The value of structured abstracts in information retrieval from MEDLINE

Objective: To determine whether information retrieval might be enhanced by making each component of a structured abstract a separately searchable field. Design: Parallel searches on records arranged so that each abstract could either be searched in its entirety or as a collection of structured fields. Subjects: Records about cardiovascular disease downloaded from MEDLINE and tested against clinical questions derived from a concurrent survey of CD-ROM use in three health science libraries. Intervention: The investigators identified terms used to structure abstracts on MEDLINE and imported the abstracts into an Idealist database prior to searching using keywords from clinical questions. Measurements and main results: recall and precision rates are given for each question in the ‘structured’ and the ‘unstructured’ set of records. Conclusions: Use of structured, rather than unstructured, abstracts improves precision at the ex-pense of recall and places heavier demands upon the searcher’s skill in choosing the correct fields within the abstract to search. Further investigation requires more accurate simulation of MEDLINE software that utilizes features such as MeSH terms, explode, facilities and delimiters.     

The worked-example effect using ill-defined problems: Learning to recognise designers' styles

This research uses cognitive load theory and theories of visual literacy to provide a theoretical underpinning for techniques to improve students' ability to recognise designers' styles in higher education. Using a lecture followed by tutorial format, students were required to learn the characteristics needed to identify a designer's work either by studying worked examples or by completing problem-solving tasks. The principle conclusion drawn from two experiments was that novice learners who have a moderate level of visual literacy skills are more successful at identifying a designer's work after studying worked examples compared to novice learners provided with problem-solving tasks.     

Education Assistant Support in Inclusive Western Australian Classrooms: Trialling a Screening Tool in an Australian Context

Education assistants (EAs) who support students with disability in general education classrooms often find themselves in difficult situations. Caught in the firing line between their personal sense of duty, expectations of the classroom teachers, and the challenges that inclusion presents, their roles as primary support agents are anything but clear. In the following article the authors describe the findings from a modification of screening tool on the over-utilisation of paraprofessionals. The 16-item electronic survey focused on factors associated with EA support, conducted in a variety of Western Australian schools. The findings revealed that school community members such as EAs, classroom teachers, administrators and parents observed aspects of EA support that appear counter-productive towards more inclusive pedagogy.     

A childhood learning disability that predisposes those afflicted to adolescent and adult depression and suicide risk

A particular subtype of learning disability (nonverbal learning disability) is described. This subtype of individuals with learning disability is seen to be at particular risk for depression and suicide. The origins of the study of this subtype of learning disability, its incidence in various forms of neurological disease, disorder, and dysfunction, and its behavioral and socioemotional manifestations (including its association with significant internalized forms of psychopathology) are described. A case history of a young woman who manifests this disability and who has attempted suicide on three occasions is also presented.     

What predicts the malnutrition among a select group of Filipino older persons in institutionalized setting? A partial least square study

The overall intent of this study is to examine the relationship among several factors that influence the malnutrition of a select group of Filipino elderly in institutionalized setting. A total of 102 residents were purposively recruited from three different institutionalized care settings at the national capital region of the Philippines. A multi-aspect questionnaire was used to characterize the demographic and nutrition profiles of the participants. Data were treated statistically using the partial least square design. Notably, the study showed that 48.0% of the elderly residents in institutions were at risk of malnutrition, 36.3% were malnourished, and 15.7% have normal nutritional status. Malnutrition was found to be prevalent among the female group, aged >70 years old, functional impairment (p = <0.01), poor eating habits (p = 0.01), lower dietary intake (p = 0.01), and eating difficulties (p = 0.04). However, statistically significant relationships between eating habits (p = 0.08) and dietary intake and comorbidities (p = 0.32) and malnutrition were not established. Impliedly, administrators of homecare institutions are invited to pay greater attention to the nutritional status of the elderly by institutionalizing nutrition assessment and evaluation practices and nutrition care planning that respond to the identified nutritional needs and concern of the elderly.     

The Social Sensitivity of Preschoolers in Peer Conflicts: Do Children Act Differently with Different Peers?

This study sought to demonstrate that many aspects of preschoolers' peer conflict behavior are sensitive to the subtle change in social situation that occurs when a child plays with a different partner. Twenty-seven pairs of preschoolers were videotaped over four 15-minute play sessions; in the fourth session, half of the pairs played with a different partner, while half were with the same partner. Frequency and theme of conflicts, strategies used, frequency of yielding to partner, and percentage of conflicts solved were observed. Initiating and negotiating behavior in early sessions better predicted behavior in the fourth session for the same-partner (vs. change-partner) group, and thus emerged as behaviors sensitive to social context changes. Results indicate that preschoolers have a remarkably varied array of conflict behaviors and that much of their conflict behavior is sensitive to influences inherent to social interaction with a specific partner. Ways in which the apparent sophistication in young children's social understanding can inform developmental approaches to early childhood education as well as both preventative and therapeutic conflict resolution programs are discussed.     

The validity of discrepancy-based definitions of reading disabilities.

This study addressed the validity of distinguishing children with reading disabilities according to the presence or absence of discrepancies between intelligence test scores and academic achievement. Three definitions of reading disability were used to provide criteria for five groups of children who (a) met a discrepancy-based definition uncorrected for the correlation of IQ and achievement; (b) met a discrepancy-based definition correcting for the correlation of IQ and achievement; (c) met a low achievement definition with no IQ discrepancy; (d) met criteria a and b; and (e) met none of the criteria and had no reading disability. Comparison of these five groups on a set of 10 neuropsychological tests corrected for correlations with IQ showed that group differences were small and accounted for little of the variability among groups. These results question the validity of segregating children with reading deficiencies according to discrepancies with IQ scores.