Student Engagement Interest Group: Preparing Students for the Library and Health Information Workforce

BACKGROUND The purpose of the Network of the National Library of Medicine’s (NNLM) Student Engagement Interest Group (SEIG) is to advance the mission of NNLM by sharing participating regional offices and center\u27s (ROCs) student engagement-related activities and prioritizing those appropriate for national coordination. Additionally, the SEIG prioritizes students, high school age and older, from traditionally marginalized communities and those underrepresented in biomedical research when conducting student engagement activities. Since the creation of the SEIG, the group has explored how NNLM can support students in acquiring experience in a professional setting, gaining access to mentors who can guide them in preparation to enter the library and information workforce and develop knowledge and skills to become better versed in health information resources. DESCRIPTION The SEIG consists of 10 members that meet once a month to identify and develop NNLM-wide strategies and metrics to advance student engagement, implement and evaluate strategies in increasing student engagement across the country, including those from underrepresented populations in biomedical research, and guide the development of programs that enhance skills of students in NLM resources and interest within the health professions, including health sciences librarianship. Some examples the SEIG has discussed for promoting student engagement are sharing project ideas that would benefit the intern or practicum student’s overall experience and support their areas of interest, methods to engage with LIS and iSchool programs to recruit potential students for practicums and internships, and providing opportunities to acquire knowledge and tools for students that may not be able to obtain in their program. CONCLUSIONS The SEIG made great progress in supporting LIS/iSchool students in acquiring knowledge and experiences to better prepare them for the library and information field. This progress led to hosting practicums and internships across several ROCs. For instance, the group collaborated with Region 1 to create a plan on how NNLM can support the University of Kentucky students participating in the Alternative Spring Break. The committee also produced a draft of the student engagement handbook that NNLM ROCs can use as a guide to effectively recruit, host, and provide quality mentorship experiences for students choosing to spend their practicum or internship time with the NNLM program. The handbook is anticipated to be finalized and implemented in the coming year

Evaluating the effectiveness and reliability of the Vibrant Soundbridge and Bonebridge auditory implants in clinical practice: Study design and methods for a multi-centre longitudinal observational study.

BACKGROUND: The Vibrant Soundbridge middle ear implant and the Bonebridge bone conducting hearing device are hearing implants that use radio frequency transmission to send information from the sound processor to the internal transducer. This reduces the risk of skin problems and infection but requires a more involved surgical procedure than competitor skin penetrating devices. It is not known whether more complex surgery will lead to additional complications. There is little information available on the reliability of these systems and adverse medical or surgical events. The primary research question is to determine the reliability and complication rate for the Vibrant Soundbridge and Bonebridge. The secondary research question explores changes in quality of life following implantation of the devices. The tertiary research question looks at effectiveness via changes in auditory performance. METHOD: The study was designed based on a combination of a literature search, two clinician focus groups and expert review.A multi-centre longitudinal observational study was designed. There are three study groups, two will have been implanted prior to the start of the study and one group, the prospective group, will be implanted after initiation of the study. Outcomes are surgical questionnaires, measures of quality of life, user satisfaction and speech perception tests in quiet and in noise. CONCLUSION: This is the first multi-centre study to look at these interventions and includes follow up over time to understand effectiveness, reliability, quality of life and complications

Thinking about Eating Food Activates Visual Cortex with Reduced Bilateral Cerebellar Activation in Females with Anorexia Nervosa: An fMRI Study

Background: Women with anorexia nervosa (AN) have aberrant cognitions about food and altered activity in prefrontal cortical and somatosensory regions to food images. However, differential effects on the brain when thinking about eating food between healthy women and those with AN is unknown. Methods: Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) examined neural activation when 42 women thought about eating the food shown in images: 18 with AN (11 RAN, 7 BPAN) and 24 age-matched controls (HC). Results: Group contrasts between HC and AN revealed reduced activation in AN in the bilateral cerebellar vermis, and increased activation in the right visual cortex. Preliminary comparisons between AN subtypes and healthy controls suggest differences in cortical and limbic regions. Conclusions: These preliminary data suggest that thinking about eating food shown in images increases visual and prefrontal cortical neural responses in females with AN, which may underlie cognitive biases towards food stimuli and ruminations about controlling food intake. Future studies are needed to explicitly test how thinking about eating activates restraint cognitions, specifically in those with restricting vs. binge-purging AN subtypes

Assessing sources of error in comparative analyses of primate behavior: Intraspecific variation in group size and the social brain hypothesis

Phylogenetic comparative methods have become standard for investigating evolutionary hypotheses, including in studies of human evolution. While these methods account for the non-independence of trait data due to phylogeny, they often fail to consider intraspecific variation, which may lead to biased or erroneous results. We assessed the degree to which intraspecific variation impacts the results of comparative analyses by investigating the >social brain> hypothesis, which has provided a framework for explaining complex cognition and large brains in humans. This hypothesis suggests that group life imposes a cognitive challenge, with species living in larger social groups having comparably larger neocortex ratios than those living in smaller groups. Primates, however, vary considerably in group size within species, a fact that has been ignored in previous analyses. When within-species variation in group size is high, the common practice of using a mean value to represent the species may be inappropriate. We conducted regression and resampling analyses to ascertain whether the relationship between neocortex ratio and group size across primate species persists after controlling for within-species variation in group size. We found that in a sample of 23 primates, 70% of the variation in group size was due to between-species variation. Controlling for within-species variation in group size did not affect the results of phylogenetic analyses, which continued to show a positive relationship between neocortex ratio and group size. Analyses restricted to non-monogamous primates revealed considerable intraspecific variation in group size, but the positive association between neocortex ratio and group size remained even after controlling for within-species variation in group size. Our findings suggest that the relationship between neocortex size and group size in primates is robust. In addition, our methods and associated computer code provide a way to assess and account for intraspecific variation in other comparative analyses of primate evolution.For training in phylogenetic comparative methods, we thank the AnthroTree Workshop that is supported by the National Science Foundation (BCS-0923791) and the National Evolutionary Synthesis Center (NSF grant EF-0905606). A.A. Sandel was supported by the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship under Grant No. F031543. J.A. Miller was supported by a department grant from the National Science Foundation (DGE-0801634). J.C. Mitani is currently supported by National Institutes of Health RO1AG049395. C.L. Nunn was supported by Duke University and the National Science Foundation (BCS-1355902). S.K. Patterson was supported by the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship under Grant No. DGE-1311230. L.Z. Garamszegi was supported by funds from the Spanish Government within the frame of the “Plan Nacional” program (ref. no. CGL2012- 38262 and CGL2012-40026-C02-01) and the National Research, Development and Innovation Office, Hungary (NKFIH, K-115970)

Impaired consciousness in epilepsy investigated by a prospective responsiveness in epilepsy scale (RES)

Purpose: Impaired consciousness in epileptic seizures has a major negative impact on patient quality of life. Prior work on epileptic unconsciousness has mainly used retrospective and nonstandardized methods. Our goal was to validate and to obtain initial data using a standardized prospective testing battery. Methods: The responsiveness in epilepsy scale (RES) was used on 52 patients during continuous video-electroencephalography (EEG) monitoring. RES begins with higher-level questions and commands, and switches adaptively to more basic sensorimotor responses depending on patient performance. RES continues after seizures and includes postictal memory testing. Scoring was conducted based on video review. Key Findings: Testing on standardized seizure simulations yielded good intrarater and interrater reliability. We captured 59 seizures from 18 patients (35% of participants) during 1,420 h of RES monitoring. RES impairment was greatest during and after tonic-clonic seizures, less in partial seizures, and minimal in auras and subclinical seizures. In partial seizures, ictal RES impairment was significantly greater if EEG changes were present. Maximum RES impairment (lowest ictal score) was also significantly correlated with long postictal recovery time, and poor postictal memory. Significance: We found that prospective testing of responsiveness during seizures is feasible and reliable. RES impairment was related to EEG changes during seizures, as well as to postictal memory deficits and recovery time. With a larger patient sample it is hoped that this approach can identify brain networks underlying specific components of impaired consciousness in seizures. This may allow the development of improved treatments targeted at preventing dysfunction in these networks

The impact of assistive technology on burden and psychological well-being in informal caregivers of people with dementia (ATTILA Study).

INTRODUCTION: Assistive technology and telecare (ATT) may alleviate psychological burden in informal caregivers of people with dementia. This study assessed the impact of ATT on informal caregivers' burden and psychological well-being. METHODS: Individuals with dementia and their informal caregivers were recruited to a randomized-controlled trial assessing effectiveness of ATT. Caregivers were allocated to two groups according to their cared-for person's randomization to a full or basic package of ATT and were assessed on caregiver burden, state anxiety, and depression. Caregivers' data from three assessments over 6 months of the trial were analyzed. RESULTS: No significant between- or within-group differences at any time point on caregivers' burden, anxiety, and depression levels were found. DISCUSSION: Full ATT for people with dementia did not impact caregivers' psychological outcomes compared to basic ATT. The length of follow up was restricted to 6 months