Refining Your Results in Alma Analytics

Analyzing your data is important for all aspects of efficient library operations. We will be sharing some ideas to help you effectively gather and analyze your data using Alma Analytics. After our presentation, you will know how and why to create bins, and how to save a filter for reuse in another analysis. We will also be sharing a couple of useful yet complicated formulas that are not included in Alma documentation

Carpe Data with Alma Analytics

Capturing your data is vital to the smooth functioning of any library. We will be providing some tips and tricks to help you gather and analyze your data using Alma Analytics. After the presentation you will know how to gather data within a date period (i.e., all items that circulated in the last 30 days or between a date period), filter your data, count data, subtract one set of numbers from another, and import your results into a set in Alma to further analyze or manipulate your data. We will also include any formulas that we have found to be useful and not necessarily in the Ex Libris documentation. The presentation will be geared to advanced beginner Analytics users. We will be assuming that those who attend the presentation will know how to search the Analytics shared folders for analyses and start a new Analysis

A matter of trust: : Higher education institutions as information fiduciaries in an age of educational data mining and learning analytics

Higher education institutions are mining and analyzing student data to effect educational, political, and managerial outcomes. Done under the banner of “learning analytics,” this work can—and often does—surface sensitive data and information about, inter alia, a student’s demographics, academic performance, offline and online movements, physical fitness, mental wellbeing, and social network. With these data, institutions and third parties are able to describe student life, predict future behaviors, and intervene to address academic or other barriers to student success (however defined). Learning analytics, consequently, raise serious issues concerning student privacy, autonomy, and the appropriate flow of student data. We argue that issues around privacy lead to valid questions about the degree to which students should trust their institution to use learning analytics data and other artifacts (algorithms, predictive scores) with their interests in mind. We argue that higher education institutions are paradigms of information fiduciaries. As such, colleges and universities have a special responsibility to their students. In this article, we use the information fiduciary concept to analyze cases when learning analytics violate an institution’s responsibility to its students

Evolution of Medical Students\u27 Understanding of Systems-Based Practice: A Qualitative Account

Reflective writing is a useful tool in medical education to analyze student experiences and measure development of certain skills. This tool is particularly useful in identifying skill components of systems-based practice. These skills are necessary for any practicing physician, but are of particular importance as they are a required residency competency. There is now additional focus on systems-based practice with the passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA). In this qualitative, grounded theory study, the reflective writings of students at a United States medical school were analyzed using the constant comparative method to explore how the focus of a medical student progresses through the clinical curriculum. The interprofessional team of researchers specifically sought to determine if areas of medical student focus evolve vertically across the curriculum and if in the process students develop an understanding of systems-based practice. The data supported both of these objectives, and actively supports future research to identify ways, both inside and outside the curriculum, to leverage the students’ natural progression of focus in order to expand systems-based practice education

Confirmed feasibility of a satellite tracker attachment method on small juvenile hawksbill turtles Eretmochelys imbricata

Satellite trackers can be used for studying sea turtle movement, illuminating their migrations and behaviours. However, many studies have focused on adult turtles, with uneven species representation, despite the importance of understanding movement and habitat use of turtles at all life-stages. Furthermore, few publications detail successful satellite tracker attachment methods, particularly for juveniles. Smaller-sized juvenile sea turtles often have an irregularly shaped carapace and are fast growing, rendering the attachment of rigid trackers in a safe and durable manner challenging. Juvenile hawksbill turtles’ specific carapace shape and imbricated scute arrangement further complicate satellite tracker attachment compared to juveniles of other turtle species. This study’s objective was to confirm the feasibility of an attachment method that would allow small-sized juvenile hawksbill turtles (~267-345 mm curved carapace length) to continue growing, without tracker loss or damage to underlying scutes. Replica trackers were made of resin (simulating Wildlife Computer Spot-387 trackers), and attached with epoxy, silicone and neoprene, using a technique modified from those used on neonate loggerheads and Kemp’s ridleys. Throughout the study (3.5 mo), replica trackers remained attached, the turtles grew up to 114% heavier and 25% longer, and all turtles appeared clinically healthy and active. Furthermore, all scutes were undamaged after tracker removal. As a critically endangered species, the paucity of data on hawksbill turtles, and specifically juveniles, can hinder evidence-based management decision-making. The improved ability to satellite track juvenile hawksbills can, therefore, help better our understanding of their ecology and inform management and conservation practices for this species

A matter of trust: Higher education institutions as information fiduciaries in an age of educational data mining and learning analytics

Higher education institutions are mining and analyzing student data to effect educational, political, and managerial outcomes. Done under the banner of “learning analytics,” this work can—and often does—surface sensitive data and information about, inter alia, a student's demographics, academic performance, offline and online movements, physical fitness, mental wellbeing, and social network. With these data, institutions and third parties are able to describe student life, predict future behaviors, and intervene to address academic or other barriers to student success (however defined). Learning analytics, consequently, raise serious issues concerning student privacy, autonomy, and the appropriate flow of student data. We argue that issues around privacy lead to valid questions about the degree to which students should trust their institution to use learning analytics data and other artifacts (algorithms, predictive scores) with their interests in mind. We argue that higher education institutions are paradigms of information fiduciaries. As such, colleges and universities have a special responsibility to their students. In this article, we use the information fiduciary concept to analyze cases when learning analytics violate an institution's responsibility to its students

Potential benefits of cattle vaccination as a supplementary control for bovine tuberculosis

Published onlineJournal ArticleResearch Support, Non-U.S. Gov'tVaccination for the control of bovine tuberculosis (bTB) in cattle is not currently used within any international control program, and is illegal within the EU. Candidate vaccines, based upon Mycobacterium bovis bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) all interfere with the action of the tuberculin skin test, which is used to determine if animals, herds and countries are officially bTB-free. New diagnostic tests that Differentiate Infected from Vaccinated Animals (DIVA) offer the potential to introduce vaccination within existing eradication programs. We use within-herd transmission models estimated from historical data from Great Britain (GB) to explore the feasibility of such supplemental use of vaccination. The economic impact of bovine Tuberculosis for farmers is dominated by the costs associated with testing, and associated restrictions on animal movements. Farmers' willingness to adopt vaccination will require vaccination to not only reduce the burden of infection, but also the risk of restrictions being imposed. We find that, under the intensive sequence of testing in GB, it is the specificity of the DIVA test, rather than the sensitivity, that is the greatest barrier to see a herd level benefit of vaccination. The potential negative effects of vaccination could be mitigated through relaxation of testing. However, this could potentially increase the hidden burden of infection within Officially TB Free herds. Using our models, we explore the range of the DIVA test characteristics necessary to see a protective herd level benefit of vaccination. We estimate that a DIVA specificity of at least 99.85% and sensitivity of >40% is required to see a protective benefit of vaccination with no increase in the risk of missed infection. Data from experimentally infected animals suggest that this target specificity could be achieved in vaccinates using a cocktail of three DIVA antigens while maintaining a sensitivity of 73.3% (95%CI: 61.9, 82.9%) relative to post-mortem detection.This study was funded by Defra project SE3127 and uses nationally collected incidence and cattle-movement data sets held by Defra

Adipose tissue levels of organochlorine pesticides and polychlorinated biphenyls and risk of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.

In this nested case-control study we examined the relationship between non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) and organochlorine pesticide exposure. We used a data set originally collected between 1969 and 1983 in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency National Human Adipose Tissue Survey. Adipose samples were randomly collected from cadavers and surgical patients, and levels of organochlorine pesticide residues were determined. From the original study population, 175 NHL cases were identified and matched to 481 controls; 173 controls were selected from accident victims, and 308 from cases with a diagnosis of myocardial infarction. Cases and controls were mainly from cadavers (> 96%) and were matched on sex, age, region of residence within the United States, and race/ethnicity. Conditional logistic regression showed the organochlorine pesticide residue heptachlor epoxide to be significantly associated with NHL [compared with the lowest quartile: third quartile odds ratio (OR) = 1.82, 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.01-3.28; fourth quartile OR = 3.41, 95% CI, 1.89-6.16]. The highest quartile level of dieldrin was also associated with elevated NHL risk (OR = 2.70; 95% CI, 1.58-4.61), as were higher levels of oxychlordane, p,p'-DDE [p,p'-1,1-dichloro-2,2-bis(p-chlorophenyl)ethylene], and ss-benzene hexachloride (ORs = 1.79, 1.99, and 2.47, respectively). The p-values for trends for these associations were significant. In models containing pairs of pesticides, only heptachlor epoxide and dieldrin remained significantly associated with risk of NHL. Limitations of this study include collection of samples after diagnosis and a lack of information on variables affecting organochlorine levels such as diet, occupation, and body mass index. Given the persistence of pesticides in the environment, these findings are still relevant today

Maximising response to postal questionnaires – A systematic review of randomised trials in health research

Background Postal self-completion questionnaires offer one of the least expensive modes of collecting patient based outcomes in health care research. The purpose of this review is to assess the efficacy of methods of increasing response to postal questionnaires in health care studies on patient populations. Methods The following databases were searched: Medline, Embase, CENTRAL, CDSR, PsycINFO, NRR and ZETOC. Reference lists of relevant reviews and relevant journals were hand searched. Inclusion criteria were randomised trials of strategies to improve questionnaire response in health care research on patient populations. Response rate was defined as the percentage of questionnaires returned after all follow-up efforts. Study quality was assessed by two independent reviewers. The Mantel-Haenszel method was used to calculate the pooled odds ratios. Results Thirteen studies reporting fifteen trials were included. Implementation of reminder letters and telephone contact had the most significant effect on response rates (odds ratio 3.7, 95% confidence interval 2.30 to 5.97 p = <0.00001). Shorter questionnaires also improved response rates to a lesser degree (odds ratio 1.4, 95% confidence interval 1.19 to 1.54). No evidence was found that incentives, re-ordering of questions or including an information brochure with the questionnaire confer any additional advantage. Conclusion Implementing repeat mailing strategies and/or telephone reminders may improve response to postal questionnaires in health care research. Making the questionnaire shorter may also improve response rates. There is a lack of evidence to suggest that incentives are useful. In the context of health care research all strategies to improve response to postal questionnaires require further evaluation

Antecedents and outcomes of consumer environmentally friendly attitudes and behaviour

With the intensification of problems relating to the environment, a growing number of consumers are becoming more ecologically conscious in their preferences and purchases of goods. This paper presents the results of a study conducted among 500 Cypriot consumers, focusing on the factors that shape consumer environmental attitudes and behaviour, as well as on the resulting outcomes. The findings confirmed that both the inward and outward environmental attitudes of a consumer are positively influenced by his/her degree of collectivism, long-term orientation, political involvement, deontology, and law obedience, but have no connection with liberalism. The adoption of an inward environmental attitude was also found to be conducive to green purchasing behaviour that ultimately leads to high product satisfaction. On the other hand, an outward environmental attitude facilitates the adoption of a general environmental behaviour, which is responsible for greater satisfaction with life. The findings of the study have important implications for shaping effective company offerings to consumers in target markets, as well as formulating appropriate policies at the governmental level to enhance environmental sensitivity among citizens