The information needs of Canada's National Collaborating Centres for public health

Poster presentationPresented at the Canadian Health Libraries Association Annual Conference, Calgary, Alberta, April 27-30 (2011

Higher education librarians are comfortable and confident with their teaching responsibilities and pedagogical knowledge

A review of: Bewick, L., & Corrall, S. (2010). Developing librarians are comfortable and confident with their teaching responsibilities and pedagogical knowledge". Journal of Librarianship and Information Science, 42 (2), 97-110. Reviewed by Me-Linh Le Health Sciences Librarian, Health Sciences Library, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. Email: [email protected] - The primary objective of this study was to gather quantitative information on the need, development, acquisition, and application of pedagogical knowledge by academic librarians with teaching responsibilities. Design - Online survey questionnaire. Setting - Higher-education (HE) institutions (i.e., post-secondary institutions such as colleges and universities) in the United Kingdom. Subjects - Subject librarieans from 82 HE libraries (One from each). Methods - Of the 191 HE institutions in the United Kingdom (determined via a now-unavailable directory), 137 supplied an online staff directory with contact information. One subject librarian from each HE institution was contacted; librarians were selected from the online directory by taking a name systematically from a different point in each listing (i.e., first, second, third, etc). Each librarian was sent an email that contained an introductory message as well as a link to the questionnaire. The online questionnaire was created using Survey Monkey and piloted before and after input. It employed mostly multiple-choice tick boxes as well as open-ended questions and comment boxes. The 35-question survey questionnaire was developed in part through email interviews with two leading researchers in the field (identified via the literature). Responses were received from 82 librarians (60%). The answers were analyzed and cross-tabulated using SPSS. Komogorov-Smirnov tests were done to determine the significance of some results. Open-ended questions and comment boxes were placed into categories using Microsoft Excel to identify patters and themes. Main Results - The 82 librarians who responded to the survey came from a wide variety of backgrounds: the majority were subject librarians from Arts & Humanities (31%), had spent more than ten years in their position (38%), worked full-time (71%), were members of pre-1992 HE institutions (59%), and went by the job title of Subject Librarian (30%) (or a slight variation thereof)

Varroa destructor reproduction and cell re-capping in mite-resistant Apis mellifera populations

Globalization has facilitated the spread of emerging pests such as the Varroa destructor mite, resulting in the near global distribution of the pest. In South African and Brazilian honey bees, mite-resistant colonies appeared within a decade; in Europe, mite-resistant colonies are rare, but several of these exhibited high levels of “re-capping” behavior. We studied re-capping in Varroa-naïve (UK/Australia) and Varroa-resistant (South Africa and Brazil) populations and found very low and very high levels, respectively, with the resistant populations targeting mite-infested cells. Furthermore, 54% of artificially infested A. m. capensis worker cells were removed after 10 days and 83% of the remaining infested cells were re-capped. Such targeted re-capping of drone cells did not occur. We propose that cell opening is a fundamental trait in mite-resistant populations and that re-capping is an accurate proxy for this behavior

Evidence of a Goal-Directed Process in Human Pavlovian-Instrumental Transfer

© 2017 APA, all rights reserved). Cues that signal rewards can motivate reward-seeking behaviors, even for outcomes that are not currently desired. Three experiments examined this phenomenon, using an outcome-selective Pavlovian-instrumental transfer (PIT) design and an outcome devaluation procedure. In Experiment 1, participants learned to perform one response to earn crisps points and another response to earn popcorn points. One outcome was then devalued by adulterating it to make it taste unpleasant. On test, overall response choice was biased toward the outcome that had not been devalued, indicating goal-directed control. Stimuli that signaled crisps and popcorn also biased instrumental response choice toward their respective outcomes (a PIT effect). Most importantly, the strength of this bias was not influenced by the devaluation manipulation. In contrast, Experiment 2 demonstrated that when stimuli signaled equal probability of the two outcomes, cue-elicited response choice was sensitive to the devaluation manipulation. Experiment 3 confirmed this conclusion by demonstrating a selective avoidance of the cued, devalued outcome. Together, these data support a goal-directed model of PIT in which expected outcome probability and value make independent contributions to response choice. (PsycINFO Database Recor

Attention and associative learning in humans: An integrative review

This article presents a comprehensive survey of research concerning interactions between associative learning and attention in humans. Four main findings are described. First, attention is biased toward stimuli that predict their consequences reliably (learned predictiveness). This finding is consistent with the approach taken by Mackintosh (1975) in his attentional model of associative learning in nonhuman animals. Second, the strength of this attentional bias is modulated by the value of the outcome (learned value). That is, predictors of high-value outcomes receive especially high levels of attention. Third, the related but opposing idea that uncertainty may result in increased attention to stimuli (Pearce & Hall, 1980), receives less support. This suggests that hybrid models of associative learning, incorporating the mechanisms of both the Mackintosh and Pearce-Hall theories, may not be required to explain data from human participants. Rather, a simpler model, in which attention to stimuli is determined by how strongly they are associated with significant outcomes, goes a long way to account for the data on human attentional learning. The last main finding, and an exciting area for future research and theorizing, is that learned predictiveness and learned value modulate both deliberate attentional focus, and more automatic attentional capture. The automatic influence of learning on attention does not appear to fit the traditional view of attention as being either goal-directed or stimulus-driven. Rather, it suggests a new kind of “derived” attention

Anterior Temporal Lobe Tracks the Formation of Prejudice

Despite advances in understanding the brain structures involved in the expression of stereotypes and prejudice, little is known about the brain structures involved in their acquisition. Here, we combined fMRI, a task involving learning the valence of different social groups, and modeling of the learning process involved in the development of biases in thinking about social groups that support prejudice. Participants read descriptions of valenced behaviors performed by members of novel social groups, with majority groups being more frequently encountered during learning than minority groups. A model-based fMRI analysis revealed that the anterior temporal lobe tracked the trial-by-trial changes in the valence associated with each group encountered in the task. Descriptions of behavior by group members that deviated from the group average (i.e., prediction errors) were associated with activity in the left lateral pFC, dorsomedial pFC, and lateral anterior temporal cortex. Minority social groups were associated with slower acquisition rates and more activity in the ventral striatum and ACC/dorsomedial pFC compared with majority groups. These findings provide new insights into the brain regions that (a) support the acquisition of prejudice and (b) detect situations in which an individual's behavior deviates from the prejudicial attitude held toward their group

Non-intrusive tunable resonant microwave cavity for optical detected magnetic resonance of NV centres in nanodiamonds

Optically detected magnetic resonance (ODMR) in nanodiamond nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centres is usually achieved by applying a microwave field delivered by micron-size wires, strips or antennas directly positioned in very close proximity (∼ μm) of the nanodiamond crystals. The microwave field couples evanescently with the ground state spin transition of the NV centre (2.87 GHz at zero magnetic field), which results in a reduction of the centre photoluminescence. We propose an alternative approach based on the construction of a dielectric resonator. We show that such a resonator allows for the efficient detection of NV spins in nanodiamonds without the constraints associated to the laborious positioning of the microwave antenna next to the nanodiamonds, providing therefore improved flexibility. The resonator is based on a tunable Transverse Electric Mode in a dielectric-loaded cavity, and we demonstrate that the resonator can detect single NV centre spins in nanodiamonds using less microwave power than alternative techniques in a non-intrusive manner. This method can achieve higher precision measurement of ODMR of paramagnetic defects spin transition in the micro to millimetre-wave frequency domain. Our approach would permit the tracking of NV centres in biological solutions rather than simply on the surface, which is desirable in light of the recently proposed applications of using nanodiamonds containing NV centres for spin labelling in biological systems with single spin and single particle resolution. © 2013 Copyright SPIE

Letter from Tow-o-goh-le, Waw-che-waw-he, and Sho-me-casse-tunga to George Sibley, April 5, 1810

Transcript of Letter from Tow-o-goh-le, Waw-che-waw-he, and Sho-me-casse-tunga to George Sibley, April 5, 1810. Chiefs acknowledge that members of their tribes have been robbing people and will compensate

Pleosporales

One hundred and five generic types of Pleosporales are described and illustrated. A brief introduction and detailed history with short notes on morphology, molecular phylogeny as well as a general conclusion of each genus are provided. For those genera where the type or a representative specimen is unavailable, a brief note is given. Altogether 174 genera of Pleosporales are treated. Phaeotrichaceae as well as Kriegeriella, Zeuctomorpha and Muroia are excluded from Pleosporales. Based on the multigene phylogenetic analysis, the suborder Massarineae is emended to accommodate five families, viz. Lentitheciaceae, Massarinaceae, Montagnulaceae, Morosphaeriaceae and Trematosphaeriaceae