Implicit Measures of Lostness and Success in Web Navigation

In two studies, we investigated the ability of a variety of structural and temporal measures computed from a web navigation path to predict lostness and task success. The user’s task was to find requested target information on specified websites. The web navigation measures were based on counts of visits to web pages and other statistical properties of the web usage graph (such as compactness, stratum, and similarity to the optimal path). Subjective lostness was best predicted by similarity to the optimal path and time on task. The best overall predictor of success on individual tasks was similarity to the optimal path, but other predictors were sometimes superior depending on the particular web navigation task. These measures can be used to diagnose user navigational problems and to help identify problems in website design

Diagnosis and treatment of canine hypoadrenocorticism

Canine hypoadrenocorticism (Addison’s disease), the ‘great pretender’ of internal medicine, is a disease that should be frequently considered as a differential diagnosis of several clinical presentations, albeit it is less commonly the actual cause of the clinical signs. Hypoadrenocorticism cannot be diagnosed on clinical signs alone and further investigations are always required. There have been some interesting new ideas about diagnostic options for this condition and new treatment options are available for both acute and chronic therapy of the condition in dogs. It is therefore pertinent to review the causes, diagnosis and treatment of hypoadrenocorticism in dogs

Management of Addison's disease in dogs

No abstract available

Validation and determination of a reference interval for Canine HbA1c using an immunoturbidimetric assay

Background: Hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) provides a reliable measure of glycemic control over 2–3 months in human diabetes mellitus. In dogs, presence of HbA1c has been demonstrated, but there are no validated commercial assays. Objective: The purpose of the study was to validate a commercially available automated immunoturbidimetric assay for canine HbA1c and determine an RI in a hospital population. Methods: The specificity of the assay was assessed by inducing glycosylation in vitro using isolated canine hemoglobin, repeatability by measuring canine samples 5 times in succession, long term inter-assay imprecision by measuring supplied control materials, stability using samples stored at 4°C over 5 days and −20°C over 8 weeks, linearity by mixing samples of known HbA1c in differing proportions, and the effect of anticoagulants with paired samples. An RI was determined using EDTA-anticoagulated blood samples from 60 nondiabetic hospitalized animals of various ages and breeds. Hemoglobin A1c was also measured in 10 diabetic dogs. Results: The concentration of HbA1c increased proportionally with glucose concentration in vitro. For repeat measurements, the CV was 4.08% (range 1.16–6.10%). Samples were stable for 5 days at 4°C. The assay was linear within the assessed range. Heparin- and EDTA-anticoagulated blood provided comparable results. The RI for HbA1c was 9–18.5 mmol/mol. There was no apparent effect of age or breed on HbA1c. In diabetic dogs, HbA1c ranged from 14 to 48 mmol/mol. Conclusions: The assay provides a reliable method for canine HbA1c measurement with good analytic performance

Attention and Visuospatial Working Memory Share the Same Processing Resources

Attention and visuospatial working memory (VWM) share very similar characteristics; both have the same upper bound of about four items in capacity and they recruit overlapping brain regions. We examined whether both attention and VWM share the same processing resources using a novel dual-task costs approach based on a load-varying dual-task technique. With sufficiently large loads on attention and VWM, considerable interference between the two processes was observed. A further load increase on either process produced reciprocal increases in interference on both processes, indicating that attention and VWM share common resources. More critically, comparison among four experiments on the reciprocal interference effects, as measured by the dual-task costs, demonstrates no significant contribution from additional processing other than the shared processes. These results support the notion that attention and VWM share the same processing resources

Help-seeking in emerging adults with and without a history of mental health referral: a qualitative study.

BACKGROUND: Young people are generally reluctant to seek professional help when experiencing problems. However, past experience of services is often cited as increasing the intention to seek help, therefore those with a history of mental health referral may adopt more adaptive help seeking strategies. The current study investigated whether the pattern of different help seeking strategies and barriers to help seeking differed as a function of previous referral history. METHODS: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 29 emerging adults (12 males, 17 females); 17 with a history of mental health referral and 12 without and analysed using thematic analysis. RESULTS: Overall, those with a referral to services were more likely than those without to rely on avoidant coping, especially techniques that depended upon suppression. This could help account for the increased use of strategies involving self-harm and substances in those with past referral. An exploration of barriers to help seeking showed those with a history of mental health referral were much more likely to self-stigmatise and this became attached to their sense of identity. CONCLUSIONS: Emerging adults with a history of referral are more likely to adopt avoidant coping strategies when dealing with problems and self-stigmatise to a greater degree than those without a history of referral. This suggests that current approaches to mental health in emerging adults are not decreasing the sense of stigma with potentially far-reaching consequences for the developing sense of self and choice of help seeking strategies.This work was supported by the Wellcome Trust programme Grant (No. 053642). Ruth Spence was funded by a doctoral studentship through CLAHRC.This is the final version of the article. It first appeared from BioMed Central at http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s13104-016-2227-8

Spreading the Spirit of the American Dream Through Walt Disney\u27s Film “Meet the Robinsons”

This article is aimed to know about the spirit of American dream and its influences. The study is a qualitative study using library research and the data were obtained from texts. The data are analyzed and presented descriptively. The researcher finds that The American Dream has influenced people around the world because America has very effective ways to promote their ideology through soft power “five big ideas”. The power is more powerful than military power. Meet the Robinson has been a provocative film; it can be media to promote the spirit of the American Dream

Does video feedback analysis improve CPR performance in phase 5 medical students?

BACKGROUND: The use of simulation in medical education is increasing, with students taught and assessed using simulated patients and manikins. Medical students at Queen’s University of Belfast are taught advanced life support cardiopulmonary resuscitation as part of the undergraduate curriculum. Teaching and feedback in these skills have been developed in Queen’s University with high-fidelity manikins. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of video compared to verbal feedback in assessment of student cardiopulmonary resuscitation performance. METHODS: Final year students participated in this study using a high-fidelity manikin, in the Clinical Skills Centre, Queen’s University Belfast. Cohort A received verbal feedback only on their performance and cohort B received video feedback only. Video analysis using ‘StudioCode’ software was distributed to students. Each group returned for a second scenario and evaluation 4 weeks later. An assessment tool was created for performance assessment, which included individual skill and global score evaluation. RESULTS: One hundred thirty eight final year medical students completed the study. 62 % were female and the mean age was 23.9 years. Students having video feedback had significantly greater improvement in overall scores compared to those receiving verbal feedback (p = 0.006, 95 % CI: 2.8–15.8). Individual skills, including ventilation quality and global score were significantly better with video feedback (p = 0.002 and p < 0.001, respectively) when compared with cohort A. There was a positive change in overall score for cohort B from session one to session two (p < 0.001, 95 % CI: 6.3–15.8) indicating video feedback significantly benefited skill retention. In addition, using video feedback showed a significant improvement in the global score (p < 0.001, 95 % CI: 3.3–7.2) and drug administration timing (p = 0.004, 95 % CI: 0.7–3.8) of cohort B participants, from session one to session two. CONCLUSIONS: There is increased use of simulation in medicine but a paucity of published data comparing feedback methods in cardiopulmonary resuscitation training. Our study shows the use of video feedback when teaching cardiopulmonary resuscitation is more effective than verbal feedback, and enhances skill retention. This is one of the first studies to demonstrate the benefit of video feedback in cardiopulmonary resuscitation teaching. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12909-016-0726-x) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users