Integrating Technology to Achieve a Measurable Level of Learning

The purpose of this paper is to detail the barriers to the integration of technology in US school systems. The harriers experienced by both individual teachers and to school systems as a whole are discussed. Student barriers, such as computer skill levels or poverty, are also discussed. In addition, this paper explains how technology should be used and the measurable benefits of doing so. Measurable benefits reported in the literature include increased performance on measures of reading comprehension, writing, components of IQ, transfer to novel tasks, and grade point average. Closing comments focus on how technology integration must be an ongoing process in order to become a successful endeavor

An Examination of Web Site Accessibility Issues

The Web is becoming more important for communication andfor data access. Unfortunately, not all Web sites are accessible for all users. Web accessibility is concerned with overcoming the barriers that users with disabilities face when they try to access information on Web sites. Currently, for disabled users, the Web presents many barriers that make it dijfiult to use. These barriers can be addressed by organizational commitment and by improved development techniques. This paper examines how Web accessibility standards and legal mandates are affecting the design of corporate and governmental Web sites, and how the rate of adoption can be improved through increased awareness and education. In addition. It discusses the current need to create a methodology to assess the accessibility skills of information systems developers

The Influence of Government Regulations on Content Management Systems: An Exploratory Study

The primary focus of this study was to determine why and how small businesses implement content management and to clarify the relationship of content management to regulatory compliance issues presented by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability and Sarbanes-Oxley Act

The relationship of renal function to outcome: A post hoc analysis from the EdoxabaN versus warfarin in subjectS UndeRgoing cardiovErsion of Atrial Fibrillation (ENSURE-AF) study.

The ENSURE-AF study (NCT 02072434) of anticoagulation for electrical cardioversion in nonvalvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF) showed comparable low rates of bleeding and thromboembolism between the edoxaban and the enoxaparin-warfarin treatment arms. This post hoc analysis investigated the relationship between renal function and clinical outcomes. METHODS: ENSURE-AF was a multicenter, PROBE evaluation trial of edoxaban 60 mg, or dose reduced to 30 mg/d for weight≤60 kg, creatinine clearance (CrCl; Cockcroft-Gault) ≤50 mL/min, or concomitant P-glycoprotein inhibitors compared with therapeutically monitored enoxaparin-warfarin in 2,199 NVAF patients undergoing electrical cardioversion. Efficacy and safety outcomes and time in therapeutic range in the warfarin arm were analyzed in relation to CrCl in prespecified ranges ≥15 and ≤30, >30 and ≤50, >50 and 30 to ≤50 compared with 71.8% in those with CrCl ≥80. The odds ratios for the primary efficacy and safety end points were comparable for the different predefined renal function strata; given the small numbers, the 95% CI included 1.0. In the subset of those with CrCl ≥95, the odds ratios showed consistency with the other CrCl strata. When CrCl was assessed as a continuous variable, there was a nonsignificant trend toward higher major or clinically relevant nonmajor bleeding with reducing CrCl levels, with no significant differences between the 2 treatment arms. When we assessed CrCl at baseline compared with end of treatment, there were no significant differences in CrCl change between the edoxaban and enoxaparin-warfarin arms. The proportions with worsening of renal function (defined as a decrease of >20% from baseline) were similar in the 2 treatment arms. CONCLUSION: Given the small number of events in ENSURE-AF, no effect of renal (dys)function was demonstrated in comparing edoxaban to enoxaparin-warfarin for cardioversion; efficacy and safety of edoxaban remained consistent even in patients with normal or supranormal renal function

Measuring participation for persons with mental illness: A systematic review assessing relevance of existing scales for low and middle income countries

Background: Participation is increasingly becoming an important outcome for assessment in many fields, including development, disability and policy implementation. However, selecting specific instruments to measure participation has been a significant problem due to overlapping conceptual definitions and use of different theories. The objective of this paper is to identify participation instruments, examine theories/definition supporting their use and highlight scales for use in low and middle-income countries for persons with mental illness. Methods: A systematic literature review was conducted to identify instruments intended to measure participation for individuals with severe mental illness. The search was limited to peer-reviewed articles published in English between 2003 and 2014. Instruments that measured related concepts of well-being, quality of life and social functioning were also identified and screened for items that pertained to participation, defined as empowerment and collective capabilities. Results: Five scales met established criteria for assessing participation and were determined to contain questions measuring empowerment and/or collective capabilities. However, each scale largely assessed individual functioning and capacity, while neglecting collective aspects of the community. All scales were developed in high-income countries and none were used in low and middle-income countries. Conclusions: There is an urgent need for participation scales to focus on empowerment as well as collective capabilities. Further, development of participation scales should clearly delineate theoretical foundations and concepts used. Finally, participation scales used in low and middle income countries should consider how contextual factors like medicine, poverty and disability, particularly with regards to mental illness, impact content of the scale

Anticoagulation Control in Warfarin-Treated Patients Undergoing Cardioversion of Atrial Fibrillation (from the Edoxaban Versus Enoxaparin-Warfarin in Patients Undergoing Cardioversion of Atrial Fibrillation Trial).

In the Edoxaban Versus Enoxaparin-Warfarin in Patients Undergoing Cardioversion of Atrial Fibrillation (ENSURE-AF) study (NCT 02072434), edoxaban was compared with enoxaparin-warfarin in 2,199 patients undergoing electrical cardioversion of nonvalvular atrial fibrillation (AF). In this multicenter prospective randomized open blinded end-point trial, we analyzed patients randomized to enoxaparin-warfarin. We determined time to achieve therapeutic range (TtTR); time in therapeutic range (TiTR); their clinical determinants; relation to sex, age, medical history, treatment, tobacco use, race risk (SAMe-TT2R2) score; and impact on primary end points (composite of stroke, systemic embolic event[SEE], myocardial infarction [MI], and cardiovascular death [CVD] and composite of major + clinically relevant nonmajor bleeding). Among 1,104 patients randomized to enoxaparin-warfarin, 27% were naïve to oral anticoagulants. Mean age was 64.2 ± 11 years and mean congestive heart failure, hypertension, age ≥75 (doubled), diabetes mellitus, prior stroke or transient ischemic attack (doubled), vascular disease, age 65-74, female (CHA2DS2-VASc) score was 2.6. Mean TtTR was 7.7 days (median 7 days) and mean TiTR after reaching an international normalized ratio of 2.0 to 3.0 was 71%. In 695 patients who had an INR 2. On multivariate regression, an independent predictor of extended TtTR was creatinine clearance (p = 0.02). TtTR was marginally related to stroke/SEE/MI/CVD (p = 0.06; odds ratio  0.23, 95% confidence interval 0.02 to 1.17) but not to any bleeding. Independent predictors of TiTR were previous vitamin K antagonist experience (p65, concomitant drugs or alcohol (HAS-BLED) score (p = 0.02). TiTR was related to any bleeding (p = 0.02; odds ratio  0.39, 95% confidence interval 0.16 to 0.88), but not stroke/SEE/MI/CVD. In this cohort of warfarin users with a high TiTR no difference was seen between TtTR and TiTR in relation to SAMe-TT2R2 score. In conclusion, even in this short-term study, TiTR was significantly related to bleeding events

Spillovers of Prosocial Motivation: Evidence from an Intervention Study on Blood Donors

Spillovers of prosocial motivation can enhance the provision of public goods, and have implications for the cost-benefit analysis of policy interventions. We analyze a large-scale intervention among dyads of pre- registered blood donors. A quasi-random phone call provides the instrument for identifying endogenous and exogenous social interaction. The phone call has a strong effect on the recipient's propensity to donate. Between 40% and 44% of that behavioral impulse is transmitted within dyads due to motivational spillovers. This creates a significant social multiplier to policy interventions, with estimates ranging between 1.6 and 1.8. There is no evidence for exogenous social interaction

The European Network for Translational Research in Atrial Fibrillation (EUTRAF): objectives and initial results.

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common sustained arrhythmia in the general population. As an age-related arrhythmia AF is becoming a huge socio-economic burden for European healthcare systems. Despite significant progress in our understanding of the pathophysiology of AF, therapeutic strategies for AF have not changed substantially and the major challenges in the management of AF are still unmet. This lack of progress may be related to the multifactorial pathogenesis of atrial remodelling and AF that hampers the identification of causative pathophysiological alterations in individual patients. Also, again new mechanisms have been identified and the relative contribution of these mechanisms still has to be established. In November 2010, the European Union launched the large collaborative project EUTRAF (European Network of Translational Research in Atrial Fibrillation) to address these challenges. The main aims of EUTRAF are to study the main mechanisms of initiation and perpetuation of AF, to identify the molecular alterations underlying atrial remodelling, to develop markers allowing to monitor this processes, and suggest strategies to treat AF based on insights in newly defined disease mechanisms. This article reports on the objectives, the structure, and initial results of this network

Safety and efficacy of dronedarone from clinical trials to real-world evidence: implications for its use in atrial fibrillation.

Efficacy and safety of dronedarone was shown in the ATHENA trial for paroxysmal or persistent atrial fibrillation (AF) patients. Further trials revealed safety concerns in patients with heart failure and permanent AF. This review summarizes insights from recent real-world studies and meta-analyses, including reports on efficacy, with focus on liver safety, mortality risk in patients with paroxysmal/persistent AF, and interactions of dronedarone with direct oral anticoagulants. Reports of rapidly progressing liver failure in dronedarone-prescribed patients in 2011 led to regulatory cautions about potential liver toxicity. Recent real-world evidence suggests dronedarone liver safety profile is similar to other antiarrhythmics and liver toxicity could be equally common with many Class III antiarrhythmics. Dronedarone safety concerns (increased mortality in patients with permanent AF) were raised based on randomized controlled trials (RCT) (ANDROMEDA and PALLAS), but comedication with digoxin may have increased the mortality rates in PALLAS, considering the dronedarone-digoxin pharmacokinetic (PK) interaction. Real-world data on apixaban-dronedarone interactions and edoxaban RCT observations suggest no significant safety risks for these drug combinations. Median trough plasma concentrations of dabigatran 110 mg during concomitant use with dronedarone are at acceptable levels, while PK data on the rivaroxaban-dronedarone interaction are unavailable. In RCTs and real-world studies, dronedarone significantly reduces AF burden and cardiovascular hospitalizations, and demonstrates a low risk for proarrhythmia in patients with paroxysmal or persistent AF. The concerns on liver safety must be balanced against the significant reduction in hospitalizations in patients with non-permanent AF and low risk for proarrhythmias following dronedarone treatment