Aim: To estimate the percentage of breastfeeding mothers with home access to e‐technologies and to compare breastfeeding outcomes for mothers with and without access to e‐technologies.
Methods: We ...conducted a prospective observational study of 550 breastfeeding mothers discharged from nine maternity units in France.
Results: Overall, 435 mothers (79%; 95% confidence interval 95% CI, 75–82) had home access to e‐technologies. Mothers with access to e‐technologies were less likely to be unemployed (6% vs. 15%, p = 0.004), to smoke during pregnancy (8% vs. 16%, p = 0.03), to have a breastfeeding assessment score <8 (39% vs. 59%, p < 0.001) and to use a pacifier (23% vs. 41%, p < 0.001). Although mothers with access to e‐technologies had a longer median breastfeeding duration than those without home access to e‐technologies (19 vs. 16 weeks, p = 0.02), adjusted hazard ratios for breastfeeding discontinuation (0.85; 95% CI, 0.60–1.21), overall satisfaction rates (73% vs. 67%, p = 0.19) and breastfeeding difficulties after discharge (58% vs. 61%, p = 0.60) were not different for the two groups.
Conclusion: A vast majority of breastfeeding mothers have home access to e‐technologies in France. However, access to e‐technologies was not independently associated with better breastfeeding outcomes in this study.
This article reports on our pilot evaluation of an electronic patient information system for children with amblyopia and their parents. The aim was to investigate whether the information system would ...be able to improve the quality of care, as indicated by an improvement in the effectiveness and efficiency of care, and in an increase in patient satisfaction. In the pilot evaluation, we used qualitative research methods, exploring the impact of the information system on children and their parents, with the aim to find suitable indicators for a potential further, quantitative study. Yet we found that the system was little used and had marginal effects on the quality of care for children with amblyopia and their parents. It appeared that the main problem underlying this patient information system was that the needs of those people who actually would be using the system had never really been investigated. The designers had built their assumptions about these needs into the system. These appeared to be mistaken at so many levels that the system could not become a success. As a result of this pilot evaluation, the patient information project was thoroughly transformed. This study makes clear that a thorough exploration of user needs before building the system, using qualitative research methods, may be crucial because it can prevent mismatches and maximizes the chance that the eventual information system meets its most important aim: to enhance patient empowerment and improve the quality of care.
The ex situ conservation of cacao genetic resources is in the form of field genebanks. Misidentified trees though, represent a serious problem to (i) curators, who need to capture genetic diversity, ...and (ii) users of germplasm material, who must be certain of the identities of the accessions for proper evaluation of their results. The presence of mislabelled trees was assessed from data compiled in the International Cocoa Germplasm Database (ICGD) 2000 v4.1CD-ROM, which contains the published records of cacao accessions in global holdings. Circumstantial evidence revealed that many germplasm collections, especially those in Brazil (CEPEC), Colombia (ICA), Costa Rica (CATIE), Côte d'Ivoire, Mexico, Malaysia, Togo, Trinidad (ICG,T) and Venezuela (EEC) probably possessed misidentified material. The severity of the problem ranged from 15–44 % and is suggested as an area for immediate resolution. Based upon the morphological data provided by the ICGD CD-ROM, several accessions were highly suspect, including 'EET 19 ECU', 'EET 48 ECU', 'EET 162 ECU', 'ICS 1', 'ICS 6', 'ICS 43', 'ICS 89', 'ICS 100', 'IMC 67', 'PA 121 PER', 'POUND 7 POU', 'SCA 6', 'SPA 9 COL', 'UF 29', 'UF 613' and 'UF 667'. However, the identification of mislabelled trees should depend ultimately on molecular analysis. Hence, the use of voucher specimens for verification is forwarded and the concept of a public domain database for microsatellite analyses of germplasm holdings is raised.
The goal of the Casimage project is to offer an authoring and editing environment integrated with the Picture Archiving and Communication Systems (PACS) for creating image-based electronic teaching ...files. This software is based on a client/server architecture allowing remote access of users to a central database. This authoring environment allows radiologists to create reference databases and collection of digital images for teaching and research directly from clinical cases being reviewed on PACS diagnostic workstations. The environment includes all tools to create teaching files, including textual description, annotations, and image manipulation. The software also allows users to generate stand-alone CD-ROMs and web-based teaching files to easily share their collections. The system includes a web server compatible with the Medical Imaging Resource Center standard (MIRC, http://mirc.rsna.org) to easily integrate collections in the RSNA web network dedicated to teaching files. This software could be installed on any PACS workstation to allow users to add new cases at any time and anywhere during clinical operations. Several images collections were created with this tool, including thoracic imaging that was subsequently made available on a CD-Rom and on our web site and through the MIRC network for public access.
This study explored graduate counseling student behaviors requiring remediation. The results indicated 51.1% of participants perceived behaviors initially surface in entry-level skill courses. The ...top five student behaviors ranked by participants as needing remediation were (1) receptivity to feedback; (2) basic counseling skills; (3) boundaries with clients, supervisors, and/or colleagues; (4) openness to self-examination; and (5) advanced counseling skills. A factor analysis identified five factors based on the 34 student behaviors which can be remediated, accounting for 69.19% of the variance. PUBLICATION ABSTRACT
Research indicates that low fruit and vegetable intake is a risk factor for many chronic diseases. Despite large-scale education campaigns, the great majority of Americans do not consume recommended ...levels. We tested the ability of a single brief interactive experience of the Little by Little CD-ROM to increase fruit and vegetable intake in low-income women.
A randomized placebo-controlled, parallel-group trial included 481 low-income, female participants: mean age 50.1 years, 48.4% African American, 51.6% non-Hispanic white, and 92.5% below 185% of the federally designated poverty level. Participants received one of three conditions: 1) a one-time experience with the Little by Little CD-ROM, 2) the Little by Little CD-ROM plus two reminder telephone calls, or 3) a stress management CD-ROM (control condition). We assessed baseline and follow-up dietary intake with a modified 24-hour recall.
Two months after the one-time experience with the CD-ROMs, both intervention groups reported significantly higher intakes of fruits and vegetables than the control group. The Little by Little group with reminder calls increased daily intake by 1.32 fruits/vegetables, an 86% greater increase than the control group (P = .016). The Little by Little group without reminder calls increased daily intake by 1.20 fruits/vegetables, a 69% greater increase than the control group (P = .052). Significantly greater movement in Stage of Readiness for Change also occurred in the Little by Little groups compared with the control group.
The Little by Little CD-ROM may be useful in public health and clinical situations to increase fruit and vegetable intake.
Review comparing two new editions of Domesday Book on CD-ROM: Alecto Historical Editions' "Digital Domesday Book" and Phillimore's "Domesday Explorer". It considers their performance regarding ...finding people and places, searching and retrieving information, and mapping. It finds that the Alecto product is really a machine readable text whereas Phillimore's is a genuine database. A major weakness of both is that Geographical Information System software was not used in their making. (Quotes from original text)
PDF
