Computer Attitudes and Resistance to the Introduction of new Technologies: A Pilot Study

Neofilolog ◽  
2019 ◽  
pp. 43-57
Author(s):  
Magdalena Dańko ◽  
Ewa Wieszczeczyńska

This paper presents the results of a pilot study conducted in 60 selected companies located in Wrocław and Lower Silesia. The main objective of the study was to get information about prospective employers’ expectations of graduates of humanities with foreign language knowledge and skills, should those companies decide to employ them. It was found that according to employers social and personal competencies are as important as skills in using specialized language and new technologies. Preferred are graduates who are fluent in two foreign languages (English and German) and who have extensive general knowledge.


2016 ◽  
pp. 1612-1631
Author(s):  
Chantal Philips ◽  
Wulystan P. Mtega ◽  
Arja Vainio-Mattila

Social, economic, and cultural factors are known to influence the knowledge sharing process between governments and rural communities. There is evidence that the success of ICT for development partnerships depends on a broadly identified “local context” and involvement of local communities. This chapter describes a survey of citizens about their information needs and modes of reception as well as a pilot study of Village Information Officers. Utilizing new technologies such as mobile phone communication and community radio broadcasting in local languages is identified by remote and rural study and survey participants as a valuable alternative to traditional government methods for communicating with citizens. Rural people identified gaps in knowledge related to health, education, and economic activities. These three broad categories of knowledge are important for effective poverty reduction efforts of government. Due to the poor reach of newspapers or other forms of print and broadcast media, face-to-face communication and cell phones were mentioned by more than 60% of the respondents in Kilosa district as techniques used in accessing government information. The positive results achieved by Village Information Officers in responding to gaps in knowledge regarding government services and support for development efforts has led to further demand for replication of the pilot study to support pastoralists, emergency preparedness, and wildlife conservation.


2006 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
G.H. Tao ◽  
K. Kekre ◽  
J.J. Qin ◽  
C.L. Ting ◽  
M.H. Oo ◽  
...  

Singapore has been developing new technologies to reclaim water to drinking water standards from domestic used water. The water produced with drinking water standards by dual membrane process is called NEWater in Singapore. After the successful pilot study of membrane bioreactor for water reclamation, MBR-RO integrated system was also studied at pilot scale to investigate the new option of producing NEWater at a more reliable and economical way. A MBR-RO pilot plant with capacity of 20m3/d was used for this study. Settled domestic used water was used for the feed. The pilot study demonstrated that the MBR offered better synergy between membrane and activated sludge process. The new MBR-RO process could produce equivalent or better high grade water (NEWater) and have better resistance to shock loading than the conventional AS-MF/UF-RO from the domestic used water. RO membranes in the MBR-RO process could be operated 30% higher flux than in AS-MF/UF-RO process for NEWater production.


1987 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 207-218 ◽  
Author(s):  
George G. Bear ◽  
Herbert C. Richards ◽  
Paul Lancaster

A preliminary version of a scale to measure attitudes toward computers, the Bath County Computer Attitudes Scale (BCCAS), was developed and piloted on 398 students in grades 4 through 12 who were attending three rural schools in western Virginia. This instrument consisted of thirty-eight Likert items. The scale was judged to be unidimensional and internally consistent. With the aid of an item analysis, the number of items was reduced to twenty-six. The revised BCCAS was administered to 551 students whose demographic make-up was similar to those who participated in the pilot study. The BCCAS scores were found to be predictably related to computer experience and usage, educational and career plans, choice of favorite school subject, and attitudes toward school subjects. In general, the data supported the validity of the BCCAS as a measure of computer attitudes.


2018 ◽  
Vol 61 (3) ◽  
pp. 98-102 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ivana Kašubová ◽  
Veronika Holubeková ◽  
Katarína Janíková ◽  
Barbora Váňová ◽  
Zuzana Sňahničanová ◽  
...  

The development of the new technologies such as the next-generation sequencing (NGS) makes more accessible the diagnosis of genetically heterogeneous diseases such as Lynch syndrome (LS). LS is one of the most common hereditary form of colorectal cancer. This autosomal dominant inherited disorder is caused by deleterious germline mutations in one of the mismatch repair (MMR) genes – MLH1, MSH2, MSH6 or PMS2, or the deletion in the EPCAM gene. These mutations eventually result in microsatellite instability (MSI), which can be easily tested in tumor tissue. According to the actual recommendations, all patients with CRC that are suspect to have LS, should be offered the MSI testing. When the MSI is positive, these patients should be recommended to genetic counseling. Here we report a pilot study about the application of NGS in the LS diagnosis in patients considered to have sporadic colorectal cancer. The inclusion criteria for the NGS testing were MSI positivity, BRAF V600E and MHL1 methylation negativity. We have used 5 gene amplicon based massive parallel sequencing on MiSeq platform. In one patient, we have identified a new pathogenic mutation in the exon 4 of the MSH6 gene that was previously not described in ClinVar, Human Gene Mutation Database, Ensembl and InSight databases. This mutation was confirmed by the Sanger method. We have shown that the implementation of new criteria for colorectal patients screening are important in clinical praxis and the NGS gene panel testing is suitable for routine laboratory settings.


Author(s):  
Chantal Philips ◽  
Wulystan P. Mtega ◽  
Arja Vainio-Mattila

Social, economic, and cultural factors are known to influence the knowledge sharing process between governments and rural communities. There is evidence that the success of ICT for development partnerships depends on a broadly identified “local context” and involvement of local communities. This chapter describes a survey of citizens about their information needs and modes of reception as well as a pilot study of Village Information Officers. Utilizing new technologies such as mobile phone communication and community radio broadcasting in local languages is identified by remote and rural study and survey participants as a valuable alternative to traditional government methods for communicating with citizens. Rural people identified gaps in knowledge related to health, education, and economic activities. These three broad categories of knowledge are important for effective poverty reduction efforts of government. Due to the poor reach of newspapers or other forms of print and broadcast media, face-to-face communication and cell phones were mentioned by more than 60% of the respondents in Kilosa district as techniques used in accessing government information. The positive results achieved by Village Information Officers in responding to gaps in knowledge regarding government services and support for development efforts has led to further demand for replication of the pilot study to support pastoralists, emergency preparedness, and wildlife conservation.


2015 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 173 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vincenzo Nuzzo ◽  
Emanuela Foglia ◽  
Tiziana Attardo ◽  
Clelia Canale ◽  
Mariangela Di Lillo ◽  
...  

Amplification in health expectations, increase in new technologies, decrease in economic resources and the breakdown of traditional control systems have led to the development of clinical governance (CG). The aim of the present pilot study was to investigate the application of CG tools in significant sample of Italian internal medicine wards (IMW). A 37-item questionnaire was developed and administered to 39 physicians, within 33 IMWs throughout Italy. Thanks to the data analysis, the perceived usefulness, the utilization rate of CG tools, the correlations between CG use, wards characteristics, and/or localization were studied. We identified at what organizational level the CG tools were applied and used. fifty-two percent of the studied tools were being used in the investigated hospitals. The average utility and utilization rate was different depending on the region of provenance. This research showed that CG is a methodology often used by Italian hospitals physicians, especially for inpatient care. The encouraging results of this pilot study could suggest opportunities to extend the survey at national level, to generalize the results.


2011 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. 608-615 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin E. Backhouse ◽  
Michael Wonder ◽  
Edward Hornby ◽  
Anne Kilburg ◽  
Michael Drummond ◽  
...  

Author(s):  
Francesco Gilardi ◽  
Federica De Falco ◽  
Daniela Casasanta ◽  
Martina Andellini ◽  
Simone Gazzellini ◽  
...  

The introduction of robotic neurorehabilitation among the most recent technologies in pediatrics represents a new opportunity to treat pediatric patients. This study aims at evaluating the response of physiotherapists, patients and their parents to this new technology. The study considered the outcomes of technological innovation in physiotherapists (perception of the workload, satisfaction), as well as that in patients and their parents (quality of life, expectations, satisfaction) by comparing the answers to subjective questionnaires of those who made use of the new technology with those who used the traditional therapy. A total of 12 workers, 46 patients and 47 parents were enrolled in the study. Significant differences were recorded in the total workload score of physiotherapists who use the robotic technology compared with the traditional therapy (p < 0.001). Patients reported a higher quality of life and satisfaction after the use of the robotic neurorehabilitation therapy. The parents of patients undergoing the robotic therapy have moderately higher expectations and satisfaction than those undergoing the traditional therapy. In this pilot study, the robotic neurorehabilitation technique involved a significant increase in the patients’ and parents’ expectations. As it frequently happens in the introduction of new technologies, physiotherapists perceived a greater workload. Further studies are needed to verify the results achieved.


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