Information System and Higher Education: data analysis and characterization of the “Universidade Estadual de Maringá”

[EN] This work is the result of compiling and analyzing the "database" of “Universidade Estadual de Maringá”, an institution associated with "INFOACES: System Integral de Información sobre las Instituciones de Educación Superior de América Latina", coordinated by the University of Valencia (Spain) involving 33 institutions, located in 23 different countries, including 18 in Latin America and 5 in Europe. The project is supported by the ALFA III Programme (Cooperation between Higher Education Institutions of the European Union and Latin America). The objective is to present a characterization of the “Universidade Estadual de Maringá”, regional aspects and variables related to academic staff, courses (undergraduate, specialization, master and doctorate), enrollments, campuses and scientific production[ES] Este trabajo es el resultado de la compilación y el análisis de la "base de datos" de la Universidade Estadual de Maringá, una institución asociada al "INFOACES: Sistema Integral de Información sobre las Instituciones de Educación Superior de América Latina", coordinado por la Universidad de Valencia (España). El proyecto involucra 33 instituciones ubicadas en 23 países diferentes, entre ellos 18 de América Latina y 5 en Europa. El proyecto es apoyado por el Programa ALFA III (Programa de Cooperación Regional en Educación Superior entre la Unión Europea y América Latina). El objetivo es presentar una caracterización de la Universidad Estatal de Maringá, aspectos y variables regionales relacionados con el personal académico, cursos (pregrado, especialización, maestría y doctorado), las inscripciones, los campus y de la producción científica.[PT] O presente trabalho é resultado de pesquisa tendo por base os dados da Universidade Estadual de Maringá, uma das instituições associadas ao projeto Internacional “INFOACES: Sistema Integral de Información sobre las Instituciones de Educación Superior de América Latina”, coordenado pela Universidade de Valência (Espanha), envolvendo 33 instituições associadas de 23 diferentes países, sendo 18 da América Latina e 5 da Europa, com apoio da União Europeia, por intermédio do Programa ALFA III (Programa de Cooperação entre as Instituições de Educação Superior da União Europeia e América Latina). Nesse sentido, o objetivo é apresentar uma caracterização da Universidade Estadual de Maringá, seus aspectos de pertencimento regional e variáveis relacionadas a pessoal docente (gênero e dedicação), pessoal técnico, produção científica, cursos de formação (graduação, especialização, mestrado e doutorado), matrículas (presencial e a distância), recursos de informática, infra-estrutura material (campus, edifícios e equipamentos) e orçamento financeiro. Dessa forma, procura-se argumentar sobre a necessidade da disponibilização de um Sistema de Informações, construído de acordo com a metodologia do INFOACES, com vistas à melhoria da qualidade, à tomada de decisões e à publicização de informações para a comunidade interessada e para os atores sociais (internos e externos) a respeito de uma universidade pública regional - a Universidade Estadual de Maringá.Altoé, N.; Neves De Azevedo, ML.; Portero Batilana, A.; Aráujo De Carvalho, C.; Lúcia Mesti, R. (2014). Sistema de Información y Educación Superior: análisis de datos y caracterización de la “Universidade Estadual de Maringá”. En CONFERENCIA INTERNACIONAL INFOACES. UN SISTEMA DE INFORMACIÓN PARA LAS UNIVERSIDADES LATINOAMERICANAS. LIBRO DE ACTAS. Editorial Universitat Politècnica de València. 7-10. http://hdl.handle.net/10251/85890OCS71

Application Description and Policy Model in Collaborative Environment for Sharing of Information on Epidemiological and Clinical Research Data Sets

BACKGROUND: Sharing of epidemiological and clinical data sets among researchers is poor at best, in detriment of science and community at large. The purpose of this paper is therefore to (1) describe a novel Web application designed to share information on study data sets focusing on epidemiological clinical research in a collaborative environment and (2) create a policy model placing this collaborative environment into the current scientific social context. METHODOLOGY: The Database of Databases application was developed based on feedback from epidemiologists and clinical researchers requiring a Web-based platform that would allow for sharing of information about epidemiological and clinical study data sets in a collaborative environment. This platform should ensure that researchers can modify the information. A Model-based predictions of number of publications and funding resulting from combinations of different policy implementation strategies (for metadata and data sharing) were generated using System Dynamics modeling. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: The application allows researchers to easily upload information about clinical study data sets, which is searchable and modifiable by other users in a wiki environment. All modifications are filtered by the database principal investigator in order to maintain quality control. The application has been extensively tested and currently contains 130 clinical study data sets from the United States, Australia, China and Singapore. Model results indicated that any policy implementation would be better than the current strategy, that metadata sharing is better than data-sharing, and that combined policies achieve the best results in terms of publications. CONCLUSIONS: Based on our empirical observations and resulting model, the social network environment surrounding the application can assist epidemiologists and clinical researchers contribute and search for metadata in a collaborative environment, thus potentially facilitating collaboration efforts among research communities distributed around the globe

Standardizing Clinical Trials Workflow Representation in UML for International Site Comparison

BACKGROUND: With the globalization of clinical trials, a growing emphasis has been placed on the standardization of the workflow in order to ensure the reproducibility and reliability of the overall trial. Despite the importance of workflow evaluation, to our knowledge no previous studies have attempted to adapt existing modeling languages to standardize the representation of clinical trials. Unified Modeling Language (UML) is a computational language that can be used to model operational workflow, and a UML profile can be developed to standardize UML models within a given domain. This paper's objective is to develop a UML profile to extend the UML Activity Diagram schema into the clinical trials domain, defining a standard representation for clinical trial workflow diagrams in UML. METHODS: Two Brazilian clinical trial sites in rheumatology and oncology were examined to model their workflow and collect time-motion data. UML modeling was conducted in Eclipse, and a UML profile was developed to incorporate information used in discrete event simulation software. RESULTS: Ethnographic observation revealed bottlenecks in workflow: these included tasks requiring full commitment of CRCs, transferring notes from paper to computers, deviations from standard operating procedures, and conflicts between different IT systems. Time-motion analysis revealed that nurses' activities took up the most time in the workflow and contained a high frequency of shorter duration activities. Administrative assistants performed more activities near the beginning and end of the workflow. Overall, clinical trial tasks had a greater frequency than clinic routines or other general activities. CONCLUSIONS: This paper describes a method for modeling clinical trial workflow in UML and standardizing these workflow diagrams through a UML profile. In the increasingly global environment of clinical trials, the standardization of workflow modeling is a necessary precursor to conducting a comparative analysis of international clinical trials workflows

Workflow in Clinical Trial Sites & Its Association with Near Miss Events for Data Quality: Ethnographic, Workflow & Systems Simulation

10.1371/journal.pone.0039671PLoS ONE76

Regional disparities in mortality after ischemic heart disease in a Brazilian state from 2006 to 2010.

BackgroundHigh technology in the field of interventional cardiology applied in tertiary hospitals has brought enormous benefits in the treatment of ischemic heart disease (IHD). However, IHD mortality rates remain high. We analyzed the relationship between IHD mortality rate and the socioeconomic, demographic, and geographic conditions in 399 cities in Parana state, Brazil, from 2006 to 2010.Methods and resultsData were obtained from the Mortality Information System and the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics and evaluated through Exploratory Spatial Data Analysis. GeoDa™ was used to analyze 29.351 deaths across 399 cities. We found a positive spatial autocorrelation regarding IHD mortality (I = 0.5913, p = 0.001). There was a significant positive association between each of three socioeconomic and demographic indicators and IHD mortality rate: Population Elderly Index (I = 0.3436), Illiteracy Rate (I = 0.1873) and City Development Index (I = 0.0900). In addition, two indicators presented significant negative association with IHD mortality rate: Adjusted Population Size (I = -0.1216) and Gross Domestic Product (I = -0.0864). We also found a positive association between IHD mortality rates and the geographic distances between patients' city of residence and their corresponding regional referral centers in interventional cardiology (I = 0.3368). Cities located within Regional Health Units with Reference Interventional Cardiology Center presented a significantly lower average specific mortality rate by IHD. The high mortality rate by IHD within the Regional Health Units was not restricted to socioeconomic and demographic variables, but dependent on the distance between each city and their reference interventional cardiology center.ConclusionsWe conclude that geographic factors play a significant role in IHD mortality within cities. These findings have important policy implications regarding the geographic distribution of cardiac health care networks in Latin America and in other emerging countries

Improving interdisciplinary research through educational trading zones: A mixed methods approach to evaluating communication patterns between physicians and statisticians

The objective of this study was to perform a qualitative study to identify commonalities and differences in reasoning processes between these groups. A phenomenological qualitative study based on transcriptions of physicians and statisticians conceptualizing clinical cases and clinical research questions. Interviews were carried out with nine statisticians and sixteen physicians contacted virtually. The main outcome measures were emerging themes that were common to both expert groups. Both groups used conceptual models -although different models- during their reasoning processes, but their concepts were not common between the groups complicating the exchange of information. Both groups were unaware that their specialty language was frequently inaccessible to non-specialists or specialists from other fields, which leads to communication difficulties. These difficulties were broadly classified into translational problems of field-specific terms and concepts. Field-specific terms would sometimes lead to misinterpretations while the translation of field-specific concepts often leads to content loss. The use of field-specific terms and concepts can lead to confusion and misinterpretation. Teams would benefit from taxonomies containing terms that can be understood by specialists from both discipline

Variables classified as problematic on visited sites.

<p>Variables classified as problematic on visited sites.</p

CRF’s to do and CRF’s completed in two situations: simulated with rework and simulated with policies suggested.

<p>CRF’s to do and CRF’s completed in two situations: simulated with rework and simulated with policies suggested.</p

System dynamics model showing the three major emerging themes identified and rework caused by these themes.

<p>Available for best visualization in <a href="http://goo.gl/XydTd" target="_blank">http://goo.gl/XydTd</a>.</p