Using theory of reasoned action (TRA) in understanding selection and use of information resources : an information resource selection and use model

Title from PDF of title page (University of Missouri--Columbia, viewed on Mar. 24, 2010).The entire thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file; a non-technical public abstract appears in the public.pdf file.Dissertation advisor: Dr. Sanda Erdelez.Vita.Ph. D. University of Missouri--Columbia 2008.With advanced computer and networking technologies, more and more information can be accessed electronically. Information overload has become an issue and it is increasingly difficult for a user to quickly identify and locate useful information resources. In order for libraries to provide user-centered services, it is important to examine not only what, but also why information resources are selected and used by users. The present study aims to examine how resource characteristics, library environment, and individual differences factors affect users' selection and use of information resources by testing a proposed model-Information Resources Selection and Use Model (IRSUM) based upon the Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA) and the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM). Public health students in a higher institution in the Midwestern United States were study subject. Data was collected through both focus group and self-reported questionnaires and was analyzed with Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) techniques. The study found that electronic resources were the public health students' primary resources. Three behavior beliefs (perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, and perceived least physical effort) and two normative beliefs (instructor's influence and reference librarian's influence) largely mediated the effect of external variables on the primary resource selection, while fully mediating their impact on the actual resource use. These findings provide important theoretical and practical implications in library and information science and library services.Includes bibliographical references

Reference source instruction : a model for teaching

The ideology of American librarianship places a very high value on librarians' ability to find information and make that information accessible to the public. A broad and deep knowledge of reference sources is one of the facets of a "competent" reference librarian. The study of reference procedures and information sources has consequently been regarded as one of the staples of library and information science (LIS) education. Our 2004 survey of reference instructors revealed that respondents use a variety of methods to present reference sources to students. Survey results were used to support an exploratory investigation into the frequency of use of various teaching methods for information resources. We used Bloom's Taxonomy of Learning to classify instructional levels, and analyzed types of teaching methods based on their fit within these categories. Final results suggest that much reference source instruction occurs at the lower level, while higher level instruction falls to students to complete outside of class.Presentatio

Adoption of Mobile Health Apps in Dietetic Practice: Case Study of Diyetkolik

Background: Dietetics mobile health apps provide lifestyle tracking and support on demand. Mobile health has become a new trend for health service providers through which they have been shifting their services from clinical consultations to online apps. These apps usually offer basic features at no cost and charge a premium for advanced features. Although diet apps are now more common and have a larger user base, in general, there is a gap in literature addressing why users intend to use diet apps. We used Diyetkolik, Turkey’s most widely used online dietetics platform for 7 years, as a case study to understand the behavioral intentions of users. Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the factors that influence the behavioral intentions of users to adopt and use mobile health apps. We used the Technology Acceptance Model and extended it by exploring other factors such as price-value, perceived risk, and trust factors in order to assess the technology acceptance of users. Methods: We conducted quantitative research on the Diyetkolik app users by using random sampling. Valid data samples gathered from 658 app users were analyzed statistically by applying structural equation modeling. Results: Statistical findings suggested that perceived usefulness (P<.001), perceived ease of use (P<.001), trust (P<.001), and price-value (P<.001) had significant relationships with behavioral intention to use. However, no relationship between perceived risk and behavioral intention was found (P=.99). Additionally, there was no statistical significance for age (P=.09), gender (P=.98), or previous app use experience (P=.14) on the intention to use the app. Conclusions: This research is an invaluable addition to Technology Acceptance Model literature. The results indicated that 2 external factors (trust and price-value) in addition to Technology Acceptance Model factors showed statistical relevance with behavioral intention to use and improved our understanding of user acceptance of a mobile health app. The third external factor (perceived risk) did not show any statistical relevance regarding behavioral intention to use. Most users of the Diyetkolik dietetics app were hesitant in purchasing dietitian services online. Users should be frequently reassured about the security of the platform and the authenticity of the platform’s dietitians to ensure that users’ interactions with the dietitians are based on trust for the platform and the brand.Peer reviewe

Health Insurance Literacy and Medical Care Avoidance Among International Students: A Case Study

Objectives: This research examines the health insurance literacy and healthcare utilization of international students attending a university in the US Midwest.Methods: One hundred and forty-three undergraduate and graduate students attending a midsize metropolitan university in the Midwest completed an online survey in early 2022.Results: Many students surveyed could not identify the definitions of basic terms, such as copay. Furthermore, about 80% of students surveyed could not determine their financial responsibilities in two medical settings. Regression results show that the continent they are from and the length of their stay in the United States significantly predict their understanding of key health insurance terms. More than half of the international students surveyed indicated they often feel confused about their health insurance (57.34%). Only about 20% have delayed or skipped care due to unfamiliarity with the health insurance system.Conclusion: The health insurance literacy of most international students at the midwestern university we surveyed is not ideal. This and possibly other universities in the United States should take more initiatives to help their international students understand the health insurance system

Overexpression of Sterol Carrier Protein 2 in Patients with Hereditary Cholesterol Gallstones

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Lithogenic bile is the major cause of cholesterol gallstone, but its pathogenesis is not well understood. The hypersecretion of biliary cholesterol is believed to be an important cause of lithogenic bile. Sterol Carrier Protein 2 (SCP2) participates in cholesterol trafficking and lipid metabolism in hepatocytes and may play a key role in cholesterol gallstone formation.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>21 cholesterol gallstone genealogies were studied to investigate the expression of SCP2 gene in liver tissue of hereditary and non-hereditary cholesterol gallstone patients as well as non-gallstone patients. The mRNA expression of liver SCP2 in 28 hereditary patients, 30 non-hereditary cholesterol gallstone patients and 32 non-gallstone patients was measured by Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR). The protein expression of liver SCP2 was also detected in all the patients by Western blotting. At the same time, the bile was also analyzed with biochemical techniques and the Cholesterol Saturation Index (CSI) was calculated.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The mRNA and protein expression of SCP2 was significantly increased in cholesterol gallstone patients compared to those of non-gallstone patients. Moreover, SCP2 was expressed at higher levels in hereditary cholesterol gallstone patients than that of non-hereditary cholesterol gallstone patients. There was significant difference observed in CSI between cholesterol gallstone patients and non-gallstone patients, but not in CSI between hereditary and non-hereditary cholesterol gallstone patients.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>SCP2 was overexpressed in hereditary cholesterol gallstone patients compared to non-hereditary cholesterol gallstone patients. This finding indicated that SCP2 might be one of the genetic factors contributing to cholesterol gallstone formation, which was always accompanied by the increase of bile lithogenicity.</p

Neutrino Physics with JUNO

The Jiangmen Underground Neutrino Observatory (JUNO), a 20 kton multi-purposeunderground liquid scintillator detector, was proposed with the determinationof the neutrino mass hierarchy as a primary physics goal. It is also capable ofobserving neutrinos from terrestrial and extra-terrestrial sources, includingsupernova burst neutrinos, diffuse supernova neutrino background, geoneutrinos,atmospheric neutrinos, solar neutrinos, as well as exotic searches such asnucleon decays, dark matter, sterile neutrinos, etc. We present the physicsmotivations and the anticipated performance of the JUNO detector for variousproposed measurements. By detecting reactor antineutrinos from two power plantsat 53-km distance, JUNO will determine the neutrino mass hierarchy at a 3-4sigma significance with six years of running. The measurement of antineutrinospectrum will also lead to the precise determination of three out of the sixoscillation parameters to an accuracy of better than 1\%. Neutrino burst from atypical core-collapse supernova at 10 kpc would lead to ~5000inverse-beta-decay events and ~2000 all-flavor neutrino-proton elasticscattering events in JUNO. Detection of DSNB would provide valuable informationon the cosmic star-formation rate and the average core-collapsed neutrinoenergy spectrum. Geo-neutrinos can be detected in JUNO with a rate of ~400events per year, significantly improving the statistics of existing geoneutrinosamples. The JUNO detector is sensitive to several exotic searches, e.g. protondecay via the $p\to K^++\bar\nu$ decay channel. The JUNO detector will providea unique facility to address many outstanding crucial questions in particle andastrophysics. It holds the great potential for further advancing our quest tounderstanding the fundamental properties of neutrinos, one of the buildingblocks of our Universe

Potential of Core-Collapse Supernova Neutrino Detection at JUNO

JUNO is an underground neutrino observatory under construction in Jiangmen, China. It uses 20kton liquid scintillator as target, which enables it to detect supernova burst neutrinos of a large statistics for the next galactic core-collapse supernova (CCSN) and also pre-supernova neutrinos from the nearby CCSN progenitors. All flavors of supernova burst neutrinos can be detected by JUNO via several interaction channels, including inverse beta decay, elastic scattering on electron and proton, interactions on C12 nuclei, etc. This retains the possibility for JUNO to reconstruct the energy spectra of supernova burst neutrinos of all flavors. The real time monitoring systems based on FPGA and DAQ are under development in JUNO, which allow prompt alert and trigger-less data acquisition of CCSN events. The alert performances of both monitoring systems have been thoroughly studied using simulations. Moreover, once a CCSN is tagged, the system can give fast characterizations, such as directionality and light curve

Detection of the Diffuse Supernova Neutrino Background with JUNO

As an underground multi-purpose neutrino detector with 20 kton liquid scintillator, Jiangmen Underground Neutrino Observatory (JUNO) is competitive with and complementary to the water-Cherenkov detectors on the search for the diffuse supernova neutrino background (DSNB). Typical supernova models predict 2-4 events per year within the optimal observation window in the JUNO detector. The dominant background is from the neutral-current (NC) interaction of atmospheric neutrinos with 12C nuclei, which surpasses the DSNB by more than one order of magnitude. We evaluated the systematic uncertainty of NC background from the spread of a variety of data-driven models and further developed a method to determine NC background within 15\% with {\it{in}} {\it{situ}} measurements after ten years of running. Besides, the NC-like backgrounds can be effectively suppressed by the intrinsic pulse-shape discrimination (PSD) capabilities of liquid scintillators. In this talk, I will present in detail the improvements on NC background uncertainty evaluation, PSD discriminator development, and finally, the potential of DSNB sensitivity in JUNO