Training in the use of the water jet and cold atmospheric plasma jet for the decontamination of dental implants.

OBJECTIVES: Clinical trials testing new devices require prior training on dummies to minimize the "learning curve" for patients. Dentists were trained using a novel water jet device for mechanical cleaning of dental implants and with a novel cold plasma device for surface functionalisation during a simulated open flap peri-implantitis therapy. The hypothesis was that there would be a learning curve for both devices. MATERIALS AND METHODS: 11 dentists instrumented 44 implants in a dummy-fixed jaw model. The effect of the water jet treatment was assessed as stain removal and the effect of cold plasma treatment as surface wettability. Both results were analysed using photographs. To improve treatment skills, each dentist treated four implants and checked the results immediately after the treatment as feedback. RESULTS: Water jet treatment significantly improved from the first to the second implant from 62.7% to 75.3% stain removal, with no further improvement up to the fourth implant. The wettability with cold plasma application reached immediately a high level at the first implant and was unchanged to the 4th implant (mean scores 2.7 out of 3). CONCLUSION: A moderate learning curve was found for handling of the water jet but none for handling of the cold plasma. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Scientific rational for study: Two new devices were developed for peri-implantitis treatment (Dental water jet, cold plasma). Dentists were trained in the use of these devices prior to the trial to minimize learning effects. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Experienced dentists learn the handling of the water jet very rapidly and for cold plasma they do not need much training. PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS: A clinical study is in process. When the planned clinical study will be finished, we will find out, if this dummy head exercise really minimised the learning curve for these devices.

Usability of a point-of-care diagnostic to identify glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency: a multi-country assessment of test label comprehension and results interpretation.

BACKGROUND: Point-of-care glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) testing has the potential to make the use of radical treatment for vivax malaria safer and more effective. Widespread use of G6PD tests as part of malaria case management has been limited, in part due to due concerns regarding product usability, user training, and supervision. This study seeks to assess how well end users can understand the Standard™ G6PD Test (SD Biosensor, Suwon, South Korea) workflow, result output, and label after training. This will ultimately help inform test registration and introduction. METHODS: Potential G6PD test users who provide malaria case management at three sites in Brazil, Ethiopia, and India were trained on the use of the SD Biosensor Standard G6PD Test and assessed based on their ability to understand the test workflow and interpret results. The assessment was done through a questionnaire, designed to assess product usability against key technical product specifications and fulfill regulatory evidence requirements. Any participant who obtained 85% or above correct responses to the questionnaire was considered to adequately comprehend how to use and interpret the test. RESULTS: Forty-five participants, including malaria microscopists, laboratory staff, nurses, and community health workers took part in the study. Seventy-eight percent of all participants in the study (35/45) obtained passing scores on the assessment with minimal training. Responses to the multiple-choice questions indicate that most participants understood well the test intended use, safety claims, and warnings. The greatest source of error regarding the test was around the correct operating temperature. Most test results were also read and interpreted correctly, with the haemoglobin measurement being a more problematic output to interpret than the G6PD measurement. CONCLUSIONS: These data results show how a standardized tool can be used to assess a user's ability to run a point-of-care diagnostic and interpret results. When applied to the SD Biosensor Standard G6PD Test, this tool demonstrates that a range of users across multiple contexts can use the test and suggests improvements to the test instructions and training that can improve product usability, increase user comprehension, and ultimately contribute to more widespread effective use of point-of-care G6PD tests. TRIAL REGISTRATION: NCT04033640.

Identification of Factors Influencing the Adoption of Health Information Technology by Nurses Who Are Digitally Lagging: In-Depth Interview Study.

BACKGROUND: The introduction of health information technology (HIT) has drastically changed health care organizations and the way health care professionals work. Some health care professionals have trouble coping efficiently with the demands of HIT and the personal and professional changes it requires. Lagging in digital knowledge and skills hampers health care professionals from adhering to professional standards regarding the use of HIT and may cause professional performance problems, especially in the older professional population. It is important to gain more insight into the reasons and motivations behind the technology issues experienced by these professionals, as well as to explore what could be done to solve them. OBJECTIVE: Our primary research objective was to identify factors that influence the adoption of HIT in a sample of nurses who describe themselves as digitally lagging behind the majority of their colleagues in their workplaces. Furthermore, we aimed to formulate recommendations for practice and leadership on how to help and guide these nurses through ongoing digital transformations in their health care work settings. METHODS: In a Dutch university medical center, 10 face-to-face semi-structured interviews were performed with registered nurses (RN). Ammenwerth's FITT-framework (fit between the Individual, Task, and Technology) was used to guide the interview topic list and to formulate themes to explore. Thematic analysis was used to analyze the interview data. The FITT-framework was also used to further interpret and clarify the interview findings. RESULTS: Analyses of the interview data uncovered 5 main categories and 12 subthemes. The main categories were: (1) experience with digital working, (2) perception and meaning, (3) barriers, (4) facilitators, and (5) future perspectives. All participants used electronic devices and digital systems, including the electronic health record. The latter was experienced by some as user-unfriendly, time-consuming, and not supportive in daily professional practice. Most of the interviewees described digital working as "no fun at all," "working in a fake world," "stressful," and "annoying." There was a lack of general digital knowledge and little or no formal basic digital training or education. A negative attitude toward computer use and a lack of digital skills contributed to feelings of increased incompetency and postponement or avoidance of the use of HIT, both privately and professionally. Learning conditions of digital training and education did not meet personal learning needs and learning styles. A positive impact was seen in the work environment when colleagues and nurse managers were aware and sensitive to the difficulties participants experienced in developing digital skills, and when there was continuous training on the job and peer support from digitally savvy colleagues. The availability of a digital play environment combined with learning on the job and support of knowledgeable peers was experienced as helpful and motivating by participants. CONCLUSIONS: Nurses who are digitally lagging often have had insufficient and ineffective digital education. This leads to stress, frustration, feelings of incompetency, and postponement or avoidance of HIT use. A digital training approach tailored to the learning needs and styles of these nurses is needed, as well as an on-the-job training structure and adequate peer support. Hospital management and nurse leadership should be informed about the importance of the fit between technology, task, and the individual for adequate adoption of HIT.

Developing a Suite of Online Learning Modules on the Components of Next-Generation Sequencing Projects.

This column describes a project funded by the Big Data to Knowledge initiative to develop online learning modules for researchers, clinicians, and informationists/librarians on aspects of next-generation sequencing projects. The modules describe a framework for next-generation sequencing projects, with particular emphasis placed on experimental design, ethical considerations, data storage, and data sharing. The author outlines how the modules were developed and summarizes their contents.

Best practices for managing large CryoEM facilities.

This paper provides an overview of the discussion and presentations from the Workshop on the Management of Large CryoEM Facilities held at the New York Structural Biology Center, New York, NY on February 6-7, 2017. A major objective of the workshop was to discuss best practices for managing cryoEM facilities. The discussions were largely focused on supporting single-particle methods for cryoEM and topics included: user access, assessing projects, workflow, sample handling, microscopy, data management and processing, and user training.

The Effect of Retraining on Treatment Success, Quality of Life, and Metabolic Parameters in Patients with Type 1 Diabetes Using an Insulin Pump.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effect of insulin pump user retraining on treatment success, quality of life, and metabolic parameters of patients with type 1 diabetes using continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: A total of 35 subjects participated in this prospective study. All patients were given insulin pump user retraining. Their knowledge level and application skills, metabolic parameters, quality of life, and satisfaction from treatment were evaluated at baseline and after 6 months. RESULTS: There was significant improvement in patients' knowledge and application skills after insulin pump user retraining (self-assessment of user skills: 69.7 ± 11.5 vs. 76.3 ± 11.3, p < 0.001; knowledge level on technical issues: 3.3 ± 1.1 vs. 4.1 ± 1.8, p = 0.003; glucose monitoring: 27.1 ± 5.8 vs. 29.2 ± 5.6, p = 0.006; management of hyperglycemia: 13.1 ± 3.2 vs. 15.7 ± 3.4, p < 0.001; management of pump and infusion site problems: 8.8 ± 2.6 vs. 10.6 ± 2.6, p = 0.001). Hemoglobin (Hb)A1c levels of patients with poor glycemic control improved after retraining (8.61% ± 0.78 vs. 8.23% ± 0.79, p = 0.02). However, no significant improvement in quality of life and treatment satisfaction parameters were found. CONCLUSION: Management of type 1 diabetes in insulin pump users can be significantly improved by retraining. Even a basic short-term retraining program helps patients to increase their knowledge level and ability to more effectively use the insulin pump. The fact that retraining significantly improves glycemic parameters in patients with poor metabolic control indicates that priority should be given to this group of patients. Further studies with individualized training programs in larger sample sizes with long-term follow-up are needed to establish the importance of retraining and create re-education plans for patients with type 1 diabetes using an insulin pump.

Empirically testing some factors affecting HMS usage.

Purpose - Without use the expected benefits from healthcare management systems (HMS) cannot be derived. Thus, while use alone may not guarantee success, one can safely assume that the more use the better. HMS has been instrumental in facilitating care providers' work. However, many hospitals have encountered usage problems and some user-related factors have been recognized in the literature as potentially important to make HMS more successful. The purpose of this paper is to test the importance of the factors proposed in the literature as important determinants of HMS usage measured by the number of hours used and the frequency of use. Design/methodology/approach - Several user-related variables such as user participation, user expertise, and user training previously studied separately by different authors are brought together into an integrated model to be tested empirically. Data from 213 nurses using their hospital HMS have been used to test proposed relationships between the independent variables and HMS usage results. Findings - The results confirm the importance of these factors and provide the basis for managerial recommendations. Hospital managers can use the resources validated by this study to improve their own operations and improve the likelihood of success implementing HMS. Future research projects may identify other possible factors important for HMS implementation success to improve the model proposed here. Originality/value - HMS is a very widely used and an important system for hospitals, but has been neglected in research. This is one of the first rigorous studies of HMS, and the results provide new practical insights for hospital administrators.

Exploring human-robot cooperation with gamified user training: a user study on cooperative lifting.

Human-robot cooperation (HRC) is becoming increasingly relevant with the surge in collaborative robots (cobots) for industrial applications. Examples of humans and robots cooperating actively on the same workpiece can be found in research labs around the world, but industrial applications are still mostly limited to robots and humans taking turns. In this paper, we use a cooperative lifting task (co-lift) as a case study to explore how well this task can be learned within a limited time, and how background factors of users may impact learning. The experimental study included 32 healthy adults from 20 to 54 years who performed a co-lift with a collaborative robot. The physical setup is designed as a gamified user training system as research has validated that gamification is an effective methodology for user training. Human motions and gestures were measured using Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) sensors and used to interact with the robot across three role distributions: human as the leader, robot as the leader, and shared leadership. We find that regardless of age, gender, job category, gaming background, and familiarity with robots, the learning curve of all users showed a satisfactory progression and that all users could achieve successful cooperation with the robot on the co-lift task after seven or fewer trials. The data indicates that some of the background factors of the users such as occupation, past gaming habits, etc., may affect learning outcomes, which will be explored further in future experiments. Overall, the results indicate that the potential of the adoption of HRC in the industry is promising for a diverse set of users after a relatively short training process.

Riemannian geometry-based metrics to measure and reinforce user performance changes during brain-computer interface user training.

Despite growing interest and research into brain-computer interfaces (BCI), their usage remains limited outside of research laboratories. One reason for this is BCI inefficiency, the phenomenon where a significant number of potential users are unable to produce machine-discernible brain signal patterns to control the devices. To reduce the prevalence of BCI inefficiency, some have advocated for novel user-training protocols that enable users to more effectively modulate their neural activity. Important considerations for the design of these protocols are the assessment measures that are used for evaluating user performance and for providing feedback that guides skill acquisition. Herein, we present three trial-wise adaptations (running, sliding window and weighted average) of Riemannian geometry-based user-performance metrics (classDistinct reflecting the degree of class separability and classStability reflecting the level of within-class consistency) to enable feedback to the user following each individual trial. We evaluated these metrics, along with conventional classifier feedback, using simulated and previously recorded sensorimotor rhythm-BCI data to assess their correlation with and discrimination of broader trends in user performance. Analysis revealed that the sliding window and weighted average variants of our proposed trial-wise Riemannian geometry-based metrics more accurately reflected performance changes during BCI sessions compared to conventional classifier output. The results indicate the metrics are a viable method for evaluating and tracking user performance changes during BCI-user training and, therefore, further investigation into how these metrics may be presented to users during training is warranted.

Corrigendum: Riemannian geometry-based metrics to measure and reinforce user performance changes during brain-computer interface user training.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.3389/fncom.2023.1108889.].

The effects of simulation training on learning of health information systems: A scoping review.

One of the most commonly used methods for training is simulation. It is important to examine the effects of simulation training of health information systems on the knowledge, attitude, and skill in trainees. This review provided a summary of relevant literature on how simulation training affects the learning of health information systems and determine the features and functional capabilities of existing simulators. Studies and websites using simulation training to teach health information systems were included. Studies were searched through Medline (via PubMed), Scopus, and ISI Web of Science and websites through Google search by the end of 2019. The characteristics of studies, features, and functional capabilities of simulators and effects on learning outcomes were extracted. The included studies and websites were categorized according to different characteristics including simulation types, learning outcome categories, and the effects of simulation training on learning outcomes. The learning outcomes were categorized into four groups: knowledge, attitude, skill, and satisfaction. The effects of interventions on outcomes were categorized into statistically significant positive, positive without statistical argument, no effect (not statistically significant), negative without statistical argument, or statistically significant negative. Ten studies and eight websites that used simulation training to teach health information systems (mainly electronic health record [EHR]) were included. EHR simulation was performed in 80% of the included studies and trainees in 70% of studies were physicians and nurses. All studies were conducted in three developed countries. In the included studies, four learning outcomes (i.e. skill, attitude, knowledge, and satisfaction) were assessed. Ninety percent of the included studies assessed skill-related outcomes, with more than half mentioning significant improvement. Thirty percent of the included studies assessed outcomes-related knowledge and attitude, all of which reported the positive effects of simulation training. The simulators offered a variety of functional capabilities, while all of which simulated the clinical data entry process. In teaching health information systems, especially EHRs, simulation training enhances skill, attitude, knowledge, and satisfaction of health-care providers and students.

Practices for running a research-oriented shared cryo-EM facility.

The Harvard Cryo-Electron Microscopy Center for Structural Biology, which was formed as a consortium between Harvard Medical School, Boston Children's Hospital, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, and Massachusetts General Hospital, serves both academic and commercial users in the greater Harvard community. The facility strives to optimize research productivity while training users to become expert electron microscopists. These two tasks may be at odds and require careful balance to keep research projects moving forward while still allowing trainees to develop independence and expertise. This article presents the model developed at Harvard Medical School for running a research-oriented cryo-EM facility. Being a research-oriented facility begins with training in cryo-sample preparation on a trainee's own sample, ideally producing grids that can be screened and optimized on the Talos Arctica via multiple established pipelines. The first option, staff assisted screening, requires no user experience and a staff member provides instant feedback about the suitability of the sample for cryo-EM investigation and discusses potential strategies for sample optimization. Another option, rapid access, allows users short sessions to screen samples and introductory training for basic microscope operation. Once a sample reaches the stage where data collection is warranted, new users are trained on setting up data collection for themselves on either the Talos Arctica or Titan Krios microscope until independence is established. By providing incremental training and screening pipelines, the bottleneck of sample preparation can be overcome in parallel with developing skills as an electron microscopist. This approach allows for the development of expertise without hindering breakthroughs in key research areas.

Effectiveness of m-learning on knowledge and attitude of nurses about the prevention and control of MDR TB: A quasi-randomized study.

BACKGROUND: Multidrug-Resistant Tuberculosis is a fatal form because of high morbidity and poor recovery. Improper use of first line medicines and default treatment are the prime reasons of developing resistance of mycobacterium towards conventional anti- TB drugs. Nurses with refined knowledge, current evidence and positive attitude can prevent arising of MDR TB cases by ensuring adequate treatment, promoting treatment adherence and real time case monitoring. Because of paucity of data, present study was aimed to assess efficacy of m-learning in improving knowledge and attitude of nurses about the prevention and control of MDR-TB. METHODS: In this Quasi-randomized study, nurses working in the unit of pulmonary, emergency, respiratory ICU, general medicine of AIIMS Rishikesh during the months of August-October 2019 were involved. The number of participation was 190 (95 in each group; experimental and control) where m-learning intervention was available only for experimental group. There were structured questionnaire to measure knowledge and dichotomous checklist to evaluate attitude of nurses of both group before and one week after the provision of m-learning module. RESULTS: Both the group was homogeneous and m-learning intervention was effective to improve knowledge, when compared post-test knowledge score between experimental and control group (18.2 ± 5.4 vs 12.4 ± 4.4; P < 0.001); however, this one-time social media based intervention could not improve attitude of participants (10.3 ± 1.8 vs. 9.9 ± 1.8; P = 0.175). CONCLUSION: Hence, m-learning is useful for knowledge development among large number of nurses within limited resource setting but frequent provision of technology based module is recommended to acquire positive attitude among nurses.

Design, development, and evaluation of an interactive training simulator for teaching hospital information systems.

BACKGROUND: In their apprenticeship program, health information technology (HIT) students are deprived of the ample opportunity to work with the hospital information system (HIS). This study aimed to design an interactive simulator for the HIS training and evaluate its effects on the informatics skills of HIT students. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study was conducted on 16 Bachelor of Science students of HIT at Kashan University of Medical Sciences in 2019. After the functionalities and features of the simulator were determined based on similar existing simulators, expert opinions were received to simulate eight important processes of admission, discharge, and transfer module in HIS. The scores of students' skills and time taken to perform the processes were recorded and analyzed before and after the educational intervention. After they were trained by the simulator, the students filled out a usability evaluation questionnaire. The data were then analyzed in SPSS version 21. RESULTS: The simulators of health information systems were characterized by interactivity, multimedia applications, practice exercises, tests, and feedback. After the students were trained by the developed simulator, their skills scores improved significantly in 75% (6/8) of the processes, and the timespans of all processes decreased significantly (P < 0.05). The usability evaluation indicated the usability of the simulator was at a "good" level. CONCLUSIONS: According to the study results, using the simulator improves the informatics skills of HIT students in working with HIS. It is recommended that this method also be used in other apprenticeship programs to teach health information systems.

Reducing electronic health record-related burnout in providers through a personalized efficiency improvement program.

OBJECTIVE: To give providers a better understanding of how to use the electronic health record (EHR), improve efficiency, and reduce burnout. MATERIALS AND METHODS: All ambulatory providers were offered at least 1 one-on-one session with an "optimizer" focusing on filling gaps in EHR knowledge and lack of customization. Success was measured using pre- and post-surveys that consisted of validated tools and homegrown questions. Only participants who returned both surveys were included in our calculations. RESULTS: Out of 1155 eligible providers, 1010 participated in optimization sessions. Pre-survey return rate was 90% (1034/1155) and post-survey was 54% (541/1010). 451 participants completed both surveys. After completing their optimization sessions, respondents reported a 26% improvement in mean knowledge of EHR functionality (P < .01), a 19% increase in the mean efficiency in the EHR (P < .01), and a 17% decrease in mean after-hours EHR usage (P < .01). Of the 401 providers asked to rate their burnout, 32% reported feelings of burnout in the pre-survey compared to 23% in the post-survey (P < .01). Providers were also likely to recommend colleagues participate in the program, with a Net Promoter Score of 41. DISCUSSION: It is possible to improve provider efficiency and feelings of burnout with a personalized optimization program. We ascribe these improvements to the one-on-one nature of our program which provides both training as well as addressing the feeling of isolation many providers feel after implementation. CONCLUSION: It is possible to reduce burnout in ambulatory providers with personalized retraining designed to improve efficiency and knowledge of the EHR.

Association between evidence-based training and clinician proficiency in electronic health record use.

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of the study was to determine if association exists between evidence-based provider training and clinician proficiency in electronic health record (EHR) use and if so, which EHR use metrics and vendor-defined indices exhibited association. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We studied ambulatory clinicians' EHR use data published in the Epic Systems Signal report to assess proficiency between training participants (n = 133) and nonparticipants (n = 14). Data were collected in May 2019 and November 2019 on nonsurgeon clinicians from 6 primary care, 7 urgent care, and 27 specialty care clinics. EHR use training occurred from August 5 to August 15, 2019, prior to EHR upgrade and organizational instance alignment. Analytics performed were descriptive statistics, paired t-tests, multivariate correlations, and hierarchal multiple regression. RESULTS: For number of appointments per 30-day reporting period, trained clinicians sustained an average increase of 16 appointments (P < .05), whereas nontrained clinicians incurred a decrease of 8 appointments. Only the trained clinician group achieved postevent improvement in the vendor-defined Proficiency score with an effect size characterized as moderate to large (dCohen = 0.625). DISCUSSION: Controversies exist on the return of investment from formal EHR training for clinician users. Previously published literature has mostly focused on qualitative data indicators of EHR training success. The findings of our EHR use training study identified EHR use metrics and vendor-defined indices with the capacity for translation into productivity and generated revenue measurements. CONCLUSIONS: One EHR use metric and 1 vendor-defined index indicated improved proficiency among trained clinicians.

Long-Term BCI Training of a Tetraplegic User: Adaptive Riemannian Classifiers and User Training.

While often presented as promising assistive technologies for motor-impaired users, electroencephalography (EEG)-based Brain-Computer Interfaces (BCIs) remain barely used outside laboratories due to low reliability in real-life conditions. There is thus a need to design long-term reliable BCIs that can be used outside-of-the-lab by end-users, e.g., severely motor-impaired ones. Therefore, we propose and evaluate the design of a multi-class Mental Task (MT)-based BCI for longitudinal training (20 sessions over 3 months) of a tetraplegic user for the CYBATHLON BCI series 2019. In this BCI championship, tetraplegic pilots are mentally driving a virtual car in a racing video game. We aimed at combining a progressive user MT-BCI training with a newly designed machine learning pipeline based on adaptive Riemannian classifiers shown to be promising for real-life applications. We followed a two step training process: the first 11 sessions served to train the user to control a 2-class MT-BCI by performing either two cognitive tasks (REST and MENTAL SUBTRACTION) or two motor-imagery tasks (LEFT-HAND and RIGHT-HAND). The second training step (9 remaining sessions) applied an adaptive, session-independent Riemannian classifier that combined all 4 MT classes used before. Moreover, as our Riemannian classifier was incrementally updated in an unsupervised way it would capture both within and between-session non-stationarity. Experimental evidences confirm the effectiveness of this approach. Namely, the classification accuracy improved by about 30% at the end of the training compared to initial sessions. We also studied the neural correlates of this performance improvement. Using a newly proposed BCI user learning metric, we could show our user learned to improve his BCI control by producing EEG signals matching increasingly more the BCI classifier training data distribution, rather than by improving his EEG class discrimination. However, the resulting improvement was effective only on synchronous (cue-based) BCI and it did not translate into improved CYBATHLON BCI game performances. For the sake of overcoming this in the future, we unveil possible reasons for these limited gaming performances and identify a number of promising future research directions. Importantly, we also report on the evolution of the user's neurophysiological patterns and user experience throughout the BCI training and competition.

Standardization of protocol design for user training in EEG-based brain-computer interface.

Brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) are systems that enable a person to interact with a machine using only neural activity. Such interaction can be non-intuitive for the user hence user training methods are developed to increase one's understanding, confidence and motivation, which would in parallel increase system performance. To clearly address the current issues in the BCI user training protocol design, here it is divided intointroductoryperiod and BCIinteractionperiod. First, theintroductoryperiod (before BCI interaction) must be considered as equally important as the BCI interaction for user training. To support this claim, an extensive literature review demonstrates that BCI performance can depend on the methodologies presented in such introductory period. To standardize its design, the user training models from human-computer interaction field are adjusted to the BCI context. Second, during the user-BCI interaction, the interface can take a large spectrum of forms (2D, 3D, size, colour etc) and modalities (visual, auditory or haptic etc) without following any design standard or guidelines. Namely, studies that explore perceptual affordance on neural activity, show that motor neurons can be triggered from a simple observation of certain objects, and depending on objects' properties (size, location etc) neural reactions can vary greatly. Surprisingly, the effects of perceptual affordance were not investigated in the BCI context. Both inconsistent introductions to BCI as well as variable interface designs make it difficult to reproduce experiments, predict their outcomes and compare results between them. To address these issues, a protocol design standardization for BCI user training is proposed.

Computerized attention training for visually impaired older adults with dementia: a case study.

Dementia causes disorders in multiple higher cortical functions. Visual impairment could further impact cognition in those with dementia. This study reports the results of a computerized attention training program in a patient with dementia and visual impairment. The case involves a 98-year-old woman with bilateral maculopathy and moderate dementia. The program consisted of pre- and post-assessments and training sessions. Assessments included the Cantonese version of the Mini-Mental State Examination, the digit span forward test, the Chinese version of the Verbal Learning Test (CVVLT), and the Test of Attentional Performance (TAP). Training sessions were conducted once to twice a week for a total of 8 45-minute sessions. The participant showed a decrease in the CVVLT score and improvements in TAP parameters. The results indicated that, in visually impaired older adults with dementia, attention and processing speed (measured by a sensitive test such as TAP) could potentially be improved with appropriate computerized training.

A demência causa distúrbios em várias funções corticais superiores. O comprometimento da visão pode impactar ainda mais a cognição em pessoas com demência. Este estudo relata os resultados de um programa de treinamento computadorizado de atenção em um paciente com demência e deficiência visual, uma mulher de 98 anos com maculopatia bilateral e demência moderada. O programa consistia em avaliações e pré- e pós-sessões de treinamento. As avaliações incluíram o Mini-Exame do Estado Mental em Cantonês, o teste de extensão de dígitos, a versão chinesa do Teste de Aprendizagem Verbal (CVVLT) e o Teste de Desempenho de Atenção (TAP). As sessões de treinamento foram realizadas uma a duas vezes por semana, com um total de 8 sessões de 45 minutos. A paciente apresentou diminuição no escore CVVLT e melhora nos parâmetros TAP. Os resultados indicaram que em idosos com deficiência visual com demência, a atenção e a velocidade de processamento (medida por um teste sensível como o TAP) poderiam ser melhoradas com a realização de treinamento computadorizado adequado.

Digital teaching as an instrument for cross-location teaching networks in medical informatics: opportunities and challenges.

The increasingly digitized healthcare system requires new skills from all those involved. In order to impart these competencies, appropriate courses must be developed at educational institutions. In view of the rapid development of new aspects of digitization, this presents a challenge; suitable teaching formats must be developed successively. The establishment of cross-location teaching networks is one way to better meet training needs and to make the necessary spectrum of educational content available. As part of the Medical Informatics Initiative, the HiGHmed consortium is establishing such a teaching network, in the field of medical informatics, which covers many topics related to the digitization of the health care system. Various problem areas in the German education system were identified that hinder the development of the teaching network. These problem areas were prioritized firstly according to the urgency of the solution from the point of view of the HiGHmed consortium and secondly according to existing competencies in the participating societies. A workshop on the four most relevant topics was organized with experts from the German Society for Medical Informatics, Biometry and Epidemiology (GMDS), the Society for Medical Education (GMA) and the HiGHmed consortium. These are: recognition of exam results from teaching modules that are offered digitally and across locations, and their integration into existing curricula; recognition of digital, cross-location teaching in the teachers' teaching load; nationwide uniform competencies for teachers, in order to be able to conduct digital teaching effectively and with comparable quality; technical infrastructure to efficiently and securely communicate and manage the recognition of exam results between educational institutions. For all subject areas, existing preliminary work was identified on the basis of working questions, and short- and long-term needs for action were formulated. Finally, a need for the redesign of a technologically supported syntactic and semantic interoperability of learning performance recording was identified.