Inhibitive Factors on the Development of Critical Thinking in University Libraries: Students' Attitudes in Bushehr University of Medical Sciences and Persian Gulf University

Introduction: Critical thinking training is one of the most important missions of educational institutes. Hence, academic libraries as an inseparable operational unit of higher education must help their users to benefit from information resources and facilities providing them with the chance to develop and improve critical thinking capability. This study aimed to investigate significant barriers to and inhibitive factors on providing a suitable environment for developing and improving critical thinking in university libraries from the viewpoints of students in Bushehr University of Medical Sciences and Persian Gulf University. Methods: In this descriptive survey, the barriers to critical thinking development in academic libraries was investigated according to the viewpoint of 793 students from Bushehr University of Medical Sciences and Persian Gulf University in 2013-14 academic years. Students were selected by stratified proportional sampling. Data was collected through a valid and reliable researcher-made questionnaire categorized using 5-point Likert scale. The questionnaire was validated using experts’ viewpoints and its reliability was approved through estimation of Chronbach’s Alpha (0.84). Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, one-sample t-test, Mann Whitney Test, and Kruskal-Wallis. Results: Mean scores in areas of linguistic barriers (weighted mean: 3.59), users’ inherent barriers (weighted mean: 3.49), users’ social and psychological barriers (weighted mean: 3.38), and logical barriers (weighted mean: 3.34) were higher than cut-off point of 3 and placed in the significant level of (p=0.0001). These barriers were identified as the most important ones from the viewpoints of students. Conclusion: By encouraging students to ask and seek and creating a suitable environment for sharing ideas, university libraries and librarians can help their users in improving their linguistic communication. Holding educational workshops to promote information literacy skills, the ability to seek, analyze, evaluate and judge the value and validity of information, as well as conducting educational tours on how to use library facilities could eliminate major factors in developing critical thinking that is lack of ability in determining informational needs and different levels of identification and utilization of retrieved information

Integrated Daylighting and Artificial Lighting Control based on High Dynamic Range Vision Sensors

One fifth of the electricity consumption of Swiss buildings is due to electric lighting. Integrated control of sun shading and artificial lighting can mitigate this demand while maintaining user comfort. However, the drawback of existing building control approaches is that they do not consider one of the main aspects of human-centric lighting: visual comfort. The goal of this doctoral thesis is to develop an integrated energy efficient sun shading and electric lighting control system that incorporates widely accepted visual comfort criteria and privileges daylighting over electric lighting. The first part is dedicated to High Dynamic Range (HDR) vision sensor calibration, programing, validation and preliminary testing. A sensor originally developed by the Centre Suisse dâElectronique et de Microtechnique (CSEM) was photometrically, spectrally and geometrically calibrated and validated with respect to reliable illuminance and multi-point luminance meters. This HDR vision sensor was then equipped with an embedded image processing routine in order to assess âon the flyâ discomfort glare indices. It has been demonstrated that the developed device, is able to serve as an enhanced visual comfort feedback sensor in building automation systems. On the other hand, it can be employed to characterize highly glazed facades and workspaces regarding visual comfort and glare risks, as demonstrated in a project in Singapore. Two monitoring campaigns are reported in the second part of this thesis. Firstly, 30 human subjects occupied two identical office rooms of the LESO solar experimental building for 15 afternoons to compare the performance of a fuzzy logic control system incorporating two HDR vision sensors with respect to a âbest-practiceâ controller. Subjective self-reported visual comfort surveys, paper- and computer-based visual tests and monitoring of the electric lighting consumption were carried out simultaneously in both offices. It was shown that the electricity demand of the office with the advanced controller is 32% lower than that of the reference room, while the subjectsâ visual performance remained comparable. Secondly, an eight-month data monitoring campaign was carried out in the same building in order to study the ability of a novel control approach to maintain optimal visual and thermal comfort conditions while reducing the energy performance gap of a room as well as its electric lighting demand. The experimental results showed that the advanced controller mitigated the performance gap during the heating season by 72% with regard to standard occupant behavior and by 19% with respect to a best-practice automated system. This system reduced backup heating demand leading to lower CO2 gas emissions. At the same time, visual comfort constraints regarding Daylight Glare Probability (DGP) and workplane horizontal illuminance were respected during work hours. Finally, a self-commissioning integrated controller for Venetian blinds enhanced with a learning module was developed and validated for 22 days in a daylighting testbed at the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy (ISE) in Freiburg, Germany. It has been shown that the visual comfort constraints are respected for 96% of the work hours and that the controller can successfully limit the number of shading movements. The market potential for HDR vision sensors and integrated control platforms has been studied and possible commercialization tracks have been identified

Inhibitive Factors of the Development and Growth of Critical Thinking in Libraries

Aim: This study aimed at exploring the barriers to the development of critical thinking in libraries, since inspections to the educational institutions reveals signs of significant barriers to development of appropriate environments for the growth of critical thinking. Method: for the purpose of this study, researchers reviewed the literature by searching extensive number of books and databases, including Iran Doc, Scientific Information Database (SID), Ovid, Emerald, PubMed, Science Direct using keywords such as critical thinking in libraries, critical thinking barriers and critical thinking components. Findings: This review led to drawing a chart of critical thinking barriers in libraries. These barriers can be classified in four areas of users, librarians, resources and organization. Conclusion: Regarding the barriers introduced in this study, libraries and librarians should try to overcome them by holding educational workshops to enhance and optimize users’ skills in information seeking, formulation of search strategies and evaluation of information contents. In addition, library instruction tours can help users to enhance their self-esteem

Intravenous Lidocaine versus Morphine Sulfate in Pain Management for Extremity Fractures; a Clinical Trial

Introduction: Considering the existing contradictions regarding effectiveness of intravenous (IV) lidocaine, especially in emergency department (ED), the present study was designed to compare the analgesic effect of IV lidocaine and morphine sulfate in pain management for extremity bone fractures. Method: In this triple blind clinical trial, 15 to 65 year-old patients with extremity fractures and in need of pain management were randomly allocated to either IV lidocaine or morphine sulfate group and were compared regarding severity of pain 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, and 30 minutes after infusion via intention to treat analysis.  The absolute risk reduction, number needed to treat and relative risk of IV lidocaine after 30 minutes were 0.40 (95%CI: 0.25 – 0.64), 7 (95%CI: 3.7 – 23.1), and 20.71 (95%CI: 10.91 – 30.51), respectively. Results: 280 patients with the mean age of 32.50 ± 12.77 years were randomly divided into 2 equal groups of 140 (73.9% male). The 2 groups had similar baseline characteristics. 15 minutes after injection success rate was 49.28% in lidocaine and 33.57% in morphine sulfate group (p = 0.011), and after 30 minutes it reached 85.71% and 65.00%, respectively (p < 0.001). Conclusion: Based on the results of the present study, IV lidocaine could be considered as a reasonable alternative choice for pain management in ED.

Development of an Easy-to-Use Tool for the Assessment of Emergency Department Physical Design

Physical design of the emergency department (ED) has an important effect on its role and function. To date, no guidelines have been introduced to set the standards for the construction of EDs in Iran. In this study we aim to devise an easy-to-use tool based on the available literature and expert opinion for the quick and effective assessment of EDs in regards to their physical design. For this purpose, based on current literature on emergency design, a comprehensive checklist was developed.  Then, this checklist was analyzed by a panel consisting of heads of three major EDs and contradicting items were decided. Overall 178 crude items were derived from available literature. The Items were categorized in to three major domains of Physical space, Equipment, and Accessibility. The final checklist approved by the panel consisted of 163 items categorized into six domains. Each item was phrased as a “Yes or No” question for ease of analysis, meaning that the criterion is either met or not.

Relationship between Vitamin D and Childhood Asthma: A Case–Control Study

Objective: Studies determining the relationship between serum vitamin D status and childhood asthma have yielded controversial results. Findings indicated that vitamin D deficiency is associated with asthma and airway hyper responsiveness. The aim of this study was to assess the relationship between serum vitamin D status and childhood asthma. Methods: Data were obtained from 200 asthmatic children (age 3-12 years) and 200 healthy controls. Serum levels of 25(OH) vitamin D, total IgE, calcium, phosphorus, parathormone (PTH) and eosinophil count were measured in both asthmatic children and healthy controls. Also, the mean values of 25(OH) vitamin D were compared with asthma symptom severities. Findings: There was a significant decrease in the concentration of serum 25(OH) vitamin D in the asthmatic patients as compared with the controls (20.34±2.8 vs 25.39±4.1 ng/mL, 95%CI: 1.46-3.86, P=0.01). Out of total asthmatic subjects, 40 (20%) were vitamin D sufficient, 48 (24%) were insufficient, and 112 (56%) were deficient. Total IgE concentration was also significantly higher in asthmatic patients having vitamin D deficiency (132.4±20.1 IU/ml, 95%CI: 1.38-3.75, P=0.03). Comparing asthmatic patients with healthy controls, odds of having vitamin D level less than 20ng/mL was 2.47. Conclusion: Our findings suggest that vitamin D deficiency or insufficiency may be positively related to the prevalence of asthma in children

Erythrocyte Sedimentation Rate Measurement Using as a Rapid Alternative to the Westergren Method

Introduction: Erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) remains as one of the most reliable tests in clinical practices. Yet its use is time consuming and requires a large blood sample. The aim of this study was assessing a faster and reliable method of ESR estimation. Methods: An ESR estimation method was described and performed on 108 patients using capillary tube (micro ESR) and capillary peripheral blood. Micro ESR results at different intervals were measured and compared with Westergren ESR (conventional ESR) estimation by Pearson and Spearman’s coefficients. A regression equation was derived to predict conventional ESR values based on micro ESR results. The agreement of two measurements was demonstrated using the Bland-Altman plot. Results: Micro ESR results at 20 minutes showed the earliest close correlation with conventional ESR results at one hour (0.99). The presented regression equation was able to closely predict ESR values (r2 = 0.974) and the Bland-Altman plot showed an acceptable agreement between converted and conventional ESR measurements. Conclusion: Using capillary tube and capillary blood sample (micro ESR) appears to be a faster, cheaper, more reliable, and precise tool for ESR measurement in the ED. The results have acceptable correlation with conventional ESR, especially at 20 minutes of measurement

On the Impact of Integration of Non-Image Forming (NIF) Effect of Light on Electrical Lighting Control in Non-Residential Buildings

Lighting has an impact on the visual as well as cognitive performance of people in non-residential buildings. Light is the most powerful time cue for resetting the circadian pacemaker and ensuring correct synchronization of the internal clock with the environment: these effects are called “Non-Image Forming” (NIF) functions. The expected neuroendocrine and neurobehavioral responses of subjects to light exposure can be summarized in four principal categories: alertness, sleep quality, mood and performance. The properties of light such as intensity, timing, pattern and light history influences neurobehavioral responses. These significant effects of light are currently not considered in building automation mainly due to the unknown and complicated nature of NIF effects as well as lack of proper technology. This leads likely to a considerable loss of productive time and momentum for the office occupants. This paper explores the existing knowledge of NIF effects of light on human beings and consequently proposes a novel dynamic lighting pattern, which is used as a set point for an integrated daylighting and electric lighting system. In other words, the existing scientific knowledge of NIF effect of light is introduced into the lighting engineering and automation domain. This user-centric approach allows for a system level study of the suggested variable lighting set points. A novel High Dynamic Range (HDR) vision sensor installed next to the office user allows for an ‘on-the-fly’ evaluation of the light flux received by the human eyes during daytime: it also offers a personalized, refined control of an integrated electric lighting and sun shading system