Use Of Current Tools Research Articles

Evaluation of monitoring tools for WASH response in a cholera outbreak in northeast Nigeria

Abstract Monitoring water, sanitation, and hygiene programs in cholera outbreaks is critical to improve humanitarian response. The objective of this research was to evaluate, and improve, WASH in cholera monitoring tools currently used in northeast Nigeria. We collected 723 forms from 2019 from three form types, combined them into one database of 980 activities, and stratified data by form type, response, implementing organization, activity, month/day, and geographical area. We conducted seven key informant interviews (KIIs) with monitoring tool users and decision-makers. Data irregularities (including in design, collection, and entry) led to an inability to meaningfully analyze monitoring forms. In KIIs, eight themes emerged: ease of use of current tools, improvement in monitoring over time, lack of access to data, need for training, inconsistent reporting practices, need for modification of current questions, need for the addition of new questions, and connectivity issues. Although informants reported monitoring helped organizations identify gaps during the response, the scarcity and inconsistency of the reported data make it difficult to draw any conclusions about program effectiveness, accountability in humanitarian response, or to make recommendations for improving programming. To improve monitoring, we recommend refining data collection by increasing the quantity of data reported, data consistency, and data relevancy.

Developing a generic tool to routinely measure the impact of health libraries.

Health libraries contribute to many activities of a health care organisation. Impact assessment needs to capture that range of contributions. To develop and pilot a generic impact questionnaire that: (1) could be used routinely across all English NHS libraries; (2) built on previous impact surveys; and (3) was reliable and robust. This collaborative project involved: (1) literature search; (2) analysis of current best practice and baseline survey of use of current tools and requirements; (3) drafting and piloting the questionnaire; and (4) analysis of the results, revision and plans for roll out. The framework selected was the International Standard Methods And Procedures For Assessing The Impact Of Libraries (ISO 16439). The baseline survey (n=136 library managers) showed that existing tools were not used, and impact assessment was variable. The generic questionnaire developed used a Critical Incident Technique. Analysis of the findings (n=214 health staff and students), plus comparisons with previous impact studies indicated that the questionnaire should capture the impact for all types of health libraries. The collaborative project successfully piloted a generic impact questionnaire that, subject to further validation, should apply to many types of health library and information services.

Conceptual Design of a Mobile Application for Geography Fieldwork Learning

The use of mobile applications on smartphones has a vast potential to support learning in the field. However, all learning technologies should be properly designed. To this end, we adopt User-Centered Design (UCD) to design a mobile application, called GeoFARA (Geography Fieldwork Augmented Reality Application), for university geography fieldwork. This paper is about the conceptual design of GeoFARA based on its use and user requirements. The paper first establishes a review of selected existing mobile AR applications for outdoor use, in order to identify the innovative aspects and the improvements of GeoFARA. Thereafter, we present the results of use and user requirements derived from (1) an online survey of the current use of tools in undergraduate geography fieldwork, (2) a field experiment in which the use of paper maps and a mobile mapping tool were compared, (3) investigations during a human geography fieldwork, (4) post-fieldwork surveys among undergraduates from two universities, (5) our use case, and (6) a use scenario. Based on these requirements, a conceptual design of GeoFARA is provided in terms of technical specifications, main contents, functionalities, as well as user interactions and interfaces. This conceptual design will guide the future prototype development of GeoFARA.

Feasibility, acceptability and construct validity of EQ-5D in systemic sclerosis.

Systemic sclerosis is a chronic disabling disease that is often associated with severe physical and psychological impairment. Nonetheless, health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in patients with systemic sclerosis is often left behind in clinical practice and research. One of the reasons for this lack of evaluation is the current use of tools, such as the short form-36 (SF-36) questionnaire, that are complete but complicated to use in everyday routine. Other self-reported outcome measures such as the health assessment questionnaire (HAQ) are simple, but specifically designed for physical disability. Our aim was to evaluate the feasibility, acceptability and construct validity of EQ-5D, a simple and quick self-assessment tool, and to compare its performance with SF-36 and HAQ. We investigated 119 consecutive patients with systemic sclerosis (94% female; age: median 63 years, interquartile range 53-70 years) at three different rheumatology centres. Acceptability was evaluated from comments made by the patients and feasibility on the basis of the number of patients needing assistance or not answering questions (missing data). Construct validity was based on both convergent and divergent validity between conceptually similar and dissimilar domains, respectively, of the compared instruments. EQ-5D was well accepted by patients. The percentage of patients missing data in at least one EQ-5D domain was 2.5%. Spearman's correlation coefficients between similar dimensions of EQ-5D vs SF-36 and vs HAQ were moderate (≥0.30) to strong (≥0.50); in contrast, correlation coefficients between less comparable dimensions were weak. As expected, the EQ-5D anxiety/depression domain did not correlate with any of the HAQ domains. The EQ-5D visual analogue scale (VAS) concordance with SF-36 general health domain and HAQ total score was strong (≥0.50 for both). Median value for the EQ-5D index (interquartile range) was 0.81 (0.75-0.86). The EQ-5D index had correlation coefficients >0.40 with all SF-36 domains and with all HAQ domains, HAQ total and HAQ VAS. Our data demonstrate good acceptability, feasibility and construct validity of EQ-5D in patients with systemic sclerosis. We suggest the use of EQ-5D in systemic sclerosis patients as an HRQoL measure in clinical practice, in randomised clinical trials and/or in pharmacoeconomic evaluations.

Solving Enterprise Management Problem with Cluster Technologies and ERP – Systems (in the Context of Capital CSE System)

1. Introduction The urgency of the problem considered is that many large corporations today face the challenge of managing large amounts of data within a single enterprise. Various corporations resolve the issue depending on the level of information support with application solutions designed for specific functional tasks. Use of cluster technologies is the one of the abovementioned applied solutions. The trend towards the introduction of cluster systems in all sectors of economy, science and technology is becoming more and more popular among large businesses. The purpose of this article is to make proposals for improving array management within a single corporation. The objectives of this article are: * to analyze activity of a large enterprise and its existing management system; * to analyze transition to a new technology on example of the enterprise considered, and also to specify the reasons for the use of current tools for application tasks by large corporations. The object of the research is Permenergo OJSC. As a subject of the research we consider the enterprise management process when solving problems of information processes integration, as well as large data processing in real time operation. 2. Materials and Methods When studying and searching for solution of the stated issue we used theoretical research methods, such as analysis, comparison, generalization; empirical research methods: conversation, observation, investigation; scientific methods: comparative method and system analysis. Clusters are currently created in a variety of industrial sectors, and power industry is one of them. A mutually beneficial consolidation of enterprises in the industry within one region can serve as an example. In St. Petersburg, this issue is already being resolved in a positive way. Since 1999, the executive office of Permenergo OJSC and all of its branches decided to transfer as full as possible a software package to a single management CSE system (Capital CSE. Online). CSE involves more than 50 business applications, grouped into 16 application circuits. The structure of the system components may include additional elements, e.g. OleReport table editor. Basic principles of the system applications are listed below: * configuration of the main application elements; * specific dialog boxes; * connection configuration; * application launcher. The software complex CSE (developed by GELICON PRO) is a system of enterprise management designed to provide management processes with material, financial and human resources (Enterprise management system CSE. Online). One of the most important circuits of the complex is a circuit Capital CSE Configuration Tool, designated for execution on tasks related to adaptation of a product basic functionality to specific business processes of a particular enterprise. Functional elements of the circuit are (Kolchanova A. G., Kolchanova P. S. 2014): 1. object-oriented language GOAL, supporting SQL language, transaction management and execution of stored procedures, structural exceptions handling, working with OLE-servers, etc. 2. dialog editor, intended for visual design and programming user interface. 3. problem-oriented library of GBO facilities (GELICON BUSINESS OBJECT). Implementation and operation of CSE on enterprise is intended to ensure (Kolchanova A. G., 2014): * transition to a new management model within the single information space; * effective solution of operational, managerial and accounting tasks; * financial reporting adjustment in accordance with Russian and international standards; * continuous registration and control of enterprise resources and relationships with contractors; * efficient preparation of analytical documents, reports and certificates, outlooks and operating plans of enterprise; * improvement of efficiency and decision-making time; * organization of end-to-end accounting and timely monitoring of key areas of financial and economic activity in real time operation; * qualitative improvement of the efficiency of the whole process of contract activity by systematization of accounting of contracts, addendums and other acts; * access rights differentiation and appointment of responsible employees for specific commitments; * filing; * economic effect by monitoring compliance with the maturity dates; * budget implementation control; * reduction of financial costs in the form of penalties; * increase in operational activities through the creation of a unified database of contracts; * providing relevant information on the contracts status; * electronic means of information search and analysis. …

Current and future use of management tools

This paper examines the use of management tools among Slovenian and Croatian employees, with the main focus on linkages between the current use of management tools and patterns of its future use. The authors developed and tested a model for predicting the future use of management tools based on the current use of tools by employees in organizations, underlying assumptions of the theory of planned behavior and the information-perception-behavior link. Descriptive statistics suggest that there are differences in management tools use patterns among Slovenian and Croatian employees. Among the most used tools, employees in both countries signi fi cantly and differently use (especially) outsourcing, mission and vision statements, knowledge management, total quality management, and customer segmentation. Using structural equation modeling for testing the proposed relations in the developed model on samples of Slovenian and Croatian employees reveals that the current use of tools plays an important role in predicting the future use of tools in Slovenian organizations, while linkages for the Croatian sample are rather insigni fi cant. More speci fi cally, the current use of management tools has a positive in fl uence on the future use of management tools, while the impact of the current percentage of satis fi ed users with management tools is very weak. Further, a comparison of results with international data reveals differences in the patterns of management tools use between former catching up countries (studied are two former transition economies) and economies with a longer tradition in the market economy. Based on the current state of management tools use, linkages between their current and future use, and patterns of tools use in high-developed economies, the authors speculate about the future pattern of management tools use in catching up countries based on experiences from high-developed market economies. Those assumptions represent a building block for boosting the use of management tools in organizations in catching up economies, and thus helping those organizations to reduce the gap between them and most developed organizations.

When good ligands go bad

"Tools for validating structural models of proteins are relatively mature and widely implemented. New protein crystallographers are introduced early on to the importance of monitoring conformance with expected φ/ψ values, favored rotamers, and local stereochemistry. The protein model is validated by the PDB at the time of deposition using criteria that are also available in the standard software packages used to refine the model being deposited. By contrast, crystallographers are typically much less familiar with procedures to validate key non-protein components of the model – cofactors, substrates, inhibitors, etc. It has been estimated that as many as a third of all ligands in the PDB exhibit preventable errors of some sort, ranging from minor deviations in expected bond angles to wholly implausible placement in the binding pocket. Following recommendations from the wwPDB Validation Task Force, the PDB recently began validating ligand geometry as an integral part of deposition processing. This means that many crystallographers will soon receive for the first time a ""grade"" on the quality of ligands in the structure they have just deposited. Some will be surprised, as I was following my first PDB deposition of 2014, at how easily bad ligand geometry can slip through the cracks in supposedly robust structure refinement protocols that their lab has used for many years. I will illustrate use of current tools for generating ligand restraints to guide model refinement. One is the jligand+coot+cprodrg pipeline integrated into the CCP4 suite. Another is the Grade web server provided as a community resource by Global Phasing Ltd. Furthermore I will show examples from recent in-house refinements of how things can still go wrong even if you do use these tools, and how we recovered. The new PDB deposition checks may expose errors in your ligand descriptions after the fact. This presentation may help you avoid introducing those errors in the first place."

Conquering malaria: Enhancing the impact of effective interventions towards elimination in the diverse and changing epidemiology

Malaria remains a major global disease burden causing just under a million deaths each year, mainly of children and pregnant women in sub-Saharan Africa. It consumes up to 40% of public health expenditure of these poor countries, causing in Africa US$ 12 billion in lost GDP every year. This should not be acceptable since malaria is preventable, and there is clear evidence that optimal use of current tools can reduce much of the suffering and deaths. Three major factors allowing this to happen include: (i) inadequate funding to implement a massive initial surge, to achieve universal coverage, (ii) weak country capacities for rapid scale up of such interventions and little or no use of evidence-guided methods, and (iii) insufficient coordination of efforts between national programmes, donors and technical agencies in strategic planning for sustaining gains and in building capacity. We discuss the importance of the surge and the kind of approaches that would accelerate the pace toward elimination and eventual eradication.

Severe airway hyperresponsiveness was not predictable with the use of current tools in asthmatic children in general practice

Objective To evaluate whether moderate to severe airway hyperresponsiveness (AHR) could be suspected with the use of routinely available clinical and environmental information. Study Design and Setting Cross-sectional study of asthma in 526 asthmatics aged 7–17 years and treated in general practice. Results Moderate to severe AHR was present in 48% ( n = 253) of the participants. The presence of inhalation allergy, nocturnal symptoms, and usage of β 2-mimetics were significantly associated with moderate to severe AHR. If all three factors were present, the probability of the presence of moderate to severe and severe AHR was 76% and 36%, respectively. If all three were absent, the probability decreased to 11% and 5%, respectively. In 319 subjects (64%) AHR could not be adequately predicted with routinely available information. Conclusion Moderate and severe AHR could not be suspected with the use of routinely available clinical and environmental information in the majority of children. Except for a subgroup of children, our models were not helpful in deciding in which child an inhaled corticosteroid should be started or whether the dose should be increased or decreased. We recommend measuring the severity of AHR in these children by means of an inhalation challenge test.

Asthma and older people in general practice

WHAT WE NEED TO KNOW: Why is there undiagnosed and untreated asthma in older people in the community and in general practice? What patient, general practitioner and organisational factors contribute to this? Are current best practice guidelines appropriate for older people with asthma? WHAT WE NEED TO DO: Undertake broad community and general practice screening to identify characteristics of older people with undiagnosed asthma. Analyse GPs' perspectives and decision-making processes for older people with dyspnoea. Undertake targeted research in general practice, trialling decision-making frameworks for older patients with dyspnoea. Undertake appropriate and relevant community and GP awareness campaigns about the prevalence of asthma in older people. Analyse current best practice management of asthma, including self-management and the Asthma 3+ Visit Plan, in older people.

Braided Inflatable Tubular Structure Technology in Crash Safety

Most innovations may account for the use of non-conventional tools in current situations or the use of current tools in non-conventional situations. This paper describes the relationship of braided structure technology to the implementation of air bags in crash safety technology. The first introduction of the Inflatable Tubular Structure (ITS®) to the crash safety community was in March 1995. Then, in early 1997, (ITS®) was implemented in the automotive industry as a side-impacted head protection device. In several real-world side-impact crashes of vehicles equipped with the ITS, it reportedly “saved the lives of the vehicle passengers.” The same principle of the ITS in side-impact head protection devices has been extended to several other restraint devices, as well as new environments. This paper briefly describes design parameters of braid technology and various applications of braid structures for the development of inflatable restraints for enhanced vehicle occupant protection.