MARVIN: a medical research application framework based on open source software

This paper describes the open source framework MARVIN for rapid application development in the field of biomedical and clinical research. MARVIN applications consist of modules that can be plugged together in order to provide the functionality required for a specific experimental scenario. Application modules work on a common patient database that is used to store and organize medical data as well as derived data. MARVIN provides a flexible input/output system with support for many file formats including DICOM, various 2D image formats and surface mesh data. Furthermore, it implements an advanced visualization system and interfaces to a wide range of 3D tracking hardware. Since it uses only highly portable libraries, MARVIN applications run on Unix/Linux, Mac OS X and Microsoft Windows.

Comparison of Student Versus Employee Test Populations for Warning Sign Research Based on Severity Ratings for Signal Words

Most studies of warning signs involve undergraduate students as subjects. This paper reports a direct comparison of findings from an undergraduate population and an employed population. The 48 employed subjects from this study were compared with 59 undergraduate subjects from a companion study. Subjects from both populations were shown the same signs and asked to rate the severity level connoted by each sign. The signs differed only in signal word. Results for each population indicated that signal word had a highly significant effect on severity ratings. When the two populations were compared for ratings of each signal word, the only significant difference was for Caution. Median ratings of each population were the same: Deadly (4), Danger (3), Warning (2), Caution (1), and Notice (0).

Generalizability and Applicability of Model-Based Business Process Compliance-Checking Approaches – A State-of-the-Art Analysis and Research Roadmap

With a steady increase of regulatory requirements for business processes, automation support of compliance management is a field garnering increasing attention in Information Systems research. Several approaches have been developed to support compliance checking of process models. One major challenge for such approaches is their ability to handle different modeling techniques and compliance rules in order to enable widespread adoption and application. Applying a structured literature search strategy, we reflect and discuss compliance-checking approaches in order to provide an insight into their generalizability and evaluation. The results imply that current approaches mainly focus on special modeling techniques and/or a restricted set of types of compliance rules. Most approaches abstain from real-world evaluation which raises the question of their practical applicability. Referring to the search results, we propose a roadmap for further research in model-based business process compliance checking.

Forage-Based Beef Production Research at the Armstrong Outlying Research Farm

Fifty-five yearling crossbred steers and 3C cow-calf pairs were used in a forage-based beef production system demonstration project at the Armstrong Outlying Research Farm. From May 11 to June 13, steers rotationally grazed a 41-acre grass pasture that was divided into eight paddocks. From June 13 to August 24, steers were placed in a drylot and fed berseem clover/oat soilage from a strip-intercropping system. Beginning June 5, 36 cow-calf pairs were allowed to rotationally graze the 41-acre pasture until September 18. Calf weight gains for the 110 days were 1.57 pounds per day, and total production from the pasture was 151 pounds per acre. No cow weight change or condition score change was measured. Total steer production was 29 and 580 pounds per acre or average daily gains were .67 and 2.23 pounds while grazing pasture and being fed in a drylot.

Evidence Based Nursing Research Project

Introduction: A need for baccalaureate prepared nurses to find and use evidence in practice exists. Whereas using this evidence in practice may be a masters level expectation, current practice demands that baccalaureate prepared nurses acquire a basic understanding of how to use evidence in practice. Nursing students at the senior level have had exposure to critiquing research, however, they have difficulty translating evidence to practice. [See PDF for complete abstract]