Text messaging and brief phone calls for weight loss in overweight and obese English- and Spanish-speaking adults: A 1-year, parallel-group, randomized controlled trial.

Background: Weight loss interventions based solely on text messaging (short message service [SMS]) have been shown to be modestly effective for short periods of time and in some populations, but limited evidence is available for positive longer-term outcomes and for efficacy in Hispanic populations. Also, little is known about the comparative efficacy of weight loss interventions that use SMS coupled with brief, technology-mediated contact with health coaches, an important issue when considering the scalability and cost of interventions. We examined the efficacy of a 1-year intervention designed to reduce weight among overweight and obese English- and Spanish-speaking adults via SMS alone (ConTxt) or in combination with brief, monthly health-coaching calls.

Low-Cost Air Quality Monitoring Tools: From Research to Practice (A Workshop Summary).

In May 2017, a two-day workshop was held in Los Angeles (California, U.S.A.

Face-to-Face and Online Networks: College Students' Experiences in a Weight-Loss Trial.

This study aimed to understand how college students participating in a 2-year randomized controlled trial (Project SMART: Social and Mobile Approach to Reduce Weight; N = 404) engaged their social networks and used social and mobile technologies to try and lose weight. Participants in the present study (n = 20 treatment, n = 18 control) were approached after a measurement visit and administered semi-structured interviews. Interviews were analyzed using principles from grounded theory.

Using social and mobile tools for weight loss in overweight and obese young adults (Project SMART): a 2 year, parallel-group, randomised, controlled trial.

Background: Few weight loss interventions are evaluated for longer than a year, and even fewer employ social and mobile technologies commonly used among young adults. We assessed the efficacy of a 2 year, theory-based, weight loss intervention that was remotely and adaptively delivered via integrated user experiences with Facebook, mobile apps, text messaging, emails, a website, and technology-mediated communication with a health coach (the SMART intervention).

Methods: In this parallel-group, randomised, controlled trial, we enrolled overweight or obese college students (aged 18-35 years) from three universities in San Diego, CA, USA.

Clinical trial management of participant recruitment, enrollment, engagement, and retention in the SMART study using a Marketing and Information Technology (MARKIT) model.

Advances in information technology and near ubiquity of the Internet have spawned novel modes of communication and unprecedented insights into human behavior via the digital footprint. Health behavior randomized controlled trials (RCTs), especially technology-based, can leverage these advances to improve the overall clinical trials management process and benefit from improvements at every stage, from recruitment and enrollment to engagement and retention. In this paper, we report the results for recruitment and retention of participants in the SMART study and introduce a new model for clinical trials management that is a result of interdisciplinary team science.

Click "like" to change your behavior: a mixed methods study of college students' exposure to and engagement with Facebook content designed for weight loss.

Background: Overweight or obesity is prevalent among college students and many gain weight during this time. Traditional face-to-face weight loss interventions have not worked well in this population. Facebook is an attractive tool for delivering weight loss interventions for college students because of its popularity, potential to deliver strategies found in successful weight loss interventions, and ability to support ongoing adaptation of intervention content.

Feasibility and effectiveness of an automated bilingual text message intervention for weight loss: pilot study.

Background: Little is known about the feasibility and acceptability of tailored text message based weight loss programs for English and Spanish-language speakers.

Objective: This pilot study evaluated the feasibility, acceptability, and estimated impact of a tailored text message based weight loss program for English and Spanish-language speakers. The purpose of this pilot study was to inform the development of a full-scale randomized trial.

Secure scalable disaster electronic medical record and tracking system.

Introduction: Electronic medical records (EMRs) are considered superior in documentation of care for medical practice. Current disaster medical response involves paper tracking systems and radio communication for mass-casualty incidents (MCIs). These systems are prone to errors, may be compromised by local conditions, and are labor intensive.

Achieving reliable communication in dynamic emergency responses.

Emergency responses require the coordination of first responders to assess the condition of victims, stabilize their condition, and transport them to hospitals based on the severity of their injuries. WIISARD is a system designed to facilitate the collection of medical information and its reliable dissemination during emergency responses. A key challenge in WIISARD is to deliver data with high reliability as first responders move and operate in a dynamic radio environment fraught with frequent network disconnections.

Impact of wireless electronic medical record system on the quality of patient documentation by emergency field responders during a disaster mass-casualty exercise.

Introduction: The use of wireless, electronic, medical records and communications in the prehospital and disaster field is increasing.

Objective: This study examines the role of wireless, electronic, medical records and communications technologies on the quality of patient documentation by emergency field responders during a mass-casualty exercise.

Methods: A controlled, side-to-side comparison of the quality of the field responder patient documentation between responders utilizing National Institutes of Health-funded, wireless, electronic, field, medical record system prototype ("Wireless Internet Information System for medicAl Response to Disasters" or WIISARD) versus those utilizing conventional, paper-based methods during a mass-casualty field exercise.

A text message-based intervention for weight loss: randomized controlled trial.

Background: To our knowledge, no studies have evaluated whether weight loss can be promoted in overweight adults through the use of an intervention that is largely based on daily SMS (Short Message Service: text) and MMS (Multimedia Message Service: small picture) messages transmitted via mobile phones.

Objective: This paper describes the development and evaluation of a text message-based intervention designed to help individuals lose or maintain weight over 4 months.

Methods: The study was a randomized controlled trial, with participants being exposed to one of the following two conditions, lasting 16 weeks: (1) receipt of monthly printed materials about weight control; (2) an intervention that included personalized SMS and MMS messages sent two to five times daily, printed materials, and brief monthly phone calls from a health counselor.

Field provider position tracking at mass gathering events.

WIISARD (Wireless Internet Information System for Medical Response to Disasters) utilizes wireless technology to improve medical care at mass casualty disasters. An important component of WIISARD is geolocation tracking of field personnel at the disaster site. Accurate, real-time information on personnel has the potential to improve resource utilization at the disaster site, as well as increase the safety of first responders caring for victims at a hazardous scene.

Comparison of the effectiveness of wireless electronic tracking devices versus traditional paper systems to track victims in a large scale disaster.

We conducted an unblinded experimental comparative trial during a disaster drill involving DMATs using the WIISARD system and traditional paper tracking of casualties. We shadowed the paper work flow to collect data on 40 victims tracked by both systems. WIISARD captured patients as well as the paper system.

Data quality for situational awareness during mass-casualty events.

Incident Command systems often achieve situational awareness through manual paper-tracking systems. Such systems often produce high latencies and in-complete data, resulting in inefficient and ineffective resource deployment. WIISARD (Wireless Internet Information System for Medical Response in Disasters) collects much more data than a paper-based system, dramatically reducing latency while increasing the kinds and quality of information available to incident commanders.

UCSD digital nursing: next generation healthcare.

Documentation computer tools for nursing homes are uncommon, with few nursing homes having access to electronic systems. At St. Paul's Nursing Home an UCSD student engineering team created a web based solution for the nursing staff progress notes.

Situational awareness during mass-casualty events: command and control.

In existing Incident Command systems, situational awareness is achieved manually through paper tracking systems. Such systems often produce high latencies and incomplete data, resulting in inefficient and ineffective resource deployment. The WIISARD system collects much more data than a paper-based system, dramatically reducing latency while increasing the kinds and quality of information available to Incident Commanders.

Tablet computing for disaster scene managers.

WIISARD utilizes wireless technology to improve the care of victims following a mass casualty disaster. The WIISARD Scene Manager device (WSM) is designed to enhance the collection and accessibility of real-time data on victims, ambulances and hospitals for disaster supervisors and managers. We recently deployed WSM during a large-scale disaster exercise.

A wireless first responder handheld device for rapid triage, patient assessment and documentation during mass casualty incidents.

Medical care at mass casualty incidents and disasters requires rapid patient triage and assessment, acute care and disposition often in the setting of overwhelming numbers of victims, limited time, and little resources. Current systems rely on a paper triage tag on which rescuers and medical providers mark the patient's triage status and record limited information on injuries and treatments administered in the field. In this manuscript, we describe the design, development and deployment of a wireless handheld device with an electronic medical record (EMR) for use by rescuers responding to mass casualty incidents (MCIs) and disasters.

Middleware for reliable mobile medical workflow support in disaster settings.

Mobile information technology can help first responders assist patients more quickly, reliably, and safely, while focusing resources on those most in need. Yet the disaster setting complicates reliable networked computing. The WIISARD client-server architecture provides mobile IT support for medical response in disasters.

A web-services architecture designed for intermittent connectivity to support medical response to disasters.

To support mobile computing systems for first responders at mass casualty sites, as part of the WIISARD (Wireless Internet Information System for Medical Response in Disasters) project, we have developed a data architecture to gracefully handle an environment with frequent network failure and, multiple writers that also supports rapid dissemination of updates that could be critical to the safety of responders. This is accomplished by allowing for a subset of the overall information available in a disaster scene to be cached locally on a responder's device and locally modified with or without network access. When the network is available, the local subset of the model is automatically synchronized with a server that contains the full model, and conflicts are resolved.

RealityFlythrough: enhancing situational awareness for medical response to disasters using ubiquitous video.

The first moments at a disaster scene are chaotic. The command center initially operates with little knowledge of hazards, geography and casualties, building up knowledge of the event slowly as information trickles in by voice radio channels. RealityFlythrough is a tele-presence system that stitches together live video feeds in real-time, using the principle of visual closure, to give command center personnel the illusion of being able to explore the scene interactively by moving smoothly between the video feeds.

Laparoscopic aortic reconstruction: early experience.

Background: Laparoscopic reconstruction of the abdominal aorta has been described as early as 1993. The techniques used have varied but all have been labor intensive. With advances in laparoscopic technique and the available tools, the role in aortic reconstruction is expanding.

Information technology and emergency medical care during disasters.

Disaster response to mass-casualty incidents represents one of the greatest challenges to a community's emergency response system. Rescuers, field medical personnel, and regional emergency departments and hospitals must often provide care to large numbers of casualties in a setting of limited resources, inadequate communication, misinformation, damaged infrastructure, and great personal risk. Emergency care providers and incident managers attempt to procure and coordinate resources and personnel, often with inaccurate data regarding the true nature of the incident, needs, and ongoing response.