121 research outputs found
Potentials of Tracking and Tracing Technologies - The Perspective of IT Decision Makers in Germany
Personal Health Manager – Designing an intermediary sys-tem supporting health education and exercise programs
The Personal Health Manager (PHM) is an IT-based product-service system (combining face to face, automated and computer-mediated services, hardware, software) supporting health exercise programs in workplace health promotion. Major HCI design challenges are different target groups, unstructured tasks, various hardware and service components, and finding the limit between face to face and automated services –ranging from top quality human supervision to cheap, scalable automated services in hedonic systems. We present an iterative development and test design as well as first design ideas. Through this case we try to highlight that traditional MIS and HCI approaches „as is‟ are hardly applicable for designing IT-based product-service systems and that new approaches are necessary
Problem solving patterns in design science research - Learning from engineering
Inactivity is the most widespread health risk factor in modern societies today, causing not only
individual health problems but also immense costs for the healthcare systems. This emphasizes the
need for improving population-wide impact of activity interventions, with particular attention to costeffectiveness, scalability, and delivery channels. In this paper, we present the theory-motivated design
(drawing on the transtheoretical model) and empirical test of an IT-based physical activity
programme (Personal Health Manager, PHM). In order to be as cost-effective as possible, the PHM
was designed to have only few face-to-face contacts and to deliver supervision through the internet.
Our design and implementation proved to be successful in a pilot test with 88 employees of an
automotive company. The PHM increased participants’ activity, motivational readiness for change,
functional capacity and transported the feeling of being well taken care of. Enhanced supervision did
not increase performance. The results are first evidence that internet-mediated supervision can be
successful in promoting physical activity and provide a starting point for investigating the role of faceto-face-contact and service levels in physical activity programs. The PHM and similar designs are
also relevant to practice as the semi-automation makes them eligible for large-scale corporate or
public health programs
Wahrgenommene strategische Bedeutung von RFID aus Sicht von IT-Entscheidern in Deutschland - Eine empirische Analyse
Exploring Mobile Information Systems for Adolescent Cancer Patients
Abstract 1 Adolescent cancer patients have to deal with many dependencies and obligations. Very often they are torn out of their social environment and become isolated because of changing therapy cycles and different treatment locations. This causes significant social and economic damages. The objective of this article is to present the first steps of an empirical exploration of the possibilities of mobile IT-support for communication and coordination for this target group during treatment and aftercare. Special emphasis is put on the effects of mobile systems on the patient's perceived quality of life. The background here fore is a four-month field experiment conducted together with the cancer station of the hospital of Heidelberg University. We focus on particularities of and challenges for mobile information systems for patients in Germany and outline necessary future research aspects in this field
Myocardial Work Assessment for the Prediction of Prognosis in Advanced Heart Failure
Objectives: The aim of this study was to investigate whether echocardiographic
assessment of myocardial work is a predictor of outcome in advanced heart failure.
Background: Global work index (GWI) and global constructive work (GCW) are
calculated bymeans of speckle tracking, blood pressuremeasurement, and a normalized
reference curve. Their prognostic value in advanced heart failure is unknown.
Methods: Cardiopulmonary exercise testing and echocardiography with assessment
of GWI and GCW was performed in patients with advanced heart failure caused by
ischemic heart disease or dilated cardiomyopathy (n = 105). They were then followed up
repeatedly. The combined endpoint was all-cause death, implantation of a left ventricular
assist device, or heart transplantation.
Results: The median patient age was 54 years (interquartile range [IQR]: 48–59.9). The
mean left ventricular ejection fraction was 27.8 ± 8.2%, the median NT-proBNP was
1,210 pg/ml (IQR: 435–3,696). The mean GWI was 603 ± 329 mmHg% and the mean
GCW was 742 ± 363 mmHg%. The correlation between peak oxygen uptake and GWI
as well as GCW was strongest in patients with ischemic cardiomyopathy (r = 0.56, p
= 0.001 and r = 0.53, p = 0.001, respectively). The median follow-up was 16 months
(IQR: 12–18.5). Thirty one patients met the combined endpoint: Four patients died, eight
underwent transplantation, and 19 underwent implantation of a left ventricular assist
device. In themultivariate Cox regression analysis, only NYHA class, NT-proBNP and GWI
(hazard ratio [HR] for every 50 mmHg%: 0.85; 95% CI: 0.77–0.94; p = 0.002) as well as
GCW (HR for every 50 mmHg%: 0.86; 95% CI: 0.79–0.94; p = 0.001) were identified as
independent predictors of the endpoint. The cut-off value for predicting the outcome was
455 mmHg% for GWI (AUC: 0.80; p < 0.0001; sensitivity 77.4%; specificity 71.6%) and
530 mmHg% for GCW (AUC: 0.80; p < 0.0001; sensitivity 74.2%; specificity 78.4%).
Conclusions: GWI and GCW are powerful predictors of outcome in patients with
advanced heart failure
The routine determination of the endogenous thrombin potential, first results in different forms of hyper- and hypocoagulability
Expression of 3q Oncogene SEC62 Predicts Survival in Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma Patients Treated with Primary Chemoradiation
Primary chemoradiotherapy (CRT) is an established treatment option for locally advanced
head and neck squamous cell carcinomas (HNSCC) usually combining intensity modified radiotherapy with concurrent platinum-based chemotherapy. Though the majority of patients can be
cured with this regimen, treatment response is highly heterogeneous and can hardly be predicted.
SEC62 represents a metastasis stimulating oncogene that is frequently overexpressed in various
cancer entities and is associated with poor outcome. Its role in HNSCC patients undergoing CRT
has not been investigated so far. A total of 127 HNSCC patients treated with primary CRT were
included in this study. The median follow-up was 5.4 years. Pretherapeutic tissue samples of the
primary tumors were used for immunohistochemistry targeting SEC62. SEC62 expression, clinical
and histopathological parameters, as well as patient outcome, were correlated in univariate and
multivariate survival analyses. High SEC62 expression correlated with a significantly shorter overall
survival (p = 0.015) and advanced lymph node metastases (p = 0.024). Further significant predictors
of poor overall and progression-free survival included response to therapy (RECIST1.1), nodal status,
distant metastases, tobacco consumption, recurrence of disease, and UICC stage. In a multivariate
Cox hazard proportional regression analysis, only SEC62 expression (p = 0.046) and response to therapy (p < 0.0001) maintained statistical significance as independent predictors of the patients’ overall
survival. This study identified SEC62 as an independent prognostic biomarker in HNSCC patients
treated with primary CRT. The role of SEC62 as a potential therapeutic target and its interaction with
radiation-induced molecular alterations in head and neck cancer cells should further be investigated
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