Computer Experience Research Articles

Attitude of Staff Nurses Toward Hospital Information System in Nursing Practice at a Selected Tertiary Hospital in Malolos, Bulacan, Philippines

Purpose – It is evident that the nursing profession is being impacted by the rising usage of computer technology in the healthcare settings. This study aimed to identify the attitude of staff nurses toward Hospital Information System in nursing practice in a selected hospital in Malolos, Bulacan. Method – This research utilized a descriptive-correlational design and 50 staff nurses responded using total population sampling method. The attitude of staff nurses toward computers in healthcare was measured using the P.A.T.C.H. (Pretest for Attitudes Toward Computers in Healthcare) Assessment Scale v. 3. Spearman correlation test was used to determine the relationship between the variables. Results – This study confirmed that there was a significant relationship (Rs = 0.280, p = 0.040) between the educational attainment of staff nurses and their attitude toward computer applications in nursing practice. As educational attainment increased, so did the positive attitude toward using computer applications in nursing practice. However, there was no significant relationship between Gender (Rs = -0.015, p = 0.913), Age (Rs = -0.083, p = 0.549), Marital Status (Rs = 0.042, p = 0.761), and Computer Experience (Rs = 0.196, p = 0.156) of the staff nurses and their attitude toward computer application in nursing practice at 0.05 level of significance. Conclusion – These findings underscored the importance of educational background in shaping nurses’ attitudes and their preparedness to adopt computer technologies in their practice. Recommendations – This suggested a need for more significant investment in educational programs that focus on computer literacy and technology integration in nursing practice. Research Implications – To gain a more comprehensive understanding, further research could investigate additional factors that may influence attitudes toward computer applications in nursing practice.

Attitude of undergraduate students towards E-learning

One of the unique contributions of technology in the field of Education is E-learning. The easy accessibility, flexible learning environment, and cost-effectiveness have made e-learning popular among students. Despite its many benefits, several problems have been faced by students, such as a lack of technical knowledge, computer experience, and internet resources, which may decrease their interest in accessing e-learning. In this study, an attempt has been made to examine the attitude of undergraduate students towards e-learning in relation to gender and academic streams. For this, 120 samples were selected from two different colleges using stratified purposive sampling. The Attitude towards e-learning scale developed by Dimpal Rani (2015) was adopted to collect data from the samples. Although the results of descriptive analysis revealed a diverse range of attitudes towards e-learning, the maximum number of students (30%) had a highly unfavorable attitude. The results of the variation analysis explained that there was no significant difference between boys and girls towards e-learning. It was also found that there was no significant difference among the attitudes of Arts, Commerce, and Science students towards e-learning.

Relationship between exam anxiety, computer experience, and obstacles for nursing students who had undertaken electronic exams

Relationship between exam anxiety, computer experience, and obstacles for nursing students who had undertaken electronic exams

Baseline evaluation of nursing students' informatics competency for digital health practice: A descriptive exploratory study.

The healthcare system is increasingly technology-dependent and proficiency in informatics skills is essential for health professionals to efficiently operate in the contemporary clinical environment. Nurses are major users of digital health technologies and graduates need to be well-prepared and confident to use the different available clinical systems competently as they transition from education to practice. To explore undergraduate nursing students' self-perceptions of informatics competence, set within a larger research project. Descriptive, exploratory cross-sectional research design, with online self-assessment survey of undergraduate nursing students (n = 142). Data were analysed with descriptive, correlation and comparative statistics. Participants' perceived overall mean informatics competency was at the level of somewhat competent, with only 40.84% (n = 58) at the level of competent. The highest mean value was in foundational information and communication skills and the lowest in information and knowledge management. Formal informatics education within curriculum was limited and lacked uniformity, as was prior exposure to important simulated informatics tools in preparation for practice. Factors including academic year level, computer experience and previous experience using clinical systems had a significant impact on participants' perceived informatics competency. Even though informatics competence is vital for clinical practice, with technology becoming pervasive within healthcare, nursing students' preparedness for digital health was sub-optimal. There were gaps in students' critical informatics practice knowledge with implications for work readiness of future graduates and nurse education practice.

Challenges and Limitations in Speech Recognition Technology: A Critical Review of Speech Signal Processing Algorithms, Tools and Systems

Speech recognition systems have become a unique human-computer interaction (HCI) family. Speech is one of the most naturally developed human abilities; speech signal processing opens up a transparent and hand-free computation experience. This paper aims to present a retrospective yet modern approach to the world of speech recognition systems. The development journey of ASR (Automatic Speech Recognition) has seen quite a few milestones and breakthrough technologies that have been highlighted in this paper. A step-by-step rundown of the fundamental stages in developing speech recognition systems has been presented, along with a brief discussion of various modern-day developments and applications in this domain. This review paper aims to summarize and provide a beginning point for those starting in the vast field of speech signal processing. Since speech recognition has a vast potential in various industries like telecommunication, emotion recognition, healthcare, etc., this review would be helpful to researchers who aim at exploring more applications that society can quickly adopt in future years of evolution.

Digital technology utilization and its associated factors among health science students at Mettu University, Southwest Ethiopia: A cross-sectional study

BackgroundThe demand of technology in higher education institution is increasing. Digital technology is critical for students’ academic performance improvement. However, digital technology adoption rate and utilization in resource-limited settings is low. Therefore, this study aimed to determine digital technology utilization and identify its associated factors among health science students at Mettu University. MethodsA cross-sectional study design, and a pretested self-administrated questionnaire was used. Epi Data version 24, and STAT version 25 software was used for data entry, and analysis respectively. A forward stepwise logistic regression analysis model was used to measure the association of independent variables with the dependent variables. Variance inflation and Pearson's chi-square test were used to assess the independent relationship between variables. A p-value of less than 0.2 and 0.05 were considered significant in stepwise forward bivariate and multivariate logistic regressions with a 95% confidence level, respectively. ResultsA total of 68% of students had good digital technology utilization. Secondary or higher education status of parents (AOR = 2.25; 95% CI: 1.25, 6.10), adequate internet access (AOR: 3.75; 95% CI: 1.66, 6.93), good knowledge (AOR = 3.45; 95% CI: 2.20, 8.93), favorable attitudes (AOR = 5.28; 95% CI: 3.03, 12.51), and previous computer experience (AOR = 4.15; 95% CI: 3.47, 10.88) were statistically significant factors for students’ digital technology utilization. ConclusionsStudents had good digital technology utilization. Regardless, ensuring adequate internet accessibility, enhancing students’ attitude towards digital technology and their digital technology competency are recommended interventions for better digital technology utilization and adoption.

Examining the determinants of the intention of using E-learning among university students in China During COVID-19

The main objective of the study is to examine the intention of using E-learning among university students in China. The factors such as computer experience, personal innovativeness, computer self-efficacy, and performance expectations on the impact on the intention of using e-learning during COVID-19. PLS-SEM approach is used for analyzing the research models of complex nature, where there are numerous observed and unobserved variables in the model the response rate came out 77%, which is considered more than sufficient for further analysis. An empirical study based on e-learning was conducted in a developing country. It was found by the researcher that e-learning acceptance among the users is significantly influenced by CSE. The experience of using a computer has been regarded by previous studies as a strong determinant of attitudes toward using computers. E-learning systems are used by individuals when it is perceived that it will improve their effectiveness and productivity in learning education during COVID-19. Their intentions to use e-learning systems are influenced by these beliefs. As the high rate of attrition has become a key issue in e-learning, the main concern related to online teaching and learning is motivation. Their relationship results in improved use of the e-learning system. A computer self-efficacy construct was adapted in a study based on a specific implementation of e-learning. Computer self-efficacy was defined as the level with which people feel confidence in their skills for using online technology of learning and achievement of course-related tasks. The study has highlighted an important issue related to personal innovativeness, computer experience, and personal self-efficacy among students in China during COVID-19.
 

Exploratory Study on Kali NetHunter Lite: A Digital Forensics Approach

Mobile devices, specifically smartphones, have become a necessity in everyday life, as we perform many essential day-to-day tasks using these devices. With the projected increase in mobile devices to 18.22 billion by 2025, the reliance on smartphones will only grow. This demand for smartphones has allowed various companies to start developing their own devices and custom operating systems, each of which puts its own touch on them. In addition, current smartphones have increased processing power, providing users with a computer experience in their pockets. Software developers have taken this opportunity to bridge the gap between personal computers and smartphones by creating the same software for personal computers and mobile devices. Kali Linux is one of the most popular penetration testing tools for desktop use and has been adapted to operate on mobile devices under the name Kali NetHunter. Kali NetHunter has three different versions on mobile platforms that provide various levels of capabilities. Kali NetHunter is just one example in which an application or an operating system applies to a specific niche of users. Highly customized operating systems or applications do not receive the same attention as field research, leaving them unfamiliar to mobile forensic investigators when used maliciously. In this paper, we conducted an exploratory study on the Kali NetHunter Lite application after it was installed and its embedded tools were utilized. Our results show a detailed analysis of the file system and reveal the data from the tests carried out during various phases. Furthermore, the locations of the folders involved in the process were described.

Age Acceleration is Associated with Reduced Cognitive Function in Older Men: Results from the Normative Aging Study

BACKGROUND AND AIM: DNA methylation (DNAm) has been used to quantify the biological effects of external factors on aging processes. This study examined the association between age acceleration and cognitive function in older men using DNAm-based clocks. METHODS: We evaluated the associations of age acceleration on cognitive function among participants in the Normative Aging Study (NAS). We tested GrimAgeAccel (a biomarker linked with mortality), PhenoAgeAccel (capturing risks for diverse outcomes), Intrinsic (IEAA), and Extrinsic (EEAA) Age Acceleration, and the DNAm-related mortality risk score (DNAmRS). DNAm was determined using Illumina 450K arrays. We modeled six cognitive tests (Mini-Mental State Examination [global function], Word List Memory Task [recent memory], Digit Span Backwards [executive function], Verbal Fluency Test [language], Sum of Drawings [visuospatial ability], and Pattern Comparison Task [visuospatial function]) in linear mixed models adjusted for chronological age, alcohol, smoking status, fish consumption, physical activity, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, English as the first language, computer experience, education, body mass index, and methylation technical covariates. RESULTS: We evaluated 549 men (mean age: 74.3 years, standard deviation: 6.5 years), mostly white (91.23%). GrimAgeAccel showed significant negative associations with global cognition (β = -0.029, 95% Confidence Interval [95%CI] -0.043, -0.015, p-value < 0.001) and visospatial ability (β = -0.018, 95% CI -0.033, -0.003, p-value = 0.019). PhenoAgeAccel was negatively associated with executive function (β = -0.009, 95% CI -0.017, -0.001, p-value = 0.041) and visuospatial ability (β = -0.019, 95% CI -0.029, -0.008, p-value < 0.001). DNAmRS was negatively associated with recent memory and executive function. IEAA and EEAA did not show consistent results. CONCLUSIONS: Selected age acceleration biomarkers were associated with accelerated cognitive decline in older men. DNAm-based biological clocks may help identify individuals at higher risk for age-related cognitive decline. KEYWORDS: Aging, age acceleration, cognitive function, age-related, DNA methylation.

A STUDY FOR GRADING PERSONNEL SELECTION CRITERIA WITH AHP METHOD OF GROUP A TRAVEL AGENCIES: CASE OF NIGDE PROVINCE

It is an undeniable fact that the attitudes of the personnel, which are important for the activities of travel agencies, in the recognition of the agency and in increasing its quality. Therefore, the evaluation criteria of these people are as important as the quality and success of the personnel working in the travel agency. In this study, it is aimed to determine which criteria are important in personnel selection of Group A travel agencies in the Niğde province. For this reason, with the criteria established for personnel selection, a questionnaire was created for Analytic Hierarchy Process, one of the multi criteria decision making method, in order to consult the ideas and opinions of the managers of Group A travel agencies in Niğde province, and data were obtained. In the study, “Educational Background, Computer Experience, Experience, Reference, Being Reliable, Physical Characteristics of the Person, Foreign Language Knowledge and Communication Knowledge” was determined as the personnel selection criteria for agency managers. Keywords: Group A Travel Agencies, Personnel Selection, Analytical Hierarchy Process, Nigde Province

Distributed Offloading for Cooperative Intelligent Transportation Under Heterogeneous Networks

With the rapid advancement of the Internet of Vehicles and artificial intelligence (AI) technologies, the cooperative intelligent transportation system (C-ITS) has drawn great attention in recent years. To provide an ultra-reliable, low-latency computation experience of C-ITS, computation offloading is deemed indispensable by working with edge-cloud servers. In this paper, we first investigate a distributed dynamic computation offloading model for multi-access edge computing (MEC) enabled C-ITS under a heterogeneous road network, in which the multiple and heterogeneous computing power sources cooperatively provide computation offloading services for vehicles. Considering the autonomous offloading manner of the vehicles, we formulate the task offloading and computing power allocation as a distributed Stackelberg game, where the MEC servers as the leader to allocate computing resources and manage local energy, and the vehicles as the followers to offload local computation task. Since the observable states in the game is incomplete, the problem of resolving the optimal strategies for each game player is modeled as a partially observable Markov decision process (POMDP) to maximize the long-term cumulative reward. Then we develop a computation offloading algorithm using Stackelberg game-based multi-agent deep deterministic policy gradient (SG-MADDPG), which uses a centralized training and decentralized execution method to learn the optimal computing power allocation and computation offloading policies. Finally, extensive simulations are carried out and show the rationality and effectiveness of the proposed algorithm.

Assessing Freshmen Undergraduate Students’ Comprehension of Library Vocabularies in Library Orientation Sessions

Abstract This paper evaluates freshmen undergraduate students’ comprehension of library vocabularies used by librarians in library orientation sessions. For the assessment, a questionnaire survey was conducted among a group of 1456 freshmen students during library orientations at a premier public university in Bangladesh. In addition to students’ socio-demographic and personal information, the survey included 15-multiple choice questions on the definition of library terminologies. For each definition, the correct answer was given a score of “1” whereas the wrong or unsure response was assigned a score of “0.” Statistical procedures, t-test and ANOVA, were run to test the equality of means between student groups. A Generalised Estimating Equation (GEE) model was applied to determine the effect of socio-demographic and personal variables on students’ category-specific scores. The findings indicate that more than half of the terms were either incorrectly defined or not known to students. There were significant differences in freshmen’s total and category-specific scores based on gender, age, previous residence, discipline enrolled, computer and library experience and in terms of their previous exposure to library instructions. The GEE model showed that category-specific scores were significantly associated with term types and prior computer and library experience.

The Effects of Cognitive Apprenticeship and Co-Regulated Learning on Improving Student Computer Problem-Solving Skills and Learning Motivation

This study makes use of online teaching in this environment and adopts it for use in a required computer skills course with Cognitive apprenticeship (CA) and Co-regulated learning (CRL) teaching methods to improve students’ computer skills, learning motivation, and experience of online learning. The subjects of this study are first-year students of a non-information-related department at a private university in northern Taiwan. A total of four classes comprising 111 students participated in the research. The CRL and CA group (C1, n=24) concurrently received CRL and CA treatments; the non-CRL and CA group (C2, n=25) received only the CA teaching method, and the CRL and non-CA group (C3, n=40) only the teaching method of CRL. The non-CRL and non-CA group (C4, n=22) served as the control group. The results show that the use of CA can significantly improve students’ computer skills; however, the expected effects of CRL were not found in this study.

Continual Learning Electrical Conduction in Resistive‐Switching‐Memory Materials

AbstractThe authors apply the concept of continual learning to modeling conductive‐filament growth in resistive‐switching materials (RSM). The approach permits computation of compliance current without knowing the geometries of conductive filaments and switching behaviors. This avoids the need to retrain the entire dataset when additional compliance currents are considered and is thus ideal for resistive switching (RS) thin films, doped layers, and other material systems. Computation of compliance current is consistent with experimental data for a wide range of parameters and learning tasks and demonstrates switching behavior not captured by traditional models. Lesion calculations elucidate the brain‐inspired‐modification‐facilitated increase in compliance‐current‐computation‐accuracy. A state‐of‐the‐art performance on challenging compliance‐current learning tasks without storing data is achieved (“brain inspired replay (BIR) – gating based on internal context (Gat)” method, ≈89%; above a benchmark of ≈50% for synaptic‐intelligence (SI)/elastic‐weight‐consolidation (EWC) methods), and it provides a novel model for computing compliance current based on replay of the brain. This intuitive approach combined with a simple solver tool, allows researchers with little computation experience to perform realistic and accurate modeling.

Smith and Smitherson’s Theatre of the Absurd

Smith and Smitherson’s Theatre of the Absurd

Effectiveness and Usability of a Novel Kinect-Based Tailored Interactive Fall Intervention System for Fall Prevention in Older People: A Preliminary Study

Falls are prevalent among older people and can lead to serious health problems. We newly developed a novel Kinect-based tailored interactive fall intervention system, which seamlessly integrates multifactorial fall risk assessment and tailored intervention programs to prevent falls in older people. This preliminary study aimed to examine the effectiveness and usability of this developed system for fall prevention in older people. Thirty community-dwelling older women participated in this experiment; they were allocated to an intervention group (IG) or a control group (CG) for a quasi-randomized trial (15 people each). Participants in IG followed an 8-week tailored intervention (40 min/session × 2 sessions/week × 8 weeks) using the Kinect-based interactive fall intervention system, while participants in CG maintained their habitual activities. Various outcome measures were evaluated at baseline (Week 0), interim (Week 4), and post-intervention (Week 8). Experimental results showed that IG led to significant improvements in TUG-Timed Up and Go (p = 0.010), BBS-Berg Balance Scale (p = 0.011), and Montreal Cognitive Assessment-MoCA (p = 0.022) between baseline and post-intervention. In comparison to the baseline, TUG and BBS were even significantly improved at interim (p = 0.004 and 0.047, respectively). There were no significant changes in static balance-related performance outcomes and the Short Falls Efficacy Scale-SFES after the intervention. Whereas in CG, most performance measures did not show significant changes during the 8-week period, TUG completion time became significantly longer at post-intervention in comparison to interim (p = 0.028) and fear of falling was also significantly higher at post-intervention than baseline (p = 0.021). These findings suggest that the Kinect-based 8-week tailored interactive fall interventions effectively improved older people's physical and cognitive abilities. Regarding the usability of the developed system, the average System Usability Scale (SUS) score was 83.5 out of 100, indicating excellent system usability. The overall mean Computer Literacy Scale (CLS) score was 2.5 out of 26, showing that older participants in this study had very limited experience with computers. No significant correlation between SUS and CLS scores demonstrated that newly developed Kinect-based tailored interactive fall intervention system was easy to use for older people, regardless of their computer experience. This novel system should help health professionals and older people proactively manage the risk of falls.

Guidelines for evaluating wearables’ quality of experience in a mulsemedia context

Quality of Experience (QoE) is inextricably linked to the user experience of multimedia computing and, although QoE has been explored in relation to other types of multimedia devices, thus far its applicability to wearables has remained largely ignored. Given the proliferation of wearable devices and their growing use to augment and complement the multimedia user experience, the need for a set of QoE guidelines becomes imperative. This study meets that need and puts forward a set of guidelines tailored exclusively towards wearables’ QoE. Accordingly, an extensive experimental investigation has been undertaken to see how wearables impact users’ QoE in multiple sensorial media (mulsemedia) context. Based on the exploratory study, the findings have shown that the haptic vest (KOR-FX) enhanced user QoE to a certain extent. In terms of adoption, participants reported they would generally incorporate the heart rate (HR) monitor wristband (Mio Go) into their daily lives as opposed to the haptic vest. Other findings revealed that human factors play a part in user’s attitudes towards wearables and predominantly age was the major influencing factor. Moreover, the participants’ HR varied throughout the experiments, suggesting an enhanced level of engagement whilst viewing the multimedia video clips. Furthermore, the results suggest that there is a potential future for wearables, if the QoE is a positive one and if the design of such devices are appealing as well as unobtrusive.

Development and validation of students’ digital competence scale (SDiCoS)

Towards the transition to blended and remote education, evaluating the levels of students’ digital competence and designing educational programs to advance them is of paramount importance. Existing validated digital competence scales usually ignore either important digital skills needed or new socio-technological innovations. This study proposes and validates a comprehensive digital competence scale for students in higher education. The suggested instrument includes skills of online learning and collaboration, social media, smart and mobile devices, safety, and data protection. The scale was evaluated on a sample of 156 undergraduate and postgraduate students just before and at the beginning of the COVID-19 crisis. The final scale is composed of 28 items and six digital competence components. The evaluation study revealed valid results in terms of model fit criteria, factor loadings, internal validity, and reliability. Individual factors like the students’ field of study, computer experience and age revealed significant associations to the scale components, while gender revealed no significant differences. The suggested scale can be useful to the design of new actions and policies towards remote education and the digital skills’ development of adult learners.

Factors Predicting Engagement of Older Adults With a Coach-Supported eHealth Intervention Promoting Lifestyle Change and Associations Between Engagement and Changes in Cardiovascular and Dementia Risk: Secondary Analysis of an 18-Month Multinational Randomized Controlled Trial.

BackgroundDigital health interventions could help to prevent age-related diseases, but little is known about how older adults engage with such interventions, especially in the long term, or whether engagement is associated with changes in clinical, behavioral, or biological outcomes in this population. Disparities in engagement levels with digital health interventions may exist among older people and be associated with health inequalities.ObjectiveThis study aimed to describe older adults’ engagement with an eHealth intervention, identify factors associated with engagement, and examine associations between engagement and changes in cardiovascular and dementia risk factors (blood pressure, cholesterol, BMI, physical activity, diet, and cardiovascular and dementia risk scores).MethodsThis was a secondary analysis of the 18-month randomized controlled Healthy Ageing Through Internet Counselling in the Elderly trial of a tailored internet-based intervention encouraging behavior changes, with remote support from a lifestyle coach, to reduce cardiovascular and cognitive decline risk in 2724 individuals aged ≥65 years, recruited offline in the Netherlands, Finland, and France. Engagement was assessed via log-in frequency, number of lifestyle goals set, measurements entered and messages sent to coaches, and percentage of education materials read. Clinical and biological data were collected during in-person visits at baseline and 18 months. Lifestyle data were self-reported on a web-based platform.ResultsOf the 1389 intervention group participants, 1194 (85.96%) sent at least one message. They logged in a median of 29 times, and set a median of 1 goal. Higher engagement was associated with significantly greater improvement in biological and behavioral risk factors, with evidence of a dose-response effect. Compared with the control group, the adjusted mean difference (95% CI) in 18-month change in the primary outcome, a composite z-score comprising blood pressure, BMI, and cholesterol, was −0.08 (−0.12 to −0.03), −0.04 (−0.08 to 0.00), and 0.00 (−0.08 to 0.08) in the high, moderate, and low engagement groups, respectively. Low engagers showed no improvement in any outcome measures compared with the control group. Participants not using a computer regularly before the study engaged much less with the intervention than those using a computer up to 7 (adjusted odds ratio 5.39, 95% CI 2.66-10.95) or ≥7 hours per week (adjusted odds ratio 6.58, 95% CI 3.21-13.49). Those already working on or with short-term plans for lifestyle improvement at baseline, and with better cognition, engaged more.ConclusionsGreater engagement with an eHealth lifestyle intervention was associated with greater improvement in risk factors in older adults. However, those with limited computer experience, who tended to have a lower level of education, or who had poorer cognition engaged less. Additional support or forms of intervention delivery for such individuals could help minimize potential health inequalities associated with the use of digital health interventions in older people.

Doran Ross, Our Mentor and Friend

Doran Ross, Our Mentor and Friend