PubMed, Internet Grateful Med, and Ovid: a comparison of three MEDLINE Internet interfaces

Three MEDLINE Internet interfaces are compared: PubMed, Internet Grateful Med, and Ovid MEDLINE. Although these interfaces all search MEDLINE, significant differences exist in terms of their search interfaces, presentation of results, and special features. This paper examines these variations and explores some of the advantages and disadvantages of the three interfaces.     

The Systems Approach

A system is simply a collection of things connected together. Systems thinking refers to the habit of concentrating on how these collections act, and interact, together. Usually we are particularly concerned with how effective they are in the pursuit of certain goals.     

Secondary-school students' motivation for portfolio reflection

Several studies concluded that deep reflection is infrequently reached in student portfolios. An explanation for these disappointing conclusions might be that motivation for portfolio reflection determines the quality of reflection. This study aimed to examine the relationship between motivation for using digital portfolios and reflection. Participants were 156 eleventh-grade students in secondary education, whose motivation for composing a digital portfolio was measured by the motivation part of the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire. Portfolios of 37 of the 156 students were examined in terms of the amount and nature of reflection by means of a coding scheme based on Mezirow's model of transformative learning. On average, one-fifth (19.5%) of the paragraphs in a portfolio contained reflection, and paragraphs with deep reflection were hardly found (0.8%). It was concluded that motivation for composing a portfolio was fair, but not related to the amount and nature of reflection. This exploratory study gives rise to further research into factors that might influence the quality of portfolio reflection.     

Counselling patients with infertility problems

The present biomedical model of health care fails to consider the psychosocial aspects of problems of health and illness. Nevertheless, guidance and support through appropriate treatment remains a necessity, especially for patients with chronic and complex diseases. Moreover, information about the disease and its treatment is important with regard to a successful outcome. Health care providers should also pay attention to the psychosocial impact of the disease on the patient, on his or her family and on the wider social context. Counselling infertility patients adds a new dimension to this process: new reproductive technologies offer infertile patients the possibility of setting up a family, but at the cost of turning the parenting wish into a very stressful event. Fertility problems and the fertility treatment itself tend to place a lot of stress on the emotional and sexual relationship of the infertile couple. Although infertile patients focus on such treatments as providing a means to become parents, they should also be able to cope with possible failure. On the other hand, if the treatment succeeds patients should not only be guided through the treatment but also informed about possible psychological and social consequences that might affect them as future parents, their parent-child relationship and the family dynamics. If it is considered that this kind of treatment involves a new life, one might expect psychological counselling to be an essential part of it.