Effects of Enhanced External Counter Pulsation Therapy on Patients with Angina

According to the literature, coronary heart disease (CHD) is responsible for 370,000 deaths annually in the United States (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2015). A symptom commonly associated with CHD is angina (US Department of Health & Human Services, National Institute of Health, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute [NIH], 2011). An estimated 300,000 to 900,000 patients in the United States have refractory angina pectoris (RAP), with nearly 100,00 new cases diagnosed yearly (Manchanda, Aggarwal, Aggarwal, & Soran, 2011). Kones describes refractory angina as continued angina class III/IV, in the nonsurgical candidate, with objective evidence of ischemia despite optimum medical treatment (Kones, R., 2010). Many medications are available for the treatment of angina. Beta blockers, calcium channel blockers, and angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors are often useful in the reduction of angina pain. Angioplasty and life changes such as smoking cessation, weight loss, and stress reduction are additional treatment options for the patient suffering from chronic angina (Mayo Clinic, 2015). Despite endless treatment options, chronic angina continues to pose significant challenges to both patient and medical professional. The patient diagnosed with chronic angina frequently suffers from anxiety, fear, pain, and decreased quality of life. According to the literature, a continual challenge of modern cardiovascular medicine is to discover new, effective treatments for patients with refractory angina pectoris, a clinical condition characterized by severe angina despite optimal medical therapy (Gennari, Gambini, Bassetti, Capogrossi, & Pompilio, 2014). Enhanced external counterpulsation (EECP) is approved for the management of refractory angina. EECP has proven beneficial in the decrease of anginal symptoms, decreased nitroglycerin use, and improvement of exercise tolerance (Sharma, Ramsey, & Tak, 2013). A 62 year ol

Mobile health systems and emergence

Changes in the age distribution of the population and increased prevalence of chronic illnesses, together with a shortage of health professionals and other resources, will increasingly challenge the ability of national healthcare systems to meet rising demand for services. Large-scale use of eHealth and mHealth services enabled by advances in ICT are frequently cited as providing part of the solution to this crisis in future provision. As part of this picture, self-monitoring and remote monitoring of patients, for example by means of smartphone apps and body-worn sensors, is on the way to becoming mainstream. In future, each individual’s personal health system may be able to access a large number of devices, including sensors embedded in the environment as well as in-body smart medical implants, in order to provide (semi-)autonomous health-related services to the user. This article presents some examples of mHealth systems based on emerging technologies, including body area networks (BANs), wireless and mobile technologies, miniature body-worn sensors and distributed decision support. Applications are described in the areas of management of chronic illnesses and management of (large- scale) emergency situations. In the latter setting BANs form part of an advanced ICT system proposed for future major incident management; including BANs for monitoring casualties and emergency services personnel during first response. Some challenges and possibilities arising from current and future emerging mHealth technologies, and the question of how emergence theory might have a bearing on understanding these challenges, is discussed here

Arguing on-line and off: a study of students' argumentation in the context of computer-mediated discussion and individually written assignments.

EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

The Whole Building Is A Classroom : An Oral History of a School\u27s Role in the Culture of the Community

Edward Lee and Lulu McClain gave the gift of a new high school to the rural Appalachian community of Greenfield, Ohio, in 1915. Inspired in part by John Dewey’s Progressive theories of education, the school became the center of the community, both literally and figuratively, providing the best, most modern education for its students. The school was particularly unique in its focus on the arts, with its spaces carefully crafted and developed; its halls and classrooms filled with over 200 pieces of classic and original art, including murals, sculpture, and other works; and its curriculum inspired by art-based ideas of personal development. This study offers an overview of these Progressive ideals and their connections to vernacular architecture, tradition and culture across school and community. It considers the school’s history, the story of its building—including those involved with the planning of the physical space and the curriculum that grew out of that planning—as well as oral histories of alumni, which include a successful campaign to save the school from consolidation based on the school’s unique history, art, and deep connection to community. Analysis includes a time span of over 100 years, based on the review of original archived personal letters, here compared through time with collected oral histories. “Art as curriculum” is introduced as a concept for further research and analysis. Findings: Many alumni of Edward Lee McClain High School (ELMS) share a deep respect and gratitude for the school and the progressive education they received there, though they may not have recognized it as such when they were students. Some attribute their values and successes to the education they received there. The school and the community are closely tied together, and deeply rooted traditions are passed from one generation to the next. The habitus of ELMHS affected the students profoundly and continues to affect alumni toda

Some problems in the computation of sociolinguistic data

PhD ThesisThe research described in this thesis is concerned with some of the problems encountered in the processing of sociolinguistic data. Different methodologies are seen as different sets of strategies for coping with the problems which arise from investigations of sociolinguistic variability within any speech community. One early approach to the analysis of sociolinguistic variation (that of Labov: 1963, 1966) is discussed, and some of the difficulties raised by this approach are indicated. One investigation of sociolinguistic variability in a British urban setting (Trudgill: 1974) is also described (Trudgill' s study is based on Labov's (J 966) general methodology). FN The Tyneside Linguistic Survey (T.L.S.) is offered as an alternative approach, which overcomes some of the problems inherent in Labov's methodsThe Department of Education and Science, Newcastle University

Personalised mobile services supporting the implementation of clinical guidelines

Telemonitoring is emerging as a compelling application of Body Area Networks (BANs). We describe two health BAN systems developed respectively by a European team and an Australian team and discuss some issues encountered relating to formalization of clinical knowledge to support real-time analysis and interpretation of BAN data. Our example application is an evidence-based telemonitoring and teletreatment application for home-based rehabilitation. The application is intended to support implementation of a clinical guideline for cardiac rehabilitation following myocardial infarction. In addition to this the proposal is to establish the patient’s individual baseline risk profile and, by real-time analysis of BAN data, continually re-assess the current risk level in order to give timely personalised feedback. Static and dynamic risk factors are derived from literature. Many sources express evidence probabilistically, suggesting a requirement for reasoning with uncertainty; elsewhere evidence requires qualitative reasoning: both familiar modes of reasoning in KBSs. However even at this knowledge acquisition stage some issues arise concerning how best to apply the clinical evidence. Furthermore, in cases where insufficient clinical evidence is currently available, telemonitoring can yield large collections of clinical data with the potential for data mining in order to furnish more statistically powerful and accurate clinical evidence

Developing the Next-Generation Don Draper

Technology and the proliferation of data have transformed the advertising industry. Those with digital and analytical skills are now more employable than those with “traditional” advertising skills. At the same time, colleges and universities face increasing emphasis on job placement rates. Are advertising programs providing students with the skills needed to win jobs today and become successful employees tomorrow? Today’s “next-generation Don Drapers” must be fluent not only in creativity and big ideas but also in analysis and Big Data

Experiencing Voice-Activated Artificial Intelligence Assistants in the Home: A Phenomenological Approach

Voice-controlled artificial intelligence (AI) assistants, such as Amazon’s Alexa or Google’s Assistant, serve as the gateway to the Internet of Things and connected home, executing the commands of its users, providing information, entertainment, utility, and convenience while enabling consumers to bypass the advertising they would typically see on a screen. This “screen-less” communication presents significant challenges for brands used to “pushing” messages to audiences in exchange for the content they seek. It also raises questions about data collection, usage, and privacy. Brands need to understand how and why audiences engage with AI assistants, as well as the risks with these devices, in order to determine how to be relevant in a voice-powered world. Because there’s little published research, a phenomenological approach was used to explore the lived meaning and shared experience of having an AI assistant in the home. Three overarching types of experiences with Alexa were revealed: removing friction, enabling personalization, and extending self and enriching life. These experiences encapsulated two types of explicit and implicit goals satisfied through interaction with Alexa, those that related to “Helping do,” focused on functional elements or tasks that Alexa performed, and those related to “Helping become,” encapsulating the transformative results of experiences with Alexa enabling users to become better versions of themselves. This is the first qualitative study to explore the meaning of interacting with AI assistants, and establishes a much-needed foundation of consumer understanding, rooted in the words and perspectives of the audience themselves, on which to build future research. Advisor: Aleidine Moelle

Voice-Activated Change: Marketing in the Age of Artificial Intelligence and Virtual Assistants

The Internet of Things promises to make relationships with technology more personal than ever. Voice-controlled virtual or artificial intelligence assistants such as Amazon’s Alexa or Google Assistant execute the commands of their users, providing information, entertainment, utility, and convenience while enabling consumers to bypass the advertising they would typically see on a screen. This “screen-less” communication presents significant challenges for brands used to “pushing” messages to audiences in exchange for the content they seek in hopes of creating preference. It also raises ethical questions about data collection, usage, and privacy. Little is known about the role marketing will play in the increasingly connected, voice-controlled home. This case study explores critical cases to describe the implications, applications, and opportunities for voice-controlled personal assistants in marketing and advertising in the USA

Point of Care Testing: A Discipline that is Growing

Traditionally, diagnostic testing is carried out on patients’ samples ( blood, urine etc) in pathology laboratories by skilled scientists. Transport to the laboratory and subsequent processing (often in batches) can sometimes lead to long turnaround times for the patient and the clinician. Point of Care (POC) or ‘near patient’ testing refers to testing and reporting at the site of patient care and is usually undertaken by non-laboratory personnel. POC technology has a number of attractions as there is a fast turnaround time and this can have enormous benefits for the patient and the clinician