83 research outputs found
Business models for sustained ehealth implementation: lessons from two continents
There is general consensus that Computers and Information Technology have the potential to enhance health systems applications, and many good examples of such applications exist all over the world. Unfortunately, with respect to eHealth and telemedicine, there is much disillusionment and scepticism. This paper describes two models that were developed separately, but had the same purpose, namely to facilitate a holistic approach to the development and implementation of eHealth solutions. The roadmap of the Centre for eHealth Research (CeHRes roadmap) was developed in the Netherlands, and the Telemedicine Maturity Model (TMMM) was developed in South Africa. The purpose of this paper is to analyse the commonalities and differences of these approaches, and to explore how they can be used to complement each other. The first part of this paper comprises of a comparison of these models in terms of origin, research domain and design principles. Case comparisons are then presented to illustrate how these models complement one another
Evaluation of perceived persuasiveness constructs by combining user tests and expert assessments
To develop effective behaviour change support systems, persuasive technology can be used. The persuasive systems design model offers a framework to identify and operationalize such elements. In this pilot study, we evaluate the questionnaire developed to measure perceived persuasiveness of information technology. We analyzed verbatim user-test transcripts, and performed expert-assessments of the Nurse Antibiotic Information App (NAIA). These data were compared to questionnaire results on this app. Expert-assessment identified task support, perceived persuasiveness, unobtrusiveness, credibility, perceived effort and perceived effectiveness (as defined in the Persuasive Systems Design model) as being present within the NAIA. These constructs also scored satisfactory in the questionnaire. User-test transcripts are in line with questionnaire results. Given the consistent results in this pilot study, our approach seems promising for evaluating the questionnaire and will be applied to other settings and websites/application
Gebruik van nieuwe media tijdens een infectieziekte-uitbraak
De opkomst van de nieuwe media (Facebook, Twitter en Wikipedia) biedt nieuwe mogelijkheden om te communiceren met burgers in tijden van een infectieziekte-uitbraak. Op dit moment is het echter onduidelijk welke rol zij kunnen spelen tijdens een uitbraak. Moeten GGD’en bijvoorbeeld gaan twitteren om burgers op de hoogte te houden? In andere crisissituaties, zoals natuurrampen (1) of de Arabische lente (2) bleken sociale media zeer waardevol, wat de indruk wekt dat ook publieke gezondheidsorganisaties deze media moeten meenemen in hun crisiscommunicatieplan. Deze studie wil bijdragen aan het vormgeven van deze communicatieplannen en heeft als hoofdvraag: Gebruiken burgers nieuwe media tijdens een infectieziekte-uitbraak om op de hoogte te blijven en om antwoorden te vinden op hun vragen? En indien dit het geval is, welke nieuwe media gebruiken ze dan en met welk doel
Shear-stress and wall-stress regulation of vascular remodeling after balloon angioplasty: effect of matrix metalloproteinase inhibition
BACKGROUND: Constrictive vascular remodeling (VR) is the most significant
component of restenosis after balloon angioplasty (PTA). Whereas in
physiologi
Magnetic fields in cosmic particle acceleration sources
We review here some magnetic phenomena in astrophysical particle accelerators
associated with collisionless shocks in supernova remnants, radio galaxies and
clusters of galaxies. A specific feature is that the accelerated particles can
play an important role in magnetic field evolution in the objects. We discuss a
number of CR-driven, magnetic field amplification processes that are likely to
operate when diffusive shock acceleration (DSA) becomes efficient and
nonlinear. The turbulent magnetic fields produced by these processes determine
the maximum energies of accelerated particles and result in specific features
in the observed photon radiation of the sources. Equally important, magnetic
field amplification by the CR currents and pressure anisotropies may affect the
shocked gas temperatures and compression, both in the shock precursor and in
the downstream flow, if the shock is an efficient CR accelerator. Strong
fluctuations of the magnetic field on scales above the radiation formation
length in the shock vicinity result in intermittent structures observable in
synchrotron emission images. Resonant and non-resonant CR streaming
instabilities in the shock precursor can generate mesoscale magnetic fields
with scale-sizes comparable to supernova remnants and even superbubbles. This
opens the possibility that magnetic fields in the earliest galaxies were
produced by the first generation Population III supernova remnants and by
clustered supernovae in star forming regions.Comment: 30 pages, Space Science Review
Are Solar Active Regions with Major Flares More Fractal, Multifractal, or Turbulent than Others?
Multiple recent investigations of solar magnetic field measurements have
raised claims that the scale-free (fractal) or multiscale (multifractal)
parameters inferred from the studied magnetograms may help assess the eruptive
potential of solar active regions, or may even help predict major flaring
activity stemming from these regions. We investigate these claims here, by
testing three widely used scale-free and multiscale parameters, namely, the
fractal dimension, the multifractal structure function and its inertial-range
exponent, and the turbulent power spectrum and its power-law index, on a
comprehensive data set of 370 timeseries of active-region magnetograms (17,733
magnetograms in total) observed by SOHO's Michelson Doppler Imager (MDI) over
the entire Solar Cycle 23. We find that both flaring and non-flaring active
regions exhibit significant fractality, multifractality, and non-Kolmogorov
turbulence but none of the three tested parameters manages to distinguish
active regions with major flares from flare-quiet ones. We also find that the
multiscale parameters, but not the scale-free fractal dimension, depend
sensitively on the spatial resolution and perhaps the observational
characteristics of the studied magnetograms. Extending previous works, we
attribute the flare-forecasting inability of fractal and multifractal
parameters to i) a widespread multiscale complexity caused by a possible
underlying self-organization in turbulent solar magnetic structures, flaring
and non-flaring alike, and ii) a lack of correlation between the fractal
properties of the photosphere and overlying layers, where solar eruptions
occur. However useful for understanding solar magnetism, therefore, scale-free
and multiscale measures may not be optimal tools for active-region
characterization in terms of eruptive ability or, ultimately,for major
solar-flare prediction.Comment: 25 pages, 7 figures, 2 tables, Solar Phys., in pres
An Observational Overview of Solar Flares
We present an overview of solar flares and associated phenomena, drawing upon
a wide range of observational data primarily from the RHESSI era. Following an
introductory discussion and overview of the status of observational
capabilities, the article is split into topical sections which deal with
different areas of flare phenomena (footpoints and ribbons, coronal sources,
relationship to coronal mass ejections) and their interconnections. We also
discuss flare soft X-ray spectroscopy and the energetics of the process. The
emphasis is to describe the observations from multiple points of view, while
bearing in mind the models that link them to each other and to theory. The
present theoretical and observational understanding of solar flares is far from
complete, so we conclude with a brief discussion of models, and a list of
missing but important observations.Comment: This is an article for a monograph on the physics of solar flares,
inspired by RHESSI observations. The individual articles are to appear in
Space Science Reviews (2011
Pulsar Wind Nebulae with Bow Shocks: Non-thermal Radiation and Cosmic Ray Leptons
Pulsars with high spin-down power produce relativistic winds radiating a non-negligible fraction of this power over the whole electromagnetic range from radio to gamma-rays in the pulsar wind nebulae (PWNe). The rest of the power is dissipated in the interactions of the PWNe with the ambient interstellar medium (ISM). Some of the PWNe are moving relative to the ambient ISM with supersonic speeds producing bow shocks. In this case, the ultrarelativistic particles accelerated at the termination surface of the pulsar wind may undergo reacceleration in the converging flow system formed by the plasma outflowing from the wind termination shock and the plasma inflowing from the bow shock. The presence of magnetic perturbations in the flow, produced by instabilities induced by the accelerated particles themselves, is essential for the process to work. A generic outcome of this type of reacceleration is the creation of particle distributions with very hard spectra, such as are indeed required to explain the observed spectra of synchrotron radiation with photon indices Γ≲ 1.5. The presence of this hard spectral component is specific to PWNe with bow shocks (BSPWNe). The accelerated particles, mainly electrons and positrons, may end up containing a substantial fraction of the shock ram pressure. In addition, for typical ISM and pulsar parameters, the e+ released by these systems in the Galaxy are numerous enough to contribute a substantial fraction of the positrons detected as cosmic ray (CR) particles above few tens of GeV and up to several hundred GeV. The escape of ultrarelativistic particles from a BSPWN—and hence, its appearance in the far-UV and X-ray bands—is determined by the relative directions of the interstellar magnetic field, the velocity of the astrosphere and the pulsar rotation axis. In this respect we review the observed appearance and multiwavelength spectra of three different types of BSPWNe: PSR J0437-4715, the Guitar and Lighthouse nebulae, and Vela-like objects. We argue that high resolution imaging of such objects provides unique information both on pulsar winds and on the ISM. We discuss the interpretation of imaging observations in the context of the model outlined above and estimate the BSPWN contribution to the positron flux observed at the Earth
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