ConCall: An information service for researchers based on EdInfo

In this paper, we present new types of web information services, where users and information brokers collaborate in creating a user-adaptive information service. Such services impose a novel task on information brokers: they become responsible for maintaining the inference strategies used in user modeling. In return, information brokers obtain more accurate information about user needs, since the adaptivity ensures that user profiles are kept up to date and consistent with what users actually prefer, not only what they say that they prefer. We illustrate the approach by an example application, in which conference calls are collected and distributed to interested readers

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Overcoming Roadblocks on the Way to Work: Bridges to Work Field Report

While many low-income, inner-city job seekers are isolated from economic opportunities in the suburbs, transportation alone is unlikely to improve their employment prospects, according to the authors of this report. Based on the lessons of P/PV's $17 million five-city Bridges to Work demonstration, the report indicates that while transportation was certainly critical, much of the sites' success depended more on their ability to recruit, prepare and support job seekers, the essential components of any workforce development program

Expressive Messaging on Mobile Platforms

We present a design for expressive multimodal messaging on mobile platforms. Strong context, simple text messages, and crude animations combine well to produce surprisingly expressive results

A Citizen Science Experiment: How well do park visitors identify wetland health?

Citizen science refers to a discipline of scientific projects that utilize public participation and collaboration to complete or supplement a collected data set. Our study as a whole aims to assess the greenhouse gas (GHG) source-sink status of small, constructed wetlands in Kentucky through field and remotely sensed data. Additional facets of the project include evaluating the influence of the primary producer community on GHG uptake and emissions, and our ability to identify healthy small wetlands from science and community-based perspectives. Specifically, the citizen science aspect intends to assess both (1) gaps between knowledge of the general public regarding wetland health and that of experts in the field and (2) the validity of citizen science initiatives as a means of gathering data, particularly in the vein of ecological research. To address these objectives, we are distributing online surveys across the Olmstead Parks in Jefferson County via QR codes on posted signage asking participants to analyze the health of the wetland according to their opinion. We will then compare these responses, collected in the form of a Likert scale, to responses of experts in the field of wetland health when looking at the same wetland through photos submitted by the participants. The differences or similarities between these responses will provide insight into a random cohort of citizens’ knowledge and perception of wetland health. Outcomes of this study can inform future environmental science curriculum in schools and best practices for education efforts from park managers to other environmental stewards

The clinical and economic impact of alternative staging strategies for adenocarcinoma of the pancreas

Several innovative imaging modalities, including endoscopic ultrasound, have increased the number of available preoperative staging methods in patients with adenocarcinoma of the pancreas. Our goal was to estimate the clinical outcomes and cost-effectiveness of alternative staging strategies for pancreatic adenocarcinoma. METHODS : Decision analysis was used to simulate alternative staging strategies. Cost inputs were based on Medicare reimbursements; clinical inputs were obtained from the available literature. Model endpoints of interest were cost per curative resection and appropriateness of treatment allocation based on pathological stage. RESULTS : Endoscopic ultrasound followed by laparoscopy yielded the lowest cost per curative resection ($37,600) and minimized the number of unnecessary surgical explorations (5.4 per 100 patients staged). Requiring angiographic confirmation when endoscopic ultrasound demonstrated an unresectable tumor yielded an intermediate cost-effectiveness ratio and virtually eliminated the risk of overstaging. Laparoscopy alone maximized the resection rate, but each additional resection would cost approximately$2 million relative to a strategy employing both endoscopic ultrasound and angiography. CONCLUSIONS : Staging strategies incorporating endoscopic ultrasound may improve treatment allocation and are cost-effective relative to angiography-based strategies. A staging protocol that does not incorporate an imaging modality to detect vascular invasion dramatically increases the cost per additional curative resection compared with more comprehensive staging protocols.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/74623/1/j.1572-0241.2000.02191.x.pd

Tracking a Marine Ecotourism Star: Movements of the Short Ocean Sunfish Mola ramsayi in Nusa Penida, Bali, Indonesia

Ocean sunfishes, Molidae, comprise the world’s heaviest bony fishes. They include the short mola, Mola ramsayi (Giglioli 1883), an important tourist draw at Nusa Penida and Nusa Lembongan, Bali, where SCUBA divers can observe ectoparasite-laden individuals being cleaned by smaller reef fishes. Despite widespread appeal, little is known about these fishes relative to regional oceanography. We present the first behavioral information for this species anywhere in the world. Satellite tag data indicate a wide thermal range (10–27.5°C) with depth occupation mostly (95%) in the upper 250 m and habitat preference near the bottom of the warm surface layer. One tag popped off as scheduled after 6 months off Nusa Penida, deployment; 142 km south after 7 days of deployment; and 162 km south after 24 days of deployment. Amid mounting tourist pressures and bycatch of M. ramsayi in eastern regions of Indonesia, such as Alor, behavioral information of this species is essential for effective management and conservation of this valuable marine ecotourism asset

Viewpoint: A Pragmatic Approach to Constructing a Minimum Data Set for Care of Patients with HIV in Developing Countries

Providing quality health care requires access to continuous patient data that developing countries often lack. A panel of medical informatics specialists, clinical human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) specialists, and program managers suggests a minimum data set for supporting the management and monitoring of patients with HIV and their care programs in developing countries. The proposed minimum data set consists of data for registration and scheduling, monitoring and improving practice management, and describing clinical encounters and clinical care. Data should be numeric or coded using standard definitions and minimal free text. To enhance accuracy, efficiency, and availability, data should be recorded electronically by those generating them. Data elements must be sufficiently detailed to support clinical algorithms/guidelines and aggregation into broader categories for consumption by higher level users (e.g., national and international health care agencies). The proposed minimum data set will evolve over time as funding increases, care protocols change, and additional tests and treatments become available for HIV-infected patients in developing countrie