East meets West: how China almost cured malaria

With the isolation of quinine from Cinchona in 1820, an ancient herbal cure was transformed into a chemical drug. This was the inspiration for a new scientific discipline - ethnopharmacology - as Western scientists began to reinvent traditional herbal cures by extracting their active principles to make new and profitable drugs. The Chinese government may claim many such success stories as their own, but such triumphant narratives only reveal part of the story. The drawn-out hunt for the active principle of another anti-malarial herb, changshan, or Dichroa febrifuga, offers a more nuanced narrative that captures the complex interplay between traditional Chinese and Western medicine.     

Coincidence timing of a tennis stroke: effects of age, skill level, gender, stimulus velocity, and attention demand

Participants (N = 162, ages 10-15 years) performed a tennis stroke in a coincidence-timing task. Major results were: (a) performance improved mainly between the ages of 10-13 years; (b) skill differences were reflected by variable error (VE); (c) boys were lower than girls for VE and absolute error; (d) high stimulus velocity was related to low VE and late responding. Results concerning response organization favored explanations based on ecological perspectives rather than information processingperspectives. However, it is premature to disregard the potential role of programming. The view is supported that a continuous process of coupling perceptual and motor responses coordinates control of response timing. These cognitive processes appear to be: (a) refined with practice; (b) sensitive to differences in age, skill, and gender; and (c) adaptable to changes in environmental demands.     

Factors associated with successful answering of clinical questions using an information retrieval system

OBJECTIVES: Despite the growing use of online databases by clinicians, there has been very little research documenting how effectively they are used. This study assessed the ability of medical and nurse-practitioner students to answer clinical questions using an information retrieval system. It also attempted to identify the demographic, experience, cognitive, personality, search mechanics, and user-satisfaction factors associated with successful use of a retrieval system. METHODS: Twenty-nine students completed questionnaires of clinical and computer experience as well as tests of cognitive abilities and personality type. They were then administered three clinical questions to answer in a medical library setting using the MEDLINE database and electronic and print full-text resources. RESULTS: Medical students were able to answer more questions correctly than nurse-practitioner students before and after searching, but both had comparable improvements in the number of correct questions before and after searching. Successful ability to answer questions was also associated with having experience in literature searching and higher standardized test-score percentiles. CONCLUSIONS: Medical and nurse-practitioner students obtained comparable benefits in the ability to answer clinical questions from use of the information retrieval system. Future research must examine strategies that improve successful search and retrieval of clinical questions posed by clinicians in practice.     

寻找走出期刊迷宫的道路

从期刊文献中搜集信息是一个多步骤的过程,充满着无法预料和似乎无穷无尽的挫折。用户想迅速地、容易地找到资料,而图书馆却常常不能满足其需要并提供有关期刊的位置。本文提出7项建议,以便利用计算机寻找走出期刊迷宫的道路。