Adult orthodontics: internet information and a national survey

Aims: 1. To investigate the reliability and readability of information on the Internet on adult orthodontics. 2. To evaluate the profile and treatment of adults by specialist orthodontists in the Republic of Ireland (ROI). Materials and methods: 1. An Internet search was conducted in May 2015 using three search engines (Google, Yahoo and Bing), with two search terms (“adult orthodontics” and “adult braces”). The first 50 websites from each engine were screened and exclusion criteria applied. Included websites were then assessed for reliability using the JAMA benchmarks, the DISCERN and LIDA tools and the presence of the HON seal. Readability was assessed using the FRES. 2. A pilot-tested questionnaire about adult orthodontics was distributed to 122 eligible specialist orthodontists in the ROI. Questions addressed general and treatment information about adult orthodontic patients, methods of information provision and respondent demographics. Results: 1. Thirteen websites met the inclusion criteria. Three websites contained all JAMA benchmarks and one displayed the HON Seal. The mean overall score for DISCERN was 3.9/5 and the mean total LIDA score was 115/120. The average FRES score was 63.1. 2. The questionnaire yielded a response rate of 83%. The typical demographic profile of adult orthodontic patients was professional females between 25-35 years. The most common incisor relationship and skeletal base was Class II, division 1 (51%) and Class II (61%) respectively. Aesthetic upper brackets and metal lower brackets were the most frequently used appliances. Only 30% of orthodontists advise their adult patients to find extra information on the Internet. Conclusions: 1. The reliability and readability of information on the Internet on adult orthodontics is of moderate quality. 2. The provision of adult orthodontic treatment is common among specialist orthodontists in the Republic of Ireland.

Automated Collection of Sign Inventory Information by Integrating Global Positioning System (GPS) with Videologging Data Collection Activities, 1995

Advances in communication, navigation and imaging technologies are expected to fundamentally change methods currently used to collect data. Electronic data interchange strategies will also minimize data handling and automatically update files at the point of capture. This report summarizes the outcome of using a multi-camera platform as a method to collect roadway inventory data. It defines basic system requirements as expressed by users, who applied these techniques and examines how the application of the technology met those needs. A sign inventory case study was used to determine the advantages of creating and maintaining the database and provides the capability to monitor performance criteria for a Safety Management System. The project identified at least 75 percent of the data elements needed for a sign inventory can be gathered by viewing a high resolution image.

Project Development Information Packet for Federal-Aid City and County Projects, 1997

In August, 1994, the Office of Local Systems, Project Development Division, Iowa Department of Transportation established a Quality Improvement Team to review and improve upon the federal-aid project development process. The mission was to communicate federal-aid project development procedures to local agencies, beginning with the approval of the Statewide Transportation Improvement Program (STIP) and ending with obligation of federal funds by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). In January 1997, another Team (Make it Better) began meeting to clarify, update, and streamline the federal-aid project process. This Project Development Packet is a compilation of these efforts. The packet includes Project Development timelines, flow charts, guidelines, design criteria, Instructional Memorandums and forms to assist in the federal-aid project development process. The main (fold out) flow chart directs to other sections of the packet when appropriate.

Defining a management strategy for the azorean natural thermal resources : valuing criteria identification

Dissertação de Mestrado, Gestão de Empresas (MBA), 23 de Maio de 2016, Universidade dos Açores.

Motion compensation with minimal residue dispersion matching criteria

Dissertação (mestrado)—Universidade de Brasília, Faculdade de Tecnoloigia, 2016.

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY PROJECTS IN NONPROFIT UNIVERSITY: A PROJECT GOVERNANCE PERSPECTIVE

The universities rely on the Information Technology (IT) projects to support and enhance their core strategic objectives of teaching, research, and administration. The researcher’s literature review found that the level of IT funding and resources in the universities is not adequate to meet the IT demands. The universities received more IT project requests than they could execute. As such, universities must selectively fund the IT projects. The objectives of the IT projects in the universities vary. An IT project which benefits the teaching functions may not benefit the administrative functions. As such, the selection of an IT project is challenging in the universities. To aid with the IT decision making, many universities in the United States of America (USA) have formed the IT Governance (ITG) processes. ITG is an IT decision making and accountability framework whose purpose is to align the IT efforts in an organization with its strategic objectives, realize the value of the IT investments, meet the expected performance criteria, and manage the risks and the resources (Weil & Ross, 2004). ITG in the universities is relatively new, and it is not well known how the ITG processes are aiding the nonprofit universities in selecting the right IT projects, and managing the performance of these IT projects. This research adds to the body of knowledge regarding the IT project selection under the governance structure, the maturity of the IT projects, and the IT project performance in the nonprofit universities. The case study research methodology was chosen for this exploratory research. The convenience sampling was done to choose the cases from two large, research universities with decentralized colleges, and two small, centralized universities. The data were collected on nine IT projects from these four universities using the interviews and the university documents. The multi-case analysis was complemented by the Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) to systematically analyze how the IT conditions lead to an outcome. This research found that the IT projects were selected in the centralized universities in a more informed manner. ITG was more authoritative in the small centralized universities; the ITG committees were formed by including the key decision makers, the decision-making roles, and responsibilities were better defined, and the frequency of ITG communication was higher. In the centralized universities, the business units and colleges brought the IT requests to ITG committees; which in turn prioritized the IT requests and allocated the funds and the resources to the IT projects. ITG committee members in the centralized universities had a higher awareness of the university-wide IT needs, and the IT projects tended to align with the strategic objectives. On the other hand, the decentralized colleges and business units in the large universities were influential and often bypassed the ITG processes. The decentralized units often chose the “pet” IT projects, and executed them within a silo, without bringing them to the attention of the ITG committees. While these IT projects met the departmental objectives, they did not always align with the university’s strategic objectives. This research found that the IT project maturity in the university could be increased by following the project management methodologies. The IT project management maturity was found higher in the IT projects executed by the centralized university, where a full-time project manager was assigned to manage the project, and the project manager had a higher expertise in the project management. The IT project executed under the guidance of the Project Management Office (PMO) has exhibited a higher project management maturity, as the PMO set the standards and controls for the project. The IT projects managed by the decentralized colleges by a part-time project manager with lower project management expertise have exhibited a lower project management maturity. The IT projects in the decentralized colleges were often managed by the business, or technical leads, who often lacked the project management expertise. This research found that higher the IT project management maturity, the better is the project performance. The IT projects with a higher maturity had a lower project delay, lower number of missed requirements, and lower number of IT system errors. This research found that the quality of IT decision in the university could be improved by centralizing the IT decision-making processes. The IT project management maturity could be improved by following the project management methodologies. The stakeholder management and communication were found critical for the success of the IT projects in the university. It is hoped that the findings from this research would help the university leaders make the strategic IT decisions, and the university’s IT project managers make the IT project decisions.

Information Literacy in Costa Rican Universities. Viewing Levels of Incorporation from the Information Published on the Websites of their Libraries

Training in information competencies or information literacy is one of the current challenges of university libraries at the possibilities of access to vast information resources that facilitate digital media, which require a better understand and apply the selection and assessment criteria to retrieval the highest quality and relevance of information as needed. In this situation, Ibero-American university libraries (Latin-America, Spain and Portugal) have been slowly incorporating this training either from direct training programs, offered from the library or through collaborative work with teachers and schools in curricula of various universities as a whole or in specific disciplines. In this text, it was identified that, at present, from the information displayed on Web sites of universities-HEI in Costa Rica, a very small percentage of university libraries would find taking actions in a level 1 or 2 of incorporating information literacy, since a large most developed is still very focused programs and processes to the traditional user training, while another large majority, unfortunately, has no action-information about actions from the forming perspective that should be any library.

Beers versus STOPP criteria in polyharmacy community-dwelling older patients

Objective: To assess potentially inappropriate prescribing (PIP) using Beers (2012 version) and STOPP (2008 version) criteria in polypharmacy, community-dwelling, older patients. Methods: From the information collected in the invoicing data of the prescriptions and the electronic medical records, a sample was selected of 223 ≥ 65-year-old patients who were taking simultaneously 10 or more drugs per day. Beers and STOPP criteria were separately applied, and the results obtained with the two methods were compared. Results: A total of 141 (63.2%) patients presented at least one Beers criterion. The two most frequently observed Beers criteria independent of diagnosis were the use of benzodiazepines and the use of non-COX-2-selective non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. With regard to Beers criteria considering diagnosis, the most frequent were the use of anticholinergic drugs in patients with lower urinary tract symptoms or benign prostatic hyperplasia, and the use of benzodiazepines, antipsychotics, Zolpidem or H2-antihistamines, in patients with dementia or cognitive impairment. A total of 165 (73.9%) patients had at least one PIP according to the STOPP criteria. Duplicate drug classes and long-term use of long-acting benzodiazepines were the two most frequent STOPP criteria. Discussion: Our study identified a high frequency of PIP in poly-medicated community-dwelling older patients. Simultaneous application of Beers and STOPP criteria represents a useful tool to improve prescribing in this population group.

One Person, Many Votes: Divided Majority and Information Aggregation

In elections, majority divisions pave the way to focal manipulations and coordination failures, which can lead to the victory of the wrong candidate. This paper shows how this flaw can be addressed if voter preferences over candidates are sensitive to information. We consider two potential sources of divisions: majority voters may have similar preferences but opposite information about the candidates, or opposite preferences. We show that when information is the source of majority divisions, Approval Voting features a unique equilibrium with full information and coordination equivalence. That is, it produces the same outcome as if both information and coordination problems could be resolved. Other electoral systems, such as Plurality and Two-Round elections, do not satisfy this equivalence. The second source of division is opposite preferences. Whenever the fraction of voters with such preferences is not too large, Approval Voting still satisfies full information and coordination equivalence.

Health information management : What business are we in?

Developments in information technology will drive the change in records management; however, it should be the health information managers who drive the information management change. The role of health information management will be challenged to use information technology to broker a range of requests for information from a variety of users, including he alth consumers. The purposes of this paper are to conceptualise the role of health information management in the context of a technologically driven and managed health care environment, and to demonstrat e how this framework has been used to review and develop the undergraduate program in health information management at the Queensland University of Technology.