Background: The growing use of web-based patient portals offers patients valuable tools for accessing health information, communicating with healthcare providers, and engaging in self-management. However, the influenc...Background: The growing use of web-based patient portals offers patients valuable tools for accessing health information, communicating with healthcare providers, and engaging in self-management. However, the influence of educating patients on these portals’ functionality on clinical outcomes, such as all-cause readmission rates, remains underexplored. Objective: This research proposal tested the hypothesis that educating a subset of patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) and Congestive Heart Failure (CHF), on how to effectively access and utilize the functionality of web-based patient portals can reduce all-cause readmission rates. Methods: We performed a prospective, quasi-experimental study at Bon Secours St. Mary’s Hospital in Richmond, Virginia, USA;dividing participants into an intervention group, receiving education about accessing and navigating “My Chart”, the Bon Secours Web based portal, and a control group, receiving standard care. We then compared 30-day readmission rates, patient engagement, and self-management behaviors between the groups. Data was analyzed using statistical tests to assess the intervention’s impact. Results: We projected that educated patients will exhibit lower readmission rates, improved engagement, and better self-management. The results of the study showed that there was a significant decrease in 30-day readmissions in the intervention group in comparison with the control group (22.7% and 40.9%, respectively). This reduction of 18. 2% of readmissions evaluated here for a trial of meaningful clinical effect is statistically insignificant (p = 0. 184). The practical significance of the intervention is considered small-to-moderate (Cramer V = 0. 20) suggesting that the observed difference has a potential clinical importance even though the difference was not statistically significant. Conclusion: These results imply that the proposed educational intervention might have a positive impact on readmissions;nonetheless, the patient’s characteristics that make him or her capable of readmission cannot be changed and are assessed by the RoR (Risk of Readmission) score. The potential impact of the intervention may be offset, in part, by these baseline risk factors. The study’s power may be limited by sample size, potentially affecting the detection of significant differences. Future studies with larger, multi-center samples and longer follow-up periods are recommended to confirm these findings.展开更多
Conventionally,the reliability of a web portal is validated with generalized conventional methods,but they fail to provide the desired results.Therefore,we need to include other quality factors that affect reliability...Conventionally,the reliability of a web portal is validated with generalized conventional methods,but they fail to provide the desired results.Therefore,we need to include other quality factors that affect reliability such as usability for improving the reliability in addition to the conventional reliability testing.Actually,the primary objectives of web portals are to provide interactive integration of multiple functions confirming diverse requirements in an efficient way.In this paper,we employ testing profiles tomeasure the reliability through software operational profile,input space profile and usability profile along with qualitative measures of reliability and usability.Moreover,the case study used for verification is based on aweb application that facilitates information and knowledge sharing among its online members.The proposed scheme is compared with the conventional reliability improvement method in terms of failure detection and reliability.The final results unveil that the computation of reliability by using the traditional method(utilizing failure points with the assistance of Mean Time Between Failures(MTBF)and Mean Time To Failure(MTTF)becomes ineffective under certain situations.Under such situations,the proposed scheme helps to compute the reliability in an effective way.Moreover,the outcomes of the study provide insight recommendations about the testing and measurement of reliability for Web based software or applications.展开更多
Greenhouse gas data collected by different institutions throughout the world have significant scientific values for global climate change studies. Due to the diversity of data formats and different specifications of d...Greenhouse gas data collected by different institutions throughout the world have significant scientific values for global climate change studies. Due to the diversity of data formats and different specifications of data access interfaces, most of those data should be first downloaded onto a local machine before they can be used. To overcome this limitation, we present a geospatial web portal for sharing and analyzing greenhouse gas data derived from remote sensing images. As a proof-of-concept, a prototype has also been designed and implemented. The work：flow of the web portal contains four processes： data access, data analysis, results visualiza- tion, and results output. A large volume of greenhouse gas data have been collected, described, and indexed in the portal, and a variety of data analysis services, such as calculating the temporal variation of regionally averaged column CO2 values and analyzing the latitudinal variations of globally averaged column CO2 values, are integrated into this portal. With the integrated geospatial data and services, researchers can collect and analyze greenhouse gas data online, and can preview and download the analysis results directly from the web portal. The geospatial web portal has been implemented as a web application, and we also used a study case to illustrate this framework.展开更多
The energy-water nexus,or the dependence of energy on water and water on energy,continues to receive attention as impacts on both energy and water supply and demand from growing popula-tions and climate-related stress...The energy-water nexus,or the dependence of energy on water and water on energy,continues to receive attention as impacts on both energy and water supply and demand from growing popula-tions and climate-related stresses are evaluated for future infra-structure planning.Changes in water and energy demand are related to changes in regional temperature,and precipitation extremes can affect water resources available for energy genera-tion for those regional populations.Additionally,the vulnerabilities to the energy and water nexus are beyond the physical infrastruc-tures themselves and extend into supporting and interdependent infrastructures.Evaluation of these vulnerabilities relies on the integration of the disparate and distributed data associated with each of the infrastructures,environments and populations served,and robust analytical methodologies of the data.A capability for the deployment of these methods on relevant data from multiple components on a single platform can provide actionable informa-tion for interested communities,not only for individual energy and water systems,but also for the system of systems that they com-prise.Here,we survey the highest priority data needs and analy-tical methods for inclusion on such a platform.展开更多
文摘Background: The growing use of web-based patient portals offers patients valuable tools for accessing health information, communicating with healthcare providers, and engaging in self-management. However, the influence of educating patients on these portals’ functionality on clinical outcomes, such as all-cause readmission rates, remains underexplored. Objective: This research proposal tested the hypothesis that educating a subset of patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) and Congestive Heart Failure (CHF), on how to effectively access and utilize the functionality of web-based patient portals can reduce all-cause readmission rates. Methods: We performed a prospective, quasi-experimental study at Bon Secours St. Mary’s Hospital in Richmond, Virginia, USA;dividing participants into an intervention group, receiving education about accessing and navigating “My Chart”, the Bon Secours Web based portal, and a control group, receiving standard care. We then compared 30-day readmission rates, patient engagement, and self-management behaviors between the groups. Data was analyzed using statistical tests to assess the intervention’s impact. Results: We projected that educated patients will exhibit lower readmission rates, improved engagement, and better self-management. The results of the study showed that there was a significant decrease in 30-day readmissions in the intervention group in comparison with the control group (22.7% and 40.9%, respectively). This reduction of 18. 2% of readmissions evaluated here for a trial of meaningful clinical effect is statistically insignificant (p = 0. 184). The practical significance of the intervention is considered small-to-moderate (Cramer V = 0. 20) suggesting that the observed difference has a potential clinical importance even though the difference was not statistically significant. Conclusion: These results imply that the proposed educational intervention might have a positive impact on readmissions;nonetheless, the patient’s characteristics that make him or her capable of readmission cannot be changed and are assessed by the RoR (Risk of Readmission) score. The potential impact of the intervention may be offset, in part, by these baseline risk factors. The study’s power may be limited by sample size, potentially affecting the detection of significant differences. Future studies with larger, multi-center samples and longer follow-up periods are recommended to confirm these findings.
基金This study was supported by Suranaree University of Technology.
文摘Conventionally,the reliability of a web portal is validated with generalized conventional methods,but they fail to provide the desired results.Therefore,we need to include other quality factors that affect reliability such as usability for improving the reliability in addition to the conventional reliability testing.Actually,the primary objectives of web portals are to provide interactive integration of multiple functions confirming diverse requirements in an efficient way.In this paper,we employ testing profiles tomeasure the reliability through software operational profile,input space profile and usability profile along with qualitative measures of reliability and usability.Moreover,the case study used for verification is based on aweb application that facilitates information and knowledge sharing among its online members.The proposed scheme is compared with the conventional reliability improvement method in terms of failure detection and reliability.The final results unveil that the computation of reliability by using the traditional method(utilizing failure points with the assistance of Mean Time Between Failures(MTBF)and Mean Time To Failure(MTTF)becomes ineffective under certain situations.Under such situations,the proposed scheme helps to compute the reliability in an effective way.Moreover,the outcomes of the study provide insight recommendations about the testing and measurement of reliability for Web based software or applications.
基金This work is supported by the National Basic Research Program of China （Grant No. 2010CB951603） and the National Natural Science Foundation of China （Grant No. 41001270）. The authors thank five anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments and suggestions.
文摘Greenhouse gas data collected by different institutions throughout the world have significant scientific values for global climate change studies. Due to the diversity of data formats and different specifications of data access interfaces, most of those data should be first downloaded onto a local machine before they can be used. To overcome this limitation, we present a geospatial web portal for sharing and analyzing greenhouse gas data derived from remote sensing images. As a proof-of-concept, a prototype has also been designed and implemented. The work：flow of the web portal contains four processes： data access, data analysis, results visualiza- tion, and results output. A large volume of greenhouse gas data have been collected, described, and indexed in the portal, and a variety of data analysis services, such as calculating the temporal variation of regionally averaged column CO2 values and analyzing the latitudinal variations of globally averaged column CO2 values, are integrated into this portal. With the integrated geospatial data and services, researchers can collect and analyze greenhouse gas data online, and can preview and download the analysis results directly from the web portal. The geospatial web portal has been implemented as a web application, and we also used a study case to illustrate this framework.
基金This work was supported by the Integrated Assessment Research Program of the US Department of Energy’s Office of ScienceBiological and Environmental Research+1 种基金Department of Energy Office of PolicyNSF ACI-1541215.
文摘The energy-water nexus,or the dependence of energy on water and water on energy,continues to receive attention as impacts on both energy and water supply and demand from growing popula-tions and climate-related stresses are evaluated for future infra-structure planning.Changes in water and energy demand are related to changes in regional temperature,and precipitation extremes can affect water resources available for energy genera-tion for those regional populations.Additionally,the vulnerabilities to the energy and water nexus are beyond the physical infrastruc-tures themselves and extend into supporting and interdependent infrastructures.Evaluation of these vulnerabilities relies on the integration of the disparate and distributed data associated with each of the infrastructures,environments and populations served,and robust analytical methodologies of the data.A capability for the deployment of these methods on relevant data from multiple components on a single platform can provide actionable informa-tion for interested communities,not only for individual energy and water systems,but also for the system of systems that they com-prise.Here,we survey the highest priority data needs and analy-tical methods for inclusion on such a platform.
