Information-Seeking Behaviors of First-Semester Veterinary Students: A Preliminary Report

Although emphasis in veterinary education is increasingly being placed on the ability to find, use, and communicate information, studies on the information behaviors of veterinary students or professionals are few. Improved knowledge in this area will provide valuable information for course and curriculum planning and the design of information resources. This article describes a survey of the information-seeking behaviors of first-semester veterinary students at Purdue University. A survey was administered as the first phase of a progressive semester-long assignment for a first semester DVM course in systemic mammalian physiology. The survey probed for understanding of the scientific literature and its use for course assignments and continuing learning. The survey results showed that students beginning the program tended to use Google for coursework, although some also used the resources found through the Purdue libraries\u27 Web sites. On entering veterinary school, they became aware of specific information resources in veterinary medicine. They used a small number of accepted criteria to evaluate the Web site quality. This study confirms the findings of studies of information-seeking behaviors of undergraduate students. Further studies are needed to examine whether those behaviors change as students learn about specialized veterinary resources that are designed to address clinical needs as they progress through their training

Disaster Continuity for Businesses and Communities in Rural Texas: Investigating Infrastructure, Communication, and Planning Needs

Small businesses are particularly vulnerable to weather shocks. While there is a plethora of publicly available resources on how to prepare for natural disasters, information tailored specifically for small business owners and their business operations and assets is more limited. This project studied the most disaster-vulnerable areas in Texas, particularly the Texas Gulf Coast’s Coastal Bend and Rio Grande Valley regions, with the goal of making small businesses and communities along the coast more disaster resilient. A primary goal of this project was to develop resources for small businesses in the Lower Rio Grande Valley (LRGV). They were developed with extensive community input, and the local Chambers of Commerce and the Agrilife Extension Agents have agreed to distribute these materials.IC2 Institut

How Does Housing Affect Work Incentives for People in Poverty?

No abstract available

How Does Housing Affect Work Incentives for People in Poverty?

No abstract available

Further evidence that singing fosters mental health and wellbeing: The West Kent and Medway project

Purpose: Clift and Morrison (2011) report that weekly singing over eight months for people with enduring mental health issues led to clinically important reductions in mental distress. The present study tested the robustness of the earlier findings. Design: Four community singing groups for people with mental health issues ran weekly from November 2014 to the end of 2015. Evaluation place over a six-month period using two validated questionnaires: the short Clinical Outcomes in Routine Evaluation questionnaire (CORE-10), and the Warwick Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale (WEMWBS). Findings: Twenty-six participants completed baseline and follow-up questionnaires. CORE-10 scores were significantly reduced, and WEMWBS scores significantly increased. Comparisons with the earlier study found a similar pattern of improvements on CORE items that are part of the 'problems' sub-scale in the full CORE questionnaire. There was also evidence from both studies of participants showing clinically important improvements in CORE-10 scores. Research limitations: The main limitations of the study are a small sample size, and the lack of a randomised control group. Originality: No attempts have been made previously to directly test the transferability of a singing for health model to a new geographical area and evaluate outcomes using the same validated measure

Characterizing the Radiation Fields in the Atmosphere Using a Cloud-Aerosol-Radiation Product from Integrated CERES, MODIS, CALIPSO and CloudSat Data

CloudSat and CALIPSO cloud and aerosol information is convolved with CERES and MODIS cloud and radiation data to produce a merged 3-dimensional cloud and radiation dataset

Hospital-level evaluation of the effect of a national quality improvement programme: time-series analysis of registry data.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: A clinical trial in 93 National Health Service hospitals evaluated a quality improvement programme for emergency abdominal surgery, designed to improve mortality by improving the patient care pathway. Large variation was observed in implementation approaches, and the main trial result showed no mortality reduction. Our objective therefore was to evaluate whether trial participation led to care pathway implementation and to study the relationship between care pathway implementation and use of six recommended implementation strategies. METHODS: We performed a hospital-level time-series analysis using data from the Enhanced Peri-Operative Care for High-risk patients trial. Care pathway implementation was defined as achievement of >80% median reliability in 10 measured care processes. Mean monthly process performance was plotted on run charts. Process improvement was defined as an observed run chart signal, using probability-based 'shift' and 'runs' rules. A new median performance level was calculated after an observed signal. RESULTS: Of 93 participating hospitals, 80 provided sufficient data for analysis, generating 800 process measure charts from 20 305 patient admissions over 27 months. No hospital reliably implemented all 10 processes. Overall, only 279 of the 800 processes were improved (3 (2-5) per hospital) and 14/80 hospitals improved more than six processes. Mortality risk documented (57/80 (71%)), lactate measurement (42/80 (53%)) and cardiac output guided fluid therapy (32/80 (40%)) were most frequently improved. Consultant-led decision making (14/80 (18%)), consultant review before surgery (17/80 (21%)) and time to surgery (14/80 (18%)) were least frequently improved. In hospitals using ≥5 implementation strategies, 9/30 (30%) hospitals improved ≥6 care processes compared with 0/11 hospitals using ≤2 implementation strategies. CONCLUSION: Only a small number of hospitals improved more than half of the measured care processes, more often when at least five of six implementation strategies were used. In a longer term project, this understanding may have allowed us to adapt the intervention to be effective in more hospitals