Workgroup

Abstract: Systems and methods are provided for creating and using a sharable file-level key to secure data files. The sharable file-level key is generated based on a workgroup key associated with the data file, as well as unique information associated with the data file. The sharable file-level key may be used to encrypt and split data using a Secure Parser. Systems and methods are also provided for sharing data without replicating the data on the machine of the end user. Data is encrypted and split across an external/consumer network and an enterprise/producer network. Access to the data is provided using a computing image generated by a server in the enterprise/producer network and then distributed to end users of the external/consumer network. This computing image may include preloaded files that provide pointers to the data that was encrypted and split. No access or replication of the data on the enterprise/producer network is needed in order for a user of the external/consumer network to access the data.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for synchronizing data on a network is disclosed. In one embodiment, the invention comprises a method including establishing a wireless communications channel between a first mobile computer device belonging to a workgroup and a second device and determining if the second device belongs to the workgroup of the first device. If the second device belongs to the workgroup of the first device, then the method further includes receiving data at the first device from the second device through the wireless communications channel and resolving conflicts between the received data and data of the first device.

Abstract: Background: In a public health emergency, many more patients could require mechanical ventilators than can be accommodated.Methods: To plan for such a crisis, the New York State Department of Health and the New York State Task Force on Life and the Law convened a workgroup to develop ethical and clinical guidelines for ventilator triage.Results: The workgroup crafted an ethical framework including the following components: duty to care, duty to steward resources, duty to plan, distributive justice, and transparency. Incorporating the ethical framework, the clinical guidelines propose both withholding and withdrawing ventilators from patients with the highest probability of mortality to benefit patients with the highest likelihood of survival. Triage scores derive from the sepsis-related organ failure assessment system, which assigns points based on function in 6 basic medical domains. Triage may not be implemented by a facility without clear permission from public health authorities.Conclusions: New York State released the draft guidelines for public comment, allowing for revision to reflect both community values and medical innovation. This ventilator triage system represents a radical shift from ordinary standards of care, and may serve as a model for allocating other scarce resources in disasters. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2008;2:20–26)

Abstract: Many school-improvement efforts include time for teacher collaboration, with the assumption that teachers’ collective work supports instructional improvement. However, not all collaboration equally supports learning that would support improvement. As a part of a 5-year study in two urban school districts, we collected video records of more than 100 mathematics teacher workgroup meetings in 16 different middle schools, selected as “best cases” of teacher collaboration. Building off of earlier discursive analyses of teachers’ collegial learning, we developed a taxonomy to describe how conversational processes differentially support teachers’ professional learning. We used the taxonomy to code our corpus, with each category signaling different learning opportunities. In this article, we present the taxonomy, illustrate the categories, and report the overall dearth of meetings with rich learning opportunities, even in this purposively sampled data set. This taxonomy provides a coding scheme for other research...