An Innovative Use of Instant Messaging Technology to Support a Library's Single-Service Point

A library service model that provides reference and instructional services by summoning reference librarians from a single service point is described. The system utilizes Libraryh3lp, an open-source, multioperator instant messaging system. The selection and refinement of this solution and technical challenges encountered are explored, as is the design of public services around this technology, usage of the system, and best practices. This service model, while a major cultural and procedural change at first, is now a routine aspect of customer service for this library.     

Errors in judging "offside" in association football: test of the optical error versus the perceptual flash-lag hypothesis

The objective of this study was to analyse the correctness of the offside judgements of the assistant referees during the final round of the FIFA 2002 World Cup. We also contrasted two hypotheses to explain the errors in judging offside. The optical error hypothesis is based on an incorrect viewing angle, while the flash-lag hypothesis refers to perceptual errors associated with the flash-lag effect (i.e. a moving object is perceived as spatially leading its real position at a discrete instant signalled by a briefly flashed stimulus). Across all 64 matches, 337 offsides were analysed using digital video technology. The error percentage was 26.2%. During the first 15 min match period, there were significantly more errors (38.5%) than during any other 15 min interval. As predicted by the flash-lag effect, we observed many more flag errors (86.6%) than non-flag errors (13.4%). Unlike the predictions of the optical error hypothesis, there was no significant difference between the correct and incorrect decisions in terms of the positioning of the assistant referees relative to the offside line (0.81 and 0.77 m ahead, respectively). To reduce the typical errors in judging offside, alternative ways need to be considered to teach assistant referees to better deal with flash-lag effects.     

Training of perceptual-cognitive skills in offside decision making

This study investigates the effect of two off-field training formats to improve offside decision making. One group trained with video simulations and another with computer animations. Feedback after every offside situation allowed assistant referees to compensate for the consequences of the flash-lag effect and to improve their decision-making accuracy. First, response accuracy improved and flag errors decreased for both training groups implying that training interventions with feedback taught assistant referees to better deal with the flash-lag effect. Second, the results demonstrated no effect of format, although assistant referees rated video simulations higher for fidelity than computer animations. This implies that a cognitive correction to a perceptual effect can be learned also when the format does not correspond closely with the original perceptual situation. Off-field offside decision-making training should be considered as part of training because it is a considerable help to gain more experience and to improve overall decision-making performance.     

Delayed diagnosis and treatment of extreme hypertriglyceridemia due to rejection of a lipemic sample

IntroductionMost laboratories routinely determine haemolysis, icterus and lipemia indices to identify lipemic samples and reject potentially affected results. Hypertriglyceridemia is the most common cause of lipemia and severe hypertriglyceridemia (≥ 11.3 mmol/L) is a major risk factor of acute pancreatitis.Laboratory analysisA 56-year-old woman attended the outpatient clinic for a follow-up visit 1 month after a kidney transplantation. Her immunosuppressive therapy consisted of corticosteroids, cyclosporine, and mycophenolic acid. The routine clinical chemistry sample was rejected due to extreme lipemia. The comment “extreme lipemic sample” was added on the report, but the requesting physician could not be reached. The Cobas 8000 gave a technical error (absorption > 3.3) for the HIL-indices (L-index: 38.6 mmol/L) which persisted after high-speed centrifugation. The patient was given a new appointment 2 days later. The new sample was also grossly lipemic and gave the same technical error (L-index: 35.9 mmol/L).What happenedThe second sample was manually diluted 20-fold after centrifugation to obtain a result for triglycerides within the measuring range (0.10–50.0 mmol/L). Triglycerides were 169.1 mmol/L, corresponding to very severe hypertriglyceridemia. This result was communicated to the nephrologist and the patient immediately recalled to the hospital. She received therapeutic plasma exchange the next day and did not develop acute pancreatitis.Main lessonThis case illustrates the delicate balance between avoiding the release of unreliable results due to lipemia and the risk of delayed diagnosis when results are rejected. Providing an estimate of the degree of hypertriglyceridemia might be preferable to rejecting the result.     

The crisis of consent: how stronger legal protection may lead to weaker consent in data protection

In this article we examine the effectiveness of consent in data protection legislation. We argue that the current legal framework for consent, which has its basis in the idea of autonomous authorisation, does not work in practice. In practice the legal requirements for consent lead to ‘consent desensitisation’, undermining privacy protection and trust in data processing. In particular we argue that stricter legal requirements for giving and obtaining consent (explicit consent) as proposed in the European Data protection regulation will further weaken the effectiveness of the consent mechanism. Building on Miller and Wertheimer’s ‘Fair Transaction’ model of consent we will examine alternatives to explicit consent.     

Understanding life together: A brief history of collaboration in biology

The history of science shows a shift from single-investigator ‘little science’ to increasingly large, expensive, multinational, interdisciplinary and interdependent ‘big science’. In physics and allied fields this shift has been well documented, but the rise of collaboration in the life sciences and its effect on scientific work and knowledge has received little attention. Research in biology exhibits different historical trajectories and organisation of collaboration in field and laboratory – differences still visible in contemporary collaborations such as the Census of Marine Life and the Human Genome Project. We employ these case studies as strategic exemplars, supplemented with existing research on collaboration in biology, to expose the different motives, organisational forms and social dynamics underpinning contemporary large-scale collaborations in biology and their relations to historical patterns of collaboration in the life sciences. We find the interaction between research subject, research approach as well as research organisation influencing collaboration patterns and the work of scientists.     

Moving the Achievement Goal Approach One Step Forward: Toward a Systematic Examination of the Autonomous and Controlled Reasons Underlying Achievement Goals

An important recent development in the achievement goal literature is to define achievement goals strictly as aims. In this overview, we argue that this restrictive definition of achievement goals paves the way for a systematic consideration of the autonomous and controlled reasons underlying individuals’ achievement goals, a distinction central to self-determination theory. To stimulate work in this area, we formulated five propositions, arguing that consideration of the “why” (i.e., type of reasons) in addition to the “what” (i.e., type of aims) of achievement goals (a) provides an account for the regulatory basis of achievement goals, (b) opens the door for other motivation theories to be linked to the achievement goal literature, (c) matters in terms of predicting outcomes, (d) allows for a richer account of contextual forces influencing motivation, and (e) sets the stage for an enriched hierarchical model of achievement motivation. In closing, we discuss various future research directions.     

Exploring teacher pedagogy,stages of concern and accessibility as determinants of technology adoption

This research examines how the pedagogical orientations of teachers affect technology adoption in the classroom. At the same time, the authors account for the stage of concern that teachers are experiencing regarding the use of the technology, their access to the technology and the level of schooling at which they teach.The authors’ investigation of these factors occurs in the context of a contemporary technology, the interactive whiteboard (IWB), in Australian schools. A structural equation model was estimated using a reflective measure of technology usage with antecedents in the form of pedagogical-oriented beliefs and best–worst scaling derived scores for a teacher’s stage of concern regarding IWBs. Teachers with constructivist-oriented pedagogical beliefs were significantly more likely to use IWBs than transmission-oriented teachers. However, the strongest determinant of usage was whether the technology is immediately accessible or not.     

The cognitive effects of a mathematics in-service workshop on elementary school teachers

Siegler's rule assessment methodology was used to investigate the cognitive effects of a 32 hour mathematics in-service workshop on 28 elementary shool teachers. This paper reports on attempts (a) to assess the levels of cognitive understanding of the basic concepts of proportion, probability, and correlation among elementary teachers, and (b) to change teachers' levels in understanding these concepts by a method of direct instruction. Significant improvements were noted in the levels of cognitive development associated with the concept of proportion. Though nonsignificant improvements were noted in the concepts of probability and correlation, all the teachers were assigned to the highest cognitive rule associated with the probability concept at the end of the workshop.