A Three-Dimensional Print Model of the Pterygopalatine Fossa Significantly Enhances the Learning Experience

The pterygopalatine fossa (PPF) is a bilateral space deep within the skull that serves as a major neurovascular junction. However, its small volume and poor accessibility make it a difficult space to comprehend using two-dimensional illustrations and cadaveric dissections. A three-dimensional (3D) printed model of the PPF was developed as a visual and kinesthetic learning tool for completely visualizing the fossa, its boundaries, its communicating channels, and its neurovascular structures. The model was evaluated by analyzing student performance on pre- and post-quizzes and a student satisfaction survey based on the five-point Likert scale. The first cohort comprised of 88 students who had never before studied the PPF. The second cohort consisted of 30 students who were previously taught the PPF. Each cohort was randomly divided into a control group who were provided with a half skull and an intervention group that were provided with the 3D printed model. The intervention group performed significantly better on the post-quiz as compared to the control group in cohort I (P = 0.001); while not significant, it also improved learning in cohort II students (P = 0.124). Satisfaction surveys indicated that the intervention group found the 3D printed model to be significantly more useful (P < 0.05) as compared to the half skull used by the control group. Importantly, the effect sizes for cohorts I and II (0.504 and 0.581, respectively) validated the statistical results. Together, this study highlights the importance of 3D printed models as teaching tools in anatomy education.     

Patent citation spectroscopy (PCS): Online retrieval of landmark patents based on an algorithmic approach

One essential component in the construction of patent landscapes in biomedical research and development (R&D) is identifying the most seminal patents. Hitherto, the identification of seminal patents required subject matter experts within biomedical areas. In this article, we report an analytical method and tool, Patent Citation Spectroscopy (PCS), for the online identification of landmark patents in user-specified areas of biomedical innovation. Using USPTO data, PCS mines the cited references within large sets of patents at the internet and provides an estimate of the historically most impactful prior work. We show the efficacy of PCS in three case studies of biomedical innovation with clinical relevance: (1) RNA interference (RNAi), (2) cholesterol and (3) cloning. PCS mined and analyzed cited references related to patents on RNA interference and correctly identified the foundational patent of this technology, as independently reported by subject matter experts on RNAi intellectual property. Secondly, we apply PCS to a broad set of patents dealing with cholesterol – a case study chosen to reflect a more general, as opposed to expert, patent search query. PCS mined through cited references and identified the seminal patent as that for Lipitor, the groundbreaking medication for treating high cholesterol as well as the pair of patents underlying Repatha. The final case study, cloning, highlights some of the advantages conferred by the PCS methodology in identifying seminal patents. These cases suggest that PCS provides a useful method for identifying seminal patents in areas of biomedical innovation and therapeutics. The interactive tool is free-to-use at: http://www.leydesdorff.net/comins/pcs/index.html.     

The ABCs of private equity and venture capital data and information

ABSTRACT

In June 2017, the Business Reference & Services Section of the Reference & User Services Association organized and hosted an event known as the Publishers' Forum during the annual American Library Association Conference in Chicago, Illinois. The Publishers' Forum is a professional development event that brings together business librarians and publishers of business information to engage in a discussion about business information products. The theme of the 2017 Publishers' Forum was private equity and venture capital data and information, and three different publishers were invited to speak and showcase their information products. This article will provide an overview of the Publishers' Forum, discuss the selection of private equity and venture capital as the theme, and highlight the importance of private equity and venture capital to business librarianship. Finally, this article will include a discussion of each of the publishers who presented at the Publishers' Forum and the information products they showcased.     

Teaching and Teacher Education: Complexity Redux

Using narrative inquiry, these authors explored the diverse types of reasoning that seem to direct stakeholders’ approaches to educational decision-making. They labeled these approaches as simple, complicated, and complex. They begin their account by explaining the attributes of narrative inquiry that guided their work. Through the scholarly space their conversations created, they charted distinctions within the field of education between simple, complicated, and complex reasonings and solutions. They then turned to a selection of anchor texts from existing scholarship that furthered their grasp of these three approaches and their application to educational challenges. As suggested by the title, their ultimate leanings favored complexity. In combination, their ideas strengthened a claim that the choice of a decision making option differentially influences policy and classroom actions.     

Re-examining the Gene in Personalized Genomics

Personalized genomics companies (PG; also called ‘direct-to-consumer genetics’) are businesses marketing genetic testing to consumers over the Internet. While much has been written about these new businesses, little attention has been given to their roles in science communication. This paper provides an analysis of the gene concept presented to customers and the relation between the information given and the science behind PG. Two quite different gene concepts are present in company rhetoric, but only one features in the science. To explain this, we must appreciate the delicate tension between PG, academic science, public expectation, and market forces.     

The Blended Business Librarian: Technology Skills in Academic Business Librarian Job Advertisements

The purpose of this study was to identify technological trends in academic business librarianship. Forty-five job advertisements were collected over a 5-year period spanning from 2007 to 2012. Ten technology skill categories were identified, and the frequency at which the skills appeared in the job advertisements was measured. This article also includes a discussion about the impact of technology on business librarianship and recommendations for academic business librarians and employers.     

Transnational approaches to teaching and learning in higher education: challenges and possible guiding principles

The higher education sector has become increasingly internationalised over recent decades. This paper examines a range of challenges that can arise where teaching staff in one context support and implement learning and teaching initiatives in another international context – transnational teaching. We use examples and experiences from our own practice to highlight challenges that arise from implementing cross-cultural and transnational teaching and that warrant further exploration, including differing expectations; differing views of learners and learning; the illusory nature of transformed practice; and time constraints. We discuss these challenges in the light of Hofstede's model of cultural dimensions as well as critiquing this model. We then highlight some possible guiding principles for transnational higher education work that include modelling good practice; ensuring reciprocity and mutual benefit; ensuring individual integrity and institutional credibility; and developing and supporting transnational staff.     

Measuring Parameter Uncertainty by Identifying Fungible Estimates in SEM

Researchers require methods for evaluating whether statistical results are credible and thus, worthy of interpretation. An examination of fungible parameters estimates is a method in which the veracity of inferences can be strengthened or weakened by quantifying the level of support for individual parameter estimates as measured by the likelihood function. This new approach aims to overcome some of the limitations of previous methods and is based on a simplified computational and conceptual understanding of a fungible parameter estimate analysis. Additionally, this computational approach has been implemented in the R package psindex. This package provides a user-friendly, and free method for statisticians and applied researchers to investigate parameter stability in their own models using an analysis of fungible parameter estimates. Finally, an applied example illustrates fungible parameter estimate analysis in practice using the psindex package. General guidelines for interpretation are provided.     

All Stressed Out,But Does Anyone Notice? Stressors Affecting Public Libraries

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study is to identify some of the most common stressors affecting public librarians. Current public librarians were recruited from across the country to sort and rank a provided set of 25 stressors affecting public librarians. The stressors were developed from a review of the literature and anecdotal discussions with public librarians. Participants sorted the stressors according to the extent to which each affected them personally in their workplace. They could also give information about other sources of stress they experienced at work, or which they see other public librarians experiencing.