Search

Dissertation work is traditionally a solo, perhaps isolating, endeavor. In qualitative content analysis in the social sciences, the student applies a codebook, whether of their own creation or an adaptation of an existing theory or framework, which is appropriate to their research context and method without collaborating with others. The theory of information worlds provides an analytical framework to analyze information behavior and use in social contexts without ascribing to or prescribing a particular methodology or approach. This article describes and discusses a novel collaborative effort to operationalize and develop codebooks for the theory of information worlds which was used across three methodologically diverse dissertations. Implications for methodology, pedagogy, and dissertation work are also discussed, with an emphasis on the ways in which a project such as this might inform the future teaching practices of doctoral students.

With the rise of digital devices, gaming has become both a pastime and part of the culture for young people. Teenagers use games to communicate, enjoy leisure time, and relieve stress. However, the maladaptive use of gaming can lead to difficulties in adolescents' daily lives and school adjustment. Increasing adolescents' self-regulation competencies can improve maladaptive gaming behaviors and help them use gaming adaptively. Therefore, this study examined the moderating effect of self-regulation on the impact of adolescent gaming behavior on school adjustment. This study considered 359 adolescent participants in South Korea. Data were analyzed using hierarchical regression to test the moderating effect. The results indicated that adolescents' adaptive use of games significantly increased school adjustment. Self-regulation significantly moderated the negative effects of the maladaptive use of games on school adjustment. Furthermore, the results revealed that the groups with highly adaptive and maladaptive use of games had high school adjustment but low self-regulation, indicating that they required active intervention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: In response to recent calls for research relating to employers' perceptions of the workplace readiness of new graduates in a variety of fields, the purpose of this paper is to report North Florida employers' perceptions of information technology (IT) program graduates' workplace readiness. These findings are relevant to stakeholders in growing technology regions. Design/methodology/approach :Researchers conducted 18 semi-structured interviews with IT employers in North Florida. Data were deductively coded with codes derived from national standards. Interviewee verbatim was also inductively coded by theme. Findings: While employers valued a blend of technical and general skills and hands-on experience, they also sought new professionals who possessed fundamental understandings of business and computer programming to tailor their problem-solving skills to the specific company environment. Research limitations/implications: This research represents a limited number of employer viewpoints in one representative community. Practical implications: Ongoing industry input into curricula and expanded experiential opportunities may ensure that graduates are prepared to address current and future IT developments. Because the region under study was typical of many regions with growing technology sectors, these findings may inform partnerships, curriculum, and program design. Originality/value: Given the rapid growth and constant advances of the IT sector, institutions with IT degree programs are challenged to ensure that their curricula are current and meeting the needs of employers. This study's findings may offer timely insight into elements of workforce preparedness.

With growing public, educational, corporate, and governmental interests in the “Metaverse” and 4th Industrial Revolution, virtual, augmented, mixed, or extended reality technologies have seen renewed interest and expanded adoption across contexts. While libraries and librarians have long provided their communities access to information, media, and technology, and are not strangers to virtual worlds, there is little work on whether LIS programs are preparing pre-service librarians to be knowledgeable of VR and related technologies and their applications in libraries and other information organizations. As such, this study employs a selected literature review on how libraries provide and use virtual reality and related technologies in their collections, programs, and services as well as a summative content analysis exploring the inclusion and use of virtual reality and related technologies in the curricula of terminal LIS degree programs in the United States and South Korea. The literature review identified three key, interconnected themes: stake- holder partnerships, content development, and inclusion and accessibility. Findings from the summative content analysis suggest that the level of inclusion of VR and related technologies in terminal LIS programs is low in both the United States and South Korea. Of the few existing courses covering XR technologies, it appears that most cover content development, while fewer address issues related to stakeholder partner- ships, and inclusion and accessibility. Recommendations for LIS educators interested in developing courses or training about VR and related technologies in libraries are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Drosophila, high-frequency electrical stimulation across the brain triggers a highly stereotypic repertoire of spasms. These electroconvulsive seizures (ECS) manifest as distinctive spiking discharges across the nervous system and can be stably assessed throughout the seizure repertoire in the large indirect flight muscles dorsal longitudinal muscles (DLMs) to characterize modifications in seizure-prone mutants. However, the relationships between ECS-spike patterns and native motor programs, including flight and grooming, are not known and their similarities and distinctions remain to be characterized. We employed quantitative spike pattern analyses for the three motor patterns including: (1) overall firing frequency, (2) spike timing between contralateral fibers, and (3) short-term variability in spike interval regularity (CV2) and instantaneous firing frequency (ISI−1). This base-line information from wild-type (WT) flies facilitated quantitative characterization of mutational effects of major neurotransmitter systems: excitatory cholinergic (Cha), inhibitory GABAergic (Rdl) and electrical (ShakB) synaptic transmission. The results provide an initial glimpse on the vulnerability of individual motor patterns to different perturbations. We found marked alterations of ECS discharge spike patterns in terms of either seizure threshold, spike frequency or spiking regularity. In contrast, no gross alterations during grooming and a small but noticeable reduction of firing frequency during Rdl mutant flight were found, suggesting a role for GABAergic modulation of flight motor programs. Picrotoxin (PTX), a known pro-convulsant that inhibits GABAA receptors, induced DLM spike patterns that displayed some features, e.g. left-right coordination and ISI−1 range, that could be found in flight or grooming, but distinct from ECS discharges. These quantitative techniques may be employed to reveal overlooked relationships among aberrant motor patterns as well as their links to native motor programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coordinated flight in winged insects requires rhythmic activity of the underlying neural circuit. Here, we show that Drosophila mutants for the inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate (InsP3) receptor gene (itpr) are flightless. Electrophysiological recordings from thoracic indirect flight muscles show increased spontaneous firing accompanied by a loss of rhythmic flight activity patterns normally generated in response to a gentle puff of air. In contrast, climbing speed, the jump response, and electrical properties of the giant fiber pathway are normal, indicating that general motor coordination and neuronal excitability are much less sensitive to itpr mutations. All mutant phenotypes are rescued by expression of an itpr+ transgene in serotonin and dopamine neurons. Pharmacological and immunohisto- chemical experiments support the idea that the InsP3 receptor functions to modulate flight specifically through serotonergic interneu- rons. InsP3 receptor action appears to be important for normal development of the flight circuit and its central pattern generator. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction. This research examines how members of an online community, MissyUSA, effectively used a virtual venue to pursue a collective action in response to a South Korean marine accident, the Sewol Ferry disaster, on April 16, 2014. Method. Researchers retrieved posts, including keywords, relevant to The New York Times advertisement campaign, a targeted collection action, in the bulletin boards at MissyUSA. Researchers downloaded 260 threads including posts and their replies posted for fifteen days from April 16 to April 30, 2014. Analysis. For qualitative content analysis, the researchers used a codebook built upon a Burnett's typology of information exchange in virtual communities and also took a grounded theory approach to identify emergent types of information behaviour. Two researchers reviewed all 260 threads separately, compared coding results, and then consolidated any differences through discussion. Results. Seven collaborative activities were identified from the two phases. The types of information behaviour that facilitated those collaborative activities were described along with examples. An expanded typology of information behaviour was provided. Conclusions. Findings from this research expanded the existing typology, providing emergent types of collaborative information behaviour that promote The New York Times advertisement campaign, such as group decision making, mobilising resources, commenting, information sharing, initiating actions, information management, troubleshooting, and updating. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A seizure-paralysis repertoire characteristic of Drosophila "bang-sensitive" mutants can be evoked electroconvulsively in tethered flies, in which behavioral episodes are associated with synchronized spike discharges in different body parts. Flight muscle DLMs (dorsal longitudinal muscles) display a stereotypic sequence of initial and delayed bouts of discharges (ID and DD), interposed with giant fiber (GF) pathway failure and followed by a refractory period. We examined how seizure susceptibility and discharge patterns are modified in various K(+) and Na(+) channel mutants. Decreased numbers of Na(+) channels in nap(ts) flies drastically reduced susceptibility to seizure induction, eliminated ID, and depressed DD spike generation. Mutations of different K(+) channels led to differential modifications of the various components in the repertoire. Altered transient K(+) currents in Sh(133) and Hk mutants promoted ID induction. However, only Sh(133) but not Hk mutations increased DD seizure and GF pathway failure durations. Surprisingly, modifications in sustained K(+) currents in eag and Shab mutants increased thresholds for DD induction and GF pathway failure. Nevertheless, both eag and Shab, like Sh(133), increased DD spike generation and recovery time from GF pathway failure. Interactions between channel mutations with the bang-sensitive mutation bss demonstrated the role of membrane excitability in stress-induced seizure-paralysis behavior. Seizure induction and discharges were suppressed by nap(ts) in bss nap double mutants, whereas Sh heightened seizure susceptibility in bss Sh(133) and bss Sh(M) double mutants. Our results suggest that individual seizure repertoire components reflect different neural network activities that could be differentially altered by mutations of specific ion channel subunits.

Drosophila bang-sensitive mutants display a remarkable stereotyped behavioral sequence during mechanical disturbances. This seizure repertoire consists of initial and delayed bouts of spasm interposed with paralysis and followed by recovery of activity and a period of refractoriness to further stimulation. Electroconvulsive stimuli across the brain induced a similar seizure behavior in tethered flies, in which corresponding electrophysiological events could be readily recorded in indirect flight muscles [dorsal longitudinal muscles (DLMs)] of the giant fiber (GF) pathway. The DLM physiological repertoire consisted of initial and delayed discharges (IDs and DDs), a response failure and recovery, followed by a refractory period. Interestingly, wild-type flies also displayed the same electroconvulsive repertoire, albeit inducible only at higher stimulus intensities and with briefer expression. The DLM repertoire presumably originated from activities of distinct neural circuits subserving normal function and reflected the general sequence of excitation and depression of the nervous system as a whole, as shown by simultaneous recordings along the different body axes. The well characterized GF pathway facilitated localization of circuits responsible for response failure and ID and DD motor patterns by surgical manipulations, recording-stimulating site analysis, and genetic mosaic studies. A flight pattern generator is most likely the major contributor to shaping the DD pattern, with modifications by active integration of individual motor neurons and associated interneurons. The robust electroconvulsive repertoire of DLMs provides a convenient window for further genetic analysis of the interacting neural mechanisms underlying a stereotyped action pattern in Drosophila, which shows striking parallels with aspects of seizure in mammalian species.