Medical libraries, bioinformatics, and networked information: a coming convergence?

Libraries will be changed by technological and social developments that are fueled by information technology, bioinformatics, and networked information. Libraries in highly focused settings such as the health sciences are at a pivotal point in their development as the synthesis of historically diverse and independent information sources transforms health care institutions. Boundaries are breaking down between published literature and research data, between research databases and clinical patient data, and between consumer health information and professional literature. This paper focuses on the dynamics that are occurring with networked information sources and the roles that libraries will need to play in the world of medical informatics in the early twenty-first century.     

The language of science and the high school student: The recognition of concept definitions: A comparison between hindi speaking students in India and english speaking students in Australia

Sixteen concept words (mass, length, area, volume, solid, liquid, gas, element, compound, mixture, electron, proton, neutron, atom, molecule, and ion) associated with the theme, the nature of matter were described as simple text book definitions after examination of classroom notes and school texts of the last three decades. Sixteen multiple-choice items all of the same form were constructed for each of the concept definitions. The English version of the sixteen item test was given to 1635 high school students in Tasmania (where the language of instruction and the home language is English) and the Hindi version of the test was given to 826 students from the Bhopal/Barwani region of India where the medium of instruction is Hindi. The English and Hindi speaking data are compared from the point of view of development, performance for individual items, and overall performance at grade 10. A number of linguistic hypotheses are examined and reported upon. Although the overall score at grade 10 was identical (10.8/16) for both groups there are differences in development overall and for individual items which are of interest. Overall, the science specificity of the Hindi words does not appear to confer any clearly defined advantage or disadvantage though again there are some interesting individual anomolies.     

Childhood emotional invalidation and adult psychological distress: the mediating role of emotional inhibition

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate a model in which chronic emotional inhibition mediates the relationship between a history of childhood emotional invalidation or abuse and adult psychological distress. METHOD: One hundred and twenty-seven participants completed a series of self-report questionnaires, and a subset of this group (n=88) completed an additional measure of current avoidant coping in response to a laboratory stressor. Structural equation modeling was used to evaluate and compare a full and partial mediational model. RESULTS: Findings strongly supported a model in which a history of childhood emotional invalidation (i.e., psychological abuse and parental punishment, minimization, and distress in response to negative emotion) was associated with chronic emotional inhibition in adulthood (i.e., ambivalence over emotional expression, thought suppression, and avoidant stress responses). In turn, emotional inhibition significantly predicted psychological distress, including depression and anxiety symptoms. CONCLUSION: This study found support for a model in which the relation between recollected negative emotion socialization in childhood and adult psychological distress was fully mediated by a style of inhibiting emotional experience and expression. Although it is likely that childhood emotional inhibition is functional (e.g., reduces parental distress and rejection), results suggest that chronic emotional inhibition may have long-term negative consequences for the inhibitor.     

The relative contribution of training intensity and duration to daily measures of training load in professional rugby league and union

ABSTRACT

This study examined the relative contribution of exercise duration and intensity to team-sport athlete’s training load. Male, professional rugby league (n = 10) and union (n = 22) players were monitored over 6- and 52-week training periods, respectively. Whole-session (load) and per-minute (intensity) metrics were monitored (league: session rating of perceived exertion training load [sRPE-TL], individualised training impulse, total distance, BodyLoad?; union: sRPE-TL, total distance, high-speed running distance, PlayerLoad?). Separate principal component analyses were conducted on the load and intensity measures to consolidate raw data into principal components (PC, k = 4). The first load PC captured 70% and 74% of the total variance in the rugby league and rugby union datasets, respectively. Multiple linear regression subsequently revealed that session duration explained 73% and 57% of the variance in first load PC, respectively, while the four intensity PCs explained an additional 24% and 34%, respectively. Across two professional rugby training programmes, the majority of the variability in training load measures was explained by session duration (~60–70%), while a smaller proportion was explained by session intensity (~30%). When modelling the training load, training intensity and duration should be disaggregated to better account for their between-session variability.     

Short-term professional learning that focuses on beliefs and practice: Improvements in preschool teachers’ ongoing literacy practice

An intervention study was conducted with preschool teachers to address their beliefs and practice in the area of language and literacy. A total of 27 preschool teachers, each from different early childcare centers, participated in three 1-day professional learning sessions over the course of 9 months. Learning sessions focused on three different language and literacy topics. Study participants completed a pre- and post-session questionnaire and were observed in the classroom before and after each session. Significant differences were observed in both their beliefs and practice after the intervention. Specifically, preschool teachers’ beliefs were related to their practice in two areas: oral language and vocabulary; and book reading. Based on the data, a focus on beliefs and practice in future short-term PL or workshop models may support successful outcomes in teaching practice.     

Concurrent and longitudinal neuropsychological contributors to written language expression in first and second grade students

The primary purpose of this study was to examine several key questions related to the neuropsychological contributors to early written language. First, can we develop an empirical measurement model that encompasses many of the neuropsychological components that have been deemed as important to the development of written language? Second, once derived, will the neuropsychological components of this model remain stable over first and second grades or will the model change in its composition? Third, will the strength of the relationships between neuropsychological components and writing outcomes be constant over time, or will the strength of the relationships change over time? Finally, will the derived empirical model show significant concurrent and predictive relationships with written expression? The sample included 205 first grade students recruited from a single school district who were followed into the second grade via two cohorts: Measures were aligned with major neuropsychological components as extracted from theoretical models of written expression and available empirical findings examining the neuropsychological contributors to writing in children. These domains included fine-motor speed, language, short-term memory, long-term memory, and various attention/executive functions including working memory. Confirmatory factor analyses (CFAs) and longitudinal structural equation modeling (SEM) methods documented that three core latent traits were present and stable at both grades 1 and 2: Fine-Motor, Language, and Attention/Executive Functions. The overall model was highly related to written expression and spelling at both grades 1 and 2, with the first grade latent traits accounting for 52 and 55% of the variance in second grade written expression and spelling, respectively. At both grades, the Language and Attention/Executive Functions latent traits were more highly associated with written expression and spelling than the Fine-Motor latent trait.     

Electronic detection of dielectrophoretic forces exerted on particles flowing over interdigitated electrodes

Dielectric particles flowing through a microfluidic channel over a set of coplanar electrodes can be simultaneously capacitively detected and dielectrophoretically (DEP) actuated when the high (1.45 GHz) and low (100 kHz–20 MHz) frequency electromagnetic fields are concurrently applied through the same set of electrodes. Assuming a simple model in which the only forces acting upon the particles are apparent gravity, hydrodynamic lift, DEP force, and fluid drag, actuated particle trajectories can be obtained as numerical solutions of the equations of motion. Numerically calculated changes of particle elevations resulting from the actuation simulated in this way agree with the corresponding elevation changes estimated from the electronic signatures generated by the experimentally actuated particles. This verifies the model and confirms the correlation between the DEP force and the electronic signature profile. It follows that the electronic signatures can be used to quantify the actuation that the dielectric particle experiences as it traverses the electrode region. Using this principle, particles with different dielectric properties can be effectively identified based exclusively on their signature profile. This approach was used to differentiate viable from non-viable yeast cells (Saccharomyces cerevisiae).