lesion, variable decompression procedures, and the number of decompression levels between the C5 palsy and non-C5 palsy groups. For female patients (p = 0.018) and number of decompression levels (p = 0.028), there were significant differences between the complete recovery and the incomplete recovery groups.ConclusionPatients undergoing combined anterior–posterior decompression surgery had the highest incidence of C5 palsy, and correlations between the ARAT, JTHF, EQ-5D visual analog scale clinical tools, and MMT scores supported these findings. Female status and lower decompression levels could also be predictive factors for complete recovery, although additional research is needed to substantiate these findings