Mobile Magic: Demystifying Ubiquitous Computing by Deconstructing Mobile Affordances through the Lens of Technology

This item includes a video recording of a Mānoa Faculty Lecture Series presentation that took place in the University of Hawai'i at Mānoa Library and also a flyer for that presentation.The ubiquitous computing age is upon us, and a mobile device in every hand means unprecedented networked humanity. The ways in which we live are changing, often dramatically, as communication systems, businesses and organizations, and families adjust to the abilities of smartphones, tablet computers, watches, eyeglasses, etc., to track and transmit data. Dr. Oppegaard will illuminate significant changes in the media ecosystem created by networked mobile devices and examine technological advances that have led to these changes. In turn, mobile development can be viewed in many ways as a technological progression, helping us to project the future of communication technologies and plan for how they will shape the next generation of learners, leaders, and lifestyles

Gender Differences in the Use of Engagement and Disengagement Coping Strategies in Oncology Patients Receiving Chemotherapy

Purpose and Problem StatementThe purpose of this study, in a sample of women (n=277) and men (n=293) undergoing chemotherapy for either gastrointestinal or lung cancer, was to evaluate for gender differences in coping strategies using the Brief COPE.SignificanceWhile approximately equal numbers of women and men will be diagnosed with lung and colorectal cancer, women have been underrepresented in both lung and gastrointestinal cancer research. Regardless of cancer site, men have been underrepresented in studies that focus on psychosocial issues associated with a cancer diagnosis and its treatment. This unequal representation of both sexes leaves significant gaps in our knowledge of differences in the way that women and men cope with the diagnosis and treatments associated with lung or GI cancers (i.e., two cancers that have equal occurrence rates in both genders).MethodsThis analysis is part of a larger study that evaluated the symptom experience of outpatients receiving chemotherapy. Patients were recruited from two Comprehensive Cancer Centers, one Veteran’s Affairs hospital, and four community-based oncology programs. Coping data was obtained using the Brief COPE from patients with gastrointestinal (n=412) and lung (n=158) cancer. Gender was identified by self-report.ResultsIn terms of the use of engagement coping strategies, women reported higher scores for positive reframing, religion, and using instrumental support. Men reported higher scores for humor. In terms of the use of disengagement coping strategies, women reported higher scores for denial, venting and self-distraction. Men reported higher scores for substance use.Discussion and implicationsThis study is the first to evaluate gender differences in coping strategies in a large sample of patients undergoing chemotherapy for gastrointestinal or lung cancer using the Brief COPE. Gender is constructed by a variety of cultural, political, and social norms and has influence on the ways in which people cope, as well as on health outcomes. Gender-based stereotypes of emotional expression may impact how women and men express themselves and the ways in which support is offered to them. Clinicians should be more aware of their own preconceived notions about sex and gender and reflect on how these stereotypes may influence thepsychosocial care they provide to oncology patients. Furthermore, clinicians have the opportunity to assess patients’ use of coping strategies, reinforcing or intervening as appropriate

The Firebug of Balrog County

Come and delve into David Oppegaard\u27s most recent young adult book entitled The Firebug of Balrog County. Although his previous novels have been described as a blend of science fiction, literary fiction, horror, and fantasy, the themes in this book are more true to life -- death, grief, love, and legends as explored from the perspective of an adolescent boy growing up in a small town. Whether or not you have read the book, don\u27t miss this opportunity to meet the author. The event is scheduled for Monday, February 15th at 3:30 p.m. to be held at Mankato East High School in the Library Media Center

Misoprostol's preoperative cervical ripening effect

Prostaglandins are recommended for preoperative cervical ripening before surgical abortion, although the ideal dose, route and timing for misoprostol is debated. Prostaglandins appear to be effective for cervical ripening in nonpregnant women although few trials with the power to evaluate primary efficacy outcome levels have been conducted. The ideal misoprostol dose, route and timing for cervical ripening before hysteroscopy in premenopausal women has not been established. WHAT THIS STUDY ADDS Four hundred micrograms oral misoprostol before surgical abortion has a similar cervical ripening effect but a higher rate of side effects, compared with two hundred micrograms self-administered vaginal misoprostol. One thousand micrograms vaginal misoprostol is effective for cervical ripening in premenopausal, but not postmenopausal women before hysteroscopy. After 14 days of local estradiol therapy, postmenopausal women also achieve a cervical ripening effect with one thousand micrograms vaginal misoprostol. Self-administered vaginal misoprostol is a highly acceptable, practical and inexpensive method to achieve preoperative cervical ripening

Road to Recovery: An Online Guide to Prepare Parents of Children Who have Sustained a Major Burn Injury for Successful Home and Community Transition

Children are the most vulnerable population and represent the highest rate of nonfatal burns resulting in prolonged hospitalization, disfigurement, and disability. These injuries can be a severely stressful experience for children and their families. As a result, it is important for the patient and family members to not focus only on immediate treatment, but recognize the importance of long-term care following discharge in order to effectively reintegrate the child back into the home and community. A literature review was conducted to investigate the key components of burn care throughout the duration of recovery. Research identified that many parents feel helpless, incompetent, or unqualified to provide the adequate care their child needs following discharge from a pediatric burn inpatient rehabilitation facility. While parents are provided with educational material and therapeutic interventions, there is currently a lack of information addressing if parents are compliant with their child’s treatment plan. To address this need, the goal of this project is to develop an online resource tool that occupational therapists can utilize with caregivers of children who have sustained a burn injury. The goal is to empower parents by educating them on how to manage the needs of their child and to increase compliance prior to their child being discharged from an inpatient rehabilitation facility. This scholarly project will utilize the Model of Human Occupation (MOHO) and the adult learning theory to not only educate the parents, but increase their level of confidence so they are able to successfully meet the physical and psychosocial needs of their child at home and in the community

Regulating Flexibility: Uber’s Platform as a Technological Work Arrangement

When initiating its Norwegian operations, the transportation platform Uber adjusted its business model to the Norwegian regulation of the taxi market by focusing on its high-end offering, Uber Black, organized through limousine companies who employ the drivers and own the cars. The Uber Black drivers in Oslo are classified as employees and endowed with a substantially flexible work arrangement. Based on a ‘traveling ethnography’ among Uber Black drivers in Oslo, this article conceptualizes Uber’s digital platform as a technological work arrangement. The analysis shows that while the platform is experienced as an opaque form of management that limits the drivers’ formal flexibility, the effects of the technological work arrangement is contingent on the drivers’ formal work arrangement and the characteristics of the Uber Black market in Oslo

Media Accessibility Policy in Theory and Reality: Empirical Outreach to Audio Description Users in the United States

Audio description, a form of trans-modal media translation, allows people who are blind or visually impaired access to visually-oriented, socio-cultural, or historical public discourse alike. Although audio description has gained more prominence in media policy and research lately, it rarely has been studied empirically. Yet this paper presents quantitative and qualitative survey data on its challenges and opportunities, through the analysis of responses from 483 participants in a national sample, with 334 of these respondents being blind. Our results give insight into audio description use in broadcast TV, streaming services, for physical media, such as DVDs, and in movie theaters. We further discover a multiplicity of barriers and hindrances which prevent a better adoption and larger proliferation of audio description. In our discussion, we present a possible answer to these problems - the UniDescription Project - a media ecosystem for the creation, curation, and dissemination of audio description for multiple media platforms

Towards Cultural Inclusion: Using Mobile Technologies to Increase Access to Audio Description

This paper describes a National Park Service (NPS) and University of Hawaii research project that is developing a mobile application for audio describing NPS print brochures for blind and visually impaired park users. The project has the potential to expand access to cultural and aesthetic material for blind and visually impaired people

Evaluation of performance and space utilisation when using snapshots in the ZFS and Hammer file systems

Modern file systems implements snapshots, or read-only point-in-time representations of the file system. Snapshots can be used to keep a record of the changes made to the data, and improve backups. Previous work had shown that snapshots decrease read- and write performance, but there was an open question as to how the number of snapshots affect the file system. This thesis studies this on the ZFS and Hammer file systems. The study is done by running a series of benchmarks and creating snapshots of each file system. The results show that performance decreases significantly on both ZFS and Hammer, and ZFS becomes unstable after a certain point; there is a steep decrease in performance, and increase in latency and the variance of the measurements. The performance of ZFS is significantly lower than on Hammer, and the performance decrease is higher. On space utilisation, the results are linear for ZFS, up to the point where the system turns unstable. The results are not linear on Hammer, but more work is needed to reveal by which function.Master i nettverks- og systemadministrasjo