Academic discipline and risk perception of technologies: An empirical study

This article brings together two areas of research: studies on risk perception of technologies and studies on vocational/career choice. This is an important link since decisions concerning technologies are influenced by decision makers’ risk perceptions and these in turn may be related to educational and career paths.We analyze students of different academic disciplines with regard to their risk perception of four technologies. The aim is to find out whether there is a relationship between area of study (as a precursor of vocational and career choice) and risk perception of technologies regarding health, environment and society. The four technologies under study are renewable energies, genetic engineering, nanotechnology and information and communication technologies (ICT). Key results are: irrespective of academic discipline risk of genetic engineering on average is rated highest and renewable energies lowest. This holds for all the risks studied (environmental, health, societal risks). On average, students from different academic disciplines differ in their risk perception. Factor analyses show that common dimensions of risk are the technologies and not the kind of risk. Regression analyses show that the variables influencing perceived risks vary between the technological fields.     

Effects of short-term exercise training on tissue Doppler indices of left ventricular diastolic function in overweight and obese individuals

Abstract

Although exercise training is unable to improve obesity-associated decreases in left ventricular (LV) diastolic function, as assessed using chamber function measurements, the effects on LV diastolic myocardial function, as assessed using tissue Doppler imaging (TDI), are uncertain. In 32 overweight (n = 11) or obese (n = 21), sedentary or recreationally active men and women (30–57 years), we assessed the effects of 6 weeks of exercise training either preceded (n = 16) or followed (n = 16) by a 6-week control period on TDI indices of LV diastolic function (e', e'/a' and E/e') (echocardiography). Diastolic function at baseline was comparable to that noted in overweight and obese participants from a community sample (n = 245), and 56% (n = 18) had e' values below the lower 95% CI of a lean and healthy cohort (n = 60) of the community sample. Exercise training increased peak oxygen consumption (27.4 ± 4.9 to 29.4 ± 5.8 mL · kg^–1 · min^–1, P = 0.0001), but had no effect on body mass index (P = 0.99). No changes in TDI indices of diastolic function were observed after exercise training in all the participants (e': P = 0.74, a': P = 0.98, e'/a': P = 0.85, E/e': P = 0.26), participants with abnormal e' values (n = 18)(e': P = 0.99, a': P = 0.96, e'/a': P = 0.91, E/e': P = 0.97) or obese participants (n = 21)(e': P = 0.67, a': P = 1.00, e'/a': P = 0.78, E/e': P = 0.11). In conclusion, exercise training, despite increasing cardiorespiratory fitness, is unable to improve obesity-associated decreases in LV diastolic myocardial function.     

Gain-Loss Framing Enhances Mnemonic Discrimination in Preschoolers

Episodic memory relies on discriminating among similar elements of episodes. Mnemonic discrimination is relatively poor at age 4, and then improves markedly. We investigated whether motivation to encode items with fine-grain resolution would change this picture of development, using an engaging computer-administered memory task in which a bird ate items that made her healthier (gain frame), sicker (loss frame), or led to no change (control condition). Using gain-loss framing led to enhanced mnemonic discrimination in 4- and 5-year-olds, but did not affect older children or adults. Despite this differential improvement, age-related differences persisted. An additional finding was that loss-framing led to greater mnemonic discrimination than gain-framing across age groups. Motivation only partially accounts for the improvement in mnemonic discrimination.     

Long-Term Usage of a Consortial PDA Collection: If They Choose It,Will We Use It?*

Abstract

This paper examines the materials acquired during a consortial PDA pilot; which of the books are still being used, by which institutions, whether the size of a participating institution or the subject of a book have impact on the continued use of the books, and if there is a relationship between the schools that triggered a PDA purchase and the schools that have gone on to use a given title. Findings suggest that models involving some library mediation may be more effective in meeting the various needs of participating institutions.     

A cross‐cultural comparison of anatomy learning: Learning styles and strategies

Cultural influences on anatomy teaching and learning have been investigated by application of a questionnaire to medical students in British and Chinese Medical Schools. Results from the responses from students of the two countries were analyzed. Both groups found it easier to understand anatomy in a clinical context, and in both countries, student learning was driven by assessment. Curriculum design differences may have contributed to the British view wherein students were less likely to feel time pressure and enjoyed studying anatomy more than their Chinese counterparts. Different teaching approaches resulted in British students being more likely to recite definitions to learn, and the Chinese students found learning from cross‐sectional images easy. Cultural differences may account for the observation that British students were more inclined to ask questions in class, and the preference of Chinese students to study in small groups. The findings give evidence to show how ‘cultures of learning’ influence students' approaches and indicate the importance of cultural influences as factors amongst international and home learner groups. Anat Sci Ed 2:49–60, 2009. © 2009 American Association of Anatomists.     

A rapid,inexpensive surface treatment for enhanced functionality of polydimethylsiloxane microfluidic channels

A rapid, inexpensive method using alkoxysilanes has been developed to selectively coat the interior of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) microfluidic channels with an integral silicaceous layer. This method combines the rapid prototyping capabilities of PDMS with the desirable wetting and electroosmotic properties of glass. The procedure can be carried out on the open faces of PDMS blocks prior to enclosure of the channels, or by flowing the reagents through the preformed channels. Therefore, this methodology allows for high-throughput processing of entire microfluidic devices or selective modification of specific areas of a device. Modification of PDMS with tetraethoxysilane generated a stable surface layer, with enhanced wettability and a more stable electroosmotic flow rate than native PDMS. Modification of PDMS with 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane generated a surface layer bearing amine functionalities allowing for further chemical derivatization of the PDMS surface.     

Understanding the increase in parents’ involvement in organized youth sports

As part of an ethnographic study on young people and learning (the knowledge in motion across contexts of learning project, set in Norway), we interviewed a diverse sample of parents of young teenagers, many of whom were active in organized sports. The parents described their level of involvement in sport in a way that contrasted sharply to our own experiences participating in youth sports in the 1970s and 1980s. Back then most parents were absent from the sports fields. This new role of sports in the practice of parenthood is what we investigate in this study. The purpose is to further the understanding of the cultural processes that drive what we see as a marked generational change in the relationship between organized sports and the practice of parenthood. In contrast to previous studies, we also focus on the relationship between generational change and classed patterns in parenting. Our data suggest that across social classes, parents see involvement in sports as normal, and as a way to connect to the child emotionally and to further the child's development. We interpret the significance of sports in the parent–child relationship as related both to the normalization of youth sports that the parents experienced when they grew up, and to the new cultural ideas of parenthood that they encounter as adults. We find that there are tensions embedded in this new form of parenthood that are particularly evident in what we call ‘deep involvement’, an intensified form of parental engagement with youth sports that is practiced primarily by fathers in the economic fraction of the middle class. We conclude that the new role of sport in the practice of parenthood is a classed as well as a generational phenomenon.     

Higher-order units in reading instruction

Gibson and her colleagues have presented arguments and evidence suggesting that the most appropriate unit to teach in reading is neither the single letter nor the whole word but a higher-order unit determined from examining grapheme-phoneme correspondences. The present study employed a computer analysis of the most frequently occurring (approximately 18,000) words in the English language. All letter strings from two to seven letters in length (here after called ngrams) were output with all the words in which the ngram appeared printed beneath the ngram. In addition type and token frequencies of each ngram were calculated and printed in separate rank order and alphabetic lists. Preliminary analysis of the consistency of mappings of various ngrams suggests that many are potentially useful for reading instruction. Current research with the computer is designed to extend the preliminary analysis.     

Directionality effects in simultaneous language interpreting: the case of sign language interpreters in The Netherlands

The quality of interpretations produced by sign language interpreters was investigated. Twenty-five experienced interpreters were instructed to interpret narratives from (a) spoken Dutch to Sign Language of The Netherlands (SLN), (b) spoken Dutch to Sign Supported Dutch (SSD), and (c) SLN to spoken Dutch. The quality of the interpreted narratives was assessed by 5 certified sign language interpreters who did not participate in the study. Two measures were used to assess interpreting quality: the propositional accuracy of the interpreters' interpretations and a subjective quality measure. The results showed that the interpreted narratives in the SLN-to-Dutch interpreting direction were of lower quality (on both measures) than the interpreted narratives in the Dutch-to-SLN and Dutch-to-SSD directions. Furthermore, interpreters who had begun acquiring SLN when they entered the interpreter training program performed as well in all 3 interpreting directions as interpreters who had acquired SLN from birth.