Danube University Krems

About: Danube University Krems is a education organization based out in Krems, Niederösterreich, Austria. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Stroke & Population. The organization has 498 authors who have published 1572 publications receiving 68797 citations.

Post-stroke pneumonia at the stroke unit – a registry based analysis of contributing and protective factors

Abstract: To investigate prevalence and risk factors for post stroke pneumonia (PSP) in patients with acute ischemic stroke treated at stroke units (SU). We analysed data from the Austrian Stroke Unit registry concerning admissions from January 2003 to December 2013 and assessed the prevalence of PSP at the stroke unit. Patients with and without PSP were compared in univariate and multivariate models searching for factors associated with the occurrence of PSP at the SU. Three thousand one hundred eleven patients (5.2 %) of 59,558 analysed patients were diagnosed with PSP. While age and stroke severity were non-modifiable factors associated with PSP, modifiable risk factors included chronic alcohol consumption and atrial fibrillation. Patients who developed neurological, cardiac, and other infective complications showed a higher prevalence of PSP, an increased prevalence was also found in connection with the placement of nasogastric tubes or urinary catheters. Female sex, left hemispheric stroke, cryptogenic stroke pathogenesis and additionally, treatment with lipid lowering drugs were factors associated with a lower PSP prevalence. Pneumonia in acute ischemic stroke is associated with a variety of modifiable and unmodifiable factors that allow to identify patients at high risk of developing PSP and to focus on early preventive measures at the SU. Further studies could use the results of this study to explore potential benefits of specific interventions targeted at these factors.

The User Puzzle—Explaining the Interaction with Visual Analytics Systems

Abstract: Visual analytics emphasizes the interplay between visualization, analytical procedures performed by computers and human perceptual and cognitive activities. Human reasoning is an important element in this context. There are several theories in psychology and HCI explaining open-ended and exploratory reasoning. Five of these theories (sensemaking theories, gestalt theories, distributed cognition, graph comprehension theories and skill-rule-knowledge models) are described in this paper. We discuss their relevance for visual analytics. In order to do this more systematically, we developed a schema of categories relevant for visual analytics research and evaluation. All these theories have strengths but also weaknesses in explaining interaction with visual analytics systems. A possibility to overcome the weaknesses would be to combine two or more of these theories.

Signing an e-petition as a transition from lurking to participation.

Abstract: As one form of online political participation, the e-petitioning is seen as a response to a perceived decline in public trust of political institutions and the associated symptoms of political disengagement. This paper uses the psychological concepts of self-efficacy, prosocial behaviour and lurking and shows how they could be applied to e-participation, in particular in the context of the decision to sign a petition (or not). Different models are examined and some potential future research areas are identified.

Many roads lead to Rome: mapping users' problem-solving strategies

Abstract: There is more than one path to a solution, especially when it comes to ill-defined problems like complex, realworld tasks. Until now, the evaluation of information visualizations has often been restricted simply to a measuring of outcomes (time and error] or insights into the data set. A more detailed look into the processes that facilitate or hinder task completion is provided by analysing user problem-solving strategies. The study presented in this paper illustrates how such processes can be assessed and how the resulting knowledge can be used in participatory design to improve a visual analytics tool. For users to be equipped with a problem solving scaffold, the tools used should allow them to choose their own path to the solution - their own route to Rome. We also discuss how the evaluation of problem-solving strategies can shed more light on the 'exploratory minds' of users.