NASA scientific and technical program: User survey

Results are presented of an intensive user requirements survey conducted by NASA's Scientific and Technical Information (STI) Program with the goal of improving the foundation for the user outreach program. The survey was carried out by interviewing 550 NASA scientists, engineers, and contractors and by analyzing 650 individual responses to a mailed out questionnaire. To analyze the user demographic data, a data base was built and used, and will be applied to ongoing analysis by the NASA STI Program

Comparison of Open-Source Electronic Health Record Systems Based on Functional and User Performance Criteria

Objectives: Open-source Electronic Health Record (EHR) systems have gained importance. The main aim of our research is to guide organizational choice by comparing the features, functionality, and user-facing system performance of the five most popular open-source EHR systems. Methods: We performed qualitative content analysis with a directed approach on recently published literature (2012-2017) to develop an integrated set of criteria to compare the EHR systems. The functional criteria are an integration of the literature, meaningful use criteria, and the Institute of Medicine's functional requirements of EHR, whereas the user-facing system performance is based on the time required to perform basic tasks within the EHR system. Results: Based on the Alexa web ranking and Google Trends, the five most popular EHR systems at the time of our study were OSHERA VistA, GNU Health, the Open Medical Record System (OpenMRS), Open Electronic Medical Record (OpenEMR), and OpenEHR. We also found the trends in popularity of the EHR systems and the locations where they were more popular than others. OpenEMR met all the 32 functional criteria, OSHERA VistA met 28, OpenMRS met 12 fully and 11 partially, OpenEHR-based EHR met 10 fully and 3 partially, and GNU Health met the least with only 10 criteria fully and 2 partially. Conclusions: Based on our functional criteria, OpenEMR is the most promising EHR system, closely followed by VistA. With regards to user-facing system performance, OpenMRS has superior performance in comparison to OpenEMR

Evaluation of phonocardiographic data of astronauts during orbital flights

Simultaneous electrocardiographic and phonocardiographic data obtained from Gemini flight

An Analysis of Tennessee Gateway Exams and the Variables Related to Student Results.

The purpose of this study was to examine the variables that are associated with the percentage of students who pass Tennessee\u27s Gateway exams in high school. Associations were examined between the Gateway exams and variables such as: socioeconomic status, ethnicity, dropout rate, graduation rate, attendance, average daily membership, per-pupil expenditure, teachers\u27 salary, and elementary-school reading scores. Pearson correlations between school characteristics and pass rates of three Gateway exams were calculated. Schools were divided into quartiles based upon socioeconomic status and ethnicity in order to examine pass rates of the Gateway exams among different quartiles. Independent samples t tests were performed to determine if differences were statistically significant. Variables that exhibited strong association with pass rates of Gateway exams were used as predictor variables and pass rates of Gateway exams were used as dependent variables in multivariable linear regressions. The findings indicated that the graduation rate and percentage of Caucasian students were most positively associated with Gateway pass rates. Dropout rates and percentage of students who qualified for free/reduced-priced meals were most negatively associated with Gateway pass rates. It was discovered that the Algebra I Gateway exam was by far the most difficult for students to pass. Almost half of the students in high schools serving poor, minority students failed the Algebra I Gateway exam in 2004

Reliability of equivalent sphere model in blood-forming organ dose estimation

The radiation dose equivalents to blood-forming organs (BFO's) of the astronauts at the Martian surface due to major solar flare events are calculated using the detailed body geometry of Langley and Billings. The solar flare spectra of February 1956, November 1960, and August 1972 events are employed instead of the idealized Webber form. The detailed geometry results are compared with those based on the 5-cm sphere model which was used often in the past to approximate BFO dose or dose equivalent. Larger discrepancies are found for the later two events possibly due to the lower numbers of highly penetrating protons. It is concluded that the 5-cm sphere model is not suitable for quantitative use in connection with future NASA deep-space, long-duration mission shield design studies

Effects of fragmentation parameter variations on estimates of galactic cosmic ray exposure: Dose sensitivity studies for aluminum shields

Initial studies of the sensitivities of estimates of particle fluence, absorbed dose, and dose equivalent to fragmentation parameter variations are undertaken by using the LaRC galactic cosmic ray transport code (HZETRN). The new results, presented as a function of aluminum shield thickness, include upper and lower bounds on dose/dose equivalent corresponding to the physically realistic extremes of the fragmentation process and the percentage of variation of the dose/dose equivalent as a function of fragmentation parameter variation