Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Breast Cancer On The World Wide Web: Cross Sectional Survey Of Quality Of Information And Popularity Of Websites, Funda Meric, Elmer V Bernstam, Nadeem Q Mirza, Kelly K Hunt, Frederick C Ames, Merrick I Ross, Henry M Kuerer, Raphael E Pollock, Mark A Musen, S Eva Singletary

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

OBJECTIVES: To determine the characteristics of popular breast cancer related websites and whether more popular sites are of higher quality.

DESIGN: The search engine Google was used to generate a list of websites about breast cancer. Google ranks search results by measures of link popularity---the number of links to a site from other sites. The top 200 sites returned in response to the query "breast cancer" were divided into "more popular" and "less popular" subgroups by three different measures of link popularity: Google rank and number of links reported independently by Google and by AltaVista (another search engine).

MAIN OUTCOME …

Prevalence Of Various Upper Extremity Disorders In Patients With Carpal Tunnel Syndrome Versus Patients Without Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, Daniel C. Buda

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

Background and Purpose: Increasingly larger numbers of patients present with repetitive strain injuries of the upper extremities, especially carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS). A large number of these patients appear to have more than one upper extremity condition. The purpose of this study was to determine the probability that a patient diagnosed with carpal tunnel syndrome will also be diagnosed with other upper extremity and/or cervical spine disorders.

Subjects: A group of 188 subjects diagnosed with carpal tunnel syndrome and a group of 203 subjects without carpal tunnel syndrome were selected through a chart review of patients at Loma Linda …

Comparing Bottled Water And Tap Water: Experiments In Risk Communication, Branden B. Johnson

RISK: Health, Safety & Environment (1990-2002)

The author discusses results of experiments in risk communication comparing bottled water and tap water.

Inside Unlv, Diane Russell, Betty Blodgett, Kevin Force, Jennifer Vaughan, Cate Weeks, Jonathan Paver

Inside UNLV

No abstract provided.

Estimating Causal Parameters In Marginal Structural Models With Unmeasured Confounders Using Instrumental Variables, Tanya A. Henneman, Mark Johannes Van Der Laan, Alan E. Hubbard

U.C. Berkeley Division of Biostatistics Working Paper Series

For statisticians analyzing medical data, a significant problem in determining the causal effect of a treatment on a particular outcome of interest, is how to control for unmeasured confounders. Techniques using instrumental variables (IV) have been developed to estimate causal parameters in the presence of unmeasured confounders. In this paper we apply IV methods to both linear and non-linear marginal structural models. We study a specific class of generalized estimating equations that is appropriate to these data, and compare the performance of the resulting estimator to the standard IV method, a two-stage least squares procedure. Our results are applied to …

Santa Clara Magazine, Volume 44 Number 3, Winter 2002, Santa Clara University

Santa Clara Magazine

10 - GLOBALIZATION EMPOWERS GOOD AND EVIL By Rob Elder. Thomas Friedman, Pulitzer Prizewinning author and international affairs columnist for The New York Times, discusses this complex issue during a visit to campus.

14 - ON THE COLLISION OF WORLDS By Fred White. Corny science fiction movies inspire an SCU English professor to ponder deeply cosmic questions.

18 - THE CAMPAIGN FOR SANTA CLARA By Elizabeth Kelley Gillogly '93. SCU launches the largest campaign in its history, with plans for endowed scholarships, a new library, a new building for the Leavey School of Business, and much more.

Filling Preposition-Based Templates To Capture Information From Medical Abstracts, Gondy Leroy, Hsinchun Chen

CGU Faculty Publications and Research

Due to the recent explosion of information in the biomedical field, it is hard for a single researcher to review the complex network involving genes, proteins, and interactions. We are currently building GeneScene, a toolkit that will assist researchers in reviewing existing literature, and report on the first phase in our development effort: extracting the relevant information from medical abstracts. We are developing a medical parser that extracts information, fills basic prepositional-based templates, and combines the templates to capture the underlying sentence logic. We tested our parser on 50 unseen abstracts and found that it extracted 246 templates with a …

Cognitive Rehab Solutions: A Computer-Assisted Cognitive Training Program, Avani Rajnikant Patel

Theses Digitization Project

The purpose of this project is to offer a functionally comprehensive application, Cognitive Rehab Solutions (CRS), that is designed for neuropsychologists to deliver restorative cognitive training in areas of attention and memory of persons with brain impairment.

University Of Texas At Tyler Catalog, 2002-2004, University Of Texas At Tyler

Catalogs

Archives Space instance: https://archivesspace.uttyler.edu/repositories/2/archival_objects/22361

Actiononaias Ligamentina As A Biomonitor In The Green River: An Unique Approach For Analysis Of Environmental Impacts, Robert Kirkland

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Biomonitoring has become an important component in bioassessment programs. It is used to maintain high water quality standards, and determine contaminant levels and biological affects in areas that have been heavily disturbed. The objectives of this research were 1) to improve and apply certain modern biomonitoring techniques and 2) to locate possible contaminant sources affecting the flora and fauna of the Green River and of Mammoth Cave. Actinonaias ligamentina (Lamarck, 1819), a freshwater mussel, was used for interpretation of these impacts as well as refinement of biomonitoring techniques. The mussels were collected in the Lawler Bend region of the Green …

Medtextus: An Ontology-Enhanced Medical Portal, Gondy Leroy, Hsinchun Chen

CGU Faculty Publications and Research

In this paper we describe MedTextus, an online medical search portal with dynamic search and browse tools. To search for information, MedTextus lets users request synonyms and related terms specifically tailored to their query. A mapping algorithm dynamically builds the query context based on the UMLS ontology and then selects thesaurus terms that fit this context. Users can add these terms to their query and meta-search five medical databases. To facilitate browsing, the search results can be reviewed as a list of documents per database, as a set of folders into which all the documents are automatically categorized based on …

Synthesis And Chemistry Of Naphthalene Annulated Trienyl Iron Complexes: Potential Anticancer Dna Alkylation Reagents, Traci Means

Inquiry: The University of Arkansas Undergraduate Research Journal

Iron complex chemistry that opens a new door to the medicinal and pharmaceutical worlds is the aim of this research. Specifically, ortho-quinone methide moieties are intermediates in several antitumor drugs and have been identified as bioreductive alkylators of DNA. In our research, a class of iron compounds has been targeted to resemble these quinone methides. It is hoped that these new compounds could be modified to provide a window of opportunity toward the discovery of a selective mode of drug delivery. We have focused our efforts on generating a reactive transition metal complexed 5-membered ring analog of o-quinone methide based …

Level Set Segmentation Of Mr Images For Extraction Of Femur Bone And Tissues, Christina Shanti Nayagam

Student Works (2000-2009)

This research explores a potentially useful segmentation algorithm, known as the level set method. It is suitable for images obtained from the Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRJ) modality, despite the fact that MR images have low contrast between bone and tissue. The level set method is a numerical technique designed to track the evolution of an interface. The fast marching version of the method is implemented for two-dimensional (2-D) and three-dimensional (3-D) segmentation in this research. Femur segmentation is the main thrust of this thesis, however brain and heart images are also presented. Pre-processing steps are first performed for the 2-0 …

Peer Nutrition Education: A Model For Nutrition Education Among Spanish-Language Participants Of The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program For Women, Infants And Children (Wic), Maximino Alfredo Mejía

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

Despite the steady improvement in the health status of Americans, Hispanics are a minority in the United States with greater prevalence of several infectious and chronic diseases and less health knowledge than the average citizen. Nearly half of the Hispanics living in this country die of preventable nutrition-related conditions, with heart disease and cancer being the leading causes. Since this minority has limited access to health care and preventive services, there is a need for an inexpensive, viable model of health education for this underserved segment of the population in order to lower the excess of preventable diseases. We trained …

The Role Of Diet And Physical Activity For Ovarian Cancer Results From The Adventist Health Study, Fatemeh Kiani

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

A few aspects of the epidemiology of ovarian cancer are well understood, such as the inverse relationship with parity and oral contraceptive (OC) use. The role of other factors such as the potential influence of diet or physical activity is far from being established. A few studies, however, have been able to identify dietary risk factors for ovarian cancer. In this dissertation, I have conducted two studies that investigate the relationship between dietary factors and physical activity and the three endpoints: 1) nonfatal ovarian cancer (1976-1982; time to diagnosis), 2) fatal ovarian cancer (1976-1988; time to death), and 3) total …

The Feasibility Of Using Propositional Analysis As A Method For Understanding Differences Between Physicians And Nurses Reading Emrs, Constance M. Johnson, Todd Johnson, Vimla L. Patel, James P. Turley

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

No abstract provided.

Automated Medical Algorithms: Issues For Medical Errors, Kathy A. Johnson, John R. Svirbely, Mg Sriram, Jack W. Smith, Gareth Kantor, Jorge R. Rodriquez

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

No abstract provided.

Designing Human-Centered Distributed Information Systems, Jiagie Zhang, Vimla L. Patel, Kathy A. Johnson, Jane Malin, Jack W. Smith

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Many computer systems are designed according to engineering and technology principles and are typically difficult to learn and use. The fields of human-computer interaction, interface design, and human factors have made significant contributions to ease of use and are primarily concerned with the interfaces between systems and users, not with the structures that are often more fundamental for designing truly human-centered systems. The emerging paradigm of human-centered computing (HCC)-which has taken many forms-offers a new look at system design. HCC requires more than merely designing an artificial agent to supplement a human agent. The dynamic interactions in a distributed system …

Controlled Software Evaluation Methodology: Case Simulation And Cognitive User Analysis, Kirt Walker, Sridhar Rajappan, Todd R. Johnson

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Software for use with patient records is challenging to design and difficult to evaluate because of the tremendous variability of patient circumstances. A method was devised by the authors to overcome a number of difficulties. The method evaluates and compares objectively various software products for use in emergency departments and compares software to conventional methods like dictation and templated chart forms. The technique utilizes oral case simulation and video recording for analysis. The methodology and experiences of executing a study using this case simulation are discussed in this presentation.

Medical Error: Is The Solution Medical Or Cognitive?, Jiajie Zhang, Vimla L. Patel, Todd R. Johnson

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Is the solution for medical errors medical or cognitive? In this AMIA2001 panel on medical error, we argued that medical error is primarily an issue for cognitive science and engineering, not for medicine, although the knowledge of the practice of medicine is essential for the research and prevention of medical errors. The three panelists presented studies that demonstrate that cognitive research is the foundation for theories of medical errors and interventions of error reductions.

Redesign And Prototype For The Interface Of A Volumetric Infusion Pump Following The Usability Engineering Lifecycle, Juliana Brixey, John Frenzel, Michael Chalambaga, Todd R. Johnson

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

No abstract provided.

Evaluating A Medical Error Taxonomy, Juliana Brixey, Todd R. Johnson, Jiajie Zhang

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Healthcare has been slow in using human factors principles to reduce medical errors. The Center for Devices and Radiological Health (CDRH) recognizes that a lack of attention to human factors during product development may lead to errors that have the potential for patient injury, or even death. In response to the need for reducing medication errors, the National Coordinating Council for Medication Errors Reporting and Prevention (NCC MERP) released the NCC MERP taxonomy that provides a standard language for reporting medication errors. This project maps the NCC MERP taxonomy of medication error to MedWatch medical errors involving infusion pumps. Of …

Development Of Dose Conversion Coefficients For Radionuclides Produced In Spallation Neutron Sources, Phillip W. Patton, Mark Rudin

Transmutation Sciences Physics (TRP)

For the first year of this effort, the UNLV research team set out four objectives. First, the university and laboratory consortium had to be established. This consortium was tasked with helping to determine the methodology for determining the dose coefficients, and to ensure that the resulting DCs will be of use to the national programs developing accelerator-driven nuclear systems (such as the SNS or an accelerator-driven transmutation system) and to the health physics community as a whole. The second goal of this program was to determine a methodology and then prioritize the radionuclides so that the research effort would address …

Development Of Dose Coefficients For Radionulides Produced In Spallation Neutron Sources: Annual Report, Phillip W. Patton, Mark Rudin

Transmutation Sciences Physics (TRP)

The University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) Transmutation Research Program has been tasked to support U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) efforts to assess the health risks associated with the operation of each of their accelerator-driven nuclear facilities for both NEPA and PSAR development. Quantifying the radiological risks to workers will have to be addressed during the design and siting of each of these facilities. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Federal Guidance Report No. 11 “Limiting Values of Intake and Air Concentration and Dose Conversion Factors for Inhalation, Submersion, and Ingestion”, developed two derived guides, Annual Limit on Intake (ALI) and …

A History Of Health Informatics In The Texas Medical Center, Kirt Walker, Deepak Sagaram, James P. Turley

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

No abstract provided.

Prognostic Model For Terminally Ill Cancer Patients On Laboratory Data, Kenji Hira, Noriaki Aoki, Akitoshi Hayashi, Janez Demsar, Blaz Zupan, Kim Dunn, William Jack Schull, Tsuguya Fukui

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

No abstract provided.

Evaluating The Prevalence, Content And Readability Of Complementary And Alternative Medicine (Cam) Web Pages On The Internet, Smitha Sagaram, Muhammad Walji, Elmer Bernstam

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) use is growing rapidly. As CAM is relatively unregulated, it is important to evaluate the type and availability of CAM information. The goal of this study is to deter-mine the prevalence, content and readability of online CAM information based on searches for arthritis, diabetes and fibromyalgia using four common search engines. Fifty-eight of 599 web pages retrieved by a "condition search" (9.6%) were CAM-oriented. Of 216 CAM pages found by the "condition" and "condition + herbs" searches, 78% were authored by commercial organizations, whose pur-pose involved commerce 69% of the time and 52.3% had no …

Internet Usage Among Medical Doctors In Malaysia, Surendran Jaganathan

Student Works (2000-2009)

In Malaysia, there were 20,000 Internet subscribers in 1996, 1.5 Million in 2000 and it is predicted to reach 4.5 Million in 2004. Malaysia is experiencing an explosive growth of Internet users. There is also a growing importance of "e -health businesses" as shown in the existing 20,000 healthcare sites currently online with an additional 1,500 sites being added every month. This translates to increasing healthcare site users for instance in America alone, out of 11 o million Internet users, 70 million searched the Web for health information. For healthcare consumers worldwide, the Internet has now become a tool for …

Focusing Feedback On Interpersonal Skills: Practice Makes Perfect A Web-Based Tutorial For Standardized Patients, Tamara Owens, Zhong Xie, Peggy Gregg, Cynthia Phelps, Craig W. Johnson

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Focusing Feedback on Interpersonal Skills: Practice Makes Perfect is a Web-Based learning environment enabling standardized patients (SPs) to develop, practice and enhance constructive feedback skills. The Web-based training environment for SPs features realistic professional healthcare provider/patient video scenarios, graphics, audio and immediate feedback in a student-centered self-instructional environment. SPs, who are trained to simulate an illness and portray a patient in a realistic and consistent way, subsequently provide feedback from a patient's perspective to students undergoing communication and interpersonal skills training in health science fields like medicine and nursing.

Toward A Cognitive Taxonomy Of Medical Errors, Jiajie Zhang, Vimla L Patel, Todd R Johnson, Edward H Shortliffe

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

One critical step in addressing and resolving the problems associated with human errors is the development of a cognitive taxonomy of such errors. In the case of errors, such a taxonomy may be developed (1) to categorize all types of errors along cognitive dimensions, (2) to associate each type of error with a specific underlying cognitive mechanism, (3) to explain why, and even predict when and where, a specific error will occur, and (4) to generate intervention strategies for each type of error. Based on Reason's (1992) definition of human errors and Norman's (1986) cognitive theory of human action, we …