Relationships among childhood maltreatment, PTSD, and health in female veterans in primary care

OBJECTIVE: Women with histories of childhood maltreatment (CM) have higher rates of physical health problems and greater medical utilization compared to women without abuse histories. This study examined whether current post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms mediate the relationship between CM and indicators of physical health and medical utilization in female veterans. METHOD: Respondents were 221 female veterans (56% of the potential sample), who received medical care from the San Diego VA Healthcare System during a 12-month period. Respondents provided self-report information about CM, PTSD symptoms, use of pain medication, and physical symptoms and functioning. Additional information about medical utilization was extracted from respondents' medical charts. Regression-based models were conducted to test whether PTSD symptoms mediate the relationships between CM and physical symptoms and between CM and medical utilization. RESULTS: Emotional abuse was associated with poorer role-physical functioning, increased bodily pain and greater odds of using pain medication in the past 6 months. Physical abuse was associated with poorer general health. Contrary to prediction, emotional neglect was associated with better role-physical functioning, and CM was not associated with increased healthcare utilization. PTSD was shown to mediate the relationship between emotional and physical abuse and health outcomes. CONCLUSIONS: PTSD, or psychopathology more generally, appears to be an important factor in the negative health impact of CM. Given that several empirically supported interventions are available for PTSD, there may be physical health benefits in early identification and treatment of psychopathology related to CM.     

Rapid visual processing by college students in reading irregular words and phonologically regular pseudowords presented singly and in contiguity

Using normal adult readers, this study examined the relative involvement of magnocellular and parvocellular processes in reading English phonologically regular pseudowords and irregular words presented in isolation and in contiguity from left to right. The data showed that a low temporal frequency visual measure that implied more parvocellular involvement was active in processing irregular words presented singly and pseudowords presented in contiguity. However, the results failed to show the involvement of the magnocellular pathway (as implicated by low spatial and/or high temporal frequency visual measures) in reading words presented in contiguity from left to right. The discrepancy was discussed in terms of the sensitivity of the tasks used in testing the two pathways.     

e-Learning Object Portals: a new resource that offers new opportunities for librarians

e-Learning Object Portals are emerging as a new form of electronic information. Four portals most effective in providing health care information are identified: The Medical Library Association's Center of Research and Education (CORE), the Health Education Assets Library (HEAL), the American Academy of Medical College's MedEDPortal, and the Multimedia Education Resource for Learning and Online Teaching (MERLOT). Various user groups such as librarians, educators, and students are discussed, as well as their reasons for using e-learning object portals. New roles for librarians in promoting and developing these portals are also reviewed.     

Getting the picture: medical images on the Web

Visual representations are used to convey ideas and concepts. They add value to educational venues. Files digitized from hard-copy media or born-digital files are standard formats, and the Internet is a resource for locating billions of these files. Searchers should be cognizant of the legal and ethical implications of using images downloaded from the Internet. This article intends to inform users about medical images on the Internet, as well as providing a select list of Web-based medical image sources.     

Learning to use the Internet as a study tool: a review of available resources and exploration of students' priorities

BACKGROUND: The Internet is a valuable information tool, but users often struggle to locate good quality information from within the vast amount of information available. OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study was to identify the online information resources available to assist students develop Internet searching skills, and to explore the students' priorities in online guides. METHODS: A qualitative approach was adopted with two phases. The first was a structured search of available online study skills resources. The second comprised 10 group interviews with a total of 60 students at all stages of five undergraduate health and social care related courses at a UK university. RESULTS: The study found that there were good online guides available, but that, perversely, the better guides tended to require the best searching skills to locate them. A few students were enthusiastic about using online support, however the majority felt that if they had the skills to locate such resources they wouldn't use a study guide to improve these skills, and if they did not have the skills they would not think of using an online guide to develop them. CONCLUSIONS: Students wanted assistance when they had problems or questions, rather than sites that offered structured learning experiences. Personal support rather than virtual support was also considered to be most important to the students in this study.     

关于全球传播的对话:概念、语境及热点议题

龙耘(以下简称LV):您曾是耶鲁法学院的高材生.大约20年前,你离开了从事多年的法律实践与教学、研究工作,全面进入传播研究领域,之后又创立了全球传播研究中心.     

Planning changes to health library services on the basis of impact assessment

Background: Various methods of impact assessment for health library services exist, including a toolkit developed for the UK. The Knowledge, Resource and Information service (KRIS) for health promotion, health service commissioning and public health (Bristol area, UK) commissioned an independent team at Aberystwyth University to provide an impact assessment and evaluation of their services and to provide evidence for future planning. Objective: The review aimed to provide an action plan for KRIS through assessing the impact of the current service, extent of satisfaction with existing services and views on desirable improvements. Methods: Existing impact toolkit guidance was used, with an adapted impact questionnaire, which was distributed by the KRIS staff to 244 users (response rate 62.3%) in early 2009. The independent team analysed the questionnaire data and presented the findings. Results: Users valued the service (93% considered that relevant information was obtained). The most frequent impacts on work were advice to patients, clients or carers, and advice to colleagues. Literature searching and current awareness services saved staff time. Many users were seeking health promotion materials. Conclusion: The adapted questionnaire worked well in demonstrating the service impacts achieved by KRIS, as well as indicating desirable improvements in service delivery.     

禾本科植物幼苗性状的聚类分析

本文用201种禾本科植物幼苗的60个形态和解剖性状进行了聚类分析，将禾本科植物分为四个大类(一级聚合单位)—狐茅类(Festucoid)、黍类(Panicoid)，竹类(Bambusoid)和画眉草类(Eragrostidoid)。这四类基本上与分类系统中的亚科相吻合，只是芦竹亚科植物的幼苗分散聚到了其它类中。推测芦竹亚科是一个比较原始的类群，狐茅亚科、黍亚科和画眉草亚科可能是在芦竹亚科的基础上进化而来的。  除个别种外，大多数同属的种在较低的聚合水平上聚在一起，超族在亚聚合单位中基本上能够反映出来。  研究证明禾本科植物的幼苗性状在禾本科植物分类中具有重要的分类学意义。