Acceptability of medical digital libraries

Evidenced-based medicine has increased the importance of quick accessibility to reputable, up-to-date information. Web-accessible digital libraries (DLs) on the wards can address the demand for such information. The use and acceptability of these resources has, however, been lower than expected due to a poor understanding of the context of use. To appreciate the social and organizational impacts of ward-accessible DLs for clinicians, results of a study within a large London-based hospital are presented. In-depth interviews and focus groups with 73 clinicians (from pre-registration nurses to surgeons) were conducted, and the data analysed using the grounded theory method. It was found that clinical social structures interact with inadequate training provision (for senior clinicians), technical support and DL usability to produce a knowledge gap between junior and senior staff, resulting in information - and technology - hoarding behaviours. Findings also detail the perceived effectiveness of traditional and digital libraries and the impact of clinician status on information control and access. One important conclusion is that increased DL usability and adequate support and training for senior clinicians would increase perceptions of DLs as support for, rather than replacement of, their clinical expertise

Los menores con discapacidad en España. Serie: CERMI.es nº 37

Este documento, publicado por el CERMI, analiza la realidad de los niños españoles con discapacidad desde muy diversas perspectivas, gracias a las aportaciones de los distintos investigadores del Centro sobre Investigación de la Autonomía Personal, de la Facultad de Derecho de la UNED, que han colaborado en su redacción. El libro analiza el marco jurídico y las políticas públicas desarrolladas en nuestro país para atender las necesidades especiales de las personas menores de edad con discapacidad, así como la respuesta que se les está ofreciendo a estos niños, y a sus familias, desde el sistema público de servicios sociales y desde las organizaciones de personas con discapacidad. La imbricación de los servicios generales de atención a la infancia y la familia y los destinados a las personas con discapacidad, especialmente en el marco de la Ley de Promoción y Autonomía Personal y Atención a las Personas en Situación de Dependencia, constituye el hilo conductor que aporta coherencia al documento. A través de los distintos capítulos del libro, se constata la necesidad de incrementar el esfuerzo en la prevención, la detección precoz y la atención temprana, así como de mejorar la coordinación entre el sistema educativo, el sanitario y el de los servicios sociales para ofrecer, de esta manera, una adecuada atención a los menores de edad con discapacidad

The non-take up as a resistance to Social State. Segregation, Discrimination and the Youngsters in Brussels

In this paper, we analyze the processes through which youngsters in areas of deprivation in Brussels turn away from their social rights, and especially here in terms of education, employment, training and socio-professional integration. More precisely, our paper aims at studying in which ways ethno- racial and socio-economical segregation which structure the Belgian Capital does affect or not the relationships of youngsters to Brussels institutions and public services, especially in their efforts to go back to school, to consult vocational guidance and to enter/reinter the labor market

Allelopathic potential of Cambodian rice lines under field conditions

A series of field experiments was conducted during 1999 and 2000 to study the effect of six Cambodian rice lines that had been selected for their allelopathic potential on the growth of three weed species (barnyardgrass, small umbrella sedge, and water primrose). The results from 2 years' study demonstrate that powerful weed-establishment and growth-suppressive mechanisms were present in all of the rice lines tested. This mechanism was equally active on all three weed species studied. Across all the rice lines and across all the weed species, weed establishment was reduced by 71%, the final plant height was reduced by 49%, and the dry biomass was reduced by 80%. A tentative comparison between the effects of the Cambodian rice lines and those of previously characterized allelopathic and non-allelopathic rice lines revealed that approximately three-quarters of the weed growth suppression in the Cambodian lines could be attributed to resource competition and one-quarter could be attributed to allelopathy, although this analysis did not take into account morphological differences between the two types of rice. Such weed growth-suppressing activity could be particularly useful in subsistence farming systems where the use of selective herbicides is prohibitive or when organic rice production is the objective. The use of rice lines that suppress the growth of weeds is likely to be a potent supplement to present weed management practises and will reduce production costs and the potential for environmental pollution, as well as alleviate some of the social constraints that are associated with labor-intensive manual weeding