Week 12 Assignment

Part 1 – Ratings

1)     G – It appears that the citations are being used correctly but are taken a little out of context.  The writer’s use of the source is not used in the same tone of what the source takes.  The writer uses the source to support his idea but is not reading or sharing the material as the source writer intended.

2)     H – Citation appears to be correct.  While there are no direct quotes in the paragraph, the writer correctly cites the source by name and page number as well as the correct “works cited” at the end of the writing.

3)     B – The writer paraphrases the same basic ideas but does not cite in text at all.  The writer only provides the source citation at the end.

4)      A – no citation throughout nor at the end

5)     F – distorted view.  Writer attempts to use the source’s text but changing the meaning slightly distorting and affecting the integrity of the original source’s meaning.

Part 2 – Reflection on Plagiarism

            I have run into the question and received previous instruction about self-plagiarism.  I’ve understood that you need to follow the same guidelines as citing other authors or works.  However, I had not thought of it in the sense of copyright laws.  That makes complete sense as the publisher then owns that publication.  I can understand the difficulty one may have having done the research, written the paper, submitted the work to be published and yet the research continues.  I can understand that the author is going to develop additional data to present and contribute to additional writings.  However, the writing needs to follow the same guidelines even if it will be added to another volume of the journal by the same publisher.  Doing so allows the reader to follow the research.  I’ve seen it recently in my research on restless leg syndrome.  One author has been in the field of sleep study for a long time and, while he has written and published articles relating to the source, he still cited himself in the following articles.  I believe that what gets “muddy” is that the belief is when failing to cite one’s self, you aren’t stealing from another author.  This goes back to my first comment about copyright.

Week 11 Assignment

Part One – Scholarly Journal Article

·       Allen, R. P. (2015). Restless Leg Syndrome/Willis-Ekbom Disease Pathophysiology. Sleep Medicine Clinics, 10(3), 207-214. doi:10.1016/j.jsmc.2015.05.022

·       This article focuses on the pathophysiology including symptoms, epidemiology, causes, and some research in treatments.  The author concludes that, while there is a wide range of areas and systems related to restless leg syndrome (RLS), much of what research has found is related to the dopaminergic system and iron deficiencies (more so in the brain, not in the blood/serum).

·       Evaluative annotation

o   The article was published in 2015.  This is current research

o   The article is very informative and straight-forward in presenting the data in a way I can understand it.  It also covers basic treatment approaches in use today and what works and what does not.

o   Richard P. Allen is a PhD and a professor of neurology.  Most of his research has been with circadian rhythms, sleep medicine; restless legs syndrome, and Iron

o   The article appears to be focused on information and research and not on trying to convince the reader of any viewpoint.  The author has been a consultant for pharmaceuticals but in this article, he addresses the challenges or risks with medication as treatment. 

o   Based on other readings, I agree with the author’s findings regarding iron deficiency and dopaminergic agonists and the risks of using them.  I have read six other articles for another project and, while this article is not as lengthy as a couple others, it does present the same information in more basic terms, making it easier for the reader to understand.

o   The audience is geared more toward individuals/readers interested in the neurological aspects of the disorder.  The article is to inform the reader of neurological systems and deficiencies along with current research of treatment options (which are limited).

Part Two: Book or Ebook

·       Badr, M. Safwan. (2012). Essentials of Sleep Medicine (Respiratory Medicine). Totowa, NJ: Humana Press.

o   https://searchit.libraries.wsu.edu/primo-explore/fulldisplay?docid=TN_springer_series978-1-60761-735-8&context=PC&vid=WSU&search_scope=WSU_everything&tab=default_tab&lang=en_US

·       The ebook is focused on sleep medicine and sleep disorders.  It provides diagnostic and evidence-based approaches for all the different sleep disorders, with a focus on respiratory disorders of sleep.  It contains a section about restless leg syndrome/periodic limb movement disorder.

·       The book is “for the pulmonologist” and is focused on sleep disorders and how they affect the cardiac and respiratory systems.

·       Evaluative annotation

o   2012 is mostly current.  Some of my classes have preferred material within 5 years for primary data sources.

o   Author(s):

§  Editor: M Safwan Badr M.D., MBA is the Professor & Chair of Internal Medicine; Division Chief of Pulmonary Critical Care at Wayne State University's School of Medicine and his areas of interest are sleep medicine. 

§  The chapter author is Nidhi S. Undevia, MD, DABSM, FAASM.  Dr. Undevia is a Pulmonary and Critical Care Medical Doctor, Associate Professor, and RML Medical Director.  She is also interested and involved in sleep medicine research.

o   Humana Press is an academic publisher of science, technology, and medical books and journals.  Humana publishes more than 100 new books and 25 journals per year, with a back list of approximately 1,500 titles in areas such as molecular biology, neuroscience, cancer research, pathology, and medicine.  It appears that Humana Press is a reputable publisher.

o   While the book is not really related to my article (however, sleep is one predominant predictor and treatment for RLS), it does contain a section about Restless leg syndrome.  Chapter 18 addresses movement disorders (which includes RLS).

Part Three: Website

·       Restless Legs Syndrome Fact Sheet. (2018, July 6). Retrieved from https://www.ninds.nih.gov/Disorders/Patient-Caregiver-Education/Fact-Sheets/Restless-Legs-Syndrome-Fact-Sheet

·       The website (this specific page) is primarily focused on basic information about Restless leg syndrome.  They provide information on what the disorder is, the symptoms, what can/may cause it, how to diagnosis it, and basic research and ways to treat it (including medication and the associated risks, supplements, and sleep hygiene).

·       I believe this webpage is for the general public.  While the information is somewhat technical, it is presented in a way that most people can understand it.  There are terms used that the general public may be unfamiliar with, but they explain it using basic information.  From there I think most people will want to research further if they don’t understand it completely.

·       Evaluation:

o   .gov: This is a government managed site.  A branch of the US government is responsible for the information and presentation.

o   The ‘last updated’ date is Friday, 7-06-2018.  This is current

o   The information provided on this website aligns very well with the information I have gathered in my research/reading.

o   Authority: “The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke is an Institute within the National Institutes of Health that aims to seek fundamental knowledge about the brain and nervous system and to use that knowledge to reduce the burden of neurological disease.”

o   The website’s information is accurate and consistent with my other reading, however, there are no citations provided on this webpage.  However, there are links to other websites for more information.

Week 10 - Citation Chaining

Tell Me About Your Experience in Your Research Journal

-        What search terms or search phrases did you use to search Google Scholar?

o   Treatment restless leg syndrome

-        What limiters did you use?

o   First, I didn’t use any but then found that I was getting a wide date-range, so I decided to select the option to ‘Search within citing articles’ to look for specific concepts of treatment (vitamins, selenium). 

-        What did you find here that you have not seen in the databases?

o   Citation chaining is so much easier!!  The way I see this is that if I start with Google Scholar, then I can go into the databases and verify that they can be found there.  I know that multiple projects over the past have required we find our data in the databases found through the WSU libraries.  Also, at least 2 projects have required we find our data in a specific database.

-        How did this search process compare with the library databases you have been using?  Was it easier or more difficult?

o   Kind of building on my last comment, it was much easier since I could bounce around so much easier than in the databases.  I could check the box to search within the cited articles after doing a basic search, I could find specific words within those articles which I feel would be easier than setting up a series of limiters.  I’m not sure if that makes sense.

-        How might you use this tool in the future?

o   Again, building off my last two comments.  I think I’m going to use this tool first and then search around for articles that I feel would be useful in my projects, while simultaneously verifying them in the WSU databases.  I want to make sure that they meet the requirements, but it seems to be easier at this point than going through all the databases.  I imagine I will have to try this approach in the future as I work on other projects.

Week 9 Assignment

Part One

·         Allardt, E. 1993. “Having, Loving, Being: An Alternative to the Swedish Model of Welfare Research.” In Martha Nussbaum and Amartya Sen, eds., The Quality of Life, 88-94. Clarendon Press, Oxford.

o   This is a chapter in a book.

o   I went to Search It and found an ebook and was able to navigate to the chapter.

o   For in print, it can be found in the Holland & Terrell libraries where it can be requested. 

·         Beck, Ulrich. 1992. Risk Society: Towards a New Modernity. Sage, London.

o   This is a book

o   I went to Search It and found it in print, it can be found in the Holland and Terrell libraries where it can be requested.  It can also be found at a number of other colleges (PSU is the closest)

·         Dake, Karl. 1991. “Orienting Dispositions in the Perception of Risk: An Analysis of Contemporary World Views and Cultural Biases.” Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology 22 (1): 60-81.

o   This is an article in a peer reviewed journal

o   I went to Search It and found it in print, it can be found in the Vancouver Library or the Holland and Terrell libraries where it can be requested.

o   It can also be requested through ILLiad

·         Fischhoff, B. 1990. “Psychology and Public Policy: Tool or Toolmaker?” American Psychologist 45: 647-653.

o   This is an article in a peer reviewed journal

o   I went to Search It and found it in PDF on ProQuest PsycArticles or through ILLiad

Part Two

·         Erden, I., Cakcak Erden, E., Durmus, H., Tibilli, H., Tabakçi, M., Kalkan, M. E., … Tabakçı, M. (2014). Association between restless leg syndrom and slow coronary flow. Anatolian Journal of Cardiology / Anadolu Kardiyoloji Dergisi, 14(7), 612–616.

o   Name of the Database & Subject: CINAHL Complete – Human nutrition and exercise.

o   This is an article in a peer reviewed journal

o   I went to Search It and found it in PDF on EBSCOhost

·         Wilt, T. (n.d.). Treatment for restless legs syndrome. Rockville, Md: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

o   SearchIt – I did not have any other source types from last week’s assignment, so I searched for a book for this next assignment.

o   This is an ebook available at NCBI Bookshelf

Part Three

This week I learned a little bit more about the format of the reference list and how each reference or citation is represented in that list.  I also learned about finding books and articles that may not be available in digital format and all the different libraries that can be accessed to request the books (and in one example, an article) from that library.  I figured articles and journals were all digital and accessible via the databases.  The article by Dake was only in print form, so I thought that was interesting as well as how to get access to it.

UNIV 300 - Week 8 Assignment

1)     Article: Restless legs syndrome: A continuing search for better diagnostic criteria

a.      Name of the Database & Subject: MEDLINE Complete – biomedical and health journals.

b.     Citation:  Tater, P., & Pandey, S. (2018). Restless legs syndrome: A continuing search for better diagnostic criteria. Neurology India, 66(4), 1028–1030.

c.      Discipline/Subject relates: Since restless leg syndrome is a medical condition, Medline was one of the first subject databases that I looked.  The database contains many journals about restless leg syndrome.

2)     Article: Association between restless leg syndrome and slow coronary flow

a.      Name of the Database & Subject: CINAHL Complete – Human nutrition and exercise.

b.     Citation: Erden, I., Cakcak Erden, E., Durmus, H., Tibilli, H., Tabakçi, M., Kalkan, M. E., … Tabakçı, M. (2014). Association between restless leg syndrom and slow coronary flow. Anatolian Journal of Cardiology / Anadolu Kardiyoloji Dergisi, 14(7), 612–616.

c.      Discipline/Subject relates: Since restless leg syndrome has also been linked to nutrition, I thought I would use the CINAHL.  I figured nutrition articles could shed some light on this condition.

3)     Article: Restless Leg Syndrome/Willis-Ekbom Disease Pathophysiology

a.      Name of the Database & Subject: PubMed – biomedical journals, similar to Medline.

b.     Citation: Allen, R. (2015). Restless Leg Syndrome/Willis-Ekbom Disease Pathophysiology. Sleep Medicine Clinics, 10(3), 207-214.

c.      Discipline/Subject relates: Restless leg syndrome is a biomedical condition.  PubMed is a database that I have used for another class.  The database contains many journals about restless leg syndrome.

UNIV 300 – Week 6 Assignment

Part One:

-          What parts of the brain do P. gingivialis bacterial infections affect in Alzheimer’s patients? 

-          What is significant about P. gingivialis bacterial infections that differ from other bacterial infections?

Part Two:

-           a. Look at your question and identify the main concepts of this question. Please list only 2 or 3 primary concepts.

o   In the question above, the main concepts are (1) P. gingivialis bacterial infections (periodontal disease) and (2) Alzheimer’s patients

o    

-          b. Write a search statement that you can use to search for information to address your research question.

o   (gingivialis OR gingivitis OR “periodontal disease”) AND Alzheimer*

o    

-          c. Do a search in Academic Search Complete with your search words and Boolean operators. Tell me exactly what words and Boolean operators you used.

o   Alzheimer’s (TI Title) AND gingivitis (TI Title) OR “periodontal disease” (SU Subject Terms) AND Alzheimer’s (SU Subject Terms)

-          d. Use at least two of the database limiters and tell me what they were. (These can be any of the options under “Search Options” in the lower part of the search page, or under “Refine Results” on the left side of the results page.)

o   2015-2018

o   Academic Journals

-          This produced 9 results, all of which appear to apply to the topic perfectly

Part Three:

I had a difficult time with using the Boolean operators in ASC.  I tried a number of combinations to limit the results but kept coming up with very large numbers as well as not finding the results as set in the operators.  For example, I was using ‘Alzheimer’s’ with (TI Title) but results were showing titles without Alzheimer’s in the title.  It took some moving around and realized that the results depend on the arrangement of the operators.  Now that I know how setting up the operators in a specific order can affect the outcome of the results, I can alter and adjust further searches.

UNIV 300 Week 5 Assignment

Gingivialis > periodontal disease> added the following subject terms:

DE "PERIODONTAL disease" OR DE "AGGRESSIVE periodontitis" OR DE "GINGIVITIS" OR DE "PERIODONTAL pockets" AND NEURO*

-          What part of this lesson did you find useful?

o   I did not know about the * when using Boolean searches.  This is very helpful as sometimes you don’t want to search for an exact word but using a simplified version that opens the search results will be helpful.  I have already used it on this week’s exercises and Discussion questions.  I also haven’t used the parentheses in the past and found that they are helpful, especially when I have some terms that are an OR plus the AND (in cases where I need that modifier).

-          How do you intend to use these skills for future searches?

o   For this week’s assignment, I actually started poking around with my research terms so that I could produce clearer search results.  Until now, I had to sift through results that are very broad.  I look forward to producing different results and how this method can help with my research.  As mentioned above, I really liked the use of the * and parentheses. 

-          Do you have any questions about Boolean searching or subject terms?

 Not at this time.

UNIV 300 – Week 4 Assignment

o The name of the resource you chose and the specific book within that collection that you used. (If you used the Oxford Reference Collection, what book or encyclopedia within the collection did you use to find your information? If you used Britannica, what was the heading/title of the entry you used?)

-          Oxford Reference Collection

o   A Dictionary of Biomedicine

o   A Dictionary of Psychology

o What new idea or information did you find about the topic?

               I learned a few things about the individual subtopics/subjects within my topic (correlation between periodontal bacteria and Alzheimer’s Disease):

-          Porphyromonas gingivalis collagenase: An “unusual peptidase” (enzymes that break down peptides into amino acids), associated with periodontal lesions (associated with bacterial infection).

-          Fimbrillin: The protein that forms bacterial pili (fimbriae).  Fimbriae have been most extensively studied in P. gingivalis, the bacterium responsible for periodontal disease.  Fimbriae are required for attachment (through integrins) and invasion of the gingival mucosa.

-          Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) – I did not know there are different types of AD: Familial Alzheimer's disease-1 (AD1) is caused by mutation in the gene encoding the amyloid precursor protein (APP). AD2 is associated with the apolipoprotein E4 allele (ApoE4), AD3 is caused by mutation in the presenilin-1 gene (PSEN1) and AD4 by mutation in the PSEN2 gene.

o What are some subtopics you read about in your search?

-          P. gingivialis is among a short list of pathogens that are currently causing the greatest antibiotic resistance problems.

-          As I included above, I found the topic of Fimbrillin in my search and had to include that.

o What potential research questions came up while you were reading? (It’s okay if these are still vague or broad).

-          How does the bacteria affect the brain?  What is significant about that bacterial infection that differs from other bacterial infections?

o List words that might be used for future searches. Be sure to include and label at least one DISTINCTIVE term, one BROAD term, one NARROW term and one RELATED term, as discussed in Week Three. These should be single words or short phrases that indicate a single concept.

-          Periodontal infection – broad

-          Gingipains – distinctive – (I looked this up using the Oxford Collection, however, it did not produce any results)

-          Antibiotic resistance in P. gingivialis – related

-          Tau proteins – narrow – (I also looked this up using the Oxford Collection, however, it was very technical and way over my head)

• In a short paragraph, briefly compare this article with the Wikipedia article you looked at last week. 

Last week, I looked up P. gingivialis on Wikipedia and compared it to this week’s search.  Certainly, Wikipedia has much more information as it includes other associated subtopics.  Interestingly, this week I found a term that was included in the Wiki article (fimbriae) which was located under the topic of fimbrillin.  Wiki did not include the information about fimbrillin, but this search produced a curiosity which led me to connect the two. 

Week 3 Assignment

Week 3 Assignment

Part One: Background Information from a Web Search
1.     Cognitive disorders and gum disease
2.     Carrot2.org
a.      There might be a link between gum disease and cognitive decline in Alzheimer’s.  Pereodontic bacteria might affect/exacerbate features of Alzheimer’s Disease.  Porphyromonas gingivalis bacteria is strongly involved in the onset and progression of periodontitis which may contribute to the onset and the progression of Alzheimer’s disease. 
b.     Porphyromonas gingivalis and other related periodontal bacteria.  Tau proteins and this bacterium.  Amino acids produced by Porphyromonas gingivalis.  Toxic proteases called gingipains.
c.      Do all oral bacteria contribute or have correlation?  What if you have an abscessed tooth but it’s not due to periodontal disease; is it the same bacteria or does that bacteria have a correlation as well?
d.     Porphyromonas gingivalis (related); Alzheimer’s Disease (broad); Tau proteins (narrow); gingipains (distinctive)

Part Two: Evaluating a Website
1.     https://www.cbsnews.com/news/study-links-gum-disease-causing-bacteria-to-alzheimers/
2.     Cbsnews.com – commercial site evoking interest in articles they publish so that they can make money, most likely through paid advertisements.  Below the article, there were other unrelated articles on cbsnews.com, but also ads appearing to be news articles that redirected to outside sites appearing to sell products.
3.     Authority – CBSNews is not an authority in any area of research related to the topic.  There is an ‘about’ page that describes CBS as a mass media company that creates and distributes news content.  Ashley Welch wrote the news article.  When looking for her credentials (google, searching for bio on CBS, Facebook), I could not find anything about her beyond what is on her Twitter account which doesn’t state any degrees or credentials.
4.     Currency – The article was published and updated on January 24, 2019.  The links throughout the article reference information such as journal articles from 2016-2019, multiple linked news articles from 2017, and a study published in 2017.  I would say that the information is current.  A study published in 2017 is very recent.
5.     Accuracy – Interestingly, one of the journal articles linked within the news article is one that I found when searching on carrot2.org.  It provides data supporting the claim on the news article.  The research conducted in 2017 found that those exposed to chronic periodontitis, over 10 years, had just under 2% increase risk of developing AD.
6.     Purpose - They do not address conflicting opinions or data.  From what I can tell, they do not display any biases other than to publish new and exciting information to allure readers as evidenced by a lack of any ads or links to products related to oral health.

Part Three: Evaluating a Wikipedia Article
1.     Porphyromonas gingivalis
a.      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Porphyromonas_gingivalis
b.     While the wiki article is not exceptionally long, it is well-structured.  One thing that stood out to me after reading the article is that it seems to me that there could be more information on or development of periodontal disease.  However, the article is about the bacteria and it does a great job explaining it as well as linking to various and relating sites/articles. 
c.       There are no warning messages at the top of the article
d.     All facts and claims appear to be referenced
e.      The article is clear and concise, however there are no illustrations
f.       There are 38 referenced articles, which seems appropriate.  The sources are published journal articles from a variety of journal sources.  There are multiple external links broken down into subcategories such as microbiology, dentistry, and infectious diseases.
2.     From the “Talk” page:
a.      WikiProjects: Medicine, Microbiology, and Women’s Health
b.     It is rated Start-Class on the Quality Scale for all three projects.
c.      This rating seems somewhat critical; however, the start-class says it is for articles that are in development and leave readers wanting more.  Since the projects are medicine and microbiology, I imagine people that are knowledgeable in that area might want to see more data and references.
d.     Nothing on the Talk page other than the projects and ratings.  I do not see any other communication from editors.
3.     View History page:
a.      I noticed that there weren’t any recent updates since June 2018 until recently there have been three updates.  I imagine that this is due to some of the research that appears to have come out very recently.

Part Four: Reflect
Having researched, read and written papers for my various classes over the past four years, I have always researched articles through EBSCO or PubMed.  I have stayed away from Wikipedia and other search engines, especially at this depth of research.  It was interesting to look at it from the angle of using Wikipedia as a source for information; albeit I wouldn’t use the data or information in writing a scholarly paper.  However, I did find that it might be a good place to start in the search for topics and information.  Also, Wikipedia might also lead me to some related scholarly articles to look up and use.

My Information Search Process

I found it interesting that there has been a process identified and explained as to how we process through identifying, gathering, organizing and presenting information through research.  Having not spent time thinking about this process for myself, it was eye-opening as to how, looking back at myself, I see I have gone through the stages explained by Kuhlthau. 

Using a recent experience in researching and presenting a review and presentation on age-related cognitive deterioration, I will go through each stage and elaborate on the stages in the Information Search Process (ISP) as described by Kuhlthau.  My assignment was to select a topic relating to neuropsychology to research, write a research review, and present a 2-minute presentation to the class. 

In stage one, initiation, I considered a few interests or topics I was interested in but knew little about.  I was uncertain as to what topic to choose, how I was going satisfy the assignment, and all the details in-between.

In stage two, selection, I didn’t know what topics to research and what articles to look for; I just knew I was interested in age-related cognitive decline.  I began to become curious; interested in selecting a topic as well as learning something about age-related cognition.

In stage three, exploration, based on the initial reading and searching through articles, my interest and curiosity increased, but doubt and anxiety increased as I became overwhelmed with the amount of data and information related to age-related cognition and how the brain works.  While I was overwhelmed, I was also curious.  I allowed my curiosity and interests to drive me through the amount of data; keeping my focus on the surface and not digging too deep on the intricate workings of the brain.

In stage four, formulation, I was able to narrow down my focus to how caffeine affects neurological changes in the brain and how they relate to age-related deficits.  I maintained my research or reading on the surface as to not overwhelm myself with data.  The assignment was, moreover, a short review and a two-minute presentation.

In stage five, collection, I continued reading through articles and focused primarily on age-related neurocognitive decline and how caffeine affects specific aspects of cognition, such as working memory.  As I read, I became more informed and even more curious.  However, I still did not understand everything.  I even reached out to an old friend who is a neuropsychologist and professor of neuroscience for some clarification.

In stage six, presentation, I was tasked with taking all of the collected data and information and present them in a short review (we were given a word-count max).  As I worked through my review, focusing on specific aspects of working memory, I found that it was easier to write my thoughts and findings in a way that was understandable.  Writing my own thoughts and presenting the data, were satisfying and brought feelings of accomplishment that I experience even today.

Reflecting on this process has helped me to understand that maintaining an approach of staying on the surface of my research until I have made a selection and have spent enough time considering ideas for my primary focus.  I believe that, given the depth of the assignment and topic, I would have maintained my feelings of being overwhelmed had I not focused on the surface of the research data.