Public library consumer health information pilot project: results of a National Library of Medicine evaluation

In October 1998, the National Library of Medicine (NLM) launched a pilot project to learn about the role of public libraries in providing health information to the public and to generate information that would assist NLM and the National Network of Libraries of Medicine (NN/LM) in learning how best to work with public libraries in the future. Three regional medical libraries (RMLs), eight resource libraries, and forty-one public libraries or library systems from nine states and the District of Columbia were selected for participation. The pilot project included an evaluation component that was carried out in parallel with project implementation. The evaluation ran through September 1999. The results of the evaluation indicated that participating public librarians were enthusiastic about the training and information materials provided as part of the project and that many public libraries used the materials and conducted their own outreach to local communities and groups. Most libraries applied the modest funds to purchase additional Internet-accessible computers and/or upgrade their health-reference materials. However, few of the participating public libraries had health information centers (although health information was perceived as a top-ten or top-five topic of interest to patrons). Also, the project generated only minimal usage of NLM's consumer health database, known as MEDLINEplus, from the premises of the monitored libraries (patron usage from home or office locations was not tracked). The evaluation results suggested a balanced follow-up by NLM and the NN/LM, with a few carefully selected national activities, complemented by a package of targeted activities that, as of January 2000, are being planned, developed, or implemented. The results also highlighted the importance of building an evaluation component into projects like this one from the outset, to assure that objectives were met and that evaluative information was available on a timely basis, as was the case here.     

Medical student attitudes to the autopsy and its utility in medical education: A brief qualitative study at one UK medical school

Attending postmortems enables students to learn anatomy and pathology within a clinical context, provides insights into effects of treatment and introduces the reality that patients die. Rates of clinical autopsies have declined and medical schools have cut obligatory autopsy sessions from their curricula making it difficult to assess medical student perceptions of, and attitudes towards, the educational value of autopsy. Our aim was to investigate these perceptions by designing a brief qualitative study comprising nominal technique and focus group discussions with Cambridge Graduate Course students, all of whom had attended autopsies. Three general themes emerged from the focus group discussions: the value of autopsy as a teaching tool and ways the experience could be improved, the initial impact of the mortuary and the autopsy itself, and the “emerging patient”—an emotional continuum running from cadaver to autopsy subject and living patient. Educational benefits of autopsy‐based teaching included greater understanding of anatomy and physiology, greater appreciation of the role of other health care professionals and an enhanced appreciation of psycho‐social aspects of medical practice. Students suggested improvements for ameliorating the difficult emotional consequences of attendance. We conclude that autopsy‐based teaching represents a low‐cost teaching technique which is highly valued by students and has application to many diverse medical specialties and skills. However, careful preparation and organization of sessions is required to maximize potential educational benefits and reduce any negative emotional impact. Anat Sci Educ 7: 87–96. © 2013 American Association of Anatomists.     

Apprehension to engagement in the classroom: perceptions of Black males in the community college

This study presents selected findings drawn from a larger investigation of Black male students in the community college. In the larger study, qualitative interviews were conducted with 28 Black males attending a public two-year college in the southwestern United States. The focus of the larger study was on identifying factors which, from the perspectives of students, affected their academic success. Academic success referred primarily to students’ grade point averages or achievement and secondarily to continuation towards students’ self-proclaimed collegiate goals. A large portion of Black male participants in this study indicated that academic disengagement served to negatively affect their achievement in the community college. Students discussed academic disengagement as a reluctance to fully engage as active agents in their own academic development through necessary interactions.     

Supporting Black Male Community College Success: Determinants of Faculty–Student Engagement

The purpose of this study was to examine determinants of Black male students’ engagement with faculty in the community college. Data from this study were derived from the 2011 three-year cohort of the Community College Survey of Student Engagement (CCSSE). Using data from 11,384 Black male respondents within 260 community colleges, this study investigated faculty–student engagement using hierarchical, multilevel modeling. Among other findings, this study illustrated the importance of reading remediation, participation in learning communities, study skills courses, and college orientation in positively contributing to faculty–student interactions. Implications for college practice are discussed.     

Pilot study evaluating the impact of dialogic reading and shared reading at transition to primary school: early literacy skills and parental attitudes

Previous studies have demonstrated the positive impact of shared reading (SR) and dialogic reading (DR) on young children's language and literacy development. This exploratory study compared the relative impact of parental DR and shared reading interventions on 4‐year‐old children's early literacy skills and parental attitudes to reading prior to and following school entry. Parents were trained using a self‐instruction training DVD. The children's rhyme awareness, word reading, concepts about print and writing vocabulary were assessed before and after 6 weeks over the summer period and again after one term in school. Four illustrative case studies are presented, which reveal the differential impact of the interventions on the families who participated. Findings indicated that DR had a positive impact on children's enjoyment of reading, concepts about print, parent–child reading behaviours and parental attitudes to joint storybook reading. The children who experienced shared‐book reading during the intervention also demonstrated improvements in word reading. There were no changes in rhyme awareness or writing vocabulary for either group. Changes in print concept awareness were not maintained at follow‐up, but improvements in writing vocabulary and word reading scores were noted. The reasons for this are discussed with reference to the formal literacy instruction the children received during their first academic term.     

Validity and Reliability of Proximity Detection with Bluetooth-Enabled Accelerometers among Adults

ABSTRACT

Introduction: This study examined the concurrent validity and inter-pair reliability of the proximity detection function on Bluetooth-enabled accelerometers across manufacturer-specified ranges. If valid, this method could be used for objectively measuring shared physical activity participation. Method: Thirty-six dyads aged 21.6 (2.1) years wore two sets of Bluetooth-enabled accelerometers initialized as beacons and receivers to compare accelerometer-measured proximity detection to direct observation under 11 different controlled and free-living conditions. Results: The proportion of minutes in which proximity was detected differed across conditions (p < .001), with the highest proportions in the controlled conditions (.77–1.0). Among the free-living conditions, the different room (.73 ± .20) condition had the highest proximity detection proportions. There were no differences in the proximity detection across accelerometer pairs (p = .265). Conclusion: Proximity detection with Bluetooth-enabled accelerometers was reliable and had the highest detection rates under the controlled treadmill walking conditions. Despite limitations, using Bluetooth-enabled accelerometers is a promising approach for measuring shared physical activity.     

Mechanical properties of the triceps surae: Differences between football and non-football players

Abstract

We investigated the mechanical properties of the triceps surae between professional, junior, and non-football players. Fifty-nine men participated in this study. The mechanical properties of the right legs’ triceps surae were measured in vivo using a free oscillation technique; no significant differences existed between the groups. The mean results for musculo-articular stiffness, damping coefficient, and damping ratio were as follows: professional football players (21523 N· m^?1, 330.8 N · s · m^?1, and 0.201); junior football players (21063 N · m^?1, 274.4 N · s · m^?1, and 0.173); and non-players (19457 N · m^?1, 281.5 N · s · m^?1, and 0.184). When analysed according to position, the results were as follows: defender (21447 N · m^?1, 308.6 N · s · m^?1, and 0.189); midfielder (20762 N · m^?1, 250.7 N · s · m^?1, and 0.157); winger (21322 N · m^?1, 335.1 N · s · m^?1, and 0.212); forward (22085 N · m^?1, 416.2 N · s · m^?1, and 0.254); and non-players (19457 N · m^?1, 281.5 N · s · m^?1, and 0.184).

Thus, football training, football games, and the position played had no effect on triceps surae mechanical properties. These results may be attributed to opposing adaptations between different types of training that are usually implemented in football. Alternatively, the minimum strain amplitude and/or frequency threshold of the triceps surae required to trigger adaptations of mechanical properties might not be achieved by football players with football training and matches.     

An Exploratory Analysis of the Attitudinal Impact of Awarding Athletic Scholarships to Women

The impact on women athletes of receiving or not receiving scholarships was investigated in this study. The subjects were 61 women participating in 10 intercollegiate sports. Attitudes were assessed by administering a questionnaire prior to, and after, scholarships had been awarded. The questionnaire items were grouped into three subsets which reflected different attitudes about the “impact” of awarding athletic scholarships. A 4 × 2 × 2 repeated measures design was used to test for significant statistical interaction between the three independent variables: (a) wanting a scholarship, (b) receiving a scholarship, and (c) reacting to the awarding of scholarships.     

The Health-Related Fitness Test Opinionnaire: A Pilot Survey

We tested the hypothesis that quiet eye, the final fixation before the initiation of a movement in aiming tasks, is used to scale the movement's parameters. Two groups of 12 participants (N = 24) threw darts to targets in the horizontal and vertical axes under conditions of higher (random) or lower (blocked) target variability. Supporting our predictions, random practice and target changes in the vertical axis led to longer quiet eye duration than did blocked practice and target changes in the horizontal axis. Our data suggest that quiet eye is not simply a mediating factor in accuracy, but is responsive to the task's programming demands, being influenced by the necessity to reparameterize the movement from one trial to the next.