Prevalence of internet addiction and psychological factors in adolescents during the covid-19 pandemic / Prevalência de dependência da internet e fatores psicológicos em adolescentes durante a pandemia de covid-19 / Prevalencia de la adicción a internet y factores psicológicos en adolescentes durante la pandemia de la covid-19

Addictive behaviors related to Internet are becoming more common and this tool has been essential once it enables home office, entertainment, homeschooling, and easy access to information. Despite the easiness brought by technology, the exaggerated use has affected users in different ways, including in the development of psychiatric disorders. This study aimed to assess internet addiction, depression, anxiety, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), attention, impulsivity, and stress in 48 adolescents (26 young women and 22 young men), aged from 15 to 18 years, with a mean age of 16.74 (0.61), mostly students of public schools, during COVID-19, to investigate correlations between these variables according to sex and sociodemographic aspects. To assess the factors, the Internet Addiction Test (IAT); the Swanson, Nolan, and Pelham Rating Scale (SNAP-IV) Questionnaire ; the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress scale for brazilian adolescents (EDAE-A); the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale (BIS-11); and a sociodemographic questionnaire were applied. The data collection was performed in schools located in southern Brazil. The results indicated that 12 out of 48 adolescents were considered addicted to the Internet. Moreover, Internet addiction was a predictor of depression in regression analysis (p<0.001). In addition, participants classified as more addicted to the Internet scored lower averages in general attention (p<0.035) and higher averages in behavioral symptoms of inattention and ADHD (p<0.050), stress (p<0.003), anxiety (p<0.016), and depression (p<0.015), with effect sizes ranging from moderate to high. Therefore, the intense internet use by adolescents might cause psychological consequences such as depression in adolescents. Family support and professional intervention might help in the reduction of symptoms and consequences of internet addiction as well as in its prevention.(AU)

A dependência de internet é cada vez mais comum, pois essa ferramenta tem se tornado imprescindível, uma vez que possibilita home office, entretenimento, educação domiciliar e fácil acesso às informações. No entanto, o uso exagerado da tecnologia afeta os usuários de diversas formas, inclusive no desenvolvimento de transtornos psiquiátricos. Este estudo visou avaliar a dependência de internet, depressão, ansiedade, hiperatividade, atenção, impulsividade e estresse em 48 adolescentes (26 meninas e 22 meninos) de 15 a 18 anos, com idade média de 16,74 (0,61), estudantes de escolas públicas do Sul do Brasil durante a covid-19, para investigar correlações entre as variáveis anteriores de acordo com gênero e aspectos sociodemográficos. Para avaliar, aplicou-se o Internet Addiction Test (IAT), um teste de atenção, escala SNAP IV, escala de depressão, ansiedade e estresse para adolescentes (EDAE-A), escala de impulsividade de Barratt e um questionário sociodemográfico. Os resultados indicaram que 12 adolescentes foram considerados viciados em internet, e que a dependência desta foi preditora da depressão na análise de regressão (p < 0,001). Ainda, os participantes classificados como adictos tiveram médias mais baixas em atenção geral (p < 0,035) e mais altas em sintomas comportamentais de desatenção e hiperatividade (p < 0,050), estresse (p < 0,003), ansiedade (p < 0,016) e depressão (p < 0,015), com efeitos que variaram de moderado a alto. Portanto, o uso intenso da internet por adolescentes pode ter consequências psicológicas, como a depressão. Bom apoio familiar e intervenção profissional podem ajudar na redução dos sintomas e consequências, bem como na prevenção da dependência.(AU)

La adicción a Internet es cada vez más habitual, puesto que esta herramienta es esencial para el trabajo remoto, el entretenimiento, la educación domiciliar y el fácil acceso a la información. Sin embargo, su uso exagerado afecta a la vida de las personas de diferentes maneras, incluso en el desarrollo de trastornos psiquiátricos. El objetivo de este estudio fue evaluar la adicción a Internet, depresión, ansiedad, hiperactividad, atención, impulsividad y estrés en 48 adolescentes (26 muchachas y 22 muchachos), de entre 15 y 18 años, con una edad promedio de 16,74 (0,61), en su mayoría estudiantes de escuelas públicas del Sur de Brasil, durante la pandemia de la COVID-19, para investigar las correlaciones entre las variables mencionadas según género y aspectos sociodemográficos. Para evaluar los factores, se aplicaron el Test de Adicción a Internet (TAI), un test de atención, la escala SNAP IV, la Escala de Depresión, Ansiedad y Estrés para adolescentes (EDAE-A), la escala de impulsividad de Barratt y un cuestionario sociodemográfico. Los resultados indicaron que 12 adolescentes fueron considerados adictos a Internet, además, la adicción a Internet fue un predictor de la depresión en el análisis de regresión (p<0,001). Igualmente, los participantes clasificados como más adictos a Internet tuvieron promedios más bajos en atención general (p<0,035), y más altos en síntomas conductuales de falta de atención e hiperactividad (p<0,050), estrés (p<0,003), ansiedad (p<0,016) y depresión (p<0,015), con efectos que varían de moderado a alto. Por lo tanto, el uso intenso podría producir consecuencias psicológicas como la depresión en los adolescentes. Tener un buen apoyo familiar e intervención profesional puede ayudar a reducir los síntomas y las consecuencias de la adicción a Internet, así como prevenirla.(AU)

Algorithm for wireless sensor networks in ginseng field in precision agriculture.

In the research on energy-efficient networking methods for precision agriculture, a hot topic is the energy issue of sensing nodes for individual wireless sensor networks. The sensing nodes of the wireless sensor network should be enabled to provide better services with limited energy to support wide-range and multi-scenario acquisition and transmission of three-dimensional crop information. Further, the life cycle of the sensing nodes should be maximized under limited energy. The transmission direction and node power consumption are considered, and the forward and high-energy nodes are selected as the preferred cluster heads or data-forwarding nodes. Taking the cropland cultivation of ginseng as the background, we put forward a particle swarm optimization-based networking algorithm for wireless sensor networks with excellent performance. This algorithm can be used for precision agriculture and achieve optimal equipment configuration in a network under limited energy, while ensuring reliable communication in the network. The node scale is configured as 50 to 300 nodes in the range of 500 × 500 m2, and simulated testing is conducted with the LEACH, BCDCP, and ECHERP routing protocols. Compared with the existing LEACH, BCDCP, and ECHERP routing protocols, the proposed networking method can achieve the network lifetime prolongation and mitigate the decreased degree and decreasing trend of the distance between the sensing nodes and center nodes of the sensor network, which results in a longer network life cycle and stronger environment suitability. It is an effective method that improves the sensing node lifetime for a wireless sensor network applied to cropland cultivation of ginseng.

Genetic algorithm optimized node deployment in IEEE 802.15.4 potato and wheat crop monitoring infrastructure.

This proposal investigates the effect of vegetation height and density on received signal strength between two sensor nodes communicating under IEEE 802.15.4 wireless standard. With the aim of investigating the path loss coefficient of 2.4 GHz radio signal in an IEEE 802.15.4 precision agriculture monitoring infrastructure, measurement campaigns were carried out in different growing stages of potato and wheat crops. Experimental observations indicate that initial node deployment in the wheat crop experiences network dis-connectivity due to increased signal attenuation, which is due to the growth of wheat vegetation height and density in the grain-filling and physical-maturity periods. An empirical measurement-based path loss model is formulated to identify the received signal strength in different crop growth stages. Further, a NSGA-II multi-objective evolutionary computation is performed to generate initial node deployment and is optimized over increased coverage, reduced over-coverage, and received signal strength. The results show the development of a reliable wireless sensor network infrastructure for wheat crop monitoring.

Design and Testing of Stimulation and Myoelectric Recording Modules in an Implanted Distributed Neuroprosthetic System.

Implantable motor neuroprostheses can restore functionality to individuals with neurological disabilities by electrically activating paralyzed muscles in coordinated patterns. The typical design of neuroprosthetic systems relies on a single multi-use device, but this limits the number of stimulus and sensor channels that can be practically implemented. To address this limitation, a modular neuroprosthesis, the "Networked Neuroprosthesis" (NNP), was developed. The NNP system is the first fully implanted modular neuroprosthesis that includes implantation of all power, signal processing, biopotential signal recording, and stimulating components. This paper describes the design of stimulation and recording modules, bench testing to verify stimulus outputs and appropriate filtering and recording, and validation that the components function properly while implemented in persons with spinal cord injury. The results of system testing demonstrated that the NNP was functional and capable of generating stimulus pulses and recording myoelectric, temperature, and accelerometer signals. Based on the successful design, manufacturing, and testing of the NNP System, multiple clinical applications are anticipated.

Applying Medical Device Informatics to Enable Safe and Secure Interoperable Systems: Medical Device Interface Data Sheets.

This article describes the concept of Medical Device Interface Data Sheets (MDIDSs) to document and characterize medical device interface data requirements, the processes for creating MDIDSs, and its role in supporting patient safety and cybersecurity of current systems while enabling innovation in the area of next-generation medical Internet of Things (IoT) platforms for integrating sensors, actuators, and applications (apps).

Diseño y validación de un sitio web sobre medicina natural y tradicional / Design and validation of a website on natural and traditional medicine

En las últimas décadas ha aumentado el interés por el uso de la Medicina Natural y Tradicional como alternativa económica y de fácil uso, la misma se concibe como parte del plan de estudio de las carreras de Ciencias Médicas, tanto para estudiantes de pregrado como de postgrado. No obstante, son insuficientes los materiales didácticos con que se cuenta para satisfacer las necesidades de aprendizaje de los estudiantes. Es aún necesario profundizar y actualizar los conocimientos científicos sobre esta materia. Se realizó una investigación con el objetivo de diseñar un sitio web que facilite el desarrollo del proceso enseñanza aprendizaje con las 10 Modalidades Terapéuticas de Medicina Natural y Tradicional autorizadas en Cuba para estudiantes de la Facultad de Ciencias Médicas de Bayamo. Se desarrolló en 4 etapas; la primera hace referencia al análisis situacional que permitió conocer la necesidad de diseñar el sitio web, la segunda etapa incluye lo relativo al diseño del sitio web, en la tercera se realizó el proceso de validación del mismo, mientras que en la cuarta etapa se evaluó el nivel de satisfacción de los sujetos en estudio. Participaron estudiantes de la carrera de Medicina, Estomatología, Enfermería y Tecnología de la salud, con una muestra de 331 estudiantes. La investigación realizada sustenta la necesidad de poner en práctica el sitio web en la institución en el momento en que se consolidan las trasformaciones necesarias del sector para el desarrollo del programa de la Medicina Natural y Tradicional desde lo curricular.

Implementation and Benefits of a Vendor-Neutral Archive and Enterprise-Imaging Management System in an Integrated Delivery Network.

The use of digital imaging has substantially grown in recent decades, in traditional services, new specialties, and departments. The need to share these data among departments and caregivers necessitated central archiving systems that are able to communicate with various viewing applications and electronic medical records. This promoted the development of modern vendor neutral archive (VNA) systems. The need to aggregate and share imaging data from various departments promoted the development of enterprise-imaging (EI) solutions that replace departmental silos of data with central healthcare enterprise databases. To describe the implementation process of a VNA-EI solution in a large health system and its outcomes. We review the background of VNA and EI solutions development and describe the characteristics and advantages of such systems. We then describe our experience in implementation of these solutions in a large integrated healthcare delivery network in northeast Ohio. We then present the process, challenges, costs, advantages, and outcomes of such implementation. The VNA and EI solution was launched in December 2015 and is still ongoing. It currently includes 54 radiology and 26 cardiology sites affiliated with the University Hospitals health system. This process was associated with more than 10% cost savings, 30% reduction in storage costs, superior support for disaster recovery, and 80% decrease in unscheduled outages. All these were achieved despite a 120% increase in archive retrieval needs and a 40% growth in image production. Implementation of a VNA and EI solution was successful and resulted in numerous measurable and qualitative improvements in a large and growing health system.

The Conceptual Modeling of Interoperability Framework of Heart Sound Monitor in the Context of an Interoperable End-to-End Architecture.

Background: Heart sound monitor (HSM), a device suitable for home-use, can be used to acquire heart sounds. It enables the telemonitoring of cardiac function, which has been largely evolved and widely used in recent years. Nevertheless, the designers paid little attention to the consistency of information model and data interaction of HSM, thus the data could not be shared and aggregated among healthcare systems. Consequently, the device's development and its application in person-centered telehealth are hindered. Objective: To solve this problem and to build interoperability for HSM, this article proposes a HSM interoperability framework that is constructed by using standardized modeling methods. Methods: The authors collected the common device-output information of HSM involved in telemonitoring, leveraged the standardized interoperability framework defined in ISO/IEEE 11073 Personal Health Device (11073-PHD) standards to model the static data structure and dynamic interaction behaviors of HSM. Results: Via a meta-analysis, the HSM device-output information includes collected data (heart sound measurement), and derived data (e.g., device status). Based on such information, an 11073-PHD-compliant domain information model has been successfully created. This enables the interoperability between HSM and aggregation device, allowing inter-device plug-and-play using the service model and communication model. A prototype of this design has been implemented and validated via Continua Enabling Software Library. Conclusions: The ISO/IEEE 11073-PHD standard framework has the potential to accommodate the HSM, which implicate HSM can be integrated into the interoperable ecosystem to achieve holistic health solution. Findings in this article may be taken as a reference for standard developing organizations to establish a standardized interoperability framework for HSM.

Applying Molecular Networking for the Detection of Natural Sources and Analogues of the Selective Gq Protein Inhibitor FR900359.

The cyclic depsipeptide FR900359 (FR), isolated from the traditional Chinese medicine plant Ardisia crenata, is a potent Gq protein inhibitor and thus a valuable tool to study Gq-mediated signaling of G protein-coupled receptors. Two new FR analogues (3 and 4) were isolated from A. crenata together with the known analogues 1 and 2. The structures of compounds 3 and 4 were established by NMR spectroscopic data and MS-based molecular networking followed by in-depth LCMS2 analysis. The latter approach led to the annotation of further FR analogues 5-9. Comparative bioactivity tests of compounds 1-4 along with the parent molecule FR showed high-affinity binding to Gq proteins in the low nanomolar range (IC50 = 2.3-16.8 nM) for all analogues as well as equipotent inhibition of Gq signaling, which gives important SAR insights into this valuable natural product. Additionally, FR was detected from leaves of five other Ardisia species, among them the non-nodulated leaves of Ardisia lucida, implying a much broader distribution of FR than originally anticipated.

An Integrated Study on the Antitumor Effect and Mechanism of Triphala Against Gynecological Cancers Based on Network Pharmacological Prediction and In Vitro Experimental Validation.

OBJECTIVES: Triphala is a herbal medicine that has been widely used for treating a variety of ailments. This study aims to systematically analyze the antitumor effects of Triphala on gynecological cancers. METHODS: The antineoplastic activities of Triphala on gynecological cancers were analyzed using network pharmacology-based strategies. Afterward, the human ovarian cancer cell line SK-OV-3, cervical cancer cell line HeLa, and endometrial cancer cell line HEC-1-B were selected for experimetal valification. RESULTS: Network pharmacology analysis suggested that Triphala could comprehensively intervene in proliferation and apoptosis through diverse signaling pathways, mainly including MAPK/ERK, PI3K/Akt/mTOR, and NF-κB/p53. The Cell Counting Kit 8 (CCK-8) assay illustrated that Triphala was able to inhibit cell proliferation with half inhibition concentration (IC50) values of 98.28 ± 13.71, 95.56 ± 8.94, and 101.23 ± 7.76 µg/mL against SK-OV-3, HeLa, and HEC-1-B cells, respectively. The ELISA experiment demonstrated that Triphala was capable of promoting programmed cell death, with dosage correlations. The antiproliferative and proapoptotic activities were confirmed by flow cytometric analysis using Ki67 antibody and Annexin V/propidium iodide (PI) dual staining. Western blotting revealed a decrease in expression levels of phospho-Akt, phospho-p44/42, and phospho-NF-κB p56 in cells administered Triphala, which indicated that the possible mechanism could involve downregulation of MAPK/ERK, PI3K/Akt/mTOR, and NF-κB/p53 signaling pathways, as was predicted. CONCLUSION: Triphala holds great promise for treating gynecological cancers. Although the favorable pharmacological properties have been preliminarily investigated in this study, further studies are still needed to uncover the sophisticated mechanism of Triphala in cancer therapy.

Challenges And Opportunities Faced By Large Health Systems Implementing Telehealth.

Executives at large health systems across the United States have an interest in developing or expanding telehealth programs. While interest is increasing, telehealth implementation teams (or e-health teams) often face challenges that can hinder the successful transition from pilot to full-scale implementation. Here we share lessons learned by four large health systems that have faced and largely surmounted these challenges. For e-health teams to successfully engage senior leaders in new telehealth initiatives, it is essential to align proposals with the strategic goals of the institution and use patient stories to highlight the benefits of telehealth. To manage the demand for telehealth offerings from patients and dozens of clinical departments, e-health teams should develop a framework for deciding what's most important. To get large medical staffs to adopt telehealth workflows, e-health teams should nurture telehealth champions at each staff level and incentivize them with career development opportunities and rewards. To enroll a heterogeneous population of patients in telehealth programs, e-health teams should use multiple methods of education to accommodate different learning styles. And finally, health systems should develop telehealth-specific outcome measures and repeatedly use them to motivate improvement.

A Survey on Biofeedback and Actuation in Wireless Body Area Networks (WBANs).

Wireless body area networks (WBANs) have attained increasing popularity as the next generation framework of wearable technologies for human monitoring. Invasive or noninvasive wearable sensors designed in a WBAN are worn to gather vital information. Biofeedback is a recent concept where collected data are used to generate actuation signals in WBANs. Applications can be seen in various areas such as sports (e.g., locomotor velocity) or medicine (e.g., blood pressure measurement). However, since the body is closely regulated, the next generation WBAN technology must be smart enough to react to monitored data. The main aim of this paper is to review the current state of biofeedback and actuation technology on WBANs in terms of its structure, applications, benefits, and control approaches. The emphasis on the specific requirements when applying biofeedback to humans will be highlighted and discussed. Challenges and open research issues will be concluded at the end.

Global Asthma Network survey suggests more national asthma strategies could reduce burden of asthma

BACKGROUND: Several countries or regions within countries have an effective national asthma strategy resulting in a reduction of the large burden of asthma to individuals and society. There has been no systematic appraisal of the extent of national asthma strategies in the world. METHODS: The Global Asthma Network (GAN) undertook an email survey of 276 Principal Investigators of GAN centres in 120 countries, in 2013-2014. One of the questions was: "Has a national asthma strategy been developed in your country for the next five years? For children? For adults?". RESULTS: Investigators in 112 (93.3%) countries answered this question. Of these, 26 (23.2%) reported having a national asthma strategy for children and 24 (21.4%) for adults; 22 (19.6%) countries had a strategy for both children and adults; 28 (25%) had a strategy for at least one age group. In countries with a high prevalence of current wheeze, strategies were significantly more common than in low prevalence countries (11/13 (85%) and 7/31 (22.6%) respectively, p < 0.001). Interpretation. In 25% countries a national asthma strategy was reported. A large reduction in the global burden of asthma could be potentially achieved if more countries had an effective asthma strategy

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Radiofrequency exposure near an attocell as part of an ultra-high density access network.

In the future, wireless radiofrequency (RF) telecommunications networks will provide users with gigabit-per-second data rates. Therefore, these networks are evolving toward hybrid networks, which will include commonly used macro- and microcells in combination with local ultra-high density access networks consisting of so-called attocells. The use of attocells requires a proper compliance assessment of exposure to RF electromagnetic radiation. This paper presents, for the first time, such a compliance assessment of an attocell operating at 3.5 GHz with an input power of 1 mW, based on both root-mean-squared electric field strength (Erms ) and peak 10 g-averaged specific absorption rate (SAR10g ) values. The Erms values near the attocell were determined using finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) simulations and measurements by a tri-axial probe. They were compared to the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection's (ICNIRP) reference levels. All measured and simulated Erms values above the attocell were below 5.9 V/m and lower than reference levels. The SAR10g values were measured in a homogeneous phantom, which resulted in an SAR10g of 9.7 mW/kg, and used FDTD simulations, which resulted in an SAR10g of 7.2 mW/kg. FDTD simulations of realistic exposure situations were executed using a heterogeneous phantom, which yielded SAR10g values lower than 2.8 mW/kg. The studied dosimetric quantities were in compliance with ICNIRP guidelines when the attocell was fed an input power <1 mW. The deployment of attocells is thus a feasible solution for providing broadband data transmission without drastically increasing personal RF exposure. Bioelectromagnetics. 38:295-306, 2017. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Implementation and Analysis of ISM 2.4 GHz Wireless Sensor Network Systems in Judo Training Venues.

In this work, the performance of ISM 2.4 GHz Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) deployed in judo training venues is analyzed. Judo is a very popular martial art, which is practiced by thousands of people not only at the competition level, but also as part of physical education programs at different school levels. There is a great variety of judo training venues, and each one has specific morphological aspects, making them unique scenarios in terms of radio propagation due to the presence of furniture, columns, equipment and the presence of human beings, which is a major issue as the person density within this kind of scenarios could be high. Another key aspect is the electromagnetic interference created by other wireless systems, such as WiFi or other WSNs, which make the radio planning a complex task in terms of coexistence. In order to analyze the impact of these features on the radio propagation and the performance of WSNs, an in-house developed 3D ray launching algorithm has been used. The obtained simulation results have been validated with a measurement campaign carried out in the sport facilities of the Public University of Navarre. The analysis is completed with the inclusion of an application designed to monitor biological constants of judokas, aimed to improve their training procedures. The application, that allows the simultaneous monitoring of multiple judokas (collective workouts) minimizing the efforts of the coach and medical supervisor, is based on commercial off-the-shelf products. The presented assessment of the presence of interfering wireless systems and the presence of human beings within judo training venues shows that an in-depth radio planning is required as these issues can have a great impact in the overall performance of a ISM 2.4 GHz WSN, affecting negatively the potential applications supported by wireless channel.

Occurrence of hepatotoxicity with pazopanib and other anti-VEGF treatments for renal cell carcinoma: an observational study utilizing a distributed database network.

PURPOSE: To quantify the hepatic safety of pazopanib and comparator anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) therapies in clinical practice among renal cell carcinoma (RCC) patients. METHODS: A population-based cohort study of new anti-VEGF users was conducted in two US healthcare databases, Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and an oncology practice network (Altos), and the PHARMO Database Network in The Netherlands. A common protocol was used to collect liver chemistry (LC) data from anti-VEGF initiation through 4 years of follow-up. In the VA population, suspected drug-induced liver injury (DILI) outcomes were investigated via chart review, with adjudication by hepatologists. RESULTS: In Altos and VA, respectively, the total RCC patients were: pazopanib (156, 243), bevacizumab (122, 99), sorafenib (82, 249) and sunitinib (285, 751). PHARMO contained too few patients to be included. Few cases of alanine aminotransferase (ALT) ≥8× the upper limit of normal were seen across the anti-VEGF cohorts; incidence rates (per 100 person-years) ranged from 0 (sunitinib) to 8.2 (pazopanib) in Altos and from 0 (bevacizumab and sorafenib) to 2.1 (pazopanib) among VA patients. No cases of Hy's law identified by combination LC elevations were seen in patients treated with pazopanib or bevacizumab; one case was observed in those treated with sorafenib, and two cases were found among sunitinib users. One case of adjudicated DILI was observed in a sunitinib-treated patient; none were found among patients treated with pazopanib, bevacizumab or sorafenib. CONCLUSIONS: Severe liver injury occurred infrequently during exposure to pazopanib and other anti-VEGF therapies in a population-based setting.

Comparison of average global exposure of population induced by a macro 3G network in different geographical areas in France and Serbia.

This article is the first thorough study of average population exposure to third generation network (3G)-induced electromagnetic fields (EMFs), from both uplink and downlink radio emissions in different countries, geographical areas, and for different wireless device usages. Indeed, previous publications in the framework of exposure to EMFs generally focused on individual exposure coming from either personal devices or base stations. Results, derived from device usage statistics collected in France and Serbia, show a strong heterogeneity of exposure, both in time, that is, the traffic distribution over 24 h was found highly variable, and space, that is, the exposure to 3G networks in France was found to be roughly two times higher than in Serbia. Such heterogeneity is further explained based on real data and network architecture. Among those results, authors show that, contrary to popular belief, exposure to 3G EMFs is dominated by uplink radio emissions, resulting from voice and data traffic, and average population EMF exposure differs from one geographical area to another, as well as from one country to another, due to the different cellular network architectures and variability of mobile usage. Bioelectromagnetics. 37:382-390, 2016. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Moving Toward a Virtual Knowledge Platform for Faith Community Nurses.

In preparation for the development of a virtual knowledge platform for faith community nurses, a review of literature explored the prevalence and context of electronic knowledge management initiatives. The review revealed that healthcare, business, and global virtual knowledge platforms have been developed to elicit certain behaviors in users. For those who develop virtual knowledge platforms, the results are improved efficiency, innovation, accessibility, and cost savings. The main component of virtual knowledge platforms is a central repository or an infrastructure where knowledge is created, acquired, stored (documents), updated, and shared internally and externally. The refinery processes refer to technology mechanisms that make content accessible. A transparent collaboration among information technology, knowledge owners, and users is needed to successfully sustain a virtual knowledge platform. Faith community nurses often practice in isolated environments. A virtual knowledge platform where practice resources and tools are shared, and communication among peers exists, may improve knowledge and skills and result in a positive impact on patient outcomes.