bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Development of Augmented Reality Technology Based Learning Media of Lathe Machines
Authors: Suryanto Agus , Kusumawati Diah Ayu , Sanhoury Ibrahim M. H.
Published: June 2021

Conventionally, in the learning process teachers usually explain lathe machines using only one unit machine thus the students cannot observe and learn the machine comprehensively. Hence, it is necessary to create learning media based on Augmented Reality technology that can be individually accessed with smartphone devices to facilitate the students in examining the lathe parts in detail with ease. This study discusses the development of Augmented Reality technology based learning media to display parts of the lathe in informative details. This study was categorized as Research and Development. The procedure of the study consisted of several stages including finding potential and problem, literature studies, product development, expert validation, product revisions, product trial, product revision, user response, product revision and final product development. The results showed that the developed learning media was applicable. The percentages of product testing and user response testing were 87.50% and 82% respectively which both were categorized as good.
A Flipped Classroom to Enhance Students’ Self-Direction in Informatics and Physics Engineering
Authors: Adinda Dina
Published: June 2021

As one of the blended learning forms, a flipped classroom has its specific typology to differentiate itself from other blended learning models. Aims to support student-centered learning activities in which self-direction in learning might be fostered, the effect of flipped classroom scenario to students' self-direction had never been reviewed. This work, performed at the University of Strasbourg, involved lecturers who teach informatics and physics engineering course. First, observations of the online learning environments and face-to-face classes had been managed. Second, a pre and post-test questionnaire, which aimed to measure its participants' progress on self-direction, had been fulfilled by the students. This study pointed out that students enrolled in a translated flipped classroom course had not developed their self-direction competence. However, the significant progress of students' self-direction in learning has been documented among students enrolled in a course with an interactive flipped classroom scenario.
Systematic Quality Management in Vocational Educational Institutes: Role of Teachers in Development of Organizational Quality
Authors: Wiesner Gisela , Yuniarti Nurhening
Published: June 2021

A quality management system for vocational educational institutes is a system aimed at ensuring the quality goals of vocational education are achieved to meet the quality standards and develop the quality work. In practice, teachers play a vital role because the key elements in a quality assurance system are strongly related to teachers especially the learning process as the spearhead of the success of vocational education. In addition, most activities undertaken in vocational education involve teacher participation. Therefore, teachers hold a great responsibility in the successful implementation of the educational quality management system. The main point to be emphasized is how a teacher has a suitable common understanding of quality. Understanding the quality drives all activities undertaken by teachers to be quality improvement oriented.
Self-Regulated Learning with a Module to Improve Learning Achievement
Authors: Ikhwanuddin Ikhwanuddin , H. Sumarjo , Hariyanto V. Lilik , Hasan A.
Published: June 2021

Drafting competence using Computer Aided Design (CAD) is required for building projects. The basic competence of CAD courses is students can draw elevation houses with CAD. To improve the effectiveness of learning, it has been developed a CAD learning module. This study was aimed to identify the utilization strategy of the CAD learning module to improve self-regulated learning. It is believed that increasing self-regulated learning can improve learning achievement. This research method consisted of four cycles: plan, action, observation, and reflection. The data were in the form of quantitative and qualitative data. Data collecting techniques were observation and documentation. Data analysis techniques used mean scores and reflection. The target was the mean score of classical tasks which is bigger than 80 in high difficult tasks. The results of the study were (1) there were differences in learning achievement in applying the concept of self-regulated learning with a collaborative approach and an individualistic approach, (2) self-regulated learning concepts with collaborative approach is more appropriate for the CAD module-based learning, and (3) the concept self-regulated learning with collaborative approach can improve learning achievement.
Vocational High School Teachers’ Efforts in Equipping Graduates with Soft Skills Based on Work Demands
Authors: Syamsudin Rudi Nur , Sukardi Sukardi , Shiyu He
Published: June 2021

A preliminary study in Yogyakarta showed that the graduates’ enthusiasm to enter building construction study program in vocational high school was low. One of the factors affecting the graduates’ enthusiasm was related to the low-level teachers’ efforts in preparing the graduates’ soft skills. This study aimed to identify (1) the integration level of soft skills elements, and (2) the teachers' obstacles to equipping the graduates' soft skills. It was descriptive quantitative research conducted in the study program of building construction at vocational high schools. The results of the study showed: (1) the integration level of communicative ability, integration level of cooperative competence, integration level of motivating ability, integration level of developing etiquette and moral, and integration level of building responsibility were wholly integrated. Then, the integration level of problem-solving ability and integration level of science and technology mastery was mostly integrated; (2) the obstacles included: the students’ ignorance attitude, the lack of collaboration between the students’ parents and the school stakeholders in developing the graduates’ soft skills, the absence of soft skills training and the unsupported school culture. Those obstacles impeded the graduates’ soft skills.
Vocational Curriculum Implementation of the Three Years Program of Electronics Engineering
Authors: Sugiyanta Lipur , Sukardjo Moch , Khairudin M. , Mat Nashir Irdayanti
Published: June 2021

This study analysed the implementation of the Indonesian Qualification Framework based vocational curriculum in the three years program of an electronics engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Universitas Negeri Jakarta. The analysis was focused on lecturers and students’ views. This evaluation used the model of Context, Input, Process, Product by involving 49 students in the 3rd  semester, 6 lecturers, and administration staff. The findings showed that the implemented learning activities using the new curriculum paradigm are reliable. The context analysis indicated the correlation between lecturers’ competence and qualification and the goals of the study program. The input analysis showed that the lecturer's assignment was appropriate and correspond with lecturers’ subject and education background. The process analysis revealed that the learning process was in accordance with the lectures’ planning. In addition, the practicum activities were reportedly consistent with the academic calendar. The product analysis, in the form of courses distribution each semester, suggested that the needs for improvement to fit the new curriculum paradigm design.
Integration of Project-Based Entrepreneurship and Productive Practical Learning in Vocational High Schools
Authors: Purnomo Bayu Gilang , Sukardi Thomas
Published: June 2021

Unemployment rates producing by vocational high school (VHS) is still high. To overcome this problem, it is necessary to develop an entrepreneurship learning model in accordance with students’ skills. This study aims to: (1) develop project-based entrepreneurship learning media integrated with productive practical learning in VHSs; (2) design project-based entrepreneurship learning integrated with productive practical learning which had the criteria of validation, effectiveness, and practicability. The research procedures consisted of analysis, design, development, implementation, and evaluation (ADDIE) model. The product of the learning model development was validated by experts. The subjects of the research involved eleventh grade students of automotive engineering study program in the second semester, entrepreneurship teachers and automotive engineering teachers in VHSs. The products of the study consisted of: (1) a guided learning book and learning media (lesson plans and learning assessments); (2) the teachers’ and students’ positive and objective responses toward the implementation of the learning model which was proved by their comments that the developed learning model fulfilled the criteria of validation, effectiveness, and practicability to be implemented in VHSs.
Designing a Skill Tree Model for Learning Media
Authors: Ghozali Fanani Arief , Asnawi Rustam , Khairudin M , P Jati Mentari , Hoirul Ahmad
Published: June 2021

In a modern era, digital media has been created and used for educational purposes. In the educational programs, teachers have many objectives which can be converted into some important points that can be mapped on a skill tree. A skill tree is actually commonly known for building gaming media as a decision making system but it has not been widely applied for educational purposes. This paper discusses how to design a skill tree model for effective learning media. The learning objective can be mapped in the skill tree and used for decision-making to decide whether the subject matter being taught by a teacher can proceed or not. The method used in this study was the development method. The findings indicated that the skill tree can be applied as learning media. The results of product testing reveal insignificant defects and smooth operation. Therefore the developed software can be considered as an eligible product to be applied. This software is aimed to assist teachers in understanding the weaknesses of the students and improving the quality of education.
Web-Based Learning Media Using Hypertext Markup Language as Course Materials
Authors: Manggopa Hiskia Kamang , Manoppo Christine Takarina Meitty , Togas Peggy Veronica , Mewengkang Alfrina , Batmetan Johan Reimon
Published: June 2021

Recently, numerous   web-based applications with attractive user interface, brand-new and advanced features, and friendly operation are rapidly developed and widely used, particularly in education context. This study aims to produce web-based learning media that are feasible for delivering materials of web programming subject. The course material of this subject is Hypertext Markup Language (HTML).This study is located at Manado State University, at the study program of information and communication technology. The method of this study employs the research and development model. The data were obtained by four questionnaires, including (1) the feasibility testing by the lecturer, (2) the media expert feasibility testing, (3) the materials expert feasibility testing, and (4) the students’ feasibility testing. Based on the experimental results, it can be stated that the developed web learning is considered useful. It can be concluded that the web-based learning media is feasible to be used and effectively improve the quality of learning.
Development and Validation of a Multimedia Package for Teaching Applied Electrical and Electronic Component of Basic Technology
Authors: Sani Mustapha Sumaila , Bello Hassan , Okegbile Sunday A
Published: June 2021

This study developed and validated a multimedia package for the teaching of Electrical/Electronic component of Basic Technology at the upper basic education level. It was a developmental research design. The area for this study is Kano state, North-Western Nigeria. The population consists of 291 Basic Technology teachers, out of this, 10 Basic Technology teachers, 5 instructional technologist and 5 computer specialists were purposely selected for the product evaluation based on four instruments. The findings revealed that design procedures were followed in the development of the Electricity/Electronics component of Basic Technology Instructional Package (EECOBTIP); EECOBTIP have adequately covered the curriculum content of the subject matter; EECOBTIP have met required instructional technology standards; and EECOBTIP have met the required technical standards. The study therefore recommends amongst others that Basic Technology teachers should be encouraged to prepare some aspects of their lessons in electronic form; EECOBTIP should be utilized for classroom instruction especially when teaching the Electricity/Electronics component of Basic Technology; and that similar packages should be developed for the other aspects of Basic Technology curriculum.
Visibility of Learning Media of a Culinary-Based Electronic Magazine in Blended Learning
Authors: Sari Anggri Sekar , Wati Ika Wahyu Kusuma
Published: June 2021

This study aims to produce media products that use culinary-based electronic magazines on blended learning. The method used in this study was research and development. The procedure of media development used the Four-D model to produce learning media based on blended learning. The stages of the study consisted of define, design, development, and dissemination. The stages of development used alpha testing for product validation by learning experts, material experts, and media experts. After that the stages of dissemination, beta testing was performed by testing the product on users in small groups. The subjects of this study were students in foodservice expertise. The results of this study showed that the alpha tests on aspects of media and materials and learning both obtained very high criteria. Furthermore, the average score of all aspects was more than 89% with reasonable criteria. while the beta test results indicated high criteria with the average of students’ reached 86%, categorized as feasible.
Teaching Aid For Diagnosing Motorcycle Damages Using Back Propagation Artificial Neural Network
Authors: Hasanah Nur , Arifin Fatchul , Irmawati Dessy , Muslikhin Muslikhin , Arifin Zainal
Published: June 2021

The challenge of learning media in the world within the next 1 to 2 years is Bring Your Own Device. It forces the learning paradigm to think quickly to follow the development of technology that can optimally use it. In the Control Systems II course, there are some stereotypes that some of the material is mainly an Artificial Neural Network (ANN) was limited to theory and simulations and is difficult to be applied. Teaching aids are interpreted as teaching material that is used to help teachers in carrying out the teaching and learning activities in the classroom. The purposes of this study are: (1) to create teaching aid for ANN material to diagnose motorcycle damage in the Control System II Course (2) to define the accuracy of the application of the teaching aid for the material of ANN in the Control System II Course. The prototyping approach model is used to generally define the teaching aid product that will be developed. In detail, the development methods include (1) listen to the customer, (2) build or revise a mock-up, and (3) customer test drives mockup. Teaching aids products are built in the form of application for the diagnosis of motorcycle damages using the Back-Propagation ANN. This application can detect four types of motorcycle damages based on the sample sounds of motorcycles included. The application can recognize the type of damage from 100 new sound data outside its knowledge-base with a 60% accuracy level.
Strategy for Developing Interest of Entrepreneurship through a Culinary Business Management Course
Authors: Handayani Titin Hera Widi , Purwanti Sutriyati , Murniati Dewi Eka , Ratri Safitri Yosita
Published: June 2021

The objectives of this study were: (1) to determine the entrepreneurial interest of Diploma students in Culinary Engineering in Culinary Business Management (CBM) course, (2) to formulate strategies for developing students’ entrepreneurial interest through the CBM course as recommendations for lectures in the next period. This ex post facto research with a descriptive approach was carried out in February to July 2019 in the Diploma Study Program of Culinary Engineering, Universitas Negeri Yogyakarta (UNY). The population of the study consisted of 40 students who took CBM in the odd semester of the 2018/2019 academic year. A purposive sampling technique was employed while the questionnaire was used in the data collection. Quantitative descriptive was used to analyze the data. The results show that: (1) Entrepreneurial interest of Diploma students of Culinary Engineering in the CBM course is 40% in the Very High category and 60% in the High category, (2) there are four strategies for developing students’ entrepreneurial interest through the CBM course, namely SO (Strength-Opportunity) strategy: while WO (Weakness-Opportunity) strategy, ST (Weakness-Opportunity) strategy, and WT (Weakness-Threat) strategy. The benefits of this study are firstly, for students, it investigates students’ entrepreneurial interests through learning CBM, for education staff, it examines the effectiveness of learning CBM in forming students’ entrepreneurial interests, and for educational institutions, it is an effort to evaluate and recommend learning CBM to form students’ entrepreneurship.
Assessment of Instructional Facilities in Implementing the Contents of the Motor Vehicle Mechanics’ Work Curriculum in Technical Colleges in North Central Nigeria
Authors: Ogbuanya Therasa Chinyere , David Usman Auta
Published: June 2021

The training of motor vehicle mechanics is not only expertise demanding, but also requires a lot of facilities which has to be effectively utilized for the realization of instructional objectives. The objectives of the study were (1) to ascertain the availability of instructional facilities; and (2) to find out the extent of the usage of the instructional facilities in implementing the contents of the MVMWC. The population of the study was 465; consisting of 418 male and 38 female MVMW National Technical Certificate (NTC) III graduating students for the 2017/2018 session, in the 22 accredited technical colleges in the North-Central States of Nigeria, and 9 MVMW graduates of technical colleges in the area of study who were operating functional workshops. The study adopted a Multi-stage Sampling Technique to select a sample size of 189 which comprised 165 male and 15 female MVMW NTC III graduating students and 9 MVMW graduates of technical colleges from the area of the study. A questionnaire and Focus Group Discussion (FGD) were used as instruments for data collection. The research questions were analyzed using mean, frequency count, and percentages. The findings of this study revealed: lack of basic instructional facilities for effective implementation of the MVMWC in technical colleges in the North Central States of Nigeria; and a low extent of utilization of the very few instructional facilities available.
Furniture Construction Skill Gap Analysis among Technical College Teachers in Zamfara and Katsina States
Authors: Mannir Maryam Sanni , Bala Mohammed Maik , Hassan Abdullahi Muhammad
Published: June 2021

This study identified the practical skills possessed and skills required by furniture construction teachers in Zamfara and Katsina State, Nigeria. Three research questions that sort to determine the skills needs of furniture construction teachers were answered and one hypothesis was tested at 0.05 level of significance. A descriptive survey research design was adopted for the study. The population for the study was 42 teachers. A structured questionnaire was used to gather data from the 42 woodwork furniture construction teachers. The instrument had a reliability coefficient of 0.89 using Cronbach Alpa statistic.  Mean and standard deviation was used to answer research questions and a t-test was used to test the hypothesis using the IBM SPSS version 20. The findings of the study revealed that the respondents require skills on the ability to hold a saw with fore-finger straight out on one side of the handle, the ability to follow the “FEWTEL” method in preparing a piece of wood require further training, setting sliding bevel when marking out dovetail joint and selection of the right adhesive according to the purpose and type of wood as well as amount of force the adhesive would be subjected to required skills. It was recommended that; government should provide opportunities for furniture construction teachers to go on further training on the modern furniture construction technology required. The identified skills required by teachers of furniture construction should form the basis for the up-skill workshop to be organized as in-house training.
МІКРО- І МАКРОЕЛЕМЕНТНИЙ ОБМІН У ХВОРИХ НА НЕАЛКОГОЛЬНУ ЖИРОВУ ХВОРОБУ ПЕЧІНКИ І ПРИ ЇЇ ПОЄДНАННІ З ЦУКРОВИМ ДІАБЕТОМ 2 ТИПУ
Authors: Журавльова Л. В. , Лахно О. В. , Цівенко О. І. , Кривоносова О. М.
Published: June 2021

Мета — вивчити зміни концентрації цинку, магнію, заліза, кальцію, калію, натрію, міді, а також з'ясувати зв'язок між концентраціями біоелементів з показниками функціонального стану печінки у хворих на неалкогольну жирову хворобу печінки (НАЖХП) і при її поєднанні з цукровим діабетом (ЦД) 2 типу в залежності від індексу маси тіла (ІМТ). Обстежено 75 пацієнтів з НАЖХП і при її поєднанні з ЦД 2 типу — з нормальною масою тіла і ожирінням, у віці від 46 до 69 років, в тому числі 36 чоловіків і 39 жінок, з тривалістю захворювання від 3 до 15 років. Контрольну групу склали 20 практично здорових осіб. Програма дослідження включала визначення загальноклінічних показників, визначення дисбалансу біоелементів, вуглеводів, білків, оцінку структурного і функціонального стану печінки.
Результати. Дослідження мікро- і макроелементного складу сироватки крові у всіх групах хворих показало достовірне зниження вмісту цинку, магнію, кальцію, заліза, калію і натрію, а також збільшення показника міді, особливо в групі хворих з підвищеним ІМТ.
Висновки. В результаті дослідження, було виявлено порушення мікро- складу сироватки крові у всіх групах хворих. Визначено достовірне зниження вмісту цинку, магнію, кальцію, заліза, калію і натрію, а також збільшення показника міді. Виявлено зв'язок між концентраціями мікро- та макроелементів із показниками функціонального стану печінки у хворих на НАЖХП і при її поєднанні з ЦД 2 типу в залежності від ІМТ. При поєднаному перебігу НАЖХП і ЦД 2 типу за наявності ожиріння зміни показників мікро- і макроелементного, вуглеводного і білкового обмінів та функціонального стану печінки були більш виражені.
COMPARISON OF THERAPEUTIC EFFECTS OF DIFFERENT METHODS OF ADMINISTRATION OF MEZENCHIMAL STEM CELLS TO MICE WITH PREMATURE OVARIAN INSUFFICIENCY
Authors: Kozub M. I. , Skybina K. P. , Musatova I. B. , Prokopiuk O. V. , Gramatiuk S. M. , Tynynyka L. M. , Kozub M. M. , Taran A. V. , Nikolchenko A. Yu. , Prokopiuk O. S.
Published: June 2021

Premature ovarian insufficiency (POI) is condition of female hypogonadism. One of the reasons for the development of POI is anticancer chemotherapy. Currently, hormone replacement therapy is considered the most effective method of treatment POI, which, however, had a number of side effects, requires constant administration of pharmaceuticals, did not restore fertility and correct pathological changes in target organs. Therefore, the search for alternative methods of treatment based on the use of stem cells is promising. The aim of work was to compare the therapeutic effects of different methods of administration of mesenchymal stem cells isolated from adipose tissue (AT MSCs) in restoring sexual function, as well as the behavior of mice with chemotherapy-induced premature ovarian failure.

Materials and methods. The investigation was carried out on BALB/c mice with a POI model induced by Cyclophosphamide and Busulfan. A histological examination of preparations of the ovaries and uterus was carried out. We studied the changes in the weight of mice, ovarian function, sexual activity, as well as the behavior of animals in anxiolytic and zoosocial tests after treatment with AT MSCs with intraperitoneal and intraovarian routes of administration.

Results and discussion. It was shown that the effectiveness of the use of AT MSCs depends on the method of their administration at the treatment of POI induced by chemotherapy. More rapid and complete restoration of the morphological structure, sexual function, and behavioral responses were observed in mice with POI treated by intraovarial administration of AT MSCs.
Portafolios α-estables del G20: Evidencia empírica con Markowitz, Tobin y CAPM
Authors: Climent Hernández José Antonio , Sánchez Arzate Gabino , Ortiz Ramírez Ambrosio
Published: June 2021

Objetivo: Esta investigación extiende los portafolios de Markowitz, Tobin, y el CAPM con procesos α-estables. Metodología: son realizados los siguientes procedimientos en un portafolio con los índices bursátiles del G20: 1) son estimados los estadísticos descriptivos y los parámetros α-estables de los rendimientos, 2) es aplicada una prueba de bondad de ajuste para validar los procesos α-estables, 3) es estimada la matriz de covariación para calcular las asignaciones de los portafolios, y 4) son estimados los indicadores de riesgo sistemático. Resultados: La frontera eficiente es calculada sin ventas en corto y muestra que los portafolios α-estables presentan mayor aversión al riesgo que los portafolios gaussianos, y que los portafolios α-estables son más eficientes con respecto a la relación rendimiento y riesgo. Recomendaciones: La aplicación de procesos α-estables para modelar la leptocurtosis, la asimetría y los cúmulos de volatilidad. Limitaciones: El análisis multivariado α-estable presenta diferentes parámetros de estabilidad. Originalidad: Los rendimientos del G20 son modelados con procesos α-estables y es realizado un análisis de sensibilidad. Conclusión: El análisis α-estable permite cuantificar el riesgo de mercado más adecuadamente que el análisis gaussiano.
On the Precedence of Constraints on Growth: Advocating the Ecological Footprint Perspective
Authors: Guerrero de Lizardi Carlos
Published: June 2021

Our goal is to propose the ecological footprint as the first growth restriction that currently faces the Mexican economy. To capture the attention of both orthodox and heterodox economists, we will analyze three restrictions on growth, namely, on the supply, demand, and biocapacity side. Our first recommendation highlights the need for Mexico to fully redesign its public policies in order to substantially improve its results in terms of environmental sustainability hand in hand with a much better distribution of income and wealth. A limitation lies in the review of only the neoclassical and post-Keynesian growth theories, involving a personal selection from the literature. As far as we know, this document represents the first study that incorporates within the theories of economic growth the restriction linked to biocapacity and the ecological footprint in Mexico. The main conclusion constitutes a local echo of world literature −the immediate challenge facing Mexico and other societies is to make any economic-social result compatible with a single earth planet.
Using Ecological Momentary Assessment to Study the Development of COVID-19 Worries in Sweden: Longitudinal Study
Authors: Schulz Peter Johannes , Andersson Elin M , Bizzotto Nicole , Norberg Margareta
Published: June 2021

Background

The foray of COVID-19 around the globe has certainly instigated worries in many people, and lockdown measures may well have triggered more specific worries. Sweden, more than other countries, relied on voluntary measures to fight the pandemic. This provides a particularly interesting context to assess people’s reactions to the threat of the pandemic.

Objective

The general aim of this study was to better understand the worried reactions to the virus and the associated lockdown measures. As there have been very few longitudinal studies in this area published to date, development of feelings of worry over time was analyzed over a longer range than in previous research. Affective variables, worry in particular, were included because most of the research in this field has focused on cognitive variables. To employ new methodology, ecological momentary assessment was used for data collection and a multilevel modeling approach was adopted for data analysis.

Methods

Results were based on an unbalanced panel sample of 260 Swedish participants filling in 3226 interview questionnaires by smartphone over a 7-week period in 2020 during the rapid rise of cases in the early phase of the pandemic. Causal factors considered in this study included the perceived severity of an infection, susceptibility of a person to the threat posed by the virus, perceived efficacy of safeguarding measures, and assessment of government action against the spread of COVID-19. The effect of these factors on worries was traced in two analytical steps: the effects at the beginning of the study and the effect on the trend during the study.

Results

The level of general worry related to COVID-19 was modest (mean 6.67, SD 2.54 on an 11-point Likert scale); the increase during the study period was small, but the interindividual variation of both the worry level and its increase over time was large. Findings confirmed that the hypothesized causal factors (severity of infection, susceptibility to the threat of the virus, efficacy of safeguarding, and assessment of government preventive action) did indeed affect the level of worry.

Conclusions

The results confirmed earlier research in a very special case and demonstrated the usefulness of a different study design, which takes a longitudinal perspective, and a new type of data analysis borrowed from multilevel study design.
Blockchain for Increased Trust in Virtual Health Care: Proof-of-Concept Study
Authors: Hasselgren Anton , Hanssen Rensaa Jens-Andreas , Kralevska Katina , Gligoroski Danilo , Faxvaag Arild
Published: June 2021

Background

Health care systems are currently undergoing a digital transformation that has been primarily triggered by emerging technologies, such as artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things, 5G, blockchain, and the digital representation of patients using (mobile) sensor devices. One of the results of this transformation is the gradual virtualization of care. Irrespective of the care environment, trust between caregivers and patients is essential for achieving favorable health outcomes. Given the many breaches of information security and patient safety, today’s health information system portfolios do not suffice as infrastructure for establishing and maintaining trust in virtual care environments.

Objective

This study aims to establish a theoretical foundation for a complex health care system intervention that aims to exploit a cryptographically secured infrastructure for establishing and maintaining trust in virtualized care environments and, based on this theoretical foundation, present a proof of concept that fulfills the necessary requirements.

Methods

This work applies the following framework for the design and evaluation of complex intervention research within health care: a review of the literature and expert consultation for technology forecasting. A proof of concept was developed by following the principles of design science and requirements engineering.

Results

This study determined and defined the crucial functional and nonfunctional requirements and principles for enhancing trust between caregivers and patients within a virtualized health care environment. The cornerstone of our architecture is an approach that uses blockchain technology. The proposed decentralized system offers an innovative governance structure for a novel trust model. The presented theoretical design principles are supported by a concrete implementation of an Ethereum-based platform called VerifyMed.

Conclusions

A service for enhancing trust in a virtualized health care environment that is built on a public blockchain has a high fit for purpose in Healthcare 4.0.
A Determinants-of-Fertility Ontology for Detecting Future Signals of Fertility Issues From Social Media Data: Development of an Ontology (Preprint)
Authors: Lee Ji-Hyun , Park Hyeoun-Ae , Song Tae-Min
Published: June 2021

BACKGROUND

South Korea has the lowest fertility rate in the world despite considerable governmental efforts to boost it. Increasing the fertility rate and achieving the desired outcomes of any implemented policies requires reliable data on the ongoing trends in fertility and preparations for the future based on these trends.

OBJECTIVE

The aims of this study were to (1) develop a determinants-of-fertility ontology with terminology for collecting and analyzing social media data; (2) determine the description logics, content coverage, and structural and representational layers of the ontology; and (3) use the ontology to detect future signals of fertility issues.

METHODS

An ontology was developed using the Ontology Development 101 methodology. The domain and scope of the ontology were defined by compiling a list of competency questions. The terms were collected from Korean government reports, Korea’s Basic Plan for Low Fertility and Aging Society, a national survey about marriage and childbirth, and social media postings on fertility issues. The classes and their hierarchy were defined using a top-down approach based on an ecological model. The internal structure of classes was defined using the entity-attribute-value model. The description logics of the ontology were evaluated using Protégé (version 5.5.0), and the content coverage was evaluated by comparing concepts extracted from social media posts with the list of ontology classes. The structural and representational layers of the ontology were evaluated by experts. Social media data were collected from 183 online channels between January 1, 2011, and June 30, 2015. To detect future signals of fertility issues, 2 classes of the ontology, the socioeconomic and cultural environment, and public policy, were identified as keywords. A keyword issue map was constructed, and the defined keywords were mapped to identify future signals. R software (version 3.5.2) was used to mine for future signals.

RESULTS

A determinants-of-fertility ontology comprised 236 classes and terminology comprised 1464 synonyms of the 236 classes. Concept classes in the ontology were found to be coherently and consistently defined. The ontology included more than 90% of the concepts that appeared in social media posts on fertility policies. Average scores for all of the criteria for structural and representations layers exceeded 4 on a 5-point scale. Violence and abuse (socioeconomic and cultural factor) and flexible working arrangement (fertility policy) were weak signals, suggesting that they could increase rapidly in the future.

CONCLUSIONS

The determinants-of-fertility ontology developed in this study can be used as a framework for collecting and analyzing social media data on fertility issues and detecting future signals of fertility issues. The future signals identified in this study will be useful for policy makers who are developing policy responses to low fertility.
Usability Evaluation of a Tablet-Based Intervention to Prevent Intradialytic Hypotension in Dialysis Patients During In-Clinic Dialysis: Mixed Methods Study (Preprint)
Authors: Willis Matthew , Brand Hein Leah , Hu Zhaoxian , Saran Rajiv , Argentina Marissa , Bragg-Gresham Jennifer , Krein Sarah L , Gillespie Brenda , Zheng Kai , Veinot Tiffany C
Published: June 2021

BACKGROUND

Patients on hemodialysis receive dialysis thrice weekly for about 4 hours per session. Intradialytic hypotension (IDH)—low blood pressure during hemodialysis—is a serious but common complication of hemodialysis. Although patients on dialysis already participate in their care, activating patients toward IDH prevention may reduce their risk of IDH. Interactive, technology-based interventions hold promise as a platform for patient activation. However, little is known about the usability challenges that patients undergoing hemodialysis may face when using tablet-based informatics interventions, especially while dialyzing.

OBJECTIVE

This study aims to test the usability of a patient-facing, tablet-based intervention that includes theory-informed educational modules and motivational interviewing–based mentoring from patient peers via videoconferencing.

METHODS

We conducted a cross-sectional, mixed methods usability evaluation of the tablet-based intervention by using think-aloud methods, field notes, and structured observations. These qualitative data were evaluated by trained researchers using a structured data collection instrument to capture objective observational data. We calculated descriptive statistics for the quantitative data and conducted inductive content analysis using the qualitative data.

RESULTS

Findings from 14 patients cluster around general constraints such as the use of one arm, dexterity issues, impaired vision, and lack of experience with touch screen devices. Our task-by-task usability results showed that specific sections with the greatest difficulty for users were logging into the intervention (difficulty score: 2.08), interacting with the quizzes (difficulty score: 1.92), goal setting (difficulty score: 2.28), and entering and exiting videoconference rooms (difficulty score: 2.07) that are used to engage with peers during motivational interviewing sessions.

CONCLUSIONS

In this paper, we present implications for designing informatics interventions for patients on dialysis and detail resulting changes to be implemented in the next version of this intervention. We frame these implications first through the context of the role the patients’ physical body plays when interacting with the intervention and then through the digital considerations for software and interface interaction.
Extraction of Traditional Chinese Medicine Entity: Design of a Novel Span-Level Named Entity Recognition Method With Distant Supervision (Preprint)
Authors: Jia Qi , Zhang Dezheng , Xu Haifeng , Xie Yonghong
Published: June 2021

BACKGROUND

Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) clinical records contain the symptoms of patients, diagnoses, and subsequent treatment of doctors. These records are important resources for research and analysis of TCM diagnosis knowledge. However, most of TCM clinical records are unstructured text. Therefore, a method to automatically extract medical entities from TCM clinical records is indispensable.

OBJECTIVE

Training a medical entity extracting model needs a large number of annotated corpus. The cost of annotated corpus is very high and there is a lack of gold-standard data sets for supervised learning methods. Therefore, we utilized distantly supervised named entity recognition (NER) to respond to the challenge.

METHODS

We propose a span-level distantly supervised NER approach to extract TCM medical entity. It utilizes the pretrained language model and a simple multilayer neural network as classifier to detect and classify entity. We also designed a negative sampling strategy for the span-level model. The strategy randomly selects negative samples in every epoch and filters the possible false-negative samples periodically. It reduces the bad influence from the false-negative samples.

RESULTS

We compare our methods with other baseline methods to illustrate the effectiveness of our method on a gold-standard data set. The F1 score of our method is 77.34 and it remarkably outperforms the other baselines.

CONCLUSIONS

We developed a distantly supervised NER approach to extract medical entity from TCM clinical records. We estimated our approach on a TCM clinical record data set. Our experimental results indicate that the proposed approach achieves a better performance than other baselines.
The Characteristics and Functionalities of Mobile Apps Aimed at Patients Diagnosed With Immune-Mediated Inflammatory Diseases: Systematic App Search (Preprint)
Authors: Romero-Jimenez Rosa , Escudero-Vilaplana Vicente , Chamorro-De-Vega Esther , Ais-Larisgoitia Arantza , Lobato Matilla Maria Elena , Herranz-Alonso Ana , Sanjurjo Maria
Published: June 2021

BACKGROUND

Immune-mediated inflammatory diseases (IMIDs) are systemic conditions associated with a high social and health impact. New treatments have changed the prognosis of IMIDs and have increased patient autonomy in disease management. Mobile apps have enormous potential to improve health outcomes in patients with IMIDs. Although a large number of IMID apps are available, the app market is not regulated, and functionality and reliability remain uncertain.

OBJECTIVE

Our aims are to review available apps for patients with IMIDs or caregivers and to describe the main characteristics and functionalities of these apps.

METHODS

We performed an observational, cross-sectional, descriptive study of all apps for patients with IMIDs. Between April 5 and 14, 2021, we conducted a search of the App Store (iOS) and Play Store (Android) platforms. We used the names of the different IMIDs as search terms. The inclusion criteria were as follows: content related to IMIDs, English or Spanish language, and user population consisting of patients and health care consumers, including family and caregivers. The variables analyzed were as follows: app name, type of IMID, platform (Android or iOS), country of origin, language, category of the app, cost, date of the last update, size, downloads, author affiliation, and functionalities.

RESULTS

We identified 713 apps in the initial search, and 243 apps met the criteria and were analyzed. Of these, 37% (n=90) were on Android, 27.2% (n=66) on iOS, and 35.8% (n=87) on both platforms. The most frequent categories were health and well-being/fitness apps (n=188, 48.5%) and medicine (n=82, 37.9%). A total of 211 (82.3%) apps were free. The mean time between the date of the analysis and the date of the most recent update was 18.5 (SD 19.3) months. Health care professionals were involved in the development of 100 (41.1%) apps. We found differences between Android and iOS in the mean time since the last update (16.2, SD 14.7 months vs 30.3, SD 25.7 months) and free apps (85.6% vs 75.8%; respectively). The functionalities were as follows: general information about lifestyles, nutrition, or exercises (n=135, 55.6%); specific information about the disease or treatment (n=102, 42%); recording of symptoms or adverse events (n=51, 21%); agenda/calendar (n=44, 18.1%); reminder medication (n=41, 16.9%); and recording of patient-reported outcomes (n=41, 16.9%). A total of 147 (60.5%) apps had more than one functionality.

CONCLUSIONS

IMID-related apps are heterogeneous in terms of functionality and reliability. Apps may be a useful complement to IMID care, especially inpatient education (their most frequent functionality). However, more than half of the IMID apps had not been developed by health care professionals or updated in the last year.
Review and Analysis of German Mobile Apps for Inflammatory Bowel Disease Management Using the Mobile Application Rating Scale: Systematic Search in App Stores and Content Analysis (Preprint)
Authors: Gerner Maximilian , Vuillerme Nicolas , Aubourg Timothée , Messner Eva-Maria , Terhorst Yannik , Hörmann Verena , Ganzleben Ingo , Schenker Hannah , Schett Georg , Atreya Raja , Neurath Markus F , Knitza Johannes , Orlemann Till
Published: June 2021

BACKGROUND

Patients suffering from inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) frequently need long-term medical treatment. Mobile apps promise to complement and improve IBD management, but so far there has been no scientific analysis of their quality.

OBJECTIVE

This study evaluated the quality of German mobile apps targeting IBD patients and physicians treating IBD patients using the Mobile Application Rating Scale (MARS).

METHODS

The German Apple App Store and Google Play Store were systematically searched to identify German IBD mobile apps for patient and physician use. MARS was used by 6 physicians (3 using Android smartphones and 3 using iPhones) to independently assess app quality. Apps were randomly assigned so that the 4 apps with the most downloads were rated by all raters and the remaining apps were rated by 1 Android and 1 iOS user.

RESULTS

In total, we identified 1764 apps in the Apple App Store and Google Play Store. After removing apps that were not related to IBD (n=1386) or not available in German (n=317), 61 apps remained. After removing duplicates (n=3) and apps for congresses (n=7), journals (n=4), and clinical studies (n=6), as well as excluding apps that were available in only 1 of the 2 app stores (n=20) and apps that could only be used with an additional device (n=7), we included a total of 14 apps. The app “CED Dokumentation und Tipps” had the highest overall median MARS score at 4.11/5. On the whole, the median MARS scores of the 14 apps ranged between 2.38/5 and 4.11/5. As there was no significant difference between iPhone and Android raters, we used the Wilcoxon comparison test to calculate P values.

CONCLUSIONS

The MARS ratings showed that the quality of German IBD apps varied. We also discovered a discrepancy between app store ratings and MARS ratings, highlighting the difficulty of assessing perceived app quality. Despite promising results from international studies, there is little evidence for the clinical benefits of German IBD apps. Clinical studies and patient inclusion in the app development process are needed to effectively implement mobile apps in routine care.
Синдром Веста: клінічні, нейровізуалізаційні симптоми та показники розвитку
Authors: Karataş Kemal , Tan Hüseyin , Baysal Şenay Güven
Published: June 2021

Актуальність. Синдром Веста характеризується картиною гіпсаритмії на електроенцефалографії, судомами спазмового типу і тріадою психомоторної регресії. Метою цього дослідження було визначення демографічних характеристик, клінічних та лабораторних показників, відповіді на лікування, впливу на формування нервової системи та факторів ризику, що розвинулися протягом тривалого спостереження пацієнтів із діагнозом синдрому Веста. Матеріали та методи. У дослідження були включені пацієнти, у яких був діагностований синдром Веста в період з липня 2011 року по грудень 2012 року на кафедрі дитячої неврології університету Ататюрка. З анамнезу кожного пацієнта були зібрані наступні дані. Були розглянуті показники загального та неврологічного досліджень, церебральної томографії та електроенцефалографії. Біохімічні аналізи проводилися за результатами лабораторних досліджень. Розвиток кожної дитини оцінювався за допомогою тесту для скринінгу на розвиток Denver 2, тесту для контролю та скринінгу розвитку Ankara. Результати. Співвідношення хлопчиків і дівчаток серед наших пацієнтів становило 2,28 : 1, а середній вік становив 8,62 ± 7,20 місяця (медіана: 8,0). 59 (85,51 %) пацієнтів були в симптоматичній групі й 10 (14,49 %) — у групі з ідіопатичним генезом захворювання. Найбільш частими факторами в симптоматичній групі були вроджені аномалії центральної нервової системи (45,7 %) і гіпоксично-ішемічна енцефалопатія (28,8 %). Спостерігалася вірогідна різниця між ідіопатичною та симптоматичною групами за частотою рецидивів, рентгенологічними даними та прогнозом (р = 0,035/р < 0,001/р < 0,001). Рецидив спостерігався в 43,5 % хворих. Серед пацієнтів, які отримували адренокортикотропний гормон, 83 % особи відповіли на лікування, у 17 % реєстрували резистентні судоми. Статистично значущої різниці між відповідями на лікування адренокортикотропним гормоном та іншими методами лікування не було (р = 0,093). У 46 з 55 дітей (83,6 %) була виявлена затримка розвитку. Висновки. Рання діагностика і лікування, надання належного й зручного лікування при синдромі Веста можуть чинити сприятливий вплив на прогноз залежно від етіології.