Anthropomorphizing Science: How Does It Affect the Development of Evolutionary Concepts?

Despite the ubiquitous use of anthropomorphic language to describe biological change in both educational settings and popular science, little is known about how anthropomorphic language influences children’s understanding of evolutionary concepts. In an experimental study, we assessed whether the language used to convey evolutionary concepts influences children’s (5- to 12-year-olds; N = 88) understanding of evolutionary change. Language was manipulated by using three types of narrative, each describing animals’ biological change: (a) need-based narratives, which referenced animals’ basic survival needs; (b) desire-based or anthropomorphic narratives, which referenced animals’ mental states; and (c) scientifically accurate natural selection narratives. Results indicate that the language used to describe evolutionary change influenced children’s endorsement of and use of evolutionary concepts when interpreting that change. Narratives using anthropomorphic language were least likely to facilitate a scientifically accurate interpretation. In contrast, need-based and natural selection language had similar and positive effects, which suggests that need-based reasoning might provide a conceptual scaffold to an evolutionary explanation of biological origins. In sum, the language used to teach evolutionary change impacts conceptual understanding in children and has important pedagogical implications for science education

Determinants of physicians’ intention to collect data exhaustively in registries: an exploratory study in Bamako’s community health centres

Background: The incomplete collection of health datais a prevalent problem in healthcare systems around theworld, especially in developing countries. Missing datahinders progress in population health and perpetuatesinefficiencies in healthcare systems.Objective: This study aims to identify the factors that predict the intention of physicians practicing in community health centres of Bamako, Mali, to collect data exhaustively in medical registries.Design: A cross sectional studyMethod: In January and February 2011, we conducted a study with a random sample of thirty two physicians practicing in community health centres of Bamako, using a questionnaire. Data was analyzed by using descriptive statistics, correlations and linear regression.Main outcomes measures: Trained investigators administered a questionnaire measuring physicians’ sociodemographic and professional characteristics as well as constructs from the Theory of Planned Behaviour.Results: Our results showed that physicians’ intention to collect data exhaustively is influenced by subjective norms and by the physician’s number of years in practice.Conclusions: the results of this study could be used as a guide for health workers and decision makers to improve the quality of health information collected in community health centers.Keywords: Physicians’ intention, exhaustive data collection, Bamako, Community Health Centre, Missing dat

Laser-assisted guiding of electric discharges around objects

Electric breakdown in air occurs for electric fields exceeding 34 kV/cm and results in a large current surge that propagates along unpredictable trajectories. Guiding such currents across specific paths in a controllable manner could allow protection against lightning strikes and high-voltage capacitor discharges. Such capabilities can be used for delivering charge to specific targets, for electronic jamming, or for applications associated with electric welding and machining. We show that judiciously shaped laser radiation can be effectively used to manipulate the discharge along a complex path and to produce electric discharges that unfold along a predefined trajectory. Remarkably, such laser-induced arcing can even circumvent an object that completely occludes the line of sight

A conceptual framework for interprofessional shared decision making in home care: Protocol for a feasibility study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Shared decision making (SDM) is fundamental to informed consent and client-centered care. So far, SDM frameworks have been limited to the client-physician dyad, even though care is increasingly delivered by interprofessional (IP) teams. IP collaboration is especially essential in home care, one of health care's most rapidly growing areas. This study will assess whether it is possible to practice SDM in IP home care.</p> <p>Methods/Design</p> <p>We will use a qualitative case study and a quantitative survey to capture the macro, meso and micro levels of stakeholders in home care. The case study will follow the knowledge-to-action process framework to evaluate the work of an IP home care team at a Quebec City health center. Sources of data will include one-on-one interviews with patients, family caregivers or surrogates and significant others, and administrators; a focus group of home care health professionals; organizational documents; and government policies and standards. The interview guide for the interviews and the focus group will explore current practices and clinical problems addressed in home care; factors that could influence the implementation of the proposed IP approach to SDM; the face and content validity of the approach; and interventions to facilitate the implementation and evaluation of the approach. The survey will ask 300 health professionals working in home care at the health center to complete a questionnaire based on the Theory of Planned Behaviour that measures their intentions to engage in an IP approach to SDM. We will use our analysis of the individual interviews, the focus group and the survey to elaborate a toolkit for implementing an IP approach to SDM in home care. Finally, we will conduct a pilot study in Alberta to assess the transferability of our findings.</p> <p>Discussion</p> <p>We believe that developing tools to implement IP SDM in home care is essential to strengthening Canada's healthcare system and furthering patient-centered care. This study will contribute to the evaluation of IP SDM delivery models in home care. It will also generate practical, policy-oriented knowledge regarding the barriers and facilitators likely to influence the practice of IP SDM in home care.</p

Development and evaluation of a patient decision aid for young people and parents considering fixed orthodontic appliances

OBJECTIVES: To develop and evaluate a child-centred patient decision aid for young people, and their parents, supporting shared decision making about fixed orthodontic appliance treatment with dental health professionals, namely the Fixed Appliance Decision Aid (FADA). METHODS: The studies were undertaken in a UK teaching dental hospital orthodontic department in 2013-2014. The development phase involved an interview study with: (a) 10 patients (12-16 years old), and their parents, receiving orthodontic care to investigate treatment decision making and inform the content of the FADA and (b) 23 stakeholders critiquing the draft decision aid's content, structure and utility. The evaluation phase employed a pre-/post-test study design, with 30 patients (12-16 years old) and 30 parents. Outcomes included the Decisional Conflict Scale; measures of orthodontic treatment expectations and knowledge. RESULTS: Qualitative analysis identified two informational needs: effectiveness of treatment on orthodontic outcomes and treatment consequences for patients' lives. Quantitative analysis found decisional conflict reduced in both patients (mean difference -12.3, SD 15.3, 95% CI 6.6-17.9; p < 0.001) and parents (mean difference - 8.6, SD 16.6, 95% CI 2.5-14.8; p = 0.002); knowledge about duration and frequency of orthodontic treatment increased; expectations about care were unchanged. CONCLUSIONS: Using the FADA may enable dental professionals to support patients and their parents, decisions about fixed appliance treatments more effectively, ensuring young people's preferences are integrated into care planning

Noncommutative Burgers Equation

We present a noncommutative version of the Burgers equation which possesses the Lax representation and discuss the integrability in detail. We find a noncommutative version of the Cole-Hopf transformation and succeed in the linearization of it. The linearized equation is the (noncommutative) diffusion equation and exactly solved. We also discuss the properties of some exact solutions. The result shows that the noncommutative Burgers equation is completely integrable even though it contains infinite number of time derivatives. Furthermore, we derive the noncommutative Burgers equation from the noncommutative (anti-)self-dual Yang-Mills equation by reduction, which is an evidence for the noncommutative Ward conjecture. Finally, we present a noncommutative version of the Burgers hierarchy by both the Lax-pair generating technique and the Sato's approach.Comment: 24 pages, LaTeX, 1 figure; v2: discussions on Ward conjecture, Sato theory and the integrability added, references added, version to appear in J. Phys.

Patients' perceptions on shared decision making during prescription of subcutaneous biological drug treatments for inflammatory arthritis: the RHEU-LIFE survey

Short report[Abstract] Objectives: The aim of this study was to explore the preferences of patients with rheumatic diseases and their perceived experience regarding participation in shared decision making (SDM) when they were prescribed a subcutaneous (SC) biological drug. Methods: A printed survey was handed to 1,000 patients with inflammatory rheumatic diseases treated with SC biological drug. The survey included closed questions about preferences regarding decision making and about patients' experience when they were prescribed an SC biological drug. Descriptive statistics were performed with stratification by patient profiles, using chi-square for comparisons between groups. Results: A total of 592 surveys were received (response rate 59.2%, mean age 51.7 years, 57.6% women). Some 28.2% of patients reported preferring to take part in treatment selection, a percentage that was higher in younger patients, in those with higher academic degree and in those who search information in sources different to that of health care professionals. Over half of patients (56.3%) perceived that the rheumatologist considered their opinion when prescribing an SC biological drug, a percentage higher in younger people. Only in 40.8% of cases did the patients' preference match their perception of their participation in the process. No differences were observed by sex, disease or number of biologics. Conclusions: Patients with inflammatory rheumatic diseases want information about their treatments but mostly leave the prescription decision to the rheumatologist. Younger people, or those with higher academic degree, more often want to participate in the SDM. There are discrepancies between patient preferences and perceptions of this process

Bicomplexes and Integrable Models

We associate bicomplexes with several integrable models in such a way that conserved currents are obtained by a simple iterative construction. Gauge transformations and dressings are discussed in this framework and several examples are presented, including the nonlinear Schrodinger and sine-Gordon equations, and some discrete models.Comment: 17 pages, LaTeX, uses amssymb.sty and diagrams.st

Sensing the presence of gods and spirits across cultures and faiths.

Hearing the voice of God, feeling the presence of the dead, being possessed by a demonic spirit-such events are among the most remarkable human sensory experiences. They change lives and in turn shape history. Why do some people report experiencing such events while others do not? We argue that experiences of spiritual presence are facilitated by cultural models that represent the mind as "porous," or permeable to the world, and by an immersive orientation toward inner life that allows a person to become "absorbed" in experiences. In four studies with over 2,000 participants from many religious traditions in the United States, Ghana, Thailand, China, and Vanuatu, porosity and absorption played distinct roles in determining which people, in which cultural settings, were most likely to report vivid sensory experiences of what they took to be gods and spirits.Templeton Foundatio