In recent years, language researchers and teachers have attempted to put meaningful communication at the centre of learners' classroom interactions. Yet the majority of existing computer-assisted language learning (CALL) applications have relied on largely non-communicative learner-computer interactions. The challenge facing CALL developers,…

Objective: Several studies have demonstrated differences in omega-3 fatty acid composition in plasma and in erythrocyte membranes in patients with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) compared with unaffected controls. Omega-3 fatty acids have anti-inflammatory properties and can alter central nervous system cell membrane fluidity and…

Numerous studies have identified that delays in diagnosis related to the mishandling of abnormal test results are an import contributor to diagnostic errors. Factors contributing to missed results included organizational factors, provider factors and patient-related factors. At the diagnosis error conference continuing medical education conference…

Purpose: Remembering medical treatment information may be particularly taxing for older cancer patients, but to our knowledge this ability has never been assessed in this specific age group only. Our purpose in this study was to investigate older cancer patients' recall of information after patient education preceding chemotherapy. Design and…

Previous literature suggests that Parkinson's disease is marked by deficits in timed behaviour. However, the majority of studies of central timing mechanisms in patients with Parkinson's disease have used timing tasks with a motor component. Since the motor abnormalities are a defining feature of the condition, the status of timing in Parkinson's…

How much do individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) think they know about their inner states? To find out, we asked 24 participants with ASD and 24 non-clinical participants to rate how well they knew about six topics of self knowledge; they also rated how well a comparison individual knew these things about them. Participants with ASD…

The guidelines for the treatment of agitated children in emergency departments based on literature and expert opinions are developed and discussed.

This dissertation proposes and tests a theory explaining how people make decisions to achieve a goal in a specific task environment. The theory is represented as a computational model and implemented as a computer program. The task studied was primary care physicians treating patients with type 2 diabetes. Some physicians succeed in achieving…

Background: The U.S. government mandates nurses to deliver linguistically appropriate care to hospital patients. It is difficult for nurses to implement the language mandates because there are 6,912 active living languages spoken in the world. Language barriers appear to place limited English proficient (LEP) patients at increased risk for harm…

In its report "To Err is Human", The Institute of Medicine recommended the implementation of internal and external voluntary and mandatory automatic reporting systems to increase detection of adverse events. Knowledge Discovery in Databases (KDD) allows the detection of patterns and trends that would be hidden or less detectable if analyzed by…

The purpose of this study was to develop substantive theory regarding decision making by the novice nurse in a rural hospital setting. Interviews were guided by the following research questions: What cues were used by novice rural registered nurses in order to make clinical decisions? What were the sources of feedback which influenced subsequent…

The patient-centered medical home (PCMH) is an innovative care delivery model designed to provide comprehensive primary care services to people of all ages by fostering partnerships between patients, families, health care providers and the community. National Assembly on School-Based Health Care (NASBHC) recommends practices and policies that…

The educational preparation of athletic training students is a daunting experience for athletic training educators (ATEs) as they are often faced with many external (eg, accreditation, lack of resources) and internal (eg, lack of comfort with a subject area, role strain) challenges. Regardless of these challenges, the success of an athletic…

Working memory (WM) and emotion classification are amongst the cognitive domains where specific deficits have been reported for patients with schizophrenia. In healthy individuals, the capacity of visual working memory is enhanced when the material to be retained is emotionally salient, particularly for angry faces. We investigated whether…

Community-based frail older adults, burdened with complex medical and social needs, are at great risk for preventable rapid rehospitalizations. Although federal and state regulations are in place to address the care transitions between the hospital and nursing home, no such guidelines exist for the much larger population of community-dwelling…