Learning strategies, study habits and social networking activity of undergraduate medical students

Objectives: To determine learning strategies, study habits, and online social networking use of undergraduates at an Irish medical school, and their relationship with academic performance. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in Year 2 and final year undergraduate-entry and graduate-entry students at an Irish medical school. Data about participants’ demographics and educational background, study habits (including time management), and use of online media was collected using a self-report questionnaire. Participants’ learning strategies were measured using the 18-item Approaches to Learning and Studying Inventory (ALSI). Year score percentage was the measure of academic achievement. The association between demographic/educational factors, learning strategies, study habits, and academic achievement was statistically analysed using regression analysis. Results: Forty-two percent of students were included in this analysis (n=376). A last-minute “cramming” time management study strategy was associated with increased use of online social networks. Learning strategies differed between undergraduate- and graduate-entrants, with the latter less likely to adopt a ‘surface approach’ and more likely adopt a ‘study monitoring’ approach. Year score percentage was positively correlated with the ‘effort management/organised studying’ learning style. Poorer academic performance was associated with a poor time management approach to studying (“cramming”) and increased use of the ‘surface learning’ strategy. Conclusions: Our study demonstrates that effort management and organised studying should be promoted, and surface learning discouraged, as part of any effort to optimise academic performance in medical school. Excessive use of social networking contributes to poor study habits, which are associated with reduced academic achievemen

Guest editorial : Social prescribing

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Regulatory factors controlling muscle mass : competition between innate immune function and anabolic signals in regulation of atrogin-1 in Atlantic salmon

The research was supported by an industrial PhD studentship between University of Aberdeen and by BioMar Ltd., for Z. Heidari.Peer reviewedPostprin

Integrating the Cross-Curriculum Content Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Histories and Cultures into Learning Areas: The Secondary Pre-Service Teacher Perspective

The Australian Curriculum sets national standards aimed to improve learning outcomes for all young Australians. The implementation of the Australian Curriculum, to be applied to all learning areas, commenced in January 2013. Chosen for their significance in meeting the learning outcomes of the Australian Curriculum, three content areas are listed as cross-curriculum priorities, and must be integrated into all learning areas. The planned integration of the cross-curriculum priority: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories and cultures, from the perspective of final year secondary pre-service teachers at Avondale College of Higher Education, was the focus of this study. The perception of relevance, the role of the school and students, and the influence of knowledge and skills learned during undergraduate studies in regard to planning was also explored. The findings of the study show that the instruction on the content, and how to integrate it into their learning areas were perceived by pre-service teachers to have been largely overlooked in their undergraduate studies. Further the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander student population, at the school, was perceived by pre-service teachers to be the key influence when planning to integrate the content. An emphasis on Indigenous education and not Indigenous studies during their teacher education may provide a credible reason for this perception

Relation of the General Supply Curve to a "Particular Expenses" Curve

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The Glacial Geomorphology of the Loch Lomond (Younger Dryas) Stadial in Britain

The Loch Lomond Stadial (LLS) refers to the abrupt return to severe cold conditions that occurred in Britain, between 12.9 and 11.7 ka, subsequent to the retreat of the last (Late Devensian) British-Irish Ice Sheet. This period has long been associated with the regrowth of glaciers in upland areas of Britain and left a wealth of geomorphological evidence in the landform record. However, previous research on these glaciers has largely comprised localised case studies, producing a fragmented and spatially inconsistent dataset. This thesis draws together the published geomorphological evidence for Loch Lomond Stadial glaciation to build a coherent picture of the extent, style and dynamics of glaciation during the stadial. Geomorphological mapping of glacial landforms associated with this period is compiled from the published literature to create a map and geographic information systems database of over 95,000 features. The evidence used to produce this map is critically assessed in the most comprehensive review of the Loch Lomond Stadial to date and is used to identify conceptual themes, common to the geomorphology in multiple sub-regions within Scotland, England and Wales. Persisting uncertainties, particularly regarding the extent and timing of Loch Lomond Stadial glaciation, are discussed and recommendations of future research to address these are made. Building on this review, the glacial geomorphological map is then used to construct five glacial landsystem models which reflect the style of Loch Lomond Stadial glaciation; the cirque/niche glacier landsystem, the alpine icefield landsystem, the lowland piedmont lobe landsystem, the plateau icefield landsystem and the ice cap landsystem. Use of these models to classify the Loch Lomond Stadial glacial geomorphology reveals the spatial distribution of each landsystem. Three styles of glacier retreat are represented by the glacial geomorphology. It is demonstrated that both landsystem and retreat style reflect the combined importance of pre-existing topography and palaeoclimate. Given the paucity of dating constraints on Loch Lomond Stadial landforms, the thesis pilots the use of a relative dating technique using soil chronosequences to differentiate between Loch Lomond Stadial and older moraines in the English Lake District. The results of this study highlight the potential of this technique to discriminate between Loch Lomond Stadial and pre-Loch Lomond Stadial moraines in Britain, although further work is required

Dietary Yeast Cell Wall Extract Alters the Proteome of the Skin Mucous Barrier in Atlantic Salmon (Salmo salar) : Increased Abundance and Expression of a Calreticulin-Like Protein

Funding: This work was supported by a studentship from BioMar Ltd. to GM. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

‘A Healthy CIT’: An Investigation into Student Health Metrics, Lifestyle Behaviours and the Predictors of Positive Mental Health in an Irish Higher Education Setting

Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) are potent health promotion settings, uniquely positioned to aid societal efforts to combat non-communicable diseases (NCDs). International evidence suggests that health metrics and lifestyle behaviours of higher education students are sub-optimal, yet a dearth of contemporary Irish data exists. This study aimed to examine sex differences in student lifestyle behaviours and identify significant predictors of positive mental health in an Irish HEI setting. An online questionnaire instrument distributed to all registered students (n = 11,261) gathered data regarding a multitude of health and lifestyle domains. Many items were adapted from previous Irish research. Further validated scales included the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT), Mental-Health Index 5 (MHI-5) and the Energy and Vitality Index (EVI). Self-reported height/body mass were also recorded. In total, 2267 responses were analysed (51.7% female, 48.3% male). Both sexes demonstrated poor sleeping patterns, hazardous drinking and sub-optimal fruit and vegetable intake. The calculated prevalence of overweight/obesity was 38.2%. Both sexes underestimated obesity. Males underestimated and females overestimated overweight. Males displayed riskier behavioural patterns with regard to illicit substances, drinking, and sexual partners. Females reported greater psychological distress. Multivariate linear regression identified 8 variables as predictors of positive mental health, accounting for 37% of the variance in EVI scores. In conclusion, HEI students would benefit from sex-specific multi-level health promotion initiatives to remove macro-level barriers to healthier lifestyles

“Artlift” Arts-on-Referral Intervention in UK Primary Care: Updated findings from an ongoing observational study

Background: Arts for health interventions are an accepted option for medical management of mental wellbeing in health care. Updated findings are presented from a prospective longitudinal follow-up (observational) design study of an arts on referral programme in UK general practice, over a 7-year period (2009–2016). Methods: Primary care process and mental wellbeing outcomes were investigated, including progress through the intervention, changes in mental wellbeing, and factors associated with those outcomes. A total of n =1297 patients were referred to an eight or 10-week intervention over a period from 2009 to 2016. Patient sociodemographic information was recorded at baseline, and patient progress (e.g. attendance) assessed throughout the intervention. Results: Of all referrals, 51.7% completed their course of prescribed art (the intervention). Of those that attended, 74.7% engaged with the intervention as rated by the artists leading the courses. A significant increase in wellbeing was observed from pre- to post-intervention (t = −19.29, df =523, P < 0.001, two-tailed) for those that completed and/or engaged. A sub sample (N =103) of these referrals self-reported multi-morbidities. These multiple health care service users were majority completers (79.6%), and were rated as having engaged (81.0%). This group also had a significant increase in well-being, although this was smaller than for the group as a whole (t = −7.38, df =68, P < 0.001). Conclusion: Findings confirm that art interventions can be effective in the promotion of well-being for those that complete, including those referred with multi-morbidity, with significant changes in wellbeing evident across the intervention periods

“There’s Something Wrong with This Place”: Spatial Tension in British Horror Cinema

All narratives occur within spaces and places, and yet space remains a marginalised aspect of narrative analysis. Through the use of vague statements concerning space, the concept is reduced to being merely the site of narrative events. And yet more than any other cinematic form, the horror genre utilises space to generate its affects. The genre generates fear and horror through the representation of various tensions, and these include spatial tensions. Space is often an antagonistic device, exerting an influence upon both narrative and characterisation inasmuch as tension is generated through the effect that space has upon the individual. Spaces can code a film as belonging to the genre through their associations with particular emotions; the old dark house; the graveyard. Other tensions are elicited where individuals or groups compete to express meaning onto space. Particular cultural practices are intertwined with spaces in ways that imbue those spaces with a sense of foreboding and danger. Spaces can be used to reflect the psychological state of narrative actors, through aesthetics that are angular and disturbing. Whilst spatial theory is a well-established component of both human geography and philosophy, it is yet to be applied to horror studies through a sustained analysis. This thesis addresses that lack, and is concerned not only with events that occur within particular spaces, but why they occur within those spaces. Through doing so, my intention is to imbue films from within the horror genre with an additional layer of analytical interes