Skip to main content

Home/ ITGS News/ Group items tagged computers

Rss Feed Group items tagged

Jackie C

The pros and cons of distributed computing - by John Fagot - Helium - 0 views

  • However, whenever there is the possibility of doing the right thing to accomplish a good deed, there are always others who will use the same technology for evil.
  •  
    The pros and cons of distributed computing
  •  
    Supporting document for 11chenj. Botnets and distributed computing!
Mohammad A

Tech Companies Push to Digitalize Patients' Records - 0 views

  •  
    This article is regarding the use of Electronic Health Records, and digitalizing medical documents for the "betterment" of the medical staff, and the ease of use that databases provide as a solution to the IT issues that these facilities face. Many health care policy makers within the government, including President Obama, are advocating for the major shift in the use of electronic health records, and digitalizing patient information. However, only a small percentage of medical treatment offices have done so (approximately 17%). Basically, electronic health records document personal information of the patients, for example name, address, age, and medical issues that they face, making it much more easier for doctors and medical staff members to get into the use of e-prescriptions, providing treatment electronically. However, as information becomes digitalized, often times, major issues such as reliability of the IT equipment becomes and important aspect of the scenario. Major companies such as Dell and IBM are in the run to provide electronic health record databases for medical facilities to use. To these major stakeholders, these databases, when set-up properly, are basically a tool for health care providers to use; they can reduce costs and improve the type of care that is provided for patients. They also have the patient's entire medical history, and other medications, along with lab tests that if properly connected to databases, can ease the treatment guidelines. Thus the benefits include less trivial tests, reduced health related errors, and better care with less costs for patients. The IT systems that are provided, including faster networks with improved wireless connections and more financially affordable computers are what will basically be used within the medical facilities running on electronic health records with digitalized information. Also, there will be more space for these new machines to be placed in, since all
  •  
    continued... the paper documents are now going to be taking no physical space; entirely stored digitally. However these devices do not provide the solution of reliability that staff members may face when on the wireless networks and/or dealing with digital data. One solution that the article provides is the new Internet-based service model, known as cloud computing, in which much of the computing firepower and data reside in remote data centers, which doctors, nurses and staff would use via the Web browsers on their personal computers. Through cloud-computing, there is a more reliable and efficient way for medical staff members to document data without having system failures, and also if they ever plan on outsourcing, they can easily work with the database online.
Madeline Brownstone

MS, universities team up on gaming research | eSchoolNews.com - 0 views

  •  
    "Microsoft's research arm is leading a new effort to study the use of computer games as tools to help middle-school students learn science and math. The Games for Learning Institute (G4LI) aims to identify which qualities of computer games engage students and help develop relevant, personalized teaching strategies that can be applied to the learning process, its organizers said. The G4LI is a joint research endeavor by Microsoft Research, New York University (NYU), and a consortium of universities. Partners include Columbia University, the City University of New York (CUNY), Dartmouth College, Parsons, Polytechnic Institute of NYU, the Rochester Institute of Technology, and Columbia Teachers College."
Madeline Brownstone

BBC NEWS | UK | England | Cambridgeshire | Security tightened over data loss - 1 views

  •  
    "In a statement the ICO said the Trust reported the loss of an unencrypted memory stick containing treatment details "after a member of staff left it in an unattended vehicle" towards the end of last year. Other ICO cases revealed Central Lancashire Trust lost an encrypted memory stick with details of 6,360 prison patients of HMP Preston The North West London Hospitals Trust reported the theft of computers containing the details of test results of 361 patients. Hull and East Yorkshire Hospitals Trust reported the loss and theft of computers containing details of 2,300 patients. The memory stick, which was privately owned, was discovered by a car wash attendant who was able to access the contents to establish ownership and returned it to the Trust. Three other health trusts have also been found to have breached the Data Protection Act: Central Lancashire Primary Care Trust, North West London Hospitals NHS Trust and Hull and East Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust. All four have all signed formal undertakings outlining that they will process personal information in line with the Data Protection Act. "
Madeline Brownstone

BBC NEWS | UK | England | London | Thousands of patient details lost - 0 views

  •  
    "n one incident computers containing the names, addresses and medical diagnoses of 2,500 patients were left next to a skip in St Pancras Hospital, in north-west London. The computers, which were not encrypted, went missing and have never been recovered. "
Madeline Brownstone

BBC News - Computer game gives taste of life as an MP - 0 views

  •  
    "Young people are to get a "virtual taste" of life as an MP, as Parliament launches its own computer game. Commons Speaker John Bercow is targeting MP for a Week at 11 to 14-year-olds interested in politics. Players experience the daily life of a backbencher and are scored according to the judgements they make. "
Jaymee C

Study Plays Down Export of Computer Jobs - New York Times - 0 views

  •  
    This article is about how people are fearing that they will lose their jobs to people in other countries like many have before them. Big companies are choosing to hire those in places like India and China because it turns out cheaper for them. A report says that 2-3% of jobs in IT would go offshore annually over the next 10 years or so. This report is also trying to calm workers by saying that more jobs will arise from this. For people losing their jobs and those in the field of information technology, this news is not comforting. The president of the Association for Computing Machinery, David A. Patterson, noted that not many people are interested in majoring in computer science in the US so it makes things harder for there to be jobs for them. If more were to take an interest in the computer sciences then there might not be a big issue about offshoring jobs.
Carmen M

Home Office Data Security: Protect Customer Info - And Your Small Business - 0 views

  •  
    This article talks about Data security regarding information kept in a computer. The stakeholders in this case are the employee and the customer. The IT system is, like previously mentioned, a computer. The issue regarding the system is reliability. If you have a customers information such as credit card numbers and other personal data, then security and reliability definitely come up as an issue. Computers are prone to get viruses which could wipe out all the information stored on your hardrive. Hackers and other spyware can also be another concern. Your customer is trusting you with their information. The article also proposes a solution. The solution would be to have two separate computers, one for personal uses and the other for work. That way, eliminating visiting websites that might have viruses.
helen g

Armies of Expensive Lawyers, Replaced by Cheaper Software - NYTimes.com - 2 views

  •  
    "Science * World * U.S. * N.Y. / Region * Business * Technology * Science o Environment o Space & Cosmos * Health * Sports * Opinion * Arts * Style * Travel * Jobs * Real Estate * Autos "
  •  
    This article discusses advances in artificial intelligence which have allowed for legal documents to be read and processed by computers, rather than teams of lawyers. The major stakeholders in this scenario are the lawyer, who'se jobs are being taken by computer e-discovery software,such as Blackstone Discovery, due to the effiiency offered by computers as well as the fact that the services are much cheaper. The obvious concern in this situation is if computers are taking the jobs of actual people. Many argue that this is not the case, since jobs are always available. However, higher paying and more demanding jobs seem to be decreasing due to artificial intelligence. This puts an obvious restriction on people. It seems as though as time progresses, these jobs will start decreasing more and more on the job market.
Jialin C

Twitter worm was unleashed by 17-year-old Australian - 1 views

  •  
    This article is about a 17-year old teenager had wanted to put Javascript code in a tweet. But then, others picked up the code and hacked Twitter by leading to viruses and pornography sites. It wasn't his intention to spread the worm to any users, but he wanted to see if it was possible to break the 140 words challenge on a tweet.
  •  
    This news post provides information regarding to three strands of the ITGS triangle. It's based on home and leisure and due to many privacy issues. Stakeholders are the Twitter users who have posted tweets and received viruses on their computers. Privacy and anonymity determines whether a user wants to post certain tweets regarding him/her and the anonymity would be how this teen had caused the spread of this worm onto other's computers which was a severe consequence for many. Tweets are meant to be secure, however any users that have accessed Twitter and clicked on the harmful link which have caused damages to their computers. The lack of security measure is terrible because it's suppose to prevent employess and users from having access to hacking; but it had done the opposite. The topic of people and machine is the benefit of Twitter. Users who have tweeted are somehow 'addicted' to posting personal information online and to their friends. It's a daily habit and a routine that most people do almost every five minutes each day. Twitter hits 50 million tweets a day and not only that, but people are very much attached to their cyber life nowadays. The internet is definitely not the safest place to talk about your daily life and the worm was spread across the cyberspace because of a advertisement that advertised for colored tweets on profiles, which was a mistake to click on.
  •  
    Poor guy! was my first thought, at the age of 17 and caused such a problem on twitter. This makes me think about how technology can go wrong so fast, which is why we shouldnt become so dependent on technology all the time! A simple java script on a tweet and bam! A worm was caught by all the other twitter users. And it wasnt even done intentiionally, imagine if it were done? The numerous things that can occur. Well thanks for sharing!
Rubayeth M

How Do Teens Do Homework Today? - 2 views

  •  
    This relates to ITGS because the stakeholder her is a 17-year female who goes to high school in California and does her homework. However, when it comes to doing homework she gets distracted really quick and forgets. When she comes back she feels like she has so much homework until she finally she goes in to a room where she is isolated without technology which helps her complete concentrate and finish her tasks for school. This shows that home leisure comes in affect where technology at home which in this case is a computer and a phone directly links it to social networking and communication. If she was without a phone and a computer I am pretty sure it would less harder for her to get distracted. Sometimes using a computer will help complete the task faster this then will give her more time with her social life. What I am trying to say is that technology has its advantages and disadvantages.
Madeline Brownstone

Activists utilizing Twitter, Web proxies to sidestep Iranian censorship - The Boston Globe - 0 views

  • Derek Lowe and his Iranian-born wife were appalled by the violence that came in the wake of Iran’s disputed presidential election, and by the Tehran government’s attempts to censor news of the upheavals. And so they joined the protest, as best they could from their home in Acton. They decided to become members of the legion of Internet activists fighting the Iranian government’s aggressive attempts at post-election censorship. Armed with their computers and Internet access, they are helping Iranian protesters get the words and images out of their country for the world to see.
  •  
    "Derek Lowe and his Iranian-born wife were appalled by the violence that came in the wake of Iran's disputed presidential election, and by the Tehran government's attempts to censor news of the upheavals. And so they joined the protest, as best they could from their home in Acton. They decided to become members of the legion of Internet activists fighting the Iranian government's aggressive attempts at post-election censorship. Armed with their computers and Internet access, they are helping Iranian protesters get the words and images out of their country for the world to see."
Madeline Brownstone

Computer Aid International - 1 views

  •  
    providing computers throughout the world to make a positive impact in education, health, and science
  •  
    Links to short pieces about how donations of ICT makes positive impacts
Madeline Brownstone

Computer Aid International - 0 views

  •  
    "The African Medical Research and Education Foundation, is putting Computer Aid International PCs, together with scanners and digital cameras, into rural health clinics in some of the most isolated communities in Africa. From there, nurses and newly qualified doctors can email pictures via the internet to clinical specialists for instant expert diagnosis. By this mechanism people living in rural areas can have access to the best clinical diagnosis available and medical conditions can be treated promptly and accurately with life-saving consequences. "
T Graham

Computing, Sudoku-style - 4 views

  •  
    Although this seems like a great advance in artificial intelligence, one problem that may arise is that information found in different stages may contradict itself. This could lead to reliability issues because if useful information is found by artificial intelligence capable computers.
Alex F

Regulations and Security Concerns Hinder Asia's Move to Cloud Computing - NYTimes.com - 0 views

  •  
    In this article it talks about how the organization known as "The Youth Olympic Games" were hosting their games in August. But they have done something different this year. Unlike what they have done every year, purchasing their items all the time and selling them or giving them away for free; they have now would have an third-world country who has the equipment do their job if they were to buy it. By that I mean they would used a system called "cloud services", and the group in charge of working would be Asia and they would have the data of everyone who is watching, performing and workers of the organization. Therefore these are the stakeholders in with this program that because they are having someone else from a different country; without knowing if they are someone who wants to steal their identity has full access. The IT system in this "cloud services" would be cloud computing since someone that may be from home, or sitting in an office has control over the organization and the data. The issue in this would be security, that because the people that are using "cloud services" are in Asia; therefore they are in a different having control in the U.S. The scenarios in this would be the fact that everyone identity would be stolen since the controls would be in Asia and they wouldn't be tracked since they are in a different country. They also couldn't be charged since they were given permission to have access to the data.
Madeline Brownstone

NOVA Online | Cracking the Code of Life | Watch the Program - 7 views

  •  
    Please use this bookmark to post your reflections. Using a Paper 2 style approach, CRITERION A) identify the IT system and describe the issues. Identify the relationship of the major stakeholders to the issues. CRITERION B) Describe step-by-step how the system works and describe how the system is related to the issue(s). CRITERION C) Evaluate the impacts on society -- both positive and negative or from differing stakeholder's P.O.V. CRITERION D) Evaluate the efficacy of a solution to the problem.
  • ...10 more comments...
  •  
    Criterion A- The IT system (research DNA database) that allows medical researchers to record and track medical histories throughout generations, arise a variety of issues. One of these issues is privacy, where the database holds genetic information that many ethical doctors call a "future diary". These medical databases can be analyzed by a variety of people and those who have access to this information are handling private information. The major stakeholders were those patients who gave up their DNA because their genetic information put into the hands of these medical doctors creates the privacy issue. This information needed to be well stored and doctors take implications such as encoding social security numbers and no names are used. Criterion B- These research DNA databases begin with the obtainment of genetic information. In a relational database, there are several tables containing various information. Each table contains data that all have attributes related to the subject of the table. All of the tables might be interconnected, as well. For example, a retail business using a relational database would likely have one table containing data regarding employees, another with data regarding customers, another table listing inventory and so on. A database user could run a report to find connections between data in different tables, such as the customer table and the inventory table. Criterion C- From the point of view of the major stake holders (patients who given up their genetic information) the IT system (research DNA databases) (Not done)
  •  
    Criterion A) The IT system is a database. This database is a link of DNA records, health records, and family trees. Major stakeholders of this issue are citizens of Iceland who agree to let their information be put on these databases and analyzed. Criterion B) The database works in parts. First, there is already a database of family trees in place. This family tree generator works by inputting an individual's social security number. After this is in place, the name of many generations of ancestors of this individual is shown in a tree. Then, the creator of the database asks for the permission, of family members, to add the DNA code and the health record of each person. This allows for a social security number and a disease to be input at the same time. With this, the scientist can see those who have it, and those who don't. Then, with the use of the DNA codes, they can "hunt down" genes that cause certain diseases. The database is related to an issue of privacy. This is because those who allow their health records and DNA code, are letting the medical team and users of the database know all things about them. With just a social security number, a user that has access to the database may learn more things about you than you may want: such as your family, what diseases you may have, and many other things. Another issue is in reliability. There is the possibility that the medical teams that try to track genetic code differences between those with a disease and those without it, may come to realize that a difference they find is only a coincidence and not helpful. (not completed)
  •  
    The IT system being used is the DNA database that are being kept on the Icelandic people. The DNA database holds a lot of information of the people in the database and even things that they do not know such as their DNA and what it means. The major stakeholder is the people that are sending their DNA information, blood samples, medical histories and family trees. The issue of privacy is then involved because of the personal information that others can go through by accessing the database. The database is run by first getting the blood sample of the patient who willingly gives permission to give their DNA information to the company, deCODE. The information is then entered into the database which organizes the information by each person's social security number. The relational database is used to organize the information. (Cont.) The impacts of the database is both negative and positive. The database can be
  •  
    CRITERION A) identify the IT system and describe the issues. Identify the relationship of the major stakeholders to the issues. * The IT system described in this video is a medical database. The major stakeholder are the doctors who manage the data of patients in the relational databases. CRITERION B) Describe step-by-step how the system works and describe how the system is related to the issue(s). * A relational database, there are several tables containing various information. Each table contains data that all have attributes related to the subject of the table. All of the tables might be interconnected, as well. For example, a retail business using a relational database would likely have one table containing data regarding employees, another with data regarding customers, another table listing inventory and so on. A database user could run a report to find connections between data in different tables, such as the customer table and the inventory table. CRITERION C) Evaluate the impacts on society -- both positive and negative or from differing stakeholder's P.O.V. * One of the positive impacts of these medical databases are that the family tree is in a database and all health records can be found for each patient and because this is a relational database, all of the patient's information is linked to their families and other people who have similar diseases. This is beneficial because experts can see trends in the people who have a certain disease and once they figure out the "spelling" of the genetic code with the disease, they can work on coming up for cures for that particular disease. A negative impact of the medical databases can be privacy. The doctors have access to every patients information and they can know everything about a certain person or family if he/she wanted to. This would then raise an issue of integrity.
  •  
    CRITERION A) identify the IT system and describe the issues. Identify the relationship of the major stakeholders to the issues. The IT system is the database and the issue is who has access of the Database which has medical records of individuals. The major stakeholders are the Doctors and Patients. Doctors are trying to find information on specific DNA that create sickness and diseases. Finding the relationship between the family members and there DNA, can possibly improve medicine and also allow doctors figure out what an individual can have(sickness) in future references, making inferences of what might happen. CRITERION B) Describe step-by-step how the system works and describe how the system is related to the issue(s). A data base function is that it is a computer stored software that contains tables of various information and organizes all the data into categories. One subject/category can be related to another with little difference. This is why the database makes it easier for information to be viewed and interpreted much faster. By entering data on the tables one can interlink topics in order to find specific information needed. The person who enters the data can use software like Openoffice to create a database to view DNA and the relationship with the other individuals. CRITERION C) Evaluate the impacts on society -- both positive and negative or from differing stakeholder's P.O.V. The primary issue of the negative impact on Databases, have on the skateholders for DNA purposes is Privacy. Privacy has a big part in the stakeholders because many of the patient give away there Social Security number which is something private to them. With the Social Security Number the doctors can have access to other information not related in there investigation of finding a cure. This can cause reliability with the doctors to decrease. The database would have information of all sort on there medical records which should not be something that would be public for eve
  •  
    CRITERION A) identify the IT system and describe the issues. Identify the relationship of the major stakeholders to the issues: The IT system in these videos were medical databases containing records of many patients. Specialists use these databases to help them identify where a certain disease came from and whether or not it could be treated. they do this by viewing the patients ancestors records and seeing who had the disease in that family tree. CRITERION B) Describe step-by-step how the system works and describe how the system is related to the issue(s). Specialists (with the permission of the patient) insert a patients social security number into the medical database and let the database generate the patients entire family tree. Using this family tree, doctors were able to "hunt" down the origin of diseases, by looking at the genes of the ancestors. That way, by matching the DNA of the patient affected by a certain disease with the DNA of one of his/her ancestors DNA that suffered the same disease, and looking for similarities or patterns. CRITERION C) Evaluate the impacts on society -- both positive and negative or from differing stakeholder's P.O.V. There were several positive and negative impacts regarding this "hunting down" of diseases. By looking at family trees specialists and doctors would be able to determine what caused the disease and possibly come up with a cure or treatment for it. However, many patients are concerned with doctors going through their records and DNA due to there being a lack of privacy. If patients grant permission, specialists would be able to find out and know absolutely everything about their health history. Specialists argue that it would be of great benefit to detect diseases early so they could be treated by doing this. Chips are being created were thousands of babies genes could be looked at to look for any abnormalities. Some people argue that even if a disease were detected, there's two possibilities, one
  •  
    Criterion A) The IT system at work here is the database run by the company deCODE. This company created a medical database in order to determine human diseases present amongst family. This leaves the stakeholders to be the Iceland citizens who use this system. The relationship between the Iceland citizens who use this system and the issue is that there is a security issue. The company, deCODE, paid a sum of one million dollars to the government for access to the medical history's and information of the Iceland citizens. This could be stolen by others or it could be hacked by an outsider. Criterion B) This system works through a series of steps to figure out what medical diseases are passed on throughout the family tree. In this case it would be a relational database. This database works by first obtaining permission from the Icelandic citizen to use their social security number and their medical history. This is put into the system and the medical records are accessed. Then the family records and past can be seen. This is multiple tables containing different pieces of information. Each table has something that is related to the previous table. Then make sure that the database is easily navigational. When the social security number is entered into the database the company must have it in the record. If the social security number is not properly encoded then the social security card could be stolen by and employee of an outside hacker. This is related to security if the hardware or software is not properly secured it can be obtained by a criminal. This can lead to identity theft and loss of financial security. Another issue would be privacy. The medical records and DNA code is allowed full use to the company. The social security number could be used in ways that the civilian did not agree to and is not known by the civilian. Criterion C) This system can cause many positive and negative impacts. One positive impact would be that this would help the patient know who e
  •  
    Criterion A) The IT system at work here is the database run by the company deCODE. This company created a medical database in order to determine human diseases present amongst family. This leaves the stakeholders to be the Iceland citizens who use this system. The relationship between the Iceland citizens who use this system and the issue is that there is a security issue. The company, deCODE, paid a sum of one million dollars to the government for access to the medical history's and information of the Iceland citizens. This could be stolen by others or it could be hacked by an outsider. Criterion B) This system works through a series of steps to figure out what medical diseases are passed on throughout the family tree. In this case it would be a relational database. This database works by first obtaining permission from the Icelandic citizen to use their social security number and their medical history. This is put into the system and the medical records are accessed. Then the family records and past can be seen. This is multiple tables containing different pieces of information. Each table has something that is related to the previous table. Then make sure that the database is easily navigational. When the social security number is entered into the database the company must have it in the record. If the social security number is not properly encoded then the social security card could be stolen by and employee of an outside hacker. This is related to security if the hardware or software is not properly secured it can be obtained by a criminal. This can lead to identity theft and loss of financial security. Another issue would be privacy. The medical records and DNA code is allowed full use to the company. The social security number could be used in ways that the civilian did not agree to and is not known by the civilian. Criterion C) This system can cause many positive and negative impacts. One positive impact would be that this would help the patient know who e
  •  
    CRITERION A) identify the IT system and describe the issues. Identify the relationship of the major stakeholders to the issues. The IT system involved is the DNA database system, identified as an organized collection of age old family trees, accompanied by state of the art DNA analysis and computer technology. Systematically, genetic information (DNA) is stored in related tables, distinguished by individuals' own security number codes. One centralized ethical and social consideration is privacy, mainly a major concern of the involved DNA suppliers (the public), that place their given personal information (genetic data, reference to family origins, medical history etc) in a national database system, from which the accessing of medical records and history of one's entire family can become manipulated or misused. In addition to the elevated risk of data misuse, once the involved participants (Icelandic citizens) give access to their personal information, there are no limitations placed on the utilization of the data within the national database, as it becomes accessible for the government, medical researchers and operating staff. Thus, the implications are straining to the individual donor, unable to determine when, how and to what extent the information given is shared amongst other groups. Furthermore, the privacy of the participants undesirably opens access to the medical information of related family members, as cross-referencing and data matching give the research staff operating the DNA database, access to retrieve a plethora of other members' data mainly for the purpose of effective data mining (the retrieval of hidden predictive patterns, as a diagnostic tool to decode the occurrence of genetic disorders/diseases). CRITERION B) Describe step-by-step how the system works and describe how the system is related to the issue(s). With the possession of participant's medical data, including blood type, isolated samples of DNA, medical health records e
  •  
    The primary IT system in use is a DNA database, which includes information about patients, illnesses, and virtually one's make up as a human. DNA databases allow researchers to find patterns in a human genome, by looking at the DNA from various family members and determining the difference or similarities between the DNA of family members. This is done through database functions such as data mining, and data matching. Locations such as Iceland, have a database that traces back all of the people within the country to their Viking ancestors. These family trees have been paired with DNA analysis in order to trace diseases back to their start. Some more tests could be conducted in order to determine which of the living relatives of one family with arthritis, for example, have the disease. Then, the DNA can be compared in order to identify the exact gene that is at fault for the disease. This process is very easy to do because the database with all of the ancestral information is accessible with the presence of one of the family member's SSN. A simple data query can then bring together all of the person's information. Moreover, DNA, health records, and the family trees of Iceland were proposed to be linked. This could be very beneficial because new drugs could be made available to suit the specific disease of a patient. It could also be a way for diagnosed patients to take early preventative measures. This could increase the probability for a cure, and in general this would increase the life expectancy of certain areas. However, some doctors in Iceland opposed to this linkage, because the information is representative of each person's medical history, and potentially their future medical history. This information, according to the plans of the linkage of medical records and the family tree, would be available on a central database that would bring together private information about a person and connect it to all of their family members, past, present, and future. T
  •  
    There is another issue along with this involving the ability of researchers to have full access to the information about anyone. Many people want to maintain their right to privacy, but others argue that this could lead to new knowledge about diseases, and the development of new medicines. For those who are afraid of risking their privacy, there are standards developed in order to protect them. Their information, such as SSNs are encoded for security reasons and the DNA part of the project is voluntary, and not imposed. However, ethicists are still afraid of this database. They claim that the future of DNA is a valuable thing because it can predict the probability of diseases, life expectancies, etc. But all copies can be made available to the FBI, schools, etc. at the time of birth. For the Biotech Industry, this is seen as a huge advantage because people an be tested for hundreds of diseases. The awareness of the disease is a great thing, because it could lead to early prevention. However, the system is faulty because it sometimes doesn't provide certainty of a disease and it limits a person's privacy. Other times, there is no cure for the disease, so the patient cannot do anything even if they know. In relation to this, there also will arise severe psychological impacts of a person knowing that they have the possibility for getting a life threatening disease. If this is a disease that will affect them later on in life, it would be detrimental for a person to live their life without the hope of a prosperous future. A solution to this problem could be giving patients the choice of knowing or not.
  •  
    Criterion A - The IT system is the DNA database containing information about the genetic past, present, and future of the patients. The primary issues associated with this database are of privacy and anonymity. These issues arise when patients, who are one of the major stakeholders, feel that that the information in these databases shouldn't be accessible to others, or anyone for that matter. While some believe this is private information, others believe that the information should not be known by anyone because of the ethical issues associated with knowing what will come in the future. Criterion B - The medical database is a relational database meaning that it establishes relationships between different tables in the database. The smallest building blocks of a relational database are items. Items are individual pieces of information in tables. These items are organized into fields and records. Fields are columns in a table that that represent different categories of information. Records are rows that represent all the information for a specific patient. At the cross-section of a particular record and field lies the item associated with a specific piece of information related to the specified patient. These tables are related to each other through links which are established by unique primary keys assigned to each patient. This system is related to the issue of privacy because the information contained within it is considered by many to be privileged and access to it should be very limited or altogether eliminated. Criterion C - The impacts of such a database on society are varied. Some people are very against the entire idea of a genetic database because of its ethical concerns. When people have their blood analyzed for DNA, they are giving up their genetic make-up. The information that can be obtained from such tests is considered by many to be privileged, and by others to be completely unethical in every way. Often people are against very private medical
Saida K

Communicating During Emergencies - 0 views

  •  
    The USAID and FCC are currently working together trying to find the best ways to take advantage of telemedecine during natural disasters. Yet, it's not really the idea of promoting it's usage for many nations have already began using it to recover and aid those whom were highly wounded, or even those who weren't harmed to make sure they continue being healthy through telemedicine. The point of the unity between these two organizations is to improve it's usage so that connectivity is best no matter the type of natural disaster. It has been noticed that connectivity was a problem, causing an issue of reliability since doctors can no longer contact their patients due to loss in service. The telemedicine depends on the wireless networks available. Because a natural disaster has occur, many of these networks are no longer available since satellite dishes are destroyed and no longer work. Plus, many of the computers can become damaged internally and cause inaccaurate data within a telemedicine database. More than a millions dollars was given to the National Library of Medicine (NLM) so that improvements could be made immediately, in order to prevent the upcoming disasters. This will be tested during actual disasters, and later be improved after studying it's effects on network connections. But currently, computer scientists are creating the telemedicine to be provided on mobile devices such as a cell phone which can easily use RFID to track were a person is, or barcode scans to scan patient's papers to be sent into the medical field. This form of mobile telemedicine will impact greatly towards natural disasters for the reason that is mobile, unlike computer desktops.
Madeline Brownstone

BBC NEWS | Health | Virtual pregnancy helps train midwives - 0 views

  •  
    "Using graphics, video and sound, midwifery students are taken on an imaginary journey through the pregnancy of Jessica Tate - from its earliest stages, to early labour. The package includes sections in which the student can use a mouse to move over computer-enhanced photo images of the 'pregnant' abdomen. As the mouse moves over the image, a picture of the uterus and foetus becomes clearer, revealing information gradually in the same way that would happen if the student used their hands to examine the woman. There is a big issue in the western world with 'problem' births and it doesn't have to be like this Susanne Darra Throughout the programme, the students assess Jessica's progress and are also able to click on to 'hot words' for up-to-date background knowledge. "
1 - 20 of 74 Next › Last »
Showing 20 items per page