Online Resources in MEMS Technology for Professional and Educational Development

Over the last twenty years, the National Science Foundation (NSF) through its Advanced Technological Education (ATE) program has funded many ATE centers across the United State of America to advance the technician level work force in the Country. One of these centers is the Southwest Center for Microsystems Education (SCME) located at the University of New Mexico. The SCME offers educational materials and professional development at no cost.  These materials and professional development opportunities include sponsored conferences, downloadable written materials for instructors and students, YouTube channels providing lectures, animations and videos, hands-on kits for the classroom, micro and nano films, webinars, online distance learning courses and mentoring opportunities for educators.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.11591/ijere.v3i1.584

Joint Assessment of Intended and Unintended Effects of Medications: An Example Using Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Inhibitors for Neovascular Age-Related Macular Degeneration

Objective. To estimate the net health benefits of pegaptanib and ranibizumab by considering the impact of visual acuity and unintended effects (cardiovascular and hemorrhagic events) on quality-of-life among persons with neovascular age-related macular degeneration. Methods. We designed a probabilistic decision-analytic model using published data. It employed 17 visual health states and three for unintended effects. We calculated incremental net health benefits by subtracting the harms of each medication from the benefit using the quality-adjusted life year (QALY). Results. In a hypothetical cohort of 1,000 75-year olds with new-onset bilateral age-related macular degeneration followed for ten years, the mean QALYs per patient is 3.7 for usual care, 4.2 for pegaptanib, and 4.3 for ranibizumab. Net benefits decline with increasing baseline rates of unintended effects. Interpretation. Net health benefits present a quantitative, potentially useful tool to assist patients and ophthalmologists in balancing the benefits and harms of interventions for age-related macular degeneration

Understanding patient and caregiver perspectives using a dyad approach for data collection: A systematic review of the literature

Treatments outside of a clinical setting may be managed independently by the pediatric patient, independently by a caregiver, or by the patient and caregiver together. Best practices for pediatric clinical outcome assessment (COA) recommend patient-reported outcome (PRO) and/or observer-reported outcome (ObsRO) measures to assess the patient experience of a condition or its treatment. However, a dyad approach where patients and caregivers can complete assessments together may be useful for assessing a shared treatment experience that may not be adequately captured by a PRO and/or an ObsRO. A systematic, targeted literature review of empirical literature was conducted to identify and describe published studies detailing dyad patient-caregiver outcome reporting approaches. The search was run in the MEDLINE®, Embase, and PsycINFO® databases using the OvidSP platform and was limited to English-language studies published within 10 years of the conducted search on 28 September 2021, and 13 articles were selected for full-text review based on pre-specified criteria. Advantages and disadvantages for use of a dyad data collection approach are discussed. Though not appropriate for all settings, dyad data collection may be useful for situations where the best practice approach to measurement does not capture all relevant perspectives, or the use of PRO and ObsRO also does not comprehensively capture all relevant concepts. In following, it may offer a pragmatic solution that can minimize the use of proxy assessment and limit missing data, particularly in research involving a shared patient and caregiver treatment experience. Experience Framework This article is associated with the Staff & Provider Engagement lens of The Beryl Institute Experience Framework (https://www.theberylinstitute.org/ExperienceFramework). Access other PXJ articles related to this lens. Access other resources related to this lens