Turning data into action:Supporting humanitarian field workers with open data

In the aftermath of disasters, information is of the essence for humanitarian decision makers in the field. Their concrete information needs is highly context-influenced and often they find themselves unable to access the right information at the right time. We propose a novel ICT-based approach to address these information needs more accurately. First, we select a group of in-field decision makers and collect their concrete information needs in the disaster aftermath. We then review to what extent existing data and tools can already address these needs. We conclude that existing solutions fall short in meeting important information needs of the selected group. We describe the design of an information system prototype to address these gaps more accurately. We combine data of the International Aid Transparency Initiative and the Humanitarian Data Exchange to form the data-backend of our system. We describe our implementation approach and evaluation plan

Study of the Completion of Follow-up After Helicobacter Pylori Eradication Therapy

Background: Because no therapeutic regimens have an eradication rate of 100%, post-treatment evaluation is necessary to ensure that adequate eradication therapy for Helicobacter pylori has been provided. The fact that not all patients are evaluated after eradication therapy is a serious concern for both the medical care system and medical economy.Method: We performed a retrospective study of 411 patients who received first-line H. pylori eradication therapy at Fuyoukai Murakami Hospital from October 1, 2014 to March 31, 2016. We calculated the rate of post-treatment follow-up at 1 year after completing the eradication therapy. In addition, we excluded 76 patients who definitely received post-treatment evaluation because of follow-up appointments with gastroenterologists (n = 29) or return visits to other physicians (n = 47) and included 335 patients in the final study population. We used logistic regression models for identifying the relevant factors contributing to the completion of post-eradication follow-up.Results: The rate of completion of post-eradication follow-up was 78.8% (324/411). Multivariate analysis revealed that the adjusted odds ratios for age (≥ 48 years), gender (female) and preventive measures for gastric cancer (esophagogastroduodenoscopy after radiographic screening for gastric cancer and a desire to be examined for H. pylori infection) were 1.85 [95% confidence interval (CI): 1.11–3.09; p < 0.05], 1.89 [95% CI: 1.07–3.34; p < 0.05] and 4.01 [95% CI: 1.61–10.0; p < 0.01], respectively.Conclusion: Age ≥ 48 years, female gender and preventive measures for gastric cancer were independently related to a higher rate of completion of post-eradication follow-up

Group Support Systems for Knowledge Acquisition in Humanitarian Disaster Response Teams: Embedded Research in the Belgian First Aid and Support Team

Knowledge management systems (KMS) are designed to support and enhance the process of creating, storing, retrieving and transferring knowledge. In this contribution we investigate the use of such systems for the acquisition of knowledge in humanitarian disaster response teams. First, we present a framework describing how KMS should enhance group process gains and alleviate group process losses, and create an effective learning environment for successfully supporting the acquisition of knowledge. Second, we describe ongoing research on the acquisition of knowledge in the Belgian humanitarian response team (B-FAST, for Belgian First Aid and Support Team) that uses Microsoft Groove as knowledge management system before, during and after their missions. Initial findings are presented based on participant observation and interviews of the B-FAST team during a large humanitarian exercise, along with plans for future research

The reciprocity of data integration in disaster risk analysis

Humanitarian organizations are increasingly challenged by the amount of data available to drive their decisions. Useful data can come from many sources, exists in different formats, and merging it into a basis for analysis and planning often exceeds organizations’ capacities and resources. At the same time, affected communities’ participation in decision making processes is often hindered by a lack of information and data literacy capacities within the communities. We describe a participatory disaster risk analysis project in the central Philippines where the community and a humanitarian NGO worked towards a joint understanding of disaster risks and coping capacities through data integration and IT-supported analysis. We present findings from workshops, focus group discussions and semi-structured interviews, showing the reciprocal effects of the collaborative work. While the community valued the systematically gathered and structured evidence that supported their own risk perceptions and advocacy efforts, the humanitarian NGO revisited established work practices for data collection for analysis and planning

Search for Colour Singlet and Colour Reconnection Effects in Hadronic Z Decays at LEP

A search is performed in symmetric 3-jet hadronic Z decay events for evidence of colour singlet production or colour reconnection effects. Asymmetries in the angular separation of particles are found to be sensitive indicators of such effects. Upper limits on the level of colour singlet production and colour reconnection effects are established for a variety of models

Proton-Antiproton Pair Production in Two-Photon Collisions at LEP

The reaction e^+e^- -> e^+e^- proton antiproton is studied with the L3 detector at LEP. The analysis is based on data collected at e^+e^- center-of-mass energies from 183 GeV to 209 GeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 667 pb^-1. The gamma gamma -> proton antiproton differential cross section is measured in the range of the two-photon center-of-mass energy from 2.1 GeV to 4.5 GeV. The results are compared to the predictions of the three-quark and quark-diquark models