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Understanding the impact that interprofessional education and collaborative practice (IPECP) might have on triple aim patient outcomes is of high interest to health care providers, educators, administrators, and policy makers. Before the work undertaken by the National Center for Interprofessional Practice and Education at the University of Minnesota, no standard mechanism to acquire and report outcome data related to interprofessional education and collaborative practice and its effect on triple aim outcomes existed. This article describes the development and adoption of the National Center Data Repository (NCDR) designed to capture data related to IPECP processes and outcomes to support analyses of the relationship of IPECP on the Triple Aim. The data collection methods, web-based survey design and implementation process are discussed. The implications of this informatics work to the field of IPECP and health care quality and safety include creating standardized capacity to describe interprofessional practice and measure outcomes connecting interprofessional education and collaborative practice to the triple aim within and across sites/settings, leveraging an accessible data collection process using user friendly web-based survey design to support large data scholarship and instrument testing, and establishing standardized data elements and variables that can potentially lead to enhancements to national/international information system and academic accreditation standards to further team-based, interprofessional, collaborative research in the field. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Details on convention held on June 13-15, 1997 at William and Mary College in Williamsburg, Virginia to survey the different aspects of computers' history. Description about the series of invited papers from historians on computer history; Highlights of the conference.

Background: Evaluating environmental health risks in communities requires models characterizing geographic and demographic patterns of exposure to multiple stressors. These exposure models can be constructed from multivariable regression analyses using individual-level predictors (microdata), but these microdata are not typically available with sufficient geographic resolution for community risk analyses given privacy concerns. Methods: We developed synthetic geographically-resolved microdata for a low-income community (New Bedford, Massachusetts) facing multiple environmental stressors. We first applied probabilistic reweighting using simulated annealing to data from the 2006–2010 American Community Survey, combining 9,135 microdata samples from the New Bedford area with census tract-level constraints for individual and household characteristics. We then evaluated the synthetic microdata using goodness-of-fit tests and by examining spatial patterns of microdata fields not used as constraints. As a demonstration, we developed a multivariable regression model predicting smoking behavior as a function of individual-level microdata fields using New Bedford-specific data from the 2006–2010 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, linking this model with the synthetic microdata to predict demographic and geographic smoking patterns in New Bedford. Results: Our simulation produced microdata representing all 94,944 individuals living in New Bedford in 2006–2010. Variables in the synthetic population matched the constraints well at the census tract level (e.g., ancestry, gender, age, education, household income) and reproduced the census-derived spatial patterns of non-constraint microdata. Smoking in New Bedford was significantly associated with numerous demographic variables found in the microdata, with estimated tract-level smoking rates varying from 20% (95% CI: 17%, 22%) to 37% (95% CI: 30%, 45%). Conclusions: We used simulation methods to create geographically-resolved individual-level microdata that can be used in community-wide exposure and risk assessment studies. This approach provides insights regarding community-scale exposure and vulnerability patterns, valuable in settings where policy can be informed by characterization of multi-stressor exposures and health risks at high resolution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We developed linguistics-driven prediction models to estimate the risk of suicide. These models were generated from unstructured clinical notes taken from a national sample of U.S. Veterans Administration (VA) medical records. We created three matched cohorts: veterans who committed suicide, veterans who used mental health services and did not commit suicide, and veterans who did not use mental health services and did not commit suicide during the observation period (n = 70 in each group). From the clinical notes, we generated datasets of single keywords and multi-word phrases, and constructed prediction models using a machine-learning algorithm based on a genetic programming framework. The resulting inference accuracy was consistently 65% or more. Our data therefore suggests that computerized text analytics can be applied to unstructured medical records to estimate the risk of suicide. The resulting system could allow clinicians to potentially screen seemingly healthy patients at the primary care level, and to continuously evaluate the suicide risk among psychiatric patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Ovarian cancer is the most lethal gynecologic disease in the United States, with more women dying from this cancer than all gynecological cancers combined. Ovarian cancer has been termed the “silent killer” because some patients do not show clear symptoms at an early stage. Currently, there is a lack of approved and effective early diagnostic tools for ovarian cancer. There is also an apparent severe knowledge gap of ovarian cancer in general and of its indicative symptoms among both public and many health professionals. These factors have significantly contributed to the late stage diagnosis of most ovarian cancer patients (63% are diagnosed at Stage III or above), where the 5-year survival rate is less than 30%. The paucity of knowledge concerning ovarian cancer in the United States is unknown. Methods: The present investigation examined current public awareness and knowledge about ovarian cancer. The study implemented design strategies to develop an unbiased survey with quality control measures, including the modern application of multiple statistical analyses. The survey assessed a reasonable proxy of the US population by crowdsourcing participants through the online task marketplace Amazon Mechanical Turk, at a highly condensed rate of cost and time compared to traditional recruitment methods. Conclusion: Knowledge of ovarian cancer was compared to that of breast cancer using repeated measures, bias control and other quality control measures in the survey design. Analyses included multinomial logistic regression and categorical data analysis procedures such as correspondence analysis, among other statistics. We confirmed the relatively poor public knowledge of ovarian cancer among the US population. The simple, yet novel design should set an example for designing surveys to obtain quality data via Amazon Mechanical Turk with the associated analyses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the current and potential library based support efforts for clinical and translational research provided by the Clinical and Translational Science Awards (CTSA). It discusses the national-level organizational scheme of the CTSA Key Function Committees to support the goals of translational science. Further it presents an assessment of library-based translational support services for the translational science institute (TSI).

The northeastern United States is a predominately-forested region that, like most of the eastern U.S., has undergone a 400-year history of intense logging, land clearance for agriculture, and natural reforestation. This setting affords the opportunity to address a major ecological question: How similar are today's forests to those existing prior to European colonization? Working throughout a nine-state region spanning Maine to Pennsylvania, we assembled a comprehensive database of archival land-survey records describing the forests at the time of European colonization. We compared these records to modern forest inventory data and described: (1) the magnitude and attributes of forest compositional change, (2) the geography of change, and (3) the relationships between change and environmental factors and historical land use. We found that with few exceptions, notably the American chestnut, the same taxa that made up the pre-colonial forest still comprise the forest today, despite ample opportunities for species invasion and loss. Nonetheless, there have been dramatic shifts in the relative abundance of forest taxa. The magnitude of change is spatially clustered at local scales (<125 km) but exhibits little evidence of regional-scale gradients. Compositional change is most strongly associated with the historical extent of agricultural clearing. Throughout the region, there has been a broad ecological shift away from late successional taxa, such as beech and hemlock, in favor of early- and mid-successional taxa, such as red maple and poplar. Additionally, the modern forest composition is more homogeneous and less coupled to local climatic controls. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Indo-pacific panther grouper (Chromileptes altiveli) is a predatory fish species and popular imported aquarium fish in the United States which has been recently documented residing in western Atlantic waters. To date, the most successful marine invasive species in the Atlantic is the lionfish (Pterois volitans/miles), which, as for the panther grouper, is assumed to have been introduced to the wild through aquarium releases. However, unlike lionfish, the panther grouper is not yet thought to have an established breeding population in the Atlantic. Using a proven modeling technique developed to track the lionfish invasion, presented is the first known estimation of the potential spread of panther grouper in the Atlantic. The employed cellular automaton-based computer model examines the life history of the subject species including fecundity, mortality, and reproductive potential and combines this with habitat preferences and physical oceanic parameters to forecast the distribution and periodicity of spread of this potential new invasive species. Simulations were examined for origination points within one degree of capture locations of panther grouper from the United States Geological Survey Nonindigenous Aquatic Species Database to eliminate introduction location bias, and two detailed case studies were scrutinized. The model indicates three primary locations where settlement is likely given the inputs and limits of the model; Jupiter Florida/Vero Beach, the Cape Hatteras Tropical Limit/Myrtle Beach South Carolina, and Florida Keys/Ten Thousand Islands locations. Of these locations, Jupiter Florida/Vero Beach has the highest settlement rate in the model and is indicated as the area in which the panther grouper is most likely to become established. This insight is valuable if attempts are to be made to halt this potential marine invasive species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Local and regional-scale knowledge of climate change is needed to model ecosystem responses, assess vulnerabilities and devise effective adaptation strategies. High-resolution gridded historical climate (GHC) products address this need, but come with multiple sources of uncertainty that are typically not well understood by data users. To better understand this uncertainty in a region with a complex climatology, we conducted a ground-truthing analysis of two 4 km GHC temperature products (PRISM and NRCC) for the US Northeast using 51 Cooperative Network (COOP) weather stations utilized by both GHC products. We estimated GHC prediction error for monthly temperature means and trends (1980–2009) across the US Northeast and evaluated any landscape effects (e.g., elevation, distance from coast) on those prediction errors. Results indicated that station-based prediction errors for the two GHC products were similar in magnitude, but on average, the NRCC product predicted cooler than observed temperature means and trends, while PRISM was cooler for means and warmer for trends. We found no evidence for systematic sources of uncertainty across the US Northeast, although errors were largest at high elevations. Errors in the coarse-scale (4 km) digital elevation models used by each product were correlated with temperature prediction errors, more so for NRCC than PRISM. In summary, uncertainty in spatial climate data has many sources and we recommend that data users develop an understanding of uncertainty at the appropriate scales for their purposes. To this end, we demonstrate a simple method for utilizing weather stations to assess local GHC uncertainty and inform decisions among alternative GHC products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: We examined temporal trends, spatial variation, and gender differences in rates of hospitalization due to acute myocardial infarction. Methods: We used data from the Centers for Disease Control National Environmental Public Health Tracking Network to evaluate temporal trends, geographic variation, and gender differences in 20 Environmental Public Health Tracking Network states from 2000 to 2008. A longitudinal linear mixed effects model was fitted to the acute myocardial infarction hospitalization rates for the states and counties within each state to examine the overall temporal trend. Results: There was a significant overall decrease in age-adjusted acute myocardial infarction hospitalization rates between 2000 and 2008, with most states showing over a 20% decline during the period. The ratio of male/female rates for acute myocardial infarction hospitalization rates remained relatively consistent over time, approximately two-fold higher in men compared to women. A large geographic variability was found for age-adjusted acute myocardial infarction hospitalization rates, with the highest rates found in the Northeastern states. Results of two ecological analyses revealed that the NE region remained significantly associated with increased AMI hospitalization rates after adjustment for socio-demographic factors. Conclusions: This investigation is one of the first to explore geographic differences in AMI age adjusted hospital rates in individuals 35+ years of age for 2000–2008. We showed a decreasing trend in AMI hospitalization rates in men and women. A large geographic variability in rates was found with particularly higher rates in the New England/Mid-Atlantic region of the US and lower rates in the mountain and Pacific states of the tracking network. It appeared that over time this disparity in rates became less notable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social movements rely in large measure on networked communication technologies to organize and disseminate information relating to the movements’ objectives. In this work we seek to understand how the goals and needs of a protest movement are reflected in the geographic patterns of its communication network, and how these patterns differ from those of stable political communication. To this end, we examine an online communication network reconstructed from over 600,000 tweets from a thirty-six week period covering the birth and maturation of the American anticapitalist movement, Occupy Wall Street. We find that, compared to a network of stable domestic political communication, the Occupy Wall Street network exhibits higher levels of locality and a hub and spoke structure, in which the majority of non-local attention is allocated to high-profile locations such as New York, California, and Washington D.C. Moreover, we observe that information flows across state boundaries are more likely to contain framing language and references to the media, while communication among individuals in the same state is more likely to reference protest action and specific places and times. Tying these results to social movement theory, we propose that these features reflect the movement’s efforts to mobilize resources at the local level and to develop narrative frames that reinforce collective purpose at the national level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the relationship of gender perception towards computing with computer anxiety and computer self-efficacy among female and male students in the U.S. It examines the impact of the two psychological factors on gender assessment concerning computing-related education and careers between American male and female students. It further investigates the same relationship among Indian students wherein female participation in the field is rapidly intensifying due to the growing demand for information technology (IT) outsourcing worldwide.

The article presents an examination into the early history of the computer programing language Algol. Introductory details are given noting the language's original purpose and potential to act as a universal computing language for scientific computations. Discussion is offered outlining how the initial development of the language in the 1950s was shared between European nations and the United States but then declined in the U.S. due to a lack of interest in uniform programming languages on the conceptual level.

The article presents an exploration into the origins and early history of the International Federation for Information Processing (IFIP), focusing on the Cold War political context of its formation and major paradigms in its first years. The primary goals of the IFIP are discussed, particularly its efforts to facilitate cooperation between Eastern and Western nations in computer science research. The challenges which the IFIP faced in reconciling and separating geopolitics from scientific computing are addressed during several episodes of tension and negotiation between the U.S., Europe, and the Soviet Union.

The under representation of women and minorities in undergraduate computer science and information systems programs is a pervasive and persistent problem in the United States. Needed is a better understanding of the background and psychosocial factors that attract, or repel, minority students from computing disciplines. An examination of these factors is the focus of this multimethodological study that has been conducted over three phases with three separate populations. During phase 1, a survey was administered to students, who were non computer science or information systems majors, enrolled in computer applications courses at both a public and a private Historically Black Universities located in Maryland. The purpose was to examine whether a correlation existed between institutional type and access, education, counseling, and exposure to computing and/or information systems. Analysis of the data found that the participating students came to college with little information about computer science (CS) and information systems (IS) as fields of study. However, a significant disparity was found when institutional type was considered. According to the findings the students attending the private minority-serving institution reported greater access to technology, skill levels, and computing studies prior to entering college. In the second phase of the study, a satisfaction survey was administered, to students majoring in computer science at the public Historically Black University. The purpose was to examine the pre-college preparedness of minority students and whether differences would exist between the responses of the male and female participants. The respondents reported that they did not come to college with the adequate programming skills and/or prior training to succeed as a CS major, with females found to be less prepared than males. In the third phase of the study, a focus group was held with CS students in order to consider changes that would increase the enrollment and retention of underrepresented students. The participants suggested that the addition of bridge programs, increased scholarship opportunities, and greater academic support would increase the enrollment, success, and retention of underrepresented students in CS and IS majors. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

A national web-based survey was administered to 700 undergraduate computer science (CS) programs in the United States as part of a stratified random sample of 797 undergraduate CS programs. The 251 program responses (36% response rate) regarding social and professional issues are presented. This article describes the demographics of the respondents, presents results concerning whether programs teach social and professional issues, how social and professional issues are integrated, perceptions of CS faculty regarding the importance of social and professional issues, pedagogies used to teach social and professional issues, and what specific social and professional topics have been included in the CS curriculum. Additionally, we (a) provide suggestions for CS programs regarding the integration of social and professional issues into the CS curriculum, (b) suggest ways to encourage more social and professional coverage in CS programs, pedagogy, and (c) recommend what social and professional topics should be included in future CS curriculum reports. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article describes the results of a survey of professional workers that was designed to explore the underlying reasons for the widely documented underrepresentation of women in information technology (IT) jobs. Our analysis suggests that it is different occupational personalities between men and women rather than the demanding nature of IT work that is largely responsible for the relatively few women in IT occupations. We discuss the implications these results have for policies that are designed to create greater gender equity in the rapidly growing IT industries. ( JEL J08, J24, J70) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the "INSPIRED" program at Lamar University, which seeks to increase encourage women and underrepresented minorities to enter the field of computer science. In the U.S. women typically receive less than 20% of university computing degrees awarded annually, and the situation is worse for African Americans, Native Americans, and Hispanics. INSPIRED seeks to address this state of affairs through a number of initiatives including faculty mentoring, efforts at educating students about opportunities in computer science, and outreach programs targeted at children in kindergarten through grade 12.

As computing makes the world a smaller place there will be an increase in the mobility of information technology workers and companies. The European Union has recognized the need for mobility and is instituting educational reforms to provide recognition of worker qualifications. Within computing there have been a number of model curricula proposed in Europe and in the United States. This analysis of these curriculum models and example computing programs finds that in computing worker mobility is also possible across the Atlantic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A pedagogically effective teaching strategy that integrates computer-aided design and programming into a course on mechanism analysis and design is presented. Mechanism analysis is enhanced when coupled with computer programming that allows students to find solutions to more complex systems than would otherwise be possible. Web-based distance learning is part of the class and students also learn how to create these kinds of materials themselves. Students can better understand the course material through an integrated computing environment. By solving mechanism design problems in C/C++, the programming skills gained in the course are widely applicable in other areas of engineering. Ch, a C/C++ interpreter, is used to incorporate programming and mechanism design because of its high-level numerical and graphical plotting capabilities, scripting capability, and a mechanism toolkit with easy and quick animation. A student project is presented as an example to show how computer programming is integrated for effective learning. This teaching strategy has been actively used at the University of California, Davis for several years in an undergraduate course in computer-aided mechanism design and has been adopted by other universities as well. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Comput Appl Eng Educ 15: 277–288, 2007; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com); DOI 10.1002/cae.20156 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In an era of fiscal constraints and increased accountability for social service programs, having a centralized and efficient infrastructure is critical. A well-functioning infrastructure helps a state reduce duplication of services, creates economies of scale, coordinates resources, supports high-quality site development and promotes the self-sufficiency and growth of community-based programs. Throughout the Healthy Families America home visitation network, both program growth and contraction have been managed by in-state collaborations, referred to as ‘state systems’. This article explores the research base that supports the rationale for implementing state systems, describes the evolution of state systems for Healthy Families America, and discusses the benefits, challenges and lessons learned of utilizing a systems approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article extends prior work on object inlining by improving the analysis and developing new code transformation techniques to further improve the compilation of Java scientific applications in the U.S. Moreover, the article implements object and array alias strategies to address the aliasing problem while utilizing an idea from Telescoping Languages to address the binary method invocation problem. Meanwhile, these improvements will increase the scientific community's acceptance of the Java programming language in the development of high-performance, high-productivity and scientific applications.

The article focuses on the formation of a computer science center (CSC) at the University of Maryland (UMD) in Baltimore, Maryland. The CSC was formed in 1962 and computer use for research and administration at UMD started in the late 1940s. Professor Harry Polachek conducted the first course to acknowledge computers for calculations. The CSC was headed by Werner C. Rheinboldt who made significant progress in its development. Several proposals were written to industry and government agencies by Rheinboldt to purchase computer equipment and research. The center received grants from the National Aeronautics & Space Administration of the U.S. and many other corporations.

Despite the furor surrounding the offshoring phenomenon, there is little empirical research examining global IT sourcing (GITS) and its potential impacts on the individual, the organization, and society. This article presents the results of a study of the perceived direction of GITS in the United States and its implications for business. Based on information collected from structured interviews with senior information systems executives at ten medium to large corporations in the region, the study specifically examines their perceptions of offshoring trend, its implications for the IT workforce, and steps that must be taken to remain competitive in the global marketplace. Nine of the ten company executives interviewed indicated a slow but steady growth in the level of such offshore engagements and an increasing commitment to strategic partnerships with global information service providers. The primary drivers of offshoring partnerships were cost, access to expertise, and domestic headcount stabilization. Significant concerns were expressed as to the nature of computer science education in the United States and a need to shift from technical skills to those that focused on business domain knowledge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article narrates several prelude stories behind the acclaimed contributions in computer science of Phillip A. Laplante, one of the second generation pioneers of computing in the U.S. According to the author his story exemplifies how the chances for Laplante were bounded by voluntary restraints, such as his inclination to move his families. As a result, he endured depression and extreme poverty but able to subdue all of those and acquired fluency in seven languages that with certainty helped him master computer syntax. Along the way, numerous exceptional opportunities and potential rewards have succeeded by him. But in the end, he opted to put his family before his career .

The unprecedented growth, development and implementation of information technology (IT) driven by e-commerce and other technological advances have resulted in an increased demand of technology skilled workers (Reichgelt, Zhang, & Price, 2002; United States Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2005). In response to degree-dependent employment requirements, academic institutions have fallen prey to the laws of supply and demand. The increased interest in obtaining IT-related positions has prompted students to enroll in IT-related degree programs. The government has supported universities interested in developing such programs by providing grants to build schools and colleges of information sciences and technology (IST). Furthermore, as IST programs grow by leaps and bounds, universities and accreditation organizations have been working to develop guidelines by which to monitor and maintain academic standards. This study identifies national standards for IST baccalaureate programs in the United States. A survey containing 138 IST standard criteria grouped in 15 categories was sent to 50 individuals affiliated with five IST-related accrediting bodies in the United States: the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) (2006); the American Library Association (ALA) (2003); American Society for Information Science and Technology (ASIS&T) (2002); the Business Accreditation Committee (BAC) (2002); and the Computer Sciences Accreditation Board (CSAB) (2001), who served as a panel of experts in the area of IST to identify a theoretical framework for IST degree programs. The results of the survey revealed that all respondents agreed with the IST program standards outlined in this study. The IST standards categories outlined in this study may be utilized by any academic organization interested in developing, implementing, evaluating, or improving their IST degree program. Future studies could be conducted to identify degree requirements for virtual or online IST degree programs, graduate degree programs, and/or continuing education IST programs. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article explores the ethical and social justice issues inherent in the life cycle of computer technologies and discusses the role that university faculty can play to increase awareness of ecological and social responsibility. Instruction librarians and information science faculty are like other faculty to use a variety of information technologies. As instruction librarians and other faculty frequently use technology in the classroom, it is vital that they develop and espouse a pedagogy that is sensitive to issues of the environment and social justice. Instruction librarians have made an effort to bring information ethics topics into classroom, which had involved discussing plagarism, intellectual property law and implications of the digital divide. The issues surrounding the chain of production, supply, acquisition, consumption and disposal of technology become even more relevant to the current classroom discourse.

The development of the Bioinformatics MS degree program at the University of Illinois, the challenges and opportunities associated with such a process, and the current structure of the program is described. This program has departed from earlier University practice in significant ways. Despite the existence of several interdisciplinary programs at the University, a few of which grant degrees, this is the first interdisciplinary program that grants degrees and formally recognises departmental specialisation areas. The program, which is not owned by any particular department but by the Graduate College itself, is operated in a franchise-like fashion via several departmental concentrations. With four different colleges and many more departments involved in establishing and operating the program, the logistics of the operation are of considerable complexity but result in significant interactions across the entire campus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The link between information technology and productivity is clear. Yet how computers affect productivity is not well understood Ours is the first study using data for approximately 30,000 U S. manufacturing plants to examine the effect of computer networks on productivity. We find a positive and significant relationship between computer networks and plant labor productivity. Plants with lower productivity in earlier periods are also more likely to have a computer network, supporting the hypothesis that plants use networks to catch up. The positive network effect remains significant when we account for endogenous computer networks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reports that the 1990s saw many cities clamoring to become the next silicon haven. When the digital economy encountered major setbacks in 2000, the bursting of the information technology bubble prompted localities to wonder if tying their economies to such an industry was a sound economic-development policy. All indicators thus far suggest that the information technology (IT) industry is still beneficial to the economy of a region. A recent government report explains that the IT industry not only accounted for nearly one-third of economic growth in the U.S. between 1995 and 2000, but with the industry's rebound, it also contributed to over one-third of U.S. growth in 2003.

The authors conducted ethnographic research to provide deep understanding of the learning environment of a selection of computer science classrooms at a large, research university in the United States. Categories emerging from data analysis included (1) impersonal environment and guarded behavior; and (2) the creation and maintenance of informal hierarchy resulting in competitive behaviors. Both of these categories describe patterns of recurring communication taking place in the classroom learning environments. We identify particular and recognizable types of discourse, which, when prevalent in a classroom, can preclude the development of a collaborative and/or supportive learning environment. Alternative communication choices, both explicit and implicit, can lead lo a more balanced and supportive climate for learning. An example of a successful effort to alter traditional patterns of interaction, without compromising the quality of learning, in a higher education astrophysics class is presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Discusses the establishment of computer science professional norms among high school students in the United States. Production of working computer programs; Preference to work directly with computers; Integration of explanatory proofs as a means of establishing norms of precision in the students' practices and methods of communication.

Discusses degree trends and policy implications among women of color in information technology in the U.S. Definition of terms concerning minorities; Science and engineering bachelor's degrees.

Pundits of information technology stress that the Internet opens new arenas for nonprofits through the ability to share information both locally and globally. New technology also changes funders' and other evaluators' expectations regarding proposals. Although new technology makes life easier for organizations with budgets, time, and familiarity with technology to buy and use these new tools, nonprofits that lack these resources fall even further behind in their quest to support and improve their programs. Based on ethnographic research in Kenosha, Wisconsin, this article explores the role of changing technology in the ability of small nonprofits to succeed in implementing their organizational mission. Using case studies, this article compares the experience of nonprofits and church mission projects based in the African American and Latino communities in this small city to that of two mainstream organizations in gaining funding and the general perception of those agencies in the local community. The article argues that expectations about the use of technology increase the gaps between a community's haves and have-nots. Kenosha organizations based in communities of color are particularly at risk due to already low funding and lack of staff familiar with new technologies. The article demonstrates that the key is often not access to technology or technical assistance but the time to make the best use of available technology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To predict the true cost of developing and maintaining an electronic immunization registry, and to set the framework for developing future cost-effective and cost-benefit analysis.Data Sources/study Setting: Primary data collected at three immunization registries located in California, accounting for 90 percent of all immunization records in registries in the state during the study period.Study Design: A parametric cost analysis compared registry development and maintenance expenditures to registry performance requirements.Data Collection/extraction Methods: Data were collected at each registry through interviews, reviews of expenditure records, technical accomplishments development schedules, and immunization coverage rates.Principal Findings: The cost of building immunization registries is predictable and independent of the hardware/software combination employed. The effort requires four man-years of technical effort or approximately $250,000 in 1998 dollars. Costs for maintaining a registry were approximately $5,100 per end user per three-year period.Conclusions: There is a predictable cost structure for both developing and maintaining immunization registries. The cost structure can be used as a framework for examining the cost-effectiveness and cost-benefits of registries. The greatest factor effecting improvement in coverage rates was ongoing, user-based administrative investment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reports the integration of Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology and the Computing Sciences Accreditation Board into a single agency in New York. Accreditation responsibility of the single organization on educational programs; Introduction of computer science on programming; Evaluation of baccalaureate degree programs on computer science.

Presents updates on issues related to computer science in the U.S. published in the February 2001 issue of the 'Expert Systems' journal. Plan of the O'Hare International Airport in Chicago to upgrade its building access control system; Automation of the frozen abd perishable distribution centers of the Perishable Distributors of Iowa using speech recognition systems; Awarding of U.S. patent to a system and methods for searching for genetic sequence database for Nanogen Inc.

Describes a process of developing an upper-level undergraduate computer science course in robotics in a purely undergraduate computer science department in the U.S. Establishment of a robotics course; Efforts of computer science departments to offer a rigorous curriculum in spite of significant general education course requirements; Design of the robotics course.

Discusses whether the early entry of universities in the United States (U.S.) in computing was a competitive advantage in academic computing. Discussion of the first three decades of computing at Harvard, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and the Universities of Pennsylvania, Columbia and Princeton; Advantages and disadvantages of being an early entrant; Implications of the emergence of computer science. INSET: Princeton years.

The University of Hawaii at Hilo began offering a B.S. degree in computer science via distance education in 1998. This program serves students on islands with no four-year educational institution.The experiences in planning for and teaching such a program are discussed, together with the technologies used and the outcomes to date. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses the relationship in the U.S. between current symbolic interactionism and computer sciences-specifically, distributed artificial intelligence (DAI). The genera! thesis is twofold. First, current interactionist approaches to organization, science, and technology show a special affinity to goals and problems of DAI research, and in research style, methods, and theoretical concepts, symbolic interactionism can provide useful suggestions in the design of DAI systems. Second, a good way to analyze the relationship between computer sciences and symbolic interactionism is reflexive of theoretical concepts provided by interactionist approaches. In this sense, DAI is a "going concern" which extends across various fields and intersecting social worlds connected through a set of conceptual "boundary objects." It is concluded that the interaction between technology and sociological thought must go beyond a mere exchange of ideas. What is required is continual, hands-on, transdisciplinary collaboration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]